We have come to the end of another year. 2006 is almost in the books, and behind us. And, we are ready to enter into a new year of God's grace, 2007. Well, on this last day of the year, I would like to take the time in my sermon, to remind us of what we have learned in our life, what we have learned this past year, and what the scriptures simply tell us are the facts.

The key words in our text for today come near the end where it says,

"The Word of the Lord stands forever."

And, that simply is a fact. There are other places in scripture that say the same thing. Jesus, on Maundy Thursday, as He was in the Garden of Gethsemane praying, said in His prayer to God,

"Your Word is truth."

Jesus, when He was once speaking to a group of a Pharisees said,

"The Scripture cannot be broken."

How true it is that God's Word is truth. It cannot change. And, His Word will stand forever.

How different that is from our earthly laws. For example, the 18^th Amendment said you could not drink alcohol, except for religious purposes. Thirteen years later, the 21^st Amendment said that it was now ok to drink alcoholic beverages.

With the miles per hour that we travel down the highway, it has changed over the years – 55 mph, 65 mph, and 70 mph.

Our earthly laws change, but God's Word does not. It is truth and God's Word lasts forever.

It is also a fact, that God created human beings to live forever. That changed, when our first parents, Adam and Eve, fell into sin. Since that time, you and I are born with perishable sin from our parents. Perishable sin, or perishable seed, now manifests itself in our daily lives, as we sin against God in our thoughts, in our words and in our actions. It would even be true to say that the dna that we receive from our parents is a dna of death. That is no more apparent to me, than just this last couple of weeks, two of our shut-in members passed away. And all be it, they were shut in members, it was still very unexpected. It was no more apparent to me today, than this last week the death of one of our past presidents, Gerald Ford. It is simply a fact that the dna we received from our parents is a dna of death. Our death is inevitable.

And so, what our text says for today is true. It is a fact. "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of the Lord stands forever."

Job, hundreds of years prior from the Old Testament, basically said the same thing, when he said, "Man, born of woman, is of few days and full of trouble. He springs up like a flower and withers away. Like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure."

I have something that I want to show you this morning. It is twelve roses. I gave these roses to my wife, a little while ago, for our anniversary.

(On a side note, I encourage you husbands to give flowers to your wives! But, back to the subject at hand. J)

These roses, which were once glorious, are now withering. They are decaying. The rose petals are falling off. The baby's breath is turning brown. And, these roses are a picture or an illustration of you and me. We are born. We spring up into life. And, we die. We wither and decay. Our text for today tells us the facts. It tells us the truth. We are all like grass. All of our glories are like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall.

Now, up to this point I have been talking about our physical birth and our physical death. It is important for me to also bring the matter of eternity into the equation, as well. Eternity is not a game. It is not something to play around with. Eternity is not like a video game where we get a second chance or we get an opportunity to hit the reset button. You have called me, and asked me to be a spiritual overseer of your souls, and to make sure you know what the facts of God's Word says. Knowing what God's Word says, is nothing, while on the other hand, believing what God's Word says is everything.

The Word of the Lord stands forever.

And while it is true, and while it is a fact that God's Word calls us on the carpet because of our sin, God's Word also tells us that Jesus is the only way of salvation. Jesus said,

"I am

the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father

except through me."

And, the scripture also says it is a fact that,

"Jesus is the same

yesterday,

today

and forever."

We are perishable. But, Jesus is imperishable. We are mortal. But, Jesus is immortal. Well, Jesus came to be perishable. Jesus came to be mortal, so that you and I could be imperishable and so that you and I could be immortal, with Him in Heaven. To that very point, Paul in the Great Resurrection Chapter in scripture, I Corinthians 15, had this fact to say.

"For the perishable, (that is us)

must clothe itself with the imperishable (that is Jesus)

and the mortal (that is us)

with immortality (that is Jesus).

When the perishable (that's us)

has been clothed with the imperishable (that's Jesus)

and the mortal (that's us)

with immortality (that's Jesus),

then the saying that is written will come true.

Death has been swallowed up in victory.

Where, oh death, is your victory?

Where, oh death, is your sting?"

The sting of death is sin

and the power of sin is the Law,

but thanks be to God,

He gives us the victory,

through our Lord Jesus Christ."

The Word of God stands forever. And yes, while it does call us on the carpet because of our sin, it also points to salvation through Jesus. Through His death on the cross, your sins are forgiven. It means our sins are forgiven. It means our physical death becomes our right of passage to spend eternity with Him in Heaven. Knowing that is the case, Peter now tells us how we are to live our lives, in between now and eternity. Peter simply says,

"We are to love one another

deeply from the heart."

Those are simply the facts that we have been reminded of, once again this year. As we leave behind us 2006, and another year of our failures, we look forward into stepping into the year 2007, being led by God's grace.

We know that God will guild us. We know that God will work all things out for our good. We know the facts. And, we know the Word of the Lord stands forever.

Amen.