Truth and Error: January 2019
Table of Contents
Truth and Error
Christ is the truth in the fullest sense. The Holy Ghost is also called "truth" (1 John 6), as being the inward power in him that believes for laying hold of the revelation of God and realizing it. Jesus is the truth. The truth is the expression of what God is and what man is. He who is the truth objectively must be both God and man to make known the truth about them. He is not only God, but the special One who makes known God, and, being man, He could make known man; yea, being both, He could make known everything. Thus we never know what life is fully save in Christ, and we never know what death is save in Christ. Again, who ever knows the meaning of judgment aright save in Christ? Who can estimate what the wrath of God is save in Christ? Who can tell what communion with God is save in Christ? It is Christ who shows us what the world is; it is Christ who shows us what heaven is and by contrast what hell must be. Some ancient philosophers said, though falsely, that man is the measure of all things. It is exactly true of Christ, the God-man.
W. Kelly (adapted)
Diversity and Unity
It is instructive to mark the varied lines of truth presented in the New Testament, all finding their common center in that blessed One who is the truth. We see this both in the gospels and in the epistles. Each of the four evangelists, under the direct guidance and power of the Holy Spirit, gives us a distinct view of Christ; each one has his own specific line. No two are alike, but all agree; there is diversity and unity. Matthew does not interfere with Mark, nor Mark with Luke, nor Luke with John. There is no collision, because each moves in his own proper orbit, and all revolve round the one grand center.
So also is it in the epistles. Paul’s line of things is as distinct from Peter’s, as Peter’s is from John’s, or John’s from James’. There is no collision, because, like the four evangelists, each moves in his own appointed orbit, and all revolve round the one common center. The orbit is distinct, but the center is one.
One Spirit – Various Instruments
It would be folly on our part to institute any invidious comparison between those varied lines of truth or the instruments by whom those lines are presented to us. This we should at once denounce as sinful folly, not to be tolerated for a moment. The varied instruments are all employed by one and the self-same inspiring Spirit, for the one grand object of presenting the varied moral glories of Christ. Each is needful in his place. We should be doing serious damage to our own souls, as well as marring the integrity of divine revelation, if we were to confine ourselves to any one particular line of truth, or attach ourselves exclusively to any one particular instrument.
The early Corinthians fell into this grave error, and thus called forth a sharp rebuke from the blessed Apostle Paul. Some were of Paul; some of Apollos, some of Cephas; some of Christ. All were wrong, and those who said they were of Christ were quite as wrong as any of the others. They were carnal and walked as men. It was a grievous folly to be puffed up for one against another, inasmuch as they were all Christ’s servants, and all belonged to the whole church.
Nor is it otherwise now in the church of God. There are varied kinds of workmen and varied lines of truth, and it is our happy privilege and duty to recognize and rejoice in them all. “All things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s” (1 Cor. 3:21-23). This is the true and the divine way to look at the matter. This too is the way to avoid sects, parties and cliques in the church of God. There is one body, one Head, one Spirit, one divine and perfect revelation — the Holy Scriptures. There are many members, many gifts, many lines of truth, many distinct characters of ministry. We need them all, and therefore God has given them all.
All the Truth
What must be the effect of going in for any one particular line of truth or character of ministry? It will only produce an imperfect Christian character. We are all sadly prone to one-sidedness, and nothing more ministers to this evil than an inordinate attachment to some particular branch of truth, to the exclusion of other branches that are equally important. It is by “the truth” we are sanctified, not by some truth.
Here lies the grand principle. God has various instruments for His work, and we should value them all as His instruments, and nothing more. It has ever been Satan’s object to lead the Lord’s people to set up heads of schools, leaders of parties, and centers of cliques, thus splitting up the church of God into sects and destroying its visible unity. Let us not be ignorant of his devices, but in every possible way endeavor to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3 JND).
Near the Center
How is this great object to be attained? By keeping near the Center — by abiding in Christ — by habitual occupation with Himself — by drinking deeply into His Spirit and walking in His footsteps — by sitting at His feet, in true brokenness of spirit and humility of mind — by thorough consecration to His service, the furtherance of His cause, the promotion of His glory, the prosperity and blessing of every beloved member of His body.
