Well, we'll come this week to
John chapter 8 and the passage from verse 12 to 32. And I've entitled this message
a phrase that you find in verse 31, disciples indeed, then are
ye my disciples indeed. Properly, really, truly. Jesus
is continuing his teaching. It's the Feast of Tabernacles,
the end of the Feast of Tabernacles. And it's past the last day, because
that was in chapter 7. But then, early in the next morning,
he's teaching in the treasury, in the temple. That's where he
is, in verse 20 tells us that, that was the treasury. And they
brought to him the woman taken in adultery on the last night
of the Feast of Tabernacles. And they just brought the woman,
and of course they were trying to trick him, as we saw last
week. He's teaching, and they just barge into the middle of
it with this woman, and then the verses that we looked at,
verse 3 to verse 11 of chapter 8 last week. And that being over,
he then speaks again, verse 12. He continues his teaching in
that place, saying, I am the light of the world. You see,
religion, all around, understands Jesus to have been teaching right
moral principles for all men to follow, and if only they would,
what a better world we'd build. We'd get rid of wars, there'd
be no strife between us. That is what the vast majority
of religion, including so-called Christian religion, teaches.
Here he is teaching right moral principles. Wrong. He's not teaching
right moral principles. He does, of course, that's just
a spin-off. What he's teaching, rather, his
ministry, if you examine it as carefully as you can, with the
light of God's Spirit guiding you, he's teaching that he, the
man, is God. God made man for the purpose
of redemption, of paying a price, of paying a price to the justice
of God for the sins of his people. That's what he's teaching. He's
teaching the kingdom of God. The blessed kingdom of God, so
different from the kingdom of this world. He's teaching how
that kingdom is populated with justified sinners on the basis
of His shed blood and righteousness. He makes His people by Him being
made sin. and suffering the penalty and
satisfying justice. He makes his people the righteousness
of God in him. That's how our righteousness
as believers comes. It's by his death. It's by what
he accomplished in his death. And to believe him, he says,
to believe him, to trust him. You know what it is to believe
and trust, don't you? You know, you're tired and you
see a chair. And you trust it to hold your
weight. So you sit down on it. You let it take and bear all
your weight. You get it? That's something
like it. That's believing in the Lord. It's not just acknowledging
He exists. It's leaning all the weight of
your sinful soul on Him for redemption and acceptance with God. And
it says, if you're in that position of believing in Him, You have
eternal life. It's your possession now, in
this body of flesh, which is going to die because of sin.
In this body of flesh, you have eternal life. It doesn't say
you shall have, you have. So I ask you, do you believe
Him? Do you really believe Him? Are
you His disciple? Disciple? You know, it's from
the Latin, it's the child in the school learning, it's the
disciple. Do you have assurance of your
citizenship of God's kingdom? Do you know? Do you have what
the scripture calls a good hope? You're confident. You know where
you're going. If your life is taken from you
by God today, That's for Him to determine. You know where
you're going. You know that the Lord Jesus
Christ has said, I go to prepare a place for you, and I will come
again and take you to be with me. Father, I pray that they
whom you have given me might be with me where I am, that they
might behold my glory, was the prayer of the God-man for his
people. Do you have that assurance that
you're amongst them? Well, here, in this passage,
we have another affirmation of the deity of Christ, that He,
this man, is God. And we have here in verse 12,
the second of seven I Am statements in the Gospel of John. We didn't
look specifically at the first one as one of the I Am statements,
but we did look at it. He said, I am the bread of life,
which comes down from heaven. The other ones, here he says,
I am the light of the world. In another place he says, I am
the door, the door of the sheep. He says, I am the good shepherd. He says, I am the resurrection. He says, I am the way, the truth
