Sermon Tone Analysis

“Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’

They answered him, ‘We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone.

How is it that you say, “You will become free”?’

“Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.

The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever.

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.

I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.’

“They answered him, ‘Abraham is our father.’

Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing what Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.

This is not what Abraham did.

You are doing what your father did.’

They said to him, ‘We were not born of sexual immorality.

We have one Father—even God.’” [1]

We are currently engaged in studies designed to present an apologia for our faith and practise as evangelical Christians, and especially as Baptists.

Baptists are not an historic anomaly in Christendom; rather as founding members of the Christian community, Baptists have sought unceasingly to adhere as closely as possible to the doctrine of the Apostles.

As Christians, Baptists are orthodox in doctrine and evangelical in practise.

As Baptists, we are committed to being thoroughly biblical in expressing our Faith.

Above all else, we make every effort to hold to the apostolic teaching delivered in the Word of God.

As Christians, we confess that Jesus Christ is truly God in human flesh; that He died a sacrificial death; that He was buried and that He rose bodily from the tomb.

We confess that He ascended into Heaven, and that by faith in Him, and by faith alone, all who believe are forgiven all sin and delivered from judgement.

The foundation for these beliefs is the Word of God, which we receive as authoritative and accurate in all details.

As evangelicals, we hold and teach that we must be saved through faith in the Risen Son of God.

We believe that we who have faith in Christ are responsible to live a holy life, honouring God in the choices we make and in our manner of life.

We believe that man is sinful in every facet of his being, but that God redeems us to His glory and for our good.

We believe that all who trust the Lord receive His Holy Spirit and are thereafter disciplined for His purposes.

We hold that we are responsible to unite in congregations where we may worship Christ, teach the truths of the Word of God, evangelise the lost and build one another through exercise of the spiritual gifts entrusted to each of us as Christians.

We also believe in the resurrection of the redeemed and the lost—the saved being raised to life and the lost facing the resurrection of damnation.

As Baptists, in addition to holding to positions defined by orthodoxy and evangelicalism, we also hold to the historic distinctives that have defined us as Baptists.

Included among the Baptist distinctives are the authority of God’s Word for faith and practise, the autonomy of the local congregation and the priesthood of the believer.

We insist that there are only two ordinances—ordinances and not sacraments—that have been entrusted to the churches of our Lord—baptism and the Lord’s Table.

As Baptists, we avow and defend individual soul liberty, endeavour to maintain the principle of a saved, baptised church membership, and hold to two offices, elders and deacons, among the churches.

We also believe that the Word of God teaches a separation of church and state.

These convictions shape who we are and they determine our faith and practise.

Illuminating the principles championed by Baptists is the freedom found in Christ.

I contend that this is a Baptist principle, though I am equally confident that this is sound Christian doctrine.

Freedom in Christ does not mean that whatever I wish to believe about a subject is valid, neither does it mean that my actions are of no consequence; freedom in Christ does mean that the conscience cannot be violated by another mortal.

Freedom in Christ teaches that the conscience must not be coerced, though it does not proscribe pleading with the recalcitrant soul to heed the message of life.

This great blessing of freedom in Christ is firmly grounded in the revelation of Christ Jesus as Lord; it is an integral part of Scripture.

One place in which this principle of freedom is clearly revealed is in the Gospel of John.

John records an exchange between Jesus and people who were following Him.

In fact, the text says that those who were shocked by His words that day were actually people who had “believed in Him.”

Jesus said, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free” [JOHN 8:32].

These words are often found on the seal of colleges and universities, especially if the school was established in an earlier era.

However, Jesus was not speaking here of truth in a philosophical (or absolute) sense, or even in the intellectual sense.

In the context of John’s Gospel, it should be apparent that Jesus was speaking of saving truth—truth about His Person and the Work He was to perform.

The truth of which He spoke is that truth which saves the individual from sin, not that which saves one from the darkness of error.

Though it is true that there is a sense in which Christ saves us from gross error, the truth offered in Him is saving truth, truth that leads to life and freedom.

CHRIST OFFERS FREEDOM — “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

We are informed in the preceding verse that even as Jesus was speaking, “many believed in Him” [JOHN 8:30].

The Jews whom Jesus addressed in our text were also those who had believed in Him.

The very individuals who had believed in Him were the same ones trying to kill Him [VV.

37, 40].

They would also shortly insult Him [V.

41].

Do you find this strange?

I must pause to remind you that it is possible to believe the facts about Jesus and yet fail to believe Him.

It is possible to believe what He says about Himself and fail to believe Him.

This is the reason Jesus begins this exchange with the cautionary warning, “If you abide in my Word, you are truly my disciples.”

The key to being a disciple is to abide—continue—in His Word.

This does not say that one abides in His Word in order to be a disciple; but if one is a disciple, he will abide in His Word.

The believer not only believes the facts concerning Jesus, but the believer believes Jesus.

This truth is made clear in the prologue to John’s Gospel.

In JOHN 1:10-13 we read concerning Jesus that, “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

To believe Christ is to receive Him as the promised Messiah of God.

Believing Jesus is receiving Him as Lord of life.

Those who believed Christ were rightly expected to confirm their belief through continuing in His Word.

Those who continued in His Word would discover the truth, and in His truth, they would find freedom.

There is a fascinating verse in Hosea’s prophecy.

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;

because you have rejected knowledge,

I reject you from being a priest to me.”

[HOSEA 4:6]

The verse is fascinating because it speaks of the consequence of the lack of knowledge.

There is a great difference between intelligence and knowledge.

An individual may be intelligent, but lack knowledge.

Again, an individual may have a great deal of knowledge, but demonstrate a lack of intelligence.

Often we think of intelligent people as wise people.

Such individuals will not necessarily have an advanced degree from some prestigious institution, but they seem to use their minds wisely to apply knowledge or information that they possess.

Such people will succeed in life no matter what deficits with which they seemingly are encumbered.

Alternatively, we are perhaps aware of people who possess knowledge, but who are nevertheless fools.

These individuals may have an earned doctorate and possess great technical skill, but somehow they seem to be unable to connect all the dots.

Their home life is in shambles, they are rude and unpopular, they are inconsiderate or they live a hopeless existence.

Clearly, intelligence and knowledge are two different concepts.

Nevertheless, knowledge can prove to be a great blessing—if it is combined with wisdom.

Among the tomes situated on the shelves of my library are a number of books.

One excellent volume was authored by Arthur Holmes, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Wheaton College.

Holmes writes, “All truth is God's truth wherever it be found.”

[2] However, Holmes does follow up that statement by reminding readers of his book “We do not affirm that everything men take to be true is God's truth.”

It is important for us to understand what he meant by this statement.

Though all truth is God's truth, not every creedal statement or worldview ethic is a representation of that truth.

Christianity alone properly claims to have the fullest revelation of God's self-disclosure.

The measure of a disciple is the ability to hold to the Master’s teaching.

In his Second Letter, John demonstrates this truth.

“Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God.

Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son” [2 JOHN 9].

Disciples are called to believe Christ, but true belief will lead the disciple to submit to Christ as Master.

This relationship between belief and submission to His mastery is revealed in ROMANS 10:9: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

The proper means for a disciple to confess Jesus is through immediate identification with Him.

The identification expected is baptism.