The Door Was Never Locked: Jesus, Truth, and the Freedom We Miss

All right, we're getting into God's word so that God's word gets into us. If you brought your Bible, would you just get it out and wave it in the air like you care? And on the count of three, I want all of us to shout word for that's what we want to receive today. A word. Ready? Here we go. 1 2 3. Word. Here we go. We're in John chapter 8. If you want to find that, there's a story of a guy a long time ago who found himself in prison. The walls were made of stone. The bars covered up the windows. He was unable to leave this prison cell. Day after day, the days turned into weeks, the weeks turned into months, and the months turned into years. He was stuck in this prison cell. Finally, after months and years of being frustrated and and not having any freedom, not able to go where he wants

to go, not knowing what the what was happening in the world, one day he mustered up the courage and he went to the door of that prison cell and he simply took the tips of his fingers and pushed on the door and it opened. He did not realize that the door had not actually been locked and he walked outside and he could see the world differently. He can breathe differently. It's like it's like he was a new person, but he was dazed and he was confused because he was stuck somewhere. Not by chains, not by a prison guard, but by a lie that he had to stay there. Now, that guy that was stuck in prison was me.

So many of us find ourselves in the same place in our own minds. You're stuck and you're bound not because you can't be free, because as we're about to look at the text today in John chapter 8, Jesus says, "Whom the Son has set free is free indeed." Jesus has taken the keys because he has all authority and he has opened that door that's holding you back in life. He has opened that door of of freedom so that you do not have to stay in the same place you've always been. You do not have to stay in the same place as your parents. You do not have to stay in the same place as the people that you see in this world. You do not have to stay in the same place that some of you have stayed stuck in your mind. We buy into

the lies about God. We buy into the lies about ourselves. We buy into the lies about our past. We buy into the lies about our future. We buy into the lies of the enemy. But Jesus wants you to be free today. And that freedom is found in truth. All of us deep down inside want the truth. Subconsciously, even if you don't articulate it out loud, you want the truth. How do you get the truth? Even Buddha has been quoted as saying that I'm still searching for the truth. And yet so many people are finding the truth in all the wrong places. Jesus alone made the claim himself in John 14:6 when he says, "I am the way and the truth and the life." And he

says, "No one can come to the father except through me." Jesus did not say he has the truth. He proclaimed he is the truth. And as we'll better understand today, it's the truth that sets you free. And the opposite of truth is a lie. And some of us have bought into a lie that we don't even know is a lie. And we're bound and we're stuck. And there are a lot of Christians in this world that are not living the life that God's destined them to live. There are many that proclaim to have Jesus, but they're not living in the freedom of Jesus. So today, I want you to know that wherever you are in your journey of faith, you do not need to stay stuck. You do not need to be bound. But today, you can be set free in the name of Jesus.

Today, you can push open that door and enter into a new season and sing a new song, a new life that God has planned and prepared for you. You can know this truth and you can exchange the lie for everything God has for you. He is a great God that we just sang about in 2 Corinthians chapter 3:1 17. Would you read this verse out loud with me? Let's read it together. Now the Lord is the spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. We will either take God at his word or we will not. God is a spirit and when we believe in Jesus, we receive the Holy Spirit. And the Bible says where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. It's time for us to walk in it. It's time for us to

speak it. It's time for us to start singing like it. It's time for us to tell others about this good news. Today, we pick up in John 8:31 and we'll cover all the way through verse 47 today. And if you would allow the word of God to take root into your heart, I promise you it's going to bear much fruit, really good fruit. I trust today you did not come here to leave the same. I believe that God has a word for you. If you're able to, would you stand for the reading of God's word? I'll read the text to you and then we'll understand the application for our lives. John 8:31-47. So 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 practices 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've 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 the works 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 the works your father did." They said to him, "We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one father, even God. Jesus said to them, "If God were your father, you would love me. For I came from God, and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father, the devil, and your will is to do your father's desire.

