Are You Really Free?

John chapter eight and we're going to begin reading in just a moment from verse 31. Before I read from the word of God, which is what we're here to do today, I do want to introduce it by reading from another document, that you some of you may recognize this excerpt from. It goes like this, We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We therefore the representatives of The United States Of America in general congress symbol appealing to the supreme judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions do in the name and by the authority of the good people of these colonies solemnly publish and declare that these united colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states. And for the support of this declaration with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

Now that would be an excerpt from what? The Declaration of Independence. From where did these men, that wrote this declaration and signed it learn about freedom and to cherish that freedom? I don't believe they learned it from the rationalists and the humanists of France as some would have us believe. No, I am quite sure that these men learned of this from what?

From the word of God, from the bible which most of them or many of them knew better than the vast majority of our leaders and our people and even some of our preachers in this land today. Where do we get this idea of freedom? What comes from the word of God. It is Christ who came to set us free. Look if you would in John chapter eight beginning in verse, 31.

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If you continue in my word then you are my disciples indeed and you shall know the truth and the truth shall what? Shall make you free. They answered him, we being Abraham's seed, we be Abraham's seed and we're never in bondage to any man. How sayest thou, ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, verily verily I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

Look if you would in verse 36. If the son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. Let's go to the Lord in prayer once more. Lord, thank you for your word today. Lord, please use it in our life to mold us, to make us into the image of Christ, to renew our minds after, your mind, dear heavenly father.

Lord, help us to recognize the great gift that we have been given, who know Christ as savior, and the great gift that is offered to all who will come to you by faith and if there be one here today that's never accepted your gift of eternal life and freedom from sin and hell Lord. I pray that they would accept that free gift today through faith in your shed blood on Calvary's Cross and your resurrection from the dead in Jesus name we do pray Amen. We throw around the term free, freedom, liberty, often, with little thought sometimes of how we're using it or or what it applies to. Obviously the founders of our country believed in freedom and they used it as the reasoning behind the actions that they took in declaring the colonies free from British rule. That is not what we're here to talk about today.

We may be living in a free land and praise God we still have the freedom to come and worship him here as we see fit and that has yet to be greatly infringed upon. Praise the Lord we still have opportunity to declare without fear or with little fear our faith in Jesus Christ to the lost around us that they might be saved. Praise God we have freedom to determine where we want to live and where we want to work and who we want to marry and so forth and so on in the country in which we live. Praise God for the freedoms we have to serve our country in the military or to not serve. Praise God for the freedoms we have, the freedoms of speech and freedom of protecting ourselves and so forth and so on.

Praise God for those freedoms. But you might have all of those freedoms and not be what? And not be free. And that's the reason for this question this morning. It says in the Battle Hymn of the Republic as he died to make men holy let us die to make men free.

Christ died to make us holy. He died to make us free from what? From sin as we'll get to in a moment. That's what Jesus is speaking of here in John chapter eight. He begins again in verse 31, Then said Jesus to the Jews which believed on him that they had professed faith in him.

It wasn't speaking at this point to their heart condition but to their profession. Okay? These Jews which were believed had professed faith in him. He said, If you continue in my word, if you trust fully in my word, you shall be free indeed. You shall be my disciples indeed.

You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Verse 36 we read, If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. John chapter three verse 17, For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be what? Saved. Saved.

What does that word save mean? That's another word we throw around a lot especially in Christian circles. We use saved and salvation in our sermons, in our in our in our conversations, in our witnessing. You need to be saved but sometimes the world doesn't understand what it is to be saved and what that word means. As a matter of fact, sometimes I don't think it really hits home to us what that word means.

What does it mean to be saved? What means to be rescued? It means to be delivered. That's what saved means. If you're saved, you've been delivered from something.

If you're saved, you've been rescued from something. If somebody came and said, I was saved from drowning. What does that mean? That means somebody went out and they what? They rescued them.

They were going to die. They were going to drown and somebody went out, reached out a hand, grabbed them, rescued them, and brought them to safety. They saved them from drowning. The word save means to be rescued to be delivered. Christ Jesus came to this world to deliver us from something.

That's why he came. He didn't come to condemn us. We already stood condemned. No, Christ came that he might offer us deliverance. That he might offer us as he says here freedom.

Christ wants you to be free from that which binds you. Christ wants to deliver you from that which would destroy you. As we look out at our society today, do we recognize that people are in bondage and they need to be delivered. Do you see that? They're in bondage to false teaching.

They're in bondage to ungodly philosophies and ideologies. They're in bondage to addictions, to drugs and alcohol. They're in bondage to promiscuous lifestyles. Go visit a state school and I don't mean just walk on campus and notice how well the shrubs are cut and how beautiful the buildings are. But get to know the college students that go there.

Go in their dorms. See how they live. See how they live in what? They live in bondage. We live in a world today that is in bondage and you say but but what do you mean in bondage?

We live in a free country. We're free to do as we please. What are you talking about in bondage? Christ came to deliver us from bondage. Says in Galatians five one, I'll get to the says, stand there forced in the liberty where with Christ hath made us free and be not entangled again with the what?

With the yoke of bondage. Christ came to give us liberty. Christ says to his people, stand fast. In that liberty where with Christ has made you free. We live in a world that needs to be delivered.

If you're saved by grace through faith in Christ, you have been delivered. You have been rescued. Christ has made you what? He has made you free. That brings us to point number two.

Not only does salvation mean deliverance and it is Christ who offers that deliverance. We next must get to the point of what it is specifically that we need to be delivered from. The person who is saved from drowning is saved from death by drowning, okay? Maybe you've been saved from financial ruin. Maybe you've been saved from addiction to alcoholism.

Christ didn't come to deliver you from government tyranny. Christ didn't come just to deliver you from dumb things that you might do that that might put your health at risk. God didn't even Jesus Christ didn't even come to save you specifically from the bondage of alcoholism. Why did Christ come? To rescue us from what?

To rescue us from sin. Sin. That's why he came. That he might make us free from sin. Look if you would in John chapter eight and verse 33.

It says, they answered him, we being Abraham's, we be Abraham's seed and we were never what? In to any man. How sayest thou, you shall be made free. The Jews that Jesus was talking to, He said, if you will follow me, if you will heed my words, I will make you free And their first thought was, what are you talking about? We're already what?

We're already free. What do you mean not free? We're we're we're Jews. We're we make our own decisions. We we cut our own path.

We do it our way. We're free. Jesus says, no, you don't understand They said, but but we're the children of Abraham. We're set apart. We're unique.

We're we're blessed above all people. We're the children of Abraham. We're Jews. We're free. Jesus says, no, you don't understand.

Not talking about free as in human oppression or tyranny or slavery Jesus said, that's not what I'm talking about you need to be free from that which every man. Jew, Gentile, living in The United States Of America, or in China needs to be free from. And he says in verse 34, verily, verily, or truly, truly I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the what? Servant sin. Now, that's servant there.

There's different words for servant in the Greek. One of the words for servant in the Greek is Diaconos. Now, Diaconos is the term which we also from which we get deacon. Deacon is somebody who serves the church, okay? And sometimes when we're talking about that position in the church, it's translated deacon.

Sometimes, it's translated minister, okay? Those who minister to others, not minister as in the position of minister, okay? But minister as in those who minister to or the other word is servant. Those who serve others. By choice, they choose to to serve, to help, other people.

This is something we do of our free free will and something we do for the good of others and the glory of God. The Akenos. Now, the other word used often in scripture for servant is doulas. Now, doulos is translated in our King James version most often is servant. In some other translations, it's translated slave or bond slave.

That's because the idea behind the word doulos, it is a negative service. It's not a positive service. It is one that is in opposition to your own good or your own free will. In other words, more like we, our concept, not of servitude, but of what? But of slavery.

Okay. Now, which word do you think is used here? The word is due loss, okay? And it it carries the idea of of slavery or servitude. It is negative not positive.

Verse 34 again, Jesus answered, verily, verily I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the what? Is the servant, is the slave, is in servitude, is in bondage to what? Is in bondage to sin. So you say you are free Christ says, I say you are not. You are not free because you are in bondage to sin.

I can rectify that. I can I can change that? And Jesus can. And that's why he came. He came to rescue us from sin.

He came to save us from sin which every last person needs because for all have what? Sinned and come short of the glory of God. Galatians one four says, who gave himself, Jesus, gave himself for our what? For our sins. That he might, there's that word, deliver us from this present evil, the sinful world according to the will of God and our father.

Why did Jesus came? He came to deliver us from the bondage of what? From the bondage of sin. Which has eternal consequences. The bondage to sin has eternal consequences.

We suffer the consequences now. If you're an alcoholic you will destroy your life. You will destroy your liver you might destroy the lives of others If you live promiscuously, you will suffer. If you break the laws of our country, the laws of our government, and you still, kill, you will suffer. If you are a liar, behold your sin will find you out, You will suffer.

There is pleasure in sin for a season but eventually, sin always does what? It always catches up with you. But here the worst part, if you die in the condition in which we are born as sinners, in bondage to sin, then we will remain in bondage to sin for how long? Forever. In a place called the Lake Of Fire.

Sin has consequences and humanity is in bondage to sin. Jesus came to deliver you and me from it. He came to deliver us from its bondage. Romans six twenty two and twenty three. But now being made free from sin and become the servants of who?

