Thank you, Nicole and Joel, and I want to say
to you this morning that if you find yourself
identifying with some of the testimonies you've
heard or in the skit, that there's hope for you.
You do not have to live under the control of
substance or habits or patterns in your life
that are months or years or decades old. There
is power in Jesus Christ to free you from that.
you can be freed from it, you can. And even though
right now you may hear in your ear the voice
of the enemy, the devil, and he's saying to you,
no you can't, that's for other people, it doesn't
apply to you, you've done too much. That is a
lie, that is a lie. Jesus Christ is able to free
you this morning. And we would invite you to
come to him today. We would also invite you to
be a part of a ministry that we have here at
the church called Celebrate Recovery that meets
every Friday night to help people like you. There's
information about that in our worship folder
today. You can also call the church and we'll
be glad to answer questions about it. But we
would love to have you come as a guest and just
check it out and find out for yourself what the
truth is. Well, speaking of the truth, that brings
us to the topic. that we begin today. A new subset
of this series on the defense of our faith that
we call apologetics. Today the title I'm giving
to the series that we'll be entering now through
the end of the summary is Truth or Consequences.
Truth or Consequences. The title itself implies
that truth exists. And it suggests that if that
truth is not followed, then there are consequences.
Now to be honest with you, that is a revolutionary
idea in our world today. People do not like to
accept the notion I've just given you, that truth
exists, and that if you don't follow the truth,
there are consequences for it. That is out of
sync with our pluralistic, tolerant society.
That's why it is so important for you and me
to understand the truth about truth. I invite
you to open your Bible with me to John chapter
18. Jesus is standing here before Pilate at his
trial. Jesus says to Pilate, verse 36, my kingdom
is not of this world. If it were, my servants
would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews.
But now my kingdom is from another place. Ah,
you are a king then, Pilate said. Jesus answered,
you are right in saying I am a king. In fact,
for this reason I was born and for this I came
into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone
on the side of truth listens to me. Notice what
Jesus said there. Everyone on the side of truth.
In other words, there is another side. There's
the side of truth and then there's another side.
Those on the other side do not listen to him.
But he says those on the side of truth listen
to me. And then he says, or rather Pilate says
to him in response to that, what is truth? That
sarcastic question, and it probably was sarcastic,
that question of Pilate is a question of the
ages. What is truth? That is an important question
especially in an age in which there is so much
confusion. like ours, confusion that comes out
of a lot of postmodern thought. What is truth?
Well, let me try to give you a positive answer
for that. Here's an attempt to define truth.
On the one hand, truth is what is certain, what
is unchangeable, what is dependable. That's truth.
In fact, those words relate to the Hebrew word
in the Old Testament that's often translated
truth or faithfulness. So truth could be defined
as what is dependable, what is unchangeable or
certain. Truth is that which is the same today
as it was yesterday in this definition. But truth
can also be defined as what is real, as opposed
to what seems to be, or what changes, or what
is false. Truth is what is real. How many of
you remember Sergeant Joe Friday from Dragnet?
What was his famous statement? Just the facts.
The facts, ma 'am, just the facts. Just the real
facts. Well, that helps us to come closer, I
think, to what truth is. Because truth is what
corresponds to the facts, to reality. I can say
this morning, I am in church. Is that true? Well,
it is the truth. The reality, the objective reality
is that I'm here in this place and I'm meeting
with you, so I am in church. It is the truth.
Last week we talked about Jesus' resurrection.
And we talked about the demonstrable objective
facts regarding his resurrection. We talked about
the empty grave. We talked about the changed
disciples. We talked about the frustrated enemies
because they could not produce his body and put
an end to this rumor that Jesus had risen from
the dead. We talked about all of those things
that are objective facts. And so we can conclude
from those facts the truth that Jesus actually
rose from the dead. That truth corresponds to
the facts. Now not everyone agrees these days
that truth is defined that way. There are some
people today who say that no one can know or
say what the truth is. They believe it's impossible
for a person to state categorically, this is
the truth, and they're very firm about that.
Now, their idea, I think, is a rather silly one.
