You Might be Surprised what Most Christians Believe about Truth | Ryan Day (Sermon)

[Music] hello friends and welcome to 3abn worship hour where as i like to always say we worship the lord here in spirit and in truth that's what the bible says and that's what we're going to be doing during this time we have a very very special message today that i'm very excited to be sharing with you and we're just going to worship the lord in word and song and we're going to have a little bit of music here toward the end of this presentation but i don't want to take too much time because i want to give plenty of time for the lord and his word right because we need to be opening our hearts and our minds as the bible says let this mind be in you which is also in christ jesus well we can't have the mind of christ unless we get into his word his word shares for us and gives to us his will for our life so before we go any further before i reveal the title of this presentation i want to go to the lord in prayer right now let's do that our father in heaven lord you are so wonderful you are so marvelous and as i always like to start my prayers by acknowledging that you are worthy to be praised and we thank you lord for being our god and we need not ask that you are here with us because you have promised us in your word that where two or three or more are gathered in your name there you are in the midst so we know you're here with us we just ask you lord to pour out your spirit up in a mighty way into our hearts into our minds and that we may be able to rightly divide your word of truth that your words just come alive and that it will penetrate our hearts and minds to the point that we are drawn closer and closer to our savior jesus christ so thank you lord for your never-ending love your wonderful grace and mercy for it is in the name of jesus christ that we pray amen amen we certainly do live in a social media world now it's kind of crazy to say that because just a few years ago um there really was no such thing as social media and if it was it really wasn't that popular now i happen to have a social media account don't spend too much time on it but i try to use it primarily for ministry purposes for sharing the truth for sharing the good news of jesus christ through song and through inspirational quotes and sometimes uh you know the lord will impress upon me to share something that many people might consider to be a little controversial and you know the truth sometimes is controversial not because god wants it to be not because we want it to be but because we live in a world where it seems like the lines are just blurred it seems like people are questioning more and more what is truth in fact we're going to jump into that passage in just a moment but i've got to set this up to reveal to you my title i'm excited about it some of you may not fully get it at first but i think throughout this presentation throughout this sermon you will understand the title and i want to kind of set that up it was it was a few weeks ago back in october actually that i made a a facebook post a social media facebook post and i was simply just stating kind of uh asking a rhetorical question that i already know the answer to but basically trying to plant a seed in people's minds to be able to kind of shift them in the direction of thinking about what is truth according to god's word and so this is what i shared so right there you'll see ryan day this is my facebook account and this is the message that i shared when did truth become subjective we now live in a world of my truth rather than the truth and then of course i end it with sad and kind of a little sad emoji there i was just trying to share and open my heart about how it seems like as we have shifted quickly in a direction over the years a change has occurred in the minds and hearts of people where people seem to not even know what absolute truth is anymore it seems to be subjective and so that's what i was sharing now of course i had many people to respond to this post as i was trying to spark people to think i was i was hoping that it would spark some uh some critical thinking in the minds of those those people who would come across this post and one particular post really stood out to me so much that when i saw it immediately i burst in into laughter just because i found it a little comical at first but as i got to thinking about it i realized that the brother who posted this he meant exactly what he said and i found myself saying these very short words this very short phrase in the days and weeks to come and so here's the very very short response you see it there i kind of blocked his name and picture out but this brother responded trudeau he responded look at that true that and you can see i i responded there with kind of a laughy face it kind of caught me off guard true that of course those of you who are looking at this right now there's some of you that are probably going true that what is true that of course it's it's a it's a type of american sling it's a new age sling of communication that really simply means that's true it'd be like you might me responding to someone who said something truthful and we might say you know hey yeah that's true that's a true statement this brother made it very clear when he read my post he agreed and he said true that and all i could think about over the next hours days weeks to come as i would hear i about drove my wife crazy because almost every little response that i would give to something that i agreed with or that i thought was true i would be walking around my house saying true that true that yeah true that so i i know that it may sound a little crazy as i'm trying as i'm being a little silly here but nonetheless i want this to be a memorable sermon it may have a silly title but i promise you this sermon title is is given and in in its its objective is to stick in your mind so that you remember the purpose of this message and so for that reason as i was preparing this sermon i found myself i found myself thinking of those words as i was preparing this sermon and as i was going through all of the scriptures and pulling everything together and tightening everything up all i could hear myself saying over and over and over was true that true that so nonetheless today's title of our sermon is true that that's right true that because we're going to be diving deep into the bible my friends and i believe that as we continue through this message and in the many days to come after you hear this message you will remember it because of that title and you'll probably even adopt that little bit of sling into your vocabulary as you hear truthful things you can say true that because it is indeed true when we're referring to the word of god the truth of god's word i want to jump right into john chapter 18. and the reason why we're going there is because it has one of the most famous scenes that we see in all of scripture of course i'm referring to the interrogation of jesus christ by the roman governor pontius pilate and that famous interrogation in which he's asking jesus questions but then he ultimately ends up asking a question himself and that question is what is truth so let's go to the word of god right now john 18 beginning with verse 33 notice what the bible says it says then pilate entered the preatorium again called jesus and said to him are you the king of the jews jesus answered him are you speaking for yourself about this or did others tell you this concerning me pilate answered am i a jew your own nation and the chief priest have delivered you to me what have you done jesus answered my kingdom is not of this world if my kingdom were of this world my servants would fight so that i should not be delivered to the jews but now my kingdom is not from here pilate therefore said to him are you a king then and jesus answered you rightly say 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 and here's that famous verse verse 38 pilate said to him what is truth and when he had said this he went out again to the jews and said to them i find no fault in him at all interesting what is truth and the truth of the matter is we live in a day and age where the genuine truth is being attacked we live in a day and age where most people do not really believe in an absolute truth you're going to hear me say that quite a bit throughout this presentation as i was preparing for this sermon the lord pres impressed upon my heart to bring attention to the absolute truth of his word because we live in a day and age where many people might hold the idea or the ideology the perspective of uh irish playwright oscar wilde when he said these words he said the truth is rarely pure and never simple there's people that hold this type of mentality in the society that we live in today another famous quote as i was doing research on this i found bob dylan the famous musician and singer bob dylan had these words to say about truth he said all the truth in the world adds up to one big lie and there are people that believe this that there is no absolute truth and we live in a world today where people have their own truth they live according to the standard of my truth or my own truth you have your truth and i got my truth i have my own path you have your own path you have your own light and i have my own light in fact oprah winfrey famous talk show host uh she had these words to say in the huffington post she said what i know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we have so what she's saying here is she's simply advocating the idea that we all have our own truth and that certainly is a reflection of what seems to be the majority of thinking today and i'm going to hone in on this in just a few moments because you expect you would expect the world the world to have this mentality in other words people outside of the christian church who don't necessarily identify as christian who don't necessarily identify as a religious person or have a particular religious belief you expect someone from outside the church to hold these particular beliefs or to have this particular perspective but when you get inside the church my friends and we see this type of mentality floating around inside the church my friends we're in trouble and like oprah winfrey said your truth is the most powerful tool that you have do you have a truth do you have your own truth well that's what the world would like you to believe new and upcoming author alex l also had this to say she said live in your purpose follow your light love in your truth again the same concept you have a truth i have a truth we have to live according to our own truth it's not absolute according to these people famous uh famous actor sylvester stallone listen to what he has to say as he is recorded to have said these words he says i believe there's an inner power that makes winners or losers and the winners are the ones who really listen to the truth of their hearts in other words trust yourself trust your own truth you have your own truth you have a truth within your own heart you need to follow your own truth that is within your own heart of course another famous author uh influential author elizabeth gilbert she had these words to say she said true power comes from standing in your own truth and walking your own path my friends these are the words of the majority of the world we live in today but i'm going to tell you today my friends this also seems to be the mentality the dangerous as i always say stinking thinking that is entering in and lurking into the minds and hearts of christians today i want to share one more with you i think this one was quite interesting i certainly don't agree with it but famous uh motivational speaker and author steve maraboli i think that's how you say it he had this to say and he said these words he said stop lying to yourself when we deny our own truth we deny our own potential so again that concept that we all have our own personal truth we all have our own reality that we live in and that reality is ours no one can take it away and my friends what we would call this it's not just a dangerous mentality it actually has a name and we live in a world today of what uh many of the psychologists and sociologists and phil uh philosoph you know philosophical thinkers today call relativism we live in a world of relativism and simply relativism is the concept and i think it's summed up here in this interesting statement my truth is