I LOVE GOD’S WORD
THE FAMILY BIBLE
Psalm 119:40 “Thy word[is] very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.”
God has spoken to us an incredibly, magnificent, pure and precious gift of everlasting Life. As we open it and read, our hearts hear Words of salvation, able to be heard in the beginning, all throughout Heaven and earth, resounding from creation, deep into people’s souls and forevermore, to the glory of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. No other gift either in Heaven, on earth or under the earth can compare with it’s worth. Others have shed their blood for it, but to us today, it is still free. So, take it, open it, read it, believe it, live it and speak it. It brings LIFE!
Matthew 7:9–12 “Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” Bread will satisfy our hunger and smothered in butter or honey will certainly taste good. All the butter and honey in the world will never make a stone desirable for eating. Jesus is the Bread of Life that will nourish our souls and doesn’t need honey for sweetening. John 10:10b “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” In comparison what Satan offers, is a stone. He wanted Jesus to turn his stones into bread, but that was never going to happen. Matthew 4:2–4 “And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” What satan has to offer is never the real deal, even if it appears that way. Matthew 16:6,12 “Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” Knowing Satan masquerades as an ‘angel of light,’ ministering in the churches his own evil doctrines, Jesus warned His disciples to not be deceived. Matthew 24:4–5 “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” 2 Corinthians 11:13–15 “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” Proverbs 20:17 “Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.” After being out at a ladies event I arrived home that evening sporting a take home gift, wrapped in cellophane and tied with a pretty bow: it was a rich chocolate cupcake. Sadly, I have an intolerance to chocolate (I know… somehow I manage to survive) so I gave it to Lindsay to enjoy, once our three boys were in bed. His eyes lit up at as I said, “It’s all yours!” He loves it when people give me chocolate! We popped it in the fridge to keep it fresh, while we put the boys to bed and made an espresso. Once the evening peace descended on our home we put his indulgent snack on a plate with a fork and he sat down to enjoy the sweet treat. Untying the bow, he pulled it out of the cellophane and gave it a reverent sniff. “Mmmmm… it smells good,” After a sip of coffee, he took his fork and cracked into a little of the firm chocolate coating. After a couple of chews his face changed from delight to disgust. “Eeeew yuk…what is it? Oh..yuk,” He raced to the bathroom to spit it out and wash his mouth out, giving more exclamations of horror!
“It’s… it’s.. it’s a candle!” To say Lindsay was disappointed is an understatement! But to this day, even as I write this, this memory can evoke a hearty laugh! He was deceived and took a bite. If it looks like bread, smells like bread, feels like bread, you may be fooled into taking a bite only to discover what it really is, fake.
Galatians 5:9 “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.”
1 Corinthians 5:6–7 “Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:”
Jesus wanted His disciples to eat the true, sweet Bread of Life, Himself!
Matthew 26:26–28 “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” John 6:32–35, 48, 50,51, 53, 56, 61–64a “Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. ….I am that bread of life. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” …..Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. …..It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not.”
Psalms 34:8 “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” Psalms 119:103 “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”
Lindsay and I were using the NIV Bible most of the time, though he had a parallel study Bible. A pastor highly recommended the NKJV as THEE Bible, and used that each Sunday to preach from, so we bought ourselves our very own NKJV. When writing a Bible study course for our young boys to use, I wanted to include scripture memory as part of the weekly plan. They each had a CIV(Children’s International Bible,) which we had bought them. In choosing what Bible version to use, I wondered at what age they should change to an ‘adult version’ and therefore how confusing it would be to learn memory verses from their CIV and then have to relearn them when they got older. This did not seem logical to me and so I put the verses in the “grown up” NIV. As our family grew older Lindsay and I looked at what version we could read altogether. We had chosen to read from the children’s Bible during family devotions and Bible studies, so that the boys could understand it, and we could all be on the ‘same page’ as we discussed what we were reading. This meant Lindsay and I had to look over their shoulders, to assist our boys as they read aloud and not use our own Bibles. When we wanted to read it we had to borrow theirs. It was always an interesting and sometimes frustrating time, as things would be different to what Lindsay and I knew the scripture actually said and would then have to look things up in our Bibles anyway. If one Bible was momentarily misplaced, we’d grab another Bible and put up with the different words, or lose precious devotion time hunting for that version so we didn’t have to share only two Bibles between five of us. What we really wanted, was to be able to study the truth of God’s Word, accurately, as a family, without this confusion. This began our search for the right Bible to use as a family and individually. Would we choose one for our family devotions and a different one individually? What do they use at church? What did they use at the kids Sunday School?
Lindsay and I were using NIV and NKJV Bibles, as well as other accessible online versions. At church one Sunday, a new pastor spoke, highly recommending the ESV as THEE Bible and so Lindsay bought an ESV study Bible, as well. We eventually came to choose NIV Bibles to study together as a family, wanting an easy version and some continuity with the Kids Bible Study I was writing. As they got old enough we would buy them their own NIV. We weren’t particularly sure at what age they would all be when we would make the change from reading the children’s Bible to the NIV, we would wait and see.
At Sunday School each of the boys were given another children’s Bible, the CEV, different to the ones we had given them and then when they went to the youth classes, they were given the ESV. So by age thirteen, Dawson, our eldest boy, had a Children’s International Bible, Contemporary English Version, English Standard Version and a New International Version. The youth pastor wanted him to use the ESV and his parents wanted him to use the NIV, since that would be our family’s choice for Bible study together and scripture memory. When at home having his own quiet times or doing ‘homework’ from church studies given, which version would he use? The word confusion comes to mind…now who’s the author of that?
I remember, when faced with the myriad of Bible Versions, learned men’s advice and our own desire to simply build a Christ-centred family on the solid foundation of the Word of God and train up our children in the way they should go, we committed to pray for God’s wisdom, specifically regarding Bible versions.
At this same time, when copying and pasting scripture into my testimony story, as I wrote my book, I entered some of the scripture by memory then checked it online to see if it was accurate and to collect the accurate copyright information for the reference section. Some of the verses I could not find and tried several searches of keywords through online Bible help websites to no avail. So I pulled out my Bibles, NIV and NKJV, and hunted through them and discovered to my shock, that the publishers have been revising and changing verses in lots of places throughout the Bible, for years!
I wondered who had done this because there was no reason to. There was absolutely no need to change these translations of the Bible, by taking out, adding in and substituting words. Why had they done it? I thought we weren’t supposed to add to or take away from God’s Book.
Revelation 22:18–19, “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”
I realised then, that if I was going to quote the original verses, I could not use these recently revised versions with meanings changed and parts removed. I also had 6 to check carefully the amount of each of these versions which I was allowed to use within my written work, according to the publishers’ copyright instructions.
My eyesight had deteriorated slightly which meant I had been struggling to read my old NIV and NKJV, since they were both in fine print. Heading into a Christian bookstore one day, I went straight to the counter to ask for assistance to buy a Bible with larger print, but which would be closest to the earlier versions of the NIV. The lovely lady took me straight to a beautiful pink and brown Bible and as I opened to look, I could read the print. I told her I noticed that they were being revised and definitely wanted one that wasn’t changed in any way. She pointed to the one I was holding and said, “That’s all we’ve got.” It was cheap, so I bought it, took it home and yet found to my dismay, it was not the same as my earlier one at all. It dawned on me that our access to God’s Word, is under attack.
The more verses I checked in the revised online Bibles to copy into my manuscript, the more changes I found and had to correct, by checking my fine print earlier version. With the move to electronic versions and Bible apps, we could see how quickly these changes are taking place. There are ‘updates’ being made at an alarming rate. Why do they need to ‘update’ the Bible? What are the changes? There are no accompanying notes telling you what parts are being changed or ‘updated,’ and we, as a family, found this shocking.
I determined to read for myself, only my hard copy earlier versions of Bibles, not the revised versions. But what could we get for our boys? Even if we stick with the NIV, we can no longer purchase the early editions of this Bible, our boys will have to have the revised, edited, changed ones. This did not sit right with me, so I asked God for His wisdom and began a quest to find the ‘right’ Bible for our whole family to use together, so we can be on the same page! We should be able to sit down together as a family to have our devotions and Bible studies and know that we can all follow along together and study God’s Word, instead of having to straighten out the differences and changes as we go along. We should be able to read together word for word what God is speaking to us through His written word, THEE Word, which is Jesus Christ Himself!
Dawson and Jett, being the older two boys, had received their NIV’s and now Noah was reading very well, so we determined to hunt down our Bible to read as a family. Dawson’s NIV had gotten soaked and started to get mouldy so now we needed to get two new Bibles.
Hopeful still, we went to another Christian Bookstore and I stated my case clearer than ever before, “Can you please show me a nice Bible for Noah? We need to all have the same Bible to read together as a family, to be on the same page and for it to say the same thing as all of ours, so there is no confusion as we have our family devotions.” The smiling lady pointed to a little NIV with a lovely cover fit for a boy and said, “You need that one,” and marched off to help another customer. Noah was immediately attracted to it’s design and I remember thinking, that was easier than I thought it would be! We found an NIV study Bible for Dawson, like Lindsay and I both had as teenagers.
For our next family devotion, we all sat down confidently, armed with our same swords, the Word of God, our NIV Bibles, and asked Noah to read. It was different! I couldn’t believe it! How could this be? “What is happening to our Bibles?” I said. I felt horrified to think that we may never be able to read the same Bibles. But I was still determined that we would find the right Bible. God will show us! So we began praying as a family for God to lead us to the right Bible. I thought that we were going to all have to buy the Bibles at the same time, so that it is same edition, version, everything, so that we could read together.
Matthew 7:7a “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;”
The whole reason for writing children’s Bibles, or NIV’s I thought, and is stated in the front of each one, is for a better translation and an easier English version, so people can have the best understanding of God’s Word. So as a family, we are after the same end, to not be bothered with confusion arising from different versions, or editions, so as we read, we are all in agreement and it is accurate and we can get down to understanding what God is saying to us, not getting distracted by the differences within what we are reading. All we wanted, was the same Bible as a family and it was proving to be a fight for our right to read God’s Word together and be on the same page. This would be far less confusing for our boys, and far ‘easier to understand,’ than what we had discovered so far, even within the same version of the Bible.
