Temple Baptist Church - 9-2-2015
2 John 1-2
Introduction:
A. Last week, we looked at the importance of truth. Do
we have the inerrant, infallible Word of God? God said that we did!
Tonight, I want to look at the embodiment of the Truth or God’s Word.
John 8:31-32 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; (32) And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
1. If we are to be assured of salvation, we must have the Word of God and know where it is. 1 John 5:13
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the
Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may
believe on the name of the Son of God.
2. If we are to live by “every word,” we must have the Word of God and know where it is. Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
3. If we are to be doctrinally correct, we must have the Word of God and know where it is. 2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
B. How do we know that we have the right English bible and the one and only English bible? It
is a legitimate question and needs both a biblical and a logical
answer. How do we know for sure that we stand right in light of the
many different bible versions on the shelf? I do not know just how many
English versions of the bible that there are but it is in excess of 50.
C. Fundamental bible believers accept only one and that is the authorized King James Bible. We that stand for the old King James Bible
have been slandered and belittled for simply believing what God said.
We take our doctrine from the bible itself, not from men. We are
called:
1. A King James Cult by ignorant people who
do not even know the definition of a cult. We are not cultic, we are
followers of the Lord Jesus Christ as shown to us in His Word! 1 John 3:21-24 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. (22) And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. (23) And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. (24) And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.
2 Timothy 1:13-14 Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. (14) That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.
Jude 3
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common
salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
2. Ruckmanites – If you believe in one Bible that is inspired and perfectly preserved, the liberals link you to Peter
S. Ruckman. If he was a bible believer, he would not be thrice married
and still in a pulpit! He also teaches double inspiration while we
teach a single act of inspiration and a continuing perfect preservation
(preservation is an act of God) which keeps the inspiration intact!
3. Divisive – We are not divisive, but God is! God gives neither liberty nor leeway to any man to correct or change God’s Word! Matthew 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
John 10:19 There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings.
4. Narrow minded – We are neither narrow minded nor are we broad minded. We are bible mindful! We are separatists! Romans 16:17
Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and
offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
1 Corinthians 2:13
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom
teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things
with spiritual.
5. Ignorant and unlearned men – I
neither count myself either ignorant or unlearned. Though I do not
have all of the answers, I do believe that I have a “good handle” on the
Bible. I certainly am not a novice and am a student of the Bible. Men
fault me because I do not follow their liberal teaching! The Bible was
never questioned until the introduction of the Wescott-Hort Text. But,
if they want to call me ignorant and unlearned, they put me in with
some of the greatest men of God who ever lived. Men who had “been with
Jesus!” Acts 4:13
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that
they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took
knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: (27)
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the
things which are mighty; (28) And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: (29) That no flesh should glory in his presence. (30) But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: (31) That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
6. Bible believers have been called many things but I thank God we have never been called liberal!
WHICH BIBLE? WHY DO WE BELIEVE THAT THE KING JAMES BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD AND NOT OTHER TRANSLATIONS?
1. Because Of God’s Promise Of Both Divine Inspiration And Perfect Preservation. If the Word of God is not the King James Bible, then where is it?
a. The Bible declares
that the Word of God was given only once and they preserved it through
divine providence! The Lord brought up the subject of divine Bible
preservation, not man. Bible preservation is therefore a Bible doctrine
that needs to be taught and preached!
1 Samuel 3:19 And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.
Psalms 12:6-7 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
Matthew 5:18
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one
tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
2 Peter 1:19 We
have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye
take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day
dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
b. Bible preservation, according to Scripture is verbal pertaining to the words of God and not the doctrines only.
Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (No
place in the Word of God is room left for error or mistranslation!
This is a man-made doctrine and is contrary to clear biblical teaching.)
c. If verbal preservation is so, and the Bible says it is,
then we must have the very Word of God in our hands if we have the
right bible. Now, the question will arise: “Which version is the right
one?” Many different people use many different versions and divine
inspiration and preservation demand that there only be one Bible for the
English speaking people. Things that are different are still not the
same!
d. If Bible preservation is an act of God and the Bible says that it is according to Psalm 12:6-8, then the King James Bible must be the Word of God.
Psalms 12:6-7 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever. (Before
the Catholic Text [found in St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mt. Sinai and
found in the Vatican’s Library in Rome] was found and the New Testament
translated from those manuscripts, 270 years had gone by since the
translation of the King James Bible. That would mean that an inferior
text which produced an inferior Bible would have been the Word of God
for the English speaking people for 270 years! Wrong!)
2. Because The King James Bible Has No Copyright! The text
of the KJV may be reproduced by anyone for there is no copyright
forbidding its duplication. This is not true with the modern versions.
COPYRIGHT,
n. The sole right which an author has in his own original literary
compositions; the exclusive right of an author to print, publish and
vend his own literary works, for his own benefit; the like right in the
hands of an assignee.
Psalms 68:11 The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.
Matthew 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. (You can print the bible from your own computer and give it to anyone you want.)
3. Because The King James Bible Was Translated During The Philadelphian Church Age. (Revelation 3:7-13)
a. The modern versions begin to appear rather late on the scene as the lukewarm Laodicean period got underway (Revelation 3:14-22), but the KJV was produced way back in 1611, just in time for the many great revivals (1700-1900). (The
greatest missions’ outreach that the world has ever known was “fueled”
by the King James Bible! As far as I can discern, no great revival has
ever come from preaching from modern “bibles.” Why would God allow the
Reformation Period, Revivals and mission’s outreaches of England,
Scotland, Wales, etc. be left with an inferior Bible off of an inferior
text?)
b. The Philadelphia church was the only one that did not receive a rebuke from the Lord Jesus Christ, and it was the only church that "kept" God's word.
Revelation 3:8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
4. Because of the text from which it comes! There are two major lines of manuscripts.
a. The Textus Receptus or Received Text from which we get our King James Bible. (This was the Majority Text with over 99% of extant manuscripts in agreement with it.)
b. The Wescott-Hort Text or Critical Text from which other versions come. (This was the Minority Text with less than 1% of all extant manuscripts agreeing with it and they disagreed with each other.)
c. There are over 5,000 differences between these two lines of text! Both cannot be the Word of God.
d. The time of the translation of the King James is further proof that it is the right Bible from the right line of texts! (During the critical years of the Reformation, Revival, and one of the greatest eras of mission’s outreaches!)
e. If the Westcott-Hort Text is the right one, then
why was it either not available (and it was) or not used in the
greatest translation work in the world? It was rejected by the
translators as corrupt!
5. Because Of The Confusion and division That The Other Versions Have Caused!
a. Different versions cause confusion in reading. 1 Timothy 4:13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. (Here
at Temple, we begin our services by reading chapters of Scripture in
unison. Can you imagine the confusion with many different versions
being read? As a child, I remember when God’s people read the Bible
just as we do with no problem at all because the newer so-called
“bibles” were not accepted by the churches.)
b. Different versions cause confusion in memorization. Psalms 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (Which
Word and does it make a difference? I believe that it does make a
difference! We have our children memorize Scripture in VBS. We had a
family once at Temple who intentionally told their children to memorize
the NIV because of their rebellion. I rewarded the children though they
memorized the wrong version because it was the parent’s fault. How
ungodly and rebellious!)
c.
Different versions cause the preacher to not be able to expound or
preach upon individual words within a text because other member’s
versions may or may not have them. 2 Timothy 2:9 Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound. (Different
versions limit the effectiveness of expository preaching! If we are to
live by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God then we must
have every word and those words would have to be the same words.)
d. Different versions cause division and strife. 1 Corinthians 1:10 Now
I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye
all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but
that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same
judgment.
James 3:16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. (There
was no division or strife concerning God’s Word among Christian before
the new versions. It was the new versions that caused the problem, not
the Bible believers who stood for the King James Bible.)
e. God is neither the Author of confusion nor strife! 1 Corinthians 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
6. Because Of The Authority Problem Other Bible Cause. If there are many Bibles, then you can pick and choose to suit your own particular beliefs.
a. Four things can be your authority spiritually:
1) The Church – this is Catholicism
2) Personal Experience – this is Pentecostalism
3) Human Reason – this is Intellectualism
4) The Bible – this is Fundamentalism
b. If the Bible is our Final Authority and I believe that it is, then we must have one that is right! (The other versions disagree with the King James and, therefore, correct the Authority!)
c. If the Bible is not our Final Authority, then man can do that which is right in his own eyes and man becomes the authority!
Romans 3:4
God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is
written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest
overcome when thou art judged.
7. Because The Introduction Of The New Versions Have Brought About A serious Deterioration In Spirituality.
a. There has never been a major revival using
another version other than the King James. This lack of Spiritual
Revivals has brought about a Sinful Revolution within “Christendom!”
Churches are now permeated with the sins that God’s Word condemns and
the sinful are comfortable!
b. When other versions are introduced and used, all standards of holiness begin a serious decline! Worldly music, worldly dress, and worldly people are now catered to.
8. Because The King James Bible Produces Good Fruit.
Matthew 7:17-20
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree
bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,
neither [can] a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that
bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. (No modern translation can compare to the KJV when it comes to producing good fruit.
For nearly four hundred years, God has used the preaching and teaching
of the KJV to bring hundreds of millions to Christ. Laodicean Christians
might favor the new versions, but the Holy Spirit doesn't.)
9. Because The King James Bible Exalts The Lord Jesus Christ.
a. John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
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