WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.220 Thank you, Nicole and Joel, and I want to say 00:00:02.220 --> 00:00:04.799 to you this morning that if you find yourself 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:07.519 identifying with some of the testimonies you've 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:10.460 heard or in the skit, that there's hope for you. 00:00:11.300 --> 00:00:16.000 You do not have to live under the control of 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:20.019 substance or habits or patterns in your life 00:00:20.019 --> 00:00:25.500 that are months or years or decades old. There 00:00:25.500 --> 00:00:28.379 is power in Jesus Christ to free you from that. 00:00:30.030 --> 00:00:34.170 you can be freed from it, you can. And even though 00:00:34.170 --> 00:00:37.969 right now you may hear in your ear the voice 00:00:37.969 --> 00:00:41.229 of the enemy, the devil, and he's saying to you, 00:00:41.310 --> 00:00:43.289 no you can't, that's for other people, it doesn't 00:00:43.289 --> 00:00:46.189 apply to you, you've done too much. That is a 00:00:46.189 --> 00:00:50.070 lie, that is a lie. Jesus Christ is able to free 00:00:50.070 --> 00:00:53.929 you this morning. And we would invite you to 00:00:53.929 --> 00:00:57.329 come to him today. We would also invite you to 00:00:57.329 --> 00:00:59.469 be a part of a ministry that we have here at 00:00:59.469 --> 00:01:02.689 the church called Celebrate Recovery that meets 00:01:02.689 --> 00:01:07.209 every Friday night to help people like you. There's 00:01:07.209 --> 00:01:09.209 information about that in our worship folder 00:01:09.209 --> 00:01:11.329 today. You can also call the church and we'll 00:01:11.329 --> 00:01:13.769 be glad to answer questions about it. But we 00:01:13.769 --> 00:01:15.829 would love to have you come as a guest and just 00:01:15.829 --> 00:01:18.609 check it out and find out for yourself what the 00:01:18.609 --> 00:01:23.409 truth is. Well, speaking of the truth, that brings 00:01:23.409 --> 00:01:28.989 us to the topic. that we begin today. A new subset 00:01:28.989 --> 00:01:32.030 of this series on the defense of our faith that 00:01:32.030 --> 00:01:39.969 we call apologetics. Today the title I'm giving 00:01:39.969 --> 00:01:42.790 to the series that we'll be entering now through 00:01:42.790 --> 00:01:46.510 the end of the summary is Truth or Consequences. 00:01:47.469 --> 00:01:52.170 Truth or Consequences. The title itself implies 00:01:52.170 --> 00:01:58.189 that truth exists. And it suggests that if that 00:01:58.189 --> 00:02:02.030 truth is not followed, then there are consequences. 00:02:03.230 --> 00:02:05.730 Now to be honest with you, that is a revolutionary 00:02:05.730 --> 00:02:10.729 idea in our world today. People do not like to 00:02:10.729 --> 00:02:13.610 accept the notion I've just given you, that truth 00:02:13.610 --> 00:02:17.210 exists, and that if you don't follow the truth, 00:02:17.449 --> 00:02:21.310 there are consequences for it. That is out of 00:02:21.310 --> 00:02:24.710 sync with our pluralistic, tolerant society. 00:02:25.699 --> 00:02:29.139 That's why it is so important for you and me 00:02:29.139 --> 00:02:34.280 to understand the truth about truth. I invite 00:02:34.280 --> 00:02:36.979 you to open your Bible with me to John chapter 00:02:36.979 --> 00:02:45.240 18. Jesus is standing here before Pilate at his 00:02:45.240 --> 00:02:52.360 trial. Jesus says to Pilate, verse 36, my kingdom 00:02:52.360 --> 00:02:56.280 is not of this world. If it were, my servants 00:02:56.280 --> 00:02:59.120 would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. 00:03:00.199 --> 00:03:03.919 But now my kingdom is from another place. Ah, 00:03:03.919 --> 00:03:09.400 you are a king then, Pilate said. Jesus answered, 00:03:09.939 --> 00:03:14.680 you are right in saying I am a king. In fact, 00:03:15.300 --> 00:03:19.060 for this reason I was born and for this I came 00:03:19.060 --> 00:03:26.669 into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone 00:03:26.669 --> 00:03:31.449 on the side of truth listens to me. Notice what 00:03:31.449 --> 00:03:34.729 Jesus said there. Everyone on the side of truth. 