The Death of Truth #3

Education & Law in Today's World

Fred R. Coulter—April 17, 2004

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One of the most profound things we learned in part two is, and this is a truism that you can see everywhere, and today we're going to examine law and a little bit about education.

The so-called new 'postmodernist thinking.' In other words, today's messed-up thinking. As this book—The Death of Truth—points out, it affects law, religion, education, work-ethic and everything. In talking with my son David, after we both experienced some things concerning work-ethic, one of the things that they have with work ethic today—which is just absolutely a mind-boggling thing—is a result of education. Educationists feel as though any correction for the students—even if they do something wrong—will effect their self-esteem, so therefore, they're not corrected.

If they put forth the effort, they are given the grade. In the workplace you cannot have that kind of mentality. I'll tell you how you can find that mentality: when something goes wrong they say, 'I tried. I'm sorry.' What the employer is supposed to do is accept an attempt as a valid work ethic,

Taken off the latest Apprentice [with Donald Trump] television series, he's thinking of writing a short pamphlet called If You Try, You're Fired! That's the kind of thinking… There is no way to understand right and wrong, truth and error, because everything is the same. Everybody's opinion is of equal worth. In explaining a very profound principle:

From The Death of Truth by Dennis McCallum:

Postmodernism leaves its adherence awash in an ocean of divergent truth.

There are many truths: Christian, Catholic, Protestant, Buddha, Hindu; various things of truths. That's all a part of diversity and multiculturalism, and political correctness.

…However, without ultimate truth and meaning to cling to, what keeps postmodernists afloat? Surprisingly, many turn to analyzing and applying power. Here's a quote: "When truth dies, power fills the vacuum."

As we discussed, isn't that what has happened to all religious organizations. They throw away the Truth and the vacuum is filled with the power of a man or a personality with their own laws, rules and regulations. So, there is no independent—that's a very bad word, because to the postmodernists you are part of the society—thinking that is really valid, because it's only equal as to what someone else would think.

This is how they have everything all messed up. This is at the heart and core with what they have done with the same-sex marriages. 'If we can't get married then you're discriminating against us.' Because they have so twisted everything, it's hard for them to come to the Truth.

I've been watching this ad on television for quite a while, and it's put out by IBM or Microsoft and it shows little kids and then it shows the dreaming of what they're going to become in the future: one becomes a piano player, another becomes an astronaut, etc. All of this is this new kind of thinking where reality is what you think. Reality is not what you see and what you can measure, reality is only within. This is the kind of thing that leads to such terrible lawlessness.

As we have discussed before, human beings were made to need absolute truth; it's the only way they're going to know right from wrong. That's why God is absolute Truth!

Let's look at some of the things that they do in education. First of all, they say that all of the minorities have been discriminated against, and because of that we're moving back into a new segregation era: black school, black teachers, they call that 'afro-centric.'

The postmodern view of values is similar to their view of knowledge. Both are social constructions.

In other words, there's no knowledge out here that is an absolute truth and knowledge, it must be constructed in the mind, so there's no such thing as absolute knowledge. It's a construct.

As with knowledge, education should help students construct diverse personal useful values in the context of their culture.

In other words, now we have a system where you can choose anything you want and no one can discriminate against you.

Little did we know that all of this is contained here:

2-Thessalonians 2:7: "For the mystery of lawlessness is already working…" Where did that come from? From ancient Greece in Babylon. The new modern thinking today is virtually the same kind of thinking they had back there. It is reflected especially in the Hindu philosophy and religion.

As we are going to see, it's a whole system, not only 'religious' but government, education and every aspect of life. What is going to happen here is that people are going to be so diluted that it will be hard for them to accept the Truth.

Verse 11: "And for this cause God will send upon them a powerful deception that will cause them to believe the lie."

Here's what we are confronted with, just in education:

Since again, no individual or group is more authoritative than any other.

That's why when we started out in The Death of Truth #1, we covered that Jesus said, 'I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.' The Bible claims to be, and the New Testament claims to be, the source of absolute Truth from God.

Let's take this divergent thinking that they have out here today—the philosophy and so forth—where they believe that all literature and religion is made and formed by the community of living believers. Because there are no absolute truths, now the scholars are very free—and I even understand this more since I have written about what the translators have done—to change and corrupt the Word of God and not view it as corrupting the Word of God, but forming it for the community.

