Scripture Gives Spiritual Freedom

BENEFITS OF SCRIPTURE Sermon Series

“Scripture Gives Spiritual Freedom”

KEY PASSAGE: John 8:30–36 (NASB)

Lord, we come before You to praise and glorify You. We worship You because You have created us in Your image and likeness. We see Your beauty and majesty in all Your creation. Your works are beyond our comprehension. Your grace and mercy saved us. You have told us that we are Your children, and Your love for us is beyond words (indescribable); for that, we praise You. May Your presence continue to abide in this church; we give You all the glory and honor. Amen

Thank you again, worship band, for that wonderful praise and worship experience. May God bless you.

TITHE and OFFERING

Giving to God and seeing God respond through His people is a real blessing. As we give to God, I want to challenge and encourage us to be faithful in giving to God because it helps this church do God’s work. Giving is an act of faith, but we give to God because we love God and want to obey Him. We also give to God because He is very generous and kind to us. When we lay up treasures in heaven, they pay rich dividends for all eternity. Let’s give to God with a cheerful and joyful heart. I also want to remind you to give through the church giving App. Please follow the instructions on the screen on how to give to God. Our ushers will pass around the offering plates. Worship band, please lead us in worship as we collect our tithe and offering.

WELCOME

Welcome! Welcome! Welcome to Church. Please find some folks around you, greet them in the Lord, and tell them Jesus loves you. Our first visitors, please stand so we can see you. We also welcome all who join us online. Let's clap for our online viewers.

ANNOUNCEMENT

I have some exciting news for the church. We will be sending out our church newsletter this month. In the newsletter publication, we provide updates on what is happening at the church. The newsletter also serves as a source of encouragement and strength in your faith journey. Please provide the church with your email address and mailing address using the sign-up sheet at the back of the church so we can send you a copy of the newsletter. Women’s Breakfast is on Saturday, August 17th, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the church. To our church leaders, our church’s monthly leadership meeting is on Saturday, August 17th, at noon. Men’s Breakfast is on Saturday, August 31st, at 10:00 a.m. Our first night of Worship is on Friday, August 30th, at 6:00 p.m. here at the church. Please join us for an evening of praise and worship and invite others to the service. Wednesday Night Bible Study Connect is at 7:00 p.m. This week, we are studying the Book of Romans, so please join us on Wednesday night to STUDY THE WORD OF GOD. Also, our church corporate weekly prayer meeting is every Saturday at 8:00 a.m. If you are interested in joining the church, the new member class is on Thursday, August 15th, at 7:00 p.m. Remember, all the church events and activities are posted on the church App and website. So, please be sure to download the church App.

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Let’s pray. Lord, we are honored to come before Your throne today to bring You honor and praise. I pray that You will help us to focus on You for the rest of the service. Use this time, Father, to renew our spirits and to bring us back to our first love. I pray that You bless our gifts to glorify and grow Your Kingdom. And may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, our Rock, and our Redeemer. Amen.

DECLARATION of FAITH in GOD

Let us stand and say the Declaration of Faith in God together.

SERMON INTRODUCTION

Today, the world continues to search for truth and freedom, and these two words are tremendously related because the only thing that sets a man or woman free is truth. And so, man has searched persistently for the truth that he might be free from the bondage of ignorance. Folks have been asking all along … what is true? What is right? What is wrong? What matters? What is meaningful? What can I put my life on and know that it will hold? What can I trust? What can I count on? Where are the realities of life?

And the search for truth goes on, and it goes on in the laboratory, it goes on in research and development, it goes on in the classroom, it goes on in the library, it goes on in our government, it goes on in the courtroom, it goes on in the home, it goes on most of all in the heart of every man and woman. It goes on in the heart of every boy and girl. The search for truth and freedom is an endless quest that continues with every new beat of every heart. And truth alone will free a man and a woman. And so today, the world continues to search for truth that liberates.

SERMON EXPOSITION

In John 8 verse 30, we read these words: “And as He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him.” Jesus was saying to those Jews who believed that He was the Son of God: if you abide in My Word, then you are truly disciples of mine, and [Watch this] you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. The Jews answered and said to Jesus, we are Abraham’s descendants (offspring) and have never yet been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say you shall become free? Jesus answered them, truly, truly I say to everyone who commits sin, they are a slave of sin, and the slave does not remain in the house forever. The Son does remain forever. If, therefore, the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. In our passage for today, the word free is used many times. In verse 32, Jesus said, “The truth will make you free.” In verse 33, “You will become free.” And then, in verse 36, free is mentioned twice, “If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”

Everybody longs to be free. There is an assumption whenever you use the word free, that is, slavery exists somewhere. Freedom is juxtaposition bondage: to be enchained and in need of liberation. Let me tell you what freedom is. Watch this: Freedom is to be under oppression (tyranny) and needs to be set loose. One of the main reasons Jesus died on the cross was to set us free. Free from bondage. Free from captivity. We live in the freedom business because of what Jesus did on the cross.