what i say my truth is what i say my truth is what i make it out to be you have your truth i have my truth and it that just seems to also be the mentality of many christians today again i want to make this very clear this message is not probably going to resonate with every single person because many people again have their own opinions outside of the church who may not necessarily resonate with christianity who may not necessarily be a christian i still encourage you to listen to this message because there may be something in here a nugget of truth that the lord wants to share with you but my friends i'm here to preach today to all those professed christians who profess jesus christ as lord and savior who believe that they are a representative of jesus christ and a follower of jesus christ we need to be asking the question is truth what it really is is truth absolute or is it what i want it to be is it subject to opinion is truth subjective or is it objective and speaking of relativism let's identify what that is because that's a big word many people may wonder what is relativism what are you speaking of or talking about when you say relativism here's the definition i found from oxford dictionary relativism simply is the doctrine that knowledge truth and morality exist in relation to culture society or historical context and are not get this they are not absolute that's the concept of relativism a person who thinks with a relativism type of thinking is a person who believes that truth it comes from the perspective of maybe the culture that they live in maybe the culture they live in defines what truth really is or perhaps maybe the society that they live in their environment will define what that truth is to them or perhaps maybe from a historical perspective they're looking at history they're studying history and from a historical perspective they have determined that there is a certain truth to them personally that may not necessarily exist to everyone else in other words everyone has their own truth and the dangers of relativism my friends is simply this let me just spell it out very clearly for you the dangers of relativism is the fact that people who believe in this relativism the concept that they have their own truth simply believe that now they live in their own reality it separates them from the objective truthful reality that each and every one of us are bound to in other words they're not bound to the same objective reality the same objective truth that everyone else is they live in and of their own reality and because they have their own truth their own light their own path of in this case we're going to use the word righteousness for a christian's perspective my friends we have to understand that according to relativism if you believe this thinking if you have this stinking thinking concept that your truth is your own truth you have your own truth you have your own way that everything is is according to your own is subject to your own opinion my friends at the end of the day we have to understand what we are doing as we are destroying the foundations of communication we're going to a point to where we no longer can communicate rightfully with each other or correctly with each other or or understand in a in a in a for sure absolute way what truth really is because even within the christian church the truth is being eroded in the absolute truth that's found in god's word so i'm going to ask a question should christians view truth as absolute if if i am a christian and i'm identifying myself as a christian should truth be absolute well first before we answer that question i want to identify what a christian is okay i have a very clear simplistic definition that of course i have created based on the bible as well as some other dictionaries and and uh definitions that we found but we pulled some sources together to bring about a very simplistic very clear foundational definition of what a biblical christian is and here it is a christian is someone who follows jesus christ in obeying his word for the purpose of replicating his character it's that simple someone who follows jesus christ in obeying his word for the purpose of replicating his character you are a follower of jesus you want to replicate the right righteousness of jesus you you know your righteousness is like filthy rags as the bible says you need jesus christ righteousness to be your own in other words you want to be like christ but in order to be like christ my friends we have to understand that we have to be obedient to his word that we have to be obedient to his following and so i have another definition for you because not everyone is a christian obviously but many people identify as a christian but you know there are some people that identify as a christian that really aren't christians in fact this one is a ryan day specialty that i'm about to bring up i believe that many people while they believe they're actually christians they're actually not christians they are what i like to call selfions that's right s-e-l-f shin like christian selfin okay and here's the definition of a selfie someone who may profess jesus christ as lord and savior but does not follow his word this person lives according to their own understanding rather than the truth of god's word that's right relativism truth is subjective truth is what i want it to be i have my truth you have your truth and my truth is i believe i'm a christian i believe i'm a follower of jesus i believe i'm saved but at the end of the day my friends we have to be honest with ourselves just because you may profess that you are a christian doesn't make you a christian because you very well may find yourself in the self shin camp and i'll tell you what clearly at the end of the day separates a selfish from a christian many of those things that i just mentioned is absolutely true but let's get a little deeper here you see we all as as christians claim to believe in the bible we claim to follow the bible now this bible is comprised of 66 books okay and you may have a different version i have here the new king james version i have many different versions of scripture in my library new king james new king james niv you go down the list i when i study