The Death of Truth #2

When Truth Dies, Power Fills the Vacuum!

Fred R. Coulter

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When I did part one, I was down in Houston, Texas, and just before the break you probably heard the shouting, yelling and screaming going on next door. Well, guess what, I did The Death of Truth #2 in Seattle and they had a wedding, a Hawaiian wedding, so I'm giving this again.

This is an astounding book: The Death of Truth by Dennis McCallum. Let's first of all see who is behind this whole thing.

Revelation 12:9: "And the great dragon was cast out, the ancient serpent who is called the Devil and Satan, who is deceiving the whole world…"—present tense active. He's got a lot of help in deceiving the world. He has:

• all of the media
• education
• religion
• the ideas that men have

A lot of allies. We will see what he's doing to prepare the way for the final antichrist to come.

"…he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him" (v 12).

Let's see something about Satan that Jesus said when He was confronting some of the religious leaders in the account in John 8.

John 8:38: "I speak the things that I have seen from My Father, and you do the things that you have seen from your father."

Let's understand that just as there was this confrontation here between Christ and the religious leaders—and even some of His disciples who said that they believed but really didn't believe—we're also going to have a confrontation with this world. It's coming, so we might as well be prepared. We don't want to be confronted with a battle, especially a spiritual battle, if we're not prepared. How far down the road it's going to come, I do not know! But we can know that it will come!

Verse 39: "They answered and said to Him, 'Our father is Abraham.'…." Just like the world today will say, 'We have the truth and tradition'—which they don't!

"…Jesus said to them, 'If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has spoken the Truth to you, which I have heard from God; Abraham did not do this. You are doing the works of your father.' Then they said to Him, 'We have not been born of fornication. We have one Father, and that is God.' Therefore, Jesus said to them, 'If God were your Father, you would love Me, because I proceeded forth and came from God. For I have not come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why don't you understand My speech? Because you cannot bear to hear My words" (vs 39-43).

So, whatever we're going to preach to the world, we're going to preach the Truth to the remnant that will listen. The ones in the world who won't hear, that will be a witness to them. Here's the reason:

Verse 44: "You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you desire to practice. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has not stood in the Truth because there is no Truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he is speaking from his own self; for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I speak the Truth, you do not believe Me" (vs 44-45).

Let's see what Satan has done to this society. I'm going to read from The Death of Truth by Dennis McCallum (amazon.com):

One of the things we need to do is understand how the world thinks. How can we possibly reach out to them if we don't know how they think. We don't want to make the mistake of lowering the standard as all the churches have done. I believe that William Tyndale had it right, which you can read: Tribute to William Tyndale (truthofgod.org). He said, 'Preach Moses! When they hear Moses preached and sin, then comes repentance. Then the Gospel is preached for forgiveness.' People have to be convicted that they are sinners.

Let me show you that we have a difficult proposition:

from The Death of Truth by Dennis McCallum (amazon.com):

A recent series of more than 20 interviews conducted at random at a large university, people were asked if there were such a thing as absolute truth. All but one responded and answered along these lines: "Truth is whatever you believe."

If it's true to you, it's true! That's the way they think!

"There is no absolute truth."

Which, by the way, is a contradiction in itself! You're absolutely saying that there is no absolute truth.

"If there were such a thing as absolute truth, how could we know what it is?"

That's why God sent His Bible! That's why Jesus said, 'Your Word is the Truth.' That's why God made sure that the New Testament was written and canonized by the apostles before they died. Now, here's us:

"People who believe in absolute Truth are dangerous." The lone exception…

in this survey

…was an evangelical Christian, who said Absolute truth was in Jesus Christ.

That why Jesus said, 'I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.' If you want a real interesting study, get out your handy-dandy concordance and look up true, truth, and all the derivations thereof. And look up deceit, deceive, deceitfulness and all the derivations thereof.

We'll cover a few Scriptures today, but it's an interesting and profound study. Today one of the things that is done in translating, which gives them license to change the Word of God, because 'Truth is relative, so we must make it understandable for people today. And since Truth is only relative, we can change it.' Truth is what you believe. That's how messed up their thinking is. Truth is the Word of God! God is true! They stand alone as absolute judges over every human being—period! That's the kind of thing they need to hear. That will rankle them!

Truth declares a growing collective consciousness, is relative: what is true, right or beautiful for one person isn't necessarily true, right or beautiful for another. Relativism says that truth isn't fixed by outside reality…

Yes, it is, it's fixed by God!

