The Truth Will Make You Free

Dear Weekly Readers!

God’s Peace!

I first of all want to thank you for all the prayers you said for our recent preaching trip to Kenya, Africa.  The trip was very blessed, and the Christians there asked me to give greetings to all!  So be greeted from them, and please remember them and us and in your prayers!  I hope to be able to publish the Weekly Diner each week again!

May God Bless your week!  John R.

 

The Truth will make you free:

IPROMISE TO TELL THE TRUTH,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God." These words are spoken by witnesses in a court of law with one hand placed on the Bible. Unfortunately many still lie even after this oath. Some high-ranking individuals in politics and business who are caught and found guilty are punished by the law. The early church already faced the same evil, soon after Pentecost. But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? (Acts 5:1-3) Ananias and Sapphira were found guilty of lying. They thought they were lying to Apostle Peter and the believers in Jerusalem but Peter says …thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
(Acts 5:4)

Truth is one of the attributes of God! Jesus says, God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24) Jesus also says of Himself, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6) When we lie, we offend God and someday each of us will give an account of ourselves before God

(Romans 14:12).

We don't know much about this couple whose names were Ananias and Sapphira. We are told that Satan had filled their hearts to lie to the Holy Ghost. Even as believers, Satan tries to make us stumble, for there is no truth in him. Satan is the father of lies! Jesus says in John 8:44: Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

These words were spoken to the Jews which believed on Him (John 8:31). Peter gives this warning to the Christians of his day, and to us today: Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8) Paul tells us Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14).

What was the sin of Ananias and Sapphira? Were they greedy? Were they stingy? Their sin was lying to God and God's people by trying to make themselves appear more generous than they really were. We all know that certain actions are considered good and bring the praise of men which our flesh seeks.

Why was their punishment so harsh? Who of us today would be alive if we were punished by death for every untruth uttered because we wanted to appear better than we really are? Lying and hypocrisy can destroy the church by preventing the Holy Spirit from working. It also destroys our testimony about Christ.

An example had to be set for the early church that it must be founded on the truth. This lie was not from fear of consequences or even an overwhelming temptation. There was no command that they had to sell their land and give everything. It was a deliberate act of hypocrisy in which they agreed to do something that would appear like something it was not.

The church is made up of sinners. We daily sin in thought and deed because we are sinners in need of a Savior. Jeremiah already tells us, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

When we recognize our sin, we can rejoice that the Gospel about God's great mercy toward us through the blood of Christ can cleanse and renew us. But the warning is given to us to be children of truth. John writes, I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. (1 John 2:21) Paul writes to the Roman Christians, What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? (Romans 6:1-2) For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. (John 1:17)

For Apostle John, grace and truth go hand in hand. God's boundless grace does not wipe out the attribute of truth. We live in a highly competitive world and are tempted to not tell the whole truth so we can gain the upper hand in our situation. The gains we make from lying are not worth much, compared to the blessings received from telling the truth. When we tell the truth we are never trapped in a lie. We don't need a good memory if we tell the truth. If you have a habit of stretching the truth, being untruthful in little things or have deceived someone, confess it to that person and to God and put it away in the precious name and blood of Jesus Christ. It may be humbling, but it is the first step to restoring integrity in your life.

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32)

Pastor Elmer Yliniemi

Wolf Lake, Minnesota