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WEEKLY
Volume 3 Number 43
22 March 2009
The Spirit of Truth
(Message delivered by Rev Hien
Nguyen at the Worship Service, 2:00 pm, Mar 22, 09)
Text:
John 16:12-15
We are living in the world where not
many care for the truth, seek the truth, love the truth, obey the truth
or live according to the truth. Many are deceived by their religious
leaders or human imagination, believing that their gods are true and
that they are following the truth and in the end they will enjoy their
happy life in Heaven! Many are deceiving themselves by thinking that
they are good and that they can improve themselves to be better and
better, so they do not need a Saviour. Many are influenced by
evolutionary theory, denying the living and true God of the Holy
Scriptures, believing that life is only material and death is the end,
no judgment, no life after death, so they just enjoy their lives in sins
and in ungodliness. It is so frightening and regretful for them when
they meet the living and true God on the Judgment Day and see the Truth,
but it will be too late for them!
When Pilate asked Jesus, “Art thou
a king then?” Jesus answered, “Thou sayest that I am a king. To
this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I
should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth
heareth my voice.” Then, Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?”
(John 18:37-38), but sadly, he did not wait for Jesus’ answer. He only
asked for the sake of asking, but his heart did not thirst for the
truth. How about you and me? Do you and I really want to know the truth
and then submit to the truth? How can we know the truth about God, about
ourselves, about the creation, about God’s salvation for mankind, about
our future, about God’s judgment, about Heaven and Hell, and so forth?
We thank God for the ministry of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth,
who is willing to teach you and me all things (John 14:26) and guide us
into all truth (John 16:13) when we humble ourselves, put aside our
pre-understanding and prejudice, and look unto Him for His illumination
and revelation through God’s Word.
What Is Truth?
Truth, in Hebrew, ameth, has
127 occurrences, and KJV translates as “truth” 92 times, “true” 18
times, “truly” seven times, “right” three times, “faithfully” twice,
“assured” once, “assuredly” once, “establishment” once, “faithful” once,
“sure” once, and “verity” once. Truth, in Greek,
aletheia,
has 110
occurrences and KJV translates as
“truth” 107 times,
“truly” once, “true” once, and “verity” once.
Truth is what is absolutely true,
real, right, upright, sincere, dependable, certain or sure, faithful,
stable, unchangeable, and eternal everywhere down through the ages. Then
opposite of truth is fiction, myth, theory, lie, falsehood, wrong, evil,
pretext, deceit, hypocrisy, etc. As we human beings have corrupt minds
and sinful nature and are bound to make mistakes, to sin, to change and
to die, we cannot find truth from men and from their literature or from
ourselves. Our proper attitude is “let God be true, but every man a
liar” (Rom 3:4), and then seek God’s truth from His Word, which is
Truth (John 17:17) and through the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Truth
(John 14:6) and through the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Truth
(John 16:13).
Then, let us search the Holy
Scriptures to see the truth and know the truth so that the truth will
make us free from sins, errors, deceits, wrong doctrines, wrong
thinking, and wrong understanding. Jesus says, “And ye shall know the
truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).
Only God’s Word Is Truth
There are many books written by human
beings and they claim that those books are truth. Many are deceived by
their claims, but let us not be deceived. If we see, know and believe
that God has given us His Word and His Truth, recorded in the Holy
Scriptures, then we are safe and on the right track. God’s Word is true,
real, stable, faithful, certain, right, reliable, unchangeable and
eternal and God’s Word is truth. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
prays to His Father, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is
truth” (John 17:17). Truly, “For the word of the LORD is right;
and all his works are done in truth” (Ps 33:4), and “For the LORD
is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all
generations” (Ps 100:5), and “the truth of the LORD endureth for
ever. Praise ye the LORD” (Ps 117:2), and “Thy righteousness is
an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth” (Ps
119:142), and “all thy commandments are truth” (Ps 119:151), and
God’s Gospel is truth, “the truth of the gospel” (Gal 2:5, 14)
“the word of the truth of the gospel” (Col 1:5).
God’s Word is unchangeable because
“For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven” (Ps 119:89).
“Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous
judgments endureth for ever” (Ps 119:160) God’s Word is “the
certain words of truth” (Prov 22:21; Eccl 12:10) and is “a more
sure word of prophecy” (2 Peter 1:19) and is “faithful
saying…true saying” (1 Tim 1:15; 3:1; 4:9; 2 Tim 2:11). John was
commanded to write God’s Word, “Write: for these words are true and
faithful” (Rev 21:5; 22:6).
As only God’s Word is sure, certain,
true, faithful, unchangeable, infallible, inerrant, and eternal, can you
and I find God’s perfect Word today? Thank God for having preserved His
Word for His dear children to learn and know His Truth. That is the
Hebrew and Greek texts underlying the King James Version. God who
“made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth
truth for ever” (Ps 146:6) and truly preserved His Word for ever as
He promised, “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried
in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep
them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever”
(Ps 12:6-7).
God does desire that “all men to be
saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4) and
He has perfectly preserved His Word for you and me to learn His Truth.
Then the first step for you and me to know the truth is to read God’s
Word, study it and submit to it.
There Is Only One True God
Without God’s Word and God’s truth,
many believe and worship many kinds of gods, but actually their gods are
only idols, “For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD
made the heavens” (Ps 96:5). Many others deny the existence of God
and want to be gods themselves. God’s Word confirms that there is only
one living and true God and He is the “LORD God of truth” (Ps
31:5; cf. Deut 32:4; Isa 65:16) and “the living and true God” (1
Thess 1:9) and “there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all
things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all
things, and we by him” (1 Cor 8:6). Our Lord Jesus Christ also
confirms, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3).
Knowing that there is only one true
God, you and I must worship Him in spirit and in truth, according to His
Word.
There Is Only One True Saviour
Jesus Christ
There are many false Christs, false
prophets, false teachers, etc., and many are deceived by them. By God’s
Word, which is Truth, we know that there is only one true Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ, the only one Mediator between God and men, “For
there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus” (1 Tim 2:5), and “Neither is there salvation in any other:
for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we
must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Dear friends, let us not be deceived by
many others who think that all religions are good and can save them and
bring them to Heaven. Let us only hear God’s Word and our Shepherd’s
voice. Our Lord Jesus Christ confirms, “I am the way, the truth, and
the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 4:16).
Truly, “grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). Praise
the Lord!
There Is Only One True Holy Spirit,
the Spirit of Truth
Many claim that they are filled with
the Holy Spirit to speak in tongues, see visions and dreams, to
prophesy, and to perform miracles. We should not be deceived by them.
God’s Word confirms that there is only one true Holy Spirit and He is
the Spirit of Truth, “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will
send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which
proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me” (John 15:26),
and “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you
into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he
shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come”
(John 16:13), and “For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and
righteousness and truth” (Eph 5:9), and “And it is the Spirit
that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth” (1 John 5:6). The
Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth, so He can never contradict God’s
Word, which is Truth and the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Truth. Those who
claim to be filled with the Holy Spirit but what they preach, teach, and
do is different from God’s Word, their claims are false.
Our Proper Attitudes
Do Not Be Impressed by the Majority:
God does desire “all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge
of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4), but not all are saved because they reject
the truth. We should not be impressed by the majority who are doing the
things against the truth. Jesus said to the majority of the Jews who
rejected Him, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your
father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not
in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie,
he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it… And
because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not” (John 8:45). We
should not be surprised or discouraged when we share God’s truth with
others and we are rejected. God’s Word says, “And with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they
received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved…
That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had
pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thess 2:10, 12). “Who changed the
truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more
than the Creator, who is blessed for ever” (Rom 1:25), and “these
also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the
faith” (2 Tim 3:8), “And they shall turn away their ears from the
truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Tim 4:4).
We should pray for them and “in
meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure
will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth” (2 Tim
2:25).
Seek and Buy the Truth, and Study the
Truth: God’s
Word encourages us “seeketh the truth” (Jer 5:1) and “Buy the
truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding”
(Prov 23:23) and “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a
workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of
truth.” (2 Tim 2:15). We cannot have the truth by doing nothing. We
have to spend our time and effort in seeking the truth, studying it,
keeping, and treasuring it. We have God’s Word and God’s truth in our
hand, shall not we wisely seek Him and His Word and regard all things
but loss for the excellency of His knowledge and His Truth (Phil 3:8)?
Pray for God’s Guidance:
We must acknowledge that without the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth,
we cannot see nor understand God’s Truth. Many do not understand God’s
Word and God’s Truth and they regard it as “foolishness” (1 Cor
2:14). We must be born again by God’s Word and by the Holy Spirit (John
3:5; 1 Peter 1:23) so that we may see God’s Truth, and then continue to
pray for His illumination and revelation to guide us into all truth,
“Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my
salvation; on thee do I wait all the day” (Ps 25:5), “O send out
thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy
holy hill, and to thy tabernacles” (Ps 43:3).
Obey the Truth and Walk in Truth:
It is not enough for us to know the truth. We must have God’s grace and
strength to obey the truth (1 Peter 1:22), walk or live in His truth
(2 John 1:4; cf. 3 John 1:4), worship God in spirit and in truth
(John 4:23-24) and defend His Truth, “For we can do nothing against
the truth, but for the truth” (2 Cor 13:8), then give all glory to
God, “Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory,
for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake” (Ps 115:1).
Conclusion
Dear friends, we thank God and praise
Him that through His Word and the Spirit of Truth we may know the Truth
about Him, about ourselves, our salvation in Christ, our blessed future
in Heaven, and so forth. May God help us seek His Truth, study His Truth
and submit to His Truth in our worship, lives and ministry until our
Lord Jesus comes again.
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