Which Bible Can We Trust?
by Evangelist Roy Lister
The TEXTUS RECEPTUS, original Greek text from which the Authorized King James Bible was translated, has been the target of textual critics since 1611. Yet copies of it substantially exist today without error. This is the Bible you can trust. All this talk about older and more dependable manuscripts, like the theory of evolution, hangs upon an UNPROVEN HYPOTHESIS.
HERE’S THE ACID TEST
Any version of the Bible which omits Acts 8:37, or “Through His blood,” in Col. 1:14, evidently has for its foundation a corrupted manuscript. This corruption can be traced to 200 A.D., when there lived one of the world’s foremost theologians whose name was Origen. Being a TEXTUAL CRITIC, he is supposed to have corrected numerous portions of the sacred manuscripts. Evidence to the contrary shows that he changed them to agree with his own human philosophy of mystical and allegorical ideas. Thus certain original MSS. became corrupt and it is evidently from this source the revised Bibles of this generation have come. Read pages 900-902, Vol. 16, 1936 edition Encyclopedia Britannica and you will see that Origen taught the “LOGOS” is “KTISMA,” meaning the Lord Jesus Christ is a created being. Thus, he could easily omit Acts 8:37 and other texts which testify to Christ’s deity.
Should You Choose The Bible of Your Choice?
THE BIBLE IS AN INSPIRED BOOK
The Bible is a supernatural gift from God and has been both inspired and preserved by the Holy Spirit. By inspired I mean that the Holy Spirit so moved upon the hearts of men that they recorded the very words that God wanted written in the Holy Bible. The Bible would be no more accurate or authoritative had God written the Scriptures with His own hand. “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21).
THE BIBLE IS A PRESERVED BOOK
God has safeguarded the Bible in the past from the wicked poison of human reasoning and He will continue to do so in the future. God is not the author of confusion and therefore He has only inspired and preserved one Bible. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35).
ONLY ONE BIBLE CAN BE THE WORD OF GOD
It has been estimated that there are nearly one hundred versions of the Bible available in the English language today. However, this multiplicity of Bibles does not alter the fact that God has inspired and safeguarded one Bible. This one Bible is written in the Greek language in the New Testament and is called the Textus Receptus or Received Text. The Old Testament has been preserved in the Masoretic Text and is written in Hebrew. The Textus Receptus of the New Testament and the Masoretic Text of the Old Testament combine to give us the complete Word of God. The King James Version of the Bible stands alone as the one Bible in use today which has been faithfully translated from these God- given manuscripts. All of the modern versions are based wholly or in part on corrupt texts.
MODERN TRANSLATIONS ARE DIFFERENT BIBLES
Modern translations are not just simply different versions of the King James Bible written in contemporary language. These perversions are different Bibles entirely. Their foundation is not the God-preserved Textus Receptus of the New Testament. Instead, they are based on contaminated, Christ-denying manuscripts which had been rejected by the early church fathers.
This turning away from the true Bible to a wicked counterfeit is largely the work of humanistic scholarship. Men who call themselves textual critics have placed their thoughts and ideas above those of God and have presumed to improve upon that one Bible which has been given by God. One can only conclude that they have been so blinded by their compromise and delusions of self-importance that they forget God has already given us His Word. The duty of every believer today is to take the one Bible which God has given and proclaim its glorious message of salvation to a sin-sick world.
“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel . . . As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:6, 9). Almost 2000 years ago men were preaching another gospel no doubt from another Bible. However, never since the Bible was given has it been under such Satanic attack as it is in our generation. Humanistic scholarship has deviated from the Textus Receptus in about 6000 places. This has the same effect as questioning the inerrancy of the Holy Bible in 6000 places. One disciple it very well when he said, “The craving to alter the Word of God is accursed. This is the crime of the present day. The Lord preserve us from it.”
THE PURE FOUNDATION OF THE KING JAMES VERSION
The Old Testament of the King James Bible was translated from the Masoretic Text. This text was in use during the time of Christ and He quoted from them many times. If the Masoretic Text was acceptable to Christ then it certainly should be accepted by every child of God. This text was kept pure by the Hebrew priests who were given the responsibility of caring for it.
The New Testament of the King James Version was translated in 1611 A.D. from the Greek manuscripts known today as the Textus Receptus. The scholars who did this work were giants in their field. They were far superior to the self-proclaimed scholars in Biblical criticism who are responsible for the rash of modern perversions.
The Textus Receptus from which the King James Bible was translated is a faithful reproduction of the original manuscripts, which were penned by the writers of the Scriptures. The T. R. or Traditional Text as it is also called has been traced back to the early church.
THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE KING JAMES VERSION
- From the birth of Christ to 100 A.D. the original manuscripts were written in the Greek language.
- by 170 A.D. — 20 N.T. books had been accepted by the early Christians.
- by 400 A.D. — all 27 books of the N.T. had been accepted by the early Christians as they were guided by the Holy Spirit.
- The Holy Spirit guided so that only the genuine books were included.
- The Holy Spirit also guided in the selection of the pure manuscripts.
- The Holy Spirit so guided that false gospels and manuscripts were set aside.
- the original manuscripts were lost but the Received Text that was produced during this time was a faithful reproduction of the original autographs.The New Testament was compiled by 400 A.D.
- 452-1453 A.D. — The Textus Receptus was used by the Greek Church during this time under the direction of the Holy Spirit.
- 1516 A.D. — Erasmus edited the first printing of the Greek N.T.
- This was in agreement with the Textus Receptus.
- 1526 A.D. — Tyndale’s New Testament in English was printed. He was burned at the stake in 1536 because he had the Bible printed in English.
- 1550 A.D. — Stephens Greek N.T. (Textus Receptus).
- 1611 A.D. — The King James or Authorised Version of the Bible was translated from the Greek Textus Receptus in the N.T. and Hebrew Masoretic Text in the O.T.
- 1611 A.D. — To the present. Infidels and assorted enemies of the Bible have attacked our Bible in every way known to man, but God’s Word shall abide forever.
THE CORRUPT FOUNDATION OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS
The “other Bibles” which are so prevalent today are as dependable as quicksand. They will vary even from printing to printing as the constantly changing whims of man directs. However, each new Bible will continue down the same path of confusion and error. You cannot produce good fruit from a rotten tree.
THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE “OTHER BIBLES”
- From the birth of Christ to 400 A.D. False prophets wrote polluted gospels and other books of the Bible at the same time that the true books of the New Testament were being written. Paul makes mention of this in 2 Cor. 2:17, “For we are not as many, which corrupt the Word of God …. “Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit these tainted manuscripts were cast aside and were not included in the Textus Receptus.
- 331 A.D. Constantine ordered that an “ecumenical Bible” be written that would be accepable to every stripe of Christian that was under his jurisdiction. A man by the name of Eusebius was assigned to direct this undertaking. Eusebius was a follower of Origen who rejected the deity of Christ. He claimed that Christ was a created being. The Jehovah’s Witnesses of today believe the same thing. This error is called the Arian heresy.
