Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
A little over a mile off of the coast of San Francisco California, is a small island which was the location for a maximum security prison known as The Rock. Alcatraz was considered the last resort for prisoners who continually caused trouble at other prisons. The penitentiary operated for approximately 29 years and during that time, claimed that no prisoner successfully escaped. In the summer of 1962, three men attempted to escape by careful planning. They broke away the old concrete in their cells gaining access to a utility corridor. This led to a fan vent which gave them the ability to eventually get out onto the rooftop. They made a makeshift raft out of 50 raincoats, and a few weeks later made their escape. Although it’s highly disputed whether they made it or not, there is quite a bit of circumstantial evidence, even a raft that was found close by on Angel Island
This reminds me of the Christian life..
Although many people are being held in a physical prison somewhere, each of us are imprisoned by our own sinfulness. In order to find true liberty and gain access to the kingdom of heaven, we are going to need to escape and break free from the desires of the sinful nature.
“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
— 2 Peter 1:4
We are given a promise of eternal life, but in order to eventually obtain it, we must be transformed and do the will of God from our hearts. As Christ Jesus is perfectly obedient to the heavenly Father, God wants us to become His obedient children. Sin does not please God, and what we must do is break free from the desires of the sinful nature. We must make an escape plan, and do whatever we deem necessary to rid ourselves of all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. If we want to obtain true liberty, we must escape from sinful living, and overcome the lusts of this world.
“He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.”
— Revelation 21:7
Maintaining obedience and overcoming the sinful nature is required in order to keep your name in the book of life.
“He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.”
— Revelation 3:5
Like someone who is on the run, we must flee sin.
“Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
— 2 Timothy 2:22
How many of you have gone fishing and caught a really big fish on your line, but as you reeled it in, they kept fighting the entire time. When you finally got them up to the boat, they broke free completely and escaped your grasp. This is the same way we must be in regards to sinfulness. The wages of sin is death, and all of us need to break free from its deadly grip through faith in Christ Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit.
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” — Ephesians 6:10
Maybe you’ve watched a football game, and seen a wide receiver catch a pass, and then break free from all of his defenders. What is his reward for escaping their grasp? He runs all the way to the endzone to score a touchdown! When we break free from our sinful living, eternal life is within our reach. When we overcome sin and its desires, there is nothing but open field in front of us. We can run all the way into the end zone of heaven, and eventually obtain the prize of Paradise.
“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” — Revelation 2:7
To truly be free we must escape sin and its desires. Those who live in sin are in bondage to sin. We need to be set free through a liberal dose of God’s truth, and the application of it to our daily lives. God grants us a gift of His grace for the purpose of escaping our sins, so we can walk in loving obedience to His will.
John 8 ³¹ Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; ³² And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. ³³ They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? ³⁴ Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. ³⁵ And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. ³⁶ If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Those who sin are the slaves of sin. To inherit eternal life one must stop committing sin. We must learn to go and sin no more, getting to a place in our lives when we no longer need to repent from dead works because we are walking and abiding in the truth. To obtain life, we must escape sin, and the key to unlock us from our imprisonment is found through mortification. Those who endure this process, are proving themselves to be the sons of God.
Romans 8. ¹² Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. ¹³ For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
¹⁴ For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Every soul on the face of this earth is incarcerated because of their own sins. They might not be in an Earthly jail or prison, but they are held prisoner just the same. Deep inside of their heart, they are held captive by unconfessed sin, and the lusts of the flesh. Because of pride and self righteousness, many people don’t want to believe this, but it’s true. From the highest places of authority, to the lowest places of society, we are all the same. Each of us have sinned at one time or another in the sight of God, and there is only one way that we can be forgiven by Him, it is through faith in His only begotten Son Jesus Christ.
God wants to completely cleanse us from our sinful past. Forgiveness is a free gift from His blessedness to us. As I have said for many years, God has met us halfway, but to inherit eternal life, we must come the rest of the way. We must completely turn away from sinfulness, and walk in His perfect will. We must escape the desires and sinful lusts that are so prevalent in the world around us. Like stopping out a small fire with your feet, we must stomp out sin whenever and wherever it appears. The Christian Life is an extremely high calling because it requires perfection. It calls for the elimination of sin in your life. It demands faithful and loving obedience towards the one who first loved us.
“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”
— 2 Timothy 2:19
To inherit eternal life, it is required that we overcome the sinful nature. We must free ourselves from the grasp of sin. It is certain that each one of us will need to follow God’s plan for our lives, if we are eventually going to escape our own…..
….. Alcatraz
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️
tlkjbc.com
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 