Dr. David Jeremiah delivers Convocation message on rejecting falsehoods, leading a journey of truth

Renowned pastor and author Dr. David Jeremiah addressed Liberty University students in Convocation on Wednesday, held in Williams Stadium, calling for them to be aware of their surroundings in today’s changing cultural values and to stand firm in following God regardless of what the world might say.

Jeremiah is the founder of Turning Point Radio and Television Ministries and has been the senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, Calif., for 40 years. He has multiple family connections to Liberty, as he has two children who are alumni and three grandchildren who are current Liberty students.

In addition to spending Friday morning in Convocation, Jeremiah also visited students in Evangelism courses and other parts of campus on Thursday.

Campus Pastor Jonathan Falwell introduced Jeremiah on Friday, sharing a long list of accomplishments by the morning’s special guest.

“He’s had the opportunity to speak truth into millions of people each and every week, and we are not only blessed and encouraged to have him here, but also blessed and encouraged to have his family here,” Falwell said.

Jeremiah’s message came from his personal convictions on what he feels his grandchildren and their peers in the current generation need to hear about today’s often perplexing and concerning American society. Beginning by summarizing the past and present of Venezuela’s government, namely its shift to socialistic ideals through leader Hugo Chavez, Jeremiah outlined the dangers of this ideology that has spread to the United States.

“I spent this whole year reading about this and studying it, and I’ll be honest with you, I read books that sometimes kept me awake at night,” Jeremiah said. “I realized that we’re not talking about some ideology that’s political or anything of that nature; this is satanic, this is spiritual, this is going on.”

Karl Marx, the creator of socialism as we know it today, was not an atheist — he was anti-God, Jeremiah said, describing him as “a cheerleader for the Devil.” With this in mind, Jeremiah shared his fears about the present and future consequences of allowing socialism to settle into America’s government and culture.

“I don’t know this, but I’m pretty sure most of the people who champion socialism are totally unaware of the poisonous roots of their thoughts,” Jeremiah said. “The founder of socialism was a hideous person, and what he was (is what) socialism became. Wherever you trace socialism, if you go far enough, you will see it ends in death; socialism is a deadly ideology.”

Jeremiah drew a comparison to the story of Noah in Genesis, another example of a time when many people were surrounded by wickedness and falsehoods but were accepting or unaware of this downfall until the flood had already begun. As Genesis 6:5 says, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

“While everything around them was going in the wrong direction, it seemed not to even touch them,” he explained. “The people were so indifferent that they didn’t understand what was happening until it was too late. The heedlessness of the people of Noah’s day will be duplicated in the last days of our world’s history. It will be a day when ideologies like socialism can sneak in without much attention, almost like smoke under the door.”

He added that in recent years he has seen people attempt to erase or rewrite history through means like removing monuments and changing the contents of books and other media. But instead of expunging the past, Jeremiah pointed out that the word “remember” is used 164 times in the Old Testament alone.

“We have been called as Christians to reject falsehood. Don’t let lies control your life,” he said. “(If) somebody says something is true, how do you know if it’s true? You measure it against the Word of God, and if it doesn’t face up to the Word of God, then stay away from it. Everywhere you look, you’re being asked to go on a non-truthful journey. Don’t take the first step.”

Through these current times, Jeremiah stated, it is important that Christians stand firm and be fearless in their pursuit of God’s principles. Rather than simply “admiring” God, Christians need to follow Him.

“The admirer of Christ will never make any sacrifices, he always plays it safe, (but) he does all of the ‘proper’ Christian things,” he said. “But the follower of Christ aspires with all of his strength to follow Christ in every way. What I want to say to you young people today is this: in all that is coming at us in the world today, in the socialist issues and other issues, you need to decide whose side you’re on.”

In closing, Jeremiah reminded students that in the end it is Christ who is and will be on the throne forever.

“It says in Isaiah that when Jesus comes back the government will be ‘on His shoulder… of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever,’” Jeremiah recited. “We are not living in that time yet, but that time is coming, and if you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you’ll be a part of all of that.”