The Whole Truth

What is truth? Where do you find truth? What I believe, is it really truth? What is the truth about life and reality? What is the bottom line truth concerning right and wrong? Since the beginning of time, endless philosophies and world views have their take on, what is absolute truth. The skepticism of the 21st century, post-modernism, rejects the notion of ultimate truth and that truth even exists. They content that if there possibly is truth, you can't even know it. And they believe that truth is only because of society, or because of a certain culture. But the Bible teaches that there is absolute truth for all people, for all cultures and for all ages. Truth brings about spiritual freedom. Sin brings emptiness and a great bondage.

There is such a thing as Truth, and if you receive Truth (John 14:6), you can know true freedom.

* Reality of Truth - John 8:32
There is such a thing as truth.  *John 18:38* What is truth? There is a war going on in our day over this idea of truth. Is there such a thing as truth? Can you know what it is? The reason for this war: if you can deny the reality of truth, then you can deny the existence and the reality of God. One of the fundamental questions of life: When dealing with truth, where does truth reside. Does truth reside in man, and man decides that, or does truth reside in God, and does God determine Truth?

You must either start with man, or you start with God; they both can't decide what is truth. Now understand, truth exists if no one knows it, truth exists if no one admits it, truth exists if no one agrees with it, truth exists if no one follows it, truth doesn't need our help to exist, and if everyone in the world is skeptical of truth, truth still exists.

How do you know what is truth? Romans 3:4 gives us the answer. Let God be true and every man a liar. When it comes to truth, my opinion doesn't matter, and your opinion doesn't matter, Hollywood's opinion doesn't matter, the secular news media doesn't matter, culture's opinion doesn't matter, our peer's opinions doesn't matter, when it comes to truth, only God's opinion matters.  Truth is a Person (John 14:6).

Jesus told Pilate, the whole reason He was born and came into the world was to bear witness to the truth. Jesus said, the whole reason I came was so the world could know truth. Right and wrong can only be determined by one thing, truth. Behavior is determined by belief, therefore, when truth goes out the window, so does morality and so does justice. Now think about it, if you are ever called to testify before a court of law. When you go to give your testimony, you are asked to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Why do they ask you to do that? Because without truth, there can be no justice, because justice is based upon truth.

When there is no truth, everyone is right. And when there is no basis for truth, everyone is wrong. In one single statement, Christ Jesus tells us about truth. Jesus says in John 14:6; I am the way, the truth,
and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. You must know the truth about truth before you die. The reality of truth says this: there is truth, and all truth comes from God.

* The Reception to Truth - John 8:32  And ye shall know the truth.
Now rest assured, there is a thing as absolute truth, but not only is there truth. Not only is there truth, but you can know what that truth is. Now there's a school of thought, if there is such a thing as truth, you can't know what it is. Think about it, what good is truth, if you can't know it. Think about that statement: If there is truth, you can't know it. That is a truth in and of itself. So, how do you know that truth is right, that you can't know truth.

You see, God has not only given us truth, He has given us the ability to know truth. But understand, for knowledge and truth to mean anything, it must be anchored in something you can trust, and that anchor is God. The anchor is not philosophical argumentation. The anchor is not proper use of logic. The anchor of truth is not the imagination of man. The anchor for truth is in Jesus Christ Himself, the living God. Truth is not a set of rules to be obeyed, truth is not some mystery to which we are to discover, truth is not some evidence that we master, absolute truth is found in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Truth, you see, truth is not a something, truth is a Someone. All truth comes from God and it does not come by reason, by experience, or by tradition. Now understand that God is eternal and because God is eternal, truth is eternal. See Psalms 100:5 His truth endureth to all generations.

Truth never becomes obselete. What was truth a million years ago will be true a millions years from now. Truth may be tampered with, it may be tinkered with, it may be redecorated, it may be  camouflaged, but truth will never changed. Do you want to know truth today? Then get to know God, because all truth comes from God. But understand what's going in this world today, in our culture, there is a war going on over truth.  But don't be confused, the battle is not really over truth, the battle is over the existence of God.

You see, the world says there are no absolutes, if that is true, then there is no God, because God is the ultimate absolute. To reject absolutes, is to reject the Supreme Absolute which is God. You say, Why is this battle for truth so dangerous? What's the big deal about this war? When you take away God and you take away His word, you take away the only objective basis for morality, for holiness, for right and wrong, and for purity. If you remove God and the Bible, right and wrong become a matter of personal opinion. Listen, truth is a big deal, trust does matter.

