Spirit of Truth/The Bible on Trial

Playing by the Rules! Imagine trying to just show up at the Augusta National golf course for the Masters golf tournament (being played this now through the weekend) and going to the Competition Committee and demanding to be allowed to enter the tournament. The Committee would ask you if you have qualified for the tournament in one of the regional golf tournaments, and you answer that you don't even know how to play golf, you don't know the rules, and you have no idea how a golf game is played. But then you say with all sincerity that this doesn't matter because you have a personal friend that said that he would play the game in your stead, and that you don't need to know the rules, all you have to know is that HE knows the rules, and knows how to win the tournament, and when he wins he will give you the trophy. After you have been thrown off of the property, being banned from ever coming back, you would figure out that this is NOT the way the game is played. No one can play the game for you. You must not only know the rules, but you are required to be able to play the game at a certain high level, such that you would be competitive with those that have been playing the game their whole lives. And as to having someone play the game for you and then give you the trophy, you would realize that this is anathema to any kind of competition.   'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne." Rev. 3:21. We are in the Competition of and for our lives with respect to Sanctification and Eternal Life, and yet many people believe that they bear no responsibility in overcoming anything, because they believe that Jesus overcame FOR them, and will hand them the trophy of eternal life that HE won for them. Sadly, this attitude does not work in golf, or in life.

Sealing, the goal of knowing and understanding truth! All things in life have a beginning and ending point, even life itself. Conception then birth begins the process, and ultimately death ends it; unless, of course, the King of the Heavens returns before that fact. Beginnings and endings happen daily in every aspect of life, from waking to sleeping, moving physically from one place to another, friendships and loves won and lost. In this process there is seemingly only one thing that does not follow this pattern and that is learning; once a person starts learning, ideally they will never stop until death. Does this process apply to Truth? Scripture, especially within the words of Jesus, we have seen that there is a process of learning that appears to have an end point, and that is when a person in life arrives at the end of the process of Sanctification; that is learning the truth about salvation and eternal life. One text that supports this is found in Daniel: "Many will be purged, purified and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand." Dan. 12:10. The beginning point is the start of the purging, pruifying, and refining. The end point is understanding. The question then is ths: Can a person on earth ever fully know all THIS truth? Jesus has something to say about this in Matthew: "Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master FINDS GOOD ENOUGH to put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time?" Matt. 24:45. The phrase in caps is found in the Jerusalem Bible. It seems that this Bondservants indeed knows ENOUGH (but not all) he needs to get the household ready for the arrival of the Master. This is encouraging when we think about how much truth there is that we DON'T know, yet we can still be of service to the Kingdom of God.

If you learn, practice and teach the truth you will risk losing friends and family.  I think we have all experience this in various forms as we have grown from childhood into an adult. We do outgrow our friends. I have many friends from highschool days that I don't ever see, and never speak too, even on FB, because we no longer have the commonality we had fifty odd years ago (not countong the good friends that have died along the way). This happens to all of us. But what really hurts is when a close friend with which you have spent 15, 20 years or more developing a relationship, suddenly and unexpectedly decides to end their friendship with you. This hurts. This just happened to me this week. And rather than give me a call, and say their good-by's face to face (so-to-speak) they did it over a message of Face Book. It seems that my late friend did not appreciate my stand on a current political/social issue, and has been so caught up in the fervor of the moment with the marches about this issue, that he has decided that we can no longer be friends. It became so personal that if I tried to say anything that would logically counter his emotional position, he would shut me off and say that there was no truth in anything I said on the subject.  Jesus knew that this would happened, and gave this warning: "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you." John15:18-19. Those who are 'of the world' (even if they believe they are not) will hate you if you revealt to them the Truth. "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." John 16:33.

