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Free to be a Slave
Romans 6:14-23
Skip Heitzig

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Romans 6 (NKJV™)
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!
16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.
18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Independence Day Messages

God’s Word declares, "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Corinthians 3:17). As we gather to celebrate not only the freedoms of our nation, but our freedom in Christ, we’ll consider what we have been set free from, and what we have been set free for. We’ll address an issue that is often overlooked as we ponder the question: whom do you serve?

As believers in Jesus Christ, we have the greatest freedom in the world: "If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed" (John 8:36). Be encouraged to embrace and live out that freedom in these special Independence Day messages.

Transcript

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Alright!  I got to just say, I love doing this.  I love meeting outside and I love doing this with you.  What a great family we have here!  Now, one of the reasons I love it is because we're in a round.  I mean, can you just for a minute, would you mind turning your head around and seeing how many people are here all the way down this way and way back this way, and all the way back that way?  All the way around us, and even some out on the green belt and the overflow?  There's a lot of people, a big family, beautiful family.

And I love it because we can watch each other worship, not that we're supposed to be watching each other but I think there's some incentive to worship the Lord when we can see how the spirit of God is affecting those around us.  I think that's a powerful thing.  I think if we always close our eyes and we're always faced in one direction, that can sometimes be a little—it can play against what worship is about.  We're doing it with the family.

So anyway, once again, welcome!  We want to welcome those who aren't here in person but are watching via the internet or listening by radio.  But I'll tell you what, next year, don't miss this.  This is such a cool event; we want you to come.

Well, we want to do something a little bit different.  About a week and a half ago, we had a baptism, another event like this, baptism and communion under the stars, which was a lot of fun.  But we saw and heard changed lives and what I mean by that is those pastors of us who baptize people, we got to hear their testimony.  We were able to hear how the lives of 250 people that we baptized were changed, so that was a wonderful night.

But sometimes, you don't always get to hear about how people come to Christ, and I think one of the most effective and powerful, inspiring things to hear is somebody's testimony.  So I've asked a couple of people, a few people actually, we're going to have them come up and share.  First of all, JW, come on up.  This is JW Biava(ph).  How are you?

JW: I'm doing well, sir.  How are you?

Skip Heitzig: Good!  So we've already talked a little bit and here's what's fascinating.  Come on, right out here, stand right here.  Do you mind?

JW: Not at all.

Skip Heitzig: Because then, everybody can see you, at least right here.  You came to faith in Christ but you were actually raised in a Christian home and you went to a Christian school and you had Christian friends, but you just told me back in the room before the service that you weren't yet a believer.  Tell me about that.

JW: Yes, sir.  I was raised in a church from a real young age and I had all the head knowledge of God that anybody could ever have.  I went to a Christian school, I went to chapels every week, everything was there but I was a hypocrite.  I was here on Church on Sundays but I wasn't living it.

Skip Heitzig: Okay.  So at that time, if I were to say—go up to you and say, "Hey, JW, are you a hypocrite?"  You—

JW: I'd say no.

Skip Heitzig: You would have said no.  You would have said you're a Christian.

JW: Yes.

Skip Heitzig: And why would you have said you were a Christian at that time?

JW: When I was young, I said the sinner's prayer and I thought that's all it took.  I didn't understand relationships, I didn't understand trust, I didn't understand repentance.  I just didn't get it.

Skip Heitzig: So you believed if you just mouthed a prayer that that would be enough and you could sort of do whatever you wanted?

JW: Yes, sir.

Skip Heitzig: But you went to a Christian school, you went to a Christian church, you have wonderful Christian parents, is that right?

JW: Yes, sir.

Skip Heitzig: And so, when did you come to the realization that just going through the motions wasn't enough?

JW: Well, it was a combination of a few things.  I was such a stubborn, hardheaded person that it took a lot.  So between the teachings of you, Pastor Bob Coy, Pastor Chuck Swindoll, and then the Truth Project, those combined with the bad time in my life like a lot of people have, you hit a hard time, it makes your reevaluate, those things made me go, "Wait a second, things aren't right."

Then finally, when I was presented with the Law of God to where it was personalized—because I knew I was a sinner but I wasn't immunized.  That didn't--it had no effect on me.  Once it was personalized to me and I understood how wretched I was, it made me understand grace.

Skip Heitzig: Okay.  I want to probe a little bit deeper because there may be, maybe not, but there may be some here tonight who this is hitting a cord with, that is, they've done the same things.  They've gone through all the same motions.  And they don't really—they maybe feel something is missing but they don't quite know what.  So when it dawned on you, when you came to the realization and the knowledge that your heart wasn't right with God, that there wasn't a personal relationship you had with Christ, what did you do next?

JW: Well, basically for me, like I said, I was stubborn.  It was a process for me.  So I put my trust in Jesus Christ as my Lord and savior.  I prayed and cried out to God from my heart saying, "God, forgive me for these sins" and I repented my sins and I had to go one by one through my sins, get them out there for God to see and for me to realize what I was and understand that Christ died for me.

I should have been on that cross, you know.  Jesus died for my sins.

Skip Heitzig: So how long ago was that, that you made a commitment to Christ?

JW: It was about three years ago.

Skip Heitzig: And what was it, in the nighttime, daytime, where was it?

JW: You know, it was during the daytime basically hopping in my truck and hearing another message and kind of divine conviction through that process that it just really hit me, convicted me, and I came through.

Skip Heitzig: Now, did you ever come to a place in this process where you knew, "Definitely I have assurance of my salvation?"

JW: Yeah, absolutely!  I can't tell you the day or the hour necessarily but I know the season.  I know when it was and I felt it.  Right now, I am absolutely sure that Jesus Christ is my Lord and savior and I'll be with him until I die and then after.

Skip Heitzig: So it's interesting, a lot of people don't talk about repentance that much.  They just say this prayer, just believe or acknowledge.  So just in closing, speak to people just a little bit about in your own life the need for repentance as a part of the process of faith.

JW: Oh man, my favorite topic.  This is it.  This is what I heard of what the great reformers say, is that repentance is confessing your sin.  It's asking for forgiveness for your sin.  It's actually turning from your sin.  If I'm a liar telling lies everyday, I'm going to stop telling lies.  I'm not going to be perfect but when I do lie, I hate to sin.  So my attitude towards the sin changes, so that was repentance, turning from it and relying on Jesus because it's absolute grace that we're saved.

Skip Heitzig: Yeah.  I've heard it this way, that an unbeliever is someone who clings to sin whereas a believer is someone to whom sin still clings.  There's a battle but he knows it's wrong and he has that deep conviction. 

JW: I love that.  That's great!

Skip Heitzig: JW, thank you.  God bless you.  Nice seeing you.  Okay, now we have a married couple and it's really an interesting and very—I'm trying to think of the right word but their testimony was very candid with me.  It's a couple who had some difficulty in their marriage.  In fact, well, I'll just have them tell the story.  Denise, Mike, come on up.  Just come right up here and just face this way.  Are you nervous right now?

Denise:   Yes.

Skip Heitzig: Okay, good!  So right now, there are thousands of people that are watching you.  I just thought I'd share that.  Okay, so Mike and Denise, what's your last name?

Mike:Enriquez.

Skip Heitzig: Enriquez, and you've been married how long?

Mike:We've been married three years.

Skip Heitzig: Okay.  Now, when I was talking to you, you went to Denise--to a Christian university and you had a relationship with the Lord but you said you weren't really walking with the Lord closely during that time, is that right?

Denise:   No.  I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and savior but I didn't have people to really mentor me through that process so I could mature.  So I walked and I believed and I did as best as I could, but you need to walk with mature Christians to help you along that process.

Skip Heitzig: And then, you met your now husband, Mike.  And Mike, did you sweep her off her feet?

Mike:I tried.  I think I got lucky though.

Skip Heitzig: Okay.  Well, good!  You're a beautiful couple.  But when I asked you if you were a Christian and you said when you got married that Mike, you weren't the believer but she thought you were a believer, and maybe you even thought.  You said—you gave me some really interesting words.  Tell me about that.

Mike:Well, I basically thought—I guess you could say I was a wolf in a sheep's clothing in a sense because I had been water baptized.  I even went to church.  And I guess you could say just from everything that I had read and learned that there was enough evidence for me to know that Jesus did exist.  And so, I believed on that sense.

Skip Heitzig: So you acknowledge that there was a God and you believe that a man named Jesus walked the earth and that he died on the cross.  But how personal was it to you?

Mike:I was not personal at all.

Skip Heitzig: Okay.  So then, what happened when—let me ask you Denise, when you realized—because Mike, you were probably even struggling with what it meant to be a believer.  But when you realized that you were not married to a Christian, what was that like?

Denise:   It was devastating.  I thought that was something we had in common.  I thought that that was a bond we had.  And when you're walking that walk, it's a different life from the outside world.  And so, it was very devastating and very discouraging, but the Lord is amazing.  And He walked me through a path that I never thought I could walk through and he did amazing things.

Skip Heitzig: And you guys were telling me that your marriage was almost at the brink of ending and that Mike, you said that you came to Christ.  I asked you when you did and you said 5:30 in the morning.  That's unusual because you weren't going to church at 5:30 in the morning, so was this at home?

Mike:Yeah.  Well, I guess given the World Cup and everything that just happened, it was like the US versus Algeria, that last second goal.  That was basically when I came to the Lord in my marriage.  My marriage was pretty much cooked.  It was over in a sense.  I was involved in an affair with another woman.  I was treating my wife terribly.  And finally, she woke me up at five in the morning, February 9th this year and said, "Hey, we need to talk."  I thought, "Well, this is going to be our last discussion" because before we went to bed, it was pretty much we're getting a divorce and this is over.

