Category: preservation of the Bible

How to Open God’s Safe

Saturday, October 25, 2014

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV).

Spread the word that today’s Scripture is the key to unlocking the Word!

Many centuries ago, God used holy men to write His Word in human language, He used holy men to copy it thousands of times over to preserve it for us, and He used holy men to translate it into our language, English. The King James Bible did not “just drop down from heaven in 1611;” it was the result of laborious collation, meticulous comparison, and diligent translation of various ancient Hebrew and Greek Bible manuscripts, and prudent consultation of previous translations (particularly, early English).

Our precious King James Bible is a safe—it contains the wealth of the Lord Jesus Christ’s wisdom. How do we extract the profit contained therein? We could spend the rest of our lives searching for the combination in religious tradition, scientific analyses, prayer closets, introspection of intuition, et cetera, but what a waste of time! While most theologians, ministers, and church members still grope and fumble searching for the obvious (sixth-grade English!), banging in frustration on the door, we rejoice evermore in Christ that we have discovered the Bible’s combination—“2 Timothy 2:15!”

Friend, dispensational Bible study is the key to accessing the priceless spiritual knowledge and wisdom God offers us in His Word. We can use the Bible as a nice decorative item to exhibit on a bookshelf or tote under the arm, but that is not what God intended. Only one verse in all the Bible tells us to study the Bible; that one verse tells us how to study the Bible.

“Rightly dividing the word of truth” liberated me from spiritual confusion and religious tradition. It will do the same for you if you let it. Do not let traditionalists mix God’s Word and mix you up. Flee from those who muddle dispensational boundaries—distinctions God has made in His Word—and who force you to consume such nauseous doctrine. For your own spiritual health’s sake, flee to God’s safe and open it quick! Then, share its combination and contents with others. There is plenty to go around! 🙂

The House of Bondage

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

“And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened be eaten” (Exodus 13:3 KJV).

Today’s Scripture is a timeless truth from Israel’s program, one that guards us against spiritual slavery even today.

Scripture refers to Egypt as “the house of bondage” 10 times (Exodus 13:3; Exodus 13:14; Exodus 20:2; Deuteronomy 5:6; Deuteronomy 6:12; Deuteronomy 8:14; Deuteronomy 13:5; Deuteronomy 13:10; Joshua 24:17; Judges 6:8). Each verse also reminds Israel that JEHOVAH delivered her from that slavery. Every time Israel read or heard these Old Testament verses, JEHOVAH reinforced the idea that He, by Moses’ leadership, had rescued them from Egypt, so they were to never again return there. Why?

Remember, the Jews spent centuries in Egypt as slaves. Egypt symbolizes two great Bible themes: the world and sin/Satanic captivity. Israel, in Gentile Egypt, was actually in the midst of all the nations (Gentiles) of the world. Just as the Egyptians had captured Israel and made them slaves to do their work, Satan had captured Israel and made them slaves to do his work (sin). As long as Pharaoh held Israel captive in Egypt, she was not in God’s Promised Land, she was surrounded by pagan idols and polluted with false religion, and she was unusable to JEHOVAH God.

Once JEHOVAH judged wicked Egypt and her false gods with 10 plagues (Numbers 33:4), and brought Israel out of Egypt with miraculous demonstrations, He wanted to guide her back to Abraham’s land, where He would descend and be her King forever. He had separated Israel from Egypt—the world—to do His work (righteousness).

Thus, when today’s modern-version proponents offer us their Alexandrian (Egyptian) manuscript readings, we remember God’s warnings about Egyptian paganism and spiritual ignorance. We refuse such slavery, such bondage, to false religion. We prefer our Antiochian (Syrian) manuscript readings, perfectly preserved for us in the King James Bible. After all, the Christians were first called such—not in Egypt—but in Antioch (Acts 11:26)!

The Indestructible Book

Sunday, August 17, 2014

“…[T]he 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 for ever…” (1 Peter 1:23b-25a KJV).

Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ, that the Bible critics, no matter how hard they try, can never destroy it!

A local atheist once wrote about how she disliked the fact that Bible verses were everywhere in society—on bumper stickers, T-shirts, billboards, television programs, church signs, websites, and so on. She complained how she was so sick of being surrounded by a “Christian” culture and, oddly enough, she said that she wanted minority religions to have a more prominent voice in our area.

