Being Established in God’s Present Truth, the up-to-date Truth of God in this Age

The Bible is the word of God, the complete revelation of Himself given to man; nothing can add or take away things from the Bible, since it has been completed and given to us as God’s word for man. However, many truths in the word of God have been lost, and we as believers today do not have a clear view of all the truths in the Bible.

We yearn to be revived and restored, and we desire to have a new revival from the Lord, but this revival will not come “from heavens” somehow but through the Lord’s word. It is through the fresh revelation of God’s word and our new discoveries in the Bible that we can have a new revival today.

Throughout the centuries many lovers of the Lord have discovered new things in God’s word; these things were not added to the word but were there, yet they were not discovered previously. Martin Luther discovered justification by faith in Romans, and this was his “present truth” (2 Pet. 1:12).

The present truth is the up-to-date truth, the truth that the Lord reveals in a fresh way in a certain age. The truth is in God’s word, but through man’s seeking and God’s enlightening, there are fresh new discoveries in God’s word, and these new discoveries bring to light deeper and higher truths of God’s word for our enjoyment and experiences.

These revealed truths throughout the ages are cumulative – they build on one another, just as Noah inherited Adam’s way of redemption, Abel’s offering of sacrifices to be well-pleasing to God, Enosh’ way of calling on the name of the Lord, and Enoch’s way of walking with God.

We today have an up-to-date all-inheriting vision, and we stand on the shoulders of all those who went before us to see the vision of God’s economy, Christ and the church; this is our present truth, and we need to know it, be firmly established in it, and not allow anything of the flesh or the self to come in and gain any ground.

Knowing and Being Established in God’s Present Truth, the up-to-date Truth

In his second epistle Peter said, Therefore I will be ready always to remind you concerning these things, even though you know them and have been established in the present truth (2 Pet. 1:12). This “present truth” is an expression that means the up-to-date truth, the truth presently revealed by God to His people.

Watchman Nee has a good portion on this matter,

What is the up-to-date truth? Actually, all the truths are in the Bible; there is not one truth that is not in the Bible. Although they are all in the Bible, through man’s foolishness, unfaithfulness, negligence, and disobedience many of the truths were lost and hidden from man. The truths were there, but man did not see them or touch them. Not until the fullness of time did God release certain truths during particular periods of time and cause them to be revealed once more. (Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 11, pp. 843-844)

All the truths are in the Bible, but because of man’s negligence to dig in and find them, unfaithfulness to continue in these things, foolishness in going astray from the Lord and the pure revelation in His word, and disobedience to the inner speaking of the Lord, many truths were lost, covered, and hidden from the believers in Christ.

Throughout the ages, the Lord has been recovering many truths in the Bible, causing His light to shine on His seeking ones that they may see particular truths in the word of God; these revealed truths became “the present truth” for that age.

The freshly revealed truths are not “God’s new inventions” but rather man’s new discoveries. God doesn’t invent new truths; He merely shines on the truth in the Bible and those open to Him are enlightened to see the present truth. During certain periods of time, God caused men to discover some specific truths, and their new discoveries brought the whole Body of Christ on in their enjoyment and experience of Christ.

As those who love the Lord and work for Him, we all need to enquire before Him what is the present truth today. There are many truths in the Bible, but which one is God’s present truth?

Peter and Paul and the other apostles spoke and repeated what they spoke in their writings to remind the believers of the Lord’s present truth for that age; now we need to seek the Lord and ask Him to reveal to us what is the present truth for this age.

Lord Jesus, we want to know and be established in the present truth, the up-to-date truth in the word of God. Oh Lord, what is Your present truth today? Save us from being passive and remaining in darkness – bring us on with You as we have new and fresh discoveries in Your word. Lord, we want to spend more time in Your word with an unveiled face and with the help of the ministry of the age so that we may see, be firmly established in, and know the present truth for this age today. Bring us up-to-date with You in Your speaking in Your Body!

