How God Has Given Us the Bible

and have Brother Sorensen come and share with us tonight some more truths that we can grab

a hold of here about the scripture.

And so Brother Sorensen.

And amen.

Good to be here again tonight at the Plains Baptist Church and our state in Lincoln, Nebraska

thus far.

And we're from Duluth, Minnesota.

Now the Chamber of Commerce doesn't advertise this, but in Duluth we are the coldest city

in the lower 48.

And therefore in Duluth many are cold, but few are frozen.

A couple of comments on the books now.

The table is getting picked over, but if there is something there you would like and it's

already off the table, see my wife and she'll give you a little yellow slip and fill it out

and we'll get that sent to you directly.

Probably first thing next week, maybe before.

And so don't let that deter you.

I forgot to mention yesterday, I think probably you've mostly already figured it out, but

we do accept credit cards also.

Now a book here on, still on the table, it's called The Faithful Word.

We're going to get into this in considerable detail on Wednesday night.

But it's the history of the received text, the traditional text, and particularly those that

were instrumental, the forerunners, such as William Tyndale.

There's a picture of him being burned at the stake.

William Tyndale was the first to put the New Testament, in fact, most of the Bible into

the English language in print.

And he was martyred for his effort.

But stories of him and stories of King James and who he was and his involvement.

So I would encourage you to check that out.

I think you'd find it very interesting.

One other book back there that's already gone off the table that I want to tell you about

it and you may want to order it.

It's called Touch Not the Unclean Thing.

And it was a book that actually was based on my doctoral dissertation years ago.

And after the book came out, we were allowed to print it.

Usually the institution, in this case Pensacola Theological Seminary, owns the dissertation,

but they allowed me to put it into print.

And after it had come out for just a short time, I got a phone call one day.

And on the other end, a party who asked to remain anonymous said, we've read your book,

Touch Not the Unclean Thing, and we'd like to send it all over America.

Wow.

And they said the only requirement, the thing we'd ask is that your fingerprints be on it

and not ours.

And so our phone number and our address and North Star Ministries, which is the publishing

department of North Star Baptist Church, our church there back home,

is on the cover.

So the day came, they said, we have the wherewithal to print it, and we have mailing lists, we know

postal regulations.

And the day came in October of 2001, when a 53-foot semi, ladies, that's as big as they

come, a 53-foot semi backed up to the freight dock at the Duluth, Minnesota Post Office.

And that truck was loaded from front to back with those books, Touch Not the Unclean Thing.

They are all addressed and packaged according to zip code and postal regulations.

And in the mail, they went.

Well, about a week later, my phone starts to ring.

And I went to independent Baptist churches all across America.

Folks, not all fundamental churches hold the same conviction that you and I do.

My phone started to ring and there were unhappy campers across the Fruited Plain.

And we were getting angry phone calls.

I mean, they were unhappy.

They were pointing out the problems in the NIV and the New American Standard and all the

apostasy connected to the critical text.

And one preacher out in California even challenged me to a fight.

Believe that or not.

All in Christian love, of course.

But, so we let our phone calls, incoming phone calls for about a month just go to voicemail.

It's kind of hard to get anything done when every time the phone rings or somebody there

yelling at you.

And, well, about a year passed.

And the next summer, I went to the Sword of the Lord conference down in Walkertown, North Carolina.

And we had a book table there.

And came home, this was before I had a cell phone.

And I got home, my wife said, there's a guy who's been trying to get a hold of you and

he wants to talk to you now.

I thought, oh boy, here we go again.

So I dialed the number.

And on the other end was, it was obviously an elderly man.

It turned out he was in his 90s.

And a high, scratchy, tender voice.

But he said, you don't know me, but I've read your book, Touch Not the Unclean Thing.

He kind of talked like that.

He said, I've read your book, Touch Not the Unclean Thing, and I want to help you advertise it.

Oh, interesting.

He said, let me tell you about myself.

I am a man of means.

I am the founder of Napa Auto Parts.

And his name was Robert Turner.

