Can You Handle the Truth?

Good afternoon, everyone. Very happy Sabbath to all of you. Wonderful day, wonderful week thus far. We had a splendid Passover service, really well organized, and everybody was able to get in and out very efficiently. So we thank you all for all the set-up people, all the ushers and others who participated, the deacons. Thank you. It was a really wonderful evening. It was the first one we've been to in about three years because of COVID and because of my heart procedure in 2020. So it was really special for us and how well organized it was in honoring to God and Jesus Christ. Say hello and a greetings to all of you out in the cyber land and watching the webcast. I know a former student of mine in England wrote and said she's going to be listening in today, so I'll say hello to Sonya King over in England. She's a very special lady that I knew years and years ago when I was in 1978, 79, 80, 81, in that time when I was a teacher and professor, assistant professor at Ambassador College. It's great to be with you and I hope you're having eating that bread. I was eating this eating a piece this morning with some peanut butter and jelly on it. It tasted very good and I just said thank you, God, that I could put in your righteousness and put in your strength and your help and power. And always remember it's not our strength that can do anything, it's God's strength that doesn't. And that way the glory goes to him. We're on his team, we're his teammates. Picture yourself as observers or visitors in a courtroom. And so I want to relate to you a scene from the movie A Few Good Men. One of the greatest scenes is the last part of many times I'll see it. It plays often and I'll make sure I see the end of the show because that's when the real fireworks come in. But starring Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson, among others, Navy lawyer, Lieutenant Daniel Caffee, is tasked with defending two Marines who are accused of the murder of another Marine. Lawyer Caffee is trying to break down a hostile witness at the end. He's called a commander of Guantanamo Bay, Colonel Jessup, to witness. This is a very dangerous, very tricky, and very daring move because if he accuses this man and doesn't come true, he could lose his law license for dishonoring an honorable commander or colonel.

So as he tries to break down this hostile witness because the Marines he is defending told him they killed that man. They didn't intend to. They were hazing him a code red, it's called, for being out of line, for not being as good a Marine as he should be. They were trying to shave his head and do other things to him. They stuffed cotton or sock in his mouth, and that ended up causing him great distress. He already had some heart issues that were noted, and he died. So they were on trial for murder. They said they had been given a code red by their commander. Commander was one right below Colonel Jessup, where his henchmen, and so they couldn't get him to agree when he was interviewed earlier. So when Jack Nicholson was on the witness stand, right toward the end of his questioning, he was very good about this, trying to set him up, because he knew he had a temper, and he knew he loved his authority. So he kept saying, he said to him finally, he said, I want the truth. I want the truth. And Colonel Jessup said to him, and it's one of the most famous lines, one of the 100 most famous lines from movies. You can't handle the truth. So he pressed him a little bit farther, and because Jack Nicholson, playing Colonel Jessup, wanted to show his authority, he said, yes, I did order a code red. There! So when he did that, it was game over. He admitted he was the one who was responsible. So the jury was dismissed. They came back in, and before they had a trial for this man, this Colonel, they said all the two Marines were released. They were absolved of all the accusations against them, except they were both dishonorably discharged, because they followed orders, which were not right. A Marine has that right to do that. They didn't. They did this code red on this guy, who was a weaker guy. He needed help, and so they both were dishonorably discharged from the Marine Corps. But Colonel Jessup was charged with murder, giving this order, and I don't know what happened. It stops right there. The movie ends. But I was struck with the point you can't handle the truth. My question for all of us in the midst of these days of unleavened bread, when we are keeping the time and having this bread, the unleavened bread of what? Sincerity, which we heard from Mr. Rudy Rangel, a sermonette on the first Holy Day, and truth. They are the days of sincerity and truth. So my question for all of us, can you handle the truth?

Or better yet, do you handle the truth? And if so, how do you handle the truth?

1 Corinthians 5, verses 7 and 8. I'm not going to read it. It refers there to the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Do you know what sincerity means? We had a lot of definitions on Thursday. It was a very, very good message by Mr. Rangel. But do you know what sincerity means?

It means living the truth. You can't have sincerity and be false. Have you falsify, or if you pretend, and remember too what Jesus Christ said, beware the leaven of the Pharisees, and he said what it was, which is hypocrisy.

