Quote: “Men (people) can have truth or lies, whichever they prefer. If they will to do God’s will, He will give them truth and the Spirit will guide them ultimately into all the truth. But if men will not have truth Satan will lead them step by step into all manner of delusion and falsehood.” – RA Torrey. Jesus said, If anyone wants to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority John 7:17. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever he hears He will speak;…… John 16:13.
“You’ve got your truth and I’ve got mine!” How many of us as Christians have had that or similar blasted at us when proclaiming the word of Christ? Even those professing to be Christians will blast it if they become unnerved or threatened. Especially will they if current “hot-button” moral and social issues are pressed such as LGBTI identity and same-sex marriage. Multitudes among them are unwilling to allow Christ settle those matters. But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’ Mark 10:7. There it is! God created two sexes only and decreed one kind of marriage only. That’s the truth and any other “truth” is an aberration.
Perhaps the most common (and most polite!) response to this is, “I don’t believe that.” But what is the basis of the non-belief? If it’s not based on truth, it’s based on delusion and falsehood. The non-believer needs to hear that; he needs to know his belief differs from that of Jesus, so if he takes it into eternity with him, Jesus will dismiss it in a nanosecond. Another common response when professing Christians are unnerved or threatened: “It all depends on your interpretation of the Scriptures.” Yes, it does. So the surest and wisest approach is to take every Scripture of the Bible on any matter and look at them all in their context. When Christians yield to the Spirit of truth and allow Him to interpret, and then submit to the interpretation they know exactly what God’s will is.
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things…… But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true…… 1 John 2:20, 27. There’s the promise from God for all Christians who make the Holy Spirit their primary Teacher. Too many rely upon their church pastors and elders for their primary teaching and not the Spirit of truth. That’s not the way it should be; that is spiritual laziness. No wonder there’s a glut of doctrinal bias among the denominations, not to speak of doctrinal deception among them! Of course, that’s not to say we don’t need teachers, for they (most) too have been taught by the Holy Spirit and have much to offer.
But we are not to be solely dependent upon them; they are mere flesh and blood as we are, they’re not divine. The divine One is the Holy Spirit and He’s been given to all in the church not just the few. In fact, we can never truly know the truth without the Spirit of truth. To believe otherwise is to be led into delusion and falsehood, like committed Roman Catholic, Mormon and Jehovah’s Witness followers, to name just three. No amount of human teaching, diligent Bible study, Hebrew or Greek language studies will amount to anything unless all is accompanied step by step by the Spirit of truth. In addition, we can never truly know what the future holds without the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He will tell you things to come John 16:13.
Multitudes there are across the globe desperately seeking to know of things to come, even professing Christians. But equally, multitudes there are, making a fortune by “telling” them. Occult advertisements in women’s magazines give witness to that reality. But again, the answers given to the desperate are based on delusion and falsehood. Mention to such people the Bible tells us what the future holds and they’ll charge you with delusion and falsehood – and worse! A perfect example of that came up here very recently in Australia. A Christian Rugby Union player of International fame, Israel Folau, “copped a barrage of criticism after he doubled down on his anti-gay stance with a controversial Instagram post last night.” Those who “will not have the truth” are attacking him from all quarters.
Folau posted a meme that read: “WARNING Drunks Homosexuals Adulterers Liars Fornicators Thieves Atheists Idolaters, HELL AWAITS YOU. REPENT! ONLY JESUS SAVES.” He went on to add: “Those who are living in sin will end up in Hell unless you repent. Jesus Christ loves you and is giving you time to turn away from your sin and come to Him.” Folau speaks the truth on all counts. HELL does await them unless they repent. It was the Spirit of truth who gave him not only those words, but also the spiritual power, the spiritual authority and the correct timing to bring the message forth 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. Interestingly though, his attackers’ focus is primarily on “his anti-gay stance.” Might that mean they fear homosexuals and their supporters more than they fear God?
Too, might they be prisoners to hypocrisy and all things politically correct? But be alerted to an undeniable fact: They may not know every detail, but Israel Folau’s critics know deep within them that he speaks the truth. How can that be said with certainty? The Spirit of truth has placed that knowledge within them, therefore every one of them is without excuse. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts the world (non-repentant people) of sin and of righteousness and of judgment John 16:8. And again, it is the Holy Spirit who commands all men (people) everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead Acts 17:31.
A sad reality: Had the church been doing its job properly, the backlash against Israel Folau would not have been so intense. Where are the church media darlings at this time? Why is there little to no support from them? Their silence is deafening! One of them has spoken of it, but only to put him down, not to take a Christ-like stand with him. In a few posts on this blog I refer to them as spiritual cowards; my references are correct! They like to talk of Jesus, but that’s all it is – talk. Their cowardly silence is clear evidence they don’t like to walk with Jesus. For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of Him the Son of man will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26.
“Hate speech,” the unnerved or threatened true haters are calling it. How’s that for delusion and falsehood?! A man puts his life and career on the line, pleading for the hell-bound to become heaven-bound and they say he’s a hater. If they do end up in hell they’ll discover soon enough what is hate speech and what is not. Not one of us wants that for anybody! But God Almighty is just; sin has to be paid for and if they won’t acknowledge the payment of Jesus Christ, who became sin for them so that in turn they can become the righteousness of Christ, then justice must be served upon them. Jesus, “the great theologian of hell” as someone expressed it, has more to say in the Bible of hell than He does of heaven. Certainly professing Christians need to acknowledge that truth.
“And does he have a martyr complex, actively wanting to be publicly torn apart for his antediluvian views?” That’s the Twitter comment/question from a well-known former Rugby Union player, now turned “social” commentator – “antediluvian views.” He doesn’t know it but his ignorance confirms the word of Jesus: And this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light lest his deeds should be exposed John 3:19-20. This man is the perfect example of, “men who will not have truth.” It’s not the first time he’s come against Christians for their biblical stand for all things Christian; it probably won’t be the last either.
The Spirit of truth warns against delusion and falsehood. Rugby Union player, Israel Folau does not hate homosexuals. He has taken no “anti-gay stance.” That is an infantile charge, as it is towards all who have turned away from delusion and falsehood and willed to do God’s will instead. All of us were on that WARNING list at one time so we are fully aware we’re in no position to judge others currently on it. However, we are in a position to proclaim the warning. That’s our calling! HELL awaited us at one time too, but it awaits us no more; HEAVEN awaits us now. That too is our calling, even when there is an extremely high chance of being ‘torn apart for'” our “antediluvian views”! And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” Mark 16:15-16.