NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH

Introduction

-[2 John]

-In what can only be described as a shocking admission to the spirit of the age, Oxford Dictionaries named the term “post-truth” as its “Word of the Year” in 2016. Post-truth is described as “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” That means that subjectivity shapes perceived truth rather than objectivity. Such a blatant declaration reveals a movement within our culture that steps away from a belief that there is an objective truth found in reality that everyone (who has reasoning capabilities) ought to recognize and admit. They have exchanged objectivity for a creed of allowing one to create truth and reality according to one’s own personal whim. Besides the obviously self-defeating aspects of such beliefs (i.e., one cannot objectively claim any truth to the statement that there is no objective truth), this also reveals that a person’s view of truth tells us exactly where there heart is and what their worldview is.

-During Jesus’ trial, He had an interesting exchange with Pilate.

John 18:37–38 (NET 2nd ed.)

37 Jesus replied, “... For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world—to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

38 Pilate asked, “What is truth?”

-That is the million dollar question. But Jesus said everyone who belongs to the truth listens to His voice. And His voice said:

John 14:6 NET 2nd ed.

6 Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

-Jesus not only testifies to truth and He not only leads you to truth, but He Himself IS the truth. You cannot know true truth outside of a relationship with Jesus Christ. Without embracing the truth of Jesus you don’t have a full grasp of reality, and will not live in accordance to reality. That is why there is so many living in confusion about their own identities and the realities of existence—they are outside of Christ. Blaise Pascal wrote this centuries ago, but it still holds for us today:

Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.

-To love the truth is to love Jesus. Those who are opposed to Christ and the gospel have embraced falsehood. I want to make sure today that you are grounded in true truth—truth only found in Christ, and to know what this truth entails, and what it means for your life.

2 John 1–13 NET 2nd ed.

1 From the elder, to an elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth (and not I alone, but also all those who know the truth), 2 because of the truth that resides in us and will be with us forever. 3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Son of the Father, in truth and love. 4 I rejoiced greatly because I have found some of your children living according to the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5 But now I ask you, lady (not as if I were writing a new commandment to you, but the one we have had from the beginning), that we love one another. 6 (Now this is love: that we walk according to his commandments.) This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning; thus you should walk in it. 7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, people who do not confess Jesus as Christ coming in the flesh. This person is the deceiver and the antichrist! 8 Watch out, so that you do not lose the things we have worked for, but receive a full reward. 9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not remain in the teaching of Christ does not have God. The one who remains in this teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house and do not give him any greeting, 11 because the person who gives him a greeting shares in his evil deeds. 12 Though I have many other things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink, but I hope to come visit you and speak face to face so that our joy may be complete. 13 The children of your elect sister greet you.

-[pray]

-This morning I want to quickly consider certain elements about the truth in Christ that we need to know so that we are not fooled by the world’s definition of truth, but we know truth as it actually is and it moves in our lives.

1) The associate to truth

-Truth has a partner…a colleague. When someone has the truth, there is something that comes with it every time. When you look throughout this epistle John mixes truth with its associate which is love. John is known as the apostle of love, and you find in his writings love spoken of consistently, and this epistle is no different. But John wants us to know that love and truth go together. You find in v. 1 that the elect lady (which refers to a particular church that he is writing to) he loves in truth. In v. 3 he prays for God’s blessing on them in truth and love. In vv. 6-7 love and obeying the truth go hand in hand. You cannot have love without truth, and you cannot have truth without love.

-Think of it: if you have truth without love you are cold and rigid and judgmental. If you have love without truth, you would accept and be tolerant of all sorts of error. That is the mantra of the day. Those who twist the gospel of Jesus Christ say that Jesus was nothing but love, and He never told anyone how they should or should not live. So, they say, be like Jesus and let people live however they want and don’t try to correct them. The problem is that isn’t the truth, and the truth will lead to their destruction. Jesus said things like,

Matthew 18:9 NET 2nd ed.

9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into fiery hell.

-That sure doesn’t sound to me like a message of just love people and everything will be OK. To me, what this says, is that if you love someone you will tell them the truth.

If you see your friend walking down the street with their head in their phone, not paying attention to what’s going on around them, and they’re about to walk into this large, gaping pothole that will kill them if they fall into it, would it be more loving to let them live their life the way they want and keep walking into the hole unaware, or to warn them that they’re going to fall in a hole and die if they don’t pay attention?

-Truth and love go hand in hand, and they make for wonderful harmony in life.

I think of the chemical sodium which is an extremely active element found naturally only in combined form; it always links itself to another element—it is not found alone. Then there is the chemical element chlorine which, on its own, is a poisonous gas that gives bleach its offensive odor. However, when sodium and chlorine are combined, the result is sodium chloride - common table salt - the substance we use to preserve meat and bring out its flavor.

-Love and truth can be like sodium and chlorine. Love without truth is flighty, sometimes blind, willing to combine with various doctrines no matter how out of touch with reality they are. On the other hand, truth used in the wrong way can be offensive, maybe used like a poison. Spoken without love it can turn people away from the gospel. When truth and love are combined in an individual or a church, then we have what Jesus calls “the salt of the earth” and we’re able to preserve and bring out the beauty of our faith. As Paul tells us

Ephesians 4:15 NET 2nd ed.

15 But practicing the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head.

2) The aspects of truth

-In this epistle, John fleshes out certain features and characteristics about truth that are important for us, specifically naming two in v. 2

-First, John tells us that, for the Christian, the truth resides in us or dwells in us. That word for reside/dwell means to take up residence. Think about someone who buys a new house. They don’t merely go every day to visit the house and admire it from the outside. They don’t stand in front of the house and say, “My what a nice-looking house. I wonder what the inside looks like.” And then they get back in their car to leave for somewhere else, never actually stepping inside the house they bought. No, when you buy a house you go in, you move all your stuff in, you decorate it, you make it your own. You take up residence in the house.

-John says that the truth resides IN us. That small preposition IN is important because it emphasizes that truth is internalized. Truth RESIDES IN us, it is internalized in us, it sets up residence in us. This means that truth is not some force outside of us trying to manipulate us. Rather, truth is something that is in us. We believe in Jesus Christ and He who is the truth resides in us through the Holy Spirit, and then that truth that resides on the inside overflows from inside to outside to influence how we live and the choices we make and the stance that we take on certain topics. Our own human opinion doesn’t hold sway, but rather the truth of Jesus Christ.

-And it’s important that we continually feed the truth that is in us so that it will then constantly and consistently come out of us. The world outside of us is trying to apply pressure to us to conform us to its mold—its way of living and thinking. If the truth within us is not stoked like a fire, the pressure outside will have more influence than the truth inside. That’s why it is so important to constantly get into God’s Word which tells us the truth and points us to the truth of Jesus so that we live in the truth. The world has its say on certain hot-button topics, but the truth of Jesus as described in His Word is in us and it determines what we think and believe. Yes, it is different from the world, but then when you live according to the truth that dwells in you, then you will live pleasing to God regardless what the world thinks or teaches.

-So, first, you need the truth dwelling in you by faith in Jesus Christ. And then, stoke that truth that is within you by letting Scripture in your heart to strengthen and confirm the truth that is in you.

Psalm 119:11 NET 2nd ed.

11 In my heart I store up your words, so I might not sin against you.

-But then, another aspect of truth that John touches upon is that truth is eternal. He says in v. 2 that the truth that resides in us will be with us forever. What this is telling us is that truth never changes, and it will remain the same forever, and for the Christian it stays with us forever. As one set of authors state it:

What is true is true for all people at all times in all places, whether they know it or not, believe it or not, and like it or not.

-Truth remains truth all the time. Now, that doesn’t mean we don’t come to greater understanding over time, but all that is is us coming to know the truth that was already there. The truth didn’t change, we just came to understand now where we might not have before. It’s us finding what God already had in place.

-This eternal aspect of truth is such a comfort to us as Christians because this reminds us that God Himself will not change, His character will not change, His Word will not change, and His plan of salvation through Jesus Christ will not change. God will not make a decision one day to completely change things around on us. His truth is abiding and unchanging and is a solid foundation upon which to build our lives. When you need something solid and settled by which to gauge your life, the truth of God as revealed to us through Christ and His Word is it.

-Author and apologist Abdu Murray likens this aspect of truth to a ride he took on a car ferry. While sitting in his car and looking at his radio, he did not see the ferry disembark from the shore nor feel it leave the dock. When he later looked up, he saw the river moving but had that weird feeling of being unsure if he was moving or not. He notes that looking at the boat would not have helped because the boat also would have been moving, and the ever-flowing river provided no fixed point of reference. Only by looking at the land that never moved could he clear his confusion. The certainty of objective facts that truthfully reflect reality serves as such a reference point.

-God has given us that fixed reference point in Christ through His Word. And so, the eternal aspect of truth is a comfort to Christians, but it is also a warning to those who would try to manipulate God’s truth—no matter what you may claim, God’s truth never changes. The only sure way to ensure that you are not separated from the eternal truth of God is to know it and constantly be exposed to it. And then when your faith is challenged or you are going through a hard time, you know that God’s truth never changes. No matter how you might feel or what others might say, remember the eternal truth of God and anchor your life there.

3) The appearance of truth

-Truth is not something that is merely theoretical. Truth is not something that is to merely be debated by philosophers and theologians. Truth is something very practical and it has an impact on everyone. Truth is not merely to be known, it is to be manifested—it is to appear in the life of a person who knows it. In v. 4 John said that he rejoiced that the children of the church, the church membership, were LIVING ACCORDING TO THE TRUTH, or some translations might say WALKING IN TRUTH.

-What John is referring to is behavior and lifestyle. The truth that they had in Jesus Christ as handed down to them by the apostles was something that affected their lives. They didn’t just have a Bible study that discussed deep topics or sit and listen to a sermon about what the truth really is—they took what was revealed to them by God and they lived it out. Living in truth means that they were obedient to the Father’s commands. And it was not merely a one-time thing. The wording there means it was a continuous action—continually live or continually walk in the truth. Continually let the truth speak into your life so that your deeds and thoughts and attitudes and actions are a reflection of the truth. Or, to put it in modern language, it means living out of a biblical worldview.

-As possessors of the truth, that means that we are not given the option of being bench warmers or pew-sitters. It is not a theory to enjoy but a calling to a greater work of eternal impact. One theologian said that possessing the truth means “living a life which is committed to God’s truth revealed in Jesus and expressed in obedience.” Another said, truth is both what we believe and how we live—doctrine and duty, creed and conduct.” Truth is belief followed by action, for that is pleasing to God.

-In his other short epistle, John said:

3 John 4 NET 2nd ed.

4 I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are living according to the truth.

-If living the truth brings joy to John, you know that it brings joy to our heavenly Father as well. Truth is not just what we have in our mind and hearts, but it appears in our life as we follow His commands.

-I think of maybe someone who is in school that has to take a test. They study hard and they have all the truth and knowledge in their head. They day of the test, they are handed the paper but they just sit there and do nothing, and then they hand in a blank piece of paper. They had the truth, they had an opportunity to put expression to the truth, but they did nothing with the truth.

-We are not to be like that. We are called to actively live according to the truth.

4) The adversaries of truth

-In verses 7-11 John warns us that there are deceivers out there in the world that do not follow the truth themselves, and then they try to trip everybody else up—trying to prevent them from knowing the truth and/or living the truth. They try to keep unbelievers from coming to truth in Christ, and they try to keep believers from living the truth in Christ.

-One way they do this is by substituting the real Christ with a fake, a phony. As John says in v. 7 they do not confess Jesus as Christ coming in the flesh, they are a deceiver and antichrist. As much as you might think the Antichrist is an end-time figure, elsewhere John says that the spirit of antichrist is already doing its work in the world. The word “anti” means “instead of” so the spirit of antichrist is a deceiver who promotes a Christ that is not the real thing. Truth always boils down to the person of Christ.

-In John’s day there were some that said that Christ didn’t actually come in the flesh. In our day we have Mormons who say Christ is just one of many spirit children of God who became a god. I think of an extreme case in the ‘90s with the Branch Davidians where David Koresh claimed to be Christ, leading many astray and eventually to their death. All false religions give a wrong Christ, a Christ that is instead of the real thing.

-That’s where we have to be on the lookout. If you come across a teaching that seems off to you, ask of that person or system what they do with the person of Christ, and if their Christ doesn’t match the Christ of the Bible then they are a false teacher. But these deceivers are so good at what they do, they can even deceive Christians. John says that we are to be careful not to lose the things we’ve worked for—it’s probably talking about all the ministry efforts that the church accomplishes. Don’t let them trip you up and keep you from accomplishing the task God has for you.

-This is so important, Paul said:

Galatians 1:8–9 NET 2nd ed.

8 But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned to hell! 9 As we have said before, and now I say again, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be condemned to hell!

-Harsh words, but the truth is that important.

Conclusion

-I’ll close with this. Stuart McAlister wrote:

When we use the word truth, truth by its nature is non-contradictory. It doesn’t violate the basic laws of logic. Truth is absolute—it does not depend on time, place or conditions. . . . Truth is discovered. It exists independently of our minds. . . . Truth is descriptive—it is the agreement of the mind with reality. . . . Truth is inescapable—to deny truth’s existence is to affirm it. . . . Truth is unchanging—it is the firm standard by which truth claims can be measured. There has to be something eternal, beyond time, culture, and relativities of human existence. It is the standard by which we can judge.

-Christian, if you have been following falsehood, repent and commit yourself to truth. Or maybe there is some area in your life where you need the truth to shine, come to the altar and lay it before the Lord.

-Maybe you haven’t believed the truth about Jesus Christ, come forward today and believe.

-Maybe you are looking for a church that teaches truth. You’ve found it. Consider joining with this church family...