The Slavery of Sin (John 8:31-41)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:03.919 Well, please remain standing in turn your attention. You can turn in your 2 00:00:03.919 --> 00:00:09.470 bibles as well if you like, to John, Chapter Eight, John Eight, 3 00:00:09.550 --> 00:00:15.150 verse Thirty One, and I'll read through a verse forty seven. But 4 00:00:15.310 --> 00:00:21.859 focusing on the beginning of this passage today, the passage begins with a very 5 00:00:21.940 --> 00:00:30.859 famous verse, verse you should memorize thirty one and thirty two. And then 6 00:00:31.379 --> 00:00:35.770 we have a response to this very famous thing that Jesus says. So let's 7 00:00:35.770 --> 00:00:40.130 give our attention to it and ask that God allow us to hear it with 8 00:00:40.250 --> 00:00:45.969 faith. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, if 9 00:00:46.009 --> 00:00:51.079 you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know 10 00:00:51.240 --> 00:00:56.119 the truth, and the truth will set you free. They answered him. 11 00:00:56.799 --> 00:01:00.280 We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslave to anyone. How is 12 00:01:00.359 --> 00:01:06.870 it that you say you will become free? Jesus answered them. Truly truly, 13 00:01:06.909 --> 00:01:11.590 I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 14 00:01:11.269 --> 00:01:15.349 The slave does not remain in the house forever, but the sun remains 15 00:01:15.430 --> 00:01:19.379 forever. So if the sun sets you free, you will be free. 16 00:01:19.500 --> 00:01:25.500 Indeed, I know that you are offspring of Abraham, yet you seek to 17 00:01:25.540 --> 00:01:30.379 kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what 18 00:01:30.459 --> 00:01:34.530 I have seen with my father, and you do what you have heard from 19 00:01:34.689 --> 00:01:40.730 your father. They answered him. Abraham is our father, Jesus said to 20 00:01:40.769 --> 00:01:44.010 them. If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the work, 21 00:01:44.090 --> 00:01:48.359 that's, the works that Abraham did. But now you seek to kill me, 22 00:01:49.079 --> 00:01:51.959 a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. 23 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:57.400 This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did. 24 00:01:57.239 --> 00:02:00.909 They said to him. We were not born of sexual immorality. We 25 00:02:01.030 --> 00:02:06.829 have one father, even God. Jesus said to them. If God were 26 00:02:06.870 --> 00:02:10.229 your father, you would love me, for I came from God and I 27 00:02:10.389 --> 00:02:15.430 am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 28 00:02:15.300 --> 00:02:20.099 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot 29 00:02:20.099 --> 00:02:23.500 bear to hear my word. You are of your father, the devil, 30 00:02:24.020 --> 00:02:29.539 and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from 31 00:02:29.539 --> 00:02:32.370 the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth 32 00:02:32.409 --> 00:02:36.729 in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, 33 00:02:37.250 --> 00:02:40.930 for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell 34 00:02:42.009 --> 00:02:45.280 the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convict me 35 00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:47.439 of sin if I tell the truth? Why do you not believe me? 36 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:53.759 Who is of God? Here's the words of God. The reason why you 37 00:02:53.879 --> 00:03:00.750 do not hear them is that you are not of God. You may be 38 00:03:00.870 --> 00:03:07.710 seated. We all know the difference, right between hearing and really or listening 39 00:03:07.830 --> 00:03:15.539 and really hearing, or seeing but not really seeing or really seeing. Perhaps 40 00:03:15.580 --> 00:03:19.419 you've had a conversation with someone, and maybe even someone you love very much, 41 00:03:19.699 --> 00:03:22.740 and you're trying to tell them something and you just can get the sense 42 00:03:22.860 --> 00:03:25.180 that they're not listening and then three days later, you say, remember what 43 00:03:25.300 --> 00:03:30.490 I told you, and they have no recollection right. This happens to us 44 00:03:30.530 --> 