in our love for the truth is
number one, hearing the truth, and number two, hearing lies. See, God makes all things to
work together for good, and hearing lies draws us, it drives us to
the scriptures to soak in truth and to reaffirm ourselves in
what God says. If you've been in a conversation
with somebody who honestly believes things that are false, they're
lies. Does it not make you just thank
God? Thank God. Thank you, Lord, that
I was given grace to believe your word. Thank you I'm not
like that, Lord. It just drives us to the truth. I see in this verse that all
things work together for good and God cannot be mocked. I see
in this verse the rule and reign of our God. Most people, They
talk like truth really is secondary, because to them it is. The pagan
world, the unbelieving world, will say, in effect, that really
a Christian, a Buddhist, an atheist, they're really all the same,
as long as they treat people nicely, as long as they act right.
It's all the same, it doesn't matter. The false Christian,
the churchgoer, will point to different denominations and different
churches which believe exact opposite things and all claim
the Bible as their source but they believe entirely opposite
things and he'll call them both brethren, why? Because of their
behavior, because of their conduct. You see truth to them is secondary
but it's not though, there's a city, there's a heavenly city
where there's no more curse and the throne of God and of the
lamb are in it, and we'll see his face there. And there will
be no day and no night because the Lord God will be the light
of that place. And it says that outside that
city, outside. In the cursed darkness, there's
dogs, there's sorcerers, there's whoremongers, there's idolaters,
and murderers, and everyone who loves and makes a lie. God never says that the truth
is secondary to how people act. They're the same. In fact, nobody
really can act kind and act right without knowing the truth. They
can put on a good show about it, but they don't really, says
God. God has given his people light
by establishing his truth in their hearts, and that truth
is a person, the Lord Jesus Christ, and light comes from him because
he is the light of this world, and his people are in him. That's why the scripture says,
in thy light shall we see light. There's no salvation without
this, brethren. The light of truth dispels the
darkness of lies. The lip of truth is established
forever and a lying tongue is but for a moment. I know of no better way to preach
this than to just start from the beginning. Let's start where
God starts and see where truth has been established and the
lying tongue stopped. Let's go to Genesis chapter three. Genesis chapter three, this is
the first time in scripture that a lying tongue is used for the
name and the fame of our savior. It was just an occasion for God
to establish his truth forever. You know the simple, simple story.
They were told not to eat of the fruit and they did. God said
before they did, he said that when they did, they would die. They would be ruined in their
ability to fellowship with God and to relate to God and worship
God. Spiritually, they would be dead.
That's what he said. So let's read Genesis chapter
three. Let's start at verse four. Now God said that they would
die, but the serpent, verse four, said unto the woman, you shall
not surely die. For God doth know that in the
day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye
shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman
saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant
to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she
took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her
husband with her, and he did eat. Every lie, and I'm talking
in this sermon, I'm talking lies about spiritual things. I'm not
talking about, I'm talking about spiritual lies, about who God
is, what he does, what he has done, who Jesus Christ is, who
he does it for, what God says about himself, what he says about
us, those lies. Every lie comes from this lie. It's the same in spirit. Really,
it all says this. Every lie comes down to this.
You're not a dead sinner. In fact, you shall be like God. You are like God. You're on a
level with God. This is the corrupt tree, this
lie right here that Satan told. You shall not die because God
knows that in the day you eat, you shall be like God. Every
lie, this is the corrupt tree that bears fruit after its kind.
