and free indeed. Look in verse
31 of John chapter 8. Then said Jesus to those Jews
which believed on him, if you continue in my word, then are
you my disciples indeed, not just in word, not just in speech,
but indeed in reality, you're the real thing. Look in verse
36, same word as you. If the Son, therefore, shall
make you free, you shall be free indeed. It won't be just talk,
but you'll be the real thing. Now look in verse 30 of John
chapter 8. As he spake these words, many
believed on him. Now, this is a reference to everything
he'd said from verse 12 on. No doubt what the Lord said. And how he said it had a force
behind it that made those who heard deep down know it was true. They heard these words and the
scripture says many believed on him. Now they didn't begin
this way. Look in verse 12 of John chapter
8. Let's see what words he said to them that caused them to believe. Then spake Jesus again unto them,
saying, I'm the light of the world. He that followeth me shall
not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. The Pharisees
therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself. Thy
record is not true. They didn't believe him. These
same people who were said to believe, they began not believing. They said, Your record is not
true. And then the Lord answers them
in a very unanswerable way. Look in verse 14. Jesus answered
and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record
is true. For I know whence I came and
whither I go, but you can't tell whence I came where I'm going.
You judge after the flesh. No supernatural light. You just are judging with your
flesh. I judge no man. And yet if I
judge, my judgment is true, for I'm not alone, but I am the Father
that sent me. It's also written in your law
that the testimony of two men is true. I'm one that bears witness
of myself, and the Father that sent me bears witness of me.
Then said they unto him, Where is thy father? Jesus answered,
You neither know me nor my father. If you had known me, you should
have known my father also. These words spake Jesus in the
treasury, as he taught in the temple, and no man laid hands
on him, for his hour was not yet come. Then said Jesus again
unto them, I go my way, and you shall seek me, and shall die
in your sin. Whether I go, you cannot come. You know that, just to calm him,
that's scary. He says to these people, you're
going to die in your sins. I can't bear even the thought
of something like that. I don't want that to happen to
me. Yet he says to these people, you're going to die in your sins.
There are some people that will die in their sins. And they'll
stand before God in their sins. Oh, I don't want that. Verse
22. Then said the Jews, will he kill
himself? Because he said, whether I go, you cannot come. They didn't
understand what he was saying. And he said unto them, you are
from beneath. I'm from above. You are of this
world. I am not of this world. I said
therefore unto you that you shall die in your sins, for if you
believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins. Then
said they unto him, Who art thou? And Jesus saith unto them even
the same that I said unto you from the beginning. I have many
things to say unto the judge of you, but he that sent me is
true. And I speak to the world those things which I have heard
of him. They understood not that he spake to them of the Father.
Then said Jesus unto them, When you have lifted up, when you
have crucified 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, and he that sent me is with me. The
Father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things
that please him. As he spake these words, many
believed on him. Then, verse 31, said Jesus to
those Jews which believed on him, if you continue in my word,
then are you my disciples indeed. Now, the implication of that
statement is that they had not yet proved themselves to be true
disciples. As a matter of fact, the tense
of the verb believed in verse 31 speaks of a completed action. If it's completed, it's not still
going on. Then said he to those. Jews,
which had believed in him, he says in verse 32, and you should
know the truth. And the truth shall make you
free. They did not know the truth at this present time. These Jews
who are said to have believed on him, they did not know the
truth at this present time. The faith they had was not saving
faith. That said, they believed on him.
Yet I can show you in the context of this passage of Scripture
that they did not have saving faith. They had a type of faith.
But they did not have saving faith. Now, let me show you that
from the Scriptures. In verse 33, right after he said you should
love the truth and the truth will make you free. Look how
these people who were said to believe answered him. They answered
him. We be Abraham's seed and were
never in bondage to any man. They're objecting to what the
Lord's saying. They object. Look what the Lord says in verse
37 to them. These same people who were said
to believe. He said, I know that you're Abraham's seed, but you
seek to kill me because my word have no place in you. Verse 38, he says to them, I
speak that which I've seen with my father, and you do that which
you've seen with your father. They answered and said unto him,
these are the same people that were said to believe. Abraham's
our father. Jesus saith unto them, if you
were Abraham's children, you'd do the works of Abraham. But
now you seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth.
