The whole Truth and nothing but the Truth
Matthew 28:18

Intro:
Good morning.
Today I would like to look at “Truth” and the authority of the Bible, with a hope of getting a clearer understanding of what “truth” is and how important it is to accept and practice the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I will refer to a lot of text but I will not necessarily read everything and may paraphrase some.
I have another old story I’d like to tell: A father wanted to read a magazine but his little girl, Shelby, was bothering him. It was getting on his nerves so finally; he tore a sheet out of his magazine on which was printed a map of the world. Tearing it into small pieces, he gave it to Shelby, and said, “Go into the other room and see if you can put this together”. So she did. After a few minutes, Shelby returned and handed him the map correctly fitted together. Her father was impressed and asked her how she had finished it so quickly. “Oh,”, she said, “On the other side of the paper is a picture of Jesus. When I got all of Jesus back where He belonged, then the world came together”.
The point of this story is, we need to recognize the authority of Jesus and His Word if we truly want to keep Jesus in the centre of our lives, where He belongs. And to do that we must first recognize that Jesus has all the authority.
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I. In Matthew 28:18 when Jesus was speaking to His disciples He said, “… "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Notice the text says, “Has been” not “will be” but “has been”. In other words God has already given His Son, Jesus, all the authority. Jesus has the authority to rule, to teach, to forgive, to judge, and much more.
a. Many people today do not like that word “authority” because it is a strong word. It's filled with meaning, when we hear the word “authority” there’s a certain force about the word. There may be even a certain intimidation that goes along with the word. We talk about the authorities and we rightfully feel a sense of respect.
b. The word “authority” implies permission, it implies privilege, it implies power, and it implies rule, control, and influence. When someone has authority that means they’re in control of other people and they have responsibility beyond the norm. They are able to determine things, to decide things, to render judgments, to exercise certain rights and privileges.
c. Even at home we say there’s authority resting with the father, or with the parents. In our government there are authorities, the police and those who govern us. In the schools there are authorities, in business, in the job, in any dimension of life there are authorities. People who have the privilege,… the power,… the permission to set the rules,… to determine the judgments and the verdicts.
i. Because of this some people don’t like the word “authority”, they can’t seem to connect the Savior with having authority. That’s where it breaks down for these people, even for some Christians. Because people don’t want to or won’t recognize Jesus as having all authority, they don’t see Jesus the way they should see Him.
ii. They see Him as their Savior but stop short at seeing Him as the One who has all authority. In Acts 10 after Peter had his vision about the Gentiles, he met with Cornelius and his household. Then Peter had to explain to them about who Jesus was and how they should see Him.
d. We read about this in: Acts 10:41-43 “He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen--by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
i. Once Cornelius and his household understood the authority of Jesus, they accepted it and became Christians. As we recall the Jews at the time were having great problems accepting Jesus’ authority.
II. For example in Luke 5 we find a bunch of men who brought a paralytic man on a mat to Jesus. They couldn’t get in the front door, so they dismantled a man’s roof and lowered him into the house.
a. Luke 5:20-24 says, “When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins He said to the paralytic "I say to you, rise, and take up your stretcher and go home."”
b. The Jewish leaders were accusing Jesus of blasphemy because they didn’t want to recognize… His authority. They didn’t believe that Emmanuel was with them, they didn’t want to believe that God Himself came to earth.
III. We also find some people in the Bible who did understand His authority and accepted it, like the centurion in Matthew. In Matthew 8:6-10 he comes to Jesus and says, “Lord,” “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.” Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.” (look what he says) The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.” The centurion understood authority, what it was like to have authority over others and what it was like to be under authority and so he recognized the authority of Jesus.
IV. Now what about us, do we recognize the authority of Jesus? When we recognize that authority, we begin to understand that we too share His authority. That word “authority” in your Bibles can sometimes be translated as the word “power”.
a. Ephesians 1:18-21 we read; “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.”
b. That same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to us, who believe. That’s why we pray in Jesus Name because it is in Jesus Name that we receive that power. When we pray in Jesus Name, it’s not some sort of secret code or some magic words to have a prayer answered.
i. We are requesting something from God in the Name of Jesus or by the authority of Jesus. We need to recognize that. John 13:13-14 says; “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
ii. In Colossians 3:17 we read; “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Jesus has the authority, which He gave to us, and we need to recognize that authority.
