F R E E D O M

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. -- John 8: 32

We all love to talk about freedom and liberty. We think that we are free in our countries and our townships and establishments where we live, but we are really not free at all. If Satan is the god of this present world, then how in this world can we be free?

In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. -- II Corinthians 4: 4

What does Satan do? He blinds the minds of them who are not believers. Why does he do this? Because if he did not, the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God Almighty should shine unto them and do what? SET THEM FREE. We think we are so smart today with all of our degrees and our fancy jobs and our imported cars. But without a knowledge of God’s Word rightly divided, we are absolutely nothing. We are idiots and we are led around by the nose and influenced by the devil himself every single day. And then we talk about the great land that we live in and we say that it is the land of the free. This is only true for those who know the truth and that is the truth of God’s Word because that truth is the only truth that will set you free and as the Scripture says, it will make you free.

In the not too distant past, I had a neighbor that made constant noise so I went out and did something that you should never do. I got my chainsaw and my pressure cleaner and my lawnmower and I went out there and I made constant noise. I finally got to him and showed him what it was like to live next to him and he went nuts. He threatened to kill me. Can you imagine this? This is the strangest feeling you can ever have. And where did I go to? I went to the police who are supposed to help us to be free. Do you know what they did? They did nothing. They did nothing at all. But God showed me that it was not worth it to hire an attorney and to prosecute this insane neighbor that I live next to.

This same person, two days later, put up a spotlight on his house that illuminates the whole side of one side of my home. I did not react and it drove him crazy and he is crazy right now. But I had a weak point and I almost blew it all away. I went down to see the zoning officer of the Township in which I live. Do you know what she did? Nothing. She did nothing. She acted in such a sickening manner that I will not even describe it here. Then God showed me for sure that you never go to man if at all possible. But you go to Him and God will knock some heads for you. Quickly now, I will tell you that a woman had me arrested once for harassment. I never knew her name, I never met her, I never spoke to her but she was coming on to me and I turned it down. So she made up story after story and called the police and I went before a magistrate and the magistrate just laughed and threw the case out after about four seconds. Well, what happened to that woman? She took a stroke and the left side of her body is partially paralyzed for life. Did God do this? Not directly. He allowed the devil to inflict this person because of what she did to me. This is advanced material. But I’m using it to show you that we do not have the freedom in this country or anywhere in the world unless the Word of God lives within your heart and within your mind and of course within your actions. So now you know that there are two types of freedom. One is a counterfeit from the devil himself and the other one is the true freedom from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ which emanates from God Almighty. Now we will go to a series of Scripture references and examples discussing freedom and liberty.

Because the creature [created thing] itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. -- Romans 8: 21

I want you to take particular notice of the word ‘liberty’. The Greek word means: freedom to go where one will. Take notice how God words the verse. He is a master writer and author. If you read the context of the chapter, you will see that God is describing His creation. He is saying that we will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into a certain type of liberty of the children of God. This word ‘glorious’ is referring to something that is equivalent to splendor and brilliance. It relates to the appearance of a person or thing which attracts attention or commands recognition. If you are walking by the spirit of God, you have a glow about your countenance and it shows to others. This is the glory of the Lord. So we, as believers not only have liberty, but we have glorious liberty which reflects to others that we are the children of God. Isn’t that beautiful? I like to cover every detail in my teachings so I cannot leave out the fact that when we walk with God we are delivered from all types of bondage (corruption). So that is another promise that God gives to us in this one verse.

Before we mentioned what the world refers to as freedom. This is in actuality a counterfeit freedom and you will only be able to see it if you study and learn about God and His Word. As I said time and time again, you must renew your mind to what God says and push the world aside. Everything that comes from the world is counterfeit. Oh yes, there will always be some truth mixed in. If the devil didn’t do this, no one would believe a word he says. That’s how tricky he is. If you think you can outsmart him all of the time, you are wrong. You must go to God for help and ask Him to help you to understand and to bail you out of certain negative situations that you may have gotten yourself into. I still do it and I’m studying for about 40 years now. It seems like the enemy has a new trick for every new day. If one of his tricks don’t work on you, he will try another one. But if you walk with God, you will defeat him every single time. Remember where the battlefield is – it is between the ears. Don’t ever forget that.

Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. -- II Corinthians 3: 17

This word liberty is the same Greek word that we discussed previously and it means the freedom to go where one wills. Also, we are safe to say that this also means we can do what we will. Let me talk about that just for a minute. Do we really have the freedom to go and do whatever we want to? Of course we do not. Not out there in this world. I have to mention an example that relates closely to my life. Let’s see if some of you can also relate to this example.

Many years ago, I rode motorcycles for about 20 years and I was required by law to wear a helmet. Is this freedom to do whatever I wanted to do? I must’ve gotten picked up without a helmet about 40 times. Today, you must wear a seatbelt or if you get caught, you will pay a $60 fine. I know. Then, at least in the state where I reside, they did away with the motorcycle helmet law. But yet we have to wear a seatbelt in a car. Does this make any sense to you? It makes none to me. It is confusion and it is organized confusion and that’s a key function of the god of this world. Helmets are a good thing on a motorcycle. They saved me more than once. Now, all of these people who are very inexperienced riding a motorcycle are flying around without a helmet. What do you think is going to happen when they bite the dust and hit the pavement? I know what happens because my wife works in a hospital. There are more deaths today than there ever were due to motorcycle accidents. And yet I am supposed to get in my car and buckle down a seatbelt to the point where I can just about move. I am sorry that I am so against this but when you are driving over 40 years without an accident, believe me you will also feel like you do not have to strap yourself into a car with a seatbelt. There have been many people who have also died as a result of wearing a seatbelt. So what do we have here? We have nothing but confusion because in one place we have total freedom not to wear a motorcycle helmet and in the other case we do not have total freedom and we must wear a seatbelt. Confused? That’s the world for you.

Getting back to the above Scripture, God and His Word is referring to spiritual freedom in most cases. We still have to live in this world and we have to develop a balance between the world and the Word. But inside, in our minds, where God is present, we have great freedom. Again, that freedom is mainly in our mind. Picture your mind working like this: you have two rivers that are coming together and they just flow to each other and become one river. Picture our thoughts flowing together just like those two rivers that meet and become one. It’s a beautiful illustration and one that someone taught me a very long time ago.

And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: -- Galatians 2: 4

This reminds me very much of what happened in the ministry in which I once studied. The adversary was able to sneak people in who were false brethren to disrupt our situation and to take away our liberty that we had in Christ Jesus. Their purpose was to bring us into bondage and they succeeded quite well. Many of us lost our true freedom and the ministry fell apart. I got out with my wife just in time and I took all the basic principles that I learned with me and they are on this website. I am possibly the only one on the face of this earth who is teaching the Word of God rightly divided. To give you an idea of how treacherous the devil is, he placed people in our fellowships that were practicing homosexuality. You can’t get any lower than that. It’s kind of upsetting in a way, but God had trained me well enough so that it did not have an effect on my life and my belief in God’s Word. I was dedicated from the very beginning to carry out the Word of God in my life and I have never turned my back on God even one time. There is actually nothing to go back to. I am not going to return to my own vomit like some people have chosen to do. My initial background in the Word made me very strong, basically in my heart. I grew to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and those desires never changed and never will.

Some believers, even after Pentecost, were practicing counterfeit principles. They were still involved with the law of the Old Testament and we were no longer under that law since we were in the Age of Grace – a totally different administration. God states this clearly in the next verse.

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage [the Law]. -- Galatians 5: 1

This means that we are to stand forth boldly with a fearless mind. That’s the kind of liberty that the spirit of God allows us to have. And how did we get this? We got this because Christ has made us free when he died on the cross. Therefore we are not to get entangled once again with the yoke of bondage which means the law. When God says something in His Word, it is always available to do so. If He says we are to stand fearless in our mind and in the liberty and freedom that Christ made available to us, then we can do it. Now you should know how we are to accomplish this and it is by the renewing of our mind. This is our key to power and we will never accomplish anything in our walk with God unless we study and apply God’s Word. When you get right down to it, these principles are really very simple. It’s the application of the principle that can be difficult. We are surrounded with distractions everywhere we look and we must learn to give God the time that He deserves so that you can accomplish the principles that He commands us to accomplish. This is how we manifest the more than abundant life. There is simply no other way and it is not a bummer. Studying is very interesting. I have been here doing this teaching for most of the day and it has actually made my life more interesting and exciting as compared to days when I am not teaching. Only God can explain this and only you can experience it.