All lies are in the image and likeness of this lie right here. When a man stands in a pulpit
and he says, make a decision for Christ, let him be the Lord
of your life, what is that? He's saying, thou art not surely
dead in sins. When some motivational speaker
type gets up and says, you can be anything you want to, What
is that? Thou shalt be as God, that's
what he's saying. Every lie comes from this lie
right here. God says his hand formed the
crooked serpent. This lie was purposed for our
good, our spiritual and eternal good. It was so that God could
give out this promise, so he could establish his gospel, which
he does in verse 15 right here. Let's read verse 15. And I will
put enmity between thee and the woman, between the devil and
the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise
thy head, and thou shall bruise his heel. God put hatred between
the reprobate men, seed of the serpent, and the seed of the
woman, Jesus Christ. He put that enmity there. Remember
in the gospel, they called Christ a deceiver and he called them
a den of vipers. Satan persecuted and tempted
Christ while he was in the flesh. He bit his heel, but Christ crushed
his head on the cross. Verse 15 here is truth established
forever from the lips of the woman's seed. And God purposed
all of this because there's no salvation without sin and there's
no clinging to truth without being ruined by lies. This is
a preemptive victory declared. Only God can do that. Let's look
back at verse six now. At verse six, the woman saw that
the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes,
and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit
thereof. What's the lie? The lie is that
that was good for food, but that's just the lust of the flesh. The
truth is, as Christ said, if a man eat of my flesh, he shall
live forever. The lie is that it was pleasant
to the eyes, that's the lust of the eyes. But the truth is,
we walk by faith, not by sight. The lie is that it was desired
to make one wise. That's the pride of life. But
the truth is that Jesus Christ has made the wisdom of God to
his people. In Genesis 3, we see God who
cannot lie. He promised eternal life to his
people before the foundation of the world and declares it
right here. He purposed the serpent's lying tongue for a moment so
the lip of truth could be established forever by the seed of the woman. Secondly, the lip of truth shall
be established by the son of God coming into this world. When
he came, he fulfilled everything. He fulfilled all the scriptures.
They were established by him. You know, The Samaritans were,
they were really, they weren't quite Jews and they weren't quite
Gentiles. They were out of the loop, that's
what I was saying. But even that Samaritan woman
at the well, she said, I know, I know that when Messiah comes,
he shall tell us all things. Jesus Christ, when he came, he
established truth by showing us the Father. And he established
the truth forever by showing himself to be the fulfillment
of all the scriptures, the entire Old Testament scriptures. Who
so believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Whoever believes that he is everything
that the Old Testament declared him to be in type and shadow. By the words of his lips, Christ
established the truth of every one of God's attributes. He showed
us God's condescending pity when he took on flesh and was made
a little lower than the angels. He showed us the wisdom of God
by judging righteously and not after the sight of the eyes,
not after the lust of the eyes. He showed us God's care for men
in Mark chapter eight when he saw that his followers were hungry
and that they were too far away from any food and he made food
for them. He showed us the power of God
when he said, Lazarus, come forth, or Talitha, Kumai. And the man's
daughter was raised from the dead. He showed us the goodness
of God when he let the little children come and he stopped
his disciples from stopping the children. He showed us the severity
of God when he pointed to the false prophets and their followers
and said, let them fall into a ditch together. He showed us
the righteousness of God in the garden when he began to feel
in his bones the weight and the hell that we deserve, that he
was about to suffer for us. And he said, and he stooped down
and he said, my soul is exceedingly sorrowful unto death. He established
the truth forever of who God is, God's righteousness. Also, Our Lord established forever
the truth of the scriptures, which all pointed to him. The
lip of truth in the law was established. He said in John 15, I do always
the things that please the Father. The Bible says that the blood
of bulls and goats can never take away sins. But as John the
Baptist said, behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the
sins of the world. The lip of truth in the Old Testament
promises was established forever by our Lord Jesus. He is the
yea and the amen to all of God's promises. He is the shepherd
who gathers God's scattered sheep from all four corners of the
earth. When I read the Old Testament in the history of Israel, the
theme, the recurring theme all throughout is that God's people,
Israel, were scattered for their disobedience. They would go out
to battle and lose because they had been disobedient to God.
They would be scattered and taken captive by different armies. And God said in the Old Testament,
he that scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as a
shepherd doth his flock. This truth was established forever
when Christ spoke of himself as the shepherd and he said,
other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I
must bring and there shall be one fold and one shepherd and
they shall hear my voice. He is the fulfillment of everything
in the Old Testament and everything about the history of that nation
Israel, the truth of the law and promise was established forever
by him. We could search the scriptures
daily and read these promises and think we have eternal life.
