“Truth is loved
and prized only by those who recognize it and know it personally.
Since Satan comes
as a serpent concealed in false teachers and tries to deceive us with error for
truth, every Christian needs an established judgment in the truths of Christ.
The Bereans studied Scripture to satisfy their judgments concerning the
doctrine Paul preached. They refused to believe anything he had said before
they "searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so Acts
17:11. They took the preacher's doctrine straight to the written word and
compared it to that; and the result was "therefore many of them
believed" (v. 12). As the Bereans dared not believe before, they could not
help but believe now.
Tertullian
described the preaching of heretics like this: "They teach by persuading,
and do not by teaching persuade." That is, they court the emotions of
their hearers without convincing their judgment. For instance, it would be hard
for and adulterer to convince his companion that her prostitution is lawful.
Instead, he works another way: by romantic overtones and appeal to the flesh.
The question of law is soon forgotten. Judgment is easily and quickly absorbed
by burning lust.
Thus error, like a
thief, comes in through the window; yet truth, like the owner of the house,
enters at the door of understanding, and from there moves into the conscience,
will, and affections. The man who finds and professes truth before he
understands its excellency and beauty cannot fully appreciate the worth of its
heavenly birth and descent. A prince traveling in disguise is not honored
because people do not realize who he is. Truth is loved and prized only by
those who recognize it and know it personally.
If we do not
desire to know truth we have already rejected it. It is not hard to cheat a
person out of truth if he does not know what he has. Truth and error are all
the same to the ignorant man and so he calls everything truth.”
Quoted material from, ”The Christian in Complete
Armour Daily Readings in Spiritual Warfare” by Gurnall and James S Bell.
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