In his sermon titled 'Knowing The Truth,' Mike Davenport explores the concept of truth from a theological perspective, focusing on John 8:31-32. He examines the question of 'What is truth?' referencing Steve Lawson's definition, which aligns truth with the reality and nature of God. Truth is characterized by six distinct features: it is divine, absolute, exclusive, singular, objective, and immutable. Davenport emphasizes that truth is inherently connected to God's essence, as seen in the attributes of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The sermon also discusses the role of the scriptures as the word of truth, which communicates God's reality and serves as a guide for believers. Furthermore, Davenport underscores the church's responsibility as the pillar and ground of truth, tasked with upholding and disseminating divine truth in a world prone to relativism. He concludes by urging believers to be valiant for the truth and to align their lives with God’s unwavering truth, while rejecting lies and deceit.

Well, if you have your copies of the Word of God with you, if you could open to John You could open to John chapter 8, John chapter 8, John 8, 31 and 32. John 8, 31 and 32. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed him, If you abide in my word, You are my disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." What is truth? What is truth? You may recall that question being asked in the Gospels with the embodiment of truth standing right in front of him.

Pontius Pilate asked that very question. What is truth? And seemingly with no desire to hear an answer, for he immediately walked out of the room. Well, that question has been asked by many people, and it's been asked many times, what is truth? What is truth?

Do you know the answer to that question? Do you? You young boys and girls do you know the answer to that question? What is truth? You see, we must be able to answer that question if we are to keep the commandment that we must not bear false witness.

Steve Lawson has defined truth in the following way. Truth is defined as that which conforms with fact or reality. It is how things actually are. Theologically, Truth is that which is consistent with the mind, will, character, glory, and being of God. Truth is the self-disclosure of God Himself.

Truth is what it is because God declares it so and made it so. All truth must be defined in terms of God whose very nature is truth. And because truth is the self-disclosure of God and because it is simply what God has declared to be, He has made it such, then there are certain distinguishing characteristics of truth. And I want to read to you from an article that Lawson wrote for Ligonier. It's an article entitled, What is Truth?

I may even send it out to you a little later. He lists and then explains truth's distinguishing characteristics. He writes, first, truth is divine. Ultimately, all truth is God's truth. Truth is from above.

It is not of this world. It is not what the crowd speculates something to be. It is not determined by opinion polls nor is it discovered by public surveys It's not grandfathered in by human tradition truth can be known only by divine revelation Secondly he says truth is absolute All truth is absolute because God is absolute truth. This means that only what is of Truth is true. Everything contrary to the truth is a lie.

Truth is exclusive, not inclusive. Truth is discriminating as it excludes what is not true. Truth is incompatible with and intolerant of all error. If all truth is God's truth, then all untruths are the devil's lies. Third, he writes, truth is singular.

That is to say, truth is a single entity. It does not exist in bits and pieces of unrelated ideas or disconnected data. The Bible most often uses the definite article, the, when speaking of the truth. Because truth is one body of truth it is always internally consistent it never contradicts itself truth always speaks with one voice and is always in perfect agreement with itself. Fourth, truth is objective.

It's objective. This means that truth is not subjective. It is not discovered by by personal feelings nor determined by private intuitions. Instead, truth is propositional. It is conveyed in narrowly defined words that have rational definitions and is stated in precise terms that communicate real meaning Words mean something in regard to truth Therefore truth is black and white it is definite definitive and conclusive and Because truth is objective.

It is impartial. It is unbiased Unprejudiced and nonpartisan It speaks to all people in all places, the same. Truth never speaks out of both sides of its mouth. It never caters to the crowd. It never says one thing to one person and something else to another.

Truth addresses all people alike as it finds them. Fifth, he writes, truth is immutable. That means it doesn't change children. It's truth doesn't change. God does not change and neither does his truth, which cannot be true today but not true tomorrow.

Truth is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Right is always right and wrong is forever Wrong. It is therefore permanent Fixed and established it is inflexible unvarying constant lasting enduring timeless, unchanging. Therefore truth is always current, always contemporary, always relevant. It is never outdated, never obsolete, never expired.

Truth never tires, never wanes, never ceases to be true. And in the sixth and final characteristic he lists, truth is authoritative. It is authoritative. Truth does not stammer or stutter. It speaks with the supreme authority of God himself.

It always makes demands upon us and never offers mere suggestions. It never presents just one more option to consider. It is never intended to be simply interesting. It never speaks to tickle our curiosity. Instead, truth speaks with the voice of sovereignty truth roars with the sound of many waters drowning out every other voice truth is commanding it is arresting and directional.

It has the authority to order us. Truth must therefore be heard. It must be heard. It demands our undivided attention. We cannot pretend that truth is not spoken.

We cannot act as if it will go away. We cannot live in denial of truth. It lays hold of us by the lapels and draws us close. It summons us and mandates our complete compliance. Truth is binding upon our lives.