Which I have heard of God. This did not Abraham. You do
the deeds of your father. They said to him, we be not born
of fornication. We have one father, even God.
Jesus saith unto them, if God were your father, you'd love
me. For I proceeded forth and came
from God, neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do you not
understand my speech? Even because you cannot, you
lack the ability to hear my word. You're of your father, the devil.
And the lust of your father you'll do. He was a murderer from the
beginning and abode not in the truth, because there's no truth
in him. When he speaketh a lie, speaketh his own. For he's a
liar and the father of it. Now you think what the Lord says
to these people? He says, your dad is the devil. Your dad is the devil. Now words
can't get any plainer. Now these are the people that
were said to believe. This shows me that there is a
kind of faith that is not saving faith. Let's read a few more
verses. He says to these people who are said to believe in verse
45, because I tell you the truth, you believe me not. Which of
you convinces me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do
you not believe me? He that's of God, heareth God's
words, you therefore hear them not, because you're not of God.
And look what these people who are said to believe said to the
Lord after they heard all this, then answered the Jews and said
unto him, say we not well that you're a Samaritan and you're
demon possessed? You're crazy saying something
like that. This is insanity. We don't believe this for a second.
This same group, look down at verse 59. Then took they up stones
to cast at him. But Jesus hid himself and went
out of the temple and got and going through the midst of them.
So pass them by. So we see these people who are
said to believe. They did not really believe, did they? They
had a type of faith. But it was not saving faith. And there's so many examples
of this type of faith in the scripture. You know, the Bible
says regarding devils. In the book of James. You say
you believe God, you do well. The devils believe. And tremble. That's their response. Now. Those whose faith is the product,
and you listen to this real carefully, I want to say this the way it
ought to be said, and I want this to serve as a warning to
every one of us, beginning right here. Those whose faith is the
product of the understanding of the flesh, or the emotions of the flesh, or the actions of the flesh,
They don't have a spiritual faith, but a fleshly faith. That which
is born of the flesh is flesh. That is, those whose faith is
merely the acknowledgment of true doctrine arrived at through
the process of theological instruction. That's the understanding of the
flesh, just like you learn something in school. You go, you get a
good teacher and he can teach you and you have some understanding
of it. Some subject maybe that's difficult. But if my faith simply
comes through the understanding of the flesh, a theological instruction. If my faith, there are those
who have faith that's the product of their will. Whose profession
is the result of carefully crafted emotional appeal meant to manipulate
the will at the end of the service. If that's where my faith came
from, where the preacher talked me into it, the preacher manipulated
me and he put force on my will and made me decide to do something.
I'm going that direction. He's got me talked into it. Or
if my faith, if my religion is the result of Something I've
done, such as baptism in the Lord's table. That's the actions
of the faith or the actions of the flesh, the intellect of the
flesh, the will of the flesh, the actions of the flesh. If
my faith comes from my flesh, it's not saving. It's the same
kind of faith these people had, who were said to believe on Him.
They were convinced. They believed. You know, when
the Lord spoke, I don't have any doubt that the people who
heard Him, deep down, they might have hated what He was saying,
but they knew it was the truth. They knew it was the truth. And
these people did. But it was not saving faith. An acknowledgment. Please listen
real carefully. An acknowledgement of that which
is true. Well, I got to admit, I see the Bible teaches it. Just
acknowledging something to be true. That's not saving faith. A decision to believe. I'm going to believe. If you
decide to believe, you've never believed. You don't even know
what it means. That's nothing more than flesh.