It is silly for this reason, that if there is
no definitive truth, how can one state definitively
that no one can know what the truth is? You see,
it is a self -defeating kind of notion, and yet
it is very, very common to hear people talk like
that in our culture today. Others say that we
can know some truths, for example, that there's
a law of gravity, or that two plus two equals
four. We can know some truths, but we cannot
really know ultimate truth. That is, answers
the questions about God and about morality. We
can't really know, they say, those kinds of truths.
There are still others who would say that truth
is relative. They say whatever the truth is depends.
It depends on what is is. If you catch the drift
of that. It depends upon a variety of things,
they say, like the circumstances that are involved
or the times. And so they would say what's true
for you is fine, but it may not be true for me
or for somebody else because truth is relative.
And so if, for example, a man comes out of a
tribal group in Papua, New Guinea, And he says
the earth is flat. These people, the relativists
would say that's his truth. That's truth. That's
truth for him. The earth is flat. But what's
the problem with that? It doesn't correspond
to reality. The facts are different than that.
We know the fact. that the earth is a globe,
it's not flat. But a relativist would say, well,
that's okay, that it's a globe is your truth,
that it's flat is his truth. And you can see
very quickly what utter nonsense comes out of
that kind of thinking. Or we have someone, like
you and me, I would hope, who stands up and says,
Jesus is Lord. And then someone else from a different
culture stands up and says, Allah is Lord. The
common thinking in our culture today which comes
out of relativism is, well that Jesus is Lord
is your truth. That Allah is Lord is his truth.
And so the conclusion is, both are what? Both
are true Because you see that's him speaking
out of his culture out of his community out of
his language and Therefore out of respect for
him. That's his truth. That is a truth Just as
it is true to be able to say Jesus is Lord if
that's your community and your culture There's
only one problem with that. It doesn't correspond
with reality. There is only one Lord. Those two
ideas, Jesus is Lord, Allah is Lord, are mutually
exclusive. You cannot put those two together.
They do not fit together. You cannot say reasonably
that both statements are true. or the other has
to be true. But in our culture, we don't want
to offend. We want to be very tolerant. And so
in order to achieve that, we adopt the idea of
relativism, that there are many truths. And if
they contradict each other, oh, so what? What
bother to think about contradictions? We just
accept them. utter and complete nonsense. There's
a growing majority of people who approach all
of life with a basic assumption. And that assumption
is if truth exists, if truth exists, it cannot
be finally and universally known. If it exists,
who can know it? This is where Pilate was. Jesus
said, I came to bear witness of the truth. Pilate
threw up his hands and with sarcasm said, oh
come on, what is truth? And ladies and gentlemen,
that is where our world is today. Now the Christian
view is quite opposite. The Christian view is
that truth does exist and that because it exists,
it also can be known. What you believe about
truth makes a huge, huge difference in your life.
It makes a difference in how you live and I will
guarantee you it will make a difference where
you spend eternity. So on the one hand, we have
a culture around us that says if there is such
a thing as truth, and there's a big question
mark about that, if there is such a thing as
truth, no one can really know it. It cannot be
finally known, ultimately known. We're just kind
of lost in this maze of tolerance and confusion.
In contrast to that is the biblical Christian
who says, there is truth. And that truth can
be known and must be known. Now folks, in the
past, our culture was not like it is today. In
the past, there was a recognition of the concept
of universal truth. And by the way, if you're
worried about where is he on the outline here,
I haven't gotten to point one yet. And I'll tell
you another little secret, we're not gonna get
to point one today. We may get to point one,
that's as far as we're gonna get. Because I need
to lay a foundation this morning for this part
of the series about what is truth. But in the
past, our culture, has had the notion that there's
a universal truth. That's why we called places
like Stanford, Stanford what? University. Or
we called the state school system the University
of California. Why was it called a university?
