For the consummation of the divine economy, we need to be absolute for the way of the divine truth; we need to be absolute for the way of the truth, purify our souls by obedience to the truth, and be girded with the truth.
The matter of the truth is crucial to our Christian life and church life; those who are constituted with the truth are a great blessing to the church.
On one hand, we need to experience Christ as life, and on the other hand, we need to be constituted with the truth, that is, we need to learn the truths and have the divine reality wrought into us.
This requires paying a price; we need to pay the price by spending time in the Word of God to contact the Lord, and we need to pay the price of our soul life when the Lord as the living word speaks to us.
Day by day we need to be in the Word of God, contacting the Lord in His word and coming to His word with an open heart and an open spirit.
When we do this, we will see the Lord, be infused with Him, and we will have more of the divine reality being infused into us.
After spending time with the Lord in His word, we need to say Amen to the word speaking to us throughout the day.
Many times we are in particular situations where all the other people go in a certain direction and have a certain attitude, but the Lord within us speaks to us a living and fresh word; we need to say Amen to the Lord’s inward speaking.
If we say Amen to the Lord speaking within us, we obey the truth in that experience, and the divine reality is wrought into us.
For us to be constituted with the truth doesn’t mean that we merely learn and memorize the truth; this does help, but what helps the most is our prayer over the Word and our saying Amen to the Lord’s speaking within us.
May we be delivered from merely superficially knowing the truth in the Bible and not diving into the depths of the truth.
May we be those who pay the price to have the truth wrought into them so that they walk in the truth, have the love of the truth, are absolute for the way of the truth, are obedient to the truth, and are girded with the truth.
May we be those who labor together with the Lord to not just read the Bible but dive into the depths of the truth of His marvellous New Testament economy.
When we do this, when we dive deeper into the Word of God under the Lord’s shining, we are sanctified in the truth, and our daily living will change. The outward change results from the inner experience and enjoyment of the truth under the Lord’s shining.
Those who have a constitution of the truth are a great blessing to the church, for their very being and existence is a pillar in the church to uphold and support the truth, to minister life to others, and to build up the church.
We need to be Absolute for the Way of the Truth, the Path of the Christian Life According to the Truth
In 2 Pet. 2:2 we are told of the way of the truth; because of some who follow their licentiousness, the way of the truth will be reviled. May the Lord save us from being such ones; may we be those who are absolute for the way of the truth.
On one hand, we need to be absolute for the truth, and on the other hand, we need to be absolute for the way of the divine truth.
What is the way of the divine truth? The way of the truth is the path of the Christian life according to the truth, which is the reality of the New Testament.
If we desire to live a Christian life according to the truth, if we live our life on this pathway, sooner or later we will be reviled and attacked.
The footnote on “the way of the truth” in the Recovery Version Bible is very enlightening,
I.e., the path of the Christian life according to the truth, which is the reality of the contents of the New Testament (1 Tim. 2:4; 3:15; 4:3; 2 Tim. 2:15, 18; Titus 1:1). It is designated by other titles according to its various virtues, such as the straight way (v. 15 and note 2 Pet. 2:151; cf. Heb. 12:13), the way of righteousness (v. 21 and note; Matt. 21:32), the way of peace (Luke 1:79; Rom. 3:17), the way of salvation (Acts 16:17), the way of God (Matt. 22:16; Acts 18:26), the way of the Lord (John 1:23; Acts 18:25), and the Way (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:22). It is slandered as the way of heresy (Acts 24:14).
It is possible for us as believers to not be absolute for the truth but actually to compromise the truth, adjust the truth, and even lower the truth to match our experience or our feelings.
The truth should be like a pillar; it shouldn’t be that we move the pillar closer to us to match us but rather, we should be adjusted in relation to the pillar and allow the pillar of truth to uplift our experience and enjoyment.
We should not adjust the truth to meet our situation so that we don’t offend people.
