"LOVE THE TRUTH"

" LOVE THE TRUTH" The Formula Love the truth. Hate the lie. Deny yourself. Carry your cross. 1. Love the truth. 2 Thessalonians 2:10–12 — "They refused to love the truth and so be saved... that they may believe what is false." John 8:32 — "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 14:6 — "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." The truth is not a proposition. The truth is a person. To love the truth is to love Jesus. 2. Hate the lie. Psalm 119:163 — "I hate and abhor falsehood, but I love your law." Proverbs 13:5 — "The righteous hates falsehood." Ephesians 4:25 — "Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor." The lie is not just untruth. The lie is the serpent's untruth. The lie is "God is not good." The lie is "You will not die." The lie is "You can be your own god." To hate the lie is to hate the serpent's word. 3. Deny yourself. Matthew 16:24 — "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." The Greek is aparneomai — to deny utterly, to renounce, to disown. It is the same word used for Peter's denial of Jesus. To deny yourself is to disown your self-will. It is to say to your will what Peter said to Jesus: "I do not know him." 4. Carry your cross. Luke 9:23 — "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." The cross is not suffering in general. The cross is the instrument of death. To carry your cross is to carry the thing that kills you. It is to walk toward your own execution. And the thing that must die is the self-will. The thing that must die is the autonomy. The thing that must die is the desire to be your own god. --- The Rich Man Matthew 19:16–22 "And behold, a man came up to him, saying, 'Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?'... Jesus said to him, 'If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.' When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions." The rich man saw the formula and said, "That is not for me." And he went away sorrowful. But the invitation is still open. And the cross is still the way. And the truth is still the person. And today is still the day. "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." — Matthew 16:24 Amen.