21. A Love for the Truth

LONNIE: Welcome to Exploring the Word. I hope you’re ready to do that--explore the riches of the Bible today.

JEANNIE: We’re happy that you’re with us again.

LONNIE: As always, we’ll start with a question, something you’ve been wondering about. Jeannie, what’s on people’s minds today?

JEANNIE: Lonnie, actually this is not so much one question as something that comes through in a lot of questions people ask. When our students write in about the interpretation of this or that Bible text, or about different doctrines that different churches have—they often wonder, “How can we know what the truth is? Especially when there are so many conflicting beliefs. How can I be sure that I’m on the right track?

LONNIE: Hmm, it’s a pretty old question. Remember Pilate asking Jesus, “What is truth?”

JEANNIE: Right, only these people want to stay for the answer. They don’t want to be deceived by someone who’s just preaching their own opinions as if they were, you know, God’s Word or something.

LONNIE: Well, Jeannie, you’ve nailed down an important issue. Knowing the truth. That’s pretty important. And remember our homework assignment related to this subject. Did you read Joshua 9 and 10, the story of how Joshua was fooled—and what he did about it? We’ll be getting to that story in a moment. And for more information on today’s topic, take a look at our Discover Bible Guide number twenty-one, “Can the Majority Be Wrong?”

Does it ever seem to you that a lot of things today are not quite what they seem? There have always been scams and illusions of course. That marvelous piece of real estate in South Florida? It’s a swamp. That miracle hair-growing lotion? It leaves you as bald as ever.

But lately the illusions seem to have multiplied. I guess partly that’s because we live in a web of information, the World Wide Web. It’s where every conceivable kind of come-on can flash on your screen. The Internet has given people with all kinds of bizarre views an international hearing.

But it’s also because sometimes issues in our world are just too big to get a handle on. Take the budget deficit of the U.S. government, for example. How are we supposed to relate to billions or trillions of dollars? What does that mean?

So many of us turn away from statistics and fall back on intuition, on gut instincts. Well, illusion finds its way down into our heart-of-hearts too.

At the trial of a man named Giovani who had defrauded dozens of women of their savings, one victim was asked, “Why were you so taken in by this rip-off artist?”

She answered, "I was mesmerized by his honest eyes."

Deep in her heart this woman just knew honesty shone through Giovani. Fooled again.

We get tired of being fooled, don’t we? We get tired of being deceived. And nowhere is this more important than in matters of faith. We want to know the truth about God. We want to know the truth about salvation. We don’t want to fall for someone’s human agenda---disguised as the Word of God.

Is there a way we can fight back—against illusions? Is there a way we can take preventative measures---so we won’t be fooled again?

We’re going to begin our study with the story of a man who was fooled very badly—and what he did about it. So get ready. Turn in your Bibles to Joshua chapter nine.

Joshua was the leader of the people of Israel during their conquest of Canaan, the promised land. One day a ragged, half-starved-looking band of men came straggling into the Israelite encampment. This is what they told Joshua. Joshua 9:6:

“We have come from a distant country; now therefore, make a covenant with us.”

Now actually, these men were a delegation from Gibeon, a Canaanite city a few miles north of Jerusalem. They pretended to have come from a distant land because they knew Israel was forbidden to make a treaty with any Canaanite tribe.

They’d set up an elaborate disguise. Donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old, cracked wineskins. The men put patched sandals on their feet and wore tattered clothes. And they took along dry, moldy bread.

Well the illusion worked perfectly. And the Bible tells us why in one simple sentence. Joshua 9:14.

“. . . they did not ask counsel of the Lord.”
Seeing is believing, right? It didn’t seem necessary to seek God’s guidance about this treaty.

As a result, the Gibeonites and their idolatry--right near Jerusalem--would become a problem for Israel, a thorn in their side.

Now Joshua could have given up at this point. He’d failed as Israel’s leader. He’d been completely fooled. He could have tried to blame God: “Why didn’t you warn me?”

Instead, Joshua learned from the experience. He realized he'd been "fooled again" because he didn't seek God's guidance. He tried to muddle through a problem on his own---without God's perspective.

Now let's look at Joshua a few weeks later. The Gibeonites send him an urgent message: "Come up to us quickly and save us!" Five Amorite kings had marched against Gibeon. Well, Joshua’s treaty obligated him to help.

But still they were idol-worshippers. Should he go? What was God's plan?

Well this time Joshua was ready to seek divine guidance. He wanted to approach the problem from God's perspective. Joshua must have been listening, I believe, because of this: Joshua 10:8. The Lord gives him a very clear message.

“Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hand; not a man of them shall stand before you.”

Now Joshua was ready to proceed with confidence. He marched all night toward Gibeon and surprised the Amorites in the morning. Joshua 10 describes how the Lord threw them into confusion. The Amorite soldiers broke ranks and fled.

Joshua’s remarkable experience gives us our first clue about not being fooled again, not falling for illusions. And it’s this: “Learn the truth.”

What I mean is this. The truth is something you have to ask for. It’s something you have to learn. It doesn’t just naturally spring out of your innermost being.

Remember, when Joshua didn’t ask, he was fooled. When Joshua asked, he triumphed.

It’s so basic. The truth is something you have to learn. How important is that in daily life?

Are we listening---but not really getting it? Is the truth sinking in? We need to move beyond our preconceptions and our prejudices. We need to get out of our ruts.

Friends, we can learn the truth. It’s not a big mystery. It’s not that complicated. If we honestly ask, answers will come. Jesus made a wonderful promise to His followers. John 8:31,32:

“If you abide in My word . . . you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

We can learn the truth. It’s something that comes from the outside in, from God’s Word into our hearts and minds.

And that truth sets us free.

