The Healing Word

Pastor Jack Morris: Friend, he loves you regardless. He loves you, and I want to love him back, and I want to do what he says. I know I'll be okay when I do what Jesus said.

Announcer (Male): With all the words, opinions, and promises that swirl around us today, it can be difficult to discern what the truth is. In the program today, Pastor Morris is going to examine the subject of truth and what the Bible has to say about it. So, here's Pastor Morris for an introduction of today's message: What Is Truth?

Pastor Jack Morris: Hello friend, I'm Pastor Jack Morris. We're going to go into the sanctuary and my sermon title is "What Is Truth?" There is so much false in this world today, so much that is phony, so much hypocrisy, but it is the truth. Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life," and it's the truth, it is Jesus the truth that makes us free from all that is wrong, all that is sin, all that is in error. He sets us free, he liberates us from all of this and gives us his great and wonderful salvation.

Truth comes through Jesus because Jesus is truth. Friend, if you're tired of the phony, the glitz, the glamour, the hypocrisy, hear this message and know this: that God wants to give you something that is real and genuine right from the heart of God to your heart. Come with me into the sanctuary and hear the message, "What Is Truth?"

Today we're going to talk about the truth, the Word of God, the truth. I want to know the truth, don't you? I mean, there is so much hypocrisy and lying and dissembling. God give us something that is genuine and authentic, and he has. He's given us the truth. Let's talk about the fool and truth. What does a fool do with the truth? Because the truth doesn't mean a whole lot to a fool.

But to a wise woman, a wise man, a follower of Jesus, it is the truth that liberates us and sets us free to serve the Lord and to be the people that God put us here to be, to be the man or the woman that God wants us to be. If you look at Second Corinthians chapter 11, verse 21, it says, "To my shame, I admit that we were too weak for that. What anyone else dares to boast about"—and now he puts in almost in parentheses—"I am speaking as a fool, I also dare to boast about."

Just briefly, what happened here was Paul was being accused of not being an apostle, not being a good pastor. Some people came in and, of all things, so-called Christian people accused this man who wrote a third of the New Testament that he wasn't even an apostle, and he certainly wasn't a good pastor. Paul said, "Now I'm going to boast about my accomplishments, what God has done in me and through me."

Basically, what he was saying was, "I don't want to boast about those things because it will tend to lift me up." He said anybody that brags on themselves is a fool. So he said, "I'm going to talk like a fool for a while." In other translations and versions, one of them says he's talking like he's out of his mind, like he's insane. But he goes ahead and begins to tell them that he is the seed of Abraham, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, and was circumcised the eighth day. He went on to defend his apostleship.

Today, in the very beginning of this message, I'm going to talk like a fool. I'm not a Hebrew, but I am the seed of Abraham just like you are if you know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. But I'm not going to defend my ministry. I'm not going to do that at all. What I am going to do is take a passage of scripture that I've heard people debate and talk about and reason over and wrestle and try to explain and make it quote relevant today. I'm going to take some of that and I'm going to talk like I am that person.

You think about it. Have you heard anything like that? Have you been reasoning like that yourself? All right, here are some of them. "Pastor, let's talk about marriage. What does the Bible have to say about marriage? I believe in marriage, but marriage is holy, I believe that. Marriage is sacred, I believe that. But Pastor, when it comes down and you insist that it has to be between one man and one woman just because the Bible says that?"

"Just because God brought Adam and Eve into the garden, a man and a woman, and he set the stage from the very beginning of time, the very beginning of the human race, and the Bible teaches that? I know what Jesus sanctioned it and also the Apostle Paul, but Pastor, this is the 21st century." Ever hear anything like that? Okay, well, we're all fools this morning a little bit, maybe listening to that.

But this is what's being put forth and it's now even in the churches. Here's another one. "Pastor, let's talk about sex. Now sex is ordained of God, Pastor Morris, and it's meant for procreation and it's meant for enjoyment. But Pastor, just because a young man and a young woman aren't married, that doesn't mean that they should abstain, does it? Just because the Bible says so? The Bible is an ancient book. It was written back there by people so long ago, and women would wear veils. Pastor, the Bible in that particular stance is just outdated and we need to look at it."

"Pastor, that young man and that woman are in love. They love each other and they're going to get married someday anyway." I've heard that so many times and they didn't get married anyway. "They're going to get married anyway, so right now it's almost like they're husband and wife. Pastor, I know what the Bible says, but the Bible also says that the greatest of these is love, and love endures forever and God is love. So shouldn't love take over and do away with those scriptures? Isn't love greater and stronger than that?" I'm talking like a fool.

"What about money, Pastor? I know the Bible teaches tithing. I know it goes all the way back to Abraham, and I'm the seed of Abraham through Jesus. I know what the scripture teaches about bringing all the tithe into the storehouse, and I know that Jesus was a tither. I know his disciples were tithers, but Pastor, it just doesn't sit well with me. I just don't think that that is necessary. Now I give to my church, I pray for my church, I give, but to give a tenth just because the Bible says so? Now that was written way back there, way back there. This is the 20th century."

"We pay taxes, we give to charities, but to bring a tenth to the house of God just because Jesus did it, because his disciples did it, and because Jesus said, 'You ought to'—the word is there, 'This you ought to do'—Pastor, I just can't go along with some of the teachings of the Bible. And I'm a follower of Jesus, but he said some ancient things way back there. Now, what about forgiveness? Now Pastor, I believe in forgiveness. I know God has forgiven me and I believe in forgiving, but I will forgive after they get their payback."

"Once they get what's coming to them, then I'll forgive them. But I'm going to wait until they reap what they sow and then I'm going to forgive. It's too hard to forgive, Pastor. I know what the Bible says and I believe in it, but I believe my time difference is just a little off. Pastor, I wouldn't take a penknife or a pair of scissors and cut those scriptures out. I just think that we need to understand some of those salient points of scripture a little differently with a 21st-century spin on it. That book is an ancient book. Now I believe in that book, but there are some things that I think we need to interpret just a little differently."

Well, I'm finished talking like a fool. The Bible is the Word of God. It's infallible. We read the scripture in the very beginning: "All scripture is given by inspiration." Notice that first word, all scripture. Not part of scripture, not the scriptures I have problems with, or not the scriptures I do not have problems with, but all scripture is God-breathed and the Word of God.

The problem that I have with that kind of reasoning is, which ones am I to start interpreting? Which scriptures am I to put the spin on? I'm not going to set myself up and say, "God, I want you to listen to me. I know what you said, but I'm not going to quite listen to everything. I'm going to read between the lines and make it just a little bit different than that."

Jesus and the truth. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." Now notice three things: the way, the truth, and the life. I'm going to turn over now quickly to Deuteronomy chapter 30, verses 15 and 16. Now hear this. "See, I have set before you"—here's God setting something before us. What's he set before us? "See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways"—Jesus said, "I am the way"—"to walk in his ways and to keep his commandments, decrees, and laws, then you will live and increase and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess."

Now God has a plan, he's put it out there. You can and I can choose to put our private spin on verses, or I can take it and believe it and live and be prosperous. Or I can put my spin on it and go in doubt and in unbelief. We go into a courtroom. In a courtroom, they'll say something like this: "Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"

They want the truth. Do you promise to tell the truth? Okay, I'll tell the truth. I mean the whole truth. Don't leave out part of the truth. See, a courtroom expects more than some churches are expecting and even some people interpreting the Bible. Will you tell the truth, I mean, will you tell the whole truth? Don't tell part of it and leave out part of it. Don't believe part of the Bible and put your or my private spin on part of it. Will you tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Don't mix in a little bit of error. Now the court expects that. Surely God expects as much as the courts of the land expect.

On one occasion, Jesus was standing before Pilate after Pilate had been accusing him. Well, Pilate didn't really accuse him, but Pilate said, "I find no fault with him." Jesus had a purple robe on him and Pilate said to him, "What is truth?" And then impatiently Pilate turned and walked away before Jesus could give him an answer.

You see, there's a little bit of Pilate in all of us. We want the truth as long as it fixes us and our particular situation. But when we hear truth that we don't want to hear, we try to get away from it real quick, just like Pilate. "What is truth?" I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear the truth about marriage. I don't want to hear all the truth about sex. I don't want to hear the truth about tithing. I don't want to hear the truth about forgiveness. I'll walk away from it. I'll turn a deaf ear to it. I'll listen to the sermon.

Matter of fact, Pastor, I just wish there were some subjects you would leave out and wouldn't preach on. Just preach on those good ones that tell me how God's going to bless me. Well, I did that in Deuteronomy chapter 30. God set before us life and death, prosperity and destruction. Now the choice is ours. Isn't it something how God respects the power of a person's choice and the choice that he has given to us?

Listen friend, the Bible is the Word of God. Heaven and earth will pass away, but the Word of God will last and abide forever. It'll not pass away. But God gives me the option of being disobedient and not walking in his way. He gives me that option. He says, "Okay, you have that freedom to make that choice if you so choose to do so."

Solomon built a temple, a magnificent temple. There's never been a building, a construction, an edifice on the face of the earth in all of history that was like Solomon's temple. And he built it for one purpose: for the protection of the Word of God, the worship of God, and the protection of the Word of God.

After a period of years, Solomon lost his way, and after a time, so did the people lose their way. They became like sheep without a shepherd. Years passed and now a new king came on the throne, his name was Josiah. Josiah, the very first thing he did was to order the cleansing of the temple. The house of God was in disarray, and so he ordered the cleansing of the temple.

They cleaned the temple, I mean literally. Somewhere in some back room covered with dust, somebody found the Book of the Law, the Bible, the Word of God. They dusted it all off and they brought it out. You see, the Book of the Law, the Bible, had been missing for years and nobody knew it. They just didn't know it. They started living out that scripture, putting their spin on that scripture. Pretty soon they didn't even need it at all, and they were now coming to the temple, coming to church, worshipping God and praying with no Bible, no Word of God at all.

Now when the Word of God is not present, God is not present because the Word of God is the very breath of God. When the Bible wasn't present, they didn't even know the Bible wasn't present, and when the Bible wasn't present, God wasn't present. Lo and behold, they came every Sabbath and they didn't even know that God wasn't there. Friend, do you know God is here this morning? I can guarantee you this is going to be a Bible church.

When Jesus was a little boy, 12 years old, he was left at the temple. His parents didn't know he had been left at the temple. He had been there for three days, they didn't even know he was missing. They went back and they reprimanded him, scolded him. "Didn't you know that your father and I were looking for you?" And little Jesus said, "Didn't you understand that I must be in my father's house?"

You see, when they stood Jesus before Pilate, the people all gathered and they didn't like Jesus anymore because Jesus was truth and he told them the truth, and he told them the way to God. He was about to take their sins even though they rejected him, he was still going to die for them. He was still going to love them. Friend, he loves you regardless. He loves you, and I want to love him back, and I want to do what he says. I know I'll be okay when I do what Jesus said.

And the people cried out when Pilate said, "It's our custom to release one to you at this time of the year." And they cried out, "Barabbas! Release Barabbas! We want that wicked murderer. Release Barabbas! We have a law." That's what they said. "We have a law." People are saying today, "Pastor, it's okay because it's the law. It's the law." We have a law, but we have the Bible. Now we have to decide: the Bible, the Word of God, or the law. Who are we going to release today? Are we going to go by "we have a custom," "we have a law," or are we going to go by God's law, God's Word that changes not?

I'm going to turn to Matthew chapter 28, verses 18, 19, and 20. These are the words of Jesus after he rose from the dead. He said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. Surely I am with you always to the very end of the age."

All authority. You see, Jesus has authority over marriage. He has authority to talk about it. He and his Father and the Holy Spirit authored it. Marriage is ordained of God. Marriage is God's idea. It was God's idea, it's still God's idea. So he has every right in the world to talk about it and to lay it down, and he said, "This is how it's going to work and this is how it's going to be blessed."

He has every right to talk about sex and to lay down the law according to sex, the Word of God. He said, "All authority." He has the authority. We sing "Majesty, Worship His Majesty, Kingdom Authority." We can say things, sing things, and then do our own thing. Make truth relevant. When truth becomes relevant, truth becomes a lie and God is absent. I want to know his love and we can know his love in a great and wonderful way. Aren't you glad you came to church today? You knew you'd better say that.

But this is his truth. This is his Word. All authority. Does he have a right to tell me what to do with my money? Every bit, every right in the world does he have to tell me what to do with my money. You see, if I didn't have the health and the strength and the aptitude and a job that he provided me and the breath, then I wouldn't have any money.

It's like this. Remember how it was when you were a little child in church with your parents and the offering plate was coming by? You saw it coming and your parents would take out a dollar and hand it to you and say, "Now you drop that in the offering plate when it comes by." You were just a little child, you'd drop that dollar in or that fifty cents or that quarter. You see, you would put in the offering plate not what you have, but what your parent has given you.

The tithe isn't yours. God has already given it to you, and you can only put in what God has allowed you to work and earn and get. Your heavenly Father has already given it to you to put in and he says, "It's mine. It's already mine, but I'm going to give you what is mine so you can give it back to me." What a Father we have. What a God that we have. Let's not despise his word or discredit him. Let's trust him and believe him. Hebrews 12:2: "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith." Not fixing our eyes on Washington Post or the Supreme Court or anywhere else, but fixing our eyes on Jesus. He has spoken and I hold it in my hand. I want to live by this book, and to live by this book is to please my heavenly Father and to have his blessing upon me. It's your choice, it's my choice.

We hope that today's message has been a blessing and has strengthened your faith in God. But before we go, here is Pastor Jack Morris with a special invitation.

Have you ever asked God why? Why this sickness? Why this divorce? This disappointment? Why these troubles and problems? Why, God? Friend, I've just completed an ebook entitled "From Asking Why God to Trusting Him: It's a Faith Journey." I'll be glad to send it to you free of charge simply for asking. Some of the life situations addressed in the ebook are God's timing in answering prayer, the journey of faith through suffering, reasons for unanswered prayer, and more. For your free copy, go to thehealingword.com and sign up. That's thehealingword.com, and I'll send you a free copy of "From Asking Why God to Trusting Him." I'm Pastor Jack Morris.

Announcer (Male): Join us tomorrow for another Healing Word message.