Tonight, we are going to talk about “staying in Christ,” staying in the truth, knowing the truth, and how the truth will set us free. But before we begin:
What has been a truth someone said that you didn’t like? For example, you wrote a paper that you thought was perfect, and then a tutor or a friend pointed out a few things that were incorrect, which means that now you have to do extra work to fix them. Perhaps you wished the tutor or the friend would have just said, “This paper is perfect.”
At times we don’t want the truth, we want to be told we look good even when we don’t, that what we did was amazing, even if it wasn’t.
Why do sometimes people prefer lies rather than the truth?People find comfort in lies, the truth might be embarrassing, or it might be condemning
and bring about guilt.
Here are some comments about spiritually staying in the truth.
1. We Can Stay in Christ (or in the truth)
John 8:31-36: To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
Jesus was talking to Jews who “believed” in Him – but only what they agreed with Him did they believe (see verses 33, 37 and 44).
These people did not want the truth – they WERE slaves but stated they weren’t.
John 15:4: “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”
Jesus said we NEED to abide in His Word. To "abide" means to remain/continue in something - not leaving or giving up. If you remain in the borders of His Words, you are abiding in His Word. If you go outside the borders, you are going into either opinion or error.
2. What is the problem with venturing into "Opinionland?"
Error, on the other hand, is in opposition to the truth; it leads away from Christ. For example, the error that says "we do not need baptism for salvation." This is contrary to Jesus’ Words in Mark 16:16-17: "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues..." Jesus and the Apostles have also stated in other places that salvation is in Christ through baptism.
But some people don’t want to hear the truth – look at Isaiah 30:9-10:
"For these are rebellious people, deceitful children,
children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.
They say to the seers,
“See no more visions!”
and to the prophets,
“Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things,
prophesy illusions."
2 Timothy 4:3-4: "For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."
3. What result does refusing the truth have on you or what you are
doing?
Paul said that itching ears want what they want and go to towards their desire and follow error willingly.
In John 8:31-36 Jesus is saying those that abide don’t just believe (because the
followers who were against His teaching were “believing”); He is saying they had only superficial belief with what suited them. These were not truly genuine disciples but rather folks who went along with the truth only to the point that they were comfortable with.
- Does the Bible teach things that may make us uncomfortable?
- What could some of those things be?
- How did Jesus approach these “uncomfortable truths”?
4. We can know the truth by staying in Jesus’ Word
Mark 11:27-33: They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?” Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin? Tell me!” They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’ …” (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.) So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
They asked Jesus: "By what authority are you doing these things?" Jesus replied by asking them a question: Was John’s baptism from heaven or men? They couldn’t answer because the truth was condemning them.
We can use this test today to know if something is true. Ask:
A. Is it from heaven – there will be words in the Bible confirming it; or
B. Is it from men – it will not be in Scripture or it will be misrepresented
from Scripture
Sincerity or a pure heart is not enough, and this is clear in Acts 18:25, the example of Apollos: "Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately."
What do we see in verse 25? Apollos was willing to learn and to be corrected, but the sincerity was not enough.
5. The Truth Will set us Free
What are some things the truth will set us free from:
a) Sin – even if we sinned only one time (and we have sinned more than that), we are a slave to sin. But the truth in Christ and abiding in Him and His teachings will bring us to freedom from sin.
b) Selves – we can face up to our imperfections (spoiler alert: nobody’s perfect).
c) Society and culture (political incorrectness) – I don’t have to fake it or try to fit in the society and culture, but I need to speak the truth as it is the truth.
d) Freedom to live our lives the way God wants us to
e) Free to follow and listen only to Jesus
f) Free to ignore false teaching – this includes “convenient religion” – religion that says you can do what you want, live how you want, and still go to heaven - itching ears! Christ said that this is not right; there is no convenient religion.
In conclusion, we can stay in Jesus, we can know the truth, and the truth will set us free.
What has been a truth someone said that you didn’t like? For example, you wrote a paper that you thought was perfect, and then a tutor or a friend pointed out a few things that were incorrect, which means that now you have to do extra work to fix them. Perhaps you wished the tutor or the friend would have just said, “This paper is perfect.”
At times we don’t want the truth, we want to be told we look good even when we don’t, that what we did was amazing, even if it wasn’t.
Why do sometimes people prefer lies rather than the truth?People find comfort in lies, the truth might be embarrassing, or it might be condemning
and bring about guilt.
Here are some comments about spiritually staying in the truth.
1. We Can Stay in Christ (or in the truth)
John 8:31-36: To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
Jesus was talking to Jews who “believed” in Him – but only what they agreed with Him did they believe (see verses 33, 37 and 44).
These people did not want the truth – they WERE slaves but stated they weren’t.
John 15:4: “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”
Jesus said we NEED to abide in His Word. To "abide" means to remain/continue in something - not leaving or giving up. If you remain in the borders of His Words, you are abiding in His Word. If you go outside the borders, you are going into either opinion or error.
2. What is the problem with venturing into "Opinionland?"
An opinion may be something that is outside of, or not mentioned in, Jesus’ Word, but it might not always be an error. If Jesus didn’t say it, it is opinion on your part. An example of such an opinion might be when someone believes that we must get baptized in a river only – no other water will do.
But some people don’t want to hear the truth – look at Isaiah 30:9-10:
"For these are rebellious people, deceitful children,
children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.
They say to the seers,
“See no more visions!”
and to the prophets,
“Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things,
prophesy illusions."
2 Timothy 4:3-4: "For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."
3. What result does refusing the truth have on you or what you are
doing?
Paul said that itching ears want what they want and go to towards their desire and follow error willingly.
In John 8:31-36 Jesus is saying those that abide don’t just believe (because the
followers who were against His teaching were “believing”); He is saying they had only superficial belief with what suited them. These were not truly genuine disciples but rather folks who went along with the truth only to the point that they were comfortable with.
- Does the Bible teach things that may make us uncomfortable?
- What could some of those things be?
- How did Jesus approach these “uncomfortable truths”?
4. We can know the truth by staying in Jesus’ Word
Mark 11:27-33: They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?” Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin? Tell me!” They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’ …” (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.) So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
They asked Jesus: "By what authority are you doing these things?" Jesus replied by asking them a question: Was John’s baptism from heaven or men? They couldn’t answer because the truth was condemning them.
We can use this test today to know if something is true. Ask:
A. Is it from heaven – there will be words in the Bible confirming it; or
B. Is it from men – it will not be in Scripture or it will be misrepresented
from Scripture
Sincerity or a pure heart is not enough, and this is clear in Acts 18:25, the example of Apollos: "Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately."
What do we see in verse 25? Apollos was willing to learn and to be corrected, but the sincerity was not enough.
5. The Truth Will set us Free
What are some things the truth will set us free from:
a) Sin – even if we sinned only one time (and we have sinned more than that), we are a slave to sin. But the truth in Christ and abiding in Him and His teachings will bring us to freedom from sin.
b) Selves – we can face up to our imperfections (spoiler alert: nobody’s perfect).
c) Society and culture (political incorrectness) – I don’t have to fake it or try to fit in the society and culture, but I need to speak the truth as it is the truth.
d) Freedom to live our lives the way God wants us to
e) Free to follow and listen only to Jesus
f) Free to ignore false teaching – this includes “convenient religion” – religion that says you can do what you want, live how you want, and still go to heaven - itching ears! Christ said that this is not right; there is no convenient religion.
In conclusion, we can stay in Jesus, we can know the truth, and the truth will set us free.
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