The Way, the Truth and the Life

Thank you, Jamie, for the beautiful special music. We certainly serve a wonderful and powerful God. We serve a God that is a God of miracles and a God who part sees and delivers his people from the most difficult of circumstances. It's a beautiful way of being reminded of those things. Thank you so very much. Brethren, today we are gathered before our God to commemorate the Feast of Trumpets. That is the purpose for which we are gathered here today. And this day, as you look at it, in the scope of all of what God is doing and part of his plan for mankind, you take a look at all of those days that are outlined in Leviticus 23.

This day is wrought with meaning, it's wrought with symbolism, it's wrought with purpose. And all of God's holy days, like a jigsaw puzzle, just kind of mesh together, and one leads into the next. Yes, they're distinct. Yes, they have their own meaning, and they have their own symbolism, and they have their own aspects that are unique to those days, but they all fit together. They're like a jigsaw puzzle. One leads into the next, kind of describing what exactly it is that God is doing on this earth with mankind. And so when we consider the crossover between the end of the spring holy days, which was the last holy day that we kept, the day of Pentecost, into the beginning of the fall holy days with the Feast of Trumpets, we begin to cross from the parts of God's plan that have been completed and have been fulfilled to the parts of God's plan which are yet to come.

So we begin to maneuver into these times in which God is working into the future. We cross over as well into part of the plan that works largely with the rest of mankind. Right now God's plan is working largely with those that have been called, those whom God has selected, whom he sanctified, whom he's chosen to place his spirit within. But as we transition from the spring holy days into the fall holy days, there's a zooming out, so to speak, that occurs. We zoom out to the larger whole of mankind as now an opportunity to become part of the God family as extended beyond just the boundaries of the body of Christ at this time.

When we take a look at the events that are portrayed by today, we look at the end of the time of the tribulation, we recognize that the world as a whole will begin to have the opportunity to understand who God is, to understand what he is about, and ultimately to understand their part in his plan as potential children in his family.

Now we see scripture really just before Christ's death and resurrection that he gathered his disciples together for a final Passover, and it's at this Passover that we see the New Testament emblems instituted and we see that Messiah was betrayed. Let's go ahead and turn over there to begin to build the backdrop of what we're looking at in the sermon today.

Let's go to John 13. John 13. And we'll pick up the tail end of this evening. We'll pick up the point in time right near the end as the disciples had gathered together, as they had enjoyed the meal, as they had gone through and the evening was beginning to draw to a close. John 13. We'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 31. Just prior to this, Christ identified his betrayer by handing the sop to Judas Iscariot.

We know that Judas left into the night to go and ultimately gather the men that would come and betray his master and arrest him. But in verse 31, Christ begins to address his disciples, and then we see him move into these critical words that we see in John 14, 15, 16, and 17. So John 13 and verse 31, again, to build the backdrop here, said, So when he had gone out, referencing here Judas Iscariot, Jesus said, Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him.

If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and glorify him immediately. Verse 33, little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. It says, You will seek me, and as I said to the Jews where I am going, you cannot come. And so now I say to you, verse 34, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

Verse 35, By this all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. Now Christ waited until after Judas had left, and he began to lay the groundwork for what was to happen after he had gone. He tells his disciples, it's not going to be much longer. It's not going to be much longer before I'm not going to be here with you anymore, in person. He said, you'll desire me. They'll seek him. But he said, where I am going, you cannot come. It was true for the Jews, it was true for the disciples. But he says, when I'm gone and while I'm gone, I leave you with a new commandment.

Note, brethren, not a suggestion, not something that is conditional, not something that's dependent upon certain factors, or something that we can somehow reason around why we should not have to fulfill this commandment. Brethren, this is an order from our commander, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. And he says, by this all will know that you are my disciples. Why?

Because of the love that you have for one another, we'll show them who you are.

We'll show them who you are. Verse 26, we see Peter ask his Lord a question. Verse 36, I'm sorry, ask his Lord a question. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered him, where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you shall follow me afterward, providing a little bit of a hint there, again, to Peter as to what was going to occur. Christ says, you know, this time, Peter, this time you can't follow me. This time you can't come along. So we see Peter, Peter going Peter, we see him do what he does best, which is continue to protest a little bit at this point in time in his life. Peter says to him in verse 37, he says, Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for your sake. And Jesus answered him, will you lay down your life for my sake? Most assuredly, he says, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow until you have denied me three times. You know, you put yourself in the shoes of the disciples, or even in the shoes of Peter, for that matter, at that point. Those would have been incredibly difficult words to hear. One, that your master, your friend, the person whom you've spent every waking minute with for the last three and a half years, wandering through the wilderness of Judea, up and down the roads, into cities, witnessing miracles, seeing all these incredible works that he had wrought. And then he says, you know what? I'm leaving.