- 1481 A.D. The Vatican manuscript was discovered in the Vatican Library. This is a corrupted manuscript which repeatedly casts aside the deity of Christ. It reflects the Arianism of Origen and is thought by some to be one of the surviving manuscripts done be Euscbius at the command of Constantine. The date of its writing coincides with the “ecumenical Bible” of Constantine.
- 1844 A.D. The Sinaitic manuscript was discovered at Mt. Sinai in the monastery of Saint Catherine. It agrees closely with the Vatican manuscript and minimises the deity of Christ and is Arian in nature. It is safe to suggest that these two manuscripts were two of the fifty that were written for Constantine.
- 1881 A.D. The Westcott and Hort Greek Text was introduced. This text departed from the Textus Receptus and follows the Vatican and Sinaitic corruptions. Most scholars from every spectrum of Christianity have knowingly or otherwise promoted the Westcott and Hort text from that time to the present.
The Jehovah’s Witness Bible entitled the “New World Translation of the Scriptures” was translated from the text of Westcott and Hort. Their friendship with Westcott and Hort is not surprising. They reject the deity of Christ and gain strength from this corrupt text.
Most, if not all, of the modern translations of the Bible follow the path of the two worst manuscripts which are in existence. They almost seem to loathe the Textus Receptus. This is evidenced by the fact that most Bible colleges, seminaries and schools use some Greek text other than the Textus Receptus. Nevertheless, the new versions are founded on faulty texts and are not acceptable for any purpose.
GOD’S BIBLE COMPARED WITH “ANOTHER BIBLE”
1 PETER 2:2
The King James Version:
“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.”
In our God-inspired and preserved Bible the meaning of this passage is very clear. Those who have been born again (by receiving Christ) should feed on the Word of God that they might grow in the Christian life. Christian growth has nothing at all to do with initial salvation. Salvation takes place first and then the newborn child of God is to grow. Please note that all of the following new versions leave the door open for a gradual salvation, i.e., one of works.Good News for Modern Man:
“Be like newborn babies, always thirsty for the pure spiritual milk, so that by drinking it you may grow up and be saved.”
New World Translation: (Jehovah’s Witnesses)
“And as newborn infants, form a longing for the unadultered milk belonging to the word, that through it you may grow to salvation.”
New American Standard Bible:
“Like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation.”
The wording may be slightly different in each of these new Bibles, but it should be obvious that they all have the same corrupt source. No amount of polish can correct an untrustworthy text.
MATTHEW 18:11
The King James Version:
“For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.”
New World Translation: Verse omitted.
The Amplified New Testament:
The entire verse is in italics. Their explanation for this omission is as follows: “Italics indicate certain familiar words or passages found in the King James Version, but generally omitted now because they are not adequately supported by more recent scholarship.” Would any care to hazard a guess as to who the more recent scholars are?
The New American Standard:
The verse is included with the following footnote. “Most ancient manuscripts omit this verse.” Since when is 5% of the manuscripts considered a majority?
The Living New Testament:
The verse is included (in a manner of speaking) with the following footnote. “This verse is omitted in many manuscripts, some ancient.”
THE PERSON OF CHRIST AND SIX NEW BIBLES
- New American Standard Bible
- Revised Standard Version
- Living New Testament
- Good News for Modern Man
- New English Bible
- Amplified New Testament
John 6:69 — Christ is omitted in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Acts 9:20 — Christ is changed to Jesus in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Acts 15:11 — Christ is omitted in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Acts 16:31 — Christ is omitted in 1, 2, 31 4, 5, (italicised in 6).
Romans 1:16 — Christ omitted in 1, 2, 4, 5, (italicised in 6).
Romans 16:24 — entire verse about Christ emitted in 1, 2, 5, (verse italicised in 6).
1 Cor. 5:4 — Christ omitted twice in 1, 2, (omitted once in 3), 4, 5, (omitted once and italicised once in 6).
1 Cor. 9:1 — Christ omitted in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
2 Cot. 11:31 — Christ omitted in 1, 2, 4, 5, (italicised in 6).
Eph. 3:14 — Lord Jesus Christ omitted in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, (italicised in 6).
Col. 1:14 — blood omitted in 1, 2, 4, 5, (italics in 6).
1 Thess. 2:19 — Christ omitted in 1, 2, 4, 5, 6.
1 Thess. 3:11 — Christ omitted in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, (italics in 6).
1 Timothy 1:1 — Lord omitted in 1, 2, 4, 5, 6.
1 Timothy 5:21 — Lord omitted in 1, 2, 4, 5, 6.
2 Timothy 4:1 — Lord omitted in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Titus 1:4 — Lord omitted in 1, 2, 4, 5, (italics in 6).
Hebrews 3:1 — Christ omitted in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
1 John 1:7 — Christ omitted in 1, 2, 4, 5, (italics in 6).
2 John 3 — Lord omitted in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Rev. l:9b — Christ omitted in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, (italics in 6).
Verses quoted and emissions listed are by no means exhaustive. They are merely given to show the common bond which exists between all of the new Bibles. They stand or fall together. One cannot accept one and reject another.
It should be plain for all to see that Satan’s strategy is to lure even God’s own people away from the true Bible. Without the inerrant Word of God there would be no salvation. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).
I thank God for my salvation and I thank Him for preserving His Written Word for my use and for all who will rest in Him. I am convinced that the King James Bible I hold in my hand is a completely faithful reproduction of the Word of God. I can hold my Bible in my hand and say without fear that I am in possession of the Word of God that has been passed down from generation to generation by the providential protection of my Heavenly Father.
IMPORTANT CONCLUDING SUMMARY
The King James Version is the only English Bible in use today which is taken from the Textus Receptus. Therefore, this must be the only Bible used by pastors, Bible students, churches, missionary groups, educational institutions or Christian laymen.
In that it is the only authoritative and trustworthy Bible, it should be studied consistently and systematically. Every born-again believer in Jesus Christ should start the day by meditating in the only Word of God and by talking to God in prayer.
Every born-again, Bible-believing Christian should endeavor to enlighten others about the dangers of the modern counterfeit Bibles. This must be done if we are to heed the admonition to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3b). God wants you to join with us in sounding the alarm against those who would rob this generation of the only Bible. “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever” (Isaiah 40:8).
All over the world there is an alarming increase in the worship of Satan by outright willful submission to him through occult practices. He is now loosing his forces on the civilized world which has known the Gospel for centuries but which is not presently heeding that Gospel. We may look for an increase in satanic miracles and strange behavior as multitudes resort to witchcraft, astrology, spiritism, and fortune telling.
ITS INSPIRATION
There can be no Christianity without an inspired and authoritative Bible. One preacher once said, “The turning point of the battle between those who hold ‘the faith once delivered to the saints’ and their opponents, lies in the true and real inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. This is the thermopylae of Christendom. If we have in the Word of God no infallible standard of truth, we are at sea without a compass, and no danger from rough weather without can be equal to the loss within. ‘If the foundation be removed, what can the righteous do?’ And this is the foundation loss of the worst kind.”
The Bible is a supernatural Book. It is God’s voice speaking, not only in the sense that the Word springs from Him, but from the standpoint also that it is expressed by Him in His own vocabulary.
