John 8 Part 2

Endures forever sing, praise, sing praise sing praise sing praise, yeah forever God is faithful forever God is forever God is with us forever forever with a mighty hand and that's just darn his love endures forever for the life that's been reborn his love endures forever sing, praise, sing praise sing praise sing praise, yeah forever God is faithful forever God is around forever God is with us forever forever God is faithful forever God is forever God is with us forever forever forever thanks to the Lord for he is good give thanks to the Lord for he is good sing praise, sing, pray sing praise sing, yeah for ever you are faithful forever you are strong forever you are with us forever forever how you are goddess plan I only know at his right hand stands one who is my savior I take him at his word and Christ died to save me yes, I read and in my heart I find the need of him to be my savior daddy will leave his place on high and come for simple and you got strange so once did I before I knew my savior my savior my savior my savior always there for me my goddy was my God my God is always gonna be yes living, dying let me breathe my strength my solid spring daddy who lives to be my king once died to be my savior daddy will leave his place on high and come for simple men today you can strange the ones did I before I knew my savior my savior love my savior my savior's always there for me my God, he was my God my God is always gonna be my savior love my savior my savior's always there for me my God, he was my goddy my God is always gonna be savior loves my savior lives my savior's always there for me my God, he was my God he is my God is always gonna be my savior loves my savior lives my savior's always there for me my God, he was my God he is my God is always gonna be my savior love my savior my savior always there for me my God my God my God is always gonna be my favorite my savior my savior loves my savior we thank you for this time that we have together. Lord, thank you for the weather that we have had the nice weather. And Lord, thank you for the moisture that we anticipate you providing. Lord, thank you for all of your goodness and our technology and everything that you have provided to us. Lord, I thank you that you are always here, that you live, you love, you're here for us.

And we thank you for that. And we just give you thanks for you are good and your love endures forever. Father, I pray as we go into our service here. That you will guard our hearts. And protect our minds from the world around us.

Let us focus solely on you for the remainder of our time. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. In case you came in late and didn't see it or just missed it. If you're here before service started and saw the announcement slides and just missed it, next Sunday, one week from today.

Is fallback for daylight savings time. So don't forget. If you have regular alarm clocks or stoves or anything. You need to change the time on before you go to bed Saturday night. Turn it back 1 hour.

And rejoice. For the people in control of our time. Screw with our lives twice a year. Yay. All right.

With that announcement out of the way, we're going to continue our study this week in John chapter eight. Last week we did verses one through eleven. And we focused on the woman caught in adultery. If you remember, the scribes and pharisees said they caught her in the very act and brought her. The man was nowhere to be found.

But they brought her before Jesus. To try and trick him, trap him into saying something wrong. So that they could arrest him. They weren't able to do that.

Jesus told them that he who is without sin cast the first stone. And then told the woman that she had been forgiven. And to go and sin no more. So we're going to continue today. Immediately after that, Jesus will begin.

He'll speak to those who remain. The disciples who remained around him after this event. And he's going to speak to the pharisees who had returned. And he's going to teach us some very profound things today. Beginning in verse twelve.

We're going to read here in verse twelve. He says he spoke to them again and said, I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in darkness. But will have the light of life.

This statement is so profound. That I think most people miss it when they read it. But before I get into some of the elements here. I want to bring you back to the last time Jesus said, I am. Which was in chapter seven.

When Jesus said that he is the living water. And I pointed out the festival that was going on right now. This is the end of the festival of booths or of tabernacles. When he said, I am the living water. I drew attention to what was going on in the world around them at the time.

If you would remember that four or 500 years before Christ. The religious leaders of Judaism. Added in some rituals to the festival that God gave them where they marched around the temple and prayed for water. By the time of this festival, water is running out. It's the end of summer.

They're into fall already. Well into fall. Their water reserves are running out. And so now they're petitioning, God, God, please give us water. And it's at that time that Jesus stepped forth and proclaimed, he says, I am the living water.

And he was referring to spiritual water while they were looking at physical, the temporal. But in the same way, Jesus is doing the same thing here in chapter eight. During this festival, it was common with each evening or morning to wait for torches, for lamps to come out of the temple and bringing the light with them out of the courtyard of the woman.

