WEBVTT 00:00:03.668 --> 00:00:04.570 I want to welcome you here. 00:00:04.570 --> 00:00:09.810 My name is Tyler and the lead pastor here, and I'm excited to start this brand new sermon series called Can we Talk? 00:00:09.810 --> 00:00:12.507 Addressing the uncomfortable. 00:00:12.507 --> 00:00:41.773 We live in a world where truth is in decline and there's a lot of opposition to truth, that people don't have much room, though, for differing opinions, even though there is the devaluing of truth in our culture, but we believe that the truth is a person and his name is Jesus, and he wrote a book called the Bible, and in that book the truth is written down for us so that we don't have to wonder or be concerned or worried about it. 00:00:41.773 --> 00:01:17.049 Most people have someone in their life, unfortunately, that has believed a cultural lie, something that the world is promoting as truth, that is in opposition to what God says is true, and so our whole hope in doing this series is to equip you guys and ourselves, as Christians, to be able to talk to people who have, who find themselves in one of those conditions where they are, where they're in need of truth, in love, you know, there's a combination of truth plus love is what we're after, right, and those are friends of each other. 00:01:17.049 --> 00:01:27.359 There's a verse in the book of Psalms that talks about the fact that love and truth go together and righteousness and peace kiss each other, so they're actually friends, not enemies of each other. 00:01:27.359 --> 00:01:39.733 And so in this series, we hope to engage truth in love on many different topics, including sexuality, identity politics. 00:01:39.733 --> 00:01:44.271 We're going to talk about victimhood. 00:01:44.271 --> 00:01:47.519 We're going to talk about addiction and several other topics. 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:49.769 So what could go wrong? 00:01:49.769 --> 00:01:57.500 Right, these are things that are just so agreed upon as far as what truth is concerning these different areas. 00:01:57.500 --> 00:02:02.239 But we're going to address it, not my brand of truth or your brand of truth. 00:02:02.239 --> 00:02:05.239 We're going to address it from what God says about truth. 00:02:05.239 --> 00:02:10.578 And then we're going to talk about, specifically, how do we engage the culture. 00:02:10.578 --> 00:02:13.292 Right, cultures believing lies. 00:02:13.292 --> 00:02:18.719 God tells us what is true, but how can we talk to the culture about truth? 00:02:18.719 --> 00:02:28.719 So in the first two weeks we're going to be laying a foundation and the rest of the meetings will be building upon that foundation, and basically, there'll be four elements to each message. 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:39.592 One will be a devotional about the subject, and then we'll have a section where we'll talk about what culture says, what God says, and how do we talk about it with other people. 00:02:39.592 --> 00:02:45.177 And all of that will be accomplished in 43 minutes and 56 seconds, by the grace of God. 00:02:45.177 --> 00:02:45.680 So let's get started. 00:02:46.682 --> 00:02:48.266 Second Corinthians, chapter four. 00:02:48.266 --> 00:02:53.090 If you can turn there with me, we're going to start in verse one and read through verse seven. 00:02:53.090 --> 00:02:59.271 Therefore, since God and His mercy has given us this new way, we never give up. 00:02:59.271 --> 00:03:03.610 We reject all shameful deeds and underheaded methods. 00:03:03.610 --> 00:03:07.229 We don't try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. 00:03:07.229 --> 00:03:12.468 We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this. 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:19.233 If the good news we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. 00:03:19.233 --> 00:03:25.413 Satan, who is the God of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. 00:03:25.413 --> 00:03:30.031 They are unable to see the glorious light of the good news. 00:03:30.031 --> 00:03:37.353 They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. 00:03:37.353 --> 00:03:41.250 You see, we don't go around preaching about ourselves. 00:03:41.250 --> 00:03:47.872 We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord and we ourselves are your servants, for Jesus' sake. 00:03:47.872 --> 00:04:00.492 For God said let there be light in the darkness, has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. 00:04:00.492 --> 00:04:08.614 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. 00:04:08.614 --> 00:04:14.390 This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. 00:04:14.390 --> 00:04:16.401 Let's pray, father. 00:04:16.401 --> 00:04:32.494 We ask that you would open our eyes to truth this morning, that you would speak clearly your truth from your word, and that it would change our lives so that we can be a benefit to others, so that we can speak the truth in love to those that are in the culture around us. 00:04:32.494 --> 00:04:46.110 Father, help us to understand places where we're walking in deception and clear us and free us from those things, and we thank you that you are truth and we embrace you and the truth that you provide. 00:04:46.110 --> 00:04:48.033 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:04:49.341 --> 00:04:53.720 For more than 3,000 years, doctors used a practice called bloodletting. 00:04:53.720 --> 00:05:08.574 Now, if you don't know what bloodletting is, it's where a doctor would attach something to a vein or an artery, even maybe using a leech or something like that, to take blood out of a person who is dealing with some kind of ailment or infection. 