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Christ’s Words Shall Never Pass Away (2)

Christ makes the strong affirmation of the permanence of His words—"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away" (Matt. 24:35)—in Matthew 24 because, as we saw last time, He has been predicting events, some of which are so glorious and some of which are so terrible, that they are hard to believe.

Christ’s promise is all the more necessary today since almost 2,000 years have passed and He has not yet returned upon the clouds with His angels (30-31). The church is tempted to sleep and forget about her Lord’s second coming. Moreover, scoffers have arisen who deny Christ’s return (II Peter 3). Often these are world-respected professional men with academic qualifications. "Man has come of age. We are scientific. The bodily return of Christ is a myth." Thus Jesus’ words come to us: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." So hold fast to this truth and do not be shaken by the wisdom of the world for it is "foolishness with God" (I Cor. 3:19).

Jesus does not say, "These my words shall not pass away," as if He were speaking only of a particular utterance. Instead, He says, "My words [understood inclusively] shall not pass away." Christ’s words in Matthew 24 on His coming at the fall of Jerusalem and at the end of the world, all of Christ’s words and all of Christ’s words in their context (i.e. the four gospels) shall not pass away. The NT is the words of Christ by His Spirit too. And would God promise to preserve the NT and not also preserve the OT? Thus Jesus here assures us of the preservation of the complete Word of God, OT and NT.

Christ’s promise is absolutely trustworthy; no part of God’s Word has passed away. There was no fifth gospel which was lost. The epistle that Paul wrote to the Corinthians before he wrote I Corinthians (I Cor. 5:9) has not come down to us for it was not inspired nor intended for the church of all ages. Similarly Paul’s letter to the Laodiceans (Col. 4:16) was not God-breathed. The alleged gospels and epistles by various apostles (e.g., Thomas and Andrew) are spurious. It is not the case either that God wanted to tell us more about Christ’s childhood or the forty days after His resurrection or Paul’s life after Acts 28, but that these have accidentally been lost to us. We have today all that God inspired for our learning for Christ’s words will never pass away.

And it is not just the ideas of Scripture that are preserved for us. Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4). And how can we live by every word, if every word is not preserved? Beloved, every word of God is preserved according to Christ’s promise. Feed on these words for this is your life!

Last modified on 05 March 2013
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Additional Info

  • Volume: 9
  • Issue: 3
Stewart, Angus

Rev. Angust Stewart (Wife: Mary)

Ordained - 2001

Pastorates: Covenant Protestant Reformed Church of Ballymena, Northern Ireland - 2001

Website: www.cprf.co.uk/

Contact Details

  • Address
    7 Lislunnan Road
  • City
    Ballymena
  • State or Province
    Co.Antrim
  • Zip Code
    BT42 3NR
  • Country
    Ireland
  • Telephone
    (01144) 28 25 891851

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