The fundamental claim of the Bible in relation to its inspiration is found in five passages: Luke 1:70, “As He spake by the mouth of His Holy prophets which have been since the world began,” 1 Cor. 2:13, “Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth.” 2 Tim. 3:16, “ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of God.” Heb. 1:1-2, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son.” 2 Pet. 1:21, “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
It is important in these days of open attack upon the Bible and increased versions of the Bible to make clear what we mean by divine inspiration of the Scriptures. We do not mean what the modernists mean who claim a kind of “human genius” residing in all great writers; nor do we moan as Barth and Brunner and modern neo-orthodox and neo-evangelicals who hold that the Bible is the Word of God because some passages reveal a word from the Lord. This teaching tells us that the Bible contains the Word of God but is not essentially and verbally and wholly the inspired Word of God.
While there is open opposition from outside the true Church in lands like Russia against the Word of God and against those who read it, there is also opposition from within religious circles through the modern day versions of the Bible, RSV, Good News for Modern Man, Living Letters, New English Bible, Amplified Version and a host of others.
I need not remind you that most of these versions have been prepared by committees whose members reject the infallible inspiration of the Scriptures, the deity of Christ, the blood atonement of Christ, and other essential doctrines. I need not emphasise that many of these versions are ecumenical efforts to unite Protestantism and Romanism into the great whore church of Revelation 13 to 17, the ecumenical church of Antichrist.
What is not generally realized, however, is the fact that these revisers are true successors of Jehoiakim, the King of Jerusalem, whose mutilation of Scripture is given in Jeremiah 36:22, 23. A message from the Lord was dictated by Jeremiah to Baruch, son of Nerah, who carefully wrote it in a roll. Jehoiakim came to know of this divine oracle and sent Jehudi to get it and read it to him. As Jehudi read, whatever did not please the king he would cut out with his penknife and cast into the fire, burning on the hearth. Jehoiakim continued with his mutilation of the written Word of God until nothing was left but a heap of smoldering ashes.
Let us notice, however, how God dealt with the penknife king. He had the burial of an ass (Jer. 22:18,19). The king was denied the glamorous burial belonging to a good sovereign. He was drawn outside the gates of Jerusalem, as the body of a dead ass is dragged and left to corruption and the beaks of the vultures.
Surely such a record constitutes a warning not to tamper with the Word of God. Yet many modern versions have used the penknife of liberalism and the penknife of the ecumenical movement to tamper with the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God. Yes, but the end is not yet in sight. As modern versions and perversions continue to cut out, rearrange, and change Scripture to suit themselves God’s eye is upon it all and His Word shall never pass away.
ITS AUTHORITY
The increasing efforts of men to do away with the Authorised King James Version of the Bible are directed against the authority of the Bible. Under the guise of “better translations,” “clearer readings,” “church authority,” “Christian tradition,” “later manuscripts,” and “helps for the reader” the corrupters of the Bible with their many perversions have sought to undermine the deity of Christ, the blood atonement, and other doctrines that offend the natural man.
You will notice that the modern versions have as their goal the “return to the original Greek texts.” The New American Standard Bible, for example, is based on Nestle’s Greek New Testament. Nestle’s text, as the Westcott and Hort text, is the classical Greek of Alexandrian scholarship, written in Italy. It is not the koine Greek of New Testament scholarship, written in Asia Minor. Nestle’s “original Greek” is built on the theory of Vaticanus (the Catholic manuscript which contains the seven corrupt books of the Apocrypha, never recognised by Jesus or Paul, and shows its source of corruption as Rome itself) as the most perfect text. Therefore “going to the Greek” to correct the Authorised King James Version involves running to Romanism to correct a Bible-believing Protestant translation.
Even since Adam fell there has been a bias in his descendants to listen to the Devil who repeats today what he said in the Garden of Eden, “Hath God said?”
The textual critics of our day, profoundly trained, called higher critics, are also saying, “Hath God said?” The more lofty textual scholars have so falsely put together the knowledge they have gained that our generation now doubts if there is a Bible it can completely trust and say with assurance, “God hath said.”
The Bible teaches “In the beginning God.” This is true of the Bible itself, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Tim. 3:16). As the Spirit of God “moved upon the face of the waters” in the day of creation (Gen. 1:2), so “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21). God is the Creator of the universe, the creator of man, and the Author of the Word of God, the Bible.
It is possible to know that behind all the marvellous creation of the universe there is a God, a Creator, but let us never forget that the God of creation is also the God of revelation.
Paul makes clear in 1 Cor. 2:9-14 that we can only receive and understand this Word as a supernatural revelation (vs. 10), given by supernatural illumination (vs. 11,12,14).
God has given us the inspired scriptures for a definite purpose as recorded in 2 Tim. 3:16, 17 so that man could have a sure authority and standard for his reproof and correction and for “furnishing” him for right and good living by a perfect rule. Paul made clear in speaking of the total unity of the Bible which would shortly be completed that “when that which is perfect is come” (1 Cor. 13) that is, the full and completed New Testament, then other temporary aids allowed to the earthly church would “be done away.”
The early church believers not only “received the word with all readiness of mind,” but they gave it the place of final authority, and searched “the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11). In their search for truth they did not turn to the evaluations of human reason, nor to the traditions and declarations of the church, but to the written Word of God.
— THE PEOPLES GOSPEL HOUR
THE WONDER OF THE BOOK
The wonder of the Book grows upon us as our experience is enlarged, for the more deeply we search it, the more we feel that the Bible is not merely a book, but The Book. It alone is the universal Book, the eternal Book, the Book for all time. It is the voice of the Lord. It stands alone, unapproachable in its grandeur, as high above all other books as heaven is above earth, or as the Son of God is above the sons of men.
THE WONDER OF ITS FORMATION
One of the first things about this Book that evokes our wonder is the very fact of its existence, for there was never any order given to any man to plan the Bible, nor was there ever any concerted plan on the part of the men who wrote to write the Bible. The way in which the Bible grew is one of the mysteries of our time. Little by little, century after century, it came out in fragments, written by various men, without any concerted arrangement. One wrote a part in Arabia, another in Syria, a third in Palestine, another in Greece and Italy, and the first part was written hundreds of years before the man who wrote the last part was born.
Here is a Book that took at least fifteen hundred years to write, spanning sixty generations of this world’s history. It enlarges our conceptions of God and gives us new ideas of His infinite patience as He watched the strain, the haste and restlessness of man across the feverish years, while slowly the great Book grew. Here a little, there a little, history, prophecy, poetry and biography, it came forth before a needy world in its finished completeness.
There was no pre-arrangement by men. It is not as if Matthew, Mark, Luke and John met in committee and after solemn conference and seeking for the leading of the Spirit, Matthew undertook to write of Christ as the King, and Mark agreed to write of Him as the Servant, Luke undertaking to delineate Him as the Man, and John determining to crown it all by writing of Him as the Son of God. It was not as if Paul and James met and after talking and praying about it agreed that Paul should write of the doctrinal and James of the practical aspects of the Christian faith. There is no trace of such a thing. They simply wrote as they were moved by the Spirit to meet a present need, to teach some glorious truth, to express some earnest longing, and from the aggregation of their writings came this miraculous unit that we call the New Testament.
