OPEN: A famous preacher once joked from the pulpit: “In English they teach us that 2 negatives make a positive statement (i.e = "there’s no way I’m not going to go"). So the way I figure it, if I know I’m lying, and God knows I’m lying – I gotta be telling the truth.”
APPLY: That strikes us as funny because we don’t think of truth as being flexible. Truth can’t be altered or amended. Truth - by its very nature - is consistent, reliable, bedrock – you don’t change “truth.”
Responding to a reporter who was badgering her, Margaret Thatcher once remarked: “Of course it’s the same old story. Truth usually is the same old story."
I. As simple as this idea may seem, there are people who literally work at undermining the belief in “absolute truth.”
ILLUS: When I went to Purdue University, I was introduced to the concept of “Moral Relativism.” Moral Relativism (for those of you not familiar with this idea) is the belief that truth is changeable… that it is “relative.” In other words, “What is true depends on your point of view. It is “relative” to your circumstances or your point of view.
A high school textbook “Inquiries in Sociology” declared "There are exceptions to almost all moral laws, depending on the situation. What is wrong in one instance may be right in another."
Illus: Supposedly, radio personality George V. Denny, Jr. had a ball he liked to display when the question of tolerance came up. Grasping the ball tightly in his hand, he would ask, "What color is it?"
The person questioned would take a quick look and answer, "Black."
Denny would then shake his head. "The part I see is white." He would give the ball a twirl to show the other half - white.
"We could never agree on the color of this ball," Denny would point out, "unless you knew my point of view and unless I realized you were looking at it from another point of view."
Now, that sounds reasonable when dealing with attitudes like tolerance and personal opinions. But if we use that standard when examining morality, we end up with no moral absolutes – no yardstick about what is right and wrong. All we’re left with is a flexible standard regarding what is morally acceptable. And with that new found flexibility, we can become adrift in a society whose principles are based upon what the most people agree to. That society becomes dominated by a “poll driven” morality.
II. Moral Relativism rejects the idea that there is “absolute truth”
In fact, those who reject absolute truth are ABSOLUTELY SURE there is no absolute truth. Some of the principles of “relativism” are:
“There are two sides to every question”
“There are exceptions to almost all moral laws,”
AND “No one has the right to say someone else’s activities are morally wrong”
You might say, Jeff, that’s well and good, but why tell us this?
Because we live in an age that is dominated by this philosophy: Back in July 94, Newsweek declared “Despite the call for virtue, we live in an age of moral relativism”
Over the past decade, several surveys have found that fully 3 out of every 4 Americans believe there are not moral absolutes. When they surveyed teenagers, it was the same ratio… (3 out of 4 teenagers) but then they also found that 4 out of 5 also claim that nobody can know for certain whether or not… they actually know what truth is.
This may help to explain why a majority of teenagers in that survey (57 %) said that lying was sometimes necessary - not merely convenient, common, understandable or acceptable, but necessary.
ILLUS: John Leo in U.S. News (7/21/97) quoted a professor Robert Simon of Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. as reporting that "10 to 20% of his students... acknowledged the Holocaust but couldn’t bring themselves to say that killing millions of people was wrong.... one student told Simon, ’Of course I dislike the Nazis, but who is to say they are morally wrong?’"
Leo went on to note "2 disturbing articles in the Chronicle of Higher Education say that some students are unwilling to oppose large moral horrors, including human sacrifice, ethnic cleansing, and slavery, because they think no one has the right to criticize the moral views of another group or culture."
III. How does this happen? How do people get to point where they reject absolute truth and embrace such absurdity…
* Partly because of rebellion. Daniel 8:12 states: “Because of rebellion… truth was thrown to the ground.”
* Partly because absolute truth gets in the way of what many people want to do with their lives. Jeremiah 7:28 declared “This is the nation that has not obeyed the LORD its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips.”
* Partly because people don’t want God or anyone else in charge of their lives. Paul wrote that there were those who had “a form of godliness but denying its power always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. 2 Timothy 3:6-7
* And lastly, rejection of “absolute” truth has happened because Satan is still ruler of this world. And Scripture tells us “Satan is a liar.” Jesus said (referring to Satan): “When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44b)
So, if this world is Satan’s domain – is it any wonder that so many people reject absolute truth
Is it any wonder, so many are in rebellion, rejecting God’s authority and wanting to live their lives on their own terms.
IV. Satan has always attempted to undermine truth
Here in Genesis 3 we see Satan in his best form and using 3 ways of attacking God’s truth
· he questions the truth
· he denies the truth
· AND he casts doubt on God (the source of absolute truth)
1st – he questions the truth
God told Adam and Eve - don’t eat of the fruit. It’ll kill you. You’ll die. And Adam and Eve took that as a “moral absolute.” God said it, they believed it and that settled it…
But then, Satan came for a visit. He started with a question: “Did God really say?…” (Gen. 3:1)
NOTICE – he uses the word “really???” I had a skeptic attempt to ambush me by asking “Do you REALLY believe in demons?” Behind this woman’s question was a host of logistical sidelines that I knew she’d attempt to take me down to discredit me.
Similarly, my wife Diana told of the time her astronomy teacher (an agnostic) asked her “Do you REALLY think that heaven is up and hell is down?”
