Truth And Godliness

TRUTH AND GODLINESS

TITUS 1:1

Over the past few weeks there has been a lot of talk on truth. Most of it focused on whether the President told the truth when he testified before a judge and a grand jury. The president claims that he did tell the truth as he understood certain terms. President Clinton puts forth the basic idea that is held by many Americans, that is if you believe something to be true, that in itself makes it true.

What is strange about this viewpoint is that it is only acceptable when you are talking of morals or religion. We have all heard people say it doesn’t matter what religion you are as long as you are sincere. In other words if you believe that you will go to heaven, you will, regardless of whether you have trusted in Jesus or not.

People belief that if you believe something is ok to do then it is. I shared with you the viewpoint of many kids in our youth group, that there are no moral absolutes. If you believe that it is ok to perform a certain act, or live a certain way, then it is ok. In other words it may

not be ok for me, but if you believe it, it is ok for you.

Let us try applying this to the real word. If I believe that it is true that I have a $1000 in my checking account (but in reality only have $5), what do you think is going to happen when I write a check for $999? My believe in that $1000 is not going to help me a bit.

Napoleon believed that he could capture Russia in the winter. What he believed to be true did not help him in the least as he was soundly defeated.

The passengers of the Titanic believed that the ship was unsinkable. Did that believe stop that ship from going to the bottom of the ocean, carrying with it 1,000’s to their deaths? No.

We need to understand, especially in our society today, that TRUTH IS IMPORTANT! It is important to our God, and it should be important to us as well. Regardless of whether we are talking about morals, religion, or everyday life, truth is important.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

Please turn with me to this morning passage, that will be found in the book of Titus chapter one, verse 1. That would be page 1032 in your pew Bibles. Bet you never thought someone could have so much to say about one passage of the Bible. I promise that this will be the last message on verse 1.

"Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness,"

I want to read to you the last phrase of that verse from the NIV as I believe it give a little better inside into the meaning of the verse. "…and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness". Get that, "The knowledge of the truth, that leads to godliness."

The word that is translated "accords" in the NKJV and "leads to" in the NIV literally means "promotes" or "leads to".

So we are told quite plainly in this verse that importance of truth! It leads to, or promotes godliness. Truth, (and we will see what "Truth" is), will bring about godliness.

Lies therefore will bring about what, ungodliness, corruption, evil. Someone once said, "The road to tyranny, we must never forget, is the destruction of the truth", (repeat). That is true, in fact those words were spoken by president Clinton in Oct. of 1995.

But truth is important because it leads us to godliness. So what is truth, what is godliness? Let’s take a look at those two questions. First of all what is truth?

Truth let us understand is not relative. Truth is a concrete ideal. What is true is true for everyone. Something cannot be true and false at the same time. That would destroy the very idea of truth.

I want to read to you an exchange that our Lord Jesus Christ had with Pilate at his trail. This is from John 18:38; "Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."

Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?" And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, "I find no fault in Him at all."

Pilate asked a very profound question, "What is truth?" What he failed to realize that truth was standing right there in front of him. Truth was not some abstract idea that Pilate was ignorant of. Truth was a God-man, Jesus Christ. God himself in human form. Jesus is truth. All He said was truth, all He did was the truth.