What Is Truth?
Stanford Research Institute was studying the differences in vocational
perceptions. Their test was simple. First they asked an engineer. “What does two plus
two make?” The engineer simply said, “In absolute terms: four.” Then, they called an
architect. He responded, “Well, there are several possibilities: two and two make four,
but so does three and one -- or two point five and one point five -- they also make four.
So, it is all a matter of choosing the right option.”
Finally, they called an attorney. When he heard the question, he looked around
slyly, asked if he could close the door for privacy, and then came over close, leaned
toward them and said, “Well, tell me, what would you like it to be?”
We live in a world that treats truth like this. Truth is treated as uncertain or bendable. Like
Pilot we ask, “what is truth” and then we try to define it by what they want it to be. Truth is seen as
relative to our culture, not to be depended to last through time. Absolute Truth, according to the world,
is declared to have no basis for belief.
How did we get this way? Why did we, as a culture, abandon the truth of God for a lie? It was
because we did not guard carefully against the attacks of the enemy. Because we did not hold the truth
of God in high regard, we were willing to compromise with it in little ways.
***Consider the story of the man who was trying to cut costs, and so he began to gradually substitute
sawdust in the oats of his mule. Everything was fine for a period, and the animal was satisfied with
sawdust. Then he died. This is how the lies of the enemy work. We exchange truth with error in our
believer’s lives, and it’s great for awhile.... but before you know it they are dead. As Hosea says, “My
people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.” And this is where the enemy attacks. While we were
created in the image of God and put in a world that exudes His truth, we allow for a small lie to creep
into our thinking and living, not realizing how it poisons us and our families. It continued to corrupt us
until the world has so compromised truth that it does not know what truth really looks like. **This is
like the wagon train in 1849 traveling through Death Valley to follow the gold rush into California. As
they trudged through this hottest place in California, they looked ahead and saw a sheet of water they all
believed was Owen’s Lake. But it was just a mirage created by the intense heat, and the harder their
pressed on to make it to the water, the more frustrated they became. The stable truth that was meant to
be a pillar we could lean on, was substituted for a mirage and lie became a frustration and hindrance.
Jesus said that He alone is “the way the truth and the life” and that “If you abide in my word,
you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” The enemy wants
to keep us from the word of God because it has the truth that will free us. If the enemy can influence us
with his lies and deceit, then he can enslave us in fear, darkness, and death. Truth is necessary for the
Christian to stand up for Jesus. Truth is the basis for fighting off the enemy. This is why the enemy
attacks with lies. What did Jesus do when He was tempted in the desert in Matthew 4? He quoted the
truth from the word of God. And the enemy had to back down and leave.
Isn’t this how the enemy is even infiltrating the church today? Consider Josiah. During
Josiah’s reign, the people discovered scriptures that had been lost. Suddenly they realized that their
lives and nation are in great danger because they did not follow what God had commanded them to
follow. A revival began and changed the way they lived once they found these scriptures. But consider
an important truth of this example. Where did they find these scriptures? Where had they been lost? In
the temple! They had lost the word of God in the place dedicated to worshipping God.
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The answer is not just to know the truth, but to be completely covered and surrounded by it.
The word for fastened here in this passage talks about girding ourselves or wrapping ourselves
completely up by this belt of truth. The Roman Armor had a unifying part that kept all the other pieces
in check, and that was the belt. Made of steel or iron, it was more than just an ornamental symbol; it
held everything else together and allowed the soldier to walk and function rightly. If they did not have
the belt, then their garments would get in the way, blocking their view and function of hands. In
addition, belt held the other pieces of armor in place, keeping swords or arrows from slipping behind it
to cause damage. And in the same way, truth holds together the Christian walk. Luther said,
“If you take the Word (and the truth in it) away, it is like taking the sun away from the earth. If
the Word were removed, what would the world be but a hell and a mere realm of Satan? For
only the Word keeps a joyful conscience, a gracious God, and all of religion, since out of the
Word, as from a spring, flows our entire religion.”
Do you know that joyful conscience from walking in the truth? Has the truth set you free? We
need the pure unadulterated word of God in our lives so that we can experience life. It is the complete,
pure word of God that transforms us, setting us free. ***Consider the story of Clyde Thompson. Clyde
was raised in the church. But when he was old enough, he chose to go hunting instead. When Clyde
was 17 year old, he killed two men in the woods, becoming the youngest man in Texas history to be
condemned to death by the electric chair. Although legal complications delayed his execution, he lost
whatever faith he had. A bunch of prisoners tried to escape with him and were killed. On death row, he
fought and killed two more prisoners. Over time, Clyde Thompson became known by his prison mates
as the meanest man in the State of Texas.
His terrible reputation required him to stay in isolation. Clyde was put in an old building that
used to be the morgue, with the only opening was about a foot square with bars, no running water, and
no electricity. Daylight could only enter for six hours each day. After 2 or 3 months of isolation,
Clyde asked a guard to bring him a Bible. The more he studied it, the more he became convinced it was
God's truth. He came to realize that Christianity was man's only hope and he repented in tears on his
knees day and night for months. Clyde kept reading the Bible and asking God if He could forgive a
wretch like him. ** The truth began to change Clyde Thompson. The guards noticed it. When he was
released to return to death row, he taught and baptized 8 other prisoners. He made such an impression on
prison administration, that they released him from death row and let him go among the general
population.
