series entitled Truth or Consequences, which
is part of the overall series we've been doing
this summer on apologetics. And this morning
we're going to continue the message that I began
last week and develop then into the title that
was given for this morning, and that is Are There
Absolutes? In John chapter 18 we have seen this
morning already in the scripture reading the
question by Pilate. Proceeding that question,
however, Jesus made a statement to him in which
he said, I came into the world to testify to
the truth. It was that statement that caused
Pilate to sarcastically respond to Jesus, what
is truth? Now whether in sarcasm or with some
other attitude, that is a question that is very
common. in the world in which you and I live
today. What is truth? And last week we began
to answer that question as best as we could with
a very practical kind of definition. Truth is
that which corresponds to reality. A little boy
comes to his mother and he has chocolate around
his mouth and she says to him, son, have you
been in the M &Ms? And he looks up at her and
he says, no. Is that the truth? Well, unfortunately,
it doesn't correspond with reality. He's been
in the candy and the evidence shows that he has.
And so the truth is what corresponds with reality.
It is unchangeable. It's dependable. It's what
is real. It's what is real as opposed to what
is false or what changes or what only seems to
be. Truth is what conforms to reality. Not everyone,
however, agrees that truth is defined that way.
Some people can say that you cannot know for
sure what truth is, that it's a silly idea even
to talk about truth. Others say that we can know
some truths, but there are other truths like
questions about ultimate reality that we cannot
know, such as questions of God and morality.
Still others will say, well, there is truth,
but all truth is relative. What truth is depends
on a variety of things, including the situation.
But the Christian view of all of this is simply
that truth exists. Truth exists. Absolute truth
exists. And A step further, you can know what
it is. Now every Christian should be able to
defend that idea because that idea is under attack
in our culture. Truth exists and you can know
what it is. And I want to go one step further
and say that discovering the truth is your most
urgent quest. If truth in fact exists, The most
important question you must deal with today is
what is truth? And that's what we want to talk
about. What is truth? Last week in the message,
we began answering that by saying that truth
is what God is. Truth is what God is. When Jesus
came into the world, he came as the truth, the
God of truth. In John chapter one, verse 14,
the apostle John, writing about that, says that
the word, the Son of God, became flesh and made
his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory,
the glory of the one and only who came from the
Father, full of grace and, what's the last word?
Truth. Full of grace and truth. God eternally
exists as truth. So in answer to the question
what is truth, the first answer is truth is what
God is. He is the God of truth. Now today we
want to press on into the message and think about
a second way to answer that question, what is
truth, and it's this. Truth is what God establishes.
Truth is what God establishes. God who is truth
has created a world in which truth exists as
an integral reality. Now if that statement is
true, then it must necessarily be evident. We
must be able to see it. If one is looking for
the truth, it must be obvious to us if in fact
God has created a world in which truth exists
as an integral, integrated reality. Open your
Bible to Romans chapter one and verse 18. To
these striking words by the Apostle Paul, he
says, the wrath of God is being revealed from
heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness
of men. who, he says, suppress the truth. It
means that they hold down, they restrain the
truth by their wickedness since what may be known
about God is plain to them because God has made
it plain to them. Paul is in this text saying
what we have said. in the point that God has
established truth and it is integrated into the
whole of creation. What may be known about God
is plain to anyone who will see it. But we live
in a world that does not wish to see it. It restrains
the truth, it holds it down. As verse 25 of this
same chapter goes on to say, they, that is the
godless, exchanged the truth of God for a lie
and worshiped and served created things rather
than the creator who is forever praised. When
he says that they exchanged the truth for a lie,
what he's saying is that this was a deliberate
act of the will. It was not inadvertent. It was
intentional. There is a deliberate rejection
on the part of godless people of the truth. The
paraphrase of the Bible that was written by Eugene
Peterson puts the verse this way. They traded
the true God for a fake God. and worship the
God they made instead of the God who made them.
The reason that our world today has rejected
the truth of God is because it wants to create
its own God, one that makes them comfortable.
And yet the existence of truth or absolutes in
the universe Indeed, the absolute necessity of
them, if you'll pardon me for saying it that
way, the absolute necessity of absolutes should
be obvious to anybody. We sometimes call these
absolutes universal truths or laws because they
are rules or principles that govern us and the
reality around us. They are apparent to us. These
absolutes are critical to our lives. For example,
consider a few of the absolutes or truths of
science which God has built into science and
into creation. We depend upon these stable, unchanging
laws which are called the laws of nature for
progress. We didn't make these laws, we simply
discovered these laws are present. in the universe.
We have discovered, for example, that there are
parts to atoms and they act in certain ways.
We have discovered that there are certain basic
chemical properties of the elements and that
combining them together in specific ways always
produces the same result. We observe around us
in creation that time moves forward and not backward.
