Clean Transcript

The Present Truth

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• Right. 2 Peter chapter 1. 2 Peter chapter 1. And we're going to read verses 12 through 15. 2 Peter chapter 1. That's in the New Testament, sir. 2 Peter chapter 1. The title of the message today is "The Present Truth." The present truth. So 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 12, Peter writes, "Wherefore, I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know them and be established in the present truth. Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance, knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle."

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• "Even as our Lord Jesus Christ has showed me. Moreover, I will endeavor that you may be able, after my decease, to have these things always in remembrance." I want to point out the fact that Peter instructs us on a very vital and important principle in verse 12. That principle is the present truth. Look at it again. "Wherefore, I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know them and be established in the present truth." Now, these things that he's putting the hearers in remembrance of are contained in verses 1 through 11. And he says very obviously in verse 13, as long as I'm alive, I'm going to stir you up by putting these things in your remembrance. And verse 14, he tells why, because he knows he's going to die shortly. And then in verse 14, he says, "Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has showed me." And then verse 15, he says, "I want you after my decease," that is after my death, "to have these things always in remembrance."

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• So when you go back, he says in verse 12 that he wants you to be established in the present truth. There's a wonderful point that has to be emphasized in several different ways at this particular time. First of all, we must understand that truth needs to be heard over and over. If you look at verse 12, Peter says, "I'm putting you in remembrance of these things, though you know them." So Peter was quite aware that his hearers already knew exactly what he was going to preach. So Peter was not about to neglect his duty of preaching just simply because they already knew these truths. He said, "Look, you may be grounded and settled in these truths and you may know how to live and apply these truths, but I'm still going to rehearse these truths in your ears." So rehearsing the truth makes us and forces us to continually analyze the truth and at the same time to reinforce that truth in our lives. It teaches us basically the truth of 2 Corinthians 13, verse 5.

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• Where the Apostle Paul says, "Examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" So he says, "Look, you have to prove your own self." So Peter is telling us that truth needs to be heard over and over. The second part of this is that repetition aids learning. Peter was aware of the fact that his hearers already knew this truth, and they were well instructed in this truth.

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• But he said, "I'm going to stir up your pure minds by putting you in remembrance of these things. And although you know this truth, and although you may be instructed in this truth, you need to hear it again and again." And the very fact that they knew that truth did not deter him from faithfully preaching and teaching that which they already knew.

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• Now, I want you to listen to this principle. Here it is. The more you hear the truth, the more you understand the truth. The more you hear the truth, the more you understand the truth. I've had people tell me, "I get more out of listening to your messages three or four times than just hearing them one time." Well, that's true. That's obviously true, because the more you hear truth, the more you're going to understand truth. A long time ago, I used to really get upset when people didn't really understand everything I was preaching immediately. And then it dawned on me one day, how could they understand everything? I might spend 40 hours studying a certain subject, and then I spend one hour teaching and preaching that subject, and I've got now 40 times more studying it than you do. I'm bound to understand more than you do in that sense of the word. So the more you hear the truth, certainly the more you're going to understand the truth. You remember that song we sing, "Wonderful Words of Life, sing them o'er and o'er again to me, wonderful words of life." You never get tired of hearing those things.

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• If we understand that rehearing the same truth not only enables us to analyze our lives and brings our lives into greater conformity to that truth, it'll also keep us from being forgetful and neglectful of that truth. So the more you hear something, the more you hold it in your remembrance. And thirdly, I'm going to point out, undoubtedly, Peter learned to teach from the master teacher, the Lord Jesus Christ.

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• Let me just read it to you from Mark chapter 10 and verse 1. Listen carefully. "And he," that is Christ, "arose from thence and cometh into the coast of Judea by the farther side of Jordan. And the people resorted to him again, and as he was wont, he taught them again." So the same people came to Christ again, and as he was accustomed, he taught them again. So in all probability, he taught them some of the same truths that he had previously taught them.

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• He understood who they were. He understood what their needs were. So obviously, he taught them again. We must have the truth and we must hear the truth repeatedly. If you would hold 2 Peter 1, but turn right back in your Bibles to Hebrews 2 and look at verse 1. Hebrews 2 and verse 1. Notice, if you would, what the apostle tells us. Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 1.

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• "Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip." Now, I want you to note what he said. We should give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard. "Have heard" is past tense. You've heard these things in times past. You may have known them and you may still know them to some degree. But he said you better give them more earnest heed, lest you should let them slip. The easiest thing to do in the world is forget that which you have already heard and that which you have already been taught.

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• I have said, and I've often laughed about this, I said the average preacher has about two years' worth of sermons. And that means when two years are over, he just starts repeating them over and over. Most people never realize it. And the truth of the matter is, I've said, in fact, some preachers could preach the same sermon the very next week, and most people never know it.

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• Because they don't really listen anyhow. So he said, we have to give the more earnest heed to these things that we have heard, lest we let them slip.

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• Now, as you look back in 2 Peter 1 and verse 12 again, here it is. Look what the Apostle Peter says. "Wherefore, I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know them, and be established in the present truth."

