Let me pray.
Father God, please send your spirit.
Without your spirit, we are blind.
We cannot see the magnificence of the Lord Jesus.
We cannot see our slavery to sin.
And so send your spirit, have mercy on us,
that we might see his beauty, his glory, his magnificence,
and that we might run to him.
And we ask it for your sake. Amen.
It's time to see what I can do to test the limits and break through.
No right, no wrong, no rules for me.
I'm free.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with those lyrics,
that's because of two reasons.
You don't have young children, and particularly young girls.
And secondly, because you weren't listening to my sermon earlier this year
when I actually used this as an illustration.
But they are the lyrics from, or part of the lyrics,
from the song Let It Go in the Disney movie Frozen.
It's sung by a character who is determined to not be the good girl that society wants her to be.
And instead, she would let go.
She would express what she had been holding back inside.
And she would live for herself and only for herself.
And she declares that the moment that she does that,
there will no longer be any rights or wrongs.
It will just be about her.
And when there's no rights and wrongs, and it's just about her,
then she is truly free.
Now, that's just one example of what is called today total individual freedom.
It's the relative and the dominant worldview of the Western world.
It's what we marinate in in our society day in and day out.
It goes something like this.
What we need is to be free to live life as we see fit.
And to work together to make the world a better and more just place to live.
Religion, however, gets in the way of that.
It constrains our freedom to live as we see fit.
And so what we need to be is seculars, get rid of religion,
and everyone will be totally free.
Now, the modern concept of freedom, according to sociologists,
is the freedom of self-assertion.
And you are ultimately free when you have the absence of all constraints.
Now, even though it is, in fact, ironically, the Christian faith that gave the world the concept of personal individual freedom,
it is seen nowadays in our society as the arch enemy of freedom.
Religion as a whole is seen as the arch enemy of freedom,
but Christianity, particularly in the West.
And as modern people, therefore, we have to ask ourselves,
do you actually have to choose between freedom and faith?
Are they actually opposites to one another?
Is it possible to follow Jesus, to be a Christian,
and to actually be abundantly free at the same time?
Now, I take it, I'm just going to take this for granted,
I won't do a poll on this one.
I take it that everyone in this room wants to be free.
I won't bother even taking a poll on that.
That you want to be free in the fullest and deepest sense.
That is, if the opposite of freedom is bondage and slavery,
no one wants that.
No one wants that.
We all want to be truly free,
and yet this is exactly what Jesus promises us here.
So, the outline in the St. Paul's app,
my first point, constraining freedom.
Verses 31 and 32 in John 8,
Jesus makes a walloping statement
and shows us the difficulty of freedom.
To the Jews who had believed him,
Jesus said,
if you hold to my teaching,
you are really my disciples,
then you will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free.
Verse 32 promises freedom.
But Jesus says in the verse before it,
it's only if you hold to his teaching
that you will get freedom.
That is, to hold to his teaching
is to embrace it,
to obey it,
to live it.
It is so much stronger
than just agreeing with it.
It's so much stronger
than just assenting to it.
Jesus is saying that we can only be free
if,
we accept his constraints.
And that's the exact opposite
of what our society tells us,
of what true freedom is.
Philosophers nowadays talk about
two kinds of freedom.
negative freedom
and positive freedom.
They describe that what is
communicated consistently
through our culture nowadays
is regarded as total negative freedom.
It's freedom
from any barrier
or any constraints
on our choices.
positive freedom
is freedom
for.
That is,
using freedom
to live
in a particular way
for the good
of all.
Not just me.
And so what's described
in society nowadays
is freedom
negative,
total negative freedom.
and total negative freedom
is simplistic
and it's unworkable
because it's never how freedom
actually works.
True freedom
is
accepting
the right constraints
in life.
Not no constraints.
So,
I'll give you an example.
I'm a diabetic.
I'm a type 1 diabetic.
This is not a pager.
This is an insulin pump.