The musical note "A" was the same 1,000 years ago and it will be same 1,000 years from now. "A" will always be the same in music. This is an absolute.

Listen, truth may be out of fashion, truth may be out of favor, truth may be out of friends, but truth is never out of date. Truth is eternal. You can know truth.

* The Reward for Truth. "The truth shall make you free."  
Truth is not just for the head, it is for the heart. The whole person Jesus came into this world is so we can now true freedom from sin. You may be held captive by sin right now. You're in bondage to lust or alcohol or bitterness. You may be controlled by jealousy or locked in the jail cell of greed or anger. There is one key that will unlock the chains, that is truth, that is Jesus Christ Himself. You don't have to be controlled by anything but the Holy Spirit. Christ is answer to every bondage as you have. If you have never received Christ as your Savior, you are held captive by your sin, and on your way to hell. Christ came so you could have freedom over bitterness, lust, and greed. Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. This is a definite promise, not maybe, or we hope.

Why does a man need freedom? (See John 8:34) the servant of sin...  American is a society that thinks I can do what I want, with whoever I want, whenever I want. You can't tell me what to do. You are
infringing on my freedom. True freedom means that you are no longer a slave to sinful impulses, not mastered by your feelings, not a servant to sin. Truth frees you from sin. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body. You don't have to be trapped in sin. Rom 6:13 Free from guilt, death, power of sin, consequences of sin. John 8:36 free indeed What sins are keeping you in bondage? Freedom is found in Christ. You can't free yourself, but Christ can. Truth produces freedom; lies produce slavery.

John 8:32, 36 make you free (liberated, life of bondage is behind) Free indeed (totally free)

* The Reality of Truth - there is truth
* The Reception of Truth - you can know the truth
* The Reward of Truth - truth brings freedom

Fourthly, * The Rejection of Truth - John 8:33-35 
They were in denial... When you are confronted with truth, you must make a decision? Will you receive it or will you reject it? Will you embrace it, or will you turn your back on truth? If you deny, or argue, or debate with truth, you will not find freedom. Truth is truth. If we like it or we don't like it, if we accept it or if we reject it, truth is and always will be truth. Sadly, in the American society, truth has
been silenced by the muzzle of "tolerance." From the first grade classroom to the PhD classroom, 'tolerance' is the buzzword. What tolerance means, is that truth is not absolute.

The world says that, 'tolerance' is the key, and truth is not absolute. But that's not true in the chemical laboratory, water is composed of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen. The slightest deviation from that formula is absolutely forbidden. Tolerance is not accepted in music, in mathematics, or in physics. No truth is truth. And when it comes down to morality, when it comes down to righteousness, when it comes down to heaven and hell, the key word for life is not 'tolerance,' the key word is TRUTH.

What is truth? God is truth. God's way is the right way. To not to believe in truth is very simply to believe a lie. It's not just an error, not just a mistake, it is to actively believe in a lie.

See John 8:44 obeyed not in the truth...no truth in him...
In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were created to believe God, simply to trust God, to trust and believe truth. Satan came and tempted Eve, but listen, the temptation was not about food, it was not about trees, it was not about freedom, the temptation was all about truth. The issue in question was "Is God's way really the right way?" In Genesis 3:1, Satan said, "Yea, hath God said?" He was asking Eve this, "Can you really trust what God says?" Sadly, Adam and Eve rejected truth, and they suffered the consequences the rest of their lives. Will you choose to live a life of blessing and freedom, or a life of sin and bondage? Cain chose sin, he thought he could do it his own way, he rejected God's way of truth, and he lived the rest of his life in bondage.

Truth is all that matters, and God's way is Truth. When you live life your own way and sin against God, there will be bondage and misery. The devil is tempting you, the devil is deceiving and fighting with you, saying, "You can do it your own way!" But the fact is, your way is not the right way, and Hollywood's way is not the right way, and what culture says is not the right way. There is one right way and that is truth, and that is God's way. It is found in God's words and in Christ Jesus.

You can be free from the guilt of yesterday, the shame of today, and the fear of the future, by trusting to the Truth, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself today.  Please come to Jesus today, and accept His way free salvation through faith in His atoning blood as the Truth, the only way.  Genuinely fix your faith in God manifest in the flesh and His Precious Blood.