Buy the Truth

“Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.” Proverbs 23:23

What is truth? 

"Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all."  John 18:37-38

When Pilate stood before Jesus, preparing to condemn Him to death, he was standing in front of the manifestation of Truth; yet, he still could not see it.  This is exactly what people do today.  They are presented face-to-face with the truth, but would rather debate about it rather than submit to it.  Why is this?  Because they are not of the truth; they have no heart to hear it, but are dull of hearing (Proverbs 17:16; Matthew 13:15; Acts 28:27; Hebrews 5:11). 

We need to understand that the truths of God are not debatable.  He is Sovereign and is the Creator & Judge of all.  He does not request nor need our validation of His truths; they stand sure whether we agree with them or not.  No matter how clever or intellectual a position may seem, it is only the carnal mind which rejects the truth of God in favor of leaning to his own understanding (Proverbs 3:5; I Corinthians 2:4-5; James 3:15).   This is why it is futile to strive with others about the truth; unless God gives one eyes to see, one will not see no matter how long the discussion.

The truth is not our opinion and not even what we may believe. You will only find truth when the word of God and the Spirit of God are in agreement (Psalm 119:33; Psalm 138:2; John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13; 17:17; I John 5:6).  It is not enough to have some personal interpretation of Scripture, nor is it enough to have some word from some spirit.  The words from God - whether written or spoken - are inspired by the same God and will never contradict each other (II Thessalonians 2:15).  Only the Word of truth and the Spirit of truth in alignment confirm what is true.

Becoming What We Know

Immersion in the Mikveh

Most of us have heard enough of the word of God to understand what it means to be saved.  While many are full of the letter, too many have yet to become living epistles written by the Holy Spirit and read of all men (II Corinthians 3:2-3). We have learned enough to spot what is wrong, but few have been spiritually empowered to impact what is wrong.  It is not enough for us to simply know what is right; we must be transformed to "become" what we "know" in order to reach others. 

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you." II Corinthians 4:7-12

We do realize that this is the goal, right?  God is not after us just having a bunch of head knowledge and serving as fruit-checkers examining the lives of others, but for us to actually have our lives poured out to be the hands and feet of Christ in the earth so that others may be saved. 

Can we honestly look at our lives and see anyone who has been impacted by our zeal for Christ?  Has anyone been set free from darkness through our witness for Him?  If so, then praise God!  If not, then even our vast knowledge is dead, because every living thing produces after its own kind.  At this late hour we cannot afford to be a sounding gong with no real Godly power.  You can only talk about what is wrong for so long before wondering whether you have been made an instrument of God's deliverance, for that is what counts.

Lord, Please Keep Me

I have had occasion to witness a young woman who had come to know the Lord in recent years go off head first into a strong delusion.  This woman has not overtly turned away from God.  Instead, like many people, she has simply turned to religion.  It has been amazing and yet terrifying to see.

You try to talk about basic Bible truths with her, and the response is honestly just incoherent.  There are lots of religious sounding phrases, but an inability to deal with or acknowledge the simple truths of God.  The Scripture uses the phrase "great swelling" words, which is the Greek word hyperogkos meaning overswollen.

The words are "great" because they sound really impressive and holy, but they are "swelling" because they have no substance. Just as a balloon fills up and swells with air, the words are puffed up.  As a result of having been infected by the wrong spirit, the person's mannerisms and speech have become affected.  In general, it is evidence of one who has been filled with head knowledge, yet not been transformed in heart to become what they have learned (II Timothy 3:6).  Such is a deadly combination.

"Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." I Corinthians 8:1

I am sure you have probably had similar discussions:

Statement: "You know, the Bible says that we must flee fornication and all sexual immorality."

Response: "I'm blessed & highly favored, praise God!  God is moving and advancing His Kingdom!"

Statement:  "But God wants to purge us from all uncleanness.  He says here that we must repent and turn away from sin.

Response: "Hallehujah!  God has me! The gifts of God are without repentance!"

Now my example may be an exaggeration (though not by much), but the point is that people's minds are going deep into insanity in religion and only the Lord Jesus can bring them back.  Such persons can never address the Scriptures, instead they simply espouse religious jargon as if such renders Scripture invalid.  And for the record, let me just state that "the gifts of the Lord being without repentance" is not a cover for disobedience.

The religious arena is not just a nice place people go to find God.  It is a snare set up by Satan to keep people from God and yoked to the personalities of men.  Again, I say, this is terrifying!

They

There are many professing Christians who disregard the word of God.  They will either not study it for themselves or pervert the text so that it aligns with their own lusts.  However, it never ceases to amaze me how the word of God is true!  The Scriptures truly reflect the mind of God and everything the Lord Jesus has said will happen will happen because He is God.  For those with ears to hear, the Lord will surely confirm His word and prove it to be a living word.

In regards to the last days, the Scriptures say specifically that a man's enemies will be "they" of his own household (Matthew 10:36).  It also says that "they" will deliver you up to be persecuted, to be arrested, to be judged, and to be killed (Matthew 10:16-26; John 15:20).  The one who lifts his hand up against you will be nothing less than your own familiar friend (Psalm 41:9).

Why do "they" do this?  Because the light of Christ removes the cover for sin.  It is Christ and His righteousness which causes the affront.

"But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.  If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin." John 15:21-22

Further, I would venture to say that it is not even the person primarily who fights against you in such cases but it is the unclean spirits which have them bound. 

Sin is a separator.  Two cannot walk together unless they be agreed (Amos 3:3).  I am not talking about being sinless.  I am speaking about not being in covenant with sin.

There are only two types of people in the world; those who are being purged from sin unto holiness and those who are being ensnared by sin unto reprobation.  People will appear to walk right alongside you in the faith up until you reach the small gate and the narrow road.  There, you will part ways.

The question we must all consider is, "Which road are we on?"  Are we on the narrow road which sanctifies us from the world or are we on the broad road which creates commonality with the world?  Not only will the condition of our own souls reveal to us the truth, the Scriptures say that those who stay on the broad road will eventually find themselves fighting against God and His Church, erroneously thinking that they are doing God a favor (John 16:2).

The Queen of Heaven and the Dragon

As a former Catholic, the phrase "Queen of Heaven" had a completely different meaning to me growing up than what the Bible says.  Of course, as a Catholic, our understanding of God did not come from the Bible anyway.  Thank God for His strong hand of deliverance!

However, many are offering cakes unto the Queen of Heaven and don't even know it.  In spite of what God says, they boldly declare that they will continue in this worship while demanding that God accept it.  Let me tell you that God did not receive this worship in the past and He will not accept it now!

The following message from Omega Ministries is "The Queen of Heaven and the Dragon". 

• Most people have little to no understanding of the Bible.
• The war is an inner war in the human heart, it is not on the external.  You have to war against your own mind and thinking patterns to get free.
• God told Jeremiah that He was judging Israel because they were worshiping and serving other gods, even committing the abomination that He hates (Jeremiah 44:4).
• The inclining the ear is the intent, purposeful listening to what God is saying.  Very few people do this because they think they already know.  On of the biggest obstacles for people is that they don't like the one telling them the truth.  "I just don't want you telling me what is right."
• The great evil the people were committing were against their own souls.

Spiritually Dwarfed Women

There is a particular trap Satan has for women in the last days, and a woman's susceptibility to it is dependent upon not being made whole in Christ.  Make sure you take time while we have it to let the Lord purge you from every ounce of rebellion to His will and His way. 

The following message from Omega Ministries is entitled "Women and the Last of the Last Days".

• Selfishness and self-love is the catalyst for the perilous times which Scriptures tells us will come in the last days (II Timothy 3:1-2).
• For recent years, we have been seeing the visitation of the nephilim, the fallen angels.
• The Devil is a parasitical spirit which must live off of someone else, sucking the life from them.  It is a predatory spirit and uses others to fulfill its own appetites.
• The Holy Ghost is a dynamo who is self-generating and life-giving.
• Yielding to the temptation of the Devil is what gives unclean spirits access to you.
• There are positive and negative promises in the Bible according to where you are in Christ.
• The separator between those who really know Christ and those who just talk about Him is manifestation of the life of Christ from within in power.

Ears to Hear?

"The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them." Proverbs 20:12

Many times, the Lord Jesus prefaced His words as being for those who had "eyes to see" and "ears to hear".  This should let us know that we have a choice and a responsibility in hearing God's words.  This is not simply a faculty of the senses; it means perceiving God's word, having understanding of it, and heeding it (Psalm 115:5-6; Jeremiah 5:21; Ezekiel 12:2; Matthew 13:13).

"Who among you will give ear to this? Who will hearken and hear for the time to come?" Isaiah 42:23

The Lord still speaks to His people (Psalm 95:7-11; Hebrews 3:7-15; Hebrews 4:7; John 10:3-5; John 1:27).  He will speak directly & personally to you - even in your ear - so that you have no question who it is who commands you (1 Samuel 9:15; Matthew 10:27; Luke 12:3). 

Yet, we must "give ear" to the Lord (Exodus 15:26, Deuteronomy 32:1, Judges 5:3, II Chronicles 24:19, Nehemiah 9:30; Psalm 45:10; Psalm 78:1; Proverbs 2:2; Proverbs 4:20; Proverbs 5:1; Isaiah 1:10; Isaiah 28:23; Isaiah 55:3).

Further, our ears must be exercised to seek, hear, and know God's voice apart from all others (Job 34:3; Hebrews 5:14; I John 4:1).  Not every voice we hear - not even every spiritual voice - is the Holy Spirit. 

When we are unsaved, our ears are uncircumcised (Jeremiah 6:10; Acts 7:51).   There is no filter to separate words which contaminate from that which gives life (and we have a natural desire for that which is perverted).  However, once we are born again, the Lord opens our ears so that not only can we hear Him, but we can obey Him.  At that point, the question is not can we hear the Lord, but will we.

For Every Mountain

"Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD: This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter.

I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.  The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.  

This is the LORD'S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.  This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.

Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.

God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.

Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee.  O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever."   Psalm 118