PROVERBS #5: THE SON SPEAKS GRACE AND TRUTH.

What sin destroys relationships more than any other? Adultery? Perhaps. Stealing, murder, pride? No, none of these. For all these sins can be repaired with true acts of repentance. But failing to speak truth, now that is a sin by its very nature is nearly irreparable. Oh yes, all manner of sin can be forgiven, but with the one guilty of habitual lying can there ever be renewed trust? What do we do about people who find it all too easy to tell us a falsehood rather than man up to truth? What do we do with flatterers, those who lie to get gain, those who purposely make up false narratives about another person, and, worst of all, pretended leaders who use deceit to solidify their power? In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago manages to manipulate the entire outcome of the tragedy through his flatteries, avoidances, manipulations, gas-lighting, and outright lies. Through his subtle deceit he incites the tragic hero Othello to murder his innocent wife Desdemona. There is something about lying that is particularly insidious to God. It completely disrupts every fiber of trust in the universe because it obliterates the distinction between right and wrong, truth and error. Liars destroy meaningful communication which is the bedrock of society. Those who can randomly put meaning on words undermine the order or humanity more than the bubonic plague. Never forget that Jesus dealt with an impetuous, boastful man, and he became the chief apostle. Jesus also had one liar in his fold and that man went to ‘his own place’.

Lying is not the only evil employment of man’s tongue. Harsh, critical, ungracious, suspicious, deflating speech is another destructive way the tongue is used. We instinctively know when we are in the presence of gracious, longsuffering, uplifting, person. They speak in gospel tones. They attract others, and have perfected the godly art of encouragement while still maintaining truthfulness. In saying this, it ought not surprise us that the Father must train His Son in these twin virtues of the tongue. First, the Son must be trained to use the tongue as a vehicle of truth. And second, He must learn to use the tongue to encourage deflated, discouraged, depressed hearts.

In Proverbs we find the Son being taught how to use the tongue as an instrument of God. Paul makes this general statement about Jesus Christ and His truthful speech,

‘Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written: ““For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, and sing to Your name”’ (Romans 15:8-9).

Jesus alone fulfills the cosmic plan of God for the ages; He alone is the true One who fulfills the prophecies; He is the Father’s vehicle for truth to every generation. Jesus Himself said, ‘I am the truth.’

But what is truth? Truth is that which accords with reality - God’s reality. It is more than speaking truth, it is being true; true to oneself, true to others, true to one’s place in space and time, true to the Lord. No man in Adam ever reaches this goal because father Adam threw a bomb in the middle of a perfectly aligned creation and made it crooked. Since then no solution to this chaotic world can originate from the earth. Good fruit cannot come from a bad tree. But Jesus came to earth, He came as one from a different world, the heavenly world. He brought truth down with Him for He came directly from God Himself and for that they killed Him. Jesus was not righteous because He spoke truth. Jesus was truth…..therefore nothing but righteousness could pour forth from his sacred lips. Proverbs 12:17 speaks on this wise,

‘He who speaks truth declares righteousness, but a false witness, deceit.’

If one is true, one will by necessity be righteous, for righteousness is nothing more than being aligned to God. A deceiver, on the other hand, is out of alignment with the true God and thus whatever he speaks will be false. The bible calls that deceit. All men and women are born deceivers in Adam. Only Jesus is true because He came from God. He said,

“Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going’ (John 8:14).

Those who are ignorant of Jesus’ origination in heaven will always see Him as another voice among many whose words can be analyzed and critiqued. It is not surprising that Protestant Liberalism which had little regard for Jesus eventually had little regard for truth. Jesus and truth are inseparably linked. Thus, Jesus as the true Son could only say what was right because He came from His Father. The fool, however, speaks from the vantage point of self and his speech is always corrupt. Jesus speaks from His Father and is always true. Proverbs 15:2 adds, ‘The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.’

So when it comes to truth, who will you trust? Will you listen to the divinely instructed Son of God or the cacophony of earthly voices which coalesce into deceitful refrains of ignorance and deception?

Secondly, Jesus not only speaks truth, but He also speaks with silver-tongued lips of grace. What a mystery this is! Speaking truth is one thing. Speaking truth while attracting sinners is something else altogether. But if the Son was going to enter earth on a mission to save sinners, He must speak truth (else there would be no pathway to heaven) and He must speak in such a way that sinners would perk up their ears and listen.

And this is exactly what Jesus did. ‘Never a man spoke as this man’, the Jews cried out. This was shocking. After all, Jesus hailed from a very roughneck area of the country and was a blue collar worker. Yet His voice echoed the gracious voice of God as Luke reports,

‘So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” (Luke 4:22).

Further along in His ministry, the very elitist Pharisees couldn’t understand how a man of such humble background could be so popular with sinners. But it was so, as Luke again reports,

‘Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “this Man receives sinners and eats with them.”’

The Pharisees had a very narrow message about keeping the law. Nobody came to listen. But Jesus, while still speaking truth, also spoke a gracious message that gave hope to the worst of sinners. He was surrounded by sinners of every stripe. This could mean Jesus gave a watered-down message. But we know that could not be true. No Jesus spoke both grace and truth and as He did so the Jewish leaders mumbled enviously on the sidelines. Jesus had learned from His Father something no other teacher has ever learned: how does one teach the hard truths of the divine will while attracting the very sinners who oppose that will. A man ‘full of grace and truth?’ Sounds like it to me.

The theme of the Son learning gracious speech is found throughout the Proverbs. Consider the following:

‘A wicked messenger falls into trouble, but a faithful ambassador brings health.’ 13:17

‘In the mouth of a fool is a rod of pride, but the lips of the wise will preserve them.’ 14:3

‘There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health. The truthful lip shall be established forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment. Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but counselors of peace have joy. No grave trouble will overtake the righteous, but the wicked shall be filled with evil. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight. Proverbs’ 12:18-22

‘A man shall eat well by the fruit of his mouth, but the soul of the unfaithful feeds on violence.’ Proverbs 13:2

‘A true witness delivers souls, but a deceitful witness speaks lies’ (Prov 14:25).

‘The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness’ (Prov 15:2).

‘Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones’ (Prov 16:24).

In so many places do the Proverbs speak of the gracious speech of the true Son. And what does it produce?: health, preservation, sustenance, deliverance, and sweetness. Does not this describe the Lord and Savior of sinners? Yet with all His graciousness He never once marginalized truth. Isaiah sums up the Messiah’s ministry well,

‘“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners” (Isaiah 61:1).

Is not this the perfect summary of Jesus’ ministry? He came to heal and preach, to bind up and set free. He came with the balm of Gilead in His hand; not with sword or spear; not with a forceful personality; not with a finely trained army of followers but He came with powerful grace-coated words. Nothing fancy; just grace and truth.

For us who read Proverbs, what the Son learned is what we are on track to learn as well. God, through Jesus and the Spirit, teaches all His children the very thing Jesus learned. We are to herald the truth to a dying, relativized culture, where truth walks on slippery turf and where nothing is firm enough to support the aching soul. Christians must pray to guard the truth no matter the cost, for without it there is no Christianity, no gospel, no Jesus, no hope. But Christians must also learn from their older Brother that truth need not be a slashing sword that only knows how to hurt. Rather truth must ever be tempered by a winsome, gregarious, approachable, kindhearted, demeanor so that the worst of sinners might gladly listen to what we say. To meld together both of these elements will take a lifetime of learning and beyond. Are you on that journey? I speak tongue in cheek when I ask ‘how might you know if you have lived a life of grace and truth?’ To answer one needs ask only one question, ‘who and how many will show up at my funeral?’