00:05:08.574 --> 00:05:14.720 The whole idea was that if they took enough blood, that eventually the person would get well. 00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:18.449 And how did they determine? 00:05:18.449 --> 00:05:19.672 This is very scientific. 00:05:19.672 --> 00:05:25.189 This is how they determined the right amount of blood had been taken as soon as the person passed out. 00:05:25.189 --> 00:05:34.473 Then it was determined that was enough blood, and typically that happened when about 20 to 25% of a person's blood was lost. 00:05:34.473 --> 00:05:38.057 Now we think about this now and we think that's crazy. 00:05:38.057 --> 00:05:38.699 That's ridiculous. 00:05:38.699 --> 00:05:39.843 They actually did that. 00:05:39.843 --> 00:05:43.699 Yeah, they actually believed that that was the right way to treat the human body. 00:05:44.302 --> 00:05:48.620 One of the most famous Americans named George Washington anybody ever heard of him. 00:05:48.620 --> 00:05:58.699 George Washington had a very sore throat and a strong infection, and so the doctor prescribed bloodletting and they began to take blood from him. 00:05:58.699 --> 00:06:21.083 George Washington was a strong human being because he got all the way to 50% blood loss, which was 80 ounces of blood that was lost before he passed out and subsequently died subsequently died, not of a sore throat, of letting too much blood out of his body, right, so it's? 00:06:21.083 --> 00:06:22.346 Why do I tell you this story? 00:06:22.346 --> 00:06:24.971 It's because the truth matters. 00:06:24.971 --> 00:06:41.259 The truth absolutely matters, and if people had read the Bible in Leviticus, chapter 17, verse 11, it says that the life of a creature is in the blood, that the life of a creature is in the blood. 00:06:41.259 --> 00:06:52.156 So even this particular thing that was practiced could maybe have been avoided or changed so that it wouldn't have been destructive as it was in so many people's lives. 00:06:52.790 --> 00:07:09.074 Now, before we judge those people too harshly, I know that some of you have given yourselves a medical degree by researching WebMD for hours upon hours and you know the cure to every single ailment that anybody ever has. 00:07:09.074 --> 00:07:14.581 You've implemented Windex olive oil. 00:07:14.581 --> 00:07:17.838 I mean, there are so many different things that you're using. 00:07:17.838 --> 00:07:28.980 I'm not saying that some of those things couldn't be helpful, but I am saying to you there's a possibility that some of the things that you believe to be true may not actually be true. 00:07:28.980 --> 00:07:37.303 And also, if you do your research exclusively on Wikipedia, let's not even go there. 00:07:37.303 --> 00:07:39.658 We'll save that for another message later on down the road. 00:07:39.769 --> 00:08:10.778 I don't know if we're ready for that one yet or not, but in this passage in the book of 2 Corinthians, the apostle Paul who was the one, remember who God got ahold of him after he had been resting and persecuting Christians, and God shown a light from heaven and spoke to him, changed his life just like that, and he became the apostle, a person who planted churches and ministered throughout the Greco-Roman world, planting many, many churches, and one of those churches he planted was in Corinth. 00:08:10.778 --> 00:08:17.675 And in Corinth, after he planted the church, after a little bit of time went by, they started getting a little crazy. 00:08:17.675 --> 00:08:22.516 That actually says that in the original group, you people are crazy. 00:08:22.516 --> 00:08:24.697 It doesn't say that, but it should. 00:08:24.697 --> 00:08:26.654 It could, because they really were getting. 00:08:26.654 --> 00:08:27.632 They were very. 00:08:27.632 --> 00:08:44.517 God was giving them spiritual gifts and they were using those gifts a lot, but they weren't allowing the character of God to be developed and the fruit of the spirit to shine forth, and so they were using the gifts in ways to actually attack each other instead of to be a blessing to each other. 00:08:44.517 --> 00:08:52.994 So Paul wrote the book of 1 Corinthians, which the people quickly said this is not what we believe, we don't wanna hear this. 00:08:52.994 --> 00:08:54.215 And they were angry with Paul. 00:08:54.809 --> 00:09:14.695 So then Paul again, who started this church in Corinth, makes a visit to Corinth, and while he's there he addresses them again saying I'm serious, I'm here in the flesh, as a person, to tell you that what you're doing is not in line with God's character and nature and who he is, and you need to change. 00:09:14.695 --> 00:09:16.595 And were they excited about it? 00:09:16.595 --> 00:09:21.615 No, they were not excited about it, and so he left. 00:09:21.615 --> 00:09:33.918 And while he was away, god began to work within the hearts of the leadership and those that were in the church of Corinth and they began to realize that what God was saying through Paul was actually right and true. 00:09:33.918 --> 00:09:41.494 And so they began to humble their hearts and reach out to Paul and let him know that he was right and that they were wrong. 