and the life. He says, I am the true vine. All of these are clear in declarations
of deity. What does that mean? Where do
we get that from? Isaiah 42 verse 6, didn't we
read that at the start? God says to his son, says to
the Lord Jesus Christ, says to him before he comes to this earth,
he says, I will give thee the manifestation of God in flesh
for a light to the Gentiles. I will give the Messiah, the
promised seed of the woman, the Christ of God, says God in heaven,
I will give this one a light to the Gentiles. He's speaking
to Jews. I will give you a light to the
Gentiles, because his kingdom is going to be of people from
all parts of the world. God so loved the world, not in
its entirety of everyone that ever lived, but a world full
of his people, because the people that God loved in electing grace
before the beginning of time, those people, He gave, the Father
gave them to His Son before time began, and Christ undertook to
redeem them from the curse of the law. He, the One, is a light
to the Gentiles. The Gentiles who walked in darkness
have seen a great light, says Isaiah 9 verse 6. It's throughout
the scriptures, but look at Malachi, we sang it in that hymn, Malachi
chapter 4 and verse 2. Who is that? Who's the one who shall arise
the Son of Righteousness with healing in His wings? Do you
fear His name? To you who fear His name shall
the Son of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings. And
you shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall. Christ
is that Son of righteousness, declaring the righteousness of
God, manifesting the righteousness of God. And here He is saying,
I am the light of the world. I am the light of the world.
God is light. 1 John 1 verse 5 says, God is
light, as opposed to the darkness of the kingdom of Satan. God
is light. God is love. God is love. 1 John
4 verse 8, God is love. In Jesus, in the man, Christ
Jesus, God manifested these things. To follow Him, to follow Jesus,
is to have that light of God. Believers are, as Ephesians 5,
8 says, light in the Lord. Believers are light in the Lord. We, if we truly have Christ,
He is the light, but believers in Him are light in the Lord,
says Paul to the Ephesians. In John chapter 12 and verse
46, Jesus says, I am come a light into the world, and whosoever
believeth on me should not abide in darkness. Whosoever believeth
on me, he's a light in the world, and if you believe on him, you
will not wallow in the darkness of this world and its unbelief
and its satanic blindness. Those who believe in him should
not abide in darkness. In a real sense, in a real sense,
John 1 verse 9 says that the He, Christ, the Word become
flesh, He was that true light which lighteth every man that
cometh into the world. The true light that lights every
man that comes into the world. That's who He is, the true light
that lights every man that comes into the world. Meaning that
He is creation light. He is life-giving light. He is
that one who enables all to weigh moral issues, to see evidence
of God. You know, everyone without exception,
if they're truthful, can see evidence of God in creation.
And as Romans says, it leaves them without excuse for everything.
The things of God and His creation are manifest openly to them,
leaving them without excuse. The world that does not believe
has no excuse for unbelief. Someone once said, who didn't
believe, someone once said, when you get to heaven, and you're
questioned as to why you didn't believe, he said, I'll say there
wasn't enough evidence. I'm sorry, the scriptures condemn
you. You're without excuse. There's more than enough evidence.
But without spiritual light, from God's Spirit, unless we
follow Christ, we remain in the darkness of satanic delusion
about God and the truth. We really do live in a world
where there is a stark contrast between the light of God and
his kingdom, and the darkness of Satan and his kingdom. The
true knowledge of saving grace comes by heavenly light. Christ
said, I am the light of the world. The true knowledge of being justified
from your sins because of what Christ has accomplished comes
from the light of God. He is that light, He manifests
that light of God. The truth that the sins of God's
people, His multitude, His elect multitude, are propitiated by
the salvation that Christ has accomplished, comes from heavenly
light. Christ is the light of the world.
Heavenly knowledge, knowledge of the eternal kingdom, knowledge
of holiness, knowledge of happiness, versus ignorance. of life's meaning. You know, the children of God,
we don't have everything easy all of the time, but there's
a joy in knowing the truth of God. And that contrasts starkly
with the ignorance of those who wallow in ignorance of the meaning
of life, and have no knowledge of the truth of God as to who
He is. and are unaware of their guilt
before a holy God, and their depravity, and their eternal
misery without God. You see? That's darkness. It's
darkness. The Old Testament was always
clear. The Old Testament was always
clear about who would come, the Messiah who would come. Isaiah
45 and verse 22. He is a just God, in that he's
holiness and his righteousness cannot be violated, but he's
also a saviour. He's a just God and a saviour,
a saviour of sinners, because he is the one, as we saw last
week, has reconciled justice and mercy. Truth and peace have
kissed. He's reconciled them. He's done
it. Jeremiah 31 verse 34, God who
is just says, I will forgive their iniquity, the iniquity
of his people, and I will remember their sin no more. God is a God
of mercy, and he displays that mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And here, before these people in the temple, is the man declaring
that he is God-become-flesh to accomplish redemption from the
curse of the law. This is who he is. You know,
God, says Paul to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 4 verse 6. God,
who caused light to shine in the darkness. God said in the
beginning, read Genesis chapter 1, God said, let there be light,
and there was light, and God saw the light, that it was good.
He who spoke in the beginning, let there be light, has shined
in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Now, here is the division. Look
down at verse 24. I said therefore unto you that
you shall die in your sins. For if you believe not that I
am, and he is in italics, and I've crossed it out in my version,
this is if you believe that I am. Moses said to God in the burning
bush, Who shall I say sent me to the children of Israel? I
am that I am. Say that God, I am, has sent
you. If you don't believe that, you
shall die in your sins. Here is the division. Here is
the division, the reaction to it. What is that? The Pharisees,
verse 15, ye judge after the flesh, I judge no man. In verse
15, the Pharisees to whom he was talking looked at this man,
who Isaiah tells us beforehand, that there would be no comeliness
in him, that we should desire him, and they judged him. He
said, I am God before you. I am the light of the world.
I am everything that God in heaven is, the God you claim to worship,
and here I am. the Messiah, the Christ that
is come. Here I am, the promised one, the servant of the Lord,
His holy one. Here I am before you, and you
do not accept my testimony of who I am. And they said, well
look at you, you're just an ordinary man. They judged after the flesh. They judged at what they saw
with their eyes, fallen flesh. They judged by outward appearance,
concluding that He's not God the Saviour. He might say He
is, but He's not God the Saviour. But that wasn't all of them.
Verse 30, as he spake these words, many believed on him. There was
a division. He said, if you believe, you
have eternal life, but if you don't, you shall die in your
sins. And a lot of them did not believe, would not believe, but
many did believe on him. The question is, were those who
said they believed on him true disciples, really disciples,
who were assured of eternal life, who had any right of assurance
to eternal life. What's the test of true discipleship? Look at verse 31. Then said Jesus
to those Jews which believed on him, they said they believed
on him, and he said to them, Here's the test. You say you
believe on me. Here's the test. Do you really
believe on me? If you continue in my word, then
are you my disciples indeed. If you continue in my word. To continue in his word is the
sign of true discipleship. Continue, having at some previous
time commenced in his word, commenced believing his truth. Continuing
would not make them true disciples, but it would manifest that they
are true disciples. But what is it to continue in
Christ's word? What is it? What is it? You see,
You say, well, it's studying the Bible. Well, you know, loads
and loads of people, theologians, those in Bible seminaries and
colleges all over, study the Bible. They theologically analyze
it, mechanically. They compare text with text,
and they assess, they're subject to their judgment. They subject
it to their human reasoning. Oh, they study. the words on
the page, but they are not continuing in Christ's Word. That's not
continuing in His Word. Rather, the work of God's Spirit
gives God's light and gives faith to see as God reveals, to see
what God reveals. The Holy Spirit gives a new nature
to true disciples. and gives them a spiritual sense
and reason. It's that gift from the Holy
Spirit that makes them true disciples. This is the work of God. Do you
remember back in chapter 6 and verse 29, they said to Jesus,
what work should we do that we do the work of God? And Jesus
said, this is the work of God that you believe on him whom
he sent. Not only you, you believe on
him, but it's the work of God. It's God's work that makes you
believe. It's backed up elsewhere in the scriptures, utterly consistently.
