John 8:32  "And ye shall know the truth,  and the truth shall make you free."  

Faith alone saves but the faith that saves is not alone. 

IT WILL PRODUCE SOMETHING. 

Once a person has accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour  -  been  born again,  they will desire the sincere milk of the Word of God.

They will have a desire to continue daily in the Word because the Word of God is the Bread of life.

The proof of sure faith, is faith,  that seeketh after God  -  wants to learn more and more about the Lord Jesus  -  who is God.

There are many people in the local churches today who profess salvation.  They are very active in their local church,  in fact they are busy as termites,  yet they have no desire to study the Word of God or to get to know the real Lord Jesus Christ.  

The Lord Jesus Christ is the TRUTH and the TRUTH, (about Him) makes us free.  

THE TRUTH IS,  THAT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST,  IS THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD. 

He is able to deliver us.  

The Word of God teaches us that 

"Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin"   (John 8:34).

Romans 6:16   "Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey,  his servants ye are whom ye obey,  whether of sin unto death,  or of obedience unto righteousness."  

If we continue in a life of sin  -  telling lies continually  -   we are the servants of sin.  

The true child of God repents  -  stops telling perpetual lies,  and comes to God every day and confesses their sin.  

Every person on this earth is the servant of someone or something.  

The one who is our master is the one that we obey.  

If we obey sin, sin is our master.  

We cannot say that Christ Jesus is our Lord and Master and then go on living in sin.  

THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IS NOT OUR MASTER IF WE CONTINUE ON IN SIN DAY AFTER DAY.  

The Lord Jesus Christ brings us into the place of liberty  -   

John 8:36  "If the Son therefore shall make you free,  ye shall be free indeed."  

This means that we are set free to obey God. 

If we continue to live in sin, 

the Lord Jesus tells us that we do not serve Him.   

John 8:34   "Verily,  verily,  I say unto you,  Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin."   

This is where we ask ourselves,  

Is the Lord Jesus Christ really our Master today?  

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS A LIFE  LIVED IN OBEDIENCE TO HIM..

WE ARE OBEDIENT TO HIM BY 

1)  Firstly, by accepting  Him as our personal Saviour.

We believe that He has paid the penalty for our sin on the cross of Calvary  -  that He died in our place. 

2)  Secondly,  we walk in Him and we learn by experience that we have been set free to serve Him  -  we are not to serve the devil  -  do his bidding.

WE ARE FREE FROM THE PENALTY OF OUR SIN  -  NOT THE CONSEQUENCES  -  WHEN WE ARE BORN-AGAIN.  

The Lord Jesus does not even ask us to live the Christian life. 

HE ASKS US TO TRUST HIM AND TO LET HIM LIVE HIS LIFE IN AND THROUGH US.  

Freedom comes when we yield ourselves entirely to Him.  

Our Heavenly Father has given to us the Holy Spirit and He intends for us to live for Him  in the power of the Holy Spirit. 

There are those amongst us today who claim to be the children of God, and yet they are in fact children of the devil.

At one point in the life of the Lord Jesus when He was on earth, He told the Pharisees  

John 8:39-44   "They answered and said unto Him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

But now ye seek to kill Me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.

Ye do the deeds of your father. 

Then said they to Him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of Myself, but He sent me. Why do ye not understand My speech? even because ye cannot hear My Word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. 

He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."

The old saying goes, 

"Like father, like son." 

Although they claim that they are the children of Abraham, The Lord Jesus told them  that if they were truly the children of Abraham, they would act like Abraham. 

Instead they are trying to kill Him. 

So instead of being children of Abraham, they were actually children of the devil. 

Satan is the originator of murder and of lies and they were being his imitators, his children. 

"Ye do the deeds of your father" (John 8:41).

How do we know that God is our Father? 

Apostle John gives us this answer: 

1 John 5:1   "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth Him that begat loveth Him also that is begotten of Him."

These Jews thought they were the children of God when they were actually the children of the Devil.

We find the same idea today. 

The Bible does not teach the universal Fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man. 

Obviously the Lord Jesus did not teach the universal Fatherhood of God because He was saying to these religious rulers that they were children of the Devil. Apparently, there are some people who are not the children of God! 

One becomes a child of God only through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Words of the Lord Jesus antagonized these men. 

