The Source of Truth
This talk was given in the Fall of 2021 it was an introduction to the theme “Redefined” a study in 1 Timothy. The original audience was middle school students, who were led through an interactive game before the talk began and were given interactive questions and a short video clip during the talk.
The Source of Truth
What is the best way to find out if someone did something? Go to them and ask them. We always want to go to the source if we are looking for the truth. We believe that the Bible is the source of truth. Jesus asked that God would make us like Him by saying,
“Sanctify them by the truth; your Word is truth” (John 17:17).
As an apostle, Paul also wanted followers of Jesus to be transformed by God’s Truth. One of the most important things Paul wanted his younger friend Timothy to understand was that knowing God’s truth is essential to living a life full of love.
This letter is from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, appointed by the command of God our Savior and Christ Jesus, who gives us hope. I am writing to Timothy, my true son in the faith. May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy, and peace.
(1 Timothy 1:1-2)
If we are going to read this personal letter, maybe we should get to know the person huh? In Acts 16 we learn that Paul met a young man named Timothy. Timothy’s mom was a Jewish woman who had become a believer in Jesus, Timothy’s dad however was not a believer. Still, Timothy was raised to know the Scriptures in the Old Testament. After he learned the truth about Jesus for himself he started to travel from city to city telling people about what Jesus had done. Timothy decided to stay in Ephesus to be a pastor of one of the first ever churches. Things seemed to go well for a while, Paul writes to the church, time passed, then things started to get a little out of hand.
Timothy, we have come to understand, was kind of shy and timid. He was also fairly young leading his people. He had a hard time stopping people in the church who started sharing “fake news” about the gospel. Paul writes to Timothy to remind him that knowing and standing up for the truth is the most loving thing he could do. Paul points to God’s Word as the source of all truth and love.
Knowing the Lies
What is something you were told/believed as a kid that turned out to be false?
I was taught by my older siblings that rubbing random tree leafs onto my scraped up leg would heal it. It seemed like the right thing to do, my source was reliable, and I wanted it to work, but ultimately it made my scraped leg worse.
Paul told Timothy not to let liars get away with persuading others so that things wouldn’t get worse.
“When I left for Macedonia, I urged you to stay there in Ephesus and stop those whose teaching is contrary to the truth. Don’t let them waste their time in endless discussion of myths and spiritual pedigrees. These things only lead to meaningless speculations, which don’t help people live a life of faith in God.”
(1 Timothy 1:3-4)
Paul is serious about this because he knew that believing lies wouldn’t just waste time, it would lead to death. Paul later admitted that he also used to spread false ideas about God. It wasn’t until he met Jesus that he was saved from those lies.
In this letter, Paul tells Timothy to put a stop to anyone spreading lies about the Christian faith. Even if Timothy was intimidated by their age or their wealth, he had to protect the truth of the gospel.
We wonder ‘Why would people lie about the gospel?’
We realize that perhaps they didn’t believe the truth for themselves. Or perhaps they spoke out of their ignorance rather than going to the source of truth. Another reason could have been that they wanted others to like them and listen to them, they did not genuinely care about sharing God’s love with anyone.
In high school, once met a cool guy named Ryan. One day, I told Ryan how much I enjoyed watching baseball. He mentioned to me that he was on our school’s baseball team. ‘How cool! I’ll have to watch him play sometime’, I thought. So one day after class, I walked to the baseball field as a game was being played. I sat patiently, quietly watching for a few innings. I didn’t see him come out on the field. I didn’t see him in the dugout. ‘Maybe he’s sick today’ I thought.
A nice woman in the stands started chatting with me, so I asked her if she knew him. She called down to her son’s friend who was on the team. He shook his head, there was no Ryan on the team. The only way I could have known what was true was to check the roster, he wasn’t on it. I had believed Ryan, but he had lied to me. Finding out what was true was the only way for me to confront the lie I had been told.
In all of life, we have to know the truth in order to resist the lies of the world.
The world will tell you lies about what it means to live a good life. But I want you to know that you do not have to be “good” people to receive God’s forgiveness, grace, and love. You need to know that your mistakes and sins shouldn’t hang over your head, because they were hung upon the cross with Jesus.
Sometimes there are obvious lies in our culture that Satan wants you to believe.
Can you think of any?
I believed that I had to make everyone like me and if I wasn’t popular then there wasn’t really a reason for me to be alive. Some of the lies are obvious, but sometimes there are lies about the gospel that are less apparent. Lies like: you have to be a good person to earn God’s love. Lies like: if you have doubts then you won’t go to heaven. The gospel reminds us that Satan is the King of lies, he wants to see us confused, and alone.
We only recognize these things as lies when we go to the source of truth. Knowing the truth helps me fight against the lies which tell me that it doesn’t matter if I don’t get out of bed today or not. Even 20 years after having met Jesus, I still have to actively identify the lies I am believing and seek to know the truth.
Knowing the Truth
In order for us to know the truth, we have to know Jesus.
How do we learn things about one another today?
We get to know Him by spending time with Him. My New Year’s resolution has been to listen to an entire reading of the Bible in one year, because I want to know God and I want to know His truth more and more. If that seems overwhelming to you, maybe you could start by reading one chapter of your Bible everyday. If you do that, I encourage you to read a devotional with it, look up things you don’t understand, and ask questions to people who have studied it. I promise you if you do this, you will learn and know what is true.
Often, I have to pray that my heart will be made pure so that I will want to read His Word and love Jesus more. I want you to read your Bible because I want you to know God’s love and His truth. Love is the reason Paul writes to Timothy. He wants people to know love and to spread love, not lies.
“The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith. But some people have missed this whole point. They have turned away from these things and spend their time in meaningless discussions.They want to be known as teachers of the law of Moses, but they don’t know what they are talking about, even though they speak so confidently.”
(1 Timothy 1:5-7)
Don’t miss the point: if you know the truth, you will know true love. Knowing Jesus redefines our lives and what it means to know the truth. When we know the truth we will fight against the lies we’ve believed. When we know the truth we will know that God is love. When we know the truth we will want to share God’s truth and His love with others. Our lives will be redefined by knowing the truth and we will never love the same.
