John 18:33-38 - 15th October 2023
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We’ve been exploring the attributes of God
And this morning / we’re looking at the truthfulness of God
In our passage we have an encounter between two men / Jesus and Pilate
We must not miss out on the sobriety / the gravity of this encounter
If you were standing there in the same room you might feel like fainting
You could cut the tension with a knife / Pilate is powerful
and he is also ruthless / two deadly traits when combined
and our Lord stands on the very edge of His earthly existence
But / even when his own life hangs on a thread
Jesus treats Pilate as a soul who needs light and truth
He is more concerned with Pilate’s destiny / than that of His own
He tries to lead Pilate to a spiritual plane
He talks of a kingdom that is not of this world
But Pilate understands only one thing
that his political kingdom not be challenged
He turns to Jesus and says: “So you’re a king!
If Jesus admits He’s the king / He could get Himself killed
He now has the chance to deny it / But He would not
He says to Pilate: “You rightly say that I am a king”
And He goes on to make this bold claim / He said:
“For this purpose I was born / and for this purpose
I have come into the world / to bear witness to the truth”
Pilate finds Jesus’ words baffling / They frighten him
He chooses to end the conversation And cynically he says
“What is truth?” and he walks away
without waiting for an answer
These words “What is truth” have echoed down the corridor of time
And they impact us today
This encounter foreshadows what we see today / Like Pilate our present
postmodernist culture is cynical and sceptical / of the truth
But losing truthfulness / is like having your lungs cave in
Everything else goes out with them
And so it is / that living in such a time as this
we’re literally watching our civilization
being dismantled right before our eyes
Here are just some of the frightening consequences we are reaping
* We see the breakdown of civility / * the decay of values
* the undermining of rationality
* Morality is now deemed to be merely a social construct
* The coalition of LGBTQs / feminists / abortionists and atheists
driven by an ideology that denies the truth
is fast gaining traction
* The traditional categories of gender have now been repudiated
They’re deemed to be an old fashioned
fascist / social construct
concocted by our patriarchal forefathers / for the purpose
of controlling society and dominating women
* The line between virtual reality
and actual reality / has been blurred
Deepfake technology / fueled by artificial intelligence
with its power of digital manipulation / is on the brink
of destroying the credibility of photographic truth
* The benchmark / by which we may gauge
what is true / and what is false / is fast disappearing
Good becomes evil / evil becomes good
Reality becomes fantasy / fantasy become reality
But all that stems from:
Truth becoming lies / and lies becoming truth
Perhaps Pilate’s question / What is truth
is best tackled / by first asking / what truth is not
Truth is not determined by us / we cannot make truth up
We can make up a lie / but we cannot make up truth
Truth can only be discovered / by searching / by making inquiries
In his classic book The Christian Mind / Harry Blamires says:
Truth is a revelation / not a construction
Truth is discovered by inquiry / not elected by majority vote
Truth is authoritative / not a matter of personal choice
So / what is truth?
The first church I served in / graciously gave me a sabbatical
to pursue a Master’s degree in Philosophy at Trinity in Chicago
My thesis was in an area of the philosophy called epistemology
tackling the question: “How do we know what we know?”
And right through the winter term / we would argue
from stem to stern turning over one theory of truth after another
But in short / one of the most basic theories of truth
is the Correspondence Theory of Truth
It simply argues / that truth
is whatever corresponds to reality
- an idea which corresponds to reality / is true
- an idea which does not correspond to reality / is false
If I say “Sam Whitelock is in this room”
and an empirical investigation cannot locate his presence
then my statement “Sam Whitelock in this room” is untrue
It fails to correspond to the actual objective state of affairs
If I say “I don’t speak a word of English” that statement is untrue
It is inherently disproven by my very act of expressing it
It’s self-stultifying
But if I should say 我一句英语都不会说 / then I might be truthful
if it was actually the case / that I don’t speak English
Truth is how things actually are / truth is reality / Consequently
if a statement is true / then it is indubitable / irrefutable
But / truth exists because God exists
If God didn’t exist / everything would be in a state of flux
nothing would be true
because all truth / is grounded in the Mind of God
A piece of knowledge is true
because in the mind of God / He postulates it to be so
It is in terms of God / that all truth is defined as true
All truth is predicated upon God “knowing” them to be true
Packer says / God’s words “are the index of reality:
they show us things / as they really are”
Thomas Watson puts it well: ”God is prima veritas
the pattern and prototype of truth
There is nothing true / but what is in God
or comes from God”
It shouldn’t surprise us then / to note that all three Persons in the Trinity
are marked by this attribute of truthfulness
First / God the Father is “the God of truth”
* Numbers tells us “God is not a man that He should lie” Num. 23:19
* Isaiah calls Him “the God of truth”/ Is 65:16
* The Psalmist says: The works of His hands are truth and justice
Ps. 111:7
* John says: “God is true” / Jn. 3:33
* writer of Hebrews affirms it is “impossible for God to lie” Heb 6:18
God / by His very nature / is true
There is nothing more contrary to God's nature than a lie
Secondly / God the Son is said to be “full of grace and truth” / Jn 1:14
He himself said "I am the way / the truth / and the life” / Jn 14:6
John says: “The law was given through Moses
Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” / John 1:17
Peter says “No deceit is found in His mouth” / 1 Pet 2:22
There is not a trace of cunning / treachery or craft in Him
In our text / Jesus Himself tells us
that the reason for His Incarnation
was to "bear witness to the truth"
Thirdly / God the Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of truth” / Jn 14:17; 15:26
John tells us that / when the Spirit of truth comes
he will guide you into all truth” John 16:13
And finally / the Scripture is called “the word of truth” / 2 Tim. 2:15
The psalmist says ““The sum of your word is truth” / Ps 119:160
John says “Sanctify them in the truth / Your word is truth” / 17:17
Scripture is truthful because scripture is God-breathed
The truthfulness of the text
reflects the truthfulness of its divine author
And God’s truth is not open to change / God’s truth is immutable
No day will ever come when a single line
in God’s word will be nullified
“The grass withers / the flower fades
but the word of our God / stands forever” / Is 40:8
Now / on the opposite side of the fence / we have one
who is the very embodiment of lies and deception
I am talking of the Devil
The serpent’s very first statement to Eve
in the garden was a lie about God:
"You will not surely die / God knows that when you eat of it
your eyes will be opened / and you will be like God” / Gen 3:4
But / perhaps no one has exposed Satan as a liar more than John
Speaking of the devil John says:
“He does not stand in the truth
because there is no truth in him
Whenever he lies / he speaks his native tongue
for he is a liar and the father of lies” / John 8:44
It should not surprise us that as we approach the end of the age
that the battle is fought / on the battleground of truth
The Bible predicted this a long time before
Paul says “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan
with all wicked deception for those who are perishing
because they refused to love the truth and so be saved
Therefore God sends them a strong delusion
so that they may believe what is false
in order that all may be condemned
who did not believe the truth . . . / 2 Thess 2:9-12
In the last days Satan will make a last-ditch effort
to get us to believe his lie
The present erosion of the truth-question validates this
The final battle will be fought / over the question of truth
The final battleground / will be the battleground of truth
In the light of God being a God of truth / how then shall we live?
