​INTRODUCTION
 
In today’s message, the Lord has led me to take a break on the series of messages we are currently covering and give us more of a prophetic message—a message that will contain what I believe the Spirit is saying to His church, what He plans to do in His church, and how you and I can make sure we participate in it. So, buckle your seatbelts, and get ready for a wild ride today!
 
In case you missed the memo, today is Pentecost Sunday, and like I’ve said, how appropriate that on the day that the Lord initially opened up the church for business, we are reopening its doors for business! Glory!
 
And while the true church never closed—for we are the church—it is exciting that we are again congregating after two and half months of being quarantined! Now what hopefully we were doing on our own, we can do together! We can worship with each other! We can learn with each other! We can sow the fruits of goodness and righteousness with each other! Praise, God!
 
So, since today is Pentecost, I’ll give you one guess where we are going in our Bibles! You guessed it—Acts chapter 2: 
 
Like today is in many ways, Acts chapter 2 was a significant day in the history of the New Testament church. It was the day when the Holy Spirit was poured out and when thousands of new converts were made as a result.
 
Now, mind you, that leading up to the Feast of Pentecost, the disciples spent much of their time in hiding, in fear of the Jews. They had locked themselves in their homes and in this upper room because they knew that the religious leaders would be quick to have them arrested and put to death since they were Jesus’ followers. So, you could say that they were “quarantined” as well.
 
Now during this time, they had experiences with the Resurrected Christ as He appeared to them on several occasions and spent 40 of those days teaching them things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Which hopefully, has been what has been happening for many of us too. Hopefully, we have had some good one on one time with Jesus to where He has been revealing Himself to us and teaching us things. But my point is that they were stuck in their homes and behind closed doors for 50 days (a number we will address momentarily). But all of that changed on that great and glorious day in Acts chapter two.  
 
And what a great day this is for us as well: Church, we have spent the past two and half months apart (from the physical perspective), and during this quarantine time, we have seen many of our necessities and conveniences stripped away from us. Fear has hit us like I’m sure the disciples then had to deal with as well. And like it has been for us, the feelings, emotions, thoughts, etc. must have been crippling. I’m sure like it was for them as well, we have had to learn new things and develop new routines in order to survive.
 
So, my point is that while their situation was more severe than ours has been, we still have shared some similarities. And one of those similarities is that the day both us and them came out of our isolation time is on PENTECOST. 
 
PENTECOST FULFILLED
 
So, let’s look at this event described in Acts chapter two and hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to us today:
 
Acts 2:1 begins with the following statement— “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come…”
 
Now notice that Dr. Luke (the author of the Book of Acts) said that this special event happened “when the Day of Pentecost had fully come.” You see, the Feast of Pentecost was a day; it was not a weekend, a week or a month. It was celebrated on just one day every year. Though the Feasts of Passover and Tabernacles were each observed for seven days according to the law, the Feast of Pentecost was kept for only one day—a point significant in itself.
 
By saying the Day of Pentecost had “fully” come, this was likely a reference to how even though the people had already arrived from other nations to celebrate Pentecost, what transpired in Acts chapter 2 was on the actual Day of Pentecost—being exactly 50 days after Passover. But I believe it can also allude to the fact that Pentecost was “fully fulfilled” on this Day as the Holy Spirit was poured out and the church truly began!
 
Either way one looks at it—our Pentecost has fully come in the giving of the Holy Spirit. Yes, He was “fully” poured out and these things have been “fulfilled” among us!
  
So, a good question would be— Why did God choose the Feast of Pentecost to be the time where He filled His church with the Holy Spirit?
 
Well, one obvious reason for this is because these Jewish Feasts were meant to illustrate things: Colossians 2:16-17 clearly teaches us that the festivals prescribed in the law were shadows of things to come. For example, the Feast of Passover was when Jesus was crucified—Him being the lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world. Therefore, Christ is correctly called by the apostle Paul, our Passover (First Corinthians 5:7).
 
So, like Jesus’ crucifixion was strategically set for the Feast of Passover, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was ordained for the Feast of Pentecost. 
 
But I also believe another reason God chose Pentecost to be the day that “church opens” is because it was a strategic maneuver in regards to evangelism.  
 
You see, Pentecost was known to be the most attended feast on the Jewish calendar because of what time of the year it was celebrated. At no other Feast would there have been representatives of so many nations. Therefore, I believe God knew that this was the best time to evangelically bring in the first-fruits of the church. So, He poured out this great sign for the people present of so many different tongues and reaped a harvest of 3,000 in one swoop of the Holy Spirit. Glory! 
 
So, like Jesus was said to be sent in “the fullness of time” (Galatians 4:4), there is a method to God’s system of doing things. Yes, He is on a calendar to accomplish His purposes. He’s got a clock. And in His infinite wisdom, He works all things together for the good of those called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28).
 
Which leads me to today: I believe today is a strategic day on God’s calendar as well. Yes, I believe today—this Sunday—is a strategic part of God’s clock for High Point Church and for the universal church as well.
 
So, let’s look at the rest of these verses in Acts chapter 2 and glean His prophetic word for us today:
 
THE POWER OF UNITY
 
After letting us know in verse one that this event occurred “when the Day of Pentecost had fully come…” we are then told that “…they were all with one accord in one place.”
 
Church, I can just about guarantee you that today, we too are as in one accord in this one place as we have ever been. Why? Because we have been separated for around 2 ½ months. So, I venture to say that we are all extremely excited and full of hope concerning today’s service. Therefore, we are in one accord because we are in this “one place.” Glory, Hallelujah!
 
I want us to now read the 133rd Psalm—because I believe this powerful psalm explains to us the power of being in this kind of unity. This psalm reads— “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; For there the Lord commanded the blessing—Life forevermore.”
 
You see, if there is one thing the devil is absolutely terrified of, it is the anointing. This is, in fact, the reason Satan fights against those who grab ahold of the truth and actively seek God. He fights against those who read their Bible, pursue God in prayer, and are putting their hand to the plow because he is afraid. Afraid of what? Afraid of the one who gets ahold of the truth and begins to walk in the anointing of God. Why does this scare him? It is because the anointing of God destroys in a nano-second what he maybe has been working on for years. For example, he might have kept someone in physical or emotional bondage for years and then the anointing comes and immediately destroys that yoke! Hallelujah! This is what he fears!
 
Friends, this psalm is prophetically declaring that there is a corporate anointing for the body of Christ, and when we dwell together in unity--forgetting our cultural differences, putting aside our doctrinal differences, and laying down our pride and insecurities—for one common purpose and one common goal, that it is a good and pleasant thing! When we join together as the body of Christ, that oil of the Holy Spirit can then flow from one part to the next, from top of the head down the edge of the garments.
 
So, it is no wonder why Satan fights unity so much! It is because He fears the corporate anointing and he is afraid of a body of believers who might join together with one common goal. This is why you see church splits. This is why you see division in the community. And this is why you see such an escalation of divorce. It is because his number one goal is to divide! For a house divided against itself cannot stand.
 
Do you remember when Jesus was accused of casting out demons by Beelzebub? What was His response? He said that Satan cannot cast out Satan, for a house divided against itself cannot stand. In other words, you even see order in Satan’s camp. It is not perfect chaos. He has systematic order in his kingdom because he knows the power of operating in this way. Ephesians 6:12 shows us how, in his kingdom, he has ranks of demons: First, there are the principalities. Under them, there are the powers (or, authorities). Then comes the rulers of the darkness of this age and then the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Friends, he has order and each demon in his kingdom works according to their assignment and their position. 
 
Let’s turn over to Genesis chapter 11 and see an example of how Satan inspired an event called the Tower of Babel:
 
In Genesis chapter 11, we the story of man called Nimrod (no ladies, I am not talking about your husband. I’m talking about a man actually named Nimrod.) And this man had a plan. He and his people decided they wanted to make a name for themselves. So, they planned to build a tower that would reach to the heavens lest they be scattered across the earth. Well, God saw what they purposed in their heart to do and came down and divided their language because He said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.” That is a powerful statement! Jesus basically said something similar when He said that nothing shall be impossible for us. And why was there the prospect of this people accomplishing anything and nothing being impossible for them to do? It was because they were one! It was because all had one language! It was because they had tapped into a spiritual law that when a people become one and they pursue a common goal—with one mind, one mouth, and in one accord—nothing shall be impossible for them.
 
So, if this is a true principle for Satan and the ungodly, how much more do you reckon this will work for the body of Christ!?! I guarantee you that if it works for them tenfold; it will work for us a hundredfold!
And, as a matter of fact, we’ve already seen it work in the Book of Acts!
 
THE GOD OF SUDDENLYS
 
So, let’s go back over to Acts chapter 2 and look at what happened when the Day of Pentecost had fully come and when they were all together with one according in one place …
 
Verses 2-4 say, “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues (that’s the only thing you will ever find divided in God’s kingdom), and one sat upon each of them. And then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
 
Now notice how verse 2 begins— “And suddenly…” How many of you know that we serve a God of “suddenly’s!” You might not can see it happening at this moment, but you certainly can “suddenly” see it happening in the next moment.
 
We see these “suddenly’s” first in the birth of Christ as the multitude of heavenly hosts “suddenly” appeared to the shepherds in the field (Luke 2:13). But not only do we see these “suddenly’s” in the first coming of Christ, the second coming of Jesus Christ is also said to come “suddenly” (Matthew 13:36).
 
Now the Book of Acts itself is a book that reveals to us that God “acts” suddenly! Of course, we see this here in Acts 2:2, but also in Acts 9:3 we see that God knocked Saul of Tarsus off his horse by the light that shone around him suddenly. In another instance, we see how in Acts 16:26 that “Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.”
 
Now the consistencies that we see in all of these “suddenly” accounts are this: In none of them, were the people prepared for what was about to happen. In some, they were just going about their daily business. But in others, the people were praying, praising and seeking God. So, what we can learn from this is that while some “suddenly’s” come as sovereign acts of God to fulfill His purposes, others come when God’s people act and press into His purposes. Amen.  
 
May we be a people here at HPC that act—gathering together in one accord in this one place—and experience another one of these “suddenly’s.” Amen.
 
But I want you to notice what specifically and “suddenly” happened in Acts chapter 2 …
 
THE WIND OF THE SPIRIT
 
Verse 2 goes on to say, “…there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.” There was a manifestation of something powerful! And the only way that they knew describe it was that there was a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind that filled the whole house!
 
Now this was not the only time that the Holy Spirit was typified as wind in the Scriptures: In John chapter 3, we have the popular story of Nicodemus coming to Jesus in the nighttime, and Jesus teaching him about the new birth. The story begins in verse one: “There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.’ Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.’” (John 3:1-8)
 
I just love how Jesus never even responds to Nicodemus’ comment, but jumps right into the truth regarding the necessity of being born again. So, after Nicodemus questions how a man can be born a second time, Jesus goes on to explain that this new birth is a spiritual thing and, therefore, the Holy Spirit is who performs this spiritual new birth in us. But here is the point I want you to see:
 
In verse 8, after Jesus tells him not to marvel that He said that one must be born again (verse 7), He describes this spiritual rebirth with a physical example. Again, He says, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
 
What was Jesus saying here? He was saying that while we cannot see wind, we can see the effects of it. Likewise, while we cannot see the spiritual new birth that takes place in those who believe on Jesus Christ and confess His Lordship in their lives, we can see the effects of it. In other words, we cannot see the spiritual change that took place within someone, but we can both see and hear the fruit of that change. Yes, like Jesus said, we cannot physically tell where this change came from or where it is taking us (i.e. We cannot see how the Holy Spirit entered someone and our ultimate destination in heaven). Amen?
 
But Jesus was specifically talking about being “born of the Spirit,” right? So, we are seeing the Holy Spirit being compared to the wind that blows where it wishes. Therefore, just as the wind blows where it wishes, the Holy Spirit blows where He wishes. In other words, this means that He does things according to how He wills to do them—dispersing His gifts and graces as He wills.
 
But the fact that the Holy Spirit is described as “wind” in the Scriptures, teaches us more than just He’s going to do what He wants to do. We can learn how He leads us in what He wills to do.
 
THE SOUND FROM HEAVEN
 
Interestingly enough, when we look at Matthew 4:1 where Jesus was being led by the Spirit to go into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, the word “led” there also is used to describe “setting sail.” Yes, this word was used to describe how navigators would launch out to sea by setting sail. 
 
You see, when you are sailing you don’t just set your sails how you want to, you let the direction of the wind dictate how you arrange your sails. Likewise, we shouldn’t try and “set” everything in our life; we should let the “wind” (the Holy Spirit) dictate how we arrange everything. It is pointless to work against Him. Therefore, “the wind” can refer to “His will.”
 
Now the fact is, like it is possible to sail against the wind, it is possible for a believer to go against the Holy Spirit’s leading. And the truth is, the majority of Christians have done this more often than we have not. Like it was with Saul of Tarsus, in his zeal for what he thought was the will of God, he “kicked against the goads,” persecuting God’s church. And while that is an extreme example of going against the will of God, it shows us how we can, as Bob Seager sang, go “against the wind”—kicking against the direction the Holy Spirit is trying to take us.
 
But again, there is cooperation needed on our part! Our sails must be set to catch the wind and to be led into His plan and purpose for our lives. So, how do we do that? Well, let’s look at a couple of Scriptures that teach us how to “set our sails.”
 
Now the first example shows us the necessity of actually having a sail to set before we ever learn how to set it. This is found in Second Timothy 3:16-17 where the apostle Paul said, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
 
The words “thoroughly equipped” in verse 17 come from a word used to describe a boat that was “completely outfitted” with all of the bells and whistles that would “totally equip” that boat for sailing to its destination. So, what are we seeing here? That it’s the Word of God—in fact, all of the Scriptures—that thoroughly equip us with the sails needed (among other things) to get to the other side. Hallelujah! Jesus said that His words were spirit and life (John 6:63). Therefore, in order to be equipped with the sails that will catch the wind of the Spirit, we need to be in the Word of God—studying to show ourselves approved and meditating on His sayings both day and night.
 
Now we will come back to these verses in Second Timothy in a moment, but let’s look at another verse that teaches us how we set our sails to catch “the Holy Wind”—and it sheds light on the example we just saw of the importance of God’s Word.   
 
In Second Peter 1:20-21, the apostle Peter gives us insight into how the Scriptures were God breathed. It says, “knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
 
You see, these holy men wrote the things that they wrote because the Holy Spirit was “moving” them to write them. And don’t be mistaken here: This does not mean that He was directing them, dictating to them what to write. No, He was simply blowing into their sails and “inspiring” the things that they wrote.
 
But my point is that this Holy Spirit “moving” that the apostle Peter described is similar to how wind will carry things. Therefore, we see the truth of “setting the sail” used again, and we can learn that if our intentions are to glorify God and to love and bless others, then we can trust that the Holy Spirit will move us into His perfect plan for us!      
 
For example, we see this same word being used in the account of Jesus’ burial, how the man we just talked about—Nicodemus—was “led”. In John 19:39, it says, “And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.” Yes, the word “bringing” there is the same word that Peter used to describe how holy men were moved by the Holy Spirit to write the things they did. Now it might seem like Nicodemus is just choosing to do this, but I want you to see that just as those who penned Books of the Bible, Nicodemus was being moved by the Holy Spirit to honor Jesus at His burial. In both examples, there were no fireworks and spectacular manifestations, but they were being moved by the Holy Spirit simply because their sails were set. Amen.
 
Now as we talk about this wind of the Spirit, it is important that we correctly understand where this wind comes from: You see, when you study the word “Spirit” in the New Testament, you find that the Greek word used (Greek pneuma) also means “breath.” So, the wind is not necessarily something like we see caused by nature; the wind of God is what comes from His mouth.   
 
Let’s go back in Acts 2:2 and camp on this truth for a moment:
 
Notice in this verse that the sound of this rushing mighty wind preceded the manifestation of the wind itself. You see, I believe it’s important for us to hear the Holy Spirit before we can feel Him. We could say it this way, “In order to feel the rushing mighty wind, we must first hear the soft, gentle breeze.”
 
What this means is that hearing what comes out of God’s mouth is key to experiencing His presence and power! This is why we harp on God’s Word at our church—because we believe God’s Word and His Spirit agree. And when I say, “God’s Word,” of course, I am talking about the Holy Scriptures and what He has said on these pages, but I am also referring to the now, on-time, rhema words from God that are alive and powerful. 
 
And I’ll tell you—there are still these sounds coming from heaven today that if we will just listen, we can hear what the Spirit is saying to the church in this hour.
 
And I believe what the Holy Spirit is saying today is this— “The hour is coming and now is, when old things are passing away and all things are becoming new. There is a paradigm shift in the spirit, and you will know it. The crooked places are being made straight and the valleys are again being filled with the abundance of rain. The mountains are being removed and the places laid in waste will have streams of living water flowing in them again. Yes, I will bring these times of refreshing, says the Lord, and the people, my people, will delight themselves in the abundance of My pleasures. Their hearts will be one with Mine, and I will be released into their deserted places, restoring all that the enemy has scattered. Have I not said, You will know it? For you surely will know it when I bring all these things to pass. My kingdom come, and My will be done in this earth as it is in heaven. Saith the Lord of hosts, the God of peace.”
 
FILLED WITH FIRE
 
And then in the remainder of Acts 2:2, we see how this rushing mighty wind “…filled the whole house where they were sitting.” Did you know that this is exactly what the Holy Spirit thrives on—filling people and things. He doesn’t like partially inhabiting stuff; He wants to fill them up to where there is no room for anything else.
 
You see, the Holy Spirit is jealous for us (in a good way). He wants all of us: In James 4:5, the Word of God says, “Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, ‘The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously’?”
 
Now the language here is very impacting when you understand what James was saying: First of all, notice that he describes the Spirit as “dwelling” in us. This word describes someone “residing” or “inhabiting” somewhere permanently. We would say that they are “living in their home.” And the implication in this is that the Holy Spirit is not just living there, but He is filling the house. Then the word “yearns” describes how someone would “greatly desire or long for” someone else because of their heart for them. And, finally, the word “jealously” is the common word used for “envy”—which is always (except for this one time) used to describe a work of the flesh, not a work of the Spirit. So, is the Holy Spirit violating His very nature here? Heavens, no! This simply describes His heart of love for each of us, and His unwillingness to share us with anyone or anything else. Yes, the Holy Spirit greatly desires, longs for, and yearns for you and I! And why? It is because His personality and emotional makeup is to have fellowship with you, and you with Him, that is not unfaithful in the least!
 
