Skip to content Reality Check: Is There Absolute Truth? Oct 30 · 29 min ...more
Reality Check: Is There Absolute Truth?
October 30, 2024 · 29 min
Pastor John Mark delivers a powerful message about the existence of absolute truth amidst a culture increasingly rejecting it.
Series "Pastor Talks" with John Mark Caton October 30, 2024 · 29 min · "Pastor Talks" with John Mark Caton
Pastor John Mark delivers a powerful message about the existence of absolute truth amidst a culture increasingly rejecting it. ...more Show the full description Show less Pastor John Mark delivers a powerful message about the existence of absolute truth amidst a culture increasingly rejecting it.
Series "Pastor Talks" with John Mark Caton Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Support this leader
Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Give
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
101K followers
John Mark is the Senior Pastor of the thriving Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen, Texas, where he has served since 1995.
101K followers
0:00 Well, amen. You glad you're in God's house today? Give God a hand. I heard Greg talk about how many were gonna be baptized at the end of this service. 32 people will be baptized0:11 between 8 39 30, and 11. Give God a hand for that. Well, come today to our last sermon, our last message, teaching message in the middle of this series that we've been in0:23 for the last couple of months entitled Reality Check, where we've been taking current issues of the day, topics of the day, and we've been comparing them to what scripture says they should be like and noticing how they0:35 actually are. Over the last couple of weeks we've talked about, man what's the biblical idea of marriage, we talked about salvation by faith, Do we have eternal security? We looked at the issue of0:46 election. We looked at politics. We talked about the government. A couple of weeks ago we talked about the heart. And today I wanna talk to you about this idea. Is there such a thing as absolute0:58 truth? How many of you know in our culture today, society today, a lot of people say, well, you know there's no such thing as absolute truth. And so today I wanted to address that. You may have remembered this a number1:09 of years ago, it was a great movie. Billy Graham Association put it out, it's called A Few Good Men. How many remember this? Jack Nicholson was involved, you remember him on the stand and they1:21 said what do you want? And they said we just want the truth. Remember he said, you can't handle the truth. We live in a culture today that can't handle the truth. Here1:33 here is the truth. Whether you can handle it or not, truth is true regardless of whether you can stomach stomach it or not. It's just1:45 truth. And so as we think about our journey forward and moving forward today, I wanna talk to you about what is truth and how how important truth actually1:56 is. And we just live in a culture that wants to reject anything that is truth and and if it hurts a little we definitely get rid of that. Notice what scripture says.2:08 First John chapter 3 verse 18 says, dear children, let us not love with words or speech only. So listen, we wanna say and tell2:20 people and tell culture that we love them. But it says, but with actions and in truth. So notice that. How do we love people? With our words, with our actions, and with2:32 our truth. So the 1 thing we don't wanna do is compromise truth because it hurts. Man, I don't know about you, but man, the more I read scripture day by day, I read a proverb2:44 a day and there are times after your as your pastor for all these years, I will read a proverb and it'll talk about the tongue and it'll just slay me. How many of you ever done that? I'm like, I'm not reading that verse2:55 again. Right? Or it'll talk about how to treat this person or that person or what kind of friends you need to have and you're like, oh, that hurts. We live in a culture that says we wanna doubt3:07 everything, it's called the postmodern society. That they wanna reject anything that is truth and they wanna establish or rewrite a new truth. Here is3:18 the truth when it comes to these topics we've been talking about. I've been trying to take a topic and share biblical truth. Man, here's what we need to remember and I've said this all through this series,3:29 if if everybody in the world is talking about a topic, the media, anyone and everyone on social media, they're talking about an issue or a topic of the day, the3:41 election or or some other, immoral issue, and everybody talks about it. But the church is quiet. Says 1 of 2 things, either we are3:52 afraid or we've got nothing to say. And church, I want you to know we should never be fearful because God did not give us a spirit of fear or timidity. How many of us under4:04 that? But of power and love and discipline. But we also need to communicate not only to this generation, but to the next generation is that we have something to say.4:16 As you think about today, we live in this post modern world, you'll hear a lot of things like, well, they'll they'll just make an objective statement, something like there is no absolute truth. How many of you have heard4:27 that statement? You say pastor, how do you respond when someone just says there is no absolute truth? Here here's how you respond. Write it down. Just say, well is that true? Because if4:39 that's true, there's at least 1 absolute truth. And if there's at least 1, there can certainly be more. Right? Or or other people will say this, well you really can't know the truth. How many you4:51 ever heard that? You say, then, if you can't really know the truth then how can you know that's true? So many of these statements they make are self defeating and I want you to know when it comes to Christianity,5:03 when we're told to doubt everything, that Christianity is a bunch of truth claims. Do we understand that? They're not up for debate. It's either true or it's false.5:15 Go to the very first verse of the very first book of the Bible. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. That is a truth claim. Right? It either5:27 happened or it didn't. We're told in the New Testament that Jesus died, was buried, rose again the third day. That is a truth claim. Do we understand that? Right?5:39 It either happened or it didn't. And whether you believe it happened or not, does it change the facts? See a lot of times people say, you know, now that you believe it that's5:51 good for you, so it means it happened for you. No, no, no, no, that's not true. See, believing something is true doesn't change whether it's true or not. Do we understand that? If someone in here, let's say all of a6:02 sudden, you just doubted gravity, would you float away? No, because gravity's a thing. Right? So I want you to know whether you6:14 believe in something or not doesn't determine whether it's true or not. Other people will say something like this, you probably heard this 1 over and over. Well, you know that might be true for you, but it's6:26 not true for me. How many have ever heard that? Wait. Truth is true for everyone everywhere. It just is.6:39 Just just go apply that statement. Next time someone says well that may be true for you but it's just not true for me. Just walk them down that street. Let let's say that I walked into the bank tomorrow and we're fixing6:50 to go out of town for a couple of days, so I walked up to the teller and I said, hey, I'd like to we're gonna travel a little bit, I'd some carrying cash, so I'd like to withdraw 100000 dollars in cash. I mean, that's7:01 just the way I roll folks. And and they the teller pulls up the account says, I'm I'm sorry pastor, you've got 11 dollars and 12 cents in your account.7:14 And I'm gonna step back and say, well that might be true for you, but that's not true for me. You you go to the office tomorrow. You go 45 through a 20, and and and and and a7:26 police officer pulls you over, and they go, hey, we clocked you doing 45 in a 20. How far is it gonna go? Say, that might be true for you, but that's not true for me. He goes, well, I've got a7:38 slip that shows you the truth that you were going 45. So listen, next time someone says, that's true for you, but it's not true for me, just play that out. Next time someone says there is no absolute truth, ask, is that7:50 true? Because if that is 1 absolute truth, there's 1. Right? How many more can there be? So folks, we need to stand up and understand that part of our call is to resist this8:02 culture. We have to also understand that Satan wants this culture to do this, to reject any idea of truth and wants us8:14 to compromise with culture. So folks we are in a battle. So I did this series whether you liked all the messages or not we were in a battle for8:26 the truth. Remember what Paul said in Ephesians chapter 6 about our battle? Let's read it. He says, stand firm then with the belt of8:37 what? Kind of an odd way to start. You may not have ever noticed that before. He says listen, we need to stand firm with the belt of8:49 truth buckled around your waist. Why did he start there? Because he understood in that day and age they lived in a culture of lies, a a culture of9:00 compromise. And so he says let's start with the belt of truth with the breastplate of righteousness in its place. So if he started with this battle9:12 and we understand, listen, the world is a battleground, it is not a playground. Don't kid yourself. It is a battleground for ideas and people and life and truth. It is a battleground, it is not a9:23 playground. Truth is your first weapon. It's your first weapon. Now now this is also true. Truth might hurt you for a little9:35 while, but a lie will harm you forever. Truth might hurt. There are times that I'm reading God's word or someone will come up to me and they'll9:47 say something to me and I know it's true and it stings. But I know that truth is something I can work with, I can repent, I can backtrack and say, listen,9:59 alright, that hurt. But thank you for sharing that with me. So why do we need to talk about truth today? Let me give you a couple thoughts. Number 1, just write these down. I also encourage you open your10:11 app up. Man, with all the baptisms at the end of the service, I will not get through all my notes. I wanna encourage you always have the app. But here's thought number 1. Why don't we how many of you know Satan is a10:21 liar? He's always been a liar. So if Satan is a liar and we are against Satan, we're on God's team, then we need to know the truth. Notice10:33 what it says in John chapter 8 verse 44, this is what Jesus says. He says, you belong, he's talking to those who are deceitful, who are rejecting him, you belong to your father, the devil. Alright. What does Satan do? He10:44 deals in deception, just know