WEBVTT 00:00:01.459 --> 00:00:03.859 Welcome to the official podcast of the Church 00:00:03.859 --> 00:00:06.379 of Christ Wheeler area. We're so glad that you've 00:00:06.379 --> 00:00:08.859 tuned in for today's message. Whether you're 00:00:08.859 --> 00:00:11.080 on your morning commute or if you're relaxing 00:00:11.080 --> 00:00:13.080 at home, we're here to share the strength and 00:00:13.080 --> 00:00:16.059 truth of God's Word with our community. If you're 00:00:16.059 --> 00:00:17.679 in the neighborhood, we'd love to meet you in 00:00:17.679 --> 00:00:21.320 person. Come see us at 1500 South Allen L. Bean 00:00:21.320 --> 00:00:24.300 Boulevard right here in Wheeler, Texas. We gather 00:00:24.300 --> 00:00:27.320 every Sunday morning at 1030 a .m. and in the 00:00:27.320 --> 00:00:30.179 afternoon at 230 p .m. We meet again on Wednesdays 00:00:30.179 --> 00:00:33.780 at 7 p .m. Right now let's open our Bibles together 00:00:33.780 --> 00:00:39.780 and dive in to today's sermon. Hope you enjoy 00:00:39.780 --> 00:00:43.179 the study of the evening. I'm asked a lot how 00:00:43.179 --> 00:00:45.539 we got the Bible. We've been studying some of 00:00:45.539 --> 00:00:48.079 the things that have to do with history of the 00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:50.179 church and I think this maybe will be a good 00:00:50.179 --> 00:00:53.299 thing to look at and consider for a little while. 00:00:53.450 --> 00:00:56.689 How did we get it? Where did it come from? How 00:00:56.689 --> 00:00:58.990 do we have it in the form that we have it in 00:00:58.990 --> 00:01:02.490 today? And I wanna begin in the book of John 00:01:02.490 --> 00:01:05.849 chapter 14. This is J. David Zeebok's favorite 00:01:05.849 --> 00:01:08.790 verse of scripture. And I'm sure someday when 00:01:08.790 --> 00:01:11.510 we lay him the grave, this will be read. He loves 00:01:11.510 --> 00:01:14.049 this verse and it's a wonderful verse. Jesus 00:01:14.049 --> 00:01:17.409 said, let not your heart be troubled. You believe 00:01:17.409 --> 00:01:20.329 in God believe also in me and my father's house 00:01:20.329 --> 00:01:23.170 or many mansions if it were not so I would have 00:01:23.170 --> 00:01:26.609 told you I Go to prepare a place for you, and 00:01:26.609 --> 00:01:29.590 if I go and prepare a place for you I will come 00:01:29.590 --> 00:01:31.870 again and receive you into myself that where 00:01:31.870 --> 00:01:35.329 I am there you may be also Do you believe that 00:01:35.329 --> 00:01:40.329 that's true? You believe Jesus said that I believe 00:01:40.329 --> 00:01:45.909 that but if if Jesus didn't say it or if it's 00:01:45.909 --> 00:01:48.510 been changed, then that changes our perception 00:01:48.510 --> 00:01:52.209 of everything, doesn't it? If this is really 00:01:52.209 --> 00:01:55.510 not the words of Jesus, then our perception of 00:01:55.510 --> 00:02:00.549 life and of the reality of life changes in every 00:02:00.549 --> 00:02:04.530 way and very profound way. But the Bible, the 00:02:04.530 --> 00:02:06.650 beginnings of the New Testament specifically 00:02:06.650 --> 00:02:09.229 that I want to talk about tonight, comes from 00:02:09.229 --> 00:02:12.210 the apostles. That's the beginning of the New 00:02:12.210 --> 00:02:14.750 Testament. Obviously we had the words of Jesus 00:02:14.750 --> 00:02:17.569 and the things that he said, but it wasn't Jesus 00:02:17.569 --> 00:02:20.270 who wrote down those words. It was the apostles 00:02:20.270 --> 00:02:23.650 who came along and wrote down those words. Another 00:02:23.650 --> 00:02:26.550 thing you'll notice that Jesus said in John 14 00:02:26.550 --> 00:02:29.449 verse 23, he answered and said to them, if a 00:02:29.449 --> 00:02:34.849 man loved me, he will keep my words. Now just 00:02:34.849 --> 00:02:38.949 think about that for a moment. He says if a man 00:02:38.949 --> 00:02:41.330 loves me he will keep my words then it seems 00:02:41.330 --> 00:02:44.330 like it was on Jesus To make sure that we have 00:02:44.330 --> 00:02:47.969 his words if he expects us to keep them then 00:02:47.969 --> 00:02:50.759 he need to make sure that we have them So that 00:02:50.759 --> 00:02:53.099 we can follow them and keep them now if you keep 00:02:53.099 --> 00:02:56.240 reading it says my father will love him We will 00:02:56.240 --> 00:02:59.400 come unto him and make our abode with him He 00:02:59.400 --> 00:03:02.800 that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings and 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:04.979 the word which you hear is not mine But the fathers 00:03:04.979 --> 00:03:08.060 which sent me and so Jesus says if you love me 00:03:08.060 --> 00:03:11.060 Then you should do what I've said and so he had 00:03:11.060 --> 00:03:12.860 to make a way for us to know what he said and 00:03:12.860 --> 00:03:15.599 he goes on furthermore To say if you don't love 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:18.219 me you won't keep my sayings, but what a dirty 00:03:18.219 --> 00:03:22.250 rat Jesus would be if he says, if you love me, 00:03:22.430 --> 00:03:24.129 keep my sayings, and then there's no way for 00:03:24.129 --> 00:03:26.449 us to know what he said. That'd be just a dirty 00:03:26.449 --> 00:03:28.830 rotten trick is what that would be. And Jesus 00:03:28.830 --> 00:03:32.909 wasn't that kind of guy at all. He goes on to 00:03:32.909 --> 00:03:34.930 say, these things have spoken unto you being 00:03:34.930 --> 00:03:38.229 yet present with you, but the comforter, which 00:03:38.229 --> 00:03:40.949 the Holy Ghost. whom the Father will send in 00:03:40.949 --> 00:03:43.810 my name, he shall teach you all things and bring 00:03:43.810 --> 00:03:46.250 all things to your remembrance whatsoever I've 00:03:46.250 --> 00:03:49.729 said unto you." And so he begins to build a case 00:03:49.729 --> 00:03:53.349 for... the New Testament as we know it. This 00:03:53.349 --> 00:03:56.889 is what Jesus is doing. He's describing a job 00:03:56.889 --> 00:03:59.930 that he has for those apostles, which was to 00:03:59.930 --> 00:04:02.550 document all the things that he said. And he 00:04:02.550 --> 00:04:06.210 says, number one, I'm going to send the Comforter, 00:04:06.330 --> 00:04:09.229 the Holy Ghost. He said, the Father will send 00:04:09.229 --> 00:04:12.729 in my name and he's going to teach you all things. 00:04:12.830 --> 00:04:14.270 Well, you know, that'd be great, wouldn't it, 00:04:14.449 --> 00:04:16.970 kids, the night before a big test at school. 00:04:17.350 --> 00:04:19.250 If the Holy Spirit would just say, just don't 00:04:19.250 --> 00:04:20.610 worry about it, I'm going to give... you all 00:04:20.610 --> 00:04:23.069 the answers to the test. Well I've tried that 00:04:23.069 --> 00:04:24.889 a couple times, didn't work too good for me at 00:04:24.889 --> 00:04:27.790 all. But this is what Jesus told them. He's going 00:04:27.790 --> 00:04:30.129 to go back to heaven. He said right now I'm here 00:04:30.129 --> 00:04:32.769 with you. The Father's going to send the Comforter. 00:04:32.949 --> 00:04:35.310 He's going to teach you all things. That's important. 00:04:35.529 --> 00:04:37.810 He's going to bring all things to your remembrance. 00:04:38.129 --> 00:04:40.649 He's going to help you remember everything that 00:04:40.649 --> 00:04:42.629 I've said. And he's saying don't worry about 00:04:42.629 --> 00:04:45.149 all these things. I'm going to teach you everything 00:04:45.149 --> 00:04:48.110 you don't know after I go back to heaven through 00:04:48.110 --> 00:04:52.000 the Holy Spirit. And secondarily, I'm gonna help 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:54.839 you to remember everything that you need to remember. 00:04:54.899 --> 00:04:59.199 John 14 verse 27, peace I leave with you. My 00:04:59.199 --> 00:05:01.399 peace I give to you, not as the world giveth, 00:05:01.420 --> 00:05:03.920 give I to you. Let not your heart be troubled, 00:05:04.019 --> 00:05:06.699 neither let it be afraid. And so Jesus is saying 00:05:06.699 --> 00:05:08.720 to the apostles, don't worry about all this stuff, 00:05:08.899 --> 00:05:11.399 I'm gonna take care of you. I'm gonna help you 00:05:11.399 --> 00:05:13.779 through all this so that you can understand. 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:15.759 And I will tell you, if I was one of the apostles, 00:05:16.019 --> 00:05:18.259 I'll be sitting there going, I'm not gonna remember 00:05:18.259 --> 00:05:20.449 everything I need to remember. I'm not I'm gonna 00:05:20.449 --> 00:05:23.250 leave out details that are really important I 00:05:23.250 --> 00:05:25.910 don't understand everything that's happened and 00:05:25.910 --> 00:05:27.730 he's telling them don't worry about all these 00:05:27.730 --> 00:05:30.769 things I'm gonna help you with all this so he 00:05:30.769 --> 00:05:33.610 explains he's gonna leave the disciples I'm gonna 00:05:33.610 --> 00:05:36.329 send the comforter to teach you all things the 00:05:36.329 --> 00:05:38.250 comforter will help you to remember everything 00:05:38.250 --> 00:05:40.870 that you need to remember and then the next chapter 00:05:40.870 --> 00:05:45.620 John 15 he continues building on this case. And 00:05:45.620 --> 00:05:48.720 this is what he says in verse 26, when the comforter 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:51.639 is come, who I will spend unto you from the Father, 00:05:51.959 --> 00:05:56.420 even the spirit of truth. And so this begins 00:05:56.420 --> 00:05:59.420 to be one of the themes that we have, is the 00:05:59.420 --> 00:06:02.680 comforter is the spirit of truth. Not just any 00:06:02.680 --> 00:06:07.500 kind of spirit, a spirit of truth. To give them 00:06:07.500 --> 00:06:10.670 truth. so that they would have truth, so they 00:06:10.670 --> 00:06:13.329 could write down the words of truth. He says, 00:06:13.490 --> 00:06:16.569 which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify 00:06:16.569 --> 00:06:19.470 of me, and he also shall bear witness, because 00:06:19.470 --> 00:06:21.910 ye have been with me from the beginning. He says, 00:06:21.970 --> 00:06:25.350 you're gonna be witness of these truths, because 00:06:25.350 --> 00:06:28.189 you've been there from the start. And so the 00:06:28.189 --> 00:06:31.310 Comforter is the spirit of truth that was gonna 00:06:31.310 --> 00:06:33.930 come, and he was gonna teach them all things, 00:06:33.949 --> 00:06:36.180 and he's gonna help them to remember. All thanks. 00:06:36.500 --> 00:06:39.120 Now, John chapter 16, where it is going along 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:41.720 with the John theme, verse seven, Jesus says, 00:06:41.980 --> 00:06:44.779 nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is expedient 00:06:44.779 --> 00:06:47.899 for you that I go away for if I go not away, 00:06:48.279 --> 00:06:50.879 the comforter will not come unto you. But if 00:06:50.879 --> 00:06:54.839 I depart, I will send him unto you. And so certainly 00:06:54.839 --> 00:06:58.199 the disciples. didn't want him to leave. They're 00:06:58.199 --> 00:06:59.500 probably sitting there going, we don't want you 00:06:59.500 --> 00:07:01.560 to leave. We want you to stay here with us. You 00:07:01.560 --> 00:07:04.000 teach us and you be here. But that wasn't the 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:07.300 plan. The plan was for Jesus to die and be buried 00:07:07.300 --> 00:07:09.339 and be raised to life and then ascend to the 00:07:09.339 --> 00:07:11.639 Father. And he wasn't going to leave them helpless. 00:07:11.720 --> 00:07:14.160 He's going to send the Holy Ghost, the Comforter. 00:07:14.279 --> 00:07:16.300 He's going to send the Spirit of Truth to guide 00:07:16.300 --> 00:07:19.519 them. Now, John 16 verse 12, he says, I have 00:07:19.519 --> 00:07:23.199 yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot 00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:29.660 bear them now. how true that is. There were things 00:07:29.660 --> 00:07:33.779 they just couldn't understand. There were things 00:07:33.779 --> 00:07:36.279 they just couldn't comprehend until they saw 00:07:36.279 --> 00:07:39.180 him alive after he rose from the dead There were 00:07:39.180 --> 00:07:42.279 just parts of it and pieces of it They had no 00:07:42.279 --> 00:07:45.839 way to understand fully the kind of king he was 00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:48.500 the kind of kingdom He had they were gonna have 00:07:48.500 --> 00:07:51.459 to have their knowledge fulfilled He says I got 00:07:51.459 --> 00:07:53.339 a lot of things I need to say but you're not 00:07:53.339 --> 00:07:56.360 ready He says when the spirit of truth is come 00:07:56.360 --> 00:07:59.629 he will guide you into all truth For he shall 00:07:59.629 --> 00:08:01.930 not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall 00:08:01.930 --> 00:08:04.389 he or that shall he speak, and he will show you 00:08:04.389 --> 00:08:07.449 things to come." And so we're getting a very 00:08:07.449 --> 00:08:09.930 well -rounded picture of what the Holy Spirit 00:08:09.930 --> 00:08:14.470 was going to do. Teach them truth. Help them 00:08:14.470 --> 00:08:17.459 remember. Help them understand the things they 00:08:17.459 --> 00:08:20.439 weren't prepared to understand it was the spirit 00:08:20.439 --> 00:08:23.240 of truth that was going to come and Furthermore, 00:08:23.240 --> 00:08:25.639 he's going to show them not only the things that 00:08:25.639 --> 00:08:27.939 they needed to remember that the things that 00:08:27.939 --> 00:08:30.560 were going to come in the future That's what 