Truth

TNG Radio, where today's culture and timeless truths come together. It's reasoned, relevant content apologetics, worldview, and answers to the questions that you need to know. From Alex McFarland Evangelistic Ministries. Welcome to Truth For A New Generation Radio. And now the man who preached in 50 states in 50 days, speaker, writer, and advocate for Christian apologetics, Dr. Alex McFarland.

I recently came across a little rhyme, a little bit of verse by a Christian leader from years past named T. Baird. And he writes about truth. Now listen to this, quote, since truth is always true, and only truth can be, keep me O Lord as true to truth, as truth is true to thee.

Hi, welcome to the program. Alex McFarland here, you're listening to Truth For A New Generation. And in light of that verse, I was reminded how the Word of God tells us that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. And in John 14, 6, Jesus said, He is the way, the truth, and the life. The reason I'm bringing this up is because we as a culture, we as a nation, perhaps even you as an individual, we are living in a time where truth is something people handle loosely if they care about it at all. People seem to leverage truth for that which is convenient, or that which is expedient. And the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament, chapter 5, warns about a time when people will call good evil and evil good. Now the big general philosophical word that could describe the times in which we live is the word relativism.

We're living in a time of relativism, where everyone seems to think they can make their own truth. But I read an illustration about a pastor who actually had a PhD in philosophy from Notre Dame, and he would take students in his class and he would show a big jar full of beans, like a big mason jar full of beans, and he would ask his students to guess how many beans are in the jar, and on a piece of paper write down their guess as to how many beans might be in that jar. Then another list, he would ask the students to write down what is their favorite song, maybe something from pop music or whatever, what is your favorite song. Now they would compare the answers to the guesses about how many beans in the jar, and invariably the students were not right because there were thousands of beans in the jar and nobody could really guess it. And he would say, you know, who's the closest? And they would come up with the number that would be closest to the guess. And then he would say, okay, get out the pieces of paper about your favorite songs.

And the students would name what their songs are, favorite songs. And he said, well, which is the right answer? Or which is closest to being right? And the students would tell the pastor, well, there is no right answer because a person's favorite song is just what their favorite song is. And he said, when you decide what to believe in terms of your faith is like guessing the number of beans or choosing a favorite song, which do you decide? Is your salvation, your view of God, is it like the number of beans in the jar, an absolute answer and you are either correct or you're wrong?

You've either gotten it truly or you've missed? Or is your view of God and salvation more like your favorite song? And he observed that as the years have gone by, most people in church believe that choosing your faith is really kind of like choosing what your favorite song might be.

In other words, it's just what your preference is. And the pastor said part of his job as a minister in this age now is to try to help them see beyond that. But you and I live in a time where people believe that truth is what they want it to be, truth is what they assume it to be, and if they are wrong, well, they just appeal to the fact that they believe it sincerely. We're going to talk about three areas where truth has really been thrown out the window, but I want to give you a couple of Bible verses to think about this as we begin. In the book of John, in John chapter 8 and John chapter 10, Jesus warned about a time when people did not know truth and in fact walked in darkness. Now in John 8 18 Jesus said, I am the one who testifies for myself. My other witness is the Father who sent me. And Jesus claimed that the Heavenly Father was affirming Him and witnessing to Him. And they ask accusingly in John chapter 8 verse 19, well where's your Father? And Jesus said, you do not know me or my Father because if you knew me you would know the Father and if you knew the Father you would recognize me.

And it says that when He taught this way in the temple courts that the people were angry. Now in John 8 19 He says you don't know me or the Father. John 16 3, Jesus again repeats this, He says, they accuse Him and they do such things because they do not know the Father or me that the day is coming, John 16 3, when those who kill you will think they do God a service.

That's John 16 2 rather. So think about this, those that in our day deny Jesus, it's like 1 John 2 15 through 22, the one who denies that Jesus has come in the flesh has the spirit of Antichrist. And so Jesus says look, if people don't acknowledge me it's because they don't know the Father and they walk in darkness.

