LIGHT AND TRUTH
Psalm 43:3 says, "O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles." Light and truth are not two separate things; they are two aspects of one thing. As we have pointed out elsewhere, in the Gospel of John we have grace and truth, but in the First Epistle of John we have love and light. Truth is the shining of light. When the light shines upon us, we receive the truth, the reality. However, as we go to God in fellowship, we are in the light. Thus, on our end there is truth, but on God’s end there is light. According to Psalm 43:3, we need both light and truth.
This verse indicates that light and truth lead us and bring us to the Lord’s holy hill and to His tabernacles, that is, to the house of God. Day by day, we are led by the light and the truth that come from the house of God. In 1 Timothy 3:15 and 16 we see that the church, the house of the living God, is the pillar and base of the truth. This indicates that truth is to be found in the church, the house of God. When we have truth, we also have light. Hence, both light and truth are in the church.
As this verse makes clear, light and truth have a specific and definite function: to bring us to the holy hill and to God’s tabernacles, that is, to lead us to the place of God’s choice and to His habitation. Today many Christians are seeking light and truth, but not many seek them for the purpose of being led to God’s chosen place. However, if our purpose is to be brought to the holy hill and to God’s dwelling place, light and truth will surely come to us. Many of us can testify that before we came into the church life, we received light and truth simply because we had begun to consider the church. Because we had the thought of coming to the church, light and truth came to us. But when we were hesitant regarding the church, the light and truth seemed to disappear for a period of time. However, when we realized that we must take the way of the church, light began to shine again, and truth appeared more fully than before. Then when we came into the church life, we were in the daylight and received much truth. This testifies that light and truth have led us to God’s holy hill and have brought us to God’s dwelling place, the church.
PRESENTING OUR OFFERINGS TO THE LORD
Let us go on to Psalm 66. Verse 13 says, "I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows." In verse 15 the psalmist goes on to say, "I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats." The psalmist realized that only in God’s house, the temple, could he offer burnt offerings and sacrifices. He knew that only by going to the place of God’s choice could he offer sacrifice to God. According to the type, we today must also go to the place of God’s choice, the church, if we would present our offerings to the Lord. The children of Israel were required to go to the temple in order to present their offerings to God. God did not accept offerings in any other place. If an Israelite living in Dan had expressed the desire to offer something to God in Dan, the Lord would have said, "I cannot accept an offering presented to Me there. I accept offerings only at Mount Zion." God was not narrow, but He had chosen to make the temple the focal point of His attention. He had chosen Mount Zion as the unique place of worship. Only in that place could His people present their offerings to Him.
This principle applies in the church life today. Many of us can testify that when we attempted to offer something to God outside the church, that offering was not very pleasant. I dare not say that Christians cannot offer anything to God outside the church. But I can testify that to do this apart from the church life is not altogether pleasant. According to the type, our offerings should be presented at the unique place of God’s choice.
(The Genuine Ground of Oneness, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee)