Servants of God, you have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is what? Eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now, being made from free from sin, we have become the servants of God. Jesus Christ came and he died on the cross for our sins That he might deliver us from sins what?

From sins bondage. He came to make you what? He came to make you free. Back in the Old Testament, the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, okay? They were slaves in Egypt.

And for four hundred years, they were slaves in Egypt. To a tyrannical government. They had no freedom to choose their own path, to go their own way. They were in bondage to Egypt. They lived their lives from the day they were born to the day they die in bondage to a human master who took advantage of them, who cared little for them.

And it was a desperate situation and they cried out to God for what? For deliverance and God sent them a deliverer, didn't he? Who did God send to deliver them? He sent them Moses. Now, Moses in a way is a type of Christ because he is a deliverer.

He's an imperfect type of Christ because Moses wasn't perfect and because Moses could only deliver people from Egypt and not deliver people from what? From sin. However, he did as God brought judgement upon Egypt, deliver those people from the tyranny and the bondage of slavery in Egypt. And as terrible as the bondage to slavery in Egypt was the bondage to sin is what? Is worse.

And it required a greater sacrifice and a greater person than that of Moses. A greater sacrifice than that of the blood of lambs and goats. It required the sacrifice of who? Jesus Christ, the sinless son of God. That's what it requires to deliver us from what?

From sin. So, when the time was come, Jesus came, God sent forth his only begotten son, the seed of the woman, who died to deliver us from sin. But God commended his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners in bondage to sin, Christ died for us. To deliver us. From it.

From its bondage. That we might not serve it. And be enslaved to it for how long? Says this is I like this song and can it be? It's in our hymn book.

However, this verse is not in our hymn book which is why I had to put it up on the screen. This verse says, long my imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound in sin, and nature's night, Thine eye diffused a quickening ray. The word quickening means making alive. I woke the dungeon flamed with light. My chains fell off.

My heart was free. I rose, went forth, and followed thee. My chains fell off, my heart was free. I rose, went forth, and followed thee. When Christ saved me, the chains of sin that bound me, what?

They fell off. And I am now free. Free in Jesus Christ. Freed from the bondage of sin and also freed from the condemnation of sin. Freed from its bondage wherein it held me captive and freed from its condemnation.

If you have your Bible and turn to Romans eight, look at verses one through four. Romans eight one through four. Therefore, there is therefore now no condemnation. We read that again. There is therefore now no condemnation.

To them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ hath made me what? Free. Free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do and that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and force sin condemned sin in the flesh.

That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. Christ came to free us from the bondage of sin. He also came to free us from the condemnation of sin and the law. The law of Moses could not deliver Israelites their heart free from sin. It could not change their heart.

The law cannot change your heart. It can only restrict your what? Your your actions and your behavior but Jesus Christ came and died on the cross that he might free us from the bondage and the condemnation of sin. The law condemns because it points out where we have what? Failed.

But Jesus Christ, God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved. We already stood condemned by the law because of our sin. We were guilty. You're guilty. We're guilty.

We've broken God's law. Bible says, if you broken one, you broken the whole thing. But I dare say you haven't broken just one. Neither have I. We are rightfully condemned Jesus Christ came to deliver us from that condemnation.

You go out here and you go down the road and you go 100 miles an hour and the cop pulls you over and he rests and takes you in and says, hey, you were going 100 miles an hour. There's a fee. You gotta pay it. You are, you stand what? Condemned and you have to pay the fee.

Now, what if you went out here and you stole somebody's vehicle and the police caught you and you were going 100 miles an hour down the road in somebody else's vehicle. And now you are guilty of what? Vehicle theft or grand larceny. They take you before the judge. Judge says, hey, you pay, let's say, you pay $100.00 or you spend five years in jail.

Now, what happens if you don't have the $100.00? You spend the what? You spend the five years in jail. Are we guilty of breaking God's law? Yes.

What's the punishment? What's the sentence? What's the condemnation? Death and what? Hell.

Place called the Lake Of Fire. We read about in Revelation chapter 20. All whose names were not found written in the book of life were cast into the lake of fire. That is the judgment. You can't pay the price because the price is holiness.

You don't have it. We don't have it. Bible says, our righteousnesses are as filthy rags before him, before our God because we are fraught with sin but Jesus Christ came. He was perfect. He was holy.

He was sinless. And he died on the cross and he paid the price for all humanity and if we will receive his offer of forgiveness. If he will, we will let him deliver us. He will do so. There's and he will deliver us once and for all from the condemnation.

Of sin and the law. There's a hymn in your hymn book. It's two zero five. If you want to follow along, I'm not going to sing it. I'm going to read it.

