In our Life-study of 1 John we need to insert at this point, as a parenthesis, some messages on the divine light and the divine truth. After these parenthetical messages, we shall consider further the conditions of the divine fellowship.
The divine light is the essence of God’s expression. When God is expressed, the essence of that expression is light. What is the divine truth? The divine truth is the issue of the divine light. When the divine light shines in us, it becomes the divine truth, which is the divine reality. This means that when the divine light shines in us, we receive the divine reality. We may also say that the divine light brings us the divine reality.
In 1:5 John says, “And this is the message which we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” In verse 7 he speaks a further word concerning light: “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” As we have indicated, the divine light is the nature, the essence, of God’s expression and the source of the divine truth. This divine light shines in the divine life. Hence, if we do not have the divine life, we cannot have the divine light.
John 1:4 says, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” In Christ there is the divine life, and this life is the divine light. Therefore, life is light. When we have the divine life, we also have the divine light.
By this we can see that three matters are related: light, truth, and life. First, we need to learn to experience these matters and then learn how to present the truth regarding them to others.
Among Christians today there is a great lack concerning the knowledge of biblical truths. Some know the truth, but their understanding is rather superficial. The goal of the Lord’s recovery, therefore, is to recover all the biblical truths, all the biblical realities. As those who are in the Lord’s recovery, we must realize that there is a desperate need for us all to have the full knowledge of the truth, the experience of the truth, and the skill to present the truth to others.
Suppose the parents of a certain young person in the Lord’s recovery are opposing him. That brother should not be offended by his parents, and he should not argue with them. Instead, with a good spirit and a pleasant attitude, he should present the truth to his parents. Perhaps during a visit with them he may say, “Dad and Mom, let me tell you that light is the essence of God’s expression and that truth is the issue of this light. Aren’t you glad to hear about this? This light shines in the divine life, and the divine life is in Jesus Christ. Christ is even the life. The Lord Jesus says, ‘I am the life.’ When we are in this life, we have the shining of the divine light. Then as we are under this shining, we have the truth.” Perhaps this brother’s parents will accept his word, or they may reject it. But whatever the case may be, when he leaves them, he may want to say, “Dad and Mom, I need to go now. But I leave with you three ‘diamonds’—life, light, and truth.”
Many Christians are familiar with biblical terms, but they may not know the meaning of these terms. If you ask them concerning the meaning of light, truth, and life, they may answer that they do not know the meaning of these things. Therefore, we need to be able to present the precious truths regarding these matters to others. The need in the Lord’s recovery today is that we all learn the truth, experience the truth, and develop the skill to present the truth to others.
The Lord’s recovery spreads by means of the truth. Many of us can testify that we were not attracted to the Lord’s recovery by a powerful and charming speaker. Rather, we were attracted by the truth. We were drawn this way by the presentation of biblical truth. For example, I know of one brother who was attracted by the presentation of how the first two chapters of the Bible, Genesis 1 and 2, and the last two chapters of the Bible, Revelation 21 and 22, reflect each other. Eventually, this brother was gained for the Lord’s recovery by this truth. My goal in all the conferences and the trainings is simply to present the truths of the Bible.
I am glad to see that many of the young ones among us are eager to know the truth of the Word. After a period of time, these young people will be useful in the Lord’s recovery. Those who are teen-agers at present will eventually be useful in spreading the biblical truths. Praise the Lord for the opportunity He has given us to be trained in the truths of the Bible!