Crystallization-Study of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes – Week 10
Living a Godly Life
Related Verses
Prov. 23:23
23 Buy truth, and do not sell it; Buy wisdom and instruction and understanding.
3 John 3
3 For I rejoiced greatly at the brothers’ coming and testifying to your steadfastness in the truth, even as you walk in truth.
1 Pet 1:22
22 Since you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth unto unfeigned brotherly love, love one another from a pure heart fervently,
Matt. 16:24-25
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
25 For whoever wants to save his soul-life shall lose it; but whoever loses his soul-life for My sake shall find it.
John 8:32
32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.
Eph. 4:15
15 But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ,
Rom. 12:4-5
4 For just as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function,
5 So we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
1 Tim. 3:15
15 But if I delay, I write that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth.
Suggested Reading
Truth is something that we have to buy; it is something that has a price. If we want to please the Lord and stand for the truth, we have to pay the price. If we are clear about the truth, we have to obey it all the way. Many Christians cannot pay the price because they want to please men; they try to dodge the truth….Truth is like a pillar in a house. A pillar is not like a window or a door, which can be enlarged or reduced at will. A pillar cannot be moved; it cannot be made higher or lower, and it cannot be tilted. In other words, truth can never be changed. If we cannot pay the price to obey any part of the truth, we can only condemn ourselves and confess our weakness; we cannot lower the standard of the truth just because we cannot make it or because it creates dire consequences for us. (CWWN, vol. 37, p. 254)
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Every worker of the Lord must uphold the absoluteness of the truth. This is possible only when a man is delivered from himself. Many brothers and sisters are not absolute to the truth; they are affected by people, things, and personal feelings. If a man is not absolute to the truth, he will, in the course of his work, sacrifice God’s truth for man, himself, or his own desires. A basic requirement for being a servant of the Lord is to not sacrifice the truth….The problems with many workers stem from the relationship with their friends, intimate acquaintances, and family. The truth is compromised by their friends, immediate family, or relatives….If the truth is the truth, it should not be compromised, whether by our own brothers, our relatives, or our intimate friends….[For example], in a certain place a controversy arises. A number of the saints may be favorably disposed toward a particular group of brothers and side with them, whereas a number of others may have a preference for another group of people and line up on their side. Instead of sitting down and counting the cost of being absolute for the truth and of following the truth, they are influenced and directed by their own emotions. This does not mean that the brothers are not speaking about the truth….They have not brushed the truth completely aside; they still have some care for the truth. But they are not absolute to the truth. Being absolute to the truth means that no personal feelings or family relationships are allowed to stand in the way of the truth. In spiritual matters, the truth is compromised as soon as human relationships are taken into account. As soon as human relationships become involved, God’s word and His commandments are discounted through human factors, and the truth is compromised.
The Bible contains many ordinances and commandments. These ordinances and commandments are from God, and God’s servants need to preach and announce them….We cannot be a servant of God if we cannot preach beyond what we can practice. This is because the truth is absolute. The standard of the divine Word must not be lowered to the level of our personal attainment. We cannot tamper with the truth in any way in order to justify our own deficiencies….We have to transcend ourselves, our own feelings, and our own personal interest in our speaking. This is a high requirement for the servants of the Lord. We must beware of doing things one way as they affect other brothers and sisters but doing them another way as they are applied to our spouse or our children….If God’s Word says something, it is so, no matter who is involved….We have to learn to uphold the absoluteness of the truth. (CWWN, vol. 52, “The Character of the Lord’s Worker,” pp. 151-153)
Further Reading: Life-study of Proverbs, msgs. 5, 7; Life-study of Genesis, msg. 33; CWWL, 1978, vol. 1, “Basic Training,” ch. 2; CWWL, 1978, vol. 2, “Life Messages, Volume 1,” ch. 31
Further Reading: HWMR Crystallization-Study of Job Proverbs Ecclesiastes – Week 10, Day 2
Corporate Reading of “The Basic Revelation in the Holy Scriptures” Chapter 9 – Sections: Not a Literal City; God’s Dwelling Place for Eternity
© Living Stream Ministry, 2016, used by permission