But if you have your Bibles, go ahead and reach down and grab them. And let's open them up to the gospel according to John chapter 8. John chapter 8. We've been working through John for a good while now. And this morning we'll be looking specifically at chapter 8 verses 31 through 36. John 8 verses 31 through 36. through 36. This is the word of the Lord. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed him, if you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, we are Abraham's descendants and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say you will be made free? Jesus answered them, most assuredly I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore, if the son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. Let's bow our heads and pray. God, we thank you for this wonderful word. We thank you for your patience with us as we fumble through this life, it seems sometimes, and continue to ask you questions yet again. Lord, we don't understand. What do you mean? Just like these Jews here, thank you that you are patient to explain your glorious plan of salvation. Thank you, Lord, that you are faithful to provide freedom for us. in you, in Christ, that we do not have to be bound by the chains of our sins, that we do not have to die in our sins, but that we can be freed into the glorious light of Jesus Christ. God, I pray for everyone who will be listening to this sermon today. God, I pray that you would pierce their hearts. Lord, that your word would go straight into them and would just rejuvenate them if they are your children and renew them in strength and faith and vigor. God, and if there's anyone that is not Your child by faith, I pray that Your Word would quicken them, even this day, Lord, that You would give them that new heart and give them freedom from the bondage of sin. God, I pray that as I preach, Lord, I would speak only that which is true. God, that if I begin to go off in a strange or false way, that You would redirect my mind, that You would redirect my mouth. If something's written in my notes that's not right, God, I pray that You would give me, in this moment, great freedom to preach Your glorious truth. God, we just pray for your blessing to fall upon us now. We pray for a double portion of your spirit to come upon us in this place. In Christ's name, amen. You may be seated. In the gospel of John, especially, Believing in Jesus is equated with being saved by Jesus. And our text today opens with Jesus talking to a group of Jews who believed him. So this sounds perhaps like these Jews in particular have truly trusted in Christ for salvation. But the more we read in this conversation, both in our text today and then in the remainder of John 8, it becomes pretty clear that these men here do not have true saving faith, or at least most of them don't. They believe Christ's words in a sense, but that belief doesn't go into their hearts and it doesn't change them. Our Lord had just been warning these men about the danger of dying in their sins. He was saying these shocking and amazing and hard to understand things like, you are of this world, but I'm not of this world. And if you do not believe in me, you'll die in your sins and you'll not be able to go where I'm going. And as he's saying all this, the Jews, they say, who are you? Who could say such powerful things as this? And Jesus basically responds by saying to them, who am I? I've been telling you the answer to that question for a long time. And even though you don't understand at the moment, when you crucify me, then you will know that I am. This is yet another reference in John's gospel to the divinity of Christ. A lot of English translations will render John 8.28 like this, right before our text today. When you lift up the Son of Man, that's a picture of crucifixion being lifted up. When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He. But the Greek text simply just says, then you will know that I am. It's a clear reference to Yahweh, as we've talked about before. Jesus is saying, I am the Son of Man. I am the Son of God. In fact, I am God Himself. And then in John 8 and verse 30, we read that Christ spoke these words and many believed in Him. But we've read about instances like this before in this gospel, where people are said to believe in Jesus, but as it turns out, their belief is superficial. It's only skin deep. They may give some mental assent to the doctrine that Jesus preaches, but there is no heart religion. The clearest instance we have of this sad reality is at the end of John chapter 2. John 2 verses 23 through 25 say this, Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself to them, because he knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for he knew what was in man. They're saying, I believe in you. He's saying, I don't believe in you though, because I can see in your heart and it's not changed. I think we've got a similar situation happening here in John chapter eight. We see men hearing the truth of Christ and accepting it here, but not here. These men are still slaves. The offer of sonship is held out to them in Jesus Christ. They are hearing the free offer of the gospel. And at first they say, well, I think I like the sound of that. but they're still sitting under the crushing weight of their sins. Jesus is speaking to those who are professing faith in him, are part of his covenant people, but do not truly know him as Lord and Savior. So for the structure of our sermon today, I want us to ask and answer two questions. First, what is the nature and detriment of this slavery? Or to put it an easier way would be, what is this slavery to sin like? What is this