The Gift Of Truth

“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.” Amen?!!!

REMIND EVERYONE OF THE DINNER IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE SERVICE!

What an amazing blessing it is to come together and to worship the Lord God together and to laugh together and to read and hear the Word of God being read together, amen?!

We are so blessed, each and every time that we can come together and do these things!

And I absolutely love having the children and the youth of this body being an active part of our services.

To train up a child in the way that they should go, involves much more than just our words; it involves the investment of our time and our talents and our dedication and of our becoming living role models for them!

A child needs to know why and understand why we actually go to church and assemble together.

The phrase, “Because I say so” doesn’t teach the child why we need to be engaging one another in the body of Christ.

And in a culture and a society that has witnessed the first generation of young people, ever, in this nation’s history, who say that they are done going to church and done with religion, I would say that it is more relevant and important now than ever, to TEACH our children and our youth, as to what the Bible has to say about coming together as the church body.

And even more so, that we DEMONSTRATE to them, what the Body of Christ is to look like and act like and sound like, and not according to the preferences of the denominations, which are man influenced, but rather, according to God’s Word and the leading of His Holy Spirit!

I shared with the men at the Men’s Breakfast yesterday, a portion of the very familiar passage from , which reads,

Hebrews 10:23–25 ESV

23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

This passage is very important for both the children and youth in our lives, as well as for new believers in Christ, who are being made into disciples for Jesus.

We need to teach as well as demonstrate for them, the importance of coming together as a church body and why it is so important in the life of a believer.

I read yesterday, more information about Generation Z, which is the current generation that is coming up in this nation and who are those born after 1997.

This generation of young people, are those who were raised on technology, the internet and social media and all of the benefits as well as problems that go with these things.

And in a society where the Word of God was shrunk away from being read within the homes and prayers were an after thought and in a culture where parents were more concerned with being a “friend” to their child, instead of being a parent, if they were even around, or involved at all, we now have a generation that has taught themselves values and beliefs via the internet and the world of social media!

In other words, this generation’s parents and teachers and role models, were, large and in part, digital nanny's!

This explains why, a year ago, the Barna Research Group did a study that found that only 17% of “Christians” have what the researchers consider a Biblical worldview.

And a Biblical worldview, according to the Barna Research Group, would be that of believing in the following tenets:

A belief that absolute moral truth exists; that the Bible is TOTALLY ACCURATE in all of its principles that it teaches; that Satan is considered to be a real being or force and not merely symbolic; that a person CANNOT earn their way into heaven by trying to be good or do good works; that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life here on earth; and that God is the all-knowing, all powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today!

If you believe that all of those things I just read to you are accurate and true and you live your life in accordance with those tenets, then congratulations, you have a Biblical worldview!

And congratulations, you are very much in the minority!

Society today stresses that there are no “absolute truths” and that moral relativism is in effect for our lives.

In other words, as I stated in a message that I gave about two years ago, TRUTH is now a matter of interpretation, based upon each individual’s wants and needs, and oblivious to the imparted moral TRUTH that God put into the hearts and minds of His creation!

Paul said in , “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.”

He said that mankind suppressed the TRUTH that God gave them and denied Him and began to worship the creature rather than the Creator and in doing so, they exchanged the TRUTH for a lie!

Romans 1:18–25 ESV

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

All of mankind knows that their is a moral truth and can see the existence of a living God, just from creation itself.

All of mankind knows that their is a moral truth and can see the existence of a living God, just from creation itself.

My wife and I sat last night and talked about the creation of the human eye and of how amazing it is and of how that one organ alone, completely blows the theories of evolution right out of the water! Let alone all of the other mind blowing systems and functions there are in the human body that scream out to us, “THERE IS A GOD!”

And even though, studies and surveys show that those who cling to the TRUTH of the Bible are in the minority, I submit to you this morning that all that says to me is that we have our work cut out for us, as Christians.

And that tells me that if only 17% of Christians in this nation, have a true Biblical Worldview, then there are a lot of people out there who have been deceived and lied to and that our job, until either the Christ returns or calls us home, is to learn how to take this message of hope to them and present it the lost and lied to and turn that percentage around!

THEY NEED THE TRUTH!

