TRUTH IS NECESSARY FOR KNOWLEDGE
James 3:13-18 "Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace."
Do you think you have spiritual wisdom and you understand anything of a spiritual nature? First you must show forth your wisdom by the way you live. Spiritual knowledge and spiritual wisdom are not like earthly wisdom at all. Earthly wisdom and earthly knowledge can be had without affecting your manner of living, but this is not true of Heavenly Spiritual Wisdom. For spiritual wisdom and knowledge to be possessed, it must also be shaping the one who possesses it. James here tells us, as long as we live emotion-centered lives, we do not have spiritual knowledge and spiritual wisdom. Do you become angry easy? Are you quickly given to anger or strife? James is telling us if we are given to strife, if we get angry easily, we should not fool ourselves and think we know and understand anything spirit. This wisdom is not from above, but rather is devilish, or in other words, it comes from Satan. To have truth in our knowledge, means more than just reading the Bible, it also means we must put it into practice in our lives. It must be practiced in order to be understood, it must shape our lives in order to truly be in our lives.
1 John 1:5-10 "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."
These verses are saying the same thing James said, but from a different perspective. They say God is light and in him is no darkness. If we claim to have fellowship with God, but we are continuing to walk in darkness, we are liars and we do not practice the truth. To put this more in the words of James, If we claim to be followers of God, but our lives have not changed to reflect the life of Jesus Christ, then we are liars and we have no concept of the truth. But if the knowledge we have gained through a study of God's words, changes us to be like God and Jesus Christ, then and only then do we truly have fellowship, one with another and only in this way can we show the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed us from our sins. To simply disavow our sins, to claim we have no sin, shows we are deceived and we haven't received the truth from our studies. But instead, we are claiming that God is a liar and we do not love the Word of God and it does not dwell within us.
1 John 2:3-6 "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked."
Do you want to know Jesus Christ? Do you want to know the truth? Obey God by keeping the commandments of God. It is impossible to know God or to know the truth without experiencing it. The only way you can experience the truth is through the obedience to the commandments of God. But this obedience is not just a one time obedience, it must be a life style change, from the heart. Because you trust in God, you do what he commands. And because you do what he commands, it changes your life, and then you can know the truth.
John 8:31-32 "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth , and the truth shall make you free."
We see here Jesus lays out in better words, what I have been trying to say. Here He is speaking to some Jewish disciples that believed on Him. They had trusted Him enough apparently to begin obeying Him. Jesus tells them, If ye continue in following my word, If you continue in obeying me, then are ye my disciples, my followers indeed, and then after it has begun changing your life, only then can you truly understand what I am telling you, then and only then can ye know the truth, and then truth will set you free from the bondage of sin.
I have known a number of people in my life who can understand this very well. From what I have heard Crank is such a powerful drug only about 3 percent of those who become addicted are ever able to break free of the addictive power of this terrible drug. Yet Jesus promises 100 percent of those who apply his truths to their lives can break free. What does one have to do? Let us apply this truth taught by Jesus about 2000 years ago. First you have to come to believe Jesus is the Son of God. You have to believe it enough you have come to trust in Him and God the Father. You must trust in Jesus Christ enough to commit your life to Him. You must obey from the heart that form of doctrine. You must be baptized into Jesus Christ, in the Name of the Father, and In the Name of the Son, and In the Name of the Holy Ghost for the Remission of Sins. When you arise from the watery grave of baptism you MUST make a commitment that whatever Jesus wants you to do, you will do. You then must begin attending the worship services of the Church, partaking of every spiritual meal you can. You must begin a regiment of daily Bible readings, prayer, and Bible study. You must break away from the old acquaintances you had, acquaintances since no one who is addicted to Crank, can truly be a friend. You must forge true friendships in the Church, spend time with Christians, and have the attitude of WHATEVER I LEARN THAT JESUS WANTS ME TO DO, I WILL DO IT. Then and only then are we truly disciples indeed and only then, can we know the truth. And then can we be truly set free from our addictions to sin.
TRUTH IS NECESSARY FOR GODLINESS
God wants us as Christians to continue to grow. The first things God wants us to work on according to II Peter 1 are internal. We are to add to our Faith, Virtue, Knowledge, Temperance (Self-Control) and Patience (The ability to stick to doing the right things). But in our growth, there comes a time God wants us to grow to the point our faith turns outward. This is the point of Godliness, when we begin to show the world what we believe, when we begin to invite others to Church, when we begin to spread the Gospel.
Titus1:1 "Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;"
We see as we continue to grow as Christians, truth becomes more important not less. It is essential as we begin to tell others about the Lord we speak only what the Bible says, we speak only the truth. It is also essential we recognize what we know and can show from the Word of God and what we don't know. If we cannot show what we believe from the Word of God, we need to tell someone, I DO NOT KNOW, but I know Brother So-and-So who can show us from the Bible what the Will of God is.
Romans 2:8-11 "But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God."
Here Paul writes to the Romans and shows the importance of obeying the truth. Paul says not only are those who do not obey the truth, contentious, but they actually obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, and they are doing evil. This is true of the Jews and of the Gentiles. To sum up what the Bible says about godliness, if we are not obeying the truth, we are not godly, the things we are doing are not from God, we are evil.
TRUTH IS NECESSARY FOR SALVATION
We also want to notice Truth is NECESSARY for Salvation. In other words, it does not matter what we think, want, hope for, or believe, if it is not the truth, we will not be saved. Truth MUST be there in order for salvation to follow. We can believe something is true and trust God to save us, but if it is not true, WE ARE NOT SAVED.
James 1:18 "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures."
