GOD’S WORD IS ENDURING

Mike Johnson

1 Peter 1:22-25 says, “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because ‘All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, But the word of the Lord endures forever…’“  (NKJV)

People have unsuccessfully tried to destroy the Bible itself throughout the years.  Also, many today, ridicule, dismiss, and push aside the Word of God.  Yet, the passage says the Word of God “will endure forever,” and we know it will.

There was a well-known French humanist named Voltaire who lived during the 1700’s.  He once boastfully proclaimed that one hundred years from now, the world would hear no more of the Bible. In the same year of his boast, the British Museum purchased a manuscript of the Greek New Testament for $500,000. The first edition of Voltaire’s book sold for eight cents a copy. However, fifty years after his death, Bibles were printed in the same house where he lived using his printing press.

Jesus said in Matthew 24:25, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” Psalm 119:160 points out, “The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.”

A very well know poem called “The Anvil” put it like this.

The Anvil

Last eve I passed beside a blacksmith’s door

And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime;

When looking in, I saw upon the floor,

Old hammers worn with beating years of time.

“How many anvils have you had,” said I,

“To wear and batter all these hammers so?”

“Just one,” said he; then said with twinkling eye,

“The anvil wears the hammers out, you know.”

And so, I thought, the anvil of God’s word

For ages skeptics’ blows have beat upon;

Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard,

The anvil is unharmed—the hammers gone!

As the passage says, the Word of God will endure forever, always being a safe and steady guide for those who love God.