There are times in Bible history, and consequently there are times in our lives, in the lives of those who are seeing Christ, in the lives of those whose hearts are turned to see Him, when in our searching and in our learning, in our growing, that things become rather fragmented. We are seeing many things that are true, but I am going to contrast things that are true against THE TRUTH. And of course The Truth doesn’t make things that are true not true, but it brings them into fulness, and brings them to comprehension. But we tend to become fragmented in our searching. For instance, everything but The Truth is in part, it is in fragments. Now we are going to deal with true things, because we’re not interested in what is not true; we don’t search the scripture to find out what is not true. So we’re dealing with true things: heaven for instance. Heaven is a true thing. You can hardly listen to any religious program or any religious song that is not dealing in some way or another with heaven. So heaven is a true thing, it is written in the Word of God - the name "heaven" is there.
But how many believers, throughout all Christendom, truly born again believers have comprehended heaven IN THE TRUTH? We believe heaven to be a true thing so we preach a sermon on heaven, but what is your concept of heaven? Everybody’s got a different concept of heaven. In general we say it’s a place, or it’s a city in the sky. Heaven - it’s a place where we go when we die. But that’s still NOT comprehending heaven; that’s simply knowing that heaven is a true thing, a true word. But everything that is true: all true things must be brought into THE TRUTH to be properly comprehended. As a true thing - it is only a fragment. Righteousness is a true thing, love is a true thing, holiness is a true thing - on and on we can go. Jerusalem - a true thing. All of the prophecies, and all of the prophets in their prophesying prophesied things that are true. None of them, however spoke THE TRUTH! They spoke true things: what they said was true, but not THE TRUTH.
No, it was fragmented, it was in part, it was without fulfillment, and yet it was a true thing. Isaiah prophesied true things: he prophesies concerning restoration, he prophesies concerning resurrection, he prophesies concerning The Coming of The Lord, he prophesies concerning the destruction of Israel. These are all true things, but you see the whole religious world today is full of questions about true things. They don’t have any questions about things that are obviously not true. All the questions are revolving around things that are true, but aren’t comprehended in THE TRUTH. Restoration - when is that going to be? What is it when it is? Has it already been? If so - what? When? Where? Resurrection - what is the Resurrection, when is the Resurrection? Or is The Resurrection a Who, and if a Who - Who? And righteousness - what does it mean to be "righteous"? God wants righteousness, God is righteous, but how is it that God is righteous? What is righteousness? Righteousness is a true thing.
And over the years people have preached on righteousness, and they have made righteousness everything from what you eat or drink or wear, or don’t eat or don’t drink or don’t wear. But is that righteousness comprehended in THE TRUTH, or is that righteousness comprehended as a true thing, and then everybody just putting their own explanation to it? Is heaven a true thing that everybody’s put their own definition to? The Catholic Church, one of the largest branches of "Christianity" has a definition of heaven; every other denominational Church and Pentecostal Church has a definition of heaven. And all of those are different definitions based on a true thing, but what the Lord has brought me to realize is that until all of these true things - all of the fragmented things are seen IN THE TRUTH there is no true basis, there is no true standard for comprehension.
Folks, you’ve got to have a standard for comprehension. You’ve got to have a standard for righteousness - you can’t make one up! You’ve got to have a standard for holiness - you can’t just make it up as you go along! It’s got to be an unmistakable, irrefutable standard against which all things that are true can be brought - not just one of them, not just two of them - everything! The Truth literally encompasses all things that are true. And that’s important - not just one - ALL things that are true.
Now as we continue here we must remember that the center of this is THE CROSS, and The Cross has something to do with The Truth. And we are going to deal with all things of the Old Covenant, and by that I mean everything housed between Genesis to Malachi: all of God’s dealings beginning with Adam, through Israel and the prophets. There should be no argument with that since Moses wrote those first five books including Genesis. So that’s how we can gather it all up in the Old Covenant. And we’re also going to find that it is "all things", and this is a tremendous term in your Bible - ALL THINGS. And the only thing that can divide "all things" from "all things" is THE TRUTH. And there are two sets of "all things" in your Bible. The scripture is either talking about "all things that are IN CHRIST", which is all things NEW, or the scripture is talking about all things that point TOWARD CHRIST. These things are said to be in your Bible "by Him, for Him, that He is before them"; by whom are all things, for whom are all things, in that He is before all things. And "all things" that are related to that New Covenant are never by Him or for Him in the way that the first are. In the New Covenant "all things" are always IN HIM - always. IN CHRIST - and you will never find them anywhere else in the scripture - IN HIM.
So we could put an arrow from those first things to The Cross, because we’re talking about all things - true things. The Creation that we see outside is part of this: it’s by Him, for Him, created for His intention; and yet, He is before it! Creation is a true thing, but it is NOT The Truth. It is not The Truth: it will not make you free, it will not bring you into fulness, it isn’t The Truth, but it is a true thing. Creation is very real, but creation can never be understood until it is seen in the light of The Truth. "All Things" - gathered up and comprehended in The Truth. All things of the old; but not only that - all things of the new can only be understood in The Truth as well. There is not one thing in Christ that can be understood, can be comprehended except it be brought into The Truth, except it be seen in the light of The Truth.
Now we are just going to define The Truth into which all things must be brought for comprehension: to define The Truth in the light of which nothing on either side of The Cross can be understood except in the light of The Truth. So we must define "The Truth"; and we are not just talking about "Truth". I’m not trying to split hairs here, but this word "THE" is extremely important to The Truth. And so we’ll look at it that way - THE TRUTH. I’m not telling you that Truth is not the same as The Truth, but the phrase in the Bible that we are interested in, and draws everything together is this phrase, "The Truth". Bible scholars will tell you that it makes all the difference. If you study the Bible you will understand that this article, the word "the" adds tremendous significance - THE faith means that it personifies that faith; THE wisdom, THE knowledge, whatever. You will see it written just that way, and it is important because it takes it out from everything else, and gives it a particular and a peculiar definition. It is not just "knowledge" - THE knowledge: THE knowledge of THE glory of God in THE face of Jesus Christ. That little word is tremendously important particularly in any study of Greek; it gives great significance.
Well we are dealing here with THE TRUTH, so let’s look into the scripture for this term "The Truth" and define The Truth. And then we can begin to see what all things must be brought into, what light they must be seen in, to be comprehended. As I said, in God’s dealings with you and I, it is historically so and it is individually so, there comes a time when things become fragmented. We are dealing with a whole lot of true things, and I’ve never been in a search yet when that hasn’t happened. The Lord deals with you about a particular thing, and you may search on a particular thing ( for example: faith, the coming of the Lord, etc.). Now our heart desires to know The Lord, our heart desires to see Him, but we are honed in on this particular true thing - we want to understand this thing. And many Christians go through a great deal of searching and time and trouble on a particular word.
Now you can search a thing like "JOY", but it will become a fragmented thing, because joy is a fragment. That’s taking nothing away from it, but joy is a fragment. It’s a true thing, and this is the way we search, but if you continue just forever on joy, sooner or later you are going to have to bring joy into a greater expression of itself, or joy will just be a truth with you - something you wish you had, something the Bible says you ought to have, something that someone else said if you jump on one leg and clap your hands, you will have! We say we must sing or jump for joy - but nobody knows what joy is. So, we just jump and shout and sing, and get excited for awhile. But joy, or anything else has to be seen in the light of The Truth to become something more than a true thing; to ever become a relationship in which we live, it must be embraced in The Truth. Faith, understanding, joy, love - will never be a relationship. You can search these things out, but if it never becomes The Truth, you can just dissect these things to death!
And we end up preaching a true thing, and telling everyone this is what you ought to have, or this is the way you ought to be, but then you’ve got to span the gap of "getting them there." Joy - is a true thing, but what in the world is joy! Is it hilarity? We must comprehend joy in The Truth. The scripture declares that The Lord endured The Cross, bore the reproach, for the JOY that was set before Him. Do we really believe that there was just a hilarity that was set before Him? That He was going to be overwhelmingly tickled when it was all over with? Just jump up and down and have a Pentecostal fit in The Resurrection? No - joy is a little more than that. It was something that was set before our Lord - for the JOY that was set before Him.
But it doesn’t make any difference: whatever it is. So The Truth must be defined. And only in the end of the matter can The Holy Spirit truly reveal: ONLY THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH CAN REVEAL THE TRUTH. But it will help us at least to turn our hearts to know The Truth: not the truth ABOUT things - THE TRUTH! And when you know The Truth then you know The Truth about all things; you will know The Truth into which all things must be brought for comprehension. You will have the standard up against which all things must be measured. You might not have all things in your grasp, but you will have the measurement of all things in your grasp. And then as those things come along, you’ll have the right standard for each of them. Because I don’t care how long you’ve known the Lord, or how much you’ve searched - you and I - we all collectively do NOT know all things that are true. We probably haven’t even read in the scripture yet all things that are true. But whenever you do, if we do not know The Truth then we still have just discovered another true thing that we can’t make a relationship out of.