00:03:35.349 --> 00:03:40.490 In other words, there is another side. There's 00:03:40.490 --> 00:03:43.370 the side of truth and then there's another side. 00:03:45.430 --> 00:03:48.810 Those on the other side do not listen to him. 00:03:50.449 --> 00:03:53.870 But he says those on the side of truth listen 00:03:53.870 --> 00:03:59.229 to me. And then he says, or rather Pilate says 00:03:59.229 --> 00:04:05.830 to him in response to that, what is truth? That 00:04:05.830 --> 00:04:09.830 sarcastic question, and it probably was sarcastic, 00:04:10.729 --> 00:04:13.969 that question of Pilate is a question of the 00:04:13.969 --> 00:04:21.329 ages. What is truth? That is an important question 00:04:21.329 --> 00:04:24.029 especially in an age in which there is so much 00:04:24.029 --> 00:04:28.680 confusion. like ours, confusion that comes out 00:04:28.680 --> 00:04:33.779 of a lot of postmodern thought. What is truth? 00:04:34.920 --> 00:04:37.019 Well, let me try to give you a positive answer 00:04:37.019 --> 00:04:40.300 for that. Here's an attempt to define truth. 00:04:41.339 --> 00:04:45.660 On the one hand, truth is what is certain, what 00:04:45.660 --> 00:04:50.699 is unchangeable, what is dependable. That's truth. 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:55.500 In fact, those words relate to the Hebrew word 00:04:55.500 --> 00:04:57.860 in the Old Testament that's often translated 00:04:57.860 --> 00:05:04.600 truth or faithfulness. So truth could be defined 00:05:04.600 --> 00:05:09.079 as what is dependable, what is unchangeable or 00:05:09.079 --> 00:05:14.199 certain. Truth is that which is the same today 00:05:14.199 --> 00:05:20.029 as it was yesterday in this definition. But truth 00:05:20.029 --> 00:05:24.370 can also be defined as what is real, as opposed 00:05:24.370 --> 00:05:30.649 to what seems to be, or what changes, or what 00:05:30.649 --> 00:05:35.709 is false. Truth is what is real. How many of 00:05:35.709 --> 00:05:39.490 you remember Sergeant Joe Friday from Dragnet? 00:05:40.149 --> 00:05:43.290 What was his famous statement? Just the facts. 00:05:43.389 --> 00:05:47.430 The facts, ma 'am, just the facts. Just the real 00:05:47.430 --> 00:05:51.420 facts. Well, that helps us to come closer, I 00:05:51.420 --> 00:05:55.740 think, to what truth is. Because truth is what 00:05:55.740 --> 00:06:02.040 corresponds to the facts, to reality. I can say 00:06:02.040 --> 00:06:07.560 this morning, I am in church. Is that true? Well, 00:06:07.579 --> 00:06:11.379 it is the truth. The reality, the objective reality 00:06:11.379 --> 00:06:13.379 is that I'm here in this place and I'm meeting 00:06:13.379 --> 00:06:16.360 with you, so I am in church. It is the truth. 00:06:18.180 --> 00:06:21.040 Last week we talked about Jesus' resurrection. 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:26.240 And we talked about the demonstrable objective 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:30.860 facts regarding his resurrection. We talked about 00:06:30.860 --> 00:06:33.019 the empty grave. We talked about the changed 00:06:33.019 --> 00:06:36.000 disciples. We talked about the frustrated enemies 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:38.699 because they could not produce his body and put 00:06:38.699 --> 00:06:41.300 an end to this rumor that Jesus had risen from 00:06:41.300 --> 00:06:44.459 the dead. We talked about all of those things 00:06:44.459 --> 00:06:48.490 that are objective facts. And so we can conclude 00:06:48.490 --> 00:06:53.269 from those facts the truth that Jesus actually 00:06:53.269 --> 00:06:58.050 rose from the dead. That truth corresponds to 00:06:58.050 --> 00:07:03.670 the facts. Now not everyone agrees these days 00:07:03.670 --> 00:07:08.709 that truth is defined that way. There are some 00:07:08.709 --> 00:07:12.250 people today who say that no one can know or 00:07:12.250 --> 00:07:16.949 say what the truth is. They believe it's impossible 00:07:16.949 --> 00:07:21.230 for a person to state categorically, this is 00:07:21.230 --> 00:07:25.170 the truth, and they're very firm about that. 00:07:26.449 --> 00:07:29.610 Now, their idea, I think, is a rather silly one. 00:07:30.970 --> 00:07:35.430 It is silly for this reason, that if there is 00:07:35.430 --> 00:07:41.750 no definitive truth, how can one state definitively 