The Truth Shall Make You Free

Nearly everyone listening to
my voice today is familiar with the words of scripture that I'm
about to read. And they know that the Lord Jesus
Christ spoke these words. Are you familiar with them? They're
found in John chapter 8 verse 32. Our Lord said, ye shall know
the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Are you familiar
with those words? I know that you are. You know
the Lord Jesus Christ spoke them. But here's the question. What
was the occasion? To whom did he speak these words? What was the occasion, and to
whom did our Lord speak these words? Ye shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free. Well, let's go back a few
verses. and ask the Spirit of God to
give us some understanding of these words. You know, when you
read a verse of scripture, you ought to read what's before the
verse and what follows the verse. Find out who's speaking and to
whom he's speaking, what the occasion is, what the subject
is. Let's find out. Well, in John
chapter 8, now, turn in your Bibles to the 8th chapter of
John, and let's look at verse 23. Let's go all the way back
to verse 23. And listen to the Lord. He said
unto them, this group of people to whom he was speaking, he said
unto them, you are from beneath, I am from above. You're of this
world, I'm not of this world. You're from beneath, I'm from
above. This is the awful distance, whether you understand it or
not, but this is the awful distance between me and God. The Word of God says your sins
have separated you from your God. The Word says God's in the
heavens, God's in his holy temple, and you are upon the earth. God
is holy, pure, dwelling in a light to which no man can approach,
and you are sinful and defiled and dwelling upon this earth.
You're from beneath, I'm from above. You're sons of Adam. I'm
the only begotten Son of God. You are of this world, I'm not
of this world." Do you get the picture? That's what he says
when he starts off this message. He says, you're from beneath,
called the dune hill in the book of Samuel, and I'm from above.
What an awful distance. Then verse 24, look at verse
24, "...therefore," he said, "...I said unto you," you who
are from beneath, and I from above." I from above have said
unto you who are from beneath, I who am not of this world have
said unto you that are of this world, you shall die in your
sins. You shall die in your sins if
you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins. Now,
that's a frightening prospect. That's a terrible, terrible judgment. You shall die in your sins. You
were born in sin. Do any of you doubt that? I was
shaped in iniquity, I was conceived in sin, I was brought forth from
my mother's womb speaking lies, we were born in sin. Not only
born in sin, we've lived in sin. All that sin then comes short
of the glory of God. Solomon says there's not a just
man on this earth that doeth good, and sin is not. And God
said he looked down from heaven to see if there's any that did
understand, any that did do good. They're all gone out of the way.
We are not only born in sin, we lived in sin, and we have
no power to rise above sin. No man has any power out there
to fully conquer sin, any more than the Ethiopian can change
his skin or the leopard his spots. Therefore, because we are born
in sin and lived in sin and have no power to break the shackles
of sin, we are going to die in sin. We are going to die in our
sins and be forever damned in our sins unless Unless, and he
offers some hope here, if you believe not that I am he, you
shall die in your sins. Now really the word he is in
italics there in your Bible, if you'll notice it while you're
reading, meaning it's supplied by the translators. So really
he's saying this, you'll die in your sins if you believe not
that I am, you'll die in your sins. Who is I am? When do you
run across that person in the Bible? Well, back in Exodus chapter
3, Moses was up on that mountain, standing by the bush that burned
and was not consumed. And God spoke to him. He said,
Moses, take off your shoes, you're on holy ground. And Moses took
off his shoes, and God spoke to him. And God told him how
he would deliver Israel from Egypt, and how he would use Moses
to deliver the people of Palmas out of the land of slavery. And
Moses said, Lord, when I go down there and tell them that you've
sent me to deliver them from the land of slavery and bondage,
they're going to ask me, this Lord you represent, this Lord
who sent you, what's his name? What's his name? Now, what am
I going to say? And the voice came from heaven,
I am that I am. That's my name. And Jesus Christ
is saying here, and I brought talked about this last week.
He's saying, I am from above, you're from beneath. You're from
the world, and I'm not of the world. And you're going to die
in your sins, having been born in sin and lived in sin. You're
going to die in your sins if you don't believe that I am.
I am that I am. I am. God is in the person of Christ. God
came down to this earth in the person of Christ and spoke to
us, preached to us, brought the gospel to us as our prophet,
secured that gospel as our priest, and reigns to intercede and to
apply that gospel as our King. And he says, I am. I am. If you don't believe that, you're
going to die in your sin. Then verse 25, here's their response.
