THE TRUTH
[p. 192] THE TRUTH
John 3:21; John 8:31,32; John 16:13
I wish to speak a little about the truth, and I have selected John’s writings on which to base my remarks because he speaks more about truth than any of the New Testament writers. He uses the word truth about forty times, as compared with the use of it about sixty times in the rest of the New Testament. He has this phase of the testimony particularly in mind, and it is significant inasmuch as he is “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 21:20). Sometimes love is mentioned as over against the truth, and it is, therefore, significant that the disciple who knew love perhaps better than any, for he was the disciple whom Jesus loved, refers to truth so extensively. He says indeed, “Hereby we have known love, because he has laid down his life for us” (1 John 3:16). He does not base his knowledge on the fact that the Lord loved him, but on the great general testimony of Christ’s death, that He laid down His life for us. That is a great objective thought.
John nevertheless had a great opportunity of knowing love subjectively, and several times he refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. He must have had wonderful experiences of love in the Lord’s company. It is a remarkable thing that he is said to have been in the bosom of Jesus at one particular time. What times he must have had! and they were intended to impress him, for if he is to speak of love, he is not only to know it objectively, but to convey the thought of it as enjoyed. The Lord, speaking to His own mother, said of John, “Woman, behold thy son”(chapter 19:26); so that he would come under the influence and affections of a real mother, who had experience such as no other mother ever had, nor could have. John had that advantage, as he stood in relation to her as a son to a mother; and that was in “his own home”. Whether he lived alone otherwise [p. 193] is not stated, but he took the Lord’s mother to his own home; and he is in the relation of a son to her there; and she in the relation of a mother to him.
John thus had remarkable personal qualities in the service of God; and these were not to terminate at his death. They were to be passed on. What was formed in the early days has come down to us in the Spirit; not that the Spirit does not continue to develop fresh affections in the saints, but it is one of His services to carry down things to us in a tangible way; so that the assembly is enriched with the peculiar personal qualities of this great servant.
The light of these things will help us in this great matter of the truth, having in mind the last days, as we have often remarked, when the truth will be greatly compromised and lost to view. John is very insistent on its being kept in view, and not only in the Scriptures, and in our meetings, but in general practice. Hence the first verse I read says, “he that practises the truth comes to the light”. It is a very important matter at this juncture to see, as I hope to make plain, that the truth involves principles; these principles are apt to be beclouded, it is the enemy’s business to becloud them. The mystery of iniquity which began in the days of the apostle Paul has specially taken on the character of deception. It will culminate in the man of sin, whose coming is in all deceivableness of unrighteousness. He is at our very doors, we might say; not that he is here personally, but his features are here; they have been, indeed, right through, only that they are now more manifest in our own times; deceivableness of unrighteousness is one of the great features, and through this means Satan seeks to becloud the truth.
There is great importance, therefore, in keeping the Lord Jesus before us. John would do this, as I have been saying, in a special way, as over against this man of sin. The Lord said, “If another come in his own name, him ye will receive” (John 5:43). “In his own name”,
[p. 194] notice that. Name is renown, and whatever renown I may have acquired, as a natural man I will capitalise and enlarge; this will mark the man of sin, and, alas! the Lord has to say, “him ye will receive”. I would say a word on that especially for the young ones here, for hero-worship is one of the features of the present time. Men of great doings, great renown, are apt to affect us in their favour despite their conduct; whether they are marked by deceivableness of unrighteousness, murder and rapine — we are apt to be worshippers of them. That is to say, we are wanting in righteousness, wanting in truth, and hence the importance of developing in truth, to fortify ourselves against what the enemy is doing. The tendency in the young is to love to read of men of renown, and in some they became almost objects of veneration. That is just what the enemy wishes them to be. The whole world will wonder after the beast. “Who can make war with it?” (Revelation 13:4) will be a common saying; and every time you let such expressions into your mouth you become defiled; you become darkened. Thus we may be found admiring one “whom the Lord Jesus shall consume with the breath of his mouth, and shall annul by the appearing of his coming” (2 Thessalonians 2:8). He can make war with the beast.
Our position requires that we make war with him now on spiritual lines; to make war with him in our souls; to disallow in ourselves the hero-worship I have spoken of. The true antidote to all that is the Lord Jesus. He says, “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not; if another come in his own name, him ye will receive”. How terrible that is for the Jewish people! They will receive him. No true lover of Christ will admire antichrist or anyone marked by his features.
How great is the importance of the practice of truth in fathers and mothers, in elder brothers and elder sisters, as regards their younger ones in the local meetings and in the general position of the saints; the practice [p. 195] of the truth is the great antidote to what is false. The maintenance of it is deliverance not only for the brother who practises the truth, but for those who are nearby him. The scripture says, “he that practises the truth comes to the light”; there is no question of a specific time. It is characteristic of a person who practises the truth that he comes to the light; he does not evade the light. Let it shine ever so brightly, he comes to it. One of John’s special words is, Come. The Lord Jesus used it Himself. When two disciples followed Jesus and showed their qualities in saying to Him, “Rabbi, ... where abidest thou?”; He said to them, “Come and see” (John 1:38,39).
The word come appears here; “he ... comes to the light”; what for? “that his works may be manifested that they have been wrought in God”. See what such a person has; he has something worth while; something that is to be manifested. Let everybody see it. If my deeds are wrought in God, they are worth seeing; they are not to be concealed. Think of the relation of the doer of the truth to God, “wrought in God”. He is not talking about his deeds; they are manifested. The more he comes to the light, the more they appear. We are told that “that which makes everything manifest is light” (Ephesians 5:13). Well, what are the most delightful things to be made manifest? Deeds wrought in God! They are perfect jewels. It is not simply objective truth, what I have in my mind, but the truth practised. They are to be manifested. Precious stones are not to be hidden away; they are to be manifested; and the greater the light, the more they are manifested — seen as they are.
That is the first thing I had in mind. The opposite of that is, “For every one that does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light that his works may not be shewn as they are” (verse 20). Have we any difficulties? Why cannot we have them all laid out on the table? Why come into the assembly under a dark [p. 196] cloud? Difficulties only crystallise as kept in the dark. Why not have them all spread out in the light? Is God not God? If I am in a place where God is not, I should not be there. If I am in a place where God is, and difficulties exist, I must spread out everything. Let the whole matter be manifested. Why conceal it? The light is there. Everything will be seen as it is, and I will be adjusted. If others need adjustment, this will come about also if God is there. God is light; but do I keep away from the light? do I conceal unjudged things? If so, where am I? What are my associations? “For every one that does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light that his works may not be shewn as they are”. That is the opposite to what I have been speaking of. “That his works may not be shewn as they are”; it marks one who does evil, and who is on the road to destruction, whereas coming to the light is on the way of salvation. You need not be afraid of reproof; you should be reproved if your deeds are not right. The assembly is the place for reproof, as Paul wrote, “Those that sin convict before all” (1 Timothy 5:20). The apostle Paul says of Peter, “I withstood him to the face” (Galatians 2:11). Why did he do that? “because he was to be condemned”.
Why should I avoid that? If there is anything in me blameworthy, let it be faced. Why should things continue on day in and day out, week in and week out, month in and month out, unsettled? It should not be. Paul says, “that which makes everything manifest is light” (Ephesians 5:13). Light makes everything manifest, whatever it be. Let us then come to it. What could be a greater service, if there are dark parts, than that they should be exposed to myself and others? “That which makes everything manifest is light.” When we come into the assembly, we ought to make people glad. The Lord Jesus is an example, He came into the assembly and made the disciples glad. I should feel it if I knew that when I came into the meeting, someone [p. 197] wished I had not come in. The disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. If you come in with darkness in your face and war in your heart, you would be better away. I say that without hesitation. I would rather see you away. There is no remedy for darkness in me if I shut my heart to the truth, if I do not allow the light to come into my soul, and that constantly. The assembly is a place of light. If I go there I must be prepared for exposure. He that doeth truth cometh to the light. It is the movement of the heart, that you come to the light, where the light is shining most brilliantly that everything might be made manifest. If your motives or works are evil, let them be exposed and judged. If they are wrought in God, they are like precious jewels which make the hearts of the saints glad.
