June 23, 2002

Service Theme – "Our God is Truth"

1 John 1:1-4

How to Know the Word is True

1. Introduction

1. Illustration – From Sermoncentral.com - A little boy was lost inside a busy shopping mall. He was standing in the aisle of a department store just crying and crying, "I want my mommy.. I want my mommy." People who passed by felt sorry for him and many of them gave him nickels and dimes and quarters to try to cheer him up. Finally a salesperson from the floor walked up to the distraught little boy and said, "I know where your mommy is, son." The little boy looked up with his tear trenched eyes and said, "So do I....just keep quiet, I got a good thing going here!"
2. Context – Do you know what perhaps the biggest single controversy of our time is? You may never have heard it expressed like this, but this controversy touches everything in our society, even the little boy in the joke. It’s this: experience vs. truth. Our culture has become what experts call "postmodern," meaning that truth is relative to what I experience. In other words, only what I have experienced to be true is true. What’s the problem with this thinking? Well, first, what if I don’t have enough experiences to be able to figure out the truth in a situation? What do I do then? How do I find out the truth? The second problem is this: what if my experience is the exact opposite of your experience? How can both be true? What if the situation demands that you and I figure out what the truth is, and we can’t agree? First John 1:1-4 can help us solve these problems and, at least in our own minds, put this controversy to rest.

1. Scripture Passage

1. 1 John 1:1-4 – That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. ² The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. ³ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. ⁴ We write this to make our joy complete.

1. Experience vs. Truth

1. You know, when we first read this verse, it almost seems like John is a postmodern. After all, he’s speaking purely about his experiences, isn’t he? Well, yes and no. John is speaking about his experiences, but he is basing them on absolute truth. How do we know that? First, we have his opening line – That which was from the beginning. For "beginning" he uses the exact same word he used in the opening line of his gospel – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The way it’s written shows that the Word is a living being who is equal to God and shares the same nature as God. In his letter, John identifies the object of his words, the Word. Same being, same absolute truth. You see, John’s experiences would have been nice but meaningless without the absolute truth as their solid foundation. That’s what John is telling us.
2. Notice how God inspired John to word his opening verse. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. He’s saying, "I’m talking about Jesus Christ, the Word I wrote about in my gospel. I and a bunch of others heard His voice, we saw Him, we studied Him closely, we touched Him. This Word is the real deal. We want you to know what we’ve experienced, because it’s truth." It’s important to note that John is once again, just as he did in his gospel, using a Greek form of argument. When you wanted to reinforce the truth of what you believe, you restate it three times in three ways. That’s what John did here. He uses the first verse to give his testimony. Then in verse two, he restates it. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. He’s saying, "Guys, this is the real deal!" Then he does it again in verse three - We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. "We experienced the Word, and this is why it’s so important that you understand what we’re sharing!"
3. But John’s arguments confront us with a problem. There’ve been lots of folks who claimed to be telling the truth, but instead were living a lie. So how do we know that John is telling us the truth? How do we know we can trust him enough to believe him? There is a compelling reason for us to believe John that doesn’t exist for others who’ve claimed to be God or His messenger. Mohammed claimed to be God’s messenger without previous historical precedent or previous divine revelation. Buddhism claims to be the way to God without historical precedent or previous divine revelation. Hinduism claims to be the way to God without historical precedent or previous divine revelation. Mormonism claims to be the way to God and to become God without historical precedent or previous divine revelation. You get the picture. We could say the same thing about any religion other than Christianity or Judaism. And the basis for Christ coming to earth is grounded in Jewish history and religion.
4. So what compelling reason do we have to believe that John is telling us the truth instead of trying to deceive us just like all those other guys have? It’s this: what John is sharing with us is based on both historical precedent and previous divine revelation. The Jews had been expectantly waiting for centuries for their Savior to come. The sad thing is that many Jews are still waiting, while most others have given up on the God who created them. What did they base this expectation on? Divine revelation. From the third chapter of Genesis throughout the entire Old Testament, Jesus Christ was predicted to come and save His people from their sins. That’s a few thousand years of historical precedent and divine revelation to build on. And throughout the Gospels are many explanations of how Jesus fulfilled those prophecies! John isn't just sharing experience – he’s sharing experience that’s based on the solid rock of absolute truth. Now that’s something we can build our lives on!
5. Illustration – From Sermoncentral.com: Dan Kimball, the pastor of Graceland Church in Santa Cruz, CA recently said, " The great thing about postmodernism is the vacuum that exists for truth, and we have the privilege and opportunity to fill it." If we have a solid grip on the truth, we have an incredible opportunity to share it with others! And as John Cobb, in Christian Century magazine ("Being a Transformationist in a Pluralist World," Christian Century, 10-17 August 1994, 749), put it, "If we trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we have no reason to fear that truth from any source will undercut our faith. Indeed, we have every reason to believe that all truth, wisdom and reality cohere in him." We don’t have to be afraid of the truth. Jesus said, in John 8:31-32, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." We can absolutely, 100% know the truth!

1. Ramifications of Knowing the Truth

1. There is truth we can count on. So what? What difference does that make to us? Why should we act any differently? We have to look at John’s purpose in writing to find out. He says, We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. ⁴ We write this to make our joy complete. So John doesn’t just share us the truth, he tells us why he’s sharing the truth. He wants us to have close relationship and unity with other believers. Why? Because they have close relationship and unity with God and with Jesus. John wants all of us to have close relationship with each other and God and unity with each other and God. Those are the marks of true fellowship.
2. Then John gives us the kicker – he says that true fellowship is the only path to complete joy. It isn’t enough for us to have close relationship with God. It also isn’t enough for us to have unity with each other. We’ve got to have both. We can’t be united if we don’t have close relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And as John instructs us throughout his letter, we can’t have close relationship with God if we don’t have unity with each other.
3. The bottom line is this: real truth transforms. Real truth as found in the person of Jesus Christ takes a group of people that have nothing in common and molds them into a unified body that He can use for His glory to transform the world. That’s why truth is so important! We’ve got to know the truth so that the truth can first transform us and then transform our world. So we have a choice. We can choose to believe the truth as John proclaims it, or we can choose to believe the filters that the world wants us to use in finding truth and reject what John proclaims. If we believe John, then we’ve got to do something about it. Truth transforms, but at a cost. If we want the truth to transform us, we’ve got to follow Jesus no matter what the cost. Then we will know the truth, and the truth will set us free!
4. Illustration - Richard P. C. Hanson, in The Attractiveness of God (1973, 144), wrote, The "charismatic" leader of the Italian Risorgimento, Giuseppe Garibaldi, recruited his soldiers with only the promise of truth. He did not promise his recruits soft beds, good pay, or additional education. "All I can offer you," said one of the greatest guerrilla generals of all time, "is wounds and weariness and danger." So it is with God's love. Though freely given, it leads us on to a strict and strenuous life of continuous call and demand. How will we respond to God’s truth today?

1. Conclusion

1. God is calling us to a higher standard of truth today. His truth. Will we choose to know the truth? And will we allow the truth to set us free? John's witness shows us that we can know absolute truth, and that this truth can transform us. How will we choose to respond?
2. If you want to commit to allowing God’s truth to transform you in any area of your life where you need it, please come forward and pray at the altars. God wants to meet with you and transform you with His truth. So please come forward and pray.