Then said they unto Jesus Christ, who are you? Who are you? Who are you? His words so pricked
their hearts. And I'm sure as I spoke those
words after all these years and being such a frail man as I am,
still it shook you a little bit, didn't it? I can't speak those
words without being shaken by them. And they were. They were
shaken. They were pricked in their hearts. They were stunned
and out of fear or frustration or something they cried, Who
are you? Who are you? Well, he said this, even the
same that I said to you from the beginning, that's who I am,
from the beginning, from the beginning of the world. I told
you who I am, I am that I am. I told you who I am in the beginning,
God created the heavens and the earth. From the beginning of
my ministry, I told you who I am. John the Baptist said, Behold
the Lamb of God. I told you I and my Father are
one. And from the beginning of this message, when I started
speaking to you a little while ago, I said this, I'm the light
of the world. I'm the light of the world. He
that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, because I'm the
light of the world. I'm the bread of life. I'm the
door. I'm the way, the truth, and the
life. I'm Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. I am he that
was dead and am alive forevermore, he told them later. He always
told men who he is. I am, I am. I am that I am." Then verse 26, listen to this,
John 8, verse 26, right on down to the next verse. He said, and
I have many other things to say about you. I have many other
things to say about you, things that will judge you and condemn
you. He had already said many of those
things. He said, you will not come to me that you might have
life. He said, Let another come in his own name, and him you
will receive. I've come in my Father's name, and you won't
receive me. He said, You have not the love of God in you. For
him whom God has sent you do not love. He said, You seek not
the honor that comes from God, you seek honor that comes from
men. He said, You neither know me nor my Father. He that sent
me is true, and I speak those things about you that I have
heard of him. And I have many things yet to say about you that
will judge you and condemn you." And then the next verse says,
"...and they understood not, they understood not, that he
spake to them of the Father." Oh, the dullness of the human
heart. But he adds this, now listen
to this, our Lord adds this, but verse 28, "...when you have crucified or lifted up,"
that's what he means when he says, when you've lifted up the
Son of Man. As Moses lifted up the serpent, even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up. When you have lifted up or crucified
the Son of Man, then shall you know that I am, that I am. In other words, he's saying that
his crucifixion, his resurrection, his ascension would be followed
by such manifestations of divine glory that his words would be
fully vindicated, and many, even of them, would be convinced that
he is indeed the Messiah, he is indeed the Christ. The thief
on the cross saw it. As he hung there beside Jesus
Christ in death, he turned and said, Lord, you're not going
to stay dead. You're coming into a kingdom. Remember me when you
come into your kingdom. That centurion standing by the
cross when Jesus Christ died lifted up his eyes and said,
Surely this man is the Son of God. And the disciples were convinced
and they owned him, and the people at Pentecost who heard the message
of Peter, they heard him and they believed him. So he said,
When you've lifted up the Son of Man, when you've crucified
him, when you've crucified him, Then shall ye know that I am,
I am." Then in verse 29, and he said, And the Father is with
me, the Father hath not left me alone, I always please him,
I always do those things that please him. Did not the Father
say, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased? My
Father is with me, he hath not left me alone, because I always
do those things that please him. And as he spake these words,
many believed on him. Many believed as he spake these
words. Now, you know the words he said. You're from beneath,
I'm from above. Now, you're going to die in your
sins if you believe not that I am. You shall die in your sins. They said, well, who are you?
And he said, the same as I told you. I told you from the beginning. And he said, I've got more things
to say about you and more things to say concerning you, things
that will judge you and condemn you, but I want you to know this.
When you've lifted up the Son of Man, when you've crucified
the Son of God, you'll believe, you'll know that I am, that I
am, that I am, that I am. And he said, the Father has never
left me and the Father is with me. And when he said that, many
believed on him. Many joined up. Many made decisions. Many believed on him. Now, these
words occur often in the scripture. Many believed on him. I found
them five or six times just in the book of John. In John 2.23,
it says, When they saw the miracles, many believed on him. In John
7.31, it says, And many believed on him. In John 10.42, it says,
And many believed on him there. They made decisions. In John
11.42, it says, When Lazarus was raised, many believed on
him. So here, when he spake these
words, These powerful words. Many believed on him. How did he respond to them? What
did he have to say to these people who said, we believe, we believe.
