Main Text: Proverbs 23:23
“Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding”
I. Truth and the Trinity:
Psalm 31:5- Father - Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.
John 14:6- Son - I am the way, the truth, and the life. – Truth is the essence of God.
John 16:13- Holy Spirit - Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Truthfulness (and Faithfulness) God’s truthfulness means that he is the true God, and that all his knowledge and words are both true and the final standard of truth. - Wayne Grudem
All truth belongs to God, and it comes from him. It did not originate in man, and any truth we do have came from God.
Numbers 23: 19- “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
John 17:17- Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
John 4: 23- God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.
II. How do we Buy truth?
Matthew 13:44 - Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
Mark 8: 34- When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
“For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
“Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
2 Peter 1: 3 - Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
Knowledge of God, and faith in him, are the channel whereby all spiritual supports and comforts are conveyed to us; but then we must own and acknowledge God as the author of our effectual calling, for so he is here described: Him that hath called us to glory and virtue. Matthew Henry
I John 1: 6,7 – If we say we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
I John 2: 3- And Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily, is the love of God perfected.
“Intimacy is rooted in honesty. It is the exposure of our inner selves to the searching light of God’s truth. God knows us completely. So why try to hide what we are or what we have done? But we do. We think he will love us only if we are good. When we are less than good, which is most of the time, we pretend that we are something that we are not. The dishonestly of duality results: we put up a front of righteousness, while inside we are a tangled web of distorted ambitions and frustrations, memories of the past, and fears of the future. The Lord wants to get beneath the surface to the real person whol llives in our skin. The tragedy is that we can profess Jesus Christ as Savior without allowing him to be Lord of our innermost thoughts, fantasies, plans, and purposes.” - Lloyd John Ogilvie
“…it is not the knowing, talking, and reading man, but the doing man that will at last be found the happiest man. If you know these things, happy are you if you do them. Judas called Christ Lord, and yet betrayed him. How many Judases kiss Christ, and yet betray him; in their words profess him, but in their works deny him; they bow their knees to him, and yet in their hearts despise him; they call him Jesus, and obey him not as Lord. Read and labor to know, but that you may do, or else you are undone forever.” - Puritan Thomas Brooks-
Gideons International –
It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s charter. Here paradise is restored, Heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed.
Christ is its grand subject, our good the design, and the glory of God it’s end.
It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. It is given you in life, will be opened at the judgement, and be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.
Don’t sell it – But always share it!
I Peter 3: 15 - But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: