“You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.” – Deuteronomy 4:2.

“If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.” – John 12:47-48.

God’s Sole Authority

A disastrous earthquake struck Tokyo and Yokohama in 1923. A quarter of a million people died and over half a million homes and buildings were destroyed. One of the few large buildings left intact was the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo – the creation of Frank Lloyd Wright. An official in the Japanese government cabled congratulations to Wright because his hotel stood, a monument to his genius.

God “does not take back his words,” Isaiah wrote (31:2 NIV). In that sentence is the encouragement God offers the world. Whatever else changes or collapses, God’s Word remains stalwart and inviolable. Each generation may reassess its tradition and rewrite its opinions, but God’s Word remains inflexibly written, unchanging, unchangeable. Other writings may speak only to their time – the Bible speaks to all time.

Courtesy of Speaker’s Sourcebook of New Illustrations by Virgil Hurley copyright © 1995 by Word, Incorporated. Used by permission.

*Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Applicable Quotations

The study of God’s Word, for the purpose of discovering God’s will, is the secret discipline which has formed the greatest characters. – J.W. Alexander

The devil is not afraid of the Bible that has dust on it. – Anonymous

The word of God is in the Bible as the soul is in the body. – Forsyth

No one ever graduates from Bible study until he meets the Author face to face. – Harris