FOURTH OF JULY

Pastor James J. Barker

Text: JOHN 8:30-36




INTRODUCTION:


  1. On July 4, 1776, 228 years ago today, there was signed in the city of Philadelphia one of our nation’s most important documents: the Declaration of Independence.
  2. This marked the birth of the United States of America. What is often overlooked, however, is that in declaring independence from Great Britain, our forefathers made a forthright declaration of dependence upon God.
  3. Let me read the closing words of the Declaration of Independence: "With a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
  4. Of those fifty-six great men who gathered in Philadelphia 223 years ago today to sign this historic document, nine died in the Revolutionary War, five were captured by the British and tortured, twelve had their homes looted or burned to the ground, and two lost their sons in the war.
  5. But these men considered liberty much more important than earthly pleasures or security. I would like to speak today on this subject of liberty. Our Lord spoke about this subject and His words will be the basis of my message.
  6. According to the Bible, a man can be a free man and still be in bondage to sin. The Jews who attacked our Lord considered themselves free men but our Lord told them that they were slaves to sin (John 8:34).
  7. These religious hypocrites were in the bondage of ignorance, error, sin, and superstition. This 4th of July, I would like to ask you this question, "Are you free"? (John 8:36).

  1. YOU CANNOT BE FREE WITHOUT KNOWING THE WORD
  2. YOU CANNOT BE FREE WITHOUT KNOWING THE TRUTH
  3. YOU CANNOT BE FREE WITHOUT KNOWING THE LORD

 

I. YOU CANNOT BE FREE WITHOUT KNOWING THE WORD (JOHN 8:31).

    1. Mark it down, if you are not reading the Bible regularly – our Lord said to "continue in my word" (8:31) – you are in trouble spiritually.
    2. I was talking to Bro. Van Gelderen and I told him how I was blessed by his preaching. I mentioned that I was going to preach on this text, John 8:31 – "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed."
    3. He reminded me that the Greek word translated "continue" in John 8:31 is the same Greek word translated "abide" in John 15:4,5,6,7,10).
    4. The same word is also translated "continue" in John 15:9, "Continue ye in my love."
    5. I do not want to go out too deep, but let’s just drop our anchor here for a moment and look at John 15:7, "If ye abide (continue) in me, and my words abide (continue) in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."
    6. Beloved, it is impossible to abide in Christ without continuing in His Word. And one of the biggest problems we have here in our church (and in most churches) is that Christians (I am not even referring now to the unsaved) are not reading the Bible, not meditating on the Word, not memorizing Scripture, etc.
    7. I cannot overestimate the importance of staying in the Word every day – "If ye continue in my word…" (John 8:31).
    8. And let me remind you that the Bible says, "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves" (James 1:22).
    9. Many people are deceiving themselves because they are not "doers of the word," and they are not continuing on the word.
    10. Or as Bro. Van Gelderen put it: They have not learned what it means to live the Spirit-filled life of God-dependence for Spirit-enabling.

 

II. YOU CANNOT BE FREE WITHOUT KNOWING THE TRUTH (8:32).

    1. I was driving in my car one day and listening to the radio and heard an unsaved man (the father of Justin Volpe) quote John 8:32. It was apparent that he had no idea what it meant. What it means is that Jesus Christ is the Truth (cf. John 14:6).
    2. Later on, our Lord said these words to Pontius Pilate: "Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice" (John 18:37). And Pilate asked, "What is truth?"
    3. The Jews were even worse than Pilate. They would not bother to ask, "What is truth," because they thought they had the truth (like many people today). They were proud and arrogant. And in their pride and arrogance they lied to our Lord and said, "We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man" (8:33).
    4. This simply is not true. They were slaves in Egypt – something the Lord was always reminding them of; and they were later enslaved by seven different nations, as recorded in the book of Judges.
    5. The ten northern tribes had been taken captive by the Assyrians, and the two southern tribes had been taken captive by the Babylonians.
    6. Then they were under the iron heel of the Persians, the Greeks, the Syrians, and now the Romans.
    7. But rather than correct them for their lapse of memory, our Lord got right to the point (8:34). This was the true nature of their bondage – they were servants of sin.
    8. So you cannot be truly free without knowing the Word and you cannot be truly free without knowing the truth. And this is basically saying the same thing because later on our Lord says to God the Father, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth" (John 17:17). Sanctification (holiness) comes through knowing the truth, and God’s Word is truth.
    9. Have you been sanctified through the truth of God’s Word? Do you look at it and say, "God says to do it and therefore I must"? What about soulwinning?
    10. "Sanctify them through thy truth…" Bro. Van Gelderen brought out something very important. He said that holiness is not a mark of spiritual maturity. He said it is a mark of a new believer. And if a new believer starts practicing holiness he or she will then be able to grow properly and God will open doors for them. But if they are not holy, they will never get anywhere in the Christian life.
    11. He gave me this illustration that you might find helpful: In II Timothy 2, Paul gives seven figures of speech to describe the Christian life.
    12. (1) Son, 2:1 (2) A soldier who is not get entangled with the affairs of this life – 2:3,4. And then he adds an athlete (2:5), a husbandman or farmer (2:6), a workman (2:15), a vessel unto honor (2:21), and a servant of the Lord, which in this context means a Bible teacher (2:24-26).
    13. But notice that right after "sonship" (which comes with conversion) comes separation, which means holiness.

 

III. YOU CANNOT BE FREE WITHOUT KNOWING THE LORD (8:36).

    1. The 4th of July – Independence Day is coming. The problem today is that while Americans today enjoy political freedom, many are in bondage to sin.
    2. My friend, you can never really be free without Jesus Christ (John 8:36).
    3. The religious people of Jesus’ day thought they were free but Jesus told them they were in bondage – bondage to ignorance, error, superstition, selfishness, pride, meaningless rituals, etc. – just like most people today.
    4. If you are struggling spiritually today, it can be traced to either two things: either you are not saved, or you are saved but are not walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. You are walking in the flesh and that can only lead to defeat (cf. John 6:63; Rom.7:18).
    5. The reason many Christians see the Christian life as hard is because they are walking in the flesh. My friend, if coming out to Sunday night services, or waking up in time for Sunday School is a burden, then you are not filled with the Holy Spirit!
    6. If coming out every night for revival meetings or going out soulwinning is a burden, then you are not filled with the Holy Spirit, but are walking in the flesh.
    7. Maybe you are not even saved. Bro. Van Gelderen led several people to the Lord and most of them thought they were already saved. If you are not genuinely saved then Jesus said, "Ye shall die in your sins" (John 8:24).

CONCLUSION:

  1. I picked up a tract in a restaurant. It told of a man who was walking down the road and a drove of pigs were following him. This was an unusual thing to behold because normally pigs are difficult animals to drive.
  2. A passerby watched as these pigs, jostling and grunting, followed close behind this man. The passerby was curious and so he followed on, and to his surprise he discovered that the man was leading the pigs right into the slaughterhouse.
  3. The pigs marched in and the doors were slammed shut. The passerby waited and in a few minutes the man who was leading the pigs walked out of the slaughterhouse.
  4. He asked him how he managed to lead the pigs so easily to the slaughterhouse and the man showed him a bag of beans he carried under his arm.
  5. MORAL TO THE STORY: The devil is leading many people down to hell. He has his own bag of beans. And soon the unsuspecting sinners are led right into the fires of hell and then, just like the doors of the slaughterhouse, the gates of hell are slammed shut.

INVITATION:

To the saved: Are you walking in the Spirit are you walking in the flesh?

To the lost: Are you walking down the road to hell, not realizing that soon it could be too late for you?





Pastor James J. Barker
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