Telling the Truth

Guest (Male): You're listening to Telling the Truth with Stuart and Jill Briscoe. Today, Stuart's focus is on how the scriptures claim to be a body of truth, and we'll hear much more in just a moment. Today's culture is a revolving door of ever-shifting views and beliefs. That's why it's so important to test new ideas against the timeless truth of scripture. It's the best defense against the world's confusion.

We want to help ground you in the foundations of your faith by sending you Stuart Briscoe's six-message series on the book of Second Peter: "Six Things We Must Never Forget." The "Six Things We Must Never Forget" series is our thanks for your gift to help keep Telling the Truth going strong, sharing life-giving teaching from Stuart and Jill with more people all over the world.

So request your copy when you give today and get help staying grounded in truth in today's shifting culture. Call 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388, or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org. Now, here's Stuart with his message, "The Scriptures Are About Fact, Not Fantasy."

Stuart Briscoe: The passage of scripture we'll be looking into today is found in Peter's second epistle and the first chapter. And we'll be looking at verses commencing with verse 12. The epistle that Peter wrote was an epistle that he was very much concerned to send to people because he realized that his days were numbered, and he did, of course, as we understand, die a martyr's death.

He was also very much concerned that people were tending to forget some of the basic things that they must not fail to remember. We are looking, therefore, into this passage of scripture to simply remind ourselves of six things we must never forget. Now, he is particularly concerned in the passage that we will look into, he's very much concerned about the fact that people are beginning to treat the Old Testament scriptures and the teachings of the apostles in a way that is inappropriate.

They are twisting the scriptures. Fundamental truths are being ridiculed. Biblical morality is being repudiated. And he wants to remind the people that the word of God stands firm, and that we do not have the freedom to twist it, to ridicule it, to repudiate it, and assume that it will make no difference in our lives. In case you're wondering what the kind of concerns were that he had, let me give you three examples.

One of the teachings of the apostles and something that comes through clearly in the Old Testament is that God exercises considerable patience with men and women. He does this to give them opportunities to come to their senses and repent. This particular doctrine of the patience of God, however, was being twisted by the people in Peter's day, and they were simply saying God isn't patient, God is simply incompetent. It isn't that God is patient giving people an opportunity for repentance, it is simply that God can't control things anymore and things are out of his hands.

Another example of the kind of thing that was happening was that all the way through the Old Testament and through the teachings of the apostles, there had been a tremendous emphasis on the fact that God is God, that he is King of kings and Lord of lords. People were still using that kind of language, but they were living in such a way that they simply demonstrated that they didn't regard God as God, they didn't regard him as Lord of their lives. In other words, they felt it was perfectly alright to go and use all the terminology but to live a life in flat contradiction to claims to acknowledge Christ as Lord.

The third example that was concerning Peter was this: right from the earliest days of the Old Testament and all the way through the apostolic teaching, there had been clear statements concerning God's view of sexual morality. But there were people in Peter's day who were claiming to have new insights. And the new insights that they were claiming, they felt were superior to God's word, and so this meant that they no longer needed to be concerned about sexual morality as outlined in scripture. They were perfectly free to engage in all kinds of sexual behavior as they wished.

Now, these are just three examples of the kind of situation that obtained in Peter's day. I think you will immediately see the relevance of this ancient scripture to the days in which we live. For there are many people who are twisting what the Bible says about God's patience. There are lots of people who are mouthing the words of religion without living the life of those who acknowledge the lordship of Christ.

And what can we say about sexual morality except to say that there's a very real sense in our culture at the present time where many people no longer feel that biblical sexual morality is relevant and they have discovered something higher and nobler and grander? Peter's response to that is simply to say this: verse 16 with regard to the scriptures, "We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

For he received honor and glory from God when the voice came to him from the majestic glory saying, 'This is my son whom I love; with him I am well pleased.' We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts."

In other words, Peter is saying, listen, all those of you who think you can do an end run around the scriptures, all those of you who think you can ignore them with impunity, all those of you who feel that the Bible is irrelevant, I want you to understand something. That the scriptures are profoundly significant, desperately important, and you ignore them, ridicule them, abuse them, and disobey them at your peril.

That I would submit to you is a message for our culture at this time. With that in mind then, let me identify three things for you from this passage that will help us understand what the Bible says about the Bible, what the scriptures say about the scriptures. First of all, the scriptures are a body of truth to be embraced. In verse 12, Peter says this: "I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth that you now have."

Now, I'm going to emphasize this. The scriptures claim to be a body of truth to be embraced. Now, when we say that the scriptures are a body of truth, or when we talk about biblical truth, what are we talking about? There are many, many scriptures that deal with this particular theme. I don't have time to get into them, but there's a cluster of words that gather around this word "truth" as relates to the scriptures.

Let me give you some of them: validity, reliability, reality, veracity, accuracy, correct, right, honest, sincere, genuine, proper, righteous, holy. All these words as you cluster them together are simply saying that the scriptures claim to be true, that they claim to be universally true, which means if they are true and universally true, they are true and relevant for everybody.

And that they talk about that which is valid, what they say is reliable, they are dealing with issues in a real way, and they are accurate in all that they affirm. There is an inbuilt veracity to them. The interesting thing, however, when we make statements like that, is to realize that 66 percent of Americans answered in a recent poll that they did not believe that there was such a thing as objective truth.

Two out of three Americans in the poll said they did not believe that there is such a thing as objective truth. Now, let me remind you of what Peter is saying here: "You are firmly established in the truth that you have now received." Now, there's a conflict here. What may surprise you even more is that of those people who were asked the question did they believe in such a thing as objective truth, of those who claimed to be evangelical Christians, 53 percent of them said they did not believe in objective truth.

Now, I'm assuming they probably didn't understand the question because it is very, very hard for me to believe that 53 percent of people who claim to be evangelical Christians don't believe in objective truth. Let me give you an example. Here is an objective truth claim of scripture. Listen very carefully; it's not complicated. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

That is an objectively true statement as far as scripture is concerned. Let me give you another one. The scripture says that Christ died, was buried, and on the third day rose again from the dead. That is a statement of objective truth. Now, if a person says there is no such thing as objective truth, they cannot under any circumstances logically give assent to the fact that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

And there's no way that they can logically give assent to the statement that on the third day Christ rose again from the dead. You see, the situation that we have in our culture right now is this: that we are so concerned about being tolerant that we'll be tolerant to the exclusion of truth. This is how it works. We say, "Well, if such a thing is true for you, that's fine. But if it isn't true for me, it isn't."

Therefore, what is true for me is true for me, but what is true for you is true for you. Then they take it a step further. What is true for me is true for me, and what is true for you is true for you. That is truth for you and this is truth for me, which means we have now two truths. These two truths are of equal validity because you're not greater than me, and I'm not greater than you.

So now we have two truths of equal validity, even though they are mutually contradictory, which means, in effect, when we've got mutually contradictory things that are equally true, there is no such thing as objective truth. And that's where we are in our culture today.

Guest (Male): More powerful teaching from the Briscoes is headed your way, so don't go anywhere. We've made a wide array of resources and content available to you online for free at tellingthetruth.org and on the Telling the Truth app. There you can listen, read, and watch powerful teaching from Stuart and Jill on relevant topics like the sovereignty of God, the importance of the church, and how to grow closer with Jesus Christ.

You can also request this month's featured resource as thanks for your gift of support to help share the abundant life Jesus offers with more people around the world. Visit us online or download the app today and experience life with Telling the Truth. Now, here's Stuart with the conclusion of his message, "The Scriptures Are About Fact, Not Fantasy."

Stuart Briscoe: Now, if you speak out against that, you commit the worst of all horrible, horrible vices. You are intolerant. And the one virtue that remains in our culture today is tolerance. The tolerance that requires me never to say anything that may offend anybody else without ever explaining to me what is going to offend anybody else, which means my mouth is muzzled and I must never make a statement that suggests there is such a thing as objective truth.

There is the dilemma for the Christian today. That is why perhaps 53 percent of the Christians in this poll said they didn't believe in objective truth because they didn't want to appear intolerant. When in actual fact, what it means is this: we understand what it is to allow people to believe whatever it is that they want to believe and we will not engage in bigotry and intolerance against them. Even God gives people the freedom to be wrong.

But whilst we will be tolerant of them having the freedom to believe whatever they believe, we will by no stretch of the imagination tolerate the nonsensical idea that mutually contradictory things are of equal validity because there is no such thing as objective truth. Now, I've spent too long on that, but I'm kind of getting worked up about it, as you can guess. Let me move therefore on a little more quickly.

Let me talk to you about the uniqueness of biblical truth. There is such a thing as philosophical truth. Philosophers have been kicking truth around for many, many millennia. The thing about philosophical truth is this: it can only approximate on the truth. That means that it will get some things right, but it can only approximate for one very simple reason. It starts with man and doesn't start with God.

It is man trying to figure out reality, whereas scripture says reality is found in God. And therefore, philosophical truth can only approximate to truth. Same with scientific truth. Scientific truth is designed to explore the creation and, to a certain extent, the creature. But it is not equipped to deal with the creator. Therefore, scientific truth can be brilliant in the exploration of the creation, to a certain extent the exploration of the creature, but is singularly ill-equipped to understand the creator.

Therefore, philosophical truth and scientific truth may be true in certain aspects, but they are lacking and they are approximating, and biblical truth claims to be all about creator, creation, and creature. That there is a God from whom we come, who made the world, who knows how it's supposed to work, who has put human beings in it, who knows how they relate to each other and to the world and to him, and what he is saying to us. This is the body of biblical truth that the scriptures claim is true for all people.

We can take this a step further and talk about the application of biblical truth. For we're not now talking about scientific truth that we can put in a test tube. We're not now talking about mathematical truth that will finish up at the long end of an incomprehensible equation. We're talking about biblical truth that is to be applied. What that means is it is to be taught, it is to be learned, it is to be believed, it is to be embraced, it is to be obeyed.

And as a result of that, a whole lifestyle of behavior will develop based and predicated upon the truth as it is in the word of God. So John, writing his third epistle, says this, verse 3: "It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in truth."

What that means is people are prepared to say, "I believe that the scriptures are a body of truth to be embraced." I've learned them, I've marked them, I've read them, I've inwardly digested them, I trust them, I obey them, and as a result of that, my lifestyle is predicated upon them, and I now live my life, and my final court of appeal is the body of truth, the word of God.

Now Peter gives us an example of this himself. Verse 13 of our reading, he says, "I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus has made clear to me. And I'll make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things." What's he talking about? He is talking about the tent of this body.

What he's saying is that I know my days are numbered. So what we're talking about here is a man who has embraced the truth, and embracing the truth, he is mixing it with faith, he is being obedient to it, and he is living in the good of it, and he is facing martyrdom with equanimity. How does he do it? Because he's walking in truth. So the first thing that we notice from this passage of scripture is that the scriptures are a body of truth to be embraced.

Now here's the second thing I want you to notice. The scriptures are a record of God's activity to be believed. What the Bible is really saying is that God is not remote from this world but that God is active in this world and that he intervenes in the affairs of this world, and he is busy in the lives of men and women in this world. And the scriptures are a record of God's activity that is to be believed.

Now there are three ways of looking at this from this passage of scripture. Notice that Peter first of all talks about himself and his fellow apostles. And this is how he puts it in verse 16: "We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty."

The claim of scripture is this: that certain writers of the scriptures were eyewitnesses and that their witness is credible and authentic. Let me read to you now again from verse 19: "We have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts."

Now, I don't know if you've been following the internet recently, or reading your paper recently, or checking on the television recently. Would you say that there are some elements of murky muckiness about our culture at the present time? And would you say, "Will somebody please shine a clear, bright light of credible, authentic truth and reality, sincere, honest, genuine, honest to God truth? Will somebody please do it in this murky, mucky mess?"

And God says, "Sure, I will. I'll give you my word. I'll give you my word. Read it, mark it, learn it, inwardly digest it, and it will shine a touch of brilliant reality in the murky muckiness of your contemporary society."

Jill Briscoe: Stuart, what would you say to those who claim only a portion of the scriptures are accurate?

Stuart Briscoe: Well, I would say two things to them. First of all, I would remind them of the claims that scripture makes for itself. And I would also remind them that the correct approach to ancient documents is to take them at the value that they place on themselves until or unless that is proven to be a false evaluation. So what does scripture claim for itself?

Second Timothy chapter 3, verse 16 says quite categorically, "All scripture is God-breathed." In other words, all scripture, wherever it is to be found, in what it is affirming, in what it is intending to say, in what was the intent of the author, was placed there for us by the instrumentality of the Holy Spirit. It is God speaking to us, and speaking not by telling lies and not by being inaccurate, but by speaking the truth.

So that's what scripture claims for itself. The second thing I would say to somebody who claims only a portion of the scriptures are accurate is simply this: how do you decide which ones are accurate and which ones aren't? And that, of course, means that everything is up for grabs if everybody is free to choose what they want to believe and what they don't want to believe.

Guest (Male): Thanks for listening to Telling the Truth today. We're so glad you've joined us, and we pray this message has helped you experience more of the abundant life Jesus promised. Today's culture is a revolving door of ever-shifting views and beliefs. That's why it's so important to test new ideas against the timeless truth of scripture. It's the best defense against the world's confusion.

We want to help ground you in the foundations of your faith by sending you Stuart Briscoe's six-message series on the book of Second Peter: "Six Things We Must Never Forget." This series will anchor you in six time-tested truths from God's word, so you can stand strong in your beliefs as you remember the deep spiritual truths that are foundational to your faith.

The "Six Things We Must Never Forget" series is our thanks for your gift to help keep Telling the Truth going strong, sharing life-giving teaching from Stuart and Jill with more people all over the world. So request your copy when you give today and get help staying grounded in truth in today's shifting culture. Call 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388, or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org. Thanks for listening today. Be sure to come back next time for more encouraging biblical truth with the Briscoes. Experience life right here on Telling the Truth.