…but is decided by a group or individual for themselves. Truth isn't discovered, but manufactured. Truth is ever-changing not only in insignificant matters of taste or fashion, but in crucial matters of spirituality, morality, and reality as well.

The way that people believe today is called postmodernism, which means:

When the Reformation started, that began the age of enlightenment. Enlightenment gave way to modernists.
Modernists that the ones who believe that human beings have choice, but that we are all physical and mechanical, and truth can be understood through scientific experimentation.

Postmodernists move on beyond that to a whole re-orienting of the mind.

—which is called brainwashing—to some of the things that I'm going to read you today:

• truth is what you believe
• truth is relative
• what is truth for you is not necessarily true for me

Postmodernists have a problem with individual identity. They use language that implies the existence of personal self, but their outlook points to the disintegration of self.

Hence, movies, music, literature all points to death and destruction.

While emphasizing the self, they're disintegrating the self. The notion of distinct personhood, according to postmodernists, is an illusion.

You don't exist!

From their view, individuals who are actually nodes or particular expressions of a wider social reality.

Postmodern anthropologists and literary theorists often view the purpose of their work, not as bettering the self, but as eliminating it.

For instance, when we think of social construct.

In the west we have been taught that truth can not be self-contradictory. But in Asian religions, culture and truths can often be contradictory.

You have that in Hinduism, Buddhism and so forth.

In the absence of objective truth…

That's what they have when the it's relative: God is whatever you think, so therefore, God's opinion makes no difference.

…the Bible is whatever you interpret it to be, so it's not relevant. What we do is determine true and reality when the culture views the world in different or mutually exclusive ways. With the absence of absolute truth there is no final bar off appeal.

Many of us, when we first heard the Truth, what did we hear? Don't believe me, believe your Bible! Well, now there are so many Bibles out there, you can't say that. There are so many different beliefs out there, that you have to present it in a little different way and make it challenging to them.

So, they call this local knowledge or paradigms. Have you ever heard the word paradigm? Did you hear that when they wanted to change things in Worldwide? 'We have to change our paradigm.' Where did they get it?

Within each paradigm, people think differently and have their own truth, which real to them alone.

Reality is defined or constructed by culture and language, not discovered by reason and observation.

Which is mystic Hinduism! That's how Hindus are able to live in all the pain and squalor that they see all around them, and be oblivious to it. Reality is only here, what you see out there is not reality. They might try standing in front a speeding freight train and see what happens.

This leads to some alarming conclusions. Recently, for example…

Here's the thinking! This is in the courts! This is in the legislatures, this is in every aspect of government and every aspect of education. When you go to the school and say to the teacher that you don't want this taught to your child it goes in one ear and out the other, because that's your opinion and they don't care. They're going to do what they want to do anyway. It's everywhere!

Recently, for example, a panel of 19 experts…

This is how they do it, experts have said… You never find out who the experts are. What are their credentials? What is their political leaning? How do they think?

…appointed by the national institutes of health recommended that federal funding be used for producing and harvesting and destroying, fetuses for laboratory experimentation.

By the way, did you know that every single vaccination shot that they give today has material from aborted fetuses in it? They make money on that! That's why they don't want to give up abortion. It is a money-making proposition, what they abort they sell! The same way with Ritalin in school. Every child they give Ritalin to they get a thousand dollars.

The panel's reasoning is that personhood is a social construct. In other words, human being are not born, but defined. According to them, cultural consensus, not always popular but that of the experts, defines reality.

In other words, they can say that you don't exist, and you don't exist. Like it is today, if you lost everything that identifies you, you go down to wherever it is and say, 'I'm so and so, and I want to get a new social security number.' If you don't have one, you don't exist. 'But I'm standing right here in front of you.'

Consequently, without an absolute standard, there is no basis for judging a Nazi or a misogamist anymore than there is defining a human life.

Here is a profound key that I want you to learn and never forget; for me it was worth the price of the book for this:

Postmodernism leaves its adherence awash in an ocean of divergent truths. Without ultimate truth and meaning to cling to, what keeps postmodernists afloat? Surprisingly, many turn to analyzing and applying power.

Now, here's the quote I want you remember and not forget:

When truth dies, power fills the vacuum!

We can add just a little bit to it: When truth and love die, power and authority fill the vacuum!

