Speaking Truth Concerning Our Neighbor
Minister: | Rev. Ronald Van Overloop |
Date: | 3/3/2013 AM |
Text: | Proverbs 12; Lord's Day 43 |
Psalters: | 239, 324, 386, 26 |
- The meaning.
- God speaks, i.e., communicates perfectly within Himself and to His creatures, especially to His children.
- God is God because He is Truth and Love (I John 4:8).
- Truth has a moral-ethical tone and is not just accurate facts (love rejoices in the truth, I Cor. 13:6).
- God created man in His image: able to know and speak the truth and able to communicate.
- The power of speech is very great (18; 15:4; 18:21, James 3:4,5).
- Truth is not just facts, but also a moral-ethical tone.
- God calls man to use the gift of speech/communication to glorify his Creator and love his neighbor.
- God speaks, i.e., communicates perfectly within Himself and to His creatures, especially to His children.
- Sin ruined communication making all men liars and destroying the ability to use the tongue for good.
- It is lying which makes us most like the devil, the father of the lie and the false accuser (John 8:44).
- Natural man lives the lie.
- Also the regenerated easily lie, so we must always be fighting to speak the truth in love.
- The most frequent lie is about ourselves.
- Sometimes we lie directly, but more often it is a poisonous half-truth (distort the truth) or with cowardly silence.
- All listening to such talk also is to be condemned.
- All violations of this commandment are most serious (22; 6:16-19; 19:5,9; 21:28; Psalm 15:-3; Rev. 21:8).
- Grace restores the ability to know and speak the truth in love, but we still have the nature to lie.
- The speaking God declares to us the true message of salvation, redeeming us from the lie and the love of it.
- This command sets before the redeemed the duty to express their gratitude by speaking the truth in love (Eph. 4:15,16).
- Because a part of God's glory is that He is truth, the glory of believers is that we live and speak the truth.
- As God's servants, we want to use the gift of speech to glorify His Creator and Master.