He got saved mid-life.

And along the way, it became a strong conviction of the King James Bible.

And he said, now, when I do business with somebody, I always like to do it face-to-face.

So I'm going to fly you down here to Palm Beach, Florida.

And I flew down to Florida.

And he was living with his wife in a senior high-rise building, very swank.

High-rise building.

Not far from Mar-a-Lago, you know, that cheap little real estate.

And so I went to the place and walked in the lobby.

And immediately I'm accosted by this butler type who says, please state your business.

And I said, well, I'm here to see Mr. Turner.

Does he know you're coming?

I said, yes, I have an appointment.

Oh, step right this way.

And I went up to the penthouse where he lived.

And long story short, he said, I want to pay for as many full-page, full-color advertisements

as you can get in as many Christian periodicals.

And so I went home and went to a professional advertising agency.

And they drew up these nice, professional-looking ads.

And he had said, now, you're the brains and I'm the money.

You drop those ads and I'll pay for them.

And so he found out the ads were done.

He said, I want to see them.

So this was before you could do it by email, or at least that I could do it by email.

And sent them down to him.

And he calls me back and says, oh, no, no, no.

We need to change this, this, and this.

And folks, when it was done, it looked like a Napa Auto Parts ad.

But that book has some notoriety.

Well, take your Bible tonight and turn to Psalm 119.

We're going to read one verse, Psalm 119, verse 160.

Psalms 119:160

By the way, those books are not on the table, but you can order that.

Psalm 119, verse 160.

Psalms 119:160

There we read, thy word is true from the beginning, and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever.

Father, this evening, as we would look at the greater issue of your word, and how you've given it to us, and preserved it, and transmitted it to us to this day.

Help us now to understand these issues and these matters, and I ask it in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, the year 16, I should say, 2011, just not too many years ago, the year 2011 was the 400th anniversary of the publishing of the King James Bible.

As you no doubt know, it was released in 1611.

But in the year 1604, King James I of England authorized a new translation of the Bible into the English language.

We are going to get into that in some considerable detail on Wednesday night, and much will come from this book.

But that Bible, which also was called the Authorized Version, more commonly called the King James Version, was released on May 2nd of 1611.

And over the 400 and some ensuing years, over 6 billion copies of the King James Bible have been published and distributed around the world.

Folks, that is more than any other Bible translation.

That is more than all the rest put together.

Now try and get your mind around that.

It is the most widely published edition version of the Word of God in human history.

Over 6 billion copies.

It's had a greater impact on the Christian faith than any other one thing.

In fact, it is the Word of God in English.

And so tonight, I'd like just to share with you an overview of how God has given us the Bible,

and we're going to get into the problems of the modern versions here before long.

But five key words tonight.

Number one is the key word inspiration.

In 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 16, we read,

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

All scripture is given by, what's the word?

Inspiration.

Inspiration of God.

Now, that word inspiration, or inspiration of God, is actually two Greek words.

By the way, I know a little Greek.

You run the sandwich shop in Duluth.

But two words there, theonoustos.

It means God breathed.

We have a God breathed book.

But what does that mean?

Well, I would submit to you this.

When what I'm doing to you right now, or with you right now, is breathing out words.

God has so created us that when we speak, we literally breathe out words.

And all through the Bible, we find where we read in the Old Testament,

Thus saith the Lord, or saith the Lord.

Almost 800 times, saith the Lord, or thus saith the Lord.

This is a God-spoken book.

In Jeremiah chapter 30 and verse 2, we read,

Jeremiah 30 · chapter mention

Thus saith, speaketh, or thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying,

Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.

Book.

That pretty well defines inspiration.

God spoke to Jeremiah and said,

Write the words that I have spoken to thee in a book.

Now, that is direct dictation, and God, in some cases, directly dictated his word.

He certainly did there on Mount Sinai to Moses.

But in other cases, for example, in 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 21, we read,

2 Peter 1 · chapter mention

For the prophets who came not in old time by the will of man,

but holy men of God, spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

And God so superintended the minds of, whether it was David or Isaiah,

or Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, or Paul,

so superintended their minds that what came forth out of the tip of their pens

were, in fact, the very words of God.