That's why you have the 'neuter gender Bible. For the community today that says, 'You know the laws concerning homosexuality are old and obsolete.' That's just part of it.

Values are considered useful for a given culture, not true or right in any universal sense.

I wonder how they handle murder. Look at recent judgments. Look at the woman who stoned her kids to death and said, 'God told me to do it.' They didn't take her life; they said she's insane and committed her to an institution.

Postmodernists do not accept fact value distinction. Rather they see values and knowledge as inner-related. So, they just don't teach facts.

Let's look at some things they're striving to promote.

Diversity:

Diversity means guarding unchanged the existing values, tastes and way of life of each subculture in our society.

So therefore, we have all these cultures. We have Spanish-Americans, Mexican-Americans, African-American or whatever. Then we have the Chinese, Vietnamese, and from every nation in the world, and the Muslims. They are allowed to come into this country and keep their little cultural community the way it was from where they came.

That's against the laws of God, by the way. He said, 'The stranger who comes into the land He will live by My laws.' So, you see what it is setting it up for. This is why the prophecy that 'the stranger shall rise very high above you' is going to take place.

Equality:

In postmodern ideology equality means equality in power relationships.

What is meant by that? Simply this: The white folks out there have this power, and the way we are able to have equality is the fudge factor to make it equal for all of the other races!

That's how you have black students, Hispanic students, different ones with lower levels of achievement coming through school able to come into the universities ahead of those who have achieved. So, we are now giving power to the deprived minority on an equal basis of the majority.

What they're not telling you is that we are also putting down the majority; so it's a power relationship.

This means empowering minorities and women by giving their views a significant place in the curriculum. Re-write the history books to reflect what they want.

Just exactly what they're doing to the Bible. One of the things that feminists want to do with the Bible is deconstruct what they call 'the patriarchal system.' Of course, that is the system that God has given because He is the Father, 'patriarch—pater means father.

Tolerance and Freedom:

Tolerance has a new meaning. Roughly, never negating or criticizing oppressed groups. So therefore, black, Hispanics, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Russians, and any other ethnic group you want to name can never have racial intolerance. But whites have racial intolerance, so therefore we beat them down and give tolerance to all of these other people coming up.

You see this in the criminal justice system, where they run these surveys, which is roughly this:

There are more minorities in the prisons than there are whites, so therefore, the whites have constructed the laws predominately discriminatory against the minorities. That's why more of them are in prison.

That's the exact psychology that was used by the defense team for OJ Simpson, with a nearly all black jury.

It took them less than four hours to come to a non-guilty verdict. They could care less whether he was guilty. What they were doing was making the playing field level by letting him off, whether he was guilty or not, as a justice against all the discrimination they have suffered in the past.

Part of this thinking also gets down to screaming reparations for their ancestors who were slaves in the 19th century. There's a book called Ending White Slavery by Matthew Hale that shows more whites have been in slavery through history longer than blacks. That's just part of this thinking.

Freedom is a allowing cultures and communities to express themselves.

Whether in riot or otherwise. Remember when they had the Rodney King incident and the policemen were let off? There were all the riots and they burned down their houses and stores, and looted and everything. They just took it as an excuse to take. They're never taught that one crime never justifies another crime.

Emotions:

Affirmation of emotions is no longer based upon what you think, based upon facts, based upon truth; it's "How do you feel? Do you feel good about it?"

'There's pleasure in sin for a season.' So, if you feel good about it, this must be good.

Affirmation of emotions follow the importance postmodernists place on self-esteem. They believe anytime children's emotions are challenged—even hate or selfish jealousy—the child is being disabled by the teacher's reality imposed upon her/him.

In other words, if the stupid little brat has a temper tantrum in the class, the teacher cannot interfere with that expression of self-esteem and impose her standard that 'your behavior is unacceptable.'

Teachers are to empower children by affirming and validating any and all emotions they feel.

Employers in the future are going to have to have some basic classes—probably for about a week before people can be employed—to get them out of this kind of thinking:

'In this organization here is what we do and this is what we call right. Here is what we will not allow, and this is called wrong. You can be fired for doing something wrong. Feeling good about yourself, we're not here as psychologists. You feel good about your work because you do the job well. If you're not, we'll pull a Donald Trump on you—you're fired!'

