The Alex McFarland Show-146-What is Truth?

The spiritual condition of America, politics, culture, and current events, analyzed through the lens of scripture.

Welcome to the Alex McFarland Show. How much do you think about truth? What is truth? You know, I believe truth is the most important subject that almost nobody talks about. Truth. And in this edition of the program we're going to talk about truth and its eternal implications. Hi, Alex McFarland here. Thank you for watching.

I'm going to share a scripture from 1 Timothy chapter 3 in just a moment. But as I get ready to talk about truth, I am doing a lot of interviews this week as I record this show, it's just hours removed from Donald Trump being inaugurated as our 47th president. I don't know if you watched all the proceedings, but it was quite moving, in my opinion. I would encourage you to go back and to listen to the speech. Jesse Waters was on Fox News January 20th talking about Trump's inauguration speech, and he called it one of the greatest speeches in American history.

And I would really agree. Regardless of what you think about Donald Trump, I was invited to the inauguration. I didn't go, just couldn't work it in, although I was fervently praying and with great interest watching. Let me say it was very moving because, for one thing, before the proceedings even began, if you listen to the music that was playing, it was Great Is Thy Faithfulness, one of the great hymns of the Christian faith. As a North Carolinian, I was just so pleased that Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham, spoke and prayed. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, whom I met through Chuck Colson in September of 2009, we all met in New York City to write and sign something called the Manhattan Declaration, which I would encourage you to Google that document and read about.

It's a call for theological purity and moral awareness to not only infuse our government but our culture. Cardinal Dolan, Chuck Colson, myself, Al Mohler, a lot of Christian leaders, John Piper, a lot of us were there, even though that's now going on 16 years ago, but Cardinal Dolan prayed. It was an amazing, an amazing inauguration. I was so thrilled that when they sang the Battle Hymn of the Republic, they included the third verse that says, In the beauty of the lilies, Christ was born across the sea, with a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me. As he died to make men holy, let us live to make men free. Our God is marching on.

It was just amazing. And right there on the front row, just as you were facing the podium to the right, were outgoing President Joe Biden and outgoing VP Kamala Harris. And as Donald Trump took the oath of office and swore his allegiance to the Constitution and to the people, and he would fulfill and discharge his duties, giving account to Almighty God.

You know, he had his hand on Lincoln's Bible and his own Bible. And sitting there, I was watching Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, because frequently during Trump's speech, there were standing ovations, rightly so. And even as the camera panned about, I mean, people like Chuck Schumer and Amy Klobuchar, Democrats, were riveted.

And like Jesse Watters said in his commentary, I think everybody realized this was different. This was like a worship service. And Donald Trump got up and spoke twice. He spoke of American exceptionalism, that we are an exceptional nation. He talked about the achievements of America, America founded on biblical principles, America guaranteeing to all people the right to life.

It was powerful. And you know, sitting there watching was Biden and Harris, who had been champions for abortion. Joe Biden said, I believe it was January of 21, that if you're not pro-choice, there is no place for you in the Democrat Party. Very famously in the summer of 24 at the DNC convention, there was a mobile abortion truck out there doing abortions and vasectomies. And many said this is the party that is anti-life.

And so I thank God that in his Supreme Court appointments in his first term, and then on the campaign trail of 24, I heard Trump speak several times in 24. And again, he reiterated that the first constitutionally protected gift is the right to life. You know, Kamala Harris would be on the campaign trail, and she would always talk about liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And even Snopes and some of the left-leaning fact-checking sites admitted this was true, but she would not say that our Constitution guarantees the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but she would say liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Why? Because the progressive, woke, structurally Marxist left does not recognize life as a God-given inalienable human right. But even when Trump, he said in his inauguration speech, what Eric Trump said to me in July of 24 when we had a meeting and a time of prayer together, Donald Trump said, God spared my life, July 13, from a would-be assassin's bullet. God spared my life to enable me to serve as president again and try to make America great again. Everybody clapped. And I noticed as everybody stood and applauded, Biden and Harris stayed seated and would not clap.

And I was thinking about this. I mean, think about it. Politics aside, wouldn't you rejoice that a human life was saved, you know, irrespective of whether it be Donald Trump or whomever. Look, if somebody is about to be murdered, and by the grace of God, their life is spared. I mean, what human would not rejoice that another human life was saved? And I thought Biden and Harris so wedded to their false, ungodly ideology that they couldn't even clap.

Wow, someone tried to assassinate you, but you survived by God's grace and by two millimeters of space. But again, the Democrat Party is not the party of life. It's the party of death, negativity, limitation, everything, the glass is always half empty.

But it's a new day. And Trump said in his inauguration speech that this government would acknowledge two genders only, male and female. See, that is hugely important, because male and female, a binary view of gender is part and parcel of natural law, which is the philosophical foundation of our Constitution. I realize not many people talk about this, but our Constitution presupposes objective morality and truth. That's what Adams, October 11, 1798, in John Adams' letter to the Massachusetts militia, he said that our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.

It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. And that is true. So Trump, he said a lot in 25 or 30 minutes, and affirmations of our philosophical makeup, our constitutional nature, and of course, objective morality and truth.

That is the bedrock of how our nation works and what made our nation exceptional and great. Well, when we come back, we'll talk more about truth and some eternal implications of truth. Stay tuned. Alex McFarland, we're back after this. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this.

He's been called trusted, truthful, and timely. Welcome back to the Alex McFarland show. Welcome back to the program.

Alex here. We're talking about truth, and I'm going to read from 1 Timothy chapter 3 in just a moment. You know, before the break, I referenced John Adams' letter to the Massachusetts militia, and there's a line in this letter.

I would encourage you to Google it. It's easy. It's a very short letter, but it's incredibly powerful. And he says that we, the American people, quote, shall have the strongest reason to rejoice in the local destination assigned to us by providence.

All right, what is the local destination? Well, our life. Kind of reminds me of Psalm 16, verse 6, that says the boundary lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places.

Yea, I have a godly heritage. Now what boundary lines? The boundary lines of life. Now we're living in a culture that really likes to believe it can create its own reality.

Rather than acknowledge God, we like to assume that we are God. And rather than gratefully and humbly accept some of the choices that God in His sovereignty made on our behalf, we like to believe that there are no boundaries of life. But there are certainly boundaries. There are the laws of the physical world.

Gravity. That regardless of whether you acknowledge it or even know about it, the law of gravity is operative over you and on you. There are not only scientific laws, physical laws, medical and biological laws. There are moral laws.

Psychological boundaries. And yes, there are spiritual laws. It is a legal universe. And legality speaks of law. We've talked many times about the fact that there is the imputed righteousness of Christ for all who will believe. But until you have Jesus through the new birth experience, you have the imputed unrighteousness of Adam and Eve. Because we are the children of Adam. And as Charles Spurgeon famously said, Adam's righteousness was ours as long as he maintained it.

Adam's guilt was ours the moment he committed it. And these things are truth and reality. And we, if you're a Christian, we have not only the privilege but the duty to tell people truth. Now in 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, those are three books in the New Testament that are very often called the pastoral epistles. Because Paul, there's a lot that he says about the operation of the church in these. And he says to Timothy in 1 Timothy 3, 15 and 16, he says, If I tarry long, you may know how you ought to behave yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of truth. And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

Now to set some context, and then I want to give you five facts about truth, let's talk about this. Back in 1 Timothy 3, 9, Paul talked about Christians, quote, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. Now salvation is a gift you receive by putting your faith in Jesus. But righteous living, moral living, upright, forthright, honestly, living with ethics, integrity, within the moral boundaries God has revealed in his word, written on our heart, and emblazoned in the laws of our land, we are to live righteous lives.

Now that is not what saves us. It's the righteousness of Christ that saves us when we put our faith in Jesus. But like 1 Timothy 3, 9, we are to hold or carry within us and model in our living the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. What's mysterious about the Christian faith? Well, why God would love us.

That's just his grace, right? And there are many things that we don't fully understand, but we respond to and believe in that which we do understand, that we were sinners, we needed a redeemer, a savior. Christ is that savior, born of a virgin, rose from the dead, and so we accept and believe that when he laid his back to a beam of wood, was nailed to that cross, the appropriate measure of God's wrath that we deserved was put onto Jesus, and we accept that he suffered on our behalf so that we wouldn't have to. And we put our faith in Jesus, we are exonerated, redeemed, forgiven. That's the faith of Christianity. And so Paul is giving Timothy instruction here, and he says the church of the living God is the quote, pillar and ground of truth.