Think of a sailboat on the sea where the wind carries that sailboat along.

The Holy Spirit so superintended the minds of those scriptural writers

that what they wrote were the words of God.

And so we have a God-spoken book.

And by the way, that is an important distinction to understand that definition

because some folks get all twisted and confused in the matter of inspiration

when it comes to translations.

But God worked through Moses and Ezra and David and Samuel and Isaiah and Jeremiah

and the various New Testament writers.

He spoke through them.

And they wrote.

God did not speak directly through the 47 different King James translators,

most of whom you've never heard of.

But because it's a God-spoken book,

therefore the Bible is inerrant and it is infallible.

And as we just touched briefly yesterday,

God's word is truth.

And so, number one tonight,

the word of God is inspired.

It's a God-spoken book.

Number two tonight is the key word preservation.

God has preserved his word in general.

And here is where we get right down to the nub of the issue.

God has preserved his very words.

I believe in verbal inspiration,

and I also believe in verbal preservation.

You say, where did you get that, Sorensen?

Well, in Matthew chapter 24 and verse 35,

Matthew 24 · chapter mention

Jesus said, Heaven and earth shall pass away,

but my words, notice plural,

my words shall not pass away.

Now, the problem with the critical text people,

the Westcott and Hort here,

and Vanessa Lalonde,

the United Bible Society,

we'll get into that tomorrow night,

that have produced all these modern language translations,

they do not believe that God has preserved his words.

Their philosophy is that the original New Testament documents

have been lost to history,

and that's a true statement.

And therefore, they have set out from Tischendorf down to this day

to try and rediscover what the New Testament really said.

And so they are continually scrounging around

and finding a fragment of a manuscript here

and a page of a manuscript there

and a paragraph from a manuscript there

and integrating that into their critical text,

and it's continuing to evolve.

We're going to get into that tomorrow night.

The Vanessa Lalonde Greek New Testament,

which is one flavor of the critical text,

is in its 28th edition.

That means it's changed 28 times

in about the last 100 years.

I'm going to loosen up the old medicine here tonight.

But Jesus said,

My words, plural, shall not pass away.

That is preservation.

But not only that,

in Matthew chapter 5 and verse 18,

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Jesus said,

For verily I say unto you,

Till heaven and earth pass,

Not one jot or tittle

shall pass from the law

till all be fulfilled.

Now you say,

What in the world is a jot

and what in the world is a tittle?

I'm glad you asked.

A jot,

well,

it's a letter,

or they call them characters in Hebrew.

We call them letters in English.

But a jot is the smallest character

in the Hebrew alphabet.

Now,

you recall when you were in first grade long ago,

the teacher taught you to write the letters

on the line

and you wrote from left to right.

That's just standard writing in our culture.

In Hebrew,

the letters or the characters

are hung from the line

and the text goes from right to left.

But anyway,

the smallest character

or the smallest letter

in the Hebrew alphabet

is the jot,

sometimes called a yod,

depending on how you pronounce it

with European,

Hebrew,

or modern English.

But whatever.

It's a little right-angled mark.

Smallest letter

in the Hebrew alphabet.

And Jesus said,

Not one jot will pass

till all be fulfilled.

Now,

a jot is a part of a word.

It's a letter.

And letters,

by the way,

are the building block of Scripture.

Or words,

I should say.

But you say,

What in the world is a tittle?

Well,

a tittle is a part of a letter.

Think with me tonight,

oh,

for example,

in English,

of a capital L,

an uppercase L.

There's a foot on the bottom of it.

Or think of a,

perhaps a lowercase t.

There's a cross in the middle of it.

A crossbar.

And that would be analogous

to what a tittle is in Hebrew.

It's a little mark

or parts of a letter.

And Jesus said,

Not one jot

or one tittle

shall pass

till all be fulfilled.

Now,

think about that.

