Well, what a joy it is to be
here, to hear all of these wonderful messages that have been presented
to us already. They have all ministered to my
heart in a wonderful way, and as we now come to the last session,
we want to give thought to how the Word of God contains the
truth of God. And so as you have your Bibles,
I want to invite you to turn with me to John chapter 17, and
I think you're going to want to have your Bible out. John
chapter 17 and verse 17 is the key text that we will be looking at today.
The title of this lecture is God's Word is Truth. I want to begin by reading verse
17, which is our focus. John chapter 17 and verse 17, the Word of God reads, "'Sanctify
them in the truth, Your Word is truth." As you know, these
are the words of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, as He is
praying to the Father in the night before His crucifixion. This is known as His high priestly
prayer. as Jesus now prays for the glory
of His Father to be principally manifested in the salvation of
those whom the Father had chosen and given to Him before time
began. He prays for their eternal security. And in this prayer,
there is a particular emphasis that is given to the Word of
God. It begins by focusing in verse
1 on the glory of God, and this glory being manifested in God's
saving purposes in His elect. But as we look at verse 17, I
want to set the context. I want to point out to you the
larger framework in which this is found, and I want you to see
the importance that Jesus Himself placed upon the Word of God as
He now prepares for the cross and prepares to give Himself
up on behalf of His people. In verse 6, He says, I have manifested
your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world. These
would be those chosen ones. They were yours, and you gave
them to me, and they have kept your word. The distinguishing
mark of these chosen ones is their relationship to the word
of God. And these who have been chosen
by the Father and given to the Son before the foundation of
the world are those who will obey the Word of God. They are
easily distinguished by their loyalty and allegiance to keep
the Word of God. As we come to verse 8, our Lord
continues to be fixed in this prayer upon the Word of God. For the words which you gave
me, I have given to them. Jesus sees that He is responsible
to the Father to receive the words from the Father in His
incarnation, and to then teach them and preach them to those
whom the Father had given to Him. And He says, they received
them, referring to His words, and they truly understood that
I came forth from you. Later in verse 12, as Jesus thinks
of His own death upon the cross and the strategic place that
Judas Iscariot will play in the unfolding drama surrounding His
crucifixion, He says at the end of verse 12 that the son of perdition
will do what he will do so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.
Jesus, again, elevating the Word of God even as He comes to the
end of His life and realizing that even the betrayal that He
would suffer by one of His own disciples was a path that had
already been pre-recorded in Old Testament Scripture. So Jesus
saw His own life going down a path that had been marked out for
Him by the Father and recorded in the Word. And verse 13, but
now I come to you and these things I speak in the world. so that they may have my joy
made full in themselves." He understood that his disciples
could not have joy independent of the Word of God. He understood
that the Word of God would bring extraordinary joy and peace to
their hearts as they understood the Word of God. Then in verse
14, I have given them Your Word. I want you to see the repeated
focus upon the Word of God. I have given them Your Word,
and the world has hated them because they are not of the world.
There would be a price to pay for the possession and the proclamation
of the Word of God. It would bring them joy, but
it would also bring them persecution because they would be so identified
with the message of the Word of God. Then we come to verse
17, which is our text. Jesus says to the Father, sanctify
them in the truth. Your word is truth, and Jesus
recognizes that the truth of God is found in the word of God. He then says in verse 19, with
this continued emphasis upon the truth of the word of God,
for their sakes I sanctify myself. that they themselves may also
be sanctified in truth. Jesus understands that for them
to be progressively set apart to the Father and to be conformed
to His own image, that that would take place within the sphere
of the ministry of the truth that is found in God's Word. The only way that they could
be consecrated to God and conformed into the image of Christ is by
the truth. And as this truth would minister
to them, verse 20 says that these disciples would take this message
to the world. And so in verse 20, he says,
I do not ask on behalf of these alone, referring to the eleven,
but to those also who believe in me through their word. And so the word that has come
from the Father to the Son that has been committed to the original
disciples, they would take this word of truth, and they would
take it to the world. and that there would be down
through the centuries those who would believe the word that Jesus
had given to them. And so in this high priestly
prayer, there is a vein of gold that runs through this shaft.
There is a thread that draws significant attention to the
primacy and the centrality of the ministry of the Word of God,
and it was dominant upon the heart of our Lord and Savior
as He comes to the end of His life. And so in the time that
we have today, I want to lock our focus on verse 17, sanctify
them in the truth. Your word is truth. As we look at verse 17, I want
to set before you first the reality of truth. There is truth. And Jesus prays this in a world
that is filled with skepticism toward any notion of the truth. Later in chapter 18, in verse
37, And verse 38, Pilate has scoffed
at the very idea of truth. Jesus has said in verse 37, 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 dismissive way. And
yet Jesus held firmly to the conviction that there is truth. In fact, in John 14, verse 6,
he said, I am the way and the truth, and I will send to you
the spirit of truth. So what is truth? In one word,
truth is reality. Truth is the way things really
are. Dr. Sproul quoted earlier from
Kittle, really in many ways the authoritative standard for Greek
words, that the word truth means the real state of affair. It's the way things really are.
Truth is not what the majority of people perceive something
to be. Truth is not what we want something to be. Truth is whatever
God says something is. All that matters is what God
says something is. That is what it is. Sin is what
God says it is. That is the truth. Salvation
is what God says it is. That is the truth. Heaven and
hell is what God says that it is. And so truth is reality. Truth is the way things really
are. So as we think about the reality
of truth, I want to give you several words that will help
define this reality of truth. And number one, truth is divine. Truth is divine. In other words,
it comes down from above. Truth does not originate in this
world. Truth does not arise out of culture. Truth does not arise
out of society. Truth does not find its origin
in man. Truth is divine in that God is
the author of all truth. God is the source of truth. God is the determiner of truth. He is the arbitrator of truth,
and He is the judge of truth. Truth is divine. Let me give
you some cross-references. Psalm 31, verse 5, refers to
the God of truth. It's one of the divine attributes
of God. Jesus, as I earlier quoted, is
the truth, John 14, 6. And in John 14, 7, we read that
He will send the Spirit of truth. You see, truth is Trinitarian. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit are all three identified as the truth. Ephesians 4, 21 says that truth
is in Christ Jesus. All truth, all redemptive, saving,
sanctifying truth is in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is not one
drop of truth outside of Christ as it relates to matters of our
salvation and sanctification. Truth is the self-expression
of God. Truth is everything that is consistent
with the mind of God, and the character of God, and the being
of God. So number one, truth is divine. All that matters is what does
God say, that's what the truth is. Romans 3 verse 4 says, let
God be found true, let every man be found a liar. Second, not only is truth divine,
but second, it is absolute. You'll note in John 17, verse
17, Jesus refers to the truth. Sanctify them in the truth. Not a truth, but the truth. In other words, truth is absolute. Truth is not relative. There's
not a truth for you, and then a truth for someone else, and
we all get to have our own truth. No, there is only one truth,
and that truth is absolute for everyone in the universe. Truth
is not arbitrary. Truth is not conditional. And
whatever contradicts biblical truth is false and a lie. Truth is incompatible with error. Truth is perfect. It is complete. It is pure. Truth is exclusive,
never inclusive. Truth is discriminating. It is
very discriminating, and it excludes all that is untrue. Truth is never both and. Truth is always either or. Third, truth is objective. He
says, sanctify them by the truth. Truth is not a feeling that fluctuates. Truth is a fact that is verified. Truth is conveyed in words that
have precise meaning. Truth is black and white. Truth is concrete. Truth is rational. Truth is tangible. Truth is found
in specific words that are found in the Word of God, and words
that have specific meaning. Truth is true regardless of how
it speaks to a person's heart. So therefore, truth is very specific. Truth is very explicit. Truth is very exact. Truth never stutters or mumbles. Truth always is outspoken, and
truth always tells it like it is. Fourth, truth is singular. You'll note again in John 17
and verse 17 that he says, sanctify them in the truth, singular. Your word is truth, singular. It is not plural. Truth is always
singular. That is to say, it speaks with
one voice. Truth never contradicts itself. Truth does not come piecemealed
in various fragments, but it stands together and forms one
body of truth. It represents one diagnosis of
the human dilemma from cover to cover. It presents one way
of salvation. It presents one Christian worldview. It presents one standard of holiness. It presents one pattern for the
family. It presents one consummation
of the age and on into eternity. Truth is singular. It all hangs
together. Francis Schaeffer wrote years
ago, Christianity is not a series of truths, plural, but rather
truth spelled out with a capital T. He would go on to talk about
truth, truth, meaning there is only one body of truth. James Montgomery Boyce, who has
already been mentioned in this conference, wrote years ago,
Truth is singular. It is not in fragments. That
would require us to speak of truth in the sense of unrelated
facts and items. Boyce says, truth holds together. Therefore, there is no phrase
of truth that is not related to every other phase of truth." In other words, you tell me what
you believe about one doctrine, and I will automatically tell
you what you believe about 20 other doctrines. Because truth
is woven together like a beautiful tapestry, and when you pull one
thread, it crinkles in another place because of the tightness
with which it holds together. Truth is singular. Number five,
truth is immutable. God never changes, and neither
does His truth. Truth is fixed. Truth is established. It is constant. It is unvarying. It is transgenerational. What
was true for your grandparents is true today, will be true for
your grandchildren Truth never changes. After I graduated from
college, I went to law school. I studied constitutional law,
case law, civil law, all different kinds of law. And your grade
would be your final exam, and so you would go into that final
exam with a great deal of trepidation. You would stay up all through
the semester memorizing case law and then go in to take the
exam. And what was so frustrating for
me was that I would invest countless hours in the middle of the night
trying to memorize the law. But by the time the final exam
had come, they had changed the law. And it was no longer in
effect. And I would think, why did I
even bother to invest my life and time in studying a law that
is constantly changing? And it was a part of what God
was doing in my life to redirect my life because it became very
appealing to me to pour all of my energies into a law that would
never change. And what I would memorize in
my twenties, I would preach in my thirties, I would teach in
my forties, and would be the guiding star of my life into
my seventies and into my eighties, that if God should allow me to
live that long, that truth is immutable. Psalm 119, verse 89. Forever, O Lord, Your Word is
settled in heaven." Forever is a long time, my friend. And forever,
the Word of God is settled in heaven. Isaiah 40, verse 8, the
grass withers, and the flower fades away, but – and Martin
Lloyd-Jones says, praise God for the buts in the Bible. But
the word of our Lord endures forever. Listen to Matthew 5
and verse 18. Jesus said, until heaven and
earth pass away. not the smallest letter or stroke
shall pass from the law until all is accomplished." What a
firm foundation we have for our faith. What a strong place we
have to stand upon the Word of God. It is never shaking and
never moving beneath us. Luke 16, verse 17, Jesus said,
it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke
of a letter of the law to fail. And because truth is immutable,
it's always up to date. It's always contemporary. You
want to have a contemporary ministry? Great, preach the Bible, because
it's more up-to-date than tomorrow's newspaper. The Bible is the most
relevant book that has ever been written. The Word of God is living
and active and sharper than any two-edged sword. This book is
alive. This book is never outdated.
This book has a permanent shelf life. This book is always true,
and it always speaks to the issues of every generation, on every
continent, in every time. In fact, the Bible speaks to
every single person who is alive on the earth, whether they hear
it or not. The Bible is immutable. Six, the Bible is authoritative. It doesn't just sit there. It's
not just merely interesting. Truth makes demands upon us. Truth necessitates something
from us. Truth is not a mere suggestion. It's not an option that is being
presented to us. Truth is commanding. Truth is
demanding. Truth is sovereign. Truth has
the right to rule our lives. The life and destiny of every
one of us is determined by our relationship to the truth. You
cannot be saved apart from the truth. Faith comes by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of Christ. You cannot grow as a Christian
apart from the truth. You will not grow one inch beyond
your intake of the Word of God. None of us live up to all of
the Word of God that has come into our lives, but we will never
outgrow the Word that has come into our life. We could say,
when the truth speaks, God speaks. And when the truth commands,
God commands. When the truth promises, God
promises, because God is truth. Seven, truth is powerful. Truth convicts. Truth saves. Truth judges. Truth damns. Truth sanctifies. Truth conforms. And Jesus said, if the truth
shall set you free, you shall be free indeed. You shall know
the truth, and the truth shall set you free. That's how powerful
truth is. None of us can be liberated from
the tyranny of sin and the bondage of Satan apart from the truth
having its ministry in our lives. And finally, truth is determinative. Truth determines how you live. Truth determines where you will
spend all eternity. Truth will have the last word
in your life on the last day. John MacArthur has said, authentic
Christianity is concerned first and foremost with truth. The Christian faith is not primarily
about feelings, though deep feelings will result from the truth. Christianity
is not primarily about human relationships. It's not about
success and earthly blessings. Rather, he says, biblical Christianity
is first and foremost about truth. This is the reality of truth.
Do you see how important the truth is to your soul? How important the truth is in
your life? How important it is that there
is this thing of the reality of truth? Second, and very quickly,
I want you to note with me here the record of truth, because
truth is found in the record of God's Word, in the Bible. You'll note in verse 17 again,
he writes, sanctify them in the truth. Your Word is truth. This refers primarily to the
written Word of God. It certainly applies to the Old
Testament. In verse 12 in John chapter 17,
he made mention of the son of perdition so that the Scripture
would be fulfilled, and here the Scripture refers to the Old
Testament, the 39 canonical books. Of course, Jesus has His focus
upon one text in particular out of the Psalms, but nevertheless,
in verse 12, there is the representation of the entire Old Testament record
of the truth, beginning in Genesis and extending for us what is
the placement of Malachi at the end, it is all the record of
truth. It is objective. It is written
down. It is recorded in precise words
that have precise meaning. But also, we see in verse 8,
Jesus speak of the words which you gave me, I have given to
them." And the record of the words that Jesus gave during
His earthly ministry would be recorded in the four Gospels.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And they too would constitute
the record of truth. But there is more. There is also
in verse 20, Jesus speaking of their word, referring to the
message and the word of the apostles as it would be proclaimed, we
see by representation here, the rest of the New Testament. What
they preached in the book of Acts, that we have the record.
And what they wrote in the epistles, we have that record. and what
would be recorded in Revelation to bring to completion the New
Testament, we have that record. And so when we pull verse 12,
verse 8, and verse 20 together, we see the record of truth that
is uniquely recorded in the written Word of God. It is that which
has come out of the mouth of God. It has been recorded in
Scripture. Now we could say this, there
is one primary author of Scripture, capital A. And there are 40 plus
secondary authors, human authors, that recorded what God desired
to be recorded, yet without any error. Think about the extraordinary
providence of the record of truth in the Bible. that it was written
over a period of 1600 years, beginning with Moses and
his wilderness wanderings that we know from 1445 to 1405 B.C.,
all the way down to the end of the first century, with the latter
books being recorded spanning almost 1600 years. Forty plus
different authors, writing on three different continents, writing
in three different languages. These human authors being everything
from paupers to princes, from shepherds to sovereigns, from
goat herders to governors, the whole spectrum of life. And yet,
as the Word of God comes together, it comes not as fragments and
bits and pieces, almost like someone stuffing a suitcase and
arms of sweaters hanging out the edge, but as it comes together,
The Word of God is so perfectly interwoven, it is as though there
is only one author who is bringing one way of salvation and one
record of His purposes here in the world. This is the record
of truth. And it is recorded in Scripture,
Old Testament and New Testament, without any errors in the original
autographs. Well, finally, I want you to
note the reign of truth. I want you to see the power of
the truth of the Word of God, and it is at the beginning of
verse 17. We have thought about the reality of truth. There it
is in verse 17. Jesus says there is truth. And
we have spoken of the record of truth that is found in the
Word of God. But finally, I want you to think
of the reign of truth. And by the reign of truth, I
mean the power of truth, the supernatural power of the truth
of God in the hearts of men and women. Jesus begins in verse
17 by saying, sanctify them. in the truth. Jesus understands
that there is one principal instrument that God uses to conform us into
the very image of Jesus Christ. And this principal instrument
is the supernatural record of God's truth that is recorded
in the Bible. Sanctify them in the truth. Now, Jesus says this to those
who are already regenerated, those who are already converted,
those who are already justified and have been positionally sanctified. and have begun the process of
what we would call progressive sanctification. And Jesus now
prays to the Father, and He is so passionate and urgent in this
prayer that it is actually an imperative verb. Sanctify them
in the truth. consecrate them more and more
to the will and the purposes of You, Father, and conform them
more and more into my own image. Like produces like, and only
a holy book, the Word of God, can bring about personal holiness
in the lives of His people. Jesus prays that they will yet
become further conformed into His very image, and it will come
about by the ministry of the Word of God. Do you realize how
powerful the record of truth is and the reign of truth is
in your life? Psalm 119 verse 9 says, how shall
a young man keep his way pure? I would add, how shall an old
man keep his way pure? How shall a teenager keep his
or her way pure? How shall a young lady keep her
way pure? How shall an older widow keep
her way pure? The psalmist gives the answer.
