THE TRUMA
OF DISCOVERING TRUTH
Trauma, In Everyday Life
A little about Trauma in general: I have been the victim of an act of violence; I have been shot at and hit by a car. So I know some little something about trauma, although I know nothing compared to others. I have also experienced the shock of learning that something I believed, was not true. I know that none of this is 'pleasant' or something to be tried if avoidable. The problem is; that change is not avoidable, nor is learning.
Trauma in Christian Life
What happened to me is just like what happens to almost every other Christian, more or less, if not exactly.
I was born to parents who were raised Baptist. But my father discovered some teachings of that religious body that he did not agree with, so he looked around, and then joined the Church of his choice. (Which, I hasten to add, we should all do.)
I was born into that religious body, and attended three or more times per week for the first 17 years of my life, being taught that congregation's doctrine and dogma.
I don't remember ever making a decision to believe God, or His Word; I have always believed, and often thought that I came from my mother's womb with a God given faith.
Still, I was taught to believe what I was taught: (which is what I mean by, "what happens to almost every other Christian, more or less...")
I did not discover, for 20 some odd years, that some of the things I was taught were in error. One error concerns the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. (More on this another time, perhaps).
Two other errors concern the timing of the coming of the Lord.
a) "No man can know when the Lord will come." This is a lie. We cannot know the day or hour (exact time), but we can know the generation (general time). Knowing that spring follows winter is not the same as knowing the day and hour spring will arrive. We can know spring will come without knowing the exact time.
Knowing the Lord will come as one event in a sequence of events, is not the same as 'knowing the day or hour of His return.' We know He will return for the battle of Armageddon: will we be blind to the armies of the world gathering in that valley of Megiddo?
b) That the Lord returned in AD 70: Preterism. I did not (to the best of my memory) discover the name, and/or all the details of this false doctrine until after I was over 20 years old!
Let me tell you first, that the discovery that what I was taught from my childhood to my 21st year was wrong was shocking, disturbing, it shook my confidence; it caused me to question the meaning of His Word; and then, finally, it caused me to search His Word with new energy, with the realization that I am responsible for my belief of what His Word teaches. That vague organization "the Church" is no longer responsible for what I believe: I am.
Let me tell you second, that taking responsibility for what I believe His Word teaches gave me a new assurance, a deeper dependence on the idea that, "He said what He means, and means what He said." I know that my God is strong enough to defend His Word, and deliver it to His people, and to me, as He intended. I know that His Word is a Living Thing of Spirit, not dried ink on paper which can be destroyed by Satan, or corrupted by man.
Let me tell you third, that I believe beyond any shadow of any doubt that we are saved by His Grace and Mercy, by the Blood of His Lamb; not by our ability to get every scrap and paragraph of our doctrine and dogma correct. We are saved by Faith, and even that not of our own, but it is a gift of God. Eph 2:8.
So we are saved by Faith, not by our IQ, our education, or our theology, doctrine, dogma, eschatology; and not by our works, (although if we say we have faith and that faith is not seen in our conduct, then we only deceive ourselves).
If we are saved by faith, then what difference does it make if premillennialism is right or wrong, or if Preterism is a lie, or not? As for being saved? None, not any at all.
But if doctrine and eschatology mean nothing to our salvation, then why did Jesus say, "Be not deceived?" Mark 13:5, Luke 21:8, 2 Thes 2:3 "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition..." and, 2 Thes 2:11 "For this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie..."
Jesus said "do not be deceived" because He knows that deception is a chink in our armor. Being deceived is going into battle without a helmet against an enemy with armor and a hammer. A lie is like an arrow, which, when lodged in our mind, prevents us from thinking, from being able to reason and defend our faith from further attacks of yet stronger lies.
A person who chooses to believe lies, chooses to reject truth and is deceived by his own choice, has no love of Truth and will embrace delusion.
Delusion is to faith an enemy with an ax and a knife in battle against a one arm man.
That first lie puts a chink in our armor, and the next opens our breastplate. The next lie, an arrow, pierces our faith, and we stumble. Then lies like darts penetrate our mind, and we are unable to reason, or to use logic to defend our weakened faith. Now evil spirits swarm over us, and they, the hammers of hell, pound more lies into our head until faith is dead. Then the demons of hell dance on our fallen soul.
So I turned away from the Lie that there is no gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38-40 "For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." If you hear His call, then the promise of His Gift of His Spirit is for you.
So I turned away from the Lie that no man can "know when," because Noah knew "when" even if he did not know the day or hour. Moses' generation knew when, even thought they did not know the day or hour. John the Baptist generation knew when, even thought they did not know the day our hour. Our generation can know "when" even though we cannot know that day or hour.
So I turned away from the Lie of Preterism, because war and sin are still with us, because the false prophets are still with us, because the names of the idols and false gods are still remembered, and worshiped, to this day.
I began to search for an eschatology which would be supported by the simple meaning of His Word. I found much to be appreciated in the Premillennial Churches. However, on closer investigation I discovered that the doctrine of "the rapture" is a lie. Looking deeper, I found that the millennial reign of Christ on this earth is also a lie.
The Truth Is In His Word
Yes, what happened to me is just like what happens to almost every other Christian, more or less, if not exactly. I discovered that some of the things I had been taught were wrong; that was traumatic and it shook my faith. I learned, too, that I am responsible to God for what I have chosen to believe.
Yes, it was disturbing to discover that something I believed is wrong; but it is better to discover it, and then search for the Truth, than to allow Satan to use it against me on the day of my last, and fatal, battle.
"At the time of the end the wise will understand." Daniel.
ASK; It Is Time.
