(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow to whom it was revealed that not unto themselves but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven which things the angels desire to look into wherefore gird up the loins of your mind be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ as obedient children not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance but but as he which hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of conversation because it is written be ye holy for I am holy and if you call on the Father without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work past the time of your sojourning here in fear for as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world but was manifest in these last times for you who by him to believe in God that raised him up from the dead and gave him glory that your faith and hope might be in God seeing you purified your souls and obeying the truth through the spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren see that you love one another with a pure heart fervently being born again not a corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the Word of God which liveth and abideth forever for all flesh is as grass and all the glory of man as the flower of grass the grass withereth and the flower thereof falleth away but the word of the Lord endureth forever and this is the word by the God this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you let's pray to Lord God I thank you for this opportunity to assemble and hear your word preached there's assets you would bless pastor me here now with your Holy Spirit and please bless the preaching in Jesus name we pray amen amen okay we're in 1st Peter chapter 1 and the title of my sermon this morning is the Bible you use matters the Bible that you use matters it says in 1st Peter chapter 1 and verse 23 being born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the Word of God which liveth and abideth forever for all flesh is as grass and all the glory of man as the flower of grass the grass withereth the flower thereof falleth away but the word of the Lord endureth forever and this is the word which by the gospel it's preached unto you this morning I want to talk about the fact that it's important for us as Christians and as a church to recognize what is the legitimate Bible that we should be using for our personal Bible reading for preaching for winning others to the Lord and of course our church here holds the position that the King James Bible is the inspired and preserved Word of God for the English-speaking people what does that mean well we believe it's inspired in that the underlying text of the King James Bible is inspired given to God and to prophets through the Old Testament Hebrew and of course the New Testament can eat Greek but also we believe in the doctrine of preservation and that it has been maintained okay throughout the centuries unaltered in other words the book that you have in your hands today is exactly what they had in the Old Testament exactly what they had in the New Testament albeit we have it in English and you say well how can that be you know how is it that the Bible can survive for centuries on end without having some sort of wicked individual some person who has an ulterior motive to change the Bible churches that have changed the Bible how do we know that we have the Word of God well number one is because of the fact that we believe in the doctrine of preservation meaning God promised to preserve his word throughout the centuries unaltered and so if God promised that God is not a man that he should lie we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we have the Word of God as I mentioned in the Old Testament we have it in Hebrew and then most you know the the major controversy amongst churches as far as the Bible is concerned it's not necessarily controversy surrounding the Old Testament but rather the controversy surrounding the New Testament right and we know that we have the Word of God in the New Testament preserved for us because of the fact that the New Testament is essentially compiled of what's known as Greek manuscripts 5,800 approximate to be exact and you have these that are later referred to as the Byzantine text or many of you have heard of it as the majority text okay majority text essentially representing 90% of those 5,800 Greek manuscripts you say where do those manuscripts come from well when they're collating these Greek manuscripts to create the underlying text of these Bibles that were going to come out they had to find out where the Greek manuscripts are right so where do you go you go to local New Testament churches you go to Christians who are preaching it using it reading from it they are soul winning with it they're teaching their congregations with it and they go to these churches and they collect these Greek manuscripts from various different believers in different churches of that era you say well how do you know you know how is it that these churches are just willing to just give up their Greek manuscript to some random stranger because that's how Christians have always been and in fact God has always wanted anybody to just have the Bible they never wanted it to just be secluded to a particular church chained up to the pulpit you know where believers are unable to read it and learn from it God has always wanted the Word of God to be propagated to be promoted to be given to strangers and to unsafe people to Christians because the Word of God should be free freely read for everyone so it's no wonder that when they're collecting these manuscripts they go to the churches and you have some unknown unnamed pastor and they're just like hey we're trying to put a project together where we compile all of the Word of God and it's just like take as many as you want it'll be like today when people come to our church we don't have a bookstore where it's just like where if you want the Word of God you need to pay for it you know $5.99 for you know a New Testament or something it's just like take what you want take the Word of God because it should be free and you know what nothing is new under the sun that's exactly how it's been for hundreds of years there have been many churches in times past who are just willing to readily give up their Greek New Testament that they copied and that church is copied and believers have copied that's how it's always been so they collect all of these manuscripts and by the 1500s you have a man a man by the name of Erasmus you have Stephanus you have Beza these individuals who essentially collated all these Greek manuscripts into one cohesive document that we would commonly refer to as the Texas Receptus now the Texas Receptus is Latin for receive text okay and receive text simply means the traditional text used by believers so again they're not going to the basilica they're not going to the mega church down the street they're going to actual churches local New Testament churches who are preaching the Word of God they're evangelizing the Bible's being used copied and distributed right and they're going to them and saying what is the traditional text that you use what do you read from what do your congregants read from okay they collect that and of course that is then referred to as the Texas Receptus now the Texas Receptus is the the base from which William Tyndale for example translated the first English New Testament okay you have William Tyndale then later on you have Coverdale Matthew you have the great Bible Geneva Bible bishops ultimately leading up to the King James Bible which is a perfection of all those previous translations and of course this is essentially a long lineage of manuscripts translated from manuscripts that churches have used and they've been approved of they have taught the right doctrine and that's why we have the King James Bible today and you say well you know there's plenty of other manuscripts that have been uncovered though you know they were dug up that are older than a lot of those manuscripts are you using well then we have an issue then because if God says that he's going to preserve his word forever in the hands of believers then what is that thing doing buried somewhere you know if God says hey it's going to sound out into all the world it's going to be in the hands of all believers man should not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God in order to you know be a disciple of Jesus Christ we need to keep his commandments we know what the Word of God says then we have a major issue if a lot of these manuscripts have been dug up and they've been in the dirt this entire time because that's not God's will for his word to be under a rock somewhere or