by keeping it according to Your Word. Verse 11, Your Word I have
hid in my heart that I might not sin against You. What a powerful instrument the
Word of God is in the life of the believer when applied by
the Holy Spirit of God to mature us into Christ-likeness, as well
as to resist the encroachment of temptation and sin in our
lives. Jesus said in John 15, verse
3, you are already clean because of the Word which I have spoken
to you. How powerful is the purifying
Word of God. In 1 Peter 2, verse 2, like newborn
babes, long for the pure milk of the Word, that by it you may
grow in respect to salvation. The Word of God is our spiritual
growth food. The Word of God is that which
God uses to stimulate our maturity in Christlikeness and growth
in grace. This is the reign of truth, and
no wonder as our Lord approached His crucifixion upon the cross,
as He is praying to the Father in this inner Trinitarian conversation,
as He prays for the glory of the Father in the lives of those
whom the Father had entrusted to Him. Jesus is locked in on
the truth. of the Word of God. It is dominant
in his mind. And as he prays, he sees the
truth in a very central place as he offers this prayer to God
and acknowledges that the elect will be recognized and distinguished
by their keeping of the Word of God and their pursuit of the
Word of God. He acknowledges that they will
have joy in their lives because of the truth of the Word. Earlier
in the upper room discourse, Jesus said, truly, truly, I say
unto you. Well, I just forgot. Verse 11. These things I have spoken to
you, so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be
full." Would you like to have more joy in your Christian life?
In the midst of difficult circumstances, would you like for there to be
an overflow of supernatural joy in your life? Jesus said, I have
spoken these words to you so that my joy may be in you and
that your joy may be made full. We have the very joy of Jesus
Christ in our hearts as the Word of God is reigning in our lives. It should be no wonder to us
that as our Lord approaches the cross, As he has given his disciples
final instruction in the upper room, as he prays to the Father,
he is so focused in his prayer of the ministry of the truth
of the Word of God in the lives of his elect and how they will
be distinguished from the world. and live in ways that are inexplicable
apart from God's presence in their life by the ministry of
the truth of God's Word. As we bring this conference to
a close, I trust that every one of us here today has seen how
important the inerrancy of the Word of God is. And as we bring
this to conclusion, may the Lord use His Word to sanctify you,
to prune and to remove from our lives all that is not Christlike,
and to water and to cultivate that which is pleasing to Him.
At the end of His life, Our Lord elevated the importance of the
Word of Truth. And as you and I live our lives,
may Sola Scriptura be a firm foundation upon which we stand,
and may it grow us and mature us and develop us into those
men and women who have strong faith in our Lord and Savior.
And it will come to the extent that the Word of God has found
a firm place in our lives. Let the Word of Christ richly
dwell within you. Let us close in a word of prayer. Our Father in heaven, we are
so grateful that You have given us the record of truth. that
we're not dependent upon even oral tradition of what was once
said long ago and has been passed down to us verbally, as others
would recall or remember what was spoken to them audibly. But instead, we have the permanent,
fixed, specific words that you breathed out of your mouth, that
you superintended the authors by which they would record the
truth you desire us to have so that we may come to a saving
knowledge of Christ and so that we may grow in the grace and
knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. May we hold the truth to be so
precious. And we ask and pray that the
truth would reign in these days in your churches from pulpits
that are set ablaze and in pews where there are hungry and receptive
hearts to take in the truth of Your Word. May Your Word reign
in every home where there are believers. And may Your truth
spread to the four corners of the earth. And may there be missionaries
and messengers who will take the truth of Your Word far and
wide, and who will say to the nations, the Lord reigns. Lord, may Your truth extend to
all people groups, and all tribes, and all tongues, and all peoples
everywhere. And we ask that You would also
use Ligonier Ministries in this global effort to bring the truth
to the entire world. Father, we pray this in the mighty
name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.