Rediscovering and Returning to the Truth.

Message 4: Rediscovering and Returning to the Truth SUGGESTED PASSAGES: 2 Timothy 3:14-17; 1 Timothy 3:14-15 14 You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 14 I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long, 15 but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the Living God, the pillar and support of the truth. MESSAGE GOAL: The goal of this message is to point believers back to the only absolute source of truth, the Word of God, and call them to greater confidence in the trustworthiness of Scripture so they will be committed to build their lives on it. INTRODUCTION: It’s one thing to rediscover the path back home when you’re lost in the woods. It’s another thing altogether to return home by that path. That’s what we are going to look at in this message—the importance of rediscovering and returning to the truth. You may remember a television show from a number of years ago called Early Edition. The show followed the life of a man who would get tomorrow’s newspaper today. And since he had this inside information, he was able to make decisions each day in order to adjust the trajectory of what would happen the next day. He was able to prevent things like accidents and fires, and save lives. When it comes to the truth, we have been given inside information. In God’s Word, we have been given the details and data we need to make the adjustments we should make so as to make choices that will produce the greatest outcomes, namely, stronger character and far less chaos. God has given His family the scoop. He’s given us the truth. Let’s recall the definition of truth as we wrap up this series of messages. Truth is an absolute standard by which all of reality must be measured. Another way to define it is to say that truth is God’s view on any subject matter. In other words, truth lives outside of you and me. If something is true, it doesn’t matter whether you and I agree with it or not. It doesn’t matter how we feel about it either. If it’s true, it is because God says so. This has tremendous implications for our culture today where feelings and ideas not only trump truth; many of the people who hold these feelings and ideas try to silence the truth. But there’s no such thing as “my truth” and “your truth.” When it comes to what is true, that’s already been decided by God Himself. Because this is so, the greatest challenge of our lives, and of our world, is the need to adjust ourselves to God’s point of view on all subject matters. When we align ourselves under His truth, we reap the benefits and blessings of His rule. When we are not aligned, we walk into the consequences set up for unwise decisions. Let’s rediscover where truth is found and take ourselves back to it on the path laid out in God’s Word. tonyevans.org | tonyevanstraining.org

SERMON POINTS: 1. GOD HAS GIVEN US HIS LIBRARY OF TRUTH: 2 TIMOTHY 3:14-16 The Bible, all sixty-six books, is the only source of eternal truth. But society in general, and even believers in Christ, are being duped by lies and partial truths that cause lives to implode. Our world is starving for the truth, even though many people don’t realize the reason for their deep, unsatisfied hunger. This hunger will remain as long as we live in a post-truth world that prefers deception facilitated by evil. To be disciples of God’s kingdom, we must hold God’s kingdom truth in the highest esteem. 2. TRUTH HAS A LOCATION ON EARTH: 1 TIMOTHY 3:14–15 The church is the location on earth here God has deposited His truth to be guarded, preserved, and used to supply spiritual food to all who come to it seeking the truth. We need to guard and teach the truth, in spite of everything being taught in education, corporations or through governmental regimes today. God’s truth is indispensable for the development of kingdom virtue. In the middle of our cultural chaos, the church is to be the beacon of truth where people can go to be reminded of what is real and what is deception. Because the church, and the church alone, is God’s repository of truth, it’s time to reaffirm the centrality of the church in God’s kingdom agenda and program. 3. OUR CALLING IS TO LIVE OUT THE TRUTH: 2 TIMOTHY 3:17 • God gave us His Word to equip us for lives that glorify Him and service that expands His kingdom agenda here on earth. • Belonging to the church includes a commitment to be dynamically involved with a local body of believers who are learning to live kingdom lives under the Lordship of Christ. • That’s why we should make it our aim to be kingdom disciples who live as servants making a kingdom impact. • We can do this by embracing and practicing the core building block of values known as truth, and share it with others in a way that glorifies God and enables them to receive it. SERMON ILLUSTRATIONS: OUR RULING DOCUMENT America’s Constitution is the superintending document to which everything else in the government is supposed to conform. But the Constitution is under attack today as one group says this and another says that. But when it comes to governing our nation the way it was designed to be governed, there is only one question about an issue: is that constitutionally consistent? People may fuss and fume, but our Constitution is to be the final court of appeal on all subjects American. The same is true of God’s Word for all issues in all cultures at all times. COMING TO MY HOUSE When you came into my house, all that junk you may have been doing in your house doesn’t fly in my house, because I’ve got different rules. So if you want to come to my house, your conduct has to adjust to my rules. That’s also true in God’s house, which is all of creation. He makes the rules; we have to adjust to them. NO GEORGE OR ABE? Have you ever heard anyone state that George Washington or Abraham Lincoln didn’t exist simply because they have never seen them? There is a consensus about their existence due to the historical witnesses and recordings of their lives. Similarly, tonyevans.org | tonyevanstraining.org

when you and I examine the historical record of Scripture, it meets the test of accuracy as well. There were sixty-six books written over 1,500 years by just over forty authors, and yet the Bible is accurate in every area it speaks to and perfectly consistent in its message. OUR CONTROL TOWER If you fly very much, you can be very thankful that airline pilots have a control tower to direct them to the right destination, and to keep themselves and their passengers out of harm’s way. In a similar way, our lives here on earth need a control tower. There are many times this world gets cloudy, stormy, overrun and dangerous. There are many times when you cannot see the place where you are headed or the disastrous paths around you. But if you will look to God’s Word for teaching, correction and direction, you will know how to navigate the challenges and chaos of this world. The Bible is our control tower, our source of all truth. BACKGROUND BIBLICAL HISTORY AND CULTURE: As you know from your study of God’s Word, Timothy lived in a very secular city, the bustling part of Asia Minor called Ephesus. He had helped in establishing a church there and was serving as the pastor when Paul wrote these two epistles to his spiritual son in the faith. Ephesus was the center for the worship of the false goddess Artemis. In fact, her temple in Ephesus was one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. This temple was so massive that it had 100 pillars supporting its roof. Paul may have had the pillars of Artemis’s temple in mind when he described the church as the pillar of God’s truth, that which supports everything. Paul’s world was also a chaos of conflicting “truths.” We can see that in Acts 17 and the array of gods being worshiped in Athens. Two major philosophical schools of that day were the Epicureans, who believed that contentment and pleasure were the highest good, and the Stoics, who argued for a stricter, more disciplined life.