Now, I think we all have a little hypocrisy in all of us. Once in a while, we put on a show that's not really us. But those who are hypocrites do it to deceive. They don't do it to gain favor or whatever. And that doesn't make it right. Either way, we have to be genuine. The lady that comes to me and says, how do you like my hat? There's all these bananas and fruit on it. Do you like my new hat? I may think it's awful, but I'm not going to tell her it looks beautiful. My answer to her would be, well, how do you like it? And she's, oh, I like it. Well, good for you.

I am not going to lie, nor am I going to use the truth to hurt her. Right?

God says we should speak the truth, and we'll come to that scripture later, in love. So being genuine, being sincere, does not mean we take the two-edged sword, which is what? The word of God, which is what? Truth. And stab people with it. Ah, that's the truth. I'm being truthful. I'm stabbing you all the time. How many times have we heard truth hurts? When people expose the truth about you, does that hurt? Something you messed up, and they spread it? Does that hurt? Yeah, it hurts.

Truth. You know what God has declared by David in Psalms 31.5? You can write it down. I'm not going to read it. He's called the Lord God of truth, my Redeemer. God is a God of truth. When Jesus Christ came into the world, John 1.14, I'm not going to read this one either, but you can write it down if you want. John 1.14. He came into this world full of grace and truth.

The Lord God, our Redeemer that we heard, by the way, it was a very nice song and a very meaningful song. Thank you, Melody. We appreciated that. God is a God of truth. He's a God of truth. And we want truth. We're Christians. We're following Christ. What do we have to follow? The truth. Jesus Christ also plainly stated in John 14.6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus Christ tells the truth. Peter said in Jesus Christ, 1 Peter 2.22, he said, there's no guile in Jesus Christ. No guile. He doesn't try to pull something over on people. No guile. No deception. No judgment. No judgment. No judgment. No judgment. He doesn't want to pull something over on people. No guile. No deception. He doesn't try to mislead people. No deception. That's the way Jesus Christ is and that's the way He wants us to be.

So, what is it to be truthful? What is truth? Let me read a couple of quotes from it.

I already told you about sincerity. A couple definitions of truth. Truth. The real What are facts about something? The things that are true? This one I don't like as a third statement. What is the simple definition of truth from Merriam & Webb's Dictionary? A statement of idea that is true or accepted as true? The world today will tell you there is no permanent truth. There's no permanent truth. It's fluctuating. It's what you want it to be. It's your truth. This is my truth. That's your truth. But when it comes down to eternal life, there's only one truth that counts.

That's God's truth. When it comes to following the way of God, there's only one truth, God's truth. Not your version of it. Truth. We, as Christians, need to be following that. Let me give you a couple more definitions. It means the actual state of matter, an adherence to reality, or an indisputable fact.

Macmillan dictionary calls the noun this way. Actual facts are information about something, Macmillan dictionary, rather than what people think, expect, or make up. I make up my own truth. This is my truth. It doesn't cut it. Truth has to be in accordance with the facts, not what you think those facts said, what the facts are. The word for fact, the noun for fact, is things that are true or true or that really happened rather than things that are imaginary.

Truth. What are we speaking about today? I'm going to read you a couple quotes on truth. I want to also share with you what Winston Churchill said about truth. Very famous. In May 1947, this statement reappeared in Reader's Digest, quoting what Winston Churchill said years before that. He said, men occasionally stumble over the truth. Men occasionally stumble over. They actually share some truth. But most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.

Truth made a difference to me. Did truth make a difference to you? I get tired of politicians trying to tell me things that I know with my own eyes is false. And they can look at the screen and they can lie right through their teeth. And I know better. I see it. It's reality. But they will lie. You know what Isaiah said in Isaiah 59, verses 4 and 14? He said, truth has fallen in the streets. There's no justice. There's no truth. None pleads for truth. I'll read you a quote a little bit later when we talk about speaking the truth, or telling the truth, from Tucker Carlson.

He said, telling the truth on Fox News, Tucker Carlson show. He said, telling the truth is a revolutionary thing. People don't do it anymore. They give you their version. Somebody doesn't tell me the truth. I can't trust them. Can you trust them? Well, if it's only once, well, how do I know there's not a second time coming? One of the great, one of the worst signs of that a person could have is to be not truthful. Not truthful. When you lie, that destroys your character.

Now, there's defensive lies, and there are other lies that you can do. Some people do a defensive lie. Did you do that? No, no. They recoil, and they cast, and yes, I did. Little children. You did that, didn't you? No, no, I didn't do that. Yes, I did, Dad. What did George Washington say? I did chop down the cherry tree. And his dad really beat him after he said that. You know why?

Because his dad was in the tree. George Washington chopped down the cherry tree, and his dad forgave him. Why are you giving me a spanking? Son, I was in the tree when you chopped it down. Tell the truth. Live the truth. Know the truth. So, let's take a look at some other quotes about truth, because it's really interesting how many quotes there are.

And I'm going to share those with you as we go along. So how may we handle the truth? Because it's fallen in the streets in this world, and finding people who can tell the truth, or who do tell the truth, is really rare. My antennas are up. Have I always been a truthful person? No. But my parents taught me, you better tell the truth. You better tell the truth.

Prevaricate. I give a whole sermon during the days of Unleavened Bread on how many ways we can not tell the truth. What is a hypocrite? One who pretends. He's not true. Puts on a facade. He's not true. In fact, it even means wear a mask. They can't really see the real you. None of us should have anything that's so dark and so dismal still hanging over us after the blood of Jesus Christ shed for us was applied at baptism.

None of us should be ashamed of anything we do if we repent of it and confess it to God. God forgave you. It's not up to me to forgive you. God forgave you if you repented and changed. Not just gave a sob story.

So let's take a look at how we may handle the truth. I've got five points. I'll try to go through them quickly. I'll try to have us out of here by four, I hope. I've been going over a little bit myself, so I've tried to get through this. Seek the truth. Seek the truth. That's point number one. Seek it. I'll give you a quote on this when this is Russian proverb number 16520 from a book on quotations. Here's what it says. Everything will pass away. Only the truth will remain. Everything will pass away. Because when you get down to it, when you sift through it, what's going to last? Only the facts and only the truth. John 17, verse 17. Start reading some of these scriptures for us. John 17, verse 17. I'll applaud through the scriptures with you so I don't read them so quickly or find them so quickly. I have my trusty Bible up here with me. It's not my magic one, but it's the New King James one. John 17, verse 17. Jesus Christ said this. Sanctify them through by your truth. We heard about sanctification. How are we set apart by the truth? God wants us to be truthful. We sang a song bringing the truth right at the beginning. We sang the march that we did. We read and sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth. If I want to seek the truth, where do I want to look? Truth on eternal life. There's truth about a lot of things. There's truth about how you fix a car. Truth about how you do this. Truth about how you do this. That's all truth. We should also try to deal with truth. But God's word is the truth that impacts us regarding eternal life. Regards our future. Regards our present. Truth. So what do we do? Do we study the Bible? You have the truth. On your laps, most of you are beside you or on your phone. You have the truth. What do you do with it? Do you seek it? Do you look after it? Is it precious to us? Matthew 5 verse 6. Matthew 5 verse 6. Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ. Talked about hungering and thirsting for righteousness. Matthew 5 verse 6. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Are you hungry for God's word? Being retired, I have been able to study, and when I find something I don't understand, I search further. If I'm not sure about it, I check other translations. If I don't find answers in those other translations, I check the inner litre, which gives me the Greek, the meanings of the Greek, the various ones. I go to Thayer's lexicon. I want to know the truth. And it's refreshing to read something in Psalms that has its explanation and expounding in the Gospels or in Paul's writings. I think, wow, where is that scripture? I want to write that over here so I know how to co-relate those. Studying God's word ought to be something that we do, that we drink from it. Seek. Seek the truth. Matthew 6, 33. What did Jesus Christ say? Seek you first, the kingdom of God. We usually stop there. Seek first the kingdom. That's our goal. What else are we supposed to be seeking? His righteousness.

All your commandments are righteousness, Psalms 119, verse 172, I believe.

Psalms 119, verse 172. Am I searching for God's way? Am I searching? Do I love it? We'll talk about that later. Jeremiah 5, verse 1. How were the Israelites? We already read how they were. I referred to Isaiah 59. Let's look at Jeremiah 5, verse 1.

