Tom Mason

It is my prayer that when you come on Sunday morning, you don't just come for the word, but you come for the whole service. Did you notice the songs that were sung this morning?

How they pointed us to God and how it is that we are to wait on Him. I say it's easy to wait on Him here in church. How easy is it on Monday and Tuesday? That's the thing that He wants to teach us, is how it is that we can wait on Him who we are and what it is that we are to do in that waiting. So I'm going to ask if you would turn with me to 2 John.

And we're going to read four verses. Because I believe that John gives us a clinic here on a word. And we're going to look at that word today.

2 John, there's only one chapter. So we're talking about the epistle of John over next to Revelation. And he says, As the elder to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth. And not only I, but also all those who know the truth. Because of the truth which remains in us and will be with us forever. Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in true love. I was overjoyed to find some of your children walking in the truth.

Just as we have received a commandment from the Father. Four verses. John uses the word truth five times. In these four verses. The word truth, the Greek word is alethema. Used 110 times in the New Testament. John himself uses it 45 times. 25 times in the Gospel. And 20 times in his letters. 1, 2, and 3, John. It is used in 23 of the 27 New Testament books. And 107 times of the 110 times that it is used in the New Testament. It is translated truth. John says he's the elder. The apostle. The one who's writing.

To the chosen lady and her children. Now some commentators will tell you this is a personal letter written to some Christian woman. Others will tell you it's a church that he's writing to. And he's referring to the children. I'm going to let you decide on that today. Because we're going to move to the word truth. He says whom I love in the truth. What does the word truth mean? It means what is true in any manner under consideration. Let me repeat that.

It means what is true in any manner under consideration. That's what he's talking about. I love you in the truth. He says I love you in a way that is pure and holy. In a way that God would be honored. But he says not only I but all who know the truth. So every Christian who knows the truth of God also love those who are in God. And then he uses that. Let me explain this word.

He says because of the truth which remains in us and will be with us forever. Now whenever you see that conjunction there both of those things are going to happen. He says it's going to remain in us forever and it will be with us forever. And then he says to us grace and truth. Grace, mercy, and peace be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Son of the Father. In true love. Again he's bringing us back to that word truth. That is true under anything that is being considered. So when we think of the truth that's what we have to think of.

When we look at this word it helps us to understand something. Now anything under consideration. Think of the most simplest thing in our lives. One plus one equals two. Okay now we all just take that for granted. Do you know that there was a two and a half page calculus formula done to prove that one plus one equals two. Now if you think that was bad that wasn't the end of it. This guy, two guys named Russell and Whitehead they did a book 362 pages to prove that one plus one equals two. So when we're talking about that that is true anything under consideration that's who we Christians are.

And that's how it is that we are to reach out to one another. Again as we look at this word what is true in any matter under consideration.

John points to the importance of this word truth. Why? Why is it so important? Because it's going to be in us forever and it is with us forever. And when we have that then we come to know the things that are a truth. Notice John uses this word here.

He says whom I love in the truth and not only I but also all those who know the truth. Because the truth which remains in us and will be with us. John says he loves in truth. And when we see this every Christian, every Christian should love in the truth. Now how do you love in the truth? Everything that you do from the time you leave here until you get back again is to be done in truth. Someone asks you a question in the street you are to answer them in truth. I was reading last week and came across this quote by J.C.

Rowe about the truth. It says and I quote truth is more important to a church than peace. Now let me read that again.

Truth is more important to a church than peace. Because see we hear a lot about peace. Let's be at peace at all costs some would say. No truth is more important than peace. By the way J.C. Rowe was born on May 10, 1816. He died on June 10, 1900. Now why do I tell you that? I want you to know this man has been gone a long time. But every time I see one of his quotes I want to read it because notice he didn't quote a scripture here.

But he gave us a biblical principle. Truth is more important to a church than peace is. Now let me fast forward and bring us to today and I want to bring up a guy that some of you may know.

Raphael Warnock. The senator from Georgia. He is the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. And a senator. Yes, today you can do both of those things. He was on TV and he was asked a question. And he quoted a scripture. He said, Jesus said, if you know the truth, the truth will set you free. And by the way the word that he used the truth is the same word we are talking about right now.

So this is what he says about the scripture. And that's a true statement. Jesus said that. If you know the truth, then the truth will set you free. Then Warnock was asked to give an explanation of why he is where he is today. And he was told by the person, you are the most perfect person to answer this question since you are both a senator and a pastor. So he went on to talk about being a black kid raised up in the south and coming to Georgia and becoming a senator. And then therefore there was a Jewish guy that came on as a senator at the same time.

And then he said something that had no truth in it. He says, I would say to you that Martin Luther King and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Since said in heaven that they stood up and gave each other a high five. Now what's untrue about that? Remember that word I mentioned, rabbi? When you are a rabbi, that means you are against Christ and what he did on the cross. So there is no rabbi in heaven giving high fives to nobody. By the way, nobody in heaven giving high fives. Now that's a good political statement.

