“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” —John 4:24
The unsaved world has much to say about “love” these days, promoting harmony
and ecumenical compromise at all cost; but that is NOT Biblical love. So
many people nowadays condemn religion and speak of “love” as a magic
solution to the world's problems. They make such statements as: “If only the
world had love then all the killing would stop” or “If you have love then
nothing else matters.” They are dead wrong!
This apostate form of New Age thinking is especially common amongst islanders along the equator (e.g., Hawaii) where the weather is always warmer, ecumenism flourishes, modesty is almost non-existent and true Christianity is very unpopular. What does the Bible teach?
Jesus said in John 4:24, “God is a Spirit:
and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” God
is a Spirit and MUST (not perhaps nor maybe; but MUST) be worshipped in
TRUTH. All the love in the world means nothing if you don't have the
truth. Some of the most loving people in this world are going to split Hell
wide open when they die, because they have never been born-again as
the Bible mandates for salvation... “Jesus answered and said unto him,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see
the kingdom of God.” Proverb 14:12 warns, “There is a way which
seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” It
is infinitely better to trust the Scriptures and obey the Gospel; than to
foolishly trust one's instincts and feelings and go to Hell (2nd
Thessalonians 1:8,9). No amount of love will suffice on Judgment Day when
the books are opened and one has to give account for all their sins
(Revelation 20:11-15).
The Importance of Truth
The
Bible teaches that we cannot worship God without truth; no matter how
much love we may possess. Biblical love always includes the truth. If one
cannot worship God without truth, then it is critically important to have
THE TRUTH. This is “why” I make such a big fuss over modern corrupt versions
of the Bible. If Satan succeeds in perverting the Word of God, then he has
changed the truth of God into a lie... “Wherefore God also gave them up
to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own
bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie,
and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed
for ever. Amen” (Romans 1:24, 25).
The Devil came to Eve in the Garden of Eden, perverting God's Word (Genesis 3:1). The Devil came to the Jews through false prophets, perverting God's Word (Jeremiah 5:31). The Devil came to Jesus in Matthew 4:6, perverting God's Word. And the Bible warns that Satan will come to us via wolves in sheep's clothing, perverting God's Word (Matthew 7:15; 2nd Corinthians 11:13,14). Satan's primary goal is to pervert and corrupt the truth. This is why the truth is always found amongst lies. Thankfully, God always makes the truth obvious to those who desire and want it.
There is NOTHING any more important in this
world than THE TRUTH, for without it you cannot be saved. It is the Word of
God, i.e., the Truth, by which we are born-again... “Being born again,
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God,
which liveth and abideth for ever.”
Genuine Love Rejoices in the Truth
When the Apostle Paul speaks of “charity” (i.e., love) being the greatest in 1st Corinthians 13:13, carefully notice in 1st Corinthians 13:4,6 that Paul says, “Charity... Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.” As evidenced by 1st Corinthians 13:6, Biblical love rejoices in THE TRUTH.
The world's false love excludes truth. What the
world commonly calls “love” is nothing more than sinful compromise. Satan
has duped many people into believing the BIG LIE that love means refraining
from preaching against sin, or taking a stand for righteousness or offending
anyone. That is NOT love at all. As we just learned from 1st Corinthians
13:6, true love rejoices in THE TRUTH. If we truly love someone, then there
should be no hesitation to tell them the truth. This is why believers are
supposed to go soulwinning (Matthew 28:19,20), i.e., because lost sinners
are going to Hell and we have a duty to warn them of the judgment to come
(Proverb 11:30; Luke 8:15; Daniel 12:3; Matthew 28:19,20).
Apostasy and the End Times
2nd Thessalonians 2:9,10 state: “Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” This passage of Scripture speaks about the 7-year Tribulation Period, after the Rapture, when the masses of this world will eagerly follow the Antichrist, thinking he is a wonderful person. Most people in the world today DON'T love the truth, nor do they have any desire to hear the truth. When you tell them the truth they become defensive and argumentative. Some people get very angry.
Only a small fraction of people love and receive the truth of the Gospel to get saved. The first step to salvation is a desire to know the truth. Sadly, most religious people today refuse to acknowledge the truth, which Jesus witnessed in his time as well... “And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.” Hundreds-of-millions of Catholics have heard the Gospel preached; but they are stubborn, grounded firm in their sinful pride, and are committed to the demonic doctrines of Catholicism. Woe unto the Catholic Church for teaching a false gospel and for their idolatrous worship of statues and icons. Hell will be hot enough!
Society is saturated with lies today, intended to blind us from the truth. The truth needs to be told. We must not censor or suppress the truth for the sake of popularity, expediency or making money as MOST ministries do nowadays. The average pastor wouldn't dare preach against the blatant crimes being committed by our government leaders in Washington. Most ministers don't care. It's not an issue with them. If we as believers don't care about crime in high places, then who will? It is tragic when unsaved people care more about the future of our children than we as professed Christians do. In fact, it is utterly irresponsible and apostate of America's churches. Woe unto silent churches!
We are clearly living in the End Times (see 2nd Timothy 3:1-7), as evidenced by the prophecy in Revelation 17:10, “And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.” The first 5-kings (or world powers) have been Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece. Rome was the 6th world power at the writing of Revelation. There have been no world powers since Rome fell in the 5th century A.D., although there are several super power nations today such as China, Russia and the U.S.A. The NEXT, or 7th, world power will be the New World Order (a coalition of 10 nations, Revelation 17:12), and the 8th king will be the BEAST, i.e., the Antichrist... “And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition” (Revelation 17:11). The Antichrist will arise to power out of the New World Order.
This is why
I personally
believe that the Lord's return, i.e., the
Pretribulation
Rapture is very near. Even so come Lord Jesus. Amen!
Love, Gratitude and the Truth
Biblical love is rooted in gratitude towards God and a love for the truth... “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened” (Romans 1:21). A thankful heart is the first step to finding the truth, as we've read in Romans 1:21. Most people today are ingrates and don't appreciate what God has done for them. Those who are appreciative and humble are much more likely to obey the truth of the Gospel than ingrates who blame God for the world's problems.
Most people take their blessings for granted in life. God has been so good to us and yet it is so easy to complain about things. It's easier for me to complain because I suffer daily from painful herniated disks in my neck; but God is good and He has been faithful to me over the years. Due to my pain, I have to continually focus upon my blessings to maintain a proper attitude, and with the Lord's help I do. The Percocet helps alleviate my physical pain, and the Word of God comforts my heart in this dark and dreary world of sin in which we survive. I echo the words of Paul in Philippians 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
What the world thinks is true love is nothing
more than a strong fondness for one another; but this is NOT Biblical love.
God's love is unconditional, which means that it has nothing to do with the
person who is the object of that love. In other words, no matter what you do
to God, He will still love you (Romans 5:8; 1st John 3:16). This is vastly
different than the conditional love of the world that requires a
person to meet certain requirements to continue receiving that so-called
love. This is why the divorce rate is so high—because people don't have
God's unconditional love in their heart. God's unconditional love is based
upon one's gratitude towards God for sending His Son into the world to pay
for our sins. If Jesus was willing to die for our sins, then we ought to be
willing to suffer for our loved one's.
The Greatest Truth
There is no greater truth than John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Thankfully, Jesus died for all men (1st John 2:2); thus, making salvation available to anyone, rich or poor, healthy or sick, beautiful or ugly, nice or mean, religious or non-religious, who will acknowledge their GUILT of sin (Romans 3:19) and BELIEVE on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins (Acts 4:10-12; 10:43; 16:31). We are saved by HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, i.e., the righteousness of Jesus Christ made possible only by the precious literal blood that He sacrificed for our sins. This is THE TRUTH of God's Word. It is called the Gospel. Jesus paid a debt that He did not owe, because we owed a debt that we could not pay. Jesus died, was buried and rose again after 3-days (1st Corinthians 15:1-4), and applied his physical blood to the mercyseat in Heaven (Hebrews 9:12) for our justification. You won't hear this truth in most religious denominations today, nor will you hear it from the greedy televangelists, nor will you hear it on the Oprah Winfrey Show; but I love the truth and want you to go to heaven when you die.
In closing, I wrote this article because many people nowadays have the erroneous notion that love is all that matters. Not so. And any so-called “love” that excludes THE TRUTH is fraudulent. God's love always dwells amongst truth. Anyone who speaks about love, while diminishing the importance of Biblical doctrine, is of the Devil. The Beatles sang their hit song, All You Need Is Love. No my friend, you need truth more than anything, for without the WORD OF TRUTH you cannot be saved and escape the fires of Hell, which is where John Lennon and George Harrison are burning this moment.
“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise” —Ephesians 1:13
Note: All quotes are from the trustworthy inspired King James Bible.