James chapter 1 and verse 18, speaking of God, of his own will,
of God's own will, begat he us. How? With the word of truth.
How do we become believers if we are true believers? Of his
own will, of God's own will, he planted eternal life in us. With His own will He begat us.
With what? With the Word of Truth. As Peter
says in his epistle, 1 Peter 1 verse 23, you are born again,
he says, by the Word of God. It's the Word of God that the
Spirit sows in the heart, plants in the heart with the new birth.
And it's like leaven. Jesus likened this life of God
from His Spirit to leaven. Yeast. Yeast. You know how you
put a little bit of yeast in some flour, in some dough, and
the leaven leavens, the yeast leavens the whole lump of dough.
In other words, it spreads. It biologically multiplies. What
starts as the tiniest little pinch multiplies over and over
and over again. You hear a lot of talk about
exponential. That's genuinely exponential.
It grows exponentially. And they say, put your dough,
cover your dough, leave it somewhere warm, and in half an hour it
will double in size. Do you know why it does? Because
of the leaven. Well, God plants his spirit and it grows in there. It multiplies. Its effect permeates
throughout. It diffuses into the soul, like
seed in the ground, with light, with warmth, with moisture, the
moisture of God's Spirit, it germinates, it roots, it grows,
it bears fruit. That's what a seed does. A dead
little grain of corn goes into the ground. Unless a seed grow
into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it goes into the
ground and die, you know, I've got packets of seeds out there
that have been waiting for nearly two years now, and they're still
alright, they're dead, they're dead. But I'll put them into
some seed compost next spring, and those dead things, given
the right conditions of moisture, and warmth, and light, they'll
come to life, and they'll germinate, and they'll root, and they'll
grow, and they'll bear fruit. and that fruit will multiply,
and what was one seed will turn up sometimes a hundred for the
next generation. If God has done it, it will continue. If God has planted that life
in a soul, it will continue. If you continue in my word, if
God has planted it, it will continue. If you continue in my word, you
are my disciples indeed. In John 6 and verse 47, he says,
he that believeth has everlasting life. Has, not did have once,
not started up, has, and it will continue. It will continue, and
it will stay. It might fluctuate, there might
be variation in the way that it's apprehended and felt. But
Job 17 verse 9 says this, the righteous shall hold on his way. What does that mean? The one
made righteous in God by Christ. You know, how shall a man be
just with God? Well, we know it's by the redemption that Christ
has accomplished and the one redeemed and the one made righteous,
the one made righteous You know, having started in the Spirit,
how are we going to continue? The righteous shall hold on his
way. That's why Jesus said in John
10 verse 28, that his people, his disciples, shall never perish. Not if they put in the effort. They shall never perish. If they're
true, they shall never perish. Faith, which is God's gift, which
is His work, the work of God in the soul, that continues. It continues. Do you have faith? A lot of people say, don't talk
to me about religion. I have my faith. I'm quite happy
with what I've got, but don't you talk to me about faith. I
have my faith. I would answer this, is it what
the scripture calls true faith? Is it what Paul, writing to Titus,
chapter 1 and verse 1, calls the faith of God's elect? Is your faith, and there's a
lot of faith in the world, but is it the faith of God's elect? Is it the truth? Or is it a figment
of your imagination? Is it genuine? Or are you imagining
it? Jabez knew the difference. Jabez
is a character we come across in 1 Chronicles chapter 4. And
Jabez, in verse 10, Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying,
O that thou wouldest bless me indeed. You can go on and read
more of that. It's 1 Chronicles 4 verse 10. But he said, O that
you would bless me indeed. Indeed, indeed. Because what
do we get from this? There are seeming blessings that
are not genuine, that are not indeed. Oh that you would bless
me indeed. How many times do you hear people
saying about circumstances, oh we'll pray for you that it will
