Grace and Truth – The Word of God Endures Forever
Pastor Tan Thai · Dec 13, 2015
This sermon emphasizes the importance of truth in today's society and church, balanced by grace. The pastor presents three modern trends that reject absolute truth—individualism, secularism, and relativism—while affirming the eternal truth of God's Word through fulfilled prophecy.
This sermon, preached on Sunday December 12, 2015, is the second in a series on grace and truth, focusing on the necessity of truth. The pastor opens with John Stott's quote that love grows soft without truth, and truth grows hard without love. Drawing from Isaiah 40:3-8 and John 1:14, the sermon affirms that the fulfillment of prophecies written over 500 years before Christ is compelling evidence that God's Word is true and trustworthy.
The pastor identifies three dominant modern ideologies that reject absolute truth. First, individualism holds that each person is the captain of their own life and no one has the right to judge right or wrong for another—this trend also infiltrates the church when people believe they can simply read the Bible at home without attending church. Second, secularism treats wealth, beauty, and success as ultimate values, and distorts God into a servant of human desires through the 'prosperity gospel.' Third, relativism denies any absolute standard, claiming that truth varies by circumstance and individual perspective.
The sermon also exposes four lies that the devil uses to deceive believers: all religions are the same; people are basically good; God always wants people to be happy and prosperous; and God will send everyone to heaven. These are directly contradicted by Jesus' words in John 14:6 and Paul's firm declaration in Galatians 1:6-9 that there is only one true Gospel, and any other gospel—even if proclaimed by an angel—is accursed.
The final section addresses the necessity of truth, calling the congregation to receive Jesus Christ as the only Savior. The pastor uses the fairy tale of The Emperor's New Clothes as a vivid illustration of the danger of silence in the face of falsehood—only the child dared to speak the truth, representing the person who speaks truth in love, not to judge but because they genuinely care about others.
The sermon closes with a challenge: believing in Christ costs nothing, but truly following Him as a disciple costs everything—walking the narrow road, taking up the cross daily, and living as a servant. The pastor poses a final question to the congregation: are they willing to receive the One full of grace and truth, and accept the cost of discipleship?