You can't come. You're going to stay. And I'm going to leave.

That would have been very difficult to know that your time with your rabbi, at least in person, was coming to an end. Not only that, he told Peter, Peter, he told him, the natural leader, the bold one, that he would deny him three times. And we know that that is exactly what happened as we go through the rest of the story. And naturally, they were disturbed by these words. And so we see, beginning in verse 14, we see Jesus Christ comfort his disciples. Why would you say something like, let not your heart be troubled, unless they were visibly troubled by what he had said?

They had just heard that their master was leaving. And so he says, let not your heart, chapter 14, verse 1, let not your heart be troubled. He says, you believe in God, believe also in me. Verse 2, he says, in my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. He says, I go to prepare a place for you. He says, don't be troubled. He goes, you believe in God. He goes, you believe in the Father. He goes, have faith in the Son, too. Believe what I tell you. Trust me, he says. There are many places in my father's house that I go to prepare a place for you. That word there in Greek is oikos. O-I-K-O-S. I think that's a yogurt brand. Not 100% sure, but I think it is a Greek yogurt brand. Oikos yogurt. But oikos means house. It means house. But it's also a word that has a three-fold meaning. It meant the literal house, the place where people actually lived. It meant the property on which the house was located. And it also meant the family that lived inside of the house. And so, in many ways, as Christ here is saying, I make a place for you in my father's house, in my father's oikos, He's saying, I'm preserving for you a spot in the family. I'm preserving you a spot in my father's home. I'm preserving you a spot in His kingdom. And ultimately, that place, that location in which they were given, was made possible through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which is represented by the Passover. It's made possible through the repentance and putting away of sin that's represented by the days of Unleavened Bread. It's made possible by the covenant that we enter into with God in the receipt of His Holy Spirit, which is symbolized by the days of Pentecost. Again, all of these days mesh together. They are like a jigsaw puzzle. So, in verse 3 of chapter 14, we see the shift between the symbolism of the spring holy days and the symbolism of the fall holy days, of the events of the fall. John 14 and verse 3. Jesus said, And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am there you may be also. Verse 4, And where I go you know, and the way you know. Jesus says, I will come again.

And we know that event is the catalyst that kicks off the remainder of God's plan.

That which comes after cannot occur until that event has taken place.

Because that event is that critical of a watershed moment in God's plan. Thomas responds in verse 5, says, Lord, we don't know where you're going, and how do we know the way? Christ was often spoken riddles, and the disciples often didn't always understand exactly what He was getting at. Thomas says, Whoa, wait a minute, question. We don't really know where you're going, and we really don't know the way. Please elaborate. So Jesus says to him in verse 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Jesus says, no one can come to the Father. No one can approach the presence of the Father without Jesus Christ serving in the capacity of high priests. That has to be present. No one can come before God the Father without the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on His behalf. Christ is a mediator. He is the intercessor. He is the high priest. We know that He is at the right hand of God. We also know that after these words were spoken, Christ was betrayed. He was arrested. He was crucified. He died. He was resurrected. He appeared to His disciples a number of times between His resurrection and the day of Pentecost ascending to Heaven ten days prior to that, to sit at God's right hand. But the way, the truth, and the life ascended to Heaven with the promise that He would return.

Can you fast-forward 2,000 or so years into the future, to today?

On the whole, this world has lost its way. It has lost its truth. And it has lost its life. Quite frankly, without the events that are pictured by the day of trumpets, this day, the people of the world as a whole are without hope. They are without hope. Let's go over to Revelation 11. Revelation 11 and verse 15. You know, that is one of the most encouraging aspects of the Feast of Trumpets, is the fulfillment of these promises for which we have waited for so long to be fulfilled. We have waited so long for these things to be fulfilled. Revelation 11 and verse 15. You know, as you are turning over there, the past 2,000 years, overall, the world has been getting further and further from God. We know that Satan effectively counterfeited Christianity in the time following the first century. There were a number of doctrines and heresies that entered the church that were not taught by Christ or His disciples. And as history has gone on, and there's been splinters and schisms and whatnot of our doctrines and heresies in those denominations of Christianity, many of these faiths have had these heresies and these doctrines cemented into the very fabric of their belief.

