Do We Have Freedom or Is It Licentiousness?

Many years ago when I was beginning my ministry, God led me to be concerned about the area of spiritual warfare and liberation, how I as a pastor could help my people to free themselves from the chains and attacks of the enemy. That is a dimension of the Christian life and I understood that this was a dimension for my pastorate as well. Just like preaching and administration and all other things, I understood that this dimension of seeking the liberation of my people and understanding the demonic aspect and evil in their movement in the world and in the church was important to my training as a Shepherd. And God led me to two people, Dr Ed Murphy who wrote a well-known volume called "The Spiritual Warfare Manual" and the writings of Dr Neil Anderson who has been in ministry for a long time and has written dozens of books that literally they have circulated throughout the world teaching and instructing the church in the area of spiritual warfare, counseling, spiritual liberation and all these things that are so important. And his ministry is very broad, very varied, very multifaceted and this week we had him here with us and he has been a great blessing. I never thought we would have him in our church because he is a man who is in great demand in the US and in other countries around the world as well, but glory to God, we have had a wonderful weekend and now we have the privilege of having him with we. Give a big round of applause to welcome Dr Neil Anderson. Good afternoon. It is a joy to be with you again. I was here in Boston when I was in the Navy in 1963 and it was unfortunately the worst year of my life. But this has been a good visit. I can feel the good spirit in this church and I think it has something to do with this man and his wife. Many years ago Dr. George Barna did some surveys about legalism in churches and we were amazed at the discoveries he made. Legalism is alive and well in this country. Not necessarily what is taught but it is still the way many people relate to God. Tell me what is right and what is wrong, I will try to do what is right and when I don't then correct me. But you know what? We do not want to live by the law, because the law kills but the spirit gives life. And in many ways I think there are a lot of people who would like to live by the law but you know what? You are robbing yourself of your freedom that you have in Christ Jesus and I see many of the things that the church is doing in response to all that is wrong with this society and culture. People are taking drugs, so what do we do? We preach against it; alcohol and so we preach against that too. And we preach against divorce and we quote from the Old Testament, God hates divorce and it is true but he also often hates the person who gets divorced. And we must never forget that but how is that working, has never worked and will never work this law of legalism. Now, when one walks by the spirit one then does not execute the desires of the flesh. And this afternoon I want to talk about how to walk in the spirit. If you have your Bible, let's go to Galatians, Chapter 5 16 to 18. The word says here: "... I say then, walk in the spirit and do not satisfy the desires of the flesh because the desire of the flesh is against the spirit and the spirit is against the flesh, and these oppose each other so that you do not do what you want but if you are led by the spirit you are not under the law...."

And now the question is, how does one walk and live in the spirit and there is a problem here. Many times we answer this question by giving you three steps and a formula, and if I did that I would be putting you back under the law. The spirit is not a thing, but it is a person, it is a he. And this is not a new problem. Nicodemus came up to Jesus one night and asked Jesus how he could receive eternal life. And Jesus answered him, well, you have to be born again. Born again? How can a man enter his mother's womb again? And the Lord answers him, and you, being a scribe, a teacher of law, don't you understand things like these? I am speaking, says Jesus, about the spirit. The spirit is like the wind, it blows where it wants. What the Lord is saying, I think, is that we should take the oars of our boat and raise the sail. And I like that idea of what it means to be moved by the wind of God and go where the wind takes us. And in reality, we rather miss what walking in the spirit is not, but that helps us a little because it gives us two parameters within which we can live. So first two things that walking in the spirit is not. Walking in the spirit does not mean debauchery. Debauchery is simply completely neglecting the rules, the moral laws. When I was a little boy, going to church was like going to a hot dog joint. One either turned it over or they burned. And you expected to go to church and get your regular dose of guilt and accusation. And one would ask the preacher to throw away the whole law and if not, well then, he would not put the money in