What is Truth?
This question has echoed through the ages since Pilate asked it of Jesus the Christ. This is a good question today for some who, sadly, are “ever learning, but never coming to a knowledge of the truth.” We can only hope that at some point their prejudices may give way before the truth. Those seeking truth in the spacious towers of moral relativism will search in vain, because truth abides forever and ever, not subject to popular opinion, not based on trendy fads. Truth is absolute.
Why Are We Here?
Without truth, many wonders, “What is the purpose of life?” These are the ones who sincerely seek the truth, only to be kept from it, for they do not know where to find it.
So How Do We Find the Truth?
One ancient prophet said of his Creator: “He is a God of truth, and cannot lie.” Therefore, a logical place to start looking for truth is in the word of God. Saint John said, “it is the Spirit that beareth witness because the Spirit [of Christ] is truth.”
So, if we ask what is true, with a sincere heart, having faith in Christ, He will manifest the truth to us, by the power of the Holy Spirit. And by the power of the Holy Spirit, we may know the truth of all things.
But Why Does Truth Matter?
Not too long ago, Sean McDowell, Ph.D., a professor of Christian Apologetics, was speaking at a youth event. Afterwards, a student came up to him and said, “You talked about truth a lot. What’s the big deal? Why is truth even important?”
Why Does Truth Matter?
Why does truth matter? I would suggest to this young man: “At some point in time, in some real crisis, not an imagined one, perhaps you will even be faced with death. In that defining moment, real truth will be important.”
Dr. Peter Marshall, a beloved chaplain in the United States Senate in the 1940s, was invited to speak at the Naval Academy. He was prepared to address his concern about the loose morals of the young people at that time. But the Spirit gave him a different message. He felt strongly impressed to speak to them about death. He said:
“But what is death? Is it to be blown out, like a candle in the wind? Is it a shivering void in which there is nothing that lives? Is is a cold space into which we are launched to be evaporated, or to disappear? Are we to believe that a half-mad eternal humorist tossed the worlds aloft and left their destiny to chance? That a man’s life is the development of a nameless vagrancy? That a hole in the ground six feet deep is his final heritage? There are a thousand insane things easier to believe than these! How can we believe that human personality will not survive when One who went into the grave and beyond came back to say, “Whosoever believeth in me shalt not perish, but have eternal life.”
He also told them about a young boy with a fatal illness. The boy asked his mother what it was like to die. She reminded him of those days when he had come in from play, so exhausted that he had fallen asleep on his mother’s bed, without even changing his clothes. When he awoke in the morning, he was in his own bed. Daddy had lovingly lifted him up in his strong arms and carried him to the comfort of his own bed, where he belonged.
That is what death is like, his mother continued. You fall asleep and when you wake up in the morning, you find that the Heavenly Father has lifted you up and brought you home to the comfort of His loving arms, where you belong because the Lord Jesus has loved us and the little boy no longer feared death.
So the Spirit prompted Dr. Marshall to tell the truth about death to hundreds of bright young sailors at the Naval Academy. Shortly thereafter, Pearl Harbor was bombed, and many of those sailors faced death in the devastating war that followed.
Yes, truth matters. We need it to give meaning to our lives.
Saint John reminds us that the Spirit “will guide you into all truth.” And Jesus Christ is that way, that truth, and life eternal. At the end of the day, through Him, we can return home, where we belong.
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. ~ 3 John 1:4
Dr. Peter Marshall was Chaplain to the United States Senate from 1947, until his sudden death in 1949. He served as pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. Born in Scotland, he traveled to New York in 1927 to follow his call to Christian ministry and attend Columbia Theological Seminary where he graduated with his doctorate in 1931. He accepted an invitation to preach a morning sermon in the chapel of the United States Naval Academy, December 7, 1941. Neither he, nor anyone in attendance at the chapel service that day was aware that the Imperial Navy of Japan was attacking the U.S. military bases at Pearl Harbor. Many of the young sailors in the chapel that morning were hearing their last sermon and would give their lives in defense of our nation in World War II.
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Marlon, Thank you for your very interesting comment. My greatest prayer is that you and I and other believing Christians will be able to transmit God’s truth to the rising generations, who have been deprived of truth and moral values in the schools for more than 70 years, through no fault of their own.
