Participants:
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000631A
|
00:01 (Breath of Life Theme Music)
00:06 Sermon #B631 - I want to be Free 00:20 Our Scripture is taken from John 8:31. John 8:31 and I'm going to read to verse thirty-six. 00:30 John 8:31, "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, 'If you continue in my 00:38 Word, then you are my disciples indeed; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make 00:47 you free. ' They answered him, said, 'We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any 00:50 man: how sayest thou, "You shall be made free?"' Jesus answered them, 'Verily, verily, I say 00:57 unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin,'" 01:03 [Congregation: Sin!] Everybody say sin. "'And the servant abideth not in the house forever 01:11 but the Son abideth forever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free 01:22 indeed.'" Today, I don't know about you, but I just want to be 01:27 free. It is the desire of every person under the sound of my 01:32 voice to be free. I don't know of anybody who wants to live in 01:36 bondage. I don't know of anyone who wants to live chained up. Nobody wants to be a slave. 01:45 From the dawn of Earth's history to the present day in Earth's 01:49 history, everybody wants to be free. Do I have a witness in this place? [Congregation: 01:54 Yeah!] That's why the Israelites were willing to follow a pillar 01:59 of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to escape the Egyptians because people want to 02:06 be free. That's why the revolutionary war was fought emancipating America from 02:12 British control because people want to be free. That's why the civil war was fought. 02:18 That's why the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. That's why the Thirteenth Amendment was 02:26 ratified and don't get it twisted! I'll say it again. The Emancipation Proclamation did 02:33 not free the slaves. The Emancipation Proclamation preserved the Union. It was the 02:41 Thirteenth Amendment that freed the slaves. Check your history books on that. People want to be 02:49 free that's why there were freedom rights in the fifties. Sit-ins in the sixties. That's 02:52 why Martin Luther King preached, "I have a dream." That's why Malcolm X said, "By any means 02:58 necessary." That's why Nelson Mandela sat 03:01 and spent twenty-seven years in a South African prison on Robin 03:06 Island on trumped up charges to get rid of a sinister social system that wickedly prejudiced 03:13 people because of the color of their skin. People want to be 03:18 free. That's why somebody -- you leave a better paying but high stress job to go work a lower 03:24 paying, low stress job because you want to be free. 03:27 That's why you'll leave a sinister slavery-like 03:33 relationship and be single because you figure you can do bad by yourself because you want 03:40 to be free. In the text, Jesus begins by saying, "If you continue in my Word then you are 03:48 my disciples. " Notice now, Jesus begins this text with the word "if." Everybody say if. 03:53 [Congregation: If!] He begins with "if" but then he also ends this passage with the word "if. 03:58 " He says in the end, "If the Son sets you free, you shall be 04:04 free indeed. " Now, from the time I entered grade school -- it's probably the same for you 04:08 -- you sat in an English class and you were taught the eight 04:15 parts of speech. You were taught a noun, a verb, a pronoun, an adjective, an adverb, a 04:22 preposition, conjunction, and interjection. Am I speaking to anybody today? [Congregation: 04:26 Yeah!] Now, each part of speech explains not just what the word is, but how the word is used. 04:33 We were taught that a noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. 04:39 Are you with me everybody? [Congregation: Yeah!] 04:41 You learned that a pronoun is a word that replaces a noun or 04:46 another pronoun. You learned that a verb was a word to express action, an event, or 04:53 states of being. An adjective describes a noun or pronoun. An adverb describes a verb, another 05:00 verb or an adjective. A preposition links nouns, pronouns, and phrases. A 05:06 conjunction leads words, phrases and clauses with the use of words like, "and", "but" or "or" 05:11 and the interjection is a word added to a sentence to convey an emotion that is usually followed 05:18 by an exclamation point. "Ouch!" "Wait!" A word I'm learning, 05:30 "No!" [laughs] But be careful that you use interjections in 05:35 the right way because if you're not careful the devil can get on 05:39 your tongue and he can make you say the wrong interjection. 05:42 Do I have a witness in this place? [Congregation: Oh yeah!] 05:44 Now, somebody is saying, "Pastor, this is not an English class but this is church," 05:51 and you are right but a part of preaching is teaching and what all of this Ebonics 06:01 and bad English being spoken around here. Somebody needs to model the king's English. 06:07 Do I have a witness in this place? [Congregation: [Applause, 06:09 Cheering] I cringe when subjects and verbs don't agree! Are you hearing what I'm saying? 06:15 People tell me, "Pastor, why does everything have to be so 06:18 perfect?" We serve a perfect God! We are on an educational 06:22 campus. Do I have a witness in this place? [Congregation: 06:25 Yeah!] I tell young people, "If you want a job you better learn how to speak right English. 06:29 If you want to be respected you better learn how to speak proper 06:34 English. So, pull your pants up and learn how to speak some 06:39 proper English." Do I have a witness in this place? [Congregation: [applause, 06:41 inaudible shouting] The text begins with the word "if". Everybody say "if" again. 06:46 [Congregation: If!] Now, "if" is a conjunction that suggests something is based on the 06:54 condition of something else. So in other words, "If I do this, you do that. If she does this, 07:03 he'll do that. If I study hard in college, I'll get accepted to 07:09 grad school. Understand if I work hard and prove myself, I'll 07:15 get the promotion. If I saved my money, I'll be able to buy a new car. If I tithe and give 07:22 offering, God will open the windows of heaven 07:24 and pour me out a blessing that there should not be room enough 07:28 to receive it. If I worked out, she'll like me." I'm a witness. I used to work out and she liked 07:37 me. But she loves me now. Come on say, "Amen!" [Congregation: 07:41 Applause] "If I make myself pretty, he'll notice me." "If" is something based on the 07:51 condition of something else. Now, the Bible is full of 07:55 if-statements. "If my people who are called by my name would 08:01 humble themselves and pray, seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then I will hear 08:08 from heaven and heal their land." If, then. "If you have faith the size of mustard seed 08:15 then he will move mountains." 08:18 "If I be lifted up then I will draw all men unto me." "If God be for us, who can be against 08:31 us?" "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things 08:38 are passed away. Old things become new." With all of these if-statements, they're 08:44 conditional. If you do something then something else will happen. If you do something good, 08:48 something good will happen. If you do something bad then something bad will happen. Yes, 08:52 God's promises are free but God's promises are also conditional. They're free only 09:00 if you obey certain conditions. Somebody's going to get this in a minute. The text says, Jesus 09:05 speaking, "If you continue in my word then you are my disciples." So, we have a promise 09:12 but the promise is conditional. Jesus says, "If you follow my word, you're my disciples. 09:17 But if you don't follow my word, you aren't my disciple." 09:20 So, then we understand there's a relationship between discipleship and obedience. 09:27 Now, let me say this. Throw this in. Every disciple is free but every church member isn't. 09:35 Let me say it one more time. Every disciple is free but every church member isn't. 09:43 Church membership does not always mean true discipleship 09:47 because a whole lot of people have their names on a church 09:50 roll but they don't know what it really means to be free. Free in 09:57 Jesus. Free in worship to Jesus! Free in praise to Jesus! I look at some people in Sabbath 10:04 morning I feel so sorry for them because they come to church bound. They come enslaved. 10:10 They come to church worried about what people think. 10:13 Worried about what people say. "Am I good enough? Do I look 10:19 nice enough? Do I say Amen too much? Do I not say Amen enough? Should I clap? Should I not 10:26 clap? Is my outfit okay? Is my outfit not okay? Do I sing too loud? Do I sing too much?" 10:32 They come to church bound. But God has not called you to be 10:39 bound. God has called you -- I know He's called me to be free. I refuse to be in a prison 10:45 jacket in church. Come on say, "Amen!" Every disciple is free but every church member isn't 10:50 free. You see, when you're a church member you just got your name on the roll. You sing songs 10:55 but they have no feeling. You pray prayers but they have no meaning. You preach sermons 10:59 but they have no anointing. You're just here. 11:02 But when you're a disciple, the power of God's spirit is all on you. You're excited about Jesus. 11:10 You're excited that He woke you up this morning; that He started 11:16 you on your way. You're excited that He put food on your table and clothing on your back 11:19 and made a way out of no way. When you are a disciple, you sing like it's your last song. 11:26 You pray like it's you last prayer. You preach like it's 11:31 your last sermon. You are not worried about what people might 11:34 look at you and say when you worship God when you're free. In 11:41 the name of Jesus. God hasn't called you to just be a church member but He's called you to be 11:48 a disciple. But as I've learned in my ministry and I've learned in my life as I get older, 11:51 I understand there's a cost to discipleship. As a disciple, you 11:57 have to obey. There's a relationship between discipleship and obedience. 12:02 "If you continue in my word, you are a disciple." 12:06 But not only that, when I read the next verse, verse number 12:10 thirty-two, it shows us that there's also a link between discipleship, obedience, 12:15 and freedom. Verse thirty-two says, "And you shall know the 12:21 truth and the truth shall set you free." In other words, disciples know God's truth 12:28 and God's truth sets you free. Now, the opposite of truth is a 12:34 lie. So then if the truth sets me free, a lie keeps me bound. Let me say that one more time. 12:42 If the truth sets us free, then a lie keeps us bound. The enemy wants you to live a lie. 12:50 The enemy wants you to believe a lie. He wants you to believe a 12:56 lie because a lie is what will keep you bound so spiritually he wants you to believe a lie. 13:00 "You don't have to follow the word of God to be free." 13:02 That's a lie. Socially, he wants you to believe a lie. 13:05 "You don't have to have godly friends. You don't have to marry a godly man or woman." 