Sermon Tone Analysis

Thank God for the Freedom We Have in Jesus Christ!

The Gospel of John

John 8:21-36

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - January 4, 2017

(Revised September 8, 2019)

BACKGROUND:

*Here in John 8, the Jewish Feast of the Tabernacles had just ended in Jerusalem.

And Jesus was boldly preaching to a crowd of people in the Temple.

This was about 6 months before the Lord died on the cross for our sins.

*But the hard-hearted, unbelieving Pharisees had already been trying to kill Jesus for months, so the Lord was also confronting these religious leaders who despised and strongly opposed Him.

Jesus was trying to warn them about the judgment they would surely face if they continued to reject Him as the true and promised Messiah.

*In tonight's Scripture, the Lord began to talk about freedom, the freedom people can only find in Jesus Christ.

And as we read vs. 21-36, please think about the freedom God wants to give to all people.

INTRODUCTION:

*All true freedom comes from God.

This statement is especially true of spiritual freedom, but it is also true of political freedom.

All true freedom comes from God.

And this truth is embedded in the foundational documents that established our nation.

The Declaration of Independence is the first foundation on which our government stands, and it begins with these words:

"IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

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.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. .

."

*Our Declaration of Independence says governments are responsible to the people.

That's because one of the main reasons God instituted government was to secure our God-given rights.

So, all true freedom comes from God.

*That's our foundation as a nation.

And though there are many who would like to steal our freedom away, by God's grace we still have the greatest political freedom in the world.

*But in the land of the free, it's safe to say that over 100 million people aren't really free, because they don't know Jesus Christ.

He is the only one who can truly set them free.

*Christians, thank God for the freedom we have in Jesus Christ!

1. THANK HIM FIRST FOR BEING THE SOURCE OF CHRISTIAN FREEDOM.

*Our spiritual freedom comes from Jesus Christ alone.

This means our freedom is both Heaven sent and Heaven bound.

*The Lord reminded us of this great truth in vs. 21-23:

21.

Then Jesus said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin.

Where I go you cannot come.''

22.

So the Jews said, (i.e. the unbelieving Jewish leaders) said, "Will He kill Himself, because He says, 'Where I go you cannot come'?''

23.

And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above.

You are of this world; I am not of this world."

*Jesus came into this world from His home in Heaven.

And after He rose again from the dead, He went back home to Heaven, so the freedom Jesus gives is both Heaven sent and Heaven bound.

This truth makes Christ's freedom unique.

The world can't give it, and the world can't take it away.

*Down in vs. 35-36, we hear Jesus say:

35.

"A slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.

36.

Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."

*"Free indeed" -- This means Christ's freedom is both ever present and everlasting!

It is both eternal and internal.

The world can't give it, and the world can't take it away!

*I can be trapped in a paralyzed body for 50 years like Joni Eareckson Tada, and still be free in Christ.

I can be locked up in chains and thrown in the deepest dungeon like the Apostle Paul, but still have the Heaven-sent, Heaven-bound freedom of Jesus Christ.

2. THANK GOD FOR BEING THE SOURCE OF CHRISTIAN FREEDOM.

AND THANK HIM FOR THE SAFETY OF CHRISTIAN FREEDOM.

*God's freedom safely delivers us from the greatest danger we ever have to face in life.

And Jesus showed us this danger in vs. 24.

There He gave this strong warning to those unbelieving Jews: "I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."

*Die in your sins: That is the worst way to die, cut-off from God's mercy, sent to a place called hell, and suffering forever with no hope of escape.

*"You will die in your sins."

-- That is a terrifying warning.

But Jesus wants the world to know the horrible fate ahead for everyone who doesn't receive Him as Lord and Savior.

*Christians: We need to hear this warning to have more urgency about leading people to Christ.

Lost people need to hear this warning, so they will turn to Jesus before it's too late.

*What good does it do to live in this great, free country, if you only wind up in hell?

And that is where you will surely wind up, if you don't trust in Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

You will die in your sins, if you do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah who died for you and rose again from the dead.

*Francis Newport lived in England from 1620 to 1708.

He was a soldier and politician who served in many offices, including Parliament.

He was part of English nobility with the title, First Earl of Bradford.

*Newport was also a well-known atheist.

He even served as the head of an English club for atheists.

But on his deathbed, Sir Francis Newport said, "You need not tell me there is no hell, for I already feel my soul slipping into its fires!

Wretches, cease your idle talk about there being hope for me!

I know I am lost forever."

*He also wailed in anguish, "Oh, that I could lie for a thousand years upon the fire that is never quenched, to purchase the favor of God and be united to Him again.

But it is a fruitless wish.

Millions and millions of years will bring me no nearer the end of my torments than one poor hour.

Oh, eternity, eternity forever and forever!

Oh, the insufferable pangs of Hell!" (1)

*This is the greatest danger people will ever face, but it is not God's perfect will for people. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that the Lord "is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."

*People don't have to die in their sins.

And if you will put your trust in Jesus Christ, He will surely save you.

Jesus will deliver you from the greatest danger!

Thank God!

3. THANK GOD FOR THE SAFETY OF CHRISTIAN FREEDOM.

AND THANK HIM FOR THE SECURITY OF CHRISTIAN FREEDOM.

*God's freedom is totally secure because it is protected by a perfect leader, our Savior Jesus Christ.

In vs. 25-29, God's Word shows us that Jesus is a perfect leader:

25.

Then they said to Him, "Who are You?''

And Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.

26.

I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.''

27.

They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.

28.

Then 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 of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.

29.

And He who sent Me is with Me.

The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.

*What an amazing thing for any person to say: "I always do the things that please My Heavenly Father."

The only person who could ever say that is Jesus Christ.

What a man!