the word of god sometimes i look at many different versions of the bible but a selfishness has a special version a sufficient has their own version in fact this is a special version that most christians have in their library they may not be able to see it all the time but they certainly refer to it i just like to call it the self-revised version that's right the self-revised version of course i'm being a little facetious here for the purpose of proving a point many people go by their own self-revised version they pick a little here take a little here they've created their own little truth their own little christian bubble but at the end of the day my friends we're going to ask the question same question today that we've read that pilate asked what is truth for a christian what is truth and inside this self-revised version again i'm being a little facetious here but i'm trying to make a point we have two special books instead of 66 books we have 68 books and the two added books in most sections is the first opinions and second opinions two special books first and second opinions my friends let me make it clear here we may all have an opinion we may all have a version of our truth that we may think and create and exist in our own minds but at the end of the day as we're gonna learn truth is absolute in fact that's the question we're asking right now in fact for the purpose of this everything that we've just said up to this point you know what we can respond to we can just simply say true that because all that's true that we just said true that very clearly you can say with me i can hear you saying it at home true that that's right we're asking the question is truth absolute for christians should christians believe that truth is absolute i want to know what jesus said because then since i'm a follower of jesus i'm a christian i would know what jesus said and jesus tells us in john chapter 14 these beautiful words we know it john chapter 14 verse 15 he said if you love me keep my commandments if you're going to be a follower of jesus christ jesus says you must love me and in showing me that love you're going to be obedient to my commandments of course we know that's a big part of the word of god and in that same chapter jesus is recording to have said these words john chapter 14 verse 23 jesus says and answers jesus answered to them and said if anyone loves me he will keep my word and my father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him but he goes on to verse 24 and he says he who does not love me does not keep my words and the word which you hear is not of mine but of the fathers who sent me so the question we're asking let me bring it up one more time should christians view truth as absolute got a question did jesus view truth as absolute yes he did and we're about to see that right now notice what the bible says here in john chapter 18 again verse 37 we read this earlier but just to be reminded jesus viewed truth as absolute and as christians should we view truth as absolute because if we're christians remember we're a follower of jesus and his word as we just read we can't be a follower or claim to be a follower of jesus and not follow his word or not keep his words as he just said so we're going to go to john 18 beginning with verse 37 again notice what jesus had to say he said for this cause i was born and for this cause i have come into the world that i should bear witness to notice the truth everyone who is of the truth hears my voice notice even in the original greek right here where i've highlighted those words the truth you find the definite article jesus was clear my friends jesus believed that the truth was absolute because he used the definite article he just didn't say look i've come into the world to reveal a truth that everyone who hears my voice they are of a truth no no no he said they're of the truth i've come into this world to preach and to declare and to live out the truth that's why he also said in that famous verse found in john chapter 8 verse 32 we almost have it memorized because we say it often sometimes we say it a little wrong but here are those famous words in john 8 32 jesus says and you shall know there it is again the definite article the truth and the truth shall make you free that's right my friends jesus was clear that truth is indeed absolute it's not something that we create it's not something that exists in our own little alternate reality jesus made it true and clear that truth is absolute in fact even referring to himself and we're gonna we're gonna highlight this a little more in just a moment but you know that famous verse found in john chapter 14 verse six i love it jesus referring to himself he said i am the way the truth there it is again definite article the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me and we read all those texts we read all that truth about how jesus is the truth he is the way the truth and the life and to that i can say because i believe 100 that jesus is the truth i say true that that's right true that you can say it with me true dad because that is true amen and we can be we can know and rely on the fact that that is indeed true so the question is can christians know what truth is today okay we know the truth is absolute but can we know what that absolute truth is now many people today would say no not really right because you know maybe truth exists maybe that absolute truth is out there somewhere but we can't really know what it is again that's that stinking thinking that relativism we don't want anything any part of that because as christians jesus was very very clear as to what he wanted us to believe and so i want to just bring a series of texts together to answer this question can christians know what truth is today let's start with jesus words because again he is the way he is the truth he is the lie and this is what he said in matthew 4 4 as he was being tempted by the devil we know those famous words he said here he said to him it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of god so notice here christ is making a definitive statement he's saying look if you're going to be a follower of me if you're going to be of me i've created man i am the creator he says and