00:07:41.750 --> 00:07:46.939 that no one can know what the truth is? You see, 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:50.939 it is a self -defeating kind of notion, and yet 00:07:50.939 --> 00:07:53.379 it is very, very common to hear people talk like 00:07:53.379 --> 00:07:58.100 that in our culture today. Others say that we 00:07:58.100 --> 00:08:03.139 can know some truths, for example, that there's 00:08:03.139 --> 00:08:07.879 a law of gravity, or that two plus two equals 00:08:07.879 --> 00:08:11.660 four. We can know some truths, but we cannot 00:08:11.660 --> 00:08:15.500 really know ultimate truth. That is, answers 00:08:15.500 --> 00:08:20.879 the questions about God and about morality. We 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:25.740 can't really know, they say, those kinds of truths. 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:30.639 There are still others who would say that truth 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:35.799 is relative. They say whatever the truth is depends. 00:08:37.379 --> 00:08:41.200 It depends on what is is. If you catch the drift 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:45.350 of that. It depends upon a variety of things, 00:08:45.409 --> 00:08:48.789 they say, like the circumstances that are involved 00:08:48.789 --> 00:08:52.870 or the times. And so they would say what's true 00:08:52.870 --> 00:08:58.250 for you is fine, but it may not be true for me 00:08:58.250 --> 00:09:02.230 or for somebody else because truth is relative. 00:09:03.289 --> 00:09:07.450 And so if, for example, a man comes out of a 00:09:07.450 --> 00:09:13.500 tribal group in Papua, New Guinea, And he says 00:09:13.500 --> 00:09:20.240 the earth is flat. These people, the relativists 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:24.559 would say that's his truth. That's truth. That's 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:29.940 truth for him. The earth is flat. But what's 00:09:29.940 --> 00:09:33.720 the problem with that? It doesn't correspond 00:09:33.720 --> 00:09:38.240 to reality. The facts are different than that. 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:40.700 We know the fact. that the earth is a globe, 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:44.580 it's not flat. But a relativist would say, well, 00:09:44.679 --> 00:09:48.000 that's okay, that it's a globe is your truth, 00:09:48.139 --> 00:09:51.440 that it's flat is his truth. And you can see 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:54.740 very quickly what utter nonsense comes out of 00:09:54.740 --> 00:09:59.799 that kind of thinking. Or we have someone, like 00:09:59.799 --> 00:10:03.399 you and me, I would hope, who stands up and says, 00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:11.370 Jesus is Lord. And then someone else from a different 00:10:11.370 --> 00:10:19.549 culture stands up and says, Allah is Lord. The 00:10:19.549 --> 00:10:21.850 common thinking in our culture today which comes 00:10:21.850 --> 00:10:26.210 out of relativism is, well that Jesus is Lord 00:10:26.210 --> 00:10:32.909 is your truth. That Allah is Lord is his truth. 00:10:34.429 --> 00:10:39.409 And so the conclusion is, both are what? Both 00:10:39.409 --> 00:10:45.149 are true Because you see that's him speaking 00:10:45.149 --> 00:10:51.110 out of his culture out of his community out of 00:10:51.110 --> 00:10:55.289 his language and Therefore out of respect for 00:10:55.289 --> 00:11:00.049 him. That's his truth. That is a truth Just as 00:11:00.049 --> 00:11:03.669 it is true to be able to say Jesus is Lord if 00:11:03.669 --> 00:11:07.750 that's your community and your culture There's 00:11:07.750 --> 00:11:11.710 only one problem with that. It doesn't correspond 00:11:11.710 --> 00:11:18.169 with reality. There is only one Lord. Those two 00:11:18.169 --> 00:11:23.169 ideas, Jesus is Lord, Allah is Lord, are mutually 00:11:23.169 --> 00:11:26.149 exclusive. You cannot put those two together. 