Purpose continued from previous study (Jesus the Rock): 1). Who is Jesus? 2). What are His teachings? 3). How do we put them into practice? Last week (Jesus the Word) we saw that Jesus makes God known to us by grace and truth. We will be talking a lot about grace in the near future. Tonight we will explore the concept of truth a bit further.In a non-religious setting, what are some fields where truth is important?
In many areas of human life nearly everyone would agree that sincerity is important, but that by itself is not sufficient in real-life situations. Would we go to a doctor who sincerely cared about our illness, but only made a correct diagnosis 50% of the time? No!
- Medicine
- Insurance
- Education
- Military
- Computer Science
- Banking
- Justicial System
- Construction
In many disciplines we all recognize that sincerity is not enough, that truth and knowledge must be accurately applied to achieve the desired results.
Yet amazingly many people feel differently when it comes to spiritual matters! Standards go out the window and truth is considered to be a subjective matter.
John 4:20-26
Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."vs 4: "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."What does it mean to worship?
Gr: proskunew -- to bow down in awe, reverence, adoration.According to this verse, can we have a relationship with God if we do not worship in spirit (little 's')? Truth?
Can we choose one or the other? No! We must have both!
What does it mean to worship in spirit?
- Sincerity
- Complete devotion
- Loving God with ALL your heart, soul, mind and strength!
Rom 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.Our entire lives, and our entire being is devoted to Him! The way we live our lives is a big part of our worship!What does it mean to worship in truth?
John 8:31,32
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."Where do we find Jesus teaching? In the bible!
How would a lack of spiritual truth be enslaving? (Cult?)II Tim 4:2-4
Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men 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.From this scripture we see that truth IS important in worship! Not just any-ole-idea will do!What does it mean to have "itching ears"?
Today it is very easy to find any number of people or groups that will teach us anything we want to hear!
This is why it is so important that we always seek the truth, and that we use the bible as our standard!
Mark 7:1-13
The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were "unclean," that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles. ) So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with 'unclean' hands?" He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: "'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban' (that is, a gift devoted to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that."vs 7: "They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men."Their hearts were far from God. (Worship in spirit)
They let go of the commands of God. (Worship in truth)What does God say about that kind of worship? It's in vain!
Where do we find the commands of God? In the bible!
The bible is the standard for defining religious truth!
Acts 17:10,11
As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.Every day the Bereans used the bible as their standard "to see if what Paul said was true".Luke 10:25-28
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" He answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' ; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' " "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."Jesus also recognized the bible as the standard for truth.John 5:39,40
You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.BUT! We do not worship the bible! The bible points us to Jesus, we must worship Him to have life!John 14:1-7
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."vs 6: "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life!"He is our Way to the Father! He is the ONLY way!
He is our Truth, our standard which we strive to immitate!
He is our Life, what we live for, and who we worship!
Our personal relationship with God requires our worship! Worship is more than our daily living and our rituals, it is acknowleding God in reverence, adoration, and awe! It is worship in both spirit and truth, for this is the kind of worship the Father seeks! (John 4:23)
Close with prayer.