The Christian is concerned primarily with truth, and especially with Him who is Truth incarnated.
Facts are not to be despised. They are to be sought for their practical value and used in the service of truth, but they are never to be allowed to substitute for those "treasures of wisdom and knowledge" which are hidden in Christ.
In this day of moral confusion, truth is not always understood to be a master to which we must render obedience; it is rather conceived to be a servant which we may use to further ends that lie outside of truth.
Private ends are often sought by the aid of truth, ends that stand outside of and bear no relation whatever to truth itself.
If we were to observe strict accuracy, we should always capitalize the word Truth, for when we have pushed it back as far as we can, we will come to God Himself.
For this reason, truth will always be the master, never the servant.
And truth can never be understood apart from its moral and spiritual implications.
verse
Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'
— John 14:6
thought
Christ is the Truth. He is the way, the truth and the life. Through Him we come to the Father Himself.
prayer
Thank You, Lord, I can know truth in experientially knowing You.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
One of the great religious thinkers of this century has pointed out a strange contradiction in the mental attitude of our times our eager love of knowledge and our universal neglect of truth.
That men love knowledge is too well demonstrated to need proof, if by knowledge we mean facts, know-how, statistics, technical information, scientific and mechanical skills.
Our printing presses are constantly rolling out books crammed with useful information.
Our schools are bulging with eager students bent on acquiring all possible knowledge in the shortest possible time.
Among the most popular and lucrative radio programs on the air today are those designed to discover how many unrelated bits of information the participants possess.
"Who? What? When? Where?" run the endless questions, and the impression is created that the one who can answer the greatest number is in some way a superior person.
It is vitally important that we make a sharp distinction between knowledge and truth , that is, between the knowledge that is but the sum of facts we possess and truth which is a moral and spiritual thing.
It is possible to fill the mind with facts and be none the better for it, for facts have no moral or spiritual significance.
Facts bear the same relation to truth that a corpse bears to a man.
They serve as a medium whereby truth relates itself to outward life and circumstance but must depend for their significance upon the inner essence of truth.
verse
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
— John 16:13
thought
"What is truth?" that poignant question of Pilate (John 18:38). Christ has sent the Spirit to guide us into all truth. Are we responsive to our Guide? Are we seeking truth?
prayer
O Father, may I pursue Truth and not be satisfied with just facts and knowledge.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
Two other considerations may help us here.
One is that our Lord did on at least one occasion pray for sinners. "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing," was a request made to God on behalf of evil men.
Is it not reasonable that if Christ prayed for sinners once, He may be expected to pray for them again?
Also we must remember that Jesus was a Son of man and frequently referred to Himself by that title. As such, He had and has a relationship to the whole human race.
Is it thinkable that He would not pray for the race to which He belonged?
I realize that we are on holy ground right here, and common modesty would urge us to withhold any dogmatic judgments. But I believe that the question, Does our Lord pray for the unsaved? may be answered truthfully as follows:
(1) As High Priest of His own redeemed people, Christ prays an efficacious prayer of intercession which avails only for those who trust Him as their Redeemer and Lord.
This prayer is found in essence in John 17.
(2) As Son of man and Savior, He prays for the lost world as well.
Unless His prayers for the world were ascending to heaven, the judgment of God would not be withheld for a moment from the earth.
verse
Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.'
— Luke 23:34
thought
Amazing the love of Christ! He asks the Father to forgive those responsible for His crucifixion because they do not understand what they are doing. He models in His death what He instructs us to practice in life (Luke 6:35-36).
prayer
Lord, I want to be a faithful intercessor for brothers and sisters in Christ, for those who have not yet received You, and for those who are my enemies.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
Christ in His high priestly prayer specifically states, "I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me" (John 17:9).
That is what He said; it only remains to learn by reverent comparison with other Scripture just what the words mean.
To insist that by these words Christ meant that He never prayed for sinners would be to read into the words more than is there. We must remember that these words were spoken in a particular context; the great High Priest was appearing before the throne of mercy as Advocate and Intercessor and could at that time include in His prayers only those who were His own.
When a high priest of the Old Testament appeared before the mercy seat to offer blood for the sins of Israel, his intercessions extended to Israel only.
They were the only ones for whom that atonement was made.
They were the only ones who trusted in Him and looked to Him for help.
Christ came in fulfillment of the Old Testament type, and it may safely be assumed that the prayer of John 17 was made only for those who accept Christ's atonement and avail themselves of the protection it affords.
verse
Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
— Hebrews 7:25
thought
Christ as our High Priest made the only sacrifice necessary for us. Now He ever lives to intercede for us. He prays for us!
prayer
Thank You for Your intercession for me, Lord. Even today You are praying for me!
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
The question being discussed by many these days why religion is increasing and morality slipping, all at the same time finds its answer in this very error, the error of religious intellectualism.
Men have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof.
The text alone will not elevate the moral life. To become morally effective, the truth must be accompanied by a mystic element, the very element supplied by the Spirit of truth.
The Holy Spirit will not be banished to a footnote without taking terrible vengeance against His banishers.
That vengeance may be seen today in the nervous, giggling, worldly minded and thoroughly carnal fundamentalism that is spreading over the land.
Doctrinally, it wears the robes of scriptural belief, but beyond that it resembles the religion of Christ and His apostles not at all.
The mysterious presence of the Spirit is vitally necessary if we are to avoid the pitfalls of religion. As the fiery pillar led Israel through the wilderness, so the Spirit of truth must lead us all our journey through.
