Truth

One of the major elements to any ordered society is the element of truth but in our convulsing world it is becoming more rare all the time. No one likes a liar. They are always causing confusion and trouble between people. When truth is jettisoned, the situation spins out of control very quickly. It would be good if everyone could see the devastating results of lies and deception that they might employ in their dealings with other people.

Let’s think about this: Truth is a heavenly concept. It came from heaven because truth came from God and when it is applied to any situation it will produce order. The reason it produces order is because when God’s method of dealing with life is utilized, it will produce harmony and a proper and right direction. My father, who abhorred a liar, always told me: “Son, if you tell the truth, you only have to remember one story. If you lie, you will always have to remember what it was that you told the last person about the situation you are talking about.” That is so very, very true. The truth will stand on its own while a lie has to be continually propped up.

God is a God of order. Everything works properly if it is kept in order. As I often told my congregation: “If we follow God’s order then we don’t have to worry about the bitter consequences which follow when people rebel against what God says to do.” Other things with which we deal demand order. When the pistons in an automobile fire in the proper order, there is harmony and your car works properly as you travel down the highway. If piston number one decided that it wanted to fire when number three was suppose to fire, then what would happen? Your automobile would immediately stop running and it would leave you along the side of the roadway hoping that someone would stop and help you. You see, proper order is necessary for harmony.

God’s Word gives us a wonderful insight into how necessary truth really is. In John 8:32 the Lord says….”And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” Also in Psalms 119:29-30 we find…”Remove from me the way of lying, and grant me thy law graciously. I have chosen the way of truth; thine ordinances have I laid before me.” Throughout scripture truth is a virtue of righteous people. We are warned not to err from it and we are told the consequences for doing so.

Lying on the other hand is something that we are repeatedly warned that we should not do. And we are shown the severe consequences of this thing called lying which our world has opted for instead of God’s truth. We can easily see the results of this act that God abhors: lying. It brings disorder. It brings confusion. It produces distrust. It brands a person as one who cannot be trusted nor believed on any subject. This world is satan’s domain. He was thrust down here after he thought just one thought of rebellion against God and he has been making trouble here ever since. He knows how human beings are constructed and he is aware that an unredeemed person would rather lie than tell the truth. As my Grandaddy used to say about a person who lied a lot: “He would rather climb a tree and lie than stand on level ground and tell the truth.” This unsaved world naturally gravitates toward lying. Its natural for them because their spiritual father is a liar and they follow his lead unless directed to truth by the Holy Spirit which they possess only after being saved.

While truth is a heavenly concept, lying is an earthly construct that perverts the truth. It is earthly in its origin. Satan first employed it on earth in the Garden of Eden and human beings were all too ready to distrust God and listen to satan’s lies. The world was corrupted with a lying spirit and we are suffering under the weight of that lying spirit today. A lie is truth corrupted. Just like the earthly system corrupts everything it touches, lying corrupts the heavenly truth and produces an earthly lie. I remind you that while truth produces order, a lie produces disorder and confusion. A lie is the perversion and corruption of God’s order which is grounded on truth. A liar’s life will be one of disruption and frustration.

Our first human impulse when confronted with a problem is to lie. That is what an unsaved human does. But, when the Lord comes into a life and brings the Holy Spirit, a person is equipped to reject satan and his lies. They then know what they must do and that is to overcome the old human nature and submit to what God says and that will be the truth. The Lord has given us the power to resist satan and his lies and when we follow Jesus, we can and will win the battle we will have with a lying spirit which comes from satan.

Just remember, one day we will stand before the Lord and the only thing that will ultimately matter in those moments is the Truth.