Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Good afternoon. Good afternoon. You might be wondering where Steve is this morning. Well, Steve is in Colombia in a church called Aviva Miento, which means Revival Church. And he's excited to be there and ready to bring back the fire next week. And if you don't know me, by the way, my name's Juliet and I'm married to Steve. If you haven't met me before, if you're new this morning, Steve and Juliet, we lead the church together. He's in Colombia and he's been teaching through the Book of Acts, and it's just been wonderful. And he's excited to carry on next weekend on the Book of Acts. But this morning I wanted to take a little break from that series that we've been doing, because on Monday I was in a prayer meeting, and Holy Spirit just spoke to me about freedom, the freedom that he wanted to bring this morning. And so this morning we're going to talk about freedom, the freedom of Christ being free, getting free and staying free. You know, Jesus said this. He said, therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free. Indeed. He said that in John 8. That's a promise of Jesus, a promise of the salvation that we have received, that we are set completely free from our sin and from our old life. We know that because of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus that we're set free from sin. But it isn't just that we are set free also from all of the effects of sin and the curse. We are set free to live a brand new life in him that means a life that continues to walk in freedom from sin and from all effects of the curse.
[00:01:45] And you know, when Jesus was talking about this, there's this kind of long discourse in Chapter 8 of John, which starts with him setting a woman free who's been caught in adultery. And the Pharisees are kind of trying to catch Jesus out because they don't like what Jesus was doing, coming and just setting people free. It meant that they didn't have control over what was happening, and they would question him and they would just sort of attack him, really. And there's this chapter eight is all about. About this kind of conversation where he is saying who he is, saying that he's the Messiah, the Son of the Father. And then it says that when he finishes that there were a number of Jewish people that were listening there who came to believe in him. And it was in the context of these people believing in him that he talks about this freedom. And he says this. He says, if you abide In My word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. You will be made free most assuredly. I say to you, whenever someone commits a sin, they're a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever. But a son abides forever. Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
[00:03:06] This is the promise of Jesus. And it's all about the work that he has done on the cross. It's not about what we do. It's about what he's done first and foremost. But you do see here that there is a part here of our freedom that's about what we do. You see, he has set us free because of what he's done on the cross.
[00:03:31] But to walk in continued freedom, we have to abide in him and abide in his truth, abide in His Word.
[00:03:41] And if we do that, we walk in this continued freedom unless we give the devil a foothold.
[00:03:49] That's what Ephesians 4 says. It says, do not give the devil a foothold or a place in your life. Well, how do we do that?
[00:03:57] Well, we do that through stepping back into sin. That's an obvious one. Going back to the things that we used to do, the addictions, the behaviors, the things that we know are contrary to the word of God. You see, if you abide in me and abide in the truth of My word, you will be free and stay free. But if we walk away from that and start to participate in things that are contrary to the word of God, then we become bound again, enslaved again. So there's a part of this that's about giving. You could give the devil a foothold and lose your freedom, but it's not just that. You know, sometimes we lose our freedom because of wrong thinking. We lose our freedom because we slip into some thought or the other that's contrary to God's word. We lose our freedom because we start to say things that are contrary to God's word. We stop abiding in him and abiding in his truth. What do I mean? Well, things like, I don't believe God loves me, or I don't believe I'm totally forgiven, or I don't believe that God has good things for me.
[00:05:09] Now, we often we don't say it like that, but it's versions of things that we start to say and agree with and believe that are not abiding with the truth of God's word. And suddenly we give the devil a foothold, a place in our life, a foot into our life when we are meant to live in freedom.
[00:05:29] But it's not only that. You know, the Bible has something to say about wrestling with principalities and powers.
[00:05:39] It says this in Ephesians 6, it says this.
[00:05:44] It says, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. What is that?
[00:06:06] It's the devil and his demons.
[00:06:10] It's the army of Satan that will come against the people of God so that at times we actually wrestle with principalities and powers.
