https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/The-Freedom-of-Truth.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: John 8:30-59<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. Many began to believe on Jesus – John 8:30-31<\/p>\n A. Jesus said that if they would live in the words of Jesus, then they would truly be\nhis disciples – John 8:32\n
1. Obedience to his teaching would cause them to know the truth.<\/p>\n
2. Obedience leads to greater retention of knowledge – James 1:21-25<\/p>\n
3. Knowing the truth would bring them freedom<\/p>\n
B. What is freedom? R. L. Whiteside gave some good illustrations<\/p>\n
1. A machine freely runs when all its parts move as the designer intended<\/p>\n 2. A living creature is free when it moves unhampered in the environs God\nintended for it to live.\n
a. A fish in water and not in a net or aquarium is free<\/p>\n b. A fish out of the water is not free, even if it is not restricted in any\nway\n
C. From what would a person be freed? What is holding us in captivity?<\/p>\n
1. Man’s natural environ is righteousness – Ecclesiastes 7:29<\/p>\n
2. Satan holds people captive through sin – II Timothy 2:25-26<\/p>\n
3. Christ’s law has set us free from the law of sin and death – Romans 8:2<\/p>\n
4. Paul said sin would not longer be our master – Romans 6:14, 17-18, 22<\/p>\n 5. Freedom is not doing as we please. Why? Because our desires will lead us\nright back into sin.\n 6. The Jews had thought that serving God was a captivity and saw the wicked\nas free – Malachi 3:14-15\n
a. In some ways they were correct – Romans 6:20<\/p>\n b. They are not bound by the rules of God. They can make up their\nown rules of morality.\n c. Yet, men aren’t the final judge. It is God who determines our\ndestiny\n
7. Freedom requires doing God’s will – James 1:25<\/p>\n D. Jesus’ listeners took offense at this idea of needing to be freed. They believed\nthemselves to already be free – John 8:33\n 1. The confusion again comes from thinking in physical terms and not\nspiritual.\n 2. Notice their statement is wrong. We are Abraham’s offspring and never\nbeen enslaved. \n
a. They forgot about their captivity in Egypt. <\/p>\n
b. They forgot about their captivity in Babylon.<\/p>\n
E. Jesus explains the type of freedom offered in detail – John 8:34-36<\/p>\n
1. Sin enslaves a person.<\/p>\n 2. In these days, slavery was a temporary status. An Israelite normally did not\nremain a slave for more than 7 years.\n 3. The Jews were in God’s house on a temporary status. Jesus, as God’s son,\nwould remain in God’s house forever.\n
4. Therefore, if the owner’s son frees someone from slavery, it is permanent.<\/p>\n F. Jesus proves they are captives of sin, because of their attitude towards him – John\n8:37-38\n
1. They are seeking to kill him because they do not like his teachings.<\/p>\n 2. Just as Jesus was obedient to God, the Father, the Jews were obeying the\ninstructions of their father, Satan.\n
II. The Jews protested this idea. Their father, their ancestor, was Abraham – John 8:39-40<\/p>\n
A. Jesus said if that was true, then they should act as Abraham did.<\/p>\n
1. Abraham believed God and repeatedly showed his belief<\/p>\n 2. Jesus is bringing God’s word, but these people are attempting to kill him,\nsomething Abraham would not have done.\n 3. Instead, Jesus is saying that they show themselves to have a different\nfather – John 8:41\n
B. Again, they protest – God is our father!<\/p>\n
1. Notice the change in their story from declaring Abraham as their father.<\/p>\n 2. It is typical of a person losing ground to shift to what they think is a better\nargument\n 3. Notice that twice Jesus accuses them of plotting to kill him and they have\nnot protested the accusation\n C. Jesus points out that since he is from God, they should have welcomed him with\nlove and not hatred – John 8:42\n D. These people did not understand Jesus’ teaching because they were so use to\nlistening to lies, that when someone came telling the truth, they reject the truth –\nJohn 8:43\n 1. Satan is the father of lies. He has always lied. Lies are his language – John\n8:44\n 2. Satan is a murderer. He murdered from the beginning (he brought death\ninto the world through his lies).\n 3. Jesus proves his point by showing that they reject him, but not because he\nhas sinned – John 8:45-46\n 4. Since Jesus is from God, then their rejection must be because they are not\nof God – John 8:47\n a. Therefore, the claim that they were God’s children could not be\ntrue\n
III. The audience retaliates. <\/p>\n A. They accuse him of being a Samaritan (half-Jew) and having a demon (out of his\nmind, speaking nonsense) – John 8:48\n