Now we're living in a time where so many people do walk in darkness. I want to give you three areas where people believe they can make their own reality but they really can't. The first area is pretty obvious, the area of salvation. Now we know there are people that believe in Jesus, there are people that reject Jesus. There are people if you try to share the gospel and you try to witness and you ask people if you died and stood before God and God said why should I let you into heaven, what would you say?

And you get a variety of answers. People say well because I've tried to keep the ten commandments or I've tried to be a good person. And other people say well I don't think there is a heaven. I've had people insist to me they would say well you die and that's just all there is. And I would ask but what if you open your eyes in eternity and you're before God?

I've had people say to me no, no, I will not accept that. Well when you face God all the denials in the world won't negate the reality that you're in the presence of your Creator and Judge. People forever it seems like throughout human history have tried to insistently come up with their own way of salvation. The Bible is clear. There's one way to be saved and that's through faith in Jesus. Now when we come back we're going to continue talking about three areas in which people try to negate reality and create their own reality. But it just won't work apart from the truth of God and His Word. Stay tuned we're back after this brief break and we'll talk more about truth in a world that seems to do their utmost to deny.

DNG Radio. America today is like a patient struggling to live yet is being forcibly euthanized by her quote doctors. The life force within the patient fighting for survival is the honest citizens like yourself. The team of quote caregivers are the local and national leaders actually contributing to the demise of the patient. The economy is crashing. Crime is exploding. The Constitution is being abolished. The assault on America. How to defend our nation before it's too late by Alex McFarland has one single purpose to get you prepared. Learn the real source of America's current problems that no one else is talking about and what you can do now to face tomorrow regardless of what tomorrow brings. The assault on America. How to defend our nation before it's too late available now at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and local Christian bookstores.

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Alex McFarland here. We're talking about three areas in which the culture is really working overtime to deny truth. And the first area is the truth of salvation.

Now the Bible is very clear the one and only way to go to heaven is through a relationship with Jesus Christ. You know in the 19th century after Darwin's Origin of the Species, one writer said that Darwin made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist. And it's almost like for centuries people had wanted to reject God and be atheist. And Darwin's book with really lofty sounding language trying to argue that life spontaneously accidentally came out of the primordial soup. Darwin's Origin of the Species, The Descent of Man, and other writings, and certainly the other pseudo-intellectual infidels that cropped up around the aftermath of Darwin's big literary splash in the 19th century, they suddenly felt legitimized in their unbelief. But Abraham Lincoln in the 19th century said, quote, I cannot imagine anyone looking at the sky and denying God, end of quote. But part of the impetus for the atheism of the 19th century, part of the impetus for the atheism and the really militant relativism now, is the sincere belief that if we try to negate God we have somehow also negated morality and our obligation for our actions. Now a professor at Liberty when I was at Liberty University, he's been at Biola on the West Coast for years, he has spoken for us in our Truth for a New Generation conference before J.P. Moreland, Dr. J.P. Moreland.

He wrote a famous book years ago called Love God with All Your Mind, great book. Dr. Moreland says this, quote, today people are inclined to think that the sincerity and fervency of one's beliefs are more important than the content. As long as we believe something honestly and strongly, we assume, then that is all that really matters. But now listen to this, J.P. Moreland, one of the most brilliant thinkers in the world, he says, however, reality is basically indifferent to how sincerely we believe something, end of quote. Now there are people that believe, well, I've been a good person and regardless of whether or not I know Jesus, if there is a God, a heaven, an eternity, I'll be okay.

But again, reality is indifferent to how sincerely you may or may not believe something. And so people are trying to reinvent salvation but mark it down, our nation needs Jesus and there is no salvation except through Jesus. There is no moral change.

There is no revival. There is no hope for the United States nor for the world apart from Jesus. People say, well, we can be moral. We can engage in self-improvement. We can tax and utopianize our way to a better world.

And again, Dr. Moreland, reality is indifferent to how sincerely we believe something. The reason that America was great was because America was godly. And right now we're watching our beloved nation implode because we're thinking we can have the blessings without the blesser. We can have goodness and increase without God who is our source and our life. Oh how we need, number one, salvation in Jesus and then growth and favor and blessing by being godly and righteous.

