Worldview Finder: Knowing the Truth
December 27, 2023 at 4:40 pm | Posted in Worldview Finder | 2 CommentsTags: Biblical Christian worldview, Biblical worldview, Christian worldview, Hebrews 10, John 1, John 16, John 17, John 8, Psalm 119, Zechariah 8
After determining that there IS such a thing as absolute, objective truth, the next inquiry in clarifying your worldview is to ask whether truth can be KNOWN. Logic and reason and shared perception do exist, and they can be trusted. In other words, some things are objectively and absolutely true and can be known.
The philosopher Descartes is known for positing, “Cogito, ergo sum” (translated “I think, therefore I am.”) This directly contradicts the worldview of those who are skeptical about whether truth can even be known. It makes no sense to doubt about whether we exist, when we are right here existing and doing the doubting!
When you drive up to a traffic signal at an intersection, both shared common experience and logic tell us that it makes sense that, if the drivers going north and south are seeing a red light, then the drivers going east and west are seeing a green light at the same time. Furthermore, it is reasonable to assume that this system was designed by someone who had thought about it, and that the intention behind it was to help drivers, not hurt them. We can’t technically see the colors “green” and “red” through the eyes of other drivers, but everyone generally agrees that we all know what the colors green and red look like.
Of course, this doesn’t rule out the possibility of someone being mistaken, but it does mean that some things can be known with a logical, reasonable, and shared degree of certainty.
The Bible supports this view of knowledge: that truth is something that can be known.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John 1:14
Jesus was full of truth, and He dwelt here in this world, among people who have been documented as seeing His glory. One of the things He came to do was reveal truth. He believed and taught and demonstrated that truth can be known by human beings. This is the chief way we come to know truth: it is revealed. Not that much truth (if any) is innate within us when we come into the world, and if it is by revelation, then the revelation can be increased and we can know more and more truth and become more and more certain that we are believing/knowing the truth.
31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
John 8:31-32
Truth is something into which we are sometimes guided. Revelation isn’t always announced as such when it is revealed: “THIS IS A REVELATION OF THE TRUTH.” Truth is always truth, but truth can become known and believed without suspending our powers of investigation (logic, reason, shared perception).
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
John 16:13
Not only CAN truth be known, but it is extremely, eternally important that we do know the truth. Jesus prayed:
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
John 17:17
Just like there is an opposing worldview to objective truth (relativism), there is also an opposing view to the worldview in which truth can be known: Skepticism. Skepticism is the view that there may be some objectively true things, but we can’t really even know if there are or not, nor can we really know which claims and apparent reality are really true.
This view has the same inconsistency as Relativism, because if you can’t know whether anything is true or not, how can you know whether you know if anything is true or not? The attraction of a worldview in which truth can’t be known is that it allows a virtue-signaling of humility, and it champions “doubt” as a sign of intelligence. The Skeptic says, “How arrogant that you think you can know truth! Who are you to say our universe isn’t really a molecule in a giant’s thumbnail in a whole other universe? Who are you to say we aren’t lying in a vat of saltwater and chemicals with the government playing a program in our brainwashed consciousness?”
Of course, this is not really humility. In fact it is, hypocritically, just the opposite. It is the view that only a select few really realize that we don’t actually exist, and everyone else is just a dupe for reasonably and rationally observing our environment and thinking we have the ability to think. A faithful Skeptic would walk off the edge of a building in order to show that gravity is just a hallucinatory construct.
In the same way that how we view the world when it comes to truth has implications for our spiritual lives, so does how we view the knowledge question.
For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
Hebrews 10:26
If we can’t know what sin even is, how can we be accountable for it? Pretending something doesn’t exist does not make it go away. God revealing the truth about our sin is one of the greatest evidences of His love for us.
Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.
Psalm 119:60
Knowing the truth makes us aware of consequences. This is the real humility – recognizing that truth is something we can know, and knowing that truth is something that will last.
These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:
Zechariah 8:16
We would not be able to proclaim the truth if we could not recognize what it is, and society would, of necessity, fall into chaos, since justice (which is based on knowing the truth) could not be done.
This idea of justice brings us into the next inquiry in clarifying our worldview, which we will look at next time.
