You got your Bibles? Wave them at me, would you? I'd like to see that. Thank God. It's good to have the Word of God this morning. There's some people who say, we don't have it, but I debate with them. I disagree with them. I believe God preserved His Word, amen? And I thank God I have a copy of that Word in front of me today, and it's great to preach from it. If you have your Bibles, turn to John, the Gospel of John, chapter number 8. The Gospel of John chapter number 8, I want to thank those that helped me kind of type some facts that I wanted to give you this morning and help me a little bit so my notes this morning was legible. You know, when you get my age, you can't write very good, and you can't read very good, and I can't even read my own writing these days. Somebody help me preach. John chapter number 8, are you there? Great passage of Scripture. The Bible said in verse number 31, then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, if you can't continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed? Notice these wonderful words. and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Glory to God. They answered him, we be Abraham's seed, and we're never in bondage to any man. How sayest thou, ye shall be made free? Jesus answers him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is a servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house forever. But thank God, but the Son abideth forever. Then he closes with this thought in this little paragraph. If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free Indeed. Would y'all read that with me? Let's read verse 36 together. If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. I am gonna preach this morning on this subject, the liberating power of Jesus. How about, I love that name, Jesus. The liberating power of Jesus. As I said a moment, we're in the 4th of July, or a moment ago, we're in the 4th of July weekend. Tuesday is the 4th of July. And we're celebrating this country and its independence. In the summer of 1776, The Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, and Richard Henry Lee of Virginia stood up and made a resolution that they would draft a document. And then, June 11th, in 1776, they formed a committee, and they drafted a document, and Congress reconvened in July the 1st, and 12 of 13 colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4th in the afternoon, and they got that document we know as the Declaration of Independence, and it was officially adopted, and then here's what happened. Church bells all over Philadelphia sounded when it was adopted. And listen to a couple phrases. I wanna give you a little civics lesson because there's a few people I don't think they know history. I have been challenged this week a little bit by those that have opposing views. And by the way, I wanna say this. Those people that died gave everybody the right to speak. And I honor even people that dissent with me and disagree with me, I honor their liberty to speak. I don't necessarily like what they say. Somebody help me preach. But here's the ignorance. If you oppose somebody today, here's the big argument if you're a Christian. Separation church and state, you're not allowed to speak. Ladies and gentlemen, can I give you a civics lesson? The separation of church and state has nothing to do with our liberty to speak. What it has to do, it wasn't to keep the church out of government. It was to keep the government out of the church. I hope y'all understand that. And good preaching, Reverend. And I'm not preaching, I'm not mentioning that kind of stuff much today, but I do want to say this. I want you to listen to a little bit of the Declaration of Independence, and some of the first words, and some of the last words. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator. Boy, I'm glad they love their Creator. With certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Then these concluding words. And for the support of the declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." And 56 people. 56 American heroes signed the decoration, and most of them paid with their lives, and they lost their fortunes. I wanna say this, and this message is actually not about America, but I'm just, I felt a need to say some of this. I want you to know I love America. I want you to know I love my country. I'm grateful to be an American. I love living in America. I will say this, I don't love everything that's going on in America. Many politicians of our country disappoint me. And I want you to know something, not on just one side. I get a little, listen to me. I want all you to know, I'm not a politician, I ain't getting in politics, it's other devil, most of it. but I want you to know both sides disappoint me. I want you to know another thing, the political correctness and the trend and the mindset of this country, the trends that's going on, the gender problems, the uneducation about sexuality, disgust me. and many decisions of the Supreme Court district me. And the moral decline and the liberals in our churches today, I'll just be honest, they disturb me. But even with all of our flaws, We're living in the greatest country