(2)
Scripture Reading: 1 John 1:5-7
In this message we shall continue to consider the meaning of the word truth in the New Testament. We have pointed out that truth is God, Christ, and the Spirit. Therefore, truth is the Divine Trinity. Actually the Three of the Trinity are all one reality.
Having seen that truth is the Triune God, we may go on to point out that truth is also the Word of God as the divine revelation, which not only reveals but also conveys the reality of God and Christ and of all the divine and spiritual things. Hence, the Word of God also is reality (John 17:17).
The Word is the explanation of the Triune God. This means that the fourth aspect of what the truth is, the Word, is actually the explanation of the first three aspects of the truth, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Therefore, reality is God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit, and also the divine Word.
According to the New Testament, truth is also the contents of the faith (belief), which is the substantial elements of what we believe as the reality of the full gospel (Eph. 1:13; Col. 1:5). This is revealed in the entire New Testament (2 Cor. 4:2; 13:8; Gal. 5:7; 1 Tim. 2:4, 7b; 1 Tim. 3:15; 4:3; 6:5; 2 Tim. 2:15, 18, 25; 3:7, 8; 4:4; Titus 1:1, 14; 2 Thes. 2:10, 12; Heb. 10:26; James 5:19; 1 Pet. 1:22; 2 Pet. 1:12).
The contents of the Word of God are also the contents of our Christian faith. This is the objective faith, our belief. The Word is the revelation and explanation of the Trinity, and this Word has contents. In brief, these contents are the contents of the New Testament and also the contents of our Christian faith. Therefore, the contents of the New Testament and of our Christian faith are also the truth, the reality. This means that in the New Testament, reality refers to the contents of our faith and to the contents of the entire New Testament.
In the Bible truth is also the reality concerning God, the universe, man, man’s relationship with God and with one another, and man’s obligation to God, as revealed through creation and the Scripture (Rom. 1:18-20; 2:2, 8, 20).
If we would know the actual situation concerning God and the universe, there is no need for us to guess or make inferences. We simply need to come to the Scriptures, for in the New Testament we have the truth concerning God, the universe, and man. We also have the truth regarding man’s obligation to God and his relationship with God and others. This truth is revealed partially in God’s creation, and it is revealed fully in the Scriptures. In God’s creation we can see certain aspects of the truth concerning God, man, and man’s relationship with God. Therefore, in the New Testament the word truth is used to refer to these matters.
In the New Testament the Greek word for truth, aletheia, also denotes the genuineness, truthfulness, sincerity, honesty, trustworthiness, and faithfulness of God as a divine virtue (Rom. 3:7; 15:8), and of man as a human virtue (Mark 12:14; 2 Cor. 11:10; Phil. 1:18; 1 John 3:18) and as an issue of the divine reality (John 4:23-24; 2 John 1:1; 3 John 1:1).
John 4:23 and 24 say, “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and reality; for the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is Spirit; and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and reality.” Some hold the concept that the word truth in these verses denotes the sincerity of God’s worshippers. According to this concept, we should worship God not only in our spirit and with our spirit, but also worship Him in sincerity. This understanding is mistaken. In John 4:23 and 24 truth refers to the result, the issue, of God being reality to us. When we enjoy God as our reality, this enjoyment will have a certain outcome, and this outcome is truth, reality. Actually, this outcome of enjoying God as our reality is Christ coming forth from us. When we enjoy the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — as our reality, that is, when the Divine Trinity becomes a reality to us for our enjoyment, this enjoyment issues in a certain kind of virtue. This virtue is the Christ experienced by us, the Christ who is the fulfillment of all the offerings.
In Old Testament times the children of Israel worshipped God in a particular place — Jerusalem. When they went to Jerusalem to worship God, they could not be empty-handed. They were required to go to Jerusalem with offerings for the worship of God. All those offerings were types of Christ. Therefore, the children of Israel worshipped God in the place designated by God and with the offerings required by God. In typology the place chosen by God typifies the human spirit, where God’s habitation is today (Eph. 2:22), and the offerings typify Christ.
In chapter four of John the Samaritan woman said to the Lord Jesus, “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men must worship” (v. 20). The Lord Jesus answered, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem shall you worship the Father” (v. 21). The Lord’s answer indicates that the dispensation was changing. In Old Testament times God commanded His people to worship Him in Jerusalem with the offerings. But the hour has changed, and now is the hour of the Spirit. Therefore, the Lord went on to say that God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit, not in a certain place. This means that in the fulfillment of the typology, the human spirit replaces Jerusalem as the designated place. The Lord also told the Samaritan woman that the true worshippers must worship the Father not only in spirit, but also in reality. Reality here is the Christ whom we experience as the reality of all the offerings. Hence, Christ as the offerings is the fulfillment of the type of the sacrifices used in the worship of God. Today we need to worship God in our spirit and with the Christ whom we have experienced as the burnt offering, meal offering, peace offering, sin offering, and trespass offering.
We need to worship the Father with the Christ who is the fulfillment of the offerings that the children of Israel offered in their worship to God. This Christ is not the objective Christ; rather, He is the subjective Christ, the Christ whom we have experienced. The experience of Christ as the fulfillment of the offerings results in reality. This is the reality in John 4:23-24, the divine reality experienced by us and resulting in our virtue. This virtue also is reality.
Suppose two Israelites, one from the tribe of Judah and the other from the tribe of Dan, came to worship God. They both had to worship in Jerusalem, in particular, on Mount Zion, which was in the center of Jerusalem. They also had to worship God with certain offerings; they were not allowed to appear before Him empty-handed. For the proper worship of God they had to come to the place designated by God, and they had to bring their offerings. If they fulfilled these requirements, their worship of God would be proper.
According to the Old Testament, proper worship is not a matter of one’s physical posture before God; that is, it is not a matter of standing, kneeling, or prostrating oneself. Proper worship in the Old Testament is a matter of coming to the right place — Mount Zion in Jerusalem — and with the right things — the offerings. After the offerings were presented to God, those who offered them could also enjoy them with God by eating a portion of them. Therefore, proper worship includes coming to the right place, presenting the offerings to God, and eating the offerings in the presence of God. This indicates that singing, praising, and praying are not the prerequisites for the proper worship of God. The prerequisites are the place God designates and the offerings God requires. After the offerings were offered to God at the place designated by God, they were enjoyed by the offerers in the presence of God and with God. According to typology, this is proper worship.
Now we need to understand how this typology is fulfilled by the proper worship in the New Testament. The proper place for us to worship God is in our spirit. Furthermore, when we worship God in spirit, we must worship him with the Christ whom we have been experiencing.
Do you know what the Christian life is? The Christian life is a life of daily experiencing the Christ we have received. The Christian life is a life of experiencing Christ all the time. This experience of Christ produces the offerings with which we worship God.
As Christians, we should daily experience Christ. Then we should come to the meetings of the church in spirit and with the Christ whom we have been experiencing in our daily living. In the church meetings we should worship God in our spirit and with the very Christ whom we have experienced as the offerings. We may offer Him as the sin offering or as the trespass offering. We may also offer Him as the burnt offering, as the meal offering, or as the peace offering. All these offerings are the Christ whom we experience subjectively.
This subjective experience of Christ is the issue of our enjoyment of the Triune God. When we experience Christ, we are actually enjoying the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Hence, to experience Christ is to enjoy the Triune God. This enjoyment results in a reality that is very subjective and practical. On the one hand, this reality is Christ in us; on the other hand, this is also our reality.
Suppose certain brothers in the church life are indifferent concerning Christ and idle with respect to the experience of Christ. As a result, they do not have any experience of Him. They have believed in the Lord’s name and received Him, and that is all. They do not have any experience of Christ in their daily living. These brothers may be ethical and moral, not committing any gross sins. But because they do not have any experience of Christ in their daily living, when they come to the church meetings, they come empty-handed. They are not able to pray or give a word for the Lord. They may like to sit in the meeting and watch others function. This is an insult to God. This kind of worship is not only rejected by Him — it is condemned.
We should not come to God empty-handed. Whenever we come to Him, we should have something of the Christ we have experienced in our daily living. Do you know what God wants from us in our worship of Him? God wants the Christ we have experienced. His desire is that we worship Him with the Christ we experience day by day.
We have pointed out that in experiencing Christ we enjoy God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. This enjoyment issues in a reality that we may call our personal reality. This personal reality is a matter of having Christ saturating our inner being. When we have this reality, we have Christ in our spirit, heart, mind, emotion, and will. This is the Christ whom we have experienced becoming our reality. Now we should worship God not only in our spirit, but also worship Him with this reality, which is the Christ we experience in our daily living. This is not only the divine reality for our enjoyment; this is also our human reality, our personal reality, which comes out of our enjoyment of the divine reality. This human reality is the issue of the divine reality which we enjoy daily. This is the proper understanding of reality in John 4:23-24.
The meaning of truth in John 4:23-24 has been either concealed or misunderstood. We have indicated that some Christians have been taught that to worship God in truth is to worship Him in sincerity. Years ago, I heard messages saying that we need to be sincere in our worship of God and that this sincerity is what the Lord Jesus meant by truth in these verses. For example, one may say to the members of a congregation, “You have come to worship God, but your heart is not here. If you are a businessman, your heart may be occupied with your business. This means that you are worshipping God without sincerity. When you worship God, you must forget about other things and worship Him with sincerity. For the worship of God, you need a sincere heart.”
To interpret the word truth in John 4:23 and 24 as sincerity is to expound the Word of God in a way that is natural and religious. This interpretation is definitely not according to the divine revelation. The truth of the divine revelation here is that we need to worship God in reality, which is the issue of our enjoyment of the Triune God as reality. If we experience Christ daily, we shall enjoy the Triune God as our reality. This enjoyment will result in a virtue, and this virtue will become our human reality, a reality that is the outcome of the divine reality. Then we should worship God with this reality. This virtue is nothing less than Christ experienced by us, and this Christ is all the offerings. The Christ we have experienced is our sin offering, trespass offering, burnt offering, meal offering, and peace offering.
As we have fellowship with the Lord in our daily life, we shall be in the light. In the light we see our sinfulness, and we realize that we are wrong in many matters. We may see that we are not right with our husband or wife or with our parents. Then in the light we confess our sins to the Lord, and we enjoy the cleansing of the Lord’s precious blood. This is to experience Christ in a practical way as our Redeemer in our daily life.
Experiencing the Lord like this in our daily living, we should then come to the church meetings in our spirit and either offer a prayer or give a testimony of our experience. In our testimony we may say, “Dear saints, recently I was enlightened in my fellowship with God, and I saw that I was wrong in many matters and with certain persons. But I confessed everything to the Lord, and He cleansed me. Now I enjoy Him as my Redeemer and also as my sin offering and trespass offering.” This is to offer Christ in the meeting as our sin offering and trespass offering. This is the way to worship God in our spirit with the Christ whom we experience.
As we continue to fellowship with the Lord in the light, we may realize that we should be absolute for God. However, we are not absolute for God, and of ourselves we cannot be absolute. In the course of our fellowship we may be further enlightened of the Spirit to realize that because we cannot be absolute for God, we need Christ as our life. He is the absolute One, and we need Him as our life so that we can live a life that is absolute for God. Spontaneously we may pray, “Lord Jesus, I cannot be absolute for God. But I thank You, Lord, that You are my life. You are absolute for God, and I believe that You can live such an absolute life for me and in me. Lord, I take You as my burnt offering to be my absoluteness.” After you experience the Lord in this way, you may come to the church meeting with your experience of Christ. In the meeting you may offer up a prayer in which you present Christ to God as your burnt offering. In such a prayer you may say, “Lord Jesus, I should be absolute for God, but in myself I cannot be absolute. Lord, I thank You that You are my life. When You lived on earth, You were absolute for God, and now You are the One in me who is absolute for God. Lord Jesus, You are my burnt offering.” This is to worship God in spirit with the Christ you experience as the burnt offering.
In your daily life, you may also experience Christ as the One feeding you with Himself as the bread of life. This is to experience Christ as your meal offering. Because you experience Christ in this way, You may come to the church meeting with Christ as your meal offering. Then either in prayer or in testimony you may speak concerning Christ as your daily food, as your meal offering.
If we experience Christ as the sin offering, the trespass offering, the burnt offering, and the meal offering, then we shall also experience Him as our peace offering. The peace offering is based upon and constituted of the sin offering, the trespass offering, the burnt offering, and the meal offering. If we experience Christ as these four offerings, certainly we shall enjoy Him as our peace with God and also as our peace with others.
Suppose a brother does not have peace in his married life and family life. If he experiences Christ as the sin offering, the trespass offering, the burnt offering, and the meal offering, he will also experience Christ as peace with his wife and children. Then this brother will be able to come to the church meetings with joy, and praise the Lord for being his peace. He will also be able to testify to the entire universe, including the angels and demons, that he is a peaceful person, a person enjoying peace to the uttermost. He will be able to testify that he has peace with God, with those in his family, with the Body, and even with everything in his environment.
Sometimes we become angry with the situation in our family life or in the church life. The reason for this anger is that we are lacking in the experience of Christ, and, as a result, we do not have Christ as our peace. But if we experience Christ daily as our sin offering, trespass offering, burnt offering, and meal offering, we shall have Christ as our peace in every situation. Then in the meetings of the church we shall be able to offer Christ as our peace offering.
When we come to the church meetings to worship God, we need to worship Him in our spirit. We should also worship God with the very Christ whom we experience day by day, with the Christ who has become our personal reality. In the sight of God, the Christ who is our personal reality is also our personal virtue. We have the highest human virtue, yet this virtue is not of ourselves. Rather, this virtue is the sweetness of the Christ whom we experience. This means that the Christ whom we experience daily becomes our personal virtue, with which we can offer God a pleasant, acceptable worship. When we come to worship God with such a Christ, God is happy with us.
Perhaps now we can understand that in the New Testament truth is not only the Triune God, the Word of God, the contents of the faith, and the reality concerning God, man, and the universe. Truth is also 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. According to this understanding of truth, this divine virtue first belongs to God, and then through our experience of Christ this virtue also becomes ours. After the divine virtue is experienced by us, it becomes our virtue, a virtue that is an issue of the divine reality.