One text alone could improve things mightily for us if we would but obey it
: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5).
verse
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
— Proverbs 3:5-6
thought
Trusting in the LORD with all our heartrelieves us of dependence upon our own understanding. Acknowledging Him in all our ways invites Him to make our paths straight. All of which opens the way to deeper perception.
prayer
Forgive me, Holy Spirit, for overdependence on my own understanding and so relegating You to a footnote. I want to trust You with all my heart.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
One of the heaviest problems the inquiring Christian faces today is why so many good and apparently sincere religious leaders are going so far astray from the plain teachings and practices of the New Testament.
Destructive elements are being innocently introduced into present-day worship and service by Bible-loving evangelicals, elements so opposed to the true genius of Christianity that the two are mutually exclusive. One or the other must go.
Either these new parasitic growths must be destroyed, or they will in a short time destroy the Christian faith.
Yet these deadly things are encouraged in the churches by some of the most zealous orthodox leaders. Why?
The answer is simpler than we might suppose.
These leaders are depending on their brain to guide them in their religious practices. They conceive the truth to be a doctrinal deposit, a kind of a theological road map to lead them to heaven.
They check the map to make sure they are going the right direction, and after that they are on their own. No Unseen Guide is necessary.
If they should be attacked by doubts, they need only stop under a lamppost and reassure themselves that they have indeed "accepted" Christ.
Then they get underway again with complete confidence that they are on the same road as the apostles and prophets.
verse
Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.
— Psalm 46:10
thought
Do we need to turn down the sound systems, deemphasize the tempo, reduce the chatter and just be quiet before the Lord? Are our church services in danger of becoming soulish rather than spiritual?
prayer
It is in the quiestness of heart that I hear You, Lord, when the noise subsides and there is just You and me.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
Always the decisive conflict in religion will be where important concepts are joined in opposition, concepts so vital that they are capable of saving or wrecking the Christian faith in any given generation.
At this critical juncture in church history, the real conflict is between those who hold to an objective Christianity capable of being grasped in its entirety by the human intellect and those who believe that there are far-in areas of religious experience so highly spiritual, so removed from and exalted above mere reason, that it takes a special anointing of the Holy Spirit to make them understood by the human heart.
The difference is not academic merely.
Should the advocates of religious intellectualism succeed in setting the direction for the church in this generation, the next generation of Christians will become helpless victims of dead orthodoxy.
In conversation with one of the better-known devotees of neo-intellectualism in evangelical circles,
I asked the question bluntly, "Do you actually believe that everything essential in the Christian faith may be grasped by the human intellect?"
The answer was immediate "If I did not, I would be on my way toward agnosticism."
I did not say, but might properly have said, "And if you do, you are on your way toward rationalism."
For such indeed is the truth.
verse
This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.
— 1 Corinthians 2:13
thought
There is truth beyond the grasp of human wisdom spiritual truth taught and interpreted by the Holy Spirit. That truth is in no way contradictory to the Written Word. It is a deeper level of understanding.
prayer
"Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit Divine!"
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/ayer
There is a deeply spiritual and thoroughly mystical quality in New Testament religion that we cannot afford to ignore if we would be Christians in fact as well as in name.
I think it well to let our worshiping hearts decide our theological questions.
After the purity of the text has been established and the mind assured that the translation is trustworthy, the best source of true light is always the Spirit-illuminated heart.
A praying heart, aglow with love for God, will intuit truth, will pass behind the veil and see and hear that which is not lawful to be uttered, which indeed cannot be uttered or even intellectually understood.
It is my opinion that the real battle line in the theological war today is not the line that separates fundamentalism from liberalism.
That war has been fought and won.
No one need be in any wise confused on the question of Bible theology versus man-conceived liberalism.
Both sides have said their say boldly.
Everyone can know where he stands on such matters as the inspiration of the Scriptures, the deity of Jesus Christ, salvation through the blood of atonement, death and judgment, heaven and hell.
The true battle line is elsewhere.
verse
However, as it is written: 'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him' ? but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
— 1 Corinthians 2:9-10
thought
Spiritual truth is spiritually discerned. The intellect is certainly active but there is truth communicated by the Holy Spirit to our human spirit which is beyond intellectual understanding.
prayer
Lord, give me a heartunderstanding of You and Your truth!
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
Most religious people have been guilty of multiplying words as substitutes for worthy deeds, and of all such the writer of these lines is probably the worst offender.
But because we have offended is not sufficient reason for our going on to repeat the offense.
It is better that we face the whole thing with self-effacing humility and try to correct our fault. It remains only to be said that where shallow eloquence is most out of place and where it is oftenest found is the prayer meeting.
The most halting speaker seems to become unusually fluent when he kneels to pray, especially when he has an audience.
I have heard much flowery speech in the prayer room, and I suppose I have uttered a good deal of it. But again, there is no reason for continuing to utter words without wisdom.
A conscious sense of the presence of God is a wonderful cure for empty talk, whether in the pulpit or in the pew.
When the Holy Spirit falls on a man, he is likely to become strangely eloquent.
Out of the awe and silence of the soul comes an uprushing of power-filled words that move the hearts of the hearers to tears and to action.
Such eloquence as this is something else; of this we do not here speak.
Of this latter we need a great deal more, but we can do with a lot fewer empty words in religious circles.
verse
They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely.
— Mark 12:40
thought
Prayers from the heart prayed to God, as if no one else were listening, are strangely moving, aren't they. Then there are those long, well-rehearsed prayers addressed to people as if God might be listening in.
prayer
O God, teach me to pray!
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