John 8:26-36

Let's turn to John chapter 8 and verse 26.

If you have a Bible, you can follow alone, but

all of the verses that I quote of course

will be on the screen for you to follow as

well.

Last time we covered verses 21 to 25, and in

that text is the continued interaction between

Jesus and the religious Jewish leaders.

Some of my favorite narrative in all of

scriptures is when Jesus gets into it with the

religious

leaders of Israel.

And three times, in verse 21 and 24, if you

were here last week, do you know that Jesus

told them what no person ever should want to

hear directly from the lips of Jesus himself.

Do you remember what it was last week?

He told them, "You will die in your sins,"

very straightforward.

And we also glean from that text four ways

that guarantee that any person will die in

their sins.

If you remember, number one, be self-righteous

.

Number two, be worldly.

Number three, be faithless.

And number four, be obstinate.

Be stubborn.

Just go on and keep up your rejection of

Christ and his gospel.

And you'll remember that they responded to

Jesus saying, "You will die in your sins."

Look in verse 25 with me, which says, "So they

were saying to him, 'Who are you?'"

And if you remember, we looked at the Greek

construction of that really, what they're

saying is, "Who in the world do you think you

are?"

Who do you think you are telling us that we,

Jewish religious leaders, are going to die

in our sins?

And then remember, Jesus responds to that next

in verse 25, "Jesus said to them, 'What

have I been saying to you from the beginning?'

"

And we went over multiple examples of what he

had been telling them over and over and

over throughout his three-year public ministry

.

So I just want to pick up, of course, right

where we left off and the flow of this text

now that gets your mind back to where we were

and look next in verse 26.

Jesus says here, "I have many things to speak

and to judge concerning you, but he who sent

me is true.

And the things which I heard from him, these I

speak to the world."

So he's saying here, "Hey, I have more to say

to you and what I say comes from God."

And notice, he says, "Things to speak and

things to judge."

So what more he has to say then includes this

subject of judgment.

There's been a lot of invitation.

We've seen it all throughout our study here of

the Gospel of John, like, "I am the light

of the world.

He who follows me shall not walk in darkness."

He's been giving these invitations over and

over and over in his messages, but what have

they been doing?

They've been constantly rejecting.

So as we saw last time, we're right here in

the time period of the last six months of

Jesus' life.

Calvary is just six months away.

And so now as we get right toward the end of

Jesus' three-year ministry, we are seeing

Jesus, the invitations are coming to a close,

and these judgment words are being said by

Jesus to these leaders like, "You will die in

your sins unless you believe."

Remember, "I am He.

I am God."

And just to show you how wellfully blind they

were, look at verse 27, next.

They did not realize, John says, that he had

been speaking to them about the Father.

Now that, if you've been listening to any of

my sermons here in John, and you've read

John for yourself, should just blow your mind,

right?

It's just like Jesus said earlier, "What have

I been saying to you from the beginning?"

And then in verse 28, he addresses them in

their ignorance.

So Jesus said, "When you lift up the Son of

Man, then you will know I am He, and I do

nothing on my own initiative, but I speak

these things as the Father has taught me."

And when he says, "When you lift up the Son of

Man," of course, you know, he's speaking

of his crucifixion.

He's saying, "When I'm crucified," which he

knew they were going to be responsible.

"When I'm lifted up, then you will know that I

am He," that great phrase, again, publicly

pronouncing that he is God in human flesh, the

one and only God-man, "I do nothing on

my own.

I only speak the things the Father taught me."

At that moment, he's saying, "You're going to

know, you're going to know that I came

from God, you'll know God sent me, you know

God speaks through me, and how would they

know?"

Well, let me give you some practical examples

connected right to the cross of how they would

know which they should already know, right?

Think about the events of the cross.

We don't often think about this very deeply.

Some of you, old-timers, and I don't say old-

timers as many as age, but I'm talking about

been

with me since the Cedar Crest days.

I preached through Matthew, right?

It took me five years to get through Matthew,

the longest period of time I ever took

preaching

a book.

But Matthew is so great, right?

We talked about the thick, black darkness that

came upon the land while Jesus was hanging

on the cross.

If you look at the Greek construction there,

the darkness on that first Good Friday was

so dark that you couldn't see your hand in

front of your face, all right?

So think about that.

Jesus is saying, "Hey, when I'm lifted up, you

're going to know."

