FROM SUCCESS TO SIGNIFICANCE
TRUTH
DR. JIM DIXON
JOHN 18:36-38
DECEMBER 10, 2006
We’re in the midst of a series of lessons on Moving from Success to Significance. We’ve looked at significance in the past in the context of time and talent and treasure and today we look at significance in the context of truth. Our scripture today is taken from John’s Gospel, John, chapter 18, beginning with verse 36. “Jesus answered, ‘My Kingship is not of this world. If My Kingship were of this world, My servants would fight that I might not be handed over to the Jews but My Kingship is not from the world.”‘ Pilate said to Him, “So you ARE a King?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a King. For this I was born and for this I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. All who are of the truth, hear My voice.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”
In 1970, Alexander Solzhenitsyn received the Nobel Prize in Literature. As he concluded his acceptance speech, he made this statement. “One word of truth outweighs the whole world.” Of course, it was Solzhenitsyn who spoke a word of truth to the Soviet Union and for that word of truth he was hated by the Kremlin. For that word of truth, he was incarcerated. For that word of truth, he was stripped of his Soviet citizenship. Of course, ultimately Alexander Solzhenitsyn became a citizen of the United States of America and years later saw the fall of the Soviet Union and all of its pride. Today the writings of Alexander Solzhenitsyn are acclaimed the world over. It occurs to me that perhaps Vladimir Putin would be well advised to read The Complete Works Of Alexander Solzhenitsyn. If Alexander Solzhenitsyn attained significance in his life it was only because, by his own testimony, he had once encountered the truth of Jesus Christ. If he attained significance in this lifetime it is because he experienced the truth of Jesus Christ. So how about you? Have you experienced the truth of Jesus Christ and have you found significance through that truth?
I have three teachings this morning as we look at moving from success to significance in the context of truth. The first teaching is this. If we would experience significance, if we would attain significance, we must embrace ultimate truth. You can’t find significance unless you’re willing to affirm ultimate truth. In the world of philosophy there is a discipline, a field of philosophy, called “epistemology.” In fact, some universities, some colleges, some institutions of higher learning actually offer specific classes in the study of epistemology. It’s a big word, not meant to be impressive, but a very important word. The word epistemology comes from the Greek word and the biblical word, “epistemi.” Epistemi means, “to know” or “to understand.” Epistemology refers to how we know something is true. In your life you probably have many epistemologies. You have many different methods of ascertaining truth. For instance, the scientific method is one epistemology, a means of ascertaining truth. The so-called scientific method grew out of modernity. For many modernists, the scientific method is the sole means of ascertaining the truth. The scientific method grew out of the European enlightenment, the age of reason and ultimately the scientific method may be traced back to the Greek philosophers, to Socrates, to Plato, to Aristotle who believed that we could ascertain truth through sensory observation and by means of deductive reasoning and to some extent inductive reasoning. And so today we see this scientific method as kind of combining inductive and deductive reasoning with an emphasis on sensory observation in an effort to kind of test tube the truth, to discover the truth.
The problem with the scientific method as an epistemology is that it’s very limited. It cannot deal with many different types of truth. The scientific method is never going to help you discover the meaning of life. The scientific method is not going to help you understand the nature of God. The scientific method really is of little use in the study of theology or even in the study of morality. It’s a very limited epistemology. I can tell you with confidence on the basis of the Word of God that if your only epistemology is the scientific method, you’ll never attain to ultimate truth and therefore you’ll never attain to significance.
Of course, today many people tell us that our culture is changed and our nation is changed and the world is changed. Now we’re told that we’ve entered the world of postmodernity. Most people are no longer modernists but they are postmodernists. That’s what we’re told. Postmodernists have many epistemologies and certainly they still use the scientific method. They know that it’s limited but it certainly has its use. Most postmodernists would embrace many epistemologies and most postmodernists have some openness to religion and to spirituality and in fact if you were to go up to a postmodernist and you were to say, “Hey, I believe something is true because God revealed it to me.” The postmodernist would probably be okay with that. The postmodernist wouldn’t accept your belief as ultimate truth or absolute truth but the postmodernist would say, “Hey, that’s okay for you.” The postmodernist, however, really doesn’t embrace any ultimate truth. They just kind of let everybody have their individual truths and they say, “Hey, let’s all get along.”