With that, you can understand a lot of things. Why do they have such and authoritarian structure in the Roman Catholic Church? Because it's devoid of Truth! So, they must hold it together by power and authority. Have you experienced that in the past? Even within the Church of God? Yes! That's what they're trying to do in all of these things. Such as:

• getting rid of the Ten Commandments
• getting rid of God in the Pledge of Allegiance
• all of the political correctness

What do you have? Since they don't have the Truth the power of the politically correct crowd—the feminists, homosexuals, and so forth… And now there's a new government political action committee for atheists and the godless.

They come in with their power and they force upon people their way. They can get away with it, because 'truth is dead.' The way that we come to reality is through experience.

Thus, experience is all we know, or ever can know….

Because there's no God out there, they've eliminated Him!

There is no absolute truth that you can appeal to, so the only think you can have for your reality is your experience. Our experience becomes our reality.

Today evangelicals should be concerned not only because the secular world has opted for the centrality of experience and power over and above truth, but because some evangelicals are tempted to do the same thing.

What they have is a feeling and an emotional experience when they go to church because they can't teach the Truth. Also, the complete idiotic nonsense of this world—and law is that—you should not offend anybody. If one person is offended 'we ought to change the law.' You see what that does! So, you take that truth… When truth dies, power fills the vacuum! You can see it in everything!

Postmodernism is nothing less than the death of truth!

Satan has some powerful things to work with. Let's see what he has to work with.

Jeremiah 17:9: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" Therefore, it is easy to believe a lie!

Let's see some of the things that Satan has to work with, and some of the things that we're confronted with in the world.

This is postmodernism, which is really not modernism, it's a resurrection of crazy thinking that Satan has instilled in people in the past to accomplish the things that he has done in the past. Only because we don't want to look back at history and say that we're repeating it. We'll rewrite the history according to the way we want it, so we can do to people what we desire to do in this age.

Psalm 36:1: "The wicked utters transgression in his heart. There is no fear of God before his eyes, for he flatters himself in his own eyes until his iniquity is found to be hateful. The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit; he has stopped acting wise and doing good" (vs 1-3).

Reality is only what you think, only what you experience. You're not a person with individual choice, you're just a social nod that can be manipulated by the experts to bring about whatever they desire to bring about in your life.

Verse 4: "He plots iniquity upon his bed…" I imagine that a lot of these guys who were writing these things were thinking about this at night when they were trying to sleep.

"…he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not hate evil" (v 4). Now you understand why all of this rush for same-sex marriage.

How did they do that? Truth was dead, so therefore, they have changed around the thinking to say, 'We ought to have the same right to marry as heterosexuals.' Everybody's thinking is so messed up, they are overwhelmed by the power that fills the vacuum of the death of truth!

I don't have much hope that they're going to vote to keep "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. We can lay all of this—which God is going to do—at the doorstep of Protestantism and Catholicism, and also the Church of God is going to be found culpable in it unless we wake up and do the things God wants us to do.

Psalm 101:7: "He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; he who tells lies shall not remain in my sight. Every morning I will destroy all the wicked of the land, so that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the LORD" (vs 7-8).

So, judgment is coming! It is going to come! You can see, as we go down the road and they begin—as they have in Canada—to outlaw preaching the Bible. That's a good example of taking law to an extreme, that you can't let anyone be offended.

What did Jesus say, 'He came not to bring peace, but a sword. To set a father against his son, and a son against his father, daughter against the mother,' and so forth. That there would two against three and three against two. This is what we're up against in the world, plus we're going to be up against this whole movement that is taking place, that's going to culminate in the antichrist. We'll see that!

Psalm 53:1: "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.'…." The death of Truth ultimately!

"…They are corrupt, and have worked out abominable wickedness; there is no one who does good. God looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any who understand, who are seeking after God" (vs 1-2).

There's another thing that God does that we need to understand. God allows the evil to grow and grow, but His judgment is still coming! That's what Paul wrote of concerning Pharaoh in the Exodus account. God raised up Pharaoh for the very purpose of what he went through, that God's name would be declared in all the earth.

• Has that been done?
• Has God's name been declared in all the earth?
• Yes, wherever there's a Bible!

That's how powerful God is, and how great He is! This is the raw material that Satan has to work with. This is the world! What did John say of the world? The world hears its own! So, they listen to it!

The people who want to go out and sin, the ones who say, 'I'm sure glad that I don't even have to be concerned about committing adultery or fornication, or sexual immorality, because God doesn't exist and His laws to me are meaningless.

Well, God has His own weapons, very small and very hidden. They're called viruses! He has a way of taking care of those who turn their back on Him, in many different ways! And so much so, just in that one category, that they estimate that 50% of teenagers today will have sexually transmitted diseases.

That's absolute proof that God exists, and an absolute proof of His judgment for behavior whether people know God or not, it still comes!

Proverbs 14:8: "The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way, but the folly of fools is deceit. Fools laugh at sin, but among the righteous there is favor" (vs 8-9).

Verse 12: "There is a way, which seems right to a man, but the end thereof is the way of death." {also found in Prov. 16:25} The book of Hebrews tells us that 'there is pleasure in sin for a season.' Always remember that when the season is over it is misery!

Proverbs 20:17: "Bread of deceit is sweet to a man, but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel." that's pretty descriptive! Have you ever gotten a mouthful of sand, let alone gravel?

Jesus warned us many, many times. Jer. 9 is a good cross-section of this society today. No wonder Truth is dead! You just analyze how many more laws and laws they have to enact because people are not taught to govern themselves by the Ten Commandments. "When truth dies, power fills the vacuum!" The power of the law is there.

And because here's so much more crime they need more law enforcement! They need more jails, and they need more policemen. They could solve the problem teaching the Ten Commandments, and by teaching children that God holds them responsible at their age, whatever age they are able to comprehend they are responsible.

You are to live your life according to the Ten Commandments and love your neighbor as yourself. This would eliminate how much pain, agony, crime and wretchedness in this society. Otherwise it comes to this:

Jeremiah 9:1: "Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! Oh, that I had in the wilderness a lodging place for traveling men, that I might leave my people and go away from them! For they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men" (vs 1-2).

That's why more people are moving to this 'neck of the woods,' trying to get away from all the bad cities.

Verse 3: "'And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies…. [here's the death of Truth]: …But they are not valiant for the Truth on the earth; for they go from evil to evil, and they do not know Me,' says the LORD…. [this gets so bad]: …'Everyone beware of his neighbor, and do not trust any brother! For every brother will supplant his neighbor, and will walk with slanders. And everyone will deceive his neighbor and will not speak the truth…' (vs 3-5). Have you ever had a neighbor like that?

"'…they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and they weary themselves to commit iniquity. Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know Me,' says the LORD" (vs 5-6).

There are going to be a lot things you can learn from that. Paul writes about those who deceitfully handle the Word of God. If you deceitfully handle the Word of God, what are you doing?

• You are preaching another Christ!
• You are preaching another God!
• You are preaching another Gospel!

That's why it's important, and God made us to need this. The absolute Truth of God's Word! He made human beings to need that.

Let's see how this fits in with the New Testament. Of course, you know that right in Matt. 24 are several warnings against being deceived. One of the first things Jesus told His disciples… At this point His disciples were enamored with the building of the temple and how beautiful and awesome it was.

The Temple Mount west of the Mt. of Olives and in between those two mountains is the Valley of Kidron. On the side going up to the Mt. of Olives it climbable with stairs. Where the temple was—and why it was 46 years in building—Herod took and made a stone wall from the bottom of the Kidron Valley going up 450 feet to the platform where the temple was. All of this was in the white awesome-looking stone. So, if you come over to the Mt. of Olives, and you look back at the temple you could get a perfect view with into the temple area and see this 450-foot wall, which then is 45 stories, a mammoth thing that he did.

Then let's see what Jesus said, Matthew 24:1: "And after going out, Jesus departed from the temple; and His disciples came to Him to point out the buildings of the temple. But Jesus said to them, 'Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, there shall not be left here even a stone upon a stone that shall not be thrown down'" (vs 1-2). Did that happen? Yes, indeed, it did happen!

Here's an absolute truth: 'Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Word shall not pass away,' said Jesus Christ! One way or the other, every human being is going to come before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ. Aren't all those Muslims going to be surprised!

Verse 3: "And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives… [they were over there looking at the temple site] …His disciples came to Him alone, saying, 'Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Your coming, and of the completion of the age?' Then Jesus answered and said to them, 'Be on guard, so that no one deceives you. For many shall come in My name, saying, "I am the Christ"; and they shall deceive many'" (vs 3-5).