Especially when you deal with machines, because there's too much danger there. You can lose a hand, an arm. Down at the chocolate factory they can be pulled into a vat of chocolate. Since they tried; they gave their all, let's go ahead and sell the bars. Maybe we could sell them to the Catholic Church to use in their Sacrifice of the Mass. 'We've got the sacrifice of one of our employees—body, blood and the whole works.' I'm just using their thinking!

According to postmodernists, laws aren't right or wrong. It is whether a society's most powerful group makes it.

So, what they say is 'laws are plagued with contradiction.' This is how they get around everything. You can see this in the arguments when you watch some of the news shows where there's a question asked and they don't want to answer the question, but go all the 'way around the mulberry bush.'

Key Foundation in Law:

There are no foundational principles. Critical legal studies…

Which is the postmodernist thing that seeks wrongful legitimatization.

….advocates claim that they are engaged in a project of human emancipation. Seeking to demonstrate to all that neither the pre-enlightenment faith in God, nor post-enlightenment faith in reason can supply the principles needed to give legitimacy to our social order.

In other words, they are creating a new social order! Do you feel that when you go out and do things? When you go and try to shop and things like that? Yes!

Then it talks about the feminists and the challenge to the legal system and what they have done to it.

Now let's take a look at some laws. Since laws are constructs of power, by the ones who are in power, therefore, there's no right and wrong. That's the basic sum of what they are doing. That's why you see society going the way that it is. You try and reason with them by saying that natural law or the Law of God; well, they don't believe in God. So, you can see what they're getting themselves into.

Let's understand concerning law:

• The Laws of God are absolute and carry an automatic penalty!
• The Laws of God are meant to change the way you think!

Psa. 19 says that it 'converts the soul.' That doesn't mean a spiritual conversion. That has to do with changing the way you think. The first place you begin to get your sense is to understand that there is a Creator. God has done it this way:

Psalm 19:1: "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims His handiwork." That's why Paul says that they're without excuse (Rom. 1).

Verse 2: "Day after day they pour forth speech, and night after night they reveal knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard" (vs 2-3). In other words, no one has an excuse!

Verse 4: "Their line has gone out through all the earth and their words to the ends of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoices as a strong man set to run a race, its going forth is from one end of heaven, and its circuit is to the other end. And there is nothing hidden from its heat" (vs 4-6).

Now then, you go from creation to Law. That's the connection. Wherever you look at creation there is law that function that functions according to predictable means. This is where what is called the age of enlightenment came in.

We can look at something, analyze something, test something, do it over and over again and have the same results. Therefore, there are laws that govern this. It's the same with the Laws of God and human behavior. Here's an absolute truth:

Verse 7: "The Law of the LORD is perfect…" That's why God says, 'Do not add to or take away from.' As we saw earlier:

• the commandments are Truth
• the statutes are true
• God's Word is true from the beginning
• it is perfect

What we have here is the same kind of thinking that occurred in the Garden of Eden. Satan comes along and says, 'Did God really tell you that you can't eat of any of the trees in the garden?' You know the rest of the story. Satan says, 'God is holding back from you. The tree God says that you are not to eat of from the midst of the garden, that's really the best tree that there is. If you do that, you'll be like God.'

So, it's the same kind of thinking that we have today. That if they do sin then it makes them a better person. People ignore the Law of God; they may have Bibles but they don't read them.

Where it says "…restoring the soul…" (v 7), it does not mean bringing you spiritual conversion, because the Holy Spirit was not given at this particular time. But what it does, it converts the way that you live and think, and everything else. You will know:

• right from wrong
• good from evil

The whole purpose of law from the Biblical perspective is that every human being uses the Laws of God, and everyone is self-governing. The only way that can be done is with the Law of God, knowing what is right, what is wrong, what is good, what is evil and so forth, and for there to be consequences against the evil when it does occur.

"…the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple" (v 7). Today they don't want to make the simple wise, they want to keep them in their simplicity and stupidity so they can be governed and controlled by power, because there's no truth for them to follow.

Verse 8: "The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandments of the LORD are pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether, more to be desired than gold, yea, much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned… [that's one of the functions of law] …in keeping them there is great reward" (vs 8-11).

Now, let's look at another function of the Law, and what Paul says about Law. We're also going to learn, beginning here, that the Law, or laws of men based on the Laws of God, without love never functions correctly. You're making the Law a function of power rather than a function of behavior and self-governance.

That's why when we have crime they say we need more policemen. No you don't! You need someone in the schools teaching what's right and wrong! Then you don't need more policemen.

