John 8:31 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.”
34 Jesus answered them, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
35 and the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
Freedom is the liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another that is, from the law of sin and death we have inherited from Adam and Eve into the Law of Eternal Life. It is independence from the clutches of darkness and dependence to the source of our being, God.
Jesus in His first sermon, said, “I came to bring good news.” He said, “I’ve come to set people free.” He said, “I am the truth (John 14:6), you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” In John 8:36, He said, “If the Son will set you free, you will be free indeed.” Truly, all who are in Christ Jesus are free! But many are still enslaved. They knew the truth but how come they are still enslaved to sin? How come? The mystery is unlocked by this verse.... 2 Corinthians 3: 17 “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
In Galatians 5:1, Paul tells us that, “Freedom is what we have. Christ has set us free.” Jesus promises real and lasting freedom and with 2Corinthians 3:17’s indwelling Holy Spirit we are ultimately free! But, freedom from what?
I want to cite three most important things that Jesus said, “I’ve come to set you free from.”
1- FREE FROM SLAVERY OF SIN:
“If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed...” v.31
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin...” v.34
“IF” WE CONTINUE IN JESUS’WORDS, and abide, dwell therein, even if we do not feel like the old nature is dead, God says it is, and so it is! The result of this death of the old nature is that we are free from its wicked influence in our lives. The old nature lived for one thing: To serve sin - Eph. 2:1-3. Thank God in Jesus, we have been given freedom from the evil influence of our nature. Basically stated, we do not have to live like him any longer! We are no longer under the slavery to sin! Will the Christian sin?
Yes! (1 John 1:8-10) Does he have to? No! (1 Cor. 10:13).
For us Christians, when we can reach the place where we are able to "reckon ourselves dead indeed unto sin", then we can experience that same freedom from temptation. Typically, our problem is not that God hasn't given us all we need to avoid evil, our problem is that we like it too good to stop doing it!).
The Word “if” in the opening sentence of Jesus is a condition. It is also a sign that can separate from the “true”
2- FREE FROM DECEPTION OF LIES:
“...and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free!”
There is only one Way in knowing the truth... abide, dwell, continue in Jesus’Words.... then we will be His disciples... from adopting a lifestyle of Jesus’Words, we will know the truth. The truth is not just an idea, an ism, a philosophy, but the Person of Jesus Himself! He said; “...I Am the Truth” Truth is a Person! The Person of Jesus! No one died on the Cross but Him alone. He died for our sins, once and for all that we might be redeemed and liberated from deception and lies... THAT IS THE TRUTH! Therefore; 1 John 2:21 - No lie is of the truth.
By its very nature, a lie is untrue. It is a falsehood.
"Lie" - "...a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive..."(Random House College Dictionary.)
"Deceit" - "act or practice ... intended to ... mislead by a false appearance or statement"(Random House College Dictionary)
The difference is that a lie is generally spoken; but deceit includes anything, whether words or deeds, that are intended to lead people to believe what is not true. One of the saddest forms of deceit is self-deception. People who don't want to face reality can sometimes convince themselves to believe things that they really know are not true. In order to avoid lying and deceit, we need to know what causes people to be guilty. Ultimately all lies are conceived in the heart under the influence of Satan.
John 8:44 - Jesus said regarding Satan: "there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it." Satan influences men to lie.
Consider some steps we should take to help avoid being guilty of lying or deceit. (From gospelway.com)
A. Love Truth and Hate Lies
Psalms 119:104,128 - Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way. All Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right; I hate every false way.
Psalms 119:163 - I hate and abhor lying, But I love Your law.
1 Corinthians 13:6 - Love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth.
You and I must develop a strong commitment about lying. Don't just mildly dislike lies, but actively hate the practice. If we continually remind ourselves of the terrible consequences of lying, this should motivate us to avoid lying and to oppose it in others.
B. Fill Your Heart with Truth
Matthew 12:34,35 - For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. We speak according to what is in our hearts, so we need to harbor only truth in our hearts.
Philippians 4:8 - Finally, brethren, whatever things are true ... meditate on these things.
Psalms 15:2 - The one who abides in God's tabernacle is he who speaks the truth in his heart. In order to speak truth with our mouths, we must speak truth in our hearts.
Psalms 51:6 - You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
To be speakers of truth, we must fill our hearts with truth, especially with God's word.
[Proverbs 12:5; 26:24; John 8:32; John 3:21; 2 Tim. 4:2-4]
C. Stay Far from Falsehood.
Do not dally with falsehoods. Do not consider repeating such things. Refuse to have anything to do with them.
Exodus 23:7 - Keep yourself far from a false matter.
Proverbs 4:24 - Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put perverse lips far from you.
Proverbs 30:8 - Remove falsehood and lies far from me. Don't see how close to error you can get; stay "far" from lying.
We must both fill our hearts with truth and reject lies and deceit. Don't harbor falsehood in your heart and it cannot be expressed in your speech.
D. Avoid People and Influences Known to Lie or Deceive.
Often we end up telling lies because we associate with liars, we listen to their lies, and we learn to imitate their evil.
Proverbs 17:4 - An evildoer gives heed to false lips; A liar listens eagerly to a spiteful tongue. When we listen to other people's falsehoods, we are tempted to speak them ourselves.
Psalms 101:7 - He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; He who tells lies shall not continue in my presence. [Cf. vv 4-7]
If we are to keep truth in our hearts and avoid falsehood, we must take care whose speech we listen to. Yes, we should help liars repent and be forgiven. But if they refuse to repent and continue to speak lies, we must limit our association in order to keep our own hearts pure.
3- FREE FROM THE BURDEN OF GUILT:
v36 “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
The Scripture stated that the moment we came to Christ, He took our sins and forgave us instantly, He forgave us completely, and Had forgiven us without question. The Bible says, “I’ve taken your sins and put them all behind My back.” Out of sight.
“I’ve separated them as far as the east from the west.” Out of reach. “I’ve put them where I remember them no more.” Out of memory.
Once we learn that God can forgive and forget, what God forgets then we can also forget. The Bible says in Psalms, when we confess our sins to Him; He takes them and puts them in the deepest part of the ocean. Then He puts up a “No Fishing” sign. You see? God doesn’t want us pulling them back out of the sea again!
There are a lot of people here right now who’s bound up by guilt. The fact is all of us make mistakes and all of us are guilty of sin. The problem is... we cannot live very long by holding on to that guilt.
Jesus said, “I want to set you free from it.”
Ephesians 1:7-8 says, “For by the death of Christ we are set free. That is, our sins are forgiven. How great is the grace of God which He gave to us in such large measure.” Guilt robs us of happiness. It causes depression. It can make us sick.In fact, many Psychosomatic diseases can be traced back from feelings and emotions. Doctors say a large number of people would get well faster if they could get rid of guilt and bitterness. Many people just needs forgiveness and to be forgiven. Many Christians don’t know how to get rid of the past. They are afraid that someone is going to find out about it.
We’ve all made mistakes.
So how do we get on with life?
Jesus wanted to say to us tonight; “I want to set you free from the burden of guilt.”
As we conclude this preaching young people, everyone who receives and accepted Him as Lord and Savior, loves Jesus and loves the Truth. Truth is a Person.
He can set us free and trigger the Holy Spirit to make us flowing freely in His presence. The Biblical world is the one true world and really all that was said in it is possible. In 2Corinthians 3:17’s indwelling Holy Spirit we are ultimately free indeed. Freedom is now complete. Let us all live in it.
Finished: 0638am02february2019
For:youthservicepowernight@powerHouse!
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