The Truth Of Freedom
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Title- The Truth Of Freedom
Passage- John 8:30-32
Attention- January 1st 1863 President Abraham Lincoln issued an Executive Order that would change the course of history for millions of Americans…On that day he issued what we refer to as the Emancipation Proclamation.
Introduction- This Executive Order gave freedom to all slaves...
Context- Here in our passage we need a bit of context to understand the verses we are going to discuss.
By this point in John’s gospel the Jews are furious with Jesus and plotting to have him murdered.
John chapter 5 Jesus heals the paralytic man…38 years he never took a step, he meets Jesus and he not only walks away but carries the mat he has been lying on…verses 19-47 Jesus is in a discussion with the Jews and equates himself with God, this enrages them...
John chapter 6 Jesus’ popularity is growing and grows even more after the feeding of the 5,000…following the feeding is the “Bread of Life” discourse…here Jesus again gets into a discussion with the Jews, again he equates himself with God and places himself above Moses. This increases their desire to get rid of Jesus
John chapter 7 Jesus goes to the feast of Tabernacles and gets into another discussion with the Jews and places himself above Moses once again…he also challenges their use of the Law of Moses…two things the Jews held onto tightly
When we get to John chapter 8 the Jews are actively pursuing a way to declare Jesus guilty of something so they can either discredit him or kill him. They bring to him a woman caught in the act of adultery (which raises it’s own set of questions and issues) but Jesus responds in a way they cannot counter....and this proceeds the discussion and the verses we will be looking at today. In this discussion Jesus once again tell them that He is God…that He and the Father are one…that the Father sent Him…
verse 23 “And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.”
And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are sof this world; I am not of this world.
Then we get to verses 30-32
Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:31-32
The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., ). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
What is the main driving point (CPS)? True freedom is only found in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Why does the CPS matter, what is the consequence? If we do not accept Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf we will never experience freedom!
Transition
These verses share three realities about true freedom
The first reality is that for there to be true freedom we need to understand that it is conditional
I. True Freedom Is Conditional
I. True Freedom Is Conditional
Explain
Verses 30-31
Who is Jesus speaking to?
Jew who had believed on him...
Believed what about Him...
1- That He was the Son of God
2-He was the Messiah
We have seen in our Wednesday study through Acts and other sermons the reality of what the Jews would be giving up if they admitted who Jesus is...
Their entire culture…their family life…their worship…their everything is tied up in Judiasm...
Bridge to today
Now I’m not making fun of anyone but there are some people today that are a part of a movement to prove that the Earth is flat.
I personally do not believe that the Earth is flat…You can go to flatearthsociety.org
They even use some Scripture references to try to prove their point.
Now, I have never met anyone that believes this....I am assuming most of you do not as well
Now what if you met someone that believes this and they began to convince you…you would begin to ask yourself:
What are people going to say if they find out I believe this
What will my boss think
What will the people at church think
What will my family think
It would change a lot of things about your life…would you lose your job? most likely not…
Imagine if you were confronted with something that challenged EVERYTHING you believed
Relevance- The truth is that many of us deal with this on a regular basis..
We have family that think we are crazy
Our coworkers find it strange we spend so much time at work...
What is all that you have done?
You had been confronted at some point in your life about the truth of Jesus and you admitted that you believe in him.
This is the first step to freedom....admitting who Jesus Christ is…and stepping out in faith and accepting who He is and what He has done to bring us true freedom...
He died on the cross of Calvary in order to free us from the slavery of sin...
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
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Each and every one of us have sin…it started with Adam and Eve and has carried on through the entire human race....
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Because of our sin and our inability to free ourselves from sin Jesus Christ obediently gave His life on the Cross to give us the gift of true freedom.
These are the first two truths that begin us down the path to true freedom…
Transition
Transition
Let’s move on to a second reality about true freedom…true freedom is about truth...
II. True Freedom Is About Truth
II. True Freedom Is About Truth
Explain
Verse 32
What is being refered to here?
Jesus was claiming to be God…the Messiah sent from God to free the Jews...
The Jews were accusing Jesus of whatever they could to get rid of Him.
1- Liar
2-2 Blasphemer
3- Getting his power from Satan
4- Traitor of Rome
Honestly…it was like they were throwing jello against the wall…just trying to get anything to stick.
The Jews thought that studying and obeying the Law brought about freedom...
But in the book of John, actually all the Gospels and all the NT....even the whole Bible the Law was never meant to bring freedom…it was meant to show that we are unable to free ourselves from our situation…we need someone to bring freedom about for us.
So the truth that Jesus is talking about is the truth that is revealed in and through Him.
In order to enjoy true freedom one needs to make a choice
Bridge to today
We make choices…on a much smaller level…like this every day
We choose to obey the speed limit, as we make that choice to believe that the speed limit is 25 mph and that if I do not drive at that speed there are consequences....that is a choice
We do the same financially...
Relevance
Now that is a simple illustration…but when it comes to our eternity the choices lead to much greater consequences.
Why does this matter?
If we choose to reject the truth of who Jesus is and his sacrifice…there are eternal and severe consequences...
When we choose to believe there are eternal and blissful consequences...
And not making a choice is choosing to reject the truth of Jesus
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
There is a choice for you to make…either you accept who He is and his sacrifice or you will be rejecting him...
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
There is no other option…there is only one choice to true freedom and that is Jesus Christ....
But it is about more than heaven or hell…those are the consequences of a deeper issue…
Transition
And this leads us into a third reality about true freedom
III. True Freedom Is Freedom In Jesus Christ
III. True Freedom Is Freedom In Jesus Christ
Explain
True freedom depends upon a previous enslavement
If you were never enslaved you would have no need of freeing…no need of saving from your situation.
Verse 32 begs the question…free from what?
Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
The
The word servant is the same as the word slave....
For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Romans 6:20-
In our natural state we are slaves to sin…sin is our master…we listen to sin…we obey sin
Bridge to today
It’s like that young man that meets that young woman...
He hangs on her every word
Everything she does is perfection
She is pure brilliance
He would do anything for her
And about him we would say she has him wrapped around her finger...
Relevance
That is where we are with sin....we cannot escape the enticement of sin without the freeing power of Jesus Christ.
Why does this matter? Sin has consequences!!
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The consequence of sin is death…death physically and eternal torment in hell spiritually
How do we have freedom from sin…to have freedom from sin we need to have a reconciled relationship with God who created us...
We need to not only admit that Jesus is the son of God and that he died…we also need to step out in faith and believe that He is the son of God that died for our sins
And then we need to receive him...
We simply need to pray a simple prayer admitting that we need saving (that we are sinners)…that we believe that Jesus is God’s son and that he died for us…and simply confess you sin to God and receive his gift of freedom...
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Whether we like it or not it’s true…we are sinners, does it seem fair, doesn’t matter…the reality is that we have a sin problem and that is what is keeping us from true freedom
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Once you receive freedom from your sins you will then be indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God who will guide you and empower you to make right choices... we will not always make the right choice but where we are unfaithful God is not...
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Your salvation is not dependent upon you and your choices..it is based on Jesus and his sacrifice...
You can have freedom…if you have that freedom you will make mistakes…but that does not take away your freedom from the eternal consequences....
Conclusion
Review of the Principles and the Sermon Proposition
We live in a country that was founded on the idea that all people ought to be free...
Jesus Christ died that all people could have true freedom
Challenge to act now (your part)…immanence
If you have never asked Jesus to come and give you the true freedom you seek why wait…call on Him today
Maybe as a Christian you are not living like you are free…turn back to Jesus once again and begin to live a life of freedom in Him
Final Statement
Visualize Audience Implementation
Final Statement
Many lives were shed to bring freedom to this country…many resources were spent to bring this country freedom...
To have true freedom it is as simple as calling upon Jesus and then following Him
Wont you call on Him today
Wont you begin to follow him today
Closing Hymn
635 I Have Decided To Follow Jesus