Word of God, and there are two portions I've got before us.
The first is going to be from Numbers chapter 22 about Balaam and Balak.
And you will recognize the story about the Balaam's horse,
that donkey that spoke the Word of God when Balaam the false prophet failed to preach the Word of God as he should have.
And so Balaam's ass said it all.
Now I'm just concerned that this is a bit too long at the moment.
Yes, unfortunately, we'll have to have the whole lot.
Well, that's not unfortunate, it's just that I think that's what we need to do.
Maybe if we read from chapter 22 and verses 1 through to verse 40,
and the second reading will reduce considerably, I think, from Matthew's Gospel, Matthew chapter 5.
And we'll read down from verse 13 through to 26, if you can remember that.
As we continue in the fourth chapter of Ephesians, we come to verse 25,
chapter 4 and verse 25.
I'll just take the few verses beforehand where it says,
You did not so learn Christ, that is, in the formal way of life,
and you'll never learn Christ in continuing into some degree in that way of life as Christians.
That's very often the case amongst Christians.
Very often we do not, we think the ends justifies the means and we behave as we did informally
in terms of gathering its wisdom rather than the wisdom of God directly from the Word of God.
And we will not grow that way, we will not accomplish the work of God that way,
and we need to make a clear commitment to the fact that we have got to repent
and turn away from our former manner of life, the way in which we formally walked,
because even the good is fallen in a natural manner.
And so he says, But you have not learned Christ in this former manner.
If indeed you have heard him and have been taught of him,
now in other words, if you've been truly saved,
if you have been truly redeemed by the blood of the Lamb,
and you are hearing the Word of God that has drawn you to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,
now if you've been taught of him, if indeed you have,
as the truth in Jesus, then we are to do these two things.
We are to put off concerning the form of conduct,
in other words that we are to lay aside or die to sin that is in the old man
which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.
And we are to be not just reforming that which is old,
but we are to be transformed by the renewing of the spirit of your mind.
And then the next thing we are to do, we are to put on,
in other words when God tells us to get rid of bad habits,
he puts a new habit in the place, a good sanctified holy habit,
that which is the new man.
So we're putting off and putting on, we are dying and living too.
Then we are to be those that will put on the new man
which is being created according to God in true righteousness and holiness.
Now here we find that our witness before this watching world,
and the world watches us very closely.
This man is a Christian man.
Is he a real one?
Is he a genuine Christian man?
This woman is a person that is actually professing the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let's peer into this man's life, this woman's life,
and see whether they are the real thing.
They have the right to do that.
They may not be able to judge, but they can see
whether something is hypocritical or true.
And they will see it, and they'll either
deride the God that we serve, or they will give honour
in a very cursory sort of and related sort of way,
but they'll give honour to the God that we serve.
And so it is imperative that we are good models as Christians.
And it was John Whitfield, George Whitfield that said
his greatest goal was not to reach the world with the gospel,
although he did, and saw many thousands upon thousands of people converted
during his ministry, probably more than any single human being ever saw
at any one time.
But he said, my greatest goal is to be a Christian.
Is to be a Christian.
And I think that's biblical.
And he wanted to be a Christian that was true to the word of God,
true to true righteousness, and holiness.
And he was preeminently a very fine man,
because he was following just this principle,
putting off the old man and putting on the new man.
And so he goes on and gives an example.
And I can't imagine any better preparation for evangelism
than growing in holiness and righteousness.
I can't imagine if a person knows the genuine article
and sees the genuine article within you,
that person is more persuaded by your presence than by your words.
Although the words are very important.
And then he goes on and he says,
if we're going to be true to our testimony,
our presence is very important,
but also our words are very important.
And as imperative, we go to the next step.
Therefore, put away lying.
You might say, well, that's very obvious,
you don't lie to people.
And let no one speak,
let each one of you speak truth to his neighbour.
It's interesting he uses the word neighbour
rather than fellow believer in this situation.
So I believe the context is not only amongst yourselves,
but also to the world that we live in.
And the context is to our neighbour.
For the sake of the unconverted,
we are going to be true to our word.
