FBCWest 575 | The Truth Shall Set You Free
Recorded On: 10/08/2023
Bulletin
Hymn # 218 “He Leadeth Me”
SCRIPTURE READING – Psalm 23
Giving of Selves and Our Offerings
OFFERTORY PRAYER
OFFERTORY MUSIC – Pru Hungate
Praise and Worship
“Overcome”
“Echo Holy”
“Raise a Hallelujah”
Proclamation of the Word
Message by Pastor Joe
“The Truth Shall Set You Free”
PRAYER TIME / Time of Reflection
“Living Hope”
Benediction “There Is Freedom”
Sermon Notes
John 8:31 & 32 If you believe in Him and continue in His word, you will know the truth and the truth will make you free
John 8:33 Their response – since they are Abraham’s decedents, they have never been enslaved
John 8:34 – 38 Jesus’s response: If you commit sin you are a slave to sin. If the Son makes you free, you are fee indeed, but even if they are Abraham’s decedents, they do not have His word in them
John 8:39 & 40 They repeat Abraham is their father. Jesus says then do the deeds of Abrahamn, but they are not doing as Abraham did
John 8:41 & 42 They are doing the deeds of their father, but if God were their father they would love Jesus
John 8:43 Why don’t they understand, because they don’t hear (understand) His words
John 8:44 – 47 Jesus says their father is the devil, he who hears is of God
John 8:48 – 55 They accuse Jesus of being a half breed and having a demon – Jesus responds God the Father will glorify Him because He does not glorify Himself
John 8:56 Jesus says Abraham long to see His day and saw and was glad
John 8:57 They say Jesus isn’t old enough to have seen Abraham
John 8:58 Jesus response before Abraham “I Am”
John 8:59 They wanted to stoe Him but He went out of the temple
Scritpures
Transcript of Service
We live in a very relativistic society. So much so, the truth is even relative. Your truth may not be my truth, and we all can have different truths. In my opinion, that's wrong. That truth is an absolute. It's either right, correct, truthful, or not. But it's not important what I think. We're going to take a look at what Jesus says about truth and its consequences. So come and take a look at what Jesus has to say about truth and how it affects us.
Hopefully you have your Bibles. If I can keep this bullet in there.
And as I say week after week, and you should, turn to John, the Gospel of John, chapter 8. We're going to start with verse 31.
Jesus has been teaching, and there have been those who have come to believe, those who haven't come to believe. And then there's kind of a third group that we're going to take a look at today who seems to have come to believe.
And so in John, chapter 38, verse 31, it says this.
And so Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed in Him, "If you continue in my Word, then you are truly disciples of mine." Now I want you to notice, Jesus didn't say, "You are disciples of mine, therefore continue in my Word." He says, "If you continue in my Word, then you are a disciple of mine." Because there are those who will make instantaneous decisions.
It's kind of like those as He talks about in other Gospels about the wheat and the tare, and the seed who scatters out seed. And some pop up quickly, but produce no fruit, and because of the cares of this world, wither and die. And so we should not take into account those who seem to believe initially. So Jesus says, "If you continue in my Word, then you are truly disciples of mine."
And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.
So Jesus is saying there are two things. You need to continue in my Word, and you will know the truth. So how is it that we know the truth? Because we continue in His Word.
Now in our culture today, we don't have truth as any sense of an absolute. It's relativistic. Well that may be your truth, but it's not my truth.
And the thing that particularly disturbs me is, I will hear Christian music that will talk about God's truth. You know God's truth is truth. It's not a truth.
But Jesus says, "If you continue in my Word, you'll know the truth, and the truth will make you free." Now not all truth will make you free, and so this scripture is misquoted frequently.
The truth is, I don't look like Brad Pitt.
That doesn't set me free, and that doesn't make me any more look like I'm going to look like Brad Pitt. The only thing that's going to make me look like Brad Pitt is to spend more money on plastic surgery than I can afford.
And so just because I adopt a truth doesn't mean it sets me free. But Jesus continuing in His Word, we will then know the truth, and that truth will make us free. Well what is that truth? That truth is, we are sinners, and that Jesus was sent by the Father to free us from the slavery of sin, and that we come to know that, and that we see that in Him and in believing in Him, we are then free from sin and are made children of God.
That's where we get to know these things, because we continue in His Word. We don't believe these things, because some pastor or theologian says them. We believe them because Jesus has said them.
