Know the Truth, be Absolute for the Truth, and Uphold the Absoluteness of the Truth

In whom you also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation... Eph. 1:13

Truth is the reality concerning God, man, the universe, man’s relationship with God, and man’s obligation to God as revealed in the Bible; truth is the genuineness, truthfulness, sincerity, and honesty of God becoming man’s virtue – we need to be absolute for the truth and uphold the absoluteness of the truth.

As believers in Christ, we need to know the truth and come to the full knowledge of the truth; for this we were saved, not only to know God, enjoy God, and read His word but to come to the full knowledge of the truth.

In the midst of the present situation today, where we have university professors teaching the students that there’s no such thing as truth, for they call truth as being something that our mind fabricates, a social construct according to the culture we live in, we declare the truth!

We stand with the truth, we hold the absoluteness of the truth, and we are absolute for the truth as revealed in the Word of God.

Even in such a situation as we are in today when some of the most basic truths are being denied, we stand with the truth.

Anyone who abides by the evil lie that there’s no female or male, that you can change your gender and neglect human biology and God’s ordination, is an atheist.

This is because they deny God Himself, for God said in Gen. 1:26, Let Us make man in our image and according to our likeness…male and female He created them.

To deny that God did this is to deny God Himself. Today we are in a warfare by standing for the truth; we may not prevail in this age, but we still stand for the truth and uphold the absoluteness of the truth, for we believe in the Lord and know the truth.

The Lord’s recovery is the recovery of the divine truths as revealed in the word of God; we today are being recovered to the divine revelation in the Word of God.

Many of the truths in the Bible have been lost, misunderstood, and wrongly applied throughout the centuries; many of the “Christian practices” that we see today have nothing to do with the Bible, and many of the “Christian teachings” that are taught today are not based on the word of God.

We want to come back to the truth, come back to the divine revelation in the word of God, and be absolute for the truth. In the church life in the Lord’s recovery, we have the highest truth, which is the consummation of the truths recovered during the past centuries.

We stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us, we dive into the truth, we allow the truth to indwell us, and we want to be constituted with the truth, upholding the absoluteness of the truth.

Truth is the Contents of the Faith, the Reality concerning God and Man, and the Genuineness and Truthfulness as a Divine Virtue becoming our Human Virtue

Truth is the reality concerning God, the universe, man, man’s relationship with God and with his fellow man, and man’s obligation to God, as revealed through creation and the Scriptures — Rom. 1:18-20; 2:2, 8, 20. Truth is the genuineness, truthfulness, sincerity, honesty, trustworthiness, and faithfulness of God as a divine virtue and of man as a human virtue, and as an issue of the divine reality — 3:7; 15:8; 2 Cor. 11:10; 1 John 3:18. Truth denotes things that are true or real, the true or real state of affairs (facts), reality, veracity, as the opposite of falsehood, deception, dissimulation, hypocrisy, and error — 2 Pet. 2:2. 2021 Memorial Day Conference, Outline 1Truth in the Bible refers to the contents of the faith (our belief), which are the substantial elements of what we believe, as the reality of the full gospel.

What we believe and receive is the contents of the faith, the truth; Paul said that he is an apostle according to the faith and according to the full knowledge of the truth (Eph. 1:13; Titus 1:1).

The objective faith, our belief, is the truth; the word is a revelation and explanation of the Triune God, and this word has contents – the contents of the New Testament, the contents of our faith.

Truth is the contents of the New Testament and of our Christian faith; truth is the reality.

Truth is the reality concerning God, the universe, man, man’s relationship with God and with his fellow man, and man’s obligation to God, as revealed through creation and the Scriptures (Rom. 1:18-20; 2:2, 8, 20).

Because the evil powers have access to the people in the government and use the minds of those who are radical in their thinking, in many places it is taught from kindergarten up that you can be a boy or a girl, or you can be both, or you can go back and forth; such teaching is demonic.

We cannot stand passive before such things; we are in minority, we may called this or that, and we may even be persecuted or called out, but we stand with the truth.

Our gender is God-men; we were created male or female, but we were born again to be a God-man.

In the old creation, we are male or female, but in resurrection, we will all be beyond that – we will be the wife of the redeeming God forever, and we stand for the truth. No matter what others say, no matter the persecution or even imprisonment, we stand for the truth.

