Truth on Its Head: Unusual Wisdom in the Paradoxes of the Bible by Warren Wiersbe

Author:Warren Wiersbe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Criticism, interpretation, Bible, paradox
Publisher: Weaver Book Company
Published: 2016-07-01T07:00:00+00:00

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. . . . And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. (Eph. 5:8, 11)

Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. (Phil. 2:14–15)

OUR WORLD TODAY claims to be basking in the sunshine of unprecedented enlightenment, but I have my doubts that this assessment is true. I confess that enlightenment has been great in some areas of science, medicine, and communications, but I fear we are plunging more and more into darkness when it comes to obeying the law, respecting human rights, exercising wisdom, building character, and learning to love and serve one another to the glory of God.

To obtain these blessings we need the help of the Lord, but unfortunately God has officially been removed from the availability list. The major goal in life today seems to be increased enjoyment rather than developing moral and spiritual enlightenment and enrichment. I think we are living in a culture of darkness that is growing darker every day. There are more than two hundred references to darkness in the Bible, not just physical darkness but also a satanic darkness that controls both the minds and hearts of unbelievers and attacks the lives and ministries of believers.

The thickest darkness I have ever experienced was deep in the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. Our guide warned us that the lights would be turned off briefly and that we must not move from our places. When the lights went out, you can be sure we obeyed! It gave me some idea of what the Egyptians experienced when God punished them with three days of thick darkness (Exod. 10:21–29). But that kind of darkness is only the absence of light. The spiritual darkness described in the Bible is a powerful force of its own, signifying the presence and work of the devil (Luke 22:53). “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). That is a sobering sentence.

What are the essentials for God’s people that they might be able to overcome the hosts of darkness in today’s “enlightened” world?

We Must Surrender Ourselves Wholly to the Lord

The word “body” is used seven times in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:29–30; 6:22, 23, 25), because what we do with our body will either glorify the Lord or disgrace the name of Jesus (Matt. 5:13–20). I want to focus on Matthew 6:22–23. (See page 70 of quotations.) The believer’s body is God’s temple, indwelt by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19–20). Jesus purchased our body by the shedding of His blood on the cross, and He wants us so to live that we will always glorify God.

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