“Ye Shall Know the Truth” By Chris Ulrich August 17th,
2014
Good
to see everybody. Another
nice Sunday, a
little bit cold again, but…
A
couple of weeks ago—I know not everybody that’s here this morning was
here a
couple of weeks ago, but, for those that were, and for those that
weren’t--Parrish
preached a message titled “Jesus Saves.” He
had some of our youth up here, reading some
of the headlines that they did. I
think
they appreciated the opportunity to get up here as well, and felt a
great sense
of participation. I
know you mentioned a
lot of things from the time of Christ, to the Renaissance, to the
Revolutionary
War, the Industrial revolution. But
the
common theme was that through all those periods in history, was that
Jesus
Saves. I thought,
in a lot of ways, it
was like being in a good history class.
It made me realize that regardless of whatever’s
happened over the
course of time, historical events, events that we face now, Jesus does
save. He is the
author and finisher of our faith,
and the message is always going to be that Jesus saves.
Last
week was a service dedicated to the families of our ministry and
several people
came up to share about their experiences, and what keeps their
marriages
strong. Andy made a
statement about how
we can’t leave our marriages up to chance.
I appreciate that, because the same thing with our
relationship with
God. I also
appreciate a point his wife
Sonia made about a seminar they had attended; she shared something
interesting,
that—May I ask you, Sonia, I’d like to bring you up, the point you had
made,
and I want to make sure that it’s clear, was that, you said the number
one gift
that keeps couples is godliness. I
just
want you to share real briefly, kind of recap that. SONIA: Definitely
godliness. If we
don’t have that love
for God first in our lives and it’s not strong, basically, our marriage
is not
going to be strong, it’s not going to be anything.
There were many other points, you know, with
respect, and loyalty, and many other aspects in marriage, as with a
relationship, like if—besides God being our number one relationship,
our most
important. Second
to that would be our relationship
with our spouses, just like Andy and I shared, and I want to reiterate
that we
need to protect our relationship with our spouses.
Amen. Thank
you.
Thank you very much.
I know I was
sitting back there, and, you know what?
A lot of what she just shared—when she first had
mentioned that the
number one gift, at first, honestly, I thought, “Maybe it’s a ring,
maybe it’s time
together, maybe it’s a trip together,” and if she had shared that, I
would have
gone along with that and said, “That’s fine.”.
But when she mentioned godliness, that really struck
home. I mean, I had
to shout, “Amen!” I
mean, personally, because, you know what?
that’s what it’s all about. I
mean,
there is a matter of staying in the faith, and realizing that’s our
number one
goal is to make it to heaven, eternal life.
So,
this month, our theme is about sound doctrine.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
All
scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of
God may be perfect,
thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
So,
I’m sure a lot of us have heard this before:
It’s—I mean, I’m not saying that you had to go to
court to hear it, but,
it’s in sworn testimony, “Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole
truth,
and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”
How many’s heard that?
How many haven’t
heard that? Well,
you heard it for the
first time. I
especially like that last
part about so help me God. I
don’t even
know if they still do that in court, especially the last part, but
we’re
talking about sworn testimony; we’re talking about the truth. We’re not in court today
thank God, but the
goal for any sermon or any setting, for that matter, is to tell the
truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help us God. Our
main Scripture this morning: John 8:31-32
Then
said Jesus to those Jews which believed
on him, If ye continue in my
word, then are ye my
disciples indeed; And
ye shall
know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
So,
again, as I mentioned earlier, our theme for this month is Sound
Doctrine and
the title of the message today is, “Ye Shall Know the Truth.” Personally, I think that
the term ‘truth’
gets thrown around a little too loosely.
I mean, it’s not a matter of just pointing out the
obvious, saying,
“Well, it’s cloudy today,” that’s the truth.
“The leaves are green, and in the fall, they’re
going to change,” that’s
the truth. Or
looking at it like just
stating an account, but it goes deeper than that.
Telling the truth can be as simple as telling
the events of a day but that doesn’t mean that we’re Christians. It means we’re honest,
which is important,
but truth goes well beyond just being honest.
So what does Jesus mean exactly when He says, “Ye
shall know the truth…”
What does
it mean in Proverbs 23 when it says to, “Buy the truth, and sell it
not…” Or, Pilate
when he was questioning Jesus, he
said, “What is truth?” It’s
a matter of
looking at it like—I think we’ve all had different ideas or
philosophies in our
lives as far as what we thought truth might be.
I think a common one would be the American Dream. We’ve all heard that. We look at it like, okay,
to be successful,
to be good to your family, to be good to your spouse, those are all
good
things, but none of those things are going to save us.