A work that you do that you think will save you is not faith. That
which is born of the flesh is flesh, and it will never rise
above its nature. Now, these folks had a type of
faith, but it was not saving faith. And I believe there are
people in this room And just go ahead and think, he might
be talking about me. That's the only way to take this.
Don't think, well, is he referring to somebody individually? No.
I'm saying this as a general principle. I feel sure there
are people in this room that have that kind of faith. You
acknowledge that it's something to be true. You say, well, the
other Bible teaches it. I agree with it. You've been instructed
properly. You believe, just like these
people did. But it's not saving faith. And it's my prayer that God will
take this message and smoke us out and get us out of that false
profession and cause us to have true saving faith. I don't want to be one of these
people who it says they believed on Him, but yet it's obvious
from this passage of Scripture that they didn't. They had a
type of faith. But it was not the faith of God's
elect, the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness.
It was not that type of faith. Now, I don't want to be one of
those people, do you? Whatever true saving faith is, I want
to have. I want to be a true disciple
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So look what our Lord says to
these people. He says in verse 31, it says,
they, as he spake these words, many believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Jews
which believed on him, they had a type of faith, if you continue
in my word, then you're my real disciples. If you continue in
my word. Now that, that which is born of the spirit,
I'm talking about that which is born of the flesh, it's nothing
but flesh, it's never going to rise above that. which is born
of the spirit is spirit. Now, what is it to be born of
the spirit? Well, it takes a spiritual being to give birth to another
spiritual being, doesn't it? That which is born of flesh is
going to be nothing but flesh. That which is born of the spirit
is spirit. God is said to birth people into
his kingdom. And he uses his word to do it.
You can't separate God and his word. Look back in John chapter
6. Only spiritual things can give
birth to spiritual things, which is what faith is. Look in John
6, verse 63. The Lord said, it is the Spirit.
Speaking of God, the Holy Spirit. God is Spirit. It is the Spirit
that gives life. The flesh profits nothing in
this thing of giving of life. It doesn't do a thing. The words
that I speak to you, they are Spirit. And they are life. Now, the Lord says, if you continue
in My Word, everything that comes out of His mouth, you continue
in it. You don't go back. You don't
quit. You continue in the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ. You
continue in the doctrine of Christ. You bow to all He says. You believe
all He says. You receive all He says. Is there
anything that He can say? And you say, well, I don't agree
with that. Well, you're not a believer then. What do believers do? They
believe. That's what a believer is. A
believer believes everything that he says. And they continue
in what he says. And they don't stop. They continue
all the way to the end. If you continue in my Word, then
are you my true disciples. Now, with that in mind, let's look at what the Lord says
to these people when He says, continue in my word. You know,
you're my disciples indeed. His word is His word. I don't
know how else to say it. His word is His word. It's the
things He said. You can't separate Jesus Christ
from what He said. It's His doctrine. It's ever-blessed
word that came out of His mouth. Now here's what a true disciple
does. He continues in the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look
in John chapter 6 once again in verse 66. Now remember what
he said, if you continue in my Word, get of you my disciples
indeed. Look in verse 66 of John chapter 6. From that time, many
of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Now were these disciples indeed,
were they the real deal? It says they walk no more with
him. They did not continue in his
word. It's not he who begins, but he
who finishes the race, who continues in whatsoever he said, that is
a disciple indeed. Turn with me for a moment to
Colossians chapter one. Verse 22. This is a scripture
I quote very often. This is what a believer is in
Christ, in the body of His flesh through death, to present you
holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight. But notice the
colon. The thought is not continued.
You are 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. Turn to Hebrews
chapter 3, verse 6. But Christ has a Son
over His own house, whose house we are, if we hold fast the confidence
and rejoicing of the hope, firm unto the end. Look down in verse
14 of chapter 3 of Hebrews. For we are made partakers of
Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to
the end. Now what is the evidence of a
true disciple of Jesus Christ? He continues in His Word. He
perseveres. He doesn't quit. He keeps going
all the way to the end. He'll never quit. Now, let's
look what our Lord says next, back in our text in John chapter
8. If you continue in my word, now
I know you're saying you believe. But it's only that person who
continues in my word that is my disciple indeed. And look
what he says in verse 32. And you shall know the truth.
