“Threat #1: IGNORANCE (John 17:6-19)” | 1/10/2021
John 17:6-19 | 1/10/21 | Will DuVal
This morning I’m excited to launch a new sermon series with you entitled “Church Under Fire: The 7 Greatest Threats to the Church Today”. Given this past week, it seems especially timely now. But before we dive in to Threat #1 for this morning, I want to clarify just a few things about the series itself. 3 notes:
1) All the sermons in this series will be expositionally topical. I know many of you, like me, believe in the importance of expository preaching - preaching that is grounded in a text of Scripture; that’s what I plan to do every Sunday these next 7 weeks. I’ve pre-selected the topics that I think pose the greatest threats to the Church today, but as Ecclesiastes reminds us, “there is nothing new under the sun”, so every threat that WE face today was in some way facing God’s people in the Bible as well. So each week, we’ll unpack a passage, to find a principle, to apply to our modern-day predicament.
2) Second Note: about the heart behind this series; my motives for it. Someone could see a series title like “Church Under Fire” and think, “Well, that’s just click-bait”. That’s a marketing ploy to attract attention on Facebook: show people a graphic of a church lit on FIRE so they’ll stop scrolling and take a second look.
Let me just assure you: that’s why we titled it “Church UNDER fire”; not “church ON fire”. I specifically directed Thad in creating the graphic - you are NOT allowed to set any churches on fire. Because Jesus PROMISED us in Matthew 16:18 “ I will build my church, and the gates of hell[c] shall not prevail against it.” Unlike the U.S. Capitol building, Christ’s Church can NOT be overthrown. Amen!?
So you might wonder- “So why are you even PREACHING about these so-called “threats” then? If the church is indestructible…”
And my response is: While it’s true that the big “C” CHURCH is imperishable - there’s no such thing as an “existential threat”, that could threaten the very existence of “The Church” - HOWEVER: 2 things: 1) that is NOT a promise for West Hills Church, specifically. We could theoretically fall prey to any NUMBER of threats and West Hills could be non-existent a year from now, if we are not careful and vigilant. And 2) just because there are no existential threats to the Church, that doesn’t mean there aren’t still REAL threats. Jesus said the gates of Hell won’t PREVAIL against the church; that implies that Satan is attacking us! And even though we know how the WAR ends, Satan can still win some pretty major battles along the way.
There’s a reason the apostle Paul warns us to “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil… Stand firm… Keep alert” (Eph 6:11-18); why? Because 1 Peter 5:8 “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” So we must “Be sober-minded and watchful… Peter says Resist him, firm in your faith,” (vv7, 9). THAT’S the reason for this sermon series: to keep us alert and watchful, and to try and equip us as a church with the full armor of God needed to resist the enemy and stand firm in the faith.
3) Last Note, quickly, but most importantly: as I alluded to, we’re gonna touch on some pretty touch-y subjects these next 7 weeks. Thad and I were discussing last week and he said to me, “Listen, I know you’re not one to pull punches… but I’m just encouraging you to be extra pastorally sensitive with this series.” He’s a wise kid. ;-) He’s 8 years younger than me, so I can call him that. But I want to RE-assure you, again, that my genuine hope with EVERYTHING with ALL these topics is to encourage us to take a long, hard look in the mirror of God’s word and consider the ways in which we ALL, collectively, as a church, have weak spots in our armor that leave us vulnerable, and need to be pointed out, maybe even poked at a little, lest the ENEMY’s flaming darts find those spots,
But listen, if I ever poke a little too hard for you: please just come talk to me. Okay?
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ALL that said, let’s talk about Wednesday. In case you’ve been living under a rock this week, or you’re listening to this message years from now in our sermon archives, OR because as we’re going to address in the very TOPIC for today’s message - all too often these days, there are various, competing versions of the so-called “facts” of a story, I think it’s important to make sure we are ALL on the same page about what transpired this past week:
On Wednesday afternoon, as Congress gathered to certify President-elect Joe Biden's electoral win, a mob - inflamed by President Trump’s rhetoric and insistence, despite all credible evidence to the contrary, that he rightfully won the election and Biden stole it from him - that mob stormed and briefly took over the US Capitol.
Now, there are many storylines here, and lessons to be learned from this national embarrassment, but here is, I think, the most important of them all:
The Truth MATTERS.
Knowing the truth... really matters. The attack on the Capitol was ultimately the result of IGNORANCE. People not knowing, CHOOSING willfully not to know the truth, and choosing instead, to believe a lie.
