Let's open our Bibles again to
John chapter 8. The title of the message this
morning is, I Am Shall Make You Free. I like to tie some of these
verses together so that we see this truth by the end of the
message. The Lord Jesus Christ is God, so He is I Am, and it
is I Am who shall make you free. Now he begins in verse 23, he
said unto them, You are from beneath, I am from above. You
are of this world, I am not of this world. I said therefore
unto you that you should die your sins, if you believe not
that I am. That word he is in italics. We
looked at this verse shortly last week. That word he is in
italics was added by the translators trying to improve our understanding
of the verse, but they got it wrong here. Our Lord says, if
you believe not that I am, you shall die in your sins. Christ
is from above. When he says that, he means he's
from heaven. So he's God. And because we're
from beneath, we're children of Satan. We're of everything
here from beneath. We're influenced by the God of
this world. And our Lord makes plain That
our only hope, though all of us who are from beneath, our
only hope of salvation is to believe that the Lord Jesus Christ
is I Am. Now, I Am is the name of God. You remember Moses, he was talking
with God at the burning bush, and God told him, you go down
to Egypt and bring my people out. And Moses asked the Lord,
what's your name? Your people are going to ask
me what's your name when I go. What should I tell them? And
God said, my name is I Am. You tell them I am that I am
has sent thee to them. So our Lord Jesus is telling
us here that he's God. It's not like he's God. He's
not some strange manifestation of God. The Lord Jesus Christ
is eternal, almighty God manifest in the flesh. And he is the only
one, this I am. He's the only one capable of
saving a lost sinner. That's why our only hope is in
him. So if He's your Savior, you're saved. Isn't that right? If Christ is not your Savior,
you're lost. There's only two options. If
all of your trust and faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ, you
can never perish. Bob, why would you want to trust
anywhere else? He's the only object of faith. He's our only
hope. If Christ is your Savior, you're saved. And if you do not
believe that Christ is, I am, You'll die in your sins. I mean,
our Lord says it very plainly there. You'll die in your sins
because you have rejected the only hope of salvation. You've
rejected the only Savior of sinners. Now, this is not optional. You
know, this is not just an idea, a good idea our Lord's throwing
out for us to consider. This is a command. Sinners are
required to believe that I am or we'll die in our sins. And
these Jews knew exactly what our Lord was saying. They just
wouldn't believe it. So they wanted more proof. They
wouldn't believe it. They couldn't believe it. So they wanted more
proof. And in verse 25, they said unto him, well, who art
thou? And Jesus saith unto them, even the same that I said unto
you from the beginning. They wanted proof. Well, that
tells you they don't have faith. That tells you they don't believe
I am because faith just believes God. And God says that we believe
it. That's what faith does. That's
the nature of faith is to believe God. And they asked for this
proof, and our Lord condescended to give them an answer. He told
them, I am who I always said I am. The message never changes. He didn't change His message
to fit them because they didn't have faith. The message never
changes. The message is Christ. He said,
I am who I always told you I am. I am the one who spoke in the
beginning and said, let there be light. That's who I am. I am the one who spoke to Moses
at the burning bush. and told him, this is my message
to Pharaoh. You let my people go. I am that
I am. I am the one that spoke to you
throughout all the Old Testament scriptures. I am who I have declared
myself to be from the beginning. But if you look at Colossians
chapter 1, it's not just that Christ spoke to us from the beginning. Christ is the beginning. In Colossians
1 verse 17. He is before all things, and
by Him all things consist. And He's the head of the body,
the church, who is the beginning. Christ is the beginning, the
firstborn from the death, and in all things He might have the
preeminence. Look over Revelation chapter 1. I am the Lord Jesus Christ is
the beginning. Revelations 1 verse 8. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the ending, saith the Lord, which is and which was and which
is to come, the Almighty. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's why I said he is eternal, almighty God in human flesh,
because that's who John's speaking to here is the Lord Jesus Christ.