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• Now, the word "established" is the Greek word "sterizo," which literally means to be steadfast, to be fixed, to be constant, to be confirmed, to be made firm, and to be established in one's mind. So Peter is saying that I want these things firmly established in your mind. Now, I want you to stop and think about this. It is God's will that we be established in truth. Listen to this verse. Colossians 2, verse 7: "Rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving." What did he say? Rooted and grounded in him, that is in Jesus Christ, and established in the faith as you have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. So it's God's will that you be established in the faith. Now, let me tell you that there are specific benefits for being established in the faith. I want you to hold 2 Peter chapter 1, but turn back in your Bibles to Psalm 112. Psalm 112. I would like to be able to spend an hour just on Psalm 112.

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• But I want you to look at this passage and notice he's talking about the righteous man and the blessings that attend this righteous man who happens to be established in truth. That is for sure, because watch Psalm 112, verse 1: "Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments." So he already fears the Lord. He already delights in His commandments, so He's established in the truth in that sense of the word. What are some of the blessings?

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• What are some of the benefits? "His seed shall be mighty upon the earth. The generation of the upright shall be blessed. Wealth and riches shall be in his house, and his righteousness endureth forever. Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness. He is gracious and full of compassion and righteousness. A good man showeth favor and lendeth. He will guide his affairs with discretion. Surely he shall not be moved forever."

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• "The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance." Watch carefully. "He shall not be afraid of evil tidings. His heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. His heart is established. He shall not be afraid until he sees desire upon his enemies. He is dispersed. He hath given to the poor. His righteousness endureth forever. His horn shall be exalted with honor. The wicked shall see and be grieved. He shall gnash with his teeth and melt away. The desire of the wicked shall perish." So here is the man that fears the Lord, that delights greatly in his commands, that is established in truth. His seed shall be great.

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• Wealth and riches shall be in his house. There will be light in darkness for him. His heart is fixed. He will not be afraid of evil tidings. His heart is established. His righteousness endures forever. I'd say those are pretty good blessings just from being established in the faith.

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• Now, you have to remember this. The opposite of being established in the faith is being double-minded or double-hearted. And the Bible discusses a double-minded man in the book of James, chapter 1. Listen to this. The Bible says, beginning with verse 5, "If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth it to all men liberally, and upbraideth not. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering."

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• "For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways." Ah! So instead of being established, you are unstable. So, there are certain benefits and blessings to being established in the faith.

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• Now, what Peter wants, if you look back to 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 12, he wants his hearers to be established. But he also wants them established in the present truth. So look at verse 12 again. "Wherefore, I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know them, and be established in the present truth." So you have to ask, what is the present truth? It's God's will that you be established in it. OK.

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• Let me take it one step at a time. The word "present" is the Greek word "pareimi." And literally the word means that which is at hand or to be present. Let me say this another way. The present truth is that truth which is right in front of you. Okay?

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• Now, I want to show you how this word is used in two other passages of Scripture so you'll understand how it's being used right here. So I want you to hold 2 Peter 1 and go to your Bibles to Luke chapter 13 and then we're going to 2 Corinthians chapter 10. But we're going to Luke chapter 13 first. So Luke chapter 13 and verse 1. I preached on this passage a few weeks ago. I did not bring out the impact and implication of the word "present," but I'm going to do it right now. So look at it. Luke 13, verse 1: "There were present," it's the same word, "pareimi," "there were present at that season, some that told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices." Now, here are these individuals standing in front of Jesus Christ, telling him about this incident where Pilate murdered these individuals who were sacrificing and blended their blood in with their sacrifices. But notice, if you would, they were present at that season. What does that mean?

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• It means those people who were telling Christ were standing right in front of Him, talking to Him. They were at His hand. They were right there. They were present. Look in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 11. 2 Corinthians 10 and verse 11. Paul is using the same word again, "pareimi," and here's how he uses it. He writes, "Let such an one think this, that such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such will be also indeed when we are present."

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• So what does he say? When I'm standing right in front of you, that's exactly the way I'm going to be when I'm absent from you writing you letters. So when I'm standing in front of you, preaching and teaching you and talking to you, I'm not going to be any different than when I was away from you writing letters to you. So this word "present" then simply means to be at hand or to be by or to be present or, as I just said, to be right in front of you.

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• Now, Peter in 2 Peter chapter 1 wanted his hearers then to be well fixed or well established and constant in the present truth. That means they were not only to understand that truth, but they were to apply and to live that truth. So I'm going to be, for the rest of this message, talking about the present truth. And I want to begin by telling you what I do not mean by the phrase "the present truth." So when you hear me use this phrase, you will know what I do not mean. Then I'm going to tell you what I do mean. Okay. So first of all, here's what I do not mean by the phrase "the present truth." I do not mean that truth is relative or that it changes with situations, conditions, circumstances, or the progression or the erosion of society.

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• God's law does not change. His definition of sin does not change. His definition of righteousness does not change. What was sin in the first century is still sin in the 21st century. What was holy and righteous and godly in the 1st century is still holy, righteous, and godly in the 21st century. Just because, as that old cigarette commercial states, "You've come a long way, baby," that does not mean that we can take that which is sinful and wicked and ungodly and rebellious and turn it around somehow and make it lawful and honest and good. No. God's definition of sin has not changed and God's definition of righteousness has not changed.

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• So I'm not talking about situation ethics. Situation ethics would be something like this. Adultery is wrong. But if you happen to be in China where they are poor and they need money, and here's a working woman, and you can help her, and you can have sex with her, and give her money, where she now supports her family, well then that's alright. No, that is not alright. That's situation ethics, but it's still fornication, it's still adultery, it's still sin, you see. So I'm not talking about situation ethics.

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• The Bible says in Psalm 119, verse 89, "Forever, O Lord, is thy word settled in the heavens." That's pretty well fixed. That's pretty well established. Our Lord said in John 17:17, "Sanctify them by thy truth. Thy word is true." OK, so when I use the phrase "the present truth," I am not talking about truth being relative. I'm not referring to situation ethics. Secondly, when I use the phrase "the present truth," I am not saying that there is such a thing as new truth. The phrase "the present truth" does not mean or imply a new truth. Listen carefully. If a revelation is new, it is not truth, for there is no new truth. Let me show you.

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• Hold your Bible, 2 Peter 1, and turn back in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 1. And let's look at the first three verses. Hebrews chapter 1, beginning there with verse 1. I'm just showing you there is no new revelation. There is no new truth. "God, who at sundry times and diverse manners," that is, at different times in different ways, "spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets." So you have to remember in the Old Testament and sometimes in the New Testament, before it was completed, there were dreams and there were trances. God spoke in different ways back then. But watch verse 2. This same God who spoke in different ways in times past, verse 2, "hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory and the expressed image of his person, and upholding

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• "all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." Now listen carefully. For anyone to believe in new truth or new revelation, he has to deny that Jesus Christ is the full and final truth. So the so-called new revelations that people get today is nothing more than pure blasphemy because it is a denial of this passage that Jesus Christ is the full and final revelation of God. It is a denial that we have the completed Word of God. If you understand what I'm saying, you will also understand there is no need today for visions and dreams and horoscopes and astrological forecasters and charts and false prophets, and fake and spurious writings, and any and every other thing that most people elevate above the Word of God, or above the Word of Jesus Christ. It is absolutely blaspheming to come along and say, "Well, I know God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, and I know God gave us the Bible, but 50 years ago, there was another revelation, and we've discovered this."

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• That's blasphemy. That is a denial of the perfection of Jesus Christ and a denial of the perfection of the Word of God. So when I'm talking about the present truth today, I'm not talking about situation ethics. I'm not saying that truth is relative. And I'm not saying that there is new truth. There is no new truth. Even Solomon said, "There's nothing new under the sun." So I'm not talking about additional revelations. Now, what do I mean when I use the term "the present truth"?

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• Well, you have to understand something. When God gave us his word, he did not just simply dump all of the truth of his word upon us at one time. Take your Bible and think about this. Did you know that this book was written over a period of 1,600 years by 40 different authors? 1,600 years. What does that teach you? It teaches you that there is a progressive unfolding of the truth. Or at that time, we could say there was a progressive unfolding of revelation.

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• The principle is found in Isaiah 28, verses 9 and 10. Let me read it to you. Here it is. "Whom shall he teach knowledge and whom shall he make understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts."

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• Now listen, "For precept must be upon precept. Precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little." You know, that's exactly how God gave us truth. He gave us precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little.

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• Now, let me begin to explain this by considering the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you understand that the truth of the Messiah was unfolded slowly, progressively? For instance, in Genesis 3:15, you have the Protevangelium. The Protevangelium is just simply the first promise of the Messiah. And do you remember that passage where the Bible said there's going to be war between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman? And the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent's head. And the serpent would bruise his heel. Well, bruising the heel is not a death blow, but bruising the head is a death blow. So, when you look at Genesis 3:15, the first thing you find out about the Messiah is he's going to be born of a woman. And he's going to be victorious. He's going to destroy his enemy. But that's all you have about the Messiah in Genesis 3:15. Do you realize it was later on in Genesis chapter 12, verses 1 through 3, before we found out that the Messiah was going to come through the seed of Abraham?

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• "Indeed, shall all nations be blessed." Wow. Ah, later on, Genesis 49, verse 10, it's revealed then he's going to be born of the tribe of Judah. Wow. So you went from Genesis 3:15, the seed of woman to the seed of Abraham, to the tribe of Judah. And when you get way over into 2 Samuel chapter 7, verses 12 through 13, you find the Messiah is going to be the seed of David. Wow. And after you find out he's going to be the seed of David, when you get to Isaiah 7:14, you find out he's going to be born of a virgin. And finally, in the book of Micah chapter 5 and verse 2, you find out the Messiah is going to be born in Bethlehem of Judea. So, what God did in Genesis 3:15, He revealed a little truth. And then in Genesis 12, a little more truth. And then in Genesis 49, a little more truth. And then in 2 Samuel 7, a little more truth. And then in Isaiah 7:14, a little more truth.

