Articles Archive
Revolutionary Thinking
America is once again in the midst of a revolution. A revolution that will impact every conceivable aspect of life. A revolution that seeks to undermine the foundation upon which our nation, our faith, our individual lives are built.
It is a revolution in thinking. A philosophy that argues that absolute truth does not exist and that all lifestyles, religions, cultures and world-views are equally valid. A mind set that argues that opinions matter as much as evidence, that reality is in the mind of the beholder, that every view is valid and every opinion must be respected.
In this revolution, the only real sin is criticizing someone else’s view or moral choice.
Truth Matters. As a prelude to this morning’s sermon, may I just remind us all that truth matters to God. He is called the “God of truth” in IS 65:16. Jesus, His son, came to this world “full of grace and truth” and identified Himself “the Truth” (JN 1:14; 14:6). The Holy Spirit is styled the “Spirit of truth” and had the task of leading the apostles and, by extension, us, via the Scripture into “all truth” (JN 14:17; 16:13). God’s word is called the “Scripture of Truth” (DN 10:21).
Truth Directs. We are called to worship in truth (JN 4:23) ... To be sanctified by the truth (JN 17:17) ... To speak the truth in love (EP 4:15) ... To walk in truth (3 JN 3) ... To correctly handle the word of truth (2 TM 2:15) ... To do nothing against the truth but only for the truth (2 CR 13:8). The apostles were willing to die for the truth.
Truth Rejected. And yet, truth is not always respected. Isaiah lamented that “truth has stumbled in the streets...it is nowhere to be found (59:14,15). Jeremiah complained that truth had perished, vanished away (7:28). Amos spoke of those who despised anyone who told the unvarnished, unadulterated truth (5:10).
As a result, we are counseled to “buy the truth and sell it not” (PR 23:23). Why? Because men will distort the truth (AC 20:30) ... Suppress the truth (RM 1:18) ... Exchange the truth for lies (RM 1:25) ... Reject the truth (RM 2:8) ... Refuse to love the truth (2 TH 2:10) ... Oppose the truth (2 TM 3:8) ... Turn their ears away from the truth (2 TM 4:4) ... Deny the truth (JS 3:14) ... Wander from the truth (JS 5:19) ... And not live in the truth (1 JN 1:6).
Truth Embraced. We are not talking about expediency, that is, what will work best to accomplish our goals. We are not talking about peace, that is, what will make others happy and keep us out of trouble. We are not talking about political correctness, that is, what is currently in vogue in our culture and inoffensive to society.
We are talking about truth -- God revealed, untainted, unvarnished -- regardless of topic and regardless of impact. Let’s study carefully about that this morning.
Family Report, June 3, 2012
