What is Truth? | Esther Edmonds

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“What is Truth?” 

Written by Esther Edmonds

“What is truth?” This is a question that has indeed plagued men and women since the beginning of this world. The truth has been a topic of many a conversation amongst my brothers and sisters in Christ. We throw around phrases flippantly to our fellow persons saying “the truth shall set you free” or “In war, truth is the first casualty” but do we actually ponder what is this “truth” that is so often referred to? 

Since there are several astute Bereans in this audience, we shall first turn to the Scriptures for insight on truth. In Psalm 119: 142 the Psalmist says: 

“Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,

And Your law is truth.”

Then further on in the chapter in verse 151 it says: 

“You are near, O Lord,

And all Your commandments are truth.”

Even further on in the same chapter the Psalmist adds once more: 

“The entirety of Your word is truth,

And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.”

So from this, using the wonderful gift of logic which we have been taught to use skillfully, we can deduce that the truth is the Lord’s law, commandments, and the whole Word. 

In case this is not enough evidence, allow me to pull in a second witness. In Daniel 10:21, he says, "But I will tell you what is noted in the Scripture of Truth.”

We have been given a book full of truth. The Word of God is the truth. 

But it goes deeper than the Word of God. In John 1:14 it says: 

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

What is this Word that became flesh? In John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’”

Christ is the Word and Christ is truth! 

Now, having looked in Scripture to find out what the definition of truth is, let us turn to our famous Webster’s dictionary. It says:

“truth: 1.Conformity to fact or actuality. 2. Fidelity to an original or standard. 3. Reality : actuality. 4. A statement proven to be or accepted as true. 5. Sincerity: integrity.” 

Now, I want to focus on the definition number two which states “Fidelity to an original or standard.” Intrigued by the word “fidelity” being used to describe truth, I looked up the definition of “fidelity” in order to gain some more insight. Fidelity means: 

“1. Faithfulness to obligations, duties, or observances. 2. Exact correspondence with fact or a given quality, condition, or event: ACCURACY.” 

Putting the two together, we have: Faithfulness to the obligations, duties, or observances of the standard and Exact correspondence with reality. 

What standard and what reality is the truth being faithful to? The Word of God. The Man of truth. 

With this being said, if we are going to be image bearers of Christ, we must be truthful. We must be faithful to the obligations, duties, or observances of the standard and have exact correspondence with reality. How can we fulfill such a task? We know where we can find the standard viz. the Word of God, But Who will help us keep this truth, this standard? John 15:26 says, 

“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.”

Also later on in John 16: 13 it says, 

“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”

The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, is given to God’s people in order to help them know the standard, the commandments, in His Word; communicate with the Son of God, who is the Truth, and to faithfully keep the standard that the Son of God and the Word of God commands. 

It is almost like the Lord knows what He is doing. 

We all know as immortal human beings, that this will not be accomplished perfectly. This is an unfortunate reality or truth, if you will, about us as humans. But thanks be to God that He is full of mercy and truth. 

“All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.” (Psalm 25:10)

“But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.” (Psalm 86: 15)

“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face.” (Psalm 89:14)

“For Your mercy is great above the heavens, And Your truth reaches to the clouds.” (Psalm 108:4)

“Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, But to Your name give glory, Because of Your mercy, Because of Your truth.” (Psalm 115:1)

“In mercy and truth Atonement is provided for iniquity; And by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.” (Proverbs 16:6)

Our God is a God of mercy and truth. He will not forsake us when we fail. But to the righteous, He will extend mercy. 

All of this is delightful and glorious; however, I failed to mention earlier in my talk that I also took a meander into the Devil’s Dictionary in order to see what he had to say on this topic of fidelity. The result was fascinating. It said, 

“Fidelity, n. A virtue peculiar to those who are about to be betrayed.”

The striking fact about this definition is that it is accurate. In John 8:40 it says, “But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God.” The Truth, The Word, The Standard was Himself betrayed by one of His own disciples, by His own family, and by His own people. We have all felt at different times rejection, betrayal, and pain from those we love. Indeed those who follow the standard are well acquainted with it. The Devil does have his minions everywhere as it turns out. As Hosea says,

“Hear the word of the Lord,You children of Israel,For the Lord brings a charge[a] against the inhabitants of the land:

‘There is no truth or mercyOr knowledge of God in the land.’” (Hosea 4:1)

Or, Isaiah 59:4,

“No one calls for justice,

Nor does any plead for truth.

