Live Your Truth

Introduction

What is truth?

Lots of things are true. 2+2=4, that is a true statement. The Chiefs won the Super Bowl in 2019, that is true. The church basement is almost always cooler than the upstairs because cold air sinks and warm air rises. Lots of things are true! We’ve talked about the importance of truth in the past and how there are some things out there that are simply black and white. They are true or false, right or wrong. With that in mind, there are also some things that are a little grey. They are muddy. Think about some of these muddy areas. There is some freedom and liberty that we have and there are some areas that two smart, faithful, Christians can disagree on because the truth is unknown. The last year we’ve heard a lot of reports, studies, and research but sometimes the results aren’t conclusive and the truth is unknown.

As humans, we want to be right. We talked about this briefly during Sunday school as we like being right because we believe something and it just makes sense to us. We don’t like being wrong. In order to be right, you have to either study something or simply think that you’re always right. You have to dig deep into the facts or you have to trust in the feeling that says that you are always right. Facts or feelings, who wins out? For many in our world, feelings are more important than facts. Feelings represent truth more than facts do.

This is not unique to our world, though. Think back to Jesus’ day and the various Jewish groups that existed. You had the Essenes who felt like the more powerful Pharisees and Sadducees were corrupt and they retreated to the desert to practice their faith. You had the Sadducees who were closely aligned with the political climate of the day in order to maintain their power and some of them compromised what the Bible says in order to survive and be comfortable. Finally you had the Pharisees who were obedient to many of the old ways and they were not willing to compromise. They were regularly in the Word. They didn’t change their beliefs due to the Romans. They continued to study. Yet, even though they were the closest, they still rejected Christ.

As one commentator puts it, “No amount of facts will convince anyone who is committed to disbelief.” These Jews were committed. They were faithful. They studied Scripture. They knew the law. But, they did not believe in Jesus Christ. We talked in Sunday School briefly about the Jews and there is quite a bit of confusion about the Jews and where they stand now. What does the Bible say about being saved. Does the Bible say that our works, sacrifices, heritage, or last name saves us? No. Faith in Jesus saves. If you reject Jesus, the Bible doesn’t care who you are, you’re lost.

John 14:6 CSB

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

There were Jews in Jesus’ day who rejected Christ. What happened to them? They died and are separated from God. Paul, in Romans 9-11 answers this question for us

Romans 9:6 CSB

6 Now it is not as though the word of God has failed, because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.

What does this mean? It means that there are Jewish people who are not saved presently. They are not true Israel. Romans 11 answers this as Paul talks about there being a tree with branches

Romans 11:17 CSB

17 Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, though a wild olive branch, were grafted in among them and have come to share in the rich root of the cultivated olive tree,

There were branches to the tree that were broken off - the Jews - and other branches have been grafted into the tree - Gentiles. Why are some of these branches cut off?

Romans 11:20–21 CSB

20 True enough; they were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but beware, 21 because if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

They did not believe. God doesn’t play the favorites game with our backgrounds. If you reject Jesus, you’re in trouble. Now, what’s the good news for the Jews? God’s plan in Acts is for the Gospel to be presented first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. As the Gospel goes out to the Gentiles, Romans 11 states that

Romans 11:11 CSB

11 I ask, then, have they stumbled so as to fall? Absolutely not! On the contrary, by their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous.

The Jews will get jealous and eventually, come back to God and accept Christ as Lord. In other words, there will be a massive revival take place with Jews worldwide as they come to accept Christ as their messiah. Make no mistake about it, though, you must accept Christ as Lord. If you reject Christ, it doesn’t matter if you’re a Jew, Muslim, Atheist, or Buddhist, you’re not born again.

Why does this matter so much? Because in our world, many people want to say that there are many ways to be saved. The Bible says that this is not true. Others echo the Psalmist in Psalm 14:1

Psalm 14:1 CSB

1 The fool says in his heart, “There’s no God.” They are corrupt; they do vile deeds. There is no one who does good.

People follow their feelings and their feelings let them down. Others don’t say that there are many ways to get to God, but they too follow their feelings and say that there is no God at all. These are the lies that Satan loves for people to buy into… The lie is simply to “Live Your Truth.”

