Truth Is Lifted Up: Pride, Lies, and Transgenderism (Part 2)

When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him. The Redeemer will come to Zion.

Isaiah 59:19-20

In Part 1 we considered the downfall of truth as demonstrated in popular lies. We proceed in Part 2 to consider how the truth will be lifted up again.

Can the Truth be Lifted Up?

While visiting a church last month I met a man who told me the Lord began calling him from death to life after one comment from a Christian friend at work. “You know you are going to hell, right?”

Hell, a place of bitter and endless torment where the worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.[1] How many believe it exists, let alone that they are on the path to its flames? And yet, hell does exist. All who continue in their sins, not repenting nor believing in the Son, will close their eyes in this world and open them in the fires of hell.[2]

Do you know that if you do not believe in Jesus Christ as He is freely offered in the Scripture, you are going to perish in hell?

Given the meaning and horror of hell it is tempting for some to avoid the subject matter altogether. Popular ministers have increased in notoriety by denying the existence of hell or refusing to preach on it.[3] Nevertheless, while some choose to deny it, the Bible teaches the reality of hell.[4] Unless you repent of your sins and believe in Christ Jesus alone for salvation, you will experience the horrific reality of hell, where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.[5] All who believe in Jesus Christ the Lord will not perish but have everlasting life.

When the message of sin, judgment, and salvation is proclaimed, sinners come to salvation. Jonah preached just a few words, “Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” 120,000 souls were delivered.[6] Peter preached, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” 3,000 souls came to saving faith in Christ the same day.[7]

The truth is fallen in the street.[8]  Can it be lifted again?

The Lord Lifts the Standard

Isaiah declared that truth had fallen. Jeremiah said the truth perished from the nation that rejected the voice of God. In times of great deceit and unbelief the truth fails to convince most unbelievers. Nevertheless, the truth never ceases to be the truth. Isaiah did not say that truth was dead. The truth in these instances stopped being received by the masses of the people.

When the Lord saw that truth had fallen, He was displeased. Therefore, it pleased the Lord to bring salvation and truth by Himself.[9] The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against his enemies. The Redeemer will come to Zion.[10] The Lord promised to lift up a standard and He did it.

The prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled in the incarnation of Jesus Christ when grace and truth came and dwelt among us.[11] The standard of the Lord was lifted up for all the world to see in the lifting up the Son of Man on the cross. The Son was lifted up on the cross for the sins of “whosoever believeth in Him”. He was lifted up in humiliation and suffering. He was lifted up in exaltation and glory.[12] He was lifted up that the nations would come to Him.

The truth has fallen, but the truth is lifted up! Christ who died rose from the dead the third day and lives forevermore. God’s people must rally around God’s standard and proclaim the truth to a dying world enslaved to deceit, murder, and pride.

How can we rally around God’s standard of truth?

1. Lift up the Truth

Friends and family members are given over to deceit, murder, and pride. All manner of sins have flowed from these including transgenderism. Will Christians tell the truth? Will Christians warn those in transgenderism and other sin to repent with the promise that if they repent their sins will be blotted out? The ordinary way that Christ’s kingdom advances is through His people making known the way of truth.

Jesus spoke of Himself in this way, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”[13] He prayed that God would sanctify His children through the truth, His Word is truth.[14] Christians must be lovers and tellers of the truth. When a professed Christian begins telling lies he or she is no longer acting like a Christian and may never have been one to begin with. The Christian that truly loves God loves the truth, and loves to tell it, for God is truth![15]

Perhaps someone will think of a wayward son, daughter, cousin, aunt, uncle, mother, father who is pretending to be what they are not and counter with, “I do not want to cause a fight or lose my relationship; can I just go along and get along or keep quiet?”

There are many responses but consider just one – do you want that relative to burn in the lake of fire for all eternity? It is a horrific thought. To support sin and encourage toward hell is not love, it is hatred. Those that love their family members will warn them of the fire of hell and the way of sin that leads there because they want their family member to escape! Think of the drowning man. Do you worry about his response to the life preserver or do you throw the life preserver? Do you worry about waking up your neighbor at 2:00am due to his house being on fire or do you beat on his door to wake and warn him of the danger?

No doubt warning a friend with the truth will be difficult at an emotional level. Family and friends may disown you like the prodigal son originally did with his father.[16] They may say terrible things about you. But which is better? To have a relationship premised on lies and at the end destruction; or to pursue a relationship premised in truth where the wayward is called to faith in Jesus Christ and everlasting life in Heaven? If you believe the Word of God, that God has the power to make the dry bones live, tell the truth. Lift high the standard of the Lord. Lift high the Word of God. Lift high the name of Christ. Lift up the truth that all might see!

2. Lift up the Full Truth

When the truth is told it should be the whole truth. Sometimes God will use a partial message to work great revival, repentance, and restoration of His people. He can do all things as He pleases. Nevertheless, God not only gave us Jonah’s sermon to Nineveh but Peter’s sermon at Pentecost and Paul’s sermons around the Roman empire. We should not stop with warning of sin, judgment, and hell. We should start there and continue to tell the way of escape, deliverance, and salvation.[17]

Tell of the Savior of former liars, thieves, murderers, idolaters, blasphemers, homosexuals, transgenders, covetous, and the like. Such were some of us![18] Tell of Christ crucified for sinners that whosoever believes in Him might not perish but have everlasting life.[19] Tell of Him who bore your sins on the cross in your place that you might not only be pardoned of all your sins but made righteous in His sight.[20]

Tell those who abide in transgenderism that they will surely perish if they do not confess their sins, turn from those sins unto God, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. If they do, they will be forgiven.