And he said, I'm the beginning. I'm the ending. I'm everything
in between. So this is the one. with the power to save and the
power to set free. Well, verse 26, back in our text,
our Lord goes on and he says, I have many things to say and
to judge of you, but he that sent me is true. And I speak
to the world those things which I have heard of him. Now, our
Lord could have charged these men with many things. I mean,
earlier in this chapter, he showed, he exposed their adultery. He
could have charged them with that. He could have charged them
with any sin. But the father sent the son at
this time to reveal the gospel. He didn't send him to judge yet.
He sent him to reveal the gospel. The father at this time sent
the Christ to set free. He didn't send him to bind up
men in prison. He sent him to set free the prisoners. So verse
27, they understood him not. They understood not that he spake
to them of the father. Now I guess they thought the
Lord was speaking about Joseph. But Joseph is not our Lord's
father. He's his foster father, but God's his father. And in
ignorance of that, not knowing that God is the father of the
Lord Jesus Christ, that Christ is I am, that's going to leave
a man in bondage to sin if we don't know that I am. Our Lord
says, you don't know who I am. You don't know who my father
is right now, but you'll know someday. Look what he says in
verse 28. Then said Jesus unto them, when you have lifted up
the Son of Man, Then shall ye know that I am, and that I do
nothing of myself, but as my Father hath taught me, I speak
these things." Now the Lord, when he gave up the ghost, he
said, you know, when you lift up the Son of Man, you'll know.
When the Lord gave up the ghost, that centurion had been standing
there watching the whole proceeding, what did he say? Truly, this
was the Son of God. He knew something, didn't he?
Because he saw Christ lifted up. These men saw the same thing.
They saw the earthquake. They saw the sun refused to shine.
Years later, they saw the destruction of Jerusalem, just like our Lord
said would happen. And this scripture seems to indicate
they got the sinking feeling in their heart. This doctrine
could be true. He really was the son of God.
Now, they wouldn't admit it. They wouldn't say it out loud,
but this seems to indicate they had the sinking feeling, you
know, that The Lord Jesus is I am. Now, that knowledge is
not saving faith. You know, our Lord says, you
don't believe that I am, you should die in your sins. Well, you know,
we just say, yeah, this man Jesus was the Christ. Yeah, I see that.
That makes logical sense. He walked on water. He raised
the dead. So, yeah, he must be. That's not saving faith. Knowing
that won't make you righteous. Our Lord said, I do always those
things that please my father. Saving faith grabs hold of that.
Saving faith is not looking at the miracles and all these other
things. Saving faith grabs hold of that. I do always those things
that please my Father. And with both hands, saving faith
grabs hold of that and says, that's my righteousness. He's
my righteousness. His obedience is my obedience. That's saving faith. See, there's
a big difference between giving mental agreement to some facts,
you know, and trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as all your righteousness.
as all your salvation, trusting Him as the I Am in human flesh. And the person that believes
that, the person that puts all their trust, all their confidence
in the Lord Jesus Christ, that person is set free. They're set
free from sin. And some people, hearing our
Lord speak, believed. And that's really not surprising
at all, is it? Because faith cometh by hearing. Believe. They heard the Lord speak and
believed. See that verse 30? As he spake these words, many
believed on him. Well, wouldn't it be wonderful
if the Lord did that for us today? He'd speak to somebody's heart
and they'd believe on him. This is the result. Every time
when Christ is preached. Every time. Some people believe.
Some don't believe. Some people are fed. Some people
are blessed. They just, oh, there's just what
their souls need. Other people think they leave
unaffected, but they don't. You cannot leave unaffected from
hearing the gospel preached. Can't do it. When you think you're
unaffected, what happens is you're just hardened. God's hardened
your heart. You don't leave unaffected, but some people, like the Pharisees,
were hardened. Others, by God's grace, believed.
Which makes me wonder, maybe you wonder the same thing. Am
I one of these that are hardened? Do I think I'm unaffected? Or
am I fad? When I hear the gospel preached,
am I blessed? Is my heart blessed? Does it cause me to believe more
in the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, I'll tell you one sure
evidence of saving faith is it continues to believe Christ.
