The Chains You Can't See | Dave Sloop

So glad that you are here. My name is Dave Sloop. For those of you that I have not had the privilege of meeting, I'm one of our pastors here, and we are continuing our walk through the gospel of John. Today we're in chapter eight, verse 31, really 31 to 38. We're gonna pick up 39 and following next week. I'm looking forward to that.

But before we jump into our passage this week, I wanted to tell you about a documentary that Melissa and I just recently watched on Netflix called Trust Me, The False Prophet. Anybody else see this? For those of you that have not, I should issue a warning. This is not for the faint of heart. It follows the story of a little Utah based cult known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, the FLDS.

They rose to fame years ago when their self proclaimed prophet Warren Jeffs was put in prison for the sexual abuse of minors. He had been locked away for many years. And in the vacuum of his leadership, that little cult was just fledgling. They did not know who to follow. And in that vacuum of leadership, there was a guy named Samuel Bateman who suddenly sensed a call to step in Warren Jeffs' place. Most people didn't believe that he was the genuine prophet, but some did.

And these men not only gave to Bateman their money, but their wives and their children as well to do with them whatever he pleased. It was deeply disturbing. But what was shocking about this was not just that these men went along with it, but these women and children did too. They weren't just willing, they were enthusiastic about the opportunity to come under this man's leadership and to allow him to do whatever he saw fit to them. And they were completely blind to the psychological, sexual, physical and emotional abuse that they were undergoing. It was horrendous. It was brutal. And it was painful to watch.

These women were in a prison without walls. They had chains that they could not see. And therefore they were blocked from a freedom of life—a life of freedom and joy—that they didn't even imagine could exist. I was just watching this thing thinking, why don't they leave? But the answer was they didn't want to. They were happy or so they thought they were.

Now, thankfully, this documentary was as inspiring as it was troubling because there was a woman named Christine Marie. She herself was a survivor of a cult like this. And she had made it her life's mission to help women and children like this to experience freedom, to see what they were incapable of seeing themselves. And the way that she assisted in their freedom was by moving into their neighborhood. She and her husband literally moved to Utah for the sole purpose of winning their freedom.

It took years of developing trust, building relationships with these women and their leader until eventually—I think the whole process was like a seven or eight year story—but eventually she partnered with the FBI and had developed enough evidence to bring down the whole operation. And when she did, how do you think these women responded? Outrage. They could not believe that someone they thought loved and trusted them would betray them like this. How could she? We thought you were our friend. It was so confusing.

But eventually because of her unwavering commitment to their freedom, eventually for some of these women, the scales started to fall off. They started to understand this bondage that they had been blind to but living under for so many years. I'm not a crier. I do cry more the older I get, but I'm not typically a big crier, but I was sitting in my living room with Melissa watching this and just started crying.

This sweet lady that you see on the front here, her name is Christine Marie. I got a picture of her next here. When I saw her and I thought, if she did not break into this town, those people are still enslaved. Here's a picture of her with Naomi, who they called Gnomes. This is when I started crying—when I saw her talking to Naomi on a porch swing. And I just thought, she entered into a place that no one wanted to go to purchase a freedom that they weren't even looking for.

Now, this next sentence, I hope will land with you in the way that I intended. You and I are very similar to these women. We share far more in common with them than we would like to admit. Some of us, all of us, I would say, are stuck in some chains that we cannot see. We have an invisible prison that we are living in and therefore are not experiencing a freedom that would otherwise be available.

Jesus in our passage today is talking to a group of people that apparently in verse 28 it says many believed Him. And Jesus, it says, our passage starts by saying, "So Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him." Jesus is talking to a group of people that believe Him. And He says that if their belief is genuine, it should lead to something that He calls freedom. But here's where this gets tricky.

Because the freedom that we're gonna talk about today is both an objective reality and a subjective experience. The fact that genuine belief can and should lead to freedom is no guarantee that it will. And therefore it is possible to be objectively free, but subjectively a slave. It is possible to be believing, but bound, not flourishing, to be a son, but living as if you are a slave.

Today in John 8:31-38, Jesus is going to teach us about the opportunity or the possibility of freedom, first of all. The second thing He's gonna teach us is the obstacle of freedom. And the third thing that He's going to teach us is the experience of freedom. What does it look like to become free? And what does that taste like or feel like?

The Possibility of Freedom

If you'll turn with me, we're gonna look first here at the possibility of freedom. Beginning in verse 31, it says:

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples. — John 8:31

I want you to notice it says, "if you abide, you are." He is not saying, this is how you become a disciple. He's saying this is how you can know if you are a disciple. This is not a pathway to becoming a disciple. It is the proof of who actually is a disciple.