Truth demands our response. So those distinguishing Characteristics that Lawson has given will help us to embrace truth in a culture saturated in relativism in a in a culture Where truth seems to be individualized? My truth may not be your truth. Well in the remaining minutes before us I would like for us to consider the following three things. First the God of truth, the God of truth.

Second the Word of truth, the Word of truth. And then third and finally, the pillar and ground of the truth, the pillar and ground of the truth. So first, the God of truth. You see, like we've just stated, truth is, it's tied to the very nature of God his very essence truth is because God is apart from God there would be no truth imagine that living in a world with no truth. Well in Exodus 34 when Moses ascends the mountain and he's there with the new tablets of stone, why did he have those new tablets of stone children?

The others were broken right? And he carried up new tablets of stone that he was going to write with his own hand this time. And there, God comes to him and we read, Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with Moses there and proclaimed the name of the Lord and the Lord passed before Moses and proclaimed this is what God said the Lord the Lord merciful and gracious long suffering and Abounding in goodness and truth abounding in goodness and truth You see among the phrases that God used to describe to Moses who he was were these, abounding in truth, overflowing in truth. That's how God wanted to be known. He wanted to be known as the God of truth.

Now in scripture, truth is attributed to all three persons of the Godhead, the Father, Christ, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Truth is of the very essence of God and therefore you're going to have it permeating it is all three persons of the Godhead Father Son and Holy Spirit. Consider just a few texts that bear this out. First God the Father. In 1 John 520 we read, And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding that we may know Him who is true.

And we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. God the Son. When John is beginning his gospel, there in John 1, and he's proclaiming the word that was made flesh. He writes this, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory.

The glory is of the only begotten of the Father. And what did that glory show to them? What did they see in that glory? A fullness of grace and a fullness of truth. And he says, and of his fullness we have all received and grace for grace.

For the law was given through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ and then later on in John's gospel as they're there gathered in that upper room there in in John 14 The disciples are wanting a disclosure of God the Father. They feel like they haven't seen God the Father. And they're wondering how they can and what did Jesus tell them? I am the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus declared, I am the truth.

God the Spirit. There in that same upper room gathered there with his disciples, Jesus declares, and I will pray the Father and he will give you another helper, their capital H, that helper is the Holy Spirit, that he may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth. But when the helper comes whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify of me. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth." And that's what the Spirit was going to do with those disciples.

He was going to lead them into all truth so that they could pen the very words that we shall soon look at, the word of truth. The spirit of truth enabled them to write the very word of truth. Children, is there anything that God cannot do? Don't be quick to answer. Think about it a minute.

Is there anything that God cannot do? There actually is a couple things but one is God cannot lie. He cannot lie. He cannot. He's God.

He's the God of truth Titus 1 2 declares him to be the God who cannot lie Well, that should be actually an encouragement to all of us you see because God is true his faithfulness will never fail we sing the song right great is thy faithfulness how can we sing that this is how Because God cannot lie. He's always true. We can trust Him. He's faithful. He's faithful.

Well, by reason of that reality, all lies, all hypocrisy, all half-truths, all facades, all unfaithfulness, all of these things are from the evil one when Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden because he was the representative of all men and women We his posterity Sinned in him and fell with him And it is for this reason that in John 842 to 44 that Jesus said to the Pharisees You are of your father the devil and the desires of your father you want to do He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth Because there is no truth in him none When he speaks the lie, He speaks from his own resources. He doesn't get it from outside. When he lies, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it and the father of it. Start contrast. The God of truth and the father of lies.

Dear ones, the God we serve, the one with whom we have to do, he is the God of truth. Secondly, consider with me the word of truth. The word of truth. You see, if God Himself is the source of all truth, if He is truth Himself, then it should not surprise us that the communication he has given us is truth itself. It comes from him.

It's true. It's true. The Apostle Paul states in Romans 3, 4, indeed let God be true and every man a liar. So when you have before you what man has said and what God has said, the right response is let God be true. Anything else that disagrees with this book it is a lie it is a lie Notice the growing affirmation of the psalmist in Psalm 119 You see this from 142 to 151 to 160.

He says first your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness and your law is truth. Your law is truth. And then he gets to 151 and he says you are near Oh Lord and all your commandments are truth all of them And then when he gets to 160 he says the entirety of your word is truth the entirety of it it's truth The Baptist Catechism, its third question is this, are the scriptures trustworthy in all that they affirm? This is the answer that is provided. The scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments, being God-breathed, are infallible and inerrant in all their parts, and are therefore trustworthy in all that they affirm concerning history, science, doctrine, ethics, religious practice, or any other topic.

Whatever it touches upon, it is true and let God be true, but every man a liar. The writers of the New Testament also declare the truthfulness of the scriptures. Paul writes to the church in Ephesus declaring of them in Ephesians 1 13, in him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. James, the brother of the Lord, declares in 1 18 of his epistle that God the Father of his own free will brought us forth by means of the word of truth. You see that was the instrument for the new birth, the word of truth.

