All right, we're gonna be back over in John chapter 18, here over the last, most of this year, I guess. We've been working our way here kind of in a parallel series. One week we'll be in Psalms 119. Next Sunday, we'll, We'll go through the last section of Psalms 119. On the alternating week, which is what today is, we've been going to the gospels and looking at Jesus Christ, the living word, the author of the scriptures, the subject of the scriptures, the full embodiment of the scriptures, and absolutely in in every way the fulfillment of the scriptures. And I've enjoyed preparing these messages and I hope that they've been a blessing to you. This will essentially be the last message in the living word side of this. We're going in after this into really the month of December and we'll still have quite a focus on Jesus Christ in the month of December being Christmas time and And so we'll have more messages on the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't mean to say that we're not going to preach Jesus here, but I just mean that as far as this series, this half of the series goes, this will be the final message in this part of it. And again, next week, the final message in the written word side of it out of Psalms 119. And just this is something coming into Thanksgiving week. I can't think of something that we should be and can be more thankful for than Jesus Christ coming to this earth and coming, as he says here in our text, and I just want to jump ahead of myself here a little bit. In verse 37, Jesus said to Pilate, kind of in the middle of the verse, he says, that after this, Pilate is going to give in to the mob, and he is going to condemn Christ to be crucified, even though he does not deserve it. He is going to condemn Christ to be crucified, and Jesus Christ, his life is not going to be taken, but his life is going to be laid down. No man had the power to take his life, but he laid his life down willingly to be the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. And Jesus is going to go to the most cruel and most unjust death that this world has ever seen. and He did that for you, He did that for me. He laid down His life, He shed His blood, He became that sacrifice, that perfect sacrifice, that once for all sacrifice, so that we could be reconciled, so that we could have eternal life, and so that we could have salvation, by the death, burial, and the resurrection, the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Arrest, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus is truly a remarkable story, a story of remarkable injustice of the highest order. 1 Peter 3.18, and it says it this way, for Christ also hath suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit." That statement, the just for the unjust, such a powerful statement, one in which we should reflect on, one in which we should see ourselves, that Jesus Christ, the just, died for me, the unjust. Yes, He died for the sins of the world, but the world system doesn't sin, we do. I do. Humans do. Jesus wasn't dying for creation. He wasn't dying for the rocks and the trees and the water and the animals and the insects. He wasn't dying for that. He wasn't dying for the way that the world works. He wasn't dying for those things. He was dying for us. He was dying for mankind. He was dying for Adam's race that from the garden fell into sin and has been away from God and separated from God by our sins since that time. Again, we understand that Jesus Christ in this is not a victim. This is not something that was done to him against his will and though it was a great injustice and though he was just and was punished as the unjust, though he was just and was treated as if he were the criminal in this situation. Jesus Christ was the willing sacrifice and substitute for each one of us. Leading up to this point, even in the gospel of John, multiple times, multiple occasions, Jesus has, has stated that he would lay down his life. Even says as much that, that Jesus Christ, spoke of the fact that he would fulfill the scriptures. In verse 30, it says, "...the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die." If you go all the way back, even to chapter 3 of the Gospel of John, you start to see that Jesus Christ is speaking about being lifted up from the earth, that he might draw all men unto him, and that being an allusion to the reference to the death that he would die, knowing all the way back then, which what we would believe would be fairly early on in his earthly ministry in that conversation with Nicodemus, that he would, he already knew, of course, he already knew as God already knew that he would be lifted up from the earth on the cross. He was not a, an unwitting victim of this. He came to the earth for this. He came to this world for this. He was born in Bethlehem for this. And Jesus did many, many wonderful and powerful and impactful things in His life. And He healed the sick and He fed the hungry and He caused the dead even to be raised again on multiple occasions. That's not why He came. Those things were secondary. Those things were tertiary to why Jesus came. Those were wonderful things that he was able to do while he was on this earth. He came and he taught and he preached and he taught many wonderful things and preached many wonderful sermons. And all of that was very important. And we have that recorded for us here in the word of God. And it's very, very important, the things that Jesus Christ taught, but he came to lay down his life for mankind. For this cause came I into this world to bring men back to the truth, And Pilate asks a question in verse 38, in response to what Jesus Christ says to that, when Jesus said that he should bear witness to the truth and everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. And Pilate asks a question, what is truth? I think maybe one of the most important questions that's perhaps ever been asked and a question that I believe that every one of us has to answer for ourselves in some way. One of the interesting things about the way that written