in this world. And you ought to be thankful you're here, and stand up for your country, and thank God for that. But I do thank God for our independence. But here's what I'm preaching today. July 4, 1776, they signed the independence. Do you want to know when my independence day was? January 31st, 1973, God spoke to me through His Word. I fell under Holy Ghost conviction. I got saved by the grace of God, and that was my Independence Day. As we enter this chapter, let me give you four things by way of introduction. This chapter's broke down in four ways. It discusses, first of all, grace and law. Then it discusses verses 1 through 11. Then it discusses light and darkness in verses 12 through 20. Then it discusses life and death in verses 21 through 30. And then in verses 31 through 47, It discusses freedom and bondage. In this chapter, Jesus forgives a woman taken in adultery. Jesus encourages those that were in darkness and told them that he was the light of the world. Jesus said he was gonna die, and if they died in their sins, they would be eternally separated from him. That's what Jesus said in these passages. But I am interested in freedom. I'm interested in the section from verse 31 to 47 when it deals with freedom and bondage. By the way, if you're here at Loss, I want you to look at me. You are in bondage. as locked up as you could be. You are in shackles. You are depraved. You are hell bound. You are without God and without hope and without help. So I'm talking about the liberation of Christ. or real freedom, I'm not gonna tell you, Brother Rick, I'm not gonna tell this congregation that one day they might not take our freedoms away in this country. Because I want you to know, there are voices out there that wanna take them away. There's voices that want to strip everything good from our country. And I'm not gonna tell you that one day they might not succeed. but I'll tell you what this world cannot succeed in and this world cannot do. They cannot take my freedom away in Jesus Christ because I am eternally saved, eternally secure on my way to heaven. I've been saved, I've been called, I've been justified, I've been glorified, I'm on my way. Somebody ought to help me preach right now. So on those three things about freedom and we'll close. In verse 32, and you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. I wanna talk first of all about freedom rejected. See the law of sin and death takes away our freedom. Do you know this morning, that if you're here without Christ, you are bound in sin. You're reserved for judgment. Bible says in verse 34, about us being bound in sin, whosoever committed sin is the servant of sin. You wanna know why, folks? Sin, committed adultery, fornication, and name them if you like. You wanna know why? It's because their nature, is condemned and they were bound the moment they were born. I was shaping an iniquity. And in sin did my mother conceive me. What that means is we're sinners by nature and we're sinners by choice. And when it talks about a servant of sin, it's talking about a continuality or a practicing of sin. Once sin gets a root in you, then you start practicing sin. And the only way to get help, hey, by the way, people say, well, save me from hell. You need to get saved from your sin. And if you get saved from your sin, then you'll get saved from hell. I don't know why in the world people say, well, I want some fire insurance. I want to tell you, I got more than fire insurance when I got saved. Yes, I'm not going to hell, can't go to hell, won't go to hell, but I got joy. I got fullness, I got pleasure. I'm real grateful for what God done for me. My preacher talks about being a slave of sin, in bondage to sin. That's where you are sinner. You're in extreme bondage and you can't get out. The only way out, It's Christ. Their only hope is Christ. Amen. Not only, listen to this, were they bound by sin, they were blinded by sin. Notice verse 33, if you would. Look at that verse. They answered him. Notice what they answered him. We be Abraham's seed. and were never in bondage to any man. How sayest thou, ye shall be made free? They were blind. Somebody help me preach. Now, first of all, I'm gonna correct the record for them people. Their whole life's been bondage. They were delivered from Egyptian bondage. They were delivered from Babylonian bondage. At the time of these words, they were under Roman bondage. But Jesus wasn't talking about physical bondage. He was talking about spiritual bondage. I want you to know something. It would be better for you to be in a country that believed in communism and locked all your freedoms away and still know the freedom in Christ. Instead of living in a free country where you hear the gospel weekly, yet you remain bound and you remain blind. And my preacher, blinded! They were slaves. They were on their way to hell. They were blinded by sin. Let me say this. There is no way that anybody with any common sense would wanna die and go to hell and burn forever unless somebody has got you blind. There's no way you can tell me, I don't believe you could walk up after this service and say, Preacher Smith, I can't wait for the day I burn. How crazy is that? That's not good thinking, is it? Yet every week you're bombarded with the gospel and the sweet love of Jesus and the Holy Ghost convicts you and you say, no, no, I just think I'll stay in bondage. and stay in my sin. You're blind. You forgot what your parents told you about salvation? You forgot what the stories that your mama read to you about salvation? You forgot. Hey, somebody help me preach this morning. Then secondly, I wanna hurry. Somebody say good preaching, please. Then secondly, freedom. Recognize. Thank God for freedom. Verse 32, let's read it again, look at it again, would you church? And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you what? Free. Verse 36, if the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be what? Free indeed. Number one, I want you to notice under this, the life that appropriates truth. He makes you free. The actual Greek word there means to be liberated or set free from bondage. Here's what, just imagine someone getting a pardon in this country and they walk before the judge in shackles. And the judge says, I pardoned him. Unleash your shackles, what joy they must have. I want you to know something, there was a day I've come face to face with Christ, and here's what he literally done. He didn't take physical shackles away, but he took spiritual shackles away. and loosened me from being bound and gave me a freedom that I never knew that thrills my soul even to this day. Thank God I'm free, free, free. He said, and you shall know the truth. and the truth shall set you free. That word, that Greek word for no, it's not just a mental assent. If I ask this question, I'm gonna ask this question. Listen, listen, I want lost people and saved people to answer this. How many people in this room believe Jesus died on the cross, rose, and came out of the grave on the third day, and he's alive today? How many believe that? Raise your hand if you believe it. Sure you believe it. But you know what? I ain't saving nobody. It's more than a minimal sin. You must appropriate it by faith. Not knowledge in the head. There's people that has knowledge of Jesus in their head that's gonna split hell wide open, but it's knowledge in the heart. It's not just truth that provides freedom, but knowledge of the truth that provides freedom. See, those churches filled with people every Sunday that are aware of truth, but they've never appropriated truth. Good preaching, Reverend. See, a lost man comes to know the truth, and the truth will set him free from the penalty of sin. And a saved man can come to the knowledge of truth, and that truth will save him from the power of sin. I want you to know something. On my independence day, I did not depend on any church membership. I did not depend on being baptized, though that's the next step after you're saved. I didn't depend on that I shook the preacher's hand. No, I'll tell you what I depended on. I repented of my sin. I appropriated by faith the Lord Jesus and received him in my heart. And that's why I'm going to heaven. And that's why I'm free. And that's why I'm alive and shouting glory this morning. Whew. Not only appropriates truth, I'm trying to hurry. He celebrates truth. By the way, you're a servant of sin as long as you're in sin. But look at verse 45, it's so wonderful, look at it. And the servant abideth not in the house forever, but the son abideth forever. Now, let me give you a little Bible knowledge here. That verse actually, is a parentheal paragraph or parentheal verse. Go and study this for yourself. It was added in there for this purpose to show you the difference of being a slave and being a son. It's actually parabolic. Go study with me. Look what it says, verse 35, amen. Some of you are looking right now, you say, I never heard that before. Well, not because you didn't hear it before doesn't mean it ain't right. And the servant of God is not in the house forever, but the son of God fought forever. I want you to know something. If you're a servant of sin, you're not gonna abide forever, but you're gonna die and go to hell. But somebody say amen. If you're a son of God. and the heir of God, and a joint heir with Jesus, you are liberated. And before my independence day, I was a slave, but I'm no longer a slave. I'm a son, and if I'm a son, I'm an heir. And if I'm an heir, I'm a joint heir with Jesus. I'm a king's kid. I've been adopted into his family. I was taken from darkness and put into light. I've taken from bondage, put into freedom. Somebody help me, please. Lord have mercy. Man, I'm, number 40, I'm finished. Freedom received. Look at verse 36. If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, You shall be what? Free indeed. I am glad this morning for two facts. Number one, the person that gives me freedom. He's called the son. You believe in the son, you have life. You believe not in the son, you have not life. He that believeth is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already. What I'm preaching this morning, I'm gonna say this. I don't want anybody to get offended by this. This is not talking about what a Baptist is. We're not the only one to have a lock on the gospel. I'll never say