HIStory 103: The Knowledge of TRUTH

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Today we are looking at what St. Paul says to young pastor Timothy in 1 Timothy 2:1-8
 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, ² for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. ³ This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴ who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man^[a] Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. ⁷ For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

⁸ I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;









Today we will look at the word "Truth"

 Did you know? The word "Truth" is found 251 times in the Bible; this must indicate it's importance.

The first time the word "truth" is used, is in Genesis 24:27, and the last time is mentioned in 3 John 12. • Entry for Strong's #225 - ἀλήθεια

•Transliteration:  alḗtheia                Phonetics:  al-ay'-thi-a  

•Parts of Speech:  Noun Feminine

•Thayer's Definition  objectively

–what is true in any matter under consideration •truly, in truth, according to truth• of a truth, in reality, in fact, certainly– what is true in things appertaining to God and the duties of man, moral and religious truth• in the greatest latitude  •the true notions of God which are open to human reason without his supernatural intervention– the truth as taught in the Christian religion, respecting God and the execution of his purposes through Christ, and respecting the duties of man, opposing alike to the superstitions of the Gentiles and the inventions of the Jews, and the corrupt opinions and precepts of false teachers even among Christians

•subjectively

–truth as a personal excellence• that candor of mind which is free from affection, pretence, simulation, falsehood, deceit

• 
We hear in John 18: 37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

•After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.

 

Pilate was ahead of his time..

•      Today we are constantly told it is "Relative" or "Situational" Ethics and/or Truth?

 •      We normally hear things such as “that’s your truth” or “what’s true for you is true for you and what’s true for me is true for me”.

•      No “Objective” Truth just “Subjective” Truth.

What does this relative truth look like? I think about Falling from a building: just because we don't want to believe in gravity does not make gravity real and absolute!



I found this site of Christian Apologists called CARM who



•        CARM site:  1. All truth is relative.



•        If all truth is relative, then the statement "All truth is relative" would be absolutely true.  If it is absolutely true, then not all things are relative and the statement that "All truth is relative" is false.



•        2. There are no absolute truths.



•        The statement "There are no absolute truths" is an absolute statement which is supposed to be true.  Therefore, it is an absolute truth and "There are no absolute truths" is false.



•        If there are no absolute truths, then you cannot believe anything absolutely at all, including that there are no absolute truths.  Therefore, nothing could be really true for you - including relativism.



•        3. What is true for you is not true for me.



•        If what is true for me is that relativism is false, then is it true that relativism is false?



–      If you say no, then what is true for me is not true and relativism is false.



–      If you say yes, then relativism is false.



•        If you say that it is true only for me that relativism is false, then



–      I am believing something other than relativism; namely, that relativism is false.  If that is true, then how can relativism be true?



–      am I believing a premise that is true or false or neither?



•     If it is true for me that relativism is false, then relativism (within me) holds the position that relativism is false.  This is self-contradictory.



•     If it is false for me that relativism is false, then relativism isn't true because what is true for me is not said to be true for me.



•     If you say it is neither true or false, then relativism isn't true since it states that all views are equally valid; and by not being at least true, relativism is shown to be wrong.



•        If I believe that relativism is false, and if it is true only for me that it is false, then you must admit that it is absolutely true that I am believing that relativism false.



–      If you admit that it is absolutely true that I am believing relativism is false, then relativism is defeated since you admit there is something absolutely true.



•        If I am believing in something other than relativism that is true, then there is something other than relativism that is true - even if it is only for me.



–      If there is something other than relativism that is true, then relativism is false.



Check CARM.org



•      4. No one can know anything for sure.



•      If that is true, then we can know that we cannot know anything for sure, which is self-defeating.



•      5.That is your reality, not mine.



•      Is my reality really real?

•      If my reality is different than yours, how can my reality contradict your reality?  If yours and mine are equally real, how can two opposite realities that exclude each other really exist at the same time?

We hear HIStory 103: 1 Tim 2: 3-4

•      3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

What is the knowledge of truth?

•      5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man[a] Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

•      This was the TRUTH that stood in front of Pilate.. 

The Old Testament speaks of truth in Psalm 145: 18 The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

John, Peter and Paul testify:



•      John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.



•      1 Peter 1:22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart

•      2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

What is the TRUTH you seek today?

•      John 14: 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

•      We have to ask if we believe the Bible?

•      If we believe what Jesus says about HIMSELF  or believe HIM to be as CS Lewis said “either Jesus is who HE says he is “LORD” or he is a Legend, LIAR and/or a LUNATIC.”

CS Lewis in Mere Christianity:



•       "I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. ... Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God."




What Does Jesus say about HIStory?



•      John 4: 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”



John 8 and 15



•      8: 31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”



•      15: 26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.



John 16, 17 and 18

•      16:13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

•      17:16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.



•      18 we stated earlier before Pilate..



