Worshipping Our Father in Spirit and in Truth

The Blessings of Truthfulness

A reporter once asked Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the House at the time:

"Mr. Speaker, you see at least a hundred people a day. You tell each one yes or no. You never seem to take notes on what you have told them, but I never heard of you forgetting anything you have promised them. What is your secret?"

Rayburn's eyes flashed as he answered, "If you tell the truth the first time, you don't have anything to remember."

Truth extends to honesty. If you are honest in all of your dealings, you never have to remember whom you may have cheated.

Truth extends to encouragement. If you speak a positive truth about all people, you never have to avoid anyone.

Truth extends to implications. If you refuse to give false impressions, you never feel the need to cover up.

If you refrain from twisting the truth, you will never need to unravel a relationship gone awry.

Live truth instead of professing it.

Some short quotes on Truth and honesty

The ability to lie is a liability.

Truth supersedes belief.

As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of the demand. -Josh Billings

Truth as Heresy "A man may be an heretic in the truth, and if he believes things only because his pastor says so, or the assembly so determines, without knowing other reasons, though his belief be true, yet the very truth he holds becomes his heresy." (F.W. Farrar, History of Interpretation, xvi)

Honesty consists of the unwillingness to lie to others; maturity, which is equally hard to attain, consists of the unwillingness to lie to oneself. Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986)

"When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken, or cease to be honest."

"It is better to be divided by truth than to be united in error. It is better to speak the truth that hurts and then heals, than falsehood that comforts and then kills. Let me tell you something, friend, it is not love and it is not friendship if we fail to declare the whole counsel of God. It is better to be hated for telling the truth, than to be loved for telling a lie. It is impossible to find anyone in the Bible who was a power for God who did not have enemies and was not hated. It's better to stand alone with the truth, than to be wrong with a multitude. It is better to ultimately succeed with the truth than to temporarily succeed with a lie. There is only one Gospel and Paul said, "If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed"." (Excerpts from Pastor Adrian Rodgers' talk at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in 1996)

Truth-Full

There are truths, there is being truthful and then there is the Truth. Truth is a person; KNOWING Him (not “about” Him) opens the door to Truth and becoming Truth-full.

“I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by Me.” (John 14:6)

“A time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” (John 4:23)

We see then that to be truthful is more than being full of facts, correct knowledge, good information, right doctrines, correct articles of faith or creeds. Jesus' words and deeds were not His own, they were from the Father. It is impossible to be truly honest with ourselves, others and God without being full of “THE Truth.” Jesus was a human being, yet He was not full of Himself. He expressed the Father, not Himself. He emptied Himself (Phil 2:7) that He might be full of the Father's words, will, ways, and works. “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.” (2 Cor. 5:19) The Father seeks those who will empty themselves that He might be able to bring the Truth (Jesus, the Word of God) into this world. The Father seeks those who will worship Him; He seeks those who will give Him enough reverence and respect to allow Him to fill them with the “Spirit and the Truth.” When one is filled with the Spirit and the Truth, God the Father will bear witness to this union by manifesting Himself in His glory in such a vessel. If we desire to see the world filled with the glory of the Father, we must desire to be vessels filled with the Spirit and Truth.

“I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in me.” (John 14:30)

Can we say the same thing? Are we so full of the Spirit and Truth that when the ruler of this world comes to see what we are all about that we, too, can say that he has nothing in us?

“These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him. Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” (John 12:41-43)

The fear of people and the reverence for or from people is really one of the most powerful forces on the planet especially among religious folks. The Pharisees felt they were VERY zealous for the things of God; yet Jesus always condemned them for being zealous for the things of man like the best seats in the synagogue. Isn't it a paradox that those who think are they are zealous for the things of God are often the most antichrist? Zealous religious folks are often the adversary's greatest helpers. Religious people filled with the traditions of men and doctrines of demons will actually call the truth a lie. They will actually find themselves doing the deeds of the adversary while calling the truth a lie. They will call evil good, and good evil while thinking they truly represent God. The church is full of zealous people, but not after the things of God, but according to the “traditions of men.”

