MORE ON TRUTH

We live in a deceptive society. What we think we know is not always as it appears to be.

Businesses write accounting reports to leave false impressions. Department stores have sales that are not always sales but ways of attracting customers to more expensive items. Our jobs are not secure because as employees we often are not told of the dealings behind the scenes for the betterment of a few. Our "friends" often lie to us, and in the church some preachers believe one thing but preach another.

What has happened to good, old-fashioned TRUTH?

The Bible says a lot about how God views truth, and about liars and deceivers. The command to be truthful is not difficult to understand, yet it is one of the basic commands that people regularly violate and apparently view lightly.

Notice some of the Bible's statements on truth:

Ø If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32).

Ø Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth (John 17:17).

Ø Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth (Gal. 4:16).

Ø Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another (Eph. 4:25).

Ø If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (I John 1:8).

Just those few verses demonstrate God's emphasis on the truth, and they teach that His word is the final truth on any subject. Now let us notice the result of not being truthful:

Ø A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape (Prov. 19:5).

Ø But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death (Rev. 21:8).

Ø Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie (Rev. 22:14).

God loves truth, but He hates lies. That truth has been emphasized to most of us since we were children, even by nonreligious parents. Why then do we lie? Why are we afraid to stand for truth? Why do we feel the need to deceive others? Again, even in the church, why are we dishonest about our true convictions?

If I, as an elder, seek a preacher to hold a gospel meeting or to work in a particular location, why must I be unsure about his true convictions? Do not those who preach the word know they shall be judged by the word? "Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege (Rom. 2:21,22)?"

Yes, false teachers exist in the world and in the church (II Pet. 2:1), but the fact that they do is no excuse to be one.

We take truth too lightly, in our private lives and in the church. Honesty needs to be emphasized and deception called what it is -- SIN (Mark 7:22). We must not allow the world to lead us away from things we know are right -- on the job, with family, with brethren or with ourselves (Col. 2:8). It is a sin to lie, no matter what the circumstances. Eternal punishment awaits all liars (Rev. 22:14), members of the church or not.

In any circumstance truth must rule, even if we must suffer for it or take an unpopular position (I Pet. 4:15,16). In this life, we can often lie to or deceive others and at times even ourselves. But we need to remember that God sees all things and that there is a punishment awaiting those who lie and deceive: "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do" (Heb. 4:13).

Jack