So,
everyone who says,
oh,
I thought pagers were,
you know,
gone now.
No,
no,
it's not a pager.
It's an insulin pump.
I'm not,
you know,
backward in technology
in any way.
So,
when this thing's vibrating,
no one's contacting me
except blood sugar levels.
As a diabetic,
if I chose to exercise
my desires in life
and my freedom
by consuming
whatever I wanted,
chocolate cake,
Tim Tams,
burgers,
Coke,
rice,
yes,
I'm sorry,
it is evil,
rice,
no constraints,
no constraints
whatsoever
because that's how
I exercise my freedom.
I'm free
until I'm not.
Until I'm not
because my body
would be a constraint
on my life
at some point.
My body
will put constraints
on me.
I am not free
to eat
whatever I want
and free
at the same time
to have
toes and feet,
free to have,
to be able to see
the consequences
of a non-compliant
diabetic life
is blindness
and blood circulation
issues
and organs
shut down
and I can't run
and I can't live,
I won't be free
to live
is the bottom line.
So the question is,
what if I,
deepest desire
of my life
is sugar
and also
the other deepest
desire of my life
is actually
to live?
The two great
deepest desires
of my life
are in conflict
with one another
and I have to
choose
which deep
desire of my life
is going
to give me
the most amount
of freedom.
That is,
I have to choose
the liberating
constraint
on my life.
True freedom
is not the absence
of constraints
on my life,
it is choosing
the liberating
constraint
on my life.
It is the
strategic
loss
of some
freedoms
in order
to gain
the more
liberating
constraint.
John Carson,
really,
I'm just quoting
John Carson
here and who
better got to
quote
his commentary
on John 8
where he says,
true freedom
is not the liberty
to do anything
we please
but the liberty
to do what
we ought
and it is
true freedom
because doing
what we
ought
is what
actually
pleases us
or if I was
to put that
in his
commentary,
doing what
we ought
is what
brings us
the most
amount
of joy.
But there
is a barrier
to our
freedom.
In
verses 33
and 34
is my
second point
on the
outline,
Jesus shows
us the
ultimate
barrier to
our freedom.
They
answered him,
we are
Abraham's
descendants
and have
never been
slaves of
anyone.
How can
you say
that we
shall be
set free?
Jesus
replied,
very truly
I tell
you,
everyone
who sins
is a
slave to
sin.
Remarkably
what Jesus
says here
is that
the biggest
barrier
to our
freedom
is inside
of us.
Our
society
tells us
that the
ultimate
barrier to
our freedom
is outside
of us.
institutions,
it's
social
conventions,
it's
inequality,
it's your
family,
it's the
government,
it's romantic
partners,
it's your
job,
it's a
whole range
of things
outside
of you
that are
the barriers
to your
freedom.
It's that
stuff outside
of us that's
getting in the
way of us
fulfilling our
desires and
our freedom
in life.
of course
I'm not
denying that
there are
oppressive
forces in
society and
relationships,
but what
Jesus is
saying here
is the
ultimate
barrier to
true
freedom
is inside,
inside.
In
verses 33
and 34
Jesus is
addressing the
same group
that he's
addressing in
verse 31.
That is,
as we see
in verse 31,
the Jews
who had
believed him.
And what
he wants to
do to this
group of
people that
he's currently
faced with,
he wants to
show them
their biggest
problem.
Their biggest
problem.
And here
it is.
Notice
he does not
say that
this group of
people in
verse 31
believed in
him.
very
specifically
John says
they believed
him.
That is,
what John's
doing here
is he's
putting this
group of
people currently
talking to
Jesus in
the same
category that
he's already
spoken about in
John 6 and
in other places
in John.
Those who
have a fickle
faith.
And here
already we
are seeing
that these
people are
getting ticked
off with
Jesus.
And by the
end of this
section,
as Nolien read
out to us,
they're ready
to kill him.
Their biggest
problem is
what Jesus
says in
verse 34.
They are
slaves.
And unless
the truth
about Jesus,
the gospel
intervenes,
they will
always remain
in slavery.
And they're
completely insulted
by this.
They say,
we are
Abraham's
descendants and
we have
never been
slaves to
anyone.
Now, of
course, up to
this point in
history, in
first century
Palestine,
there's hardly
been a major
power in
the world
that Abraham's
descendants have
not been
servitude to.
Egypt,
Assyria,
Babylon,
Greece,
Syria, and
even in that
moment, while
they're talking
to Jesus,
there's Romans
everywhere.
That is,
it's not like
they missed
the obvious.
They knew
exactly what
Jesus was
talking about.
They knew
that Jesus
was talking
about an
inward
slavery.
And yet,
in this
moment,
they are
blind.
They could
not see
their slavery.
As Abraham's
descendants,
they thought
they were
right with
God.
Now,
God and
us,
we're okay.
We've got
the religious
system,
we've got
sacrifices,
we've got the
temple,
we're good.
And Jesus
says to them,
no, no, no,
you are not
good.
Inwardly,
you are
slaves to
sin.
And
shockingly,
in verse
34,
he takes
the point
even further.
I tell you
the truth,
everyone
who sins
is a
slave
to sin.
everyone.
Everyone
who has
ever
made a
mistake,
everyone
who has
never
lived
perfectly,
that is
just the
surface
issue.
Your faults
on the
outside are
just your
surface
issue.
Deeper
down,
you are
enslaved
to sin,
captivated
by sin.
sin is
a power
in our
hearts,
over our
lives that
make us
do the
bad things.
Sin sets
itself up
against God,
it sets
itself up
against other
people,
and every
person,
according to
Jesus,
is enslaved
to it.
And yet
every person
is blind
to the
deepest
reality
of it.
I remember
talking to
someone not
that long
ago who
said,
yeah,
I'm not
perfect,
but it
didn't
bother
them.
They're
just like,
because I'm
just like
everyone else,
but they're
blind to the
deepest reality
of that sin
and what it
means.
That's the
point of
chapter 9,
which we
didn't read,
but I want
to include,
we cannot
see our
sin,
and we
cannot see
the depth
and the
horror and
the implication
of our
sin,
and therefore
the freedom
that only
Jesus can
give us
from our
sin.
There are
so many
freedoms that
we can make
for ourselves,
particularly
in the
Western
world,
but not
this one,
and for
the most
part in
life,
we go
about our
existence
unaware
that we're
not free.
We are
deeply
enslaved to
sin.
Let me
try and
land this.
It's a
little bit
of a
pun,
really,
but you'll
get there
in a
minute.
Let me
try and
give you
a definition
of freedom.
You are
fully free
when you
have the
desire,
the ability,
the opportunity
to do
what will
leave you
with no
regrets
forever.
The
ability,
the desire,
the ability,
the opportunity
to do what
will leave you
with no
regrets
forever.
We take
that as a
definition of
freedom.
Let me
think about
land this
and talk
about freedom
and parachuting.
You have
always wanted
to experience
the freedom
of parachuting.
You pay
your money
and you
make it to
the airport
to the
plane and
hop on the
plane without
an accident.
Tick that
box,
you have the
freedom of
opportunity.
ability.
You've done
the classes
and you
know how
to parachute.
Tick that
box,
you have the
freedom of
ability.
You're up
in the
plane,
you look
out the
door,
ready to
jump,
tick that
box,
you have the
freedom of
desire.
This has
been,
I just
cannot
wait to
jump out
of this
perfectly
good plane.
You're not
frozen by
fear.
This is the
moment you've
been living
for.
Opportunity,
desire and
ability all
line up and
so you
jump.
And as
you free
fall, you
are enjoying
the exhilaration
of it all.
Yes!
Until the
moment you
discover your
parachute's
defective.
And in
the moment
you discover
your parachute
is defective,
you are
enslaved
to the
forces of
gravity.
