TOPIC:"What Ever Happened to Truth?"
by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap
TEXT:St. John 18:28-38
"Jesus answered...To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth, Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth?" (John 18:37, 38).
If I were to characterize the world in which we live I would say it is a world of skepticism, unbelief, relativism, and self indulgence. Man today is living without God and doing as he jolly-well pleases. This way of living by so many has literally obscured them to the reality and understanding of truth. They are no longer sensitive to truth and often not able to recognize it.
Look at Pilate, the Roman governor, as Jesus stands before him. In verse 38 he flippantly asked Jesus this question, "What is truth?" Though the Man of truth stood before him Pilate did not recognize it, or at least if he did, he chose to reject Him. And the same is true of many today. For amidst all of the philosophies being circulated at this time, we find that modern man has both neglected and rejected the source of all truth who is the unchangeable God that has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ and in His infallible Word - the Holy Bible - which contains all truth. And central to the message of the Bible is the assertion that God is truth.
The Word of God teaches the truth that God came in the flesh in the Person of Jesus Christ. And it was this Christ who declared: "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). In His high priestly prayer Jesus proclaimed: "Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy word is truth" (John 17:17). And this same Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as the "Spirit of truth" (John 16:13) who will "guide you into all truth" (John 16:13).
From this information we may conclude four important facts. God is truth. All truth is God's truth. There is no truth outside of God. The truth we need is found in God's Holy Word. Let us now return to the scene before us with Jesus on trial before Pilate.
I.
Consider, to begin with, the ABSENCE of truth as exhibited in Pilate's life. Notice again the question of Pilate in verse 38: "What is truth?" There stood Jesus before him whom the Apostle John described in chapter 1 verse 14 as being "full of grace and truth," and in verse 17: "Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." And yet, Pilate because of expediency, was not willing to deal with the truth, nor heed the truth. And that was his downfall. And it will be our downfall if we do not give respectful attention to this Man standing before Pilate.
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