He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character. For he is a liar, the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God. This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. We learned last week from Jesus in John chapter 8. He's in the temple. He's speaking to religious people. He's speaking to Jews. And he warns them that sin leads to death. And where he's

going, you cannot go if you still have your sin. And he's referring to the hope of heaven. And Jesus, although he tells us that sin leads to death, he offers us the solution for sin, namely himself, that is eternal life. That by believing in Jesus, you are no longer held captive to your sin. You are made righteous because of Jesus. It's the very thing that happened to Abraham long before Jesus. The Bible says he was counted as righteous because he believed God. Not because he did all the right things, not because he was born into the right family, but he believed God and he did what God told him to do. And the Bible says that's what makes you righteous. God makes you righteous because you take him at his word. And at this point, people are listening to Jesus in John

chapter 8. They're believing Jesus. But here's the truth of Jesus. He will never leave you the same. You can come before Jesus. You can believe in Jesus. But he loves you way too much to leave you where you are. So Jesus is going to offer you what God desires for your life so you can go from where you are to where God wants you to be. And I'll tell you, God's plans for your life are much better than your plans. He's got a plan for you, a future. He's got a hope for you. He's a good God. And so Jesus is going to let them know, if you believe in me, let me show you what that means. In the days of Jesus, the ancient Middle East 2,000 years ago, if a rabbi, which is a Jewish teacher, called someone to follow him,

they would become a disciple. In our terminology, it's a student. And that student then, that disciple would follow the rabbi, the teacher, and they would want to become just like the teacher. They would literally physically follow them. So where the rabbi went, they would follow behind them in their dust. The dust of the rabbi would get on them and they would learn to walk like the rabbi walked, go where the rabbi would go and do the things the rabbi would do. They would learn from the rabbi and they could not just learn the lessons, they would want to live them out in their lives. Jesus now is speaking to those who had believed in him. And he says in John 8:31, so Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my

word, you are truly my disciples." There's an implication here that there are some people that think they're disciples, but they're not. Going to church does not make you a disciple. Calling yourself a Christian does not make you a disciple. Even reading the Bible and knowing the Bible does not truly make you a disciple. Jesus says, "If you abide in my word, abide is to obey. It's to do what's been said." Now, John, interestingly enough, when he writes about the life of Jesus, which is what the entire book's about through the lens of John, this apostle that walked with Jesus, talked with Jesus, when he starts off telling us about Jesus, he says, "In the beginning, reminiscent of the words of Genesis 1:1, before anything was," he says, "In the

beginning was the word of all the descriptions he could use for Jesus, he used the Greek logos," which is where we get our English word logic. In the beginning there was logic. There was truth. In the beginning was the word is what he describes Jesus as. Then later he says in the same chapter 1 verse 14 he says and the word became flesh. God became one of us. The one that spoke things into existence with his word actually wrapped himself in the very flesh he created out of the dust. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. And John says, "We've seen his glory. Glory is of the only son from the father, full of grace and truth." John's simply saying, "You want to see God? See Jesus.

You want to get to know God, get to know Jesus. You want to know God's word, listen to Jesus." And Jesus now says, "If you would just abide in my word, if you would do what I tell you to do, if you would obey me, be connected to me, you're truly my disciples." And then he says in verse 32, "And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." How do you know the truth? You must abide in the word. And when you know the truth, you find freedom. Not everything will set you free in life. Not all truth sets you free. Not all ways set you free. Jesus sets you free. Jesus proclaimed with his own words. He says, "And you

will know the truth." Jesus is either telling the truth or he's a liar. He didn't say some truth or the He didn't He didn't say there are many truths. He says there is one truth, the truth. That word know in the original Greek is a very important one. It's ganosco. Ganosco. Everyone say ganosco. Gonosco. It's it's it's a word that when truly understood means to perceive, to understand. So when Jesus says you will know the truth, he's saying you will perceive. You'll have a a revelation of there will be an intimacy of it. That word ganosco is actually used in the

