Ideas have
consequences and truth matters.
With so many ideas vying for
credence how do you know what is right.
‘Right’ can’t be what makes us popular because no one is popular forever, plus
popularity is us doing what others think is cool and ultimately disregards who
we really are inside – seems deceptive to me.
‘Right’ can’t be what gives us lots of money because its been show over and
over that wealthy people are no happier than regular folks.
‘Right’ can’t be what gives you great pleasure because too much of anything
makes us vomit or grow weary of it. So what is the answer?
One thing I am sure of is that the
answer cannot come from myself or other people or groups because what would
make their ideas any better than mine. Everyone is a legend in their own mind. There are as many ideas as there are people. So if answers can’t come from people what
other source is there?
John 5: 24“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God
who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but
they have already passed from death into life.
1 John 2:
14I have written to you who are God’s children because you know
the Father. I have written to you who are mature in the faith because you know
Christ, who existed from the beginning. I have written to you who are young in
the faith because you are strong. God’s word lives in your hearts, and you have
won your battle with the evil one. 15Do not love this world nor the things it
offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father
in you.
16For the world offers only a craving for
physical pleasure,
a craving for everything
we see,
and pride in our
achievements and possessions.
These are not from the
Father, but are from this world. 17And this world is fading away, along with
everything that people crave.
But anyone who does what
pleases God will live forever.
John 15: 19The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but
you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so
it hates you. 20Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not
greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will
persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. 21They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the
one who sent me. 22They would not be guilty if I had not come and
spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. 23Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. 24If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could
do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did,
yet they still hate me and my Father. 25This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me
without cause.’
Many of my era think they can make up their own truth. They also think they are being original. Little do they know people since the
beginning of time have been making that mistake. I’ll give you two examples: Noah and the Ark is my first – literally all
the people on earth who knew or heard about Noah thought Noah was crazy, yet we
know now he was the only one who knew the truth. Notice how ideas have consequences – in
Noah’s day it meant death for all for not following the ways of God. It means the same thing today but God doesn’t
kill us like in Noah’s day, but gives us as long as we live to come to belief
in Jesus. My second example is the Rebellion of Korah (Korah is a man, a Levite
during the time of Moses). Normally I
can summarize things, but in this case I’m quoting the whole story:
Korah’s Rebellion (Numbers
16)
1One day Korah son of
Izhar, a descendant of Kohath son of Levi, conspired with Dathan and Abiram,
the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, from the tribe of Reuben. 2They incited a rebellion
against Moses, along with 250 other leaders of the community, all prominent
members of the assembly. 3They united against Moses
and Aaron and said, “You have gone too far! The whole community of Israel has
been set apart by the LORD, and he is with all of us. What right do you have to
act as though you are greater than the rest of the LORD’s people?”
4When Moses heard what they
were saying, he fell face down on the ground. 5Then he said to Korah and
his followers, “Tomorrow morning the LORD will show us who belongs to
him and who is holy. The LORD will allow only those whom he selects to
enter his own presence. 6Korah, you and all your
followers must prepare your incense burners. 7Light fires in them
tomorrow, and burn incense before the LORD. Then we will see whom the LORD
chooses as his holy one. You Levites are the ones who have gone too far!”
8Then Moses spoke again to
Korah: “Now listen, you Levites! 9Does it seem insignificant
to you that the God of Israel has chosen you from among all the community of
Israel to be near him so you can serve in the LORD’s Tabernacle and stand
before the people to minister to them? 10Korah, he has already
given this special ministry to you and your fellow Levites. Are you now
demanding the priesthood as well? 11The LORD is the one you
and your followers are really revolting against! For who is Aaron that you are
complaining about him?”
12Then Moses summoned Dathan
and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they replied, “We refuse to come before
you! 13Isn’t it enough that you
brought us out of Egypt, a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us here in
this wilderness, and that you now treat us like your subjects? 14What’s more, you haven’t
brought us into another land flowing with milk and honey. You haven’t given us
a new homeland with fields and vineyards. Are you trying to fool these
men? We will not come.”
15Then Moses became very
angry and said to the LORD, “Do not accept their grain offerings! I have not
taken so much as a donkey from them, and I have never hurt a single one of
them.” 16And Moses said to Korah,
“You and all your followers must come here tomorrow and present yourselves
before the LORD. Aaron will also be here. 17You and each of your 250
followers must prepare an incense burner and put incense on it, so you can all
present them before the LORD. Aaron will also bring his incense burner.”
