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THE SEARCH FOR REAL TRUTH
by GERALD PIPPIN THE SEARCH FOR REAL TRUTH The dictionary defines "Truth", a noun, as: "honest; conformity to fact or reality; veracity; constancy; true statement; undisputed fact." These definitions are founded primarily on a human understanding of what constitutes truth. We need but to look at history to realize that what people understand and accept as truth, has changed radically over the centuries. When they flourished, Greek and Roman civilizations accepted and believed their statues of gods represented real gods that ruled over their Societies', controlling and directing their social and daily lives. For many generations, people believe the earth to be flat, and that ferocious beasts and demons populated the sea that would devour any ships that ventured out. Human societies have over the centuries embraced, accepted, and believed in various versions of deities, or supreme beings or entities. All such beings and entities over the centuries have fallen by the wayside and are no longer accepted as true. They have been relegated into the myths and superstitions believed and accepted by societies that flourished for a time, and then faded away. These are only a few of the human definitions of what is accepted as truth, and true, that have been disproven and changed through the years. From these few examples, we can easily see that what human societies accept as truth changes dramatically and often is diametrically opposed to what they once accepted and believed. It is important that we develop the understanding of what real truth is. Real Truth will never change, regardless of what human societies choose to accept and believe. The truth is not dependent on what people are willing to accept as fact or truth, but on those facts that cannot change, or will not be changed. TRUTH: Conforming to fact or law, genuine, accurate, unchangeable, unalterable, and self-evident. The strength of truth is in the validity, reality and truthfulness of the power behind it. This power must be incorruptible, unchangeable, all-powerful, and indestructible, and provable by unchangeable facts. There must be neither variableness nor shadow of turning in all truths delivered by this power. There is only one constant, unchangeable factor in all of creation, and that is the living God, and he has delivered to humanity his immutable, unchangeable words of truth. These words of truth are contained in the Bible. WHY THE BIBLE? Before we can understand the Bible, there are things for which we need answers. First: we need to ask, "How did we get the Bible;" "Why do we have the Bible?" And, "Who is the author of the Bible? That we might better understand how we got the Bible, we need to answer the question "Why do we have the Bible?" The simple, and true answer: God gave it to us. GOD is the true author of the Bible. He gave the Bible to mankind because He wanted us to know the truth of our origin, creation, and His purpose, and plan for mankind. There can be no other answer to these questions than this. No human is the author or the maker of the Bible, and the Bible clearly expresses the truths contained in it are of divine origin. We need to consider the fact that "God is not a man" and not subject to the changeability and instability of the human mind. God is a living, spiritual being, not a dead God, or an idol that has no life. (Jeremiah 1:1-16) (John 4:21-24 "God is spirit" ---) The Bible is filled with attributes and characteristics that apply to God. Because there is none greater than God, God identifies himself as "I AM THAT I AM". (Exodus 3:14 ) What God speaks, promises and commands will happen without fail. There is no power on earth, in the universe, and in heaven or hell that can, or will prevent the word of God from coming true. Most assuredly God is supreme over all, whether in heaven or on earth, or throughout the entire universe. There is none greater! To truly understand the Bible it is important that we understand the nature and characteristics of the eternal God who gave it. Consider this truth: God and eternity are inseparable, for God existed, exists, and will continue to exist throughout never-ending eternity. That which we identify as eternity has its beginning with God and will continue with Him forever. The amazing wonder is that God gives the lowly mortal man an opportunity to continue with him throughout the endless ages of eternity. To humanity's shame, for the most part, they give very little consideration to the greatness of this offer and promise. Far too many people would rather have the temporary blessings of this worldly life to consume upon themselves, rather than being good stewards over that which belongs to God, the earth, and all creation. 1 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; 2 for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. Psalm 24:1-2 (NIV ) Having determined the superiority of God over any man-made idols, statues, or human conceived deities, take note of the many attributes, characteristics, and abilities which identify God as a living, spiritual being. In the Gospel of John 17:1-16, (vs. 1-6) Jesus clearly identifies God as a being that can be recognized, a living personality. You cannot know that which does not exist, but because God exists, we can know Him as He is 19 So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. 20 But know this, first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. 2 Peter 1:19-21 (NASB) 12 So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14 because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things. 16 We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. 