After the apostles died there arose what are known today as 'the early church fathers.' They were the ones who probably were in the Church, as we will see in a little bit, during the time when Paul wrote of 'the mystery of lawlessness is already working.'

A lot of them were former pagan priests. A lot of them were Hellenistic Jews, meaning they believed in the Hellenistic 'religion.' Their thinking was very similar to the postmodernists thinking today, which is:

'We have understood God in our way, and we have had good experience with that. We do like this Christ and He fulfills what our pagan messiahs were, and He's perhaps better. However, these Jews who wrote the New Testament need to have their doctrines and their language corrected.'

So, this is how we came about with the Alexandrian text, the Sinaiticus and the Vaticanus. They began inculcating the teachings of paganism. They were on the outside, especially in Asia Minor claiming to be Christians, and the true Christians were still keeping the Sabbath, Holy Days and all of that. Up until 135A.D. the Church universally observed the 14th Passover.
Mathew 24:10: "And then shall many be led into sin… [Isn't that what's happening? With this kind of thinking and the death of truth many are] …led into sin and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another; and many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many" (vs 10-11). There we have watch out for deceiving again.

Verse 24: "For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and they shall present great signs and wonders, in order to deceive, if possible, even the elect."

When Truth is completely eliminated from the earth, or they think they have, what is the power that they are going to use to compel everyone to go along with the system? The mark of the beast, which is the ultimate expression of power in the absence of Truth!

Amazing! It is also the ultimate expression of this thinking that now you're a nod in this society, you're not an individual with free moral agency and choice. I think that's the most profound thing from this book: When truth dies, power fill the vacuum! Of course, you can see where it dies gradually even within the Church, as we have experienced. How did they hold it together? With power!

• this is the one and only true Church of God

No, It wasn't!

• he is the only apostle of God on earth
• as long as you stay in this Church, you'll be saved

All of those are Catholic slogans, too, by the way! When truth dies, power fills the vacuum! That's exactly what you can see happening everywhere in the world.

2-John 7: "Because many deceivers have entered into the world; those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. This is the spirit of the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch out for yourselves in order that we may not lose the things we have accomplished, but that we may receive a full reward. Anyone who transgresses and does not continue in the doctrine of Christ does not have God…." (vs 7-9). That's how they deceive. They add their own doctrines to it.

"…But the one who continues in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son" (v 9). This is important to understand in relationship to Protestant theology, which kills 50% of the Truth, which is that:

"…there is no such thing as progressive revelation that gives some of the teachings of the Apostle Paul a superiority over the teaching of Christ and the Gospel. Such a thing cannot be true.
That's why John is writing this, so that you have the doctrines and teachings of Christ! That includes everything from the beginning. Let's tie this together with the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

1-Corinthians 5:7—the whole theme of the Feast: "Therefore, purge out the old leaven…" that's why during the Feast of Unleavened Bread we focus on examining ourselves, seeing sin in our lives, repenting of it, asking God to forgive us, and we go forward.

So that you may become a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. God made it so that human beings need to be renewed. As a matter of fact, that's the whole process of conversion, which takes place over a period of time. You're renewed in the spirit of your mind, and you're transformed, the inner part of your heart and mind.

Verse 7: "Therefore, purge out the old leaven, so that you may become a new lump, even as you are unleavened…. [because they put the leaven out their homes] … For Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us."

I just imagine that 99.9% of Catholics don't even know that's in their Douay Version of the Bible, and most of the Protestants don't know it's there, because they have accepted the lies that have been added on. The things they are taught have left the doctrine of Christ.

Verse 8: "For this reason, let us keep the Feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and Truth." That will keep you from falling. That's why Jesus said, 'Your Word is the Truth!" That's why we are sanctified with the Truth!

• That's why Jesus said, 'If we obey the Truth we shall be truly free!'
• That's the only way you'll be free of sin, and that He is 'the Way, the Truth and the Life.'

Psalm 100:1: "Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Serve the LORD with gladness; come before His presence with singing. Know that the LORD, He is God. He has made us… [and not we ourselves (KJV)] …and we are His…" (vs 1-3).

One of the most profound absolute Truths. That's what happens when people take to themselves to decide what's right and wrong. They have no regard that God has made them!