in a cave unread for hundreds of years and then pulled out later and said well this is far more reliable than these traditional texts well the traditional text is the text that's being used it's the text that can prove all things and hold fast that which is good all of a sudden older manuscripts comes in by the way just because it's older doesn't mean it's more reliable Satan is old doesn't mean he's reliable and so they're digging up these manuscripts and those manuscripts are essentially the underlying text of a lot of the modern versions of the Bible which is a major issue because they keep changing so if modern versions of the Bible come to you and say hey here's the Word of God and then the next year they say just kidding here's the Word of God and then the next year after that is like well give us you know third times of charm here's the Word of God then they don't really know if they have the Bible they're constantly improving upon it they're constantly adding to it they're endeavoring to find the truth meaning that whatever truth that they claim to have now is not the truth they don't have confirmation that it's the truth whereas the King James Bible has not been altered remain the same and you know obviously we don't believe here that you have to learn the Greek and the Hebrew to understand the King James Bible but if you were to learn Greek and Hebrew you would see that it matches up perfectly with the King James Bible because of the doctrine of preservation and yeah you know what preservation does take faith absolutely and you know people who are textual critics people who use the wisdom of this world want to think well that's not enough well then you know then I don't even know what you're doing in the Christian realm anyways then because we walk by faith and not by sight and faith is that when we look at the Word of God and the Bible tells us that he's gonna preserve his word we have to believe him even if we don't have substantial evidence to prove it now we do have substantial evidence but even if we didn't or we were ignorant of the information ignorant of the knowledge if God said it we should believe it faith cometh by hearing hearing by the Word of God and God is capable of preserving his word for hundreds yea even thousands of years unaltered because his will is that our eyes read the Word of God in its original form in our language by the way okay now we're not a church that believes that the King James Bible is the only Word of God it's the only Word of God for the English-speaking people because God's will along with the inspiration and preservation of Scripture his will is that all languages have the Word of God right he doesn't just want Americans to have it or English-speaking people to have it he wants people who speak Spanish to have it Mandarin Cantonese he wants you know Southeast Asians to read it and their languages he wants all of the world to have the Word of God in their particular language and the proof of that is the fact that in the New Testament in Acts chapter 2 the Word of God was spoken in different languages 14 different regions that showed up at the day of Pentecost to hear the Word of God in their mother tongue showing us that God wants people to have the Word of God in their language that is God's will now I think having the King James Bible is important for the English-speaking people because of the fact that English is essentially the most important language in the world like everyone wants to learn English okay not just in America just worldwide and so you know it's no wonder why God would choose the King James to be such a successful and prosperous Bible because he had the foreknowledge that English would be the popular language of today many people are reading it therefore a reason would have it that he would make a Bible in that particular language that most people would like to read in the English language and so you know this is why we use the King James Bible we believe in the inspiration of the original manuscripts but also the preservation throughout the centuries in different languages okay leading up to what we have today in English and of course the Word of God is in different languages throughout the world now the King James is important because of the fact that number one it doesn't defect from the underlying text in other words it's faithful okay it's faithful to the underlying text and you know what we don't live in the Dark Ages anymore and so we can go on the internet you can learn the Greek language you can learn the Hebrew language and you can compare the King James side by side to a Greek New Testament and you'll see that it matches up okay you'll see that it does not defect from the underlying text nor does it correct the underlying to last 400 years now go to 2nd Timothy chapter 3 if you would 2nd Timothy chapter 3 that's just a brief history from the Greek New Testament to what we have today and that's all introductions now let me get into my actual points of the sermon of why the Bible you use matters let me give you some practical reasons why it is that the Bible that you use matters because you know today in 2024 you have different churches that believe that you know they claim they're Christians they claim to believe in the right salvation they claim to uphold some if not all of the fundamentals of the faith but then you go into their churches or you go into their library or you ask them what Bible they use and more often than not it's not a King James it's an ESV it's an NIV it's an NASB and I've never been to these liberal fund centers but I've heard the testimony of others you know that you know when they go to these particular churches the pastor will read from one particular version then you have the congregations if they even bring a Bible using a different version most of the time they don't even bring a Bible because they have the Bible on the screen or whatever and then they're constantly you know comparing with different versions of the Bible you say well isn't that a more thorough way to study the Bible no the reason they do that is because they're looking for a version that matches up with what they want to say so if you have ten different versions you know and you want to preach a particular doctrine you can just kind of cherry-pick from each version to match up your narrative right whereas if we stick to the King James we can't change anything because what it says is what it says and so a lot of these Christians out there will use different versions of the Bible and they actually look down on the King James they'll actually look down on churches that use the King James and they're like oh you guys are King James only is you know you're uneducated but at the same time we'll say that the King James is too hard to read so explain to me this how is it that we're our uneducated people but yet you're telling me that you can't read the King James because it's too hard seems like you're the uneducated one right they're essentially claiming that these new modern versions are easier to read well yeah you know some false doctrines are easier to believe for sure doesn't make it right now I will say this is that even though a lot of these churches use modern versions of the Bible the reality is this the vast majority of the people in those congregations do not actually read the Bible you know they they're very they rely upon their pastor they rely upon the interpretation of their pastor or their devotional book that they're reading they're not necessarily diving deep into the Word of God and at the end of it at the end of the day a lot of people when they do make a deep dive on the Bible and maybe they're using an NIV or an ESV they end up coming to the realization well this thing is wrong this thing is missing verses why does it say this and then they end up you know it kind of sparks something in them to actually look for the truth and see what is the appropriate Word of God to use now I'm thankful that you know I got saved in a fundamental Baptist Church and right off the bat the church that I came from they were King James only and you know it's not that a lot of the people didn't necessarily know why but in general they had the culture of we're King James only this is the Bible that we use modern versions are bad and they would kind of give me an overview as to why they were bad the verses that they're missing how they interfere and dilute a lot of the doctrines and pervert the deity of Jesus Christ they remove the blood they completely pervert verses on salvation and it's just very explicit right as far as like the errors are concerned it's like well this is bad okay and this is why I learned that the King James Bible is the superior Bible now if you want a sermon on the comparisons between the King James and the modern versions of the Bible and why the King James is superior you can go online listen to my sermon that I have called the superiority of the King James Bible and I show some pretty explicit examples where it's just like not only blasphemous but some of them are just really silly we're just like I can't believe it it says that and you know what you think to yourself why do the people who read these Bibles why don't why don't they see that what's because they don't read it that's why you know so you kind of wonder if these editors who are making these modern versions like just throw it in there like what if they see it they're not no one's gonna read this because the vast majority of churches out there who use the modern versions of the Bible do not promote Bible reading they don't promote studying the Bible you don't have the pastor up there telling people they need to be reading the Word of God opening the Bible cover to cover studying it to show themselves approve them to God they make them rely upon their interpretation or the devotionals that they're reading or whatever it is so let me give you a couple reasons why the Bible you use matters practical reasons number one the Bible you use should accurately describe salvation that's important right there and in fact that's the most important thing when it comes to the Christian faith is this salvation right that is the most clear and distinct explicit doctrine of the Bible is salvation and it's the easiest thing to understand in the Bible why is that well because God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance he doesn't want salvation the doctrine of salvation to become confusing he doesn't want it to be above someone's head he wants it to be so easy that even a child can understand it even a child can place their faith in Jesus Christ by believing on him it doesn't have to be complicated whereas a lot of the versions of the Bible actually overly complicate salvation they contradict themselves when it comes to salvation and therefore people are confused and you know again going back to churches that use the modern versions think about this you know a lot of the people who join those churches or are members of those churches a lot of times they're either uncertain if they're saved right or they just have an un doctrinal view of salvation a lot of them are you so how do you know because I go soloing I knock on doors I'm evangelizing I'm constantly taking a pole going door to door and if I run into people who go to a particular mega church where they use a false version of the Bible more often than not they'll tell me I don't know you know I'm not sure or I think I am or yes I'm saved because you know I have a relationship with God or yeah I'm saved because of the fact that you know I do good things they always either give you an uncertain answer or an answer that is just completely un doctrinal doesn't match up with the Bible now there's a problem with that he said what's the problem well it reflects the fact that whatever Bible version they're using or it's being preached to them is not clearly communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ the Bible tells us in second Timothy verse chapter 3 verse 14 but continue down the things which thou has learned and has been assured of knowing of whom thou has learned them and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures listen to this which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus the Bible says so the Word of God is telling us that the Word of God is able to make you wise into salvation it's able to give you the knowledge and wisdom of salvation so that you know you have to place your faith in Jesus Christ and not in anything else now there is an example that I like to always use when it comes to the modern versions when it in regards to salvation and that is first Peter 2 2 you know in the King James it says desire the sincere sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby pretty simple right you basically read the Word of God as a baby would consume milk and in light of that the milk essentially helps them to grow physically just like the milk of the Word helps you to grow spiritually so as you read the Word of God on a daily basis weekly basis you're growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ pretty simple doctrine there right whereas them all many of the modern versions ESV and IV included will say this desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow into salvation now that's a perversion of salvation so someone reads that what do they come walk away thinking oh I have to read the Bible in order to get saved stay saved maintain my salvation to grow into and you know some people would say well you know I get the idea of what they're trying to say though you know what I mean it's just like the Word of God provides salvation here's the problem though the Greek manuscript doesn't say that you know when you look at the underlying Greek text of 1st Peter 2 2 it uses the word like augment or grow and then that's it says nothing about salvation so obviously they're using some corrupt text that doesn't match up with the doctrine of salvation that the Word of God promotes you understand so if you have someone reading that they're gonna get confused about salvation they're gonna think salvation is a process not something that happens in an instant and make no mistake about it salvation happens in an instant once you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ you call upon the name of the Lord you could be saved ED done with that's it whereas salvation according to a lot of these modern versions of the Bible is a process you know all we have to be sanctified we have to repent of our sins we have to obey God's commands it's basically workspace salvation is what it is and you know what you know corruption is not just something that's prevalent in English Bibles it's also prevalent in Spanish Bibles you know because a lot of fundamental Baptists unfortunately have used the corrupt the corrupt 1960 reign of Valera and you know fundamental Baptists literally will hold to being King James only they'll say yeah we're King James only but then they'll have a reign of Valera 1960 in their congregation that their people are reading from that reads 1st Peter 2 2 with the salvation at the end that's wrong my friends you know it's confusing a lot of Christians another example would be 1st Corinthians 1 verse 18 you know the Bible tells us for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness but unto us which are saved it is the power of God you know when we preach the Word of God people out there like these people are crazy you know it's stupid Christianity stupid the gospel stupid it's so silly but those of us who are saved it's the power of God we know it has the capability of saving an individual redeeming them saving them from the from the flames of hell unto us which are saved now the modern versions such as the new King James which is funny that they call it new King James because King James been dead for a long time when did he authorize when did he authorize the new King James he's been dead for so long but the new King James says this you know for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness but unto us which are being saved it is the power of God folks someone reads that they're like okay salvation is a process and you wonder why people sometimes doubt why because you know for us as Christians the process of sanctification yeah sometimes we're right with God sometimes we are not sometimes we do that which is pleasing unto the Lord sometimes we don't sometimes we live righteously sometimes we sin that's what that's how the Christian life is but when you couple that or interpret that through the lens of salvation that's a major problem because then you have people are like oh man you know I'm in sin maybe I lost my salvation maybe I wasn't ever safe to begin with whereas the Bible says that you may know that you have eternal life and then you may believe on the name of the Son of God the Bible always talks about justification the doctrine of salvation with finality once you have it it's yours forever you can move on and in fact doesn't the Bible say let us go on unto perfection after salvation whereas people they can't move on to perfection because they don't even know if they're saved because the versions they either they're using or the version that's being preached to them is confusing them in regards to salvation this is why it's important when it comes to the Bible that you use why because we need a Bible that appropriately describes salvation turn with me if you would to