True Liberty

I want you to turn to the 8th
chapter of John. We'll be using this for our text
tonight, but I want to read you a verse of Scripture from 2 Corinthians
3, verse 17. Now, the Lord is that Spirit,
and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. There is liberty. Now we're not
talking about the liberty which our nation provides. I wish every man could live in
a free country and enjoy the liberty that we enjoy. But a
man can live in a free country like America and still be in
bondage. For our Lord in this eighth chapter
of John kept talking about being free. being free, being free
indeed. He said in verse 32, And ye shall
know the truth, and the truth shall make you free, free. And then he said in verse 36,
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. Now these Jews answered him when
he said that. He shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free." They said, why, we're Abraham's
children. We were never in bondage to any
man. What are you talking about being
made free? You and I might speak like they
spoke. We were never in bondage to any
man. We don't know anything about
slavery and bondage, do we? Perhaps we're in bondage to ourselves
and don't know it. Perhaps we forged our own chains. They did. They were in bondage
and did not know it. They were in slavery and did
not know it. That's the reason Christ talked to them about being
free. Now, we're not talking about the freedom of this body,
political freedom, social freedom. We're talking about spiritual
freedom. And it's very possible for us to be like these Jews,
free politically and free socially, but in bondage spiritually. Let
me give you a few illustrations. First of all, verse 19 of John
8. Then said they unto him, Where
is your father? And Jesus answered, Ye neither
know me nor my father. My friends, there's a bondage
of ignorance. Ignorance is a bondage. These
people were in the bondage of ignorance. Ignorance blinds people. Ignorance enslaves them to lies. Ignorance sends them down a path
of destruction. Paul said, If our gospel be hid,
it is hid to them who are lost, in whom the God of this world
hath blinded them. There is no greater bondage than
the bondage of ignorance. Did you know that? That's what
Christ was talking about. He said to these men, If the
truth If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.
You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
And they said, we're not in bondage. And what he's talking about here
is the bondage of ignorance. They were enslaved in ignorance. They did not know God. I'll show
you another bondage. And that is the bondage of religious
tradition. Look back at verse 3. And the
scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman. taken in adultery. And when they had set her in
the mist, they said unto him, Master, this woman was taken
in adultery in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded
us that such should be stoned, what sayest thou? Their tradition
had bound them so tightly it had emptied them of compassion.
Their religious tradition had wrapped them so tightly, enslaved
that it had filled them with self-righteousness and made them
judges of others. It had made their tradition more
important than the individual. Their Sabbath day was more important
than a man being healed. Their Sabbath day was more important
than a man being fed. Their law was more important
than the individual. and the compassion they ought
to have had. They were wrapped up in religious
tradition and enslaved in this tradition. In Matthew chapter
23, our Lord said this to these men, in Matthew 23, he said,
You tithe, you tithe anise, mint, cumin, Matthew 23, verse 23,
and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, the more
important matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. You ought to have done the other,
but not to leave these undone. A man can be free, his body can
be free, politically, socially, and yet be enslaved in bondage
to ignorance, to religious tradition. These men work. This is what
Christ did. I'll show you another bondage. There's the bondage of ignorance.
There's no worse slavery than ignorance. There's no worse bondage
than ignorance. There's no worse cell than to
be in the dark cell of ignorance and not know what's going on
out there. Or to be wrapped up in tradition. Or to be in the
bondage of doctrinal creed. In verse 33, they said, We be
Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man. What are
you talking about? You shall be free. Now look at
verse 37. Christ said, I know you are Abraham's seed, but my word hath no place in
you. You seek to kill me because my
word hath no place in you." They had their creed, they had their
orthodoxy, they had their doctrinal position all set, all established,
and his word did not fit into their doctrinal pattern, so therefore
they rejected his word. Now, how many of us have been
in this same position? We have established our systematic
theology, we have established our doctrinal pattern, and it
leaves no room for the scriptures. We be Abraham's seed. Christ
said, I know you're Abraham's seed. I know you're orthodox.
I know you're traditional. I know you're fundamental. I
know that you have your rules and laws, and yet my word hath
no place in you. I tell you, I don't want to be
so much of a Baptist that I cannot read a portion of God's word
and receive it with joy. I don't want to be so much of
a Calvinist that I can't read the scriptures dealing with responsibility
and not rejoice therein. I don't want to be so much of
a person bound to an ordinance that I cannot read God's word
and follow what it says. Charles Spurgeon once said, he
who tries to be consistent with himself And oh, how often religious
people try to be consistent with their particular brand. We have our names, Baptist, Methodist,
Presbyterian, Catholic, Nazarene, Pentecostal, all the rest of
them, Calvinist, Arminian, Fundamentalist, Baptistic, all these things.
He who tries to be consistent with himself will find in the
end that he's been consistent with a fool. Beware of the slavery of doctrinal
creeds. Names other than the name of
Christ are enslaving. Now that's true. Whether you
call yourself a postmillennialist or an armillennialist or a premillennialist,
if you get under a name, in submission to a name, you're in slavery.
Because you're not open to receive the broad revelation of God's
Word. That's what's wrong with all
these names. Beware of the slavery of doctrinal creed. Seek the
liberty of the word. Seek the liberty of the word.
It's a bondage. You shall know the truth, he
said, and the truth will make you free. Free. Why, they said, we're Abraham's
seed. We're not in bondage. Yes, you
are, he said. You're in the bondage of ignorance.
ignorance has blinded you. You don't know me and you don't
know my father. You're in the ignorance, the
bondage of ignorance. You're in the bondage of religious
tradition. You have a tradition that says
this must be done, whether it hurts the individual, whether
it is void of compassion or mercy or faith, it must be done because
our tradition calls for it. He said you're in the bondage
of doctrinal creeds. And then, verse 15, There is the bondage of prejudice. Prejudice. Look at verse 15. He said, You judge after the
flesh. You look on a matter and judge it according to the flesh.
Are we in this bondage? Do we glory in appearance? Do
we judge according to the flesh? We have to. We can't look on
the heart, then we ought not judge at all. Can we learn something from the
story of David's anointing? Turn to 1 Samuel 16. In 1 Samuel
16. Now listen to this. And the Lord
said to Samuel, verse 1, 1 Samuel 16. The Lord said, Samuel, how
long are you going to mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected
him from reigning over Israel? Fill thine horn with oil and
go. I will send thee to Jesse, the Bethlehemite. And I have
provided me, for I have provided me a king among his sons. And
Samuel said, How can I go? Saul hears about it, and he'll
kill me. And the Lord said, Take an heifer with thee, and say,
I am come to sacrifice to the Lord. And call Jesse to the sacrifice,
and I'll show thee what thou wilt do. And thou shalt anoint
unto me him whom I name unto thee. Samuel did that which the
Lord spake, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled
at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably? He said peaceably,
I'm come to sacrifice unto the Lord. Sanctify yourselves and
come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his
sons and called them to the sacrifice. And it came to pass when they
were come that he looked on aloud, that was the oldest boy and I
guess the most handsome, and he said, sure the Lord's anointing
is before him. But the Lord said, Samuel, look
not on his countenance. or on the height of his stature,
because I have refused him. For the Lord seeth not as man
seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."
Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. There's the bondage of prejudice
Judging a man by the color of his skin, judging a man by his
dress, judging a man by his outward appearance, that's bondage. Ye shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free. If the Son shall make you free,
you shall be free indeed. Where the Spirit of the Lord
is, there's liberty. I want to look at this tonight
now. Are we in bondage? Are we truly free? Has the Son
really made us free? Has the Son really made us free?
Are we really free? Now, I know it's insulting to
any American to talk about being in bondage or in slavery. But
I want to point out three things, and let's every one of us look
into our own hearts. First of all, in Christ there
is true liberty, there is true freedom from the bondage of sin. From the bondage of sin. Freedom
from the bondage of sin. This is the first liberty of
the believer. And yet there are multitudes
of professing Christians multitudes of professing Christians who
constantly carry about with them guilt, depression, fear. Is this consistent with freedom?
