The Truth Will Set You Free! || Victory Church [Book of John #24]

All right, good morning, family. Hey, we actually got the entire Victory family with us this weekend, so come on, let's welcome in Midtown, let's welcome in North Cobb, our online family, Hamilton Mill, and for the very first time, we're welcoming in Victory Tequila. Come on, let's give it up. What's up, guys? Hey, for clarity, this weekend, for Victory Tequila is what we're calling a soft launch. So a soft launch is basically making sure the light switches work, right? And the electricity can turn on and that sort of stuff. And so next weekend, August 9th, is the official launch. And so if you are in that area, let's pack out Tequila High School, 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. We are so excited that a life-giving Victory campus is coming to that northeast side of the city up there. So one more time, come on, let's celebrate what God is doing up there. We're so excited for you guys. Hey, so if you are just joining us, maybe you're new to Victory here, you're kinda jumping in midstream as we're spending essentially the entire year journeying through the Book of John. And if you are new to the Book of John, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, they're in the New Testament. This is called a gospel.

What's a gospel? Gospel means the good news of Jesus. And John establishes it. He said, here's why I'm writing this book. I am writing this book, what's called the Gospel of John, so that you would believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, and that by believing, you would have life in His name. That is the journey that we are on. That is the journey that you signed up for. I want life in Jesus. That's why we are here today. And John doesn't hold any punches from the first word. He says that the word of God came flesh. Like he's saying from the jump that Jesus is God, we turn the page. Jesus turns water into wine. He starts flipping tables in the temple. He is correcting religious leaders, yet showing grace to a sinful woman at a well. Come on, he heals a paralyzed man, and then he feeds 5,000 people with a Lunchable. Like he's revealing, he's showing that he really is God. And then two weeks ago, we arrived in John 8, and we are finishing John 8 today. But John 8 is hands down the most confrontational chapter that we have seen. Jesus is turning the heat up. He is revealing who he is. And then the darkness is fighting back against the light.

That's what we see here in John 8 from verse one. They drag this adulterous woman in front of Jesus. And we all know that it takes two to make a thing go right, but that man ain't there. Because they're not really interested in righteousness, they're trying to trap Jesus. And they're like, Jesus, we should kill her, right? And then Jesus says, hey, whoever's without sin cast the first stone. You guys know the story. And so the old people drop the rocks first, and everybody leaves. And then Jesus looks down at her and says, hey, I don't condemn you either. You are forgiven. Then he says, now go and leave your life of sin. It's full grace, full truth, which offends everybody. That's just who Jesus is. And then the crowds begin forming, and here's where we're beginning to land today. And then Jesus teaches the crowds there in John 8, 30. Says, as he was saying these things, many believed. Everybody say believed. Many believed in him. Okay, so this is where we stop and we say, praise God. Traditionally, we say, hey, people are believing in Jesus. That's awesome. I'm sure the disciples are hype. I have to imagine Peter's being super Peter, and he's like, John, it's happening.

It's happening, John. Everybody's starting to believe, right? Jesus's Insta count just doubled. Come on, that TikTok video we drop where everybody dropped the stones, right? You know what I'm saying? Like, it got a million views. Like, come on, guys, it's happening. All the disciples are hype. The crowd is forming. And they look over at Jesus expecting him to be happy, but he's still locked in. And it's almost like there's something about Jesus that's not content with people just believing. And it's to those believers that the next verse, Jesus actually says probably one of his top three most famous sayings there in the Bible where we're landing today. And here's the deal. This saying that he says there, it's still echoing on today. Here's what he says. Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. We love that, don't we? And the truth will set you free. Like, we love this saying. Now, here's the problem. We love it more than we understand it, right?

I was reading back over this, I mean, multiple times this last week, right? We like this last part. Now, read the whole part. If you abide in my, hold on, right? If you abide in my word, then you're truly my, and then you'll know, wait, hold on, and the truth will set you free. I like that part. Right? We don't get the first part, but we like, and here's why I'm saying that. Everybody likes that last part, the truth will set you free. That's why it's on the seal of John Hopkins University, and it's on the building of the University of Texas, and they have it on hospital buildings and in law offices, and they quote it in movies because the truth will set you free. And what they're actually implying is the more knowledge you have means the more freedom you'll have. And so if we just keep getting more degrees, and if we just keep understanding more things, we'll have more liberty, our lives will keep getting better. But I've got good news for you. They got it wrong. Really, here's the good news for you today. You can be dumb as a brick and still be free. Come on, somebody point at your neighbor

and say, he's talking about you. He's talking about you. I think he was thinking about you when he said that. You can be dumb as a brick. Come on, you can be dumb as a brick and still be free, and you can be as smart as Einstein and still be a slave. Okay, because here's the idea. Let me just kind of summarize the whole idea here, is this whole thing is not about having undergrads and masters and PhDs, right? Those things are effective for certain areas of life, but they are not effective for the most important areas of life, which is knowing God and being known by God and living a life pleasing to God. You don't need degrees to be free. A degree will not set you free. How do I know that? Because the disciples were unschooled, ordinary men who were turning the world upside down, and the Pharisees pointed at them and says, all we know is that these guys have been with Jesus. These guys have been with Jesus. Here's what I'm trying to say. Freedom isn't about knowing something. Freedom is knowing someone. Come on, freedom. You will never find the ultimate freedom of life by unlocking this vault of knowledge in the Kung Fu Panda golden scroll of wisdom and nirvana.

