Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (Jn 14:6)

Scripture: John 18:36-38

36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” 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.

--

I. Jesus: The Appointed Messenger of Truth

Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. (Jn 5:24)

A. The Truth That Sets Us Apart

17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. (Jn 17:17-19)

7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” (Jn 4:7-10)

19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (Jn 4:19-24)

B. The Truth That Sets Us Free

31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” 34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (Jn 8:31-36)

The Word of God tells me:

• God loves me and nothing can separate me from His love (Rom 8:32, 38-39)
• I am complete and accepted by God (Col 2:10; Eph 1:5)
• God is enough for me (Psa 23:1)
• God can be trusted (Isa 28:16)
• God doesn’t make any mistakes (Isa 46:10)
• God’s grace is sufficient for me (2 Cor 12:9)
• The blood of Christ covers all my sin (1 Jn 1:7)
• The cross conquers my sinful flesh (Rom 6:6-7)
• There is no one I cannot forgive or love (Mk 11:25; Mt 5:44)
• I can give thanks in all things and be content in every circumstance (1 Thes 5:18; Heb 13:5)

--

II. Jesus: The Divine Message of Truth

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (Jn 1:1)

And the Word became flesh and took up residence among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth. (Jn 1:14)

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (Jn 1:17)

I and the Father are one. (Jn 10:30)

A. Jesus Sets Us Apart

17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. (Acts 26:17-18)

And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Cor 6:11)

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. (Acts 13:4)

15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. (Jn 17:15-17)

B. Jesus Sets Us Free

1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. (Rom 8:1-2)

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. (Gal 5:1)

• Jesus healed many, setting the people free from sickness.
• Jesus cast out of demons from many, setting people free from oppression and demonic influence.
• Jesus fed the 5,000 with five loaves and two fish, demonstrating that he can set people free from anxiety and worry about what we lack.
• Jesus calmed the storm, setting people free from fear and opening their minds to the supernatural possibilities that only God can do.
• Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter and Lazarus from the dead and He Himself rose from the dead, setting people free from the power of death.

--

The Challenge

A. Walk In The Truth

Your Word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. (Ps 119:105)

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place (Eph 6:14)

The Truth of God’s Word is the belt that strengthens your core and it affects everything that we do. Let us put on truth and walk upright in Jesus Christ.

B. Live Out The Truth

18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. 19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 6:18-23)

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. (1 Jn 5:5-8)

Live out the truth and exhibit the truth of God’s Word in its entirety in our lives. This leads to the developing of the fruit of the Spirit in us - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. When we live out the truth, people will recognize that we are set apart for God and set free by God.