“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”(Matthew 24:35 NIV)
The Bible is the most despised, derided, denied, disputed, dissected, and debated book in all of history. This Bible has been under attack for centuries — for everything you can imagine.
Yet the Bible is still the most read, most published, and most translated book in the world. And, most importantly, it’s still changing the lives of those who apply what it teaches.
One of the reasons I believe the Bible is God’s Word is that it has survived so many attacks throughout history.
Despite all the attacks throughout history, today the Bible is the greatest single source of culture. It’s the greatest single source for music, art, and architecture. If you take the Bible out of culture, you would destroy most of the major music, artwork, and architecture of the past 2,000 years. Even much of our English language comes from the King James Bible.
The Bible has flourished in spite of unrelenting attacks during the past 2,000 years.
Jesus said in Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away”(NIV). The only item on the planet that will last is the Word of God. Everything else will burn up, because truth is eternal.
Voltaire, the famous French philosopher, was a brilliant atheist. He wrote a number of tracts deriding the Bible. He once made a very bold statement: “One hundred years from today the Bible will be a forgotten book.”
Today, everyone has forgotten that quote — not the Bible! After Voltaire died, for nearly 100 years, his homestead was used as the book depository for the French Bible Society. They sold Bibles out of his house! It’s now a museum. People have forgotten Voltaire. Nobody forgets the Bible.
No matter what attacks come the Bible’s way, it always survives — and it always will. You can depend on that.
Talk About It
- Does your perspective on life reflect the knowledge that this earth will one day pass away? How would your life change if you focused your life on the one thing that will never pass away?
- Ask God for the courage to stand up to those who oppose God’s Word with grace, gentleness, and wisdom.
Rick Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., one of America's largest and most influential churches. Rick is author of the New York Times bestseller The Purpose Driven Life. His book, The Purpose Driven Church, was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the 20th century. He is also founder of Pastors.com, a global Internet community for pastors.
This devotional © 2012 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.