One day I opened up my NIV Bible to look up the verse ‘fixing our eyes on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith’ but couldn’t remember the exact reference so I began an online search in the NIV using the keywords ‘author and finisher’, but nothing came up. So then I tried just ‘author’ but still nothing came up. So I tried the NKJV and it came up with the reference Hebrews 12:2a, which says, “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith,” So I punched in this reference for the online NIV and read the exact same verse which said, “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” Um…say that again? “Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”(Emphasis mine!) I was flabbergasted! How could they do this to my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ? How could they make His own Word demote Jesus down to the status of a pioneer? Why did they? I looked up the meaning just to check, PIONEER: 1. A person who is among the first to explore or settle a new country or area. 1.1. A person who is among the first to research and develop a new area of knowledge or activity. 1.2. A member of a children’s movement that aimed to foster communist ideals. 1.3. A member of an infantry group preparing roads…. 1.4. A member of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Society, a Catholic temperance society…….
They cannot possibly be inferring Jesus is one of the last three meanings! But He is not an ‘explorer, settler, developer, nor a researcher,’ of faith either. A pioneer definitely speaks of mankind’s endeavour, not of Jesus-the author, the Creator-God, the Word Himself, the Way, the Truth and the Life! Other world religions would like to demote Jesus to that of a ‘messenger of God,’ or ‘prophet,’ just like any other man, not as God Himself. To me, this word change, taking out and then adding in, is like a slap on Jesus’s face. I looked through other versions to see what their publishers had done. Oh dear! The ESV says, “founder and perfecter,” the NLT says, “Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.”
When I looked it up in the KJV it was, as I remembered it. The NKJV has it the same, so now I felt I had two reliable witnesses. Jesus is not a ‘pioneer and perfecter, or champion who initiates our faith, He is the ‘author and finisher’ of our faith. Our faith is in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Emmanuel, God with us, the Saviour of the world, who took the punishment of the whole worlds’ sin, by dying on the cross in our place, once for all-a finished work, was buried and three days later rose again, transcended into Heaven and is coming back again to take His Holy Spirit-filled people, who are saved by grace through faith in Him, home to Heaven. In bewilderment I showed Lindsay and he was equally as shocked. We talked about it as a family and wondered why they were making these changes. It didn’t make sense to us at all. Nearly every time we opened up the Bible apps on our electronic devices there would be an alert stating there was a new update. If you didn’t allow it to update, it stopped working altogether, so you had no choice but to update, if you wanted the convenience of all those Bibles and search operations at your fingertips. Up until now, it seemed like the changes I had witnessed in the NIV were annoying and confusing, but this ‘cut and paste’ was downright blasphemous! I had remained loyal to my friend the NIV through quite a lot of change, but this was no longer a slight by my companion, this was an adulterous, deliberate, attempt to deceive people, including me and my family, and most dishearteningly, an attack on Jesus deity. It is a distortion of God’s pure Holy Word, and it was enough for me to say, I don’t want to be deceived by any means- I want God’s truth! This NIV is no longer God’s Holy pure Word. What else have they changed and how could I know? Jesus Himself was accused of blasphemy to show He was God. Mark 2 speaks of Jesus healing a young man…
Mark 2:3–7 “And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?”
John 5:18 “Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.”
In John 6:69, the NIV scribes also have difficulty with Jesus Deity, they say; “We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” But it should say, “And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the Living God.”
1 John 4:15 “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.”
Therefore I ask, does God dwell in a written work that chooses to remove the incredible, life-changing and important announcement of who Jesus Christ is? According to this scripture, 1 John 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
The NIV scribes have serious issues with Jesus title as Christ. They clearly show this by omitting His title, “Christ,” in each of the following verses; Acts 19:4; 1 Corinthians 9:1; 1 John 1:7; Revelation 12:17; Hebrews 3:1; Acts 15:11; acts 16:31; 2 Corinthians 11:31; 1 Thessalonians 3:11; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; 2 Thessalonians 1:12; 1 Corinthians 5:4; Romans 1:3; Ephesians 3:14; Romans 1:16; Philippians 4:13a- now this one everybody knows how it should be, “I can do all things through Christ,”
…so why change it to “I can do everything through him?” Why? There is no need. Does it make it easier to understand? This is the frequently coined phrase in favour of this version, “it is an easier to understand version with modern English.” It does NOT make it easier to understand, but it does remove Jesus title as Christ. Question: “Who is a lier but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?” Answer: the NIV! (And others) 1 John 4:3 says, “And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist.”
BUT the NIV scribes prefer to put it this way, “every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.” 2 John 1:7–10a “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Whosoever trangresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into Your house,”
This seems to me, to be a very sly manoeuvre. It does not have the mark of a righteous act. We decided we could no longer read this as God’s truth, nor any other versions which had made these changes. The scripture just told us that we should not accept any of them into our house! “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith!” That’s the Jesus I worship. “He is that Christ, the Son of the Living God!” If the NIV was out, (among many others, which agree with it’s omissions) the only other one I had trusted, apart from the ‘old King James Version’, as I called it, was the NKJV, which did get this verse right, but we only had two copies. I felt sad that after all this, the boys still did not have their own Bibles. Here we were back at square one, simply trying to have five Bibles, which agree with each other, that we can all read individually, and together, during family Bible studies, so that we can get on with studying God’s Word. This had been a goal spanning now about 15 years! We all understood clearly by now, that God’s enemy didn’t want any of this to happen. He does not want us to study God’s Word at all! This was a spiritual battle. We prayed for the money to buy five NKJV Bibles, so they would all be the same editions, and hopefully with larger print for Lindsay’s and my slightly straining vision.