But they are they that testify of him, he said. We have to know
him, the one who is the fulfillment of all these things, the one
who gathers God's scattered sheep. We have to know him. Remember when his parents found
him in the temple when he had stayed behind in Jerusalem. And
his parents found him in the temple in Luke chapter two. He
says he was sitting in the midst of the doctors of the law and
both hearing and asking questions. And it says that all that heard
him were astonished at his understanding and his answers. Why were they
astonished? Because when he spoke of the
scriptures, he was talking about himself. He was talking about
himself, that's why he could speak with authority and not
as the scribes and as the Pharisees. The lip of God's truth was established
forever on the cross. Psalm 85 verse 10 says, mercy
and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. If God was only merciful and
he could forgive sin and take sinners to himself, excuse their
transgressions, without a proper sacrifice, without a proper payment
being made, then we couldn't trust him. We couldn't trust
someone who acts like that. We certainly can't trust God
if he did that. There would be no truth in him.
On the other hand, if God were only all truth, we could never
approach him, we could never love him, because he could never
love us. We couldn't be near him. But
God is both merciful and truthful. He made peace while being righteous. He is the just and the justifier. This is the crux of the gospel.
And how can God be both? Because Christ said, oh, my father,
if it be possible, take this cup from me. Let this cup pass. Nevertheless, not what I will,
but as thou will. Here's the truth. The truth is
that there is a cup. That sin must be punished. It
will be punished. There's a cup of fury from God
because of sin, and it will be drunk by someone. But here's
the mercy. He's the one who drank it. So
there is no anger in God toward his people anymore. The cup is
empty. Let's go to Zechariah chapter
three, please. This is the truth of substitution,
Christ standing in our place and his righteousness becoming
ours. This is the truth of substitution
established by his lips. And the devil's lying tongue
stopped. It was only for a moment and
God stopped it. Let's go to Zechariah chapter
three. Now verse one, and he showed me Joshua the high priest
standing before the angel of the Lord. Now that angel is Christ,
look down in verse six and seven, and the angel of the Lord protested
unto Joshua saying, thus saith the Lord of hosts, if thou will
walk in my ways and keep my charge. An angel can't have ways and
give a charge like that, this is Christ. And he showed me Joshua
the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan
standing at his right hand to resist him. How does Satan resist
us? By telling God about our sins. Hey, look, you see that God? He sinned. He points out our
sins to God. I have a question, it's not a
trick question. When Satan says we have sinned,
when he says that to God, is it a lie? Yeah, that's a lie. It's a lie. Verse two, and the
Lord said unto Satan, the Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even the
Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee. Is not this a brand
plucked out of the fire? God stops his lying tongue. I
have chosen this one. This is the one I love. I've
plucked him out of the fire that I made for you and your angels. Verse three, now Joshua was clothed
with filthy garments. That's our sin. and stood before
the angel. And he answered and spake unto
those that stood before him, saying, take away the filthy
garments from him. And unto him he said, behold,
I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will
clothe thee with change of raiment. And I said, let them set a fair
mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon
his head and clothed them with garments. and the angel of the
Lord stood by. God says, I have caused thine
iniquity to pass. I will clothe thee. That's why
it's a lie when Satan says we have sinned. We're clothed in
the righteousness of Jesus Christ. This is just like in the garden
in Genesis chapter three. God suffers the lying tongue
to oppose for a moment and then stops it. The Lord rebuke thee
as he says here. Then he establishes the lip of
truth forever. that I have caused thine iniquity
to pass. Then he wraps his saint in a
covering for their shame, a covering not made by them. He says, I
will clothe thee, Joshua. The book of Revelation says that
the accuser of the brethren accused them before their God day and
night. He's always accusing, but his
lying tongue is but for a moment. And the truth of Christ's lips
is established forever, that his people are holy and without
blame before him in love. He has by his own blood washed
us from our sins and clothed us in fine linen, pure and white."
Pure and white, brother. If you're a married man, you
know. The most beautiful thing that
I've ever seen was my wife on our wedding day, by far. But that dress, that dress wasn't
made by me though. And if I, a fallen clay, just
a sinful man, if I can feel that strongly about something like
that, imagine the eternal God, Jesus Christ, when he sees us
clothed in a dress made by his own obedience unto death. Imagine
that. But that's the truth that's established
forever in the gospel. Just like the hymn goes, when
I stand before thy throne, dressed in beauty not my own. Because
mercy and truth met together, God has established forever the
truth that he's caused our iniquities to pass. and he has clothed us
in his righteousness. So the lying tongue of the accuser
is but for a moment. There's no salvation without
these things. This verse is about our salvation. Proverbs chapter 12, verse 19. Thirdly, the lip of truth is
established in us forever. when we're called by grace and
given a heart, a new heart to believe God's word, when he regenerates
us and gives us faith and repentance unto life to believe him and
to simply trust in what he says. This is when truth from his lips
becomes truth from our lips. God in Isaiah, he prophesied
of these gospel times and he calls us children who will not
lie. I bet you've told a lie today
in some form or fashion. I bet you have, but what is the
last thing, the last thing that you could lie about? That Jesus
Christ is all and in all. Peter even denied he lied. He denied knowing the Lord, but
he didn't deny who the Lord is. I couldn't imagine him doing
that. We were born speaking lies. The
wicked go astray from their mother's womb as soon as they be born,
speaking lies, the scripture says, but it was only for a moment.
