OceanSide church of Christ
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Wayne Rodgers
A. We live in
an age where the integrity of the Bible is continuously questioned.
1.
There are many who either do not believe or have definite doubts about
whether the Bible is God’s message to man.
a. Some
of these folks are atheists who reject the very existence of God.
b.
Others can properly be called agnostics because they doubt the source of
the Bible.
2.
Still others question whether we have an accurate translation of the
original autographs of the Word of God.
a. Can
we rely upon any modern translations of the Bible to truly impart divine
truth?
b.
After all, the original autographs of the Bible have disappeared and all
modern translations depend upon copies of the original autographs.
c.
Could it be that those who copied the original made mistakes?
d. Can
we really be certain we have the Word of God available to us today as it was
originally written by inspired men?
3. And,
after all, isn’t the Bible filled with various contradictions?
B. The Bible
tells us to always be ready to answer those who question us about our hope in
Christ - 1 Peter 3:15. Our hope in Christ depends on our
understanding of God’s word. These
questions have done a great deal of damage many brethren today, not b/c these
questions should not be asked, but rather b/c we were not ready to give an
answer.
1. Can
you answer the questions we just stated?
2. Can
it be proven that the Word of God is available today as God intends for us to
have it or must we submit to the conclusions of the critics?
C. Friends,
there are some things we know for certain.
A. IN EXODUS 24 GOD CALLED MOSES UP TO
1.
Exodus 24:12 “And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount,
and be there: and I will give thee
tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou
mayest teach them.”
a.
Notice that the law that God gave to Moses was a written law.
b. God
intended for His people to know His will for them.
c.
Exodus 31:18 “And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of
communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone,
written with the finger of God.”
2.
Meanwhile, as Moses was on
a. They
requested that Aaron make them a golden calf so that they could worship it.
b. When
Aaron had complied the people of
c. The
Bible says that they “sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.”
3. Of
course, God knew what His people were doing and only the intercession of Moses
prevented God from destroying the people.
a. God
sent Moses back to the camp of
b.
Exodus 32:19 “And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp,
that he saw the calf, and the dancing:
and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and
brake them beneath the mount.”
c. The
written word of God on the tables of stone was destroyed. Did God leave it at that or did He
preserve His Word?
4. The
truth is that God preserved His Word for His people.
a.
Exodus 34:1 “And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone
like unto the first: and I will
write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou
brakest.”
b.
Exodus 34:4 “And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and
Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the LORD
had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of
stone.”
5. God
wrote the same words that were in the first tables.
a. It
was His will that His Word be preserved in its original form for the spiritual
benefit of His people.
B. ANOTHER
INSTANCE WHERE GOD PRESERVED HIS WORD IS FOUND IN THE HISTORY OF THE NATION OF
1.
Manasseh reigned 50 years as king of
a. It
is believed that during this time the written law of God was lost to the people
of God.
b. They
were involved in the practice of idolatry to the extent that the practice of the
book of the law was no longer a part of their lives.
2. But
again, God preserved His Word.
a.
Josiah came to power following the reign of Manasseh and his son,
Amon.
b.
Though a young ruler, the Bible says that Josiah 2 Kings 22:2 “And
he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way
of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the
left.”
c.
Josiah begin to eliminate the practice of idolatry and sought to restore
the temple that had fallen into ruin because of neglect.
d. It
was during this restoration of the temple that the book of the law of God was
rediscovered and Josiah commanded that its directions concerning the worship of
God again become a part of the lives of the people.
3. The
people of God needed that written law - they needed the direction that it gave
them - they needed to restore its practice to be pleasing to God.
A. BECAUSE HE
LOVES THE LOST AND WANTS ALL TO BE SAVED -2 Peter
3:9.
1.
Since faith comes by the hearing of the Word of God (Romans 10:17) and one cannot please God
without faith, then surely, the God of heaven who so much desires our salvation
would not allow that which creates faith to disappear.
2. Such
would be inconsistent with the very character of God whom we serve.
3. Just
as surely as God’s people needed His written Word in the days of Moses and in
the days of Josiah, we need His written Word FOR SALVATION today.