When Christ comes, shall any man do any greater work than
this man? We believe. How did Christ respond to them?
What did he have to say to them? Let me read it to you. Verse
31, John 8. Now listen to our Lord as he
spoke to these people who made a profession who said they believed,
who wanted to join forces with him, he spoke to them. And he
said, Then Jesus said to these Jews which believed on him, watch
it, If you continue, if you continue in my word, if you continue in
my word, in my way, in my fellowship, in my folk, then are you my disciples. indeed, and ye shall know the
truth, and the truth shall make you free." Do you see why I read
these verses that were spoken before? Do you see why I read
them? You remember all that he said.
And then when he got through talking to them, many believed
on him. They believed, they made a profession. You can just see
the same thing happening in our day. Down the aisle, people come,
they believe, they decide, they make professions, they get religion,
they get excited, they hear a sermon, they hear these words and they
heard the words of Christ, and they believed. Many believed
on him. And this happened frequently in his ministry. It happened
frequently. I read it to you five times in the book of John.
Many, many, many, many believed on him. Where were these people
when he died? Where were these people when he was crucified?
Where were these people when he was forsaken of all men? Where
were these people when he was deserted by all men? Where were
they? They were all along the wayside. So he speaks to them,
these that believed on his name, and he said to them, there they
were in front of him, and he said, I'll tell you something,
if you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed.
In other words, a great big deal. A great big if hovers over all
these professors like a cloud. If, if you continue. Paul said that in Colossians
1, he said, and you hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through
death, that he might present you holy, unblameable, unreprovable
in his sight, if, if you continue in the faith and be not moved
away from the gospel, grounded and settled. Paul used these
words in Hebrews 3. He said, we're made partakers
of Christ, no question. If we hold fast the beginning
of our confidence, steadfast to the end, what are you saying,
Preacher? I'm saying this, that continuing
in the faith, persevering in the grace of God, is not a condition
of salvation at all, but it's the undeniable proof and evidence
that a man's been born again. He that endures to the end, the
same shall be saved. Now, false faith can do many
things. False profession can do many
things. But these things that they do, false professors, they'll
soon be exposed for what they are. False faith can rise to
a high office like Judas. False faith can follow the miracles
like those in John 2. False faith can eat the loaves
and fishes and cry for more. False faith can be baptized like
Simon Magus. False faith can give offerings
like Ananias and Sapphira. False faith can follow preachers
like Demas. But let me tell you this, true
faith, true saving faith, continues to look to Christ, rest in Christ,
believe in Christ, bow to Christ, until like Abraham and those
faithful men of Hebrews 11, it dies in the faith. That's right,
they die in the faith. True faith will acknowledge Christ,
bow to Christ, and continue in Christ all the days of my life. And that's what our Lord is saying.
If many believed on him, and he looked at them who claimed
to believe on him, he said, if you continue, if you continue
in my word, When your faith has been tested, tested by time and
tested by trouble and tested by trials and tested by tribulation,
when your faith has been tested and you continue, then are you
my disciples indeed. And my friends, true faith will
be tested. The Apostle Paul said if you
be without chastening, if you be without trial, without trouble,
without God dealing with you in discipline, then you're not
a son. And James deals with that in James 1, he says, My brethren,
count it all joy when you fall into different temptations, knowing
this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let
patience have its perfect work. Then Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1,
verse 6, wherein you greatly rejoice. Though now for a season
you are in many trials, manifold temptations is many trials, that
the trial of your faith, being more precious than of gold that
perisheth, might be found unto the praise and honor and glory
at the appearing of Jesus Christ." This faith, the faith of God's
people, the faith of God's elect, is called precious faith. You
know there are not many things in the Bible called precious?
His blood is precious blood. His promises are precious promises. And the scripture says he is
precious unto you that believe he is precious. And the death
of his saints is precious to the Lord. But here our faith
is called precious, identified with those other four precious
things, precious faith. And he said, your faith, when
your faith is tried, it will be like that gold. It will endure
the fire and it will come out stronger And it will come out
more valuable, and it will not perish. It will not perish. You see, trials come from God. God is the first cause of all
things. And any trial in the life of
a believer, any trouble, any temptation in the life of a believer,
is of God. He is the first cause. And trials
do not produce faith, they are not given to produce faith, they
are given to prove faith. Like when Abraham went up on
the mountain with his son Isaac to sacrifice him, and when God
told him to hold back his hand and touch not the lad, God said,
Now, now it is proven, it is clear that you love me. This
trial didn't produce love for God in the heart of Abraham,
it revealed love for God. in the heart of Abraham. You
see, trials strengthen real faith. Trials do not destroy faith,
trials strengthen faith. They prove faith, they reveal
faith, and they strengthen faith and expose false faith. The true
people of God, like Abraham, will endure to the end. In other
words, Christ said, if you continue, in my word, in my way, in my
fellowship. Then, after all the afflictions
and suffering and trial, then are you my disciples indeed.
Not just in profession, not in name only, not in form, not just
in association, but indeed. In other words, true faith in
Christ will literally throb in a man's pulse. True faith in
Jesus Christ will look out of the eyes. True faith in Jesus
Christ will light up the countenance. True faith in Jesus Christ will
soften the touch, mellow the voice, bow the head, bend the
knee, open the hand, curb the tongue, humble the heart, order
the steps, and give to a person a hearing ear, a forgiving spirit,
and peace of conscience, if you continue in my word, in my way. Then, after all the trials and
troubles and heartaches and afflictions that this life brings to pass,
and our Lord tells us that, he warns us, he says, in this world
you'll have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I've overcome
the world. And after all of these troubles
and sorrows, if you continue in my word, then are you my disciples
indeed. And, watch this now, you shall
know the truth. You shall know the truth. Now,
my friends, the truth is not a series of doctrines. The truth is not giving mental
assent to some facts. You see, in that way, Satan knows
the truth. James said, you believe in one
God? Well, you do well, the devil believes that. Do you believe
Jesus Christ died on the cross? Well, the devil was there when
he died. He tried his best to keep him from going to the cross.
The truth here is not a series of doctrines. It's not a systematic
theology. It's not believing a creed. The truth here is a person. You
know the truth. Christ is the truth. I am the
truth. And when he says, if you continue
in me, in my word, in my fellowship, then are you my disciples, you're
my followers, you're my people, you're my sheep, and you'll know
me, and I'll set you free. I'll set you free. So you hear
people say, well, you know the Bible says you know the truth,
the truth will set you free. No, I'm sorry, that's not knowing
a doctrine and being freed by a doctrine. That's not giving
mental assent to some facts and being set free by some facts.
It's knowing a person. And this whole thing started
out when he said, I'm from above, you're from beneath. I'm not
of this world, you're of this world. If you believe not that
I am, who I am, you'll die in your sins. And he reveals to
them who he is. He said, you're going to lift
up the Son of Man, then you'll believe that I am he, I am him. And many
believed on him. They said, we believe you. And
he said, now if you really do, believe me, if you really do,
if you're not just making a profession, if you're not just making a decision,
if you're not just holding up your hand, if you're not just
trying to get to heaven, if you're not just trying to get a new
suit and a new car and a new house, if you really continue
in me, in my work, then through all of life and all the struggles
and trials and conflicts and afflictions, If you continue,
you're my disciples indeed, and you'll know me, the truth. I am the truth, and I'll set
you free. I'll set you free from the curse
of the law. I'll set you free from the condemnation
of sin. I'll set you free from religious
tradition. You'll not be bowed down and
bent on it any longer. I'll set you free from the bondage
of legalism. I'll set you free from self-righteousness,
the damning effect of it. I'll set you free from anxious
care and worry. You can rest in me. I care for
you. Cast your cares on me. I care
for you. I will keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on thee. Not on a truth, on a person.
Not on a doctrine, on a person. And I'll deliver you from fear.
I'll set you free from fear of men. I'll set you free from fear
of death and fear of judgment. He sets the captive free. Do
you see what I'm talking about? Oh, I hope you do. I'm living
in a day of religion, a day of decisions, a day of profession,
a day of hand-raising, a day of hour-walking, a day of come
and go, here and there, in and out, up and down, hot and cold. But I'm preaching a person. He
is the truth. He's the way, the truth, and
the life. And he said, if you continue
with me, in me, of me, through me in my word, then you're my
disciples, my disciples, my people, and you'll know me. I'll set
you free. And if the Son shall set you
free, you'll be free indeed.

The Truth Shall Make You Free

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The Truth Shall Make You Free

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