text is, we are left with only our own assumptions of how Pilate said this. We're not given any indication of what his tone of voice was, what his nonverbal communication, his facial expressions were. And so I think we all read into this what we read into this. We don't know if there are many, many different ways that we could take Pilate's question of what is truth. And most often when it's portrayed, we see it portrayed as Pilate asking this question dismissively and even contemptuously, almost an accusation as if Jesus Christ, he's saying that what Jesus Christ is saying is not truth and that Jesus Christ doesn't know what the truth is and that he's just dismissing it altogether. And usually that's how it's portrayed. But then Pilate goes to the crowd and he goes back to the leaders that brought Jesus to him and he says, I find in this man no fault at all. And it's hard to imagine for me that Pilate was completely contemptuous of Christ's words and blurted out what is truth. if he goes back and he says, this man is not guilty of what you're accusing him of. That's my take on it. And I suppose he could have also been asking the question, not necessarily contemptuously, but rhetorically or sarcastically, as if that's not the purpose of what was going on there, as if it was a secondary issue. Pilate would have been perhaps showing a spirit of skepticism regarding the words of Christ That what Jesus was saying to him was not necessarily true, if that would be the case. I don't know, that could be it. I think maybe the least common association and least common interpretation of Pilate's question was that he was asking a genuine question. And maybe he was. Maybe he honestly wanted to know what the truth was. We don't know much about Pontius Pilate from history. There have been some archaeological finds and evidence that prove that Pontius Pilate was exactly who the Bible says that he was at exactly the time that it says he was. And so we can trust the historical record of the Gospels that Pontius Pilate was the governor in Judea at the time where Jesus Christ would have been alive. and active in his public ministry and even to the time of his arrest and his trial and his crucifixion. Pilate had already had several run-ins with the locals. He was not a, Roman magistrates were not well-liked to begin with, and even for one of those, he was very disliked by the Israelites and those in Judea. And so when the gospels say things like Pilate was willing to do them essentially a favor, do them a service by giving in to some of the demands that they make here around the crucifixion story of Jesus Christ, it makes sense because they didn't like him very much and they were causing him problems and his job was on the line. We find out the little bit that we do know about him after this, that Pilate, after he condemns Christ, to be crucified by the Roman government at the behest of the religious leaders of Israel and at the behest of the angry mob there in Jerusalem at the time of Passover, we find out that he wasn't in his position for very much longer. He was put out of office. He was sent back to his hometown in disgrace. Unfortunately, There's a belief that Pilate fell under such a deep depression from essentially his firing, from his demotion, and from the events that led up to that in Judea that eventually he took his own life, tragically took his own life. And what's very sad about that is that Pilate asked The truth. What is truth? And was questioning the truth that was right in front of him. And sadly, it seems never came to a conclusion on that matter. He asked this question and didn't get the answer, unfortunately. I'd like to believe that Pilate was asking a sincere question. I would like to believe that most men everywhere are asking the sincere question, what is the truth? I know there are those out there that ask that question contemptuously, as if there's no such thing as the truth, or as if the truth doesn't matter, or maybe even just a little bit sarcastically and rhetorically, as if the truth is not the most important thing. But there are so many out there that are asking that question sincerely. In this case, Pilate was facing the truth and denying it for what it was, for who he was. Sadly, many who are questioning that in their hearts right now, they're not being exposed to the truth. And many with that question in their hearts, if someone would go and tell them the truth, they would hear it and they would believe it. We know that in our, world today, maybe in our country and in our culture in particular, the truth is certainly under attack. That in some of the same ways, the world is asking, what is truth? a couple of years ago, the word of the year that was published by one of the online dictionaries, their word of the year was post-truth. This was probably in 2020 or 2021, essentially describing the age and describing the era that we live in as the post-truth era, a time in which truth was not the most important thing. There were things that were higher and better and nobler and more important than the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Many in this time question whether truth even really exists, whether there is an eternal and a universal and an unchanging and an immutable definition of what is and is not true. This is not a new thing. This world has been plagued with these kinds of concepts throughout history. And really at different times, it is maybe more prominent and more prevalent than in others. But even in the book of Isaiah, Old Testament book of Isaiah, which would have been hundreds of years before Christ, the prophet had to say that in chapter 59, verses 14 and 15, and judgment is turned away backward and justice standeth far off. For truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter, yea, truth faileth." I mean, even back then, some 2,500 years ago, the same thing was going on in that time and in that place that truth was fallen in the street. This is an indictment of the spirit of disregard for the truth. It only condemns those who don't