18So each of these men
prepared an incense burner, lit the fire, and placed incense on it. Then they all
stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle with Moses and Aaron. 19Meanwhile, Korah had
stirred up the entire community against Moses and Aaron, and they all gathered
at the Tabernacle entrance. Then the glorious presence of the LORD appeared to
the whole community, 20and the LORD said to Moses
and Aaron, 21“Get away from all these
people so that I may instantly destroy them!”
22But Moses and Aaron fell
face down on the ground. “O God,” they pleaded, “you are the God who gives
breath to all creatures. Must you be angry with all the people when only one
man sins?”
23And the LORD said to
Moses, 24“Then tell all the people
to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
25So Moses got up and rushed
over to the tents of Dathan and Abiram, followed by the elders of Israel. 26“Quick!” he told the
people. “Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and don’t touch anything
that belongs to them. If you do, you will be destroyed for their sins.” 27So all the people stood
back from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Then Dathan and Abiram came
out and stood at the entrances of their tents, together with their wives and
children and little ones.
28And Moses said, “This is
how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things that I have
done—for I have not done them on my own. 29If these men die a natural
death, or if nothing unusual happens, then the LORD has not sent me. 30But if the LORD does
something entirely new and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them and all
their belongings, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will
know that these men have shown contempt for the LORD.”
31He had hardly finished
speaking the words when the ground suddenly split open beneath them. 32The earth opened its mouth
and swallowed the men, along with their households and all their followers who
were standing with them, and everything they owned. 33So they went down alive
into the grave, along with all their belongings. The earth closed over them,
and they all vanished from among the people of Israel. 34All the people around them
fled when they heard their screams. “The earth will swallow us, too!” they
cried. 35Then fire blazed forth
from the LORD and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense.
36eAnd the LORD said to Moses, 37“Tell Eleazar son of Aaron
the priest to pull all the incense burners from the fire, for they are holy.
Also tell him to scatter the burning coals. 38Take the incense burners
of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, and hammer the metal
into a thin sheet to overlay the altar. Since these burners were used in the
LORD’s presence, they have become holy. Let them serve as a warning to the
people of Israel.”
39So Eleazar the priest
collected the 250 bronze incense burners that had been used by the men who died
in the fire, and the bronze was hammered into a thin sheet to overlay the
altar. 40This would warn the
Israelites that no unauthorized person—no one who was not a descendant of
Aaron—should ever enter the LORD’s presence to burn incense. If anyone did, the
same thing would happen to him as happened to Korah and his followers. So the
LORD’s instructions to Moses were carried out.
41But the very next morning
the whole community of Israel began muttering again against Moses and Aaron,
saying, “You have killed the LORD’s people!” 42As the community gathered
to protest against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Tabernacle and saw
that the cloud had covered it, and the glorious presence of the LORD appeared.
43Moses and Aaron came and
stood in front of the Tabernacle, 44and the LORD said to
Moses, 45“Get away from all these
people so that I can instantly destroy them!” But Moses and Aaron fell face
down on the ground.
46And Moses said to Aaron,
“Quick, take an incense burner and place burning coals on it from the altar.
Lay incense on it, and carry it out among the people to purify them and make
them right with the LORD. The LORD’s anger is blazing against them—the
plague has already begun.”
47Aaron did as Moses told
him and ran out among the people. The plague had already begun to strike down
the people, but Aaron burned the incense and purified the people. 48He stood between the dead
and the living, and the plague stopped. 49But 14,700 people died in
that plague, in addition to those who had died in the affair involving
Korah. 50Then because the plague
had stopped, Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tabernacle.
In this amazing true story that happened about 3400 years ago
around end of time Israel wandered 40 years in the wilderness. This isn’t a history lesson, the point I wish
you to see is that Korah wanted to do things ‘his way’ and not ‘God’s way’ and
as you can see things ended badly not only for him, but those who were also
influenced by his ideas. Truth
matters. Around 15 thousand people died
because of the rebellion. Needless
deaths easily avoidable by obeying God.
The same goes for Noah’s era. They all drifted from God and suffered the
consequences for doing what was right in their own eyes (making up their own
truth).
I had a person say recently and I quote “from my experiences in
life I believe such and such…..” What is sad is that ‘truth’ doesn’t care what
experiences you’ve had or what you or I think or believe. The truth is ‘the truth’ even if no one
believes or even knows about it, it’s still the truth. Korah thought he should be able to burn
incense like the priests. The God they supposedly worship says no and they defy Him. Moses warned them repeatedly and Korah would
not back down. It came to a showdown and
needless to say God won. Don’t let this
happen to you. So those living in the year 2020 who think they can make up their own moral
truth are only storing up wrath for the day of judgment while also leading
their friends and family down the same deadly path. Only in Christ can they hope to avoid eternal
death in hell.
