We Have the Truth — John 14

0:00 Good morning. Good morning. What I want to talk about today is more of of the personal. And the main thought that I had just in in recent weeks and also over the course of the last two years is as Christians, we have the truth. No matter what the world says or tells us or wants us to do, we have the truth, and we can stand on that truth.

0:27 So today, in these moments, I want to encourage you, in truth in regards to Christ, that he alone is the Messiah, that he is the way, the truth, the life. The truth is in the scriptures that we have with us readily that we can study and spend time in without persecution, and then the life. He is our life really as we try to live out the Christian life. So what I'm gonna say this morning, we'll cover these areas and there will be some overlap at times. But it...

1:02 Well, let's just launch into it. Key verse that I want to... That I'll get to later is John fourteen one through six. But first I want to first I want to quote several famous people as we get started now. And the first one is some guy named Solomon.

1:22 I don't know his last name. And I apologize that it's sort of an extended statement, but it's in Ecclesiastes chapter one. And this is in the context of we live in strange times. We live in interesting times. Ecclesiastes chapter one verses four through 18.

1:45 I'm burning all my time I know, but. One generation passes away and another generation comes, but the earth abides forever. The sun also rises and the sun goes down and hastens to the place where it arose. The wind goes toward the South and turns around to the North. The wind whirls around continually and comes again on its circuit.

2:09 All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place from which the rivers come, there they return again. All things are full of labor. Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

2:27 That which has been is what will be. That which is done is what will be done. And there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, see, this is new? It has already been in ancient times before us.

2:43 There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come by those who will come after. I, the preacher, was king over Israel and Jerusalem, and I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven. This burdensome task God has given to the sons of man by which they may be exercised. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and indeed all is vanity and grasping for the wind. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be numbered.

3:16 I commune with my heart saying, look, I have attained greatness, and have gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has understood great wisdom and knowledge, and I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceive that this also is grasping for the wind. For in much wisdom is much grief, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. That's an interesting collection of verses by Solomon.

3:53 I want to share also a quote by Malcolm Muggeridge and perhaps this will help us understand what Solomon was talking about. Malcolm Muggeridge was described by one as a prolific British British journalist and caustic social critic. Here's what he had to say. All news is nothing more than new people experiencing old things. Kind of dovetails with what Solomon had to say.

4:29 Old news is nothing more than new people experiencing old things, and as we think we're living in unique times, maybe some of the specific details are unique, but really it's all been experienced before. Let me try to share some other quotes and these are not funny, they're just serious, not like the other quotes I shared last time that they fell flat. So don't laugh. From Malcolm Muggeridge also, people do not lie because they have to, but because they want to. And another one I just shared with Don earlier.

5:05 Malcolm Margaret who died about thirty years ago at a ripe old age had this to say, one of the many pleasures of old age is giving things up. So, I've got something to look forward to. But, more seriously, before we go back to John 14, He also said, every happening, great and small, is a parable whereby God speaks to us. And the art of life is to get the message. So what is the message?

6:11 Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

6:22 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know. Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going, and how can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

6:55 As you know, Jesus spoke these words to his disciples in private setting just a few hours before he was going to be arrested in less than twenty four hours before he would be in the tomb. And they were anxious to say the least. They had some unanswered questions. They had some anxieties. But he was assuring them that he was caring for them even if they did not understand all the matters involved.

7:22 That word for road, I'm the way, literally means the road. As the avenue by which you get somewhere. Not all roads lead to God. Some people would say they do, but those who are on the false roads are going to realize they come to a dead end. John uses a lot of imagery in his gospel.

7:47 The living water that the woman at the well, he offered her living water, which by consuming it she'd never thirst again. The bread of life. He's the light of the world. He's the good shepherd. He's the resurrection of life, and he is the way, the truth, the life.

8:07 Another quote I'd like to share is by Thomas Aquinas. And we can talk about him later. He's a very interesting guy. He was a thirteenth century. He was identified, described by this person as a thirteenth century philosopher.

8:24 And he said, there is within every soul a thirst for happiness and meaning. A thirst for happiness and meaning. I want to tell now a little bit of the story of Josh McDowell. Josh McDowell was born in 1939 and he's still with us. But as a teenager, he was looking for happiness and meaning.

8:43 Those three basic questions that I'm sure most of us have heard, he was he was pondering them. Those three questions are, who am I? Why am I here? And where am I going? Who am I?

8:59 Why am I here? And where am I going? He thought he would find the answer by going to church. And he joined a church for, joined a church, but long story short, that didn't work for him. It didn't help him find meaning.

9:16 So he's a little bit older now and he decided to enroll in university, so he went to college. And as he tells the story, he soon became very unpopular among the professors because he would hound them to ask them questions and he even said when they saw him coming they would hide and close their office door and pull the shade. That just helped him to understand that most of the people at college were messed up and confused. That all of the students and faculty seemed to have an abundance of problems, frustrations, and unanswered questions. One day he saw a fellow student with a t shirt that had the message on it, don't follow me, I'm lost.

10:00 And that's when he decided that education was not the answer. But he was stuck in college, nonetheless. So he thought he would strive after prestige. So he got involved with student government, which enabled him to make some decisions and spend some of the government, some of the colleges money and he used it to enhance his popularity and people loved him. But it wasn't working for him.

10:28 He was smiling on the outside, but on the inside he was miserable. He used this, this is how he described himself at that point. I was like a boat out in the ocean, tossed back and forth by the waves. I had no rudder, No direction or control. But I couldn't find anyone living any other way.

10:48 I couldn't find anyone who could tell me how to live differently. I was frustrated. No. It was worse than that. There's a strong word that describes the life I was living.

11:25 They seemed to have an inner source of joy, and Josh was wondering where it came from. Something else caught his attention too. It wasn't just among themselves. They were showing it to people that weren't part of their group by getting involved in their lives and by helping them with their circumstances and challenges. It was something he had never seen before, and it was very intriguing.

11:47 So he started to not stalk them, but spend some time with them. And a few weeks later, while in conversation with some of these people, the discussion turned to the topic of of God. And remember how Josh didn't think religion worked. And so he was skeptical, but he wanted to be he wanted to be respectful, to a point at least. But he he sort of started off by saying, Christianity, You know?

12:16 Kind of to hide his to hide his pride. He wanted to know more, he was afraid to admit it. But he did have enough curiosity or honesty to finally ask one the students what caused the change in your life? Why are you different? And without hesitation, without embarrassment, without blinking, he got an answer he never expected to hear in what he described as an intelligent discussion on a university campus.

12:54 And the answer was, as most of you can probably guess, is Jesus Christ. And he says, are you kidding me? I'm fed up with religion. I'm fed up with the church. I'm fed up with the bible.

13:06 Now let's take a little time out here. When we are sharing the gospel of Christ or witnessing to people, obviously, all of us know rejection is the normal response. But don't let that stop you. Don't let that stop me. And it didn't stop them.

13:23 What they did is they just issued him a challenge. They issued Josh McDowell a challenge. And her response to him was, I didn't say religion. I said Jesus Christ. Josh didn't understand that Christianity is not a religion.

13:43 Religion is human beings trying to work their way to God through good works. Christianity is God coming to men and women through Jesus Christ. Or you could turn that around and say men and women coming to God through Jesus Christ. But Jesus Christ is the the key. Well, Josh being a college kid and not that bright, I say that tongue in cheek, wasn't buying it yet.

14:11 And after apologizing for his little bit of belligerence said no thanks. However, the group challenged him to consider the claims of Christ for himself. The fact that Christ claims to be God's son, that he inhabited a human body and lived among real people on earth, that he died on the cross for the sins of humanity, that he was buried and was resurrected three days later, and that he is still alive and can change a person's life. And Josh initially thought that was a joke. I mean, didn't everybody know that Jesus is just a myth, a feel good crutch?

14:55 He made the remark that if he thought that if Christians had a brain cell, it would die of loneliness. So he accepted the challenge mostly out of spite. He felt certain that Christian faith would not stand up to scrutiny. Being a pre law student and thinking he knew something about and evaluating evidence, figured he was the man for the job. So he decided to start with the Bible, not so much reading it, but just researching the manuscripts and the records to see if it all worked out.