Well, think about first that thick darkness in

the middle of the day, boom, the lights

go out.

And not only that, what happened at the same

time?

A massive earthquake.

So not only do you have thick darkness, you've

got to, the earth is rumbling.

And you remember what the Centurion said, the

Roman Centurion, surely this was the Son

of God, right?

But not only that, something we also forget.

The graves burst open as a result.

And what happened?

Dead people came back and started walking into

the town.

We forget about that.

But not only that, this, for the Jewish

religious leaders, has got to be one of the

most extraordinary

things.

The veil in the temple was ripped from top to

bottom.

That actually physically happened.

Now let me tell you how big that veil was.

The veil was 60 feet tall, and it was 30 feet

wide, and it was four inches thick.

And whoever was the first Jewish religious

leader that walked in there and saw that thing

completely ripped in half, which was

absolutely impossible for any human being to

do.

They had to have a stroke when they saw that.

No doubt a supernatural miracle, right?

So when Jesus is talking about, hey, when I'm

lifted up on that day, that I'm going

to be crucified, you're going to know, combine

all those things together that happened on

that first good Friday.

You talk about willfully ignorant, that's will

fully ignorant right there.

If you didn't get it after all that, you just

didn't want to.

Just evidence of total depravity I see in

scripture, total inability to come to Christ

unless the Holy Spirit draws you, as Jesus

made clear in John 6.

Then look at verse 29.

Jesus next is going to add the most essential

aspect of his claim, and that is his relation

to God the Father himself.

Look at verse 29, "And he who sent me is with

me, he has not left me alone, for I always

do the things that are pleasing to him."

So think about how many times Jesus, just in

the Gospel of John alone, has said these

kind of things to him.

So they knew who the main character was in

this sentence was God the Father, because

he's already said this so many times, and he's

just warning them right here to make

sure that they realize one more time, hey, I'm

not operating independently here, I'm

not only doing what the Father wants me to do,

but at the same time he's saying I'm

equal, I'm equal with the Father.

I always do the thing.

Remember we went over all of that.

Here we get to verse 30, "As he spoke these

things, many came to believe in him."

And as we said last time, well, there is the

alternative, right, that's the only

alternative,

is to believe.

The surface, once again, when you read that

many came to believe in him, and immediately

what is your reaction as a Christian, wow,

that's great, especially in the middle of

all this outright rejection that Jesus has

been experiencing, but it's extremely

important

saints that in context of this passage, we

need to analyze very carefully what Jesus

says and why Jesus says it right next in the

next verse, verse 31, after many believed,

look at verse 31.

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had

believed him, if, I'm telling you right now,

that's the most significant if in the

scripture, if you continue in my word, then

you are truly

disciples of mine, so what's the context here?

Well, clearly the context is about being a

true disciple.

You know this well, there are a lot of people

out there who profess to be Christians, many

people say that there are Christians, that's

very common in our culture today.

Many people you talk to, especially in America

, they just equate being a Christian as being

a quote unquote good person, now aside from

the fact that the Bible says there's none

good, no not one, right, but a good person on

man's standard of morality, not God's

standard of holiness, but most people will say

, yeah, I'm a Christian, if you ask them,

even if they never darken the door of a church

, you ever heard me and Jesus got our own thing

going, you know, that kind of deal, right?

But who is a true disciple, Jesus, that is a

very urgent question.

You have to be able to answer this for

yourself and those in your life around you,

and let

me tell you, this is not a question that is

superficially answered.

Listen to what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 13,

verse number five, look at it.

Ask yourselves to see if you are in the faith,

examine yourself, or do you not recognize

this about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in

you unless indeed you fail the test?

Paul is saying, test yourself to see whether

or not you're really in Christ.

See if you can pass the test.

And that's a similar issue to the words that

Jesus says here about being a true disciple

of mine, a true, genuine, authentic disciple.

And this is a very important question for us

to address at this point in our study of

John's Gospel here in chapter eight, because

all the way through, I want you to kind of

just kind of think back as we've studied

through John and we've been doing it for a

while.

But we've seen throughout John these different

situations that Jesus is in in ministry,

indications

of people believing, right, and faith.

And we've seen true faith, such as the early

disciples in chapter one, but don't forget,

we've also seen less than genuine faith here

in John's Gospel.

Like those in chapter two, remember what John

says this, Jesus didn't commit himself

to them because he knew what was in their

heart.