You know, that doesn't tell the entire story. The first time since statistics have been recorded on these things, starting in the 1940s, you take a look at church membership in these denominations. It's dropped below the majority of Americans, members of church, this last spring. We reached a point where only 47% of Americans are members of a church, as of the spring of this last year.

March 2021 was the recording of that, according to a Gallup poll. Additionally, the percent of individuals who identify as atheists or agnostics has increased from 11% in 2003 to 21% in 2018, according to Barna's research, and upwards to 28 to 32% based on a phone poll in 2021. That's nearing one-third of the American population, who say they do not believe in a God they are not sure or they have no faith whatsoever.

One in three Americans, with only 47% of Americans saying that they still believe they are members of a church. You don't even necessarily need statistics. Anecdotally, you take a look around the world, you see the aimlessness, you see the anxiety, you see the worry, you see the uncertainty.

You see people that aren't sure who or what to believe. They struggle to determine what is real, they struggle to determine what is false and falsehood abounds. Truth has become relative, truth is situational, it's conditional, and with the increase of atheists and agnostics, human life is given an equivalence to all other living things. And as such, abortion is legal, doctor-assisted suicide is legal, the value of human life isn't what it once was. This world has lost its way, it has lost its truth, and it has lost its life.

Revelation 11 and verse 15 says, Then the seventh angel sounded, and the good news here is there is hope, there is a solution to what we see in the world around us. But it's important to keep in mind, and this is critical, there is only one solution. This is the only way.

Revelation 11 and verse 15. Then the seventh angel sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. You know, when that seventh trumpet sounds, Jesus Christ returns to this earth. That promise that was given to His disciples so many years ago is fulfilled, and the King of Kings will have come. And when you take a look at the symbolism of this day with that event, the earth will have its way, its truth, and its life restored.

When we look at Acts 3, verse 21, it talks of the restoration of all things. This is one of those things that will be restored. In case you haven't guessed it already, the title of the message today is, The Way, The Truth, and The Life. And I'd like to spend just the remainder of our time today looking at these concepts and the really critical importance of the restoration of these things.

First off, let's take a look at the way. I want to tell you a brief story here to kind of outline this. A number of years ago, as I was growing up, living up in the Spokane area, we had a youth activity out at one of the members' homes way up on the slopes of Mount Spokane.

I don't know how many of you have been to Mount Spokane before. Mount Spokane is not much of a mount when you take a look at some of the ones we have around here, but it's about 6,000 feet. And the only qualifications at that point in time in the World Wide Church of God for a youth activity was you have to be out in the woods somewhere and have a pole barn. That was really the qualification.

You had to put a place to have people sleep on the concrete floor and then go and play in the woods. Basically, the requirements. Slept on the concrete floor for a couple of nights and, yeah, I don't know, didn't sleep real good. Mount Spokane is about 6,000 feet. It's got a bunch of ski trails. It's got a bunch of hiking trails, very thick forests throughout parts of it. And me and this group of buddies who were a bunch of knuckleheads were wandering near the back of the group and probably because of our messing around managed to allow the rest of the group to walk way, way, way ahead of us and we lost track of them.

And we thought, you know, wouldn't it be funny if we got ahead of them on the trail by just bushwhacking straight down the side of the mountain to where the trail's going to cut back? And then we could just be like, hey, we went from the back to the front. So we decided we're going to do that. We're just going to basically trails going this way. We're going to go perpendicular to the trail straight down the mountainside through whatever comes and here we go.

My buddy decided he would lead us. He appeared to know what he was doing, so we said, all right, go for it. So the five of us started crashing brush in this straight line down the hillside. That worked great for about 200 yards, which is where we assumed the trail would be.

And it wasn't. And then it got really nasty. It got really thick. It got really gross. It straight line now became a rabbit trail as we tried to work our way over logs and under logs and through some other areas. We tore our clothes on branches, climbing over stuff. We stepped in swamp areas. And the highlight of the trip was wading through waist-deep stinging nettle patch. That was awesome.

And, by the way, jorts. And if you don't remember jorts, it was in the 1990s. They are jean shorts, which is what all of us were wearing because it was the 1990s. So at that point, you know, our leader's botanical knowledge was in question because he led us right through the stinging nettles, which was incredibly uncomfortable. But eventually, after this period of time, just getting wrecked on the way down the hillside, we came out on a trail. And I cannot tell you the sense of relief that I had to step onto something that was maintained and set and had a destination.

