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Sunday September 24, 2023 The Gospel of John Week 32 – John 8:31-59 “The Parent Trap”

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Sunday – September 24, 2023

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Word On Worship – Sunday – September 24, 2023

John 8:31-32
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

As Americans, we value freedom. We speak in terms of the principle of “liberty and justice for all.” Our First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom to assemble, and freedom to petition the government for redress. Political freedom is a wonderful thing, but spiritual freedom is even better, because you can experience it no matter what sort of government you live under. So, how do we get that kind of freedom spiritually? The Jews with whom Jesus was speaking in our text thought that they were spiritually free through their descent from Abraham, just as many think they are free simply because they are Americans.

Here are some of the great paradoxes of Christianity: if you wish to save your life, you must lose it (Matthew 16:25); to be the greatest in the kingdom of God, you must become the servant of all (Matthew 18:4; 23:11). And here: if you wish to be truly “free,” you must surrender your life to Jesus Christ as His disciple, placing yourself under His Word. True freedom requires discipline in the Christian life. But how can freedom result from being under the authority God has established?

Let me use the illustration of a train. When is a train most “free”? When it is sitting on the ground “free” of any tracks, or when it is confined to a set of tracks? When are you and I most enslaved? It is when we think we are exercising our freedom. In serving ourselves and seeking our own interests, we become slaves to sin and Satan; and in submitting ourselves to Jesus Christ and His Word, we come to know the truth, which sets us free from the illusions and deceptions of the evil one. True freedom comes from knowing Christ through genuine faith and abiding in His word.

We are most free when we have surrendered our freedom to Jesus Christ, and submitted to Him and His Word as His disciples. It is through abiding in His Word that we come to know the truth, and the truth makes us free.  I am especially impressed that these words of our Lord, “… and you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free” (verse 32) were not spoken to unbelievers, but to those who had already believed.  Freedom is the fruit of discipleship, and discipleship is the result of abiding in our Lord’s Word, so that we know the truth. From what does the truth of our Lord’s Word set us free? It sets us free from sin and its inevitable result, death. We are set free from the lies of the devil, and from the distorted thinking of our culture and our fallen nature.

Sunday April 16, 2023 The Gospel of John Week 14 – John 3:31-36 “The Heavenly Authority of Jesus”

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Sunday – April 16, 2023

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Word On Worship – Sunday – April 16, 2023

John 3:32-34
“What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. 33 “He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true.”

We hear stories these days of people who supposedly went to heaven, came back, and wrote a book about it. A lot of what they write contradicts what the Bible says about heaven, but people buy their books and receive it as true because the authors claim to have eyewitness testimony. It’s interesting that none of the people in the Bible who were raised from the dead wrote books or set up speaking tours to tell everyone what they saw up there! The apostle Paul had a vision of heaven (some think it may have been when he was stoned and left for dead), but he only spoke about it hesitantly 14 years after it happened (2 Cor. 12:1-10).

But John’s point in our text is that Jesus can testify truthfully about heaven because He is telling us what He has seen and heard. He wasn’t speculating or philosophizing about heaven. He was speaking the very words of God, telling us what the Father is like and how we can have eternal life. His witness is reliable and certain. This isn’t the only time that John asserts this. In John 7:16, Jesus said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.” In John 8:28, He said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.” It may sound irreverent, but there is an common phrase that says: “I got this right from the horse’s mouth.” That is what John is saying about Jesus and His words.

Jesus had a large popular following because He healed people and they found His teaching fascinating. They liked the fact that He spoke with authority, not like the scribes and Pharisees (Matt. 7:29). But, the same fickle crowd that shouted “Hosanna” on Palm Sunday on Friday shouted, “Crucify Him!” Their views about Jesus changed with the popular tide of opinion. Yet in spite of the authority of Jesus’ own testimony, the general response to Jesus when He came to this earth was rejection. John 3:19, “Men loved darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.” But, by God’s grace alone, there have always been some who have responded by believing.

The point for us is: the reason we should put our trust in Jesus is because we have come to the firm conclusion, based on the apostolic witness, that God is true and that Jesus spoke the words of God. He is who He claimed to be. He is the Christ, the Son of God, sent from heaven to redeem us from our sins. By setting your seal to this, John means that you fix in your mind and heart that Jesus is the promised Redeemer, your personal Savior and Lord. Even if all others forsake Him, you will be faithful even unto death.