First from the Gospel according to John, chapter 18, reading from verse 28 to the end of the chapter. John, chapter 18, verse 28. Let us hear the word of God. Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness, the Jews did not enter the palace. They wanted to be able to eat the Passover. So Pilate came out to them and asked, what charges are you bringing against this man? If he were not a criminal, they replied, We would not have handed him over to you. Pilate said, take him yourselves and judge him by your own law. But we have no right to execute anyone, the Jews objected. This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled. Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, are you the king of the Jews? Is that your own idea? Jesus asked. Or did others talk to you about me? Am I a Jew? Pilate replied, it was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done? Jesus said, my kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place. You are a king then. said Pilate. Jesus answered, you are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born. And for this, I came into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me. What is truth? Pilate asked. With this, he went out again to the Jews and said, I find no basis for a charge against him. But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release the king of the Jews? They shouted back, no, not him. Give us Barabbas. Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion. We end our reading at the close of this 40th verse. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, we shall read from verse 12 to verse 34. But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless. And so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God. For we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile. You are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn. the firstfruits, then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death, for he has put everything under his feet. Now when it says that everything has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. Now, if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I die every day. I mean that, brothers, just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Do not be misled. Bad company corrupts good character. Come back to your senses as you ought and stop sinning. For there are some who are ignorant of God. I say this to your shame. May God bless to us this reading from his own holy word. Now this is the eighth in a series of studies called 20th Century Idols. And in this series we have been looking at some of the idols or false gods which are worshipped in our own century. And we've been thinking of the various isms which have captured the minds of men. Sometimes the road of our study has been rather steep But as far as I can see, the main body of the party is still together. As the scripture says of a group of people, they were faint yet pursuing. And I think we're still pursuing. Last Sabbath evening we considered existentialism. And this evening I want to look with you at what is called relativism. Relativism. Now it's nothing to do with relatives. being fond of relatives or not liking your relatives. The dictionary tells us that relativism is the doctrine that knowledge is relative, not absolute. Another dictionary says it is the idea that there are no absolute universal standards, no absolute universal standards of true good, right, or wrong. They vary from place to place, time to time, and person to person. This is one of the most widely worshipped gods in this century. This god has been worshipped throughout the whole Western world and is now worldwide. This God is still universally popular. The teachings of this idol are being presented to our children at school, to our young people at university or college, and to us all through the media. I want to look briefly at our subject this evening under two headings, the assertion of relativism, what relativism teaches, and the answer to relativism. I suppose my approach this evening is philosophical rather than directly scriptural. I hope that won't put you off. But yet I hope that what we say is based throughout on the teaching of scripture. What is relativism? What does it assert? What does it teach? Let's look first at the assertion of relativism. It has been described in this way. Relativism says there are absolutely no absolutes. There are absolutely no absolutes, which of course is a fairly absolute statement. Where did this teaching come from? Well, it can be traced far back in human history. Some of the Greeks believed it. But modern relativism can be said to have begun on the 29th of May, 1919. Because on that date, two photographs were taken of an eclipse of the sun. One off the coast of Brazil and the other off the coast of West Africa. And these photographs confirmed the truth of a new theory of the universe. For over 10 years, a German Jew called Albert Einstein, who was born in 1879, had been working on what he called a theory of relativity. Einstein finally developed this theory in 1915. The papers setting it out were smuggled out of Europe to Cambridge to the President of the Royal Astronomical Society. He read Einstein's theory to a gathering of British academics in that year. I don't understand the theory. of relativity. I want to make that plain. I'm not a mathematician and I'm not a physicist and I don't know many people who do understand the theory of relativity. But in essence, in essence, it teaches that there is no such thing as absolute unchangeable length or absolute unchangeable time. In certain circumstances, length becomes shorter. In certain circumstances, clocks slow down. There are not always 12 inches in a foot. There are not always 60 seconds in a minute, or 60 minutes in an hour. Space and time are not absolute. They're not unchangeable. They are relative. Under certain conditions, what seems to be permanent can change. This was the amazing theory that Einstein developed, and he proved it mathematically, but he couldn't prove it scientifically. And so we devised several experiments. And the