In fact, that word disciple is only used from Jesus' mouth three times throughout the entire gospel of John. The first one is right here in John chapter 8. The second one is in John 13. And the third one is in John 15. And what's interesting about this is in each case, Jesus is using this word to point to what an authentic and genuine disciple actually is.

The fact that Jesus is constantly using this word to point out what a genuine disciple actually is, is evidence of the fact that it's possible to claim to be a disciple, but to not actually be one. Or to borrow a phrase from Thomas Cranmer, to love him with our lips, but not our lives.

Notice this pattern. He says:

If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples. — John 8:31

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. — John 13:35

By this the Father is glorified that you bear fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. — John 15:8

In every single one of those, there's evidence from your life proving that you are what you claim to be. But what's also interesting about this is for each one of these, there's a different audience. In the first one, you are the audience—the individual. In the second one, the world is the audience. Everyone else will know. And then the third one, the Father, God in heaven, is the audience.

If we're gonna summarize this: If I am truly His disciple, there will be evidence that I can see, that the world can see, and that God can see. True disciples leave clues. They don't just believe something, they're becoming something. And they're becoming that something precisely because of who they belong to.

Now, if we go back to our passage this week, in John 8, it says that the mark of true discipleship that you will witness is that you are someone that abides in His word. The NIV translates this, "hold on to my teaching." I like that translation because the implication is it's hard to hold onto. There are some things that Jesus says that are simple to understand, but are really difficult to hold onto. He is constantly saying things and encouraging me to do things that I do not want to believe or do.

And what he's saying here is, hang on, wait for my word to come into focus. It might not make sense at first, but just don't go anywhere. Do not turn the page, stay under this teaching. There's going to be things Jesus says that I'm gonna ask you to do, and you're not gonna wanna do it. Do it anyway, especially when you don't want to. Because here's the deal: if I said it, it's true. If I asked you to do it, it's because it's good for you to do it. Hold on, don't escape.

And if you would be willing to stay under the discomfort of His teachings and His commands, what He's telling you here is that something will happen to you. Namely, you will know the truth. The word that He uses here for "know" means to experientially or relationally know. He's saying you're gonna have a relationship with the truth. And it is in this kind of knowing that something else happens: freedom.

Eventually towards the end of this message, we're gonna talk about what freedom is and what that experience is like and how we become someone who is free. But before we get there, I want you to notice in Jesus' invitation for them to be free, what is the implication? They are not presently free.

And how do you think this message or this accusation is going to land with these Jewish people? They're not gonna like it. Here's what they say rather:

We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, you will become free? — John 8:33

Here we are gonna get into the obstacles to our freedom. And this is a picture of the first one. If you notice the first thing Jesus says about being a genuine disciple is this: someone who is willing to sit under the discomfort of my teaching. And then their immediate response is, "I disagree. That's not true. How dare you say that about me? We're not slaves of anyone." They cannot handle it. They will not sit under His teaching. They will not abide in His Word.

Let me ask you a question. Does Jesus have permission to contradict you? Is he allowed to disagree with you? If you and I are following a Jesus that cannot challenge our assumptions, we're on a very predictable path.

See here in this passage, it starts as a disagreement. And then in verse 37, Jesus is gonna say to them:

You wanna kill me because my word has no place in your heart. It can find no place to land in you. — John 8:37

And in verse 59, do you know what they do? They pick up stones.

You see, here's the deal. Eventually Jesus will say something that you disagree with. I promise you. He's eventually gonna ask you to do something that you don't wanna do. And when he does, if he's not allowed to disagree with you, when he eventually does, you will pick up stones and go looking for another savior. Or you'll do something else. You will try to convince yourself and others that He didn't actually say what He actually said, or didn't mean what it obviously meant. And you will have effectively done the same exact thing.

You will have killed the real Jesus in exchange for an imaginary Jesus, who by the way, whose beliefs and commands are oddly compatible with your fallen sinful desires and assumptions.

See, this version of Jesus that we imagine—He doesn't care much if I have sex before I'm married. He doesn't care much if I'm unfaithful to my spouse. He doesn't care if I lie at work or cheat on my taxes or watch porn or get wasted or cuss at my children. This Jesus isn't that concerned about my character. He just wants me comfortable.

You see what we've done here? No longer am I a true disciple who is being conformed to the image of the one I claim to follow. I have dragged Jesus down to look like me so that I'm never challenged and I never have to change.

