Sanctify them through thy truth:thy word is truth.” John 17:17
In John 18, we are given the opportunity to hear the actual dialogue that Pilate has with Jesus as He’s brought into the judgement hall. The main accusation, of course, was that Jesus had proclaimed himself to be a King, with the eminent threat of a possible uprising against Rome. Jesus’ answer to this accusation was simple, “Do you say this thing of yourself (or from your own understanding) or did you hear it from others?”
The next thing that Jesus shares with Pilate is that his kingdom is not of this world, because if it were, his servants would have already taken up arms against the Jews. In other words, other than jealousy, there was no merit to the charges being made by His accusers.
But that’s not the end of the story. In verse 37 Jesus goes on to openly share with Pilate his purpose for coming into this world. He says, “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.” Upon hearing this, Pilate asks a question that I believe is extremely relevant for the day and hour that we now live, “What is truth?”
Now think about that for a minute. Amidst all of the media and social net-works today; CNN, Fox News, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, live streaming, etc., it’s nearly impossible to discern the truth
from what is being fabricated. In fact, this was the very reason Pilate asked this of Jesus. The Jews were saying one thing, the false witnesses were saying another, who was one to believe? Even today, de-pending on which one you listen too, the predictions of the so-called prophets don’t agree? Well let me remind you of what Jesus said in John 17:17, “Thy word is truth.” In other words, there’s only one source that one can really turn to for truth and that’s the Word of God. There’s no pretense, there’s no bias or personal perceptions tied to it; it alone is absolute truth and here’s precisely what needs to be recognized by the church. In fact, it’s with this mind that I’d like to remind you of some very important truths.
Number One - no matter what anyone says or what the present condition of our world looks like, we are still more than conquerors. Jesus said it this way, “Upon this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” The church does not rise and fall based upon any one individual; it rises and stands upon Jesus Christ, the Chief Cornerstone.
Number Two - the calling of reconciliation is still the church’s number one priority. As much as I believe the church should be involved in our governmental process, the true means by which the world and all of its darkness is overcome is through the making of disciples. Legislation is not the means by which righteousness is established in a nation, but a transformed heart is.
Number Three - We have been given super-natural power. This includes not only the infilling of the Holy Spirit and the power to tread on serpents and scorpions; we’ve also received access to the very throne of God. Maybe now you can better understand why Paul wrote, “If God be for us, who can be against us.”
My heart’s desire for writing this article today is that our minds would be sanctified by the truth of God’s Word. For as Jesus himself said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”
In His Service, Bro. Rick George
(Click here to download the November Communique)