We come to talk and she pretty much surprises me in a sense of not asking or talking in terms of yelling at me about the affair or relationship, or anything like that.  She ended up asking me about my faith and she—I guess you could say she was just curious in that sense because of my behavior.  I call myself a Christian and I wasn't acting like one.

And so, pretty much, I discussed my faith with her and I realized at that moment that I was missing the picture.  I just realized that I was broken.  I was disgusted with myself.  I basically started bawling at that time.  I couldn't even stand up.  I was sitting down just overrun with emotions.  And it was just a terrible feeling there I would never ever want to be again.

And the thing that crossed my mind in it was that my free will got me here.  It was the fact that I was wanting to do it my way, it was the fact that I was never going to submit to God or Jesus or do it—you know, do it God's way.  That's what got me there and I hurt my wife.  I'm just completely disgusted with myself and I let her know that.  While I was breaking down and crying, I think that she realized that it was time to ask me if I could come to the Lord now, if I wanted to come to the Lord now.  And it was interesting because when she did, I was so overcome with emotion that I could only nod my head "yes" to her.  I couldn't even get up.  I was crawling over to her to get to where she could pray over me.

And basically at that moment when that happened, my mind started trying to get the better of me.  I started hearing these thoughts like, "Oh, you can't walk that Christian walk" or "You're just going to fail" or "God doesn't love you."  I was just hearing all these things in my mind that were just trying to sway me from coming to the Lord.  I guess you could say it was just my flesh telling me that "You're not going to be happy over there."  Anyway, I did the prayer that you always do at service.  Denise was—

Skip Heitzig: Okay, I want to hear about this.  Denise, you told me because you actually led him in the prayer, led your husband to receive Christ.  Tell me about that.

Denise:   I did.  We were talking—well actually, I woke up early in the morning and I was reading through the Bible and I was asking God for guidance on what to do because I didn't know what to do.  And I came across a passage and I don't remember what the passage is but it's about helping your brother when he has a burden, carrying the burden with him.  And he was my brother in Christ as well as my husband.  And so, I was going to have to help him carry that burden.

So I woke him up and we were talking, and I could just—he started crying.  In my mind, I thought, "Someone else is supposed to be bringing him to Christ."  I had always imagined that we would be at church and Skip would say, "Who wants to come down?" and he would go down and he would lead him in a prayer.  And at that moment, I knew it's not going to be Skip, that's going to be me, and I thought, "I don't know how to do this."  And then, I thought, "I can do this.  I see Skip do this every week and I can do it."  And so, we prayed.  We prayed and he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and savior.

Skip Heitzig: And that was in February of this year?

Denise:   Yeah.

Skip Heitzig: So you meant that—yes, please.  So real quickly Mike, you were saying the next day that you were scheduled to do some business thing in the morning and you cancelled that.  You obviously made a new set of choices to be bonded together, to love each other, to forgive each other.  How would you say, and of course, you're on the spot here but how would you say your marriage is today after the last several months?

Mike:Well, I would tell you that it is a heck of a lot stronger than I ever imagined it to be.  Where I was in the past, the person that I was in the past, I never could have imagined in my own free will that my marriage could be where it is and that's because of God.

I was able to completely repent from my affair.  I cut ties as soon as—I mean, it was dawn at that time but as soon as the workday started and people are awake in the world, I broke ties and started anew.  So I'm still working on gaining her complete trust back but other than that, it is—

Skip Heitzig: So can God heal any marriage?

Mike:God can heal any marriage.

Skip Heitzig: Amen!  God bless you guys!  Thank you.  Thank you, Denise.  Finally, we have our own mid-high pastor, Pastor AJ and he took a very interesting group to South Dakota.

Pastor AJ:         Yes, sir.

Skip Heitzig: And in an emergency trip, you went a day early because of something that happened and a catastrophe happened.

Pastor AJ:         Yes.

Skip Heitzig: A physical catastrophe happened; you were a part of it.  Our kids were a part of it.  A lot of us were worried about it, yet the Lord really turned it around.  What happened?

Pastor AJ:         Well, it was a Wednesday.  Kids were just doing their normal everyday thing when the sheriff came and dropped off a tornado warning because in South Dakota, the sheriff hand-delivers a tornado warning to you.  So I think the kids were in that state thinking, "Oh, okay, it's a tornado warning.  We've heard this before" but they said we need to the county courthouse.

The kids went down to the county courthouse, went downstairs and everybody—I think they still have that mentality everything is fine.  But then they started to see the clouds rolling, started to see the funnel clouds come in.  By the end of that night, it was reported on the news, at least ten F2 touched down tornadoes in the city we were in.

