“I AM TRUTH ”

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25736, 6 January 1945, Page 3

“I AM TRUTH ”

Written for the Otago Daily Times By the Rev. Gardner Miller

I suppose you have noticed, when reading the Gospels, how emphatic Jesus is at times. He had a wonderful way of saying things that stick. Has the world ever forgotten the words, “I am the Light of the world ”7 In picture and story and sermon that statement of His lias never been allowed to be forgotten. The words He spoke while dying slowly on a Cross have etched themselves into the memory of the human race. There has never been anyone like Jesus. There lias never been anyone whose words have so dominated and controlled the lives of millions as His words. Why is that? Is it not because He states facts that are absolute? Prove that any one‘of His statements of fact is untrue and He becomes the most discredited man in history But it has never been done. It cannot be done. Is it not amazing that a man should live in an obscuic corner of Judea nineteen centuries ago, speak an insignificant dialect., and yet. in spite of having suffered a shameful death, reign as God for these ■ 2000 years and be adored by hundreds of millions! That stupendous fact must be accounted for. And it can only be so as we pay Him the very simple honour of admitting tnat He spoke'the truth. Indeed, one must go further and admit that Jesus is the Truth.

"I am the Truth,” and "The Truth shall make you' free," are statements that dovetail —are statements that, if disproved, would split the world from top to bottom. Jesus stands or falls by the truth of which He Himself is the complete embodiment. Now, truth is something to which we ail lift our hats and frequently we bow the knee to it, but it is not generally a fixed and shining light by which We steer our ship. If we could see (ruth, the truth of anything about which we have to make a choice, or even a statement, as something of which Jesus is the centre, we would never evade truth or use it as a weapon to hurt (and a blunt weapon at that) anyone. Put Christ at the centre of every situation and you need never worry about results. Truth never imprisons: it is Falsehood That Binds. When you tell a lie to shut the cell door on yourself, when you connive at a dubious situation, you set forces in operation that will, unless you repent, claim you and brand you as a coward. And a coward is always a verv miserable person. You have often heard that one lie leads to another. And it is true. It is amazing how many under-statements and overstatement's and downright trickery statements are needed to cover up the first false statement. And it never is covered: there is always a bit sticking out to give'you away, whereas the truth never needs such advocacy and trickery. It stands out and waits the ultimate result with calmness. A lie is always a false signal. Just as a false signal can dash a train to disaster, so the lie you tell, even though it be that white-washed thing called a half-truth, can lead a human soui into darkness and despair. We have no right to hold out false signals. No man who has ever known Christ dare, without disastrous consequences to himself, be on speaking terms with falsehood. The lies ,of history have almost wrecked civilisation. And the liar is a wretched prisoner in a cell that becomes smaller and smaller — unless he repents. Truth Liberates

“The truth shall make you free. How true that is! There is nothing so liberating as truth. Look at it in a simple way. Do you remember how terrified you were to pass a cemetery at night! Because of stories that haunted you, the cemetery became a place of ghosts. But when once you learned that the emptiest place in all the world is a cemetery, you never were afraid of it again. The truth set you free. You found out how true it is that there are no such things as ghosts and goblins. Apply this to all your plans, and you will realise that truth opens the prison door of your mind and sets you free. Think, too, of how the truth of the Reformation set civilisation free from an awful tyranny, and how the truth that the human being had certain rights liberated millions from economic slavery. And have you not been in this position that you have had horrid suspicions—suspicions which became like coiling, hissing serpents—and when, at last, you heard and realised the truth you knew that you had no right to be suspicious! Truth sets , you free. Never permit your imagination to rule you. Notice how free Jesus .was at the moment when His enemies had Him in their power, at the moment when He seemed most helpless. It was when He stood before the council. They smacked His face, blindfolded Him. spat on Him, and yetand yet—listen to this!—He said. “ From henceforth shall the Son of Man be seated at the right hand of power." He was victorious even when in the clutches of His bitter enemies. “ Final power is Mine ” —that is what He meant. With His hands bound, and the spittle running down His face, eyes blind-folded, He talks about sitting at the right hand of power! Amazing! It was the truth He embodied that gave Him the victory—the truth, namely, that nothing can bind the soul that clings to God. Truth, like God, can never be imprisoned. “ I am truth,” said Jesus, and the history of the world has proved it. again and again, in spite of the seeming advances of trickery. Is Christ the truth to you? Are you burdened? Go to Him and tell Him all about it, and He will set you free. Never be afraid of truth, for truth is Christ, and Christ came to set men free.