In John 8 there is a further reference to truth. The Lord Himself is that. “Jesus therefore said to the Jews who believed him, If ye abide in my word, ye are truly my disciples”. One of the features of John is that he recognises disciples that are not just equal to the designation. He uses the word “disciples” of persons who are not genuine believers on the Lord Jesus. John quotes the Lord as saying, “If ye abide in my word, ye are truly my disciples”. You are disciples, He says, but you want to be disciples truly, as the New Translation puts it. They had recently believed on Him, but they were below the mark; their quality was low; that is one of the things that John brings out. He says in chapter 2:11, “This beginning of signs did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed on him”. It was the beginning of signs. What was that sign? It was the turning of water into wine. I am not going to speak now of literal wine, but of the spiritual. It was the best wine kept until the last, and it caused joy. Wine is a symbol of joy. Now, if we have not joy, we are hardly disciples who believe on Jesus. If we have dark countenances we do not indicate that we believe on Jesus. Our hearts are [p. 198] to be made glad. It was the best wine; it was the Lord’s own product. It makes the true believer’s heart glad. “He maketh ... wine which gladdeneth the heart of man; making his face shine with oil” (Psalm 104:15). The first thing is the heart made glad. If I come into the meeting like a dark cloud, am I a characteristic disciple that believes on Jesus? I am not.
It was the beginning of signs, and Jesus “manifested his glory”; it caused His disciples to believe on Him. I should like to have seen them that day. I do not suppose the disciples and Jesus were in a group by themselves at the wedding feast. The scripture tells us, “And on the third day a marriage took place in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. And Jesus also, and his disciples, were invited to the marriage” (verses 1,2). The Lord and His disciples were at the wedding; no doubt they moved there severally even as others. The Lord would be very simple at that wedding. I do not suppose anybody present enjoyed the position in the true sense more than He. It would remind Him of His own union with the assembly soon to take place. But His marriage with Israel is more in view here. It is the third day, pointing to His millennial marital joy. The prominence of wine also suggests this. There is plenty of good wine; it was provided by Christ, kept till the end. Wine suggests earthly joy.
As I said, the Lord, I am sure, would be simple in such a circumstance. His attitude would be in keeping with it. I can see the Lord of glory there. He would speak to the bridegroom and the bride, perhaps bless them. He made the wine; He made them all glad; He manifested His glory. I suppose there never was such a wedding as that before. You can see the glory radiating from the Messiah. Typically, He was introducing the millennial day with all its glory and joy. Did He shut all that up in His heart? No; He let it shine out there. They might say, Master, it is a wonderful [p. 199] time. He would answer, It is a wonderful time, but you are going to have still more wonderful times. He had just said to Nathanael, “Thou shalt see greater things than these” (chapter 1:50). The Lord was manifesting His glory, “and his disciples believed on him”. The signs had them specially in view (John 20:30). It does not say the bride or the bridegroom believed on Him, but His disciples. That is a point John is making; disciples must be true believers. Their faces are apt to be dark and gloomy, whereas the Lord would cause their faces to shine with the joy of the new wine. The Spirit filling our hearts with the love of God, makes us suitable for the assembly, so that we cause the saints to be glad when they see us. “And his disciples believed on him.” That would mean for us now, that any among us that are prominent should encourage faith in others.
The disciples already had faith in some sense, but not in this way. They had never been in a scene like this before — the wedding at Cana of Galilee. Two of them had just been to the Lord’s place of abode. Someone might enquire from Andrew as to Jesus. He could say, I was in His house. The enquirer would, no doubt, like to hear about that house. That would be a suitable conversation at such a marriage. Andrew could tell him what he saw where the Lord dwelt. We abode with Him, he would say, from the tenth hour. Did the Lord serve him a meal? Doubtless, He would be a Host in His own abode. Well, as I said, that would be a profitable subject of conversation. Another one might say, I was at the Jordan when the Lord Jesus came to John to be baptised; and I heard Him say to John, “Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). That is a very interesting subject; a fine subject for a marriage. And two of them would be talking about what the Lord Jesus said about righteousness — all righteousness. In discipleship it is needful to be righteous. I could refer to other things to indicate what wholesome conversations could have [p. 200] been started by these disciples of Jesus at that wedding. You know how light the talk often is at such a time. There would be nothing of this in the presence of the Lord. His mother says, “They have no wine”, He answered, “What have I to do with thee, woman?”. He was there in a spiritual way; the conversation must be spiritual; that is what He said in effect. “Mine hour has not yet come”. That is another subject of conversation. Why did the Lord say that? There is a lot of meaning in it. I am just indicating how that marriage day could be filled up with the most precious subjects. The Lord was there, and manifested forth His glory, and His disciples believed on Him. What a radiation of glory!