Firstly / without a doubt / we ought to be truthful in our speech
* there ought to be no place
for duplicity / hypocrisy / or dishonesty
The Psalmist says: The godly man is
"he who speaks truth in his heart" / 15:2
Paul says “Put away falsehood
let each one of you speak the truth / Eph 4:25
Again in 2 Cor “We renounced disgraceful underhanded ways
We refuse to practise cunning / but by the open statement
of the truth / we commend ourselves
to everyone’s conscience” / 2 Cor 4:2
Secondly / not only are we to speak truthfully
we are to stand up / against lies and delusion
The Bible calls on us to prosecute unbelief
Peter tells us to stand up because the truth will be maligned
and people will exploit us with false words / 2 Pet 2:2,3
Scripture commands us to rebuke error / 2 Timothy 4:2
to speak up with authority / 2 Cor. 10:8-10
to have “boldness” in our speech / 2 Cor. 3:12
Both the Bible and church history / give us countless examples
of men and women who stood up / valiant for the truth
* Standing on the side of truth / Elijah denounced Ahab
for the murder of Naboth / saying: “In the place
where dogs licked the blood of Naboth
shall dogs lick your blood” / I King 21:19
* Standing on the side of truth
John the Baptist condemned King Herod
for divorcing his wife / and marrying his own niece Herodias
Church history gives us countless examples of people valiant for the truth
You think of old Ambrose / Bishop of Milan
Can you not imagine the picture with me
Here was this silvered-haired / spindly-legged / shaky old man
- standing out there at the gate of his church / in Milan
with nothing but the bishop’s staff / in his sinewy arm
- standing there each Sunday / blocking and barring the emperor
Emperor Theodosius / from entering the church
from taking Communion / because the emperor’s hands
were stained with the blood of the innocent
when he ordered a massacre of the rebels in Thessalonica
Now / with just one stroke of the Emperor’s sword / the old bishop
will be no more / but there he stood more like a lion than a lamb
Till in the end / after eight long gruelling months
the emperor capitulated
But supremely / we see this in our Lord Jesus
Forget the sentimental caricature of gentle Jesus meek and mild
Of course He was meek / of course He was mild
But He wasn’t slushy or flabby
He was piercing / pungent / unyielding / oftentimes caustic
He faced powerful temptations to succumb
But never once was he derailed
He cared for no man’s applause or approval
but only for the truth of His Father
He was unswerving / in His claim that He was the Son of God
unwavering / in His insistence that He spoke the truth
unflagging / in His zeal for His Father’s Kingdom
staunch / in His commitment to Scripture
unruffled / when He stood before Pilate
unshaken / before His executioners
In fact / He tells us not to be afraid of those
who can to kill your body but cannot touch your soul
The point is this
We’re not only to speak truthfully / we are to live truthfully
We are to live in / what may be called “habitual truthfulness”
Here’s an excerpt / from a sermon entitled But, If Not / preached by
Martin Luther King Jr at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta / Georgia
He said: “You may be 38 years old / as I happen to be
And one day some great opportunity stands before you
and calls upon you to stand up for some great principle
some great issue / some great cause
And you refuse to do it because you are afraid
You refuse to do it because you want to live longer
You’re afraid that you will lose your job
or you’re afraid that you will be criticised
or that you will lose your popularity
or you’re afraid that somebody will stab you
or shoot at you / or bomb your house
So you refuse to take the stand
Well you may go on and live until you are 90
but you’re just as dead at 38 / as you would be at 90
And the cessation of breathing in your life / is but
the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit
You died / when you refused to stand up for right
You died / when you refused to stand up for truth
You died / when you refused to stand up for justice”
Five months after this sermon was preached King was shot dead
In Mel Gibson’s Braveheart
William Wallace has a line that has inspired many
He said: “Every man dies / but not every man really lives”
There are a few reasons why we are not like that
One / because if you live a life of habitual truthfulness
it will sooner or later / put you on a collision course with the world
You’ll have to be contentious / antagonistic or combative
And you’re not sure if you want to do that
Two / In a world where strong convictions are frowned upon
sticking to one / will make you odd
But wasn’t it Flannery O'Conner / who so perceptive said:
“You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you odd”
Three / For many of you there is one significant person / maybe more
but there’s at least one significant person in your lives
whom you are afraid of disappointing
One simple example: There’s a post on social media you really like
a point of view / a position that sits well with you
But just as you’re about to click “like” / you hold back
Because you remember / your significant other wouldn’t like it
To find out who stifles truth-living in you / you need to ask yourself
“Who is this one person in my family / work / church
who is influential / who has strong opinions
with whom I am afraid to disagree?”
