4. The Bible endures because it bears witness to Jesus the Logos, the Word of God. In the Bible we discover the Word within the words. "Give heed to reading" Paul admonished (1 Tim. 4:13). Search the Scriptures for the living Word.

The Word of God endures. His light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never put it out (John 1:5). Critics, terrorism, communism, gnosticism, atheism, secularism and other such isms, nor the corrosion of time, can ever put out the light of the written and incarnate Word.

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The Divine Word (Logos) became flesh in Jesus (John 1:1-5). Biblical witness points to Jesus the Word. Jesus was the Word in the beginning and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word was God Himself. He became the incarnate Word and dwelt among us-Emmanuel, Jesus is the Word today for He is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

Jesus is the living Word, the crown and criterion of revelation. (Heb. 1:1ff.) He is the Lord of Scripture: So we ask, "What would Jesus do? ("You have heard it said, but I say unto you." Matt. 5:28, 32, 34, 39, 44). He is the hermeneutical key to our understanding of God's will.

5. The Word endures because the Church bears witness to Christ. The gates of hell will not "prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18). Here the Church is on the offensive. The gates of Hell (Hades, the abode of the dead departed spirits) shall not prevail against it. The church will be indestructible and death will not hold its members. Gates are a defensive weapon, not offensive; they hold people in or out; here they hold them in. Gates of Hades cannot hold members of the Church and they will burst forth to life in the risen Christ. Your relationship to the church is the only human relations that will survive death. (William Hersey Davis on Matthew 16:18).

More than 40 years ago I saw the Czar's Bible in the Kremlin Museum. It featured gold covers laden with precious jewels. It was preserved by the Communists for political purposes. No one reads it.

Unfortunately today the Bible is often used for political purposes, especially in America. Christians in American have several Bibles in their homes. Studies show that 95 percent of America's largest Protestant denomination "believe" the Bible is the "actual" or "inspired" Word of God, but they don't study it. (H. T. 1 Custom Research of Chicago) Though the Church, the people of God, do not take Holy Scripture seriously, it endures. Jesus has promised the Word of God will remain until its purpose has been accomplished. (Matt. 5:18)

Spelunkers, before exploring unknown caves, tie one end of a rope to an object outside. As they grope their way through the maze of passageways, they unwind the rope assured they have guidance for the return. In these days of confusion, anxiety, sense of insecurity, rapidly moving into the unknown, we need to be anchored to Jesus the enduring Word of God.

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Henlee Barnette is Emeritus Professor of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Retired Clinical Professor University of Louisville School of Medicine.