00:03:32.689 all the time. We have ways in which we can sort of let ears, 45 00:03:32.729 --> 00:03:35.849 as we say, our words, as we say, go in one 46 00:03:35.889 --> 00:03:40.090 ear and out the other. Where we are paying attention, our eyes are 47 00:03:40.210 --> 00:03:45.080 focused, were looking at the person who's speaking to us, and yet it's 48 00:03:45.159 --> 00:03:53.000 really just kind of passing through. But sometimes it's the problem is much deeper 49 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:59.349 than just paying attention. Sometimes the reasons we don't pay attention. Sometimes the 50 00:03:59.430 --> 00:04:03.349 reasons we just flat out aren't listening or refuse to listen or aren't even able 51 00:04:03.469 --> 00:04:12.099 to hear our spiritual problems, problems that go very, very deep. I'm 52 00:04:12.180 --> 00:04:16.259 Jesus demonstrates this in a number of ways in his miracles on the ways, 53 00:04:16.300 --> 00:04:19.980 for example, that he will cause a blind person will come to this in 54 00:04:20.139 --> 00:04:24.889 chapter nine. The way he'll cause a blind in person to be able to 55 00:04:24.970 --> 00:04:30.449 see, is a way of him expressing this very real thing that happens to 56 00:04:30.569 --> 00:04:34.449 us, that we are people who are blind to the things of God and 57 00:04:34.769 --> 00:04:38.920 it takes a work of God to be able to help us to see. 58 00:04:40.199 --> 00:04:45.439 Here in our passage the emphasis is on hearing. They hear him and they 59 00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:51.199 believe him in a way, but not not fully, it seems, perhaps 60 00:04:51.279 --> 00:04:55.829 not in a saving way, because he says the reason you do not hear 61 00:04:55.990 --> 00:04:59.829 the words of God, these true words I am speaking to you, is 62 00:05:00.029 --> 00:05:06.029 that you are not of God. So that should at least get US warmed 63 00:05:06.110 --> 00:05:12.019 up and framed for listening. Right here, Jesus is speaking to us, 64 00:05:12.060 --> 00:05:15.500 he is revealing things to us. Let's make sure that we hear him, 65 00:05:15.500 --> 00:05:18.779 and hear him rightly. So, as we start with this passage today, 66 00:05:18.779 --> 00:05:26.129 let's start with Jesus's words, these famous and inspiring words, and verse Thirty 67 00:05:26.170 --> 00:05:30.649 One and thirty two. If you abide in my word, you are truly 68 00:05:30.810 --> 00:05:33.889 my disciples and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you 69 00:05:33.970 --> 00:05:38.399 free. This is a verse, as I said before I started, this 70 00:05:38.480 --> 00:05:42.959 is these are a verses that you should memorize, because these are verses that 71 00:05:43.079 --> 00:05:47.160 really explain and describe the essence of what it means to be a disciple of 72 00:05:47.240 --> 00:05:53.310 Jesus. What does it mean to follow Jesus? It means to abide in 73 00:05:53.470 --> 00:05:58.509 him right, not just listen, but abide right. That's a strong word 74 00:05:59.029 --> 00:06:06.100 to dwell, to to live in something. We abide in him by abiding 75 00:06:06.139 --> 00:06:10.339 in his word, which means we pay attention, which means we listen, 76 00:06:10.540 --> 00:06:15.220 we take it in. But in addition to this, he also explains the 77 00:06:15.300 --> 00:06:17.889 consequences of that. When we abide in him, we know the truth and 78 00:06:18.009 --> 00:06:23.250 the truth sets US free, which means that to be a disciple of Christ 79 00:06:23.290 --> 00:06:28.329 always carries this note of hope, a strong note of hope, a promise 80 00:06:28.490 --> 00:06:38.600 of hope that as we do this, we will find freedom. This verse 81 00:06:38.720 --> 00:06:42.600 sets before us, these verses, this thing Jesus says sets before US great 82 00:06:42.759 --> 00:06:50.670 possibilities. Perhaps the thing that we want more than anything else, freedom possibilities 83 00:06:50.790 --> 00:06:57.949 and promises that grow out of very particular realities. Abiding in his word, 84 00:06:57.990 --> 00:07:02.060 and this is one reason many people have picked up on this verse. You 85 00:07:02.139 --> 00:07:05.540 will know the truth and the truth will set you free. Right, this 86 00:07:05.740 --> 00:07:11.899 is expressed and television shows and books and movies, and people will just know 87 00:07:12.060 --> 00:07:16.129 it and say it. But what's interesting here is, though, that as 88 00:07:16.209 --> 00:07:21.370 we hear the reaction of the Jews, they don't seem very inspired, do 89 00:07:21.569 --> 00:07:26.410 they? All? Right, Jesus doesn't say you will know the truth and 90 00:07:26.529 --> 00:07:29.129 the truth will set you through it free, and they all sort of rise 91 00:07:29.250 --> 00:07:32.240 from their seats and a Plod and move out into the world rejoicing. Right, 92 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:42.120 no, they they seem confused, maybe even indignant, a little upset. 