know the truth and those who aren't seeking the truth, but those who know the truth and willingly ignore what it says. Certainly, again, there are some in this world that are questioning the truth contemptuously. A segment of the population that are adamantly opposed to God and the gospel and they attack the truth and they are outright deniers of the truth. They even deny that the truth exists at all. They seek for any other answer to explain life so long as it does not suggest that an eternal holy God exists. I like science and scientific things. I taught science for a little while. a Christian school, and I appreciate many of the discoveries that science has made, but a lot of the more theoretical aspects of science and the scientific community, when you get right down to the core of them, you find out that the driving force behind the theories that are posited in the and the experiments that they are attempting to perform are attempts to prove that this universe, that this world, that this creation that we live in, that life itself has a beginning that can be explained some other way than in the beginning God created. And millions and hundreds of millions and billions of dollars are being spent all around this world trying to suggest that the world and life and everything that exists came from something other than God. Why? Because when they say, what is truth? They say contemptuously. They want any other answer than eternal, holy God. scoffers and scorners at the truth. And though they may be the loudest and the angriest, I certainly don't believe that they are the largest by any means, the majority of those who are questioning and have questions as to what the truth are. I do believe there are still some others and even more than of the first group that are asking for the truth and questioning the truth rhetorically. a crowd that concedes that though truth exists, they view it as a lesser factor than others. And this is a very prominent philosophy right now, that truth exists, but truth can be superseded by feelings and emotions and lived experiences and all of these kind of subjective factors that are more important than what the actual truth is. not necessarily opposed to the idea of the truth, but opposed to the idea that truth is universal, that truth is unchanging, that truth is immutable. And many more individuals in society are in this group than in the previous group. But there's still one group that's greater than both combined, I believe, and I'm hopeful that this is true, that there is a segment of the population that has heard a lot of lies, they've heard a lot of deceptions, they've heard a lot of conflicting versions of the story, and they've heard a lot of different information, and they have a genuine question of what the truth is, and they would be happy to receive it if they would have an opportunity but to hear it. They would like to know what really is true. They just don't know where to find the answer. These are not ones that are always just immediately responsive to the gospel, just immediately responsive to the word of God. But when they hear it, they hear it with gladness and with receptiveness. And I believe this is the lion's share of those who are in search of the truth right now. I'd say to us as Christians, we must not be for fear of opposition. We must not conceal the truth that has been delivered to us. The Bible challenges us that we've been entrusted with the word of God. We've been trusted with the gospel. We've been given a stewardship and a responsibility with the truth, to speak the truth in love. To speak the truth boldly and to speak the whole truth without hesitation and without reservation. A recent statistic shows that one out of every three unchurched Americans would be willing to attend a church service if someone they knew would invite them. That doesn't sound like somebody who's contemptuous about the truth. That doesn't sound like somebody who's skeptical about the truth. That just sounds like someone who doesn't know where to find it. Another statistic, statistics are not gospel, of course, but another recent statistic that I saw showed that of those who do attend a church service for the first time or attend any kind of, maybe a little bit more broad than that, but something of a Bible-based religious activity even, a church service, a Bible study, anything like that, of those who had recently attended one for the first time, Over 85% of those attended because someone they knew asked them to come. And of the other less than 15% that attended recently for the first time, it was broken out into several different categories of things of church outreach and things of ad campaigns that were run or mailers that had come in the mail or just different things, driven by and saw the sign out front. Far more than four out of five that have recently attended a church service came because someone they knew invited them. We have the truth. We have the truth. And we may not always know the best ways to present it, but we can at least, at the very least, invite them to a church service where the gospel will be preached, where the Bible will be opened up. As Christians, we must not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ. We must not be hesitant to share with others. Why? Because Jesus is the truth. Again, Pilate looking right at the truth. and still left with a heart of denial, whether that was from skepticism, contempt, or otherwise, left with a heart of denial. Like Jesus Christ, and because Jesus Christ is the embodiment of truth, truth is universal and unchanging and eternal and immutable. And the Bible says, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. How could truth be any different than Jesus Christ when Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life? If truth changes, then Jesus changes. Anything less than the truth is error, it's falsehood, it's lies. The truth cannot be changed or destroyed. The truth can only be denied and rejected. Not rightfully, but they can't change it. They can't alter it. They can't