THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
Truth
Message Three—The Bible Conveying and Unveiling the Truth
Scripture Reading: John 8:32; 11:25; 14:6; 17:17; 1 John 1:1-2, 5-7
I. Truth is the shining of light, the expression of God as light—vv. 12, 32:
A. Light is the source of truth, and truth is the issue of light—1 John 1:5-6.
B. Truth is the shining of the divine light on the facts of the Bible to “televise” a heavenly vision of those facts into our being—Psa. 119:130.
C. Truth is the Triune God shining into us; thus, knowing the Lord’s recovery in truth requires that we experience God shining as the divine light—John 1:1, 4-5, 9; 8:12, 32.
II. In order to know the Lord’s recovery in truth, we need to know the Bible in the way of truth—John 17:17:
A. When we know the Bible in truth and not only in doctrine, we have the shining of light, which causes us to have life—8:12; 1:4-5.
B. Truth—the content of the Bible—is between doctrine and light—2 Cor. 3:6; 4:6; John 8:12, 32:
1. The truth is the reality conveyed in the doctrines—17:17:
a. When we realize the truth, we have the reality that is conveyed in the doctrines; such reality can be revealed to us and realized by us only through the Spirit—14:17; 15:26; 16:13.
b. Truth is the reality conveyed in the doctrines and realized through the Spirit—17:17; 16:13.
c. Through the Spirit’s enlightening, the doctrines become truth and the shining of the divine light in us; then we are joined to the light, and the light becomes life to us—1:4-5; 8:12, 32.
2. As we read the Bible, we first receive doctrines; when the Holy Spirit enlightens the words of the Bible, the doctrines become truth, reality—16:13:
a. The truth is conveyed in doctrines, yet the truth in the doctrines can be realized only by the enlightening of the Spirit—2 Cor. 4:4, 6.
b. When the Spirit enlightens us, the doctrines we know become truth, which brings light, and light brings life—John 8:12, 32; 1 John 1:5-6.
c. For this, we need to pray much in a proper way, opening our entire being to the Lord; the more we pray in this way, the more the Spirit will enlighten us to cause the doctrines to become truth—Eph. 1:17; Col. 1:9.
III. Truth is nothing less than God Himself—John 1:1; 14:6:
A. Truth is God revealed and realized in His many aspects, as unveiled, for example, in the Gospel of John—16:13.
B. The content of the Bible is the truth because the Bible reveals God to us; thus, our receiving of the truth is our experience of God as truth—Col. 1:6.
C. The Bible is the revelation of God as reality—John 1:1; 17:17:
1. The Bible itself is not the reality; the Bible is God’s speaking, His utterance, and God Himself is the content, the reality, of the Bible.
2. When we touch the content of any doctrine, if we do not touch God Himself, we still do not have the truth; only when we touch God do we have the truth—2 Cor. 3:6.
D. If we reject a particular teaching from the Bible, we are rejecting God in that aspect and thus cannot experience Him as such—John 8:37-38, 40.
IV. The goal of knowing the truth is that we would have the riches and the abundance of life—10:10:
A. In order to have the riches of life, we must have the truth, the shining of the Triune God; the shining of the divine light in its many aspects is the riches of life—1:4-5; 10:10; 11:25.
B. All the riches of life are in the truth; every truth is an aspect of the riches of life.
C. The rivers of living water are different aspects of life—7:37-39:
1. These rivers flow out through the truth; actually, every river is a truth—14:6.
2. The way to have the abundance of life and to flow out the riches of life is the way of the truth—8:32:
a. The more truth we have, the more riches of Christ as life we enjoy—Eph. 1:13; 3:8.
b. Eventually, we will have the abundance of life; the abundance of life is altogether in the truth—John 10:10; 8:32; 14:6.
D. The increase in truth results in the growth in life; as a believer receives more truth, life becomes more abundant in his experience—Eph. 4:15-16.
Ministry Excerpts:
THE BIBLE BEING GOD-BREATHED
The Scripture is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16). This tells us that the Scripture did not come out of man’s thought, man’s mind, but rather, it is God’s breathing His thought and His word through His Spirit into and out of the writers. Hence, the Bible contains God’s elements and carries His flavor. As Christians, our greatest joy, or shall we say, our greatest blessing, is to be able to contact God and taste Him daily through the word of His breath.
