Based on Acts 16:16-34
What comes to mind when you think of the word ‘Freedom’? Pictures may come into your mind such as a bird being released from its cage, a person being released from prison or even a scene from the film Braveheart. With Mel Gibson riding in on horseback as William Wallace, rallying the troops, and declaring, ‘They may take away our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom!’ I wasn’t going to attempt a Scottish accent!
But what about the ‘feelings’ that you associate with the word ‘Freedom’. There is a ‘lightness’ about it, something has been lifted from you, whether that is a burden taken off your shoulders; metaphorical chains that have been broken; or you’ve been released from something tying you down.
We use the expression ‘free as a bird’ as we see them flying with ease and without care. A ‘lightness’ comes about through freedom.
Freedom is something that by our very nature we strive for, we think of it as a good thing to be free. We imagine the weightlessness of souring through the skies ‘as free as a bird’. You have freedom. You are free.
Our bible reading from Acts today contains many examples of freedom and release into freedom.
First we have the girl who was released from the spirit that was enslaving her – she was freed from the spirit and hopefully from the owners that used her. Peter and Silas were freed from their chains and the prison guard, after drawing his sword to kill himself, was released from fear and from the darkness of his suicidal thoughts
But arguably the greatest example of freedom in today’s bible reading comes from when the prison guard and his family declared their belief on the Lord Jesus and found freedom in salvation.
The jailer…,trembling before Paul and Silas… said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They answered, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptised without delay. (Acts 16: 30-33)
The jailer asked, ‘What must I do to be saved?’ What is the freedom that comes with salvation?
Well, first comes the question, what is salvation? Salvation is at the heart of the Christian faith yet to many it is a word that is rarely explained, so it could be viewed as religious jargon.
Well there is no one better to turn to than John Wesley to find out more about salvation. In his sermon ‘Salvation by faith’ he explores the wonderful promise that ‘It is by God’s grace that you have been saved through faith’ (Ephesians 2:8) and he attempts to answers the very question ‘What is salvation?’
John Wesley split his explanation of salvation into 7 sections. I’m going to attempt to sum up each section in one sentence and don’t worry I won’t be cheating by having long sentences with lots of commas!
‘What is salvation?’ First he said that salvation is a present state. It can be attained here and now on earth.
Secondly, you are saved from sin. All who believe in Jesus are saved, through faith, from sin.
Thirdly, we are saved from the guilt of all past sin. Jesus has dealt with our sin and declares us righteous.
Number four, we are saved from fear. There is nothing to fear as… ‘we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Romans 5:1)
Number five, we are saved from the power of sin. Everyone who lives in union with Christ does not continue to sin, for the Son of God protects them and the evil one does not touch them. (1 John 3:9 and 1 John 5:18)
Number six, we are saved from all sorts of sin. People who are born of God by faith do not continue in habitual sin or intentional sin.
And finally, Justification. We are delivered from guilt and punishment by the atonement of Jesus actually being applied to the believer’s soul.
So a whirlwind tour of John Wesley’s explanation of what is salvation, what it means to be saved, and from this explanation we can see that by its very nature salvation gives us freedom.
Freedom from the burden of sin, freedom from the penalty of sin and with the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, the strength to overcome committing sin in the first place.
What does this mean to us? What freedom have we found through the knowledge of our salvation and through our life in Christ?
I’d like to read a testimony from a lady called Tara.
“I am twenty-nine years old, and life is good. It hasn’t always been that way though. At age sixteen I was an avid drug user and drinker. I didn’t know anything about the Lord…It wasn’t until I was about twenty, when I was walking home from one of the bars I frequented, that a bus full of Christians asked if I needed a ride home. I agreed, and they led me to the Lord.
But for years after that, I didn’t go to church, or build any relationship with God. I still did drugs and drank.
One day, I felt I had hit rock bottom and needed help. I cried out to the Lord, and he was there for me. Eventually, he freed me from all drugs. I have been clean for six years, praise God. I know I couldn’t have quit on my own, but the Lord took it all away from me.
Now I have a husband and three beautiful children … I still have a struggle with alcohol, but the Lord is doing a work in me. He has saved me so many times from the grip of hell, I know he will do it again.”
https://www.learnreligions.com/popcorn-testimonies-701459
Salvation gives us freedom – Freedom from the burden of sin, freedom from the penalty of sin and with the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, the strength to overcome committing sin in the first place.
The Lord freed this lady from her drug habit and with the Holy Spirit dwelling within her she finds the strength to overcome her struggle with alcohol.
Salvation is at the heart of the Christian faith yet we don’t talk about it much. Perhaps it’s because nobody likes to be called a sinner.
So how are we meant to respond?
The jailer…,trembling before Paul and Silas… said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They answered, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’
‘Believe on the Lord Jesus’. That is how we respond and how we should tell others to respond.
‘For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast’. (Ephesians 2: 8-9)
This is the gift of God. We are saved from sin, not by our own works but from the freely given blessing of God.
According to John Wesley, the death of Jesus on the cross was the only way of saving humans from eternal death and his resurrection restores us all to eternal life.
We are saved through faith and God achieved this by using Jesus’ blood and our faith in Jesus. We are to ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus’.
Ok. This hasn’t been the lightest of sermons. But there is a ‘lightness’ in freedom and there is freedom in salvation.
Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’ They answered him, ‘We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, “You will be made free”?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there for ever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8: 31-36)
Let’s go back to the jailer. What happened next?
The jailer…,trembling before Paul and Silas… said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They answered, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptised without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God. (Acts 16: 30-34)
The jailer’s response was to immediately believe on the Lord Jesus, to wash the prisoner’s wounds and to be baptised. But then we have this image of gracious hospitality as the jailer and his family entertain Paul and Silas by bringing them up to the house and setting food before them.
Rejoicing can come out of turmoil and darkness.
When everything in life is calm and easy, sometimes it is easy to forget our dependence on God. We forget our need for God. We forget our need to bring everything to him and to discern his will, so that we can live our life in his promise of all its fullness.
Following Christ doesn’t mean that our lives will be without turmoil, there will be times of darkness. Right now our world is lost in darkness and chaos and we too will make wrong choices.
Tara, through her faith in Christ, found freedom from drugs yet she still struggles with her alcohol addiction. With the Holy Spirit dwelling within her she feels that she has the strength not to drink. She says, ‘He has saved me so many times from the grip of hell, I know he will do it again.’ God, like any good father, is along-side her in her darkness.
Would Tara have turned to Christ if it wasn’t for hitting rock bottom? It wasn’t God’s will for her to hit rock bottom but God uses every choice we make for the ultimate good and the most loving outcome. When we ask where God is in the darkness, we will see him working incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies.
The jailer considered suicide. He hit rock bottom. There was nowhere else to turn. But he gave his life to Christ and then rejoiced! Rejoicing can come out of turmoil and darkness.
Freedom is something that by our very nature we strive for. Salvation gives us freedom. Freedom from the burden of sin, freedom from the penalty of sin and with the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, the strength to overcome committing sin in the first place.
So let us rejoice in the knowledge of the greatest gift of all time – that it is by God’s grace that we have been saved through faith – and rejoice in the freedom in salvation. Amen
Debbie Story 