I cannot tell you how that felt. Honestly, it worked out for us. I mean, we made it down and we got out just a little bit ahead of the group. We were way worse for wear than they were by the time we got down the bottom of the hill. It could have ended not well at all. I mean, we could have ended up lost in the woods out there.

We could have ended up in a place where, you know, we just could not find where to get out from and gotten worse and worse. But we knew once we hit that trail, once we hit that path, that eventually we would come to a sign that would take us back to the trailhead as long as we kept going downhill on that trail. Eventually I would find a sign. Eventually we would find a way to get back to where we started.

The Greek word that is used for way here in John 14 verse 6 is the Greek word hodos. It's G5-3 or 3-5-9-8 and it's translated in Scripture as way, road, or path. And so when you see it referenced in Scripture, it's referring to something that shows you the direction that you should be going. Something that provides you with very clearly defined edges and boundaries, and something that enables someone to make it through an area that would otherwise be very difficult to pass through.

Let's turn over to Matthew 7. Matthew 7, we'll see Christ's words here in the Sermon on the Mount as he references himself, because Christ makes a very important point about this path. Matthew 7. Matthew 7. We'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 13. Christ makes the point here in Matthew 7 and verse 13 that there are two paths. There are two paths out there, ultimately. There's a wide path and there's a narrow path. Christ references here, again, these two paths in Matthew 7 and verse 13. He says, Enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.

Verse 14, because narrow is the gate, and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Christ says the path we should find ourselves on is the narrow path. It's narrow because it consists of Him. That's the path. That's the way. That's the trail. It's Him and only Him as He points to the Father. He's the door. No one can come to the Father except through Him. He's the only name by which we can be saved. There are no other options. There are no other options. The path is narrow because it's Him.

The path that's broad is the path that the majority of the world is on. This path that Christ is talking about is not broad. It's not easy. It's not paved. It's still a path that still has very clear edges and very clear boundaries.

But it's a more challenging path. The word difficult here that talks about in verse 14 means to compress or to crush or to provide suffering or tribulation. Meaning that being on this path can be unpleasant at times. It can be pressure. It can be difficult.

Contrast that with the broad path is the path that the majority of the world is on. Despite their unease, despite their anxiety, despite their recognition that something's wrong, that life just isn't working, it's the path of least resistance. It's easier. It's the path that provides the least challenging path forward. And so they remain until their conscience is pricked and they are cut to the heart, and there's a decision that has to be made to change their direction and to change the path with which they find themselves on. They can either keep going the way they were going or take the more difficult route. You know, the more difficult route doesn't just mean changing the day that they worship. It doesn't just mean putting away pork and seafood from their diets. It doesn't just mean changing a number of doctrines the majority of Christians today believe. It does require sacrifice. It does require discernment. But most importantly, it requires a change of heart. It requires a change of heart. It requires us, as Christ said to His disciples that last evening, it requires us to love one another. Love is hard. Love is hard. Loving other people the way that God loved us is extremely challenging. Forgiving other people for their faults, for their offenses, serving them in spite of those things. Placing their wants, their desires, above the desires and wants of ourselves so that we can esteem others better than ourselves. That's an action that is contrary to human nature. That is an action that requires us to yield to God's Spirit dwelling within us. The way of God, the path with which God has asked us to be on, is a path of love for one another. When you consider Christ and you think of the example that He provided while He was here on this earth, what things come to mind? Maybe John 15, verse 13. No greater love has no man than this than to lay down one's life for his friends. Maybe John 3, verse 16. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. What about Ephesians 5? Let's turn over there. Ephesians 5.

Ephesians 5. And if you want to, once you get there, if you want to start turning towards Corinthians 13, we're going to be there in a second. Ephesians 5, we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 1 as we consider this walk in love that we are called to lead. Ephesians 5, verse 1 says, Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.

You know, you consider children often, you ask them what they want to be when they grow up, at least early on. It's usually what their father does, typically. It's what dad does. Be imitators of God as dear children. Be like him. Verse 2, Walk in love as Christ has loved us and given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. How do we honor that sacrifice? We honor that sacrifice by walking in love. We honor it by walking in love, by being imitators of God as dear children. By remaining on that narrow path, remaining on the way, walking in the footsteps of our Lord, not allowing ourselves to step off of that path through anger or bitterness or frustration, but instead choosing to do the hard thing in love in spite of the offense, in spite of the words that were said, in spite of the actions that were taken. Anything else outside of the bounds of love is, by definition, off the path. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 13. 1 Corinthians 13.

