Abiding in Truth

Psalm 119:160 NIV

160 All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.

Alright, tonight we conclude our series on truth! We’ve been talking about how God’s Word is truth, His ways are truth, His love is true, and how His truth can set us free!

We’ve also talked about some of the “popular” ideas regarding truth and how these ideas… really are not true at all. These ideas include statements like:

Truth is a matter of perspective. What’s true for you might not be true for me.

My truth is shaped by how I feel and think.

The Bible is old fashioned and out of date… it really has nothing to offer us today.

I can do what I want so long as it isn’t hurting anyone. There is no universal definition of sin, morality, or justice.

Truth is… universal or absolute truth DOES exist… and just because a person might choose to not believe it… doesn’t make it any less true!

Tonight, we are going to talk about abiding in truth.

Does anyone know what it means it abide?

To abide in something means to live in or dwell. So, by definition, we are talking about living in or dwelling in truth - specifically God’s truth. This will require three things from us.

One, we must KNOW His truth.

Two, we must APPLY His truth.

Three, we must PASS the TESTING of His truth.

The truth a person knows and applies will be tested in life. And the only truth that can stand in EVERY test is God’s truth.

Jesus spoke of this at the end of His Sermon on the Mount. He said if you want to make it through the storms of this life, you need to listen to His words AND apply them to your life. Only then will His truth become the foundation to your life.

The storms that Jesus spoke of… will test what your “truth” is made of. And these storms or tests can come in all shapes and forms.

You might read something in a book or online that challenges what you believe.

Your peers might challenge what you believe.

The music you listen to might challenge what you believe.

The movies or shows you watch might challenge what you believe.

The games you play might challenge what you believe.

These are all “storms” that might try to come your way. And… these are what I would call thunderstorm level events. What about the more sever stuff?

A sudden unexpected negative event might challenge what you believe.

A bad health diagnosis might challenge what you believe.

A series of intense occurrences… one after the other might challenge what you believe.

The point is… storms come in different forms and intensities… the question is… will your resolve, your decision to abide in God’s truth stand through the storm?

We’re going to check out our video for the evening and then revisit that question.

VIDEO

Learning to Abide

John 15:4–5 NIV

4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Jesus tells us in this passage to abide in Him… to remain, to dwell in Him. And the results are amazing for those that make this choice - life will flourish. Jesus says you will bear much fruit.

The production of fruit is a sign of life. When a tree or a plant is unable to produce any fruit, it is a sign that something is off… or even a sign that the plant is dying.

Jesus tells us that the only way to produce spiritual fruit is to remain or abide in Him. In another passage, Jesus tells us He is he way, the truth and the life. I look at that in this way: Jesus is the way that leads to truth that produces life… Jesus is all three points… He being the way leads to Him being the truth that results in He becoming our life within.

Abiding in truth means remaining connected to Jesus ans His ways. AND… it means listening to His holy Spirit that lives in the hearts of all believers.

God has given us His Spirit as a helper… someone to help us know and understand His truth.

Remember all of those challenges we listed a moment ago? The Spirit of God will help us in every one of those challenges IF we are willing to listen.

What is it that typically gets in the way of our listening? Our self, our emotions, our impulsive reactions.

I recently got a message from someone who wasn’t happy with how I handled something… it didn’t involve the church… this person didn’t want to face the truth of the situation. So they lashed out… they attacked me and even proceeded to attack my wife - who had nothing to do with what I had done!

My knee jerk reaction was to give them the what for. Tell them what I really think and be done with it. But then… the Spirit of God said… no. Leave the door open for resolve. Don’t attack… be available.

Truth is… had I attacked I would have closed the door for truth to prevail. My flesh wanted to defend and protect and to do so with mean words. Yet Christ and His Spirit would have us lead and to speak the truth with love.

If we want to abide in the truth, we will need the help of God’s Spirit.

His Spirit is not hard to find… again if you are a believer, His Spirit dwells in you. But sometimes, His voice can be hard to hear for all the noise in our lives. And… the Spirit of God is speaking loud enough… the key to hearing is learning how to turn all the other noise… down.

When it comes to sound and audio and finding the right balance… the key is less is more. If something cannot be heard… instead of turning that up… look first at what can be turned down. Turning things up simply just makes more noisy and confusing.

Maybe the reason you can’t hear God through His Spirit is because other things in life are too loud. What or who have you been listening to as a source of truth? God IS speaking… are YOU listening?

Passing the Test

So the next time you feel like something is challenging your belief in God and His truth, I want to encourage you to do something super important: Listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Let Him help you pass the test.

Like anything in life, a test simply proves whether or not we really know something.

Why do teachers give you tests from time to time? To see if you really know the material or not.

What is truth if not tested? The testing of truth only proves its stability and security. Not once in my life has God’s truth let me down. In fact, when tested, it has only assured me that His truth is the only way to go!

The world is changing… but God’s truth remains the same… and that’s a REALLY good thing! His truth that serves as the foundation to our lives will NEVER fail.

Are you willing to abide in His truth?

Are you ready to pass the test of His truth?

Know His truth.

Apply His truth.

Stand in His truth.