Daniel 8:11 — Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.
Daniel 8:12 — And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.
Christ is the Author of all truth
The history of the world is paved with conflicts and opposition against Bible Truth.
Christ is the Author of all Truth. And the devil is the author, the founder, father and master of lies.
John 8:44 — Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Whatever a man knows about God and the nature of man; about good and evil; about our relationship to God and our duty and purpose in this life; about our future and destiny is only revealed to us through the revelation of Christ.
There is no research centre, laboratory or museum where we can go to learn the things of God. We cannot rely on scientific method nor the reasoning of philosophy to provide a clear path to the Truth of God. It can only be obtained through Divine revelation.
The truth cast down to the ground
Daniel chapter 8 highlights the brutal persecution inflicted on God’s people by Rome, and the relentless battle to suppress Bible Truth. Pagan Rome magnified their satanic power against Christ when they abused and crucified Him.
Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life — to walk with Him is freedom — to know Him is life eternal.
John 14:6 — Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John 17:3 — And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
But the devil wanted Him and everything that He stands for out of the way.
Daniel 8:12 says that the evil force cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.
For many years Rome practised and prospered in her scheme of wickedness against the Truth. She did what she pleased, and succeeded against the Truth for a while, with little opposition.
Rome was permitted to continue the horrible acts against God’s Truth and His people so that we can understand the conflict between Truth and error and the nature of our warfare in these last days.
According to the inspirational insight of one writer, “There is an irrepressible conflict between truth and error. To uphold and defend the one is to attack and overthrow the other.”
Whose side will you stand on?
This great conflict is now approaching crisis point with rapid speed and intensity. Everyone is now deciding whose side to stand on. Will you take a stand for Bible truth or the traditions of man?
Mark 7:7 — Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Those who choose the traditions of man over Bible Truth will do so at an incredible loss.
Truth scattered to the four winds
In his work Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, Isaac Newton contrasts the “few and obscure” prophecies of Christ’s first coming with the “many and clear Prophecies” regarding His second coming, which he believed would restore truth and establish a righteous kingdom.
Sir Isaac Newton, the Englishman who studied the prophecies, accurately saw that the truth of God would be gathered and restored. He wrote that:
The many and clear Prophecies concerning the things to be done at Christ’s second coming, are not only for predicting but also for effecting a recovery and re-establishment of the long-lost truth, and setting up a kingdom wherein dwells righteousness.
— Isaac Newton, Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John (London, 1733), Part II, chapter 1, page 252
John Milton the poet, in an address to the English Parliament, said:
Truth indeed came once into the world with her divine Master, and was a perfect shape most glorious to look on: but when he ascended, and his Apostles after him were laid asleep, then straight arose a wicked race of deceivers, who … took the virgin Truth, hewed her lovely form into a thousand pieces, and scattered them to the four winds. From that time ever since, the sad friends of Truth, such as durst appear … went up and down gathering up limb by limb, still as they could find them. We have not yet found them all, Lords and Commons, nor ever shall do, till her Master’s second coming; he shall bring together every joint and member, and shall mould them into an immortal feature of loveliness and perfection.
— John Milton, Areopagitica (1644)
Milton thought all parts of the cast-down truth would not be gathered until Christ returns.
But the sad friends of Truth went up and down, gathering limb by limb still as they could find them — and they have done a mighty good job.
The friends of truth gathered it, piece by piece
The Waldenses kept the true manuscript of the Bible. The Bible is God’s Truth, designed to lead man back to Himself.
John Huss found the truth of obedience to God’s law. The Law of God is His Truth, given to guide the path of humanity.
Psalm 119:142 — Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.
Martin Luther found the truth of God’s grace. He highlighted the fact of salvation: that it is not by the works of the church of Rome, nor by its dogmas or traditions, but by the grace of God.
Ephesians 2:8 — For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.
Habakkuk 2:4 — Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
John Calvin discovered and gathered the truth of Christian growth in Christ.
The Anabaptists discovered the truth of baptism by immersion.
John Wesley discovered the truth of holiness unto God, or what is known as a sanctified life.
William Miller discovered the truth of Christ’s second coming. His discovery caused an awakening and enlightenment that brought the other parts of truth to light.
Present truth for our time
The pioneers discovered the Sanctuary Truth — that Christ our High Priest in heaven has now entered into the final phase of the antitypical Day of Atonement in heaven.
They also discovered that the Ten Commandments are essential for these last days. The true Seventh-day Sabbath was discovered and greatly emphasised; the state of the dead was discovered; righteousness by faith; the Spirit of Prophecy. All of these are present truth for our time — one truth in Christ that must be rightly divided to all the world. This is the only Truth in Christ that is established to set sinners free, and it was cast down by the evil one.
John 8:32 — And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
The series began with What Is Bible Truth?, which opens with Pilate’s question in John 18:38 and answers it from Scripture: truth is of God, Christ is truth made visible, and Bible truth must be known, must transform us, and must be rightly divided. Part Two turns on 2 Peter 1:12 — why Bible truth must be kept ever before the people, and why it cannot be known without the Spirit of truth. Part Three turns on 1 Timothy 3:15 — the church as the pillar and ground of the truth, the truth cast down in Daniel 8, and God’s commandments as the truth.
If this study has raised something you would like to talk through, the team reads every message: ask a Bible question, or send a prayer request.
On the Sanctuary Truth the pioneers recovered, The Sanctuary works through the earthly pattern and the heavenly ministry of Christ our High Priest; on the power that cast the truth to the ground, Daniel Chapter 8 follows the little horn and the 2300 days; and The Three Angels’ Messages sets out the present truth that is to go to every nation.
Continue studying
Or browse everything in Blog.
1 Timothy 3:15
What Is Bible Truth? Part Three
1 Timothy 3:15 calls the church of the living God the pillar and ground of the truth, and asks how we ought to behave ourselves in the house of God. This part takes up the one church built on that truth, the truth cast down to the ground in Daniel 8, God's commandments as the truth by which every soul will be judged, and the last great conflict between truth and error that is now being decided.
2 Peter 1:12
What Is Bible Truth? Part Two
2 Peter 1:12 has Peter resolve not to be negligent in putting believers in remembrance of these things, though they know them and are established in the present truth. This part takes up why Bible truth must be kept ever before the people, what it does for those who walk in it, and why truth cannot be known without the Spirit of truth — for it begins with Christ and ends with Him.
John 18:38
What Is Bible Truth?
John 18:38 records Pilate's question to Christ: What is truth? This study answers it from Scripture — truth is of God and Christ is its visible manifestation, and Bible truth must be known, must transform us, and must be rightly divided, for it is the truth that sets us free from the bondage of sin.