It is possible the transgender friend may reject you, call you hateful, transphobic, and the rest. He may attempt to have you fired from your job for telling the truth. Nevertheless, unless the transgender hears the truth he will surely perish. What if a job is lost and a soul is gained? God who is faithful will care for and guard His children from this life to the life to come.[21] Lift high the standard of the Lord. Lift up the full truth that all might see.

3. Live The Truth

Christians are constantly tempted to compromise with the truth and celebrate lies. One way this is manifested is through attendance at homosexual weddings so called.[22] Christians are invited to homosexual weddings, and they often go, giving cards and words of congratulations. One cannot reject homosexuality theologically and embrace it at the same time practically. These things are opposites and do not testify to the truth of God’s Word.

Another temptation is when a male family member, colleague, student, or neighbor desires you to call him by a female name/pronoun or vice versa. For the sake of temporary peace, many are giving in to this temptation and using lies in their communications. In love for God and for the lost, we must address others truthfully. If we love our neighbor and the truth, we must tell them the truth and live the truth.

The Lord gives many positive commands in His Word for living the Christian life. “If sinners entice you, do not consent.” “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.” Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” [23] 

If the world should harm you for lovingly standing for the truth in a tsunami of lies, stand firm. Jesus said, “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Far better is the legacy of the Christian than the legacy of the world. The world is passing away but he who does the will of the Lord abides forever.

May all Christians lift high the standard of the Lord. May we live the truth that all might see.

4. Preach the truth

Paul told Timothy to preach the word and keep preaching the word.[24] He could just as faithfully said, preach the truth and keep preaching the truth for God’s Word is truth.

The preacher of the Word is called to do many things: Herald the good news; Be an example to the people of God; Feed the flock of God; Call all to repentance and faith in Christ – to be reconciled to Him. As a watchman over the house of God, the minister is to warn the people of lies, error, and the way of destruction.

God told Ezekiel that he must warn the wicked of their pending destruction. If Ezekiel did not warn the people, God would require the blood of the wicked at Ezekiel’s hand. However, if Ezekiel warned the wicked of their iniquity and the destruction of hell, and they would not turn from their sin and died, then Ezekiel’s soul would be delivered.[25]

If the preacher does not warn of the lies and destruction of transgenderism, pride, abortion, how will the people know the truth? Will there not be blood required at his hand? Perhaps the lies of the present are so widespread because preachers and Christians have been so quiet. Have some preachers discarded the truth into the street? Have some preachers neglected the preaching and warning of Hell? Are so many so distant from the Kingdom of God because so few in the visible church proclaim the truth? Are ministers rallying around other standards which falter and fail or are the ministers of the Kingdom rallying around the standard of the Lord that abides forever?

The world is trapped and chained to sin and lies. The truth of God and His Word sets prisoners free. God promised that His Word will not depart from His children from this time and forever. It is here, it is with us. Will Christians lift high the truth?

May the Lord open the mouths of faithful Christians to proclaim the truth that all outside of Christ are on the path to hell.[26] There is but one way of escape and it is freely offered to all today. It is the way of salvation through the Savior of sinners, Jesus Christ the Lord. He came into this world for this reason – to save His people from their sins. Look unto Him all ends of the earth and live!

The Lord has lifted up His standard. May gospel ministers and faithful Christians again sound the trumpet of truth!

Oh, may thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold
fight as the saints who nobly fought of old
and win with them the victor’s crown of gold.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

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[1] See Jesus’ exposition of hell in Mark 9:38-50 and Luke 16:19-31

[2] John 3:18

[3] Joel Osteen famously professed his avoidance of the doctrine in a 2016 interview. Former Pastor Rob Bell gained worldwide notoriety for questioning the teaching on hell followed shortly thereafter by denying homosexuality as sin.

[4] Revelation 20:7:15

[5] See #39 above.

[6] Jonah 1:4.

[7] Acts 2:40

[8] Isaiah 59:14

[9] See also Hebrews 1:3

[10] Isiah 59:15b, 19-20

[11] John 1:14

[12] John 3:14-15

[13] John 14:6

[14] John 17:17

[15] Psalm 117:2; Isaiah 65:16; John 1:17; John 14:6; John 16:13; I John 5:6

[16] Luke 15:11-32. See also the account of Absolom

[17] See Peter at Pentecost in Acts 2:36-39

[18] Ezekiel 37: I Corinthians 6:9-11

[19] John 3:14-16

[20] II Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13

[21] Psalm 4:8; Isaiah 46:1-4

[22] Marriage as defined by God is the union between a man and a woman. Two men or two women may unite sinfully but whatever the world may call it, it is not a marriage.

[23] Proverbs 1:10-19; Psalm 1:1-2; I John 3:18

[24] 1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:2

[25] Ezekiel 33:7-11

[26] Frances Turretin notes the name for Hell in Luke 16:23 with the rich man and Lazarus is derived from the valley of the children of Hinnom where Israelites caused their children to be offered to Moloch passing them through a fire that was kept up continually (2 Kings 23:10). See Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology. Volume 3. p.604.

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