Are we free indeed? Our Lord said, I have cast your
sins behind my back. Our Lord said, I remember your
sins no more. Our Lord said, I have separated
your sins from me as far as the east is from the west. Our Lord
said, I have cast thy sins into the depths of the sea. Yet here
I am, still depressed, still filled with guilt, still in fear
because of my sins. I am not free. I am not free. I am not free indeed. You shall
know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. If the Son
shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. Now here is true
freedom. That's not freedom. If I go about
under guilt and depression and fear and constantly trouble over
my sin, I'm not free. Because in Christ, truly in Christ,
turn to Romans 8.1, we are free from the penalty of sin. Romans
8, chapter 1, I look at it, there is therefore now no condemnation,
and the word is judgment, no judgment to them who are in Christ
Jesus. The moment a sinner believes
and trusts in the crucified Lord, his pardon at once he receives. Salvation is poured through the
blood. Paul said in verse 33 of Romans 8, who can lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? Verse 34, who is he that condemneth? This true liberty, this true
spiritual liberty in Christ totally frees us from the penalty of
sin. There is no penalty. I have nothing
about which to be depressed or troubled or in fear because of
the penalty of sin. It's been removed. And I'll tell
you something else. This freedom in Christ, if the
Son shall make you free, you'll be free indeed. This freedom
gives me total freedom from the guilt of sin. Listen to what Spurgeon said
about this. Is a believer no more a sinner
in God's sight in the person of Christ, the
believer, is no more a sinner in God's sight than the angel
Gabriel. An angel cannot be more pure
than the one who is washed in the blood of Christ, for in Christ's
blood we are whiter than the snow. He asked this question, Do you
understand how that our very guilt is taken away? Here I stood,
a guilty rebel. Christ came and said to me, I
will stand where you stand. I will take your place. I will
bear your guilt. I will suffer for it. I will
die for it. He gives me his royal robe of
righteousness, and he takes my place, gives me his place, And
in him I stand free from every sin. There is not and can never
be one charge against me made by anyone in heaven, earth, or
hell, for I am holy in Christ." And he continued, "...therefore
I refuse to bear about in my mind and body the guilt which
sent my Lord to the cross." I refuse to be depressed in my heart and
soul under a load of guilt that has already been settled at the
cross of Calvary. I'm free indeed." You see what he's saying? That's
what our Lord is saying to these Jews here. They ran around talking
about freedom. They were free. They were free.
He said, you're not free. If you knew the truth, you'd
be free. If the Son ever sets you free, you'll be free indeed.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. The bird
is out of the cage. And we, what we call Bible believers
and religionists, we talk about freedom. We've been saved from
our sins, and yet we carry about that load of guilt, that load
of depression. and that constant fear and those
constant doubts. Free? Is this freedom? Scripture
tells us there is no condemnation to them who in Christ, therefore
being justified by faith, we have what? Peace. Come unto me,
Christ said, I'll give you rest. Christ has freed us from the
penalty of sin. Sin's penalty just doesn't even
exist. And sin's guilt no longer exists. There's no reason for me to bear
about the same guilt for which my Lord died, and I refuse to
do it. I'm free from guilt. Now, this doesn't free us from
an awareness of our infirmities and an awareness of our guilt
and an awareness of our failure. It just makes us lean more on
Him. All right? Notice this. Turn
to Romans 6, verse 14. We're not only free from sin's
penalty, totally free, and free from sin's guilt, but we're free,
totally free, from sin's power, the reigning power of sin. Romans
6, verse 14. Sin shall not have dominion over
you. You're not under the law, you're
under grace. Sin shall not have dominion over
you. You're not under the law, you're
under the grace of God. Now the unbeliever, the lost
person, is under the dominion, the reigning power of an evil
nature. He delights in it. He finds his
happiness in the flesh. While the believer recognizes
the nature of flesh in him, he doesn't delight in it. He delights in truth, beauty,
righteousness, and love. Sin may remain in the believer,
but it cannot reign in the believer. Now here's the difference. The
unbeliever treats religion as a visitor. The believer treats
sin as a visitor. He will not be dominated by this
unwelcome guest. I am a child of God. I am in
Christ Jesus. I am an heir of glory. I rejoice
in Christ, who is my King and my Lord, and I want my life to
be a life that will glorify his name and please him and be in
accordance with his will. Sin does not reign. It is not
my delight. Someone said to Spurgeon one
time, Well, you think a Christian can live like he wants to. He
said, No, I don't. He said, I wish I could live
like I want to. I want to be just like Christ.
I wish I could be just like him. Brethren, this freedom in Christ,
this freedom is a true freedom. It's free indeed. It's free from
sin's penalty. We don't fear it. We don't dread
it. It doesn't even exist. We're free from the shackles
and centers of sin's condemnation. And we're totally free from sin's
guilt. Christ has borne it, paid for
it, carried it away, carried it like the scapegoat out in
the wilderness, and it's no longer upon us. I am as holy and unreprovable
and unblameable in God's sight as the angel Gabriel, and more
so because I'm in Christ. And I am free from the dominion
of sin, the reigning power of sin. Sin is there, but sin is
there as a vista. Sin is not a member of the family. I'll show you another freedom.
If you will turn quickly to Romans 8 again. In Christ we're free
from the bondage, the bondage of sin. It's penalty, it's guilt,
it's dominion. Someday it's their presence.
We're going to be like Christ. But secondly, in Christ we have
another freedom. Freedom from fear. freedom from
the bondage of fear. Look at Romans 8 verse 15. You
have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear. You have not received the spirit
of bondage again to fear, but you receive the spirit of adoption
whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Now listen to a few statements
here. Some people are honest because
they fear the policeman. Some people are sober because
they fear shame. Some people are moral because
they fear public opinion. Some people are religious because
they fear hell. One man said this one time. I
was reading his testimony. He said, I went to God's house
because I feared not to. I prayed because I feared if
I didn't, I'd suffer misfortune. If I thanked God for a blessing,
it was because I was afraid if I didn't, I wouldn't get another
blessing. If I performed a good work, it was because I feared
that if I did not do good occasionally, I'd miss a reward in heaven.
I suddenly woke up one day and realized that I was motivated
entirely by fear. And here it says, we have not
received the bondage again to fear. That's not our motivation.
It is not fear. Christ frees us from the fear
of the law. We go to God's house because,
as David said, I was glad when they said to me, let's go to
the house of the Lord. We study and we pray because we love his
presence and love his word. We give because we want to share
the blessings that he has given us with others less fortunate.
We are not motivated by fear of God, but by love for Christ. The love of Christ constraineth
me. The love of Christ motivates
me. In Christ there's a freedom from
fear. The fear of the law, the fear
of hell, the fear of judgment. And then Christ frees us from
the fear of death. Now the world calls death the
grim reaper. Most men look upon death as their
greatest enemy. Most men are slaves to the fear
of death. They tremble and shrink at any
thought or mention of death. I believe just as Christ gives
us freedom from the bondage of sin and freedom from the bondage
of fear of the law, its curse, he gives us freedom from the
fear of death. What is death? Well, first of
all, the word of God calls it sleep. Those who sleep in Jesus You
know, if death is sleep, then we die every night when we close
our eyes in sleep. Did you know that? We die when
we close our eyes in sleep. Every night. And won't the passing
of the believer be something like that? He closes his eyes
on this earth and opens them in the presence of the Lord.
The hymn writer put it this way, when comes to the weary a blessed
release, when upward I pass to God's kingdom of peace, when
free from the woes that on earth we must bear, we'll say good
night here, good morning up there. When fadeth the day and dark
shadows draw nigh, with Christ close at hand, it's not death
to die, for he'll wipe every tear, he'll roll away every care,
we'll say good night here and good morning up there. Good morning
up there, where Christ is the light. Good morning up there,
where cometh no night. When we step from this earth
to God's heaven so fair, we'll say good night here, good morning
up there. What is death? It is sleep. What
is death? The scripture says it's gain.
We don't fear sleep, nor do we fear gain. To live is Christ,
to die is gain. We gain a new body, we gain eternal
glory, we gain eternal happiness. What is death? It's deliverance.
