Bible Reading: 2 Chronicles 32; Revelation 18; Zephaniah 14; John 17
John 17:17-18 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
The apostles were ‘sent ones’ with a particular mission. They were sent with the same mission that Jesus was sent on. Jesus here uses a simile – a comparison using like or as. He says, “As the Father sent him into the world, he sent his disciples.” Do you see yourself as a disciple of Jesus? Then you have his same mission.
As Jesus prayed for the eleven after having the Lord’s Supper, he asked the Father to sanctify them through the truth. Then he sent them into the world. This is the same pattern we must take as disciples of Jesus today. Sanctify and send. That’s the way God does it.
Sanctify – the word means ‘to set apart’ or ‘to make holy’. God sets his children apart from this world by transforming them by the truth. It is the word of God that uses to make a person holy for his purposes. If you and I don’t study the word of God we will not know what God wants of us. We will be the wrong kind of people and we will have the wrong mission. Jesus said:
John 8:31-32 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
The Bible is the textbook of the disciple. As we study the Bible empowered by the Holy Spirit, God uses the truth to transform us and make us different from this world.
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
As our mind is renewed, we prove out the will of God by taking the mission of Jesus as our own. We are sent with the same mission that Jesus was sent on. That being:
Luke 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
We are to preach the gospel to every creature. It is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. Our sanctifying Bible study must lead us to this conclusion, or we are not studying the Bible! Transformation by the truth leads to a fervent passion for the salvation of souls. Let’s get the truth out!
In Christ,
Rody
