The Beginning of Knowledge

Colossians 2:1-4 - "For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument."

As far as truth goes, there are several different voices that are calling out for our attention, and many of them are in opposition to one another. The apostle Paul begins this section of his letter to the Colossians by talking about his great struggle for his fellow believers, even those whom he has never met. The word that is translated, "struggle" in Colossians 2:1 is a Greek word that carries with it the idea of competition. It is often used to refer to arenas and stadiums, places where crowds would gather to watch the games. The picture is of a group of athletes, for instance, in the Olympic games, struggling against one another for the prize. So Paul tells the Colossian believers that he wants them to know about his great struggle on their behalf. In what sense is Paul struggling for the believers? In what sense was he engaging in competition on their behalf? Based on what he says in the surrounding context, the struggle seems to be in the arena of truth. He talks about a wealth of understanding and a true knowledge of Christ, and he says that in Him, that is in Christ, are hidden ALL the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

The issue of truth is one that the apostle references throughout this letter. In chapter 1 verse 5 he talks about the "Word of truth." In verse 6 he says that they "understood the grace of God in truth." In verses 9 and 10, in talking about his desire and prayer for the believers, he uses words like, knowledge, wisdom and understanding. In verses 12 and 13 he contrasts the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness, light being that which reveals truth and darkness being that which obscures it. In verse 23 he expresses his concern that they might "continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard..." which is found, according to verse 25, in "the preaching of the Word of God."

All this knowledge, wisdom and understanding that the apostle writes about is bound up in the person of Christ and the written Word of God. In fact, chapter 2 verses 2 and 3 make that abundantly clear. Here he writes about "all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." All true knowledge and wisdom are bound up in Christ. We need this reminder, lest we abandon the foundation of truth.

There is an unwritten rule in the intellectual world that says, "If you want to talk about truth, you can't use the Bible and you can't use Christ." And sometimes they'll even tell you this. We can have a discussion, for instance, on the origin of the world, and the evolutionist will say to you, "You can't use the Bible, because I don't believe the Bible. We have to meet on neutral ground." But we can't give up the Bible just because they don't believe it. If we step off of the Word of God and try to present the truth from some other starting point we no longer have any foundation on which to stand and we lose the argument before it begins. If they say, "You can't use air to make your case because I don't believe in air." We wouldn't hold our breath for the remainder of the time. Just because they don't believe it doesn't mean I have to give it up. There really is no neutral ground; according to the Bible you're either with God or you're against Him. If we as Christians want to engage in conversation with the intellectual elite of our day, they tell us that we have to do it on their grounds, and the Bible warns us here in Colossians 2, don't fall into that trap. Don't let anyone delude you with persuasive arguments, because all wisdom and knowledge are bound up in Christ. If you abandon Him as your starting point then you have no basis for presenting the truth. In verse 8 of the same chapter we're given another strong warning - "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ." There are people who are going to try to get you to abandon the foundation of truth and argue from their foundation, which is no foundation at all. And Paul says, don't fall prey to that. J.B. Philips paraphrases verse 8 like this - "Be careful that nobody spoils your faith through intellectualism or high-sounding nonsense. Such stuff is at best founded on men’s ideas of the nature of the world and disregards Christ!" Any so called, "wisdom" that doesn't have Christ as its starting point is really foolishness.

In Proverbs 1:7 the Bible says - "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." And in Proverbs 9:10 we read - "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." All knowledge, wisdom and understanding originate with God; He is the starting point. This just reinforces what we've already seen in Colossians 2, that all the treasure of wisdom and knowledge are bound up in Christ. Do these verses really mean what they say? To say that ALL wisdom and and knowledge begin with the fear of the Lord is a pretty big claim, and it doesn't really seem to match up with what we see around us. After all, we all know some pretty smart people who reject the very existence of God. Colleges and universities, laboratories, research centers and successful businesses are full of brilliant people who deny the existence of God. And you can't say that these people are stupid, you can't get the kind of position that these people hold if you're an idiot. So how can the Bible assert that ALL wisdom and ALL knowledge are bound up in Christ? Though many brilliant people may not realize it, in order for them to know anything they have to borrow from the biblical worldview.
The Bible is actually saying here that apart from God it is impossible to know anything. If "ALL" the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ, If the fear of the Lord is the "BEGINNING" of wisdom and knowledge, then that means there is NO wisdom or knowledge apart from Him. That's the Bible's claim. "Well that's silly," someone might say, "I don't even believe in God and I know lots of stuff." Note very carefully, the Bible does not claim that you have to believe in God in order to know anything, but simply that the biblical God must exist in order for you to know anything. Imagine two people debating the existence of air. The first person says, "Air must exist in order for you to breathe." The critic of air responds, "That's silly. I don't even believe in air and I can breathe just fine." I'm not saying that you have to profess a belief in God in order to know anything, but the God of the Bible must exist in order for us to know anything. He is the beginning of knowledge. Every pursuit of truth is founded on a worldview. Whenever we set out to discover truth, to grow in knowledge and understanding, we bring with us some preconceived ideas, and this is true of everyone. Everyone has presuppositions that are based on their worldview. But there are certain ways of thinking that everyone holds to, regardless of their worldview, that cannot be accounted for in any worldview apart from the biblical worldview. God has hardwired everyone with a certain knowledge of Him, and people will act on those presuppositions even while they suppress the truth in their unrighteousness. What do I mean by that? There are certain laws in the universe that govern the way we think. These laws are not material, they're not observable, and yet everyone seems to have these laws ingrained within them.

