Whose word will stand

Whose Word Will Stand?

 “Watch out that no-one deceives you.  Many will come in my name claiming ‘I am he’ and will deceive many.  False Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect – if that were possible.  So be on your guard” (Mark 13:5,6,22). “You believe that there is one God.  Good!  Even the demons believe that and shudder” (James 2:19).  And no wonder: “For Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.  It is not surprising then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness.  The end will be what their actions deserve” (2 Corinthians 11:14,15).

“Each tree is recognised by its own fruit… The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart… For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:44-45).

“Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out his treasure what is new and what is old” (Matthew 13:52), “a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15), following Paul’s example as he follows the example of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1) “and all spoke well of him (Christ) and wondered at the gracious words which“proceeded out of his mouth (Luke 4:22), which were always full of grace and seasoned with salt (Colossians 4:6)

 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he that does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers” (Matthew 7:21-23).

“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction.  For the time comes when men will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myth” (2 Timothy 4:2-4).

“You may say to yourselves, ‘How can we know if the message has not been spoken by the Lord’.  If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken.  The prophet has spoken presumptuously.  Do not be afraid of him” (Deuteronomy 13:1-4; 18:21,22),  

Bro Joshua Pakali (Beitbridge, Zimbabwe)

All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. (Isaiah 40:6–8)

These verses are not about grass.

We need to take a step back to capture the real comparison that’s happening here. We see it in verse 6 when Isaiah tells us: “All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.”

Flesh is another way to say “people.” It’s a reference to our human-ness, and the point is that all of us — you and me and everyone — are fragile as grass. What he means is that, in comparison with the Lord, we’re extremely vulnerable, empty, weak. When we see grass we should be reminded of who we are in light of God’s power. The very breath of God up against us would cause us to wither and fade. Isaiah doesn’t want us to miss this: “surely the people are grass.”

With that point established, he speaks in verse 8: “The grass [that’s you and me] withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”

The comparison, then, is not between mere grass and the mighty word of God. The comparison is actually between humans (who are fragile as grass) and the mighty word of God. We humans, a lot like grass, will wither and fade. We are but little sprigs of turf compared to God’s word.

The Whole Gospel Here

Don’t be mistaken. This passage of Scripture is for our comfort, not our rebuke. Isaiah says a lot in his book about God bringing an end to the haughty and prideful. But here, the word begins with “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God” (Isaiah 40:1). We should be comforted that we’re like grass, but that the word of God is forever.

John Calvin writes, “This passage comprehends the whole gospel in a few words.”

It’s in two clear points: our nature and God’s authority. We know we’re like grass. Mankind can only impress himself for so long. We live in a world of breathtaking canyons and unimaginably deep oceans, after all. There are high mountains and tsunamis. It’s hard to stay haughty when you have a good look around.

But more than that, we’re also fallen. We’re sinners, which means that for all our grass-likeness, we’re actually too blind to really understand it on our own. We are unreliable and entirely desperate for God’s help.

Seeing Who Is Forever

So there is humanity, but then there isGod. There is God and his word.

The word of God is the demonstration of his authority. It is his communicated resolve. It is his promise to save, to end our warfare and pardon our iniquity. In one sense, we might say that “God’s word” is shorthand for his whole action of salvation, of revealing his glory, of making himself known to grass like us. God’s word is the great and wonderful and lovely opposition to our fragility.

We are grass, for sure, but grass for whom Jesus has come and suffered in our place and bore the wrath we deserved and was buried and then raised on the third day. He ascended to heaven and is now reigning over his coming kingdom. And we can trust him. We, fragile as grass, can trust him who is forever faithful. We can trust our God whose word will stand forever, who is forever strong and forever with us.

We can trust him, and we will sing praise.

Some say it’s myth and legend
One more book upon the shelf
But the message it contains cannot be stilled
For God who wrote its pages
Will not let it pass away
Not one syllable will linger unfulfilled

His Word will stand
His Word will stand
Though stars should fall
And mountains turn to sand
Though no man believes Him
Still God will be true
His promise is sure
His love will endure
And forever His Word will stand

Don’t listen to the voices
Of a world caught up in fear
For the Word of Gods proclaims victory
He gives His children courage
To confront the gates of hеll
With a sword that conquers every еnemy

His Word will stand
His Word will stand
Though stars should fall
And mountains turn to sand
Though no man believes Him
Still God will be true
His promise is sure
His love will endure
And forever His Word will stand

His Word will stand
His Word will stand
Though stars should fall
And mountains turn to sand
Though no man believes Him
Still God will be true
His promise is sure
His love will endure
And forever His Word will stand
And forever His Word will stand
Will stand!

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