00:11:27.629 --> 00:11:32.190 They do not fit together. You cannot say reasonably 00:11:32.190 --> 00:11:38.169 that both statements are true. or the other has 00:11:38.169 --> 00:11:42.450 to be true. But in our culture, we don't want 00:11:42.450 --> 00:11:47.629 to offend. We want to be very tolerant. And so 00:11:47.629 --> 00:11:51.129 in order to achieve that, we adopt the idea of 00:11:51.129 --> 00:11:55.570 relativism, that there are many truths. And if 00:11:55.570 --> 00:11:59.610 they contradict each other, oh, so what? What 00:11:59.610 --> 00:12:04.850 bother to think about contradictions? We just 00:12:04.850 --> 00:12:12.779 accept them. utter and complete nonsense. There's 00:12:12.779 --> 00:12:15.039 a growing majority of people who approach all 00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:20.139 of life with a basic assumption. And that assumption 00:12:20.139 --> 00:12:27.919 is if truth exists, if truth exists, it cannot 00:12:27.919 --> 00:12:33.840 be finally and universally known. If it exists, 00:12:34.279 --> 00:12:38.799 who can know it? This is where Pilate was. Jesus 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:43.700 said, I came to bear witness of the truth. Pilate 00:12:43.700 --> 00:12:47.559 threw up his hands and with sarcasm said, oh 00:12:47.559 --> 00:12:53.419 come on, what is truth? And ladies and gentlemen, 00:12:53.480 --> 00:12:59.740 that is where our world is today. Now the Christian 00:12:59.740 --> 00:13:03.610 view is quite opposite. The Christian view is 00:13:03.610 --> 00:13:09.009 that truth does exist and that because it exists, 00:13:09.029 --> 00:13:15.370 it also can be known. What you believe about 00:13:15.370 --> 00:13:20.750 truth makes a huge, huge difference in your life. 00:13:22.769 --> 00:13:25.990 It makes a difference in how you live and I will 00:13:25.990 --> 00:13:28.590 guarantee you it will make a difference where 00:13:28.590 --> 00:13:35.960 you spend eternity. So on the one hand, we have 00:13:35.960 --> 00:13:39.120 a culture around us that says if there is such 00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:42.039 a thing as truth, and there's a big question 00:13:42.039 --> 00:13:45.179 mark about that, if there is such a thing as 00:13:45.179 --> 00:13:50.899 truth, no one can really know it. It cannot be 00:13:50.899 --> 00:13:53.399 finally known, ultimately known. We're just kind 00:13:53.399 --> 00:13:56.960 of lost in this maze of tolerance and confusion. 00:13:58.299 --> 00:14:02.039 In contrast to that is the biblical Christian 00:14:02.039 --> 00:14:09.620 who says, there is truth. And that truth can 00:14:09.620 --> 00:14:16.580 be known and must be known. Now folks, in the 00:14:16.580 --> 00:14:23.700 past, our culture was not like it is today. In 00:14:23.700 --> 00:14:28.659 the past, there was a recognition of the concept 00:14:28.659 --> 00:14:30.960 of universal truth. And by the way, if you're 00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:33.200 worried about where is he on the outline here, 00:14:33.460 --> 00:14:38.759 I haven't gotten to point one yet. And I'll tell 00:14:38.759 --> 00:14:39.980 you another little secret, we're not gonna get 00:14:39.980 --> 00:14:41.919 to point one today. We may get to point one, 00:14:41.960 --> 00:14:46.159 that's as far as we're gonna get. Because I need 00:14:46.159 --> 00:14:49.039 to lay a foundation this morning for this part 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:52.720 of the series about what is truth. But in the 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:56.750 past, our culture, has had the notion that there's 00:14:56.750 --> 00:15:01.029 a universal truth. That's why we called places 00:15:01.029 --> 00:15:09.529 like Stanford, Stanford what? University. Or 00:15:09.529 --> 00:15:13.429 we called the state school system the University 00:15:13.429 --> 00:15:19.769 of California. Why was it called a university? 00:15:21.289 --> 00:15:24.210 Well, the word university comes out of the word 00:15:24.210 --> 00:15:31.730 universe, and the word universe means all turned 00:15:31.730 --> 00:15:40.809 into one. In other words, the idea in universe 00:15:40.809 --> 00:15:44.590 as in university is that everything you see, 00:15:44.669 --> 00:15:51.179 all, can come together. that there is a way to 00:15:51.179 --> 00:15:55.139 put all of these pieces together to have a unified 00:15:55.139 --> 00:16:02.259 view of reality in the world. And so we have 00:16:02.259 --> 00:16:06.899 universities. People accepted when universities 00:16:06.899 --> 00:16:11.320 began to be known as that, that there was a cohesive 00:16:11.320 --> 00:16:16.080 truth that wove together the many parts of knowledge, 00:16:16.200 --> 00:16:19.139 and so whether it was philosophy, or literature 00:16:19.139 --> 00:16:23.860 or science or theology, they all got along together, 00:16:23.899 --> 00:16:29.399 they all coexisted within an integrated framework, 00:16:29.679 --> 00:16:35.740 an understanding that all fits into one. And 00:16:35.740 --> 00:16:39.980 you know what the result of that was? Tremendous 00:16:39.980 --> 00:16:48.639 cultural energy. A cultural energy that was based 00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:56.500 on a biblical concept of universe, a cultural 00:16:56.500 --> 00:17:01.620 energy that produced the most fantastic culture 00:17:01.620 --> 00:17:05.779 this world has ever known, the Western culture, 00:17:07.819 --> 00:17:10.839 which produced for you and for me the greatest 00:17:10.839 --> 00:17:14.039 personal freedom, the highest standard of living. 00:17:14.509 --> 00:17:17.529 and the most advanced in science and technology 00:17:17.529 --> 00:17:24.769 in the history of the world. There is a reason 00:17:24.769 --> 00:17:28.190 that third world nations are third world nations. 00:17:30.109 --> 00:17:36.390 It is not economics. It is not their lack of 00:17:36.390 --> 00:17:42.599 natural resources. It is not... whether they 00:17:42.599 --> 00:17:46.359 possess military might or modern technology. 00:17:48.440 --> 00:17:51.460 The reason that third world nations are third 00:17:51.460 --> 00:17:57.279 world nations is because of their culture. And 00:17:57.279 --> 00:18:00.880 in particular, their understanding of truth that 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:04.579 arises out of their deepest belief systems, i 00:18:04.579 --> 00:18:09.430 .e. their religion. So what I'm saying to you 00:18:09.430 --> 00:18:12.869 today is that the biblical framework, the biblical 00:18:12.869 --> 00:18:18.509 worldview of Christianity, which has been at 00:18:18.509 --> 00:18:22.089 the core of what we know as the Western civilization, 00:18:24.150 --> 00:18:27.190 granted it was founded upon the Greek philosophers 00:18:27.190 --> 00:18:31.349 and so forth, but from the fourth century on, 00:18:32.690 --> 00:18:35.009 increasingly it became, the biblical worldview 00:18:35.009 --> 00:18:38.519 became a part of the culture. that formed what 00:18:38.519 --> 00:18:44.099 you and I know today. And it produced tremendous 00:18:44.099 --> 00:18:47.140 advantage for those of us who lived under its 00:18:47.140 --> 00:18:54.440 influence. But things are a -changin', and they're 00:18:54.440 --> 00:18:59.980 changing so rapidly that it's breathtaking. Even 00:18:59.980 --> 00:19:04.380 when I was in school, there was still a semblance 00:19:04.380 --> 00:19:10.619 of this idea of universe. But now, in just a 00:19:10.619 --> 00:19:15.619 few decades, our culture has moved away from 00:19:15.619 --> 00:19:24.900 that to the idea of pluralism. If our schools 00:19:24.900 --> 00:19:26.920 of higher learning were to be honest today, they 00:19:26.920 --> 00:19:30.660 would change their names. And they would call 00:19:30.660 --> 00:19:35.299 themselves something like Stanford Multiversity. 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:43.339 or the plural versity of California. Because 00:19:43.339 --> 00:19:47.440 you see the faculties in these places no longer 00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:50.960 accept the idea that there is this unifying, 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:58.819 cohering truth. It's pluralism today and relativism 00:19:58.819 --> 00:20:03.500 and there are many truths. We've lost the idea 00:20:03.500 --> 00:20:08.740 that there is a harmonious, excuse me, unifying 00:20:08.740 --> 00:20:13.079 principle that brings everything together in 00:20:13.079 --> 00:20:19.059 education and in culture for that matter. Why 00:20:19.059 --> 00:20:23.279 is it today that there is not an emphasis upon 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:30.900 language and culture and borders which are needed 00:20:30.900 --> 00:20:35.059 in order to protect our nation? It's because 00:20:35.059 --> 00:20:41.339 of this whole change away from truth to pluralism. 