No, no, no, no. Knowledge, knowing something will not set you free, but knowing someone will set you free. And what Jesus is trying to say here is, guys, you need to be set free. And when he said, listen, when he tells believers they need to be set free, they freak out. And here's what they say. They answered him, we are offspring of Abraham, and we've never been enslaved to anybody. How is it that you say you will become free? Now, pause right here, because if you know, you know. And that's hilarious. I think there's a lot of things in the Bible that are really funny that we don't understand. Because if you know the story, these guys are Jews. Quick journey through the Old Testament. They claim that they've never been enslaved to anybody. Well, they were actually enslaved to the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks. Why Jesus even says you need to be set free is because they just finished Sukkot, which is the festival of tabernacles, which is when they celebrate freedom from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. That's why he says, hey, you need to be set free. And they're like, well, we are free. While they say we are free, they pick up their heads. And there's the Romans. These guys have been enslaved to everybody.

We've never been enslaved to anybody. They've been enslaved to everybody. And what they're really trying to say is, no, no, no, Abraham's our father. And so, yeah, I know we were enslaved, but our souls were free. And Jesus is like, that's not true either. Because Jesus isn't just talking about the slavery as they understand it. He's talking about something much more sinister. And here's where he continues. And he answers them truly, truly, amen, amen. He says, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. Say, uh-oh, the slave does not remain in the house forever, but the son remains forever. So if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Come on, just, can we? That is ultimate truth. That's ultimate truth right there. If the son sets you free, you will be free. Indeed, here's what Jesus is saying. I didn't come to set you free from the Romans. I came to set you free from the devil. And the freedom that Jesus offers, it's freedom from sin's, I'll say two things, sin's domination and damnation. It's sin ruling over you in life, and it's also sin, in essence, ruling over you in death. And if the son sets you free, you'll be free indeed.

Guys, I was reading that this last week again and again, probably 40 times, and just allowing that to wash over me. That is good news. I don't know if you're gonna get anything else out of this sermon. I want you to get this. I want you to get this. Jesus is the one who sets you free. And if he sets you free, you will be free indeed. It is not a partial freedom. It's not a 10% freedom. It's not a nice AA program. No, Jesus has the power to break the shackles and deliver you from bondage, from sin, from addiction, from depression, from the devil, from darkness, from death. And when Jesus is calling out, he's crying out right here. He's saying, guys, listen, listen, I know you believe. I know all that sort of stuff. Okay, but listen, you need to be set free. And I'm the one who can do that. But again, I'm talking to the choir today. Listen, why does Jesus tell the believers that they need to be set free? Well, because that word believer is a really tricky word, right? And what we begin to discover is these guys liked some things about Jesus. They believe some things about Jesus. In fact, if you know where all the rest of John 8 goes, that's where we were last week. These are the guys that in just a few minutes are actually, when Jesus makes the great profession before Abraham was born, I am. These are the same believers who pick up rocks to kill him. Because they like some of the things that Jesus said, but they didn't like the other things that Jesus said. I want to be super clear. The people who were trying to kill Jesus were not atheists. They were believers. But they're believers. How's that possible? Jesus is saying in the kindest way possible, guys, you can't just stay at this place of liking some things about me. You can't just stay at this place of just believing. You have to dig deeper. In fact, believing some things about Jesus may be about the most dangerous place you can be. Because when you're hot, you know you're hot. And when

you're cold, you know you're cold. But when you're lukewarm, that's why Jesus says, again in verse 31, he says, if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you'll know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Listen, the four key words right there. I'll probably add a fifth, okay? I just leave this up here just for a second. I want to do my best just to interpret this for you in 90 seconds, okay? Here's what Jesus is saying. The real goal, okay, isn't believing for a moment. It's abiding for a lifetime. That's the real goal. The real goal of this thing, let me just clarify, it's not that you go to a church service one time when you're 14 and say a prayer. The real goal is not liking some things about Jesus. The real goal is actually abiding in his ways for a lifetime, to remain in God's word, to remain in God's ways. Another translation says, if you obey my teachings, if you heed my teachings, if you build your life on who I am, not that you read it once, not that you memorized it for a Bible trivia quiz so you could impress your small group. No, no, you cling to his word. You cling to his ways. You meditate on it, and you obey it. The goal is not to be attracted to Jesus. The goal is to be committed to Jesus, even when he offends you. Especially when he offends you. When you want to do something and he says no. When you read something in his word and it cuts you, do you still obey? Even when it hurts. Even when the lights are off and you think that nobody's watching, do you abide? Do you abide? Because that's what a disciple does. Believers obey when it's convenient. Disciples obey no matter what, and when a righteous man falls down, he gets back up seven more times. That's what produces the transformation. Disciples obey over the long term, even when it hurts. And Jesus says, if you do that, you will know. That word know is really important. It's gnosko in the Greek. Gnosko means to know something intimately because you have a prolonged relationship. So how in the world can I know truth? How can I have an intimate relationship with truth? Well, this is what the whole thing hinges on. This is what unlocks this entire verse. In John 14, Jesus says, I am the way, the truth. And then, after you abide in my word, you'll become my disciple, and you will have an intimate relationship with me as you abide in my word and my ways for a