Here's how you grow and overcome, and notice how this ties in with the Days of Unleavened Bread; purge out the old leaven:

Proverbs 16:6: "By mercy… [given upon repentance] …and Truth iniquity is purged… [that's how it cleansed, and also, you have the Spirit of Truth] …and by the fear of the LORD men turn away from evil…. [then comes a blessing]: …When a man's ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him" (vs 6-7).

Let's see how God lives. This is why it's so important that people understand that the Word of God is absolute Truth! Then you have a standard that is over everybody. No man can exalt himself over anybody else, because God is the One Who has absolute Truth! That's what they call today 'making the playing field level,' instead of he equal and more equal.

Jeremiah 4:1: "'If you will return, O Israel,' says the LORD, 'Return to Me…. [through repentance] …And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, then you shall not be removed, and will swear, "As the LORD lives,"… [notice how God lives]: …in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness…'" (vs 1-2). That can't be anymore absolute of anything that we know of.

• Why do we have to have absolute Truth?
• What does that do for us?
• It gives us faith!

When the only thing you know is your experience, there's no room for faith! But if you know that something is absolutely true, and it is the Word of God and He does back it up by His power, then you can believe it. You can believe it independently of anybody else in the world. Then this gives you hope. You have faith and hope, then this gives you the desire to love God. Do you see why that is important. Let's just use an other analogy:

• How many marriage have been ruined because of unfaithfulness? Millions!
• What happens to those when they find out that either their husband or wife have been unfaithful?
  • You don't trust a thing they say!
  • You can't have any faith in them!
  • It destroys love!

That's why God has got to be absolutely true. That's why we can say, without a doubt, God cannot lie! Everyone needs to know that and that's the only way—with the power of God's Spirit—that you can really get your 'thinking cap' on correctly. So, you're going to live the way that God wants you to live. That's very profound, and one of the things that we need to realize. Here's what we are to do with that:

Proverbs 22:17: "Bow down your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge; for it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you; if all of them are ready on your lips, so that your trust may be in the LORD; I have made them known to you this day, even to you. Have I not written to you excellent things in counsels and knowledge that I might make you know the sureness of the words of truth, so that you might bring back the words of truth to those who send you?" (vs 17-21).

Doesn't that tie in with the New Testament? Where Peter said to always be ready to give an answer of the hope that lies within you? It's the same thing!

What we have with the Word of God is the absolute Truth as contained in the original manuscripts, which with faithful copies and faithful translations we can have the Word of Truth. It's interesting that McCallum comments in another section in this book that in the translation of languages, 95% of it is translatable accurately. Only 5% presents difficulty.

When you read what Tyndale wrote, English and Greek mesh together very well, and that English and Hebrew 'a thousand times better.' That helps us to understand that the Bibles that we have—if they are translated from the accurate copies of the originals—the Word of God! That's profound to know, and we're going to need it.

Let's look at the deception that is coming, because it is coming! How far down the road it is, I don't know! But it is going to be the expression of absolute power, as far as human power goes. Here is he dividing line:

1-John 2:3: "And by this standard we know that we know Him: if we keep His commandments." That's what we are to do. Not only to know Him, but to keep His commandments.

Verse 4: "The one who says, 'I know Him' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the Truth is not in him." We are going to see this form of Christian religion and also amalgamating, which we will call 'Christendom' (the ending should be spelled 'dumb.'

It is going to come on the scene. My wife says that 'Satan always telegraphs what he's going to do through the movies.' If there's any indication that there's coming a great 'religious' revival in the world, it going to be Catholic and 'world religion' revival, plus there will be people who will turn to the Truth.

Let's see what we are going to live to see. How soon this will be we don't know, but we'll go though this chapter:

2-Thessalonians 2:1: Now, we beseech you, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken in mind, nor be troubled—neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by epistle, as if from us… [we can say: by vision, by movie, by miracles] …saying that the day of Christ is present" (vs 1-2).

Remember, even Jesus said there in Matt. 24 that if they come to you and say that 'He's in the desert,' don't believe it. Or 'He's in a secret chamber,' don't believe it. So, this ties right in with that.

Verse 3: "Do not let anyone deceive you by any means because that day will not come unless the apostasy shall come first…" That means the fullness of the apostasy.

We're going to see by what Paul has written here that this started way back in his day, and the only thing that runs parallel with the Churches of God down through history is the system that later became to be known as the Roman Catholic Church. Then it's going to spread out at the end and include all the other 'religions' just like it did in ancient Babylon. So, history is going to repeat itself.