For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to serve the flesh, but by love serve one another. -- Galatians 5: 13

Here is another Scripture that talks about liberty and exhorts us not to use liberty for an occasion to serve the fleshly desires. We are to use the freedom that we have in Christ to serve God and to live by His rules and principles. Many times a person will get set free with the knowledge of God’s Word. That person, being a babe in Christ, has not established enough wisdom with such little knowledge of God’s Word. They then get tricked and think that they can do anything they want to do outside of God’s Word. I have seen this happen to many people. You get ideas in your mind that come from the god of this world which makes you believe that because you know everything about living the more than abundant life, you can now go out and make a million dollars. You start getting heady and high-minded. This is what God means in the above Scripture when he says not to use not the liberty of God as an occasion to serve the carnal mind and fleshly desires. It takes a while to get established in the Word and to acquire wisdom as to what we are to do with this great freedom or liberty that God gives us. God wants us to use this freedom to love one another. When I first got involved in the Ministry, I actually lived with the believers. We did everything together and went everywhere together. We enjoyed each other’s company and had a good time. We kept away from the world and worldly desires which only corrupt a person’s mind. When this group of believers had to return to where they initially came from, it was a very sad day for me. But I had to learn how to stand on my own with God as my Lord. I had learned something that I never forgot. When it comes to God’s Word, you have no friends. It sounds strange, I know, but you should remember that and never forget it because you’re going to need it someday.

But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. – James 1: 25

This has always been a favorite Scripture of mine. It talks about people who are simply hearers of the Word of God. These are the people that go to church and they go to large meetings and they listen to a teacher. They hear that teacher, but when they leave their congregation, they do not become a doer of what they heard. The above Scripture says that the man who is a doer of God’s Word will be blessed in his deed or in whatever he undertakes in his life. But a person who is just a hearer looks into the perfect law of liberty and receives nothing back in return. Which person do you want to be? I know that there are many people that read these teachings and some write to me and tell me how great the teaching is. Of course, this is nice for me to hear, but many of these people do not do what the teaching says.

Now notice how God words the above Scripture. He mentions liberty, but he describes it as the perfect law of liberty. You can’t find this out in the world, because the only thing that is perfect in this world is the Word of God. And by studying this Word, you become free in your mind and in your actions. So don’t be fooled by people who never pick up a Bible and tell you that you can have perfect freedom. It is not available – it is not possible.

We need to talk a little bit about the context of the Scripture that I want to review now. I believe we can get an idea of the subject matter simply by going to one preceding Scripture first.

For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: -- I Peter 2: 15

This is talking about a righteous man – a believer who walks by God’s Word. By his works and actions, he can put to silence the ignorance and activities of the foolish man who does not believe God’s Word. The next verse tells you how this man goes about doing this.

As free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. – I Peter 2: 16

That is how we shut up the ignorance of the foolish man. We do it as a spiritually free person. Our minds are flowing together like two rivers of living water that flow together. Natural man of body and soul is always less intelligent than the believer. In fact, I learned at one point when I was much younger in the Word, that we are to condescend to men of low estate. That means we are not to show all of the intelligence that God has given us because it might intimidate somebody, especially if you are witnessing to them. Remember where you came from and that the person you are speaking to might be in that exact position. It is the kindness and gentleness of God that leads a man to repentance. You should search for that Scripture as a study lesson.

Then God not only goes on to tell us to use our freedom and outsmart the ignorance of foolish man, but we must be careful also. We are not to use our liberty for a cloak of maliciousness. To be malicious means to have intentions of doing evil. We can easily get on what I refer to as a head trip because we know so much of God’s Word and are so set free as compared to others. God warns us not to do this but to use your freedom as the servants of God. We are to love one another and to be kind to one another and to be gentle to one another. We are not to have evil thoughts or intentions.