And if you don’t know you need to be free, when freedom is offered, you don’t recognize freedom because you don’t think it applies to you. Jesus speaks in this passage to some poorly informed [ignorant] folks, to some people who did not understand their need to be free because they didn’t know how bad their oppression was. Jesus begins by quoting them the often-used verse, abide in my word; you are truly disciples of mine; you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. Here is some good news for you: Those who [truly] know the Lord Jesus are delivered from the bondage of sin; they walk in the light and are led by the Holy Spirit of God. For those who know the truth, Jesus shows them how to become everything they were created to be and to embrace every blessing because of their position in Him. Jesus also guides us in living the very best life possible, a life that gives us joy and glorifies Him.

SERMON EXPLANATION

Let’s clarify the word freedom, which is the main subject of our sermon for today. God’s definition of freedom is to be liberated from illegitimate slavery to be released to become what you were meant to be. Again, freedom in the Bible knows nothing of limitations. There are no restrictions, constraints, and no boundaries. Freedom knows nothing that there are no lines at all; just do what you want.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION

Let me give you an illustration to help you understand what freedom is and looks like. Suppose a fish wanted to say, “I want to be free to live on land.” Then, the fish would become a slave to death because that is not what it was meant to do. That is not the environment the fish was meant to be in. An earthbound animal or a human being cannot live in the water. No matter how much you argue for freedom to do that, being bound by land is a good thing. It is good because you weren’t meant to live in water.

So, to be free (liberated) as a Homosapien or land animal means having limitations called land. Freedom is not the absence of a boundary; it is being liberated to fully be what you were created to be within the proper (right) boundaries. Far too many of us today haven’t yet gotten around to being what God created us to be or what we were redeemed to be. Many people think of freedom as having no master. Nobody is telling you what to do; nobody is bossing you around. Freedom means to have the right master. One who knows how to help you maximize your potential and not limit you to less than you were created or redeemed to be.

SERMON EXPLANATION

In this passage, sin is placed as the cause of slavery. All slavery, either directly or indirectly, can be traced back to the presence of sin in a person’s life. When you preach the Gospel, you can’t tell a man he needs a Savior until he knows that he is a sinner and he needs a Savior. Freedom is being released directly or indirectly from sin’s grip so that you can become what you were created to be. That is freedom. Spiritual freedom is to be delivered from spiritual death, the full enjoyment of spiritual life. Jesus says, you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. Now, if you are not free, if I am not free, or if we are not free, it is either because we don’t know the truth or we are not staying in the truth. Jesus said in verse 31, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples.” And then, in verse 32, Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

That is the progress to freedom. The first thing is to believe. The second thing is to continue in My Word. When a man continues in the Word of Jesus Christ, that is evidence of his genuine faith. Then, after believing and continuing in the Word of God, you will know the truth, and the truth will … what?… make you free [set you free]. So the progress to freedom is fourfold … believe (in Jesus), continue (in the Word), know the truth, and the truth will [set you free] liberate you.

So, if you are not free and converted, it is because you do not know it, or you know it, but you do not continue in it. Now, there are three things that I want you to know about this passage. First, the progress of freedom; second, the pretense of freedom; and third, the promise of freedom. Jesus takes His disciples where they are and transports them to full salvation in His words.

It is sad to say that many people have given up the quest. Many folks have concluded that there is no truth, that nothing is meaningful, and that all you need to do is live for the moment because there is no truth. Grab the moment and get all you can. Milk it, squeeze it dry, and it doesn’t matter what you do because there’ i no right or wrong. There is no truth. In John chapter 14, verse 6, Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.”Do you want to know the truth – meet a free man named Paul? Where is Paul? In jail, his feet and hands are in stock(s). What is Paul doing? Singing praise and glory to God. Paul is as free as free could be. Men and women need to be free, and they need to be free only when they know the truth.

The Bible says in 2 Timothy 3 verse 7, “Men are ever learning and never coming into the knowledge of the truth.” Watch this. You can have a B.A., an M.A., a Ph.D., an MD, a JD, or a Th.D.; you can have letters behind your name and be an educated fool. It is not because you haven’t studied; it is not because you don’t have enough information; it is because you don’t know the truth.