*John Lennon (Singer):*
Some years ago, during his interview with an American Magazine, he said:
‘Christianity will end, it will disappear.
I do not have to argue about that.. I am certain.
Jesus was ok, but his subjects were too simple, today we are more famous than Him’ (1966).
Lennon, after saying that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, was shot six times.
*Tancredo Neves (President of Brazil ):*
During the Presidential campaign, he said if he got 500,000 votes from his party, not even God would remove him from Presidency.
Sure he got the votes, but he got sick a day before his inauguration as President and he died.
*Cazuza (Bi-sexual Brazilian composer, singer and poet):**
During A show in Canecio ( Rio de Janeiro ),
while smoking his cigarette, he puffed out some smoke into the air and said:
‘God, that’s for you.’
He died at the age of 32 of LUNG CANCER in a horrible manner.
*The man who built the Titanic:*
After the construction of the Cruise Ship, Titanic, a reporter asked him how safe the Titanic would be.
With an ironic tone he said:
‘Not even God can sink it’
The result: I think you all know what happened to the Titanic
*Marilyn Monroe (Actress):*
She was visited by Billy Graham during a presentation of a show.
He said the Spirit of God had sent him to preach to her.
After hearing what the Preacher had to say, she said: ‘I don’t need your Jesus’.
A week later, she was found dead in her apartment
*Bon Scott (Singer):*
The ex-vocalist of the AC/DC. On one of his 1979 songs he sang:
‘Don’t stop me; I’m going down all the way, down the highway to hell’.
On the 19th of February 1980, Bon Scott was found dead, he had been choked by his own vomit.
*Campinas (IN 2005):*
In Campinas , Brazil, a group of friends, drunk, went to pick up a friend…..
The mother accompanied her to the car and was so worried about the drunkenness of her friends and she said to the daughter holding her hand, who was already seated in the car:
‘My Daughter, Go With God And May He Protect You.’
She responded: ‘Only If He (God) Travels In The Trunk, ‘Cause Inside Here…..It’s Already Full ‘
Hours later, news came that they had been involved in a fatal accident, everyone had died.
The car could not be recognized what type of car it had been, but surprisingly, the trunk was intact.
The police said there was no way the trunk could have remained intact.
To their surprise, inside the trunk was a crate of eggs, none was broken
*Christine Hewitt (Jamaican Journalist and entertainer):*
She said the Bible (Word of God) was the worst Book ever written.
In June 2006 she was found burnt beyond recognition in her motor vehicle.
*Many more important people have forgotten that there is no other Name that was given so much authority as the Name of Jesus Christ.*
Many have died, but only Jesus Christ died and rose again, and He is still alive….
*”Jesus Christ”*
PS: If it was a joke, you would have sent it to everyone.
So, are you going to have the courage to send this?.
I have done My part.
Jesus said:
‘If you are embarrassed about Me, I will also be embarrassed about you before My Father.’
In the Scriptures thousands of gems of truth lie hidden from the surface seeker. The mine of truth is never exhausted. The more you search the Scriptures with humble hearts, the greater will be your interest, and the more you will feel like exclaiming with Paul: “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! …”
Every day you should learn something new from the Scriptures. Search them as for hid treasures, for they contain the words of eternal life. Pray for wisdom and understanding to comprehend these holy writings. If you would do this, you would find new glories in the Word of God; you would feel that you had received new and precious light on subjects connected with the truth, and the Scriptures would be constantly receiving a new value in your estimation.
The great truths necessary for salvation are made as clear as noonday…. A single text has proved in the past, and will prove in the future, to be a savor of life unto life to many a soul. As men diligently search, the Bible opens new treasures of truth, which are as bright jewels to the mind.
You must dig deep in the mine of truth if you would find its richest treasures. Comparing scripture with scripture, you may find the true meaning of the text; but if you do not make the sacred teachings of God’s Word the rule and guide of your life, the truth will be nothing to you…. If any part of God’s Word condemns any habit you have cherished, any feeling you have indulged, any spirit you have manifested, turn not from the Word of God; but turn away from the evil of your doings, and let Jesus cleanse and sanctify your heart.
What a wonderful description of truth, the providence of God, and the life of Peter Marshall! I hope that many truth-seekers and truth-finders will read this article and be drawn closer to the Truth.
Excellent