Go to the Home page Weekly bulletin plus article archives

What Are You Going To Do With Truth?

by Chris Simmons

We may understand that truth comes from God, that it is knowable and that anything else is error, but there remains one other critical question. What are you going to do with truth?

Despite the wishes of many, truth can not ultimately be avoided. We can live in denial for only so long and we must make a decision with truth. Because of personal desires or current circumstances, many people find it difficult to face the truth. Not wanting to deal with truth doesn’t take away the consequences of rejecting the truth. Someone driving down the road may not want to face the truth of a road sign that says “Bridge Out Ahead.” But choosing to not read the sign won’t take away the deadly consequences. Similarly, choosing not to face the truth of God’s word won’t negate the eternally deadly consequences of proceeding down the road with the wide gate and the broad way “that leads to destruction” (Matthew 7:13).

Rather than facing the truth, the scriptures speak of those who will instead “accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires” who will “tickle” their ears with what they want to hear, rather than the truth of the “sound doctrine” (I Timothy 4:3-4). King Ahab referred to the prophet Elijah in I Kings 18:17 as the “troubler of Israel”. In similar fashion, those today who hold fast to speaking the truth (i.e., the “sound doctrine”) and refuse to change their message according to the desires of the hearers, are sometimes referred to as the “troublers” of the Lord’s church because many do not want to face the truth. It was the same Ahab who refused to call upon, and hated, Micaiah the “true” prophet of God because he would speak God’s words to him and not what he wanted to hear (I Kings 22:8). The same Ahab who said to Micaiah, after Micaiah mockingly told Ahab the same thing his “ear-tickling” false prophets told him, “How many times must I adjure you to speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?” (I Kings 22:16). Most certainly, Micaiah then spoke “the truth in the name of the Lord” to Ahab and so must we. We can not afford the consequences of shunning those who speak truth as Ahab did to Micaiah. There are examples in the New Testament also of people who did not want to face the truth. For example, Felix, in Acts 24:25 did not want to face the truth of Paul’s message regarding “righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come” and told him to “go away” until another time.

Whenever truth is acknowledged and faced, truth is found to be very sobering. Paul declared to Festus in Acts 26:25, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I utter words of sober truth.” We read of Nathan confronting David with the truth that “you are the man” (II Samuel 12:7), and David soberly confronting the truth by his confession “I have sinned against the LORD” (II Samuel 12:13). When Peter preached the truth regarding the Jews participation in the crucifixion of the Son of God, they soberly reacted to the truth by asking Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). We also see the sober reaction of Simon in Acts 8:24 after being told of his “wickedness” and his being in the “bondage of iniquity”, when he stated, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me” (Acts 8:22-24).

Rather than turning away from truth, we must view truth as something to be loved and cherished and of priceless value. Solomon wrote in Proverbs 23:23, “Buy truth, and do not sell it, get wisdom and instruction and understanding.” Without a love for truth, we will inevitably fall prey to Satan’s effort to lead us into error. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians regarding the need for this love for truth in II Thessalonians 2:9-13, “the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.” Just as with those in Thessalonica, a love for the truth is essential to our salvation.

Our love for truth must continue at all times and in all situations. We read in Proverbs 3:3, “do not let kindness and truth leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.” Part of the spiritual armor that we need in order to be able to “stand firm” as Christians and be successful in all of our daily spiritual battles, is said by Paul to be the truth that is to “gird our loins” (Ephesians 6:14).

It is possible for us to fail to properly uphold and defend truth as we ought. As members of the body, the church, we each individually and collectively bear the responsibility that Paul spoke of to Timothy to ensure that the church is the “pillar and support of the truth” (I Timothy 3:15). The Israelites failed to uphold the truth and it is said of them in Jeremiah 9:3 that “lies, and not truth prevail in the land.” We also can be found guilty of allowing truth to be “lacking” and to “stumble in the street” (Isaiah 59:14-15). Therefore, each one of us must exercise great care to uphold and “handle accurately the word of truth” (II Timothy 2:15).

The seriousness of truth is found in the fact that our eternal destiny depends on whether we love and rejoice with the truth (I Corinthians 13:6) or whether we avoid and refuse to face the truth. It is man’s obedience to the truth that enables one to be born again (I Peter 1:22) and be saved from their sins (cf., II Thessalonians 2:10, 13; I Tim. 2:4). To stray from the truth will certainly result in spiritual death (cf., James 5:19).

God has made His saving truth available. Will you face it, love it and obey it? Or will you avoid it, reject it and trade it in for a lie (cf., Romans 1:25)? What will you do with truth?

Go to the Home page Weekly bulletin plus article archives