These people are idiots.
Okay, let's go back in history.
In history, they were enslaved for over 400 years in Egypt. They cried out when God was going to free them.
They became a nation because God freed them from the slavery of sin. They also, because they discounted God's Word and decided not to follow Him, were sent into dysphoria with the Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians.
There have been several times in the history of the Jewish people, the history of the descendants of Abraham, that they have been enslaved. But, in case they are talking about themselves and not their past generations,
what's happening now in their lives?
Rome is their conqueror. They send taxes to Caesar because they are not a free people. As a matter of fact, any Roman soldier could go to any Jew and say, "Here's my stuff. Carry it for me for a mile."
That kind of silence I can save meant to me. Now, Jesus will teach, if they ask you to go one, go two. Go beyond what you're requested to do. Make a difference. Be different. But they are enslaved in the Roman occupation. As a matter of fact, they are so enslaved that they want to kill Jesus, but they cannot execute Him without the Roman consent.
They are enslaved. But that's not what Jesus is talking about.
And Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin."
You see, Jesus doesn't talk about physical enslavement. He's talking about spiritual enslavement. And He says, "Once you've committed sin, you are now a slave to sin."
And you have been that because we all are sinners.
And He goes, "The slave did not remain in the house forever. The Son does remain forever." So He's setting a distinction. Those who are slaves, those who are sinners, are not allowed to be in the house. But the Son is, because He's an heir, and He's entitled to dwell where the Father dwells.
So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
Jesus is saying, "You're not going to be free in any other way except by the Son making you free."
Jesus, again, teaches he and he alone is the only way to God the Father. And if you don't accept and understand who He is, then you will never accept and understand who the Father is.
You see, Jesus, not us. Jesus is exclusionary.
He doesn't say all roads lead to heaven. He says He does. He says, "You are a slave to sin unless you come to Him and learn the truth in His teaching, and His teaching will make you free because you will come to know who He is." And later in this Gospel, He will go further and say, "Not only will you know the truth and the truth will make you free, He is the truth, not a truth, but the truth."
But the Son will make us free. And so I know we're all sinners.
And I know we all have a problem of sin. And I know Paul will even say that we need to die daily. And Jesus will say, "Pick up your cross and follow me," because he understands that we are sinners.
But that's not how He came to leave us.
He came to leave us free from sin, and no longer masters by sin, and no longer slaves in sin. So we should not say, "Well, I'm human and therefore I sinned. I sinned because I don't follow His truth. I don't follow His teaching and accept His liberation, that He has made me free, and I don't have to sin."
And now becomes a choice.
I know that you are Abraham's descendant, yet you seek to kill me because my word has no place in you. He's going, "Big deal."
I understand exactly your genetic. You come from the genetic line of Abraham.
But I'll also say in another Gospel, "Big deal. God can raise up rocks and make them children of Abraham."
For those of you who are wondering how God can do things, He can take a rock and make them a child of Abraham.
So maybe He can take you and make you His child.
And because you seek to kill me, you don't want to hear my word, because then you have to accept me as who I am, and you have to change your theology from that of following the law to following Jesus.
"I speak the things which I have seen with my Father, therefore you also do the things which you have heard from your Father." Jesus is saying, "You and I are not the same.
You are descendants of Abraham, yes, but you're doing the things of your Father," and He's not talking about Abraham. And He says, "I'm doing the things of my Father, and I'm talking about God."
"And they answered and said to Him, Abraham is our Father. And Jesus said to them, "If you are the Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham."
Well, what are the deeds of Abraham?
It's contained in a very singular verse.
"Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness."
Abraham did a lot of stupid things during his life.
Everything from telling pharaohs and kings that his wife was not really his wife, you know, he told the half-truth.
He just did weird things. He didn't always have total confidence in what God had to say. Ultimately, he'd come around and believe.
But when God said, "I'm going to make you a father of many nations,"
you can count the stars in the sky. You can count your descendants.
He believed God.
His faith was what caused his righteousness, not his deeds, not his circumcision, not his following, but believing God. He goes, "Jesus says, "If you are the children of Abraham, then have faith."
"But as it is, you are seeking to kill me, a man who has told you the truth,
which I heard from God this Abraham did not do."
Even when it was difficult to believe that God could do what God said he would do, he believed him, even in his difficult circumstances.