i'm telling you men that i've created should live by the word of god they should live only by what comes from the mouth of god now take that and tie that to john 17 17 when jesus was praying in the garden of gethsemane and he said these famous words sanctify them that is make them holy set them apart sanctify them through thy there it is truth thy word is truth i love that thy word is truth and so my friends now take that again we're building some blocks here and connect that to psalm 119 160. i love the 119th chapter of psalm so much pact in that chapter notice what david writes here he says the entirety oh the entirety of your word is truth and every one of your righteous judgments endures forever okay so let's take the two texts that we've just read sanctify them through thy truth thy word is truth and david makes it clear under the inspiration of the holy spirit lord the entirety of your word is truth guess what that means from genesis to revelation we can know what truth is we can know that the absolute definitive clear genuine truth of god's word is found right here in the bible and we can trust that every single word is from god and that it is trustworthy that's why i love again psalm 119 it's one of my favorite chapters 119 that famous verse found in verse 105 it says your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path so god's word is a light and if you've ever been in a dark place you desire to see right you desire light god's word is that light that's what god inspired his bible prophets to say that his word is that light it is the lamp that lights our path now keep that in mind god's word is a what it's a light now take that in consideration when we read isaiah 8 verse 20 because the question we're asking is can we know what this absolute truth is here it is isaiah 8 verse 20 to the law and to the testimony if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them did you hear that when we don't speak as christians oh i just wish i could scream this from the mountaintop when we as christians my friends come up with this this messy thinking that you know what truth is what i want it to be truth is i've got my own truth i've got my own ideas i've got my own perception oh here's a here's a dangerous one i've got my own interpretation ryan that's your interpretation well i have my own interpretation oh ryan that's that's that's that's true for you but but it's not necessarily true for me my friends if we are christians true genuine christians then we are of jesus christ and if we are true genuine christians then we are of the word of god which means we believe harmoniously that the foundational absolute finite truth at the end of the day is god's word and if we don't speak according to this word according to isaiah 8 verse 20 when we don't speak according to this word the bible says there is no light in us you know what that means that means the word of god is not in you because again the word of god is a lamp and to our feet and the light into our path we don't have god's word in us and when we don't have god's word in us we don't have god in us whoa man so to all of that that i just said say it with me true that all of that is true true that absolutely so why should the bible be received as the ultimate truth you know these are questions that a very skeptical philosophical thinker of today would ask okay ryan there's a genuine truth okay it's found but what about the word of god i mean what is it what is it about it that tells me that i should receive it as the ultimate truth right and i'm going to show you some statistics disturbing statistics in just a moment my friends that tell us that christians professed christians today they believe that truth that is their religious biblical truth is subject to opinion i'm going to show you that more christians more than half of the christians in this world today believe that mess and i believe it's a dangerous dangerous thinking so why should the bible be received as the ultimate truth well let's consider this truth and i made a note here very clear for all of us to see you see the bible this is this is the foundation of it right here the bible identifies truth as a quality intrinsic to the very nature of god and this should not come as too much of a surprise to us since the bible is primarily say with me about whom jesus christ so why should the bible be that ultimate final truth for us because it's about jesus christ it identifies him who identifies the character of god you can't separate the word of god and you can't separate the word of god from god jesus indeed called himself the truth he was full of the truth the bible makes it clear that he told the truth the bible makes it clear that it says that you know whose words are true according to revelation 21 and verse and chapter 22 as well jesus also taught the way of god in truth according to the book of matthew there as well as mark and luke you'll see the references on the screen jesus also taught about the truth right there we read john 17 earlier john 17 17 thy word is truth he taught about the truth and of course he came into the world to bear witness to the truth according to john chapter 18. my friends we have to understand that the bible has a better and higher standard it is a better and higher standard it defines truth as being utterly reliable and enduring and the reason is simple authentic biblical truth is inextricably linked to the dependable unchangeable character of god it identifies who god is it tells the story of the character of god truth cannot listen to these words truth cannot be unhinged from absolutes even though everyone's got their own opinion as to what truth is and they live in their own little reality well this is my truth and that's your truth my friend true genuine truth for christians cannot be unhinged from absolutes you see you can trust everything god says he never lies he always keeps his word and of course he's faithful to all his promises that's why david was able to write in psalm 31 verse 5 very clearly i love this he says into your hand i commit my spirit you have redeemed me oh lord god of truth you see david wrote that under the inspiration of the holy spirit because god is truth and so as christians when we come to this idea that well that's true for you that's not true for me my friends 40 more than 40 000 different denominations that exist today and the question is why if we all have the same truth if we all have the same foundational amazing truth as found in god's word and we all claim to be followers of jesus why in the world we got forty thousand different denominations i'm gonna reveal to you in just a moment why we have forty thousand different denominations it's because even christians today the majority of christians today live in a false reality of relativism they believe that the truth of god's word is subjective and that it's subject to opinion and personal ideology ideological thinking numbers chapter 23 verse 19 tells us another amazing truth about god a beautiful promise it says god is not a man that he should lie nor a son of man that he should repent has he said and will he not do or has he spoken and will he not make it good love that i love how how moses is just he's just unpacking it right there he's saying look who is god he's the truth when he speaks listen and believe because when he speaks he speaks truth his promises are sure he cannot lie in fact paul even echoed this message and titus chapter one verses one two and three let's read that right now notice what paul writes he says paul a bond servant of god and an apostle of jesus christ according to the faith of god's elect and the acknowledgement of here it is the truth which accords with godliness in hope of eternal life which god there it is again who cannot lie promised before time began i love that i just want to pause there for a moment before we go into verse three i just want to highlight that and reemphasize the fact that god cannot lie he is unchangeable but now notice what he continues to say in verse three he says but has in due time manifested his word through preaching i love that which was committed to me according to the commandment of god our savior did you catch that how was this truth brought to him by the word and of course it was committed to him according to the commandment of god our savior you know speaking of the commandment let me ask this question what governing principles epitomize the truth as found in god's character what should christians believe on that what governing principles epitomize the truth as found in god's character you know that that's just an overwhelming clear answer if you are a bible christian then you know it is none other than god's law the ten commandments in fact notice in psalm again 119 verse 142 notice what david writes he says your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness and your law is truth you see the law of god tells the truth because it is a transcript of the character of god the law of god tells us who god is who is truth and therefore my friends if we're going to be christians living in these last days should we be preaching that the law is done away with because in a sense we're preaching and teaching that the law of course if it's done away with and that means we're doing away with the loving character of god um you can't separate god from his law because it tells the same story in fact i'll put some references up here i'm not going to read all of those references but i want to show you here the bible makes it very clear that god and his law are good they are holy god and his law are perfect pure just true spiritual righteous their righteousness faithful love unchanging and i love this last one eternal god is eternal his law is eternal his word is eternal guess what truth is eternal guess what true that that's what you need to be saying right now true that because all of that is true about god in his word i told you after this sermon you're going to be saying it at home i've been saying it makes me feel good i like to say it it's fun because we need to live in a day and age where the truth when the truth is being attacked when the truth is being eroded at every corner god needs a people that's going to stand firm on the truth not a truth not a version of our own personal truth but we need to be standing on the truth of god's word so i want to ask another important question right now why do so many professed christians struggle with accepting and formulating their lives around the truth of god's work why does it seem like so many christians are failing to receive this truth or failing to accept it is true and you say well ryan i don't really know of any christians that are i'm going to show you some startling statistics in just a moment but i want to i want to show you from a biblical perspective why this is the case first of all i'm going to read a text one of the shortest texts in all of scripture but i believe it's one of the most truly one of the most inspired texts that we can find in scripture it was written by paul and paul says this very short sentence five words do not quench the spirit in other parts he talks about how we should not uh we should we we should not grieve the holy spirit so why are christians struggling to accept the actual absolute genuine truth of god's word today for what it is well because the majority of christians today are quenching the spirit you see and when you quench the spirit let me tell you a little bit of something about the spirit here in fact i'm going to let jesus tell you a little bit of something about the spirit in fact we've all read it but in case you haven't this is what the bible says in john chapter 16 verse 13. jesus says however when he notice what he recall what he calls the spirit he says when he the spirit of truth there it is when the spirit of truth has come he will guide you into how much truth all truth for he will not speak on his own authority but whatever he hears he will speak and he will tell you things to come so get this why are christians struggling because they're quenching the spirit if the spirits one of the spirits attributes and purposes is to come into this world to show us truth to reveal all truth to us but yet we're quenching the holy spirit my friends we're quenching the life source of truth in fact notice what jesus said in matthew 13 verse 13 through 15 this is the result of quenching the spirit of truth jesus says hearing you will