that. It's not a Baptist thing. No, no. It's not a Methodist thing. It's not an Episcopalian thing. It's not a Lutheran thing. It's not a Catholic thing. It has nothing to do with religion. but it has all to do with the person of Christ Jesus. Hey, by the way, you can come and be a member this morning. You could walk up here, me not knowing any different, walk up here and say, here's where I've been saved, and I was baptized 75 years ago, and I wanna be a member. And I'll take in on your word. But that don't mean you're saved. That just means Jared Green has added you to our role. Am I preaching? But I'll tell you, if you would come clean with your sin this morning and realize your bondage and blindness and come to Christ and say, Christ, I want you to set me free. I recognize your Lordship. I recognize your power. I recognize your grace. I recognize you're the only one that can save me. Will you save me? And he will. Thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God raised him from the dead, and thou shalt be saved. Then notice this. The power that grants freedom. And he shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Let me give you three things that is explained in this paragraph. Here's the truth. Jesus is the Word of God. Jesus is the Son of God, and Jesus is the truth, not a truth. Real freedom does not come by experiencing a truth. Real freedom comes by experiencing the truth. By the way, I'm gonna say this. Andrew, this is a good thought. You might write this down. I wrote it down from somebody else. All truth is narrow. Did y'all know that? All truth is narrow. Now, let me give you an example. Scientifically, water starts freezing from 32 degrees and under. That's the scientific truth. Mathematical, two plus two equals four. That's the truth of mathematics. Historical, John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln in Ford's Theater. That's all narrow truth that is right. But ladies and gentlemen, I want to tell you that theological truth is also narrow. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Buddha cannot free you. Muhammad can't set you free. Allah never freed anyone. Joseph Smith and the Mormons won't work. The Reverend's son, Young Moon, won't get it done. The only one to get it done is you receiving Christ, and Christ alone. I'll tell you a story, and I'm done. Lois, you come to the piano. You that are getting ready here, as soon as I get done with this story, I want you to come forward when I have heads bowed. This is an amazing story, Jeff. In 1829, there was a man named George Wilson. I don't know if you've ever heard the story. I just heard it this week. His name was George Wilson. He was of Pennsylvania. He was sentenced to be hanged by the US court for robbery and murder. President Andrew Jackson pardoned him. He actually signed the pardon, but Wilson refused to pardon. The courts of our country found itself in a quandary. They didn't know what to do. Should we let him live, or should we put him to death? See, that pardon was on paper, but the value of it depended on his acceptance. So here's what they done. They went out, even though his pardon was signed, sealed, and delivered, they went out the next day after the decree and hung him. And he had a pardon, but he didn't accept it. Your salvation, has been paid for. It's signed, it's sealed, and it's delivered. But you cannot have it unless you receive the pardon through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He paid it all, and all to Him alone. Only way you can get it is by receiving it and accepting the pardon this morning. Heads bowed and eyes closed, will you stand for a moment? Let me ask you in this room, please come now to be baptized, you that's gonna be baptized. With every head bowed and every eye closed, how many of you in this room know that you know that you know you're saved? Raise your hand. Hold them high. Thank you. Not everyone in the room raised their hand. How many in the room right now said, preacher, I know the truth. I know that I believe Jesus died and was buried and rose again, I believe that. Preacher, I know that. But the only way you can be saved is by accepting it and receiving Christ. How many in this room have never received Christ, but you want to? You want to be free. You want to be saved. And you just slip your hand up this morning and say, pray for me. I'm not a Christian, but I want you to pray for me. Just raise them up high. Anybody? God bless that hand, somebody else. Come on, anybody else? Say, preacher, I know the truth. My dad taught me truth, my mama taught me the truth. I've heard the truth. But I'm not saved, preacher, pray for me, raise your hand. I mean, in this room, you're saved, you're on your way to heaven, but it seems sin still has power over you. You're letting yourself fall into bondage. How many Christians in this room got stuff hanging all about you that shouldn't be there, and you'd like to have prayer this morning? Raise your hand. Amen, I see him, I see him, I see him. Y'all come and just talk to God. Our Father, thank you for this morning. Thankful for the... Liberty that's in Christ now bless we pray in Jesus name for his sake amen