He's just saying, "But your guys aren't doing that.
You're not having faith of what God has sent me to say to you, and that I am the Son.
You are doing the deeds of your Father." And they said to him, "We are not born of fornication. We have won the Father God."
Their answer is, "We were born of God,
but they have not shown any way that they counter Jesus' discussion that they don't do the deeds of Abraham.
They just keep falling back on their genetics."
Kind of like the pastor who has said in the past, "Just because you are born in a garage doesn't make you a cop. Therefore, being born in a Christian household doesn't make you a Christian."
But they're convinced, because we're children of Abraham, therefore God must be a part of us. He must be our Father and Jesus of None Own. What differentiates you between others is that you do what God has told you to do, and you're doing what your Father has told you to do. And so Jesus says, "Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would have loved me." Notice, "You would not just listen to me. You would not just follow me. You would love me."
How many today listen to God? Go to church on Sundays and listen to the pastor, but don't love Jesus.
"You would have loved me, for I proceed forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on my known initiative, but he who sent me." Jesus is saying, "The whole idea of me being here is a Father." I didn't say, "Hey, Dad, I'll go. The Father sent Jesus. For God so loved the world, he sent Jesus."
Why do you not understand what I am saying? It's because you cannot hear my word.
Now, Jesus is not saying they cannot physically hear it, that they're not physically deaf, but they are spiritually deaf.
We'll run into people like that all the time. They will not understand what we're talking about when it comes to faith, when it comes to Jesus, when it comes about the resurrection, when it comes about all these things, because they cannot hear, because they are spiritually deaf.
You are of your Father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your Father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the Father of life.
Boy, did he just make a whole lot of friends.
Your Father is not God. Your Father is Satan, who is a murderer. He's the one who convinced Adam and Eve to fall and therefore die. He was the one who convinced Cain to hate Abel, and he's the one who's been the author of wars ever since
and strife between family and friends and neutral.
And he is a liar.
So when you hear people talk about all truth is relative, lie,
because Jesus said he's the truth. If you will follow his teachings, his words,
you will know the truth and it will set you free. So if it's just his truth, then how can we know it?
So we need to start now. We don't necessarily have to be rude, and when somebody says, "Well, that's my truth," we don't necessarily have to say, "You're a liar," but you can a little more sweetly say they're wrong.
One of my favorite questions for those people who say they're no absolute is I say, "Are you absolutely sure?"
Because if you're absolutely sure, then you're wrong, because there is at least one absolute.
So you must not be absolutely sure, and if you're not absolutely sure, then maybe there are absolutely.
So they're stuck on the horns of the dilemma. So I love that question. But that's the situation. People want to deny the truth because if they come to understand the truth, they have to respond to it.
But if we pretend it doesn't exist, oh, we just… I don't hear you.
They're speaking from their own nature, their Father. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe me.
Because they're used to believing lies.
And it is difficult to believe the truth when all you've ever done is believe lies.
Back in high school, there was a bunch of us guys who hung around.
And I won't tell you the name because it's not his problem, and I don't want to embarrass him if he ever hears it.
I could tell him the most absolute, crazy falsity,
and he'd believe it.
I'd tell him the truth, and he wouldn't believe it. It was just weird.
I mean, I'm going… I never told him my lie was a lie because I was just so astonished, and I enjoyed it. So I could tell him more lies because it was so much fun. But no one in their right mind could believe what I just said that you did. And this is kind of… He's just going, "No one in their right mind could believe what you believe unless your Father is the devil."
Which one of you convicts me of sin?
If I speak the truth, why do you not believe?
He's going, "If I've sinned, go to me, but you can't convict me of it, because I am sinless.
And if I am sinless and I speak the truth, why do you not believe?" Because they refuse to believe.
It just doesn't matter.
"He who is of God hears the Word of God, for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God."
He's repeating, he's saying, "Your Father is the devil, your Father is not God, and if your Father was God, you would listen to me, but because your Father is not God, you don't listen to me."
He's just laying it out. I know who the sheep and I know who the goats are.
"The Jews answered and said to him, Do we not rightly say that you are…" No.
They do what people do to us all the time.
"That rightly say that you are a Samaritan and have a demon."
They go not to the truth of what Jesus is saying, but what we call the false man. We argue against somebody that doesn't exist. They say, "You are a Samaritan." So what they're saying is, "You're a half-breed."
