Jeff Schreve - Do You Know the Truth?
John wrote the Gospel of John, and he also wrote 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John, and then he was given the revelation of Jesus Christ, which he writes, the book of the Revelation, the last book of the Bible. Now John is different from Matthew, Mark, and Luke in that he focuses in on the word «truth» so much more than those guys do. Now they all wrote truth because the Bible is truth. Jesus said in his great high priestly prayer to his father, sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth. So they all wrote truth, but John focused on the word «truth» a lot. That word is used «Alítheia» in the Greek. It’s used about 109, 110 times in the New Testament. John uses it 46 times.
Look what the scripture says 2 John, beginning reading in verse 1, «The elder». That’s how he refers to himself, the elder. He’s probably writing this in the 90s AD so he is an old man. Everyone else of his contemporaries, Peter and James and Philip and Andrew and Bartholomew, all the other disciples, they’re gone, they have gone into glory. He is the elder, «To the chosen lady and her children». Chosen lady and her children. He’s either writing to a specific woman and her kids maybe she had a house church or a church that met in her house or this is used figuratively for the church because we are the bride of Christ.
I like what «Insight For Living» Chuck Swindoll says whether it’s an individual lady or whether it’s a church, it doesn’t really change the truth of what he is saying so commentators go back and forth as to who he’s talking to. «The elder to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth; and not only I, but also all who know the truth. For the sake of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever. Grace, mercy and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father in truth and love». And then verse 4, «I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth».
Five times in four verses he uses the word «alítheia» truth, truth is a very important subject to John. And he wants you to know the truth. Now I’ve entitled this series, «Nothing But The Truth, » and I’ve entitled this first message in this series, the first three verses, «Do You Know The Truth»? Because he says in verse 1, but also all who know the truth, do you know the truth? Is it real in your heart and in your life? I’m not talking about knowing about the truth, I’m talking about knowing the truth. And the truth is the reality and the certainty and the facts, concerning the Lord and his word.
So three reasons why it is so important to know the truth. See, the question, do you know the truth? That’s a personal question, it’s either yes or no. But the question why is it so important to know the truth? Well, that’s a question that has reasons, reasons that are answered in those first three verses. Reason number one, why is it so important to know the truth? Reason number one, it’s because the truth is what sets a person free. The truth is what sets a person free. Jesus in John chapter 8 is going back and forth with the Jewish religious leaders. He’s always in confrontation with them because they hate Jesus and they hate his message and they spend most of the Gospel of John wanting to kill him until they finally do under God’s plan, they do push him to the cross, but Jesus said, «No man takes my life, I lay it down freely».
So they couldn’t have done anything had not God allowed that. But these guys they’re in conflict, and Jesus says in John chapter 8, «He was saying therefore to those Jews who had believed him, 'If you abide in my word, then you are truly disciples of Mine, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free». You know the truth and the truth shall make you free. The truth is what sets you free, sets you free from what? Sets you free from the penalty of sin, sets you free from the power of sin, sets you free one day from the presence of sin, the truth does that. And if you don’t know the truth, you’re not going to be set free. Truth is so critically important.
Now think about this, everything is coming at you, at me, in our world, it comes from two places. It either comes from God, who is the truth, who speaks the truth, it’s impossible for God to lie or it comes from the father of lies. If you think of, we talk about fake news, if you think of newscasters, God is the caster of the truth and the devil is the caster of lies. Jesus said he doesn’t stand in the truth, there is no truth in him. He is a liar and the father of lies, and everything he speaks is a lie, and everything God speaks is the truth. You go back to Genesis chapter 3. How did the devil deceive Eve with a lie? «Indeed, has God said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden»? «We can eat from any tree in the garden, but the tree that is in the middle of the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we’re not supposed to eat of that tree, and we’re not supposed to touch it for the day that we eat of it, we shall surely die». «You shall not surely die, for God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be open and you will be like God, knowing good and evil».
Well, that was a flat bold-faced lie, and she believed the lie, she rejected God’s truth, she believed the lie and she and Adam plunged all of humanity into sin. Hey, truth is what sets a person free. What do you need to know to be set free? The truth about what? First of all, you need to know the truth about yourself, the truth about yourself. So what is the truth about yourself? Not personally you but yourself meaning all of us, and here’s the truth, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. You’re a sinner, I’m a sinner, John was a sinner, Paul was a sinner all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We’re not needing a little help from the Lord, we’re needing everything from the Lord.
We don’t need a «Lord, just give me a little boost, just a little nudge that’s all I need just a little nudge». No, you need everything from him because you are a sinner, four times over. Sinner by choice a sinner by birth, sinner by nature, sinner by choice, sinner by practice, you’re a sinner. And because you’re a sinner, and I’m a sinner and we’re sinners, we fall short of the glory of God and we are children of wrath even as the rest. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 3, a child of wrath, not a child of God, a child of wrath. Now people don’t like that truth, that they’re a sinner. But that is the truth of the Word of God. And until you embrace the fact and understand the fact and agree with God on who you are, and the trouble that you’re in, you’ll never be set free. Because, «You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free».