Now I am not sure where the specific Scripture reference that James is referring to here is located but I do know that there are a lot of references in the Old Testament to the Lord’s desire for his people to be faithful and not “play the harlot.” So, there are certainly a lot of examples that we can draw from in the Old Testament that describe the Lord’s desire to have this kind of “unadulterated” relationship with His people. Not to mention, this statement is preceded by verse 4 that calls us “Adulteresses” if we make ourselves friends with the world. That is because we are “married” to God and when we try and have a relationship with our ex-husband, the world, we are being unfaithful to our current mate. The Holy Spirit represents that current mate here and the Word says that He “yearns jealousy.”
 
Therefore, a paraphrase I like to use of this verse is as follows: “The Spirit that has come to settle down, make His home and permanently fill us, is bent with an all-consuming, ever-growing, excessive, passionate desire to possess us totally, and is envious and filled with jealousy toward anything or anyone who tries to take His place.”
 
Ephesians 4:30 portrays something similar: It says, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” The word “grieve” is the Greek word lupete and is most commonly translated to be sad or sorrowful. I have heard that it is used to denote the emotions of a betrayed spouse, such as, being hurt, wounded, betrayed, misled, lied to, and abused. He is our spouse and partner and He hurts when we are unfaithful to Him.
 
So, the Holy Spirit’s infilling means much more than a one-time experience; this is an all-consuming experience to where the Holy Spirit is allowed in every room in our house and He is fully embraced.  
 
Then notice what is said next in Acts 2:3: We are told— “Then there appeared on them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.” This means that while the Holy Spirit sounded and perhaps even felt like a rushing mighty wind, he visually manifested in that upper room in the form that looked like fiery physical tongues. It is rather obvious to me that they were grasping to describe this supernatural experience and were using the best examples they could think of to describe what they saw on that day.
 
So, it was as if the disciples who were in that upper room on that day were the candles (i.e. candlesticks, lampstands, etc.) and the Holy Spirit was that flame on the wick. Which should teach us how important we are in this equation. You see, if there is nothing to burn, a fire does no good and will cease. So, just as we need the fire to burn bright, the fire (i.e. the Holy Spirit) needs the church to burn bright through. Amen? Saints, we need to understand just how valuable we are to the Lord: While we certainly need Him (There’s no questioning that!), He needs us too.
 
This is why He has done everything He has done for us by His grace. Sure, He did it because He loves us, but He has covenanted Himself with us because He desires to work together with us. This is how much He respects us as well as loves us. Therefore, He made His Church “golden candlesticks” (see Revelation 1:20). No, we are not dollar store candles here; we are the richest of the rich, the swankiest of the swanky; yes, we are the top shelf GOLDEN lampstands. So, you ought to remind yourself of this— You’re golden! 
 
But my point is that the manifestation of the Holy Spirit looked like little flames of fire. And the Holy Spirit appearing to be like fire in Acts 2:2 should not be foreign to us—for can you recall what John the Baptist said in Luke 3:16-17, in speaking of Jesus? In this passage he said, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” So, what accompanies the Holy Spirit when we are baptized is also a baptism into fire. And in the next verse he explains what this fire’s purpose is— “His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.” This describes to us what this baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire does in our lives. This “fire” of the Holy Ghost will burn away the sin and everything else that doesn’t need to be there. We see that God is called an “all-consuming fire” in Hebrews 12:29 and this is one of the many benefits of fire—to burn things, particularly things that need to be burned up.
 
Do you remember when the Bible says that God sat on the mountain after the Exodus, and that “the mountain melted like wax at the presence of the Lord”? This is found in the 97th Psalm, which says, “The LORD reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! Clouds and thick darkness are round about him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire goes before him, and burns up his adversaries round about. His lightnings lighten the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim his righteousness; and all the peoples behold his glory.” (Psalm 97:1-6).
 
In fact, we see this in Exodus chapter 19 when the Lord descended upon Mount Sinai—the Bible says that mountain began to smoke because of the fire of the Lord that sat upon it (see verse 18).
 
So, in this example, when God sits on the mountain, the natural could not stand the supernatural. Likewise, when God, in the person of the Holy Spirit, sits upon you, those carnal things that are contrary to Him will melt away at the presence of the Lord. All impurities are burned out of us through His fiery presence. Amen!
 
You see, fire changes everything it encounters. Nothing goes away from fire unchanged. Either is it consumed or purified. But nothing goes away from fire unchanged. Likewise, having the Holy Spirit will change us, and the more we allow Him to burn in our hearts, the less the things that are carnal and sinful will be allowed to remain in us. Church, the Holy Spirit is a purifier! It has the power to take the hidden impurities that are in precious gold and cause it to rise to the surface that it may be removed once and for all. But we must ask ourselves the question, “Am I letting the Lord reign in every area of my life?” We must invite Him in, deeper and deeper into our lives. We can do this directly, and we can also do this indirectly through praising and worshipping Him, as He inhabits the praises of His people (see Psalm 22:3). His reigning in my life pushes out all that doesn’t belong—sin, disease, sickness, lack, etc.
 
On that note, we hear many in the church today preaching that the fire that tries us are the trials and tribulations that come into our lives. And while there is some truth to that, I submit to you that the best way to be refined is through the indwelling presence of the FIRE Himself! Yes, the Holy Ghost—like fire—works in us like a consuming fire, burning up all the chaff in our life. Amen.
 
So, as we’ve seen, we have already been made golden, but the fire of the Holy Spirit can make that gold purer & more precious. And hopefully this is all of our desire—to have the Holy Spirit refine us and make us more into a living reflection of the Lord Jesus Christ in our choices, behavior and life in general. Amen?  And one of the ways we can keep this fire burning brightly is by praying in the Spirit, which edifies or builds us up in the Spirit (see First Corinthians 14:4 and Jude, verse 20).
 
AND NOTHING SHALL BE IMPOSSIBLE
 
And finally, we get to verse 4, which gives us the end result of this Day of Pentecost— “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
 
Notice, first of all, that they were all filled. No, not one of them was left unfulfilled, but all were filled with the Holy Spirit. And guess what came with being filled with the Spirit—something came out of their mouth! They began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance!
 
