"The best antidote for the poison of falsehood and unbelief is the positive declaration of revealed truth."

So says Irving L. Jensen in "Hebrews: A Self-Study Guide."  And what a pointed, convicting statement that is.  The "poison of falsehood and unbelief" is certainly circulating through society's system — numbing our sense of decency, confusing our ability to discern right and wrong, destroying our modesty and self-worth, blinding us to its effects.

Many are so far gone that they no longer want to be cured of this disease. And many don't even know their own desires are killing them.  But surely some feel instinctively that there must be something more than the self- destructive life the world promotes. There are, certainly, some that long for an antidote to the misery and hatred that permeates their lives.

The antidote, Jensen says, is "the positive declaration of revealed truth."  Revealed truth.  What is that?  Knowing that 2+2=4 ... can that rescue us from drowning in our sinfulness?

In a way, yes. Knowing that there are absolute facts, whether they be in math or morality, can give us a footing to stand on while the world flies down the slippery slope of situational ethics.

But truth goes deeper than that.

In John 14:6, Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life..."

Jesus is the truth. Does that mean that everything he says is true? Yes.  Does that mean that his truth is the only truth? Yes.  But even more importantly, he is truth.  He is the author of truth. Without him there is no truth. And this isn't just some metaphysical concept.  John started his gospel with a recounting of creation:  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by him, and without him was not anything that was made."

In verse 14, he makes it perfectly clear who the Word was:  "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

In Hebrews 1:3 this statement is reiterated:  "The Son is the radiance of God's glory ... sustaining all things by his powerful word..." (NIV).

The Truth that originates from Jesus is not some lofty ideal; it surrounds us everyday. It is not something that we strive to attain; we cannot escape it.  Jesus is the creator and the sustainer of everything we know.

Though the world has swallowed the poison that truth is relative, there are still things considered facts.  2+2 is still 4.  Why?  Because Jesus created it so.  Gravity always acts the same.  Why?  Because Jesus created it so.

The truth of Jesus is not something to be kept inside.  It is not to be hidden in our closets, never to be seen by public eyes. It is not something to be ashamed of. Declaring the truth does not signify weakness or stupidity.

Every thing in nature behaves the way it does because Jesus created it that way, and he sustains it that way. There is no fact that does not originate with him. (This is not to say that everything that is purported to be truth comes from him. Lies are all too easily disguised as truth to the mind that forgets him.)

I pray that we will take these words of Timothy to heart and mind: "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (II Timothy 2:15)

I pray that God will give us the strength and wisdom to declare the works of his hands and the wonders of his love openly so that all can hear.

We should not be afraid to declare what we know to be true in the public  square.  Stand by the author of truth, and he will stand by you.