11/24, Verity

R. M. McCeyne’s DAILY BREAD portions:

MORNING:
1 Chronicles 19-20 (family); Jonah 3 (secret)
EVENING:
1 Peter 1 (family); Luke 8 (secret)

A CHRISTIAN CATECHISM:

Q61.What is the ninth commandment?
A61. The ninth commandment is, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.” Exodus 20:16

Q62. What is required in the ninth commandment?
A62. The ninth commandment requires the maintaining and promoting of truth between man and man, and of our own, and our neighbor’s good name, especially in witness-bearing. Proverbs 14:5, 25; Zechariah 8:16; Acts 25:10; 1 Peter 3:16; 2 John 1:12



CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST DEVOTION:

“Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth” (John 17:17).

The account of the fall of man tells us that Satan cast doubt upon the truth of God’s Word and then opposed it outright by lying about it; Eve was carried away in that deception; Adam was immediately disobedient to the truth of God’s command not to eat from the tree in the middle of the Garden.

Although deception and disobedience travel in the same circles and are found as partners in near proximity to one another, deception is not necessarily the cause of disobedience.

Adam and Eve were created in perfection, without sin; nevertheless, man’s will was unstable as merely a created being, and without any compulsion, Adam willfully transgressed the law of their creation and the command given them not to eat the forbidden fruit.

Now, if Adam and Eve were perfect and sinless as created beings, and the one was deceived in ignorance of God’s Word and the other was willfully disobedient to God’s Word, could we possibly think that we, though saved and redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, that we might fair better, especially when we consider that we dwell in the imperfect fleshly tabernacle we inherited from Adam and Eve? Christ’s righteousness is imputed to the redeemed, not imparted.

Yet, what God has given to us is the glorious blessing of sanctifying us by His truth, through His truth, in His truth, and for His truth.

We are sanctified by Him. Truth, itself, does not keep us from deception and disobedience. The love of His truth keeps us from its allure. But love for His truth only comes from our love for Him, Jesus Christ, who is very Truth: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6).

We are sanctified through Him. The fullness of God’s revelation of truth is found in the 66 books of God’s holy Word. To seek truth apart from the Scriptures is the acme of foolishness. As the Man from heaven, Jesus Christ, is the fullness of the Godhead bodily, the truth of the Word of God is as full a revelation of who God is as we will ever find anywhere: “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me” (John 5:39).

We are sanctified in Him. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ is the greatest testimony of the truth of the Triune God that the created universe has ever seen; as to whom He eternally is, and in what He has eternally done. That revelation of the awesome majesty, splendor, glories, and excellencies exhibited to the world in the Cross of Christ is the truth that supernaturally seizes and captures the elect by God’s sovereign power. “Pilate therefore said unto Him, Art Thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth My voice” (John 18:37).

We are sanctified for Him. No longer are we the slaves to sin and unrighteousness, but willing bond slaves to the One who set us free. We are now free to dwell richly in His Word of truth, to enjoy His commandments, rejoice in its blessings, and glorify the Triune God with the fullness of the Truth that inhabits our lives, matures our lives, and sets our lives apart from the world. “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-33).

Within Thy tabernacle, Lord,
who shall abide with Thee?
And in Thy high and holy hill
who shall a dweller be?

The man that walketh uprightly,
and worketh righteousness,
And as he thinketh in his heart,
so doth he truth express.

Who doth not slander with his tongue,
nor to his friend doth hurt;
Nor yet against his neighbour doth
take up an ill report.

In whose eyes vile men are despis’d;
but those that God do fear
He honoureth; and changeth not,
though to his hurt he swear.

His coin puts not to usury,
nor take reward will he
Against the guiltless. Who doth thus
shall never moved be.

Psalms 15 A Psalm of David.
Scottish Psalter