People are denying salvation. The second thing people are denying and trying to reinvent is truth itself. Now we call this relativism, that everything is relative. Now in a way, if you're talking about measuring distance or size, yes, everything has some relation to something else. The table is one foot away from the chair. Relative to a thimble, the table is very huge.

You know, relative to Antarctica, the ice cube is not very cold because to go to Antarctica would be even colder. So we can express ways that things are related to other things. But let me say that relativism, at least the relativism of our times, is the assumption that there is no absolute truth and we make our own truth for ourselves. But yet, as C.S. Lewis said, morality, objective moral truth, is the quote, the correct way of running the human machine. He says morals are not just for Christians because Christianity is that you've believed in Jesus to be saved, but morality is for everybody, said Lewis. And even 50, 60 years ago, Lewis died in 63, he said if we abandon morality, we have nothing to look forward to in the future but chaos because morality is quote, the correct way of running the human machine. Francis Schaeffer, he died in I believe 1986.

In fact, the last public place he ever spoke was at Liberty University. But the founder of Labrie, the writer of great works like How Now Should We Then Live. But Francis Schaeffer said this, now listen very carefully please, quote, in passing we should note the curious mark of our age.

The only absolute allowed is the absolute insistence that there is no absolute end of quote. Now that's not just word play or gobbledygook. He's saying look, we live in a culture and it's more pronounced than ever these days. They deny truth and yet if you don't agree with their relativism, you are wrong. Well, wrong about what?

I already mentioned how when I was going through Fayetteville, North Carolina at Fayetteville State, there's a big mural all about inclusion, diversity, relativism, LGBTQ rights, and then there's a painting of slaves and it says, 1619, we want justice now. But, as we said, there can only be injustice if some objective, just standard were violated. In a world with no absolute truth, no moral objective, how can you say that something was ever unjust?

It was just stuff that happened. Not right or wrong because in the mind of the relativist, there's not a standard to be right about. And there's not a moral law to have been breached or broken. So, in a world with no moral truth, there are no injustices and there's no point to try to do justly to make anything right. We live in a world where people have discarded salvation, they've discarded truth because they don't want to be accountable to God, the righteous, moral law giver. But there's another area in which we've lost reality. And we'll talk about that when we return after this.

TNG Radio. You know, Alex has been writing for many years and one of his classic books is still great today as a basic introduction to the Christian faith. It's called Stand, Core Truths You Must Know for an Unshakeable Faith. This book will help you help your teens get off the roller coaster of doubt and onto solid ground. You'll read about the six pillars of biblical Christianity. They are one, inspiration of the Bible, two, the virgin birth, three, the deity of Christ, four, atonement, five, Christ's resurrection, and six, Christ's return. You know, Alex mixes it up with humor and stories he gleaned from decades of working with youth and encourages teens to build a foundation of faith that will stabilize their lives and help them take a stand for Christ.

Simple and straightforward, Stand, Core Truths You Must Know for an Unshakeable Faith. Available wherever Christian books are sold. Have you ever wanted to raise your hand during a sermon?

Well, here's your chance. Hi, Alex McFarland here from the nationally syndicated radio program, Exploring the Word. For more than 10 years, my cohost Bert Harper and I have taught scripture and answered hundreds of Bible questions. We've compiled a brand new book of the top 100 Bible questions from listeners of all ages. From questions about supposed Bible contradictions to apologetics facts that prove the truths of scripture, this new book features practical content that will make the Bible come alive for you.

Can we really be sure that God exists? Are there contradictions in the Bible? I need a book that will help me understand the Bible better. There's so much good content in this book.

One hundred Bible questions and answers published by Broad Street Publishers and available at your local bookstores and also through resources.afa.net. In the midst of a culture obsessed with relativism, Alex McFarland is a voice you can trust to speak the timeless truths of Christianity in a timely way. You're listening to Truth for a New Generation Radio. It's been said that truth is that which corresponds to reality. Hi, Alex McFarland here.

Welcome back. We're talking about three things that have been disregarded, redefined salvation. We know that. People have rejected salvation. Truth itself. People deny truth to embrace relativism.

But we're going to give a third area that reality has been jettisoned in just a moment. I do want to remind everybody, speaking of truth, we've got a brand new book out. Bert Harper and myself wrote a book called 100 Bible Questions and Answers from the show Exploring the Word that we do. More than 220 pages of answers to the tough questions about God's Word, Christianity. It would make a great gift for somebody. It's published by Broad Street Publishing and I would encourage you to check it out.

You can find it anywhere online or at your local bookseller too. Our newest book, 100 Bible Questions and Answers. But the final thing as we're talking about truth, people have jettisoned what God says about salvation. They've abandoned the idea of truth itself and believe that they can create their own reality. They believe something sincerely enough. But the final area of reality that is suffering because we've abandoned truth is communication in general.

Now hang with me here. We speak and we use language to communicate truth and words really do matter. They really do. In fact we legally hold each other accountable. We make people swear an oath of honesty to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. And when we say things that aren't true there are laws against slander and libel and perjury. I mean even the way we talk about language acknowledges that there is absolute truth and if we are saying something that is knowingly untrue that's called a lie, l-i-e. To say things that correspond to reality even from childhood up our parents say tell me the truth. But we're living in a time where the left they call out for what they call quote language justice.

See if we say you know hey I love you, I care about you but that's wrong. The left would say oh well that's language injustice, that's language oppression and that's privilege and supremacy. Look God is a God who has communicated to the human race via language.

Over and over we've talked about how the Bible has shown itself to be the true word of God. And I want to say this people can do semantical gymnastics down here. They can play language games and talk about how truth doesn't apply and words can't touch them because they are this or that minority. They are underrepresented. Their positionality and context gives them some different special standing in terms of race, class, gender, sexuality or ability.

But when people stand before almighty God the grammatical police won't be able to absolve them of their accountability to the judge of all the earth. You know we're living in a time where people they view language less like mathematics or theology or history and more like some subjective chess game that they're free to change at will. We come up with words like heteronormativity or cisgender. If you believe there are two genders a boy and a girl which is by the way reality that's heteronormative and that's biased.

No it's just reality. Hey you know what there was a video online recently Ben Shapiro brilliant thinker brilliant communicator I've interviewed him on the radio before. Ben Shapiro was at a university campus debating with a young lady who claimed to be transgender and Ben Shapiro was being castigated by the students and faculty because he said no look you can't change your physiology merely by thinking about it. If you're born male you're a male.

If you're born female you're a female. So he asked the girl he said um how old are you and she said well 22. He said have you ever thought about identifying as 61 and she said what yeah have you ever thought about identifying as 50 or 30 or 61 and she looked at Ben Shapiro with an incredulous look on her face she said well you can't change when you were born. He said why not she goes because when you were born is some thing that's out of your hands you can't change when you were born and he said well look if you can't change the time of your birth why do you think you can change the reality of your body just by thinking about it.

A man becomes a female merely by identifying or thinking about it and of course the students were not happy with Ben Shapiro because he was using that thing that at many an American University campus is anathema and off-limits that thing called rationality. Folks here's the the bottom line we're living in a time when more urgently than ever the world needs reality truth about salvation reality about truth itself and a response to relativism. People need to understand that sincerity doesn't make that which is false true and people need to understand that words mean things and words are not subjective words are objective that's provable because it takes words even to try to attempt to deny the efficacy of words. We don't need language justice we need truth and so I leave you with this thought since Jesus died for us in public why should we just live for him in private. I want to challenge you to know what you believe and speak up for truth because remember first Corinthians 15 58 your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Thank you for listening remember your prayers and financial support enable us to tell the world about Jesus and to call America to truth. We're equipping a generation to save this nation you can learn more at my website which is alexmcfarland.com TNG radio is made possible by the friends of alex mcfarland evangelistic ministries p o box 10231 greensboro north carolina 27404 that's p o box 10231 greensboro north carolina 27404 call us at 877-yes-god-1 that's 877-yes-god and the number one or give online at alexmcfarland.com while you're there listen to program archives read alex's blog invite alex to speak at your event or contact alex with a question or comment alexmcfarland.com thanks for listening today and join us again next time for more truth for a new generation on TNG radio