Buy The Truth And Sell It Not (Proverbs 23:23)

by R. Hyland, Rhyl, Wales | Category: General | Nov 1987

In everyday life we buy what we need and sell what we no longer need. Often the things that we value most are the things that we made the greatest sacrifices to obtain. There are things in our spiritual lives that we should be prepared to BUY, sometimes at great cost, in order to please the Lord. Equally there are many things, some not harmful in themselves, that we should be willing to sacrifice for Him. Paul's example, t1what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ" should be as much a challenge to us as Solomon's "buy the truth".

The importance of properly valuing God's will is clearly illustrated in the tragic failure of Esau's life in Genesis 25. He returns home faint and weary, only to be met with the tantalizing smell of the meal that Jacob was preparing. "Feed me ... for I am faint" pleads Esau. "Sell me first of all thy birthright" (RVM) came the taunting response from Jacob, who placed a great value on the birthright. Alas! this proved to be the turning point of Esau's whole life, and in a moment of weakness he forfeited what belonged to him by birth. Things would never be the same for profane Esau. He found no place of repentance, and his plaintive cry, "Bless me even me also, 0 my father" (Gen. 27:34) brought scant comfort, for Isaac had little left to give!

There is, however, another Old Testament story which is as stimulating

as Esau's is depressing. Naboth's inheritance meant everything to him (1 Kin. 21:3). The situation of his jealously guarded vineyard made it attractive to the envious eyes of the wicked Ahab, but the proposition "exchange or sell" was flatly rejected. With the cunning of his evil wife Jezebel assisting him, Ahab obtained the vineyard, but his success was short-lived, although God allowed him to live for a further three years because he humbled himself.

Men of the calibre of the brutally murdered Naboth have a place of honour in the divine record, "they were stoned... (of whom the world was not worthy)" (Heb. 11:37,38), whereas the sin of the disgraced and discredited Ahab is for ever condemned. Naboth's honourable conduct is a good example to imitate in that he was not prepared to sell something of great value to God.

When the Lord Jesus asked His Father to sanctify His disciples in the truth (John 17) they had already been sanctified through faith in Him. We must therefore conclude that the Lord's prayer had something more in view. Earlier that night He had promised that the Holy Spirit would guide them into all the truth. Later the Lord gave them the great commission (Mat. 28:18-20), and later still, over a period of forty days, He spoke to them of "the things concerning the kingdom of God". We believe that this development of truth is as important to us as was the giving of God's law to Israel through Moses at Sinai, and should be valued as such. It marked the passing of the Old Covenant and the coming of the New. Just how the apostles and others responded is seen in the way the Holy Spirit used them to establish God's kingdom in the present dispensation as revealed in the book of Acts.

Today, Christian beliefs based on scriptural principles are under attack, and if we are to withstand these attacks we need to have a good grounding in the Word of God. Sadly they sometimes come from professing Christians and are cleverly and attractively presented. We will have to be on our guard and we could certainly do no better than follow Naboth's example: "sell it not"!

It must always be a cause for great sorrow, especially to the Lord, when disciples are prepared to discard truth they have previously appreciated and may have purchased at great cost. Similarly it is a cause of great joy to Him when disciples are willing to make personal sacrifices so that they may respond to His will. Through subjection and obedience to His will we too may be led by the Holy Spirit into all the truth.

Who, for example, can but admire the faith and obedience of Abraham who showed himself willing to respond to the call of God, or the endurance of Eleazar and the valour of Shammah (2 Sam. 23:9-11) who were prepared to defend with their lives what they knew to be of value to God.

Jude wrote that we should "contend earnestly for the Faith". Our diligence and vigilance will not be seen by the sword which "cleaved to" Eleazar's hand through sheer physical effort, but in meekness, humility and dependence on God, as we seek to make His truth and His will a priority in our lives.

R. Hyland, Rhyl, Wales | Nov 1987
General