10 – What would Jesus say today about truth?
By Jeff Fry, Darwin Park Community Church
NIV John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
NIV John 4:19 "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem." 21 Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." 25 The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." 26 Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."
I. Intro
A. Review
1. last week: love
a) love is the mark of the Christian to the world
(1) love means not to destroy the other person with your knowledge (ie. when you know you’re right)
(2) 1 Corinthians 13
(a) “a clanging symbol”
b) it is not loving to lead someone down a dead-end path of falsehood
c) to be loving is to speak the truth
B. Our culture & truth
1. postmodern society – means orginally “disbelief that there exists an absolutely true worldview of things”
a) undermines absolute truth
b) criticizes anyone who says that he knows or possesses absolute truth or a way that makes absolute sense of the world (e.g. Christianity)
2. pluralism – a philosophical stance that no religion has the right to take precedence over any other religions. The only absolute creed is that there are no absolutes.
3. culture wars
a) Brad Pitt on marriage & gay marriage & prop 8 in California – “
(1) Why he won't marry Angelina Jolie.
"I have love in my life, a soul mate--absolutely. When someone asked me why Angie and I don't get married, I replied, 'Maybe we'll get married when it's legal for everyone else.' I stand by that, although I took a lot of flak for saying it--hate mail from religious groups. I believe everyone should have the same rights. They say gay marriage ruins families and hurts kids. Well, I've had the privilege of seeing my gay friends being parents and watching their kids grow up in a loving environment." – Parade magazine
C. If Jesus was such a man of love, why did he encounter such fierce confrontation and conflict so often from others?
D. Thesis: WE must stand for the truth because of who God is.
II. We must stand for the truth because of who God is
A. State
1. Background
a) Putting truth in the context of everyday discussions
(1) Woman at the well
(a) Competing worldview - Samaritanism
(b) Samaritan woman would have believed in the Samaritan scriptures which was only the Pentateuch (first 5 books of the Bible).
(c) Would have believed that there was another one who was coming (Messianic figure) but they called him something else – the Taheb.
(d) But what they knew of God was very limited compared to the Jews who were in the steam of salvation history – ie. salvation is from the Jews.
2. Woman at the well
a) Why we shouldn’t just embrace everything and be tolerant of everything
(1) John 4:20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
(a) What do you think of that Jesus?
(b) Jesus doesn’t accept Samaritan worship as valid because if so he would embrace what she is saying and ensure her of the validity of her path.
(i) Instead he points out that God has been working through the Jewish nation from the beginning and that salvation will come from them (i.e. pointing to himself)
(ii) Jesus doesn’t accommodate her notion that the Samaritans were on the right track
(iii) Jesus is trying to point her to something greater – ie. a new age of the Spirit which He would usher in.
(a) And shouldn’t we when we witness also point others to something better than what they already have – ie. Jesus.
(iv) Jesus doesn’t leave her with a false sense of assurance .
(a) That wouldn’t be loving
(v) Although she believed in God, she didn’t yet believe in Christ so Jesus sees the need to move her on to faith in Him
(a) V. 26 Jesus reveals to her that he is the Messiah, the salvation of the world
(b) In John 3:17-18 the apostle John writes …
(i) John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
(c) Jesus retains the relationship with the woman while at the same time sharing the truth
(i) Jesus’ goal the whole time is to reveal the truth in love
(ii) Jesus is committed to both truth and love
(iii) Jesus loves the person so he doesn’t try to prove himself as better or more knowledgable than the other person thus destroying the person or embarassing them.
B. Illustrate
1. woman in the cathedral bookshop trying to make sense of her visit with friend German man in light of WWII
a) German friend was a lovely person
b) WWII caused us to kill them and them us
c) Craziness of war / humanity – she was surprised by the insaneness of man who would go to war with his fellow man
d) I said that this just shows us that the Bible is true when it talks about the Sinfullness of man
(1) Bible talks about it :
(a) We are all born under the power of sin in that it has tainted every part of us – intellect, emotion, will, reasoning (Ephesians 2:1-4)
(i) Warps our view of the world
(ii) Blinds us to God’s truth and His ways
(iii) Causes in us self-centredness, pride, WWII (creation of a super-race)
(b) Causes us to rebel against God and make ourselves God
(i) We shape God to our own liking (pluralistic God)
(c) Blinds us to God’s truth and salvation
(i) Therefore, there is a great need to expound the truth and thus Jesus’ commitment to the truth and leading people to the truth (Himself)
(ii) Ultimately the Spirit gives spiritual truth . If we understand the message of the cross it is because God’s Spirit has revealed it to us (1 Cor. 2:10).
C. Apply
1. So when you talk to your colleague at work the next time try to hit the balance right – love & truth : both need to be there.
2. The next time you are with a circle of friends and the discussion turns toward religion – don’t back down from the truth of salvation in Jesus but stand for the truth while loving them by sharing the gospel with them hoping that they respond to the only hope they have of escaping eternal condemnation
3. When your neighbour and you start to talk and they open the door a little to a conversation about spirituality be bold and step through that door like Jesus did with this woman and lead them to the truth because you love them
III. Conclusion
A. The Bible discloses a God who cares about truth, who believes in truth and who believes that there is one way to Him, through Christ.
B. We are not to be so proud and presumptuous that we claim that we know better than God and invent our own ways to Him, our own method of salvation.