We Tell the Truth

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 23rd of June, 2024.  A recording of our service should be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]

How many times have you watched a TV show or movie scene set in a courtroom where they call a person up to the witness stand, have them put their left hand on a bible and raise their right hand and swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?  And the person always says, “I do”.  I just wonder how much validity that oath would hold if the person swearing to it were an atheist.  Would it matter to them if they told the truth or not?  Would their hand burn just a little bit on the bible?

Yes, I do think about weird things at times.

I think this is a valid concern, though, because our judicial system is based on people telling the truth.  And just how many people tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth in our society today?  In recent months alone we’ve seen some high-profile cases where folks just flat out lied in public statements, on legal forms, even in courtrooms under oath.  And with artificial intelligence and deepfakes and cheapfakes and fake news, just how much of what we see and hear anymore can we trust to be the truth?!?

Well, I’ve got good news for you, Family - there is one place we can turn where we can fully trust in what we are told.  There is one source of information we can be sure will always tell us the truth: our Holy Bible.

Our Bible contains the word of God, authored by men and women that He inspired to write everything we need to know to get us through this life and ready for the next.  We can trust those men and women for they have no reason whatsoever to try and trick us.  They have nothing to gain by lying, nothing to lose by being completely truthful.

One of those authors was given special insight into God’s word and God’s will by God’s Son Jesus.  Please listen and follow along as I read the first 15 verses from the 4th chapter of the 2nd letter that the Apostle Paul sent to the Corinthians, and I’ll be reading this from the Living Bible version of our Holy Bible…

1 It is God Himself, in His mercy, who has given us this wonderful work of telling His Good News to others, and so we never give up. 2 We do not try to trick people into believing — we are not interested in fooling anyone. We never try to get anyone to believe that the Bible teaches what it doesn’t. All such shameful methods we forego. We stand in the presence of God as we speak and so we tell the truth, as all who know us will agree.

3 If the Good News we preach is hidden to anyone, it is hidden from the one who is on the road to eternal death. 4 Satan, who is the god of this evil world, has made him blind, unable to see the glorious light of the Gospel that is shining upon him or to understand the amazing message we preach about the glory of Christ, who is God. 5 We don’t go around preaching about ourselves but about Christ Jesus as Lord. All we say of ourselves is that we are your slaves because of what Jesus has done for us. 6 For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made us understand that it is the brightness of His glory that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

7 But this precious treasure — this light and power that now shine within us — is held in a perishable container, that is, in our weak bodies. Everyone can see that the glorious power within must be from God and is not our own.

8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but not crushed and broken. We are perplexed because we don’t know why things happen as they do, but we don’t give up and quit. 9 We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going. 10 These bodies of ours are constantly facing death just as Jesus did; so it is clear to all that it is only the living Christ within who keeps us safe.

11 Yes, we live under constant danger to our lives because we serve the Lord, but this gives us constant opportunities to show forth the power of Jesus Christ within our dying bodies. 12 Because of our preaching we face death, but it has resulted in eternal life for you.

13 We boldly say what we believe, trusting God to care for us, just as the psalm writer did when he said, “I believe and therefore I speak.” 14 We know that the same God who brought the Lord Jesus back from death will also bring us back to life again with Jesus and present us to Him along with you. 15 These sufferings of ours are for your benefit. And the more of you who are won to Christ, the more there are to thank Him for His great kindness, and the more the Lord is glorified.

--2 Corinthians 4:1-15 (TLB)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, we thank You for inspiring so many men and women to write down Your word so that we would have it today, after centuries have passed.  Our Bible is our users manual, our book of instructions.  It contains all we need to go forward and live a righteous life.  Thank You for sharing Your word with us, for sharing Your truth with us.  Sadly though, Lord, not everyone believes in the Christian Bible being Your inspired word, nor in it being completely truthful.  And not even all those who follow Jesus as Lord spend time reading the Bible.  Satan is hard at work in this world, keeping people blind to the truth, turning them away from You.  Please help us use our Bible and its truth as a weapon against the devil, a shield to defend ourselves from him.  Help us reach out to the non-believers of the world, sharing the Good News of salvation that is only available through Jesus.  Help us show the truth to all we encounter.  And please forgive us when we hesitate to serve You and Your Son Jesus.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand Your message today.  Thank You for our Bible.  Help us make the best use of our instructions manual while we walk this earth.  And help us share Your love with all the world.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Two men had an argument.  To settle the matter, they went to a judge for arbitration.  The plaintiff made his case.  He was very eloquent and persuasive in his reasoning.  When he finished, the judge nodded in approval and said, "That's right, that's right."

On hearing this, the defendant jumped up and said, "Wait a second, judge, you haven't even heard my side of the case yet."  So the judge told the defendant to state his case.  And he, too, was very persuasive and eloquent.  When he finished, the judge again nodded and said, "That's right, that's right."

When the clerk of court heard this, he jumped up and said, "Judge, they both can't be right."  The judge looked at the clerk of court and said, "That's right, that's right."

A large part of our society experiences a great deal of difficulty discerning the truth.  Even so, they increasingly surround themselves with people who will tell them what they want to hear, including their teachers and preachers.  Many of our leaders, like this fictional judge, simply tell whatever group of people they’re speaking to what that particular group wants to hear, with little or no regard to the actual and complete truth.  And not telling the whole truth is just as bad as not telling any truth.  That’s what we call a lie of omission, misleading someone by leaving pertinent information out.

But spreading falsehoods is nothing new, and certainly not limited to our modern culture.  The first lie we know of came in the Garden of Eden, when the serpent promised Eve that eating the forbidden fruit would make her and Adam like God.

Fast forward to the times of our Lord Jesus.  The Pharisees and scribes had long been trying to trap Jesus in any breach of the Law of Moses, waiting for Him to slip up, but they had no hard evidence against Him to take to the Roman authorities.  So they made up evidence.  They lied about Him, and had others bear false witness about Him, too.

When He was finally hauled before the Roman governor for trial, Pilate asked Jesus if He was a king.  Jesus responded, “I came to bring truth to the world. All who love the truth are my followers.”  Pilate then rhetorically asked, “What is truth?”, without waiting for a response.  (John 18:37-38 (TLB))

But earlier, the Apostle John recorded where Jesus had already answered that question in the 6th verse of the 14th chapter of John’s Gospel account, when He told His disciples…

6 “I am the Way — yes, and the Truth and the Life.  No one can get to the Father except by means of Me.”

--John 14:6 (TLB)

Jesus is truth – the Truth.  Jesus is the only Way to the Father.  And Jesus is the true light.

John opened his Gospel account with the truth.  Listen to the first 9 verses of the 1st chapter of John’s account…

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

--John 1:1-9 (NKJV)

John, who we call the Baptist, was given the mission by God to bear witness to the world about Jesus.  Jesus is the Truth, the Life, and the Light, sent by God to bring us out of the darkness, if we would only believe in Him and trust in Him.

Can we trust what we see on TV, what we read in any of our news sources, what we find on the internet?  No, not completely; some yes, but definitely not all.  Sadly, most of what we are shown or told is meant to mislead us for one purpose or another.  Anything we see or hear in our modern society should be taken with a great measure of skepticism.  If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

But Family, we can trust in Jesus.  We can trust in the Word of God, saved for us in our Holy Bible.  We can trust God, because, as the author of the Letter to the Hebrews assures us, “it is impossible for God to lie”.  (Hebrews 6:18b (TLB))

Jesus is truth, and we need to share this truth with all the world.  So let’s get out there and be a witness like John the Baptizer.  Let’s tell the world the truth.  For this is God’s will for us.

In the blessed name of Jesus our Christ, the Son of God, the Truth and the Way.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us truth we can depend on, the Truth in the person of Your Son Jesus.  Thank You for Your holy word, the word of truth.  Sadly though, Father, not everyone believes Your word, and we are slow to share it with them.  We hesitate to open up to others about our faith.  We too often fail to approach people to share the Gospel truth so they can lead a righteous life.  We’re too timid, too shy, too afraid to talk to someone about Jesus or even anything in the Bible.  Please forgive us these times, Father.  Help us share the truth, the Good News.  Help us fulfill our assigned mission for Jesus.  And as we do so, please help us be more forgiving, more merciful in our dealings with others.  And Father, guide us around any pitfalls in this life and strengthen our spirits to do Your will.  And please help us do a better job of sharing Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and His sacrifice.  

Father, please shield us from Satan as he attacks our faith, trying to make us his own.  Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live.  And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what the world throws at us or holds out before us.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You are the Truth, the Life, the Light, and the Way.  You shine in the darkness of our sin to show us the way to righteousness and life everlasting.  Through You, and only through You, are we granted eternal life.  Help us share this news of salvation, Lord.  Help us reach out to the unbelieving world.  Help us tell folks the whole truth, and to do so in a loving way.  Help us be more understanding, more merciful, more giving and forgiving of others, knowing that this is our Father’s will for us.  Help us reach out to the non-believing world with the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love.  Give us the words to say, show us what to do to help bring the lost to You.

Lord Jesus, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations and all the false teachings.  Help us fend off his attacks.  Please help us be faithful and true to You, putting all our trust in You, all our hope in You.  Heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.