'The way that we can keep weapons out of schools is to have hidden cameras.' More power! When Truth dies—or you can say the Laws of God die, the knowledge of God dies—power fills the vacuum!

1-Timothy 1:5: "Now, the purpose of the commandment is love out of a pure heart…" That's the whole purpose of what God wants us to learn.

• we're to learn obedience first, in the letter of the Law
• then we are to grow in love, because the Law expresses the love of God
• we are to come to have a pure heart vs an evil heart

"…and a good conscience, and genuine faith; from which some, having missed the mark, have turned aside unto vain jangling; desiring to be teachers of the law…" (vs 5-7).

This is virtually a description of modern education today, as well as the preaching in different churches.

"…neither understanding what they are saying, nor what they are strongly affirming" (v 7). To give you a good example:

When they approved the ordination of this homosexual priest in the Episcopal Church; he has been consecrated and accepted—and in the Methodist Church they have a lesbian pastor and her live-in lover have been accepted and so forth—two so-called 'experts' in explaining their decision on television said, 'Jesus never condemned homosexuality, nor did He discriminate against whom we could and could not love.'

To me this fulfills v 7: "Desiring to be teachers of the law, neither understanding what they are saying, nor what they are strongly affirming. Now we know that the law is good, if anyone uses it lawfully" (vs 7-8). Same way with the laws in society based upon the Laws of God. They are good if they're used lawfully.

However, with this kind of thinking, no law has any force, and it can be interpreted either way, so therefore, you have lawlessness and fills the mystery of lawlessness.

Yes, Jesus did condemn homosexuality! Whenever He said, 'porneia'—Greek—that statement means all illegal and perverted sex acts, which then goes back to Leviticus and the laws there.

Verse 9: "Understanding this: that law is not enacted for a righteous man…" If you're law-abiding there's no law against you, except if there is an oppressive law filling the power vacuum.
"…but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for slayers of fathers and slayers of mothers, for murderers, for fornicators, for homosexuals, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and for any other thing that is opposed to sound doctrine" (vs 9-10). That covers an awful lot of behavior. That's why laws were made.

Let's see how God wants the laws to be in our lives. That's what we need to look to. We're going to have to go beyond the letter of the Law.

God even requires that there be laws in the world. Let's look at the Ten Commandments for just a minute. The first four relate to God; the last six relate to family and neighbor. The reason is so that everyone:

• can be protected as an individual
• recognized as an individual
• have individual rights
• have individual dignity
• have individual self-governance

We're going to see this is how you love your neighbor as yourself. Who is your neighbor? Anyone outside of your family is, or can be, a neighbor!

Paul shows here that he's recognizing the authorities in the world, and their laws, which is also important to keep in mind. Those who believe in lawlessness or their own interpretation of the Law, which basically is, 'If I don't like it I'm going to do what I want anyway.' Then you get into court and the judge asks you why you did it, and you say, 'I didn't see anything wrong in it.' or 'I feel as though they're discriminating against me.' Whatever the excuse…

Romans 13:1: "Let everyone be subject to the higher authorities because there is no authority except from God…" That goes clear back to Gen. 9 with the covenant that God made with Noah and Noah's sons. God gave them the administration of the last six commandments beginning with that they would have to execute those who committed murder.

"…and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God; so then, the one who sets himself against the authority is resisting the ordinance of God…" (vs 1-2).

There's a man who is not particularly happy with me. He wanted to 'join' the Church because he figured that this was the one teaching the Truth. But he wanted us to say that everybody should not pay taxes, because the 16th Amendment was never ratified properly, or voted on properly.

We told him that it says here in Rom. 13 that you're to 'give tribute to whom tribute is due.' The Supreme Court has declared that it was legal. All of those who use this—those in the 'tax movement'—all they have done was brought trouble upon themselves for doing so, because they're going against what God has established.

If they do something and make a law to collect taxes, God gave that beginning with Saul. Was every tax that Caesar took legal? What happened if you didn't pay taxes then? You lost your head!

"…and those who resist shall receive judgment to themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil works. Do you desire not to be afraid of the authority? Then practice good, and you will have praise from it; for he is a servant of God to you for good…." (vs 2-4).

Are some police corrupt? Yes! There can be corruption everywhere, because of human nature! But basically speaking, how many in the Church of God—except for persecution instituted by Satan the devil—has suffered unlawfully for doing good, yet? Nobody!

