You can turn in your Bibles to John chapter 8. Gospel of John chapter 8. We will start reading in verse 21 and read to verse 47. Then we'll pray.
And we will look at the words of our living and true God. Let's begin reading in John chapter 8 at verse 21. Then Jesus said to them again, I am going away and you will seek me and will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.
So the Jew said, will he kill himself? Because he says, where I go, you cannot come. And he said to them, you are from beneath. I am from above.
You are of this world, I am not of this world. Therefore, I said to you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I am, you will die in your sins. Then they said to him, who are you?
And Jesus said to them, just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but he who sent me is true. And I speak to the world those things which I heard from him. They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.
Then Jesus said to them, When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself, but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him. As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, If you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, we are Abraham's descendants and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say you will be made free?
Jesus answered them, most assuredly I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore, if the son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill me because my word has no place in you.
I speak what I have seen with my father and you do what you have seen with your father. They answered and said to him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, if you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God.
Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father. Then they said to him, We were not born of fornication. We have one father, God.
Jesus said to them, If God were your father, you would love me. For I proceeded forth and came from God. Nor have I come of myself, but he sent me. Why do you not understand my speech? because you are not able to listen to my word.
You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.
Which of you convicts me of sin, and if I tell the truth, Why do you not believe me? He who is of God hears God's words. Therefore, you do not hear because you are not of God. Amen.
Let us go to the Lord again in prayer.
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you now for this time of worship, the preaching of the word. And we do ask again, God, that you would help us in this exercise of worship. We pray that you would be with the preacher. You would help me, Lord God, to to open up your scriptures accurately, to handle the word of truth precisely.
We pray, Lord God, that you would give that divine aid in order to proclaim your truth. And Father, for those in the audience this morning, those congregated here, that you would send the Holy Spirit to encourage and to instruct and to edify your saints. They would grow in the grace and in the knowledge by this activity, the preaching of the word. We pray, Lord God, also for those outside of Christ in unbelief who are gathered here this morning.
We pray that you would conquer their hearts by amazing and victorious grace, that you would turn them from deadness and sin to life in Jesus Christ. By grace, Lord God, we pray that they will be saved. And it's in Christ's name that we pray. Amen.
Introduction
Well, there are at large two great things that we learn from this portion of John's Gospel that we just read. The greatness of man's sin and the greatness of the Savior. And truly those are two great things that we learn as we read our Bibles. The greatness of man's bondage and slavery to sin, but the greatness of our emancipating King, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And as we read this portion of John chapter 8, That is what we see. We see Jesus bringing to bear the seriousness, the gravity, the immensity, and the greatness of the sin of men, but also the fact that he is the one alone that can set them free, that he is the liberating king, that he is the emancipating savior, the one that can free men from their bondage and their slavery to sin. We're going to look at this portion of scripture, hopefully, in not a long amount of time, but in the right amount of time under five particular headings. And those will be this, the evidence of true discipleship.
Secondly, the blessing of true discipleship. Thirdly, the false assessment of unbelief. Fourthly, the divine assessment of unbelief. And then lastly,
Divine Sovereignty Conquers Unbelief
the divine sovereignty and certainty in conquering unbelief. And hopefully we can work through all of those things. But
Evidence of True Discipleship
let's look right now at the evidence of true discipleship, the evidence of true discipleship. Notice this statement of the Lord Jesus Christ here at the beginning of verse 31. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed him, if you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. Now, this statement of the Lord Jesus Christ comes in response to his knowledge of the veracity of the belief of those that are before him.
In fact, the non-veracity, the non-truthfulness, the hypocrisy of those to whom he is speaking. There's a couple of approaches to what we read in the beginning of verse 31. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed him. One standpoint or one position would say that those are true believers that Jesus is speaking to, and the ones answering in verse 33 are the unbelieving Jews among the crowd.
But I believe in verse 31, we are not seeing true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, because Jesus responds, if you abide in my word, you are my disciples. Indeed, you see what has gone on throughout the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, and what will continue, is you have those who outright reject the Lord Jesus Christ, you have those who truly believe in Him, and then you have those who are in unbelief, damnable unbelief, but are caught up in the fervor of His Messiahship. You see in John chapter 6, when Jesus comes and He feeds the 5,000 with the fish and with the bread, There are those that follow him for a time. They're caught up in the majesty and the miracle making of this one, the Lord Jesus Christ.
But you see, when Jesus then, on the heels of that, brings the truth regarding salvation, that he is the true bread that has come down from heaven, that you must believe in him in order to have everlasting life, then those ones who are caught up in the fervor of Christ depart from him because they never truly believe. Just to understand this more, just turn back for a moment to John 2. John 2, just so we can see this, that there is that belief, there is a believing that is a false or not a saving faith, not a true belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice in verse 23 of John chapter 2.
Now when he, speaking of Jesus, was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself to them, because he knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man. For he knew what was in man. So you see these weren't true believers.
They were caught up in the fervor because they saw the signs which he did. But then we read Jesus did not commit himself to them because he knew all men. And so when we come to John 8 verse 31 here, we see that Jesus had just been performing miracles. Jesus had just been preaching with much authority, speaking concerning the fact that he came down from his father in heaven.