You cannot
do anything
about it.
What you
are doing
so happily
and so
free
is going
to kill
you.
You are
enslaved to
destruction.
You are
what you
are unaware
of is
right from
the get
go.
Before you
even set
out to
the airport,
you were
already
enslaved to
destruction.
But you
are unaware
of it.
you
couldn't
see.
You
were
blind to
that
reality.
And it
feels like
freedom right
until you
pull that
ripcord or
the instructor
does it for
you.
And in
that moment
all the
exhilaration,
all the
freedom will
prove to be
an illusion.
In 30
seconds you'll
be dead.
You
will be
dead.
And in
John chapter
8,
Jesus is
trying to
help these
people and
us see
that sin
has enslaved
us.
And that
religion and
the moral
effort and
pursuing
self-assertion
is nothing
more than a
defective
parachute.
only he
can set
us free.
The
Bible tells
us that the
wages of
sin is
death and
unless that
wage is
paid, we
are not
free.
In
John 8,
Jesus doesn't
unpack what
actually that
means, what
sin is, but
the rest of
the Bible
does.
And I just
want to pick
on, there's a
number of
ways that it
describes.
I just want
to mention
two relatively
briefly.
First of
all, sin
is resisting
our creator,
resisting
obeying our
creator.
Deep inside
the human
heart is an
impulse that
resists anyone
telling us how
to live our
lives.
Anyone telling
us how to
live our
lives.
I've never
had to instruct
any of my
children how to
do that, how
to resist
instruction.
Never had to
do that.
My parents
didn't have to
teach me
about it
either.
All sorts
of things
will bring
out that
impulse in
our hearts.
Parents,
the state,
schools,
institutions,
clubs imposing
boundaries and
expectations, but
the ultimate
trigger deep in
our hearts is
God himself.
When God
tells us how
to live,
this is the
difference.
when God,
our creator,
tells us how
to live,
it's like the
owner's manual
instructing us
how to live,
so to speak.
As the
creator, he
designed life
to function a
particular way.
It's the same
way that my
car manufacturer,
I've got this
manual in the
glove box to
how to get the
most out of
your vehicle.
vehicle.
And there's a
heap of warning
instructions of
what not to do
with it.
You know,
don't go beyond
this depth of
water, it's not
a boat, you
know.
It has
instructions on
fuel and
servicings and
warnings of
wrong use.
Go against the
manual and the
design of the
car is a
violation of its
purpose and it
will destroy your
investment and it
could even destroy
you.
If God says
you must not
lie, you must
not steal, you
must not commit
sexual immorality,
you must forgive,
you must be
generous, you
are violating your
own design when
you don't.
Your own soul,
you're violating
your own nature.
You are moving
against yourself.
And it will
always lead to
loss of freedom
every time we
move against
ourselves.
Now I don't
have time to
unpack it here,
but recently I
preached a sermon
called Generous
Forgiveness that
shows how that
might work.
We are made in
the image of a
God who is a
forgiving God.
He calls us to
forgive when we
don't.
It momentarily
feels good not to
forgive.
Let's be
frank.
It does
momentarily feel
good not to
forgive.
It's a power
move.
But lack of
forgiveness means
we hang on to it
until eventually
bitterness grows and
in the end we are
the ones hurting.
Hurting ourselves
as the original
hurt gets played
over and over
and over again in
our hearts and
we hurt ourselves
to the point that
other relationships
in our lives get
hurt as a result
of it.
The impulse of
the human heart
to resist God
is a movement
against our own
nature and it
means that we
are the ones
enslaved.
Another way the
Bible defines sin
is self-centeredness.
That is using
other people to
serve our own
needs first.
That's why the
modern idea of
freedom is so
popular because it
connects with that
desire of
self-centeredness to
use people for
our own sakes.
What that means
is we can either
be free in the
modern sense or
you can be free in
a biblical sense to
love but you
can't do both.
