Daily Devotional

August 16

A First Book of Daily Readings

by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (selected by Frank Cumbers)
Sourced from the OPC website

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away

How careful [Jesus] was always to speak of ‘my Father and your Father’. He does not say ‘our Father’. He says ‘my Father’. He teaches His disciples to pray, ‘Our Father’, but He never includes Himself with them. He always takes pains to emphasize this difference, that He is the Son of man. He is man and yet He is not only man ... [see Matthew 11:27; John 14:6].... He deliberately sets Himself up as the authoritative Teacher.... ‘Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time.... But / say unto you ...’ He declares Truth, with authority ... it is this characteristic, personal emphasis which brings Him into contrast with the prophets.... They were great personalities.... But there is not one of them who ever used this Truth. They all say, ‘Thus saith the Lord’. But the Lord Jesus Christ... says,’/ say unto you’. At once He is differentiating between Himself and all others. ‘Now is the time for final authority’, He seems to be saying. He emphasizes this fact constantly in the Sermon on the Mount.

When He concludes that great sermon, He does so by uttering one of the most staggering and astounding things that He ever said. ‘Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock....’ There, you see, His whole emphasis is upon ‘these sayings of mine.’ Here is His claim to final authority. And if it is possible to add to such a statement, He did so when He said, ‘Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away’. There is nothing beyond that.

Authority, pp. 18–19