Now Isaiah saw when he had his vision, Isaiah chapter 6 of the Lord and saw how God was holy, holy, holy, and he saw that he was a sinner before a holy God, what did he say? «Woe is me, for I’m undone. I’m a man of unclean lips and I dwell among a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts». Or as it says in the good news Bible, «There is no hope for me»! Isaiah says, «I am doomed because every word that passes my lips is sinful, and I live among a people whose every word is sinful».
Here’s the truth about who you are, who I am, who all of us are outside of Christ. We are hopeless, helpless sinners on the highway to hell. There’s no getting off of that. We’re on the broad road that leads to destruction. Now why is that so important to understand that about yourself? Because until you understand that about yourself, you’ll never be open to the savior. If I tell you, hey, I have the cure for your cancer, if you don’t think you have cancer, you’re not very excited about the fact that I have the cure for your cancer. It’s like, well, I’m glad you have the cure for cancer, but I don’t have cancer, so you need to take that to somebody else. But if you have cancer and you find out, hey, this guy has the cure for your cancer, that is the most wonderful news of all because now you can be set free from your cancer. You have to know the truth about yourself.
Secondly, you must know the truth about Jesus, who he is, who you are, a sinner, hopeless, helpless, doomed, who he is. He is not just a good teacher, he’s not just a miracle worker, he’s not just a moral man, he is the God man. He is the only begotten Son, the «Monogenes» in the Greek, the only one. Now we can be sons and daughters of God, and I can be a son of God, I am never going to be the Son of God because that is Jesus. He is the mediator between man. Now why is it so important to understand who Jesus is? Because Jesus said in John chapter 8 verse 24, «Unless you believe that I am, you will all die in your sins». I Am as the name for God from the burning bush from Exodus, chapter 3 where Moses met God at the burning bush. «God, who are you»? «I Am Who I Am». You tell the children of Israel, I Am sent you.
Man, that when Jesus said before Abraham was born, I Am. Why did they pick up stones to stone him? Because he’s claiming the name of God, because he’s God in the flesh in him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. So you believe who you are, I’m in trouble, I need a savior. And you believe and come to know the truth of who he is, and then thirdly, you know the truth about salvation. It’s not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. And as the scripture says in Romans 10:13, «Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved». It’s not as a result of works, lest any man should boast. How does a person come to know the truth and to be in the truth? You understand I’m a sinner and I need as a savior, I can’t save myself, but Jesus died on the cross for me, and he rose again from the dead for me, and I give my life to him.
In my hand, no price I bring, but simply to thy cross I cling. Listen, salvation is not God’s grace plus your works equals salvation. Salvation is by grace through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. The truth is what sets a person free. Second reason, why is the truth so important? It’s so important to know the truth because the truth is what establishes Christian fellowship. The truth is what establishes Christian fellowship. I remember years ago I was a pretty new Christian, somebody was using that word fellowship, and they said, What is fellowship? You know, it’s the Greek word «Koinonia, » and they said, Well, an easy way to understand fellowship is this it’s two fellows in one ship.
That’s fellowship two fellows in one ship, as ha ha, you know, it’s kind of funny and it’s kind of catchy. I promise you you won’t ever forget it, but that’s not real Christian fellowship. It’s not two people sharing the same ship, it’s two people sharing the same life. «Koinonia» means a sharing together, a partnership together. And Christian fellowship is in the Lord because we share the same life. Now remember this about the truth, he says, «To whom I love in truth and not only I but also who know the truth». Hey, there’s a connection in the truth, why? Because the truth is objective, the Word of God, but it’s also personal. It’s the God of the Word. The Word of God is truth, but the God of the Word is truth. Three times in the Old Testament we read these words, the God of truth, the God of truth. God the Father is the God of truth.
John 14:6, a very famous verse, Jesus said, «I am the way and the truth and the life». He is the truth, God the Father is the God of truth. Jesus is the truth, and what did Jesus say about the helper who was going to come? He calls him the Spirit of truth. He said the Spirit of truth is coming, he will guide you in all truth. Truth is personal, truth is God himself. And the truth dwells within every believer. Because every believer, «Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who’s in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own, for you’ve been bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your bodies». 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Now remember this not just because a person calls himself a Christian is he a Christian.
What is a Christian? A Christian is someone who understands I’m a sinner and I’m lost and I need a Savior, and Jesus Christ is God in the flesh who died on the cross for me, and I put my faith and trust in him. I turn from sin and I turned to the Savior, that’s a Christian. And when you do that in him, you also after listening to the message of truth, the Gospel of your salvation, having also believed you were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise. The Holy Spirit comes to live inside you, the spirit of truth. And it’s the truth that connects us together, and it connects us to his love, it connects us to his grace, it connects us to his mercy, it connects us to his peace that’s all found in the truth.
If you go outside of the truth, you’re not gonna find true love, you’re not gonna find find God’s mercy, you’re not gonna find God’s grace, you’re not gonna find God’s peace because it’s in the confines of the truth. So that’s why we say it’s the truth that connects us as believers. Truth is not incidental, truth is fundamental. Now remember this about the truth, there are certain things in this book, «Thy word is truth, sanctify them in the truth». John 17:7, «Thy word is truth». Certain things that are spine issues in the truth. That means that’s not a negotiable, that’s a non-negotiable. Who you are a sinner before God, who he is the God man and how a person gets saved by faith in Jesus and Jesus alone for salvation, those are non-negotiables. Those are spine issues, but then there are also some rib issues. Some things concerning spiritual gifts. Things concerning eschatology, the specifics about the Lord’s return.
See if I’m a pre-tribulation rapturist. I believe that Jesus is coming back at any moment to take us to heaven to be with him before the tribulation starts. You might be somebody who’s a mid-tribulation rapturist. You say, «Well, I believe Jesus is coming back, but he’s coming back at the middle of the tribulation». You might be a post-tribulation rapturist, that Jesus comes back at the end of the tribulation. Those things don’t break fellowship. Just because one guy believes pre-trip, and one guy believes mid-trip, one guy believes post-trip, though that’s not spine issue stuff. Those are rib issue things. And the mid-trip and the post trip, that’s okay, they can be wrong but but those are rib issue things. Spine issue things. That determines whether you’re in the fellowship, that determines whether you’re in the truth. And the truth connects us. In his love and grace and mercy and peace.
Look at verse 3 again, «Grace, mercy and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Son of the Father in truth and love». You’re not gonna have love. Grace, mercy, peace, without the truth. Listen, if you don’t have the truth, you don’t have anything, you don’t have anything. Because the truth connects us to all of that. Did you know that you can’t even worship God without the truth? Maybe you didn’t understand that, that’s from the lips of Jesus. He said to the woman at the well, «But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such people the Father seeks to be his worshipers».
Now watch this, «God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth». You can’t worship any other way. You must worship in spirit and truth. The spine issue has to be right in order for you to be connected to God, in order for you to be connected to the people of God, and in order for you to worship God, no one on the planet gets everything right concerning the scripture. You don’t, I don’t, John MacArthur doesn’t, Paul didn’t, I mean, there are things that we don’t fully understand, but not on spine issues. Spine issues very clear, and we hold to the truth concerning those spine issues. The truth is what establishes Christian fellowship. You know, we talk a lot about unity. I had a guy talk to me not too long ago about unity, «Oh you know, Jesus prayed for unity».
Yeah, he did John chapter 17 verse 21, he prayed for unity, and before he prayed for unity, John 17 verse 17, he prayed for truth, sanctify them in the truth, thy Word is truth. You can’t have unity until you are grounded together in the truth. So why is it so important to know the truth? Truth is what sets a person free, truth is what establishes Christian fellowship, and thirdly, truth is what we’re called to proclaim. For the sake, verse 2 of the truth. For the sake of the truth, which abides in us and will be with us forever. We’re called to proclaim the truth. Hey, you can’t get to heaven without the truth. Can’t worship God without the truth, can’t have fellowship with other believers without the truth. If you don’t have the truth, you have nothing, nothing. And God has called us to proclaim the truth, and God has called his church to be a place where the truth goes out.
Now you think about how popular is the truth today? Not very. There’s pressure from the world to fudge on the truth, to water down the truth, to equivocate on the truth. God says Preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction, for the time will come when men will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires and will turn away from, will turn aside to mess and will turn away from the truth. Hey, we preach the truth. Why is that so important? Because we grow up believers in the truth. That’s why. And that’s how you grow. With the truth. Hey, it’s God’s truth and the devil’s life.
Some have asked me before, they said, Do you ever get nervous when you talk about something that you know is gonna step on people’s toes? I said, it never crosses my mind. I never even think about it. My job Before God is to deliver the mail. I don’t write the mail. He writes the mail. I deliver the mail. And preachers are called to be heralds of the king, you know, the herald would go before the king and he would say, thus says the king, and he would read what the king had decreed. God forbid that that guy should change what the king said. He’d be a dead herald. He’s not gonna do that more than once. Hey, it’s scary to think that that guys can get up and they can just twist the Word of God to say whatever they wanted to say.
Well, you don’t have the authority to do that. God called you to preach the Word. I solemnly charge you, Paul said to Timothy, before the Lord Jesus Christ, who is going to judge the living and the dead, there’s judgment there. Preach the Word, because God is listening and God is watching. The truth is what we’re called to proclaim. We grow up believers in the truth, and we faithfully and lovingly tell unbelievers the truth.
I want to be found faithful, don’t you? Hey, you struggle to walk in the truth, I struggle to walk in the truth. It is a struggle, the Christian life is a struggle. We deal with the presence of sin in the Christian life, but the truth is the truth. God is the truth, his Word is the truth, and we lift up the banner of truth and we point people to Jesus, because that is what we’re called to do, and we grow up in the truth and we spend time reading this book. And when we do we discover that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but through him. Listen, if you don’t know the truth, if you’ve never put your faith and trust solely and squarely on the Lord Jesus Christ, the God man, today is the day for you. Bible says today if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. Behold, today is the day of salvation.