Can You Handle the Truth?

John 8:31–32 “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.””

John 14:1–6 ““Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many rooms; if that were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will take you to Myself, so that where I am, there you also will be. And you know the way where I am going.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going; how do we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Introduction

We’re back in the Gospel of John for today’s sermon; in fact, this is essentially a part two the last sermon that I shared with you. As was mentioned, John’s Gospel is apologetic in nature- meaning, John argues for the diety of Jesus, more directly than the other 3 Gospel accounts. Today I want to dig a little deeper into the Gospel of John and, in partucular, I want to discuss John’s approach in defending the diety of Christ.

The verses that we’ve read- along with many others- have a common theme: the focus on the important concept of Truth. And John tells us that Truth is not merely a concept; Truth is embodied in the Person of Jesus Christ, of the Triune God. So John is not merely defending the deity of Christ, he is defending the Truth personified in God Himself. As the Church continues the work of bringing this great Gospel to our culture, this fact is not merely a footnote in our understanding & presentation of the Gospel it is fundamental & necessary. To put is simply, Truth matters. Consider some of the things that are commonly accepted today:

“There’s No Such Thing as ‘truth’!”- The irony is that this is a truth statement. It makes a truth claim- a claim about reality. The statement itself is self defeating. When someone says, “there’s no such thing as truth!” we can simply respond by asking, “Is that true?” Do you see the problem? Paul described this condition to the Romans this way:

Romans 1:18–25 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible mankind, of birds, four-footed animals, and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them up to vile impurity in the lusts of their hearts, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Again, Truth matters. This was understood in the ancient world. It was once said:

“The society that separates its scholars from its warriors, will have it’s thinking done by cowards, and it’s fighting done by fools.”

- Thucydides (Greek historian and General)

Everyone knows the name Socrates, considered one of the greatest Philosophers in all of human history. But did you know that Socrates was a soldier before becoming a philosopher? Plato, the most prominet student of Socrates, records a battle in which the young soldier saw that his commanding officer was stuck behind enemy lines. The brash your soldier broke rank to save his commander, causing the other soldiers to follow suit. They saved their commander! The quote I read from Thucydides and this example from the life of what would become one of the greatest minds of human history both exemplify this one point: We must be willing to fight for the Truth!

It need not be a physical battle, but we may have to battle in the culture wars. We may not be threatened by bombs or bullets, but we may take hits from cancel culture; we may face rejection from family & friends. And yet, we must be willing to enter the battle field. Because losing this battle will mean losing so much more- our children, our families, our security in this life- and, most importantly- our eternal security. This is, in large part, why the Bible speaks to us in terms of warfare> We are told that

Since we’re touching upon philosophy, what does it mean? Philosophy litereally means, “lover of wisdom”. “Philo” means “love” and “Sopos” (where we get the name “Sophia”) means “wisdom”.

Why are we talking about philosophy, and what does it have to do with truth? We tend to think of philosophy in academic terms. But philosophy is, at its core, how we see the world- our worldview, to use a more common term- and what it all means- literally ALL of it- life, purpose.

A good philosophy or worldview answers the following questions, which I will sum up with these words: origin, meaning, morality & destiny. Let’s break these down a bit:

Origin- where did we come from? From whence did life originate?

Meaning- what is the purpose of life- why do we exist at all?

Morality- Are there really such a things as right and wrong, good and evil?

Destiny- Where are we going? What happens after our human existence comes to an end?

In addition to answering these questions, a solid philosophy must:

Be Cohesive (tying all things together in a way that makes sense)

It must Work- if your philosophy fails 85% of the time, I’d say it have proven to be a failure and it needs to go back to the drawing board. It concerns me that there’s no accountability for people who create a philosophy for how a society should work. I think philosophers should be held tot he same standards as engineers. If an engineer designs a bridge, and the bridge collapses resulting in loss of life- or even just loss of property, time & resources- you can be certain that there will be consequenses. At the very, VERY least

Finally, it must be TRUE- I belive that when we live our lives based upon truth, we will find a cohesive way of living that actually works- the latter will give way to the former.

A good philosophy is the foundation of every field of study. It is the study that all other disciplines have to go through in order to arrive at themselves” (John Lovell, author of “The Warrior Poet Way.”). There can be no science without first having a philosophy of science, and so on. For this reason, the highest academic degree that is given to someone who is considered an expert in their particular field is a PhD. They do not just study, but they contribute research into their field of expertise. Christianity gives us a philosophical view of the world that satifies all these basic criteria. And, most importantly, it is TRUE!

Truth Defined

TRUTH (אֱמֶת, emeth; ἀλήθεια, alētheia).

Old Testament The most common term for “truth” in the Old Testament is אֱמֶת (emeth). translated, it means factuality and validity as well as faithfulness, firmness and reliability. In the Septuagint, it is most often translated using ἀλήθεια (alētheia). It is used in Deuteronomy in the context of a legal investigation (Deut 13:14; 17:4; 22:20).

Simply put, the Biblical definition of truth refers to something that IS, and remains that way regardless of one’s thoughts or opinions. It’s validity is evident- it can be tested and has been proven. It describes somethnig that isawethentic, and not lacking in any way.

Can You Handle the Truth?

And now, we finally come to the question which has been stated as our topic today. This of course is a play on words, by which I mean, “Can you properly manage the Truth responsibly- can you call out falsehoods in your on life, in your heart? Can you do the same for your loved ones…your church? Are you brave enough to be responsible for speak the truth to a culture that is offended at the very concept? Can you “handle” that?

Handle it with Care- remember that Truth matters. It’s not enough to be sincere; after all we can be sincerely wrong. If we truly care about our neighbors, or society, that we speak the truth in love (Eph 4:15). You can’t be truthful without being loving, and can’t be loving without being truthful.

Handle it with Love- we must love the Truth, being mindful that Christ is Truth personified. All truth ultimately leads to Him.

Handle it and Let Him Handle You-John records the words of Jesus, speaking to Jews who believed in Him (8:31).

Freedom is found in the application of Truth. The more truth we allow to access the different areas of our lives, the more free we will become. We will be confident, just as Paul was in Romans 8:35–39 “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or trouble, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? Just as it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We were regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Even death will no longer cause us to fear- becasue we we embrace He who is the way, the Truth and the LIFE (John 14:6)

Closing Prayer

Response Hymn- ‘Tis So Sweet

'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus Just to take Him at His Word Just to rest upon His promise Just to know, "Thus saith the Lord"

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him How I've proved Him o'er and o'er Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus Oh, for grace to trust Him more

I'm so glad I learned to trust Him Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend And I know that He is with me Will be with me to the end

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him How I've proved Him o'er and o'er Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus Oh, for grace to trust Him more

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him How I've proved Him o'er and o'er Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus Oh, for grace to trust Him more

Oh, for grace to trust Him more