Standing on the Shoulders of those who went Before us to Enjoy and Know the Present Truth

God’s truths are cumulative, with the later truths building on the previous ones and not negating them. What we see today in the word of God is a result of the revelations of God throughout the ages; we stand on the shoulders of all those who went before us and discovered new truths in God’s word.

In Genesis we see that Joseph inherited all the truths recovered and established by Adam, Abel, Enosh, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Adam experienced God’s redemption – God slaughtered a lamb (most likely) to cover him and his wife, and they lived in the expectancy of the full redemption.

Abel worshipped God according to the way his parents did; he inherited their vision and worshipped God with the sacrifices and shedding of blood to be well-pleasing to God. Enosh, a frail and mortal man, went on and called on the name of the Lord to be saved by Him and to enjoy all His riches (Gen. 4:26; Acts 2:21; Rom. 10:13).

Enoch inherited Adam’s redemption, Abel’s offering of sacrifices, and Enosh’ calling on the Lord, and he went on to walk with God; he was God’s co-walker taking God as his center and everything, and doing everything according to God’s revelation and leading. Noah inherited all that his forefathers experienced and went on to work with God and build his own salvation; in our experience we build up Christ to build up the church as the corporate Christ.

Abraham was justified by faith, lived by faith, and lived in fellowship with God; he inherited all the revelation given to his forefathers. Isaac was an enjoyer of grace, enjoying all the riches of his father for his rest and satisfaction.

Jacob experienced God’s selection, transformation, and maturity in life, and Joseph (as Jacob’s continuation) reigned in life by the abundance of grace, and through him the whole earth was blessed with the food supply (a picture of Christ ministering to and blessing the whole world).

Throughout the history we see how God’s people inherited their forefathers’ experience and revelation, and they went on with the Lord to see more in His word. Martin Luther did not invent new things: he discovered the truth of justification by faith in the word of God.

Later Madam Guyon and others recovered the inner life; Count Zinzendorf and the Moravian Brothers recovered the initial stage of the church life and the unity of the Holy Spirit. In the 19th century the Brethren were raised up by the Lord to recover many truths in the Bible, and in this age the Lord has raised up brothers Watchman Nee and Witness Lee to recover the truth and experience of Christ and the church.

We today stand on the shoulders of all those who went before us and recovered a particular truth in the Bible, and we enjoy a cumulative truth as the present truth. Today we can clearly see that God became a man in order to make man God in life and nature but not in the Godhead, so that God would have a corporate expression on earth and deal with His enemy through the church.

Our goal today is indeed most glorious and great. May the Lord be gracious to us that we do not become castaways of the present truth, but may we be watchful to not allow the flesh to come in or the self to have any ground, so that God’s will may be accomplished in us.

Lord, thank You for all those who went before us and discovered new truths in Your word; we stand on their shoulders to go on and reach the highest peak of the divine revelation in the word of God. Thank You for recovering all the truths in the Bible and giving us such an all-inheriting up-to-date truth in Your recovery. Lord, be gracious to us that we may not become the castaways of the present truth but rather be those watchful to not allow the flesh to come in or the self to gain any ground!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ed Marks’ sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 11, “What Are We?” pp. 843-859, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Need for a New Revival, week 1 / msg 1, Reaching the Highest Peak of the Divine Revelation (1) – The Vision of the Age.
• All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
• Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
  # We limit not the truth of God / To our poor reach of mind, / By notions of our day and sect, / Crude, partial and confined. / Now let a new and better hope / Within our hearts be stirred: / The Lord hath yet more light and truth / To break forth from His Word. (Hymns #817)
  # O Word of God incarnate, / O Wisdom from on high, / O Truth unchanged, unchanging, / O Light of our dark sky, / We praise Thee for the radiance / That from the hallowed page, / A lantern to our footsteps, / Shines on from age to age. (Hymns #803)
  # What miracle! What mystery! / That God and man should blended be! / God became man to make man God, / Untraceable economy! / From His good pleasure, heart’s desire, / His highest goal attained will be. (Song on the Present Truth)