THE GREAT ESCAPE – Prison Break!
Galatians 5:1
INTRODUCTION:
ILLUSTRATION: In July 1976, one hundred and three Jewish hostages were taken by terrorists in Entebbe, Uganda. The Jewish nation sent secretly their commandos into Entebbe to free their people. The problem was tremendous; how do they free one hundred and three of their own people from seven terrorists? Their plan was simple. They entered the area where the hostages and terrorists were together and shouted in HEBREW “GET DOWN NOW, CRAWL!” Since the terrorists didn’t understand Hebrew and all the Jewish citizens did they simply shot everyone still standing after they yelled this! It was a great success as an escape story! All seven terrorists were killed and all one hundred and three Jewish hostages were freed! Only 2 Jews were hit during the firing, one because he hesitated to obey, the other because he stood back up too soon. What a great escape story!
I find some interesting parallels between the freedom Christ has given to us and the great escape of the Jewish hostages in Entebbe.
1. The hostages were helpless to help themselves. Freedom came because trained commandos came to their rescue defeating their captors. Likewise we are powerless to be set free from the bondage of sin, but Christ came to set us free and has completely defeated Satan through the cross.
2. The plan was daring: commandos had to be willing to risk their lives to free their countrymen. God’s plan was even more daring; Jesus came to die in our place. On the cross Jesus took our sin upon Him and paid the death penalty in our place. Bold plan; Satan fell for it and thought he had won, but God also planned the resurrection. Death could not hold Jesus and Satan was defeated so that we might be free.
3. The plan required following simple instructions. Everyone heard the words “Get down now, crawl!” Only those who did as they were told were rescued. Similarly God’s call goes out to those held captive in sin, “Believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” Everyone who listens to God’s word and does what He says will be saved.
4. Having been set free the hostages lived as free men. Can you even imagine any of the 103 hostages refusing to return to their families or demanding that they remain in their place of captivity? Likewise as Christians we too are to live in freedom; unfortunately while Christ has set us free we continue to live in bondage.
• Galatians 5:1 (NIV)
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Jesus set us free to live in freedom! Live as someone who is free and don’t let yourself be taken captive again! You have the choice to live in freedom or to be taken captive by the enemy. It sounds like a simple choice: live in freedom. Far too many Christians though are taken captive.
PEOPLE ARE IN BONDAGE TO THE LIES THEY BELIEVE. You will be defeated if you allow the devil to deceive you. Satan wants you to believe that you are still sick with sin; you are a product of your past; you can’t change old habits. Satan wants you to doubt and question your identity in Christ; the devil wants you to be uncertain about God’s word to hesitate before you step out in faith.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. However living in freedom means that we don’t fall for the devils lies; only those who live in the truth are really free. Are you in bondage? Do you need to be set free? Jesus has made the great escape possible; live in freedom!
Unfortunately many Christians are so deceived they believe Satan’s lie that they are free when they are really still held in bondage. Notice I said many Christians are deceived by the lies of Satan. We all know that the devil has blinded the minds of non-Christians who are convinced that they are free live their life any way they want, yet they live in bondage to sin. But many Christians, while they have received forgiveness for their sins and are therefore free from the penalty of sin, they are still held in captivity because they are deceived. CHRISTIANS ARE IN BONDAGE TO THE LIES THEY BELIEVE.
Are you living in bondage to fear?
Are you held captive by depression?
Are you imprisoned by anger?
Are you chained by habits you can’t break?
Are you unable to escape from the grasp of sinful behavior?
Are you listening to the voices of your captors—voices within your mind that you can’t get away from because they follow you wherever you go?
Are you ready to give up; do you just want to die and be over with it all?
Satan is an expert at deceiving people, yet some Christians think they have grown in maturity and would never be deceived by Satan’s trickery. Adam and Eve lived in a perfect world, free from the effects of sin. They had regular times when they would walk with God in the Garden of Eden; Adam and Eve talked with God face to face. Yet Satan deceived Adam and Eve.
What makes us think we are more spiritually in tune with God so that we are beyond believing the lies of the devil? If Adam and Eve could believe the lie and fall into sin, then we too are vulnerable to deception!
