The Source Of All Truth

Presented to:

Bethel Chapel Pentecostal Church

Auditorium Sunday School Class

Granite City, IL

27 January 2019

Updated: March 23, 2019

By:

Boyce Belt

The Source Of All Truth

Opening:

• (Slide) “The truth is like a lion.  You don’t have to defend it.  Let it loose.  It will defend itself.”—St. Augustine^[1]
• Prayer

Text:

John 18:37-38 (KJV) 37  Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. 38  Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.

Introduction:

In his book Right From Wrong, published in 1994, Josh McDowell gives some startling statistics that would probably be even worse if repeated today.^[2]

In the last three months:

• Two out of three kids (ages 11-18) lied to a parent, teacher or other adult
• 59% lied to their peers
• Nearly half watched MTV at least once a week
• 1 in 3 cheated on and exam
• 23% smoked a cigarette or used another tobacco product
• 20% tried to physically hurt someone
• 1 in 9 had gotten drunk
• 8% had used illegal, non-prescription drugs

65 percent of these kids say they pray daily.  Eighty-four percent of them attend Sunday school and youth group at least once a week.

Our youth have lost their moral underpinnings; their foundational belief in morality and truth has been eroded.^[3]  Since the time of this survey these teens have reached adulthood and we wonder why society is in the mess that it is.

Seventy percent of todays generation claim that absolute truth does not exist, that all truth is relative.^[4]  A mere 29 percent disagree with the statement: “When it comes to matters of morals and ethics, truth means different things to different people; no one can be absolutely positive they have the truth.”  Most of our youth lack the most basic moral perspectives that previous generations took for granted.^[5]

They need to know what standards of behavior are right for all people, for all times, for all places.  They need to know who determines truth—and why.^[6]

1. What Is Truth?

1. Jesus Christ — John 14:6 (KJV) 6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
2. The Holy Scripture

1. Psalm 119:142 (KJV) 142  Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.
2. Psalm 119:151 (KJV) 151  Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth.
3. Psalm 119:160 (KJV) 160  Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.
4. John 17:17 (KJV) Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

3. Results of Knowing Truth

1. Freedom
2. Sanctification
3. Love

2. Freedom Through Truth—John 8:31-32 (KJV) Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

1. From Sin

1. Our Savior later explains that He means free from sin.  He who lives in sin is the slave of sin.  Sincere belief in the word of Christ leads to emancipation from the tyrannical power of the evil that dwells in our members and from the dominating power of the sin that rules in the customs of the world.  We will be free from our own prejudices, pride, and lusts.^[7]
2. Spurgeon said, “Our Lord, in effect, tells us that the truth of God is the preeminent characteristic of His kingdom and that his royal power over men’s hears is through the truth of God.  He dealt not with fiction but with facts—not with trifles but with infinite realities.  He speaks not of opinions, views, or speculations but of infallible truths.  …There are a thousand things you may not know, and you will be little the wise for not knowing them; but if you do not know what Jesus has taught, it will not go well with you.  …Jesus gives sinners who believe in him the truths of God they need to know—the assurance of sin forgiven through his blood, favor ensured by his righteousness, and heaven secured by his eternal life.”^[8]

3. Sanctified By Truth—John 17:17 (KJV) Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.  There are two senses in which Christ sanctifies the church: 1) He sets apart the church to be His bride;  she belongs to Him only. 2) Christ purifies the church of her sin.  He not only brings forgiveness of sins but also effects a life of holiness.^[9]

1. Cleansed

1. John 15:3 (KJV) Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
2. Ephesians 5:25-27 (KJV) Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
3. 1 Peter 1:22-23 (KJV) Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: 23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

2. Separated—Jewish tradition declared that God had consecrated Israel, separating them from the rest of the world, by giving them His law.^[10]
3. Prepared

4. Love Because Of Truth

1. Love God
2. Love The Saints

1. 1 Peter 1:22 (KJV) Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren…
2. 1 John 3:18-19 (KJV) My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. 19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

3. Love The Lost

Conclusion:

You cannot live the life you were fully intended to live apart from this Book.  If you get away from the Source of truth and move into the wastelands of subjectivity and human opinions, invariably you will be led astray.  If you’re living your life apart from regular contact with the Word of God, the world is on its way to moving in.^[11]

Next Week: Scripture and You

Prayer