"The Truth" Tagged Sermons

JESUS BROUGHT A SWORD

The sword of which He spoke is the sharpest of all implements of conflict: THE TRUTH. And those who hold it will find themselves hunted by evil. Chuck Swindoll
“Much of our Christian life is nothing more than a cheap anesthetic to deaden the pain of an empty life.” Lewis Sperry Chafer (founder of Dallas Th. Seminary)
“May not the inadequacy of much of our spiritual experience be traced back to our habit of skipping through the corridor of the kingdom like children in the marketplace, always chattering about everything, but learning the true value of nothing.” A.W. Tozer
John MacArthur in his New Testament Commentary on Matthew is quoting Mel White, the author of the book Deceived:
“Walter Mondale wrote that the pastor was an “inspiration to us all.” The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare cited the pastor’s outstanding contribution. We are told “he knew how to inspire hope.” He was committed to people in need, he counseled prisoners and juvenile delinquents. He stared a job placement center; he opened rest homes and homes for the retarded; he had a health clinic, he organized a vocational training center; he provided free legal aid; he founded a community center; he preached about God. He even claimed to cast out demons, do miracles, and heal.”
British pastor Andrew Murray in his book: Abide in Christ: Thoughts on the Blessed Life of Fellowship with the Son of God (1864):
“It is to be feared that there are many earnest followers of Jesus from whom the meaning of (abiding) is very much hidden. While trusting in their Savior for pardon and for help and seeking to some extent to obey Him, they have hardly realized to what closeness of union, to what intimacy of fellowship He invited them when He said, “Abide in Me.” This is not only an unspeakable loss to themselves, but the church and the world suffer in what they lose.”
“The focus of a Christian’s activity is not to work hard enough to make fruit, but to keep his connection to Jesus Christ clean and strong. One way to do that is to absorb the teaching of God’s Word, the 66 books of the Bible. Read God’s Word…..think about it, apply it, talk about it with others, ask questions, commit sections of it to memory. Strength and productivity come from staying connected. However, according to Jesus, failing to remain connected to the vine leads to tragic consequences. Someone who fails to abide is someone trying to transform his or her own character in order to produce Christlike qualities without maintaining a connection to Christ. And that’s futile; it never works. In fact, it’s a perfect plan for drying up and withering away.” Chuck Swindoll

Under The INFLUENCE

WE CAN LIVE OUR LIFE UNDER TWO KINDS OF INFLUENCES. And whatever we choose, one or the other, will not just have a major impact how we live, how we behave, how we interact with one another, but also HOW WE INFLUENCE ONE ANOTHER.
John 6:63 says it is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.
In other words, the Holy Spirit makes life worth living. The flesh, this world, and all religious activities apart from the Spirit of God are of no help at all.
This whole world is under the influence of the wicked one. Jesus introduces to us the ruler of this world as the Father of lies. In other words, the whole world is under the influence of the master LIAR. We are being bombarded daily with news on TV, Internet, Facebook, text messages, phone calls, magazines and books produced by people that are under the influence of the ruler of this world. They are being used by Satan to conceal the truth, to hide the truth, to distort the truth, to make the lie look like the truth. Notice have Jesus introduces the Holy Spirit as the SPIRIT OF TRUTH, which the world cannot receive. Those who are of the world are being influenced by the ruler of this world and are unable to see the truth.
The Holy Spirit was in control of Jesus life. It is this same Holy Spirit whom the Father sent to us as our helper to make us see the truth.
The world cannot see the truth. They are under the influence of the ruler of this world and life and act accordingly. They have given the ruler of this world control over their lives. The child of God is confronted with this truth and must make a decision to GIVE TOTAL CONTROL OF THEIR LIFE OVER TO THE SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD. You can decide to give some control to the Holy Spirit, and leave the rest under the influence of the ruler of this world. Such a Christian life is a very hard life indeed. Full of worldly influence, full of schisms, battles of confusion, anxieties, depressions and despair.
Notice that no one had to force these new converts to read the bible, to show up for fellowship, to participate in a meal together, or to encourage them to pray.
WHY? Because a Holy Spirit controlled Christian does not have to be forced to read the Bible or to pray. The Holy Spirit gives them the understanding of truth and the more they understand the more hungry they become. Remember the Old Testament saints proclaimed HOW SWEET GOD’S WORD IS TO THEM. You come under the influence of the WORD OF GOD because the Holy Spirit gives you understanding, which allows you to apply the Word of God in your life. You can literally see it at work. SUCH ACTIVITY GLORIFIES JESUS.
We need to come under the influence of the Holy Spirit, the one who searches all things, the deep things of God, the hidden things of God. And it is then when we surrender control of our life to the Holy Spirit, that we are able to influence the world around us by letting His light shine through us. There is just no other way.

The Objective of TRUE Warfare

The objective of that warfare was very clear. Get rid of the promised Messiah, the one who would break the chains of bondage in the lives of people; the one who came to set the captives free. There is another spiritual warfare going on that is not primarily focused on spiritual beings, but ON OUR MIND. The Apostle Paul was exposing an entirely different warfare that was raging especially in the church at Corinth.
People crept into the church at Corinth that were false teachers, accusing Paul of living according to the flesh. They said that when personally present among them, he would not have the courage to confront them, but once gone away, he then would write them a strong rebuke in form of a letter. They said that such a person is a coward. They accused this man of God to be motivated by evil self-interest, interested in money and power.
TWO IMPORTANT POINTS IN SATAN’S DOCTRINE WERE ANNOUNCED BY HIM IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN WHEN HE FIRST APPROACHED THE WOMEN.
First, there was a bold denial of a statement God Himself made
Second, there was Satan’s assurance that if she would act independent from God, they would be as gods.
How can we take down such fortresses? Remember, the Objective of true warfare is to make people change the way they think. And such can only be done BY USING THE WEAPON, THE SPIRITUAL WEAPON GOD HAS GIVEN US.
THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, THE WORD OF GOD. IT’S ONLY THE TRUTH THAT WILL SET US FREE FROM OUR OWN PRISON, FROM OUR OWN FORTRESSES. They either become our prisons and eventually our tombs, or they need to be demolished by the Truth, the word of the living God.

Blessed Are the Balanced Ones

Worship has become the playground or the battleground. However, the Bible teaches us that true worship should be done on HOLY GROUND. The fundamental challenge we all face regarding worship is to find the right balance; a balance that makes worship a blessing instead of a curse. Lucifer exalted himself and was humiliated, while Jesus humbled himself and was highly exalted.
The problem we face regarding balanced worship is not a generational problem, young vs. old, IT IS A THEOLOGICAL PROBLEM. God is love, yet he also is holy. In other words, God wants us to delight in Him and express our love to Him, but He also wants us to remember that He alone is the Lord. Thomas Merton said: “The professed Christian who uses God’s love as an excuse to sin and violate God’s holiness is living on the doorstep of hell.”

Do You Understand The World You Live In?

For Judas, truth did not matter at all, money did. He loved money more than he loved Jesus. Judas believed that the world he lived in offered him more than what Jesus had to offer. He did not know nor did he understand the world he was living in. That’s not an excuse for his action, it is simply an honest evaluation of what influenced this man when making life-decision. The world we live in evaluates life-styles not based upon if it’s true or false, but rather by asking IS IT FAIR? How do you live? The World we live in has replaced Truth with fairness. The World we live in has replaced Truth with mysticism. Jesus prayed for unity among his true followers. Not between his followers and those who have replaced truth with fairness or truth with mysticism.