Well, the word university comes out of the word
universe, and the word universe means all turned
into one. In other words, the idea in universe
as in university is that everything you see,
all, can come together. that there is a way to
put all of these pieces together to have a unified
view of reality in the world. And so we have
universities. People accepted when universities
began to be known as that, that there was a cohesive
truth that wove together the many parts of knowledge,
and so whether it was philosophy, or literature
or science or theology, they all got along together,
they all coexisted within an integrated framework,
an understanding that all fits into one. And
you know what the result of that was? Tremendous
cultural energy. A cultural energy that was based
on a biblical concept of universe, a cultural
energy that produced the most fantastic culture
this world has ever known, the Western culture,
which produced for you and for me the greatest
personal freedom, the highest standard of living.
and the most advanced in science and technology
in the history of the world. There is a reason
that third world nations are third world nations.
It is not economics. It is not their lack of
natural resources. It is not... whether they
possess military might or modern technology.
The reason that third world nations are third
world nations is because of their culture. And
in particular, their understanding of truth that
arises out of their deepest belief systems, i
.e. their religion. So what I'm saying to you
today is that the biblical framework, the biblical
worldview of Christianity, which has been at
the core of what we know as the Western civilization,
granted it was founded upon the Greek philosophers
and so forth, but from the fourth century on,
increasingly it became, the biblical worldview
became a part of the culture. that formed what
you and I know today. And it produced tremendous
advantage for those of us who lived under its
influence. But things are a -changin', and they're
changing so rapidly that it's breathtaking. Even
when I was in school, there was still a semblance
of this idea of universe. But now, in just a
few decades, our culture has moved away from
that to the idea of pluralism. If our schools
of higher learning were to be honest today, they
would change their names. And they would call
themselves something like Stanford Multiversity.
or the plural versity of California. Because
you see the faculties in these places no longer
accept the idea that there is this unifying,
cohering truth. It's pluralism today and relativism
and there are many truths. We've lost the idea
that there is a harmonious, excuse me, unifying
principle that brings everything together in
education and in culture for that matter. Why
is it today that there is not an emphasis upon
language and culture and borders which are needed
in order to protect our nation? It's because
of this whole change away from truth to pluralism.
For me to stand here today and to say to you
that our culture is the superior culture of the
world is blasphemy. It is blasphemy to those
who believe in pluralism because you can't say
that one culture is superior than another. You
can't do that. It's not nice to say that. Our
movement away from the concepts of universal
truth has resulted in the disintegration of our
culture. It has. Unless God intervenes, and God
can always do that, God may be gracious and merciful
to us, though we don't deserve it for sure. Unless
God intervenes, the Western culture, as you and
I have known it historically, is in its last
breaths. I read an article this last week regarding
the Islamization of Europe. That in a matter
of years, Europe, unless something changes, will
be Islamic. You see, as our culture has deteriorated,
the Islamic culture has become empowered. And
that is a huge threat to our future. Well, I've
enjoyed getting some of that off my chest this
morning, so now... Now let me get to my first
point. And the main thing I want you to get today
and next week, it's this. That truth exists.
I don't care what you hear on television, on
talk shows, in your classroom, on the campus.
You remember this because it is absolutely vital
to your personal well -being as well as to your
faith. that truth exists. And you can know what
truth is. I'm talking about this because every
one of us who follows Jesus Christ should be
able to defend that idea that there is truth.
Because that's where the battle is out there
in our culture. We should be able to defend the
idea that truth exists And you can know what
it is. And I will say this again, that Christianity
stands or falls upon that idea. And so do you.
Therefore, discovering the truth is your most
urgent quest in life. Because you see, the truth
is like a lighthouse set on a rocky shore where
there are the destroyed remains of past cultures.
The truth is on that shore warning us about what
will come. And if we do not take heed to this
lighthouse that there is truth and we can know
it, then we personally and our culture will end
up on the rocks destroyed. And so we come back
to the question of Pilate, what is truth? And
here's point number one for today. It is. Truth
is what God is. I .S. is. You see, truth is one
of the attributes or the qualities of God. In
Psalm 31 and verse five it says, into your hands
I commit my spirit. Immediately you notice this
is the verse that Jesus quoted on the cross.