scriptures to describe sexual intercourse between a man and a woman. They have known each other. And it's not a reference to sex. It's a reference to what sex was created to do, which is to be this deep intimacy that that you would be together as one. That you would know each other. That there would be a level of intimacy that you don't have with everyone. And Jesus says, "If you abide in my word, you're truly my disciples and you will know. You will have a perception. You will have a an intimacy. You will have an experience with the truth. You'll know something you didn't formally know because now you have the power of God himself in your life. Yugenosco, the truth." And what do you do when you have a deep intimacy of the truth? And Jesus proclaimed in John 14:6 what the

truth is. I am the truth. What happens when you know Jesus? Come on somebody. Freedom. When you go the truth, when you experience the truth, when you have revelation of the truth, you are no longer the same. How are you no longer the same? Just use logic here. Logos. Logos. This is here's here's the logic. You've exchanged the lie with truth. But if you don't believe you're living a lie, if you don't believe you have any lies, you'll never want the full truth. So the more you understand what you are a slave to, the more you could be set free from. But if you don't know what kind of a sinner you are, you won't know what kind of a savior Jesus is. If you don't know what you've been set free from, it won't be much freedom.

And Jesus is speaking to a crowd and he's he's talking to this crowd. They hear him. you will know the truth. Verse 32, the truth will set you free. And they answered him, not with desperation, not with hunger, not with with with worship. They answered him, "We are offspring of Abraham." They go to the Bible. This is the religious spirit that we've been talking about. We know more than you do, Jesus, and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say you will become free? Here is the one thing that will always stop you from true freedom. You can write this down or you can forget it. Either one. Finding an offense in someone else. If you hold an offense, it will always hold you back from freedom.

And they're hearing Jesus speak. They're hearing his authority. They're hearing his power. But instead of embracing what he has to share, abiding in his word, they're rejecting his word. And they're saying, "What do you mean that we're we're not free? What do you mean you will become free?" They're essentially accusing Jesus. We don't need to be liberated from anything. Th This is like the American spirit today, a spirit of independence. And by the way, I love our country, but it doesn't mean it's perfect. We've got to learn to understand that America is not Jesus. So being an American does not mean you're a disciple of Jesus. The freedom that Jesus talks about here is not a fierce independence. This isn't the

freedom of speech. This isn't the the freedom to bear arms. This isn't the freedom of religion. That that's a great nation that that lets you do those things. This is a freedom that actually says I will not do anything I want to do. I'll only do what he wants me to do. Because if I abide in his word, I won't speak unless he wants me to speak. I won't do unless he tells me to do. This is a surrender in God's kingdom that some would say, "That doesn't sound like freedom at all. Then you don't know my God because he's always good. He's always full of grace. He's always full of truth. So why would I not want what God wants in my life? Because everything else is a lie." Yeah. And they tell Jesus, "We've never been enslaved to anyone." Now, all you got to do is get into the Bible just a little bit in the book of Genesis to realize that's not true.

They knew it's not true. But I will tell you what happens when we're offended and when we're in our emotions. We cannot see reality for what it really is. You will not see the other person for who they really are. There's just something that happens with offense. Do y'all know what I'm talking about? It's the sobriety that after the fight, you realize like, man, I wasn't the best me in that moment because I'm offended. I don't see the potential in them. I don't see the hope. I'm stuck in offense. And as I carry that offense, I cannot even see my past for the truth of what it is. We don't even understand what we've been saved from, what we've been delivered from. Let me just give a little bit of history and I won't go into a lot of details but that the reality is the