The means God uses to BEGAT us is the word of truth, the Bible. Using the word of truth, God has brought us forth to be the firstfruits, THE BEST, the most important of his creatures. Without TRUTH, we cannot even be conceived let alone be born of God. Truth is NECESSARY for Salvation.
2 Thessalonians 2:8-12 "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
Here in 2 Thessalonians, Paul reveals the importance once again of TRUTH in salvation. Paul says there will be those who will act as if they are Christians, but they will not be sent by God, but rather they are sent by Satan. How can you tell? They will come with all power and signs, and lying wonders. He goes on to say, they will perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, in order they might be saved. To rephrase this, Satan will send forth men who will claim to be following Christ. They will come with all power and signs. In other words we are not to look to the power and signs they claim to have in order to see if these people are of God, but rather we are to look at what they do and say. If they are speaking as the Bible would have them speak, accept what they say, but if they are not teaching you must obey from the heart that form of doctrine, If they are teaching you can be saved without baptism, they are liars and they speak lying wonders. They will be damned. God will send them a strong delusion, such they will believe a lie. Have you ever known someone when you show them what the Bible says, they just refuse to accept it. Instead they double talk, they say things like, Well, if you want to be literal about it, but I don't think God minds if we are not baptized, this is what Paul is talking about.
Ephesians 1:12-14 "That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory."
Paul here again lays out the order of salvation, First we, as Christians, have first trusted in Christ. We believe him and are going to allow him to shape our lives. How? Through the Word of Truth, which is the gospel of our salvation, how Christ died for our sins, according to the scripture, He died, was buried then He arose. When we believed it, we obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine. We were baptized in water, for the remission of our sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Why does God want it to be done this way? So we will have nothing to glory about, but rather we will bring forth praises to his name. Those who knew us before, when they see the change in us, they will know we did not do it ourselves, but God did it through us.
TRUTH IS NECESSARY FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH
Even though we were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the down payment of our inheritance, we still need to grow as Christians. When we quit growing spiritually, we begin to die spiritually. Truth is essential to our spiritual growth.
2 Timothy 4:1-5 "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry."
If we as Christians do not grow to love the truth, we will become turned to fables. We will not like the teachers who helped us to grow. Rather we will want to listen only to those preachers who say nice things about us, those who will scratch our itching ears. For our continued growth, we need teachers who are not afraid to teach the truth.
Hebrews 10:26-31 "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
We see how important knowledge is regarding sin, If we do something that is contrary to the will of God, we sin whether we know it is contrary to the will of God or not. This is why knowledge is important. As a child of God, we want to please God. How can we know what pleases Him unless we have knowledge from God about what pleases Him or what does not please God. The difference is whether we sin because of ignorance or because of rebellion. If we sin willfully, we are in rebellion against God, basically we are saying, I don't care what you want God, I am going to do as I please. If we get a rebellious attitude we are rejecting Christ and God basically tells us the same thing many fleshly parents end up telling their children. When children become too rebellious, parents at time end up having to tell their children, "I love you, but until you are ready to live by my rules, you are not welcome to live in my house."
James 5:19-20 "Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins."
We want to see anytime we leave the truth, it involves sin. Not only is truth necessary for spiritual growth, but if we leave the truth, not only do we sin, but unless we are converted from the error of our ways, we will spend an eternity separated from God. To put it bluntly, we will go to hell. We will spend an eternity separated from God. What could be worse than being separated from God, who is the source of everything good? Nothing!
THE TRUTH IS NECESSARY FOR LOVE
The last thing we want to notice in this chapter is truth is necessary for love. We are commanded to have love for God and for each other. But again we want to notice truth is necessary for love. In today's world when we talk about love, we mean the attraction we have for our spouse. We think the fact our heart goes pitter patter when we are with a certain person that means we are in love. But the Bible does not mean that at all when it talks of love.
1 Peter 1:22-23 "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. (We need to be honest with ourselves, recognizing where we really are)"
Peter tells us if we have become Christians by obeying the truth AND by having a unacted or a natural love of our brothers and sisters in Christ, we are to grow until love is a passion from a pure heart. In other words, love is a command not an emotion. We can control how we act towards one another and the things we say about one another. We can even choose to give our lives for a brother or sister in Christ.
1 John 4:6-8 "We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."
John says the way we know if a person loves God is how a person obeys the command of God. As a very dynamic preacher said over and over in his sermons, we need to internalize and to personalize the sermon to ourselves. Applying that principle to loving our brothers and sisters in Christ, How do I, Don French, know if I love God? The answer to that question is easy. Do I love my brothers and sisters in Christ? How can I love God who I have not seen, if I do not love my brethren, whom I do see? How do I know if I love my brother and sisters in Christ? Again the Bible says it is easy for me to tell, I know by two things. Do I obey God? Do I love my brethren? If I do have the proper type of love for God, the Church, and my brothers and sisters in Christ, it will show through the way I treat them.
When the Church comes together, am I automatically at the assembly of the Church? When my brothers and sisters in Christ need encouragement, am I there to encourage them? Christianity is not a selfish religion, love is always shown by the concern we have one for another.
1 John 3:17-19 "But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him."
John says the same thing, but in different words. If I have possessions and you have a need of them, love requires I share with you. The Christian's love for one another is shown by actions, by our deeds. If I am not moved by compassion when you have need, it says at least three things about me:
- Number 1: I do not love you;
Number 2: I do not love God;
Number 3: I am not of the truth.
Chapter Summary
- 1. Truth is The Foundation of The Whole Armour of GOD.
2. Without Truth, There is NO ArmourThat Can Defend From Satan.
3. Truth Is Necessary For Knowledge.
4. Truth is Necessary For Godliness..
5. Truth is Necessary For Salvation.
6. Truth is Necessary For Spiritual Growth.
7. Truth is Necessary For Love.
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