In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia begins examining John 8:31-59, Jesus’ final public discussion with the Jews at the Feast of the Booths. John reports this discussion in his Gospel so that you will recognize your true spiritual state and turn to Jesus with perseverant faith.
In the first part of Jesus’ discussion, John 8:31-36, Jesus raises the question: are you experiencing spiritual slavery or spiritual freedom?
Auto Transcript
Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.
just a quick heads up the sermon passage and title today will be a little different from what’s in the bulletin let’s pray Lord God I pray that you’d open my mouth to speak your word to your people God that those that don’t know you would be saved today and those that do know you Lord would be encouraged instructed and convicted to persevere and following Christ in Jesus name amen well tomorrow is Memorial Day and we especially after Greg’s prayer we know what Memorial Day is all about now right it’s not about getting a day off and Grilling it’s about honoring and mourning the people who died while serving in our nation’s military a day of sober remembrance such as this is it is appropriate when we consider the precious gift that our dying countrymen have ultimately given us and protected Greg mentioned this too what is that Ultimate Gift it’s Freedom You’ probably heard the slogan Freedom isn’t free and that’s a true statement Freedom hasn’t simply cost our country time resources trouble it has cost the lives of more than a million people beloved Sons and Daughters fathers and mothers we should be grateful to God just as Greg said for those who have sacrificed themselves to protect our country and preserve our freedom but here’s a question for you are the people of America truly free answer of course depends on how you define free and freedom from a military and geopolitical perspective America is indeed free by the grace of God we are not and since our war for independence have never been conquered or put into subjection by another country we are not ruled over by a foreign power but have been able to create our own Constitution and we have a government that is ruled by our own people furthermore from Mr standpoint of Economic Opportunity and social rights we Americans are also free this Freedom isn’t perfect of course there are aspects of Injustice discrimination and persecution that have waxed and waned over the course of our nation’s history and still exist today nevertheless we are blessed to live in a nation that fundamentally guarantees the personal rights of all its citizens including freedom of speech freedom of religion and the right to private property growing up in America we can sometimes take these rights for granted or think little of the economic abundance available to us in this country but again Greg and I are on the same page here those who immigrate from less fortunate Nations to our country repeatedly testify of the amazing amount of freedom and prosperity that exists in America so clearly all Americans are free in certain ways but are all Americans free in the most important way are all Americans spiritually free are you spiritually free the answer to that question is going to come down to this unless you know you love and you persevere in the word of Christ you are not spiritually free you are in fact a slave a slave to what a slave to sin you in yourself are compelled to serve sin you cannot help but pursue sin and you cannot ultimately avoid the consequences of sin which right now for you are an increasingly destroyed life and poisoned heart but one day the consequences will be both your physical and eternal death under the wrath of God truly most Americans are not truly free in the way that counts the most but there is good news God himself specifically sent someone to free slaves of sin and that person is of course Jesus Christ God’s own son and in our next passage this son of God Jesus will teach you how you can enjoy a spiritual freedom in him please take your Bibles and open to John chapter 8 the title of the message today is only Jesus gives true Freedom only Jesus gives true freedom we’re looking at John 8:31 to 59 actually we’re only going to focus on the beginning of the passage today but I want you to see and appreciate how the full section fits together so John 8:31 to 59 remember the context before we read Jesus is still at the Feast of boo in Jerusalem about six months before his crucifixion he’s just finished his fourth round of debate with the Jews in the temple during the feast and while Jesus discussion with his Jewish opponents had plenty of contention our author John has informed us that some Jews have also believed in Jesus some Jews at this Feast have come to believe in Jesus if you glance back at John 7:31 we read John 7:31 but many in the of the crowd believed in him and John 8:30 which is right before our text it says as he spoke these things many came to believe in him so before Jesus exits the stage of public discussion in the temple he desires to say something to those who have so recently believed in him let’s see what he says let’s see what kind of response it generates John 8:31 to 59 so Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed him if you continue in my word then you are truly Disciples of mine and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free they answered him we are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone how is it that you say you will become free Jesus answered them truly truly I say to you everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin but the slave does not remain in the house forever the sun does remain forever so if the sun makes you free you will be free indeed I know that you are Abraham’s descendants yet you seek to kill me because my word has no place in you I speak the things which I have seen with my father therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father they answered and said to him Abraham is our father Jesus said to them if you are Abraham’s children do the Deeds of Abraham but as it is you are seeking to kill me a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God this Abraham did not do you are doing the Deeds of your father 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 have come from God for I’ve not even come on my own initiative but he sent me why do you not understand what I am saying it is because you cannot hear my word you are of your father the devil and you want to do the desires of your father he was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is is no truth in him whenever he speaks a lie he speaks from his own nature for he is a liar and the father of Lies but because I speak the truth you do not believe me which one of you convicts me of sin if I speak truth why do you not believe me he who is of God hears the words of God for this reason you do not hear them because you are not of God the Jews answered and said to him do we not rightly say that you are a Samaritan and have a demon Jesus answered I do not have a demon but I honor my father and you dishonor me but I do not seek my glory there is one who seeks and judges truly truly I say to you if anyone keeps my word he will never see death the Jews said to him now we know that you have a demon Abraham died in the prophets also and you say if anyone keeps my word he will never taste of death surely you are not greater than our father Father Abraham who died the prophets died too whom do you make yourself out to be Jesus answered if I glorify myself my glory is nothing it is my father who glorifies me of whom you say he is our God and you have not come to know him but I know him and if I say that I do not know him I will be a liar like you but I do know him and keep his word your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw and was glad so the Jews said to him you are not yet 50 years old and have you seen Abraham Jesus said to them truly truly I say to you before Abraham was born I am therefore they picked up stones to throw at him but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple I don’t know about you but that’s a pretty surprising passage I mean we’ve seen a number of surprises in the Book of John but this one might be the biggest one yet what begins in verse 31 as a simple exhortation from Jesus to new Believers to persevere in jesus’ teaching and prove to be his true disciples ends in verses 58 and 59 with those same persons trying to kill Jesus by crushing him with stones how could so much go so wrong so quickly seeing this extremely unexpected development some interpreters suggests that Jesus conversation In this passage isn’t really with those persons described in John 7:31 and John 8:30 those who John told us believed in Jesus during the feast those verses were talking about genuine Believers but this passage is not that same group these are fake believers others interpreters suggest that Jesus starts out the passage by talking to True Believers even the ones who believed in him during the feast but then some unbelieving Jews barge in and hijack the conversation and turn it into this hostile debate but grammatically and contextually speaking neither of these interpretations can be valid verse 31 directly follows verse 30 telling us that Jesus is addressing those same Jews who came to believe believe in him during the feast even on the last day of the feast furthermore verse 33 indicates that those who reply to Jesus with resistance to his exhortation they are the same group that he began to address in verse 31 there’s been no interloper Interlopers introduced really if we’re being honest with the text we cannot justly avoid the conclusion that what this passage reports is that many who believe in Jesus based on the words he’s taught during the feast quickly turn on him and even try to kill him but perhaps you’re getting Deja Vu because didn’t something like this already happen in the Gospel of John do you remember John 6 how it began with Jesus producing this massive food multiplication Miracle the people were so amazed that some of the said John 6:14 this is truly the prophet who has come into the world but then do you remember how the chapter ended after Jesus taught some things that the people didn’t like John 666 as a result of this many of his disciples withdrew and were not walking with him anymore so we have disciples who believe in Jesus confess him to be God’s promised prophet and then Fall Away actually we were introduced to the concept of false incomplete fickle Faith as early as John 2 remember there Jesus boldly cleanses the temple during the Passover in Jerusalem and he begins doing miraculous signs and John 223 to2 reports John 223 to2 now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feast many believed in his name that is they believed in him observing his signs which he was doing but Jes Jesus on his part was not entrusting himself to them for he knew all men and because he did not need anyone to testify concerning man for he himself knew what was in man many believed in Jesus at that Feast but Jesus did not believe in their belief see the nature of true belief genuine saving Faith as opposed to false Faith which cannot save that is one of the main themes of the Gospel of John and we see it again on display in our new passage really how this passage in John 8 begins and ends is ironic because in exhorting these Jewish Believers to prove themselves as true disciples by persevering Jesus in fact proves them to be false disciples because they will not endure his teaching anymore and don’t misunderstand Jesus didn’t somehow blow it with some true Seekers of God here oh if Jesus if only you weren’t so demanding so quickly well you wouldn’t have lost all these new converts no just as in John 6 the perfect son knows that the real issue isn’t pushing away Souls who are almost saved the real issue is leaving souls in the deception of thinking they are saved when they’re not that’s the real issue to be avoided and all of that is instructed for us isn’t it because we also are those who would publicly confess we believe in Jesus here’s the main idea of this entire section in John 8:31 to 59 John reports Jesus final public discussion at the Feast of booths so that you will recognize your true spiritual State and turn Jesus with persevering Faith John reports Jesus final public discussion at the Feast of booths is that you will recognize your true spiritual State and turn to Jesus with perseverant Faith this unexpected this bonus round of debate is climactic and it dramatically unfolds in three parts part one is verses 31 to 36 uh each one of these parts focuses on a certain question we could say and the question of verses 31- 36 is are you experiencing spiritual slavery or spiritual Freedom the second part is verses 37- 47 where the question is are you demonstrating a devilish parentage or a Divine parentage and the last part is verses 48 to 59 where the question is do you give God sent one ultimate contempt or ultimate glory and my plan is not to try and look at this whole passage today we’re just going to look at part one next two weeks we’ll go over Parts two and three that means we’re focusing on verses 31- 36 and again that first implied question from Jesus in this beginning part of the discussion is number one are you experiencing spiritual slavery or spiritual Freedom if you’re going to recognize your true State and turn to Jesus in perseverant Faith you first need to consider this question are you experiencing spiritual slavery or spiritual Freedom now I’m going to give you since this is the only point we’re going to today I’m going to give you three subheadings as we move along just to help organize this passage for you the first subheading covers verses 31 to 32 and that is 1A exhortation 1A exhortation as Jesus addresses this question he begins with an exhortation and let’s see it ourselves starting with just verse 31 so Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed in him if you continue in my word then you are truly discip deciples of mine notice the transition word that begins this verse and section it’s the word so this word indicates that what Jesus says here is based on something that just happened or that was just mentioned what just happened verse 30 again as he spoke these things many came to believe in him Jesus the text shows us is aware probably by his Supernatural knowledge that some Jews have come to believe in him based on what he said during the feast and this ization causes Jesus to begin saying something new to these new Believers and what is this new message what is this necessary message for those who have now come to believe in him well in summary it’s that they need to persevere notice the specific way that Jesus phrases it if you continue in my word Greek verb translated continue here it’s more literally translated remain stay abide Jesus says there’s something important for these new believing Jews to stay in or to remain in and what should these Believers remain or stay my word Jesus says which word do you mean Jesus word is just the way to refer to his teaching the Revelation given him by the father to speak to God’s people and to the world even the good news of Salvation by repentance and faith in Jesus alone so new Believers need to abide in Jesus teaching Jesus gospel teaching what does that entail well certainly it means believing in Jesus teaching but it also means learning obeying and holding fast to what Jesus says after all you cannot really be said to remain in jesus’ teaching if you do not know it or if you keep on forgetting it or if you do not obey it or apply it or if you abandon it when people make fun of you for it or threaten you over it now Jesus Is Telling these new Believers and old Believers too that they must seek out treasure hold on to teach faithfully and put into practice Jesus word Jesus whole word everything that Jesus says of course Jesus word today is what forms our Bibles this is Jesus word now notice this exhortation in verse 31 is given in the form of a conditional an if then statement if you who believe in me fulfill the stated condition which is if you remain in my teaching then what notice the next phrase then you are truly Disciples of mine now that short statement that second part of the condition it reveals a sobering truth just just that little statement right there reveals that it is possible for Jesus to have false disciples if he says you’re going to prove to truly be Disciples of mine it means that it’s possible to be a false disciple a person who thinks or says that he’s a disciple when in reality he’s not this is one of the difficulties