Christian Service as a Means of Grace (Part 1)
December 18, 2023 at 3:37 pm | Posted in Means of Grace | 3 CommentsTags: Biblical bondage, Christian service, commentary on Exodus, Exodus 4, Joshua 24, Luke 17, Means of Grace, serving God, Sunday School lessons on Exodus
The principles of Christian service are closely related to the principles of Christian worship, but not exactly the same.
21 And the Lord said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go. 22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: 23 And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.
Exodus 4:21-23
The Lord heard the cries of the children of Israel because they were in bondage, and He was concerned about delivering them, but not merely because of the fact of the bondage itself. They had been serving and they were still going to be serving after He delivered them, but they had been serving the wrong master. Pharaoh’s greatest sin wasn’t having slaves, nor even forcing them to work, nor even cruelly making them work for little or no pay. No, his greatest sin was mismanaging God’s property, and failing to acknowledge that he was a servant himself. As undisputed ruler of all Egypt, Pharaoh was a glorified servant, yes, but still just a middle manager. The next several chapters of Exodus stress this language. God’s people were going to come OUT OF Egypt for the purpose of SERVING not only THEIR true God, but THE one and only true God.
Serving God is not how we earn or deserve or make a meritorious claim on God’s grace. Christian service is service to Him, but it is a means of grace for us. We were made to serve Him, and failing to serve Him is an attempt to rob Him of glory and give it to someone else or ourselves.
13 And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat. 14 Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.
Joshua 24:13-14 (emphasis added)
We must worship Him in spirit and in truth; we must serve Him in sincerity and in truth. Our service must be from the heart (“not with eyeservice, as menpleasers”) and must be service TO the right God. We are going to serve – the question for us as we seek to utilize God’s means of grace to grow and make progress in our sanctification is WHO we will serve.
As we are commanded by God to serve others, especially our spouses and loved ones and church family, what will help us make sure that this service is really a form of serving God?
5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. 6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you. 7 But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? 8 And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? 9 Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. 10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
Luke 17:5-10
The first thing that will help us in our attitude about service is to remember that God does not NEED our service, which we can continue to look at next time.
Worship as a Means of Grace (Part 3)
December 14, 2023 at 11:05 am | Posted in Means of Grace | 2 CommentsTags: Biblical worship, Christian worship, commentary on Exodus, Exodus 20, Exodus 34, Job 1, Psalm 29, Psalm 95, Sunday School lessons on Exodus
For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
Exodus 34:14
18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. 19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
Exodus 20:18-19
Worshiping God in truth means presenting ourselves before the truth of God: all that He is and all that He commands us to do.
And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
Exodus 20:20
Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
Psalm 29:2
Worshiping God in truth means giving Him the highest honor and glory. Worshiping Him in spirit means adorning our outward acts of worship with holiness.
O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.
Psalm 95:6
Worship in spirit involves submitting to Him. Worship in truth means acknowledging Him as our Creator.
20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, 21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.
Job 1:20-21
Worship in spirit involves acknowledging God in the worst circumstances. Worship in truth involves recognizing that God is ultimately orchestrating these circumstances.
Worship as a Means of Grace (Part 1)
December 7, 2023 at 3:22 pm | Posted in Means of Grace | 5 CommentsTags: Biblical worship, false worship, hypocrisy, hypocritical worship, Isaiah 29, John 4, Matthew 15, Means of Grace, spirit and truth
Previously I have looked two other means of grace:
Bible study: The Bible is not merely a sacred book nor a compilation of ancient wisdom nor guidelines for a successful life. Studying the Bible properly is the receiving and believing of the VERY WORDS OF GOD.
Prayer: Prayer is not merely a recitation of affirmations nor a spiritual wish list nor a time of soul-searching. It is SPEAKING DIRECTLY TO THE ALMIGHTY GOD.
Worship is not merely singing in church nor giving credit to God when you feel blessed nor performing a list of spiritual duties. It is acknowledging the glory of the only true and specific God in our affections, attitude, will, obedience, expressions, and daily lives and actions.
Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
John 4:20
Jesus was speaking to the so-called “woman at the well,” who was a Samaritan woman. The Samaritans had attempted to combine the worship of Yahweh with Assyrian pagan worship, and they worshiped on Mount Gerizim rather than at Jerusalem. In one sense, this was a distraction tactic – an attempt to the change the subject – by the woman, who was feeling the conviction of Jesus’s evangelistic comments. But Jesus did not ignore her remark (of course, He did not let the conversation get sidetracked either).
Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
John 4:21
Jesus drew a distinction between Old Testament formal worship, which was prescribed to be done at certain locations and with certain ceremonies, and true spiritual worship, indicating that the old was about to be replaced with the commencement of the New Testament. The Kingdom of Christ and its truer and freer worship was now being put into effect.
Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
John 4:22
He did correct her on which religion was the true religion, though: Jewish, rather than Samaritan syncretism.
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
John 4:23 (emphasis added)
Those are the two facets of worship on which I want to focus as means of grace. They are stated by Jesus with an allusion to God’s immateriality (incorporeality). He is immaterial in a technical, not a figurative, sense. In other words, He is not immaterial in the sense that He doesn’t matter, but in the sense that He does not have a physical body (except in the person of Jesus and His hypostatic union).
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
John 4:24
This is how God desires to be worshiped and how He commands us to worship Him: in spirit and in truth.
7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Matthew 15:7-8
Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees. One of their main problems was their legalism, but, more than that, their hypocrisy. He used a quote from Isaiah 29. Worshiping “not in truth” is hypocritical worship. This involves making an outward show of worshiping God, but not doing it from the heart, or ostensibly worshiping publicly or in front of others, but not being consistent so that the resulting outgrowth of worship occurs in private.
Hypocritical worship had been a besetting problem for God’s people throughout their history. One of the symptoms and sources of sin is pride, and pride often manifests itself in hypocrisy. Human pride denies that truth that God alone deserves the highest honor and glory, a principle that I will develop more in part 2.
Douglas Wilson: S.W.I.M. in the Arts
December 4, 2023 at 4:26 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 2 CommentsTags: beauty in the Bible, beauty of holiness, Biblical beauty, Douglas Wilson, Douglas Wilson quotes, Exodus 28, Psalm 29, swim quotes, swimming quotes
To make the decision to stop swimming upstream is, in that same moment, to make the decision to float downstream. Living things swim against the current, and dead bodies float with it. It follows from this that to abandon the artistic pursuit of the beautiful is, in principle, to float down toward the ugly. There is no neutrality anywhere, and this includes the world of the arts. If you are not trying to make it beautiful, which requires a standard of beauty from outside the world, then at some point in the near future, you are going to start trying to make it ugly.
Douglas Wilson
And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty.
Exodus 28:2
Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
Psalm 29:2
The Deep End 
Worship as a Means of Grace (Part 2)
December 20, 2023 at 11:24 am | Posted in Means of Grace | 3 CommentsTags: Biblical worship, Christian worship, commentary on Exodus, Exodus 20, Exodus 32, Exodus 34, First Commandment, Second Commandment, Sunday School lessons on Exodus
Exodus 20:2-3
Worshiping God involves worshiping Him in spirit, recognizing that He is not physically limited by time or space. We must not act as though He is available to be worshiped only at appointed times or locations. Our worship must not be hypocritical, merely outward. We must worship Him with our spirits, and we must worship Him in truth, not faking it. Worshiping in truth also means worshiping the true God.
In Exodus 20:2 He identifies Himself as the true God. Exodus 20:3 is the First Commandment. “Before Me” means “in My presence,” which, for the omnipresent God, is everywhere all the time. This is the Second Commandment:
Exodus 20:4-5
The First Commandment is about worship. The Second Commandment is about worship and service. He is the true God; we must not act like there’s another one. And don’t try to make anything that looks like a god. In the incident with the golden calf the people broke both of these commandments.
Exodus 32:17-18
This was “true worship” from a worldly point of view. There was: excitement; sacrifice; unity; enthusiasm; purpose; planning; commitment. It was “true worship,” but it was not worship in truth. It was syncretism and rationalization. It was not acceptable to God in any way, shape, or form.
Not all graven images are graven with tools like chisels. Graven image worship also involves engraving a false god in our minds, and giving it attributes that God doesn’t really have OR deleting one that He does have.
Exodus 34:5-8
Recognizing the revelations of God’s true attributes, Moses worshiped. One of those attributes is His jealousy, which we will look at next time.