http://apostoliclive.com/play_audio.php?audio=3534
THE ONLY TRUTH
THAT LIBERATES
INTRODUCTION
Texts – John 8:30-36;
Romans 6:16-23
30 As
he spake these words, many believed on him.
31 Then
said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in
my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32 And
ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
33 They
answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how
sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
34 Jesus
answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the
servant of sin.
35 And
the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
36 If
the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Romans 6:16-23
King James Version
(KJV)
16 Know
ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are
to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
17 But
God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the
heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
18 Being
then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
19 I
speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye
have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto
iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto
holiness.
20 For
when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
21 What
fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of
those things is death.
22 But
now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit
unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
23 For
the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God
is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Thesis – There are
many in bondage tonight, in bondage to sin, a habit, their past, false
doctrines and false concepts; God wants to liberate everything in this house:
The Truth (Christ) makes men free, liberates them, but in order for it to do so,
it must be ACTIVATED truth…
Goal – Our goal
tonight is relatively simple, we need to gain an understanding of the only
truth that liberates; we need to have an understanding of HOW to activate, the
ONLY liberating truth – And once we have that, I believe God will indeed
liberate anything and anyone in this house that desires to be set free, if by
faith, they can activate the Truth that they’ve heard…
-God desires to
deliver, and loves to liberate…
Luke 4:18-19
18 The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel
to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance
to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them
that are bruised,
19 To
preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
2 Corinthians 3:17
King James Version
(KJV)
17 Now
the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
I – TRUTH: ACCEPT NO
SUBSTITUTES
Truth is not just a
doctrine, or a religion, or a denomination, TRUTH, REAL TRUTH, IS JESUS CHRIST
HIMSELF.
If your version of
the “truth” doesn’t bring you into a living, breathing, personal daily
relationship with God, then it is not the full truth, I don’t care what the
label on the church sign says.
Before anyone in this
house can get free, we must make sure that we are trying to activate the RIGHT
Truth!
Does is matter what I
believe? YES!!!
Jude v.3,4
3 Beloved,
when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was
needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly
contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
4 For
there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to
this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into
lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Galatians 1:6-12
6 I
marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of
Christ unto another gospel:
7 Which
is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the
gospel of Christ.
8 But
though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that
which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
9 As
we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you
than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
10 For
do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased
men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
11 But
I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after
man.
12 For
I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of
Jesus Christ.
Practical examples:
generic, off brand stuff – don’t accept the substitute: soda, energy drinks, ravioli,
ladies purses, airlines, medicine. (The
worse it tastes the better it works.)
Jesus Christ, the
Gospel, Acts 2:38, holiness, signs miracles and wonders is still the TRUTH, and
it is still the only truth that truly liberates, but EVEN the REAL truth, in
order for it to liberate must be activated.
How do we do that.
II – HEAR THE
TRUTH/ENCOUNTER THE TRUTH
There’s really two
steps to getting free. That first part
was for free, that’s not really a step, just a prerequisite. The first step to liberation is, you have to
encounter and or hear the Truth.
If you are not
willing to listen to what God has to say, and what the crazy, red faced,
sweaty, apostolic preacher has to say, you can’t get free. If you’re not willing to crack open the Bible
and be open minded and open up your heart to let the truth in, you can’t be
saved. I’m going to prove it with
scripture.
Mark 12:28-30
King James Version
(KJV)
28 And
one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and
perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first
commandment of all?
29 And
Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
30 And
thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and
with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
John 10:23-31
23 And
Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch.
24 Then
came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to
doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.
25 Jesus
answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my
Father's name, they bear witness of me.
26 But
ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
27 My
sheep hear my voice, and I know them,
and they follow me:
28 And
I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any
man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My
Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck
them out of my Father's hand.
30 I
and my Father are one.
31 Then
the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
Romans 10:13-17
13 For
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
14 How
then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom
they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And
how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are
the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of
good things!
16 But
they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed
our report?
17 So
then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God.
NOW we’re on to
something – when he said faith, it made me think of something…we need faith to
be saved, which is liberation from sin, right?
If we can follow where this faith-concept will lead us, we should be
able to discover how to get liberated….
Gotta hear it – gotta
be open to it. – Got to have an encounter with it…Not going to hear much Truth
if you don’t come to church…Not going to hear much Truth if your texting the
whole service…
III – OBEDIENCE
ACTIVATES TRUTH
Not everyone that
encounters the truth, or even hears the truth gets liberated, necessarily. For example, the rich young ruler of Matthew
chapter 19.’
Ephesians 2:8
-saved means you’ve
been liberated from sin, and hell, and death, and damnation, and condemnation,
but notice there’s two pieces, two parts to the whole machine at work if you
will – ONE is grace – grace is the UNMERITED favor that GOD supplies – That
grace that He shows us is a demonstration of His love, just like his Life, and
and just like His death on the Cross – GRACE –
BUT THE OTHER PART IS
FAITH. GRACE is God giving man an undeserved opportunity to be liberated, FAITH
is MAN RESPONDING IN TURN BY OBEDIENCE – And that is the only TRUTH that
liberates – obeyed truth… I can prove it with one example: Noah.
Genesis 6:5-8 - 5 And
God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 And
it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it
grieved him at his heart.
7 And
the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face
of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the
air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
8 But
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
By substitute truth
standards, Noah is actually already saved because he found grace…But he isn’t
saved yet, because GRACE right after that, produced TRUTH, and the TRUTH said,
Noah, build an ark, I’m going to destroy the world with a flood…
14 Make
thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch
it within and without with pitch.
15 And
this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be
three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it
thirty cubits.
16 A
window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above;
and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second,
and third stories shalt thou make it.
17 And,
behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all
flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that
is in the earth shall die.
18 But
with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou,
and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.
19 And
of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the
ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.
20 Of
fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing
of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep
them alive.
21 And
take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to
thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.
22 Thus
did
Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
Hebrews 11:6-7
6 But
without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
7 By
faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as
yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which
he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
If truth is going to
liberate, it must be responded to by faith, which is the obedience that truly
activates it.
Romans 6, our text
again…
17 But
God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from
the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
18 Being
then made free from sin, ye became the servants of
righteousness.
CONCLUSION –
LIBERATION IS JUST ONE OBEYED, ACTIVATED TRUTH AWAY.
Acts 2, revisit the
plan of salvation to be obeyed – liberation from sin occurs because this truth
is activated – remission of sins, don’t accept any substitutes for Jesus name
baptism. Or the baptism of the Holy
Ghost…Get the real thing. “they that gladly received were baptized…”
What if your sick, in
some way in bondage to illness, or disease, or sickness. Is there a truth you can obey to get set
free, oh yes there is my friend, God delights to deliver from sickness and will
do so tonight.
A struggling saint
bound by condemnation, liberation just a prayer of repentance away…