Waltzing into another Christian bookstore with high hopes, we gulped at the quote we received for the five Bibles, which would have to be ordered in and may take several weeks to arrive. Sigh… Thomas Nelson would certainly make some money from us. But hey, how can we put a price on studying God’s word together as a family? So we carefully checked that they were the same edition, as I stated our predicament to the lovely sales assistant, paid a deposit in faith and walked out, confidently. Finally, very soon, we’d all have God’s truthful word to study and be on the same page! Sure enough, after a while, we received word that some of the Bibles had arrived, but not Lindsay’s one, so we collected those Bibles and waited a little longer for our dream to be realised. Any day now, we’d all have our Bibles. Then Lindsay’s Bible came in and we were able to sit down and read God’s Word, together and it all said the same thing, at last! It may have cost over $200, but we got there!
I came to know Jesus as my Lord and Saviour when I was nearly five. Having read mainly the NIV all those years, forty years later, it was a change to read just the NKJV.
The NKJV looks different to the NIV in various ways, one being capitalizing all the pronouns for God. I like this because throughout my writings over the years, I have chosen to do the same. Attending a Christian school in year ten, our class teacher encouraged us to keep a personal journal. I took this encouragement and did as he suggested, relishing the opportunity he gave each morning to make a small entry. One day as I came to make another entry, I realized that even though I was keeping a diary, beginning each entry with, ‘Dear Diary,’ really what I was writing each day were prayers. Realizing this, that morning I changed my opening to, ‘Dear God,’ and it has remained my prayer journal ever since. When I refer to God with pronouns I always capitalize them, as a sign of honor. When writing a book of testimony, this little idea popped up in conversation, as an editor suggested I didn’t need capitalize the pronouns referring to God, because, “The Bible doesn’t even do that,” she stated. “Well, I like to give honor to God by capitalizing them.” I replied and we left the capitalization in. Throughout the pages of the NKJV I liked how each pronoun for God, also gives Him honor. Not all Bibles do it, in fact I’ve only seen it in this version. A few weeks on, from receiving our NKJV Bibles, I opened mine one morning to continue reading where I was up to. I read Revelation 13 about the beast in the last days. Verse 18, the last verse is exactly like this, in the NKJV; “Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.”
Perhaps if I was not so conscious of honoring God with capitalization and very aware that the NKJV makes a point of doing this, I would have skimmed over this without a thought. But this is a version which makes a distinction between itself and other versions with the capitalization of pronouns for the Most High God! But what did I just read and re-read and read to Lindsay and show him, then check other versions, online versions, other people I texted to check their NKJVs?-They all agreed that the NKJV, of various printings and online versions, all have capitalization of the pronoun for the beast, “His number is 666.” It is not the start of a sentence, nor is it a proper noun or it would have been that way throughout the rest of the chapter. So here we have a scripture text giving honor to the beast, the same honor it is only to give to God Himself! If it were a typo, or an editorial issue, Thomas Nelson have had ample opportunity to fix this obviously WRONG capitalization, especially in the online versions. They could easily revise this print and digital ‘downgrade’ with an ‘update!’ How easy it is for it to have slipped through? No, it is not a typo, in my opinion. Other respected Christians confer, “It should not be a capital.” I checked an online ‘good old KJV,’ with it’s “thee’s and thou’s” and it did not capitalise the pronoun for the beast. It certainly should not be a capital. It may be a slight of hand, hardly noticed by others, but here I find myself staring at an altered ‘jot and tittle’ of God’s pure and Holy Word causing Jesus Himself, the Word of God, to honour His enemy. Others may shrug it off, but to me, I want God’s unadulterated truth and not a book which dishonours God by elevating the beast as equal with God. I have never found other ‘typos’ where the NKJV misspelled Ninevah or Nebuchadnezzar and h-is is a pretty easy word to spell. Come on Thomas Nelson, what are you doing? It has to be deliberate and I found myself again asking God, please show me Your truth and lead us all in the paths of righteousness for Your Name’s sake! I laid it all out on the alter to God, fasting and praying for His truth. Surely they haven’t changed God’s word deliberately! How could they? Why did they? -and now what are we going to read? I’m sure it is God’s will for all generations to have His Holy Word to read, including us!
Psalm 12:6–7, The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
News Corp owns Harper Collins which owns Thomas Nelson and Zondervan and Rupert Murdoch owns the whole lot. How can we expect God’s Word to remain pure in the hands of an ungodly person and his empire.
John 8:42, “Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.”
I do not believe that secular publishers and those people on the committees for versions which are motivated by huge amounts of revenue from the sale of their copyrighted ‘Bible translations,’ can be classed as ‘of God.’ Therefore I question the purity of their motives for changes in rightly dividing the Word of Truth. Are they murdering God’s Word, just like the scribes wanted to in Jesus day? The fact that these new versions are owned by ungodly companies, sounds alarm bells to me and should, to every Christian. This is God’s precious Word we are talking about. Is Rupert Murdoch motivated by a love for God’s pure Word? (I pray one day he will be.) I continued to ask God to guide us into all truth, God’s truth.
Proverbs 30:5 “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.”
