Everybody's singing out real loud on the first.
One is walking with me over life's uneven way.
Constantly supporting me each moment of the day.
How can I be lonely when such fellowship is mine with my blessed Lord divine?
How can I be lonely when I'm Jesus only to be my companion and unfailing guide?
Why should I be weary or my path seem dreary when He's walking by my side?
Days may bring their burden and their trials as I go, but my Lord is near and helps to
make them lighter grow.
Life may have its crosses or its losses or increase.
Jesus meets them all with peace.
How can I be lonely when I'm Jesus only to be my companion and unfailing guide?
Why should I be weary or my path seem dreary when He's walking by my side?
In the hour of sad bereavement or of bitter loss, I can find support and consolation
at the cross.
But or woe or suffering, I'll seem glorified when He daily walks and talks with me.
How can I be lonely when I'm Jesus only to be my companion and unfailing guide?
Why should I be weary or my path seem dreary when He's walking by my side?
In life's rosy morning when the skies above are clear and it's noontide hours
with many cares and problems near, or when evening shadows fall in closing of my day,
Jesus will be there away.
How can I be lonely when I'm Jesus only to be my companion and unfailing guide?
Why should I be weary or my path seem dreary when He's walking by my side?
All right, great job everybody.
Let's all pray together.
Thank you Lord once again for letting us come together and praise you Lord and sing
unto you.
We love you.
We just ask you to fill this room with your spirit and bless this church in Jesus'
name.
Amen.
All right, for our next song, let's go to song number 86.
Song number 86, In the Garden.
Everybody's singing out real loud in the first.
I come to the garden alone while the dew is still on the roses and the voice I hear
falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses and He walks with me and He talks with me
and He tells me I am His own.
And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.
He speaks and the sound of His voice is so sweet.
The birds hush their singing and the melody that He gave to me within my heart is ringing.
And He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own.
And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.
I'd stay in the garden with Him, the knife around me be falling, but He bids me go
through the voice of woe, His voice to me is calling.
And He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own.
And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.
All right, great job everybody.
Thanks for coming to Steadfast Baptist Church.
If you need another bulletin or if you need one, lift up your hand real quick.
Also we are going to be doing part five of our translators to the reader, so probably
just have a couple more and then we'll be finished.
So if you want to look along, we're probably doing a lot of reading of that today, so
it might be beneficial.
Also on our bulletin we have the passage that we've been working on, Revelation 1
verse 12.
On the inside we have our service soul winning times and our church stats.
Please continue to update our soul winning leaders on your church stats.
And then on the right we have our expecting ladies, please be in prayer for all of them.
We have our other prayer list, just continue to pray for our church family.
Upcoming events, our Bahamas missions trip is happening this week.
We already even have people out there and so please continue to just pray that the
trip would be a great success.
I did send out an email with some instructions and there is a group that we all are in
where we can communicate.
So if you have questions, ask me or brother Oz and we'll try to get you those details.
We have also the Mother's Day tea, May 13th.
We have some church reminders there on the back and then some notes.
Also there was something I had forgotten to mention this morning, should have put
it in the bulletin, but it's, we're going to have a spring swap and it's going
to be May 20th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
So if you would like to participate in that, you can ask Mrs. Naeem, she's helping to
organize that.
That is Saturday, May 20th and again, it's simply just items that you have value that
you don't want.
So items that have no value that you don't want, you put them in the trash.
items that have value that you don't want or you think other people could benefit from,
you could bring it and in fact, it's not just limited to people that want to bring
stuff, if you want stuff of value that other people didn't, you can show up and
see what's there.
I've heard testimonies that there was some really great stuff that people have gone
and gotten and I don't even think they brought anything.
So they were just, you know, but we need both parties.
We need givers and takers.
So we don't want just givers.
We don't want just takers.
We want both and hopefully y'all can all come together and make that happen.
That's pretty much all I have for announcements.
We're going to sing our Psalm, Psalm 146 and you could use your Bible or even better
is the little sheet handout that we have.
Psalm 146, they're on the first.
Praise ye the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul.
While I live, will I praise the Lord, I will sing praises unto my God.
While I have any being, put not your trust in princes, nor in the Son of Man, in whom
there is no help, whom there is no help.
Praise ye the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul.
His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth in that very day.
His thoughts perish, happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope
is in the Lord, the Lord his God.
Praise ye the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul.
Which made heaven and earth a sea, and all that there in is which keepeth truth
forever, which executeth judgment for the old breast which giveth food to the hungry,
the Lord lucid the prisoners.
Praise ye the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul.
The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind, the Lord raiseth them that are bound down,
the Lord loveth the righteous, the Lord preserveth the strangers, he relieveth the
fatherless and widows.
Praise ye the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul.
But the way of the wicked, he turneth upside down, the Lord shall reign forever, even like
God, O Zion, unto all generations.
Praise ye the Lord, praise the Lord.
Very good.
At this time, we'll turn in our Bibles to Judges Chapter Number 8.
Judges Chapter Number 8, and we'll follow along as Brother Nick reads for us.
Judges Chapter 8, Judges Chapter 8, the Bible reads,
And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served us thus, that thou callest
us not, when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites?
And they did chide with him sharply.
And he said unto them, What have I done now in comparison of you?
Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abizir?
God hath delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, or of Inzeob, and what was I able
to do in comparison of you?
Then their anger was abated toward him when he had said that.
And Gideon came to Jordan and passed over he and the three hundred men that were with
him, faint yet pursuing them.
And he said unto the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people
that follow me.
For they be faint, and I am pursuing after Zeba and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.
And the princes of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zeba and Zalmunna now in thy hand,
that we should give bread unto thy army?
And Gideon said, Therefore, when the Lord had delivered Zeba and Zalmunna into my
hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briars.
And he went up thence to Penuel, and spake unto them likewise.
And the men of Penuel answered him, as the men of Succoth had answered him.
And he spake also unto the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace,
I will break down this tower.
Now Zeba and Zalmunna were in Carcor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand
men, all that were left of all the hosts of the children of the east.
For there fell a hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword.
And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in the tents on the east of Noba
and Jogbeha, and smote the host, for the host was secure.
And when Zeba and Zalmunna fled, he pursued after them, and took the two kings of
Midian, Zeba and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the hosts.
And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle before the sun was up, and
caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him.
And he described unto him the princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof,
even threescore and seventeen men.
And he came unto the men of Succoth, and said, Behold, Zeba and Zalmunna,
with whom ye did upbraid me, saying, Are the hands of Zeba and Zalmunna now
in thy hand, that we should give bread unto thy men that are weary?
And he took the elders of the city, and the thorns of the wilderness,
and briars, and with them he taught the men of Succoth.
And he beat down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city.
Then said he unto Zeba and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye
slew at Tabor?
And they answered, As thou art, so were they.
Each one resembled the children of a king.
And he said, They were my brethren, even the sons of my mother.
As the Lord liveth, if he had saved them alive, I would not slay you.
And he said unto Jethur his firstborn, Up, and slay them.
But the youth drew not his sword, for he feared, because he was yet a youth.
Then Zeba and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us.
For as the man is, so is his strength.
And Gideon arose, and slew Zeba and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments
that were on their camel's necks.
Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou
and thy son, and thy sons' sons also.
For thou has delivered us from the hand of Midian.
And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son
rule over you, the Lord shall rule over you.
And Gideon said unto them, I would desire request of you that you would give me
every man the earrings of his prey, for they had golden earrings,
because they were Ishmaelites.
And they answered, We will willingly give them.
And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings
of his prey.
And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels
of gold, beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was
on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were
about their camel's necks.
And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Afra.
And all Israel went thither, ahoring after it, which thing became a snare
unto Gideon, and to his house.
Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted
up their heads no more.
And the country was in quietness 40 years in the days of Gideon.
And Jerubel, the son of Joash, went and dwelt in his own house.
And Gideon had three score and ten sons of his body begotten,
for he had many wives.
And his concubine was in Shechem.
She also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.
And Gideon, the son of Joash, died in a good old age, and was buried
in the sepulchre of Joash's father, and Afra of the Abesserites.
And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children
of Israel turned again, and went ahoring after Balaam,
and made Baal-bereth their god.
And the children of Israel remembered not the Lord their god,
who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies
on every side.
Neither showed they kindness to the house of Drubel, namely Gideon,
according to all the goodness which he had showed unto Israel.
Let us pray.
Father, thank you for this great day, and thank you for this great church.
I pray that you would just please bless Pastor and his family.
I pray that the power of the Holy Spirit would rest upon his shoulders
this evening, and that you would fill his heart with wisdom,
and help him deliver the sermon that he's given to us.
Father, I pray that you would just bless us as we travel
to the Bahamas.
And I pray that you would prepare hearts right now.
Help us to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Help us to preach boldly.
I pray the Holy Ghost will fill our hearts and our mouths
with the verses that we need as we preach the gospel.
And help us do a big work there for you, Lord.
And we pray these things in Jesus' name.
Amen.
So we're continuing our series on the translator to the reader.
