Truth
Almighty God, gracious Lord, pour out Your Holy Spirit
on Your faithful people. Keep them steadfast in Your grace and truth, protect
and comfort them in all temptations, defend them against all enemies of Your
Word, and bestow on the Church Your saving peace; through Jesus Christ, Your
Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now
and forever.[1]
Truth for
man is so elusive; that many, like Pilate the Governor wonder what truth really
is. He asks sarcastically as Jesus stood before him at trial; “What is truth?” (John 18:38) There is
still widespread skepticism concerning the understanding of “truth.”
There are
various kinds of truth in our world, it seems. Identity is the truth of description.
A circle is round because we define a circle as round. You might say, “A circle is rectangular in shape,” and
all you’ve done is confused us. Words only work because we agree on what they
mean.
Then
there’s Historic truth, which is an
event that actually happened. We know it happened because it left behind
evidence, witnesses and other proof.
Personal experience truth, which is a non-negotiable
personal opinion, is the truth that only you and you alone can determine.
How you
reacted to what happened can only be seen and reported by you. Hence, the
phrase, “such this is my truth.”
Finally,
consider cultural truth. This truth
can change. This is the truth of, “people
like us do things like this.” Which is true, until it’s not. Then, people
like us, do something else.
What is
often proclaimed as truth today is not what it was yesterday…so some question,
who knows what it will be tomorrow?
We have
no idea what tomorrow will bring. Yet, no matter what lies ahead, the LORD is
with you. He is faithful.
Today,
you might have a broken heart, but not a broken life. You might be going
through the aftermath of a broken dream, but not a broken future. The LORD is
with you. He has promised to carry you through every circumstance in every
season of life. This is a promise; truth the LORD proclaims to you in the
words of our Psalm for this day; “God is
our refuge and strength…the LORD of hosts is with us, The Lord of hosts is with
us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. (Psalm 46:1, 11)
In our
Gospel Jesus is dealing with the most profound ground of truth concerning
Himself and life.
Jesus
tells us two realities...
1. What truth is - “If you continue in My Word you
are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth.” Vv.31-32
A. Truth
is proclaimed by the word of Christ; He is the truth. Though it has only two
letters, it is a big word. Jesus says we will know the truth and be free “if” we continue in His word.
B. The
truth of Christ frees you from the Law. Christ frees you from the bondage of
sin by His death on the cross.
C. The
Lord’s promise, found in His Word, reminds you that salvation is a gift from
God, and you receive the benefit of this gift through faith. Remain and persist in the unwavering truth of
the gospel of your Lord.
When
earth gives way and your footing in this world becomes uncertain, the Lord is
with you.
The
answer to religious controversies that take place in this generation is the
same answer that other generations have had to rely upon during their moments
of struggle.
Based on
God’s Word confess the truth. Rely upon
His grace to preserve you.
No, we cannot
believe in our Lord Jesus Christ through our own reason and strength. The Holy
Spirit calls, gathers, and enlightens us to the true saving faith through the
gospel of Jesus Christ. Trust in Jesus
to be your redeemer from sin, death, and the devil.
Transition:
Not only does Jesus tell us what the truth is – He tells us what the truth will
do.
2. What this truth does – “the truth will make you free.”
When Pilate asked the Savior what truth was, Jesus gave no
answer. Yet Jesus defines and specifies the truth. It is in His word, for He
spoke God’s Word. As long as we hold to the word of Jesus, we will be His
disciples and will know the truth.
This is not just any “truth.”
Not a truth of science, politics, or economics. It is truth personified and spoken
by Christ.
It is the truth of life; the truth of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who said, “I am the way, the truth and
the life.” (John14:6)
How does Jesus make you free? In the Old Testament, before
Jesus came, the high priest performed an annual ceremony on what the people
called the Day of Atonement that symbolized the LORD taking our rejection.
(Leviticus 16:7-22)
More than any other feast, the Day of Atonement predicted and
projected into the future Jesus' work on the cross.
For the ceremony, the priest took two goats. He sacrificed
one and sprinkled its blood on and before the mercy seat as an atonement for
sin.
He took the other, the scapegoat, and laid both his hands on
its head. Then he confessed all the iniquities, transgressions and sins of the
children of Israel, symbolically putting them on the goat's head, and sent it
away into the wilderness.
Too often, when rejected, we try to make someone else our
scapegoat. We blame our mother, father, a sibling, our boss or someone else.
But Jesus is your scapegoat. He took all the rejection you
will ever experience on His own head, making you "accepted in the Beloved." (Ephesians 1:6)
When you experience loneliness and pain, you can look to
Jesus because He experienced that kind of suffering. No one was there to help
Him on the cross. He bore them all alone for you.
This inspired Isaiah to write; “Surely, he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we
esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for
our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the
chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds, we are healed.”
(Isaiah 53:4-5)
Every hardship that was once yours in now His. He knows your
temptations. He withstood every one of them. And in His suffering and death,
your sin became His own. Your troubles His. Your burdens His. Your weakness
His. Your fears and troubles His. Your greatest misdeeds and embarrassments
became His.
You need not to listen to foreign voices, which suggest you
find peace within yourself. Less drama, fewer worries, less stress, and
positive thoughts. Your peace comes not from within. Your peace comes from
Jesus, the Christ, the prince of peace. It is a peace which the world about
simply cannot give.
You, too, can trust
Christ during your hardest and most difficult times. Carrying rejection will
only cause you depression and loss. Yet David teaches, "In Your presence is fullness of joy."
(Psalm 16:11) And as Nehemiah wrote, "The
joy of the Lord is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:10) Give your burden to Jesus; He carried it for
you!
And, in exchange for all that troubles you the LORD gives you
Christ’s perfection, righteousness, holiness and purity. Redeemed, restored,
forgiven. That is who you are in Christ. ”There
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans
8:1)
Jesus is the Truth, as He clearly teaches, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6). Knowing the
Truth will sets you at liberty—free from sin, free from condemnation, and free
from death as St. Paul taught, “But now
that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit
you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life…There is therefore
now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the
Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”
(Romans 6:22; 8:1–2).
Live in this hope. Reformation Day reminds us how we live in
hope, namely, by daily contrition for the sins that cling to us in this world
and in the firm faith that God continually forgives us our sins for Christ’s
sake. Now you are free. Free to worship God and serve your neighbor in love.
Passive Sentences –1 %
Readability –79.5 %
Reading Level – 5.0
Luther's Seal, copyright © Ed Riojas, Higher Things
[1] Collect for Reformation, Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. St. Louis
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