Your Greatest Weapon Is Truth
During these days of unparallel evil and fear and disease and famine, your greatest weapon is truth. Never let The Truth depart from your mind for many battles still lie ahead for which you need its resurrection power. Continue to hid the truth in your heart and let it flow from your lips for it will strengthen, encourage and save others from the destruction to come. Don’t rely on “horses or chariots” or the wisdom of man to win your spiritual battles for they will ultimately fail you. But The Truth will never fail. The Gospel of John chapter 7 offers wonderful insights concerning the Word of Truth. (John 7:25-52) It brings to my remembrance that Jesus, the Incarnate Word, used the Word of Truth during times of great temptation to defeat Satan. The Truth was the answer when HE found Himself in the wilderness walk.
The Apostle Paul would also agree your greatest weapon is Truth. He encourages you in Ephesians 6 to put on the girdle of truth considering it the foundational to life itself. Indeed, 1 Corinthians 3:11 says, "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." Therefore, truth is not only foundational but the building blocks upon your battle in this life must rely. To build upon any other foundation is futile and ultimately leads to our destruction (Rom. 6:23). Given these considerations, you must saturate yourselves in truth and make every attempt to understand the nature of it. After all, the better we know Truth, the easier it is to spot a lie and the more intimate our relationship with Jesus, The Truth.
In John 7:25-52, the Apostle John points out for you several reasons why your greatest weapon is Truth. First, TRUTH ATTACKS SELF-DELUSION, LIES, FANTASIES, AND FALSE PHILOSOPHIES. Listen with your heart to this passage of Scripture in John 7:25-52:
"25. So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, Is this not the man whom they are seeking to Kill? 26. Look, He is speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. The rulers do not really know that this is the Christ, do they? 27. However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from. 28. Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, "you both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come to Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. 29. I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me."
Truth is not only a weapon to set you free from bondage (Gal. 5:1) and fear (2 Tim. 1:7) but also can give you boldness and courage (Phil. 4:13) as you trust yourself to it (v.26). The stated belief in John 7:27 is based on a rabbinical teaching that when the Messiah comes, no one will know His background. Rabbis’ inferred this from Malachi 3:1, which says, "Behold, I am going to send my messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight behold, He is coming, says the Lord of Hosts." Rabbis took the phrase, "will suddenly come to His temple" to mean no one would know the Messiah’s background. Yet, the words of Jesus [Truth] attacked this false teaching and reminded his listener’s that He is the bread that came down out of heaven--that he is from the Father (v. 29) whom they did not know (v. 28).
Second, John 7:30-31 tells us TRUTH CHALLENGES ONE’S CONCEPT ABOUT HIMSELF AND LIFE AND FORCES HIM TO EITHER CHANGE THE WAY HE IS OR TO GO ON THE SAME WAY. Listen with your heart to these verses:
"30. So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. 31. But many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?"
Notice the two-fold reaction to the Truth. In verse 30, "...they were seeking to seize Him." In verse 31, "...many of the crowd believed in Him." The Apostle Paul says concerning the truth of the gospel: "To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life..." (2 Cor. 2:16) When you believe Truth and obey it, it will at times cause division. This is surely what Jesus meant in Luke 12:51-53: "Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law." The Truth challenges your concept about yourself and life and forces you to make a decision. The key question Truth forces you to confront is, "What am I going to do with Jesus Christ?
Third, notice TRUTH IS OFTEN COUNTERED BY FORCE, ANGER, CONTEMPT, SNOBBISHNESS OR SARCASM. Listen to the words of John 7:32: "The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him." Verses 30 and 44 also refer to the Pharisees’ efforts to take Jesus by force. This is a typical ploy of the enemy, -- to quiet Truth use force. Notice in verse 47, Truth is countered by anger and contempt: "The Pharisees then answered them, You have not also been led astray, have you?" Here the response of the Pharisees to the officers is full of anger and contempt. This is another ploy of the enemy to steal away the seeds of Truth Likewise, snobbishness is used to close the ears of listeners to Truth in verses 48-49: "No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed."