And we're going to be starting with a section titled
A Satisfaction to Our Brethren.
It's about on page 8.
And of the handouts we have is about 14 pages.
It's a little bit more than halfway through.
Page 8 starts out with A Satisfaction to Our Brethren.
Again, kind of just a quick summary of where we're at
in this particular section.
The translator to the reader is trying
to give us an idea of the environment, the culture,
the accusations, the purpose, the meaning behind why
the Bible's being translated.
And they've kind of given us an idea
that there's a lot of people who are going to just simply
be against anything good.
That's why they started out with the best things are
calumnyated.
And the highest personages are being calumnyated.
And they speak about just how there's
been a lot of attacks against good things,
even trying to do things for God.
People will speak against them.
And then they've kind of given us some cultural context.
They talk about why they believe
the originals are the word of God without error
and that they believe in the inspiration of scripture,
that it was God-breathed, and that that's
the very fountains in which God gives us the word of God,
but that we shouldn't limit ourselves
to the Greek and Hebrew only, but rather it's
important to have the word translated in other languages
so that the language is not barbarous to those
who don't speak it.
And kind of the last section that we kind of talked about
was the speeches and reasons both of our brethren
or adversaries against this work.
They're saying, well, if you're going
to translate this in English, what's
wrong with the previous versions?
Or why are you giving us another translation?
And why not stick with the Latin?
Why don't we just stick with what Jerome gave us?
Or why not stick with other English versions?
Or why are we giving us other?
Are you saying that every other work before us was bad
and they're saying, no, we don't
think that every other work before us was bad,
and we're not condemning every other work,
but they want to be able to add profit
to the kingdom of God.
And specifically, when we talk about the English Bible,
their perspective is the English Bible is not yet
dialed in.
So if I could potentially make it better,
why would I not then offer my services
to try and improve that particular area which
I can improve upon?
Jerome didn't translate the Bible into English.
So Jerome is not going to benefit us
as English speakers.
If you know Latin, OK, great.
Go with that.
But they speak English, and they speak Greek,
and they speak Hebrew.
So they're experts.
So they could profit us in giving us
the best English translation that we could possibly have.
Dial it in.
Us.
And again, we believe that after this particular work,
they did dial it in.
I'm not saying that I agree with this philosophy
in every category that everything can always
be improved upon.
And when it comes to the King James Bible,
I don't believe that we could ever improve upon it.
I believe it's perfect.
I believe it's already without error.
And I believe it's accurately portraying
the Greek and the Hebrew.
So there's no reason to try to redo it.
It's like reinventing the wheel.
It's like, could I reinvent the wheel?
Yes, I could.
But wouldn't that be kind of a waste of time at this point
since we already have it?
Let's use the wheel, and then let's use
the wheel to make a new thing.
I'm so glad they moved on from the wheel
to then make a car.
Let's not just have a wheel.
Let's then make a car, and then let's
improve upon that car.
And of course, you can improve upon things.
Hey, how about we had the King James Bible given to us,
but you know how they improved upon it?
Well, they took it out of Gothic font,
and they put it into Times New Roman.
That was an improvement because if you've ever
seen an original 1611, it's very difficult to read.
And just simply because certain letters, like S's and stuff,
they look weird.
And so you start looking at it, and you're
like, it's confusing, even though it's the exact same.
They updated spellings.
They updated certain things about just
how it could fit on a page.
This is a lot smaller than the replica
that we have out there.
When we go soul winning, praise God,
I don't have an original 1611 that I have
to carry around to this giant.
People would freak out.
They're like, what are you doing?
Would you like to see in the Bible?
You'd have to hit this giant thing.
It wouldn't even fit on this pulpit thing that's up here.
I mean, so obviously, did we improve upon it in that regard?
Yes, we did.
I like that we have the little mini New
Testaments that we're able to hand out and just give people
a word of God.
I like the fact that people have taken it and electronically
put the Bible into a computer, and then I can search it.
I love that.
So here's the thing.
It's not like we don't have room for improvement,
but let's think about what kind of improvements
we're making.
Are we going to improve the text itself?
No.
But does that mean that we can't add to the kingdom
of God and be profitable?
No.
And of course, I love our church.
I think our church is an improvement
upon churches of the past, and we're trying to correct things
and become more biblical and get things that were not
really dialed in, get them out,
and then try to bring more Bible in.
Here's an area that we're trying to improve in.
Bring more Psalms.
Praise God that we have an ability,
and we have people that are talented and willing to learn
how to sing new songs, and we're putting Psalms in music,
and we can sing them.
I love that, and I love the songs that we have.
You know, Psalm 67, written by Pastor Stephen Andrews,
is one of my favorite songs.
I love singing that one.
It's great, and I love some of the other Psalms that we
have.
And so let's not limit ourselves to, well,
we can only do what's already been given us.
No, we can add some profit, and I'm
glad they had the opinion so as not leave us with only
a bishop's or leave us only with the Geneva,
but rather we have the King James Bible.
And it's better.
It's a more perfect, it's a more complete,
it's the finished product of what you would have
or need for the English language.
And of course, I believe it's the word of God without error.
It's my final authority.
Now, here's the thing.
They're going to continue kind of talking
about this particular subject.
And so it says, a satisfaction to our brethren.
Of course, when they talk about brethren, though,
they're talking about specifically, you know,
people of like mind and like faith for them.
They tend to have adversaries, which is kind of used
with Catholics.
And then the brethren is kind of the Puritans
and the Anglicans.
They kind of both view them as brethren, in essence, OK?
That's how they're speaking.
It says, and to the same effect.
What is the same effect in relation to the fact
that they don't condemn the previous versions?
That's what we talked about.
That we are so far off from condemning
any of their labors that traveled before us in this kind,
either in this land or beyond sea,
either in King Henry's time or in King Edward's,
if there were any translation or correction
of a translation in his time,
or Queen Elizabeth's of ever renowned memory,
that we acknowledge them to have been raised up of God
for the building and furnishing of his church
and that they deserve to be had of us
and of posterity and everlasting remembrance.
The judgment of Aristotle is worthy and well known.
If Timotheus had not been, we had not had such sweet music.
But if Phrennis, Timotheus his master, had not been,
we had not had Timotheus.
Therefore, blessed be they and most honored be their name,
that break the ice and give the onset upon that which
helpeth forward to the saving of the souls.
Now, these gentlemen are not people that we know of,
and they're using kind of a secular source.
But essentially, they're trying
to say that if we don't have someone just kind of get
things kicked off or started, often we
don't end up having the great person beyond them
that perfects it and then gives us exactly what we want.
And so they're saying, praise God
for people that just break the ice, that just kind of get
things started, so that someone could come along
and then perfect it later.
And of course, we enjoy this every day of our lives.
The first light bulb wasn't as nice as the ones
we have in here.
The first piano wasn't as great as the one
that we have here.
The first car wasn't as great as the cars that we enjoy.
So let's not condemn the person
that made the first car or the first light bulb
or the first piano or the first anything,
because without those great inventions,
without those initial starters, we wouldn't even
have the great luxuries we have today.
So we wouldn't want to condemn that.
So they're saying the people that break the ice
and giving us a Bible, why would we want to condemn that?
Because without it, we wouldn't have a King James.
You know, the King James is updating the bishops.
But how do we have a King James without the bishops?
You don't.
How do you have a bishops without the Tyndale?
How do you have the Tyndale without Erasmus
giving us the Greek?
You know, you can't have, so why would I sit here
and condemn all the previous men that broke the ice, that
gave us what we have?
That would make no sense.
So they're saying, we don't have this opinion.
Even secular people are explaining
how we can't have the wonderful enjoyment of music,
arts, television, all these different things
without the initial movers, OK?
He says, now what can be more available
thereto than to deliver God's book unto God's people
in the tongue which they understand?
Since of a hidden treasure and of a fountain that is sealed,
there is no prophet, as Ptolemy,
Philadelphia, wrote to the rabbins or masters
of the Jews, as witnesseth Epiphanius, or Epiphanius,
and as St. Augustine saith, a man
had rather be with his dog than with a stranger, whose
tongue is strange unto him.
So he's saying, most people would rather
hang out with their dog than just a random person.
And that's probably true, OK?
If I said, hey, you're going to go home,
and you can hang out with your dog at home,
or just a random person we're going to put in your house.
You're like, come on, Fido.
You know, it's like, says, so basically, what's the parallel?
In the sense that, would you rather
have an English Bible that's not perfect,
or would you rather have a Greek perfect Bible?
And it's like, well, since you don't speak Greek,
what is that going to benefit you?
So imagine this.
If I said, all right, for the next year,
you can only read the Greek New Testament.
I'll give you a Texas Receptus Greek New Testament.
Or you can read a bishop's.
It's like, which would profit you more?
Probably most people in this room, the bishops would,
just simply because the fact that you don't speak Greek any,
so it doesn't help you at all.
So it's like, would conversation with a person
be better than a dog?
Yes.
But again, if you don't know the person,
and you want nothing to do with them,
it kind of isn't that really beneficial, right?
