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Truth Detectors [Episode 1]
Message 1
“Why You Need to Know the Truth”
Ephesians 4:11-16
Opening Illustration
There was once a certain woman who was preparing to have company for dinner. She went to a small grocery store to buy food and supplies. She stopped at the meat counter and asked the attendant for a large chicken. He reached down in the cold storage compartment, grabbed the last chicken he had, and placed it on the scale. He said, “This is a nice big one! It weighs four pounds!
The lady said, “I’m not sure that’s big enough. Don’t you have a bigger one.”
Well, he put the chicken back in the compartment, pretended to search through the melting ice for another one, then brought out the same bird and put it on the scale… but this time he added a little finger pressure. Then he smiled and said, “Ah! This one is 4 ½ pounds!”
The lady frowned and thought … then she said, “I’m not sure. Tell you what … just wrap them both up for me!”
Michael Hodgin, 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking, p. 106.
Debrief
Busted! I don’t think that young man had a very pleasant time trying to explain that one … do you?
You know … lying is such a common, accepted part of our culture. I read some statistics this week. A USA Today poll showed that only 56% of American parents teach honesty to their children! Recently a noted physician appeared on a network news-and-talk show and proclaimed, "Lying is an important part of social life, and children who are unable to do it are children who may have developmental problems."
Christianglobe.com sermon Illustrations, “Lie.” Daily Bread, September 23, 1991.
No wonder we have such a time in our justice system trying to figure out who is telling the truth and who is telling a lie. They have even had to develop machines to see who is telling the truth. These lie detectors … polygraphs … are a valuable tool in law enforcement and investigation. They’re not perfect, but they help point investigators in the direction of the truth.
Transition
Wouldn’t it be great if, in matters of faith, the Bible, and the church, if we had “truth detectors?” Wouldn’t it be awesome as we heard something or read something if we could just plug in to a truth detector and know if the information was biblical and true? It would save us so much trouble! It would keep God’s people from chasing theological rabbits and buying into outright lies.
Friends, truth is a precious commodity in the church. And, sadly, so many people who claim to speak with a voice of authority are, instead, filling up the heads of God’s people with lies. Think about the things that you see and hear on TV … or the things that you read in books. If the media were your only source of information, you would be convinced that:
• You can receive blessings from God by sending money to a man on TV.
• If you will just have enough faith, you will be rich beyond your wildest dreams and you will never be sick.
• People don’t really need Jesus for a life change … Jesus is only one of many ways to God.
• All beliefs are equal … you are a narrow-minded bigot if you live by the Bible and consider its words as truth.
The tragedy is, friends, that so many good Christian folk are buying into these lies … and many more. They are caught up in false systems of belief, false truth, and false teachers.
So, how are we supposed to tell the difference? Where are God’s “truth detectors?” Let me show you. Hold up your hand. Point with your finger. Now, point your finger like this (at self). People, you are the “truth detectors!” This is God’s plan … this is God’s design. Jesus said in John 8:32, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Free from sin, free from false beliefs, free from false teachers, free from the lies of the world.
So, how do we become “Truth Detectors?” We have to learn and know the truths and the Word of God. This week we are beginning a seven week series that I am calling Truth Detectors [Episode 1]. It is the first of several series that we are going to share over the next few years as we systematically study and learn the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. That’s what we have to do if we are going to remain solid and strong in the truth of God.
As we begin, we’re going to start with “Why You Need to Know the Truth.” We are going to lay a biblical foundation for the learning that we’re going to do over the coming weeks.
So let’s begin with a little background …
Background
We’re going to be looking at a passage today in the book of Ephesians. The book is actually a letter … much like a letter that you would write to a friend. It is called the book of Ephesians because verse one of chapter one addresses the Christians at the church in Ephesus. Here are some important facts that you nee to know about this book:
• Paul was very close to the people of the church at Ephesus.
Paul was the writer of this letter to this church.
• He spent over three years with them.
• This letter was written to encourage this church and the other churches in the area.
• He wanted to help keep them on the path of truth, and help them avoid false doctrines and teachings.
Like any church, the church at Ephesus was in danger of false teaching. So many times in the early church, different teachers would rise up and people would follow them. That even happened on occasion with Paul. He would begin a church in a certain city, then after he left false teachers would come along and mess things up … Paul didn’t want this to happen in Ephesus.
• Our passage today focuses upon unity and growth in the church.
Growth is the real key word here. We talk about growth in our 101: Discovery class. We say, “If you stop growing you die.” So, as God’s people, we are all about growth and development.