00:09:41.494 --> 00:09:47.711 And so 2 Corinthians is a response that Paul gives to the church, and it's a much. 00:09:47.711 --> 00:09:57.756 It's not friendlier, it's much less aggressive, I should say, but it's a powerful book as well. 00:09:57.756 --> 00:10:03.870 So in this chapter, in 2 Corinthians, chapter four, he's writing to this church that he's had these issues with that. 00:10:03.870 --> 00:10:12.216 Now he's in a place, they're in a good place with each other, and really it's not about Paul at all and it's not about the church at Corinth at all. 00:10:12.216 --> 00:10:17.581 It's about Jesus Christ and the truth that he proclaims to be true. 00:10:18.070 --> 00:10:20.076 Okay, so let's take a few points from this. 00:10:20.076 --> 00:10:23.720 Paul begins and ends his thought with an attitude of humility. 00:10:23.720 --> 00:10:41.162 Here's a man who has pointed out all of these different discrepancies and ways of doing things that the Corinthian church was involved with, that were wrong, against God's character and nature, and yet he starts by saying therefore, since God ends, his mercy, has given us this new way, we never give up. 00:10:41.162 --> 00:10:41.873 Who gave it? 00:10:41.873 --> 00:10:43.816 God in his mercy. 00:10:43.816 --> 00:10:51.638 Paul understood, if anybody understood, what it's like to be wrong with God and then to be made right with God. 00:10:51.638 --> 00:11:03.655 He lived that life himself and he concludes this section by saying we now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. 00:11:03.655 --> 00:11:08.394 This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. 00:11:08.769 --> 00:11:19.018 Again, a man who could have leaned heavily on the arm of his own experience, his own gifting, his own nature, and yet he refuses to do that. 00:11:19.018 --> 00:11:28.413 He says I'm just a clay jar, just a jar of clay that God has filled and is flowing through to be a blessing and a benefit to you. 00:11:28.413 --> 00:11:34.535 We could learn a lot from Paul's stance, with truth and the humility that he showed. 00:11:34.535 --> 00:11:42.460 James four teaches us that God resists what the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. 00:11:42.460 --> 00:11:44.275 He gives grace to the humble. 00:11:44.275 --> 00:11:48.076 When we begin a discussion about truth, we must start where Paul starts. 00:11:48.076 --> 00:11:54.054 Let's remain humble, understanding that we could actually be wrong as well. 00:11:55.110 --> 00:12:00.278 So, secondly, paul avoided the temptation to try to trick people into believing what he was saying. 00:12:00.278 --> 00:12:14.238 Don't you hate some of the tactics that churches and Christian Jews especially TV and internet, whether it'll say something like, if you give $100 today, god will give you $10,000 in the next two weeks. 00:12:14.238 --> 00:12:20.299 It's a shame, and it's a sham and it's unfortunate. 00:12:20.299 --> 00:12:24.041 Could God give somebody $10,000 when they give $100? 00:12:24.041 --> 00:12:25.576 Of course God loves to give. 00:12:25.576 --> 00:12:30.142 He said he will out give all of us every time, in every way. 00:12:30.142 --> 00:12:31.352 He is a giver. 00:12:31.352 --> 00:12:34.716 But he's not a formula, he's not a slot machine. 00:12:34.716 --> 00:12:38.333 You don't put in $100 and pull the lever and get 10,000 out. 00:12:38.333 --> 00:12:42.770 Right, we're blessed to be a blessing and so. 00:12:42.770 --> 00:12:55.655 But this type of thought can be very rampant, this tricking, trickery that is used where people try to control others using the word of God, but it's really just twisting it completely. 00:12:55.655 --> 00:13:00.254 So we reject all shameful deeds Paul says and underhanded methods. 00:13:00.254 --> 00:13:03.719 We don't try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. 00:13:03.719 --> 00:13:11.756 We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this he's saying my reputation precedes me. 00:13:11.756 --> 00:13:17.339 I'm not here to speak my own truth, I'm here to speak the word of God. 00:13:18.470 --> 00:13:26.937 How many of you recognize that in the culture that we're living in, the day and time that we're living in, there are a lot of grown people who are still acting like children? 00:13:26.937 --> 00:13:31.556 I see you looking around at other people. 00:13:31.556 --> 00:13:44.059 Take out your phone, turn your camera on and take a selfie, and then look at the look at the selfie and ask yourself is this person engaging in childish behavior? 00:13:44.059 --> 00:13:46.937 Things like I know you are, but what am I? 00:13:46.937 --> 00:13:49.618 We would never actually say that. 00:13:49.618 --> 00:13:52.317 But, boy, some of those posts on social media sound like that. 00:13:52.317 --> 00:14:01.755 Uh-uh, uh-huh, uh-uh, did not did too Time to grow up, folks, isn't it? 00:14:01.755 --> 00:14:04.717 It's time to grow up and put away childish ways. 00:14:04.717 --> 00:14:07.618 Trickery is Satan's MO. 00:14:07.618 --> 00:14:14.081 Trickery and childishness is the way Satan operates. 00:14:14.081 --> 00:14:18.686 Why would we want to stoop to using his nasty tactics? 00:14:18.686 --> 00:14:20.870 Amen. 00:14:22.793 --> 00:14:27.842 Next, paul understood that the people that he was speaking truth to were not the enemy. 00:14:27.842 --> 00:14:32.078 The people he was speaking to were not his enemy. 00:14:32.078 --> 00:14:37.994 If the good news we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. 00:14:37.994 --> 00:14:43.861 Satan, who is the God of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. 00:14:43.861 --> 00:14:47.678 They are unable to see the glorious light of the good news. 00:14:47.678 --> 00:14:55.572 They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. 00:14:55.572 --> 00:15:03.481 There is something much more sinister at work than a failing government or than the Illuminati. 