00:20:44.559 --> 00:20:46.480 For me to stand here today and to say to you 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:49.140 that our culture is the superior culture of the 00:20:49.140 --> 00:20:55.180 world is blasphemy. It is blasphemy to those 00:20:55.180 --> 00:20:59.039 who believe in pluralism because you can't say 00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:02.380 that one culture is superior than another. You 00:21:02.380 --> 00:21:10.299 can't do that. It's not nice to say that. Our 00:21:10.299 --> 00:21:13.700 movement away from the concepts of universal 00:21:13.700 --> 00:21:18.799 truth has resulted in the disintegration of our 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:25.279 culture. It has. Unless God intervenes, and God 00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:29.809 can always do that, God may be gracious and merciful 00:21:29.809 --> 00:21:33.529 to us, though we don't deserve it for sure. Unless 00:21:33.529 --> 00:21:37.130 God intervenes, the Western culture, as you and 00:21:37.130 --> 00:21:41.269 I have known it historically, is in its last 00:21:41.269 --> 00:21:46.509 breaths. I read an article this last week regarding 00:21:46.509 --> 00:21:51.650 the Islamization of Europe. That in a matter 00:21:51.650 --> 00:21:55.640 of years, Europe, unless something changes, will 00:21:55.640 --> 00:22:03.160 be Islamic. You see, as our culture has deteriorated, 00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:12.880 the Islamic culture has become empowered. And 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:20.900 that is a huge threat to our future. Well, I've 00:22:20.900 --> 00:22:22.579 enjoyed getting some of that off my chest this 00:22:22.579 --> 00:22:27.299 morning, so now... Now let me get to my first 00:22:27.299 --> 00:22:31.200 point. And the main thing I want you to get today 00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:35.319 and next week, it's this. That truth exists. 00:22:36.700 --> 00:22:40.220 I don't care what you hear on television, on 00:22:40.220 --> 00:22:43.960 talk shows, in your classroom, on the campus. 00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:48.500 You remember this because it is absolutely vital 00:22:48.500 --> 00:22:53.599 to your personal well -being as well as to your 00:22:53.599 --> 00:23:01.400 faith. that truth exists. And you can know what 00:23:01.400 --> 00:23:06.220 truth is. I'm talking about this because every 00:23:06.220 --> 00:23:09.240 one of us who follows Jesus Christ should be 00:23:09.240 --> 00:23:13.619 able to defend that idea that there is truth. 00:23:15.740 --> 00:23:18.079 Because that's where the battle is out there 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:22.539 in our culture. We should be able to defend the 00:23:22.539 --> 00:23:26.450 idea that truth exists And you can know what 00:23:26.450 --> 00:23:32.910 it is. And I will say this again, that Christianity 00:23:32.910 --> 00:23:40.529 stands or falls upon that idea. And so do you. 00:23:42.250 --> 00:23:47.589 Therefore, discovering the truth is your most 00:23:47.589 --> 00:23:52.980 urgent quest in life. Because you see, the truth 00:23:52.980 --> 00:23:58.339 is like a lighthouse set on a rocky shore where 00:23:58.339 --> 00:24:05.420 there are the destroyed remains of past cultures. 00:24:06.980 --> 00:24:14.000 The truth is on that shore warning us about what 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:19.730 will come. And if we do not take heed to this 00:24:19.730 --> 00:24:22.009 lighthouse that there is truth and we can know 00:24:22.009 --> 00:24:26.509 it, then we personally and our culture will end 00:24:26.509 --> 00:24:31.410 up on the rocks destroyed. And so we come back 00:24:31.410 --> 00:24:34.789 to the question of Pilate, what is truth? And 00:24:34.789 --> 00:24:40.589 here's point number one for today. It is. Truth 00:24:40.589 --> 00:24:50.369 is what God is. I .S. is. You see, truth is one 00:24:50.369 --> 00:24:54.450 of the attributes or the qualities of God. In 00:24:54.450 --> 00:24:57.990 Psalm 31 and verse five it says, into your hands 00:24:57.990 --> 00:25:01.869 I commit my spirit. Immediately you notice this 00:25:01.869 --> 00:25:04.069 is the verse that Jesus quoted on the cross. 