The psalmist goes on to say, redeem me, oh Lord,
the God of truth. And so the inspired psalmist
calls God the God of truth. Now the word truth
here is that word I referred to earlier that
means firmness. You are the God of reliability.
You are the God of continuance. It carries with
it the idea of unchangeableness. That he is the
same yesterday, today, and forever. It means
that he is dependable, that he is faithful. There's
a similar phrase in Isaiah 65 and verse 16 where
he is called the God of truth. A different word
here though, similar meaning, but I point it
out because you have said this Hebrew word. It's
the word amen. God is amen. That's what it says.
And here the idea is God is so shall it be. God
is the God of truth and it shall be because God
is. In Psalm 86 and verse 15, but you, O Lord,
are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to
anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. And
that word faithfulness is our word truth. your
God of truth. And all of this makes even more
relative what Jesus says in, I should say relevant,
excuse me, what Jesus says in John 14 and verse
six when he says, I am the way, the what? The
truth and the life. So you see, Jesus in making
that statement is saying, I am the truth. Just
as God of the Old Testament is the truth, I am
that God, I am the truth. And no one comes to
the Father but through me. And so, God eternally
exists as truth. He is the ultimate objective
reality against which everything else is measured.
Now there are a lot of relative things. I could
say to you this morning, I'm very warm under
these lights. But you know what? We'll probably
get another note this morning saying, the auditorium
was cold again this morning. And you know we
have that every week. Some people find it comfortable,
some people find it warm, some people find it
cold. Why is that? Which is the truth? Well,
you see, we're measuring that not against some
objective standard, but against our own personal
body temperature, or whether we have a fever,
or whatever else may be going on with us. And
maybe we're just in that part of life where everything's
cold. You know? And so, it's truth for me. and
it's truth for you. But that's not the kind of
truth I'm talking about here with God. We're
talking about ultimate truth. Where God is the
ultimate standard and he is the measure of all
things. Now the Greek philosopher, Protagoras,
had a different idea. And it's his idea that
has now undermined the Western culture. when
he said man is the measure of all things. Have
you ever heard that? If you had philosophy 101
in college, you heard that idea. Man is the measure
of all things. Well, that brings us to humanism
where man himself is the measurement and to relativism
and all of the problems that we are facing in
our culture today. But our faith is different
than that. The Bible teaches that God is truth,
he is the measure of all things. And so when
I hear a little voice in my ear that says, you
are as worthless, you are as stupid, you are
as dumb as your father said you were. You have
a choice to make. Because you see, that statement
was a lie. It was a lie. Why it was said, I don't
know. I don't know the context of it. But I know
a lot of us heard that kind of a statement when
we were little. And that lie has repeated itself
over and over and over and over in our minds
until we think it's the what? The truth. But
you measure that against God. Friend, God doesn't
love junk. He loves you because He created you
in His image. God doesn't see you as dumb and
stupid and worthless and you just put your adjective
on there. God sees you as one that He desperately
loves. He sees you as one of such worth that
he sent his son into this world to die on a horrible
cross so that his own son would pay the price
for your sin and he could redeem you and rescue
you from your sin and from the lies that you've
lived in. God is truth. and whatever lies may
be going around in your mind, and there are so
many different kinds of lies, there are religious
lies, there are social lies, there are relationship
lies, whatever lies, well let me put it this
way, whatever you hear going around in your head,
whatever you're being taught, take it back to
the Bible, to the word of God. Measure it against
God because God is truth, and you will never
be led astray if you bring it back to who God
is. We've gotta close, let's pray. Father, I
thank you that you are God of truth, and this
morning as we have begun to explore that idea,
I pray that you will liberate us from the lies
that have in some cases consumed us and led us
into all kinds of behavioral and relational problems.
I pray that you will liberate us from the lie
of trusting ourselves and show us Lord that you're
the only one who's really faithful and dependable
and unchangeable and that we can always trust
you. And Lord, if there are some here today who
are just longing to be freed from lies and desiring
to know the truth, I pray that you by your spirit
right now will help them in their hearts to place
their faith in you and to rely on you as the
God of truth for their lives and for their soul's
eternity. In Jesus' name, amen.