And so he's kind of relating these analogies
to what he's saying.
Yet for all that, as nothing is begun and perfected
at the same time, and the latter thoughts
are thought to be wiser.
So if we, building upon their foundation that
went before us, and being hoping by their labors,
do endeavor to make that better, which they left
so good, no man, we are sure, hath cause to dislike us.
I like that.
He said, hey, you have no reason not to like us.
And that's actually biblical, because the Bible tells us
in the pastoral epistles, let no man despise thee.
And so actually, according to the Bible,
while it sounds a little bit arrogant or prideful,
it's actually biblical in the sense
that if you're not doing anything that would be cause
of someone being angry at you,
they shouldn't be allowed to be angry with you.
And of course, you can tell your spouse this.
You say, you're not allowed to be angry with me,
because I'm not doing anything
that's worthy of you being angry with me right now.
And of course, if you're serving God, like imagine,
and again, it happens, right?
David's wife got mad at him for wanting to serve the Lord.
It's like, that's not a valid reason
to get mad at your spouse.
And not every emotion is valid.
So you being mad at me doesn't
mean I've done something wrong.
That could be your problem.
As the Bible illustrates in talking
about being angry with someone without a fault
or without a cause, you can be angry with someone
without a cause.
That's not their fault. That's your fault.
And we're not supposed to be despises
of those that are good.
We're supposed to actually have love and sincerity
in our heart towards godly men.
And so someone that's doing good, we should love.
We should like.
We shouldn't be mad at them.
So it's like, if there's a pastor out there that's just
not like us or not necessarily our friend,
but he's doing good, we have no reason
to be mad at that person or dislike that person.
We should dislike that person.
And he's saying, there is no man,
we are sure, hath cause to dislike us.
So they're saying, we are certain there
is no reason to be mad at us or to dislike us.
There is no good reason.
And of course, a lot of statements here,
I have highlighted and underlined because it's good.
They say nothing has begun and perfected at the same time.
So they're saying it's silly to think
that you could just start translating the Bible
and it would just instantly be the perfect translation.
They're saying it's gonna take time, effort,
or going over it multiple times.
Does it sound like they believe
in instant double inspiration?
No, they believe that things should be thought about
and that you're gonna have to work out
the kinks on it a little bit.
And that they're building upon
the foundation of other men.
And they said they're gonna make something better
that was already so good.
So what's their opinion of the bishops
and the Geneva and the Tyndale?
It was so good.
But did they say it couldn't be better?
No, no, no, they're gonna make it better, aren't they?
Okay.
It says they, meaning the ones that built the foundation,
we persuade ourselves if they were alive would thank us.
So they're saying we are so confident
in what we're doing that William Tyndale
would not be mad at what we've done.
He wouldn't be mad that we changed his Bible.
They would say thank you for making it better.
And you know what?
Godly people love good correction.
When you say, hey, here's a way to tweak that
or to make that better.
I think of it this way, soul winning.
You know, if someone in all of us,
especially initially when going soul winning,
if we were given a good tip
of how to make our soul winning better,
we were thinking like, yeah, thanks.
Oh, that is good.
We appreciate that.
We don't look at it with disdain and anguish
and saying, oh, how dare you?
Or me, frankly speaking,
I remember trying to think about how to do soul winning
before I'd ever heard about it.
Just because I had been in a lot of churches
where they do these ominous altar calls
where they just have, you know,
who wants to be on team Jesus?
You know, and was just thinking like,
what is this kind of stuff?
And like, I just genuinely wanted to get people saved.
And so I'm like trying to figure out like,
how do you do it or what does that look like?
And I remember I'd watch videos of Ray Comfort
and it was like, well, he's really good
at never getting anyone saved.
And I, but I looked up all kinds of different things
and I just remember just trying to figure out like,
what does it actually look like?
And it really wasn't until I found Pastor Steven Anderson's
getting Pastor Burson saved,
it was like a long time ago, at the door.
And of course that's not when he really got him saved.
But I'm just saying, you know, he's got this example,
like this really old video of him getting him saved.
I was like, that was the first time I really saw it.
And I thought like, wow, that's great.
I'm so glad that I had that to look to.
But you know, whenever I watched that video,
I said, I think that there's some verses I'd like to add.
And you know, and you know what I'm confident of?
I'm confident that if Pastor Anderson
and I went soul winning today,
he wouldn't be like,
why aren't you doing exactly like that video?
He would, he would be like,
hey, I like the way that you give the gospel, right?
Because just because someone starts out and breaks the ice
or gives you, you know, some kind of a Romans road
or some kind of an idea,
if you make it better or improve it or do something to it,
I'm certain that people that love God
would be appreciative of that or would like that.
You know, and I, myself,
there's things where I preach things, said things.
I remember some of my initial Psalms that I wrote,
Pastor Anderson was like, yeah, you need to change this
and prove this, fix this.
Hey, for our Preserve Bible film,
Pastor Anderson was like, just cut this,
this eight minutes, gone.
And you're just like, okay, all right.
But you know what?
Thank you.
Thank you for helping me.
You know, someone that loves God is not gonna be offended
by getting things better or getting them right.
And that's their opinion.
And they're like, hey, we're confident
that William Tyndale would read a King James Bible.
I believe that too.
It says this, the vintage of a Abiezer
that straight the stroke,
yet the gleaning of grapes of Ephraim
was not to be despised.
See Judges 8, two.
Now, that's where we read,
and let's explain this
now that we have a little bit of context.
And think about what he's saying.
Look at Judges chapter eight, verse one.
And the men of Ephraim said unto him,
talking about Gideon and the men of Gideon,
why hast thou served us thus,
that thou calledest us not,
when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites?
And they did shied with him sharply.
And he said unto them, what have I done now
in comparison of you?
Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim
better than the vintage of Abiezer?
So Gideon goes to war and they win the battle,
but they also call for it in chapter seven
for the Ephraimites to come and actually fight with them
or fight alongside them, but in their area.
So in a sense, Gideon breaks the ice.
Gideon's, you know, they're all the children of Israel
are kind of being oppressed by Midianites
and no one's really kind of like stuck up,
you know, for the children of Israel
or fought against them.
And so Gideon kind of just breaks the initial ice.
You know, he throws down the altars of Baal
and he's getting the children of Israel
all rallied together and they go and fight
and they kind of get it kick started.
And they're like, hey, you guys, come on, you know,
let's go, you can join us.
Makes me think of in the state of Texas, you know,
we're not always the first mover to good legislation.
There was other states in America
that first passed constitutional carry.
And you know what, praise God for the states
that broke the ice on constitutional carry.
So then Texas was like, all right, we'll do it too.
And so, but again, them passing that law in Arizona
or other states didn't really benefit me living in Texas.
You know what benefits me is them breaking the ice
and then Texas doing it.
So what happens is he breaks the ice
and gets a lot of the fighting in his area
and then he encourages them to do it in their area
and then they're like, well, why didn't you start
with us, why didn't you let us, you know,
why didn't you have us help us in the initial push,
right, why didn't we get to break the ice?
And here's the reason why they're kind of saying this,
pride, because they're thinking like, oh, well,
now Gideon's gonna get all the attention
for breaking the ice and he gets all the recognition
of everything, but then Gideon brings up this point
that's kind of interesting and I don't know
if it's true or not, probably is,
but he says that the gleaning of grapes of Ephraim
better than the vintage of Abiezer.
What does that mean?
Their area, Gideon's area is referenced as Abiezer, okay?
Their area is recognized as Ephraim.
That's why they're Ephraimites, okay?
It should be pretty clear.
But what is vintage?
Now, when I think of vintage,
I think of like an old graphic T-shirt.
I don't know why that's what I think.
Who thinks that?
Just me, or one other person, all right?
I have no idea, but if you look up
what a vintage could also mean in a biblical context
is it's a whole season's worth of produce from a vineyard.
So what he's saying is even if you took all of the wine
that we would gather from our entire area
for the whole year, is it what you get
just by your gleanings better than what we get
and from a whole year's crop?
And so he's kind of, what he's insinuating is that look,
all of what we have doesn't even compare
to just the small remnant of what you guys have.
Your land is so much better.
Your area is so much better.
Or even in the context of war,
he could be saying you guys accomplished more than us,
but for sure, what he's saying is you guys
have accomplished more and perfected that
and have a better outcome than what we have.
Why does that matter?
And think about it this way.
Okay, did Tyndale break the ice?
Sure, but you know what's better
than the Tyndale Bible?
The King James Bible.
So why would those King James translators
get envious of Tyndale or get mad at him
or say like, well why didn't we be the first ones
to translate the Bible in English?
It's like who cares?
Because you have the King James Bible
and the King James Bible's better.
So stop getting so hung up on being the first person
or the one that breaks the ice
or getting all the attention or all the recognition
or no one has ever discovered this truth
except for me.
And that's like, that's a prideful attitude.
And I think as preachers and pastors,
I think a lot of people wanna have this idea
of like I discovered this truth.
No one before me has ever discovered this truth.
But even if it's heresy,
you're usually still not the first.
