“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17).

A question was asked many years ago: “What is truth?” (John 18:38). Since the time of Pilate, many others have asked the same question. Even today we are being bombarded with statements from various media and people saying they know or they have the truth. This would be a confusing state of affairs if we did not have the Scriptures.

Jesus said, “Thy word is truth.” This is something we take very seriously here at ICR, but each Christian should be very careful to ask, “What do the Scriptures say concerning this?” Each and every believer must examine the claims and actions of others in the light of Scripture.

The Scriptures contain a beautiful illustration of this very thing. Paul came to Berea (Acts 17:10), yet verse 11 tells us they “searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” These people examined even Paul’s teaching to see if what he said was taught in the Scriptures. This must be the attitude of every believer. We must check the Scriptures to see if these things are so.

We should also observe another point Jesus made in our verse: “Sanctify them through thy truth.” The word “sanctify” means to “be set apart for God and His use,” yet we can only be doing what God wants when we know what His word says. God’s word must be precious to us. For when the time comes—and it will come—we must be ready to declare the “reason of the hope that is in you” (I Peter 3:15). We can only be ready for that time when we know His word; that is, His truth.

The world today is looking for truth. Let us, by our commitment to Jesus Christ and His word, be ready and able to tell them what the truth really is. JSS