Truth is relative. It means different things to different people. What is true for you might not be true for me. Therefore, live your truth and I’ll live mine and we’ll get along just fine. This is a lie that many young people outside the church believe today and, sadly, it is a lie that has infiltrated the church as well. People are so convinced that they are right that they either ignore the facts and completely trust in their feelings, or they are not convinced in the truth enough to live for it. Rather than everything being grey, the Bible is clear that some things, such as salvation, are absolutely black and white. The truth is not in our feelings, it’s in the divinely inspired, inerrant, Word of God!

John 8:30–47 CSB

30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him. 31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 “We are descendants of Abraham,” they answered him, “and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus responded, “Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free. 37 I know you are descendants of Abraham, but you are trying to kill me because my word has no place among you. 38 I speak what I have seen in the presence of the Father; so then, you do what you have heard from your father.” 39 “Our father is Abraham,” they replied. “If you were Abraham’s children,” Jesus told them, “you would do what Abraham did. 40 But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. 41 You’re doing what your father does.” “We weren’t born of sexual immorality,” they said. “We have one Father—God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and I am here. For I didn’t come on my own, but he sent me. 43 Why don’t you understand what I say? Because you cannot listen to my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Who among you can convict me of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 The one who is from God listens to God’s words. This is why you don’t listen, because you are not from God.”

Danger of the Lie

What is the danger in living your own truth? At the surface level this sounds like a very liberating thing. We are all wired differently and we naturally think differently, therefore, society loves the idea of living out whatever you think is right for you. The problem lies with this though: Are there some things that are always right and wrong? Think of some of these. Are there some absolutes out there?

Adultery, regardless of the situation, is wrong.

Violating God’s Word is wrong.

Abortion is wrong.

We don’t need to interview 1,000,000 people to figure this out. These things are clearly right or wrong. This isn’t to say that these situations are complex, but there is a clear answer.

What happens often, though, is that people believe truth to be fluid. Truth changes. Truth can be whatever I want it to be. Did you know that there was a math professor last fall who claimed that 2 + 2 = 4 is actually racist. Rather than 2 + 2 = 4 simply being a true mathematical equation, apparently it is rooted in white supremacy. Others talk about truth being something that doesn’t have to stay the same for all people. For you, maybe your truth is to love one person but for someone else, their truth is to love 3 people. For someone it is to be a practicing homosexual or to engage in pedophilia. Whatever your truth is, whatever your hearts desire is, whatever feels right, that’s what you should do because you should live your truth. After all, there is no objective truth. It’s all relative. It always changes.

Do you see the danger with this?

Just as we talked about 2 weeks ago with the original sin in the Garden and how people prioritize our happiness above our holiness, people today are confused and often just want to be happy. So what if this has been true for thousands of years, so what if this is what science tells us, so what if this is what the Bible says, I feel like this and I’m going to do this because I know that I’m right.

Maybe you think that this is silly, which it largely is, but don’t write off this lie and temptation so quickly. Aren’t we tempted to simply live out our truth? Aren’t we tempted to say that we’re right because we’ve always believed something? On the flip side, can’t we be tempted to not stand up for what we believe in order to just let people be happy? After all, isn’t the status quo in our world to not judge others?

What does God’s Word say about this reality

Matthew 7:1 CSB

1 “Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged.

Many Christians and even non-Christians stop here. They know this verse and they say that we cannot judge others because the Bible says so. Again, context. What does Jesus go on to say in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7?

Matthew 7:2–3 CSB

2 For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use. 3 Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye?

