What Is Truth? Jesus Christ Explained Verse by Verse

Hello and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, good to see everybody, and we're going to jump right in where we left off in our last program, which we finished, if you remember, 2 Corinthians chapter 5. And so we'll take just a short review of those closing verses and then move on into 2 Corinthians chapter 6. And again, I always like to welcome our studio audience. I know we've got folk from near and far, and we're just glad to have every one of you be a part of this. And for those of you joining us on television, we always like to explain that we're just an informal Bible study. We're not connected with any particular group, and I'm just a layman. I'm not a pastor. I'm not a theologian. But we just like to feel that if we can teach the Scriptures in a way that anybody can understand, young and old, and then you take and run with it, do with it as the Lord would have you do it. Now again, we always like to remind our television audience that all the past programs are available on videotapes, audiotapes, and the printed page. And they're all word-for-word, of course, what comes off the air. And I'd also like to announce, I should have done this quite some time ago, that we have now begun a quarterly newsletter. And those of you out on television would like to receive our newsletter, you drop us a note if you haven't contacted us in any other way, and we'll get your name on the mailing list. Now, of course, the first thing I like to remind people, when you get on our mailing list, you're not going to get a bunch of propaganda begging for money. We'll just simply put in our newsletter an occasional need, and we like to let people know where we're having our seminars, and our television log, and so forth. But I've been so disgusted myself to get a mailbox full of promotional material, and I've just vowed up and down I'll never do that. So if you're on our mailing list, you'll get the little newsletter, and with the exception, of course, we use it to announce our tours and our cruise, but we will not use the mail to try and beg for money. All right, I think that's enough for the sake of announcements, and those of you here in the class, and I trust even you watching television, turn with me a moment to 2 Corinthians, and we'll just take a brief review of where we close in our last program, how that Paul, of course, the apostle to the Gentiles, is just constantly emphasizing the fact that Christ didn't now just deal with Israel, but the gospel has now gone to the whole world. And as we saw up in verse 14, "...the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all," the whole human race, then, of course, we're all dead, and we've taught that from day one, that when Adam fell, you and I inherited that Adamic nature, and so every human being that has ever come into the human family has been a child of Adam, and we are a fallen race, and we are spiritually dead. And then as we came down through these verses, how that it was the crucified and resurrected Christ that becomes the object of our faith, not the Jesus of Nazareth in his earthly ministry, although he's one and the same in person, but yet we have to constantly emphasize that our gospel is based on that which was revealed after his resurrection and ascension. And I feel that this is being so totally neglected in so much of our preaching and teaching, is that it's these revelations from the ascended Lord that now become our primary role of believing and so forth. And so this is what he's saying here, verse 16, "...we know no man after the flesh, though we have known Christ after the flesh." And, of course, I think he's making reference to the fact that as Saul of Tarsus, as Saul the persecutor, Saul the religious Pharisee, he knew about Jesus of Nazareth, he knew about his ministry, but now, you see, after his revelations on that road to Damascus and down in Arabia, he no longer refers to Christ in his earthly ministry. And it's like, well, sometimes people will say, well, you know, I don't like Paul. I'm not going to spend too much because he doesn't even mention the virgin birth. He doesn't mention Bethlehem. Well, of course not. Why should he? That's all been established in the earlier revelations. We don't have to have it again. We understand, of course, that Christ was born of Bethlehem, born of a virgin, and went the way of the cross. But when it comes to the post-resurrection doctrines and revelations, Paul is the only one that reveals these precious truths to us. And so then he comes down to verse 17, remember, just a quick review. Therefore, when we understand this and believe this, that the Christ of the cross, the Christ who had been raised from the dead, is now the object of our faith, then we become a new creation. God works a work of regeneration, a work of justification, all these things. And it's all part and parcel of that tremendous plan of salvation, how that Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead. And then he says we are a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. Now, this is just a good introduction for what we're going to be seeing in chapter 6. Maybe not in this half hour, but definitely in the next one. And that is this whole business of separation from the world. And that's the reason, because we are now a new creature. We are a new creation in Christ Jesus. And then that leaves