00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:32.620 he was going to do now. I want to go to mark 00:08:32.620 --> 00:08:35.259 chapter 16 We're going to jump away from John 00:08:35.259 --> 00:08:39.379 and this obviously is after Jesus death after 00:08:39.379 --> 00:08:43.059 his resurrection and so he's back alive and he's 00:08:43.059 --> 00:08:45.250 been spending time and I believe on this account, 00:08:45.590 --> 00:08:48.409 they've gone up to Galilee. In verse 15, he said, 00:08:48.549 --> 00:08:51.470 go into all the world and preach the gospel to 00:08:51.470 --> 00:08:54.110 every creature. He that believeth in his baptized 00:08:54.110 --> 00:08:56.549 shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall 00:08:56.549 --> 00:08:59.330 be damned. And these signs shall follow them 00:08:59.330 --> 00:09:01.870 that believe. In my name shall they cast out 00:09:01.870 --> 00:09:04.779 devils. They shall speak with new tongues. They 00:09:04.779 --> 00:09:06.899 shall take up serpents, and if they drink any 00:09:06.899 --> 00:09:09.240 deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall 00:09:09.240 --> 00:09:11.460 lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. 00:09:11.799 --> 00:09:14.720 So then after the Lord has spoken unto them, 00:09:14.899 --> 00:09:19.639 he was received up into heaven. That's exactly 00:09:19.639 --> 00:09:22.960 what he'd been telling them, isn't it? I'm going 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:26.460 back to the Father. And as soon as I go back 00:09:26.460 --> 00:09:28.299 to the Father, that's a good thing because I'm 00:09:28.299 --> 00:09:30.399 going to send the Spirit of Truth. So notice 00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:33.059 what He says, He was received up in heaven, set 00:09:33.059 --> 00:09:36.000 on the right hand of God, and they went forth 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:38.679 and preached everywhere, the Lord working with 00:09:38.679 --> 00:09:47.259 them and confirming what? The Word. He confirmed 00:09:47.259 --> 00:09:53.320 the Word. This is the beginning of the New Testament 00:09:53.320 --> 00:09:56.600 as you and I know it. This was the plan of God, 00:09:56.840 --> 00:10:00.639 certainly, to record the words of truth, to make 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:06.659 certain that you and I could have truth. And 00:10:06.659 --> 00:10:10.559 so he confirmed the truth, the word with signs. 00:10:10.919 --> 00:10:14.240 These are miracles following. Amen. And so this 00:10:14.240 --> 00:10:16.919 is the end of the book of Mark, and that's how 00:10:16.919 --> 00:10:19.779 Mark puts it. Now, we read about Jesus ascending 00:10:19.779 --> 00:10:24.039 back to heaven in the book of Acts, and so... 00:10:23.870 --> 00:10:26.789 Some of this is overlapping between John and 00:10:26.789 --> 00:10:31.590 Mark and Acts, but you understand Jesus is going 00:10:31.590 --> 00:10:34.049 to work with them. Even though he went back to 00:10:34.049 --> 00:10:35.909 heaven, he's going to send the Holy Spirit. He 00:10:35.909 --> 00:10:38.809 gave them a task to go and preach and that's 00:10:38.809 --> 00:10:42.070 certainly what they did. And so Jesus goes back 00:10:42.070 --> 00:10:45.289 to heaven, the disciples go and preach, and the 00:10:45.289 --> 00:10:48.169 Holy Spirit goes to work. It teaches those men 00:10:48.169 --> 00:10:50.710 everything they didn't understand. He taught 00:10:50.710 --> 00:10:53.570 them that. The Holy Spirit caused them to remember. 00:10:53.629 --> 00:10:56.870 Oh yeah, I remember that thing. I remember that 00:10:56.870 --> 00:10:59.210 time, see, where they had the knowledge they 00:10:59.210 --> 00:11:01.809 needed. It was a guide for them to all truth, 00:11:02.409 --> 00:11:05.409 and not just past truth, but also future truth. 00:11:05.649 --> 00:11:08.210 He would show them a thing to come, and He confirmed 00:11:08.210 --> 00:11:11.149 the Word with miracles. understanding of that 00:11:11.149 --> 00:11:13.350 was, as they went out and began teaching and 00:11:13.350 --> 00:11:17.049 preaching, the Holy Spirit came upon them. It 00:11:17.049 --> 00:11:20.129 overwhelmed them, we might say. And the Holy 00:11:20.129 --> 00:11:22.629 Spirit began to speak through those guys. And 00:11:22.629 --> 00:11:25.330 what they spoke was confirmed with miracles, 00:11:25.570 --> 00:11:29.169 and then they knew, this is from God. And they 00:11:29.169 --> 00:11:33.590 knew to write it down. And so they went out and 00:11:33.590 --> 00:11:35.929 began preaching, they began teaching, and those 00:11:35.929 --> 00:11:38.769 miracles done. Obviously this wasn't everyone 00:11:39.700 --> 00:11:43.460 of the apostles. It wasn't all of them this happened 00:11:43.460 --> 00:11:46.279 to. There was a select few. Evidently, this was 00:11:46.279 --> 00:11:49.759 God's intention for this to happen to. And so 00:11:49.759 --> 00:11:51.519 they would go out and they began to preach and 00:11:51.519 --> 00:11:54.519 they began to teach. these miracles are done 00:11:54.519 --> 00:11:57.720 and it confirms this is truth and so Peter's 00:11:57.720 --> 00:12:00.860 writing it down, John writing it down, later 00:12:00.860 --> 00:12:04.580 on Paul writing it down and those things are 00:12:04.580 --> 00:12:07.240 being confirmed with miracles so we know this 00:12:07.240 --> 00:12:09.740 is the truth this is something needs to be written 00:12:09.740 --> 00:12:13.139 down and so they begin early on to write those 00:12:13.139 --> 00:12:16.580 things down and so at some point along the way 00:12:16.580 --> 00:12:18.960 down the road of time because Jesus was dead 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:23.480 in about 33 AD and so at some point Between 33 00:12:23.480 --> 00:12:27.220 and about 90 or 95, we might say half of the 00:12:27.220 --> 00:12:31.059 New Testament was written down at some point. 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:35.259 It's been confirmed with miracles, it's been 00:12:35.259 --> 00:12:38.840 written down, and the apostles start dying off. 00:12:39.080 --> 00:12:41.519 Notice 1 Corinthians 13 beginning in verse 80 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:44.620 says, charity never fails, but where there be 00:12:44.620 --> 00:12:50.320 prophecies, they shall fail. Where there be tongues, 00:12:50.919 --> 00:12:55.139 they shall cease. where there be knowledge, it 00:12:55.139 --> 00:12:59.659 shall vanish away." What's he describing? The 00:12:59.659 --> 00:13:03.840 end of the miraculous gifts, the end of those 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:07.399 signs that he had promised, those signs that 00:13:07.399 --> 00:13:09.960 would confirm the word. He said, in one of these 00:13:09.960 --> 00:13:12.620 days, they're gonna come to an end. When's this 00:13:12.620 --> 00:13:16.000 gonna happen? He says, it'll vanish away. Notice 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:18.240 what he says in verse nine, for we know in part. 00:13:19.740 --> 00:13:25.220 We prophesied part. What did they know? Well, 00:13:25.559 --> 00:13:28.460 the first half of the New Testament had been 00:13:28.460 --> 00:13:32.220 written. It had been confirmed. We know. It was 00:13:32.220 --> 00:13:35.019 written down. They knew that part. It was there 00:13:35.019 --> 00:13:38.519 for them to read. And the part that was written 00:13:38.519 --> 00:13:40.399 down, they didn't have to worry about. It had 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:43.019 been confirmed with miracles. So we know in part, 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:45.100 that's that first half of the New Testament. 