1. These people know that Jesus is a full- Jew from Galilee. <\/p>\n
2. These people know that Jesus is speaking rationally. <\/p>\n 3. The reason they are accusing him is because they could not meet his\narguments.\n 4. This is often the case with people. If they cannot meet a rational argument,\nthey will accuse the messenger of irrational things.\n B. Since Jesus is speaking the words of God, Jesus points out that they are\ndishonoring God by calling his words the irrational words of a demon – John 8:49-51\n 1. Jesus is not here to gain their approval but to glorify God and have God’s\napproval.\n
2. If they are to have eternal life, they must accept Jesus’ teaching.<\/p>\n C. Now they believe they caught Jesus mis-speaking. If accepting God’s word brings\neternal life, then why did the prophets of the past die? – John 8:52-53\n 1. “Who,” they ask, “do you think you are offering something that was never\noffered before?”\n
D. Jesus again states that he is not seeking personal glory – John 8:54-55<\/p>\n
1. God has glorified Jesus (“This is my son, in whom I am well-pleased”).<\/p>\n 2. They claim to follow this same God, but they reject the one God stated He\nwas pleased with.\n
3. If Jesus claimed not to know God he would be a liar just like them.<\/p>\n
IV. Jesus states boldly that Abraham looked forward to Jesus’ day – John 8:56<\/p>\n A. This was met with derision. How could Abraham look forward to the day of a\nmere man born thousands of years after Abraham lived? – John 8:57\n
B. “How,” they asked, “do you know so much about what Abraham thought?”<\/p>\n
C. Jesus said that he lived before Abraham was born. – John 8:58<\/p>\n 1. In fact, he called himself “I AM.” The name of the eternal God – Exodus\n3:14\n
2. This is one of many places that Jesus tells us he is God. <\/p>\n D. The Jews understood this. They accepted Jesus’ statement as blasphemy and\nsought to stone him – John 8:59\n
E. However, Jesus disappeared in the confusion and left the temple.<\/p>\n
V. In going through this event, it is easy to overlook what is stated at the beginning<\/p>\n
A. Jesus was addressing the Jews who believed<\/i> on him – John 8:30-31<\/p>\n
B. Yet these same people are accused of <\/p>\n
1. Being slaves of sin<\/p>\n
2. Serving Satan<\/p>\n
3. Rejecting the truth<\/p>\n
4. Wanting to kill Jesus<\/p>\n
C. These are the same people who accused Jesus of <\/p>\n
1. Being a half-Jew<\/p>\n
2. Being possessed by a demon<\/p>\n
3. Being no greater than other men of the past<\/p>\n D. Don’t people claim that all<\/i> a person needs is to believe that Jesus is your personal\nSavior?\n
1. But belief is not enough.<\/p>\n
2. What was missing? <\/p>\n
a. Notice what Jesus said at the start – John 8:31-32<\/p>\n b. Obedience was missing! They weren’t putting Jesus’ teachings into\npractice!\n
c. They were no different than what James said – James 2:14-24<\/p>\n E. Are you among those who claim belief or those who show belief by the life you\nlive?\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: John 8:30-59 I. Many began to believe on Jesus – John 8:30-31 A. Jesus said that if they would live in the words of Jesus, then they would truly be his disciples – John 8:32 1. Obedience to his teaching would cause them to know the truth. 2. Obedience leads to greater retention…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[53,790,179,441],"class_list":["post-49546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-faith-alone","tag-freedom","tag-sin","tag-truth"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":56318,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/freedom-through-gods-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":49546,"position":0},"title":"Freedom Through God’s Law","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 26, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Charles N. Spence, Jr. God had always wanted His people to be free. However, most people today have a radically different idea of freedom than God's. Many in the world today look at freedom as the uninhibited right to do what they want to do. We can see this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31140,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/thoughts-about-true-freedom\/","url_meta":{"origin":49546,"position":1},"title":"Thoughts About True Freedom","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by R.L. Whiteside (1869-1951) \"Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free\" (John 8:31-32). 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