Have you ever noticed that? There's the law of
action and reaction. The third law of motion
that Newton wrote about states for every action
there is an equal and opposite reaction. Now
all of these and hundreds more are laws or absolutes
that are written into science. They have long
been understood as absolutes. Robert Boyle, who
was a 17th century philosopher and scientist
and a Christian, said, nature is nothing else
but God. Acting according to certain laws, He
Himself fixed. Folks, the scientific method by
which we make discoveries would be absolutely
nonsense and impossible without the assumption
that there are unchangeable truths in this universe.
What about mathematics? Two plus two equals what?
Does two plus two ever equal nine? No, it doesn't.
That is a truth. It's an absolute. A triangle
is always composed of three sides and three angles,
the angles of which add up to how many degrees?
180. Does it ever happen that they add up to
210? Not if it's a triangle. You see, there are
absolutes in mathematics, and it's because of
these kinds of absolutes, these kinds of universal
truths, if you will, that NASA was able to shoot
a rocket several months ago with a payload, a
820 pound payload that they smashed into a comet.
83 million miles away while that comet was moving
at thousands and thousands of miles an hour.
Someone said it was like shooting a bullet with
a bullet. How are they able to make those kinds
of mathematical calculations? It's because there
are absolutes in mathematics. Where did they
come from? Did we create them? No. They simply
exist. in our universe. And as Christians, we
understand where they came from. They are not
accidental. They are designed into our universe.
If you'll pardon me for saying it this way, today
a lot of evolutionary scientists have a wedgie
going on. Because you see, they are confronted
with a concept called intelligent design that
they cannot escape. They can argue against it,
they can deny it, but a rational thinking person
understands that there is design in this universe.
If you don't want to label it as God having done
it, then fine. Say you don't know where it came
from, but acknowledge at least that there is
design in this universe. They're in a lot of
pain, I feel sorry for them. What about the absolutes
of geography? I mean, facts are facts, aren't
they? The Sea of Galilee is still located today
in the Great Rift Valley at a certain longitude
and latitude where it was 2 ,000 years ago when
Jesus was here. It has not migrated over into
Central Asia somewhere. It's a fact, that's where
it is. San Jose is where it has been. since the
last earthquake, at least. It was founded here.
We know where San Jose is. When you get on an
airplane in Chicago and you're gonna fly to San
Jose, the pilot doesn't come on and say, well,
we're flying toward where San Jose used to be
and we hope that when we get there, we can find
it. No. He puts some numbers into the computer
on the airplane and the navigational system takes
him to the San Jose airport because San Jose
is fixed here. You see, there are facts, there
are absolutes in geography. What about history?
Well, there can be a variety of interpretations
of history, right? That's true. History in that
sense may be subjective, but historical facts
are not. George Washington was the first president
of the United States. That's a fact. Now you
may want to interpret nuances about that and
do dances around it to come up with some kind
of a theory politically, but the fact is he was
the first president, and that doesn't change.
It hasn't changed in 220 years, and it will still
be true 500 years from now. Ronald Reagan died
on June the 5th, 2004. That's a historical fact.
You were born at a certain time and place to
certain parents. That's absolute. That's not
going to change. Jesus Christ lived on this earth.
He died. He rose again from the dead. Those are
all historical absolutes. They are real events.
The truth corresponds in all of these cases with
the reality. And in this sense, we can say, as
many have, that all truth is God's truth. Now,
there are people who will admit to this kind
of truth that I've just described to you. They
will say, yes, there is design in the universe.
There are laws in the universe. What I'm saying
is that that is truth that God has established.
But they will then go on to say, while that kind
of truth exists and can be known, you can't know
truth about religion or morality. But Rick Cornish
has some interesting questions. He says, why
should these subjects be placed in a different
category? He asks, How do you justify the inconsistency
of divorcing them from truth while keeping math,
science, and history in the realm of truth? He
makes the statement, issues about God and spiritual
matters either correspond to reality or they
don't. Thus, they are subject to inquiry like
other topics. They can be investigated even if
by different methods. There is no justification
for saying that truth about religion and morality
is relative while all of these other things are
absolute. That is a fundamental inconsistency
in thinking. Ah, but someone says there are so
many different opinions about what is morally
or theologically true, to which I say true, pardon
the pun. It is true, there are lots of different
opinions about spiritual things, about theology,
about moral or ethical standards, lots of opinions,
but. Does that therefore require that they're
all correct just because there are lots of different
opinions? Or on the other hand, does it require
that none of them are correct because there are
so many different opinions? No. Does the fact
that there are so many different opinions, so
many different religions, so many different belief
systems, require that just one of them cannot
be the truth? No, it does not. Here's the human
reality. The writer of Proverbs says it very
succinctly, chapter 14, verse 12. There is a
way which seems right to a man, but the end of
it leads to death. Man continually seeks to develop
in the areas of religion and morality his own
way. And to him, based upon his own thinking,
it seems right. But in the end, it leads to death.