00:13:45.379 --> 00:13:48.059 Secondarily, it says we prophesy in part. We're 00:13:48.059 --> 00:13:51.360 still relying on the Holy Spirit to show us truth 00:13:51.360 --> 00:13:54.080 and that truth to be confirmed by miracles for 00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:56.480 the remainder of the New Testament. And so at 00:13:56.480 --> 00:13:58.879 some point, and I suppose maybe 1 Corinthians 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:03.299 13 is... that point and and I'm not stuck on 00:14:03.299 --> 00:14:05.820 half maybe it was two -thirds or maybe it's three 00:14:05.820 --> 00:14:08.299 -quarter I don't know how much of the New Testament 00:14:08.299 --> 00:14:10.679 was written at this point but a lot of it was 00:14:10.679 --> 00:14:13.500 now notice verse 10 when that which is perfect 00:14:13.500 --> 00:14:15.679 is come then that which is in part shall be done 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:19.139 away and so we struggle sometimes with this word 00:14:19.139 --> 00:14:24.240 perfect here and and we we think it means without 00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:29.879 fault don't we I have a perfect wife she's perfect 00:14:30.110 --> 00:14:32.570 She don't have any faults at all. That's not 00:14:32.570 --> 00:14:36.070 really the way it's used. Typically in the King 00:14:36.070 --> 00:14:39.490 James, the word in the Greek is tillios and it 00:14:39.490 --> 00:14:42.629 means complete. It means complete, not without 00:14:42.629 --> 00:14:47.649 fault. And if you look at the various uses here, 00:14:48.070 --> 00:14:51.850 completeness. And so when we read the word, when 00:14:51.850 --> 00:14:54.009 that which is perfect, he's saying when that... 00:14:53.789 --> 00:14:56.809 which is complete. And what he's describing is, 00:14:57.169 --> 00:14:59.470 is when the New Testament is completed, when 00:14:59.470 --> 00:15:02.570 it's completely written. And so if we back up 00:15:02.570 --> 00:15:05.450 and just think about that, he says, when that 00:15:05.450 --> 00:15:08.049 which is perfect, the complete New Testament 00:15:08.049 --> 00:15:10.629 is come, then that which is in part, which is 00:15:10.629 --> 00:15:15.879 the miraculous, the tongues, the miracles, those 00:15:15.879 --> 00:15:19.179 signs that were done to confirm the Word were 00:15:19.179 --> 00:15:21.600 going to come to an end. And so they had a very 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:24.019 distinct purpose, those miracles, to confirm 00:15:24.019 --> 00:15:26.980 the Word and eventually the New Testament, the 00:15:26.980 --> 00:15:30.340 last sentence is written, the last period is 00:15:30.340 --> 00:15:35.659 there, and it's done. And the miraculous, its 00:15:35.659 --> 00:15:39.200 work is over. And the work of the Holy Spirit 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:42.799 in that sense is over. It's job was to guide 00:15:42.799 --> 00:15:45.399 them into all truth, help them remember all those 00:15:45.399 --> 00:15:48.879 things, and it was completed. Notice 2nd Timothy 00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:52.960 chapter 3 verse 16. All scripture is given by 00:15:52.960 --> 00:15:56.320 inspiration of God. In the Greek it means literally 00:15:56.320 --> 00:15:59.879 breathed from God or God breathed. And so I want 00:15:59.879 --> 00:16:02.019 you to notice this word scripture right here. 00:16:02.279 --> 00:16:05.220 I want you to notice in the Greek it means graphy, 00:16:05.360 --> 00:16:08.100 which is a document, not just any document, a 00:16:08.100 --> 00:16:11.440 holy writ. In other words, Scripture is different 00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:14.019 than just writings. Scripture is different than 00:16:14.019 --> 00:16:17.659 history or historical books. Scripture is something 00:16:17.659 --> 00:16:23.600 that has been confirmed by miracles. It's different. 00:16:23.799 --> 00:16:25.340 Let me ask you a question. What do you think 00:16:25.340 --> 00:16:27.679 the best -selling book of all time is? I'll give 00:16:27.679 --> 00:16:32.159 you one guess. It's super easy. It's the Bible. 00:16:32.740 --> 00:16:36.740 The best -selling book of all time. The Bible. 00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:42.039 It is because it is different than all other 00:16:42.039 --> 00:16:45.980 books. And so scripture is that which is a holy 00:16:45.980 --> 00:16:48.580 writ or a holy writing. Why is it holy? Because 00:16:48.580 --> 00:16:51.700 it's been confirmed by miracles. That's why it's 00:16:51.700 --> 00:16:54.240 a holy writing. And scripture is given by inspiration 00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:57.279 of God. God has breathed it. It is profitable 00:16:57.279 --> 00:16:59.440 for doctrine, for proof, for correction, for 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:01.700 instruction in righteousness. Those things have 00:17:01.700 --> 00:17:05.000 been given to us by God and it was His will and 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:07.940 intention that they be preserved even till today. 00:17:09.410 --> 00:17:12.730 Indeed, as long as the earth stand, it is God's 00:17:12.730 --> 00:17:16.490 will that these words be preserved. Why? That 00:17:16.490 --> 00:17:19.369 a man of God or a woman of God or anyone can 00:17:19.369 --> 00:17:21.349 be perfect, thoroughly furnished to all good 00:17:21.349 --> 00:17:23.230 works. What do you think that word means? It 00:17:23.230 --> 00:17:26.190 means complete. It's so unique and be the complete 00:17:26.190 --> 00:17:29.269 Christians that he wants us to be. That's the 00:17:29.269 --> 00:17:32.150 idea. So the apostles wrote the books of the 00:17:32.150 --> 00:17:34.869 New Testament. The words were confirmed by God 00:17:34.869 --> 00:17:38.250 through miracles or signs. The last books to 00:17:38.250 --> 00:17:40.410 be written were the books of John. This would 00:17:40.410 --> 00:17:44.130 be first, second, third John and potentially 00:17:44.130 --> 00:17:47.490 the book of Revelation. And this was around 96 00:17:47.490 --> 00:17:52.589 AD. So we're talking about 63 years after Jesus 00:17:52.589 --> 00:17:54.650 was there on the earth, John is still writing. 