Thus shall we be delivered from strife and contention, from the discussion of profitless questions and baseless theories, from partiality and prejudice. We shall be able to see and appreciate all the varied lines of truth converging upon the one divine Center, the varied rays of light emanating from the one eternal Source. We shall rejoice in the great fact that, in all the ways and works of God, in every department of nature and grace, in things on earth and things in heaven, in time and eternity, it is not a dull uniformity but a delightful variety. In a word, God’s universal and eternal principle is “diversity and unity.”
C. H. Mackintosh (adapted)
Tolerance
We live in a world today that in many ways boasts of its tolerance. While some of the world continues to harbor an attitude of prejudice in matters of ethnicity, culture, color and religion, much of the world, especially that which is commonly called “the West,” prides itself on its tolerance of diversity. In the last few years, this tolerance has been extended to include an acceptance of different views on moral issues such as homosexuality and sexual promiscuity—views that a few years ago would have been termed unacceptable. Believers are being increasingly challenged in their Christian lives by widely differing views, especially on matters of morality, and it is becoming more and more difficult to maintain moral absolutes. In some cases, those who speak out against some of these “tolerant” views have been accused of so-called “hate speech.”
Intolerance
Paradoxically though, modern man has become increasingly intolerant of anything that interferes with his ambitions or lifestyle. This is evidenced by the rash of shootings, even mass shootings, in the last few years, as well as by incidents of road rage and other acts of violence that have definitely increased. This brings us to the question of tolerance in the light of God’s Word and how a believer should view the subject.
We might begin with a definition of the world “tolerance.” The word may be described as “the ability or willingness to endure something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with.” This may generally be thought of as a good thing, even for the believer, but we must first of all remember that there are two distinct kinds of tolerance.
Tolerance of Judgment and of Respect
There is first of all the tolerance of judgment, where we tolerate others’ attitudes, beliefs and behavior, but with a mental position of being more right in the choices and values that we have respectively made and adopted. We bear with what others think and do, but with the definite feeling that their way is at least less right than what we believe, or perhaps completely wrong. Then there is the tolerance of respect, where our attitude is one of appreciation toward the differences we see in others. In this situation, we do not see one position as being more right or more wrong (it not being a moral issue); rather, we support what may be called an equality of differences.
Respect
Let us first consider the tolerance of respect. During the earthly ministry of our Lord Jesus, He never judged men solely based on their culture, background, occupation, or on any other factors that had to do with the things of this life. All were welcome to come to Him, and He freely gave to all. It is true that those who came had to come with the right attitude; the Syrophenician woman could not make a claim on Him as the Son of David. She must come as a Gentile, admitting her position. But as soon as she admitted this, there was the fullest blessing for her. Likewise, the apostles and early believers did not exhibit any intolerance on the basis of culture, ethnicity or background. The gospel was free to all and preached to all. There is no evidence that they tried to change the culture and behavior of those to whom they preached. (We will speak more of this later, as to cultural practices that were morally wrong and contrary to God’s claims.)
Discrimination
In the same way, believers today should exercise the tolerance of respect and not discriminate where issues of morality and truth are not involved, for we read that “God ... hath made of one blood all nations of men ... that they should seek the Lord” (Acts 17:26-27). God is calling His church out of every nation, race and background, and differences of this kind are to be respected and accepted, not judged. We are all products of our own nationality and culture, and we naturally tend to think that our way of doing things is best. This attitude may even extend to our own language. Sad to say, these considerations have all too often caused believers to divide on racial, cultural or national lines, to the detriment of that unity of the Spirit which we are exhorted to keep “in the uniting bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3 JND). For example, in at least two countries where I have visited, it is considered perfectly acceptable for anyone, of any age, to ask others of any age how old they are. It may well be the first question asked when you are introduced to someone. Such a question would be considered quite rude and a mark of bad manners in most Western countries. Of all people in this world, believers in the Lord Jesus ought to be known for their tolerance in these areas and for their respect and acceptance toward cultural, ethnic and national differences. Since we are heavenly citizens, we should think of ourselves first and foremost in this way. We should not identify ourselves primarily with the earthly culture or nation in which we find ourselves, but rather as part of the church and as those whose loyalties are heavenly, not earthly.
This tolerance likewise should extend to those of different personalities, qualities, gifts and skills, for Paul could say, “regarding not each his own [qualities], but each those of others also” (Phil. 2:4 JND). Many of the problems besetting the saints of God have their roots in personality clashes, differences between rich and poor, different aptitudes and degrees of education, and different lifestyles. But God brings widely differing people into His church, then gives us an object in Christ which transcends all these differences, and enables us to walk together with a common object and common desires. There is more in Christ to attract and bring us together than there is in all these differences to divide us.
God’s Tolerance
God also bears with the evil in the world, and in this sense exercises the tolerance of judgment. However, we hesitate to use the word “tolerant” with reference to God, lest a wrong impression be given. God does not take a liberal or permissive attitude toward evil, as some today would tell us. We read in Psalm 7:11 (JND) that “God is a righteous judge, and a God who is indignant all the day.” His holy nature abhors sin, and while He may exercise patience and long-suffering toward this world, His judgment of sin remains the same. This world becomes accustomed to sin; God never does.
Judgment
If God is long-suffering toward this world, so should the believer be. There is a place for the tolerance of judgment in the Christian and also, at times, for direct intolerance. It is most important that the believer not fall into the casual attitude of the world when vital moral issues are at stake. It is important to note, however, that the believer’s tolerance or lack of it is based on God’s standards as revealed in His Word, not on his own ideas or preferences. Also, when the believer exercises the tolerance of judgment, he recognizes that if God endures evil for the moment, His patience with man’s evil will not go on indefinitely.
This is the tolerance of judgment—a judgment formed on the basis of divine absolutes and given to us by divine revelation. Today is the time of God’s grace, and God is reaching out to lost sinners in order to save them, but there will be a day of judgment. In keeping with this, the believer’s tolerance of evil today does not mean that he is indifferent to it or becomes less concerned about it. We are told in Ephesians 4:26, “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” (That is, do not allow constant exposure to evil to dull your moral sensitivity to it, according to God’s estimate of it.) Our estimate of sin should always parallel God’s estimate of it. This is very different from having a tolerance of respect with regard to evil, where some may not agree with it, but still consider it to be a variant to be at least recognized and accepted. And this is wrong. An attitude of respect towards evil essentially denies the existence of absolutes and makes good and evil to be relative ideas. (We have already considered this subject in an article in a previous issue of this magazine; see The Christian, June 2014.)
Culture
We have already remarked that in the early church, the apostles did not attempt to change culture. However, if the practices of a particular culture or ethnic group contradicted God’s claims, then all must be judged in the light of God’s standard. Thus Paul could repeat to Titus the remarks of a Cretian prophet concerning his own people, written more than 500 years before. The prophet had used very strong and negative language (Titus 1:12), and Paul asserts that these remarks were true. Accordingly, Titus was told to rebuke them sharply if such behavior occurred, “that they may be sound in the faith” (Titus 1:13). National character and culture could not be used to excuse a sinful lifestyle.
Thus, in a world of sin, there are two dangers. One is that we become hardened to it and cease to view it with the horror with which God views it; the other is that we forget that we are living in the day of God’s grace and thus rise up and seek to execute judgment against the evil. The believer must avoid both of these pitfalls.
The World and the Home
However, there will necessarily be a difference between what the believer endures in the world at large and what he allows in his own home or in the local Christian assembly. We read in Ps. 95:5, “Holiness becometh Thine house, O Lord, forever.” The Christian assembly is to be “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15), as it is a place where the Lord Himself is in the midst (Matt. 18:20). Thus holiness is to be maintained where believers meet together, in keeping with the Lord’s presence and authority there.
Likewise, the Christian home is to be a place where the evil of the outside world is to be excluded. A father is to bring up his children “in the nurture [discipline] ... of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). Also, John could exhort the elect lady not to receive into her house those who taught bad doctrine concerning the Person of Christ (2 John 10). A believer and his house were closely connected, so that Paul and Silas could say to the Philippian jailor, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house” (Acts 16:31 JND). What should characterize the believer individually should also characterize his house.