long time. Jesus is the truth. He's saying, if you abide in his way of life, you'll get to know him, and then he will set you free. And if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. And I love, again, the Greek. I like giving you Greek words every once in a while. It's Eleuthero. Eleuthero. Eleuthero there in the Greek. And here's the Bible dictionary. It says Eleuthero means to cause someone to be freed from domination. In other words, the freedom that Jesus offers isn't just getting the handcuffs. off it's getting the occupier out of your life this isn't just like I'm in lockup for the weekend no no it's a foreign army has moved into your life and Jesus says if you abide in my word and my ways you're gonna get to know me and then I will deliver you from bondage so I'm gonna give you a just maybe like a rephrasing of John 8 31 32 you'll notice this is the JSB that's the Johnson Standard version okay so I just try to put this in some maybe a little bit more friendly language okay that helps me understand it if you remain in Jesus's way of life you're truly his family yours kids yours people and then you will come to know Jesus intimately and he will set you free from the domination of sin so if the Sun sets you free you will be free indeed that's the summary of that whole thing but it's comes as you abide as you know the truth as you know the ways of God as you live in that place he's gonna set you free okay I just let me just stress it just one more way I want to contrast the two ways here's what saying if you're a disciple that means you abide in the word and you know the truth and then you experience freedom a believer visits the ways of God ends up believing lies and lives as a slave okay I'm gonna ask you a really hard question which one do you want to be all right do you want to be a slave all right all the slaves okay who wants to live free okay it's about three to one okay all right no no come on which one looks better come on don't you want to don't you want to live free don't you want your kids to live free don't don't you want your soul to be free listen I let me just say this right here at the top let me clarify today I am NOT talking about becoming a nice clean Christian I'm talking about living in such a way that porn doesn't destroy

your marriage I'm talking about living in such a way that alcoholism doesn't ruin your children I'm talking about can you live in such a way that pride doesn't destroy your relationship with God that your rebellion doesn't send you to hell that that's that's the freedom that I'm talking who wants that type of freedom yeah free indeed free indeed then we have to remain in Jesus in his way of life so here's the question how do we do that what if the truth will set you free what sort of relationship with the truth do we have to have I'm gonna walk you through this for a few minutes okay here's the first thing we have to choose our source of truth okay now now again I a little bit this is I'm preaching to the choir but I think you're gonna catch some things here over the next few minutes if our freedom hinges on us knowing the truth we better have the right source of truth okay and here's the truth you want a truth the truth is we have a truth problem today that's the truth the truth is we don't know what the truth is anymore because there's a war on truth and I have my truth and you have your truth that wasn't even a thing 30 years ago we just made up new words that don't make sense my truth and your truth and fake news and AI come on have you been the person who sent the video yet and then people are like bro wait that ain't real that ain't real that's AI and you're like what I thought they taught the dog kung-fu what are you talking about it come on you don't know what to believe the world's been turned upside down like this if you google this this is a thing I didn't know this that two plus two equals four is white supremacy my whole life doesn't make sense anymore you can't trust anything the government says you are you like it's confusing we live in a confusing world where truth has been destabilized the foundations have been eroded so people go to different sources for truth right some of y'all go to your mama hey mama what should I do right some of y'all go to the way that you grew up the way that you were trained some of you go to your emotions your my life is built that's my truth that's why I change every single day right because it's built on my emotion some people their truth is what their teacher says some is what chat says or Claude says some is what my favorite influencer says some is

like what my favorite pastor says and oh yeah I read the Bible once a month and now here's the thought guys like I'm in the same world too I go in the comment section you wanna know why I go in the car I watch Saturday Night Live you wanna know why because I want to know what people are talking about okay here's the difference here's the difference there are a lot of places I can get ideas but there's only one place I can get real truth that's from the Word of God that's from the Word of God so you better make sure you have the right source of truth because here's the big idea if the truth can set you free then a lie will keep you bound and that is why there is a war against the truth okay that is why again Genesis 3 the first word Satan ever says in the Bible is did God really say that's why that's out there we talked about that last week did Jesus really say he was God come on did God really did Jesus really did come on guys the church is lying come on like this is trying to destabilize truth because of truth as your foundation gets destabilized you'll fall for anything you'll be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine and if the enemy can keep you out of truth he can keep you dominated and this is why people who are deconstructing the faith are twice as slave as they ever were I am tired of seeing our students who love God go off to school and be taken out by one class led by an atheist professor because they never actually built their life on a foundation of truth they were listening to everything to kind of mix it all together to form this Frankenstein truth but let me remind us contrary to public opinion there is still such a thing as objective truth okay what is objective truth objective truth means it's true for everyone everywhere at all times regardless of how you feel about it because facts don't care about your feelings and it's true it's true and a lie is lie one of my favorite quotes this is a real quote from Abraham Lincoln is this he was at a political thing and he said this if you call a dog's tail a leg how many legs does it have all right so he's got four legs do you call its tail well the answer would be five right here's what he said he said for calling the tail a

leg does not make it a leg y'all picking up what I'm putting down I don't care what you call a lie how much lipstick you put on a pig still bit I don't care what you call if you call the lie a truth it's still a lot and let God be true and every man be a liar okay and here's the thought guys love won't set you free money won't set you free emotions won't set you free sex won't set you free knowledge and degrees won't set you free here's one your truth won't set you free but the truth will set you free and what is the truth Isaiah 40 verse 8 the grass withers and the flowers fall but the Word of our God endures forever here's what I'm saying governments rise and fall your emotions change every single day your emotions are the least safe place in the world to build your life because you'll be high one day and down the next you want to commit suicide you'll say this about yourself whatever that is listen opinions come and go social media influencers change their accounts every single day everything's changing but there's one thing that never changes there's only one who does not cast a shifting shadow there's only one who's the same yesterday today and forever and his word is good and it's truth and it's life and the grass withers and the flowers fall but the Word of our God endures forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and it is the safe place to build our life upon it is our source of truth it is our source of truth so if we're gonna live free the first thing is we have to choose our source of truth then the second thing is once we choose our source of truth be planted in it be planted in it sink your roots down deep into it build your life on it here's here's a truth for us today the church has a commitment problem we we have a problem with this the people of God just are not reading the Bible the way we should why distractions other priorities other sources of truth don't know where to start I'm bored I don't have a physical copy my my friend has one with the bigger text I don't know my friend has one with the commentary in the Bible I don't know I'll get to it next week oh I woke up I'm gonna scroll social we got a thousand reasons why we don't read this but the problem is we just don't read it and listen even people let me be very kind this morning

even many people who love the Word of God here's our real problem we love sermons more than we love scriptures and so I know people will really listen to a sermon four times before they even open up their Bible themselves you don't know if I'm lying to you today I'd be making all this up come on guys don't build your life on what I say about Jesus build your life on what he says about you let this be supplementary let this be supplementary to your own building your life on this thing and again I've said this before one of our problems is some of you gonna leave here today and you're gonna go to another church this afternoon and you're gonna listen to a podcast on Tuesday and then you're gonna go to this other thing on Thursday night, whatever that is. And the problem is you have all these sermons but no scriptures and you're not doing any of it. And you trick yourself into thinking I'm building my life on this. No, I'm building my life on church hopping. I'm building my life on podcasts. I'm building my life on a Sunday morning experience. I'm not building my life on truth. And here's why this matters. Second Timothy three, verse 16 and 17. It says all scripture, everybody say all scripture. Is God-breathed, it's God-breathed and it's useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. Just the way some of you guys hit the gym, this does the same thing for your soul. So that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped. Everybody say thoroughly equipped.

For every good work. Here's what he's saying. If you only listen to sermons that can really only talk about like one core scripture a week, you are only being partially equipped for some of the works. I don't know about you. I wanna be thoroughly equipped for every good work. So I'm gonna build my life on this. I'm gonna grow myself. I'm gonna plant my life on this. Here's the idea. People who make God's word a small part of their lives will only know a small amount of freedom. But those who abide in the whole thing will know the full range of freedom that Jesus brings. And here's our commitment problem, okay. They did a study on this a few years ago and now they call it the power of four, all right. And here's what they discovered. Is that if you read the Bible one time a week, really no change in your life. Here's the problem. If you read it twice a week, really no change. You can look this up later. If you read it three times a week, really negligible change. Something happens at four times a week. Here it is.

Four times a week, affairs drop by 68%. Porn use dropped by 61%. Alcoholism dropped by 57%. Loneliness dropped by 30%. Why? 4%, you've just now tipped over half of your week. And what it's saying is, is that you're beginning to abide in God's word and God's word is beginning to abide in you. In other words, you're starting to plant your life in this truth that's no longer good ideas. I'm actually starting to treasure it. I'm actually starting to love it more than life itself. I'm actually starting to understand that what I have in here is the pearl of great price and I wanna leverage and sell everything else I have so I can have God in his word. I'm starting to value this thing. And so I'm actually starting to experience freedom because through this, I'm coming to know Christ and Christ will set me free. I came across somebody saying this this last week. There's two ways, two approaches to kind of emptying your life of sin. One, imagine a coffee cup. One, imagine the coffee cup full of sin, your life full of sin. And you just tip it over, pour it out. Okay, awesome. And you flip it back over.

