Today I want to talk about the Christian virtue of truth or truthfulness. I'm deliberately avoiding the use of the word honesty here, and I'm doing that for two reasons. The first reason, I think, is that we think of honesty as primarily an external thing. A man may be honest in his speech. That is, he may speak the truth, but we say nothing when we talk about that honesty about the state of his heart. His heart may be false. He may be driven by evil motives and so on. Honesty is just in the external aspect of things, but truth is more an internal thing. It's driven by integrity. It is truthfulness as a character trait rather than simply a characteristic of our speech. It is a commitment to the truth and a loving of the truth. So that's one reason, I think, not to use the word honesty in this connection. The second reason is, I think, that we think of honesty as a very personal thing. I will not tell a lie to protect myself. But truthfulness has to do with speaking the truth in all circumstances and on all occasions, not just when I'm talking about self, but when I'm talking about God and his word, when I am talking about others, when I am talking about any particular a thing or event, whatever the occasion is, I speak the truth. And that is, of course, what we need as Christians, for the Christian virtue to speak the truth at all times. Now it's, of course, truth begins internally. It is a commitment to the truth and it is a loving of the truth. It's a character trait rather than simply a characteristic of our speech. But truth does manifest itself in our speaking. And so it belongs to the whole category of using our tongues. or using our mouths. Now this category includes more than truth versus falsehood. There is corrupt speech that can be truthful. For example, a man may be telling stories about his deeds in the past, which are very evil deeds, but he may be telling true stories. His speech is corrupt. His speech ought not to have been made. but it is nevertheless truthful speech. So there are other characteristics of speech that we could take into consideration. We're confining ourselves here to the characteristic of speech that we call truthfulness. A man may also use the truth wrongly for evil motives, or he may speak the truth, as Peter indicates in 1 Peter 3, without love. There's a verse in Proverbs 3, verse 3, which talks about this, I think. It's Proverbs 3, verse 3, let not mercy and truth forsake you, bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Charles Bridges, in his commentary on Proverbs, has this to say about that verse. These virtues of mercy and truth must not be in temporary or occasional exercise. Let them not forsake thee. Bind them as jewels about thy neck. Let them be written not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart." And a little bit earlier in his commentary, Let these graces be, as with God, in combination. The want of one buries the commendation of the other. Such a one is a merciful man to the poor, but there is no truth in him. Such a one is very just in his dealings, but as hard as flint. Put on, as the elect of God, bowels of mercy, but lie not one to another. Speak every man truth with his neighbor. Indeed, as a rich, sparkling diamond added both value and luster to a golden ring, so do these virtues of justice and mercy, well attempered, bring a rich addition of glory to the crowns of the greatest monarchs. So it's a characteristic of speech, but not the only characteristic of speech that God commands. He commands us to speak the truth in love. He commands us to use the truth rightly. He commands us not to speak corrupt things out of our mouths, even if they are true things. The scriptures give this subject of speaking an enormous amount of attention. We're all familiar, of course, with the famous passage in James chapter 3, in which James condemns, in very strong language, the abuse of the tongue. and warns us strongly against the dangers of it. It would be wise, I think, for everyone to read that chapter on a regular basis because the sins of the tongue are so prevalent among us. We know, too, of some of the exhortations of the Apostle Paul against backbiting, tail-bearing, and gossip. For example, in Ephesians 4, verse 25, we probably have the lengthiest passage of the Apostle Paul about this. We have a series of exhortations there in those verses, but most of those exhortations have to do with the use of our tongues. Not everyone, but most of them. He begins, therefore, putting away lying, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. All of that, I think, has to do primarily with speaking. Be angry and do not sin. That is, do not speak evil words in your anger. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath. Do not give place to the devil in your wrath. But then, let him stole, steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Back to speech again in verse 29, let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption by your evil speaking. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. But I think there are two books in the Old Testament which talk about this matter of evil speaking more than any others. The first one is probably pretty obvious to all of us. It's the book of Proverbs. Proverbs has a great deal to say about the abuses of the tongue. But the other book may be somewhat unexpected, and it is the Book of Psalms. I think that the dominant complaint by the psalmists in the Book of Psalms is complaint against enemies who speak evil. I haven't gone through every single psalm in the whole book of psalms, but what I did do was go through the first book of psalms, psalms 1 to 41, and I looked to see how often in those 41 psalms there is mention of the use of the tongue. And I think you will find, if you do the same exercise, that there are about half of those Psalms that speak in one way or another of the use of the