Not only are the words preserved

and the letters are preserved,

but even the parts of the letters

are preserved.

Folks,

that's verbal preservation.

And I believe

that God has preserved

His Word

through the traditional

received text.

We're going to get into this

in considerable detail

on Wednesday night.

God has preserved

His words.

And there are some

very substantial reasons

why that is true.

We'll get into that

Wednesday night.

And so,

preservation.

Down through the centuries,

God has preserved

His Word

in the New Testament,

in the received

or traditional received text,

and in the Old Testament,

in the Ben-Kaim

Masoretic text.

I'm not going to get into

the several

Old Testament texts.

We're going to focus

mainly in the New Testament

here,

in these messages.

But there are over

6,000

manuscripts

that are existing

of the Greek New Testament.

That's more than

any other piece of literature

in the world.

6,000

Greek

manuscripts.

And of those

6,000,

about 99%

support

or

are of the

traditional text.

And by the way,

in talking about

terminology or

nomenclature here tonight,

some like to use

the word received text,

and the Latin for that

is textus receptus,

which gets abbreviated

to TR.

I prefer

myself

the word

traditional text

because the

term received text

was not coined

until the year

1633

by two Dutch

printers

in Holland,

the Elzevier brothers.

But the New Testament

text was

long before

1633,

we call it

the traditional text.

And as we'll see

on Wednesday night,

we can trace that

back to the years

right after

the Apostle John.

It's been the

New Testament.

Well,

in the year

1516,

a Dutch

scholar,

and he was

truly a scholar,

a man by the name

of Erasmus,

did something

that had never

been done before

in human history,

and particularly

in biblical history.

And that is

in the year

1516,

Erasmus

took the

New Testament,

the traditional

text,

and he

printed it,

put it into

printed form,

and it began

to be mass

produced.

Prior to that

time,

copies of the

New Testament

were all

hand-copied,

manual script,

or manuscript.

But now

they're being,

and letterpress

printing was not

like the modern,

folks,

I've been to

the print shops

where they print

some of my books,

and in goes the

paper in one end,

and out comes the

book at the other

end,

and it's just like

a chunk,

a chunk,

a chunk,

a chunk.

That's not the

way the printing

was on that day.

Letterpress printing

was slow,

but still it was

far,

far faster than

hand-copying

a manuscript.

And so,

Erasmus

put the New

Testament into

print.

Now,

I'm going to be

dropping a lot

of names in

these next several

nights,

and I don't

expect you to

remember all of

them,

but Erasmus

is a name

that you should

remember,

and we'll get

into him on

Wednesday night.

He put the

New Testament

into print

in Greek,

and he did

five editions,

that is five

reprintings of

it.

The word

edition then

means a

little something

different than

the word

edition means

today,

and we'll get

into that on

Wednesday night.

He died,

and another

man by the

name of Robert

Stevens,

or Robert

Stephanas,

a Frenchman,

continued to

print the

text of the

New Testament.

He died,

and another

French printer,

and by the

way,

these guys

both got

saved from

studying the

New Testament.

They both

fled the

Catholic Church

and moved

to Geneva,

Switzerland,

but Robert

Beza continued

the work that

Erasmus had

begun,

and the

King James

translators

worked primarily

from Beza's

fifth edition.

God has

preserved his

word down

through the

centuries.

And so

key word

number one

tonight is

inspiration.

Key word

number two

tonight is

preservation.

Key word

number three

tonight is

translation.

God has

seen to it

that his

word has

been translated

into the

common languages,

the everyday

languages.

The technical

term is

vernacular.

Our vernacular

is English.

You most

likely do not

know Greek

or Hebrew,

and God

doesn't expect

you to know

Greek or Hebrew,

Hebrew.

But he

has seen

to it that

his word

has been

translated,

in our

case,

into English,

which is the

dominant language

in the world

today, by the

way.

It is the

lingua franca

of the world

today, the

trade language

of the world.

Everywhere we

go in the

world, you

usually see

subtext in

English in

other countries.

It's a major

language.

