Word of Salvation – Vol.53 No.32 – August 2008

 

Got Your Hand on Your Bible

A Sermon by Rev Sjirk Bajema
on Heidelberg Catechism, LD 37

Scripture Readings:  Leviticus 24:10-23; Matthew 10:32-33

 

Congregation…

Is this all real? Have we actually met for worship two times this Sunday? Now, could it be, in, say, three years times that I could possibly deny that you and I were here today? Imagine if I were to say then, “You know, I can’t recall that I was actually in the ………………………… Church that Sunday?”  Or even perhaps, “No, I’m absolutely sure I wasn’t there!”  Man, you’d think that would be impossible! Of course we met for public worship. And it is in this church in …………………………. It’s in our Newsletter, our Directory, and, anyway, we do this twice every Sunday. As for who was here, well, there are plenty of witnesses for that! Then, on top of all that, if there was still any doubt, you could give your word that it was true!

Aha, your word! That’s very interesting. For there are many who give their word and they are quite wrong. We see that watching the television news or reading the papers. And what do you see and hear coming out all the time? When yet another politician or lawyer puts so much spin on what they have done, or who they represent, don’t you wonder how much you can believe? To hear any one of them can only leave you impressed with their obvious sincerity. Butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths! That’s until you get the other side! And then you realise that what that person said couldn’t have been further away from the truth!

You even get it in major libel cases. People give their word then. But don’t they have such different words? Someone is telling porkies! Or is it more than one? Could it be that everyone is telling lies?

Now, dear Christian, let’s change the scene. Now it’s not “them”.  Now it’s you — you’re in the dock of the court! The question is asked of you. And, yet, before any questioning begins, there is first that oath which has to be made. With your hand on the Bible you’re asked, “Do you swear, by Almighty God, that the evidence you give shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?”  Well — do you? No backing out now! You’re in the stand! And where will you stand?

Congregation, let’s consider the stand we make when we swear an oath in God’s Name. We’ll take that vow we make in a court room, and use that to measure exactly where we are. Or should I say — who we are?

What I am in my Lord is the truth

In the first place, then, WHAT I AM IN MY LORD IS THE TRUTH. As you say in that oath, “I swear, by Almighty God, that the evidence I give shall be the truth.”  But, then, what is truth? The question Pontius Pilate asked two thousand years ago, in John 18:38, has continued to haunt mankind even since. What is truth?

You look at the world around you and it seems that truth can be a changeable thing. What might suit many to be true today might not be true tomorrow. Yet compare this with the answer given to Question 101. Following mention of the times it may be used, there it says that we swear in God’s Name, “in order to maintain and promote truth and trustworthiness for God’s glory and our neighbour’s good.”

This is something different! Rather than any fleeting whims and fancies of the moment, telling the truth has to be done to a standard. And how you act at any particular point is tied to a special reference point.

So, where’s your bottom line? What’s life all about for you? When you swear to tell the truth what do you actually mean?
Think again of being here in church. Is there anything in it for you? As you listened and joined in what was your truth? It’s a strange thing to say. But, what is your bottom line? Why, I hope you quickly reply, “WHAT I AM IN THE LORD IS… THE TRUTH.”

Hebrews 6:13-14, describes this kind of truth. “When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, ‘I will surely bless you and give you many descendants’.”  And isn’t this exactly what our Lord Jesus means when He states, in John 14:6, “I am… the truth”?

So, dear friend, is He the guarantee of truth for you? Can you walk with your Lord tomorrow at work, or to the shopping centre, or school, and grasp the moment for Him?

To those who believe in Him, Jesus says in John 8:31-32, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  Is that your faith? Do you thrill at the marvellous miracle of rebirth in Christ? Then you are true! And that’s exactly how we are to show it, too! In a world of subjective truth — where everyone talks about their dreams and their feelings — we believers are to stand out for being objectively true wherever the opportunity presents itself!

You see, it’s not only that WHAT I AM IN MY LORD IS THE TRUTH, it’s also WHAT I AM IN MY LORD IS THE WHOLE TRUTH. What you and I are at any particular moment becomes a reflection of Christ Himself! And in terms of how we know Christ we realise here that what we say at any particular moment in faith is pointing to a far greater body of truth.

Think about those who testify using the oath in a court of law. When someone tells a lie — whether that’s a straight lie or by bending the truth — what does he say about the rest of his life? Aren’t we inclined to think that if he lies with this important matter, knowing well enough the harsh penalties for false information, that he’s going to lie with the rest of His life as well? What we see through that one false witness is a whole life of deception.

