What Is Truth?

 

We live in a world where truth has become a rare commodity. Sadly, in many situations, we no longer even expect to find the truth.

However, Jesus was an uncompromising speaker of truth. He is truth personified (Jn. 14:6). He knows the value of truth to the human soul and spirit (Jn. 8:32). He stood for the truth of His Father, without exception. When Pontius Pilate, a coldly practical Roman governor, was examining Jesus before the crucifixion, he cynically asked Jesus, "What is truth?" Jesus had just finished describing His purpose and the reason for His coming, to Pilate:

"...To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth My voice."  Jn. 18:37

The word used here for the expression "bear witness", is the Greek word martyreo, from which we get the word "martyr", meaning those who will declare the truth even unto their own death.

Pilate, though he was a worldly man, knew he was hearing the truth from Jesus, because he went out to the crowd and said to them, "I find in Him no fault at all." (Jn. 18:38). Ultimately, even knowing this, Pilate still delivered The Truth to the mob to be crucified (Jn. 19:16).

Jesus, as Truth, died, and was raised again. Shouldn't we, the Church, also bear this same legacy of truth? Sadly, this is not always the case. In fact, the early Church was structured, in part, on the rejection of truth. Early in Church history, doctrines were established, still existing to this day, that purposefully denied truth. Both the Council of Nicaea, in 325 A.D., and the Council of Laodicea in 364 A.D., denied the Jewish Sabbath, and the observances of Jewish Feasts ordained by God, which were a prophetic picture of the Messiah, Jesus. They referred to these things and more, as "Jewish superstitions". Their goal was to separate the Christian faith from any connection to its Jewish origins and foundational truths found in the Word of God. The Church summarily discarded the truth that Jesus was the Passover Lamb of God, Who came to take away the sins of the world (Jn. 1:29, 36), and the First Fruit of the resurrection of the dead (Rev. 1:5).

The Apostle Paul would have disagreed with those early Church decisions. He compared those of the Christian faith to wild branches that had been grafted into the olive tree, which is the Jewish faith (Rom. 11:17, 24). Those branches, by established Church doctrine, later decided to separate themselves from the very root that sustained them. How could those branches now thrive and live, having been separated from their root? Certainly not in truth.

 

Scripture describes the calling of believers as being one of "kings and priests" and a "royal priesthood" (Rev. 1:6, 5:10, 1 Pet. 2:9), called out of darkness and into His marvelous light. What is that light? It is the light of truth:

"O send out Thy light and Thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto Thy holy hill, and to Thy tabernacles."  Ps. 43:3

"But he that doeth truth, cometh to the light..."  Jn. 3:21

The prophet Hosea warned that the priesthood, to which we also have been called, can be lost to us, and rejected by God. The priesthood is rejected because truth, and the knowledge of God, is rejected (Hos. 4:1, 6, 9):

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, and thou shalt be no priest to Me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children."  Hos. 4:6

In the same manner, as His kings, we are called to walk in God's kabode glory. We do this by searching the Word of His truth (Prov. 25:1). We are to search the Word so diligently, that we discover even the hidden things in the Word. If it seems shocking to read that we are to share the glory of God, scripture very much connects truth and the glory where we are concerned (Jer. 4:2, Jn. 1:14, Jn. 17:17-22).

In addition, scripture teaches that kings are preserved (guarded, protected, watched over, kept, maintained) by their association with truth (Prov. 20:28). This is the Word of God regarding kings.

As Jesus powerfully described His purpose to bear witness to the truth, it was in answer to Pilate's question, "Art Thou a king then?" (Jn. 18:37).

Like priests, kings are not to separate themselves from truth.

As the Church continues to reject the knowledge of the truth of its Jewish foundations and roots, as well as other truths of the Word of God, will God in turn reject the Church as kings and priests in His kingdom?

The Church needs to begin asking, "What is truth?", and to begin to search it out in the Word.

 

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"Why Seek Ye the Living Among the Dead?"

