Altogether That Which I Say
On Manifestation, Integrity, and the Living Word of God
Ministry — April 5, 2026
Assembly ministry, April 5, 2026, on John 8 · 2 Corinthians 5.
Assembly ministry, April 5, 2026 · Download the PDF (7 pages)
I. The Lord's Seamless Integrity
“The Jews therefore said, Will he kill himself, that he says, Where I go ye cannot come? And he said to them, Ye are from beneath, I am from above; ye are of this world, I am not of this world. I said therefore to you that ye shall die in your sins; for unless ye shall believe that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. They said therefore to him, Who art thou? And Jesus said to them, Altogether that which I also say unto you.”
The Lord was speaking to a group of people who had no real understanding of who He was — perhaps the very ones who said, "Is not this the carpenter's son?" When He spoke of going away, they could not enter into it spiritually, and supposed He was going to kill Himself. But the remarkable thing the Lord was able to say — something you and I are completely unable to say — is that there was no gap whatsoever between what He said and what He was.
The Lord did not spend much time speaking about Himself; He spoke much of His Father. Yet everything He did and everything He said was a complete and accurate picture of who He was. No difference. We live in a world that has entire social media systems built upon the possibility of a wide gap between who you are and what you project to the world. With the Lord, there was never anything anyone heard Him say or do that was inconsistent with who He was.
Some would seek to divide the person of the Lord — to separate His humanity from His deity, or to suggest the man-part of Him could sin while the God-part could not. But there was nothing in the Lord that could be separated and divided. We recall that even His garment, when the soldiers divided His clothing, was woven throughout — seamless — and they could not rend it. Our garments in Scripture speak of our profession, and His was indivisible. Likewise, the meal offering in the Old Testament was to be prepared without lumps, even throughout — a picture of His perfection and the complete evenness of His person. There was not any part of Him different from the rest.
II. Manifested Before God — Living with Nothing Hidden
For we must all be manifested before the judgment seat of the Christ, that each may receive the things done in the body according to those he has done, whether it be good or evil.
Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we have been manifested to God, and I hope also that we have been manifested to your consciences.
We are familiar with this passage from our Bible study on the judgment seat of Christ. The key word here is manifested . In a coming day, everything will be open and exposed — nothing left in a dark corner. Everything about each of us will be fully open to the light. Perhaps that should have an impact upon us now.
The Apostle Paul was living in a way that said: in that coming day of manifestation before the Lord, there will be no surprises. There may be thoughts we have quickly shuffled away because they were inconvenient — but they will all be exposed in the coming day. The Apostle Paul says he is as one who has already been manifested to God. That is how he was living his life.
We can sin in our thoughts. Those are hidden — nobody sees them, nobody hears them. The Lord said, "Whoso looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath already committed adultery in his heart." We live in a society built on creating images for men to lust after. Such things are hidden; they may not result in any outward action or words. But they will be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ.
The Apostle Paul expected, by the Holy Spirit, that he was manifested to the believers he served — the same word used earlier in the passage. He presented himself as one who could say, with a clear conscience, "I am manifested to your consciences." So that no one would look at him and say, "Yes, but what does he do when he is not here?" The Apostle Paul is the model follower of the Lord Jesus. He did not say, "Follow me, I have this." He said, follow him as he followed the Lord Jesus. And in this matter, at least, he could say, altogether that which I say — that is how he conducted his life.
III. Beware the Leaven of the Pharisees — Which Is Hypocrisy
In those times, the myriads of the crowd began gathering together so that they trod one on another. He began to say to his disciples first, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. But there is nothing covered up which shall not be revealed, nor secret that shall not be known. Therefore, whatever ye have said in the darkness shall be heard in the light; and what ye have spoken in the ear and in chambers shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.
The Lord could have said, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, because they are wicked vipers" — He said that elsewhere. But He says: beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. The meaning of hypocrisy in the scriptures is not about holding incorrect doctrine — it has to do with there being an unmanifested condition in me. Perhaps I sit in a meeting and some very practical truths are brought out, and I nod vigorously — yes, yes, I agree. And then when I am on my own, I do those very things. That is hypocrisy: giving intellectual assent to something while going and doing one's own will anyway.
The Pharisees made such a show of being religious, of defending God's honour — and the furthest thing from that was the truth. The Lord called them whited sepulchres: they looked beautiful on the outside, but inside were dead men's bones. A sepulchre can be made of marble and look fabulous, but what is inside is rotting. That was true of the Pharisees — there was no life inside; it was all show.
But what about us? We are alive inside. We have a new nature from God that knows only how to please Him — that is all it knows how to do. Our new nature cannot sin. We still have an old nature that delights in sin. A believer cannot truly be a hypocrite in the fullest sense, but we can certainly act in a hypocritical manner. Hypocrisy is when I am not altogether that which I say.
IV. The Word of God — Living, Operative, and All-Penetrating
For the word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword, and penetrating to the division of soul and spirit, both of joints and marrow, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is not a creature unapparent before him, but all things are naked and laid bare to his eyes with whom we have to do.
There is a theme running through all these passages: things are completely open to the Lord, and in the coming day they are going to be manifested. The word of God is living and operative — not alive in the conventional sense like something that might spring off a shelf, but powerful and able to accomplish things. It is not merely a book printed by a printer. It operates. And what does it operate upon? Our very thoughts — particularly the division between soul and spirit.