Because seeing what this looks like is important.

1 Corinthians 13, we'll pick it up in verse 4. 1 Corinthians 13 and verse 4. Again, considering that anything outside of the boundaries of this definition of love is off the path.

It's no longer on the narrow path. At that point, you're walking in the weeds.

1 Corinthians 13, verse 4. Love suffers long and is kind.

Love does not envy. Love does not parade itself.

Love is not puffed up.

Love does not behave rudely. Love does not seek its own.

Love is not provoked.

Love doesn't go out looking for a fight. We're finding a fight wherever it looks. Love thinks no evil. Love does not rejoice in sin, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things. It believes all things. It hopes all things. It endures all things. Love never fails.

In the world today, as you take a look around, we're walking in the weeds of our path. We're walking in the weeds of our path. They're walking maybe on the broad path of their own. But they're walking a path today that rewards them for throwing shade at other people. Whoever can have the best one-liner zinger on Twitter to make somebody look stupid gets all the retweets. Everybody loves it. It gets printed in the newspaper because somebody told this person where they can go. Social media is built for arguments, built for disagreements. Fortunately, it's a place where relative anonymity enables people to say things that they ordinarily would not say in person. Feuds are public. Anger, bitterness, vitriol spills over. It's celebrated, and everybody joins in, jumps right on the bandwagon. When that seventh trumpet is blown and Jesus Christ returns, the restorative process begins. No longer will those things be celebrated. No longer will those things be retweeted, printed in the newspaper because somebody told somebody in a very unique way to zip their mouth.

When that trumpet is blown and Christ returns, the way of love is restored. And this world on a whole will have their chance to walk on that path as opposed to the way that they have walked on for so many years. That narrow path leads to Him. It is Him. It is His attributes. It is His commandments. It is His very being. But love is just one of the attributes of our great God. One of those other attributes is truth. Truth. God is a God of integrity. He is a God of following through on the things that He has promised. Hebrews 6, 18 tells us it's impossible for Him to lie. His promises are immutable. They absolutely will take place. They absolutely will be fulfilled. Again, one of the beautiful things about this day and all that it symbolizes. God is truth. His truth is absolute. It doesn't change with societal trends. It doesn't change with conditions. It doesn't change with situations. But we, as we've mentioned before, are living in a post-truth world. The world in which we live today is absent a shared objective standard for truth. And so, in absence of that, truth becomes whatever you make it. Truth becomes whatever we decide it to be. Correlation becomes causation. Confirmation bias becomes the rule. Depending on who you talk to, well, everybody basically, the other side's lying to you. I'm not. The other side is. Facts have become what people make them out to be. And it's become increasingly challenging to discern what is true and what is not. And to be quite honest, most people don't want to put the work in to verify whether something is true or not. So it gets shared or it gets repeated without verifying the authenticity or veracity of that information. And thanks to social media, this game of telephone, so to speak, that occurs when that happens, occurs much faster with much more disparate results. I read a story recently of a man who killed his children. And he killed his children because he was so convinced by a group of conspiracy theorists online that his children had serpent DNA and that they needed to be cleansed as a result of that. Brethren, that is the level to which we have gone in the world around us today. As things get spread and shared and just consistently down this rabbit hole further and further and further, as children of God, we have to have a yearning for that which is true, for that which is absolute truth and fact. Let's turn to John 16. In this section, shortly after when Christ talked of himself as the way and the truth and the life, he talks about this source of truth and where truth comes from. John 16, and we'll pick it up in verse 13. John 16 and verse 13 says, However, when he, referring here to the Spirit of God, and of course incorrectly, it should be a non-pronounced situation here of it, says, However, when it, the Spirit of Truth, has come, it will guide you into all truth. It is a Spirit of truth. It will guide you into all truth, for it's not going to speak of its own authority. It is a SONA that it speaks on its own. God's Spirit speaks what it hears, because it's coming from God who spoke it.

It is his Spirit that reveals truth.

It is his Spirit that communicates truth. It is God's Spirit that guides us into truth, because it's God who provides that truth. It is God who speaks with authority, and it's God's Spirit who guides us to those words and that truth, because it's coming from him.

