This is the first sermon in a series of messages focusing on the importance of having a Christian/biblical worldview of life. We are bombarded every day with the philosophies and values of the secular, godless world in which we live. Far too often, Christians have accepted the views and assumptions of the secular world rather than applying biblical truth to every area of life. This first sermon addresses the topic of truth as a necessary foundation for beliefs. You may view a video recording of the worship service in which this sermon was delivered by clicking here.
Written excerpts:
Romans 12:2 (NKJV) And do not be conformed to this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what
is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Introduction:
Last year we started a series of video lessons on Sunday evenings called “The Truth Project.” We suspended the series for the holidays and winter months with the intention of resuming in the spring. As you know, when spring rolled around, we were forced to contend with COVID-19, which changed the way we planned and carried out many of our church functions. I remember thinking when we were watching those videos that the material being presented really needed to be heard by all of our congregation, not just the small group that was coming each week.
I don’t know about you, but I am concerned more than ever regarding the
ongoing changes in our nation and culture. I am alarmed at the failure of even
prominent “Christian” leaders to take a stand against the cultural trends in
our nation. Many appear to be willing to compromise the clear teaching of God’s
Word in order to appease and accommodate the opinions of the secular world.
While thinking about the cultural changes in society and in the church world, I am reminded again of the video series “The Truth Project” and how important it is for Christians to have an accurate view of life and our world. It is so important for us to know the truth and allow the truth to shape our understanding of the world and our own role in it.
I have preached on Romans 12:2 before. But it is so important for us to be reminded that we must not allow ourselves to be pressed into the mold of the world or the age we live in. I’ve been deeply saddened to hear more and more frequently about popular evangelical preachers/teachers and leaders who are abandoning the biblical view of culturally acceptable sins in order to be more compatible with the culture.
Paul states that we must be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Both verbs, conformed and transformed, are in the present tense which denotes continuous action in the Greek language. So “do not keep on being conformed… but keep on being transformed.” The fact that the transformation takes place by the renewing of the mind would indicate that we avoid being pressured into the mold of a secular, godless world by continually allowing our thinking to be shaped and informed by the Word of God.
What is involved in being renewed in our minds? That is what I want to explore for a few weeks together. If we are going to avoid being continually shaped by the secular and godless culture, then we need to have our minds renewed and change the ways we think. We need to have a view of the world and a view of life that is consistent and compatible with the Bible.
There are several themes that are connected to this idea of renewing
the mind, but I think a good place to start is where “The Truth Project” video
series started – with the theme of truth.
I. What is truth?
What is truth? Ronald Nash in his philosophy textbook, Life's Ultimate Questions, says
truth is, “a property of propositions [claims] that correspond to the way
things are.” A similar point is made by someone else who said, “Truth is the
best explanation of the facts that exist.” Or, we could also say, “Truth is
what is actually real.”
Is there any such thing as absolute truth? (Absolute truth = something that is true for all people, in all places, for all time.) It was reported that a college professor boldly proclaimed to his class “There is no such thing as absolute truth!” One student raised his hand and meekly asked, “Are you absolutely sure?”
Someone said, “You shouldn’t think anything is true unless it has been scientifically proven.” However, that statement has never been scientifically proven, so I guess we shouldn’t think it is true either.
We might also need to explain that there is subjective truth and objective truth. Subjective truth – based on personal experience/opinion, changes – e.g. “It is hot!” Objective truth – based on objective standard of reality, doesn’t change – e.g. “It is 95 degrees Fahrenheit.”
Subjective truth – church is boring. Objective truth – church is the body of Christ.
From a more spiritual perspective, we know that the Bible has many
things to say about truth. I want to emphasize two of those points right here.
A. God’s Word is truth.
John
In his high-priestly prayer, Jesus affirms that the word of God is truth. Everything that agrees with the Word is truth. Everything that does not agree with the Word is not truth.
B. Jesus Christ is truth.
John 14: 6 – Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and
the life. No man comes to the father, but by me.”
