SHOW YOUR TRUE SELF AND SPEAK THE TRUTH

PROCLAMATION

“And Joseph said unto his brethren, ‘Come near me, I pray you.’  And they came near.  And he said, ‘I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.’ ”  Genesis 45:4 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These are the words of God which were revealed to and written by Moses under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  After playing games with his brothers for a while and testing them, Joseph revealed the truth to them that he was their brother. (Genesis 45:1-4)  Then he told them not to be angry with themselves for what they had done.  They meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.  He said because of the way things happened he was now in a position to save their lives. (Genesis 45:5-8)  He told them to go back home and get their father and bring him there.  He said that they could live in Goshen near him for there were still five more years of famine remaining. (Genesis 45:9-13)  Then he hugged and kissed his brothers and wept.  When the Pharaoh heard that Joseph’s brothers had come, he said for them to return home and get their father and him back, and he would give them the best land in Egypt.  He also gave them donkeys laden with provisions, and he gave them carts for their wives and children to ride in when they brought them back to Egypt. (Genesis 45:14-23)  When they arrived in Canaan, they told their father Israel all that had transpired including that Joseph was the governor of Egypt. (Genesis 45:24-28)

 

APPLICATION

All too often people put on a false face and pretend to be someone that they are not.  We should not try to “live a lie” in order to please or impress someone.  If people cannot accept us for the person that we are, then we are better off without them in our lives.  We need to be truthful to ourselves, and to others, for The Lord God detests liars. (Psalm 101:7)  As believers we are God’s representatives here on earth.  He is holy, so we should be holy. (1 Peter 1:16)  He is truthful, so we should be truthful. (Proverbs 12:17, Zechariah 8:16, and Ephesians 4:25)  Remember, perfection is not humanly possible, but it is a goal that is well worth striving for.

  

CHRIST IS NOT OF THIS WORLD AND NEITHER ARE BELIEVERS

PROCLAMATION

“Once more Jesus said to them, ‘I am going away, and … Where I go, you cannot come.’ … But He continued, ‘You are from below; I am from above.  You are of this world; I am not of this world.’”  John 8:21-23 (NIV)

 

EXPLANATION

These words are from the gospel, the good news regarding Jesus, The Christ, according to the Apostle John and written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  John begins this chapter with Jesus, The Christ, in the temple in Jerusalem teaching when the scribes and Pharisees brought in a woman who was caught in the act of adultery.  They recounted the law to Him and then asked Him what His opinion was, so that they could trap Him and have a basis for accusing Him.  If He agreed with the law of Moses, they would accuse Him to the Roman governor for taking it upon Himself to condemn a person to death.  If He disagreed with the law of Moses, they would accuse Him to the Jewish people as being an enemy of Moses.  Jesus did neither and said to them, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” (John 8:7)  Being convicted by their conscience, those who brought the woman left, (John 8:9) and Jesus resumed teaching.  However, the Pharisees within the crowd in the temple challenged Him with respect to His authority. (John 8:13)  In His explanation of who He was, Jesus said that He was not of this world. (John 8:23)  Later, He told them that they were children of the devil and not of God. (John 8:44-47)  They claimed to be the children of Abraham and asked Jesus if He was greater than Abraham. (John 8:52-53)  To this Jesus responded, “Before Abraham was, I Am!” (John 8:58)  Hearing this, they picked up stones in order to stone Jesus, but He slipped away passing through the midst of them. (John 8:59)

 

APPLICATION

Here are four of the many points to remember that are presented in this chapter.  First, people who live in glass houses should not throw stones.  The reason that the people who accused the woman of adultery could not stone her was because all of them were guilty of sin themselves. (John 8:7-9)  We should not go around accusing others of sinning when we are guilty of sinning ourselves, although maybe of committing a different sin.  Secondly, as believers we have The Holy Spirit of God within us; and since God is not of this world, we are not of this world.  We are just strangers here passing through on our way to our home in heaven.  Thirdly, the devil is a liar and the truth is not in him.  He is the father of lies. (John 8:44)  It is not Christ-like to tell a lie or to intentionally deceive others.  Fourthly, the people of God hear the voice of God. (John 8:47)  We recognize and know His voice, (John 10:27) even if we do not always obey it. 