The Spirit of God turns us to God's Word. It turns us to God's Word. Not to our own understanding.

Not to other individuals. It turns us to the Word of God. Now, on the other hand, Satan is a liar. Satan is the father of lies. John 8, verse 44, goes as far as saying there's no truth in him, that there is no truth in him. We see over and over Satan's use of half-truths, partial truths. Just enough truth to sound maybe legitimate, and then you take the bait and bite hook, line, and sinker. Our discernment in the things that we see, that we hear, that we read as children of God is critical. The number one question that we have to ask ourselves in all of these scenarios is what does God say about this? Because at the end of the day, his opinion is the only opinion that matters. Ephesians 6. Let's go ahead and turn over there. Ephesians 6.

Again, this world has lost its truth. This world has lost its truth. It has lost the objective standard for shared truth. And so, as a result, sky's the limit. Anything and everything can be true. It just depends on how loud it shouted. Ephesians 6. How important is truth? How critical is truth? Ephesians 6. We see a description of the armor of God. Ephesians 6 gives us a description of the armor of God. And the Apostle Paul, obviously writing this time, writing this letter to the Ephesians in Ephesus in the 60s AD. This armor that he has in mind is armor of a Roman origin. So you want to think about what he's picturing in his head. He's picturing a big old square shield, big old red fan hat, you know, like the Centurions had. He's picturing a breastplate that's made up of strips of metal, other things, a little Roman Gladius-type sword, and the other aspects of it, like leather sandals and the leather belt. But the standard Roman armor kit consisted of these things, and that would give you a significant amount of protection against weapons that would be deployed in kind of a melee line. You know, you still had protection with your shield, and you had protection with your sword, ultimately against hand-to-hand combat when that happened. But, you know, the interesting thing is you take a look at that list of stuff in there, okay? You've got a helmet, you've got a breastplate, you've got a shield, you've got a sword, and you've got what? You've got a belt and sandals. The belt is the belt of truth. The sandals, or the being shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace, are representative of peace.

Now, what's interesting is you'd have your helmet on, you'd have your breastplate on, you'd have your shield and your sword strapped on in times of war, but you'd also have that belt and those sandals on in times of peace, too. Because those were the things that would be on you all the time, because you had to have something to keep your robes tight. You had to have something on the bottom of your feet as you wandered through the Roman roads and jumped over the sanitation systems of those days. You didn't want to go barefoot. You didn't want to go barefoot. Peace and truth were things that were on them 24-7, whether they were at war or whether they were at peace, whereas the other things would be put on when they were in the fight. Ephesians 6, verse 10, we'll pick it up. Ephesians 6 and verse 10 says, Stand therefore, verse 14, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, having shodged your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, above all taking the shield of faith with which you'll be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one, take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication and the Spirit being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. No matter what, if you were on the battle lines or you were shopping at the market, you had your belt and you had your sandals on.

Notice what Paul writes here. We don't fight and wrestle with physical enemies. We don't fight with flesh and blood. We are warring with principalities. We are warring with powers. We are warring with rulers of the darkness of this age. And as such, we are warring with the father of lies. That is who our battle is against. And so this eternal battle of good versus evil could also be expressed as a battle of truth versus lies.

You see it throughout Scripture. God tells Adam and Eve, you eat of the fruit of the tree, you shall surely die. What does Satan say? Really? You shall not surely die.

We see him tell Jesus Christ, if you're the Son of God, command these stones become bread. And Christ comes back and says, no, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Truth versus lies. That's the battle. The truth that's translated in John 14 is truth is the Greek word aletheia. It's G225. It's aletheia. And it means truth, but it can also be used to describe something a little bit differently and more of a specific aspect of truth.

Aletheia is the antonym to the Greek word lethe. It's an antonym to the Greek word lethe. In Greek, if you put an A in front of the word, it becomes the knot, this. Lethae means to conceal. Lethae means to obscure. Lethae means to kind of cover up and hide something. So aletheia means to disclose that which is hidden. It means to reveal that which has been concealed. Some of you might be familiar with Julian Assange. Have you ever heard of that guy?

