THE IMPORTANCE OF THE TRUTH
October 18, 2003
Pastor Tony Cirigliano
John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Jesus said that truth will make us free!
Error will keep us in bondage, but truth will make us free.
All over the world people are looking for freedom, for the ultimate truth.
Boone is rich in New Age sciences and beliefs – promises of a better way of life.
America and the world is on a pursuit for happiness. It’s even in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.
Pilate once asked Jesus, “What is Truth?” but he didn’t wait around for the answer!
The Bible gives us three definitions of what truth is.
Open your Bibles to John 17:17
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Aren’t you glad that you don’t have to search all over the world to find the truth – that you don’t have to embark on a strange journey with a light like Diogenes who was searching the world for a truly honest man!
Jesus said MY WORD IS THE TRUTH!
When I was searching for the truth, my prayer was “Lord , show Me your truth.”
I had discovered that I had been deceived in my religious training, and I really wanted to know what God’s truth was!
I believe that is the experiences of many of you here too!
If we really want to know God’s will, and what His true teachings or doctrines are, we will find it.
God promises this.
Open your Bibles to John 7:17
If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.
All those who really want to do God’s will, will be taught of God what the true teachings are.
If any man – any person wants to know the truth, they will receive it.
Jesus didn’t say if any one wants to know the truth, they should pray for their preacher to learn it so they could listen to him.
He said if you want to find it for yourself, you must be willing and wanting to do God’s will
And these truth teachings are found in the Bible which Jesus said was the truth!
Honest-hearted people who want to do God’s will will be taught by God.
We are not alone in our search fro truth, we have a wonderful helper!
Open your Bibles to 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.
Notice that the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Truth, and His main job is to guide people to the truth.
Jesus didn’t say the Spirit’s job was to make us utter sounds from our mouth, or to knock us down to the ground in a comatose state, but His role is to lead us to the truth.
And since Jesus said, “Thy Word is the truth.” The Holy Spirit will lead us to study the Bible
And for those who want to know the truth, the Holy Spirit will make sure they know the doctrine!
“If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know the doctrine.”
Doctrine means teachings, and if the Bible is the truth, then true teachings must be found in it!
(Open to 2nd Timothy 3:16
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
The Bible is profitable for doctrine – If any man wants to know truth – the will of God, He’ll know the doctrine taught in God’s Word.
Thy Word is the truth – it has true doctrine in it!
There are many people who don’t know the truth – they are ignorant of it, and the Lord understands that and makes allowances for it.
Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
The truth is God’s Word.
If we want to do God’s will, we will come to know the true doctrine
The Holy Spirit will guide us to the truth in the Bible.
The Bible is profitable for doctrine or true teachings!
The second Bible definition of truth is found in 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.
Jesus is the truth – He was the Logos, the word of God personified – a walking Bible!
He said that no one could come to the Father unless they went through Him!
He is the Door! He’s the ladder Jacob saw that we must climb!
The Bible is plain. There is no other way to get to heaven – no man comes to the Father except they come through Jesus!
If there was other ways, then Jesus did not speak the truth!
Eternal life is only found in Christ. He is the way to heaven!
He is the truth, and He is eternal life!
We must know Him in order to have eternal life!
All roads do not lead to heaven – Jesus is the only way!
The Words He uttered were the Truth coming from the Truth.
Buddah
Mohammed
The Maharish Yogi
Sun Yung Moon (The Moon is not the SON!)
The New Age channelers
None of them are doors to heaven – Jesus is the only door!
One of the devil’s greatest deceptions is that all doors lead to heaven!
Universalists say whatever you believe is okay
We all worship the same God – NOT TRUE!
Moslems worship Allah – but He’s not Yahweh.
Yahweh loves the Jews, and pronounces a blessing upon those who help Israel and a curse on those who hurt Israel.
Allah’s followers believe if they kill Jews they will have a ticket to heaven!
There is no other way but through Jesus Christ!
Not Jesus – a prophet like Moslems believe
Or Jesus a good man
But Jesus the Son of God!
Good man
Crazy Man
Or The Son of God!
No other way to get there – good works – being a good guy – NONE RIGHTEOUS, no NOT ONE!
We must personally know Jesus in order to be saved!
“This is life eternal, to know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.”
Thy Word is The Truth
Jesus is the Truth
Now there’s a 3rd definition of truth in the Bible.
Psalm 119:142: Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.
Psalm 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
The law is truth, and the law of God is perfect.
It is perfect truth.
What is perfect does not need to be changed!
So a religion that is truth must have these three essentials:
They must know Jesus and believe that He is the Messiah – the Son of God.
They must love and agree with God’s Word which is the truth.
They must show their love for the Lord by obeying God’s law which also is truth.
Isaiah 26:2 Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.
The Bibles says the nation that “keeps the truth” will enter into heaven
The people that have Jesus and know Him personally
The people that love God’s Word and follow it, and the people that KEEP God’s law because they Love the Lord will enter in!
They keep the truth!
The devil hates the truth and pleasures in falsehood.
The Lord loves the truth and hates every false way!
There are three acid tests of truth – it must agree with Jesus, His Word, and His Law!
But the devil, who hates truth has tried to make other roads to heaven outside of Jesus.
He’s tried to create other Scriptures that contradict or replace the Bible, and He has attempted to substitute God’s holy law for his own!
Open your Bibles with me to Daniel 7:25.
Here’s the Lord is speaking about an attempt by the Little Horn – the false religious power that has risen in the world.
And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
This little horn – an evil power under the control of the devil has worn out the saints!
It has murdered millions of them!
It has thought that it has the power to change God’s time and law!
But if the law of the lord is perfect, and if the Law is truth, then to take away from it would make it less than truth.
To add to it would mean it was not perfect!
Today we are in church on the day God told us to worship Him – the seventh-day!
This is the commandment as found in the Bible!
This is the day Jesus kept, and the disciples kept after his death!
The Little Horn changed it!
How many people would be deceived by the devils attack against truth?
Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
The whole world would be deceived by error disguised as truth!
How important is truth to the Lord is the main question?
Open your Bibles to John 4:23-24
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.
We MUST worship in Spirit AND in truth!
Any old way of worship, any old day of worship is not good – it must be the truth!
Even though the whole world is deceived – we must worship the Lord in Spirit and truth!
Remember the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth, and His work is to guide us to the truth!
Friends, it is absolutely fatal to not love the truth!
In fact, it will lead to damnation!
Open your Bibles to 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12
2 Thessalonians 2
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by
spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at
hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not
come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed,
the son of perdition;
Notice that we will not be gathered to the Lord until a falling away from truth happens first, and the man of sin – the antichrist is revelaed to the world first.
This contradicts the secret rapture idea that we are gathered to the Lord first, then the antichrist appears!
This man of sin represents a human leader in the church that people bow down to and worship, and takes the place of God – a sort of counterfeit Holy Father
Notice what this “man of sin” does
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God,
or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing
himself that he is God.
5 Remember
ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in
his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity (lawlessness) doth already work:
only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall
consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of
his coming:
Notice that the man of sin – the human head of the church will be in the world till Jesus comes and destroys him.
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all
power and signs and lying wonders,
There will be signs, lying wonders that will help deceive people.
But who will be the ones that are deceived and that perish?
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that
perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be
saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that
they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but
had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Friends, those who love Jesus, who love His Word, and show their love by keeping God’s law will not be deceived!
They will know the truth, and the truth will set them free!
Turn with me to Psalm 91:4
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
His truth will be thy shield and buckler!
The devil Jesus said in John 8:44 “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.”
The devil is the father of every lie, every false way!
He deceives the whole world – but there is a group of people he cannot deceive!
Open your Bibles to Revelation 12:17
And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
They love Jesus who is the truth!
They believe the testimony of His Word which is truth!
Because they love the Lord, they show their love by keeping the commandments of God – which are also the truth!
If you love Me, keep My commandments!
Jesus spoke the truth when He said greater love has no man than this that a man lay down his life for His friends!
He spoke the truth when He said, “The father Himself loves you.”
He spoke the truth when He said, “In My Fathers house are many mansions.”
He spoke the truth when He said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
He spoke the truth when He said, “He that comes to Me, I will in no wise cast out.”
The gospel of truth – the good news of a God who loves us and gave His Son for us.
He is a God of truth!
He wants us to worship Him in Spirit and Truth!
He says no lie is of the truth.
He wants us to walk in the truth for no lie is of the truth.
He wants you and I to love the truth – that is also loving Jesus –for He is the truth!