But anyway,

in the year

1526, an

Englishman who,

by the way,

had been a

Catholic priest,

but he began

reading Erasmus

printed New

Testament, and

as a result,

he got saved,

and got a

burden to put

the New

Testament, in

fact, the

entire Bible,

but particularly

the New

Testament, into

his native

tongue, English,

and he did

so.

He translated,

he was a

brilliant scholar,

translated the

New Testament,

and got started

on the Old

Testament before

he was martyred,

but he put the

New Testament

into print,

and for his

effort and for

his trouble,

he was burned

at the stake

by the Catholic

Church.

But his work

is based upon

the traditional

received text.

And 85% of

your King James

Bible tonight,

ladies and

gentlemen, is

the work of

William Tyndale.

That is the

translational

work, the

words and the

sentence structure,

85%.

Another very

key person to

remember in the

history of the

Bible.

Well, after

Tyndale was put

to death, there

was a succession

of six other

English Bibles in

relatively quick

succession.

After he died,

his associate, a

man by the name

of Miles

Coverdale, finished

Tyndale's work.

Tyndale only

translated the

Pentateuch, of

course the New

Testament, but the

Pentateuch, 2nd

Chronicles.

He did translate

Jonah, though it

was never published.

And Miles

Coverdale completed

the work that

Tyndale started,

though Coverdale

did not know

Hebrew well

enough to

translate the

Old Testament,

so he translated

from Latin and

German, which he

did know.

That's not the

best way, but

that's what he

did.

And then, in

the meantime,

King James, I'm

sorry, King

Henry, had left

the Catholic

Church, and

though it was

under King

Henry, Henry

VIII, that

William Tyndale

was burned at

the stake, now

he's a

Protestant, quote

unquote.

I don't think

Henry was a

born-again man,

but at least he

now had an

openness to the

New Testament, and

he allowed the

printing of the

Matthew Bible.

We'll get into

that on Wednesday

night.

And then there

was the Great

Bible he

commissioned,

Coverdale to,

it's called the

Great Bible, it's

a great big one,

like a pulpit

Bible or a

family Bible.

The Great

Bible.

And then came

the Geneva

Bible in 1560.

Many Englishmen

have been forced

to flee England

from the wrath

of Queen

Mary, known

as Bloody

Mary.

She put to

death, burned

at the stake

about 300

Puritan

Christians, born

again Christians

in England, and

about 800

Englishmen fled, and

their families fled

to Geneva,

Switzerland, to

escape the

persecution of

Mary.

She was trying to

take England

back and to be a

Catholic nation.

And while in

Geneva they

translated the New

Testament and the

Old Testament, it's

called the Geneva

Bible.

It's still in print

to this day.

We'll talk more

about that Wednesday

night.

That was followed

in 1568, just

eight years later,

by the Bishop's

Bible.

The bishops of the

Church of England

did not like the

Geneva Bible because

it was critical of

the church hierarchy,

and it was also

critical of the

throne.

And so they

commissioned their

own Bible, the

Bishop's Bible.

Nobody liked it.

Nobody read it.

And to make a long

story short, in the

year 1604, James

I of England

authorized a new

translation.

And again, we'll

get into that detail

on Wednesday night.

But the King James

is the seventh of

those seven Bibles.

We touched on

yesterday that the

words of the Lord

are pure words,

purified in a

furnace of earth

seven times.

So the King James

is the seventh.

From Tyndale to

Coverdale to the

Matthew Bible to

the Great Bible to

the Geneva Bible to

the Bishop's Bible,

number seven is the

King James Bible.

Interesting coincidence,

or is it a

coincidence?

Subsequently, the

King James has

become the most

widely produced

Bible in history.

Over six billion

copies.

Now, the

Reina Valera is

the Spanish Bible.

It actually was

translated in 1569 by

Cassiodoro de

Lorena.

And he later was

joined by

Signor Valera, I

can't remember his

first name.

But that work

began in 1569.

And though it is

older in time than

the King James Bible,

it by no means has

had the circulation

and the distribution

that the King James

Bible has had down

through the years.

