Freedom Part 3 – Lawson and Aaron Perdue – 01/06/25

Praise the Lord, friends, and welcome to the broadcast! I have some good news today. God wants you to be free! But how can you experience true freedom? Number one, true freedom is only available through knowing Jesus Christ. But number two, God has given you His Word so you can walk in true freedom. Open your heart and receive this today.

Great, it’s great to have you with us, and I’m so glad to have Aaron, and we’re talking about freedom. And how do we get freedom? We talked in the prior two broadcasts this week about true freedom can only be found through knowing Jesus Christ. And you know in John:8, Jesus was teaching and as He taught, it says, “Many Jews believed on Him.” John:8:30. But he went on from that. And Aaron, if you wanna read John:8:30-36, he ends in verse 36 and says, “It’s the Son therefore shall make you free. “You shall be free, indeed.” But He not only talks about freedom coming through Jesus, He is the Messiah. He’s the only one, Scripture, that can really make us free. And spiritually that can make us free. But we’ve gotta receive His Word, as when we believe on Jesus. It’s possible to be saved and still be stuck in religion. I think there are a lot of people that are born again. They’ve received Jesus as their Savior, but they really don’t know what the Word says. And that’s limiting that experience of freedom in their life, their experience of God’s promises.

I think just a lot of people really aren’t walking in true freedom. Just people are chained to all types of things today. People are chained emotionally, people are chained financially, people are changed, you know, to legalism. People are chained to, you know, addictions. People are chained even to just being like addicted to their phone. To social media, and to-

Lawson All kind of junk.

You know and that’s something, you know, I recently kind of stepped in the role of doing youth ministry here at church. And I just seen like a lot of young people really addicted to devices. And I have a young son, and I’m trying to train him, you know, you gotta limit how much technology, how much game time, how much of these things you do. And we were on vacation recently in Hawaii. And he has an old cellphone of mine that he plays games on. And it doesn’t connect to anything, it’s not, you know. But you know, just even on vacation, as he’s trying to use it a lot. And I said, “You need to turn that thing off.” And we’re at a restaurant, and they actually had these little U.S. Constitutions that they had for free on the table. So I took one and I gave him one. And I said uh-

Lawson That’s great. I said, “You need to put that…” And that little Constitution is about the size of a cellphone. And I said, “Hey, give me your phone, “and put that Constitution in your pocket.” And I said, “Whenever you feel the urge “to grab your phone and play a game, “just start reading the Constitution.” Yeah, and you know like the next day he had his phone, and he’s playing a game. And I said, “Who are you talking to? “Benjamin Franklin or Thomas Jefferson?” I was just joking. And I was trying to help him find a way to break free of that habit of just having to look at. A lot of people, it’s like a leash.

Well, your mom and I actually went out to a restaurant, and this is years ago, but we seen a family of four sitting there, and everyone of them, they should be enjoying family together, right? And conversing with one another. And all four of them be sitting there on their cellphones. Not communicating with each other. And this is, it’s a terrible addiction. And we actually had two of our granddaughters that had some challenges, when they’re like two and three, four-years-old. But they found when they took limited, extremely limited their screen time, that immediately they came of out this, challenges.

And a lot of these, you know, apps and things, and especially social media, they’re designed to like try to keep you on there as long as they can. And there’s actually a, an… It’s like a-

Addictive.

Yeah, it actually gives your by swiping over and over, it gives your brain a little rush. So people just do it for hours. They call it doom scrolling. And you know, so maybe need to be set free from some those things, I don’t know. But God really wants people to be, be in freedom.

Lawson Amen.

You know?

And I don’t know if this is just with young people. Yeah the technology, cellphones. I had one rule with our youth, and it’s like you can’t be on a cellphone when I’m teaching. And actually one time I had a dodge ball. And I said, “If you’re not paying attention, “this is one rule I really have. “I’m gonna preach this 15 minutes, “so you gotta pay attention.” And if you’re not, you’re gonna get hit by the dodge ball.

Yeah.

It’s a New Testament form of-

Judgment.

stoning somebody. So there were two kids that got pegged on that message. And after that they all started paying attention, so.

Amen. So freedom through the Word of God is what we’re talking about. Jesus gives freedom, but then freedom through the Word of God. And so in John:8 here, in Verse 31, he spoke to those Jews who believed on him, and said, “If you continue in my Word, “then you’re my disciples indeed.” “And you shall know the truth, “and the truth shall make you free.” So the first way they get… That we get free is through knowing Jesus. But the second way we get free is through knowing the truth of the Word of God. You know, Jesus was tempted in all points, the Scripture says, “Like we are.” Yet without sin. But when you study the Temptations in both Matthew:4 and Luke:4, when Jesus was tempted, he overcame the temptation through speaking the Word of God. He broke Satan’s power through speaking the Word of God.

