We should agree with the Word of God. When God says something, it is right; it is established. If we do not presently agree with the Word of God, we will in eternity. For example, Paul said in Ephesians 6:1, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” You may not think that it is always right to agree with your parents. But the Bible says that it is right; therefore, it is right. The sooner you agree with the Word of God, the sooner you will receive the blessing from the Lord. After you agree with His word, you call on the Lord to receive the bountiful supply from the Spirit (Phil. 1:19); then you will be able to obey your parents in the Lord. But if you disagree, you will never receive the supply to overcome your flesh so that you may obey your parents. When you say “Amen” to the word of God, all the promises of God will become real to you (2 Cor. 1:20).
We must believe the Word of God. Whatever the Lord spoke in the Bible is for us to enjoy and experience. There may be times when we think that what we read in the Bible is impossible. When this happens, the word spoken is not effective in our Christian life. We become weak and beggarly. The children of Israel were told to go in to possess the good land, but they did not believe the word of God. Therefore, they did not go in, but died in the wilderness. There were two men, Joshua and Caleb, who believed the word of God and went in even though there were giants in the good land. Because of their faith, the giants became food for them. Without faith, the people regarded themselves as grasshoppers before the giants. Not believing in the word of God is due to an evil heart of unbelief (Heb. 3:12). Joshua and Caleb had an extraordinary spirit to believe the word of God (Num. 14:24). We should learn from them. Whenever we read the Bible, we must believe everything we read. If we lack understanding, we must pray and fellowship until we are clear. Never doubt the Word of God.
Where do we receive faith to believe the Word of God? Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes out of hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Galatians 3:2 and 5 tell us that we receive the Spirit and the Lord supplies to us the Spirit by the hearing of faith. We were born without faith. We cannot conjure up faith to believe. However, when we hear the word of God, faith is infused into our spirit. It creates an appreciation for what is spoken. When we pray to the Lord according to what is spoken to us, we receive the reality conveyed by the word. For example, when we read Romans 10:12, “The same Lord of all is rich to all who call upon Him,” we appreciate this verse. Then we need to pray, “O Lord, I call upon You. O Lord Jesus! You said that You will be rich to me if I call. O Lord Jesus, I call upon You now and I believe that You are rich to me. Lord, as I am calling, You are supplying me richly. Thank You, Lord!” If we accept the Lord’s word by agreeing with it, believing it, acting on it, and praying according to it, whatever the Bible says becomes not only a promise to us but also an accomplished fact as a bequest to us. Hallelujah!
We also need to know the truth in the Bible. If we do not know the truth, we will not have the opportunity to accept, agree, believe, act, and pray. Therefore, it is imperative for us to know the truth in the Word.
Believers throughout the last twenty centuries have been interpreting the Bible. The church fathers, during the first centuries, began to interpret the Bible. Subsequently, the Bible was locked up for approximately one thousand years. These one thousand years were called the dark ages. Following the dark ages, the reformers resumed the interpretation of the Bible. The Brethren continued, and many among us in the Lord’s recovery have stood on the shoulders of the foregoing saints until now. The interpretation began with the Trinity and Christology and has continued until the recent revelation of the New Jerusalem. The top and proper interpretation is printed in the Recovery Version, the Life-study Messages, the lesson books, and the other books currently available in the Lord’s recovery. We should not let the interpreted truths sit on our bookshelves. Instead, we should study them until we are constituted with the truth.
We need to know the truth to be set free. The Lord said, “And you shall know the reality (truth), and the reality shall set you free” (John 8:32). At times, we may be bound by things of sin and the world, or we may be under unnecessary condemnation. This is due to the lack of the truth. The truth sets us free from the bondages of sin and the world. The Lord prayed, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth” (John 17:17). The truth not only frees us, it also sanctifies us. Sanctification brings the holy nature of God into us, resulting in the transformation of our mind. The mind is the battleground between God and Satan, and between the mingled spirit and the flesh. Thus, knowing the truth sets us free from the attacks of Satan and makes it easy for us to turn to the spirit, to live in the spirit, and to follow the sense of life.
The church of the living God is the pillar and base of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). [The pillar supports the building, and the base holds the pillar. The church is such a supporting pillar and holding base of the truth.] The church must be built with the truth and constituted with the truth; then she can be the pillar and base of the truth. If the church is full of worldly activities, she cannot display the truth. Ephesians 4:15 tells us that we need to hold to truth in love in order to grow up into Christ the Head in all things. By the functioning of every truth-holding member, the Body is built up in love (v. 16). Truth is essential to the Body of Christ. Therefore, we all should endeavor to know the truth, not only for our own sake, but also for the sake of the church.
Ephesians 1:13 says, “In whom you also, hearing the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise.” The word of the truth is the gospel of salvation. A person who is full of truth has much to preach. A person who is not full of truth would not know what to say to help people to believe. People are regenerated by the living and abiding word of God (1 Pet. 1:23). They grow by the milk of the word (1 Pet. 2:2). The truth of the word is crucial in preaching to unbelievers and in begetting and nourishing new believers.
We must be people full of the truth for ourselves, for the building up of the church, and for the gospel.