Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
June 1, 2008 - W0822

Truth – When we come to Christ, He does not close our eyes to the truth as some scientists claim.  He opens them.

Close enough is not close enough when it comes to truth.  How you handle truth can change your life.  Handling truth well can change you for the better.  Not handling truth well can change you for the worse.

Truth is one of the most important and powerful elements in the world today.  Truth brings healing or can multiply pain if you reject it.  How you handle truth will determine much about you.

There are two kinds of truth:  the seen and the unseen.  Trees, people, cars...these are seen truths – truths and principles that are seen.  God, soul, heaven and hell...these are truths and principles that are unseen.  Just because a truth is seen doesn’t mean that it’s true. Seen truths are our default.  It is the world’s truth and it’s easier.

Seen truths are easier because we can see them with our eyes but seen truths are not always true.  Oftentimes they are only half-truths and as we said earlier, close enough is not close enough when it comes to truth. 

On the other hand, just because something is unseen doesn’t mean that it’s not true.  Which do you think is more eternally important?  The unseen.  Don’t be afraid of the truth.  Our tendency is to hide from the truth or to discount it:

“This is the verdict:  Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.  Everyone who doe evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”  (John 3:19-21)

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Cor. 4:18)

Christ came into the world to bring wholeness and truth.  Truth brings wholeness to your life – not half truths. 

In addition to there being two types of truths, there are different sources of truth:  the world and God.  The danger with the world’s truth is that it is always changing however God (and His truths) never changes. 

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)

“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:8)

You can determine your life and your eternity based on the truths in the Bible.  As 2 Corinthian states, “…For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

The source of the truth is so important.  As an example, think of it this way…Say you’re thirsty and you order a bottle of water.  The waiter brings back to bottles:  a bottle of Evian (water from the springs of France) and a bottle of water from the Alawai Canal.  Which would you choose?  Why?  Because the source is so important.

We tend to look at faith as if it’s an option; as if “close enough” is okay.  Consider two things:  (1) this jar of M&Ms of which my wife counted each and every one and (2) your favorite song.  If you asked me how many M&Ms are in this jar and I said 900, I’d be wrong.  If I said 1,000, I’d still be wrong.  This jar has 909 M&Ms.  I know that to be true because my wife counted them all and there is an exactness to that answer that doesn’t allow for “close enough” – it is an empirical truth.  On the other hand, if you asked me what your favorite song is and I said, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Brother Iz,” I could be right or wrong.  Who knows, because it’s not empirical; it’s an opinion.

A survey was taken where people were asked, “When it comes to the truth of choosing my faith, is it more like the M&Ms or your favorite song?”  Most people said it was like their favorite song.  You can’t just get “close enough” when we’re talking about life.  John 14:6 says this:

“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.’” (John 14:6)

The apostle Thomas was not there when Jesus appeared before the disciples after His resurrection.  When the other disciples told Thomas they had seen Jesus, he said he would not believe it unless he could put his finger in the holes in Jesus’ hands or his fist in Jesus’ side where they had pierced him.  A week later, Jesus made another appearance at a gathering where Thomas and some of the other disciples were.  Jesus told Thomas to touch His scars and stop doubting.  He told Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you believe but blessed are those who haven’t seen and still believe.”  Blessed are those who understand that there is truth not only in what is seen but also in what is unseen.

God has given every man a measure of faith.  It is enough to prime your pump to grow in faith.  When God is the source of your truth, you can bet your life on it.  When God touches your heart, through you He will be able to touch others.  But the truth of what you believe must be accurate.  It must be God’s truths.  And if it is, He can use us as a vessel through which to touch the lives of others.

Many of you are here today because God gave you a measure of faith – enough to respond to and accept the truth.  God touched you with just enough faith to just bring you here today.  You’re here because God has been speaking to you.  But in order to grow, we must accept truth.  When we say yes to that truth, it can grow.  When the source is credible and unchanging like our God, His truth will cause our faith to grow.

We are not here to discover truth but just to accept it – and not half-truths (like the truths of this world) but whole truths.   That’s where salvation fits in.  Salvation means wholeness and that wholeness comes from accepting the truth about who God is and all that He has done for us.

The result of accepting God’s truth is wisdom.  When you accept the whole truth, that’s when salvation is yours.  Wholeness in your life [salvation] comes from accepting God’s truths.

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32)

 Jesus came to bring us truth.  He is the way to truth and I want to get you an opportunity to day to say yes to that truth and the wholeness that it’ll bring to your life.  When we accept the truth, God opens up the windows of your life.  When we know His ways, we are not under compulsion to follow Him but we aspire to follow Him.  We aspire to have wholeness – in our hearts, our lives, our families…

Today, God has given you a measure of faith to accept wholeness into your life.  It begins the moment you accept truth – the whole truth.  Some of you know the truth but have been running from it.  That’s not unusual – consider Jonah who ran away from God when God told him to go to Ninevah Judas, or Iscariot who traded in the Lord for 30 pieces of silver.   And how about Cain who we heard about last week who killed his brother out of anger and jealousy, or Simon Peter who denied the Lord three times.

The Bible has many stories of people who knew the truth but walked away.  Some of you here are in that situation. You’ve walked away but it’s time to come home.  If you consider the stories mentioned above, you realize that some of them turned out well and some of them didn’t.  The difference is that some eventually accepted the truth and their lives and futures were redeemed.

Pray this prayer with me as we close today’s service:

“Heavenly Father,

Thank you for Jesus.  Thank you that you came and died on the cross for my sins.  I want to accept your gift of grace.  I turn from myself and turn toward you.  Change me.  Make me the person you want me to be.  And now I say thing so that you can hear me…so the Devil can hear me…and so I can hear myself:  Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.  I belong to Him!”

DISCUSSION SUGGESTIONS

1.      What are some of the truths that this world would have us believe?

2.      Have they always been true according this world?  Have they withstood the test of time?  Give an example.

3.      What are some of the truths that God (or God’s word, the Bible) would have us to believe?

4.      Have those truths withstood the test of time?  Give an example.

5.      What are some of the truths that you live your life by?

6.      How have those truths affected your life?  And what would you tell others about those truths?