Truth is the reality of the universe; NO, the universe didn’t “just happen” as the physicists say – God created the universe, and He is holding it together.

We are witnessing for God Himself, and we are not ashamed of this.

And in all deceit of unrighteousness among those who are perishing, because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. 2 Thes. 2:10 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding that we might know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. 1 John 5:20And the time will come that all genuine believers in Christ will have to stand for the truth at the cost of their life, and they may even have to lay down their physical life for the truth. We not only believe the truth but also uphold it and testify it.

Truth is the genuineness, truthfulness, sincerity, honesty, trustworthiness, and faithfulness of God as a divine virtue and of man as a human virtue; truth is an issue of the divine reality (Rom. 3:7; 15:8; 2 Cor. 11:10; 1 John 3:18).

This is why the apostle John, the apostle of truth and reality, could greet an elderly sister – who was spiritually mature – and say that he loved her children in truthfulness.

John 4 also says that the Father is looking for those who worship Him in spirit and truthfulness.

As we enjoy and experience Christ, His divine virtues of genuineness, truthfulness, sincerity, honesty, trustworthiness, and faithfulness become our human virtues to make us genuine, truthful, honest, sincere, trustworthy, and faithful.

When we come together to enjoy the Lord at His Table, we want to bring the truthfulness that has been constituted into our being, being a testimony of the reality and truth that has been constituted into us.

We still have a long way to go on this journey, and we are fighting for and learning to practice the proper worship.

Truth also denotes things that are true or real, the true or real state of affairs (facts), reality, veracity, as the opposite of falsehood, deception, dissimulation, hypocrisy, and error (2 Pet. 2:2).

Lord Jesus, thank You for revealing to us the truth in the Word of God. We believe into You and we receive the truth in Your word. We stand for the truth and uphold the absoluteness of the truth. We come to worship You in spirit and in truthfulness. We open to You, Lord, to have Your virtues of genuineness and truthfulness wrought into us to become our virtues today. May Your sincerity, honesty, trustworthiness, and faithfulness to God become our virtues as we experience You and enjoy You. Amen, Lord, we want to enjoy and experience You in reality so that we may offer the Father the real worship He desires, in spirit and truthfulness!

The Divine Truth is Absolute – we must be Absolute for the Truth and Uphold the Absoluteness of the Truth

Since you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth unto unfeigned brotherly love, love one another from a pure heart fervently. 1 Pet. 1:22 For I rejoiced greatly at the brothers' coming and testifying to your steadfastness in the truth, even as you walk in truth. I have no greater joy than these things, that I hear that my children are walking in the truth. 3 John 3-4Because God is absolute, the truth is also absolute; the divine truth is absolute, and we must be absolute for the truth and for upholding the absoluteness of the divine truth (3 John 3-4, 8).

What does it mean that we are absolute for the truth? To be absolute for the truth means that we set aside our feelings, we do not stand for the self, and we ignore our personal relationships (Matt. 16:24-25; 1 Pet. 1:22).

Because truth is absolute, we cannot lower it down, dilute it, or not be absolute for it when others do not want to accept it or they feel hurt by it.

We cannot be governed by our feelings or our natural soulish subjectivity; we shouldn’t compromise because of certain relationships.

Sometimes we may not want to share something or stand for the truth because someone in our family may feel uncomfortable; we are like a snowflake, being uncomfortable with anything that doesn’t agree with others.

May we be saved from standing for the self; our self doesn’t like this or that, doesn’t want to listen to the truth, but wants to hear something nice, having itchy ears, and wants to be comforted and filled with hope.

The self doesn’t want to hear the truth concerning the kingdom of God, that there will be a dispensational reward or punishment; the self wants to hear nice things, eloquent speaking, and comfortable teachings. Oh, Lord!

May we never sacrifice the truth for the self – our self or someone else’s self. The truth is the unique standard, and we must stand on the side of the truth to oppose ourselves.

We can uphold the absoluteness of the truth only when we are delivered from ourselves (John 8:32; 2 John 2; 3 John 3-4).

If the truth is not something absolute for us, we do not know God and we don’t know the word of God (2 Thes. 2:10; 1 John 5:20).

The church is the pillar and base of the truth; these are unshakable, immovable, and they cannot change based on our feelings, other’s receiving or rejecting, or others’ criticism.

