Every Fact Is To Be Confirmed

“But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed.”  Matthew 18:16

The Lord Jesus Christ, in preparing the apostles (and eventually the brethren as a whole) on how to conduct discipline in the church which He was going to build (Matt. 16:18), emphasized a critical Old Testament principle that was to be present in the proceedings. The need for at least two to three witnesses and every fact was to be established. Jesus quoted from the book of Deuteronomy, chapter nineteen, verse fifteen which reads, “A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.”

This principle also offers additional evidence of the righteous character of our God and Father. Among a moral and God fearing people, this standard, if observed, insured no one could be railroaded, castigated or condemned by mere hearsay, motivated by jealousy or greed. He who is the just and the justifier, wanted justice righteously executed in His household.

Consensus?

In case you hadn’t noticed, the popular means by which the political or religious affiliations of the world implement their various agendas and garner approval among the masses is by “consensus”. If a majority of so-called highly trained experts in that field hold the same opinion, even when based upon somewhat suspect statistics that can be manipulated to support any number of conclusions, well then, they must be telling the truth, right? Hey, by the mouth of two or three of their specially selected witnesses (who figure to gain financially or otherwise) they confirm the prevailing perception of truth. One little problem, they’re not going to let the actual facts confuse their conclusion. Their assumptions always trump any actual observable facts that may raise flags concerning their conclusions.

A couple of current political issues that are an example of consensus supposedly representing the truth are global warming and the need in the recent past for the economic stimulus bill.

In the case of the political hot potato of global warming (yes, a definite pun intended), the latest scandal of data being manipulated to produce desired results so the government grant monies would keep on rolling in is of no consequence. See, the consensus is unchanged among the experts. Hmmmm.

The reasoning behind the last 900 billion dollar economic stimulus bill was that the financial institutions were broke, unable to payoff huge debts  due to terrible financial decisions, leaving little or no money to be borrowed or lent out, thereby causing economic contraction, throwing people out of jobs and closing businesses. So, how do we fix it? Give those same irresponsible parties who trashed the economy by their decisions more taxpayer money so they can stay in business while sending the debt load skyrocketing. Never mind that it goes against all common sense and their  well documented record (the facts) of their financial malfeasance! Oh no, the consensus of the experts was this was what we had to do.

Every Fact Confirmed by Witnesses

Jesus, as we know, was a victim of consensus among His own people. Once the so-called religious experts determined He had to go, be put to death, they didn’t let the facts concern them. They just conjured up the necessary witnesses needed under the law and manufactured the (false) evidence against Him. Even Pontius Pilate admitted that he could find no guilt in Jesus. The facts proved Jesus innocent, however, the religious leaders of that time were in consensus that it was better for one man to die than the Romans come and take away their place and their nation because of this Nazarene! By massaging the so-called facts, they were able then to manipulate the multitudes and gain their objective.

Jesus does not want what happened to Him to happen to some other innocent individual in the church. Every fact is to be confirmed by the mouths of two or three witnesses! In the church we speak truth, each man to his neighbor, Amen? So there won’t be any bearing false witness against our brother or sister.

Now, concerning Jesus’ trumped up trial, the Father knew what was in the hearts of men. This was all part of His plan. By executing all the prophesies previously proclaimed by His faithful witnesses (I. e. the fathers and the prophets), including the way Jesus would be condemned unjustly, He established the fact that the writings contained in the Bible are undeniable and indisputable facts. By the mouths of forty inspired writers (witnesses) every fact has been confirmed!

With this kind of overwhelming evidence, shouldn’t the consensus be that the Bible is indeed the word of God? Shouldn’t the consensus be that what the Bible says, we go with? You’d think so, but alas, once again, we have come face to face with that bugger called consensus. The Bible plainly says that for an individual to be saved  and have their sins forgiven and receive the indwelling gift of the Holy Spirit, they must be immersed in water into Christ. The consensus of the religious experts is that all one has to do is ask Jesus into their heart, even though there is not one shred of Biblical evidence for this doctrine. Who will you listen to? Be one who confirms all matters of faith upon the “facts” in the word. Amen?