Now understand, Jesus Christ was not a modernist and He was not a postmodernist. Jesus Christ believed in ultimate absolute truth and He claimed that He came into the world as the very revelation of ultimate absolute truth. So, we come to John, chapter 18 and you see the question posed by Pilate as he was in the Praetorium of the Governor’s Palace. Pontius Pilate posed the question and he posed it sarcastically. He said, “Ti esten elathia?” “What is truth?” Of course, for Pontius Pilate there was no ultimate truth. He would have been the perfect postmodernist. He was responding to a statement Jesus had just made in the Praetorium. Jesus had just said, “For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to bear witness to the truth. All who are of the truth hear My voice.” You think of John 14 where Jesus said, “ego ami hey alathia,” “I am The Truth.” He didn’t say, “I am a truth.” He said, “I Am The Truth!” “I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me.” Ultimate truth.
When you read the Prologue of John’s Gospel, it tells us that, “In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelled among us full of grace and truth.” So, Jesus, His mission, His Christmas mission as He came into the world, was to reveal ultimate absolute truth and we can’t find significance unless we embrace the truth of Christ.
Many of the names given to Christ in scripture really confirm that He is ultimate truth. In the Prologue of John’s Gospel, of course Jesus is called “The Word.” “In the beginning was The Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God.” Jesus is called, “The Word.” It’s hard to fully comprehend the scope of meaning and the richness of meaning in this title because in the Greek language the title “word” is the Greek term “Logos.” The Greek philosophers including Plato used this term, Logos, to describe the mine of God. So, in saying, “Jesus is The Word,” it meant, “Jesus is the Mind of God.” In the Hebrew language, this title, “The Word” is also rich because the Hebrew term for this title is the word “Debar.” In saying that Jesus is Debar is The Word. In Hebrew it meant that He represented the creative power of God because of the Hebrew people, God spoke and things happened. God spoke and by His word, the universe was formed, ex-nihilo, “out of nothing” by the power of His Word. And so, in saying that Jesus is the Word of God, Debhar, it means that He is the power of God, the creative energy of God. Of course, in Aramaic, and I think most of you understand that in Israel and biblical times and the time of Christ, most of the Jews spoke Aramaic. That was their language. Surely Jesus was multilingual but daily He spoke Aramaic. In giving Jesus this title, “The Word” in Aramaic, this title is expressed by the term, “memrah.” Memrah was used by the Jews as a circumlocution for God. It was a way of saying the name of God without offending God. The Jewish people were afraid of using the Tetragrammaton. They were afraid of saying, Yahweh, and so what they did was they used this circumlocution and they called God, “The Word,” “Memrah.” And so there you have it. Jesus Christ born in Bethlehem is “The Word.” He is the mind of God. He has the kind of energy and power of God and He just IS God. He is ultimate truth.
In Revelation, chapter 3, Jesus spoke at the church at Laodicea. Jesus introduced Himself. He said, “The Words of the Amen, the Able and True Witness.” This title He gave Himself, “The AMEN” means, “ultimate truth.” This means that ultimate truth is tied to Christ and to His coming into the world and therefore significance is tied to Christ.
Many of you are familiar with Harvard University and I think many of you know the Great Seal of Harvard is expressed by the word, “Veritas.” Veritas in Latin means, “truth.” So, whenever you see Harvard literature, you always see somewhere on the literature, “Veritas” or you see their great seal and right in the center of the seal of Veritas. Certainly, Harvard would claim to be an institution that focuses on truth.
Harvard, at its foundation, was a Christian University with a Christian cause. If you look at their seal, originally the word “Veritas” was surrounded by two phrases in Latin. One was “In Christo Glorium” and the other was “Christo et Ecclesiae” so that truth, veritas, was tied to Christ. And so, it was at Harvard University in the early decades and even in the 1st century of its existence. Truth was tied to Christ. That’s no longer true today. That’s no longer the case today. Harvard rejects Christ. Many of its professors and faculty have renounced the message of Christ and the authority of scripture. I would say that Harvard University has moved from significance to success and that’ a move in the wrong direction. They moved away from ultimate truth. They moved away from the greatest epistemology. They moved away from the Word of God and now they’re just dabbling in life. So, they’ve moved from significance to success and they are successful. Their endowment exceeds $20 billion and U.S. News And World Report in their annual rankings of colleges and universities almost annual ranks Harvard No. l. But by any academic standard, Harvard is successful. By any financial standard, Harvard is successful but success is relatively meaningless because there’s no significance. They’re not serving eternal purposes. Not anymore. Not serving any eternal purposes.
