Four Great Sayings Of Jesus - Sermon Ii: "the Truth Shall Make You Free" (John 8:32) Series

FOUR GREAT SAYINGS OF JESUS II

A Series of Devotional Sermons

Second Great Saying . . . “The truth shall make you free.”

Throughout this or any year, as we move forward in worshiping and serving God, keep in mind the first of our great sayings of Jesus - “Continue in my love.”

Before we get to the second great saying, I think it would be worth our time to take a quick look at what others have said about the kind of love Jesus had in mind when He commanded us to love one another.

In the “love chapter” of the Bible – 1 Corinthians 13 – Paul described all of the characteristics of true love, then he came to this conclusion: “Love never fails.” Based on Paul’s description of Christian love, we can say that:

Love is real in the lives of folks: who are patient . . . who are kind . . . who do not envy . . . who do not boast . . . in whose lives there is no sinful pride . . . who are not rude . . . who are not self-seeking . . . who are not easily angered . . . who keep no record of wrongs . . . who do not delight in evil . . . who rejoice with the truth . . . who love in such a way that their love always protects . . . always trusts . . . always hopes . . . always perseveres.

Sounds like standards that are next-to-impossible to live by!

Yet, if you enter a covenant with God our Father to love others as He loved us, the Spirit of God will take control of your life and lead you to become the kind of person Paul described in the great love chapter.

If you are looking for a one-sentence summation of all that Paul has woven together into a composite of love, then look no further than the simple statement once made by St. Thomas Aquinas: “To love anyone is nothing more than to wish that person good.”

Listen to this bit of wisdom by an ordinary fellow by the name of Fred Beck: “A ‘bit of love’ is the only bit that will bridle the tongue.” Now, we all could benefit if we abided by that bit of wisdom.

Three old English proverbs speak rather poignantly to love as the theme of our lives:

“Love makes the world go around.”

“To be loved, love.”

“Love will find a way.”

The second of our GREAT SAYINGS OF JESUS is about TRUTH.

“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32)

Do you realize that we live in an age of tremendous uncertainty?

Far too many folks no longer know what they believe – the consequence of which is that we seemingly have lost sight of the meaning of commitment.

We live in a world divided by opinions that range from one extreme to the other. We can feel the polarization everywhere we go. In the realm of theology, we are polarized. In the political realm, we are polarized. In the philosophical arena, we are polarized.

The truth of the matter is that we tend to believe whatever we last heard on some radio or television talk show, or what we last read in the newspaper, or what we last heard in the beauty or barber shop – or perhaps what someone said over a cup of coffee at the Waffle House.

You know, God gave us inquiring minds . . . a tongue with which to ask questions . . . eyes for reading the Word of God. Perhaps we ought to tune our ears to the “still small voice of God” within us rather than get so hyped by the “one-liners” we hear from so many human voices.

Now, I cannot tell you – and would not if I could – who to listen to or who not to listen to, about their opinions. I can, however, without blinking an eye or raising my voice, say to you that, in my early adult life, I had to face the question as to who Jesus was, and whether I was going to believe what He said and do what He willed. I read and studied the Bible when I was just a teenager, and I continued to do so in college and seminary, as I searched for answers.

And today, fifty years later, I can say to you without reservation that I believe what He said - and I try, to the best of my ability, to do what He says Christians ought to do.

The astonishing declaration made by Jesus when He walked this earth – the claim that turned the religious hierarchy against Him - is the same saying of Jesus that we must face today and decide whether to believe. Here is what He said - “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes unto the Father except by me.”