"…and the man of sin…" (v 3). It's going to come in the form of a man. You have the system: the business system, the religious system, now it's going to come in the form of a one man, which will be in the absence of Truth, power fills the vacuum!

"…shall be revealed—the son of perdition, the one who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is an object of worship; so that he comes into the temple of God and sits down as God, proclaiming that he himself is God" (vs 3-4).

You can't be taking any more power to yourself! You talk about a total absence of Truth, there it is!

Verse 5: "Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things? And now you understand what is holding him back in order for him to be revealed in his own set time" (vs 5-6).

This is a prophecy going clear down to our day; it's at the set time it's going to happen! Just like at the set time when Jesus came to die for the sins of the world, it was that one single day.

Verse 7: "For the mystery of lawlessness is already working; only there is One Who is restraining at the present time until it arises out of the midst. And then the lawless one will be revealed (whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth, and will destroy with the brightness of His coming); even the one whose coming is according to the inner working of Satan…" (vs 7-9).

What did Jesus say of Satan that we read earlier? When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own because there is no truth in him! That's why this is the greatest lesson we can learn from this book, in the absence of truth, power fills the vacuum!

Verse 10: "And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in those who are perishing because they did not receive the love of the Truth, so that they might be saved." There's a penalty for not believing the Truth; there it is right there! You're going to believe a lie.

Verse 11: "And for this cause God will send upon them a powerful deception that will cause them to believe the lie." That's why you can't look to a miracle." Miracles do not prove Truth! The Word of God proves the Truth! That's how we are to judge it.

Let's see this ultimate vacuum of Truth, and power of Satan the devil. This has to be because mankind is never going to learn the lesson until this thing runs its ultimate course.

Revelation 13:1: "And I stood on the sand of the sea; and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns… [always the sign of Satan] …and on his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy." Then John describes it.

Here is he best of all civilizations of mankind put together in this last one. This is what we see going on in the world today. This is why things are happening in the Middle East the way that they are. In order for there to be a one-world government, these radical Muslim nations must be nullified. They must give up the insanity of their radical religion. Of course, any religion that is radical becomes insane. That's what happened with the Inquisitions from the Catholic Church. It was insanity what they did to people. No different than what the Muslims are doing today. That is part of what is unfolding to prepare the world.

Verse 2: "And the beast that I saw was like a leopard… [all if these things tie back in with Dan. 7] …and his feet like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion; and the dragon gave him his power, and his throne and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as if it were slain to death, but his deadly wound was healed; and the whole earth was amazed and followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, who gave his authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, 'Who is like the beast? Who has the power to make war against him?'" (vs 2-4). In the absence of Truth, power fills the vacuum!

Amazing! That's why it's good to read books, you learn things!

Verse 5: "And a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies was given to him… [and he goes into the temple and says that he is God] …and authority was given to him to continue for forty-two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. And he was given power to make war against the saints, and to overcome them; and he was given authority over every tribe and language and nation. And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If anyone has an ear, let him hear" (vs 5-9).

In the absence of Truth, power fills the vacuum! This is the last heyday of Satan the devil.

Let's see how we are to live our lives. How we can overcome this living in the world and keep our sensibilities about us and have faith in God. What God wants us to do is:

• walk in faith
• believe in hope
• live in love

You can do that when you know that God is absolute, and His Word is absolute Truth! You can have faith and belief in that. When you understand that then you see why God took such an absolute corrective view of what went on in the Church.

1-John 2:5: "On the other hand, if anyone is keeping His Word, truly in this one the love of God is being perfected…." That's what we need be exercising ourselves to. It means that we love God even more:

• with all our heart, mind, soul and being
• we love our neighbor as ourselves
• we love each other was Christ has loved us

That's the hardest and most difficult thing to do, especially if people have been offended. But we have to have that love perfected in us.

"…By this means we know that we are in Him. Anyone who claims to dwell in Him is obligating himself also to walk even as He Himself walked" (vs 5-6).

People can twist and turn the Word of God and make a lie out of it. But the truth is that if you take the Word of God let it interpret itself that there is "…no lie comes from the Truth."

Verse 21: "I did not write to you because you do not know the Truth, but because you know it, and you understand that not one lie comes from the Truth. Who is the liar if it is not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is the antichrist—the one who denies the Father and the Son. Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either" (vs 21-23).

