Telling The TRUTH
061811 Telling The Truth 28 Minute Program
[music] You're listening to "Telling the Truth" from Triple T. Christian Youth Ministries, "Telling the Truth to and Through Teenagers." Here is Triple T. Founder and President George Dumes. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the Lord had said to Abram, "Get out of your country, from your kindred and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you." Genesis 12.1, New King James. "God always has a plan, a perfect plan to be painted as a portrait of God's love and direction." Abram was God's chosen person. God was taking him to a specific place to put him into a special position. "Get out of your country. What a challenge. What a way to go. And yet that was God's direction to Abram. God wants you and me to understand that there is always a plan. And if we will put that plan into his hands, he will guide us and direct us. And he will help us accomplish that which would please him the most. People will be changed. The Gospel will go forward when you and I put ourselves at God's disposal. Being willing to go, say, do and be, whatever would please him. What about you? Are you willing to be putting the effective Gospel message into the hearts of people who need the Lord? Would you go tell the truth today? I hope you will. I know you can." God is speaking to Abram. He has something to share with him. Listen to this fantastic promise in Genesis 12.2, New King James Version. "I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing." And of course, as you know, God fulfilled that promise. Are you willing to do what God wants you to do? To become what God wants you to become? Are you willing to read the Word of God? Are you willing to talk with him? Are you praying diligently, deliberately, for God's will to be revealed to you? And then, are you fellowshipping with other believers? Are you listening to the promises of God? And are you bouncing what you know with these people? You trust and together are you concerned about the people who are lost, who need to know Jesus Christ personally? And are you doing something about taking the Gospel from its hiding place in your heart to get rid of those people who need to know the Lord? Does Jesus Christ dwell in you? Do you know him? Are you willing to share him? I hope you are. I hope you will. You can, you know. The Gospel is Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again. Tell someone today. Listen to God's tremendous promise to Abram, Genesis 12-3, New King James. "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Wow. What a promise. And yet God was capable not only of making the promise, but fulfilling it to the nth degree. What about you? Do you believe God's promises? His word is packed full of them for people like you and me who trust him, who believe on him, who will follow his guidance and direction. Yes, God has something for you to do that nobody could do quite the way you could if you would do what you should do. So will you? Will you read the Word of God consistently? Will you pray diligently? And will you fellowship consistently with people who love the Lord? And together will you determine the strategy, the plan, the tactics to get the Gospel to people who really need to know Jesus Christ? So their lives can be changed and their world rearranged? I hope you will. There's somebody out there waiting for you to go to them with God's glorious Gospel. But nobody can make you do it. You have to determine that you will go with God's Word. Will you? God's plans are perfect and His timetable implicit. Listen to Genesis 12-4, New King James Version. So Abraham departed as the Lord had spoken to him and Lot went with him. And Abraham was 75 years old when he departed from Heron. Yes, God's timetable is precise. And God wants you to know that he has a special place for you to be at a specific time in your life. Don't go in front of the Lord and don't lag behind him. Go step by step, moment by moment, an hour by hour with God. How? By reading his Word, by listening to what he says to you, by fellowshipping with other believers and by praying, praying, and praying some more, all the time, asking God for His guidance. He will provide it. He will present to you His Word and through fellowshipping with other believers who have wisdom to share, God will guide you. God wants you to be made usable and used of Him. He has a plan. He has people that you can reach that nobody could reach quite the way you can if you will obey the Lord. Will you? Who will you go to? When will you go? What will you say? How soon will you accomplish God's perfect plan for you? When God gives instructions and when you follow His leadership, when you let Him guide you, wonderful things happen. Listen to Abraham's story, Genesis 12-5, New King James. The neighbor took Sarah, his wife, and lot his brother's son and all their possessions that they had gathered and the people whom they had acquired in Heron, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan so they came to the land of Canaan. When you set out on a journey, when you map out your travels, you determine where it is God wants you to go. Then just start. Start where you are and move in the direction God would have you to go. How do you know what God's will is? Well, first of all, He provides it through His Word. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come through repentance. Are you doing something about that? That's the will of God. Are you reading the Word of God? Are you heeding the Word of God? Are you praying? Are you praying alone? Are you praying also with others? Are you determining together to do what God would be pleased for you to do to reach out with His glorious gospel? With whom are you going to share the gospel? Who does God want you to reach out to today? There's somebody waiting for you to take the good news to them. Will you? When you were following God's plan, when you were endeavoring to accomplish His will, even the best of times, there will be obstacles. There will be things happening that you didn't anticipate. But pray. Trust God. Go the way He wants you to go. Listen to Genesis 12-6, New King James Version. Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the Terribinth tree of Murah, and the Canaanites were there in the land. Yes, you can go, but know that when you go, there will be people there that perhaps you didn't anticipate. Perhaps there will be folk that you didn't even know existed. God will put you in the place of His purpose for you. His will for your life, if you are willing to go, to go the way God wants you to go, when and where. This is the day the Lord has made. Rejoice and be glad in it. But know that this day can be a wonderful day, a very special day, not only for you, but for the people with whom you will come in contact. God will thrust you in the path of folk who need to know the Lord, if you are willing to be His ambassador, to be His communicator of the Christian message. Are you willing to do this? Are willing to do it God's way in His timing? With those people with whom He would entrust you to be a part of their scheme of things? It's His plan, His purpose for you. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants, I will give this land." And there He built an altar to the Lord who had appeared to Him. What if that had been you, and God had appeared and said to you, "Hey, I'm going to give you this piece of property. I'm going to give it to you for not only your lifetime, but for the tomorrow's of all of your descendants. Would you believe the Lord, and would you stop as Abram did, and build an altar to the Lord? Would you kneel and bow before Almighty God, and say, "Thank you, Lord, for your promises. Thank you, Lord, for your provision. Thank you, Lord, for your direction." And then, would you be willing to get up off your knees, and to move forward going the direction God wants you to go, to the people that He wants you to travel toward? And are you willing to prayerfully consider becoming all God wants you to become, to really, really take the time to read the Word of God, to study, to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth? And then, having done that, to share that truth with people who need the Lord, if you will open God's Word, God will speak to you. If you will talk with Him, He will answer you. If you will ask, you will receive. There are people waiting for you to go. Will you? Every Saturday at 7.27 p.m., you are invited to attend a live youth event at Triple T, 13,000 US-41 North at Booneville, New Harmony Road, midway between I-64 and Evansville Regional Airport. Every first Saturday, a good news club for those in first through fifth grades, is available in a separate area. For more information, call 812-867-2418 or visit www.tripletchristianyouth.org. Jesus had been crucified. The disciples had been frightened. They didn't know what to think. They had watched Him die. But listen to John 20 verses 19 and 20 New King James. Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you." When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side, and the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. But Thomas wasn't there that day. The doubter had disappeared. But eight days later, listen to John 20 verses 24-31. Now Thomas called the twin. One of the twelve was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to Him, "We have seen the Lord." So He said to them, "Unless I see His hands, the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe." And after eight days, his disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, "Peace to you." Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at my hands, and reach your hand here, and put it into my side." "Do not be unbelieving, but believing." And Thomas answered and said to him, "My Lord and my God." Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed." And truly, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. Thomas said, "I believe." What about you? Do you believe the gospel story? Do you believe that Christ Jesus did die? That He was crucified, that He hung on a cross, until there was no life there? That He gave His life for your sins and mine? Do you believe that He was buried? Do you believe that three days later, He came out of the tomb? The historic fact of Jesus' resurrection became the proof. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is God the Son. He is the Savior of the world. Christianity is true. The gospel is the only way to eternal life. Jesus arose not to die again someday, but to live forever. Death had no more power over Him. Christ dived for our sins according to the Scriptures. Without the resurrection, there would always have been a huge unanswered question. Did He really succeed? His disciples would have tried to continue a hopeless religion. They would have had only a Judeo-Christian philosophy that had doubtful application to the needs of the soul. Listen to Romans, chapter 1, verses 1 through 4. Paul, a bond-sermon of Jesus Christ, called him in apostle, separated to the gospel of God, which he promised before through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. Concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead. The resurrection shows that Christianity is not just a religion, but the life and reality of God available to the lives of people everywhere. No, it's not religion. It is a way of life. It is eternal life to the believer, and to the people who are trying to listen to something else or do something else or fool around with something else, while the gospel goes forth, woe be to them, because the gospel is going to penetrate the heart, the mind, the very being of every person someday. And so today is the day the Lord has made. Let's rejoice and be glad in it. Let's move from where we are to where we ought to be. Let's don't be distracted. Let's be attracted to Jesus Christ, God's Son. 1 Corinthians 15, 1 through 8 presents the gospel in the most concise, marvelous fashion of anything in the entire Word of God. The New King James Version puts it this way. Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preach to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved. If you hold fast, that word, which I preach to you unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you, first of all, that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures, and that he was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that he was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remained to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that he was seen by James, then by all the apostles, then last of all he was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. That's Paul's story. And as he shares that story, listen to his reiteration about who saw Jesus. Cephas, which was another name for Peter, saw Jesus, Peter the one who denied the Lord right after the trial. He was not the faithful follower of Jesus that he claimed to be, but he got it together, and he was used of the Lord later to do something fantastic, to preach the gospel, to share this story of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and three thousand people came to know Jesus Christ at one time because Peter got it together with the Lord. The disciples were perplexed. There were only eleven of them now, and they had to do something, so they determined to try to figure out what to do, who to replace, the person Judas who had betrayed Jesus. And so they drew lots, and the name came out Matthias. And so when Paul was saying the twelve were there that saw Jesus, that means that Matthias was now one of the twelve, and he was there before the fact that he had been chosen, but he was there because they had to have the twelfth apostle to be a person who had witnessed the death of Jesus Christ, and who was aware of his burial and his fantastic, miraculous resurrection. What about you? Do you really believe the Bible? The Bible is totally true. You can trust it completely irrevocably without reservation at all. Listen to 1 Corinthians 15, 12 through 20. This is a very special group of scriptures because it's the proof. As Tammy shared in geometry, you have the what-ifs. So listen. Now if Christ is preached, that he has been raised from the dead, how does some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty, and your faith is also empty. Yes, and then we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then your faith is futile. You are still in your sins. Then also, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, then we are of all men the most pitiable. But now Christ is risen from the dead. Emphatically. Paul said it, I'll repeat it. But now Christ is risen from the dead. And because he is, the gospel works, lives are changed, all kinds of things happen when people put their faith and trust and belief on and in the Son of God, God the Son, Jesus Christ. Yes, the risen Lord Jesus wants to live in your heart, in your circumstance. He wants to move in where you are, but he won't force himself. He has to be invited. The Bible says the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. That gift is available, but it can't be bought, it can't be earned, it has to be simply received as a gift. The gift of God, eternal life, will you receive God's gift today? I hope you will. I hope that you will not only receive it, but that you will tell other people how they too can receive the gift of God by admitting they sin, believing unChrist, and confessing him publicly. In the book Discover Your Destiny, Dave Rees writes, "The resurrection of Jesus Christ shows that Christianity is not merely just a religion, but rather it is the life and reality of God available to the lives of men. The reality of the resurrection ran through the lives of his spirited disciples like an electric shock. Because of the resurrection these men were transformed. Is it possible that the resurrection can have a similar influence on our lives today? Indeed it is. Because of the resurrection we have several immensely valuable gifts. We had the forgiveness of every sin. The gospel proudly announces that Jesus Christ was raised again for because of our justification, Romans 4-25. We are justified from the guilt of sin and from the condemnation of the law because Christ bore the curse of the law for us on the cross. Now Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. Romans 10-4. The resurrection says in effect, "You are justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. We have a new life to live. There is a new kind of life available to us because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. All of this is implied in the statement, "Because I live, you shall live also." John 14-19. This same quality of life that was possessed by Jesus Christ after he came again from Joseph's tomb is the identical quality of life that can indeed become the portion of every believer. Not now the fading dying life of Adam, but the expanding living life of Jesus. In his resurrection, God's son opened wide a fountain of new life for all the world. He made good his promise, "I am come that they might have life, but they might have it more abundantly." John 10-10. We have power from God in our human lives. The Apostle Paul prayed one day in his life that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, Philippians 3-10. He was aware that he would have to face staggering odds in the work that he aspired to do for Christ. He needed strength beyond his own ability. He had never known. He realized that because of the resurrection, Jesus Christ gives every man the power to be more than he really is. Talk about being nine feet tall. Jesus Christ does more than this. He offers life that is qualitatively different from anything the world has to offer and beyond that, power to do what humans have never done before. That first Easter morning, there was the dawning of a new day for all the world. The one who believes on Christ can now say, O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? 1 Corinthians 1555. He knows that death need not be fatal for Jesus Christ has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. He is confident that the powers of darkness have now been devastated on his behalf. He is more than one who lives and believes in Jesus Christ, shall never die. The empty tomb stands today as mute testimony of the God who lives. Christ is risen from the dead, creating a gospel that laughs at the impossibilities and presents limitless life to all who believe. Do you believe that Jesus Christ is who he says he is, Son of God, Savior of the world, have you were invited him into your heart of hearts? Have you admitted that you are a sinner? All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. That's you, that's me, that's everybody. As I said a while ago, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Jesus said for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that her believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. If you confess with your mouth, oh Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. With the heart when believes under righteousness, with the mouth confession is made to salvation. We have something we'd like to send to you. It's a copy of the book Discover Your Destiny. It's free. All you have to do is write or call. The address is TTT 13,000. That's one, three, triple zero. US Highway 41 North, Evansville, Indiana, 47725. At address again, TTT 13,000 US Highway 41 North, Evansville, Indiana, 47725. Ask for Discover Your Destiny and we'll send it right back to you. Meanwhile, know that we need your prayers. We need your support. We need your involvement. We need you to be a part of this ministry reaching out with the gospel of Jesus Christ all across the Tri-State. Will you pray? And even give. Christ through you can change the world. Every Saturday at 7 27 p.m. you are invited to attend a live youth event at Triple T. 13,000 US-41 North at Booneville, New Harmony Road, midway between I-64 and Evansville Regional Airport. Every first Saturday a good news club for those in first through fifth grades is available in a separate area. For more information call 812-867-2418 or visit www.tripletchristianyouth.org or your free copy of The Telling the Truth newsletter call 812-867-2418 or write Triple T, 13,000 US-41 North, Evansville, Indiana, 47725. Tune in to Telling the Truth next week at this same time on This Same Station. [Music]