Both Jesus and Paul prophesied that the time of the end would be a time when deceit would reach all time heights. John 7:14-18 lays down a perfect guide for anyone who wishes to be a discerner of truth. 

<p>Both Jesus and Paul prophesied that the time of the end would be a time when deceit would reach all time heights. John 7:14-18 lays down a perfect guide for anyone who wishes to be a discerner of truth. </p>

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Pagosa Springs SDA

Skip Dodson

How to Discern the Truth


Before we get into the message, let's take a moment to pray and ask God for wisdom and discernment. This passage is all about that, and I pray that God will give us some of that before we get into it. So, let's bow our heads. Oh Lord, thank you for this opportunity to consider these words the words of Jesus. Oh Father, we pray that you would send your Holy Spirit this morning to open our minds so that we can comprehend the scriptures.

Without the Holy Spirit, Father, our reading of the Bible will be worse than profitless. And so, Father, we come to you. We ask for the wisdom and discernment of the Holy Spirit to understand this text and then for the power of the Holy Spirit to live it. We ask this in Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen.

You probably already know this, But I will let you know anyway that the American news media is setting records these days. But they are not winning gold medals. If there were a medal made of lead, that would fit the media class better. According to a recent Gallup poll, confidence in the truthfulness of media reporting is on the decline, and it has been a steady 1. It has reached the second lowest level since polling began in 1972.

I'm sure you're not surprised to hear this. The lowest level was only 5 years ago in conjunction with the 2016 election. Today nearly two-thirds of the American public has either not very much trust in the media or none at all. Even the reliability of the so-called fact-checkers is debated. Many point out that with the onset of fact-checking, many independent media outlets are struggling to stay viable since internet traffic to those sites is discouraged by the fact checkers' claims of disinformation.

This makes 1 wonder why the fact checkers were deputized in the first place. Could it be that they have been created primarily to limit discussion and control the narrative and make the big guys more popular? I'll let you be the judge of that. But despite the best efforts of evil angels and evil men there are still a lot of people who think independently. Many assume that the truth is the opposite of whatever the fact checker says it is.

How did we get here, friends? You would think that there is a plan developed by an evil mastermind behind all this distrust and lying. And indeed, there is. Discerning the truth on planet Earth post-fall has never been a straightforward matter. The enemy is always around to try to divert our attention to things that are not true and to make obscure and meaningless those things that are.

Pilate's question to our Lord on the day of his crucifixion still stands as 1 of the, or perhaps the most relevant question that could be asked. What is truth? In our scripture reading this morning, our savior gives us, I should say, some important hints as to how we can be discerners of truth, especially of spiritual truth. You see, it's 1 thing to have to deal with deception in the media. It's another thing when people use the Word of God to deceive other people.

Jesus was accused of this, you might remember. In fact, in just a couple of verses ahead of our scripture reading, John chapter 7, verse 12, We read that public opinion regarding Christ was divided, just as it is today. Some people believed Christ to be a good man, but others accused him of deceiving the people. It was a split decision. So it is no wonder that Jesus here gives several principles that his hearers could, by which his hearers could separate the chaff of public opinion and false doctrine from the wheat of God's revealed inspired truth.

And my suggestion is in presenting this message today that we still need these principles. Would you agree with me? So with that introduction let me take a moment to reread our scripture reading. I'll add verse 18 to the passage. John chapter 7 verses 14 through 18.

I'll be reading from the New King James Version. Thank you Wayne, by the way, for reading the passage earlier. Jesus said, well I should say John records, now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught. And the Jews marveled saying, how does this man know letters, having never studied? Jesus answered them and said, my doctrine is not mine, but his who sent me.

If anyone wills to do his will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on my own authority. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory, but he who seeks the glory of the 1 who sent him is true, and no unrighteousness is in him." Now there are a few points to consider in this passage. The first thing to consider here is that The discernment of truth does not come by possession of academic credentials. Unfortunately the Jews believed that education in their schools was what made a man a discerner or a teacher of truth. Their statement here about Christ's lack of such an education reveals their thoughts about this.

Remember what they said? Their comment after hearing him teach was this, How does this man know letters having never studied? Now, I try not to refer to the original language too often in my sermons but a word or 2 is warranted here. There are 2 words in the New Testament Greek vocabulary for to know. 1 is oida, the other is gnosko.

1 means knowledge as mastery of the subject. The other means, refers to the experience of gaining knowledge. The Jews used oida here, not gnosko, indicating that in their opinion Christ had a masterful knowledge of the Bible. It wasn't just that he was engaged in study, but he had studied and mastered the subject. Before we consider the meaning of verse 15, we should be clear about what it does not mean.

The Jews did not mean that Jesus could not read or that his messages were mere emotional rants given without real thought or planning. By the way, I want to say that there's too much of that in churches today. Too much flabby, disorganized, and disconnected preaching. Would you agree with me? The record that we have of Christ's teaching and preaching shows us that his messages were the very opposite of these things.

His discourses were well crafted, tightly reasoned, and judiciously illustrated, And our Lord always made appeals to the heart as well. What the Jews meant by saying this, that Christ had not studied, was that he had not attended their schools and received degrees from them. Of course, in their minds, this meant that he had not really studied at all. Everything that he had done by way of preparation and study on his own was disregarded and discounted and thought irrelevant. The only thing that was relevant to them was what are his degrees, what are his credentials?

To them, a lack of degree constituted 1 an ignoramus, Someone not worth listening to in polite society. They used the fact of his lack of conventional schooling to dismiss everything he said. Now, I don't suppose that that happens at all today, does it? Just something to consider. On the contrary, this idea is still deeply rooted in our own culture at the present time, isn't it?

No matter how accurately a man states the obvious facts, no matter how deep his insights might be, no matter how well reasoned his arguments are, and no matter how inescapable his conclusions, there are always people who will ignore all that and skip right to an evaluation of his credentials, as if mere degrees and scholastic attainments are the measuring stick of whether 1 can discern the truth or not. How many of you have met people loaded down with letters after their names that could not find their way out of a paper bag in terms of reasoning? I thought that would be your answer. Let me tell you that I know of a man on the West Coast of this country who not only can read and teach Greek, This is the language of the New Testament, by the way, to which I just referred a few moments ago. Not only can this man read and teach Greek, but he can also write composition in Greek.

Now you just think about that for a moment. He knows it so well. In fact, he used to use this very gospel of John to teach his students. Surely this man must be a keen discerner of truth. Right after all, he knows the original language backwards and forwards.

Isn't that all there is to understanding the Bible, to know the original language? That's what some would have us believe. On the contrary, let me assure you that based on all observable evidence, this man stands no nearer to the Kingdom of God than does the devil himself. No, friends, as useful as academic training can be in some situations, it alone does not and cannot make 1 a discerner of truth. If we learn nothing else from an examination of our present state of society, it ought to be that 1 thing.

But we must also consider a second point, and that is this. Truth is not a matter of one's personal views or opinions. Rather, it is about God and what he has revealed. Here's why I say that. Notice verse 16.

Jesus answered them and said, My doctrine is not what's the next word? Mine. But his who sent me. This is a key point to recognize. You see, the Jews had fallen into the habit of allowing supposedly learned rabbis to interpret scripture for them.

There was Rabbi Shammai and Rabbi Hillel and others that proposed their own interpretations of the Bible and even systems of interpretation. These 2 in particular, Hillel and Shammai, were roughly contemporaries of Christ, actually. A little bit before, I believe. But they often contradicted each other, leaving the whole matter of truth hanging in the air to be batted around in debate. Contrast this approach to discerning truth with the solemn words of Christ, my doctrine is not mine.

If this was the case of he who spoke to Israel from Sinai, how much more should it be true of we who are mere under-shepherds? Peter echoes this same thought in his second letter from 2 Peter 1, verse 20 and 21. He says, knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation. For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. According to Peter, the prophetic word of God did not come into being because the prophets crafted it themselves, based on their interpretation of their religious experience and their times and their culture and so on.

No, a thousand times no. Rather they were moved by the Holy Spirit. God gave them the thoughts to share and he guided them to share those thoughts accurately and faithfully. Now I'm bringing this point out because I think it is a key indicator to analyze in the search for truth. We must always ask ourselves, is what I am hearing human opinion?

Is it human reason? Is somebody just telling me what they think? We have an ongoing kind of old, maybe 25 year old joke in our family. There used to be a Sabbath school class back at Martha's previous church that we attended for a while. In fact, I think you attended that class.

And Rene and I jokingly referred to it as the I think class because so many people were very adamant about sharing what they thought and their opinions. Now I'm not opposed to people sharing their opinions, but we ought to always back it up with a text, right? Our opinion should be informed by the word of God. It should not direct our interpretation of the word of God. Does this make sense?

And this is something that we always ought to consider when we hear a preacher, a Sabbath school teacher, or whatever it might be, is this simply this man's opinion or is it derived from something else, meaning the word of God or the spirit of prophecy? We also should ask if the person who is speaking benefits from his own doctrine. That's an important question. And we should ask who is glorified in this teaching. This is the point that Jesus brings out in verse 18.

To present his teaching as his own rather than God's inspired revealed word would be to ascribe glory to himself. Is this correct? And he refused to do that. The Jews, on the other hand, had their own glory constantly in mind. Their teaching was a constant effort to exalt themselves and to give themselves liberty to do what they wanted to do, rather than to truly live for God.

And it was also to exalt their own spiritual authority over other people. But to seek to glorify God alone, as our Lord always did, indicated that his teaching was true and genuine. In other words, there ought to be and always is an unselfish component to the preaching of the truth. In fact, in many situations, Preaching the truth involves a sacrifice for the 1 who gives the message. Is this true?

If you if you doubt that just think of the experience of the Old Testament prophets How often did they were they persecuted for giving the message of truth to the people? Very often. Just ask Isaiah, he'll tell you all about it on the resurrection day. And there were others. Hosea, Jeremiah, I could run down the whole list.

Most often and almost always, these men who gave the message of truth did so at the peril of their lives. And this is true all the way through sacred history. Look at the Reformers. They bore messages of truth. And many of them paid for it with their own blood.