THE WONDER OF ITS UNIFICATION
The Bible, though regarded as a Book, is in fact a library of sixty-six volumes written by between thirty and forty different authors, in three languages, on totally different topics and in extraordinarily different circumstances. One wrote history, another biography, one wrote on theology, another poetry, another prophecy, others on philosophy, jurisprudence, genealogy, ethnology, and narratives of wonderful journeys. Here in the Bible we have them all, in a little Book that a child can carry in its little hand. The strangest thing of all is that, although their subjects are so diverse and difficult, and although it was impossible for the man who wrote the first pages to have the slightest knowledge what others would write 1500 years later, yet this collection of writings is not only unified by men in one Book, but so unified by God, the Author, that we can never think of it today as anything else but one Book! And one Book it is indeed — the miracle of all literary unity.
THE WONDER OF ITS INTEREST
Another marvellous thing about this Book is that it is the only book in the world read by all classes and all sorts of people. Literary people rarely read a child’s book, and children do not read books of philosophy and science. There is but one Book that is read by the wisest of men, read to the little child, and read by the old man as he trembles on the brink of another world. Professor Dyson Hague asked the nurse what she was reading to his daughter, and she replied, “I am reading the story of Joseph in the Bible,” and the child added, “And please do not stop her, father.” She was listening with delighted interest to a story that had been written in Hebrew three thousand five hundred years before. Not far away from the same room where the child was listening, there sat one of the greatest of modern scientists, Sir William Dawson (a humble believer in the Lord Jesus Christ), reading with profound devotion and higher delight the pages of the same marvellous Book. Here is a phenomenon — one of the ablest of modern scientists delights in reading a Book which is the joy of a little child in the nursery!
THE WONDER OF ITS LANGUAGE
The Book was not written in the seats of learning, either at Athens in Greece or at Alexandria in Egypt, but in Palestine. Some of the writers were not distinguished for their scholarship. Some did not speak even their own language perfectly. Peter was betrayed by his Galilean dialect, and he and John were described in Acts 4:13 as “ignorant and unlearned men”. Many of the men who wrote the Bible were of that character. One was a farm-hand, another a shepherd, others were fishermen. They were men of no literary reputation, and yet by the mysterious power of God the Book has become the standard of language of the most literary nations of the world.
THE WONDER OF ITS PRESERVATION
The Bible has withstood ages of ferocious and incessant persecution. Century after century men have tried to burn it and to bury it and to extirpate it. Kings of the earth set themselves and rulers of the church have taken counsel together to destroy it. Diocletian the Roman Emperor inaugurated in AD 303 a terrific onslaught upon the Book. Bibles were destroyed, Christians were slain, and the Emperor boasted that the very name of the Christians was blotted out, and yet after a few years, the Bible came forth as Noah from the ark to repeople the earth, and in AD 325 Constantine enthroned the Bible as the Infallible Judge of Truth in the great council of the Church held in that year.
Later the Church of Rome denied the Scriptures to the people and for ages the Bible was practically an unknown book. Martin Luther was a grown man when he said that he had never seen a Bible in his life. No jailor ever kept a prisoner closer than the Church of Rome kept the Bible from the people.
The worst opposition of all has been during the last two hundred years, with rationalism and modernism seeking to undermine the authority, inspiration and inerrancy of the Holy Scriptures. It was Voltaire’s boast that within one hundred years of his death not a Bible would be found save as an antiquarian curiosity. Many more than one hundred years have passed, and other pens and other voices have joined in the attack, but the Bible remains and is being more widely distributed and used than ever before.
THE BIBLE IS SELF-AUTHENTICATING
You need no historical critic for God’s own Word. The Holy Spirit, who is the Author of the Book, makes it speak to our souls in such power as to give divine conviction. Men may arise to unsettle and destroy, but the Spirit of Christ comes to validate and confirm, with a certainty that is incommunicable by mere reason, and is impervious to the assaults of doubt. A preacher of old spoke of a poor woman who was challenged by an agnostic to prove that the Bible in her hand was God’s Word. She pointed to the sun and said, “Can you prove that there is a sun in the sky?” The unbeliever answered, “Of course, the proof is that it warms me and I see its light.” “That is it,” she replied, “and the best proof that this Book is the Word of God is that it warms and lights my soul.”
IT CANNOT BE IMPROVED
We do not gild gold. We do not paint rubies. We cannot brighten diamonds. Neither can any artist add any final touch to this finished Word of God. It stands as the sun in the sky and this proud age can add nothing to it. It has the glory of God and any attempt to improve it can but disfigure it. It speaks with authority and breaks upon you as the Voice from heaven. Five hundred times in the Pentateuch, three hundred times in the following books and twelve hundred times in the prophets, the declarations are prefaced or concluded with such expressions as “Hear the Word of the Lord”, or “Thus saith the Lord”. No other book dares thus to address itself to the universal conscience. No other speaks with such a binding claim or presumes to command the obedience of all mankind. The Book speaks to the inner conscience with the authority of God Himself.
IT IS LIVING AND POWERFUL
Men think of the Bible as a Book that was inspired, and this is true, but it is also true that it still comes sweeping into the hearts of men today, and the same breath of God that gave it life makes it living and spiritually energising today. This is a most remarkable and unique feature of the Bible — I feel that it is mine. Its promises are mine. The 103rd Psalm is not ancient Hebrew, it is a present day message to my soul. The other day I took up an old Bible that my mother gave me, in which years ago I had marked Genesis 28:15 when I was in great trouble and had to leave my wife and children and travel in quest of health in distant lands. One day as I opened the Bible at random these words came before my eye. Shall I ever forget the flood of comfort that swept over my soul as I read that verse? “Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again to this land.” All the critics in the world could never persuade my soul that those words were a mere echo of some far-off relic of a Babylonian legend or oriental myth. No, no! That was a message to me, and it swept into my soul as a voice from heaven and lifted me up. No man will ever shake me out of the conviction that that message was God’s own Word to me — inspiring because inspired.
IT REVEALS CHRIST
It changes men’s lives and alters their destinies. It inaugurates world-wide movements. A single text transformed Luther and launched the greatest of modern epochs. It comes today into communities of unrighteousness as a regenerating force.
The supreme wonder of the Book is Christ, Who is its fulness, its centre, its great subject. Of the whole Book it may be said, “The glory of God does lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof”. As long as men live upon the face of the globe, the Book that tells of Christ the Revealer, Redeemer, the Risen, Reigning, Returning Lord will draw men’s hearts like a magnet, and men will stand by it, and live for it, and die for it.
Do not think that we ought to read this Book as we read any other book, or study and analyse it just as we do any text book in literature or science. No! When you come to this Book, come to it with reverence. Read it with a plea for the Spirit’s help. “Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” Other books are of the earth. This is from heaven, it is the living Word of the Living God, Supernatural in origin, divine in authorship, regenerative in power, infallible in authority, personal in application, inspired in its every part.
(Summarised and selected from “The Wonder of the Book”
by Prof. Dyson Hague, M.A.)