We must stand on the side of the truth to oppose ourselves; we need to let the truth uplift our situation and condition and never lower down the truth to what we can experience or enjoy.

Some people lower the truth a little when they are wrong or lacking, and they lift up the truth a little when they are right or can make it; they are like elevators, and truth goes up and down with them.

We shouldn’t be like this; rather, we should deal with ourselves so that we may uphold the absoluteness of the truth, standing for the truth and against ourselves.

First Timothy speaks of the pillar of the truth (3:15). Why does it say the pillar of the truth? It is because a pillar is something immovable. It cannot go up or down. It is not like a chair that can be moved from one place to another. If we are not sober, the truth will not have any effect on us. The truth cannot be entrusted to a person who walks according to his feelings. This is a great test. A man must stand on the side of the truth to oppose himself. Only by this can he maintain the truth instead of himself. Those who have never been dealt with do not know what the truth is. Some people lower the truth a little when they are wrong, and lift up the truth a little when they are right. This means that they are like elevators. The truth goes up and down with them. Only those who have dealt with themselves are able to maintain the truth. Praise the Lord, He is the "elevator"; and we are going up and down with Him! Collected Works of Watchman Nee, The (Set 3) Vol. 57, Chapter 14The reason there’s so much darkness and confusion today both in the world and in Christianity is that man sacrifices the truth and forces the truth to yield to him.

Man picks and chooses what truth to uphold and up to what measure he will uphold the truth.

But if we take the truth as the unique standard and have the courage to uphold it, even admitting that we are wrong and made mistakes, we will receive new light, and a new way will be opened up to us.

However, if we are not absolute for the truth, we will sacrifice God’s truth for ourselves or our own desires (Prov. 23:23).

In a safe and comfortable environment it is easy for people to say that they would never sacrifice the truth; but when there’s a cost involved – and there will be a test for each one of us sooner or later – we still need to pay the price.

May we realize how much we need the victorious Christ who is truth itself living in us so that we would never sacrifice God’s truth for ourselves or for a desire that we have.

We must fight for the truth, uphold the absoluteness of the truth, and fight for our fellow believers, especially the younger ones, that we may deal with the enemy that blinds them.

We should honor God’s truth, take the way of the truth, and not compromise the truth in any way.

It is good to tell the Lord along this line,

Lord Jesus, we need You as the victorious Christ, the very truth of God living in us, for us not to sacrifice the truth for ourselves or for our desires. Grant us to be filled with the truth, constituted with the truth, and upholding the truth. We want to honor God’s truth, take the way of the truth, and not compromise the truth in any way. Amen, Lord, we aspire to be absolute for the truth and uphold the absoluteness of the truth. We put aside our feelings, we are willing to ignore personal relationships, and we do not stand for the self; we stand for the truth, for the divine truth is absolute. Amen, Lord Jesus, save us from compromising the truth and lowering the truth to our experience. We want to stand on the side of the truth and oppose ourselves. Deliver us from ourselves!

References and Hymns on this Topic
  • Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 40, “What Shall This Man Do?” ch. 10, and Life-study of 2 John, msgs. 1-2 (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 1, Knowing the Truth, Being Absolute for the Truth and for Upholding the Absoluteness of the Truth, and Testifying to the Truth in the Present Age of the World.
  • Hymns on this topic:
    – Truth we must be holding, which is Christ Himself, / That we be delivered from the sects of self, / That in all things growing into Christ the Head, / Built will be the Body and to fulness led. (Hymns #832)
    – “Where is the truth?” I asked; for this I longed: / None answered right ’mid all the answering throng; / For ever side by side lay light and shade. / “Where is,” I cried, “the one communion pure? / Where is the Church in which, clear-traced and sure, / The Spirit’s very likeness is portrayed?” (Hymns #828)
    – Thy truth unchanged hath ever stood; / Thou savest those that on Thee call; / To them that seek Thee, Thou art good, / To them that find Thee, all in all! (Hymns #205)
About aGodMan

A God-man is a normal believer in Christ; the author of this article is one who is learning to be a normal Christian, a daily enjoyer of Christ, a living and functioning member in the Body of Christ. Amen, Lord, make us such ones for the building up of the Body of Christ!

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