Jesus said, “You shall know the truth.” He did not say you shall know [a] truth. It is the final word. It is the truth. You shall know the truth; it is the truth, not a truth. There is no such thing as your truth and my truth and our truth. There is only the truth. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. I like that word, make you free. You won’t be able to help yourself but be free from sins. The truth will make you free. The truth will set you free, and the truth will deliver you to freedom. When we are talking about truth, then what are we talking about? We are not simply talking about facts; we can repeat and quote facts. We can state things that are memorized and be unimpacted by them. Watch this: You can study to pass a test and know the facts but not to have the truth. Truth deals with the final standard by which reality is measured. Truth deals with that to which all other things must conform. It goes beyond prospects, possibilities, and potentialities. Truth concerns the meaning of facts and what to do with them.

When a pilot is up in the sky, he depends on a control tower because a control tower can see what he can’t see. Jesus says you shall know the truth. Therefore, truth exists, truth is inevitable, and truth is powerful because it will set you free. It will release you to be what you were created to be. But Jesus puts this provision out there. He says this only works if you, here it is, abide in my word.

Jesus said in John 17:17, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” In this verse, watch this: Jesus claims truth for His own words, and why would He not since He is the way and the truth? Jesus is the truth. He is the final definition of truth. He says, but you have to abide by the truth. You don’t just need to hear it preached or hear it taught. He says you have to hang out with it. The word truth means to hang out. The word abides from the Greek word Meno, which means to stay, remain, or hang out. To remain in Christ is to wait, [abide], and be present.

We live in a microwave world today; folks don’t like to hang out. They like it fast and quick. Young people today want microwave lives when it takes thirty years or so to accumulate what they want in a month. The problem with microwaving is that you can get it hot and make it look like it has been cooked, but it is highly possible (highly likely) to look cooked on the outside and be raw on the inside. To abide means where you hung out with and what you stayed with. Anybody here today who has ever been in love knows what it means to abide. Abide has to do with something that stays with you. It is staying on the phone when you have nothing else to say. It is calling that person when there is no reason to call.

It is wishing you were on the phone when you can’t be on it. It is thinking about the last conversation. It is looking forward to the upcoming conversation, and you don’t even know when it will be. It has to do with marinating God’s truth in your life, abiding, staying, and hanging out. It is what a postage stamp does on a letter: sticks to it. You get a flame only because a wick hangs out with a candle. The two are tightly connected. That is what it means to abide in the Word of God. A believer is abiding when they are enjoying God’s company through His Word. And don’t get me wrong, reading the Bible is not that simple. It is reading the Bible to snuggle and cuddle up to God. It is reading the Bible to get close to Him. It is like reading a love letter in a box he wrote to you when you were dating. But your picture is not the letter; your picture is the person who wrote the letter.

The sense of abiding, you remember when you first got those love letters, and you read them. Now you know the facts, but reading the letter once wasn’t enough because you didn’t just want to read it; you wanted to feel the letter. You desired to enter it; you even smelled the love letter because it affected your feelings. The love letter wasn’t just words on paper; they were words on paper that were cultivating something more significant than that, and that was a relationship. Jesus says, when the truth is abided in, you are my disciples, and when you are my disciples because you are abiding in the truth, that truth is so powerful. The truth will set you free. So, if you are not free, you are not abiding in the truth.

Now, I want to point out a principle many of us take for granted. In John chapter 2 verse 23, “Now, when Jesus was in Jerusalem, the Passover during the feast, many believed in His name,” so many became Christians because believing in His name means to become a Christian. “Beholding His signs which he was doing.” According to verses 24 and 25, which is a little curved ball. “But Jesus, on His part, [Watch this] would not entrust Himself to them, for He knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.” Now, please notice many believed in Him, but Jesus did not commit Himself unto them because He knew all people. Jesus knew that the quality of their faith was not saving faith. They believed in Jesus but had not moved to commit themselves and their lives to that level of faith.

They believed in Jesus, but He was not committing Himself back to them. Why? Because He knew what was in man. Let me state it another way: God does not relate to all His children equally. Why is one believer free from bondage and another not free? Why is one bound and another not bound when both believe in Jesus? Why is one believer living in defeat and one living a victorious life?

Why is one defeated and one victorious? One is losing, and one is winning. Because Jesus does not commit Himself equally to everyone. Jesus knows what is in your heart. He knows whether you are, in fact, a disciple or whether you are a visitor. He knows whether you’re committed or whether you’re an attendee. And so it must be this disciple who continues or abides in the Word that applies God’s truth to their existence to experience more of Him.

