John: Truth Will Make You Free (Chapters 7-9)

Jesus said "You shall know the truth and the truth will make you free," John 8:32.Welcome you today to our study of the gospel of John. Today we're going to be thinking about John Chapters 7 through 9. We want to encourage you to get your Bible and follow along with us as we study the word of God together.As we think today about John Chapters 7 through 9, this context is going to illustrate the truth that Jesus is the representative, the representation, and the representative of God's truth to mankind and whoever follows that truth and does what it says- can be saved.Now initially, even in Jesus' own family, not everybody believed Him. There were some who initially didn't think Jesus was that big of a deal, that he was the Christ-but even those people changed their mind. I want you to notice about Jesus' brothers. In John 7:5 listen to these words, "For even his brothers did not believe in him." Well, they were going to eventually. In fact, there's going to be a transition in the life of his brothers. For in Acts 1:14, they're in that upper room somewhere between John 7, in Jesus ministry, through the miracles that He did and through His death on the cross to the 50 days after Pentecost in Acts Chapter 1-when they're in that upper room guess who's also in that room? Jesus’ brothers. In fact, two of them, James and Jude will go on to write books that are included in the New Testament under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So, not everybodybelieved the truth at all times- but people looked at the evidence. They saw the facts. They viewed some of those miracles and ultimately what Jesus did to save man, and they came to the conclusion, ‘truly, this is the son of God,’ just like the Centurion in Matthew Chapter 27.Now, what else do we know about Jesus and the truth? Jesus was a man of scripture or as the New Testament refers to us as a man of letters. Look in John 7:15. The Bible says this of Jesus when Jesus has answered the Jews they said, "And the Jews marveled, saying ‘how does this man know letters having never studied?’" Letters were scrolls or documents of the scripture that were often kept in the synagogue. Here's how: He is the scripture. He is the word, John 1:1. He is the very one who spoke it and inspired it. God himself gave us the Bible, and Jesus knows it because He is God. He's the author of scripture. ‘All scripture is given by inspiration of God.’ If Jesus is God, that's the very reason He knew the scriptures or the letters as He did.All throughout the Bible, and especially the New Testament, Jesus is seen as a man of scripture. The Bible says in Matthew Chapter 4, when Jesus was tempted by Satan, Jesus said "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." This is why Jesus would say when Satan tempted Him: "It is written, it is written, it is written." He knew the scriptures and knowing it helped Him defeat Satan and live the life that God wanted Him to live. Friend, how true that ought to be for each and every one of us as well. If I'm going to be the kind of person God wants me to, if I'm going to defeat Satan, if I'm going to win the battle against sin and overcome self and the desires of the flesh- I've got to know the scripture. "Study to show yourself approved under God," 2 Timothy 2:15. "Search the scriptures daily," Acts 17:11. "Be ready always," 1 Peter 3:15. "Your word I've hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you," Psalm 119:10-12.Let's learn a lesson from the Lord about the truth and that is we need to be people of the book. We need to be people who are familiar with, who know the scriptures, and who will stand behind them each and every day of our life. In fact, knowing the truth is a big part of doing God's will. To doGod's will, you've got to actually know God's truth and know the teaching of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Notice John 7:17. The scripture says "If anyone wants to do His will or wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine whether it is from God or whether I speak on my own authority." If you want to do God's will, what do you have to know? You have to know and be convinced that what Jesus was saying was from God. The only way to know what Jesus is saying is from God is to study, to see the miracles, to look at the proof, to study the life of Christ, and realize He is Almighty God.When you think about this idea you see great men and women in the Bible, what made them different for everybody else? What made Ezra, the scribe under the Old Testament, in a very difficult time of restoration and reform, what made him different? Ezra prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, to do it, and to teach its statutes and judgments in all Israel, Ezra 7:10. In a world that was filled with wickedness and wrath to the point that God wanted to reboot or restart the world- What made Noah different? Noah followed God's commands. What made Moses different? Moses followed God without hesitation. What made men and women in the Bible unique? That they studied, searched, and followed the will of God without hesitation.One of the passages and we mentioned this one today because there's some passages in the Bible that are so misused and misunderstood that we need to put the rest of what God's word says together on the subject to understand it and here's a verse in John 7 that's going to help us with that. Matthew 7:1, many people will quote Jesus saying ‘do not judge lest you also be judged or judge not.’ Basically they will say, well, the command in the Bible is do not judge. Well, friend, in the context of Matthew 6 and 7, I'm not to judge like the hypocrites. But let's put the rest of the story together, okay? Look in John 7:24. Jesus said "Do not judge according to appearance but judge," listen to these words, “judge with righteous judgment." Matthew 7:1 "Judge not, lest you be judged." But then John 7:24 says ‘don't judge based on appearance but do judge with righteous judgment.’ How do we combine those two ideas? Well each of them you've got to study the context. Matthew 6 and 7, Jesus is talking tothe hypocrites. These are people who wanted to stand out on a street corner and wanted to pray the long prayers. They want to be seen by men. Jesus said, ‘Don't judge like that, don't say and do not do.’ That's what they were doing. Jesus said, ‘judge with righteous judgment.’ What's a righteous judgment? Psalm 119:160, "All of God's commands are righteous."The idea that so many have propagated that you can never judge is just not true. Now I'm not the final judge- God is, right? He's the ultimate judge. The idea that I cannot take the word of God and come to a conclusion and conclude that something is morally right and something else is morally wrong- that's just not true. The very moment I say something's right or wrong, the very moment the Bible says something's right or wrong, judgment's already been made. When I say the Bible says this is how we ought to live or the Bible says this is how we ought not to live- I'm not making' the judgment, God's already judged. God's already decided. I'm just following through with that teaching. It's a greatly misused passage.If someone is living immorally and we say ‘that's a sin and we ought not to live that way,’ I didn't make that decision. God did. God made that judgment. If it's backed up by the Bible, God's the judge. We're only following through with God teaches. Our judgment needs to be based on righteousness. Based on the word of God and as much as anything, I need to look to self-first. I need to make sure that my life is being lived as it ought to be lived.Then in John Chapter 8 we learn that Jesus is the giver. Jesus is the giver of living water. The water is the source never runs out and you never get thirsty again. Wouldn't you like to have water like that? Jesus said "On the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying "if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me as the scripture has said out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this he spoke concerning the Spirit whom those believing in him would receive for the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified." As you think about living water and as we think about following Christ and the word of God, the Spirit's message, that's what has the ability to completelysatisfy every need. You think about how powerful and how important this would be today. I can't live without water. 70% of my body's made up of water. What if I could give you a glass of water that'd never run out? Or what if I could give you water that if you drank it you'd never have to drink again? Wow! That'd be pretty neat, right? Jesus, in a spiritual sense, is teaching His followers that when the Spirit comes and the Spirit inspires the message of God, when men and women ‘hunger and thirst for righteousness,’ Matthew 5:6, that message will give complete satisfaction and nourishment to the child of God. This living water is God's word given by the Spirit as we see in the New Testament and in the teaching of the Bible.John 7:46 is I think this is one of the greatest statements ever made about Jesus as a teacher and preacher, prophet, of the message of God. Listen to John 7:46. These people have sent soldiers to question Jesus and apprehend Him. They send them with a mission. "Then the officers came to the chief priest and Pharisees and said to them 'Why have you not brought him?'" Now listen to this, "The officers answered 'No man ever spoke like this man.'" Isn't that a great statement about Jesus? Think about His life. Think about the good that He did. Jesus is teaching, and these men become so enamored and mesmerized by the power of Jesus' teaching that they come back empty-handed. What made Jesus unique? Jesus didn't speak like the scribes and the Pharisees. Matthew Chapter 7, at the very end of the Sermon on the Mount, He spoke with