Take for instance the laws of logic. Laws of logic govern the way we reason. Have you ever stopped to consider why you reason the way that you do? If I were to say to you, "Yesterday I drove my truck." And then I said, "Yesterday I did not drive my truck." Immediately in your mind you spot a problem; "He's contradicting himself." And it really doesn't matter what your social standing is, how intellectual you are or what part of the world you live in, everyone, with perhaps a few exceptions, is going to have a problem with these statements. Even a little child would know that I either drove my truck yesterday or I didn't, but both of these statements certainly cannot be true. Why? Because they contradict. So my question is: Why is this a problem? We immediately have a problem with contradictions, but why? As a Bible believing Christian I can answer that laws of logic are a part of God's nature. 2 Timothy 2:13 says of God - "If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself." God cannot contradict Himself, it's against His nature. He cannot be other than He is. Hebrews 13:8 tells us that Christ does not change, He's not going to be different tomorrow than He is today and according to Titus 1:2 God cannot lie. And we, according to Genesis chapter 1, have been made in the image of God. This does not mean that we perfectly reflect God's character, but when it comes to things like contradictions, we know that they cannot exist. Why? Because God has set up the human mind to be governed by His way of thinking. We know that we should be logical; we know that we should be reasonable; we know that contradictions cannot be true, and we know these things because they're consistent with the nature of God, and He has put within us the ability to reason and to think logically. The Bible gives us a foundation for the laws of logic; in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Now consider the atheist; an atheist can reason too because, just like you and I, the atheist is made in the image of God. But the atheist cannot account for his ability to reason in his own worldview. The atheist will recognize that laws of logic exist, but if you ask him, "Where did they come from? Who made the laws of logic?" He has no answer. Logically, if we have laws then we must have a lawgiver.

I recently read an article in National Geographic and, more than once, the author made a statement like this, "Modern biology makes no sense without the concept of evolution." I don't accept his conclusion that evolution is true, but I find it interesting how he comes to his conclusion. He appeals to logic, he assumes that something has to make sense in order to be true. From a Christian point of view I would assume that modern biology would have to make sense because God is a reasonable God. But I would ask this evolutionist, "If evolution were true, why would modern biology need to make sense?" He can't explain the existence of laws of logic from his worldview, but he has to appeal to them in order to support his worldview. In order to make his argument this man has to borrow from the biblical worldview. In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

As another example consider the laws of morality. How do we know right from wrong? In the case of morality, we all know that there are things that we ought to do, certain ways that we should act. But where does that sense of oughtness come from? Suppose you and your atheist friend are sitting down watching television and some news story flashes across the screen about a little girl who was brutally murdered. The Christian and the atheist both have the same reaction, you're both outraged at the senseless violence, my question is, why? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you're both upset, you should be, but the unbeliever has no explanation for being upset. You both say that that man should not have murdered that little girl, but I'm going to ask, "Why not?" You, as a Christian, can respond, "People should not kill each other because man is made in the image of God. Furthermore, God explicitly tells us that it is wrong to murder." What can the atheist say? In his worldview how can he say that it's wrong for one person to murder another? Is it wrong for one chemical to react with another? Is it wrong for a lion to kill an antelope? In order for something to be right or wrong there has to be a standard by which our actions are gauged. In the non-christian worldview, where does that standard come from and why should it be obeyed? "Well everyone knows it's wrong to murder." Yes, but why? Apart from the biblical worldview right and wrong are nothing more than a matter of preference and opinion, so you couldn't say that murder was wrong, you could only say that it was wrong for you. And if someone else decides that it's right for them then you just need to accept that. But, of course, we don't accept that. Even the unbeliever is made in the image of God, and God has put this sense of right and wrong in each of us.

My contention is not that unbelievers don't believe in these things and they should, my contention is that they DO believe these things and they shouldn't. Why shouldn't they? Because it's inconsistent with their worldview. The standards of morality, the laws of logic, these are just a couple of the things that God has put into us to govern our thinking. If there is no God then these things shouldn't exist, they shouldn't be constant and they definitely shouldn't be universal. Colossians 2:4 - "I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument." There are going to be well educated people who come along with arguments that sound very convincing. But even though they don't realize it, the ground on which they are building their arguments is God Himself. In order to affirm what they do, in order to discover truth, whether it's in the area of math or science or psychology, or whatever else, they have to borrow from God's ultimate standard of truth."In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

The Pursuit of Truth

John 18:37 - "For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."

During His interrogation by Pontius Pilate, Christ says that He came to bear witness to the truth, and He says that everyone who is of the truth hears His voice; those who are of the truth listen to Christ. The Bible declares that God is true and therefore truth is that which corresponds with His nature and character. Truth is the self-expression of God. To the extent that something matches up with who He is and what He says it is true, and to the extent that it is contrary to His nature and His Word it is false. So God is the foundation and the ultimate standard of all truth. Truth is not a matter of taste or preference, and it's not subjective or relative.

Now, there are those in this world who would agree that we need to pursue the truth. They would say, "Absolutely, we need to examine the facts, look at the evidence and find out what is true." The problem is that many of these people have already rejected God's existence. They say that we need to pursue the truth but they've rejected the one who is Himself Truth. God is the Founder and the foundation of truth; all truth comes from Him, so when you try to pursue truth and yet reject God you have no solid basis from which to discover truth. And yet, ironically enough, this mentality is prevalent in our institutions of learning. We seek to educate people in the truth while at the same time rejecting the very existence of God. These teachers and professors are all about knowledge, but God's Word says in Proverbs 1:7 that - "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." When you try to pursue knowledge but you don't start with God then your efforts become futile. You have to begin at the beginning, and the beginning of knowledge is the fear of the Lord. They profess to be wise, but as Proverbs 9:10 states - "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." They don't start with the fear of the Lord, instead, as Romans 1 says - "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie." And, "Professing to be wise they became fools." Every pursuit of truth begins in one of two places. There are two foundations on which we build our understanding of truth; either truth originates with God, or man decides truth. What you believe on this foundational issue of the origin of truth effects every area of your life. Your belief on this issue defines your worldview. Either truth originates with God or it originates with man. And if you decide that man determines truth then you'll be building your life on a foundation that is continually shifting, and in the end you'll find your life in ruins.

I saw a copy of National Geographic this past week and the cover caught my attention. In big letters across the front cover it said "THE WAR ON SCIENCE" So, I was interested, I decided to pick it up and read about the war on science. Now, the article opened up by saying that what we believe effects what we do. What we believe to be true has an affect on the way that we live our lives. So "we have to decide what to believe and how to act on it." So how do we decide what is true? According to this article, we need to use science. So far so good, no one should be opposed to science, but we need to remember what science actually is. Science is a process of learning that is based on observation and experimentation. The dictionary defines science like this, "Systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation." Too often though, things like the big bang or the origin of life from non-life are called 'science,' but these things are simply theories. They haven't been observed or discovered through experimentation, but many people will still refer to these things as "Science" even though it's not science, and if you reject their theories they accuse you of being opposed to science. Anyway, this article said that we need to use the scientific process, examine the evidence, use observation and experiments to find the facts. Sound good? Sounds good. But this article goes on to show how unstable this foundation really is. The author says "Scientific results are always provisional, susceptible to being overturned by some future experiment or observation. Scientists rarely proclaim an absolute truth or an absolute certainty. Uncertainty is inevitable." So, according to this article we need to use the scientific process to determine truth, BUT, what we determine to be truth, we may find out in a couple years that it's not really true at all. What we discover truth to be is subject to change, according to this article. We're not going to say that truth is absolute, because, really, we don't know.

It goes on to say "Science will find the truth. It may get it wrong the first time and maybe the second time, but ultimately it will find the truth." So scientist might declare something as true today and then tomorrow find out that they were wrong. But science will ultimately find the truth. How long is it going to take? Well, we don't know, but it will get there eventually.

One professor that was interviewed in this article said this "We believe in scientific ideas not because we have evaluated all the evidence but because we feel an affinity for the scientific community." I love that honesty. Basically he's saying, our beliefs aren't solely based on an honest evaluation of the evidence, but we have an attraction to the scientific community, so the way that we feel about this has an affect on how we determine what is true. He goes on to say "People tend to use scientific knowledge to reinforce beliefs that have already been shaped by their worldview." This is great, usually they don't admit this. As a Christian who believes that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God, the ultimate truth, I look at the world through the lens of Scripture, and I interpret the world based on what the Bible says. So, for instance, when I'm flipping through an instruction manual looking for the directions in English, and I ask myself, "Why are there so many languages?" I can say, "Because in Genesis chapter 11 God came down at the tower of Babel and confused the languages of the people." When you consider questions like, why are there fossils found in rock layers all over the earth? You can look back at Genesis chapter 6 when God flooded the entire world and see how this would cause fossils to be laid down in rock layers all over the world. I look at these things through the lens of Scripture with the assumption that God's Word is truth. But those who reject God and His Word have their own worldview through which they interpret the world, and they come to their own conclusions on the basis that man decides truth. And this article admits that your feelings, your affinity and your worldview affect how you interpret the scientific evidence.

The article draws to a close by saying, "Science tells us the truth." And it tells us that we need to "trust people who are using the scientific method to decide which way we fall on these questions." Do you realize what just happened there? "Science tells us the truth." Does science tell us the truth? Yeah, we can discover certain truths by using the scientific method. But then it goes on to say that we need to "trust the people who are using the scientific methods" to decide what truth is. Science will tell the truth, so trust people. They're not calling on us to trust science, but to trust people. People who, according to this article are being influenced by their feelings and by their worldview. People who are using what they find to support what they already believe. People who are using a process that isn't without flaw either, right? They admitted, it might get it wrong the first time, it might get it wrong the second time, but they'll get it right eventually. But this article states that you and I need to trust something that is provisional, that's susceptible to being overturned by a future experiment or observation. We're not going to say that this truth is absolute because we might find out tomorrow that we were wrong, but that's what they tell us we need to trust. That doesn't sound like a very secure place to put our trust. But that's where we stand when we believe that man determines truth.  

Jeremiah 17 - "Thus says the Lord, “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the Lord... The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds. As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid, so is he who makes a fortune, but unjustly; in the midst of his days it will forsake him, and in the end he will be a fool.”" All those who are making their living on deception, on undermining the truth of God under the guise of "knowledge" in the end they will be found to be fools; for the fool has said in his heart, "there is no God." All the so called "knowledge" that doesn't match up with God's truth, He's gonna set it aside. Oh, it may reign in our day, it may be a part of the talk show's you listen to and the articles you read, but one day, as 1 Corinthians 1 says, all this supposed wisdom of the wise, and the intelligence of the intelligent, God's going to set it aside. "Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?" Why? "For since in the wisdom of God the world through it's wisdom did not know God."

Everyone is building their lives on some foundation of truth. Those who reject God are building on the shifting sand of mans reason, the ever changing standard of "man decides truth." The only solid foundation of truth is the true God Himself. He is the solid Rock that never changes.

Jeremiah 17:5 - "Thus says the Lord, “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the Lord.”"

What is Truth?

John 18:38 - "Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”"

As we pick up the scene in John chapter 18 the Lord Jesus has been arrested and taken into the court of the high priest where He stood before Annas. After questioning Him, Annas sends Him to Caiaphas, and Caiaphas in turn sends Him to Pontius Pilate. Now Pilate is trying to find out what's going on. As Jesus is brought into the Praetorium, Pilate goes out to the crowd asking them, "What charges do you bring against this man?" And the crowd doesn't really answer His question. They simply say, "If this Man were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him up to you." Pilate tries to pass off the responsibility, but the crowd is insistent that they want the Lord Jesus put to death. And that's where we pick up the reading in verse 33.

John 18:33-40 - "Therefore Pilate entered again into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?” Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what have You done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, “I find no guilt in Him. But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover; do you wish then that I release for you the King of the Jews?” So they cried out again, saying, “Not this Man, but Barabbas.” Now Barabbas was a robber."

We've just come off of that time of year that many people set aside to focus on the wonder of the incarnation, that fact that God became a man and dwelt among us. But if I were to ask you, "Why was Jesus born?" what would you say? I imagine that off the top of your head you can problem think of 5 or 6 verses that give us a reason for Christ's coming. The New Testament is replete with verses that tell us essentially, "This is why Christ came..." Not to mention the Old Testament prophecies where the Lord states that He is sending His Messiah into the world, to do one thing or another. When asked the question, why did Jesus come? We may answer by quoting 1 Timothy chapter 1, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." We may quote Matthew 11:18 where the Lord Jesus says that He came to seek and save that which was lost. Or Matthew 20:28 where He says that He came, not to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. In Mark 2:17 He says "I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners." According to First John 3:5 He came in order to take away sins. First John 4:9 tells us that He came in order that we might live through Him. So there are several correct answers to the question, "why did Christ come?" And they're all connected.

But the one that I want to focus on is here in John 18. In verse 37 Christ says "For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth." Notice the way that He puts this, "For this I have been born" That speaks of His humanity, "and for this I have come into the world" That speaks of His deity, His pre-existence. Why? "to bear witness to the truth." Why did Christ come? To bear witness to the truth.

Now, when we step back and consider this verse in it's context, at first reading it seems out of place. Pilate is interrogating Jesus, Christ is on trial because the Jews want to kill Him, and they're talking about kingdoms, politics it would seem, and Pilate is asking Jesus if He is a king. Vs. 33 - "Are You the King of the Jews?" Vs. 36 - "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm." Vs. 37 - "So You are a king?" "You say correctly that I am a king." And then we might expect Christ to say, "For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the fact that I am the King." But that's not what He says, instead He starts talking about truth. “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” In this discussion about kingdoms why does Christ bring up the issue of truth? I'm going to suggest that when Christ brings the issue of truth into this discussion about kingdoms He is not changing the subject. Christ, in talking about truth is talking about the foundation of His kingdom, which is a different kind of kingdom then what Pilate is thinking. Think about it, every civilization, every nation, every kingdom is built on something; some constitution that is going to govern how that kingdom will operate. And Christ is essentially saying, "Yeah, I'm a king, and I came to show you the basis on which my kingdom is built. And you wanna know who My subjects are? Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice."

In this conversation, Pilate is no doubt thinking about earthly kingdoms, but Christ begins to talk about a different kind of kingdom, a kingdom that is not from this world, a kingdom from another realm. Pilate is thinking about physical, earthly kingdoms that are bound by space and time and political boundaries, kingdoms that are established and advanced by military force, but Christ is talking about another kind of kingdom, one that isn't going to pass away with time. Christ is talking about a kingdom that supersedes time and space and political boundaries. His is a kingdom that has as its underlying principle and its overarching characteristic, Truth.

Throughout time there have been two kingdoms, two domains, influencing everything that goes on in this world; the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness. There are many passages to which we could turn to learn about these kingdoms, but I just want to mention a couple that summarize this pretty well. Colossians 1:12-13 in talking about God the Father tells us that He "has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son." We as believers have been transferred out of the domain of darkness and into Christ's kingdom, the kingdom of light. In Acts chapter 26 as Paul is giving his testimony, he tells of how the Lord Jesus commissioned him to bear the message of truth to Jews and Gentiles, for this purpose "to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God." A very clear contrast here. Christ's kingdom is characterized by light and Satan's domain is characterized by darkness.

