What Is Truth?
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Not long after we moved to Nigeria, some of our older boys at the time had a Tuesday afternoon Bible study. At that time these 10 or so boys were around 11 or 12 years old. And they would hold this Bible study outside around 5 o’clock at the land where the orphanage home is now. At the time the home wasn’t finished. So they would get together and the study was led by their uncle at the time. But each week for this Bible study, the uncle would have one of them bring the lesson. So as we got settled, I went down to sit in on the bIble study. Everyone is sitting on a plastic stool as the young man is sitting in the front at a plastic table and bringing the lesson.
Now in Nigeria, at A Place of Hope, we give multiple opportunities for our older kids to lead devotions. Not only does it help them ground themselves in the Word, but it help them be confident in their faith, and confident in standing up and speaking in front of people. And this is the way they normally approach in leading a devotion. They will read a verse or verses and they will begin to summarize what they have read. In doing this, they will say, “What this place is telling us is…” Then they will explain and give some sort of application.
So on that evening as I was sitting there on a plastic stool, the young man brought up the words of Jesus from John 8.
32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
He centered in on that verse. And as he looked up from the Bible, be began to explain. And he said… “What this place is telling us is that we should never lie. We should always tell the truth. And if we tell the truth, we will be free.”
With everything inside of me, sitting on that plastic stool, I am saying “that is NOT what this place is telling us.”
And in that one moment, after living on the African continent in Nigeria for one week, it was apparent that Karen and I were not only sent to care for the orphans and vulnerable children and to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, but also to lead these young men and women that God had entrusted us with, to fully understand TRUTH.
I invite you to turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of John. John 18. We are in the portion of John’s gospel where we see the death and resurrection of our Lord. But before Jesus was resurrected from the grave, before he was nailed to the cross, before he had to carry his cross through the streets of Jerusalem, and even before he was beaten and crowned with a crown of thorns and whipped almost to death… he stood before Pilate, the governor of the region, and John gives us an inside look to the conversation that occurred between Pilate and Jesus. There is a question that is asked, that still rings through the ages and must be answered by every living person.
Lets looks together at this intimate conversation between Jesus and Pilate.
33 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.
What is truth? Three simple words that everyone whoever draws a breath must answer.
Hours later, the truth was displayed as Jesus was suspended between heaven and earth.
Hours later, the truth would shed blood that would cover the sins of the world.
Hours later, the truth would breath his last breath and while the truth said, IT IS FINISHED, it was truly the beginning.
Because three days later, the truth conquered death and opened the door for true freedom.
When Pilate asked that question, WHAT IS TRUTH? Little did he know that TRUTH was right in front of him. Can you imagine what was going through the mind of Pilate when he heard later that day during a big storm that the huge, tall curtain in the Jewish temple had been big from top to bottom? Or what did you think was going through his mind when he heard that days later the tomb was opened and there was no body?
Because of God’s faithfulness, you and I have the ability see how God preserved the truth since the beginning of time. And we know the answer to that question…WHAT IS TRUTH? The answer is Jesus. The only truth that has mattered since sin entered the world was Jesus. He is the one that the Law and the Prophets were pointing to. He is the one that could bridge that gap between a sinful person like me and a perfect God. He is the one that gives life, even though our bodies are decaying. Jesus is the one…Jesus is the truth. And that changes everything!
What is truth. Jesus is truth. He even said…
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Most, and maybe all of you know and have experienced this life changing truth, through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Maybe your are counted among those who Jesus spoke of when he said, EVERYONE WHO IS OF THE TRUTH HEARS MY VOICE.
If that can be said of you, and you KNOW THE TRUTH THAT SETS YOU FREE, then this truth is the reason you are here tonight. Its the reason you open up the Scriptures and look to his Word. Its the reason you give to missions and pray for missionaries, and ultimately its the reason that you have hope.
When the world gets crazy, you have hope because you know the truth. When the job doesn’t work out or a relationship gets rocky, your grounded on the truth. Or when health problems arise, the foundation of the truth is what helps us not to lose hope in these temporary times.
This truth, when you accept it, when you believe in it, when you trust in it…changes you.
The events that surround the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, I believe show us three different attitudes towards truth from three different people. And these three attitudes of truth are still seen in the world today and moreover we see them displayed in Nigeria.
“I Don’t Care” Attitude Towards Truth
Look at verse 38 as Pilate asked Jesus, are you a King?
38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.
The author of truth was standing in front of him, and Pilates response seems to be I don’t care. Now John doesn’t explicitly tell us this, but look at Pilates response. He asks that question, then John shows us that he walks away. It seems to me, it really wasn’t a heartfelt question that Pilate wanted an answer for, it seems more like a rhetorical of dismissive statement, kind of like a shoulder raised and hands raised…WHAT IS TRUTH?
One of the problems in living in a sinful world is that many reject the fact that there is truth. That way of thinking is called relativism. It’s the idea that as a human being, I decide what truth is, for me. There are no moral absolutes. Your truth may be different than my truth, but you can’t put your truth on me. But the truth is… Truth is truth. Thats like saying that there are different interpretations to a Stop sign. Although, some of you may think does that really mean, fully stop? The very definition of truth suggests that there is no second way to look at whatever is being spoken as truth.