And the truth shall make you Only in continuing in His Word
will you know the truth. And if you don't continue in
His Word, you never knew the truth in the first place. You
really didn't. Only that one who continues in His Word will
know the truth. Will recognize the truth. Will
understand the truth. Will discern the truth. will
love the truth. That one who continues in the
word of the Lord Jesus Christ is the one who knows the truth. Now, what does John mean when
he uses this word truth, knowing the truth? Well, let's look at
a few verses in John. Look back in John 1. You shall know the truth. Now,
I want to be somebody who knows the truth, don't you? I mean,
I want to know the truth. Well, to know the truth, you
first got to know what the truth is, don't you? Look here in verse
18. No man has seen God at... No,
verse 17, I'm sorry. For the law was given by Moses,
but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Now, what is the truth? Well, it has something to do
with grace, doesn't it? The law is true, and I love God's
law. I delight in the law of God after
the inward man. I love God's law. I love everything
he says. But notice this distinction John
makes. He says the law was given by
Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The law is true,
but the law is not the truth. It doesn't give the whole picture.
You see grace and truth. Yes, I see God's justice and
holiness in Christ, but I also see His mercy and His love and
forgiveness. Oh, the whole character of God
is made known in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the
law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Look in John 14. Here's another way the word is
used. Verse 5. Thomas saith unto him,
Lord, we know not where you're going, and how can we know the
way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. He is the truth. You shall know
the truth. The truth's a person. It's not
just acknowledging some doctrines. The truth is a person that, you
know, look in John 18. Verse 37, Pilate therefore said
unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, you said it.
I am a king. To this end, for this purpose
was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I
should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the
truth heareth my voice." Christ says, I came to bear witness
to the truth. You know that word witness is
where we get the word martyr from. I came to bear witness to the
truth by my death. You know, the only way you're
going to understand the truth is by seeing Jesus Christ, who
he is, what he did, why he died, what he accomplished by his death.
You want to know the truth about yourself? That's hard to swallow. You want
to know the real truth about yourself? All you've got to do
is look at the cross and see what they did to Christ. That's
the truth about you. You believe that? You want to know the truth about
the character of God? The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. All
of God's attributes are completely displayed. His sovereignty, His
justice, His holiness. Every attribute of God. You want
to know the truth about God? You look to the cross and you'll
find out the truth. You want to know the truth about
salvation? Look to the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
came to bear witness by His death of the truth. And look back in
our text in John 8. Verse 32. Let's read it once again. And
you shall know the truth, and your understanding of the truth
shall make you free. I didn't read it right, did I? It's not my understanding of
the truth that makes me free. Now, understand this. The more
clearly you understand the truth, the more liberated your mind
is going to be. It's a blessing to understand the truth. It's
a blessing to understand the gospel. And don't think I'm in
any way taking away from the importance of that. But it's
not my understanding that makes me free. It's the truth Himself
who makes me free. I can't make myself free. I know
that. I can't do something to make myself free. Only the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself can make me free. And that's exactly what
He does. He makes me free. You know, when He bowed His head
and said, It is finished. Most blessed words ever spoken. When He said, It is finished,
I was liberated. I was completely free. You're looking at a free man. That's true of every believer.
You should know the truth. But it's not your understanding
of the truth that makes you free. It's the truth himself who makes
you free. I was set free by what the Lord
Jesus Christ did for me on Calvary Street. Now, let's go on reading
there in John chapter Eight, you shall know the truth and
the truth shall make you free. They answered him. They heard
him speaking and they answered him. We be Abraham's seed and
were never in bondage to any man. How sayest thou you shall
be made free? What a lie! When they say we've never been
in bondage to any man, they were under the thumb of the Roman
government at that time. And they were continually trying
to get out from under it. As a matter of fact, if you look
at the entire history of these people, how many times were they
brought into bondage? They were brought into bondage
by the Nebuchadnezzar in Belgium, you know, the 70 years of captivity.
You read the whole story of the children of Israel. They always
sinned against God. God lets them go into bondage.
So where they're getting off saying we've never been in bondage
to any man, that was a complete lie. They have been in bondage
many times to many men. Yet they're saying to the Lord,
what are you talking about us being made free? We've never
been in bondage. You're implying we're not free.
Here's what they're saying. We're free. We've got free will. We can believe when we want.
We can do whatever we want to. We have a free... We're free.
We're not in bondage. We're free. And look what the
Lord says to them in response to that. They answered Him, verse
33, We be Abraham's seed. We were never in bondage to any
man. How sayest thou then you shall be made free? Jesus answered
them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever commiteth sin
is the slave of sin. What's that mean? exactly what
it says. Whosoever committeth sin is the
slave of sin. Where does that put you? Verse 35. And the slave
abides not in the house forever. That one who commits the sin,
the slave, he doesn't stay in the house forever. But the Son
abideth forever. Now, if the sun, therefore, shall
make you free, you shall be free indeed. Now, here's true freedom. You talk about, we're never in
bondage. If the sun shall make you free,
let's think about what the Lord said. Free from what? Well, what's
he talking about in the context of this passage of scripture?
What's he say? If you commit sin, you're the
slave of sin. That's all you got to do is commit
sin, and that means you're the slave of sin. So when he's talking
about freedom, it has something to do with freedom from sin,
doesn't it? If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall
be free indeed. Now, the Son made me free from sin. What does that mean? Free from
sin. That's what he's talking about. If Christ has made you
free, you're free from sin. What's that mean? Because, I
mean, in my experience, in my experience right now, you done
any sinning today? Well, sure you have. Have you
done any sinning since you've been in here? Sure you have. In the last five seconds? Sure
you have. If your flesh is even involved, there's sin there.
So what is this thing? He's talking about being made
free from sin. What's he mean? Well, first of all, I've been
set free from the condemnation of sin. I will never have to
give an account to God for my sin because there's no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ the Lord on Calvary's
tree paid for all my sin. I have no sin for which to give
an account. Now that's free, isn't it? I mean, I'm even thinking
of the sins I've committed today. Do you know none of them? I'm
not going to give an account for any of them. Sins I'm going
to commit tomorrow, they've already been put away. Isn't that a blessing
thing to think about? I mean, all sin is gone. No condemnation if they're in
Christ Jesus. I don't have to give an account
for my sin. I'm not going to be punished for my sin. You know,
people talk about believers' sins being brought up on Judgment
Day and you'll be given a higher reward if you've had a holier
life or if you've had better. That works. No, I'm never going
to have to give an account for any of my sins. All believers
are perfect in Christ Jesus. complete in Christ Jesus. But
not only am I delivered from being condemned for my sin, I've
been delivered from the power of sin. Romans 6.14 says, Sin
shall not have dominion over you. For you're not under the
law, but you're under grace. I've been delivered from the
power of sin. And what that means is, there was a time in my own experience
when I Did not know what it meant to believe. I heard believe. And I wanted
to believe. I thought I did believe, but
I didn't know what it meant. I couldn't believe. I heard repent. I wanted to repent. But I didn't
know what it meant to repent. If somebody could just tell me
what it means, maybe I'd... What does it mean? I couldn't believe.
I couldn't repent. I couldn't love. I do now. I do believe now. There was a time when I couldn't.
I do now. I understand what it means to
rest in Christ. Do you? I understand what it
means to really believe that His blood is all I need to wash
away all my sins. I understand what it means to
really believe that his righteousness is my righteousness before God.