Paul said, who shall deliver me? It's deliverance from sin,
from sorrow, from sickness, from trials, from tears. That's what
death is. It's deliverance. Do you have this freedom? That's
what he's talking about here in John 8. If you know the truth,
The truth will make you free. Ignorance is slavery. Religious
tradition is just another form of bondage. Doctrinal creed is
just another form of bondage. Prejudice, custom, all these
things that are just something to enslave us and keep us under
a bondage of fear. But if you know the truth, It'll
set you free like a bird out of a cage. If you know the Son,
if the Son really comes in, the S-O-N, the Son of God, why, you
shall be free indeed. Where the Spirit of God is, there's
liberty. There's liberty, freedom from
the bondage of sin. It's guilt, it's dominion, it's
penalty. Freedom from the fear of the
law. We don't serve God out of fear. We don't give. We don't
work. We don't pray. We don't worship. None of these
things from a fear of hell. It's because we love Him. And then last of all, He gives
us a freedom from some things and He gives us a freedom to
some things. I've given you the negative side.
We're free from sin, from the law. from fear, from the fear
of death, we've got a freedom to some things. Here are four
of them. First of all, we're free to claim every promise of
this blessed book. It's yours. You're free to take
it. It's not for the unbeliever.
It's not for the unconverted. Here is a never-failing treasure
that's all yours. Here is a well that never runs
dry that's all yours. Here's a table spread for you
and for me. Every promise is ours in Christ. It's yours. You're free to take
it. Take it. Secondly, we're free to come
to the table of the Lord. Here is his body broken for us. Here is his blood shed for us.
Take and eat. This is my body broken for you.
My blood shed for you. Eat it. There it is. It's yours.
We're free to come to the throne of grace. Hebrews 4 says, let
us come boldly unto the throne of grace. You're free to having
boldness, brethren, to come into the holiest of all by the blood
of Christ. Come on into the presence of
God. You're welcome. You're free to come in. And then we're free, we're free
to come to heaven. Scripture says, when the king
came in, He saw a man which had not on a wedding garment, and
he said to him, Friend, how did you come in hither not having
on a wedding garment? And the man was speechless, and
the Lord said, Bind him hand and foot, and cast him out. There
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. But you are afraid
to come. Because you have on the prepared
wedding garment that blessed robe of righteousness which Christ
gives to you who believe on him, who trust him, who love him.
You are free to come into the presence of God. Freedom. I read these two passages yesterday
and this morning. You shall know the truth and
the truth shall make you free. If the Son shall make you free.
you shall be free indeed. And where the Spirit of the Lord
is, is liberty." Let's bow and pray. Our Father in Heaven, we pray
through Christ our Redeemer that we may be delivered from the
bondage, slavery, ceremonialism, legalism, human
work, human understanding, that we may be delivered from sin's
guilt, dominion, penalty, and power, from the fear of the law
and the fear of bondage and the fear of death, that we may be
brought into the glorious liberty of the sons of God, that we may
walk with thee in a precious and sweet fellowship, that we
may realize our inheritance and rejoice in it, that glorious
inheritance which we have in Christ Jesus, the precious promises
of this book, precious deliverance from all guilt and all sin to
a glorious peace with the living God. Our Father, speak to our
hearts through thy word. Give us an understanding Grant,
O Lord, that we shall partake of and enjoy this blessed inheritance
which Christ has purchased for us through his own blood on Calvary's
cross. Give us wisdom in Christ, righteousness
in Christ, sanctification in Christ. Help us to grow in grace
and in the knowledge of thy blessed Son. Get glory through the ministry
of the Word in this place. and where thy word is preached
this night. We ask it in Christ's name and
for his sake. Amen. Stand, please. Some thank the Lord for friends
and home, for mercy good and free. In prayer I would repeat, Thank
you, Lord, for saving my soul. Oh, thank you, Lord, for giving
to me Thy great salvation, so rich and free. Some thank Him for the flowers
that grow, some for the stars that shine. My heart is filled with joy and
praise, Thank you, Lord, for saving my
soul. For giving to me thy great salvation,
O Richard.

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