So they're loving kindness to other people.
"You're a half-breed." Why should we listen to you because you're a Samaritan? Ooh, that icky Samaritan.
And you have a demon.
People will always, "raw man" is what I'm trying to think of. People will always attack you, not for what you say, but who you are.
Don't feel bad.
They did it to Jesus.
They're in really good company.
Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon, but I honor my father and you dishonor me."
Jesus is saying, "If you dishonor me, you dishonor the father because he and I are one."
I don't have a demon.
"But I do not seek my own glory. There is one who seeks and judges."
Jesus is saying, "I'm not here for everybody to say, "What a wonderful guy I am. I'm here because the father sent me and I'm seeking not my glory, but his."
"Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never be dead."
Now I know these guys are going to go crazy now.
"And the Jews said to him, "Now we know that you have a demon." "Abraham died and the prophets also." Yeah, because you killed them. "Abraham died and the prophets also, and you say, if anyone keeps my word, he will never taste of death."
But you can tell, again, these guys have no clue what they're talking about.
"Surely you are not greater than our father Abraham who died."
"The prophets died too." "Whom do you make yourself out to be?" Well, dudes, if you've been listening, he's been saying, "I'm the son of God."
It's like how many times you have to tell somebody what you're saying.
Kind of like the wife to the husband.
He keeps repeating it and repeating it, and he still doesn't know what you're saying.
Amen to that. Yeah. I speak the truth, but it doesn't necessarily set me free.
Going back to my person. So he's, you know, they're going after him and they're going, "Are you in?" And Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me of whom you say, He is our God."
Jesus will teach, and Paul will follow up and say that we will be saved by sanctification,
and that we will be glorified. We will be glorified not by how much we say we are awesome, but God will glorify us. And that glory is genuine and eternal.
Jesus is saying, "I'm not here for other people to talk how wonderful I am. I'm here to see that the Father is glorified."
And you know, and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him, and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word." He's saying, "I'm not like you guys."
Because I'm not going to say things that aren't true, and the truth is I know my Father because He sent me and I dwell with Him.
And He goes, "Your Father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad."
I'm going to come back to this verse in a little bit, but Jesus is saying, "Your Father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad." He asked me.
I believe in two things.
I believe that Abraham saw that God was going to send a Redeemer
because he understood full well when God asked him to sacrifice His son Isaac on that hill that was probably the very same hill that Jesus was crucified on. He understood that God would send for Himself a Lamb,
and Abraham saw that day and was glad.
I also believe a second thing, and I'll talk about that in a moment. "So the Jews said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?"
I love this verse.
"And Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly," which means it is really true and it's on the test.
"I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am."
He was at the burning bush, the "I am."
He was the one who said, "Let there be light."
And he was.
He existed eternally before Abraham ever existed. He's declaring, "Not only was I alive before Abraham, I am.
I am the name of God."
Now, why do I think there's a second thing?
I think, and I know that the Scriptures back me up,
that when Abraham died at a rivaly, he didn't cease to exist.
He dwelled in the house of the Lord forever.
He is seen and has seen Jesus's day, and is rejoicing. They are seeking in a moment to kill him.
Abraham, who they claim as their father, is rejoicing and saying, "Praise God." Hallelujah.
To the one who set me free. To the one who, I believe what he said, gave me righteousness, and the one who is on the earth walking and teaching Jesus, and saying, "If you believe in me, you will have righteousness."
Therefore, they picked up stones to throw at him.
So they were ready to commit murder. Now, the way you deal with blasphemy is you stone people.
Remember when I started out the message? They had to get Rome's authority to kill anyone.
They would, by their effort, become murderers.
Well, what did Jesus say their father was? A murderer.
And you know the father by his children.
They want to be murderers to you.
But because Jesus is who Jesus is, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the town.
They couldn't find him.
He walked away.
Because his time was not yet. Even in the midst of the greatest danger that Jesus might experience,
God's sovereignty protects him until his time comes.
And the Word of God didn't say that the must-eye would be stoned.
Read Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 to see how the Messiah is and was to God.
God protects his own.
So in our circumstances,
we may be like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and God may protect us in the fire, because it will glorify him.
Or maybe God will let us go through the fire,
because it will glorify him.
We should seek his form,
because we claim to be his children and to follow Jesus and his teaching.
And all God's people say.