I love him. I love his people. I love everything
associated with him. I've been delivered from the
dominion of sin. There was a time when all that
was impossible for me. But I've been born again. I've
been born from above. I've been birthed by God. And
that's why I do these things. Liberation, and this is what
I was thinking. Turn with me to Romans 7 for
just a moment. This is liberation from a bad marriage to an unloving
husband. You know, one of the, I suppose,
one of the worst things life can bring somebody. Let's say
a woman married to a mean husband. that beat her, that kept her
under the law, that showed her no love, that was just abusive
to her, and so on. Can you imagine what a miserable
existence that would be? There wouldn't be any joy in
that. But look here at Romans chapter 7. Verse 1. Know ye not, brethren,
for I speak to them that know the law, that the law hath dominion
over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath a husband
is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth, but if
the husband be dead, She's loose from the law of her husband,
so that if while her husband lives, she shall be married to
another man and shall be called an adulteress. But if her husband
be dead, she's free from that law, so that she is no adulteress,
though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren,
you also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that
you should be married to another, even to him who was raised from
the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." Now, I
was married to the law. And the problem's not the law,
the problem's me. I'm a bad wife. But I've married to the law.
And the law doesn't know anything about mercy. The law doesn't
know anything about grace. The law doesn't know anything
about forgiveness. The law wasn't a good husband. All it could
do was beat me. That's it. Couldn't give me life.
Couldn't give me faith. Couldn't give me repentance.
Couldn't give me love. It would just beat me down. I'd do wrong,
and it'd slap me every time. The law. That's not the husband
I want to be married to. The law was honored by the Lord
Jesus Christ. I've become dead to that law.
The law has nothing to say. The law's dead. Put it away.
I'm married to a wonderful husband. Isn't it wonderful to be married
to him? I've been delivered from a bad marriage and brought into
the glorious liberty of the children of God. Liberated from human
religion and all its ridiculous rules and doctrines. One of these
days, liberated from the very presence of sin. Now, I haven't
experienced that yet, obviously, because I can't even understand
what it means. Can you imagine being without
sin? I can't even fantasize about
it. But I haven't experienced it.
You want to talk about liberty? But not only if the Son shall
make you free, you're free indeed. Not only am I liberated from
these things, I'm liberated to some things. I'm free to come to Jesus Christ
and I'm not going to be kicked out. I'm free to come to Him
at all times and I'm always welcome. I'm free to call God, the God
of heaven, the creator of the universe, my Father. I'm free to believe that all
Christ is and all that He did is mine. I'm free to really believe
that I am accepted in the Beloved and it can't get any better for
me than it is right now. I'm free to believe that. I'm
free to believe that everything is working together for my good
and His glory with no disclaimers. And we know that all things work
together for good. To them that love God, to them
who are called according to His purpose. I'm free to rejoice,
free to believe. Not only have I been liberated
from some things, I've been set free to do some things. Now,
if the Son shall make you free, and if you're free, if you know
anything about freedom, you know it's Him making you free, don't
you? You know you didn't have anything to do with it. You know
it's His work and His work alone. If the Son makes you free, you're
really free. It's not just talk. You're free
indeed. Now, I want to be a disciple
indeed, don't you? I want to be the right. I don't
I don't want to be a disciple in word. I don't want to be like
these people who they were said to believe that the Lord is a
failure. You're going to die in your sins. I don't want to be
in that crowd. I want to be a true out and out
disciple of Jesus Christ. Oh, I want to be his disciple,
don't you? Well, how do I go about continuing And I want to be truly made free. Not just talk about it. Not just
use the word. But if the Son shall make you
free, you shall be free indeed. A disciple indeed and free indeed. Now, if you're a believer, listen
to me. You're a disciple indeed. This
isn't talking about some kind of special group. This is every
believer. You're a disciple indeed. And
you are free. Indeed, you know, you can actually
look forward to death. You don't have to worry about
dying in your sins. You have no sin. You can look forward
to death and say, come on, it's going to be the best day ever. That's free. Let's pray.