Luke 4:4 “And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”
I had heard people say that ‘the KJV is the best version of God’s Word,’ and to say it went in one ear and out the other is almost true for me. No-one had ever shown me why they believed that and I had wanted to understand God’s Word the best I could and definitely didn’t want our children to have to decipher old English language to discover what God wants to say to them. ‘The King James Version uses old English language which is difficult to understand and is old fashioned,’ is also what I had heard people say and this is what I had believed. This is why I had chosen over the last thirty years, to read ‘The Way’ as a teenager, then the NIV and NKJV. I did not want to be out of date by reading the old KJV Bible. I wanted to be up-to-date and read a modern version and do the same with our children. In fact, as a home-school mum, I had been relieved to find a curriculum which did not display archaic scripture verses on each page of their schoolwork, especially when we were memorising the NIV. I thought this was an unnecessary distraction on every page of their books. So that was one of the reasons for switching curriculums several years ago. All of this is what I wanted, BUT, if I really wanted GOD’s truth then I would lay aside my owns wants, likes and desires and actually listen to, Proverbs 3:5,6, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Walking to the front door of our mobile home one evening, when I was a few steps away, I cried out to God to show me the right path and laid aside all my own preconceived ideas and all the advice I had received from others, including those I considered theologians. I hungered for His truth and nothing else. I wanted, more than anything, to know His Word and have His pure Word in my hands and my family’s hands. By the time I reached the door, I knew I’d have to read the truly, the only, good old …..King James Bible. From what I had read in the NIV(and others) and the NKJV and then checked them against the KJV, it had remained faithful and true every time. The others, in my books, do not stand up to what is pure, true and right and in all good conscience before God, how could I compromise by reading and believing them as God’s precious Word of Truth? The NIV removes the gospel in Acts 8:37, by removing the entire verse! It is not there, neither in the ESV, NLT, ASV, CEV, and more. Who was in the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach and Obednigo in Daniel 3:25? Was he like the Son of God? Don’t check in an NIV, ESV, NLT, NASB, CEV…. they all agree he was like ‘a son the gods.’
Who is the “bright and morning star?” “I Jesus… I am… the bright and morning star.”
Revelation 22:16 “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.”
Who fell from Heaven?
Isaiah 14:12 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!”
The NIV, ESV, CEV, NLT, (and others),in this verse in Isaiah take out lucifer altogether, and say the Day Star, bright morning star or morning star, has fallen from Heaven. Is it not blasphemy, to speak of Jesus, the bright and morning star, in place of lucifer, in these corrupted texts? Are we saved or are we being saved? The NKJV diminishes Jesus work on the cross by bringing in a works salvation in, 1 Corinthians 1:18, by changing the words: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God,” when it should read, as the KJV says, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”
The NKJV says in 2 Corinthians 2:15, “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” But the King James Bible says this, 2 Corinthians 2:14–17 “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.”
It’s interesting to note, in this very passage that has been changed to reflect a progressive salvation instead of Christ’s once for all sacrifice, it tells of how, many, back then, were corrupting the word of God! In this corruption, this Bible verse also loses the “sweet savour,” it just becomes fragrance-I think this alteration stinks too!! Arguments will do nothing, it comes down to each individual being humble enough to lay down in surrender to God, all their own wise arguments, and the arguments of other ‘wise scholars’ writings and thoughts, and submitting to the Spirit of Truth. Each person is responsible for seeking God’s Truth for themselves, in prayerful humility.
Proverbs 3:7, Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord and depart from evil.
3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
In sharing part of this testimony with others, I discovered to my shock that there are those who don’t believe the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. In fact I only recently discovered that there are a lot of Christians whom I know personally, who do not believe that we have God’s pure Word; Who was with God in the beginning, and is from everlasting to everlasting, today, in our hands. When I found this out, I wondered at what point in a Christian’s discipleship, are we suppose to be told that, “by the way, not everything you are going to read in God’s Holy Bible is right.” Um… say that again? And how do we know which parts we can believe then, or do we balance precariously on our own interpretation of what we can and can’t believe? Or who are these amazing present day prophets who do know what things are right and wrong and as we read God’s word they will tell us?
This is one of the reasons King James, commissioned the work of those fifty something brilliant, Christian, multi-lingual, scholars and Greek and Hebrew and Latin experts who worked together for about six years (with no financial gain), to make God’s word available to the common people. Instead of having to rely on the church leaders (aka., bishops/pastors/elders/shepherds) to read and expound God’s Word to them, King James expressly wanted everyday people to have and read God’s Word for themselves as God guided them by the Spirit of Truth. I decided, instead of freely accepting Bible teaching from others including those considered ‘authorities,’ I needed to become more like the Bereans who, Acts 17:11 “received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” It doesn’t say they consulted commentaries, notes or study Bibles, rather, they studied the SCRIPTURES! Psalms 5:8 “Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.” Psalms 25:4–5 “Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.” Psalms 27:11 “Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.” John 16:13a “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:”
I certainly want God to guide me into all truth rather than relying on others for my understanding of what the Word ‘actually should say.’ Our brothers and sisters in Christ were burnt alive for teaching God’s Word to their children, for translating early manuscripts into the first English translations and for printing and distributing God’s word. Yet we are prepared to say God has not preserved His Holy word for this generation, so “we have to go back to the original Greek and Hebrew texts to really know what it is saying.” Hey, I speak English and so does God. When we get to heaven are we going to tell Tyndale that his life’s work was in vain? Was he martyred or not? I attended the Tyndale Christian School in Blacktown, Sydney, and knew the story of Tyndale, the Bible translator. He worked, under persecution, to translate the Bible into English for us and was martyred for this cause. So I am shocked to hear people, (some of whom could not order lunch at a restaurant in Greece) quoting Greek words and then offering their own translated words as ‘better’ than the KJV. Can we put ourselves as judge over God’s Word? Or rather, does the Spirit of Truth require us to humbly submit ourselves to God’s Holy Word? But it’s not just Tyndale, and all those other martyred souls, who believed God wanted English speaking people to have God’s Word-the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ-the Son of God, in our heart language, the Scriptures said it first…. Acts 2:8,11b “And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? …..we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.”
