Psalm 25:1-10  (NIV)

¹ To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; ² in you I trust O my God.  Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.  ³ No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse.

⁴ Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; ⁵ guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.  ⁶ Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.  ⁷ Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O Lord.

⁸ Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.  ⁹ He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.  ¹⁰ All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant.

Acts 4:1-13 (NIV)

¹ The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people.  ² They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.  ³ They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day.  ⁴ But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.

⁵ The next day the rulers, elders, and teachers of the law met in Jerusalem.  ⁶ Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and the other men of the high priest’s family.  ⁷ They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”

⁸ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people!  ⁹ If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, ¹⁰ then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.  ¹¹ He is “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.’  ¹² Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

¹³ When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

Today the passage in Acts is to look through the lens of truth and truth claims about Jesus.

1)      We will discuss the problems with truth claims.

2)      Then the problem with the problem of truth claims.

3)      The solution to the problem.

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but there’s only one truth, not your truth or my truth.  Truth exists independent of our feelings, and it doesn’t change to accommodate us.

Peter talks about a messiah that is for the world, for all people.  Peter makes a universal claim; Jesus is Lord of all people.

There is a conflict that comes when we make truth claims.

These days when we affirm that Jesus is the only way to be saved, following Christ is the only way to an eternity with God, that is seen by many to be narrow minded, exclusive, even dangerous.

Our universal claims are still getting us into conflict with society.

Christianity began in a pluralistic society, and we’re back into one again.  The truth mattered then, and it still does.

The problem with the problem with truth claims is we affirm with the early church that salvation is found nowhere other than Jesus; He alone saves us.

Many other beliefs have reduced Jesus to the status of a prophet.

Jesus claims to be:

1)      Before Abraham, I (Jesus) was there.  John 8:58

2)      Jesus claimed that He was going to heaven and when He returned, He was going to set things right.

3)      Jesus said He Himself is the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him.  John 14:6

As a follower of Jesus, we believe what He said about Himself.  The truth, when Jesus claims that there is salvation in no one else; no one else in history has ever claimed that salvation comes through them.

Only Jesus said this is my blood, shed for your forgiveness of sins.  (This is the essence of who Jesus is.)

C. S. Lewis succinctly said that Jesus was either lying about being God and what He did on the Cross, or He was crazy, or He really was the Lord.  No other religious leader made the claims He made and then backed them up with real actions; real love, real sacrifice, and real miracles.

To examine Jesus’ claims and His life leads to the conclusion that yes, in Him alone is salvation.  When Jesus said His blood was shed for our salvation, there is no middle ground.  Either that is true, and it means everything, or it is not true, and means nothing.

How can a pluralistic society, such as ours, in which people have deeply held conflicting worldviews live together with respect and cooperation and peace, and have a society characterized by justice and peace?

We are at an interesting place where people are saying we need universal values, moral absolutes to deal with injustice.

I believe we need the value of Jesus.  He saved us through being rejected, He served, He loved, He died so God’s love could come into our lives.

We get our identity through who we are in Christ.

As a Christian, it means we admit we deserve hell, and only the grace of God through Christ can save us.  It’s universal.  The truth we need is Christ.

We rest in Christ, knowing that through Him God loves us no matter what.

This week think about the truth of Christ in your life, your world, your existence.  Are you in or out?  Let’s talk about truth, call me about what’s on your mind.  God bless.