A lot of chains come from people not knowing the truth, or believing a lie.

Lawson Right.

You know, the Enemy tries to get people to believe a lie. You know, there’s a lot of lies in the world today. The Enemy will tell people that they’re, you know, you’re not really your gender that you’re born as.

Lawson Crazy.

People will believe that lie. And it’s complete, complete and utter oppression.

Right.

And it is not freedom. You can only be free by knowing the truth. Believing a lie or getting other people to accept this lie that you-

It’s not freedom.

That you made your lifestyle is not freedom.

Lawson No.

It is complete oppression. And it’s completely from the Enemy.

And living in sin and living in rebellion to God is not freedom. Some of these things, you know, denying your sexuality that God made you, is like denying God. And there’s no freedom in that. It’s freedom to know who God says you are.

A lot, yeah, and a lot of just chains are really based upon a lie. People who struggle continually with depression. I think God set people free who’ve been in depression for years. But it’s… Usually at the root of it is a lie.

Right. Yeah so Jesus said to these Jews who believed on him, “If you continue…” That’s a big “If.” “If you continue in my Word, “then you’re my disciples, indeed.” You know, we need to continue in the Word of God. And our goal really as a church at Charis Christian Center is to make disciples. We don’t wanna just have the biggest Christian club in town. We wanna make disciples. What are disciples? Well disciples, there’s about three things in the Scripture of Jesus teaching that show what a disciple is. Number one, a disciple is a disciplined student of the Word of God. Number two, a disciple walks in love. Jesus said, you know, “By this shall all men know “that you’re my disciples, because you love one another.” Number three, being a disciple, “A disciple brings forth much fruit.” According to John:15. And so a disciple is doer of the Word, a disciple walks in love, and a disciple brings forth much fruit. And if you’re not a doer of the Word, if you’re not walking in the love of God… You know what? If you’re not bringing forth fruit, you’re not a disciple of Jesus. And I want disciples.

And the Word is true.

Lawson Right.

The Bible is true. There’s a lot of lies, there’s a lot of deception. And the way a lot of these lies work, and some of the people goes after these lies in the world is because they’re might be a slight truth to it. Or something that resonates. But a piece of the truth is not the truth.

No, it’s not, the whole truth.

It’s a lie, and usually it’s deceptive.

Right.

Some of these people try to bend the truth. And that’s very deceptive.

Right.

Or sometimes people will take pieces of truths and put them together.

Lawson Right.

You know, and that’s deceptive. And it-

Lawson Right.

leads to bondage.

So Jesus said if you believe on him, if you continue in the Word, you gotta continue in the Word. He said, then he said, “You’re my disciples, indeed. “You’re disciplined students of the Word.” And he said, “And you will know the truth.” It’s not just truth that makes you free. It’s knowing the truth of God’s Word that makes us free.

And having a revelation of truth, too.

Right, having a revelation. That’s what he’s talking.

Some people might, you know, nod to something, say “Amen” to something. But if it’s not-

A revelation.

Known deep within their heart-

Right.

Again… If things happen in the spirit realm deep within you, and if it’s not resonating there, not connecting there. You might be able to rationalize something, or agree with something. But it has to be revelation.

So we’re talking about freedom that comes through knowing the truth of God’s Word. You know, the Scripture says this, “That he’s magnified His Word above His very Name.” In Psalm:138:2. And so you know what? We need to submit ourself to the Word of God.

That’s really powerful. And you think about, you know, Psalm:138:2, how God has magnified His Word, even above His Name. You know a lot of believers, you know we really understand the power of the Name of God, the power of the Name of Jesus. We sing a lot of songs about the Name of Jesus. Your Name is Healing, Your Name is Life, Your Name is Power. Those things are true.

Lawson Yeah.

But we should have a passion for the Word of God.

Well again, the Word brings life, right? The Word brings healing. You know, “My son tend to my Word, give ear to my sayings. “Let them not depart from your eyes. “Keep them in the midst of your heart, “for they are life and to all those who find them. “And medicine, or health, to all their flesh.”

And he said-

The Word is life and health. That’s Proverbs:4:20-22. And so we’ve got to go to the Word of God so we can find out the truth, so we can walk in true freedom. And there are a lot of people who believed on Jesus, but you need to go ahead and take the next step. And just become a disciple of Jesus. And let the Word of God call the shots. Let the Word of God be truth to you.