Bible Reading
Ephesians 4:11-16
Foundational Truth
This is the place where are going to begin today … with a basic theological concept and a basic theological truth. We’re going to do this every week in this series. You are actually going to learn some “ten-dollar” theological words that you read about in books sometimes and wonder, “What in the world is that talking about?”
Theology Word for Today – Sanctification
The continuing work of God in the life of a believer, growing the believer toward holiness.
• Church must be a place of learning and growing in the faith, not just a place of emotion and experience
That’s what sanctification is all about. Growing and maturing in the faith and becoming the faithful believer that God desires us to be.
Transition Illustration
You know, so many people refuse to grow in their faith … they refuse to be challenged past the pew … they give all sorts of reasons and make up all sorts of excuses. But I want you to think about this for a minute.
1. Moses stuttered.
2. David’s armor didn’t fit.
3. Hosea married a prostitute.
4. Jacob was a liar.
5. David had an affair.
6. Solomon had too much money.
7. Abraham was too old.
8. Paul was ugly.
9. Peter was a coward.
10. Lazarus was dead.
11. Jesus was homeless.
12. Naomi was a widow.
13. Jonah was disobedient.
14. Miriam was a gossip.
15. Thomas was a doubter.
16. Jeremiah was suicidal.
17. Moses was a murderer.
18. John the Baptist dressed funny.
19. Martha was a worrywart.
20. Samson needed a haircut.
21. Noah had a drinking problem.
22. Zacchaeus was very short.
23. David was only a teenager.
24. So was Mary, the Mother of Jesus
25. So was Daniel.
Taken from Hot Illustrations for Youth Topics, Youth Specialties.
So … what possible excuse could be a valid cause to avoid serving God in His church? Friends … the simple truth is this …
Bible Truths
1. God has gifted us all for service in the church. (v. 11)
If you know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of your life, the God has given you something special. It is called a spiritual gift … and the sole purposes of the gift are to serve God in the church and bring glory to His name. It’s not a talent that you can use for yourself. It’s not something that’s intended to bring you attention. It is a gift, given by God, to be used for God. There are several passages that teach about spiritual gifts … they are certainly not all listed here in this one.
I see these gifts expressed in so many ways in our church. I want to encourage all of you to study this subject of spiritual gifts and seek to understand how God has uniquely gifted you to serve His name and His church.
2. God has called out and gifted a few to prepare you for that service. (vv. 11-12)
Some specific gifts are mentioned here that are important in the growth and sound doctrine of the church. In particular, we see Paul pointing out the work of pastors and teachers. Here is their role, according to verse 12 (read v. 12).
God has called out, and continues to call out, pastors and teachers for some very specific tasks. Their role is to prepare the people for service. And the end result of a trained, prepared church is that the church will be built up. It will be strengthened from the inside, and it will grow in numbers as non-believers are reached.
But … make no mistake about it. God calls out pastors and teachers to equip the church to do ministry. He does not call out pastors and teachers to do all of the ministry of the church. That is the sick, anemic model that exists in so many of our traditional churches today … and that is why so many of those churches are sick to the point of death. Church members, instead of seeking our a place of ministry, jockey to get into position on committees of governing bodies, so that they can wield authority over pastors and staff members.
My friends, that is a monumental confusion of mission and roles. As you prepare to become more effective truth detectors, you need to listen to your pastors and your teachers.
Transition Illustration
Body illustration – Have a church member come onto the stage and place their arms behind their back. Place your arms through theirs to make it look like their arms. Then do funny things like putting your hands in their pockets, scratching their ear or nose, rubbing their chin … make the people laugh, then debrief the illustration.
Now, I want you to think about being in his shoes. How do you think that felt for him? What would it be like if you didn’t know what your arms or hands or legs were going to do … if they all just did their own thing?
Sometimes, that’s exactly what goes on in the church. Paul describes the church as the “Body of Christ.” And I’m afraid that sometimes the right hand literally doesn’t know what the left hand is doing … if the left hand is doing anything at all.
As we seek to be the body, we must remember this vitally important truth …
3. It takes unity, maturity, and growth in Christ to complete the task of the church. (v. 13)
Friends, God has given us an enormous job. He has called us to make disciples of every nation (The Great Commission – Matthew 28:18-20). This job requires preaching, teaching, loving, ministry, giving, administration, planning, missions, and so much more! If we had to do these things on our own, we would never even start. We would just give up! The job is too big!
But God has not simply called us to do this mission individually. He’s called us to do it together! Together we can accomplish more than we could ever imagine being able to do on our own. Together, we are the army of God!
So our goals are laid out right here in verse 13. We must all seek unity in the faith. We must all seek knowledge and maturity in the faith. Then we can know the fullness of Christ, our role in the body, and part in this great commission.
Doing the work of the church requires us to be unified, maturing, and growing in the faith. We all have something to learn.
But some of us just don’t grasp this truth. Instead of immersing ourselves in Jesus and in the Word of God, we just dabble a little. Tragically, so many Christians think they can be “inoculated” with Christianity, get their “God shot” of religion, and have all of their bases covered. Then they just coast through life, ignorant of much of the power and truth of God. Friends, this is a real problem, and it plagues so many of the people in the pews of our churches.
4. Without this maturity and growth, we are in danger of being deceived and becoming trapped by false doctrines and lies. (v. 14)
Illustration
I love the language that Paul uses here! It is so vivid! How many of you have ever been to sea? I went out to sea on my recent vacation. I went deep sea fishing. I have to admit it … I didn’t like it very much. There were about four-foot seas that day, and lots of wind. I was standing there on that boat, trying to fish, with my knees dug into the side and my feet wedged against whatever I could find to wedge them against. The thing was waving and bobbing up and down … the wind was blowing loud in my ears.
By the time it was over, I was just ready to go. I just went inside and laid down on the floor and fell asleep. That captain could have taken me to South America and I wouldn’t have cared … I was just ready to get off of that boat and get my feet on dry land! Any place with dirt sounded good!
Folks, that’s what an immature Christian is like. Christians who do not know what they believe … who are not familiar with the basic doctrines of the faith … they just get tossed around by whatever comes along. And eventually, they just latch onto something and they go wherever it takes them … they just want to be somewhere … they just want to be on something solid. The problem is, they are so ignorant of the Bible that they don’t know if they’re on solid ground or sinking sand.
Herein lays the danger. Here is how Christians can become deceived and snared by lies.
So how do we avoid these traps and lies? What goals do we set out to reach together as a church?
5. Here is what Christian living and growing are all about: (v. 15)
• Truth – Not in just what you say, but in who you are.
We must be people of truth and character. When we live lives that are immersed in God’s truth, we will be better able to discern His truth from the lies of the world.
• Love – We do not judge and scream, we teach in love.
How many of you like to be yelled at? How many of you enjoy a good “dressing down?” How much do you remember from those types of encounters? I dare say you remember very little. All you remember is being humiliated and angry. Folks, there’s too much humiliation, yelling, and screaming going on in our churches. You shouldn’t have to yell for people to hear what you have to say. We must speak the truth in love. Jesus never stood over people, pounded on pulpits, and told people how horrible and worthless they were. I sincerely doubt that he ever raised His voice in His teaching. We must not judge people, we must simply teach them God’s truth in love. They’re much more likely to hear it that way.
• Growing in Christ – In all things, we must desire to become more like Jesus… in behavior, in character, and in our will.
This is our ultimate goal. To transform our lives into lives that imitate Jesus in every way … in every respect.
And when this is happening … when God’s people are seeking to learn, grow, and mature individually … an incredible thing happens!
6. When you do your part, the entire church grows in Christ Jesus! (v. 16)
This body of Christ must be a loving, maturing body … growing in width and in depth … as each member does his or her part. Understand Christian, no matter how unimportant you may think you are in the overall picture of God’s church, you are vitally important! We are counting on you! God is counting on you!
Closing Illustration
A school teacher lost her life savings in a business scheme that had been elaborately explained by a swindler. When her investment disappeared and her dream was shattered, she went to the Better Business Bureau. "Why on earth didn’t you come to us first?" the official asked. "Didn’t you know about the Better Business Bureau?" "Oh, yes," said the lady sadly. "I’ve always known about you. But I didn’t come because I was afraid you’d tell me not to do it."
Christianglobe.com Illustrations for Sermons, “Deceit of Self,” Jerry Lambert.
Friends … we have to be able to spot a lie … and we have to know how to go to the source of truth … God’s Word … on our own. I want to challenge you today … become a Truth Detector, so that you can be protected from the lies that are waiting for you on the other side of that door.
Challenge & Prayer
Prayer for the people … challenge to believe.
LIFE Applications
1. Decide that you are ready to grow.
2. Seek God’s Will for that which you are growing toward … a place of ministry.
3. Listen to your teachers.
4. Don’t believe everything you read!
5. When in doubt about something, seek a mature believer for help.
6. Always speak the truth in love.
7. Get ready to learn and be discipled!
