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The Blue Letter Bible

Chuck Smith :: Sermon Notes for John 8:36

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FREE INDEED.
I. "YOU SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE."
A. When Jesus appeared on the world scene, the age of philosophy was almost dead.
1. For years the greatest minds of men were searching for truth.
2. The names Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Diogenes are familiar to all of us. By the time Jesus arrived, they were all dead as was the quest for truth.
3. When Pilate was questioning Jesus in the 18th chapter and he asked Jesus, "Are you then a king?" Jesus responded, "To this end was I born, and for this cause I came into the world, that I might bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth My voice." Pilate sarcastically responded, "What is truth?"
4. Philosophy had despaired of finding truth. This is true of philosophy today, the philosophers have concluded that there is no universal truth, everything is relative.
5. If it is true to you then it is true to you, but not necessarily true to someone else. It is all subjective and relative.
6. Modern art reflects the philosophy.
a. Modern art must be interpreted by the individual viewing it. What do you see in that mixture of paint?
b. The critics acclaim it as a masterpiece and it is sold for a high price, but nobody really is sure of what they are looking at.
c. When you lose your base, you become very isolated and alone, for you are never sure that anyone else sees what you see, or believes as you believe.
d. Even the modern music has become a reflection of the philosophy. It is not harmonious, or melodic, but harsh and discordant. It reflects the world we live in.
B. Jesus is telling them that the truth will set them free.
1. Men today are in bondage because of the lies of Satan.
2. The whole society is suffering today because of the promise of freedom, which in reality brought the greatest bondage.
3. There was much talk in the legislature. It even passed consenting adult laws, that basically said that anything goes as long as there is mutual consent.
4. Has that brought freedom to man? No, the greatest bondage that you can imagine. As Dr. Lorraine Day observed in her book on Aids, the homosexuals are so addicted to their sex practices, that their desire for sex becomes greater than their desire for life. That's bondage.
5. True freedom is not the freedom to do, but the freedom not to do those things that destroy a person.
6. The A.C.L.U. is probably the greatest misnomer going. They speak of insuring civil liberties for man, but they have brought more people into bondage than almost any other group. I meet so many who are now into pornography. Bound in bondage to the flesh, because of their ability to get the courts to liberalize the interpretations of the laws.
II. THE ANSWER OF THE JEWS TO JESUS. "WE ARE ABRAHAM'S SEED, AND WE HAVE NEVER BEEN IN BONDAGE TO ANY MAN. WHAT DO YOU MEAN, WE WILL BE MADE FREE?"
A. What an apt picture they are of man today. In bondage and don't even realize it.
1. At the time they were talking to Jesus, the Roman soldiers were walking the streets throughout Judea, and Galilee. They were forced to pay taxes to Rome. At any time a Roman soldier could compel them to carry his luggage for a mile. Yet they were saying, "We have never been in bondage to any man."
2. The world thinks they are free, and gaining more freedom every day. In reality they are in great bondage.
B. Jesus then explained to them what He meant, when He said, "The truth shall make you free."
III. REAL BONDAGE IS THE BONDAGE OF SIN. "WHOSOEVER COMMITS A SIN IS A SERVANT OF SIN."
A. Paul said,
ROM 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
B. If Jesus is not the Master of your life, then your life is being mastered by sin. No man can serve two masters. You cannot serve God and mammon.
C. Peter described it quite well,
2PE 2:19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
1. Sin gets a very stronghold on a person, and that person finds himself in its grip with no ability to extricate himself.
2. This is true of any sin, but more obvious in drug addiction or alcoholism.
D. While the liberals talk so much about liberty which has become one of their key buzz words, they themselves are in merciless bondage.
1. They take the words "pro choice" and rally behind it and make it a great cause, they declare that every woman should have the right to choose between the life or death of her unborn child.
2. Men like Dr. Kavorkian are saying that the pro choice also should include the elderly or terminally ill. They should have the right to choose whether they live or die.
3. I suppose that in a technical way you could say that God is pro choice, for He is the One who created us with the capacity to choose, and every day He allows man to choose between life and death. He who chooses to believe on the Son, has everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
4. It is as though God says, "Yes, you can choose but know that your choices bring serious consequences."
5. Your freedom to choose can bring you into slavery and death, or freedom and life.
IV. TRUE FREEDOM, "IF THE SON SETS YOU FREE, YOU ARE FREE INDEED."
A. Only through Jesus Christ can you ever become free from the powerful grip sin has on your life.
B. The freedom that I have in Jesus Christ is true freedom.
C. Homer in his classic work Oddessy describes how Ulysses was able to pass by the island of the Sirens, those sea nymphs who had by their beautiful singing lured so many sailors to their deaths on the shoals.
1. Ulysses was a clever, daring fellow who was always ready for a challenge, and though no sailor had ever heard the beautiful music of the Sirens and lived, he was determined to do so.
2. He had his sailors bind him to the mast of the ship, and then he had them all put wax in their ears. As the ship sailed by the island, as he heard the music, he was so enchanted, that he tried hard to break the ropes and he shouted for the sailors to cut him free, but alas with the wax in their ears they were not able to hear his shouts. So he heard and lived.
3. Their was another hero of the Greek mythology named Orpheus whose music could charm even the demons of the underworld. As his ship was sailing past the island of the Sirens, and the sailors began to turn the ship toward the shoals, seeing the danger, he began to play on his flute such beautiful music that even surpassed that of the Sirens, and the sailors turned back on course, and were thus spared the shipwreck and death.
4. There are some like Ulysses who have a great desire for evil but feel bound by ropes of morality that restrain them from doing that evil.
5. There are others who have the desire for sin, but have heard the more beautiful music of heaven, and are no longer lured by the music of the world. That is true freedom.
D. If the Son makes you free, you are free indeed. The love for the world has been replaced by the greater love for Jesus Christ.
Sermon Notes for John 8:32-36 ← Prior Section
Sermon Notes for John 9:2 Next Section →
Sermon Notes for Luke 1:5 ← Prior Book
Sermon Notes for Acts 1 Next Book →
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