I kind of noticed there’s a tendency in the world today, a tendency amongst, you know, people who claim to be Christian, to just kind of pick and choose Scripture.

What they believe.

Or put their own views and try to put it on Scripture. But you need to let Scripture shape your views.

Lawson Yeah.

Scripture’s black and white on many things. And it should be shaping you. You shouldn’t be trying to shape it into what you want it to be. Because it’s not shapeable.

Right.

It is what it is.

Right.

Truth is truth. You can’t bend it, you can’t blend it, you can’t break it.

Right, thy Word is truth. We’re gonna be talking about this, and we’re gonna be talking about our response to the Word of God. And how we actually begin to get a revelation of the truth of the Word of God. And one way is receiving with meekness the ingrafted Word that is able to save our souls. James talks about that in James:1. So when you believe on Jesus, you’re actually born again by the incorruptible seed of the Word of God that’s living and biding, but you don’t wanna stop there. He goes on and says, “Receive with meekness.” Take a meek attitude toward the Word of God. And receive it. And when you receive it, then that truth can change your life. So we’re gonna be back after a short break. If you need prayer, you can give us a call.

Friends, we’ve been sharing on freedom, and I have a lot to share about freedom. Actually my book, “Absolute Victory in Christ,” covers the way we teach about being free. Number one, through knowing Jesus. Number two, through believing the Word. And number three, through receiving the Holy Spirit. You can get that book on Amazon, or on our website, at Charis Christian Center. And also many free teachings on freedom.

Aaron Remember Lot’s life. Now is the time to stay focused. Keep looking ahead, keep looking unto Jesus. Really, it’s all about Jesus. You need to stay focused on what really matters. I think it’s like a lot of us. We get distracted by things that don’t matter, and it really slows us down from where God is trying to get us. It causes us to lose focus. And what we really need to do is put your head down, and go, go, go, amen.

Friend, I’m so glad that you stayed with us. We’ve been sharing on Jesus said, “If you continue in my Word, “then you will be my disciples, indeed. “And you will know the truth. “And the truth will make you free.” I think he said, and he’s talking about continuing, or abiding in the Word. Some people might connect with the Word for a moment.

Lawson Right.

But it’s that continuation of it. It’s always believing it, and not waiving.

Right, right.

That’s how you walk in truth and experience true freedom. I know some people who might believe something, or believe some aspect of the Word for a period. But then just kind of fall away.

Well you know, we said a disciple brings forth fruit. In Mark:4, Jesus talked about, he actually talked about this in the Gospel of Matthew. And in the Gospel of Luke. The “Parable of the Sower.” And he said, “If you can understand this parable, “you can understand how the Kingdom operates.” And he basically talks about, you know, the sower goes and sow the seed. The seed is the Word of God. There is not a seed problem. But the problem is with the soil. And He said that the first type of soil that the seed fell on was the, He said the wayside. So you know, the farmer’s on the way to the field, and the seed falls out on the ground. And He said, “The birds come and eat the seed.” And He said, “That’s like the devil comes to steal the seed.” Satan is Enemy of the Word. Because he knows if you get a hold of the Word, the Word’s gonna change your life, and you’re gonna begin to do damage to His kingdom. Right? But then the second type of soil is what? The stony soil. And because the seed didn’t have much root, it came and it looked pretty, it had a nice vine, had a lot of blooms, but it didn’t bring much fruit. Because it had no root in itself.

And I noticed something, too, amongst you know, just believers. Sometimes, you know, Hebrews it says, “Beware of the root of bitterness.” By which many are defiled. Some people they let their roots become bitter. They kind of break away from what God’s calling them to do, because they’ve allowed bitterness towards other people to just-

Don’t wanna let-

Soak into their heart.

Bitterness or unforgiveness rooted. You know that Scripture talking about, you know, getting rooted and grounded in the Word. He says when what happens is when persecution, or affliction comes. Because the Word’s like immediately these people are offended. And I found a lot of people that get offended. You know, I’ve seen, heard some people recently that are offended in my church because, you know what? They actually don’t know what the Scripture says. So they wanna go back to a secret, sensitive place.

One, offenses will come.

Lawson Right.

But you, you can’t let, you can’t before offended about the Word of God.

Lawson No.

If you’re offended by the Word of God, you’re really not gonna produce much fruit.

Lawson Right.

And experience true freedom, either. And also the other type of soil, too.