B. BECAUSE HE
IS JUST AND CONSISTENT - Psalms
89:14 “Justice and judgment are the
habitation of thy throne: mercy and
truth shall go before thy face.”
1. It
is one thing to have access to the Word of God and then reject it and quite
another for one to deliberately have access to the Word of God completely denied
him.
2.
Would God deliberately withhold His word from us while demanding our
submission to it?
a. God
is never inconsistent.
b. He
is never unjust.
c. His
very nature would demand that He preserve His Word for our knowledge and
salvation.
C. BECAUSE
GOD IS ALL POWERFUL - Jeremiah
32:17 “Ah Lord GOD! Behold, thou hast made the heaven and
the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too
hard for thee:”
1. It
should be obvious that it is within the ability of God to preserve His Word
since His power is not limited except as He chooses to limit it.
2. The
question is not is God powerful enough but has he promised to preserve His
Word?
a.
1 Peter 1:24-25 “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the
flower of grass. The grass
withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for
ever. And this is the word, which
by the gospel is preached unto you.”
(1) Did the Lord
say His word would endure forever?
(2) Peter said that
word was the gospel which he preached.
(3) The gospel is
going to endure! God has so
stated!
b.
Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not
pass away.”
(1) Will the words
of Jesus be preserved?
(2) Jesus confirmed
that they would - his words shall not pass away.
D. BECAUSE
THE WORD WILL JUDGE US IN THE LAST DAY.
1.
John 12:48.
2.
Again, it is a reflection upon the justness and consistency of God to
believe that His Word will judge us in the last day but that He will not
preserve it in such a way as to allow us to know and obey it.
a.
Jesus promised that we would be able to know the truth - John 8:32.
b. If
God has not preserved His word then how can it be possible for any person to
receive what Jesus promised?
c. How
is it possible for anyone to know the truth?
d.
Sadly, that is what many folks, including some in the church, are
contending - i.e. that no one can
be certain that what he believes to be the truth is the truth. How tragic!
3.
Satan must truly rejoice when such sentiments are believed and
expressed.
4. We
can be confident that it is possible to know the truth - that God has preserved
it for us because we will face His word in the judgment day.
E.
BECAUSE GOD REAVEALS HIS WILL TO MANKIND IN EVERY AGE.
1.
Acts
a. In
every age of His dealings with mankind, God has imparted His will to
mankind. He has never left Himself
without witness.
b.
Heb.
1:1-2.
2. Set
down one day with your concordance and see how many times in the Bible the term
word of the Lord or word of God is used.
Or how many times the Bible says that God spoke.
a. God
has communicated His will to mankind.
b. He
has revealed what He wants us to know and we have it available and accessible to
us.
A. THE DEVIL
HAS ALWAYS SOUGHT TO CORRUPT THE WORD OF GOD BY ADDING TO IT OR TAKING FROM
IT.
1. He
has been very successful in perverting the truth in the creeds, church manuals
and books written by men.
2. We
would be blind to believe that the devil will cease his effort when it comes to
the various modern translations.
3.
Paraphrases such as the Good News For Modern Man and the Living Bible are
not true translations and are inaccurate in their content.
4.
So-called translations originated by one religious group such as The New
World Translation contain the bias and teaching of that particular group and
again, are inaccurate and certainly suspect.
B. EVEN THE
POPULAR NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION WHEN COMPARED WITH THE ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS IS
SHOWN TO CONTAIN DENOMINATIONAL BIAS.
1.
Still one of the most accurate of Bible translations is the tried and
true King James Version.
2. A
relatively recent revision of that is the New King James Version.
C. NO
TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE IS 100 PERCENT WITHOUT FLAW.
1. But
some are much better than others.
2. And
some do contain fatal error and are
not worth the paper they are printed on.
D. THE FACT
THAT SOME TRANSLATIONS AND PARAPHRASES CONTAIN ERROR DOES NOT MEAN THAT GOD HAS
NOT PRESERVED HIS WORD.
A. We can be
certain that God not only wants us to know the truth but has made it possible
for us to know it.
B. Don’t
allow the critics of Christianity to destroy your faith in the Word of God or in
the justice and mercy of God.