The Obstacle of Invisible Chains

Abide in my word, Jesus says. Are you willing to allow me and my beliefs, my commands, my instincts and impulses to take precedence and priority over your fallen sinful one?

See, this is the first obstacle of freedom: I cannot hear His words. But here's the second one. The second one is I cannot see my chains.

Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. — John 8:34

What is he saying here? You aren't as free as you think you are. You're just not. Your behavior is telling you something about who you belong to.

Just pause here for a second and talk about what freedom actually is. How would you define it? I think for most of us, when we think about freedom, we think, "Well, freedom is the ability to do whatever I want, whenever I want without anybody weighing in on whether or not I can. I get to be in charge and I get to call the shots."

But here is the problem with that version or definition of freedom. It doesn't exist. Because even within you are competing desires. I want to be healthy and I want to eat donuts. I wanna get strong and I wanna sit on the couch and watch Netflix and eat Cheetos. I want to succeed at work, which requires more of my time, attention and energy. And I want to be a present husband and father. You have desires just inside you that are at odds with one another.

How do you determine who's gonna win in those internal battles?

See, here's what most of us don't understand. You do have a will and it is you making those choices. But every single one of us has something or someone governing that will. There is no such thing as an independent will. Something is influencing and driving our will. Jesus says here, your sin, the fact that you practice it is evidence that you are under a different master. Something or someone is controlling you.

Let me give you an example of this. When I was in high school, every once in a while I'd have a friend that started dating a girl—it was never my story. But some of my friends would start dating a girl and she would have undue control over him, even when she wasn't around. We had a nickname for people like that. We called them whipped. And they just would do whatever she wanted. They were under her control.

And they would try to defend this. They would say things like, "No, no, no, no, no. I like Nicholas Sparks. I like those movies. I like shopping now."

It's not because she wants me to. It's my new hobby. He was under someone else's control. He had chains that he couldn't see, but we could see his freedom and their freedom in this passage—it was imagined. It was an illusion. And so is yours. And so is mine. None of us is free in this way. The question is, who or what is governing your will?

Jesus continues with this metaphor of slavery. He says in verse 35:

The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. — John 8:35

He's saying, look, there's a difference between a son and a slave. And he's already established: you're a slave because someone else is controlling you. In verses 34 and 35, Jesus is not just exposing their behavior—he's explaining it. He's saying your behavior is coming from who you belong to. Your behavior is telling you something about who your master is. And if there is going to be any freedom for you, what Jesus is saying is your master needs to change. Your nature needs to change.

In fact, here's how I would put it: He's saying, look, you didn't become a slave because you acted like one. You act like a slave because you are one. Let's put it this way and kind of apply it to us. You are not a sinner because you sin. You sin because you are a sinner. It is your nature. And what Jesus is saying here is, look, it's not primarily about your behavior. It's about who you belong to. And if there is going to be any freedom for you, if there is going to be any behavior change, you must have a new change of nature.

A lot of us might've said something like this at some point in our life: "I don't want to be a Christian. I'd rather be free." That's how many people think of it. That's how most people think of it. But here's the deal—that's not an accurate picture of reality. Because what you're saying is, I can either submit my life to someone else and all those burdensome regulations, or I can remain free. And Jesus would say, this over here of your remaining free—that is an illusion. That is fiction. It's imaginary.

It is true that submitting to the Lordship of Christ means He does take control of your life. But here's the key: He isn't taking control from you. He's taking that control from whatever governs your will. Coming to Christ is not so much a loss of independence as it is a changing of masters.

The Experience of Freedom

So let's talk about the experience of freedom. What does that look like? And what does it even mean? There's two questions that I want to answer. Here's the first one: How do we become free? That's the objective reality. And what will that freedom feel like?

I told you before that this is both an objective reality and a subjective experience. When Jesus says:

If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. — John 8:36

What he's saying here is that what you need more than anything is not a surface change, but a status change. And notice this—he's not saying "I have the authority to change your nature." First of all, he's saying if I do it, it will happen. There's a certainty to it. But I also want you to notice this: What Jesus is saying is the freedom that I enjoy can be and will be the freedom that you enjoy.

What is Jesus' freedom based on? What is the basis of His freedom? He is a son. What Jesus is saying is the only way to cease being a slave is to become a son. And He's the only one who can do that for you.

He came to His very own, and His own people did not receive Him, but to those who did, He gave the right to become children. — John 1:11-12

Jesus here is not just saying, "I will make you like I am." He is saying, "I will make you what I am." And the freedom that I enjoy will be the freedom that you enjoy.

Now, the question is: What does that freedom feel like?