But he just told us in the same conversation that if you know the truth, the truth will set you free. And yet he is going to come up and tell us something that is not true. We as Christians must stick to what is true. By the way, the senator that I just mentioned, he was born in 1969 and he is still living today. So when we have these things and when we see them, you and I, when we are asked a question, we must answer that question with truth. For the Christian, since the truth will be in us and the truth will be with us forever, we should be very familiar with the truth.

And the way to do that is by looking at what the scripture says about the truth. As a matter of fact, Pilate in John chapter 18 once said to Jesus, You are a king then. And Jesus answered, You say that I am a king? In fact, the reason that I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. That's our word there. He says the reason I came into the world is to testify to the truth. Then he goes on, Jesus goes on and concludes, Everyone on the side of truth listens to me. Who do you listen to?

Who do I listen to? That's the question that we have to ask. So Pilate would go on and ask another question, John 18 38, What is truth? Wow, what a question. The world still asks that question today. Some go so far as to say there is no absolute truth. What's wrong with that statement? If there is no absolute truth, that is an absolute statement of itself. Okay, so that's a problem. So you and I as Christians must come to understand what the truth is. Tim spoke to us this morning from the Old Testament.

So Psalm 119 60 says, The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous ordinance is everlasting. The sum. If you have a math problem and you're going to add it up, it doesn't matter how long that column is, the sum is what all of that means. Everything that God has, everything it sums up to be is truth. And those are the things that we are to look for and to look at.

Then the New Testament. Jesus would come on the scene. He would live for three and a half years and that night before he's arrested. He's dealing just with the 11. Judas has gone out so he can come back later and betray him. But in John chapter 17, Jesus is making his high priestly prayer. Verses 13 to 19, Jesus talking to the father would say, But now I come to you, and these things I speak in the world, so that they may have my joy made full in them. Talking about the 11. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in truth. Your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, I also send them into the world. For their sake I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. You and I, as Christians, have been sanctified in the truth. When we look at where we are today, it's because God has brought us to where we are by his truth.

It doesn't matter what's going on in the world today. It does not matter. What matters is that we know where we are going, and we are in him, and we will be in him forever, and his truth is with us forever. Therefore, we will never be without it, so it doesn't matter what is going on in the world. There are some ways that you and I ought to act, because we are in the truth. And the scripture tells us how it is that we are. Let's look at 2 Timothy 2, verses 8 and 9.

He says here, Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead. Wow. You mean you have to remind Christians to remember Jesus Christ? Yes, you do. And that's why he lays this out here. He goes on to tell us that he is a descendant of David, according to my gospel, for which I suffered hardship, even to imprisonment, as a criminal. But the word of God is not in prison. You know the problem with us Christians today? The word of God is in prison for us, because we refuse to speak it. We refuse to share it with others.

He says in John chapter 17, Just as you have sent me, I have sent out them. And guess what that translates to in Matthew 28, 19 and 20. All of us are to go into the world and share the gospel with those who are lost. I saw a writing the other day, don't remember where it was at, but it said, You are not obligated to listen, but I am obligated to share it. We need to consider that. We have an obligation to share this great gospel. Some of you know that Don and I was up in Washington and Oregon last week.

We flew up and then we got to rent a car and did a road trip type thing. So we are coming back to take the car. It's going to take us three days, I think, to get back to the airport. So we're driving along, and Donna says, Why don't we get off at this off ramp here? And we got off, and we was looking for some places and wasn't on that site. So Donna says, Why don't you take a right right here? So we took a right, and as soon as we went around the corner, we realized that about a year ago, we had been in this same park.

So we take care of things that we can't really take care of, but there's a couple over at the table and they're having a little picnic. And so while I'm waiting for Donna, I just kind of drifted over by them, and the guy mentioned to me that they were from Idaho, and they were on their way to the University of Washington. And he said, We don't have the type of cancer treatment that I need in Idaho, so we are going over here to the university that we might get this taken care of. He says, I'm 80 years old.

And I have to tell you, the guy did not look 80 years old. He says, And I know I will not be here forever. And I'm thinking, What a great lead-in. So I say to the guy, Tell me about how you prepared for eternity. So he looks at me, and by this time Donna has caught up with this. He says, Do you believe in eternity? I said, Yes, I do. He said, Well, I don't. I said, Well, Jesus Christ promised us that we would spend eternity in one place or the other. Oh, do you believe in Jesus Christ? I said, Yes, I do.

He said, I do not. He said, Let me tell you why. He said, When I was 16 years old, I was raised in the Catholic church, and I went to confession. And there's a guy there who sinned more than I do, and he's telling me I need to confess to him I've never been to confession since then. So the Bible that you believe in, I believe was written by men. I said, That's not what the Bible says.

The Bible explains that. Now he's talking over me to tell me he doesn't believe that. So when Donna and I are about to leave, He said, By the way, I want to show you something. He had on a shirt, and he had a t-shirt on under that. He reaches inside the t-shirt collar and pulls out a chain with a cross on it. He said, I hope you are right. That's why I wear this. Now, by the way, his hoping that I'm right has nothing to do with his salvation. But here's a guy who has said he's rejected everything in the scripture, but he's wearing a cross around his neck because he's hoping that I'm right.

