BUYING
"Buy the truth, and sell it not!" (Proverbs 23:23).
Such an injunction may appear to have a "legalistic" sound to some finical ears, but if Scripture be compared with Scripture, that erroneous impression should be removed. The use of the word "buy" in such passages as Isaiah 55:1, and Revelation 3:18, shows that no thought of human merits is signified. It is by no worthiness of ours that salvation is obtained. A little thoughtful meditation indicates that this figure is a very suggestive and instructive one. The fact that we are here exhorted to "buy the truth" implies and imports the following things:
First, that by nature we do not possess it, for we do not "buy" what is already ours.
Second, that it is needful and valuable, for only fools will purchase things they consider of no use or worth.
Third, that we desire it.
Fourth, that we must go to the lawful Owner of it.
Fifth, that we are willing to part with something to obtain it.
Sixth, that we actually make it our own, for that is what the "buying" of a thing does.
Seventh, that we now make use of it.
When our Lord said unto Pilate, "Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice," the Roman governor responded with, "What is truth?" (John 18:37-38). Probably those words were uttered contemptuously, for Christ gave him no answer — what value does a politician place upon truth! A short time before, the Savior had said to the Father, in the hearing of His disciples, "Your word is truth" (John 17:17) — not simply "contains the truth," but is so. It is expressly denominated "the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15), and that because its Author is omniscient. It is inerrant throughout: without the slightest inaccuracy — "Your word is true from the beginning" (Psalm 119:160). That is what renders it of inestimable value.
Living as we are in a world of liars (Psalm 58:3), truth is an exceedingly rare commodity. Sin has darkened man's understanding and unhinged his mind, so that ignorance and error, prejudice, and superstition abound on every side. How thankful then should we be that we have in hand, and in our own mother tongue, a revelation from Him who cannot lie.
The importance of truth appears from the absolute authority of Him who is its Author, from the miracles He has wrought to confirm it, from its own beneficial tendency and the blessed fruits which it produces. It is by the truth, that we are made "wise unto salvation" (2 Timothy 3:15). It is by the truth, that we are made free from the servitude of sin (John 8:32, and compare Psalm 119:45). It is by the truth, that we are "sanctified" (John 17:17). Apart from God's Word, I can know nothing whatever of His everlasting love and sovereign grace, nothing of His will for me, nothing of the destiny awaiting me.
Christ — in His wondrous person, peerless perfections, glorious offices, and so great salvation — is the sum and substance of truth. Yet, indescribably precious as it is, the solemn fact remains that by nature, none of us has any love for the truth — but rather, a strong antipathy to it. We prefer to be flattered and encouraged to believe the best about ourselves; and therefore, the Lord Jesus had to say of those to whom He ministered, "And because I tell you the truth — you did not believe me" (John 8:45).
The truth is as free as it is precious — yet, paradoxical as it may sound, it has to be bought. A price has to be paid before it is actually made ours. Though God's Word is a gift to us — it has to be purchased by us; and there is nothing more incongruous and inconsistent in that statement, than there is in affirming that he enjoys the greatest liberty, who lives in completest subjection to God.
To "buy" the truth is a deliberate and voluntary act: "I have chosen the way of truth," said the Psalmist (119:30), and there must be given us a desire and love for the same, before we are willing to do so. Yet the absence of such a desire is no valid excuse for those who are unwilling to purchase it. "Why is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he has no heart to it?" (Proverbs 17:16). The answer is — to constitute him a responsible creature. That "price in the hand" is the rationality, the capability, the time and opportunity to acquire wisdom; and the absence of a heart for it in no way extenuates his indifference and neglect.
Alas, what millions of such "fools" there are, with no "heart" to buy that which is more valuable than gold, "yes, than much fine gold" (Psalm 19:10)! As one has said, "They would rather lose it — than labour for it; rather go sleeping to Hell — than toiling to Heaven." That which is "more precious than rubies" (Proverbs 3:15) is to the majority of our fellows — of less worth than a pebble. "Herod eyed it with curiosity (Luk 23:8), Pilate with indifference (Joh 18:38), the Jews with scorn (Act 13:46). Enough that it should have a place in our creed, but none in our hearts. The world is preferred to Heaven, time to eternity, and the immortal soul perishes in folly" — Charles Bridges (1794-1869).
It is only when we desire them — that we heed that injunction: "Buy those things that we have need of" (John 13:29). Few indeed are willing to pay the price, for truth is a costly thing to come by honestly, entailing considerable expense and pains. But the more we pay for it, the more we shall prize it. Rare things are always the most expensive, but he who really values and loves the truth, deems no price too high.
"Buy the truth" (Proverbs 23:23). Something has to be parted with, in order to secure it — pride, prejudice, and presumption — so that we be willing to receive it as a little child. "Buy the truth" means make it your own, and that can only be done by personal effort and diligent application. "My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God!" (Proverbs 2:1-5).
That is part of the price which has to be paid: an open ear, an applied heart, earnest prayer to God, diligent searching of the Scriptures. Like Mary, we must fix the words of God in our mind and ponder them in our heart (Luke 2:19). Truth has only become ours, when it is actually reduced to experience and practice — and therefore, another part of the price for buying it is our conforming to it in heart and life; and that, in turn, requires daily self-examination and supplication.
Many are content with substitutes for "the truth." They fondly imagine they are "sound in the faith," when in reality the great enemy of souls has deceived them with a spurious counterfeit. And when they are lovingly and faithfully warned, they are unwilling to put their beliefs to the proof, and weigh them "in the balances of the Sanctuary." Though they are told that "many false prophets" (1 John 4:1) have gone and are still going forth, they are reluctant to think that they have been beguiled by them. Truth cannot be secured by us until we are prepared to suspect our orthodoxy and bring every article of our creed to the test of Holy Writ.
Very few are ever recovered from the abyss of error, because they are not willing to search diligently and impartially for the truth and embrace it wherever it is to be found, or whatever be the cost. They prefer the sanction of the names of "great men," rather than a "thus says the Lord."
Pray daily for a right understanding of His Word. "The truth," like its Author, is one — we never read in Scripture of "truths". Yet, as He has many perfections or attributes, so His Word has many parts or branches. It is not a portion of truth, but "the truth" itself we are bidden to buy. Alas, that so many content themselves with fragments thereof. Nothing short of the wholetruth is what each of us should earnestly covet and seek — every particle of it, for, as one has well said, "The very filings of the gold are invaluable." "Set your heart upon all that I shall show you" (Ezekiel 40:4).
Nevertheless, the most eager and earnest purchaser will find, as Joshua did near the close of his life, "there remains yet very much land to be possessed" (Jos 13:1). But though that is the case, we must strive to acquire and assimilate more and more of it. Never rest content with your knowledge thereof, for at best, it is but meager. Remember, you buy a thing in order to make use of it. As one quaintly summarized it:
know it in the head — memorize it;
stow it in the heart — lovingly meditate upon it;
show it in the life — be regulated by it;
sow it in the world — yet cast not your pearls before swine (Mat 7:6).