slavery to sin like? And then second question, and the second question is really two questions. I'm sneaking another one in here. How can we be freed from this slavery? And what is this freedom like? How can we be freed from this slavery? And what is this freedom like? So we'll start with question one. What is this slavery like? So Jesus had just told this confused crowd who he is. And he said, even though you're confused now, you're gonna understand one day. When you crucify me, then you'll know that I am the Lord of heaven and earth. And a bunch of people are saying, no, we believe in you now, Jesus. And he responds to them by saying, if you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. And then this group that was beginning to be excited about Jesus that had already said, no, we believe in you right now. They say, hang on, what? What are you saying? What do you mean we'll be made free? Seems like you're implying we're not free already. Don't you know who our father is? We're Abraham's descendants. We've never been in bondage to anyone. Jesus, I like your message, but I think you're confused about this point. Well, first of all, before we go any further, just look at how delusional the Jews are here. We've never been in bondage to anyone. The whole history of the Jews, both in the Bible, even down through the present age, is riddled with bondage. They were slaves in Egypt for 400 years. 400 years. Then there was the exile to Babylon. There was the tyranny of Persia. At the time of them saying these words, they only enjoyed a limited freedom because they had Roman overlords. But they think that because they're descended from Abraham, they've somehow never been in bondage. It's very strange. Obviously, these Jews could not have forgotten about the oppression of Pharaoh and God's amazing deliverance of their fathers through the Red Sea. Their parents had soaked them in that story growing up. They had celebrated the Passover every year, being reminded of this wonderful deliverance. Or perhaps it's possible they mean something closer to what Jesus is actually talking about. Not physical bondage, but maybe they mean, we've never been in spiritual bondage to anyone, and we know you're talking about something spiritual, so why are you saying we're in bondage? Maybe these Jews think that because they have been born to Abraham, they are automatically sons of God. Not mere slaves. We're the chosen people, they think. We are in covenant with Yahweh. We're heirs of the kingdom. All that's true. And they think we've always been free before the Lord. Puritan pastor Matthew Henry notes this on the attitude of these Jews. He writes, it is common for a sinking, decaying family to boast of the glory and dignity of its ancestors. and to borrow honor from that name to which they repay disgrace. So the Jews here did. It's like an arrogant young man smugly saying, don't you know who my father is? Or maybe I didn't say it clearly enough. Don't you recognize my last name? All while he's giving disgrace to the history of his ancestors. That's kind of what's going on here. And we'll see next week that Jesus will answer this question very clearly. Don't you know who my father is? Jesus will say, of course I know who your father is. He's the devil. He says that in John 8. The Jews are making a serious error here. They think that because they are descended from Abraham, that makes them Abraham's true children. But Christ will say elsewhere, do not think to say to yourselves that you have Abraham as your father, for I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. And as Paul would go on to say in Galatians, Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Therefore know that those who are of faith are the sons of Abraham. In other words, if you don't have the faith of Abraham, don't kid yourselves into thinking you are his children. This is important word for the church today. If you were born into the covenant people of God, then you came into this world, Christian child listening to me now, if you were born into the covenant people of God, you came into this world with the deed to the kingdom of heaven as part of your inheritance. The Bible says the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the law, the service of God, the promises, all these things are laid out before you, freely offered to you. But if you do not lay hold to them by faith, then they'll only stand ready to witness against you on the last day. If you do not trust Christ in your heart, then being born into the household of Abraham won't be of any value to you. Because at the end of the day, no matter how long you abided in Abraham's house, you'll be regarded as a slave and not as a true born son and a disobedient and wicked slave at that. So that leads us into one of our main questions for today. What is this slavery that Jesus is talking about here like? Let's read verses 33 and 34 again. The Jews answered him, we are Abraham's descendants and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say you will be made free? Jesus answered them, most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. So while it's not entirely clear what the Jews mean when they say they've never been in bondage to anyone, do they mean physical slavery and they're just lying or confused? Do they mean spiritual slavery? While it's not clear what they are saying here, it is crystal clear what Jesus is talking about. Christ says, most assuredly, or as the King James says, verily, verily, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave is someone who is completely under the authority of another. If you are a slave, you don't get to pick and