Listen here: “Truth Telling“
Isaiah 12:2-6; Luke 3:7-18
- In order to understand this prophecy by Isaiah we need to put it in historical context.
- Isaiah preached during a time of decay, idolatry, and a pro-Assyria foreign policy.
Isaiah looked to the future. He had no idea how far into the future his vision would manifest. Nonetheless he saw it as a certainty.- Sometimes we think that we have it bad today, that our lives are hard, that our struggles are overwhelming, and our hope is gone.
- Isaiah prophesied to a truly broken people
- John’s initial response was pretty confrontive. Many people would consider it to be unChristian, but it’s not.
- Jesus did the same thing. Five times Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” (Matthew 23). He called them “blind fools,” “blind guides,” “whitewashed tombs.”
- Was Jesus being unkind? Or was he being honest? It is not kind to treat people dishonestly.
- Truth always comes with a cost in this world, but it is a price worth paying.
- Whether that cost is being slandered or losing a job, a relationship, or like Stephen, who was stoned to death, even losing our lives.
- The cost of not telling God’s truth out weighs the cost of speaking God’s truth.
(This is just a teaser. If you want to know more, listen to the sermon.)
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