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• And then in Micah 5, verse 2, more truth. So there was a progressive unfolding of the truth. God did not just dump everything about the Messiah at one time. He did not dump everything about the truth of the Scriptures upon us at one time. In each stage, there was a progressive unfolding of the truth. Okay, now, I want to give you some illustrations of the New Testament of this. I want you to look, and by the way, if you understand what I've just said to you, Genesis 3:15 would have been a present truth. Genesis 12 would have been a present truth. Genesis 49 would have been a present truth. 2 Samuel 7 would have been a present truth. Because it's truth that has just been revealed. You understand that? Same thing there with Isaiah 7:14 and Micah 5, verse 2.

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• So let me show it to you. I want you to look in your Bibles, hold 2 Peter 1, but turn to Acts chapter 18. Acts chapter 18. Acts chapter 18. Acts 18.

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• And let's begin reading with verse 24. Here is Apollos, who is a mighty preacher, a great orator. And look what happens. Acts chapter 18, verse 24: "And a certain Jew named Apollos, born in Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John." In other words, he hadn't heard anything, he didn't know anything since John the Baptist. Watch verse 26: "And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue," that is, that which he did know. "And when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly."

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• "And when he was disposed to pass unto Achaia, the brethren wrote exhorting disciples to receive him, who, when he was come, helped them much who had believed through grace. And he mightily convinced the Jews of that publicly, showing by the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ." So here's Apollos, who was a great preacher and a great orator, but the only thing he knew was up to John the Baptist.

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• The Bible had not been completed at that time. There was no internet. There was no telephone system. There was nothing.

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• Now, you have to remember that Aquila and Priscilla were friends of Paul. Paul had taught them. And when they heard Apollos preach, they said, "You need to come visit with us a little while. Whatever you heard of John is true. There has been more that has taken place. John didn't just point out the Messiah. He didn't just baptize the Messiah. The Messiah has come. He's done all these mighty works. He was crucified. He was buried. He's raised from the dead. He's ascended. He's seated at the right hand of God the Father." So they expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. They taught him the present truth. That is that which God had revealed up at that particular time.

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• Now, since you are in Acts, look in Acts chapter 19. Here's another illustration of the present truth. Watch. Acts 19, beginning there with verse 1: "And it came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper coast, came to Ephesus and finding certain disciples. And he said to them, 'Have you received the Holy Ghost since or when you believed?' And they said unto him, 'We've not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.'"

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• "And he said unto them, 'Unto what then were you baptized?' And they said unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, 'John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.' And when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." So here were these believers who only knew of the baptism of John and what John taught. And Paul said, "Look, did you receive the Holy Ghost?" "We hadn't even heard there is such a thing." Well, Paul said, "Let me explain some things to you. Here's the present truth. Here's what you need to understand." And he taught them and brought them up to speed. So there is a present truth because there was a progressive unfolding of the truth in the scripture.

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• Let me give you another illustration. You don't have to turn to this one. You will remember it. You remember Peter in Acts chapter 10 was staying in the house of one Simon the Tanner by the sea. And here's Cornelius, who's a Roman soldier, whom God said, "Send a chopper to the house of Simon the Tanner and tell Peter to get himself over here. He needs to preach to you." Well, you have to remember that this is a Roman soldier. And so Peter would have eaten dinner, but while they were fixing it, they were late.

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• He went up to the housetop to pray. He fell into a trance. And three times, God let a sheet down from heaven full of all kind of animals. And God said to Peter, "Rise and eat." And what did Peter say? "Not so, Lord. I've never eaten anything common or unclean in my life." And God said each time, "What I have cleansed, do not call thou common." And after he had seen this vision three times, he was pondering what it meant. And about that time, there's a knock on the door.

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• And here were these men from Cornelius, and the Holy Spirit made him go. And he took several of the men and went with him. And when he got to Cornelius, what did he say? "You know how that it is unlawful for a man that is a Jew to enter into the house of someone who is unclean." But he said, "God has showed me." And he went in and preached to Cornelius, and Cornelius and his whole house believed. When Peter got rebuked for doing this in Acts chapter 11, he explained it. And when they heard what God had done in verse 18, those men said, "Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life."

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• So there was a present truth in that particular time. God was revealing this truth progressively.

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• Now, let me say this. Since Jesus Christ has come, since the Bible is complete, there is no more progressive revelation. In fact, there is no more revelation, period. Stop and think about this. If you try to tell me there is some additional revelation yet to come, what you're trying to tell me is there is something above and greater and far beyond Jesus Christ and the Word of God. That's blasphemy. Do you think God would dishonor His Son by putting Him down and saying, "Well, there's going to be something greater than Jesus Christ"? No. Revelation has ceased. I'm going to explain this just for a moment. Listen carefully. Just because revelation has ceased does not mean that there is not a present truth. Let me tell you what revelation is. Revelation is a supernatural act of God whereby God reveals truth never known before to the human mind.