[00:06:19] This is real, friends, you know, and it's time for the people of God to understand that some of the things we experience and face in life, that feel heart, that are a struggle, are not just life, not just stuff happening to us, but they are actually principalities and powers that are coming against us so that we will stop abiding in him and abiding in the truth of his word to derail us in some way from walking with Jesus, from walking in freedom. This is real, friends.
[00:06:51] But it goes on to say this, therefore, in the face of such affliction. It doesn't say that, but that's what it means. Take up the whole armor of God that you will be able to withstand in the evil day. And having done all to stand, stand. Therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end, with all perseverance and supplication for the saints.
[00:07:33] Sometimes we wrestle with principalities and powers.
[00:07:40] What does it feel like to wrestle with principalities and powers? Well, I was thinking about this and praying about this, knowing that the Holy Spirit wanted to bring freedom to people who are wrestling. And I just felt like a good analogy is to describe it like long Covid.
[00:07:58] Do you remember how people got Covid? And some people just got better from COVID and they had the negative test, but some people actually got better from COVID in the Sense that they had the negative test, but the symptoms of COVID lingered on even though they had a negative test. Stuff was carrying on and it would come and go, like respiratory problems or headaches or lethargy or nausea or digestive problems. It was like even though they had that negative test, it kept coming and kept coming.
[00:08:33] Well, that's what spiritual affliction feels like. That's what it feels like to wrestle with principalities and powers that are coming against us.
[00:08:42] And, you know, I've talked about my story, which is a story of freedom many, many times.
[00:08:50] But one of the things that I probably haven't talked about very much is when I had been a Christian for 13 years and the Lord set me free from a spirit of grief that had been tormenting me all my life.
[00:09:04] You know, I grew up, as I've said many times before, without a father. My father left when I was 3 years old and there was a lot of sadness and disruption at home. And then my life as a teenager went off the rails and just very, very broken. And when I came to Jesus, or when Jesus came to me, rather, he completely set me free. He completely delivered me. He completely healed me. And I was made brand new. And I was a completely different person within six months. I was like a brand new, changed from the inside out. Everything changed.
[00:09:39] But I had been a Christian for 13 years, walking in what I believe to be absolute freedom. But one of the things that I done when I became a Christian was the pain that I experienced as a child over my father and the loss and all of the story that went with it. I kind of put it on a shelf and I said to God, you are my father now. This is my new family. I'm a citizen of heaven, a child of God. That stuff doesn't matter anymore. I'm just going to put it over here because I made new and I'm free.
[00:10:09] But after about 13 years of being a Christian, what happened was I would come into worship and I began to sort of. I can only explain it as see the face of my father. I remembered him a little bit. And I started to think a lot about the family of my father, who I'd never met. I had two brothers, two half brothers. I was the illegitimate child of another woman and my two brothers were in London. And I knew about them and I knew about this family.
[00:10:37] And I just couldn't. Whenever I came into worship, I would just think about them, think about them. And it was really disturbing me, really distressing me, because I just didn't want to think about it. And then one day I was driving on the seafront, and I was listening to worship, and again, this. These thoughts, this wave after wave, and I just started crying. And I felt the Holy Spirit say, I want you to go and visit the family of your father.
[00:11:00] And I was like, I don't want to. I don't want to do this. But the Lord just impressed it upon me so much that I could not be in worship. I could not sit in his presence without feeling like, I have got to do this. And so I did. I went to see the family of my father, and it was the weirdest thing in the world because I sat in the room with them, and we all looked the same.
[00:11:20] And it was so funny, because my father, my mother. I don't like my mother. She's tall, she's blonde, she's got big blue eyes. You know, all the girls, all that side of the family, I don't look like them. But when I sat in this room, I was like, oh, we really are family. We all look exactly the same. So we all knew we were family.
[00:11:37] So it was wonderful. And I thought it was all about reconciliation, but actually it was about my healing. Because when I sat there and they told me the story of my father, and they told me about how he had been a very difficult man to grow up with, how he'd been in and out of prison, and how actually it was better for me that I hadn't lived with him. And they talked to me about how he struggled with depression and eventually committed suicide. I knew he had died, but I didn't know he'd committed suicide. He committed suicide so dramatically by throwing himself in front of a train. I mean, that's really making sure you're going to die, isn't it? And as they talked to me about this, I just began to feel sick.
