What is Truth?
 | |  | |  |
John 18:33-38 “ Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, "Are you
the king of the Jews?" "Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me?" "Am I
a Jew?" Pilate replied. "It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is
it you have done?" Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to
prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." "You are a king, then!"
said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and
for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."
"What is truth?" Pilate asked …”
There are two questions I want to address today.
What is truth? And, How do we handle the truth?
Truth is fact.
For example: If I say, “This country is falling apart.” That is my opinion. It is not a fact.
But if I say, “Crime is increasing. 50% of marriages end in divorce. Homosexuals are protesting.
Church attendance is declining.” Those are facts. That is truth that can be verified and proven.
Truth is indisputable. It is simply a factual statement of reality.
How do we handle truth?
Well, we need to tell the truth. We need to be honest in all of our dealings.
Col 3:9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices.
One of the Ten Commandments – the laws God gave to Moses – is “Thou shalt not lie.”
It means – do not be false – do not be deceitful.
Eph 4:25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we
are all members of one body.
When we read about God’s judgment, we find this:
Re 21:8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who
practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars— their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
This is the second death."
And then we are told about heaven, that…
Re 21:27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful,
but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
So, how honest do we have to be?
There is a balance with honesty and wisdom. We should be honest without being cruel and wise
without being deceitful.
For example – If my wife gets a new hairdo and asks me how it looks, I might want to be wise in how I
answer that question.
Now, if it looks like a dead rabbit on top of her head, I might want to be honest and say, “You know, I
don’t think that is the best hairdo for you.” Or, I could be brutally honest and say, “It looks like you
have a dead rabbit on your head.” That might be the wisest thing to say.
Or, I could be deceitful and say, “Oh, that looks great.” Which might be good for me, but she will be
embarrassed with that dead rabbit on her head.
Now, let’s talk about spiritual truth.
Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
(Joh 14:6)
In essence, Jesus is the truth. He is the true purpose of life; He is the true Savior of mankind; He is
the true Lord of creation.
The Bible says that all things were made by him and for him. If you are serving any other master, you
are living in deception. If you worship any other lord, you are violating the truth.
Jesus said, “I am the way…” He is he way to God.
He said, “I am the … truth…” He is the source of all truth.
He said, “I am … the life.” He is the central focus of all life. He is the reason I live.
He is the reason because He is the one who gave me life.
And He is the reason because my life’s purpose is to serve Him.
Jesus said:
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
There are two aspects of this I would like to point out. First, in the realm of our everyday lives, if you
tell the truth, you don’t have to try to remember what you told. We sometimes tell a lie, and then
try to remember what we said so we can keep telling the same lie in order to look truthful.
Telling the truth brings freedom from that kind of pressure.
But most importantly, the truth about Jesus sets us free from the deception of the devil. Spiritual
deception robs you of life and keeps you in darkness and bondage to sin. The truth – the knowledge of
salvation through Jesus Christ – sets us from the bondage of sin and darkness.
1Jo 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is
no darkness at all.
1Jo 1:6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the
truth.
1Jo 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the
blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
1Jo 1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
1Jo 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness.
1Jo 1:10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in
our lives.
the king of the Jews?" "Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me?" "Am I
a Jew?" Pilate replied. "It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is
it you have done?" Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to
prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." "You are a king, then!"
said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and
for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."
"What is truth?" Pilate asked …”
There are two questions I want to address today.
What is truth? And, How do we handle the truth?
Truth is fact.
For example: If I say, “This country is falling apart.” That is my opinion. It is not a fact.
But if I say, “Crime is increasing. 50% of marriages end in divorce. Homosexuals are protesting.
Church attendance is declining.” Those are facts. That is truth that can be verified and proven.
Truth is indisputable. It is simply a factual statement of reality.
How do we handle truth?
Well, we need to tell the truth. We need to be honest in all of our dealings.
Col 3:9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices.
One of the Ten Commandments – the laws God gave to Moses – is “Thou shalt not lie.”
It means – do not be false – do not be deceitful.
Eph 4:25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we
are all members of one body.
When we read about God’s judgment, we find this:
Re 21:8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who
practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars— their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
This is the second death."
And then we are told about heaven, that…
Re 21:27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful,
but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
So, how honest do we have to be?
There is a balance with honesty and wisdom. We should be honest without being cruel and wise
without being deceitful.
For example – If my wife gets a new hairdo and asks me how it looks, I might want to be wise in how I
answer that question.
Now, if it looks like a dead rabbit on top of her head, I might want to be honest and say, “You know, I
don’t think that is the best hairdo for you.” Or, I could be brutally honest and say, “It looks like you
have a dead rabbit on your head.” That might be the wisest thing to say.
Or, I could be deceitful and say, “Oh, that looks great.” Which might be good for me, but she will be
embarrassed with that dead rabbit on her head.
Now, let’s talk about spiritual truth.
Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
(Joh 14:6)
In essence, Jesus is the truth. He is the true purpose of life; He is the true Savior of mankind; He is
the true Lord of creation.
The Bible says that all things were made by him and for him. If you are serving any other master, you
are living in deception. If you worship any other lord, you are violating the truth.
Jesus said, “I am the way…” He is he way to God.
He said, “I am the … truth…” He is the source of all truth.
He said, “I am … the life.” He is the central focus of all life. He is the reason I live.
He is the reason because He is the one who gave me life.
And He is the reason because my life’s purpose is to serve Him.
Jesus said:
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
There are two aspects of this I would like to point out. First, in the realm of our everyday lives, if you
tell the truth, you don’t have to try to remember what you told. We sometimes tell a lie, and then
try to remember what we said so we can keep telling the same lie in order to look truthful.
Telling the truth brings freedom from that kind of pressure.
But most importantly, the truth about Jesus sets us free from the deception of the devil. Spiritual
deception robs you of life and keeps you in darkness and bondage to sin. The truth – the knowledge of
salvation through Jesus Christ – sets us from the bondage of sin and darkness.
1Jo 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is
no darkness at all.
1Jo 1:6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the
truth.
1Jo 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the
blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
1Jo 1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
1Jo 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness.
1Jo 1:10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in
our lives.