"I don't think that . . . " Have you ever wondered why people disagree with the results of a logical process? You might lay out a progression of thought that makes complete sense to you, but in response a friend or co-worker will say that they disagree with your conclusion. They might begin their rebuttal with, "I don't think that", and continue with a variation of the following . . . "'this will work . . . you know what you are talking about . . . Jesus would like this". Truth is logical. Truth makes sense. Truth is unassaiable. Yet many people find truth intollerable, incomprehensible, and incoherent. So what's with that? When Jesus came to this earth He came for ONE reason (as Rick pointed out yesterday on The Bible On Trial), and that was to "Testify to the Truth". Those to whom He presented this Truth were not used to dealing with truth as a stand alone entity. Truth was what THEY said it was; they saw it that it was their job to define truth for the masses, not for the good of all, but or the good of some, them. Jesus upset this condition by showing them that they were way outside of the truth of God. Today, when truth is presented that does not match the 'truth' that is already known, there is a 'cognitive dissonance' that is difficult for these people to overcome. When truth is not what you know, it is diffcult to go backward and have to start from scratch in finding it. This is what Jesus was up against in His day, and what we are still up against in our day. The only solution is to do what Jesus did, and that was to bring the words of God to the table and let each person make up their own minds as to whether to believe it or not. This is where the Holy Spirit works. We just need to let Her do Her job, and not fret over the result.

"Truth of Dare" ~ Have you ever played the game Truth or Dare? It is actually an ancient game first played in Greece, and then morphed into a Christmas game, and finally to a game played mosty by children and adolescents. It existed for centuries as a game called Questions and Commands, and a more modern version became a TV show named Truth or Consequences. I made and appearance on the original TV show as a teenager in 1966. (I didn't win).  The purpose of the game is to get another player to reveal something emarrassing about themselves, or to do something slightly dangerous as a consequence. I think we have all played it at one time or another, and if not you should try it the next time you are in a party mood with your friends. The spiritual application of this game is that while searching for and finding truth can reveal character flaws and deficiencies with the performance of the 'commands' of the King, it also reveals the punishments for maintaining those flaws after they are revealed in order to avoid or make excuses for not following the Commandments that God has issued to His Kingdom. The 'Dare' is making the erroneous assumption that God does not care if you keep His Commandments, and that He will save you in your sin, and in spite of you daring God to not punish you for your hubris.  Eternal Life is not a game, and eternal death IS an option, should you decide the Commands of God are not necessary in your salvation. Jesus said, "and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." John 8:32. We most often take this as a request or an option; but in reality this verse indicates a direct command, in that you WILL know th truth, and and the DARE/punishment for not knowing is that you will not be set free. Free from what? Eternal death.   In salvation Truth or Dare is a game you must play to win.

"You have to train your brain to understand reality, not your perception of reality." (Joey Demat) I LOVE golf. I don't play anymore due to a vision problem, but in the 'old' days my son Zach and I would go out and play together on a regular basis. Even now I am an watching the Arnold Palmer Invitational Golf tournament at Bay Hill, Florida. And every time I played, and every time I watch one thing is crystal clear; golf is a very difficult game. Vision and alignment are critical to putting the ball where your next shot can make a difference to your score. In golf, what you think you see on the course is not always what is really there. Twists, turns, slight deviations to terrain, and how your mind can play tricks with these things, and then on top of that is how the rules of golf affect how all of this is used to create a low score.  This is what makes golf interesting and exciting.  Salvation can be like golf in that no matter what the terrain, if you do not play within the rules of Salvation you cannot finish the 'game' with eternal life. And what you see along the way may be helpful to your success, or it may put you on an alternate path that leads to destruction. Vision, seeing reality, is what will make it possible for you to OVERCOME as Jesus overcame (Rev. 3:21), and enter the Kingdom of God.

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" This sentence has been heard innumerable times in movies, and TV courtroom dramas, and in real life, for as long as any of us remember . It is interesting that they still use the phrase "so help you God" when the swearing in takes place in the courts in my area of the country. Now admittedly the term 'God' is a title and not a name; after all, God's name is not "God", but the idea is that a witness essentially acknowleges that the truth they will speak before the court comes from God, and is therefore the whole truth. Purgery is swearing to the truth of God, but telling a lie instead. Yet Christians, and yes those of all other religions, insist that their truth is the truth from God, but purger themselves because they choose to use the words of human beings as being the very words of God. This is done because NO ONE that identifies with a religion understands that religion is, at its core, wholly of human origin, and has little if anything to do with the truth that God sent to earth from heaven through His own Son, Jesus Christ. Oh, many pay lip service to that idea, but then the 'swearing in' takes place, they will swear by the words of Paul, or Aristotle, or Billy Graham, or a living or dead modern prophet, or any other human being that suits their fancy, instead (in the place) of the words of the Son of God Himself.  The Highest Authority that anyone can swear by needs to be words viewed through the prism of the Son of the Living God, and not just anyone that an individual fancies as 'the truth'. The TRUTH is of a higher authority, because all truth comes from the Throne of God. This is the reason Jesus was born and came into this world, that is, to testify to the truth; everyone that is already OF the truth hears HIS voice.