[00:12:18] I just began to feel like waves of sickness. And I loved meeting them, but I was so deeply disturbed and so sad. And I went away from this meeting with them, and I just couldn't shake this sadness.
[00:12:30] And for days, I just felt sick and sad, and I just couldn't stop feeling it. And I thought, this is irrational because I didn't ever really know my father. I don't understand why I'm feeling this. And I went to some ladies, some warrior, intercessory type ladies, you know the ones, and they prayed for me. And this beautiful lady, she just said to me, julia, I think that you have been tormented by a spirit of grief since you were a small child. And Your father left, and we're going to deal with that today. And she prayed for me, and I cried out and I agreed with her prayer, and I cried out and something lifted from my life that I hadn't even known was there.
[00:13:13] You know, I thought that people felt sad like I did often. I thought that people had these sorts of waves of sadness that would come and go, like Covid.
[00:13:24] And it wasn't until it was gone that I realized, actually, no, that wasn't normal to carry this sadness. I had struggled as a teenager with suicidal thoughts. I didn't even know that my father had committed suicide. But this thing, like long Covid, even though Jesus had set me free, it would come and go, come and go. And that day, the Lord set me free.
[00:13:46] Friends, sometimes Christians will wrestle with principalities and powers. We wrestle because of something we've done, maybe given a foothold, but we wrestle sometimes because of something somebody else has done to us, because of something that's happening around our lives. It's not always our fault. It's just simply that the devil is a liar, a thief, and a destroyer. And he wants to take us out of our relationship with Jesus. He wants to take us away from the joy of our salvation. And he'll use anything because he's a liar.
[00:14:15] And friends, we need to be wise. We need to know that sometimes we are wrestling with principalities and powers that we need to take authority over and get through. So this is what I want to do this morning. I want to talk about this by looking at the story of a woman who walked in freedom.
[00:14:32] Because you see, the reason that we don't talk about this stuff much is because we don't want to talk about what the devil does, do we? We don't want to talk about what he does. We just want to talk about Jesus. But we have to understand what the devil does sometimes so that we can walk into the freedom of Jesus. But what we want to do is look at our beautiful Jesus and how he sets us free. Now, some of you this morning, you have given the devil a foothold, and you know it. And the Lord wants to set you free. Today, some of you this morning, as I'm talking and as I continue to speak, you're going to realize that you are wrestling with principalities and powers. You are struggling, maybe to forgive a person. You are struggling with a kind of temptation that won't leave you. You are struggling with feelings of loss and sadness. Listen, it's not wrong to grieve. But what is wrong is when it Stays and it doesn't leave.
[00:15:27] You are struggling with irrational fear or something else that I haven't named. And you know that it's coming upon you like long Covid and you need to be free.
[00:15:37] And for the rest of us, we're just. As we look at the story of this woman that I want to talk about today, we're going to have a lesson in how to continue to walk in freedom. So grab your Bibles. Turn with Me to John 20.
[00:15:53] This is a story of the resurrection of Jesus and also the story of a woman who was completely set free. You remember how Mary Magdalene went into the disciples after she had seen the empty tomb.
[00:16:08] And she runs to them to tell them that she can't find Jesus. She'd gone there to anoint him for burial, and she can't find him. And it says this. We're going to pick it up. Chapter 20, verse three. It says this. Peter therefore went out. Oh, why don't you stand? It's the word of the Lord. You see, I thought you would just do it by now.
[00:16:29] We honor the word of the Lord.
[00:16:32] Peter therefore went out, and the other disciples and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together. And the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down, looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there, yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb. And he saw the linen cloths lying there. And the handkerchief had been around his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who came to the tomb first went in also. And he saw and believed, for as yet they did not know the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. But Mary stood outside by the tomb, weeping. And as she weeped, she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, woman, why are you weeping? And she said to them, because they've taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they've laid him. Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there. But she did not know that it was Jesus. And Jesus said to her, woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? She supposed him to be the gardener and said to him, sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you've laid him, and I will take him And Jesus said to her, mary.
[00:17:49] And she turned towards him and said, rabboni, which is to say teacher, Actually to say my teacher, because he was her teacher.
[00:17:59] And Jesus said to her, do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren and say to them, I'm ascending to my Father and to your Father and to my God and your God. And Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken these things to her. Why don't you take a seat?
[00:18:19] This is an incredibly beautiful story. It's a story of such beauty. It's like a picture of our beautiful Jesus interacting with this woman. And, you know, some stories are just like that. In fact, if you. If you googled Mary Magdalene, you'd find actually lots of pictures and paintings of this very story.
[00:18:39] You know, one of the ways in which we walk in continued freedom is to see the beauty of Jesus.
[00:18:46] It's the reason we sing. I see, you know, you have the most beautiful face. I've got two songs mixed up there.
[00:18:53] You have the most beautiful face. And we invite people forward for healing.
[00:19:00] You know, this story, the big narrative in this story is the resurrection of Jesus. Of course, that is the big, big headline of this story.
[00:19:09] But, you know, it's always the headline of the story because all the way through the scriptures, we see the redemption of our God.
[00:19:17] And Jesus is the climax of that, of course, the resurrection. But within that big story are these little stories, little narratives of people's life with God. And they're so real and they're so beautiful. And this is one of those stories.
[00:19:32] And, you know, in the Gospel of John, I don't fully know why he just sort of focused on Mary Magdalene, because the other gospels tell us that there were a number of women around the tomb anointing Jesus for burial. But in this one, he just zooms in on Mary. And maybe it's because Mary was the first there. Maybe she was the first to see Jesus or he just wanted to put a spotlight on her part in the story.
[00:19:57] But Mary, of course we know, is Mary Magdalene, who had seven demons cast out of her. She was a woman who'd been utterly set free by Jesus. She was named amongst the women who helped to care for Jesus.
[00:20:10] She was named amongst the women who were there at the cross and saw the horrific crucifixion. She just been through that.
[00:20:18] And she was named amongst the women who were there to anoint Jesus for burial.
[00:20:24] And what I want you to see right at the beginning of this story is to see that this was a very, very difficult time for the disciples. You know, we look at this story and we see it on the other side of the resurrection.
[00:20:39] But they didn't know what was happening here. It says one disciple ran in and saw and believed. But, you know, this was set free from her demons. Jesus was her savior. And in that moment, she thinks he's dead, but she's there.
[00:20:55] And I want you to understand that this is a moment in someone's life where they could have given the devil a foothold.
[00:21:02] She could have stepped back into her old life. I am sure that the devil, who is a thief, liar, and a deceiver, was saying to her, come back. Come back to your old life. Mary, it's all lost. It's all broken. It's not working the way you thought it was going to.
[00:21:17] She had a choice here.
[00:21:20] And I just want to touch on a couple of things that paint this picture of a woman continuing to walk in freedom. The first one is that in that moment of choice, Mary did the right thing. She did the right thing. You know, the armor of God, it says that we are to wear righteousness and we are to wear truth.
[00:21:46] What does that mean? It means that who Jesus says he is and what he's done in our lives, number one, our salvation, that we walk in that. But number two, it's to actually walk in his righteousness. It's to do the right things.
[00:22:03] And, you know, here it was the tradition to go and anoint Jesus for burial. But you know what she could have done? She could have said, I am so distraught. I am so undone. I am so disappointed. I'm not going.
[00:22:17] She could have made that choice, and she could have taken a step back. But she's there. She's standing, she's crying, she's weeping, and she's there doing the right thing.
[00:22:26] You know, when we're wrestling with principalities and powers, spiritual affliction that is manifest in our lives through suffering and anguish and sickness and circumstances and all sorts of things that can happen to the people of God. What it can feel like is completely overwhelming. What it can feel like is I just don't want to go to church this morning because I feel this.
[00:22:52] I just don't want to read my Bible because on every page I see forgiveness, and I'm struggling to forgive.
[00:22:58] I just don't want to pray because I feel so let down.
