This Is the Word

“But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.“  I Peter 1:25

Religious scholars tell us that every religion has its scriptures, or holy book.
The origin of the Qur’an. (Means “To Recite,” Prophet Mohammed to Rabbis.)
The origin of the Book of Mormon (Joseph Smith, in a cave with glasses)
Even some quasi-Christian organizations and cults have books in addition to the Bible.
The Douay Version of the Bible includes the apocrypha.
Christian Scientists: Mary Baker Eddy’s Science and the Scriptures.
Seventh Day Adventists: Ellen G. White
Jehovah’s Witnesses: The New World Translation
Read “All Those Translation!” Jeffrey Gibbs – page 1.
Now we have a new translation: The Gender-Neutral Bible.
Many of these writings are interesting, even inspirational.
All of these books are considered sacred by some people.

But only one book is the word by which the gospel is preached.
The Bible needs no help, no additions, no subtractions, not even any additional translations to make it better or truer.

2 Peter 1:19-21 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Why is this important to us today?
Why should we make a federal case out of these deviations from scripture?
Is this just further proof of our arrogance and self-righteousness as some liberal-minded people would charge?

This is important because everything grows out of its source.

If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? Ps 11:3

That’s why the Devil is always trying to get at our source.

We are not built upon corruptible things, but on a man’s blood.

1 Peter 1:18-25 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. 22 Seeing 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: 

But this man is no ordinary man. Jesus is the fleshly manifestation of the Word of God. John 1:1; 14

We are not born of a perishable man, but of the Word of God.

23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. 24 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: 25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. 1 Peter 1:23-25

The secret that Satan doesn’t want you to know: He is destroyed by the power of the Word of God:

Matt 4:1-11 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

This is the word that spoke the worlds into existence.

Hebrews 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Ps 33:6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

This is the word that cleanses the church.

Ephesians 5:25-26 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

What does the Word of God do in our lives?

• Impure Thoughts. Ps 119:9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
• Impulse to Sin. Ps 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
• Depression. Ps 119:28 My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.
• Salvation. Ps 119:41 Let thy mercies come also unto me, O LORD, even thy salvation, according to thy word.
• Hope. Ps 119:49 Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.
• Understanding. Ps 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
• Protection. Ps 119:114 Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.
• Fullness of life. Ps 119:116 Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope.
• Direction. Ps 119:133 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.
• Truth. Ps 119:160 Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.

This is the word that is magnified above the Name of God.

Psalm 138:2 I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

This is the word that promises the rapture of the church.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

This is the word that will judge every person in the end of time.

Revelation 20:11-12 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 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.

The Word of God is your linkage to eternal truths.
The Word of God is your authority over the world, the flesh and the devil.
The Word of God is our right to speak with confidence about your salvation experience.

Do you have this confidence today?

Now, the question is “What will you do with the Word?”

4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. 6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. 7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. Luke 5:1-7

Comments

[Tim Garcia]

This is all very interesting, but doesn't address the rather critical (and often thorny) question of what constitutes "the Bible", who decided this, and how. =] This is particularly problematic when it comes to the New Testament.

If Jesus (the Word, from John 1, it seems) himself had delivered the original NT canon (or at least the gospels -- an "authorized biography", if you will), this would be less of a problem.

However, it seems that the stories were passed down as part of an oral tradition for perhaps 30 or 40 years before the first gospel (Mark?) was written down. In any case, we don't have the original manuscripts, and only fragments of each book until much later, some well into the fourth century. Obviously, there is a whole discipline around this, and I think just based on what little research I've done so far, we can be pretty sure of the relative accuracy of what we do have (thanks to the sheer number of copies), and modern textual criticism has done a rather amazing job, I think, at reconstructing the original text.

However, this still leaves the thorny issue of what became canonical vs what did not. :) It seems that we didn't have the exact NT we have today until, again, a little past the middle of the fourth century. Before that, some Christian communities considered the Shepard of Hermas, for example, to be scripture.