93 00:07:42.279 --> 00:07:46.470 A why in the world would they be upset when Jesus is just promised 94 00:07:46.509 --> 00:07:56.990 them freedom, freedom grounded in truth? I'll give you an example. Imagine 95 00:07:57.029 --> 00:08:01.180 you go to visit a very wealthy king, right, and you you are 96 00:08:01.300 --> 00:08:05.980 approaching his castle and as you get closer, you will walk past all the 97 00:08:05.180 --> 00:08:11.740 flags and the statues and the fountains and the gardens, and you walk past 98 00:08:11.939 --> 00:08:16.209 gold plated door knobs and well healed servants and then you walk into His throne 99 00:08:16.250 --> 00:08:22.930 room and they are beautiful rugs and tapestries and guards and fine uniforms, and 100 00:08:24.129 --> 00:08:28.079 there's the king and he sits on this bejeweled throne and you say, Oh, 101 00:08:28.199 --> 00:08:33.840 king, believe in Jesus and you will no longer be poor, you 102 00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:39.200 will be rich. He looks like you, says, who said I was 103 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:45.509 poor? Look around you. I'm sitting on a golden throne, but decked 104 00:08:45.549 --> 00:08:48.950 with jewels. I'm in this beautiful, ful palace. I have servants everywhere. 105 00:08:48.990 --> 00:08:52.750 I could have all I could ever eat. Why are you calling me 106 00:08:52.990 --> 00:08:58.419 poor? A similar thing happens here. Jesus says to them the truth will 107 00:08:58.460 --> 00:09:03.259 set you free, and they go free. Who said we were slaves? 108 00:09:07.259 --> 00:09:13.490 We are the offspring of Abraham. They say we are the offspring of Abraham 109 00:09:13.529 --> 00:09:18.450 and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say you 110 00:09:18.490 --> 00:09:24.000 will become free? So you do you understand their question? Jesus is promised. 111 00:09:24.039 --> 00:09:28.919 It is not inspiring and hopeful because they don't think it's really connected to 112 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:35.279 their reality. We are children of Abraham, we are free, we've never 113 00:09:35.320 --> 00:09:41.470 been enslaved anyone. Your promise is ridiculous. And maybe even a little bit 114 00:09:45.870 --> 00:09:50.509 offensive. So let's take a moment and look at the world and the way 115 00:09:50.590 --> 00:09:54.740 that they were seeing it, and then, after that, consider the way 116 00:09:54.820 --> 00:10:01.820 Jesus was seeing it. So, as children is of Abraham, they believed 117 00:10:01.860 --> 00:10:07.730 themselves to be the apple of God's eye, his special chosen people in the 118 00:10:07.809 --> 00:10:13.129 world, and indeed they were. God had made a covenant with Abraham that 119 00:10:13.370 --> 00:10:22.320 his offspring would become a great people. You can hear this foundational promise in 120 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:26.000 many places in scripture. Here's one from genesis seventeen, four and following. 121 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:31.200 So this is God's promise to Abraham. This is what they perhaps have in 122 00:10:31.240 --> 00:10:37.110 their mind when they say we are offspring of Abraham. God says to Abraham, 123 00:10:39.830 --> 00:10:43.470 behold, my covenant is with you and you shall be a father of 124 00:10:43.509 --> 00:10:50.059 a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, I will make 125 00:10:50.179 --> 00:10:54.659 you into nations and King shall come from you, and I will establish my 126 00:10:54.820 --> 00:11:00.500 covenant between me and you and your offspring after you, throughout their generations, 127 00:11:00.740 --> 00:11:05.690 for an everlasting covenant to be a God to you and to your offspring after 128 00:11:05.769 --> 00:11:09.889 you, and I will give to you and to your offspring after you the 129 00:11:09.929 --> 00:11:13.730 land of your sojourney all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and 130 00:11:15.370 --> 00:11:22.679 I will be their God. So you see what Jesus makes our Jesus. 