Finally, the enemy tries to counter Truth with sarcasm. Listen to the Pharisees’ reply to Nicodemus in verse 52: "They answered him, "You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee." Many have been blinded from Truth or stop seeking it because of the fear of these enemy ploys. Satan’s tactics have not changed.
Fourth, OPPOSITION AGAINST THE TRUTH CAN GO NO FURTHER THAN GOD ALLOWS. Truth is all power. No force can overpower it. Listen to the words of Jesus in verses 33-36 & 44-46 and notice the underlined phrases:
"33. Therefore Jesus said, For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me. 34. You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come. 35. The Jews then said to one another, Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him? He is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greek, is He? 36. What is this statement that He said, "You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come?"...44. Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him. 45. The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, Why did you not bring Him? 46. The officers answered, Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks."
The underlined phrases above indicate that Jesus is confident no one can touch Him. He is seen as continuing His ministry with the awareness that all the opposition against Him could go no further than God’s mighty hand would permit. If you are walking in the will of God, you can be confident nothing can happen to you except what God allows; and when He allows it, it is the right time for it to happen. This doesn’t mean you are to tempt God but it does mean if you are fulfilling His will and doing what He sends you to do, you can be confident you are kept by His presence and power, safe until God’s moment strikes.
Fifth, TRUTH SATISFIES THE THIRST IN YOUR HEART. What other weapon know to man can do this as you wage war? Listen to the words of Jesus in verse 37:
"37. Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink."
This verse is the greatest invitation ever offered to mankind. The occasion of Jesus’ words was during the Feast of Tabernacles. Each day during the seven days of the feast of Tabernacles one of the chief priests would lead a procession down through the Kidron Valley to the pool of Siloam. Out of the waters of the pool the priest would fill a golden pitcher and carry it back to the temple and pour it over the altar to remind the people of the days in the barren wilderness when God gave them water out of a rock. Then the people would shout and wave palm branches, rejoicing and praising God for His deliverance.
This joyous occasion celebrated how God so wonderfully quenched the thirst of His people in the desert. This is significant when one considers that thirst is the most powerful drive known to man. A man can only go a few days without quenching his thirst drive or else he will die. When Jesus said, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink," He is saying I am the Rock from which God gave you life saving water. I am the very Rock those in the wilderness drank from and lived. The Apostle Paul confirms this without question in 1 Cor. 10:4: "They all drank of the Spiritual Rock which followed them, and that Rock was Christ." Jesus is saying, "Come into a personal relationship with me, let me walk with you, talk with you and fight your battles in this life for I will use them to prepare you for the life to come. Jesus is saying, draw from my wisdom, my strength, my courage, my comfort, my sufficient grace, etc."
Finally, Truth is your greatest weapon because IT CAUSES YOU TO BECOME A BLESSING TO OTHERS. Listen to the words of Jesus in verses 38-39:
"38. He who believes in Me, as the Scriptures said, "From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. 39. But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified."
Jesus says from your innermost being "will flow rivers of living water." In other words, somebody will be helped through your life. The Spirit of God in your life leads you to reach out to needy people around you and minister to them. "Rivers of living water" are flowing through you to others to satisfy their need. And Jesus says, when you do this it satisfies your own heart and need as well. There are many wounded that need you! One of the signs of change in your life is that you will begin to think of somebody other than yourself. You reach out to those Christ brings across your path. In turn, meaning, significance, power and companionship come into your life. That is the promise Jesus is making here when we operate according to His Truth. Will you claim this weapon today if you have not already done so? Unlike the officers who came to arrest, may Jesus (v. 32), instead arrest you (v. 46).
Prayer partners, may your desire be that Truth will have its way in your life for The Life can only be experienced in The Truth. Remember, walk so close to God that nothing can come between. Jesus paid it all, all to Him we owe, give Him the Glory!