He said, Run to and fro, through the streets in Jerusalem. See now and know, and seek in her open places. If you can find a man, if there is a man who executes judgment and who seeks the truth.

You want to render a judgment on false information? You're as guilty as the person that brought you the false information. We need to render judgment according to truth. Take a look. He says, See if you find anybody that's seeking truth. No, they want to seek their own way. They want to look at you, and I just sit there. I say, How can that man? Your conscience has to be really seared to look straight at a camera and lie.

And frankly, some of them do it, and they know that they're lying.

They're not misled. They're not deceived. They know it.

Can you do that? Can you look at a person straight in the eyes? And most people who lie kind of look off to the, you know, have heard of looks when they lie. But some of them are really good at it.

And if you've grown up lying, it's easy for you to do.

If you've grown up lying, it's easy for you to do.

If truth is important to you, you won't lie.

Again, we know lying is a sin anyway. But then he couldn't find any. Look in truth. Look, go look here. Look there. Look at... See if you find anybody who renders good judgment, who seeks the truth.

They couldn't find them. 2 Timothy 3 and verse 7, And brethren, we are blessed.

God said he spoke to them and spoke to the crowds in parables, so that they couldn't see. He didn't want them to see the fullness of it. Why? Because a lot of those wouldn't be yet ready in his plan for eternal life. He didn't want them to be exposed to truth, which they are no longer or weren't ready to live by.

So he spoke to them in parables. But what did he tell his disciples? Blessed are your eyes, because they see. And if your eyes see and discern the difference between truth and error, religiously, spiritually, God's way of living like God has called you.

Brethren, it's not a game that we play.

We're not in a game. We're not trying to impress anybody. God knows us. He knows our hearts. He knows our thoughts. He knows every hair in our head. He knows every thought we have. He knows when you put on, and it's not you.

He wants us to be genuine. That means living the truth. He wants us to be filled with truth. Jesus Christ is the truth. Jesus Christ wants to be in you. The mind of Jesus Christ brings you what? Truth. It's a discerner. The Word of God is a discerner of truth. And you have it in your heart and your mind. It's a discerner of truth in our lives. 2 Timothy 3, verse 7. Our current age, one of the signs of our age, 2 Timothy 3.

2 Timothy 3, verse 7. We read this. About the end time, these last days, he said, perilous times will come. What's one of the perilous times? He said, people will be led away, loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts. Verse 7 of 2 Timothy 3. Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. You could read a hundred books and you're not going to get truth.

Here's truth. You want truth? Here it is. Principles of truth? Here it is. You want what is truth clearly? There it is.

We need to seek the truth. Seek it. Secondly, second point. Know the truth. Seeking it. I found it! What do I do? I don't know how I found the truth.

I need to know it. I know where it is. I know God's Word has it.

Know the truth. Know the truth. Psalms 119. And by the way, sometimes it's hard to take the truth. Truth hurts. It's like a two-edged sword. Hebrews 4, verse 12 tells us that. But don't shy away from God's truth. It is refreshing to know. Do you ever discover, we're thinking something wrongly and you found what the answer was? Wasn't that, it was like somebody gave you a cold drink on a very hot day. It was refreshing to hear the truth, to understand the truth. And it is refreshing. I always wondered about that. I didn't know what that means. I always wondered what that it means. I'm glad I know now. God has shown me. Psalms 119, verses 142 and 151.

Psalm 119, verse 142. Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness and your law is truth. God's way is true. God doesn't lead us a way that takes us through the round and round about. He leads us in a way that's direct to the truth. A way that is good for us. Psalm 151, verse 151. We read this. You are near, O Lord, and all your commandments are truth. Psalm 119, verses 142 and 151. God's Word contains the will of God for us through the path that He prescribes. And where does God lead us? Psalm 23. He leads us in the paths of righteousness. God doesn't lead you in error. God leads us to the truth. John 16, 13. We have a great advocate, a great helper, a paraclete that's called the Holy Spirit. John 16, verse 13. What does God's Spirit do with you? What does it do for you? Not going to do it to you. You've got to want it. But John 16, verse 13, we read this. However, when it... I always take the he out of it because they're talking about a masculine article, and then they want to translate that he. Spirit is always neuter. It's always neuter. Neutral. But here. So, however, when it, the Spirit of truth, has come, it will guide you into all truth. If you're having problems reading something, I have a book from a famous conservative theologian. You know what he says? It's amazing how many problems, Biblical problems, are solved. If you look at them on your knees.