131 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:31.240 Jesus is saying here in John Eight that God, when God spoke to Abraham, 132 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:35.070 he spoke to him the truth, and Jesus is also speaking the truth. 133 00:11:35.149 --> 00:11:39.230 And when God spoke to Abraham and promise these things, they were indeed 134 00:11:39.990 --> 00:11:43.950 true and Abraham believed in them. And what were these things? They were 135 00:11:43.990 --> 00:11:50.620 a promise to him and to his offspring that they would become a great and 136 00:11:50.700 --> 00:11:56.740 mighty people, they would not be slaves but but royalty, that God would 137 00:11:56.740 --> 00:12:00.700 give them the land of Canaan, that he would make with them an everlasting 138 00:12:00.860 --> 00:12:05.490 covenant. And so they're saying, we are children of Abraham. Why are 139 00:12:05.529 --> 00:12:11.970 you saying that we are slaves? Why is Jesus telling them that if they 140 00:12:11.009 --> 00:12:18.200 abide in his words, they would be set free? Now, what could 141 00:12:18.200 --> 00:12:22.559 Jesus say in response to this? There's a number of different things. What 142 00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:28.080 for one, he could have pointed out that Abraham's children have in fact been 143 00:12:28.159 --> 00:12:33.070 enslaved many times in history, despite what they claim. In fact, when 144 00:12:33.110 --> 00:12:37.470 God makes his promise and Covenant to Abraham, he does say that they will 145 00:12:37.710 --> 00:12:41.789 possess this land, that kings and nations will come from them, but he 146 00:12:43.029 --> 00:12:50.259 also says he in Genesis Fifteen, he says know for certain that your offspring 147 00:12:50.700 --> 00:12:54.500 will be so journers in a land that is not theirs and will be servants 148 00:12:56.379 --> 00:13:03.850 or slaves there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. So 149 00:13:05.490 --> 00:13:09.649 even in God's promise to Abraham there is a note of slavery, interestingly enough, 150 00:13:11.529 --> 00:13:15.960 temporary, something that will be undone, something that God will rescue them 151 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:20.879 from, but nevertheless they would become slaves in Egypt and for a long time. 152 00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:28.269 Let me just pause for a moment and say that hearing that your children 153 00:13:28.309 --> 00:13:33.429 are going to be enslaved for four hundred years certainly gives you, I think, 154 00:13:33.429 --> 00:13:39.029 a lot of perspective about life, least potentially. Could we often get 155 00:13:39.190 --> 00:13:45.139 really tied down in the moments of these this and that thing? Can you 156 00:13:45.220 --> 00:13:48.940 imagine being a slave in Egypt and knowing that this was going to last another 157 00:13:48.059 --> 00:13:54.299 three hundred years and other two hundred years? Our our own country hasn't even 158 00:13:54.340 --> 00:14:01.049 been around, maybe half that long. Right, four hundred years is a 159 00:14:01.169 --> 00:14:05.809 long time and even that, the way God describes it, as just a 160 00:14:05.970 --> 00:14:11.080 blip in history, the Jews and all of us get very tied to this 161 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:16.240 particular moment, these particular things that we're facing right here, right now, 162 00:14:16.440 --> 00:14:20.600 these struggles. I'm not a slave or I'm a slave, or whatever it 163 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:26.309 is we're reviewing from this life and these perspective, God's perspective, is much, 164 00:14:26.309 --> 00:14:33.990 much bigger than most of us are used to thinking about. Even here, 165 00:14:33.149 --> 00:14:37.190 when God makes this promise to Abraham in Genesis fifteen that he's going to 166 00:14:37.230 --> 00:14:43.620 establish an everlasting covenant and he tells them that