The Signs of the Times
April 6, 1891
“Sanctify Them Through Thy Truth”
“I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.” Just before his betrayal and crucifixion, during the last peaceful moments that he spent with his disciples, Christ prayed for his followers in the words I have read; and he said: “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” Those who profess to be followers of Christ should seek to answer the Saviour's prayer, by becoming sanctified through the truth, the word of God. But how few see and feel the importance of knowing what is truth! How few diligently search for the truth as for hidden treasures! And yet there is power in the truth to sanctify the soul. ST April 6, 1891, par. 1
There are many who declare that it does not matter what a man believes, if he is sincere in his faith; but the words of Christ have a different import; the truth is the medium through which the soul is to be sanctified; therefore we should search the Scriptures diligently, that we may know what is truth. The truth received into the heart and practiced in the life will elevate, ennoble, and purify the soul. The espousal of error does not lead to this result; its influence is of a widely different character. Truth is from above, error is from beneath, and those who will not give close attention to the study of God's word will not understand the principles that should control the life, and will be inclined to accept error, because it is easier for them to do this than to search for truth. In order to know the truth as it is in Jesus, we must give ourselves to thoughtful, prayerful study of the Scriptures. We must know what the word of God is to us, what the truth is to us, and what it means to be doers of the word of God, and not followers of cunningly-devised fables. The greatest blessing bestowed upon the world is the privilege of understanding the oracles of God. The word of God should not be a dead letter to us, but spirit and life; for through the truth we are to be sanctified. ST April 6, 1891, par. 2
The word of God has been neglected and abused, and this is as Satan would have it, for well he knows that through a knowledge of the truth, through obedience to its divine precepts, believers will be sanctified, fitted for eternal life. The truth, God's word, has been brought within the reach of all; and if men will but make the right effort, they may lay hold upon the knowledge of God. ST April 6, 1891, par. 3
Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” How many of us place a right estimate upon the word of God? Do we receive the testimony of the Scriptures as the voice of God? Through the Scriptures the voice of God comes to us as veritably as it came to Israel when he spoke on Sinai in the audience of all the people. How many of us regard it in this light? If we did regard it thus, what a change would be seen in our daily words and actions. With what reverence and awe would we search the word of God to know the truth, the medium through which the soul's sanctification is accomplished. No indifference, no carelessness, is allowed in our searching of the Scriptures. Our spiritual development depends upon our knowledge of the truth, upon our practice of its divine principles as embodied in the precepts of the law and in the teaching of our Lord. ST April 6, 1891, par. 4
The words of Christ were not always comprehended by the disciples; and even when they were understood in a measure, the comprehension of them did not measure their full significance. In order to understand the sayings of our Lord, we should carefully and prayerfully contemplate the words of truth, not merely to reach that comprehension of them which the people of an earlier age might have had, but to reach a deeper significance; for if our minds are illuminated by the Spirit of God, more and more of the force and meaning attached to them by the Saviour himself will come to our hearts. When Christ expounded the Old Testament to his disciples, it was to bring out deeper spiritual truths than had been understood before, even by those who had written them. The disciples acknowledged that they did not understand him when he spoke to them of his sufferings and death, quoting the prophecies of the Old Testament. He reproached them for their slowness to comprehend his words, and promised that he would send the Holy Spirit to recall his sayings to them when they were better qualified to understand. They did not clearly distinguish the spiritual from the earthly. He had left in their possession truth whose value they could not estimate, and of whose worth they had no realization. After his resurrection he opened their minds that they might understand the Scriptures, and told them the same things which before they could not comprehend, saying, “These are the things which I spake unto you while I was yet with you.” We should pray that our understanding may be opened, that we may comprehend what Christ has said unto us; for we are to be sanctified through his word. ST April 6, 1891, par. 5