What Is Your Truth?

INTRO: If you were to watch the major news outlets’ coverage of current event, whether political, religious, or opinion, you would be hard pressed to determine the authentic truth of many matters facing our world today.

· It seems that one’s truth hinges on all kinds fo factors; ones that are determined by many things.

· It’s to the point that each has their own truth, and no one can challenge that truth lest they be labeled intolerant, or judgmental, or worse!

Why is truth such a contestable subject?

A couple of hunters chartered a plane to fly into the Canadian wilderness.

· Two weeks later when the pilot came to pick them up, he saw the two animals they had bagged and said, "I told you fellows I could only take you and one moose. You'll have to leave the other behind."

· "But we did it last year in a plane this size," protested one of the hunters, "and the other pilot let us take two moose."

· "Well, okay," said the pilot. "If you did it before I guess we can do it again."

· So the two moose and the hunters were loaded in and the plane took off.

· Because of the heavy weight, it rose with difficulty and was unable to clear an obstructing hill.

· After the crash, the men climbed out and looked around.

· One hunter said to the other, "Where are we, anyway?"

· His companion surveyed the scene. "I think we got about half a mile farther than we got last year." - Source Unknown.

What is truth?

In the previous story the truth was that only one moose was safe for that flight.

· And just because someone was convinced that the truth of the situation could be tested, and stretched, and/or changed, it did not change the facts.

· Truth was tested in that example, and truth was verified.

· The funny thing is, the truth was known previously, but ignored in favor of desire.

· Bringing to light a very difficult truth; just because we desire something to be true, no matter how reasonable it sounds, we can’t force something to be true.

· It either is or isn’t.

Truth, God’s Truth, is one of the most important treasures to be unearthed.

I was on Facebook a while back when I came across a post by someone, known to me to have had a very tumultuous life of late, who said something like “Don’t ever let anyone tell you that what you have done is wrong if it makes your life better.”

· My first thought was What if you ARE wrong? Am I not allowed to say it?

· Then I realized it; we have become people who determine our own truth, and my truth may not be your truth.

· And, if my truth is different than yours, then you better keep your mouth shut and not rain on my parade!

· While that may appeal to our selfish tendencies, we have to ask ourselves

· Can every individual conclude his/her own truth?

· And, if truth is definable by each of us according to our individual influences and situations then we have a huge problem.

· Namely, everyone’s truth will cast their lives in a good light, NO MATTER WHAT THEY DO, BELIEVE OR SAY, because

Proverbs 20:6 NKJV

6 Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, But who can find a faithful man?

“Most men will proclaim each his own goodness…”

“If religious books are not widely circulated among the masses in this country, I do not know what is going to become of us as a nation. If truth be not diffused, error will be; if God and His Word are not known and received, the devil and his works will gain the ascendancy; if the evangelical volume does not reach every hamlet, the pages of a corrupt and licentious literature will.” - Daniel Webster

Can every individual conclude his/her own truth or did God give us the truth when He gave us His words found in the Bible?

· For those of us who are followers of Christ this question seems very easily answered… God’s truth is the truth because it comes from the author of truth.

· Any declarations that contradict His words cannot be truth.

· God is perfect in all He knows, does, and is and has been gracious enough to unveil His truth to us.

· It is truth, even if inconvenient for us.

Jesus stood before Pilate after being arrested.

· No one wanted to be the bad guy where Jesus was concerned.

· Ciaphas didn’t want’ to risk revolt so he passed him on the Pilate.

John 18:37–38 NIV

37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” 38 “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him.

· The truth was being stretched and manipulated so that the result would be the death of Jesus.

· Ironic, since He was truth!

But, when Jesus began to tell them the truth it became threatening to their lifestyle.

· More often than not truth will cause great conflict within someone.

· Then they have to make a choice; THE truth or their truth?

Finding God’s truth may create a sense of discomfort in life. God’s truth often raises the bar very high but it is still God’s truth. Look at:

Matthew 16:24–25 NIV

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.

Luke 14:26–33 NIV

26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ 31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

Matt. 5: 19-48, too long to read, but He talks about difficult truths. Righteousness: must be greater than the Pharisees.

Murder: not just a physical act against the life of your fellow man, but gossipy, spiteful, malicious talk that can bring to you the same result as though you committed physical, mortal harm.

Adultery: again, not the just the physical act, but allowing the act to dwell within your imagination is the same thing.

Divorce: the nonchalance of modern day divorce, even among the so-called born-agains, is detestable to God, and mostly we don’t care.