that. And you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, going all the way back to the garden, not holding to the what?10:55 Did you see that before? We've all said Satan's a liar, Satan's a liar. What makes him a liar is he didn't hold on to the truth. So child of God, you can be a Christian, can be a Christian, but if you don't hold on to11:07 the truth, you become a liar. And so here it is. He says, he was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there's no truth in him. Why didn't he hold it to truth? There's no truth in him.11:19 When he lies, he speaks in his native language for he is a liar and the father of all lies. Child of God, understand that Satan is a liar and our response is the11:31 truth. It's not to put the gloves on and fight Satan, it's to know the truth. Hey, Satan has power, but folks his power is limited.11:43 He's God's enemy, but he's not God's equal. And so we need to understand, we need to step back, study the truth, notice the truth, Satan is a liar. You say, where11:55 do you see that? Remember, he noted it. Go all the way back to the garden. What was the first thing he did with Adam and Eve? He lied to them. Did God really say? Did God really say? He lied to them. Right? Remember,12:07 Satan then went and tempted Jesus. He tempted him. What'd he do? He lied to him, he shaded the truth, and Jesus responded. He shaded the truth, Jesus responded. He shaded the truth and Jesus responded. Remember what it12:19 says at the end of that temptation experience? It says Satan left Jesus never to tempt him again. Did it say that? No. Go read it. It says Satan left for a more opportune12:31 time. Child of God, you might defeat Satan today, but he's gonna show up in another time, in another day, in a12:42 moment, in another season. So thought number 1, why do we need to study the truth? Man because Satan is a liar. Here's number 2, our hearts will deceive us. We talked about this I won't spend time just go go 212:54 weeks ago I preached all about the heart. Remember Jeremiah said the heart is deceitfully wicked? Man, the heart sometimes when it hurts it will reject the truth.13:06 The heart will sometimes be overwhelmed with our emotions. You might wanna jot this down. Your emotions do not have brains. You13:18 have teenagers, you understand this. You were a teenager, you understand. Man, sometimes what we feel, I'm like, I know that's not right, but that's the13:30 way I feel. So why do we need to study the truth, man? Satan is a liar, our hearts will deceive us. Here's the third thought. Our friends impact, excuse me, culture will corrupt us.13:42 We live in a culture, in an age, and a day that culture will reject the truth and they will do it in the form of bold faced lies. Look at13:54 Romans chapter 1. It says, since what we may, this is talking about creation accounts, since we since what we what may be known, that's truth about God is plain to them14:06 because God made it plain to them for since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power and his divine nature have been clearly seen, in other words his truth, being14:17 understood, that's knowledge, from what has been made so that people are without excuse. In other words, you can look at creation, you can look at how we're created in the image of God, and you can see God's truth. Now14:27 look at verse 21. For although they knew God, knew the truth, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became14:39 futile. In other words, their right thinking became wrong thinking and their foolish hearts, there it is, were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they14:51 became fools. Does that not just represent culture today? When you think about some of the changes that have happened in the last 5 or 10 years and what15:03 you're hearing from time to time, just just go. Look at TV from time to time. Man, it's amazing to me that that that there are people within our government. They might set15:14 before our politicians who we all understand they're not perfect. But just recently, I just saw this and I'm going, did that just happen? By the way, we're paying this salary.15:26 That that a senator asked the question, can you define a woman? Got real quiet in here for a second. And this is someone15:38 we pay for who begins to shuffle papers, look away, and well, that's a complicated issue. How many of you in here can define a woman? That's about 80 percent. I'm gonna teach a series next15:50 week on what a woman's like. I mean, I'm like, just define a woman. We're paying your salary. Saw this just happened not long ago. I asked a16:02 senator, ask a question. Can a man have a baby? Do you see this? Someone you're paying. After him and Hans, it's a yes, no question. Can a man16:14 said yes? And you're sitting there going, what? Here's how I know men can't have babies, because there16:26 are babies. And just let that sink in. Right? Because no one's a bigger baby than a man.16:39 A woman can have a baby. You give a man a kidney stone about this size, and he's taking a month off work and crying about you16:51 wanna know how I know men can't have babies? And by the way, I know a bunch of dudes that they're dudes and they had kidney stones, Lord I don't want 1, hope he doesn't judge me. But I'm telling you, we got people that17:02 will look in a camera after giving off the body language and say, men can have babies. And you're like, really? And let me tell you what they'll turn around and do,17:14 they will bully us for selling the truth and telling the truth, won't they? Man, we need to understand. Finally, why do we need to study? Because our friends impact us. What's the old statement? Show me your friends,17:26 I'll show you your future. Man, that comes all the way from from Paul's words and Solomon's words. Proverbs chapter 13 verse 20 says, walk with the wise and you become wise for a companion of fools will ultimately suffer17:37 harm. Folks we need to study truth. We need to know the truth. We need be willing to defend the truth. Why? Because we have a culture that is embracing foolish17:49 lies that as scripture says will harm us. Alright. So here's the question. Then where we find the truth? Let me give you a couple of thoughts on this. Number 1,18:01 in God's created order. Psalm 19 verse 1 says, the heavens declare of the glory of the Lord, the skies proclaim the works of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech and night after night18:12 they reveal knowledge. See see a lot of times people will say well you know, scripture, that's just religion.18:25 The only pure truth is found in science. Can I tell you what? It's not an either or. Christianity makes truth claims that it is either true or18:36 false. It is 1 or the other. We don't reject science. We might reject bad science. A lot of what you're seeing today isn't science, it's philosophy.18:48 And it's bad philosophy, pretending to be science. Do you understand that? I wanna say, a lot of what we're seeing in our culture today is not science, it is philosophy, and it's bad19:00 philosophy masquerading as science. And we need to ultimately know the truth. Man, we live in a society that that the19:12 last thing you can do is stand up and tell the truth. And I want you to know as your pastor, and and I want you to hear this. My preferred way to preach19:23 is through a book verse by verse, chapter by chapter. But I felt I need to step back and address some of the issues in culture. But here's what I always know when I preach verse by verse, chapter by chapter19:35 through a book and I come against a hard topic, And I will just preach it and preach that hard topic and someone will not like it, whether it's on same sex marriage or something like that because19:47 it's in there and I address it. The email I get might be pretty harsh and say pastor you're mean spirited, you're this or you're that or you're that or sometimes they'll catch me out in the atrium and and they'll just19:59 they'll start kinda jumping on me. You know what my question is? Who is it? Who is it that you love that is struggling with that?20:11 See, and child of God, we need to remember this. A lot of times when we speak these truths, it's hurtful not because the person doesn't believe it but because the20:23 person they love is struggling with it. Does that make sense? That's why we're told all the way through scripture. Speak the truth in love.20:35 It's not just speak in love, it's speak the truth in love. Man, and if you come against somebody that is really pushing back on some clear truth, something that we20:47 show, man, step back and just say, who is it? Man, so I can pray for you. Because I promise you there are probably some moms and dads in here that have some kids that they love that are struggling in20:59 powerful ways. There's some grandmas and grandpas in here that you're you you you've got some grandkids that you love and you just want them to be okay. But I want you to know we just simply need to21:11 speak the truth. Our conscience, secondary we find, our conscience, God wrote on our hearts, engraved it scripture says in hearts. Whether you're in the faith or not, notice what it says Romans chapter 2, says21:23 indeed when Gentiles in those days, those barbarians, there were people outside the church who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves21:34 even though they do not have a law. They show, listen to this, that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts and their consciences also bearing witness and21:46 their thoughts sometimes accusing them and other times defending them. What are we saying? That God created us with this moral monitor in our heart. That whether you go to church or don't21:58 go to church, that you your heart says that's wrong and that's right. Now not everything, I want you to know, not everything in this world is black and white. Some things22:09 it's true or it's false. There's a lot of gray area. I'm not gonna fight you about gray areas. I I will talk to you about those black and white issues that are very clear, are found in scripture and22:21 a lot of times your conscience will scream when you cross that boundary. Here's the next place we find truth, God's word. Love what Jesus said, he said my prayer is not that you would take them out of the world22:33 but that you protect them from the evil 1. What is he saying? He's acknowledging Satan is real. See a lot of times Christians they wanna pull out of the world, they wanna they wanna22:45 disassociate from the world, we wanna hide in our holy huddles, that is not biblical. Well when you look at this high priestly prayer of Jesus it was about don't take them out of the world. Why? Because the world needs22:56 us. I talked about this last week, we are the salt, we are the light. If we leave the world it is gonna be tasteless and