Inherent in these questions was a subtle mocking – “You can’t REALLY be serious…”
What pleased me about Diana’s story was that she dealt with it the same way I did:
When asked if I believed in demons, I wasn’t sure how to respond. I sensed a trap, but I wasn’t clever enough to come up with an original answer, so I fell back to one of the most basic arguments. I replied “Well, the Bible says there are angels and that demons are fallen angels. So, yes, I guess I believe in demons.” My questioner was stopped in her tracks and didn’t attempt to argue about the matter anymore.
Likewise, when Diana was asked about location of heaven & hell she almost sheepishly admitted that her reply was simple: “The Bible says Jesus came down out of heaven, so heaven must be up. And the Bible tells me that Hell is down. I don’t know where that puts them exactly, but that’s where they must be.”
Now I don’t think either one of us was particularly clever in our responses, but I do believe they were the best answers we could have given. Satan stepped up and challenged our faith, and the Holy Spirit stepped in and gave us great answers.
And you know, that’s just how Jesus dealt with Satan in the desert. Satan challenged Jesus, attempting to get Him to deny the truth of His mission, and each time Jesus responded: “It is written.”
If it was good enough for Jesus, then I guess it should be good enough for us.
The only way to deal with skeptic, agnostics, atheists,and those who would challenge the faith is to appeal to God’s truth. If we do this, we will never have to apologize. Jesus said: God’s “Word (the Bible) is truth” (John 17:17). When challenged on what you believe… if you appeal to Scripture, you will never go wrong.
Remember, Satan’s 1st strategy was to attempted to question truth.
2ndly – Satan denied the truth (Genesis 3:4)
“You won’t surely die” he said, and thus tried to influence her by giving his opinion. Opinion is what lies at the heart of the relativistic ideal – morality by majority opinion. In our society, polls and surveys are regularly taken to determine what people accept as being right and wrong. It is so Democratic, so tolerant of other’s feelings & opinions. And yet majority morality can so often be used to defeat that which is actually right and true.
ILLUS: Story of preacher who was having a violent argument with his board. He was unwavering in his opposition to one of their decisions. Realizing they were getting no where with the preacher, the board called for a vote. The result: 12 to 1 against him (his being the only negative vote).
Nonetheless, the preacher was adamant and he prayed to God, “show these men that I’m right.”
Almost immediately, what had been a clear summer day outside the building turned immediately dark and a terrible storm ripped across the landscape.
The board observed this development with some discomfort, but told the preacher that while that did seem to be an answer to his prayer, it was not proof that God was against them.
So, the preacher prayed again and the ground shook beneath their feet, the windows rattled and the table and chairs moved across the floor. Again, the Board seemed shaken – there had never been an earthquake in that area before – but they still agreed, this didn’t prove anything.
Again, the preacher fell to his knees and fervently prayed – TELL THEM…I’m right!”
Lightning split the night, crashing thru the window, split the table in half and a voice thundered from heaven: “HE’S RIGHT”
The Board members picked themselves up off the floor, looked uneasily at each other, and then nodded to the chairman. The Chairman then sadly spoke: “It may be that God agrees with you – but you’re still outvoted = 12 to 2.”
Relativistic morality is a morality based upon majority opinion. It is a morality based upon what “seems right” to the most people. BUT God says: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof leads to… death.” (Proverbs 14:12 & 16:25)
The final argument Satan used – was to cast doubt on God.
Many people who become atheists do so because they feel that God has somehow disappointed them. Either life has turned against them or those who were Christians have fallen short or some other event has caused them to become angry with the idea that God could have done something different in their lives.
Since people who have become disillusioned feel that God has disappointed them, the only authority they feel they can trust is themselves. AND If God is taken out of the picture there is no final authority of what is right or wrong left - except themselves. And that’s exactly what Satan was attempting to convince Eve of in his last temptation. In Genesis 3:5 we read:
"For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Do you see what Satan is implying? God doesn’t want what is best for you… He’s jealous of you. He knows…you’ll be just like Him.
Now notice what happens next: Eve’s opinion became the standard of what was true.
· She saw the tree was good for food (I doubt she was hungry)
· Pleasing to her eyes (tho’ there were other fruit in Garden just as pleasing)
· AND desirable for obtaining wisdom (a wisdom God would deny her)
So she took of the fruit… and then as if to stick it in God’s eye – gives some to her husband.
CLOSE: How do we deal with this last challenge by Satan? We need to realize that even when life doesn’t turn out the way we want it to… God still cares… God still loves us… and God still wants to what is best for our lives.
As Romans 8:28 tells us "… all things work together for the good of those who love God, who have been called according to his purpose."
Notice this passage doesn’t say “all things are good” or “all things are from God.” WHAT IT DOES SAY IS “All things will work together for good…”
That is absolute truth… nothing else matters as long as we cling to that reality.
One day C. H. Spurgeon was walking through the English countryside with a friend. As they strolled along, the evangelist noticed a barn with a weather vane on its roof. At the top of the vane were these words: GOD IS LOVE.
Spurgeon remarked to his companion that he thought this was a rather inappropriate place for such a message. "Weather vanes are changeable," he said, "but God’s love is constant.”
"I don’t agree with you about those words, Charles," replied his friend. "You misunderstood the
meaning. That sign is indicating a truth: Regardless of which way the wind blows, God is love."
SERMONS IN THIS SERIES
Ants In The Sleeping Bag - John 4:4-4:42
The Rejection Of Truth - Genesis 3:1-3:10
The Search For Absolute Truth - John 18:33-18:38
