The Truth Shall Make You Free
A prayer from the Puritan prayer book says, “Gracious Lord, I see the smile on your face. You have reconciled me and have anointed the shield of faith to strengthen me for every conflict by your grace to conquer every foe. As a floodgate of your tender mercy, quicken me and strengthen me. Strengthen me so I will hold on to you and not let go. Let me walk humbly to do the work to be engaged in. May I never forget that your eye always sees and your ear always hears. That your word is a light unto my path and a lamp unto my feet.”
Sam Parsons who passed away last week reminds us that every relationship in this world will end in pain and sorrow except for one. Jesus said I will never leave you nor forsake you. Although we grieve for believers who have passed away, we grieve not as others who have no hope. We look forward to the coming of our Lord when we shall see him as he is. The joy is in the rejoicing in the hope that we have in our eternal fellowship with our Lord. We can celebrate the memory of those who have gone before us.
In John 8:31-32 Jesus said to the Jews who believed on him, …”If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Those who believed are those who were convinced in their hearts that Jesus was their Lord and Saviour. Most of the people in the crowd were not really his true disciples. Jesus said, If you continue in my word, then are you my true disciples. The Jews recited Deuteronomy 6:4-5 known as the the Sh’ma, the Hebrew word for hear: Hear O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Those who remain in Him and continue in the truth of the Word of God, then they shall know by experience the truth of the Word of God. Psalm 1 reminds us that blessed is the man who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
We’re encouraged to commit our minds and hearts to meditate upon the Word of God. For all scripture is God-breathed and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, and correction, for instruction in righteousness. The purpose is that the man of God may be furnished, throughly furnished unto all good works. When we live according to the word of God, then we are fully equipped unto the works to which he’s called us.
When the world cheats, slanders, and humiliates us, are we furnished and equipped to be about our Father’s business? The word of God and prayer is our defense and offense in the spiritual battle.
Pete wrote down all of his physical ailments including sleep apnea, a heart murmur, and back pain. God told him, “these things are your friends. For my strength is made perfect in thy weakness, my grace is sufficient for thee.” In Romans 5, Winning the battle means that tribulation worketh patience and patience experience hope and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us.
We live in an upside down culture where the world calls good evil and evil good. The devil is the accuser and Satan is the deceiver. Jesus said, ye are of God little children and have overcome them because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
Jesus turned his world upside down. The religious leaders of his day had made up a series of laws that no one could follow. Romans 8 says, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ has made us free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit.
Jesus asked the crowd, “why do you call me Lord and yet do not do the things that I say?” Jesus said, “If you continue in my word then you are my disciples indeed.” Followers of Christ are those who do the master’s will. Doing the will of the Lord goes way beyond sin management. The Greek word for sin is “hamartia.” It literally means “to miss the mark.” However, the emphasis is not on the missing but rather on the mark itself. The way to keep from sinning is to press toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Jesus said, If you’re compelled by law to carry a Roman soldiers’ burden one mile, then gladly carry his burden one more mile. The first mile is motivated by obligation to Roman law but the second mile is motivated by love. According to Galatians 5, the freedom that we have in Christ is not a license to sin, but to serve one another in love.
When the people asked Jesus about his plan, he pointed to Peter a lowly fisherman and Matthew a despised tax collector and said, “those guys, they are the plan.” We who were dead in trespasses and sins are God’s plan. Jesus said, the works that I do shall they do also and greater world shall they do because I go unto my father. The greater work is to lead others to salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. For he who was without sin became the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.
We have a moment by moment decision to walk in fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ. A disciple is a disciplined follower. Oswald Chambers said that if God has to break your heart to teach us what is really important, then thank him for breaking our hearts. He’ll pick up the threads of our broken hearts and weave them together again. In the doing of the Word, then we shall know the truth by experience and the truth shall make us free. Jesus came to heal the broken hearted and to set the captives free. Galatians 5 says, Stand fast therefore in the Liberty wherewith Christ has made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Only use not Liberty as a license to sin, but in love serve one another. Our freedom is to serve Him by serving others from a heart of love.
May we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael