The Whole Truth and Nothing But The Truth
Notes
Transcript
Scriputure
Scriputure
John 17:6–17 (KJV 1900)
6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
When it comes to the truth, you and I have been given insider information. We have been given the details and the data we need in order to make choices that will produce the best outcomes, namely, stronger character and far less chaos. God has given His family—you and me—the scoop. He has given us the truth.
As a reminder, truth is an absolute standard by which reality is measured. Truth is God’s view on any subject matter. Truth lives outside of you. In other words, if it’s true then it doesn’t matter whether you agree with it. It doesn’t matter if you feel it or don’t. If it’s truth, it is, because God says so. There’s no such thing as “my truth” and “your truth.” Rather, we have “my belief” or “my perspective” and “your belief” or “your perspective”. But when it comes to what is true, that has already been decided by God himself.
The greatest challenge of our lives, and of our world, is the need to adjust ourselves to God’s point of view on all subject matters. When we align under His truth, we reap the benefits and blessings of His rule. When we are not aligned, we walk into the consequences of unwise decisions.
In John 17:17 Jesus prays to the Father about the importance of truth. He says, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” Sanctifying someone involves transforming them. The Word of God is a transformative agent in our lives.
At another time, Jesus explained the essential nature of God’s truth like this:
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’” Matthew 4:4 “4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
We do not merely live on the physical food we consume but also on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. It is God and His words that hold our world together. He causes the sun to shine, the tides to move, and the food to grow. Without the consistency of His truth, we would not last. Similarly, without the wisdom of His truth, many of the decisions we make lead to dead-end paths.
We live in a day when people in general, and even believers in Christ, are being duped by errant information. Society as a whole is being deceived by lies and partial truths. Whether these lies are personal or are systemic in order to promote ideologies, philosophies, or agendas, they are errant in their presuppositions and directions. They are landmines causing lives to be buried under the debris of lies from the enemy.
We are starving for the truth in today’s culture. We read in Amos 8:11-12 about a similar time that came about as a result of God’s wrath.
11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, That I will send a famine in the land, Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of the Lord:
12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, They shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.
As someone staggers when they lack food or water, our culture staggers today due to a lack of truth. In fact, we are staggering on the every possible subject matter. We stagger in our relationships. We stagger in our politics and policies. We stagger in our commitments. We stagger in our work. We stagger in what we choose to distract us so that we can simply pass the time.
When there is a famine of God’s Word, the people will stagger. Opinions do not carry the stabilizing nutrients nor the sustaining power that truth does. Scripture is the anchor. It is not merely words about God. It is the voice of God in print.
Reading Scripture is like having God here talking with you right now. It is His voice, His wisdom, He perspective—written down. Yet until you decide that you are going to treat it that way, as the resource for absolute truth, then Scripture will simply be one of the many ideas that come across your path. You will glance at it. Read it. Listen to someone espouse it, all the while being unaffected by it.
It remains absolutely critical that you, I, and culture live according to the right view of Scripture and that we do not fall into the cultural trap of treating it the queen of England. The queen gets her props. But just so you know, even though she gets a tremendous amount of respect, she has no real governmental power.
Far too many people treat the Bible like the queen of England. They give it some props. They post about it on social media. They let others know that they appreciate it. But they do not give it any power because it does not have the final say. It does not affect their decisions, emotions, or direction.
Until you and I, and our culture as a whole, develop the right and radical understanding of Scripture’s authority in our lives, it will be of little use to us. Scripture is the revelation of God. Scripture is divine disclosure. It’s similar to sitting in a theater and having someone pull back the curtain so you can see what’s behind it. It’s the whole scoop. The whole story. It is God giving you and me the content He wants us to have in order to guide us and show us the best way forward. This is spoken of in Isaiah 55, we read, Isaiah 55:8-11
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways, And my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For as the rain cometh down, And the snow from heaven, And returneth not thither, But watereth the earth, And maketh it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: It shall not return unto me void, But it shall accomplish that which I please, And it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
God tells us in this passage that the reason we need to pay attention to Him and His Word is because He does not think as we do. His thoughts are not our thoughts. He doesn’t roll like we do. His ways are not our ways. In fact, they are not even close. As high as the heaven stretches above the earth is how different we are from God. We are finite. We think of things from a limited perspective. God is infinite. He knows all.
The words that proceed out of God’s mouth are not empty speech. He speaks purposefully. He gives us the divine disclosure. God has disclosed in Scripture all you need to know to reach your divine destination. He has revealed the truth. In theology, we refer to the Word of God as His revelation. Revelation is the content, while inspiration is the recording of the content, and illumination is the Holy Spirit taking the content and applying it directly to you.
Closing
What’s missing in our culture today is Christians who will stand on God’s Word with the right attitude and right spirit of kindness and humility, but also with crystal-clear clarity as to what it says because His Word is flawless. His Word makes not mistakes.
In fact, the world and our culture try to cancel God’s Word all the time, only to find out that the repercussion blow back on them harshly. You’ve seen it as much as I have. The culture is desperately trying to cancel genders. To cancel morality. To cancel families. And to cancel hope. Whatever the particular object, they are seeking to cancel the truth because people are much more easily manipulated toward the evil agendas of the enemy when they are confused, uncertain, and distant from God.
But Jesus stated plainly that the Scripture cannot be broken. Truth cannot be canceled. The Bible cannot be amended, annulled, or tweaked to fit an agenda outside of God’s kingdom purposes fro which it was originally established. There are times when it may look like the truth is losing the battle, but it always comes back to demonstrate its ultimate authority.
Keep in min, people don’t reject the Bible because it contradicts itself. They reject the Bible because it contradicts them. They don’t want to be contradicted or corrected. They why men suppress the truth. Humanity suppresses the truth because people don’t want the truth telling them what to do. They don’t want the truth influencing or controlling their decision-making.
13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
Scripture exists to teach, reprove, correct, and train us.
When you and I learn that we must treat God’s Word as it was created to be treated, not just as something to make us feel good when we choose a passage to read, that is when it will become profitable in our lives and in our land.
If we as the body of Christ would simply return to the Word of God as our source of truth and then do what it says, we could solve the issues creating the chaos around us and within us.
You and I are the people of the truth. In order to be people of the truth. we must be people of the Word. We must be people of Scripture. We must make God’s Word our guide for our thoughts, words, and actions. When we do that, we will discover the powerfully transformative impact His Word will have on our lives, our surroundings, and our nation.