The Word warns us:
“The fear of man / brings a snare” / Prov 29:25
Once in a while you come across people who don’t mince the truth
there’s something about them / that makes you want to be them
- they have moral clarity
- they speak with incisiveness / they don’t equivocate
- they reveal a strength of character
- their integrity is intact / their character wholesome
I have seen some godly people / put on an awkward spot
with no prior warning / in front of many other people
and asked to respond / on some sensitive issues
And yet in those tight corners / they affirmed:
“No I don’t believe that’s right! / I don’t believe that for a moment
I categorically refute the idea that gender is a social construct”
Put on a spot like that
they didn’t waver / didn’t vacillate / didn’t stall for time
Not only did they know what to say
they had the courage to say it / as it is!!
The question is / How do they get there?
Now / I don’t believe / for a minute
that they came up with their answer
right there / on the spot / just like that
These are men and women / who / over the long years
have quietly been growing some deep personal convictions
- what they will affirm / what they will refute
British athlete Eric Liddle / went to France / to run in the 1924 Olympics
He was favoured to win the 100m sprint
But the minute he stepped off the boat
somebody ran up to him
and told him / that his race was to be run on Sunday
But running a race on Sunday was / to Liddle / unthinkable
Now we know very well from his biography what happened to him next
- He didn't sulk / he didn't whine
- he didn't share his hang-ups with 38 others athletes
in the locker room / No / You don't see any of that
The decision not to run on a Sunday / was already made
That decision had been made / years before
Jesus was Lord / of Liddle's life and that settled a lot of things
long before they ever came up
Did you think Daniel decided / right there / on the spot
that he will not touch the King’s royal food?
No / that decision was made / a long time ago
We get that from Daniel 1:8: “But Daniel resolved
not to defile himself with the royal food and wine”
To “resolve” is to commit / to devote oneself to a particular principle
And that / takes time
When Daniel was carried away into captivity
he took the teaching he’d heard from home / might’ve been
from Jeremiah / or Habakkuk or Zephaniah
And from them / he grew some deep convictions
Are you in the process of growing some deep personal convictions
You need to be growing them before any actual test / come on you
We started by looking at two men / Pilate and Jesus
As we now move into our homestretch / I want to bring them up again
Pilate had the most difficult job / it fell upon him / to decide
whether to acquit the Son of God / or have Him executed
He knew inside him / what he needed to do
but he had these pesky troublesome Jews to deal with
The Jews had the upper hand
They had the political trump card / and they played it well
They said: “If you let this man go
then you’re not Caesar's friend”
The moment they said that / they had him cornered
“Caesar's friend” / the friend of Caesar / Amacus Kesarai
the most coveted title in the entire Great Roman Empire
Now Pilate already had that title
But he held it tenuously / for already on two occasions
these contemptuous Jews have complained to Caesar
about his administration and Caesar had him watched
And Pilate doesn’t need another fallout with his superior
You see how clever the priests and the elders were / Because now
they’re starting to talk about his boss / about his job
and a man must have his job / a man must live !
Pilate is cornered!
He asks for a basin of water / and as he washes his hands
he keeps muttering to himself / “I hate to have to do this
but a man must live / a man must live”
And wiping his hands dry
he proceeds to pass the death sentence on Jesus
He knew what was right / but for expedience
he went against the verdict of his own conscience
he was far more concerned / with saving his own skin
than saving his own soul
Let’s take a look at the second man now / the man Jesus
If Pilate had a difficult job / Jesus had an impossible one
He was without deceit / or pretension
Yet He condescended to come down into this sick world
that had been smothered with the devil’s lies and deception
He tells us that He is the Way / the Truth and the Life
The three go together
The Way reveals the Truth / the Truth births Life
Jesus tells us / that our only hope / in life and death
is found on the truth of His Word
What He says about our destiny without Christ is true
His warnings are true
But so are His words about our deliverance
His blood is my peace
His righteousness is my freedom
His condemnation is my pardon
His truthfulness is my life and my salvation
All that is mine / because He cannot lie
When the end comes for us
even if we are fearful / anxious / or sorrowful
we have Someone truthful / on Whom we can trust
We have His truthful Word
as a source of strength and security
He has promised to never forsake you
He has covenanted Himself eternally to us
He will make good His word / because He is truthful
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