00:17:55.430 --> 00:17:58.230 Now all the other guys are dead and gone. Okay? 00:17:58.750 --> 00:18:01.029 And John was the longest lived one. He lived 00:18:01.029 --> 00:18:03.349 to be a hundred years old. And eventually the 00:18:03.349 --> 00:18:06.089 Bible's complete and the work of the Holy Spirit, 00:18:06.230 --> 00:18:09.329 the Comforter, this guide of truth is no longer 00:18:09.329 --> 00:18:11.589 needed because now we have the New Testament 00:18:11.589 --> 00:18:14.349 and it's complete for them to have. And guess 00:18:14.349 --> 00:18:18.410 what? The apostles all died and they're gone. 00:18:18.970 --> 00:18:25.009 Right? And now we rely on just the book. That's 00:18:25.009 --> 00:18:28.289 what we have is the book. And those books were 00:18:28.289 --> 00:18:31.009 left to Christians. A lot of those letters are 00:18:31.009 --> 00:18:34.029 written to churches. Some are written to individuals. 00:18:34.670 --> 00:18:38.289 And those Christians, they kept those books. 00:18:38.490 --> 00:18:40.130 They read them and they study them. And you know 00:18:40.130 --> 00:18:42.730 what they did? They shared them with one another. 00:18:43.150 --> 00:18:46.289 They hand wrote those copies so they were precious 00:18:46.289 --> 00:18:48.930 and they handed them off to other churches and 00:18:48.930 --> 00:18:52.029 other people and slowly they began to compile 00:18:52.029 --> 00:18:56.150 those documents. They began to copy those books 00:18:56.150 --> 00:18:58.470 and letters. They were gathered by Christians. 00:18:58.470 --> 00:19:01.710 They were gathered in churches. The English word 00:19:01.710 --> 00:19:06.049 Bible is derived from biblios meaning the papyrus 00:19:06.049 --> 00:19:11.349 book. This papyrus was the early day paper and 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:16.519 It means pages of a book is the idea. It's been 00:19:16.519 --> 00:19:19.660 said that you could take and recreate the entire 00:19:19.660 --> 00:19:23.509 New Testament today. just by the writings of 00:19:23.509 --> 00:19:26.829 the early church fathers and so early day Christians 00:19:26.829 --> 00:19:29.670 were writing letters back and forth to each other 00:19:29.670 --> 00:19:32.690 and they were discussing scripture and it's been 00:19:32.690 --> 00:19:35.410 said that you could recreate the entire New Testament 00:19:35.410 --> 00:19:38.210 just from what they wrote and so there was a 00:19:38.210 --> 00:19:40.470 lot of writing going on there was a lot of thinking 00:19:40.470 --> 00:19:44.230 and studying and so the apostles are gone we 00:19:44.230 --> 00:19:47.700 have the New Testament and now we get to the 00:19:47.700 --> 00:19:51.000 next segment, which is manuscripts. And people 00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:53.140 like to know, well, how many manuscripts are 00:19:53.140 --> 00:19:57.279 there? And from what I know, there are 5 ,686 00:19:57.279 --> 00:20:01.539 Greek manuscripts. That number might be a little 00:20:01.539 --> 00:20:04.940 higher because there's all the time finding manuscripts. 00:20:05.859 --> 00:20:08.859 And when I talk about a manuscript, I mean an 00:20:08.859 --> 00:20:12.700 ancient copy in Greek. Of the entire Bible, there's 00:20:12.700 --> 00:20:16.960 about 24 ,000. but of the New Testament in Greek. 00:20:17.500 --> 00:20:20.740 Every few years they're discovered. A lot of 00:20:20.740 --> 00:20:24.420 times nowadays we're finding manuscripts in libraries 00:20:24.420 --> 00:20:28.700 and museums. They were found in the 1800s and 00:20:28.700 --> 00:20:32.220 early 1900s and they were put in boxes and on 00:20:32.220 --> 00:20:34.440 shelves and they pull them out and somebody goes 00:20:34.440 --> 00:20:37.519 to study them. They realize that they're a new 00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:41.500 manuscript. In 2008 there were 47 new manuscripts 00:20:41.500 --> 00:20:45.960 discovered in Albania. Most of the time manuscripts 00:20:45.960 --> 00:20:49.440 are not the whole New Testament. Generally they're 00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:53.180 just a fragment or maybe a few verses and that 00:20:53.180 --> 00:20:56.420 would still count as a manuscript. The average 00:20:56.420 --> 00:21:00.400 size of New Testament manuscripts is about 450 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:04.559 pages and so typically when we talk about manuscripts 00:21:04.559 --> 00:21:06.819 they're not just tiny fragments. Some of them 00:21:06.819 --> 00:21:10.680 are, a lot of them are really intact you might 00:21:10.680 --> 00:21:14.609 say. Someone says, well, what's the oldest manuscript 00:21:14.609 --> 00:21:19.109 we have? It was named P52 or Papris 52. It's 00:21:19.109 --> 00:21:23.589 John 18, 31 to 33 on one side. On the back side, 00:21:23.710 --> 00:21:30.079 it's John 8, 37, 38. And like some of the ones 00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:34.920 I just described, it had been sitting in an unprocessed 00:21:34.920 --> 00:21:37.720 ancient documents at the John Rylands Library 00:21:37.720 --> 00:21:41.519 of Manchester, England. And so there was boxes 00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:45.460 upon boxes of manuscripts that are sitting there. 00:21:46.420 --> 00:21:49.240 And so just as a side note, what we had happened 00:21:49.240 --> 00:21:53.880 was the Crusades and there were a lot of Europeans 00:21:53.880 --> 00:21:58.079 that went down to the Holy Land and looked for 00:21:58.329 --> 00:22:01.490 religious artifacts. They were people who desperately 00:22:01.490 --> 00:22:04.630 wanted to find fragments of the cross, they wanted 00:22:04.630 --> 00:22:08.450 to find the nails that was in Jesus, they wanted 00:22:08.450 --> 00:22:11.549 to find the thorns, and they were kings and people 00:22:11.549 --> 00:22:15.130 of enormous wealth that sought all those kind 00:22:15.130 --> 00:22:18.970 of things. In fact, in the Habsburg Empire, there 00:22:18.970 --> 00:22:22.769 were kings who spent their whole lives collecting 00:22:23.099 --> 00:22:26.660 Bodies of saints and there was one particular 00:22:26.660 --> 00:22:30.000 king who gathered up about 50 bodies of saints. 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:32.599 I'm talking about whole bodies and he carried 00:22:32.599 --> 00:22:36.079 them from Jerusalem back to Europe so he could 00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:39.279 have them. The same guy had thousands upon thousands 00:22:39.279 --> 00:22:42.660 of fingers and toes and legs and they were collecting 00:22:42.660 --> 00:22:45.559 all this kind of stuff from the Holy Land and 00:22:45.559 --> 00:22:48.000 at the same time there are a lot of these manuscripts 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:51.440 that migrated from the Holy Land up into Europe 00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:55.039 and all over the world, okay? So there's just 00:22:55.039 --> 00:22:57.619 been a dispersal of all that kind of stuff throughout 00:22:57.619 --> 00:23:02.500 the world. This P -52 fragment, was photographed 00:23:02.500 --> 00:23:06.059 and it was sent to papirologists which are people 00:23:06.059 --> 00:23:09.880 who study such things in Europe and they believe 00:23:09.880 --> 00:23:13.759 that this fragment of a manuscript was about 00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:18.180 150 AD to 100 AD. Another one said it was from 00:23:18.180 --> 00:23:21.759 the 90s and so what I'm trying to tell you is 00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:25.529 they are pieces of manuscripts that are very, 00:23:25.529 --> 00:23:28.210 very, very old, almost back to the time where 00:23:28.210 --> 00:23:30.849 they were written, very close. Because someone 00:23:30.849 --> 00:23:33.089 might say, well, where's the actual one that 00:23:33.089 --> 00:23:38.809 Peter wrote? And the truth is, as happens in 00:23:38.809 --> 00:23:42.089 time, they get destroyed, they get wet, they 00:23:42.089 --> 00:23:45.170 get burned, all those kind of things. Malt and 00:23:45.170 --> 00:23:48.210 rust corrupts. Here's a picture of this John 00:23:48.210 --> 00:23:52.809 18. You probably can't see it too well. You probably 00:23:52.809 --> 00:23:56.589 can't read it either, I can't. But nevertheless, 00:23:57.690 --> 00:24:01.130 people ask, are the manuscripts reliable? And 00:24:01.130 --> 00:24:03.630 the answer is yes, the manuscripts are reliable. 00:24:04.289 --> 00:24:06.630 The complete book of Isaiah was found in the 00:24:06.630 --> 00:24:11.980 caves of Qumran in 19 - 47. It is 11 inches wide 00:24:11.980 --> 00:24:17.000 and it is 24 feet long. It is one long piece 00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:19.460 of paper made out of papyrus and they rolled 00:24:19.460 --> 00:24:22.579 it up. The only differences in it from today's 00:24:22.579 --> 00:24:25.380 Isaiah are spelling. Now something that's interesting 00:24:25.380 --> 00:24:28.799 about this particular manuscript is it's older 00:24:28.799 --> 00:24:32.940 than Jesus. In other words, it was before Jesus 00:24:32.940 --> 00:24:35.140 was around. If my understanding is right, it's 00:24:35.140 --> 00:24:39.119 about 400 years before Christ. And it is the 00:24:39.119 --> 00:24:43.359 same as Isaiah today. And somebody says, well, 00:24:43.619 --> 00:24:45.640 there's differences, though, because there's 00:24:45.640 --> 00:24:48.019 differences in spelling. Well, that is true. 00:24:48.839 --> 00:24:51.039 William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition 00:24:51.039 --> 00:24:54.059 is kind of like me. He spelled mosquito 20 different 00:24:54.059 --> 00:24:58.619 ways, all wrong. But I'll tell you, if you want 00:24:58.619 --> 00:25:03.680 to read about Lewis and Clark, you can still 00:25:03.680 --> 00:25:06.920 understand he's talking about a mosquito. even 00:25:06.920 --> 00:25:09.819 if it's misspelled. And so there are people who 00:25:09.819 --> 00:25:11.779 are critical of the Bible and critical of the 00:25:11.779 --> 00:25:14.980 New Testament because of a few differences in 00:25:14.980 --> 00:25:17.980 spelling, but it really doesn't change the meaning 00:25:17.980 --> 00:25:23.660 at all. Here's a document that there's a word 00:25:23.660 --> 00:25:26.880 called historicity, which means is it historically 00:25:26.880 --> 00:25:31.400 accurate? And the fact is there is no other document 00:25:31.400 --> 00:25:35.980 in the world that is in the class. that the New 00:25:35.980 --> 00:25:38.960 Testament is in as far as historically accurate. 00:25:39.440 --> 00:25:42.640 And you might, some of these writers over here, 00:25:42.680 --> 00:25:47.640 maybe you read Plato or one of these, Aristotle, 00:25:48.200 --> 00:25:51.279 probably a lot of you read Homer, you know, and 00:25:51.279 --> 00:25:53.319 people always ask about the New Testament and 00:25:53.319 --> 00:25:54.940 they say, well, how do you know it wasn't changed? 00:25:56.519 --> 00:25:58.440 How do you know people just didn't come in there 00:25:58.440 --> 00:26:01.210 and change it? Well, one of the reasons we know 00:26:01.210 --> 00:26:03.509 that is because there's thousands upon thousands 00:26:03.509 --> 00:26:08.170 of documents. There are so many that people have 00:26:08.170 --> 00:26:10.329 entire careers studying these things. I want 00:26:10.329 --> 00:26:13.329 you to notice something. Homer's Iliad was written 00:26:13.329 --> 00:26:18.069 in 900 BC. Okay, 900 years before Jesus is when 00:26:18.069 --> 00:26:21.230 it was written. The earliest copy that exists 00:26:21.230 --> 00:26:27.950 is 400 BC. That's a time gap of 500 years. And 00:26:27.950 --> 00:26:29.890 so I want to ask you a question. I wonder how 00:26:29.890 --> 00:26:32.410 many changes they made to Homer's Iliad. Reckon 00:26:32.410 --> 00:26:37.190 how many? Nobody asks that question, do they? 00:26:37.490 --> 00:26:41.710 Nobody cares if they changed the Iliad from 900 00:26:41.710 --> 00:26:45.369 BC to 400 BC. So there's 500 years, we just don't 00:26:45.369 --> 00:26:49.130 know what happened. Guess how many copies there 00:26:49.130 --> 00:26:55.829 are? There are 643 copies. 643, well that's quite 00:26:55.829 --> 00:26:59.839 a few actually. You can take those 643 and you 00:26:59.839 --> 00:27:01.920 can read them and you can look for differences 00:27:01.920 --> 00:27:04.480 and changes and all those kind of things. I want 00:27:04.480 --> 00:27:06.940 you to think about the New Testament. The first, 00:27:07.599 --> 00:27:09.480 the date it was written is in the first century 00:27:09.480 --> 00:27:14.079 from 50 to 100 AD. The earliest copy is around 00:27:14.079 --> 00:27:19.119 100, 130, maybe even as early as 90. You know 00:27:19.119 --> 00:27:24.940 how much time that is? 50 years. 60 years, 70 00:27:24.940 --> 00:27:28.940 years, maybe 100 years, very little time. That's 00:27:28.940 --> 00:27:39.180 nothing like 500 years. There's over 5 ,000 ancient 00:27:39.180 --> 00:27:45.079 copies. And the accuracy from what I've been 00:27:45.079 --> 00:27:49.059 told is 99 .5, and the .5 is spelling, is what 00:27:49.059 --> 00:27:53.430 the .5 is. And so the question are... Is it accurate? 00:27:53.690 --> 00:27:57.230 Yes. The New Testament is the most historically 00:27:57.230 --> 00:28:01.049 accurate book that has ever existed. And secondarily, 00:28:01.529 --> 00:28:05.029 it is the most highly criticized book. It is 00:28:05.029 --> 00:28:08.650 the most studied book that has ever existed. 00:28:09.450 --> 00:28:12.369 And if there were things that were serious problems 00:28:12.369 --> 00:28:16.289 from the ancient copies to today's copies, you 00:28:16.289 --> 00:28:18.690 would know about it because it would be headline 00:28:18.690 --> 00:28:25.059 news. The reality is the New Testament that you're 00:28:25.059 --> 00:28:29.720 reading today is exactly the same as it was written. 00:28:29.960 --> 00:28:33.420 Maybe a couple of differences in spelling. It's 00:28:33.420 --> 00:28:36.920 exactly the same. It's just been preserved. And 00:28:36.920 --> 00:28:39.539 if you think about it, it's a very miraculous 00:28:39.539 --> 00:28:45.019 thing, which I'm sure was God's intention. Are 00:28:45.019 --> 00:28:47.079 they reliable? They can be cross referenced. 00:28:47.119 --> 00:28:49.980 And let me tell you, they have. The enemies of 00:28:49.980 --> 00:28:52.660 the Bible have checked it and rechecked it and 00:28:52.660 --> 00:28:55.460 looked for problems. So here's a list of some 00:28:55.460 --> 00:28:57.160 of these manuscripts and I thought you might 00:28:57.160 --> 00:29:00.460 find this interesting. And I'm talking about 00:29:00.460 --> 00:29:04.839 ancient copies, early in time copies. The book 00:29:04.839 --> 00:29:08.119 of Matthew, there are 14 that are earlier than 00:29:08.119 --> 00:29:14.500 200. Okay, 200 A .D. Mark, there are large fragments 00:29:14.500 --> 00:29:19.119 from 250. Luke, there are three from 200. John, 00:29:19.140 --> 00:29:22.000 as we said, there are some very early fragments. 00:29:23.299 --> 00:29:26.140 Some of these, you'll notice, and most of them, 00:29:26.160 --> 00:29:28.779 I'm talking about the oldest copies, are just 00:29:28.779 --> 00:29:33.900 fragments. Axe, a little bit older. And so you 00:29:33.900 --> 00:29:36.519 can just take and look through here. Here, 2 00:29:36.519 --> 00:29:39.279 Thessalonians, a little older before we have 00:29:39.279 --> 00:29:42.920 as many. But as you go through, all these things 00:29:42.920 --> 00:29:48.420 seem to be the standard. They're very, very ancient 00:29:48.420 --> 00:29:53.500 copies of the New Testament that exist. The book 00:29:53.500 --> 00:29:56.099 of 3 John, which it's a small book, isn't it? 00:29:56.220 --> 00:30:00.930 It's just one chapter. It's complete. And so 00:30:00.930 --> 00:30:04.849 that brings us to the Bibles. Now we've been 00:30:04.849 --> 00:30:09.970 talking about the history of the church and how 00:30:09.970 --> 00:30:12.670 it began to be translated into various languages, 00:30:13.109 --> 00:30:17.769 Latin, very early on. By the late 300s, Greek. 00:30:18.529 --> 00:30:21.269 ceased to be the language of most people and 00:30:21.269 --> 00:30:24.210 Latin become the language that was spoken commonly 00:30:24.210 --> 00:30:28.890 in the Roman Empire. In 382, Pope Damascus commissioned 00:30:28.890 --> 00:30:31.529 Jerome. James talked about this the other day 00:30:31.529 --> 00:30:34.890 to translate the Bible into Latin. This was called 00:30:34.890 --> 00:30:38.490 the Vulgata or the common translation. It became 00:30:38.490 --> 00:30:43.410 the standard Roman Catholic Church Bible. James 00:30:43.410 --> 00:30:45.109 talked a little bit about, so this is kind of 00:30:45.109 --> 00:30:49.059 good timing in the sense that The Roman Catholic 00:30:49.059 --> 00:30:52.940 Church merged with the Roman Empire and and became 00:30:52.940 --> 00:30:55.880 something that dominated a lot of those things 00:30:55.880 --> 00:31:00.640 by the 600s the Bible was only available to Roman 00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:04.500 Catholic priests and and that in Latin and so 00:31:04.500 --> 00:31:08.160 it became a situation where in time most people 00:31:08.160 --> 00:31:10.940 didn't read Latin and The only people that did 00:31:10.940 --> 00:31:14.299 read Latin many time were Roman Catholic priests 00:31:14.829 --> 00:31:17.690 The first handwritten English language Bible 00:31:17.690 --> 00:31:22.009 manuscripts were produced in the 1380s by John 00:31:22.009 --> 00:31:25.809 Wycliffe. He was an Oxford professor, scholar, 00:31:26.089 --> 00:31:30.130 theologian. He was persecuted for doing that, 00:31:30.930 --> 00:31:34.710 translating the scriptures, the leadership. and 00:31:34.710 --> 00:31:37.890 the powers that be did not want the Bible in 00:31:37.890 --> 00:31:41.190 the hands of the common man. Johann Gutenberg 00:31:41.190 --> 00:31:45.230 invented the printing press. The reality is there 00:31:45.230 --> 00:31:47.069 are probably people in China that had printing 00:31:47.069 --> 00:31:50.390 presses before him, but in Europe, Gutenberg 00:31:50.390 --> 00:31:53.750 invented the printing press in the 1450s. The 00:31:53.750 --> 00:31:56.690 first book ever to be printed was the Latin Bible. 00:32:03.859 --> 00:32:07.019 Reformers followed Wycliffe and began to promote 00:32:07.019 --> 00:32:10.279 an English language Bible for the common man. 00:32:10.359 --> 00:32:13.500 A lot of those people were persecuted for that. 00:32:14.440 --> 00:32:17.480 In 1604, Protestants asked the newly crowned 00:32:17.480 --> 00:32:20.819 King James for a new English translation Bible. 00:32:22.119 --> 00:32:25.140 And the King James Bible was the result of the 00:32:25.140 --> 00:32:29.920 efforts of about 50 scholars. From 1605 to 1606, 00:32:30.059 --> 00:32:33.359 the scholars did research. From 07 to 09, the 00:32:33.359 --> 00:32:35.920 work was assembled. In 1610, it went to press. 00:32:36.400 --> 00:32:39.740 In 1611, the King James Version was completed. 00:32:42.599 --> 00:32:45.349 And we most all of us grew up... on the King 00:32:45.349 --> 00:32:47.250 James Version. Now let me tell you a story about 00:32:47.250 --> 00:32:48.950 the King James Version. The one they're holding 00:32:48.950 --> 00:32:52.569 in your hand is not the same one as 1611. It 00:32:52.569 --> 00:32:56.109 has been revised seven times. Seven times it's 00:32:56.109 --> 00:32:59.309 been revised. Some people today would call the 00:32:59.309 --> 00:33:01.970 new King James the eighth revision, and maybe 00:33:01.970 --> 00:33:05.049 that's true or maybe that's not true, but it 00:33:05.049 --> 00:33:09.930 became a very much standard Bible. It has been 00:33:09.930 --> 00:33:14.210 revised, as I said, seven times. and it is updating 00:33:14.210 --> 00:33:18.410 spellings and words that change in meaning. Many 00:33:18.410 --> 00:33:20.829 versions today are translated thought for thought. 00:33:21.130 --> 00:33:23.190 I'm not a big fan of the thought for thought. 00:33:23.549 --> 00:33:28.549 Here's a list of some of those. Problem with 00:33:28.549 --> 00:33:30.730 a thought for thought Bible is somebody's thinking 00:33:30.730 --> 00:33:35.690 gets into the translating. And I find that challenging. 00:33:36.829 --> 00:33:38.950 Here are some versions that are translated word 00:33:38.950 --> 00:33:42.789 for word. Of course here we use King James and 00:33:42.789 --> 00:33:45.470 New King James. The American Standard is one 00:33:45.470 --> 00:33:49.549 other that's translated word for word. And so 00:33:49.549 --> 00:33:52.970 that brings us through a whole lot of time as 00:33:52.970 --> 00:33:57.009 to how we got the Bible. It is one of those things 00:33:57.009 --> 00:33:59.390 that I believe it's the will of God that it be 00:33:59.390 --> 00:34:02.579 preserved. I don't know if you're aware, they 00:34:02.579 --> 00:34:05.039 print 30 million Bibles every year in China, 00:34:05.599 --> 00:34:09.440 and the book's illegal in China. It's the all 00:34:09.440 --> 00:34:12.239 -time best -selling book, hands down. It is the 00:34:12.239 --> 00:34:15.519 most quoted book that has ever existed by the 00:34:15.519 --> 00:34:19.239 most quoted individual, which is Jesus. People 00:34:19.239 --> 00:34:22.880 quote and read and have more interest in Bible 00:34:22.880 --> 00:34:25.900 than any other book and it's not even close and 00:34:25.900 --> 00:34:28.739 I believe it's been preserved on down through 00:34:28.739 --> 00:34:31.639 time for you and I. In the book of John 14 as 00:34:31.639 --> 00:34:34.139 we read Jesus answered and said if a man loved 00:34:34.139 --> 00:34:38.159 me he will keep my words. The reality is Jesus 00:34:38.159 --> 00:34:41.719 has made certain that his word has been preserved. 00:34:42.019 --> 00:34:45.039 The reality is that men and women have died to 00:34:45.039 --> 00:34:47.179 make sure it's been preserved. There were a lot 00:34:47.179 --> 00:34:51.420 of people who persecuted intensely because they 00:34:51.420 --> 00:34:56.260 translated the Word of God and Jesus knew it 00:34:56.260 --> 00:34:59.820 would be so and he gave this encouragement to 00:34:59.820 --> 00:35:03.679 you and I if a man loved me he will keep my words 00:35:03.679 --> 00:35:08.380 and so the question is do you love him? Do you 00:35:08.380 --> 00:35:12.320 love him? Because if you love him, you should 00:35:12.320 --> 00:35:14.480 keep his words Well, you know if you're gonna 00:35:14.480 --> 00:35:17.199 keep the words of Jesus, then you got to know 00:35:17.199 --> 00:35:19.519 the words of Jesus You're gonna have to study 00:35:19.519 --> 00:35:21.659 the word of Jesus. You're gonna have to read 00:35:21.659 --> 00:35:23.900 the words of Jesus You're gonna have to meditate 00:35:23.900 --> 00:35:27.820 and think on the words of Jesus If you love Jesus, 00:35:28.099 --> 00:35:31.000 you should love his word and you should be interested 00:35:31.000 --> 00:35:36.000 in his words He says if you love him, then my 00:35:36.000 --> 00:35:38.440 father will love him and we will come to him 00:35:38.440 --> 00:35:41.280 the person who loves his words and keeps his 00:35:41.280 --> 00:35:44.280 words, God's gonna draw near to that individual. 00:35:44.340 --> 00:35:46.519 And I want you to notice what he says right here. 00:35:46.800 --> 00:35:52.539 And we will make our abode with him. Now here's 00:35:52.539 --> 00:35:56.360 the reality. Isn't that what it's all about? 00:35:59.280 --> 00:36:02.880 Isn't that why we're here? Because we wanna dwell 00:36:02.880 --> 00:36:07.340 with God. We're all seeking a relationship with 00:36:07.340 --> 00:36:10.760 God. We all want to be pleasing God Why is that 00:36:10.760 --> 00:36:13.719 so we can be with him so we can be there with 00:36:13.719 --> 00:36:16.019 him? Because we all know there's something more 00:36:16.019 --> 00:36:18.960 to this life than this short while here in the 00:36:18.960 --> 00:36:21.099 flesh There's something more than the struggles 00:36:21.099 --> 00:36:24.679 of flesh and live this life and and that's it. 00:36:24.699 --> 00:36:27.420 I'm gonna tell you something It's gonna be awful 00:36:27.420 --> 00:36:30.219 disappointing if it's not true that there are 00:36:30.219 --> 00:36:36.579 many mansions Awful disappointing If Jesus didn't 00:36:36.579 --> 00:36:43.099 go to prepare a place for you. Awful disappointing. 00:36:46.280 --> 00:36:51.820 And if the Bible hasn't been preserved, the truth 00:36:51.820 --> 00:36:54.519 that it was then, the truth that it is now, if 00:36:54.519 --> 00:36:56.460 it hasn't been preserved, then I will tell you 00:36:56.460 --> 00:37:04.699 I don't think Jesus is the son of God. because 00:37:04.699 --> 00:37:07.280 he said all scripture is given by inspiration 00:37:07.280 --> 00:37:11.199 of God. John chapter 6 verse 63, he said, it 00:37:11.199 --> 00:37:15.039 is the spirit that quickeneth the flesh, profiteth 00:37:15.039 --> 00:37:17.460 nothing. The words that I speak to you, they 00:37:17.460 --> 00:37:24.559 are spirit and they are life. So I hope you love 00:37:24.559 --> 00:37:26.699 Jesus tonight. Maybe you're here tonight and 00:37:26.699 --> 00:37:29.400 you think, well, I hadn't been loving him enough. 00:37:29.440 --> 00:37:31.360 I hadn't been keeping his word enough. You got 00:37:31.360 --> 00:37:33.760 a great opportunity tonight to change. You got 00:37:33.760 --> 00:37:37.139 an opportunity tonight to reset and restart and 00:37:37.139 --> 00:37:41.940 focus and love him and love his word and be obedient 00:37:41.940 --> 00:37:43.699 to him. And if you'll do that, he will abide 00:37:43.699 --> 00:37:46.039 with you and he will be there for you and he 00:37:46.039 --> 00:37:48.380 will bless you. If we can help you tonight to 00:37:48.380 --> 00:37:50.699 make a change in your life, we'd love to do that. 00:37:50.920 --> 00:37:53.179 If you have a need in your life that has nothing 00:37:53.179 --> 00:37:55.119 to do with the things that we've studied, we'd 00:37:55.119 --> 00:38:02.659 be glad to help you with that too. Thank you 00:38:02.659 --> 00:38:04.719 for listening to today's sermon from the Church 00:38:04.719 --> 00:38:07.059 of Christ Wheeler area. We hope this message 00:38:07.059 --> 00:38:09.440 encouraged you and strengthened you in your faith 00:38:09.440 --> 00:38:12.099 this week. Don't forget the doors always open 00:38:12.099 --> 00:38:15.960 at 1500 South Allen L. Bean Boulevard at 1030 00:38:15.960 --> 00:38:19.579 a .m. on Sundays, 230 p .m. on Sunday afternoons 00:38:19.579 --> 00:38:22.559 and recharge with us midweek on Wednesdays at 00:38:22.559 --> 00:38:26.019 7 p .m. For more information or to hear past 00:38:26.019 --> 00:38:29.289 messages Follow us on your favorite podcast platform. 00:38:29.849 --> 00:38:32.510 Look us up on Facebook and Instagram. We hope 00:38:32.510 --> 00:38:34.550 you have a blessed week and we'll see you next 00:38:34.550 --> 00:38:34.849 time.