What they were remembering was the light that they followed in the desert in the wilderness. So if we went all the way back to the book of Exodus and we read about their journey out of Egypt and into the wilderness, we know that God, he led them as a pillar of fire by night. He literally lit the way for them. And they are remembering that. And Jesus steps forth and he tells them today, he says, I am the light of the world.

Jesus is proclaiming himself at this very moment to be the light which led Israel through the wilderness in the book of Exodus. This is the event he is referring to, but he's referring much broader than that. In the wilderness, he was the light unto the Jews literally lightened their path around as they wandered. If we looked at their map, it's crazy. It's like they were lost as they wandered around the wilderness.

But here he broadens it. He says he's the light of the world. As we think about being the light of the world, what do we think about?

How about real light? Real light. 2000 years ago, light paralleled deity. When somebody claimed to be light, they were claiming to be deity. That's one of the things we saw in the pharaoh is he called himself the morning star.

He was claiming to be deity, claiming to be light. And the ancient world saw deity as light. And we see that God is the giver of light. Before God spoke his very first act in Genesis, he says, let there be light, right? God is the giver of light.

Jesus is the giver of light. But what else does light do? It illuminates. So light illuminates or sin. When you sin, if you are walking in darkness, you are blind to sin.

But when you are walking in the light and you sin, that's very much illuminated. You are aware of it, you know about it, it convicts you inside but we see this is a reason that Jesus speaks out against people. If we read John, chapter three, look what Jesus says about those who are condemned. He says that whoever believes in him is not condemned. But anyone who does not believe is condemned because he has not believed in the name of the one and only son of God.

And this is the judgment. Here is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, and people love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed. But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God. So light illuminates, and it illuminates our sin.

It makes it known. That's why evil people hate the light. That's why they hate Jesus, as Jesus illuminates their sin. But they love their evil deeds more than they love righteousness. And they flee from the right so that their sin can be hidden.

They want it hidden. Contrast to the believer, not that we really don't want to sin, but when we do, don't we want that sin illuminated? Don't we want it exposed? And the answer is, yes, we do, because we want to realize, hey, I did something stupid. How many times do we do stupid stuff and don't think about it?

We don't even realize what we say or what we did or a joke we made. And so we want that to come into light. Whether we say, do, teach, whatever it is, if it's wrong, if it's sinful, we want to know and change it. So light illuminates. It also illuminates shame.

Right? When light shines upon sin, you become shameful. You become ashamed. Even if you are not a believer, even if you are an evil, wicked person, you begin to feel shame when your evil deeds are exposed. And this is the reason that man loves darkness is in that darkness, you don't have to feel the shame.

No one knows of your wickedness or your evilness, or it's not convicting you. And so that feeling goes away.

However, when we follow Christ, it also illuminates our shortcomings. And that's a good thing. It's a very good thing. All right, let's read verses 13 through 24.

Oh, I'm still in. John, chapter three. One moment.

Okay, here we go. So the Pharisees said to him, you are testifying about yourself. Your testimony is not valid.

Jesus says, even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I am going. But you don't know where I came from or where I am going. You judge by human standards. I judge no one. And if I do judge, my judgment is true.

Because it is not I alone who judge, but I and the father who sent me. Even in your law, it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. I am one who testifies about myself. And the father who sent me testifies about me. Then they asked him, where is your father?

Jesus answered, you know neither me nor my father. If you knew me, you would also know my father. He spoke these words by the treasury while teaching in the temple. But no one seized him because his hour had not yet come. Then he said to them again, I'm going away, and you will look for me.

And you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come. So the jew said again, he won't kill himself, will he? Since he says, where I am going, you cannot come. You are from below.

He told them, I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. Therefore, I told you that you will die in your sins. For you do not believe that I am he.

You will die in your sins. So there's a problem here in verse 13. Look what the Jews say. They say you are testifying about yourself. So your testimony is invalid.

If we go back in time a little ways. A few weeks ago, several weeks ago, actually, to John chapter five, verse 31. Jesus said this in John chapter five, verse 31. If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. That's what Jesus said in John 531.

So here in verse 13, Jesus is testifying about himself. He says, I am the light of the world. And the Pharisees, they latched on. They accepted his teaching in John chapter five. And said.

Hey, wait a minute. Wait a minute. You said, if you testify about yourself, it's not true. And you're testifying about yourself. Now, look what Jesus says in verse 14.

Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true. We need to stop for a moment and break this apart. Is it true or is it not true? Right here he says it is true. And in chapter five, he said, it's not true if he testified about himself.

So which is it? Well, we have to understand what jesus meant in John chapter five. If he testifies about himself alone. In other words, if Jesus came and he was the only one testifying, witnessing about himself, his testimony would not be true. And in John chapter five, he gave four other witnesses to his testimony.

John, the Baptist was a witness that he gave in chapter five, John the Baptist witnessed to him about him during the baptism when he said, this is he, the lamb of God, the one who will take away the sins of the world? He gave the father. In John chapter five, he gave his works, all of the miracles, everything he was doing. In John chapter five, he had given plenty of witnesses of testimony that he was who he said he was. So with all of the other witnesses, he can testify about himself.

And it's true because it's not alone. It is backed up by all the other witnesses. So Jesus was not saying that his own testimony was false, but that his own testimony or anyone's own testimony. Right? My own testimony, your own testimony, not backed up by any other evidence.

Any other testimony is false. So here in chapter eight, when he says, if I testify about myself, it is true, that is with in mind all of the other witnesses that Jesus had given. There's enough witnesses to trust in what he says. And then he says, because I know where I came from and where I'm going. This is a big thing.

As we have read from chapter five through now several times, we have seen groups of people say, he can't be the messiah. We know where he came from. When the Messiah comes, we won't know where he is from. We've seen that. We've seen people say, he says that he is from heaven, but isn't Joseph his father?

And we had seen this many times come up now and he is telling, he says, you don't know where I came from. They know that he grew up. They know that he was born in Bethlehem, that he grew up in Galilee and Nazareth, that he fled to Egypt. But what they don't know is he came from heaven. They know that Joseph raised him.

Joseph raised him as his own son. But what they don't know is Joseph is not his biological father. He has no biological father on earth at all. It was an immaculate Conception. So what they do not know, and they can't judge him because they don't know.

And he says, you judge by human standards. They are judging by what they don't know, and they are not seeking out any of the evidence of what they don't know. They're not trying to answer the questions. They're not trying to say, well, let's learn. Where did he come from?

Who sent him? Why is he here? They're not asking any of the questions and trying to answer it. They are just jumping to judgment. They're very quick to judgment.

Look, what Christ says I judge no one. Isn't that interesting? Christ judges no one. And this is very interesting because he tells us that on that great day, we who reject him, he will say, depart from me. I never knew you.

But what's really interesting about that is he's not judging you. God will judge. The father will judge you. At that point, he's merely saying, I don't know who you are. You're not one of mine.

I don't know. You go before the judge to be judged. But those who he knows, he says one verse before that. He says, those who confess me, I'll confess before the father. Right.

When you go before the judge, the father is the judge. He will intercede and say, actually, hey, that one's mine. You can't judge him. That one's mine. Those who he doesn't know, he lets them go to the judge.

Christ judges no one. But he says this. If I do judge, my judgment is true because I do not judge alone, but I and the father who sent me. So Jesus says, if he did judge, which he alone would have the right, and he doesn't exercise it. But if he did judge, it's true judgment, because he is not judging for his own will and his own benefit, but he would be judging for the will of the father who had sent him.

And his judgment would be synonymous with that of the father who sent him. It would be the same.

And then he says, even in your law, it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. Right? So let's go back to what they said in 13 and 13. They said, you're testifying about yourself, and your testimony is not valid. Well, prior, he gave four witnesses.

John the Baptist. I'll name three of them. Now, John the Baptist, his works, and the father, he had given three right then, and the Father was a witness. They heard the voice from heaven when he was baptized that proclaimed, this is my beloved son, and I am well pleased with him.

So he is now bringing that back up right in the lots written by the testimony of two witnesses. And he says, I'm one who testifies. You can be a witness of yourself. You just can't be the sole witness of yourself. But then he says, the father who sent me also witnesses for me.

And so the testimony is true. So in verse 19, they asked, and they said, where is your father? And he answered, you do not know me or the Father. And if you did know me, you know the Father. Here's the thing.