00:25:06.329 --> 00:25:08.970 The psalmist goes on to say, redeem me, oh Lord, 00:25:09.150 --> 00:25:14.920 the God of truth. And so the inspired psalmist 00:25:14.920 --> 00:25:19.759 calls God the God of truth. Now the word truth 00:25:19.759 --> 00:25:22.380 here is that word I referred to earlier that 00:25:22.380 --> 00:25:26.599 means firmness. You are the God of reliability. 00:25:26.759 --> 00:25:31.859 You are the God of continuance. It carries with 00:25:31.859 --> 00:25:37.799 it the idea of unchangeableness. That he is the 00:25:37.799 --> 00:25:46.019 same yesterday, today, and forever. It means 00:25:46.019 --> 00:25:50.380 that he is dependable, that he is faithful. There's 00:25:50.380 --> 00:25:55.380 a similar phrase in Isaiah 65 and verse 16 where 00:25:55.380 --> 00:25:58.700 he is called the God of truth. A different word 00:25:58.700 --> 00:26:01.619 here though, similar meaning, but I point it 00:26:01.619 --> 00:26:06.279 out because you have said this Hebrew word. It's 00:26:06.279 --> 00:26:13.730 the word amen. God is amen. That's what it says. 00:26:14.710 --> 00:26:22.990 And here the idea is God is so shall it be. God 00:26:22.990 --> 00:26:26.549 is the God of truth and it shall be because God 00:26:26.549 --> 00:26:32.289 is. In Psalm 86 and verse 15, but you, O Lord, 00:26:32.589 --> 00:26:35.529 are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to 00:26:35.529 --> 00:26:39.890 anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. And 00:26:39.890 --> 00:26:43.009 that word faithfulness is our word truth. your 00:26:43.009 --> 00:26:49.309 God of truth. And all of this makes even more 00:26:49.309 --> 00:26:53.809 relative what Jesus says in, I should say relevant, 00:26:53.890 --> 00:26:57.549 excuse me, what Jesus says in John 14 and verse 00:26:57.549 --> 00:27:03.549 six when he says, I am the way, the what? The 00:27:03.549 --> 00:27:08.079 truth and the life. So you see, Jesus in making 00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:11.859 that statement is saying, I am the truth. Just 00:27:11.859 --> 00:27:14.779 as God of the Old Testament is the truth, I am 00:27:14.779 --> 00:27:20.339 that God, I am the truth. And no one comes to 00:27:20.339 --> 00:27:26.539 the Father but through me. And so, God eternally 00:27:26.539 --> 00:27:32.039 exists as truth. He is the ultimate objective 00:27:32.039 --> 00:27:35.079 reality against which everything else is measured. 00:27:37.710 --> 00:27:42.450 Now there are a lot of relative things. I could 00:27:42.450 --> 00:27:46.329 say to you this morning, I'm very warm under 00:27:46.329 --> 00:27:53.630 these lights. But you know what? We'll probably 00:27:53.630 --> 00:27:56.589 get another note this morning saying, the auditorium 00:27:56.589 --> 00:28:00.890 was cold again this morning. And you know we 00:28:00.890 --> 00:28:04.109 have that every week. Some people find it comfortable, 00:28:04.210 --> 00:28:06.490 some people find it warm, some people find it 00:28:06.490 --> 00:28:14.339 cold. Why is that? Which is the truth? Well, 00:28:14.460 --> 00:28:17.079 you see, we're measuring that not against some 00:28:17.079 --> 00:28:20.640 objective standard, but against our own personal 00:28:20.640 --> 00:28:24.099 body temperature, or whether we have a fever, 00:28:24.339 --> 00:28:28.440 or whatever else may be going on with us. And 00:28:28.440 --> 00:28:30.720 maybe we're just in that part of life where everything's 00:28:30.720 --> 00:28:37.980 cold. You know? And so, it's truth for me. and 00:28:37.980 --> 00:28:41.660 it's truth for you. But that's not the kind of 00:28:41.660 --> 00:28:44.599 truth I'm talking about here with God. We're 00:28:44.599 --> 00:28:49.420 talking about ultimate truth. Where God is the 00:28:49.420 --> 00:28:53.759 ultimate standard and he is the measure of all 00:28:53.759 --> 00:28:56.160 things. Now the Greek philosopher, Protagoras, 00:28:56.500 --> 00:28:59.559 had a different idea. And it's his idea that 00:28:59.559 --> 00:29:06.920 has now undermined the Western culture. when 00:29:06.920 --> 00:29:10.000 he said man is the measure of all things. Have 