Now we believe it, we can make a doctrine out of it, we can give our own standards to it, but it will never be a relationship. How many preach heaven as a relationship? You know very few! They preach heaven as a place you go after you die, heaven is a place where you meet Grandpa and Grandma; they preach heaven as a place where you have a cabin in the corner of, they preach heaven where you’ve got a bigger house than you’ve got now, and crystal flowing streams. Whatever the need is in their life - heaven is the answer to it. And yet it seems never to become a relationship. It’s just always a place that’s just out of reach. And that’s just one true thing!
Now, Ephesians 4:15. In the first part of that chapter we have a tremendous declaration - One Body, One Spirit - One Measure of all of that; One Who is given for measure. And then we have the ministries of that One, which ministries are defined as being purposed unto the measure of The Body: until The Body comes to full measure. And here is something of that full measure, here is something that occurs as part at least of the fulness of the measure of the stature of Christ unto which we trust we are walking, to which our heart is set. And here is part of that: "But speaking THE TRUTH..." That’s the contrast to being blown about by every wind of doctrine. And I personally do not know any church doctrine that is not based upon a true thing. But I know very few that have ever been comprehended in the light of The Truth. They simply have been engraved in stone, cast in concrete, preached as either sixteen Fundamentals of Faith, eight Fundamentals of Faith, or in some cases twelve. And you can’t argue with the person that these things are true, because the question is: ‘What, don’t you believe in heaven?’ You don’t want to sound like a complete fool and say no, because that wouldn’t be true; but, heaven after whose concept? ‘Don’t you believe in righteousness, brother? If you believe in righteousness, why don’t you preach righteousness?’
And so we get really fired up, and "the anointing" comes down, and we get lathered up, and sweat and holler and scream, and we use the word ‘righteousness’ 50 or 60 times in a 30 minute sermon, and we’ve preached righteousness. No you haven’t preached righteousness! You’ve just used the word ‘righteous’, and ‘righteousness’ is a true thing. But has righteousness ever become a relationship with anybody? No - most of the time it’s what you do or don’t do, say or don’t say. There’s no relationship in that. I’m not telling you that the things we do or say should not flow out of a relationship, but I’m simply saying you can do or say things and still NOT have a relationship. The RELATIONSHIP should be the first thing established, because if that gets established and that’s right then all things that are true will function from it, and will function in it.
"Speaking THE TRUTH in love..." The Truth then, has a nature; the nature of The Truth is LOVE. Love is a nature; love is no more an emotion than it is a table! Love is a nature. You may get all emotional about it, but love is a nature. It’s the nature of The Truth. And I say that to indicate that The Truth can not be some inanimate object, it cannot be some lesson learned, it can not be some true thing taught. The Truth is above all of that. The Truth is the very light in which all of that is brought into comprehension and into purpose. So The Truth has a nature, and it’s that nature that The Truth really works in you. Truth does not work true things in you; The Truth works the NATURE of Truth in you. You comprehend true things in the light of The Truth, and it is that nature: our nature, our character is changed. We’ve all seen very intelligent Christian people, spiritual people memorize the whole Bible - all kinds of things; but their nature just stinks! Their sermons sound good, but their nature just stinks. And when it comes right down to it, it is the nature of things that count: what nature is dominating here? What nature is motivating here? That’s all summed up in The Truth.
It just gets obvious here to me: "But speaking The Truth in love, may grow up into him..." HIM - Who? Him, Who is THE TRUTH! The Truth is a Him; that’s why The Truth has a nature. We are going to find that The Truth is a Person, but we’re going to find much more than that, because it is The Person in a certain relationship. It’s The Person in a certain definition, in a certain view. The Person is Christ - yes, The Truth is Him, but in what relationship? In relationship to what? That’s why we always have to keep The Cross in mind. THE TRUTH IS CHRIST IN RELATION TO THE CROSS. So let’s look now at The Person: The Truth is Him. But you see, Truth has to be manifest. Throughout the scriptures, you will find that: Truth can not be hidden, Truth is made manifest, Truth is openly shown, Truth is exhibited, Truth is active, outreaching and encompassing - TRUTH. So we say, Christ is The Truth. Yes, He is, but in what relationship? Where is He, The Truth made manifest? Where is He AS The Truth made manifest? We’re going to find that it’s in The Cross.
We’re going to have to see a whole lot more than death in The Cross. And all those who have seen The Cross understand that. "Speaking The Truth...may grow up into him in ALL THINGS..." All things. I did a thesis once on "all things" and that stretched my brain, it stretched me. See, we just say "all things" - what a statement! What an absolute impossibility except in The Truth! Grow up into Him in all things - all things, not two or three things, or two or three dozen things, or two or three hundred things - ALL THINGS! That’s an immense thing. And when we come to see The Truth and come to KNOW The Truth... because you do "know" The Truth. The Truth is someone you know. And I’m not talking about an academic exercise of learning. You know The Truth - you know Him. And when you come to know The Truth, then indeed you will begin to grow up into Him in relation to all things because you’ll come to understand, you’ll come to comprehend all things in The Truth, and they will present themselves one at a time.
Just now The Lord has me on a search concerning The Blood, and I confess to you I have not comprehended The Blood in The Truth. Yet The Blood is a true thing. It begins with the blood of righteous Abel and goes all the way through The Blood of The Lord Jesus Christ. But we’ve made little simple doctrines out of "The Blood" that mean nothing! They mean nothing as far as relationship is concerned. "Washed in The Blood of Jesus" - what kind of relationship is that? What does that even mean? What blood was it He poured out with water? What did that Blood answer to? What is the significance of it? What spiritual reality is embodied there that should be as a nature working in you and I? That’s what The Spirit of The Lord is dealing with me in. And surely and certainly He gathers these things into Christ, because until they are gathered into Him, they are not going to work in me or you.
We spoke about joy. The scripture is full of these phrases, "The joy of The Lord." Most people think that means The Lord making YOU have joy. They think joy is a separate thing, a package. But is it YOUR joy that we are after, or truly the joy of the Lord that we are after? See, your soul is after the joy of The Lord because that’s the only thing that will satisfy the soul. And there are many things that may make us temporarily joyful, but those will come and go. But once you comprehend "the joy of THE LORD", your soul will forever be settled in! Until it’s brought into Christ it can’t work in you; it will always be outside of you, it will always be something you are trying to get a hold of, try to understand, try to make work. But when it’s comprehended in Him - as that which He is - oh now, the nature of that thing begins to satisfy the soul; the nature of that thing begins to work in our hearts, in our soul, in our inner part. I really want to comprehend the nature of The Blood, the nature of that in a people, in a person - in me!
So now we’ll continue, "...in him, which is the head, even Christ." So here’s Who we are growing up into! Verse 20 says, "But ye have not so learned Christ." That is, after the ignorance and blindness of their heart. " If so be that ye have heard HIM, and have been taught by HIM, as the truth is in Jesus." Notice to whom Paul is writing here. He’s writing to the Ephesians. This is a long time since the three and a half year ministry of The Lord Jesus. And yet Paul is challenging them: "If so be that ye have heard HIM, and have been taught by him, as THE TRUTH IS IN JESUS." As The Truth is in Jesus. THE TRUTH IS A PERSON. It is The Person of Christ. There are many true things: but to know anything in The Truth, you must know it into Him, Who is The Truth. And to know anything in The Truth, you must see it in its relationship to Christ - but you must see it in relationship to CHRIST CRUCIFIED. Regarding my statement that we must know The Truth INTO HIM: we must know it in Him - not about Him. We know true things about Him: He’s The Son of God, but have we ever embraced that reality in The Truth? In other words, is the nature of The Son of God working in us, or are we just preaching messages on Sonship? Are we just assuring everybody that they are sons of God?
Or is there any nature of that working in us, one toward another, at all? Because until it becomes a nature, it’s not The Truth. It’s just a true thing: it’s something we’ve read in the Bible and wished we could do. And we believe it with all of our hearts, and unfortunately we end up not bringing it into The Truth, into a comprehension of Christ, not really comprehending it in its relationship to Him and The Cross - Him Crucified. Because The Truth is not just "Christ", it is "Christ Crucified". And Christ Crucified encompasses His death, His burial and His resurrection.
Let’s think about The Tabernacle, and The Tabernacle is a true thing, and you could sum up everything of the meaning of Israel in The Tabernacle; certainly all of their feasts, and that includes Sabbath days, all of their priests, all of their gifts, ceremonies and offerings. Israel themselves whether in camping or marching, their order, their posture. Everything of Israel is summed up in The Tabernacle. The Tabernacle is very much the center of Old Testament Israel. It is not just the center of their worship, but the center of their existence. So The Tabernacle is a true thing, and you could take any one of its parts: its posts, its curtains, and the same thing will be true. It’s a true thing, but until you comprehend The Tabernacle in CHRIST CRUCIFIED, it means nothing to you. And the dangerous thing about this is many people and much theology and many doctrines are based upon teachings on The Tabernacle, but have nothing to do with The Cross at all!