that comes with being a Christian right trying to understand who is and who isn’t a real disci iple of Christ we all know plenty of people who say they are disciples they say they are followers or Learners of Christ that’s what a disciple means but how do we know if they’re for real parents how do you know if your kids who say all the right things have the good answers from the Bible how do you know if they’re for real in their love for God or kids how do you know if your parents are for real they say all the right things they seem to know the Bible but how do you know if they’re for real perhaps for those of you listening today you’re not sure that even you yourself are for real how can you know well Jesus here gives us a fundamental indicator for Discerning whether you or others are truly Disciples of Jesus and that indicator is continuing in or remaining in Jesus word a one-time profession of faith is not good enough evidence to tell whether a person’s for real a one-time Act of baptism is not good enough evidence to tell if someone’s for real neither is attending church giving to the church teaching in church even no Jesus says the reliable Mark of True Discipleship is abiding in his word again what does that mean for us that means knowing the Bible believing the Bible and living out the Bible now note the tight connection here between Jesus and his word you cannot say that you believe in Jesus if you do not believe in his word can’t pick and choose if you believe in Jesus you believe his word furthermore you cannot say you love Jesus if you do not love his word you’re not abiding in it and you cannot say you follow Jesus if you do not follow his word he’s too connected he’s too connected to his word now does a true disciple of Jesus abide in Jesus word perfectly no but abiding in Jesus word is a notable characteristic and it is a growing characteristic of a true disciple of Jesus so for everyone here who professes to be a believer in Jesus hear the word of Jesus directly to you if you you yourselves and the pronoun is emphatic in Greek if you yourselves abide in Jesus word then you are truly his disciple that should be comforting for those of you who do walk with Christ but that should be convicting for those of you who are not walking with Christ but there’s more because Jesus describes two blessings for the one persevering in his word in verse 32 and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free the truth and freedom are such buzzwords in American culture today every politician is talking about truth and freedom but not just them celebrities media personalities philosophers all talking about truth and even Freedom everyone today seems to be searching for truth the truth his truth truth some claim to have found the truth even truth that will set people free others despair of ever finding the truth whether they’re wondering whether there even is such a thing as truth lot of people talking about truth but unlike many today who claim to offer Freedom giving truth but ultimately don’t know what they’re talking about cannot deliver it Jesus promises that those who remain in his word and prove his true disciples will know the truth what truth not merely scientific truth like E equals MC s or historical truth like Alexander the Great died of illness in 323 BC in Babylon what kind of truth then Divine truth universal truth saving truth truth that not only finally and reliably discloses to you the answers to the most fundamental questions of Life who are you from where did you come to where are you going why is the world the way that it is what is God’s salvation how do you receive it but also the truth that finally and reliably reveals God himself to you because what is God in his Essence truth the truth reveals God himself to you in Jesus Christ because he is God through the words of Jesus you will not only come to know the most fundamental truths that you need to know but you will know him who is the truth himself see people are searching for ultimate life-changing truth but outside of Jesus they will never find it and that is because he is the truth if you abide in Jesus word as his true disciple does then you will know that truth and knowing God’s truth in Jesus will have noticeable effect on you for Jesus says at the end of verse 32 and the truth will make you or set you free Jesus promises his true disciples that if they will indeed continue in his word they will experience a special kind of Freedom that only comes from Christ’s truth they will walk in the Light of Christ and experience his eternal life that’s another way to say it after all knowing the truth of God is no mere academic exercise though his truth does strongly engage our minds to know God’s truth truly is also to experience God’s truth even in a way that delivers you from all your worst enemies namely death the devil the Judgment of God the darkness of ignorance the domination of sin this then is an incredible promise from Jesus you will know the truth and it will set you free you will know God’s truth and it will transform you and fill your life with light and life what a strong encouragement then to persevere in learning and obeying Jesus word if you will do this Jesus says you will prove yourself my true disciple you will know the truth and you will experience true and Lasting Freedom now are you willing to respond to that kind of exhortation with obedience with persevering faith one reason you might not is if you think you’re already experiencing true freedom without Jesus and without holding fast to his word