As we celebrated Easter, we were reminded of the demonstration of Jesus’ victory over sin and death. The story however did not end there, by laying His life down and resurrecting on the third day, Jesus gave you and I the power over sin and death. Easter demonstrated the truth that the grave does not, cannot and will not have a hold on us because of what Jesus did.
As I thought about today's topic, three things came to my my mind. To proclaim the truth, you have to
1. Accept the truth
2. Proclaim the truth to yourself
3. Proclaim the truth to others
Accept the truth
Many years ago when I was in the University, we were taught one of the fundamentals of property law. In Latin, it is expressed as “nemo dat quod non habet” which translates to, "no one can give what they do not have." This legal principle is based on the idea that a person cannot transfer more rights or property than they themselves possess. In essence, the doctrine means that someone cannot transfer or grant a right or ownership interest in property if they do not have that right or interest themselves. For example, if my friend gave me the keys to his car to hold for him, the law does not permit me to sell or give someone else the right to use that car.
Some of you readers may already know where I am going with this. To proclaim the truth, you must have accepted the truth. You cannot give what you don’t have. If you do not accept the truth, you cannot speak or share the truth.
The next logical question therefore is, “what is truth?” If you are asking the question, you would not be the first person to ask. In John 18:33-38, there was a discourse between Jesus and Pilate. The conclusion of that dialogue was Pilate’s question, “What is truth?” Pilate did not ask this question because he wanted an answer. It was merely a retort, an effort to disregard Jesus’ previous statement, “…the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of the truth listens to me” (John 18:37)
Pilate was standing before the Truth but he was not able to recognise Him. He missed the opportunity to experience truth because when he asked the question, it was not because he wanted an answer, his question was likely rhetorical or dismissive, reflecting a cynical attitude or skepticism about the concept of truth itself. Pilate may have been more concerned with political expediency and maintaining his authority than with knowing the truth as expressed in Christ Jesus.
In any case, Pilate's question serves to underscore the contrast between the earthly powers of the Roman Empire, represented by Pilate, and the divine truth embodied by Jesus. While Pilate may have viewed truth as a vague or elusive concept, Jesus affirmed Himself as the ultimate truth, as He declared, "I am the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6).
The same way, many today have an aversion for the truth. The fact is that you do not become a Christian just by having a Christian name, born by Christian parents or regularly going to Church. You become a Christian when you give your life to Christ and accept Him as your Lord and Saviour. When you accept Jesus, you accept truth. How do I know this? Because Jesus told us Himself in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me”.
Jesus was unequivocal about how we can come to the Father. It has to be through Him or no one else. This is a subject that many are quite uncomfortable with and I dare say even some Christians struggle with the idea that the only way to God is through Jesus. John 14:6 is so clear and unambigous that it cannot be translated any other way. If you want to know truth, you need to come to Jesus. It is as simple as that.
Proclaiming The Truth To Yourself
We all go through that cycle in life when we experience highs and lows. When all is well with the world, it is so easy to praise God, speak about His goodness and celebrate His faithfulness. When it feels like life is hard and our world seems to be crashing, we wonder where God is. I have discovered that God is exactly where He says He will be, with me and with you…always “ (Hebrews 13:5) He also promised to be with me when (not if) I walk through the water and when I walk through the fire (Isaiah 43:2)
In 1 Samuel 30, The Amalikites had just raided Ziklag which was David’s residence at the time. He was away while this happened so when he returned to the sight of the destruction of his home as well as the kidnapping of his family, he was understandably broken with grief. To make matters worse, the people of the town were thinking of stoning David because they somehow blamed him for what happened. In that same verse, (verse 6) We read, “But David felt strengthened and encouraged in the Lord his God”
I don’t know what people have said about you in the past or what they might be saying now, the truth about you is what God says. God says He loves you and nothing can separate you from His love (Romans 8:39), He promises to work all things together for your good (Romans 8:28) He promises to give strength to you when you are tired and weary (Isaiah 40:31)
He said you should not fear because He is with you and not to be dismayed because He is your God. He promises to strengthen and help you. He promised to hold you with His righteous right hand (Isaiah 41:10)
Because we have the truth, we need to constantly proclaim it over ourselves because our enemy is constantly waging war against us and his weapon of choice is falsehood. If he can make you believe what God has not said, it gives him leverage over us. We cannot allow that to happen. This is why one of the weapons of warfare God gave to us is the belt of truth.
The Roman soldier’s belt is where weapons are kept and secured. It is also used to keep the clothing in place because a soldier could not fight with loose clothing otherwise he will be put at a disadvantage while engaging with the enemy.
The belt of truth helps us identify what is true and what is false. When the tempter came to Jesus, he started with the word, ‘if’. Our mind is the battlefield where Satan is constantly waging war. He knows that If he can win the battle of a man’s mind, the rest is easy. The belt of truth helps us to keep God’s word close to our heart so that when we are assaulted with lies, we can repel with the truth.
2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” If what we believe is not rooted in God’s Word, we cannot expect to fight battles for Christ.
Proclaiming The Truth To Others
If we have accepted the truth and live by the truth, we cannot afford to keep the truth to ourselves. The world we live in today is filled with so much misinformation and half-truths and the search for truth is leading many to the wrong places. In His letter to the Romans 10:13-15, Paul highlighted a logical progression: people need to hear about Jesus in order to believe in Him, they need to believe in Him in order to call on Him for salvation, and they need someone to preach to them in order to hear about Him. This underscores the vital role of evangelism and missions in spreading the message of salvation.
The job of sharing the gospel is not just for the pastors, elders or those leading in one capacity or the other. We are all commanded to go. We will not all be pastors, evangelists or missionaries but we are commanded to use every opportunity given to us to share the truth with others.
How we communicate this truth to others is very important. I have seen people preaching on the streets with compassion and I admire their commitment and courage to preach in busy places where people just walk past them without bothering to listen but I know that time is not wasted because God just needs a word to be planted in someone’s mind. The rest will be watered elsewhere.
I have also seen people screaming the gospel at people and making little or no sense. Proclaiming the truth is both a privilege and a responsibility. It requires compassion and love to convey the good news to others the right way.That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”“ Romans 10:15 NLT
Proclaiming the truth to others extends beyond merely sharing the gospel; it encompasses living out the gospel in our daily lives.
It has been aptly observed that while some individuals may not open a Bible, they undoubtedly read the living testimonies we present through our actions and interactions along life's journey.
Matthew 5:16 states, "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."
When others see the sincerity and consistency of our lives in Christ, they are more likely to be drawn to the truth we proclaim.
