There Are No Shades of Grey God Is Truth

John 17:17 Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. (NLT)

The Garden was beautiful that day, as it always was. The sun shone down and the trees clapped their hands at the handiwork of God. The Garden contained all anyone could have ever asked for. Man walked with his creator, God Himself. The Garden of Eden was paradise itself. There was Adam the first man and his wife, Eve. But the serpent was cunning. He starts out his assault against Eve by mixing some truth with some untruth. Just enough to engage her in a conversation. "Did God really say you were not to eat from the trees in the Garden?" Now the enemy knew full well that this is not what God had said. God had only prohibited eating from one tree in the Garden, not all of them. But realize the purpose here for this sentence is merely to engage Eve in a conversation. While it is true that eating the fruit was the act of disobedience which led to the fall of man, it never progresses that far without the conversation. That is what the enemy still tries today. He is still asking half-true questions and proposing half lie answers. All in an effort to engage us in a conversation. All he can do is present something for us to consider. It is always in opposition to what God has already said and what we know to be true but like Eve before us we engage in the conversation and get distracted within.

Fast forward over a thousand years. A great victory for a fledgling nation. A mighty deliverance by the hand of God. The walls crumbled before the power of Almighty God. Jericho is defeated! In the midst of the celebrating and praising God, the enemy enters as he always does, slyly and subtly. Just as he slithered up to Eve; he now targets Achan the Israelite. He too is celebrating but instead of focusing on all God had just given him and his people, the enemy distracts him with something he does not have and has been told he cannot have. It is not a fruit this time which is pleasing to Achan's eye for the devil to point out. Just a "wedge of gold the enemy says, no one will miss it." Surely Achan must have resisted a bit at first "But God said not to take the devoted things." The enemy, ever-persistent, steps up the attack by showing Achan a beautiful Babylonian Robe and whispering again "You deserve this robe; look how bravely you fought today. It's not like you are taking everything!" And at that moment, Satan has trapped his prey. A stronghold is set up in Achan's mind against what God had specifically warned the Israelites about. He covets what he knows he cannot have and he takes it anyway. All the devil can do is present something for us to consider. It is always in opposition to what God has already said and what we know to be true but like Eve and Achan before us we engage in the conversation and get distracted within.

Fast forward several hundred more years and we see another scene. A husband and wife. Prominent; well-to-do. They are part of a new movement in the world. Followers of "The Way." Believers in a recently crucified carpenter from Galilee. The upstart church members shared everything they had with one another so that no one would want. Because they did and because of the powerful testimony of the Gospel, the spread of Christianity was underway. Ananias and Sapphira sold a piece of property and were deciding what to do with the money they received for it. The devil slithered up to them too. Just a little whisper.

"You shouldn't have to give all of the money to the Apostles."

"This was your property, why shouldn't you have some of the money for yourself and your wife you deserve it."

"They won't even know how much you really got for the property anyway."

So the enemy successfully ensnares another. This time two for the price of one. All the devil can do is present something for us to consider. It is always in opposition to what God has already said and what we know to be true but like Eve before us; like Achan before us, like Ananias and Sapphira before us we engage in the conversation and get distracted within.

Hindu sage, Ramana Maharshi once said, "There is no Truth.  There is only the truth within each moment." English playwright W. Somerset Maugham said, "Man has always sacrificed truth to his vanity, comfort and advantage.  He lives... by make-believe. But whether you ascribe to the esoteric teachings of false religions or the humanistic tendencies of man it matters not to absolute truth because absolute truth never changes. Realize beloved that it is the concept of absolute truth that angers so many about Christianity to begin with. Jesus did not speak in wishy-washy tones.

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

This kind of statement ruffles the feathers of man because it offends the vanity he so wishes to stroke, the comfort he seeks within his own set of morals and the advantage he always desires for himself over others. The more esoteric thinking allows a fluidity to truth that is not accurate either. Truth does not change from moment to moment. How do we know this? Because God is truth and:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8

This should be a comfort for all believers because it provides a firm foundation upon which to stand in the face of this world and a rock upon which to base our lives. Yet we too can be like Eve, Achan, and Ananias and Sapphira before us and engage in a conversation with the enemy.

Before we get a grasp on this we must realize that there is absolute truth in the world and it is the Word of God. In a world that believes in shades of grey the Bible provides us with the black and white truth of God. The world purposefully blurs what is black and white into grey to feel better about their sin. Eve knew she should not eat the fruit. Achan knew he should not take the devoted things. Ananias and Sapphira knew they should not lie to the Apostles. Yet they all did. The enemy whispered his lies into their ears and changed what they knew was black and white into shades of grey. God however has spoken directly to Eve and there was no grey in His commands. He had spoken to the Israelites, including Achan and there was no grey in his commands. Ananias and Sapphira followed the Apostles who walked directly with Jesus once again there is no ambiguity within the commands Jesus laid out for His followers.