for this is the stance that Jesus supposedly new followers take in verse 33 where we see our second subheading we had 1 a exhortation one B objection objection look at verse 33 they answered him we are Abraham’s descendants and I’ve never yet been enslaved to anyone how is it that you say you will become free with just this one response Jesus new disciples have already revealed they don’t have saving faith in Jesus their faith is incomplete how so well in this objection they show that they’ve not understood they have never understood their own deep spiritual need or how Jesus is the only one who can fulfill it notice Jesus has apparently struck a nerve by promising the Jews that they will become free if they stay in his teaching because this statement suggests that before or without perseverance in Jesus word that the Jews are not and have never been free and that is a humbling idea that these Jews VI ly object to and notice how they do so by appealing to their status as descendants or literally the Seed of Abraham and they also connect that reality to the idea that they have never been slaves Jesus you implied with your exhortation that we have been slaves at some point some kind of servitude but we can tell you as the Seed of Abraham we have never yet been enslave to anyone now if you know Biblical history this respon from the believing Jews at first seems comical because how does Israel’s history as a nation begin in the book of Exodus with slavery furthermore in the Old Testament history and in inter testamental history the Jews as a people are many times subjugated enslaved taken captive taken into Exile or forced into a CL Kingdom relationship by a stronger power even in Jesus Jus day the province of Judea is ultimately not under control of the Jews but under the control of Rome so how can these Jews protest that they are not and have never been forced to serve anyone ever likely the Jews are not being stubbornly ignorant of their historical or political position rather they are referring to their inward sense of Freedom like many Americans might do they are even referring to their inward sense of spiritual privilege as Abraham’s seed after all and the men of Iron Man have been seeing this lately did God not declare to Israel in Exodus 19 5-6 that they The Chosen descendants of Abraham were God’s own special possession a kingdom of priests and a holy nation in other words the Jews did not think of themselves inwardly essentially as slaves but as royalty whatever we may be on the outside inwardly we have never been slaves we are royalty indeed one first century Rabbi allegedly wrote that every Jew is a King’s son why because he’s a descendant of Abraham Isaac and Jacob furthermore uh second sec second century section of the Jewish talmud which is the authoritative collection of oral tradition and biblical commentary in Judaism one section asserts that hell has no power over the physical descendants of Abraham even this section bizarrely asserts that Abraham himself will come and rescue any circumcised Jew who inadvertently finds himself in hell because of sin now Jews today admit that that is a confusing passage and section of the towood and even though it’s from the second century we don’t know that the Jews in Jesus instance are believing that exactly but its existence in the second century certainly gives some indication as the kind of thoughts that may have been circulating even in Jesus own time OB L then these Jews who supposedly believe in Jesus they are not conscious of any deep spiritual needs that they have that only Jesus can fulfill they certainly do not see themselves as helpless humiliated pitiable slaves and they make that clear to Jesus well they descent from Abraham with their commitment to keep God’s law from Torah these Jews are confident that they are already acceptable to God I mean Jesus is a nice cherry on top he makes a nice Messiah especially if he’ll fulfill the people’s Ambitions for political Independence miraculous Prosperity they can get behind that they’ll believe in Jesus for that but they don’t need Jesus to bring some Soul Saving truth or deliverance from spiritual slavery no that’s just an offensive idea perhaps some of you are thinking something similar today perhaps you are confident that on your own you already are keeping God’s commands or by your baptism or taking communion or association with the church or a prayer that you once prayed or maybe the prayers you pray every day or you’re being raised in a Christian family one or all those things are already enough to save you from Hell perhaps you think that Jesus will be a nice cherry on top he’d be a nice perk if he can make your life go better if he can relieve you from that Naggy sense of guilt he can deliver you from your constant anxieties okay okay I can get behind Jesus but you’re not really desperate for him because you’re not in Desperate spiritual need perhaps you already apart from Jesus think of yourself as a child of God a prince princess in his kingdom definitely not a slave not a slave in Eternal danger well if so Jesus has the same claric ification for you as he provides to his original listeners which is what we see in the last part of our text today verses 34 to 36 so 1 a exhortation 1 B objection one C clarification clarification start with verse 34 Jesus answered them truly truly I say to you everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin notice here that Jesus pulls out one of his favorite phrases truly truly I wall Jesus pulls this phrase out when he’s about to say something