00:15:03.481 --> 00:15:15.158 There is something that is much vaster in its scale and much more effective in what it does, and that is Satan himself and all of his evil hordes. 00:15:15.158 --> 00:15:18.115 Satan was stripped of his glory. 00:15:18.115 --> 00:15:26.679 He was a part of the worship of heaven, and he decided that he would make himself like the Most High, and one third of the angels agreed with him. 00:15:26.679 --> 00:15:31.721 They were all kicked out of heaven, and Jesus observed this as they fell. 00:15:32.370 --> 00:15:38.962 And so now all that Satan has in his life from motivation is a hatred for God. 00:15:38.962 --> 00:15:53.486 He hates God in every form, way, fashion, anything that he—any way that he can, and so his attempts are to try to cause delusion, distraction, devastation. 00:15:53.486 --> 00:16:03.239 Anything that he can do to cause us to be deceived, to turn our eyes away from what God says is actually true and from the God who is truth. 00:16:03.239 --> 00:16:04.274 That is his job. 00:16:04.274 --> 00:16:08.693 He will do anything within his power, and Ephesians 6, 12 tells us. 00:16:08.693 --> 00:16:12.581 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. 00:16:12.581 --> 00:16:27.073 Your aunt and uncle, your grandma, your grandma, your children, your coworkers, your boss, the students at school, your teachers they are not your enemies, they're not my enemies. 00:16:27.073 --> 00:16:48.342 We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places, if you think about Satan arriving on the scene in the garden. 00:16:48.783 --> 00:17:02.456 Adam and Eve are enjoying God's presence every day and all of a sudden, this tree that God said is the only tree that they couldn't eat from, satan is all wrapped up in it as a serpent right, and he begins to speak to Eve. 00:17:02.456 --> 00:17:04.056 And what does he begin to do with Eve? 00:17:04.056 --> 00:17:12.196 He begins to get her to try to question who God is, what his character is, what his nature is, what he actually said. 00:17:12.196 --> 00:17:17.340 So he says did God actually say that you would die when you eat of this fruit? 00:17:17.340 --> 00:17:19.095 You will not, surely, die. 00:17:19.095 --> 00:17:21.596 God doesn't want you to be like him. 00:17:21.596 --> 00:17:22.834 He's holding out on you. 00:17:22.834 --> 00:17:28.932 He has something that's great that he doesn't want you to experience, because he wants to control you. 00:17:30.410 --> 00:17:35.863 And Eve took a bite, and Adam took a bite, and shame came upon this earth. 00:17:35.863 --> 00:17:43.622 And all of us have been born in sin and shame, except for Jesus. 00:17:43.622 --> 00:17:47.455 You see, there are two fathers to choose from. 00:17:47.455 --> 00:17:52.839 There's the father of life and light and there's the father of lies. 00:17:52.839 --> 00:17:57.538 Which one will you choose to follow? 00:17:57.538 --> 00:18:03.840 And it's not enough for us to choose to follow, because what about our children? 00:18:03.840 --> 00:18:05.575 What about our grandchildren? 00:18:05.575 --> 00:18:07.516 What about people in our neighborhood? 00:18:07.516 --> 00:18:12.587 What about people that we pass by in the grocery store on a daily basis? 00:18:12.587 --> 00:18:17.520 So whenever we're out shopping at Walmart, wherever it is, what about those people? 00:18:17.520 --> 00:18:19.634 Do they matter to God? 00:18:19.634 --> 00:18:24.436 And if they matter to God, should they matter to us? 00:18:27.250 --> 00:18:32.981 Paul focused primarily on one truth, and that is Jesus Christ is Lord. 00:18:32.981 --> 00:18:38.336 Do you believe that this morning, jesus Christ is Lord? 00:18:38.336 --> 00:18:41.660 You see, we don't go around preaching about ourselves. 00:18:41.660 --> 00:18:46.801 We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus' sake. 00:18:46.801 --> 00:18:59.502 For God who said let there be light in the darkness, has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. 00:18:59.502 --> 00:19:01.096 Have you seen the glory of God? 00:19:01.096 --> 00:19:02.634 Have you tasted of it? 00:19:02.634 --> 00:19:06.578 Do you know how great this salvation is that we've been provided? 00:19:06.578 --> 00:19:13.192 Has the Father of lights illuminated your heart so that you can walk in the light, as he is in the light? 00:19:13.192 --> 00:19:21.772 That's a good thing, but there are a lot of people who can't even wrap their minds around the fact that God is the God of creation. 00:19:21.772 --> 00:19:23.638 But Jesus is the Lord of creation. 00:19:24.349 --> 00:19:28.059 In Genesis one, in the beginning, god created the heavens and the earth. 00:19:28.059 --> 00:19:36.698 The earth was without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep and the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 00:19:36.698 --> 00:19:40.015 And God said let there be light. 00:19:40.015 --> 00:19:45.912 And there was light In John one. 00:19:45.912 --> 00:19:50.102 John takes us further to explain that Jesus is the Word of God. 00:19:50.102 --> 00:19:54.861 In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. 00:19:54.861 --> 00:19:56.596 He was in the beginning with God. 00:19:56.596 --> 00:20:01.019 All things were made through Him and without Him was not anything made. 00:20:01.019 --> 00:20:05.638 That was made In Him was life and the life was the light of men. 00:20:06.250 --> 00:20:14.276 The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it and it never will. 00:20:14.276 --> 00:20:15.759 It never will. 00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:18.577 I do not care how dark it gets on this planet. 