Jewish people which are the ones challenging Jesus saying we've never been enslaved to anyone. We can go back to Abraham whom they're referring to. We're we're children of Abraham. We've never been slaved. Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob whose name was changed to Israel. Israel or Jacob was the father of Joseph. Joseph ended up in Egypt and invited his father Jacob, Israel, and all his brothers and they settled in Egypt. After they died and several generations after were in Egypt, they became o oppressed and enslaved by Pharaoh for hundreds of years. The Israelites now they did not shrink. The Bible says that under the oppression, they actually

multiplied. That's God's mouth. that what you think is crushing you is actually multiplying something greater in you. And here they were multiplying, but they were still enslaved. And God would raise up a deliverer named Moses. In the book of Jude in the New Testament, it actually tells us it wasn't Moses that delivered God's people. It was Jesus. Moses isn't the great deliverer. Jesus is the great deliverer. Moses isn't the savior. Jesus is the savior. So, the Israelites were enslaved for hundreds of years. Are y'all still awake? Because they're saying, "We've never been slaves." God delivered them. They ended up in a promised land, but not long in that promised land. The Bible tells us in the book of Judges, after a while, they did what was right in their own eyes.

They didn't abide in God's word. They didn't do what God's word said, which God gave them, by the way, on the journey from slavery to freedom. He gave what we have as the Old Testament, the Torah. Here's my word. Just do this and you'll be okay. But instead of doing the word of God, abiding in the word of God, they did what was right in their own eyes, and they became slaves. And God would raise up a judge to deliver his people, and they'd be saved. They'd praise God, and they'd go right back to their old patterns of not abiding in the word of God. After many generations of this, God witnessing that his people were not abiding in his word allowed them to be taken captive as slaves by the Babylonians. This is what we read in the Old Testament as we get closer to the end before Jesus comes. They were taken captives in exile to a foreign land.

Some of you are in that place in your mind. You're not where God wants you to be. And it's because of disobedience. It's because you haven't been obeying God's word. And it's not that God's going to condemn you. It's not that he's going to continue in this way. He's got a future and a plan for you to see who he is. He's a God of freedom. But what happens here? If like those Jews that believed in Jesus, we're not slaves. You don't go. You don't really know the place where you are. The prophet Hosea warned us with this. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge because you've rejected knowledge. If you don't go Jesus, if you don't know Jesus, you don't know the truth and you don't know freedom. Let me tell you a story about that first example of the Israelites who are slaves in Egypt. God delivered them, parted the Red Sea, a

million of them walking towards the destiny of a of a land he promised. Today was called Israel. As they're getting close, Moses, the leader, chooses one leader of each tribe, 12 in total, and says, "You 12 spies are going to go into this land and check it out. You're going to tell us what this land is like. You're going to tell us who's currently occupying it and come back and report to us what's happening in this land." So, the 12 spies go into the land and for 40 days, they check it out. They come back and the one thing they have in common is all 12 said, "Well, this is a land flowing of milk and honey. The grapes are gargantuan. We had to carry them on our shoulders. There's definitely some good stuff in this land. Now, there were two, Joshua and Caleb, who took God at his word. God said, "That land is yours." And Joshua and

Caleb said, "Let's go get it." Come on, guys. That land is ours. I believe it. Let's go get it. Two, 10 of them 10 10 of them said, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. There are giants in that land that are living there, and there's no way that we who were slaves can take that land. We're not soldiers. We're slaves." How about we go back to Egypt, everyone? How about we go back to what's familiar? How about we go back to the ways that we know how to live? Because you know what the truth is? We've never done that before. We've never been there before.

There's no way that's ours. They were still thinking like slaves. Even though God had done much delivering, even though God had given his word, 10, which tells me today statistically there are more people that are going to speak lies into your life than are going to tell the truth. There going to be more people that tell you who you used to be than who God wants you to be. There are more people that are going to tell you you can't than you can. There are more people that going to stay in the place where they've been versus where God wants us to be. And let me just tell you, there's a fire burning in my bones. God's not done with you. He's not done with Central Oregon. We've got to go where God wants us to go. And we're going to be criticized.

were going to be misunderstood. And yes, there are giants, but my God is greater. Jesus died on the cross, but he rose from the grave. He defeated the devil. He defeated death. There's no giant he can't slay. If little David could beat Goliath, listen, it wasn't David that did it. It was his God. He gives the glory to God. If Abraham could have a child in the last years of his life, what could God do with you? And you're never too late. You're never too old. You're never too young because it's not about you. It's about who you believe in. Do you go the God that I know? Do you get into his word? Because his word's going to tell you the truth of who you are. And it's not about you. It's always about Jesus.

This is about giving up your life for his. Crucifying your life and saying, "It's not I who lives, it's Christ who lives in me." It's surrendering my will to his will. like Jesus, not my will be done, but your will be done. And some would say that's not freedom. It'll speak into your mind right now as I speak to you. That's not freedom to have to do what God tells you to do. But I'll tell you, my God is love and can never do less than that because he's completely entirely love. Some will say it's not freedom to surrender your life to God. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. There is no darkness in him. None. Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. He is the thing that satisfies you.

Everything else is a lie." So as they say, "What do we need to be free from? We're Abrahams." Jesus answered them, verse 34, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone." Shout, "Everyone. Everyone." Shout it one more time. Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. So lest you think that the Israelites in Egypt or lest you think that in judges or lest you think with the Babylonians that this somehow is politically that you need the right political savior, you need the right king or you need the right government so that you would be set free, you're still missing the point. Because actually we're not talking about an outside issue. We're talking about an inside issue that if you don't get the inside issue right, you're going to think the outside issue

will save you, which is what happened in the days of Jesus. They were looking for a political messiah. And Jesus doesn't need to be the conquering king. He's the king of all kings. He doesn't need us to force us to follow him. We do it because he's worthy of being followed. So, a true disciple that wants to follow Jesus is taking Jesus at his word. He says, "The slave does not remain in the house forever." Verse 35, but the son remains forever. Listen, a slave does not have rights. A slave can't go wherever he wants to go and spend money however he wants to spend money. A slave has no inheritance, but a son does. So verse 36, if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham. Jesus says, yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen from my father.

The father has sent his son straight out of heaven to show us the hope of heaven and they don't want it. I speak of what I've seen with my father. And then Jesus cuts to the chase here. And you do what you've heard from your father. We are all slaves to sin. For we've all sinned and fall short of the glory of God, the Bible tells us. But we're given today an opportunity to receive a free gift of God's grace to go from a slave to a soldier. And the Bible says that we do not battle against other people, but this is a spiritual battle. And if you do not see yourself as a soldier, you will be

defeated. You're not meant to be a slave, nor are you meant to be an orphan that's stuck in sin. The Bible says in John 1:12, referring to Jesus Christ, to all who did receive him, Jesus, if you would receive Jesus, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. Not because you're born into the right family. Look at verse 13. Not those who are born of blood or the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man. It's not because you go to the right church. It's because of God. You're a child of God. And when you're a child of God, it's like father like son. But if you don't understand who you're a child of, Jesus says you're a child of your father, the devil.

Jesus brought a message unlike any other. He he wasn't so worried about offending as he was telling the truth. Abraham went with God not because he was born into the right family. The Bible tells us that he was born into a pagan family. He was born into a pagan family who served false gods. Yet God can pluck you out of one family and give you an entirely new identity. It's about identity. Who are you? It's not about where you came from. It's about where are you going? John the Baptist who was a radical of his age was actually not radical at all because he was just telling the truth about Jesus. Have you ever thought about that? What's radical to us is normal with God? and he was preaching this message and he says bear fruits in keeping with repentance.

That's a message today that will sound radical. Hey world, repent. Repent. Repent. It's the first message of Jesus. It's the message of John the Baptist. That word repentance is so important that you really understand what the meaning is. It comes from the Greek word metaninoia. We often say it means to do a 180. I was going this way in my life and then I metia. I repent and now I go this way. I was doing things my way but metaninoia I turn. I repent and I go God's ways. But here's the problem. If you don't grasp the true meaning, you won't really know what it means to be set free. Metaninoia means everything changes. It means a change thinking. So if I'm going this way and someone says, "Hey, you're in sin." And I say, "Okay, then I'll go this way and Jesus will forgive

me of my sins." But if I'm still thinking like an orphan, if I'm still thinking like a slave, I've not truly repented. So prior to that, I could be going this way and say, "Oops, I've sinned." I say, "I'm sorry for my sin, but if I haven't changed, I'm still the old person I used to be." This is what happens to so many of us. We go through fits of rage, and we say, "That was horrible. I should not have behaved like that. I'm sorry." Only to repeat the pattern again. Come on, somebody. I I don't want to look at porn. It makes me feel bad. It doesn't help me. It doesn't help my relationships with others. I'm so sorry. I look at porn and then I go right back to looking at porn. I don't want to be addicted to marijuana to make me sleep well. I don't want to be addicted to this because of all the problems in the world. And it may not be

marijuana. It could be alcohol. It could be popping a pill. It could be absolutely anything. It's a lot easier to judge somebody doing something you haven't done. Look at that person on crack cocaine or heroin or any other issue. But if we just look at our own hearts, there might just be greed or envy or gluttony or slander or gossip. Come on, somebody. Because if we have any sin in our lives, we're a slave to sin, which means we're stuck in this prison cell, not realizing there is much more freedom out there. But we've got to embrace the freedom which is only found in ganosco knowing the truth of Jesus that he saves us from something. Now John the Baptist warned, "Do not begin to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father. For I tell you,

God is able to God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham." I guess another way to put it today is don't just say you go to church. Don't just call yourself a Christian. That's not what saves you. Jesus could take rocks and make them greater worshippers than you. He doesn't need you. He wants you. He He doesn't need you to go through the motions and pretend and look clean and act like he got it right. He just wants your heart to metaninoia, to repent, to change your thinking. I'm not who I used to be. I'm going to take those lies and exchange them with the truth. I'm a child of God. So, I'm going to start thinking like a child of God. I'm not what I've done. I'm not what anybody's done to me. I'm not what the accuser keeps bringing back. I am who he says I am. If not, Jesus warns in verse 44.

This is harsh. Maybe hold your neighbor's hand in this one. You are of your father, the devil. Now, remember, he's at the equivalent of what we would call church. He's in the temple. And he tells them, you might be a church, but you're not doing the works of God. Your will is to do your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning. Does not stand in truth because there's no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character for he is a liar and the father of lies. What got Lucifer kicked out of heaven? A lie. He said, "I can be worshiped like God is worshiping." And he didn't just go alone. He took a third of heaven with him. Now, if a third of heaven believed Lucifer and not God, who's to say that you're smart enough to know the truth?

Sometimes we're believing lies that we just believe our truth. Maybe it was something a parent said to you. Maybe it was something a teacher said to you. You know, my my whole life I've had my own identity issues. Don't we all have issues? Come on, somebody. We've all got our own issues. And you know, sometimes they stem from the smallest moments that the people that cause an offense in your life, they have no clue they offended you. Like my fifth grade teacher, Mr. Harris, my desk was messy. He came over, flipped over my desk, and said that I'm a mess. Then he took me in front of the class and lifted me up by my collar of my shirt and started choking me in front of the class. And and and that one moment, it was just seconds, not minutes, not hours, not months, or even years. That one moment would define me. I'm not good enough. I'm a mess. That's always who I'll always be. Was it Mr. Harris's fault? No. I could blame my dad that walked out when I was two or my mom that was a single mom that often had to work to provide for us.

I could start to build up these things. someone didn't show up to my sporting event. I'm not loved. They don't love me. And I could start to make every excuse in the world until all of a sudden I realize I'm either going to be the victim or I'm going to be the victor. I'm either going to listen to the lies that the enemy still wants to put in my mind or I'm going to speak the truth. And you know what I love about the church, this church here, Journey Church specifically, is we are a spiritled church, which means we believe that God is the spirit. Where the spirit of the Lord is, there's what? Freedom. And you know, I'm a grown man now. I'm going to be 48 in September and I still have uh daddy issues just like all of you do. And so many of you speak to me and this is I'm not asking for this so don't do it now because now I know you're doing it out of pity. But I would tell you some of you you speak to my heart exactly what God wants me to hear. You did it to me on Thursday just sending me a random text like I don't know why I'm supposed to say this