So what is Truth? You choose..



•      Did Jesus LIE about who HE was and is?



•      I hope you will look into more information so that you will do as St. Paul tells young Pastor Timothy in 1 Tim 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;



•      So why be a covenant people (HIStory 101),



•      A Kingdom People (HIStory 102) 
        or a People of Truth (HIStory 103)?



    




•      Why be a follower of Jesus and worship HIM?



•      John 4:22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”



•       



•      Why study the Word, Pray, Fellowship, Be Mentored in Discipleship and Serve if the JESUS is not the TRUTH?



•       



•      Now is the time to answer the question:      WHAT IS TRUTH?



  




•      And to trust and pray for Freedom, Salvation (Justification) and Truth (Sanctification)

Love in Christ,

Pastor Bryan

HIStory 102 "Salvation: Abundant Grace!"

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Here are the slides for my sermon as we continue our series on the basics:

 

HIStory 102: Salvation: Grace Abundant

1 Timothy chapter 1

•          Written to Timothy

•          Paul writes in Rome to Timothy in Ephesus.

•          Calls this young Pastor in Ephesus “My true child in the faith” (1 Tim 1:2)

•          Timothy was from Lystra in Modern Turkey..

•          Timothy accompanied Paul as we see in Acts 16:

16 Paul[a] came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. 2 He was well spoken of by the brothers[b] at Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.

Timothy

•          Mother and Grandmother faithful Jewish Believers while his father was a Gentile Greek.

•          2 Tim 1: “ 2 To Timothy, my beloved child:

•          3 I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4 As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

Last Week: HIStory 101: Freedom

•          This week: HIStory 102 Salvation

•          Last week we talked about Your and MY Story in relation to HIStory. The world religion: only 2:  

 All others: (Arrow up)                              Christianity  (Arrow Down)                 

This week “Salvation”

•          Today we are going to focus on our Vocation or CALLING…

•          We are Kingdom People

•          King gives us the Kingdom (UP=Belong)

•                                                King gives us HIS 

•                                                     Authority

•                Triangle                                   (IN=Believe)

•           

•                   

•          Expects us to walk in POWER (OUT=Believe)

So why do we concentrate on Sin?

•Paul acknowledges his sin. We acknowledge our Sin but this is not the end of the story.

•HIStory is so important because of the truth of your and MY=our story: Even though we are sinners we are also saints. We are the Weakest LINK! Blush!

•12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. 

Satan and our sinful human nature want us to stay with the sin:

•But this is not the end. We confess those sins and they are FORGIVEN! We are FREE…

•Here how St. Paul shared this truth of his salvation:

•13 But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

“overflowed”

•ὑπερπλεονάζω hyperpleonázō

•Phonetics: hoop-er-pleh-on-ad'-zo  

•Parts of Speech: Verb                               

•Thayer's Definition
to be exceedingly abundant

•to overflow

•to possess in excess

•ONLY TIME IN SCRIPTURE

We acknowledge our need for our Savior and HE gives us abundant GRACE!

•15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

This is the Attitude we should have:

•I’m so grateful to Christ Jesus for making me adequate to do this work. He went out on a limb, you know, in trusting me with this ministry. The only credentials I brought to it were invective and witch hunts and arrogance. But I was treated mercifully because I didn’t know what I was doing—didn’t know Who I was doing it against! Grace mixed with faith and love poured over me and into me. And all because of Jesus. (Message)

Other translations:

•NIV: 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

•NKJV: 14 And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

Why is this important?

•Because we forget the BUT…

•1 John 1: 5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (BUT) 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

So are you going to fixate on your and my sin or…

•Righteousness

•Authority

•POWER

•We are heirs of the KINGDOM, Chosen, Called, Appointed, Filled etc….

•HIStory: we are tasked with sharing the Author’s truth and move in HIS Power

What the world, Michigan, EMU, needs to hear:

•16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.

•No matter what we have done, no matter what we are doing or will do as sinners we are supposed to know who we are and walk as examples of abundant grace and power.

God has a sense of humor: Len Sweet:

•Consider:

· Abraham and Sarah--A childless old couple become the parents of a nation.

· Moses--A stuttering shepherd becomes the leader who stands up to the greatest power in the world of his day.

· Esther--A dumb blonde who outwits a king, destroys his evil henchman, and saves her people.

· David--A scandalous Lothario, a dreamy-eyed musician, "the Elvis of his day" (so says U2's Bono) becomes Israel's greatest king.

· Rahab--A prostitute who provides Israel with the means for victory over deadly enemies.

· Jeremiah--A crazed and depressed prophet becomes the saving voice of sanity for the exiled Israelites.

· Hosea--A hen-pecked husband whose heart-wrenching marriage gave people of faith a new perspective on love and loyalty.

· Mary--A teenage unwed mother gives birth to the Son of God.