Isaiah 66:18 “For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.” God chose to send His Holy Ghost to fill His people on the day of Pentecost while giving them the ability to speak in other tongues. They spoke in the very languages of the people who were at Jerusalem at that time and were
Acts 2:5b “out of every nation under heaven.” A fairly important event which was signified by the gospel being preached to people in their own language. 1 John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. Who is the Greater, the One Who is in us or he who is in the world? We know lucifer has attempted to steal, kill and destroy The Word of God, from the first time he entered the scene in Genesis 3, by false prophets and pagan practises, through the scribes and pharisees, when they nailed Him to the cross and put Him in the tomb, through mass deceptions and subtle lies within and without the church today, but do Christians really think …he won? Has God’s precious Word, our Foundation, our Cornerstone, our Saviour been so marred that even Christians think they can no longer believe in God’s infallible word… 100%? God’s enemy would have us believe that 99.9% belief is ok.
Psalms 12:6–7 “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.”
For me, it has never been an issue, I have always believed the ‘Good Book’ we and Christians everywhere had, was God’s pure Holy, inerrant Word. I found errors which did not line up with His true Word and now He had shown me the Truth by exposing those versions posing as God’s Holy pure Word. It requires faith to believe God. It requires faith to believe Jesus Christ paid our penalty of sin by dying on the cross and rising again three days later. It takes faith to believe God’s Word is true. It takes faith to believe God’s word is as He says it is. I could never be so presumptuous before my Holy God and Heavenly Father, as to declare it is not “a perfect” Work, especially when He says it is, so many times… in His perfect Word!
Psalms 19:7–11 “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.”
Psalms 119:151–152 “Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth. Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever.”
Our whole family had been on this journey as we navigated our way through a smoke-screen of lies, toward the Light of God’s Truth. Our goal had always been to find God’s Truth and as we turned through the pages of our five brand new King James Bibles, we found ourselves set free to study, learn, discuss and grow as never before.
The Word is full of God’s promises and he gives the faith to believe them. This had been a spiritual battle, but we had asked, believing and we had received the wisdom to discern truth from deceit. We had known good and evil as the devil always wanted, but God showed us the truth which set us free to be single-minded and believe the good.
James 1:5–8 “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
It may have taken years to arrive at a place where we can read God’s Word, altogether and be on the same page, reading the same words, but in these few short months the blessings have been overwhelmingly wonderful. We love so many aspects of our new Faithful Friend, the Authorised Version, the King James Bible. The inbuilt dictionary provides amazing insight, (sometimes it is a race to see who will find definitions first!) the boys handle the grade five reading level with ease, it is fun to increase our vocabulary and study English as we read, our reading abilities improve as we dig in to find the treasures, it is fun comparing the old English spelling with modern English and these are just some of our wonderful discoveries as a family. Scripture I had memorised in the NIV over the years included Psalm 139 which has been a favourite of mine. I decided to re-learn it in the KJV. Having both in my head meant I was able to compare some of the words used. The KJV says, Psalm 139 “O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.”
When I came to verse three I was struck by the difference in meaning. So far the Psalm has shown us that God knows us, even when we sit down and get up and understands our thoughts. The NIV says in verse 3, “You discern my going out and my lying down,” but the KJV says, “Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.”
As I meditated on those words, “compassest my path,” there was quite a difference in meaning. The Psalm does discuss God knowing us, but here was an incredibly profound and comforting word that had been changed. The fact that God Himself, “compassest my path” has such a rich meaning. I’m sure I still cannot fully comprehend it’s complete outplaying in my heart. To know that God is there in that all-encompassing capacity in my life, past, present and future can only be true of He Who is from everlasting to everlasting, the Alpha and the Omega. The God who cannot lie, is unchanging, the same yesterday, today and forever; even though He knows me, with all my erks and perks, understands me and all my movements, still chooses to love me so much, that He “compassest my path.” This is the God I can trust implicitly with my life as He speaks to me His Words of Life!
Isaiah 26:3–4 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:”
I never understood what the “Thee’s and Thou’s” of the King James Bible were about other than old world English used at the time of writing. Herein is the mastery of the work of the inspired 1611 translators. New Agers, Muslims, Buddhists and those in the occult world also refer to ‘God, Jesus, Christ, Lord, Master, Holy One, Son of God,’ and many other titles we as Christians would attribute to TheeJude 1:25 “only wise God our Saviour!”