______________________________________________________________________
Some of my readers will ask “are you trying to scare me”. My answer is yes. I’d rather scare you into
the arms of Jesus than lull you into a false sense of security and have you die
and go into an eternal hell where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Why else would God leave his children here on
earth once they are saved except to teach others about saving grace Jesus provided -- the gospel story of
redemption and forgiveness. Remember? It’s our Great Commission?
Proverbs 29:2 When the godly are
in authority, the people rejoice.
But when the wicked are in power, they groan.
Proverbs 14:34 Godliness makes a nation great,
but sin is a disgrace to any people.
Proverbs
3: 5Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and lean not on your own
understanding;
6in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths
straight.
7Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from
evil.
8This will bring healing to your body and refreshment to
your bones.
Proverbs 16:25 There is a way
that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the
ways of death. (meaning doing whatever feel like is dangerous and we can be
sincerely wrong)
You may ask at this point -- where do we get truth if we don’t
make it up ourselves? Jesus said He was
the truth in John 18:37: “Then You are a king!” Pilate said. “You say
that I am a king,” Jesus answered. “For this reason I was
born and have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who
belongs to the truth listens to My voice.” 38“What is truth?” Pilate asked.
Pilate never waited for a response. Can you imagine having the creator of all
things in front of you – Pilate needless to say didn’t have a clue who Jesus
really was nor would he have believed him even if Jesus had told him he was God
in the flesh.
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is
inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize
what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to
do what is right.
How can anyone know how to live unless they
know the scriptures? They cannot.
Note the Apostle Paul calls himself a slave of Christ (bond servant) which
numerous other authors of scripture also do.
If we are slaves then we don’t make up our own truth. On the contrary we obey our master. Concerning
non-moral issues of life we are free as birds, but must like all things keep
avoid extremes. 2 Cor 10: 3For
though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the
flesh. 4For the
weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy
strongholds. 5We
destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God,
and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6being
ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.
I’ll close with Paul’s letter to the Romans
chapter 1:
ROMANS 1:1This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God
to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. 2God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the
holy Scriptures. 3The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born
into King David’s family line, 4and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised
from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our
Lord. 5Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority
as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that
they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.
6And you are included among those Gentiles who have been called
to belong to Jesus Christ. 7I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are
called to be his own holy people.
May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and
peace.
8Let me say first that I thank my God through Jesus Christ for
all of you, because your faith in him is being talked about all over the
world. 9God knows how often I pray for you. Day and night I bring you
and your needs in prayer to God, whom I serve with all my heart by
spreading the Good News about his Son.
10One of the things I always pray for is the
opportunity, God willing, to come at last to see you. 11For I long to visit you so I can bring you some spiritual gift
that will help you grow strong in the Lord. 12When we get together, I want to encourage you
in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.
13I want you to know, dear brothers and
sisters, that I planned many times to visit you, but I was prevented until
now. I want to work among you and see spiritual fruit, just as I have seen
among other Gentiles. 14For I have a great sense of obligation to people in both the
civilized world and the rest of the world, to the educated and uneducated
alike. 15So I am eager to come to you in Rome, too, to preach the Good
News.
16For I am not ashamed of this Good News about
Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew
first and also the Gentile. 17This Good News tells us how God makes us
right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the
Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
18But God shows his anger from heaven against
all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to
them. 20For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth
and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible
qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not
knowing God.
21Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship
him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of
what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. 22Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. 23And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they
worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and
reptiles.
24So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful
things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things
with each other’s bodies. 25They traded the truth about God for a lie. So
they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator
himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. 26That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even
the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in
sex with each other. 27And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women,
burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as
a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they
deserved.
28Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge
God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that
should never be done. 29Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed,
hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and
gossip. 30They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and
boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their
parents. 31They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless,
and have no mercy. 32They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things
deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do
them, too.
Epilog:
We cannot expect the
unsaved to conduct themselves according to the Bible, but the saved can follow what is
written in 1st Peter 3: 12The eyes of the LORD watch over those who do right, and his ears
are open to their prayers. But the LORD turns his face against those who do
evil.” 13Now, who will want to harm you if you are
eager to do good? 14But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward
you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. 15Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if
someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain
it. 16But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your
conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when
they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. 17Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what
God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong!