• John 8:44 (NIV)
When [the devil] lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Satan knows what he is doing. The devil knows how to twist and distort the truth to convince you to believe the lie. Satan presents half truths that are really not truth at all, yet people fall for his deception “hook line and sinker.” The devil knows just what it will take to lead us astray . . . unless we are prepared for his clever attack.
• Galatians 5:1 (NIV)
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. STAND FIRM, then, and DO NOT LET YOURSELVES BE BURDENED AGAIN by a yoke of slavery.
This may surprise you; YOU HAVE A CHOICE—YOU MUST DECIDE TO BE FREE. In the same way we must receive Christ as our Savior, we must choose to daily live in the freedom He has given to us. We have the choice to live in freedom or to live in bondage.
We must choose to STAND FIRM; we must be grounded in our faith. We must know the truth of God’s word and stand upon it; to stand anywhere else is to stand on shaky ground. Do not let yourself be taken captive and held in bondage by a yoke of slavery. It is your choice; do you want to be a slave or do you want to live in freedom?
Christ has done everything needed for you to be free. Satan has been completely defeated.
• Colossians 2:15 (MsgB)
He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.
Jesus has disarmed all powers and authorities; He has declawed the roaring lion. Satan has no power over you life . . . except that which you choose to give him. Jesus need do nothing more to set you free. Jesus said, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36 NIV) Jesus has set you free; you have been completely released from the bondage of sin and death. NOW IT IS UP TO YOU TO STAY FREE; Jesus has done all it will take to set you free.
As your pastor I want you to live in freedom. God has not called me to be a prison guard but to proclaim freedom for the prisoners! Unfortunately, I don’t hold the key to your spiritual prison either. Really no key is needed because the doors to the prison have been unlocked; freedom has been given to everyone who believes in Christ. Many of you still remain in prison cells because you believe the doors are still locked.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free! Jesus is the bondage breaker! Let’s live in the freedom He has given to us. Are you ready to make the great escape?
Do you believe God’s love gives freedom from the bondage to fear?
Do you believe Jesus can set you free from depression?
Do you believe Jesus has released you from the prison of anger?
Do you believe the Holy Spirit will empower you to break your bad habits?
Do you believe Jesus has released you from the grasp of sinful behavior?
Do you believe Jesus will silence the voices of your captors so that you can clearly hear His voice speak to you?
Do you believe that Jesus has come to give you life and life more abundantly?
YOU ARE PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR SPIRITUAL CONDITION. I can’t believe for you; I can’t repent for you. I can’t put on the armor of God for you. No one else can do these things for you; you must take personal responsibility for your freedom in Christ and open your prison doors. No one else can open the door for you; only you can push the door open to the freedom that is yours. All I or anyone else can do is to proclaim the freedom Christ has given to us; all we can do is tell you the doors are unlocked, so open the door.
• 2 Corinthians 11:3 (NIV)
But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
Prison doors remain closed because Christians are deceived; they have believed a lie. I wonder how many of you might identify the woman who wrote this prayer to God and then tried unsuccessfully to kill herself?
Dear God,
Where are you? How can you watch and not help me? I hurt so bad, and you don’t even care. If you cared you’d make it stop or let me die. I love you, but you seem so far away. I can’t hear you or feel you or see you, but I’m supposed to believe you are here. Lord, I feel them and hear them. They are here. I know you’re real, God, but they are more real to me right now. Please make someone believe me Lord. Why won’t you make it stop? Please, Lord, please! If you love me you’ll let me die. – A lost sheep
(The Bondage Breaker, Neil Anderson – page 17)
Are you like this woman? Does Satan and his demons seem more real to you than God? Are you more aware of the darkness than you are of God? Are you a lost sheep? Jesus said a good shepherd would leave the 99 sheep who were safe in the pen to go and look for the one that is lost. Do you believe that Jesus has come to rescue you, to set you free?
The woman who wrote her desperate prayer to God discovered that Jesus really had set her free. Four years later she sensed God directing her to write His response to her; this is what God led her to write:
My Dear Lost Sheep,
You asked me where I am. My child, I am with you and I always will be. You are weak, but in Me you are strong. I love you so much that I can’t let you die. I am so close that I feel everything you feel. I know what you are going through, for I am going through it with you. But I have set you free and you must stand firm. You don’t have to die physically for my enemies to be gone, but be crucified with Me and I will live in you, and you shall live in Me. I will direct you in paths of righteousness. My child, I love you and I will never forsake you, for you are truly mine. – Love God (The Bondage Breaker, Neil Anderson – page 29)
You may not have thoughts of ending your life; you may be held in some other dark prison of the enemy. God wants you to know He loves you in the same way He loves this woman. He has set you free! He is with you and always will be. Let God direct you in paths of righteousness—paths of freedom!
If you are going to walk in freedom, if you are going to open the prison doors that have long been unlocked because of Christ’s victory on the cross, THE FIRST STEP TO FREEDOM IS TO REALIZE YOU ARE IN PRISON; when you admit you are in bondage you are in a place to be free.
ILLUSTRATION: The alcoholic cannot be helped until he/she first admits that they are an alcoholic. Only when the drug addict acknowledges that they have a problem are they ready to get the monkey off their back and be free.
Only when you admit that your are in bondage because you have believe the lies of the enemy are you then ready to hear the proclaimation of your freedom. You are held captive and are in bondage to an enemy who has been defeated. The doors of your prison cell are unlocked; so be free!
How many Christians are needlessly living in bondage unaware of the prison walls that confine them? Or even worse how many of us have just accepted things the way they are unaware that our prison doors have been unlocked?
In Neil Anderson’s book The Bondage Breaker, he identifies six common misconceptions many Christians have about bondage (chapter 1: “You Don’t Have to Live in the Shadows”). These misconceptions are a result of our way of thinking. We must change worldviews; instead of looking at the world through a Western mindset, we need to learn to see the world from a biblical point of view. A Western worldview and a Biblical worldview are incompatible, so if we are going to be set free we need to change our way of thinking. From a biblical perspective we need to stop conforming to the patterns of this world and be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
These misconceptions are what I want to call the “locks” to your prison cell. We will remain locked in prison cells of Anger, Fear, Bitterness and Resentment, Depression, Sickness, Habitual Sin and more as long as we continue to believe the cell doors are locked. It’s time to push the door open; it’s time to make a prison break and live in the freedom Christ has provided for us.
Lock #1: Demons were active when Christ was on earth, but their activity has subsided.
“No One Believes In Me Anymore” by Keith Green tells us why the devils job is getting easier. Satan says, “I used to have to sneak around, but now they just open up their door, because no one believes in me any more.”
Christians who believe that demonic activity has declined do not believe what the Bible says about demons. A similar lock states that demonic activity may be prevalent in uneducated third world countries, but not in the United States of America; we’ve been enlightened. Such thinking is not biblical. If you believe this lie then it is a lock holding you behind prison walls.
• 1 Peter 5:8 (NIV)
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
If dark spiritual powers are no longer on the offensive, then why does the New Testament warn us to be on guard against them? Don’t be deceived; Satan and demonic forces are alive and well on planet earth; their sole purpose is to rob steal kill and destroy. Satan wants to hold you in captivity.
• 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NIV)
[3] For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. [4] The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. [5] We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Where do thoughts that lead to disobedience come from? What causes people to not believe in God? Why do some people struggle to stay focused or even stay awake when they read the Bible or come to church? Demonic activity has not decreased; if anything it has increased as the day of Christ’s return draws near.
Some would say we live in the enlightened age of the twenty-first century. Yet people are still drawn to cults and occultic practices of the New Age movement. However, there is nothing new about the New Age; it is the same pagan worship practiced in the Old Testament. All they have done is change the names: a medium is now called a channeler, and demons are called spirit guides.
From Genesis to Revelation we find an ongoing battle between the Lamb of God and the Serpent, between the Kingdom of God and the principalities and powers of this world, between the Light and darkness, between Christ and Antichrist, between the Truth and the father of lies, between the Prophets of God and false prophets. Satan and the kingdom of darkness is still prevalent within the world today; wrestling against principalities and powers and spiritual warfare are not just a first century phenomenon. Believers today are engaged in an ongoing struggle against the enemy. Satan and demonic forces are real and they want to destroy you!
The first lock that holds us behind prison walls is the lie that demonic activity has declined or come to an end.
Lock #2: What the early church called demonic activity we now understand to be mental illness.
We know better than those poor uneducated people who lived so long ago. There is not such thing as demons; it was simple an attempt to explain mental illness. Satan and demons are just a myth.
Such thinking undermines the authority of Scripture. All scripture is divinely inspired by God and is infallible and without error. The same Scriptures that tell us about the way of salvation through Jesus Christ also instruct us about the reality of Satan and demonic forces. You can’t have it both ways; either the Bible is reliable or it is all just myth!
• 2 Corinthians 4:4 (NIV)
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
• Titus 1:15 (NIV)
. . . In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.
The Bible shows us that Satan and demons interact with humans through the mind. Through an individual’s thoughts Satan leads individuals astray. Some are willing to follow Satan’s lead further than others. The more one listens to the evil voice within one’s mind the greater the impact Satan will have over their life.
Medical doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists observe patients symptoms and behavior. Terms such as schizophrenia, paranoia, psychosis, depression, ADD or Adult ADD, and other such labels simply classify symptoms. BUT WHAT OR WHO IS CAUSING THESE SYMPTOMS?
We shouldn’t be surprised when doctors and counselors limited to a secular worldview attempt to offer natural explanations for the problems their patients face. While physical or psychological causes of any physical symptom, we must maintain a biblical view and not exclude the possibility of a spiritual cause. There is a spiritual realm that interacts with the natural world. But how do you medicate or treat a cause that is spiritual? No drug, no amount of therapy or counseling will cure an individual of a demonic attack.
The first lock that holds us behind prison walls is the lie that demonic activity has declined or come to an end. The second lock says Satan, demons and the spiritual realm are only myths. Until we acknowledge the reality of spiritual forces we will remain locked in our prisons cells.
Lock #3: Some problems are psychological and some are spiritual.
Such thinking is a false dichotomy or separation between the human body soul and spirit. The Bible says that God created man in His image. God is a trinity, Father Son and Holy Spirit; three persons in perfect unity. Likewise we are a triune being: body soul and spirit and these three parts make up one and only one person.
Again doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists often exclude the spiritual realm from their worldview; they only deal with what they can examine. Although when it comes to our emotions or our thinking process, no doctor has been able to show us the human mind; we can see the brain but where is the mind? Still because they can observe our rational thinking process or emotional make-up they will accept physical and psychological causes, but not spiritual. However, the bible tells us that it is the spiritual that is more real than the others because it is eternal.
• 2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
It is relatively easy to see when something is physical. If you break your leg you will go see a doctor to have the bone reset. Yet when it comes to the psychological and the spiritual the distinction is not as clear. We should not see these as separate or different parts of who we are; rather we should understand that they are interconnected as one.
ILLUSTRATION: If I hit you on the hand with a hammer how many of you know your body will have a physical response? Throbbing pain swelling and perhaps blood running from an open wound would be evidence of a physical injury. Yet how many of you know there can also be an emotional response to what happened; even others can have an emotional response to a physical injury sustained by someone else. And how many of you know that your emotional response will be very different depending upon whether you believe I hit you on purpose or if it were an accident? Your immediate emotional response and how you feel about what happened long after your hand has healed is the interaction between the body, soul and spirit.
In the same the physical body interacts with the soul and the spirit, so to what impacts the spirit can have an effect upon soul and the body, and what impacts the soul can have a bearing upon the body and the spirit. The body soul and spirit are three distinct parts of what make up the real you, don’t separate them from each other but understand that each interacts with the other.
The first lock that holds us behind prison walls is the lie that demonic activity has declined or come to an end. The second lock says Satan, demons and the spiritual realm are only myths. The third lock separates the psychological from the spiritual. Until we understand how the body, soul and spirit function together we will remain locked in our prisons cells.
Lock #4: Christians cannot be affected by demons.
As Christians the Holy Spirit has come to live within our hearts. The Bible clearly teaches us that our body is the temple or dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Put simply when the Holy Spirit comes to live in your heart, He cleans house; no demon can live there too; you cannot be possessed by two opposing spirits. Demonic possession is not possible for the Christian because the Holy Spirit lives within you. However, demonic oppression is possible. Satan and his demonic forces will still seek to influence your thinking.
Just because you are saved, the devil is not going to leave you alone; if anything demonic attack will increase in your life. The Bible describes the non-Christian as “slaves to sin.” As a Christian you are a run-away slave and Satan is going to hunt you down. All of heaven rejoiced when you were saved, but hell became angry.
If it is not possible for the Christian to be attacked or impacted by demonic forces then why does Paul instruct Christians to be prepared for the attack of the enemy? Or another way of putting it: just who is the armor of God for—Christians or non-Christians?
• Ephesians 6:11-12, 16 (NIV)
[11] Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. [12] For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms . . . [16] In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
The first lock is the lie that demonic activity has declined or come to an end. The second lock says Satan, demons and the spiritual realm are only myths. The third lock separates the psychological from the spiritual. The fourth lock says Christians are immune to demonic attack. As long as you believe you are not vulnerable to demonic influence you are held in prison.
Lock #5: Demonic influence is only evident in extreme or violent behavior and gross sin.
If demonic influence is only involved with the mass murderers or violent sex offenders, then what is to become of the everyday run of the mill person who has problems that continue to plague them? Shouldn’t we jut be able to “do better” and get over these minor problems?
• 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 (NIV)
[14] . . . Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. [15] It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
Don’t be fooled. Satan’s primary strategy is deception. It is not raving lunatics possessed by demons that make the church ineffective in our world. Rather when the church is ineffective it is due to the subtle deception of the enemy into the lives of “normal” believers.
ILLUSTRATION: One moment Peter was inspired by the Holy Spirit to confess that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God. The next moment Peter is played as a well intentioned instrument of Satan telling Jesus that the way of the cross and death was not the path to follow. Subtle deception affects us all if we are not careful.
The first lock is the lie that demonic activity has declined or come to an end. The second lock says Satan, demons and the spiritual realm are only myths. The third lock separates the psychological from the spiritual. The fourth lock says Christians are immune to demonic attack. The fifth lock says demonic influence is not found in normal people but only in extreme cases. As long as you believe the devil only has his hand in what we would classify as major sin you will remain locked in prison.
Lock #6: Freedom from spiritual bondage is the result of a power encounter with demonic forces.
Freedom from spiritual conflict and bondage for the Christian is not a power encounter; IT IS A TRUTH ENCOUNTER.
Satan is a deceiver, and as such he will work under the cover of darkness. But the truth exposes Satan’s lie to the light. Just like cockroaches scurry on the kitchen counter and run for cover when the light is turned on, so too Satan and his demons run and hide when the light of truth is spoken. “Satan’s power is in the lie, and when his lie is exposed by the truth, his plans are foiled.” (The Bondage Breaker, Neil Anderson – page 23)
You don’t have to out-muscle the devil; all you need to do is out-truth him. Believe the truth! Declare the truth! And act upon the truth. The truth is God’s word. God’s word overcomes the devil’s lie.
• John 8:32 (NIV)
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
• John 14:6 (NIV)
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
• John 16:13 (NIV)
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.
• John 17:15, 17 (NIV)
[15] My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one . . . [17] Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
• Ephesians 6:14 (NIV)
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist . . .
• Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
Finally, brothers, whatever is true . . . think about such things.
It is not a matter of what I believe that will set you free. My declaration will not open your prison door. Nothing I say or do will release you from bondage. All I or anyone can do for those behind prison walls is proclaim freedom. No one else can believe for you; no one else can repent for you; no one else can forgive others for you; no one else can open your prison door. Only you can push it open. You are free; now open the door!
YOU ARE PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR FREEDOM!
• Galatians 5:1 (NIV)
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
This sermon is adapted from The Bondage Breaker, Neil T. Anderson. Chapter 1 “You don’t have to live in the shadows”