Skip Heitzig: What does F2 mean?  We don't know.  We don't have tornadoes here, right?

Pastor AJ:         It means winds of about 150 miles an hour, so pretty strong.  But the greatest thing through it all was that the kids—the reports that I got back for everyone in a limited amount of service that we could get back and forth during the storm was—during all of this, your students were inside of a vault worshipping the Lord, having a Bible study and even the greatest thing of that night was the two students led—one of the boys who lives in Dupree, South Dakota, led to Jesus Christ that night.

Skip Heitzig: That's awesome!  In the eye of the storm, somebody was led to Christ by our student.

Pastor AJ:         Yes.

Skip Heitzig: And they're all safe?

Pastor AJ:         And they're all safe, we're all back, and I'll tell you what.  They want to change it for the world.  They were the most changed.  We changed—we got to share Christ with a lot of people.  We had over a dozen people accept the Lord while we were out there.  But most of all, they were changed knowing that even in the midst of the roof being blown off the very building that they were in that their God is still good and He still loves them and he's in complete control.  They learned a lesson, a lifetime of lessons that night.

Skip Heitzig: That's neat, that's really neat AJ.  Thank you for that.

Pastor AJ:         Yeah, God bless.

Skip Heitzig: God bless you.  Okay, Brother Nick, come lead us in a song.  We're going to do a song before we have a short little study.  Wasn't that encouraging?  Those were great testimonies, weren't they?  I thank all of you for doing that.

Nick:Why don't we stand?

[Singing 00:48:31 – 00:52:31]

Skip Heitzig: Amen!  Have a seat.  In the movie "Braveheart"—how many have seen the movie "Braveheart"?  In the movie "Braveheart", William Wallace played by Mel Gibson, has a very classic line.  He says to his people who are staging this honorary rebellion, Wallace turns to his men, his troops and he says, "Fight and you may die.  Run and you will live, at least for a while.  But let our enemies know that they can take our lives but they can never take our freedom."  It's that word that captures the American spirit on this day, especially tomorrow on July 4th.

Freedom, that's what attracted so many people from so many nations, that grand hope that there would be the freedom of religion, the freedom away from the tyrannical governments that govern them, a land where they would have the freedom to choose.  And so, they came here and they came by the boatload, and they are still coming to our shores.

Just last week, I was in New York City with my family and I've been there many times but I've never taken the little trip that goes out into the harbor to see the Statue of Liberty Island and Ellis Island.  So we decided, "Let's take the tour."  By the way, it's the best deal in New York.  It's $12.00 for the boat ride.  You can't get anything.  You can't get a hotdog in New York for $12.00.

So we took this tour and it was just great because there was that huge Statue of Liberty, Lady Liberty and it's such an imposing, wonderful sight to see.  On the pedestal of Lady Liberty are inscribed the words by a woman named Emma Lazarus, an immigrant, a Jewish immigrant.  She wrote what was called "The New Colossus", a sonnet that she penned and here's part of the wording that is at the Statue of Liberty.

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse from your teeming shore.  I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

It was a sonnet meant to typify and to describe what Lady Liberty was doing as she guards New York Harbor welcoming people in.  And for many immigrants, that was the first thing they saw.  It was Lady Liberty welcoming them into the shores of the United States.  And so, they would see that and they would be ushered to Ellis Island, some 12 million of our ancestors.  Some of us have ancestors that came through Ellis Island, forebears, 12 million between 1892 and 1954 landed at Ellis Island and they came with the hope of freedom.  They came with the hope that life in this country would be very different from the life they left in their country, the promise of freedom, the hope of freedom.

And what kind of a country did they find?  Well, they found a country, at least on the coins and on the money that said "In God, we trust".  It was a nation that believed—at least it once did, that we were one nation under God.  And our forefathers on July 4, 1776 wrote into the most important document of the United States of America, the Declaration of Independence in the second paragraph the idea that God is to be a part of our society.  In the second paragraph, it reads, "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men were created," not evolved, "created equal and that they were endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

The nation those immigrants, our ancestors came in to was a nation that was built upon those principles and many observed it.  In the 19th century, in the 1800s, a French ambassador sent by the French government named Alexis de Tocqueville came to look at America, sent by the French government to sort of spy out our liberty.  He wanted to see firsthand this great—what was called this great experiment in democracy.

Now, you have to understand that at that time, the Europeans were very skeptical about America because they believe that if people in a country had freedom and it was a democracy, not a monarchy but if it was a democracy and people had freedom that it would lead to anarchy.  Now, in those countries, it was filled with tyranny because of the oppressive governments but they believe that the opposite end of the spectrum would be just as bad.  It would lead to anarchy.

