Good morning: “What is truth?” was the cynical question Pilate asked Jesus. The government official no doubt had personal experience with the politics of the Roman Empire and ways in which the truth was massaged, withheld, or twisted into whatever lie someone wanted to use to serve their own agenda. Could today be even worse? Who knows what truth is? Recently, social media platforms have become more aggressive in trying to spot and eliminate fake news and misleading statements. Fact checkers are constantly reviewing posts and blocking those which they determine are false. But who checks the fact checkers? How can we be sure of what is true? I think much of the time we first test what we hear against our own knowledge and common sense. Does it fit with our experience? Does it agree with our views? Is it reasonable? However, that’s not foolproof either. Sometimes our understanding is wrong, no matter how confident we are of it. What is truth? The writer of Psalm 119 says, “All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal” (Ps. 119:160). Jesus prayed, “Father...Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (Jn. 17:17). We have God’s guarantee that everything He tells us in the Bible is word-for-word true. We don’t have to rely on the assurance of others or our own reason. If God says so, it is so! When all the conflicting claims of truth become overwhelming or when some argue that the only truth is that there is no truth, go to the Truth which stands forever. It tells us that no matter how many say that there is no such thing as sin, it is real and it brings eternal death and punishment. Just as true is the message that God does not want anyone to perish, and so He sent His Son to give us His perfection and to take upon Himself our sin and punishment. Jesus promises, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (Jn. 8:31-32). With the Word we have the truth by which we can test everything else. We can evaluate the opinions of others to see whether they agree with the truth. We can look at lifestyles and rather than judge them on their popularity or their attractiveness to our sinful nature, we can measure them by the truth. Instead of deciding where we stand with God based on how we feel or on how good our life has been, we can rely on the truth: “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26). That’s the truth and always will be! Yours in Christ, Pastor Tomorrow’s service begins at 9 a.m.