Are we more zealous for the “traditions of men” than we care to admit? Take a typical Sunday worship service, for example or major Christian Holidays. Can you find anything even remotely resembling these traditions in the New Testament? Do we also feel “our” denomination has a corner on the truth or else we wouldn't be in it? Would we find ourselves greatly offended should Jesus come into our midst in disguise and point out all the traditions which are simply man-made religious props which don't have a shred of support from the Bible? Have you ever seen some things in your denomination or church which are simply wrong and tried to get it changed? How far did you get before you succumbed to the “traditions of men?” How much of us is really filled with the fear of man and the reverence for or from people and the willingness to yield to the “traditions of men” which makes the word of God of no effect? (Matthew 15:6-9)

Our touchstone for Truth, must not be our creeds, articles of faith, confessions, or our church leaders opinions. Nor should our touchstone be our Bible translation. “You search the Scriptures for in them you 'think' you have life. But they testify of Me that you might have life.” (John 5:39) No, our touchstone for truth must be Truth Himself. Nothing else will do, not even our understanding of our Bible translation. We can be just as deceitful in how we use the Bible as we are with our dealings with our peers.

Jesus is likened in the Bible as a farmer sowing good seed. Satan is also depicted as a farmer only planting bad seed. If our hearts are full of the “traditions of men,” denominationalism, anger, gossip, slander, backbiting, resentment, bitterness, jealousies, lusts, pride, empty rituals, respecters of men, etc., then we are fertile soil for the adversary to plant his lies. We then live and speak a lie. We then live in a cloud of confusion and that is what the world sees when they look at us. They cannot see the light of God shining through us because it is covered with the works of the flesh. They cannot hear the truth through us because we have become carnally-minded which is DEATH. (Rom. 8:6) Yes, Christians can appear quite dead to the world because the Holy Spirit and the Truth has been quenched, grieved, smothered to such an extent that it appears we are dead, spiritually speaking.

The two most humble people on the face of the earth were Moses, the mediator of the Old Covenant and Jesus the Messiah, the mediator of the New Covenant. It takes humility and a love for the Truth to be empty enough that the glory of God might shine forth in such a way that it is physically manifested. We must be completely empty of the fear of man and its counterpart, the worship of or from men. We must have a burning desire above all else that the Spirit of God and the Truth (Jesus, the Word) have complete control of our vessel that the Father may bear witness to these Two by putting His glory on it. The Ark of the Covenant in Moses Tabernacle was made of acacia wood covered with beaten gold on the inside and out. It is a perfect picture of what we must become to bear the Glory of God which bore witness to the ark as a pillar of fire between the two cherubim. What a perfect picture of how a human being filled with God's Spirit and Truth will look like to those in the world—a tall pillar of fire touching heaven, touching earth.

Dear precious brothers and sisters, let us take some time today to see if indeed the adversary has fertile ground in which to plant his lies which prevent us from manifesting God's glory which comes from being filled with His Spirit and His Truth. Let us come before Him honestly, without pretenses, without defenses to see if there be any wicked way in us. Jesus came to fill us with His way, His words, His will, and His works which were really His Father's. He came to fill us with His life, love and liberty which again, was really His Father's. He came to set us free from the snares of the evil one, to give him no ground in which to plant his seeds of lies which brings about a dark “cloud of confusion” that hides the glory our Father seeks to manifest in this earth in us, His earthen vessels.

Let us make room for our Savior. As I've pointed out in the past, one of the definitions of the Greek word for salvation is “to make roomy.” Jesus came to make us “roomy” that we might be filled with His Spirit and His Truth that the Father may be glorified in the earth. When He first came into this world in a human body 2000 years ago, He had no place to lay His head. Let us not deny Him again.

It is truthfulness that makes one transparent. And it is this transparency that will allow the light of the Spirit to shine through us.

Let us give Him room in the vessel that we are, that He and His Father (and ours) may be glorified in the earth today. It is then, that He will glorify us that the world may see that He still lives on this earth—in the earthen vessels which we are.