Scripture Reading: John 17:14-24
Ⅰ
Truth is the divine light shining on the facts of the Bible and televising a heavenly, spiritual vision of these facts into our being; in the New Testament, truth denotes this kind of “heavenly television”:
A
All the divine facts are contained in the Word and conveyed to us through the Word; when the Spirit shines upon the Word, we have the heavenly television; the light shines upon the facts in the Word and conveys a heavenly vision of these facts into our being, and we know the truth—Acts 26:16, 19; Eph. 1:17-18a.
B
The Spirit is called the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of reality (John 14:17); the Spirit of reality is the “heavenly electricity” by which spiritual things are televised into our being; He guides us “into all the reality” (16:13), making all that the Son is and has real to us (1:14, 17; 14:6).
C
When the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of reality, shines upon the spiritual facts recorded and contained in the Bible, we receive the truth, reality; if we read the Word without the shining of the Spirit, we may have doctrine or “news reports” but not the truth, the reality, or the vision—cf. Job 42:5; John 5:39-40; 2 Cor. 3:6.
D
Truth is the shining of the light, the expression of the light; in other words, truth is light expressed; because light is the source of truth, and truth is the issue of light, when we walk in the light, we are practicing the truth—John 1:4-5, 7-9, 12-13; 8:12; 14:6; 1 John 1:5-6; 2 John 4; 3 John 3-4.
E
The Lord is the light, the truth, and the Word; the Word, which is also the truth, gives light, for in the Word there is light—John 8:12; 14:6; 17:17; Psa. 119:105, 130.
F
Because the truth is the shining of the light—which is the light of life—truth, light, and life are inseparable; when the divine light shines into us, it becomes the truth in us, and it imparts life into our being—John 8:12, 32, 40; 12:35-36, 46; 14:6.
Ⅱ
There are two functions of the truth:
A
The truth sets us free from the bondage of sin, freeing us from all the negative things—8:32, 36.
B
The truth sanctifies us positionally and dispositionally, saturating us with the element of God—17:17; Eph. 5:26.
Ⅲ
The Triune God in His word realized by us and being imparted and infused into our being is the truth that sets us free and sanctifies us:
A
When we are disappointed or depressed, feeling empty within, we can open ourselves and come to the Word; after reading for a while, something within us rises up, and we enjoy the presence of the Lord—Psa. 119:25, 37, 40, 50, 88, 93, 107, 149, 154, 156, 159.
B
By taking the Word in this way, something of the Lord is wrought into us; this is the reality of the Triune God living, moving, working, and separating us.
C
Every morning we can touch the living Word in the written Word and have the divine reality, the processed Triune God, as the applied word, infused into our being—John 1:1; 10:35; 5:39-40; 6:63; Eph. 5:26; 6:17-18; Psa. 119:15:
１
This transfusion of the element of God into our being frees us from such negative things as temper, jealousy, hatred, and pride; it sets us free from every kind of falsehood, and we have real liberation, real freedom.
２
As we are being set free, we are also sanctified, separated, made holy to God, not only positionally but also dispositionally; we become one with God because His very essence is wrought into us.
D
Daily we need to come to the Word in this way; we need to come to the Word every morning and, if possible, at other times as well.
E
When the word is mingled with the living Spirit in our spirit, we are sanctified with the essence of God.
F
By contacting the Word in this way, God is added into us day by day; as a result, we are permeated with God and made one with Him.
G
Our crucial need is to have the living Triune God infused and wrought into us through the written Word, the living Word, and the applied word of God.
Ⅳ
Sanctification through the word of the truth results in oneness by dealing with the factors of division; truth sanctifies, and sanctification issues in oneness—John 17:14-24:
A
The Lord Jesus, the Son, is the truth; the Spirit is the Spirit of truth; and the Father’s word is the truth—1:14, 17; 14:6, 17; 17:17; 1 John 5:6:
１
The Father is embodied in the Son, the Son is realized as the Spirit of truth, and the Spirit is one with the Word—Col. 2:9; John 14:17; 16:13; Eph. 6:17-18.
２
Whenever we come to the Word with an open heart and an open spirit, we immediately touch both the Word and the Spirit as the truth.
B
The sanctifying word, the sanctifying Spirit, the sanctifying life, and the sanctifying God are all one; therefore, if we are being sanctified, we are one spontaneously because all the factors of division are taken away.
C
In John 17:17-23 we see that sanctification issues in the genuine oneness because this sanctification keeps us in the Triune God; verse 21 says, “That they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us”:
１
In order to be one, we need to be in the “Us,” that is, in the Triune God.
２
The only way to be in the Triune God is by the sanctifying truth that deals with all the factors of division.
３
By being kept in the Triune God, we are one, but whenever we are out of the Triune God, we are divided immediately.
４
We need to contact the Lord every morning, touch the living Word, and have the divine reality infused into our being; as we contact the Lord in this way, the factors of division are overcome.
５
When the factors of division in us are put to death by the sanctifying truth, we are brought into the genuine oneness, for sanctification keeps us in the Triune God.
６
Sanctification through the word of the truth results in the oneness of the Body of Christ, which is the enlarged oneness of the Triune God—v. 21.
Ⅴ
There are four factors of division:
A
The first of these factors is worldliness; as long as we love the world in a certain aspect, that aspect of worldliness becomes a cause of division—vv. 14-16, 18; 1 John 2:15-17; 5:19.
B
Another cause of division is ambition; when we contact the Lord through the Word and allow Him to infuse Himself into us, the truth thus imparted into our being kills our ambition— cf. Isa. 14:13.
C
A third cause of division is self-exaltation; we should be willing to be nobody and to exalt Christ as the only Somebody, the One who has the universal preeminence—Col. 1:18; 2 Cor. 4:5; 3 John 9-11.
D
The fourth factor of division is opinions and concepts; we should not hold on to our opinion but simply pursue the Lord’s goal: the recovery of Christ as life and as everything for the building up of the church—Matt. 16:21-24; cf. Rev. 3:14.
Ⅵ
When we move out of ourselves and into the Triune God, we are one and are even perfected into one—John 17:11, 17, 21-23:
A
In ourselves we have the four factors of division; we cannot escape from these four things if we stay in the self.
B
To be sanctified is to move out of ourselves and into the Triune God and to allow Christ to live in us; in this way we are perfected into one—vv. 21-23.
C
This sanctification takes place by the word, which is the truth, and by the Spirit, who is the Spirit of truth:
１
As we come to the Word every morning, outwardly we touch the Word, but inwardly the Spirit touches us; by the word and by the Spirit, both of which are the reality, we are sanctified.
２
The more we touch the Word and the more the Spirit touches us, the more we move out of ourselves; we move from one dwelling place, the self, to another dwelling place, the Triune God.
３
Every day we need to make this move, for in the self there are worldliness, ambition, self-exaltation, and opinions and concepts.
４
If we continually touch the Word and allow the Spirit to touch us day by day, we will be sanctified; that is, we will move out of ourselves, our old lodging place, and into the Triune God, our new lodging place.
５
Once we are out of ourselves, we are sanctified, separated from the factors of division and separated not only unto God but also into God.
６
To have the genuine oneness, we must first move out of ourselves and into the Triune God (vv. 17, 21); then we must allow Christ to live in us (v. 23a):
ａ
This perfected oneness is the real building; it is the growth in life—Eph. 4:16.
ｂ
To grow in life means that we move out of ourselves and into the Triune God and allow Christ to live in us; if we move into the Triune God and allow Christ to live in us, we can be one with the saints in any locality.
D
“I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected into one”—John 17:23:
１
To be perfected into one means to be rescued from worldliness, ambition, self-exaltation, and opinions and concepts.
２
“I in them”—this means that the Son is living and moving in us.
３
“You in Me”—this means that the Father is living and moving in the Son.
４
In other words, while the Son lives and moves in us, the Father lives and moves in Him; by this twofold living and moving, we are perfected into one, and we express the Father in glory.
E
Ambition is implied in John 17:21; self-exaltation, in verse 22; and concepts and opinions, in verse 23:
１
In the Triune God there is no ambition, in the glory of the Father there is no self-exaltation, and in the place where Christ lives and reigns there are no opinions.
２
In the divine and mystical realm of the processed Triune God, ambition is swallowed up, self-exaltation disappears, and concepts and opinions are killed; here there is no evil of division in the Satan-systematized world (v. 15); instead, there is genuine oneness.
F
Genuine oneness is living in the Father, allowing Christ to live in us, and living in the Father’s glory, His expression—vv. 22, 24:
１
We need to move out of ourselves and into the Triune God and remain in Him for the Father’s expression, His glory.
２
The real building, the oneness, is possible only in the Triune God, and it is prevailing only when Christ lives in us; then we can express the Father in glory and experience the genuine oneness.