Particularly in religion and morality, people
want to create a system of thought. or religion
that makes them comfortable. And then they want
to label that their truth. And in a world of
relativism, that kind of thing flourishes. You
see sinners, and we're all sinners, some of us
saved by grace, sinners want to compartmentalize
our world. So that truth exists in some parts
of our lives, but not in other parts of our lives.
Oh, we want to depend upon fixed truth when it
doesn't challenge us in certain ways. When we
want to travel somewhere, we want fixed truth.
When we go to the doctor, we want fixed truth.
When we're going to depend upon a computer to
work with certain technology, we want fixed truth.
Because none of that challenges us. in our nature.
But when we start feeling pressure and guilt
and uncomfortable inside about the way we are
living or who we are, then we're not so sure
that we want fixed truth anymore. The rejection
of moral truth has far more to do with the will
than it does the intellect. Romans chapter one
clearly confirms that. It's not that people cannot
see and know the truth about God in the design
of his universe. It's not that they cannot, it's
that they will not exceed to that. Sinners do
not want to be held accountable to absolute truth.
But folks, moral absolutes are absolutely essential.
They are not arbitrary. They are essential for
the protection of human life. They are essential
for the protection of human freedom. When a culture
gives up absolutes, it eventually is going to
lose its genuine happiness, and its liberty.
God establishes the truth. He establishes the
facts, the ground rules, the realities that exist
in our universe, whether they be mathematic or
scientific or moral or spiritual, and that's
the truth. Truth is what God establishes. Finally,
I want to say that truth is what God says. What
God says. When God speaks, he must speak consistently
with his nature, which is truth. He cannot lie.
He is who he is. In Numbers 23, 19 it says, God
is not a man that he should lie. Titus 1 -2 says,
God cannot lie. Everything that God says is the
truth. God's word is truth, and it changes lives.
God's word is what he says to you and me, and
that word changes lives. Jesus prayed as we read
earlier this morning in John 17, Father, sanctify
them by the truth. Your word is truth. So you
see, truth is not what I suppose it to be. Truth
is not what I feel like it is. Truth is not what
somebody else conceives it to be and I agree
with them because philosophers have created diverse
systems of ideas and almost all of them are contradictory.
Truth is what God says. Truth is what the Bible
says. God is the source of truth because He is
truth. And He has established our universe on
laws that conform to who He is. And God has given
us a book that reveals established truth to us.
And especially, if I may say so, moral and spiritual
truth. The Bible is not primarily a history book.
It's not primarily a mathematics book. It's not
primarily a science book. God leaves those areas
of discovery and conclusion to us, but the Bible
does give to us revelation of God regarding spiritual
and moral truth. Through the Bible, we come to
understand truth. But here's another point that
you need to get a hold of. Not only do we come
to understand truth, truth is not only what we
know, it's how we choose to live because of what
we know. I walk in the truth when I align my
life with what God says. Proverbs 3, 5, and 6
says, trust in the Lord with all your heart.
Say this with me. Trust in the Lord with all
your heart and lean not to your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him and he will
make your path straight. What that verse is really
saying is align your life with God's truth. Trust
in the Lord. With all your heart don't lean upon
your own understandings and conclusions Especially
when it comes to moral and spiritual truth Trust
in the Lord what he has said In all your ways
align yourself with him and He then will direct
your journey make your path straight one of the
greatest Inventions and toys in the last few
years is the GPS navigational system for cars.
I was riding with some folks who have that recently.
I couldn't take my eyes off of it. It's probably
a good thing I don't have it in my car because
I'd be watching it rather than the road. Amazing.
We sat here in San Jose and we typed in an address
in Simi Valley, California. And with that GPS
system, we drove directly to where we wanted
to go. It told us every road, every turn to make,
it named the streets, and all the driver had
to do was align himself with what the GPS system
said to do. We arrived at our destination. I
want to say to you that that's what this verse
in Proverbs is saying. Let God be your GPS system
when it comes to how you live. Align your life
to what he says and you will get to your destination.
That's wisdom. But on the other hand, if I conform
to the world's ideas and deny God's truth, that's
foolishness. And folks, there's a lot of foolishness
going on these days. Everybody else is doing
it, I'm going to do it too. Oh, that's not sex.
It doesn't matter what we do because he loves
me. He says we're going to get married. It's
my life, I can do what I want to with it. I just
wanna have some fun. Are those not the kinds
of statements that control people's lives? If
you wanna get your life totally screwed up, if
you wanna end up in the wrong destination, live
by those kinds of statements, because those statements
are the world's foolishness. You have just turned
off God's GPS. when you listen to those kinds
of statements and follow them. Rather what we
need to do is to turn on God's word and God's
wisdom and listen to his truth because it has
intrinsic power to change or to sanctify us.