Holiness in the Home
As the world grows more and more wicked in these last days, it has an ever increasing effect on the Christian, and thus it becomes more and more difficult to maintain holiness in the Christian assembly and the Christian home. Likewise, the prevalence of entities like television as well as the Internet and other types of social media tend both to bring the world into our homes and to bring us out into the world. A great deal of care is needed if we are to be found “denying ungodliness and worldly lusts” and living “soberly and righteously and godly in this present world” (Titus 2:12). But God gives the grace in whatever circumstances we find ourselves, if we ask Him. He will enable us to preserve our “whole spirit and soul and body ... blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” for “faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it” (1 Thess. 5:23-24).
W. J. Prost
Heresy
Heresy is not departing from the figure of truth, but from the Spirit of truth, and it is the spirit of the heretic we are called upon to judge as a work of the flesh more than the fruit in the form of doctrine.
The Scriptures are given to us by God as “a complete depository and standard of truth”; they contain all we need to know as Christians, and by them every error may be detected. But who is the interpreter of Scripture? I answer, the Holy Spirit is the only authorized and infallible interpreter of it. True, He gives to each babe in Christ the unction whereby to know all things, and He gives, too, various measures of capacity in understanding. He may also give teachers to the church and gifts of wisdom and knowledge. But still the Holy Spirit Himself alone is the interpreter. In honoring Him the saints find great power, with enlargement and unity in the truth; the reverse is true if they dishonor Him.
The word hairesis, heresy, means a choice; the verb hairetizo, to heretize, occurs in Matthew 12:18: “My servant whom I have chosen.” There is another word akin to it, haireomai, in Philippians 1:23: “What I shall choose I wot not.”
The most insidious way in which heresy is introduced is in setting the gifts above the Giver; trusting to the teacher or his wisdom, or to the divine mind in ourselves, and its measure of development, and thus really to forget the Person and agency of the Holy Spirit, without whose present energy everything will only work ruin.
The Work of the Flesh
The first thing I would observe is that heresy is said to be a work of the flesh (Gal. 5:20). The flesh is the root whence it arises and is the energy in which it displays itself. If anyone, instead of looking for the Holy Spirit’s guidance, dabbles with his own mind in Scripture, he will see either something in the book which is not there, or the contents of the book out of their proper order and relative importance, and here heresy begins. He has, unconsciously perhaps, dishonored the Holy Spirit, and honored himself. The leaven of heresy now may be at work in him; if so, and if he does not judge himself, the leaven will by-and-by show itself. He will either broach things which are not at all in the book, or he will broach a connection of things which is not true; he may diminish the importance of foundation truth, or magnify unduly the importance of some item or point of superstructure truth. How the captiousness shows itself matters not. He will not deal with the truth as a Spirit-led man would. Moreover, when the enemy is working by heresy, he rarely takes as instruments those who are offensive to human nature; many natural beauties and ornaments may cover the plot, but the puffing and breaking of the bubbles within will soon call on the saints for judgment. If they do not anticipate the evil, it will rise and fall over; he will draw away disciples after him, a sect will be formed round himself, and the man is a heretic (Titus 3:19).
A Moral Evil
Heresy is a moral evil and is inside the church; it begins in a man interposing self in the place of the Holy Spirit as to the interpretation or apprehension of truth. The captiousness of the human mind becomes evident, and the evil works on to the schism of the body into sects. Thus heresy becomes in practice a denial of Philippians 3:15-17. It is a solemn word: “There must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you” (1 Cor. 11:19). The Holy Spirit assures us that it is God alone who can and who will preserve His own, but the saints should watch. Heresy has a great deal more to do with the spirit in which things are held, taken up, and propagated, than with the thing itself which is held or propagated. Every Christian, however simple, can watch the spirit in which friends hold and set out their views. Is it Christlike? Is it like the apostles? Does it keep truth in its place and proportion? Is conscience, and not only intellect, drawn into action’? These are questions the simplest can apply.
The Mind Playing With Truth
As heresy begins with the natural mind playing with truth, so its mode and means of success are in getting the saints thinking upon hard points and questions, instead of praying. Paul communicated his gospel privately to them of reputation (Gal. 2:12); the heretic does it privately also, but to the weak. In twenty years’ experience I have always found it so, for the simple may be deceived and deny, through ignorance, what the heretic would deny through wickedness. Error does not constitute heresy, and the worst heresies grow out of truths misapplied.
Every Christian is responsible to guard against heresy, but in doing so, great watchfulness must be kept over our own spirit. A man may be very positive in holding, and heady in pressing, fancies. His manner of holding and pressing his views might be as bad as his doctrine was defective, and yet grace might see that there was no sanction of evil — bitter herbs are not leaven — and the things after all may be kept in a subordinate place. But God will not teach those who will argue and think out truth, instead of praying it out. When truth becomes a matter of argument, naughty arguments are sure to be had recourse to, inferences and consequences, and tradition, and threats perhaps used. To them that do such (Rom. 16:17-18), one has well said, “To the man who will systematize it, the Bible says, ‘I am none of your sort.’” Canons of interpretation and human standards are poor things in sanctuary light.
Foundational Doctrines
Some heresies have been formed upon the denial of foundation doctrines, as Arianism (an error which makes the Lord Jesus Christ a created being), and some upon points of superstructure, as Anabaptism (a refusal to consider Christian household baptism as valid). But of all kinds of heresy, the worst is that which is so formed upon truth as to make truth appear to be on one side and the Holy Spirit opposed to it on the other. If God saw me (for example) separating myself in spirit, affection, thought or action from the members of Christ now on the earth and trying to form a party characterized either by knowledge of truth or by supposed freedom from error, He would, I judge, see marks of incipient heresy. In both cases I should be opposing truth to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s aim is not to form schools well taught or free from defect and error, but to build up the living members of God’s household in separation to God and in brotherly love. If such a thing worked out into a sect, it would be preeminently evil.
A Sect
Not only is a sect which takes a truth for its basis and opposes it to the Holy Spirit the worst form of heresy, but also, the intensity of the evil increases directly as the purity of the truth. For example, a sect built upon a correct view of an ordinance would be bad, but a sect built upon a correct view of resurrection and glory, or any points about them, would be worse. Worst of all would be a sect built upon such a truth as the power of the Holy Spirit, through the blood of Christ, to give present peace with God, and this might easily be the case. The result might be that because I hold assurance to be of the essence of faith, I might refuse to accredit as Christians those who had not assurance and might form a sect on that most blessed and precious truth. I would be rending an inflamed limb from the sickly and enfeebled body, because I mistook the feverish state for the warmth and glow every member of the body should possess when in health, whereas the Holy Spirit has united in one all who know the blood of Jesus as salvation.
Heresy is in principle the flesh playing with truth, and it is the sending into parties those who should be one. May the Lord keep His saints watching and praying.
The sum of what I say is this: God has given us a standard of truth and a Guide for the understanding and use of it. Heresy is not, as some take it to mean, some undefined error in doctrine, but consists in the flesh setting aside the Guide, and itself attempting to use the standard, the end of which will be sects.
G. V. Wigram (adapted)
Truth is the Test
One can hardly read the two short epistles of 2 John and 3 John without being struck by the number of times that the Apostle John uses the word “truth.” If I remember rightly, it occurs five times in the second epistle and six times in the third.
In the first chapter of his Gospel, he tells us that “the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). Of course, God had shown forbearance and grace in Old Testament times, for He ever was a gracious God. Many things that were true and real were made known to Israel through Moses, but when it comes to the absolute thing, we have to turn to Christ. In Him the grace of God was fully revealed and the truth of God fully manifested. Many true things were made known in the law, but reality itself shone forth in Christ. In Him the revelation of both grace and truth was complete.
False Teaching
We have all discovered that we are living in a world that is very unreal, where imitation often forces out the genuine article. Man is very clever and inventive and there is a great element of unreality. Pontius Pilate recognized this, for as a Roman judge he was continually concerned with the crookedness of human life. Having asked his famous question, “What is truth?” he turned his back on the One who was the truth and went out to the false and fickle world. Not many hours before the Lord Jesus had said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” He is the way to God the Father; He is the truth concerning Him, and the life in which He can be truly known.
When the Apostle John wrote these two epistles, the adversary was coming in very strongly, in a twofold way. First of all, men had appeared actively propagating error as to Christ, and if teaching as to Him is falsified, everything is marred, since He is the truth. These first-century deceivers were known as “Gnostics,” a term derived from the Greek word for knowledge. They claimed to be the knowing ones. As to the things of the world, the apostles of our Lord were “unlearned and ignorant men,” so the Gnostics claimed to be able to lead on to improved and more intellectual teaching. They did not abide in that which was “from the beginning.” The word translated “transgresses” in 2 John 9 really means “goes forward”; that is, they claimed to be making an advance on earlier ideas. In reality their fancied developments were destructive. So the Apostle wrote to a certain Christian woman and her children, warning them against these false teachers. They evidently went from house to house, just as they do today. They were to be definitely refused entrance and no fellowship to be accorded to them, even in a verbal way.
The Spirit Is Truth
Then again it can be said of true saints that the truth “dwells in us and shall be with us forever.” In his first epistle, John has told us that “the Spirit is truth” (1 John 5:6). That being so, the truth dwells in us, since we are indwelt by the Spirit. But also Christ is the truth, and as we shall forever be in His presence, the truth will be with us forever. In Christ everything is adjusted in its true light. God is fully revealed; man has been fully exposed. God’s thoughts and purposes have been made manifest, and all things are set in right perspective. Hence grace and mercy reach us from the Father and the Son in truth and love.
Truth Objectively and Subjectively
One thing more remains, brought out in 3 John 4. The truth that is set before us objectively in Christ and that dwells in us subjectively by the Spirit is to govern our actions. All our activities, whether in thinking, speaking or doing, are to be governed by truth. If these children of the “elect lady” were so governed, a similar life is incumbent upon all of us. A saint young or old walking in truth is a lovely sight. No wonder John rejoiced greatly when he saw it, and it is equally lovely when it is seen today.
Diotrephes and Gaius
But there is a second thing which imperils the truth and that comes to light in 3 John—the rigid maintenance of official status and what is considered to be outward correctness. Of this Diotrephes was a sad example, whereas Gaius, to whom the epistle was addressed, was marked by walking in truth and being a fellow-helper to the truth. As we read this epistle, we see again that the truth is of the first importance and everything else is tested and measured by it. Gaius walked in truth because the truth was in him, and all this was the source of great joy to the Apostle.
In those days there were men of earnest zeal who went out preaching the Word. When they arrived at the place where Gaius lived, he received them hospitably and brought them forward on their journey, though he had not previously known them. Gaius did not receive and help these stranger-brethren because he had known them and liked them, but because they were devoted to the name of Christ, separate from the world, and because they were publishing the truth.
This latter point is made very plain at the end of 3 John 8. In helping these servants of God, Gaius was helping the truth, and all of us should do what he did.
The Importance of the Truth – Not the Man
And this emphasizes another thing: What is important is not the man but the truth that he brings. There was the tendency then, and there is certainly the tendency today, to make the man of all importance, so that if he is accredited as “spiritual,” what he says must be accepted. The man accredits the message he brings. What we see here is the reverse of this. The message of truth that is brought accredits the man who brings it, just as in the second epistle the error that is brought discredits the man who brings it.
The same thought underlies what is said of Demetrius in 3 John 12, since he had not only a good report of all but also “of the truth itself.” Note, it is not that he bore witness to the truth, but that the truth bore witness to him. Demetrius was not the standard by which truth was tested. The truth was the standard by which Demetrius was tested, and having been so tested, he stood approved.
With poor Diotrephes it was far otherwise. Just why he took so strong a stand against these stranger-brethren and others who received them, and even against John himself, we are not told. It may have been the uprising of clericalism, excessive zeal for imagined points of teaching or procedure, and the like, but what we do know is what underlay his high-handed doings. He loved to have the preeminence among the saints. He was out to establish a dominating position for himself.
Domination of the People
Like the Apostle John, we condemn Diotrephes, but let us not forget the fact which confronts us in Jeremiah 5:31. In the midst of Israel there was much false teaching and by it the priests acquired a dominating place, but, said the Lord, “My people love to have it so.” The people wanted their sinful pleasures and were quite content to let the priests do their religious duties for them.
That has been reenacted in the history of the church, and a forceful, modern Diotrephes may be quite welcome, even to saints, if they wish to avoid personal exercise of heart and live easy-going, semi-worldly lives. History repeats itself, since human tendencies are always the same. If we follow Diotrephes, we deny the truth instead of helping it, but ultimately the truth will prevail.
We are living in days when the truth is being attacked on all sides. Let us remember that Christ is the truth, and as He Himself said to the Father, “Thy word is truth.” That truth has reached us in “the faith which was once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3), and let us contend earnestly for it, since it is of priceless value. And may we all have grace to be so characterized by it that we walk in truth. The eye of the Lord is upon us, and that is what He looks for, as we wait for Him.
F. B. Hole (adapted)
The Scriptures
There are two ways of reading Scripture — devotional and systematic. In the former I listen to what the Lord communicates and look to Him to produce in me the suited effect of His truth by the working of His Spirit. Thus I become formed by the truth; worship and holiness of life are the result. In the latter I search and examine to discover His mind and what is taught on any given subject. I look to Him to give me understanding by the Spirit, to preserve me from error and to enable me to form His own judgment — to discover and to hold the truth in a divine way. Dependence is, therefore, of all importance, combined with an ungrieved Spirit.
Author unknown
No Equality
There is no equality in an alliance between truth and error, since thereby truth ceases to be truth, and error does not become truth, but what is lost is the authority of the truth .... To be soundly instructed in the heavenly origin, position and destiny of the church is the most effectual safeguard against worldliness in the present path and against false teaching in reference to future hopes.
J. N. Darby
Accepting Truth Without Practicing It
Is it not appalling to think of Christians accepting truth in terms without intention of carrying it out practically? On the contrary, they press the world and its ways into it. Adopting the terms without submission to what it involves is a fearful aspect of the times!
W. T. Turpin
The Truth
Christ is the truth, the expression and manifestation of the true God. Much may be true in human knowledge. This knowledge, however, is but partial and not that of God Himself. Christ is the truth, objectively, absolutely, and in its totality, nor can the creature reach God or apprehend Him, but by Christ, the one Mediator. Truth and light therefore are not equivalent terms. Light is God’s nature; truth is the expression or manifestation of that nature in its entirety, that is, whatever may be its attributes. The psalmist could speak of God as “the living God” and as “the God of my life.” I see this in Christ, says John, that which we have seen and heard of the Word of life, for the life was manifested, and Christ is the life. In brief, He is the expression or manifestation of God, and therefore is “the truth.”
Bible Treasury
Obstinacy or Firmness?
To stand by error and the truth refuse;
To close the eyes against unwelcome light;
The crooked paths, through prejudice, to choose;
For one’s own will and thoughts and ways to fight;
To have the fear of sleeping conscience stirred,
By letting in truth’s quick and searching ray;
When ignorance to knowledge is preferred,
And dull obscurity to heavenly day:
By marks like these is stubbornness descried,
Offspring of foolish selfishness and pride.
To stand by truth, to suffer loss and pain
Rather than swerve from duty’s sacred way;
To count reproach an honor; suffering gain—
Endured, because we will God’s will obey;
Ne’er to abate one jot of what is right,
Though crowds deride or flatter, smile or frown;
To brave the dungeon, rack or tyrant’s might;
Or, harder still, refuse a proffered crown:
This is true FIRMNESS, such as heaven approves,
The noble steadfastness our Father loves.
J. G. Deck
Truth and Error
Truth and error are two forces at work in the world, exercising their sway over the minds and hearts of men, their thoughts and words being constantly actuated and prompted by either of them. They have each a history behind them and a future before them. In the case of truth, those who have in simplicity received it from God have had light from and communion with Him. Their path is as “the path of the just that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” Tampering with or turning from it, men have but laid themselves open to the deception of the enemy, whose error has easily supplanted the truth for which they have no heart. In a day of such unparalleled activity of mind as the present, it becomes men to consider by which of these forces, truth or error, they are being controlled. How various the attitudes men have, at various times, been enticed into taking up towards His truth! In the giddy godlessness of the world, how many seek a refuge where that voice may be drowned! If man disowns, disobeys, is it so strange that now he seeks to discredit a divine revelation? The Scriptures are now the sole repository of the truth, being the Word of God which lives and abides forever, inspired of Him, being absolutely infallible in every detail and worthy, therefore, of every confidence. Oh, that men too would be warned that the point of departure in all cases has been, and for each still is, the attitude we assume towards it!
J. Timley (adapted)
The Truth and the Spirit
“I sometimes think that we are experiencing a little of what must have been felt by some at the close of the apostolic age, namely, that after all the truth that had been taught, it was little understood and could be, and was, quickly surrendered and lost.” This excerpt from a brother’s letter (many years ago) is sadly true. The ease and rapidity with which the most important truth is given up are amazing. A work of the Spirit is so fine in its nature and workmanship that it is easily spoiled if human hands are laid upon it. The corruption of the best thing is the worst corruption.
Spiritual Progress
Receiving and holding fast the truth in the Spirit are always associated with progress in spirituality and excellence of moral practice. The losing of the truth tends to spiritual death and moral corruption. When some in Corinth denied the resurrection, it told on their morality, for ignorance of God as a moral being accompanied the denial of the truth of resurrection. Adding law to Christ for the Christian life led the Galatians back practically from the Spirit to the flesh, and, in principle, from Christianity to heathenism. Paul was in an agony when he saw symptoms of “not holding the head” in Colosse, and he seeks with all urgency to detach the Hebrews from “ordinances,” knowing how they were hindered by them from advancement in the truth and the word of righteousness.
The state of the church after the decease of the apostles (as preserved in the writings of the apostolic fathers) tells of no gradual losing of the truth, but of a complete and immediate descent, as it were, from heaven to earth! It is one thing to have the truth fully taught, but none except spiritual and exercised souls will receive and retain it, and they are always the few.
The Power and Presence of the Spirit
Where the power of the Spirit is enjoyed and all eyes are lifted up to the Lord on high, the saints are kept fresh in a living atmosphere of divine things and the power of the Spirit giving a sense of the presence of God. Souls are sustained by the atmosphere of living truth and by means of the Spirit’s presence revealing Christ. The atmosphere in such circumstances is laden with nourishment, and the least portion of truth in this spiritual diffusion can be made to fill the whole soul with the strength and sweetness of Christ.
But when the Spirit is grieved, quenched or resisted, His strengthening and refreshing power is gone, and the more the truth is presented, the worse is the state produced. Nothing is more hardening than the loading of disordered minds with the strong meat of Christian truth that can be received with profit only by broken spirits and divinely exercised souls. Self (and the allowance of the things which nourish it) gives a distaste for the things of the Spirit.
The Inauguration of Christianity
Christianity was inaugurated with such a power of the Holy Spirit as led to the obliteration of selfishness, and the replacing of it by the love for one another that flowed forth in grace. Under the truth preached, the Spirit led naturally to divine unity, happy fellowship and refreshing worship. This is the secret of unity, and the efforts of human energy to supply its place only make matters worse. Neither the truth nor fellowship one with another can be had except in the living grace and power of the Spirit. What we want, then, is a Spirit-given experience of Christ flowing from the precious truth we have received, and this truth is a rich legacy for which we have great cause to be thankful. If the Holy Spirit is given liberty to act in His primitive energy in the midst of us, spiritual devotedness, liberty in worship and social gladness may be enjoyed as in those early days.
The Glory of Christ
What we should covet earnestly, and pray for, is that the truth of the gospel of the glory of Christ should be given forth in the power of the Spirit with the eye fixed on a glorious Jesus at the right hand of God, for what is truth apart from Him who is the truth in the glory of God? Christ is the truth objectively, the Spirit is the truth subjectively, and we must have both, not only in object and witness, but in life and power.
It was so on the day of the first Pentecost after Christ’s ascension, when the promised Spirit came and “they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” The disciples testified of a glorified Christ with power; this ministry of the Spirit went on, “and the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly” (Acts 6:7). No fruitless preaching then! When the word was preached in apostolic times, there was a constant stream of living power in connection with it; Christ was magnified, and souls were blessed.
Might not God in His sovereignty cause this action of the Spirit for Christ’s glory to be given now, when “the churches” are departing from the truth, and the world is rapidly going into religious infidelity? All things ecclesiastical seem fast hastening to ruin, and the shattering of those gathered in unity on divine ground has occurred simultaneously with this defection. Before long God must interpose by the coming of the Lord and judgment on the world. In the meanwhile, may He give fresh power in witness to “the testimony of our Lord” and the work of grace by His Spirit!
Bible Herald (adapted)