“The whole truth and nothing but the truth”
Sgt. Joe Friday, TV’s “Dragnet” detective, asked and expected this of the folks he would interrogate (along with “Nothing but the facts”)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragnet_(1951_TV_series)
Our Lord expects nothing less than this of His anointed saints – that we speak the whole truth and would not bury any of His treasure in the ground – instead that we would steward, and speak, all that He has given us. All. One example:
Jeremiah 36:1-2
1 Now it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying:
2 “Take a scroll of a book and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah even to this day.
Isaiah 60 reveals darkness will cover the whole earth, and our response is not to hunker down in fear or denial, but instead to arise and shine because that is especially when light will be upon us:
Isa 60
1 Arise, shine; For your light has come!
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you.
Verse 12 (12 being the hebraic number of judgment, btw) informs us those times will culminate in more than the sons and daughters coming from afar, or the wealth of the Gentiles coming into the Kingdom. It will involve judgment on earth:
12 For the nation and kingdom which will not serve you shall perish, And those nations shall be utterly ruined.
Tough truth, yet clearly part of the same prophecy, as well.
Further in this same prophecy, Isaiah proclaims our anointing to declare a list of divine purposes:
Isaiah 61:1-3
1 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn,
3 To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”
Yay God!
The Divine decree for us to rise and shine (Isa 60:1) does not have us operating on our steam, but instead has us anointed for divine purpose by the Spirit of the Lord. Our responsibility (and opportunity, and invitation) is to press into that place of intimacy and anointing, to expect and embrace and respond to the anointing.
(BTW – we are not anointed as a reward, by heaven. We are anointed for the purposes of heaven, (v13) “that He may be glorified”.)
Years ago I listened to a young preacher declaring Isaiah 61:1-2, and as he was speaking clearly stumbling over: “…..and the day of vengeance of our God”.
It simply did not sit comfortably into his paradigm of “God is in a good mood all the time”.
Meanwhile that “day of vengeance” mention is actually a comfort to the ones walking in obedience, those turning the other cheek, those even suffering martyrdom for the sake of the gospel.
Vengeance is God’s just response to injustice.
But to the disobedient, God’s prophetic word of vengeance constitutes a strong warning that they would do well to repent and to flee from the wrath to come (Rev 6:17). True love, therefore, would include us loving people enough to proclaim what the Lord has told us to proclaim.
Our anointing is to speak and teach and preach the whole word. Comfort, joy, invitation to salvation, healing, and not to exclude or diminish the day of vengeance of our God. Anything less, is less.
Paul, the writer of “by grace you have been saved through faith “ (Eph 2:8), also reported that he: “warned every man“. In fact, Paul revealed: WE warn every man:
Colossians 1:28-29
28 Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.
29 To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.
Colossians 1:29 (above) thus presents itself as a NT companion-verse to the beginning of Isa 61:
1 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach… (the whole planned conclusion of this age and all that the Lord says will transpire).
Our “whole truth and nothing but the truth” purpose, calling and message, particularly during the days of increasingly contrasting darkness (including troubles) covering the earth, even as light and the glory of God shines upon believers, wants and warrants to be “Echad”. Our message wants and needs to be complete, and whole, to glorify our God and to prepare the way for His return, which will include all that He told us that return will include.
Ignoring the prophetic warnings of the Lord to the people (both saint and sinner alike, btw) is failure on the part of the ones who are aware of all that Lord has called us to speak. Whether from the pulpit or in a personal conversation, fear of man, or “seeker-sensitivity” may well attempt to motivate us to dial-down the full message breathed from the mouth of God – the same God who desires that no man perish but that all come to the knowledge of the truth.
Our silence re this truth – like our silence re every holy truth, constitutes failure. By His Spirit, we are encouraged to know how to answer every man, and that assures us His Spirit will guide us into all truth, when and how and what to say.
Help us Lord. Happily, He does.
(all scripture NKJV)
Follow
