For those that don't want to listen to the broadcast I've made a transcript on the section presented by Losch on Champions of Truth.
Be a champion of truth
In today's world truth is being attacked and distorted. We are being surrounded by a sea of lies and
misrepresentations.... Satan is the
father of the lie but today there are children of the lie....
A lie is a false
statement deliberately being presented as true.
A falsehood. A lie is the
opposite of the truth. Lying involves
saying something incorrect to someone who is entitled to know the truth about a
matter. But there is also something
called a half truth. The bible tells Christians
to be honest with each other. Now that
you have put away deceit, speak truth wrote the Apostle Paul at Ep 4:25. Lies and half truths undermine trust. A German proverb says Who lies once is not
believed even if he says the truth. So
we need to speak openly and honestly with each other, not withholding bits of
information that could change the perception in the listener or mislead him.
As to lies, there are different types. Some politicians have lied about matters that
they want to keep secret. Companies
sometimes lie in advertisements regarding their products. What about the news media. Many try to report matters truthfully but we
should not be gullible and believe everything newspapers write or everything we
hear on radio or see on television.
Then there are religious lies. If satan is called the father of the lie
then BTG the global empire of false
religion can be called the mother of the lie. Individual false religions can be
called daughters of the lie. Some lie be
saying that sinners will get tormented in hell forever. Others lie by saying once saved, always
saved. Again, others lie by saying that
the earth will be burnt up on judgement day and all good people will go to
heaven. Some worship idols. Paul wrote in Romans 1:25 ‘They exchanged the
truth of God for the lie and venerated sacred service to the creation rather
than the creator.
Then there are many lies of a personal nature that people express in every day
life. The business man may get a phone
call that tells the secretary to answer the call by saying ‘i’m not in’. That may be considered a small lie. There are small lies, big lies and malicious
lies. A child may have broken something
but when asked initially, out of fear of punishment, denies having done
it. This does not make the child a
malicious lier. In contrast, what if an
entrepenuer tells his bookkeeper to falsify the entries in the books in order
to save on taxes? This lying to the tax
office is certainly a serious lie, it is a deliberate attempt to mislead
somebody who has the right to know. It
also robs the Government of what it has established legal income. We can see that not all lies are the same. There are small lies, big lies and malicious
lies. Satan is a malicious lier, he is
the champion of the lie. Since Jehovah
hates lies, we should avoid all lies. Not
just big or malicious lies.
But can we find the truth?
Some say that the truth is relative.
It is like saying ‘this is truth for you and this is truth for me’ This truth is not logical when it comes to
religious truth. Either God is a trinity
or he is not. Either the soul is mortal
or it is not. Either there is a future
paradise on earth or there is not.
Either homosexuality is acceptable to God or it is not. Either participating in wars was is permissible or
it is not. Truth is definite not relative
because Jehovah conveyed the truth to his servants. Ps 43:3 says ‘Send out your light and your
truth’. Jehovah is a revealer of
truth.
One of the reasons why Jesus came out into the world was to
witness to the truth. John 18:37 ..’I
should bear witness to the truth...’ So
if we listen to Jesus or read in the
bible what he taught we can learn the truth.
Jesus was the personification of truth he said ‘I am the way and the
truth and the light’. We can find out
what the truth is by diligently studying the bible Truth is that which is a
fact. For true Christians the entire
text of the Hebrew and Christian Greek scriptures constitutes the truth. Ps 119;116 ..That is why it is good to do
daily bible reading with mediation and weekly family worship. Mt 24:45-47 we read that for the time fo the
end Jesus would appoint a FDS or GB to explain the bible to his followers and
help them to grow in understanding of the truth.
Whereas Jesus’ teachings and the word of God are inspired
the FDS is not inspired although it champions the truth.