CONCLUSION
Let us make ourselves very clear where we stand in relation to the Authorised Bible, God’s Word. We believe the A.V. Bible was translated by 47 scholars, men of God appointed to carry out this vital work. These men under the inspiration of The Holy Spirit translated from the Greek into English words, placing commas, etc., where necessary, thereby giving us the true meaning in our language. There is no room for alteration to words or commas, etc., as they stand in the A.V. Bible. So vital is this that God has distinctly warned against tampering with His Word. He has placed in our A.V. Bible these warnings. In Deut. 4:2a, “Ye shall not add unto the Word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it …. “; In Prov. 30:6a, “add thou not unto His Words” and in Rev. 22:18, 19, “(18) For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto l hese things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: (19) And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”
Let us here give one example of tampering with God’s Word, and how vital commas are in our English translation. In Heb. 10:12, the A.V. reads, “But this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God;” Some translations have placed the comma after sins making it read “After He had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down on the right hand of God” thus making the return of Our Lord impossible. This of course makes Roman Catholic doctrine, leaving the priests free to celebrate “mass” as often as they please, in spite of Our Lord Jesus Christ having offered one sacrifice for sins forever. Heb. 10:12.
We can be sure the A.V. is God’s infallible, inerrant, and no less inspired word than was the original Greek and Hebrew from which it was translated. Would God have neglected the preservation of His Pure Word?, if so, He certainly could not hold us responsible. He would have left us without a Bible in which we could place our trust, further more as few of us read and understand Greek, what an impossible position we would find ourselves in, in relation to our salvation.
All Things Must be Examined by the Scriptures
When we are confronted by some new doctrine, etc., we must do as the Bereans did, Acts 17:11. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.” In addition, we must, under the guidance of The Holy Spirit learn to “rightly divide the Word”. 2 Timothy 2:15.
We would further draw the attention of those who would seek to alter or improve (as they imagine) the A.V. by using some Greek text which does not agree with the A.V. if so there is only one place for the text, the waste paper basket, as you are probably using one of the many corrupt Greek texts, possibly Westcott and Hort’s. This has been altered and differs in something like five or six thousand places from the Received text from which the New Testament of The A.V. Bible was translated into English. We stand or fall on this Bible, God’s Word given to us in English.
Remember! God wrote only one Bible.
Paul said he did not adulterate the Word of God but presented it in all its purity. However, man today has corrupted it by adding to it through the rapid production of new translations, paraphrases, versions, perversions and amplifications of the Scriptures. The best that can be said for them all is that they are helping to increase sales in most Bible Book Stores and helping the publishers to make large profits. The Christians are left without their money and end up in greater confusion than ever.
Compiled by-
BIBLE TRUTH SOCIETY R.D. Oratia
Auckland
New Zealand
With grateful acknowledgement to our many friends in The Lord Jesus Christ, who, by their prayers and support have enabled us to carry on the fight against the Apostasy in the Churches, and the Masterpiece of Satan, the perversion of The Word of God.
Much more on Bible Versions Here
How We Know the Bible is the only Holy Book on Planet Earth [podcast]
Articles
Why the Apocrypha Isn’t in the Bible
MESSAGE GIVEN:
“I’m reading the apocrypha now and you can tell it’s definitely from the Bible and seems like it should be in there. I guess that is why God said in revelation if anyone changes or removes or adds anything to this Holy book all the plagues in it will come on them, cos he knew that it would happen.” V.
REPLY:
You are missapplying Revelation 22:18-19. God oversaw the canon of His Word, just as He promised to do in Ps 12:6-7. It’s exactly how He desired, ordained it to be in the King James Bible. To say God checked out, was negligent, is a lie, is bearing false witness, and is an indictment against the Almighty (Psalms 121:4; Daniel 4:32, etc.). There were specific reasons those apocryphal books were not included in the real Bible, as opposed to the catholic “bible.”
Roman Catholics may tell you, “You Protestants are missing part of the Bible. We have the rest of it.” [Note: These people’s leaders (popes, priests, etc.) have led them astray to this wrong belief.] This comment about missing books can throw people off, but it no longer has to. These popish additions to the Bible are commonly called the Apocrypha or sometimes the Deuterocanonical books. This is a short treatise on WHY these books are not in the Bible.
What is the Apocrypha anyway?
The Apocrypha is a collection of uninspired, spurious books written by various individuals. The Catholic religion considers these books as scripture just like a Bible-believer believes that the 66 books in the 1611 Authorized Version of the Bible are the Word of God, i.e., Genesis to Revelation. We are going to examine some verses from the Apocrypha later in our discussion.
At the Council of Trent (1546) the Roman Catholic institution pronounced the following apocryphal books sacred. They asserted that the apocryphal books together with unwritten tradition are of God and are to be received and venerated as the Word of God. So now you have the Bible, the Apocrypha and Catholic Tradition as co-equal sources of truth for the Catholic. In reality, it seems obvious that the Bible is the last source of truth for Catholics. Roman Catholic doctrine comes primarily from tradition stuck together with a few Bible names. In my reading of Catholic materials, I find notes like this: “You have to keep the Bible in perspective.” Catholics have been deceived into not believing that the Bible is God’s complete revelation for man [but they can come out of these deceptions in an instant if they will only believe the Bible as it is written].
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC APOCRYPHA
- Tobit
- Judith
- Wisdom
- Ecclesiasticus
- Baruch
- First and Second Maccabees
- Additions to Esther and Daniel
Apocryphal Books Rejected by the Catholic Religion:
- First and Second Esdras
- Prayer of Manasses
- Susanna*
*A reader says: “Susanna is in the Roman Catholic canon. It is Daniel 13.”
Why the Apocrypha Isn’t in the Bible.
Not one of the apocryphal books is written in the Hebrew language (the Old Testament was written in Hebrew). All Apocryphal books are in Greek, except one which is extant only in Latin.
None of the apocryphal writers laid claim to inspiration.
The apocryphal books were never acknowledged as sacred scriptures by the Jews, custodians of the Hebrew scriptures (the apocrypha was written prior to the New Testament). In fact, the Jewish people rejected and destroyed the apocrypha after the overthow of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
The apocryphal books were not permitted among the sacred books during the first four centuries of the real Christian church (I’m certainly not talking about the Catholic religion. The Roman Catholic “Church” is not Christian).
The Apocrypha contains fabulous statements which not only contradict the “canonical” scriptures but themselves. For example, in the two Books of Maccabees, Antiochus Epiphanes is made to die three different deaths in three different places.
The Apocrypha includes doctrines in variance with the Bible, such as prayers for the dead and sinless perfection. The following verses are taken from the Apocrypha translation by Ronald Knox dated 1954:
Basis for the doctrine of purgatory:
2 Maccabees 12:43-45, 2.000 pieces of silver were sent to Jerusalem for a sin-offering…Whereupon he made reconciliation for the dead, that they might be delivered from sin.
Salvation by works:
Ecclesiasticus 3:30, Water will quench a flaming fire, and alms maketh atonement for sin.
Tobit 12:8-9, 17, It is better to give alms than to lay up gold; for alms doth deliver from death, and shall purge away all sin.