Jeremiah chapter 23 Jeremiah chapter 23 you could turn that off brother Ulysses 1st Peter 1 23 says being born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the Word of God which liveth and abideth forever Jeremiah chapter 23 and so you know the King James is very clear on salvation that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God has raised them from the dead thou shalt be saved John 3 16 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life verse 36 he that believeth on the son hath everlasting life he that believeth not the son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him over and over again the King James is reliable in regards to salvation the doctrine and the message of salvation because God wants people to get it and that's not to say that things on the Bible in the Bible are you know some of it is hard to be understood for sure but one thing that's not hard to understand is salvation you will always clearly see it and in fact this is one of the reasons why when missionaries Christians distribute Bibles they always give them which book the book of John sometimes even the book of Romans but more often than not it's the book of John because the book of John clearly and distinctly explicitly describes salvation by just believing on Jesus Christ you know it's unfortunate that people don't know this it's unfortunate that churches are being deceived by this but this is why it's important to use the right Bible the Bible you use is important why because of the fact that the Bible you should accurately describe salvation but also let's go on to number two here the Bible you use should have power you know the Bible tells us that the word of God is quick and powerful what is quick a lie sharper than any two-edged sword meaning that it basically said superior to any other document in this world piercing even to the dividing of sunder of soul and spirit joints and tomorrow and is the discern of the thoughts and the intents of the heart essentially saying that the word of God is so powerful that it can pierce through your own soul it's just like it discerns what you're thinking you know sometimes either when you're reading the Bible or you're hearing preaching from the Word of God you're like whoa this is talking about me I needed this right now I was just praying in my head a couple days ago about this particular issue I was just thinking about this I was just reading this it like pierces it gives you hope it increases your faith right it strikes fear in the hearts of people because it's powerful you understand it's able to help you to realize that a place that you've never seen before exists heaven hell you know none of us have ever seen hell none of us have ever been to hell yeah I know there's a lot of people there oh I had a dream that I went to hell or whatever and came back and it's like you don't smell like smoke you know it's like oh you know I had these dreams about hell but you know what none of us have ever actually seen the supernatural in that way right but we know for a fact it's true and in fact I preached on hell as though I've already been there because I use the descriptions of the Bible and the descriptions the illustrations of the Word of God are so powerful that when I preach about hell the recipients of my message believe it they're like what must I do to be saved from this place why because the Word of God has power to do so okay I mean think about it you know we've never seen the Lord Jesus Christ we've never seen God with our own eyes all we have seen or heard is what comes from this book and yet the Lord Jesus Christ literally literally determines our life here like we're here today meeting on Sunday to hear about the Lord Jesus Christ whom we've never met face to face to speak of spiritual things that we've never seen with our own eyes why because the Word of God is so powerful that it convinced us that this is true like oh no that's called delusion you guys are just delusional you know oh so what I should believe like in evolution oh I should believe like in the Big Bang Theory I should believe that we just are an accident here that's the delusion my friends the Bible you use should have power and you say well how do I determine if the Bible that I'm using has power well the Bible says that God has manifested his word through what preaching so the preaching that is being used should reflect the Bible right the right Bible should be reflecting should be reflected in the preaching of God's Word so let me ask you a question you know the preaching that comes from these modern versions is it really powerful well number one it's not because of the fact that no one gets a from it it's just they're just left in constant confusion whereas you ever notice anybody who uses a King James speaks of salvation in such a clear distinct manner they kind of they remove doubts they dissolve the doubts they just said this is what you must do and I can't tell you how many times myself or someone in our church has gone preaching and they get someone saved and the person says I've actually never heard it as clear as you've explained it I mean you know what I'm talking about they're like no man ever speak like this and it's not because you're just like eloquent or you took speech classes or something you are the vessel in which the treasure resides and they're basically hearing the Word of God the powerful Word of God that is able to save them and that's why they walk around they're like I've actually doubt very clear I've never heard it explained to and I'm talking about people who've been in church people who've gone to church they're faithful to church they're like I've actually never heard it explained that clearly you have put the cookie on the bottom shelf I get it you know why because the Word of God has power and the power is distinct it's explicit it can be easy to understand look at what I have you turn okay I'm gonna go there in just a bit let me read to you from 1st Corinthians chapter 2 verse 1 the Apostle Paul says this and I brethren when I came to you came now with excellency of speech or of wisdom declaring unto you the testimony of God in other words he's not necessarily trying to go there to make himself look good by you know expressing all these terms and using the wisdom of this world and excellency of speech he says for I determined not to know anything among you saved Jesus Christ and him crucified I mean that's a simple message and I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling referring to you his humility and my speech listen to this and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and of power so he's saying look when you when I came to you I didn't came to you with a a myriad of different terms to explain theological doctrine and concepts I came to you in the demonstration of the spirit and power right the power of God and he said this that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God now what does that mean it's referring to the fact that there's certain people in this world no matter how many Bible verses you give them they will completely negate that ignore that reject that because their favorite Bible scholar said this I mean how many times have you talked to someone when they asked for a particular you're having a discussion maybe you're getting into an argument and you're like oh this is easy I'm just gonna give them this verse because you know the certain verses that you have in your cabinet that you're just like you're toast dude she like you're almost you're almost like it's so good that you don't know the Bible cuz I'm about to just like destroy I'm a body you right now and then you just give them the verse and they're just like yeah but st. Augustine said this though I'm like who I'm like I'm giving you the Bible yeah but Ignatius said this who these people are inferior to the Bible don't appeal to an inferior authority to try to convince me friend use the Bible that is a superior authority appeal to what the Word of God says but I'm telling you it's the reason for that it's because of the fact that their faith is in the wisdom of man not in the power of God and it could be something as simple John 3 16 and they read it it's just like yeah but like faith without works is dead though also you're saying that John 3 16 should just be ignored then according to your interpretation you know and a lot of times when people say things like that it's almost as if like yeah that interpretation is wrong because we should always go with this interpretation whereas our opinion and our interpretation is that both of them are right but one needs to be interpreted in light of the other whereas many people are like well let's just ignore John 3 16 John 3 36 John 5 28 Romans chapter 10 all these clear scriptures about salvation and just stick with one you know three three verses from James chapter 2 wrong my friends you know I'm not gonna quote a Church Father because it's appealing to an inferior authority as compared to just quoting the Bible right they're just you know because a lot of people are doing this right now especially like a lot of these Catholics they depend on these early Church Fathers and by the way if you believe that some of them were right or wrong I actually don't care like well some of them were Christians don't care you say why not because they're dead they can't defend themselves we can't dig anybody over like did you really mean this you know because the Catholics want to claim the Church Fathers and sort of the Protestants and then they look at me and I'm just like I don't care about those guys call no how about this call no man father and then both groups are mad at me like you know what do you think I think you shouldn't call any spiritual man father any man of spiritual leadership you should call no man father and then they stoned me why cuz I'm appealing to the Word of God because it actually has power and let me say this anytime you bring up the Word of God this is how you know the Word of God has power is if the people start gnashing at you whether in the comment section or you know in person they're just like and let me give you this a clear example from yesterday we're in Mexico and we're pretty but we had a great time in Mexico we had 23 people saved it was awesome we went to a park and there's a lot of people out and about a lot of great stories and Ulysses always gets kicked out brother Hernandez always gets kicked out and you know we try to modify our strategy so he doesn't you know we put him with the white guy yesterday because maybe that would give him some credibility but maybe we made him stand out more you know I mean because we put it with brother Alex Berea and sure enough you know he gets kicked out so then you know it's time to wrap it up so we're about to leave and we're just kind of waiting for everyone and the security guard comes again and he comes and he's just like you guys got to get out and we're just kind of like we're not really doing anything we're done you know we're just out of park talking to each other he's like you can't talk about the Bible you can't evangelize here and I'm like well I'm not evangelizing right now I'm just talking to a person you know and he's like the rules say you cannot do the things that you guys are doing I'm like where are the rules and then he's like the rules outside on the board say that you can't it's explicitly says that you can't be preaching here I'm like show me so we go out there and it's just like a list of like 15 rules or something all in Spanish and I'm like I'm not reading all this I was like point to the number that says you know and he points to one of the rules that said like you cannot bring anything that is contrary to our morality or our customs right and I said I'm bringing morality here what do you mean like what morality you think I'm bringing and he's and he's like you people come here they drink and they do I'm like I'm not drinking we're not drinking we're Christians I think we're preaching the world I was like are you are you a Christian are you a Catholic what are you and he's like I'm a Catholic I was like then support me what I'm doing because I'm preaching about your God although you should be supporting me and then you know I'm talking to people about eternal life and he's like do you know you have eternal life I said absolutely that you may know that you have eternal life and you may believe on the name of the Son of God and then he starts gnashing at me he's like he starts like grinding his teeth at me and I said and you could know too and I started giving him all these verses and he's uh you got a chip you got a chip like in Spanish basically basically saying like oh you're just reciting these scriptures or something like that and I said look we're bringing morality I'm not bringing any customs contrary to what you Mexicans are doing I said I love Mexicans I was like we're here to eat tacos and talk to people that's all we're doing I was like we're bringing morality and then he started going off on people he's a worry from I was like I'm America I'm from America and he's like do you like it I said absolutely like a lie I was like I love America I said but I like coming here too I was like I'm here because I love you Mexicans you know and we want to get you saved and and we're just preaching the Word of God I said you should be supporting us because you believe in God and I'm trying to help people understand about heaven and hell but the whole time he's just like gnashing at me with his teeth because and he started gnashing at me with his teeth when I was quoting him the Bible because at the end of the day you could do nothing against the truth before the truth and when the truth is clearly presented to you it's either gonna you know it's either gonna cause you to make a decision and say what must I do or it's gonna prick you in your heart and you're gonna want to like be aggressive towards the messenger why because the Word of God has power okay all right we got to turn on the AC again people are taking off your sweaters and stuff and I'm burning up here well you'll be better right now we're gonna crank it up what's the point that I'm making the point that I'm making is the Word of God should have power okay and I'll be I'm just maybe I am biased maybe I'm biased because I'm King James but I'll be honestly I've never heard preaching from a pastor using a different version of the Bible where I'm just like extremely impressed where I'm just like wow that really hit here you know oh I really want to be a pastor now I really want to go evangelize you know why because a lot of the preaching that's done from those modern versions of the Bible in different churches are only kind of made to kind of placate the congregation so they can keep doing whatever it is that they're doing appease their conscience not bother them they can keep coming back and tithing the Word of God should motivate you to do something you know it resonates with the new man you hear the Word of God you start cleaning up your life you start evangelizing you start making changes and it's not because of the man preaching it it's because of the Word of God you hear the Bible preaching it's just like it's hitting home because it's the Bible okay so the Word of God should be the Word of God that you should be powerful and that is clearly seen in the preaching that's being used look at Jeremiah 23 verse 28 the prophet that hath a dream let him tell a dream and he that hath my word let him speak my word faithfully what is the chaff to the wheat say at the Lord is not my word like as a fire say it the Lord and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces what is it saying you know the Word of God is like fire because it purifies it burns and it purifies not only that but it's like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces what could we liken that unto it's likened unto using the Word of God to demolish false doctrine it completely tears it apart destroys it and it's interesting that it likens it unto a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces because Jesus Christ is that stone right on whoever he shall fall it shall essentially you know break up to pieces it'll vanquish that individual because of the fact that the Word of God has that power it'll grind him to powder the Bible tells look at verse 30 therefore behold I am against the prophets saith the Lord that steal my words everyone from his neighbor behold I'm against the prophets saith the Lord that use their tongues and say he saith what is he saying I don't like when people take credit for things that I didn't say right or accredited him for things that he didn't say and that's something that's very common today well the Spirit told me this well I feel like God told me this and God is like you're saying he saith but I never said that don't you get annoyed when someone quotes you and you're just like I never said that pastor he has said this is like I never said that put the timestamp where I said that I never said that that's an accusation that's a railing accusation you're misrepresenting me right well God says that these prophets are misrepresenting him when they say he saith but he's never said that in the Bible the Bible says love the sinner hate the sin don't say that don't accredit that to God it's not a verse in the Bible Jesus said love the sinner hate the sin what where is that in John where is that in