Warning to the rich

 

1Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.  

2Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.  

3Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.  

4Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.  

5Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.  

6Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.      James 5:1-6

 Note: And also a warning to the spiritually rich (Laodicea)

Truth is solid as solid as the rocks of Zion National Park, Utah

However, at the second coming of Jesus, the rocks will fall, for the "...heavens (will) depart... and every mountain and island (will be) moved out of their places... and men... (will hide) themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, and (say) to the mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne..."  Revelation 6:14.15.16.
In contrast to the crumbling rocks of this world, God's Word -- the Bible -- can never fail.    It is the foundation of all doctrine.
Bible truth is a solid as a diamond.    It cannot fail. If the doctrine we believe is not in the Bible, it is not salvational truth.   We may have believed it all our lives.   Our parents may have believed it and our grand parents.   But if it is not clearly seen in God's Word, it is not truth.
Of course there is much truth not in the Bible, but Christian doctrine can only be found there.  Unless we can show our beliefs from the Scriptures, they must be put aside.   Prayerfully we need to begin searching for the truth, absolute truth.
Truth is not relative.   It does not change according to culture, time or place.   God's truth is eternal.
The truths of the Bible did not come "by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."  2 Peter 1:21.   This is true of prophecy as well as other teachings of Scripture.   It is not to be privately interpreted, but line upon line must be compared and studied.
Our prayer will be 'Give me your truth Lord.   I want truth that can be clearly seen as truth, so that I might stand on the Word with confidence.   When challenged I want to be able to prove it from the Scriptures.'

We must love truth, not just the truth we know, but truth not yet revealed, even if it is different to what we already believe.   Am I willing to put aside those doctrines that do not have their foundation in the Bible, no matter how much I love them?   We may have believed error all our lives and found it comforting, but if it is error, it has no saving grace. Am I willing to put it aside, even if I have to stand alone -- at home, in church and society.   If I am called a heretic, so be it.
However, our love for truth must go beyond the doctrine to men and women who have not yet discovered it. We must love them at all cost, even if they become our enemies.   Jesus is our supreme example.   He was the truth, yet they put Him to death.  He is "the way, the truth and the life" today.  John 14:6.   There is not one way for you with your truth and one way for me with my truth.   Jesus is the only way.   He is the only truth.  God's Son is the one truth for all men, and eternal life comes through Him alone.

We are told not to add or take away from Scripture or we will lose eternal life. Revelation 22:18.19. It is serious.
If I refuse to believe the doctrine of the Bible, am I not taking away from truth?    If I believe something not in the Bible, am I not adding to truth?  
Those who do not love the truth will soon believe a lie, for "God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."   2 Thessalonians 2:10-12.    The errors we believe are not the righteousness of God.

"For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass.  The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
But the Word of the Lord endureth for ever.   And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." 1 Peter 1:24.25                                        Margaretha Tierney

Doctrine Must Bear Scrutiny of Great Men

"Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life." Every position of truth taken by our people will bear the criticism of the greatest minds; the highest of the world's great men will be brought in contact with truth, and therefore every position we take should be critically examined and tested by the Scriptures. Now we seem to be unnoticed, but this will not always be. Movements are at work to bring us to the front, and if our theories of truth can be picked to pieces by historians or the world's greatest men, it will be done.

 We must individually know for ourselves what is truth, and be prepared to give a reason of the hope that we have with meekness and fear, not in a proud, boasting, self-sufficiency, but with the spirit of Christ. We are nearing the time when we shall stand individually alone to answer for our belief. Religious errors are multiplying and entwining themselves with Satanic power about the people. There is scarcely a doctrine of the Bible that has not been denied.--Letter 6, 1886.  Evangelism p. 69