Yes, Dr. Sproul was so helpful that my golf
game was born again. So yeah, John MacArthur was telling me that
I preach like I play golf -- long, to the right, and always near a hazard. So that's my preaching and that's my golf. So yeah, I was very privileged to play many,
many rounds of golf with Dr. Sproul, and just being able to spend that time with him was
a very special thing for me as you can imagine. But he was always the teacher, and even when
I would be with him like for a board meeting for Ligonier and I'd be standing in the corner,
waiting for the meeting to begin, he'll come up to me and say, "Alright, get over the ball,
let me take a look at you. Let me check your grip out." So I'm thankful for Dr. Sproul. I've been asked to speak about my new book
called The Moment of Truth, and I would love to just give you a little of the backstory
behind it that you might find interesting. They told me just to be as personal as I could
be and give you just some insight on this, so here's how this book came about, and then
I'm going to tell you what the book is about. For the National Conference here at Ligonier,
I'm going to guess it was like four years ago, Bob Godfrey was actually assigned to
preach a message, this message called "The Moment of Truth." And I can't remember, I think he got sick
and was unable to speak here, and so I just happened to be standing in Chris Larson's
office at Ligonier when the phone call came in, and Dr. Godfrey was supposed to speak
the very next day on "The Moment of Truth," and so when Chris found out that he would
be unavailable, I'm the only person standing in the room, so he just turned to me and said,
"Would you take The Moment of Truth?" And I said, "Absolutely. I mean, I'm a preacher. I'll take the whole conference if you'll give
me the whole conference. Forget everybody else, you know, just give
it to me. So yeah, I'll take that." So I immediately got on the … I went back
to my hotel room and called my secretary and literally had her fax to the hotel, no it's
the truth, it's a true story, she faxes it to the front office, I go down to the desk
and that whole process … and so I had some commentaries. So I went up to my room and I just holed up
for the evening and studied the passage, and it's John chapter 18 verses 36 to 38. In fact, let me just read John chapter 18,
and this is all pre-assigned by Ligonier. In fact, when you're a speaker for this conference,
they send you the title and they send you a paragraph that somebody in a back room someplace
has written on what you're to speak on. So this morning when I spoke on "Cut to the
Heart: Awakening in Scripture," I got that in the mail, and there's a little paragraph
that defines what you're going to talk about. So I have this paragraph for John 18:36 to
38, so let me just read it, "Jesus answered." Now, Jesus is standing trial before Pilate,
as you recall, Jesus underwent three religious trials and then three civil trials, a total
of six trials the night before He was crucified into that next morning. So this is one of those six trials. It is one of the three civil trials that our
Lord underwent. And so in verse 36, "Jesus answered," He answered
Pilate. You see that from the previous verse, verse
35. "'My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my
servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it
is my kingdom is not of this realm.' Therefore Pilate said to him, 'So you are
a king.' Jesus answered, 'You say correctly that I
am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I
have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.' And Pilate said to him, 'What is truth?'" In a very derisive manner. So I'm a Bible expositor, I'm a Bible preacher,
I'm a verse by verse Bible preacher, number one, because that's how God wrote the Bible,
okay? He didn't give us a topical index. So I just took these verses and what came
to my mind is number one, the reality of truth, "What is truth?" I would need to define what is truth, and
that is a word that we use often in our conversation, but if I was to ask you in an official exam
where you wrote out the answer and you turned it in and it would be graded, what would your
definition be of truth? What is truth? So, I realized as I looked at these verses,
in fact I still, in my Bible, I have a circle drawn around the word "truth." It is mentioned three times in verse 37 and
38. So my first main heading was "The Reality
of Truth." I would need to define truth. And here is what truth is in one word, truth
is reality. It's the way things really are, and God is
the God of truth. God the Father is the God of truth, God the
Son is the God of truth, God the Holy Spirit is the God of truth. Psalm 31:8, "He is the God of truth." Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the
truth, and the life." John 14 says that the Spirit is the Spirit
of truth. The Bible says of itself it is "the word of
truth." In 1 Timothy 3, it says that the church is
the pillar and support of the truth. We are all about the truth and so the truth
is whatever God says something is, that is reality and everything else is a lie. So man is whatever God says man is. That is reality. Everything else is fictitious. Sin is whatever God says sin is. Everything else is erroneous. Salvation is whatever God says salvation is. That is the truth about salvation. Romans 3 says, "Let God be found true, let
every man be found a liar." Heaven and hell is whatever God says heaven
and hell is, that is the truth. So, my first main heading was the reality
of truth. And I came up with, I came up with eight distinguishing
marks of truth. Dr. Sproul loved these eight distinguishing
marks, because he loves the truth. So I'm going to give them to you real quick,
okay? This way you don't have to go buy the book,
alright? I'm just going to give it to you. Now, you need to go buy the book, okay, because
I know somewhere Ligonier is listening right now, okay, so you need to go buy the book,
okay. This is what truth is -- number one, it's
divine. Truth originates with God. Truth does not originate with man. Truth is not of this world. Truth comes down out of heaven. Truth comes from the realm of glory. Truth comes from the throne of grace. Truth is divine. It doesn't matter what the world says, it
doesn't matter what the culture says. In fact, the culture's always wrong. The world is always wrong. Truth is antithetical to the spirit of this
age. Truth is divine. One ounce of what God has to say is worth
more than ten thousand pounds of what man has to say. I'm trying, so truth is divine. Second, truth is absolute. Truth reigns as the highest authority on every
matter. Truth trumps whatever anyone else has to say. Everything yields to the truth. Truth is never relative. Truth is always definitive. Third, truth is objective. Truth is not subjective, it is objective. It doesn't matter what your feelings are about
the truth. The truth is propositional. The truth is black and white. And the truth is stated in words, words that
have definable meaning. Truth has a specific meaning and can be objectively
studied and exegeted. Fourth, truth is singular. Truth is one comprehensive body of truth. Truth is one system in which every truth fits
together perfectly. There is no contradiction. Truth never speaks out of both sides of its
mouth. All truth fits together into one body of truth. That is why we say it is singular. It all hangs together. It's like a beautiful tapestry that all the
threads woven together, that each find their perfect place and when you step back and look
at it, it's like a masterpiece that is hanging in a European castle. This tapestry that took a hundred years, every
thread, every color finding its perfect place, that's what truth is like. And you tell me what you believe about one
area of truth, I'll tell you what you believe about ten other areas of truth, because no
truth is ever understood in isolation of other truth. Now you tell me what you believe about the
new birth, for example, I'll tell you what you believe about man. I'll tell you what you believe about faith. I'll tell you what you believe about repentance. I'll tell you what you believe about the ministry
of the Holy Spirit. I'll tell you ten things, I'll tell you twenty
things about what you believe if you just tell me what you believe about one truth,
if you're consistent in your thinking. So, truth is singular. It can be spoken of as one system of truth. In other words, truth is not like an omelet
with just everything just kind of thrown into it where there are no relationships between
what's in that omelet. Truth is perfectly woven together. Fifth, truth is immutable. Truth never changes. Truth is transgenerational. It rises above the hour in which we live. What was true in the Old Testament is true
in the New Testament. What was true for your parents is true today. It will be true tomorrow. Right is forever right, wrong is forever wrong. Truth is constant. Truth is eternal. Truth has a long shelf life. Truth is never out of date. After I graduated from college, I went to
law school and your entire final exam is your grade for the semester. And so I studied case law my freshman year,
criminal law, constitutional law, civil law, business law, all different kinds. And I would stay up late, I would rise up
early and memorize the law. And I remember by the end of the semester
as I go in to take the final exam, guess what? They've changed the law. And I'm like, "Why did I kill myself studying
all of this when they're constantly changing the law?" And it was a part of God turning me to study
a law that would never change. That what I would study in my twenties, I
would preach in my forties, I would continue to herald in my sixties until the day I die. Nothing would change in the truth that I would
preach. Truth is immutable, and the world is constantly
changing, society is constantly changing. Truth never changes. Truth is the cornerstone. Truth is the anchor point. Sixth, truth is authoritative. Truth has the right to command our lives. Truth is never intended to be merely interesting
or to solve your curiosity. Truth makes demands upon your life and upon
my life. Truth is never an option. Truth is never a mere suggestion. Truth is binding upon our conscience. Truth is binding upon our lives. Truth is sovereign. Truth has the right to rule and to govern
our lives. Seventh, truth is powerful. We saw that today in Nehemiah chapter 8. Truth pierces the heart. Truth is able to judge the thoughts and intentions
of the heart. Truth is sharper than any two-edged sword. Truth has the power to save. Truth has the power to sanctify. Truth has the power to strengthen. Truth has the power to satisfy. Truth is so powerful. Truth has the power to comfort. Truth has the power to encourage. Truth has the power to equip. Truth is so powerful. It is explosively powerful. And eighth, truth is determinative. Truth will determine whether you're going
to heaven or whether you're going to hell. Truth has the power to save. Truth has the power to damn, and on the last
day you will be measured by the truth. You will be judged by the truth, not by what
other people think. You will not be measured by the common consensus. You will be measured and weighed in the balances
by the truth. It's that determinative, and where you will
spend all eternity will be determined by your relationship to the truth. And if you believe the truth and receive the
truth, then you will be eternally saved. But if you refuse the truth and reject the
truth, you will be eternally perishing forever. That's how powerful truth is. So that's how I began this message on the
reality of truth. I needed to think through what truth is. And then as I'm looking at John 8 and verse
37 and verse 38, after I defined what the truth is, verse 38, Pilate's response, "Yeah,
whatever. What is truth?" That's the rejection of truth. You know I like to alliterate my outline. So "The Reality of Truth," and that's the