You cannot know Jesus without getting to know the Father. It is impossible right. Jesus, it is told, is the exact embodiment of God. The way he lived, the way he spoke, the way he loved and served and took care of people, his miracles, his heart was the exact embodiment of the father of God. So you cannot know Jesus and not know God.

But if you remember what we were talking about a couple months ago when we first started, John, you cannot honor the Father if you dishonor Jesus, right? So you cannot know one without knowing the other. And you cannot honor one if you dishonor the other. You know them both, and you honor them both, or you do not.

Jesus would then predict his death. In verse 21, he says, and this is the second time he has said this. He said it in John, chapter seven. So we read it a couple of weeks ago, and he says it here in John, chapter eight. I am going away.

You will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come in John, chapter seven. He just said. He said, I will be here for a short while, and then you will look for me and not find me here. He takes it a step further.

He not only says that you will look for me and not find me, but he says, you will die in your sin and cannot come to where I am going. So jesus has directly told these Pharisees right now. That they would die in sin. He knew their heart. He knew that they would die in their sin.

He knew they would not end up saved. And I want you to pay attention to who he's speaking to. He is speaking to the religious leaders.

I point this out for if any religious leaders out there are hearing the message, if you're seeing it out there on the Internet, jesus is speaking to the leaders. So just because you or I might be a religious leader. Does not guarantee that you're saved.

Only a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So do not think, well, I lead a church. That means I'm going to heaven. Jesus says in the book of Matthew on the Mount of Olives. He says, on that day, many will say to me, lord, Lord, did I not heal people in your name.

And preach in your name, and cast out demons in your name? And he will say to them, depart from me, you worker of iniquity. I never knew you.

Scary thought. Especially for a religious leader. Scary thought. So he's talking to the leaders. But just because you got yourself in a position of leadership.

Doesn't mean that's not what saves you. But a personal knowledge and relationship of Jesus Christ. That is what saves you. Look what he says in verse 34, right? So he says, he says, you will die in your sin and cannot come where I'm going.

In verse 24, he says, I told her, you will die in your sins. Because if you don't believe that I am he, right? The messiah. If you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins. So that relationship, you can be a leader.

You can not be a leader. It doesn't matter. We're all the same. If you do not have that relationship with God, you will die in your sins. So look what they said.

He won't kill himself, will he? Isn't that interesting? They're asking if he's going to kill himself, where they're the ones plotting to kill him.

But when he says, where I'm going, you can't come, they're immediately they're thinking, well, what's he going to do, die, kill himself? And Jesus answers, you are from below and I am from above. He really makes it clear. He says, you're of the world and I'm not, right? Jesus is not of the same nature as we are.

He's not for those who think that jesus is equal to us, that we're created the same, that we're the same maker of the same essence. We're not. Jesus is entirely different in nature than we are. We are not from where he comes from. But the good news is we can be citizens of where he's from if we would have a personal relationship with him.

So look what they finally asked. Well, who are you?

Which brings us to our next section. So let's read our next section here, which is verses 25 through 29.

Who are you? They questioned exactly what I've been telling you from the very beginning. Jesus told them, I have many things to say and to judge about you. But the one who sent me is true. And what I have heard from him, these things I tell to the world, they did not know he was speaking to them about the father.

So 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 on my own. But just as the father had taught me, I say these things. The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone because I always do what pleases him. So who are you?

So they're asking, well, okay, who are you? And he says, I'm the same person I've been telling you from the beginning. How many times has he said, I'm the light of the world. I am the living water. I'm the bread of life.

There's times already he's come out and started telling them, I am he. I am the messiah. He's been performing the miracles. He's been saying, I'm from the father above. He's told them dozens and dozens of times who he is, but they won't listen to him.

And now they're asking again. And so he says, essentially, the way I read this, I'm who I've been telling you from the beginning is it's useless to tell you again. It's pointless. I've already told you. I've been telling you.

Right, that word been not just who I told you before, but who I've been. This implies I've actively been revealing myself to you, but you won't listen, so I'm not telling you anymore.

Go listen to what I've taught before, he says. And then he says, look, I've got many things to say and judge about. You notice he doesn't, though. He doesn't come down to their level and start judging and talking the way they are. He lets them know he could, but he doesn't.

All he does is say that. But the one who sent me is true.

And what I have heard from him, I tell the world. So Jesus says they're judging him without the facts. But he says this in verse 27. They did not know he was speaking about the father. So what we learn here is that they don't understand Jesus for a couple of reasons.

One, spiritual blindness. We've already read in John that the carnal mind, the fleshly mind, cannot comprehend the spirit because the spirit is spirit and the flesh is flesh. Unless the spirit of God reveals to our spirits the things of heaven and the things of God, we cannot comprehend it. And they are spiritually dead and blind. Number two, they're just stubborn.

They're stubborn. They don't really want to know. As we've read, we've seen many times a verse that says they brought this one to trick him, or they asked this question to trap him, or all the questions. They're not asking out of earnest desire to know. They're asking with the intent of, can we get him to slip up?

Can we get him to say something different? Can we get him to break the law? Can we get him to say something that we can stone him for? So they're not asking out of desire to know. They're asking out of stubbornness.

Like if we just keep pestering him, he's going to slip up eventually, right? Isn't that what the police do. That's right. We're told we need a lawyer. It's the same thing.

They don't interrogate you and ask you the same question out of earnest desire to know the truth. They ask you out of a stubbornness of, well, we know what he said, but let's see if we can get him to say something different. That's what they're doing to Jesus. And number three out of right, they've set up their man made traditions and they adhere to it, and they just don't like when that is threatened. And so they're trying to protect their traditions.

And he says, when you lift up the son of man, notice what he says when he lift up. The jewish way of killing people who break the law is stoning them. So he just predicted and told them, you're going to lift me up. You're going to hang me or nail me to a tree, right? Lift me up can refer to many things.

And we know he was crucified, but he's just revealed to him, you're going to murder me in an unconventional way. When you lift me up. So he knows he's going to die on a cross, then you will know that I am he and do nothing on my own.

When Jesus was resurrected, we talked about this on Easter. Anyone here for my Easter service has heard me talk about this several times during the evidence for Christ. If he wasn't resurrected, why didn't the Jews present the body of Christ?

Why not? They wanted to shut down Christianity. They wanted to shut down the followers of Christ. So why not just present the body? But they didn't.

And here is the thing. I can guarantee you, every one of them knew when he died. On the cross, it talks about the skies turning black, the earthquake which rent the veil on the temple in two. From the bottom up, it just tore it. The thunderings on the resurrection, everyone being changed after that.

All of a sudden, other people isn't. They knew for a fact that they had killed the messiah, and yet they still rejected him after.

But all of a sudden they stop. They don't present the body, they don't do anything, because they know and they know. And he says that they wouldn't know that the things he told the world was true.

All right, let's read the last passage tonight, verses 30 through 36. As he was saying these things, many believed in him. Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, if you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. We are descendants of Abraham.

They answered him. We have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say you will become free? Jesus responded, truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever.

So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.

We will finish the rest of that passage. 37. Onward next week. I know I stopped in a weird place, but this is a good stopping point for tonight. So as he's speaking, it says that many believed in him.

So there are people like the Pharisees, the leaders. They're hearing this, and they're getting angry and plot and murder. But then there are others who are hearing it, and they're believing in Jesus. They're becoming followers of him. And we know there were, because jesus started with twelve, right, twelve followers.

The twelve disciples. Midway through his ministry, he had 72. He sent out 72 disciples into the harvest. By the time he resurrects it, tells us there were 500 people who are disciples of Christ.

We are less than six months away from his death at this point, less than six months. So we know that people are believing in him, are following him at this point. And so listen to what he says to those who believe in him. He's not talking to the Pharisees. He's talking to the believers.

If you continue in my word, you are my disciples.

If you continue on my word right now, continue means a few things here. The first thing is, when you hear continue in English, what we hear is, keep doing that. Right. If we're driving to a long distance, say a 20 hours drive, and we're halfway through, and we say, do we want to stop or continue? Right.

We mean to keep going. What Jesus means when he says continue, the greek word here, it means to stay put, to reside.

So he says, if you reside. If you live in my words. Well, how do we live in his words? There's two ways. One, we continue to read his word daily or hourly, or whatever we need, we continue to read it.

We make it an active part of our life. But two, when his word remains in us, Jesus also says. He says, if you abide in me and I in you, right? So the same thing. It's a two way street.

And you know his word is remaining in you. When in the middle of the day, a random scripture comes to your mind, or you're about to sin, and scripture, before you even do it, stops you and convicts you. Or someone asks you a question, and all of a sudden you have a verse or a passage or context to give. So if you continue in my word, you are my disciple. Indeed, those who are disciples of Christ must continue to be with Christ.

We cannot say, okay, Christ, I accept you today, and then go the rest of our lives without him. That's not a disciple of Christ, but instead, a disciple of Christ has him today and tomorrow and the next day and this hour and the next hour and the hour before. We continually have him with us, and we are his disciples. And to the disciples, to those who remain in his word, he says, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

That's a promise right there. So let's start with the truth. What is the truth? What Jesus says, I am the way, the truth and the life. And we need to understand something about truth.

I had somebody here in my office on Monday. So just a few days ago, had someone here in my office, and he actually came to ask me about photography. And we got talking about religion and truth, and he said something I could agree with. But then when we started talking, you could tell he didn't believe what he said. He said, truth doesn't change.

Now, he's not a believer in Jesus. In fact, he thinks Jesus is a fraud. But he said, truth doesn't change. So I said, okay, let's start where we can agree truth does not change. I can agree with that.

Well, as we were talking, it became evident, and he ultimately told me he believes that truth is based on perspective. Right? So if truth is based on perspective, that means what's true for me and what's true for you are different things because we have different perspectives. Well, now truth is changing, so we need to understand something about truth. Truth is absolute.

Truth is absolute. It never changes. It's not based on how I see things or how you see things or perspective. It's not based on what political leaders or scientists or school teachers or anyone else says it is. In fact, I told my wife the other day, because we were talking about it, I think it's been two or three years now.

I preached a sermon, and I titled it, do not confuse the facts with the truth. Why would I say that? When you hear fact, you think truth, don't you? But I'm saying don't confuse the facts with the truth. Why?

Because fact is human defined. Fact is human defined. Humans, man, leaders, they set what is fact and what's not fact. You see that with the so called fact checkers during political debate, when things that we know aren't true somehow independently pass fact checks. Fact is not truth.

Fact is subjective. It can change. It's based. If the majority of people decide that homosexuality is good, it becomes a fact that homosexuality is okay.

If the majority of the world decides that the big Bang created the universe, it becomes a fact. If you look it up, even though it's called the big Bang theory, if you look it up, if you open science textbooks, if you just go on Google and put creation of the universe, they teach it as a fact that the big Bang created the universe. So facts are man defined and subjective and ever changing. But the truth is absolute.

The truth does not care about how you feel, how you think, what you see, what you know. The truth is the truth. And it's that it never changes. So what is the truth? Jesus.

And aren't we glad that the truth is Jesus? Jesus never changed. He was always consistent. He never sinned. All of his promises that he has made and has been able to fulfill have already been fulfilled.

So the ones that were futuristic, we can trust. And isn't it good that truth never changes? In fact, if truth could change or is subjective, how would you ever know what to believe or know or think or feel? And then he says, it will set you free. So as we go further, let's talk about what he means by you will know the truth.

First, you will know Jesus Christ personally. That is the truth. You will know who he is in relation to the Father, to creation. That's the truth. But you will also know that you are a sinner in deep need of salvation.

That your sin will condemn you to the pits of hell and that you need salvation. You need to be saved a savior. So he says, you will know the truth. But look at the rest of this. The truth will set you free.

The knowledge of these things will set you free. Free from what? Well, that's what the Jews asked. Look what they said. We are descendants of Abraham.

As if something someone did 2000 years ago was enough for me. I'm great. I'm a descendant of Abraham. I have everything I need, right? No.

Did you hear what the Baptist said? He said that God can turn these rocks, these stones into children and replace you with. And they said, we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say we'll become free? So we see a problem here.

They think that their blood will save them, right? Their dna. But what Abraham did has no effect on them. It really doesn't. The parents, the mother or the father's personal relationship with God is not enough for the children.

There's a reason it's called a personal relationship. It's personal. We each need one. And here's the second problem. They say we have never been enslaved to anyone.

Well, first, let's look through history. From the time of Abraham, slavery in Egypt, slavery in Babylon, slavery to the Greeks, slavery to the Romans, currently occupied by the Romans. What do you mean you've not been enslaved to anyone?

They've been slaves their entire existence and say we've never been slaves to anyone. But is Jesus talking about human slavery? Is he talking about temporal slavery? No, he's talking about spiritual slavery. So they are blind.

They're blind to the fact that they actually are slaves and they're actually blind, both physically and spiritually. They can't see the egyptian slavery, the babylonian captivity, the Greek, the Roman, all of it, but they're blind to their sin. Look what Jesus says. I tell you that everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. When you are caught up in sin, when you are doing its bidding, whether that's pornography, other addictions, drugs, hardcore drugs, they're of the devil.

The Bible tells us that. And I will clarify. Don't confuse all types of drugs also with being of the devil. Alcohol. Christ gave us alcohol.

He even created wine there. Is it in medicine. But I'm referring to the hardcore kill you drugs, theft, adultery, whatever it is that you are caught up in that is sinful, you are a slave to it. In fact, haven't you ever noticed the person caught up in pornography? They can try and try and try and try and try to get away from it, and they always come back to it.

The alcoholic. I'm not saying alcohol is bad, but it's bad to be an alcoholic. Right? And the alcoholic who tries and tries and tries to get away from alcohol, they keep coming back to it.

Why? Because you are a slave to it. It literally enslaves you and sucks you in so that all you can do is what it commands you.

But Jesus says you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. It'll set you free from slavery to sin. It'll set you free from slavery to addiction. It'll set you free from slavery in the pits of hell. It will redeem you.

Look what Jesus also says. He says a slave does not remain in the household forever. In fact, a slave is not even a member of a household, but a son does remain forever. When you become a son of God, you become a son of God forever.

And so he says, if the Son sets you free, you really will be free. This is not temporal freedom. This is not a false sense of freedom. But this is true freedom.

Yes. In the temporal, in our sin suits our flesh. We still commit sins. We still do things that are wrong. But there is a promise of a new heavens and a new earth that is sin free, pain free, death free, where you will truly be free.

You will never deal with any of this stuff that we deal with again.

So I want to say to those listening tonight, if you are currently a slave to sin, if you are currently perishing, walking in darkness, you don't have to anymore. If you want to be free from your addictions, free from your sins, free from the threat of hell, Jesus says, if you confess me, I will confess you. Paul writes that if you believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord and has been raised from the dead, you would be saved. And it begins with admitting something, admitting that you are a sinner, that you can't get out of this on your own right. The Jews, they responded, we are children of Abraham.

They're in the flesh. With admitting. It doesn't matter who your parents are, who your kids are, who you know, what you think you can do. It doesn't matter you're a sinner and you're in debt. But believing that Jesus Christ came down here, lived perfectly, and traded his righteousness for yours, he died on the cross and resurrected the third day and then confessing him as your Lord God, king and savior.

If you're ready to do this today, then I want to walk you through it here in our closing prayer, where you can verbalize those things to God, and then let us know. Let us know about your profession of faith, that you are no longer in darkness and light, so that we can rejoice with you and that we can welcome you into God's great family, where you will be his son forever. Immediately after closing prayer, we will partake of the Lord's supper. Please stick around and partake of that with us. And then as a final reminder, before we start praying, and I don't see you until Wednesday, set your clocks back next Saturday night before you go to bed, because the time will change on you.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this time that you have given us. We thank you, Lord, for the one you have given us, for the light of the world, we thank you for the truth that you have given us and revealed to us. We thank you, Lord, for the promise of salvation, of light, of eternal security, of freedom. We thank you for all that you have given us.

And Father, I pray that you will convict those hearing your message, your word into belief right now. And, Father, for any who do believe, who are ready, we would just like to verbalize that belief and that readiness to you. Because, Father, we know that we are sinners, Lord. We know we cannot save ourselves. We know that our ways are corrupt.

But we believe that Lord Jesus stepped down into his creation, that he lived perfectly sinlessly, that he completed the law, that he was nailed to a cross because of our sin. But he rose again. And we confess you, Lord Jesus, King Jesus, our God, our savior, to follow you, to abide with you, to take off our crowns and submit to yours. And thank you for your precious gift. And we ask you to give it to us, to enter into our hearts now, and we will glorify you for it.

In Jesus'beautiful name we pray. Amen.