He knew their faith wasn't the real thing.

It said they were believing, but they were

just showing up for the goodies, right?

Remember Nicodemus, he started out as one of

these kinds of people.

He did at first believe that, yes, Jesus, you

are a teacher, come for God, or you can't

do what you do unless God sent you.

But as we learned, especially in that great

chapter three, just that is not enough.

That's a good start, no doubt.

But just that kind of intellectual ascent to

believe in the facts of the Gospel alone,

that is not saving faith.

So with that right there, that thought in mind

, we meet another group of believers here

at the end of verse 30, look what it says, who

came to believe in him.

And then look next in verse 31, he was saying

those Jews who had believed in him.

So in context, what kind of believers do we

have here?

Well, if you take note of the fact that we're

still in one continuous conversation here

in this text, this conversation is going to

continue down to verse 44 and beyond.

And by the time you get to verse 44, what does

Jesus say to these same people?

Verse 44, you are of your father, the devil,

whoa.

So how can it be that these people who believe

in Jesus in verses 31 and 30 be at the same

time people that Jesus calls children of the

devil?

Well, let's investigate this.

We've already learned here in John that there

is such a thing as a false disciple, right?

We've seen that more than once.

But we really haven't had a definitive

statement about what the test of true faith is

until

we get right here in John's Gospel to this

very passage.

And this folks, this is a huge issue in the

New Testament.

Think of passages like where Jesus says,

everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, well, not

here

in the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the

will of my father, remember, many will

say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, didn't we

do this and didn't we do that in your

name?

People out there in the name of Jesus doing

things.

And what did Jesus say?

I will declare to them what?

I never knew you.

I never knew you.

John writes in his first epistle, they went

out from us because why do they leave us?

Because they were not really of us, because if

they had been of us, they would have remained

with us.

Another example of false disciples, it seems

that there has been an uptick here in recent

years of nationally known pastors falling from

grace.

Even former pastors like Joshua Harris, who

now that guy totally renounces the Christian

faith.

He's not even a Christian anymore.

So how do we know who's real?

This has been an issue since the very start of

the church as we see in the Gospels and

the epistles.

And folks, this is a serious issue, even

though it's not a comfortable issue.

This is fly over country for most pastors,

right?

Well, I'll talk about this.

Let's just get to the good stuff.

The stuff that makes us feel good, well, you

know you're in the wrong church if you came

to hear one of those kind of sermons here

today already.

Folks, we have to deal with all things in the

Word of God.

We can't skip anything.

We can't skip uncomfortable passages like this

and we always give people the benefit

of the doubt.

I know I do.

You tell me you believe in Jesus, I believe

you.

Okay.

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt because

why?

I can't look into your heart.

I can't look into anybody's heart.

That's what judge not lest you be judged just

what Jesus is talking about.

You can't judge anybody's heart, but put that

in connection with at the same time we got

it all through scripture in the epistles and

the Gospels.

There are many people we just have to

acknowledge.

Not only do we experience it, but we see it

over and over in scripture.

Many people who profess faith in Christ, but

they really don't possess true saving faith.

So we can't escape dealing with this issue.

We can't pretend like this issue is not here.

So what does this text do?

It gives us an opportunity to look into this

issue biblically.

That's how we always want to come to every

situation, every issue biblically.

The best place to start is by looking at these

people here who are making the profession.

We have these Jews who according to verses 30

and 31 had believed it says in Jesus.

And as we will say, see that is this, we could

call it this initial kind of belief.

This is really easy to do.

Remember the crowds in chapter six that were

fed by Jesus and then they marched around

all the way around the other side of the lake

where he went because they wanted breakfast.

You remember those guys?

They were drawn by the miracles.

They were drawn by the benefits of the food

and the healing and it says they believed,

but they didn't believe savingly.

We studied that.

And people today are still seeking the

benefits that Jesus can provide.

What are they looking for?

Are they looking for Jesus?

No, many people are just looking for purpose,

right, fulfillment.

They're looking, they want more out of life.

They want to escape depression.

They want to feel secured or even some people

who actually believe in hell and they're

looking

for a fire escape from hell for all those

reasons and more.

They get into a place of starting to believe

in Jesus.

A lot of folks start in that direction.

You see this a lot in these big gigantic crus

ades.

If there's not an accurate gospel message, it

's not that people don't get saved in these

huge crusades.

They do.