Many study the three courts of The Tabernacle, but not comprehending those three courts as they must be comprehended by following the scriptural directives: they can only be comprehended in connection with His death, His burial, His resurrection; The Way, The Truth, The Life. That’s the only way it can be comprehended if you follow scriptural directives; but you see, preachers of true THINGS don’t follow spiritual directives. They just get a true thing and go "wild" with it! So they end up bringing those three compartments over into Christ, and you end up with a compartmentalized Christ. And there isn’t any such thing! There are no veils in Him, there are no rooms in Him, there are no three courts in Him - period! The very fact that those things are torn down, done away and abolished should tell us that they don’t come back in Christ! So you cannot take those three compartments and teach spiritual life. You can bring them to The Cross, you can see their absolute purpose and tremendous significance in Christ crucified - in His death, burial and resurrection. Yes you can, but you can’t maintain them in Him as some order of spiritual life. There is NO order of spiritual life called "The Outer Court"; it doesn’t exist! There never has been such a thing SINCE THE CROSS. There was before The Cross, and it spoke of something, it pointed to something, it had a God given, God ordained purpose as a testimony of something that was fulfilled in Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.
But it doesn’t go beyond that. That’s why it’s important to understand that The Truth is embodied in Christ Crucified. So you must know it into Him, Who is The Truth. To know anything in The Truth, you must see that thing in its full relationship to Christ Crucified. You must see it: whether it’s things on the Old Covenant side or things in Christ - you must see it in CHRIST CRUCIFIED. Righteousness -it’s in Christ; Life - it’s in Christ; Inheritance - it’s in Christ - IN HIM. It is spoken of in the Old Covenant, but it’s fulfilled in Christ - it’s in Him. But to understand anything, you must understand it in its relationship to The Truth; therefore you must understand it in its relationship to Christ crucified. You must understand it in relation to His death, His burial, His resurrection. You can’t just ignore The Cross, and just willy-nilly bring something over. You can’t do that scripturally. You can’t do that and have any kind of an outcome of an increase of Christ.
Now I’m so concerned about this because The Lord has impressed some things upon my heart. See, perversion comes out of true things misunderstood; true things not seen in Truth. Perversion doesn’t come out of something that is false. You don’t take something that is false and pervert it. You take something TRUE and pervert it. In my opinion "holiness" as a word, and therefore as an act of God, as an understanding of God, has been by many greatly perverted; because it has been defined in a realm and by a realm where it doesn’t even exist! Holiness doesn’t exist in a thing: holiness doesn’t exist in a table, holiness doesn’t exist in a piece of meat. Paul tried to explain something like that to Peter when they were having a meal together. ‘Holiness does not exist in this meat. Now you can eat it or not eat it, but it won’t make you holy either way!’ So, you can pervert it, but you can only pervert true things. And to the sadness of my heart, many things that are true and should be seen in the light of The Truth; that is, the nature of these things should be operating in God’s people. But the nature of these things is not operating in the lives of God’s people because they have never been brought into the nature of The Truth; they have never been comprehended in Christ, they have never been comprehended in The Truth - Christ Crucified!
Since they have never been comprehended that way there is therefore no nature of those things working in people. We just have the words, we just talk about them, but the nature is not there. It’s not there towards one another; we lay rules upon one another without any nature of Christ being administered at all! We are quick to condemn one another, we are quick to fault one another, or we are quick to praise one another! But it’s got to be a NATURE. We argue over true things, but never bringing anything to The Truth. So we have two clergy - wearing black collars and frocks, having a fist fight out behind the church building over the true meaning of "heaven". Isn’t it obvious that neither one of them know it? And that is frightfully what is happening today. So it must be seen in its relationship to Him. How does it relate to The Cross? How does it relate to Christ Crucified?
Because in a true study of The Cross, in a true comprehension of The Cross we have no relationship with Christ but by The Cross. Paul would look at some Christians and say, ‘ What? Foolish Galatians, you’ve tried to find relationship in these things, in the flesh. What is going on with you here?’ He’d look at foolish Romans and say, ‘Do you not understand that as many of you as were baptized into Christ were baptized into His death? That by baptism you were buried with Him, so that like as Christ was raised up by the glory of The Father, even so should you walk in newness of life.’ WE HAVE NO RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM BUT BY THE CROSS! How did you and I get "in Christ’? How did we get there? If we didn’t come by His death, burial and resurrection; by the operation of The Spirit of God in The Truth of His death, burial and resurrection - if that’s not the way we’ve come, then how did we come? That was Paul’s whole argument. In any of his epistles it is just that. No, circumcision does not avail, this does not avail - No! A New Creation in Christ! But in explaining a New Creation he says, for I am crucified unto the world, and the world is crucified unto me. So it isn’t circumcision nor is it uncircumcision, but a New Creature in Christ Jesus!
Paul talks of a New Creation in 2 Corinthians 5: "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation." But that whole thought begins in verse 14 where he says, "Therefore the love of Christ (yes, this nature) constraineth us because we thus judge, that when one died, all died with him." Now then he gives his ‘wherefores’ and ‘therefores’. "Therefore if any man be in Christ..." It’s all based on THE CROSS! There is no relationship you and I can have with Him but by The Cross. And we’ve got to understand The Cross is not a place in history, not even 2,000 years ago history. No - before the world was The Cross was in the heart and mind of God and was the nature of God. All that happened 2,000 years ago was that nature was MADE MANIFEST IN THE TRUTH. That nature was made manifest in The Person of, in The Truth. The nature of God was manifest: "for God so loved the world..." And the word "so" means HOW He did it. Here is how God loved: He gave. Yes, His nature is made manifest in The Person of The Truth. Love is not an emotion with God either, it’s a nature. And where was that nature made manifest? At The Cross! And where does that nature draw you and I ? To The Cross - death, burial and resurrection. "I am The Resurrection and The Life" - that’s The Cross!
So all true things must be brought to The Cross and they must be comprehended in their relationship to Him. You and I must be brought there. Man is a true thing - yes. But where is man truly comprehended? In himself? We have a world like that! Man is comprehended in The Truth, man is seen in his true self in the death, the burial, and the resurrection of The Lord Jesus. And not only the old man, The New Man as well. God’s standard is The Truth. The Cross is God’s standard, but The Cross has never been two sticks of wood, it has never been an historical event in God’s mind or even a futuristic event in God’s mind. The Cross has always been personified in the death, the burial and the resurrection of The Son. He and He alone - of all of the thousands that were crucified on Roman crosses - He alone died The Death of The Cross. He and He alone was obedient unto death, even the death of The Cross. The two that died on either side of Him did NOT die The Death of The Cross: they simply died on crosses. No, The Cross is personified in Him, it finds its nature in Him. And that’s why we can say The Cross works in us today, because we’re talking about the nature of Christ - death, burial and resurrection working in us today. We are not talking about two sticks of wood, and yet too many people are. When they talk about The Cross they are talking about a 2,000 year old event, or they are talking about a symbol of Christianity, but they are not talking about what is fulfilled, finished, and now ever working in The Person of Christ, Whose Body we are. If we are The Body of The Truth, should we not speak The Truth - in all things? Should we not bring all things into The Truth, and there comprehend them, rather than wearying ourselves trying to figure them out? Believers are like that: ‘I’m just trying to figure this out. For three years I’ve been trying to figure heaven out, or joy, or peace - or whatever. I’ve memorized every scripture, I quote them, I’ve got them stuck all over my refrigerator!’
Have you ever brought it to The Truth? Well, there’s something that comes to mind with this: you can’t bring anything to The Truth unless you have come there yourself! That’s tremendously important, because you don’t send things to The Truth. You and I come to know The Truth when you and I know Him in relation to His death, burial and resurrection. Then we can bring all things there. Well certainly - was The Cross to Him a teaching, or did He have to go there? As to all of these true things: The Cross was a teaching, but thank God, One gathered it all up IN THE TRUTH, and executed it. One gathered The Cross up in The Truth, and manifested death, burial and resurrection! My Lord, how far reaching that death is, and how glorious and how blessed that death is once we get past the initial shock that it’s not me! Once we get past the initial shock that Christ is my life and I have no life but Him - death is a glorious thing! "He that is dead is free from sin." Don’t tell me that’s not a glorious thing! He that is dead hath no fear of death, in that he is dead unto that wherein he was bound. That is a glorious thing, and the deeper it goes the more glorious it gets!
But then that’s coupled with His burial, and that’s the time of great transition from one body to another, from one testament to another testament. Most all of the Psalms are written concerning that. I’m convinced most of David’s psalms are written according to the Spirit of Christ during the time of the burial. Peter quotes one, and if one is, then more than one is. "Thou shalt not leave my soul in hell, neither shalt thou suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption." Then Peter challenges them: "Now men and brethren, of whom was David writing; about himself or of another?" And we must see that if David wasn’t talking about himself there, he wasn’t talking about himself anywhere. And if you search the Psalms from that point of view you can hear the Song of Christ in the midst of hell - His Song of triumph, His Song of joy! And just think of those Old Testament saints who had been waiting there - waiting there for the Better Resurrection!