00:20:18.577 --> 00:20:23.140 The light of Jesus Christ will never be snuffed out. 00:20:23.140 --> 00:20:27.973 It will never be snuffed out and we do not have any control over it. 00:20:27.973 --> 00:20:32.477 From the standpoint of what the light looks like in foreign lands when we are not there. 00:20:32.477 --> 00:20:43.933 We can partner with people, we can pray for people, but we do have some say in what happens in our homes, in our lives, in our neighborhoods, in our workplaces. 00:20:43.933 --> 00:20:48.059 We have the ability to shine the light in the darkness. 00:20:48.369 --> 00:21:02.121 And yet I feel like at many times, in many ways, that we have covered up the light as much as we possibly can because we are afraid of the consequences of shining the light of truth. 00:21:02.121 --> 00:21:21.417 What if we stopped worrying about the consequences toward us and started being concerned about the consequences of a person who never sees the light and passes from this life into eternal darkness, away from God? 00:21:21.417 --> 00:21:22.857 Would that change something? 00:21:22.857 --> 00:21:25.493 Would that change our perspective? 00:21:25.493 --> 00:21:51.934 Not only is Jesus the Lord of creation, he is also the Lord of salvation, and Philippians 2, therefore, god has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that, at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God, the Father. 00:21:51.934 --> 00:21:53.098 Amen. 00:21:53.098 --> 00:22:09.519 Jesus Christ is the Lord of heaven and earth, he is the King of kings and he is the Lord of lords, and none of us can fully understand this truth without him shining the light of truth in our hearts. 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:21.119 This is not our truth, this is his truth, and we get the chance to shine the light of truth. 00:22:22.609 --> 00:22:24.136 So what does the culture say about truth. 00:22:24.136 --> 00:22:31.798 And I'm going to tell you right now there's absolutely no way that I can cover everything culture says about anything, because there's so much. 00:22:31.798 --> 00:22:32.861 There's so much. 00:22:32.861 --> 00:22:45.003 One of the reasons that we have a hard time sometimes speaking truth is because there's such a huge amount of lies and agenda and things that we face every single day. 00:22:45.003 --> 00:22:56.659 Everywhere that we go, people are informed by what they're hearing, what they're seeing, what they're listening to, what they're talking about, what they believe, and it can seem completely overwhelming. 00:22:56.659 --> 00:22:58.395 Am I the only one that experiences that? 00:22:58.395 --> 00:23:00.213 Where do I even start? 00:23:00.213 --> 00:23:01.933 What do I do? 00:23:01.933 --> 00:23:03.836 How do I begin a conversation? 00:23:03.836 --> 00:23:11.277 Well, let's first of all try to narrow down and talk about some of the concepts that culture says or believes about truth. 00:23:12.569 --> 00:23:15.077 Culture says there is no such thing as absolute truth. 00:23:15.077 --> 00:23:17.011 You know what they're actually saying. 00:23:17.011 --> 00:23:23.355 There's no such thing as God, and behind that, you know what actually is being said. 00:23:23.355 --> 00:23:25.582 I am God. 00:23:25.582 --> 00:23:29.439 Does that sound familiar? 00:23:29.439 --> 00:23:33.919 Almost like a scheme that Satan would come up with. 00:23:33.919 --> 00:23:37.298 I'm not trying to be facetious. 00:23:37.298 --> 00:23:43.132 I'm trying for us to really understand this and to know what the source of our trouble is. 00:23:43.132 --> 00:23:48.417 The idea of absolute truth is too confining and oppressive. 00:23:48.417 --> 00:23:50.772 It can't be good, it can't be real. 00:23:50.772 --> 00:23:57.260 It puts me in a corner, it causes me to have to deal with something that I don't want to have to deal with. 00:23:57.260 --> 00:23:59.698 So absolutely it cannot be true. 00:23:59.698 --> 00:24:02.977 The only absolute truth is that there is no absolute truth. 00:24:02.977 --> 00:24:04.099 Do you believe that? 00:24:04.099 --> 00:24:04.681 Yes, I do. 00:24:04.681 --> 00:24:06.648 Well then, you believe in absolute truth. 00:24:06.648 --> 00:24:08.916 You understand how cyclical is the circles. 00:24:08.916 --> 00:24:16.184 It's confusing and chaotic and, in some ways, silly. 00:24:16.184 --> 00:24:28.019 Others will say truth is what I feel and say that it is Because my feelings are more important than objective truth. 00:24:31.292 --> 00:24:32.857 How many of you remember your teenage years? 00:24:32.857 --> 00:24:35.655 Some of you are still there. 00:24:35.655 --> 00:24:54.575 If you don't remember, let me just say it like this there were some very highs and there were some low lows, and some of that had to do with hormones and the changing of hormones and how things felt. 00:24:54.575 --> 00:25:01.134 Particularly, you felt particularly affected by something in a tremendous way, or it didn't affect you at all. 00:25:01.134 --> 00:25:04.797 Right Feelings lie to us. 00:25:06.150 --> 00:25:10.957 How many of you have ever felt something towards somebody, only to find out later that it wasn't true? 00:25:10.957 --> 00:25:18.097 So one of your friends said so and so said this about you, and so you're like oh well, I hate them. 00:25:18.097 --> 00:25:20.232 I'm talking about this. 00:25:20.232 --> 00:25:22.980 Is 50-year-olds doing this, not 15-year-olds? 00:25:22.980 --> 00:25:25.374 I mean you wouldn't talk like that. 00:25:25.374 --> 00:25:28.622 But this is real, guys. 00:25:28.622 --> 00:25:29.894 This is where people live. 00:25:29.894 --> 00:25:31.472 I hate them. 00:25:31.472 --> 00:25:35.237 And then you find out later that they didn't say anything like that. 00:25:35.237 --> 00:25:37.532 They didn't even. 00:25:37.532 --> 00:25:38.857 Here's the worst part about it. 00:25:38.857 --> 00:25:42.460 This really could hurt you more than actually saying something negative about you. 00:25:42.460 --> 00:25:44.675 They weren't even thinking about you. 00:25:44.675 --> 00:25:47.596 You weren't even on the radar. 