V. We need to understand that what we practice, preach and teach is truth. Truth is rooted in our eternal God who’s all powerful and unchangeable. Jesus prayed for His disciples in John 17:17, and said, “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is Truth”. We need to understand that truth is far more than facts. It’s not just something we act upon, truth acts upon us. We can’t change the truth, but the truth can change us.
a. Since we know that Jesus, the living Word is truth, we can clearly know that His written Word, the Bible, is truth. Did you know that over half the New Testament uses of the word “truth” are found in John’s Gospel? The word ‘truth’ is the Greek word ‘aletheia’ (al-ay'-thei-a) and it means something that is real, a fact and absolute. In other words, truth is reality; it’s the way things really are. What seems to be and what really is are often not the same. Perhaps you will recall that in the Revelation letters to the churches, Jesus is telling the churches how they really are, not how they think they are.
b. In fact I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, “Things are not always as they appear.” To know the truth is to see accurately. Jesus declared in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no man comes to the Father but by Me”. He didn’t say He would show the truth or teach the truth. He said He is the truth, He is the truth personified, He is the source of all truth, the embodiment of truth and therefore the reference point for evaluating all claims that something is true.
i. Jesus is the One who is truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. In a world full of many religions and many philosophies, how is anyone going to find the truth? Well, one way people will know the truth is by the measuring what’s practiced and taught with the Words we find within the Scripture.
ii. Look at; John 8:31-32 “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” That truth is the Word of God, which we have today. That same Word which brought the universe into existence, that same Word which spoke to Moses is truth. That same Word which spoke through the prophets is truth, the very words which Jesus spoke, is truth. The Bible which you study every day is truth, and if you hold on to that truth, then it will set you free.
VI. Ok, but free from what? We understand it is mainly from the bondage of sin but this also implies if there is a true way, then that means there must also be a false way. We know there are many different religions in the world today, at least 21 major religions including Christianity. Sadly even within Christianity there are different groups and all of them can’t be right, can they?
a. Let me relate to you another story. Once the Devil was walking along with one of his minions. They saw a man ahead of them pick up something shiny. “What did he find?” asked the minion. “A piece of the truth,” the Devil replied. “Doesn't it bother you that he found a piece of the truth?” asked the minion. “No,” said the Devil, “I will see to it that he makes a religion out of it.”
b. We pretty much know that every religious group in the world claims to practice and teach the truth and that includes us. How can that be? One man said to me one day that, “Someone’s telling lies.” Now who is it? How are you going to tell the difference between a false religion and the true religion?
i. One way to tell the difference is to find out what their view of the Bible is. We have the God-breathed, life giving Word and it’s the Word of God that needs to be the measuring rod. Everything we do needs to be in line with the Word of God. That’s the standard for everyone who wants to be a godly person, the Truth, the Bible, the Word of God.
ii. It doesn’t matter what I think is right; all that matters is what God says is right. It doesn’t matter what you think is right; all that matters is what God says is right. It doesn’t matter what the church down the road thinks is right, all that matters is what God says is right. God has the final say, His Word is truth and His Word is our authority, period.
c. Peter understood that concept, remember when he said in 1 Peter 4:11 “If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God.”? What Peter means is, whatever a person advocates in religion must be found in Scripture. In other words, if it is not in the Bible, we don’t do it and if it is something we are told to do in the Bible, then we need to do it.
d. Paul understood that when he said the same thing over in 1 Corinthians 4:6 where he says, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Written where? Written within the Word of God. We love to use that phrase that says, “We speak where the Bible speaks, and we are silent where the Bible is silent.” It’s a shame that the principle behind this phrase is so often ignored these days. That phrase states our purpose to do only those things which are authorized by the Scripture.