I mean, I'm not saying that they don't, but

for the most part there are many people who

are seeking something other than Jesus.

They want peace.

They want purpose.

They want fulfillment.

And they come down for that reason.

But when the reality of life in this fallen

world comes down upon them with all of its

troubles and its adversity that start to

believe in Jesus, which was not full and

complete

faith.

If it was not genuine faith when they started

to believe in Jesus, what happens when the

trouble comes?

It crumbles.

It crumbles.

They go away.

We've seen that.

Listen to what JC Ryle says about this subject

.

This is the most dangerous spiritual condition

any person can ever be in where you're halfway

to Christ, inclined to Jesus, inclined to the

truth about Jesus, wanting what Jesus provides

and what he offers, but not willing to give in

to the full demands that he lays on the

center of repentance and faith in him,

declaration of his lordship turning from sin

toward righteousness.

That is the most dangerous position to be in

because that's the path of apostasy.

And if you go down that path and you reject

Jesus in the end and you be in apostate and

it's impossible to be renewed again to

repentance and you're guilty of trampling

underfoot the

blood of the covenant, and that is going to

bring the severest judgment in hell in, quote,

dangerous.

Clearly, this is a very serious issue.

Why?

Because it has eternal ramifications.

Now, we're going to see these believers in

verse 30 and 31 turn out to be nothing more

than children of the devil, according to Jesus

himself, and amazingly, he calls them

that straight to their face.

So there's a believing here and it starts out

in the right direction, but it ends up

woefully short.

So as we come to this text, I want you to see

two clear realities, okay?

There's two clear realities that I want you to

get out of this text.

Number one, the benchmark of true discipleship

and number two, the benefit of true disciples

hip.

That's going to be just two points for today.

The kind of belief that is just intellectual

ascent to the facts of the Gospel is never

enough for saving faith.

What does James say about this?

He says the devils what?

Believe and what?

They tremble.

Now, they have a very orthodox theology, right

?

They know more than we do, but they don't

surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

So what's the benchmark?

We'll look at verse 31.

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had

believed him, what's his message to them?

Oh, that's great.

Come over here and sign the card.

No.

If you continue in my word, then you are truly

disciples of mine.

So there is the benchmark perseverance,

endurance.

That's the issue.

How can you tell a true believer if you

continue in my word?

I'm telling you very often.

I remind myself in my prayers, Lord, by your

grace alone, I'm still here.

I first believed in 1997 is 2025, and I'm

still here.

I'm still believing.

I'm still in the church.

I'm still serving you.

My Christian walk may not be pretty, and

certainly it isn't.

My Christian walk is stained with lots of

remaining corruption, but by grace alone from

the first

moment of faith, right to this moment right

here today in 2025, it is God who has kept

me safe.

It is God who has persevered me, and at the

same time, I have persevered.

Right?

We talk about that.

Let me tell you, it's never, ever wrong for

you to pray God.

Please continue to sustain me in your grace.

Never wrong to pray that if, Jesus says.

You continue in my word, not ought to be under

lined in your Bible.

If you continue in my word, what does it mean?

It means obedience to everything Jesus said.

Now, listen carefully.

You may hear this phrase more than any other

phrase that you hear me say.

It's to Jesus, obedience to everything Jesus

says, not in the perfection of your life,

but in the direction of your life.

You understand?

We're talking about a life pattern of

obedience.

Flesh struggling as it is.

A life pattern of obedience, asking God to

forgive you every day even though at the same

time Jesus has forgiven you all of your sins,

acknowledging your sin, living in obedience

in the great commission, it says, go into all

the world and teach them to what?

Observe all things whatsoever, what I have

commanded you.

Folks, listen.

You need to understand this because this

charge, when we preach in this direction, gets

leveled.

This is not legalism, obedience to Christ.

This is not faith plus works.

No, we believe in faith alone.

What is this?

What am I talking about?

I'm talking about the result of faith.

I'm talking about the reaction of faith.

I'm talking about the consequence of a person

who has been truly regenerated by God is a

life pattern of obedience, not perfect, but

obedience.

He came to faith in Christ, you confess Jesus,

Lord, well, guess what?

He is the Lord, curious.

He are doulas in the Greek, which is slaves,

right?

He's the master, he's the king, he's the

sovereign ruler.

He gives the orders, he gives all the commands

, and what do we do?

Yes, Lord, yes, Lord.