And for us today, God has also spoken and His commands are black and white. There are no grey areas. His Word is the Bible in which we place out faith. Our key verse today reminds us that His Word is truth in a world that vacillates truth based upon personal whims. The Bible is absolute and inerrant.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2Timothy 3: 16-17

The Bible is the means God has given us for training and equipping us to do His work here on earth. Within its pages is absolute truth in a world that is blurred into grey. That is why the enemy spends so much effort to try and marginalize it. Because if he can succeed in confusing people into thinking the Bible is not absolute truth, then his lies work much more effectively. Because while God is truth, the enemy is the opposite:

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44

Lying is the native language of the enemy. There is NO truth in him. None. Conversely, there is nothing deceptive in God. They are opposites. Now that we have established the absoluteness of truth in God and the absoluteness of deception in Satan; we can better understand how the enemy attacks us. The enemy seeks a conversation with us, where he can tell his lies for our consideration. That is it. We give too much power to the devil sometimes. The devil cannot make you do anything because if he could, he would kill us all. He can't. All he can do is present us with an argument; something for us to consider. It will always be in opposition to the truth we know in God. Just as he whispered to Eve and Achan and Ananias and Sapphira he will whisper into our lives as well.

"You have no hope for a future, just give up."

"It's only a little money; they won't even notice it is missing."

"Your wife doesn't give you what you need, God understands."

No hope for a future? Try Jeremiah 29:11. Only a little money? Try Exodus 20:15. Confused about adultery? Try reading Matthew chapter five. For ANY lie the enemy whispers into your life God has the promise or command in His Word to counteract that lie. Remember, what the enemy represents is always a lie. It is not possible for him to tell the truth. What God represents is always the truth; it is not possible for Him to lie. Which are you going to believe? This is the essence of spiritual warfare. The enemy to your soul has lied to you and is presenting to you something for you to consider. To Eve, he had her considering the possibilities of being like God. For Achan, the enemy had him considering what God had said was untouchable; the taboo. For Ananias and Sapphira, the enemy used greed to distort the truth in their lives.

In our lives it may not be any of these three. It may be lies about who we are in Christ. It might be about our past. It might be a lie about our state of mental health you are depressed you are anxious. The enemy will use our own feelings against us. He will ask you to believe your feelings over your beliefs. Maybe it is a secret sin. Lust, pride, anger, bitterness. The enemy will use anything to engage you in a conversation as he seeks to establish a foothold in your thinking. Eve dismissed what she had been told by God directly. Achan also dismissed the commands of God. Ananias and Sapphira dismissed the Holy Spirit within them! All for lies.

Because in the end, that is all the enemy has lies. All he can do is present us with something to consider. It will always be in direct opposition to what we already know from the direct Word of God the Bible. We still have the free will to choose which we will believe. When discussing spiritual warfare Paul outlined for us this battle:

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2Corinthians 10: 4-5

Eve, Achan and Ananias and Sapphira all tried to fight off the enemy with the weapons of this world. They tried to rationalize with him conversate with him. When the devil told Eve that she would not die if she ate the fruit that was an argument set up against the knowledge of God. When the enemy whispered to Achan how beautiful the Babylonian robe was and how no one would miss it; that was a pretension set up against the knowledge of God. When the enemy whispered into Ananias and Sapphira's ears to lie to the Apostles, those were pretensions set up against the knowledge of God. They all made the same mistakes. First they engaged in a conversation with the enemy. Secondly, they considered the argument whispered into their ears instead of making them obedient to Christ by wielding the truth against the lies. Lastly, with the lies posing as truth in their lives and footholds firmly established in their thinking, they each fell. Eve's sin led to the fall of man. Achan's led to a humiliating defeat for Israel and eventually the death of Achan to correct the sin. Ananias and Sapphira were both struck dead by the power of God. The enemy did not kill them any more than he caused the fall of man. These were direct results of choices made. That is what life comes down to. Our lives are a conglomeration of choices we make every day. What to do, what to say, what to believe. All the enemy can do is present us with a choice, an argument. It is always a lie and we have the absolute truth in our possession to refute it. Take those pretensions into captivity, do not consider the lie, do not even engage in the conversation.

Reverend Anthony Wade April 8, 2010