us toward the end of chapter 5 with that tremendous responsibility of every Grace Age believer that we are now ambassadors for Christ. We are to let the world know that they've already been reconciled. It's done. It's finished. And it's our job to let them know it. All right, then we come on into chapter 6. And it begins with verse 1, In other words, when our government sends an ambassador to a foreign country, he does not just totally isolate himself. He stays in communication with the home government. They are constantly feeding information back and forth, because, after all, he is an employee of the government. And so that's why, after teaching us that we are to be ambassadors in chapter 5, he now comes into chapter 6 and says, And he says, And that's simply put, that God didn't save us to sit. He didn't save us just to escape hellfire, but we are saved to serve. And we are to be useful in God's vineyard in whatever particular capacity He may give to each one of us. All right, then verse 2. And he's going to quote from the Old Testament, from the book of Isaiah. And he says, Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. You remember back in Acts, I think it was King Agrippa who said, Well, Paul, you know, some other time when it's more convenient, come back and see me again. Well, you see, that is never the teaching of Scripture. The Scripture says, If you hear my voice, harden your heart. Today is the day of salvation for that person who has not yet entered in. And so he appropriately, of course, quotes from the book of Isaiah. All right, now then, verse 3. Giving no offense in anything that the ministry, that is His ministry, our ministry of reconciliation, could never be blamed. Now, I think there's nothing the devil likes better than to besmirch or to put a smudge on a ministry. I don't care whether it's mine or anybody else's, or whether it's your local church or your denomination. Because you see, as soon as the devil can convince the world of our faults and our failures, he gloats, the world gloats. And, of course, Paul was constantly aware of that same danger. He didn't want anything to cause people to say, Well, look what he's doing. And he wanted to keep it blameless as much as he could possibly do so. And so this is what he's saying. He's not going to give offense in anything, lest someone could turn around and truthfully, Now, you know that, untruthfully, the poor man was up against it constantly, wasn't he? You know, I'm always saying, and you're going to hear me say it again today, he has to constantly defend his apostleship. He was constantly being false accused. He was constantly being submarine by the Judaizers from Israel, and by even the pagan world, and even by believing Jews from the element of the twelve in Jerusalem, that he was an imposter. He was a false teacher. After all, he didn't have the credentials. If he could have just had letters of commendation from Peter, oh, he wouldn't have had so many of these problems. But he didn't have that. All he had for the proof of his ministry were these pagans that had been saved and been set on the rock Christ Jesus, and their lies were proving it. And we're going to see this now as we come on through these following verses. Yet, in 2 Corinthians. Now, I guess I should have said this at the beginning. Now, you want to remember, and when we stressed this before, that the letter to the Corinthians first was a letter that had to correct some horrible problems amongst the Corinthians, chief of which was gross immorality. So gross that even the pagan Gentiles did not do it. And yet, a member of the Corinthian church was guilty. And so that was the main thrust of the first letter, was to correct some terrible things going on in that local assembly. And now the second letter then comes within the next year. Now, most of the scholars do not agree as to whether it was 10 months, 11 months, but it was sometime within a year after his first letter that he writes this second one. And I want to emphasize that because as you see the language coming on through these next two, three chapters, I think you'll understand why he's saying it. All right, so now move on again to verse 4. He's not going to do anything that could blame the ministry, but in all things approving ourselves as the ministers, not of Jerusalem, not of Judaism, not of Peter and the 11, but he's the minister of whom? God himself. The ministers of God. "...in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses." Now, you remember we went through these things a few weeks ago, or at least a few programs back, how the man was suffering constantly all of the attacks of Satan, privations, sickness, threats on his life. And here he mentions some more of them. See, it was just a constant battle in the apostle's life against the forces that were opposing him. All right, "...in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings." Now verse 6, I'm going to take a little time again. "...by pureness, by..." What's the next word? "...knowledge." See? Knowledge. Now I'm going to have to look at a few other verses, aren't we? Come back with me to Galatians, I think, first. Galatians chapter 1. Galatians chapter 1. And let's just drop in at verse 11, 12, somewhere in there. Let's start at verse 11. Now we'll be teaching the book of Galatians verse by verse in just a little while, as soon as we finish 2 Corinthians, so I don't want