19 And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:12-21 (NIV) The Bible contains knowledge written hundreds of years before they were discovered by human beings. The shape of the earth, events common to the globe, and space were written about by individuals separated at different times and geographic locations. These natural events and condition, have now been discovered and proven true. The accuracy of these writings is conclusive evidence the Bible is true. It was not from their personal witnessing, or personal opinion, that holy men of GOD chronicled these facts but were moved by the Holy Spirit to write the truth of these events. Holy men of God recorded events natural to the earth, even though they did not witness them in person. SCIENCE CONCURS: NATURAL OCCURRENCES PROVE BIBLICAL TRUTH THE EVERLASTING ENDOWMENT OF TRUTH ENDOWMENT: The Benefit a person or persons will receive when qualifying according to terms and conditions of approval written in the endowment documents. TRUTH: Conforming to fact or law and is genuine, accurate, unchangeable, unalterable, and self-evident. The strength of truth is on the validity and truthfulness of the power behind it. 21 Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. Isaiah 40:21-22 (NASB) Consider the following proven facts: 1. The Heavens (cosmos) is round in its shape: (JOB 22:14) (Scientists are still arguing this point!) 2. God had in mind the circular form (shape) of the earth before He brought it into existence: (PROVERBS 8:27; JOB 26:10) (Horizon as round shape) 3. God sits enthroned above the CIRCLE (or curvature) of the earth. (ISAIAH 40:22) Hebrew NASB Number: 2329 Hebrew Word: חוּג Transliterated Word: chug (295b) Root: from 2328 Definition: vault, horizon:-- , New American Standard Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, (Anaheim, CA: Foundation Publications, 1998), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, under: "2329". The ancient Hebrew word "Chug", means vaulted or circular (to draw a circle) shape and is the same meaning in each of the Bible scriptures referenced. 4. The Earth hangs on nothing: JOB 26:7 (Gravity) (a) 5. Air flows along defined pathways above the earth: ECCL 1:6 (Jet Streams, established in the early 1940's) Atmospheric pressure (He maketh weight for the wind) Job 28:25(b) 6. All Rivers empty into the world's oceans, yet the oceans do not overflow. The waters evaporate, form clouds, returning to where they began, condensing to fall as rain, ECCL: 1:7 (Weather cycles) (c) 7. "Paths of the sea": Water flowing in the world's oceans, following defined courses, along the surface and in the depths of the seas. PSALMS 8:8 (Oceanography) (Hydrology), i.e., North Atlantic, Gulf Stream, Pacific current, Deep Southern Ocean current, (discovered April 2010), as well as other ocean currents. (d) 6 The words of the LORD are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times. You shall keep them, O LORD, You shall preserve them from this generation forever. Psalm 12:6-7 (NKJV) 1 Long ago, God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. 2 In these last days, He has spoken to us by ⌊His⌋ Son. God has appointed Him heir of all things and made the universe through Him. 3 The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact expression of His nature, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 4 So He became higher in rank than the angels, just as the name He inherited is superior to theirs. Hebrews 1:1-4 (HCSB) 17 "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. John 17:17 (NASB) 7 the law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. 10 They are more desirable than gold, yes than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward. Psalm 19:7-11 (NASB) GOD is the author of the Bible. Therefore, the Bible is completely true and accurate, for it is impossible for God to speak a lie. Titus 1:1-3 (NASB) 1 Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, 2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, 3 but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior, Titus 1:1-3 (HCSB) 1 Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to build up the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness,2 in the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began. 3 In His own time, He has revealed His message in the proclamation that I was entrusted with by the command of God our Savior: 8 Keep your attention on Jesus Christ ⌊as⌋ risen from the dead and descended from David. ⌊This is⌋ according to my gospel. 9 I suffer for it to the point of being bound like a criminal, but God's message is not bound. 10 This is why I endure all things for the elect: so that they also may obtain salvation, which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. 11 This saying is trustworthy: For if we have died with Him, we will also live with Him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will also deny us; 13 if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. 2 Timothy 2:8-13 (HCSB) 17 In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. 19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, 20 where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 6:17-20 (NASB) The Bible begins and ends with the reality of God. Genesis 1-1 states "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." The Bible ends in Revelation 22: Ch. "I am the Alpha (beginning) and the Omega (the end). There is no question of the authority of the Bible. It is from start to finish the absolute word of GOD. 5 And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He *said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." 6 Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. 7 "He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. 8 "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." Revelation 21:5-8 (NASB) 12 "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. 13 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." Revelation 22:12-13 (NASB) 8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." Revelation 1:8 (NASB) 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1:1-5 (NASB) Jehovah -Adonai, the Lord God, is the constant unifying factor continuously revealed in the pages of the Bible. The underlying continuity of the Bible is the plan and purpose instituted by God even before time began. 9 He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. 10 This has now been made evident through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 2 Timothy 1:9-10 (HCSB) 1 Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to build up the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness, 2 in the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began. 3 In His own time, He has revealed His message in the proclamation that I was entrusted with by the command of God our Savior: Titus 1:1-3 (HCSB) The plan and purpose of Jehovah-Adonai, hidden in ages past, has now been revealed to be the salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. When Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying God in the Garden of Eden, God gave the first hint of promise by stating that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent (scripturally revealed as Satan) but in the process would himself be bruised. All of the events recorded in the pages of the Scriptures are centered on this one continuous theme, showing God continually works to accomplish His will and precepts. The Bible consists of 66 books, written by about 40 authors, over several generations. These Individuals separated by time, and geographical locations, remained amazingly consistent concerning the plan and purpose set into motion by God even before the world was created. The continuity of the Scriptures and many natural events common to the earth provide undisputable proof of the reality of God, the truthfulness, and accuracy of the Scriptures. CITATIONS/REFERENCES: (a) Here is another proof that Job was familiar with the laws of gravitation, for he knew how the world was held in its place; and as for " the empty place " in the sky, Sir John Herschel has been sounding, the heavens with his powerful telescope, and gauging the stars; and where do you think lie found the most barren part--" the empty places " of the sky? In the north, precisely where Job told Bildad, the Shuhite, the empty place was stretched out. It is there where comets most delight to roam and hide themselves in emptiness. ("A Life of Matthew Fontaine Maury" by Diana Fontaine Maury Corbin. 1888 AD, p158) (b) After the 1883 eruption of the Krakatoa volcano, weather watchers tracked and mapped the effects on the sky over several years. They labeled the phenomenon the "equatorial smoke stream".[3] [4] In the 1920s, a Japanese meteorologist, Wasaburo Oishi [5] detected the jet stream from a site near Mount Fuji. He tracked pilot balloons, also known as pibals (balloons used to determine upper-level winds), [6] as they rose into the atmosphere. Oishi's work largely went unnoticed outside Japan. American pilot Wiley Post, the first man to fly around the world solo in 1933 is often given some credit for the discovery of jet streams. Post invented a pressurized suit that let him fly above 6,200 metres (20,300 (Ft)). In the year before his death, Post made several attempts at a high-altitude transcontinental flight and noticed that at times, his ground speed greatly exceeded his air speed.[7] German meteorologist Heinrich Seilkopf is credited with coining a special term, Strahlstrmung (literally "jet streaming"), for the phenomenon in 1939.[8] [9] (Modern German usage is "Strahlstrom".) Many sources credit real understanding of the nature of jet streams to regular and repeated flight-path traversals during World War II. Flyers consistently noticed westerly tailwinds in excess of 100 mph (160 km/h) in flights, for example, from the US to the UK.[10] From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ("A Life of Matthew Fontaine Maury" by Diana Fontaine Maury Corbin. 1888 AD, p158) You remember when Galileo was in prison a pump-maker came to him with his difficulties because his pump would not lift water higher than thirty-two feet. The old philosopher thought it was because the atmosphere would not press the water up any higher, but the hand of persecution was upon him, and he was afraid to say the air had weight. Now had he looked to the science of the Bible would have discovered that the "perfect man of Uz," moved by inspiration, had proclaimed the fact thousands of years before-" He maketh weight for the wind."("A Life of Matthew Fontaine Maury" by Diana Fontaine Maury Corbin. 1888 AD, p158) (c) Solomon, in a single verse, describes the circulation of the atmosphere as actual observation is now showing it to be. That it has its laws and is obedient to order as the heavenly host in their movements, we infer from the facts announced by him, and which contain the essence of volumes by other men. "All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; ""Into the place from whence, the rivers come, thither they return again." (d) Massive Southern Ocean current discovered: A deep ocean current with a volume equivalent to 40 Amazon Rivers has been discovered by Japanese and Australian scientists near the Kerguelen Plateau, in the Indian Ocean sector of the Southern Ocean, 4,200 kilometres southwest of Perth. 26 April 2010 G. W. Gerry PIPPIN 60+yrs bible study and teaching Retired Evangelist Retired Civil servant New Book - TRUTH-TRUST-FAITH -GOD in process of completion Weebly website www.AmericaNeeds God.Org. No copy write. Article may be used with permission from author Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |