Let us turn to John 14, verse 6.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by Me.
Then John 17, verse 17:
Sanctify them in the truth: Thy word is truth.
And John 8, verses 31-32 and 36:
Jesus therefore said to those Jews that had believed Him, If ye abide in My word, then are ye truly My disciples;
and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.If therefore the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Let us have a further word of prayer.
Lord, we bring these words before You. You tell us that You are the way, the truth, and the life. May the Holy Spirit continue to teach us what this means. If the Spirit is not within us revealing this to us, we may feel that outside of You there are many ways, many truths, and many lives.
We truly need You, Lord. Outside of You, there is no way. Outside of You, there is no truth. Outside of You, there is no life. Be gracious to us that we may truly see this as we learn to serve You. May we indeed have a Christ-centred service. Listen to our prayer, in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
Brothers and sisters, the theme of this conference is Christ-centred service. Because our Lord said that He is the way, the truth, and the life, we want to see Christ-centred service in truth.
When we speak of Christ-centred service in truth, we must remember that He says He is the way, the truth, and the life. We may have thought that truth was merely a teaching or a doctrine. But now we find that truth is a Person. He said, “I am the truth.”
Not only does He encompass all truth, but He also explains all truth. In this world many people say, “I will tell you the truth.” Socrates tells us something; Aristotle tells us something. But only the Lord tells us, “I am the truth.”
Now we have a question. When we speak of the matter that He is the truth, is it possible that we have oversimplified it? Is the truth in the Bible true? We say that we want to understand the Bible, and if we understand the Bible, we understand the truth.
So when the Lord says, “I am the truth,” what does this have to do with the truth found in the Bible? Our Lord did not oversimplify this.
In John 17, He prays to the Father, “Sanctify them in the truth,” because they are in the world. How can they be in the world but not of it? How can they be separated, or sanctified, from this world? A separated life is a sanctified life.
A sanctified life does not only overcome the flesh; a sanctified life overcomes the world. Is this possible? The Lord has a prayer for His people: “Sanctify them in the truth.”
Did not our Lord say that He was the truth? Here He says, “Sanctify them in the truth,” and immediately following that He says, “Thy word is truth.”
This word is logos. Logos means that God has a word to say.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
And the Word became flesh.
When God has a word to say, He speaks it through one Person—His Son. One day He came down to earth: the Word became flesh. Meekness became flesh. Humility became flesh. Love became flesh. Before, love was abstract; but now, in the Person of the Lord, we see what love is.
God spoke many words, but when do we understand? We understand when the Word becomes flesh. That Word, in the original, is logos. That Word which became flesh is Christ Himself. That Word is our Lord.
When God wants to express Himself, that is His Word. God spoke through His Son. Thank the Lord, that Word which became flesh—Jesus—is God’s Word.
But not only that: God also wrote His will in the Bible. The Bible is inspired by God. From Genesis to Revelation, it is all God’s Word. It is God’s Word indeed.
On one hand, there is the Word who became flesh. On the other hand, there are the words in the Bible, which open up the will of God. Therefore, brothers and sisters, when God wants to express Himself, on one hand it is through Christ; on the other hand it is through Scripture.
When our Lord prays, “Sanctify them in the truth: Thy word is truth,” His Word enables them to be sanctified. On one hand, God speaks through His Son; on the other hand, He speaks through the Bible.
When the Word became flesh, the Word is God Himself. God is unlimited, but flesh is limited. Therefore, the unlimited One can now be in the limited. This is the wonderful and great mystery of godliness.
This is the mystery of God: the Word becoming flesh. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, God did not keep anything from us. Through His Word, He showed us all of God’s purpose.
The Bible is God’s Word, clearly written by man’s hand—just as the writing on the wall in Daniel 5 was written by a man’s hand. The Bible was indeed written by men, but the Word is God’s Word.