You remember Jesus said to His disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit would lead them into all truth. He said He would send the Holy Spirit would bring to their remembrance everything that He had spoken to them so that they could write it down. Jesus, in Revelation, chapter 1, said to John, “Write what you see and hear in a book. Write it. Send it to the churches.” And John wrote so we have the Book. I want you to understand that ultimate truth centers on Christ and that truth is then conveyed through this book, the Bible, the Word of God. If you would find significance in life, you must affirm this. You must affirm this as the only infallible rule of faith and practice. You must affirm this as your theological and moral guide to which you bend the knee and live your life because this was inspired by Christ and given to His apostles. There can’t be significance apart from that.
So, you look at II Timothy, chapter 3, verse 16, “All scripture is inspired of God. All of the Bible is inspired of God and is profitable for teaching.” The Greek word for teaching is, “didaskalia,” which can also mean, “doctrine” or “ultimate truth.” We find the ultimate truth of Christ in scripture.
Perhaps you’re thinking, “Well, what about the Koran?” I’m sure there are not a whole lot of you thinking that but maybe some of you are thinking, “What about the Koran? What about Islam? What about the Hindu Vedas? What about the Bhagavad Gita? What about the Buddhist Tripitaka, or the Three Baskets?” Can we find ultimate truth there? Maybe that’s also divine revelation but, you see, the Koran and the Bhagavad Gita and the Vedas and the Tripitaka do not focus on Christ, the Son of God come into the world. The Koran does talk about Christ but its testimony is bogus. It was written 600 years after Christ left this earth. If you’re going to look for a testimony to the truth of Christ, look for writings written in the 1st century by people who knew Him, not something written 600 years later by someone who didn’t fully understand that Christian faith.
You can look at the Vedas. You can look at the Bhagavad Gita, you can look at the Tripitaka and you will find some sage wisdom. I’ve read many of these writings but of course they’re all rooted in polytheism. They don’t even affirm the One True God.
I remember when I first read the Bhagavad Gita. Maybe I wouldn’t have read it but I was forced to. I remember when I read it. It’s about this dialogue between Krishna who is a divine manifestation, a kind of avatar, and Arjuna, whose a warrior. Arjuna is asking Krishna for counsel. Arjuna is about to go to battle and he’s going to have to kill people. He’s feeling bad because a lot of his relatives are on the other side of this battle and he’s going to have to kill his own family. And so, he asks Krishna if this is wrong or if this is right. Krishna says, “It’s fine because, you see, all you’re really going to be doing when you kill them is testing their karma. They are going to come back in another life form. They may come back as a more advanced life form, or they may come back as a lesser life form. By killing them, you’re just testing their karma and when they come back it will reflect the quality, the karma, the life they lived. It’s kind of a strange message regarding killing. Of course, the whole concept of reincarnation central to Buddhism and Hinduism is antithetical to the Bible and to the teachings of Jesus Christ who tells us clearly that when we die, “If you believe in Him, you go to heaven. If you don’t, you wait for judgement. But it’s appointed of the man who wants to die and after that, the judgement.” You can’t have it both ways. It can’t all be true. Of course, we affirm the truth of Christ.
I know many of you have heard of Jocelyn Elders. Jocelyn Elders used to be the Surgeon General of the United States. She was Surgeon General during the Clinton Administration and it was Bill Clinton who asked Jocelyn Elders to step down. He asked her to step down because she had become very controversial. Jocelyn Elders had said that the Catholic Church had a love affair with the human fetus. That was controversial. Jocelyn Elders said that “Gays and lesbians should be able to adopt children because children do not need both a mother and a father.” That was controversial. Jocelyn Elders said that “Public education should teach children to masturbate because it’s the only true prophylactic against sexual disease.” That was controversial. Of course, she stepped down but when she stepped down, Jocelyn Elders said, “I only said what was true for me. I have my truth. You have your truth. Truth is relevant and it’s up for grabs.” Do you believe that? Do you really believe truth is up for grabs? If you do believe that, you’ll never find significance because significance is tied to ultimate absolute truth.
