THE PLAIN TRUTH
Prov. 23:22-25
INTRO. The world today is hurting for the truth. We hear a lot about the "credibility gap". That is the difference between what the people are told and the real truth. There is a credibility gap in the presentation of the gospel also. Many people are lost and on the road to hell because they do not know that there is a difference between what they have been told and the real truth.
Our text says (vs. 23). If the plight of mankind is as bad as the bible says it is then it is the wise man who will do everything in his power to obtain the truth. The Bible tells us that man’s condition is a dark picture; the Devil’s crowd tells us that man’s condition is a rosy picture. Fornication has become premarital sex, adultery is now called love affairs, drunks have a disease, crime is a mistake brought about by social inequality, sodomy is considered an alternate lifestyle. What is the plain truth and how important is it to us that we know that truth?
I. LEARN THE PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT SIN.
A. Sin is universal.
1. There is nobody who is not a sinner. There is no one who has not sinned everyday of their life. Most everyone here has already sinned this morning.
2. Sin is not a way of life, it is a part of life. Sin is as much a part of us as the blood that flows in our veins. (The hypocrite is as much a sinner as the drunkard.)
3. It is popular today to preach that sin is a force of evil and that it can be avoided. That it is possible to live above sin, that it is possible to live without sin. It would be nice to live without sin and I look forward to a day when the Son of God comes back to this earth and men can indeed taste life without the acrid pains of sin.
4. But until Jesus does come back and binds Satan, sin will remain on the rampage, wrecking lives and destroying homes. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of times the bible lays down the indisputable fact that, "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" and that "there is none righteous, no not one."
5. Sin has touched the lives of every man and woman since Adam and Eve. What makes people lie and steal? SIN. What makes people lash out and try to hurt others...burn and destroy...murder and rape and rob...alcoholics and dope addicts...SIN.
B. Sin is the great destroyer.
1. The popular idea is that, "Well, a little sin can’t hurt anything." The little sin of abortion has left literally millions dead in it’s wake.
2. It was sin that started W.W. I and II. Sin is behind every lie and rumor. Sin assassinates characters, lives, and nations. In all the tens of millions of words I might be able to say about sin I could not find one good thing to say that would commend it.
II. YOU SHOULD KNOW THE PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT HELL.
A. You should know that hell is real.
1. There are a lot of men in the ministry today who don’t believe that there is a real hell.
2. Jesus knew that there was a hell. He described Hell in very vivid terms in Luke 16:19-31. See also Mark 9:43-48.
B. You should also know that hell is for eternity.
1. The man we just read about in Lk. 16 wanted out of hell, but he couldn’t get out. He wanted to warn his friends and relatives not to come to hell.
2. Now there are men who will tell you that there is no reason for you to fear hell. Even if you do go there you can get out someday...God is too loving to make you stay there forever.
3. "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (II Pet. 3:9) It is not God’s will that you die and go to hell.
III. YOU SHOULD KNOW THE PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT GOD.
A. God is loving and compassionate. He has no desire to see you go to hell.
1. (ill) -- I don’t want to see anyone go to jail but lawbreakers must be punished. If a man breaks the law it is his fault, not mine.
2. If people go to hell it will not be because God has forsaken them but rather because they have forsaken God.
3. The Bible tells us that God loves the world to the point of redeeming it at the excessively high cost of the life of His only Son. (Jn. 3:16)
4. Even in the Old Testament there is record that God does not want you to go to Hell. "Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?" (Ezek. 33:11)
B. God is longsuffering.
1. John prayed, "Come quickly, Lord Jesus". It is said that 187,000 people are born every 24 hours on this earth. It is estimated that only 10% of these people will actually come in contact with Christianity (true and false). That means that about 167,000 which are born each day are doomed to an eternity in hell.
2. Do you see how very fortunate you are to have heard the gospel message?
3. By all rights God should end the world right now, but He is longsuffering, you have heard the truth, you have an opportunity to be saved now. Others will die and go to hell, but you know the truth.
C. God is just.
1. God has ordered that I and all Christians warn as many as possible of the wrath to come, but whether or not you repent is solely your responsibility. (Ezek. 33:7-9)
2. God has made provision for your souls salvation. God has also made provision if you fail to repent. "Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die." (Ezek. 18:4) [You have no "right" to heaven, it is a gift of God.]
3. God is loving, compassionate, and longsuffering but He is also just and fair.
IV. NOW LEARN THE PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT SALVATION.
A. In I Cor. 7:23 Paul told the Christians in Corinth, "Ye are bought with a price". And a high price it was.
1. The Devil’s preachers started the rumor that we could save ourselves if we would live a good and righteous life and keep the Law of Moses. The Devil is behind the idea that we can be saved if we will just be baptized and join the church. Going to church, living right and practicing religion are good but they will not get you into heaven.
2. Those are lies spawned from the pits of perdition and spread on the wings of demons.
3. The price of salvation was much higher than the price man could afford to pay.
4. So God sent Jesus. (see John 1:1-5,14,12)
B. Salvation is free. Jesus bought and paid for your estate in heaven.
1. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Eph. 2:8-9)
2. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." (Acts 16:31)
C. Once you are saved, your soul is secure.
1. If you are not saved, then you are a child of sin and Satan. But once you believe on the name of the only begotten Son of God, Satan can never touch your soul.
2. Romans 8:35-39
CONCLU. Now you know the plain truth about sin, God, and salvation. What will you do with the truth?