power and authority. His messages were practical. They weren't this scribe says and this rabbi says. He spoke with authority. He made it practical. He made it down to earth so everybody could understand it, and it gave hope and promise that many of the teachings of that day did not offer.Then in John Chapter 8 as we think about the message of Jesus and as we think about the power that these messages have, friend one of the things that John 8 clearly teaches us is that we've got to come to the conviction and the conclusion that Jesus actually is God's son. Unless I believe that Jesus is God's son, I can't be saved. Friend, don't misunderstand me. You cannot get to heaven without believing in Christ. Notice the words of Jesus in John 8:24. Jesus said "Therefore I said to youthat you will die in your sins for if you do not believe that I am he you will die in your sins." Are there any conditions to being saved? Here's definitely one. Jesus said ‘unless.’ There's the condition. ‘If you don't believe that I'm He, you'll surely die in your sins.’ Friend, you've got to believe in Christ. You've got to come to the conviction. The evidence demands Jesus is God, therefore I believe him. John 3:16 "God so loved the world He gave His only begotten son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."As you think about the idea of belief, please understand, the Bible never teaches that it ends at belief. The Bible never teaches that belief is the only thing you've got to do to be saved. There's a host of religious teachers today who will say all you've got to do to be saved is just believe in Jesus and you'll be saved. Now friend, don't get me wrong, the Bible teaches you must believe- but the Bible doesn't teach belief alone will save. James 2:24-26, we see then that a man is justified by works "not by faith alone." There are other conditions that I've got to meet. Belief alone is not what God teaches.I know I've got to believe, but I also have to hear the word of God. Romans 10:17 "Faith comes by hearing the word of God." A person also has to repent. Jesus said that. Luke 13:3, "Unless you repent, you'll all likewise perish." Did Jesus give us another condition known as repentance? You bet he did. What if a person doesn't repent? Can't be saved. So not only do you have to believe, you've got to repent. Must a person confess Jesus with their mouth as the Christ? Paul said so. Romans 10:10 "With the heart one believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Jesus clearly taught that as a condition to be saved, one must be baptized. Mark 16:16, Jesus said "He that believes and is baptized will be saved." By inspiration, Peter said "Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins." Listen again to Jesus in the gospel of John. "Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God," John 3:5. Listen to what Saul of Tarsus was told. "Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins," Acts 22:16. And friend, listen to what Peter said about baptism in 1 Peter 3:21. "Baptism does now also save us." Baptism is something God hascommanded just as much as believing and repenting. Those things are essential as well. It's believing the truth and obeying that truth that actually makes you free. Notice the words of Jesus in this chapter. In John Chapter 8:31-32, then Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him 'If you abide in my word you are my disciples indeed and you shall know the truth and the truth will make you free.’In the long ago, the wise proverb writer said "Buy the truth and do not sell it." The value of truth cannot be underestimated. Truth has the ability to make you free. What truth? That Jesus is God and that Jesus is the Christ. Following Him is going to lead to eternal life. Jesus said "I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life. No man comes to the Father except by me." "Grace and truth are in Christ," John 1:17. "The truth is in Jesus," Ephesians 4:21. What truth? The truth that man can overcome sin be saved, and live with God forever is found in Christ.Without obedience to Christ, there's no hope for my salvation or yours.Now, in John Chapter 9, we're going to learn that one of the key words in Christianity is that we've got to be busy, doing and working, in the kingdom of God to do what God wants us to. Notice John Chapter 9, I want you to look in Verse Number 4 with me. Jesus said "I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day for night comes when no man works." Now is one of the key words in Christianity. 