We should not compromise the truth because of relationships, because of the fear of man, because of our convenience and comfort, or because of our self or some possible gain.
Rather, we need to pray and open to the Lord concerning this, asking Him to make us absolute for the truth and also to make us absolute for the way of the truth.
The way of the truth is the straight way; for us to take the straight way is to live an upright life without any crookedness or bias (2 Pet. 2:15). Balaam didn’t take the straight way; rather, he “navigated through” and bent the truth to go his way because he had some motive, something to gain.
It is possible that, for the sake of some gain or loss in our life or at work, we might not be absolute for the way of the truth but rather, shrink back or compromise the truth. We need to take the straight way, the way of the truth, and be absolute for the way of the truth.
The way of the truth is the way of righteousness; for us to take the way of righteousness is for us to live a life that is right with both God and man.
Taking the way of righteousness means that we live a life that, according to righteousness, can receive God’s governmental judgment for His kingdom and righteousness (2 Pet. 2:21, 9; Matt. 5:20; Rom. 14:17).
As we live in this society that reviles the truth, turning it upside down, we should take the way of righteousness, being absolute for the way of the truth. If we take this way, it is possible that, for the sake of the truth, persecution will come.
But praise the Lord, the kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit!
Taking the way of being absolute for the truth, taking the straight way, the way of righteousness is actually taking the way of peace and of joy; inwardly we have a release, a peace, and a joy. Taking such way will fill us with peace and joy.
The way of the truth is “the Way”, denoting the Lord’s full salvation in God’s New Testament economy (Acts 9:2).
It is called “the Way”; Saul (before he became Paul) had letters from the leaders in Jerusalem to go to Antioch to bind and imprison those of “the Way”.
May we be those who are absolute for the way of the truth, remaining on “the Way” to allow God to dispense Himself into us through Christ’s redemption and the Spirit’s anointing (Eph. 1:7; 1 John 2:27).
To take the way of the truth is to take the way of partaking of God and enjoying God (2 Pet. 1:4).
This way is the way the believers worship God in their spirit by enjoying God, and it is the way of following the persecuted Jesus by being one with Him (John 4:24; Heb. 13:12-13).
On one hand, we worship God and enjoy Him in spirit; on the other hand, there are persecutions and reviling, for we are absolute for the way of the truth.
Taking the way of the truth is to take the way of being brought into the church and built up into the Body of Christ to bear the testimony of Jesus (1 Cor. 1:2; 12:27; Rev. 1:2).
Amen, may we stay on this way, may we take this way, and may we be absolute for the way of the truth!
Lord Jesus, we want to be absolute for the way of the truth, the path of the Christian life according to the truth. Amen, Lord, we open our whole being to You to have the divine reality wrought into our being so that we may walk in truth and speak the truth to impart Christ into others. Save us from compromising the truth in any way; save us from lowering the truth or watering down the truth to match our experience or feeling. We want to take the straight way by living an upright life without crookedness and bias. Lord, keep us on the way of righteousness living a life that is right both with God and with man! Amen, Lord, keep us on the Way enjoying Your full salvation in God’s New Testament economy. Make us those who are absolute for the truth and for the way of the truth!
Purifying our Souls by Obedience to the Truth and by Girding up the Loins of our Mind with the Truth
In 1 Pet. 1:15-16 we are told concerning the purification of our soul; this is the Holy Spirit’s sanctification in our disposition so that we may live a holy life in God’s holy nature.
Such purification is deeper than the purification of our sins (Heb. 1:3) and the cleansing of sin (1 John 1:7); it deals not only with sin but with our very nature, our disposition.
The purification of our souls by obedience to the truth (1 Pet. 1:22) is similar to the washing of the water in the word in Eph. 5:26.
Our souls are purified by obedience to the truth; the truth here refers not to doctrine but to the reality contained in God’s word and conveyed by God’s word.
When we read any verse in the Bible, we should not merely try to understand it with our mind or retain it in our memory; we need to dig deeper, muse on it, pray over it, and apply it to us.