So de Tocqueville came to this country and examined this great experiment in Democracy.  His writings are fascinating.  In one of his writings, he says, "I noticed that in the United States of America, it is the land where the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Christianity has its widest sway over the souls of men."  And he went on to note that of all the countries he had seen, it was the most enlightened and the freest of all nations.  In other words, according to this French ambassador's viewpoint, Christianity and freedom went hand in hand.

It's the most enlightened and the freest of all nations.  But he said something that I think is ominous to us at this stage in our history.  He reflected about Christianity and our belief in God, but then he said something very interesting.  He said, "America is great because America is good.  But when America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."

I wonder at what point we are at today.  Actually, I don't really wonder.  I sort of know and I have very, very strong opinions about that.  When America ceases to be great or good, America will cease to be great.  Freedom, that was the hope.  Freedom, that is what we celebrate every year around this time.  But you know, as Christians, we talk a lot about freedom.

The Bible talks a lot about freedom.  Jesus said, "Whoever the son sets free is free indeed," which means like he's really free.  He's like free to the max.  He's freer than any other kind of freedom.  He's free indeed.  And we even employ that terminology, don't we?  When we talk to people, even the worship band was saying tonight, "We've been set free.  Man, we've been set free."

Here's the question.  What have we been set free from and more importantly, what have we been set free for?  That's typically—that second part is a question I don't think a lot of Christians answer.  And I think you're going to find the answer to be surprising.  We have been set free, I heard it, from bondage, from sin, from self.  We have been set free in order to become slaves of God.  That's the second part that a lot of people leave out.  We haven't just been set free from sin and now we're free from sin and now we just sort of do whatever we want because we feel so free.

No, we have been set free from one master so that we might be indentured and become slaves to another master.  Did you know that?  We're to be slaves of righteousness and slaves of God.

Listen to what Paul writes in Romans Chapter six.  He says, "Don't you realize that whatever you choose to obey becomes your master?  You can choose sin which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God and receive his approval.  Thank God.  Once you were slaves of sin but now you have obeyed with all of your heart the new teaching that God has given you.  Now, you are free from sin, your old master, and you have become slaves to your new master, righteousness.  I speak this way using the illustration of slaves and masters because it's easy to understand.  Before you let yourselves be slaves of impurity and lawlessness, but now, you must choose to be slaves of righteousness so that you will become holy.  In those days when you were slaves of sin, you weren't concerned with doing what was right and what was the result?  It was not good since you are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom.  But now, you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God.  Now, you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life for the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus, our Lord."

Every person, every man, every woman is a slave to something or someone.  Now, if you haven't given your life to Christ, maybe you're sitting here tonight listening to that and you go, "I'm no one's slave."  I would disagree with you.  I think if we probed, we'll discover that you're a slave to yourself.  You're a slave to your own habits, your own lustful desires, your own standard that you have created in your mind and your heart.  You become enslaved to it and you don't find peace and you don't find freedom in that.

Even Bob Dylan in the 1980s said, "You might be the ambassador to England or France.  You might like to gamble.  You might like to dance.  You may be the heavyweight champion of the world.  You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls, but you're going to have to serve somebody."  Remember that?  Anybody remember that?  Yes indeed, you're going to have to serve somebody.  It may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you're going to have to serve somebody.

Everybody is the slave to someone or something, so my question for you tonight and only you can answer it in your own heart, I'm not asking you, "Do you admire God?" for you might say, "Sure, I admire God.  I'm glad he's up there."  My question to you isn't, "Are you a seeker of God?" for you might say, "Well, I am.  I'm probing.  I'm searching.  I'm looking.  I really want to find out."  Great!  But that's not my issue.  That's not my question.  I'm not asking you, "Do you admire Him?  Do you observe Him?"  I'm not asking you, "Do you seek after Him in some way?"  I'm asking you, are you His slave?  Have you relinquished your will, have you relinquished your life to be controlled by an alien will, God's will?  Have you relinquished the right of control to be controlled by an alien will?

Now, in the Old Testament, you may remember the story that if people got really, really poor and they couldn't pay off their debts, that they could become somebody's slave to pay off their debts.  They become and indentured slave for a period of six years.  They had to be treated fairly, justly, but they would in six years pay off their debt.  In the seventh year, the master had to release the slave, he was to go free.  But the Bible says if you were a slave and you happen to really love your master, you didn't want to go.  You love the relationship.  You wanted to continue to work for him now voluntarily.  You could do so.  And if you wanted to do so, they would bring you to the door post of the house.  They would take your earlobe and put it on the wood part of the door and they would take a metal al, a punch and they would punch a hole through your earlobe.

Now, you go, "Oh, that's gross!"  Women, you've done that all your lives.  Some of you guys have done that in the oddest of places.  You punched a hole in your flesh and the idea at that time was an earring was worn in the ear to say, "I am that man's slave."

So there were two types of relationships that a slave could have with a master.  Number one, he could serve out of poverty.  "I'm serving him because I have to."  Number two, he could be a servant not out of poverty but out of loyalty.  "I serve him because I want to."