We will be judged according to the same standard we judge others. What is Jesus’ point in saying this? It’s to be consistent. We know that we will be judged and held accountable to God’s Word. Therefore, we can’t go out and judge someone for doing something microscopic whenever we have a beam of wood to take care of in our life! We have to evaluate ourselves first! But, we are also called to speak the truth in love in Ephesians 4:15. We are called by Jesus to judge in John 7

John 7:24 CSB

24 Stop judging according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment.”

Judge according to righteous judgment. What does that mean? The Bible tells us that our heart is wicked and impossible to understand, if we can’t understand our own heart, who are we to judge someone else’s motives or heart? We can’t. However, we can and are told to evaluate fruit. We can look at the actions of someone and have an idea of where things stand. If people say that they are going to simply live their truth and that means that they live contrary to God’s Word, that tells us that they likely are not connected to the vine because they are not bearing fruit. This isn’t judgmental to say, it’s judging righteously.

Where is the danger? In thinking that we have it all figured out. Again, we are able to justify our sins and actions better than anyone and we often fail to give that same grace to others. We read the Sermon on the Mount and we justify our actions and say that we don’t always have to turn the other cheek or give to others or help those in need because we have valid reasons. To quote Jared Wilson, “I (often) want Jesus’ kingdom commands to suit my comfortable assumptions and convenient interpretations.”

Everyone has a story. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone has a view. Many in society have what is called their truth. The danger is that our feelings are not reality - as we’ll look at next week - and that sometimes we think that we are right when in actuality, we are not.

In John 8, these Jews believed that they were in the right. They were descendants of Abraham and that was their hangup. We’re right because we have the right ancestor. I’m right today because I wear the right clothes or have the right skin color, but Jesus says that you all aren’t of God… Instead, your father is Satan. What a slap in the face. What a wakeup for our world today. We can’t just follow our feelings, we must find truth. We have to get the facts straight because our eternal destination depends on it.

What is Truth?

The good news for us tonight is that the truth is clear: Jesus is the Savior.

Where is the truth on hot-topic items and conversation points like homosexuality? In Scripture. The Old Testament is clear that this is wrong. Even if this is your truth, the Bible which claims to be the very words of God as it is God-breathed (2 Tim 3:16) says the exact opposite! The problem for many people is not that they don’t know what the truth is - instead they have heard the truth and they reject it. People know what God says and they wish He hadn’t said anything about it.

Jesus said that He himself is truth

John 1:1 CSB

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14 CSB

14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

So Jesus is truth. God’s Word is truth. What is our holdup here? Why do Christians and non-Christians alike struggle with living our own truth and doing what is right in our own eyes? We buy into the lie. Just as Eve did, we accept Satan’s truth rather than God’s. Let our response not be like her’s, instead, let us respond to falsehood and cultural pleads like Jesus did to Satan in Matthew 4

In Matthew 4, Satan tells Jesus that all of these things will be his if He simply falls down and worships Satan. Many humans would be like where do I sign up! I want all these things. What does Jesus say, though?

Matthew 4:10 CSB

10 Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”

Satan knows Scripture and he loves to twist it in such a way that it makes us feel really good and motivates us to live our own truth. Even if we know nuggets of truth like the Essenes, Sadducees, and Pharisees, we can be tempted to think that we know it all and fail to truly trust and believe in Jesus Christ when it comes to truth and salvation.

Don’t simply live your truth. Don’t waste your life thinking that there are multiple ways to be saved. Don’t let others think that this is true! Let us speak the truth of Scripture in love. There are not two ways: one way for Christians and another way for another group. There is 1 way

John 14:6 CSB

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

If we get Jesus wrong, we get Christianity wrong. The Jews, as many facts as they had right, they got Jesus wrong! Praise the Lord for His patience and His plan in Romans 11 of the promised revival that will break out among the Jews in the future, but the answer has always been and will always be Jesus Christ. If our truth doesn’t include Jesus or God’s Word, we are wrong. Let us commit to living out the truth of Scripture - let the chips fall wherever they may!

May we listen to Jesus Christ even in the busy moments of life because we see in Scripture that He is light. He is true. There is no darkness or falsehood found in Him. Trust in Him!