Now let me talk about these words for just a moment. The word pillar is the word foundation. And in the olden times before they would pour a footing and build a block foundation, very often houses were on pillars, maybe rock pillars or brick piers or pillars. But it's the foundation.

And the church, belief in absolute truth is foundational. But the word in the English that's translated ground, G-R-O-U-N-D, is really in the Greek the word stylus. You've seen a stylus. You know, when mobile devices first came out, they would often have a stylus you would tap on the touchscreen with. So a stylus is a writing implement, right? In what way is the church like a stylus?

Well, we've got words. God's word, the written revelation. So we give people the foundations of truth and reality and knowledge of God and salvation and the ground of truth.

We are to publish, proclaim, announce, role model, live out God's words. And it's by the Word of God that people hear of the Son of God believing in Jesus they become a child of God. That's like Psalm 119 verse 93, I will never forget thy words, for through them I found life. And then verse 16, 1 Timothy 3.16.

I write about this in our little book, What Does God Say About My Relationship With Him? In the early church, within weeks after the resurrection of Christ in the empty tomb, the church began to memorize and recite what are often called credal statements, statements of belief. Philippians 2 is one of these credal statements. 1 Corinthians 15.3-5. Well, 1 Timothy 3.16, it says no question, without controversy great is the mystery of God's incarnation. God was, listen, manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, and that's Isaiah 60, that the Savior of the Jews is the Redeemer of the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

That's Acts 1, the ascension. So in 1 Timothy 3.16, you've got one of the early church doctrinal statements, a credal statement about the incarnation, the atonement, the resurrection, and how we are saved by believing in that. So when we come back, we'll talk about these truths and several others, and we'll talk about the eternal implications of truth and how we all have the duty and really the privilege of living truth. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. Christian author and speaker Alex McFarland is an advocate for Christian apologetics. Living in more than 2,200 churches around the world, schools, and college campuses, Alex is driven by a desire to help people grow in relationship with God. He arms his audiences with the tools they need to defend their faith, while also empowering the unchurched to find out the truth for themselves. In the midst of a culture obsessed with relativism, Alex is a sound voice who speaks timeless truths of Christianity in a timely way. With 18 published books to his name, it's no surprise that CNN, Fox, The Wall Street Journal, and other media outlets have described Alex as a religion and culture expert. To learn more about Alex and to book him as a speaker at your next event, visit alexmcfarland.com or you can contact us directly by emailing booking at alexmcfarland.com.

Do you have a desire to deepen your faith, better understand Christian apologetics, or to get a biblical perspective on current events? Well, I've tried to make it simple for you to do just that. On my website, alexmcfarland.com, there's a new section called Ask Alex Online.

It's simple, it's clean, and you can read my answers to common questions about God, faith, and the Bible. So visit the website alexmcfarland.com and look for the section that says Ask Alex Online. Welcome back to the program. Alex McFarland here.

We're talking about truth. And I want to say how much I praise God for the exciting things that are going on in our ministry. You know, even as I record this, we're finalizing the speaker series. We've got a speaker series this summer in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The theme is Think, Pray, Thrive. Now listen to the speakers beginning on May 4th, and it will be right at Trump's 100-day mark to give us insight and analysis. Dinesh D'Souza.

Then the author of the Five Love Languages, Gary Chapman. Then later on in the summer, Riley Gaines. And then August 21, Charlie Kirk. Yes, live in person.

It's going to be great. Plus we have our seven summer youth camps. I'm on tour. I'm at the Cove, the Billy Graham Training Center in western North Carolina, July 18th through 20th.

And then I'll be there the first week of August with J. Warner Wallace and so I would love for you to come and meet us at the Cove. We've also got Evangelistic Crusades all over America in places like Kansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Indiana. So go to AlexMcFarland.com and let me say a very special heartfelt thank you to all who donate and support. You enable us seven days a week on radio, on television, on the road every week in front of audiences of all ages. You're enabling us to be used by God to raise up a generation that committed to the salvation of America. We call it the Alliance for the Preservation of Christianity in America.

So if you would help us with a tax-deductible financial contribution, you may donate securely online at AlexMcFarland.com. Well, you know, we began the program talking about truth, and I had to laugh. I was reading a news story about McDonald's in 2014. They wanted to get, I guess, the market of families with young children, and in the experimental kitchens of McDonald's, they created bubblegum flavored broccoli.