13:08 That's a lie. Financially, he wants you to believe a lie. 13:12 "You're not really in debt. You just have no cash money 13:17 but you can keep charging it up on your credit card. That's just a different kind of money." 13:23 That's a lie. Physically, he wants you to believe a lie. 13:27 "You can still eat ice cream late at night 13:29 and lose weight." That's a sure enough lie. 13:32 But there comes a time in your life when you begin to examine 13:38 your life and you begin to understand that it's not of God for you to live a lie. 13:44 "And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you 13:49 free." But then I keep reading at verse thirty-three and the 13:51 word says, "But we're Abraham's descendants..." the Jews said "...and we should have never 13:56 and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean Jesus 'we should be set free'?" 14:03 Jesus said, "You don't understand what I'm talking 14:05 about." He said, "You got it all wrong. I'm not talking about being a slave to somebody else. 14:10 I'm talking about being a slave to sin." 14:12 Jesus said, "The Greek word for servant is 'doulos'. 14:16 " Everybody say "doulos." [Congregation: Doulos.] 14:18 Which means slave. So in the text, then, a servant is a slave and a slave to sin. 14:24 One who obeys a master. So rather than obey God, you obey 14:29 sin. When you get caught up in sin, understand you become a 14:35 slave to sin because if you choose a sinful life, you're bound. That's why some people 14:42 are always unhappy. That's why some people are always despondent, distressed, dejected 14:46 and down because you're bound. Whether you knew it or not, 14:50 there's a direct correlation between our freedom 14:53 and the way we live because the way you live impacts your ability to be free. 14:59 Anything that goes against God is sin. We're afraid to call sin by it's right name today 15:06 because we want everybody to feel good and be happy but anything that goes against God 15:12 is sin. There are no big sins or little sins. There is no hierarchy of sin. Sin is sin. 15:20 Anything that goes against God is sin. The Bible says that all 15:26 have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So, the person 15:30 who gossips and keeps up confusion isn't better than the 15:34 adulterer. The person who talks about people is no better than the person struggling 15:38 with the very drug addiction that they're talking about. Sin 15:44 is sin. So, Jesus keeps on in verse thirty-four and says, "Whosoever committed sin is the 15:51 slave of sin." But we get to verse thirty-six. In verse thirty-five, Jesus then gives 15:56 some hope. He says that a slave is not a permanent member of the 16:02 family. He says that the slave "abideth not in the house 16:07 forever." Which means then the slave was transient. 16:10 The slave was transitory. The slave was temporary. Back in 16:17 slave days, slaves had to serve their masters. 16:20 Slaves didn't get to live in the big house. Slave didn't live in the master's house. 16:26 Slaves stay in the outhouse of the master's quarters. 16:30 A slave was not a permanent member of the family. 16:34 A slave have no rights, no inheritance, no nothing -- and I know that's a double negative 16:39 -- but no slave was able to make another slave free because a slave was owned by its master. 16:47 But the son of the father, the one who had the inheritance, the one who carried his daddy's 16:58 name, he was a permanent member of the family and the son of the master could set a slave free. 17:06 A slave couldn't set another slave free but the son could set 17:12 a slave free. Somebody's going to get this in a minute. Because I was a slave to sin. 17:17 Because you were a slave to sin. 17:20 Two thousand years ago, the Father sent His Son to save you and me from sin and now I'm 17:30 free. Now, you're free because if the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed. 17:38 Jesus, the Son of God, by shedding his own blood has paid the price for our sins 17:44 and now we're free. No longer bound. No more chains holding me. My soul is resting. 17:55 It's just a blessing. Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! I'm free! Jesus came to offer genuine 18:08 freedom. But if you want this freedom, you must believe on Jesus and comply with certain 18:15 conditions. "If the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed." 18:23 If. Then, freedom only comes if you obey certain conditions. 18:31 You can't get freedom from addictions 18:34 and still hang around people and places that feed your 18:38 addictions. You can't get freedom from gossip 18:41 but then you want to stay on the phone, Facebook, Twitter, 18:44 Instagram and the internet all night long. 18:46 You can't get freedom from immorality and a lustful spirit 18:51 and you want to keep watching x-rated stuff late at night. 18:55 If want to lose weight, you got to exercise. If you want to be 18:59 healthy, you can't eat fast food. If you want to make good grades, you have to study. 19:04 If you want to learn how to play the piano, you've got to 19:07 practice. If you want to break bad habits, you got to stop hanging around bad people. 