Truth Sets You Free
John 8:32 “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
On this Memorial Day weekend we affirm that we are a nation under God and freedom is worth fighting and dying for. When we pledge allegiance to the American flag we believe we are a nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Today we remember and honor all who have sacrificed their lives so we enjoy the freedom to worship without fear of persecution.
Our Declaration of Independence declares that all people “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among those are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” We live in a country founded on the principles of freedom. For the past 235 years America has been led for the most part by men and women of moral principles.
Benjamin Franklin inaugurated a time of prayer before the meetings of congress.
William Penn became a devout Quaker and insisted on fair treatment of the Indians.
Noah Webster gave 36 years of his life in the development of the American Dictionary. At the age of 40 Webster started taking his Christian Faith seriously. He became a devout student of the bible. Before he died at age 85 he quoted to a close friend the words of the apostle Paul, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” 2 Timothy 1:12
Abraham Lincoln had a firm faith in God and regularly read the Bible. His speeches flowed with quotations from the Bible. Colfax, who became Vice President, said Lincoln would often get up at 4 AM so he would have time to read the Bible before visitors came to the White House.
At the very center of our Christian Faith is the belief that God's Word contains truth and truth sets us free. John 8:31-36 Jesus told the people that they were His disciples if they obeyed his teachings. “And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
The people argued that under Moses they were set free from bondage and didn't need to be set free again. Jesus declared that were in bondage of sin and slaves to sin. Being descendents of Abraham did not set them free from the bondage of sin.
Just because you were born into a Christian family doesn't automatically set you free from sin. You need to know the truth and Jesus said He is the Truth, the Way and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through the person of Jesus.
If you're here today and don't have that assurance of being set free from the bondage of sin, I'll explain later how you can be set free.
What Is Truth?
You may ask, like Pilate when Jesus was on trial, “What is truth?” Jesus told Pilate that He was born to bring truth to the world. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.” What is truth? Pilate asked.” John 18:37-38
The dictionary defines “Truth” as a fixed or established principle of law.” Is Jesus a truth or the truth? Is Jesus one among many truths or the truth? All religions present their principles and truths like Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism or Christianity. The primary difference: you can take the spiritual leaders out of all religions except Christianity and still have a religion. If you take Jesus out of Christianity you have no religion. Christianity is not a religion it is a Person.
For other world religions the key word is “Do”. Do certain works and earn your way to paradise. For the Christian the key word is “Done.” Jesus had completed the way of salvation through his life, death, and resurrection.
Islam teaches that Allah is revealed through the prophets including Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. The greatest prophet that ever lived was Muhammad. To achieve a place in paradise as a faithful Muslim needs to be committed to the five pillars of faith.
1. Thee is no god expect Allah.
2. Muhammad is Allah's prophet.
3. Pray five times a day and give to the poor
4. Celebrate the yearly feast of Ramadan
5. Take one trip to Mecca in your lifetime.
According to Islam Allah will judge each person at death according to the good or evil a person has done in life.
The heaven of Islam is a paradise of pleasure, wine, women and song
Here is a historical fact: Abraham, Buddha, Confuses, Muhammad, died and were buried, end of story. Jesus died, buried, and rose again, the beginning of the story. Moses could meditate on the law, Muhammad could brandish a sword, Buddha could give personal counsel, Confucius could offer wise sayings, but none of these men were qualified to offer an atonement for the sins of the world...Christ alone is worthy of unlimited devotion and service.
The goal of Buddhism is nirvana, the extinction of desire. When total nothingness is achieved the person has arrived in heaven.
In Hinduism the ultimate goal is union with Brahma, the Hindu god. Like the reunion of a drop of water in the ocean; this reunion is achieved through the cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth. Every animal, insect, or human being goes through this cycle. Whether one moves up or down the scale of life depends on the quality of moral life one has lived.
As Christians we have good news. Jesus was crucified, buried and rose again. Jesus is truth. Jesus gave this statement that has resounded down through the centuries, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me.”
The Apostle Paul told the Corinthian Church, “The god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” II Corinthians 4:4
Who is the “god of this world?” Who is blinding minds? Satan or Lucifer a fallen archangel. He is a liar and a deceiver. He will do all he can to keep people from accepting Jesus as the Truth, the Way and the Life.
The Apostle Paul admonishes us to “Put on the whole armor of God so you can take your stand against the Devil’s schemes. “ (Ephesians 6:11) To overcome the Devil’s schemes you need to know the Word of God. Jesus met the temptations of the Devil with scripture.
To keep you from the Truth the Devil does several things: Four Ds
1. Division. He diverts attention away from Jesus to other things.
He diverts your attention to pleasure, or
position, or popularity.
2. Delusion. Satan deludes people into believing that they are okay. “I’m as good as any church member.” “I’m a good person.”
3. Doubt. Satan said to the first created couple, “If you eat of the fruit, you will not surely die.” It’s okay to have doubts. The problem is you can have all your questions answered and still refuse to believe and become a follower of Jesus.
4. Delay. Satan says, “You will have plenty of time to seek the Lord in the future. The bible is clear, “Now is the day of salvation.” No one has a guarantee about tomorrow.
Jesus came to give us victory over the schemes of the Devil. I John 3:8 “He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”
One of the many false teachings of today declares that there is no absolute truth. There are no absolutes, everything is relative. You can find your god by just looking within yourself. Many false teachings say, “You don't need God's will you only need self-will.”
More than ever before we live in an age of skepticism. Many people you talk to have no memory of the Christian Faith. The only experience they have of the church is at a wedding or funeral service.
Years ago I talked to a Funeral Home Director and said that he must be a man of faith since he was present for many funeral services of both believers and unbelievers. He told me he would not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead unless he had visible evidence. If Jesus would sit down at his table and talk to him, he would then believe.
Biblical truth is an absolute. Truth is what conforms to reality.
C.S. Lewis, former professor at Cambridge University and author of Mere Christianity and the Chronicles of Narnia was an agnostic before he made a careful study of the Bible. In Mere Christianity he writes, “It is foolish for people to say, 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God. That is one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said that sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic, on the level with the man who said he is a poached egg, or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man, Jesus, was, and is, the Son of God or else a mad man or something worse.” P. 41
Christianity is a reasoning faith. When God's word is read and studied with an open heart the Holy Spirit reveals Jesus as the truth. What is truth? Jesus is truth.
God's Word is true.
We have confidence that the Bible we hold in our hand is true. Regardless of the translation, the Word of God has with stood the test of time.
When you read and study the bible you can have the confidence you are studying the very Word of God. The Bible deals with history, but it is more than a history book. The Bible speaks about science, but it is more than a science book. The Bible is a book about psychology, but it is more than a psychology book. The bible reveals God’s plan of salvation through the ages. The Bible is about a person, Jesus Christ the Messiah and Savior of the world. The Word, Jesus, became flesh and dwelt among us.
The Bible, God's Word is true, it will stand up to any critical investigation. II Timothy 3:16 says, “All scripture was given under inspiration of God.” Holy men of God wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
The Bible manuscripts that have been found are in basic agreement. The Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in 1947 give credence to the Old Testament text as we have it today. Over 4,000 manuscripts of the Greek New Testament have been found which are in basic contextual agreement.
Contemporaries of Jesus wrote the books of the New Testament. The writers were eyewitnesses of Christ's earthly ministry, his death and resurrection.
Sir Federic Kenyon, director of the British Museum, in the book, Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts, says, “Christians can take the whole Bible in their hands and say without fear or hesitation that he holds the true world of God, handed down without essential loss form generation to generation through out the centuries.”
Nelson Gluick, a renowned Jewish archaeologist, has said: “It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference.”
William F. Albright tells in the preface of his book, Archeology of Palestine and the Bible, how his excavations and explorations in Palestine helped to confirm scripture and to alter his own radical and liberal view of the bible.
The Apostle Peter was an eyewitness of the life, ministry, and resurrection of Jesus. He wrote in II Peter 1:16: We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”
John 20:31, The Apostle John gives a summary of why we have what is written in the bible, John says, “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
Last month we celebrated one of the greatest days in the year, Easter, the day Christ rose from the dead. Our Christian faith stands or falls on the resurrection of Jesus. The Apostle Paul, an eye witness of Jesus on the road to Damascus, wrote: “If Christ be not risen, then our preaching is vain, and your faith is also vain, yes, and we are found false witness or God; because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ...and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins...if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are all men most miserable.” I Cor. 15:14-19
There's a chorus that states this truth: “You ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart.”
Because Jesus lives we can face tomorrow.
Your best witness to a skeptic, someone of another religion, is simply to give your personal story. When Paul stood before the Sanhedrin, before other officials when on trail, he gave his story. He experienced the transforming power of the living Christ and became a zealous witness for the risen Lord.
Do you have a life-changing story? You can have a compelling story.
Jesus Sets People Free
Jesus said, you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.
When Jesus sets you free, you are free to become all that God wants you to be. You are set free to be yourself. You don't have to compete with others or life to fulfill the expectations of others. You can live your life to please Jesus and serve Him. Listen to what the Apostle Paul says in Galatians 6:4 (CEV) “Do your own work well...don't compare yourself with others.” In other words celebrate who you are and don't lose the joy of life by comparing yourself to others.
Jesus sets you free from the bondage of sin and death. There two births mentioned in the Bible and two deaths. You are born physically and in Jesus your are born spiritually – born again to a new life in Christ.
At death there is a physical death and a spiritual death. All who die with a vital faith in Jesus will not experience spiritual death. Jesus sets you free from spiritual death.
God's call on your life is to know Jesus and knowing Jesus is to know Truth and to embrace the truth is to be set free.
Knowing Jesus sets you free from the fears in this world. Knowing and living for Jesus takes fear away from dying. Jesus gives you the assurance of eternal life. “And this is the testimony God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” I John 5:11-12
Jesus sets you free from despair and meaninglessness. Jesus gives you a life of significance. He promises to never leave you or forsake you. In Jesus you have a bright hope for tomorrow.
Jesus wants to guide you into abundant life and guide you through the pitfalls and traps of secular godless life.
Suppose you had to cross a field of land mines. A person who knows exactly where every on of them is buried offers to take you through it. Would you say to him, “I don't want you to tell me what to do. I don't want you to impose your way on me.” I don't know about you, but I would want to stay as close to that person as I could. I wouldn't want to wander off on my own. Following his steps and directions would prevent me from injury and save my life.
Jesus says, “Follow me and I will guide your steps as well as your stops.”
Jesus sets you free to make choices. To not make a choice is still making a choice. Jesus doesn't force his way into your life. If you have made the choice to follow Jesus I can assure you that Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart and life. Jesus does not shove open the door. You have to invite Him in. Jesus says, “Behold I stand at the door and knock, anyone who hears my voice, and opens the door I will come in and fellowship with him and he with me.” Rev. 3:20
There are three things you do to open the door:
1. Confess your sin. Agree with God that you are a sinner. “If we confess our sins, He, Jesus, is willing to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9
2. Turn from sin. Repent of sin is to make an about face. You are walking your way, and you turn around to walk God's way. Acts 3:19, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”
3. Invite Jesus to come in. “To all who receive Him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12) When we invite Jesus into our life we are asking Him to be Lord and in control. We take our hands off and say, Jesus I've made mess of my life, I'm turning my life over to you. I want you to guide and bless my life all the rest of my days.
Commitment Card
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