And so there are some that are caught up in that, in Jesus Christ, the fervor of his declarations and the majesty of his miracle making. But Jesus cuts to the heart and he gives us the evidence of true discipleship. If you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. And so first of all, under this, we are to understand that
Abiding in Word Is Abiding in Truth
abiding in word is abiding in truth. You see, the little papist in our hearts, the little pope with the big purple hat in our hearts wants to see this as doing, rendering obedience to the law of God that is abiding in the word. But you see, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is giving this declaration in the face of those who do not truly believe.
They do not believe that He is who He says He is. They do not believe that He is going to do what He is sent to do. And so they are found in abject unbelief concerning the truth. Abiding in word is abiding in truth.
It is not obedience to the law. Though, of course, the truth concerning Jesus Christ has implications with respect to the law, and his doctrine contains the fact that if we love him, we will keep his commandments. But this statement, abiding in word, is not the same phrase as Christ uses elsewhere with respect to obedience to the law. In 1415, it is, if you love me, keep my commandments.
And this is taken up, or John lists these things separately, abiding in truth, and keeping the commandments, for example, in Revelation 12, 17 and in Revelation 14, 12. Christians are identified as those who keep the faith of Christ and keep his commandments. Those who love the commandments of God and keep the faith of Jesus Christ. And so we are to understand this abiding in word as abiding in truth.
Now, one of those You see, some people will come to this text, and again, they will see this statement as a proof text for the fact that we keep ourselves in the grace of God by our performance of the law. In fact, many people will go to Matthew 7 and see in that particular passage an evidence of what Christ is supposedly saying here. One of the most misinterpreted verses of Holy Scripture, even, God forbid, by Protestant Christians, Matthew chapter 7. Remember what is going, a lot's going on there, but one of the things that Jesus is dealing with are those false professors of faith.
In fact, self-righteous men who bring their works before Christ and say, we should be entered through the bar of heaven by virtue of what we have performed in your name. Remember, Jesus says, there will be many in that day who say to me, Lord, Lord, have I not cast out demons in your name? Have I not performed many miracles in your name? But I will say to them, depart from me, for I never knew you.
And Jesus says, it is those who do do the will of my father in heaven that are the true disciples that will enter into heaven. And you see, doing the will of my Father there, even some Protestant Christians say, well, you see, that means performing good works. That means doing our good works. Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven will enter into Emmanuel's land.
And that's true, because Christians do good works. What are we saved from, or what was prepared before the foundation of the world for us to perform? Good works. But that's not what saved us.
It is simply the evidence of our salvation and a means whereby we glorify God and show good things to men. But in that Matthew 7 passage, the doing the will of my Father in heaven is what Jesus says in John chapter 6 at verse 40. This is the will of Him who sent me that everyone who believes in me will have everlasting life. This is the will of the Father who sent me that everyone who believes in me will have everlasting life.
Abiding in word is abiding in truth. So it is not obedience to the law, but it is steadfastness in doctrine. Look at John chapter 8 and verse 51. John 8 verse 51.
Well, backing up to verse 49, Jesus answered, I do not have a demon, But I honor my father, and you dishonor me. And I do not seek my own glory. There is one who seeks and judges. Most assuredly I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he shall never see death." And again, the little papist in our bosom wants to rise up and say, whoever performs works of righteousness will never see death.
Dr. Gordon Clark comes to this passage, and he translates it this way, and I think it's fine to do so. Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone holds my theology, he will never see death ever. The Geneva Study Bible concurs only the doctrine of the gospel apprehended by faith is a sure remedy against death.
So when Christ is saying here, when Christ is answering these unbelieving ones, these unbelieving Jews, who are caught up in the fervor of his messianic investiture, he says, if you abide in my word, that is, if you remain steadfast in my doctrine, you are my disciples indeed. It is absolutely vital to recognize that abiding in truth is not the cause of discipleship. You see, there are many within professing Christendom that think we exercise belief and then God saves us. That we believe, that we exercise our faith, that we believe in propositions, and then God gives us that gift of regeneration.
But the Bible everywhere rejects that, and we'll see why it rejects that when we move further in the passage. But abiding in truth is not the cause of discipleship. It is vital as well to recognize that abiding in truth is not the maintaining force of our discipleship. There's an absolutely wonderful statement in our confession of faith.
If you've never read our confession, read it. If you've perhaps never really, if this particular paragraph has never caught your eye, read it. But with regards to abiding in truth, our perseverance in the faith, this is what our confession says. This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father, upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ and union with him, the oath of God, the abiding of his spirit, and the seed of God within them, and the nature of the covenant of grace, from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof." Now, if you didn't catch all of that, catch this.
We do not Our abiding in truth is not the cause of our discipleship, but rather the cause of our discipleship is the victorious and amazing grace of God in conquering our hearts, making us disciples, putting his spirit within us and causing us to abide in his truth. That is why we say that the evidence of true discipleship, or that is why we'll say
Abiding in Truth as Evidence, Not Cause
abiding in truth is the evidence of discipleship. Abiding in truth does not make us disciples or cause us to be such. Abiding in truth does not keep us in our discipleship, but rather abiding in truth is the evidence of discipleship, the evidence of legitimate Christianity. Turn to 1 John for a moment.
The same author, of course, of the Gospel of John also wrote 1 John. He also wrote 2 John, and he also wrote 3 John. He also wrote the book of Revelation. And in 1 John chapter 2, we see the author agreeing with himself.
Hopefully, that's always the case. In the scriptures, we know that it is. What is one of those attributes of the scriptures that testify to its God-breathedness? The consent of all the parts. 1 John chapter 2.