Paul has some strong words of admonition in Ephesians
chapter four and I come quickly to my close as
we look at this. With the Lord's authority, he
says, I say this, live no longer as the Gentiles
do, for they are what? Hopelessly confused. Their
minds are what? Full of darkness. They what?
Wonder far from the life God gives. Why? Because
they have what? closed their minds and what?
Hardened their hearts against him. That's where
relativism leads. That's where all of the wrong
thinking that is so dominant in our culture today
leads. And what does it go on to say? They therefore
have no what? No sense of shame. Look at this.
They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice
every kind of impurity. But that isn't what you
learned about Christ, says Paul to us. Since
you have heard about Jesus and have learned what?
The truth that comes from him. Throw off your
old sinful nature and your former way of life,
which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead,
let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.
Put on your new nature, created to be like God,
truly righteous and holy. All those are great
words for us today. Truth is what God says. If
we are followers of Jesus Christ today, we have
heard, we have learned, now we are to live in
what we know. Pilate said, what is truth? What
I've helped, I hope, all of us see a little better
is this. The truth is what God is. Truth is what
God establishes. Truth is what God says. Someone
may say, how can I be sure that I've discovered
the truth? How can I be sure? Let me answer it
this way. You know the truth when, number one,
you trust Christ. You know the truth when you
trust Christ. You need not fear error in your
belief system from that point on that will lead
you away from God. Jesus said, I am the way,
what? The truth and the life. He also said, you
shall know the truth and the truth shall set
you free. You see the consequence of not knowing
Christ is to remain in confusion and darkness
and hardness and for your life to be really messed
up in bondage. But you know the truth that sets
you free when you trust Christ. as your Lord
and Savior, have you trusted Him? Secondly, you
know the truth when you face hostility. When
you face hostility. You see, the world does not
harass those who join it in suppressing the truth.
But it will inevitably and eventually attack
those who proclaim the truth. The world rejected
Jesus and it will reject you if you walk in the
truth. Jesus said in John 17 verse 14, I have
given them your word and the world has hated
them. For they are not of the world any more
than I am of the world. Whenever you suffer ridicule,
in your classroom because you stand for truth?
Count that as a badge of courage and honor. It
is an honor to suffer shame in the world for
the sake of him who is the truth. If you're not
a part of the truth, the world is going to love
you to death. It's just gonna embrace you and
think you're the greatest thing since sliced
bread Because you're with the world you're of
the world But if you're a follower of Jesus Christ,
and you know the truth You're going to face hostility
in the world don't be afraid of it Jesus said
that we would but he said be of good cheer. I've
overcome the world Thirdly, you know the truth
when you practice holiness. Because you see the
truth of God's word will inevitably correct your
thinking and it will adjust your attitudes. It
will check your motives and so it will end up
changing your lifestyle. It will end up changing
your lifestyle. Paul said throw off the old patterns
of attitude and behavior. He said put on the
new. You know the truth when your life is changing,
little by little, to be more and more like Jesus.
Is that the direction of your life as you look
back over the last year? Do you see little changes
going on in the way you think and the way you
act that make you more like Jesus? The Apostle
John said, I have no greater joy than this, than
to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
Do you know that that's the greatest assurance
you can have of salvation, that you are walking
in the truth? None of us has arrived. None of
us is perfect. There are times we still fail
the Lord, but the bent of our lives, the journey
of our lives is in the direction of being more
and more like him. I want to conclude with this
little statement that you've seen on bumper stickers
or maybe you've used yourself. But it says, no
Christ, N -O, Christ, no peace. But no Christ,
K -N -O -W, Christ, no peace. Do you know peace
today? Do you have peace in your heart because
Jesus is your savior? and you're walking with
him as the Lord of your life and you're seeking
to align your life according to the truth. Let
me tell you, you're going to hear all kinds of
interference. There will be other signals sent
to you from within your own body, your own flesh,
and there will be signals from the devil and
signals from your peers who will seek to misdirect
you and lead you in a different direction. But
all you need to do is keep that GPS. centered
on God's truth. And you will pass through this
world and arrive in heaven. Let's pray. God,
we live in a world that is continually beaming
lies into our minds and into our hearts. Every
day we are bombarded with it in what we read
and what we watch. the things that we hear from
friends, even the thoughts of our own corrupt
natures. I pray that we will know the truth.
And then in a world that denies it even exists,
that we will know it exists, and we will have
it, we will own it, we will be in it, we will
walk in it, it will direct our lives. I pray
that may be true of every single one of us in
the sound of my voice this morning so that we
may live in this world to bring pleasure to you
and one day know beyond the shadow of a doubt
that when we leave this world, which we must,
that we will come home to the kingdom, to the
place where truth reigns on the throne. Amen.
We are now going to remember him who is the truth
and who spoke.