to take all my thunder away. But here in Galatians chapter 1, verse 11, he says, "...I am afraid of you." Now here, remember, the Galatian churches were being bombarded with legalism, just like the Corinthian church was being bombarded with the temptations of paganism and immorality and so forth. All right, so to the Galatians, he says, "...I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain." Brethren, I'm in the wrong place. I'm sorry. Galatians chapter 1, verse 11. "...but I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received a man, neither was I taught it." But where did he get it? By the revelation of Jesus Christ. And then you come on down to verse 016, "...to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the..." What people? "...the heathen," the Gentiles, see? "...and immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood, neither did I go up to Jerusalem to them who were apostles before me. But I went into Arabia, returned again to Damascus, and then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter." Now, this is all the background for that knowledge of revelation that the man is always talking about, that he had a knowledge of the mystery. Now I want you to come on over a few pages to Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 3, down to verse 3. Ephesians chapter 3, verse 3 and 4. Ephesians chapter 3, verse 3 and 4. "...how that by," here's that word again, "...revelation," see? "...from the Ascended Lord, how that by revelation he made known unto me..." Now remember, this is Holy Spirit-inspired. The man isn't bragging or giving himself credit for anything, but as the Holy Spirit prompts him, "...he made known unto me the mystery which I wrote before in few words..." Now here's the verse I want you to see. "...whereby when you read, you may understand my..." What? "...knowledge," see? "...as a result of the revelations, that you may understand my knowledge in the secrets or the mystery of Christ." All right, come back again, if you will, to 2 Corinthians chapter 6. "...so by pureness, by knowledge, as a result of these supernatural revelations from the Ascended Lord, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, and by love..." What's the next word? "...unfeigned in our King James." In other words, did he ever put on a false front? Did the Apostle Paul ever come into a pagan city with a veneer? No. He came in with that heart full of revelation and knowledge in the power and the working of the Holy Spirit. Now verse 7. One tremendous word that, again, I want to spend a little time on specially. "...by the word of truth." Truth. Now, you know, we're living in an age where the intellectual community, the politically correct, they're always making emphasis of, well, what is truth? A lot of universities will maybe have it over the doors of one of their great halls. What is truth? Well, I'll tell you what. I've said it for 20-some years, and I have not changed my mind. The perfect definition of truth is Jesus Christ. He is the truth. Now, let's back that up with some Scripture. Come all the way back to John's Gospel. John's Gospel, chapter... Oh, is it chapter 1 or 2? I always have to look a moment. John's Gospel, chapter 1, verse 17. John's Gospel, chapter 1, verse 17. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and what? Truth came by Jesus Christ. He is the epitome of truth. Now, who is the direct opposite of truth? Well, while you're in John's Gospel, I was going to use a little later, but since you're already there, I'll save you the time. Come on over with me a minute. I think it's in chapter 8. John's Gospel, chapter 8, verse 44. John's Gospel, chapter 8, verse 44. Because we might as well arm ourselves with the Scripture. If Christ is truth, then what is the opposite? The lie, see? All right? John's Gospel, chapter 8, verse 44. As he speaks to the Jews of his day, he says, You are of your father the what? The devil, see? And the lusts or the desires of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. And when he speaketh a what? A lie, he speaketh of his own. It originates with him, not with God. For he, the devil, is a liar and the father of it. Now, remember that verse. I think most of you know it, that he is the originator of every lie. All right, now let's head back to the Old Testament. It's been a long time since we've done much back there. And I'm going to have you stop first at Exodus, of course, chapter 20. And I think a lot of times we know these things so well, and it's like the old cliche, we don't see the trees for the forest, or we don't see the forest for the trees, however you want to put it. But I think this is what happens is a lot of times we get so acquainted and we get so comfortable with some of these scriptures that we really lose the full impact of them. And the one I want you to see right now in the idea of truth and lie is this commandment in Exodus 20, verse 16. And I don't know how many of you have ever thought of it in this light. I've always thought of it as, well, don't gossip about somebody. Don't destroy somebody's character with your tongue. But that is not really the basic teaching of this particular commandment. What is it? Verse 16. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. What's a false witness? It's a lie. See? In other words, God could have just as well said, never lie. Would have meant the same thing. Because when you bear false witness, you're lying. When you're lying, you are being false. All right, now let's see how the father of that began it all. And of course, these again are verses you know probably even better than I do. But come back to chapter three in Genesis. Genesis chapter three. And beginning with verse four. And you all know the setting. I firmly believe that Adam was not in proximity with Eve. I think the devil caught her at a moment when she was by herself. And probably close enough to get a good eyeful of the tree that was forbidden. But anyway, as Satan and Eve are looking at that tree, look what he says in verse four. And the serpent said unto the woman, you shall not surely die. Well, now what did truth tell them? Now remember, the Lord that walked with Adam and Eve in the garden was Christ in his Old Testament personality. So what did truth tell Adam and Eve? The day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt what? Surely die. Or die, not surely. All right, now look what the liar says. The liar says, thou shalt not surely die. Verse five. Now he's piling lie on top of lie. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof your eyes shall be opened and you shall be as gods. My, it was the opposite. They fell from their place of dominion. But it's the lie. And you see, this lie carries all the way through human history. And when we come to the end of that thousand year reign of Christ and those generations of kids and now adults are once again presented with the adversary who is going to be released from the pit, how is he going to get them to fall so en masse? The same lie. You've had it so good. You've had it perfect. You've had a glorious thousand years. But listen, folks. Wouldn't you just like to go one step higher and be like God? The lie. The same way in the Tribulation. Now, in fact, let's come back. Let's look at the account of Paul as to how it's going to happen in the Tribulation. 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2, starting at verse 9. I'm going to run out of time, I imagine, but I guess I'll have to get used to that. 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2, coming in at verse 9. Here we have the description from the pen of the apostle Paul of the Antichrist, even him, y'all with me? 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2, verse 9. Even him whose coming is after the working of who? Satan, and Satan is the what? The liar. With all power and signs and what kind of wonders? Lying wonders. And with all deceivableness, what's at the heart of deceit? A lie, see? And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness, and then they'll perish, because they received not the love of Christ. You see how that word truth and Christ can be used so synonymously? Very seldom, it won't work. I won't say it always will, but most of the time you can use them synonymously. Christ and truth, Christ and truth. All right. And so they received not the love of the truth or the love of Christ, that they might be saved, and for this cause, see, because they rejected salvation, for this cause, God shall send them a strong delusion. He's going to take away their ability to comprehend truth, and they're going to believe the what? The lie. And that's what's going to set the tribulation ball rolling, is that the world is going to again believe the lie of the Father of all lies. All right, let's come back for the few remaining moments that we have left. Back to 2 Corinthians chapter 6. And so Paul says, I'm not coming with deceivableness. I'm not coming with the power of a lie. I am coming with the power of truth, which is the gospel of Christ, and by the power of God, and he's coming in the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left. Now, you know, Paul has a way of using contemporary things to make a point, and a lot of times he uses the Roman soldier. Now, what did the Roman soldier in battle carry in his hands? Well, his weapon in his right hand, I'm assuming they were right-handed, and the shield in the left, see? And those were the two items that carried the man into battle. All right, now he's making that same analogy, but instead of a sword and a shield, what do we have in both hands? Righteousness, righteousness. All right, now let's just go quickly back to Romans chapter 3. I hope I can do this in the minute that's left. Coming back quickly to Romans chapter 3, and dropping down to verse 22, and how this all fits together. Now, this isn't something that only a few believers can have. This is for every believer. Romans chapter 3, verse 22. All ready? Even the righteousness of God, which is by the faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all. Everyone that believes, for there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, black and white, rich and poor, makes no difference that the righteousness of God has been imputed and covers every believer. Thank you for watching Through the Bible with Les Feldick, a weekly Bible study. If you would like more information about the Les Feldick Ministries, a Bible study in your area, or about this program, write to Les Feldick Ministries, Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. That's Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. Through the Bible with Les Feldick is viewer supported, and your gift is appreciated. Thank you, and be sure to tune in next time, for Through the Bible with Les Feldick.