Impact 2024-2-Building on a Solid Foundation

Last night we talked about two kinds of truth. Do you remember what they were?

What kind of truth is on the bottom story of the house making the foundation?

That’s right—OBJECTIVE TRUTH! What kind of things are included or should be included in Objective Truth.

What kind of truth is on the top floor of the house?

That’s right—SUBJECTIVE TRUTH! What kind of things are included in or should be included in Subjective Truth?

The Search for Truth

The search for “truth” has been going on for a long time. What is the MOST important question? The question of all questions?

The question of all questions is: What is truth? (John 18:38)

When Jesus appeared before Pilate, Pilate asked Jesus if he was a king. Jesus said,

John 18:37 NLT

Pilate said, “So you are a king?” Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.”

Now look at the next verse.

John 18:38 (NLT)

“What is truth?” Pilate asked.

Did you catch the question? It is at that point that Pilate asks, “What is truth?”

Pilate doesn’t believe that truth exists! Today, the world around us does not believe truth—absolute truth—that bottom floor truth that we talked about last night—They don’t really believe that objective truth exists.

Seeking Truth

Today people seek truth for one of two basic reasons.

Some seek truth to find answers.

They want to know what is true.

John 8:31–32 NLT

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Jesus said that knowing the truth—will answer questions and give you real freedom.

The other reason for seeking truth is to find an escape.

Or to put it another way, some people “seek” truth so that they can pick it apart and destroy what they find.

Do you seek truth to find answers?

Hebrews 11:6 NLT

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

Or do you see the truth to find an exit?

Hebrews 3:16–19 NLT

And who was it who rebelled against God, even though they heard his voice? Wasn’t it the people Moses led out of Egypt? And who made God angry for forty years? Wasn’t it the people who sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness? And to whom was God speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest? Wasn’t it the people who disobeyed him? So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest.

Back in Numbers chapters 13-14, Moses sends out 12 men to spy out the land God promised to give them.

When they get back, they brought examples of the fruit and produce that the land produces.

They describe it as a land that flows with milk and honey. And everyone is amazed!

BUT there is a problem. In fact, it is a huge problem. There are “giants” in the land, the descendants of Anak.

Hearing this the people all become afraid and refuse to go into the Promise Land.

Only two men, Joshua and Caleb believe God and trust in Him.

But because the people refused to follow God, an entire generation is left to wander in the wilderness until they die, and a new generation is grows up and some 40 years later the children of Israel finally enter the Promise Land.

The first group of people saw a reason to stop following God. They were looking for an exit!

One reason people don’t accept the Bible as “true” is because it doesn’t allow them to do what they want to do.

Hebrews 3:12–15 NLT

Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. Remember what it says: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.”

In Hebrews 3, the author warns against having an unbelieving heart.

First notice, that we are told the kind of heart that we don’t need to have!

We need to avoid a sinful heart.

The idea here is that we need to make sure our heart is not filled with evil—evil acts, and desires.

Now remember that last night we learned that God is the one who defines good and evil, not us!

The second kind of heart that we need to avoid is an unbelieving heart.

The author goes on to say that an unbelieving heart will turn away from the living God.

Next, we are told to encourage one another daily.

We are to encourage each other to avoid the deceitfulness of sin.

Because sin’s deceitfulness hardens our hearts.

It makes them hard toward God and we will reject Him, along with His teachings. One of my favorite verses is Hebrews 10:24.

Hebrews 10:24–25 NLT

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

We need to hold on tightly to the convictions we have so that we can stand firm until the end—when we see Jesus face-to-face.

Look at Proverbs 4:23.

Proverbs 4:23 NLT

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

We need to gather together for encouragement

Conclusion

God Gets to Call the Shots

If we are going to “guard our hearts” then we are going to have to compare what our culture says to what the Bible says.

And we need to allow the Bible call the shots!

Here’s the key. When the culture and Bible disagree, or are at odds, only one of them can be true.

And the key for us is to understand or realize that when our culture and the Bible say different things, the culture must ALWAYS give way to the Bible.

The problem is that the culture wants to assert its power and make the Bible cave to the supposed truth of culture.

Because God is the almighty Creator, He gets to dictate what is right and what is wrong.

Because God is the almighty Creator, He gets to dictate the meanings or definitions of things. For example:

God dictates the definition of marriage—it is between one man and one woman!

Genesis 2:24 NLT

This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.

God dictates a person’s gender.

They are objectively male or objectively female—God dictates this not a person’s feelings.

Matthew 19:4 NLT

“Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’

God dictates when life begins.

It doesn’t matter what man says—God says that life begins at conception.

Psalm 139:13–14 NLT

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

God dictates the rules by which we live!

Romans 1:18–20 (NLT)

But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them.

For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

God dictates how long we live.

Psalm 139:16 NLT

You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

You see, the key is God is large and in charge, and you and I are NOT!

God is large and in charge and our culture is NOT!

God is large and in charge and He gets to define right and wrong!

And He gets to define good and evil!

The only question that you must answer is will you obey Jesus?