But hold on a second, I think we're mixing up our terms. Christ said that He came to bear witness to the truth, not bear witness to the light. So why are we talking about the kingdom of light here? Well, I said that the foundation on which God's kingdom is built is truth. God's kingdom is the kingdom of light. What does light do? It reveals the truth. You walk into a dark room, you can't see what's in it. It's full of darkness. Flipping the light on is going to reveal to you the truth, it's going to show you what's there. You can sit in a dark room and think that you're surrounded by gold, because that would make you feel really good, but once you turn on the light it's going to reveal the truth, and it might not be as nice as you thought. John chapter 1 calls the Lord Jesus, "The True Light which coming into the world enlightens every man." But being naturally a part of the kingdom of darkness, we don't like coming in contact with the light, that's why in John chapter 3 Christ says that "the light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light; because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come into the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes into the light, that his deeds may be manifest as having been wrought in God." So the underlying principle and the overall characteristic of God's kingdom, the kingdom of light, is truth.

And just as the kingdom of light is characterized by truth, so too the kingdom of darkness is characterized by deception. In John chapter 8 the Lord Jesus says about Satan that he "does not understand the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies." This is where the attack against the truth originates. As Ephesians chapter 6 says, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."  As Christ's kingdom is characterized by truth, so the domain of Satan is characterized by lies and deception. And Satan's strategy is to get people to doubt truth, to cast doubt on what God has said. This has been his strategy from the beginning. When he was talking with Eve in the garden, what did he do? He cast doubt on what God has said. "Did God really say..." And then he told her an outright lie, the very opposite of what God had said, "You shall not surely die."

So these two kingdoms are in conflict.

So Christ says that He was born to bear witness to the truth, and Pilate responds with the relevant question, "What is truth?"

Truth, according to the Bible, is that which is consistent with the mind, will, character, glory, and being of God. Even more to the point: truth is the self-expression of God. According to John 3:33 and 1 John 5:20, "God is true" So truth is simply the self-expression of God. God is the author of truth. In John 17:17 Christ prayed, - "Sanctify them by Thy truth, Thy Word is truth." According to John 8:40, God is the source of truth. He's the determiner, governor, arbiter, ultimate standard, and final judge of all truth. So truth is bound up in God Himself.

The dictionary defines truth as, "Conformity with fact or reality." Truth is something that corresponds with reality. But as part of Satan's effort to undermine the truth, there is now a distinction that's being made between 'truth' and something that's called 'religious truth.' While truth is defined as something that corresponds with fact or reality, 'religious truth' has been defined as "What one perceives as God's word, which can be different things to people in a group but is known to be absolute fact to each individual." So the idea of truth when applied to religion suddenly becomes subjective and not objective. Truth now depends on what I think and how I feel. The establishing of truth is now inside me. I don't go out and examine the evidence to see if something corresponds with fact or reality, I now go inside myself to decide whether believing it does something for me or not. That didn't used to be called 'truth.' But this kind of thinking is not new.

In his book, The Pilgrims Progress, John Bunyan creates a scene where Christian and Hopeful are joined in their journey by a young man named Ignorance. And in their discussion with one another they begin to talk about authority, and how they know certain things are true. Christian and Hopeful are constantly quoting passage of Scripture and pointing to the Bible as the source of truth, but Ignorance in his responses constantly goes inward. When asked how he knows something to be true he says more than once, "Because my heart tells me so." It's internal, it's subjective. And Christian responds by saying, "Except the Word of God Beareth witness in this matter, other testimony is of no value." We can't go inside of ourselves to determine truth, we have to go outside of ourselves. We need to go to the Word of God and see what it says. That's how determine whether something is true or not. And the discussion goes on for several pages, but at the end of the conversation Ignorance says, "That is your faith, but not mine; yet mine, I doubt not, is as good yours." That might be true for you, but what's true for you might not necessarily be true for me. That's your truth but I've got my own truth.

True truth is not relative and it's not subjective; true truth doesn't depend on my surroundings and my circumstances, and it doesn't depend on what I think or how I feel. The problem is that we've now created two categories for truth. The religious editor for Newsweek magazine put it this way, "Reason defines one kind of reality (what we know); faith defines another (what we don't know)." What she's saying is reality deals with things that we know are true, faith deals with things that we don't know are true but we believe them anyway because they make us feel really good.

That kind of subjective thinking is not how the Bible presents itself. We need to recognize that truth claims are either true or false; they either correspond with fact and reality or they don't. They're not subjective,

Truth is not a matter of preference or taste. The problem is that our culture likes to think about truth the way that we think about our food preferences. Suppose that I said to you, "There were doughnuts for breakfast at church this morning." That's a truth claim. Now, it happened in the past, but we can do some work and find out whether or not that statement is true. We can do some investigation, examine the evidence, see if there's a doughnut box in the trash can, interview eye witnesses, and we can discover whether or not the statement that I made corresponds with the evidence. But now suppose I say to you, "Creme filled doughnuts are the best doughnuts in the world." You may respond by telling me, "No, you're wrong. Jelly filled doughnuts are the best doughnuts in the world." And I could come back with, "No, that's not true. You're wrong." And we could go back and forth about which doughnuts are the best. But hopefully before the argument got out of hand, some wise person would come up to us and set us straight by telling us that neither one of us is wrong, because we both have our own preferences. So creme filled are the best doughnuts in the world for me, and jelly filled are the best doughnuts in the world for you.

The problem is that we’ve taken this mentality of preference and taste and applied it in places where it doesn't belong. So now we have a Christian and a Hindu on some talk show arguing about which religion is best, "Christianity is the best religion in the world!" "No, Hinduism is the best religion in the world!" "No, you're wrong!" No, You're wrong!" And finally the talk show host says, “Let me straighten this out for you. Christianity is the best religion for you, and Hinduism is the best religion for you.” But that kind of subjective thinking doesn’t work when it comes to issues of the truth. It works if you’re talking about your favorite food, because that is subjective. When I say, "I'm telling you the truth, creme filled doughnuts are the best in the world." When I say that, the only true part about that is that this is what I truly affirm as my preference. But we shouldn't call that 'truth,' we should call it 'preference.'  

This mentality doesn’t work in the math class. So far, this is one class that still doesn't buy this logic. 2+2=5. The teacher says, "No, that's wrong." "How can you say I'm wrong, you can't say I'm wrong. I believe it, I'm sincere in my belief, 2+2=5" "No, 2+2 is not 5, 2+2 is 4. You got it wrong." "Well maybe 2 plus 2 equals 4 for you, but it equals 5 for me." As far as I know, in most math classes today they know that's wrong and they're not afraid to mark it as wrong, even though it may make you feel really bad and mess up your day. Because truth is not a matter of preference, it’s not a matter of taste or opinion, there is an absolute standard, and anything that does not meet that standard is wrong. There is absolute right and absolute wrong. Truth is not subject to my preference or taste.

Every religion in the world is making truth claims, and they cannot all be true because they contradict one another. Right? When we look at the Bible, the Koran, the writings of the Hindus, the book of Mormon, or any other declaration of truth we can clearly see that these books are making truth claims that contradict one another. When you talk about ways to God, for instance, each one presents their way as the exclusive way. They can't all be right. Hinduism says that God has been incarnated many times, Christianity says that God has been incarnated once; we cannot both be right. Islam says that Jesus did not die on the cross and was not resurrected, Christianity says that Jesus did die on the cross and did rise from the dead, we cannot both be right. Orthodox Jews say that Jesus was not the Messiah, Christianity says that Jesus is the Messiah, we cannot both be right. But because our culture has become so inclusive and we can't tell anyone that they're wrong, we've now come up with this idea of truth which says, "what the Hindus believe is true for the Hindus, and what the Muslims believe is true for the Muslims, and what the Christians believe is true for the Christians." If you believe it then it's true for you, just don't tell anyone else they're wrong.

See, it has become so culturally acceptable to say, "It's okay for you to believe whatever you want to believe, as long as it does something for you." But that's not how the Bible presents itself. The Bible wasn't written so that we would have a warm feeling inside when we read it. It was written to present us with the truth. For instance, why was the book of Luke written? In Luke chapter 1 verse 4 he gives us his purpose clause in for writing the gospel; he says, I've undertaken to do all this investigation and this foot work, to write this account of Christ's life, why? Luke 1:4 - "so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught." God gave us the Bible to present us with the truth, regardless of how it makes us feel.

Dr. Peter Lipton, who was the professor of the philosophy department at Cambridge, was involved in Judaism, and he said this, "I stand in my synagogue and pray to God and have an intense relationship with God, and yet I don't believe in God. Religion is like reading a novel; you can get pleasure and meaning from the experience though you know it is not literally true." I believe in religion, he says, not because it's true, but because it gives me a warm feeling inside, it does something for me here and now. Let's analyze that biblically. There is nothing commendable about believing something that's not true. The Bible does not advocate praying to or having a relationship with a God who doesn't exist. Think about where the gospel of Luke is going, Christ was born, lived a perfect, sinless life, died on the cross, was buried and rose again from the grave. Now Paul, in writing about the resurrection, says this in 1 Corinthians 15:12-18 - "Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished." See, we're not dealing in the realm of fiction that is designed to give us a warm feeling inside. Verse 19 goes on to say - "If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied." Did you catch that? If it's all about right now, if our faith in Christ is all about this life, then why are we even wasting our time with it? If what we believe is all about this life and making us feel good, then you ought to feel sorry for us. If it's all about here and now then we are of all men most to be pitied.

But the fact is, it's not about this life, it's not about making us feel good here and now, it's about preparing us to meet our Creator.

This feelings based standard of truth is not only prevalent outside the church, but this is what many who call themselves 'Christians" are teaching as well. They won't go so far as to say that they don't believe in God, but they're willing to allow their feelings to dictate their theology.

Take this for instance, in the preface of a bestselling "Christian" book the author says this, "I’ve written this book for all those, everywhere, who have heard some version of the Jesus story that caused their pulse rate to rise, their stomach to churn, and their heart to utter those resolute words, ‘I would never be a part of that.’ You are not alone. There are millions of us." And then he proceeds throughout the book to take the reader on an Alice in Wonderland journey through Bible that completely denies any idea of judgment or hell or the wrath of God, why? Because it causes my pulse rate to rise and my stomach to churn. I don't think we should be allowing our stomachs or our pulse rates to dictate our theology. You're going to come across people and you'll quote to them from the Word of God, and then they'll respond by saying something like, "I don't think God is like that." Or let's be more specific, "I don't feel like God is like that." Why not? Because what you're saying, it causes my pulse rate to rise and my belly to churn, therefore it must not be true.