"…But if you are practicing evil, have fear! For he does not wear the sword in vain because he is a servant of God, an avenger for wrath to the one who is practicing evil" (v 4).

So, you take a look at all the good that law enforcement does, compared to the minor percentage that are corrupt and you can be thankful that they track down murderers, thieves, kidnappers and all of that sort of thing. God put them there for that.

Verse 5: "Consequently, it is necessary to be subject to authority, not only because of wrath, but also because of conscience. For this cause, you are also obligated to pay tribute… [taxes] …for they are servants of God, continually engaged in this very thing" (vs 5-6).

Because of evil, what happens? Because people demand more and more law, more and more law-enforcement, and there are more and more criminals, what do they do? They tax everything they can get their hands on!

Verse 7: "Therefore, render to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. Do not be indebted to anyone for anything, unless it is to love one another. For the one who loves another has fulfilled the Law" (vs 7-8).

So then, to love your neighbor as yourself, you are fulfilling the Law.

Verse 9: "Because it says, 'You shall not commit adultery. You shall not commit murder. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. You shall not lust.' And if there be any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, even by this standard: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"

What is Paul talking about? Authorities in the world who are there to enforce the six commandments based upon relations of family and neighbor! That's what it's all about. This has nothing to do with worshiping God in Spirit and in Truth. That's another whole proposition.

Verse 10: "Love does not do any wrong to its neighbor; therefore, love is the full expression of God'sLaw."

1-John 5:2: "By this standard we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God: that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome" (vs 2-3).

But the postmodernist says, 'Look, not everybody agrees with that.' So, they even change the Word of God so you won't have a guilty conscience. That's the kind of lawless society that we are in today.

These are the absolutes of God that He has given so that we can have peace among ourselves as neighbors, and then the first four commandments to have peace with God and loving Him.

Let's see where Paul makes it very clear. Paul even praises the Gentiles when they do the things contained in the Law, though they weren't given the Law of God officially, as were the children of Israel and the Jews.

Romans 2:14: "For when the Gentiles, which do not have the Law, practice by nature the things contained in the Law, these who do not have the Law are a law unto themselves"—which shows that the Laws of God operate continuously, all the time, automatically.

If you follow those laws you'll be blessed. If you don't follow those laws you'll be cursed, just as a society. Look at the different societies in the world and compare them with the Ten Commandments and you will see how many of the blessings of God that they have and how many of the cursings of God that they have.

Here is what the Law is to do. It's not to be an exterior thing only.

Verse 15: "Who show the work of the Law written in their own hearts, their consciences bearing witness, and their reasonings also as they accuse or defend one another)." Paul starts to take off on the Jews here, which is good. Letter of the Law alone is not enough!
Verse 17: "Behold, you are called a Jew, and you yourself rest in the Law, and boast in God… [there are a lot of people that way] …and know His will, and approve of the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the Law; and are persuaded that you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light for those in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of the knowledge and of the Truth contained in the Law" (vs 17-20).

From here we're going to start expanding beyond just having them written in a book, beyond memorizing things, and what God expects from us and how absolutely the Law works with the Spirit of God.

Here's another thing about the Law: It's not made for the other person! It's made for you! This is what Paul is telling them.

Verse 21: "You, then, who are teaching another, do you not teach yourself also? You who preach, 'Do not steal,' are you stealing? You who say, 'Do not commit adultery,' are you committing adultery? You who abhor idols, are you committing sacrilege? You who boast in law, are you dishonoring God through your transgression of the Law?" (vs 21-23).

Isn't that something? You dishonor God when you transgress the Law! Not many people bring that out! What's the big problem with Protestantism? Their lawlessness is that they take one point that is true, Jesus Christ is a substitutionary sacrifice for our sins; He died in our stead! That's a true statement. Then they become lawless by saying that His obedience means we don't have to obey! So, they have substitutionary obedience.

You ask them why they don't keep the Sabbath; Jesus kept the Sabbath. 'Jesus is our Sabbath'; have you heard that? That's the big error. There is a substitutionary sacrifice, but not substitutionary obedience!

Jesus didn't keep the laws and commandments for us in our stead, He kept them so that He would never sin; to be our sacrifice. This is how the Protestants think on it. Guess where it goes back to? Good old Martin Luther! Right here it shows just the opposite.