hear and shall not understand and seeing you will see and not perceive for the hearts of this people have grown dull their ears are hard of hearing and their eyes have been closed lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears lest they should understand with their hearts and turn so that i should heal them you know what jesus is saying here he's saying when you cut off the source of truth when you are quenching the spirit of god in your life when you're grieving the holy spirit you're taking away the the you're cutting off you're severing the spiritual supply line of truth for your life and when you do that guess what you may have eyes but you can't see you may have ears but you can't hear you may have a mind but you're not really perceiving that's why we have so many people today i walk around with the plain truth of god's word and i'll be showing people teaching people the truth is found in god's word and one of the most interesting intriguing things to hear is when you actually show someone the plain simple truth of god's word and they look up and say well i don't see that well of course you don't see that because having eyes you can't see having years you can't hear and the reason why many people are in this case is because they're quenching the leading guiding power of the spirit of truth in their life that's why paul goes on to write in second thessalonians chapter 2. notice what he says this is ultimately the prophetic uh uh this is a prophecy basically of what's going to happen when people sever that connection when they can no longer see this is what it says 2 thessalonians chapter 2 beginning in verse 10 he says and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish why are they perishing here's why they're perishing because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved and for this reason god will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie that they all may be condemned who did not believe there it is again the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness my friends this is the world we live in today and it breaks my heart as a christian living among other christians we should all as jesus christ prayed in the garden of gethsemane we should all be in one mind and one accord we should all be on the same biblical page but the truth is we're not and the reason why is because the the church is flooded with wheat and tares with christians and selfish those who live in their own false alternate reality and those who are grounded to the absolute truth of god's word and jesus said light and darkness cannot coexist why do you want to why do you think the church is so divided today never been divided as much as it is today because the devil's attacking the truth in fact notice what isaiah 59 verses 14 and 15 has to say this is somewhat of a prophecy even for our time notice here it says justice is turned back and righteousness stands afar off for truth is fallen in the street and equity cannot enter so truth fails and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey don't you feel like that sometimes when you finally decide and you you've seen the light and you want to bring yourself in harmony with the light of god's word it seems like you become an enemy to everyone around you you become a prey that's the word of god now i'm not my words look at these statistics according to a 2019 i think i think actually i made a i made a typo here but i'm going to clarify it it's either 2019 or 2018. um but notice this is a legitimate study that i found online get this and this is a statement that they made you'll see it up there on the kind of in the top left hand corner there it says religious belief is a matter of personal opinion it is not about objective truth so they wanted to know what evangelicals believe about this that is christians so they made this statement and they wanted to know do you agree with the statement or do you not my friends look at this 47 okay only 47 percent strongly disagreed with this statement less than half of the christians polled disagreed with this statement as they should have because truth is not a matter of personal opinion it is and that it is an objective truth but yet notice more than 50 at this point 53 of the people everyone else even that group that said somewhat there somewhat i somewhat disagree if you somewhat disagree with that my friends then you're not grounded in the genuine truth of god's word you fall in the camp with the rest of them 53 of christians said that they either somewhat or you know pretty much agree with the fact that yet truth is subject to opinion my goodness lord have mercy on us in fact if you go on to look at the next study that i found here a 2019 lifeway research study again how much of the bible they ask how much of the bible have you personally read look at this 10 says none of it only a few sentences uh for people for 13 of those who took this uh survey 30 said several passages or stories 15 it said at least half of it 12 said almost all of it and of course only 19 said all of it or all of it more than once my friends there's a large number of christians that took this survey and this is the results this is the world that we live in and you say ryan why is that such a big deal because listen to this statistic if this one doesn't bother you get this according to the american bible society now they don't have a slide for this one but i want to just verbalize this one very clear according to a recent american bible society survey out almost nine out of ten households that's 87 percent own a bible and the average household has three bibles but yeah we don't we don't agree with what truth is anymore because there's more than forty 000 different denominations why because we got a bunch of people who have their own version of the truth this is the world we live in you can't put 10 christians in a room anymore and agree on the absolute truth of god's word everyone's got their own opinion 40 000 different opinions my friends have mercy where we come in society and again this bar graph here 2019 notice this which of the following described the bible to you and look at this 52 said a good source of morals 38 said his a good historical account 37 said it's