Even the world recognises that honesty is something which is very valuable. Without a measure of common honesty among men, it would be almost impossible to carry out commercial transactions. The handling of the financial affairs of large corporations and nations require a considerable degree of honesty and faithfulness in those who administer them. If, then, common honesty is so needful for the affairs of this world, how much more is true honesty of heart needful in view of eternity. This is an honesty that will make us honest, not only before men but also before God.
True honesty of heart is the gift of God. By nature none have it. We are by nature self-deceivers and hypocrites and nothing will make us truly honest before God but His own grace. It will not then be a question of whether we are regarded as honest by men, but whether we are viewed as honest by God. The soul that is taught of God is led into an understanding of the corruption of his own heart. There he finds, not honesty, but deceit and duplicity. Hypocrisy is natural to man; honesty is alien to him. It is true that God made man upright in the beginning but the Word of God also tells us that man has sought out many inventions.
It is the Lord alone who is able to make us honest. He does so by showing us first that whatever we possess, we do not possess honesty. Whatever we can glory in, we cannot glory in our straightness, for we are crooked. Honesty is begun in the soul when we are brought to confess that we are not honest. We will then acknowledge that we are neither honest towards God, or towards our fellow man or towards ourselves. Deceit and self-deceit lurk in our soul. When we are made honest before God we realise that God who knows all things knows us through and through. When He enlightens us as to our true condition then there is no hiding of the fact, and no hiding from the fact that we are by nature dishonest.
We must be made honest as before God. Nothing else will do. In our petitions at a Throne of grace we will have to include this one: “Make me honest, Lord”. All our other petitions will be of no avail if this one is not answered, for we need not expect our prayer to be answered unless we come in truth and with honesty of heart before God.
Honesty, then, is of divine implanting in the soul. It is from heaven; it is of heaven. It is transparent. Imitations of honesty reveal themselves as being other than the real thing. Some graces are more difficult to counterfeit than others. This is one; humility is another. May we have the real thing and not the counterfeit. Where dishonesty is found there will be an excusing of sin. How different where honesty is found. Then a man will confess what is true though in doing so he condemns himself. In the Pharisee and the publican we have a clear example of one who is honest and one who is not; the one who is honest condemns himself, the one who is dishonest condemns his fellow.
It is not enough to be made honest, great as that blessing is, it is also necessary to be kept honest. Even where grace is found, deceit is always angling to find a place in the heart. Before the soul is aware this off-spring of Satan seeks to obtain a place in the heart and to keep it. It will rob the believer of his peace and his joy and only renewed supplies of grace from the fountain Head of all grace will be sufficient to overcome it. It is like pride, that multi-headed hydra which springs up in every corner of the soul. In view of this well might the soul cry out: “Oh, to be honest. Oh, to be honest before God!” It is certain that until we are honest before God we will never in truth be honest before our fellow men.
If we are made honest, to what do we owe it? We owe it to the grace of God, and to the God of all grace who is revealing Himself in Christ as the Saviour of sinners. Christ in His death has obtained gifts even for the rebellious. All the blessings of divine grace bestowed on the soul are the fruit of Calvary. At Calvary nothing was hidden. The transactions of the Cross required patent honesty in the Sufferer and patent honesty in the Inflicter of the punishment meted out. There sin appeared in its true colours; there the desert of sin appeared in all its awfulness. If we are not brought to Calvary we will never be made honest for there alone can the soul be delivered from deceit. Oh, what it cost Christ in His sufferings in order that He might establish a basis on the ground of which sinners might be reconciled to God. He paid the price in the coin of His life blood.
Until we are made honest before God we must remain not only deceivers of God but of ourselves as well. What deceit has to be rooted out of us! A new heart, that is, an honest heart will have to be given to us. The old heart will have to be taken away. The flesh will have to be crucified if we are to be honest in heart and life. Grace alone will make us hate what is deceitful. It will make us hate all hypocrisy. It will make us love righteousness, truth, sincerity and every thing that is right. May the Lord be pleased so to plant His grace in us that we, by His grace, may in an honest heart bring forth fruit unto God, some thirty-fold. some sixty, and some a hundred-fold.