I mean most of these guys that get up
and they're like no one knows,
I'm gonna declare something brand new.
It's like look, there was Antichrist before you, buddy.
There was weirdos before you
and every heresy you could dream up,
it's already been dreamed up.
And then they get all mad
because you call them by their heresy name.
Like oh, you're Calvinists.
Oh, okay, you're modalists.
Like there's no new thing.
Yeah, rejecting the Trinity, not new.
You know, rejecting anything in the Bible is not new.
They already dreamed it up, thought it up,
you're not cool, you're not clever.
It's better to just be humble and just realize,
hey, we're standing on the shoulders of giants, folks.
We stand on the shoulders of great men before us
and that doesn't mean that we can't add.
That doesn't mean we can't improve.
That doesn't mean we can't profit the kingdom of God,
but let's be serious and real about it.
We're building upon the foundation
and we're all building upon the foundation
of Jesus Christ at the end of the day.
So there's nothing really to glory in.
If we're gonna glory in anything,
let's glory in Jesus and in the gospel, okay?
Because without that, we wouldn't even be saved.
And if we weren't saved,
what could we even boast of anyways?
And if we weren't created by God, we wouldn't have anything.
I mean, it's just a foolish attitude
to get prideful about ourselves
because we have nothing to offer.
So that's kind of the context we have here
of Judges 8, two, and it really kind of fits well.
Look at this next point, though, they make.
Joash, the king of Israel, did not satisfy himself
till he had smitten the ground three times
and yet he offended the prophet for giving over them.
I love this point and I'm not gonna go
to the text for sake of time,
but what if we had stopped
after the third English version?
What if we went Tyndale, Matthew, great,
and now we're all stuck with the great?
I mean, it's called great, great Bible,
but it was because of how big it was,
not necessarily the quality, it was about the size.
But don't you like the fact that they kept going?
And so he's kind of saying, like,
well, three times you might have thought
it was good for you, but wait a minute,
is that really what God wants you to do,
is just kind of, well, you know,
I went soloing for a couple years.
No, keep going soloing.
No, you know, it's like, we don't just,
well, I did some work, or I've read the Bible three times
read it a fourth time, go soloing again.
Keep striving, keep going.
Well, we got three cities saved, we'll get four cities saved.
We got three people saved today, we'll get a fourth.
You know, don't stop.
And of course, when it came to the King James Bible,
praise God, they didn't say,
well, it's good enough, right?
I mean, it's okay.
No, no, let's work on it.
If we can make it better, then do it.
Now, if we can't make it better,
then let's work on something that we can make
and work and perfect.
But I like this attitude of how they're, you know,
saying, look, we're not gonna just give up
after three times, folks.
Aquila is, as of whom he spake before,
translated the Bible as carefully
and as skillfully as he could.
And yet, he thought good to go over it again.
And then it got the credit with the Jews
to be called Kat Akrabyon,
that is, accurately done, as Saint Jerome witnesseth.
So they're saying, there was some guy named Aquila
that had translated the Bible,
and he did the best he could possibly do.
He put all the effort in.
And then he said, you know what,
I still need to check it again.
And then he checked it again,
and he was like, you know what, there's some improvement.
And he made improvement, and then he got a name,
hey, this guy actually cares about accuracy.
And I'll be honest with you,
if I write a text, it's almost always incorrect.
Like, I almost always make mistakes when I start texting.
And a lot of times, I'm lazy, and I just send that.
So if you ever get a text from me,
it probably has mistakes in it.
And just as a character flaw of mine,
I don't always check it over.
But it's usually because texts to me aren't that important.
But as it scales in importance,
I start deciding I need to start checking this stuff.
Writing an email, again, I'll make lots of mistakes.
So if I don't reread it, re-go over it,
I'll make a lot of mistakes.
And so I know that about myself.
Why would I then think someone translating the Bible,
you know, it wouldn't need to go over it multiple times,
think about it, meditate on it.
And sometimes you'll even have an error,
but in your brain you fix it,
because you're just used to fixing things.
And so you'll read the same error multiple times.
So then you need multiple perspectives,
or you need time, you need to think about.
Like, there's just so much error that we're prone to
that we have to realize sometimes
it takes a lot of effort, it takes a lot of work,
it takes a lot of just, you know, improving upon.
The same comes with even food.
I know for myself, in making a lot of different dishes,
the first time I made it was never the best.
And of course, even today, I would say
the best that I am at cooking any dish
or making any meal, it's like probably right now.
Because you just keep getting better
the more and more that you do it.
Cooking a steak, making a brisket, making ribs,
whatever it is, you know, it seems like
you just get better and better over time
because you've had that many more repetitions.
And so why would I not apply the same thing spiritually
that we could continually improve, even with preaching?
I don't think that, you know, I at least hope so.
I don't think that my best sermons
were the first sermons I ever preached.
I hope that as time goes on,
I get better at preaching, I have better understanding,
I can explain things better.
You know, I look to preaching as an opportunity
to get better every single time I preach.
And that maybe I can improve, I can learn,
you know, how to preach longer, no, I'm just kidding.
But that you can improve and figure out better ways
to say things, that you emphasize things
that are more important.
And so we should always look to improve
and try to make sure that we're accurate.
Accuracy is usually not initially.
Accuracy takes combing over again.
Then once I've gone through it, I'll give it to my wife
and she'll be like, wow, you know,
she'll just like mark that thing up.
She's a comma magician, you know,
I don't use commas apparently, I don't know.
She's just like putting all the commas in there
and fixing everything for me.
But I know this, if I don't reread what I wrote
multiple times and then have my wife reread it,
probably a lot of mistakes.
Probably just, that's just the reality of the situation.
So again, we should know that about ourselves
and put in the effort, especially when something's important
to make it as accurate as possible.
That's what they're saying about him.
Says this, how many books of profane learning
have been gone over again and again
by the same translators, by others?
Of one, the same book of Aristotle's ethics,
there are extant, not so few as six or seven,
several translations.
Now this cost may be bestowed upon the gourd,
which affordeth us a little shade,
and which today flourisheth, but tomorrow is cut down.
What may we bestow, nay, what ought we not to bestow
upon the vine, the fruit whereof maketh glad
the conscience of man, and the stem
whereof abideth forever?
So they're saying, if we have works of antiquity
that are not the Bible, so just random scholars,
philosophers, poets, whatever that be,
Beowulf, Aristotle, Socrates, and people are going
and making a translation of that
and then trying to perfect it
or making another translation, they're working
so tirelessly to get the accuracy of some vain work,
and in fact, as he describes it,
or as the translators already describe it, profane work,
then how much more should we do so
with the word of God, with the Bible?
It's like, if they're putting that much effort
into something that's so vain and profane and meaningless,
then why would we not wanna put so much effort
into the Bible?
And he uses the example from Jonah about the gourd,
where there's a gourd that comes out
and gives shade unto Jonah, and then when it dies,
he's all mad and upset that the gourd died,
but God's like, well, how are you mad that a gourd died
and you're not mad that thousands
and thousands of people would die?
He's like, that doesn't really make any sense.
He's saying, you should care so much more
about the souls of men and about people,
but it's like Jonah kinda had this attitude,
like, nuke him, you know, like, I don't even care.
Like, I just hope thousands and thousands of people die,
and when God gives us the count,
he's saying hundreds of thousands of these people
are like babies and children,
children that don't even know the difference
between left hands and right hands.
I mean, that's, arguably,
Nineveh could have millions of people.
There's been a million or a couple million people in it,
and Jonah's fine with just being like, nuke him.
And there are a lot of conservatives like that.
It's like Middle East, nuke him.
Mexico, nuke him.
You know, they just have these like really over the top
negative attitudes towards large groups of people,
and you know, that's a wicked attitude.
You know, whether you like those people or not,
I don't really care.
You should care more about the souls of men
than your gourd, than your little vineyard,
than your pet, than your animal, than your dog.
I mean, people would rather have a pet dog
and just let all of Mexico go to hell
than have to be inconvenience
to go preach the gospel in Mexico or something.
It's like, well, if I go to Mexico,
who's gonna watch my dog?
Who cares?
I mean, in the scope of eternity,
if you let your dog die the most gruesome death of famine
and it never got to eat again and it died,
but you saved thousands of souls in Mexico.
I mean, you really think that when you get up into heaven
God's gonna be like, what about Fido?
As the person that bathed with their dog
and you know, fed it fresh meat
and let it sleep in the bed with it
and would give it kisses on the mouth,
people do this stuff, okay?
It's weird and gross.
If you do this, you're, no, I'm just kidding.
And they love it and they're just like,
you're such a sweetie, but they never get anybody saved.
That's meaningless.
You have all this love.
Oh, I love so much.
Have you seen what I do with Fido?
And it's like, no one cares.
And it's stupid.
Yeah, there are people that love their animals so much
they'll buy them clothes and they'll put them in purses
and they'll carry them around
and they'll have photos of their animals
all up around their house
and they call it their children.
And it's like, okay, but why would you have so much love
for an animal, but you can't even have love
for a person, for a human?
And it's like, how can you have so much love
for a work of Socrates or Aristotle or Plato,
but you can't have love for the word of God,
that you wouldn't want that to be combed over.
And of course, this isn't a conversation
of people that are supposed to be spiritual.
They're supposed to be Christians,
but they don't even care about the Bible.
And they're pointing out the stupidity
of their argumentation of saying,
why wouldn't you want to,
you want to comb through it over again?
You want to try and perfect it again?
It's like, of course we do.
Of course we want a perfect Bible.
Who doesn't want a perfect Bible?
This makes no sense.
They say, now, if this cost,
I already read that, it says this,
and this is the word of God, which we translate.
So again, what do they think that they're doing?
The word of God.
What is the chaff to the wheat, saith the Lord?
Tanti vitreum quanti verum margaritum, saith Tertullian,
if a toy of glass be of that reckoning with us,
how ought we to value the true pearl?
So you're saying people will have little toys
that are a fancy toy.
So the toy of glass, especially at this time,
would have been kind of a rarity,
something typically what we would think of
is like a toy that's put on a shelf,
or kind of hid, and they're saying,
if you're putting so much care
with this little glass toy that's just like,
you know, it's glass, okay, it's not worth that much,
how would we not then treat a true pearl?
And he's saying, if you're treating the works of man
with so much care and delicacy,
and you care so much about,
why would you not care about the word of God itself?
He says, therefore, let no man's eye be evil,
because his majesty's as good.
They're saying, don't get mad at King James
for wanting to work on the Bible
when you guys are caring about secular works.
Neither let any be grieved that we have a prince
that seeketh the increase
of the spiritual wealth of Israel.
Now, people get mad when you want to do
something spiritual or serve God.
People get mad that you just like church.
People get grieved that you just,
hey, I go to church on Sunday night, why?
It's like, why are you mad that I go?
It doesn't even affect you.
They're just mad that you care about Christianity,
that you care about the Bible.
I read the Bible with my kids, what?
Are you a goody two shoes?
It's like, they get mad that you just care
about the things of God.
Go over to Nehemiah chapter two.
Go to Nehemiah chapter two.
Do you know who does this?
Wicked people.
Evil people.
Why does it bother you so much that I want to serve God?
Why does it bother you so much that I like church?
Why does it bother you so much that I like the Bible?
Why does it bother you so much
that I want to go soul winning?
Oh, you go soul winning?
Yes, I go soul winning.
Oh, you read the Bible, yeah.
Someone asks you a question.
Well, the Bible says,
oh, of course you're gonna use the Bible
for what you think or what you believe.
Yeah, of course I'm gonna use the Bible.
Why are you so mad?
What do you want me to reference?
Aristotle?
Well, Aristotle once said, ooh, interesting.
Isn't that how the world is?
If I said, well, Plato once said, ooh,
you should put that on the wall.
But it's like, well, the Bible's,
oh, the Bible, yeah, ugh.
It's like, of course I would quote the Bible.
Of course I would quote the word of God.
Of course I care only what God thinks
and not what these stupid, dead pedophiles think.
And yeah, Socrates was a pedophile, folks.
But then people plaster that up
and act like it's so wonderful and great
and it's just like, who cares
about what that pedophile thought?
I care about what God thinks.
Oh, Sigmund Freud.
All these people are like weirdos
and creepers and pedophiles.
It's like, I don't care what they think of the past.
I care what the Bible says.
And the people that are getting mad,
you know what, nuts to them
because most of the time they're evil and wicked.
Look at Nehemiah chapter two, verse number 10.
When Sin bowed out the Oranite
and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it,
it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man
to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
No, they're just mad that someone wants to help people.
Oh, you wanna actually help people?
It's like, yeah.
And of course, people get mad that you go soul-wanting
just because you're seeking the welfare of Texans.
You know, you just wanna go and give them the gospel
and make sure they're saved,
and then people get grieved by it.
You know why they get grieved by it?
Because they pastor a church
that they don't get anybody saved.
And they get mad, they don't want you
to check on their church members
because they're gonna start realizing,
oh, well, you're a fraud.
And so they get mad at you.
It's like, well, why are you checking my church members?
Sometimes you get this at soul-wanting.
It's like, how dare you ask me if I'm saved?
And it's like, why?
Don't ask my family that.
Or who's literally been giving the gospel to someone,
and then mom or dad gets mad at you
for trying to check and make sure that they're child-safe?
Who's had that?
Oh, yeah, hands all over the room.
And it's like, oh, thanks, Tobiah.
Thanks, Sanballat.
You know what, that's not a good person.
And of course,
why would I listen to their complaints then?
Why would I care what you have to say?
You know, you're getting mad
because we're trying to do something good?
Well, nuts to you.
Says this, let Sanballat and Tobiahs do so
which therefore do bear their jest reproof.
Meaning, you know what,
you guys should be corrected for that.
But let us rather bless God
from the ground of our heart
for working this religious carer in him
to have the translations of the Bible
maturely considered of and examined.
For by this means it cometh the past
that whatsoever is sound already
and all is sound for substance
and one or other of our additions
and the worst of ours far better
than their authentic vulgar,
the same will shine as gold more brightly
being rubbed and polished.
Also, if anything be halting or superfluous
or not so agreeable to the original,
the same may be corrected
and the truth set in its place.
Now, that's a long sentence,
but what they're saying is,
hey, anything that's already sound,
then great.
But it's gonna shine more brightly
and it's gonna look a little bit better
when we get the imperfections out of it.
So imagine you had an actual piece of gold.
You had just a giant block of gold.
But some parts of it just are a little dirty
or a little dusty.
Well, you usually clean the whole thing, don't you?
You actually just get the duster out
or you get whatever it is
and you would polish the whole brick.
Even though some parts of it might have not even needed it.
But you know what?
You're trying to get all the imperfections out
so then the whole brick will shine real brightly.
So if you think about it with the Bible,
it's like, look, we went over the whole thing
and yeah, most of it was sound,
but we are getting all the imperfections out
so that the whole thing can just shine more brightly.
And of course, in their little explanation
and their parenthetical statement,
I love that they say this,
the worst of ours far better than their authentic vulgar.
You know what they're saying?
They're saying that the worst English translation
is better than the best Latin.
That's what they just said.
They were like, oh, and by the way,
let us just mention this,
that the worst of our English
is still better than your authentic vulgar,
you know, your Latin or whatever you have.
Or they could also be in reference to the Douay-Rheims.
That's probably more likely what they're bringing up,
but ultimately they're just saying,
hey, whatever you guys are doing, you Catholic losers,
it's still garbage in comparison to what we're doing.
So eat it.
You know, they're just like,
I like how they're just kind of spicy, all right?
Now also they say this,
that if anything's halting superfluous
or not so agreeable to the original, correct it.
Do they have a problem with the truth?
No, they're saying, hey, if there's a mistake, fix it.
And of course, the person that has this opinion
is usually the one that's just right.
You know, I think of like some of my friends,
some of my past friends,
I'm sure that they're saying like,
hey, if I'm saying anything wrong in this sermon,
believe the Bible.
But you know why they usually say that?
Is because they're not wrong in anything.
They might say that,
but there's really not anything to correct
because they're just saying everything
that the Bible has to say.
And usually the person that's the most willing
for correction is the one that's the most accurate
or the one that's actually just spot on
because they don't fear investigation.
Says this, and what can the king command to be done
that will bring him more true honor than this?
He's saying, look, all the king said was,
okay, let's improve the Bible we have
only if the original allows it.
How could that be a bad thing?
Okay, let's check the numbers.
I mean, it'd be like if they actually went to Arizona
and they said, well, if Biden really won the tally,
then let's just count all the ballots
and make sure that really happened.
But then a lot of people didn't wanna do that.
And you wonder like, why?
Why are you so afraid to count
all the ballots legitimately?
Why are you so afraid to match signatures?
Why are you so afraid to authenticate all of these things?
It's because there's an issue, that's why.
It's because they know they did something wrong.
That's why they would not want that to be done.
And of course, someone's saying, let's check things.
There's no way to criticize that.
But of course, they will.
Says this, and wherein could they have that, I'm sorry.
And wherein could they that have been set at work
approve their duty to the king,
yea, their obedience to God and love to his saints
more than by yielding their service
and all that is within them
for the furnishing of the work.
So they're saying, and then why could you get mad at us
for obeying God, the king and man and the Bible?
He's like, hey, we're obeying every single authority
in our life and we're yielding ourselves
and saying, whatever God and the king
and the church wants us to do, we're gonna do it.
How could you get mad at that person?
But beside all this, they were the principal motives
of it and therefore ought least to quarrel it.
For the very historical truth is that upon
the importunate petitions of the Puritans
at his majesty's coming to this crown,
the conference at Hampton Court,
having been appointed for hearing their complaints,
when by force of reason, they were put
from all other grounds, they had recourse
at the last of the shift, that they could not
with good conscience subscribe to the communion book
since it maintained the Bible as it was there translated,
which was, as they said, a most corrupted translation.
