Does truth really matter?

Does the truth really matter to us? The motto of the Christian Research Institute is “Because Truth Matters.” It mattered enough to Hank Hanegraaff and his staff to do a six year study of Witness Lee and the local churches to find out what the truth was. As an issue of their restudying the teachings and practices of Witness Lee and the local churches, CRI came to the emphatic conclusion that “We Were Wrong.” That was the title of their December 2009 issue of the Christian Research Journal, an issue that  was very costly to them in many ways. But I have to respect them very much for standing on their foundation—“Because Truth Matters.”

Truth really matters

It really mattered to the apostles. Especially in his two epistles to Timothy, Paul repeatedly emphasized the importance of the truth ( 1 Tim. 2:4, 7; 3:15; 2 Tim. 2:15, 18).

Even more,  it really matters to the Savior God. In 1 Timothy 2:3-4, Paul said. “…our Savior God, Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth.”

What is this truth?

Is truth just a matter of not telling lies? If it were, the Lord Jesus never would have said “I am the way, the truth [or reality] and the life…” (John 14:6).  Actually, truth in the Bible refers to the reality of all the real things revealed in God’s word, which is mainly Christ Himself as reality of God and of every spiritual thing and the church, Christ’s Body which is the pillar and base of the divine truth (1 Tim. 3:15). Since the divine realities are revealed in and conveyed through God’s word this make God’s word, the word of the truth (Eph. 1:13). When we speak this Word as the gospel, we impart the truth of the gospel (Col. 1:5). To appreciate more concerning what is the truth, please read my post “Knowing the Divine Truth, the Divine Reality.”

What does truth have to do with us?

Everything!  In a society that it quickly moving, with a strong current, away from the truth, the Lord needs many “Timothys,” who will share His and the apostles’ earnestness for the truth. We need to be those who dive into the truth, get ourselves constituted with the truth, speak the truth, and “commit these things [the things of the truth] to faithful men, who will be competent to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2).

How may we be “unashamed workmen, cutting straight the word of the truth”?

To cut straight the word of the truth means to unfold the word of God in its various parts rightly and straightly without distortion (as in carpentry).

First, be enlightened by God’s desire for the truth to reach all men.

Be enlightened by God concerning His tremendous desire for the truth to reach “all men” in this darkened world (1 Tim. 2:4).

Second, pray according to God’s desire for all men to come to the full knowledge of the truth.

Follow the apostle Paul’s admonition to pray for all men according to the intention of the Savior God—not only for their salvation, but for them to come to the full knowledge of the truth. We must pray this not only for all the darkened unbelievers but also for all the truth-deprived believers (1 Tim. 2:1, 3-4).

Third, daily nourish yourself with the healthy words of the truth.  

Follow Paul’s direction in 1 Timothy 4:6, “if you lay these things before the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, being nourished with the words of the faith and of the good teaching which you have closely followed.” The truth is the content, the reality of the faith. We need to be those daily nourishing ourselves with these healthy words of truth. Feeding on God’s words will provide us with the inner strength to stand for the truth, because it will be our constitution. The best time for such nourishing is first thing in the morning.

Fourth, prayerfully study God’s Word–the word of the truth.

In order to cut straight the word of the truth, we need to calm ourselves down from so many busy involvements to spend some time every day—at least 15 minutes, but preferably 30 minutes or more to prayerfully study God’s word—with our Bible open before us. There is no other way to equip ourselves to cut straight the word of the truth (2 Tim. 2:15).

Paul told Timothy to “Continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of…That the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:14-17). This is a life-time practice that can best be expressed by the slogan “the tortoise wins the race.” There is no short cut to getting constituted with the truth in God’s word.

Personally, I really appreciate the clear text and footnotes in the Holy Bible, Recovery Version along with its companion exposition—Life-study of the Bible, by Witness Lee. Having been into this material for number of years, I testify to the help that it has rendered me personally. All I can say is try it. Book by book, chapter by chapter, and even verse by verse, mine the unsearchable riches of Christ out of God’s word. You won’t regret it—not only 30 years from now, but even 3 months from now you will appreciate the difference.

Fifth, share the divine truth you’ve enjoyed with others.

Follow Paul’s exhortation to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2, “And the things which you have heard from me through many witnesses, these commit to faithful men, who will be competent to teach others also.” Not only should we get constituted with the truth ourselves, but we should share the things of the divine truth with others around us. Today, there are many ways to share the truth with others, not only can we meet with people face to face, but we can use every form of social media—Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, and iTunes.

We can tweet the truth, we can blog the truth, we can YouTube the truth, etc. In an age when peoples ears are being quickly turned away from the truth, may we be sober in all things, and fully accomplish our ministry to get these divine truths into all the hungry hearts.

“Lord Jesus, make us one with You in Your desire for all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth. May we mean business with You such that we will pray for your desire, get constituted with the truth, and spread the truth to people using every possible means available to us. Lord, may Your truth fill the whole earth!”

What have you learned concerning getting into the word of the truth and sharing it with others? Please feel free to share your comments so that we can learn and be encouraged together.

References and Further Reading:

• For more on the topic of being an unashamed workman cutting straight the word of the truth you also want to read a related post at agodman.com.
• You may enjoy this hymn on seeking the truth: “Break Thou the Bread of Life.”
• Image is the cover of  the December 2009 issue of the Christian Research Journal entitled, “We Were Wrong.”