first main section of the book. I preached, let me circle back just for a
second, I preached a sermon here at a National Conference of Ligonier maybe six years ago,
"Ten reasons why you should believe the Bible is the Word of God." So I took that message, and they transcribed
all these messages and lightly edited them and put them on my desk, and I pulled out
my little fountain pen and sharpened and fine-tuned and polished. And then I preached another message, in fact,
here in this church a couple of years ago on Martin Luther and the truth. So I just pulled all those chapters together
in this first section. Yeah, and I preached here maybe three years
ago, on 1 Corinthians 1, "For the preaching of the cross is to them who are perishing
foolishness, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God unto salvation." And so the reality of truth in the exclusive
gospel. So that's the first part of this book. There's four chapters from four messages here
at Ligonier on the reality of truth. Then "The Rejection of Truth." And I see the rejection in verse 38, "What
is truth?" But it's not just Pilate who's asking that
question. They're saying that in Washington D.C., mockingly,
"What is truth?" They're saying that in Hollywood, "What is
truth?" They're saying that on Wall Street, "What
is truth?" And the whole world is in rebellion against
the truth. So maybe five years ago I preached up in Seattle,
which is a haven for atheism. There were billboards on the side of the interstate
highways that atheists had paid for, to mock Christians and to mock Christianity. And so they assigned me to preach on atheism
in Seattle. Bring it on, bring it on. I love it. So I preached Psalm 14, "The fool has said
in his heart, 'There is no God.'" That is what God has to say about atheism,
that you actually think everything has come from nothing? That's the most foolish thing I've ever heard
in my life. Everything doesn't come from nothing. Everything has come from something, from someone,
and that someone is God. So this section starts off with the exposition
I gave of Psalm 14, and I'm just moving verse by verse through Psalm 14, and then I've got
the rejection of truth by the worldly church, and I've got the rejection of truth by an
unbelieving age, and the rejection of truth in a Christian's life. And one year at Ligonier they assigned me
to preach on respectable sins, from Jerry Bridges' book, and how Christians today reject
the truth even in their own life because it's such a respectable sin. So that's the middle section of the book,
and then the final section is the reign of truth, r-e-i-g-n, and I see that here in verse
37. Jesus said, "For this I have come into the
world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice." And the reason why you and I hear the truth
and receive the truth is not because we have a higher IQ or we're any smarter than anyone
else or that we're better than anyone else, it's because we are of the truth and to be
of the truth means to be born of God, that the truth has been planted like a seed in
the soil of your heart and God has sovereignly caused it to germinate and to bear fruit,
and you have been born again by the truth, 1 Peter 1:23 to 25. And so I took the messages that I've preached
here at Ligonier on the reign of truth, the reception of truth. And the book concludes, the final chapter
is "Truth at the Judgment." The reign of truth in the final judgment,
and it's an exposition of Revelation chapter 20 verses 11 through 15. John writes, "And I saw a great white throne
and Him who sat upon it. Heaven and earth fled away, and the sea gave
up the dead, which were in it. And the graves gave up the dead, which were
in it. And the books were opened, and the book of
life was open and anyone whose name is not written in the book of life will perish and
will be cast into the bowels of hell forever." And it's a very careful treatment at the Great
White Throne judgment. And at the end of time as eternity begins,
truth will reign so supremely that it will be the judge and jury and the final verdict
of all those who have rejected the truth. So truth is so critically important. You can't become a Christian without the truth. You cannot grow as a Christian without the
truth. You cannot be equipped to serve the Lord without
the truth. You cannot remain steadfast and persevere
with much endurance without the truth. And let me tell you when I was a pastor and
I go into that hospital room and there is that precious saint in the bed and the family
gathered around, they don't want me to read USA Today, they don’t want me to read a
restaurant menu. They want me to read the truth, because truth
is the only thing that comforts in the great hour of your greatest need. So that's what this book is about. And so after I preached in Seattle, "What
is the truth?" "The Moment of Truth," I came out of the pulpit
and sat down. R.C. was seated the equivalent of just right
there, and I went and sat down right next to him and he just turned to me and he said,
"We're going to put this in a book." And so, there is a certain strange irony that
R.C. is not with us now as the book has come out, and I just received a copy a couple of
days ago, and I opened it up and there at the very beginning -- I didn't even know we
had it -- is the endorsement by R.C. of this book. So sometime before he went to be with the
Lord, unknown to me, he wrote the endorsement, and I'm so proud to have it. So, I want you to have this book. You need this book, because you need the truth
and you need someone, I'm not the only one, but I am one of someone who could tell you
what the truth is and where you'll find the truth and why the truth is so important and
why the truth will have the final word on your life on the final day. So, thank you for coming back from dinner
to hear my book report. I feel like I'm back in eighth grade giving
a book report on whatever. Thank you.