We have to look at it beyond—I know that a
lot of us have a similar seeking.
We
wouldn’t have wound up here if we weren’t.
I mean, we don’t just accidentally plop into knowing
the Truth of God; I
mean, it just doesn’t happen by accident.
There’s a matter of seeking and soul-searching. Looking at it like, what
does this life really have to offer? What is the truth? John 14:1-6
Let not
your heart be troubled: ye believe
in God, believe also in me. In
my
Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told
you. I go
to prepare a place for you. And
if I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto
myself;
that where I am, there ye may be also.
And
whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither
thou goest; and how can
we know the way? Jesus
saith unto him, I
am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but
by me.
I’m
not going to suggest that all the secrets of the universe can be
divulged in
one sitting, especially since I don’t know them anyway.
Nobody here really does, either, for that
matter. As far as
secrets go, we’re going
to touch on that a little bit later.
But
the first point today is that Jesus is the Truth.
No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
I think most of us already knew that, maybe a
few visitors are hearing that for the first time, or anyone that might
be
straddling the fence. We’ve
all heard
that expression, "Multitudes in the
This
was something—maybe some have heard about it—this was a few years ago,
I think
it was a couple of pastors that were of these churches, and I think it
was in
North Carolina. The
place and location
really aren’t important, but, I believe, just to give validity to the
story, that
that was the location. Anyway,
it was on
World News Tonight and on the internet and on and on and on. It was basically, these
two pastors,
unbeknownst to each other, it wasn’t like they were in collusion, but
it was a
matter of them making these claims that they had been pastors of their
churches, and they had been preaching for 20, 25, 30, 35 years, but
they were
now denouncing it, not just a little bit, but—not just saying, “I’m not
going
to do this anymore,” but they went on to say—and, of course, the
media’s going
to pump it up, that’s a fact. “Oh,
Christianity is a complete hoax.”
I’m
looking at it like, “Okay, well, if that’s what you think, that doesn’t
shake
my faith.” But it
is a matter of looking
at it like, “Okay, if that’s what they decided that they want or their
lives,
if that’s the direction that they want to go…” Now
I’m going to share my opinion on this.
Bear with me for just a moment, because this
is an opinion. In
other words, if
somebody’s teaching false doctrine, because that’s what they had known
in the
first place, because there’s a lot of false prophets.
Malcolm, I appreciate what you shared, maybe
a month ago, about there’s probably 99% of churches that don’t teach
baptism in
Jesus’ name. That
is a main point, that
is a cornerstone. That’s
something
that’s a landmark. That’
something that
just never changes; it will never change.
That’s something that, no ifs ands or buts about it,
that’s the starting
point. But, getting
back to—if they
didn’t teach the Truth in the first place, which, again, I know I’m
just
sharing an opinion, so bear with me for a moment, please—it’s a matter
of
looking at it like, okay, I firmly believe that we’d all be susceptible
the
same way. If it was
a matter of, you
know what? you’re teaching something that you know, deep-down—God has
shown you
the Truth, but you’re teaching something that’s false doctrine, after a
while,
I’d be sick of it. I’d
be like, “I can’t
live this way. Forget
it; I don’t even
want to live this life; I don’t want to teach it, because I knew it was
a lie
in the first place. I
know they’re not
going to tell you that in the media; they’re not going to tell you that
on
World News Tonight, “Oh, yeah, they were teaching lies in the first
place.” It doesn’t
work like that. They’re
going to say, “Oh, they were pastors
of churches and they were high and mighty and astute.”
That’s, you know..
So,
getting back to Sound Doctrine; The truth of God is the most powerful
message
there is, bar none. And
knowing the
truth of God is more than just a few religious experiences or maybe
even many
years of religious experiences. It’s
not
a matter of us sitting here trying to bash other religions. It has nothing to do with
that, but, if
somebody’s not teaching the foundational points from the get-go, the
Bible
talks about a foundation that’s built on sand (Matthew 25:24-29), and
it’s
going to wash away, just like down at the ocean.
You know, I look at it like, are we getting
closer to God as the years go by, or are we drifting away? The Bible talks, in the
Old Testament, about
how the household, the Romans 3:3-4 For what if some did not believe? shall
their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every
man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy
sayings,
and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
So,
looking at that, looking at maybe an extreme case, say, everybody else
in the
world doesn’t believe, but God has proven to us that this is right. Is it going to sway me
enough to say, “Well,
they must all be right.” We’ve
all hard
that before, “What about all these people?
What about my family?
What about
this, that, or the other?” We
can’t
justify or make excuses. The
goal is to
try to win people to Christ, but we can’t sit there and think, “Well,
if they
don’t really know it, then
I’m just
going to go join them.” It
has nothing
to do with that. As
much as we hate to
see people reject the truth of God, we need to realize that we can’t be
shaken.
Which
brings up the second point today which is, “We can’t let others’
uncertainty
about or unwillingness to accept the truth affect us.”
I know that’s a kind of a long point, but we
can’t let their uncertainty or
unwillingness to accept the truth affect us.
This was about 4-5 years ago and I was at work, and I’ll just kind
of create a little
bit of a scene here. I
work at a
particular office location and we had cubicles that were adjoining;
they were a
little bit taller, so you couldn’t always see the other person. Well, I got in, one
particular morning,
getting ready to start the day, as we do, and a guy that I’d known
several
years was sitting across in one of the other cubicles.
So, just out of the blue, I mean, he makes
this statement; he said, “Nobody really knows where they’re going when
they
die.” So, I’m
thinking, “Is he directing
that at me, or just floating it in the air?”
I was kind of like, prayed a quick prayer, “God,
should I say
something?” I
believe that God just
gives us those words at times when we need them, and I remember saying,
“well,
I know that we’re all going to stand before the judgment seat of
Christ; we’re
all going to be judged whether to go to Heaven or Hell.
That is the truth.”
So, we went back and forth a little bit, and—You
know, this guy’s a friend. I
mean, this
guy’s not argumentative, or trying to start a doctrinal warfare… I mean, it was just a
matter of looking at it
like, “Okay, that had to be heavy on his mind on that particular day,
and he
just blurts it out. I’m
thinking, “Well,
I would agree with you, but, again, we can’t let others’ uncertainty
about or
unwillingness to accept this truth deter us, or keep us from doing
God’s
will.” We’ve got
one more verse we’re
going to look at, and a couple more after that.
We’re talking, again, about the secret things, those
things that are the
unknown; those things that we don’t always have the answers for. Deuteronomy 29:29
The
secret
things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are
revealed belong
unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of
this law.
Remember
that part, about ten minutes ago, about the secrets of the universe? Sometimes when people try
to challenge us
with some of the most outlandish questions, and, you know what?
sometimes the
best answer is, “I don’t know.” If
they’re
weighing their decision on whether to follow Christ on whether we can
tell them
that there were dinosaurs, or whether there was life on other planets
or how do
the bones grow of a child that’s in the womb, that’s from Ecclesiastes
11:5,
because God knew, in His wisdom, that people were going to ask these
kinds of
questions. You look
it up in the Old
Testament, it’s there, there were people that were disputers,
philosophers, people
that were argumentative, and it’s not like we want that. It’s not—the goal is that
we want to see
ourselves saved, and others saved as much as possible, but, a lot of
times,
it’s not going to happen. I’m
not saying
that to discourage anybody. I
know, Jose
Galvez, we had talked a couple of weeks ago, just asking for prayer
about
dealing with people that reject Christ.
I talked to a lady that I’ve known for several
years, down at work, and
this was probably a couple of weeks ago, we just to talking a little
bit ,
after we worked out, and she said, “I’ve really had some struggles
here,
lately.” She termed
it some
soul-crushing experience that, “I just don’t know where I’m going to
land here
in the next couple of months.” She
asked, “What is it that you rely on?” and I said, “I trust in God, and
I’m not
unsympathetic to your challenges, but the Bible says, ‘Trust in the
LORD with
all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.’” (Proverbs
3:5) She told me,
“Oh, well, I’m
Jewish.” So I asked
her, “Do you believe
in the Old Testament?” “No,
no, not
really traditional, and I sort of believe that we’re all going to end
up
together like the molecules…” I’m
like—I
wasn’t laughing. You
know, God is always
there to instantly give us wisdom and understanding how to react,
because a lot
of times, if we don’t know—getting back to the Truth, it’s like, Kirk,
I’ll use
you and example, as a fitness trainer, and, some of the things that you
have to
know about health are difficult, and challenging, and intricate. It’s not just a matter of,
“Oh, yeah, just at
protein, and carbs,” and throw things together as if somebody’s an
expert, and
it takes time to gain that understanding.
I mean, it takes time to understand what the Truth
of God is. I’m not
talking about the plan of salvation,
I’m talking about a life experience in the Truth of God, because that
is a
thing where, yes, the secret things belong to God.
The last part of that verse where it says,
“…the things which are revealed belong to us and to our children,
forever.” That’s
talking about the plan
of salvation; that’s talking about getting your life started in Christ. That’s talking about
knowing, okay, a lot of times,
like when we had the prayer meeting the other night, you know, we’re
not going
to know exactly what’s going to happen in this country.
I want to talk about—and I know this is a
nerve—but how many have heard about the situation going on in
I
know that third point wasn’t really a lengthy point, but I’m going to
segue
into one last main point. The
truth
isn’t, has never been, and will never be a popular message. Jesus said in Matthew 7
that strait is the
gate and narrow is the way that leads to life and few there be that
find it, but
broad is the gate and wide is the way that leads to destruction and
many there
be that go in there at (Matthew 7:13-14).
I can go in a lot of directions with this but I’m
going to stick with
the fact that we need to know this in order to not get discouraged
because of
other people’s rejection. As
I was
putting this together, I thought about Noah.
The Bible says that eight souls were saved by water
(1 Peter 3:20). So,
what was the population at that time—we
can only speculate—a couple of million? maybe five million? But think
about the
very low percentage of people, because, even if one soul perished,
that’s too
many. It’s still a
fact that there were
plenty of people that did, and it’s a matter of looking at it like, you
know
what? I’m sue that as Noah was doing it, it was something that was on
his mind
constantly, “Anybody going to decide that they want to get on the ark
as
well?” The Bible
says that violence was
pervasive throughout the land. IT
was
something where it was like, I mean, you look at today and it just
seems to be
escalating. I know
there were a lot of
problems a couple of weeks ago at the
One
thing for sure is that, once we’re convinced of God’s truth, we hold on
to it,
but we don’t tell others the truth for our own sake, we tell them for
their
sake. That’s part
of preaching and
evangelizing—and I think sometimes people get this idea it’s like,
there’s
strings attached. There’s
no strings
attached. For those
of you who are
visitors, and are hearing it for the first time, if you choose to
accept it, Amen! If
you don’t, I, you know, I can’t force
anybody, and none of us can force anybody to accept God’s Truth. But it is a matter of
looking at it like, it
is the best life; I can guarantee that.
Does it have its ups and down, mountains and
valleys—we’ve all heard
that—yes, it does. But,
when I think
sometimes about just the miraculous power—I mean, Ed, like your
sister—I’m
thinking, “How does that, I mean, like, certain prayers that radiate
this…” It’s just
God that does it. It’s
as simple as that. I’m
going to be closing in a moment here, but
we’ve all heard the old song, “I saw the light, I saw the light, no
more
darkness, no more night…” I’m
going to
read one last passage here and then I’m going to make a few closing
comments. This has
to do with
evangelizing. This
has to do with people
hearing the Truth. Us,
as well as
others. Not giving
up, and not quitting,
ourselves, but not giving up on others, either.
God is a restorer; God will heal us; He’ll forgive
us of our sins, and
that’s important. Daniel 12:1-3 And at that time
shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the
children of thy
people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since
there was
a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be
delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep
in the dust of the
earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and
everlasting
contempt. And they
that be wise shall
shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to
righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
When
I think of that, and a lot of times I think about that at nighttime,
especially
when you’re in a remote area, maybe out in the country or in the
mountains,
where you actually see the firmament, you see the brightness of it. I know I’m kind of touching
on those that like
to go camping, or, you know, go a little bit outdoors, but it’s just
magnificent. I
mean, you think about it,
and Gods going to have us shine as the brightness of the firmament. That’s only God that can
do that.
I
know I’d be remiss if I failed to mention anything about our Seniors,
because
today we have dedicated to our
Seniors—we’re going to have a luncheon here in a little bit—not just
here, but
those who can’t be here due to illness or other circumstances. I’d also like to give a
quick shout out to my
own parents who hit their fifty-first anniversary today. I know that everybody claps.
I know that a
lot of us remember Louise Smith,
and remember Bob Granburg, and Christine Schultz, Jim and Martha
Allsopp, and
Hazel Dunbar and there’s many others, and, if I’ve missed anybody,
please
forgive me. Sister
Lena Reed, and others
who’ve fought the good fight, and kept the faith, and they’re with God. That’s what it’s all about. For those who are still
with us, as far as—I
know you mentioned about, well, who’s a Senior Citizen, and what’s the
cut-off
age—well, it’s not really important, but I know that, for those that
have that wisdom,
and experience, and many years… Maybe
getting a little frail, maybe getting a
little slower, we’ve got a friend of the family in
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