most important of them was to measure the angle of a ray of light hitting the surface of the sun from different positions on the Earth's surface. And this was what was done by British scientists on the 29th of May, 1919. And that evening, as they examined the photographic plates, and during the next morning, to their excitement and amazement, they discovered that Einstein's theory was correct, that those rays of light bent at the precise angle which Einstein in his little home had predicted from his mathematical equations, and that his theory was true, and that time could change and space could change. And that has been one of the key scientific discoveries of the 20th century. It caused enormous excitement and had a great effect on the scientific world. But what's important for us this evening is that that theory was immediately taken and abused, misused and misapplied. And relativity became relativism. And people taught that what Einstein had shown to be true of space and of time was true of everything. Was true of everything. Einstein said there's no absolute space, there's no absolute time. People took that theory further and said there's no absolute truth. There's no absolute right. There's no absolute wrong. There's no absolute good. There's no absolute evil. There are no absolute values. There's no absolute knowledge. And it broke Einstein's heart. He never meant that. He never intended that. Although he was not a Christian, he believed in God. And he believed in values. And he believed in truth and falsehood. And to the end of his day, he was a broken-hearted man that his scientific discovery was taken and misused. Now, my friends, understand the magnitude of what was being said. People taught there was no universal truth. There was nothing in this world, nothing of which you could say, this is always true for everybody. There was nothing in this world of which you could say, this is always right. There was nothing of which you could say, this is always wrong. Imagine the most abominable and vile crime you can imagine. The theory of relativism. You couldn't say, that is always wrong. There might be circumstances in which it wouldn't be wrong. It would be right. The motto of the relativist was, it all depends. And that's still their motto today. Is this true? It all depends. Is this wrong? It all depends. Is this worthwhile? It all depends. And that teaching has been hugely destructive. It has been destructive of religion. Because in a relativistic world you cannot say about anything, this is true. This is true for everyone. for all time. No, no, the relativists would say it may not be. It all depends. It has been destructive of morals and ethics. You cannot say about any act of human behavior, this is wrong. Because someone may say, well, it may be wrong for you, but it's not wrong for me. Or it may be wrong in those circumstances, but it's not wrong in these circumstances. Or it may have been wrong a hundred years ago, but it's not wrong now. You can't say about any practice in the church or indeed in human life, this is what we should do, or this is what we shouldn't do. Because the relativist will say, well, other people may have thought that, but we think differently. It all depends. And this theory has pulled human life down into a new dark age of chaos and confusion and cruelty. And it reminds me powerfully of that question which we read from the scripture this evening of Pontius Pilate. What is truth? Now we don't know how Pilate asked that question. We don't know whether he was serious, whether he was sarcastic, Whether he was wistful, we don't know what expression he had on his face, but that question has been asked with many voices in this century. What is truth? And the relativist answers, it all depends. And I believe that there is no God, no idol, who has done more damage to the Christian faith than this terrifying assertion. There is nothing, they say, of which we can say, this is always true, this is always reliable, this is always good. I'd like in the second place then, having looked with you at the assertion of relativism, to think more positively and practically of the answer to relativism. How do we answer the person who says this? And you can realise how it comes out in a thousand different ways. You'll read it in the popular press, you'll see it on television. Well people used to believe such and such a thing but we don't believe that anymore. People used to have certain moral standards but we don't have them anymore. We live in a changing world. It used to be wrong to live together before you were married but now it's alright to live together before you're married. That's why it's happening. because of this theory of relativism. What do we say in response? This is a practical thing. It's not just airy-fairy. It's very, very practical and important. How do we answer? I would say that relativism, although it fails in many ways, fails principally because it is based on a terrible confusion between two kinds of truth. I've spoken about this before and expect to again, because I think it is so valuable and important for us to grasp this. A confusion between subjective truth and objective truth. And if you can get this clear in your mind, it'll help you. It'll help you in your witnessing. It'll help you in your living. So let me say something first about subjective truth. What is subject of truth? Subject of truth is what is true for me, but isn't necessarily true for anybody else. If somebody said to me, what is the most beautiful color in the world? I would say green. I'm speaking the truth. Perhaps that's not a very good color to pick on the 12th of July, but it is the truth. It is the truth. I think green is the most beautiful colour in the world. Who is the greatest composer who ever lived? The truth is Mozart is the greatest composer who ever lived. What is the most interesting game that has ever been invented? It is the game of golf. Now when I say these things, I am speaking the truth. I am not telling you a lie. I mean what I say. I mean what I say. And those answers matter to me. They matter to me, they're