“And he said to me, ‘These words are trustworthy and true (Revelation 22:6a).’”
What can you trust? Warnings about scams instruct us not to believe everything we hear. Accusations of fake news may cause us to distrust what is labeled as news.
Here in the final chapter of Revelation, John is given a powerful attestation of the words he penned for us to read - they are “trustworthy and true!”
I believe much can be learned about a person by listening to what they think concerning the truthfulness and reliability of the Bible. I remember long ago being examined for ordination by a presbytery (in our previous denomination) filled with many who would have denied the truthfulness of the Bible. They accused me of “bibliolatry” (the worship of a book - in this case the Bible). This accusation was made because I used the word “infallible” to speak about God’s Word. I pointed out that a part of our own denomination’s constitution spoke of this truth. Indeed, the Westminster Confession claims that we are only ever brought to this belief of infallibility by the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts (see Westminster Confession 1.5).
The significance of the trustworthy character of the Bible is demonstrated in the strategy Satan used to dupe our first parents. Do you remember the first recorded words of our great adversary? “Did God actually say…” His ploy was to place doubt in the Word of God. Likely because of the success of this strategy in the garden, Satan has been using that same playbook ever since. He helps people believe that they should put themselves above God’s Word as judge concerning its truthfulness. Yet here in this text, John is emphatically assured that “these words are trustworthy and true.” So if you find yourself troubled because many of our life’s assumptions have been turned upside down, then I invite you to turn to God’s Word. It is trustworthy and true.
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