but I think the exact same way you said it Becca is you said something along the lines of God wants you to know he's proud of you. Is this something like that? And I was just I told her right away. I was like, "Look, I'll receive that. Might be confusing to you, but not to me." You know why? In that moment, I was exchanging a lie for the truth. And I'll tell you, if the preacher can end up in a prison of his lies, so can you. So don't let anybody fake it that they got it figured out better than I do. No, we need the same truth. And so I'm on your side. But Jesus says, "Because I tell you the truth, you do not believe in me." We all want the truth. The biggest question we ask when something tragic happens is why? And I want to tell you because of a lie. Why

does someone commit suicide? Suicide is rampant in our region is because of lies. That it would be better if you're not here on earth. It'd be better and easier for you to leave. Uh, it it'd be better for you not to deal with the problems. People are saying these things about you. You're believing those things about you. I'll never succeed. I'll always be poor. I'll never be healthy. I'll never find this relationship. All of those are lies. The spirit of suicide is a lie. But you cannot break the bondage of that lie without the truth. So, you've got to understand if you're poor right now, that's not the end of your story. That is a poverty mindset. And God can do anything. and he's still the provider today as he was yesterday. If you have poor health now, that's not the end of your life. If your relationships are completely wrecked, if you've got God, you've got enough. This is not a pep talk. This is the reality.

If you're truly a disciple of Jesus, stay connected to Jesus. Don't run from Jesus. Don't do go do things your way because you're a terrible God. Don't listen to yourself. And the devil's a liar and he's going to whisper those lies into your ears. But I'm here to tell you there's something greater that's found in Jesus. Why does anybody steal anything? Why do they commit adultery? A lie. I need something that I won't get from God. Why does one break into a fit of rage when they're angry? A lie that will never benefit anyone. Why does anyone gossip, slander, or speak ill of others? A lie. Today, if you hear the word of God and you put it into practice, Galatians 5:1 says this, "For freedom, Christ has set

you free. It's who you are. You're free today. You're free if you believe and confess Jesus. Now, you got to abide in Jesus." But the writer warns us, "Stand firm, therefore. This is going to be a fight. The enemy is going to try to knock you down. The enemy is going to try to tell you that what you just heard today isn't true. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. If I could speak on behalf of this writer, don't be the 10. Be the two. Go get that. It's yours. It's your promise. It's your destiny. Your marriage, your mind. By the way, the biggest battle, the biggest battle will never be somebody else. It will be in your mind. The biggest battle will be in your mind. And no one will know the war that's happening in your mind. Nobody.

fathers, husbands, widows, divorced, single, addicts that are here today and says, "No one knows what's going on." Listen, God knows. He knows. He knows. Don't give up the fight. The battle is in your mind. The Bible says in Romans 12:2, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be what? Transformed by the renewal of your mind." When your mind is changed with the truth of God, now you can test and discern what is the will of God, what is good, acceptable, and perfect. Now, and now you're a soldier, not a slave. Now, I armor up and I put on the helmet of salvation. I want to believe I'm saved. No one can take that away from me. You could try to accuse me what I used to do, but by the blood of the lamb, the word of my testimony, I'm going to tell what God has done. I'm going to be

unashamed. I'm going to be strong and courageous. I'm going to go into the land of the giants. It looks too big, but it's not me. It's my God that's going to do it. I'm taking back what the devil has stolen. We're going to go plunder the darkness. And when the world says you can't take that, I say, "No, no, no, no. This is God's. I'm taking back my child. I'm taking back my health, my finances." But I got to tell you, you cannot have a divided heart. Sorcery, divination, or anything outside of God is not from God. Anything we seek outside of him, if you're seeking sage to remove bad spirits, that's not of God. God is not abiding in his word. If you're using horoscopes to find hope, if you're using tarot cards to to give you direction, the Bible says that the word of God is like a lamp for your feet. You go to

God's word. You keep coming back to God's word because if the sun sets you free, you're free indeed. I'd hate for you to be afraid with I'd hate for you to be a slave with a little freedom because that's not free indeed. You got to free yourself from the things that aren't of God. If you're struggling, you're stuck. Let me just tell you today, this is not a message of condemnation. It's a message of hope today. You do not need to stay in depression. You do not need to stay discouraged. You do not need to stay poor. You do not need to stay sick. You do not need to stay lonely. You do not need to stay in the mindset of of being distracted and running to those things that are just tickling you to make you feel better in the moment. God has anointed you for more. But you've got to take the promise today.