We respond with obedience.

Listen to what he said in Matthew 7.

This just brings it home.

This is straight from Jesus himself in verses

24 to 27 of Matthew 7, therefore, everyone

who hears these words of mine and what acts,

that's action on them, may be compared to

a wise man who built his house on the rock in

the rain spell and the floods came and

the winds blew and slammed against the house

and yet it did not fall.

Why?

For it had been founded on the rock.

Everyone who hears these words of mine and

does what not act on them will be like a

foolish

man who built his house on the sand, the rain

fell, the floods came, the winds blew and

slammed against that house and it fell and

great was its fall.

The storm there, of course, is what, judgment.

And the house that falls is the house of one

who said, who said, but they didn't do.

Professional faith alone?

Never enough.

Look at Matthew 12.50.

Jesus, again, very clear, "For whoever does

the will of my Father who is in heaven, he

is my brother and sister and mother."

And then in Matthew chapter 10, verse 22, "You

will be hated by all because of my name,

but it is the one who endures to the end, who

will be saved, enduring not only the good

times, but also the hard times, also the gut-w

renching times, also the possible times of

persecution

even." A true believer church is marked by

perseverance in their faith, endurance, no

matter what life brings, no matter what God

has ordained for our sanctification, our faith

does not fail.

Now, it might get shaky, it might wobble, it

might stagger around like a boxer who has

taken some real, clean, unblocked headshots.

Have you ever seen a guy in a boxing ring just

take some smack-on shots, right?

And he's wobbling around.

That's our faith, but it never finally and

fully fails.

It remains to the end.

Jesus said later in John 14.15, and this one

is the big one, "If you love me, what?

You will keep my commandments."

Now let me ask you something.

Does that sound like a request from Jesus?

John writes in 1 John 2.4 through 6.

Listen to what John says, "The one who says, I

have come to know him, and does not keep

his commandments is a what, liar, and the

truth is not in him.

But whoever keeps his word in him, the love of

God has truly been perfected.

The one who says he abide in him, ought

himself to walk in the same manner as he

walked."

And how does Jesus walk in obedience to the

Father?

But we can't walk exactly like Jesus in

perfection.

We know that God is ordained for us to

struggle with our flesh again in the pattern

of our

life.

So what's the mark of a true believer?

It's not a profession alone.

You need a profession.

You need to confess with your mouth the Lord

Jesus, right?

But as Ed Lacey always told us, the mark of a

true believer is not some past event.

It's not signing a card.

It's not raising a hand.

It's not walking an aisle.

And as Ed used to say, it's not praying a

prayer that's found nowhere in the Bible.

Now you need a profession.

You need to profess the Lord Jesus Christ.

But the benchmark is a continuing life pattern

of obedience out of love and thanksgiving

that you have in your heart for who Christ is

and what he has done for you.

The benchmark is an enduring faith.

Now, we're responsible.

Don't get confused.

We can walk and chew gum at the same time.

God perseveres us, yes, through His grace.

But we are also responsible for persevering at

the same time.

Saving faith is a gift from God.

Enduring faith is a gift from God.

That's why the devil tried to destroy Job's

faith and he couldn't do it.

That's why the devil tried to destroy Peter's

faith and he couldn't do it.

That's why the devil assaulted the apostle

Paul and he could never destroy the apostle

Paul's faith because true saving faith is a

gift from God that cannot be destroyed.

And then on the opposite end, think about this

professing disciple of Jesus who woke

up every morning for three years with Jesus

and spent every hour with Jesus for three

years, Judas.

He said, "I believe."

And that faith that he had collapsed just on

the prospect that he wasn't going to get

as much out of this deal with Jesus as he

thought he deserved and he betrayed the Savior

.

He believed, he professed it.

So the benchmark of true disciple is endurance

, perseverance.

Next, I want to show you the benefit.

This is point two of true discipleship and the

benefit here in this text is very clear.

It's found in one simple statement.

Now, it's expanded in the conversation, but

the statement is found in verse 32.

Think at it and you will know the truth and

the truth will make you free.

That is a powerful statement.

Now we hear a lot about truth and freedom in

our culture today, don't we?

People are always seeking to find the truth

and be free.

Is anybody ever looking for ignorance?

I've never met anybody looking for ignorance.

Do you know anybody who was trying really hard

all their life to be stupid?

Now we may know some people that get there,

right?