the offering plate. And then the movement of the people of Jesus came in the 60s, the Christian hippies, it's like at the moment they discovered the love of God so it was a matter of flowing in the spirit, everything was very mystical , do whatever you want, smoke a joint of marijuana. But in reality it was the opposite, the Bible says that when one lives in the spirit one does not carry out the desires of the flesh, one will not do what he wants. I remember when I first started the ministry, we lived close to a Catholic family and I was always looking for an opportunity to share the love of Jesus with them and that man had a number of children and the oldest of them was always I took care of our two small children. And one Sunday night my chance finally came. Ten at night she comes and knocks on my door, and she says, I forgot to ask you, you can come, she told me, to my religion class in San Antonio, my church, and talk to us about Protestantism, and I said, Well, I'm going to pray about this. I immediately told him, I think I can go. And on Tuesday morning I went to this Catholic school and there I met the Monsignor and I told him, I clarified that I don't come here to misrepresent Catholicism so feel free to correct me if I make a mistake. So I started with the history of the church, the Reformation, justification by faith which are things of Protestantism, I told them how our belief is that every person can have a personal relationship with the living God, I gave each one a tract in fact and then I opened the class to discussion. And there was a very smart guy sitting back there in the last pew, he had a jacket with the school logo, and he asked me, do you have many prohibitions in your religion? I said, well I don't think I have anything to say that God doesn't do, at least I think not. But you're not really asking me this, you're really asking, do you have freedom? And so he said, well, okay, do you have freedom? And I told him, of course, I can do whatever I want. I asked, well why not? I asked him, couldn't I take a stone right now and break glass with it if I feel like it? But if I did that, wouldn't I always have to look behind me to see if someone is going to catch me and put me in jail? I suppose I am free to tell a lie if I want to, but then I would have to remember who I told the lie to and what the lie was about. Do you remember those days? Are you still in on this? You see, freedom does not simply mean the ability to exercise a choice or a right but rather is related to the consequences of those decisions we make. I say, God has given me the freedom to make all kinds of decisions and that I can live with the freedom that he bought for me on the cross of Calvary. And then I asked him, by the way, are you free? And then at that moment the bell rang and they all scattered. And then the Monsignor arrives, approaches me and says, wow, what you said was tremendous. And I wanted to ask you, well, what part of what I said? I want to tell you in other words that whatever it is to walk in the spirit does not mean to walk in debauchery. But it's not legalism either. When one is led by the spirit one is not under the law. Now let me tell you, there is no one in this place right now more committed than I am to helping people live a just and godly life, and right before God but if you believe that the answer to that challenge is to live under the law , there are 3 things you need to know according to the Scriptures. Let's go back to Galatians Chapter 3 and look at verse 10 where it says: “...for all who depend on the works of the law are under a curse, for written is cursed whoever does not abide in all things written in the book of the law to do them...." So if you try to live only according to the law you will feel cursed all the time because Paul says if you are guilty of a single point of the law you become guilty of the whole law. When you try to live a just life according to the law you will be an obsessed person, a compulsive perfectionist and you will never be able to achieve it. You are going to be a plague to yourself and all the people around you. And let's notice what follows in Galatians 3 in verses 11 to 14, it says here: “... and that by the law no one is justified before God is evident because the just shall live by faith, and the law is not of faith, but he who does these things shall live by them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by making us a curse, for it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might reach the Gentiles so that by faith we might receive the promise of the spirit....” You know what it says here is very interesting because it says that the fact that no one is justified by the law becomes evident. And I think so, but then why is there that kind of curse under the law? How many of us continually do that is based on a law or a principle that would force us to respond in obedience as opposed to the things we do based on a concept of life that would force me to respond rather by faith according to what