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 "Now is the accepted time, today is the day of salvation." I've got to work the works of sent me while it's day. There's now, there's opportunity, and there's time. The word ‘now’ actually occurs over 2000 times in scripture. Why is that such a significant and powerful word? Because now is really all I've got. Now is really all I'm promised. Do you remember James 4:14? James says "What is your life? It's but a vapor. It appears for a little while and then vanishes away." Now's all I've got.Acts 24:25 "Go away for now when I've got a more convenient time I'll call upon you." Acts 26:28 Agrippa said "Almost you persuade me to become a Christian." There are two men who didn't take advantage of now.They knew they needed it. They knew they needed to obey the gospel. They each had some type of emotional response to it, but they forfeited the opportunity. Friend, don't forfeit what you know now. If you know you need to obey the gospel, the message all throughout scripture is to obey that. The message all throughout scripture is to submit to God and to obey the message and the teaching of Jesus Christ.In John Chapter 9 as Jesus is going to heal the blind man, which is a great miracle in and of itself, Jesus opening this blind man eyes, is parallel to those who have been in spiritual darkness until the light of the gospel comes. Here's a man who's been blind. Jesus heals that man. His eyes are open. He can now see. What's that all about? The miracle had a lesson, and what is that lesson? Jesus is able to open the eyes of those who are spiritually blind and give them light and vision and sight and a spiritual sense that they've never had before. ‘God's word is a lamp to our feet and a light unto our path.’ If I'm willing to turn to Jesus who is the light, if I'm willing to turn to God to get direction, then friend, I can always do what God wants me to and I can be acceptable in His sight.Not only did Jesus come to bring light, friend let's also realize Jesus will one day bring judgment. Look in your Bible in John 9:39. Listen to what the scripture says about Jesus' will. In Verse 39 the Bible says "Jesus said for judgment "I've come into this world that those who do not see may see and those who see may be made blind." Jesus came not only to give spiritual light but to those who see, they could judge between right and wrong and those who thought they could see but were spiritually blind, they weren't going to be blinded by the light. Jesus came to bring judgment. God's word does bring a judgment, and it is going to be our final judge. John 12:48 Jesus said "He who rejects me, does not receive my word, has that which judges him. The word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day." The power of Jesus' words! It can cause those who are blinded spiritually to see. It gives them that light. Those who think they see, the religiously, the Pharisees, the scribes, the Sadducees, those who think they've got it all figured out- all they're blinded by the truth that Jesus wanted to bring. Jesus in this chapter is going to rebuke the Pharisees for their sin of thinking they could see without Christ.Without Christ and without His teaching, man's traditions and man's ways cannot do it. There's a way that seems right to a man and in thereof is the way of death. Jeremiah said this in the long ago. In Jeremiah 10:23, Jeremiah said "Oh Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself. It's not in man who walks to direct his own steps." The Pharisees thought they had it figured out. They thought they had found God's way but all along they'd been putting man's traditions, man's ideas, and man's teachings above God's.Friend, let's make sure that we're not doing that today. There's so many today who think that their way is right. What really matters? What does Jesus say? On the final day all that's going to matter is- is there any word from the Lord? Jeremiah 37:17 or the question of Romans 4:3. "What does the scripture say?" Remember, Jesus said "You shall know the truth and the truth will make you free."‘Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No man can come to the Father except by Him.’Are you a Christian? Have you obeyed Jesus Christ? Are you a member of the Lord's church? If not, we're begging you to become one today. Hear the message about Jesus, Romans 10:17. Believe and make that commitment that He is the Savior of the world, Acts 8:37-39. Confess the Lord as your Savior, Romans 10:10. As the Bible teaches, "Repent of things in your life that are not right," Luke 13:3. Do what Jesus said to be saved. "He that believes and is baptized will be saved. He that does not believe shall be condemned."We hope and pray today that you'll obey the gospel and follow Jesus who truly is the light of the world.Study Questions for:John: Lesson 41. According to John 8:32, what will make you free?2. In John 7:15, what surprised them about Jesus?3. According to John 1:1, who is the word?4. What did Jesus use against Satan’s temptation in Matthew chapter 4?5. According to 2 Timothy 2:15, why should we study the scripture?6. In Psalm 119:10-12, why was the word in their heart?7. What does John 7:17 say of someone who wants to do God’s will?8. According to John 7:24 how are we to judge?9. What is said about Jesus in John 7:46?10. According to 2 Corinthians 6:1-2, when is the right time to obey God’s will?