THE BIBLE BEING THE SPEAKING FROM GOD BY MEN
BORNE BY THE HOLY SPIRIT
Since the Scripture is God’s breathing His word out from men through His Spirit, no word of the Scripture can be of man’s will; rather, men were borne by the Spirit and spoke out of God. The word, “men spoke from God, being borne by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21), has a twofold meaning: first, men were borne by the Spirit; second, men spoke from God. In the original Greek, being borne by the Holy Spirit means being carried along as a ship by the wind. The writers of the Bible received God’s inspiration, and they were under the power of the Holy Spirit, being borne and carried along by Him to speak out God’s word. Furthermore, when they spoke, they spoke from within God. It was the Spirit of God carrying men along to speak, and it was also men speaking from within God. In other words, it was God speaking His own word from within men through their mouths.
THE BIBLE BEING GOD’S SPEAKING,
IN THE PROPHETS AND IN THE SON
The Old Testament is God’s speaking in the prophets; the New Testament is God’s speaking in the Son, our Lord Jesus (Heb. 1:1-2).
THE BIBLE BEING THE HOLY SPIRIT’S REVELATION
John 16:13 says, “But when He, the Spirit of reality, comes, He will guide you into all the reality; for He will not speak from Himself, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” The Lord’s word here also proves that after the Spirit’s descension, what His disciples spoke and wrote was disclosed to them by the Spirit. Hence, the Lord’s word here proves that after His ascension, all the books of the New Testament, written by His disciples, were of the Spirit’s revelation and their divine authority was acknowledged by Him. (Truth Lessons, Level 1, Vol. 1, ch. 1)
THE ESSENCE OF THE BIBLE
God’s Word Being God’s Breathing Out
The Bible is God’s breathing out; that is, it is the breath breathed out by God. The Bible is God’s breathing. To God it is a matter of breathing out; to us it is a matter of breathing in. Through God’s breathing out and our breathing in, God’s word enters into us and becomes our life and life supply. Therefore, when we read the Bible, we must understand that the Bible is not merely black words on white paper, but it is the breathing out of God. It is full of spiritual breath. Therefore, we must not only understand the Bible with our mind, but we also must contact the word of the Bible with our spirit. Whenever we read the Bible we come to contact God.
God’s Word Being the Spiritual Milk
Second, the Bible is the spiritual milk. In 1 Peter 2:2 Peter said that we need to be like newborn babes desiring the guileless milk of the Word. In the Word of God there is the element of milk. This is also implied in Hebrews 5:12, which says, “You…have become those who have need of milk and not of solid food.” God’s Word is our spiritual breath; therefore, we must breathe it in. God’s Word is also our milk; hence, we must drink it. We must desire the guileless milk of the Word.
God’s Word Being the Bread of Life
Third, God’s Word is our bread of life, our food of life. This is indicated in Matthew 4:4, a word out of the Lord’s mouth and a quote of Deuteronomy 8:3: “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God. Therefore, whenever we read the Bible, we must breathe in the spiritual air, that is, the Spirit of God. We also must drink the spiritual milk and eat the bread of life, which is the Lord Himself.
The Lord’s Word is Spirit and Life
The Word of the Lord is spirit and life. In John 6:63 the Lord Jesus said, “The words which I have spoken unto you are spirit and are life.”
God Being the Word, the Word Being Also God
Fifth, the Word is God. The consummation of the Word is Christ Himself, because Christ is the Word of God. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God.” This Word became flesh, and His name is Jesus Christ. Ultimately, the word in the Bible is God Himself. It is the embodiment of God Himself. This does not mean that we consider the words in black and white as the living God. What we mean is that the words in black and white contain God Himself. This God is Christ; He is our bread of life. This Christ is also the Spirit, who becomes our spiritual milk and our spiritual breath.
Therefore, when we come to read the Bible and learn to understand the Bible, we must have the attitude that the Bible is different from the textbooks in the schools. They are merely black words on white paper, simply a matter of knowledge. The essence of God’s Word, however, is the breathing out of God, God’s spiritual breath. God’s Word is also the spiritual milk and the bread of life. It is spirit and life, and it is even God Himself. Therefore, we need to understand God’s Word and also enter into the essence of God’s Word.
God has worked in a wonderful way. He has given us both the Bible and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is contained within the Bible, and the Bible is carried within the Holy Spirit. They are mutually in one another; hence, the two are inseparable.
When we read the Bible, we touch the Spirit. When we touch the Spirit, the Bible is there as our practical support. We not only breathe in the spiritual breath, drink the spiritual drink, eat the spiritual food, and receive the Spirit and life, but we also have the clear Word to be our support, to satisfy our thinking and our thoughts. Here we can see the wonderful work of God. Not only do we have the Holy Spirit, but we also have the Bible. We cannot separate the two. If we read the Lord’s Word daily, the Lord’s Word will enter into us. Then we will know it and understand it. (The Full Knowledge of the Word of God, ch. 1)
THE FUNCTIONS OF THE BIBLE
Testifying concerning the Lord Jesus
The first function of the Bible is to testify concerning the Lord Jesus (John 5:39). The Lord Jesus is the subject and contents of the Bible; the Bible is the explanation and expression of the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus is God’s living Word; the Bible is God’s written Word. The Bible, God’s written Word, must have the Lord Jesus, the living Word, as its reality; otherwise, it is but mere doctrines and empty letters.
