"The Truth Sets Us Free" -- That We May Believe
"The Truth Sets Us Free" -- That We May Believe • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Jesus Brings the Truth!
Jesus Brings the Truth!
— Our passage today is John 8:31-36. It is found on page 894 in the pew rack bible
— Of course you can also use your own bible or bible app.
— You might want to begin turning there as I give you a bit of background.
In this passage...
In this passage...
—This is a significant passage where Jesus says enough is enough This group of Jews has been calling on, harassing him, following him, nipping at his heals over and over. Trying whatever they could to bring him down.
— Jesus, in a very direct way exposes their unbelief and their spiritual blindness. And they rebel and push back, and he says they are from the devil
— I told you this time He was speaking directly and forcefully
The Pharisee’s have seen him work
The Pharisee’s have seen him work
—They have seen His miracles, they have seen His healing. At some level they had to know that he was more than a Prophet, More than a Rabbi, that he was in fact Messiah
But...
— He was robbing everything about them...
— He took their
— Power
— Money machine (In the Temple Tax and Sacrificial business along with the whole tax scam)
— He was drawing people away from the effects of the Law and the sacrificial system.
— He questioned 4000 years of the Law, Prophets and History.
This passage highlights the clash between Jesus and His teachings and the hardened hearts of those who oppose him.
This passage highlights the clash between Jesus and His teachings and the hardened hearts of those who oppose him.
As we begin today, I’d like you to stand, if you can as I read scripture
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never 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 practices sin is a slave to sin.
35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever.
36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Let’s take closer look at some of these verses.
Principle #1 - “The Truth Sets Us Free”
Principle #1 - “The Truth Sets Us Free”
— This one of catchall verses that we throw around and we have to be careful how we use.
— The context here is Jesus talking to the Jews… who have believed Him.
— These are Jews, who are becoming some of the first disciples and followers of Christ
— Listen for the If/Then statement
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
— If you follow me, if you “abide in me” or as the greek says.. “to remain in the same place over a long period of time.”
— You are my disciples [period].
Application — Pattern your life after true discipleship, that involves continuing in His teaching, Resulting in an intimate knowledge of the truth and of the Truth-Giver!
Application — Pattern your life after true discipleship, that involves continuing in His teaching, Resulting in an intimate knowledge of the truth and of the Truth-Giver!
— Look to the life of Christ, stand firm in the Word, Continue learning throughout your life, THEN.. He says you are my disciple.
AND THE TRUTH, all that you learned along the way, WILL SET YOU FREE!
AND THE TRUTH, all that you learned along the way, WILL SET YOU FREE!
— Free from what? Free from the Law!! Free from the eternal effects of sin.
— Notice I did not say that we are going to be free from sin, or free from the consequences of that comes from sin.
— But it does gives us an option to relieve ourselves of the effects of this sin.
— Follow along with me V.34-36
34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.
35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever.
36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
— Freedom is found only in the Son!
— Reward is found only in the relationship
—Listen… V.51
51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”
Principle #2 - Your family, the blood in your body will not get you a spiritual reward!
Principle #2 - Your family, the blood in your body will not get you a spiritual reward!
— These Jews that were following him everywhere claimed to be descendants of Abraham.
— They believed this granted them special status before God.
— IT DOES NOT!!
Application — Your family, where you went to school or church, will not get you to Heaven! Only a personal relationship with Jesus Christ will get you to Heaven.
Application — Your family, where you went to school or church, will not get you to Heaven! Only a personal relationship with Jesus Christ will get you to Heaven.
— The only free “pass” that you get is by the blood of Christ!
Jesus challenges the Jews understanding, stating that if they were truly Abraham's children, they would follow his example of faith.
Jesus challenges the Jews understanding, stating that if they were truly Abraham's children, they would follow his example of faith.
— So… there we come back again to the power of Faith. Faith in who He is, Faith in what he has done, Faith that he is returning...
— Faith
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
— Or another definition… Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God!!
But Faith has a “real” side… A down to earth, in the trenches side
— We by Faith come before God, asking for the right job
— We come before God asking Him to get us out of a particular situation. It could be money, addiction, it could be a 100 other things
— We by Faith ask that our children, our Mom’s and Dad’s our brothers and sisters come to a saving and abiding knowledge of Jesus Christ
— We by Faith, ask for families who are torn apart by strife, hate and misunderstanding be put back together again
— We by Faith ask for healing for ourselves, for our family members, for our community, for our nation and our world.
— If you’ve been around the sun a few times you know there isn’t always an answer or one that we like. Sometimes the worst is… WAIT.
I’m going to use V.51 again
51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”
The Jews response to that is this
52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’
53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?”
54 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 goes on to say...
— That their actions reflect a different spiritual lineage, suggesting that they are children of the devil due to their rejection of His message.
— That is STRONG language… But true language!
Principle #3 - Jesus is Before Abraham… He is the “I AM”
Principle #3 - Jesus is Before Abraham… He is the “I AM”
— Jesus is before Abraham, using the powerful statement "I am" to refer to His eternal nature.
58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
— This “I am” is markedly different than the “I am” last week.
— This “I AM” speaks to Jesus eternal nature which equates Jesus with the Father.
— It’s the same words used in Exodus 3.14.
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”
Application - From eternity past, to the present to how many futures we have...There is NO WAY to get around the need to follow Christ.
Application - From eternity past, to the present to how many futures we have...There is NO WAY to get around the need to follow Christ.
— It doesn’t matter how good you are, how happy you are, how much you give or don’t give.
— The Only way to eternity with God is through Christ!
— That is true for the Jew, the gentile, the pastor, the Roman, the pagan, the dairy farmer, the truck driver, the teacher, the physician, the retired person.
— The pathway is always the same… Through Faith in Jesus Christ!
— As we close and the band comes let’s review
Principle #1 - “The Truth Sets Us Free”
Principle #1 - “The Truth Sets Us Free”
Application — Pattern your life after true discipleship, that involves continuing in His teaching, Resulting in an intimate knowledge of the truth and of the Truth-Giver!
Principle #2 - Your family, the blood in your body will not get you a spiritual reward!
Principle #2 - Your family, the blood in your body will not get you a spiritual reward!
Application — Your family, where you went to school or church, will not get you to Heaven! Only a personal relationship with Jesus Christ will.
Principle #3 - Jesus is Before Abraham… He is the “I AM”
Principle #3 - Jesus is Before Abraham… He is the “I AM”
Application - From eternity past, to the present to how many futures we have...There is NO WAY to get around the need to follow Christ.
Closing Song
Closing
Why would God send Jesus to earth to do all that he did, why would he continue to bear with us, in all of our sin and all of our shame, why does he command us to seek out those who don’t know Him… why, why, why.
I don’t know the answers to all of those questions but I know the the answer-giver
But I have Faith, that God is leading me and us down this path… That He will provide Amazng Grace to see us through “That” we may Believe!