meaningful to me. I enjoy looking at the color green. I enjoy playing golf. I enjoy listening to Mozart. It is truth. It is truth for me. It is truth that matters to me. But as you already realize, you may have a different truth. You may say, well, I think orange is a much, much more attractive color than green. Or you may say Beethoven or John Lennon is a much superior composer to Mozart. Or you may pick some other game and that is your truth. And I am telling the truth and you are telling the truth. Now wouldn't it be very arrogant for me to tell you that you were wrong? Wouldn't I come across as a very pompous big-headed sort of individual, and if you said to me, well, no, I think Beethoven's the greatest composer who ever lived, and I said, no, no, that is completely wrong, you're wrong there, it's Mozart, now admit, now come on, admit it's Mozart. You would say, what a pompous fellow. You would say, what right have you, what right have you to try to impose your truth on me? If you like that composer, fine, listen to him. I happen to like another composer, and it would be tremendously arrogant for me to try to foist my truth on other people. Most tolerant, right-thinking people would reject that, and they would say, well, we have other truths from yours, and our truths are just as valid, just as true, just as important as yours. And of course we can change our minds at any time about this sort of truth. That's another feature of it. I can decide I want to listen to a different composer. I can say I used to think Mozart was the greatest, now I think Bach is the greatest. I've changed my mind. I have a new truth now. And that's perfectly proper. Perfectly proper. Now do you see where I'm going with this? There's widespread impression today in the world that Christianity In particular, Evangelical Christianity is this kind of truth. Subjective truth. There are certain people for whom it is real, for whom it is true, for whom it matters, and it's meaningful to them. Wonderful. But that's their truth. We have a different truth, people. We're not interested in the Bible. We're not interested in Jesus. And when Christians go about evangelizing, they come over as terribly arrogant. People say, well, I mean, what gives you the right to try to impose your view of the Bible or your view of salvation or your view of the Christian life on me? I'm as entitled to my opinion as you are. Hard to argue against, isn't it? And when we're very dogmatic, we come across as narrow-minded and biblical and ridiculous. When we say, I have the truth, people are offended and they're scandalized and they say, what a narrow-minded person. He says there's only one truth. It's like saying there's only one color to admire, only one game to play, only one musician to listen to. The world is full of truth, they will say. Full of religious truths. All these other religions, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, no religion, all these philosophies and ideas, they're all truths. And what you have to do is to find the truth that suits you, the truth that appeals to you, And in today's climate it is absolutely absurd to suggest to people that there is only one faith, there's only one salvation, there's only one religion, there's only one saviour. And people have been brainwashed over the years into thinking that Christianity is subjective truth. It's relative. It all depends. If you like it, fine. If you don't like it, find something else. That thinking has seeped into their mind. And you talk to non-Christians and they will respond to you along the lines that I have suggested. They will consider you arrogant and narrow-minded and bigoted and offensive. And they feel that you're invading their privacy. You're trying to control their minds and to impose your prejudices and your opinions on them. And friends, you can see their point of view. if they have been taught this way. But then there's another kind of truth. It's objective truth. And it is truth that is true for me, but it's also true for everybody else in the world. It's true everywhere. It's true always. It never, never changes. It is the only truth. Two and two. equals four. It doesn't equal three, it doesn't equal five, it equals four. Always and everywhere and if the world lasts another million years, two and two will still be four. Take two oranges and two apples and you'll have four pieces of fruit. Water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen. It always has been and it always will be. And that will never change. The Battle of Trafalgar was fought in 1805. And if you say 1806, you're wrong. You're wrong. And you wouldn't expect a pupil at school to say to the teacher, well, you say 2 and 2 is 4. Well, that's your idea. That's your truth. I happen to believe that 2 and 2 is 5. And I find that deeply meaningful, and I'm going to live on the basis that 2 and 2 is 5. Well, you think that is absurd. That's ridiculous. It isn't arrogant to insist on objective truth. It isn't arrogant for a teacher to say to a pupil, you're wrong, you've made a mistake. Because this kind of truth doesn't deal with opinions or feelings, it deals with reality. And there is no room for differences. And we insist, we absolutely insist on the narrowness and absoluteness of objective truth. You're going into hospital for a serious operation, and you're talking to the surgeon about the operation. And the surgeon says, well, the textbooks say the heart's on this side of the body, but that's their view. I have a different view. I intend to just go in somewhere down here. Well, you would say, well, no, wait a minute. Where is the heart? You go into the chemist to get a prescription. The chemist says, well, I don't bother about these rather bigoted, dogmatic, fuddy-duddy prescriptions. I have my own ideas about how to mix up medicine. You take the prescription back and say, no, thanks very much. I'll just go to the fellow down the road. You get onto an airplane. And the pilot, you overhear him saying, well, he said, now, what are these controls? He said, I think I'll just take my own approach to flying this plane. We'd be terrified. Because objective truth is true. And somebody who corrects us is kind. If we're travelling in a foreign country, heading for a city and we take a wrong road, and somebody stops us and says, you're going in the wrong direction, you've made a mistake. We don't get angry. We don't say you're very arrogant. We say thank you. Thank you for showing me my mistake. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. We admire such people. We appreciate what they say. Objective truth isn't personally meaningful. We don't wake up in the middle of the night and say hooray hooray two and two is four. It doesn't excite us. But it's important. It's a matter of life and death. And you see friends, in our world, in our lives, I hope I haven't lost you here, there are two kinds of truth. And we live very comfortably and happily with both kinds of truth. Subjective truth is personal to each of us. It differs. Objective truth is the same for everybody, always. And life couldn't go on without it. And what's interesting, is that the Bible insists. And Christianity has always believed that Christianity is first and foremost objective truth. It's objective truth. It is a description of fact, of reality. The God who is there the living and true God who does not change and who is the source and basis of all truth. And the Bible tells us of what God has done in history. The Bible is not a book that tells us what men believe about God. The Bible is a book which tells us what God has done for man in Jesus of Nazareth. And it is factual. It is objective. You remember how Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 says that the resurrection of Jesus is so objective that without it all Christianity collapses. And it is a giant distortion, it is a lie to suggest that Christianity is merely subjective truth. It claims to be objective. It claims to be fact. It gives us the choice. You can reject it or you can accept it. What you cannot do is patronize it. What you cannot do is say, well, it may be all right for some, but it's not for me. The Bible forces us to say either it is rubbish or it is true for all. There's no middle ground. There's no easy choice. The choice that so many patronizingly make today is first and foremost objective truth. But it isn't arrogant to say this is the truth. This is the only truth. We say it about mathematics. We say it about science. We say it about geography. We say it about history. We're not arrogant. We say it about our faith. It's objective truth. God did create the world. God did send his son. Christ did die for sinners. He did rise from the dead. He is coming again. We do have souls. He is the only Savior. There is no other gospel. There is no other saving faith. Those are not opinions or feelings. Those are facts, realities, revealed certainties. And when we teach them to people, we're acting in kindness. We're doing them a favour. We're setting them on a right path. We're taking them away from what will kill them and destroy them and condemn them. We've got to have confidence in that. We would not hesitate to correct someone who makes a mistake in fact. We wouldn't feel embarrassed about it at work. Without a moment's hesitation, we would step over whether we're tradesmen or teachers or nurses, whatever we are, if somebody was doing a thing wrong, we would come over and say, just a moment, you're not doing this the right way. You correct them. Why then are we so reluctant to speak about this truth? Of course, it's also subjective. That's the beauty of it. It is also true. for each of us, and meaningful for each of us, and bringing delight and joy and pleasure to each of us. It is also special and personal and intimate to us. It's both, but only because it's objective first. And so relativism is wrong, terribly wrong. There are absolutes. There are truths that never change. And the truths of scripture, which our fathers and grandfathers and generations before them held and believed throughout the centuries, these truths are beyond and above change. They're never out of fashion. They're never out of date. They're never going to be disproved. It isn't true that it all depends. It doesn't all depend. These truths, the truths we hold to as Bible-believing Christians are solid and sure and certain. We have something that we can hold on to. And God's commandments are unchanging. And God's word is unchanging. God's will is unchanging. Because Christian truth is based on the living God. And more than that, on him who said, I am the truth. Relativism fails, like all false gods, because it ignores the Savior. Perhaps sometimes you feel intimidated and overwhelmed by all these clever people saying we live in a new world, Christianity is old-fashioned, it's out of date, the Bible has been disproved. My friends, that is completely and utterly false. It's based on a confusion, a terrible, destructive We are standing on solid ground. We can say, I know whom I have believed. Then we are sure. Amen. Let us bow in prayer. Lord, we live in such a confused and rapidly changing world where so many around us don't know what to believe. and they don't know how to behave. They don't know what rules to follow. They're lost and uncertain, struggling desperately in a mist of uncertainty. O Lord, we thank you that amidst all the changes of time, there are things which never change. You never change. That our Savior never changes. that your word never changes, that we can place our feet on that which is unmoving and rest there solid and assured. And so we pray, Lord, that tonight we may know afresh that this is not just a truth for us as individuals, not just a truth of this church, or a truth of this province, or a truth of this day, But Lord, this is the truth of God, truth for all men and women in every age, as long as this earth shall last, to know that we have the truth and we believe the truth. Oh Lord, help us to honour it, to esteem it, to understand it better and to see its changing applications in the times in which we live. Lord, help us above all to know Him who is the way, the truth, and the life. For Jesus' sake, amen.