And we're going to demonstrate the truth.
For we are members one of another.
Now, here we are to see that holiness
that is being separated unto God,
that's what holiness means,
it doesn't mean a rarified, holy Joe sort of disposition.
It means separated with all the graces of God,
demonstrated in our lives,
and we are the genuine article,
and we are therefore saints,
not only in condition,
but also in our position with Christ.
And in our condition,
we will grow and sanctify our lives day by day,
by putting off, that is, dying to sin day by day,
and living unto righteousness day by day.
So we take off a bad habit and put on a new habit
that is true to the word of God.
And it's true that we are men and women of habit.
And we'll never get rid of a bad habit
unless we put on a new habit.
And this goes down to the very basic areas of our lives.
If we are gluttonous and we eat too much,
the only way in which we're going to establish a proper good habit
is if we become disciplined in the manner in which we are eating.
And often the very food that we're eating is indulgent food
rather than food that is going to be necessary for our well-being.
The godless will eat for the pleasure of it,
and the Christian will eat for sustaining life,
for the proper place for it.
Now even down to those sort of things,
we need to be looking at it.
But here the Apostle Paul says,
yes, our condition of heart is very important.
And the most important, that's why it comes first
in his discussion concerning our witness and our testimony
before this watching world.
But our words have got to be right too.
And I think the essential ingredient of evangelism
is our life is a demonstration of what we are speaking.
And we are speaking the truth in love, in concern for them.
And very often when you speak the truth in evangelism,
you know the repercussions again.
You might get stone strained at you, you might be shot for it.
You might be put in prison for it.
But you're going to maintain the truth of the gospel
and make sure that you are demonstrating it as well as saying it.
So that they are left without any shadow of doubt what the gospel is.
Fidelity and obedience to the truth
is essential for your Christian integrity and demeanor.
And the difference between truth and error,
truth and lying is clearly seen by all.
And one of the marks of non-Christian life
is that there is a propensity
and being given to lying in many ways, shapes and forms.
We try to present a certain image that's not our own image.
You don't have to be saying words to be a liar.
You can demonstrate, and you know you can,
you can demonstrate a certain image that is not consistent with our life.
And so the first point I want to look at is this relationship between truth and error.
For he says here quite clearly that put away lying
and that each one of you speak the truth with his neighbour.
Let each one speak the truth with his neighbour.
Now the opposite of truth is lying.
It says there quite a thing and therefore any kind of error in the end,
it might be done out of ignorance, but in the end it is a presentation of a lie.
And we might see here that the things we've got to do here
is seeing the negative side we've got to put away lying,
that is deceit and all the names that lying come under,
error or oops, made a mistake, whatever it might be,
and we've got to put in what is positive,
that which we speak every man truth with his neighbour.
And the practical, this is a practical example of what was said earlier on.
Put off that which is the old man and put on the new man.
Die to sin and live to righteousness.
That's what it's called for.
And therefore the reason why we do this is because we are members one with another.
In other words we are in a love relationship
not only with our brothers and sisters but also the entire world.
We cannot withdraw the truth from the world that we live in.
And if we do we defraud the world.
As one person said to a friend of mine
who was witnessing in the University of Sydney many years ago
and he came into contact with the Marxist party within the university,
they were zealous for their ideology
and one girl who'd been an avid Marxist said to the Christians around her
who was being witnessed to in a very clear way,
he says, you Christians are the most immoral people in all the world.
He said, why?
Because you sat on the truth of this Gospel that you've told to me all my life
and for everything you're embarrassed about this truth,
you try and withdraw this truth from us and yet it's the words of life to us.
I've not been like that with Marxism.
I have been a zealous evangelist for Marxism
and in the end is going to burn up in the end.
And she admitted that apparently.
Now I don't know whether she actually became a Christian
but that was her criticism with the Christian union of the University of Sydney
because she said you guys know the truth and you've not been telling us.
You've withdrawn it because you're too concerned about your personal welfare.
In other words, you haven't loved us as you should have.
Now I think that's probably fair cop that, isn't it?
