Truth Tellers
Notes
Transcript
Pastor Sampson was making visitation rounds on his trusty bicycle, when he turned a corner and came upon a young boy trying to sell a lawn mower. “How much do you want for it?” Sampson asked.
“I just need enough money to buy a bicycle,” the boy explained. After a moment of thought, the preacher asked, “Will you take my bike in trade for it?”
“Mister, you’ve got yourself a deal.”
The preacher took the mower and began to crank it. He pulled on the cord a few times with no reaction from the machine. The preacher called the boy over and said, “I can’t get this mower to start.”
The little boy said, “My dad says you have to cuss at it to get it started.”
Pastor Sampson replied, “I am a minister, and I cannot cuss. I have been saved for so long I don’t even remember how to cuss.”
The little boy look at him with a sparkle in his eye, “Just keep pulling on that cord, and it’ll come back to you.”
As a church, we are hitting the fast forward button in our faith. Hebrews 6:1-3 tells us that, as believers, we need to mature and move forward to further understanding.
Can you remember the first time you drove a car? Maybe you were excited, afraid, or intimidated. I can remember the first time I hit that gas pedal, I was surprised how quickly the car jumped. Everything was new. Well, over time, driving became routine and pretty easy. You learn how to hit the gas pedal, you know how to park, and it even becomes second nature. BUT, just because it becomes second nature, doesn’t mean we are GOOD drivers! Some of us need to evaluate our ability's! In order to become better at driving we need to remember the basics.
That’s what we are doing here at ECC. We are asking the question, Am I where I’m supposed to be in my walk of faith, and can I get to a better place? I think we can. For me, I look at my core values, it’s really six things that help me guide my daily walk with the Lord.
To hit the fast forward button in our walk we need to be:
God Seekers
Big Believers
Truth Tellers
Love Givers
Go-Getters
Open Handers
We’ve already talked about being people who Seek God and how to be Big Believers. Today we are going to talk about what it means to be a Truth Teller.
Not a tattle teller - a truth teller!
Here’s our primary scripture for today:
14 We must stop acting like children. We must not let deceitful people trick us by their false teachings, which are like winds that toss us around from place to place.
15 Love should always make us tell the truth. Then we will grow in every way and be more like Christ, the head
16 of the body. Christ holds it together and makes all of its parts work perfectly, as it grows and becomes strong because of love.
The book of Ephesians is a wonderful letter from the Apostle Paul written to Christians living in the city of Ephesus. Ephesus was a port city on the western shore of Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey. It was the fourth largest city in the Roman Empire and the Church was strong.
When you read through the letter, its full of wonderful doctrinal truths, but to me, the major theme has to be Unity.
4 All of you are part of the same body. There is only one Spirit of God, just as you were given one hope when you were chosen to be God’s people.
This idea of being united as the body of Christ is so central to this letter that Paul mentions it twenty times! He wanted Christians to understand that we are in this thing together and everyone has a part to play. No one is left out. We need each other.
There was a hatred that existed between the Jews and Gentiles that was healed because the Spirit of God no longer dwelled in a building called the temple, but He has now made His dwelling place in the hearts of those who believe in Jesus.
14 Christ has made peace between Jews and Gentiles, and he has united us by breaking down the wall of hatred that separated us. Christ gave his own body
15 to destroy the Law of Moses with all its rules and commands. He even brought Jews and Gentiles together as though we were only one person, when he united us in peace.
As believers we must see that we are ALL different, but we are all filled with the same Spirit of God.
22 And you are part of that building Christ has built as a place for God’s own Spirit to live.
So, what does all that have to do with being “Truth Tellers?”
I’m so glad you asked! I see three things from our scripture that can help us hit the fast forward button in our faith by helping us become truth tellers.
We must KNOW the Truth
We must KNOW the Truth
14 We must stop acting like children. We must not let deceitful people trick us by their false teachings, which are like winds that toss us around from place to place.
Deception is a real thing. The Ephesian church had some people who weren’t teaching the Truth. They weren’t working according to the Spirit of God and they were dividing the church into factions. Paul was telling the church that they needed to grow up in their understanding so they could spot when the truth was not being taught.
God has gifted people to do His work. Just look at the verses before 14-16
11 Christ chose some of us to be apostles, prophets, missionaries, pastors, and teachers,
This is great, but you know what all those gifts have in common? They are possessed by imperfect people! And people don’t always get things right! Speaking from experience, I’ve said things from a pulpit that I wish I could take back. Thankfully God’s grace has continued to develop me through His Word.
If we are being taught by imperfect people who don’t always get it right, then what responsibility do we have when it comes to the truth?
Paul tells us that to avoid infantile behavior, the church must mature into unity of the faith and of knowledge of Christ.
In other words, we must hit the fast forward button in our KNOWLEDGE. We must study the Word of God for ourselves. It’s important to be taught by a Pastor on Sunday morning, but it’s just as important for us to open the Word of God for ourselves!
16 Everything in the Scriptures is God’s Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live.
If you want to mature in your faith, you’re going to need to develop a habit of studying the Word of God each and every day. If you don’t, then you won’t be able to spot a fake!
At Khol’s they have a jewelry section. They have rings in the case that are hundreds of dollars and they have rings outside the case in the aisle for less than twenty dollars.
Guess what? I can’t tell the difference! But you know who can? A gemologist can for sure. They have studied enough to know the difference.
As believers, Paul is telling us that we need to stop acting like baby Christians, and start maturing in our understanding of the TRUTH. That truth is only found in the word of God. It’s good and right to measure the things you hear by the Word of God to determine if those things are true!
Truth Tellers won’t settle for anything less than the Word of God.
3 The time is coming when people won’t listen to good teaching. Instead, they will look for teachers who will please them by telling them only what they are itching to hear.
4 They will turn from the truth and eagerly listen to senseless stories.
We must be committed to knowing the Word of God!
Love must be our Motivation to Speak the Truth
Love must be our Motivation to Speak the Truth
15 Love should always make us tell the truth. Then we will grow in every way and be more like Christ, the head
Knowing the truth comes with a responsibility to tell the truth. But is motivation behind telling the truth important?
I grew up with three little sisters who LOVED to tell the truth when I meant that I was going to get in trouble with Mom or Dad. I can remember hearing things like, “I can’t wait until Mom gets home” or “I’m telling!”. I’d say, generally speaking the motive behind the truth they wanted to tell was NOT love!
So, there is a difference between speaking the truth in love and speaking the truth to expose faults.
What is speaking the truth in love? It’s applying the knowledge of God’s word to a person who is in need. It’s done to BENEFIT other people. It brings people together.
From these passages, we would say that we have a responsibility to speak the truth in love not only because it is a command, but also for the purity of the church. When we don’t confront sin, we weaken the resolve of the whole church.
Today, I am speaking the truth to you from a position of Love, because my hearts desire is to help you through scripture to mature in your faith.
When we speak the truth of the Gospel of Jesus we don’t cover the negative parts that we are all sinners in need of being saved! No way, love exposes truth, even if it’s difficult.
Speaking the truth can save a soul from death, and help a person turn from the error of their way.
If love is our motivation, then we aren’t on a fact finding mission, we are on a people mission. God desires reconciliation and restoration, and we are ambassadors for Christ which means WE must desire reconciliation and restoration. We can’t and shouldn’t get pleasure by seeing someone ashamed by the truth. Truth spoken in love will result in HOPE, not condemnation.
14 My friends, we beg you to warn anyone who isn’t living right. Encourage anyone who feels left out, help all who are weak, and be patient with everyone.
Speaking the truth in love is a warning.
This world is on a collision path with destruction. Sin will always lead to destruction. We have an opportunity to turn people from the path of destruction if we are willing to speak the truth of God’s Word.
But again, we have to KNOW it! We need to study the Word so that when the time comes we are ready.
2 Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with all patience and teaching.
We must be ready.
Here’s a hypothetical situation for you: Say you are given the gift of seeing the future. You look forward to a day when you are walking by the oceanside and you see out in the distance a person who was drowning. They only problem is that in the present, you don’t know how to swim. If you had enough time, and you were motivated by love, wouldn’t you prepare yourself by learning to swim and to perform life saving medical acts? YES! I think we all might be willing to do that if we knew that was in our future.
Spiritually speaking there are people in your future that need you to speak that truth to them in order to save their souls from eternal death. Are you willing to prepare yourself now?
This is what Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus. He wanted them to be motivated by love so that when they saw an opportunity to share the truth that they would not hesitate.
Love is our motivation for always telling the truth. If you are going to hit the fast forward button in your walk of faith you’ll need to KNOW the truth and SPEAK the truth.
What happens when we do these things?
The Truth benefits EVERYONE
The Truth benefits EVERYONE
15 Love should always make us tell the truth. Then we will grow in every way and be more like Christ, the head
16 of the body. Christ holds it together and makes all of its parts work perfectly, as it grows and becomes strong because of love.
The scripture tells us that we will grow in EVERY way. False teachers have no love of the truth or of other believers, they only want to get their own way. It’s all about them and their desires. But mature believers who know the truth and speak the truth will unite people by caring for the needs of others before they care for their own needs.
I like verse 16 because it says that Christ makes all the parts of the body to work perfectly. To me, that gives me hope.
Even the arm pit of the body of Christ has a part to play.
That’s right, you might be the stinkiest, hairiest part, but to God you are valuable! You have a part to play in His great plans.
Being “Truth Tellers” results in some amazing things. It really is a way to hit the fast forward button because the benefits are for everyone.
25 Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth.
26 Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.
Being a truth tellers has the benefit of repentance, which is the turning from sin.
Paul mentions another result is that the person we’re speaking to may come to their senses. This means to change their thinking like one awakened out of a deep sleep. Another result is to escape the snare of the devil. This is a reference to his tricks. Many do not realize they are being held captive by the evil one.
“Speaking the truth in love” is a popular phrase which is used often in Christian circles, but are we actually doing it effectively for the glory of God? Speaking the truth in love in a post-truth world is challenging, but a wise Christian will remember the wisdom of Solomon’s words in
7 I always speak the truth and refuse to tell a lie.
Let’s hit the fast forward button by being Truth Tellers. People are in need of the truth we have to give!
Where are you today? Do you need to respond to the truth in repentance?