Do we love the truth enough to accept THE WHOLE truth?

“But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” (Mic.4: 1-2; Isa.2: 22)

The disciples of Jesus were expecting a Messiah who would lead a victorious army against Israel’s enemies (the Roman Empire). A Messiah who would thereafter take up His throne in Jerusalem and rule all nations with a rod of iron (Ps.2: 9), affording their beloved city and beloved temple the exalted place among the nations, which their understanding of the prophecies regarding the Messiah, had led them to believe they would receive.

Yet when their Messiah came, He told them that He would NOT conquer the Romans – instead, He would be betrayed into the hands of the Romans and be put to death by them.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, two or three days before His crucifixion, their Messiah stood outside the temple gates and told them that their beloved city and temple would NOT be exalted among the nations – instead, both would be completely destroyed by the nations.

To crown it all, He then told them that they should not expect to reign with Him over the nations immediately, as they had all expected – instead, a time would come when His disciples would be delivered up to tribulation and killed, and would be hated of all nations for His name’s sake (Mat.24: 9-14); and this they would have to face BEFORE they could reign with Him over the nations – they would have to take up their crosses and follow Him, if they wanted to reign with Him.

Did His disciples love the truth enough to accept the WHOLE truth?

Jesus IS the truth (Joh.14: 6). Did the Lord’s disciples love Him (the truth) enough to accept that what God has pre-ordained, he has pre-ordained?

The SYMPTOMS (the Spanish inquisition, the inquisitions against the Reformers, the inquisitions of certain Reformers against those whom they had labeled heretics, etc etc), are equally as serious as the CAUSE – the mind-disease that produces the mindset which causes men to think they are in the place of God, and have a duty to “Lord it over” all other men and deny man his God-given will, and his God-given right to obey his own conscience; the mindset which seeks to kill those who disagree and who choose to follow God rather than man.

That cause has not gone away, and it won’t go away until Jesus comes back. This is why it’s only a matter of time before the ugly, foul symptoms come up again.

Do we love Jesus (the truth) enough to accept the WHOLE truth?

 

Clarification of last statement

I need to clarify that last statement: There is a huge difference between a man who says in his heart "I am a servant of Christ to His flock", and a man who says in his heart "I am in place of Christ".

Just Andrew