No, no preacher should ever present the glorious truth of Scripture as though it came from him. This is essentially blasphemy since it takes what justly belongs to God and turns it into an opportunity for self-glorification. I say, friends, beware of such people. Avoid them and you will be blessed. But with those 2 points made, we must consider 1 further point this morning.

So far, Christ has presented this matter from the negative view. In other words, he was pointing out what the truth-teller is not. But verse 17 gives us the key element in discerning the truth. And here it is. The ability to discern truth is a matter of one's willingness to be governed by it.

Did you hear what I said? I'm going to repeat it 1 more time. Since you don't have the manuscript in front of you like I do, it'll be harder for you to remember this. But I'm going to say this again. The ability to discern truth is a matter of one's willingness to be governed by it.

This ability does not come as a result of education, nor does it come wherever self-exaltation is the motive. We have seen these 2 fallacies already. Christ says, if anyone wills to do his will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on my own authority. This really is the vital thing. But we should note here that the word wills is what kind of verb, you grammarians out there?

If anyone wills to do his will. I'm not asking for the verb tense, I'm asking what part of speech is it? Come on you English teachers. What is it? It's a verb.

Thank you very much. This is a verb. It is not a noun, it is not an adjective, if anyone wills to do his will. So what kind of, what does a verb indicate? Action, thank you.

It's an action word. It refers to a decisive action that 1 makes in the heart to do whatever God may reveal. We could translate it equally well like this, if anyone purposes in his heart to do his meaning God's will he shall know of the doctrine. This is the kind of thing that Daniel did, you recall. Daniel purposed in his heart that he would do nothing to dishonor God in Babylon, even in the matter of what he took into his body.

Let those who have ears hear." And we see that in the story, God grants Daniel what? Discernment of prophetic truth. Do you see the connection there? There was the purposing of his heart that he would not dishonor God in any respect, and God, because Daniel had willed to do his will, he made Daniel a discerner of truth. Note that John 7, verse 17, is a special promise to truth seekers and there are no restrictions on the promise, only 1 condition to meet, that we purpose in our hearts that we will seek to live in accordance with whatever God reveals through his inspired word.

Have you no degrees friend? Don't worry about that It is of no consequence. Come and take hold of this promise and you will become a discerner of truth. Are you weak-willed, my brother, my sister? You come too, for God says, my strength is made perfect in weakness.

You too can become a discerner of truth. If you only purpose in your heart to say, whatever God shows me, I will do. Are you a miserable sinner like I am? We can come as well, for so was the publican in Jesus' parable. His words were, Lord, be merciful to him a sinner, because he was sick of himself and wanted to live differently did God hear his prayer and answer it yes he did and he too could be a discerner of truth.

I want to close this morning by addressing this question. How important is it to be a discerner of truth? So many in this generation have concluded that the concept of truth is irrelevant, or that truth can't really be known, or that truth is always and only personal in nature. We hear so many people these days talking about my truth, her truth. Have you heard this?

This is a fabrication of the postmodern generation. Friends, I want to be clear. According to the Bible, truth is personal, But the postmodern people are focused on the wrong person Do you get what I mean? Truth is personal. They think the truth is centered on them as Persons, but it is not not even a little Rather the person in whom truth centers is God.

He is the truth. Jesus even said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. So How important, friends, is it for us to become discerners of the truth today? There is all kinds of disinformation floating around. It was like that at the beginning of the great controversy, you remember.

Everything was going fine and dandy in heaven until Lucifer the covering cherub began to spread lies about the Creator. He began to confuse the other angels with complicated reasoning that really didn't go anywhere. It just created doubts in their minds. They began to wonder whether God was telling them the truth or not. And if you look at the principles that Jesus points out here, they would have served the angels well in the beginning of the great controversy too, would they not?

Who was trying to exalt self? God or Lucifer? Lucifer was. And the angels that remained loyal were those who said, you know, I hear all this over here. I hear the statements.

I hear the assertions that are being made by Lucifer, but I am willing to do whatever God says because he has never steered me wrong yet. His word, I believe, is trustworthy and I intend to do what he says. Those are the angels who stayed faithful and loyal. Yes, it was absolutely vital for the angels in heaven at the beginning to become discerners of truth when Lucifer started peddling his fake news. It was the difference between life and death.

And why does our Savior in this instance that we've been studying spend time laying down the principles by which truth can be known if the whole question is irrelevant. No my brothers and sisters the fact is that the truth is relevant has always been relevant and discerning it and following it will mean the difference between salvation and condemnation in very short order. So the appeal today is really quite simple. Will you today commit your life to this privilege of discerning and living the truth? Putting these principles into action.

That's the question. If you will, then you will find yourself blessed in a short period of time. If you refuse, you will 1 day Curse the decision that you made. May God help us. How many today are willing to say, yes, I want to be a discerner of truth?

Praise the Lord. This media was brought to you by AudioVerse, a website dedicated to spreading God's Word through free sermon audio and much more. If you would like to know more about Audioverse, or if you would like to listen to more sermons, please visit www.audioverse.org

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How to Discern the Truth

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