Wednesday evening Polly’s grandmother dropped by to bring us dinner, and she was expressing her utter disbelief in what was unfolding. She said, “How does this happen, in the most educated society in the history of the world?” It was such a softball question, for someone who has been trying to witness to her for the past 8 years now; I said: “Because it turns out education ISN’T the great hope of the world!” Contrary to the humanist / progressivist narrative, we can’t just fix all the world’s problems with a little more school. We need WAAAY more help than that, friends! Cuz our world, and our HEARTS, are WAAAY more broken than that. We need a Savior.
But the great IRONY is that you and I really are living in probably the most well-educated society and time in all of human history; we have virtually instantaneous access to more information at our fingertips, at the touch of a button, than the world has ever DREAMED of. And yet, collectively, we may know LESS of the truth than any people have ever. We have no shortage of information; we just can’t tell the facts from the fiction any more. And that’s because we have entitled ourselves, as a society, to believe whatever we want, to CALL it “truth”, and then not only go unchallenged, but depending on the subject matter, it may even be a HATE crime for someone else to question “your truth”. What we are seeing in the world today is the inevitable result of postmodernism come FULL bloom. It may have started with the ridiculously illogical but seemingly benign notion that “Truth is relative; my truth is my truth, your truth is your truth.” But postmodernism has NOW become post-truth-ism; the truth is no longer relative, it’s non-existent. I mean, how did someone who LIES as much as Donald Trump ever get elected president in the age of fact-checking? How does someone who lies as much as Joe Biden get elected? It’s because truth has become merely pragmatic: if you can use it to your advantage, to get what you want - great; but if the truth’s not in your favor, just make up a DIFFERENT truth… one that you like better, and then re-cast the OTHER truth as “fake news”. If even Fox News won’t give you the “truth” that you want anymore, just tune in to One America News instead.
But here’s the thing: this isn’t just a “crazy alt-right conservative” issue. Who can blame the angry mob when they’ve been told for so long that they are entitled to their own truth? Let’s cross the aisle now: If you can be a man but call yourself a woman, and not only that, but expect ME to call you one too, then why shouldn’t the mob expect you to accept Trump’s re-election too? This is not a “conservative” or a “liberal” issue; it’s a TRUTH issue. BOTH parties have discovered that they can exploit the alleged relativism of truth for their own political advantage.
You know, Jesus had a really fascinating conversation with Pontius Pilate, the world’s first postmodernist, right before he was crucified; and it went like this -
Pilate asked him: “Are you a king?” Pilate wanted to know if this guy, Jesus, was a threat to his power.
Jesus replied: “for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth.”
And Pilate, confused about what the TRUTH has to do with anything - we’re talking about POWER here - replied in typical postmodern fashion: “What IS truth?”
That’s the million dollar question in 21st c America, too, isn’t it: “What IS truth?” Do we even know anymore?
Well friends, I’ve got some good news for you this morning: we DO know what truth is. And I hope you’re holding a copy of it right there in your hands, because we’re about to read from it together. God’s word IS truth. And if you don’t have a copy, we believe at West Hills that truth matters SO much that we’ve got extra copies at the Info Bar that we’d love to give you for free!
But let me just give you your one sentence summary for today, just in case I’ve already offended someone SO much that you’re not planning on listening to another word I have to say; please at least hear this: It may paradoxically be more difficult than ever, but you can KNOW the Truth today with absolute CERTAINTY, if you will allow yourself to be more indoctrinated by the WORD, than by the WORLD.
The word “Indoctrination” has developed a negative connotation in our postmodern world. But it literally just means “to instruct in a worldview”; everyone has a worldview. A way of making sense of the world. We’ve discussed a few of them already this morning: postmodernism, secular humanism, crazy conspiracy-theorist conservatism; Leftist critical theorist Marxism: there are any number of philosophies out there about how the world works. And make no mistake: you ARE being indoctrinated into one or more of them, whether you realize it or not. Let me be a fly on your wall for 24 hours and I can probably tell you which worldview is most shaping you. Where do you spend your time? If you spend 15 minutes in the morning in God’s word, and then have Fox News on for 12 hours in the background while you go about the rest of your day, don’t be surprised if your life looks more like Sean Hannity’s than Jesus of Nazareth; because Sean Hannity is doing most of your discipling.
And my plea to you this morning, friends, is: Be indoctrinated by the WORD, not the WORLD.
That’s all the sermon before the sermon. :) Would you stand… John 17:6-19 (These are Jesus’ final words to his disciples during the Last Supper, before they headed out of the Upper Room, into the night that would seal his fate on the cross)
“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.[a] 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them[b] in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself,[c] that they also may be sanctified[d] in truth.