The opposite is equally true. The person who at any one time swears by the Lord that he will tell the truth, and does it faithfully, reflects an overall honest life. The Bible gives us examples of people like this. Joshua chapter 9 tells the story of the trick the Gibeonites played on the Israelites, so that they would survive in Palestine. And while they were quite deceptive, yet the agreement made with them by Joshua was kept. For when the information about their deception came to light we read, in verses 18-19, “The whole assembly grumbled against the leaders, but all the leaders answered, ‘We have given them our oath by the LORD, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them now’.”

For what I am in the Lord is the whole truth

This leads us right into our second point. For WHAT I AM IN THE LORD IS THE WHOLE TRUTH! Here we come to what the second part of Answer 101 speaks of. This is the principle of a real consistency in the Christian’s faith. As the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 1:9, “God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you.”

When we make a vow we bring to bear all that it means for us to stand before God. That’s an awesome thought! Whether you take that vow in the very special event of your Profession of Faith, or in a court of law, or in simply giving your word, you stand before God, and he is bearing witness to your word.

Taking a vow in this way is certainly not something to be done lightly. For by asking God Himself to witness, you make a plea that no human being can possibly bear. You call upon God. As the covenant people under Moses had been told by their LORD in Deuteronomy 10:20, “Fear the LORD your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take oaths in his name.”

The Name of God! That which represents all He is, and all He does! You and I recognise that before Him every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess, that He is Lord of righteousness now!

To fail to keep our word would go against the very nature of God. And where would we be if God allowed a lie? Even to allow the thought leading to a lie? Why, the whole basis of goodness and of life would be complete gutted! These words of His in the Scripture that we love and trust so much would be worthless! But, praise the Lord — He is true! We can have, through true faith, assurance that He does care for us. Our lives are worth living.

What I am in my Lord is nothing but the truth

Are you in your Lord? As a Christian, you are! Christ’s love for you draws you to Him. For you not to live in the Lord, would be to die in yourself! And that’s exactly why, congregation, WHAT I AM IN MY LORD IS NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH!

The believer is always being drawn all the more to the only basis for Truth. And that Truth is none other than God Himself! Jesus says in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Question & Answer 102 tackle this question of the Lord being the only basis for truth. Take the Truth away from its source and it’s no longer Truth. Destroy the infallibility of the Bible, and what you have left over isn’t worth the paper it’s written on!

Don’t be swayed by the kind of thinking that says that people can tell us what is true and what is not true in the Bible. The devil throws that one into really muddy waters of the believer’s life, with our own selfish desires! Those who want to sit in judgment over the Bible, saying this part is true and this part is not true, are making their own rules. And those rules are only what we sinfully want to do.

In that public situation where we are asked for our word, in our answers let’s confess Christ and Him crucified! Everything we say should honour the Lord and be consistent with that confession. As Answer 102 says to any possibility of our goodness, or the merited grace of others, “No. A legitimate oath means calling upon God as the one who knows my heart to witness to my truthfulness and to punish me if I swear falsely. No creature is worthy of such honour.”

Dear Christian, you confess that it’s the Lord who knows your heart. Why, then, would you want to turn to someone who wouldn’t have a clue as to who you are, or what you need? We have to go straight to the source. To tap into anything else is to drink the wrong water. And as we know, that can kill us.

Congregation, think about when politicians and other important people tell lies to a court or a commission. You can hear so many different stories for each sad situation of the misuse of public funds. But what is it about the attitude of many of them? Even when they’re shown to be wrong, is there any sense of genuine sorrow at having broken the law? If they had the opportunity would they have done it different? Only if they knew they wouldn’t be getting away with it!

What do those people believe in? Well, it’s not God. But it is a god. The god of their own selfishness! “You don’t understand!”  “There’s been a misunderstanding.”  “This is small on the scale of crimes.”  “Do you know the personal hurt I’ve gone through these past months?”  That’s terrible! All a person’s focus becomes wrapped up in such a narrow focus. Yet their whole life is a lie! For they don’t know Jesus, do they?

If only they knew the Truth! If only the scales of their own self-righteousness would be miraculously lifted from their eyes! Can’t they see what they do to themselves each time they blaspheme, or wrongly use God’s Name? And can we realise, congregation, what we do as we allow such language to go past unhindered? God gives us such opportunities to point to that emptiness that they have. We can grab it, and, by God’s grace, fill it.

I think here of the difference between the two types of vows that a person can use in court. The one we know is called the oath. This is where we swear by almighty God that the evidence we give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

But there’s another vow. That one called the affirmation. This is where one says that he solemnly, sincerely, and truly declares and affirms that the evidence he gives shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

There’s a big difference between these two statements. The first one seeks accountability before the source of all Truth; the second one is merely subjective, just a person accountable to no one but himself.

Big difference, isn’t it? Indeed, the biggest difference in the whole world! No wonder one is called an oath and the other an affirmation. So, which one would you swear by? And which one do you actually live by?

Amen.