Now we come full circle back to what we covered earlier—the Tower of Babel. If you recall, this people who spoke one, common language aspired to build this tower that reached to the heavens. You could say that they aspired to build an “upper room” to this tower. And one of the indicators of their unity of purpose was that they all spoke the same language. So, the Lord had to confuse their languages in order to keep all these things possible to them.
 
Well, I see a parallel here in Acts chapter two—that they were inhabiting this upper room in one accord, and in doing so, God gave them one language! Amen! Why? So that nothing will be withheld from us! Yes now, all things are possible to those who gather like this! Amen! 
 
Friends, what we see in Acts 2:1-4 is Psalm 133 fulfilled! When they gathered together in that upper room in one accord, the Holy Spirit—the anointing Himself—came upon each one of this royal priesthood and took ordinary men and women and made them extraordinary! That oil was poured out on them and was mixed with those tongues of fire and they became the light of the world. Hallelujah! They became that golden lampstand filled with oil and with fire at the wick to burn bright in this dark and perverse generation. But how did it all start? As they were in one place and in one accord! Lord, may these lamps burn bright for your glory! May these churches be golden lampstands in this community! May we be the lights of our community even to the ends of the earth! Amen!

REVIEW
 
So today, we are continuing our look “in the Mirror” where we are beholding, not our identity after the flesh, but our true spiritual identity. That’s right: we are looking in the mirror of God’s Word and seeing what we look like in Christ.  
 
We have seen in this series where Paul said as we behold the truths of this New and Better Covenant, that we are changed into the same image from glory to glory (Second Corinthians 3:18). That means that just as Moses was physically affected when He beheld God on Mount Sinai when He gave the law to Him, we too will be affected by the glory of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. But it’s going to take us climbing this mount and spending time in the presence of God like Moses did, letting Him speak these truths to our hearts and revealing to us who this mirror says that we are! Glory!
 
So, let’s quickly recap what we’ve seen in the mirror thus far. You have learned that:
 
1.I Am Loved – This is the filter everything is to be viewed through – the filter of God’s love for us. I also made the point that since we are referred to as the Lord’s “Beloved” many times throughout the New Testament, then that means that not only are we loved by Him, but we “Be-Loved” by Him.
2.I Am His New Creation – Not only can we see that we are loved by God when we look in this mirror, but we can see that we are God’s own work of art, His masterpiece, and His new creation! This means that we are absolutely special, having His treasure placed in these earthen vessels!
3.I Am Chosen – This led us to another part of our spiritual identity—that we are chosen. We learned that in Christ Jesus we have actually been chosen, selected, and predestined. And one of our biggest takeaways is what we were chosen & predestined unto—and Paul says that is to be adopted.  
4.I Am Holy – A couple of weeks ago, we delved into the truth that we are also “holy.” And we learned that being holy does not just describe some state of perfection; it can actually mean that we are special, precious and different to God. We saw one of the predominant ways that God sees us by looking at how He refers to us—and we saw that over 50 times in the Epistles of the New Testament, we are called “saints.” Now we learned that “saints” describes “holy ones,” and is the same word used to describe things like the “Holy” Scriptures, the “Holy” Spirit, and the “Holy One,” Jesus Christ Himself. We also made the point that there is a difference between our “who” and our “do.” Yes, we need to be holy in all our conduct! Yes, we ought to live holy lifestyles! But what we need to avoid is basing our holiness on our actions. We are not holy because of what we do; we are holy because of what Christ has done.
5.I Am Righteous – Then last week, we discovered that in Christ not only are we holy; we are also righteous. We looked at several verses in the New Testament and saw that while righteousness is certainly not anything that we can acquire on our own—for there is none righteous, no not one, and all of our righteousness is as filthy rags—there is a righteousness that we can be made strictly by the grace of God. So, we looked over at Romans chapter 3 and saw how the apostle Paul beautifully explained this, and we also saw from Second Corinthians 5:21 how God accomplished this in our lives.
 
But one of our biggest takeaways from last week’s message is that in order for us to walk in this new spiritual identity of, for example, true righteousness and holiness, we must strip ourselves of that old identity associated with the old man, be renewed in our attitude and mentality, and put on the identity of our new man. Amen!
 
We looked at Ephesians chapter 4 to explain this, and we learned first that we must be taught these things by Christ Himself (see Verses 20-21). That means that we must learn these things from the Holy Spirit Himself and not just from another man or woman. Sure, God gives us good, anointed teaching, but that is not how we receive revelation. These things are revealed to us by our Father in heaven, as Jesus said to Peter. So, what this means is that we are going to go before the Lord and have Him show us these truths so that when you and I look in the mirror, we are able to say, “You are in Christ, and are a Son of the Living God!” Church, flesh and blood cannot reveal these truths to us; only the Holy Spirit can!   
 
And we specifically saw that what Christ is teaching us is “the truth (that) is in Jesus.” Not the truth that is in us; the truth that is in Jesus. And guess who is “in Jesus”? We are! Everyone of us who is born again is in Christ Jesus! Therefore, everything we are “in Him” is the truth, not who we are “in ourselves.” Saints, the truth is not what you see today; the truth is what God sees today! Glory!
 
So, as we learned, after we first strip ourselves of our old identity by removing ourselves from it as far as we can, and after we have the spirit of our minds renewed (i.e. change the way we think and our attitude), then we can put on the new man.
 
And, glory to God, we learned what this brand “new man” looks like: First of all, he is “created according to God.” We saw that this phrase “according to God” literally denotes “according to what God is in Himself.” The NIV translates this phrase, “created to be like God.” The TEV translates it, “created in God’s likeness.” Which echoes what God said in Genesis 1:26 when He created Adam in His image and according to His likeness. So, we learned that this means that God’s image and likeness, which we lost in the first Adam, has been restored by the last Adam, Jesus! Glory!
 
And the wonderful news about this new man we have on the inside of these bodies is that the image and likeness it is created in is “true righteousness and holiness.” Therefore, we can look into this spiritual mirror and truthfully say, “I am holy, and I am righteous!” 
 
