Truth

     "Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now is my kingdom not from hence.  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."  John18:36-38

     Was this a hypothetical question from Pilate, or just a moment of frustration?  "What is truth?"  This question has reverberated down through history, but Pilate's question overlooked the fact that many "things" can contain elements of truth, but only one "thing" can BE truth.  Truth must originate from somewhere other than the opinion of mankind.  For example: in the late 1800's, a group of the greatest scientists in the world gathered for a conference.  At the end of the conference, this group of renown men introduced a "truth" to the world- man will never fly.  It was a scientific fact that no bird over thirty pounds could sustain itself in flight.  On December 17th of 1903, the Wright brothers proved this "truth" to be....less than it claimed.

      One of the difficulties of defining truth is that most people today don't believe in absolute truth. The predominate thought is that truth is what you think; everything is relative, which leads to situational ethics-something wrong can be right when you consider the circumstance.  Truth, according to this mindset, is about the world as it "actually" is.  Obviously, when truth becomes fluid, so does untruth.  If you don't believe that there is an ultimate truth, then you can't point at anything and call it wrong.  Such thinking leads to chaos.

     There are 3 accepted theories on truth.  First, there is the coherence theory.  This defines truth in terms of interconnected belief.  It claims a belief is truth if it is consistent with other beliefs we have, or, in other words, there has been a precedent established.  For instance, grass is green so long as everyone else considers the color of grass to be green.  Second is the correspondence theory, which describes truth in terms of relational concepts, or submissions of the real world.  An example of this would be to say that the Seattle Seahawks won Superbowl 48 in 2014. Finally is the Postmodernist Theory.  This theory describes truth in terms of individual perspective and/or community agreement, so it doesn't prescribe to hard and fast definitions, but that truth is a product OF belief- or that truth is constructed by what WE believe.  No wonder our nation is in such a mess.  The Apostle Paul summed it up like this: "ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."
 

     What do the scriptures say about truth?  Moroni 10:5 states "And if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost; and by the power of the Holy Ghost, ye may know the truth of all things."  The TRUTH of ALL things.  Consider this definition from Section 90: "truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come; and whatsoever is more or less than this, is the spirit of that wicked one, who was a liar from the beginning".  This definition causes us to realize that truth, absolute truth, is eternal in nature.  For truth to be absolute, it must fulfill the three conditions listed; things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come.  One might consider truth to be "the sun always rises from the east", but the sun won't always rise, because the book of Revelation states that we will have no need of the sun, or the moon, because "the lamb is the light thereof".  Abraham Lincoln once asked a question of his constituents: How many legs would a sheep have if you called its tail a leg?  Those in company quickly responded with 5.  No, said Lincoln; it would still have only 4.  Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it one.  

     I hope the point of this blog is apparent; the ONLY way to know absolute truth-the truth as pertaining to eternal matters-comes only from that which is eternal.  Jesus said "I am the way, the TRUTH, and the light", so absolute truth originates in him.  We have all heard the beliefs of those who are considered experts, which base their understanding of truth upon their own learning, but the Lord calls us to a higher reality, a reality whose roots are based in him.  2 Timothy 3:14 reads "But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;".  Add to Paul's words this council from Section 9: "but, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right, I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right; but if it be not right, you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought, that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong;".  Interestingly, the Lord WANTS us to study, and arrive at our own understanding, but after we've done so, He wants us to seek his conclusive response, because  "Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the precepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost."

     Jesus said "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free".  What he is stating here is that truth has power!  Truth has the power to liberate (John 8:31-38), the power to sanctify (John 17:16-19), and the power to create worship (John 4:23-26).  And such power is promised to all who covenant with the Lord "Even so ye must be born again, into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye may be sanctified from all sin; and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come; even immortal glory.  For, by the water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are justified; and by the blood ye are sanctified.  Therefore it is given to abide in you, the record of heaven, the Comforter, the peaceable things of immortal glory, the truth of all things, that which quickeneth all things which maketh alive all things, that which knoweth all things, and hath all power according to wisdom, mercy, truth, justice and judgment."

     How interesting it is that when Pilate asked the question "what is truth?", he was looking to Jesus, the origin of all truth.  And so should we.  The search for truth IS the search for Jesus.  He is the truth, and the answer to every question.  As we go forth, let us remember the promise of truth the Apostle James offers us: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering; for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.  For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.  A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways."  While this discourse is not comprehensive, I do hope it has opened your mind to the need of seeking truth.  May His Spirit guide us all.  God bless.
 