They trust in empty words and speak lies;

They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.” 

Or, Jeremiah 9:3-6,

“And like their bow they have bent their tongues for lies.

They are not valiant for the truth on the earth.

For they proceed from evil to evil,

And they do not know Me,” says the Lord.

“Everyone take heed to his neighbor,

And do not trust any brother;

For every brother will utterly supplant,

And every neighbor will walk with slanderers.

Everyone will deceive his neighbor,

And will not speak the truth;

They have taught their tongue to speak lies;

They weary themselves to commit iniquity.

Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit;

Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” says the Lord.”

1 Timothy 4:1-4,

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.” 

There is nothing new under the sun. There has always been a Cady Stanton, an Adolf Hitler, a Margaret Sanger, a Henry David Thoreau and a Stalin. Who knows, you may know some of them. They will try to tarnish the glory of the Cross, they will try to suppress the truth. 

As Shakespeare said in Macbeth which I hope this audience is well acquainted with, 

“And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths, to win us with honest trifles, to betray’s in deepest consequence.” (Act 1, Scene 3)

Does any of this sound familiar? 

So, we know what truth is and where to find it and we know that men will try to suppress that truth. What am I asking you to do then? I am asking you to be an Issachar. Read the times that you are in. Our brother in Christ, Lennox Kalifungwa, said recently when asked what was the greatest threat to America’s freedom that the greatest threat is lies. Lies. The times that we live in is our America hanging by a thread. We can already all see that the Lord is giving people over to their own lusts. 

So, you ask what is our aim? How do we save this Constitutional Republic?  Unlike the great Winston Churchill who said victory, our aim is to proclaim the victory. But we are to do it in love of our neighbor. 

“So again in these days

I am determined to do good

To Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

Do not fear.

These are the things you shall do:

Speak each man the truth to his neighbor;

Give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace.”(Zach. 8:15-16)

God calls you to imitate Him in this. 

 “Let not mercy and truth forsake you;Bind them around your neck,Write them on the tablet of your heart,

And so find favor and high esteemIn the sight of God and man.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,And lean not on your own understanding;” (Proverbs 3:3-5)

We are not promised an easy path, as we have already seen, and the cost of proclaiming this victory sounds grim and hard. Betrayal from those you love, removal from friends and relations. Our name being drug in the mud. Yet, this is not a new thing. It is an tale as old as time. As George Whitfield said, “If you are going to walk with Jesus Christ, you are going to be opposed…. In our days, to be a true Christian is really to become a scandal.”

We are still in a battle. A victorious battle, but a battle none the less. But we should count this all a joy. For as C. S. Lewis says in a Grief Observed, “You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.” And as Lewis also says, “If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end,  despair.” We were not given an education founded on The Truth to merely squander it for fear of what is around the next corner. We were given an education to teach us to find the truth and proclaim it from the housetops, whatever the cost. 

In the words of the man of the great awakening of this truth, “We must expect to be tempted by Satan in some degree or another, all of our lives, because this life is a continual warfare. We must never expect to have rest from our spiritual adversary the devil, or to say, our combat with is finished. Our fight with the evil one will continue until we bow our heads and our spirit is removed from our body and is brought into the presence of our dear precious Savior Jesus Christ.” 

Ending where we began, Christ said just before the famous question of Pilate, “For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” (John 18:37) The Truth was right in front of Pilate.

Let’s imitate Christ and be faithful in bearing witness of The Truth. For that is why we are in this world after all. 

So as we are shot out from this chapter of our lives read your Shakespeare and as he says, in Henry IV, “O, while you live, tell the truth, and shame the Devil!” (Act 3, Scene 1) For this truth shall indeed set us free. (John 8:32)

Remember this duty when we sing these lines in “Mighty Lord, Extend Your Kingdom”: 

“Mighty Lord, extend Thy kingdom,

Be the truth with triumph crowned;

Let the lands that sit in darkness

Hear the glorious gospel sound,

From our borders

To the world's remotest bound.

By Thine arm, eternal Father,

Scatter far the shades of night;

Let the great Immanuel's Kingdom

Open like the morning light:

Let all barriers

Yield before Thy heavenly might.

Come, in all Thy Spirit's power;

Come, Thy reign on earth restore;

In Thy strength ride forth and conquer,

Still advancing more and more,

Till all people

Shall Thy holy Name adore.”