helpful today but the one that bothers me the most is 36 percent of the people that took this survey said that they believe that the bible is true only 36 percent my friends and we wonder why paul preached and i can just imagine this brother preaching it with power from second timothy chapter four verses two and onward when he said preach the word be instant in season and out of season reprove rebuke with and exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine for the time will come this is a prophecy my friends the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lust again their own opinion their own thinking their own truth shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears and they shall turn away their truth excuse me their ears from the truth and shall be turned into fables and i can tell you as a response to what we just read i can say true that true that that's the reality of what we live in today in christianity many people living according to their own lust their own truth their own desire so i want to ask with the last couple of minutes remaining that i have in the bulk of this sermon here i just want to make this very clear how can we make sure that we are grounded that is always grounded in the genuine truth of god's word well let me give you this text that's one of my favorite ones and i rely on it to keep me humble and to keep me in check often and that's found in proverbs chapter 3 verses 5 and 6 the bible says trust in the lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your path i love that you see when you're a true genuine christian that is a true genuine follower of jesus you don't trust yourself you don't trust your own way that's why the bible says over in proverbs 14 12 somewhere i think it's proverbs 14 12 there is a way which seemeth right into a man but the end thereof are the ways of death that's why paul says in second timothy 2 15 study to show thyself approved unto god a workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth you see we do need to read the word of god you need to be reading your bibles each day but more than that my friends we need to be studying the word of god we need to be students of the word of god how can we be grounded to the plain truth of god's word the absolute truth of god's word if we're not students of the word if we don't trust in the lord more than we trust in ourselves but it seems like more and more christians today instead of trusting in god they trust in themselves more than they trust in god and therefore because they trust in themselves more than they trust in god they become their own god i want to trust in the light of god's word i want to believe right there in psalm 119 105 when it says plain and clear thy word your word o god is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path do you trust in the word are you a true christian are you a selfish do you have your own self-revised version with those two added first and second opinions that you rely on quite a bit or do you rely on a plane thus saith the lord you see we need to learn to trust in god because it's only his strengths that's going to get us through not our own at this moment i would like to allow my brothers tim pardon and pastor john loma king to bless us with the song it's going to talk about how god is our strength and we should place our trust in him [Music] sometimes life seems like words and music that can't quite become a song so you cry inside then you try again wondering what could be wrong then you turn to the lord at the end of yourself as we've done our time or two before we find the truth is the same as it's always been you never will need more it's not in trying but entrusting not in running but in resting not in wandering but in praise that we find the strength of the lord it's not in trying but and trusting not in running but and resting not in wandering but in that you'll find the strength of the [Music] lord he's all we need for our every needs we never need be alone but he'll let us go if we choose to live life on our own then the only good that will ever be said from the pain we find ourselves there are praises to gain and the wisdom to say i'll never leave him again it's not in trying but and trusting not in running but and resting not in wandering but in praying that you'll find your strength in the lord no it's not in trying but and trusting not in running but it's in resting not in wondering but and praying that you'll find your strength in the lord not in wondering but in praise that you'll find the strength of the lord praise the lord you guys couldn't have chosen a better song it's really really good thank you my friends the bible reminds us one of my favorite texts one of the most beautiful promises in all of scripture second chronicles chapter 7 verse 14 which says if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then i will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land you see some of us need to take a big bite of humble pie every once in a while you see the only way we can come to understand and to truly submit ourselves to that absolute genuine truth of god's word as if we are humbled and if we humble ourselves in god's presence you see it's really all about surrender at the end of the day you're surrendering your will to him and so in closing now i do want to say thank you for joining us but i want to give a final appeal to surrender your will to the lord right now you say lord i don't i don't trust my thinking i don't trust my truth if there is such a thing of course there's not his truth is the only truth that matters let us pray as we close father in heaven simple and clear we want your truth we need the only truth that matters and that is your truth give us your holy spirit teach us your will teach us your ways and take us away here today we ask and pray in jesus name amen amen [Music] you

Channel: Three Angels Broadcasting Network (3ABN)

Views: 12,535

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Keywords: 3ABN, Three Angels Broadcasting Network, yt:quality=high, Worship Hour, ryan day, Sermon, bible, live church, truth, christians

Id: -YMmGIGmgfw

Length: 57min 45sec (3465 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 04 2020