Great Escape

[00:00:00] Good morning. Greetings to one of you in Jesus' name this morning. It's already been very good to be here. Thank you, Tony, for those songs. Thou art worthy, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are created. God created us. I am created for His pleasure. You are created for His pleasure. We are His, we are not our own. [00:00:34] I've entitled my message this morning, The Great Escape. How many of you long for that perfect vacation or that perfect getaway where you just leave everything behind and all the things of everyday life that drag you down and just leave it all behind? Well, in a way, Jesus did that for us when he offered us the great escape from the sin and the bondage that we were born into [00:01:05] by being born into this world, by being descendants of Adam. We are born as sinners and we cannot escape from that except through Christ. I'd like to turn to 2 Peter this morning, 2 Peter 1. We're going to look at verse 4. I've been trying to preach through the book of 2 Peter. I think the next few messages will look at different virtues that we should all have. But today I want to look a little bit at 2 Peter 1 verse 4. [00:01:40] 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. We talked a little bit about the verse before that talks about God has given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness and now in verse 4 we see that we have the opportunity that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. [00:02:15] Lust, the phrase that is in the world through lust. Lust is a longing especially for what is forbidden. When we think of the word lust, a lot of times we think of a sexual lust, but it's also a coveting, a wanting, something that we cannot have, something that is forbidden, something that we can't attain to. We lust for that, we long for that, and the corruption that is in the world is in the world through lust. Have you ever noticed that we don't seem to want what we have, we want what we can't have or shouldn't have? [00:02:53] Last night some of us cousins were together, or, yeah, us cousins, and there's a lot of little kids running around playing. It's kind of interesting to watch, there's a dozen kids and five dozen toys, but the only toy I want is the one you have. And you see a child with a toy in their hand and they're reaching for the other kid's toy and trying to keep theirs out of reach at the same time so they don't lose the one they have in the process. [00:03:25] But we're not content with what we have. We want something else, something we can't quite reach, something that we lust for different things, things that we have that we're not supposed to have. 1 John 2, 16 and 17 says, For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, or the longing of the flesh, and the longing of the eyes, and the pride of life, the lust of the eyes, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof, the longings thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. [00:04:00] It's our lust, our longings that get us into trouble. Going all the way back to Genesis 3 verse 6 when Satan came to Eve and said half God said you should not eat of this fruit. Eve looked at the fruit and when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also unto her husband with her and he did eat. [00:04:30] God had told Adam and Eve, look at this garden I made for you, this whole place is yours, you can have it all, you control it, this is your domain, you are to rule this area I only have one tree that you are not allowed to eat of, there is the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but the tree of knowledge of good and evil is the only one that God said do not eat of that tree And that was the one that was the most attractive, that's the one they had to have some of [00:05:02] That's the one Satan drew them to and told them that was the best one I think I've mentioned this before, but I remember a minister being here and saying When you are tempted, think about who said it God said it or Satan said it Where does this temptation come from, this desire that I have When God said this fruit is not for you to eat And then Satan said this fruit is exactly what you need She had to choose, Eve and then Adam too [00:05:34] Had to choose which one to believe When we choose sin, when we choose those things that we have been told not to have When we let our lust control our lives We are believing a lie rather than believing the truth We know now that Eve made a terrible decision To her at the right time, it seemed like the best thing. That's what she needed to have. We can look back on it and say that was obviously the wrong choice to make. What God said was right. All came of one man. Now what? The day Adam and Eve sinned, from that on, every person born into the world, as their descendant, was a sinner. Now what? [00:06:14] We have been offered freedom. Let's go to John 8, 32-36. I'll just read that. We're going to be turning to Romans 8 here in a little bit. John 8, 32-36. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, this is Jesus talking to the Pharisees. They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man. How sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin, and the servant abideth not in the house forever, but the son abideth ever. [00:06:50] If the son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. People want to take that verse, in the end of 2 Peter here, Peter talks about people that take the scriptures and rest them, they twist them, they make them fit what they want to think. It's easy to take this verse 36 and say, If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. That means that if I trust Christ, I can do anything. That's freedom. I'm free to do what I want. [00:07:21] It isn't talking about freedom from responsibility or the need to live righteously. We still have that need, that responsibility that's about not having to be bound to sin. Jesus is freeing us from the law of sin and death where we are bound to sin. Let's turn to Romans 8, 1-16. I have a lot of scriptures to read this morning. And I figure that if I'm reading scripture, I'm getting it right. [00:07:52] So, it's not a bad thing. Romans 8, 1-16. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Think about this with the focus of having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Being partakers of the divine nature. Verse 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. [00:08:32] That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. This will be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. [00:09:12] And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh to live after the flesh, for if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, or kill the deeds of the body, ye shall live. [00:09:46] For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage against your fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. We have been made children of God. And let's not take this freedom, we are now children of God. To mean that we no longer have responsibility, we no longer have an obligation to live righteous lives, we have been made children of God, now Paul says act like it, use it, enjoy it, rejoice in your freedom, in the freedom that you have from sin, this whole idea of freedom. [00:10:32] What is freedom? We are freed from having to sin. We're not freed to sin. That's the big difference in there. Rejoice in your freedom rather than lament that God doesn't want Christians to have any fun. How often have you almost wished you didn't have a conscience so you could do things you see other people doing and evidently they're enjoying it. I've had that feeling. It must be nice to just be able to do whatever it is. [00:11:02] It doesn't even bother you. You can sleep. But if you look at their end, David said, I saw the wicked, how he prospered and how he seemed to really have it together. And then when I considered his end, I said, Oh yeah, that's not what I want to do. Moses, it says in Hebrews 11, 25, that Moses, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Moses realized, you know what, I'm in Pharaoh's household, I'm Pharaoh's grandson by adoption. [00:11:37] I have it made, I can live in ease, I can be a ruler, I can do all this, have everything I want. But it's only for a season And he realized that that was not the choice he wanted to make Psalms 84.10 For the day and night course is better than a thousand I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than to dwell in the tents of wickedness Keeping in perspective how much fun The lust, the things we lust after on earth How much fun they look like and what the end results are [00:12:09] Romans 6 verses 6 and 12 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lust thereof. How comfortable are we being with and doing what is popular and cool with society? How hard do we try to fit in? [00:12:41] How hard do we want to be in style or be acceptable in society? Do we let Hollywood influence the way we dress, the things we buy or have? Do we really think that the rich and famous are happier than we who have the gift of eternal life? Look at the movie stars, look at the sports players, the really wealthy people, The people that make millions of dollars a year, and it's just, wow, that would really be something. Most of them have multiple marriages. [00:13:14] Most of them have, I don't know if I should say most, a lot of them have drug problems. A lot of them have all kinds of depression issues. Things that, it's obvious, they're not happy. They have the glitz and the glamour. And yet we reach out for that. I want to be like him. I want to be like her. I want to, they, if they knew the truth, they're searching for the happiness and the fulfillment that only a life with Christ can bring. And they're searching in all the wrong directions, they're looking for love in all the wrong places. [00:13:49] We have the key of life, we have Christ, we have Christianity, we've been taught, we know, and yet we take Christianity as something I need to get to heaven, or it's tempting to do that. I need Christianity to get to heaven, but I want to try to be as much like them because I want to be happy like they are. They really aren't, and if you think about it and look at their personal lives, they really are looking for that fulfillment that only Christ can bring. And yet we're tempted to be like them. [00:14:21] I think we really need to think about what makes us want to do that. Is it our lust, our longing for something that's not attainable, something that doesn't fulfill? What does God say about the lust we have for the things He died to save us from? Think about that. When I said about wishing we didn't have a conscience, wishing I could just enjoy those things without feeling bad. Those are things that Christ died to save us from. That was a powerful thought I heard at a funeral last fall, I think it was. [00:14:54] But the things we listen to, the things we watch, the things we hear and do, Do we enjoy doing, or watching other people do, the things that Christ died to save us from? Christ came to deliver us from those. Are we tempted or are we willing to enjoy those very things? What does God say about love? Romans 12, 1-2 And I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, [00:15:26] Holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service And be not conformed to this world But be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind That ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God Paul says, I beseech you He knew where true happiness was That's what drove Paul He knew the fulfillment of knowing Christ He knew the satisfaction He said, I have learned in whatsoever state I am Therewith to be content He knew contentment And he wanted other people to have that same feeling, that same fulfillment that comes from a relationship with Christ [00:16:01] From being delivered from the corruption that is in the world through lust Be not conformed to this world Here again How do we, I remember when I was a kid, making fun of people that talked about fads and fashions How harmless can they be? How dangerous can they be? I thought they were pretty harmless And maybe they are to a point, but why are we driven? Why are we drawn to copy people that are, quote, rich and famous? [00:16:35] 2 Corinthians 6, 14-18, talking again and again about who we associate with. Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he who believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God. As God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. [00:17:13] Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Think about that. This is God Himself saying, as God has said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. What more can we want? What more can we have that will bring more fulfillment than to realize that we are walking with God? [00:17:51] He says, I will dwell with them, in them, I will walk in them, I will be their God and they shall be my people. What more, what worse thing can happen if you think about judgment and you think about God telling a person? Depart from me. It's for eternity. The total lostness, the total rejection, the total isolation, that's got to be one of the worst things we can imagine having. [00:18:24] And if that's true, if that's one of the worst things that can happen That isn't the best thing that can happen That God says, come with me, I want to walk with you, I want to live with you I want to be your God and you will be my person Finding fulfillment in God and what God has for us Rather than the things of the world He says, wherefore, when it's wherefore, what's it there for? As God has said, He talks about, I will dwell in them, be their God, they shall be my people. [00:18:56] And the next word is, Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord. And touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. In other words, if you won't come out, if you won't be separate, if you insist on being involved in the unclean thing, I cannot receive you. If you come out, be separate, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. And I will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. That's just something we can't really grasp, I suppose, in our minds. [00:19:31] That God Almighty, ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Think about it. Eve thought she knew exactly what she needed. She believed a lie, and she reached out for that, and she took what she wasn't supposed to have, and it brought eternal, well, eternal as far as this earth is concerned. As long as the earth will stand, men will be born into sin because of that. And on the other hand, we have God saying, I want the relationship with you. I want you to be my sons and daughters. [00:20:08] Come out from among them and be ye separate. We are bombarded with the idea that the way to reach people is to be as much like them as possible in order to make it easier for them to change. If we are trying to reach people, we are trying to reach people that need to change, right? If we're going to reach them and they're not going to change anything, they need to come to a relationship with Christ. If they're not going to change anything, I think we need to be careful how much, how far we go. I need to be just like them so that I can reach them. Pretty soon we don't have anything to reach them with. [00:20:50] Come out from among them and be ye separate. I believe that God wants us to be different. We are to be a peculiar people. Someone that is, the world can look at and say, now there's someone that actually knows the Lord. Someone that actually walks with the Lord. They are different. They are peculiar because of the way they act. In Galatians 5, 16 and 17, and 24 and 25, just kind of a parting word from Paul. This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. [00:21:26] For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary, the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. And they that are Christ have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Just again, the flesh and the Spirit are always in contrast. They're always in a battle. If Paul says walk in the Spirit, you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. [00:21:58] I think that would obviously say that if you're going to not walk in the Spirit, you will fulfill the lust of the flesh. Why can't I have victory over my flesh? Am I walking in the Spirit or am I lusting after things that God has said will harm me and are not good? They that are Christ have crucified the flesh with its affections. When I got saved, when I got baptized, when I got serious with the Lord, did I crucify my flesh? [00:22:30] Or did I accept Him as my Lord, did I accept Him as my Savior and forget to accept Him as my Lord? Do I lay down my flesh, that song again, we were created by Him for His pleasure. Am I content with that? Is that okay with me if I realize that my life is for God's pleasure? It's always going to be best for me in the end to serve the Lord. But it might not be fun. It might not always be the easiest thing to do. Is my goal in life, my drive, to please the Lord? [00:23:06] I am created for His pleasure or am I going to be bound in the corruption that is through the lust of the world? Then turning to the end of 2 Peter, chapter 2, 20-22, Peter just here again, just kind of warns us again of the same thing. The end of chapter 2, 20-22, For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world, I want, thinking again about having crucified the flesh, [00:23:43] Okay, now I'm a Christian, now I've accepted Christ, but I still am drawn to the things of the world. Peter warns about that. For if, after they have escaped the pollution of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness [00:24:13] than, after they had known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it has happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog has turned to his own vomit again, and the sow that is washed to her wallowing in the mire. You know, the dog to his vomit and the sow to her mire. You can take a pig and wash them, you can spray them off, clean them with soap, do whatever you want. They're still a pig. They're still going to go right back into the mud. [00:24:46] When Christ takes us and washes us up and cleans us up, are we thankful for that? I'm thankful I've been delivered from sin. I don't have to sin. I don't have to be involved in sin. or do I look for my chance to go running back to the mud and get dirty again because that's where I want to be. I like the mud. Let's make sure that when Christ washes us up that we are willing and glad to stay clean. That we can escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. [00:25:21] Praise God for the victory He gives us over our lust and our longings. Let's stand for prayer. Lord, I thank you this day for the deliverance you've given us. Thank you, Lord, for your promise that who you set free is truly free. I pray, Lord, you'd help us to really get that in our minds, that we could really grasp that true freedom and true enjoyment and contentment lies in you. [00:25:54] It doesn't come from things or certain people or aspects that we can just know that you are the true source of contentment. I pray Lord that you would give us a heart to follow you, to deny our lust, to live in victory by partaking of your nature, the divine nature. I thank you Lord that you've made that possible. I pray you go with us this week. Help us, Lord, to follow you, to live for you with all our hearts, to be the people you have us to be. [00:26:35] I just pray for anyone, Lord, that's struggling. I just ask that you would just be near to each one. Give them, Lord, a heart, a longing after you and the ability to overcome, Lord. Thank you for all that you do for us. We just pray that you would dismiss us with your blessing. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.