~In the Line of Duty~ I awakened this morning to a live video on the news that a Pomona California police officer was killed in the line of duty. Police officers from all over California have come together to escort the dead officer from the hospital to the Coroners office, as a tribute to the Police Department and the officer's family. There will be a heart rending funeral and grave side service that will also be shown on the news, and we will hear not only about life of the fallen officer, but about how this officer sacrificed his future for the present of the citizens of the city he served. Unfortunately, this scene has been repeated time and time again over the years as we honor both civilian, military, paramilitary and fire personell who have made the ultimate sacrifice of their lives for their communities and countries.  Is this honor extended to those that have given their lives in death for the bringing about the Kingdom of the Heavens? Will the King of the Kingdom, Jesus, honor Antipas (Rev. 2:13),  the Two Witnesses (Rev.11:7), or members of the 144,000, or others with an elaborate funeral after they are killed in His service? No! God does not do funerals for those that die in His service. Who was more deserving of this honor more than Jesus Himself, after His death on the Cross? Yet there was nothing from His Father. Why? Because God is the God of the LIVING, not the God of the dead.  The reunion of God the Father and Jesus when He finally returned to Heaven from His mission on earth, must have been and amazing sight. And then Jesus is seen standing before the throne in honor and glory (Rev.5:6), just as do those that overcome as He overcame (Rev. 3:21). So those of us that die in the service of the King, both throughout the ages, and during the time of the end, willl not be honored in death, we will be honored with Life Eternal; and that will be worth everything we can give.

BANNING WORDS! America is going through a tough time right now because there is lots of back lash from many quarters about the need for 'common sense' gun control. Don't worry, this is NOT the subject of this piece. It does, however, bring up this issue, and that is that one solution that has been proferred as to how to solve the gun violence issue is to ban guns. This is not new. But what is new, in America at least, is that when a person uses words to disagree with any change in policy toward the 2nd Amendment they are regailed with all sorts of personal attack and invective (swearing), and accused of being all sorts of things with they are not. When we here at Spirit of Truth Ministry dare to question the verasity and validity of a certain New Testament 'apostle', we recieve the brunt of many of the same types of comments people are using to describe the character, personality, and mental competency of those that DO NOT want to ban guns in America. The WORDS we use in describing this beloved apostle infuriate people to such an extent that they have stated categorically the we are "servants of Satan", and what we say must be stopped at all cost. In both of these cases the idea that people should not be allowed to say that they believe and know to be the truth means that those words need to be banned.  Now you will say that this is impossible in a 'free' country, or in a 'free world', because no one is actually saying that. And yet prophecy in Revelation tells us that this is exactly what is to happen at the time of the end; so much so that people will be prevented from participating in commerse to the extent that they will be prevented from "buying and selling", and will pay for their words with their lives. Words mean things; and it is importnat for us to listen carefully to the words of people with which we disagree, simply because there may be truth in them.

"Your future hasn't been written yet, so make it a good one!" Doc Brown, from Back To The Future. The most important element that shrouds the past in mystery, that complicates the present with seemingly impossible decisions, and has the immense power to alter the future for good or evil, is the TRUTH. The expression "You can't change the past" is itself a lie. Of course you can change the past, as long as your view of the future is clear. Perspective is the key. When you look at today from the perspective of the future you desire, every decision point moves you toward that desired future. I hear Christians sing the old hymn "When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be"; but what I don't see from these lovely and sincere people is an effort to understand the dynamic that TRUTH plays in the reality of that song. If you believe a lie as if it is the truth, and you don't choose to accept the responsibility for your belief that THAT lie is NOT the truth, then the future depicted in that old hymn CANNOT ever come true for you. A future based upon lies is fiction; and yes, sometimes fiction seems more real than real life. R.A. Heinlein coined a phrase that became the foundation for much of his science fiction writing, "Future History". What we do today, the choices we make, the deeds that we do-or don't do, is the history of our future. This concept is what brings our need for knowing and understanding the truth into sharp relief. And it is for THIS reason that Jesus was sent by His Father to this earth, not simply to die for our sins, but to teach us how to know and LIVE the truth through the words of the Father in the Old Testament (Matt. 5:17), and through the words of Jesus that He gave to His eyewitness disciples in the New Testament (John 3:19-21).