You can't do
both.
You can't be free
and love.
You can't be free
in the modern sense
and love.
Self-centeredness
always destroys
love which is our
ultimate freedom.
There is no
greater liberation
than to feel and
to be loved well.
The affirmation that
comes from love
liberates us from
fears and from
self-doubts.
It frees us from
facing the world
alone.
Our friends,
our partners are
crucial to helping
us navigate the
hard times as
well as achieving
our goals.
But the minute we
get into such a
relationship is the
minute that we must
surrender some
freedoms to
experience the
freedom of love.
You can never
experience the
freedom of love
without relinquishing
your personal
freedom.
That's a concept
that the modern
idea of love
knows nothing
about.
The more you
give up your
independence for
each other, the
deeper the love
will be and the
freer you will
feel.
If we have a
definition of
freedom that is
self-centered and
free from all
constraints, it
will destroy you,
it will destroy
your freedoms
because you
will never feel
loved.
You'll never
know the
freedom of
genuine love.
So who's
going to free
us from this
slavery to
sin?
That's my
next point.
Verses 35 to
36, we saw
the source of
true freedom.
Now a slave
has no permanent
place in the
family, but a
son belongs to
it forever.
So if the
son sets you
free, you'll be
free indeed.
A servant
might get to
live in the
mansion, they
might get to
drive in the
limousine, they
might get to
accompany the
owners on
overseas trips,
and even have a
great relationship
with the boss.
Think of the
good guys in
Downton Abbey,
downstairs,
upstairs, get
on really well,
but they're not
part of the
family.
And it's all
based on good
works.
If you do
your job, you
obey the rules,
you can exist in
that environment,
when you don't,
you're out.
Simple as that.
It's a different
relationship with the
children of the
owner.
One relationship
is based on good
works, the other
relationship is based
on unconditional
love.
So it's crucial
that we understand
that Jesus is not
calling us here to
increasing religious
activity.
Religion in
slaves, only
unconditional love
will set us free.
The only way the
sin in our life
will be dealt
with is if the
son himself
sets slaves
free.
And we see
how he does
that right at
the end of
this conversation.
Verse 58,
very truly
I tell you,
Jesus answered
before Abraham
was born,
I am.
Now, for all
the grammar
people out
there, you
think, oh,
Jesus is, you
know, should
have spent more
time at school.
You know, we
expect him to
say before Abraham
was, I was.
When he says
I am, he was
making a very
clear connection
to the personal
name that God
gives to Moses
at the burning
bush when he
says, who are
you God?
And he just
says, I am
who I am.
Exodus 3.
And Jesus
takes that name
up upon himself
here.
And that's why
they picked up
stones to stone
Jesus immediately.
He is claiming
the divine name
for himself.
I am your
creator.
I am your
God.
I am the
logos, the
logic of the
universe.
And it's an
outrageous
claim.
Jesus here
claims to
be the
all-powerful,
all-present,
unrestricted,
totally free
God.
And how
does he set
us free?
Well, when
they picked up
stones to kill
him for
blasphemy,
that was just
simply a
foreshadow that
they would in
fact kill
him.
and it
will be his
plan to
be killed
in order
to make
us children
of God.
Jesus
Christ,
God the
Son,
giving up
his ultimate
and infinite
freedom,
came into
this creation
with all the
constraints of
human existence
sins, and
eventually
surrendered
himself to
death on
a cross,
and death
so that we,
the slaves,
slaves to
sin, could
have the
freedom of
being children
of God.
for
he was
bound to
a cross
and death
so that we
could be
free and
live.
We also
told in the
gospel that
as he died
for our sin,
the world
was plunged
into darkness.
As he
himself was
plunged into
unimaginable
darkness,
as he was
judged for the
sin of the
world and
all the
despair and
the rejection
that he
felt in
that moment
as he
moved into
death.