Jesus is making a claim of being the personal revelation of truth to the world. He is claiming to be the personification of truth. He is the standard by which everything else can be judged for validity. Jesus defines truth for us as it relates to love, compassion, purity, justice, and a whole host of other virtues. If we want to know what each of these virtues really mean, just take a look at Jesus.
John 18:37 (NKJV)
Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus
answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was
born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear
witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."
II. The Truth about
Revelation
I have stated in a previous sermon or two that it seems like truth in the absolute sense is something that is infinite. Our knowledge of what is true about all areas of life keeps on expanding. We have this inner sense that even if we had an entire world filled with brilliant geniuses such as Einstein, we still wouldn’t ever come to know all the truth.
An agnostic by the name of Herbert Spencer maintained that “no man has
ever been known to penetrate with his finite mind the veil which hides the mind
of the infinite. The Infinite cannot be known and agnosticism is secure.”
If Truth cannot be known, then we can never know what really matters. We can never really know what is right or good and we are eventually left with only cynicism, hopelessness and despair. However, Spencer and others like him have omitted one possibility. What if the Infinite Mind chose to reveal Himself to finite minds?
That is the only way absolute truth can be known. It is the only security we have that this truth will never change because it has been revealed to us by the infinite God who is the source of all truth and He does know everything there is to know. This is exactly what the Bible claims – God has revealed His truth to us, and we can know the truth. We don’t have to flounder in darkness and despair. We can have the assurance that only comes by knowing the truth.
This is revelation. The Bible is nothing less than the revelation of truth from the Infinite Mind to finite minds. It is the reliable communication of information that we cannot know any other way, especially by our own efforts and pursuits. It tells us what we need to know about God, our world, human nature, sin, salvation, etc., etc. God’s Word is the final authority for truth.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NKJV) 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
III. The Truth about God
We need to know the truth about God.
There are different approaches that people have used to argue for the existence of God. The study of apologetics gets into that subject more deeply than I have the time or ability to discuss today. For right now, let me just simply say that I have come to the conclusion that it takes less faith to believe there is a God than the amount of faith it takes to believe there isn’t a God.
If there is a God – a being that is infinitely supreme in every way – it makes sense to accept the fact that finite human beings could never truly discover Him or know Him unless He chose to reveal Himself to them. It goes back to what we said a little while ago about revelation. So, we believe the Infinite Mind (God) has revealed Himself to us and He has done so through creation, through His Word, and through His Son. All three of these sources (creation, Word, and Son) have not only revealed His existence, but they have revealed His nature and character.
There are a lot of people who claim to believe in God, but after
talking with them for some length of time, you will discover that the god they
believe in is not the God of the Bible.
Psalm 50:21 (NKJV)
These things [a whole list of sins that were described in previous
verses] you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether
like you; But I will rebuke you, And set them in order before
your eyes.
I heard a preacher a few years ago who said, “Whenever I meet someone who claims they do not believe in God, I ask them to tell me about the God they do not believe in, because I may not believe in that kind of God either!” The truth about God matters!
Conclusion:
There are other areas of truth
that we could talk about such as the truth about ourselves, the truth about
life and the truth about death. I may do that next week.
I want to end today by sharing a brief illustration that I shared many years ago. I heard about a school bus driver that once had a little girl board his bus thinking she was on the right bus, but it really wasn’t her bus. As she watched other children boarding the bus, she would laugh and point out to them that they were on the wrong bus. Then she suddenly became aware of the truth that it wasn’t the others who were on the wrong bus, but she was. She immediately jumped up and ran off the bus to go find her bus. If she hadn’t discovered her error and discovered the truth, she would not have arrived at the intended destination, no matter how sincere she had been.
It really doesn’t matter what I think or what you think. Sincerity is not sufficient. If we do not know the truth, we are not going to get to the right destination. I am truly grateful that God has provided the revelation of truth, which will give us everything we need to know in order to successfully make it through life.
As we think again about Paul’s
command in Romans to “be transformed by the renewing of our minds” it reminds
us of what a solemn charge we have to fulfill. We must take the steps necessary
to renew our minds, and teach our children the same thing.
Closing Song: A Charge to Keep I Have
No comments:
Post a Comment