Father, we thank you for making Yourself real to each of us. The world portrays a different message to your truth. We pray that You reach those who are living in darkness and that You will draw them near to You. Thank you for your truth and your blessings, and we give you praise in Jesus’ name–Amen.
We live in a culture today that does not want to hear or accept truth. The truth is not to please us; in fact, it is to convict us. For believers, we need to read God’s Word daily and be reinforced by its truth. Truth is something that we need to be willing to acknowledge. We need God’s favor in order to accept His truth.
John 1:17
…for the law was given through Moses,
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
We often don’t want to acknowledge truth because we deny God. We cannot worship God in Spirit and in truth if we do not accept His message. We can be deceived by thinking that following God’s truth is keeping us away from something that would deny us of what we want or need.
God is not one who lies (Numbers 23:19). For this reason alone, He is worthy of our trust. In the world, deception and skepticism is rampant.
Skepticism comes from the doctrine of Ancient Greek skeptics. They questioned the truth of all knowledge and promoted doubt of what was accepted as truth. A skeptic will question God’s truth, for example, as to whether there is eternity or if He keeps His promises. This, in turn, leads to a philosophy of doubting fundamental religious doctrines. Many people who believe the Bible can be questioned by a skeptic:
1. Don’t be so sure about the Bible
2. Don’t be dogmatic
3. You may be wrong about it
4. You need to be more tolerant and have an open mind
Agnosticism is a Greek term that represents characterizing something as being unknown, unknowable or without knowledge. This is more of a position of ignorance rather than a position of positive denial of valid knowledge. Agnosticism implies man’s ignorance of the real nature of matter, mind and God.
2 Peter 1:5-6
5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, 6 knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness.
Pragmatist: Test of truth–is it workable? Will it bring about satisfactory consequences? A pragmatist claims there is no such thing as absolute truth; therefore, truth is made in the process of human adjustments in life. One set of truths for an older generation may differ with those for a younger generation.
We have come to a place in our society where what was deemed to be right is now seen as being wrong, and what was previously seen as wrong now becomes what is right. Our churches today–in their indecision over truth–has strengthened the hand of those who oppose the truth or are behaving contrary to God’s Word. God’s people must always seek and stand on His truth.
Jesus gives us truth for us to use within our value system. This value system leads us into a greater wholeness of life that allows for a proper life and a life of restoration, and freedom from sin.
Isaiah 1:17
Learn to do what is good.
Seek justice.
Correct the oppressor.
Defend the rights of the fatherless.
Plead the widow’s cause.
Isaiah 5:20
Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who substitute darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who substitute bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.
Jeremiah 23:14
Among the prophets of Jerusalem also
I saw a horrible thing:
They commit adultery and walk in lies.
They strengthen the hands of evildoers,
and none turns his back on evil.
They are all like Sodom to Me;
Jerusalem’s residents are like Gomorrah.
Truth has a positive effect on the following:
A. Our emotional makeup
B. Our moral life (our behavior)
C. Our expectations of life
Truth loosens a person from burdens that the world will impose and gives freedom from these difficulties and restraints.
John 8:32
You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
We are God’s workmanship. He is working with us to make us complete in Him and in His truth.
We often judge a statement to be true or false on the grounds that it is or is not in harmony with what we have already decided is true.
Mark 3:22
The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul in Him!” and, “He drives out demons by the ruler of the demons!”
John 14:6
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
God’s nature is in truth (John 14:6). Without truth, there can be no authority.
Matthew 5:18
For I assure you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass from the law until all things are accomplished.
Truth is what is necessary to distinguish between right and wrong.
Truth gives us:
1. A sense of reality (truth “keeps it real!”)
2. A stability to a person’s life
3. Security and confidence
4. A healing of the mind of all wrong thoughts
Jesus didn’t say “I teach the truth.” Jesus said, “I am the truth.”
Akron Alliance Fellowship 