00:25:47.596 --> 00:25:53.575 Not only did they not think evil about you or speak evil about you, they don't even know who you are really. 00:25:56.130 --> 00:25:58.958 Feelings lie to us. 00:25:58.958 --> 00:26:02.416 We thank God for feelings that are in line with truth. 00:26:02.416 --> 00:26:12.994 When we feel the Spirit of God moving upon us, the feeling that we get when we look at a newborn baby, the feelings that we experience because of love, all of those things are good. 00:26:12.994 --> 00:26:23.781 But if we're led exclusively by our feelings, I promise you we will end up deceived, believing a lie and lies instead of the truth. 00:26:23.781 --> 00:26:28.939 Others will say truth is what I learned on TikTok or Instagram. 00:26:28.939 --> 00:26:31.194 They may not say that. 00:26:31.194 --> 00:26:35.734 They'll say I read an article, but where did they read the article? 00:26:35.734 --> 00:26:41.281 They clicked on a post on TikTok and they read the article. 00:26:41.281 --> 00:26:43.095 We have an argument at my house. 00:26:43.095 --> 00:26:44.018 That happens often. 00:26:44.018 --> 00:26:49.554 It's when somebody will make a point and then we'll ask how did you find that out? 00:26:49.554 --> 00:26:51.674 Where did you get that information? 00:26:51.674 --> 00:26:55.396 And the person will usually say they said. 00:26:55.396 --> 00:27:00.557 And then the next question is who are they? 00:27:00.557 --> 00:27:17.818 And usually the person that we're quoting, as they are quoting somebody else that quoted somebody else that quoted somebody else, and six times down the line maybe it's not exactly presented as it maybe was originally intended to be presented. 00:27:18.589 --> 00:27:21.159 The point is we need to know our sources, right. 00:27:21.159 --> 00:27:25.381 We need to know that the truth that we believe is trustworthy. 00:27:25.381 --> 00:27:29.497 Please, friends, let the Bible inform you. 00:27:29.497 --> 00:27:52.701 Let the Bible inform you, first and foremost, 66 books that God graciously gave us to keep us in a place to where we can be walking in truth, and then he put the Holy Spirit on the inside of us to lead us and guide us into all truth. 00:27:52.701 --> 00:28:10.713 It's really unfortunate and in some ways embarrassing for me having all of those tools at my disclosure and disposal when I still choose to believe a lie instead of the truth, but I do at times. 00:28:10.713 --> 00:28:15.413 You must respect my truth, even if it isn't true. 00:28:15.413 --> 00:28:55.481 If I say that I'm a woman who's attracted to women, but I'm actually born as a man, then my truth is something that you need to acknowledge and respect, and you need to allow me to follow that thought out as far as it will take me, including into a middle school locker room with other young girls. 00:28:58.069 --> 00:29:07.698 Recently in the news there's been several examples of rapes that have occurred, with people that are proposing, supposing speaking out, that this is their truth. 00:29:07.698 --> 00:29:18.257 This is their reality, and so they find themselves in a position where things are available to them from a sin standpoint simply because they're saying this is who I am. 00:29:18.257 --> 00:29:45.419 We're going to get into details on this in a few weeks, so I'm not trying to get into the weeds today, but I'm trying to tell you, 15 years ago, if you heard somebody say something like this, you would think you were watching Saturday Night Live or Mad TV, or that's old, never mind, or something that's just crazy, because there's no more common sense. 00:29:45.419 --> 00:29:49.278 Not only is there no truth or truth is under fire. 00:29:49.278 --> 00:29:53.075 Common sense has been flushed down the toilet. 00:29:53.075 --> 00:30:09.419 To oppose my truth is to oppose me, and if you disagree with me, then you're dangerous and I need to warn everybody else about you. 00:30:09.419 --> 00:30:15.096 You're a bigot, you're homophobic, you're intolerant, you're a jerk, you're oppressive. 00:30:15.096 --> 00:30:18.271 I'm a victim because of you. 00:30:18.271 --> 00:30:23.222 I wonder why people are quiet. 00:30:23.222 --> 00:30:24.377 I don't say much. 00:30:24.377 --> 00:30:27.361 But is that what we're supposed to be doing? 00:30:27.361 --> 00:30:29.539 Absolutely not. 00:30:29.539 --> 00:30:31.140 This is our moment, guys. 00:30:31.140 --> 00:30:35.545 This is the time when the darkest of dark happens. 00:30:35.545 --> 00:30:40.445 The smallest of lights can dispel it instantly. 00:30:40.445 --> 00:30:45.340 This one's a hard one to get over. 00:30:45.454 --> 00:30:46.480 I don't trust religion. 00:30:46.480 --> 00:30:47.898 I've been heard in church. 00:30:47.898 --> 00:30:51.406 I'm a good person anyway. 00:30:51.406 --> 00:30:54.027 I'm a moral person. 00:30:54.027 --> 00:30:54.894 I'm a good person. 00:30:54.894 --> 00:30:56.028 The Bible isn't reliable. 00:30:56.028 --> 00:30:57.723 Too many translations. 00:30:57.723 --> 00:31:04.848 I like what Jesus said, but I don't like what Paul said, and the Old Testament have no clue what that's about. 