there will be four hundred years 167 00:14:43.700 --> 00:14:52.860 of slavery as part of that. Well, that's a side note for now. 168 00:14:52.009 --> 00:14:58.009 But Jesus, interestingly, doesn't point this out. Nor does he point 169 00:14:58.049 --> 00:15:01.929 out the many times in which they were ruled by foreign nations during the period 170 00:15:01.929 --> 00:15:05.129 of the judges, or the ways in which they were slaves under the Assyrians 171 00:15:05.210 --> 00:15:09.279 or the Babylonians or, and not to put too fine on a point of 172 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:15.320 it, now, yes, they are not slaves and they have many freedoms, 173 00:15:15.879 --> 00:15:20.120 but they are under the watchful eye of the Roman government, the government 174 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:26.429 that has placed a conscious pilot, a person there for the particular job of 175 00:15:26.629 --> 00:15:31.509 overseeing this region of the world and making sure that they don't cause too much 176 00:15:31.549 --> 00:15:37.340 trouble. That didn't happen everywhere and it happened there. Nevertheless, Jesus doesn't 177 00:15:37.340 --> 00:15:41.620 point to any of us. They say we've never been enslaved, and that's 178 00:15:41.700 --> 00:15:48.980 just not true. But he doesn't really address that. Why? Because, 179 00:15:48.019 --> 00:15:54.250 as usual, Jesus is operating in a whole nother plane then we're used to 180 00:15:54.289 --> 00:15:58.250 thinking about. As we've read before, he says I am from above, 181 00:15:58.730 --> 00:16:02.850 you are from below. Are Thinking often gets varied, as I've mentioned, 182 00:16:02.889 --> 00:16:06.960 tied to the things of this world, tied to the circumstances of right. 183 00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:11.080 He you're right. Now we view all of our successes, all of our 184 00:16:11.159 --> 00:16:15.440 failures based on sort of what's immediately in front of us, even in the 185 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:21.830 context of hundreds of years, and that's still too low. Even if we 186 00:16:21.909 --> 00:16:26.350 look at thousands of years of history, it's still too low, it's still 187 00:16:26.470 --> 00:16:32.230 too close to the ground. And Jesus doesn't address them in this way because 188 00:16:32.269 --> 00:16:37.740 Jesus knows that it's ultimately not their outward condition in their life or this moment 189 00:16:37.860 --> 00:16:41.740 of history, that really matters. It's their internal condition it's their heart. 190 00:16:41.740 --> 00:16:47.169 Jesus wants to see them, to see, and he wants us to see 191 00:16:47.169 --> 00:16:51.370 as well, that as long as they continue to make a practice of sinning, 192 00:16:51.769 --> 00:16:56.409 they are not truly children of Abraham, despite what their DNA says, 193 00:16:56.289 --> 00:17:03.559 despite where they live in the world, despite their moment of history. How 194 00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:11.680 could that be true? Well, here's Jesus's argument, Verse Thirty Nine. 195 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:18.950 He says, if you were Abraham's children, you would be doing what Abraham 196 00:17:18.069 --> 00:17:26.910 did. The children are like the parents, but because you do not act 197 00:17:27.029 --> 00:17:33.500 like your father, he's not your father. He's not your true father. 198 00:17:33.700 --> 00:17:42.220 He may be biologically your father, but ultimately your true father is the devil. 199 00:17:45.930 --> 00:17:48.289 If that's not going to get somebody riled up, I'm not sure what 200 00:17:48.490 --> 00:17:55.769 would. Jesus is not afraid to be direct. Jesus is not afraid to 201 00:17:55.890 --> 00:18:00.039 say things as they really are and to help them understand this. Jesus points 202 00:18:00.079 --> 00:18:07.200 out this fact of he points them to a household in an environment where slaves 203 00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:10.880 are common, and he says, if you look at a household, you 204 00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:14.230 have us. You can have a son and a slave, both in a 205 00:18:14.309 --> 00:18:18.670 house at the same time, under the same roof. They might even look 206 00:18:18.829 --> 00:18:23.349 similar