He was the guy that operated WikiLeaks. And as a result of a bunch of information that he got from a U.S. Army intelligence officer, he published it on the Internet. Open source, all the emails, all the information, everything on the servers that he was given, he just published it on the Internet. And then went into hiding, and he's in the process of being extradited at this point for his crimes. But it caused quite the firestorm in the media, it caused quite the firestorm in the U.S.

government. And one of the reasons for that firestorm was that those documents that were leaked put some very powerful people in some very powerful organizations in a really bad light because of what was said in those documents and those emails, which they thought were hidden. They were no longer hidden. They had been revealed. They had been unconcealed. If we were Greek, we would say they had been elethea. They had been revealed, and the concealment had been removed. It was fully disclosed now, it was transparent. And it was truth because it could be objectively demonstrated to be true, regardless of what the appearance might have been.

That's the meaning of this word as its core. When Jesus says, I am the truth, he is saying, I am that which unconceals that which is hidden. And that is truth. That's the meaning at its core. What that means is that our words and our actions and our heart has to match the commitment that we have made to Jesus Christ.

And when that seventh trumpet sounds, when Jesus Christ returns, that which is concealed will be revealed. That which is hidden will be revealed. The Son of God will return. Truth will return to this earth. And gone will be the time when you can't objectively determine what is true and what is not. There will be no question, because that which is true is what he will communicate and what he will say.

When that happens, this world will all be under the same objective standard for truth, all the deceptions, all the half-truths, all the lies, all the agendas will be no more, and the era of truth will begin. No longer post-truth. The era of truth will begin. The last thing that Jesus Christ said that he was was the life. Not only was he with the way, he was also the truth, he was also the life.

And if you look at the world around us today, the world in which we live has been subjugated to death. It has been subjugated to death. From the very beginning of human history, mankind has been subject to death as a result of sin. And we know, based on God's plan, this subjugation is temporary, and it will be done away as part of God's plan. But the Feast of Trumpets and the symbolism of this day begins the process of this unraveling.

It begins the process of removing this subjugation from mankind. Let's go to 1 Thessalonians 4. 1 Thessalonians 4. How does that occur? How does it begin to unravel? Well, it begins with a small group of people known as the First Fruits. And then ultimately that is extended out to the rest of mankind that are willing to undergo the same covenant with God. 1 Thessalonians 4. The only Apostle Paul writes to the Church in Thessalonica, writes to them words of healing, words of comfort, in talking of the death and sorrow that we experience in this life.

Death is hard. Death is incredibly difficult. It's hard to deal with because it's really difficult to lose the people that we love. And so Paul didn't want people in Thessalonica to have this erroneous understanding of what occurs after death. He didn't want the truth to be concealed. He wanted them to understand what was true and what was really going to take place. 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 13. 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 13. Paul writes, 2 But I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. And that doesn't mean we don't sorrow in the circumstances of loss. Of course we do. But we don't sorrow as those in the world that don't have any hope and don't understand what is coming. We don't sorrow in the same way. We have a different understanding. We have a different way of looking at what is coming. 1 If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. 2 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means proceed those who are asleep. 3 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Those who have lived this life, who have finished their race, those who are asleep and are awaiting the resurrection, they will be resurrected at the sound of the trumpet and the descending of Jesus Christ. Then, verse 17, we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Paul says, Therefore comfort one another with these words. Use these words in comfort to one another in these times of loss. We know that at that time the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our God. We know that the dead in Christ rise. Those that are His that is coming will be transformed into spirit beings. So on the Feast of Trumpets, death's stranglehold on mankind begins to slip. It's the beginning of that process before eventually the events of the eighth day when it is zoomed out to the whole of mankind, and it is removed completely with the coming of the New Jerusalem and the kingdom of God. John 14, Jesus Christ said, He was the life. And when we consider that concept, there's a whole lot more to life than just surviving, than just existing, than just actually functionally being in the status of alive. There's a lot more to life than just that. When you look out on the world today, you see a population that is largely in survival mode. On the whole, they're going through the motions. They're eking out a living. They're spending their lives consuming, whether materially or media. They're dealing with the challenges and the trials that life throws at them. There was a study by the University of Chicago just this last year drawing off and comparing with data from a survey that's been going on since 1972, that found that only 14% of American adults right now identify themselves as very happy. 14%. And that is down from 31% in 2018. That is the lowest that it has ever been since 1972. Prior to that, the lowest it's ever been is 29%. It is a full half lower than where it has been in the last little bit. In the past few years. John 10, verse 10. John 10 and verse 10.