But the LORD JEHOVAH is ‘THEE’ God, this is singular, the only God. The NKJV chooses to remove our God’s name in a world where Muslims are evangelising their religion’s God, Allah. In English their Allah, is translated ‘God.’ Do we serve the same God, as some Christians believe today, who have yielded to the popular false doctrine which is leading toward the one world religion? We do not serve the same God. We serve the LORD JEHOVAH, the ONLY God. When speaking to Muslims and Christians in a ‘let’s embrace all religions, including Catholic, because we all serve the same God anyway’ — climate, would one refer to God or make certain Who exactly we are talking about. You can’t use the NKJV in this instance, only the King James Bible holds fast to God’s pure Holy Name: LORD JEHOVAH! The NKJV has taken JEHOVAH out altogether. Of course lucifer wants to steal God’s title. But his method is …… subtilty. Genesis 3, the sneaky, creepy serpent caused Eve to question God’s Word with, “…hath God said..?”
2 Corinthians 11:3–4 “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.”
When Satan, masquerades as an ‘angel of light,’ ministering in the churches his own evil doctrines and misquoting Thee only God….
2 Corinthians 11:13–15 “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”
……let us use the Word of truth, the Sword of Spirit, as Jesus did, and declare Who exactly we are worshipping- LORD JEHOVAH-THEE ONLY WISE GOD OUR SAVIOUR-THE LORD JESUS CHRIST-THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD!
Isaiah 14:12–15 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”
The NKJV may only be ‘one step away,’ but just how wide is that stride? What are they stepping away from? Why step away?
Jeremiah 10:23–24 “O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.”
Psalms 37:23 “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.”
Jeremiah 23 explains very clearly how the Lord God, thinks of those Leading His people astray by corrupting His Word and causing His people to forget His Name. Who is the LORD JEHOVAH? Don’t look in the NKJV. When you put JEHOVAH in the search function of a bible App for the NKJV it says, ‘no matches.’ Have they forgotten LORD JEHOVAH’s Name?
Jeremiah 23:19–22 “Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.” “The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.”
His burden, is the grievous thoughts He bears are for those speaking their own perverted versions of His Words. This burden being referred to in the entire chapter, is not man’s burden, rather, the burden of the LORD.
Jeremiah 23:36 “And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man’s word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.”
The NKJV says this instead, “And the oracle of the LORD shall ye mention no more. For every man’s word will be his oracle for you have perverted the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God.” Oracle or burden? Merrian-Webster’s online dictionary states:
Oracle:
a : a person (as a priestess of ancient Greece) through whom a deity is believed to speak the prophecies of the Delphic oracle — D. F. Marks
b : a shrine in which a deity reveals hidden knowledge or the divine purpose through such a person c : an answer or decision given by an oracle ambiguous oracles
2
a : a person giving wise or authoritative decisions or opinions She became an oracle of pop culture.
b : an authoritative or wise expression or answer
Oracle 1 a priest or priestess acting as a medium through whom advice or prophecy was sought from the gods in classical antiquity.
• a place at which divine advice or prophecy was sought.
- a person or thing regarded as an infallible authority on something: he reigned supreme as the Colonial Office’s oracle on Africa.
- 2 archaic a response or message given by an oracle, especially an ambiguous one.
Iphone Dictionary App
- (especially in ancient Greece) an utterance, often ambiguous or obscure, given by a priest or priestess at a shrine as the response of a god to an inquiry.
- 2. the agency or medium giving such responses
- 3. a shrine or place at which such responses were given: the oracle of Apollo at Delphi
- 4. a person who delivers authoritative, wise, or highly regarded and influential pronouncements
- 5. a divine communication or revelation.
- 6. any person or thing serving as an agency of divine communication.
- 7. any utterance made or received as authoritative, extremely wise, or infallible Surely the NKJV didn’t mean any of these definitions… did it? Scrolling down below advertisements I finally found this:
- 8. Oracles, the Scriptures-FINALLY! These dictionaries don’t seem overly helpful so let’s look at the scripture’s use of the word- oracle.
1 Peter 4:11a “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth”
An oracle of God is what God gives man to speak-God’s Words. This oracle is received from God. So this perversion of God’s word, in the NKJV’s version of Jeremiah 23, would indicate God is telling them not to mention His oracle anymore? Not to mention His Word any more? And then wrongly breaking it into two sentences, the second sentence says “man’s own words will be his oracle.” Are man’s own words an oracle-words received from God? Or are man’s own words, which are a perversion of what God says, a burden to God, as they wickedly lead His people astray? God is never happy with people who reject His Word and King Saul is an example of that!
1 Samuel 15:23 “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”
This ‘step away,’ from the King James Bible, may only seem slight, perhaps like a baby step, but the differences are there however subtle they may seem, God’s Holiness does not tolerate even 0.01% of sin. But then the NKJV takes down God’s own holiness, the fact that His Whole person is Holy, in this chapter 23 of Jeremiah, verse 9 they say, “because of His holy words.” New-agers and all false religions like to think their gods speak holy words, but while reading and listening to their lies, they will never see the beauty and glory of “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” nor hear the sweetness and purity “of the words of his holiness!” DON’T slip on the “slippery ways” of the prophets talked about in this chapter, because…
Jeremiah 23:1–2 “Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.”
We need not fear any more, because God says what He will do for us, Jeremiah 23:4 “And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.”
We will be satisfied with the true Bread of Life and rest in simple trust. What better way to develop our teachable heart and learn obedience than to study His Word and submit to His corrections. May we all seek to be an ever-learning student of God and never decide we know it all and have our own arguments, wrought by our own methods of understanding. May we read Bible, think Bible and believe Bible. From babes drinking the pure milk, to mature people eating the meat of God’s Word, this text covers it all with it’s lower graded reading level and words which build meaning, to words and phrases which require us to prayerfully meditate on them day and night, allowing God’s deeply penetrating truths to cut into the fibres of our being. Reading the King James Bible actually increases our reading level and intelligence at the same time, giving knowledge, understanding and wisdom all at once. We are meant to, 2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
God’s Word is given to us as a gift of treasured wisdom, into which we must apply our hearts to the task of digging, searching, seeking and asking God, and if we do this…. Proverbs 2:1–9 “My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.”
…..He promises to preserve the way of his saints. How do we know God will preserve us? Because He says so in His Word. How do we know we can believe that He will preserve us? Because He says so in His Word and He does not lie! How do we know that we can believe God’s Word? Because He says it is true. How do we know that God will preserve us if He has promised to preserve His word throughout all generations, but….has He? If we believe our bible is not true, we can’t be sure. God wants us to believe HIM! We can know God will preserve us just as He has preserved His Word throughout all generations because God does not lie, and what He says goes, and I’m happy with that!
John 10:28,29 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
We have a pure treasure of immeasurable power, the power to save people captive to sin and lies, and pull them back from the path leading to destruction and this is the Word of God, the Way the Truth the Life, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The freedom in knowing the Truth of God is hard to describe. No more confusion, no more fear of where to find God’s Truth. We have it in our hands and it is very precious. This imperfect soul needs God’s perfect Truth to sanctify me just as Jesus prayed for us Himself, John 17:17 “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”
Everyone needs to hear and know God’s Truth, because one day every soul will have God’s Word in their mouth, either in joy or in sorrow.
Philippians 2:10–11 “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
When they confess Jesus Christ is Lord they don’t believe it as truth because they have never accepted Him as Lord, they have instead worshipped another as lord, satan and that is blasphemy. Those words will be sweet to the taste but bitter in their stomachs, as God sends these strangers to eternal torment. Those of us who do know Jesus as our Saviour, will be speaking sweet words to our taste and we will have our glorious reward-Jesus Christ our Lord, the Word, the same yesterday, today and forever!
The NIV, and others, have certainly changed God’s Word more obviously and in greater quantities than the NKJV, with the NIV coming in at around the 64,000 words missing. The fact remains though, however sneaky, slight and subtle they are, the modifications have changed the text. Copyright laws require a work to be significantly different in order to be a ‘new copyrightable work.’ Even if the motivation is purely monetary for copyright reasons, it is at odds with the scripture to change, modify, add to or take away from God’s pure Holy Word. When, by making these changes, rich meanings are lost, God’s person and saving work is diminished, His truth is watered down, and therefore corrupted, there is more than enough reason for me to choose instead, the text of the King James Bible for my stand-alone Holy Word of God. I believe it 100% because it is pure, and preserved, for this generation.
This world needs God’s absolute Truth, Jesus, to shine His Light into the darkness.
Matthew 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
Psalms 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
Our world is a dark place filled with evil. How much more then, do we need the brilliance of the complete undimmed, unaltered, Light of the World to Light our way.
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Ephesians 6:10–12, 17 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. …….And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:”
The other versions have lost their sharpness. When a Christian in need of the assurance of salvation, reads their Bible, 1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” They may question: is God saying I am being saved? But that was the NIV, so on their Bible app, they choose another version, the CEV, “The message about the cross doesn’t make any sense to lost people. But for those of us who are being saved, it is God’s power at work.”
They choose the trusted NKJV. I can trust this version, it is the NEW King James version, that would surely mean it is better wouldn’t it? “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God,” …and many other versions agree also, does that mean the majority has it?
So if I’m still being saved, how can I get there? What do I have to do to get saved fully, or can’t I? So they turn to another scripture in the NKJV, 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” Wow, Paul must have been an amazingly godly person to be able to imitate Christ! I could never measure up! How will I ever get to ‘saved’ status? Diving into the King James Bible instead, we get the Truth. “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”
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.”
1 Corinthians 11:1 “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.”
Whew!… Jesus Christ is my Saviour, so I am saved just as I thought, through faith in Him and I am now a follower of Christ, just as Paul was. God’s truth wins again and sharply cuts out the lie! Give me the sharper-than-any-two-edged-Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, not a butter knife Version!
Graciously, the Bread of Life, has answered my prayer for His Truth. Up until I received my King James Bible, He had fed me with morsels of Truth, applied by his Spirit of Truth from the crumbs put together by other versions; just as Satan, when he quotes corrupted scripture to Jesus, it is coated in God’s Truth to have the appearance of the sweetness of Jesus. Thankfully, graciously, God has nourished me with this scant diet of sugar coated gravel, for decades, but now, since feasting on His sweet rich and satisfying uncorrupted Words, our whole family has grown and flourished in His pure Life-giving Truth! Walk in His Statutes. Share His Testimonies. Obey His Commandments. Believe His Truth. Hear His Voice. Eat His Bread. Know His Judgements. Read His Word!
I love God’s Word because it is; “pure, preserved, true, founded for ever, perfect, sure, right, clean, gold, sweeter than honey, sharper than any two-edged sword, precious, righteous, a wondrous work, delightful, wisdom, better unto me than thousands of gold and silver, settled in heaven, holy, truth, and very pure!”
Thank-You, Heavenly Father, for Your Precious, Pure, Preserved Word!
Psalm 119:140 “Thy word[is] very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.”www.TGC1611.org
Written by Christine Ginn