But nobody actually purposely pursues being

stupid.

People are looking for truth and freedom.

Our human natures are driven in that direction

.

The unfortunate reality is, guess what?

Looking in all the wrong places.

They want the truth that frees them from

confusion, from their lack of wisdom, from

all their struggles, from their dissatisf

action, from their unfulfilled dreams, from

purpose

and meaning.

They want the truth that frees them from fear,

especially the king of all fears, death and

the mystery of life and what happens after we

die.

And the search goes on.

It goes on in universities, in libraries, in

courtrooms, in politics, in our colleges.

Young people are being indoctrinated with a

search for the truth in all the wrong places.

Sadly, they are, as Timothy describes, ever

learning and never able to come to the

knowledge

of the truth.

That, folks, is humanity's futile effort.

And eventually many include religion in their

search, and that's where these Jews were.

Think about these Jewish religious leaders.

They thought they had come to the truth.

They thought they knew the truth.

But the problem is, for unbelieving people,

even when the truth shows up, they reject it.

Roman teaches us that the primary

characteristic of fallen people is that they,

what, suppress

the truth in unrighteousness.

I want you to think about picking a university

of your choice.

Even our beloved LSU, go there, mingle amongst

the thousands of students who are searching

for the truth.

I thank God for TPUSA and the mark that it's

made on college campuses, but the majority

report in our colleges today still go and ask

them, you know what they like to talk

about?

Their truth, my truth is different from your

truth, as if truth is not absolute.

But go to the college campus and offer them

the truth and see how you are received.

Go to the philosophy department and tell them

you want to lecture on the truth and how

you know the truth and see how welcome you

will be.

Talk about the gospel.

Talk about Christ as the truth singular.

Talk about judgment and sin and righteousness

and heaven and hell.

And let me tell you, you will be laughed out

of the building.

You will not be welcomed because it is in a

nature of falling man to suppress the truth

in unrighteousness even when the truth shows

up.

The same was true of these Jews in our text.

Let's keep going, verse 32.

Here's the benefit of believing the truth.

Through discipleship, you will know the truth.

And of course, he's talking about spiritual

truth.

There's a great simple phrase at the end of

Ephesians 4, 21.

Look at it with me, right there at the end, "

Truth is in Jesus."

That's the only place you're going to find the

truth.

If you don't look to Jesus for the truth, you

will never find the truth that sets you

free.

Jesus is the truth.

The Holy Spirit is the truth.

In John 17, 17, Jesus said, "Sanctify them in

the truth.

Your word is truth."

And all of the scripture represents the triune

God of all truth.

Jesus says, "If you continue in my word, then

are you truly disciples of mine and you will

know the truth and the truth will make you

free."

Now in our text, what was the context for this

?

Again, think of who he's talking to.

The Jews were part of a very legalistic

religious system.

In Matthew 11, Jesus characterized them in a

very unforgettable way.

Look at Matthew 11, verse 28.

He said, "Come to me, all who are weary and

heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."

What were they weary from in context?

Well, what were they heavy-laden with?

Legalism, religious legalism.

Verse 29 and 30, Jesus says, "Take my yoke

upon you, and earn from me, for I am gentle

and humble in heart, and you will find rest

for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my

burden is light."

And you know this, we've studied this.

They had put a pile of legalistic burdens on

people that nobody could bear all the rules

and regulations that they came up with.

Nobody could carry that load.

Jesus told them, "Let me tell you what you're

doing.

You're producing sons of hell with that system

that you got of legalism."

The Jews were anything but free, but they

would never admit that.

Look next, in verse 33, they responded to

Jesus.

They answered him, "We are Abraham's

descendants and have never yet been enslaved

to anyone.

How is it that you say you've become free?"

And they are not talking about being enslaved

to the Egyptians or the Babylonians or in

bondage to the Romans as they currently were.

They're saying, "We are spiritually free

because we, why?

We are Abraham's children.

They didn't associate bondage with a bad

position of sin and impending judgment.

They didn't think they had any.

Spiritually, they didn't buy it for a minute.

They didn't think they were lost.

We are Abraham's descendants, dude.

We are not enslaved.

What are you saying?

We will become free.

We are free."

But in reality, they were anything but free.

And so what kind of freedom is Jesus offering?

We'll look next in verse 34.

Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to

you, everyone who commits sin is the slave

of sin."

It's so important to get this.

Jesus is talking about freedom from slavery to

sin.