shocking but something that is particularly important for people to pay attention to and believe I know this is going to shock you but you got to believe it what must people hear and believe that everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin the Greek verb translated commits is a present participle a present participle of the verb to do or to make now you say what’s a participle basically it’s an ing verb used as an adjective to emphasize continual or characteristic action of a person so we could translate this Clause everyone doing sin everyone practicing sin everyone who’s characteristically committing sin is the slave of sin in other words if sin is your practice is your pattern your habit your characteristic Behavior savior then you are not religious royalty on the way to God’s kingdom you are sinful slave destined for Eternal punishment now we Sinners are really good at or often are really good at downplaying excusing ignoring our own sinfulness I’m not that bad so let’s just meditate for a second let’s let the full weight of Jesus startling pronouncement fall let this fall on you as you look at your own life and compare it to the standard of God and his law because any deviation from God’s standard or character is sin that’s what sin is so think do you lie do you complain do you gossip do you use foul language do you tell or laugh at inappropriate jokes are you greedy for money or pleasure do you lust after other people’s bodies do you indulge in any form of sexual gratification outside of the marriage bed do you often get angry do you fight do you seek Vengeance do you unleash hurtful words do you give the silent treatment are you proud hateful judg judgmental are you always ready to critique and correct others but very resentful if anyone tries to do that to you are you consumed by discontent jealousy anxiety hopelessness do you consistently blame God and others for failing to provide what you think you need are you an idolator is there something you regularly feel you cannot be happy without out whether it’s drugs or alcohol or video games or the approval of others or good grades or whatever friends and Brethren if any what I’ve just mentioned and those are just examples there’s more if any of what I’ve just mentioned consistently marks your life then realize you fit the category of Jesus statement you are a doer or practicer of sin which means you are the slave of sin and of course the examples I gave in comparison to God’s law those are just the negative ones there are positive commands too what about ask yourself do you have consistent failure to love your enemies to forgive to be patient to be generous to work hardly is unto the Lord because if not that also marks you out as a slave of sin but Pastor Dave can’t true Christians can’t true Disciples of Jesus fall into seasons of sin or struggle to overcome certain sins in their lives for a time of course they can and of course they do I’ve been there myself enough times in my life don’t misunder understand me today true followers of Christ do still sin Jesus is not contradicting that what’s the difference then between those who know Jesus those who only think they know Jesus when it comes to sin it’s this true Christians don’t stay in patterns of sin they are not content to do so God’s spirit will not let them do so they eventually break the abits of their particular sins they put an end to those sins dominations in their lives they make progress against these sins they use all the resources that God has given in his spirit in his word and in his church to do spiritual battle against these sins and eventually little by little sometimes they overcome isn’t that what Jesus isn’t that the language that Jesus uses in the beginning of the book of Revelation when he’s promising all these rewards to those who follow him he says he who overcomes I also think of that passage in Pilgrim’s Progress when Christian is doing battle with the devil and he gets knocked down several times but he doesn’t give up the fight and eventually he drives them off that’s the difference true Christians never give up the fight and they eventually overcome fake Christians don’t do that fake Christians are not motivated to do that or they don’t believe they can do that and perhaps that’s you today maybe you resonate with one of the examples of sin that I’ve shared or maybe you have another example a different sin pattern and maybe nobody knows about it except you and God and you know that even though you’ve tried to do right you felt guilty you’ve tried to do right you’ve tried to get rid of this sin’s control over you you find yourself unable to do so you just keep going back to it it’s like a master that you need to obey you know you’re seeing you’re feeling that this sin is recking you it’s doing so much damage to you and to your relationships even to your livelihood but you just can’t seem to stop why is this why is it that you are experiencing spiritual slavery it’s possible you simply don’t know or haven’t been willing to use the resources that God has given his belie Believers in Christ to overcome God has given you spiritual weapons that will help you win the battle and you just keep leaving them on the rack you’re like but I don’t know how to use the weapons but you never ask anybody how maybe that’s it but maybe the explanation is what Jesus is talking about in our passage the reason you experience spiritual slavery is because you are a spiritual slave you are still walking in the original sin of Adam his corruption passed down to you from