Now, Paul the Apostle so often sees himself as a slave, his words, slave of Jesus Christ.  He says, "Paul"—that's how he begins every letter, "a bond servant" or a better translation, "a bond slave of the Lord, Jesus Christ".  He was willingly aptigating his authority and willingly being controlled by an alien will, the Lord Jesus Christ.

So the message of the Bible is the more you become his slave, the more freedom you really experience.  The more you become slaves to other things, other people, even yourself, the less freedom you have.

There's something else when I was in New York that made an impression.  New York has been called a melting pot, the melting pot of America.  And I think of those words on the Statue of Liberty that I just mentioned, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free the wretched refuse of your teeming shore."  America has been all about, "Bring me anyone and everyone."  People from different persuasions, different colors, different countries have huddled together in the United States of America and come through the immigration process.

I think the church is like that.  We're the Body of Christ.  People from different backgrounds, people with different colors, people with different cultures, different languages, different countries all coming together in a very unique organism and organization called the Body of Christ where the Bible says, "There is no male, female, Sethian, bond or free.  We are all one in Christ.  The barriers have gone.  We're not brother and sister."  And so, what the United States did for people physically, the church of Jesus Christ and the family of God does for one another spiritually.

When Jesus Christ was on the cross, he gave the greatest declaration of independence.  Toward the end of that time on the cross, he said, "It is finished," which means it's been paid in full.  It is finished.  "Father, into your hands, I commit my Spirit."  At the beginning of his time on the cross, he said, "Father, forgive them" and at the end, he said, "It's done.  It's finished."  That's our declaration of independence, that we can be forgiven by truly placing our trust in Jesus.  As you heard Mike say tonight, as you heard Denise say, as you heard JW say, these are people who fought for years.  "Oh, I'm okay with God" but they came to the realization "I'm not okay with God."  It hasn't been genuine and real and authentic.  "I haven't surrendered my life to be controlled by an alien will."

I heard a story of a prisoner and he was being escorted by a prison guard to an indictment hearing.  He was in for armed robbery.

The prison guard noticed a chain around the prisoner's neck that had a little cross on it, which was odd because the prison guard knew the prisoner wasn't any kind of a religious person at all.  And so, he remarked, "Why do you have a cross on?"  He goes, "Oh, I don't know.  It's really just like a good luck charm."

Well, the prison guard studied it more closely and more carefully and discovered that that cross was actually a handmade key that had the potential to unlock almost any set of handcuffs.  That cross could set that prisoner free.  That's why he had it on his neck.  The cross of Christ can set any prisoner free.   And once you're set free not only from guilt, not only from punishment, you become free to be his slave and that's what salvation is all about.  It's turning from sin to God, to Christ, to Him.  And I'll tell you what, he takes good care of his servants and you're going to discover that to be his slave is the greatest possible freedom you could ever have in this life.

Now, we're going to bow our heads.  I'm going to ask Nick to come up and I'm going to give some of you an opportunity to do something about it.  If in hearing a testimony tonight, either by JW or Mike or Denise, if you realize, "You know, I haven't really made it personal.  I've come to church.  I was raised in a Christian home.  I've acknowledged that God exists.  I've admired God.  I've even sought after God.  I've observed Him, but I'm not His servant."

I'm going to give you the opportunity to change that, to step out of bondage, out of slavery into real freedom tonight.  Get rid of the old.  If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.  Old things have passed away and behold or as I translate it, check it out, all things become new.

Just like you heard testimonies tonight, we're going to be able to hear your testimony after tonight, after you give your life to Christ.  Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father, in this place, this wonderful, cool amphitheater environment, this beautiful facility, we've just been having sort of a holy party in your presence, singing, listening to heartfelt testimonies, considering what your word says about true freedom, considering our own nation even that others observed that it was great because it was good.  And that Christianity has exerted its influence upon the landscape and the populous of this nation.  But Father, I pray that more than just having some kind of an imprint or an influence, I pray that the people within the hearing of this message would step into the night, in reality, in real time step out of darkness into light, that they'd make a decision, a decision to leave the old, to repent of their sins and to step into the light, and I pray they do it publicly.  And I pray Lord that you'd fill them with the same kind of peace, the same kind of hope, the same kind of change that we have heard in these testimonies tonight that were so powerful.  In Jesus name, Amen.

As we sing this final song—it's actually not the final song but it's the final song before I'm done, as we sing this song, no matter where you are standing or sitting in this great circle tonight, if you're standing or sitting right in front of me or way in the back on the steps or maybe you're hiding in some corner thinking, "Great, I'll come.  This is fun, but nobody knows that I'm here," and now you've discovered God knows and God the Holy Spirit is drawing you to himself.  He doesn't want to let you go.  He loves you too much to let you go.  You know that God loves you the way you are tonight.  Just the way you are, God loves you.  No matter how you came tonight, no matter how broken you may feel tonight, you're welcome here.  No matter what kind of bondage you've lived through or presently in, God loves you the way you are.