When Pilate, seemingly has this I DON’T CARE attitude, he is simply portraying the fact that HE determines the truth. He speaks REALITY. He decides WHAT IS RIGHT. And this is a dangerous path to go down.
The Bible speaks to this Proverbs 14:12.
There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.
Man determines the truth, the right way, but the Scripture states that when that happens, it will lead to death. Not death of old age or of the physical body, but eternal death. The death that really matters.
To base truth on our feelings and our desires is dangerous and misleading. That is not where truth comes from. The attitude of I Don’t Care about the truth of Jesus Christ leads to death, an eternal separation from God. Pilate had an I DON’T CARE ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE TRUTH. And when we go about our day, living our lives in that way
2. A Skewed Attitude Towards Truth
For this, I invite you to turn to Matthew’s writing on event. Matthew 26.
Jesus was now in front of Caiaphis and the Scribes. The Scribes were those who knew the Scriptures. Of all the Scripture that had been written up until this time, they were very well studied and read in them. They knew that the Scriptures had spoke of a coming Messiah…and they were even waiting for this Messiah… but they couldn’t see the truth.
In verse Matthew 26:63-65
But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy.
The High Priest and the Scribes had a skewed attitude towards the truth. Like Pilate. You see they were looking for the their version of the truth, placed with their timing and their situation. To them, the truth, the Messiah would be an earthly ruler that would come to help conquer their enemies. That’s the picture they had, so certainly, this could not be the truth. HE wasn’t wearing a crown, he wasn’t there to defeat the Romans and their rule. So what did they do. They skewed the truth. They tried to put the truth into their box. Making it fit their wants and their desires, all the while presenting it as something it wasn’t. They wanted to make this truth what they wanted it to be. They built their own narrative about the truth.
We see this in our world today, even within some of the churches. False teachers, pastors in the pulpit, and many across social media presenting a truth from the God and the Bible that is not the truth, but a skewed attitude towards the truth. Even in Nigeria, where the Prosperity Gospel is strong. Pastors who feed on their own wants and desires and manipulate their congregations with a skewed truth.
Over the years, we have heard many stories. A pastor once said, I cannot sin, I am God’s man. Another pastor once told the people of his church that their January salary should come to Him…not to God, not to the church, but to him personally. Because he was their overseer, he deserved the first part of their year.
Whether its here in America, or any pother place in the world, you don’t need to look hard to hear a skewed attitude towards the truth. Things spoken as TRUTH from someone who calls himself a man of God, but they are simply lies from the devil.
They will have to answer for that. But the saddest thing is that they are leading people in this direction, and many people are lining up and following. Many look to the words of a man that are not backed up by the words of Scripture, where we, and any can find real truth.
In Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible and this Chapter sits right in the middle of the Bible. we are reminded where we should find truth…
The sum of your word is truth,
and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.
If we want to know truth, the real truth, that is only found in the person and work of Jesus Christ, the search begins in the pages of his Word.
So in this event, we have seen two attitudes toward truth that are still present in our world today… an ‘I don’t care about the truth attitude’ and a ‘skewed attitude towards the truth.’ But thank God there is a third attitude… not from the High Priest or Scribes, not from Pilate, but from the Author of Truth.
3. A Hearing Attitude of the Truth
If you will, turn back to back to John Chapter 18.
Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”
When the truth is proclaimed, the concept of hearing is more than something that is simply an audible intake. There are countless people who have heard the preaching of the gospel, but are still lost, without a relationship with the truth, Jesus Christ.
But this idea that Jesus presents is that those who are OF the truth are those who have heard his voice. This word HEARETH or LISTENS also points to the Greek which gives us the meaning of “to yield obedience to the voice.”
To have a hearing attitude of the truth, is to yield obedience to the author of truth himself.
And here is the great news, we all, as believers have an audience of hearers in our lives. We have people around us every day who need the truth…the real truth.
Jesus Christ, God in the flesh came into this world to save us from our sin and bring us life eternal in him. One of my favorite passages written by Paul as he was speaking of the importance of going and sharing the gospel comes from Romans 10. And he gives us a picture of someone coming to faith.
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
That is someone who has discovered truth. They have heard the truth. The truth of Jesus and what he has done. And they have responded to the truth. But look at how God made that possible. Look at how God revealed the truth to the unbeliever. Verse 14.
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
Be a preacher, be a speaker of the truth, let someone hear you.
Romans 10:15
15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
Church. You are sent. You’re beautiful feet may never leave the borders of this country, but as a believer in Jesus Christ, you are sent to share the truth. That word in the original Greek (sent) means to go to a place appointed.
Your appointed place may be right here in this community. Be a truth teller here. But even as I look out and see appointees of the truth for this community, I can’t deny the impact you are making in this moment in Nigeria.
You see, Nigeria needs truth tellers. And that was evident to me in the lives of our children that night in that Bible Study.
That night, in that Bible study, there was a boy named Soemdat. He came to A Place of Hope and was introduced to the truth. He was taught the truth. And he listen to the voice of the truth that called his name.
Today, Soemdat, who finished his education, went onto Bible School in the capital, is our missionary in the northern region of Nigeria. Going back to where he came from and teaching the truth to children and adults there.
That only happens when churches like this one, and individuals like you, follow God’s command to take the Gospel, the truth to the ends of the earth.
Thank you for your obedience to our Savior, and continuing to help us fulfill God’s calling Nigeria to speak the truth.