The weedy soil.

The weedy soil.

Right.

And that’s what, something I see a lot, too. Where sometimes people might be doing well, following the Word, but then they just allow these thorns, just the cares, the-

Lawson The cares of this life.

The busyness of life. Just being busy with things that don’t really matter.

Right.

Or worrying about things that don’t really matter.

Yeah, a lot of people just get caught up in all this junk. You know what? If the devil can’t get you bad, he’ll get you distracted.

He’ll get you distracted. Something that I noticed, too, just this Word I hear every now and then is burnout. And I was kind of thinking about people who told me they burnout. People who’ve been maybe in different ministry positions. And as I kind of thought about these different instances of people who said they were burnt out, I realized many of them weren’t really that hard-working. They didn’t put in very many hours. They really weren’t that productive, not that fruitful, didn’t really grow what they were doing.

Right.

And I was thinking that they were burnt out because that their priorities weren’t right. They weren’t really doing things for the right reason. They were maybe trying to… It was more about them. Then about, you know, the people they’re ministering to. Or it wasn’t really about God, it was more about them. And you’re gonna burnout pretty quick. You know, we’re all called to do the work of the ministry. And the Bible says that Jesus actually gave these gifts to men, to the church. He gave apostle, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. So we’re all called to work.

Right.

And not burnout.

Right.

But you had to do it for the right reasons. For the Kingdom. For, you have to have God’s heart. And when you have God’s heart, you’re gonna be really motivated. And it’s actually gonna fuel you. It’s gonna energize you to do the work of the ministry.

Well I wanna talk about a couple of examples of that. Two of my spiritual mentors. Number one, Dr. Lester Sumrall. And I heard him preach a message, and he’s about 80-years-old. And he’s like, “burnout! I’ve never been burned out!” Now he was like an epitome of what you’re saying. He was a hard worker.

But it fueled him.

It fueled him. And he said what really motivated him was the Judgment Seat of Christ. And one day he was gonna stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ and give an answer for what he did with the Word of God. And he was going hard, clear up until his 80s. And they said he slowed down a little bit. He took a nap about a half hour every day. But he would start at four in morning, and go to bed about midnight. So he slept about four hours a night. And he pushed himself. And he was not burned out. And that really upset him when people said they were burned out. But I noticed a couple of things. My other mentor, and both of them are really hard workers. Andrew Wommack. And I never seen Andrew Wommack burned out. I’ve seen him wear himself out. ‘Cause he went so hard, you know, without taking a break and push so hard. But at the same point in time, you don’t need to be burned out. And I think burnout comes from a couple of things. Number one, we talk about ministry. Well what is true ministry? Well first Word, a minister to the Lord. That is our highest ministry. And the Bible actually talks about ministering to the Lord twice as much as it talks about ministering to one another. But the second aspect of ministry is ministering to one another in the Body of Christ. And the Bible actually says in 1Corinthians:12:18, that’s Bibled, 1Corinthians:12:18, “that God has sent the members in the Body, “everyone as it pleased Him.” I believe that we need to be part of a church family, a church body, right? Because not only we minister to the Lord, but when we minister to the Lord, then we can minister to one another. And then the Bible talks twice as much about ministering to one another as it does to ministering to the world. So here’s where I think personally that burnout comes from. I think burnout comes when you minister to the world, minister to the world, minister to the world. But you don’t first of all, minister to the Lord. And secondly, you don’t get connected with a group of believers, a body of believers where you’re actively ministering to one another. I feel like if you minister to the Lord, you’re gonna be empowered, so you can minister to one another. And if you’re being ministered to by the Body of Christ, you’re gonna be effective to where you can go minster to the world. And I don’t think you need to burnout. I’m not burned out, I’m 60 years old. I’ve been going hard in the gospel for over 40 years. And I love Jesus, I’m on fire for Jesus. You know, Mom and I went on a ministry trip. We got home the other day after midnight, went to bed at 12:30, got up. I got up before 5 a.m. the next morning. I was at work early, praise God. I am not burned out, I am excited. There is a harvest to reap. We’re living in the last days, the Spirit is moving. Things are happening and I wanna be part of the end time harvest. Praise God.

So yeah, just kind of going back to the “Parable of the Sower.” You know, keep sowing the Word, keep trusting to Word, keep following the Word.

Lawson Right.

And true farmers, they’re always sowing.

Lawson Yeah, they are.

And I think to really have that victorious life as a believer, you have to be continually in the Word.

