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The Voice of Truth

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California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists · Oakland, Cal. · Jan 28, 1875

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 1, No. 14.

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The Voice of Truth.

By J. W.

ERROR has many discordant voices in the world to deceive those who will not receive the truth in the love of it; while the voice of truth is one voice, clear, and easy to be understood by those in whose hearts is a love for the truth. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27. “And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him; for they know not the voice of strangers.” Verse 5.
There is a vast difference between truth and error; though through the influence of sectarianism many have come to the conclusion that the difference is quite unimportant. “It makes no difference,” say they, “what a man believes if he is only sincere.” But it seems quite evident if we take the Scriptures for our guide in the matter, that men may be left really and sincerely “to believe a lie,” and that, as a consequence, they may be damned “who believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” All admit that we must worship God in spirit, in order to our acceptance; but it is no less required of us that we should worship him in truth, and as God’s requirements are just, we may, notwithstanding all the jargon of sectarianism, attain to a knowledge of the truth. Very important, then, and interesting is the inquiry, What is truth? As Jesus came into the world to bear witness unto the truth, we will hear his testimony on the point. In his prayer to his Father in behalf of his disciples, he prays, “Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.” John 17:17.
The voice of truth is the voice of unity and love. “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me; and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.” Verses 20–22. The truth must be obeyed. Says Paul: “But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil.” Rom. 2:8, 9. And Peter says: “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.” 1 Pet. 1:22.
Truth purifies and sanctifies the soul. “Ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth.” Will obedience to error produce the same effect? If it will, it makes but little difference which we hold; but if it will not, it is of vast importance that we have the truth. “Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.” Some speak of sanctification as if it were a work of the Spirit, in answer to their prayers, without any particular reference to the word of truth. And sometimes they make this sanctification a shield with which to ward off the truth. Speak to them of a duty which they neglect, and they reply, “The Lord would not bless me as he does, if I were wrong.” This is reversing the order of God. Instead of saying, The Lord hears our prayers, and therefore he does not require us to obey his word, we would rather say, with an apostle, “Whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.”
The person that is sanctified, in the scriptural sense of the term, is wholly set apart to do the will of God. And he will find his moral duties in the word. Says Jesus, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven.”
“But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.” 2 Thess. 2:13. Salvation is obtained through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Will the belief of a lie do just as well if we only believe it? Let us see. Commencing with verse 9, we read, “Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
The truth is able to save. It will be the shield and buckler of the saints in the time of trouble, their seal and passport to the city of God. The time of trouble, when the wrath of God will be poured out in the seven last plagues, and the wicked of earth will be cut off, is described in Ps. 91, and the security of God’s people at that time is thus expressed: “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust; his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.” Ps. 91:4–10. Such will be the security of the Lord’s people in the evil day. The truth will shield them while the enemies of the Lord sink beneath the unmmingled wrath of God. Does any one believe that error and falsehood will be as good a shield? Certainly not. Now is the time to procure this shield and buckler.
The apostle Peter, in view of the coming of the Lord, exhorts us as follows: “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Pet. 1:13. This is in perfect accordance with what our Saviour said in reference to the same event. “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.” Luke 12:35, 36. What is to be the girdle for our loins? Let Paul answer. “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth and having on the breast-plate of righteousness.” Eph. 6:14. The girdle then is the truth.
“Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.” Isa. 26:2. Ah! here is the grand result. The gates of the city of God will be thrown open, and the righteous nation that keepeth the truth will be welcomed in. How valuable then is the truth!
How can we know the truth? The acquisition of this inestimable knowledge is not the exclusive privilege of the wise and prudent of this world. The poor may obtain it as well as the rich; especially if they be poor in spirit. No collegiate course of instruction can avail so much toward gaining this knowledge, as a spirit of humble obedience to the will of God. We shall find a genuine and infallible guide to the knowledge of the truth in the word of God.
Says Jesus, “If ye continue in my word then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31, 32. Again, “Jesus answered them and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” Chap. 7:16, 17.
J. W.