And he
did that
so that we
who exist in
the darkness
of sin,
who cannot
see his
glory and
his majesty,
might have
the light
of life.
That we
might see
his beauty,
that we
might see
that he is
the source
of true
freedom and
life forever.
From the
manger to
the cross,
Jesus Christ
gives up
his freedom
bit by
bit to
set us
free
from
slavery to
sin.
And once
we see
that what
he has
done for
us,
it
transforms
us from
a slave to
a child,
from duty
to choice.
this is
the truth
about the
sun that
causes the
blind to
see,
for darkness
to be
extinguished,
death to be
defeated,
eternal life
granted and
freedom
experienced.
lost.
I read the
story recently
of a
tandem
skydiving
incident that
went horribly
wrong.
A man was
on his
first ever
parachuting
jump celebrating
his daughter's
birthday,
absolutely
loving it,
looking forward
to it,
absolutely
loving it,
particularly he
said the
freedom of the
free fall was
just exhilarating
until 12,000
feet and
the instructor
pulled the
rip cord and
it didn't
work and
then the
instructor pulled
the reserve
cord and
it didn't
work and
at 12,000
feet all the
exhilaration went
into enslavery to
gravity in that
moment and
just before they
hit the ground
this young
experienced
skydiver
turned the
parachute
around and
put him
between the
ground and
this dad.
He died and
the dad
lived.
He sacrificed
himself.
If you are
not a
Christian sitting
in this room
or listening to
this online,
open your
eyes,
eyes of your
heart and
realize that
the life you
are living is
enslaving.
You are not
free and you
know you're not
free.
Don't care what
possessions you've
got, you are
not free.
Death awaits
us all, the
final mockery of
everything that
we're built in
our lives.
open your eyes
and see that
only Jesus,
the one who
has died and
risen again,
only he can
set you free.
Understand that
he has absorbed
your punishment.
He has been
enslaved for you
and understand he
did it knowing,
knowing before he
created the world
that the parachute
that he was
taking on was
defective.
He knew it.
He sacrificed his
life for yours
and so I plead
with you,
come to him
today.
Come to him
today.
Take on his
liberating constraints
and be truly
free for the
first time in
your life and
free forever
without any
regrets.
If you're a
Christian in
this room,
online,
it is utter
foolishness for
you to envy
and pursue
not just envy
but to pursue
the so-called
freedom of
those who jump
out of the
airplane of
total negative
freedom and
sin and
revel for an
exhilarating
moment, just
for a moment,
in the free
fall of greed,
the free
fall of fame,
the free
fall of sex,
the free
fall of power,
the free
fall of comfort,
the free
fall of adventure,
the free
fall of security,
blind to sin.
And Jesus
and eternal
death.
How dare we
try to keep
a foot in
both worlds,
thinking that we
get a freedom
from both?
That is the
very definition
of fickle
faith in
John 8 31.
Ascenting to
Jesus and
living as I
choose.
Jesus.
And if you
read through
John chapter
8, Jesus
condemns it.
I call you to
surrender.
I call you to
take your next
step.
Too many want to
believe Jesus but
not fully surrender
to him.
It's the very
definition of
fickle faith.
When we here at
St. Paul's
consistently ask
you, what is
your next step?
Are you taking
your next step?
We are asking
what is the
next liberating
constraint that
you're going to
take on for
your life?
That's what we're
asking.
How are you
going to conform
more and more
to God's
word?
Back in verse
31 when Jesus
says to these
people, his
disciples are
those who hold
to his teaching.
The word hold
means to abide
in, to
align your
life with
repeatedly
again and
again.
If you are
stuck in a
rut, the
very first
thing I'm
calling you to
do is to
repent.
Repent.
Align yourself
to God's word.
Take God's
word into
your life and
live into how
he has designed
you.
It is taking
on his
liberating
constraints.
And as we
do align
ourselves to
the Logos
himself, our
design, we
are fully
free, fully
free in its
truest sense.
and
you
do by
I
think