Nevertheless the FDS provides spiritual food. Whereas in the first century there was
supernatural spiritual food available for apostles and bible writers, in the
time of the end Jehovah does not bestow this miraculous gift anymore as explained
at 1 Corinthians 13:8. Although there
is no divine inspiration today still Jesus leads his people progressively through the services of the faithful
slave. Jesus trusted the imperfect
faithful slave that it will do its best to convey spiritual food. Do you also trust the slave? Whereas the truth of Gods word does not
change our understanding of the truth does change because we are not perfect
yet. We understand more about the truth
today than Christians in the first century.
Do we keep up with the progressive understanding of truth? Daniel was told many would rove about and the
true knowledge will become abundant. This
is a gradual process, we are still roving about.
During the millennium Jehovah will reveal additional truth
to mankind. Rev 20:12 it mentions
scrolls that will be opened. The apostle
John reports that the dead are to be judged out of those things written in the
scrolls depending on their deeds .
Evidently then these scrolls will contain additional information for
mankind during the 1.000 years. It
stands to reason then that after the end of the millennial reign there will be
additional truths to learn. Still,
according to Eccl. 3:11 ‘Mankind will never find out the work that the true God
has made’.
But how do we know that we have the truth? At penticost 33 of our common era true Christians
numbered only about 3,000. Today we are
millions and on average, every weekend more than 5,000 people are baptised but
this in itself is not proof that we have the truth. Truth is not measured in numbers.
Why do we know that we have the truth?
For one, because we remain in Jesus teaching. John 5:31
Second, we know we have the truth because of the deep bond
of love for each other particularly john 13:35
Thirdly, we know we have the truth because our conduct
adheres to the high moral standards of
truth. John 15:10
Fourth, we know we have the truth because we remain neutral in the controversies of the world As Jesus advises at John 17:14
Fifth, we know we have the truth because we are God’s named
people Acts 15:14 speaks of a people for his name.
Jesus said the truth will set you free. It sets us free from fears , like the fear of
death, fear of the future and an exaggerated fear of man. It also sets us free from false teachings,
from spiritism, from astrology and magic.
It sets us free from immorality and its consequences . There are no other people on earth that are
spiritually free as we are. Do we appreciate
that freedom? Truth leads to freedom 2
cor. 3:17 says where the spirit of Jehovah is there is freedom.
The truth penetrates schools, how so? By
means of our children who preach the truth to classmates and teachers. Do you go to school? Do you champion the truth at school? How can you do this? You do this not only by preaching but by not
just your conduct but your dress and grooming and by taking a stand for the
truth when others want you to participate in unchristian practices. You also champion the truth by remaining
honest and not cheating on your exams and Jehovah will love you for that.
The truth also penetrates prisons....contacting
prisoners...even monasteries..
The world is in utter confusion. What a blessing it is to know the truth. We rejoice in it, we have the truth on our
side...We have the truth around our lips, we have the truth on our hips...We
are ready to teach it, we talk the truth and we walk in the truth. Those who continue to walk in the truth will
walk in it forever. Help your students
to love the truth and to live in the truth but if necessary, be willing to die
in the truth and for Jehovah.
The truth is invincible and will conquer this wicked
world. In some countries we may have
many enemies who may want to silence us...neither can our enemies suppress the
truth.
Do we appreciate that we have the truth, the only
truth? Is this arrogant to say? By no means, it would be a sin if we would
not say so. Jesus was not arrogant when
he said ‘I am the truth’
To know the truth is not enough. We need to champion. There are still many lovers of truth out
there, search for them, who will help you in the search? According to John 4:23 Jesus said Jehovah is
searching for ones....The majority will not listen to the truth because the
darkness rather than the light. The
truth may expose their sinful conduct
and they may not have the humility to want to repent and change . We still have to preach to them to warn
them. Ezekial was told, you must warn
them from me. The principle applies to
us as well.
Paul speaks of the sword of Gods word. ...train your students to be defenders of it
as well.
The time will come in paradise, after the final test, when
it will not be necessary to champion or defend truth because no one will attack
it anymore.
Right now, whether we are adults, teenagers or children, let
us follow and imitate Jesus. ..hold fast
to the truth as a lifeline as this it what it is by staying faithful whether
you survive Armageddon or are resurrected in paradise you will be a victorious
champion of truth.