Because you are transgressing the Law, v 24: "For through you the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles, exactly as it is written. For on the one hand, circumcision profits if you are observing the Law; on the other hand, if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Therefore, if the uncircumcised is keeping the requirements of the Law, shall not his uncircumcision be reckoned for circumcision? And shall not the uncircumcised, who by nature is fulfilling the Law, judge you, who, with the letter and circumcision, are a transgressor of the Law?" (vs 24-27).

Now Paul is getting to the point, the whole focal point of all law, which today they're just throwing away, with the way they reason today. They say it doesn't make a bit of difference. Whatever you believe, that's true. Whatever you want to do, that's up to you. No one can judge you, because judging would indicate that there are absolutes.

That's why we're living in such a lawless society. Now can you see how this is paving the way for the lawless one to come, to rise out of the midst of this 'mystery of lawlessness'? Everyone will just flock after him. Why? Because:

• they don't love the Truth
• they don't love God
• they don't love His commandments
• they don't understand the purpose of it

So, Paul is getting to the purpose right here, v 28: "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision, which is external in the flesh; rather, he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God" (vs 28-29).

Let's look at the difference between the letter and the spirit. It is basically this: the letter of the Law without love kills. The Laws of God combined with the Spirit of God are to lead us to loving God.

2-Corinthians 3:4: "Now we have this confidence through Christ toward God; not that we are competent of ourselves…" (vs 4-5).

Every human being was made to depend upon God, and that's what Paul is talking about. Everything that he had he learned from God. What did his competency in Judaism bring him before? Letter of the Law of Judaism! What did he do? He killed, persecuted! Why did that happen? When Truth dies—which it does in Judaism—power fills the vacuum! So, by power and by force they persecuted and killed.

"…or credit anything to our own abilities: rather, our competency is from God" (v 5). Every minister needs to understand this.

Verse 6: "Who also made us competent as ministers of the New Covenant; not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." Why? Because there is repentance! That's why!

So, Law without love and repentance, kills! What the New Covenant is, is to bring not only into a relationship with God—the way God wants it to be—but to bring us into a loving relationship. What God has worked and planned out is a whole lifelong project! Love is the ultimate pinnacle of what God wants from it.

Let's see this. The whole Law of God is supported by the love of God. This is what God wants us to come to in our relationship with Him. That's why since we studied it in the book of Hebrews, God wants to write His laws in our heart and inscribe them upon our mind so that's the way, through the love of God, we live and function.

That being the case, what are we? Dependent upon God and self-govern through His Laws and His Spirit! So therefore, if you truly love God and keep His commandments you don't need someone there all the time to say, 'Do this, do that, do the other thing,' because you will know to do it. That does not come automatically; that comes through time, through practice, through living God's way.

Matthew 22:35: "And one of them, a doctor of the law, questioned Him, tempting Him, and saying, 'Master, which commandment is the great commandment in the Law?'" (vs 25-26).

Notice what Jesus said, because law without love kills. Love without law gives license. That's why you have situations where things get so bad, because people just have this lawless love, it's an emotional feeling. So, the sword cuts both ways.

Verse 37: "And Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.'" That is a lifetime commitment to God. If you do, then God is going to be blessing you. But that's the ultimate of what God wants us to do; there it is, right there.

Verse 38: "This is the first and greatest commandment; and the second one is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets" (vs 38-40).

God is love. He has given His laws and commandments in love so that in the letter of the Law we can get along in the world. In the Spirit of the Law we can keep the commandments of God from the heart.

Let's see how this affects our worship. This becomes the whole purpose of our approach to God and everything that we do.

John 4:23: "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth…" You have to have both because did we see that Paul said, 'You had the knowledge of the Truth in the Law.'

But they didn't have the Spirit of God combined together so that Truth, Spirit, Law, and commandments would then, through the Spirit of God, develop and grow in love. This is the whole purpose of Law.

So, when you have the death of Truth, the death of Law, the death of all the things that are right and wrong within a society, you end up with a lawless society. That's right where we're headed.

But here is what God is seeking, "…for the Father is indeed seeking those who worship Him in this manner. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in Truth" (vs 23-24). That one statement alone abolishes all idols: rosaries, crosses, crucifixes, pictures, etc.; those are all physical things. 

Because of this, the responsibility of those who are teachers, and Jesus showed how this was to work in the relationship between those whom He sent out teaching and those to whom they were to teach.

Matthew 20:20: "Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Him with her sons, worshiping Him and asking a certain thing from Him. And He said to her, 'What do you desire?' She said to Him, 'Grant that these my two sons may sit one at Your right hand and one at Your left hand in Your kingdom'" (vs 20-21).