Well, in chapter 8:31, He says to them, “If ye abide in my word”. Here the Lord brings forward an important point. His word. He knows the mind of God and can convey it to us. Let us take it into our hearts. What does He convey to us in what He says? It is the mind of God, and we are to abide in it. Thus you will be My disciples indeed, He says. Then further, “and ye shall know the truth”; that is the point I wish to make. The word know there is objective. Generally speaking, today what is needed in the service to the saints is a ministry of the truth, for many of our brethren are in dark surroundings and associations. There is no value in attempting to minister it in a subjective sense until it is apprehended objectively. Let us see it by itself, as it were. Let it come out in its beauty. Look at it in its beauty. The idea of school is very common, and the thought in schooling generally is objective. Of course, there is the matter of manners and that sort of thing, but the main thought is objective knowledge. Get to know things, and then put them into practice. It is in the putting of them into practice that you realise how the truth sets you free; but you must know it first. Never mind whether it convicts or not; just let it have its own place; it is entitled to it.
[p. 201] Just look at it. Let it into your mind. God has given us minds, and He has given believers the Holy Spirit so that we might have renewed minds, and we must let the truth in its grandeur and glory enter into our minds. Ye shall know it, the Lord says.
The next thing is, my associations are condemned by it; my conduct is condemned by it; but that is not what I am speaking of for the moment. What I am urging is that we should get the great outline of the truth; that is sorely needed everywhere today. The first thing is objective truth in dealing with souls. The Lord had referred to His word. That is the truth presented; but the truth is a thing by itself. It is the principle by which the universe was made; everything must have been governed by truth. Let it, as seen in Christ, come into your mind, and then take your place in relation to it; that is the next thing.
For instance, thinking of Saturn and Mars, if I had the mind of an astronomer I would want to know about these planets, their relation to the sun, and so on; but then, suppose I am a star, for that is what the saints are; they are to shine as the stars for ever and ever; that is our position. John says, “and ye shall know the truth”, the truth will put us in our own proper places, which all need. I stand in relation to the sun and to all the stars. I see the grandeur of the truth and then I say, I am included in it and I want to find my place in it. The effect of that is I am set free. It is the freedom of love, but it is the truth that has done it. I am in my position, I have found my niche, my place in the universe; and I am free. The stars are free, because they are all in their set positions. They move in their set relations; they move in their orbits. John is astronomical, and he has in mind that each of us should be in his place.
If you are not in fellowship, you are a wandering star. It is a most solemn thing to be outside of the circle of the saints of God. To say the least, it is an [p. 202] unsafe position. You may come into collision with heavier bodies and be destroyed. Here the Lord says “the truth shall set you free”. How does it set you free? You are to know it objectively. Think of the grandeur of the universe, to use the illustration. There are the heavens and the earth, and all the subdivisions of sun, moon and stars; and as to the earth, the mountains, seas, rivers, and so on. It is the grandeur of the thing. Then, where am I in relation to all this? “And ye shall know the truth”, the Lord says. The article is before it. It is not simply truth, it is the knowledge of the whole range of truth that sets me free. The Lord goes, of course, beyond that. He goes on to sonship, but I am not speaking about that. Sonship is in correlation with this. The truth puts me in my place in relation to God, the saints and all things, and sonship means that I am there in family dignity in the enjoyment of it all. I never lose the family side of the position. I abide in the house for ever, but the truth is the first thing.
Now, finally, in chapter 16 the Lord says, “But when he is come, the Spirit of truth, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself, but whatsoever he shall hear he shall speak; and he will announce to you what is coming”. This is the final thought I had. It is the Spirit of truth, “he shall guide you into all the truth”. I was speaking about knowing the truth objectively, and I would add to what I said as to it, that if I am on that line, I will not ignore the meetings whenever I can be present, because normally it is there that objective truth is opened up. I am speaking now of what is normal in christianity. The Spirit of God is in the assembly, and these meetings for Bible consideration are intended as occasions to open up the truth in its full proportions. If I am a student, as every christian ought to be, not what is called a student of divinity, but a student of the revealed mind of God, I will take advantage of every opportunity of that kind so that I may know the truth; know it [p. 203] objectively; know it as a grand system of things that God has opened up.
Well, enlarging on that, this verse says, “But when he is come, the Spirit of truth, he shall guide you into all the truth”. There were great teachers, Paul, Peter, John, but the Spirit of truth can only be the Holy Spirit. I want you to note that word guide. You say, I can have that in my room. No doubt a student of the Scriptures is very safe in quietly retiring to his room, and getting down on his knees, and telling the Lord he does not understand this or that. Paul says, “The Lord will give thee understanding in all things” (2 Timothy 2:7). Getting up from his knees, he opens his Bible and looks into the scriptures that pertain to the matters that are concerning him, and the Holy Spirit helps him, He guides him; but this verse is wider than that, for it contemplates the twelve apostles. They must have had wonderful times in the early days. They are all mentioned in the first chapter of Acts. They were in the upper room; they were not idle there; they would consider the Scriptures there, even before the Holy Spirit came. Later it is said, “every day, in the temple and in the houses, they ceased not teaching and announcing the glad tidings that Jesus was the Christ” (Acts 5:42). Before the Holy Spirit came Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren and quoted the Psalms. He knew what psalm to quote. Let us contemplate them in the upper room, after the Holy Spirit came. The twelve would be sitting there; maybe sisters, too, were there and others; one hundred and twenty names.
The early chapters of Acts indicate all the meetings we have, whatever the forms; but let us suppose that as together they read Psalm 2:7. “Thou art my Son; I this day have begotten thee”. Someone would enquire of Peter, What does that mean? Peter might answer, Do you remember the day in which the Lord said to us, “Who do men say that I the Son of man am?”.
[p. 204] And we said so-and-so, and so-and-so, and so-and-so. And then Jesus said, “But ye,who do ye say that I am?”. And I said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:13-16). Then Nathanael might say, I can tell you something about that. I was sitting under the fig tree, and Philip said to me, “We have found him of whom Moses wrote in the law, and the prophets, Jesus, the son of Joseph, who is from Nazareth” (John 1:45). I was not much interested at first, but Philip said to me, “Come and see”, and I went to see; and as I went to see, the Lord Jesus said of me, “Behold one truly an Israelite, in whom there is no guile” (verse 47). And I said to the Lord, How do you know me? The Lord said, “When thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee”. The brethren would be set free from their natural reserve: they would be softened together in their hearts. These were real disciples; these were men of real experience with the Lord Jesus. And then, Nathanael would say, I said to the Lord, “Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel” (verse 49). And the question would be raised, How did you know He was the Son of God? How did you know He was the King of Israel? I decided in my mind, Nathanael would say, just at the time that only the Son of God could say that; that He saw me before Philip called me. I did not see Him; He saw me. I got the impression at the time that He was the Son of God, and Psalm 2 came into my mind, which says, “Thou art my Son; I this day have begotten thee”. “And I have anointed my king upon Zion, the hill of my holiness.” Perhaps he would say, I was reading that psalm, and it was fresh in my mind as I spoke to the Lord, and said, “Thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel”.
Well, all the brethren there would be free. The Holy Spirit was there; He was guiding them. Peter said one thing, and Nathanael another, and Matthew could say another. All the apostles could join in, each [p. 205] contributing something which the Holy Spirit could use to develop the truth. What would be the effect after that meeting? Well, they would say, We had a wonderful time today. We had Psalm 2, and the truth of the Son of God shone before us. We see it all now. Who guided them? The Holy Spirit. That is what we should have in mind in our Bible readings. Let us make room for Him; “when he is come, the Spirit of truth, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but whatsoever he shall hear he shall speak; and he will announce to you what is coming”. I could illustrate what I have been saying in many other ways, but you can see what opens up to us today, as we throw to the winds our own wills and preconceived ideas and critical hearts, and sit down with one another on mutual lines as those who know the truth in an objective sense, and make room for the Spirit. See what wonderful things will come out; “for he shall not speak from himself”. What He speaks is immediately from heaven; “whatsoever he shall hear he shall speak; and he will announce to you what is coming”. You can see what is opened up to us. We have seen it, but perhaps we will see it more than ever from these remarks, what is opened up to us in these mutual meetings; meetings where love prevails and the Holy Spirit takes of the things of Christ and guides us into all the truth. We do not need a catechism, we do not need a creed; we need the Lord; we need the Holy Spirit, we need the Bible, we need one another. Thus we have the temple of God. It is on these lines that the holy canon of Scripture has been determined.