And then, in verse 34, Jesus zeroes in on a critical point. Jesus says, “Truly, truly that means [for real, for real], I say to you,” “Everybody who sins is a slave of sin.” If you sin, that is because sin owns you, and sin has control over you. “The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever.” In verse 36, Jesus throws in a zinger (He made one of the most profound statements) when He said, “If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” He says there is a fundamental difference between a slave and a son.

If you are a slave, you get to come in the house when you get permission, when you get an okay. But you get to come in when you are a son because that is your home [that is your dwelling place]. Jesus then hits them with the ringer. Jesus said the Son is the one that has authority. Jesus says I am the legitimate inheritor (beneficiary) of God’s house and the only One.

Therefore, because Jesus is the Son of God, He has the legitimate authority to set people free. And if you continue in the Word of God, Jesus said you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. How will the truth set you free? Because when it comes to the truth, Jesus says I am the Son of God. I have the legitimate authority to act based on the truth to liberate those who come under it to become all they were created and redeemed to be.

Watch this: Jesus is now going from His words to Himself because the purpose of the Word is to take you to the Son. When you are sick, you need more than a medical book; you need to see a doctor. When you are in trouble, you need more than a law book; you need a lawyer. And I mean a good lawyer.

When a criminal attacks you, you need more than a penal (criminal) code; you need a police officer. In other words, you need information on paper that is alive. When you are sick, you don’t want someone to bring you a book; you want them to take you to a hospital because you don’t want to be seen by a book; you want to be seen by a person (a medical doctor).

But the doctor should know the book so they can use it on you. So what Jesus is saying is when you abide in my Word, you have the book. I am the book. But because you have abided in Me, you have Me, and I know the book. I don’t only know the book; I wrote the book. You have the book alive in Me. And if the Son sets you free, you shall be free [indeed].

In one of our Bible Study sessions, we read a book called “Experiencing God,” written by Henry Blackaby. Many of you have read his book. When Henry Blackaby speaks or talks to you, it looks like the Holy Spirit surrounds this man as he talks. When he talks, it is like you and God are having a conversation. And you can pick that up from his book. A pastor once asked Henry Blackaby a question – tell me your secret. What is your secret?

He told the pastor that it is not a secret but boils down to one phrase. The pastor asked him what the one phrase was. And he captured it by saying, an unhurried time in God’s presence. An unhurried time in the presence of God. And when you think about that, most of our time with God is hurried. Most of our time in God’s presence is interrupted time. We are always rushing when we are in the presence of God. We only get the Word, but there is no real abiding in the presence of God. It looks like we are fulfilling our spiritual obligation. Unhurried time in God’s presence will solve problems for you during the day that you don’t have to solve yourself.

FAITH APPEAL, CALL to ACTION and ALTAR CALL

The United States was engaged in a war in Iraq, which was code-named Operation Iraqi Freedom. The war was won, and the enemy was defeated, but the problem is that the old enemy is still seeking to cause hate and destruction. The Iraq War ended, and there was another war called “Operation Enduring Freedom.” In other words, freedom was established, but it needs to last and continue. For freedom to last and continue, the United States has to maintain its presence.

The United States established freedom in Iraq by its abiding presence to protect that freedom, even though the enemy was still at large. For Christians, God didn’t just set us free on Calvary through His Son Jesus Christ. God is now engaged in Operation Enduring Freedom. God wants to keep you free so that you can enjoy all the rights and freedoms that come from this new system that wants to liberate you to become all that you were meant to be before the enemy takes you over. One day, we are going to be with Jesus, and we are going to have all the inheritance of sonship. Maybe, just maybe, our road to freedom will come with greater priority when we abide in the presence of God. God bless you.

If you are here today and don’t know Jesus, I want to invite you to come and accept Jesus as Your Lord and Savior. When you accept Jesus and confess Him with your mouth, you will be saved, and you will be free indeed. It is simple and straightforward; all you have to do right now is confess with your mouth the name of Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. I will ask that you make that decision today. Don’t leave without accepting Jesus if you are not saved. Do we have anyone? And if you need prayer, please come forward so we can pray for you. Let us stand and worship God as we close this service.

BENEDICTION

Father, we thank You for teaching us again through Your Word. Father, we ask that You free those in bondage and set them loose. I pray that You adopt some new sons and daughters into Your family today from this congregation. May some who have half faith, beginning faith, move to full saving faith and continue in Your Word, know the truth, and be made free and adopted as sons and daughters. O God, do Your perfect work in our lives, and we will give You all the glory and honor in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

God bless you. We will see you next week at 10:30 a.m.