00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:13.220 you ever heard that? If you had philosophy 101 00:29:13.220 --> 00:29:16.440 in college, you heard that idea. Man is the measure 00:29:16.440 --> 00:29:20.859 of all things. Well, that brings us to humanism 00:29:20.859 --> 00:29:24.920 where man himself is the measurement and to relativism 00:29:24.920 --> 00:29:28.079 and all of the problems that we are facing in 00:29:28.079 --> 00:29:32.200 our culture today. But our faith is different 00:29:32.200 --> 00:29:36.710 than that. The Bible teaches that God is truth, 00:29:37.369 --> 00:29:44.230 he is the measure of all things. And so when 00:29:44.230 --> 00:29:48.490 I hear a little voice in my ear that says, you 00:29:48.490 --> 00:29:56.869 are as worthless, you are as stupid, you are 00:29:56.869 --> 00:30:03.930 as dumb as your father said you were. You have 00:30:03.930 --> 00:30:09.039 a choice to make. Because you see, that statement 00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:17.720 was a lie. It was a lie. Why it was said, I don't 00:30:17.720 --> 00:30:20.619 know. I don't know the context of it. But I know 00:30:20.619 --> 00:30:23.160 a lot of us heard that kind of a statement when 00:30:23.160 --> 00:30:27.859 we were little. And that lie has repeated itself 00:30:27.859 --> 00:30:31.539 over and over and over and over in our minds 00:30:31.539 --> 00:30:37.650 until we think it's the what? The truth. But 00:30:37.650 --> 00:30:44.329 you measure that against God. Friend, God doesn't 00:30:44.329 --> 00:30:52.329 love junk. He loves you because He created you 00:30:52.329 --> 00:30:57.690 in His image. God doesn't see you as dumb and 00:30:57.690 --> 00:31:00.490 stupid and worthless and you just put your adjective 00:31:00.490 --> 00:31:04.809 on there. God sees you as one that He desperately 00:31:04.809 --> 00:31:11.799 loves. He sees you as one of such worth that 00:31:11.799 --> 00:31:17.240 he sent his son into this world to die on a horrible 00:31:17.240 --> 00:31:22.079 cross so that his own son would pay the price 00:31:22.079 --> 00:31:26.799 for your sin and he could redeem you and rescue 00:31:26.799 --> 00:31:32.619 you from your sin and from the lies that you've 00:31:32.619 --> 00:31:39.980 lived in. God is truth. and whatever lies may 00:31:39.980 --> 00:31:42.200 be going around in your mind, and there are so 00:31:42.200 --> 00:31:44.299 many different kinds of lies, there are religious 00:31:44.299 --> 00:31:49.859 lies, there are social lies, there are relationship 00:31:49.859 --> 00:31:55.480 lies, whatever lies, well let me put it this 00:31:55.480 --> 00:31:58.700 way, whatever you hear going around in your head, 00:31:59.160 --> 00:32:03.359 whatever you're being taught, take it back to 00:32:03.359 --> 00:32:09.029 the Bible, to the word of God. Measure it against 00:32:09.029 --> 00:32:14.089 God because God is truth, and you will never 00:32:14.089 --> 00:32:18.109 be led astray if you bring it back to who God 00:32:18.109 --> 00:32:25.470 is. We've gotta close, let's pray. Father, I 00:32:25.470 --> 00:32:28.349 thank you that you are God of truth, and this 00:32:28.349 --> 00:32:31.089 morning as we have begun to explore that idea, 00:32:31.769 --> 00:32:35.250 I pray that you will liberate us from the lies 00:32:35.640 --> 00:32:41.440 that have in some cases consumed us and led us 00:32:41.440 --> 00:32:46.500 into all kinds of behavioral and relational problems. 00:32:48.480 --> 00:32:51.420 I pray that you will liberate us from the lie 00:32:51.420 --> 00:32:56.960 of trusting ourselves and show us Lord that you're 00:32:56.960 --> 00:32:59.539 the only one who's really faithful and dependable 00:32:59.539 --> 00:33:02.859 and unchangeable and that we can always trust 00:33:02.859 --> 00:33:07.839 you. And Lord, if there are some here today who 00:33:07.839 --> 00:33:12.980 are just longing to be freed from lies and desiring 00:33:12.980 --> 00:33:15.359 to know the truth, I pray that you by your spirit 00:33:15.359 --> 00:33:19.339 right now will help them in their hearts to place 00:33:19.339 --> 00:33:23.740 their faith in you and to rely on you as the 00:33:23.740 --> 00:33:28.359 God of truth for their lives and for their soul's 00:33:28.359 --> 00:33:32.200 eternity. In Jesus' name, amen.