Don't you be hoping that anybody is right. Share that word with people that they might come to know who Christ is. Now, that's all Donna and I had an opportunity to share with the guy. We get in the car. We headed on to Eugene, Oregon, or wherever else we're going. They're going out to the university. Eighty years old. His wife looked older than he was. Somewhere in that same age group. Two people on their way to hell and blaming somebody else. But the Bible is clear. They are in this position because they have ignored the truth of God's word.

And that's the thing that you and I ought to come to grips with. To know that you and I have a way that we ought to live. And in living that way, we ought to bring the truth out to people. Just as Christ has been sent into the world, you and I have been sent out to get this great gospel out. Jesus said in John 14 6, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. Just a few weeks ago, I heard our pastor say, if you don't get Jesus right, nothing else matters. And by the way, that's a true statement.

If you don't get Jesus right, nothing else that you do will matter. And so we have to keep on remembering that. The Bible encourages us not to be like the Gentiles. Because see, we are Christians. We've been called into the truth. Do not live like the Gentiles. Do not practice like the Gentiles. In Ephesians chapter 4, starting in verse 17 through 24, he goes on to say that they are in their way. And they are in that way in a way that leads them to more and more sin. You are not to be that way. Because of why?

Because you have been brought to Christ in the truth. And that's why you and I ought to come to this point of understanding who we are and what it is that we have been called to do. In 1 Timothy chapter 3, verses 14 and 15, he says, I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before a long time or shortly. But in case I am delayed, I am writing so that you may know how one is to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the support of truth.

That's why we're here. So we might be given directions of how it is that we are to live our lives as we leave this place and go and come in with people, then come back here and get refilled again that we might go out and share again with those who do not know the truth. Now, as Christians, we ought to come to the Lord's table. And when we do that, everything has been made so convenient for us. We now have everything in a little package. We can peel off the top and get the bread. We can peel off the next level and get the juice.

We don't do the real wine here. But this is to mean something. This must mean something to you. In 1 Corinthians 11, verse 23, we'll start. He says, I have received from the Lord that which I was delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, in the night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body. Do this in remembrance of me. Do this in remembrance of me. Now, this isn't a time when we try to teach someone what it is about Christ that they are to remember.

By the way, this word, remembrance, is only used four times in Scripture. In Luke, chapter 22, verse 19, when Jesus spoke to us. Twice when Paul uses it here in 1 Corinthians 11. And then in Hebrews, as he is talking about how Christ came to give himself up for us. He says, the sacrifices that went on before that, they never could pay the way. Why? Because the bulls and the goats can never satisfy sin. But Christ, when he came, he made an offering on our behalf. So, when he says, this is my body which was broken, this little symbol here represents that body of Christ.

So, by the way, parents, let me just share this with you in that our age, our grandkids, if you have them with you and they haven't made a decision for Christ, don't let them take one of these.

If you are sitting here and you have not made a decision for Christ, don't take one of these because, you know, I don't want everybody to see me not take one. No, Paul goes on to explain to the Christians, some of you are weak and some of you have been sick, some of you even sleep. The word is death. Because you have taken this wrongly or unworthily as the Old Testament. I'm sorry, the Old King James uses that term. By the way, the only two times in the Scripture that that word is used is right here in 1 Corinthians.

Do not do this in an unworthy manner. What would be an unworthy manner? If you'd never received Christ, you would be taking this in an unworthy manner. If you are here and you have something against someone else, that would be an unworthy manner for you to take this. You need to make it clear between you and that person that everything is right from your standpoint. Now, you have no control over the other person. By the way, that's why the Bible tells us everything that's within you be at peace with all men.

Because, see, you might try your best to be at peace with me and I might not want to be at peace with you. But he says, as far as it is your responsibility, you must be at peace with all men. So when we come to this broken body, don't let the convenience of this take away from what it is. If you have your kids with you or you have your grandkids with you and they haven't, yeah, just teach them to pass this up. If you are sitting here and you know that there's something wrong between you and somebody else, pass it up.

It's okay that everybody is still looking. You don't want to take this in an unworthy manner. By the way, my wife and I have a practice that we go through every first Sunday.

We try to keep short accounts of sin in our family, in our lives, just period. If I've sinned against her, I go to her and I say that. If she's sinned against me, she would do the same thing. But on the first Sunday morning, we check with each other to make sure that everything is okay before coming and participating in this.

This morning, I said to her, I said, honey, I said things are, I think I used the term good or okay with us. Are you in agreement with that? She says, honey, they are great with us. I thought, wow. So that means those things that we have done or hid kind of, we can now come and say to each other, hey, I want to make sure that there's nothing different. So when this comes, the men come and bring this, keep that in mind so we can take this in a manner that is worthy of God. So the men come forward.

We're going to pray and give you some time that you might ask that question. Come on down, men. Father, we just thank you for your body that's given for us, that has been broken. Thank you for the blood that was shared. And Father, may we, as your Christians, examine ourselves that we may be found to be in you, in Christ, in Jesus' name. Amen.