«　WEEK 6　DAY 1　»

　　2 Pet. 1:12 …I will be ready always to remind you concerning these things, even though you know them and have been established in the present truth.

　　Phil. 3:13-14 …But one thing I do: Forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, I pursue toward the goal for the prize to which God in Christ Jesus has called me upward.

　　The “present truth” [in 2 Peter 1:12] can also be rendered the “up-to-date truth.” What is the up-to-date truth? Actually, all the truths are in the Bible; there is not one truth that is not in the Bible. Although they are all in the Bible, through man’s foolishness, unfaithfulness, negligence, and disobedience many of the truths were lost and hidden from man. The truths were there, but man did not see them or touch them. Not until the fullness of time did God release certain truths during particular periods of time and cause them to be revealed once more. (CWWN, vol. 11, “What Are We?” pp. 843-844)

　　These freshly revealed truths are not God’s new inventions. Rather, they are man’s new discoveries. There is no need for invention, but there is the need for discovery. In past generations God revealed different truths. During certain periods of time, He caused men to discover these specific truths. We can see this clearly from the history of the church.

　　Take, for example, the raising up of Martin Luther in the sixteenth century. God opened his eyes to see the matter of justification by faith. He was a vessel raised up by God to unveil the truth of justification by faith….The fact [of justification by faith] already existed before Luther’s time. Luther was merely the one who realized this truth in a stronger way; he was particularly outstanding in this truth. For this reason, this truth became the “present truth” in that age.

　　Every worker of the Lord should inquire before God as to what the present truth is. We need to ask: “God, what is the present truth?”…Not only do we need to know the general truths, we must also be clear about God’s present truth.

　　We know that God’s truths are cumulative; later truths do not negate earlier ones. All the past truths of God form the foundation of the truths today. What we see today are the cumulative revelations of God. When God opens our eyes to see this fact, we begin to realize that we are living in the tide of God’s will. This tide is a continuation of all the past works of God in previous ages.

　　Our hearts are full of thanksgiving to God. From all these brothers we have received much help. As Paul said, “Neither did I receive it from man” (Gal. 1:12). In the same way, we can say that although we have received help from our brothers, these revelations were not received from man. We received help from Luther, Zinzendorf, the Moravian Brethren, and the Keswick messages. Today we believe that God’s ultimate goal is to have Christ as everything…. I believe that God has only one work today. It is the message of Colossians 1:18 which says that God desires to see Christ have the first place in all things. The basis of everything is the death, the resurrection, and the ascension of Christ. Other than Christ, there is no spiritual reality. This is God’s “present truth.”

　　We thank God that we can touch God’s grand purpose. We need to humble and prostrate ourselves and to deny ourselves. We need to be clear that our work today is not just to save some souls or to help others become spiritual. Our goal is indeed the greatest and the most glorious. Thank God that we can know God’s “present truth.” May God be gracious to us so that we do not become the castaways of the “present truth.” May we be watchful, and may we not allow the flesh to come in or the self to gain any ground. May God’s will be accomplished in us. (CWWN, vol. 11, “What Are We?” pp. 844, 856-859)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 11, “What Are We?” pp. 843-859