The Word of the Lord Endureth

The Word of the Lord Endureth THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURETH
By Robert C. Jones

I am very thankful to Brother Morris for the invitation to speak tonight. It is a pleasure to appear before this great audience. And I consider it an honor to have a place on this program with the fine men and faithful ministers who have spoken and who will speak in this lectureship. The Word of the Lord Endureth, is the subject I have been asked to discuss. In these days, while so many changes are being made in the world; while so many fine and valuable things are being destroyed; while many of our loved ones and friends, whose lives we value more than our own, face the horrors and dangers of war, it is a good time for us to study this great subject. At a time when some of the disciples of Christ were strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, when they were in heaviness through manifold temptations, and in the midst of fiery trials, to them the apostle Peter said: “Seing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you” (1 Peter 1:22-25). Being under similar conditions we need the admonition and the assurance of this scripture. While much of the world, as we have known it, is passing away we need the assurance that the word of the Lord endureth for ever, and he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever (1 John 2:17). The ability to recognize things of eternal value, the power to know that which is of abiding worth, so that we may hold to things that death and hell cannot destroy, should be desired by all men. No man will set his affections on things above, while he can be forever satisfied with the things of the earth. While we live in this world it will change, values will be increased and diminished, fortunes will be gained and lost, it will be affected by joys and sorrows, the ravages of time and of war will mar it, and in the end, “the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10). No wonder God said, to the rich man who laid up treasure for himself, and was not rich toward God, “Thou fool” (Luke 12:20). “For riches are not forever: and doth the crown endure to every generation?” (Proverbs 27:24). Seducing spirits, doctrine of devils, perverse things, pernicious ways, damnable heresies, the commandments and doctrines of men, and the perverted gospel shall likewise perish (1 Timothy 4:1-8; Acts 20:29-30; 2 Peter 2:1-2; Colossians 2:20-22; Galatians 1:7). Our attitude toward truth and error should be that expressed in Psalms 119:127-128, “I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold, Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.”

“The truth of the Lord enduretb for ever. Praise ye the Lord” (Psalms 117:2). Praise ye the Lord, because his truth endureth forever, and because we are made free from sin by the truth (Jno. 8:32). We are saved by belief of the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:13). Our souls are purified in obeying the truth (1 Peter 1:22). By believing and obeying the enduring word of God we shall endure. “If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then shalt thou be able to endure” (Exodus 18:23). We should “buy the truth and sell it not” (Proverbs 23:23). “The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever” (Psalms 33:11). Believing in the permanency and power of God’s counsel the Psalmist said: “Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory” (Psalms 73:24). “For ever, 0 Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting. Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever. Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever” (Psalms 119:89; Psalms 119:144; Psalms 119:152; Psalms 119:160). “The grass wither- eth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever” (Isaiah 40:8). Jesus said: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35). The gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation, is an everlasting gospel (Romans 1:16; Revelation 14:6).

Them that obey the eternal word will have eternal life (Hebrews 5:8-9; Hebrews 1; John 2:17).
Them that obey not the everlasting gospel will be punished with everlasting destruction (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). When we think of man being assigned to the place of his eternal destiny, we are reminded of the judgment day. On this day, after the world and all the material things in it are destroyed, the word of the Lord, the glorious gospel of our salvation lives on, and by it all men are judged. “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works” (Revelation 20:12).