That's takes care of a lot of people. What's important is that if you are learning and practicing the love of God, which is the Truth of God, you're not going to be deceived. Truth in your life will not die.

1-John 3:18: "My little children, we should not love in word, nor with our tongues; rather, we should love in deed and in Truth." The first step in that kind of love of each other is forbearance, which means this:

Everybody has their own faults; you do, I do. Who is the one really capable of changing that individual? God is, through the power of the Holy Spirit in his or her mind, to renew it! So, you can forebear what you see is a difficulty or problem, and put it all in God's hands through prayer. Somewhere down the road the change is going to come, and you have learned to love that individual and pray for that individual.

Verse 19: "And in this way we know that we are of the Truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him." That's what God wants us to have, full assurance!

Verse 20: "That if our hearts condemn us… [because our hearts do condemn us so when we repent]: …God is greater than our hearts, and knows all things. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, then we have confidence toward God. And whatever we may ask we receive from Him because we keep His commandments and practice those things that are pleasing in His sight" (vs 20-22).

As the world is going down this road, leaving Truth and leaving it in its wake, we are going to the other and walking down the road of Truth and growing in grace and knowledge.

Verse 23: "And this is His commandment: that we believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and thatwe love one another, exactly as He gave commandment to us. And the one who keeps His commandments is dwelling in Him, and He in him; and by this we know that He is dwelling in us: by the Spirit which He has given to us" (vs 23-24).

This is how we can survive the death of Truth, because with us it will never die. This is the faith and confidence we're to have:

1-John 4:16: "And we have known and have believed the love that God has toward us. God is love, and the one who dwells in love is dwelling in God, and God in him.  By this spiritual indwelling, the love of God is perfected within us…" (vs 16-17).

This is why we must grow and overcome. Having the Word of God and having the time and circumstances to do so is a tremendous and fantastic blessing. Let's take full advantage of that.

"…so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment because even as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in the love of God; rather, perfect love casts out fear because fear has torment…." (vs 17-18).

So, however it's going to fall as we go down the road in the future, we don't have to fear, be afraid or kowtow to anybody. We need to express the love of God, stand for the Truth and let them know the Word of God. We can have confidence and cast out fear!

"…And the one who fears has not been made perfect in the love of God. We love Him because He loved us first" (vs 18-19). That's what we need to do, brethren:

Grow and build the love of God and there's no way you'll be deceived! So, when Truth dies, you're not going to be destroyed by the power that fills the vacuum!

Here's a poem from Charles Sutton:

Delusions

Man thinks he's self-sufficient, but very deficient
He considers himself independent, but greatly dependent
He feels he is able, but more often unstable
Even some believe they're omniscient, but they are really ignorant
Maybe they're courageous, but more like outrageous
Sure in all things he is wise, but true wisdom he denies
Believes his problems he can solve, but nothing can he resolve
Regards himself a god, though just a dirty clod
Thinks he treads a straight path in true, but to uprightness he has no clue
Claims he always does what is right, though he's gotten himself in an awful plight
Looks on self as pure and clean, but in thoughts and actions mostly obscene
Appears to have such high ideals, while guilty of large shady deals
Thus his mind greatly clouded, while in sin he is shrouded
Far from God, so far apart, until God changes his heart

Then a quote from Proverbs 21:2: "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD ponders the hearts."

All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version

Scriptural References:

• Revelation 12:9
• John 8:38-45
• Jeremiah 17:9
• Psalm 36:1-4
• Psalm 101:7-8
• Psalm 53:1-2
• Proverbs 14:8-9, 12
• Proverbs 20:17
• Jeremiah 9:1-6
• Matthew 24:1-5, 10-11, 24
• 2 John 7-9
• 1 Corinthians 5:7-8
• Psalm 100:1-3
• Proverbs 16:6-7
• Jeremiah 4:1-2
• Proverbs 22:17-21
• 1 John 2:3-4
• 3 Thessalonians 2:1-11
• Revelation 13:1-9
• 1 John 2:5-6, 21-23
• 1 John 3:18-24
• 1 John 4:16-19
• Proverbs 21:2

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Proverbs 16:25
• Daniel 7

Also referenced:

• Book: The Death of Truth by Dennis McCallum
• Article: Tribute to William Tyndale (truthofgod.org)

FRC: bo
Transcribed: 6/5/17