It never looks anywhere else. Our Lord told him in verse 31,
Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If you
continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed. Saving
faith always continues to believe Christ. And if you continue to
believe Christ, you continue to rely on Christ alone. You're
his disciple indeed. Look at Colossians chapter two. Saving faith never gets a different
object of faith, never gets a different understanding, always continues
to look to believe, trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Colossians
2 verse 21, And you, that were sometime alienated,
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy, and
unblameable, and unreprovable in his sight, if you continue
in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the
hope of the gospel which you have heard. That is the evidence
of saving faith. You continue in the faith. Grounded
and settled, looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. If your faith continues
to believe Christ, continues to look to Christ, then you're
someone who's not just giving lip service, but is a true follower,
a true disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ. You're someone who's
genuinely in love with Christ. If you are genuinely in love
with Christ, you're not going to quit. You're going to continue
loving Him, continue believing Him, continue trusting in him
for all of your salvation. Now, verse 32, our Lord says,
and if you continue my word, you're my disciples indeed, and
you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Now, if you know the truth, truth
will make you free. Well, what is it to know the
truth? Well, the truth is not the right form of worship. A
lot of people think, well, we've got the truth because we've got
the right form of worship. That's not the truth. Some people
think the truth is the right set of doctrines. This is the
truth. That's not the truth. The truth
is a person. And when you have the person,
you've got the right form of worship. When you have the right
person, you've got the true doctrines. The truth is a person. Knowing
the truth is knowing the character of Christ. knowing who He is. He's the God-man. I am the eternal,
almighty God in human flesh. Come to be the Savior of sinful
men and women. That's why He came as a man.
To be the Savior of sinful men. And He is my only righteousness. That's knowing the true character
of Christ. Knowing the truth means I know
some truth about myself. I know I cannot make myself righteous
by my own law keeping. I must be made righteous in Christ. He's the righteousness of God.
Knowing truth means that I know. I can't cleanse myself from all
my sin. I see all this sin. I can't cleanse
myself from it. I'm only cleansed through the
power of the blood of Christ that he shed as my substitute.
And knowing the truth, what does that do? It makes me come to
Christ for cleansing. Knowing truth means I know. I can't keep myself from falling. I'm only kept by the power of
the Lord Jesus Christ. If you want to know the truth
in its purest form, look to Calvary. You look to Calvary and I'll
tell you what you'll see. You'll see the truth of man. People
say, oh, I love God. No, you don't. Man does, by nature,
does not love God. They do not love God's Son. Look what we did to him. First
chance God let us get our hands on him. Tortured him and put
him to death. For this reason, man will do
anything to take God off the throne. Man hates God. At Calvary, you see the truth
of man's depraved nature. But look past that and you'll
see the truth of God. You'll see God's holy. Always holy. He spared not his
own son. when he delivered him up for
us all. He imputed the sin of God's elect to his son, and God's
so holy, he turned his back on himself. He killed his own son.
God's holy. Oh, but God's merciful. He's merciful. Look at the mercy
of God. He imputed the sin of his elect
to his son. He killed his son so he could
be merciful to his people. Look at Calvary. You see the
wisdom of God. Think God's wise? He's the only
one who found a ransom for sin. Here's how God can be just and
justify the ungodly by punishing Christ for their sin and giving
the elect the righteousness of Christ. Oh, as the wisdom of
God is seen at Calvary. That's why these Jews got this
sinking feeling. Maybe Jesus is the Christ because
they saw him lifted up. They saw him crucified. They're
the very ones that did lift him up. And at Calvary is where the
truth of God is seen more clearly than anywhere else. Now, they
still didn't believe. They physically saw those things
happen at Calvary, didn't they? They still didn't believe. Well,
none of us were at Calvary. How are we going to believe?
