THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
Truth
Message Six—The Present Truth
Scripture Reading: John 18:37; 1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Pet. 1:12; 2 John 1-2; 3 John 3; 1 Tim. 3:15-16
I. The Lord’s recovery is the recovery of the divine truths as revealed in the Word of God—John 8:32: (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
A. The truths in the Word have been lost, misunderstood, and wrongly applied; thus, there is the need of the Lord’s recovery—2 Tim. 2:15. (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
B. The standard of the Lord’s recovery depends on the standard of the truth we put out—1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Tim. 2:15; Titus 1:1. (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
II. We need to know the present truth, the up-to-date truth—2 Pet. 1:12: (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
A. Every worker of the Lord should inquire before God as to what the present truth is—John 8:32; 3 John 8: (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
1. During particular periods of time God releases certain truths and causes them to be revealed once more. (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
2. Although there are many major and crucial truths in the Bible, what we need to know is God’s present truth, His up-to-date truth—2 Pet. 1:12. (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
B. In the recovery the light of the truth is up to date—John 8:12, 32; 1 John 1:5-6. (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
C. We need to release the truth that God became man so that man may become God in life and nature but not in the Godhead, and the truth concerning the New Jerusalem—Rom. 8:3; 1:3-4; John 1:12-14; Rev. 21:2, 9-11: (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
1. The New Jerusalem is a composition of God’s chosen, redeemed, regenerated, sanctified, transformed, and glorified people who have been deified—vv. 2, 9-11. (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
2. In Christ God has become man to make man God in life and nature but not in the Godhead so that the redeeming God and the redeemed man can be mingled, constituted, and incorporated together to become one entity—the New Jerusalem; this is the highest truth—John 1:12-14; 14:20; Rev. 21:2. (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
III. The truth is always absolute, and God wants us to uphold the absoluteness of the truth—John 14:6; 18:37; 3 John 3-4, 8: (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
A. Being absolute for the truth means that no personal feelings or relationships are allowed to stand in the way of the truth—John 14:6; Matt. 10:37-39. (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
B. Because the truth is absolute, we have to sacrifice ourselves and put ourselves aside—16:24; Rev. 2:13; 12:11b. (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
IV. We need to be constituted with the truth—1 John 1:8; 2:4; 2 John 1-2: (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
A. We must come to the full knowledge of the truth—a thorough apprehension of the truth, a full acknowledgement and appreciation of the reality of the spiritual and divine things—1 Tim. 2:4. (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
B. The best way to learn the divine truths is to study the translated and properly interpreted Holy Scriptures—2 Tim. 3:14-17; Prov. 23:23: (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
1. The best help in seeing the intrinsic significance of the word of the Bible is the Recovery Version with the footnotes and the Life-studies—Neh. 8:8, 13. (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
2. We need to study the messages on the high peak of the divine revelation (1994-1997) and learn to speak the high-peak truths according to the new language of the new culture in the divine and mystical realm—1 Cor. 2:13. (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
C. To be constituted with the truth is to have the intrinsic element of the divine revelation wrought into us to become our organic constitution—Psa. 51:6: (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
1. The intrinsic element of the divine revelation must be wrought into and constituted into our being—Col. 3:16; 1 John 1:8; 2:4; 2 John 2. (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
2. Once the truth enters into us through our understanding and remains in our memory, we will have an accumulation of the truth, and the truth will become a constant and long-term nourishment—vv. 1-2. (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
V. The church is the supporting pillar and the holding base of the truth—1 Tim. 3:15-16: (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
A. Truth in 1 Timothy 3:15 refers to the real things in the New Testament concerning Christ and the church according to God’s New Testament economy—Matt. 16:16, 18; Eph. 5:32. (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
B. The truth is the Triune God, having Christ as the embodiment, center, and expression, to produce the church as the Body of Christ, the house of God, and the kingdom of God—Col. 2:9; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:16; 1 Tim. 3:15; John 3:3, 5. (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
C. In particular, “the truth” in 1 Timothy 3:15 refers to “He who was manifested in the flesh” in verse 16. (2007 MDC, msg. 2)
VI. In the Lord’s recovery we must take “the way of the truth”—the path of the Christian life according to the truth, which is the reality of the contents of the New Testament—2 Pet. 2:2. (2007 MDC, msg. 2)