[00:23:05] You know what it says in James 4? It says, resist the enemy and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. That's why in the armor of God, prayer in the spirit is so important.
[00:23:21] In that moment, she did the right thing and she stood in the right place for us to walk in continued freedom is to do the right thing, even when we feel like we're struggling. Second, she was faithful.
[00:23:36] She was faithful.
[00:23:40] You know, it says in the armor of God that faith is a shield, that the word of God and the Spirit are a sword that we wear salvation, the story of our salvation as a helmet.
[00:23:57] She stood in the presence of something she didn't understand, but she just stayed there. And it says that some of them.
[00:24:06] It says that at least one saw and believed. I believe there were the stirrings of faith here.
[00:24:12] All she could actually see was that Jesus is dead. But she will not. They've taken him. She will not. She will not leave. She has this kind of steely faith.
[00:24:22] She doesn't go back. She stands in faith. You know, Jesus had said, if I drive out demons from the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. She knew that because it was her story. She knew he was the Messiah. They had called him the Messiah. They knew that there was something so God manifest in Jesus. But they weren't expecting this, were they?
[00:24:47] But she is the one. She's the only one who stands and won't go, won't leave.
[00:24:56] You know, faith is what. It's the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things yet seen. It is to stand in the face of trial even when it doesn't make sense. What this looked like for Mary was death, but actually she was about to see the miracle of the resurrection. And that's what spiritual affliction can feel like. It can feel like pressing in, holding on to what we know Jesus has done in our life, holding on to what he said.
[00:25:27] You know, spiritual affliction can feel like a beat down. That's why we have to wear the armor of God. That's why we stand in faith and abide in him and abide in his word. What has he said? What has he done in your life? What do you know is true no matter what your faith facing today stand.
[00:25:48] And it is in that place that she encounters him.
[00:25:54] You know, we always say here, we know this, don't we? Cromer Church, that one encounter with Jesus changes everything.
[00:26:03] And I love this part of the story because it says that she couldn't see Jesus, even though he was standing in front of her, because she was crying so much.
[00:26:13] And you know, some would say, you know, clever people who. I don't. I don't want to disregard what they say, but that she didn't recognize him because he had a different sort of spiritual. He had a different resurrected body.
[00:26:25] And maybe that's true, but even so, would that be the gardener?
[00:26:31] That's what she thinks he looks like. She thought he was the gardener. I honestly think she was so overcome with emotion, she couldn't see Jesus. She knew Jesus. Even if his countenance had changed, she would know Jesus. But she is so overwhelmed with emotion, she can't see Him. Friends, sometimes when we're wrestling with principalities and powers, we are so overwhelmed by the emotion of what we're experiencing, we cannot see that Jesus is right in front of us.
[00:26:58] But here's the thing. The moment he speaks, she knows his voice.
[00:27:04] This is it.
[00:27:07] Abide in me. Abide in the truth of my word.
[00:27:12] If we know him and we know his voice, then we can walk in freedom.
[00:27:20] And in that moment of seeing Jesus, everything changes. She goes from being a weeping, blubbering mess to standing in the presence of her Lord Jesus.
[00:27:33] And the grieving and the sorrow and the anguish is lifted again. I say to you, it's why we sing about seeing the face of Jesus, to encounter him. He is our freedom. And what does he say to her then? He says to her, go and tell the disciples that you have seen the risen Lord.
[00:27:56] See, that's the other part of the armor of God, isn't it? We have our feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel.
[00:28:03] What does it say in Revelation that they overcame through the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. She was the first to give the testimony of the risen Jesus. Friends, when we stand in the face of spiritual affliction, torment, or something that's going on in our lives, we just keep talking about Jesus. We just keep going and talking about Jesus. We talk about what Jesus has done in our lives. We talk about who he is and what he's won for us and his salvation. We talk about Jesus and we tell our own story. Just like I did this morning. This is who Jesus is. And I'm standing in the promise of what it says in the Word and what he's done in my life.
[00:28:46] Righteousness, faith, and the gospel of Jesus.
[00:28:52] This is how we walk in continued freedom.