God said? What is true in Scripture and then be able to live under the power of God instead of executing the desires of the flesh? The first refers to living under the law, and the second to living under grace. we are not only saved by faith but we are also sanctified by faith. One lives by faith, one walks by faith. Because God saw him as faithful, found him faithful God put Paul into Christian service. The way we live as Christians is by faith in the power of God. that is the new covenant. And you know something, it is very difficult to be under the yoke of the law and if you continuously live under the law it will work as if it were a curse, you will continually feel guilty. And the law was simply like a preparatory, a difficult teacher whose function was to prepare us to receive the teaching of life from Jesus Christ. Chapter 3 in verse 21 of Galatians makes this point where it says: “...then is the law contrary to the promises of God? In no way, because if the given law could give life, justice would truly be by law...” You know, brothers? The law has no power to give life. Listen, Christians, we are servants of a new covenant because the law kills but the spirit gives life. Let me put this in a practical way. Simply telling people that what they are doing is wrong is never going to give people the power to stop making what they are doing sinful. And that concept is very beautifully illustrated in a text, in a story that appeared in a newspaper, The Los Angeles Times. In this story, the state commissioned a lady to visit different schools so that this woman could teach classes on safe sex, that is, that it would not lead to pregnancies, and this was not a Christian program but she was an expert from the state on this subject. And the idea was, well if you teach these young people about supposedly safe sex, then they're all going to practice safe sex. But she herself had a very serious obesity problem and this woman had read a number of books on nutrition, on diets, on exercises and she could have given lectures on these diet topics etc, also perfectly, she was an expert. But even knowing all that stuff about diet and exercise, it didn't stop her from eating a second slice of cake that day. And I thought, that admission is not only honest but enlightening as well. Here is a person who is supposed to be a mature adult, she knew what was right and what was wrong and yet she herself could not carry it out. And how does one expect the young themselves to do it too? Good point, right? Remember the dare program ten years ago in this country, just say no. Did this work? No, they just left the show and it just got worse. So the second problem with living under the law is simply that the law has no power to give life. And even more revealing we have a third point. Let's look there in Romans, Chapter 7, verse 5. It says: “....for while we were in the flesh the sinful passions which were by law worked in our members bearing fruit unto death... ” We see here that what the law did was arouse sinful passions. Let's look here in verse 8, it says: “...but sin taking occasion by the commandment produced in me all covetousness because without the law sin is dead....” Do you understand what this is saying? In reality, what the law has is the capacity to stimulate precisely what it is supposed to prohibit and prevent. Don't you think so? Well tell your son, look you can't go there but you can go there. At the moment you say that, where do you think the child wants to go? There exactly where you told him not to go. He probably didn't even want to go there before, it's like paint that's still wet. I remember a school where they always put up a list of the movies that the boys couldn't see, that they weren't supposed to see. And those were the good movies. And the boys immediately copied the list to go see those precisely. Why is it that the forbidden fruit is always the most attractive? I'm not sure, but it's definitely not a new concept. The Lord told him, you can eat from any tree in the garden but that one, you cannot eat from it. Why not? You know? Much of what Paul is writing and expounding on is about what is sinful. No, he is not saying that the law is sinful, quite the contrary, the law is what makes the universe that God created work, the law is necessary. In other words, remember this, that God's commandments are not restrictive, not to prohibit but to protect. But what was a law in the old covenant now becomes a promise in the new covenant in Christ Jesus if one walks by the spirit. He says then, when one walks in the spirit he will not kill, he will not steal, he will not kill, whatever. Now remember we are under a new covenant. If then it is not debauchery and it is not legalism, what are we talking about, then. It is freedom; where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. Now let's go back to Galatians Chapter 5 again. Those 3 verses are a summary of the whole Chapter. Let's look for Galatians 5 verses 1 and 2, it says there: “... therefore stand firm in