This is the word of the Lord… Let’s pray…
Now let me just say this, 20 min. into a 40 min. sermon: John 17 recalls the single most important, profound prayer that has ever been uttered; many consider this to be one of the most significant passages in all of SCRIPTURE. So I’m not attempting anything CLOSE to a comprehensive exposition here. All I want to give you this morning is Jesus’ 4-fold ANTIDOTE to the threat of ignorance amongst his followers: How do we make sure that we don’t fall prey to that trap? Ya know, it turns about that Polly’s grandmother was RIGHT, about at least one thing: we really DO need more education. If we’re going to be people of the TRUTH, we need to know some things. But as we’ll see, it’s not just WHAT we need to know, it’s WHO we need to know as well. And our English word “know” probably only further obscures the truth. Because knowing the truth is as much a matter of the HEART as it is the HEAD. That said...
#1- We need to Know God’s SON. (vv6, 8, 19)
This passage appropriately begins in v6, and ENDS in v19 with Jesus. Who is himself the Way, the TRUTH, and the Life, John 14:6 The Jesus who says, “NO ONE comes to the Father but through me.” Postmodernism says: “All religions, all worldviews are really just different PATHS leading up the same mountain”; Jesus says: “If you’re not on MY path, friend: you’re on the wrong MOUNTAIN!” There’s only ONE mountain with GOD at its peak, and only ONE PATH UP that mountain… and you’re LOOKING at him. I am the Way; not “a” way; THE way.” And that’s exactly the kind of exclusive claim to truth that the world hates - we’ll get to that in v14.
But friends: knowing the Truth always starts with knowing Jesus:
*He says in v6: “I have manifested your name [Father]…” → It recalls how the author, the apostle John, opened His gospel: “the Word - the Logos, the CHRIST - became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son[d] from the Father, full of grace and [WHAT??] truth… grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; [but] the only God,[f] who is at the Father's side,[g] he has made him known.” (Jn 1:14-18) God is Truth. Not just truth-FUL; God is “capital T” Truth - He is himself the very Source and Bedrock of ALL Truth. And Colossians 1:19 tells us that “in [JESUS] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell”. That means that Jesus was the perfect human fulfillment, the total embodiment of Truth.
-You remember what Jesus said just AFTER he made that radical exclusive claim to be the Truth, the only way to God the Father? He told his disciples, “If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.[d] From now on you do know him and have seen him… Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” (vv7-9) Jesus said: “I AM GOD! Right here, standing in front of you. God in the flesh!” Capital T “Truth”, embodied. Back to ch.17:
*v8: Jesus acknowledges TO God the Father, that his disciples “have come to know... IN truth that I came from you… they have believed that you sent me”. Why’s that important? ETERNALLY important? Go back to John 1 again: “to all who did receive Jesus, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (v12) That’s gonna be point #2 in just a moment - you must know JESUS, in order to know God’s ADOPTION as His child.
-We all love John 3:16, and we SHOULD! It gives us in a nutshell, the good news of God’s invitation of salvation for sinners through His son Jesus. But if you read ON just two verses later, Jesus warns us about the fate of those who REJECT that invitation: “Whoever believes in him [in God’s only begotten Son… in ME, JESUS…] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” →
Let me sum that up for you: KNOW Jesus, know salvation; But... NO Jesus, NO salvation. It’s that simple. (If you’re listening to this audio only on our podcast, and you’re confused - that was “Know” spelled “K-N-O-W”... to know Jesus is to know salvation; followed by “N-O” Jesus, “NO” salvation… it kinda loses the effect when I have to spell it, doesn’t it? :)
*But Jesus ends in this portion of his prayer in v19: “And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.” → To “consecrate” is a fancy religious word that means “to set apart for a holy purpose.” Jesus is alluding to his impending crucifixion, and subsequent GIFT of His own, Holy Spirit, on His followers; you and I are sanctified, we grow up in godliness - think of last week’s sermon on discipleship - we are SANCTIFIED in two ways: by God’s WORD (spoiler, that’s v17 and point #4 below), and by His SPIRIT. And when Jesus consecrated himself on the cross, he was setting his very Spirit aside for the holy purpose of filling US with it, so that we might be sanctified in the truth. Friends: that is MASSIVE! What’s the Holy Spirit all about? I’m good with the Father and the Son, but there’s this cloud of mystery around the Holy Spirit… the Spirit is the person within the Godhead specifically assigned to TOUCH your heart at the moment of salvation, in order to AFFECT, to bring about your conversion, and then to KEEP touching your heart every moment thereafter to keep sanctifying you, further and further, in God’s truth until He finally brings you home. THAT is the Holy Spirit! Praise God!