When our Lord took that body from Mary and walked upon this earth, outwardly He was a man, but inwardly He was God. The Word became flesh. He was without sin, and therefore He could be our Saviour.
Likewise, what God wrote down in the Bible is the same. We know that Scripture is inspired by God, and therefore Scripture is infallible. God’s Word cannot have any error, just as our Lord has no sin.
We believe from Genesis to Revelation because it is inspired by God. We know that each stroke is revealed by the Lord. Heaven and earth may pass away, but every word of God will not pass away.
Hebrew is somewhat similar to Chinese in that there are many strokes in the characters. The word for “wife” has a dot in the middle of the character. If you move that dot to another place, instead of saying, “my wife,” it may say, “my dog.”
You cannot put any stroke anywhere you like. It is the same with God’s Word. You cannot change or move any dot or stroke at will. God’s Word is indeed inspired by Him.
The Lord said, “I am the truth,” and the Lord said, “Thy word is truth.” What does that mean? God uses words that we understand, and He reveals Himself to us so that we may understand the truth.
Yet do not forget why He said, “I am the truth.” You cannot merely have God’s Word. If you only have the Bible but forget that our Lord is the truth, you have missed something essential.
You may go to Bible school and understand Genesis through Revelation clearly. You may memorize it—even memorize it backwards. But does that mean you understand the truth? It may mean only that you have memorized words.
This is why the Lord prayed to the Father, and why He gave us the Helper, the Comforter—the Spirit of truth. At least three times in John, the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth.
What does the Lord say? When the Helper comes, the Spirit of truth, He will guide you into all truth. You may understand all of the Bible in your head, and your mind may be very clear, but have you entered into the truth? How do you enter into the reality of truth? That is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Our Lord said:
But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you.
Every single word in Scripture may be in our minds, but God’s Word is like the Pacific Ocean; God’s Word is like the Atlantic Ocean. Even if you could put all the words into your mind, you still need the Holy Spirit to remind you of what the Lord has spoken.
God has revealed His truth in His Word, but we need the Spirit of truth to enter into the truth. First, we need to be reminded of the Word. Objectively, God spoke those words in history; now the Spirit speaks those words once again.
The Holy Spirit speaks a second time. Before, the truth was outside of you; now the truth enters you. This is what is mentioned in 2 John:
For the truth’s sake which abideth in us, and it shall be with us for ever.
The question is not how many words are in your head or how many words you have studied at school. The question is: how much truth do you have in you? This is the work of the Holy Spirit.
When the Holy Spirit speaks that Word a second time, the truth enters us. Not only that, the Holy Spirit has a mission. First, He is a witness of Christ. Secondly, He exalts and glorifies Christ.
When we read the Bible, we may say, “This is a good passage; that is a good passage.” But when the Spirit guides us into all truth, we must ask: Can we be a witness of Christ? Can we glorify Christ?
You may understand many truths, but have you seen our Lord? Have you seen Him face to face? Or have you understood many laws and only seen His back?
There is a famous Chinese writing about a father’s back. The author was able to describe his father’s back. Even Moses saw the back of God.
When you understand the law, of course you understand truth. But do not forget: what you see may be only the shadow, the back of truth. We want to see the face of truth.
When do you see the face of truth? When you see that the Lord is truth; when you see His glory; when you see that He has manifested the Father. Then you see the truth.
Truth is no longer merely in the Bible. Truth is in you. Truth begins to change you. This truth begins to work, gives you power, and gives you life. Before, you could not obey; now you can.
Consider Mary. Isaiah said that a virgin would bear a child. That was the Word in Scripture. Then, through the angel, the Lord spoke to Mary: “You will bear a child.”
Mary could say, “I am not yet married. How can this be?” The truth was true indeed, but it was a heavy truth, a truth she could not bear in herself.
But she prayed, “According to Your word, may it be unto me.” No matter whether it brought a good name or a bad name, she was willing to consecrate herself. Salvation could come because Mary listened to what the Lord said.