It's written by a man by the name of Philip Bliss. I was told Philip Bliss who was a song leader for Moody and couple other evangelists that he originally believed that he could be saved and then he could be lost. And under the ministry of Moody and others, he came to realize that as he had become a child of God, he had been what? He had been once and for delivered from the bondage and the condemnation of sin. He sat down and he wrote this hymn.

It says, free from the law, oh happy condition. Jesus hath bled and there is remission, cursed by the law, and bruised by the fall. Grace hath redeemed us once for all. Now, are we free? There's no condemnation.

Jesus provides a perfect salvation. Come on to me. Oh, here is sweet call. Come and he saves us. Once for all.

Children of God, oh glorious calling. Surely, his grace will keep us from falling, passing from death to life at his call. Blessed salvation. Once for all. Once for all, oh sinner, receive it.

Once for all, a brother believe it, cling to the cross, the burden will fall, Christ hath redeemed us once for all. Once for all. Now, are we what? Free who are in Christ Jesus. Free from the bondage of sin, free from the condemnation of sin because Christ took my condemnation on him on Calvary's Cross and I accept it.

His offer of eternal life and forgiveness for my sins and I am free. In closing this morning, does that mean I am free to do whatever I want? No. That's not what that means. It means I am free to do as my God wants.

I am free from the bondage of sin that keeps me from doing what who wants? What God wants. Being now made free from sin, we become servants to who? We become servants to God. In verse 15 of that chapter, it says, what then shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace, God forbid, know you that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey his servants you are to whom you obey whether of sin unto death or obedience under righteousness but God be thanked that you were the servants of sin but you have obeyed from the heart the form of doctrine which was delivered you.

Being then made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness. Christ died to free us from the bondage of sin that was holding us back from serving who? From serving our maker. He has not freed us to do as we want. He has freed us to do as he has created us to be.

In first Peter two twenty four, it says, I gotta skip over here. Get back to where I, there we go. Who is own self bear our sins and his body on the tree that we being dead to sin should what? Live under righteousness. By whose stripes you are healed.

Christ saved us, delivered us from sin, that we should live unto what? That we should live unto righteousness. Ephesians two ten says, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto what? Good works which God hath before ordained that we should what? Walk in them.

Now, if you made something, if you invented a machine or something to fulfill a particular task, okay? And you invented and you made this machine and you put it all together and it was beautiful and it was great but then something happened and that beautiful machine did not fulfill the purpose and it could not do that for which you created and made it. What would you do with that machine? Well you you could use it. You'd either have to take it apart and try again or throw it out, start all over because the machine did not what?

Did not function, okay? Who are we? We are God's what? We are God's workmanship. We are God's creation created to bring glory and have fellowship to love our Creator.

Sin entered into the world and through a, see what's that phrase, through a something into the works. Yeah, monkey wrench into the works. Sin corrupted the machine the creation that God made so that it couldn't what? It could not fulfill its what? Function as long as sin is in the works, as long as sin was in control, the invention and the creation of God could not fulfill its function.

Could not bring glory to its God nor fulfillment to ourselves nor joy nor peace because we could not fulfill that which we were created to what? Created to do. Because of the bondage of sin. Christ came and died on the cross to deliver us from that which stops us and keeps us from fulfilling the purpose that we're here. And yes, we have a purpose.

We're not here as an accident. We're not here as the result of the process of some mindless nature evolution. We were created by almighty God to bring glory to him, to bring pleasure to him, to love him. Sin stops men from doing that. It holds them and binds them like ropes and chains and when you receive Christ as savior, those chains are what?

Broken and you're now free to fulfill the purpose for which you were made. Jesus says back in John chapter eight again. John chapter eight. He says, and you shall know the truth and the truth shall what? Make you free.

If the son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. Are you free indeed today? Have you received Jesus Christ as savior and Lord? Are you still bound in sin? The only true joy lasting joy is found.

In freedom in Christ Jesus. Would you receive his offer today? Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, thank you Lord. Thank you Lord for all the many blessings that are ours through Jesus Christ, our savior, and for the freedom that we have been given.

To experience the peace of God, peace with God that we did not have when we were bound in sin. The joy of God as we fulfill our father's purpose for which he made us. To the praise and glory of our God. We thank you for sending your son to suffer the ravages of sin. It's penalty for us.

That we might be saved eternally and set free from it. That we might serve the true and living God, that we might receive the gift of everlasting life. That we might sing praises to your name for all eternity who has made us free and we pray today that if there be one here that's never trusted Christ as savior, that as we sing this hymn of invitation that they might come. That they might come today. That we might show them from God's word how they might be saved forever.

And set free. In Jesus name, amen.