Truth Bomb: Part 1

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hes myen

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Iain It Up In A desperate

prayer Lord why are you keeping me

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he'll in the

valley whatever the reason I'm

barely

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I

the

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be it up in a desate

prer Lord why

are here then

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he child

I'm a good god and I have a good

plan I'm hold

water'll grow in the valley

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of

pain and I bring it up in a grateful

prayer thank you you Jesus for keep me

there

I and you planted

seeds you're good god with a real good

and you hold the

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world

grow in the valy

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[Applause]

father God we we thank you for your hand

of blessing we are not blind to the fact

that your hand of favor is upon saus

Creek Baptist Church right now and Lord

we know that we've done absolutely

nothing to earn it but you have given it

to us graciously and mercifully and so

Lord we accept what you're doing the the

Revival that you have started in this

place in this community and we pray that

it would spread from not only here but

every Christian Church that is preaching

the gospel this morning we ask that

Hearts would be changed and lives would

be changed and Lord that we would all

all leave our our places of worship

looking more and more like Jesus Christ

every single day Lord we thank you for

the the many gifts and talents that

you've placed in this assembly Lord we

know that this is the body of Christ and

that every part has a purpose and we

just thank you that you've given us so

many people that are willing and humble

enough to use their gifts and talents to

the betterment of your kingdom and I

pray Lord as we study your word today

that it would impact our hearts in a

great way in Jesus name I pray amen

starting a new series today called truth

bomb uh this is

uh something I've had a passion about

for many years uh discovering what truth

is and how to communicate truth with

people and the main idea of this

specific sermon series for this month is

that there are so many beliefs in our

culture today that that feel true and

they they sound true but they're just

not true so I wanted to do a five-part

series talking about about Truth where

it comes from and how it impacts our

lives and the the sermon title came from

something my youth group students used

to do way back in the day when I was a

youth pastor they would have these

things called Truth bombs I don't know

if you remember those or not but it was

always the middle school kids because

they're the worst um they were always uh

they were always trying to tear me down

and so they would come up to me and

they'd be like PK and they I'd be like

what and they're like got a truth bomb

for you and they would be they would say

something like wrestling is for nerds

like that

and they'd say something like Michael

Jordan isn't the greatest of all time or

they would say like Taco Bell is

overrated I'd be like hold me back hold

me back Susan I'm going in I'm going to

be doing prison ministry from the inside

this kid is going down right often times

I would use that as a a teaching

mechanism to uh uh teach them that

there's a difference between truth and

perspective

perspective is very different than truth

so so what is truth that's a very good

question and it's actually a question

that Pontius Pilate ask Jesus right

before Jesus went to the Cross so if you

join me in John

John 18:37

18:37 saponas is talking to Jesus and he

said you are a king then pilot asked

Jesus says you say that I am a king I

was born for this and I've come into

this world for this to testify to the

truth everyone who is of the truth

listens to my voice pilot says what is

truth very important question what is

truth well by definition truth is

absolute it is constant it is true for

everyone everywhere at all times truth

is not perspective because perspectives

vary so if you confuse use truth with

perspective then truth becomes

subjective and subjective truth changes

over time so subjective truth would say

that like wrestling is for nerds well

that's your perspective or that Michael

Jordan is not the greatest of all time

that's your perspective or that Taco

Bell is overrated well that one's

actually absolute truth so that doesn't

really count but um it is very overrated

uh subjective truth says that it can be

true to me and something else can be

true to you and that's cool because

truth is relative so subjective truth

leans toward the individual needs and

wants of a person which uhoh that means

that subjective truth is determined to

be true by the individual relative to

the individual's context oh no that

means that if something sounds right to

you or something feels right to you then

it must be true so now we have a culture

that is built on the individual wants

and desires of those that are in the

most influential positions in our

society that's why we get these

unhelpful phrases like speak your truth

and live your truth and Own Your Truth

friends have you ever stopped to ask

yourself this what if your truth is

actually a trap what if your truth is

actually not beneficial for you you or

the community that you live

in well Proverbs 14:12 illustrates

Proverbs 14:12

exactly

that God tells us there's a way that

seems right to a person but its end is

the way to death there's a way that

seems right to a person but in the end

it is a way to death so for centuries

people believed that the sun rotated