tongue. To give you a few examples from the Psalms, let's begin with Psalm 5, verses 6 and following. Psalm 5 is a psalm in which, in the early part, David speaks of the holiness of God and says about that holiness of God, you are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand in your sight. Notice already you have the idea of the tongue there in that word boastful. You hate all workers of iniquity. But then, especially in verse six, you shall destroy those who speak falsehood. The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. And again, in verse nine, there is no faithfulness in their mouth. Their inward part is destruction. Their throat is an open tomb. They flatter with their tongue. Now, David speaks of what is in their mouth. There's no faithfulness there. They flatter with their tongue instead, but he also speaks of the source of what is in their mouth, their inward part. Their inward part is destruction. They're filled with hate and motives of envy and anger and so on. Their inward part is destruction, and because their inward part is destruction, their throat is an open tomb. Words that are in their heart proceed through their throat to their mouth. And when they open their mouth, the stench of death comes out of their throats. And thus they flatter with their tongue and there is no faithfulness in their mouth. Another psalm that talks about the tongue very forcefully is Psalm 12. Here, David begins the psalm by asking God to save him, for the godly man ceases, for the faithful disappear from among the sons of men. And then he goes on to describe what he means, how the evil has spread in his own day and how it dominates in his own day. And he talks especially about the evil Of the tongue, they speak idly, every one with his neighbor. With flattering lips and a double heart they speak. May the Lord cut off all flattering lips and the tongue that speaks proud things, who have said, with our tongue we will prevail. Our lips are our own. Who is Lord over us? Again in Psalm 15, Here, David is describing the man who may abide in your tabernacle, who may dwell in your holy hill. And he focuses, again, on the speech. He who walks uprightly and works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart. He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend. Let's turn next to Psalm 31. Psalm 31 verses 11 and a few others in that Psalm. Verse 11 first. I am a reproach among all my enemies, but especially among my neighbors, and am repulsive to my acquaintances. Verse 13, I hear the slander of many. Fear is on every side. While they take counsel together against me, they scheme to take away my life. Verse 18, let the lying lips be put to silence, which speak insolent things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous. Verse 20, you shall hide them in the secret place of your presence from the plots of man. You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. Another psalm that uses similar language is Psalm 35. Again, a series of verses in that psalm. Psalm 35, beginning with verse 11. Fierce witnesses rise up. They ask me things that I do not know. Verse 16. With ungodly mockers at feasts, they gnashed at me with their teeth. Verse 20, for they do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful matters against the quiet ones in the land. They also opened their mouth wide against me and said, aha, aha, our eyes have seen it. And verse 25, let them not say in their hearts, ah, so we would have it. Let them not say, we have swallowed him up. And let's look finally at Psalm 41. This is a Psalm of David when he was sick and his enemies were taking advantage of his sickness. So he says, my enemies speak evil of me. When will he die and his name perish? And if he comes to see me, he speaks lies. His heart gathers iniquity to itself. When he goes out, he tells it. All who hate me whisper together against me. Against me, they devise my hurt. An evil disease, they say, clings to him. And now that he lies down, he will rise up no more. So this is a very common complaint of the psalmists throughout the book of Psalms, that they consider that their enemies, especially, though they sometimes attack them in a physical way and persecute them in other things, nevertheless, their primary weapon against him is their tongues. The book of Proverbs also has a great deal to say about this matter of using our tongues. There's not a lot in the first nine chapters of the book. But after that, beginning with chapter 10, all the way to chapter 31, there is something in every single chapter about the use of the tongue. This is, I think, the most common subject in the book of Proverbs. Now, it talks about other sins of the tongue besides truth and falsehood, truth and lying, But even in those 22 chapters from 10 to 31, in almost every one of those chapters also, there is something about truth and falsehood. So this idea of speaking, using the tongue for good or using the tongue for evil, and also the idea of truth versus falsehood is a subject that's very common in the book of Proverbs. And I think that the scriptures focus a lot of attention on this subject because of the power for good, as well as the power for evil that lies in the tongue. The next thing I want to look at in connection with this whole subject of truth is the scriptural words that are used. The Old Testament has especially two words. Emeth is one, E-M-E-T-H, emeth. In his book, The Last Battle, the last book of the Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis named one of his characters, a Calamine character, emeth. And I think that was with deliberate reference to this Hebrew word. And if you look at the book, you will find that he considers Emmath, of all the Calormenes, to be a sympathetic character. It's related to his mistaken, and it is a mistaken notion, that sincere pagans get to heaven. This is the word that you find used most frequently in the book of Proverbs. The other Hebrew word is the word emunah, emunah. And from this word, Hebrew word, we get our word amen, which also appears in the New Testament scriptures. It's a word that is very frequently paired with the word lovingkindness, or as some translations have it, steadfast love. You find it, for example, frequently in Psalm 89. Verses 1, 2, 5, 8, 24, 33, and 49 all use this word. And most often it's paired with the word loving kindness or steadfast love. Now, when you look at those two words in the Hebrew, if you open a concordance and find those two words, you will see that those words are sometimes translated as faithfulness instead of truth or trustworthiness. And these words have to do with the faithfulness and truth of God. But in Proverbs, That word, those words both have to do especially with speech, with truth in speaking. So they have a range of meaning. Faithfulness or steadfastness is the basic idea of the words. And they are sometimes then in their scope limited to faithfulness in speaking, truth that is. It may well be legitimate to say, in fact, that the Hebrew does not have a separate word, like we do, for truth in speech. Instead, truth in speech is just one aspect of the faithfulness of the whole character. Faithfulness or steadfastness in all of one's behavior. This is different in the New Testament. The New Testament has one word for truth, aletheia, and this word is found frequently in the Gospel of John and in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, but almost always with respect to the truth of God, that is, his revelation of himself, his word, the word spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ. The word does not encompass the idea of faithfulness as the Hebrew words do. Faithfulness, for example, to promises or faithfulness in one's character and in one's behavior. But it has to do with the truth of ideas, with the truth of teaching, with the truth of revelation. In John 1 verse 14, for example, John says of our Lord Jesus Christ that he was full of grace and truth. That is, he was full of the truth of God's revelation. And in his speech to his disciples on the eve of his death, our Lord Jesus Christ said of himself, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Another verse in John, just to mention one more, is chapter 8, verse 32. Chapter 8, verse 32, where our Lord Jesus Christ is talking, and he says this, as, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. That's the truth of God, the truth which God reveals to us through our Lord Jesus Christ in his word, and so on. This word in the New Testament then is much closer to our word, truth, than to either of the Hebrew words. The word, as I said, almost always applies in the New Testament to the truth of God, but it does occasionally apply also to men. Mark 5 verse 33 is one example. Jesus has just healed the woman with an issue of blood, and he has looked around to see who has done this to him, who has touched him. The woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And in Romans 9 verse 1 as well, the apostle talks this way. He says, I tell the truth in Christ. I am not lying. My conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen, according to the flesh. So it's speaking the truth, especially God speaking the truth, but also men speaking the truth. And this is what we are particularly interested in. Now, just one more note before we proceed, and that is the word honest or honesty is not found very frequently in the scriptures, but when it is found, it is usually a translation of one of the Greek words for good or for what is noble, the word kolos. There isn't really a separate word then that's used to designate this idea of honesty. The New Testament would use the word truth, I think. So that then about the words that the scriptures use for this idea of truth. We should consider also towards whom this virtue is to be exercised. It is to be exercised first, of course, towards God. Do not lie to him. Sarah did that, remember, when God said that she was going to have a son. She laughed. And God said to her, why did you laugh? And she said, I didn't laugh. She was afraid to admit her laughter. She lied to God. Do not lie to him. He sees through all lies. Do not try to hide from him what you have done. Open your heart to him. Let him see what is in your heart. Let him see the evil that is in your heart. That's what David does in Psalm 139, at the very end of that Psalm. He says these words, which we all ought to take to heart. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my anxieties and see if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Remember what David had said earlier in this Psalm as well. Verse four, there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You even understand my thought afar off. So do not lie to God. Do not try to hide from him what you have done. You cannot do it. And when you talk to him, be truthful and be sincere as well. Tell him what is in your heart, even if it is evil. You may have to say to him, I'm thinking this right now, and I know it's wrong, I know it's evil, but I do not want to hide from you what I am doing. I think it was this sincerity of Job that makes some statements of Job in the book of Job so shocking to us. He talks about God being his enemy and he talks about God deliberately persecuting him and making his life miserable. And he uses extremely shocking language to us, but he is talking to God about what is in his heart. He is being sincere and he is ready when the time comes to confess his sin and to lay his hand on his mouth, as he says in one of the last chapters of the book, and to admit that he is vile and must confess his sins to God. but he's shockingly sincere with God as he complains to God about the state of his life. We must be sincere with him. Secondly, we must speak the truth to our neighbors. Do not lie to your neighbors and do not lie about your neighbors to others. Do not flatter or engage in that smooth as butter talk that is deceptive. Speak the truth. Speak the truth about the gospel. Speak the truth to your neighbor about yourself. Speak the truth about the world and about the things that are happening in the world and about the things that happen in your own life. Commit yourself to the truth. Love the truth in all your speech. Now that doesn't mean you always have to blurt out the truth whenever it comes to your mind. There are people who brag about always saying what's on their mind. We also have to know when it's best not to speak, when it's best to close our mouths and to keep silence. But when you do speak, speak the truth, do not lie. And finally, speak the truth to yourself. Do not deceive yourself about your own behavior, about your own words, about your thoughts, or about your character. It's very difficult for us to know ourselves and we should therefore encourage others to help us see that truth about ourselves. Speak the truth to yourself as that truth is also in our Lord Jesus Christ. Hear the word of the gospel and speak that truth to yourself. receive, in other words, the truth of God, which has been revealed to you. So, in all of life, then, we need a commitment, a strong commitment, to speaking the truth. Now, by way of conclusion, I want to Refer to a few other scriptural passages, especially from the book of Proverbs. Proverbs 13, verse five, first of all, a righteous man hates lying, but a wicked man is loathsome and comes to shame. A righteous man hates lying. And the wicked man is loathsome, even to God, because of his lying, and comes to shame because of his lying. Chapter 14, verse 25. A true witness delivers souls, but a deceitful witness speaks lies. There you see one of the benefits of truth. A true witness delivers souls. A deceitful witness destroys souls by speaking lies. Chapter 16, verse 6. In mercy and truth, and this is the truth of God, atonement is provided for iniquity. And by the fear of the Lord, one departs from evil. God does not deliver us by means of falsehood. He delivers us by means of truth. Other passages talk about how lies destroy. Proverbs 25, verse 14. Whoever falsely boasts of giving is like clouds and wind without rain. That is, here's a man who's boasting about how generous he's been to others, but he's lying about it. He's not actually been generous. And Solomon says of this man, he's like clouds and wind without rain. He bears the promise of rain. He bears the promise of good, but there is no good in him. Also, chapter 26, verse 28, a lying tongue hates those who are crushed by it, and a flattering mouth works ruin. Then there are certain passages in Proverbs which talk about the tongue in relation to rulers, princes, and kings. And I want to refer to three of these because this is an important subject as well. Truth is important for those who are in positions of authority. 17 verse 7. Excellent speech is not becoming to a fool, much less lying lips to a prince. The prince should not lie. Chapter 20 verse 28. Mercy and truth preserve the king and by loving kindness he upholds his throne. Mercy and truth. The king needs two characteristics for the solidity, the enduring character of his throne. He needs mercy and he needs truth. If his throne is not founded on mercy and truth, it cannot last. That's a good warning for our own times, isn't it? If mercy and truth do not prevail in a nation, that nation cannot last. Its throne will soon fall. Chapter 29, verses 12 to 14. If a ruler pays attention to lies, all his servants become wicked. The poor man and the oppressor have this in common. The Lord gives light to the eyes of both. The king who judges the poor with truth, his throne will be established forever." And so Solomon says in chapter 23, verse 23, Buy the truth and do not sell it. Also wisdom and instruction and understanding. Make sacrifices in order to obtain the truth, in order to know the truth. There is reward both for falsehood and for truth. Chapter 19, verse five, first, A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who speaks lies will not escape. And this verse is repeated in almost the same words. In verse 9, a false witness will not go unpunished, and he who speaks lies shall perish. Chapter 21, verse 6, is another verse in this regard. Getting treasures by a lying tongue is the fleeting fantasy of those who seek death. But let's pay special attention here to Proverbs 12, verses 17 to 22. Here's a whole passage about the use of the tongue, and it's a passage which focuses particularly on the idea of truth and falsehood. Not exclusively, but there's a great deal of emphasis on it here. He who speaks truth declares righteousness, but a false witness deceit. There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health. The truthful lip shall be established forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment. Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but counselors of peace have joy. No grave trouble will overtake the righteous, but the wicked shall be filled with evil. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are his delight. So we are urged over and over again in many different ways to commit ourselves to the truth, to be people of truth, people who speak truth, people who love truth in all aspects of life. And this is the case. This is the case because of our God, who is the God of truth. He always speaks the truth, and he always upholds the truth. Of himself, our Lord Jesus Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And we are in the image of Christ and of God. Truth-telling is part of that image. If we want to be like God and like our Lord Jesus Christ, we must tell the truth and we must love the truth in every aspect of life. May God bless you with his word.