dark. Then notice what Jesus says, verse 17, he says sanctify them by the truth. Your23:08 word is truth. This is the owner's manual. That's why every time we go into new series, there is always a a scripture reading plan. Right now we're in Billy Graham, sometimes we write our own, just whatever it is.23:19 We want you to open God's word and get invested in God's truth each and every time. He says, notice this, verse 18, as you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.23:34 Folks, come in here to be reminded of the truth, to hear the truth. We read God's word for the truth. Then we go out in the world, we share the truth, and we speak words, truth, and23:45 love. Here's the next thought. Where do you find the truth? God's church. Part of my part of the call on my life is not to stand up here and compromise with you, so I could be your23:57 pastor. To dumb things down. You've been around here a long time, I don't spend a lot of time in gray areas. I spend a lot of time in black and white because I'm supposed to24:09 share the truth with you. Here it is, Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11. So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and the teachers, gave the church those to do what? My job is to24:21 equip you, his people, for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in faith and the knowledge, that's truth, of the Son of God, and then24:33 we become mature attaining to the whole measure, the fullness of Christ. Look at verse 14. Then we will no longer be tossed like infants who are tossed back and forth24:45 by the waves and are blown here and there by every wind of teaching and every cunning and craftiness of people and their deceitful scheming. What is my job? It's to stand up here and preach the word,24:56 teach the word and equip you with the word. So the next time you're at the office or you're at school or you hear some conversation that you and I would understand, wait, there's a word for that.25:09 Now you'd be equipped to address that and speak that and it comes with God's word. Let me tell you what, church is not Waffle House.25:23 We don't preach some things and then waffle on others. We preach it all. I'll do my best every once in a while to put a little syrup on it for you, so it tastes a little better.25:35 But listen, the church is supposed to stand strong, we are God's church. You see a lot. See a lot of people masquerading as preachers25:47 and churches masquerading as churches and they're compromising the truth that is not my call. At the same time we're not a perfect church.26:00 You guys know this, we are filled with broken people. If you happen to have showed up today and you're perfect, you're in the wrong place. We're a bunch of broken people who get lit up26:12 by the truth all the time, get challenged to become better all the time. Here's the next place, God's Son. And we find truth in God's Son. Remember John chapter 126:24 verse 1 says, in the beginning was the word, word was with God and the word was God. The word then became flesh, made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the 1 and only son who came from the26:35 father full of what 2 things? Grace and truth. It's both. It's not an either or. Man, Jesus came because of26:47 the grace of God. But he's full of grace and truth. There are a lot of people we wanna talk about, the Jesus I know was all grace. Well, the Jesus the Bible talks about was grace and26:59 truth. You and I need to show up with truth. We don't compromise truth because culture says they don't like truth. Listen, truth is true for everyone and27:11 everywhere everywhere whether you believe it or not. Your faith in it doesn't change it. So you say, alright pastor, why is truth so important? Here's number 1.27:23 It frees you up to truly enjoy life. Frees you up to truly enjoy life. I love these words. Look at what Jesus said in John chapter 8 verse 31. He said, to the Jews who27:35 had believed him, Jesus says, if you hold to my teaching, you're really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.27:49 I'm gonna leave you with this salt. Truth will set you free, but it might first make you miserable. You understand that? For all28:01 have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That kinda makes you miserable. There's none righteous, no, not 1. For the wages of sin is death. Truth can make you miserable at first, but28:13 it won't in the end. Here's a second reason you need truth. Truth is what ultimately brings salvation. Jesus said, I am the way,28:26 the truth, and the life. No 1 comes to the Father except through me. I'm just gonna invite us to pray, and when I do, I wanna invite all the baptism candidates and28:37 ministers, in this service to make your way up here. But let's just pray together. God, thank you so much for just an opportunity to address truth. God, my prayer is28:49 as I've done what I was supposed to do to equip us, the next time someone says, well, I just don't believe there's absolute truth, it will have a response. I don't know that you can know29:01 the truth, we'll have a response. Someone says, well, that might be true for you, but it's not for me, that we could have a response. And we give that response in truth29:13 and in love. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen and amen.
Comments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
Comments
Keep it kind. Comments are public.