Clyde continued to study his Bible and took a two-year Bible course. He became the chaplain's
assistant. Eventually, after 28+ years in prison, he was given a life-time parole. On the outside, Clyde
went straight to the Lubbock County Jail, one of the largest county jails in Texas and he began a
chaplaincy program there. Clyde died of a heart attack in July of 1979. Clyde Thompson went from the
meanest man in Texas to a great soul winner for the Lord, simply because he encountered the truth. The
truth set him free. **** Bind the truth of God around you. Cling to it like you would to your coat in a
desperate wind. Allow it to give you the freedom that you long for.
Righteousness. We love being “right”, right? This is what righteousness is about. It is being
right or justified. It means to be made holy and innocent and no longer being guilty or ashamed. It is
what most people seek after, right? We oftentimes justify our actions. Do you have a hard time
admitting that you were dead wrong about something? Do you pursue arguments with our loved ones,
lawsuits in courts, and even debates with yourself? Oftentimes we will try to declare ourselves
righteous by underemphasizing our sins. We downplay how bad and dangerous our attitudes and
actions are. Other times we will declare ourselves righteous by overemphasizing how good our actions
are. But we all feel a need to be right or justified. We know that this is important. The breastplate is a
great symbol for righteousness because it protects our lungs, our heart, and all the vital organs. While
we can possibly survive an attack on a limb or extremity, it is the attacks to the thorax, or chest that will
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kill us and keep us from fighting. The breastplate protects our lives. And this shows the importance of
righteousness, especially when we think about standing before the Holy God of the universe. God is
Holy and refuses to allow that which is ungodly to stand in his presence. WE know this and therefore
desire to be justified before others, and even before God.
But the truth is that we cannot be righteous. We are not good enough. This is what we see
clearly as we look into the scriptures.
Romans 3:10 says,
“There are none righteous, not even one”
Romans 3:23 says,
“We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”
Our sins are against such a mighty and holy God that we are consumed by this evil that is upon us. As
Paul recounts in Romans,
“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”
The word of God reveals that our own righteousness are like filthy rags, disgusting and putrid. It shows
us that we are lost if we are trying to depend on our own righteousness.
****It reminds me of Charles Spurgeon’s visit to a nice restaurant. As he ate he kept noticing a rather
angry looking man across the dining room who scowled at him every time he looked his way. Finally
Spurgeon decided to go over and speak to the man to see what his problem was. However, as he stood
he realized that what he had been seeing was his own reflection in mirrors that lined the walls across the
room. We may not always like what we see in the mirror of God’s Word but what it reveals our
righteousness for what it is.
Because of this, we need to depend on God’s righteousness instead. But this requires giving
up our own righteousness and depending on His instead. ***A Native American and a friend were
deeply moved by the same sermon. That very night the Native American received Jesus as his Savior,
but for days the white man refused to accept Christ. At last he, too, repented and enjoyed the sweet
peace of having his sins forgiven. Later he asked his Native American friend, “Why did it take me so
long, while you responded right away?”
“My brother, I can best explain it by this little story: At one time a rich prince wished to
give each of us a new coat. You shook your head and replied, ‘I don’t think so; mine
looks good enough.’ When he made the same offer to me, I looked at my old blanket and
said, ‘This is good for nothing,’ and gratefully accepted the beautiful garment. You
wouldn’t give up your own righteousness. But knowing I had no goodness of my own, I
immediately received the Lord Jesus Christ and His righteousness.”
To put on the breastplate of righteousness, we need to surrender to God’s righteousness and find
life in Him alone.
**As Ebenezer Wooten was loading up the equipment after a preaching service in the town
square, a young man approached him and asked, “Mr. Wooten, what must I do to be saved?” Sensing
that the fellow was trusting his own righteousness, Wooten answered in a rather unconcerned way, “It’s
too late!” The inquirer was startled. “Oh don’t say that, sir!” But the evangelist insisted, “It’s too late!”
Then, looking the young man in the eye, he continued, “You want to know what you must DO to be
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saved. I tell you it’s too late now or any other time. The work of salvation is done, completed, finished!
It was finished on the cross.”
We put on the breastplate of righteousness by surrendering to God’s work, His plans, and His
hopes. We must put aside our own abilities to be right or do right, and trust in His grace instead. Dr.
Gerstner,
"Christ has done everything necessary for [a sinner’s] salvation. Nothing now stands
between the sinner and God but the sinner's good works, his delusion that he has good
works that can satisfy God. If men will only be convinced that they have no
righteousness that is not filthy rags; all they need is need! All they must have is
nothing…. But, alas, sinners cannot part with their imaginary virtues. So grace becomes
unreal. Fixed on a mirage they will not drink real water. They died of thirst in the midst
of an ocean of grace."
Challenge: Have you wrapped the truth of God’s word around you, in every nook and cranny of your
life? Are you trusting in God’s ability to save you instead of your own? Let us stand firm then with the
belt of truth wrapped around us and the breast plate of righteousness in place.
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