Remember the Facebook post, “Never let anyone say you are wrong when what you’ve done makes your life better.”

This passage goes on about oaths, turning the other cheek and loving your enemies.

And, your misapplication or misunderstanding of these concepts of truth will disqualify you from entering the Kingdom of Heaven!

WHAT YOU BELIEVE DETERMINES HOW YOU BEHAVE.

· If your truth says, regardless of what the bible says, that you are OK then you will act out of that belief.

· This is what the devil counts on, that we will develop our own truths

· HE LOVES IT!

· But, understand this about the devil:

John 8:44 NIV

44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

When we resist the truth…

Romans 1:18 NIV

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,

Romans 1:22 NIV

22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools

Romans 1:25 NIV

25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

TWO OF SATAN’S GREATEST WEAPONS:

1) RELATIVISM

2) SUBJECTIVISM

Relativism: the assumption that there is no such thing as absolute truth.

Unfortunately, it can’t even be said that those who claim to be Born Again are firmly grounded in the absolute truths of the Bible.

· In one national survey, self-described born-again Christians were asked to evaluate this statement; "The Devil, or Satan, is not a living being but is a symbol of evil."

· They were then asked, "Do you agree strongly, agree somewhat, disagree somewhat, or disagree strongly with that statement?"

· The Born Again population reply with 32 percent agreeing strongly, 11 percent agreeing somewhat and 5 percent did not know.

· Thus, of the total number responding, 48 percent either agreed that Satan is only symbolic or did not know!

· Nearly half of US Christians can’t even identify the truth about the enemy.

The next question in the survey is even more startling, and telling;

· It asked, "Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and others all pray to the same God, even though they use different names for that God."

· Again, the respondents were asked to agree strongly, agree somewhat, disagree somewhat or disagree strongly.

· Of that population surveyed who identified themselves as Born Again, 30 percent agreed strongly, 18 percent agreed somewhat and 12 percent did not know.

· That is a total of 60 percent of Christians who don’t truly know God! (What Americans Believe, pp. 206-212). - Watchman Expositor, Vol. 10, No. 4, 1993, p. 31.

· Where has the truth gone?

· When did we lose it?

We’ve lost it in the Cultural Sea of Subjectivism!

Subjectivism: I, the subject, have the right to determine what is right and wrong without submitting my judgment to any authority outside myself.

· We hear this when people will focus on speaking their own truth.

Listen closely for the following phrases. They are red flags that a personal truth is about to be revealed “It is my opinion that…” “I believe…” “If you ask me…” “My experience has been…” “Someone once told me…”Consensus does not necessarily mean that someone has found God’s truth.Just because someone is intelligent or has a seminary degree doesn’t mean their opinion is God’s truth.

I’ll admit this; we are human, not omniscient; our truth may be birthed out of our own painful story, a story not yet redeemed.

· I have no doubt that there are stories of unloving Christians regarding many of our current social dilemmas; homosexuality, same-sex marriage, abortion, what’s being taught in our public schools, and many others.

· But, the truth about same-sex relations, killing of innocent life, and the God-designed marriage remains.

· Because we are human, our truth could simply be another way to rationalize our actions.

· Because we are human, we may long for others to embrace our truth and agree with us so that we can find support for our bad decisions and wrongdoings.

· We may feel that we can rest in our own truths but the bible says the opposite.

Jesus is the only truth and only He can set you free!

John 8:32 NIV

32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

WHAT IS TRUTH?

TRUTH IS NOT JUST A WHAT BUT A WHO.

John 14:6 NIV

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

John 1:1–2 NIV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.

John 1:14 NIV

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 8:36 NIV

36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

There is power in seeking God’s truth and speaking it into one another’s lives.

· We Christians have an exciting obligation to help the world know and live God’s truth.

· If we are willing to do this, the promise He made with Joshua will be true for all who seek and find, and live His truth too… whatever we are doing that is in God’s will, in other words, God’s truth, is going to be successful.

· Embrace the possibilities when we follow God’s truth.

Joshua 1:7–8 NIV

7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Has biblical truth fallen away because we have not learned it, lived it and propagated it?

· Have we been less than careful maintain and remain in His truth?

· Are we too relativistic?

· Too subjective in our interpretation of it?

If what we believe determines how we behave, how have our false beliefs affected us as a nation, a church, as individuals?

Has Jesus set you free?

· Let the author of life and truth reveal His truth to you!

Make sure your truth is God’s truth!

Let us pray...