What do we have? A political power play! So, she's trying to fulfill a position for her sons. Jesus would have none of it, plus, He would give not only the right answer, but He would also show a very profound lesson.

Verse 22: "But Jesus answered and said, 'You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?' They said to Him, 'We are able.'" Here's another lesson: be careful what you tell God, because He will take you up on it!

Verse 23: "And He said to them, 'You shall indeed drink of My cup, and shall be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit at My right hand and at My left hand is not Mine to give, but shall be given to those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.'"

The first question that always comes up is, 'I wonder who they will be?' I'll tell you how to answer the question: make it to the first resurrection and you'll see! Then Jesus is going to give a lesson here:
Verse 24: "And after hearing this, the ten were indignant against the two brothers. But Jesus called them to Him and said, 'You know that the rulers of the nations exercise lordship over them…'" (vs 24-25).

When Truth dies, power fills the vacuum! Leaders exercising lordship. In our day we have seen how many of those: Saddam Hussein, Hitler, Stalin, Mao Tse-tung, Pol Pot, Hirohito, Tojo and so forth. Jesus wants to make sure that those whom He sends—those who teach the brethren—do not conduct their lives in that way, or conduct their ministries in that way. Very important thing!

"…and the great ones… [the religious leaders] …exercise authority over them" (v 25). We can modify that statement just a little bit:

When Truth and love die, power and authority fill the vacuum! You can see that in anything! You can see it on a small scale, you can see it on a large scale. When Truth and love die, power and authority fill the vacuum! And that's what the Catholic Church is based upon. The authority and power of the pope and the hierarchy, then what happens? Fear! 'There is no salvation outside of the hierarchical Catholic Church.'

I think of the whole book that one statement is the clearest thing; good insight on it.

Verse 26: "However, it shall not be this way among you; but whoever would become great among you, let him be your servant." You serve, you help, you teach, and if you do—whomever the minister is—if he does what God wants and teaches the brethren the Word of God, he never has to fear that someone is going to usurp his position. You don't have to exercise authority, because you're exercising Truth and love!

Verse 27: "And whoever would be first among you, let him be your slave; just as the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many" (vs 27-28).

Now, let's take this a little bit further and see how God wants it to be in our lives. Let's look at the ultimate that we are to shoot for. The ultimate of commandment-keeping, law-keeping and developing love. That's the whole thing.

1-Corinthians 13:1: "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal." Human accomplishments without love don't matter anything.

Verse 2: "If I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing."
God looks at it differently. Love gives you a different perspective, and the understanding that God wants you to have. All of this is included in 'loving God with all your heart, mind, soul and being.' and 'loving your neighbor as yourself.'

Remember the Pharisee that was praying—the Pharisee and the publican or tax collector—and he bragged on himself and says, 'Lord, I thank You that I'm not as other men are. I fast twice in the week and tithe of all that I give. I'm not an extortioner, etc., etc.

There's a good example of law without love. He did all those things, and every one of those things that he said that he did, he should have been doing. But if he doesn't have love, what good is it? That's the whole point! The whole point of law, commandments, statutes and every one of these things is then to be, with God's Spirit, made a very living part of us so that we develop the kind of love that is described here in 1-Cor. 13.

I tell you what, you could have a tremendous following. Let's just take all the things here in v 2:

"…If I have the gift of prophecy…" If you could stand up and tell things to happen, you'd be written up in every magazine and newspaper and on every television. 'What do you say? What do you think is going to happen next?'

"…and understand all mysteries…": You can get up and explain the most complicated things and how all the laws work, and how physics works, all this sort of thing. You can have titles and doctor degrees and everyone will think: Woooo!

"…and all knowledge…": I remember one time I saw this television show where it shows how this man was gifted in being able to add numbers and come up with a total. They ran off all of these numbers in dollars and cents, large and small, very quickly and it totaled them up as it went along on a side screen, and here's this man who had this great ability mathematically to add all those things up in his head as the numbers were given. Just a couple of seconds after the total was given on the side screen he gave the exact total of what it was out of his head.

I thought: what a marvelous accomplishment. But if he doesn't have love, what good does it do? Besides, he can't take it with him.

"…have all faith to remove mountains…": I tell you what, you would really have a mighty following if you could just say to this hill and this mountain, 'Go move.'