Matthew where is that in Mark where is that in Luke it's not in the Bible it's Gandhi that's Gandhi 1-1 you know I'm sure the Lord gets very upset when he hears people say oh well God said this and it's what it is is some philosophical term that came from someone other than the Bible he gets upset at that that's why he tells us speak my word faithfully we don't need to improve upon it we don't need to make apologies for it we don't need to create modern concepts to make it more palatable for the listener just say what it says says the first 32 behold I am against them that prophesy false dreams saith the Lord and do tell them and cause my people to err by their lies listen to this and by their lightness that shows me that biblical preaching should be hard because what's the opposite of light heart right lightness is just you know them being oh you know God's not mad at you you know it's just speaking very peaceably and obviously there's times when we have to exhort we have to teach but there's other times that the Bible says we have to rebuke and reprove and you know it has to reflect the hammer that break at the rock in pieces it's not like I don't see a slap on the wrist on this verse here right it's like well the Word of God is like a no I most of the time when I hear preaching from fundamental Baptist churches here's the phrase that I commonly hear he's stepping on my toes right you know what that means it means like the pastor's preaching and he's talking about you because the Word of God should be direct I mean sometimes I get a little too direct where I actually just point out the person sometimes but other times there's times that I preach and it's just the sermon that I prepared and then people are like you told them about that huh and I'm not a prophet that knows what's going on behind closed doors or what you do in your family I'm just preaching the Word of God faithfully but it applies to you because the Word of God has power and there's I can't tell you any times I preach and it's not again it's not because I'm special or because you know there's something unique about me it's because of the Bible sometimes I'll preach and they're like whoa I was just thinking about that yesterday me and my friend were literally asking questions about this particular topic and then you talk about it oh we were just talking about this or I was just thinking about this I just read that in the Bible and then you talk about it you say well how do you do it pastor me here I well here's how I do I just preach faithfully and the Word of God has power and this is why the Bible says that it's quick because it's alive it resonates with you the Word of God is like a life to your life whoa it has power it's changing my life look folks I've been saved for 17 years and then those 17 years I've heard so much preaching from the King James Bible and it's absolutely changed my life it's made me a completely different person than what I was 18 years ago unrecognizable even not sinless but a lot different because it's like a rock that breaks it's like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces it's like a fire that purifies that sanctifies you making you more like unto the Son of God that's what it should do go to Jeremiah chapter 26 let me read to you from Psalm 19 verse 7 says the law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul amen has the ability to convert people from false religion to the true religion you know obviously there's people go they go apostate all the time but in general you know we've seen a lot of Catholics saved Catholics could boast all they want that they're like the biggest religion blah blah blah but let's just be honest here Catholics aren't going on a weekly basis winning Baptist to Christ Baptist on the other hand are going on a weekly basis winning a bunch of Catholics to Christ that's fact so how can you make that claim well cuz myself alone I've won a ton of Catholic I mean we won a bunch of Catholics yesterday at least 23 Catholics got saved yesterday and I'm sure many of us because you know there's a lot of Catholicism here and a lot of Hispanics are Catholic you know many of you are gonna go out this afternoon and get Catholics saved and here's the great thing this is the only thing I like about Catholicism it's good and it's bad and that is that they don't teach their people the Bible so it's easy to just go to them show them the Bible the power of the Bible and then they just get saved they're so worried about them going to another religion they consider to be false they don't want them to know the Bible because they don't want them to be knowledgeable about the Bible but it gives us a clean slate to work with that's why they just readily believe it says the law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul the testimony of the Lord is sure making wise is simple the Bible makes you smarter why cuz it has power the statutes of the Lord are right rejoicing the heart when you read the Word of God you have that rejoicing that joy in your heart when you learn something new in the Bible right the commandment of the Lord is pure enlightening the eyes the fear of the Lord is clean enduring forever the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous all together reason number three the Bible you use matters why well because the Bible you use should increase your faith in the Bible not take away from it so what do you what do you mean by that you know there are versions of the Bible out there today they cast a lot of doubt on the Bible then when they read it there's footnotes at the bottom that say these were not in the original manuscripts talking about the Trinity so then it makes you question so is this really valid right and it's the same tactic the Satan has used for thousands of years starting in the Garden of Eden when he said yea hath God said casting doubt on the Bible whereas when you read the Bible you should increase it should increase your faith you should walk away from it feeling stronger in your faith not wondering am I saved not wondering is the Trinity real not wondering all of these fundamental doctrines of the faith whether the legitimate or not when you have versions of the Bible that literally will question almost an entire chapter of the Bible mark 16 the long the long reading of mark 16 people claiming that it probably shouldn't be there it's like you makes you wonder if you're unknowledgeable if you're uneducated in the Word of God you're going to read that footnote and be like so like this is the Great Commission though you know this has this is talking about salvation and this shouldn't be here and then they'll say well you know it just wasn't in earlier manuscripts but basically the editors of those Bibles don't believe it should be there they're not going to tell you that because they don't want you to they don't want you to they don't want to have the stigma of the Jehovah's Witness where the Jehovah's Witness is actually remove that that portion they remove that entire portion from Martin the long reading of mark 16 whereas the modern versions they're they're trying to make inch their way to that position where they just completely remove it they just can't do it yet because people will freak out if they do you know removing verses from the Bible is a big thing you know removing an entire passage from the Bible that's huge and this is something that's been going on again for hundreds of years the Bible says in 2nd Corinthians 2 17 for we are not as many which corrupt the Word of God but as a sincerity but as of God in the sight of God speak we in Christ the Bible tells us that faith cometh by hearing hearing by the Word of God Deuteronomy 4 2 says he shall not add unto the word which I command you neither shall you diminish ought from it that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you look at Jeremiah 26 and verse 2 it says here thus saith the Lord stand in the court of the Lord's house and speak unto all the cities of Judah which come to worship in the Lord's house all the words that I command thee to speak unto them diminish not a word in other words anything that I say anything that I command you to say make sure you don't remove any of it you said well that's something that was only given to Jeremiah well the entire Bible is God's command to us the entire Bible is God's Word and so God is equally commanding us today not to take away from God's Word not to diminish it but you'll have modern versions of the Bible in Acts chapter 8 where they'll literally remove if thou believeth with all thine heart thou mayest verse 37 and just skip to verse 38 that's weird when you have the Bible reading verse 36 then it's just it's just verse 37 not even just the number of 37 not the verse they just have the number in brackets they're literally saying nothing to see here folks like what do they expect the reader to do when they read verse 36 and then it skips to verse 38 and just completely skips 37 I mean folks that's questionable that's them take it away from God's Word and you know at this is one of the reasons why a lot of modern versions of the Bible will actually be printed almost in paragraph form you ever noticed that a lot of the modern versions are in paragraph form so that it's very subtle you won't really notice that the verse is being taken out whereas when you use something like the King James the verses are distributed so each verse is distinctly red and you can see if something's missing but if it's in paragraph form it's kind of all jumbled together you don't really notice if you're not paying attention that verses are being removed it's a very subtle cunning move on their end so they kind of they try to pull the wool over your eyes so you don't notice that they're removing from God's Word so at the end of the day you know the Bible you use matters because of the fact when you read the Bible it should increase your faith not cast doubt whether this verse should be there not cast doubt whether well there's older manuscripts that are more reliable not cast doubt as in this passage should be removed or cast doubt that a passage is saying something completely different I'll give you an example Jew 22 now Jew 22 doesn't really affect any major doctrines but who cares you shouldn't change the Bible period right Jew 22 says that if some have compassion making a difference I mean it's a wonderful verse right modern versions of the Bible those who doubt convince them I mean that's something completely different that's not even similar whoa you get the gist of it you get the idea it's still teaching something good it doesn't matter that's not what God said you can put you know Jesus loves you on there if you want but the reality is this is that doesn't say that be faithful consistent with the text and again the ESV does this the NIV does this the 1960 reign of Alair does this they literally completely change it and not even similar to the concept that it originally was it literally removes it and just put something completely new into it someone reads that they're reading in Spanish they're reading in English they're gonna say which one's right then they then they start doubting the reliability of either Bible especially though they'll cast doubt on the King James the Bible you use is important because of the fact that it should be complete you know the NIV for example removes 16 entire verses how is that a complete Bible if the Bible says that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceed out of the mouth of God then what if you have a Bible that doesn't have every word that's missing 16 not just words 16 verses go to 2nd Timothy chapter 3 if you would 2nd Timothy chapter 3 you got two more points and that's it the Bible you use matters why because the Bible you use should be the one that's actually being used the Bible that you use should be the one that Christians are actually using not the ones that Christians bring to their church or have on their coffee table or make a shrine out of I'm talking about that they actually use it what do you mean you know the Bible says give attendance to reading to exhortation to doctrine the Bible says that we should be reading the Word of God preaching the Word of God hearing the Word of God that's a Bible that's being used why is it that a lot of these modern versions of the Bible have to look so nice you notice that the covers of these modern versions look like whoa they're like beautiful they're like whited sepulchres and you know why you're laughing because you've used the Bible enough to know what what I'm what I actually mean right like you're like oh I know what he means by that he's saying that it's it's full of dead men's bones because you use the Bible you see a Bible that's being used is a Bible where pastor and congregant can discuss the Bible and we have knowledge of its content it means you could recite it it means that right now you're sitting with the Bible in your lap hopefully and if you're not now you're gonna put a Bible in your lap no I think everyone pretty much has a Bible in their lap and you're going to the passages you're reading it for yourself and then afterwards we're gonna go evangelize and you're gonna take that Bible and go show someone how to get eternal life you're quoting verses you're reciting verses you're teaching people the Bible you're giving biblical answers it's constantly being used and in fact let me just say this anybody who uses a King James Bible is always using a brand-new King James Bible eventually what do you mean by that I mean if you're using the Bible it's gonna wear out there's plenty of Bibles I have in my office what pages are falling out they got the stain right here my Sony Bibles have the thumb stain right here and where is it in the book in the book of Romans because it's constantly being used you say use for what to show people the words of eternal life to teach people the Word of God to memorize to obey to talk about I mean we're in a church where it's not just me reading the Bible you have various men in the Bible various men in their church they come up here and read the Bible and then we're making you read I mean I'm literally just saying go here go here go to Jeremiah go to Ephesians go here go and by the way don't take that lightly go to the passage don't be lazy go to the actual verse open it up and if you say well I don't know where it's at then go to the table contents and look for it and find it and read it learn how to navigate through the Bible you know a church that's having the Bible preached knows how to navigate through the Bible I'm pretty sure I could pick out anybody right now don't worry I'm not gonna do it but I do have faith in this I can probably pick out anybody right now and say go to the book of Habakkuk and you'll be able to find it and within a couple of seconds you know without even going to the table of contents go to Isaiah and you'd be able to go there why because you go there on your own and we are in a church where when we reference scriptures you're constantly looking through and obviously if you're a brand new Christian you might not be able to navigate through the Bible as easy when I first got saved it was hard and I would get really frustrated because the pastor would go to one passage and and I'm like looking for him by that time by the time I found he's going to another one and I'm like ah you know and then I'm just like there is no Philippians there's only a Filipinos you feel like you know I see a job I don't see a job though you know and you're just like man I can't find it but you know what the more you read it though the more you practice referencing it the more you use it the more you're able to find it and look this is why people who use modern versions of the Bible don't know how to navigate the Bible they can quote James 2 all they want they don't even know where James 2 is let's just be honest if you say if they say James 2 I'm like give them a Bible say tell me where James 2 is right now since you're so familiar with that passage since you just know it inside and out open it up and show me where James 2 is they wouldn't be able to do it me we can just open up James 2 anybody in here in fact I have the confidence that anybody in here can literally open up James 2 and just do an expository lesson on James chapter 2 I have the utmost confidence that the vast majority of people in our church can probably do that like find me James 2 and explain to me what James 2 means the vast majority of our church members can probably articulate what it's referring to even though they're not pastors why because James 2 is used and in fact those people who try to use James 2 to refute faith alone they actually don't even know what the they probably haven't even read the chapter they've only read the passage there talks about faithful that works is dead if I haven't even read verse 1 of James chapter 2 let's just be honest what am I saying I'm saying that the Bible you use should be the one that Christians are using the Christians are distributing the Christians have memorized I don't know a whole lot of people that have modern versions of the Bible memorized large portions of the Bible memorized from the modern versions you might have a few here and there that might do it but let's just be honest when you hear them cite scriptures like what was that did he just like it just like doesn't compute you know what I'm talking about when someone quotes something from a modern version and you're just like brother what is that you know you're just kind of like what is that it's very rare when you have that the vast majority of Christians that are actually memorizing the Bible are actually memorizing it from here the King James and that's fact and I'm not saying there's not people out there that are memorizing from modern versions I'm saying the vast majority of them are probably using the King James why because it's powerful and it's the one that's always being used and even people who are critics of the King James will say that it's a beautiful translation it is superior I had someone in my old church tell me this one time you know cuz he used up an NASB and I was telling him like we use King James here you know why don't you use the King James and I wasn't very well educated on the subject of the King James Bible but I knew that was the standard and I told him we use the King James here and so we would go back and forth and this is what he told him this is the conclusion of the matter he said this he said Bruce let me just explain to you how it works he said the King James is a higher caliber Bible this one is a lower caliber Bible and I'm thinking myself like so why don't you go with the higher caliber I'm like didn't you just defeat your own because he was saying like you know it's easier to read or something I'm like I want the higher I want the Desert Eagle 50 Cal you know I mean give me the one that is just like discombobulated you you know what I mean this is the one but even he readily admitted and I've talked to many reformers I've talked to many Protestants to say the same thing why because this is the standard okay it's actually being used in effect second Timothy 3 16 says this all scriptures given by inspiration of God is profitable for doctrine for a proof for correction for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect thoroughly furnished unto all good works the Bible says so the Bible is supposed to make you a good Christian a good soul winner a good husband a good father a good mother a good employee it should thoroughly furnish you into all good works just dramatically improve your quality of life by your adherence to it but let me say this the vast majority of people use the modern versions of the Bible very worldly very carnal very indoctrinal don't know the Bible don't evangelize very shallow form of Christianity when it comes to the modern versions fact you want something of substance you stick to the King James it'll make you of substance okay here's my last point and that is the Bible you use should reflect preservation okay what does that mean it means what I talked about in the very beginning and that is that it should reflect the underlying text of Greek and Hebrew okay which a lot of these don't you know a lot of the modern versions of the Bible will use corrupted manuscripts that don't even agree with each other I mean that's a major issue whereas the received text the Texas Receptus that underlies the King James they do agree they are in harmony they're very much credible and this is why it's silly and I'm gonna make this last statement this is why it's silly when Catholics today in 2024 try to gaslight Christians into thinking we gave you the Bible I mean have you heard that right well we gave you the Bible but hold on a second I use the King James use a duree reams we are not the same we are not the same and anybody with any knowledge of the Bible understands that the Catholic Bible and the King James are translated from different manuscripts and the manuscript that's being used to translate the King James is a manuscript that they don't agree with so how can you say that you gave me the Bible if you don't approve of the Bible that I'm using think about that we gave you the Bible what do you mean you don't even like my Bible and the last time I checked the King James wasn't training translated from codex Sinaiticus or Sinaiticus and codas Vaticanus or at the Alexandrian manuscripts it wasn't translated from the Latin Vulgate or the Septuagint we use a completely different stream of Greek manuscripts texts to translate the Bible so how can you say you gave us the Word of God when literally they are not the same but the Catholic Church hopes that you're just ignorant of the subject enough that you just believe their counsel of Nicaea you know when all these guys got together and said here's the Bible when Christians have had it as soon as the book of Revelation was done it's a done deal you say then why are they saying that because they want credibility for everything that is Christian and they're the ones that unfortunately made history they wrote history and they promote the history that fits their narrative okay but you know when the Catholic tells you that like we gave you the Bible just tell them we don't have the same Bible how my Bible has 66 books you have apocryphal readings you don't approve of the King James so how can you say you gave me my Bible you don't approve of the underlying Greek text of the King James Bible the Texas Receptus you think they're still being dug up so how can you say you gave us the Bible and well obviously what they're referring to is the canonization of the New Testament well first of all the Old Testament was already canonized in other words Christians already collectively agreed what was considered the Word of God in the Old Testament but secondly there's other languages that existed during that time that had the Bible translated from the Greek text into their language prior to the Catholic Church ever canonizing anything and so you know the Bible you use should reflect preservation and it does okay you know it exalts the deity of Jesus Christ it explains salvation perfectly it makes people more righteous and it fulfills the promises that it gives because the Bible tells us that the anointing which you have of God that it by to thin you abide within you ye need not that any man teach you you know the Bible does it actually teaches you without having me to teach you I supplement that which you already learned but you're learning the Word of God on your own whereas cults like the Catholic Church well they say well you need Church authority to help you understand the Bible no because the natural man receive it not the things of the Spirit of God so why would I go to an unsaved person to learn the Bible and the Bible says that I have you don't have the authority first John 2 says I have the authority it says I can understand the Word of God interpret it for myself and know what it says that's what the Bible actually says and so the Bible you use matters and we are going to stick to the King James it'll always be King James and you know whatever scrutiny you fall under for being King James only just embrace it because you know what the Bible tells us that we should not be ashamed of Jesus and his words and if we are then he'll be ashamed of us at his coming and so you know I'm very much open about being King James only our church is open about it I promote the King James online on my social media platforms why because it is superior and if people want to criticize you for it and lump you in with a bunch of weirdos that believe weird stuff about the King James just tell them like I'm not a part of that group the King James is superior and the evidence is already there it's the inspired and preserved Word of God for the English-speaking people and if they don't want to believe it then there's plenty of people out there to do I'm not on this rampage to try to convert you know Protestants or whatever Catholics to believe the King James Bible these hardcore Protestants are hardcore Catholics to believe the King James Bible because there's plenty of people door-to-door they would just believe it like that that's the low-hanging fruit amen let's pray father we thank you so much for the incorruptible Word of God that liveth and abideth forever pray help us as your people to continue to read it and study it memorize it live by it and preach it and that's one thing that a lot of churches get frustrated with and they recognize that they don't really study the Bible like that and so I pray that you'd continue to bless us Lord as we seek to do our best to adhere to the Word of God and to teach it to others to teach it to our children to have our children memorize the Word of God and that we may esteem the words of your mouth more than our necessary foods I pray that you bless us as we go on our way use the Word of God mightily in our lives and in those who are not yet saved who will come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ bless today in Jesus name Amen please turn your song books to song number 377