True. Bubblegum flavored broccoli. But when they were, you know, beta testing it, the kids overwhelmingly didn't like it. And one child said, it's not good as bubblegum, and it's not good as broccoli.

And do you know what? Christianity is a lot like that. I mean, Christianity is all about the love of God who Jesus gave his life for us. God does love us, but God also says, repent and turn away from sin. And you can't candy-coat the Gospel or gloss over some of the realities that God says whosoever will may come. But he also says, repent and turn from sin.

And if you think bubblegum flavored broccoli is not very palatable, well, a false Gospel that gives people false assurance but no eternity, that's even worse. We are duty-bound to speak the truth, to know the truth, and to live the truth. And as Paul told Timothy, the Church is the pillar and the ground of opinion? No. Popularity? No.

T-R-U-T-H. Truth. So let's talk about this for just a moment with the time we have left. What is truth? You know, in John chapter 18, Pilate asked Jesus, what is truth? Well, truth is that which corresponds to reality. Truth is really real.

And there are a lot of people believing a lot of things that are untrue. You can't tax your way to prosperity. You can't make the country safer by leaving the borders open. You can't allow 17 million illegals, most of whom are felons or terrorists, in without repercussions.

You can't for 50 years kill all of your citizens in utero and not eventually feel the effects of that. You can't betray your conscience without repercussions. So the first eternal implication is truth and reality. That in believing and living what is true, we're building our present and future on what is real. Secondly, let's think about truth and God. You see, truth reflects God. God's nature is truth because God is what is real. God's character is truth because God is righteous.

And the root word of righteousness is right, R-I-G-H-T. So God's character is truth. God's revelation is truth because the Bible is factual, accurate, truthful. John 17, 17, the Lord Jesus praying for the church, he said to God the Father, sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth.

The word Lagos, the words of God, are truthful. And when the Bible says, you know, in Luke 13, 3, unless you repent you will perish, we'd best believe it. When Acts 4, 12 says of Jesus, there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. We'd best believe what God says about salvation because God is truth and by extension His Word is truthful.

Thirdly, truth and me, or you. You see, every one of us, every human being, will give an answer for what we did with the truth we knew. Our ultimate accountability before God will be, how did we respond to the truth that was revealed to us? Jesus said in John 8, 32, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.

You know I love, I do like Mark Twain, sadly I don't think he was a believer from everything I've studied, but Mark Twain said, tell the truth and you won't have to remember anything. So there's our responsibility to know and live the truth that was revealed to us. Finally, I think about two things, truth and the church, truth and the culture. So we've got truth and reality, truth and God, truth and ourselves, truth and the church. Many churches are not preaching truth these days, although that's what God called us to do. And there's truth and the culture. I thank God that apparently our culture is having a momentary reconsideration of wokeness and spin and revisionism. And maybe, just maybe, in the providence of God, we're rediscovering truth.

You know the great writer Flannery O'Connor, she said truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it. So like it or not, truth is real and our lives are on solid ground and our souls are in God's care when we believe and embrace and stand for truth. You know as we wrap up, Psalm 25 verse 5, this is a great prayer.

Maybe this is the feeling of your heart right now. Psalm 25 verse 5 says, Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior and my hope is in you all the day long. God, salvation, truth, growth, those are just some of the benefits of following the one who in John 14 verse 6 said He is the truth, that's Jesus Christ. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, your Son, our Savior, the one who is truth incarnate, truth personified, Lord, I pray that your Holy Spirit will sweep across our nation and world and make us a people that desires truth. Truth is what corresponds to reality.

You have revealed truth to the world. And Lord, I just pray that churches would stand for truth like 1 Timothy 3.15 says we are to do, that people would be persons of integrity and honesty and truth. And Lord, as 1 John 2.27 promises, may your Holy Spirit teach us truth, guide us into all truth. And Lord, you lay down your life for salvation for us. May we lay down our lives for your truth that the world needs to hear.

In Jesus' name, amen. Alex McFarland Ministries are made possible through the prayers and financial support of partners like you. For over 20 years, this ministry has been bringing individuals into a personal relationship with Christ and has been equipping people to stand strong for truth. Learn more and donate securely online at alexmcfarland.com. You may also reach us by calling 1-877-Yes-God-1. That's 1-877-Y-E-S-G-O-D-1. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you again on the next edition of the Alex McFarland Show.