Because it's not what you see with the natural eye. It's not
what you understand with the natural mind. It's what you see
by faith. It's what you believe because
of God-given faith. Believers know the truth. We
know Christ by faith. And faith in Christ makes a sinner
free from sin. If you have faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ, you know Him, He's the truth, then you're set free
from sin. If you know Christ, you know,
I'm free to come to Christ. I'm free to come to the Father
boldly because I know him by faith. If I know Christ, I know
this. I'm free to call myself righteous.
I'm free to believe I'm everything that Christ is because I know
the truth. I know Christ. If I know Christ, I'm free to
believe all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are called according to his purpose. God didn't say
that to everybody. He said to those who know Christ,
those who know the truth. If I know Christ, I'm free to
worship God in spirit and in truth. If I know Christ, I'm
free from the fear of death. Now, I mean, you know, the thought
of death is not something to act. You know, the process of
death is not something that thrills me to death. I mean, let's be
honest with you. But I'm not afraid of it. I welcome it. Because
there's nothing to fear in it. Because Christ already died for
me. Knowing the truth sets you free from the fear of death.
Look back at Luke chapter 4. This is a passage we read to
open the scripture. Our Lord told the Pharisees,
this is why I told you from the beginning. Well, here's the first
recorded public message of our Lord. In his very first public
message, what did he say? He said the same thing. He said
it from the beginning. In verse 18, the Spirit of the
Lord is upon me. He hath anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor. He sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, the recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty, to set free them that are bruised,
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. He closed the book
and he gave it again to the minister and he sat down. The eyes of
all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he
began to say unto them, this day is this scripture fulfilled
in your ears. Now it's fulfilled. freedoms
come by knowing the truth of God. Here he is, come in the
flesh. Isn't that good news? Oh, that's such good news. Free,
set free in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, look at verse 33 in our
text. Then these Pharisees, they answered him, we be Abraham's
seed. We're never in bondage to any
man. How sayest thou you should be made free? These men are so blind, they've
deceived themselves into thinking they're something that they're
not. Which I guess is not all that surprising. I mean, if you
can't see, you can imagine you look like anything, right? You
know, I guess if I was blind, I could imagine I was 6'5 and,
you know, could jump through the roof and I was, you know.
They're blind and they've imagined themselves to be something that
they're not. Israel was in bondage to Egypt
at the very moment I Am first revealed his name. They were
in bondage then. And I Am is the one that sent
the Deliverer to them. Israel, after that time, they
were in bondage to Babylon. They were in bondage to the Moabites
and the Amorites and the Philistines and every other ite and teen
that lived around them. At this very moment, they're
under the Roman boot. I mean, you'd think, how can
they say this? We've never been in bondage to any man. I bet
you, if you added it up, The Jews spent more time in bondage
than they did in freedom. But that's not the issue. The
issue is not what foreign countries had control over them now or
what foreign countries had control over them in their past. The
issue always has been and it always will be sin. That's the
issue. It doesn't really help you to
be set free from Roman authority. But if you're set free from sin,
You're free. The issue is sin. And the sad
truth is, these men did not want to be made free. They didn't
want it. Because if you're going to be
made free, you've got to admit you're in bondage and you need
somebody else to make you free. Because you cannot do it yourself.
They weren't about to admit that. Human nature will not admit that. But I'm telling you this, the
Lord's going to show you you're lost before you're ever found.
The Lord's going to show you that you're dead before he ever
gives life. The Lord's going to show you
you're a prisoner and that's what you deserve. That's where
you ought to stay. You're the prisoner of sin. He's
going to show you that before he sets you free. He always will.
Now, verse 34, Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, whosoever committed sin is the servant of sin. Have you sinned today? In the
last ten seconds have you sinned? The last two seconds? Have you
sinned? Of course you have. I have too. Does that mean you're
the servant of sin? Not if you're a believer you're
not. Now, I mean, we know that. If you understand Scripture,
we compare Scripture with Scripture. If you're a believer, you're
the servant of Christ. You're not the servant of sin.
So what does this mean? Well, I did a lot of reading
on it. Didn't find a suitable answer to tell you the truth.
