DISCERNING
TRUTH
God is moving by His Spirit to
bring LIGHT and REVELATION from His Word as never
before. Surely we are living in the time spoken of by
Daniel the prophet: "But you, O Daniel, shut up the
words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end:
many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be
increased." (Daniel 12:4). The "time of the end" of this
age is on us. Therefore we are
witnessing the "unsealing" of mysteries unknown to past
generations, and "knowledge is increasing" both in the
natural and physical realms of man and in the realm of
the spiritual things of God.
This does not mean that we should
be gullible and accept everything we hear and read,
but rather weigh it with a discerning mind seeking to
"prove all things" and to "hold fast that which is good,
" (I Thess. 1:21). Above all we should heed the
admonition found in Isa. 8:20 "To the law and to the
testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no
light in them." The WORD OF GOD is always our standard.
However, we must continually be willing to re-study and re-examine what we THINK the
Bible teaches, realizing that MANY of our past concepts
have been the result of our LIMITED capacity to
understand as well as the GROSSNESS of our hearts in not
being able to "look beyond" the VEIL to view the full
GLORY of the Lord. As the Jews had a "veil" (of
unbelief) on their hearts (I Cor. 3:13-15) not being
able to "LOOK" to the end of that which is abolished
(the Old Covenant), so we have had a "veil" on our
hearts not being able to fully
"LOOK" to the end (consummation) of that which is now being fulfilled (the New
Covenant).
When Moses came down from the mount
after spending 40 days with God, he had to put a VEIL
over his face because the people were unable to
view the shining "glory" of his face (Ex. 34:29-35).
Thus has it been through many generations. Christ has
been speaking to men through His Word, but MUCH HAS BEEN
VEILED because of our inability to comprehend and
receive. But NOW the "veil" is being lifted. More
and More glorious light is
coming forth from the Lord as He REVEALS (unveils)
"HIMSELF to us in these last days.
God must deal with us as we ARE.
Much depends on our heart-WILLINGNESS to receive
and OBEY truth. Jesus said, "If. any man will do his will he shall know of the
doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak
of myself (John 7:17). We must be willing to re-study
and re-think all that we have ever believed. And if our
hearts are TOO GROSS for us to admit that we have made
mistakes and have been in error in many things AND
CHANGE OUR THINKING AND ACTING ACCORDINGLY, then
the Lord will have to leave us where we are and continue
to VEIL much of His truth to us.
Another factor is heart-READINESS. The SOIL of
our heart must be "broken up" and prepared to RECEIVE
the "good seed" of His Word (Mark 4:20-28). The Lord
many times has to CONDITION us by experience before we
are READY to receive more light and understanding. The
Lord's word to us is "Break up the fallow ground. . .
and circumcise yourselves to the Lord." (Jer.
4:3-4). As Jesus spoke to the two disciples on the road
to Emmaus he perceived their lack of readiness to
receive and spoke thus: O FOOLS and SLOW OF HEART to
believe ALL that the prophets have spoken." (Luke
24:25). And thus has it been ever since: WE ARE FOOLS,
and WE HAVE BEEN SO SLOW TO BELIEVE ALL. Do I hear
a gasp? Too harsh, you say! Are you willing to be honest with yourself? Are you willing to
let the Lord deal with your heart until you ARE
CONDITIONED to "behold with unveiled face the glory of
the Lord?"
Jesus said "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall
see God." (Matt.5:8). Our
"seeing" of God (comprehending His reality and truth) is
in direct proportion to the "circumcising" of our hearts. The CROSSNESS of our
hearts has to be "cut away" lest it be fulfilled in us
as it was in the Jews of Jesus' day; "For this people's
heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull
of hearing, and their eyes
they have closed." (Matt. 13:15). God said to Moses who
wanted to SEE the Lord: "You cannot see my face: for there
shall no man see me, and live. " (Ex. 33:20). What is
true in this statement PHYSICALLY is also true
SPIRITUALLY. We (the carnal self-life) CANNOT LIVE if we are to "see" God.
The more we "see" of God the more of our SELF LIFE has
to DIE.
There is no occasion of BOASTING
when we realize that God has had to hide us in the cliff
of the rock (JESUS) and has had to COVER US with his
HAND OF MERCY, while He has passed by and we have "seen"
but A LITTLE PORTION of His Being (Ex. 33:21-23). But
the more we are willing to DIE (to self) the more of His Glory (light—truth)
shall be revealed to us. Increasingly we shall
"see" the "light of the knowledge of the glory of God in
the face of Jesus Christ. " (I I Cor. 4:6).
.
What is presented herein is with
the realization that as yet we "know in part" and "see
through a glass darkly" (I Cor. 13:1-12). All of us are
still walking in some error, but we should DESIRE above
everything to KNOW THE TRUTH, for "The truth shall make you free." (John 8:32). One truth which we must all be
willing to confess is that found in I Cor. 8:2: "If any man think
that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. " In regard to many
things that may be new to us we have to follow the
example of Mary who "kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart." (Luke
2:19).
I
believe one more thought should be added. What
about our heart-MOTIVES? Jesus said, "He who speaks
from himself seeks his own honor; but he who seeks his sender's honor is sincere and in him there is no
deceit." (John 7:18,Berkeley). If we
are seeking our own honor in one way or another then we
can be sure that what we speak tends to come "from (out
of) ourselves." But if we have no ambition or
desire but to seek the honor and glory of the One
who "sent" us, then out of a "sincere" heart will come
that which is without "deceit" (falsehood).
But WHO can honestly say that he
knows his own heart perfectly, and that his motives are
completely without any "taint" of self? We can only PRAY
that God will keep us free from the beguiling influences
of our own deceitful hearts, and from the corrupting
desire to "please" others. None of us are immune from
the "wiles" of the evil one in his attempt to inflate
our ego and Infuse us with the "spirit" of those at
Babel: "Let us build a city and a tower. . .
let us make a name (for ourselves). " (Gen.
11:4).
If we want to keep hearing from
God, and speak only that which He would have us speak,
then IN US must be fulfilled the words of Isa. 66:2: "I
will look favorably on that man who is humble, feels crushed in spirit, and trembles at My word. " (Berkeley).
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MAN'S ORBIT-lN-VIOLATION
]
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