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Truth
The word is used well over 200 times in the Bible. Of
this number, over 100 are in the New Testament. From
this alone, we can see the importance of truth to both
God and the writers of the Bible.
John uses the word more than any other writer of the
New Testament (22 times in the Gospel of John). Then in
his letters, he continues on that theme using it nine
more times in 1 John; 4 more times in 2 John; 5 times in
3 John. This is a total of 39 times.
We could define truth as anything opposed to error.
In that case, we would have to define error. It could
also mean certain truths, such as Bible truths. The
dictionary defines it as conforming to facts. It means
also conforming to a certain standard or standards. For
example, if I use the word "foot" in regards to
measurement, you know I am referring to a 12-inch foot.
(This is called the English system.) Every English ruler
in the world is exactly alike.
Many times truth is hard to come by. For example,
judges can have a difficult task of discerning the truth
where both sides have some truth to their arguments. I
have seen Judge Judy dismiss cases where she could not
arrive at a clear decision.
I do not believe anyone loves the truth any more than
I do. I am sure some love it much as I do but none loves
it anymore than I do. However, all Christians should
love it as much as I do. The early disciples loved it
enough to give their lives for it.
I have listening to Dr. R.C. Sproul on the Dish. He
has been lecturing on sovereign grace as opposed to
Arminianism. The Arminians have some arguments that
sound good at first thought. Those who embrace that
doctrine actually believe they make the decision without
any help of God. The sovereign grace group believes it
is all of God. Both views have some merit. However, as
is often times the case, and in order to resolve the
differences, there are other things to consider before a
decision can be made as to which side has the most truth
or the whole truth.
One of the "other things" that must be considered, is
that of the absolute depravity of man, or only a partial
depravity of man. Or, as Dr. Sproul put it, "is man
spiritually sick or is he spiritually dead." He can’t be
both. Of course, that question is answered clearly when
Paul says of the Ephesians:
Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were
dead in trespasses and sins;
Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are
saved;)
Also of the Colossians:
Colossians 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and
the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened
together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
And dead men don’t repent and believe in Christ. Yet
we are told to repent and believe. How can a dead man
repent? He can’t so what has to happen before he can do
as commanded? God must work a work of grace in his soul
in order for it to happen. Is this taught in the
Scripture? Yes.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of
works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in
them.
Also:
Philippians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you
both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Add to that no creature can do anything contrary to
his or her nature. A cat cannot bark, because it not its
nature. In our natural state, we cannot repent because
it is against or outside our nature. God has to change
our nature. He does just that. We see a very dramatic
illustration of that in the Apostle Paul’s Damascus Road
Experience. One minute he was on the Damascus Road
"breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the
disciples of the Lord," and the next instant, he was
asking, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" How can we
explain such a dramatic turn about apart from the direct
intervention of God? We cannot.
I. Jesus: "Full of Truth."
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt
among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Jesus’ claims to truth
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the
truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but
by me.
This has never been said of any other man. I believe
all of us have some truth. I would like to think we have
all the truth but I am sure there are some things we may
have only part truth. None of us is full of the truth.
II. Worship According to "Truth."
Worship in truth
John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the
true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and
in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship
him in spirit and in truth.
These verses tell us several things about the
relationship between worship and truth. 1. God the
Father seeks these kinds of worshippers. This means He
does not seek other kinds of worshippers. 2. This also
rules out many modern day worship services. It rules out
all ritualistic type of worship. It rules out any
activity of the flesh in worship. 3. It gives us the
exact formula for divine worship. Because He is a
Spirit, we must worship by His Spirit and according to
His Spirit. 4. Because God is truth, we must worship
according to truth. "Thy word is truth."
The Da Vinci code is a movie that purports to be full
of truth. It makes claims to tell the truth about
Christianity and the REAL Jesus. Their Jesus was not
really God and married Mary Magdalene, and they had
several children. Now think of this, we have a choice
between the testimony of several men who walked with Him
and Dan Brown, who is alive today and makes claims that
contradict those of the early disciples. Would we rather
believe a "Johnny come lately" or the men who knew
Jesus? I am of the opinion that Dan and the Devil are
related.
The Spirit is a Guide to truth
John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is
come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not
speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that
shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
In the early days of Christianity, they were writing
the Bible so they needed direct revelations from God to
do this. This was accomplished by "the Spirit of truth"
revealing what He wanted to be written. After this was
accomplished, we don’t need any more revelations. We
just need to understand the revelation we have at hand.
III. Truth offensive
John 8:40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath
told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did
not Abraham.
According to this, some people of that day actually
tried to kill Jesus because He spoke the truth. One of
their main complaints was that Jesus claimed to be God.
They had a law that condemned a man to death for making
that claim. They did not believe He was God so they went
about to kill Him.
John 10:33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good
work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because
that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
Dan Brown has done the very same thing as what the
religious rulers of Jesus’ day did. He has made Jesus to
be a mere man. Should any Christian listen to Dan Brown?
Not if we want to hear the truth.
Paul says he had become the enemy for telling the
truth to the people at Galatia:
Galatians 4:16 Am I therefore become your enemy,
because I tell you the truth?
Isaiah said truth had suffered a real setback in his
day:
Isaiah 59:14 And judgment is turned away backward,
and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in
the street, and equity cannot enter.
And what about our day?
Jeremiah 7:28 But thou shalt say unto them, This is a
nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God,
nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut
off from their mouth.
Jeremiah said the nation of Israel had forgotten
about truth and we know what happened to that nation.
Can we expect any better? No other nation has had as
many advantages as we and we are trashing everything
now. (What about abortion issue? Can a nation kill 40
million babies and expect to prosper? Hitler is said to
have killed only 7 million and there is not a kind word
for him. Can we, in some manner, justify the death of 40
million defenseless unborn babies?)
Here is a very offensive truth about our nation: From
the email of Mike Masterson 5-27-06
"Every hour of every single day, the United States
racks up another $80 million of debt. The renowned Levy
Institute estimates that the United States will owe
foreigners $8 trillion by 2008 - a breathtaking 60% of
our gross domestic product.
"Just think about it: $6 out of every $10 that you
and I earn in America will go to pay off a loan in China
or Japan or South Korea or the rest of Asia. That's the
kind of mortgage nobody can afford, including you, me,
the U.S. government and our kids.
"A year ago, the annual deficits already hit $7
trillion, according to the U.S. comptroller. That's
roughly $24,000 the government owes for every American
man, woman and child.
"It's money that's coming out of your pocket, and I'm
not just talking taxes...but also from higher gas
prices, food bills, even college tuition. And be
assured, Uncle Sam has no intention of paying you back.
"Worse yet, the man in the striped suit and tall hat
is already asking for more..." (Just recently, the debt
ceiling was raised to 9 trillion-HCM.)
IV. The devil opposed to truth
John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the
lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from
the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there
is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh
of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Strong medicine but true nevertheless. Jesus says
that Satan and the Jews are in cahoots. They have teamed
up against the truth. I think we can say the same for
the media, the ACLU, the justice system, and the
government. (Look at the border issue. Our President
swore to defend this country. He is negligent at best.
Our Senate just voted to let millions more illegals into
our country.)
2 Peter 2:2 And many shall follow their pernicious
ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil
spoken of.
The way many speak today, we would think there is
something wrong with doing right. Many look at the
Commandments, God, the Bible, marriage, good morals, all
in horror.
V. Truth Expensive
Proverbs 23:23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also
wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
These seem to be strange instructions. This is
somewhat symbolic language. It seems to say, one, come
by the truth any way you can; two, it will cost you
dearly to come by it, and three, once you have it, hold
on to it at all cost and don’t ever compromise it. It
also says that truth, wisdom and understanding go hand
in hand.
Galatians 5:7 Ye did run well; who did hinder you
that ye should not obey the truth?
Paul is saying I delivered the truth to you at
Galatia but something happened after I left. You had a
good start but along the way, you got off the pathway of
truth. Double back and retrieve what you lost. A good
finish is more important than a good start.
2 Thessalonians 2:12 That they all might be damned
who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness.
No body will be saved by believing lies, regardless
of how sincere they might be. I am of the opinion That
Rome has the biggest lies and they are the most widely
spread of all denominations because that church has the
most influence of all the so-called Christian
denominations.
VI. Holding up Truth
1 Timothy 3:15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest
know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of
God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar
and ground of the truth.