We have reviewed and studied a number of simple Scriptures that pertain to freedom and liberty. Many times, we do not give enough thought in regards to how much freedom that we have. We take it for granted. Many of us who have been instructed in how to speak in tongues take it for granted. We do not speak in tongues during most of the day because our mind simply wanders and is easily distracted by the god of this world and all of his methods and devices. If you want to know a statement that I always found fascinating, it is the following: There is great freedom in discipline. Simply put, when we discipline our minds to study and to act on God’s Word, we experience great freedom and this is genuine freedom. You will naturally put to silence the ignorance of foolish men when you have disciplined your mind to keep God first and foremost in your life.

I would like to go over a series of Scriptures from II Peter to close out this teaching. We are going to talk about false teachers and their followers.

For when they [these false teachers] speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. – II Peter 2: 18

While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. -- II Peter 2: 19

It is safe to say that if a corrupt teacher promises a righteous man liberty, this liberty originates from the servants of corruption. Then that righteous man is overcome by the evil of this teacher and then he is brought into bondage. Anyone who is in bondage of any type is possessed in some way by the devil or one of his devil spirits. This is a good point to stress at this point in the teaching. When a man is set free and he has the liberty of Christ in him, no devil spirits can enter into this man’s mind. This is what it means to have liberty in Christ and to have the freedom that God came to give to us through what Jesus Christ accomplished. There is a lot in God’s Word that I am sure you have never seen before. I experience this same thing almost every day. Remember the Word of God is a fountain of living waters – a fountain that is unending. Man’s knowledge is contained in a cistern, like a big jug, and it has a crack in it and it is always leaking water. That’s the difference between God’s knowledge and man’s knowledge. Why every man does not choose to learn and apply God’s Word is the greatest mystery on earth to me. And also many men who were great believers at one time, turn back to the world and turn their back on God. They were simply not rooted and grounded in the Word when they were younger. I went head over heels when it came to the Word of God and I gave God my all and He showed me His power. Man, there ain’t no way I’m turning my back on that source. But it is a shame, very much a shame and it is a great trick of Satan that these believers cop out. God has something to say about this. So listen up.

For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. -- II Peter 2: 20

I am going to share my heart with you and tell you something that I can’t remember telling almost anybody. I’m telling you this so that you learn never to make this mistake because of the grave consequences involved.

One time, when I first got involved in the Word of God and went to every single fellowship, I decided to miss one fellowship. I could not believe what happened to me. Because I had done so much for God, the enemy was waiting for me. I started to have trouble thinking straight and my whole life seemed to begin to fall apart. I eventually got back to fellowship and things began to straighten out. But I will never forget how I felt and I will not even describe it to you. Do not ever turn your back on God once you have escaped the pollutions of the world through the freedom that God has given you. What can and does happen, is that you become worse in many ways than you were before you even knew the Word of God. Believe me, this is a nightmare above any nightmare you can ever have. I was scared to death, but God pulled me out of it. That’s what the above verse is talking about warning you that you just can’t turn back because there’s nothing to turn back to. If you do turn back, you’re probably going to be worse than you ever were at any part of your life. That’s all I’m going to say about that subject because believe me, I still want to forget about it. Now take a good look at the next two verses because God can say it 1000 times better than I can.

For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they had known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. -- II Peter 2: 21

Can I say it any clearer than that? No, I cannot.

But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. -- II Peter 2: 22

I wanted to make damn sure at the end of this teaching that you will never forget what can happen to you when you experience the true freedom and liberty that God has made available to you and then you turn around and you turn your back on God. God uses that proverb and I always liked it. You become like a dog that throws up and vomits and then he turns around and he comes back to eat his own vomit. How gross is that? You may remember the way you were before you knew anything about God’s Word. Well, if you turn your back on Him, I realize you are tricked by the enemy. But God expects us to deal with a certain amount of tribulation or mental pressure. You can’t go blaming the devil for everything that happens. You have free will all of the time to accept God and His Word or to reject Him. Many times I used to think that this was almost a scare tactic – this subject matter. But I realized that God was just telling us this because of how much He loves us and He wants us to do the right thing. I said this time and time again:

If God Almighty created life, don’t you think He knows how to live it?

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. – John 8: 36

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. -- John 8: 32

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