turn out well. We'll pray for you that it will
turn out well. Do you know, truly, if you're a believer, all things
work together for good to those that love God, who are called
according to his purpose. Oh, I'm so thankful to the Lord
for the way he made this turn out to me. If he'd made it turn
out the other way, what you in your flesh would perceive as
the bad way, Would that not still be one of His all things that
He is causing to work together for good to those who love God
and are called according to His purpose? For whatever the ups
and downs and the seeming backwards and forwards of this life, if
you're God's, you are destined for His eternity. You are destined
for that place. It seems that there were many
nominal disciples, people who said, called themselves by the
name of his disciples, but not indeed, not genuinely. Do you
know what we're told to do? In 2 Corinthians chapter 13 and
verse 5, Paul tells the people to whom he was writing, including
us, he says, examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith. Prove
your own selves. Know ye not your own selves,
how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates. Examine
yourselves. Look at yourselves. Examine yourselves. this is what we need to do, examine
ourselves. You see, a lot of religion tells
its adherents to test themselves against their doctrine, to see
whether they're making progress. All religions, Islam, Hinduism,
you name it, all has a set of rules. Most religion calls for
self-examination versus its own set of rules and regulations.
And those who attempt to abide by what its religion specifies,
and there's a lot of it called Christianity, they end up either
hypocrites, who pat themselves on the back for doing so well
and making themselves so acceptable to God, or despair that they
know that in them, that is in their flesh, there dwells no
good thing. But do you know there are more scriptural tests of
whether we are disciples indeed. If you continue in my word, you
are my disciples indeed. Let me give you some that are
more scriptural. These are genuine things. Examine yourselves, whether
you be in the faith. The first one I would say is,
are you devoted to Christ? devoted to Christ. I'll give
you an example. When Jesus was going up to Jerusalem
and the disciples were very concerned that it was the most dangerous
thing he could do, this teacher whom they loved and followed,
they'd left everything to follow him, and he's going to Jerusalem
and they know he's in grave danger of being taken and killed, and
that was the last thing they want. But Thomas, you know him,
Doubting Thomas? as he was known later, but here,
Thomas was willing to die with Jesus. He said, let us go with
him up to Jerusalem and die with him there. Why did he say that? He was devoted to Jesus. Without
the Lord Jesus Christ for Thomas and the other disciples, life
wasn't worth having. What's the point of it if we
can't have him? Without him, there's absolutely no point.
In 2 Corinthians 8 and verse 5, Paul speaks about believers
giving themselves to the Lord. Giving themselves to the Lord.
Wholeheartedly. You know, have you heard of somebody
say, oh, you're only half-hearted about this, aren't you? That's
what God said to Israel in the days of Hosea. Hosea chapter
10, verses 1 and 2. is an empty vine, their heart
is divided." Half-hearted. Their heart is divided. It isn't
holy in God's favor. It's not holy looking to God
and depending on Him. Could that justly be said of
my heart in respect of God? the rich young ruler who came
to Jesus. Do you remember the rich young
ruler? Thought he was quite a moral, upright, upstanding young man
of some authority in the society of Israel. What must I do to
have eternal life, he asks Jesus. And Jesus says, you know what
the law says? What does it say? And he recited it back to him.
Well, this too, he said, I've done it all. I've done it all,
right from my youth. There's nothing, right, okay.
Is that it? Have I got eternal life? Jesus
said, Go and sell all that you have and give it to the poor.
Go and demonstrate that things are not your God. Go and demonstrate
that possessions are not your God. Go and demonstrate that
if God determines that these things should be taken from you,
well that's God's determination, and I'm fine with it. Because
to be in the care of God and resting in Him
and knowing that He provides all my needs is all that I need.
