Saturday, October 30, 2021

Reforomation

 

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).

 Jesus Christ, your truth and freedom, is also your continuing hope. “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My words, he will never see death.” (John 8:51)

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.

 

Words-1,490
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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