It's fair, it's really quite true.
We fail to say it because we're worried about what our relationship
is going to turn out if we're going to say the truth.
We may be those who are rejected and therefore we fail to tell the whole truth.
Now I'm not saying that we've got to cast pearls before swine and be trampled.
I'm not saying that we either put our head on the chopping block
with somebody who's ready to chop it off.
I'm not suggesting that.
But what I am saying is that we should be earnest about telling the truth
as an expression of our love with our neighbour.
And we should not withdraw it because they might not receive it
or they might regard us as being religious freaks or something like that
and cause bad names.
We should hold it forth in the integrity of holiness and righteousness
and all the graces that God is doing in our lives and hold it forth.
And if we are genuinely loving the world and loving our enemies
as we've been called to do so, we will not withdraw the truth from them.
So falsehood can be stated and it can be stated without words.
We can give an impression and really we want that impression to stick
rather than the truth.
We're not saying anything out and out wrong,
but we're giving that impression.
So there's a spirituality with this as well as a true, as words.
We would hate to be caught lying, wouldn't we?
Or not presenting the truth as it ought to be.
But often we can present a lie by not saying a word.
Now, in our culture we have seen this kind of casualty of the truth everywhere.
And it's largely because that in our contemporary society
we have found ourselves not defining the truth as we ought.
We haven't said yes, yes, and no, no,
but we have sort of allowed the thing to come into many words
and we have qualified the statements with a thousand qualifications
and therefore the thing is really presenting something less than the truth.
Once upon a time in better days
when the Christian gospel was more prominent in our society,
biblical truth was far more prevalent within our society.
They used to say you've got to place a thesis
and if the thesis is white then there is the opposite to that,
an antithesis, which means black.
So the opposite of white is black.
And you define the truth by these opposite and a thesis and an antithesis.
But a man came along called Hegel, a German beer drunkard sort of guy,
and he says now what we've got to do is not take the old classical Christian approach.
You have heard it said, this is the truth, but I say unto you in contrast.
But he says rather than being white and black,
really truth is some kind of rational in-between stage.
And the truth of white and black is a synthesis called grey.
So it was probably quite well for him to say,
yesterday it might have been true in this point,
but today now it's not so true,
because they have not got this propositional truth given to us.
Now I want to say that very often people rationalise and say,
well if this was the truth, this sort of grey sort of position,
now what's the opposite of grey? Another colour.
And then there's another synthesis of those two colours.
And so gradually we get away from the truth.
Truth has become a casualty.
It's only when we get back to the Word of God where clear commandments are given,
a clear word from heaven is given, because truth is really a reflection of God.
And his nature, there is absolutes based on what God is.
And if God is, therefore this must be true.
His actions must be true.
And therefore we see ourselves saying,
we know what the truth is because God has revealed it for us in the Word of God.
Now truth is not so much a mere fact either,
because you can have the facts right and still not be true.
And we find that there is an inward moral standard.
In verse 22 it says, the deceitfulness of lust.
Now the word deceitful means that it's in error, it's false.
And the lusts of our hearts are deceitful and has led us to error.
So truth is not simply a fact, but it is also a moral commodity,
a moral standard within us.
And therefore the integrity is based on our adherence to the truth
according to the Word of God, but in a moral sense of the word.
It's something that is personified.
It's something that is part of our lives.
It's something that we do.
It's not simply something we think about.
Now if truth is no longer truth, it becomes very hard for us to establish trust.
And we find that truth is the only foundation for trust.
And you'll find that trust is the only foundation for love.
All Christians are in a realm of truth,
because we've come to the knowledge of the truth when we are saved.
It's led us to the truth.
The Lord Jesus Christ is Himself the personification of the truth.
I'm the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me, says the Apostle John.
And so here we find that, maybe if we look at that in Timothy,
1 Timothy chapter 2, 1 Timothy chapter 2, and it says,
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour,
who desires all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God and one Mediator between God and man,
and the man Jesus Christ.
So, coming to be saved, it says there,
we won't get into the other intricacies of that passage,
but we can say, a man is to be saved, he comes to the knowledge of the truth.
That's the point I want to make at that point.
And in some ways, that this is the basis.
This indwelling of the spirit of truth within us
is the means by which we can come to know our salvation.
And the very fact that we are indwelt by the spirit of truth,
it comes to the word of God, which is the truth written.
And that there is a relationship between the truth that is in us,
the spirit of truth was in us, and the word of truth that is given to us,
and the two come together and personifies that in our obedience of lifestyle.
Now, if we are to be saved, we will come to the fact that
the knowledge of the truth is in us.
And we will see, once that knowledge of the truth comes,
then that key opens up all knowledge,
and we are able to say, see all knowledge according to truth,
in our relationship with God.
And this relationship is that we understand God cannot lie.
That's the basic fundamental truth that we find here.
God cannot lie. He cannot act against himself.
God is the basis of all truth.
And so, as we see this, then God is the only one worthy of our trust.
There's no shifting of the standards.
There is no imperfection of the foundations that we find in God.
And these foundations must be received by faith in our life.
Because it is the only one worthy of our faith.
Put your faith in something else is not worthy.
And so it is interesting that we are not simply acting as a moralist in this matter,
or a humanist, because they always say,
it's a terrible thing, isn't it, that we do not tell a lie,
because it can do a lot of damage.
No, we have come to hold to the truth, because God is truth.
And the foundation of all existence is based on what God is.
Because God is, we are.
And that's the basis for our life.
We find this particularly in 1 John chapter 2 verse 4.
1 John chapter 2 and verse 4.
He says,
And he who says, I know him that is no God,
and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
If anybody says that I know him, that is Jesus Christ,
professing Christians,
and do not keep the commandments of God, that is keeping the word of God,
he's really just a liar,
because there is a contradiction between God and the law,
or the commandments.
And the truth is not in him.
In other words, he has not got an inner disposition through the truth.
He is really a liar.
He is not true, therefore he is false.
But whoever keeps this word, truly, the love of God is perfected.
So we go to the next stage,
that if we put our trust in God, who is the foundation of all truth,
and we walk according to that truth,
then the love of God is perfected in us.
We are genuinely expressing our love for God and our love for our neighbour,
which is the reason for this particular verse.
So the very foundation of our faith,
the liar is under the dominion of the father of lies.
But when we become Christians, we come under the dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And therefore the truth is the very basis of our life,
and the foundation of our life.
And that's where our faith should be.
But those who are of the other realm,
that is the realm of darkness,
which is under the dominion of the devil himself,
and he is the father of lies, is the devil.
So we find that we are really declaring
whether we are one camp or the other on this matter.
A person that lies,
and particularly a person that is covering up with more lies,
is really saying, I'm not a Christian.
I'm really part of the dominion of darkness,
and my Lord is the devil himself, who is the father of lies.
He can't lay straight in bed at all in terms of the truth.
And so lying is the most prominent
and the most common characteristic in the life of sin.
And this is where we see it everywhere.
I've noticed where I've been more involved in worldly pursuits these days,
with business and that sort of thing,
and you just see it everywhere, particularly when it comes to money.
Everyone is prone to lying.
If you want to get a loan from the bank,
you minimize your debts and maximize your assets.
And in that, you're not really telling the truth at all.
And we are so prone to it.
But in doing that, we are really professing our real position with God.
We are either under the realm or the dominion of darkness,
or we are under the realm and dominion of light.
And so it is imperative for us to be true at this point.
And it's one of the things I want you to search your own hearts.
You know, are you prone to lying when you're in a tight corner?
Or your situation is somehow compromised
and you want to stretch the truth or push out the boundaries of truth
and live right at the edge of truth.
Really, your heart is saying, I really want to just lie.
I might as well have lied anyway.
Now, I don't need to elaborate and press
just what the kind of thing we're talking about here.
It can be done in all sorts of ways.
You know, if you catch a kid out at school
and he's doing the wrong thing, it's always somebody else's problem.
Somebody else did it, not me.
There might be an element of truth in it.
And there's always an element of truth in any lie.
But it's not the truth.
You're either saying yes, yes, or no, no.
There's no fiddling around.
And we need to be careful about that.
We need to be consistent over that.
If we're going to be true testimonies of God,
you've got to maintain your integrity.
It's not just the integrity you think other people are going to see,
the integrity of your own conscience.
It needs to be sharp as a razor.
And you need to know in your own self
that you don't instinctively lie to get yourself out of a tight corner.
You've got to say, you instinctively say the truth and tell the truth
because that is the spirit that's within you.
And I think we need to really visit that carefully.
Because how can people trust you
if you are always stretching the truth,
always twisting the truth,
which really means you are lying.
And apart from anything else,
this trust is the best building material for love.
You know, many divorces happen
simply because the partner can't trust the person any longer.
It's not because they've fallen out of love.
They've done that too.
But because, really, they can't trust them any longer.
They keep on saying they will do a certain thing,
but they never do.
And their life is basically a lie.
And they can't trust them any longer.
The most essential ingredient of any marriage
is that trust, that integrity.
You can endure many things if they know
that what you're going to say and what you are going to do
is based on the truth.
And as you prove your truthfulness,
that is your integrity,
your testimony is made even more effective.
And if people know, well, I'll go to Richard
because at least I'll get a real proper answer from him.
I don't want to know the answer,
but nonetheless, I'll get a real and true answer.
And it will be an answer that will consider my...
It will be an answer given in love.
It will be given in consideration of me.
I will not just get an answer that is just going to be brute fact,
but I'm going to get an answer that really will infurl me into the truth.
And I know that he has got my best interests at heart.
Okay?
Now, if you've got somebody like that,
you might stall going to see and get in counsel from that person
for many, many years even.
But eventually, when all the chickens come home to roost,
you find that they'll go and talk to you about the particular thing
that is such a stumbling block to receiving Christ as their saviour.
Now, I've found that constantly.
And it is imperative that we understand this.
For the sake of our neighbour, we will maintain our integrity
and we will make sure that we will tell the truth
and we will not tell a lie.
Because in the long run, although we might be excluded,
although we might be jeered at,
although we might be called prudish and puritan,
the fact is, when it comes down to the crunch,
they want to know that you're on the wall watching
and keeping watch in terms of what truth is really all about.
So, if we are going to truly love the Lord God our Father
with all our heart and with all our soul
and with all our mind and all the other things,
we will also love, we will also keep the truth,
we will also make sure that we live consistently,
we will also find ourselves saying the truth
and it really is going to make our lives very inconvenient.
We might lose a lot of money in the process,
we might lose a lot of...
we might even lose our job in the process.
We might lose friends in the process,
but we will say it as it really is.
And so, this is not so, it's among many preachers.
You know, the biggest lies in this world are preachers.
You might say to me, that can't be the truth.
They are.
You go around the average church and they're all the time
doing the gospel, trying to manoeuvre the gospel
so that people, their churches don't throw them out of the church.
Because if they told the truth, they would be outside of the church
as being an ultra right-wing gospel-loving person.
Now, it's very easy for ministers,
particularly when you're being paid by your church,
to massage the gospel, to massage the message of the word of God
so it just fits the congregation that really is in rebellion
against God and his word.
And so they become liars.
They become liars every week in the pulpit
because they fail to tell the truth and they fail...
they miss out certain doctrines that are unpalatable.
They miss out the way in which they are to walk.
And so they make less demands on the congregation.
So I'm just saying here that this Christian integrity
is the very element of the way in which we're going to be witnessing
as evangelists in the world.
True, we need to have a Christian life
that is consistent and holy and righteous,
but also our words.
And we can say more than just words in our lives,
but we can present the truth.
We've got to stop lying, stop withdrawing the truth
because we think it's going to be unpalatable,
but we've got to present the truth.
And we do this because we cannot help
but express the love of God for this world
and that we are those that are going to really press forward
the Gospel in this way.
So the truth is the foundation of trust
and trust is the best building material for love.
And let us not withdraw the love of God from our lives
by telling lies. Amen.