What kind of life did Jesus Christ desire for his people? What kind of life did Jesus Christ come to provide? John 10, verse 10. It says, the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. Jesus says, I have come that they may have life, that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. We know this is certainly a fulfillment of the eternal life that Jesus Christ provides, but in part as well, he is saying, he is bringing a life according to his way that works, that works. Jesus Christ came not just so that we can live, not just so that we can overcome the wages of sin on this earth. Jesus Christ came so that we can have a more abundant life, that we can have a life with meaning, with purpose, a life that allows us to be part of something bigger than ourselves. He has come to give us a life that has an inheritance, as a part of the God family.

He came so that we could have a life that works, a life which is abundant. I was driving through downtown yesterday, passing, I guess it was Capitol Street, or Summer Street, Whichever Street, who knows, whichever street it was, that goes towards the state capitol, on the backside past all the state buildings. And I saw a sign that I had to do a double take on real quick, because the sign, just in really big letters, said, Brown for Green. I thought, is this some political ad? What is this exactly? So I got to the next one, and I had a chance to very quickly read it.

And the gist of the sign was, the state of Oregon was letting the public know that the grass at the state capitol buildings was brown on purpose. It is brown for green, because we're saving water in order to allow, you know, for the ecosystem, we're saving water, and the grass is brown on purpose. They wanted to let us know that they weren't neglecting the maintenance of the lawn. It was to conserve water in a dry year, brown for green.

You know, those lawns around the state capitol buildings, they didn't look very abundant at all. They didn't look like they were thriving. One bit. They were, I mean, they were there. They were alive. They were, you know, still in existence, because we know as soon as it rains, they're sprout right back up, it's going to be green, everything's going to be fine.

But right now, those lawns are struggling mightily as a result of the lack of water that they were not getting. And that is much like the vast majority of humanity is struggling right now. They don't know why they're struggling, necessarily. They just see the events that are going on in the world around them, and externally, life just isn't working.

They can't seem to get ahead. They can't seem to find happiness or satisfaction. So they turn to the things that they think will make them happy. More frequently than not, those things actually make things worse in the long run, because they're looking in the wrong place for meaning and purpose. Turn over to Jeremiah 17.

Jeremiah 17. Pardon me. Jeremiah 17. And we will pick it up in verse 7. Jeremiah 17 and verse 7. Jeremiah 17, 7, says, Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be what? He shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river. And it will not fear when heat comes, but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the ear of drought, nor will it cease from yielding fruit.

Jeremiah writes here that the man who trusts in the Lord, the man who puts his hope in him, who looks to him for his purpose and his meaning and his fulfillment in those promises of God, that individual will be like a tree that is planted by the waters. A tree whose root is right down in the soil next to the river, continually drinking of that water as that water flows by and passes by.

Why is that tree still alive? Because it is in the presence of that water continually. It is in the presence of that water continually. That water dries up. That tree dies. But in this circumstance, the analogy that is being given, as we've seen Christ identify himself as the giver of these fountains of living water, those that are in the presence of that water have no fears, no worries, no concerns.

It doesn't matter if a drought comes. It doesn't matter if there's heat. They are going to continually be green. They are going to continually yield fruit. I want you to note something about this example. The drought still came. The heat still came. But because of the presence of that tree next to that source of water, its leaf was always green and its branches always yielded fruit. There is more to life than simply surviving. There is more to life than simply surviving. And that is the life that Jesus Christ came to show. It's an abundant and a fulfilling life. It is a life that is centered in His promises.

It's a life which weathers the storms because of its proximity to the presence of that water. On the Feast of Trumpets, that life-giving water that is in Jesus Christ will return to this earth. The majority of humanity will begin to have the opportunity to start drinking deep of its refreshment. That is the next step in the plan of God. And for the past 2,000 years, brethren, mankind has been in a holding pattern in some ways with regards to this plan as we awaited the time in which the Father said, Now is the time for your return.

And we recognize, and I don't want to walk on anybody's messages today if they're going to go there in the afternoon, but we recognize the time between now and then is going to get really tough. It is going to get really dry, and it is going to get really hot. And if we are going to live through that process with our leaf green and fruit being bore, we have to be in the presence of the one who is going to come again. The gospel message has to go out. It has to go out in spite of conditions, in spite of the way the world is, in spite of the challenges, the drought and the heat, the gospel has to go out.

There will be more firstfruits added, we see, from Scripture. There will be some who come to the understanding of God in the tribulation, that as a result of that time, they will be there. But, brethren, the events that this day represents illustrate a time in history where the way, the truth and the life will return to a world in such desperate need of all three. And may God speed that day.