the fall it marks your life and that’s why you keep going back to sin you may switch sins but it’s just sin maybe from open sin to self-righteous sin you are still a slave and one other explanation of it is that because you still love your sin and self more than God after all we always end up doing what we love deep down if you end if you keep on ending up doing sin it’s because you still love it even though it’s destroying you you still love it don’t kid yourself if that’s the situation you’re in don’t kid yourself like the Jews kid themselves here they excuse their ongoing sins they’re doing sin characteristically they excused it by their good works in other areas they excused it by their ancestry they excused it by their participation in religious rituals like the Feast of booths they thus held themselves in high Este steem they expected entrance into God’s dwelling place but they were wrong they were foolish enslavement to sin is sure evidence that you are not headed to God’s Kingdom at all yeah notice now in the next verse Jesus is going to present a Twist on the slavery metaphor he’s going to alter it slightly to emphasize the predicament of anyone outside of Christ but also the opportunity available to them in Christ look at verse 35 the slave does not remain in the house forever the son does remain forever what is Jesus saying here he’s comparing the Eternal inheritance situation of a sinner of a practicer a doer of sin with the inheritance situation of a domestic slave in the ancient world after all imagine if you were a slave say in a king’s household in ancient times you would be foolish to expect that you would inherit your Royal Master’s wealth and position what slave would do that that’s not for you that’s for the King’s son furthermore as a slave if knewed you were a slave even after years of service to your royal master how much of what belongs to your master can you say you’ve earned or deserve and have a title to you may desire it but according to the standards of that time you have no right to it the King has no obligation to give you anything of his own you’re just a slave the fact that the king wanted to sell you or get rid of you as a slave that’d be hard but that’ be his right for as Jesus says the slave does not remain in the house forever that is a slave has no lasting inheritance in his master’s house because he’s only a slave that’s a pitiable situation isn’t not Jesus presents this as an analogy of the Jews and every Sinner’s true condition before God the Jews thought of themselves as Royal Sons ready to be brought in to God’s Everlasting Kingdom but Jesus shows them and Us by your disobedient self-righteous living you prove that you are not Sons but in fact slaves slaves of sin therefore you will receive no part in God’s coming Kingdom but there is one of the royal Master’s household who will receive the king’s inheritance and also has the power to free any slave and guarantee them an inheritance with them who would that be that would be the master’s son Jesus says the son does remain forever in the household the son does have a lasting inheritance he even has the authority to share that inheritance with freed slaves what’s Jesus saying in this analogy Jesus is of course describing himself in relation to desperate Sinners Like Us on our owns not a single person in this room could do anything better than total slavery to sin all our lives which means none of us could ever gain any expectation of eternal life with God rather the opposite but if the Son of God is willing to free us and give us a forever inheritance with his father well then how many of us here could be saved all of us this is Jesus Point as he goes on to say in verse 36 so if the son makes you free you will be free indeed how could it be otherwise the son with the authority given to him from his father he has the right to free to give an inheritance even to former lowly slaves to sin which is what we all are or were outside of Jesus no one else in the household has the authority to contradict this intention from the son there therefore the son Jesus the son of God anyone set free by him and truly only those set free by the sun they will be no doubt about it truly free forever and the great news is this potential theoretical situation that I we’ve just described in vers 35- 36 Jesus has already told us that this is his intention for all his true disciples he’s already told us in verses 31 and 32 what did he say if you will believe and persevere in my word you will prove yourself my true disciple you will know the truth you’ll even know me who is the truth in himself and the truth will set you free that is a promise from God himself to anyone who will respond so what should you do what should you and I do take him up on that offer amen you should heed Christ’s exhortation you should take up his amazingly generous offer and you should persevere in the word of Christ doing this means you must first recognize what the Jews were not willing to recognize you must first recognize that apart from Christ you are a doomed slave of sin destined not for heaven not for God’s kingdom but for Eternal destruction in hell you are not able to do any good on your own you far fall far short of God’s standard As Romans 6 says the passage we read earlier all you’ve earned by your slavery to sin is what death you haven’t earned a place in God’s kingdom you’ve earned death and the worst part is you cannot even hope to change your sinful condition your sinful doomed condition but what’s the other part of Romans 6:23 say