the freedom with which Christ set us free and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery. Behold, I Paul, I tell you that if you are circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing and again I testify to every man who is circumcised that he is obliged to keep all the law..." Do not return to the law . Let's look there in verse 13, Galatians 5, it says there: “...because you, brothers, were called to freedom, only that you do not use freedom as an opportunity for the flesh but serve one another out of love to others.....” It is not so much about licentiousness or legalism, but about freedom. Now, I admit that the road is narrow and that we are ascending on that mountain of God. Imagine that the path is narrow and that ahead of you is a church on that path and that here is a very high cliff, too high to climb and too deep to jump over, and here on the other side is a forest fire terrible and behind you is a lion, where would you walk? Immediately I would go directly to the church. You know? My sanctuary, my protection is in Christ Jesus. When you fix your eyes on Jesus, says the Bible, the finisher of our faith walks in faith according to what he declares to be true, then in Christ Jesus we will find all the sanctuary and protection we need. But here we always have an option on the right, just jump in and jump off the cliff. Can you imagine the great joy, the great excitement that one feels while jumping? Just jumping through the air. It's like the illustration of the man who fell off the Empire State Building, and as he was falling you heard him say 'everything is good for now'. But there are serious consequences when that option is made, like that sudden stop at the end of the road. You see, that is the nature of life of temptation and debauchery. If I weren't attractive I wouldn't be tempted. How many were tempted to eat spinach this morning? We'll see. Remember back in the '60s everyone was like, hey, free sex. Was he really free? You know the cost in terms of living is absolutely overwhelming, if the trend continues by the year 2020, 80 million people will die of AIDS, probably the most incurable disease that currently exists, and by far the most preventable of all. Tomorrow we could stop it completely. Just refrain. That's all there is to it, stop using drugs, we can't do it. What's more, when the world AIDS congress arrives, not even that abstinence option will be presented, secular men will not use it. And here we have another option, on the left. Just burn, baby, burn. And here is legalism, no, fire and brimstone. And what's interesting is that the devil always starts out as a tempter. Walk, you know you want to do it, go. Everyone is doing it and you are going to run away with them. So do it. And then the devil changes his role immediately and then he becomes, from tempter to accuser. And then one discovers late that they have trapped you, they have deceived you. Now, what do we mean, what does the Bible say with freedom? Well, one walks by the spirit. Now, that means, it implies two things, two things that freedom is not. It doesn't mean sit or run. What is the great evangelical error? Runs. Look at all the things we've done. We went there, we went here, we did this, we did that. But really, how much fruit remains from all that activism? One does not measure spirituality by simply how much is done but by the fruit it leaves behind. If the devil can't make you immoral, he'll just make you busy, he'll get you into a lot of things you have to do. Remember Isaiah Chapter 40? The vigorous and strong young people stumble badly, however those who hope in the Lord will rise high as eagles, they will run and they will not get tired. And the other option is to just sit there and pout, get depressed, and put on a fake saintly face. And it's a good, interesting question. How much actually gets done in this church age when we try to do things for ourselves? You know what? Nothing, apart from Christ we can do absolutely nothing. How much is actually done elsewhere when we just sit back and wait for God to do it all? Nothing. You know? We can have the privilege of pouring water on the bush but the one who gives the growth, says the word, is God, now, on the other hand if one pours water on the bush then nothing grows either. God promised to make his wisdom known through the church. A story, there was a pastor who had a habit of gardening and one of his elders, one of his old deacons came to visit him one day. And he said, wow, the Lord has given you a beautiful garden, and the pastor said, well, I wish you had seen it when God had it all by himself, it was a mess. And it's true, isn't it? look there in Matthew Chapter 11, and here we have an image that the Lord Jesus Christ left us, verse 28 to the end says: “..Come to me all you who you are worked and loaded and I will give you rest, take my yoke upon you and learn from me that I am meek and humble of heart and you will find rest for your souls, because my yoke is easy and my load is light...."