More:

•· Peter--A dense as granite fisherman with a bull-in-a-china-shop personality who even betrayed his Lord becomes the rock of the church.

•Do you get the joke? The biggest joke of all? God's ultimate ironic twist? Jesus, the rejected one, the crucified one, the stumbling block, became the "cornerstone" of faith and salvation for all humanity.

•The joke's on us. God uses the weakest to do the greatest.

So how do we live like this:

•Fixate on the right things:

•Hebrews 12: 2 looking to Jesus, (NIV Fix your eyes on Jesus the author) the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

•17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Fix your eyes on Jesus and pray:

•Phil 4: 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable,
if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me —practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you

Surround yourself with other believers:

•Think of these things,

•Practice these things,

•Spend time in Worship, Prayer, Study and Fellowship and Discipleship..

•SEE how it changes things…

•Challenge:

•MY Story of HIStory….. Goals achieved

What are areas that God wants to work on in your life?

•1.

•2.

•3

Love in Christ,

Pastor Bryan

HIStory 101 "FREEDOM!" on September 8, 2013

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, (these are the slides for my message tomorrow)

 HIStory 101:  Freedom!

•       Your Story

•       As we approach HIStory we start with YOUR story.

•       Every one is separated from God because of the fall into sin.

•       There is only 2 religions in the world?

•        Every other religion is about what we do to       TO WORK OUR WAY TO GOD…

•       Bible tells us this in Gen 3

•       St Paul reiterates this in Romans 5 and 6

•       Romans 5: ⁸ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

•       Your Story any MY Story begin with our need to be reconciled with the Creator of all things.

•       So do we have the responsibility to appease an angry God or???

•       OR….

•       Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ² Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces

•       So we are justified by faith…

•       Your Story and My Story become OUR Story because of HIStory.

•       This is why we are studying the Letter of St. Paul to Philemon.

•       We are the slave “Onesimus.” We have nothing right in us, nothing that can make us “right” with God…

•       But the Gospel or Good-news is that…

•       Emmanuel

•       God with us… HIStory is about God coming to us, seeking us, calling us, filling us and ultimately freeing us!

•       Romans 6¹⁵ What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves,^[c] you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which

•       So what is a “slave” in the 1^st Century?

•       If you were a “slave” in Roman times: “you were regarded, in the culture and by secular law, as an animated tool, a piece of property” (Lutheran Study Bible)

•       You could win your freedom and it was Christians and Jews who held that we are made in God’s image that believed in Freedom from Slavery…

•       So we are “Onesimus” but in Christ we are also Philemon. We are fellow citizens and brothers and sisters in Christ. St. Paul was a Citizen of the Roman Empire by birth…

•       Who is Philemon? Colossae…

•       Letter Written by St. Paul in Rome 60 AD

•       Purpose: To reconcile Philemon to his runaway slave Onesimus, who had become a Christian and was like a son to Paul in Prison…¹⁰ I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus,^[b] whose father I became in my imprisonment. ¹¹ (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.)

•       Paul appeals to Philemon   

•       He calls him a “our beloved fellow worker”

•       He acknowledges him as a leader of the “church in your house” (Pastor)

•       He reminds Philemon that as believers in Christ they are both children of God..

•        ³ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

•       Paul shares praise

•       ⁴ I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, ⁵ because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, ⁶ and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.^{[a] 7} For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.

•       Then St. Paul does what Christ does for us…

•       He intercedes for Onesimus….

•        ⁸ Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, ⁹ yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus— ¹⁰ I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus,^[b] whose father I became in my imprisonment. ¹¹ (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) ¹² I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart.

•       So what happened that St. Paul could do this?

•       He could speak to Philemon, who had been wronged and deserved justice from a place of a “beloved fellow worker,” “a partner,” as a “Beloved BROTHER”.

•       He believed that because Philemon was acquainted with your and my story, and had believed in Christ, was justified and part of our story because HE KNEW HIStory….

•       So what is HIStory

1. We are a covenant people

2. The King gives us our identity in HIS name as we are adopted in Christ Jesus…Romans 5³ Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

•       Covenant relationship

•       Covenant Relationship:       

•       UP: Father: John 3:16 (BELONG)-- IN: Identity (BELIEVE)--OUT: Obedience (BECOME)

•       HIStory 101: Freedom

•       Freedom is never FREE..

•       Christ won our Freedom on the Cross and proved it in the empty tomb…

•       Now we understand what was saying when HE said: John 8:³¹ So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, ³² and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

•       We are FREE..

•       What are we going to do with our Freedom?

•       St. Paul had confidence in Philemon’s faith and obedience so that he says “Refresh my heart in Christ”

•       May our lives be lives of covenant people obedient, holy and pleasing to God, not because we have to but because we want to live as citizens and children of God…

Love in Christ,

Pastor Bryan