APPREHENDING TRUTH: a short primer on how to do it. (4 DEC 2016)

Over the past few years, I have written perhaps a dozen articles on this subject. A review of ideas in those articles would include: The human mind is truly a miracle. How the human mind has the ability to discover new ideas is not widely known. It’s sad when a mind gets wasted. People get lazy & don’t develop thinking skills. They think they know enough & stop learning. They worship the superficial. Many people no longer attempt to have good reasons for what they believe. In recent years (the post-modern world), you create your own reality & your own truths. If the facts don’t fit one’s theory or opinion, then post-moderns change the facts in their mind. Their heads are vacuums that suck up the dirt the World Order constantly feeds them. Information is not knowledge. Seeing is not knowing. Explanations may give us peace of mind, but they may not explain what really happened. Watch out for simplistic universal one-size-fits-all health advice. Look for researchers who are flexible & understand the complexity of life. You have to be very careful about what a statistic means. Scientific studies are notorious for not controlling countless variables that in reality invalidate any findings they claim from their data, if the data is even for real. And watch out for PC fads, like PC historical fads, they are promoting agendas not the truth.

THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH. The love of the truth is a moral issue. Hold fast to what is good. The natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him… Ancient Athen’s example as the intellectual center of the world gives proof that the godless mind, no matter if it is brilliant, will tend to wander into idolatry. “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts.” Stimuli drive us to investigate. The unconscious mind, if it is informed enough & is given a chance, will provide us with answers that can change our lives. Yet life is too short to learn it all the hard way, so we need to identify solid sources. And we want to find ways to leverage knowledge. The man of God said “O how I love thy teachings! It is my meditation all the day…”(A) Truth is not the enemy. If God is truth, then where truth is, God will be. Some people have been able to get so in tune with the Spirit of God, that they are shown remarkable things by God’s Spirit of Truth. For instance, a spook sent to spy on us, met some of my close brothers in Christ, who by the Spirit of God told him all kinds of personal things in his life, and totally “disarmed” him. By that, I mean, his defenses broke down. Christ said the Holy Spirit of Truth would lead us into all knowledge. The Spirit has protected people from deceptions.

TRUTH IS ALWAYS TRUTH. This truism has many applications. God’s words are useful for multiple applications, so Biblical truth continues to successfully guide those who correctly apprehend it. This truism also means that the character of the person speaking a truth is not the benchmark as to its truthfulness. History is full of a witnesses’ truthful testimony being discounted because the witness himself was belittled. Prejudices have often prevented people from hearing the truth from a witness.

A good example from Biblical history of that very thing is found in 2 Chronicles 35. What was happening at that point (the summer of 609 B.C.), was that the Egyptians were concerned that Babylon would defeat Assyria and upset the balance of power in the middle east. They wanted to move their army through several countries (incl. Judah) to join the Assyrian army & defeat Babylon. Assyria was ruled by Asshur-urballit, and Egypt by Pharaoh Neco. King Josiah ruled Judah. Josiah was a great man of God. When he took over in 621 B.C. he had the Bible rediscovered & read to him, and in true repentance he turned himself & his nation back to God. But he made a fatal mistake that summer of 621 B.C. Pharaoh Neco tried to tell him that “God has told me to hurry; so stop opposing God, who is with me, or he will destroy you.”(B) Josiah did not believe that God could speak through a pagan king, and he tried to stop Neco. Just to be on the safe side, King Josiah disguised himself, but was killed anyway. The Word tells us that Pharaoh was being honest, God had spoken to him. So Josiah died, and his nation fell apart spiritually, even though the prophet Jeremiah was still with them.

A SIMILAR SITUATION. Christ’s disciples see a man who was not part of their group casting out demons, and they told the man to stop because he wasn’t part of their group. In their mind he lacked credibility, because he wasn’t one of them. Christ corrects them, “For he that is not against us is on our side.” (or in the KJV it says “part” for side).(C)

A DEEP THINKING CHRISTIAN CONFRONTS PHILOSOPHERS. Apostle Paul gives us an interesting example of how a godly deep thinker, who knew fluent Greek, & the classic Greek literature would deal with worldly philosophers. His sermon at the Areopagus follows the outline of Greek rhetoric starting w/ captatio benevolentia, & quoting several Greeks.(D) Paul notes what Athens is famous for, their artistic brilliance in creating beautiful statues & pagan temples. A pagan philosopher had even said it was easier to find a god in Athens, than a man. Paul tells them that they are demon-fearing, in other words controlled by these demons they have deified.(E) The word here is often translated “religious” or “superstitious” but its literal Greek meaning is “demon-fearing”. So their philosophical reasoning is challenged with divine revelation, and ends with a blunt: “the time for ignorance is over.” One gets the feeling that it bothered Paul that such brilliance was squandered on idolatry rather than serving their Creator.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PRAY FOR, YOU MAY GET IT or WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DON’T LOVE THE TRUTH. YHWH God has determined that if you really want to be stupid and believe a lie, he’ll grant you that wish. A section of the Word of God deal with Satan’s delusions.(F) It says the mystery of iniquity is already at work (& will continue until Satan is arrested & removed). It then talks of “[agents of]…Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders…”(G) It says, people perish because they don’t love the truth. “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” There it is again, truth is a moral issue. People love darkness, because their deeds & hearts are dark. There is a Biblical account of an evil King Ahab being sent a delusion, details of which are recorded in various places.(H) God asks an audience of spirits (whether good or evil it doesn’t say) if one of them take a delusion to King Ahab. “Finally a spirit came forward…’I will go and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.'” And God says, “Go and do it.”(I) Evil King Ahab (husband of the original Jezebel) loved his ungodly prophets. And we have our share of ungodly witchy prophets & prophetesses today also. God sends his prophet Michaiah to Ahab, who warns him of this entire scenario, but even with the warning Ahab turns to his false prophets who have been inspired by a lying spirit. Those who love the lie will be given the delusions, possibly with signs & wonders, that they want to see. And like Ahab, even if God sends them a warning, they will disregard it. (Yeah, buddy! I’m sure you know what I mean!)

GOD DOES NOT REVEAL EVERYTHING TO EVERYONE. In numerous Biblical passages, it clarifies that God has shared His truths in a way that those led by His Spirit will understand, but others won’t. If you want to believe the Bible is outdated, made up fables, so you can be LGBT or wild & libertine or whatever evil lurks in your dark heart, you won’t see the majesty & power of God’s Word. But those who turn their hearts to God–and I have witnessed this hundreds of times, are absolutely enthralled with the power & truth of His Word. I witnessed new converts in prison spend every minute they could devouring His Word…people who never liked to read, but hungry for the truth who couldn’t stay out of His Word. So here is a passage of scripture along this line. It is the prophet Daniel speaking…”Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, ‘My Lord, what shall be the end of these things?'”…”Many shall be purified, made white and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.”(J)

SO, let us pray that God would reveal our sins of commission, omission, & cogitation (in other words: acts, neglects, & thoughts) that our hearts might be pure to hear the truth. Truth is indeed a moral issue, and learning it involves having a love of the truth. Learning is a wonderful thing when done correctly, and the end of learning is to know God, and the more one knows, the more one loves Him. Have a blessed day my friend.

(A) PS 119:97 (B) 2 CHRON 35:21 (C) MK 9:40 (D) ACTS 17 (E) ACTS 17:22 (F) 2 THES 2:8-11 (G) 2 THES 2:9b (H) 1 KGS 22:20-23, JER 4:10, EZK 14:9 (I) 1 KGS 22:20-22 (J) DAN 12:8,10