WHAT CHRIST JESUS BECAME FOR US
 
So, this week, I want us to move into something else that we see when we look into this mirror: I want us to see today that we are redeemed, delivered, and free in Christ Jesus! 
 
Let’s begin in First Corinthians 1:30: After the apostle Paul explains that not many wise, mighty, and noble (according to the flesh) are called—because God has chosen the weak things of this world to show His glory—after this, he makes this statement, describing what God did for those He’s called. He says, “But of Him (God) you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”
 
This verse contains a lot of things that Christ already became for us, amen? He became for us (When? Through His crucifixion and resurrection) wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Jesus already, through His resurrection, became wisdom for us! I believe that means that Jesus was the manifest wisdom of God in how He made the provision for our sin, but I also believe this means we already have wisdom put to our account! But notice that God, in His wisdom, has done the following things for us in Christ Jesus …
 
You see, Jesus “became” these things for us, not “will become” them for us. So, regarding the final term Paul used, “redemption,” He has redeemed us—not is in the process of redeeming us or will someday redeem us. No, this is something that has already been done! Christ already has redeemed us.
 
You know, there are some things that we are praying for God to do that He has already done. So many Christians are pleading with God to please do this or please do that- saying things like, “God, would you heal them?” Well, what do the Scriptures say?
 
Well, the Scriptures say explicitly, “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.” (Matthew 8:17) and “by His stripes you were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24) So what these Scriptures (amongst others) show us is that Jesus already paid the price for all of our weaknesses and sicknesses just over 2,000 years ago.
 
When did He do this? When did He take our infirmities and bare our sicknesses? Well, the Scriptures teach us that it was at the same time that He Himself took our sins. So, this implies that it was on the Cross! Amen!
 
So why do we ask the Lord to heal us today? This is implying that we don’t already believe what He said He has already done. Amen? 
 
You see, we need to adopt this mentality in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ that if God’s Word says it, it is so. We don’t care what we see, what we hear, what we feel or what we’ve experienced! No, if God’s Word says He has already done something for us, then I don’t care what you have or currently are experiencing! That’s when we should choose to believe that He has already taken care of it and then begin to act like it’s already so.
 
Saints, this is how we receive from God… In many Old Testament examples, God would tell the children of Israel that He had already given them the Promised Land, He had already given them the City of Jericho, He had already made Abraham the father of many nations, and the list goes on and on. Well, in the natural, it didn’t look like it, did it? No, in the natural, the giants were still in the land, the walls were still there, and Sarah was still barren! But faith is not moved by what it sees; faith is only moved by what it believes! And faith believes what God says is so! Amen! Therefore, as it is in this case of Galatians 3:13, it would be a good idea for us to, when we are reading our Bible, pay particular attention to the tenses being used.
 
Well, here the Apostle Paul says that Christ has already become wisdom from God, and righteousness, sanctification, and redemption! Amen!
 
Now before we look at these terms, let me quickly say that there are a lot of words we hear in church like these, that while we might be able to quote them, I fear that we do not truly understand what they all mean. Yes, we use these biblical words like “salvation, sanctification, forgiveness, justification etc.” but most believers do not see their true meaning. We need to know what these terms mean. Amen? So, let’s quickly look at these three …
 
First of all, the Holy Spirit through Paul said, Jesus became for us “righteousness!” That means we already have total right standing with God and complete justification with God! Of course, we covered this last week. Then Paul said that He became for us “sanctification!” That means that we already have been set apart and made holy through Christ! That’s, of course, what we looked at two weeks ago.
 
But notice this last term he used: Lastly, we see that Jesus became for us “redemption!” So, this week, let’s go into some detail about this word “redemption” …
 
WHAT IS REDEMPTION?
 
What does the Bible mean when it says that we are “redeemed?” Well, there are a couple of words that are used to define “redeem or redemption”—both of which are used to describe the payment of a price to purchase someone from slavery or the ransom paid to set free a slave who is in bondage. Other words that are used to describe “redemption” are “to buy back, to purchase, and to release.” In one of the words used for “redemption” we see the word “marketplace” contained in it, which is important. 
 
So, when we combine together the various little & subtle words for “redemption,” the word-picture we get is of a slave—a slave in satan’s marketplace to where they are in his possession and under his dominion.
 
Now if that seems foreign to you, you need to understand what our plight is before we received Jesus. The Scriptures teach us that we were “sold under sin” (Romans 7:14)—not because of our own individual sins that we committed, but because of the sin of the First Adam. Romans 5:12 teaches us that through one man (Adam) sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.
 
Now certainly if we were to live our whole life with not one sin committed, there might be hope for us. But this is impossible—for we are all conceived in sin and guilty of sin from birth (Psalm 51:5).
 
Now many people are deceived into thinking that they will go to heaven one day because they have been a good person, haven’t done too many bad things, etc. Those people are way off base—for God does not grade on a curve and compare us to other people. Our standard is the perfect holiness and righteousness of God Himself, and this is what we will be judged by. Amen!
 
Therefore, every person hearing this was or is currently a slave to satan: You see, people need to understand that, unless they receive Christ—His sacrifice and His Lordship—they are serving satan. There is no, “Well, I haven’t decided yet about whether I’ll give my life to Christ or not.” There is no middle of the fence! You either receive and submit to Christ or you have, by default, submitted to sin. So, there is no indecision. Until you have decided to give your life over to the Lord, you have given your life over to sin. It’s that simple.    
 
And any of you young people need to realize that God does not have any grandchildren. You are not automatically a Christian just because of the decision your parents have made; no, you become a Christian by your own personal decision to be born again and become a child of God yourself. Saints, there is only one mediator between God and man—the man, Jesus Christ! It’s not your parents!
 
So, everyone who is born in the flesh was sold under sin by Adam to satan and are a part of his slave market. And the only way to become free from that bondage is to be born again and become a child of God.  
 
THE PRICE FOR OUR REDEMPTION
 
So, as we consider again the word “redemption,” we see that a price or a ransom was required to obtain our freedom. So, what was that price?
 
First Peter 1:18-19 says, “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver and gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
 
So here we see that the price paid for our redemption was not the traditional form of currency, silver or gold. In other words, there is nothing of this corruptible world of enough value to pay the price to secure our redemption.
 