To summarize point #1, Jesus said back in v3, the opening of this same prayer: “this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Eternal life doesn’t start when you die, Christian; it started the day the Holy Spirit opened your heart to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. And we can experience His abundant life a little more every day, as we are further sanctified in His truth.
#2 - To the extent that we know God’s Son, we can now Know God’s ADOPTION. (vv6, 10)
*Jesus says in v6 - v6, by the way, is sort of the SUMMARY verse, the abstract, for the entire passage; you get all 4 antidotes to ignorance here in v6 - but Jesus says: “Yours they were, and you gave them to me…” → It’s John 1:12 again: to those who believed in the Son, the Father “gave the right to become children of God”. But notice Jesus uses the PAST tense here: “Yours they WERE”. Why? Because as Ephesians 1 explains: “[God] chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world.... In love he predestined us[b] for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ” (vv4-5). God chose us - before we were even a twinkle in our fathers’ eyes, heck, before the WORLD was even a twinkle in GOD’S eye - He predestined us, all who are now in Christ, he chose for adoption, through Christ.
*Jesus reiterates in v10: “All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.” Ohhh, we could spend all day on any one of these points! But let’s keep moving.
#3 - To the extent that we have come to KNOW Jesus… and therefore been adopted INTO God’s own heavenly family as His children… we therefore gain the unbelievable, undeserved PRIVILEGE of coming to... Know God’s BENEFITS. (vv6, 9, 11-16, 18)
Romans 8:17 says, “if we are children of God, then [we are] heirs —heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” → We have now been written into God’s eternal will! And our God is a generous Father; just listen to the benefits, just a FEW of the PERKS - this isn’t even a comprehensive LIST! - of being a member of the family of God; I count SEVEN:
v6: most importantly: Salvation; Jesus says God didn’t just “choose” us; He chose us “out of the world”. We usually refer to Christ’s saving us from SIN. And that’s true, He did, praise God. But we’ve got more ENEMIES than that! In Christianity, we sometimes differentiate between our 3 big enemies: the flesh (that’s “sin”), but then there’s ALSO: the world, and the devil. And that differentiation may be helpful for us as we work through these next 7 weeks. We’re under fire, facing threats from THREE enemies! Take ignorance for today: the flesh is so problematic because NO ONE spends more time with you than YOU do, and no one LIES to you more than YOU do, to yourself. “I got this on my own… I don’t need God…” OR “I’m such a screw-up, NO ONE could ever love ME…” We tell ourselves all SORTS of lies, all day long. But then the problem of the FLESH is exacerbated by the threat of the postmodern WORLD. That tells us we are ENTITLED to our version of the truth. Don’t call that, “SIN”; you don’t need to CHANGE; you need to ACCEPT yourself, trust your feelings. And ALL of that is stoked and fueled by Satan, the father of lies. We need saving from the flesh, the world AND the devil. And praise God, Jesus HAS saved us from all 3. Here, he simply says: “We’ve been saved OUT OF the world.”
#2- v9: Intercession → from Jesus; he says: “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.” And as if it wasn’t good enough that Jesus prayed for and interceded for all who would come to Him in faith while he was here on EARTH, just listen to what Hebrews 7:25 says of Jesus: “he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” You know where Jesus is right now? He is seated at the right hand of God the Father… WHY? So He can intercede with God the Father, for YOU. Satan, “the accuser”, that’s what His name means, where is HE right now? Contrary to popular belief, he’s not in HELL. Read John 12, John 14, John 16 - Satan is the ruler of THIS world. Remember 1 Peter 5 - he’s prowling around HERE, like a lion, seeking someone to devour. And you know what He does when he FINDS someone? Read Job 1, Revelation 12: When the accuser finds a believer caught in sin, he runs STRAIGHT back to the outer gates of heaven, from whence he has fallen, and he yells in to God: “Ah ha! Did you see Will? You see ____ ? See _____ ? Did you see what he just did? Hear what she just said? God: your justice DEMANDS that you deal with him! And until Satan is finally cast into the Lake of Fire, Jesus is just constantly, Hebrews 7 says he’s “ALWAYS living to make INTERCESSION for us”. I imagine Jesus just sort of peacefully, confidently, JOYFULLY, triumphantly looking down, all day long, and saying “Yep - my blood covers THAT… my blood covers THAT… my blood covers OOOH, even THAT… MAN my blood is powerful!” And Jesus DOES have the power...