The writers say this, that this thing about the person who is
the servant of sin, they say this is a person who chooses
sin, who enjoys sin, who makes a habit of sinning. That's the
servant of sin. Well, that's all of us. I mean,
that's every person in this room. You know, I don't want to choose
sin, but I do. I wish I didn't enjoy sin, but
my flesh does. I mean, I do, if you're honest.
I mean, I don't want to make a habit of sin, but I do. I can't
help it. It's the sin nature that's still
in me. So that cannot be what this means. If you choose sin
or you enjoy sin and you make a habit of sinning, you're the
servant of sin. Because we all sin constantly. Every believer
does. So that can't be what this means. Tell you what I think
it means. Well, I'm confident that it means.
The servant of sin is the person They've not been born again.
They've not been set free. If they've not been born again,
they've only got one nature. Adam's sin nature. So they must
be the servant of sin because the only nature they have is
a sin nature. But a person who's been born again, Scripture said
that person's not the servant of sin. Now they still sin. And
when they do, they've got an advocate with the Father. But
when they sin, they're not the servant of sin because Romans
6.14 says sin should not have dominion over you. If you're
not under the law, you're under grace. Now, we're all born servants
of sin, but the servant of Christ is not the servant of sin. And
we're born servants of sin, but the only way we're set free from
that, from that bondage, being the servant of sin, is by being
in the Lord Jesus Christ. We saw this Wednesday night.
A believer has been born again. They have a new nature. And that
divine nature cannot sin. It's an impossibility. So that
person who's been born again is free from sin. So they're
free from being the servants of sin because they've got a
new nature. The nature that serves the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord
goes on in verse 35. He says, The servant abideth
not in the house forever, but the Son abideth forever. Now
sin's in all of us. You know, if you're a non-believer,
sin's going to stay in the house forever. And you'll die in your
sins. It's going to stay in the house forever. But a believer,
well, sin's in there now, isn't it? Can't get rid of it. Can't
evict it. It's in the house. One day God's
going to take care of that. He's going to separate the body
of sin. He's going to separate that new man that's been born,
the new birth, when the body of flesh dies. And you will never
deal with sin again. It's not going to be in the house
forever. But this means that, but it means more than that.
This means if the Lord makes you free, if he makes you free
from sin, you're free. And he makes you not just free,
he doesn't give you like your free papers. You know, before
the Civil War, black people would go around with their papers of
freedom, you know, saying, I'm free, I'm free. Well, go to Mississippi
and see how long that lasts, you know. That's not real freedom.
If Christ makes you free, he makes you a son. He makes you
a daughter. You're going to live in the house
forever. You're not kicked out. Your daughter is always welcome.
Your daughter has always got a place. Every son and daughter
of God is going to abide in the house forever because they're
sons and daughters. They're not second class citizens.
Now, what our Lord is speaking about here is a Roman custom.
When a father, if he owned a large estate, you know, and he died,
well, his son would inherit everything, including the slaves. And he
could, that son, could set those slaves free if he wanted to.
It's his prerogative. Now, maybe some of those slaves
had been born slaves in that house. Their parents were slaves.
They're born in that house a slave, they're a slave. Maybe they sold
themselves into slavery. They had a debt they couldn't
pay, and they sold themselves into slavery. However it happened,
they're slaves and they will forever be a slave unless the
Son sets them free. The only way they'll ever be
free, the only way that slave will ever have freedom is if
the Son sets them free. Now, every one of us were home-born
slaves, born slaves, born slaves to sin, born slaves to the law.
Even God's elect, when we come into this world, we're home-born
slaves. And the only way we'll ever go
free is if Christ, the Son of God, makes us free. He's got to make us free by satisfying
the law's every demand. And if the Lord Jesus Christ,
if I am, sets you free, you're not going to be a foreigner and
a stranger from the covenants of promise anymore. You'll be
fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God. You'll be made a son and a daughter
if I am set you free. And true freedom is in I am,
in the Lord Jesus Christ. I thought of the different times
this name, I am, is used in scripture. Every one of them shows us how
we're set free, something we're set free from. If you believe
I am, you will be set free from bondage to your sins and you
won't die in your sins. If you believe I am, you'll be
set free from the bondage of sin just as surely as Israel
was set free from Egypt when I am sent the Deliverer. If you
believe I am the bread of life, you'll never hunger for any spiritual
food, any spiritual substance, because you'll have Christ, the
bread of life. If you believe I am the light
of the world, You'll not be lost in darkness, groping around in
darkness, stumbling around, because you've got the light of life.