VII. We are to treat God’s written Word with reverence, accepting it as complete and adequate, and refuse to alter it in any way. If we think God won’t mind it when we involve His church in things He has not authorized, then we are wrong. If we think proper doctrine and practice does not matter to Him as long as we just keep having faith in Him, then we have swallowed Satan’s lie.
a. Let me use an illustration. A man wrote a letter to a magazine and it said this, ‘Dear Sir, when I subscribed a year ago you stated that if I was not satisfied at the end of the year I could have my money back. Well, I would like to have it back. On second thought, to save you trouble, please apply it to my next year’s subscription’.
b. Now that is obviously going beyond what was written, that is taking the text out of its context and twisting it to suit yourself. People do that with the Truth today; they take something that God said and try to make it mean something they want it to mean.
i. I recall a story from a couple of years ago when a young Christian asked to get involved with some church work. He volunteered to take the offering each week and put it in the bank because no-one else had the time to do it. Believe it or not this caused trouble for some people and the Scripture which they quoted to back up their argument against him doing this was 1 Timothy 3:6 where Paul talks about a ‘recent convert’.
ii. But what is the context of that passage? Paul is talking about the qualifications of an elder. He’s not talking about a young Christian taking the offering to the bank. That’s a good example of taking the Scriptures and making it mean something that God didn’t intend for it to mean.
c. Instead of Matthew 28:19-20 reading as “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
i. This has now become with some people “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them by a church of Christ minister and make sure they know all the doctrine of the church before doing so.”
ii. Even the name ‘church of Christ’ has become a title in many people’s eyes. I recall a Christian being asked if he met in his home and there were 50 people outside who were willing to come in and hear the Gospel if he would just take the sign ‘church of Christ’ from the door until the meeting was over, would he take the sign down? His reply was, ‘no, he wouldn’t’, why should he? He asked. Folks think about this, isn’t the Gospel more important than a title? It’s the Gospel which brings people to Christ not the name on the building.
d. I know of one Christian who loves music and is a very talented pianist but he was taught he mustn’t play any musical instrument. The non-use of musical instruments in worship became for this man ‘stay clear of musical instruments at all times’.
VIII. Let’s look in our bibles at 1 Samuel 13 we find that the nation of Israel has come against the Philistines. The people panicked, especially Saul and instead of trusting God and waiting on Samuel’s appearing, Saul did something foolish.
a. 1 Samuel 13:8-12 “He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering. Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him. “What have you done?” asked Samuel. Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash, I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord's favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”
b. Is that a danger for the church today? Do we feel compelled to help God out with His Work? Some people will say, ‘God! We are not making very many converts here, so let me help you out.’
i. Let’s use musical instruments that will bring the younger ones in. Let’s speak in so-called tongues and do so-called miracles that will impress people. Let’s just cut out the baptism part of the Bible, that will save us the trouble of trying to explain baptism. Let’s tell them that the world is going to end soon and we will frighten people into becoming Christians. And then they say, “God we are doing all this for your honor.” Really!
ii. Our God in heaven says in Ecclesiastes 12:13, “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” Are we really going to say, ‘but God we did these things because we love you’? If we do we have it backwards. Jesus says in John 14:21 “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.”
IX. Let’s take a good look at ourselves, we need to understand why we do, what we do. A man said this about himself: “I was a revolutionary when I was young, and my prayer to God was, ‘Lord, give me the strength to change the world.’ As I approached middle age and realized that my life was halfway gone without changing a single soul, I changed my prayer to, ‘Lord, give me the grace to change all those who come into contact with me, especially my family and friends, and I shall be satisfied.’ Now that I am an old man, and my days are numbered, I have begun to see how foolish I have been. Now my one prayer is this, ‘Lord, give me the grace to change myself.’ If I had prayed that right from the start, I would not have wasted my life.”
a. We need to examine ourselves before we can help others understand the truth. What we do in our worship services is by divine authority but sometimes we need to use common sense with that authority. It was the great philosopher Voltaire who once said, “Common sense is not so common.”
i. Look with me at Genesis 6:14-16 where God instructs Noah to build an Ark. “Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.”
ii. Now notice for example that God told Noah to use gopher wood, that’s a specific command. He told Noah the length and width and height the Ark was to be, He told him to put a door on the side. But God didn’t tell him what to use to fasten it together, why? Because that’s common sense. He didn’t tell him the size of the door, because Noah was going to have to use some common sense to figure it out.
iii. Let’s fast forward to Jesus, He said in Mark 16:15 “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” He never tells His disciples “how” to go. In Acts 8:31 we find Philip talking to the Eunuch and the eunuch went away on a chariot.
iv. In Acts 9:25 we find that the apostle Paul did go, but lowered in a basket and then a little later in Acts we see him going by boat. I know these are silly illustrations but we need to remember that common sense is needed from time to time.
b. How about holding worship? Acts 20:7 “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread.” Hebrews 10:25 “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing.”
i. We know we have to come together and we have to have somewhere to meet, don’t we? Acts 20:20 “You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.” You see, location is optional and authorized, and as long as it doesn’t violate other Biblical principles. That’s common sense.
ii. One of those principles is found in John 4:21 where Jesus is speaking to the woman at the well and He says to her. “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.”
c. When we do come together for worship, we are commanded to do certain things, and they are to be done in a certain way. 1 Corinthians 14:40 “But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.” It is to be done in an orderly way because God is a God of order not disorder.
i. For example, we have to sing when we come together in worship. Ephesians 5:19 “Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.” Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”
ii. We have looked at the type of music God wants from us before. But we are told to sing when we come together, and common sense tells us that we need songbooks or sheets to sing from so we are all on the same song, using the same melody with the same words. No disorder.
d. The Lord’s Supper is to be eaten when we are together as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11. Again common sense tells us that the way we distribute the Lord’s Supper is optional. In Acts 2:42 we find new Christians being taught by others the things they were to do when they came together. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Luke tells us that there was some form of teaching when the church came together and there was a time of prayer. Again, at what point of our meetings the teaching and preaching or prayers takes place is optional.
e. Paul also tells us that giving is part of our worship. 2 Corinthians 9:7 “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Again, we are not commanded to take up an offering on Sunday mornings but common sense tells us that because we are all together on Sunday mornings that is a convenient time to do so. Giving is an act of Worship.
f. Maybe some people are embarrassed by the amount of their offering, maybe some people can afford to give very little. But folks, if you have already set aside a certain amount, be happy with that, and don’t be embarrassed.
i. 2 Corinthians 9:7 tells us; Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver.
ii. We need to be like Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles 31:20 where the Bible says, “This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God. In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.”
X. Everything we do as Christians should be good and right and faithfully done in God’s eyes. If we continue to seek God and work hard then we will never be far from truth which will then make it easier for us to be on our guard against falling away from it. We can fall from grace, we can fall for false truths and like I have said before, there is no such thing as once saved always saved.
a. In 2 Peter 2:20-22 we are reminded; “If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”
i. Peter is talking to Christians about Christians here. If we fall away from the truth, we have fallen away from grace and so we have fallen away from God. Just because we are a member of the “church of Christ” doesn’t guarantee that we will be saved. You are saved because of the grace of God and your obedience to His word. You are saved by remaining faithful to Him and by your service to the Lord. If you have done these things, Jesus himself will say to you, what He said in Matthew 25:23, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
b. The point is that just because you are a Christian and a member of ‘the church’ doesn’t mean that you can just go and worship God however you want to. Jesus says in John 4:23 that “his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” In other words people who truly and sincerely want to worship God are going to worship Him from their heart. Not with outward appearances where people say, “look at me! Look what I’m doing! I’m a Christian!” To worship God in spirit is to offer God your heart, mind, body and soul.
i. And when He says in truth, He’s talking about our worship being in harmony with the Word of God itself, that’s the kind of people God wants. People who genuinely desire to please God do that which pleases Him. People who are not interested in what other religions are doing and saying but people who want to find out what God and His Word say, for themselves. People who want to have that personal relationship with God Himself.
ii. The truth is this, Mathew 1:23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” --which means, “God with us.” God came to earth in the form of Jesus, He was crucified and died and was then buried. He was raised from the dead 3 days later and promised in Matthew 28:20 that He would be with us always to the very end of the age.

Conclusion: Folks, God is still with us today. We have Truth today because we have His Word which we call the Bible. We have the Truth, the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth, and this is so because Jesus is the Truth, we need to not only trust Him but also obey that what He says.

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We learn from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word; believe in Jesus; repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God; and be baptized for the remission of our sins… If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.

Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to be buried with Christ in baptism. If you have never done these things, we urge you to do so today. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.

#596 God is Calling the Prodical

Reference Sermon
Mike Glover
October 25, 2014