One morning Jesus was cooking some fish out on the shore of Lake Galilee. His disciples, out fishing, spotted him on the sand, shouted to one another, and furiously paddled up to greet him. This was the Christ who had been taken down dead from the cross. This was their resurrected Lord.

But one disciple hung his head—Peter. His betrayal hung heavy in the air. The one who was always the first to speak, had spoken in denial under pressure. The one who was so sure he’d lay down his life for his master had claimed he didn’t know the accused.

So Jesus took Peter aside and he asked him a simple question. “Do you love me?” But after Peter assured Jesus that he did, Jesus asked it again, and again, “Do you really love me?”

This was Christ’s way of helping Peter face the hard truth about himself. His impulsiveness could lead him to step out in faith---but it could also lead him to turn his back on his best friend. Peter needed to know that a deeper kind of devotion was required—if he was to become a leading apostle. And Jesus urged Peter, “Feed my sheep.”

Well Peter did face the hard truth, the bad news. He’d been self-deluded about his courage. He’d fooled himself. But this disciple faced up to his weakness—and he was empowered by the Holy Spirit. A few weeks later we find him facing down a group of powerful officials at the Sanhedrin, men of authority who order him to stop preaching in the name of Jesus. And Peter declares, “We must obey God rather than man.”

That’s our second great principle. Here’s how not to be fooled again. Listen to the truth—whether it’s good news or bad.
Human nature puts up so many filters to the truth. We’re all ears for approval, for the go-ahead; we’re pretty deaf to correction, to warning.

Friends, the truth is often what you don’t want to hear. I can guarantee you one thing: at some point you’re going to want to avoid hearing exactly the thing you desperately need to hear. At some point the truth is going to be bad news.

But listen, sometimes it’s the bad news that gets us to the good news. Sometimes the bad news helps us avoid disaster. Sometimes facing our problems and our prejudices gets us into a bright new world.

We can know the truth. You don’t have to be a brilliant scholar. You don’t have to be a super-achiever. You just have to be a good listener. Listen to whatever God has to say, whether good news or bad.

Now let’s move on to our final principle. Look at 2 Thessalonians, Paul’s second letter to the church at Thessalonica. Here Paul writes about people being fooled in the last days. And he warns about illusions intensifying, about people falling away from the faith. And he says this happens---

“. . . because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” 2 Thess. 2:10

Why are people fooled again? Why do they get sucked into so much falsehood? Because they don't receive something else: "the love of the truth."

Having a "love of the truth" is what leads to salvation. That's what leads to security.

After you learn the truth, after you listen to the truth, you need to LOVE the truth.

What does that mean?

Well, people who love the truth want more of it. If you love something you can’t get enough. In other words, truth isn’t just a nice religious trophy you put up on the shelf. It’s not just a package of correct doctrines that you possess.

Truth is something alive that needs to grow inside you. And if you love it, you grow with it. All through history the church has had to grow in its grasp of the truth—or die.

Listen to Paul’s prayer for the Colossians. It’s in the first chapter of that epistle. Starting in verse 9. He prays that they will be filled with “the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” Verse 10. He hopes they “may have a walk worthy of the Lord.” And what does that include? It includes “increasing in the knowledge of God.”
Each one of us can know the truth. We can know what God says is important.

Just remember to learn the truth. It comes from the outside in. It’s not something you make up.

And finally love the truth, keep growing with it, keep opening your heart and mind to it, keep expanding in it. Jesus promises, you will be set free.

JEANNIE: Lonnie, about our subject of knowing the truth, when I think of “truth” or “error” I can’t help picturing the kind of people who just love to argue, who love to pick things apart and debate the details of doctrine.

LONNIE: I’ve seen that happen too, Jeannie. That’s one reason I think it’s so important to emphasize what the Bible emphasizes.

JEANNIE: So I guess what I’m saying is, there must be a difference between a genuine love of the truth and a love of argument.

LONNIE: Good point, Jeannie.

It’s true. A love of the truth isn’t a matter of hunting down error, or fighting for our doctrines. Truth is much more than an abstraction we can dissect and debate. God’s truth is, in a word, Jesus. To love the truth means you love to sit at the feet of Jesus. He’s got things to teach you. He’s got things to show you about your attitudes, your relationships, your struggles. Jesus contains all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

To love the truth is to learn as a disciple. It’s to seek wisdom in Christ’s words. It’s to allow Him to become the standard in our lives, the measure of all things, the first and last word.

That’s how you avoid falling for all the lies. That’s how you avoid majoring in minor details. Love the truth in Jesus Christ. Take in His grace and His gospel. Seek His face.

Are you doing that today? Are you sitting at the feet of Jesus? Or are you allowing other voices to drown out His? Are you just following your own opinions and trying to justify them with stray bits of the Bible? Please make a decision right now to learn and listen to and love God’s truth. Please make a commitment to spend time, prayerful time, listening to his voice. Start building your life on his principles. Start now, as we pray.

Dear Father, thank You for offering us a clear way out of deception. Thank You for laying out Your essential truths so plainly for us in the Bible. Help us to reflect on them. Help us to absorb them. Give us Your wisdom. Make us disciples sitting at the feet of Jesus. Thank You for being our individual teacher. We pray this in the name of the Savior Jesus, amen.

JEANNIE: We’d like to tell you about our topic for next week and give you a bit of homework. Ready? We’re going to be talking about the Millennium. A lot of people wonder just what is going to happen during that 1000-year period and we’re going to find out. So please read one chapter, Revelation chapter 20.

LONNIE: And as you do that try to find the clues that answer this question: where are believers during the Millennium? OK? Revelation 20. That’s your assignment for next week.

JEANNIE: You’re going to discover that God has some wonderful plans for you during this special period. So be sure and be with us for our next program.

LONNIE: Until then, God bless you. Never stop exploring the Word, and remember, God really does love you.