But God loves you too much to leave you the way you are and only God can do something about it.  But you have to cooperate with Him.  He's drawing some of you tonight.  As we sing this song, I'm going to ask you to get up from where you're standing or sitting out on this great park and come and stand right up here and allow me to lead you in a prayer now, tonight, to receive Jesus Christ as your personal Lord, not your parents' Lord, not your husband's Lord, not your wife's, yours.  Make it your salvation.  Come to Christ tonight.  As we sing this song, we're going to give you the opportunity.  Come and stand right up here and I'll lead you into prayer.

[Singing]

We're going to take time for this.  There are a lot of folks that are out this way toward the bookstore and you might be in the middle of the row.  All you have to do is say, "Excuse me."  People will know what to do.  In fact, you might even inspire somebody to come up with you and stand with you and make the same choice.

Young, old, male, female, it doesn't matter.  There are no barriers here.  Everybody is the same size at the foot of the cross.  Everybody is on level ground.  Everybody needs forgiveness.  Everybody needs forgiveness.  Come and get yours.

[Singing]

There are a couple of people that are still coming.  I just have a word of encouragement to those of us who are on the older side of life.  I want to ask you a question, especially if you're getting up in years and you're here, you happen to be here.  Are you certain that when you die, you're going to go to heaven?  Do you know that for certain?  Is there something in your heart that is missing, in your life that is missing?  You've been religious, you've been an upstanding citizen.  That's not the issue.  Something's missing.  It's a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  If the Lord is speaking to you tonight, and so here's the problem however.  The older we get, the more set in our ways we become.  In fact, sometimes the harder of heart we become.  If there's even an ounce of sensitivity in your heart and you don't know Jesus Christ tonight, you get up and come at this time in your life and you're going to find yourself—in your heart, you're going to be like a brand new baby inside.

A whole new outlook on like, a whole new lease on life, a whole new sense of freedom.  Again, young or old, you come.  Anybody else in these closing moments, anybody else?  Make that decision, make it now.  You've said the word, "I'll wait."  You've said way too long now.  Forget the, I'll wait, don't' wait.  Don't wait another second.  Come on down, come and receive your forgiveness.

[Applause]

Skip Heitzig: I've just been told that the greenbelt, the green park we have, this five acre greenbelt is packed full of people.  We're glad for that.  But if you're over in the greenbelt, we don't want you to feel left out.  I can't see you but I know you're there.  And we want you to be a part of this.  And if you're in the greenbelt, if you've come tonight, somebody's going to be over there and they're going to take you over.  And if there's nobody to take you, find the quickest route possible and come this direction.  We'll wait for a few moments.  But you come and join the others.  There's a whole bunch of people that are about to pray to receive Christ.  Come and join them.

[Applause]

[Singing]

Skip Heitzig: I'm not going to drag this on too much longer, but I feel like the Lord has put something else on my heart.  I just want to say a word to the men who are here, okay?  I'm not going to like go to every gender tonight or every possible age group but to men especially.  Because you know what? There's something about men that are—we're just too cool to do something like this.  "We'll let the women do that, but I would never do that."  I want to tell you, if you're a real man, you'll make it stand.  You don't care what anybody thinks except what God thinks.  That's a man.

I got to tell you a quick story that I've told in the past and I tell it now very rarely because it's a very painful memory.  I shared with my older brother who was hard on motorcycles hails angel.  And I told him about Jesus and he said, the last words he said to me that I remember," while he was alive is, "I'll think about it.  I'll wait.  I don't want to do it right now." He put it off.  I remember he said, "Not now."  Two weeks later, I got the news that he died in a motorcycle accident.  You don't know how much time you have left in this earth.  Now is the time the Bible says.  Today's the day of salvation.  Don't you put this decision off any longer.  Don't you wait just because you think you're cool, because you know what, it's not cool to go to hell.  Last time I checked, that's not cool.  It's really cool to go to heaven forever and to be forgiven forever and to have a brand new life forever.  We'll wait just another moment then I'm going to pray.

[Singing]

Skip Heitzig: And that's exactly what you all are about to do right now, surrender.  A lot of you came and we're so glad you did.  And so, this is where you surrender.  This is where you tell the Lord, "Take my life."  This is where you give it away to him, right here, right now.

This is how it's going to work, I'm going to lead you in a prayer and I'm going to ask you to say that prayer out loud after me from your heart to the Lord.  Okay, I'm going to say it in little bits and pieces and you think about it and you say it from your heart to the Lord.  And if you're watching tonight by the internet or by television, you can do the same thing as well.  So are you ready? Ready.  Let's do business with God.  You pray after me.

Lord, I gave you my life.  I surrender to you.  I know that I'm a sinner, please forgive me.  I believe that Jesus died on the cross and that He rose from the grave and that He did it for me.  I turn from my sin.  I live my past behind and I turn my life over to you, to follow you, to obey you as your disciple.  Give me the power to do that.  Fill me with your Holy Spirit.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

Oh come on, you got to be more excited than that.

[Applause]

Yeah that's cool.  Okay, so this is cool.  What you just did, that was cool.  That was really great.  Now, we want the opportunity to tell you what's next and to tell you have to walk and follow the Lord.  So we have counselors.  Now, just a heads up for you and everybody here, this is in our normal Saturday night service.  We normally have Saturday night service in the church.  This is special celebration.  Tomorrow is entirely different service, entirely different message.  We're doing a series in the Gospel of John and we're going to do that in the morning.  So everybody who came tonight is invited back to one of our services tomorrow.  Including you who have come forward.  You're starting off tonight.  We want to start you off on the right way and explain what it is to follow Christ.

So Pastor Neil who's raising his bible and moving it around.  Would you follow Neil in our counseling team this way? Everybody who's come up, we'll help you.  But come right over this direction so that we can talk to you for a few minutes.  Lord bless you.

[Applause]

Let's fill this place with a worship.

Additional Messages in this Series

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Date Title   Watch Listen Notes Share Save Buy
7/4/1999
completed
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Are You Really Free?
John 8
Skip Heitzig
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Are You Really Free? - John 8 from our study Independence Day Messages with Skip Heitzig from Calvary Albuquerque.
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7/4/2004
completed
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Freedom Celebration 2004 - Are You Really Free?
John 8:31-51
Skip Heitzig
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Message Summary
Freedom Celebration 2004 - Are You Really Free? - John 8:31-51 from our study Independence Day Messages with Skip Heitzig from Calvary Albuquerque.
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7/4/2007
completed
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Special Baptism Service
Skip Heitzig
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7/5/2009
completed
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Freedom Celebration 2009
Skip Heitzig
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Freedom Celebration 2009 from our study Independence Day Messages with Skip Heitzig from Calvary Albuquerque.
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7/3/2011
completed
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Freedom Celebration 2011
John 8:31-35
Skip Heitzig
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Message Summary
All of us are born into bondage—we are slaves to sin. But there is hope! Jesus can turn a slave into a son! As we consider our text from John 8, we'll be challenged to grow up and to grow deep in our relationship with Christ.
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7/4/2012
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Freedom Celebration 2012
Skip Heitzig
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On Independence Day, we gather to thank God for and celebrate our country's freedom—but what good is civil liberty without freedom in Christ? Jesus promised freedom to His followers—freedom from spiritual ignorance, freedom from sin, and freedom from death. These give cause for a deeper, more meaningful, celebration.
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7/3/2013
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Freedom Celebration 2013
Galatians 5:1
Skip Heitzig
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Before accepting Christ into our lives we are slaves to sin who cannot experience true liberty. Even now, as we take freedom for granted in our nation, we may actually be in bondage to the many lies of the world. In Paul's letter to the Galatians, we see a warning about legalism and an encouragement to truly be free in Christ.
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7/2/2014
completed
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Freedom Celebration 2014
John 8:31-36
Skip Heitzig
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Jesus addressed the religious people of His day about true freedom, but they didn't understand what He was talking about. They thought they were free—even claiming that the nation of Israel had never been in bondage—but they were deeply misguided. In this study, we look at what Jesus had to say about where real freedom comes from—not sin or self, but from the Son alone.
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7/1/2015
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Freedom Celebration 2015 - Living Free in a Broken World
1 Timothy 1-2
Skip Heitzig
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Message Summary
It seems that the more freedom people gain, the less they understand and appreciate true freedom. In this special Independence Day message, Skip Heitzig gives us three points from 1 Timothy 1-2 about how to impact the world around us as we live in true freedom, which comes only from Jesus Christ.
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7/2/2016
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Freedom Celebration 2016
Skip Heitzig
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Mankind is addicted to working for a salvation we cannot attain on our own. In this Independence Day message, we learn that even though sin promises to fulfill our need for freedom, true freedom comes from the Son of God.
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6/30/2017
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Freedom Celebration 2017 - Friday
Skip Heitzig
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Though we are blessed with freedom in the United States, many people are not truly free. Nicodemus was a man who appeared to have it all together. Little did he know that the void in his life could only be filled by a relationship with Jesus. In this message, we learn what it means to be born again.
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7/1/2017
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Freedom Celebration 2017 - Saturday
Skip Heitzig
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Death is a subject most people avoid talking about--it's uncomfortable. But the fact is that every single person will eventually die. In this message, we learn that we don't have to be afraid of death if we are willing to come before Jesus in repentance for our sins.
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There are 12 additional messages in this series.
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