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Dalton SDA Church

Chester Clark

The Inevitable Triumph of Truth

Father in heaven, we need your spirit to be here in the few minutes that we have to open your word.

We pray that we might have our minds centered in your very thought and will and presence.

May your spirit guide us as we open your word and we thank you in Jesus name, Amen.

We're not going to take the time today to look in detail at Acts chapter 7, but if you'll remember in Acts chapter 6 we had the ordination of deacons, 7 deacons.

We noted of course last week that 1 of those 7 deacons was not of Jewish origin, He was of a different ethnic background.

He's the first Christian named convert, no doubt from Judaism to Christianity, but nonetheless, he is there, Nicholas.

But 1 of the ones that is particularly highlighted is the deacon Stephen.

And in Acts chapter 7 we find the presentation that Stephen makes before the council, the Sanhedrin, and there before the high priest.

It's a sermon that is full of conviction as he tells the Jewish leaders that Jesus was the promised Messiah and they had crucified Him.

And finally, they had had enough, they had had enough, and they plugged their ears, because by the way, friends, the truth is not always convenient, is it?

And when people who do not want to hear the truth hear the truth, they can choose how they respond.

They can either allow the truth to soften their hearts as the sun would melt a ball of wax, or they can choose to allow that same sun of truth to harden their hearts as the sun would a ball of clay.

And these people had so far gone down the road of neglect truth and and and and going away from truth that they chose finally I believe to harden their hearts against the truth they plugged their ears and they stoned him we talked about this marks the the 70 weeks the 490 years 34 AD now Now not only has the Jewish nation crucified Jesus, but they have began killing those who he has sent to tell them about him.

And so they are no longer given the opportunity to be the vehicle through which the message of truth will be taken to the world.

The Jewish nation is now bypassed and you remember how Jesus had said that you should tarry in Jerusalem, stay in Jerusalem, first stay in Jerusalem till the power of the Holy Spirit comes upon you and then you'll be witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and the uttermost part of the world.

The disciples' first responsibility was right there in Jerusalem with God's people who still had an opportunity to change their ways, but now as they plugged their ears and they they stoned to death the messenger.

They rejected the message and the gospel would go to the Gentiles.

In fact, we see that here in Acts chapter 8 and verse 1 look with me here now Saul was consenting to his death at that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem and they were all scattered throughout the regions of where?

Judea and Samaria except the Apostles verse 4 and therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.

Now what the Israelite leaders thought would be a blow to the Christian faith, this fledgling group of people who didn't have power, didn't have influence, didn't have connections with the higher ups.

They thought this would certainly strike fear into their hearts.

They would stop teaching about Jesus because they would see what happened to Stephen.

Stephen was stoned because he preached about Jesus.

In fact, God used the stoning of Stephen to fulfill prophecy, to scatter the disciples and the apostles about And they went everywhere preaching the gospel.

Now the gospel goes not only to Jerusalem, but to Judea and Samaria and indeed to the uttermost part of the earth.

The enemy of souls and the Jewish leaders may have thought they had silenced an eloquent voice.

They thought that was a defeat for the Christian faith, but in fact that would not be a defeat.

It would be used by God for the spreading of truth.

And this is what I want to share with you this morning.

If you can remember 1 thing, truth is inevitable.

1 thing is very certain, the truth is going to triumph.

In fact we're going to open our Bibles now, and we're going to see a few things that we can learn about the inevitability of truth.

By the way this is a contrast it's quoting from elsewhere in the scriptures but it's making a contrast between standing for Jesus and denying Jesus.

Let's just go ahead and read verse 11 and 12 as well.

This is a faithful saying, for if we died with him we shall also live with him.

If we endure we shall also reign with him.

And what I take from this passage is this, even if I don't believe, it doesn't change the truth.

No matter whether I believe the truth or not, it won't change it.

Some people think, I think, maybe even we subconsciously wishfully think this, that if I just don't agree with it, it won't be so.

If I don't hold on to it, if I don't ascribe to it, if I don't accept it, if I don't believe it, then it won't be true.

Even if we don't believe, it's still truth.

No matter what you and I do about it, we can't change the truth because truth is eternal.

Truth is indeed entwined with God Himself.

Paul here is writing to those in Corinth who are surrounded by those who may not believe the truth or they weren't the majority for sure in the culture there.

And here we find Paul saying the following in 2nd Corinthians 13 and verse 8, for we can do nothing against the truth, but what does it say?

I would present to you that even the devil can't do anything against the truth, but for the truth.

Now, that doesn't mean that he can't hurt God's people.

It doesn't mean that he can't tempt and annoy and discourage and distract and delay and all the things that he's expert at doing.

But in the end God uses even calamities through His name's honor and glory.

That's the character and the quality of truth.

A couple more verses really quickly here.

This is after Jesus has sent out the 70 and they have been preaching and teaching and healing and casting out demons.

In verse 17, the 70 returned with joy saying, Lord, even the demons are a subject to us in your name.

And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven Now I want you to know friends what Jesus was telling the disciples is telling today and that is simply this Satan is a defeated foe we give too much credit to the enemy of souls And we've talked about this you'll remember that the Bible says that The gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church of God, right?

The gates of hell shall not prevail against it and and we've talked about this So I know it's in your In your long-term memory at least we'll bring it back up to your short-term memory How's it the gates of hell gates are a defensive mechanism?

They are not offensive usually when we think of that the gates of hell will not prevail against it We'll be able to be insular will be able to be safe.

We'll stay and you know protected by God That's not what he's talking about at all.

No, he's talking about the church of God on the war path.

The church of God beating down the strongholds of hell and the Gates of hell will not prevail against it.

Luke 10 and verse 18, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

This is why John could tell us with all assurance and with great authority.

This was not a mystery to these believers.

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The Inevitable Triumph of Truth

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