It's amazing how many problems can be solved.

Scripturally, you think it's wrong? It's wrong! It's wrong! It's wrong! If you look at it on your knees, he means to be praying about it, to asking God to guide you, help you, and God leads you into the truth. He says, it will not speak of its own authority, but whatever it hears, because it transmits that to us, it will speak, and it will tell you things to come. God's Spirit leads us into the truth. 2 Timothy 2.15. So how do we lead us into the truth? Because we've got to do something. We'll just sit here and say, give me truth, give me truth. We've got to do something too. Faith without works is dead. If you just believe, God, give me your Spirit. God, give me truth. God, give me... What is he? Your valet? He's not your valet. He wants us to do. He wants us to show our interest. He wants us to show our concern. 2 Timothy 2 and verse 15. Famous verse. I'm sure ABC students could tell us what that means, I think. 2 Timothy 2.15. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God. King James, regular, says study. Study. But be diligent to show... How do you show yourself approved to God? A workman, a worker, who does not need to be ashamed. You're working. Studying God's Word is working. You're into it. It's not just, oh, I'll just sit here casually and read something. Okay, good. I did my Bible study today. Did you really? Did you do your Bible reading? A lot of people think if you read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, that's all you need to do. The Bible says it's here a little and there a little. You're not going to get all the truth on the subject in one of those chapters. You have to be studying. That doesn't mean you shouldn't read a book. I'd like to read Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John when it comes to pass, before Passover time. I love to read those, but I also co-relate them to others. The truth is not all found in one chapter.

And so we have to be a worker. We have to look at it. We have to be willing to look at it and spend time with it. He goes on to say in 2 Timothy 2 verse 15, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. So I see some of these preachers on television. You want to be saved? Listen to me. Pray this prayer. That is about as genuine as can be. I'm going to pray your prayer for me. I teach my kids to do that when they're little. Get down on your knees, son. Or daughter. Get down on your knees and let's pray. Here's what I say. Our Father, our Father, which art in heaven. Let's pray. God, please bless this person. Please help them. I'm teaching them how to pray. I'm not telling them what to pray until they get older. They pray their own prayer after that. Say this prayer and you'll be saved. What? Where is there any genuineness in that? None.

And maybe that person has a strong desire to learn. They're not going to find it that way, I tell you. Those are vain, repetitious prayers. God says, no.

You don't have to memorize your prayer. It has to come from your heart. You can use the Bible to give me a guide. You can read a psalm and say, God, compare this to me. God, I see David has a struggle here. I have a struggle too. Help me with this. David prayed to have help. I pray to have help. What you did for him, you'll do for me because you're not a respecter of persons. Great! But you're not making that your prayer. I'll read a psalm. That's my prayer today. What? That was David's prayer. It may not be yours. It's God's Word. You're learning from it. But once again, be willing, be diligent, be studying. Study the Scriptures and rightly apply them. We'll see that in a moment. 1 John 2, verses 3 and 4. Jesus Christ is the truth. Right? We read that in John 14 and verse 6. Jesus Christ is the truth. 1 John 2, verses 3 and 4. We read this famous section of Scripture.

Now, by this we know that we know Him if we keep His commandments.

Did Jesus come give a separate set of commandments?

He magnified what was God's, yes, under God's inspiration. But what did He say about every single thing He said?

The Word that I've spoken to you is not mine, but the Father's who sent me. So they tried to divide. See, the Father's, He's this real mean guy up there in heaven. And Jesus came to soften everything for you and me. Well, we're glad Jesus came into war. He's not going to blast us like He did the Old Testament Israelites. And why did He blast the Old Testament Israelites? Because they weren't being called then. You are. But Jesus Christ said there's forgiveness. There's mercy. There's grace for you. Notice verse 4. He who says, I know Him and does not keep His commandments is a liar and the truth is not in Him. See, the truth is something we have to know. And if we know it, what are we supposed to do with it? Just parade our... I know that. You don't know that. I know that. But is it the Puffar vanity? To give us vanity of mind? No. Why does He tell us this? He wants us to honor and serve God and He wants us to use the truth by which to live. So that third point is, live the truth. Third point, live the truth. I'm going to share with you what Abraham Lincoln did. This comes from a book called Abraham Lincoln's Life by Ayers. From page 95, I'm going to summarize it. After years of not being a postmaster, a government agent came to ask for the $17 that was due. That's the government's. Years later, after they closed that post... where that postmaster was, who happened to be Abraham Lincoln. The young lawyer, Abraham Lincoln was at that time, trying to get a start in life. He, after this agent came and asked, Honest Abe, and that's where he got his name, Honest Abe, crossed the room of his law office, opened an old trunk, pulled out an old yellowed cloth, untied the ribbon, which held whatever was in there together, opened it up. There was the $17 that when that postmaster's job was closed down, he took the $17 that was due to the government, kept it in this wrap, put it in it, and when he moved away from there, moved to his own office. And then finally, years, years later, the government agent showed up, asked for the $17. Abraham Lincoln opened his cloth, $17. The same $17 that belonged to the government. That's how we got the name, Honest Abe.

He didn't touch it or use it, but just kept it for 17 years. That's Honest Abe. Do you live the truth? What is being honest? It's being truthful. If you're honest, you're truthful. Matthew 4, verse 4. We need to live the truth. There's a Hebrew proverb, by the way. The truth stands up a lie does not. The truth stands up a lie does not. We need to live the truth. Matthew 4, verse 4. Jesus Christ said, it's not good enough just to know. Man shall not live just by food alone, by bread, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

He lives after every word.

He follows it. He knows what the Old Testament and New Testament. There's difference, right? Old Testament is dealing with people who are trying to earn salvation through lawkeeping. New Testament is different. It doesn't mean to throw the law away. He said, no, what shall we do? Throw away a law that grace may abound? God forbid that He forgave you not to live your own way, do it your own thing. He gave you grace and forgave us that we can walk in God's ways. And when we slip and stumble in the path of righteousness, the grace of God, which we accept in baptism, covers us. If you pray and if you repent and change, that doesn't undo what was done in baptism.

What happened to you at baptism? I hope I became a new person. Now that old person keeps knocking on my back, trying to catch up to me. And I say, get back there. Get out of here. And once in a while he succeeds and I have his attitude, and I've got to repent of that.

But I don't go from old to new, old to new, old to new, old to new.

Because I sin, slip and stumble. It's interesting in Proverbs, He says, a just man falls seven times and gets back up. He didn't say an evil man falls seven times and gets back up. A just man. Okay, let's live the truth. It's not enough to only know the truth. We must use it. Psalms 51 and verse 6. What did David pray? Certainly in this famous prayer of repentance. And David was worried because he was already called by God, and he already had the Spirit of God with him and in him for a period of time. He messed up a lot. But he again didn't have a world around him that was trying to live right, nor do we. But he didn't have a whole bunch of a lot of people around him that were trying to live the right way either. But Psalms 51 and verse 6 said this, Lift up your eyes to heaven. Look on the earth beneath, for the heavens will vanish away with smoke. Is this the one? Yes. The earth will grow old, like a garment, and those who dwell in it will die in like manner. But my statutes will be forever. Oh, that's Isaiah, Psalms 51. Why am I reading Isaiah to you? Because my eyes are still good, but I turned to the wrong place. And I'll get to Psalms 51 here in a moment.

Psalms 51 and verse 6, he said, Behold, you desire... Where did he want the truth to be? In the inward part.

You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part, you will make me to know wisdom.

Where does God want us to put the truth? In us. We should be living members, living beings, of truth. Truth, not by ourselves, but through God. Ephesians 6, 14. I won't read it, but I'll share with you. The armor of God is Ephesians 6.

Where does the belt of truth get worn? On his feet? On his legs? On his breast? Where does the truth get worn? Belt of truth?

The very core and center of our being must be dedicated to truth. The core and center of our being, Ephesians 6, 14. In our armor, where is truth located? The center of our being. It's a belt of truth. And it's interesting when we talk about living the truth. What did Moses look for when he was looking for some man to help him judge Israel? Did he just pick anybody? Whom did he want? Men of truth. Are we men and women of truth? Can people say that? That guy is truthful. My dad was going to the Greek Orthodox Church and he got in trouble. He was on the board of trustees and he heard the priest offer to give some of his salary to an arch priest in one of the meetings. So the next meeting they were discussing this arch priest's salary, trying to figure out what to do. And so my dad said, well, the priest said he could have some of his. Wasn't that so, Father so-and-so?

And that man looked on, would not say anything. He let my dad hang out to dry. My dad never went back to that church.

When that priest told him, he heard him. Clearly others did too. So my dad said to his trustees meeting, hey, you know, we look at yourself. The priest said he could have some of his when he gets an offering plate or whatever. He could have some of his salary. Isn't that right, Father so-and-so? The man would not answer. So it looked like my dad was trying to poach on that priest's income.

Tell the truth. Be people of truth. Have it be at the core of our being, Ephesians 6.14, the belt of truth. May it be round us regularly and always. First John 3... Sorry, 3rd John verses 3 and 4. God loves it when he sees his people walking in the truth. And there are many scriptures I went through. I have a whole list. I printed them out one time of all the places where it says truth. And you will be shocked in the Psalms how many times it tells you, walk in truth. Walk in truth. Don't just know it. Don't just think about it. Don't just study it. Walk in it. 3rd John, verse 4, 3 and 4. I'll read that to you because it's powerful. 3rd John 3. For I rejoiced greatly when brethren, John writes this under God's inspiration. When brethren came and I testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. I'm so happy that people tell me what a truthful congregation that is. Verse 4. I have no greater joy. He's saying this under God's inspiration. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. We seek it. We know it.

We walk in it. We live it.

Point number 4. Speak the truth. Speak the truth. I have a couple of quotes.

Speak the truth. I can also say, tell the truth, but speak the truth. Russian proverb says this. Drink, eat, but speak the truth.

Drink and eat, but speak the truth. The third one, this is the number 3 that I have here. It's an Indian proverb, so Indians believe in truth, too.

He who speaks the truth should have one foot in the stirrup.

You're ready to swing the other leg over and ride out of town. When you speak the truth, you better be ready to hustle out of there. Because people don't want the truth, like Winston Churchill said. They stumble upon it and they rush away like nothing ever happened. When people tell the truth, it's so refreshing. It's so refreshing. There's nothing you and I can do. Nothing that you and I can do that's so wrong that God can't forgive us. Unless it's the unpardonable sin, which is a stage of process that you get into that. God will forgive anything. We don't have to close ourselves in. They shouldn't know that. It's between you and God. Are you and your counselor in God? I believe in confidentiality. I don't tell people sins to others. If I know them. Nor am I around looking for sin. It pops up pretty easily when it pops up. I don't have to look for it.

But you can be forgiven. You don't have to hide.

Speak the truth. Say what you mean. Mean what you say. Jesus Christ said, let your yes be yes and no be no. Because whatever comes to war with that is going to be a problem. Proverbs 8, verse 7, truth needs to come out. And it needs to come out of our mouths. Truth needs to come out of our mouths.

We have a tendency at times to exaggerate or minimize. For our benefit. Be as accurate as you know. Say, I don't know. If you don't know something, don't go there. When I was a young minister, people would send questions up to us. We didn't know what questions they were going to send up. I'm sitting here. I've been only a minister for maybe months. They'd send up questions to me. Let's see, do I know that? How can I get through this one? Don't make it look like I don't know. They could give a lot of blather, and they still didn't answer the question. You could talk all around it. Well, let me describe this for you. They didn't ask for a description. They asked for it to tell me what's the answer here. Let me tell you about what those bushes look like. You didn't ask me that. You asked me, should I grow this bush? You didn't tell me what those bushes look like.

That's the way you get away and try to deflect.

Tell the truth. Tell the truth. Proverbs 8 and verse 7. Go back to that with you. Proverbs 8 and verse 7.

Does your mouth speak truth? Proverbs 12, 17, 19, and 22. Proverbs 12, verse 17, 19, and 22. We can read some things about truth.

Proverbs 12, 17. He who speaks the truth declares righteousness, but a false witness declares deceit. That's 17. Verse 19. The truthful lip shall be established forever. Truth. Truthful lips. Are our lips truthful? Verse 22. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are his delight. Brethren, tell the truth. Speak the truth. Ephesians 4, 15, I referred to it before. It says, speaking the truth in love. We don't need to speak the truth in anger, in hatred, in revenge, to put somebody down.

I can be sarcastic if I'm not careful. I have to watch that. I can use the truth and be sarcastic. Is that good? It's not good. Well, it was the truth, wasn't it? Yeah, but how did you say it? And why did you say it? Did you say it to hurt those people? Or did you say it because it's true?

And did you need to say it? So a lot of truth doesn't need to be said.

But when you are telling, tell the truth. Tell the truth. Speak the truth. But do it in love, not to hurt or put down somebody. And you know what? Zechariah 8, 16. You'll be following. See, I'm going to go over a little bit over time. Not much. I have one more point to cover. And I'm sorry for adding some ad lib comments that aren't in the notes. Zechariah chapter 8 and verse 16. One of my favorite chapters is Zechariah chapter 8. Talks about the millennium. Zechariah chapter 8 and verse 16.

We read this. These are the things that you shall do. This is a millennial scripture. These are the things you shall do. What are they going to do in the millennium? Speak each man the truth to his neighbor. Give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace. Brethren, speak the truth. Don't prevaricate. Don't lie. Don't minimize. Don't maximize. That fish I caught was, oh, this big. That fish that got away loves us a little.

What's happening to this range changes pretty dramatically.

Tell the truth. Don't minimize. Many times we minimize it. Well, that wasn't so bad. If you did it, somebody else said, well, they did this. I'm so bad. Maximize when it's somebody else. Minimize when it's us. Don't do it. Speak the truth. Say what you mean. Mean what you say. Let your yes be yes. Let your no be no. Finally, 5. Love the truth. Love the truth. Do you love the truth when you find the truth? This is so awesome. God's way is wonderful. God's way is great. It's exciting to see how instructional and inspirational studying the truth can be as we see how interrelated God's Word is. And we find it speaking to our needs. I'll tell you, one time I was praying. I wasn't very lively. I was tired. And as I was praying, kneeling down, and I was praying over my bed before I go to sleep, and I was getting drowsy. And I usually have the Scriptures in front of me, so I just happened to flip over the Scriptures. And I opened it to Romans 13, verse 11. I didn't try to open it. I just opened it. And as I was getting drowsy, and I was talking to God, and I looked down at the Scripture and said, knowing this, that it's high time that you will wake out of sleep.

The rest of that prayer, I can tell you, was not sleepy.

I didn't try to find that Scripture. It was there. Romans 13. That's where my eye fell. Romans 13.11. It's high time that you wake out of sleep. God can speak to your needs, even though the Bible's inspired about another event. Study it. Read it. Love it. 2 Thessalonians 2, verses 9 and 10. 2 Thessalonians 2, verses 9 and 10.

Love the truth.

2 Thessalonians 1. Here's the last time I looked. There it is. 2 Thessalonians 2, verses 9 and 10. We read this. 3 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders. There's going to be great deception. It says, if we're not careful, even the very elect would be led astray. But verse 10. With all unrighteousness, deception, among those who are perishing, those who are headed for death. Why? Because they're not following God's way. Because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. You want to be on God's salvation list? Love the truth. Love the truth. Speak the truth. Live the truth. Seek the truth. Know the truth. And what do you do with the truth we have? 1 John 3, verses 18 and 19. My last scripture.

1 John 3, verses 18 and 19. My little children, let us not love in word, although words are nice, let us not love in words, or in tongue, just by how we form our words, how wonderful we can make this sound. But let us love, he said, but in deed and in truth. In verse 19, And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. So God says, let your deeds speak about your truth. Love not just in words, but in deeds, and do it truthfully. So during these last days of Unleavened Bread, and beyond in our lives, let's remember to seek, to know, to live, to speak, and to love the truth. And that is how you and I can handle the truth.