And now He has come! Now He has loosen their bonds! Yes, He is! At the same time He is showing the promise of God to be faithful and true - "Thou shalt surely die." And He is singing to His Father, "Oh lord, in the morning will I lift up my voice unto Thee, and will look up." What morning do you think He’s talking about? The Day, The Day of Resurrection that He encompassed in Himself and became The Day of Resurrection. And in our hearts we follow Him there, and that nature works in us. We know Him in Truth, and therefore we begin to see all things in the light of The Truth.
But we’ve gone at it backwards. We’ve tried to figure out all things. But how many of them can you figure out? Have you got ten of them figured out yet? We’ve gone after the "true things" rather than The Truth. But He says, "I Am The Way, The Truth, The Life..." Is He three things? No, those three things are one, and we’ve got to understand that. One Tabernacle, One Work of The Cross; death-burial-resurrection. You can’t separate those, you can’t have one without the other. You can’t separate them because they’re not simply events, but rather a work of God fulfilled in His Son with Eternal Purpose. There at The Cross God did manifest The Truth, and we must see the centrality of The Cross to The Truth. We hope to understand that there is no other way to see it than The Cross being central to The Truth. THE TRUTH IS CHRIST CRUCIFIED. Not that Christ was crucified; The Truth IS Christ crucified. The Truth IS Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. All things must relate to that, and all things do relate to that. It’s just that WE must relate all things to it. He gathered up all things in His Cross whether they wanted to relate to it or not! And there is nothing that exists in the "all things that are new in Him" but by that work. It’s you and I - rather than trying to figure out the true things, who must come to The Truth, and then, one by one, as we see things that are true, we will relate them to The Truth. And the nature of those things will work in us because it’s one nature - the nature of The Truth!
The nature will work in us, and then we can minister something more than words to each other. We can give something more than teachings to each other; we can actually minister the nature of Christ one to another. So, THE TRUTH IS THE PERSON OF CHRIST IN RELATION TO THE CROSS - CHRIST CRUCIFIED. There The Truth is made manifest, and the scriptures set it forth as being so.
Part 2 - The Person of The Truth -I AM
We are setting our hearts upon establishing The Person and reality of The Truth. And we will be bringing many things into The Truth so we can comprehend them as they are IN CHRIST: not merely comprehend them as they are, but as they are IN CHRIST. We must comprehend all things as they are in their relationship to Christ - in His death, burial and resurrection. For instance, you’ve got to comprehend creation in relationship to The Cross so that you don’t seek to find your life in the wrong creation. And it seems as if in speaking to believers you wouldn’t even have to say that, but most believers still find their life and the components of their life in the wrong creation. They have never yet been able to bring creation as a true thing, as that which is by Him and for Him to The Truth, to The Cross. They have never been able to see creation in the light of its relationship to Christ and His death, burial and resurrection. They have never come to the end of the natural creation, the creation that is seen; and find themselves absolutely, including all the elements of their life, in a New Creation. They have never been able to make that transition, that transformation, that translation (those are Biblical terms) in their heart and in their mind.
And unless you see The Truth...See, THE TRUTH - not true things - The Truth shall make you free. True things won’t do anything for you inwardly. They won’t translate you, won’t transform you, won’t conform you - won’t do anything for you but confuse you because you try to make them work. But The Truth, into which all things that are true must come, will. And when I say "all things" I mean everything that exists, everything that is by Him, for Him, of all - all created things. All things, true things - sun, moon, stars. I mean true things that are in the three types of Salvation that are set forth in your Bible: creation as a type, Abraham and Isaac as a type, Israel as a type - all things relating to those three types. And that literally sums up your Bible from Genesis to Malachi. In those three types all of the dealings of God with man up to The Cross is summed up. That’s the "all things" I am talking about. And throughout our lives we have heard these true things preached and taught, and they have been brought over and applied to your life in Christ, as though they are part of a present spiritual order: assuming that because they are true here, they are true in Him. When in fact, they must be brought to The Truth, they must be brought to The Cross. And at The Cross you see The Truth about these things.
As we’ve said, you can’t take the three chambers of The Tabernacle beyond The Cross and come up with some sort of order of spiritual Life in Christ. You can’t do that! They are summed up at The Cross, and seen in the light of The Truth. And the scriptures declare "The Truth" as being CHRIST CRUCIFIED; Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. We must see the centrality of The Cross to The Truth. The first "all things" speak of Him, but since The Cross, all things of Life, all things of Salvation are IN HIM, and are HIM! Here it’s the Great I AM! In the Old Covenant side we have "He will be" or " The I Will be" or "The I Will do." And those are true things. "I will be their God, they shall be My people" - that’s a true thing. "I will be in their midst" - that’s a true thing. "I will write My word in their hearts " - that’s a true thing. "I will come in My power" - that’s a true thing. But it’s all about what He will do, what He will be.
You can’t bring that past The Cross in that same order in Christ, because here - HE IS! He is in the midst of His people! He is The Word of God revealed in Them! He is come! He is the glory of God in you! Here it is THE I AM. In John 14: "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life." "I am the door." "I am the good shepherd." "I am the resurrection". It’s not ‘I’m going to bring you these things,’, or ‘I’m going to show you these things.’ No, the transition of The Cross is a transition from that which speaks of Him to that which He Himself is, and we are IN HIM. Lord, that we would just awaken to that! We sing, "He is come, He is come, Who will declare Him? Who will declare His Name? He is come." Yes - He is come! Would to God that His people would be caught up, awakened and caught up in that coming, in that reality of Him! But most believers are not. They are far more of the Old Covenant mentality: "One day" He’s going to come, "One day" He’s really going to be in His people, "One day" His people are really going to be in Him, "One day" there’s really going to be a restoration of the temple, "One day" there’s really going to be a Kingdom of God!
In the Old Covenant that’s all true, but in order to comprehend these things you’ve got to bring them to The Truth. You’ve got to bring them to The Cross, into His death, His burial and His resurrection. And then knowing they are no longer true things, they are summed up in The Truth. And He fulfils them, and He is The Resurrection, and He has restored The Temple of God, because The Temple of God is His own Body! But look at the pitiful condition of God’s people today. Most Christians today, who are in fact of Salvation The Temple of God, The Body of Christ; and yet they go back over to true things and say ‘One day’ we’re going to have a Temple; rather than coming to The Truth and seeing that’s The Temple WE ARE! He actually does live in us! HE IS COME! He has restored His Temple: it is NOT made with hands. He has brought forth in The Resurrection that which He, The I AM is the substance of, the presence of, the surety of, the reality of, the witness of. It is so - because HE IS SO! His Temple is so today - why? Because He lives in it! If He didn’t live in it, it wouldn’t be His Temple, it wouldn’t be so. You see, HE makes everything so on this side of The Cross; He makes everything so. Restoration is so because it is alive by Him; those who are in Him live by Him. Everything in Christ is so because of Who He is - He makes it so with His presence. He is the substance of it, He is The Truth of it.
Here in Christ we don’t just have a bunch of true things. We have ALL THINGS OF WHICH HE IS THE SUBSTANCE. Righteousness here in Christ is not just a true thing; it isn’t written somewhere on our clothes. It is His Spirit working in you. Resurrection here in Christ is not just a true thing, a thing that is going to happen "one day". Here in Christ Resurrection is The very Spirit of Christ NOW living and NOW working in you. If we’d just set our minds, our hearts, our souls to The Truth - what a transformed people we would be! Because every time the word "transformed" or "conformed" is used in the New Testament it is speaking of a change of heart from one form to another. Conformed: coming in comprehension from one reality, one form, one place to another. The change is IN YOU. So, what are these bodies for? They are to reflect the change, they are to manifest the change, the "mouth" in this earth. They are to serve the change in this earth. Those bodies that have served the one Old Covenant and old creation, are now to serve the other.
Paul says, "Present your bodies as LIVING sacrifices..." Not dead sacrifices - living sacrifices. "...which is your reasonable service." That’s not talking about hard work; that’s talking about your body giving expression to this inward reality. It all revolves around this "I AM." So that brings us to John 14, and something tremendous is being said here by The Lord. And He is saying this to the Jews, because it is the Jews who under the Old Covenant have had everything given to them under that title, ‘I AM THAT I AM.’ That’s the title under which they received everything that they had. Before they were called out of Egypt that’s the title they were given related to God. That’s the Name God gave Moses to tell them - I AM THAT I AM. So under that title, that name, were all of God’s dealings with Israel.
Now Jesus comes right into their midst and declares HIMSELF to be that very thing - I AM! This is not a pronoun with a verb; like if I was talking about myself - ‘I am picking up this chair.’ No, I AM in the Greek means "Self Existing One". It means the same thing in the Old Testament - I AM, because this is finally what the Lord wants to bring us to. Everything that was suggested in types and shadows with Israel is finally what the Lord has brought us to in Himself. I AM - Self Existing One. What does that really mean here? It means that everything that exists in Christ exists by Him. That was what God wanted Israel to know: you are a people because of Me. Before Me you were not a people; you were slaves, you were in bondage. I brought you out - out of Egypt have I brought My Son. Tell Pharaoh Israel is My son, even My firstborn. And then He brought them out through the death and The Blood of The Lamb, showing that except by ME, you don’t even exist! You are mine because I created you! You are mine because I redeemed you! And all of that comes to its absoluteness here with you and IN CHRIST JESUS.
It comes to its absoluteness, so here it is "I AM", and Everything that Salvation is, is what He is. And Salvation is nothing that He is not. Salvation is NOT a lot of things He has given us, Salvation is NOT a lot of things He has promised to do. SALVATION IS THE SUM TOTAL OF WHO THE I AM IS! So it isn’t a pronoun and a verb - it’s the Self Existent One. He exists by Himself, consequently everything that is in Him...if He exists by Himself, His Body exists by Him. Now He has actually said that. Verse 19, "Because I live, ye shall live also." Because I LIVE...ye shall live also. So He’s The Substance here, He is the existence of everything that is in Him - the real substance. That’s the reason you and I in Christ have to come back to The Cross to see The Truth as well. All Truth is seen only in The Cross; that’s the only place you can find it.
Now in John 14 He is summing this up. "Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me." Now He is telling them here to the same degree that you believe in God, believe in Me. Do you know how The Lord deals with you? He always deals with you on the basis of something you think you know, or that you believe. He will say, ‘You believe in holiness...’ And then He just inserts HIMSELF into the picture. "I AM HOLINESS!" And first of all it tells you that what I thought holiness was isn’t holiness at all! I’ve just seen Holiness. That’s what He is doing here. "You believe in God. I know you do. Believe in Me." He just brings Himself in there. So He goes on and says, "No man cometh to The Father but by Me." He didn’t say, You believe in God, I’m one of the prophets of God or one of the servants of God. No, that wasn’t His claim. He’s looking at those Jews who for centuries had all the promises, and says, "You believe in God, believe also in Me." And the word "also" here is not ‘believe in me too, as well’; no, the word ‘also’ as it is used here and in verse 3 and in Colossians 3:4 means ‘in the exact same manner, to the exact same degree’ - believe in Me.
What a slap in the face to those Jews that He is speaking to. Ye believe in God - believe in Me. You can’t believe in Me AND God: believe in God, believe in Me. "In my Father’s house..." Here is the house that He’s talking about. God hasn’t got a house, He is a House. He’s provided Himself a House. In verse 20 it’s all summed up. "Believe Me that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I am in you." That’s The Truth of the matter. He is presenting Himself as The Tabernacle of God, He’s presenting Himself as The House of God, He is presenting Himself. "...are many mansions." And that simply means that there is room for everybody! Mansions is translated as "places of abode, or places of divine rest." He is simply saying there is room for everybody, My Father’s House is big enough for everybody! And the background of this comes out of a true thing in the Old Testament.
Do you remember the night of their redemption? Israel was redeemed and they came out of Egypt. But they weren’t redeemed from Egypt; they were redeemed from death. That was the night of the death angel. And how were they redeemed from death? They were redeemed from death by The Blood of the Lamb. And what did they do with The Blood of the Lamb? Every household killed a lamb, and they had to put the blood of that lamb upon the door of that house and then they had to go in that house and they had to eat the lamb. But if there wasn’t enough in that household (with a husband, wife and two children, but not enough to eat a lamb) they had to go to the next household, and they said you’ve got to come over and help us eat the lamb!
So they got together and households were determined by the sufficiency of the Lamb: households were determined by how many it took to eat the Lamb. And however many it took to eat that Lamb, they put that blood upon that household, and that became The Household of God. And The Lamb was sufficient! So Jesus comes and He talks about houses, and He says, ‘There is room for everybody!’ why? Because This Lamb is sufficient for all! It takes everybody to eat This Lamb - One Lamb that is sufficient for all; there is plenty of Lamb to go around in this House. And there is enough blood to cover this door, because He says, "Eat My flesh, and drink My blood. My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth Me and drinketh Me, he shall live by Me!" That’s what He’s talking about here. He is The House - we are brought into Him; covered by His Blood, eating Him. There is plenty of room in this House; it’s large enough for all!
And He says, I go to prepare a place for you. Now the whole question is - where was He going? He was going to THE CROSS! He was going to His death, His burial, His resurrection. And in going there, The Lamb of God, The Blood...in going there - "I will prepare a place for you." Here’s the place He prepared - a House, a place of rest. I will prepare a place for you. At the Passover He sent them ahead and THEY prepared a place for the Lord. But now The Lord says I will prepare the place for you. And you will come and you will eat ME, and I am sufficient. Because here The I AM is the substance of everything, the substance of all. If you take The I AM out of this picture, the whole picture disappears. He has provided Himself as a House, Himself a dwelling place. This is The Truth as we know it to be through His death, burial and resurrection. You’ve got to bring ALL THINGS to His death, burial and resurrection. You’ve got to bring all things there. So everything in Christ you’ve got to bring to The Cross, to The Truth to understand it. All things - whether of the old or of the New must come to find its true reality, its true comprehension in relationship to Christ crucified; in relationship to Christ in His death, His burial, His resurrection. That’s where He is going; it’s the only place He’s going.
And this makes sense, and another element comes in: His coming again. His coming, His returning has to be brought to The Cross to be understood. Christ coming again is a true thing, but until that true thing is understood in the Light of The Truth, mostly it’s a perverted thing. It is a perversion of the true thing that it is, because we take "Christ coming again" and we begin with our own imagination to say when and where and how. No - that’s already been established in The Truth! The when, the where, the how and the why of His coming again is already established in His death, His burial His resurrection. So if you see His coming in The Truth, then you can live in The Truth of His Coming; rather than just bringing a true thing over and say, ‘yes, it’s true; one day He’s going to come.’ That was true in the Old Covenant, but those things were brought to The Truth! They’ve got to be that way.
Look what He says in verse 3, "And if I go and prepare a place for you..." Now see, here’s what we imagine. We have a true thing here: I’m going to go, I’m going to go prepare a place. I’m going to come and get you, I’m going to take you to that place. But unless you see it in the light of The Truth, then here’s what you’ve got: He went off somewhere beyond the Milky Way and there He built us a large city. And this city has streets of gold. (I don’t know where we got that, but we say we read that in Revelation; but it’s not streetS of gold). Now what I’m showing you is how Church doctrine has been made out of true things that have never been brought to The Truth of Christ crucified. Everything that is true can only be comprehended in the light of The Truth, and if you don’t bring things that are true into The Truth Himself, then you will take the things that are true and pervert them with your own imagination. There’s nothing else for you to do but do that, because you believe the things that are true. And if you believe a true thing, you’re going to have to do something with it. You can’t ignore it, you can’t stop believing it. You’ve either got to bring it to The Truth to comprehend it as it is in Him through His death, burial and resurrection, or you’ve got to make something up. You’ve got to do something with it - you can’t just leave it alone.
So He’s gone off, and He’s built us this great city, and I live in a shack here, but there...I’m going to live in a mansion! And our imaginations just run wild! And then "One day"...we don’t know when.... But see, The I AM is the substance of THE DAY, He’s The Light of THE DAY. The I AM is THE DAY - I AM THE DAY! The Light - Take Him away, and there is no day and never will be a day. You’ll grow old and blind and die looking for it; because He is the substance of it. "This Day have I begotten Thee." What day do we think He’s talking about ? See, we’ve got to bring ALL THINGS into The Truth. And you’ve got to bring everything that remains, all that is in Christ, and Christ Himself, in order to understand Christ Himself in the light of His death, burial and resurrection. There’s no other way to understand Christ.
We try to understand Christ by saying "Christ" is a term that means "The Anointed of God", but I promise you that when you do that before too long you’re going to have yourself anointed. No - you’ve got to understand Christ in The Truth, or you have no understanding of Him at all. And if you and I do not understand Who Christ is, then we certainly don’t understand Whose Body we are. And I certainly don’t want to sit in a congregation in ignorance and sing praises unto myself, or to you either! And those things are going on amongst believers. See, the substance of our Salvation really is believing that "I AM" - and The "I AM" there is Him. That’s what it’s all about - the substance of all things. That’s why, when Paul got a glimpse of this he said, "I am crucified with Christ." Do you think he might have come to The Truth? "Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." See, he saw the substance. And you can’t take true things in Christ; the fact that we’re in Christ, ‘not I, but Christ’, and all the wonderful things that are ours in Christ, that He Himself is the substance of, and not relate them to The Truth either. Because if you do, you’ll come out seeing yourself as a god. And you’ll come out seeing yourself as The Christ, rather than His Body in Whom He dwells, and works by His anointing. And you’ll say those terms, and write books because you’ll think it’s "deep", but it’s not "deep", it’s perverted. It comes from a true thing that has not come to The Truth.
That’s why this is important: that ALL THINGS be seen in the Light of The Truth, things of the old, things of The Testimony, and things of the New, that is, things of The Witness. They ALL must relate to The Truth. To become an expression of Christ in the earth is not the same thing as becoming God. Having no life but Christ is not the same thing as taking over His place; but you see that understanding comes in the light of The Truth. And no crucified one will ever seek to take the place of The One by whom he lives, and by whom he only lives - never! Only uncrucified ones do that; those that are not crucified in their heart, in their soul. They have never come to The Truth. They can see themselves exalted because they have never seen themselves totally, absolutely dead. But only through seeing the death of Christ can they see themselves dead and become the expression of HIS exaltation. And being caught up in that - there’s nothing greater than that, dear friends.
He brings us into HIS standing, where HE is standing. And we are there, but you are there as those who have NO LIFE BUT HIM. You are not there to replace Him. You are not there because somehow, by the wave of a wand you now have become Him. No - HE being made unto us ALL THINGS is not the same thing as we being Him. But you are in Him, of Whom God hath made unto you wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. But you are not The Redeemer, I am not The Redeemer. HE is made unto us Redemption: He is The Redeemer! And not only is He The Redeemer, He is our Redemption. When did we become The Redeemer? Yes, we are to become the ministers of HIS Redemption. To whom? To whomsoever will! But since when can you redeem, since when can I redeem? But we do this when we take true things and take them somewhere other than to The Cross.
We need to set our hearts upon learning The Truth. I personally don’t have time with something that is perverted, that is not The Truth, and in fact has never come to The Truth. May the Lord open our eyes to see The I AM, Who is The Person of The Truth!
Part 3 - Relationship in The Truth
We are dealing with The Truth -not as a subject, not as a thing, not as a fact learned, but as THE PERSON OF CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED. This is the centrality of The Cross, and we have been bringing various things that are true into the light of The Truth; so that they may be comprehended not just as a true thing, but as a work finished in Christ. In other words, that they may be comprehended as part of that which Christ is made unto us.
Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live: yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now life in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." This is what Paul is doing concerning justification and righteousness by faith. He is telling them, ‘Oh you Jews, if we have believed that righteousness is not by the law then why do we force the Gentiles to live according to the law?’ Because Peter, by his actions withdrew himself from the table and from the Gentiles. So Paul is saying that righteousness is a true thing, but if we do not bring the true thing (whether it’s righteousness or whatever else) into The Truth, and see righteousness in light of The Truth, then we will add our own interpretation and standards to it. And there will always be the standards of the law. Now, you may not think it is the Old Covenant Law, but it is. If it has to do with righteousness by works, or righteousness by anything other than Christ, then it’s by the law. So we are seeing that everything that is true - on both sides of The Cross, everything that is true in Christ must be brought to The Cross to be understood. Everything that is true before Christ: those things that are by Him and for Him, those things that speak of Him but are NOT Him; and the true things there include the prophets. They spoke and do now speak a true Word, but is it The Word of Truth? Even the words of the prophets, as true as they are, must be comprehended in the light of The Truth.
And we have found that The Truth is defined by the scriptures as Christ crucified - Christ in union with The Cross. The Truth, the light of Truth is comprehended only in our relationship with Christ through His death, His burial, His resurrection. And we have no other relationship with Him. In John 14 Jesus said, "I am The Way, I am The Truth, I am The Life." And in the scriptures, He related that to His death, His burial and His resurrection. And in John 14 He is simply summing up the reality of the Tabernacle and all that relates to it He is bringing right into Himself. Then He said He’s going to prepare a place for you. "If I go away, I will come again." What is He doing in that statement? He’s talking to Jews, but we get in our minds that He’s talking to 20th century dispensationalists. Well, He’s not. He’s talking to Jews here. He’s not talking to 20th century dispensationalists who are still looking for The Lord to come, and who are still looking for Salvation to be real. They are still looking for everything that God promised the Jews would come with their Messiah.
So He’s talking to them and bringing them right to The Day of Atonement. He is taking all things that are true, the "all things" of the scripture, and He is bringing that right into The Truth - Christ crucified. I mean The Cross finding its personification in The Son - in His death, burial and resurrection. And we’ve seen that The Truth is a RELATIONSHIP; not some thing you learn academically. We are either walking in The Truth, or we are not. And if we’re not walking in The Truth, that is, if we are not walking in a relationship with Him in His death, in His burial, in His resurrection: if that three fold work is not an ongoing work in us, then we may speak true things, but we cannot possibly speak out from The Truth. If The Truth is not working in us, how can we speak The Truth? How can we speak out from Truth? We will only speak true things, but we will never be speaking out from the nature of those things. We will preach "righteousness", but we won’t have the nature of it. We’ll preach "love", but the nature won’t be there. We’ll preach "joy", we’ll preach "heaven", but the nature won’t be there. We’ll preach "sonship" and "Son", but the nature won’t be there. We’ll preach "restoration", "resurrection", "reconciliation", but the nature won’t be there because they are just true things.
And then we’ll be trying to speculate on when God is going to do it: "One Day" there’s going to be this great restoration. But THE GREAT RESTORATION TOOK PLACE IN CHRIST CRUCIFIED - in His death, His burial and His resurrection. You can’t get more restored than you are in The Resurrection! We must see all things in the light of The Truth; but The Truth being The Person of Christ crucified - not the historical FACT that Christ was crucified. No, The Person of Christ crucified. Paul knew Christ crucified - not as a historical fact, but as a living union, a living relationship, the faith of which, the comprehension of which he lived in the flesh. "I live by the faith of The Son of God."
So The Truth is a living relationship with Him, but it is a relationship with Him that is only defined by THE CROSS, because we have no other relationship, no other way. "No man cometh to The Father but by Me." And He just got through saying I’m The Way, The Truth, and The Life. He just got through saying it has to be by His death, His burial, His resurrection. He is summing up that Day of Atonement. On The Day of Atonement The High Priest - this was His day! This was part of that third and final feast, the end of which is The Ingathering. But what is the end of that feast to you and I except The Ingathering? The gathering up in Christ of all things? But that feast has to do with a "going away" and a "coming again". The High Priest in all of his regalia represented Israel with their names upon his breastplate. There was The High Priest - seen by them. And then he literally is taken away from them. He leaves them, he goes away from them - bearing blood. They don’t know for sure whether they are ever going to see him again or not. And if his sacrifice is not accepted - they won’t see him again; he will not make it out alive!
He goes away from them. Where does he go? He goes to prepare a place for them, and in him, by him, they may enter into the Holiest of Holies. And if that blood that he brings is accepted, then they are there in him. They are the garments that he wears, they are the breastplate upon his breast, they are the names upon his shoulders. They are there; and if he is received, they are received. HE HAS PREPARED A PLACE. And it is the only way Israel in the Old Covenant could enter in. And in the reality of it, it’s the only way you and I can get there! But we are not merely there by representation: we are there by HIS PERSON! He’s not somewhere representing us; we are in Him, born from above, Spirit of His Spirit, we are IN Him! "I’m going to prepare a place for you." And then this High Priest COMES AGAIN; he comes again to Israel. He comes again just like he said he would, and he shows himself to be alive; He shows Himself in The Resurrection! He appears without sin unto Full Salvation! To those who look for Him! And it was by decree that all Israel had to stand there until he appeared; because if he didn’t appear, they had no reason to exist. Their whole existence, their whole belief in God, their whole Salvation depended upon HIM COMING AGAIN, and showing himself to be accepted of The Father, and showing them to be accepted of The Father. To them that waited - looked for him. This is fulfilled in Hebrews: He shall appear, the second, without sin, unto Salvation.
This is what Christ is saying - I WILL COME. But there is no way you can understand that work of The High Priest except in The Truth: you can’t take it past The Cross and understand it. There are too many elements missing there. And too many people try to do that. They talk about Our High Priest coming back for us again. Well, you might as well say again, and again, and again and again... And which time is it really Him? And what is the standard for that time? And what has He been doing during all of the other time? And have we even had Salvation then for 2,000 years? And are the promises to Israel fulfilled? And if they are not, then why should they be fulfilled for anybody else? And no wonder Israel didn’t receive Christ then, because we are saying that He didn’t really do anything anyway! Because the first Christians were Jews, and when they received Him they received in Him everything that The Old Covenant had taught.
There is a song: "Lo, I come! Sing and rejoice, daughters of Zion, Lo I come, and will dwell in the midst of thee." If that’s not fulfilled IN HIM, why should any Jew receive Him? If that’s not fulfilled in His death, burial and resurrection, why should any Jew receive Him? We think that promise was made to 20th century Christians, but it was made to the Jews, it was made to Israel. It is fulfilled in Christ, for whosoever is in Christ! But the promise was made then. And if the promise wasn’t fulfilled by Christ, then why do we even receive Christ? If He’s not real for the Jew, He’s certainly not real for the Gentile. That’s the whole point. These things must be brought to The Truth; that is, they must be seen in the light of The Truth. That is to say, they must be seen in relation to Christ and Him crucified. And that is to say they must be seen in relation to Him in His death, His burial, His resurrection. And not only all things of The Old Covenant, but all things of The New Covenant too. There’s no way you can understand The New Man except you bring Him to The Cross as well. If you don’t, The New Man is a true thing, but you’ll misinterpret Him. You’ll have Him being some work of the flesh. Yes, because you see there’s NOTHING in Christ except it come by The Resurrection. You are going to have to bring it right back to The Cross to understand it because The Resurrection is part of that work of The Cross.
So, THE TRUTH - Christ crucified. The Truth is manifested Christ crucified. All true things can only be understood in the light of The Truth. And if we don’t bring them into The Truth that doesn’t mean they are not a true thing; it just means we can’t comprehend them, so we just preach them. And this is why there is so much preaching of things that are TRUE, and so little preaching of THE TRUTH. I use the example of heaven: heaven is a true thing, but how many comprehend heaven in The Truth? We add our imaginations to a true thing, yet everybody preaches heaven. And if you preach The Truth to a person who has not brought "heaven" as a true thing into The Truth, and immediately they will say you don’t believe in heaven. Yes, I believe in heaven; I just see heaven in The Truth. Yes, I believe in Life; I just see Life in The Truth. Yes, I believe in righteousness, restoration; I just see these in The Truth - not just as a true thing, but as a thing that has been fulfilled in The Truth. So now we walk NOT according to true things; we walk IN THE TRUTH.
There is NO RELATIONSHIP connected with true things. I can believe in heaven as a true thing and not have a relationship with it. I can believe in resurrection - or anything as a true thing and have no relationship with it. It’s just a belief that I’ll make a doctrine out of, that I’ll engrave in stone, and then that I’ll spend the rest of my life arguing with people over! And it becomes words, and teachings - but never relationship. OUR LIFE IN CHRIST IS RELATIONSHIP. What have we to share with one another if not relationship? There’s nothing that "binds" us together in true things. I see this as the answer to Christianity. I know people well who are trying to find their basis of fellowship on true things, and people try to find in certain circles a relationship on what they don’t believe as a true thing: ‘I don’t believe in the rapture.’ So they create a camp, they create a movement out of everybody that doesn’t believe in the rapture! There’s no relationship in that! You can’t get people like that committed to anything! They are committed to what they believe as a true thing, but they are not committed to a relationship; there’s no faithfulness to them. There is no relationship in true things: the relationship is in The Truth.
If you and I will come to The Truth; if we will come to a relationship with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection, then we will have relationship with one another, and we will speak The Truth to one another. "Speaking The Truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is The Head, even Christ." Not speaking "true things", but The Truth. So we minister to each other out of a relationship. And there may be a lot of true things that we haven’t individually or collectively yet comprehended in The Truth. The Lord gathers these things up and brings them into The Truth. And until this true thing is gathered up in my heart - I just leave it alone. I accept it as a true thing and I leave it alone. But I don’t try to find fellowship in it, and I don’t try to argue with anybody about it, because I understand that IN THE TRUTH we will comprehend that thing; and that thing will become part of a relationship. Whatever that thing may be, it will have a nature to it, and the nature of that thing will begin to work in us. I have seen too many preach Sonship and have nothing of the nature of The Son, too many preach The Kingdom and have nothing of the nature of The Kingdom, The Lamb working in them. It’s just preached as a true thing.
We preach ‘one day we’re all going to die and go to heaven.’ Well, if you just preach heaven as a true thing, then it may as well be a place where one day you’re going to die and go to because there’s no nature to either one of those comprehensions of heaven. But if we’ll bring it into The Truth, into Christ, and it becomes part of a nature that is working in us, then it’s no longer a word or a teaching, but a reality we are experiencing in Christ Jesus. And we share that reality with one another - in our speech, in our dealings, in our thoughts. Yes, because you don’t walk IN TRUTH one day and not IN TRUTH the next. We walk IN TRUTH and we grow up IN HIM. And as we grow up in Him, so much the more, all things are gathered into Him. And I’ve learned to leave true things alone until they are gathered up in Him and become a living relationship. And by that I mean not try to figure them out. I consider them and say, ‘Lord, bring this into Your Son. Let me see this true thing in Him’. Because you see, He virtually is the nature of it, and when you see it in Him - then you say, ‘Oh My God! That’s what restoration is!’ Yes, you see it IN HIM, and it has a nature to it.
So we were looking in John 14:20, "In that day..." and we brought that day into The Truth. Then you can go to John 8:28 and 29, " When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall ye know..." Jesus says, "In that day ye shall know..." So "THE DAY" is defined and brought into The Truth. And in Psalms 2:7, "This day have I begotten Thee," and you bring that into The Truth: The Only Begotten from among the dead. So, The Day of The Lord. We know there is a day of The Lord, but we must comprehend that day in The Truth. And this is something we MUST come to as The Lord’s Body, because most believers do not bring This Day into The Truth, and it becomes a serious thing to be one of those still "waiting on The Lord", still "waiting on the day". And you are wondering - when is this going to be? If someone would just say here it is, at least I wouldn’t be looking in the sky, or looking on my calendar, or in a computer. I would at least know to look IN THE LORD!! I could at least turn my heart toward The Truth. And before my heart turned I was just looking everywhere! I just knew what I had wasn’t it, but I didn’t know what "it" was, or where "it" was; whatever the "it" was I was after! And I was helped by a ministry that turned my heart to The Truth, and God in His faithfulness revealed His Son in me. And The Son He revealed - CHRIST CRUCIFIED. He revealed Him in me in that only relationship that He can - through His death, His burial, His resurrection, because that’s where we come in.
But most believers don’t know this; most believers’ lives would be totally different if they knew this. Their plans for tomorrow, their values - everything would be different if they understood this. Their commitment would be different if they weren’t waiting for the world to blow up tomorrow! Their purpose would be different if they weren’t waiting to go to ‘Never-never Land’. Their purpose would be different on the earth. We might actually see some manifestation of The I AM in the lives of His Body. We might actually see some of these things that are finished in Him, expressed and manifested in the lives of God’s people as they walk in The Truth. God’s people might actually have joy - not hilarity; they might actually have peace rather than being nonchalant. They might know the difference if they walked in The Truth, as The Truth is in Jesus. They might actually NOT be blown about by every wind of doctrine; they may actually NOT be deceived by every man who lies in wait to deceive them by cunning craftiness - if we were in a relationship with The Truth rather than just brushing up and fortifying ourselves in what we believe about true things. No, if we were in a relationship with The Truth, and bringing all things to be understood in that relationship, what a difference it would make. We may actually manifest something of Great Salvation in our lives, and to one another. I want to say: "WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES!" What a difference comprehending THE DAY makes!
So John 14:20, "At that day ye shall know that I AM..." And "am" has been added there, but in this instance the Greek "I" there stands for "I AM", just as it does in verse 3. I AM - that’s a title of The Lord, and it means The Self Existent One. And here’s what it comes to - bringing The I AM into The Truth. So in The Lord’s Body, the whole comprehension of Salvation is wrapped up in just this: "BELIEVE ME THAT I AM." That sums it all up! HE IS THE SUBSTANCE OF EVERYTHING THAT REMAINS, THAT IS ETERNAL, IT IS NON-PASSING. That is Salvation. He is the substance of it. To receive it is to receive Him; to know it is to know Him; to have it is to have Him. He is that unto us. That’s what "I AM" means. So over and over again you will see - Believe Me that I AM. And then something is drawn into that, and He is bringing this I AM THAT I AM into The Truth, and showing Himself to be the fulness of it.
And even in the type THE I AM THAT I AM was connected with a people. God never related Himself to anybody, any individual or any group of people as He did to Israel, because He was showing a view of Salvation in Israel that he does not show in creation, nor does He show it in His dealing with Abraham and Isaac. But with Israel He shows an aspect, a comprehension of Salvation that has never been shown before. And it is just this: "I WILL DWELL IN MY PEOPLE! Sing and rejoice O daughters of Zion, I will dwell in the midst of you. Tell them I AM THAT I AM sent thee." See, He relates Himself to a people as never before, but that’s in type, in shadow, in part. Yes, and it’s a true thing, but how do you understand that? It’s got to be brought here to The Cross and brought to The Truth, because Jesus says I AM the way, I AM the truth, I AM the life, no man cometh to the Father but by Me. I AM...Believest thou Me, that I AM? That’s what it comes down to for you and I.
Listen, most all believe in Jesus as a true thing. They do not believe in Him in The Truth. They believe He’s a true thing, a true person - somewhere...They believe that, they honor Him as a true thing. Even Pentecostals, who receive what is called The Baptism in The Holy Spirit and all that goes with that do not understand that this is The Spirit of Christ. They don’t understand that! They think that’s a substitute for Jesus; they think this will get you by until the real one comes! That’s what they think. But we’ve got to bring "filled with The Spirit" into The Truth. He is The Spirit of Truth, so if we say we’re filled with The Spirit, Truth has to be there somewhere! He’s The Comforter, we’re filled with The Spirit. Well, are you comforted? Into that I AM is gathered up a three fold relationship. We saw The Way, The Truth and The Life are not three things; rather these three are One. Here is a three fold relationship. "In that day you will KNOW..."
There has to come a KNOWING - a knowing of Him. "You will know I am in My Father, you are in Me, I am in you." You can’t know one of those without the other. Now one of those aspects may hit you a little harder at one time than the other depending upon the need of your soul, but you cannot know one of those without not also knowing the others. There are times that the fact of where He is - in The Father - is the thing that is greatly being impregnated in me and pressed upon me. But without fail the end of that working in me is: Oh, thank God, I am in Him! For teaching purposes we can set those as 1,2,3; but the reality of it is that it is a three fold comprehension, and that’s a three fold work that is working in us. And at any time there will probably be one of the aspects working in you more than the other. Why? Because of a need that is in your soul. The Lord knows the need. And there is a need for the emphasis at certain points that I AM IN CHRIST. That’s never disassociated from Him being in The Father, but just a reality - I’m in Him. And that’s always coupled with: and He’s in me. You can’t have the one without the other.
All of that is part of The I AM. Believe Me, I AM. If we could just get a hold of this; but in fact only The Spirit of Truth can reveal The Truth. I think the reason so many people preach true things is that true things are so easy to preach. Preaching THE TRUTH is a lot more difficult. And then we fortify our preaching with more true things; but if we would only see - that nothing has happened, nothing has taken place in them. They have been fortified in their belief concerning a true thing, and the preacher goes on. It’s easy to preach true things - because they are true! And with the volume of the scripture you can convince people that’s true. But until they are presented in The Truth, there’s no relationship, there’s no nature working in them, there’s no reality. But now you see, the reality has a cost to it. You would be surprised how people don’t want to lose "their" concept of things, because that’s the only true cost there is. What else is it that you are losing? You say, ‘I’m losing my life!’ No, you’re losing your concept of life, because if you are in Christ, He’s already your Life! So, you’re just losing your concept of life. You’d be surprised: we blow up and guard our concepts because with true things we can fortify our concepts, and live our own concept of life. We call it "live our own life", but it’s our concept of it, because you can not have come by the Work of The Spirit to genuine Salvation, be genuinely born again and dwelling in Christ and still have a life of your own.
You can "think" you do; you can have a concept of life that is other than The Truth. Just like you can have a concept of heaven that is other than The Truth, a concept of righteousness, a concept of the Church that is other than The Truth. We think it’s a place you can come to and sing songs on Sunday morning. And if that’s your concept, that’s going to be your commitment. That’s your commitment, that’s your concept, and you are faithful to it! This explains things to me about God’s people. God’s people are not the way they are because they hate God and are worthless. But they are committed to concepts that have never been brought to The Truth. So if you begin to deal with The Body of Christ in Truth, and take away that ‘let’s go sing our songs on Sunday once a week’ concept of Church, and you begin to present that Body in the reality of Christ as a twenty-four hour functioning relationship, you’re going to upset people’s concepts!
Now if you’ll call that something other than The Body, and say this is a high commitment that only a few are ever going to attain, you haven’t bothered their concept. They’ll let you attain it and they’ll continue to come to Church on Sunday morning and you’ll never have any problem. It’s when you say, ‘Wait a minute. This is the Church IN TRUTH’ , that you have a problem, because then they see you are saying I’m not functioning as The Body. They see you are saying "I don’t go TO church", and these things begin to dawn on them. But you are not fortifying their concept of a true thing: you are bringing the true thing into The Truth. And then they say that you are saying I’m not walking in The Truth. And you’re not doing anything but preaching The Church IN TRUTH! But their concepts are being challenged. It’s the same way about heaven. And we’re not taking anything away, but God touches your concepts. The Truth is what does that, and true things only fortify concepts.
And they do that because The Truth is not in them. And The Truth is not in you, The Truth is not in me UNTIL CHRIST IS REVEALED IN ME, because The Truth is not something I can learn, it’s something The Spirit of Truth reveals, and the "something" that The Spirit of Truth reveals is a SOMEONE, and The Someone that The Spirit of Truth reveals is a Someone in a certain relationship - a relationship with The Cross. He reveals Christ crucified. He shows me The Truth and then all things automatically are viewed in the light of The Truth with me from then on. And as I grow in The Truth, I am able to gather into that more true things. And as I continue to grow in The Truth I am able to gather into that more of the "all things" because all things are gathered into Him. That’s The Truth!
So this is what He is presenting here - the reality of Himself - I AM. Now let’s just take this a little bit farther. Turn to Genesis 15:1, and is this something spoken of God that is only realized in The Person of The Truth, is only realized IN CHRIST. And it is important to understand the setting here. Abram has just come from his meeting with Melchizedek and so because of this ministry of Melchizedek, because of this person of Melchizedek this happens. And this true "thing", Melchizedek has to be brought into The Truth! There are more Melchizedek orders in the land today than there are church buildings. Everybody has a view on a Melchizedek order: from those who claim because of that they are never going to die, to those who claim they are never going to get wrinkles in their face! But there is much here, and here is something that comes out of that comprehension for Abram. "After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." I AM = The Self Existent One. "I - thy shield, thy exceeding great reward." This is not just declaring something about or to Him, like ‘I’ve got a shield for you Abram.’ and ‘Abram I’ve got a reward for you.’ No, no - I - thy shield, I - thy reward. This is declaring HE HIMSELF! The relating words find their reality, their substance in His Person. The relating words are shield and reward; they find their substance in His Person.
And when you bring that right over into The Truth, and you bring it into Christ, here is just an example. The scripture is full of this: Jesus saying, "I AM come." One day I heard that in The Truth, and it wasn’t a noun with a verb describing somebody. I heard it in The Truth - The I AM. And The Truth that I saw was true - the true things come into it. I AM. It’s the same thing here - I AM shield, I AM reward, I AM come. Listen - "come" is Who He is! It’s not what He’s going to do; it’s Who He is! HE AND HE ALONE IS COME! It’s not wondering when He’s going to do something; it’s understanding Who He is, and in that finding my rest, my peace, my joy, my reward, my excitement, my security, my eternity. And again and again He says it to the Jews as recorded in the gospels: I AM COME. And something is always related to Him as that, but it’s always that way. I AM COME not to judge, but to save. All of that is based upon the reality - I AM COME. And He draws true things into that; true things of the law, and the type and the shadow of the prophets.
But that’s the reality of it, you see - I AM COME. Here the definition and the reality of "come" is found in His Person - not as merely some act or action, not something that He is doing or going to do, but He Himself is the substance, the reality, the surety of all that is come! Oh, how we’ve gotten away from that! All of Israel, all of the Old Covenant, creation, all that is set forth in Abraham and Isaac were all waiting - He will come. The promise to creation: He will come. The promise to Abraham - He will come. The Promise to Israel - He will come. Now they weren’t looking for a list of things, but for SOMEONE. Israel was looking for a Messiah. With that Messiah, nationality, temple, priesthood, kingdom were all summed up. They were looking to Him for that. Abraham was looking for a seed, a land - He will come. The prophets - they are all summed up - He will come. They were looking for a Person, and in that Person they would have everything. How far The Church has gotten away from that! The Church is looking for so many things they don’t know what to look for first!
The point is, He came according to the expectation of The Old Covenant. And He fulfilled that expectation, which is the only expectation that there is: everything is summed up in that. And He stands and He says, ‘I AM COME’. In relation to that: I judge not, but to save...over and over, I AM COME, I AM COME. And I began to realize that with regard to Salvation, with regard to the whole of the Old Covenant, HE HIMSELF is the substance and the surety of all that is come, because nothing was supposed to come but HIM! HE IS THE COMING OF IT ALL! What if you and I could see that in The Truth? He is the coming of it all! Nothing else but HIM is come! That’s the reason that term can be used concerning "When The Spirit of Truth is come..." So when Jesus says, "I am come", come is the what, the who and the when of I AM. Nothing is real, nothing has substance, there is nothing that is not passing, that is eternal and everlasting except that which HE HIMSELF IS; except that which is come in Him. All else is simply types and shadows and testimonies. Or if taken beyond Him, become perversion, fantasies and imaginations.
And His question still is: "Do you believe that I AM?" Because if you don’t, then everything promised and spoken of and pointed to falls short. Do you believe I AM? I AM COME. I AM SHIELD. I AM REWARD. I AM this or that. Do you believe that I AM? Do you find it in Me? And how do we find it in Him? In His death, burial and resurrection. That’s our relationship with Him.