Verse 3: "And if I give away all my goods…" It says in the King James 'to the poor' but that's not correct, it doesn't say that in the Greek.
"…and if I deliver up my body that I may be burned, but do not have love, I have gained nothing" (v 3).

You will see every thanksgiving and Christmas, all the do-gooders out there letting the world know what they are giving to this and that charity. What have they received? Their notoriety is their reward! But if you do not have love, you have gained nothing!

Here is the challenge of what love is to do in the conversion of our heart, mind and being with the Spirit of God:

Verse 4: "Love is patient and is kind…" What are we talking about here with these things? Internal self-governance by the Spirit of God, which then can only be maintained by the love of God! That's the whole purpose of the laws and commandments of God.

You have the whole Old Testament to show that you can have the Law, but without the Spirit of God people cannot keep it the way that they should. Now we come to the New Testament and see the whole purpose of the Law is to love God, love our neighbor and love each other and to develop the mind and character of God. Here is how it is done; this is the self-governance that God wants:

• If you're patient, do you have to have control to be patient? Yes!
• If you're kind, is that not harder, to be kind than to piercingly condemn in the letter of the Law? Yes, it is!

"…love envies not…" Doesn't say, 'I wish I had that; why did they deserve that and I didn't get it?'

"…does not brag about itself…" (v 4). How good it is, how strong it is, how tough it is.

"…is not puffed up" (v 4). Not vain!

Verse 5: "Love does not behave disgracefully…"

In all of these things, what are we seeing? In comparing the perfection of love with our behavior, we are seeing we have an awful lot to do! And it's all interior with God's Spirit! That's the whole purpose.

That's why it's a horrible, a terrible and absolute crime against God when there is the death of Truth within the Church of God. The punishment will be greater.

"…does not seek its own things, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the Truth" (vs 5-6).

This is when you pick up your cross and follow after Christ, v 7: "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." If that is not describing Jesus Christ, I don't know what it is.

Verse 8: "Love never fails…" Here you have an absolute guarantee on:

• how to grow
• how to change
• how to overcome
• how to come from the letter of the Law
• to the Spirit of the Law
• to the love of the Law
• to love and conversion within
• to love and conversion in your expression
• to love and conversion in the way that you live

A lifelong project! "Love never fails…"

"…But whether there be prophecies, they shall cease…" (v 8). This is not talking about the prophecies of God, because Jesus said, 'Heaven and earth will pass, but My words will not pass away.' This is talking about prophecies that men have given. Or a wrong interpretation of prophecies that is the human interpretation. We've seen many of those fail!

"…whether there be languages, they shall cease…" (v 8). I truly believe that at the resurrection we will have given to us in our new spirit mind and brain and new language so that we can all communicate with each other.

After all, if God could confuse the languages at the Tower of Babel in an instant, can He not give us all the same language, the language of a spirit being, at the resurrection? Yes! So, all human languages, we know are going to cease.

"…whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is Perfect has come…" (vs 8-10). This is what we are looking for. We are to be perfected in this life as we look forward to the resurrection and he perfection that's going to come at the resurrection. That's what we need to look to.

"..then that which is in part shall be set aside. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I reasoned as a child; but when I became a man, I set aside the things of a child. For now we see through a glass darkly, but then we shall see face-to-face; now I know in part, but then I shall know exactly as I have been known" (vs 10-12).

This is what the absolute truths and values of God is to point us to. The love of God! That's why we cannot let Truth die in our midst!
Verse 13: "And now, these three remain: faith, hope and love..." As I've said before:

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

"…but the greatest of these is love" (v 13).

This is the whole purpose of it. This is why in the world, that it says 'in the last days the love of many will grow cold and lawlessness shall be multiplied' (Matt. 24).

We're seeing it right before our eyes with the death of Truth in everything in this society!

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

Scriptural References:

• 2-Thessalonians 2:7, 11
• Psalm 19:1-11
• 1 Timothy 1:5-10
• Romans 13:1-10
• 1 John 5:2-3
• Romans 2:14-15, 17-29
• 2 Corinthians 3:4-6
• Matthew 22:35-40
• John 4:23-24
• Matthew 20:20-28
• 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Romans 1
• Genesis 9
• Matthew 24

Also referenced: Books:

• The Death of Truth by Dennis McCallum
• Ending White Slavery by Matthew Hale

FRC: bo
Transcribed: 6/5/17