Do not forget: this was not the first speaking of God’s Word. It was the second speaking. God’s Word is truth, but now the Spirit of truth speaks that Word to us once again.
Before, we could not obey. We felt that the price was too high and the way too difficult. But thank the Lord: as long as the Word comes, the power comes, and the life comes.
The Spirit reminds us of what God has said. When the Spirit reveals Christ to us, that key opens up the Word of God, and then we know what truth is.
Only when the Spirit of truth reveals these words does the truth enter us, and then we are changed forever. The written Word of God and the Word who became flesh are one.
Do you remember what our Lord did after His resurrection? He did something that He had not done before His resurrection. Consider the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.
They went down from Jerusalem as the sun was going down in the west. The Lord walked with them, but they did not know that it was the Lord.
How did the Lord open their eyes?
And beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, He interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.
The Lord had already spoken in the Old Testament, and now He spoke once again. The Old Testament represents truth, but we need Someone to expound it. The resurrected Lord does exactly what the Holy Spirit does: He expounds the Word.
The Lord expounded all the Scriptures concerning Himself. Do you remember what the two disciples said afterward?
Was not our heart burning within us, while He spake to us in the way, while He opened to us the scriptures?
Brothers and sisters, the Scriptures need to be opened, and they need to be opened by the resurrected Lord. After the Lord was resurrected, He opened the Word.
What the Holy Spirit does in our lives is exactly what the resurrected Lord did. When He opens the Word to us, our hearts burn within us.
Before, the Word left those disciples cold and dismayed. They were going to Emmaus. Why did they return to Jerusalem? What power enabled them to return? Their hearts burned within them because Somebody expounded the Scriptures.
They had read the Old Testament many times, but still they went to Emmaus. Now it was different. Their hearts were burning, and they could return to Jerusalem.
The resurrected Lord guides us into all truth. Perhaps these two disciples had studied in a seminary or a great Bible school. They understood the Old Testament, but they still did not understand that the Lord said, “I am the truth.”
The truth you see is indeed true, but do you see Christ in it? Does it speak of the Lord’s person? Does it speak of the Lord’s work? No matter what passage you read, do you see the Lord in that passage?
Martin Luther said very well: if you are to understand the Bible, you must bring Christ along. You may not understand a passage, but Christ is the key that opens the entire Bible.
Let me give you an illustration. If you go to the Library of Congress, you may see a bust made up of many words. It contains the speech concerning the emancipation of the slaves.
When you look closely, you see many words. But when you stand farther away, you see a head—a bust of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was the one connected with the Emancipation Proclamation.
When you read Scripture, you read many words and see many truths: the truth of salvation, the truth of overcoming, the truth of the church, and the truth of the kingdom. Yet behind all these truths is the Person—Christ Himself.
That is what Christ means when He says, “I am the truth.” He is the central Person behind all of God’s revelation.
After He rose from the dead, the Lord said to His disciples:
These are My words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must needs be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and the prophets, and the psalms, concerning Me.
Then He opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures. Brothers and sisters, the door of our hearts must be opened. What is the key? “I am the truth.”
If we want to understand the truth from Genesis to Revelation, we need the resurrected Lord to open our hearts, and we need the Holy Spirit to open our understanding.
We need to read the Scriptures, especially young brothers. Hide the Word of God in your hearts in all wisdom. Then the Lord will use the opportunity to speak that Word a second time.
When the Holy Spirit speaks, He always brings us to Christ, because outside of Christ there is no truth. On one hand, you need to read the Bible. But even if you memorize the Bible, you still need the revelation of the Spirit.
Truth is not merely outward. Truth is not merely in the Bible. Truth is in the Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. The truth enters us because the Holy Spirit abides in us and speaks that Word a second time.
Is this a theory, or is this a Person? The truth abides with you, and the Person abides with you. Both answers are right. It is like that picture of the emancipation speech in the form of Lincoln’s head.
“I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The Lord did not oversimplify spiritual matters. He brought us to the central point and gave us the secret of how to enter into the truth.
If we want to have a Christ-centred service in truth, we need to understand the truth. If we are to serve God’s children and serve His purpose, we must preach these truths to others.
Where does truth come from? Where does sanctifying truth come from? Where is the truth of salvation? It is in God’s Word. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we need to return to the Gospel of John.
The Gospel of John is the revelation of God. If we are to serve God in a Christ-centred way, Christ said, “I am the truth.” How then do we have Christ-centred service? We need to understand the Word clearly, and we need to allow the Holy Spirit to interpret the Word.
Then we can enter into the truth of the Gospel of John: the truth of salvation, the truth of the church, and the truth of the kingdom.
Let us use the Gospel of John as an example. Let us see what truth is in this Gospel. When we understand and preach this truth, then we have a service that is Christ-centred in truth.
In John’s writings, he loves to use the word true. In Greek there are two words that may be translated “true.” One has to do with true or false; the other has to do with substance or reality.
A clear example is found in Hebrews 9:
For Christ entered not into a holy place made with hands, like in pattern to the true; but into heaven itself.
The holy place in the Old Testament was true, but it was a copy. In heaven there is the true holy place. Both are true, but the one on earth is a copy of the one in heaven.
This is why the Lord says that He is the truth. We must see how the Lord describes Himself in the Gospel of John.
In John 1:9, we read:
There was the true light, even the light which lighteth every man, coming into the world.
He is the true light. This does not mean that other lights are false. Other lights were created according to this true Light.
In John 6:32, the Lord says:
It was not Moses that gave you the bread out of heaven; but My Father giveth you the true bread out of heaven.
Here we have the true bread. We have true light and true bread. Then in John 15:1, the Lord says:
I am the true vine.
This does not mean that all other vines are false. The vines in creation are shadows pointing to the true Vine. When the Lord came to earth, His first miracle was to turn water into wine. This speaks of salvation.
All the vines were created for that purpose: to show us a shadow. When we see the true Vine, we understand what all these other vines were pointing toward.
When you read the entire Gospel of John—true light, true bread, true vine—the Gospel opens up to us. Then we know Christ-centred truth. “I am the truth” means that He is the true reality behind every shadow.
When we speak of the true light, Scripture says that the light enlightens every man. Some did not receive this light, but some received it.
But as many as received Him, to them gave He the right to become children of God.
Among the disciples, Andrew and John were among the first to see and receive the true Light. John remembered when he first met the Lord. It was at Bethany beyond Jordan, at about the tenth hour.
John the Baptist said:
Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!
The entire Old Testament had been asking, “Where is the lamb?” Isaac asked, “Where is the lamb?” When people sinned in the Old Testament, they brought oxen and sheep for atonement.
Atonement means covering. The blood of oxen and sheep covered sins. All the sins of the Old Testament were covered by this blood. But one day John heard the voice: “Behold, the Lamb of God.”
All the other lambs were shadows, and their work was a work of covering. But where is the true Lamb? When the true Lamb came, He took away the sin of the world.
When our Lord came to the cross, He took away all our sins. God has thrown our sins into the depths of the sea and says that He will remember them no more. The Old Testament was waiting for this day.
The true Light shines upon us and reminds us that we are sinners. The light is piercing, and we cannot open our eyes. Yet when the true Light shines upon us, even though our eyes hurt, we know that it is true.
We see that the Lord is our Saviour and that we are sinners. If one is to be saved, he needs the true Light. It is not enough merely to speak words. If the Spirit does not work, and if the true Light does not pierce the heart, a person is not saved.
I grew up in a Christian family. I knew the Bible stories, and I had even brought somebody to know the Lord. I thought that I knew everything.
When my father told me to be baptized, I had to go through an interview. I was only in my teens. The first person asked me a couple of questions, and I was frightened. At that time, if you passed the test, you received a “one”; if you did not pass, you received a “three.”
I grew up in a Christian family. I knew all the Bible stories. I knew how the Lord was crucified. But I received a three, and I was very angry.
That night my father told me to go again. I hoped I would meet someone else, but I met someone even worse—a judge. Who can stand before a judge? Yet he was also a loving grandfather.
He said, “Do you believe in Jesus?” I said, “Yes.”
He asked, “Do you believe here, or here?” There was only about a foot of distance between the head and the heart, but it was the difference between heaven and earth.
I said, “I believe.” He said, “Let us pray together.” I prayed, and after I came out of the water, the whole world changed. The world did not change—I changed.
That light is the true Light. John saw that light, and he followed the Lamb. Wherever the Lamb goes, he follows.
The Lord said to the early disciples:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
This is clearly connected with the Old Testament. Jacob saw a heavenly ladder and the angels of God ascending and descending upon it. What is the heavenly ladder? At the top is heaven; at the bottom is earth.
Jacob was distant from God, especially after he had deceived his father. Yet he had a wonderful dream: a heavenly ladder connecting heaven and earth.
The Lord did not say “heavenly ladder.” He changed the heavenly ladder into “the Son of Man.” What does that mean? It shows us that our Lord is not only the Lamb of God; He is also the heavenly Ladder.
The Lamb of God was hung on the cross. On one hand, He took hold of our hand; on the other hand, He took hold of the hand of the heavenly Father. On the cross He reconciled us to the Father.
Our Lord is indeed our Mediator. Between us and God there is a Mediator. We were distant from God, but thank the Lord: sin kept us away from God, and on the cross the Lord brought God and man together.
This is salvation. Yet sin not only separated God and man; sin also separated heaven and earth. Before man fell, heaven and earth could be distinguished, but they could not be separated.
The earth God created was like the surface of a serene lake. When you see the heavens reflected, you also see heaven on earth. When you see the vine, you see the true Vine. When you see dawn and dusk, you see the heavenly view.
But on the cross, the Lord not only reconciled man to God. He also connected heaven and earth again. Therefore, we who have been saved, though on earth, may live as though in heaven.
Even though you are on a sickbed, it is the Lord who makes your bed. No matter where you are, that is where heaven is. We are on earth as if in heaven because, on the cross, our Lord connected heaven and earth.
When the true Light shines, we have a gospel to preach. We do not merely tell people that they are distant from God; we tell them that the cross reconciles them to God and connects heaven and earth.
Man fell because he ate of the forbidden fruit. If you were to return to Eden, would that mean that you returned to God’s will? God’s purpose was that man should eat of the tree of life.
The cross not only solves our problem of sin; the cross also gives us life. In the garden, Christ was hung upon a tree. Peter says that He was hung on the tree for us. That tree is our tree of life.
When you accept Jesus as your Saviour, on one hand you are no longer under the judgment of sin; on the other hand, you receive the tree of life. You receive eternal life.
John 1 shows that life is in Him. Life is in Christ. In John 4, that life is shown as living water.
Psalm 42 speaks of the deer panting after the water brooks. The deer may see the snow-capped mountain, but it must have the water within it. Only when the water is in the deer can it no longer thirst.
When you read John 4, you remember the Samaritan woman. The Lord spoke to her beside a deep well:
Every one that drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst;
but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life.
Outside of you, there may be a well; but inside you there is also a well. If you drink this water, you will have a well of water springing up within you.
Before, life was in the only begotten Son. It is eternal and uncreated life. But now, for all those who believe, this water is in us.
How does the life that was in Him in John 1 come into us in John 4? John 3 explains how the true Light shines:
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up;
that whosoever believeth may in Him have eternal life.
All men had been bitten by the poison of sin. When our forefathers ate the forbidden fruit, that poison entered us, and we were all destined to die. But Moses lifted up the brazen serpent.
The brazen serpent had the form of a serpent but did not have its poison. Our Lord, even on the cross, had the form of a sinner, but He had no sin. What do you have to do? You only have to look. In the New Testament, to look is to believe.
Those who believe in Him have eternal life. This is the story of the cross:
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
The life was in Him, and now it comes into us. On the cross, He stood in our place. He cried, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” All sin was upon Him, and the wrath of God was upon Him.
He is the Rock of Ages. That Rock of Ages was cleft. As water comes from the cleft rock, so life comes to us through the Lord’s body broken for us.
The Lord said that we need to be born again, born of the Spirit. When you were born from your mother, you did nothing. In the same way, when you are born of the Spirit, the Lord has done everything on the cross.
A man received a phone call from his mother at midnight on his thirtieth birthday. She said, “Child, happy birthday.” He said, “Do you know what time it is? I was asleep. Why did you wake me up?” His mother said, “Thirty years ago, you woke me up.”
What does that mean? To be born means that somebody else bears the cost. Two thousand years ago, we woke up our Lord. On the cross, He cried, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” The life was in Him; now it is in us.
When the water within us becomes a well springing up, what did the Lord say? He said that the Father is seeking true worshippers.
The Lord was discussing with the Samaritan woman where people should worship. She said that worship should be on that mountain; the Jews said that it should be in Jerusalem.
The worship on the Samaritan mountain was false worship because they worshipped idols. Jerusalem was different; its worship was true according to the Old Testament pattern. But what did the Lord say?
He said that the hour was coming, and now is, when the Father seeks true worshippers. This word true is the same word used for the true Vine and the true Light.
The worship of the Old Testament was not false for the people of Israel, but it was a shadow of the reality. Man had sinned, and his spirit had died. The spirit is the organ by which we know God.
A blind person can still live. He can still find the road and do many things. Yet he experiences only a small portion of the world. In the same way, if our spirit is dead, we do not know God.
A Russian cosmonaut said that he had been in space and did not see God. But he used the wrong organ. To smell, you use your nose. To see, you use your eyes. But to know God, you must use your spirit.
The Lord gives us living water so that we may have true worship. In the Old Testament, worship was like a blind man crossing a road. It was not false, but it was a shadow.
But the hour has come. When our Lord was crucified, raised, and ascended, the Holy Spirit rekindled our spirit. Now the true worshipper does not worship merely outwardly.
Do not make Christianity into Judaism. Worship that is merely outward is worship of a shadow. You may cry louder because you think God is far away, but if God is near, do you need to scream?
When the water enters the well, the Spirit works within us. Then, of course, we have a life of worship. When we come to worship Him, we come before His feet.
In the Old Testament, worship in the temple meant coming to the Holy of Holies and coming to the ark. The ark spoke of the Lord’s footstool. The people of Israel said, “We come to worship You at Your footstool.” That means coming before His feet.
When we worship in spirit and truth, we come before His feet. There we see a pair of feet unlike any other: nail-pierced feet. The more we are before those feet, the more we consecrate ourselves.
The Spirit moves and speaks within us. He fills us entirely. It is like the Garden of Eden. If you walk through the garden, you find gold, pearls, and precious stones.
When the Holy Spirit fills us and moves within us, if we follow His calling, we find gold. Gold speaks of God’s nature. Then we find pearls.
A pearl is formed when a shell is hurt and injured. It continues to cover the irritation with layer after layer until it becomes a pearl. In the same way, you do not forgive your brother merely once or twice; you forgive seventy times seven.
The Holy Spirit teaches you. You only need to follow His leading. Then you gain power, and then you gain precious stones. This speaks of transformation. We were like Peter, but now we become stones.
When the Holy Spirit works in us, and when we obey His calling and listen to that still, small voice, we find gold, pearls, and precious stones.
I have told this story many times, but I will mention it again. My daughter, when she was ten years old, was already saved. We did not want to give her too much advanced knowledge; we wanted her to grow naturally. She liked to read the Bible and she liked to pray.
One day her grandfather had a birthday. She wanted to give him a golden pen. But her older brother told her, “Girls should not give golden pens; boys should give golden pens.”
On her grandfather’s birthday, the brother gave the golden pen, not the sister. I asked her mother what had happened.
My daughter said, “I wanted to give the best golden pen to my grandpa. Nobody could convince me otherwise. But I do not know what happened. When I was about to do that, my stomach started to speak.”
She said, “My stomach kept talking and talking to me until I cried, and I gave that pen to my brother.” She did not know that there was living water in her well. She did not know that she was following the Holy Spirit. She only said, “My stomach was speaking.”
She was only ten years old, but you can see gold in her life. You can see God’s nature. This is the work that begins from the true Light.
Those who abide in the Word are true disciples. True disciples are like the true Vine and the true Light. There are many false people in the world and many Pharisees, but if you see the true Light, you become a true person.
What kind of life is a true Christian life? It is not outward; it is inward. It is a life of depth. This is a true Christian. This is true worship, and God is seeking this kind of person.
After we are saved, the life that was in Him is now in us. But thank the Lord, this life is to grow. This is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Ezekiel gives us a picture of this growth. After the glory of God returns, the temple is not merely a temple. The throne in the temple is the source of the river of water.
Through Christ we can come to the Father. When we come boldly before the holy place, we know God. God is Spirit, and this is life. At His throne we meet the living water.
In Ezekiel, the water does not remain in the depths; it flows out. After one thousand cubits, it is ankle-deep. After another thousand, it reaches the knees. Then it reaches the loins. Finally, it becomes rivers of living water.
Where does it flow? It flows to the Dead Sea. This world is like the Dead Sea. The life within you is not merely for yourself.
As life bubbles within you, the Holy Spirit does a mighty work. This life must grow. The more it grows, the more it flows outward. Each measurement brings us deeper.
Every measurement is a work of God’s Word in us. We see that we are not like the Lord, and then we go deeper. We go deeper again until the water becomes a river of living water.
In John 1, the life was in Him. In John 4, the life is in us. Then, in John 7, rivers of living water flow out from the innermost being.
What happens between John 4 and John 7? We see four miracles. What is a miracle? It is when God moves His finger. Our growth must be the result of miracle after miracle in our lives.
After four measurements, the water grows from ankle-deep to rivers of living water. Here we see maturity.
At the beginning, the true Light gives us life, and we receive eternal life. But do not forget what the Lord says:
I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.
The true Light includes the light of life. When we receive eternal life, that life grows and shines. This light is the light of life.
When I was young, we had to flee during the war. There was no electricity, but we had to read at night. We would go out and catch fireflies, put them in a paper bag, and use them like a lantern.
This life is a light of life. When life is abundant, the light is stronger. Brothers and sisters, do you understand?
Why does our Lord say that He is the light of the world? Consider the woman caught in adultery. The Pharisees brought her to the Lord to see what He would do. The Lord bent down and wrote on the ground.
Then He said:
He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
The Lord stooped down again and wrote on the ground. He did not argue with them. From the oldest to the youngest, they began to leave, because their consciences troubled them.
The Lord was writing on the ground, but He was the light of the world. That light was piercing. From the oldest to the youngest, they left. Even the oldest had sinned the most.
Then the Lord said, “I am the light of the world.” After we are saved, the light in our lives shines upon our conscience. If you are truly saved, the Holy Spirit will work in your conscience.
Many people today do not pay attention to their conscience. They use many reasons to comfort themselves so that they do not have to listen to it. But for those who have been saved, it is the light of life that leads us.
At the beginning, the light may not be very strong because we are weak. Perhaps it is only the light of ten candlepower, and we see only two blemishes on our face. Then we confess our sins, and His precious blood cleanses us.
As you grow, perhaps the light becomes brighter. You see more blemishes and confess your sins again. You walk in the light, and the precious blood again washes away your sins.
Brothers and sisters, how long has it been since you were under His light? When was the last time you confessed your sin? That tells you how long you have walked in darkness.
In Paul’s old age, when he was most mature, he said, “I am the chief of sinners.” Why? Under a brighter light, he saw more clearly that he needed mercy.
If this is the true Light, we need to walk in the light. We need to be sons of light.
The Lord also said:
If ye abide in My word, then are ye truly My disciples;
and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
The light is not only the light of life; it is also the light of the Word. The Bible is a lamp unto our feet. If you abide in the Word, you know the truth, and the truth sets you free.
How can we be set free from the bondage of sin and the bondage of the flesh? One day the light came, and the truth set us free.
When you read Scripture, the Spirit leads you before the Son of God.
If therefore the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
As we walk in the light, we are no longer under the bondage of sin. We can live a victorious life. We are delivered from the bondage of the flesh.
Do you remember the home in which the Lord delighted? It was the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. One day Lazarus was sick, and the sisters sent word to the Lord: “He whom Thou lovest is sick.”
They thought the Lord would come immediately. The Bible tells us that the Lord loved them. Yet because He loved them, He waited two more days.
Martha and Mary said, “If You loved Lazarus, You would have come earlier.” They waited, but the Lord did not come. After four days, He came. It seemed too late.
According to the Jews, after four days there was no hope that the soul would return. Why did the Lord wait? He wanted Lazarus to be truly dead, until the very end, so that it would be clear that this was a true miracle.
Martha complained. Mary complained. They truly loved the Lord, but they were captured by themselves. They believed they knew what was best. They knew God’s power, but they could not trust His wisdom.
The Lord waited until Lazarus was truly dead. Then the dead man heard the voice of the Son: “Lazarus, come forth!”
The Lord did not merely say, “Come forth,” because all the dead might have come forth. He said, “Lazarus, come forth.” Lazarus needed to be saved; Martha needed to be saved; Mary needed to be saved.
We read, “Jesus wept,” and we may say that this is very sad. But when we are caught in our own bondage, Jesus weeps. When can He save us? When the true Light shines, then we are saved from ourselves.
He is the true Light. He is also the true Bread. He is also the true Vine.
When our Lord said, “the true bread,” there is an important background. The Jewish calendar is divided into two cycles. The first begins with Passover; the second begins with the Feast of Tabernacles.
These cycles have to do with farming. To understand the land of Canaan, you need to see its produce, because Canaan is a land flowing with milk and honey.
In the first cycle, there is the harvest of barley and wheat. In the second cycle, during the Feast of Tabernacles, there is the harvest of fruits such as olives and grapes.
When you speak of the riches of Canaan, simply speaking, you speak of the riches of wheat and fruit.
When the Lord fed the multitude with five loaves and two fish, those loaves were barley loaves. Yet He also said:
Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone;
but if it die, it beareth much fruit.
If you want to understand how the multitude could be fed with five loaves, you must remember the grain of wheat. He is the true Bread.
In the second half of the calendar, He is the true Vine. In God’s creation, where does our food come from? If there is no sun, there is no food. If there is no light, there is no food.
Through light and fruit, there is photosynthesis, and then we have food. Brothers and sisters, all this is a shadow. Our Lord is the true Light, the true Bread, and the true Vine.
How do you help the children of God? You give them the riches of the land. This is the unsearchable riches of Christ of which Paul speaks.
When you read the entire Gospel of John, He is not only the true Light; He is the true Bread, and He is the true Vine. May the Lord open our eyes. He is the truth. If you want to serve the children of God, serve them with Christ in life.
May the Lord have mercy. Let us pray.
Lord, we bring these words once again into Your presence. Man’s words are indeed so limited. We ask that Your Holy Spirit will continue to speak to us, that we may truly see that You are the true Light, and that we may know how to serve You. Listen to our prayer, in Jesus’ precious name.