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>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

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.

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.

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.

You probably already know this, But I will let you know anyway that the American news media is setting records these days.

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?

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.

You would think that there is a plan developed by an evil mastermind behind all this distrust and lying.

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.

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.

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.

So with that introduction let me take a moment to reread our scripture reading.

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.

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 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.

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?

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?

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.

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?

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.

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How to Discern the Truth

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