That is the most beautiful invitation in the entire Bible. He did not say, come to this great church, or come to one of my conferences, but he said come to me, to my presence, take my yoke upon you, oh, one says, I don't need another yoke. They know that you cannot put this yoke of Jesus on yourself unless you take off all the other yokes. And in the context of here, of this passage, what you are going to be throwing off, the yoke that you are going to be throwing away is the yoke of legalism and you are going to learn from Jesus, and you are going to find rest for your soul. How many would like to have rest? I'm sure everyone would like it. Now, I am an old farmer, a farm boy, my dad started being a farmer when horses were used and I learned a lot about horses and the image that Jesus uses here was from the time when agriculture was done using oxen. Now, imagine the image that the Lord is providing here in this call. A yoke is that very heavy piece of wood that one puts on top of an ox. And how well does that yoke work if there is only one ox? It doesn't work at all. It would be much better if one simply did not have it. Only a yoke works when there are two oxen together and both are pulling in the same direction. Now, what they did in those days is that they took an old ox, a veteran ox that had learned obedience from all the beatings they had given it, in fact that is what is said of Jesus Christ who suffered, and the Lord knew how to walk, and then that old and experienced ox was placed next to a younger and more spirited ox hoping that the undisciplined younger ox would learn from the older ox. And what do you think the spirited young ox would be tempted to do? He says, hey, dad you're going too slow, speed up. I'm going to run right away. And what would happen to that young ox is he would get a great pain in the neck. The Bible says that although young people falter and fall. One day the young ox would say, hey, I'm not going to work today. Hey, life goes on, many times we are tempted to go from left to right, if that young ox is really smart what he is going to do is that he is going to realize that that old ox knows how to walk, you know what? would say? Hm, I want to learn the old ox, and then I would learn to take one day at a time. I would learn about relationships and the priorities in relationships, I would learn to walk with God. When my wife and I got married, she was pregnant with our first child, and we bought our first puppy, a precious pet for our children. So for 12 years they had this little dog, a poodle, very cute and at the moment he died and that was a terrible trauma for the boys and I was trying, trying hard to be a good father at the moment, so I immediately went, what did I do? ? I bought another puppy. I'm talking about a marriage that is bouncing for the second time now. And that second puppy was the most neurotic thing you could imagine. I think they opened the door for him thinking that they wanted to let him go and make him disappear from their life and this little dog never left. For some reason my son loved this damn little dog and in our town, by the way, he had a dog obedience class for dogs, ten obedience lessons for 25 dollars for disobedient dogs, he says bring a chain of those to pull his neck. So I sent my son and the puppy to obedience school. and in two weeks the puppy had trained my son perfectly and my little boy just gave up. And one day I said, you know what? I am going to take this little dog and I am going to take him for a walk. I'm not going to let it pull me, I'm not going to run, I'm going to walk, and I own it, and I know exactly where I want to go. I tied up that little dog, put the chain on it and immediately when we left through the front door that walk supposedly, the little dog was strangling, or sometimes he wanted to be smelling something very dirty and ugly there or a flower or whatever. And I just kept walking and that was a problem, or many times it was tied around a column. But I was determined, I am the lord, I am the owner and I just kept walking. And now you ask me, did that stupid little dog finally learn his lesson how to walk? He never learned. And there are many Christians who haven't learned either. Some just keep going and end up getting burned and some go left or right and just disappear from the map. And even if that is the case in your life, if you are listening to me there is still something you can do, you can listen, attend. Says the Lord, come to me. I created you. I know how you should walk, I know the way. So one walks in the spirit but one is also led, led by the spirit. Now being led means you are not being pushed. Neil you have to decide right now. Well, okay, no. Why not? Because the guidance, the direction of God does not come into our life in that compulsive, mandatory way. God's direction may come suddenly but only for those who are spiritually prepared. Who knows if someone is possibly pushing you into making a snap decision without having time to reflect and pray, you know what? Back off, don't do it, that's not God talking. Pentecost came suddenly but how many days of preparation in prayer and waiting preceded that sudden moment of Pentecost. And you know what? We are led by spirit not dragged out of the spirit zone. Someone says, come here for a minute, we have a secret meeting. And you know what? You are in trouble with God because in God there are no secrets, God is all light, there is no darkness. One has to always walk in the light. One is not doing dark things. Now again, I'm an old-fashioned farmer. On the farm where I grew up we raised sheep. Sheep bring back many good memories. Says the word, we are sheep of his pasture and he is the great shepherd. But this fact also has its disadvantages. If one does not know the following about sheep one should know this, very important they are the stupidest animals on the whole farm, they are there very close to the chickens. You can sell food to the cows, and you can feed the pigs and cows to eat as much as they want, but with the sheep you can't do it that way, they simply be left If you give them food, while you're giving them food they eat and eat and eat until they die and explode. The proverbs have a lot to say about being too rich and having too much money. And that's also very true about grass when it's really green and rich and bushy. Sheep can start eating and eating and eating until they burst with grass, that's why Psalm 23 says, the Lord is my shepherd, I will lack nothing, I will lack nothing. He lays me down in places of delicate pastures and makes me rest because he knows that otherwise he would eat me to death. Now in the spring times in Minnessotta, when the snow would start to melt around the 4th of July, spring, all the roads, the roadsides would turn real green with the grass and dad would say, take the sheep and lead them along the roadsides but keep them moving, so we would move them and lead them, and because we kept them moving we would harass them like one of those Aussie sheep dogs that always keep them moving sheep. A while ago I had the privilege of studying in Israel and we were in Bethany near Jerusalem. There is a hill more or less in the shape of a cone called Herodian, and on top of that cone, on that hill, there is a fort, one of seven fortresses that Herod had built in his time. Masada is one of those forts that Herod built. And I was there on that Herodian hill looking at the beautiful field below me, and from where I was I could see a shepherd with about 15 sheep and very soon I saw him say something that I didn't understand and then go out and start walking and leave them . But what happened, that all the sheep began to follow him. And it gave me so much excitement to see this that I started taking photos everywhere and the only thing that could be seen, because it was so far in the height, was just little dots in the photo in fact. But I took the photo simply because I loved that scene because it was a scene totally foreign to the experience that I had, but you know what? the shepherds in Israel are not pushing the sheep from behind, they are not pushing them from behind, but they are leading from the front, the sheep follow the shepherds. And do you know, remember the verse? My sheep listen to my voice and follow me. All those who are being led by the spirit of God, those are the children of God. How does one walk in the spirit? It is not about licentiousness, it is not about legalism, it is not about simply always being active.... from one activity to the next, it is not about staying there in a supposedly sanctimonious and pious place. You and I have been invited to walk with that gentle and meek Jesus Christ under the new covenant of grace. I don't understand why the world is looking for a spirit guide, those bad spirits, when they have a good spirit that can guide them? We should get up every day and say, Lord I belong to you, I deserved hell but you gave me eternal life. Fill me with your Holy Spirit, guide me into all truth so that I can walk in faith. I do not want to execute the desires of the flesh, I want to live a pious, just, upright life and I hope and pray that this is your experience every day. Let me say something, and that is that it has been a great privilege to be here with you, but my plane leaves at 4 in the afternoon. Bye bye. Let's bless Pastor Neil Anderson. Let's stand up. God bless you. Glory to God. Brothers, it is a privilege as brother Neil Anderson says, God calls us to walk in the freedom of the spirit. We have said it many times that religion, formalism does not lead to anything good. We cannot depend on pastors, or churches, or our teachers to live the Christian life for us. God wants each of us to learn to walk in the spirit for himself. Amen. That we live an authentic life in the spirit, brothers, that each one of us have a personal encounter with Christ Jesus and that we know how to go directly to the source and drink of the water that he wants to give us. Amen. This evening I invite you in the name of Jesus to make sure that we are living in that abundant life that Christ has made possible. He told the Samaritan woman, I am going to give you water that you will never thirst again, it is not the water of works, it is not the water of religion, it is not the water of effort, it is not the water from what the other person is living, but it is the water that I am going to give you while you live with me. Amen. And I hope that this is the reality that we are experiencing this afternoon.