As I've already mentioned, it is possible to be a son who lives as a slave. I want you to imagine for a second that you're in prison serving out a sentence given to you by a judge. And one day the judge decides to reverse your sentence and he sends me down to your cell—not only to declare that you're free, but to open the cell for you. In the moment that I do that, are you free? Yes, your status has changed. When do you begin to taste that freedom? When you walk out of the cell.

Here's what you and I need to understand. And this is the point that I've been dying to share: Children of God have equal access to the freedom that comes from being His child, but we will not all experience that freedom equally. Why? Because at a certain point, our choices need to align with our identity. The person in the jail cell is free, but they have a choice as to whether or not they're going to walk out. Eventually you choose to do that. And then you're like, "You know what? I'm just gonna leave this whole prison altogether."

You and I have a choice to make. Here's the thing: Jesus says to us that my freedom, your freedom will be the same freedom that I experience. I want you to consider something for a second. How does Jesus describe his freedom?

This is where it gets confusing. Let's go through some of this. There's going to be a bunch of slides here.

My food is to do the will of him who sent me and accomplish his work. I can do nothing on my own.

The son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the father doing.

My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. I do nothing of my own authority, but I speak just as the father taught me.

I always do only what pleases the father.

And you say, hang on a second. I can imagine what it might feel like to be broken out of prison after years of captivity. That doesn't sound like freedom. That sounds like I'm completely submitted to someone else.

See, Jesus, the author of our freedom, is telling you what true freedom is. And here's what it is: complete dependence upon the Father. You say, wait a minute, that doesn't feel like freedom and it doesn't sound fun. What would Jesus say to you? I think he would say this: hold on to my teaching. Hang tight, stay under it. Let it sink in. Let the words come into focus.

Can I tell you something else Jesus said in John chapter 15? For many of you, when you hear the chapter John 15, what word do you immediately think of? Abide. It's the same word that Jesus uses here in John chapter eight. Remain, abide—like a branch in a vine that is completely dependent upon the vine for its nourishment, its life, its well-being, everything. Jesus says, abide, abide, abide. It's the word he keeps repeating in that chapter. But in verse 11, he says this:

These things I've spoken to you, that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full.

Hang on. Jesus, the author of our freedom, is saying complete dependence upon God has produced within me a joy that overflows. And what I'm telling you—the reason I've invited you to consider my teaching, to abide—is because if my joy gets in you, then your joy will be full. And the way to have it is to just be dependent upon me.

Guys, I'm telling you, this is true because he said it. And some of you in this room are tasting that right now. If you would but drag yourself into his presence every single day of your life, do you know what would happen? The things of earth would grow strangely dim. Your submission to Jesus would not be an act of self-denial. It would be in your self-interest because it becomes the thing you want to do.

Earlier, I said to you, you have competing desires inside of you. You want to be healthy and you want to eat donuts. You want to get stronger, which would require you to go to the gym, yet you also want to go on vacation instead of sit on the couch. Just for a second, imagine if going to the gym to lift weights started to feel like going to the beach. Imagine that when you eat kale, it actually tastes like donuts. How would you describe that experience?

Freedom.

Because what you want to do naturally—because of who you're becoming—is what's actually best for you. For the first time in your life, your choices are in alignment with your design. You are experiencing God's original intent for what it means to be human. And Jesus, his whole life shows us: just be an empty vessel for God to come and fill. Listen to him, do what he says, only do what you see him doing, and your joy will be full.

Do you trust him? Do you believe that? What would it cost you to try that?

See, I think for most of us, we look at all the stuff that the world has to offer and we think, God, I know I gotta follow Christ, look at this stuff. Hold on to his teaching. And it will no longer be an effort to let that stuff go. He will become your treasure. And the joy that you're experiencing over here can't touch it—it's so much better than this. And it won't be effort, it will be your natural desires.

Prayer and Call to Response

Let's pray. Father, we thank you. How desperately do we need this message? In many ways, Father, this is the message of our entire life: to just allow you to be our all in all. Lord, thank you that there's a promise here of freedom for those who will surrender. Lord, I thank you that we're not giving up our independence, we're changing masters, and you are the better master.

Guys, I know that this is a heavy message and some of you need to stop right here and capture this moment. We have people that will be in the back that want to pray for you. And I'm praying that you would have the courage to go. Some of us have never been his children. We need a new nature. You can have it today and you can be free. Some of us are his children and we have forgotten, and we are living like we're slaves. Remember your freedom, walk in the power and reality of it today.

Please don't miss this opportunity to go pray with someone or come up here and just be alone with God and let him deal with you. And for the rest of us, let's stand and worship him together. Let's turn our eyes to him.