We live in a time where the agenda of the church is focused on everything but the truth.

Why? Because truth inevitably divides.

Truth causes controversy.

Anytime the truth of God is proclaimed clearly, no matter how gently,

no matter how winsomely, no matter how charitably,

when the word of God is clearly proclaimed, hell itself rises up in fury and controversy comes.

Answering Pontius Pilate, Jesus said,

For this purpose I was born, and for this purpose I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth.

And as you heard, R.C. Sproge just say, truth today is being avoided, even by some in the

church. But we all must bear witness to the truth and tell the truth, proclaiming God's

word faithfully. This is the Thursday edition of renewing your mind, and today's message is the

final one you'll hear from this series, so let's meet Pontius Pilate.

In the history of the Christian Church, perhaps the oldest confessional statement that survives

through the ages and the earliest effort to give a creed that would summarize the essence of Christianity,

is found, of course, in the Apostles' Creed.

And in the Apostles' Creed, we find something that's a little bit unusual,

and that is there is a reference in this creed to a historical person other than

Jesus. That person who makes it into the creed and remains notorious and infamous because of it

is Pontchus Pilate. We have the line in the Apostles' Creed suffered under Pontius Pilate.

Now, historians have asked the question frequently, why did the Christians of the early church

find it important to make a specific reference to Pontius Pilate in a brief statement

of faith that summarizes the person and work of Christ. And the answer that we discover when we

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