Proverbs 23:23, “Buy the Truth and sell it not.”
What is this Truth which we must buy? There exists a truth of things, the truth of their essence or being. So, all things that are, are truly the same as they are. Gold is true gold as opposed to that which is false and counterfeit. And this truth of things is the conformity of these things to the Divine intellect or knowledge of God. For the Lord in his infinite knowledge comprehends and asserts all truth. By default, every untruth uttered by men is either a denial of some truth which God affirms or an affirming of some falsehood which God denies. God is original Truth and the source of all truth. Further, the truth of things agrees with the original truth of God, just as the truth of a copy agrees with the original. Truth also carries a relationship to knowledge, as every Truth has the capacity to be understood, and the Truth of all things is their conformity to a right understanding.
It is the true knowledge of those things which serve for the perfecting of the inner and the ordering of the outward man. The true knowledge of God, of Christ, of the mysteries of grace, of the ways of God, of the power of godliness, and of the will of God in things concerning the matter and manner of his worship. Secondly, the practical truth of these things. That is, a frame of heart consistent with the nature of these things rightly understood cannot be without the possession of the things themselves. You must have God dwelling in you. You must possess Christ and be made one with him. Your body and soul must become a temple of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, you will not have access to this practical, thorough, and effectual knowledge of God and Christ. Rather, you will possess a shadow of the truth rather than the truth itself. You must have the truth of all saving graces in you, otherwise you cannot have a heart suited to a right understanding of Divine Truth. Lastly, you must be so possessed of the truth that you speak the truth from the heart, and you walk in Truth.
[Taken from Truth, The Great Business of Our Times by John Maynard, Westminster Divine, soon to be published by Puritan Publications, 2022.]