choose what you do or when or how you do it. You have a master, and your master can control your life. Now, you can have a good master who loves you and wants what is best for you. That's a very countercultural message for today, but a slave can have a good master And we know that without a shadow of a doubt because the Bible says that Christians are slaves of God, slaves of Christ, and slaves of righteousness. And God, Christ, and righteousness are good masters. Jesus does put a yoke on us, but His yoke is easy. His burden is light. He is a master that dies for His slaves. Who's ever heard of a master like that? He is a master who gets down on his knees and serves his slaves, that washes his slaves' feet. He gives us good things to do, not difficult, crazy, onerous tasks to torture us. He gives us happy jobs to perform. He doesn't want us to be poor and downtrodden. He wants his slaves to be rich in him. He even encourages them and tells them how they can lay up eternal treasures in heaven. He promises his slaves pleasures forevermore and gives them every spiritual blessing which is in Christ Jesus in the heavenly places. That's good. But that's not the type of slavery that Jesus says the Jews here are under. No, he says that they are slaves of sin. There is no harsher taskmaster than sin. Think of what God said to that first murderer, Cain. He said, sin is lying in wait for you. It's crouching and lurking at the door and it's desirous for you, but Cain, you must rule over it. Sin wants to master you, Cain. Don't let it because it is a wicked and harsh and unforgiving taskmaster. Sin is the type of master that continually demands more and more bricks and gives you no straw. Sin is never satisfied with the service you render to it. No matter how much of yourself you give over to sin, it always says more, more, more. And though sin promises you wonderful rewards, its wages are always the same. Death, that's the wages of sin. And not only eternal death, the second death in the lake of fire, which should be penalty enough to strike fear in the heart of any sinner, but sin also pays out its wages of death in every aspect of your life here and now. Sin brings the death of joy. the death of vigor and motivation, the death of godly prospects for your life, whether a godly spouse, a career, whatever it might be, whatever your hopes and dreams are, sin can destroy them. And sin, of course, can also hasten your bodily death. Think of the deathly effect brought on our bodies by drugs or by gluttony or by alcohol abuse or by illicit intimacy outside of marriage. No matter how sweet that poison might taste on your lips, it will turn to bitterness and pain and ultimately death when it reaches your stomach. That's sin. Do you want that as your master? Do you want something like that deciding what you do and doling out penalties when you don't meet its rigorous demands? Do you want the thing that will drag you down to hell to also be the one who determines what you do in this life? I think we can all say, no, I don't want that. As a slave, though, you have to obey your master. And Jesus says that he who commits sin is a slave of sin. That's bad news. Now I think we need to ask here, okay, but what does Jesus mean when he says that whoever commits sin is a slave of sin? Because if what he means is that anyone who ever sins is a slave of sin, then that would mean every single human being in existence, apart from Christ Himself, would be a slave of sin. There would be no Christians. There would be no true children of Abraham. There would, in fact, not even be an Abraham as the father of our faith. There would be no godly, righteous men of whom the world was not worthy. But the Bible is clear that there will be many people who will be freed from sin. There will be many people who will be slaves of righteousness. There'll be many people in this life and in the next that will be regarded as holy. So how do all these things fit together? What Jesus means here, and this is the consistent message of the Bible, what he means here in John 8, verse 34, is that anyone who makes a practice of sinning is a slave of sin. Anyone who prefers sin to holiness, whoever enters into league with sin, the one who has no heart desire to repent of his sin, who when he is not actively committing his treasured sins is thinking of when and how he will get the opportunity to commit them again. Anyone that makes a trade or a custom or a business of sin, that man, Jesus says, he's a slave of sin. And anyone who has not been given a new heart in Christ is in league with sin in all those ways, whether they realize it or not. Everyone who has not been redeemed by Jesus is the slave of sin. It doesn't matter who your parents are. It does not matter what your last name is. It does not matter if you have been baptized. It does not matter if you look like the picture of morality on the outside. If you commit sin in this way, Jesus says, you are a slave to it. That is bad, bad news. But Jesus is kind and he is merciful. He does not only give out bad news. He's not a doomsday prophet with no good message. Both at the beginning of our text and at the end of our text, Jesus gives good news. He tells the Jews exactly how to escape from this terrible taskmaster. The Bible says, if you are a slave and you see an opportunity for your freedom, take it. Take that opportunity. And here Christ says, there's a guaranteed promise of freedom from the worst slave master ever. Not just a theoretical opportunity, not something you have to work for, not something you have to try and maybe you'll get free. No, Jesus says, here is a guarantee of freedom I am offering to you today. And that brings us to our second question. How can we be freed from this slavery? And what is this freedom really like? In John 8 verses 31 and 32, our Lord says, if you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. And then in verse 36, again, he says, therefore, if the son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. Our slavery is the worst type of slavery imaginable. Our slave master is mightier than we could ever think of, and he is jealous for us. So we might reasonably ask, how could we ever be freed from this type of slavery? And who is it that could be more powerful than our enslaver? And the answer to both those questions is the same, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the answer. He is our freedom. He is our redeemer. He is our liberator. Think of that hymn we sing sometimes, guide me, O thou great Jehovah. In that song, we say this to God, Lord, I trust thy mighty power, wondrous are thy works of old. Thou deliverest thine from thralldom, who for naught themselves had sold. Thou didst conquer, thou didst conquer, sin and Satan and the grave, sin and Satan and the grave. Especially for the children here in our church, have you ever sang that song and wondered Now what does thou deliverest thine from thralldom mean? We don't go around using that phrase in our everyday speech. It's okay if you have that question. That's why God gave you parents. That's why God gave you a pastor. That's why God gave you all these wonderful resources to help guide you through these questions. In fact, if the songs you sing make you ask questions and lead you to think well about Jesus and his work, that is a good thing. Don't ever think, oh, this Christianity must not be for me because I don't understand. No, no, no, no, no. No, God wants you to ask those questions and pursue Him and learn about Him. Well, in case you're wondering, thraldom is just an old word for slavery. It's just a old fashioned word for slavery. And this hymn reminds us that we sold ourselves into sin and we didn't even get anything in the bargain. We just said, sure, I'll make myself a slave to sin, that sounds good. And it also reminds us that Jesus Christ and he alone can deliver us from this slavery. And he can deliver us because he has conquered sin and Satan and the grave. In his perfect, obedient, glorious life, Jesus did what the first Adam failed to do. Jesus is our great representative. Instead, of just giving in to the wiles of the devil. He resisted every temptation of the world, every weakness of the flesh, sinfully speaking, every temptation that Satan offered him, and he showed that sin had no power over him whatsoever. Jesus crushed the head of the serpent by swallowing up every ounce of God's wrath for His children when He died for our sins on the cross. And He defeated death itself by rising from the grave uncorrupted and imperishable. He said, I lay down my life and I take it up, and it's my decision. And now by the virtue of his perfect life, his atoning death, and his victorious resurrection, Jesus has the right and the power to grant freedom from sin and its tyranny to anyone he pleases. You're not strong enough to keep yourself in bondage to sin if Christ wants to free you from it. He is that powerful. And so he makes this free offer. He says, all who call upon the Lord shall be saved. If you know the truth and abide in my word, then you shall be free from this horrible master indeed. It says you have to know the truth. To know the truth is just to know Jesus Christ. Jesus is truth himself. And this isn't just a mere knowing like you would know an interesting bit of trivia or even a knowing like you would know an ordinary friend. But this knowing the truth means knowing the truth of Jesus as presented in the gospel and embracing him as your sovereign master, king, redeemer, God, friend, brother. When a man and a woman get married, They take vows to one another. They vow to love and hold fast to each other no matter what. And although this language that I'm about to tell you is faded from many of our modern wedding vows, it used to be very common for a bride and a groom to take a vow to each other saying that they would forsake all others. Forsaking all others, I'll hold on to you. That's a picture of how we are to know Christ and submit to him as our new and better master. We have to forsake all others. Instead of making a practice of sin, we forsake our sin. Instead of submitting again to that old master, we forsake him and put ourselves wholly and completely and irrevocably in the hands of a new master. And we abide in him. We live in him. Abiding in Christ means that he and he alone is the one who gives us life. We never look anywhere else for life. And the way we abide in him, Jesus tells us, is by abiding in his word. We hear his word and we believe it. We believe his word. We ground our life and our hope for eternity on his word. We pray his word. We live in light of his word. We strive for obedience to his word. Another way to translate that word abide, as it comes up in verse 31, if you abide in my word, you're my disciples indeed, would be to use the word continue. If you continue in my word, then you are my disciples indeed. It's like something my dad used to tell me, he said in a race, because I would always ask him, why do we have to watch this? He was a big NASCAR fan. I'd say, you know, it's only the last lap that matters. He said, well, yeah, the last lap is the most important, but you have to get to the last lap. You have to continue. You can't just start out strong or start out in this, just teleport yourself to the finish. You have to continue in the race. You have to continue in Christ's Word if you are to be his disciple. It's a relatively easy thing to sit under a sermon and believe what a preacher is saying and tell Christ that you trust him as Lord. It's relatively easy after making a decision like that to go home and open up your Bibles and read a chapter. But to continue in faith, to continue believing, even when things don't go your way, to continue trusting in Christ when he takes away the people and the things you love most, to continue trusting his word when it says things you don't understand and you don't like. That is impossible without a new heart. And so everyone who hears the word and believes it, but has no root of faith within himself will not continue in his word. They'll eventually wither and fade away, giving testimony to the fact that they were never Christ's disciples indeed. One of the great marks of a true disciple is perseverance. God made a promise to his children. You don't begin in grace and then just have to white knuckle it all the way. That's not what I'm saying when I say you have to continue in his word. God made a promise. He said that he who began a good work within us will carry it to completion on the day of Christ Jesus. God's word doesn't say he's the author of our faith. He gives us the ball on the five yard line and we have to run it into the end zone. That's not the picture of salvation at all. God's word says that Christ is both the author and the finisher of our faith. So we run in his strength and we finish that race. So if someone trusts in Christ in their head alone, the every 10 years we have a census coming around and someone checks the box Christian on the census, or maybe it's even more than in their head alone. Maybe they get wrapped up in some emotional experience at a church or a campus ministry or whatever it may be, but then they fade away from Christ and his church. Then it most likely means that it was not Jesus who began a good work in them at all. It was not Jesus who was the author of their faith because what Jesus starts, he always finishes. It was just a deception, a deception by themselves and maybe by a preacher or a Christian speaker too. Everyone who is given a new heart by Christ will persevere until the end. They will abide in Jesus and his word. John 8 in verse 35 tells us that there will be slaves who are in the house of Christ for a short time, but a son abides forever. Abraham had more than one child, if you remember. Ishmael was Abraham's son by descent. He was the first child to receive the covenant sign, but he wasn't Abraham's son by faith. And so he was cast out like a common slave. So don't say you are Abraham's sons unless you have the faith of Abraham. But if you do have the faith of Abraham, then claim it. Don't have that false humility that won't assert your assurance of salvation. If you have Christ in your heart, then claim him as your own and live in light of this truth. Don't think, well, I'm trying to live the Christian life. No, you're living the Christian life if Jesus is in your heart. If you are Christ's child, then you are not just free in some vague sense. You are free indeed. You don't have to submit to that awful old slave master ever again. When temptation comes, and it will come, it's not like you get saved and everything becomes easy. In fact, temptation sometimes to Christians comes stronger and more powerfully than it does to the unbeliever. Satan's already got the unbeliever in his domain. He doesn't have to work so hard for them. But when temptation comes, you remind sin, you have a new master now. Sin doesn't have any authority in your life. Satan may even try to make you doubt that you are really Christ's son or daughter by reminding you of all the sins you still commit. But you can just shout right back like Christian did to Apollyon in Pilgrim's Progress. Apollyon was trying to make Christian doubt that he really had a new master. So he starts listing all the ways that Christian's life didn't line up with his confession of faith. And he lists sin after sin that Christian committed, which made him look like he's still under that old bondage, like he's continuing in sin. And after this little speech, Christian says, all this is true and much more that you have left out. Basically saying, I've committed more sins than you even realize. But the king whom I serve and honor is merciful and ready to forgive. Besides, I acquired these infirmities in your country, Apollyon, and I have groaned under them, been sorry for them, and have obtained pardon from my king. Christian said, I don't want to continue in those sins. I'm putting them to death every day. And yes, I fall a thousand times, but Christ keeps lifting me up. Your assurance of salvation comes first and foremost from the word of Christ, not primarily from how obedient your life is. Though obedience is enormously important. We see that very clearly here in John 8. Not continuing in sin is a mark of being saved. The Christian life must be lived out obediently day by day. But first and foremost, you base your assurance that you are forgiven on God's word. It is our only inerrant, infallible authority. Your life is not an inerrant, infallible authority. Your feelings are not an inerrant, infallible authority. They will deceive you time and time again. The word of God is inerrant and infallible. It will never deceive you. You base your assurance on God's Word. And you don't say, I have Abraham as my father, I'm baptized, I'm a child of the church. No, you say, I know who my Savior is and I believe Him and love Him and want to obey Him more than anyone or anything else. And then you go and work out that salvation with fear and trembling, knowing who it is that is at work within you, the Spirit of God, who works to will and to, who enables you to will and to work according to his good pleasure. When you were in Christ, you were freed from the guilt of your sin. That means you won't go to hell. God has no wrath left for you. He loves you as a perfect father loves his son. And you're also freed from the power of your sin. You will never be perfect in this life. You will never be sinless, but you will, through the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, be able to resist sin and the devil. And one day in the next life, you will finally be completely freed from that old man dwelling in you, that man of sin, and you will never sin again in the new heavens and new earth. And all glory goes to God for this freedom. Rock of ages cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from thy riven side which flowed be of sin the double cure. Save me from its guilt and power. The guilt is gone and that powerful stranglehold on your heart and your actions is gone as well. Think of the words of Psalm 23 with me. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in paths of righteousness for his namesake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. By rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That is the song of someone who has been made free indeed in Christ Jesus. Slaves don't get to sit down and relax in the pasture or take nice strolls by the water. Slaves don't get banquets prepared for them by their masters so they can dine leisurely while he dispatches their enemies with ease. And slaves, Jesus tells us here in John 8, do not get to dwell in the house of the Lord forever, but sons do. And Christ offers sonship to all who would know and believe and submit to the truth that He is the risen Lord and Savior. That doesn't just mean you have to be a man either, in case there's any confusion there. No, Christ offers sonship to you ladies as well. In the ancient world, A young lady would not get any inheritance from her father. But Christ says that in him, you get the same inheritance as if you were a firstborn son. Sonship for all those who put their hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not think that having a godly lineage will save you. Only Christ can save you. But do not doubt that he is willing and able to save to the uttermost. So many people today do not want to be offered freedom, just like these Jews. Someone offers them freedom and they think, well, why would you do that? It's been said before that it is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere. Many people revere the chains of their sin. They like the chains that sin puts on them. Pet sins that they don't want to let go of. They have Stockholm syndrome with their sins, where they start to love their captor and wanna protect their captor. But I would say it's probably even harder to free fools from the chains that they don't believe exist. And that's the situation that these Jews are in at the end of the day. They don't think they're in bondage. So Jesus says, well, if you're making a continual practice of sin, that's a dead giveaway that you are a slave. But I am here to free you. That's what I came to do. Don't love your sins. And don't pretend you don't have any sins. Instead, take Christ humbly and take him at his word. Confess your sins to him, knowing that he is faithful and he is just to forgive you from your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. It doesn't matter how far you've gone. It doesn't matter what you've done. Christ is stronger than you. He can overcome the terrible past that you might've built up. He can overcome the besetting sins that you still struggle with, even being in covenant with God to this day. He can give you freedom and then live in that glorious freedom of Jesus Christ. He is a better master than you could ever dream of. Slavery to Christ, hear this, is far greater freedom than anything else in the entirety of the world. Slavery to Christ is the truest freedom. No matter how long you've been walking with Christ, or whether you've not trusted in Christ in your heart at all, embrace this liberating truth today, and the truth will make you free. Let's bow our heads and pray to our master. God, we thank you that you are a loving Savior. We thank you that you come to us in our sins. God, we thank you that your word says that you died for the ungodly. Scarcely will a man die for anyone else, but maybe for a good man, one would even dare to die. But you show your love for us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Thank you for that wonderful truth. God, I thank you for saving us from our sins. And Lord, I pray that all of us here in this room, maybe even we've been walking with you for decades, but God, if there is any besetting sin upon us, that we know your word says we're freed from the power of sin, but we don't feel it in our life, that we keep like a dog returning to its own vomit, we keep going back to that same sin. I pray even today, you would give us the power of release. Lord, I pray that we would not return to those same wicked sins. I pray that you would create within us a clean heart and renew a right spirit within us, Lord. God, I pray that the bones which are broken within us would be mended together and would leap for joy and rejoice that you are the great liberator, the great emancipator of our souls. God, we thank you for your wonderful word of promise and for the powerful working of your spirit in our lives. And we ask your continued blessing on us today. In Christ's name, amen.