I am the light of the world. If you believe I am the door
of the sheep, you'll go in and out and find pasture. You'll
find food fit for sheep. If you believe I am the door
of the sheep, if you believe I am the good shepherd, you'll
never be lost. Oh, you're born that way. But
our Lord's going to leave the 99 safe in the fold. He's going
to go out. He's not going to send somebody
else. He's not going to stand there and call your name. He's going
to go out. I am. He's going to go out. He's going
to find that lost sheep, put that lost lamb on his shoulder
and carry it all the way to the fold. And that lost sheep is
going to live, going to have life because the good shepherd
gives his life for the sheep. I am. If you believe I am the
resurrection and the life, though you're dead, yet shall you live. Whosoever liveth and believeth,
I am, shall never die. Have eternal life. If you believe
I am the true vine, you'll be a partaker of the divine nature
because you abide in Christ. You're joined to Him by faith
and you'll have everything that He is. If you believe I am the
way, You'll never be lost. You'll know the way to the Father
because you know Christ is the way. If you believe I am the
life, you'll have eternal life and never die in your sins. If
you believe I am the truth, you'll never be deceived. Buddy, you
can't cross a street without hearing a false gospel today.
You worry you'll be deceived? Well, maybe. But if you know
I am the truth, You'll never be deceived. Because you know
the Savior. You know and love the Lord Jesus
Christ who is the truth of God. Now, in closing, let me ask you. Do you desire to be set free
from sin? Do you desire to be set free
from self? Self is just the worst. It's
the worst thing ever. I mean, self. Would you love
to be set free from that? You want to be set free from
the law? From bondage to keeping a law you can't keep? Well, I'm
telling you what, we must be made free, made free in the Lord
Jesus Christ. If you desire to be set free,
come to Christ. Come to I Am. Freedom is in I
Am. I Am shall make you free. This
is a sad thing. These Pharisees are standing
there talking to God Almighty. There's God standing before them.
They said, who is your father? There he is. Here is the manifestation
of the Father talking to them. They didn't believe. They left and they died in their
sins. The Gospel. of the Lord Jesus
Christ have been preached to you. Some of you, your entire
lifetime, the gospel has been preached to you. God delivers. God's speaking through His Word. I'm telling you, God speaks to
His people through His Word, through the gospel. God delivers
from leaving hardened. Not unaffected, leaving hardened. that this morning, at this moment,
God would give us eyes to see. That He'd give us faith to believe.
Because I'm telling you this, if you see Him, you're free. You're free! Oh, the year of
Jubilee, you're free! Christ sets His people free from
the guilt of sin. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Not
to be free from that awful feeling of guilt? In Christ, if you know
the truth, You're set free from that feeling of guilt of sin. You're set free from the condemnation
of sin in Christ. Because He suffered the condemnation
for you. You don't have to fear death. He suffered the condemnation
for you. He sets you free from the ruling
power of sin. You're not a servant of sin anymore.
Now you're a servant of Christ. I Am sets His people free with
all the rights and all the privileges of children. sons and daughters. If the Son shall make you free,
you're free indeed. God make it so. Let's bow in
prayer. Our Heavenly Father, how we thank
Thee for this precious promise. If you know the Son, the Son
shall make you free. Father, we beg of Thee in Your
mercy, in Your grace, that this morning you set free some poor
sinner in bondage to sin under the condemnation of the law,
then your mercy and your grace and your power that you would
reveal yourself to them and set them free. How we thank thee
for freedom in our Lord Jesus Christ, freedom in I Am. In the precious name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, we give thanks. Amen.