The second teaching this morning, much more briefly, is this. If we would find significance, we must live the truth. It’s not enough to just affirm the truth. If we would find significance we’ve got to live the truth. The Greek word for truth is, “alethea.” The Hebrew word for truth is, “emeth.” Emeth is a wonderful word. For the Hebrews, if you were a person of truth, it’s not a reference to mere intellectual ascent. Truth for the Hebrew people was not just some kind of abstract theoretical affirmation. For the Hebrew people, truth was something you lived. It was something you had to live out so the Hebrew word for truth, “emeth,” is a word that means, “integrity” and “reliability” and it described a person who lived out what that person affirmed. So, if you affirm something you must live it out. Biblically this is the key to significance, living out what you affirm.
On June 12, 452 AD, the armies of Attila the Hun approached the city of Rome. June 12, 452 AD, not a good day for the city of Rome. The city of Rome was in decline. For 200 years the Roman Empire, particularly the Western Roman Empire had been in decline. The Roman Legions, by 452 AD, had just diminished to the point of being little more than a police force and here came the armies of Attila the Hun. Some ancient documents describe his army as 300,000 men strong. Some other ancient documents say 500,000 men strong. Historians today don’t know what to do with some of those ancient kinds of numerical tallies but they do know this. They know that Attila the Hun came to the city of Rome to invade it on June 12, 452 AD and he came with a vast army. In fact, an army so vast that the Roman Empire at its zenith would have had a hard time protecting its own territory and city.
What happened that day? Historians tell us that Pope Leo I rode out on a horse with four assistants out on a hillside outside of Rome and waited for Attila the Hun and his armies. You can just picture it, as the Pope is there with four assistants or attendants and then hundreds of thousands of soldiers marching under the leadership of Attila the Hun. Attila the Hun came right up to the Pope, Leo I. They met and they talked and we’ve been told that they talked for 15 or 20 minutes and then Attila the Hun turned his armies around. They left and they never approached Rome again.
What happened? Some historians believe that perhaps Leo I made tribute but we don’t know that. What we do know is Leo I told Attila the Hun that the city of Rome was afflicted with plague. Leo I told Attila the Hun that if he took his armies into the city of Rome, he would lose more men by disease than you will be the sword. Attila the Hun completely believed him. That seems a little strange because it could have been a ploy. Attila the Hun might have thought, “Hey, this is pretty convenient. Here I am with my armies. You’re pretty weak,” but he didn’t think that way at all because he knew that Leo I was a man of integrity who lived out what he affirmed. Today Leo I is called Leo the Great. He’s called St. Leo because he’s been canonized by the Church, but he was a man who stood for Christian orthodoxy and who united the Christian world. He was a man of passion and compassion for the poor and he was a man of his word. Even his enemies believed him.
Really the only question today is, what about you? What do people think of when they think of you? How about folks at work when they think of you? What do they think of? What is your reputation? What is your image? How are you thought of? How about your neighbors when they think of you if they think of you? What do they think of? What kind of person? What quality of life? What do you represent? What do you stand for or even your family? When your children think of you, do they think of you as someone who lives what they affirm? Who lives it out? Do you affirm Christ? Do your children look at you and know that you live for Christ? Does your wife feel that way about you? Does your husband feel that way about you? Do those who know you feel that way about you?
Significance is tied to living the truth. Of course, this past week on Thursday, December 7, we had the remembrance of Pearl Harbor. It was on December 7, 1941 that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, a day that shall live in infamy. The media reported this week that 500 survivors remain from the U.S. Military who were at Pearl Harbor that day, December 7, 1941, and in the words of Tom Brokaw, part of the greatest generation. I believe that generation was great. I really do. I think they were great because they lived out that which they affirmed. These were Americans who said they believed in democracy and freedom and they lived it out. They were willing to give their lives. Can you imagine what it would have taken on D-Day to storm the beaches of Normandy knowing you were just going to be fodder for enemy fire? What kind of courage would that take but they had to live it out. You’ve got to live out what you affirm. It was a great generation.
Of course, you see, with regard to Christ and the cause of Christ and the truth of Christ, if we affirm it we’ve got to live it out and it’s even more important because there’s a greater battle and it’s a battle for the souls of the men and women and children the world over, so it’s not enough to affirm the truth. We have to live the truth.
Of course, Scott Peck, the imminent psychologist, wrote his book “People Of The Lie.” Who were people of the lie? People of the lie were people who affirmed one thing but didn’t live it out, people who affirmed they believe this or affirmed they believe that but didn’t live it out or even feign living it out but inwardly and actually didn’t live it out.
One of the things I just loved about Johnny Patterson is that Johnny lived it out. Johnny lived for Christ. He didn’t just affirm Christ. He poured bis life out daily for you and he loves you so when you were hurting or someone in your family died, Johnny was there and he was there representing Christ with the love of Christ and the comfort of Christ and with a hug from Christ because he lived it out. He also was the kind of person that if you had a flaw, and we all have flaws, or if you had a weakness, and we all have weaknesses, Johnny would confess it and work on it. He lived in the light so John was the kind of guy that if he had something that he needed to work on, he would tell you about it. He would say, “Pray for me,” and he would live it out. I John, chapter 1, says, “If we say we have fellowship with God and we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth. We don’t want to be people of the lie so live what we affirm.
I know some of you have gone to AA. I’ve never been to an AA meeting but I know something of what goes on. I know you have to come into the light. I know you can’t be a person of the lie. I know you have to say, “Hi. My name is John Doe and I’m an alcoholic.” Then you’ve got to work on it and accept accountability. That’s living it out. If you affirm truth, live it out.
That’s the second teaching and then finally if we would find significance we must proclaim the truth. Easy perhaps to affirm the truth. Hard to live the truth and maybe even harder still in this culture to proclaim the truth. We all need to think of truth in the light of stewardship. I think it’s easy for us to think of time as something entrusted to us so God has entrusted a certain amount of time to us. It might be 48 years like Johnny. It might be 94 years like my mom who is almost 94. God has entrusted time to us and we’re stewards of that and someday we’re going to have to give an account with what we do or what we did with the time we had. It’s easy to think of time in light of stewardship.
You know it’s also easy to think of talent that way. God has entrusted talent to us. We’re going to have to give an account regarding our stewardship. It’s easy to think of treasure that way. God’s entrusted treasure to us. We’re going to have to give an account regarding our stewardship. God wants us also to think of truth that way. Have you ever thought about the fact that if you’re a Christian and you’re a follower of Jesus Christ, He’s entrusted truth to you, ultimate truth and He’s entrusted it to you. What are you doing with it? Of course, we’re stewards of the truth and we’re going to have to give an account.
The Bible tells us that evil exists, both on the natural and on the supernatural level. The Bible tells us that there’s an entity. There’s a being who is called the Devil, who is called Satan, and he is real and he exists. He not only seeks to afflict people. He seeks to deceive people for “he was a liar from the beginning,” Jesus said. And so, he seeks to deceive the nation. He seeks to deceive this nation. He seeks to deceive this culture. In all cultures, he is a deceiver. We see his deception everywhere. It occurs to me at least, whether you’re talking about one polarity or another, you see the lies of Satan. When you look at theological liberalism, you see the lies of Satan, and when you look at theological conservatism, you sometimes see the lies of Satan also. It doesn’t matter what poll you go to. You look at theological liberals and many of them have a problem with the whole concept of truth and they don’t accept scriptures as authoritative with regard to theology and morality. And so, life itself becomes very fuzzy for a liberal. Of course, you look at theological liberals and they don’t generally accept sexual mores or sexual boundaries. They’re more or less libertines. You look at theological liberals and they’ve redefined the word “tolerance.” The word tolerance comes from the Latin, “tolerai” which literally means, “to forebear.” Tolerance means, “to forebear something with which you disagree.”
Theological liberals and liberals in general have redefined tolerance so that it means, “you can’t disagree.” If you disagree with something, you’re a bigot so you really can’t disagree with anything and of course the irony of that is if you don’t disagree with anything, you don’t even need tolerance. If you just accept everything, you don’t need tolerance because you don’t need to forebear anything.
Of course, you look at theological conservatives and particularly ultra-conservatives and sometimes it just seems that they don’t even care about the planet. The Bible is very clear that God has given us dominion over the earth and that dominion is going to be judged and we’re going to have to give an account so you can’t be a Christian and just not care about the environment. It just isn’t right.
Many theological conservatives really don’t care about the poor. Oh, I know some do and I know most evangelicals do, but many theological conservatives really don’t care about the poor. They’re just too busy making money. They’re just too busy accumulating wealth and they really don’t care about the poor whether they’re poor in the Third World, or the Two-Thirds World, or whether they’re poor in the inner city. They don’t care.