Notice at verse nine, he who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. Now, just in case you're wondering, where do we find abiding in the truth there?
Well, here we see light as the language of truth on the tip of the pen of the Apostle John. If you're in the light, that is, if you abide in the truth, that is shown in certain things, love to brother and walking in the light. But suffice it to say, abiding inward is abiding in truth, and it is abiding in truth that is the evidence of discipleship. Moving on, then
Blessing of True Discipleship
the blessing of true discipleship, the blessing of true discipleship. If you can move back now to John chapter eight, we're going to look now at the blessing of true discipleship. John writes. Beginning in verse 31, then Jesus said to those Jews who believed him, if you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed.
Now notice the blessing of true discipleship, verse 32, and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. You see, this is on the walls, believe it or not, this statement is on the walls of You know, many academic and educational institutes, this idea, you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. Unfortunately, about 99.9853% of the time, they're referring to godless human philosophy, godless human doctrines of knowledge.
They're not referring to Jesus Christ and the glory of the knowledge of his saving gospel. But what we find here in verse 32 is the blessing of true discipleship. So if we are Christ's disciples, evidenced by continuing in his word, what then are the blessings? Well, the first blessing, there are two, it is twofold.
The Knowledge of Truth
The first blessing is the knowledge of the truth. The knowledge of the truth. And just notice, brethren, that we can know the truth. If that doesn't strike you as amazing, I think something could be wrong.
We can know the truth. You see, if we don't find that amazing, then as Christians, and we certainly don't remember ourselves prior to coming to a knowledge of the truth, prior to God saving us, and we don't properly assess the situation and the matter with sinful man outside of Jesus Christ, that they are characterized by the madness and the futility and the folly of their minds. We can know the truth. When you pray, have you ever thanked God?
Have you ever praised God for the fact that you can know the truth? You should. Paul writes, we are to no longer walk to the Ephesian Christians as the rest of the Gentiles walk in the futility of their minds. You see, the sinner outside of Jesus Christ is not right in the head.
He is marked by futility of mind. He is suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. Remember, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven, Romans 118, against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. And so, brethren, when you pray, you should thank God and you should praise Him for the fact that you can know the truth.
Certainty of knowledge. As Christians, we have certainty of knowledge. You see, faith, or believing, is not just a bit better than opinion, but less than knowledge. As Christians, when we have the truth, when we believe in the truth, when we know the truth, that faith, is not just, you know, it's a little bit better than opinion, but it's not really knowledge.
In fact, I read recently that one seminary professor said that we can never really know. We can never know for certain that there is a God. We can only process the information that we have and come to a strong conclusion that there is a God and he has revealed himself in the Holy Scriptures. I dare say, neither should he be, he should not be a seminary professor, neither should he call himself a Christian, until he can say, I know that there is a God, that he has revealed himself in the Lord Jesus Christ, in his word, that he did dwell among men, that he did perform perfection to the obedience of his Father's law, Jesus, God the Son. that he did die upon Calvary's tree, that he rose again the third day, that this Jesus now sits at the right hand of the majesty on high where he ever lives to make intercession for us.
What a false hope if we are to come before the face of trial, come before the face of affliction, come before the face of our own sin, the sin of others against us, come before so many problems and trials in this lower world with We can never know for certain, but we have a strong conclusion that these things are true? Horrible. What does Paul write to Timothy? Jim has recently been preaching on this.
Paul writes to Timothy in 1 Timothy 2 to pray for kings and for those who are in authority because God desires all types of men to be saved and to what? Come to a knowledge of the truth. As Christians, we can know, we do know, we have certainty of knowledge. And the divinely granted reality of knowing.
We need to praise God for this, brothers and sisters, because outside of Christ, we were marked by foolishness. The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. You see, man does not stand before philosophical and religious opinions and notions and positions as one who is a blank slate at a position of neutrality where he can use his mind to choose one or the other. But rather, man is as the Bible presents us.
He is deceitful. The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? He is dead in his trespasses and in his sins, marked by the futility of his mind.
But brethren, for us, grace came. Victorious and amazing grace came. Saving grace conquered our hearts and gave us a mind that can know the glorious truths of Holy Scripture. When you pray, have you ever thanked God for knowledge?
Start now, if you never have. We see here, under the blessing of true discipleship, the importance of truth. And just a number of things where the Bible sets this forth, and we'll try to move through these quickly, but the importance of truth, the importance of doctrine, the prime mark of Christianity is seen in what we believe, what we know, what we have faith in. First of all, the importance of knowledge is seen in the New Covenant promises.
Remember one of the attributes of New Covenant people. What does the prophet Jeremiah proclaim in Jeremiah 31, 31 to 34 as one of those attributes? They all shall know me from the least of them to the greatest of them. Knowledge, the knowing of God, the knowing of Jesus Christ, the knowing of the glories, the riches and the excellencies of the gospel, that is a mark of the new covenant.
The importance, secondly, the importance of knowledge or the importance of truth is seen in the divine invitations to rational discussion. Divine invitations to rational discussion in the Old Testament. God himself says, speaks to his people, come let us reason together. He doesn't say come let us, you know, come into a building and just get taken off by the rapture of a keyboard.
He doesn't say, let us come into the building and cast off all had knowledge and the use of our minds and just get caught up in the fervor of a mystical experience. He says, come, let us reason together. God is a God of knowledge. He's not a God of confusion.
