Jesus Speaks - Pt. II

So that you may believe - Gospel of John  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  36:13
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Freedom!

Jesus is offering true freedom but they are not accepting what He is offering at the high price (lol, tongue/cheek humor) of belief.
What do you think the cost of freedom is?
Toby Castleberry once said: “There is nothing like the freedom we can have in Jesus. No money can buy it, no status can obtain it, no works can earn it.”
It is tragic that no every Christian experiences this freedom, which can never be found except by abiding in God’s word and being Jesus’ disciple.
Freedom offered to those who believe (Jn8:31-32)
Jesus responds about true freedom (Jn8:33-36)
Freedom not bondage (Jn8:37-41)
Freedom questioned (Jn8:41-43)
and of course we need to start with our passage and questions first.
John 8:31–32
31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
John 8:33–34
33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.
John 8:35–36
35 “The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. 36 “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
John 8:37–38 NASB95
37 “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. 38 “I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.”
jn8:
John 8:39–40 NASB95
39 They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. 40 “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.
John 8:41–42 NASB95
41 “You are doing the deeds of your father.” They said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.
John 8:43 NASB95
43 “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.
Who is Jesus speaking to (v.31)? What are the instructions given and the promise to them (v.31-32)?
The Jews who believed in Him
If they continue in His word then they are truly disciples
What was the Jews rebuttal to Jesus claim and promise (v.33)?
They claim they are Abraham’s descendents and never enslaved to anyone.
Someone who commits sin is a slave to what (v.34)?
A slave to sin.
What is the difference betwen slave and a son (vv.35-36); What does the Son make you (v.36)?
Slave is not in house forever
Son does remain forever
Son makes you free
What summary from Jesus do you see in (vv. 37-38)?
I do what I have seen in my father, you should do what you have seen in yours (Abraham)
The Jews make a claim, what is Jesus response to the claim (v.39)?
They claim Abraham, Jesus says do the work of Abraham then.
What does Jesus say they are doing (vv. 40-41)?
They are trying to kill him
They are doing the deeds of their father
Who does Jesus say their father is, and why (v.44)?
Their father is the devil
Because they want to do the desires of their father.
Jesus makes one more claim against them (v.47), what is it?
You are not of God.

Freedom Offered

Everyone wants freedom. But at what cost? At what way can we have freedom? What kind of freedom is Jesus offering? Let’s look together.
John 8:31–32 NLT
31 Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Jesus offers discipleship and freedom to those who put their faith, their belief in Him, but there is an and.
What is the and Jesus says that has to come with belief here in (v.31)?
We know from (v.30) many believed in Him. Jesus is addressing them, those who started in faith, by faith, but their faith had no roots yet.
They needed to stay faithful to the teachings.
Morris said “This section of the discourse is addressed to those who believe, and yet do not believe. Clearly they were inclined to think that what Jesus said was true. But they were not prepared to yield Him the far-reaching allegiance that real trust in Him implies. This is a most dangerous spiritual state.”
Some versions in (v.31) use the word abide, what does abide mean?
To live in, to dwell in, to make your home in His word. For, the word became flesh and dwelt among us.
John 1:14 NASB95
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Another good quote, this time by Tasker
He was asked “What it means to abide in His word?” His reply was
“Welcoming it, being at home with it, ad living with in so continuously that it becomes part of the believer’s life, a permanent influence and stimulus in every fresh advance in goodness and holiness.”
The result of abiding in His Word is you shall know the truth and you shall be, be made free.

Jesus responds to true freedom

Jesus speaks of spiritual freedom, freedom from sin, not slavery. That comes from if you are a son or a servant. We will get into this in this section of scripture.
You can look at the passage in your bible, we have read it already this evening, so will jump to some points to glean from the passage.
The Jews claim they were never enslaved because they were Abrahams decedents (v.33)
Had they forgotten that they were before, in Egypt (430 years); In Assyria (170 years); Babylon, Medes, Persia (70 years) and were currently under Rome?
Whoever commits a sin is a slave to sin (v.34)
While the Jews are thinking politically, Jesus is speaking freedom from sin (spiritually). Jesus is speaking of true, lasting, everlasting freedom, not just from under the government of Rome that was oppressing them (a form of bondage).
Now the sin used here in not a one time thing in the verb form used, it is a continual action, a repeated action. A person who continually sins is a slave to sin.
Consider
Romans 6:16 NASB95
16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?
F.F. Bruce once said: “There is another kind of slavery than social or economic slavery. Sin is a slave-master, and it is possible even for people who think of themselves as free to be enslaved to sin.”
A slave cannot set himself free, but a son is made free. The Son of Man came to set man free from the bondage to sin.
A servant may live in the house, but it does not make him a son and grant the freedom’s that a son has.
Jesus had just recently told them the brevity of their current situation, enslavement.
John 8:21 NASB95
21 Then He said again to them, “I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.”
In Jn8:21, who is the He, the Me and where is He going?
Jesus and heaven, and they cannot go there unless their sins are dealt with for they are enslaved to them at this time and don’t even realize it.
And finish it with
John 8:24 NASB95
24 “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
In Jn8:24 who is the “I” and the “you” and what is the requirement given?
Here is another good quote, thank you to Kittle little book of quotes.
“So the slave to sin cannot by himself change his status. He cannot convert himself, nor can he be converted by any fellow-sinner. . . The liberator from our bondage must come from outside the ranks of enslaved humanity.” - Tasker
A slave is set free from sin only by the Son. How does He do it, by the power of His Word. We will see the emphasis on this next time we meet in this series.
They were Abraham’s descendants in the genetic sense, but not in a spiritual sense. Abraham received his visitors from heaven (Gen18) and these yahoo’s at this time wanted to kill him (v.37)

Freedom not bondage

What is freedom? Is it the opposite of bondage? Look at Jesus reasoning with the Jews at this point.
We have not been with the scripture for a little bit, so maybe better put it up again as we work through it.
John 8:37–38 NLT
37 Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham. And yet some of you are trying to kill me because there’s no room in your hearts for my message. 38 I am telling you what I saw when I was with my Father. But you are following the advice of your father.”
Why were some trying to kill Him (v.37)?
Because they had no room in their hearts for His message.
If they are rejecting the message, they are rejecting the word of God and rejecting God.
Even Abraham obeyed and was declared righteousness. They were not willing to receive and obey, they wanted to destroy.
Charles Spurgeon considered several ways that God’s word should have place in the believer.
The Word should have an inward place
The Word should have a place of high honor
The Word should have a place of trust
The Word should have a place of rule (authority)
The Word should have a place of love
The Word should have a permanent place.
John 8:38 NKJV
38 I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.”
I do what I have seen, you do what you have seen. (v.38)
So, do what Abraham did. What did Abraham do?
He acted by faith and was accounted as righteousness.
Jesus had reminded them that He did what He heard and what He had seen the Father do. They did what their father did (and it sure was not Abraham as they claimed). Wait until we get to (v.44)
Abraham was genetically their father, but not spiritually for Abraham would not want to kill Him (vv.39-40)
Then comes an accusation of Jesus parentage and His response (vv.41-42)
What was the accusation (v.41)?
They claim he is a child of fornication. But He had time and time told them He came from above. That His Father is God.
Look at Jesus response (v.42) If God were your father, you would act like it, you would love me. I did not come on my own, He sent me.
Jesus is attesting to His unity of nature and purpose and will with God the Father.
Jesus was the exact representation of God the Father (2Pt1:1-4; Heb1:3)
They were unwilling to hear the truth (v.43).
Can we be unwilling to hear the truth? Does our unwillingness change the truth?
This is our stopping point for today, we will pick up on part III of Jesus speaks (vv.43-55) even though we touched on (v.43) today.
(Prayer) (Close)
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