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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. 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. 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, the divine sovereignty 
and certainty in conquering unbelief. And hopefully we can work through 
all of those things. But 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. 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 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 
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 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 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 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 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, 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 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. 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.