So here we are, and we’re called to Christ. We’re called to affirm the truth and then we’re called to live it out. Then we’re called to act on it and then we’re called to proclaim it. I know we need to be careful. You can’t just enter a room mouth first. I know we need to be loving. I know we need to be sensitive. I know we need to be at times gentle. I know that you can’t put the cart before the horse. There are a lot of people out there who don’t even know Jesus so you can’t lecture them on their sexuality. There are a lot of people out there who don’t even know Jesus and you can’t lecture them on a lot of these issues because that’s kind of putting the cart before the horse. You’ve got to focus on the beauty of Jesus. You’ve got to tell them about Jesus and His grace and His love and His mercy and His truth and His power. You’ve got to share Jesus. The call we have is the people of Christ and the people of truth and to share ultimate truth no matter what the cost and of course it’s not easy. You have no more powerful weapon at your disposal than your testimony. If you would share your testimony with another person the Holy Spirit of God would come upon you with power and anoint you for ministry because your testimony of how you first came to love Christ and how Christ first became real for you and how you first experienced Christ’s mercy and grace and forgiveness and how the cause of Christ excites you… When you share that with another human being, nothing is more powerful than that if you’ll willing to speak, if you’re willing to share. So next week we’re going to look at testimonies, significance in the context of testimony.
In the final analysis, at the end of the day, all you’ve got is your testimony. That’s all you’re going to leave behind is your testimony. John Patterson has left his testimony behind. He’s left with us his testimony. You spend your life building your testimony and then when you die, you leave your testimony behind. What kind of a testimony are you building? As you’re building it, are you willing to share it with other people who need to hear it? When you die at the end of the day, will it be a great testimony? Will it be a good one like John’s testimony which is great.
It’s hard, but understand biblically, God never promised any of us a long life on this earth. God does not promise us a long life on this earth. God didn’t promise any of us 70, 80, 90 years in this world. I think a lot of folks kind of live with false expectations and almost with a kind of entitlement. They become indignant if their entitlement to longevity is violated. Understand that with the exception of the Apostle John, all of the other disciples died prematurely. The issue is how you live in the time you’ve got. What you do with the years you’re given, the days that you have. That’s really the issue.
John lived well. He lived for Christ and honored Christ and lived in the light and walked in the light. It takes courage. I think Paul had courage. All the apostles seemed to have an abundance of courage. It must have been the power of the Holy Spirit within them. Before Paul’s immature death as he was beheaded by the Roman Emperor Nero said, “I fought the good fight. I’ve kept the faith. I finished the race.” Paul wrote to Timothy and said, “You’ve observed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life. You’ve observed my testimony and lived like I’ve lived so you can say what I say when you die.” Of course, that’s courage.
Paul stood across from the Acropolis in the city of Athens on the Hill of the Areopagus and Paul spoke to a polytheistic culture about the one true God and the person of Jesus Christ and they didn’t like him. They didn’t like him because it’s hard. The world really doesn’t like what the Bible says. It doesn’t like what the Bible says about heaven or hell or sin or repentance or morals and ethical absolutes and what the Bible says about sexuality or homosexuality or heterosexuality. The world really doesn’t like the biblical message. But understand, as we close, I want to leave you with this. In the Bible God speaks of two swords. The Bible tells us that God gave one sword to earthly government—Romans, chapter 13. It’s a physical sword. God gave the sword physically to earthly governments and, by the will of God—Romans 13, earthly governments are to use that physical sword to deter evil on the earth. One day all governments will be judged based on how they used the sword and whether they used it to deter evil or not.
But there’s another sword. In Ephesians, chapter 6, the Bible tells God has given to the Church of Jesus Christ another sword and it’s not physical. The other sword, the sword that God has given to the Church of Jesus Christ is a spiritual sword and the Bible describes it as the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. He sends us forth and we’re not to lay down the sword, not this spiritual sword given to the Church, the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. We’re never to lay it down. We’re to be wise and we’re to be loving and we’re to be generous and sensitive but we’re never to lay down the sword so don’t acquiesce, don’t crater, don’t give in to the world. Live for the truth. Affirm the truth. Live the truth and by the power of Christ within us, let’s proclaim the truth. Someday, when our days are done, Jesus will say, “Well done,” and we’ll be significant in His sight. Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer.