Truth Sets Free

Opening

What would make you stop believing in Jesus?

i hope the real answer to that question is NOTHING.

Yet we know that many people turn away.

WHY?

Church scandal

too rigid

Crisis not turning out how the person wanted

Did get what they wanted?

Church hurt

too many OTHER THINGS in life

These and many others are reasons that many walk away.

My experience is that many pick a church on entertainment value and not the training value.

A doctor walked in to my appointment this week and told me to STOP BELIEVING IN JESUS.

YES, He walked in to my appt, and said good morning.

You should stop believing in Jesus.

he paused to gauge my reaction

and then repeated

Tom --- tell you congregation to stop believing in Jesus, and start KNOWING JESUS

I loved that.

So Stop Just Believing and Seek to KNOW HIM

We are in our series in the Book of John called

DISCOVERING JESUS.

We at Horizon want you to not simply BELIEVE, but KNOW JESUS, and fall evermore in LOVE with Him

so that you become just like Him.

BE WHERE YOU ARE GROWING

GET INVOLVED TO KNOW THE TRUTH

Join a new class, Read a New Book, Learn to study more....

Jesus tells us today that we can be FREE.....

Know the Truth and Be set Free

John 8:31–32 (ESV)

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.”

there is so much bondage in our world today.

Work

Success

Money

Debt

Lust

False news - political, medically, spiritually

So so much bondage to SIN

Jesus gives us the ANSWER today

ABIDE IN MY WORD.

Know the Truth, and the Truth will set you Free

These are powerful words from our Lord.

Lets look at the two main words in these verses

ABIDE and KNOW

all to true that many of us abide in Sin

instead of the Savior.

The word ABIDE means to live in, to hold on to, stay or continue.

this is a mystery in our faith, or maybe a complicated concept

Jesus tells us to BELIEVE, but it must go farther

it must go deeper

Jesus starts with the instruction to Believe in Him, but our verses are truly displaying something more.

that we need to become DISCIPLES ( Learners)

we need to be taught.

First we BELIEVE, and we get Baptized

but we must BECOME AND BELONG

BELIEVE, BAPTIZE, BECOME, BELONG, BLESSED

Jesus is telling us and the listeners in His teaching

that we must be IN CHRIST

we must LIVE IN HIS WORD --- that is the essense of BECOMING

We don’t make SUNDAY CHRISTIANS here today.

NO SUNDAY CHRISTIANS

Let me make is clear

coming to church, or reading the word does not SAVE YOU

You must be IN CHRIST

Look at the verses again.

John 8:31–32 (ESV)

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.”

It says that they “HAD BELIEVED”, and Jesus gives us an IF/THEN statement

If you live in my word, you are my disciples

Know the TRUTH and the TRUTH will set you Free

WHO IS THE TRUTH? — JESUS alone!

This scripture is of major importance in our eternal place.

it is key to our mission to grow HIS CHURCH

to be part of the process to GO, and make disciples

A pray will not save you

An unchanged life will not save you

church attendance or a YOU VERSION reading streak is not a testimony

Dead to the old life and ALIVE in CHRIST is the TRUTH.

You will need to stop simply BELIEVING, and Start to KNOW HIM,

deeply abiding in Him

Bonds of Sin

Take a brief moment and think about this.

Have you leaned on your own understanding of Christianity instead of searching and knowing the Scripture.

Did it shock you, Did it put you on alert this morning when i said STOP BELIEVING in JESUS

did the hair rise on your neck, and then lay back down

when i added starting KNOWING HIM

Jesus tells them to that they need to live, abide, hold fast to the Word of God to KNOW TRUTH

Jesus is saying that the SAVING FAITH is

FIRM and SETTLED-- ROOTED IN CHRIST ALONE

Jesus says to know the truth and the truth will set you free

and they react to ONE WORD

FREE

Interesting concept isn’t it.

The Jews are upset that they are under

Roman tyranny --- sounds like NOT FREE.

They reference Moses and know the Scrolls of the Torah---- the words of the Prophets

lots of NOT FREE there

the Jews were in Egypt in Slavery for hundreds of years

the Prophets cried out to them to REPENT

and the Assyrians and the Babylonians captured them

sounds like slavery to me

yet they react to “set you free”

What are they thinking?

I will vote for PRIDE and PRACTICE

their Pride in they are the CHOSEN PEOPLE

Their Practice of sacrifice, in living in (or around) the Law

they lived in the pretense and not in the

Saving Grace offered through Christ

They realized that Jesus was speaking of the slavery of sin

John 8:34 ESV

34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.

Verses 31.32 are the Process of Freedom

verses 33,34 are the Pretense of Freedom

and verses 35,36 are the Promise of Freedom

Do you want to be set free from Sin?

Set Free

Let me ask a silly question?

If you would go to a sink and wash your hands for a full minute with soap and water.

Then wash them three more times for a total time of four to five minutes

Would your hands know be clean forever?

you washed them cleaned, so they are clean for rest of your life?

of course not

so why would we NOT STRUGGLE with the concept of Jesus.

The Jews were living in a state of sin and sacrifice to cleanse them

they needed to wash to be cleaned.

The more they practiced washing, the cleaner they believed they were

HENCE the Pharisees, the leaders and teachers.

the Law calls out the sin

the Sacrifice washes the sin

the religious practices make you Righteous

Jesus is informing, teaching them.

stop the washing of your hands

they will just get dirty again

Believe, Baptize (wash), and Become and you will Belong to me.

and in ME there is no Sin

You will not be subject to the Slavery of Sin

I will change you that Sin will not mark you for death

Sin will not stain your hands

I have provided the eternal washing of your Soul.

Come live in ME

Not of this world,

but MY DISCIPLE, MY FOLLOWER, MY CHILD, MY LOVED ONE, My bride for eternity.

I told you that verses 35,36 are the Promise of Freedom

lets read it again

John 8:35–36 (ESV)

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.

There is Freedom only in Jesus my brothers and sisters in Christ

Genuine Believer

Our final verses today 37-38

speak about Cultural influence,

speak of traditions

speak of man’s religion versus becoming

these verse let us know that

we must BELONG to be BLESSED.

John 8:37–38 (ESV)

37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.

38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”

it is not

catholic, or Mormon, or Baptist, or a non-denominational that SAVES you

NO denomination saves you

NO prayer

No amount of begging

If you fall off a book and someone throws you a life buoy and pulls you in

then you start to complain about how they did it

you are the jerk

Part of loving Jesus is Knowing HIS Heart to Save you

to pay the price in teaching us, in dealing with our rebellion, exercising patience when we act out or deny HIS TRUTH in our LIFE

It is more than simply BELIEVING

it is believing and abiding in Christ Alone

it is straight up

TWO THINGS

BELIEVE and BECOME

then you truly Belong and are Blessed.

So my friends are you ready to

stop just believing --- and grow in learning to KNOW HIM

if some one asks you WHY you are Christian

i hope that your answer is

Because i LOVE CHRIST, my LIFE is in HIM

I am dead to the old ways and fully alive in the new.

it is my mission in this life to live out

Paul’s statement in Colossians

Colossians 1:28–29 (ESV)

28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

Capital one asks What is in your Wallet?

Christ asks WHO IS IN YOUR HEART!!!

lets Pray