Post by ambassador on Aug 1, 2009 23:09:42 GMT -5
Words, Words, Words IV: Isolation
Look at that word “isolation.” It conjures up thoughts of loneliness and separateness, setting the tone for our fourth and final installment in the “Words, Words, Words” series. In Part III, we discussed the significance of the Bible versions debate. God has revealed His Word to His holy prophets and apostles, He has inspired them to record His Word in human language, He has preserved His written Word through the ages since it was first penned, and He has overseen the translation of His Word into the world’s languages. But, what if God had NOT done any of this?
God is a Spirit. He is not bound by time or space. He is entirely separate from our dimension. You cannot see Him, you cannot feel Him, and you cannot hear Him. What if God decided to never communicate with us? What if there was no written Word of God? What if God had never sent His apostles and prophets to tell us His Word? What if God never became the man Christ Jesus; what if He would have stayed a Spirit forever? Humanity would be in worse shape today than it already is! We would look up to Heaven, and ask Him to talk with us, but we would hear nothing.
Without the Bible, God’s Holy Word, we would never understand our lost sinful state. We would not know our origin… or our destination for that matter! We would be headed for an eternal damnation in the Lake of Fire, never knowing any better. We would have never even known God’s true nature: His unfathomable selflessness, His abounding grace, His enduring love, His endless mercy, His pure holiness, His gentle longsuffering, His awesome omnipotence, and His profound intelligence! Without the Bible, God would be some distant Spirit; Someone who would give us the “cold shoulder”… an odd thing, most people do not want God to ignore them, yet most people ignore God! Human nature is pitiful!
Those ancient original Bible autographs are long gone. Today, we have copies of those original Bible manuscripts. It is in the Antiochian/Byzantine stream of Bible texts (such as the Textus Receptus) we find God speaking to us today. Apparently, most of us here cannot understand Greek, so there must some English copy of God’s Word that is based on those reliable Greek manuscripts. In English, we have God’s preserved written Word in the King James Bible. The Greek texts are of little importance because we cannot read Greek—there is a reliable English text just as authoritative and just as God-breathed as the originals and the copies of originals. The majority of the contemporary English versions (NIV, NRSV, NASB, et cetera) are based on the Alexandrian manuscripts, with two of these major manuscripts disagreeing amongst themselves OVER 3,000 times alone in the Four Gospels! Even the New King James Version has been greatly altered when compared to the original King James Bible.
Why do most of the modern English Bibles read differently from the King James Bible? Not because of a mistranslation, but because of different sources. The modern English versions and the King James Bible come from two separate sources: the former coming from perverted manuscripts from Alexandria, and the latter is based on trustworthy texts from Antioch. Do you remember what Acts 11:26 said about Antioch? So, on that basis, where do you think God’s Word would come from: Alexandria, or Antioch?
Now that we have established that much, we can address a question that arises: “why make a big deal about all these Bible versions, because they still contain the plan of salvation and some of it is still God’s Word?” Oh, yes, the modern English versions are not 100 percent wrong… yet. They keep removing phrases from the Bible, watering it down, and publishing “better” revisions, and pretty soon you may not even find ONE original word in those newer versions. In Part III, we vaguely discussed that Nestle-Aland text: as of right now, it is in its 27th edition—a 28th edition should be out by the fall of 2009, most likely resulting in the future publication of even more modern English versions! Revise, revise, revise…. Pervert, pervert, pervert…. Twist, twist, twist…. Wrest, wrest, wrest…. Shame, shame, shame!
No matter what happens in the future, we know that there will always be a reliable copy of God’s pure Word somewhere. Thank the Lord today that you have a reliable unadulterated King James Bible, God’s Word to you in your language, ENGLISH. Thank the Lord that He has kept His promises, ensuring that we have a copy of His plan of salvation and His plan for the ages. He has promised to preserve His Word FOREVER: still, man and the devil will do their best to distort and dilute. God will not overlook that because if you fool with God’s Word, you fool with God, and He will not bend to appease you. All those people responsible for corrupting God’s Word down through the ages will answer to Him one day at the Great White Throne Judgment. And then, after they are judged, they will be given their own degree of punishment in the Lake of Fire, a place of eternal suffering and ISOLATION from God! Are you not glad you are not in their shoes?
Look at that word “isolation.” It conjures up thoughts of loneliness and separateness, setting the tone for our fourth and final installment in the “Words, Words, Words” series. In Part III, we discussed the significance of the Bible versions debate. God has revealed His Word to His holy prophets and apostles, He has inspired them to record His Word in human language, He has preserved His written Word through the ages since it was first penned, and He has overseen the translation of His Word into the world’s languages. But, what if God had NOT done any of this?
God is a Spirit. He is not bound by time or space. He is entirely separate from our dimension. You cannot see Him, you cannot feel Him, and you cannot hear Him. What if God decided to never communicate with us? What if there was no written Word of God? What if God had never sent His apostles and prophets to tell us His Word? What if God never became the man Christ Jesus; what if He would have stayed a Spirit forever? Humanity would be in worse shape today than it already is! We would look up to Heaven, and ask Him to talk with us, but we would hear nothing.
Without the Bible, God’s Holy Word, we would never understand our lost sinful state. We would not know our origin… or our destination for that matter! We would be headed for an eternal damnation in the Lake of Fire, never knowing any better. We would have never even known God’s true nature: His unfathomable selflessness, His abounding grace, His enduring love, His endless mercy, His pure holiness, His gentle longsuffering, His awesome omnipotence, and His profound intelligence! Without the Bible, God would be some distant Spirit; Someone who would give us the “cold shoulder”… an odd thing, most people do not want God to ignore them, yet most people ignore God! Human nature is pitiful!
Those ancient original Bible autographs are long gone. Today, we have copies of those original Bible manuscripts. It is in the Antiochian/Byzantine stream of Bible texts (such as the Textus Receptus) we find God speaking to us today. Apparently, most of us here cannot understand Greek, so there must some English copy of God’s Word that is based on those reliable Greek manuscripts. In English, we have God’s preserved written Word in the King James Bible. The Greek texts are of little importance because we cannot read Greek—there is a reliable English text just as authoritative and just as God-breathed as the originals and the copies of originals. The majority of the contemporary English versions (NIV, NRSV, NASB, et cetera) are based on the Alexandrian manuscripts, with two of these major manuscripts disagreeing amongst themselves OVER 3,000 times alone in the Four Gospels! Even the New King James Version has been greatly altered when compared to the original King James Bible.
Why do most of the modern English Bibles read differently from the King James Bible? Not because of a mistranslation, but because of different sources. The modern English versions and the King James Bible come from two separate sources: the former coming from perverted manuscripts from Alexandria, and the latter is based on trustworthy texts from Antioch. Do you remember what Acts 11:26 said about Antioch? So, on that basis, where do you think God’s Word would come from: Alexandria, or Antioch?
Now that we have established that much, we can address a question that arises: “why make a big deal about all these Bible versions, because they still contain the plan of salvation and some of it is still God’s Word?” Oh, yes, the modern English versions are not 100 percent wrong… yet. They keep removing phrases from the Bible, watering it down, and publishing “better” revisions, and pretty soon you may not even find ONE original word in those newer versions. In Part III, we vaguely discussed that Nestle-Aland text: as of right now, it is in its 27th edition—a 28th edition should be out by the fall of 2009, most likely resulting in the future publication of even more modern English versions! Revise, revise, revise…. Pervert, pervert, pervert…. Twist, twist, twist…. Wrest, wrest, wrest…. Shame, shame, shame!
No matter what happens in the future, we know that there will always be a reliable copy of God’s pure Word somewhere. Thank the Lord today that you have a reliable unadulterated King James Bible, God’s Word to you in your language, ENGLISH. Thank the Lord that He has kept His promises, ensuring that we have a copy of His plan of salvation and His plan for the ages. He has promised to preserve His Word FOREVER: still, man and the devil will do their best to distort and dilute. God will not overlook that because if you fool with God’s Word, you fool with God, and He will not bend to appease you. All those people responsible for corrupting God’s Word down through the ages will answer to Him one day at the Great White Throne Judgment. And then, after they are judged, they will be given their own degree of punishment in the Lake of Fire, a place of eternal suffering and ISOLATION from God! Are you not glad you are not in their shoes?