And this is worth noting here: There is nothing you can do to buy your freedom, deliverance, salvation and healing. I know there have been many traditions handed down in the church that we have to do this to be free, that we have to do that to be delivered, or that we have to do these seven things to walk in our redemption. But no, this Scripture says that corruptible things—that is, things of the flesh—cannot purchase our redemption. Only the “precious” blood of Christ (there’s that reference to the “King” again) can redeem us! The word “precious” describes something that is extremely “costly” and “valuable.” This is the price that was necessary to purchase our freedom! Amen!
 
Now is there anything more “costly” or “valuable” than the blood of the Lamb? Is there anything more expensive than the blood of the Son of God Himself? Absolutely not! Well, this is the price Yahweh paid to redeem you! So, what does that say about us?
 
You see, we’ve made this point already but it bears repeating here—if God paid the maximum price that could be paid to redeem you and I, then how valuable does that make us? That’s something to think about, isn’t it?
 
You see, God is the original Jew, is He not? And we know that as a general rule, Jewish people are pretty smart investors. So, do you think that God, who alone is wise, would pay a price that high for something that has significantly less value? I think not! No, if God were to pay so great a price for something or someone that has significantly less value, then that would be considered poor judgment. No, the poor judgment is not with God; the poor judgment is with us! What do I mean by that? I mean that we are the ones who do not see ourselves in the proper light and with the proper value. Saints, we must conclude that we must have at least equal value to God as His Only Begotten Son if that is the price He paid to redeem us. Amen!
 
Someone will say, “Well, I don’t think there is anything or anyone as precious and valuable as Jesus!” But didn’t Jesus pray in John 17:23 that the world would come to know that God loves us even as much as He loves Jesus. Amen! So, we are evidently extremely valuable to God!
 
Therefore, our only hope to be set free from this predicament was for the price or ransom to be paid on our behalf. Why? Because we didn’t have enough to pay it on our own! There was no amount of good works, good deeds or works of righteousness that we could do to be set free from the slave-market of satan and sin. No, the only price that could be paid to purchase our freedom was the blood of the perfect and just Son of God Himself—the precious blood of the Lamb! Amen!
 
Now First Corinthians 6:19 also elaborates on the end result of our redemption: It says, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?”
 
So, if you have been redeemed by Christ—purchased and paid for by your King—then you are not your own anymore, right? In other words, your life is not your own anymore—you don’t determine what you do and when you do it, you don’t choose where you go and how you go there. And why? Verse 20 goes on to tell us— “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
 
So not only was my spirit bought, my body was bought. Now obviously this means that we are not going out and doing all kinds of immoral things spiritually and physically because we are God’s possession now. But it also can mean that, since our spirit and body are now God’s, does the devil have any right or power to afflict our spirits with sin or our body’s with sickness? Heaven, no!
 
OUR REDEMPTIVE STORY
 
So, these are things that have already happened: Christ has redeemed us! In Him we have redemption! These are not things that will happen for the born-again Christian one day; these are things that have already happened! Praise the Lord!
 
So, let’s now go over to Colossians 1:12-14 and see the full picture of our redemptive story:      
 
So, after the apostle Paul prays one of His God-inspired prayers for the Colossian church, he seemingly begins to transition into some of the things that God has done for us in Christ Jesus. And in verse 12, he begins by saying, “giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.”
 
Now before we get into the verses that specifically pertain to our redemption, notice here that the apostle Paul says that in Christ we have been “qualified” to be partakers of an inheritance! I could preach on this for weeks, but let me just say that Christ is the redeemer, not us. He is the One who qualified us, not we ourselves. So, all of these awesome promises that revolve around our redemption are based on the fact that Christ is the redeemer and His blood is the price that was paid to redeem us. Therefore, we are now qualified!
 
In verse 13, the Apostle Paul said, “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”
 
Notice how the past tense is used again. It is not that God is in the process of delivering us or God will deliver us someday off in the future; No, God has already delivered us! Therefore, when it comes to any area of our life where the kingdom of darkness is trying to maintain dominion over us, we do not need to ask God to deliver us. We need to exercise our faith in this Scripture and declare in the face of these negative situations— “I have been delivered!”
 
Now the word “delivered” literally means to be “rescued.” Second Peter 2:7 gives us a good example of what it means to be delivered when Peter speaks of righteous Lot being delivered from the oppressive conduct of the wicked in Sodom & Gomorrah. Now we know that this was an actual “rescuing” of Lot and his family from the judgment that was to come and from the temptations that surrounded them on a daily basis. Amen? And let’s recall why he was delivered—because he was righteous and his uncle Abraham interceded on his behalf to rescue the few righteous in that city from the wrath that was to come. Amen!  
 
Notice the phrase that Paul went on to use in Colossians 1:13 describing what we have been delivered from— “from the power of darkness.”
 
The word “from” comes from the Greek word ek which literally means “out of.” The word “power” comes from the Greek exousia which would more accurately be translated “authority.” So, what we are talking about being delivered “out of” is the “authority of darkness.” So, what does this mean? This means that anything from the kingdom of darkness has no authority over us any longer. Now it did. Darkness did have authority over us as long as we were lost in the world and unregenerate. But when we were redeemed from that slave-market of darkness, we were also made free from his authority. So, guess what? Sin no longer has dominion over us! Satan no longer has any power or control over us! We have been rescued from his authority! Amen!
 
Oh, but again, we are rescued unto something and not just from something. Colossians 1:13 goes on to say, “and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” The reference to “the Son of His love” could simply be translated— “of His beloved Son.”
 
So, we are talking here about an address change! We no longer live under the authority of the kingdom of darkness! Now we have been “conveyed” into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son, Jesus!
 
You see, it would have been mercy enough for us just to simply be rescued, but as First Peter 1:3 says, God showed us “abundant mercy.” How? By not only rescuing us from satan, sin and sickness, but by conveying us into His very own family through the new birth! Hallelujah! And how did all of this happen, according to First Peter 1:3? “Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!” Amen!
 
Now the word “conveyed” literally describes “a relocation, to change places or to be transferred.” (KJV- “translated”) The Spirit Filled Life Bible says that it “refers to the deportation or transference of captured armies or populations from one country to another.”
 
So, at the moment we received Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior we were transferred into His kingdom. Christ’s kingdom is right now in our midst—albeit in the spiritual realm (Luke 17:21), and positionally we are now in it! Even though we now live on this sin-cursed earth, Philippians 3:20 says that we are citizens of the kingdom of heaven right now as God’s children although we presently remain in this world! That’s good news, saints!
 
Now let’s look at verse 14 where Paul goes on to say, “in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Ephesians 1:7 echoes this verse when it says, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”)
 
Now by beginning with the words “in whom” or “in Him,” we understand that Paul is referring to “in God’s beloved Son, Jesus.” So, in the Beloved Son of God “we have redemption”—again, echoing what Paul said in First Corinthians 1:30. 
 
So, again, the word “redemption” literally describes the setting free of a slave by the payment of a ransom. So, when we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior we were set free from the dominion, the penalty, and the power of satan and sin. He has freed us from our slavery to sin and has restored to us the place of perfect liberty from the kingdom of darkness.
 
And Paul goes on to tell us what the ransom price was that was paid to purchase our liberty by saying, “through His blood.”
 
Again, Jesus’ precious blood was the ransom that was paid to purchase our redemption. It was impossible for the blood of bulls and goats nor of anything or anyone else to purchase our redemption (Hebrews 10:4). It had to be the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without spot or blemish (1 Peter 1:19). Nothing else would have sufficed! It had to be perfect righteousness becoming all of our sin in order to pay our enormous sin debt. Glory to Jesus!
 
But now we learn something more about our redemption here: The apostle Paul describes our redemption as— “the forgiveness of sins.” In other words, what does our redemption look like? It looks like “forgiveness.” Amen!
 
 
 
 
 
FREE INDEED!
 
The root word for “forgiveness” literally means “to send away.” It means to dismiss and send away—the complete releasing from bondage to a debt—with the added quality of totally cancelling any obligation and punishment, with no debt left to pay at all (also, “remission”). Amen!
 
That sounds a lot like the Year of Jubilee, doesn’t it! Why? Because to be forgiven—sent away and dismissed—was not something we had to pay for! Our debt was totally cancelled and nothing else is left to be paid! Praise God, Jesus is our Jubilee!
 
You see, for most people this celebration of “Jubilee” occurred only once in their lifetime, and for some not even that, as it only occurred once every 50 years. But, praise God, in Christ our Jubilee is once and for all of our lifetime! Also, on this year of Jubilee, all Israelites who had sold themselves into slavery were set free, and all land that had been sold reverted to its original owners. So, this describes bondage that they had placed themselves under! In other words, they deserved to be captive and under the dominion of another. But it didn’t matter! Even though they deserved their slavery, they got what they did not deserve—complete liberation and restoration! Amen!
 
And, praise be unto God, this is what our Savior provided for us—complete redemption and deliverance, not to be brought under another form of bondage, but to “send us away” into His glorious liberty! Amen!
 
Let me end today by giving you a few Scriptures that teach us this:
 
You guys know I love the Book of Galatians, right? Well, I believe the theme of this awesome epistle that expounds upon the grace of God is found in Galatians 5:1, which says, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”
 
The literal Greek rendering is slightly different in this verse. For example, this phrase was actually at the beginning of the sentence in the original language’s sentence structure. Therefore, some translations that recognize this say, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free … therefore, stand fast.”
 
Now regarding this phrase “for freedom,” the Greeks had a unique way of having a slave secure his freedom in their day. It was an emancipation performed by one of their supposed gods. So, the way this worked is that this slave would somehow save the money that was needed, but because he had no legal standing, he couldn’t pay it himself. So, his master would take the money, pay the appropriate amount to the temple treasury on the slave’s behalf. (Now here is the kicker…) Then there was an official document that was executed, bearing the words “for freedom” on it. Therefore, because the slave was now property of the gods that freed him, nobody had the legal right to enslave him again.
 
This is, in my opinion, what the apostle Paul was communicating to these Gentiles—an example they could certainly relate to. Saints, Christ paid the price on our behalf so that we could now be God’s property, and no one has the right to enslave us again. Glory!
 
But what this verse is teaching us is that while freedom and liberty have been purchased for us by Christ, we are going to have to fight for it! That is why Paul began by saying to “stand fast” in it. Church, we have to fight for our freedom in many cases because we have an enemy who will resiliently try and rob us of our spiritual rights in Christ Jesus. Amen?
 
Another powerful passage of Scriptures that echo this truth about our freedom is John 8:30-36:
 
In John 8:36, Jesus says, “Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” Here is Trey’s translation: “So, if Jesus sets you free, you are really free!”
 
Now the context of this verse is of one being a slave of sin. So, Jesus was teaching this group of Jews who actually believed Him (not the ones who didn’t believe on Him, mind you) that if they abide in His Word, they will really be His disciples. That is when they will come to know the truth, and the truth will make them free.
 
So, the freedom Jesus is speaking of is freedom from the dominion of satan and sin. Therefore, Jesus is really talking about redemption, isn’t He? And what is awesome about this is Jesus didn’t just say we would be free; He said that we would be free indeed—that is, REALLY free!
 
Praise God, that means that we do not have to be in bondage to any of the works of the devil! I am, you are, WE are really set free from sin and its wages, which is death! That means we are set free from the devil’s devices and the penalty of yielding to him. He cannot make me sin! He cannot make me sick! He cannot make me broke! He cannot oppress, depress, or have dominion over me in any way!
 
Now he certainly can if we let Him. He will do everything he can to bring us into bondage by tempting us at every turn. So, if we do not know this—that we have been redeemed and set free—then he will capitalize on our ignorance.
 
This is why Jesus said that the key to walking in this freedom is walking in the Word—that is, abiding and continuing in the truth of His Word. Glory!
 
Church, this is the mirror that reveals to us this freedom we learned about today! It is what shows us what Christ has done for us! And we must continue in it—constantly beholding its truths. This is how we will experience true freedom and liberty. Amen and amen! 
 
Glory to God, saints; if the Holy Spirit lives in us, then freedom lives in us—for where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (See 2 Corinthians 3:17)!
 
Brothers and sisters, you have heard the Gospel here today! This is the good news of your redemption! And my prayer for everyone here who is born again and who know that you are today a citizen of heaven is that you will have a revelation that you are freed from the dominion of satan, sin, and sickness, that you have been delivered and that you have been set free.