https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Hiding-Behind-the-Truth.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: II Corinthians 4:1-6<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. One basic principle of logic is that if you start with a false idea, you can prove anything<\/p>\n
A. False doctrine could be justified if you started with a false idea as evidence<\/p>\n
1. Premise: Presidents of the United States must be younger than 35<\/p>\n
2. Premise: Joe is President of the United States<\/p>\n
3. Conclusion: Joe must be younger than 35<\/p>\n 4. The logic is correct, but the conclusion is wrong because the premise is\nwrong\n B. On the other side of the coin, I could use false idea and just happen to prove a\ntruth.\n
1. Premise: Weathermen get their predictions wrong<\/p>\n
2. Premise: The weatherman says it is going to rain tomorrow<\/p>\n
3. Conclusion: It won’t rain tomorrow<\/p>\n 4. The falsehood is that weathermen are not always<\/i> wrong. If it doesn’t rain\ntomorrow, this doesn’t prove that weathermen are always wrong.\n 5. In fact, because of the false premise, you can’t conclude whether it will\nrain or not.\n C. Therefore, if you desire to prove the truth, you can’t use any means possible. The\nend does not justify the means used.\n
D. Truth must be used to persuade others of the truth – I Thessalonians 2:3-4<\/p>\n
II. Misusing the Truth<\/p>\n
A. Pulling a passage out of its context<\/p>\n
1. Using Jesus’ temptation as an example – Matthew 4:5-7<\/p>\n
a. Satan quoted the Bible and the Bible is the truth – John 17:17<\/p>\n b. But his use of the passage was in conflict with the greater context\nof the Bible, which Jesus showed by quoting Deuteronomy 6:16\n c. Satan’s use of the Scriptures contradicted what God said\nelsewhere, therefore Satan’s claim was false.\n
2. Paul was accused of not being an apostle<\/p>\n a. Premise: Apostles are supported by those they teach – I Corinthians\n9:9-11\n
b. Premise: Paul did not receive support from the local church<\/p>\n
c. Conclusion: Paul is not an apostle<\/p>\n
d. But the first premise is not a requirement – II Corinthians 11:5-13<\/p>\n
B. Citing only favorable evidence<\/p>\n 1. Those who advocate salvation by faith alone will cite numerous passages\nthat say you must believe to be saved.\n 2. What they avoid are all the passages that mention other things connected\nto salvation, such as Acts 2:38\n
3. Truth is in the whole, not the part – Psalms 119:160<\/p>\n 4. When someone uses only a portion of the Bible, it gives the impression of\ncredence when the reality is that the Truth is being mishandled\n
C. Counting on the laziness of the audience<\/p>\n 1. The Bereans were called noble-minded because they search the Bible to\ncheck that Paul’s claims were true – Acts 17:10-11\n 2. Some false teachers will make a series of assertions but only justify a\nportion of their claims\n a. The natural tendency is to assume that if part of the claims are true\nthen the rest of it must also be true\n
3. Example from the Sermon on the Mount – Matthew 5:43<\/p>\n a. I hear people say that the Old Testament teaches hate while the\nNew Testament teaches love\n
b. But the Old and New Testaments are from the same God<\/p>\n c. The Old Law did teach that you should love your neighbor –\nLeviticus 19:18\n d. But it did not teach people to hate their enemies. Actually, it taught\nthe opposite – Leviticus 19:17\n
e. Even foreigners were to be loved – Leviticus 19:34<\/p>\n
f. The treatment of enemies – Exodus 23:4-5 and Proverbs 25:21-22<\/p>\n
4. Similar is to give so much “proof” that your audience is overwhelmed<\/p>\n a. The Jehovah’s Witnesses material is loaded with Scripture\ncitations.\n
b. So much that few bother to look up the verses.<\/p>\n c. But if you did, you will often find that the verses cited have little or\nnothing to do with the arguments that they are presenting\n 5. Beware of preachers who cite passages without actually turning to them\nand reading them\n
a. It is far too easy to interject a falsehood<\/p>\n
III. Insufficient Evidence<\/p>\n
A. Only one witness<\/p>\n
1. Jesus never lied – John 8:13-14<\/p>\n
2. But arguing from insufficient evidence does not establish truth – John 5:31<\/p>\n 3. That is why there has always been a requirement for multiple witnesses –\nDeuteronomy 19:15; Matthew 18:16\n 4. Unfortunately if a statement is juicy enough to shock the hearer, people\nwill ignore this requirement. \n
5. It doesn’t matter how honest the witness, one witness is not enough<\/p>\n
B. Anecdotal evidence<\/p>\n 1. This is when arguments are made from personal experience and not from\nresearch\n a. Ad: “Susan in Grand Island, Michigan, says, ‘I took X and my life\nhas never been better!’”\n b. How do you get a hold of Susan to see if that is what she really\nsaid?\n c. How do you know that it was X that caused the change and not\nsomething else?\n 2. Believers in modern-day miracles rely on the same anecdotal evidence. “I\nwas feeling ill, so-and-so prayed over me, and I got better.”\n a. Was the improvement due to prayer by this person or something\nelse?\n