Amen. Now this Scripture I wanna go to. Mark:4, I think it’s verse 20. But it says this, it’s talking about good ground. So we talked about wayside soil. We talked about, right, stony soil. They didn’t have any root in themselves. Persecutions and afflictions came for the Word. The wayside soil, the Enemy came to steal the Word, right? The stony soil, persecution came for the Word’s sake. The weedy soil, the cares of this life, the deceitfulness of riches, the lots of other things entered in and choked the Word. The Word became unfruitful. But look at this in verse 20. “And these are they.” Mark:4:20, “Which are sown on good ground, “such as hear the Word, and receive it, “and bring forth fruit.” If you hear the Word and you receive the Word, you’re gonna bring forth fruit. And you’re gonna have a good harvest. Some 30, some 60, some 100-fold. I believe that God wants us all to be 100-fold people. You know what? He’s a 100-fold person. It’s somebody who’s fulfilling 100% of what God called him to do. They’re doing 100%. Being 100% of what God wants you to be. Amen. I believe that’s God’s highest and best will. The good, acceptable and perfect will of God. And that comes, right, Romans:12:1&2, with again, having your mind renewed with the Word of God. Being transformed by renewal in your mind and the Word. But the Bible says, “Be doers of the Word. “And not hear His only, deceiving your own self.” Again, that’s James:1.

And the Word is really what feels you to do what God has called you to do.

Lawson Amen.

And I believe if you’re really just abiding in the Word, you’re not gonna burnout, you’re not gonna take the exit ramps that the enemy wants you to take. You know, from God’s call in your life.

Lawson Amen.

So pulling out, keep living for Him. I think some people burnout, again, because they really, their priorities are wrong. They’re not really doing things for God.

Another thing, Aaron, people need to stay stirred up in the Spirit. Keep praying in the Holy Spirit. You know, and we’ve got a couple of tools.

And you’re to stir yourself up, too.

Right.

You know, that’s what that Scripture is talking about. A lot of people are looking for external inspiration, external motivation.

Lawson Right.

But you’re not, it’s not always up to your pastor, or up to your spouse, or up to-

Lawson Amen.

Up to, you know, other people to inspire you.

Aaron, I’ve been baptized in the Holy Spirit right now as we’re recording this program for 46 years. I’ve been born again for 52 years. But I have prayed in tongues. If I haven’t prayed in tongues everyday for the last 46 years, I’d prayed in tongues nearly every day. You know, and so there’s a couple of ways to keep yourself built up. Another thing is I read the Bible. But if you look at my Bible, this thing is worn. And you know what? I read it every day. I read the Word of God, and I read three-to-five chapters of the Bible every day, Monday through Saturday. And then I read some of it on Sunday. But I’m constantly feeding on the Word of God. And you know, we have tools. You can go on our website at CharisChristianCenter.com We got hundreds of hours of teaching. Downloadable audio, downloadable video, free of charge. But also we have prayer ministers that are here today. And if you need to receive Jesus, receive the Holy Spirit, receive more information, you can give us a call. We have prayer ministers that will pray for you so you can receive your personal prayer language. Be encouraged, receive the promises of God. Amen. God wants you to be strong. Amen.

One thing, too, just to keep abiding in the Word, is to be in a church where the Word is taught.

Yeah.

That’s the focus of that ministry. And this ministry is based upon the Word of God. Our church is based on the Word of God. If you’re looking for a good church, you can connect with us online. You can also visit us. We’ve actually had people move here Colorado Springs to be part of this church.

We’ve had people move from other countries to come to this church. And it’s helped them, they’ve grown.

So stay in the Word, and just thank you so much for joining us today. God loves you, see you again soon.

Announcer Through Grace, you have absolute victory in Christ. In absolute victory in Christ, discover how you could live the victorious life every day. Get your copy of Pastor Lawson’s book, entitled “Absolute Victory in Christ,” when you visit our website, CharisChristianCenter.com Follow the Amazon link to get your copy in either Kindle or in paperback. While on our website, download your copy of this teaching, “Freedom from the Store.” Go to CharisChristianCenter.com to get your copies of these powerful resources.

Hi ladies, I am so excited to have you personally join us for this year’s Rejoice Women’s Conference. I know that God has something amazing in store for you. I know that he has good plans for us. I hope to see you there, February 6th through 8th. Cathy Duplantis is our keynote speaker. My daughter-in-law, Heather Purdue will be joining us. As well as, I even asked my husband, Pastor Awesome Lawson. And he will also be ministering. It’s gonna be a great time. Look forward to seeing you there.

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