We can't allow our bellies or our pulse rate to dictate truth. Truth is not a matter of preference, it's not a matter of taste, it doesn't matter what I think about it or how I feel about it. Truth is external to us, truth is what God has revealed.

In Second Peter chapters 1 the Word of God is compared to a light that is shining in a dark place, and we're told that we would do well to pay attention to it, to be addicted to it. The Word of God is the light of truth that is shining out into a world that is flooded with darkness and deception. And chapter 2 goes on to warn us that Satan's campaign of deception is even going to infiltrate the church. 2 Peter 2:1-2 - "But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned." He says, just like false prophets rose up in the Old Testament and started distorting the truth of God and leading God's people astray, so too, in our day false teachers are going to rise up and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned. How did the false prophets distort God's truth? There are several passages we could go to, but in the book of Jeremiah in particular God has a lot to say about the false prophets. The words, prophet, prophets, prophesy, etc, are used more in the book of Jeremiah than any other book in the Bible. In fact, about one fifth of the usages of these words occur in the book of Jeremiah. And most of the time these that these words are used they're used to speak about false prophets and their massages. Just like today, Jeremiah was prophesying at a time when the next thing on God's prophetic calendar was a time of judgment. The Lord was about to bring Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians against Judah and Jerusalem to carry them off into captivity. And, just like today, the message of judgment wasn't a very popular message. So throughout this book, Jeremiah is constantly fighting for the truth against the false prophets who are prophesying of peace and safety when that's not the Lords message.

Let's look at some of the things that characterize the false prophets and their message, because as Peter said, just as false prophets arose among the people, so also there will be false teachers among you.

Vs. 9-11 - "As for the prophets: My heart is broken within me, all my bones tremble; I have become like a drunken man, even like a man overcome with wine, because of the Lord and because of His holy words. For the land is full of adulterers; for the land mourns because of the curse. The pastures of the wilderness have dried up. Their course also is evil and their might is not right. “For both prophet and priest are polluted; even in My house I have found their wickedness,” declares the Lord." The false prophets have even made their way into His house. They're preaching their message in the place that bears His name.

Vs. 12-13 - "“Therefore their way will be like slippery paths to them, they will be driven away into the gloom and fall down in it; for I will bring calamity upon them, the year of their punishment,” declares the Lord. “Moreover, among the prophets of Samaria I saw an offensive thing: They prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel astray."" They've abandoned God as the source of truth, now they're prophesying by something else.

Vs. 14 - " Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: The committing of adultery and walking in falsehood; and they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one has turned back from his wickedness. All of them have become to Me like Sodom, and her inhabitants like Gomorrah." What they believe has an effect on what they do. "Everyone did what was right in his own eyes."

Vs. 15-16 - "Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets, ‘Behold, I am going to feed them wormwood and make them drink poisonous water, for from the prophets of Jerusalem pollution has gone forth into all the land.’” Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; they speak a vision of their own imagination, not from the mouth of the Lord." The things that they're declaring as truth come from their own imagination. It's internal, it's subjective. They're claiming to speak for God, they're claiming His authority behind their message, but He's very clear, these things aren't coming from the mouth of God, they're coming from inside of them, from their own imagination, they're setting themselves up as the source of truth. Well, what kind of things are they saying?
Vs. 17 - "They keep saying to those who despise Me, ‘The Lord has said, “You will have peace”’; And as for everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, they say, ‘Calamity will not come upon you.’" What a positive message. "You despise the Lord? That's okay, you'll have peace. You're doing things the way that you want to do them? That's okay, calamity will not come upon you."

Vs. 18 - "But who has stood in the council of the Lord, that he should see and hear His word? Who has given heed to His word and listened?" Not these prophets, apparently. If they had been listening God's Word this is the kind of message they would be bringing:

Vs. 19-20 - "Behold, the storm of the Lord has gone forth in wrath, even a whirling tempest; it will swirl down on the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord will not turn back until He has performed and carried out the purposes of His heart; in the last days you will clearly understand it." Oh, that doesn't sound very nice. That's the kind of message that causes my pulse rate to rise and my belly to churn. Why do you have to cast God in such a negative light? I don't think God is like that. (See, that's why they prophesy from their own imaginations. They prophesy what they think God is like, how they feel God should be.)

Vs. 21 - "I did not send these prophets, but they ran. I did not speak to them, but they prophesied." God says, they may claim to speak for Me, but I didn't send them.

Vs. 22 - "But if they had stood in My council, then they would have announced My words to My people, and would have turned them back from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds." Do you see the continual contrast being made here between what God says and what they say?

Vs. 23-24 - "“Am I a God who is near,” declares the Lord, “and not a God far off? “Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him?” declares the Lord.
“Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord." They're speaking as though He doesn't hear what they're saying. But He says,

Vs. 25-27 - "I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy falsely in My name, saying, ‘I had a dream, I had a dream!’ How long? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, even these prophets of the deception of their own heart, who intend to make My people forget My name by their dreams which they relate to one another, just as their fathers forgot My name because of Baal?" There it is again, very internal, very subjective. Notice again, they're claiming the authority of God, they're prophesying in His name, but the message is coming from their own dreams. They're prophesying from their own internal deception, the deception of their own hearts. They're trying to make people forget God, which is ironic because they're doing it in His name. But they've exchanged the truth of God for a lie.

Vs. 28-29 - "The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has My word speak My word in truth. What does straw have in common with grain?” declares the Lord. “Is not My word like fire?” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?"" You want the source of truth, here it is, it's that which comes from God. It's not internal, it's not subjective, this is outside of us, it's objective. And God says, Hey, if you have My word, speak it in truth. Even though it won't always be comfortable. It may burn sometimes, it may be hard and heavy, but don't distort it, speak it in truth.

God's not a fan of these false prophets. Three times in the next three verses He says "I'm against them." Look at it,

Vs. 30-32 - "Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the Lord, “who steal My words from each other. Behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the Lord, “who use their tongues and declare, ‘The Lord declares.’ Behold, I am against those who have prophesied false dreams,” declares the Lord, “and related them and led My people astray by their falsehoods and reckless boasting; yet I did not send them or command them, nor do they furnish this people the slightest benefit,” declares the Lord."

Vs. 33-35 - "Now when this people or the prophet or a priest asks you saying, ‘What is the oracle of the Lord?’ then you shall say to them, ‘What oracle?’ The Lord declares, ‘I will abandon you.’ Then as for the prophet or the priest or the people who say, ‘The oracle of the Lord,’ I will bring punishment upon that man and his household. Thus will each of you say to his neighbor and to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’" They're all seeking a message from God, so it would seem. They're seeking the truth. They're all going around asking for the oracle of the Lord, "what does God declare?" But they're not even willing to consider what God has actually said. They just want God's message to be what they want to hear. They want to hear what you have to say and then they'll decide whether it's true or not.

Vs. 36 - "For you will no longer remember the oracle of the Lord, because every man’s own word will become the oracle, and you have perverted the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God." Does this sound contemporary? They're going around each with his own interpretation of truth and they're saying things like, "Well, that might be true for you, but it's not true for me." Every man's own word is becoming his own message from God, his own standard of truth.

And Peter tells us, just as false prophets arose among them, so there will be false teachers who infiltrate the church, secretly introducing destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them and maligning the way of truth. And one way they'll do this, just like they did in Jeremiah's day, is by making truth internal and subjective.

We can't make up what we want truth to be. We can't get our truth from ourselves, we can't get our truth from the world, we've got to get our truth from God. Because He is the source of all truth. And to the extent that something matches up with what He says it's true, to the extent that it does not it isn't.

True truth will always lead us back to God, because He is the source of truth.

Psalm 43:3 - "O send out Thy light and Thy truth, let them lead me; Let them bring me to Thy holy hill and to Thy dwelling places."

Have You Not Read?

Matthew 22:31 - "But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God?"

In Matthew chapter 22 the Lord Jesus is being tested by the Sadducees concerning the resurrection. The religious leaders of His day were always trying to trip Jesus up in one way or another using the Scriptures and Scriptural ideas. And Jesus, of course, always gave a marvelous answer, correcting their distortion of His Word and setting them straight. In this instance Christ begins His response with a question, "Have you not read what was spoken to you by God?" God has spoken to us. I know this is an elementary idea, but I tend to lose sight of how awesome this fact really is. The fact that the Creator God who is completely Holy and exalted above the heavens would stoop down to our level in order to speak to us should blow our minds. All throughout human history God has been speaking to mankind. Hebrews 1:1-2 says - "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world." Throughout the Old Testament we read statements like "The Lord spoke to Abraham saying..." or "The Lord spoke to Moses saying..." or "Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah the prophet saying..." And so on. When we get to the New Testament we read in John 1:14 - "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." The Lord Jesus is the Word become flesh, and in these last days God has spoken to us in His Son.

God spoke through the fathers, the prophets, and through His own Son. And everything that God has desired to communicate to us is recorded in the Bible, the Word of God. 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that all Scripture is God-breathed. The Word of God is always connected to the person of God. The spoken word is always inseparably tied to the God who breathed it out. The Bible carries so much weight because it has the weight of Gods eternal character behind it. It is breathed out by God. The Word of God has ultimate authority because of the One who breathed it out. We don't read it, we hear Him. And because He breathed out the entire thing we don't get to pick and choose what we like and what we don't. It's all equally breathed out. The way we apply different portions varies, but that doesn't change the fact that the entirety of the Word of God was breathed out by God.

That means that we need to become familiar with the whole thing, we've gotta know our Bibles. And how are we going to know them if we don't read them? I want to challenge each of you in this new year to read through the whole Bible from cover to cover. 

If you search online you can find several different plans for reading through the Bible in one year. Biblegateway.com has several plans that you can choose from and even get the daily passage sent to your e-mail inbox every day.

The plan that I chose is simply reading through the Bible from beginning to end. The reading for this week is Genesis chapters 1-24. That's only Three or four chapters per day.

I just want to encourage all of you at the beginning of this new year to get into your Bibles every day, there's nothing more important.

John 8:31 - "If you continue in My Word, then you are My disciples indeed."Job 23:12 - "I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food."
Psalm 119:72 - "The law of Thy mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces."