"Truth" 8-14-22
Overview
God Is Truth
Among God's attributes, one of the most foundational is this: God is truth. He is not merely truthful in what He says; truth itself originates in who He is. Because God is self-existent—"I AM WHO I AM" Exodus 3:14—He is the source and standard of all that is real. Isaiah declares Him the sole Creator who shares His glory with no other (Isaiah 42:5-8; Isaiah 43:10), and Jesus identifies Himself as "the Alpha and the Omega" Revelation 1:8. All things came into being through the eternal Word John 1:1-3, and His divine nature has been visible since creation Romans 1:20. Simply put: God cannot not be truth.
This means the Christian confession cannot be softened to make the Triune God merely one god among many, or one truth among many truths. The temptation to do so is ancient. The serpent's three words—"Did God say?" Genesis 3:1—planted a seed of doubt that suggested God's word was negotiable, something humans could reshape to suit themselves. A plank of wood, soaked and steamed long enough, can be bent into a new shape, but it is weakened in the process. So it goes when we attempt to mold God's word to our preferences: the Word itself does not change, but the version we present is weakened, distorted, no longer the truth God has revealed. Paul warns of those who "by their wickedness suppress the truth" Romans 1:18-23, exchanging the glory of the immortal God for images of their own making.
Against every false teacher and every whispered doubt, John writes with bracing certainty: "We know that we are God's children, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one" 1 John 5:19-20. How do we know? Because all who believe in Jesus' name are given the right to become children of God John 1:12. On two unbent planks of wood, the Son of God was crucified for our sin; the empty tomb proves the sacrifice was accepted. And Jesus promised that the Spirit of truth would come and guide us into all truth John 16:13, keeping us anchored when the devil sows doubt.
The pastoral application is both comfort and calling. When questions arise that we cannot answer, our confusion does not change who God is or what He has revealed. His Word is infallible, living, and active, and the Spirit He has placed within us will not contradict Himself. So we cling to what we know: we are God's children, redeemed by the blood of Christ, kept by the Spirit of truth. And we go out into every corner of our lives proclaiming this good news with confidence—not watered down, not exaggerated, simply true. God's love, mercy, and grace are true for you.
Transcript
Tell me if you have ever heard or told something that goes a little bit like this. 2s
I was out on the lake the other day. 10s
I was sitting in my boat. 13s
I cast a line into the water. 14s
Nothing had been biting all day. 17s
And then all of a sudden when I was about to give up, I felt a pull. 20s
And I knew something was on the line. 24s
And so I tugged back and forth. 26s
And the fish was going to win, but eventually I reel it in. 29s
And I try and I caught a huge fish. 32s
And then the fishing partner, whether it is a spouse, a child or a friend, corrects and 38s
gives the real truth, the real story. 50s
There was a fish. 55s
There was a size, but it needed to be told in the fullness of the truth. 57s
Every good fisherman needs to have a good story. 65s
And it is really the duty of a good fisherman to tell an exaggerated fishing story. 71s
It's their duty. 79s
It is their call to stretch or exaggerate the truth. 80s
Just a little bit. 86s
The truth, truth, truth. 89s
Such an interesting, interesting word. 92s
Truth can be stretched. 95s
It can be left at, it can be have, it can be denied. 99s
The truth is such an interesting concept. 106s
We here and take part in, he said, she said conversations every single day. 111s
And we have to determine or discern what is or what is not true. 118s
Truth. 128s
Does it matter? 130s
Why does it matter? 133s
How do we know if we are discerning it? 134s
Can everyone have his or her own truth? 138s
What makes something true? 142s
In this sermon series, we have had the joy of getting to know God and getting to understand 148s
him better by studying his attributes. 156s
What makes God God? 159s
And today we are going to study the very important attribute that God is truth. 163s
God is truth. 171s
And we're going to look through scripture, see how we know that God indeed is truth. 173s
Then we're going to see the dangers. 179s
The dangers that we run into when we sway or fall away from truth. 182s
And then we're going to again find that truth that God is and what that means for us 188s
as Christians in our daily existence, our daily lives. 196s
So what makes God truth? 202s
What makes God truth? 207s
Well, first and foremost, God makes God truth. 209s
God makes God truth. 216s
This comes from the very first attribute that we studied in this sermon series, the 218s
acidity of God. 224s
That is that God is. 226s
God simply is. 230s
He is self-determined. 233s
Holy and completely outside of everything, everyone else. 235s
God exists because God exists. 239s
And Exodus, the third chapter, when God is speaking to Moses from the burning 245s
bush, He tells Moses, I am who I am. 250s
I am who I am. 256s
No further explanation is given. 259s
No further explanation is needed. 262s
God is. 265s
God is. 269s
In Isaiah, the prophet writes, thus says God the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched 271s
them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the 278s
people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it. 283s
I am the Lord. 287s
That is my name. 288s
My glory, I give to no other nor my praise to idols. 290s
In chapter 43, He says, before me, no God was formed nor shall there be any after 295s
me. 301s
I, I am the Lord. 302s
In Revelation, the final book in Holy Scripture, Jesus tells John in his vision, I am the 306s
Alpha and the Omega, the one who is, who was, who is to come. 314s
In the Gospel of John 1, chapter, we read in the beginning was the word and the word was 322s
with God and the word was God. 328s
He was in the beginning with God. 331s
All things, all things came into being through him and without him, not one thing came 333s
into being. 341s
In Romans 1, chapter Paul writes, ever since the creation of the world, his eternal power 343s
and divine nature in visible though they are, have been understood and seen through the 349s
things he has made. 355s
God cannot not be truth. 359s
Let me say that again, God cannot not be truth. 365s
God is the creator of all that ever has ever will exist. 373s
God created all, God creates all. 381s
Not one thing has come into being without him. 385s
He created with order, he created in wisdom and he created in and through his truth, truth 389s
itself which is God. 400s
He is the one God. 404s
The one true God, the only God, verse after verse after verse, inscripture attests to 409s
this fact, to the fact that God is the only one and true God. 421s
But we don't always like the way that sounds. 433s
We don't always like the way that that feels. 437s
It doesn't rest well with a lot of people, including ourselves sometimes. 442s
Isn't the Christian God really just one of the gods? 450s
Aren't all religions really going towards the same end goal just getting there through 455s
various different means? 461s
It's right for us as a Christian church to proclaim the truth of the Christian God. 465s
But would it not be right for the Muslims sitting in a mosque to proclaim Allah as the one God? 473s
That's not what the word says. 484s
That is not what the word says. 489s
We cannot allow God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to be one God amongst many gods. 493s
We cannot allow for the Father's Son, Holy Spirit, the one triune God to be one truth in a batch of many truths. 504s
The God we worship is the God of Scripture, the God that is truth. 519s
And the scary thing is that we are daily, daily under attack and in danger of falling away from that truth. 529s
We are under attack and in danger of falling under the temptation that Adam and Eve fell prey to. 541s
Think about this, that crafty serpent, that crafty serpent came to them and in three words changed the entire course of all creation. 551s
The serpent came to them and said, did God say? 563s
Did God say in those three words? 571s
The devil planted the seed of doubt. 577s
In those three words, in that moment, the devil opened the door to the possibility of other gods and of other truths. 583s
He made gods word appear subjective. 602s
He made Adam and Eve think that they had a say over the truth of God. 608s
God's word, however, is not subjective. 619s
It is not pliable. 624s
It cannot be changed. 626s
I am not a craftsman or craftswoman, but we are going to use an analogy here of wood. 628s
So if I have a straight plank of wood, I can try all day long to break it to bend it and I am not going to be able to do that. 634s
The wood is going to remain consistent. 647s
It's going to remain the same. 650s
Now, one is able to take that straight plank of wood and for hours, steam it, water it, loosen it, water it down, get it a little bit of pliable and they can shape it and mold it. 652s
So what happens when you take that straight plank of wood and you shape it and mold it by watering it? 671s
You may bend it, you may get it according to how you want it, but it's weakened. 681s
The wood has not changed, but it has been weakened. 689s
As the craftsman tries to mold it and shape it, according to his or her own liking, over the centuries truth that is God's word thereby God. 694s
Truth has been watered down. 711s
It's been attempted to be molded and shaped according to how mankind wants it, according to how we want to read it or understand it. 716s
It's an attempt to make God's word pliable or changeable. 732s
It's an attempt to make God himself pliable or changeable, molded and shaped according to how we would like to understand him or accept him. 739s
And when one tries to change the truth of God, one is presenting a weakened, a weakened word, a weakened version of truth. 756s
God has revealed himself as the one true God in his word. 772s
It's not dependent upon us to decide what should be changed, what shouldn't be changed, what is pliable, what is not pliable, what is true, what is not true. 779s
That gets back to our sin of arrogance. 794s
Our sin thinking that we are above and before the Lord, the same sin that Adam and Eve had committed, wanting to be God for themselves, wanting to figure out truth for oneself. 798s
God's word is infallible. It's in air and it's living, it's breathing, it's moving, it's active. 820s
And what we don't understand in it, what we have questions about does not change his word. 828s
If we don't understand something of the word with which he has revealed himself to us, if there is a question that we may have, we can have a question all day long, it does not change. 840s
Who God is? It does not change what he reveals to us or who he reveals himself to be. 854s
God is. God is. 867s
And this is where we come to our reading from today. If you would open your Bibles to first John, that's not the Gospel of John, but the first letter of John, the fifth chapter. 874s
If you are using a Pue edition of the Bible, you can find it on page 214 in the New Testament. We're in first John, the fifth chapter. 885s
Now we need to understand that John is writing to the church. He's writing a letter to the church. 896s
Speaking against false teachers, speaking against false prophets, against false witnesses, people who are trying to bend and shape the truth, bend and shape God's word. 902s
And he is saying this is not okay. So that's where this letter is coming from. He is warning of false doctrine. He's warning of false truths that are being spread throughout the church. 915s
And we read in verse 19, we know that we are God's children and that the whole world lies under the power of the evil one. 928s
Do you hear that certainty with which he writes? We know we are God's children. We know we are God's children. What a beautiful, beautiful word that is spoken with such certainty, with such knowledge. 938s
With the full truth standing beneath it. We know we are God's children. How do we know? Well, in the Gospel of John, he addresses this. He says that there is no question. There is no doubt. He says all who believed in his name. 957s
That is Jesus name. He gave power to become children of God. All who believe in the saving power of Jesus name. He gave the power to become children of God. 980s
So let's look at this contrast. We know we are children of God. We know that the world lies in the wickedness of the evil one. 997s
In Romans, Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit writes, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth. 1013s
Notice it is the wicked that is trying to suppress the truth, trying to suppress God in his fullness and the gospel of his word. 1027s
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world has eternal power and divine nature in visible though they are have been understood and seen through the things he has made. 1045s
So they are without excuse. For though they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened. 1062s
Claiming to be wise, they became fools and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or forfooted animals or reptiles. 1075s
Do you hear that stark difference between? We know we are children of God and the world that lies under the power of the evil one. 1091s
We are all born into this world. We are all born into the sin of flesh, the wickedness, the power of the devil, the power of the spell of the wicked one. 1104s
But in God's grace he did not leave us there. In God's grace he did not leave us under the spell to suffer the wrath of justice for our sin. 1124s
Instead, he made us his own. He made us his own through his son, Jesus Christ, giving us the power to become his own children. 1138s
We talked about that plank of wood. We are going to talk about two more planks of wood. Two planks of wood that were unhindered. Two planks of wood that were not watered down. Two planks of wood that stood together on a hill. 1154s
Two planks of wood on that hill unhindered on which the second person of the Trinity. Jesus Christ hung. 1180s
Two planks of wood that your sin, my sin, were nailed to with the second person of the Trinity. 1192s
It's not a matter of debate. It is an historical fact that the man, Jesus, King of the Jews, was crucified on two pieces of wood on a hill. 1215s
So long ago, it is an eternal truth that in his crucifixion, his blood covered and paid for your sin for my sin, the blood of Christ, the blood of the second person of the Trinity was shed. 1241s
And we know that the blood of sacrifice was accepted. We know that the wrath of justice has been lifted from our heads, because the tomb in which he was laid is empty. 1273s
In the fullness, in the truth of who God is, he rose victorious over our sin. 1295s
How do we know? How do we know this is true? The night before he was hung upon those two pieces of wood. Jesus told his disciples of the advocate, the third person of the Trinity who would come. 1311s
He said, when the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. The spirit of truth would come. 1334s
Would open our minds, our hearts, our eyes, our ears to the truth of God's Word, the truth of his love for us. 1345s
We go back to our reading verse 20 in 1st John. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true. 1358s
And we are in him who is true in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 1375s
The truth of redemption, the truth of life in Jesus Christ, eternally it may seem a little exaggerated. 1389s
Too big, who can fathom the grace and the mercy and the love with which he loves us that he would forgive us our every sin? 1400s
His Word tells us that it is true. And we know that it is true. God cannot and will not lie. 1414s
And so we know that we are his children. We know that his son did come indeed to claim us as his own, to forgive our sins, to send his own spirit that it would be in us. 1429s
That he would be in us, we would be in him. So when we falter, when we waver, when the serpent, the devil continues to cast or attempt to sow his seeds of doubt, we come right back to the promise that we have and we cling to the promise. 1446s
We know we are God's children. We know we are God's children and we cling to that. 1471s
And the devil will continue to attack. And the devil will continue to pound us day after day, but we have been given God's own spirit. 1488s
And God's own spirit does not speak against himself. And he will keep us unmoving. He will keep us unchanging in the faith with which he has given to us, in the faith with which he has called us to. 1501s
Every good fisherman, every good fisherman, has to have a good fishing story. And it is the duty for that fisherman to exaggerate, to stretch the truth a little bit. 1524s
As Christians, it is our duty to go forth into every corner of our lives proclaiming the good news that Jesus Christ has died for our sin, that Jesus Christ has risen victorious, and that we are to live with Him eternally. 1546s
That is our duty and we can with confidence, unshaken, unchanging, not watered down, not bending or breaking. We can say this is true. 1571s
God's love is true for you. God's mercy is true for you. And the grace that God pours out upon us day after day after day. 1596s
It is true and not at all exaggerated. 1620s