To Tell The Truth

You and I live in an age that seems to have lost nearly all regard for simple, honest, uncolored truth!   Years ago there was a magazine called the Plain Truth. It was a bold and unusual title for a magazine, but that is exactly what the magazine did, it offered readers the straightforward, candid, unbiased truth about world events and biblical prophecies.

It did so because, believe it or not it based everything it said on the only source where ultimate, absolute truth may be found. That source was the Holy Bible.

But we live in an age that doesn’t seem to place much value on sincerity, trust and credibility. The Ninth Commandment, the one against lying, is largely ignored. At the root of the problem is the carnal human desire to get as much as possible for self (we saw this in the last presidential election) – to win at any cost. When the only goal is to get, honesty becomes expendable. Thus truth is a relative term in most people’s minds today, not an eternal value to be cherished and practiced.

Different churches even have their own versions of exactly what the “truth” is. They can’t seem to agree on what can be known about God or Jesus Christ, or about what Christ’s Gospel message was.

Jesus, on trial for His life, was asked by Pilate, “What is truth?” (John 18:38). But He had already given the answer to this question a few hours earlier, to His true followers, while praying to God the Father: “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them, by Your Truth, Your word is truth” (John 17:14-17).

There it is! The source of ultimate absolute truth is God’s Word. In personal form, God’s Word is Jesus Christ (John 1:1-3, 14). In written form, God’s Word is the Bible.

Telling the truth to the whole world is the commission given to God’s Church (Matt. 24:14, 28:19-20). We tell the truth about world conditions. We preach the same message Christ preached. That message was about the Kingdom of God and the coming New World. Announcing that imminent New World is what this organization is all about. (Note that our name is Church of God New World Ministries).

The people who read our articles and listen to our sermons understand more than most other people in this world about this vital subject of truth. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everyone in all walks of life valued honesty and truth as the foundation of all dealings?

It is impossible for God to lie (Heb. 6:18). One of Jesus Christ’s names is “Truth” (Rev. 19:11). God desires truth in our inward parts, too (Ps. 51:6). The time is coming when everyone will value the truth and tell the absolute truth all the time. That will occur when the glorified Christ has restored God’s government to this earth.

In the meantime those of us who desire to serve God need to redouble our efforts to always tell the truth in every aspect of our daily lives. Everything we say, do and think should reflect the truth. The example we set should be the true way of God.

Don’t lie. Don’t even shade the truth, even to save face or when harm may come to you for being honest. That doesn’t mean you have to tell everything you know, but when you say something, it should be the pure truth. As Colossians 3:9-10 says, “Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.”

 
The Church of God, New World Ministries P.O. Box 5536 Sevierville, TN 37864