 

Faith

    

     "For behold, God knowing all things, being from everlasting to everlasting, behold he sent angels to minister unto the children of men, to make manifest concerning the coming of Christ; and in Christ there should come every good thing.  And God also declared unto prophets by his own mouth, that Christ should come.  And behold, there were divers ways that he did manifest things unto the children of men, which were good; and all things which are good, cometh of Christ, otherwise men were fallen, and there could no good thing come unto them.  Wherefore, by the ministering of angels, and by every word which proceedeth forth out of the mouth of God, men began to exercise faith in Christ; and thus by faith, they did lay hold upon every good thing; and thus it was until the coming of Christ."  Moroni 7:21-24

     A question: how many readers live their life by faith?  Answer: everyone does.  You leave your home, drive a car, eat food prepared by someone unknown, etc.  It may not be a Celestial faith you live by, but it is faith.  So, with this understanding, we can move onward.

     What is "faith"?  Defined in Hebrews 11;1, and Ether 5:6 we read "the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen".  Some times I like to give this definition: believing in a power you cannot see, to do a work you cannot do.  In other words, recognizing that the power of the unseen, spiritual realm is greater than those things that we see in this temporal  reality.  This belief comes to us as we seek our Lord, and experience the eternal in our lives.  Each experience, line upon line, precept upon precept, raises our awareness of the unseen, and strengthens our faith.  But it's more than blind belief; it has a much greater origin.  We have faith because of HIM.

     Another definition comes from the Greek word meaning faith: Pistis, pronounced "peace-teace.  It defines faith in a unique way: "A conviction in the truthfulness of God".  This takes the emphasis of faith from "us" to God, who is the "author and finisher of our faith".

     Everyone in known by his/her faith, or what they trust in.  For some, it's money.  Others, it's physical strength or power, or intelligence.  But where can such faith lead us?  Certainly not to God.  For faith to be effective and fruitful, it must be based upon He who IS.  2 Chronicles 20:20 reads "Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper."  No mention of earthly influence in this passage, but God will provide everything we need as long as we believe in him, both temporally and spiritually.  What is the greatest evidence of faith?  A man who is faithful.

     In the testimonies of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus shares the parable of the mustard seed.  I won't add it here, for consideration of space, but you are encouraged to read it.  The mustard seed, among the smallest of seeds, becomes one of the greatest of herbs in size.  As humans, we tend to over analyze the mustard seed.  We think, that our faith must be smaller than the seed, because we can't move mountains, or add a cubit to our stature.  This is not what the Master meant with the parable.  His point was this: ANY faith displayed, no matter how small, will unlock the windows of Heaven!  Sometimes, we consider God to be a taskmaster that will not acknowledge our attempts until we reach a certain point in our growth.  Not so!   Consider this passage of scripture from 2 Chronicles 16:9  "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him."  He is actively seeking us.

     Why do we struggle in our faith?  To put it simple terms, we too often use faith as a spare tire, instead of the steering wheel.  We want to use it as a "get of jail free" card.  But faith is supposed to lead us to greater faith, not relief from the storm.  Recall with me, this story, from Luke chapter 8: "Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples; and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth.  But as they sailed he fell asleep; and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with fear, and were in danger.  And they came to him and awoke him, saying, Master, Master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the waters, and they ceased; and there was a calm.  And he said unto them, Where is your faith? and they being afraid, wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this? For he commandeth even the winds and waters, and they obey him."  Was it a backhanded response from Jesus?  When a great storm arose, and Jesus is on the boat, wasn't it faith that caused the disciples to waken him?  Or was Jesus just grumpy?  Neither.  The point that the Lord is making to ALL of us is that our faith should be strong enough to trust him to take us THROUGH the storm.  This is how faith grows; and it's not always a pleasant experience.  In another story, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego had their faith proven IN the fire.  Perhaps they, like us, prayed for release of the trial, but God knew his plan would produce a greater faith.

     Faith is living in the reality that while we can't understand all things, God can.  Relying on him IS exercising faith.  Romans 5:1 reads "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;", and 2 Corinthians 5: "For we walk by faith, not by sight;".  By sight, we take knowledge of the visible world; our external senses are adapted to this external, visible world.  They are designed to aid us only while we remain in this tabernacle of clay.  They are not adapted to the spiritual realm.  Faith connects our spirit to our Heavenly Creator.  Only He can breach the gulf between the two. 

     So, when you next consider your faith, ask yourself this question: "Do I believe God at his word?"  If your answer is "yes", move forward, BOLDLY.  This world will only believe what it sees, and we, as the children of God, need to be that example.  We are the canvas that the Lord desires to show to the world.  It needs to see that, not only is God alive, but that He's still involved in working miracles in the lives of His people.  Let your light shine!  God bless.