Let us pray: Dear Savior, You have told us that “the truth shall set us free.” Also, You have said: “My Word is truth.” So today help us mine the truths contained in Your Holy Word and live according to them so that our lives may be rich, full, and overflowing with Godly freedom. Amen
GRACE MERCY AND PEACE ARE YOURS FROM CHRIST GOD’S INCARNATE TRUTH!
TEXT: Ephesians 4: 11-16
Dearly Beloved By Christ:
It all started with Adam and Eve lying to God in the Garden of Eden. It has continued on through the ages. Lately, it has risen to new heights of hypocrisy. We used to call it: lying. Then people called it “fake news.” Now it is labeled “disinformation.”
It’s poignant that in the “information age” of the internet, more lies are being spread than ever before. But then, maybe not so surprising considering the more sinners communicate the more lies spew forth. I always remember my 10th grade math teacher, Clem Stramel. He used to say: “Figures don’t lie, but liars figure.” So, what should we believe considering that lies are “half-way around the world before the truth puts its pants on!”?
I
Paul describes God’s purveyors of truth this way: “It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Since God’s Word is truth and as long as His servants speak it and share it, good things will result.
“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.—Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the head—that is, Christ.”
I’ve lived long enough not to accept everything people say at face value. If I did, my head would explode! On the news they’re called: talking heads. First, the scientists said: “The earth is getting colder.” They predicted a mini ice age.—That was back in the 1960’s. By the late 1980’s they said: “The earth is getting warmer” and we’ll all die due to fire and not ice! Today that view holds sway. But a growing number of people are starting to talk more about global cooling again, due to their study of sun cycles. I wonder who will win out, but then, I won’t be around….
Here’s another one. Heart disease is a result of plaque build up in the veins and arteries due to higher cholesterol. This still holds sway in western medicine. But new research shows that it is inflammation in the body which causes plaque and leads to heart disease. Lower your inflammation via diet and lifestyle and you’ll live longer. Tom Brady would follow this train of thought. I recall when butter was considered a death sentence and margarine was like manna from heaven. Now that is reversed! Yes, everyone has an opinion about everything! And they shift like a feckless wind.
II
When it comes to our eternal soul, we don’t want to be on the wrong side of truth. That’s why we always need to put its central truth to the test. That truth is this: God loves us and sent His Son Jesus to save us via His death and resurrection in our place. Our salvation isn’t dependent upon us, and our efforts to make ourselves right with God, but upon perfect, holy Jesus. It’s called: grace. And it isn’t only about how to live this next year or even decade, but is timeless and eternal. Grace never changes, even if people disregard it. That’s also why we need to share it, speak it, and live under the umbrella of its life-changing power. Or, as Paul now says it: “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him, who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”
Our bodies are made of atoms, which comprise molecules, which comprise organs and tissue, all of which support each other. They are inter-related and inter-locking. So is the Christian Church, Christ’s body here on earth. And according to Paul, love, speaking the truth about all this, in love, is what enlarges and enriches the whole body. In God’s Word Christ calls Himself the Bread of life. God’s Gospel, the message of Christ’s love, is the water of life. Both combine to give us eternal life. That’s His truth not just mine. So we obviously all need to feast on both a lot more often, don’t we? Amen THE peace of God which….
Pastor Thomas H. Fox