destroy it. They don't have to accept it. They don't have to receive it, but they cannot get rid of it. They cannot change it to suit their needs. And Jesus is the embodiment of truth. Many verses where Jesus used the word true or the word truth to speak of himself and to describe himself or to be described in the word of God. In John 14, 6, I just quoted this to you here. But Jesus saith unto them, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. In John 1, 9, in that Greek passage about the deity of Jesus Christ, it says of Jesus that, In John 6, verses 32, and then also in verse 35, in the bread of life passage, it says there that Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my father giveth you true bread from heaven. I am the bread of life, the true bread. John 15, one, Jesus said, I am the true vine. My father is the husbandman. Jesus is that embodiment of the truth. The Word of God is truth for mankind throughout all ages. If the Word of God speaks of Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ is the subject of those scriptures and the embodiment and the fulfillment of the scriptures, then the Word of God is truth in our hands. It is the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news of salvation provided in Him and is the source of unchanging truth and that only reliable foundation on which we can build our lives, the Word of God. And we know that truth will prevail. Lies and deceptions and falsehoods may have their moment and they may have their time and they may have their, they might have some momentum for a period of time and the world has seen many of those come and go. And one lie comes and has its moment and it has its momentum for a period of time and then it is proven false and it dissipates into the ether Another lie will come and replace it, but the truth remains and the truth prevails time and time again. In John 8, 32, a verse that we're very familiar with, Jesus said, and ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. We know that Jesus Christ prevails. We know that Jesus Christ overcomes the world. We know that Jesus Christ though he is crucified and he is buried, that he overcomes death and that he is raised again by his own power on the third day. We know that in that he overcomes Satan and the forces of evil. And we already know from the end of the Bible that Jesus Christ ultimately prevails and that the devil and his forces of evil are put down and eternally subdued and punished for their evil. We know that the gospel prevails and the gospel is what is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes that it overcomes sin and the penalty of sin. That it overcomes the lies, the deceptions, the false hopes, the false beliefs, the false doctrines, the false gospels that are out there, the false religions that are out there. It is the answer to all of those things and overcomes all of them. that the word of God prevails. I mean, look at many verses out of Psalms 119 here recently, and out of the book of Psalms, and then we know that the word of God is eternal. Psalms 12, six and seven is the words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in the furnace of earth, purified seven times, thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever. Psalms 119, 89, a verse we looked at many weeks ago. Forever, oh Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. That Jesus said of the word of God that not one jot or tittle would fall to the earth before it was fulfilled. That the word of God is eternal and unchanging and immutable and it will overcome and it will prevail. I know the word of God is powerful. Hebrews 4.12 says the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and the marrow and is a discern of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. It's powerful, it's alive. It overcomes the doubts and the lies and the fear and the shame that comes by sin, that comes by living in this broken and fallen world. The Word of God is the only living and powerful source of truth that we can depend on. No matter what may come against the truth, the truth will never change. The truth will never be destroyed. Pilate asked this question to Jesus Christ, what is truth? We don't, again, we don't know how he asked that question. We just know that he did. And we know that there are people out there that are asking the same question. Some with a heart of contempt and denial and looking for any answer other than Jesus Christ, the way, the truth and life. Some that are asking that question with skepticism, with some irony and not necessarily willing to accept the simple truth of the gospel, but some who ask it sincerely and need something to sort it all out. and someone to come along and like the book of Acts, the Ethiopian eunuch who is reading the prophecy of Isaiah, and Philip asked him a simple question, understandest thou what thou readest? The Ethiopian eunuch came to Jerusalem looking for the truth, didn't find it there, but he had scripture And he was looking in the scripture as he was returning home and someone just had the sense to ask him a simple question, do you understand what you're reading? And through that, a door opened for him to share the gospel and then to preach to him Jesus Christ. And that Ethiopian eunuch was saved because of that. There are people that are asking that question sincerely, and we have an opportunity to be one who helps them find the sincere answer to that question. We're supposed to be willing to share the truth and not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ. I'm going to close this morning. We'll go to a time here of prayer. If there's some decision you need to make this morning, if you need to trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior, you'll have the opportunity to do that here at the end of the service. If you need to make some decision or commitment to the Lord here, I want to encourage you to do that here this morning also, here at the time of invitation. And so if you join me with your heads bowed for the time of prayer and of response,