The sermon opens with everyday illusions that trick our senses – optical illusions, perceived versus actual reality – to show how easily human perception can be fooled, then moves to the ‘secular definition of reality,’ which limits truth to only what can be observed and verified by the senses.
It challenges that definition with Pilate’s question, ‘What is truth?’, and calls hearers back to Psalm 33’s confidence that trusting in human strength and cleverness for security is itself an illusion, while the counsel of the Lord stands forever – only God’s Word gives a sure and unshakable grasp of what is real.