The Book - The Man Who Loved The Truth.
A perfect picture of counterfiet Christians
There are two other points I want to emphasize from the last scripture regarding entering the Kingdom. Jesus said that no one would enter by paying lip service-Lord- Lord, but only by doing The Will of his Father.
The second point I want to make is to do with the word fruit. There are two fruits mentioned, the good and the bad. The good fruit is from God, the bad fruit is from the devil. The good fruit is Truth the bad fruit is Error.
Every tree that does not bare good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire so by their fruit you will know them. This means by their actions and what they teach.
To produce the good fruit we have to seriously study God's Word and find out exactly his will for us as individuals. He explains, in no uncertain terms, what he wants us to do. And this is where a problem arises. It is one thing to be a regular church goer with an habitual pattern of sitting, listening to unchallenged sermons, week in, and week out, and quite another to commit one's self to obeying God's commands. It is at this juncture a person has to make a decision. To make a move to obeying God is unthinkable. They just feel they would not be able to do it. But if they were to study God's Word, they would see that he will provide a helper. God knows we need help. For the genuine seeker of truth he sends the Spirit of Truth. ( John 16:13.) The Spirit of Truth—Guides into all truth. He will not let anyone down in their serious quest for salvation.
We must remember that God is watching us all the time and he does understand our weaknesses. However because he created us to be free moral agents and not robots, we have a choice. He wants us to make the first move. The kind of move we make will tell him how serious we are. And salvation is assured for lovers of truth. ( 2 Thes 2:10.) They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
It is very important that we get the subject of doing God's will right. We are instructed to do so in his word. " Test everything. Hold on to the good." ( 1 Thes 5:19-20.) This calls for effort and enthusiasm. It also calls for discernment, learning to separate what is true from what is false.
The Bible is God's Word of Truth- ( John 17:17.) God is a God of Truth- ( Ps 31:5.) And Jesus is the Way-the Truth & the Life. ( John 14:6.)
Truth is paramount in scripture. Eternal life depends upon truth. This is emphasised in a powerful way in the following verses; " The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracle, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth.( 2 Thes 2:9-12.)
Now we must face the fact that those who believe in a false gospel, embracing error or condoning it, are running the risk of God's condemnation and receiving from him a powerful delusion. This means They are past the point of no return.
I am convinced that a delusion from God is already in full swing today because we are living in the time of the end of this world. The Bible predicts a falling away of true worship for this period, in other words an apostasy. Error in many forms has crept into the churches plus a departure from sound Biblical doctrines. They are dancing to Satan's tunes and blissfully unaware of it. The price to pay for neglected Bible study.
The Apostle Paul talking about the return of our Lord to some who were confused by rumours, had this to say; " Let no one deceive or beguile you in any way, for that day will not come except the apostasy comes first ( Unless the predicted great falling away of those who have professed to be Christians has come,) and the man of lawlessness is revealed.( 2 Thes 2:3. Amplified Bible )
This apostasy is a major sign of the time of the end.
This falling away from true worship has many facets, There is the, already mentioned, charismatic movement who have gone completely overboard for the supernatural with miracles, visions, dreams and outlandish testimonies. ( This will be dealt with more fully later.) Then there are the liberal churches who no longer believe in the virgin birth nor any of the miracles that Jesus performed. There are the Roman Catholics who practice many unbiblical doctrines, and the protestant churches who claim to teach the scriptures yet ignore prophecy which is 25 per cent of the Bible. Finally, we have the cults like the watchtower society who are riddled with error and hold the top prize for false prophecy .
Their most infamous belief is that Jesus is not God - only an angel.
An excellent prophetical picture of what many of today's churches are like is illustrated early in the book of Revelation by the Laodicean church ; " To the angel of the church in Laodicea write; These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth.( Rev 3:14-16.)
The whole of this chapter reveals a modern self -satisfied church who are quite happy to go along with their pet, traditional, routine, week in and week out but with no real fire for the Lord. They assume that they are spiritually rich and doing everything right, yet Jesus tells them that they are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. They are certainly not on the way to salvation.
When we face up to these facts, then, we are getting it right. To be indifferent is to invite disaster. We have a choice of two ways to go. There is a small narrow gate and narrow road that leads to life, and there is also a wide gate and broad road that leads to destruction. This is our Lord's advice;"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it. ( Mat 7:13-14.)
Only a few find it --These words should ring in our ears.
Jesus said " seek and you will find.( Mat 7:7.)
The emphasis is on the word Find. Salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ is coming to finders. Finders whose driving force is the love of truth. God's truth in the Bible. Love of God through his Word.
There is no doubt about it, the believers who will reign with Jesus Christ in his Kingdom will be very special. They will be well tried and tested. The following scripture is just one of many on the subject of discipline: " My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves.( Heb 12:5-6.)
A special people for a special assignment in the Kingdom.
There must be millions of people who would love to live in a paradise world, in perfect peace and tranquillity, but do not want to pay a price in human inconvenience or discomfort to get it. So they close the door to a glorious eternity with our Lord and a multitude of unimaginable blessings.
No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.( 1 Co 2:9.)
" He will teach us his ways...He will judge between the nations... They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war any more.( Isa 2:3-4.)
All the animals will be at peace with each other. ( Isaiah 11 ) " They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.( Isa 11:9.)
Surely such a wonderful prospect is too good to miss - and not just for a few years, but for ever!
Bible Truth
Truth in the Bible is depicted in a number of ways. For instance, The Bible is God's Word of Truth. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. God's Light is Truth. God's Wisdom is Truth. God's Will is Truth. God's knowledge is Truth. Sound Bible doctrine is Truth. In fact God himself is Truth in every aspect.
Truth is the goal to aim for to be sure of eternal life in God's Kingdom.
The greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, mind , soul , and strength. This is quite impossible without knowing all about him. We need an accurate knowledge of all his attributes. How, for instance, do we do God's Will without knowing exactly what his will is?
The following words illustrate the point: "My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.( Proverbs 2:1-5.)
What a brilliant passage - It puts it all in a nutshell. Here God is telling us in no uncertain terms the kind of energy to have and use to get a complete understanding of God.
It is like running a race. God, through his word is our trainer. He wants us to run like a winner. The goal is eternal life in his kingdom.
The Apostle Paul puts it this way : " Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.( 1 Co 9:24-26.)
Truth is so vital that Jesus prefixed all his major announcements with the words I tell you the truth! I tell you the truth!
He emphasised truth. When he was standing before the Roman Governor, Pilate, being questioned about his Kingship and his mission, Jesus made this statement: " I came to testify to the truth. All on the side of truth listen to me.( John 18:37.)
That poses the question we should all ask ourselves: Am I on the side of truth?
As we saw earlier in ( 2 Thes 2:9-12 ) the words; " They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved." We cannot have it much plainer than that. It is not just a case of accepting the truth as a matter of principle. Loving the truth means much more than that. It is more like lifting it aloft as a banner and standing firm against all kinds of evil and error.
A genuine Christian is a soldier fighting in a spiritual warfare. Going into battle for what is right and true. Not compromising in any shape or form with the forces of evil and darkness. And -this is important, not falling for the devil's sugar-coating deception which claims many casualties.
Surely eternal life in God's Kingdom is worth fighting for? The criteria for entrance is to love and to practice Biblical truth. Not everyone will agree, and not everyone will believe in a coming kingdom. All I can say in response to this is that if I am right, then when Christ returns in all his glory it will be as an executioner to destroy the wicked and establish his kingdom.
The following will show exactly what I mean; " All this is evidence that God's judgement is right, and as" a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God... This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord. ( 2 Thes 1:5-10 )