C. Third-hand evidence<\/p>\n 1. I once asked a man if he had proof that miracles were happening today. He\ntold me that a friend of his had seen a man drink a cup of coffee that he\nwas told had poison in it because the man’s wife was trying to get rid of\nhim, and he didn’t suffer any ill effects!\n
2. How can this story be verified?<\/p>\n
a. Did the man actually exist?<\/p>\n
b. Was the coffee actually poisoned?<\/p>\n 3. Another man told me he prayed for a man in India to be healed of\nblindness and his prayer was answered\n a. The problem is that the man did not know if the man in India was\nactually blind\n b. He doesn’t know the man, he was only told that the man was now\nhealed\n
4. Notice the many opportunities for fraud to be committed<\/p>\n
5. Compare this to the miracles recorded in the Bible<\/p>\n a. If a person involved wanted to commit fraud, how would it be\ndone?\n
b. There are too many independent people involved<\/p>\n c. Evidence that the miracle took place was verified by multiple\nsources – often by people who had no reason to expect or want a\nmiracle\n
d. Example: The healing of the paralytic – Mark 2:1-12<\/p>\n
(1) Large crowd<\/p>\n
(2) Hostile witnesses<\/p>\n
(3) Friends who knew the man<\/p>\n
(4) Extra evidence – Answering people’s thoughts<\/p>\n
D. How many so-called miracles today have sufficient verifiable evidence?<\/p>\n
IV. Throwing out the baby<\/p>\n
A. A bad argument doesn’t prove an idea to be true.<\/p>\n
1. However, a bad argument doesn’t imply that the idea is false<\/p>\n
2. A bad argument is just a bad argument<\/p>\n
3. Something could still be true despite a person’s bad argument<\/p>\n
B. Our natural tendency is to reject everything if a portion is wrong<\/p>\n 1. For example, if someone, who is involved in denominational beliefs,\nwrites a book on handling money\n
a. The person may quote Scriptures and misuse many of them<\/p>\n
b. Does this mean the person’s ideas are bad?<\/p>\n c. Not necessarily. It just means that they don’t know how to properly\nsupport their points\n d. And they may still have a few good points and arguments buried in\nthe bad\n 2. Because a person holds an incorrect view on one topic, we should not treat\nhim as if everything he says is false\n a. Example: I know a man who held a false position concerning\nGod’s covenants. He happened to run across evidence of fraud\nbeing perpetuate in the churches in another country. Almost no one\nwould look at the evidence he gathered because of his stand on an\nunrelated matter. As a result, the fraud continued for many years.\nHis false belief did not imply he was dishonest.\n
C. Strawman Arguments<\/p>\n 1. You see this often in politics. One politician will accuse his opponent of\ntaking a controversial stand. They then prove the stand is wrong (a truth).\nBut what is left out is any proof that their opponent actual holds the\ncontroversial stand.\n
2. This is how people fought against Christianity – Romans 3:3-8<\/p>\n a. Just because a person, who should have known better, is found to\nbe unfaithful; his unfaithfulness does not change the truth about the\nfaithfulness of God\n b. Paul had to deal with being accused of saying, “Let us do evil that\ngood may come.” (A strawman argument.) It was not a position\nthat Paul held.\n
3. The riot in Thessalonica – Acts 17:5-8<\/p>\n a. In the middle of the Jews’ accusations is the claim that the\nChristians were “all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar.”\n b. It was false (Romans 13:1), but most people forget that an\naccusation is not proof.\n
V. Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right<\/p>\n A. Because someone does me wrong, it is not justification to return evil – Romans\n12:19-21\n
B. Some use it to justify sin<\/p>\n 1. Because brother X smokes cigarettes, bother Y sees nothing wrong if he\ntakes a drink or two. Brother Z then feels justified to use drugs\nrecreationally because it is no worse than what brother Y is doing.\n
2. This is why sin spreads – I Corinthians 5:6<\/p>\n 3. The good or bad behavior of another person is not proof that a certain\naction is right or wrong.\n
C. It can even be over things that are not directly wrong in itself <\/p>\n 1. Someone might see a brother eating meat that came from an idol’s temple\nand come to the wrong conclusion that idolatry is not wrong – I\nCorinthians 8:1-12; 10:19-24\n 2. They might begin a practice that they are not fully convinced is right –\nRomans 14:19-23\n