but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our lord therefore turn and receive that gift believe in Jesus recognize only Jesus as the Son of God has the power to free you from your slavery and this is what he does for all those who who entrust themselves to him him and Trust themselves wholly to him when you give up whatever it is that you’re trusting in to bring you salvation then you can receive the free gift of Salvation that is in Christ as many a preacher has said Jesus not only sets you free from the penalty of your sin but he also frees you from the power of the sin power of sin over you presently and one day he will free you from the presence of sin when he brings you into his kingdom you will be free indeed if you will turn to Jesus but remember as we saw true saving faith is a persevering Faith it’s faith that makes a person stay in Jesus word wanting to know it believing it doing it it means if you truly believe in Jesus you cannot also hold on to your practices of sin and why would you want to as Paul says again in Romans 6 what true benefit were you gaining while you while you were serving sin as a slave the outcome of that was death but now that you’ve been set free as a slave to Christ and to righteousness now you derive your benefit now you experience life Bible commentator da Carson well describes the state of the freed believer when he says true freedom is not the Liberty to do anything we please but the Liberty to do what we ought and it is genuine Liberty because doing what we ought now pleases us to be freed up to righteousness to be freed up to follow God that’s true Freedom amen but perhaps a thought now occurs to you doesn’t it seem like it’s a little too easy I mean how can Jesus just suddenly grant me spiritual freedom and inheritance like with a snap of his fingers isn’t that arbitrary shouldn’t somebody somewhere have to pay some kind of cost oh but someone did after all like we said in the beginning Freedom isn’t free someone must pay for your freedom yes even die for for it and that is what Jesus did on the cross for you if you believe in him though he was the perfect Kingdom inheriting son in God’s household Jesus died in the place of sinful slaves like you like me and so doing Jesus supernaturally exchanged his perfect life of righteousness with the utterly sin stained records of each one of us each one of us who believe in him he suffered the hellish penalty for that record once and for all on the cross paid off the whole thing suffering to the point of death and then he rose again three days later which was incontrovertible evidence that his sacrifice on behalf of his true disciples was accepted by the father and they are free now what does that mean mean it means that if you believe in Jesus all your sins past present future they’ve been washed away there’s now no condemnation in Christ Jesus you can never be lost from God’s salvation not only because your sins have been dealt with once and for all but you are now clothed in the very righteousness of the Son of God which means that when God looks at you as a true disciple of Jesus he doesn’t see your record he sees Jesus record and he thus pronounces you righteous Justified acceptable that one’s going into the kingdom with the work of Jesus on the cross with his resurrection John 6:36 proves absolutely true if the son makes you free you will be free indeed this is an amazing message an amazing invitation from the Son of God which is given here to fake Believers shoddy followers now we’re going to see next time they won’t take him up on his amazing invitation Jesus knows they won’t but we today hearing this word we have the opportunity to respond differently so how will you respond I pray that it’s with genuine trust in Jesus as the only savior as your lord even a TR that is demonstrated by your committed perseverance in his word let’s close in prayer Lord we thank you for this word in many ways is an offensive word who wants to be told you are a slave of sin the sin in your life marks you out as a slave of sin but God if we will recognize that truth then we can turn where there is true freedom and that is in Jesus Christ God I pray for those who are indeed still slaves of sin but have heard this message that they will respond as your heart desires which is with repentance and Faith giving up the sin embracing Jesus Christ and say he’s the master now I want to walk in his freedom I pray God for those who do know you and yet don’t experience the spiritual Freedom that they will see what they have in Jesus Christ those sins that press upon them those temptations that are all around them they say I can’t resist I can’t hold up I can’t overcome they would see Jesus says differently you are free indeed in the sun I pray God that they would use the resources that you’ve given them your word your spirit the brothers and sisters in the church so they will experience spiritual freedom and pray God for those who are who are experiencing that spiritual Freedom that they would give you thanks that they would not forget Lord where they came from and what they are what we are God apart from your saving intervention we are the lowliest most despicable slaves who were never going into your kingdom but you freed us and you gave us an inheritance Lord cause us to live lives worthy of such an amazing reality and God give us that heart and that boldness that says this is a message too good to keep to myself it must be shared God give us this message of freedom to those who are still still not experiencing that in our country right here