around the earth and that the Earth was

flat and now thanks to modern science a

lot of people believe that the Earth

rotates around the Sun and it's actually

a sphere so let me put it this way what

if someone came up to you and was like I

Feel Like a Surgeon today and you're

like well have you ever performed

surgery and they're like no but I Feel

Like a Surgeon I believe that I am a

surgeon therefore I am a surgeon would

you let that person perform surgery on

you I hope not right so just because you

believe it doesn't make it true so

here's that's the truth bomb just

because you believe it does not make it

true okay just because you believe it

doesn't make it true some of you're like

why did we come to church today I don't

know he's just going to yell at us this

is good for

you and you might say well PK we're

encouraged to follow our hearts every

Hallmark movie says the same thing

follow follow your heart and sounds

great it really does I agree however

Jeremiah

179 the heart is more deceitful than

anything else like it's in a class of

its own and it's incurable who can

actually understand it look no one is

trying to downplay your your perspective

but God loves you enough to tell you the

truth and the truth is if you rely

solely on your feelings to determine

truth then you're in trouble because

your feelings are really good at lying

to you has anybody ever heard of

oxytocin oxytocin known as the okay our

medical providers they they know about

this it's the love hormone right well

studies show that this love hormone is

is uh excreted into the body at like

super levels when you first start dating

someone and it's like that for about 6

months so that's why Romeo is so perfect

for those first few months he's so kind

he's so he's so gentle he's so loving

he's just so funy and handsome and then

the oxytocin decreases and all of the

sudden you're like he chews with his

mouth open he wears the same shirt every

day he never texts me back that's why

the average 16 to 18 year- old's dating

relationships last get this six months

oxytocin the love hormone you don't see

him for who truly is until that hormone

kind of wears off feelings change

emotions change hormones change

therefore those things cannot be stable

enough to build a truth upon so if our

truth is not absolute if it's not

univers Universal if it doesn't come

from a higher power then we put

ourselves in grave danger people will as

we've seen in our culture today they

they'll start to redefine what what it

means to be human they'll redefine what

it means to be married or redefine a

family or redefine gender morality

becomes subjective and right and wrong

are now relative to your context and

self-righteous righteous people often

religious people they they start to

oppress other people and they use the

name of Truth as their reasoning for

doing so see Paul warned us about this

tendency and it's come true in our day

second Timothy chapter 4

2 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

he says preach the word be ready in

season and out of season correct rebuke

and courage with great patience and

teaching for the time will come when

people will not tolerate sound Doctrine

there will come a time where this room

will be empty because people will not

want to hear the truth but according to

their own desires they will multiply

teachers for themselves because they

have an itch to hear what they want to

hear they will turn away from hearing

the truth and will turn aside side to

myths so so how do we establish truth in

an era where people just want you to

tell them how smart they are and how

right they are how do we establish truth

well that's what Paul is telling the

young Pastor Timothy about his church

he's saying this is how you establish

truth even in an era where people don't

want to hear it he says number one

preach the word preach the word not your

opinions preach the word why because the

word of God is living and it is active

and it is a sword that separates the

flesh from the the bone from the marrow

it reveals who we are and what God wants

us to be it is active it is useful for

accomplishing God's

purposes the the word will rebuke and

correct and train you in righteousness

it'll teach you how to be a good citizen

in God's kingdom he says preach the word

because the word is truth and the word

is life but then he says another thing

he doesn't just say preach the word he

says Timothy preach the word with great

encouragement and

patience friends this is the missing

virtue in a lot of the the teaching that

I see today people have biblical truth

they're absolutely right in what they're

saying but they're saying it in such a

way where they're so aggressive and so

hateful and so arrogant that people just

don't want to listen to the truth so he

says Timothy be a good shepherd to your

flock don't don't yell at them don't

scream at them don't don't beat them

over the head but teach them with great

patience the truth of God he says God's

word is able to correct rebuke and

encourage that means it lets us see the

problem it shows us how to fix the

problem and then it encourages us with

great patience as we seek to work on

that problem in our own

lives friends it's okay to feel a

certain way about gender about abortion

about morality but to say that your view

is the only view that it's the absolute

true view is very dangerous because

friends we make very lousy

Gods we're probably going to mess things

up so is the reality of absolute truth a

good thing yes it is because this truth

comes from our Lord and Savior Jesus

Christ who teaches us the best way to

live Jesus Christ who died on the cross

for our sin so that we can have a

relationship with God Jesus Christ who

who formed us and made us and knew us