The apostle Paul said, when it pleased God, when it pleased
God to call me by his grace and reveal his son in me, when it
pleased God, our lying tongues stopped and the truth was established
in us forever. God established it in the garden
in Genesis chapter three. He established it by Christ coming
and fulfilling everything in the scriptures and showing us
the Father. Now he establishes it in us. This is the doctrine which is
called the doctrine which is according to godliness. This
is the faith of God's elect being given to us. On that same day
that they rolled the stone away from our Lord's tomb, our Lord
taught his disciples what it means to have the truth established
in them forever. And it means this, it's to have
the scriptures open to them and to see that Christ is in the
volume of the book, it all speaks of him. In Luke chapter 24, Two disciples are walking on
the road to Demas and he sees them walking sad with their heads
hanging down and they're talking and he can tell that they're
sad and he comes up next to them and he says, what are you talking
about? And they say, well, haven't you
heard? You're just a stranger around here. Christ, who was a man mighty
in word and deed, the Gentiles and our rulers have crucified
him. And now it's the third day also.
So we thought that he was gonna be the one to free Israel. And he says, oh, fools and slow
of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. And
what is it that the prophets spoke? Ought not Christ to have
suffered these things and to enter into his glory? The suffering
of Christ and the glory that should follow established from
the prophet's lips forever. And then our Lord told them,
he opened to them the scriptures that I can't imagine what it
would be like to have heard that sermon. And it says in Luke 24,
and beginning at Moses and all the prophets, that's everything. He expounded unto them while
they were walking on that road. He expounded unto them in all
the scriptures, the things concerning himself. That is the lip of truth
established in us forever. Now, when they got to the village
where they were walking to, our Lord acted like he would have
kept walking. But they constrained him, saying,
abide with us, for the night is near, the day is far spent. Lord, if you're not around, it's
just darkness. Please, Lord, stay with us. Later, later those two disciples
were talking and they said, did not our hearts burn within us
when he opened to us the scriptures? They burned because we see that
all scriptures are the things concerning him. When the Holy
Ghost establishes the lip of truth in us forever, our hearts
burn for him to keep walking with us and keep showing us in
all the scriptures that he should suffer and enter into glory. We say, Lord, open the scriptures
to me. Lord, stay with me. The night
is near. If you're not here, it's only darkness. Lord, don't
be silent to me. But the hope is, brethren, because
our text says the lip of truth shall be established. Our hope
of every believer is that he promises to expound to them in
all the scriptures the things concerning himself, shall be
established forever. Let's go please to, let's go
to 2 Thessalonians chapter two please. Second Thessalonians chapter
two. Now, the man of sin is not one
man. I used to think that it is, and
as I read the scriptures more, I can't believe that anymore.
