The Bible: Preserved

The Bible: Preserved

April 8, 2007

Mike Larsen

Adult Sunday School

Psalm 119:160

Open your Bible to

Introduction: I spoke last time about the Bible being the Inspired Word of God. The Holy Spirit of God moved on Holy men of God and provided the scriptures. God’s Holy Word for all ages. God’s truth about His creation and His plan for it. In the Bible we see our place in God’s plan and our purpose in life. God’s Word not only tells us of the History of the world, (HIS STORY) but it also tells us of the future of the world. It not only tells us what not to do, it tells us how to live our lives today as well. It not only gave the way of salvation to the lost in the 2^nd century but it gives the way of salvation to the 21^st century. It is the Word of God that converts the soul we saw last week. If people are to be saved and added to God’s family tomorrow, and the next, and the next, until the Lord comes, then the Word of God must be available still. For the future Christians to have the lamp unto their feet and the light unto their path then the Word of God must be available to them as well. The God who inspired His Holy Word also has preserved it for all generations. That is why we can know we have the Word of God today! Today we will look at the preservation of Gods Word.

The Old Testament was recorded in Hebrew and the New Testament was recorded in Greek. Here is the statement from the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith. It is also the same in the Philadelphia confession of 1742.

Paragraph 8. The Old Testament in Hebrew (which was the native language of the people of God of old),14 and the New Testament in Greek (which at the time of the writing of it was most generally known to the nations), being immediately inspired by God, and by His singular care and providence kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentic; so as in all controversies of religion, the church is finally to appeal to them.15 But because these original tongues are not known to all the people of God, who have a right unto, and interest in the Scriptures, and are commanded in the fear of God to read,16 and search them,17 therefore they are to be translated into the vulgar language of every nation unto which they come,18 that the Word of God dwelling plentifully in all, they may worship Him in an acceptable manner, and through patience and comfort of the Scriptures may have hope.19

At the time of the writing of the 1689 confession of faith the church believed the scripture in Hebrews and Greek had been maintained pure by God. (still preserved). The exact same statement is in the 1742 confession so at that time the church still acknowledged that the Word of God was preserved. So America had been given the Word of God in it’s original form. Preserved for us.

I. God’s Word endures forever! Old Testament preserved!

A. God’s Word endures forever

Psalm 119:160. Thy Word is true and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth FOREVER. Psalm 119:152 Concerning thy testimonies I have known of old that thou has founded them forever. Psalm 119:144 The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting. Yes God has promised that his Word would endure forever but not just his Word but His individual words!

B.      Every Word

Deut 4:10 Hear my words
Deut 5:22 These words the Lord spake and wrote on the tables of Stone
Deut 6:6    These words, which I command you this day
Deut 8:3    Man does not live by bread alone but by every word.
Deut 12:28 Observe and hear all these words
Deut 29:9    Keep the words of this covenant…

God says keep the words of this covenant. How can we keep the words of God’s covenant if we do not have them? They must be preserved for us today for us to keep them. We read the 10 Commandments. The law is the schoolmaster that brings us to Christ. We must have the preserved law today if that law is to have the power to bring us to Christ.

II. Christ validated that the Old Testament was preserved accurately

A. Luke 4:4. Christ uses the Word of God from the Old Testament when He was tempted by the devil with food. Deuteronomy 8:3 was written in the 1400’s BC. Since Jesus quoted from it he verified that it had been preserved accurately up to that point.

B. Mat 19:4-5 Jesus verified that Genesis was still preserved accurate up to that point

C. Mat 24:37-39 Jesus verified that the story of Noah was true and accurately preserved up to that point. The flood happened about 1656 years after creation. Moses wrote Genesis in about 1450 BC and then Jesus quotes it as accurate 1480 years later. Still preserved.

D. Mat 12:40-41 Here is another literal event that the modern day liberals refuse believe. Jesus confirms it really happened in this passage and as such he confirms that the scripture was still preserved. Jonah took that ride in the belly of the great fish around 780 BC. Great spiritual truths are learned from this event! (unless you have been duped into tearing it out of your Bible)

E. Luke 17:29-32 The story of Sodom and Gomorrah are despised by the perverted of our day. The passage referred to in Genesis 19 and many others convict of the sin of homosexuality. It makes it clear what God thinks about it so the modern world screams in hatred of it. They can not and will not have it! Those same people try to say they love Jesus and Jesus loves them.

Jesus confirms the truth of the event including what happened to Lots wife (becoming a pillar of salt). Jesus quotes the event as written, once again assuring us that the Word to that point was still preserved.

On a side note, read verse 33 – 36. The sudden end times event will catch people in bed, in the field working and preparing meals. How can this be? Because the Earth is round!

Yes Christ verifies that the Old Testament is preserved accurately. He referred to it, taught it, and fulfilled it’s teaching!

III. Christ had a high view of scripture

A. Mat 5:18-20 Jesus said not one jot or tittle shall pass from the law… Jesus is validating that the law they were reading and teaching to their children was still preserved and accurate.

B. Luke 16:17 Jesus says it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to pass away. He is again showing how important every word of the law is and it is still preserved.

IV. Jesus ensures the New Testament will be inspired and preserved

A. John 14:23-26 Jesus is teaching His disciples in the upper room. He is telling them that he is going to leave but that he will send the Holy Spirit to guide them. Jesus is requiring that His word be kept in verse 23 -24. Then he promises that the Holy Spirit will bring all His words to their remembrance so they could preach the Word and author the New Testament of the Holy Writ. Verse 26 (remember 2 Pet 1:19-20? Holy men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit?)

B. John 16:8-15 The Holy Spirit was sent to do the work of God in the hearts of men after Jesus left. He reproves of Sin, righteousness and judgment. He also leads us to all truth. He does that through the proclamation of Gods Word. Jesus told His disciples that people will hate them and kill them because Jesus exposed their sin to them. They will hate the disciples because they hate God. However because of the work of the Holy Spirit men would believe.

Jesus told His disciples that the Holy Spirit would guide them as they established the church (shewing them what they needed to know and do) The Holy Spirit of God moved upon these Holy men of God to teach and preach the Word of God. Those activities and instructions are preserved in the Holy Writ of the New Testament.

C. 1 Cor 2:12-16 We have not received the spirit of the world but the spirit of God! This passage is talking about God giving us true wisdom. This spirit here is the idea of the mind of God. How do we get the mind of God? How do we have that understand and knowledge of God? We know it by the study of God’s word. As we study God’s word the Holy Spirit reveals to us the understanding of all things!

D. 1 Cor 14:37 Paul knew that his writings and teachings were of God

E. 1 Pet 1:23-25 The word of the Lord endures forever! The Word to last forever has to be preserved for us today. Peter is referencing Isaiah 40:8 so the prophecy of Isaiah is still being proclaimed by Peter. Man is like the grass and the glory of the man is the flower. No matter how great a man is he will die, however the Word of the Lord and those bon again by it will never die!

F. 1 Pet 2:2 We grow by the Word of God. The scripture tells us to desire to learn the word of God. To “study to show ourselves approved” it says in another passage. All that implies that the Word of God will be preserved for us to do that.

G. 2 Pet 3:1&2 Peter is qualifying his epistles as scripture. He says they were written to remind us to harken unto the words of the earlier profits AND to obey the commands of the Apostles of the Lord.

H. 2 Pet 3:15-16 Here Peter counts Paul’s writings as scripture.

V. How did God Preserve the His Word

A. Old Testament God used His people. God commended His word to the Nation of Israel. The instructions were strong and clear from Moses to teach them diligently to their children. They needed to have the scripture memorized so they would not sin against God in the Promised Land. God used Scribes to copy the Holy Writ perfectly for generations. Since the people knew the scriptures so well (As we should) if a scribe tried to change one jot or tittle the people would certainly kill the scribe. God’s people painstakingly kept the Word of the Lord preserved. Jesus verified they did a good job by quoting it and teaching from it during His ministry on earth.

The Old Testament was written in Hebrew. Current day critics do not attack the Old Testament Hebrew texts too much because it is clear that Jesus believed them. To attack that would be calling Jesus a liar.

B. New Testament? God also uses His people, the church, to preserve His word in our time. The church has been given the responsibility to uphold the truth. The epistles tell the church how to organize, how to lead the people, how to discipline, what is acceptable behavior, etc.. 1 Tim 3:15 The church is called the House of God, the Church of the living God and the pillar and ground of truth. Notice it did not say the church was the truth but the “Pillar and Ground of Truth” The ground is the foundation and the pillars hold it up. Jesus is the truth and His Word is truth. We are to be good stewards with it. The New Testament was completed in the original Greek around 100 AD. Many men have been used by God to get us to the Bible we use today in English. Many have died a martyr’s death such as William Tyndale who translated his New Testament into English in 1525. As he was being murdered he prayed that God would open the King of England’s eyes. His dream was that, “The boy who drives the plow would know more of the scriptures than the clergy of his day”. God did open the King’s eyes and in 1611 the King James Bible was produced. The Printing Press and the King James Bible were of monumental importance!

VI. Which Bible? As a new believer you must be thinking, “Why are there so many different Bibles”? I agree with you! We only need one in English considering God has preserved His Holy Word for us to obey perfectly. Right? Wouldn’t you want them all to say the same thing? Wouldn’t you want to memorize the scripture as a group of believers? Wouldn’t you want it so that no matter where a person goes to church the same God is preached and the same Bible is taught? The logical answer to all that is Yes!

A. For hundreds of years the Church basically had one Bible in English. That Bible was translated from the Traditional Hebrew and Greek texts that the Church had recognized and was based upon. The Greek was called the Textus Receptus or received text and it was the common language.

B. The King James is translated word for word (as much as possible) from the received Greek text. This Greek text was the agreed upon standard for the Church coming out of the reformation period. Forty-seven (47) scholars were put to the task of translating the King James Bible and it is conceded by competent literary critics, Christian or otherwise, to be the greatest single piece of English literature ever produced. Obviously the spiritual impact of the King James Bible on the world has been enormous. The great revivals came from the preaching of God’s word using this book. The rise of the United States of America was on the back of this Bible as well. It is true the Geneva Bible came over with the Mayflower but it was the prolific King James that became our Bible as our country organized. The King James reigned supreme in our country until about 1980.

C. In recent times, new translations of the Bible in English began. The reasons stated for publishers to make “new” Bibles were various, ranging from making the Bible easier to read to complete paraphrasing such as the Living Bible. The number of different translations continues to increase to this day with well over 100 different versions now. Some of the newer bibles also have left the word for word translation principle and went to an idea for idea translation. The problem with that is the translator has just made the decision what a passage means and now you have no visibility to what the actual word was. He has decided how you will interpret a passage versus letting the Words of God stand for themselves. Study helps are great but leave the Words of God alone is my view.

Lost people by nature today doubt there is an absolute word of God and use comments such as, “That’s your interpretation.” The marginal notes in modern Bibles, like the NIV, do not help this attitude, and instead cast doubt on the Word of God by making statements such as, “Not in the original text”. As time progresses the marketing of the new translations is getting worse and worse as publishers race for profits. The latest NIV is the TNIV (Todays NIV) It is what they call Gender accurate. The word “man” is changed to persons or human beings etc. They come short of making God Gender Neutral so it is not the Feminist Bible people were concerned was coming. But it is one more step in that direction.

D. As the new translations leave a literal word for word translation in favor of an idea for idea translation, many of the original actual words of God are lost. We will only be left with the translator’s opinion of what a passage means verses getting the raw words to decipher ourselves.

Conclusion: The Word of God was inspired and is preserved for us today. Jesus warns in Revelation 22 not to add to or take away from the Bible. The Church is the pillar and ground of the truth and we have a responsibility in regard to the Word of God. For 350 years the English speaking church has been blessed of God using the King James Bible. It is in English and is true to the original texts. It has been greatly used of God and there is no Godly reason to change it or rewrite it.