before we were ever even in our mother's

womb that same Jesus is the one that

establishes

truth so learn the truth and teach the

truth with great patience and

encouragement and also with great

confidence because there's a lot of

things that I told my son when he was

younger that I wish I had never told

them because told him because as he's

grown up I've realized that that was

wrong like like things change and I

learn and I grow as a parent and I did

things that 10 years ago that I wouldn't

do today so so like truth is subjective

in that regard right so so what would

have been better is to teach him the

word of God to teach him the truth

that's why we had him in church every

time the church was open because I

wanted him to learn the word because Dad

is going to mess stuff up but your

heavenly father would never will so you

can tell your child something from God's

word today and that thing will be true

forever because 1 Peter 1:25 says the

1 Peter 1:25

word of the Lord endures

forever God's truth does not change

based on moods or personal preferences

or or learning it is the same yesterday

as it is today and it will be into the

future and that is really good news for

us because a lot of times what we want

to hear is not actually what we need to

hear we you might want to hear that you

have the right to be angry like I'm the

victim in this scenario I I should be

upset I should be angry but what we need

to hear is that Jesus says the foot of

the cross is level and we are all

sinners saved by grace and there is no

one more righteous than anyone else we

are all in the same needy position so we

need to forgive that person not only to

set them free but to set us free what we

want to hear is to say like it's my body

so I can do anything anything I want

with it but but what we need to hear is

God's word that says you are not your

own you were bought with the price for

the believer in Jesus he purchased you

all of you on the cross with his death

with his blood and when you give your

life to him and he forgives you you

enter into a relationship where you're

you're now owned by Jesus which is a

good thing that's why he says honor God

with your body just because you believe

it doesn't make it true now I do want to

come back to this idea of perspectives

because I do believe that perspectives

matter I I preached a whole sermon

series on this your perspective your

experiences they are real and they

matter because your story is God's story

and people need to hear your story they

need to see the world through the lens

of your perspectives your perspective is

a gift and it needs to be separated from

absolute truth to be prop properly

appreciated so I I do a lot of thrifting

and a lot of times I find cool stuff and

boxes that's covered with mouse

excrement and I have to like you know

dig it out of this box it's covered in

dust and all that and then I clean it up

and I I put it on a shelf and now it's

in its proper place where it can be

properly appreciated well that's what

your perspective is it needs to be

separated from absolute truth and placed

in its proper place below absolute truth

so then it can be properly appreciated

by other people if my my perspective if

what I feel or what I think or what I

want or what I believe is contrary to

God's word then guess what it cannot be

true so perspectives yes are valuable

but if they differ from God's word then

the Bible says that we should submit

them to a higher authority the Bible

uses words like deny yourself and take

up the cross the the Bible says that we

need to crucify our fleshly desires

because they war against us that this

this truth the subjective truth that so

many of us believe it can literally

cause us to make poor choices which lead

us into hurt harm and danger which is

not what God wants for any of us so what

do we do well through prayer through

studying God's word and through relying

on the power of the Holy Spirit we

intentionally kill our perspectives when

they press against or run counter to the

word of God so so P it back to our

original story he he knows that Jesus is

in innocent he's interviewed Jesus he's

he's done the research he's investigated

this thing and he knows that Jesus is in

innocent so he engages the crowd and he

gives them a choice look at verse 38

again John

18 He says what is truth and after he

had said this he went out to the Jews

and he told them I find no grounds for

charging him so he knows the truth Jesus

is innocent and then he comes up with a

plan he's like hey I can let you out of

this here's your get out of jail free

card you you have this custom that I can

release one prisoner to you at Passover

and since today is Passover who do you

want me to release to you and they said

in verse 40 not this man Jesus but

barabus barabus the criminal barabus the

Revolutionary who's barabus well barabus

is a thief he is a liar he is a murderer

and palet has the crowd who should I

release should I release Jesus the truth

or barabus the liar and the crowd

chooses

barabus and pilate releases

barabus why did he do that well he was

listening to the crowd the the crowd

said this must be true we would rather

have this lie

than this man who claims to be the truth

and so barab or Pilot being influenced

by the culture around him decides to

give in and listen even though he knows

that's not the right move he does what

the culture wants him to

do the crowd represented popular opinion

so they must be right but more than that

I believe is that truth is always

universally resisted because truth can

be confrontational truth can be

difficult to hear truth requires a dirty

word it requires change perspectives are

more appealing because they're

convenient and they're comfortable and

they adapt to fit whatever you want

