What Is Truth? [Manuscript]
Barriers to Belief • Sermon • Submitted
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What Is Truth?
What Is Truth?
Read main passage:
Read main passage:
So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over 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 have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 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.” 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.
You’ll find that a lot of people today actually do have the same question: What is Truth? They’ll probably not word it like that, though. More commonly you’ll hear “Can we know what’s true?” or “Can we truly know God?” or “What makes one religion invalid and another valid?”
These are all questions that deal with Epistemology. So, yes, I dropped a big word, but before we move on we’re gonna take the time to define that and another big word I’ll be using later on. Go ahead and write these definitions down at the top of your notes so that you have them for reference.
Epistemology:
the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope. Epistemology is the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion.
Theology:
the study of the nature of God and religious belief.
So, to explain Epistemology, it has everything to do with how you can tell apart an opinion from a justified belief. An opinion from a JUSTIFIED BELIEF. So basically, Epistemology has to do with what is the truth and what the nature of truth is. Can I trust what I see? Can I trust my own senses? Frankly, though, there has to be one and only one truth, right?
For example (To volunteer sat in front row) What is your name? (They answer) So you’re name isn’t Bilbo? (They answer) How many uncles do you have? (They answer) So if I told you that you have 12 uncles, that would be false right? (They answer) (I thank the volunteer)
Now, our personal Epistemology directly affects our views on the world. If certain things aren’t true, then we can ignore them, right? Now, the unfortunate truth is that Truth itself does get ignored, and we’ll be exploring some of the reasons Why Truth Is Ignored.
says the following...
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
So the first point is that Truth Is Ignored if it’s not what they want
says the following...
We live in a world that has fallen in love with lying. It’s not just a recent thing. Throughout the history of man since their fall, mankind wants to hear only what they want. By nature, man is a liar and desire the lie over the truth. It’s why we see, time and time again, people that won’t even make a decision about what is true and decide to remain Agnostic. Yes, you do have plenty of people that do seek out these answers, but in speaking about the majority, they’d rather just say “it cannot be known” rather than seek out TRUTH.
Even those who have made a decision, like the Atheistic as well as those that practice religion, fall into wanting to hear only what lines up with their own beliefs. But frankly, they are stuck this way because it’s in their nature. Our own sinful states despise the truth and wish to have nothing to do with Yahweh, our God.
No, in
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
Next, Truth is ignored if it cannot be proven
Most people will lean towards the things that can be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt and claim that everything that cannot be proven cannot be true. But even these people tend to be hypocritical, for many will take the theoretical and call it fact to them. It does take faith to be an Atheist, but if you ask they’ll deny that it cannot be proven.
But if it cannot be proven, can’t it still be true?
Yes, by all means, yes, something not proven can be true. It’s why science holds theories so highly and try their darndest to either prove or disprove them.
This is where we take up one of those big words I mentioned at the beginning: Theology. My next point I want to make to y’all is that we, even though we have the truth of God before us in the Word He has provided to us, have to be careful with how we form our understanding of God, or our Theology. Here’s my main point for the sermon, so please pay attention to this: THEOLOGY CANNOT USE THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD.
Theology falls under an entirely different category of science from your traditional natural sciences. Now, Theology is a science by definition, for a science is simply a systematized knowledge. The subject matter of Theology cannot be observed, and it certainly can’t be subjected to experimental tests. The reason I say observations cannot go into our Theology is because the heart is deceitful. Our observations, our thoughts and our emotions, betray us and, more importantly, can be manipulated. The only way we can truly gain a systematic knowledge of God is through God Himself revealing who He is through a means by which cannot be corrupted by outside forces. I refer, of course, to the Word of God. His Word is a gift of truth that is unchanging. It’s our solid rock on which we build our understanding of God. We build both our Theology and our Epistemology off of this inerrant Book.
says
He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
Mankind cannot look at a lie about God and tell if it is or isn’t true just by himself, for his heart leads him astray. It takes God to deliver us from the lies of the world. The heart of man, as its default nature, is inclined against the truth of God.
says
The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
“I the Lord search the heart
and test the mind,
to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.”
If anyone tells you to “follow your heart”, please oh please be careful not to do this! Your own destruction would be inevitable.
I’ve got another passage to read, so turn your attention to God’s message in
Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.
Because all of these people made observation that Jesus was performing miracles, they followed Him. However, these people did not know Jesus. They saw Him perform miracles and then made up their own theology based on that. And Jesus knew. He knew what was in their hearts and knew that they had it wrong about who He is.
This is why, throughout the Bible, you see those who follow God from FAITH and not from “having proof” are the ones who are saved. Those who lean on God for understanding and not on their own understanding truly know God. And it’s through FAITH and FAITH ALONE that mankind knows God. It says in that those who TRULY worship God do so in Spirit and IN TRUTH.
So if we cannot understand God by our own means, how do we form this truth? This brings me into the Need for Divine Revelation. God has given us Himself as a gift in the form of the Holy Spirit to dwell within us and make known to us these things.
says
Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
and says
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
Brothers and sisters, if you find yourself today leaning on your own understanding, I implore you to lean into God instead. If you have the Holy Spirit within you, you can be assured you are saved. To those people, I urge you to lean into God Himself as you explore what He’s written in His word that you may understand these things. And to those here today that have not recieved the Spirit or do not have faith in what is True (as opposed to having faith in what they think is true), please come and talk to us and learn about what God really is like. We’ll have people in the Prayer Room, which is the room right behind the fireplace. Please feel free, if you have any questions, to head back there.
Band, come up.
To conclude, we, as God’s followers, live by faith. Yes, there is a truth and it can be known, but man cannot know God by their own means. If man tries to learn about God by themselves, they’ll find themselves stuck or, even worse, with a false faith or a false idea of God. However, anyone that does take the leap of faith will surly be blessed with knowledge of God that only He can give. God wants to dwell within you to reveal these things, but as a Holy God, He cannot dwell in unholy man. That’s why God gave Himself on the cross, that we may be made Holy and thus be able to receive the Holy Spirit.
With that being said, let’s pray together, family...