This is an identity shift. Oh, the only reason I'm here today is because I'm a child of God. I've been born again. I'm a new creation. I'm working out my salvation. I've realize that when I'm in the myy clay, he doesn't leave me there. He lifts me up. When I'm the child that's run and wasted my father's inheritance, he receives me back and reminds me of who I am. I've got a new identity, a new robe. He puts the gospel of peace, the shoes for my feet. I've got a ring on my finger that reminds me I've got the authority of the King of all kings. That's my dad. He's a God that is faithful. He's never failed. Today, if you want that, it's yours. I want to ask you in the seriousness of this moment to close your eyes. If you've never believed in Jesus, this is your moment. You do not need to earn your salvation. You do not need to do anything to receive this free gift of

forgiveness today. It comes with so much more than freedom. It comes with the hope of heaven. It comes with a new identity. You receive God himself, the Holy Spirit, when you believe in Jesus. If that's you for the first time today, and you say, "God sent me here to surrender my life to him so I'd be truly set free." Would you in this moment I ask all those to close eyes to remove distractions? If that's you, would you open your eyes and wave your hands and let me let me see your hand. Wave your hand at me so I could see you. If you say, "Yes, I need Jesus." Is that a hand there? I see a bunch of hands right there. Praise God. Yes, you're free. You're forgiven. We're going to give you some booklets to show you your next step, but you are free and forgiven. You can keep your hands up. We want to get that booklet in your hands. Praise God. Anybody else?

Just right where you are. Say, "Yes, I need Jesus. I want to be a child of God today. I want to be forgiven today. I want the hope of heaven." Don't wait another day. You don't have to be a slave any longer. Just wave your hands at me. Anybody else? Yes. Praise God. Amen. You're a child of God. That's who you are. He sees you. He loves you. And that will never change. Jesus promised to you, I'll never leave you. So if you feel like he's left, it's a lie of the enemy. You are loved. He made you. You're forgiven. Praise God. Anybody else that wants to be bold today, just right where you are, spin hands all over the place. Praise God. May I just tell you, little one with your hand raised, hey, it's never too early to do great things for God. Never.

A lot of adults will say that you're just a child, but the Bible says prove them wrong with God. Don't have to act like the rest of the world. Just act like God. And I I tell you that because he's got a high calling on you. You're anointed to do great things. You're already bold right now. So, don't stop. Keep being bold with your faith. And you're going to see God show up when you you didn't expect it. So proud of you. Anyone else? I just don't want to miss this. Just wave your hand where you are. Maybe someone's online just waving their hands in the air. You can be saved right where you are. Praise God. Amen. I see you. More importantly, God sees you. You've never been overlooked by God ever. If you've ever wondered if God sees you, he sees you. He loves you. Thank you for being bold today.

I want to pray with those who raised their hands and all those who have believed in Jesus. Let's pray with them. These are simple phrases and I keep it simple so that you'll understand what you're saying. Prayer is talking to God. You could do it anywhere, anytime. The Bible says pray without ceasing. Don't ever stop praying. When you say amen, it's not the end of a prayer. It just means I believe what I just said. It means so be it, God. Do what I've just asked. And God says he will. So if you want to be saved today, pray, "Lord Jesus, I believe in you. Forgive me of my sins. I repent today. I repent today. I receive your word. I want to abide in it. I believe you are God. You give me freedom. You give me hope. I received

the Holy Spirit. I have been set free in Jesus name. Amen. And amen and amen.