#3- to PROTECT us [Protection];Vv11-12: part of his intercession FOR us is that He prays to the Father: God, “keep them in your name… I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost”; we sometimes call this the “perseverance of the saints” - a true believer CANNOT lose her salvation. Because Jesus protects our faith, he keeps those he calls, Romans 8:30 “those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” If you’re truly a child of God, you’ve already been glorified, past tense. “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6 - Period. There’s no uncertainty about it. Jesus promises in John 10:28 “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
But He goes ON to explain here in John 17, that one of his absolutely essential protecting, keeping means of grace in our lives is:
#4- Community; vv11-12: He prays “that [we] may be one, even as [you, Father, and I] are one.” How do you protect yourself from the threat of ignorance? Attack from the flesh, the world, the devil’s fiery darts? Maybe you’ve heard the analogy before of the water buffalo. Just two water buffalo can usually protect themselves from a whole herd of attacking lions, seeking to devour them. They just stand butt-to-butt, horns out. Three or four water buffalo? The lions stand no chance - there are horns in EVERY direction. THAT’S why you need community. Ecclesiastes 4:12 - “though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
Benefit #5- How about JOY!? Jesus prays in v13: “that [we] may have [his] joy fulfilled in [ourselves].” Remember John 10:10 He said: “ I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Know Jesus, Know Joy; Without Jesus, there is no true, lasting Joy
#6 - Holiness; He explains in v14: “the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”... then again in v16: “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” → You say, “Wait a minute, it’s a BENEFIT to be HATED?!” According to Jesus, yes, when it’s for your holiness. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 5:10)
See, God calls us to be “IN the world but not OF the world” → we’re not called to ESCAPE the world, in fact, Jesus specifically PRAYS, in v15: “I do not ask that you take them out of the world”; why not? SEVENTH benefit: Because God has left us here on earth for a PURPOSE! The Great Commission! To make disciples of all nations! Commentator Kent Hughes (406) points out: “It is interesting to note that though Moses, Elijah, and Jonah all asked to be taken OUT OF the world, not one of their requests was granted (Num 11:15; 1 Kgs 19:4; Jonah 4:3, 8).” Hughes says: “We need to ask ourselves honestly if we have functionally removed ourselves from the world. [Are we living in a “Christian bubble”]... a hermetically sealed container decorated with Jesus fish stickers”?
No, Jesus calls us to be IN the world but not OF it, that we might be light in the midst of the darkness. Salt that God wants to use to help stem the decay of the surrounding culture. And for those of you who were convinced that Donald Trump was America’s last hope… AND for those of you convinced that Joe Biden is finally gonna get us back on track… I’ve got some BAD news for both of you: the culture is only gonna get worse. There is no REVERSING the decay; salt can only slow it down. Until God’s wrath against sin is finally filled up, Romans 2:5.
But all the more reason, brothers and sisters, that our ignorant world needs God’s truth - the truth of God’s SON, the truth of his offer of ADOPTION to all who would receive Jesus, the truth about ALL his gracious BENEFITS we can now enjoy as children of God - but here’s the thing: you don’t get ANY of it, without Truth #4. Truth #4 is the ultimate antidote to the ignorance and chaos swirling all around us in the world. And THAT is…
#4 - We must KNOW God’s WORD. (vv6-8; 14, 17)
Jesus says in v6: “They have kept your word”
vv7-8: “Everything is from you… the words you gave me”
v14: “I have given them your word”
And most important of all: v17: “Sanctify them[b] in the truth; your word is truth.”
Game. Set. Match. You want to know truth? Know God’s WORD. Be SANCTIFIED - be matured, “grow up in EVERY way, Ephesians 4:15, into Christ” - the only way you can come to KNOW Christ, KNOW adoption through Him, KNOW all the benefits of being found “in Christ”, is by KNOWING God’s WORD, the holy Scriptures. Gran was right: our problem really IS a lack of education. It’s a lack of being educated in, indoctrinated in, God’s WORD. Until this book becomes our worldview, the lens through which we view all of reality, the air we breathe, the water we swim in; I’m not talking 5 minute daily devotionals; we’ve got to get fully IMMERSED in God’s Word. Until we do, we’ll KEEP falling for the lies, unable to tell fact from fiction. We’ll continue to be “children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” God’s word is the ONLY sure and steady ANCHOR that keeps us MOORED to the truth, amidst the swirling seas of this post-truth world we’re living in.
So MY prayer for us, West Hills, in 2021 and every day of EVERY year, is the same prayer Jesus prays for his disciples here in John 17: that God would “Sanctify you[b] in the truth; because HIS word really IS truth. ” Amen? Let’s pray.