 

The crucifixion of Christ, and His resurrection are the cornerstones of the Christian faith. There is no point to Christianity without them. The resurrection alone, is what makes Jesus different from all other spiritual figures, and is also a necessary part of the atonement work of Christ:

"And if Jesus be not raised, your faith is in vain; ye are yet in your sins."  1 Cor. 15:17

All four Gospels contain an account of the empty tomb, and the resurrection of Jesus (Mt. 28, Mk. 16, Lk. 24, Jn. 20). The Gospels tell us that on the first day of the week, as the women went to the tomb of Jesus to anoint His body, they were shocked to find that the large stone, with which the tomb had been sealed, had been rolled away. Angels who were present there spoke to them and told them, "He is not here", and "He is risen" (Mt. 28:6, Mk. 16:6, Lk. 24:6). In one account, the resurrected Jesus Himself asked one of the women, "Whom seekest thou?" (Jn. 20:15). In Lk. 24:5, the angel asks, "Why seek ye the living among the dead?" They were all saying the same thing: if you are looking for Jesus, you have come to the wrong place. He is not to be found among the dead.

Not only did Jesus attain this great resurrection victory for Himself, but He attained it for all of us as well. What a great thing we have to celebrate! Yet in the Church, and in our lives as believers, we have placed Jesus back among the dead by changing the day proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus Christ into a day of Easter baskets, Easter bunnies, Easter eggs, Easter hats and parades, and pretty, new pastel Easter outfits. None of these things have resurrection life in them. They are all things that will pass away. He is not there. He is risen.

With our Easter traditions, we have also made the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ unrecognizable to the Jews, because we, the Church, have systematically removed these awesome events from their true contexts of Passover, and the Feast of First Fruits, of which they are very much the central meaning and Messianic fulfilment. By using the word "Easter", we have associated this day, instead, with false goddesses, including Ishtar and Ashtoreth. These pagan gods are not lovely and harmless, as we like to consider our Easter traditions, but they represent, instead, something very dark and carnal indeed, and have nothing to do with Jesus Christ. He cannot be found in it. He is not there. He is risen.

We are making it impossible for ourselves, our children, and others to find the resurrected Christ, because of these godless customs and traditions in which we have entombed Him again.

On the day of resurrection, when the women found the tomb empty, and heard the revelation of the angels, they ran to tell the disciples. However, the disciples did not believe them (Mk. 16:11, Lk. 24:11). Our failure to declare the resurrection of Christ on this day, really reflects the same unbelief. Not only have we again entombed Jesus in our dead traditions, but we have rolled an even larger stone, a stumbling stone of unbelief, back over the entrance of that tomb.

 

In the early Church, believers would greet each other saying, "He is risen!", and the answering declaration would be, "He is risen indeed!". Today we greet each other saying instead, "Happy Easter".

The angel is again asking the Church, "Why seek ye the living among the dead?", and Jesus Himself is asking, "Whom sleekest thou?"

 

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It's Time to Wake Up - A Prophetic Alarm

 

One of the great parables of Jesus is found in Mt. 25:1-13. It serves as a wake-up call, as a warning, and as a picture of the miraculous work of the salvation of God through Christ. This parable immediately follows the vivid prophetic description Jesus gives us in Mt. 24, of the tribulation and shakings that will occur at the end of the age, just before His return. It is clearly evident, when we read Mt. 24, that we are seeing in our time these described prophetic signs come to pass. It is at this point, that the parable of the ten virgins and an impending wedding, takes place.

To understand the setting of the parable, it is necessary to understand the Jewish marriage customs at the time of the parable. Two families enter into a covenant of marriage. The bridegroom then goes to prepare a place for himself and his soon bride in his father's house. When the father of the bridegroom is satisfied that all preparations for this bridal chamber have been completed, he tells his son to go and get his bride. The bridegroom then goes to "steal" his bride away from her house, and brings her to their marriage chamber. Jesus describes Himself as this bridegroom according to the Jewish customs, in the following verses:

"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house, are many mansions (dwelling, to wait for, await one, to tarry, to endure, to remain as and not to become something different): if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye my be also. And wither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Jn. 14:1-4

Of the timing of His return, Jesus again refers to the Jewish wedding customs when He says:

"...when ye shall see all these things (the prophetic events of Mt. 24), know that is near, even at the doors...But of that day and hour knoweth no man,...but My Father only. But as the days of Noe (Noah) were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."  Mt. 24:33-37

Since we are seeing the fulfillment of Mt. 24 taking place before our very eyes, it is important to learn from this parable of Mt. 25.

The ten virgins have gone out (Rev. 18:4) to meet the bridegroom, taking their lamps with them. Jesus tells us that five of the ten are wise, because they took an additional vessel of oil (the Holy Spirit, the oil of gladness, the oil of anointing that sets apart, and consecrates) with them, as well as their lamps. The five remaining are called foolish, because they are not well prepared, and have no oil. The bridegroom tarries, is delayed, so the ten virgins, even the wise, fall asleep. At midnight the cry (shriek, scream, Heb. thunderings) sounds, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him." (v. 6). All ten virgins rise to go out again, and they trim the wicks in their lamps to prepare them for lighting. The five foolish virgins, having been ill-prepared, do not have any oil left with which to light their lamps. Since the Bridegroom was delayed, and didn't appear when they had thought He would, the foolish five, still did not prepare to have the extra oil on hand for the actual coming of the Bridegroom. They had the opportunity to do so, because of the delay, but did not.

The meaning of the word "wise"  used in the parable means to know, to be thoughtful, discreet. It also means to reign in, or curb, feelings and thoughts in order to (properly) perceive and judge. The delay of the Bridegroom served to show who was genuinely prepared for His coming, and who was not. His failure to appear when and how expected caused the unedifying emotions, and preconceived ideas regarding His return, and the timing and the circumstances of His coming, to be exposed in the foolish. Their true feelings were shown in their lack of preparation.
The "wise" virgins, on the other hand, shone in the light of their oil-filled lamps. The wise had prepared themselves, and like the wife in Revelation, "had made herself ready" (Rev. 19:7).The prophet Daniel describes the wise:
"And they that be wise shall shine (send out light, be light) as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever." 
                                                                                                             Dan. 12:3
The five unprepared, foolish virgins in this parable were not allowed to enter in with the Bridegroom.
Don't be "fooled". The season is upon us. The prophet Daniel tells us that the final portion of the prophetic age began when the Messiah was cut off (Dan. 9:25-26). Jewish Rabbis know that the prophetic timetable has brought near the appearing of the One they await, their Messiah. Matthew 24 tells us the specific signs of the season of His appearing, and the end of the age, which we are seeing fulfilled.
There is another important piece of information in this parable to keep in mind. The cry that the Bridegroom comes came at midnight. The word "midnight" has great spiritual meaning. Many important events in scripture happened at midnight.

There are two Hebrew words used for midnight. One means the depth of night, a season, calamity, misery, protective covering, from a root meaning winding spiral stairs that fold back upon themselves. As in climbing a spiral staircase, facing one direction lay calamity and misery, but at the same time, and in the same space, at the turn of the spiral, a different direction provides a protective covering. The two exist in the one space.
A second Hebrew word for midnight means an arrow dividing, to divide or cut in two, to halve, pierce or sever, to cut off in the midst, be finished. It is a time when there is a division or separation from, when something is cut off or finished.
In Ex. 11:3, the plague of death struck the Egyptian first born at midnight, but passed over the homes of the Hebrews, who had covered their doorposts and lintels with the blood of the lamb. In one direction lay death, and in another came deliverance.
In Judges 16:3, although the enemy had set an ambush for Samson ("like the sun", glittering, shining) outside the city of Gaza (strong, mighty, fierce), Samson tore out the protective gates and posts of the city at midnight, and left it defenseless.
In Ruth 3:8, Boaz awakens at midnight, and finds Ruth at his feet. His personal destiny, and the future line of Messiah, suddenly take a turn.
In 1 Kings 3:20, a dead and living child are switched at midnight, and the wise King Solomon, discerns the true mother's heart by threatening to divide the living child into two halves (see definition of midnight).
Job 34:20 describes a moment, which occurs at midnight, when even the rich and powerful fall into the hands of God, and all of their power becomes useless.
In Psalm 119:62, the psalmist rises, like the ten virgins, to give thanks (yadah) at midnight because of the righteous judgments of God.

When the cry sounds at midnight proclaiming the coming of the Bridegroom, don't let it catch us unprepared. Let us be wise, prepared, and shining with the light of the abundant oil of our lamps, having made ourselves ready.

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