VI. The End Doesn’t Justify the Means<\/p>\n A. Commonly people conclude that if we arrive at the truth, then the means used to\narrive at the truth must also be correct\n 1. It is good to follow Jesus. So the denominations decide to streamline\nconverting someone by telling them that they just need to pray a sinner’s\nprayer to Jesus to be saved.\n 2. If you ask for proof that praying a sinner’s prayer saves a person, you are\nasked how such a good thing can be wrong?\n B. Paul had people arguing that since God’s grace will cover any sin that I might\ncommit, then I should sin big-time so that God’s grace might be further\ndemonstrated – Romans 5:20-6:23\n
C. As Paul said, the claim is false – Romans 3:8<\/p>\n
VII. In each of our examples, truth was present but never wholly. <\/p>\n
A. We cannot allow ourselves to be distracted from thinking clearly.<\/p>\n
B. The wicked will use the truth as a cover – II Corinthians 11:13-15<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Corinthians 4:1-6 I. One basic principle of logic is that if you start with a false idea, you can prove anything A. False doctrine could be justified if you started with a false idea as evidence 1. Premise: Presidents of the United States must be younger than 35 2. Premise: Joe is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[478,1405,36,441],"class_list":["post-57749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-false-teachers","tag-logic","tag-reasoning","tag-truth"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33178,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/three-aspects-of-learning\/","url_meta":{"origin":57749,"position":0},"title":"Three Aspects of Learning","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Proverbs 24:3-6 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There are three aspects to learning, whether we talk about school work or Bible study \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Proverbs 2:6 - The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Proverbs 24:3-4 - Compared to a house \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Knowledge is the comprehension of facts. It fills our minds\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47536,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/truth-about-truth\/","url_meta":{"origin":57749,"position":1},"title":"Truth About Truth","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 22, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Seeking God","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62840,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/in-truth\/","url_meta":{"origin":57749,"position":2},"title":"In Truth","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 31, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: II John \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Truth is Jesus Christ - John 14:6 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The book of II John expands on this idea \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The book is written by the Apostle, and Elder, John \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0To whom it is addressed has been debated \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Some see \u201celect lady\u201d as a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37980,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/false-teachers-and-lying-prophets\/","url_meta":{"origin":57749,"position":3},"title":"False Teachers and Lying Prophets","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 31, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As long as God has had teachers and prophets in the world there have been those who taught falsely. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jeremiah complained about the false prophets - Jeremiah 5:30-31 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Paul had problems with teachers binding the Old Law - Acts 15:1-2 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Paul warned the Ephesian elders\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62808,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/would-god-deny-a-person-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":57749,"position":4},"title":"Would God Deny a Person Heaven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 17, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Warfel","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38793,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/three-roads-to-learning\/","url_meta":{"origin":57749,"position":5},"title":"Three Roads to Learning","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There are three roads to learning, whether we talk about school work or Bible study \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Prov. 2:6 - The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Prov. 24:3-4 - Compared to a house \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Knowledge is the comprehension of facts. It fills our minds with pleasant and useful\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57749\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}