And although this was judged to be
but a very poor and empty shift, yet even hereupon
did his majesty begin to rethink himself
of the good that might ensue by a new translation
and presently after gave order for this translation
which is now presented unto thee.
Thus much to satisfy our scrupulous brethren.
Scrupulous means conscientious or exact,
painstakingly meticulous, so typically
the scrupulous brethren is in reference to Puritans
and now the Puritans at the Hampton Court Conference
had a problem with previous translations.
And again, to give you context a little bit,
Puritans think that anything that's not dialed in 100%
is just corrupt, so like their perspective
is essentially, you know, the bishops in the Geneva,
they really like the Geneva, but the bishops is corrupt
because it's just not 100% perfect.
You know, I don't have that opinion.
I don't believe that the bishops is just corrupted.
It may not be perfect, it may have problems,
but it was a good stepping stone
to get us to the King James Bible.
And in fact, the bishops and the King James
is so similar, folks.
I mean, in fact, I've read large portions of it
for this church and it's almost indistinguishable by ear
from the King James.
In many places, most of the time the differences
are simply just stylistic changes
where the King James just makes it sound better
or it flows better or it's more,
it's articulated a little bit clearer.
But for the most part, it says the exact same thing
and of course, their viewpoint is that, you know,
anything that's translated accurately is the word of God
regardless of style.
So the Puritans, they wanted to basically say,
we need to have a new translation
because your communion book,
which is based on other translations,
we can't even do that
because, you know, your translation is just so bad.
And they're basically saying, well, that's a dumb point
and we didn't agree with that point.
The king still thought having a new translation
was just a good idea in general.
And of course, I think, you know, to some degree,
from the king's perspective, he's saying,
look, we have good guys on both sides
and while, you know, do we really need to dial in the Bible
to serve God, not necessarily,
but just to shut them up and to get everybody out of unity
let's just do it anyways.
And it's not a bad thing to dial it in
and then they'll have no reason
to make any kind of excuse.
And for us, I believe we should do the same thing.
When people are mad at us
but we have opportunity to improve or correct anything,
we should first just correct that
and then try to work towards a solution,
no matter how much they're at fault.
If I'm in the right 99% but in the wrong 1%
and someone's criticizing me,
I still say, let's correct the 1%
and then we'll try to work on a solution.
Now, once you get to the 100% point,
you know, a man doesn't heretic
of the first and second admonition, you just reject.
Okay, but we shouldn't be like,
well, but I'm 99% right, so nuts to you.
It's like, no, let's go ahead and just dial it in.
Let's still perfect it.
And I like King James attitude.
They're just basically saying,
well, at this point, now what are you gonna say?
Because again, most of the people
working on the Bible are bishops.
So they were fine with the bishops.
They liked the bishops.
They didn't need it necessarily for them.
They're kind of making the King James for the Puritans
so that they'll all come together and we can all agree
because the Puritans want nothing to do with the church.
And they're saying, well, okay,
maybe if we get the King James Bible,
then we can kind of have unity again.
We can have the church
and they're trying to reform the church.
So they're trying to all rally together.
And you know what, to King James credit,
you can't really have a church where one group,
this side has the Neva and this side has the bishops.
You know, that's gonna cause problems in the church,
gonna cause divisions and factions.
You kind of need one Bible.
And if one side's saying,
we refuse to have church with your bishops,
then it's like, okay, fine.
We'll make the King James
and then you have no excuses at that point.
Then at that point, it's dialed in.
You gotta do, we all gotta agree.
We gotta have a starting place.
And so sometimes it's important to get that foundation,
you know, dialed in, perfected and exactly right
so that then you can move on,
have agreement, have fellowship.
You know, I think about it this way.
If we had friends or church friends
that we wanna be friends with,
but let's say they're like,
well, I would be friends with you,
but you have this kind of one issue.
And let's say it's like a real issue.
Then it's like, okay, fix it
so that you can be friends.
You know, why not go with someone two miles?
You know, someone asks for your coat,
give them your cloak also, right?
We should be willing to kind of go above
what's requested or needed
just to make, you know,
agreeance and to try and help people.
We shouldn't have this attitude of like,
well, you don't even deserve my coats.
Why would I give you my cloak also?
I don't need to walk a mile with you.
Why would I walk twain?
You know, a Christian's attitude is
I just wanna help you,
even if it's to my detriment,
even if I have to go above and beyond,
I wanna work with you.
And if I can say, hey, I wanna work with you,
but I have to spend more time
explaining things, then okay.
I'll use this example.
People might wanna come to our church
and they'll be more needy.
Maybe I have to explain things more to them
or I have to spend more time with them.
I shouldn't just be like,
well, I don't want you as a church member.
I only want the church members that just show up
and just help and they're just a blessing
and they do good to me.
It's like, well, that's not really the right attitude.
You should wanna still befriend people
and encourage people that are maybe a little needier
and they need more charity,
the weaker brethren, you know,
condescend to men of low estate
and to help other people.
And so it's not like they have a bad idea here
in the sense that the Bible could be perfected,
but they were a little bit over the top maybe
and how demanding they were for you to perfect that.
Sometimes it's like this with soul winning marathons.
It's like, well, you know,
you give them 99% for the soul winning marathon,
but it's like, well, where's the juice?
And it's like, just give it to them.
And you know, I do this.
I'll disagree or not like something,
but just an essence of just keeping the peace
or helping people, it's like, fine.
Let's just, you know, accommodate that person.
Or I've had people, I buy everybody's meal for an event
and then I buy all the dessert and I'm like, last call.
But then after the last call, a kid comes up
and they're like, hey, I missed the last call.
Can I still, you know, and it's like, sure, whatever.
You know, it's like, but you know,
you don't wanna have this attitude of just, you know,
we can't ever compromise a little bit.
We can't ever go to the other person's side.
We can't ever try to help.
You know, especially when there is a fault
or there is something that we can improve upon,
let us be willing to go the extra mile.
Why do you think it's called the extra mile?
Because it's from the Bible, folks, okay.
Why don't we go the extra mile
to help the weaker brethren or to perfect things
or to improve things or, you know, and again,
I'm so glad that people finally went the extra mile
of the King James Bible.
Now, for sake of time, I'm not gonna be able
to finish the whole next section,
but I think we can just start it
and then we'll finish it the next time.
But it says there's an answer
to the imputations of our adversaries.
Imputation in this context is a false attribution.
So they're basically saying people are falsely accusing us
or falsely attributing things unto us.
We're gonna answer that.
Now, to the latter we answer,
that we do not deny, nay, we affirm and avow
that the very meanest translation of the Bible in English
set forth by men of our profession,
for we have seen none of theirs of the whole Bible as yet,
contained at the word of God, nay, is the word of God.
As the king's speech, which he uttered in parliament
being translated into French, Dutch, Italian, and Latin,
is still the king's speech,
though it be not interpreted by every translator
with the light grace nor peradventure
so fitly for phrase,
nor so expressly for sins everywhere,
for it is confessed that things
are to take their denomination of the greater part.
And a natural man could say,
verum, ubai, multa, netent, en carmine,
non ego passus, offender, maculis.
A man may be counted a virtuous man,
though he have made many slips in his life.
Else, there were none virtuous.
For in many things we offend all,
also a comely man and lovely,
though he have some warts upon his hand.
Not only freckles upon his face, but also scars.
No cause, therefore, why the word translated
should be denied to be the word,
or forbidden to be current,
notwithstanding that some imperfections and blemishes
may be noted in the setting forth of it.
For whatever was perfect under the sun,
where apostles are apostolic men, that is,
men endued with an extraordinary measure of God's spirit
and privilege with the privilege of infallibility,
had not their hand.
The Romanist, therefore, in refusing to hear
and daring to burn the word translated,
did no less than despite the spirit of grace,
from whom originally it proceeded,
and whose sense and meaning,
as well as man's weakness would enable, it did express.
Judged by example or two.
Now, they say, to start this, the very meanest,
meanest is not saying that they were hostile or angry,
it's meaning average.
So they're saying, even the most average,
basic translation of the Bible,
and their opinion is still the Bible,
and notice how they word this,
containeth the word of God, nay, is the word of God.
So their opinion, their perspective,
is that as long as it's accurately translated,
it's the word of God.
Now, I think I also agree with that,
within the context of the entire letter
that they've written us, okay?
Because you can't just take this out of context entirely.
They're not saying,
because you have to negate all the things
they negated earlier.
They're not saying that the Greek Septuagint
was the word of God, perfected.
They're not saying that when you translate it
out of a bad source, that it's the word of God.
So in context, they are saying
that it would be a perfectly accurate translation,
that it's exactly what the text says,
but they're saying, you know,
maybe they used simple words,
or maybe they used different synonyms,
and from their perspective,
that doesn't change the fact that that's what God said.
Arguably, this is kind of how the Bible is itself.
Many quotations of the Old Testament in the New Testament
are not verbatim quotes, folks,
and they may say them a little bit different,
but it's not any more or less the word of God,
just because it's worded slightly differently,
using synonyms, made a more plain statement,
and because of the way we articulate things in English,
often when we quote someone else,
or give instructions from someone else,
we never use verbatim, because it wouldn't make sense.