The man of sin is all men who oppose the scriptures of truth,
who oppose the gospel. And each of these people make
up him, They're collectively called a man, the man of sin,
the unbelieving world. It's similar to how the church
is called a man in Ephesians chapter four. God gave different
gifts for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all come
in the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the son of God
unto a perfect man. unto the measure of the stature
of the fullness of Christ. We all, notice there, we all
being the body of Christ, and we all come unto a perfect man. That man is the fullness of Christ. And so the man of sin is all
those who oppose God's truth. Similarly, let's read 2 Thessalonians
2 to see the lip of truth established in God's elect and the lying
tongue only for a moment. Chapter two, now we beseech you,
brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our
gathering together unto him, that you be not soon shaken in
mind or be troubled, neither by spirit nor by word nor by
letter from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no
man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come except
there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed. the son of perdition, who opposeth
and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is
worshiped, so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God,
showing himself that he is God. This is what they do. This is what the man of sin who
loves lies, this is what they do. Remember, it comes from the
same lie, the first lie. You shall not surely die, you
shall be as God. You'll sit in the temple of God,
showing yourself that you are God. This is what they do who
love lies. They say there's some good in
you. That is the man of sin. Let's read verse five, remember
ye not that when I was yet with you, I told you these things,
and now you know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in
his time for the mystery of iniquity doth already work, only he Only
he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the
way. And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall
consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with
the brightness of his coming. They shall be revealed, and they're
revealed to God's people, only they have eyes to see this. And
the man of sin reveals himself by taking to himself power that
belongs to God, an ability that only God can give. It says, the
Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, that is obviously
from Isaiah chapter 11, where it says, with the breath of his
lips shall he just slay the wicked. Verse nine, even him whose coming
is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and
lying wonders, whose coming is after. The man of sin is actually
very religious, but his faith, his faith so-called is after,
it's from, it comes from the working of Satan. It's a result
of the evil one. Verse 10. 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 wicked
shall be silent in darkness forever because God's promises that a
lying tongue is but for a moment. But he promised the lip of truth
to be established forever. And in us, it's sobering to think
and it should drive me to my knees in prayer. We, I, and either
one in whom God's truth is revealed. or I'm under a strong delusion
and believing a lie. Verse 13, 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.
We thank God because God, we are bound to give thanks to God
because God from the beginning. Anything less than thanks to
God because God, anything less than that is no gospel at all.
Anything more than that is no gospel at all. Anything more
than that or less than that is just the same as the unjust publican
praying in the temple, and it said, he prayed thus with himself. Lord, I thank you that I, I thank
you that I, his prayers never made it past his own skull. The
heavens were shut up to him. He prayed with himself. He was
under a strong delusion. We thank God. for our salvation
and for our brethren, because we know that none of these things,
none of these things had anything to do with us. We did not need
our contribution at any point. This is how God teaches truth.
This is how God establishes his truth in his elect. Look, it's
the beloved of the Lord. We thank you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord. These are those whom God has
set his love on from eternity. And we thank God because God
hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. He blessed
them in Christ and chose them in Christ, not according to their
works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was
given them in Christ Jesus before the world began. And he accepted
them in the beloved before time began. And this is through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. That's how the salvation
happens that they were chosen to. God would send his gospel
to them, creating life in them and causing them to approach
to him and giving them a heart to know him. This work of the
Holy Spirit that sanctifies and regenerates is the same as the
explosive power that shines light through the universe for the
first time. And yet Christ described it in John chapter three as the
wind blowing. Thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whether it comes nor whether it goes. How
do you hear the sound of wind though? It's just a few leaves
shaking, gentle. And how do you hear the sound
of the spirit moving? Well, because you hear a lying
tongue stopped and somebody starting to speak truth about God. That's
when the spirit's working. You see, who can work a work
like that in a way that's so glorious? The explosive power
of God. Paul writes that God has shined
in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the Son of
God. What we see when God teaches truth is somebody bowing for
the first time and rejoicing. What we don't see, though, is
the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. And it's to the obtaining of
the glory of Jesus Christ. God says in verse 14 here, all
of this is to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. We fall short of the glory of
God, and God says that he will not give his glory to another.
So what could this mean? Well, in John chapter 17, our
Lord prays to the Father, and he says, and the glory which
thou has given me, I have given them, that they may be one, even
as we are one. Brethren, we have the truth established
in us, and our lying tongues stopped. And the truth, as John
writes, is forever. The truth shall be with us forever.
We'll know Christ for eternity, we'll be with him for an eternity
in a place where there are no lies. God says, in light of all this,
God says, love not the world, neither the things that are of
the world. I often think what God would do with a man whose
back was so fully turned on the world that there was just nothing
there for him, nothing there of interest. If any man loved
the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is
in the world, the lusts of the flesh, think back to the garden
now, this is Eve's lusts, the lusts of the flesh, the lusts
of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but
of the world. And the world passeth away, because
a lying tongue is but for a moment. But he that doeth the will of
God abideth forever, because the lip of truth shall be established
forever. And Jesus Christ is that lip
of truth. And we will be with him and live
forever. Amen.