Question: DO YOU WANT MORE TRUTH?
You have as much truth as you want to have. If you wanted more you would have more; if you wanted less you would have less.
Before you received Christ Jesus as Saviour and Lord you had a strong resistance to truth. The Holy Spirit was trying to reach you with the life-saving gospel. (Jesus: “When He has come He will convict the world of sin”), but the door to your heart was closed. When you (finally) received Christ’s wondrous salvation you regretted not doing so sooner. Amen? Surely this confirms the folly of resisting truth.
Now that you belong to Christ Jesus (1Cor.6:19: “You are not your own”), you still have resistance to truth. You must see that. If it were not for this resistance you would have more truth, and with more truth comes more of every good thing. (Jesus: “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”)
Christians – not a few, not some, not most, but all – resist truth. Truth brings change and change can be unsettling. The apostles resisted truth. Jesus told them (Mk.10:34): “And they will mock Him [Me], and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.” But they were completely surprised and disheartened when Christ’s words were fulfilled a short time later; they didn’t want to receive that frightening truth, so they didn’t. The Galatians resisted truth. (“Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth.”) The Corinthians resisted truth. (“You are still carnal.”)
Today christians are equally skilled at dodging truth. I first witnessed this when a very young christian. There was a powerful visitation of the Holy Spirit in the seventies and eighties and many catholics, including me, discovered and received Christ. The People of Faith prayer group was formed in my parish, and there were manifestations of the Spirit in our weekly meetings. It was wondrous. Unfortunately every (repeat, EVERY) born-again catholic christian in that group had a strong resistance to the truth regarding catholicism. Many became more fervent catholics than before, and soon People of Faith came to an end.
When attending evangelical churches it became obvious they were likewise afflicted by the same resistance to truth. The loyalty the congregation had toward the pastor equaled the loyalty catholics had to their priest. As untruth keeps catholics catholic, untruth keeps evangelicals evangelical. As (what Jesus called) “commandments of men” define catholicism, “commandments of men” likewise define evangelicalism.
Embracing religion (“commandments of men”) is denying the truth religion supplants. Understand that truth is the Bible. (“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.”) And understand that religion is that which subtracts from or adds to Scripture. Denying truth is denying the Holy Spirit, the “Spirit of truth”. Resisting the Holy Spirit is resisting the One who sent Him. (Jesus: “Whom I shall send to you from the Father.”) So…. resisting truth is resisting Jesus. (Jesus: “I am the way, THE TRUTH and the life.”)
Within both the unsaved and the saved is a NO Jesus! and a YES Jesus! The unsaved actually want Jesus but they also DON’T want Jesus; their NO is bigger than, and overpowers, their YES! The moment their YES exceeds their NO, they will eagerly embrace Jesus and receive His awesome salvation. Important: Does their NO Jesus! dissolve after their conversion? Answer: No, IT’S STILL THERE! Now there is a resistance to, relationally speaking, MORE of Jesus.
Although I never met you, I know much about you. I know that there is within you a NO! to more of Jesus. And I know that within you is a YES! to more of Jesus. But I don’t know what is greater, your NO! or your YES! Probably you don’t know yourself. My strong desire is to cause you to desire more and more and more of Jesus Christ, that the cry of your heart will be the same as Paul’s (1Cor.2:2, AMPC): “I resolved to know nothing (to be acquainted with nothing, to make a display of the knowledge of nothing, and to be conscious of nothing) among you except Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and Him crucified.”
And I also know that you have a resistance to truth and the change truth brings. But I don’t know what is more powerful, your love for truth or that resistance to truth. Do you know? When confronted with conflicts between tradition of men and New Testament teachings and precedents (we all have such encounters), which do you obey?
And I know you bear good fruit because “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He [the Father] takes away. (Jn.15:2)” But I don’t know if you bear MUCH fruit or LITTLE fruit. Also, I know that Christ’s Great Commission is directed to you as much as anyone, but I don’t know if and to what degree you shoulder that responsibility. Also, I know that you cherish the approval of your brothers and sisters in Christ, but I don’t know if that yearning exceeds your desire for Christ’s approval. Listen to Paul, your elder brother (Gal.1:10): “If I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.” Let’s look at that….
A young jehovah-witness came to my residence and we were soon in a debate. He said that the division among christian churches was so extensive none could possibly be God’s appointed agency on earth. (Actually, he is right.) Knowing much about his religion, I asked, “Has your religion ever been fully united in matters they now know is false?” Listen to his answer: “Yes, but it is better to be united in error than divided over truth!” Question: Would you rather be united to fellow saints seriously handicapped by “commandments of men” OR be separated from them and walk in truth? (Jesus to the Father: “Your word is truth.”)
More truth is available. The Holy Spirit freely dispenses truth to those choosing truth over untruth. So I ask again, “DO YOU WANT MORE TRUTH?”
NOTE: Unlike religionists – those who advocate various religions – I believe you have a preaching ministry! Male or female, rich or poor, the Lord Jesus has called you to preach “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” to His church and to the world He died for. That is why I invite you to visit my library of books, articles and videos at www.larryjones.ca