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• If I were to ask you who wrote the first five books of the Bible, the answer would be Moses. What's in the first three chapters of the book of Genesis? Creation. How did Moses know what happened in creation? He wasn't there. He wasn't born until a long time after that. The answer is God revealed it to him. That's revelation. Revelation is the act of God whereby he reveals truth never known before to the human mind. This is why I'm saying there is no more revelation. But you say, "Look, if there's no more revelation, there cannot be any more present truth." That's not true. Why? Because although there is no more any progressive revelation or progressive unfolding of the truth, there is illumination and that is a progressive enlightening or illuminating our minds to that which has already been revealed. OK, so illumination is the act of God, the Holy Spirit, whereby he guides us, enlightens us, and illuminates our mind so that we can understand that which has already been revealed. There is a progressive unfolding of the truth in illumination.

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• Let me just clear this up because someone asked me about this recently. We use terms wrongly. We say, we get so excited sometimes about what we find in the Bible and we say, "Well, let me share with you what God just revealed to me." Now, God didn't just reveal anything to you. It was already revealed in the Bible. What God did was illuminate your mind and lighten your mind so that you could understand what was in the Bible. Okay? So what you should be saying is, "Let me share with you what God illuminated in my mind, or enlightened my mind, or gave me understanding in." That would be the correct way to say it.

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• Now, I want you to listen to this. You talk about a progressive illumination in Mark chapter 4, verses 33 and 34. Listen to this. "And with many such parables spake he the word unto them as they were able to hear it." How did our Lord teach? He gave them truth as they were able to hear it. He didn't dump everything on them at one time. He just gave them truth as they were able to hear it. The next verse says this, "But without a parable spake he not unto them."

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• "And when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples." So if you really want to understand the scriptures, you need to get along with Jesus Christ because he is the author of the scriptures and he can explain to you exactly what he's talking about and exactly what he said and exactly what he means. So, I want you to turn in your Bibles to John 16. I want you to see this. Here is illumination. Look in John chapter 16, and let's begin reading there with verse 12. John 16, verse 12. So, if I were to walk over to the wall and take the light switch and turn it off, the room is dark. Flip the light switch up, and the lights come on, I have then illuminated the room. The lights are on. So what God does in illumination, He's turned the lights on in your mind. He said in John 16 and verse 12, talking about the Holy Spirit, John 16, verse 12: "I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now."

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• What? You're not able to receive them. Remember, He spake the word as they were able to hear it. "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth. For he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine, and he shall show it unto you." So it's the ministry of the Holy Spirit, then, to enlighten our minds, to illuminate our minds, and guide us into understanding the revealed truth of scripture.

  #55 | 41:58 to 42:35 | cleaned

• Now, let me explain this a little bit in detail. Only God can open the mind. Read Luke 24. "Then opened he their mind so that they might understand." Or "then opened he their understanding." Wow! So, what does that mean? Well, let's suppose I'm trying to teach Steve something. And let's say I've got this thing all worked out. I've got it clear. I've got it clean. I've got my illustrations. I've got my scriptures. And I'm just standing here and I'm explaining everything to Steve. And when I get through explaining, Steve just kind of shakes his head like this. And I look at him and get angry and say, "What's wrong with you, dummy? Can't you see this? What are you, dumb or something?"

  #56 | 42:36 to 43:34 | cleaned

• Now, my question is this. Why would I get angry with him if I understand that God is just as sovereign in illumination as he's in salvation? I don't care how great a teacher I am. I don't care how clear my illustrations are. If God does not open his mind, he will never see what I'm trying to teach him. So why would I get angry and upset with him?

  #57 | 43:36 to 44:06 | cleaned

• Why would I not be patient with him? Do you think that I learned what I learned in 24 hours? The answer is no. Did you learn what you learned in 24 hours? The answer is no. Some of you, it took you years to come to the positions that you're in now. And we kind of expect everybody else to take our same position in 15 minutes. It doesn't work like that.

  #58 | 44:08 to 44:31 | cleaned

• Now, it is true that Steve would have the responsibility to study. Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2 and verse 7, "Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things." Understanding is the gift of God, but He has a responsibility to consider. That's why I said in 2 Timothy 2, verse 15, "Study to show yourselves approved unto God, a workman that need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." So the point is this, God did not dump all of his truth on us at one time. And when God enables us to understand, he does not give us understanding of all truth at one time. There is no man that understands all truth. And there's certainly no man that understands all truth at one time. It does not work like that. Just like there was a progressive unfolding of the truth in revelation, there's a progressive enlightening of the truth in illumination. One of the problems that we have as Christians is this.

  #59 | 44:31 to 45:50 | cleaned

• We have never really learned and we're not accustomed to receiving truth as the present truth. Now, I want you to look back to 2 Peter chapter 1 and notice if you would again at verse 12. He says, "Wherefore, I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things." So he said, "If I don't re-preach these things to you, I will be negligent." He says, "Though you know them, and I know you know them." But he said, "I want you to be established in the present truth."

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• Now, here's what I'm going to share with you. Think about this. Most Christians, I'm talking about real Christians, most Christians are comfortable with their knowledge of salvation. They're comfortable with their knowledge of creation. They may be comfortable and well-grounded in a few other points, but the truth of the matter is most professing Christians are not well-grounded and well-established in the present truth. Ah, listen. And to demonstrate that, to show you that truth, think about how little emphasis is placed on the preaching and teaching of the word of God in the average church. Just stop and think about that because I'm going to show you what the present truth is just momentarily. Moreover, think about this.

  #61 | 46:31 to 47:38 | cleaned

• We almost attach no importance to the amount of study, and preparation and prayer that goes into preparing a message. I probably could count on one hand the individuals that have asked me, and usually they're preachers or someone preparing for the ministry. I could probably count on one hand the people who ask me, "How long did it take you to prepare that message?"

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• Now, just stop and think about this. I'm going to be preaching some messages in the not too distant future that I've already spent weeks in preparing and only have two prepared. I was going to have three. It's probably going to turn out to be four. I haven't sat down and counted how many hours I have in these studies, but I can tell you it's more than a day. It's more than a couple of days. You see what I'm saying? We don't ever think about these things, and consequently, we don't place any real importance upon preaching and viewing preaching as the present truth. I want to show you before I close how you view preaching really depends on whether or not you understand the present truth.

  #63 | 48:20 to 49:25 | cleaned

• So let me try to give you some historical examples. We're talking about the present truth. If you were alive in the first century during the cult of emperor worship in the Roman Empire, the present truth would be the Lordship of Jesus Christ. You would both serve and worship either Christ or Caesar. In other words, you would have to make a choice. You would either stand with Jesus Christ and say with those Christians, "Jesus Christ is Lord," or you would stay with the Roman emperor and his cult and say that Caesar is Lord. In other words, the point I'm trying to make right now is there's always going to be a practical application to the present truth. So if you were alive in the first century, the present truth would be the Lordship of Jesus Christ. If you were alive in Germany in the 1500s, especially the earlier part, the present truth would be justification by faith alone. You would either have to side with Martin Luther and the reformers, that you're justified by faith alone, or you would side with the Roman Catholic Church and say you're saved by your works.

  #64 | 49:26 to 50:44 | cleaned

• In other words, once you see a present truth, you have to make application of that present truth. If you were alive in France or in Geneva, Switzerland in the 1500s, especially toward the middle of that era, the present truth would be the sovereignty of God. So you would either join with Calvin and the Reformers, or you would hold to a humanistic position of the divine right of kings. If you were alive in Scotland during the middle of the 1500s, the present truth there would be the kingship of Jesus Christ. So you would either stand with John Knox and the Reformers, or you would hold to a statist position and say the state has the right to rule over the church. If you were alive in the 1700s in England, well, the present truth there would be the purity of the church. And so you would either stand with the Puritans who wanted to purify the church, or you would stand with the established church who wanted to keep the status quo. Later on, since the Puritans were unable to purify the church, they then, most of them, became separatists and separated from the established church because of its corruption.

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• So you would either have to be a separatist and desire pure worship, or you would remain in the church for the status quo. See, there was a present truth in every one of these times. When you get to 2015, once again, listen carefully, the present truth involves the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the superiority of His Word. So you will either serve, worship, and obey Christ in the Bible, or you will follow the humanists in sodomy, in fornication, in adultery, in aborticide, in social and other governmental sins, such as socialism and Marxism and communism and progressivism. You see what I'm saying? There is a present truth going on today. That present truth involves the lordship of Christ and the superiority of his word. Now I want you to listen to what Martin Luther said. And I want you to understand that this quote reveals a present truth. Here's what Luther wrote.

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• "If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ. However boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved. And to be steady on the battlefields besides his mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point."

  #67 | 53:20 to 53:55 | cleaned

• So what did he say? He said you could explain, you could expound, and you could profess Christ and all the truths of the Bible, but if you neglect to stand in that one area where the battle is raging, then you have effectively denied Jesus Christ. Wow, where's the battle raging today? Well, we need to examine. So let me ask this question and then I will answer it for you.

  #68 | 53:56 to 54:35 | cleaned

• How do we ascertain the present truth? Peter said, "I want you to be established in the present truth." What was present back then is not necessarily present right now, although it is present in the sense that it is the Word of God. But as Luther said, it's that area that's being attacked right now. So my first answer is how do we ascertain the present truth is this. It is the truth from God's Word that is under attack by the humanists, the liberals, and the unbelievers.

  #69 | 54:38 to 55:15 | cleaned

• So all you have to do is look around you and you see where the attacks are directed. That is a spot where you're to stand your ground. Do you realize one of the areas right now under attack is the Confederate battle flag? You say that has nothing to do with scripture. I beg to differ with you. The Confederate battle flag is a Christian battle flag. It bears the cross of St. Andrew.

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• And it has always been historically associated with resistance to tyranny and despotism. It had nothing to do with slavery. You look around and you see the attack is not only there, but it's against Southern culture and Southern history, which historically has been Christian. I'm not saying everything in our culture is Christian. I'm not saying everything that we've ever done in the South is Christian, but historically it has been Christian because even during the war of Northern aggression, when the North went into Unitarianism and Transcendentalism, they labeled the South as the Bible Belt.

  #71 | 55:47 to 56:32 | cleaned

• That was not a compliment. That was meant as a derogatory term because they viewed us as backward and stupid because we believe the Bible. Yeah. Then you look at how the enemy is attacking and saying, you heard about the sodomite who wanted to sue the Bible publisher to take that sodomy was a sin out of the Bible. Sodomy is still sin. The Bible is still right. We can't say that aborticide is right.

  #72 | 56:32 to 57:10 | cleaned

• I don't care how legal Congress makes it or the Supreme Court. It's not. It's murder. I'm just simply saying, look around where the battle is raging. That's where we ascertain the present truth. That's one answer. Secondly, I would answer that the present truth is that which is being proclaimed by God's men from God's Word as necessity is laid upon them in the providence of God. And mind you, when I say God's men, I'm not talking about mama-called and papa-sent, ear-tickling preachers, but I'm talking about real, genuine men of God. I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Titus. The book of Titus, chapter 1. First and Second Timothy and then Titus. And let's read the first three verses. Because I'm telling you now, the present truth is that which is being proclaimed by God's men from God's word as necessity is laid upon them in the providence of God. So look at Titus chapter 1, verse 1: "Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ,

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• "according to the faith of God's elect, and according to the truth which is after godliness. Now watch, in hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began." Well now, if God promised eternal life before the world began, to whom did he promise it? Well, of course, he promised it to Jesus Christ, who is our federal head and representative, and he promised it to us who are in Christ. How do we know what God promised? Well, look at verse 3: "But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Savior." How did God manifest his word? And the Bible says it is through preaching. It is through preaching.

  #74 | 58:32 to 59:30 | cleaned

• Let me tell you something. I'm not discouraging you from studying your Bible. You should study it every day. But you will learn more from preaching than you ever will from private study if the man is expounding the Word of God. Why? Because he gave some pastor-teachers. Why? For the edifying, for the building up of the body of Christ. That's why God gave us. You know what the Bible says in Amos 3 and verse 7? Listen to this. "Surely, the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealed his secrets to his servants, the prophets." Surely, the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealed his secrets to his servants, the prophets. What is God saying? God is saying, "I'm going to burden my men. I'm going to tell them what to preach and when to preach."

  #75 | 59:30 to 1:00:25 | cleaned

• Let me give you an illustration. I just recently came from Virginia. And I went to a chaplain's conference. Bunch of preachers. A lot of other folks were there as well, but there were a number of preachers. I was the first speaker. There were six other individuals or five other individuals that spoke. When I got invited to preach, just instantly, I knew what I had to preach. I just knew it.

  #76 | 1:00:25 to 1:01:05 | cleaned

• And I preached the message there that I preached here when God has had enough. It was a message of judgment. And I preached that message. Did you know the next day, the next five preachers brought messages on the judgment of God? We didn't talk to each other. I didn't know what they were going to preach. They didn't know what I was going to preach.

  #77 | 1:01:06 to 1:01:37 | cleaned

• Now, if surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealed the secrets to his servants, the prophets. Now listen to this. And if the Bible said in the mouth of two or three witnesses, let every word be established. And now you've got six good and godly men preaching on the judgment of God. I think the average person, especially who heard that, should be scratching their head and saying, "Is God trying to tell me something?" Now, let me tell you something. When I say the present truth can be ascertained through the preaching of God's men from God's word, when necessities laid upon them in the providence of God, I am not talking about the opinions of men. I'm not talking about someone saying, "Well, I think" or "in my opinion," or "I believe"—that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about preaching and I'm going to tell you what preaching is.

  #78 | 1:01:39 to 1:02:46 | cleaned

• Let me just read to you from Nehemiah chapter 8, verses 7 and 8. I'm going to start in the middle of verse 7. Listen carefully. "And the Levites," that is those who were teachers and preachers, "and the Levites caused the people to understand the law and the people stood in their place. So they read in the book of the law of God distinctly and gave the sense and caused them to understand the reading." So what is preaching? It is exposition. It is explanation. It is application. So as long as there is an exposition from the Word of God, there's explanation from the Word of God, there's application from the Word of God, it is not the opinions of men. It is the Word of God. And God gives that to His people for their benefit, for their blessing, and for their warning. Now, what do most people do? They refuse it. They reject it. I probably told you this, but I'm going to tell you again because it is a perfect illustration of what I'm trying to share with you.

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• When I was in boot camp at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and I know you're going to smile, Pat, but that's okay. I went into breakfast one morning and woke us up at five. We had breakfast by six after we had stood in formation. I walked in that chow hall, and they throw this stuff in front of me. It's two pieces of white bread with cream beef over it.

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• I never will forget looking at that. And you have to remember, I was raised on a farm. We had fresh eggs, mother made biscuits and gravy, and grits, potatoes, and meat.

  #81 | 1:04:35 to 1:04:49 | cleaned

• Now, we call it cream beef on toast. Soldiers never called it that, I can assure you. But I looked at that and I said, "I am not going to eat that slop. That is the most unappetizing stuff I've ever seen in my life. I refuse it." And I did. I refused it. I walked out of that chow hall. Little did I know that they had planned for us that day, a five-mile hike with full field packs. Did you know about nine o'clock, that creamed beef on toast seemed mighty appetizing to me? I thought, "You know, man I was stupid. I should have eaten that stuff."

  #82 | 1:04:51 to 1:05:42 | cleaned

• Unhappily, at boot camp, they do not come to you at your bunk and say, "Now what would you like for breakfast this morning? We're taking orders." No. They already know what they're going to do for that day and for that week. And they have menus already laid out, probably based upon the activities. And they knew already that we were going to have a five-mile hike with full field packs on it.

  #83 | 1:05:46 to 1:06:19 | cleaned

• And if you've ever been to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, there's a lot of sand. There's a lot of sand. And they knew we needed that protein. And I turned my nose up at it. And I was the one that suffered. I did without. You don't get to choose what God burdens the preacher to bring. Oh, yes. Sometimes I've been asked to deal with certain subjects, and I have no problem with that. And I will do so as long as there's no specific burden on my heart in a certain area. But you don't get to choose. God knows exactly what you need. He knows exactly what I need. And what God does is He sets before you that which He wants you to have.

  #84 | 1:06:19 to 1:07:26 | cleaned

• And that is the present truth. He knows already the tests and the trials and the tribulations and the tasks that you're facing for that week. And he says, "Here's your creamed beef on toast." And you say, "I don't like it." That doesn't matter. You better eat it because God has put it there for you. You understand what I mean? I've had people tell me, "I don't like your preaching on that subject." Well, I'm sorry.

  #85 | 1:07:26 to 1:08:03 | cleaned

• You need to take that up with the Lord, you know. Yet you have to understand God is in charge, not us. I'd like to always preach happy-go-lucky feeling sermons, but it doesn't work like that. That's not reality and that's not always truth. And I can't always preach with a big broad grin and smile on my face. I'm sorry. Some things are sober and some things are not. Really, you can't smile about it.

  #86 | 1:08:05 to 1:08:46 | cleaned

• I want to show you something. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Jeremiah, chapter 3. Jeremiah, chapter 3. And look, if you would, please, at verses 14 and 15. Then I want to make two applications quickly, and I'll close. Look at Jeremiah, chapter 3. Notice, if you would please, verse 14 and 15. Watch what he says. Jeremiah 3, verse 14: God says, "Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD. For I am married unto you, that as you repent, you turn, you come back to Me. And I will take you, one of a city and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion."

  #87 | 1:08:46 to 1:09:32 | cleaned

• Now what will God do to these people who repent and whom He's going to bless? He says, "And I will give you pastors according to my heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding." I'll give you what? Pastors according to my heart that will feed you with knowledge and understanding. So here's my question. Are you comfortable with that which you know? Are you established in the present truth? Do you even know what the present truth is? Or do you even know really and truly what you think you know?

  #88 | 1:09:32 to 1:10:23 | cleaned

• What you need to understand is this. Each expositional message from the Word of God is a present truth each time you hear it. The present truth today would be the present truth. Do you understand that? Whatever is being expounded and explained and applied from the Word of God, that is the present truth for you. God sets it before us. What did He say? "I'll give you a pastor according to my heart who will feed you with knowledge and understanding."

  #89 | 1:10:26 to 1:11:02 | cleaned

• Secondly, you have to ask this. What is your attitude toward the preaching of the Word of God? I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. 1 and 2 Timothy, 1 and 2 Thessalonians. Then 1 and 2 Timothy. Look in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. So let me ask you this before I show you this verse. What is your attitude toward the preached word of God? Is it ho-hum?

  #90 | 1:11:04 to 1:11:45 | cleaned

• Or is it, "Well, let's hurry up and get this thing over with"? Or is your attitude, "Ha! Well, that's just his opinion"? Really? Well, look at 1 Thessalonians 2 and verse 13. Here's what Paul told the Thessalonians. He says, "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because when you receive the word of God, which you heard of us, you received it not as the word of man, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe." So Paul said, "When you heard us preach, you didn't say that's what Paul thinks. Or that's what Barnabas says, or that's what Silas is saying, or that's what Peter believes. No. He said, when you heard us preach, you did not receive these messages as the word of men, but you receive them as they are in truth the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe." So the question is, how do you receive the preaching? Is it the word of men or is it the word of God?

  #91 | 1:11:46 to 1:13:08 | cleaned

• You see, if you view it as the word of God, then you're going to say, "Here's the present truth for me. This is what God is telling me on how to live and how to honor him and how to worship him and how to bring my life into greater conformity to his word." Peter said, "I want you to be established in the present truth." When God gives us his word and illuminates our mind, we need to make sure that we're constant and fixed and established in that truth. Let's pray.

  #92 | 1:13:08 to 1:13:51 | cleaned

• Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we ask for your help and your direction and your blessing. Lord, we desperately need thy word. We desperately need thy truth, and we desperately need to be established in it. Give us grace that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In Thy name we pray. Amen.

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• so so

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T04:06:08Z