|
 You'll
be disappointed in my not beginning this article with reference
to Pilate's question, "What is truth?" (Jn.18: 38),
but I'm not going to mention it. Instead I'll let that remind
you that there are devious ways to shade, warp, and avoid truth.
As one country philosopher put it, "I'd tell the truth five
or six different ways before I'd tell a lie." There may be
times when silence is more in order than speaking the truth
(Jn.19: 9), if the silence itself is not deceptive. But when
truth must be spoken, it should be forthright, plainly stated,
the product of an honest heart. There are few things more
needful in our present society than genuine honesty.
We
have lied to ourselves, that we know the truth, until we have
crippled our hope of learning truth. Or, we have convinced
ourselves (another lie) that there is no certain truth, so that
even faith becomes a leap in the dark, an essential to avoid
despair. Or maybe truth (?) is treated subjectively, every man
to himself. We know that truth in the material universe is not
so vacillating: 2 + 2 = 4 to all men; but God is different.
Is
He, as respects truth? His manifestations are history,
occurrences in time and space. Jesus lived, "approved of
God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did
by him in the
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midst of you, as ye yourselves also
know" (Acts 2:22). He died on a cross: attested by the same
sort of records that tell us all past events. And the tomb was
empty on the third day following, despite the Roman Empire's
efforts to seal it. His enemies could not produce the body on
Pentecost, when to have done so would have cut the heart out of
the message they despised. His followers did not deny His
resurrection, though their steadfastness offered no earthly
gain, and resulted in horrible deaths. They testified instead
that HE LIVES. And their message was accompanied by many
"signs, wonders, divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy
Ghost" which, unlike "feel better" claims of our
day, convinced experts of deception (Acts 8:9-24; 19:11-20).
We
can not know God, but we believe as the result of an objective
approach to evidence. We accept as TRUE the message of His
ambassadors because they demonstrated the source of their news
to be Divine. Yes, many professed followers have not determined
these matters for themselves; their faith is not well founded.
But it need not be so.
TRUTH
is available for the seeker! "Sanctify them through thy
truth: thy word is truth" (Jn. 17:17.
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