To his son in the faith Paul writes in 2nd Timothy 2 15 of Timothy's duty before God Paul writes be diligent be diligent to present yourself approved to God a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing what? The Word of Truth. Rightly dividing the Word of Truth. You see, it's forever the Word of Truth. We have to make sure we don't bring error in not dividing it correctly.

It's truth. It's truth. Christ Himself in His prayer recorded for us in John 17, prays these words to God the Father, sanctify them by your truth. Your Word is truth. And that's what we need, brothers and sisters, the sanctification of this Word of truth.

You see, the Scriptures tell us the truth about God. The Scriptures tell us the truth about ourselves. The Scriptures tell us the truth about God. The Scriptures tell us the truth about ourselves. The Scriptures tell us the truth about sin.

The Scriptures tell us the truth about heaven and hell, about eternity, about the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, about the free offer of salvation to all who will repent and believe. The Scriptures tell us the truth about why God made us, about why bad things happen in the world the scriptures tell us about what really matters it's true to us it tells us the truth the scriptures are indeed the Word of Truth concerning the God of Truth. Now thirdly and finally the pillar and ground of the truth, the pillar and ground of the truth. You see the God of all truth has given us his word of truth? With what expectations?

What are the expectations as we hold this precious word in our hands? Well 1 Timothy 3, 14 and 15 says, these things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly. But if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, Which is the church of the living God the pillar and ground of the truth? The church the church is called to be the pillar and ground of the truth Is that how you view the church Is that how you view the church? Is that how you view the church?

Do you see her as God sees her? You see she's a steward. The church is a steward. It's not our truth. We're not handling our truth.

We're handling God's truth. And the church is to be the pillar and the ground, the foundation, the mainstay of truth. And I believe this is what the apostle Paul had in mind when as we studied last week, he stated in Ephesians 4 that the Church of Christ should not be tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by by the trickery of men and the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting see we shall know the truth and the truth shall set us free from all of that from being blown around by every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men and cunning deceitfulness Matthew Henry commenting on the phrase the pillar and ground of the truth states the following when a church when a church any church this church when a church ceases to be the pillar and ground of truth we may and ought to forsake her for our regard to truth should be first and greatest. That applies to any church dear ones. Any church.

Do you remember the statement that Jesus made that caused Pilate to reply what is truth Do you remember what Jesus said? He said there in John? 1837 for this cause Get this now for this cause I was born and for this cause I have come into the world that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. You see, Christ came into the world in order to bear witness of the truth.

Those things we just talked about, who he is, who God is, who and what we really are, the state of our souls because of sin, to state the truth about salvation that was coming, that God was providing. All of that, That was the reason Christ came into the world and having left the world He has commissioned his bride to carry out this same mission To bear witness to the truth to be the pillar and ground of the truth in this dark world You see we live in a society who is increasing in, who in increasing measures suppress the truth and unrighteousness. We were given just this past week a front row seat to a demonstration. We have someone running for one of the highest offices in America, a seat in the Supreme Court of this land, a position that is to declare and maintain what is truth and justice. And this person running for office is either unwilling or no longer able to give a clear definition of what a woman is.

Either unwilling or because of a darkness is no longer is no longer able to give a true definition. She is like so many in this world who have rejected the truth and suppressed the truth as we read in Romans 1 and in the process have become fools. Have become fools. What is your relation to truth? What is your relation to truth?

What is your relation to truth? What is your relation to the God of truth? What is your relation to the Word of truth? And what is your relation to the church, the pillar and ground of the truth? Psalm 51-6 declares that God desires truth in the inward parts.

He does... It's not just what comes out. God desires truth in the inward parts Is your response to that like the psalmists in psalm 86 11 teach me your way oh lord I will walk in your truth Unite my heart to fear your name." Is that your response to that call? You see, Jeremiah in chapter 9 of his prophecy declares that God is looking for those who are valiant for the truth in the earth, valiant for truth in the earth, who will as he says there speak the truth to his neighbor. Will you do that?

Will you do that? Will you be valiant for the truth? I leave you with the words of Proverbs 23, 23, simply this. Buy the truth. Buy it.

Spend whatever you have to spend to get the truth and do not sell it. You young people, you children at an early age, buy the truth, buy it and never sell it. Never sell it. Let's look to the Lord in prayer. Gracious God, we come to you the God of truth Lord we have sought to look at your word of truth and to consider what we are to be in light of the commandment that we are not to bear false witness So Father we pray that you would help us in our relation to truth to stand in the truth to be valiant for the truth not just by outward actions but but Lord that we would be people of the truth in our innermost being, people that would love the truth, hold on to the truth, and be distributors of nothing but truth.

Lord, help us to be done with the devil's lies. Help us to be like Jesus, whose purpose was to come and to proclaim the truth. Help us to do that and to be faithful to that stewardship. We pray in Christ's holy name. Amen.