15:37 He spent months in research. He even dropped out of college and studied in Europe at some of the libraries over there to get to the bottom of it. And he found evidence in abundance that he would not have accepted if he had not seen it himself, his own eyes. And he came to only one conclusion, that the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, were some of the most reliable writings in all antiquity. And he goes on to explain more in that book that I've been citing, more than a carpenter.

16:17 The historical scriptures are reliable. Couple of of points here. He mentions that the Jews wanted to stone Jesus for claiming to be God. And he also asked the question, was it their guilt over not believing him that was beginning to convict them? Or were they just jealous of his popularity?

17:15 And again, he entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that he was in the house. Immediately, many gathered together, so there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And he preached the word to them, and they came to him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where he was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.

17:43 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, son, your sins are forgiven you. And some of the scribes are sitting there and reasoning in their hearts. Why does this man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone? But immediately, when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, he said to them, why do you reason about these things in your hearts?

18:08 Which is easier to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven you? Or to say, arise, take up your bed and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, he said to the paralytic, I say to you, arise, take up your bed and go to your house. Immediately he arose, took up the bed and went out in the presence of them all. They were all amazed and glorified God saying, we have never seen anything like this.

18:39 Jesus could read their minds to know what they were thinking, and then he rebuked them with his with his voice. So years ago, and obviously, the rest is history, Josh McDowell, after his research, understood that Jesus is God in the flesh and that he was crucified on the cross for the sins of the world. Now evidence. Last time I spoke, Heather and DJ were here too. So obviously, they're here to hear me preach.

19:08 That's what you call a massacre of evidence. They are not... They are here to hear me preach, but they are not here to hear me preach. So if you're a skeptic, and I think all of us are probably not, but even those of us that are not skeptics, I was really encouraged as I read the testimony of Josh McDowell. If you would like more information, Warren Henderson wrote a book and he updated it because more information has become known.

19:40 These are somewhere in the back. Take a copy of this. Some of his remarks was that the Old Testament is, from a historical point of view, as far as the textual point comes, is 95% true, whatever that means, or authentic. And the New Testament is 99.5%. He also said that faith cannot be intellectualized.

20:13 And what he meant by that was that all the evidence can lead you to a conclusion, you still have to have faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Hebrews eleven:six For he who comes to Him must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder to those that diligently seek Him. In my last few minutes, I want to just tell one more story maybe. Not story, just a report.

20:43 Last summer has been the habit of the Meng family over the last ten years or so, every year that we've been able to we've gone to Greenwood Hills Camp. And Rob Sullivan was one of the speakers last summer that we really enjoyed. And before I get to him, let me just say, you're all invited to join us this year if you like. I forget the dates but many of you have been there, lots of young people, air conditioned dining room, wide variety of recreation, swimming pool with a water slide, and their coffee shop and snack shop is open for many hours each day. So...

21:21 But seriously, Rob reminded us of some of the extra biblical evidence for for the scriptures. Particularly, the one I'll share in the last minute is the the hours of darkness when Christ was on the cross, which some people try to explain away as an eclipse. But those that were scientifically coherent knew that an eclipse was not even possible because the because we know what time of the year it was, it was Passover time. And during Passover time because of the way the sun and the moon are aligned, it's impossible for there to be an eclipse. But those who would not believe find many reasons not to believe.

22:11 I challenge any of you that have questions to seek answers in the scriptures and in other literature. I appreciated the testimony of Bill McDonald years ago. He said as a younger believer, he had hundreds of questions about the Bible, things he didn't understand. And as I heard him say this later late in his life, he said, now I'm down to about half a dozen. So there's still things that we don't understand in this life about the Lord perhaps and about the scriptures, but we can still be confident of their truth.

23:19 So help us, each of us, as we enter another week to want to know Him better. Help us to be able to have the discipline to spend more time with Him and help us as a local church to always be looking to ways that we can serve and encourage each other. And Father, again, we would pray for Devin and Shelly that You would just bring them here at your perfect timing and that we'd be able to gather to celebrate the marriage you're leading them to. And we pray these things in our Lord Jesus' name. Amen.