Throughout the gospel of John, we read of Jesus saying something repeatedly in His teachings. We find many times, Jesus making the following statement in this gospel, “Truly, truly I say to you....”

Have you ever really thought about the significance for His saying this? Do you know what this means?

The word “truly” in the Greek, is the word, “amēn”, which is where we get our word, AMEN.

This word refers to something that is being said that is TRUE and GENUINE; it literally means, “so be it”.

So, to say amēn with regard to something, was to emphasize that what you were saying was the TRUTH!

This word was placed at the closing of certain epistles to emphasize that everything that they had just recorded was factual and true and that it should be accepted and received with authority, as in , which reads, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amēn.

Jesus would use this word at the beginning of many of His statements, not the end.

Using it at the beginning of a statement, implied that the person who was speaking, had the inside track on what was being said.

In other words, this person had some first-hand knowledge about what was being said and thus it was trustworthy.

So, for Jesus to use this word in the double form, as John records for us, implied that what was being said was not only the TRUTH, but also it was very important!

There are 25 of these double, “truly, truly” statements that John records for us in passages like:

, where Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

And , “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”

The reason that I point out the “truly, truly” statements, is to emphasize that Jesus, Himself, was declaring to us that He not only had the inside track on TRUTH and that what He was teaching was the TRUTH, but even more importantly, Jesus Christ was and is and always will be, “THE TRUTH”!

The Bible tells us that grace and TRUTH came through Jesus, Himself!

Everything about Him is the TRUTH, as He, Himself said, in one of His 7 “I AM” statements that only John records for us, “I am the WAY, the TRUTH and the Life, no one comes to the Father, but by Me!”

On the night of Jesus’ arrest, as He stood before Pontius Pilate, in , we read of Pilate saying to Jesus, “So you are a king?”. To which Jesus replied, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the TRUTH. Everyone who is of the TRUTH listens to my voice.”

My dear friends, the reason that I mention to you this morning about training up our children and our youth and our new disciples, in the fullness of the gospel message and ALL that is recorded in the Word of God, (as my wife has been doing an amazing job of teaching your youth out of the Old Testament, because it is ALL the TRUTH), but the reason I emphasize this, is because it’s only in knowing the TRUTH, that people are ever truly set free!

In fact, let’s look real quickly at that passage in John’s gospel where Jesus says those very words to us, ,

John 8:31–36 ESV

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

We may have a head knowledge about things that are written in the Bible, but just as I taught last week and as we just read in , unless we ABIDE, REMAIN, LIVE, in the TRUTH and the TRUTH abides and lives in us, we are not free and we will not walk in the fullness and the authority of the TRUTH!

Look, there are many things that we know of in our lives that are factual. We have lots of facts. And facts, are exactly that, “factual” and true. They are self-evident and undeniable and we need them in our lives.

But, having the facts put before us, does not determine who and what we are and what we are limited to, or bound to.

And we shouldn’t try to ignore the facts, as if they don’t exist. What we need to do, is to take the facts, as they present themselves to us in our lives, and bring them into alignment with the TRUTH!

Here is what I mean. We know that it’s a definite FACT, that the law of gravity exists, right?

I know that gravity is a fact and that it is very much there and real in my life and I can try to just ignore it and say that it doesn’t exist, but that doesn’t make it go away, or change it.

I can take this take this paper and say that it will not fall and try to ignore gravity, but in the end, [RELEASE THE PAPER], it still falls!

Why, because gravity is a fact, and ignoring the fact doesn’t change its existence and make it go away!

I can try to bring a new reality into the face of the fact of gravity and alter what it does. [PLACE PAPER ON A BOOK AND THEN RELEASE IT]

But, in the end, even though the book altered the path for the paper and gave the illusion of something different happening, the end result was the same.

The fact of gravity still stands and the paper still fell. No matter how much I want to ignore it, or say that it isn’t real and try to bring some new level of faith into the mix, by saying, “It isn’t so; it will not happen that way”, it still exists.

Gravity is a law, created by God; it is a fact and it doesn’t change. We can ignore it, but it’s still there, right?

So, what does the fact of gravity have to do with the TRUTH?