We may come to a verse like John 3:16 concerning God loving the world so much that He sent His only begotten Son to die for us, and we may praise the Lord for this.
However, what is the deeper understanding and application of this word? Do we consider ourselves as part of “the world” for which the Lord came to give Himself up?
We need to take these words, make them into our prayer, and realize that we are part of “the world”, and God so loved us, the persons, that He came in the Son to die for us; then, we touch the intrinsic meaning of this verse.
We need to take the truth in the Word of God with much prayer and consideration, musing over it and applying it to us with the exercise of our spirit; when we do this, we will touch something of the divine reality, and we will be infused with Spirit and life as the essence of the Word of God.
We may come to a verse such as 1 Tim. 3:15 concerning the church as the house of the living God, and we may understand it in a natural way, thinking that the church is the house of God.
But what about our local church, is the church in our locality the house of the living God?
When we read the word, ask the Lord some questions, dig deeper with much prayer and consideration, read the footnotes in the Recovery Version, and even read the life-study messages on the Word, we will contact reality, and this is the solid truth.
The truth is the solid content contained in the Word of God and conveyed by the Word to us.
Such a truth sanctifies us and purifies our soul, causing our soul to be cleansed by the water in the Word and to be purified unto the Lord.
Our soul is so impure, picking up impurities from the world in which we live; as we come to the Word of God, obey the truth in God’s word, and are absolute for the way of the truth, we are purified in our soul.
1 Pet. 1:13 charges us to gird up the loins of our mind and to be sober; our mind loves to wander, but we should not allow it but rather, be girded up in our mind by the truth.
For us to gird up our mind is to purify our soul; when our mind is wandering, our soul is impure, but when we gird up our mind by setting it on the truth, we are purified.
When our wandering mind leaves all other thoughts behind and is set on our spirit by being in the truth, we will find life and peace, our soul is purified, and our whole being is girded up.
Lord Jesus, we want to be purified in our soul by our obedience to the truth. We come to Your word with the exercise of our spirit and having a heart turned to You so that we may be sanctified by the truth and purified in our soul. Wash us by the water in the word to sanctify us and purify our soul. Amen, Lord, we are not content to have a mere mental understanding of the Bible; we want to dig deeper in a prayerful way to obtain the divine reality and be purified in our soul. Amen, Lord, may our mind be girded up with the truth so that our soul may be purified and sanctified. We choose to set our mind on our spirit as we come to the Word of God so that the divine reality would be imparted into us and we may enjoy life and peace!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ricky Acosta for this week, and portions from, Life-study of 2 Peter, msgs. 2, 9, 13 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Knowing the Truth, being Absolute for the Truth, and Proclaiming the Truth in this Present Evil Age (2021 Memorial Day Weekend Conference), week 3, Being Constituted with the Truth and Being Absolute for the Way of the Truth and the Propagation of the Truth for the Consummation of the Divine Economy.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Our spirit we must exercise / To take the Word most inwardly, / And then to give the Spirit forth; / The two as one with us should be. / Lord, may Thy Word in me become / The Spirit as my life supply, / And may Thy Spirit in Thy Word / My true expression be thereby. (Hymns #815)
– Oh, purify us, Lord, by speaking in our heart; / Thy living, spoken word this washing will impart. / Increase Thy speaking, Lord, and cleanse our every part. / Oh, purify us, Lord, we pray. / Oh, purify us, Lord, today; / Wash all our natural life away. / Speak now Thy words in us, / And make us glorious. / O Lord, do speak in us today. (Hymns #1135)
– Lord, our human spirit now contains You. / Still Your purpose in us You would do; / If our wandering mind would leave old thoughts behind, / Then Your life and peace in it we’ll find. / Lord, we would our every thought be captured / By the rich enjoyment in Your Word. / In it we’re supplied, our mind there will abide, / Till our thoughts are wholly sanctified. (Hymns #1193)
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