Who is the primary group responsible for upholding
(holding up) the truth? The Lord’s church! Maybe others
can assist but no one else has the divine mandate to
hold it up or stand up for it and spread it as much as
possible.
Mr. T.T. Eaton, in the BBB, has a sermon in which he
makes some interesting remarks. He says that truth will
only prevail as long as "prophets, apostles and martyrs
are willing to do, dare and die on its behalf."
He goes on to illustrate by citing the fact that one
diseased person can spread disease all over town but not
one whole person can or will spread good health all over
the same town. Lies and sin travel fast but as he says,
a "lie will travel around the block several times before
truth even gets it boots on."
We have an up to date example in the Same Sex
Marriage bill. It is, according to Dr. Dobson, to be
voted on in the Senate next week (the first week of June
06). He believes and so do I, that unless we fight for
the preservation of conventional marriage, it will
eventually be trashed. That is certainly what the homos
and the ACLU are after. It has happened in some of the
Scandinavian countries and less and less people are
being married in those countries.
Of course, shacking up and divorce hurt marriage.
However, these are not good reasons to trash the
institution of marriage. If the trend continues, the
present crop of displaced and angry children will dwarf
the crop we are about to reap.
Acts 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered
and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. 30 The
God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and
hanged on a tree. 31 Him hath God exalted with his right
hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give
repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we
are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the
Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.
33 When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and
took counsel to slay them. 34 Then stood there up one in
the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the
law, had in reputation among all the people, and
commanded to put the apostles forth a little space; 35
And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to
yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men.
36 For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting
himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about
four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all,
as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to
nought.
37 After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the
days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him:
he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him,
were dispersed. 38 And now I say unto you, Refrain from
these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or
this work be of men, it will come to nought: 39 But if
it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be
found even to fight against God.
Essentially, what this so-called wise man is saying
is, ignore these men, they will go away, and you will
have accomplished your goal. One of the reasons we have
so much error in our world today is because we have more
or less ignored it for the last 20 years.
We have to learn how to discern the truth from error:
Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto
God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly
dividing the word of truth.
If we don’t study (apply ourselves) we will be
ashamed.
And the group that controls ideas determines whether
truth or lies will prevail. Our founding fathers did not
start out to found a new nation. They only wanted some
concessions from England. But when England did not even
try to accommodate them, the idea of separating from
England caught on. During a speech, Patrick Henry
uttered what became the most famous words or idea of
that day, "Give me liberty or give me death." This idea
caught on and motivated the people to rebel against
England and today we have the most wonderful country of
all times.
The way the early disciples learned the truth:
John 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I
will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of
truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall
testify of me:
VII. The Word, Called Truth, it Sanctifies
John 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word
is truth.
John 17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself,
that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Lies will not sanctify a person regardless of how
sincere he or she is.
John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is
come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not
speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that
shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who
hold the truth in unrighteousness; 19 ¶ Because that
which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God
hath shewed it unto them. 20 For the invisible things of
him from the creation of the world are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, even his
eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without
excuse: 21 Because that, when they knew God, they
glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but
became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish
heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise,
they became fools, 23 And changed the glory of the
uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible
man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping
things. 24 Wherefore God also gave them up to
uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to
dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25 Who
changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and
served the creature more than the Creator, who is
blessed for ever. Amen. 26 For this cause God gave them
up unto vile affections: for even their women did change
the natural use into that which is against nature: 27
And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of
the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men
with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving
in themselves that recompence of their error which was
meet. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in
their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind,
to do those things which are not convenient;
These are some of the truths this passage teaches:
1. God is against those who reject the truth.
2. The truth of and about God can be and is
known.
3. Man is without excuse.
4. They clearly rejected the truth by engaging in
idol worship.
5. God gave them over to reprobate minds.
6. This reprobate mind set is reflected primarily
by homosexual activity. Anything that is contrary to
God’s original plan seems to be man’s way of expressing
his rejection of God and truth.
I read the following illustration of young boy who
carried the flag and marched at the head of a battle
during the civil war. He was severely wounded and
carried to the back of the column. When he regained
consciousness, he said "Is the flag okay?" They handed
him the flag and he died with the flag still in his
hands. We must stand for and hold up the flag of truth
at all times even if it costs us dearly. Otherwise,
truth will fall to the ground. |