Here you go. I can accept the fact that gravity exists and not try to ignore it and wish it away and nothing will change, or, I can bring the reality of TRUTH into the situation and watch what happens.

Gravity is a fact and it pulls down continually, keeping things from being able to rise upward.

And yet, a plane can lift off of the ground and gravity doesn’t stop it. How is this possible?

Because of a TRUTH that exists, that overrides the law of gravity.

When you bring the TRUTH of the law of LIFT into the situation, it overrides and supersedes the law of gravity and the plane flies!

You see, knowing the TRUTH and standing on the TRUTH, will alter and change the fact, or situation in your life!

BUT, just knowing the TRUTH in your head is not enough! Until the TRUTH becomes a reality and a belief in your heart and soul and mind, it will not change the facts that exist around you!

You can quote the Bible and tell people that you believe in the gospel message and finished work of the cross and that whatever is going on in your life is going to change, but that doesn’t mean anything is going to happen.

Why, because until the TRUTH becomes a reality and a belief in your heart, it still doesn’t have any authority to alter the facts around you.

Jesus said that to the one who believes, all things are possible. Not the one who “knows”!

We have been given the authority to reign and rule on this earth, as ambassadors of the Lord Jesus and bring the spiritual kingdom of God, into our midst.

But, He will only move on your behalf, based upon your level of faith and belief in Him and His Word, that abides in your heart and soul and mind!

The Bible says that we are a part of the good olive tree and as such, we can be likened to that of an olive.

Well, what happens when you squeeze and press an olive? Olive oil comes out, because that’s what inside of an olive.

When the facts of life press you, what you truly believe inside of you, is what is going to come out, not what you have the head knowledge of!

When the 12 spies returned to give their report of the land of Canaan to the nation of Israel, what happened?

10 of the men simply quoted the facts. They were not wrong in what they said, about all that they had observed. They did see the land of plenty and a place that was flowing with milk and honey, BUT, they also saw the massive nations that lived there and the giants that were a part of those nations!

Joshua and Caleb, however, brought the TRUTH into the situation, because their hearts believed in God. It was what truly came out of them, when the facts of life pressed in on them!

Caleb said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.”

And Joshua said, “If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.”

Did you see it? Their faith and belief in God, was the TRUTH in their lives and it superseded the facts that existed around them!

Whenever doctors give the facts about someone’s health and pronounce the diagnosis of cancer, it is like a death sentence to many people. Why? Because we accept the facts, of the natural, fallen world that we are in and go on with it.

And other people will ignore the facts and say that they are not so and that they do not exist, but ignoring and quoting, “In Jesus’ name, I do not receive that news”, does not make the facts dissappear!

Only when you bring the TRUTH into your situation, will change come.

You see, we are in this world, as Christs’ ambassadors, but we are not OF this world and we are not bound to its natural facts and limitations!

The TRUTH and reality of God and His power and authority in us, will completely eradicate the facts of this world that exist around us.

The facts, in the natural world, state that blinded eyes are just that, blind! And yet TRUTH of the kingdom, says the opposite and thus, the blinded eyes are opened!

The facts in the natural world, state that a dead person is just that, dead! And yet the TRUTH of the kingdom of God says just the opposite and so, the dead are raised to life!

And the facts in the natural world, state that cancer is a disease that will alter and change, or even take your life! And yet, the TRUTH of the kingdom says otherwise!

Whatever the facts are that are taking place in your life right now, you need to stop rehearsing the facts and circumstances of this life and start speaking the TRUTH and bringing the TRUTH of the kingdom of God into your situation!

The devil, according to Jesus, is a liar and the father of lies and it is the only language that he knows. The devil lies and tells you that you are bound to these facts of this fallen world, that you are nothing, that you are sick, that you are weal, that you are broken and that you are unable to change any of the facts that he has presented to you and into your life!

NOW, listen to what Jesus, the TRUTH, says about you:

READ FROM THE LIST OF “WHO I AM IN CHRIST”

Since this is the time of year that we recognise as “Christmas” and it is a time given to much gift giving, let me make a suggestion to you all. Let’s give the world around us the gift that truly changes lives and alters fates and can completely eradicate the facts that exist in others lives. LET’S give the gift of TRUTH this year to the world around us!