We almost always change the pronouns,
or simplify, and of course, it's not changing it,
in the sense that if I tell my children,
hey, go get your brother, what did I say?
I said, go get your brother.
Now, when they go to their brother,
you know what they're gonna say?
Dad wants to see you.
Wait a minute, I didn't say that.
I said, go get your brother.
What if they said exactly what I said, right?
Clayton would go to Jackson and say, go get your brother,
and then Jackson would go to James and say,
James, go get your brother,
and then James would go to Clayton
and say, go get your brother,
and then it'd be an endless cycle, right?
So what do they do?
They say, hey, Dad wants to see you, right,
because that makes more sense,
and the same is, when you translate the Bible
from one language to another,
it's never gonna be these over-the-top, literal,
word-for-word translations.
It's gonna be put in to that particular vernacular,
and that vernacular may change even over time
based on the evolution of the change,
of the culture, of the language,
but to say that it's not the word of God
because it's not this over-the-top, literal,
word-for-word translation,
you start getting into weird Ruckmanite territory, folks,
and it doesn't make any sense.
Now, of course, I believe that the Bible makes it clear
that God preserved every word.
How?
I believe in the Greek, and in the Hebrew, it's preserved,
and then, of course, when we translate that,
we want that to be accurate
to the words that were preserved for us,
and it's still a layer of preservation
when it's accurately translated.
Now, does it have the exact literal words for words?
No, because if you had that, it wouldn't really work.
Frankly speaking, there's words in our Bible
that are in English.
It'll say, here's the Greek word.
Here's the Hebrew word.
They just transliterate it.
They just borrow it.
He's the alpha and omega.
Do you think that that's English?
That's not English, okay?
They just brought it over,
but how could you translate that, and it always be perfect
because is omega really, I mean, is that really Z,
or is that just a dynamic equivalence in essence?
So you can never have this over-the-top,
word-for-word perfect thing.
So again, they're saying, here's a modern-day example.
When the king says something, and of course, at this time,
kings would reign over multiple areas
that spoke different languages.
They would have to translate it
into all those different languages
for everybody to get it.
So a king may have provinces that speak only French,
and then German, or Latin, or whatever.
And so when he gives a commandment,
well, we gotta translate it
into all the different languages
and give it to everybody.
But what he actually said is probably not the French
or not the other, and they're just saying,
as long as it's accurately portraying that,
it's still the king's commandment.
Their perspective is that it's still the Bible.
It's still the word of God
as long as it's saying exactly what God said
even though God didn't verbatim speak
every single language every time he spoke.
Is God really up in heaven every time he said something,
saying it in all thousands of languages,
all simultaneously?
Or is he saying it in one language,
and then when the Holy Ghost may interpret that
or even say that in Acts chapter number two,
it's still the word of God.
It's still what God said.
That's their perspective, and I agree.
I agree that that is the right way
to approach the Bible.
Now, does that mean that we need to get
a hop-on-pop version of the Bible?
No, and that's what I love about the King James Bible
is they didn't want to just give us
the meanest translation, the most average.
They wanted to give us the most majestic translation too,
and that's one thing that I don't believe
you could ever improve upon.
We don't have the people and the linguistic skills
and all the things necessary
to make a more majestic translation than the King James.
It's probably just never gonna happen.
Now, in other languages, that might be the case.
There could be other languages where
a certain translation's not necessarily as majestic yet,
and it'd be great if people would work on those too.
But he's saying in times past,
there were some people that were so against this
that they would forbid you to have a translation.
The Catholic Church forbid people
to have a translation of the Bible
because they looked at it as all corrupt.
It was just all wrong.
If it wasn't this word-perfect Ruckmanite version,
then they would just basically kill them.
And in their opinion, it's just not possible.
So the Catholic Church forbid laymen
or anybody to have the Bible.
In fact, in 1234 AD, I didn't have this in our film,
King James I of Aragon, so this is a different King James,
forbid anyone to own a translation,
and in fact, burn translations
from anybody that had them at that time.
So many kings of the past would say,
hey, give me your Bible that you've translated
or got to translate in a foreign language,
we're just burning it.
It doesn't matter how good or bad a translation was.
It was just, all translations are bad.
And I hear this.
People say you always lose something in translation
or you can never translate something perfectly
into another language.
Well, how is that true?
How is it true that you always lose something
in translation?
Why would God then give us a Bible
that's in different languages?
I mean, he didn't give us a New Testament Hebrew, folks.
And in fact, even portions of Hebrew,
of Old Testament Hebrew is kind of contained
in the Aramaic.
So oops, sorry for that section.
But wait a minute.
Are we really going to just say,
you know what, translations can never be perfect,
so I'll just never have a translation.
That's a bad philosophy.
And of course, their opinion is that every translation
is the word of God.
And I like this opinion.
Because you know what, I'm not mad at the NIV
when it accurately translates to the Hebrew and the Greek.
You know what I'm mad at the NIV for doing?
Taking verses out.
You know what I'm mad at the NIV for doing?
Changing salvation to work salvation in places.
You know, basing it off of Sinaiticus,
basing it off of Septuagint versions in the Old Testament.
Having a sodomite on the translating committee
and changing all the passages on sodomy.
You know, that's what I'm mad at it for.
Not because it's putting it in more plain language
or the meanest language.
Maybe the NIV is the meanest.
But the most average.
But I'm not mad at it for that.
Now let's say the NIV, just for argument's sake,
said exactly the same as the King James,
but in just more plain language.
I would still use the King James.
I think it's more majestic and I prefer it.
So you're never gonna get me off of the King James
no matter what, but I wouldn't really have
the podium to stand on and condemn it
and just say, you know what, this is wicked
of the devil, you can't use it.
You know, that would be, in my opinion,
not the right approach.
And if someone else was getting benefit from it,
then you know what, praise God
for the fact that they got some benefit.
And let's be honest, there's plenty of times
when I preach or you preach or you're explaining
something to other people that you'll explain
what a verse meant in other words, won't you?
Or you'll use more plain language to explain something.
Did you corrupt the Bible when you did that?
It's still the same, folks.
And I notice that I use sometimes words
to explain verses that the modern versions use
in those places just to make it clearer.
You know, the word even in our Bible,
it doesn't really resonate with me.
So I always think of it as specifically.
You know, Romans 5, eight, where it says
God commended his love toward us
and that while we were at sinners Christ died for us.
I always explain to people that that means
that he showed his love or he demonstrated his love.
If you get a modern version of the Bible,
it'll say demonstrated, it'll say showed.
And look, I'm not mad at the New King James
for saying he demonstrated his love.
I'm mad at the New King James
for saying people are being saved.
I'm mad at the New King James
for saying that it's difficult to go to heaven.
I'm mad at the New King James
for making adaptations in the text and putting things,
well, this isn't in the original, in the footnote.
You know, that's what I'm mad at the New King James for.
You know, I'm not mad at the New King James
where it says the exact same thing
as the King James in tons of places.
And sometimes it's even Rachmaninac the same,
you know what I mean?
But let us not get this over the top view
where we can't appreciate something
because it has an imperfection.
And I, did you all go to Hebrews already?
That's the ways we're going, all right, we'll finish.
Hebrews, chapter 11.
I like this point.
Because you know what?
I love this Bible that I have in my hands.
I love it.
In fact, this is my favorite.
I have lots of King James Bibles and I love this one.
But you know what?
This has errors in it.
Because in Exodus 32, 32, it says Senno.
But you know what, that didn't change,
that didn't stop me from loving it
just because it had that one little,
you know, I just mark it out, okay?
Or I just pretend like I'm Mexican for one word, okay?
There's another place where it says,
Rivaros in Numbers, okay?
You know that your Bible,
I guarantee almost every single person in this room,
if not all of us, all of our Bibles
have some imperfection to them.
But would I literally get up and say,
this is not the Bible!
And throw it on the ground or burn it
or like treat it with disrespect
just because it had that one little tiny error in it?
Or could I just look at it and say,
you know what, this is the Word of God, folks.
You know, this is the Bible.
And not be so over the top in my zeal
to be angry about that one little mistake.
And basically, you're throwing the baby out
with the bathwater, you're getting to a point
where you can't appreciate anything that's good.
You know, don't let perfection get in the way
of something that's good, okay?
And so, you know, when it comes to the King James Bible,
don't hear me wrong, I'm not saying
that the King James Bible's not perfect.
But at the same time, there's gonna be printing errors,
there's gonna be issues, there's gonna be things like that
that we can recognize.
And when it came to men of God,
what if we took the same approach
to the men of God of the Bible?
I can't like David because he's not perfect.
You know who does this?
Muslims.
Muslims reject the Bible and many of them will say,
oh, well, all the men in the Bible
that y'all look up to, they're terrible people.
Haven't you read your book?
I mean, they're murderers and they're fornicators
and they're drunkards and they're adulterers
and they commit all kinds of sin.
They're liars.
Why would I wanna follow men that were liars
and drunkards and thieves and fornicators and murderers?
And look, let's name the names.
Moses, murderer.
David, murderer.
Adulterer, David again.
He's on the list a couple times, okay?
You know what, he's also a liar
because he lied about it too, didn't he?
Kinda used deceit about it.
This guy's not looking so good on the rap sheet, is he?
I mean, how many other people we wanna put on the list?
Peter.
I mean, Peter said that he's a sinful man.
Peter made all kinds of mistakes.
How about the apostle Paul?
He got any problems?
Oh yeah, he's hauling people off to prison
for being a Christian.
That wasn't a very good move, was it?
I mean, we could just sit here
and just go up and down the list
and we could find all kinds of problems
with all kinds of people.
Noah got drunk and we all know what happened then.
Not a lot of great stuff.
Abraham is sleeping with Hagar.
I mean, Jacob, he doesn't even know his wife
on his wedding night.
I mean, this guy, that's weird, okay?
Like, you don't even know who your wife is?
I mean, there's all kinds of weird stuff
going on in the Bible.
But wait a minute, what does the Bible say
in Hebrews 11, verse one?
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen.
For by it the elders obtain a good report.
Notice why the men that we look up to
had a good report, because of their faith.
Not because of their imperfections, folks.
Not because of their problems.
And you know what?
God doesn't evaluate men only by their mistakes,
but rather by their faith many times.
And God doesn't typically only pick men,
well, this guy didn't make any mistakes, so I'll use him.
Often he finds guys that made a lot of big mistakes,
and he's like, I'm still gonna use you,
because you have faith.
And let our faith cover our transgressions.
And you know, when it comes to the Bible,
you know, when it comes to the works of God,
you know, let our faith overcome the imperfections
of the process by which it was made.
You know, like, I'm not looking at the English Bible
and saying, you know what,
if there's just one little issue,
then I have to reject the whole thing.
Because I already told you, there's sin on here.
And to what level, what extremity are you gonna take that?
You know, when the first 1611 was printed,
it had errors in it.
Printing errors, and it had issues.
They even made a Bible called the Wicked Bible,
which didn't have the word not,
and thou shalt not commit adultery.
You know, that was probably not a good mistake there.
And of course, people got mad about that.
And you know, they burned those ones, whatever.
But at the same time,
do I really wanna get this over-the-top attitude
that says, well, if it's not perfect, I can't use it?
Well, then how would we even got in the Bible?
Because remember how they started in that other chapter,
they said nothing is perfect when it's begun?
It's like, how do you get to that level of perfection?
What if we did that with our children?
Well, if you're not perfect, we're gonna have to start over.
It's like, no, let's keep working on these things.
And you know, as a Christian,
I'm so glad that God doesn't toss us
into the lake of fire for not being perfect,
but he keeps working on us and keep using us, doesn't he?
And you know, I'm so glad that men
didn't just throw the bishops and the Geneva
and all that in the trash and in the fire and say,
well, we're never gonna have a perfect translation
in our mind, so we won't do it.
No, I'm glad that they worked on it
and said, let's try to make it perfect.
And look, I believe that they did.
I believe that they did perfect it,
and we do have a perfect translation,
albeit, you know, you're probably gonna always
have some printing errors, you're always gonna have some,
that's, find any manuscript.
You know the Greek manuscripts and the Hebrew manuscripts?
None of them are perfect, either.
Do you realize that?
There is not a single, you know,
extant Greek manuscript that lines up with your King James.
It's a culmination of all of them, isn't it?
Are we, oh, now we just can't even believe in faith.
Now we can't even have a Bible.
Where are you gonna find
that just absolutely perfect manuscript?
You wouldn't have it.
So does that mean all of the Christians before us
weren't really Christian or didn't have a Bible?
Are we just gonna throw all the Bibles in the trash
because there's not a single one?
Or are we gonna say, you know what,
even though we see those little bit of imperfections,
you know what, we're judging it as a whole, aren't we?
And even though, look, the problems I have in mind,
I guarantee if we compare your version,
Christians probably don't have those problems, do they?
And so as a collective, we look at it and say,
hey, the King James Bible is perfect.
Just like when we look at the 1611.
Is the 1611, the first original edition, perfect?
No.
It's not, in the sense that it had typographical errors.
But wait a minute, is the work that they completed
and as a whole, the King James Bible work that we have,
is that perfect?
Yes, I do believe that that's perfect.
And you know, think about Job.
Isn't he considered a perfect man?
But wait a minute, did he have any issues, though?
God can look at something and identify it for its faith
and for the work that it has.
And even if, let's just say for hypothetical,
and I don't believe this,
but let's just say the King James literally wasn't perfect.
Let's say it was like the bishop's quality or had it.
Are we really just gonna say
it's not the Bible all of a sudden
and just not even serve God?
I mean, could no one serve God until 1611 happened?
Well, in fact, 1611, they had the printing errors.
So did we have to wait for the next,
when they come up with the next edition
that didn't have the printing errors or whatever?
Or did we have to wait for the Cambridge edition
or the Oxford edition?
Or you know, which one did we have to wait for?
You know, and people get all these over-the-top ideas
where they just basically just don't wanna believe the Bible.
That's where they get.
This over-the-top, navel-gazing,
well, does it have every comma?
Does it have every dotted I?
Does it say cinna or not?
People say, look, well,
if it says throughly or thoroughly,
that's gonna determine if it's the right Bible.
I mean, this kind of stuff
makes you wonder if they even believe in the Bible at all.
Because it's stupid, it's dumb,
it doesn't make any sense.
Just like the same would be like,
you know what, I can't follow David
because you know what, there's some issues there.
There's always gonna be issues.
It's a work of humans, God allowed us.
But let's not take away the divine aspect.
Let's recognize the both, right?
Jesus was both human and he was both divine.
I believe the Bible's both human and it's both divine.
And I believe the King James Bible is perfect.
It has no error.
I don't, you know, I don't ever walk at my Bible.
But you know, when I read cinna,
I didn't think, I didn't have a problem
admitting that that was an error.
And I was like, that dumb machine made a stupid error
and I can fix that, right?
And I talked to somebody about this one time.
I said, look, who had this over-the-top Ruckmanite view
I said, is cinna the right word there in my Bible?
Because they were just saying,
I just believe my Bible no matter what.
And I'm like, well, that's a dumb attitude.
I said, can't we at least compare it
with other, you know, King James Bibles and make sure
and compare it with the Greek manuscripts
and compare them all and then notice as a whole,
you know, in the multitude of counselors
there are safety folks.
And if God truly preserved his word,
you know what, I don't have a problem
you scrutinizing this, scrutinizing the Greek,
scrutinizing the Hebrew, because it's also the same thing
and it's the word of God without error.
But let us not get this over-the-top approach
that if it doesn't say it exactly in King James 1611
English like the one in your hand
that it can't be the Bible.
And there, it's out there.
Look, if it's in French, it's still the Bible.
If it's in Greek, it's still the Bible.
If it's in Roman, you know, Times New Roman font,
it's still the Bible.
If it's in Gothic font, it's still the Bible.
And for us, let us not have such an over-the-top view
where we essentially just don't even exercise
the faith that God wants us to really have in our lives.
Let's close in prayer.
Thank you, Heavenly Father, so much
for giving us the Bible and giving us example
of men who had faith in the Bible that we can follow.
I pray that we wouldn't just have this over-the-top view
of a critical attitude where we can't actually
just accept the Bible by faith,
that we can't look for the good things in the Bible,
that we can't appreciate the work of good men,
the work of great men before us.
Let us look to the example of David
and let us look to the example of Paul
and let us look to the example of Peter
and let us look to the example of the men
that gave us translations like Tyndale
and men that gave us the King James Bible
and look at the faith that they had
and try ourselves to have the same faith
where we trust in the word of God
and we use it to our betterment.
We don't try to just be overly critical
and destroy the work of the past.
And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
All right, in closing, let's go to song number 56.
Song number 56, When We All Get to Heaven.
Song number 56.
["When We All Get to Heaven"]
Sing the wondrous love of Jesus.
Sing His mercy and His grace.
In the mansions bright and blessed,
He'll prepare for us a place.
When we all get to heaven,
what a day of rejoicing that will be.
When we all see Jesus,
we'll sing and shout the victory.
While we walk the pilgrim pathway,
clouds will overspread the sky.
But when traveling days are over,
not a shadow, not a sigh.
When we all get to heaven,
what a day of rejoicing that will be.
When we all see Jesus,
we'll sing and shout the victory.
Let us then be true and faithful,
trusting, serving every day.
Soon the pearly gates ripple.
Will the toils of life repay?
When we all get to heaven,
what a day of rejoicing that will be.
When we all see Jesus,
we'll sing and shout the victory.
Onward to the prize before us,
soon His beauty will behold.
Soon the pearly gates will open,
we shall tread the streets of gold.
When we all get to heaven,
what a day of rejoicing that will be.
When we all see Jesus,
we'll sing and shout the victory.
All right, great job, everybody.
You are all dismissed.