Monthly Message
by Dean Allen
Dean Allen serves as a deacon at SRVBC and is the author of SRVBC's Monthly Message
Previous Messages:
January 2024
February 2024
Dean Allen serves as a deacon at SRVBC and is the author of SRVBC's Monthly Message
Previous Messages:
January 2024
February 2024
The Word of God Stands Forever
September 2017
Isaiah 40:8 says, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” God’s Word has stood the test of time, and the Bible is still the bestselling book in the world. The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” God is as eternal as His Word. He never changes and neither does His Word. John Wesley, the great preacher and man of God, once said, “I am a man of one book.” The Bible is one book when we hold it in our hands, but it contains 66 books from Genesis to Revelation. All of them are given by God for our good. It is His truth to live by and to die by. It gives us encouragement, comfort, challenge, conviction, inspiration, knowledge, wisdom, strength, and help.
The question is, “What would we do without God’s Word?” In the year A.D. 303, the Roman Emperor Diocletian issued a decree which he hoped would extinguish the spreading flames of Christianity forever. One of his primary objectives was the seizure and destruction of the Christian Scriptures. Later that year, officials enforced the decree in North Africa. One of the targets was Felix, Bishop of Tibjuca, which was a village near Carthage. The mayor of the town ordered Felix to hand over his Scriptures. Though some judges were willing to accept scraps of parchment, Felix refused to surrender the Word of God at the insistence of mere men. Resolutely, he resisted compromise. Roman authorities finally shipped Felix to Italy where he paid for his stubbornness with his life. On August 30, as the record puts it, “with pious obstinacy,” he laid down his life rather than surrender his Gospels. How much is the Bible worth to you? The Word of our God stands forever.