Just shortly after its completion, Roman emperors tried to rid the world of its manuscripts. For centuries, the Church of Rome burned copies of it, as well as burned those who believed it as their final authority in all matters of faith and practice. Yet, despite all that, the Bible is one of the world’s oldest books, and, even today, it has more surviving manuscripts to support it than does any other ancient literature (including famous works such as the writings of Plato and Shakespeare). In fact, the book of Job may be the world’s oldest book, even pre-dating Moses!

If only the Bible’s critics would have learned that today’s Scripture was no bluff, they could have saved themselves much energy and prevented many headaches. The Apostle Peter, quoting Isaiah 40:6-8, had the very words that the Prophet had written over 700 years earlier. Man is here today and gone tomorrow, just as the grass and the flower of the field. The Word of God, however, the Truth of the LORD, “endureth to all generations” (Psalm 100:5). Our Lord Jesus Christ said it so eloquently, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33). He said that 2,000 years ago, and those words still exist—and will exist long after their critics pass away. Yea, the word of the Lord endureth for ever, and ever, and ever, and ever! 🙂

Tossed To and Fro

Monday, July 21, 2014

“That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;” (Ephesians 4:14 KJV).

Art thou “tossed to and fro?” To the King James Bible thou must go!

The following recent quotation from a church leader typifieth the dire spiritual condition of the average church leader and church member: “For years I bounced around between different translations, using one with my Sunday school students, one at the office (with multiple translations) and a King James version of the New Testament and Psalms that I read on my subway commute.” “Bouncing around between different translations?!” Today’s Scripture saith that this is the very opposite of what the Lord Jesus Christ desireth for His people!

The Greek word translated “tossed to and fro” in today’s Scripture is kludonidzomai. It is related to the word, “raging of the water” in Luke 8:24 (the offshore storm Jesus calmed), and “he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed” in James 1:6 (describing a double-minded man). Today’s Scripture portrayeth such imagery—a soul violently pushed around in one direction by one doctrine, another doctrine coming along and forcing the soul to drift in a totally different direction (repeat cycle).

Not surprisingly, one reason why church members abandon Christianity is because of the Bible versions issue: they know not what to believe and simply recant the Bible altogether. The King James Bible believer is not the troublemaker; those who ridicule God’s preserved Word in English and attempt to supplant it with 200 (!) contradictory counterfeits are the ones causing the confusion and ignorance.

Dear readers, God gave us His Word so we could have soul stability; Satan wanteth to take it from us so we can fall for his error. Beloved, modern Bible translators and publishers want to make “a quick buck” at the cost of your souls, so do not let them! Settle thy feet on the rock of the King James Bible rightly divided…. all else is sure to “wash out to sea!” 🙂

No Red-Marker Bible for Us!

Saturday, June 14, 2014

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14 KJV).

Let us reject the red-marker “Bible,” just as its promoters castoff the Bible!

Years ago, a friend expressed his discouragement for receiving a “C” grade on a school paper he had diligently wrote. He said how he had spent so much time on it, and yet it was still not good enough. To cheer him up, I shared with him a brief history of the English Bible, how God spent so much time on faithfully transmitting His pure, preserved Word to us, and educated man gave Him an “F!” (My friend did not feel so bad after that!) 🙂

Through the centuries, textual critics have assaulted Bible manuscripts and other copies of the preserved, inspired Word of God. Like Satan encouraged Eve to do in Genesis 3:1-5, they questioned it, added to it, subtracted from it, watered it down, and finally, denied it. What do we expect? God’s Word is “foolishness” to people who are not God’s children anyway (today’s Scripture).

Textual critics have especially taken their “scholarly scalpels” to the Divine Words since 1881, when the greatest change in Bible “scholarship” ever occurred. In Great Britain, the Protestant Bible text (the King James Bible, its previous English versions, and the Greek Textus Receptus upon which their New Testament rested) was questioned by “educated,” lost men, and replaced with a so-called “older, better” Greek manuscript tradition that the Church the Body of Christ avoided—and had endured the death penalty for rejecting! Even today, the average church member of every denomination has no idea of the switch! Protestants have no idea they carry under their arms Roman Catholic manuscripts in the form of their modern Bible versions—manuscripts their Protestant forefathers died for avoiding!

Dear friends, when anyone encourages you to “red line” words, verses, or even passages from your King James Bible, you would do well to “write them off,” giving them an “A” when it has come to them encouraging your doubt in God’s Word, and an “F” regarding encouraging your faith!

333 Turns 3!

Sunday, June 1, 2014

“The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever” (Isaiah 40:8 KJV).

To the praise of the glory of the riches of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, “333 Words of Grace” commemorates its third anniversary today!

Dear readers and saints, it has been a delight to be your Bible teacher here these last three years. Indeed, time always “flies” when God’s Word is studied! Our purpose has been to help you understand and enjoy your Bible. We have demonstrated that you do not have to throw away God’s Word simply because people misuse it and abuse it. You can understand the Holy Scriptures without seminary degrees and college diplomas. During these last three years, we have simply taken the King James Bible and let the text speak for itself, comparing Scripture with Scripture, and let God’s Word amplify itself. Our Christian lives have never been the same since!

The Holy Bible is the world’s most valuable Book—and still the bestselling! Countless saints of old shed their blood in service to their Lord Jesus Christ, to furnish the common man with His Book in the English vernacular. Just as they were diligent in translating the Bible for us, may we be just as attentive in acquainting ourselves with it—reading it (1 Timothy 4:13), studying it rightly divided (2 Timothy 2:15), and believing it (1 Thessalonians 2:13). As Jesus Christ Himself said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

Once “locked up” in ancient languages, we have the world’s most marvelous Book in our own tongue. God’s Book “for ever settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89), now brought down to puny planet earth, now translated into the languages of the world, and yet, it is all too often unappreciated even in “Christian” circles. We trust that our daily Bible studies have renewed and maintained your interest in this most important Book. Almighty God took great lengths to get it to us, and it is only logical that we treasure it above all else. The Holy Bible will literally last forever (today’s Scripture), so let us enjoy it now… every day!

Saints, thank you for your prayer and encouragement these last three years. By the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, onward we go! 🙂

P.S. All of our devotionals, all the way back to “day 1,” are archived here.

Counseled by the Only Wise Counselor

Friday, March 21, 2014

“The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations” (Psalm 33:11 KJV).

His advice will literally last forever, but do you prefer the “experts?”

After convicted by one of our Bible studies, an atheist emailed me to complain. Following his few words (not even one full sentence) and a large quote from me, he concluded his email with a link to an article about King James Bible “errors.” While the atheist did not write that article—no, a “Bible-believing, Bible-defending, Jesus-Christ-honoring” seminary professor did that!—I read it with an open mind anyway. Once the seminary professor reassured his readers that he believed in Biblical inspiration, inerrancy (?!), and authority, he proceeded to explain six reasons why he rejected the King James Bible as the best translation. (Even lost people have more respect for God’s Word!) Superficially, he seemed to present a “death-blow” to the King James—I smiled, for, in reality, he actually defeated himself!

Without any reservation, the general Christian public believes every word from Bible “experts:” it is trained not to question this seminary professor’s claims and “facts.” It is trained not to discover that the “pompous Ph.D.” neither knew his history nor his Bible (or, was willfully withholding facts and fabricating “evidence!”). Moreover, while the professor “advised” his readers to disbelieve King James Bible inerrancy, he never bothered to “counsel” as to which Bible translation he thought was inerrant! (This is particularly interesting, since he chaired a modern Bible translation—never making a single reference to its “inerrancy” either!).

After I thought about what I read, today’s Scripture and its context came to mind. Man’s “wisdom” is but foolishness at best. In the context of today’s Scripture, we read, “The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices [schemes] of the people of none effect” (verse 10). No matter what sinful man does, in the end, it will come to nothing. However, our Lord Jesus Christ’s counsel will stand forever (today’s Scripture), and without question, that will, perfectly preserved for us in the King James Bible, shall outlast each and every critic, including the professing “counselors.” 🙂

Bible Study 102 #12

Monday, March 17, 2014

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV).

The only verse that tells you to study the Bible also tells you how to understand the Bible!

From Genesis through Revelation, God the Holy Ghost reveals, inspires, preserves, translates, and teaches God’s Word. Genesis 1:2,3 say, “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” Jesus declared, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26). The Apostle Peter penned: “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:20,21).

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16) really means that the Spirit of God spoke those words. First, notice the root –spir (as in “spirit”) in “inspiration.” Now, consider that “spirit” and “air” (as in “breathe” or “Spirit”) are actually the same word—pneuma—in Greek (the original language of the New Testament Scriptures). Interestingly, theopneustos is the word translated “inspiration of God”—notice the prefix pneu– (as in the Holy Spirit). Finally, recall Jesus Christ’s declaration, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). In summation, the words of Scripture are the words that God the Holy Ghost breathed out/spoke (“given by inspiration of God”).

The Holy Bible is “given by inspiration of God,” meaning His Holy Spirit initially gave it to mankind. If we are to understand the words that God the Holy Spirit has revealed, inspired, preserved, and translated, we must allow the Holy Spirit to teach us to “rightly divide the word of truth” (today’s Scripture), to recognize Paul as God’s spokesman to us (1 Corinthians 14:37; Ephesians 3:1-11)….

On the Holy Bible

Friday, February 28, 2014

“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” (Matthew 4:4 KJV).

If you are seeking God’s words today, you can find them today!

Where are God’s words? In non-existent original manuscripts? In a preacher’s inner impressions? In our emotions or circumstances? In a prayer closet? In a denominational handbook, hymnal, Bible commentary, or Hebrew or Greek grammar? In an “angelic visitation?” In Bible study footnotes? In the latest, best-selling modern translation? These are usually the places where people look for God’s words, but despite all that reading and praying, they rarely find them. Very few ever actually find those precious words of God because of the confusion as to where to find them and because nearly all of the places that are presumed to have God’s words have everything but them!

In today’s Scripture, the Lord Jesus Christ affirmed that mankind needed spiritual food just as much as he needed physical food. To be physically alive but spiritually dead is not God’s original plan for man! Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy 8:3, where Moses taught Israel the same principle: Israel had 40 years of physical manna to eat but they were starving spiritually, experiencing “leanness [of] soul” because of their unbelief (Psalm 106:15)!

The prophet Isaiah foretold how God the Father “wakeneth [Jesus Christ] morning by morning, [his] ear to hear as the learned” (50:4). Every morning during His earthly ministry, Jesus studied the Old Testament scrolls, and He learned God the Father’s will (cf. Luke 2:40,52; John 8:26-29). Even Jesus Christ depended on the Holy Bible for wisdom, and He knew today’s Scripture firsthand. Jesus lived completely reliant on God’s Word—living the life God originally wanted mankind to live!

Jesus Christ reassured us, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33). We have those preserved words of God in English, the King James Bible. May we never, ever take them for granted and may we never, ever abandon them. May we study them and believe them, lest we spiritually starve!

Bible Study 101 #1

Sunday, January 5, 2014

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV).

The only verse that tells you to study the Bible also tells you how to study the Bible!

Every church member reads the Bible to some extent. From the cults to the mainline denominations, a “Bible of some sort” is used. Strangely, however, this one Book is used by over 38,000 denominations to teach some or much of what they believe (and all those groups teach different doctrines!). How can we avoid this, the Bible ignorance that has so gripped Christendom, the spiritual destruction (heresies, apostasy, et cetera) that befalls so many professing believers within Christian assemblies?

The “Christian” bookstore—a spiritually-dangerous place!—offers a wide range of allegedly “helpful” Bible study tools. Bible commentaries, lexicons, “easy-to-read” “scholarly” modern Bible versions, interlinears, study guides, and workbooks are just some of the products the Bible student is urged to buy if Bible comprehension is being sought. However, when we go beyond the expensive and extensive advertising campaigns, and evaluate the text of those items, very rarely do their authors and translators speak on God’s behalf. After nearly 20 centuries of increasing doctrinal error, we should not expect to find many sound Bible study tools anyway.

Due to frequent personal communication with graduates of seminaries and Bible colleges, I can assure you that they rarely and consistently take a stand on Bible infallibility (inerrancy), and they usually deny Bible preservation (its text’s pure transmission through history). They claim to be Bible believers, but I have personally witnessed how they argued against Bible verses. How sad it is that many lead churches and Bible study groups!

Scripture is very clear when it says, “God is not the author of confusion” (1 Corinthians 14:33), so the Bible confusion that exists today is man’s fault, not God’s. Beloved, if we want to use God’s Word and understand it, we are going to have to follow His directions. Today’s Scripture tells us how God wants His Word to be studied, so we will now examine what God has to say about Bible study….