Truth

Question: is truth important today?  Truth is very relevant and important today and always has been but it seems like it is harder and harder to find.  Many seem to have traded the truth for a lie and truth is falling in the streets just to be trodden under foot. There are so many deceitful practices today, so many get rich schemes, so much fraud, and so many voices calling to get our attention that it is getting hard to trust anyone because it is very hard to know what their real intent or motives are.  You hear about fat burning schemes, weight loss programs, you hear about drinks that will give you so much energy then you hear about how some people have died after drinking them.  How many times have you heard that certain foods were good for you then later on it comes out that these foods are really not good for you?  You see commercials that promise so many things but don’t turn out to deliver what they promised.  Where are the voices of truth, can you still find the truth today?

You should be able to find it in the church but that depends on which church you go to or which pastor or teacher you listen to.  And what about me, how do you know if I am telling the truth?  Most of you don’t know me so how can you know?  I think there is only one way to know if I am telling you the truth, or anyone else as far as a pastor or teacher is concerned, and I don’t claim to be a pastor or even a teacher.  What you need to do is study the truth, spend time in the Word of God and get your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of the faith.  If you don’t believe the Word of God is true I challenge you to read it with an open mind, starting in Matthew, praying that the Lord will open your eyes and remove the veil from your mind and lead you into the truth through His precious Holy Spirit.          

Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”  Jesus not only is the truth, he spoke the truth which you can find in His Word.  God’s Word says, “To study to show thyself approved, a workman who is not ashamed but is able to divide the word of truth.”  There is only one way to know what the truth is and that is by spending time in the truth praying that God’s Holy Spirit will teach you all truth and bring it back to your remembrance when you need it.  

What did Jesus say was one of the things the Holy Spirit would do when He told his disciples that He would send them a Comforter?  Read John 16:13-15, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”  The footnotes in my Bible regarding these verses say, “The truth into which the Holy Spirit guides us is the truth about Christ, He also helps us through patient practice to discern right from wrong.”

Now read John 8:31-36, “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, 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. They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

If you want to know the truth and be set free from the bondage of sin, do what Jesus told His disciples to do; He told them to continue in His Word then they would know the truth and the truth would set them free.  I am finding that getting rid of the things that take up a lot of my time and devotion, plus getting into God’s Word more and more, along with true repentance, is setting me freer and freer each day and it will do the same for you or anyone else that is seeking the truth.  When you seek God’s truths, you not only find wisdom and knowledge and learn how you should live but you also get set free of sin so that you don’t always need to take two steps forward and one step back, so to speak, and there are many more things that you will learn.  

When it comes to sin you will learn what the fear of God really means and what repentance means and why the Word says it is the beginning of wisdom.  When Ananias and Sapphira sinned by lying to the Holy Spirit, which was in what many call the day of grace today, what did the church and all who heard of it do?  Read Acts 5:11, “And great fear came on all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.”  My Bible footnotes said this, “God’s judgement produced shock and fear among the believers making them realize how seriously God regards sin in the church.”  Sin is no laughing matter to God and it better not be taken lightly by us as the body of Christ in our day either.  Some people seem to make this their excuse for sin; they say we live in the day of grace.  Don’t kid yourself, there are always consequences for sin and sin separates us from God until we truly repent from the heart.

Be careful who you listen to, listen to pastors and teachers that aren’t afraid to confront you with your sins and tell you what the consequence might be and what repentance really means.  A gospel that comforts you in your sins is not the true gospel but is a lie.  Read Jude 1:20-25,“ But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference: and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”

I have to keep repeating this, be careful who you listen to and get into God’s Word and start hiding it in your heart so that you might not sin against God.  The more truth you learn, the freer you will become.  Seek the face of God and seek the infilling of the Holy Spirit, love the Lord with all your heart, soul, strength and mind and love your neighbor as yourself and repent from your heart when you need to.  Jesus said when you seek me with all your heart you will find me.  I have given you something to think about.  Have a super day and may the good Lord bless you and don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord for He is worthy!!