Truth is a path so narrow that two can scarce walk together in it; we usually tread the narrow way in single file; two men can seldom walk arm in arm in the truth. The way of truth is very difficult. If you step an inch aside on the right you are in a dangerous error, and if you swerve a little to the left you are equally in the mire.
It would be well for us if, with regard to the truth, we began to be conservative as soon as we believed it, and held it fast and never let it go. The chief fault of the present day is, that in seeking to be liberal we do not hold the truth firmly enough.
The sturdy truth of God touches every chord in every man's heart. If we can, by God's grace, put our hand inside man's heart, we want nothing but that truth to move him thoroughly and to stir him up.
Send your anchor right down, young Christian, and, let whatever may come against you, hold on still by that truth; and you may then "prove all things." But while you are doing it, remember to "hold fast that which is good." Do not "prove all things" by giving up that which is good to do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:21)
A Christian should do with truth as a snail does with his shell —live inside it, as well as carry it on his back, and bear it perpetually about with him. The Holy Ghost, it is said, shall lead us into all truth. (John 16:13)
Grains of truth are like the grains of gold in the rivers of Australia—they must be shaken by the hand of patience, and washed in the stream of honesty, or the fine gold will be mingled with sand. Truth is often mingled with error, and it is hard to distinguish it; but we bless God it is said, “when the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth." (John 16:13) Truth is a narrow path indeed. It is a path the eagle's eye hath not seen, and a depth the diver hath not visited. It is like the veins of metal in a mine; it is often of excessive thinness, and, moreover, it runneth not in one continued layer. Lose it once, and you may dig for miles and not discover it again; the eye must watch perpetually the direction of the lode [a vein of metal ore].
The way of life is a labyrinth; the grassiest paths, and the most bewitching, are the farthest away from right; the most enticing are those which are garnished with wrested truths. I believe there is not a counterfeit coin in the world so much like a genuine one as some errors are like the truth. One is base metal, the other is true gold; still in externals they differ very little.
If you want truth to go round the world you must hire an express train to pull it; but if you want a lie to go round the world, it will fly: it is as light as a feather, and a breath will carry it. It is well said in the old proverb, "A lie will go round the world while truth is pulling its boots on."
We love God's truth on the rack, as well as when it is walking upright. If there were a martyr whom we loved before he came on the rack, we should love him more still when he was stretched there. When God's truth is stretched on the rack, we do not call it falsehood. We love not to see it racked, but we love it even when racked, because we can discern what its proper proportions ought to have been if it had not been racked and tortured by the cruelty and inventions of men.
That high hill of truth hath mists upon its summit. No mortal eye can see its pinnacle; nor hath the foot of man ever trodden it. But yet let us paint the mist, if we cannot paint the summit. Let us depict the difficulty itself if we cannot unravel it. Let us not hide anything; but, if the mountain of truth be cloudy at the top, let us say, “Clouds and darkness are around him."
Excerpted from Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Gems from Spurgeon; or, Extracts from the Note-Book of a Non-Professional Reporter (London: Partridge and Co., 1858), 73-75.
This would be an excellent read for Ergun Caner and his defenders. Spurgeon!-the man could be sharing these thoughts from any pulpit today. He is always relevant.
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