HOW TO KNOW THE TRUTH

If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether
it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. (John 7:17)

One of the things that have become increasingly difficult to know in the body of Christ is what the truth is. We are now in a time in the Church when so many ‘truths’ are being taught. While some of these messages seem to be opposing, it is also not uncommon to meet two people espousing divergent opinions who can both comfortably quote not less than two verses to support their opinions, not caring whether they are rightly interpreted or not. Consequently, a new trend is developing where believers are now choosing to believe ‘truths’ not as a result of their proper scriptural merit but as a result of the influence of or a sentimental attachment to the professor of the ‘truth’. But this is wrong because such a posture separates the believer from the Scriptures and therefore his knowledge of the Lord is not a personal one but only secondhand. This is because teachings which the believer cannot confirm through the Scriptures and therefore from the Lord do not point the believer to the Lord but to the one who taught. In such a case, the believer’s faith or confidence does not rest in the power of God but in the wisdom of the one who preached.
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Therefore, the aim of this volume is to discuss how one may know the truth all the time and why it is possible for the believer to be deceived. Or, in other words, why we can believe lies to be true. The opening scripture says a lot about that:

If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. (John 7:17)

The key requirement to knowing the truth is to have a heart inclined to doing the will of God. It is such a heart that opens up the believer to true knowledge. To love to do the will of God is the key if we want to know the truth of God. The reverse is also true. Many people are also deceived because in their hearts they are not interested in doing the will of God. They are only interested in satisfying a selfish desire.

Actually a person receives ‘truth’ based on the state of his heart. This means that if a person has an evil heart concerning a matter, he will gladly receive falsehoods that pertain to the matter under consideration even as truth unto himself. Indeed such a one will move heaven and earth to hear that falsehood and fight from within the truth that contradicts that which is his utmost heart desire. Suffice it to say that an evil heart loves falsehoods as ‘truths’ and a good heart loves the truth.

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.(John 3:19-21 )

This is what I am saying; truth is never shut from a pure heart. When people claim that they are deceived, they are only deceived because they give themselves to be deceived. They love the darkness (falsehood) more than the light (truth, wisdom). They will rather hear the deception because their own hearts are evil.

For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.(Mt 13:15)

It begins with the heart waxing gross. I believe deceptions are increasing because men -and even believers- are becoming more and more evil in their desires. We have no inclination to do the will of God. In fact we do not really like God. We are just looking for some carnal ends and we have heard that in order to have these desires we must of necessity accept Jesus. Jesus, therefore, is not the end to us. To please the Lord is not the point. In our hearts, He is the means to a coveted end. Beloved, of a truth, the Lord is the inception, the means and the end.

Yes we will have money. Yes we will have great things. But in our hearts we must have it because it is the desire of the Lord for us that we should enjoy the life He has given us.

Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;
(1Tim 6:17)

And also to be a blessing to others that we may be His agents of love on this earth. As He is love, so are we love in the world. He blesses us and the blessing gives us the opportunity to return His love by loving our neighbour.

Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.(1John 4:17)

Yes we will be healed that we may be delivered from pain, but so also that we may continue to live and bear fruit to his glory.

For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
(2Co 5:14-15) 

Beloved I pray that you will incline your heart to doing the will of God. I pray that you will guard your heart from evil desire so that it may maintain a disposition to receiving and doing the revealed will of God. This way, you will know the truth when you hear it and also know what the lie is. The anointing from the Lord will teach you so that you may know what is truth.

But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things (1John 2:20)

But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. 
(1John 2:27)

May you have a heart for His will. May you be inclined to doing His will.

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. [Emphasis mine]. (John 8:31-32)

Beloved, it is possible to know the truth. But we must first have a heart for His will: a heart that seeks to do and continue in His word. Such a heart is opened to the truth. The truth flows into such a heart. Insofar as we maintain a lack of desire to do His will, the truth will be kept from us and we will believe the lies reminiscent of the state of our hearts. Thus, even when we hear the truth we will by the evil state of our hearts pervert it to the end that our understanding of it will also be wrong.

* All Scripture References are from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)