And the rich young ruler went out sorrowful because he had
much possessions, he had many goods, he wasn't prepared to
give them up, he wasn't devoted to Christ. As much as he appeared
to be one of the foremost disciples coming forward for affirmation
of his standing in the Kingdom of God, He wasn't, because he
showed he wasn't devoted to Christ. He was half-hearted. He was quite
impressed with Christ, but he was devoted to his possessions
more than he was to Christ. No, devotedness to Christ. Wholehearted
devotedness to Christ. Secondly, here's a test. Am I
in the faith? Am I a disciple indeed? What
do I think about this world around us? Am I prepared to be as the
people of God, separate from the world? As the disciples of
Jesus left their worlds of fishing and tax collecting and other
things to follow Jesus, they left their worlds and followed
Him. Have I, have you left the world that you once treasured
to follow Jesus, to follow Christ? to be devoted to God. I'm not
talking about going and living in a monastery and wearing a
horsehair shirt or something else to make your life uncomfortable
so that it makes you feel that you're pleasing God, but I'm
talking about worldly thinking. the things that the world thinks
and values, the pleasures that the world rejoices in, the excesses
that the world goes to. Do I covet, do I want, is my
heart attracted to the attractions of this world? I know we live
in a world that is still beautiful because it's got the mark of
God its Creator all over it, and it's lovely to be able to
stand in awe and look at those things and praise God for what
He's done. It's good to enjoy the things
that He gives us for our time in this life. The oil to make
our face shine, the wine to make our heart glad. These things
that the Scripture speaks of. It is perfectly acceptable to
enjoy the things that God gives us. It's not wrong to have, but
do we covet? the attractions of the world.
Do we covet the wizardry of the world? You know, especially you
young people, it's such a difficult age to grow up in. Compared with
the age I grew up in when I was, you know, a young boy and early
teens, you know, there was none of the electronic wizardry that
there is today. Do you know what it is? It's
the beast from the earth of Revelation 13. It's just this world, the
kingdom of this world, deluding and attracting. You've always
got to beware. Do not be taken in by it. Yes, play your games
if you want to, but do not be deluded and taken in by it, by
its philosophy, by the culture of this world. You know, more
and more we find, you wonder why is it taking you so long,
but more and I just despise television drama. I used to quite like some
of it, you know, investigative stuff and drama that was presenting
a good... Now, the writers of that drama
are so bought in to the kingdom of this world, you will just
not see any truth in it whatsoever. You know, whatsoever things are
good, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are noble,
whatsoever things are of good reports, says Paul to the Philippians,
think on these things. All of those things, the world's
self-righteousness, the world's pride, you know, all the advertisements,
you know, value yourself, you're worth it, you're good, you know,
all of those things that speak the culture and the values of
the world and of the kingdom of this world. What do I think
of them? Am I separate from them? The people of God are. The people
of God are told, come out from among them and be ye separate.
He puts his people in wilderness separation from the culture of
this world. And he gives the woman in Revelation
wings of faith to fly away from this world into wilderness separation
where God feeds her there. He gives her his word. He feeds
her with that true manner which is Christ come down from heaven.
Do I covet what the world covets? It's not wrong to have, as I've
said, but it's very wrong to claim devotion to Christ and
covet worldly aspirations and ambitions. I'll say that again. It's not wrong to have. Abraham
had great riches, but it's very wrong to claim devotion to Christ
and at the same time covet worldly aspirations and ambitions. You
know what Paul said, I have learned in whatever state I am, therewith
to be content. Contentedness. Godliness with
contentment is great gain. Does devotion to Christ and his
kingdom, does it override every worldly attraction? Does it? It should do. If you're a disciple,
indeed, it should do. What about me and my human worth
and wisdom? You know, we all think that we
know a thing or two. Do I subject it to God's wisdom? Or do I buy into the world's
wisdom? Do I really acknowledge my righteousness,
my goodness, my worth, to have as much value in the kingdom
of heaven as a pile of filthy rags? Because that's what Isaiah
64 verse 6 says. Is Christ alone my wisdom from
God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption? Do I subject
my human worth and wisdom to God's? Him above all else. Christ is all and in all. Him
above all else. In all things He must have the
preeminence. And do I honestly want to follow Him? Do I honestly
want to follow Him? You are my disciples indeed.