Man has body, soul, and spirit. The spirit is the intelligent faculty — the capacity to reason, to think, to understand consequences; something animals in their nature do not possess. The soul has more to do with our wants, desires, and emotions. There can be a difference between what I want in my soul and what my spirit — my mind — tells me to do. The word of God can divide between those two. But it is not operating on me if I am not reading it, thinking about it, meditating upon it.
We call this meditating in the scriptures. For example, one may think about the angel's words to Mary — "He will be great." What does that mean? There was a man named Alexander they called great. Is that what was meant? These are things to meditate on. And as we think about how the Lord is great, it may produce worship from the heart — not merely a quick prayer of thanks, but genuine worship as we consider who He is.
The word of God is the instrument to turn to when thinking about the gap between what we appear to be and what we really are. It sheds light on those things that are of God and those things that are not. All things are naked and laid bare to His eyes. Therefore when we pray, it should be with a keen sense that everything is manifest to Him — no pretension whatsoever, no "Facebook prayer" where we slide over the things we know the Lord knows about and have not made right. The Lord wants that sharp sword to penetrate to the division of soul and spirit — to show us the difference between soul and spirit. That is really what the Lord wants from us.
If that perfect mechanism is used, we become more like the Apostle Paul. We become more like the Lord, so that we are altogether that which we say. As a wise person once said: just because something is true does not mean it has to be said. Proverbs tells us the fool utters all his mind. That is not what we are speaking of here. We are speaking about being disingenuous — giving intellectual assent to something and then going and doing our own will anyway.
V. Feeding on Christ — Passover, Old Corn, and Manna
Verily, verily, I say to you, he that believes on me has life eternal. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which has come down out of heaven; if anyone shall have eaten of this bread, he shall live forever; but the bread which I shall give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and held the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at Eden in the plains of Jericho. And they ate of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the Passover, unleavened loaves and roasted corn, on that same day. And the manna ceased on the morrow when they had eaten of the old corn of the land; and there was no more manna for the children of Israel; and they ate of the produce of the land of Canaan that year.
We are familiar with the concept of feeding on Christ. Looking at Joshua 5, there is a moral order in the three things the children of Israel ate. First, the Passover. The children of Israel in Egypt — a picture of the world and all its entrapments — were in danger of the destroyer. The blood of the Passover saved them from certain destruction. So too, the first thing we need of our Lord is the Passover, to save us from certain destruction. And the Passover was not something eaten once and never again; it was something for them to feed on over and over.
Second, the old corn of the land. This speaks of the land of Canaan — our heavenly portion. For us as believers, this would be the Lord Himself as our heavenly portion — something heavenly, something of God, that would inform our walk and what we do and say.
Third, the manna — that which fed the children of Israel on their wilderness journey. We are here on a wilderness journey, and we need the manna. When the children of Israel first gathered the manna, they could not gather too much or too little — only what they needed for themselves, each day. The word of God is like that for us. Each day we should gather as much as we need, and the only way to do that is to spend time in the word, meditating and thinking about what we read. There we find true sustenance and true spiritual food.
VI. The Profitable Word — Doctrine, Reproof, Correction
But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Every scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
Notice Mr. Darby's more precise translation: not "all scripture" but "every scripture" — every single one is given by inspiration of God. It is God-breathed — and when something has breath, it is living. There is no other book like this. A novel or a chemistry textbook gives some form of human knowledge, but it will not speak to your conscience or your heart. God's word is living because it speaks to our heart and our conscience.
Many of us have had the privilege — perhaps not valued enough until later in life — of being raised in a Christian home where the word of God was set before us. As one older brother once sat down and said: "Brother, take the word of God and read it. Spend time in it while you are young." Wise counsel, though perhaps not always taken as fully to heart as it should have been.
Every scripture is profitable for doctrine. Doctrine is like a voltage regulator — it regulates; it helps us understand what God is really telling us, what is living and true, what is right. It will help us see clearly who the Lord is, that He was perfectly seamless throughout, and guard us from thoughts such as "He could have sinned but chose not to" — the word of God will make us abhor such a thing. It is also profitable for reproof and correction. The reproofs of instruction are the way of life. How thankful we can be that the Lord corrects us. And for instruction in righteousness — doing what is right — that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
We are not complete without this word. It truly completes our Christian life. And notice: not furnished unto some good works, but unto all good works.
VII. Meditation and Discipline — "Take Heed Unto Thyself"
Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine... Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them, that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
The more we meditate on the word of God, the more disciplined our lives become. We need disciplined lives. People go into the military and some truly appreciate what it does for them — they learn a disciplined life, because without it they are in trouble. Our lives should be disciplined through giving attendance to His word, to the doctrine, to the exhortation, and meditating upon these things. It is better to read one verse and meditate on it than to say, "I read my chapter for the day — good to go."
"Take heed unto thyself" — that brings us up short, does it not? We need to consider how we are manifesting ourselves. God knows everything, without question. But we need the word exercising our conscience and our hearts. Continue in them, for in doing this thou shalt save both thyself and them that hear thee — not only as a preserver of ourselves, but it will help others as well.
What if those around us see an example of hypocrisy — someone saying one thing and doing another? It will not help to save them from whatever they are going through, nor will it exercise them. But if we are walking in the good of the word of God, our example can be a help.
May the Lord give us grace to have more diligence in His word — letting it speak to our conscience and our heart, feeding our hearts, so that we will have more understanding of His ways. May we be preserved from many things — religious, physical, and domestic — in our lives, as there are more and more things in this world that are not in accordance with God's word; nothing of Christ, and nothing of the true doctrine of His word.
— Ministry, April 5, 2026 —