200416.ser
“What Is Truth?”
CLBC March 28, 2004 a.m.
Subject: Truth
Theme: Living in Truth
Passage: John 18:28 - 38
Text: John 18: 38
Do you hear the note of cynicism in Pilate’s question?
He has just asked Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 18:33, and Jesus has replied that “My kingdom is not of this world.” 18: 36. “Are you a king then?” asks Pilate and Jesus answers, “You say rightly that I am a king, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.”
I can almost see Pilate shake his head in a measure of despair. “What is truth?”
Poor Pilate, raised in a pagan society, where the Roman gods and the Greek gods were more like superhuman men, with all the same lusts and desires of human beings; and where Caesar claimed worship as a god;
- living in a day of many opposing philosophies;
- appointed a governor by ruthless Rome to whom might was right, and the empire must
be controlled by force;
- appointed to rule over the Jews with their strange and fanatical religion;
Yes, poor, Pilate - he was portrayed quite sympathetically in Gibson’s film but his life, his
background and his career had all combined to make him cynical about life, and unable to believe that there was such a thing as truth.
I have chosen to speak on Pilate’s question today, because it reflects so perfectly the spirit
of our age.
1. There is a terrible cynicism gripping our society today.
a. It is reflected in every newscast dealing with politics and government. Political leaders try to convey the impression that they are the ones who can be trusted, even when their history ties them into scandal and deceit. They try to convince us that they of all people are going to tell us the truth when their history is full of lies and coverups. And the people are justified in asking “What is truth?”
b. This cynicism is reflected in the lack of moral values in our society.
What does society tell us? Kids cannot be expected to remain pure and refuse to engage in sex until marriage. The stats tell us how many youth are engaging in sex by such and such an age, so therefore we must put condom machines in school washrooms, and prescribe birth control pills for the girls, even without their parents’ knowledge, because after all, we must protect them against aids and other diseases.
And of course, this will result in unwanted pregnancies, so therefore, we must provide publicly funded abortion clinics, and the people who are really in the wrong are those people who dare to suggest that life begins at conception, and that abortion takes a human life. What is truth?
And of course we must not speak about homosexuality, because if we speak about it, it shows that we are homophobic and involved in gay bashing. To protect this “alternate lifestyle”, we must add a clause to our criminal code so tha t we may guard against hate propaganda. Does the Bible say that this practice is wrong, in the same way that adultery and fornication and lying and stealing and murder is wrong?
What is truth?
I could go on and on, couldn’t I? Every moral value appears to be turned upside down and what is right is wrong and what is wrong is right and in it all, the world is asking in the most sceptical manner “What is truth?” But is it willing to receive the Bible’s answer to the question?
The Bible says in Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown [it] to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible [attributes] are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
Romans 1:24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen....28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy,murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.
Not a very nice statement of truth, is it?
The suggestion, of course is that there is no such thing as objective truth. Since the world has denied that there is a God, there is no possibility of objective truth. Since the world also denies that the Bible is God’s Word, there is no possibility of objective truth.
There was a time, when even though people did not act according to the Word of God, society still believed that it was the Word of God and that it contained a transcript of truth. Society still believed that the 10 Commandments were the basis for a just law.
But our culture has changed, hasn’t it?
2. Today, the only truth is whatever happens to be truth for you.
Your truth may be different from my truth, and that is quite alright, for I have no right to hold you to my standard of right and wrong.
After all, in a pluralistic society, what right do we have to believe that our view of reality
is any more reliable than that of other cultures and other religions? To believe that ours is right is to be unloving and unkind and intolerant toward others. Above all tolerance must reign supreme, and the only thing that our society is completely intolerant toward are those who claim to have a standard of right and wrong!
A humorous and yet tragic illustration of this was seen in the New York Times which has had to censure a reporter for fraudulent reporting and plagiarism. The Times said that “Mr. Blair violated the cardinal tenet of journalism which is simply truth.”
The problem is, as Charles Coulson pointed out, the Times does not believe that there is such a thing as truth and has been harsh on evangelicals and conservative Catholics for making truth claims or “moral absolutes.”
But now the Times found itself caught in its own web. One of their reporters has carried their own philosophy to its logical conclusion and they can’t live with it, because the absence of truth leads to chaos. They want their reporters to report only truth, but they don’t believe absolute truth exists.
3. This viewpoint has come into the Church
Now, if this were only the view of the world, that would be one thing, but this postmodern mind set has also come into the church. The downplaying of doctrine and objective thinking allows Christians to also believe that there are no absolutes. Evangelical churches are also removing anything that will make people feel uncomfortable, appealing to the emotions, and stressing love and unity above everything else.
I have heard an evangelical Christian leader telling us that unless we adapt our message to our culture we will be unable to reach the people in our culture. We must just tell the story, and love the people, he claimed, and that will reach our society. It appears that we must not tell people that thus is the absolute truth, because that is a real turnoff. This concerns me very deeply because my roots are in a denomination which decided 50 years ago that the Bible was not the Word of God, but only “contained” the Word of God. The first eleven chapters of the Bible were
only myth, and many of the fundamental doctrines such as the virgin birth of Christ, and His substitutionary death were no longer acceptable.
So, in the face of the question, “What is truth?” from our society, and the question, “What is truth?” from our churches, what are we to do?
Do you notice that Pilate asked the question “What is truth?” but he did not wait for an
answer. Immediately, he went out and said that he found no fault in Jesus. Now , wasn’t that courageous? But without any basis in truth, he had no defence against their repeated calls for the crucifixion of Jesus. Even though he repeatedly said that he found no basis for convicting Jesus of any crime, he still gave into their wishes and handed Jesus over to be crucified.
They say that if you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything, and that is true in Pilate’s
case.
In the end, it was not what was right, or true, which guided him. It was only what was expedient. It was only what was politically favourable. If he denied the request of the Jews, they
might complain to Caesar. “If you let this man go, you are not Caesar’s friend!”
So, he gave them a murderer in place of the Son of God, and delivered the Son of God to take the place of the murderer and the thief, and the pedofile, and the adulterer, and of you and me, on the cross.
4. So what is the answer to the question, “What is truth?”
The answer to his question was standing before him, bound and beaten unmercifully and unjustly. The answer to his question was able to look at him calmly out of loving eyes, as Jesus assured him that he could have no power against him except what was given to him from heaven.
The answer to the question was Jesus. John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
1 John 5:20 “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”
Does the world object? What else would we expect? The world’s objection was foretold long ago.
2 Thes. 2:9 “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
2 Peter 2:1 “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be
false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.”
Ours is not the first generation to embrace error. Listen to what God said to Israel thousands of years ago: Isaiah 59:14 “Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands afar off; For truth is fallen in the street, And equity cannot enter.15 So truth fails, And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the LORD saw [it], and it displeased Him That there was no justice.”
Jeremiah 9:5 “Everyone will deceive his neighbor, And will not speak the truth; They have taught their tongue to speak lies; They weary themselves to commit iniquity. 6 Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me," says the LORD.”
But whatever the world around us may say, we have the truth, the absolute truth.
John 8:32 "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
John 16:13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own [authority], but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
Eph. 4:14 “that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head——Christ”
Eph. 5:13 “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,”
Colossians 1:5 “because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as [it has] also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as [it is] also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth;”
2 Timothy 2:24 “And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”
Dear ones, we live in a cynical world. Canadians are cynical about politics, cynical about
moral values, cynical even about truth in religion, but in the midst of that cynicism, I call upon you
to stand firm in the truth of God’s Word, whatever the world around, may say.
Amen