Additional proof of the indestructable vitality of the word of the Lord s found in the scriptures teaching that the church, which is the kingdom, is an eternal institution. “ And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other peonle, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (Daniel 2:44). “And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:33). “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby wTe may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews 12:28). “Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end” (Ephesians 3:21). This eternal kingdom is produced by the word of the Lord, which is the seed of the kingdom (Luke 8:11). Every seed brings forth after his kind (Genesis 1:12). Therefore we conclude that the word of the Lord endureth for ever, because it produces a kingdom that shall stand for ever. The word of the Lord endureth because it came from God. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16). “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21). They received of the Lord that which they delivered unto us (1 Corinthians 11:23; 1 Corinthians 15:3). The apostles and inspired evan-gelists knew they were speaking of . themselves, or of some other man, or the words of God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. The heroism and martyrdom of these men proves they knew the word received and declared was the truth of God. They were good men, and good men will not die for a lie. Good men will not give up all that a man ordinarily considers valuable in order to deceive their fellow men. Paul said, and the others were like him in this respect, “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may win Christ” (Php_3:8). The word of the Lord endureth because it is the truth. Being the truth of God it is powerful. It has won its own way, fought its own battles, built its own house, and erected its own throne, this and much more has been accomplished in the face of all the forces of hell and the wicked powers of the world. The word of the Lord frees us from our arch enemy; it changes our grief into gladness and our sobs into songs. It turns us from death to life, from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. Surely the word of the Lord is the most glorious truth. If it is not the most blessed truth ever proclaimed, it is the most infamous lie ever told. Could a lie, the worst one ever told, accomplish the greatest good ever wrought in the world ? “A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit” (Matthew 7:18). Therefore we believe the Bible came from God, and it will endure forever. The word of the Lord endureth because of its com-prehensiveness. By its voice and its silence it includes all things essential and righteous, and excludes all things non-essential and sinful. It approves all righteousness and condemns all sin. It supplies perfectly all our needs today, just as it did the needs of those who-lived in theTirst century, of this era, “All scripture-is • given by inspiration of God, and is.profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:3). “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and con- tinueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed” (James 1:25). The word of the Lord endureth because of its power to bless. So great and numerous are the blessings brought into the hearts and lives of men, for time and for eternity, by the word of the Lord, good men who know and love the truth will do all in their power to preserve and proclaim the glorious message. Because of the many great blessings coming to us through the word of the Lord, we believe our Heavenly Father is the source of these truths. If a wise man stood at the mouth of the Mississippi river and saw the vast flow of fresh water pouring into the Gulf of Mexico, without a knowledge of the geography of the country, he would conclude that the river came from a great continent. For no stream could gather so much water from a small island. From many other rivers and smaller streams; from the melting snow on many mountains; from thousands of springs in the hills and valleys, and from the rains that fall on the great expanse of many sections this mighty river gets its water. The many great blessings coming to us through the word of the Lord, proves to every thinking person that this great stream could not flow from mere men. It comes from the all powerful, all wise, and ever loving Creator. And he has said: “The word of the Lord endureth for ever.” The word of the Lord endureth, although the forces of hell and the evil powers of the world are arrayed against it. Moved by sinful passions, unholy purposes and vain imaginations men have tried to literally destroy the word of the Lord. “All this has been fulfilled in our day, when we saw, with our own eyes, our houses of worship thrown down from their elevation, the sacred scriptures of inspiration committed to the flames in the midst of the markets, the shepherds of the people basely concealed here and there, some of them ignominiously captured, and the sport of their enemies; It was the nineteenth year of the reign of Diocletian, and the month of Dystrus, called by the Romans March, .... when the imperial edicts were everywhere published, to tear down the churches to the foundation, and to destroy the sacred scriptures by fire, and which commanded, also, that those who were in honourable stations, should be degraded, but those who were freedmen should be deprived of their liberty, if they persevered in their adherence to Christianity” (Eusebius, book 8, chapter 2). Thousands of books have been written and millions of dollars spent in trying to destroy the Bible and its influence. Misguided men and women have written many foolish and contradictory books, claiming divine origin, for them. Men have met in council, conference, synod and convention, and written creeds, disciplines, confessions a'nd manuals. By these, the people have been divided, the importance of the scriptures minimized, and the completeness, or perfection of the word denied. In spite of all the strenuous opposition for nineteen hundred years, the word of the Lord endureth, and this is the word by which the gospel is preached unto you. The time will soon come when we cannot hold to the temporal things of this world. We must tell all our ioved ones and all our friends good-bj, But we may al-ways hold to the eternal truths and precious promises of the word of the Lord, if we believe and obey its divine teaching. “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him” (John 14:21).