to one another, but only one remains, and that's the sun. 207 00:18:25.750 --> 00:18:27.579 And then he goes on to say so if the son of the house then 208 00:18:29.099 --> 00:18:33.700 sets you fray free as a slave, then you're free. You become a 209 00:18:33.819 --> 00:18:38.619 member of the family. But there is a way in which these two kinds 210 00:18:38.660 --> 00:18:44.450 of people can be seemingly under the same roof, a slave and a son. 211 00:18:45.650 --> 00:18:52.490 This is Paul's Point in Galacians, Chapter Four. Let's turn their glacians 212 00:18:53.410 --> 00:18:59.559 and chapter four. Let me read just a little bit of the beginning of 213 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:03.519 that chapter. I mean that the air, as long as he is a 214 00:19:03.559 --> 00:19:07.720 child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of 215 00:19:07.799 --> 00:19:11.950 anything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his 216 00:19:11.109 --> 00:19:15.470 father. In the same way, we also, when we were children, 217 00:19:15.509 --> 00:19:19.869 were enslave to the elemental principles of this world. But when the fullness of 218 00:19:19.910 --> 00:19:25.140 time come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born 219 00:19:25.180 --> 00:19:27.819 under the law, to redeem those who were under a law, so that 220 00:19:27.980 --> 00:19:33.779 we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has 221 00:19:33.859 --> 00:19:37.380 sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying Abba father. So 222 00:19:37.609 --> 00:19:41.009 you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, 223 00:19:41.529 --> 00:19:48.690 then an heir through Christ. In later in chapter four, Paul will give 224 00:19:48.769 --> 00:19:56.160 this contrast between Hag are and Sarah. You will talk about there are the 225 00:19:56.319 --> 00:20:00.920 children who are born into slavery and children who are born on to a free 226 00:20:00.039 --> 00:20:06.039 woman. How do you become what's interesting about what Jesus is saying, though, 227 00:20:06.039 --> 00:20:10.349 as you can transfer from one category to another. The ancient we're all 228 00:20:10.470 --> 00:20:15.950 that hardly ever happened, but here Jesus is saying that's possible and you can 229 00:20:15.950 --> 00:20:22.140 actually become children of Abraham when you do the works of Abraham. What are 230 00:20:22.259 --> 00:20:30.900 the works of Abraham? Believing the truth, not believing the lies and live 231 00:20:30.299 --> 00:20:33.740 in lies, as the devil does and as the children of the devil does. 232 00:20:33.940 --> 00:20:41.210 But do but believing in Jesus. So, as always, Jesus is 233 00:20:41.369 --> 00:20:45.250 reminding us that what goes in our hearts, or what goes on in our 234 00:20:45.329 --> 00:20:49.400 hearts, is the most important. When our lives are devoted to hearing the 235 00:20:49.640 --> 00:20:53.720 truth of the word of God as it comes to us in Jesus, following 236 00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:59.640 him, loving him, worshiping, hoping in him, then we are free. 237 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:03.950 Why? Because he's The sun, and the sun has the power to 238 00:21:04.109 --> 00:21:12.789 set those who were slaves free. We are free then, because we were 239 00:21:12.869 --> 00:21:22.220 living as we are made to live. This note about slavery is important, 240 00:21:22.500 --> 00:21:29.940 not just because it helps us understand these ways in which Jesus is talking regarding 241 00:21:30.059 --> 00:21:33.650 sons and slaves, but it helps us to understand what truly goes on in 242 00:21:33.730 --> 00:21:37.809 our hearts as it relates to sin. You See, a lot of times, 243 00:21:37.849 --> 00:21:42.289 when we think about our sins, we like to minimize them, we 244 00:21:42.450 --> 00:21:45.250 like to downplay them, we like to push them away, we like to 245 00:21:45.329 --> 00:21:49.000 not think about them. But the Bible says that the wages of sin is 246 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:56.079 death. The Bible talks about sin in terms of slavery, bondage, captivity, 247 00:21:59.880 --> 00:22:04.750 and that's the truth. When we are enslaved to sin, we are 248 00:22:06.109 --> 00:22:15.220 like a crooked stick trying to make a straight line. Freedom is like being 249 00:22:15.380 --> 00:22:22.339 a tree that's planted by water. Right, when you take a tree and 250 00:22:22.460 --> 00:22:32.769 you plant it over by a wash, what happens? The tree gets big, 251 00:22:33.730 --> 00:22:37.329 tree gets strong, it's leaves are good. It's a happy tree, 252 00:22:37.569 --> 00:22:42.369 right. It is who it's supposed to be. It's doing tree things right. 253 00:22:42.769 --> 00:22:48.960 It's what God made it to be, and when we abide in God, 254 00:22:49.160 --> 00:22:53.160 that's what we're like. But what happens if you take that same tree 255 00:22:53.240 --> 00:22:57.829 and you go plant it on a slab of cement? Will met look great 256 00:22:59.029 --> 00:23:03.710 for a day, but it won't take long before it starts withering and then 257 00:23:03.750 --> 00:23:18.819 eventually dies. God made us for a particular purpose to glorify him, to 258 00:23:18.940 --> 00:23:23.579 enjoy him, to abide in him, to live in him, to love 259 00:23:23.779 --> 00:23:29.210 him, and as we do do that altogether. That extends out into our 260 00:23:29.329 --> 00:23:33.289 community. It's not just me in my place with God, but a humanity 261 00:23:33.650 --> 00:23:40.730 together are glorifying and worshiping God. This is who he made us to be, 262 00:23:41.049 --> 00:23:47.599 and that's freedom. But when we don't abide in him, when we 263 00:23:47.720 --> 00:23:52.880 go plant ourselves on slabs of cement and don't believe in truth, but believe 264 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:57.069 in lies, and don't live according to righteousness, but live according to unrighteousness, 265 00:23:57.789 --> 00:24:02.750 that don't trust in the saving work of Christ and the forgiveness of sins, 266 00:24:02.789 --> 00:24:08.589 but in sided trust in our striving, in our working, it's slavery. 267 00:24:10.180 --> 00:24:12.019 We keep trying to be a tree, but we just die. It 268 00:24:12.140 --> 00:24:18.140 doesn't work, and that's why Jesus can put life in these stark terms. 269 00:24:19.420 --> 00:24:23.970 To be in him, to be in the truth, is to be alive. 270 00:24:26.329 --> 00:24:29.289 It's to be free, it's to have hope, it's to produce, 271 00:24:29.650 --> 00:24:37.450 it's to provide shade, it's to enjoy and have pleasure. And that's what 272 00:24:37.569 --> 00:24:41.519 Abraham did. When Abraham received this promise from God, you know what he 273 00:24:41.640 --> 00:24:49.720 did. He believed it and it was counted to him as righteousness. Abraham, 274 00:24:49.799 --> 00:24:53.589 by the way, spent his whole life living as a sojourner, living 275 00:24:53.589 --> 00:24:57.869 in tense this land of promise that he was promised. He never was able 276 00:24:57.950 --> 00:25:03.710 to fully settle down him, but he remained confident. Why? Because he 277 00:25:03.789 --> 00:25:08.059 wasn't tying himself to the things of this world. He knew that God promised, 278 00:25:08.140 --> 00:25:15.980 was promising something greater. Hebrews ten says that he was looking forward to 279 00:25:15.220 --> 00:25:26.609 the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. To Be 280 00:25:26.730 --> 00:25:33.130 a child of Abraham, therefore, is playing. The Children of Abraham are 281 00:25:33.210 --> 00:25:38.680 those who, like Abraham, act in faith. When Abraham was promised offspring, 282 00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:45.079 what did he do? Did he try to kill it? Did he 283 00:25:45.240 --> 00:25:51.630 try to take the promise of God that was born to his wife and slay 284 00:25:51.670 --> 00:25:56.869 it? There's the story of Isaac, but that's another that's another wrinkle. 285 00:25:57.349 --> 00:26:03.589 Will come back to that another time. The answer is no, no, 286 00:26:03.829 --> 00:26:07.099 he didn't. He waited for that promise, he trusted in that promise and 287 00:26:07.180 --> 00:26:11.819 ultimately it wasn't even Isaac who was that offspring, it was Jesus, and 288 00:26:11.940 --> 00:26:17.660 that's what the whole world has been hoping for. The whole world has been 289 00:26:17.700 --> 00:26:22.930 waiting for. Abraham believed in the promise, trusted in the promise. Abraham 290 00:26:23.130 --> 00:26:30.089 lived because Jesus and the promise of Jesus gave him life, even though it 291 00:26:30.250 --> 00:26:34.599 was his son. If you go back to Galatians, I'm going to have 292 00:26:34.680 --> 00:26:38.640 to go back. I toase turned back to John. I'm Galatians chapter three. 293 00:26:41.920 --> 00:26:48.789 Listen to what it says in verses seventh through nine. glacians three, 294 00:26:48.869 --> 00:26:52.630 seventh through nine. Know, then, that it is those of faith who 295 00:26:52.630 --> 00:26:59.230 are the sons of Abraham, and the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify 296 00:26:59.269 --> 00:27:04.099 the gentiles by faith, preached the Gospel Beforehand to Abraham, saying in you 297 00:27:04.299 --> 00:27:08.180 shall the nations be blessed. So then, those who are of faith are 298 00:27:08.220 --> 00:27:12.220 blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. This is great news for 299 00:27:12.779 --> 00:27:21.289 both Jew and gentile. Now Look at Verse Sixteen. Now the promises were 300 00:27:21.369 --> 00:27:26.809 made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say and to offsprings, 301 00:27:26.890 --> 00:27:30.680 referring to many, but to one and to your offspring, who is 302 00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:40.440 Christ. That's who Abraham was hoping in, him, hoping in. That's 303 00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:48.190 who Abraham was abiding in the Gospel preached beforehand to Him, the same Gospel 304 00:27:48.230 --> 00:27:52.910 which is preached now to you, a Gospel about hope in this offspring, 305 00:27:53.269 --> 00:27:59.259 a gospel, a good news, about the promises of this covenant being given 306 00:27:59.460 --> 00:28:06.099 to you, even to those of you who are not biologically children of Abraham, 307 00:28:07.059 --> 00:28:10.500 but can belong to him, can belong to that house, because we 308 00:28:10.660 --> 00:28:15.329 no longer worship and live according to the elemental principles of this world, but 309 00:28:15.410 --> 00:28:21.650 according to the truth that is sent from heaven, the son who comes from 310 00:28:21.650 --> 00:28:26.170 the father and who has gone to the father and who will come again. 311 00:28:27.839 --> 00:28:33.839 So what about you, then, lay this principle on your own heart and 312 00:28:33.039 --> 00:28:40.039 life? Do you believe in Christ? Do you abide in him? Are 313 00:28:40.200 --> 00:28:47.109 you a son, a daughter of God, or do you reject Christ the 314 00:28:47.309 --> 00:28:51.349 promises that are made in him? Do you set aside his truth and his 315 00:28:51.630 --> 00:28:56.819 worship and his honor and his glory and ignore it or, worse, despise 316 00:28:56.940 --> 00:29:00.220 it so that you can live in your own way, on your own time, 317 00:29:00.460 --> 00:29:07.539 following your own sinful desires? Do you attach yourself to the King of 318 00:29:07.740 --> 00:29:14.890 Heaven, who is come into this world to reveal a kingdom that is everlasting 319 00:29:15.049 --> 00:29:18.250 and eternal, or do you attach yourself to the things that are below, 320 00:29:18.730 --> 00:29:25.359 the things that will perish, the things that will be destroyed? Do you 321 00:29:25.559 --> 00:29:30.039 tach yourself to life and truth and freedom, or do you abide and live 322 00:29:30.200 --> 00:29:41.950 in unrighteousness and death and separation from God? All those who abide in Christ 323 00:29:41.990 --> 00:29:48.589 are like that tree. They are planted by streams of living water and they 324 00:29:48.710 --> 00:29:56.460 drink deeply from that water of life. We will go through droughts and trials, 325 00:29:56.619 --> 00:30:03.220 perhaps in this world, even temporary slavery, even death of our bodies, 326 00:30:04.220 --> 00:30:11.210 but we know that God will keep us safe, the God will protect 327 00:30:11.329 --> 00:30:15.769 us and the God will cause even our bodies to rise from the dead with 328 00:30:15.970 --> 00:30:22.680 victory over slavery, Sin and death. So hold onto the things of this 329 00:30:22.920 --> 00:30:29.680 world lightly. Don't put pride in your genetics, in your station of life, 330 00:30:29.720 --> 00:30:34.789 in your career and your money. Don't overly be concerned about about these 331 00:30:34.990 --> 00:30:41.549 things, but wait, like Abraham for a better city, founded on better 332 00:30:41.670 --> 00:30:45.390 promises and a savior who is eternal. Let's pray.