He's not a God of emotion. He's not a God of of of passion with no foundation in Knowledge. He is a God of knowledge, a God of truth. Come, let us reason together.
The importance of knowledge is seen in the stated purpose of the incarnation. If you're still in John, turn to John 18. The importance of knowledge is seen in the stated purpose of the incarnation. John 18.
John 18. Remember what's going on here? In John 18, first Jesus goes before the high priest, then he goes before Pontius Pilate, or rather he's brought before Pontius Pilate. And in verse 37 of John 18, we read this during the discourse between Christ and Pilate.
Pilate therefore said to him, Are you a king then? Jesus answered, You say rightly that I am a king for this cause I was born and for this cause I have come into the world that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. So we have the importance of knowledge seen in the covenant promises. divine invitations to rational discussion, the stated purpose of the Incarnation, and the purpose of the Gospel of John.
A little bit to the right, in John chapter 20, if you're still there, John 20 verse 30, the stated purpose of the Gospel of John is given. And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name." You see, John, Jesus, the Bible, takes great stock in and puts very important emphasis upon believing the truth, upon knowledge. And then lastly, but certainly not exhausting the list, the importance of knowledge is seen in the content of apostolic prayer.
Remember, we said earlier, do you pray, do you thank God for knowledge, for wisdom, for learning? In Ephesians 1, the Apostle Paul gives this prayer which highlights the importance of knowledge. And you see, when we talk about knowledge, hopefully you understand that when Pastor Butler and I, in this church, want to emphasize, not want to, but do as well, emphasize the importance of theology, the doctrine of God, the importance of doctrine, the importance of truth. It isn't just picturing some ivory-haired and long-bearded man in a tower, hunched over the Bible and reading with absolutely no joy in his heart, but just this cold, detached dogmatism putting sentence structures together and sort of understanding what the Bible says and glorying in his own knowledge.
That's not what we're trying to do. What we're trying to do is simply express and simply stress the reality that the apostles themselves, when they rehearse theology, they do it within the context of great rejoicing. I don't think it's a vain imagination to think that when the apostle Paul was writing Ephesians 1, when he says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, that he put his pen down, or his implement of writing, and he rejoiced in God. You see, before he gets to election, before he gets to substitutionary atonement, before he gets to the sealing and the guaranteeing of the Holy Spirit, all which speak of great theology.
I think we have reason to imagine, not vainly, that Paul put down his pen and rejoiced, and rehearsed what he would be writing with respect to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and the salvation of sinners. Maybe he didn't stop. He's inspired by the Holy Spirit, and he just wrote. nevertheless theology arouses doxology theology arouses the soul to praise to our god and to His christ notice though in ephesians 1 at verse 15 Therefore therefore I also after I heard of your faith in the lord jesus christ and your love for all the saints Do not cease to give thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers now notice That the god of our lord jesus christ the father of glory may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. You see, three times there we have Paul writing concerning the truth of Holy Scripture, wisdom, revelation, and knowledge.
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. You see, brethren, we can so easily research Muffin recipes. I had a really great muffin. I'm going to go research, sit down on my computer and just find out how much sugar I need to throw in there, how much butter, how much whatever else you throw in muffins, baking soda, raisins.
We can research the most recent prototype Lamborghini. Whatever it is, we can be caught off by so many fantastic things. When is the last time you sat down to share with your Bible, sat down at the computer, yes, the wholesome use of it, clicking on studylight.org and researching our great God and our precious Christ and the powerful Holy Spirit? You see, we'll give so much time to so many things, but are we giving enough time to what Paul brings out in Ephesians? just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the earth, that we should be holy and without blame before him, in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, the redemption that begins in verse seven, as it continues speaking of the glorious revealing of the gospel of Jesus Christ to Jew and Gentile, research the Bible, because the Bible itself, God himself, Christ himself, the Holy Spirit, put great stock in the Bible and the knowledge of it.
What is this truth? As we find our way back to John 8, what is this truth? And what I mean by that, in John chapter 8, there are a couple of positions as to what the truth means. Not that some Christians are disagreeing with, for example, the truths of the Trinity, Christ, the Gospel, that sort of thing.
But is truth here referring to facts and propositions concerning the Gospel, Jesus, and the Bible generally? Or is it referring peculiarly to Jesus Christ himself? Remember, John 14, 6, later on in this same Gospel, Jesus will say, I am the way, the truth, and the life. I am the way, the truth, and the life.
Well, here in John 8, verse 32, that first blessing of discipleship is knowledge of the truth, and we read there again, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. I believe it's both Gil and, well, actually Calvin and J.C. Ryle would say that this is simply speaking with respect to truth. that is, propositions, the truths revealed in the Bible. John Gill says, as he often does, it could be that, or it could also be a reference to Jesus Christ.
Some of the old boys in the early church, Christostom, Augustine, and some of the other early church fathers, believed that it was Christ the person himself. And I believe that's what the text is referring to. But you see, when we have that reference of the truth as referring to Jesus Christ, He is the Logos. He is the Word of God.
He is the rationality. He is the reason. He is, as Spurgeon says, and I love this quote from Spurgeon, this is what he says, Jesus Christ, who is the sum and substance of the gospel, who is in himself all theology, the incarnation of every precious truth, the all-glorious personal embodiment of the way, the truth, and the life. And you see, remember, Jesus already says, or John concerning Jesus, says at the beginning of the gospel that Jesus was that light who came into the world.
Jesus is truth incarnate. Jesus is the word, the Logos, who became flesh and dwelt among us. And I think adding force to this understanding is the truth referring to Jesus himself, and no doubt, of course, the truths which he delivers to believers, we see at the end of the passage, verse 36 of John 8, therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.
And then, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. So we have there the truth, as I would suppose, speaking with regards to Jesus Christ himself. I am the way, the truth, and the life. Now secondly then, under the blessing of true discipleship, is
The Liberation Truth Brings
the liberation that the truth brings. The liberation that the truth brings. Remember what Christ's statement here is, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John Gill comments, and the truth shall make you free from ignorance and error, and the prejudices of education under which the whole nation labored, and from the thraldom of the law." Thraldom simply means servitude or slavery to something.
Again, "...and the truth shall make you free from ignorance and error, from the prejudices of education under which the whole nation labored, and from the thraldom of the law. So you see, this declaration of Christ to the unbelieving Jews has a peculiarly Jewish meaning. First, that's not all that it means, but you see, these Jews were those who were presently abiding under that yoke of bondage, the ceremonial law that Jesus had come to put an end to. Galatians 5.1, stand fast therefore in the liberty Wherewith Christ hath made you free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Pastor Butler, he wouldn't like me confusing him with Christ. Pastor Butler spoke last week with respect to that. Jesus Christ, in that blessed invitation that comes on the heels of a declaration of divine sovereignty, come to me, all you who are burdened and heavy labored. That's not how it goes, but I'm paraphrasing.
All of those who labor and who are burdened, that yoke of bondage is in view for one of those demographics. Those who are under the thraldom of the law, the rigors of the ceremonial law and all its obligations, Christ comes and he puts an end to those things. If you know him, you will be set free from that yoke of bondage. Because I am the one, the terminus of all of those old covenant types and promises, I have come to put an end to that handwriting that is against you by my cross.
And so we also have the thralldom or the servitude or the slavery to Pharisaical misinterpretations of the law. They are currently abiding under that heavy labor of Pharisaical impositions of the scribes and the Pharisees putting stuff upon them that it never came into the heart of God. And so Jesus comes as truth incarnate and he will liberate them from that yoke of bondage. But generally and more fully with regards to salvation, Jesus comes and he liberates from the power of sin, from the guilt of sin, and from the condemnation of sin.
You see, our emancipating King, the Lord Jesus Christ, is not just a liberator from social oppression. He's not just some liberator of geopolitical tyranny. His true liberty or the true liberty that Christ brings is that liberty from sin and the tyranny of its oppression. Christ frees us from the power of sin.
Sin shall no longer have dominion over you, the Apostle Paul says, because of the perfect saving work of Jesus Christ. We're freed from the guilt of sin. Now, sometimes we think that guilt is the psychological weight of the knowledge that we've transgressed. And that's real.
That's there. But first and foremost, the power of the guilt of sin is our moral and legal culpability before the bar of divine justice. In other words, we're guilty for crimes against the divine magistrate. We have violated his decalogue.
We have violated his ten words. We have violated his law, therefore we have guilt of sin before him. Jesus frees us from the guilt of sin. How?
Because he paid sin's penalty for sinners upon Calvary's tree. He did not deflect the wrath of God. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He takes upon himself, in the stead of all who believe truly, the wrath of God. against sin.
We're freed from the guilt. And you see, we also should be free from that weight of the psychological knowledge that we've transgressed against God and against men. You see, very often as as Christians, we can enter into this, you know, this this ongoing, not just not just one hour or one day, but a weekly and monthly lamentation where we're figuratively beating ourselves like little papists because we think that we can somehow endure our own lament and gain acceptance with God. Jesus frees us from the guilt of sin in that sense.
When you sin, the same author of the Gospel of John writes in 1 John, when you sin, go off onto a long journey in the wilderness of Venezuela with a net on your back and big tree trunks in it until you think you've done enough to atone for your sins. No. When you sin, when we sin, We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He cleanses us from all iniquity.
You see, we want to, even as Protestants, entertain some notion that we have to lament for a prolonged season before we can actually be okay with our Christianity. The Bible says, when you sin, go to Jesus. Go to Christ. He is the advocate with the Father, not the strength of our own self-atoning, Not the strength of our own atoning work before God, but the one Jesus Christ who came to bear our sin is the one who has taken the wrath, who has taken the penalty, and who now intercedes with the Father on our behalf.
And so he frees us from the power of sin, the guilt of sin, and the condemnation of sin. Death, where is your victory? O Hades, where is your sting? Jesus Christ saves us from death and from hell.
He took hell upon the cross in the stead of all those who believe. So if you believe, you are liberated from the condemnation of sin as well. Now notice as we move along here, the false assessment of unbelief. So the evidence of true discipleship is abiding in the word, abiding in the truth.
The blessing of true discipleship is seen in the knowledge of the truth and the liberation that it brings. Now we have
False Assessment of Unbelief
the false assessment of unbelief. Back to John chapter 8 verse 33, they answered him. So Jesus has already spoken his words. Now these are the unbelieving Jews or those Jews caught up in the false belief, caught up in the fervor of his messiahship.
They answered him, we are Abraham's descendants and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say you will be made free? The false assessment of unbelief. You see, the false assessment of unbelief is always seen in self-deception.
The power of self-deception. Jesus Christ is telling this audience as it is, and this audience is responding saying, you don't know who we are. We're Abraham's descendants. We've never been in bondage to anyone.
How can you say you will make us free? You see, the sinner, the one in unbelief, always has a false assessment concerning themselves. Robert Raymond says this with regards to the evangelist. Just a preacher of the gospel, whether a pastor, a minister, or even yourself as a Christian, speaking in defense of the faith to an unbeliever, Raymond says this, taking very seriously all that the scriptures say about the inability of fallen man to understand the things of the spirit, he, that is the Christian evangelist, speaks God's message, not to the so-called rational, neutral man who claims to be standing before him.
You see, that is the sinner outside of saving grace, the sinner in unbelief, us, brothers and sisters, prior to God conquering are wicked hearts, they have this notion that they are rational, that they are neutral, that they are standing before the preacher and before their God as one who is at that position of neutrality, not in bondage, not in slavery, but fully sovereign and in their own autonomous power. But, Raymond goes on to say, this is fallen man's erroneous presupposition about himself. He speaks, rather, to the spiritually blind, spiritually hostile, and spiritually dead person who God says is standing before Him. Now, we're not yet on to the divine assessment of unbelief, but you see, it is the power of self-deception in the sinner's mind that says, we're not in bondage.
We're fine. I can give or take. I can choose or not choose. I am my own island.
I'm my own sovereign creature. I'm not in bondage to anyone. How can you say you will make us free? This erroneous self-assessment, we've never been in bondage to anyone, is something that John the Baptist has said, for example, in Matthew 3.
Remember, let it not well up in you or let it not be said that we have Abraham as our father. God can raise up sons of Abraham from the stones of the earth. You see, being a descendant of someone, having some sort of notion of physical descendancy doesn't make you free, doesn't free you from anything. To be my disciples, indeed, you need divine power to make you free.
But suffice it to say, the false assessment of unbelief is given to us here in verse 33. We have never been in bondage to anyone. You see, Man's erroneous notion, man's false, that is. Kids, if you ever hear erroneous, if you ever have questions about some of the words that I use or Pastor Butler uses, just come after it.
Write them down and say, what is that? Usually we try to stop to define it. Erroneous means false, wrong, the opposite of truth. So sinful man has this erroneous.
Notion about themselves. They are deceived by themselves. They and that picture if you were this is how this is how One outside of saving grace sees themselves This is how a Jew sees themselves as as like a man standing with his hands on his hips with you know pride about you can picture a you know a superhero with a big FW for free will or S a you know as self-autonomy as standing there with the cape blowing and you know Dippity-doo in their black hair If you can just, you know, entertain my notion that I have hair right now. But they think of themselves as just this, you know, with their pride and with their arrogance that they're not free.
They're not in bondage to anyone. Whereas God comes along with the verity of his word. He slaps a mirror in front of them. They look at it by grace and they see a hunched over wretch of a man with wrangled and mangled up fingers, with dirt in his hair, covered in feces.
That is the true image. That's what God says they are. But man comes even before God manifested in the flesh. And they say, we've never been in bondage to anyone.
How can you say that you will make us free? In fact, they go further in the discourse and they say, we were not born of fornication. We have one father, God. They shoot an insult that God manifested in the flesh. saying, you were born from an adulterous relationship.
Your mother, you know, your mother violated her betrothal to Joseph and fornicated with the man, and you are the product of that fornication. Horrible blasphemy. They think that they are not in bondage to anyone. They think that they are free.
But
Divine Assessment of Unbelief
then comes the divine assessment of unbelief. Again, verse 33, they answered him, we are Abraham's descendants and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say you will be made free? Jesus answered them, most assuredly I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.
You see, man has that erroneous supposition, presupposition about themselves, we're not in bondage, we're free. The Bible, God, Jesus Christ, God manifested in the flesh, comes along and says, no, most assuredly I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And the Savior does not waste time here on the misunderstandings of His audience. You ever notice that about Jesus Christ?
About our blessed Savior? Whenever men say something, whether they're thinking it in their hearts or whether they say it outright to Him, You know we anticipate Jesus to come along and say no no you're wrong You see this is where it's at and sit down and give them sort of you know answer Answer their objections and entertain their blasphemies and and sort of just have a discourse and deal with them at length Jesus comes and speaks exactly what they need to hear he doesn't deal with the fact that they were in bondage in Egypt That they were wrong about that that they were in bondage in Babylon. They were wrong about that they were presently in in bondage under the imposition of the Roman Empire. They were wrong to say, we've never been in bondage to anyone.
But he cuts to the heart of the matter. You see, sin is not seen in social tyranny. Sin is not seen in political imposition, or excuse me, a bondage is not simply seen in those things, but rather bondage is seen in what Christ says here, most assuredly I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. The divine assessment is that they were most certainly in bondage, but it was to sin, to transgression, to depravity.
I like how the King James puts this particular verse. You see, the Savior brings to bear the importance of what he's about to say. The King James translates amen, amen in the Greek. It's not pronounced that way, but amen, amen, as verily, verily.
I say unto you, the repetition of the seriousness of the matter, truly, truly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And this whoever commits sin is set in opposition to whoever abides in my word. And the is a slave of sin is directly opposite to My disciples indeed. So he's saying you are not my disciples because whoever continually or abides in sin is a slave to sin.
The divine assessment of unbelief is that sinners are in bondage. You see it. You know, our Bibles are quite clear on this on this matter, aren't they? We think of passages like Ephesians 2, 1 to 4.
In fact, very briefly turn there. I promise whoever needs to milk a cow or do anything else that's a work of necessity, if anyone needs to go to their job as a police officer or a fireman, you can leave whenever you'd like. But just a little bit more time here as we look at the divine assessment of unbelief. Notice in Ephesians 2, 1 to 4, you see most certainly the man, the person who is in abject rejection concerning Christianity, They have this notion of themselves that they are completely free But you see even those who profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ Think sinners to have a measure of freedom that they are not truly in bondage or slavery But the Bible says otherwise Ephesians 2 1 and you He made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the course of this world according to the Prince of the power of the air the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
He will say in verse four, but God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. You see, the language of the Bible here, we have that children of wrath, we have deadness and sin and trespasses. Paul elsewhere uses the language that Christ does in John 8, that whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. There are two options for slavery in God's good universe.
We are either slaves to sin or we are slaves to righteousness, to the Lord Jesus Christ, those who abide in, Those who perpetually reside in sin are slaves to it. The seriousness of the matter is a very important note. We started this morning by saying there are two great things that we learned from this passage, the greatness of man's sin and the greatness of the Savior who saves us from our sin. If we come to the doctrine of man, to the doctrine of sin, and we don't find it as the Bible sets it forth, as bad as it really is, then we do violence to the other great disclosure of John chapter eight, that is the greatness of Jesus Christ.
When we say that men are simply sick or men are simply crippled a little bit in their sin and in their transgression, we do violence to the liberating activity of Jesus Christ upon Calvary's tree. You see, I've alluded to this before, but very briefly, you see, the one who rejects Christianity outright is obviously mistaken, but what about those thousands who profess faith? You've often heard, perhaps, this imagery of, well, you see, this is what it's like. This is what the gospel's like.
It's like a man who just fell off of the shuffleboard of a cruise liner and is drowning in the water, and he's waving his hands. And you see, he needs to be saved. He can't climb up the ship. He can't swim over to the ship.
Perhaps he's just thrashing too much. He's got his clothes on. He's still holding his shuffleboard mallet. And he can't swim back to the boat.
You see, he's helpless in a sense, but all that needs to happen is someone needs to throw the life preserver into the water. But you see, he still needs the power to reach his arm over that life preserver and then wait for someone to come and save him. You see, that's the man in sin. The Bible says, no, that's not even close to the man in sin.
The Bible comes along, the triune God comes along, Christ comes along, the apostles come along and they say, no,
Total Bondage: Two Illustrations
the man in sin is like a man who had drowned years ago, sitting at the bottom of the ocean with corals that have grown up on him with sea worms crawling through his eye sockets. And the triune God of heaven and earth condescends in amazing grace, plummets through the water, grips that dead man from the bottom of the ocean, rips him up to the surface, brings him to the beach, cleans him off, breathes the breath of the spirit within him, and causes him to abide in the truth. That's the man in sin, and that's the saving activity of our blessed Savior. They'll also say that the man in sin is like a man in the hospital who can't move.
He's conscious, but he's so sick that he can't really move his extremities. And you see, the doctor comes with the medicine of the gospel and puts it before him. But you see, the man can't lift his torso up and his neck up to take that medicine in. So the doctor, you know, God, Christ in this analogy, or the minister of the gospel, comes with the medicine of the gospel, puts it to his mouth, but you see, that one in the hospital bed needs to tilt his head, wrap his lips around the medicine, and take that medicine of the gospel in.
That's apparently the man in sin. Those outside of Christ. You see, they don't have a whole lot of power, they're sick and they're maimed, but they still need to exercise that will of wrapping their lips around the medicine. The Bible comes along, the triune God comes along, Christ comes along, the apostles of Holy Scripture come along, and they say, no, the sinner is not that man in the hospital bed, but he's dead.
And you see, he's not just recently dead out on a gurney in the hallway, but he's dead in the cemetery for years. God, the triune God, comes in condescending and victorious grace, plummets through the earth, rips that dead man out of the grave, slaps him onto the grass, cleans him off, breathes the spirit into him, puts righteous and clean garments on him, and causes him to walk and abide in the truth. That's the sinner. Men have this self-deception, the power of self-deception, this erroneous notion of freedom and liberty. in their sin and in their position before a God, whether they believe in Him or not.
And the Bible comes along and gives the proper self-assessment. Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And lastly, brethren, as we close, turn back to John 8 with me if you're not already there. Lastly, we see the divine sovereignty and certainty in conquering unbelief.
The divine certainty and sovereignty in conquering unbelief. Verse 36, Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. Hopefully you see here what you've seen as Pastor Butler's been preaching in Matthew chapter 11. Jesus Christ has the divine prerogative That is the divine exclusive right to reveal truth unto whom he will reveal truth and to hide truth from whom he will hide truth.
Here the language is, if the Son makes you free, then you shall be free indeed. You see, Jesus Christ is the one who wields the weapons of liberty in the economy of salvation. We read a quote the other night at Wednesday night Bible study. It's from C.H.
Spurgeon, and it's Spurgeon, he was preaching on Luke 2.14. You've heard this quote before because it's one of my favorites, and if you hear it a lot, tough luck, it's a good quote, tough providence, it's a good quote. Spurgeon preaching on Luke 2.14, and this specific portion is the angels and the heavenly host singing, glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, goodwill toward man. And I'm paraphrasing here, but he says, the angels are no Arminians.
If you want to know what that means, if you're visiting, or if you don't really know, just come and talk to me afterwards. But he says, the angels were no Arminians. They sang glory to God in the highest. And paraphrasing, he says, men want to snatch the crown off of the emancipating king and rip the scepter out of his hand and say, it is in our free will that we choose.
Don't tell us what is and what isn't. But you see, the angels sing glory to God in the highest because they knew that from first to last, midst and throughout, the triune God is the one who saves, and he saves without a helper. And so Jesus Christ can come and say, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed, because he wields all of the armory. He wields all of the weapons of the sinner's liberation.
He is the one who conquers the heart. He is not the image of those blasphemous paintings behind a door that he can't open, where the sinner comes and the sinner must knock and the sinner must turn the handle. Jesus Christ, as you've heard it before, is the one who rides upon that white horse, the one who is called faithful and true, the one with the sword of the Spirit protruding from his mouth that is the Word of God, and he comes on his steed of liberation and kicks down the door of the hardness of man's heart with great strength and with great power. If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
And the victory is sure. Christ is the wielder of the weapons of liberation. He makes us free by his perfect salvation. And notice, you shall be free indeed.
The first indeed used in this passage when he says, if you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. That means more, you are my disciples truly. You've been caught up in the fervor of mess of my Messiah ship. But you see, if you abide in my doctrine, you are my disciples indeed or truly here.
He says, therefore, if the sun makes you free, you shall be free indeed. That is, in reality, you think that you are free. You think that you've never been in bondage to anyone, nor are you now. But to be really free, it is the sun who must free you.
The emancipating King, the Lord Jesus Christ, must come along and conquer your hearts by saving grace, breathe his spirit within you, and cause you to walk and to abide in the truth. And so
Application
very briefly, brethren, as we close, just a few very brief points, we are to know the truth. The Bible puts great emphasis upon the knowledge of the truth. So again, why do so many things occupy our time? Instead of the knowledge of the truth, go to school, go to work.
Don't call in from work and say, you know, our pastors told us that we need to learn the truth, so I'm not coming into work today. Click, open up the Bible. That's not what you're supposed to do. Work because there is honor in wholesome employment.
Go to school because there is honor in education, good education. Do things that are wholesome to do, but don't spend eight hours researching the Illuminati. Don't spend six hours researching the efficacy of baking soda in certain baking applications. Don't research this and research that, but research Christ.
Theology is an exercise for every Christian born again by the victorious grace of God. Study your God, know your God, Grow in the grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Rejoice in the truth. I don't want to rock your world, but do you know what joy is?
Joy is intellectual satisfaction. What do I mean by that? Joy is intellectual satisfaction, the regenerate apprehension of biblical redemptive truths, not an emotionally linked, above level, plus minus rating with regards to temporal positives and negatives. In other words, True joy comes with the knowledge that Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures, and that all who believe in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
Now, don't be weird and say, you know, if your kid, you know, perfected his cello recital, say, oh, I'm not supposed to have joy in that because joy is only found in believing you know, the truths of the gospel. But you see, true and lasting and ultimate joy is seen solely and alone in the work, the doing, the dying and the rising again of our Lord Jesus Christ. When trial comes, when the death of a family member comes, When whatever comes upon you, when the darkness and the clouds of God's frowning providence come upon you, what is the joy that you can hitch your caboose to? It's not what you've done for the Savior.
It's not what you've done for others. It's not what your children have done. It's not how many you've had. It's not where they go to school.
What comes as the peace in those frowning providences is the doing, the dying, and the rising again of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Find joy in Him. And you will have true joy, lasting peace, and the greatest confidence. Now if you're here today and you don't know this Savior, hopefully you've heard something of this.
The preacher's gone on about a lot, but you need to arrive at this point. That God reveals himself as perfect in holiness and perfect in his justice. He reveals us as those who have fallen short of his glory because we have sinned against him. But he has also revealed that Jesus Christ is the Savior for such sinners as those such sinners as us.
And if you believe in him, you shall have life eternal. Don't call yourself as one who is not in bondage to anyone or anything because you are in slavery and bondage to sin. But know this. If you rest with the emancipating King, the Lord Jesus Christ, you shall have everlasting life.
You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. Let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Bible. We thank you for what we could read here in John chapter 8. We rejoice, Lord God, in the fact that we can learn of our Savior, that we can learn of the gospel, and God, that we can know truth. We know that we were in that place as we peruse, as Spurgeon said, the landscape of our memories.
We can see ones who were dead in trespasses and sins. We can see ourselves as those who were most certainly in bondage and in slavery. But we rejoice in the fact that Lord God, by your grace and for your glory, you called us from deadness and sin to life in Jesus. And we pray that you would help us daily to rejoice in that.
Lord God, I pray that each and every saint here would rejoice in that daily and seek to live in a manner worthy of your calling. And I pray that those, Lord God, presently here, as we pray even, that are outside of the Lord Jesus Christ in unbelief, that you would now, by spirit and word, conquer their hearts and cause them to leave this place singing with your saints. Hallelujah. What a Savior.
We pray that you'd go with us now, help us to rejoice in Jesus, and bring honor and praise to your most precious name. We pray in the name of our Savior. Amen.