“Buy The Truth and Sell It Not”

Date: March 30, 1997-A.M.
Speaker: Harvey Porter
Main Scripture References: Proverbs 23:23; John 1:14; John 8:32; John 14:6; John 16:13

I’m going to preach a lesson today on “TRUTH”. The word is much used in Scripture—there are many, many passages in Scripture about “Truth”. I looked up in John’s Gospel and the three epistles of John and the Revelation letter [written by John], and I found that he used the word 136 times in those books that he wrote.

Now, the word “Truth” occurs all the way through the Old Testament as well. You have Solomon writing, “Buy the Truth and sell it not,” [Proverbs 23:23]. He’s emphasizing the preciousness of Truth. If there’s any commodity that you need in your life, it’s Truth. “Sell it not” means you’d never give it up. There’s no price that they could pay that would take it away from you.

I read a statement in a religious journal this past week. It really caught my eye because I think it applies to all of us here today. Here’s what I want to read to you that touched me. I’m going to read it slowly because I want you to think about it. The short article was entitled The Triumph of Truth:

“It is better to be divided by Truth than to be united by error. It is better to speak the Truth that hurts, and then heals, than falsehood that comforts, and then kills. It is not love, and it is not friendship if we fail to declare the whole counsel of God. It is better to be hated for telling the Truth than to be loved for telling a lie. It is impossible to find anyone in the Bible who was a power for God who did not have enemies and was not hated. It is better to stand alone with the Truth than to be wrong with a multitude. It is better to ultimately succeed with the Truth than to temporarily succeed with a lie. ‘Buy the Truth and sell it not.’”

Alton Meador read to us just a moment ago from the Gospel of John, and it said, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God,” [John 1:1]. Then he [John] goes on to describe how the Word came into the world.

Now we must recognize that Truth is transmitted by words. Words are the vehicles of Truth. You may observe Truth in action, but to communicate Truth, you have to have words. Then the apostle John describes Jesus as that Word of Truth that came from the Father, and he describes how Jesus illuminated—how He came into the world as a light. And we still use that word today. When we learn something, and we understand it, we have been illuminated. Light is associated with Truth, and darkness is associated with error and with sin.

I took a concordance and looked up this word. I’m not sure how many times it’s used in the Old Testament and the New Testament, but it is a multitude of times. There’s no doubt about that. When we realize what Solomon was saying about “buying the Truth,” he’s saying “here’s probably the most precious thing you can possess!” Friends, if we knew the truth about cancer, we’d have a cure. If we knew the truth about any number of things in our world, we could clear up all kinds of doubt, superstition and misunderstanding. If you are married, a husband and a wife live by truth. If one time we tell a lie to that partner, we may destroy that sacred relationship.

No man can lie to God because God knows all things. Well, if we tried, we would certainly destroy our relationship with God. God has never lied to us. Our Lord Jesus Christ never lied. The Holy Spirit revealed the Will of God and the works of our Lord Jesus, and He never lied. We have a book of TRUTH!

I looked up a number of passages, and I found that they fell mainly (in the New Testament) into four categories: Truth as it’s associated with our Lord Jesus, Truth as it’s associated with the Holy Spirit, Truth as it’s associated with the church, and Truth as it pertains to us as Christian individuals.

Now the passages that I’m going to call to your mind are passages that you know:

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father…” and here it is… “full of grace and full of Truth.” That’s John 1:14. That is a beautiful passage!

Now, think of the fact that no man has seen God at any time. Then Jesus came, and one of the apostles [Philip] said, “Show us the Father, and it suffices,” and Jesus answered him and said, “Have I been so long time with you, and you’ve not yet seen the Father? He that has seen me has seen the Father,” [John 14:8-9]. Do you realize that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are of the same substance—that they are eternal in nature? When GOD created this marvelous universe and breathed into us the breath of life, Jesus was there and the Spirit was there. When God made man from the dust of the earth, He said, “Let us make man in our image and after our likeness,” [Genesis 1:26]. Well, the image of God and Jesus and the Spirit was not the dust of the earth. It’s what’s up here [Harvey points to his head], it’s what you know, it’s what you believe with all of your heart. It’s what you love. It’s what you’ll die for. And thereby we see the Father, and we know the Son, and the Spirit indwells us.