“For The Truth’s Sake”
II John 2
1 The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth; 2 For the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever. 3 Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. 4 I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.
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Isaiah 59
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them; 13 In transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. 14 And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for TRUTH IS FALLEN IN THE STREETS, and equity cannot enter. 15 Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment. 16 And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.
(Truth has literally been falling in our streets as of late!)
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If you have spent time in the small epistles of First, Second and Third John you have undoubtedly noticed he places a strong emphasis upon Truth. In First John he focuses our attention, with laser-like precision, upon that which was threatening the spiritual health and well-being of those he cared about.
What was it?
It was the threat of false teachers. False teachers were infusing heretical teachings among God’s people. Those teachings stood in opposition to the truth of the Scriptures.
So John, under Inspiration from God, called out and exposed those false teachers and their teachings. He was not going to allow demonic infiltration to permeate the local assemblies.
What would be his strategy to thwart this? He would hit back with the Truth … “for the truth’s sake.”
The weapon in our arsenal to defeat the lies of Satan and his followers is the Word of Truth. (John 17:17) Our discussions; our debates/arguments; our documentation; our appeals to the Constitution; our attempts at reasoning will not withstand the onslaught of the demonic. We must come to terms with that.
John knew what was at stake. He was not going to allow his people to be destroyed because of his silence. He was going to say and do what was necessary to expose error and guard the Truth.
It’s so refreshing to read these epistles of John. He’s very black-and-white. He’s not interested in any gray. There’s no wiggle room. He’s very single-minded.
If you’re interested, the next time you read these epistles notice the contrasts John lays out. I recently did that and found it very instructional.
Here are some I found:
Light/dark
Lies/truth
Know/don’t know
Us/them
Children of God/children of the devil
Seed of Cain/seed of Abel
God loves us/the world hates us
True preachers/false preachers
The Spirit of truth/the spirit of error
Born of God/not born of God
Have life/don’t have life ….
Don’t you just love this guy.
The days of our ambiguous Christianese double-talk and politically correct verbiage is past. We no longer can hope to win the battle for Christ through niceties. The truth is — diplomacy can never work because the Truth of the Gospel is by nature … confrontational. Therefore, as the saying goes, it’s time to call a spade a spade.
We must wake up to the realization that the world does indeed hate us. We will never be accepted. We will never be “relevant.” Was Christ? Perhaps we’ve forgotten His words:
”If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” (John 15:19)
The world doesn’t need “palatable” Christians. They are looking for that rare Christian that will actually stand up and speak out unashamedly for what he believes and knows to be the Truth.
Here’s an indisputable reality: The unsaved are repulsed by anything that doesn’t smack of genuine authenticity. Therefore, it behooves us to be what we’re supposed to be “for the sake of the truth.”
I’ve noticed during the past several months an inner stirring is motivating me, pushing me to speak up and out for the Truth of God’s Word. That’s our mission as believers. We are called and mandated to speak the truth in love.
Consider this admonition from the Apostle Paul:
“That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.” (Ephesians 4:14-14)
If we will heed these words, God will use us. We’ll not only benefit for eternity those around us but we will also “grow up into Him in all things.”
Perhaps we all need to do a little growing up … “For The Truth’s Sake.”
Trow so?