Calvary Road Baptist Church

“GOD REVEALS TRUTHS”

Philippians 3.15-16

Please turn to Philippians 3.15-16 and stand for the reading of God’s Word:

15     Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

16     Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.

I want you to look at the last phrase of Philippians 3.15. It is a rather interesting phrase that most people in this world simply do not believe. However, the Apostle Paul tosses it out as something that is so obvious that it doesn’t need proof. God reveals truths. I don’t know if you have ever wrestled with this reality, but you need to. God reveals truths. Perhaps you have just sauntered along in your life and have so far escaped confronting this issue. But you will, either now or then. So why not now? God reveals truths. Of course, this presupposes the existence of truth. Go back into the first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis, and you will see that Joseph was utterly convinced that God reveals truths.[1] Read the book of Daniel and you will find that Daniel was utterly convinced that God reveals truths.[2]

So, this evening, I want to spend some time on the subject of God revealing truths. I will not be exhaustive, but will cover what we have time for. God reveals truths in two ways:

First, GOD REVEALS TRUTHS NATURALLY

Psalm 19.1-3 very clearly shows us using poetic language that God reveals truths of two types in completely natural ways, that is, through nature, through observation:

1      The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

2      Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

3      There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

First, God reveals through nature truths about His creation. What does God reveal in nature about His creation? That it is His creation. The Psalmist described all of creation as “His handiwork.” And the unfettered and unprejudiced mind has but to examine the wonders of nature to see the artistry of an unseen Creator. Ever look at a living leaf under a microscope, or a drop of pond water?[3],[4] Ever seen the pictures of a baby developing in his mommy’s womb?[5] Ever look at the snowflakes falling on a winter day?[6] Ever look up into the sky in the dead of night?[7] Ever lay in the grass on a summer day and watch a blade of grass grow? I’ve done those things and I can tell you that each of those things argues . . . no shouts, “Someone made me!”

As well, God reveals through nature truths about Himself as Creator. For One to make this universe He would have to be the God of the infinite, as well as the God of the infinitesimal. He would have to be immense. He would have to be omnipotent. He would have to be intelligent. He would have to be wise. He would have to be artistic, appreciating both beauty and proportion. And He, the One Who created all of this, in which we live and breathe and have our being, is all of these things, and more.

Try to explain this universe without a Creator, its beauty, its artistry, its precision, its balance, and you are left with wild and preposterous imaginings. But as soon as you acknowledge a Creator, One of extraordinary intelligence, power and immensity, then everything makes so much sense. It is suddenly so reasonable and rational.

Ah, this is why we have physical laws that govern the universe. They are imposed upon creation by the Creator to maintain its beauty and its order.

BUT IT IS NOT THROUGH NATURE ONLY THAT GOD REVEALS TRUTHS. THE GOD WHO IS THERE HAS ALSO SPOKEN THROUGH SUPERNATURAL REVELATION

Obviously, I have brought to your attention something that years could be spent delving into. In the few minutes remaining, allow me to bring to your attention just seven important subjects that God has revealed truths about in a supernatural way. And what is that supernatural way of revealing truth? There are always miracles. However, God has exercised His wisdom in choosing to use His power to work miracles in limited fashion so that we would be left to faith and a reliance upon His most usual means of revealing truth. That most usual means of revealing truth to us is His Word, the Bible. What truths about seven important subjects are revealed to us by means of God’s Word?

First, there is God. Though nature reveals some things about God, the supernatural revelation which is God’s Word reveals things about God beyond the capacity of nature to communicate. For example, though nature provides evidence that God is immense, intelligent and wise, it does not show Him to be holy, kind and good. Though nature evidences God to be omnipotent, it does not obviously show Him to be gracious and long-suffering. Only through God’s Word, the Bible, does He reveal Himself to be a triune Being, one essence and three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; coequal, co-eternal, and each divine.

Second, there is Man. What is to be done with man? Is man nothing? Then why does the evidence seem to suggest that man is something? How is man to be properly explained outside supernatural revelation? Can you write him off as just the product of evolution? Is he nothing more than just chemicals and chromosomes, the highest rung on some ladder of intelligence? If that be true, then how do you account for man’s morality, the fact that he has morals, some seeming to be good and some seeming to be bad? How does evolution account for the ethics and social mores found in our species that are found in no other species? How does an accident of nature produce and value beauty and art? My friends, only by means of supernatural revelation is man explained. Man was made in the image and likeness of God; created by Him from the dust of the ground and then breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.[8]

But that doesn’t explain everything about man there is to know. The Bible also tells of sin. “Oh, there you go again. Always talking negative about people. Why don’t you have a better view of man? Why don’t you have a higher concept of man?” Oh, I have a higher concept of man than you do. You think man as you presently see him is normal, and slightly bred up from apes. The Bible reveals man to be in an image bearer of God presently existing in an extremely abnormal state. But for the Bible, you would think that man is essentially a devious, selfish and brutal being. In scripture we read of a Fall, a catastrophe that occurred to plunge mankind from the pinnacle of God’s creation to the pit of condemnation, rebellion and guilt. Man has not always been the way you see him now, a cruel and despicable race that scars and ruins the earth. But for sin, you would be a noble ruler of this planet, benevolent and wise. But for sin. Sin against God. Rebellion. Hatred. Animosity. Antagonism. And sin towards others of our own kind. No, it is not normal for man to kill, rape, molest, steal and profane. It is highly abnormal. But it is the way everyone is now, all because of sin, revealed to us through the Bible.

Also revealed to us through the Bible is the sentence for sin. Because God is good, and because He created man as a good race, it is man’s fault and man bears the guilt for now being sinful. God did not make a liar out of you. God did not make a man slayer of you. God did not create you a fornicator or an idolater. That is your responsibility. The guilt of sin is upon your head, and God has decreed a sentence for your sin. The sentence is death. Not just physical death, mind you, but spiritual death, immortal death, punishment and damnation and wrath. Because God is good and just and righteous, it is only proper for Him to execute judgment upon those guilty of sin.

However, even though it is proper and appropriate for God to execute judgment against sinners for sinning against Him, such judgment is described in God’s Word as His strange work.[9] That is, God receives no pleasure or delight from the punishment of the wicked. Rather than punish, God delights in mercy. As a matter of fact, the Bible declares that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.[10] That said, God will not compromise Himself. He will not violate His nature. Though He is gracious to save some sinners, He will not do so at the expenses of His holiness or His righteousness. He will be just in His dealings with all men.

To this end we are given supernatural revelation of a Savior. It is in God’s Word that we are told of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, at a precise point in human history, to a precise place on earth, by precise means. The eternal Son of God was born one day of a virgin named Mary. He lived a sinless life and died an unjust death. He was buried in a rich man’s tomb and rose from the dead three days and three nights later. He then ascended to His Father’s right hand on high, where He will remain until His enemies be made His footstool, at which time He will return. At the time of His death on the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ took upon Himself all the sins of all mankind and suffered the just punishment for man’s sins against God. He suffered this cruel punishment, the Just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God.[11]

And finally, we are given supernatural revelation of how to receive the benefit of Jesus Christ’s saving work on the cross. Let me read some familiar passages from the New Testament:

John 1.12-13:  12     But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

13     Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Acts 16.30-31: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? . . . Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

Romans 4.3-5:    3      For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

4      Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

5      But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

Romans 5.1: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Romans 10.9-14:   9      That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

10     For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

11     For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

12     For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

13     For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

14     How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

There are a number of different passages which instruct the sinners how to appropriate the blessings of salvation and forgiveness that Jesus Christ and only Jesus Christ provides. But many of these are easily misunderstood in our Bible illiterate age. What does it mean to receive Him? What does it mean to believe on Him? Justified by faith? What is justification? And what is faith, really? Romans 10.9-14, for example, is almost universally misunderstood. Almost everyone I have ever talked to at length who said they were saved by following the directions of Romans 10.9-14 misread the passage and showed themselves to be, in fact, lost. Certainly, each of these passages is true, and provides accurate guidance to salvation in Christ, when properly understood. However, so many misunderstand. Let me, therefore, take you to the simplest and in my mind the most easily understood passage in the Bible that points to Christ:

Matthew 11.28: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

My friend, we know that being saved must be uncomplicated and actually quite simple, since little children are urged to come to the Savior. That said, sometimes such words as faith, trust, justification and believe are loaded with meanings that are foreign to the Bible. The word “come” however, is very difficult to misunderstand. If it is the Jesus of the Bible, the One revealed to us by God in His Word, then it is also revealed that if you will come to Him He will save you. This God has revealed through supernatural revelation.

Approaching thirty years ago I dealt with a young man who wanted to trust Jesus for salvation from his sins. However, in the course of our conversation it came out that he didn’t believe in God. He was an atheist. How can one trust Jesus Christ for salvation if He is not God because there is no God, since no ordinary man can deliver anyone from the consequences of his sins?

God reveals truths, beloved. He reveals Himself, truthfully but not fully, since we are finite beings and cannot understand everything about God. But what He does reveal He does reveal truly. He reveals things about Himself through natural means and through supernatural means. So, everyone is without excuse in that regard. He has also revealed enough about man, and sin, and the sentence for sin, and salvation, and the Savior, that anyone inclined to be saved would know exactly how.

So, if you die without Christ, if you die in your sins, it will not be for lack of truth to be saved. You do have enough Bible truth at your disposal to save the entire world.


[1] Genesis 37.5-11; 40.6-22; 41.9-32

[2] Daniel 2.24-45; 4.9-37; 5.1-30; 7.1-28; 8.1-27; 9.2-27; 10.10ff

[3] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIEKgVvME8k

[4] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIMJWWpOrjw

[5] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJIKe9eJLh4

[6] http://news.discovery.com/earth/snowflakes-up-close-and-personal-macro-photos-131211.htm

[7] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1TQrc_UE7A

[8] Genesis 1.27; 2.7

[9] Isaiah 28.21

[10] 2 Peter 3.9

[11] 1 Peter 3.18



 

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