Making Men Wise unto Salvation
The second function of the Bible toward us is to make us wise unto salvation (2 Tim. 3:15); it reveals to us how God saves men in Christ, and how men may be saved by faith, so that we may know the way of salvation.
Causing Men to Be Regenerated
The first practical function of the Bible in us is to cause us to be regenerated (1 Pet. 1:23). The Bible is the Word of the living God, and it contains the life of the living God. When we receive the word of the Scriptures into us by faith, it comes into us like a seed of life, sowing God’s life into us; thus, we have God’s life and are regenerated.
Being the Believers’ Spiritual Milk
When we first get saved, we do not have a strong enough comprehension concerning spiritual things. Some portions of the Scriptures are like milk that can nourish us and make us grow in our spiritual life (1 Pet. 2:2).
Being the Believers’ Bread of Life
The word of the Scriptures is also our spiritual bread of life (Matt. 4:4). Just as our physical life needs nourishment, so also our spiritual life needs nourishment. The nourishment of our spiritual life can only be supplied by the word of the Bible. In order to be living and strong before God, we cannot depend on bread alone, but on every word, that is, the word of the Bible, that proceeds out through the mouth of God.
Making the Believers Complete
The teachings of the Bible can give us endurance, encouragement, and hope (Rom. 15:4). Many Christians have fallen into tribulation and sickness. Being unable to bear it, they feel sorrowful and hopeless, but when they read a portion or a sentence of the Bible, they have the enduring strength in their hearts, or they receive unspeakable comfort, and thus obtain hope that is beyond their expectation. The Bible also records many things as warnings to us that we may be admonished, be on the alert, and not repeat the former mistakes (1 Cor. 10:11). Hence, after our regeneration, the Bible is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that we, the men of God, may be complete (2 Tim. 3:16-17). (Truth Lessons, Lev. 1, vol. 1, ch. 1)
THE PRECIOUSNESS AND SWEETNESS OF THE BIBLE
There are sixty-six books in the Bible, yet every sentence is pure like silver that has been purified seven times. The word of the Bible is refined and pure; there are no unnecessary words.
Every person who has earnestly read the Bible confesses that no other book in the world is as perfect and faithful as the Bible. No other book in the world is as right, pure, and true as the Bible. Whether it is speaking concerning God or man, the origin of the heavens and earth or the end of all things, the meaning of human life or the way of man, the things in this life or in the coming age, the Bible clearly explains every matter related to man. It is perfect and faithful. Furthermore, the word of the Bible is not twisted. Its nature is not filthy, and its teachings are not false. The Bible is right, clear, and truthful.
Those who have truly tasted the word of the Bible know its preciousness and sweetness. The Bible is more to be desired than gold and sweeter than honey from the honeycomb. If we do not have a sense that the Bible is precious and desirable, sweet and lovely, and if the word of the Bible is not more precious than gold in our heart and sweeter than honey in our mouth, we have not tasted the Bible. If we do not have an appreciation of the value of the Bible, I hope that we will ask God for the grace to know the preciousness and sweetness of His Word, the Bible.
Many people throughout history have confessed and testified that the value of the Bible is greater than thousands of pieces of gold and silver. Many have valued the Bible even more than their lives, including those who were martyred during the time of the Reformation because they realized the priceless value of the Bible, the word of God.
All the spiritual blessings that we receive in the Lord today are heavenly; they cannot be seen with our physical eyes. However, we can see these blessings in the Bible. Everything on this earth will pass away; nothing of ours will remain. However, the Bible, our only true heritage, will last forever. Those who truly know God treasure the Bible and regard it as a priceless, eternal heritage.
No word in the Bible is impossible. This is a characteristic of the Bible. Worldly books do not emphasize power and do not have power. The Bible, however, emphasizes power and truly has power. One sentence of the Bible can cause a person deep in sin to repent and be saved. One sentence of the Bible often changes a person completely. If anyone genuinely touches the word of the Bible, he touches the power in the Bible because the Bible is the Word of God. The Word of God is as powerful as God. God accomplished His creation and rules everything through His word (Heb. 11:3; 1:3). The word of God is the power of God. Since the Bible is the word of God, it has the power of God and even is the power of God. This power is limitless. (Crucial Truths in the Holy Scriptures, vol. 3, ch. 31)