Truth for the most part is an enigma in the world we live in. We are sworn to tell it and nothing but it in a court of law and yet lies, innuendoes, and outright deception are the rule there. Teachers hear the most outlandish excuses for students not having done their homework preceded by the words, "I swear I'm telling the truth." Advertisers regularly make claims that are nowhere near true. Even Presidents and rulers of great nations seem to have forgotten what the word means. Husbands lie to wives, wives to husbands, friends lie to friends, neighbors to neighbors. Yes, truth seems to be so evasive that when a group of people is exhorted to speak the truth in love, one would think that the world would jump at the chance to be a part of that group. Unfortunately, that just isn't the case.

Eph:4:15: But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ

You see Christians are that group of people exhorted to speak the truth in love.  It would follow then that in order to speak the truth, one must know what the truth is.

Eph:4:25: Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

The truth is that we are members one of another. We (all Christians) are members in particular of the body of Christ.

1Cor:12:27: Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular

As our text states we are to lie not against the truth. As we have seen we are to speak the truth in love. This is part of our Christian duty.

Eph:4:21: If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus

This is where we have to begin in our quest for truth as "the truth is in Jesus." We are members in particular of the body of Christ because we have believed the truth. We are members one of another because we believe the truth. What is the truth?

Jn:3:16,17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved

Moreover, we learn that Jesus Christ Himself is the truth. The Word that became flesh.

Jn:14:6: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me

Jn:1:14: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth

Indeed, Jesus Christ is full of grace and truth. In fact, grace and truth came by Him.

Jn:1:17: For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

It’s in this context that we are to think of ourselves. In the grace of God which came in the person of Jesus Christ. It's all grace brother. It's all grace sister.

Rom:12:3: For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

Certainly one need not be puffed up or think of himself more highly than he ought to think when he considers the grace of God given him as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith. This is a challenge to many a Christian as the devil, our adversary, loves to help man be puffed up in his foolish pride. For as Proverbs tells us, pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Prov:16:18: Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

While watching a recent movie I was amazed at how well the screen-writer understood this truth. The movie was entitled “the Devil’s Advocate.” It centered on a lawyer whose life drastically changed when offered a high profile position with a large firm in New York. This lawyer would do anything to win his case, absolutely anything because his pride wouldn't allow him to admit or accept defeat. The devil, played by Al Pacino, said that vanity was his favorite sin. This was in fact the method he used to ruin the lives of many people in the movie. Sometimes art does imitate life.

Vanity. Pride. Yes, we are all vulnerable to it. I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t like hearing praise for a job well done, or taking personal satisfaction in having done something that perhaps no one else could do. That’s part of what makes us unique, part of what makes us individuals. As stated, it is pride that goeth before destruction. In order to guard against pride then we must understand what to look for, or where it comes from.

Jms:3:14a  But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not,

      Like king Saul of old, bitter envying was the fruit to which pride was the root. If you are envious, chances are that pride is the root of the problem. His pride allowed envy and strife to grow and reign in his heart. You see, pride as defined by Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, is an "inordinate self-esteem; an unreasonable conceit of one's own superiority in talents, beauty, wealth, accomplishments, rank or elevation in office, which manifests itself in lofty airs, distance, reserve, and often in contempt of others." Saul had an unreasonable conceit of his superiority in talents and accomplishments as a warrior, as a slayer of the enemy.

As we will see, where envy and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

1Sam:18:5-9 And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servants.

And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick.

And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.

And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom?

And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.

Saul didn’t immediately hate David and try to kill him. It was his pride fueled by envy that brought him to that point. It was when he heard the women sing and ascribe unto David ten thousands while he was ascribed thousands. Saul was jealous of David. He was envious. It was his envy that drove him to the point of trying to kill David based on his own inordinate sense of self-esteem or pride. Envy is defined in Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, as "Pain, uneasiness, mortification or discontent excited by the sight of another's superiority or success, accompanied with some degree of hatred or malignity, and often or usually with a desire or an effort to depreciate the person, and with pleasure in seeing him depressed.  Envy springs from pride, ambition or love, mortified that another has obtained what one has a strong desire to possess." Envy and pride often go hand in hand. The one fuels the other and it becomes a vicious circle that escalates quickly out of control. That’s why we see the following concerning envy and strife.

