• Exodus 20:16
"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour.”
God’s way is to tell the truth all the time. Telling the truth isn’t always easy…and in the short run it might seem like telling the truth would be detrimental to the Outcome. But this is where God’s Wisdom passes our human Understanding.
In a recent survey 66% of those surveyed believed its okay to lie…and only 31% believe that honesty is always the best.
Every relationship in life is based upon truth. Truth is the foundation for all relationship and truth is the main component of character.
Every one of God’s Ten Commandments was given to protect something, and what is being protected here in this 9th Commandment is our personal character and the reputation of others.
People in every generation have struggled with truth – at the mock trial of Jesus – Pilate asked Jesus (the rather cynical question), “What is truth?” Pilate had no idea he was looking right into the face of truth.
• John 17:13-19
“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.”
• John 14:6
Jesus said, “I am the truth…”
So you are never more like God; you are never more like Jesus than when you are “telling the truth.” And the antithesis of that is also true…when you are not telling the truth you are taking on the character of your adversary – the devil, because he is the author of untruth. Satan has always tried to cast a shadow of doubt on God’s Word.
• Genesis 3:1-7
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'" "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
We’re 6,000 years this side of Adam & Eve’s decision to believe a lie rather than to believe the truth, and I want to ask you – did their decision to believe a lie over the truth increase their quality of life? And did the results of their decision to believe a lie only affect them? So the affects of believing a lie are huge to the person making the decision; and also on those people they influence.
The Apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:4, that in the last days, “people would turn their ears away from the truth…” Anytime you turn your ear away from the truth you’re susceptible to every lie that comes along. Lies were what sentenced Jesus to His death upon the cross. It should be easy for every Christian to see why God wants to promote & protect truth. The advancement of God’s kingdom is based upon the proclamation of the truth.
• 1 Timothy 3:14-15 (The Message)
I hope to visit you soon, but just in case I’m delayed, I’m writing this letter so you’ll know how things ought to go in God’s household, this God-alive church, bastion of truth.
So we can see why Jesus wants His Church to remain strong because it’s the vehicle God has chosen to use to advance His truth in the earth. You’ve heard me preach that the Church is the conscience of a society. Someone may ask, “How can that be?” Well, the answer is simple; God’s Word is truth. So when the Church is preaching the unadulterated Word of Truth from the pulpit it will show people in what way their lives are wrong. If the people who hear that Word will continue to allow the Word to correct them and change them…they will experience the truth and the truth will make them free.
The danger is when people allow a spirit of offense to develop into a root of bitterness in their heart – because they cease to work the Word of truth. The Word of Truth shows you what to do when a spirit of offense comes.
• Psalm 119:165 (KJV)
Great peace have they which love thy law [Word]: and nothing shall offend them.
The devil is constantly trying to deceive us so we will err or stray from the truth. Then he can bombard us with lies so we’ll fall into his trap of deception and get disconnected from our life source. Satan uses all kinds of lies in an attempt to get us to err from the truth. So right up front I want to mention a few common lies that the devil uses, and we must avoid if we’re going to prevent Truth Decay.