00:31:04.848 --> 00:31:10.990 These are things that the culture is crying out. 00:31:12.704 --> 00:31:13.354 So what does God say? 00:31:13.354 --> 00:31:20.049 God says that absolute truth is a person who wrote a book of truth, john 14.6,. 00:31:20.049 --> 00:31:22.097 Jesus said to him I am the way, the truth and the life. 00:31:22.097 --> 00:31:32.951 No one comes to the Father except through me. 00:31:32.951 --> 00:31:34.520 This is not a religion. 00:31:34.520 --> 00:31:37.065 This is not something that's not true. 00:31:37.065 --> 00:31:40.634 This is not something that's not true. 00:31:40.634 --> 00:31:41.277 It's a religion. 00:31:41.277 --> 00:31:45.923 This is not something that's just been passed down from generation to generation. 00:31:46.015 --> 00:32:02.844 There was a person who stepped out into history, who was God and who was man, and who lived a perfect life, who took the sins of the world upon himself, who was nailed to a tree that he created, who breathed his last breath when saying Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing. 00:32:02.844 --> 00:32:03.858 It is finished. 00:32:03.858 --> 00:32:17.848 Who rose from the dead on the third day, who ascended into heaven not many days from then and who will return to this earth very soon to make all things right like the way they're supposed to be. 00:32:17.848 --> 00:32:23.939 This is absolute truth and his name is Jesus. 00:32:23.939 --> 00:32:29.844 Hebrews 4.12 goes on to say about the word of God. 00:32:29.844 --> 00:32:45.119 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart the word of God. 00:32:48.335 --> 00:32:53.602 You know what is the saddest truth, in my opinion, in the culture and time that we're living in? 00:32:53.602 --> 00:32:56.924 It's not anything that the world is doing or thinking about. 00:32:56.924 --> 00:33:02.123 It's the fact that the church of Jesus Christ is basically biblically illiterate. 00:33:02.123 --> 00:33:08.710 Very few people read the Bible from Sunday to Sunday. 00:33:08.710 --> 00:33:14.805 Very few people can quote any portion of scripture. 00:33:14.805 --> 00:33:19.045 Very few people take time to meditate on scripture. 00:33:19.045 --> 00:33:26.923 Very few people are actively pursuing a relationship with God based on what the Bible teaches. 00:33:27.894 --> 00:33:48.461 My friends, this is a ploy of the enemy and we must, if no one else, we must, choose daily to find ourselves hidden and buried in the word of God and I say that about myself first. 00:33:48.461 --> 00:33:55.038 We don't get to tell our creator how his creation should work. 00:33:55.038 --> 00:33:58.727 We don't. 00:33:58.727 --> 00:34:05.532 It's insane to think that we, as creation, have a greater skill level or understanding. 00:34:05.532 --> 00:34:07.875 It's been so many years since we were created. 00:34:07.875 --> 00:34:14.467 Man has just evolved in such tremendous ways that we know better than God does. 00:34:14.467 --> 00:34:17.434 It's not up for our interpretation. 00:34:18.746 --> 00:34:19.614 I love what God said to Job. 00:34:19.614 --> 00:34:25.614 Job a man, a righteous man, who suffered many things and had lots of questions for God. 00:34:25.614 --> 00:34:34.409 And when God showed up to talk to Job, he was a little bit strong. 00:34:34.409 --> 00:34:40.764 Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? 00:34:40.764 --> 00:34:46.036 Tell me if you have the understanding I could. 00:34:46.036 --> 00:34:49.661 If it were me, I could just add some sarcasm in this. 00:34:52.375 --> 00:34:53.641 God's not passive, aggressive. 00:34:53.641 --> 00:34:54.800 Aren't you thankful for that? 00:34:54.800 --> 00:34:57.842 Who delivered its measurements? 00:34:57.842 --> 00:34:59.199 Surely you know. 00:34:59.199 --> 00:35:03.722 Or who stretched the line upon it? 00:35:03.722 --> 00:35:06.201 On what were its bases sunk? 00:35:06.201 --> 00:35:07.945 Or who laid its cornerstone? 00:35:07.945 --> 00:35:25.309 When the morning stars sing together and all the sons of God shouted for joy, god is sovereign, he's the creator and he gets to make the rules, and it's our job to follow them. 00:35:25.309 --> 00:35:39.166 By the grace of God, by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and to teach them to our children, to our grandchildren and to everyone that we have the opportunity and the privilege of speaking to in our lives. 00:35:43.260 --> 00:35:52.014 Satan God also says Satan is the father of all lives and he is the promoter of cultural agendas that are in his opposition to God's way of doing things. 00:35:52.014 --> 00:35:58.034 We are not, like I said before, we are not fighting against flesh and blood. 00:35:58.034 --> 00:36:03.847 The agenda of this world and of this culture is not man-made. 00:36:03.847 --> 00:36:06.014 It's not a modern invention. 00:36:06.014 --> 00:36:38.782 If you don't believe me, go back through time and let's talk about Sodom and Gomorrah If you think things are crazy in our world, two angels come down from heaven and the people, the men of the town, want to sleep with the angels, and so Lot, wanting to hear the voice of God through the angels, protects the angels and sends his daughters out so that they can have their way with the daughters, which they don't really want to do because they're men wanting to have sex with men or angels or anything except for with women. 00:36:38.782 --> 00:36:42.481 That actually occurred. 00:36:42.481 --> 00:36:50.034 What about the day of Noah, where there was wickedness rampant throughout the whole earth? 00:36:50.034 --> 00:36:52.202 It took him a hundred years to build the ark. 00:36:52.202 --> 00:36:52.483 Because? 00:36:52.483 --> 00:36:52.784 Why? 00:36:52.784 --> 00:36:54.242 Because he took preach breaks. 00:36:54.242 --> 00:36:55.974 All the time he preached like crazy. 00:36:55.974 --> 00:36:58.014 He preached his guts out. 00:36:58.014 --> 00:37:04.760 He preached and preached and preached until finally the day came when God said I'm closing the door. 00:37:07.141 --> 00:37:18.422 We may have modern ways of portraying things and explaining things and actively being involved in sinful types of scenarios, and everybody can see it instantly whether it's real or not real. 00:37:18.422 --> 00:37:22.786 But sin is sin is sin. 00:37:22.786 --> 00:37:39.471 Depravity is no different from day one to day, whatever we're at right now, because it's a wicked devil, satan, who is behind it all, and his agenda is the agenda that culture is embracing. 00:37:39.471 --> 00:37:47.202 It's not man-made, it didn't come from California, many of you would say it did. 00:37:47.202 --> 00:37:52.438 This is an agenda of Satan and his whole attempt. 00:37:52.438 --> 00:38:14.465 He cannot get to God and so he attempts to mess with his creation, to in some way take something from God Cannot wait until the day when he is sent away forever. 00:38:18.278 --> 00:38:26.985 We were all slaves to sin before Jesus and it's only by the grace of God that we can experience love, truth and freedom. 00:38:26.985 --> 00:38:37.034 Before we cast stones of our own, we better remind ourselves that it is by grace that we've been saved through faith, and this is not our own doing. 00:38:37.034 --> 00:38:41.782 It is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 00:38:41.782 --> 00:38:50.844 We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 00:38:50.844 --> 00:38:56.402 That's the truth, and the truth makes us free. 00:38:56.402 --> 00:38:58.398 John 8.31,. 00:38:58.398 --> 00:39:08.144 Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. 00:39:08.144 --> 00:39:11.704 Greek there actually indicates an aggressive word. 00:39:11.704 --> 00:39:14.222 It will make you free. 00:39:14.222 --> 00:39:21.025 A new creation, old things have passed away and all things have become brand new. 00:39:21.025 --> 00:39:30.784 How many times in a week do we display the new creation in our lives? 00:39:30.784 --> 00:39:34.360 And if we're not, why not? 00:39:34.360 --> 00:39:41.034 But this isn't about us, right, it's about them. 00:39:41.034 --> 00:39:42.501 It's about the culture. 00:39:42.501 --> 00:39:44.661 It's about the way that we address the culture. 00:39:45.034 --> 00:39:47.342 So let's talk about how to talk about truth. 00:39:47.342 --> 00:39:51.864 First of all, god has helped us in so many ways. 00:39:51.864 --> 00:39:54.342 We can appeal to a person's conscience. 00:39:54.342 --> 00:40:02.224 Although all of us have been born in sin, which is true you do not have to teach a child to throw a fit. 00:40:02.224 --> 00:40:19.664 And if you who have babies in your life understand that fits happen, don't say you do not have to teach them to say no, you do not have to teach them to throw their spoon on the floor a thousand times while laughing maniacally. 00:40:19.664 --> 00:40:21.360 I'm sorry. 00:40:21.360 --> 00:40:22.818 It's been a few years. 00:40:22.818 --> 00:40:26.974 I've been to counseling, but I'm not sure you'll do that. 00:40:26.994 --> 00:40:28.338 No, I mean, it's true though, isn't it? 00:40:28.338 --> 00:40:38.777 We're all born, and yet there's this conscience that God has given each person that, basically, on a basic, very basic level, you can understand. 00:40:38.777 --> 00:40:41.643 This is right and this is wrong. 00:40:41.643 --> 00:40:45.989 It's called a conscience, and in Romans one. 00:40:45.989 --> 00:40:56.934 It tells us about this, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who, by their unrighteousness, suppress the truth. 00:40:56.934 --> 00:41:13.233 For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them, for his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. 00:41:13.233 --> 00:41:16.773 So they are without excuse. 00:41:19.445 --> 00:41:29.333 People say all the time God isn't fair, god is just, god is right, god is perfect and he gives every person a chance. 00:41:29.333 --> 00:41:45.949 You look out, you wake up in the morning, right before daybreak, and you step outside with your cup of whatever it is you're drinking, and you look around you and you listen to the sounds of creation in the morning as they awaken each day to a new day. 00:41:45.949 --> 00:41:51.137 You don't hear songs of sadness or sorrow. 00:41:51.137 --> 00:42:02.152 Typically, you hear songs of the morning from birds and bees and all kinds of creatures and the wind in the leaves, as the leaves change colors. 00:42:02.152 --> 00:42:14.940 God is beautiful and he's created a beautiful world that is tainted so much by sin, and yet what remains tells us there is a God. 00:42:15.425 --> 00:42:29.393 There's got to be something greater than I am that's in control of this, because there's no way that we can simulate this whole thing, the way that it happens on a daily basis, weekly, monthly, you know seasons, all of the stuff that happens. 00:42:29.393 --> 00:42:32.510 How in the world do you continue to breathe without thinking about it? 00:42:32.510 --> 00:42:40.143 There is a God and creation. 00:42:40.143 --> 00:42:41.650 It's called general revelation. 00:42:41.650 --> 00:42:42.929 That's a theological term. 00:42:42.929 --> 00:42:48.376 Our conscience and creation scream out there is a God. 00:42:48.376 --> 00:43:01.632