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  PRESENT TRUTH

  (From Chapter 11)
  By Matthew Hester

   apostlematt@dominionchurch.net

   www.DominionChurch.net

II Peter 1:12
For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. (NIV)

What intimidates the Church concerning the “Christ” life is her misunderstanding and acceptance of truth. We must realize that truth is ever unfolding before the face of our Father. This is not to say that its definition changes, but that our understanding of truth is further built upon. Peter exhorts us to be established in the Present Truth which reveals there are past and future truths that also coexist with it. We understand that Christ is truth incarnate; therefore the pursuit of truth is not the pursuit of mere facts and figures but one that leads us to Christ Himself.

The beauty of truth is its complete disdain for strange interpretations. Have you noticed that the depths of truth never change? There may indeed be layers of greater complexity added to it from time to time, but the purity of its foundation remains constant. Those who challenge the purity of the foundation are to be viewed as rebels and antichrists in their conduct. In today’s culture we see so much relativism concerning truth that it is as important as ever for the Church to truly know herself.

Do Away With Strange Teaching

Hebrews 13:9
Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. (NIV)
The place in which we drive the stake of our understanding is the place in which we decide to stop in God. Once we have made a claim concerning a truth and begin to build upon that revelation it is difficult indeed to uproot from it. This is why God always desired movement from the children of Israel. He knew if they got comfortable long enough in one place that they would desire to stay.

Exodus 40:36-38
In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. So the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels. (NIV)

We must recognize that the places God had the Israelites to set up camp were always places of His desire. These were not places of man’s choosing but of the Father’s. We all have found ourselves in places of God’s leading and revelation, and these places have been good. What many of us fail to do, however, is to get up and move once the Father is finished. As a result strange denominational factions now represent the church at large.

Where these denominations drove the stake of their claim in the truth of God is where they decided to stop in Him. The pure foundation of the truths that these denominations built upon were of God, but they allowed the Father to move on from that place and did not have the courage to follow. As a result, their revelation has become strange. Unity amongst the denominations of the Church are increasingly scarce. The stakes of the Church must be destroyed! The desires of the hearts must restored to the people of God.

Truths Of The Past

The truths that rule the majority of the Body of Christ today are either past or future. The problem is that both of these veins of truth produce strange teachings when they are not kept in balance with the Present Truth. The truths of the past are meant to be built upon in order for the true power they possess to be released. Future truth is not seen clearly and therefore leads people into guessing what certain truths mean.

Isaiah 28:10
For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little (KJV)

The truths of the past are important to the walk of every believer. We can examine salvation, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, prophesy and others as being beneficial to all believers. The key to living out these truths effectively is to avoid elevating any one part of them as the only truth that is in Christ. When we exalt only one part of truth we amputate volumes of amazing revelation that God has for us. We should keep in mind that our Father is a Father that glories in His process.

Philippians 2: 12-13
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed— not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence— continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. (KJV)

We see throughout Scripture that we must go through the ordained processes of God. I want to encourage the Body of Christ to put aside her petty disagreements and pursue the truth that is Christ with all of her heart. It is time to put on a new boldness and walk in the confidence that is yours. You will hear the voice of your shepherd only, and He will open up your heart and lead you into all truth. The sincere pursuit of Christ will lead you to the heavenly realm of influence you were created for.


John 10:27
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me (KJV)

Truths Of The Future

Acts 1:11
Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. (KJV)

The moment Christ ascended into heaven mankind has been gazing upward. I must believe that God knows the tendency we have to engage in great curiosity concerning the things we do not know. The danger to this curiosity is that many believers attempt to establish themselves in a future truth, which is a high-risk situation indeed. How can one establish a system of thought on that which has not yet been established? Yet, look at the people who attempt to do so and the empire that has been built as a result.

This approach to truth also brings forth strange teachings that confuse and separate the Body of Christ. One reason is that much of the speculation about the future diverts the attention of the saints away from what Christ is doing in the earth at this very moment. It also breeds a spirit of fear that is noticeable in the Church today. With this focus the Church is more interested in what will happen tomorrow than in being effective today.

Matthew 6:34
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself (NIV)

Truth As A Person
John 14:6
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (NIV)

Revelation 22:13
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. (NIV)

The culmination of all truth finds itself in the person of Jesus Christ. In Him are the truths that are contained across the world of space and time. The balance of all truth is found in Him, and this is why sincere relationship and communion with the Holy Spirit is necessary for us as believers. It is also important for us to recognize the role Christ plays in the whole of eternity. He is the central figure of creation and should therefore be the centrality of our focus as well. The marriage of truth--past, present and future--is found in the finished work of Christ, and as His people we are given insight into all three.

The earthly ministry of Christ was a pure expression of walking out the truth in shoe leather. Everyone who encountered Christ found a man who knew the promises of old, yet walked as the present expression of the heart of God. Christ also knew what the future held and approached it with optimism and control. Christ was confident in truth because He knew who He was. We should share the same confidence today because the same Christ is resident within each of His sons and daughters.

The Road To Emmaus

Luke 24: 13-16
Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.

Luke 24: 27
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself.

We find ourselves at the crossroads of profound truths that are being revealed from the heart of the Father. The Father is not taking away from established truth but is revealing new facets of it to the Church today, in order that we may become the expression of Christ to a more intense degree in the earth. We have a choice just like the men on the road to Emmaus. We can either discuss the truths we know amongst ourselves, or allow the Christ to illuminate to us all truths concerning Himself.

We are now in the seventh mile from Jerusalem, and Christ has appeared in our midst for such a time as this. The seventh mile is His place of choosing not ours. We are at a place of divine revelation; our eyes are about to be reopened to truths we have known all along. Christ is getting ready to break His body yet again, and a unity that the Church has never seen will be the result. The Church must begin to embrace one another in unity on the basis of who Christ is. Once this happens, I guarantee that many of the excuses we use against one another to cause disunity will quickly vanish. Christ must be the focus of our ministries, homes, families, jobs and lives. As this occurs on a greater scale, the world will see the unified Church that it has so desperately longed to behold.