Returning tonight to John's Gospel, Chapter Eight. That's where we're going to begin. We're going to turn a few times the various scriptures as we continue our thoughts on the subject of dependence and not independence. Before we read from John, Chapter Eight, let me just mention that our brother George Petty seems to be doing real well in Duke Hospital. Twenty-four hours of the day he's getting chemotherapy. It's coming right into his veins intravenously. And yesterday I walked into the room and George was sitting in the chair and Jennifer was lying on the bed. And Mrs. Petty were sitting in the window. So we had a great time of fellowship together. But... we need to remember our brother George in prayer. And then I talked with Mr. Wilkerson. He seems to be coming along pretty well. And his brother-in-law, you remember, went to Africa with me in sixty-nine, Alton Thompson. And Alton had a stroke yesterday. And he's only two months younger than I am, or older than I am. And I called him tonight. He seems to be doing well. But he said, it's an amazing thing. I told the nurse, she said, he said, I said to her, read my lips. I'm very sick. I'm having a stroke. He said, I knew it because my left leg just gave out underneath me. He just had no feeling at all in it. Must be an awful feeling. I don't know. I've... I don't want to go that route, but nevertheless, you never know. We rest in Him who is our shield and defender. And He said, I must admit, I wasn't a bit scared at any time. I knew that if the Lord sees this and takes me into His presence, that's where I'm going. And that's a blessed hope, I tell you. It's a real objective to life, to know the Lord and to know where we're going. Keep remembering the others who are laid aside. Now we're in John eight. We're dealing with a subject of dependence. John eight, verses thirty-one and thirty-two. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Now let us pray together. Our Father, we thank you tonight in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that we can come into thy presence. And we may come expectantly. We may come with all the freedom that belongs to the children of God. For freedom now has made us free. And we're to stand forth in that liberty that has been purchased for us there on the cross on Calvary's Hill. We thank you for the hope that belongs to us. We have that blessed hope. We have that one hope that is enjoyed by everyone who is a member of the body of Christ. The hope of glorification at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you that as far as you're concerned, it is a settled matter. For whom you justified, you also glorified. But in the meantime, our God, we just thank you. for the peace that passes understanding. We thank you that we can bring into thy presence the names of those, thy children, who need special help. And we pray for Alton Thompson and George Petty, both in the hospital in Durham, different hospitals, but known by thee, loved by thee, cared for by thee, because they have been redeemed by thee. We praise you for this. And we think of others who have been having difficulties like Mrs. Kester with her arm and Jenny Smith and Esmer Sutton. And then we think of Mrs. Hopkins who's having a difficulty with her back. Father, you know the needs of these who are getting up in years in particular and the infirmities of the flesh. And we ask you, to graciously undertake in their behalf. We thank you for those who have graduated from college this year. We thank you for this assembly that cares for them as they do. We pray that this banquet that we have on Friday night will be blessed by thy presence and that thy name will be glorified through it. And not only do we pray concerning our graduates, we pray for our brother John Reesinger, who is going to present the ministry of the Word of God, and especially do we pray for this week of meetings. This man knows how to preach a gospel. You've bidden us to go into all the world and to preach a gospel. And we thank you that we can go out from here and proclaim that message. And we pray that we may learn the gospel so well as our people. that we'll go out and tell it. And if we have any strangers to thy grace, people who need to hear the gospel, come along. We pray that they may hear with a hearing of faith. For the seeing eye and the hearing ear, thou art the maker of them both. Will thou not revive us again, O Lord, that thy people may rejoice in thee? Bring thy servant to us, In the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. Make the word of God real and rich in our lives. For the honor and glory and praise of thy dear son. We pray for our missionary family tonight. You know the needs of each one of them. Whether it's Sarah Murdoch. Or West Stephan. Or Mrs. Patterson. Or Brother Layton. Wherever he is. We know he's going to be ministering somewhere, whether in Scotland or elsewhere. We commend him to you. We think of others who are on our hearts like the Grady Hope family and the precious child ministries and radio station, WHPE. We thank you for Christian broadcasting. All in our God of our praise, we are a people. who have been blessed by thee. We can hear the joyful sound day by day and we thank you for it. And we would like to pray too for those of our number who have been looking for work, for employment. You know the needs and we thank you that you're more interested in us than we are in ourselves. Graciously answer our prayers regarding those who have these needs. Now, Father, we want to simply say thank you for the fact that you are able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we may ask or think according to the power that worketh in us. And we ask you that your power may work in us mightily to the honor and praise of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we give thee thanks. Amen. When Adam fell in the Garden of Eden, he declared his independence from God. This declaration of independence has brought untold misery upon the whole of the human family because we all have inherited Adam's nature because we are all related to Adam. Adam had no idea where this declaration of independence would lead. God told him it would result in death. In the day that thou leadest thereof, thou shalt surely die, God told him. But death was only part of the curse upon Adam's family. Now dependence upon God through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus brings us genuine freedom. The devil extends freedom to men. Oh, the devil says to man, give me your body. And he says it to man through intermediaries like peer pressure and other ways. Give me your body. I'd like to get it hooked on drugs. I'd like to get it hooked on this or that. And he promises freedom. Oh, my, if you give me your body, then you will have the real freedom that you've been searching for. Declare your independence of God. I was reading Dr. Sproul's book last night called Pleasing God. And he has a section on guilt. It's an excellent section in this book on guilt. And in this section, he deals with genuine freedom and guilt. And he told the story of... this college graduate young woman who in her college days committed fornication and now she's ready to get married and she hasn't told the man she's going to marry about her previous life and sin and she was just loaded with guilt feelings and guilt and she had gone to psychiatrists for help but they just told her that certainly should have guilt feelings because she's in bondage to Victorian ideas. And if she could throw off her fundamentalist ideas, which are really Victorian, she'd get rid of the guilt feelings. But she couldn't get rid of them. And she came to Dr. Sprawl. He said, the reason you can't get rid of your guilt is because guilt is related to sin. And you don't know the one who can deliver from sin. He said, you've got to remember that it wasn't the Victorians and the Puritans who said fornication was wrong. It's God who says it's wrong. And it's because God says it's wrong that you have guilt and guilt feelings that go with it. And once you come to the all-forgiving God who has provided salvation through Christ, then you can find a justification from your sins. For the more he'll deliver you from your guilt. And when you're delivered from your guilt, then you'll be delivered from your guilt feelings. You see, Satan makes sin look as though you're really going to be independent and you're really going to be free, but you're not going to have it that way. Genuine freedom is totally missed by Adam and Eve when they declared their independence from God. Only in Christ can we get the fruit that Adam reached for but didn't get. And we get it not through independence of God, but we get it from dependence upon God. Now last week I took up one of these things that we get. We get freedom and liberty of sonship in Christ. And we got this from the great epistle to the Galatians. Galatians four, and Galatians five. Now tonight I want to look at three more, and I hope to conclude tonight. The first of these we get liberty of truth. You have this in John chapter eight, verses thirty one and thirty two, where our Lord says, if ye continue in my word, none are you my disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Now these words of the Lord are twisted today by many. You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. College professors use these words continually, but they don't use them the way that they fell from the lips of our blessed Lord. What they really say is this. You shall know the truth about philosophy and it will set you free from theology. That's what they're really saying. It will free you from God, but you'll know the truth of philosophy. That's basically what Satan said to Eve in the Garden of Eden. You shall be as God's, knowing good and evil. Or they put it like this. You shall know the truth about science, and that truth will set you free from God and from religion. You shall know the truth. And they twist the words of the Lord. Now the truth that sets us free, beloved, is a truth that fell from the lips of the Savior himself. He said to Philip, you remember in John, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Had any philosopher said I am the truth? Nah, centuries would have mocked him, wouldn't it? Suppose Plato said I am the truth. Suppose Socrates said that, or Hegel, or one of the other philosophers. I am truth. Had he said it, the centuries would have mocked him. You see, but when we declare our dependence upon God through the redemption that's in Christ, we enter divine truth. If he continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth. And the truth shall set you free. Now, we have freedom of the mind. The true child of God has freedom of the mind. We are free from disturbance about the creation of the universe. You ask me how it took place. Do you know what I'll tell you? I don't know. And I haven't found anybody else who does. Not our theories. But God says, in six days God created the world, and all things that in them is. And you find that in the Fourth Commandment. Give it Mount Sinai. And I was studying that Fourth Commandment again this week. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. And six days shalt thou work. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work. But the seventh day is a... Sabbath of rest unto the Lord thy God. Thou shalt do no work therein. Thou, nor thy wife, nor thy sons, nor thy daughters, nor thy maid servants, nor thy men servants, nor thy knox, nor thy nests. In other words, he says, For God made the world in six days, and he rested the seventh. And the seventh day Sabbath in the Old Testament was a commemoration. of God's creative act. And when we know the truth, knowing Christ, we believe that He created. How long those six days were? I don't need to know. The argument over whether they were six days of twenty-four hours each, or whether they were six days of billions of years each, that doesn't bother me one bit. I don't know. And I haven't found anybody else who does. One thing I do know, I know who made it. But I have something else that I know. I know who sustains it. For the word of God declares in Hebrews chapter one and verse three that our word Jesus, who is the truth, upholds all things by the word of his power. And in upholding all things by the word of his power, if I were to take one of my children to Europe, to Germany or to Italy or somewhere else. And supposing I had small children and one of them got sick. And the doctor in Italy said, your child needs some penicillin. You see, because I know truth, him who is the truth, and he upholds all things by the word of his power, penicillin does the same thing in Italy as it does in Alaska. And it does the same thing in Burlington as it does in California. Why? He's a sustainer of the universe. He upholds all things by the word of his power. Our hearts and our consciences are set free because we know truth. We know him who is the truth. And I don't need to be able to answer every man who thinks he's found the answers in philosophy or in the theories of man. We don't have to answer everyone. We know who is truth. I believe God. And that passage, by the way, that says, I believe God is in Acts twenty-seven. And in Acts twenty-seven, Paul and the others who were with him on the ship had been fourteen days bouncing around on the Mediterranean Sea like a cork. And Paul said to them, Now, fellas, you should have listened to me before we set sail. I told you not to. But you didn't listen. But I have news for you today. We're going to lose the ship. But we're not going to lose any life. Now how would you like the ship out from the under you bouncing like a cork on the Mediterranean? We're going to lose the ship, fathers. But no life is going to be lost. Because the angel of the Lord whom I serve and to whom I belong stood by me and served. I believe God. That's the freedom of truth. There was no likelihood that they'd lose the ship and saved their lives. But they did. That's truth. That's the freedom of truth, friends. That's what Adam and Eve grasped for. And they thought they had it. But you only have it. Not by independence. But by dependence. on God. So the first thing that we look at tonight is freedom of truth. But the second is freedom of approach. I want you to turn to two passages. The first is going to be First John chapter four. The first epistle of John chapter four. And we want to read verse eighteen. First John chapter four, verse eighteen, that says this, There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts about fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. Now you need to think through Genesis chapter three. After Adam sinned, You notice our first parents, though they clothed themselves with big leaf garments, they realized that the light of holiness was gone. Now they have to stand before God as sinners. They try to hide among the trees of the garden. Why? Fear. Fear. You see, fear is a firstborn child of sin. That's a firstborn child of sin. Fear. And the scripture here says there's no fear in love. Anyone who loves doesn't fear. If our love for God is pure and true, we don't live in fear of God. We're not hiding among the trees of the garden. We now have approach to God. We have entrance into the presence of God. Our declaration of dependence upon God to the redeeming work of Christ at Calvary. We are now confined to his love. And this brings us the freedom that sets us free. Why? There's no fear in love. Fear has torment. But we're not tormented by God. We have approached to God and we can speak to God on the most friendly of terms. Now, you and I cannot turn around and face the Lord. Adam is afraid to. He said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid. He was afraid to approach. Are we? We need not be. Turn over to the book of Hebrews. This is that second verse we want. Hebrews chapter ten. Hebrews ten and verse nineteen. I want you to notice. A few precious things here in Hebrews chapter ten and verse nineteen through verse twenty two. Having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way which he has consecrated for us through the veil that is to say his flesh. And having an high priest over the house of God let us draw near. That's something Adam couldn't say. Let us draw near, with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Oh, let us draw near. Now let me point something out. It is blasphemy for man to build a temple and put any barriers whatsoever between us soul and God. no matter what temple is built. It is blasphemy to build a temple of any kind and put any barriers between the soul and God because all barriers have been removed through the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we are told, let us draw near. The approach is open. Access is available. And it's all because not of independence, but dependence. dependence on the work of Christ has brought freedom of approach for every child who has been redeemed by his precious blood. Now, the introduction of any kind of human priesthood is a hindrance. For every believer in this age is a priest of God. And as a priest, they are to come and they're to come with their hands full and their hearts clenched. For it says, having our bodies washed with pure water. And we approach in full assurance of faith. Freedom of approach. There's not only freedom of truth. As we sang tonight, I know whom I have believed. Did you ever notice in that hymn how many things we don't know? I know not why God's wondrous grace, that's the biggest puzzle I ever faced. I know not why God's wondrous grace to me hath made known. I know not how this saving faith to me he did impart. I know not how the Spirit moves convincing men of sin. I know not when my Lord may come. I don't know much. I don't know much. You see, but I know whom? Freedom of truth. There's freedom of approach. We are not afraid to face God. There is no fear in love. Fear has torment. Perfect love casts out fear. Now to the third. I want you to turn with me to two passages. First of all, Romans six, verse thirteen. Romans chapter six and verse thirteen. Where we read this. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead. and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. Here we have freedom of service. Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, we have been introduced to a life of love and service for Jesus Christ. Now, there are many people who cannot be told that they are free to do anything that they please. A lot of people you can't tell that. You see, because they'd be pleased to commit murder. They'd be pleased to rob or to rape or to do other wicked things. But to the child of God, you can say, you're free. You're free to serve, to do what you like. Why can God say that to us? How can he say that to us? He can say it because the true child of God always seeks ways to exalt Christ. Here's one of the ways that we test our service. We don't yield the members of our bodies to unrighteousness. We yield our members to Christ as instruments of righteousness, the very opposite. And Christ is our lives. Now, there's another passage that goes with this. It's Galatians chapter five and verse thirteen. Galatians five and thirteen, which says this. And it deals with the same subject. He says in verse thirteen, For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty. Only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. You see, the person who has been set free by the redemption that's in Christ through dependence Upon him. We're transformed. We've been transformed by divine grace. We are therefore filled with love for him. And if we're filled with love to Christ, then we are filled with love for others. For the word of God says, Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. And he that loveth him that begat, that's our Lord Jesus, loveth him also that is begotten of him. First John chapter five, verses one and two. Having been born of God, we not only love God, but we love his people. We love one another. We have been transformed. We seek ways of exalting Christ. Freedom in service. Now very quickly, two things, and I'm going to sit down. Our whole existence as believers centers in the fact that we have come to Jesus Christ and have declared our dependence upon him. Adam declared just the opposite, his independence of God. But in coming to Christ, we declare our dependence upon him. Who comes? Well, in Matthew, verse twenty-eight, he says, Come unto me, all ye that labor. and are heavy laden. Here the invitation is to those who realize that they have a load that they can't handle. They're laboring and they cannot get any satisfaction. The load is heavy and there's no one to alleviate the load. Our Lord says, Come unto me. I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find meek. rest for your souls. My yoke is easy and my burden is light. Satan gave Adam and Eve the idea in the garden that the yoke of Christ was heavy. He's holding back on you. But the yoke of Christ is easy and he's burdened his light. Now when a believer, through independence, or through dependence, excuse me, upon the Our blessed Lord has found liberty out of this liberty and out of this freedom that he says. We have learned something that the ungodly, unsaved person can never know. He will never know it. What is it? It's liberty of sonship. Oh, the blessedness of sonship. Because we are sons, Galatians says, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son in our hearts, crying out of a Father. There's the liberty of not only sonship, but the liberty of truth. There is not only the liberty of truth, there is the liberty of worship. There is not only the liberty of worship, there is the liberty of love and of service. And then you add to that all the other relationships that we enjoy with God. It's nice to be dependent, isn't it? The more we are dependent upon him, the more freedom we're going to enjoy. The more we try to live in independence from God, the less freedom we're going to have. It is the paradox of the Christian life. And when God says to us, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world, if any man loved the world, the love of the Father, is not in him. Our Lord isn't trying to put us in a straight jacket. He's trying to set us free. That we can really enjoy that for which we have been designed by divine grace. We have been designed to enjoy the liberty of sonship. of truth, of worship, and of love and service. It's ours, not by declaring our independence, but by declaring our dependence.