Matthew 24:35 (NIV)
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
This verse is probably familiar to us. It is nestled in a larger narrative that records the words of Jesus to His disciples concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and signs of the End Times. So in that context, Jesus told them, “Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away.” Perhaps, we should take a closer look at what Jesus said because He, in essence, declares that His words have been established forever. The Chapter is quite large, but I think it bears examining and noting what Jesus foretold would take place:
Matthew 24:1-35 (NIV)
1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when His disciples came up to Him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” He asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.” 3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. 9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. 15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ (Cf. Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11) spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.
22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time. 26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather. 29 “Immediately after the distress of those days “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ (Cf. Isaiah 13:10; 34:4) 30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. (Cf. Daniel 7:13-14) 31 And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. 32 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it (or He) is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I tell you all, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
Chapter 24 will continue, but I want to stop here a moment for us to grasp all that Jesus said, and then, to consider the gravity of Verse 35 in the context. As we read what Jesus told us ahead of time would happen upon the earth, we can see and understand what the end times will entail. Heaven and earth will pass away. What we see … what we know … what we experience here and now will disappear. It will pass away. So I will provide some Scriptures for you to ponder regarding this statement Jesus made. I’ll start with Old Testament prophecy first.
Isaiah 65:17-25 (NIV)
17 “See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. 19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. 20 “Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; the one who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere child; the one who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. 21 They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands. 23 They will not labor in vain, nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the Lord, they and their descendants with them. 24 Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.
Isaiah 66:22-24 (NIV)
22 “As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares the Lord, “so will your name and descendants endure. 23 From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the Lord. 24 “And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”
2 Peter 3:10-14 (NIV)
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with His promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. 14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him.
Revelation 21:1-5 (NIV)
1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” (Cf. Isaiah 65:17) for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ (Cf. Isaiah 25:8) or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Yes, we can be sure that the current heaven and earth will pass away; and a new heaven and a new earth will be created. But then Jesus said: “My words will never pass away.” His words remind me of several Scriptures which affirm this truth. “Forever, O Lord, Your Word is settled in Heaven.” (Cf. Psalm 119:89) “All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal. (Cf. Psalm 119:160) The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” (Cf. Isaiah 40:8) And Peter shares the application of this truth: “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from a pure heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring Word of God. (Cf. 1 Peter 1:22-23) And think about what the Apostle John declared: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.” (Cf. John 1:1-3) Perhaps, it is more readily evident what Jesus was telling His disciples and those who followed and believed in Him. His words will never pass away because Jesus will never pass away. Jesus declared, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Cf. Revelation 1:8) And Jesus confirmed, “I AM HE who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen!” (Cf. Revelation 1:18) Yes, the Word of God is the beginning of all things, and He is eternal!
Jesus, the ever-living Word of God, has spoken. (Cf. Hebrews 1:2) He has told us ahead of time what will happen … what will take place in the latter days … so that we will know and believe Him. But even more, Jesus wants us to trust Him at His Word. He knows what will come to pass. He knows that heaven and earth will pass away. But Jesus said, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (Cf. John 14:3) Indeed, Jesus is coming a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him. (Cf. Hebrews 9:28) So, we must trust. We must wait. We must persevere in faith. And, yes, we must serve. So, let us go back to the remainder of Matthew Chapter 24:
Matthew 24:42-51 (NIV)
42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him. 45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in His household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when He returns. 47 Truly I tell you, He will put him in charge of all His possessions. 48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect Him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Since Jesus has already told us ahead of time what “this generation” should expect to see unfold, we should not fear; rather, “When these things begin to take place, we should stand up and lift up our heads, because our redemption is drawing near.” (Cf. Luke 21:28) And we should be faithful and wise servants, whom the master has put in charge of His house while He is away. We should be doing the good works prepared in advance for us to do. (Cf. Ephesians 2:10) Yes, we should be about sharing the truth of the Gospel and making disciples of all people … not making denominational converts. Religion is divisive. But leading people to an authentic encounter and relationship with Jesus Christ will bring unity and peace. For there is no division in Christ! Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. We abide in Him and He in us … for apart from Him we can do nothing. (Cf. John 15:5) Though many members, we form one body in Christ, and therefore, each member belongs to all the others. (Cf. Romans 12:5) Indeed, unity and assembling ourselves has become even more important as we see the Day approaching. Why? Because the purpose is to encourage each other to bear the fruit of love and good works. (Cf. Hebrews 10:24-25)
So what application do you see for yourself? Knowing that the Word of God is settled forever … what impact does that have on your faith? To me, it has everything to do with faith! The Word of God is what saved us! It is the light and revelation of God. It removes the veil of darkness from those who are perishing! The Word … the Truth … is the most important thing we can receive or to declare to this world. It is the ministry to which we have been called as believers. We are those with “unveiled faces” … who see and have embraced the New Covenant which is through Christ Jesus!
2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (NIV)
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 4:1-6 (NIV)
1 Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the Word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” (Cf. Genesis 1:3) made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
Did you see it … in Verse 5? Paul said, we do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord … and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. Do you see any connection with the words of Jesus? He asked, “Who is a faithful and wise servant whom the master has put in charge of the servants in His household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when He returns.” That connection really caught my attention because I now have to answer that question He posed. Am I a faithful and wise servant? Am I a servant for Jesus’ sake? If the master, our Lord Jesus, returned in this hour, what would He find me doing? Not the pastor … not the evangelist … not the missionary. No, what will He find ME doing? I think that is an important question for each of us to ask ourselves. And so I will leave it there for us to spend some time before the Lord in introspection.
So Now You Know 