What is truth

Intro

Kid’s church up front

If you have your Bibles please turn to

John 18:33–38 (NKJV)

Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”

Jesus answered him, “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?”

Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?”

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”

Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”

Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, 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.”

Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all.”

Kid’s Intro — explain the scene to them

How many of you like to eat taquis? They may be the most popular chip/snack food right now for those of you that do not know about them. they are a spicy chip type of thing .

How many of your friends do you think taquis?

You are probably wondering to yourself, what do taquis have to do with Jesus?

We are going to get to that part. Now here is an interesting exercise, so we have established that you like taquis. Now I want you to stand up and look around at all the people that are here today. It is quite a few people that have joined us in worship today.

What if every person in this church said that taquis weren't good. Would that change your mind? Would you think about whether you like them or not?

Now Pilate has a choice, in these verses because he is the guy in charge. and he tries to let Jesus guy a few times. He finds nothing wrong with what Jesus was doing. The problem was the crowd outside his doors though. The crowd wanted Jesus sent to the cross. So eventually Pilate caves to the crowd and he sends Jesus to the cross. So it is important to remember to listen to God and listen to people you trust and not the crowds. Did you know that Pilate's wife tried to warn him to not have anything to do with Jesus's crucifixion. So as you get older you will see that it isn't always about chips but we need to have our own minds and listen to God

hand out taquis

Introduction

This always been an interesting part of scripture for me because it is a fulfillment of prophecy but I believe that God knew that no matter who was the governor of Judah that he would send Jesus to the cross because he would buckle under the pressure of those outside his doors. He would cave to the crowd calling for Jesus and saying he is a heretic. Pilate asks “What is truth?” The truth was standing right in front of him. Pilate sent the truth to be beaten and whipped. He sent the truth to the cross to die.

Pilate is first and foremost a politician. The truth he cares about , is the truth that gets him to the next promotion and definitely gets him out of the desert.

Since Pilate people have been asking “What is truth?” Usually those who are the loudest seem to get the most press. People have been trying to change the Gospel for all kinds of reasons. They have been doing it since before Jesus went to the cross. They called him a servant of the devil, they called him a drunkard, glutten. Then after His resecurrection people have been trying to change the doctrine of the Gospel.

The Judaizers would come behind Paul as he preaced across the empire and changed, and added to what he taught.

It is not a new thing to “modernize" the Bible. It is new to attempt to make changes. There is truth and then there is opinion. Those are the two options we've been given in this world. Jesus stands before Pilate as the truth but the opinion outside those doors is that he needs to die.

In our time, the truth is right here in the bible. the truth sits on our tables and book shelves, it can even be on our phones. The ease upon which we can access God's truth has never been easier. Yet Outside those doors people will tell you all kinds of things about the Bible. There are some things in this world that are black and white, that are right and wrong. The Bible is the word of God, every single word. It is honestly that simple. It is the truth. Now we as belivers must make a decision, are we going to be bold for Jesus, are we going to stand for truth. Or will we simply go with the crowd.

So let us look at what Jesus says to Pilate

John 18:36 (NKJV)

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”

Which kingdom would you rather be a part of ? The kingdom of Jesus were the truth reigns?

Or the kingdom of the world where flash in the pan issues and anger and sin reigns ?

Jesus doesn't fight, he could have. But His kingdom is not of this world. Thus the kingdom that we serve is not of this world. We serve a mighty and powerful God. Yet an invisible God. While we will see Him one day, that day is not now. God passed by Moses once

Exodus 33:20–23 (NKJV)

But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” And the Lord said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”

God's glory is so great that man simply cannot handle it. The closest anyone has gotten is His back. Can you imagine being up on mount zion and seeing God pass by you. Everything that Moses had through, from the exodus to leading the people and dealing with everything that came with it. I have to think that for that one moment, all of that had no comparison to seeing God pass by.

Jesus tells Pilate that his purpose was to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears His voice. His voice is the only voice that matters. Not 24 hour news services, not so called experts that would rather pander to the crowds than to stand for what is right. The truth of Jesus Christ, is the truth of the world, it is the truth that matters to your life and mine. But standing for this truth will not be easy, but it never has been easy.

John 15:18–20 (NKJV)

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

Tough times have been around for Bible believing for Christians for a long time, since Jesus. Tough times are here for us but we shouldn't have a woe is me type of attitude but one of forgiveness and one of gratitude that we can help people with the truth.

John 16:13 (NKJV)

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.

The spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit leads us to do not despair but rejoice that the Father has sent us a guide to help us. We are to testify about Jesus and be bold Christians, So in closing, I jotted down just a few spots where I think we can help

1. People suffering with addiction, particularly men are dying every day from overdoeses. It is the number one killer of men right now. We know that Jesus heals mind body and soul

2. Loneliness: We are the most connected generation of people and the most lonely. Guess what cures that? Fellowship and the body of Christ. Invite people to church, invite people to small groups or women's tea or men's breakfast or stay after for the coffee fellowship

3. The next generation: Whether it is a toddler or a teenager , please find someway to be involved with the next generation. With the breakdown of the family, with the breakdown of what is allowed in schools and the breakdown of parenting there are whole generation of kids that need strong role models, especially strong Christian role models. I love to coach Rowan's teams, it gives me the chance to spend time with him but equally important, I get to spend time with other kids that I wouldn't get to meet and I can teach them things that are bigger than just the game we are playing. There are all kinds of ways to get involved.

4. The lost

Let us pray