  

 

SHOW PEOPLE YOUR TRUE SELF AND SPEAK THE TRUTH

Proclamation:

“Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come close to me.’  When they had done so, he said, ‘I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt.’”  Genesis 45:4 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words of God which were written by Moses under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  After Joseph had sold his brothers the grain they requested, he returned their money to them and sent them on their way home. (Genesis 42:25-26)  Because of the continued famine in their land they again ran out of food. (Genesis 43:1-2)  When they went back to Egypt to buy more grain, they took their youngest brother, Benjamin, with them as Joseph had requested. (Genesis 43:8-13)  After playing games with them for a while, Joseph revealed the truth to them that he was their brother. (Genesis 45:3-15)

Application:

All too often people put on a false face and pretend to be someone that they are not.  We should not try to “live a lie” in order to please or impress someone.  If they cannot accept us for the person that we are, then we are better off without them in our lives.  We need to be truthful to ourselves, and to others, for The Lord God detests liars. (Psalm 101:7)  As believers we are God’s representatives here on earth.  He is holy, so we should be holy. (1 Peter 1:16)  He is truthful, so we should be truthful. (Proverbs 12:17, Zechariah 8:16, and Ephesians 4:25)

DO THAT WHICH IS GOOD AND AVOID THAT WHICH IS EVIL

Proclamation:

“Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good.  Anyone who does what is good is from God.  Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.”  3 John 1:11 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by the apostle John, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to his friend and fellow believer, Gaius.  This single chapter letter focuses on John’s pastoral joy in the Christian walk of one of his spiritual children. (3 John 1:3-4)  He has heard about what Gaius was doing for the brothers and sisters, and even for strangers, and he encouraged him to continue to show them Christian hospitality. (3 John 1:5-8)  Then he urged him to do that which is good and not to imitate the evil which was being done by some in the church. (3 John 1:9-10)

Application:

Unfortunately, not every member of a congregation is a child of God.  There are some who are only interested in promoting themselves.  They cause or stir up confusion, spread malicious rumors, and mistreat the believers and visitors. (3 John 1:9-10)  Those who intentionally do evil within the church, and outside of it, are not from God but are under the influence of another spirit. (1 John 3:10 and 3 John 1:11)  We should be careful not to imitate all that we see in church.  We should also examine ourselves to make sure that we are doing whatever we do to serve God and not seeking self glory.  Do only that which is good, Christ-like, and that which gives God glory.

TELL THE TRUTH AND DON'T LIE

Proclamation:

“An honest witness tells the truth, but a false witness tells lies.”  Proverbs 12:17 (NIV)

“Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.”  Proverbs 12:19 (NIV)

“The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in people who are trustworthy.”  Proverbs 12:22 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by King Solomon, the son of King David.  Solomon was the wisest man to ever live. (2 Chronicles 1:11-12)  His proverbs were written to teach and guide the people of God so that they would know and practically apply The Word of God.

Application:

When we speak, we should tell the truth.  We should not lie.  The Lord God detests liars.  The Bible tells us that all liars will spend eternity in the lake of fire and brimstone (Revelation 21:8) unless they are believers who have been forgiven and have their names written in the book of life. (Revelation 20:15)  Let us pray to The Lord God for forgiveness for our past lies and ask for His help to speak the truth.  Let us practice good Christian conversation.  It is better not to say anything than to lie.  Some of the things that we say are better left unsaid.  We should only speak that which is truthful and helpful.

Be Christ-like And Tell The Truth

"Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator."  Colossians 3:9-10 (NIV)

While under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, the Apostle Paul wrote these words in a letter to the believers in Colosse.  As part of his encouragement to them to live a holy life, Paul told them not to lie to each other.  He said that lying was part of their old nature, which they had given up when they were transformed into new creators by their acceptance of Christ as their personal Savior.  He also said that they should be renewing themselves daily in the image of The Lord God. 

As believers, when we speak we should tell the truth.  The Ten Commandments state that we should not bear false witness. (Exodus 20:16)  Even though today we are not under the law, we are under grace, we should note that Jesus told the rich young man that he should keep the commandments. (Matthew 19:18-19)  We should always tell the truth.  We should probably talk less than we do, because the more we speak, the more likely we are to lie. (Matthew 5:37)  Lying is an abomination to The Lord. (Proverbs 12:22)  There is a special place in hell for liars. (Revelation 21:8)  Since believers are not to act or talk like non-believers, we are to transform our behavior and renew our mind each day, in order that we might become more like Christ. (Romans 12:2)  Let us hold our tongue, and when we speak, let us speak in a Christ-like manner.  Let us be truthful and kind.

Speak Act And Live Holy

"Do not steal. Do not lie.  Do not deceive one another.  Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God.  I am The LORD."  Leviticus 19:11-12 (NIV)

The Lord God spoke to Moses and told him to tell the people to be holy because The Lord their God was holy. (Leviticus 19:1-2)  They were to deal and speak honestly with one another.  They were not to steal from, lie to, or deceive each other.  They were not to curse each other, or put stumbling blocks in front of each other.  They were to obey all of The Lord's decrees. (Leviticus 19:37) 

Believers today are to live by a different standard that the rest of the world.  As people of God we are to speak and behave in a Christ-like manner.  We are not to be dishonest with one another, nor are we to deceive one another.  The world will know that we are children of God by the way in which we treat one another. (John 13:35)  We are to speak, act, and live holy because The God that we serve is holy.  Let us pray that the mind which is in Christ Jesus would also be in us. (Philippians 2:5)