Here's the problem, it's still empty. Still empty. Can I scare you just for a second? There's a problem of just like repenting of sin and then just walking out and nothing changes. That's when Jesus says the demons come back seven times worse. See, there's a difference in just like, oh, I don't wanna sin, right? Versus what would happen instead of just tipping it, what would happen if the hand of God just came into that coffee cup and displaced the sin out? Now you're not empty, now you're actually full of the kingdom of God. Y'all, are y'all picking up what I'm putting down? There's a difference in just saying, God, I'm sorry, I don't wanna do it again. Then you walk back out and do it again. Versus, man, I wanna plant my life on the word of God and abide in the truth. And then the truth starts coming in and displacing the lies and the evil in my life. And now I'm not empty, now I'm actually full of God. That's what I'm talking about. What does it look like to plant my life? Not to visit God's word, not to visit God's ways, but to actually treasure it and to build my life upon it. This is not just learning some theology, it's learning how to be, it's learning how to live, it's learning how to pray, it's learning how to fast,

it's learning how to love people, it's learning how to love God. It's actually becoming a disciple. And that is the key to a free life. If I can actually plant my life here and if I can plant my life in settings and with people who will actually help me to grow in truth. Which, guys, it shows us the second part of our commitment problem. We have a commitment problem here and we also have a commitment problem to settings which help us to grow in truth. Let's just say it. We have a commitment problem with church. We do, right, like go there with me. If you're like over 40, you know this, okay? Especially if you're like over 60, you know this. Like 30, 40 years ago, how many times did we go to church? 380 every, come on, right? The average was people went to church three times a week. Okay, you wanna know the average today? People go to church 1.6 times a month, month. Three times a week versus 1.6 times a month. Okay, that's about. six to seven times less. Six to seven times less. And here's the thought, guys. People are dating the church instead of putting a ring on it. I understand this, church is preaching heresy,

church is taking the money and buying jets and all that. Listen, listen, you know this isn't one of those charges? Okay, and here's the thought, guys. When we aren't planted, one, in God's word, but also the places that can help us grow in the truth, we hurt ourselves and the church. Okay, I was just reading through Nehemiah recently. And Nehemiah is like a master's class in leadership. And the big idea of Nehemiah is they're gonna build the city walls. And one person doesn't build the city walls because they had already tried that and it was taking like 100 plus years and it wasn't done. And then what they said is, hey, your family take that part, your family take that part, your family, and when they finally did that, dozens and dozens and dozens of people all putting their hands together, the city walls were done in like a month. What they had tried to do for 100 years, they couldn't do. They did it in a month when everybody, here's what I'm saying. When there's something like Vision 2026, but you don't give, you hurt you and us. When there's something like a youth group rally tonight and you don't come and you don't bring your kids and you don't serve, you hurt you and us. Come on, when there's victory kids and you just drop your kids off and you're like,

whoa, glad somebody else is gonna do that, you hurt you and us. When there's five, literally 5,000 people in victory small groups, but you hold back and you don't help the lead and you don't attend, you hurt you and us. When you just come to worship and you stick your hands in your pocket and you're like staring at the band, when you gonna be over, you hurt you and us. But when you come hungry and when you come expectant and when you come ready for God to do a miracle, come on, when you come ready for God to set the captive free, when you come ready to take notes, when you come ready to meet Jesus, when you come ready to grow in truth, when you go 10 toes down on community and serving and generosity, here's what happens. Every single step for your life starts going up and to the right. Here's how the Psalmist says it, Psalm 92, 13. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall, everybody say flourish. Those who date the church. No, those who are planted in the word of God, in the ways of God, in the community of God, growing in truth together shall flourish. Who wants to flourish? Yeah, okay, here's the question, here's the question. What would it look like for you and I

to commit to getting in God's word and in God's house with God's people in a way that just turns the temperature up? Come on, you're 1.6 times a month. What would happen if you went to two? What would happen if you went to three? What would happen if you were here every single week? Here's the problem, you think you already know, but you don't because you don't do it. I'm not talking about visiting God's word, I'm talking about planting your life in it. I'm not talking about reading God's word every other week, I'm talking about making it your thing, like you wake up 20 minutes earlier to actually start building your foundation before you ever hit the interstate. That's what I'm talking about. What would it look like if we actually turned the heat up in our life and moved from one to two and two to three and three to four and five to six? Because the more you get planted in Jesus, the more you will flourish and the more free you will be. Five ways to live free, here's the third thing, is that once we choose the source, once we get planted in that source, then we have to choose the kingdom. We actually have to, here's what I'm saying, we have to pull away from all the other kingdoms that we're a part of to be a part