Yet the Lord Jesus insisted that His Words are truth. 

He also insisted that none of them could convince Him of sin. 

The Lord Jesus is from God, and anyone who is a child of God will listen to Him.

People to this day do not like to hear that.

People like to think that we are, for the most part, all nice sweet people with a little good in us. 

We like to talk about love. 

But the Word of God makes it clear that if we are willing to stand for the truth, then we are going to have to denounce evil 

just as our Lord Jesus did. 

And that will bring antagonism.

People actually do not like truth.

That is the reason they hated 

our Lord Jesus Christ.

John 8:45   "And because I tell you the truth, ye believe Me not."

Isn’t it interesting that the Lord Jesus can tell people the truth and they will not believe it. 

Instead they got angry.

People will believe the wildest rumors and the biggest lies. Dictators have learned that.

Hitler was very frank about this in his book when he said that if a big lie is told again and again and again, finally the people will believe it. 

Today many people believe the things they read in the papers and the things they hear in the adverts.

God says that His children hear His voice. 

John 8:47   "He that is of God heareth God’s Words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God."

This crowd hated the Lord Jesus so much that they wanted to kill him.

They had murder in their hearts 

But the Lord Jesus had love in His. He was on His way to the cross to die for them. 

They were thinking of death for Him, but He was offering them life. 

"If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death" (John 8:51).

The Lord Jesus is offering them eternal life, spiritual life. 

He is more than a man.

The Lord Jesus put His very life on the line when He asked them if they could convince Him of sin. 

This is one of the great proofs of the deity of Christ.

Not one had a single shred of evidence against Him, they would have used it,  if they had.. 

They had no logical answers for His questions. 

So what did they do? 

They came up with ridicule. 

Listen to the Jews. 

"You’re a Samaritan; you have a demon."

This was pure ridicule.

This satanic fatherhood is not only limited to the Pharisees and the religious rulers.  

It is made clear in

1 John 3:8-10   "He that committeth sin is of the devil,  for the devil sinneth from the beginning.  For this purpose the Son of Man was manifested,  that He might destroy the works of the devil.  Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin:  for His seed remaineth in Him,  and he cannot sin,  because he is born of God.  In this the children of God are manifest,  and the children of the devil:  whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God,  neither ye that loveth not his brother." 

The Lord Jesus Christ delivers us from sin.  

He is the Great Physician. 

Please go to Him even right now,  ask Him to deliver you from the sin in your life that you have not yet confessed before Him.  Tell Him all about the person that you have hurt and ask Him to go before you as you seek to apologize to that person.

GOD IS SO VERY GOOD ALWAYS.  

HE IS SO VERY RICH IN MERCY.

HE WILL RESTORE YOUR SOUL.

HE WILL RESTORE YOUR FELLOWSHIP WITH HIMSELF AND HE WILL RESTORE YOUR FELLOWSHIP WITH YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST.  

The Lord Jesus said,

Matthew 11:28  "Come unto Me,  all ye that labour and are heavy laden, And I will give you rest."

John 14:6    "I  am the way,  the truth and the life;  no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me."

The Lord Jesus is not just a Person who shows the way,  

HE IS THE WAY.  

No church or person or any ceremony can bring us to God.  

Christ alone can bring us to God. 

Christ Jesus is the bureau of standards for truth, the touchstone of truth. 

He is the source,  the origin of life from the lowest vegetable to the highest spiritual life. 

THE ONLY WAY TO GOD IS THROUGH HIM.

I'm the way and the truth and life,
The only way to the Father,
There is no other way to come to God,
As Jesus said.

I'm the way and the truth and life,
The only way to the Father,
There is no other way to come to God,
is what He said.

No one comes to the Father,
unless they come by Me.
There is no other,
Who can bring us back to God.

I'm the way and the truth and life,
The only way to the Father,
There is no other way to come to God.
AMEN.

Have you asked the Lord Jesus to come in to your heart? 

Have you made a decision to serve Him?

How can one be sure that we are in Christ Jesus ?

There are tests which indicate to a trembling but trusting heart that we are indeed children of God. 

God urges us to make the tests so that we may have assurance:

2 Corinthians 13:5   "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?"

Here are some of the tests:

1)  A reality in prayer is an evidence that we are indeed children of God. 

There is a very remarkable statement in this connection made in

1 John 3:19–22  "And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.

As a true child of God approaches the Father, a holy boldness confirms their hearts. 

This is not presumption on the part of the child  -  it is the assurance that God is indeed their heavenly Father  -  Abba Father. 

However any sin or some other impediment (hindrance) may make us hesitant and reluctant to approach the Father. 

God does not hear us because of our reluctance but because of Christ, and He hears us regardless of our condition:

"For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things."

However when our hearts are rightly related to Him, then we have confidence given to us.

"Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God."

Furthermore, when we are in His will, there are added tokens that we are God's children.

"And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight."

Answered prayer is an argument that we are legitimate (justifiable) children of God. 

The prayer-life of a believer is vital in assuring the soul of salvation.

2)  A love for the brethren gives evidence that we are indeed children of God. One of the most convicting and confirming facts which seals assurance to the heart is love of the brethren. Scripture is positive at this point.

1 John 3:14   "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death."

Animosity, bitterness and hatred in the heart will rob the child of God of assurance. Malice toward another Christian produces bitterness of soul and is therefore not a fertile soil to cultivate assurance. 

Malice is condensed anger. 

Lack of love for another believer probably robs more Christians of real enjoyment and satisfaction in the Christian life than does any other single factor. 

It also destroys any public testimony.

John 13:35   "By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another." 

To love other believers is not elective, optional.

John 15:17   "These things I command you, that ye love one another."

Do not let a little root of bitterness rob you of assurance. Make things right with other believers.

Not only will we who are believers love those within the Christian fellowship, but we will also have a desire for those outside the fold to come to a saving knowledge of Christ. 

A sterile and frigid Christian is not likely to experience the sweetness and joy of full assurance, but a vital Christian, who knows something of the Savior’s compassion, will find the joy of belonging and an abiding experience.

Gracious, Most Loving, Abba Father, Today May I approach Your throne with boldness because You know my true heart O God. Father I want to continually have a very vital relationship with You and be in Your presence continually without a single impediment and therefore right now O God I empty myself entirely by the cleansing power of the precious blood of the Lord Jesus and the washing with the pure water of the Word of all these awful sins of  animosity, bitterness, hatred, abhorrence, disgust, loathing, repugnance and dislike of other people. Please Father through Christ Jesus who is alone my precious Saviour forgive me and I accept that in my flesh there is nothing good or able to do this but because of the death of Christ Jesus my Lord and His resurrection You have delivered me from all these ugly sins O God and I thank You Father and I praise You Father for Your ever present mercy that is displayed in my life continually because I know without a shadow of a doubt that there is not a thing  separating me from Thee. You O God know the exact truth in my heart because you have redeemed me from a terrible condition Father and You have given me so much of Your truth to be able to get up and face each new day with confidence knowing that Your Word is the only answer to every problem in this present world. Please help me to grow more and more mature and secure in the knowledge of Christ Jesus who is my Saviour. Father I live in Him and for Him and rejoice that soon I will be with Him in glory forever and ever. It is in His dear, most precious, peerless name that I come before You Father.  

I used to sing this chorus in Sunday school many years ago and it is sill in my heart today. 

Joy, Joy, Joy a song of joy we'll sing,

Listen and a message it will sweetly bring, 

J stands for Jesus and Y stands for you 

O  stands between them and it stands for nothing too

Let nothing come between whatever you do,

Let nothing come between the Saviour Jesus and you.

AMEN!

3)  A consciousness is evidence that we are indeed the children of God. 

This consciousness comes into our soul and it is the greatest peace and joy ever known to man. This is the gracious work of the Spirit of God and not the product of psychological presumption.

1 John 4:13   "Hereby know we that  we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit. 

This does not mean that we are conscious of the Presence of the Holy Spirit, but it does mean that we are conscious of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Holy Spirit does not speak of Himself, but He speaks of Christ.

John 16:13   'Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come."

Part of the work of the Holy Spirit is to make us conscious that we are the children of God.

Romans 8:16   "The Spirit itself  [Himself]  beareth witness with our spirit,  that we are the children of God."  

There is a counterfeit humility abroad today and it sounds very pious, but it does not have the ring tone of that which is genuine. 

Some say that we are to grovel in the dust and that we are to act like worms  -  this is the modern way of putting on sackcloth and ashes. 

It is true that we are sinners; 

there is no good within us, 

no good comes out of us, 

and we have nothing in which to

glory save the cross of Christ. 

Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit does not bear witness with our spirit that we are the "worms" of God. 

No, 

He encourages us when we are in times of sheer weakness and trembling, and in spite of all our failure He assures us that we are children of God.

THIS IS TRULY THE GREATEST JOY TO ME AND QUITE REMARKABLE AS IT MAKES ME REALIZE ALL THE MORE THAT IN ME, THAT IS IN MY FLESH, THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING GOOD AT ALL. EVER NEVER NOTHING GOOD AT ALL.

And a remarkable thing is stated in the preceding verse:

Romans 8:15   "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."  

The word Abba is an untranslated Aramaic word. The translators of the first English Bibles, who had great reverence for the Word of God, who believed it was indeed the Word of God, would not translate it. 

Abba is a very personal word that could be translated  "My Daddy." I don’t use this word in reference to God because of the danger of becoming overly familiar with Him. But the Spirit affirms it and causes us to realize that God is our very own Father through regeneration and by adoption. We have been accepted in the Beloved.

Today I am able to cry out to God in absolute joy, "You are my Father, and I love you. You have been gracious to me, and I know You always will be no matter what happens to me." 

Now the veil has been removed from my eyes, and my soul has been flooded with a fresh consciousness that I truly am a child of the Father, a son of the living God. 

This is the gracious work of the Spirit of God.

There is an experience of salvation for the child of God that he does not have to seek. It will come, for it is impossible for the Holy Spirit to regenerate a sinner and for Christ to dwell in the heart and there be no corresponding experience.

"O God, it is so dark down here."

"Daddy, it is very dark over here, too. Please take me in bed with you." 

The father took the little girl in his bed with him and attempted to soothe her sobbing. Then she reached over in the darkness and felt his face.  "Daddy," she said, "I can go to sleep if your face is toward me." Being assured that his face was toward her, she soon dropped off into peaceful slumber.

"O God, it is dark down here, but I can bear it if I know Your face is toward me." 

Soon he too was sound asleep. 

The Holy Spirit in a time of darkness and emergency confirms to the sad spirit of the child of God that he is a son of God and that his Heavenly Father does not have His face averted from His own.

If this has been your difficulty, then may I beseech you to accept Christ Jesus this very moment  -  casting all your care upon Him and trust Him to save you now.

Come Every Soul by Sin oppressed,

There's mercy with the Lord,

And He will surely give you rest,  

By trusting in His Word.

Chorus.

Only trust Him,  Only trust Him,  

Only trust Him now;

He will save you,  He will save you, 

He will save you now. 

For Jesus shed His precious blood  

Rich blessings to bestow;

Plunge now into the crimson flow  

That washes white as snow.

Yes Jesus is the truth, the way,  

That leads you into rest,

Believe in Him without delay,  

And you are fully blessed.

Come, then, and join this holy band,  

And on to glory go,

To dwell in that celestial land, 

Where joys immortal flow.

Sankey's  Sacred  Songs  &  Solos  392.  

Played by Caryl.

Amen!

Do not look for an experience!

Do not probe your feelings!

Do not use psychoanalysis!

Believe God!

Take Him at His Word!

Trust His faithfulness!

"Let God be true and every man a liar."

The Lord Jesus says in

John 6:37   "… Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out."

Will you come to Him?

Will you believe in Him, trust Him to cleanse you?

Will you acknowledge your personal sin before him?

He knows every detail of your life and you cannot hide a thing from Him.

Why not just tell Him all about the terrible lie you have told to yourself and to others to protect them from finding out the truth that is actually clear in your heart and start today in a brand new relationship with Christ Jesus built upon the truth. He will grant you the power to say you are sorry to the person you have wronged and He will cover you with His feathers for what is impossible for us is possible through the Holy Spirit who is our deliverer.

A relationship cannot  be built upon a lie.

We must have a sure, solid, firm foundation.

Christ Jesus is the truth and He is the solid rock on which we stand.

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

1 John 5:12 "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life."

LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS IS ALL TRUTH AND HE IS THE ONLY WAY BECAUSE HE KNOWS ALL TRUTH.

THIS PAGE UPDATED:  6-4-2008.