whenever you want it even if they're

opposed to God's

word so truth is a person and his name

is Jesus and so you might say well I

want to follow truth today I I'm tired

of this subjective stuff I I want real

absolute truth but can I really believe

that this is the actual word of

God

well I would tell you that I cannot

convince you that this is the actual

word of God any more than I could

convince you any book is the actual word

of God but I will tell you this I can

show you evidence that the Bible is

reliable I have tests that I use when

I'm looking for truth the first one is

internal consistency so if you read the

Bible are there any cont predictions

within this text the answer is no there

are different perspectives from

different Apostles and disciples and

people like Matthew Mark Luke and John

but every single word of this scripture

is reliable because there are no

contradictions I I'd give it a lit

literary test so once upon a time in the

Land of Nod where dreams in flight and

thoughts are bride a child would wander

eyes half closed through fields of

Slumber softly dozed okay that's it's a

beautiful little poem that's a fairy

tale is that how the Bible is written no

it is not the Bible is not a fairy tale

the Bible says at this time at this

place with these people around Jesus

said these things and did these things

and then you look at the scripture

through the lens of History does the

Bible talk about the the city of

Atlantis it's out there in the ocean

somewhere and we can't find it no it

talks about real things like Bethlehem

Jerusalem Nazareth Rome Real places that

you can go and see Arch IC Al verifiable

places does it talk about Cinderella and

Zeus and Captain America no it doesn't

it talks about real people like Pilots

like like tiberias and Caesar Augustus

and the Apostle Peter Peter real people

from

history is there manuscript support for

this well do you ever play that game of

telephone where you start a little

secret and it goes around the circle and

by the time it gets around the circle

the end of the circle it's like

completely different and distorted from

the original secret that was passed

around from person to person

well that's how most things work when

it's passed down especially over

thousands of years of history but that's

not what we have in the Bible all other

religious materials they change over

time you can look at any other religious

book and throughout the decades and

centuries you will see edits to that

book The Original document looks very

much different than the document that we

have today but consider this the English

New Testament the gospels Matthew Mark

Luke and John they were composed by

5,800 00 Greek manuscripts that were

written between 2 century and 10th

Century ad and all these manuscripts

were used to translate your Bible into

the English version that you have before

you

today think about it this way a copy of

the Isaiah scroll was found with the

Dead Sea Scrolls and it was it's dated

before Jesus was ever born and if you

look at that copy of the Isaiah scroll

and you look at your translation of

Isaiah in your English Bible it is 99

.9% the exact same why because the word

of the Lord endures forever so have I

have I shown you that the Bible is the

word of God well no but have I shown you

that the Bible is reliable and it is

true the answer is yes so when you read

the Bible read it as a source of Truth

read it with great confidence when you

read the gospels Matthew Mark Luke and

John as they talk about the life of

Jesus read that with great Assurance

knowing that they are verifying exact

things that happened exactly like they

did in real life and then ask yourself

this does the evidence does the evidence

of the way Jesus lived the content of

his ethical teaching the way he died on

the cross forgiving his enemies the way

he rose from the dead does that point to

him as trustworthy or does it not does

it point to him as a quack or the truth

friends it's a no-brainer to me if you

die and rise from the dead then I'm

going to listen very closely to what you

have to say to me so truth is not just

something we believe abstractly truth is

something it's a person that we follow

and his name is Jesus in John 14:6 Jesus

John 14:6

says I'm the way the truth and the life

no one comes to the father except

through me he didn't say I am a truth he

says I am the truth that's such good

news for people that try that that want

to follow truth because Jesus also said

in John

John 3:16

3:16 for God so loved the world that he

gave his only begotten son that

whosoever believes in Him should not

perish but have everlasting life and

then verse 17 which is so powerful too I

don't know why we don't include that

every time we say 360 it says for God

did not send his son into the world to

condemn the world but to save the world

through him Jesus continues in John 8:32

John 8:32

he says you will know the truth and the

truth will set you what free the truth

will set you free so Jesus this person

who represents absolute truth from the

very word of God he represents loving

truth lifechanging truth a truth that

does not condemn you a truth that sets

you free just because it feels right

just because because it seems right just

because you want it just because you

believe it doesn't make it true there's

a path that leads to death and a lot of

people are going to find it but there is

also Praise Jesus a light a way that

leads to life and few will find it the

way that leads to life is is Jesus he is

the word of Truth made flesh so even

when Jesus goes against the way way that

you feel the way that you believe you

must choose to follow him and when you

do thank God he will show you the way to

the truth and the life let's pray