of the kingdom of truth alone. We have to, if the church has a commitment problem, here's what I'll say for this one, the church has an allegiance problem. Christians have an allegiance problem today, and I'm gonna go there, I was on the fence, but I'm just gonna go there, okay? Welcome to victory, we're an equal opportunity offender. Here's our problem with our allegiances today, the Christians today, and I'm just hot off the press, Christians today have an allegiance problem to two other kingdoms. We have been kidnapped by the kingdom of politics and the kingdom of race, and people are all in it, and so you'll hear stuff like this, if your pastor doesn't talk about this this weekend, you need to leave your church, said by a dude who can't lead his way out of a paper bag, and has never led more than a Wendy's drive-thru window. But he has a platform on social media to try and sow division to get you out of the will of God. And since we have shared allegiances, we follow the itching of our flesh instead of the leading of the spirit. And the problem is we become disciples of the culture instead of disciples of the kingdom. We're disciples of Fox News and CNN and CNBC, we're disciples of Candace Owens, God help us, and The View, and white Christian nationalism, this, and identity politics, that.

And then we go out of here and we live in the comment section, we get enraged. because it says if you're black you should do this and if you're white you should do that and come on all my latinos and asians just trying to stay out of it let everybody else fight you're like not not my problem bro you know and and so buzzwords trigger us to the point where when we preach kingdom values that collide with the earthly discipleship we've had we find believers getting offended believers get offended when kingdom is preached because believers aren't being discipled by the kingdom they're being discipled by the culture i was in a room with 25 other pastors this last week and the the literally with the leader of the the largest church in america and he asked this question he said how many of you are under he's asking pastors how many of you are under heavy constant attack every single hand went up every single pastor's hand went up inside that room and then he basically asked this how much of that is from your congregation every hand went up i know it's not most of you it's not it's not okay no but literally here's what i thought here's what i thought because right on my way there out in oklahoma i was i i i was just scrolling just crawling and i found the dumbest question was the it's just one of those things just to light the comment section on fire is the dumbest question and it said this if donald trump was drowning would you save him and i was like of course i would he's a human being right and i knew as soon as i said that somebody would get offended right and this is why we lack peace this is why we're angry all the time this is why we're tense all the time this is why we aren't loving our neighbors because we're being discipled by the culture instead of being discipled by the kingdom and what this is guys it's a fight for your allegiance whose team are you on that's what to say it's so if it's a fight for your allegiance it's ultimately a fight for your freedom what kingdom do you belong to and i'm here to remind us today that our ultimate allegiance is not to politics our ultimate allegiance is not to our skin color or earthly culture our ultimate allegiance is to jesus whose side am i on i'm on team jesus baby i want his kingdom to come i want his will to be done here on earth as it is in heaven i'm not pro republican kingdom i'm not pro democrat kingdom i'm not pro white kingdom i'm not pro black kingdom i'm not pro asian kingdom i'm not pro latino king i'm pro jesus's kingdom i'm not saying politics don't matter i'm not saying culture doesn't matter but i am saying they don't have my ultimate allegiance because when earthly culture collides with kingdom culture

the kingdom culture has to win every single time which means we have to come up higher we have to lift our eyes up off of the mess down here guys because we belong to a higher kingdom than this earthly kingdom we belong to a higher family than this earthly family guys i don't care what your skin color is blood spirit is thicker than blood listen i i share infinitely more with every single person in this room and in this church than if i went back into this white neighbor no no no come on this is the family that we're a part of and we're in this world but we're not of this world okay and if you want to know the real test here's the real test of how are you being disciple what where's my kingdom allegiance to because the easy thing is in church oh yeah i'm team jesus no listen are your daily emotions based on what somebody in the white house says are my emotions swinging based on what's happening in culture what's happening in the comment if so check your allegiance come up higher from that thing because here's the deal i understand there's a dumpster fire out there okay but listen if i'm enraged like everybody else i can't help to set them free because i'm i'm in it with them i'm just as bad as they are because i got to be able to come up out of this thing into the kingdom culture into the kingdom of heaven and then we can actually be in it but not of it so we can minister to the people in it and when i live that way checking my allegiance and have an ultimate allegiance to the kingdom i will be free from the mess that everybody else has caught in so therefore the fourth way to live free now i can tell others the truth choose our source of truth choose to be planted in that truth choose the choose our source of truth choose to be planted in that truth choose the kingdom of truth and then tell others the truth if the church has an allegiance problem the church also has a mission problem okay because everybody's living for the weekend and trying to have their vacation and store up their accounts but we're not living a life of purpose that actually matters we're not living passionately about the things that matters and what matters most souls and and here's how i'd say it guys i'll oversimplify it if you tell me how much of your life is spent on helping people enter the kingdom i can tell you how much freedom you're living in okay the uh our 21 year old let me talk about jeremiah for a second our 21 year old um just got back from italy um he was on a victory mission strip with an organization called jesus revolution and he was over there for about two weeks, and I've never seen him. We've never seen him this excited about anything in his life.

I mean, more than sports, more than girls, like more than all of it. Like he's so hype right now. And why? Because on that trip, in the course of two weeks, he prayed for five people who were healed. Like literally came in a wheelchair, pushed the wheelchair home, came with a cane, put the cane over the shoulder, carried him. And personally, he didn't keep track, but personally, he thinks, estimate, that individual conversations with people, he led right around 40 people to faith in Jesus. Four zero, 40 people who were just living their life. He walked up to them on the street, started this conversation, okay? And so I've never seen him this excited, to the point, you want some pastoral family drama? You wanna? They're both like, give it to me, I'll tweet it right now, right? Okay. Pastoral family drama. Now, Jeremiah's already had like his real rebellion phase. Okay, last, that's my wife laughing. Last Sunday morning, about 6 a.m., he leaves Summer a voice memo. And the long short is this, basically, he's 21, you know, so he's kind of doing his thing. But basically, he snuck out of the house

to drive to Florida, to go with three other friends, to fly to Guatemala, to witness to people. Who does that? And Summer's like, you don't know Spanish. He's like, oh yeah, but somebody does, they'll translate for us, like. I said, what I'm saying is, when you actually get in the game, something happens on the inside of you. Here's what's happening on the inside of him. Again, Philemon, verse six, there's only one chapter, but verse six, says, and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective, why, for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. Here's what I'm saying. When we share the good news of Jesus, it reminds us of the good news that we have, and it reinvigorates us to get back in the game, because they're gonna ask questions. And so then you have to go and find answers, and as you're finding answers to explain the faith to them, you're reminded how good you have it. So that when the darkness comes knocking, you're actually reminded, no, actually, the darkness is what they're in. I'm a child of the light, why would I go back into the dark? That's what I'm talking about is living free. If you wanna live free, share your freedom,

and it'll remind you of the good news of your freedom, which keeps you out of being locked up back in it again. And so the question is this, do you wanna live free? If so, get in the game. Stop talking about the game, get out of the comment section, stop attacking your neighbor, and start loving your neighbor. Stop attacking your neighbor digitally, and start loving them personally. Go knock on a door, go take them some cookies, go share the good news. And in so doing, you'll be reminded of the good news that you have, which will cause you to remain and abide in it forever. Here's the last way to live free. Finally, choose the king of truth. Okay, listen, I know that this isn't a popular thing, what I'm about to say. I know the truths of the world would disagree with us, but without faith in the finished work of Jesus, you will go to hell. It's the kindest thing I could ever tell you, okay? Why? Because you're still a slave to sin. You're still a slave to sin. He who sins is a slave to sin. And here's the deal, everybody thinks, well, I could stop. Go ahead and try it. You can't. Because it's a deception from the father of lies, okay? In fact, Jesus says this.

He says, you can only have two fathers. You either serve Yahweh, God, or you serve the devil. Just make up your mind and choose, okay? And here's what Jesus says. Again, there at the end of John 8, where were we at? He says, you belong to your father, the devil, and you wanna carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, but there is no truth in him. And when he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. All the devil does is lie. How is he a murderer? Because he lied to Adam and Eve. Did God really say? He knew exactly. And so he led them into lies, which means he led them into slavery, which means he led them into death, okay? And the devil comes only to steal and kill and destroy, but the good news is this. Jesus Christ came so you could have life and life more abundantly and life to the fullest. Jesus came to defeat the domination of sin in our lives and the damnation of sin in your life. Jesus came to defeat not only the sin in the present, but also sin in eternity. As it was nailed to his body on the cross, you're sinning. and was nailed to his body,

he took the punishment that was due you so he could liberate you from it. And when you abide in his ways, you actually come to know Jesus and you experience the freedom that he has purchased for you. And you don't have to be in slavery like you used to be or like everybody else is, guys. And here's what I'm trying to say. Can we put the five back up here? When you actually walk through this, when you choose your source of truth, when you choose to be planted in that truth. Maybe the right question is this. God, what other places am I going to for truth? God, am I really building my life on you or am I just kind of visiting you on Sundays? God, what other allegiances do I have? Where am I building my life? Like, who else do I serve? God, am I living a life where I'm actually sharing this truth or am I just keeping it to myself? Is Jesus my real king? Or am I a believer? And John says this. I was reading this last night. John says this. It's in 3 John. Nobody reads 3 John. And the thinking is,

this is probably the last letter that John wrote. He's already received the revelation. He's already written the gospel. And he writes this. He's the old man. He's the only one of the disciples who wasn't martyred, even though they tried. 3 John, verse four. He writes, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. This is old great-grandpa John with some of his last breaths. And he writes, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. That was his ultimate joy. I don't have time to unpack that, but listen. He had seen the revelation. He had seen Jesus. He knew Jesus was coming back. This is the guy who laid his head on Jesus' chest. He says, the thing that brings me the most joy in life is knowing that you aren't living a lie, is knowing that you aren't walking in darkness, but you've actually come to understand and know and to build on the word and the ways of Jesus. Because what he knew was this. If the Son sets you free, you'll be free indeed. Let's celebrate that freedom. Jesus, amen. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Hey, family, here's what we're gonna do across all the campuses. I think we need to celebrate this and take one step further, and we're gonna receive the Lord's Supper together. And so, if you're at the end of an aisle, why don't you take that small bucket and pass that down. And on the night that he was betrayed, right before he goes to the cross, Jesus shares what's called the Last Supper. He shares the meal. He shares Passover with his friends, with his family. So, here's the big idea. If you are part of the family of God through faith in Jesus, or you want to become part of the family of God through faith in Jesus, I'm gonna invite you to receive communion with us. And let me just talk to three groups of people real quick, because I don't know where you're at today. If you're a disciple, if you're building your life on the word and the ways of Jesus,

I just pray that you'd be strengthened. I pray that you'd be gladdened by the freedom you already have. Maybe you're being reminded of what you've been set free from, who you used to be, all that. And I would just encourage you, put a shovel in your hand and keep digging deeper. Keep building stronger, because you know that he who trusts in Jesus will never be put to shame. You know that, you're a disciple. There's another group, an unbeliever. And maybe you're in here today and you're saying, I'm fine, I'm not a slave to anybody. I do my thing. I live my truth. Okay. I pray that the kindness of God would show you that the bridge is out ahead. And you are driving a hundred miles an hour with a blindfold on and your hands chained. And today the invitation is to choose the King of truth. It's not here to hurt you. It's here to save you and to heal you. And maybe you're in this third group today and I say this kindly, only the Holy Spirit can tell you where you're at. Maybe you're what, even what Jesus is alluding to is a fake believer.

Somebody who likes some things about Jesus, but you don't actually want Jesus. You just like his quotes. You like being in his presence, but you don't like him. And there's a tricky thing where there is no version of Christianity that allows you to say a prayer and continue living the way you want to, because God loves me. That's not, you won't find that. The call is not to taste and leave. The call is to taste and stay and to build your life here because truly. Love inspires obedience. And that's where you'll know the truth and the truth will actually set you free. And so maybe, I don't know where you're at today, but if Jesus is calling you out of maybe fake believing or unbelieving into his kingdom, I wanna encourage you, I want you to pray with me. Maybe believers around you are gonna pray with you. Let's pray like this. Say, Jesus, I wanna abide in your word. I want to obey your teaching. I wanna be your disciple. So I repent and I turn my back on my sin and my rebellion. I turn to you. I confess, Jesus is the son of God, died on the cross to pay my sin debt and he rose again. You are the truth.

You are the life. I build my life on you from this day forward. I choose you as the truth. I will be planted in the truth. I will choose the kingdom of truth. I will tell others the truth. I will establish my life on the king of truth. And if Jesus sets me free, I will be free indeed. And I will live free indeed for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name, I am born again. Amen. God, thank you for life. Thank you for salvation. Thank you for freedom. If you have the bread, why don't you take it out and you break it in your fingers. At that last supper, Jesus broke the bread and he said, this is my body broken for you. And so right now, God, I thank you for the broken body of Jesus, that he was broken so we could be made whole. And so Father, wherever the body today is fractured, wherever the family today is fractured, if we have fractured relationships, if we have broken thinking, God, if we have destroyed relationships, if we have cancers in the body, God, wherever there's brokenness, I speak wholeness and healing and life. Why?

Because by your stripes, we are healed. And right now we take this bread, is the wholeness of the body of Jesus into our life. And we do it in remembrance of him. Let's take the bread. And we do it in remembrance of him. Jesus then took the cup and he poured it. He said, this is the cup of the new covenant. Covenant means a God promise of how we were made right with God. And so Father, right now, I thank you. It's not about our good works, nothing that we talked about today, as far as like just trying to be planted, nothing of that saves us, only Jesus saves us. And so God, I thank you for the spilt blood of Jesus. God, that washes us as white as snow when we bring it into our life. Today, we receive it afresh. God, this thing is not about us. This thing is about you and your kingdom come. So all eyes are on Jesus. We brag on Jesus because Jesus freely laid his life down. He was freely able to take it back up again. And Jesus is alive. And so right now we take the living life, the blood of Jesus into our life to forgive us, to reconcile us back to the Father and to one another. All of this is possible only because of Jesus. And right now we take this cup

and we do it in remembrance of Jesus. Let's take the cup. Take that small bucket at the end of your aisle and you can pass that back down. You can deposit that in there. Hey guys, one more time, across all of victory, can we thank God that he whom the Son sets free is free indeed. God bless you. Thanks for being a part of Victory Church on the Pando app. We hope this content was a blessing to you, but we want you to know that you're not done yet because we want to hear from you. So send us a letter and tell us things like what God is doing in your life, how we can pray for you, or even content that you would like to see us create in the future. We just want you to know that we see you, you're important to us, and we'd love to continue to create some things in the future that will bless you. So send us a letter and we hope to hear from you soon.