19:11 If you want to go to heaven, you got to obey God 19:15 because if the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed. 19:23 Free from mess. Free from confusion. Free from negative folk. Free from bad habits. 19:29 Free from bad influences. Free from bad places. Free from bad 19:35 people. Free from bad things. Free from the bad in you. 19:39 If the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed. Somebody's 19:45 not getting it. Let me close with this story. So, the story is told of a wealthy man and he 19:53 had a son. The wealthy man and his son loved to collect art. They loved to collect rare works 20:02 of art. They had everything in their collection from Picasso to Raphael. You name it, they had 20:09 it. They would often sit together and admire the great 20:14 works or art. But when the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son had to go to war. 20:20 The son was very courageous but the son sadly died in battle while rescuing another soldier. 20:29 The father was notified that his son had been killed 20:32 and he greatly grieved deeply for his only son. 20:36 Story says that about month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock [knocking] at 20:46 door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands. He said, "Sir, you don't 20:55 know me but I'm the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day 21:06 including my life and he was carrying me to safety when all of a sudden a bullet struck him 21:11 in the heart and he died instantly. He often however have talked about you and your love 21:19 for art." The young man held out a package and he said, "I know 21:26 this isn't much and I know I'm not a great artist 21:29 but I think your son would've wanted you to have this." The father opened the package. 21:39 It was a portrait of his son painted by the young man that 21:48 his son had saved. The father stared in awe at the picture of 21:53 his son. He stared in awe of how the soldier had captured the personality of his son in his 22:00 painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes of his son that his own eyes began to well 22:06 up with tears. He thanked the young man and even offered to pay the young man for the 22:12 picture. The young man said, "Oh no, sir. I could never repay you for what your son did for me. 22:23 It's a gift." I wish I had a church in this place right now. 22:25 The father hung the portrait in the living room over the mantle 22:31 in his house. Every time visitors came to the house he took them to see the portrait of 22:38 his son before he showed them any of the other arts that he 22:43 had collected. Sadly, the father, the man died a few 22:50 months later. There was to be a great auction for all of his 22:55 paintings. Many important people, many influential people gathered at the auction, 23:02 excited over seeing the great paintings 23:05 and then having the opportunity to purchase one for their own 23:10 collection. On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel 23:20 and he said, "We'll start the bidding process with this picture of the son. 23:27 Who will bid for this picture?" There was silence. 23:33 Then all of a sudden there was a voice in the back of the room 23:36 that shouted, "We want to see the famous paintings! Skip this picture!" But the auctioneer 23:46 persisted. He said, "Will someone bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? 23:53 One hundred. Two hundred. Three hundred." Then came another 24:00 voice. "We didn't come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Gogh's, the Rembrandt's. 24:06 Get on with the real bids and forget this painting." But still the auctioneer continued. 24:13 "The son! The son! Who will take the son?" Finally, a voice came from the back of the room. 24:24 It was the long time gardener of the man and his son. 24:29 He said, "I'll give ten dollars for the painting!" 24:33 He was a poor man. It was all he could afford. The auctioneer said, "We have ten dollars. 24:39 Do we have a bid for twenty dollars? Do we have a bid?" 24:45 Somebody said, "Give it to him for ten dollars! Let's see the other paintings!" "Ten dollars 24:51 is the bid. Is there someone that will bid twenty dollars?" The crowd was becoming angry. 24:57 The crowd was becoming restless. They didn't want the picture of 25:02 the son. They wanted the other investments for their collections. The auctioneer took 25:08 the gavel. He pounded it. He said, "Going once. Going twice. Sold for ten dollars!" 25:15 The man sitting on the second row then shouted, "Now let's get on with the collection." 25:24 But the auctioneer laid down his gavel. He said, "I'm sorry. The 25:32 auction is over." He started gathering his briefcase. Someone said, "But what about the other 25:40 paintings?" The auctioneer said, "I'm sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, 25:45 I was told of a secret stipulation of the will. 25:50 I was not allowed to reveal this stipulation until this time. 25:56 " He said, "Only the painting of the son would be auctioned 26:02 and whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire 26:10 estate." I feel my help coming down. He can have it all! The 26:18 paintings. So the man who took the son, took everything! Two thousand years ago, God gave us 26:32 His Son, Jesus, and my message is, who will take the Son? Because whoever takes the son 26:44 will get everything! If the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed! Go on and praise Him! Go |
Revised 2019-02-27