Do I honestly want to follow Him? 1 Peter 2.21 says, Christ
has left us an example that ye should follow in His steps. Do I want to follow him? Do I
want to catch his spirit, as it were? An example, Elisha the
prophet came after Elijah the prophet, and Elisha yearned for
that mantle, that cloak of Elijah, that cloak which he saw as a
symbol of the presence of God upon him. Now that Elijah's gone,
that Elijah's mantle might rest upon Elisha, his spirit might
rest upon him. Do I long for the spirit of Christ
to rest upon me? Do I long to be able to say with
Paul, we have the mind of Christ? Well, you know, if we do, if
ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. And
verse 32, ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you
free. You shall know it, the truth
of God, the truth of heavenly light, of life, of redemption
in Christ, of his person, of his work. Do I know the truth
of it? Do I feel it in my soul, the person of Christ, the work
of Christ, the cleansing blood of Christ that has washed away
my sins? Do I know anything of the love
of Christ? Do I know anything of the grace
and glory of Christ as revealed in Scripture? You will know it
by divine revelation in your soul. That's how you know it.
Just turn over to Romans 8. Let me read you a few verses
quickly. Verse 14. For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received
the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the
spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba. Father, Daddy, Father,
the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the
children of God. God's Spirit within you, it's
a silent but constant reassurance that you are the children of
God. And if children, then heirs,
heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ. If so be that we also
suffer with him, because so we will, so we will. You will know
the truth, you will have the mind of Christ, you will discern
truth from error. And knowing God's truth, you
shall be genuinely free. What will you be free from? What
will you be free from? You'll be free from legal bondage.
I remember somebody once saying, in so-called reformed Christian
circles, that it says in the scriptures, the truth shall make
me free, and if the truth makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
And that person said, but I don't feel free. I feel under the bondage
of your legal rules and regulations all of the time, as to how I
do this, and how much of that I eat or don't eat, and where
I go, and how far I... Legal bondage, you're free of
it. You're free from the wrath of God against sin in Christ. The truth shall make you free.
You're free of those nagging doubts and uncertainties, the
lack of assurance about your condition, because the truth
has made you free. You're free from this world holding
you as its slave under the things that it attracts you with. You're
free from the spirit of covetousness, because yes, you have things
and you lose things, but you're all Your welfare is all in the
hands of the living God, in heart, desiring the things that your
heart desires, the worldly things that your heart desires, the
experience. You're free from it. You're free
from it. You're free from the power of sin. You don't have
to sin. The lusts and the passions and
the pride and the self-righteousness, the truth shall make you free.
free from the fear of unbelieving man. Isn't that a fear? That
we fear those around us who don't believe, who'll ridicule us,
who'll ostracize us? You're free from that fear. The truth shall make you free.
You're free from the desire for worldly status. Sometimes God
elevates His children to very high positions in society, but
most of the time He doesn't. But you're free from that being
a driving obsession. You're free indeed. As this world
advances to its final destruction under the justice of God, and
surely it does every day that passes, what a blessing to be
in Christ, to know that you're robed in his righteousness, to
know that you're saved from condemnation, to have a good hope of eternal
life. Do you know, he promises that, to all who he says, come
to him, come to me, all who come to him seeking his blessing,
None will I turn away, is what he said. That's what he said.
Hold him to his word. Come to him. Lord, you said,
all who come to you, you will accept. I'm coming. Show me your
truth for Jesus' sake.