They were not free just as every person in

their natural condition is not free, but

rather

is a slave to sin.

And what's worse, their sin was religious sin.

They had corrupt, hypocritical religion.

And what Jesus is saying is that the truth is

going to give you spiritual freedom and

gospel freedom from slavery to sin.

And from the total control, now listen

carefully to me.

What he's saying here is not you're going to

have the absence of sin.

We know we don't get this in this life.

It's freedom from the absolute dominion of sin

, which is on every man and woman who is

outside of Christ.

It's also freedom from spiritual blindness

that we naturally have.

Freedom from the fear of death.

Freedom from the fear of judgment.

It's freedom in its truest and purest sense.

Galatians 5/1, I love this verse.

What does it say?

It was for freedom that Christ set us free.

All you ought to underline that in your Bible.

They didn't buy into that.

What he said just infuriated them.

It was really one of the main things that made

them want to murder him.

The true disciple embraces what the Word of

God says about their natural condition.

You get the gospel and you say, "Yes, that's

right.

I am a slave of sin.

I do deserve God's wrath.

I do deserve to go to hell when I die.

And I don't have any righteousness at all.

And I can't earn any righteousness by my works

.

I cannot do it.

There are not enough good works I can do to

make myself right with a holy God."

But the false disciple is unwilling to accept

that diagnosis.

Oh, they want the benefits of Jesus, but they

're not willing to fully let go and repent and

believe.

Then next, look at verse 35.

As usual, as Jesus does, he ramps things up

even more, especially with them.

He says, "The slave does not remain in the

house forever.

The Son does remain forever."

What does this mean?

Well, they're saying, "We're the sons of

Abraham.

We have the law and we have the prophets and

Jesus invites them as being slaves of sin

and they don't accept that."

And he takes it a step further and he says, "

You guys are slaves and you're not sons."

Since they're talking about Abraham, he's

saying, "You think you're Abraham's son, but

let me tell you something.

If you're Abraham's son, you're really from Is

hmael.

That's who you are.

You may be physically Abraham's son, but you

're not Isaac.

You're not in Isaac's line.

You're not a spiritual descendant of Abraham

as all believers are in this room.

You are a slave and you are not an heir.

That's the intensity of what Jesus is saying

to these Jewish religious leaders.

And the slave doesn't stay in the house

forever.

Only the Son does, and you are all slaves,

every one of you.

You are none of you are sons of Abraham

spiritually.

That's what he's saying.

And every single one of you is going to be

left out of God's inheritance.

This is judgment on these guys.

The language could not be stronger.

And what happened as a result?

Their rage only increased to want to murder

Jesus at this point.

So what is the benefit?

Freedom from the bondage to sin, freedom from

slavery to sin and all that it means and

freedom

to become a son and an heir.

Lastly, Jesus culminates it all with this in

verse 36.

So if the Son makes you free, you will be free

indeed.

Folks, that's true freedom.

It has nothing to do with American idea of

freedom at all.

We're talking about a much bigger picture than

that.

So let me ask you this morning, are you free?

Do you have this spiritual freedom?

Are you like these Jews who wanted nothing to

do with true freedom?

If you are free, then let me tell you in the

truest sense of the word, there's no greater

blessing of God that you can possibly have in

your life than true spiritual freedom.

If you're not, then there's no greater curse

than to be a slave of your own sinfulness.

But you're here this morning and you're still

breathing God's air.

And you have all the opportunity in the world

to be bought out of the slave market, to be

ransom by our kinsmen redeemer.

And all you have to do, let go of living life

for yourself, turn to the king's way in

repentance

and faith.

Let's pray together.

Father, we thank you this morning in clear

words of Jesus, how clearly, clearly He made

the truth to all that came into His hearing.

He was here as the God man on earth and wonder

of wonders.

We get to be involved exactly with what He did

and said through the Gospels in the Bible.

It's just a wonderful thing for Christians to

be able to return yet again to 2,000 years

ago and just sit under the teaching of Jesus.

I pray, Father, for all believers that they

would be encouraged this morning by what they

have heard, who have true freedom in Christ.

I pray for any who have not come to Christ,

Lord, in bowed knee and saving faith, to

listen

to what Jesus says this morning and bowed the

knee, repent and believe.

And pray, all that we've done today has been

done in such a way as to bring you maximum

glory.

In Jesus' name we pray.