Magic:
Tobit 6:5-8, If the Devil, or an evil spirit troubles anyone, they can be driven away by making a smoke of the heart, liver, and gall of a fish…and the Devil will smell it, and flee away, and never come again anymore.
Mary was born sinless (immaculate conception):
Wisdom 8:19-20, And I was a witty child and had received a good soul. And whereas I was more good, I came to a body undefiled.
It teaches immoral practices, such as lying, suicide, assassination and magical incantation.
No apocryphal book is referred to in the New Testament whereas the Old Testament is referred to hundreds of times.
Because of these and other reasons, the apocryphal books are only valuable as ancient documents illustrative of the manners, language, opinions and history of the East.
Wasn’t the Apocrypha in the King James Bible?
The King James translators never considered the Apocrypha the word of God. As books of some historical value (e.g., details of the Maccabean revolt), the Apocrypha was sandwiched between the Old and New Testaments as an appendix of reference material. This followed the format that Luther had used. Luther prefaced the Apocrypha with a statement:
“APOCRYPHA–THAT IS, BOOKS WHICH ARE NOT REGARDED AS EQUAL TO THE HOLY SCRIPUTRES, AND YET ARE PROFITABLE AND GOOD TO READ.” KING JAMES VERSION DEFENDED, PAGE 98.
In 1599, TWELVE YEARS BEFORE the King James Bible was published, King James himself said this about the Apocrypha:
“AS TO THE APOCRIPHE BOOKES, I OMIT THEM BECAUSE I AM NO PAPIST (AS I SAID BEFORE)…” KING JAMES CHARLES STEWART BASILICON DORON, PAGE 13
In his, “A Premonition to All Most Mightie Monarches,”–found in his Workes (a collection of the king’s writings)–King James said this–
“…IS IT A SMALL CORRUPTING OF THE SCRIPTURES TO MAKE ALL, OR THE MOST PART OF THE APOCRYPHA OF EQUALL FAITH WITH THE CANONICALL SCRIPTURES…?”
Not only this, but the sixth article of the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England (1571 edition. The Church of England published the Authorized King James Version) states that
(1) the Old and New Testaments are the Bible–
IN THE NAME OF THE HOLY, WE DO VNDERSTANDE THOSE CANONICAL BOOKES OF THE OLDE AND NEWE TESTAMENT, OF WHOSE AUTHORITIE WAS NEVER ANY DOUBT IN THE CHURCHE…
(2) the apocrypha is not the Bible–
AND THE OTHER BOOKES, (AS HIEROME SAYETH), THE CHURCHE DOTH READE FOR EXAMPLE OF LIFE AND INSTRUCTION OF MANNERS: BUT YET DOTH IT NOT APPLIE THEM TO ESTABLISH ANY DOCTRENE. PHILIP SCHAFF, CREEDS OF CHRISTENDOM. GRAND RAPIDS: BAKER BOOK HOUSE, 1977, VOL. III, PP. 489-491.
The Hampton Court Document came as a result of the famous Hampton Court Conference of 1604 when King James specially commanded the translation of the Bible that would one day bear his name. Concerning the apocrypha and the Church of England, it states–
THE APOCRYPHA, THAT HATH SOME REPUGNANCY TO THE CANONICAL SCRIPTURES, SHALL NOT BE READ…
Select Statutes and Other Constitutional Documents Illustrative of the Reigns of Elizabeth and James I, edited by G.W. Prothero, Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge, 1894, p. 416
The Apocrypha began to be omitted from the Authorized Version in 1629. Puritans and Presbyterians lobbied for the complete removal of the Apocrypha from the Bible and in 1825 the British and Foreign Bible Society agreed. From that time on, the Apocrypha has been eliminated from practically all English Bibles–Catholic Bibles and some pulpit Bibles excepted.
Not even all Catholic “Church Fathers” believed the Apocrypha was scripture.
Not that this really means anything. The truth is not validated by the false. Nevertheless, this may be of interest to some… Jerome (340-420) rejected the Apocrypha:
“AS THE CHURCH READS THE BOOKS OF JUDITH AND TOBIT AND MACCABEES BUT DOES NOT RECEIVE THEM AMONG THE CANONICAL SCRIPTURES, SO ALSO IT READS WISDOM AND ECCLESIASTICUS FOR THE EDIFICATION OF THE PEOPLE, NOT FOR THE AUTHORITATIVE CONFIRMATION OF DOCTRINE.” JEROME, JEROME’S PREFACE TO THE BOOKS OF SOLOMON
According to Edward Hills in The King James Version Defended p. 98 other famous Catholics with this viewpoint include Augustine (354-430 who at first defended the Apocrypha as canonical), Pope Gregory the Great (540-604), Cardinal Ximenes, and Cardinal Cajetan.
There are other spurious books.
These include the Pseudepigrapha which contains Enoch, Michael the Archangel, and Jannes and Jambres. Many spurious books falsely claim to have been written by various Old Testament patriarchs. They were composed between 200 B.C. and 100 A.D. There are lots of these spurious books like The Assumption of Moses, Apocalypse of Elijah, and Ascension of Isaiah.
Concerning the Dead Sea Scrolls, there may be some information in them that parallels the Masoretic Text, but there are fables in them, too. I went to see the scrolls a few years ago with great expectation but found a bunch of fables. The best defense against error in any form (unauthorized Bibles and religions) is a solid knowledge of the AUTHORIZED (King James) Version of 1611 of the Bible. If you read it, forgeries become readily apparent.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
King James VI & I Page
The Workes of the Most High and Mightie Prince Iames [James], By the Grace of God, King of Great Britaine, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c.
Translators Revived, Alexander McClure, p. 142
Bible Believing Study, Edward F. Hills, p. 15
The King James Version Defended, Edward F. Hills, p. 96, 97, 98
God Wrote Only One Bible, Jasper James Ray, p. 90
An Understandable History of the Bible, Dr. Samuel Gipp, p. 245
Making Peace with God | Bible Versions Issue | Why Did the 1611 KJV Include the Apocrypha? | THE NEW AMERICAN BIBLE OR DOUAY? Catholic “Bibles” Exposed | Lineage of the Modern Corrupt | The Catholic Church Exposed
Articles
What is the difference between a “Textus Receptus Man” and a “King James Man?”
It’s not so much about King James. It’s about the manuscripts from which it was translated. The Received Text, or Textus Receptus.
From “The Answer Book” ©1989 Samuel C. Gipp.
QUESTION: What is the difference between a “Textus Receptus Man” and a “King James Man?”
ANSWER: A “TR Man” gets his manuscripts from Antioch and his philosophy from Egypt.
EXPLANATION: Under Question #8 concerning Alexandria and Antioch it was pointed out that we derive two things from each of these locations. We derive manuscripts and an ideology through which we judge those manuscripts.
From Alexandria we receive corrupted manuscripts, tainted by the critical hand of Origen. We also receive an ideology that believes the Bible to be divine, but not perfect, not without error.
From Antioch we receive the pure line of manuscripts culminating in what is known as the “Received Text” or Textus Receptus. We also receive the ideology that the Bible is not only Divine, but perfect, without error.
1. Most Bible critics do not believe that the Bible is perfect (The Alexandrian Ideology). They usually also accept the Alexandrian manuscripts as superior to those of Antioch.
2. A King James Bible believer accepts the Antiochian manuscripts or Textus Receptus as superior to the Alexandrian. They also accept the Antiochian Ideology in that they accept the Bible as infallible and do not believe it contains any errors or mistranslations and that it cannot be improved.
3. A Textus Receptus man also accepts the Antiochian manuscripts or Textus Receptus as superior to the Alexandrian. But a Textus Receptus man accepts the Antiochian manuscripts yet he views them with the Alexandrian Ideology.
He does not accept any translation as perfect and without error. He generally feels that the King James is the best translation but can be improved. He usually stumbles at Acts 12:4 and states that it is a mistranslation.
This contradiction is NOT the result of a bad or dishonest heart so much as it is the result of a bad education. Most Textus Receptus men have been taught by others who have been deceived into accepting, unconsciously, the Alexandrian Ideology.
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Apostasy
Penknife Sacrilege [podcast]
When Bible Burning Backfires [podcast]
Bible Burners in the Modern Church World: Butchering the Word of God for Self-Serving Purposes
(excerpt from the book LIE of the Ages)
Forsaking the Full-Counsel of God
“And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire (this is what is happening today in our churches) that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. Yet they were not afraid (no fear of God), nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words.” Jeremiah 36:23-24
- “Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife” – like Jehudi, many today only read till they see something they don’t like in God’s Word.
- “until all the roll was consumed in the fire” – one either receives God’s Word as a whole or he rejects it all.
- “they were not afraid” – “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:18) Rebels reject God’s Word with impunity and “judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life.” (Acts 13:46)
At this dark time in the history of Israel, the Scriptures had been lost and out of circulation among the people of God. Then they were found and read before the king, king Jehoiakim (the son of Josiah) and his servants. As a result, conviction of sin came and certain parts of God’s Word were rejected and thrown into the fire to be vanished out of their presence. Read Jeremiah 36.
This is a fascinating occurrence captured in Jeremiah 36 that is transpiring today in full scale, perpetrated by false leaders (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
Satan was the original corrupter of God’s words and is behind all such rebellion in our day (Genesis 3:1, 4, etc.).
Be careful of those who carefully select Bible verses/promises while intentionally dodging the “hard truths” found throughout Holy Scripture. Such a person who siphons selectively is a wolf. Such a manipulator is positioning you in order to deceive you and to perpetrate their own self-serving purpose, not God’s (Philippians 3:18-19). For example: People know Jeremiah 29:11 but not v. 13 … or Luke 9:23-24…. amazing deception! Share this!
2 PARTIES GUILTY HERE: Just as it was in the days of the prophet Jeremiah, so today, many “kings,” that is, those in spiritual authority, and “servants” who claim to follow Christ, are allowing the Word of God to be diminished, distorted, damaged, denied, disdained, desecrated and dodged. Many of our leaders and those they lead are spiritual swine who refuse to “rend their hearts” in repentance of this travesty and trampling of that which is holy (Joel 2:13; Matt. 7:6). Instead of acknowledging and embracing the whole of the Word of God as we have been so privileged to have received, like the king of Judah in Jeremiah’s day, some are cutting out and denying those parts of Scripture which don’t line up with their denominational tradition. These deceitful workers refuse to lay down their lives and call upon the LORD to circumcise their hearts. They refuse to mortify the sins of the flesh in the fear of God. Those listening will never know what is being intentionally avoided and left out of their messages – unless they embark upon the blessed adventure of learning and knowing intimately the Holy Scriptures (Jer. 23:18; Jn. 5:39; 2 Tim. 2:15; 1 Pet. 2:2).
Jeremiah 36 summated: In this chapter we read how Jehoiakim king of Judah, burned the scroll where the Word of the LORD was written. Then God pronounced judgment on him (Jeremiah 36:29-31). You can burn God’s Word – ignore it, butcher it, read a fake version of it, etc. – yet that doesn’t change one iota the impending doom coming on those who refuse to obey Him (John 8:47). Denying, ignoring, evading, or destroying a Bible changes nothing – other than the wrath coming on those who do so (Proverbs 30:5-6; Jeremiah 36:29-31; Revelation 22:18-19).
Of this magnificently revealing Bible chapter, F.B. Meyer wrote:
“These written words had been directly given from God, Jeremiah 36:18. The fast was instituted to seek divine help in the approaching conflict with Nebuchadnezzar. But of what good is a fast while the evils of apostasy and disobedience are unredressed? It was against these that Jeremiah protested; and his words were read to a vast concourse of people by Baruch his faithful friend. It was the month of December, and the royal chamber was warmed by a brazier of burning charcoal. As Jehudi read, the godless king cut the roll with a penknife and consigned it to the fire. All down the ages false priests have dealt thus with the Word that condemned them. But a sailor does not escape shipwreck by destroying the chart which indicates the rocks on which he is drifting. God’s words are eternal, though the material on which they are written may perish. He who rejects God’s truth does so at his peril, while God hides His faithful servants in the secret of His presence, secure from the attacks of enemies.”
The tragedy is that many of those claiming to be the “servants” of the LORD, namely those who are not in the pulpits, refuse to discern and raise the red flag in protest of “another gospel” being preached (2 Corinthians 11:1-4; Galatians 1:6-9). Not only do they not object to falsehood by raising biblically-based questions, they financially support and promote these false teachings and teachers by attending churches that pick and choose what they will and will not acknowledge from God’s Word. The LORD holds us accountable for such (Isaiah 5:20-24). Believers are never to bid God speed (endorse or condone in any way) to any form of false gospel nor person peddling such (2 John 10-11).
“If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.” 2 John 10-11
As it was in Jeremiah’s day, so it is today. There are those who will stand against the deceptions which are causing many to fall and leading millions astray. There is no doubt that eternal Hell is full of those who were (like the “kingdom of heaven” which Jesus likened to five wise and five foolish virgins – Matthew 25) once truly saved and did not endure to the end of their lives trusting and obeying the LORD with all their hearts, but rather allowed their heart lamps to run low and ultimately leak out the oil of His presence that was once there (Matthew 25:1-13). This was a parable of warning from our LORD Jesus. These foolish virgin believers did not pursue depth of relationship with Christ – they weren’t “planted by the rivers of water” (Psalm 1:3). The five foolish virgins had “received Christ Jesus the LORD” and yet did not continue to walk in Him nor did they choose to become “Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith” (Col. 2:6-7). These who counted other things more important than their relationship with the Bridegroom, didn’t choose to endure persecutions and various sufferings associated with the true Christian life and allow Him to “perfect (mature), stablish, strengthen, settle” them in His grace (1 Peter 5:10). They didn’t stay in intimate communion with the LORD they were espoused to but rather took the path of least resistance and lived according to the flesh, breaking their engagement with the Bridegroom (Jeremiah. 3:8; Amos 6:1, 9:10; Luke 12:35-40; 21:34-36; Revelation 3:15-16, etc.).
Being Planted and Flourishing
It takes a whole Bible to make a whole, a complete disciple and Church!
Healthy fruitfulness is the sign of life and nourishment. As the roots of a tree go down into the earth, absorbing vital nutrients for healthy fruit-bearing and growth, so the believer who roots himself in the King and His kingdom, receives nourishment and grows and prospers. He grows and becomes stronger and stronger (Psalms 84:7). The LORD promised us that we would “flourish in the courts of our God,” “bring forth fruit,” and not grow faint and weary if we remained in the heart posture of hungering and thirsting after His righteousness and “planted in the house of the LORD” (92:13). See also Matthew 5:6; Luke 18:1; Galatians 6:9 and Hebrews 6:11-12.
“Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; To show that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.” Psalms 92:13-15
May the Lord be praised for those who are calling leaders to repentance for their doctrinal atrocities, for purposely avoiding hard truths in order to grow their own church businesses. The Almighty sees all and for this evil He will judge:
“Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll: but he would not hear them. 26 But the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take (capture, incarcerate) Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet: but the LORD hid them.” Jeremiah 36:25-26
God hid His faithful servants then and does so today. The only safety is to be in the pure truth of God.
“Every word of God is pure: he is a shield (protector) unto them that put their trust in him. 6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” Proverbs 30:5-6
These men (Elnathan, Delaiah, Gemariah) feared God, not man . They boldly beseeched the king not to cut out any part of the words of God – never to alter God’s word (Revelation 22:18-19). Are we beseeching leaders not to ignore any part of God’s Word? Are we cutting out, denying or dodging any truth we read in the Scriptures? Are you pandering to, using, and/or defending Satan’s corrupt version of God’s pure Word? Are we willing to elevate the LORD and His Word above all else and confront leaders for their refusal to teach His full-counsel from His preserved Word? (Psalms 12:6-7)
Of this incident, Adam Clarke wrote:
“Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah – Three of the princes wished to save the roll, and entreated the king that it might not be burnt. They would have saved it out of the fire, but the king would not permit it to be done.”
Does this incident not align with today’s purists, who seek to get God’s people back to His pure Word, the King James Bible? Yet many deceived souls battle to defend the enemy’s corrupt “bibles.”
“And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Acts 17:10-11
Note here that these “more noble” disciples of Christ refused to simply believe everything Paul the apostle stated before they personally verified such in the Scriptures. They put everything he said to the acid test of Holy Scripture – “they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” They were being wise instead of naive like many today who are quite frankly overtly gullible. These Berean believers took and compared Paul’s doctrine to the Scriptures to see if the apostle’s message was from God’s Word.
“I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.” Psalms 138:2
No leader alive today possesses more kingdom authority than the apostle Paul did. And yet, the Christians at Berea acid-tested what Paul stated against God’s Word to see if it were true or if it were false. They magnified the Word of God above any man’s teachings – “yea, let God be true, but every man a liar” (Romans 3:4).
As you can see from this account in Jeremiah 36, selective penknife sacrilege is no new thing. In fact, it started in the Garden when Satan added one word to God’s Word/statement concerning sin (Genesis 2:17; 3:4). Adding to or taking away from God’s Word brings the ultimate death sentence (Revelation 22:18-19).
Is this not exactly what we are warned about in the very end of the Bible?
“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” Revelation 22:18-19
More penknife sacrilege or taking away of God’s Word: The NIV removes 64,000 words from God’s Word. This is due to the fact that it is taken from the diabolically corrupted (few) manuscripts as are all new versions. See Bible Versions page on this site.
The believers living in the city of Berea are a glorious example of what the LORD desires in all of us – a noble heart that believes nothing unless they dig it out of His Word for themselves! Saint, consider making Acts 17:10-11 your focal text this week. Memorize it. Meditate upon it. Highlight, underline, and cross-reference this vital passage with other like verses. Pour over this text until it begins to take root in your understanding.
Some who claim Christ as Savior do not want all of God’s Word, only those parts which coincide with the lifestyle they are living. Many would rather buy into doctrines foreign to Scripture, teachings which do not demand death to the self-life. They migrate to teachings which place their lives at ease and do not call for repentance from sin. These teachings pander and grant license to those who do not possess the love of the truth. The uncircumcised heart chooses to please its own evil desires instead of honoring the LORD and His Word. We must delight in and endure sound, full-counsel Bible doctrine and love the change the Potter will bring as we allow Him to pour the water of His Spirit upon our hearts, making them pliable putty in His holy hands (Jeremiah 18:6).
Those who have been schooled in the “once saved always saved” message will have a decision to make after reading the myriad of irrefutable Scriptures in this volume, Lie of the Ages. The OSAS adherent will be faced with the decision of whom to trust – his favorite pastor, doctrine, denomination, or God. Divine wisdom instructs us in this way:
“Let God be true and every man a liar.” Romans 3:4
“There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against (equal to) the Lord.” Proverbs 21:30
“For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.” Psalms 119:89
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6
If you are ready and willing to embrace the purity and fullness of God’s truth and relinquish this ungodly, anti-biblical, unholy, license-to-sin teaching from your life, from a humble heart, repeat the following prayer aloud and from your heart:
Dear Father in Heaven, I truly love You. Thank You for finding and saving me through the blood of Your Son and for continually leading me into all truth about Yourself. Thank You kindly for all the grace and mercy you have shown me. I hereby repent of and denounce the unconditional eternal security lie and all its effects upon my life and those around me. Please forgive me for ever buying into this lie. I begin now to embrace the truth of Your Word, Your full-counsel. Please forgive me for believing this falsehood which is not taught in Your Word. Help me to discern truth from error. Restore to me the fear of the LORD. Father, please teach me Your ways and Your wisdom in all things pertaining to Your kingdom as I seek Your holy face and study Your words. In Jesus’ holy name. Amen.
There is virtually no end to the Bible truth that can be unearthed and studied to expose this lie of the ages as diabolical in origin and intent. Our Great Shepherd informed us that the enemy, the father of lies, has come to steal, kill and to destroy (John 8:44; 10:10).
The Word of God is absent of any such teaching as an unconditional eternal security. This teaching is no where to be found in Holy Writ except as the message of Satan and the false shepherds. In light of this, may God bless us to study what He has given us in His Word and apprehend His mind. May He grant us to have no other agenda but to know Him and His truth and to forsake all we have previously espoused which does not align with His Word.
Suggestions:
1. Get a King James Bible (accept no substitute – see BIBLE VERSIONS button on this ministry site).
2. Get up early and embark upon seeking the LORD’s face in Bible study and prayer communion.
3. Fast and pray regularly, pouring over Isaiah 58.
PRAYER: LORD, please make my heart tender with Your grace. I choose to magnify Your Word above the counsel of all others! Forgive my sin of ever dodging or ignoring anything from Your Word. From this moment forward, I count Your holy truth above the words of any and all mere men. Cleanse me with Your blood and Word, for my allegiance and loyalty is to You Jesus. I embrace the fullness of Thy counsel and despise all that does not align. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Doctrine | The Lunatic and the Letter | Fake News “bibles” Busted!
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