Jms:3:16: For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

Confusion and every evil work, imagine that. We as Christians are told that where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. Envy has been the ruin of many a work of God, many a minister of God. Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Most Christians know that the devil's pride is what caused him to try to overthrow the Most High God. He wanted to be like God and therefore wanted to take His place. Moreover, lucifer (the devil) was beautiful. No one could match his beauty. Well, at least almost no one.

Isa: 14:12-14 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!  how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

Ezek:28:17a Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness:

You see, satan was lifted up because of his beauty. He envied God and wanted to be like the Most High. But where did it all start?

Isa:14:14: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High 

Satan was jealous of God. He envied the position and the power and the majesty that belongs only to the Most High God. His envy, however, was based on his inordinate self esteem and beauty. Satan was full of pride. Pride was the root to which envy (and his fall) was the fruit.

1Chron:29:11: Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.

God is exalted as head above all. That's what Satan envied. He wanted to be "like the most High," because of his pride.

 

One of the truly remarkable aspects of our Lord’s ministry was his ability to discern the spiritual cause or reason for the physical or material situation he faced. Time and again he saw the real cause for peoples actions, particularly those who opposed him.

Mk:15:10: For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.

Mt:27:18: For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.

Because of their pride they were moved with envy. They couldn't stand the fact that someone else had captured the hearts of the people and was walking in the power of God healing and delivering those who were opposed of the devil. I often think that even today religious leaders would oppose a movement of God because it wasn't happening with them or in their particular group or denomination. For envy they delivered the Lord Jesus.

Did you ever wonder about the Patriarchs? Why did they deliver Joseph to the Egyptian slave traders?

Acts:7:9: And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him

Yes, envy was their motivation but it was based on pride. They were jealous of Joseph. Yes, where envy and strife is there is confusion and every evil work.

Acts:17:5: But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.

Yes, it was envy that set this city in an uproar and caused those men to assault the house of Jason and sought to do him harm.

We as Christians however, are exhorted time and again to not be envious of one another. Indeed we are to esteem others better than ourselves.

Rom:13:13: Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

Our walk is to be a walk of honesty.

Gal:5:26: Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

We are not to envy one another. In fact as Christians and members in particular of the body of Christ we are to provoke one another to love and good works. We are to esteem others better than ourselves.

Heb:10:24: And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

This verse would be as good of place as any to introduce to you the idea of a "company of giants." What does this have to do with our text you ask? Well, let me explain. I first heard this idea when working for a small advertising agency. The owner of the agency was a fan of David Olgilvy and had his employees read his biography. One of the things he did as head of a world-wide agency representing and controlling the advertising of some of the world’s largest companies was to give his key personnel and managers a set of Babushka’s. In the smallest of the dolls was a piece of paper that said “a company of giants,” or something to that effect. Anyway, the point he was trying to make was that he wanted to surround himself with people who were more talented than he was. People whose strengths made up for his weaknesses. In practicality, only someone confident in their own abilities can surround themselves with people whose strengths outshine their own. This is the way I feel about the Body of Christ. This is the way God would have us to act in the Body of Christ. If we as Christians could see the Body of Christ in this way, we would certainly do away with a lot of the envy and strife.

Unfortunately for too many years now I’ve seen bitter envying and strife in the body of Christ. People jealous that someone else can do something they can’t do instead of rejoicing in the fact that God has set us in the body as it has pleased him and that we have been so set to be a “company of giants.”

1 Cor.12;18: But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

In addition, we are to esteem others better than ourselves. This is essentially “the company of giants” idea, isn't it?

Phil:2:3: Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

We are to do nothing through strife or vainglory. Nothing means nothing. Welcome to the real company of giants, the Body of Christ. Once again it’s God’s word that lights our path, the way of truth.

1Cor:12:20-27 But now are they many members, yet but one body.

And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:

And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.

For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked:

That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.

And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

Yes we are members in particular surrounded by a company of giants. Look at the brother or sister next to you and see them as they are. Don't envy them based on your pride. Rejoice in the fact that God has placed them were it pleased Him and they and you are members in particular in the Body of Christ. We do our part and help them do theirs.

We are not to have bitter envying and strife, because when we do there is confusion and every evil work. Therefore, you giants, lie not against the truth.