Truth Under Trial

Famine, ruin, and the hard word of Christ meet us today with one demand: steadfast truth before God. Isaac remained in the land at God’s command, yet his fear led him to disguise his wife. So we see that outward continuance is not enough; a man may stay where God has placed him and still fail in truth. The psalm answers plainly: the one who dwells with God is he who speaks truth in his heart, does no evil to his neighbor, keeps his word, and does not profit from another’s need. As Tertullian says, “He has not given his money upon usury, nor will he take any increase — meaning the redundance of interest, which is usury.”

The Lord in the Gospel warns us not only against false bread but against false teaching. “Then they understood that he spoke, not that they should beware of the leaven of the bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees, which he called leaven.” A little corruption, if welcomed, spreads through the whole life: first in speech, then in judgment, then in conduct. Therefore Christ does not flatter us. He bids us deny ourselves, take up the cross, and lose life for his sake, lest in gaining the world we forfeit the soul.

Isaiah’s lament over Moab shows what worldly strength comes to at last: wailing in the night, cities laid waste, pride brought low. Therefore repent before mourning overtakes you. Grow, as Isaac later did, not in possessions, but in obedience, truth, and endurance. The holy hill is not for the double-minded, but for those who keep faith with God when fear, gain, and public opinion pull the other way.