[0:00] We turn our thoughts this evening to words you will find in the chapter we read together. John's Gospel chapter 8, words in verse 36.
[0:13] John's Gospel chapter 8, verse 36. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
[0:30] If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. The liberty that is in Christ Jesus.
[0:48] Now we live in a day when many desire to live as they want to, without discipline or restraint.
[1:08] So tonight I want to take up this subject of liberty. The liberty which is real, of which is true, of which is worthwhile.
[1:24] The liberty which Christ the Lord can give to each one of us. So we ask ourselves the question, what is liberty?
[1:40] Is liberty obedience to oneself? Obedience to a law written in a man's own heart?
[1:56] If I obey myself, and myself is not a right self, it may indeed be liberty.
[2:09] But it is bad liberty. It is a liberty which becomes license. License to do what I like, but not power to do what I ought.
[2:28] And again, if I obey a law outside me, and yet the law within me is opposed to that outer law.
[2:45] The act that I do may be right. I am the only right one. But my obedience to that law is not liberty.
[3:02] It is compulsion. It is bondage. True liberty is when the outer law and the inner law are the same.
[3:18] And both are good. Now Jesus Christ, our Savior, made that agreement possible between the outer law and the inner law by his cross.
[3:48] But the Holy Spirit makes it a fact by his operation in the human heart.
[4:03] Let us ever remind ourselves that self is never liberty because self and God are two principles which must unite before a person can be free.
[4:26] So therefore we conclude that a sinful life can never combine the two. the law the law outside of us and the law within us.
[4:45] But what is it that gives us this liberty? Jesus said he shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
[5:09] In other words he said I can make you free. I can give you this liberty for I am the truth I am the embodiment of truth I am the revealer of truth for I reveal the truth to men about themselves I reveal the truth to men about sin I reveal the truth to men about God the Father I reveal the truth to men about salvation I reveal the truth to men about heaven and glory Now friends we who have justified have been justified through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus it was he who bought this redemption for us and paid dearly for it and therefore being justified through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus we are liberated from the guilt and the dominion of sin so all who are in Christ this night are liberated people set free from sin's guilt and sin's dominion if the Son shall make you free he shall be free indeed here we have a liberty from the past now there may be some here tonight who have a past which fetters them there are things in their lives which they can sketch and look back upon and when they do so it shackles them and so they feel perhaps that as long as those things are there it is no use trying to set about living a better life no future can undo those things which they have committed those things which shackle them now it was for this purpose that Jesus Christ died upon the cross for when he was crucified he cancelled all the guilt and paid all the penalty so that the moment a man or woman really repents of sin and believes in the Lord
[8:52] Jesus Christ and accepts his pardon he is cut off from all his sinful past his past life his past sinful life is placed behind God's back cast into the depths of the sea never to be remembered before God again it is as though it had never been so when this happens to any man or woman he starts a new life a life where the shadows of the past are not to be seen where the fear that he entertained are banished he stands a liberated person so now he can go on in life as Christ free man with a spring in his depth and a joy in his heart going on to better things in the days to come for the God of his fear has been turned into the God of his love and that my friends is the liberty from the past wherewith Christ hath made every believer free it is the purchase of his cross it is the gift of his throne what do you know of this liberty in the past of the guilt of your sins being cancelled and of Christ entering into your heart and into your life giving you new visions giving you new desires making you a new creation in him a free man a free woman in Christ Jesus but it is not only liberty for the past it is also liberty for the present the moment that we receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ into our hearts we are proud and sold we are happy people then we feel and we know that we owe all our happiness to him and therefore we love him and cannot choose but to love him and what we now desire is that our life may please him that we may be enabled to follow him steadfastly that we may become like him and that one day we may dwell with him in glory all the time my friends in our present life there is a power working in us which is a great liberator the power of Christ through his holy spirit breaks the chains for us opens the doors for us emancipates us from the throuledom of this world from a dependence upon this world from the opinions of this world from the smears of this world from the judgments of this world giving to us an independence and a manliness which is our strength so that we know no bonds but his and his bond is a bond of love for who shall separate us from the love of Christ there is nothing in heaven or on earth or in hell again we see that which we are privileged to enjoy now we can go into the presence of God our Father we can't consult him in every difficult situation we can't confess to him all our evil thoughts and no but there is forgiveness with him there and there so we have a free access to the mercy seat of our
[15:35] God we have free admittance into the court of the King of Kings and all the promises of our God are our promises friends what a liberty this is indeed what my friends can be compared to it what is all that this earth can give by the side of that blessed feeling which the Christian has that he is a liberated Christian and that the Son of God his Saviour has set him free from the proudom of this world from the guilt and the dominion of sin this is the present liberty where with
[16:39] Christ hath made his people free this is the present liberty which Jesus Christ is offering to every sinner here tonight what do you know of this present liberty what do you know of being able to go freely into the courts of the king of kings to have access to the message of our father in heaven and to place before him all your difficulties and all your problems and even all your sins and all that he will forgive that he will help that he will answer that he will do for you all that you need and all that you require this is the liberty for with
[17:39] Christ can make us free and when we have this liberty we are free indeed and what about the future what does the future hold for those who are free men in Christ Jesus it is my friends a vista running up to glory oh we know perfectly well that there are dark places that there are difficulties that there are afflictions that there are trials that there are testing times that there are temptations on the way but when they come when all of them come and each of them come in their own time they will bring their own way of escape for the
[19:00] Lord has promised them so that our future be what it may is all covenanted the Lord Jesus Christ will be with us has he not told us that we should not be anxious regarding the future and can we doubt his word he has undertaken for us in everything he said I will I will never leave thee I will never forsafe thee no I am with you always even unto the end of the world yes friends he will be by our side all the way he will lighten our path for us he will give us strength to endure unto the end and when we come to die it will be a very little thing for the grave which could not hold our savior will not be able to hold those who have been set free by him we pass through this world and the door into the eternal world will be opened to us when abundant entrance is promised to those whom Christ hath set free there will be light at the river for us all will be safe for each of us what a liberty this is the past is God forever the present safety peace and the assurance of the never failing love of our savior the future sure certain everlasting joy and peace for those whom
[22:28] Christ hath made free what do we know of this liberty in Christ have we been liberated from the past do we have this liberty for the present and as far as the future is concerned we know that if we are being set free from our sins of the past and of the promise of the presence of Christ with us now the future is for us all pleasant all assured for he who hath taken us out of the horrible pit and set us free will be with us not only to the end of our night but will take us safely through the valley of the shari into the everlasting peace of God in the land of glory and of bliss what do you know of this liberty let each one of us seek after the only true and worthwhile liberty that liberty which is not licensed to do what we like but a power to do what we ought the promise of God's word is for us ye shall receive power from on high the power of the
[24:46] Holy Spirit within us for where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty if therefore the son shall make you free ye shall be free indeed may he enable us each one to say with Christ the Lord I die to sin with him to life I rise to life which now begun on earth is perfect in the skies too long and proud to Satan sway I now am a slave no more for
[25:47] Christ hath right wish death and sin my freedom to restore the liberty wherewith Christ can make us free may all become free men and free women in Christ Jesus our God let us pray all are we thank thee for thy word we thank thee for the promise of thy word that if we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved we shall be set free we shall no longer be in bondage to sin not to sin but have the liberty of the children of God do now grant this experience to each and all of us here this night so that all of us may know what it is to be free from the past free from the present in a guarantee of eternal security with thyself in glory do thou
[27:33] God forgive the imperfections of our worship this night and go before us and guide us by thy good spirit so that we may walk in the way of liberty we ask it in the name of Jesus and for his sake amen