The Latin Vulgate

Bible was

translated by

Jerome, the

Catholics call him

Saint Jerome.

In the year 382,

it was the Bible in

Latin.

And it remained the

official Catholic

Bible well up into

the Middle Ages.

And though later

they allowed some

translations such as

the Douai version

and several others.

In recent years,

the NIV has been

popular.

The NIV, at the

last I looked, had

published about 110

million copies.

Folks, you do the

arithmetic, 110

million is just a

tiny fraction of

6 billion.

And it is fading, it

is waning.

Most modern language

translations have a

shelf life of about

30 years.

And then along comes a

new and better and

improved version.

And the publishers

know that and they

make money off it and

gullible people rush

out and buy the latest

and greatest new

Bible.

But they are all

based on the critical

text.

We're going to get

into that in much

detail tomorrow night.

But nevertheless, the

Bible has been

translated.

So, number one

tonight, key word is

inspiration.

Key word number two

tonight is preservation.

Key word number three

tonight is translation.

Key word number four

tonight is domination.

Domination.

And by the way, getting

back to translation, I

passed over early

translations such as the

Peshitta translation.

Translated in the year

150 A.D.

That's about 60 years

after the death of the

apostle John.

More like 50 years.

The Peshitta translation

is a Syrian translation.

What's significant about

that?

It follows the

traditional text.

It does not follow the

critical text.

Now, folks, it doesn't

take a rocket scientist

to figure out that a

Bible translated in the

year 150, if it follows

the traditional text, it's

based on the

traditional text.

And the so-called

debate today of which

is the right text, the

traditional text, or the

critical text, that pretty

well settles it right

there.

Year 157, churches in

northern Italy, they were

called the Italic

churches, had nothing to

do with Rome.

The Catholic church wasn't

invented until about 350

A.D.

Don't let them tell you it

started with the

apostle Peter.

That is not true.

But there were early

translations.

We'll go into that more

on Wednesday night.

Well, number four

tonight, key word number

four tonight, domination.

Not only is the King

James Bible the most

widely translated Bible

in history, it has

dominated the culture of

the English-speaking

world.

According to the Thomas

Nelson Publishing

House, the King James

Bible is the most

frequently quoted

document in existence

in all of history.

That's quite a statement,

but I believe it's true.

British historian Robert

McCrum said, the King

James Bible is probably

the single most

influential book ever

published in the

English language.

Ronald Reagan said, the

King James Bible has been

the best-selling book in

the entire history of

printing, and that's

true.

H.L.

Mencken, who I don't

think was even a born-again

man.

He was a journalist with a

Baltimore Sun newspaper,

paper, but he was well

known as a literary expert.

H.L.

Mencken said of the King

James Bible, it is the

most beautiful of all the

translations of the

Bible.

Indeed, it is probably the

most beautiful piece of

writing in all the

literature of the world.

That's from an unsaved

man.

But he saw the beauty of

the King James Bible.

I was having a little

discussion online with a

friend here not too long

ago who was not quite

convinced on the issue,

but he said, Brother

Dave, I will conceive

this.

When I need to sit down

and just get alone with

the Lord, I would much

rather go to the King

James than the NIV.

There's just something

beautiful that flows in

the translation.

Pardon me.

If you weren't here

yesterday, you didn't hear

the story, but doctors

have tried to help my

throat.

This works.

Not permanently, but for

about ten minutes.

The King James Bible has

shaped the English

language.

Historian Paul Cross

wrote, whether we live

in England or in

America, Australia or

Africa, Canada or the

Caribbean, the English

language was largely

shaped by one book, the

King James Version of

the Bible.

It has influenced

Western culture.

Professor Russell Kirk

said that a few years

after the first

Virginian settlement,

he's talking about

Jamestown in Virginia,

I've been there and

seen the place, but a

few years after the

first Virginian settlement,

the King James

translation of the

Bible was read from

American pulpits, and

in the great majority of

American households during

colonial times, the

authorized version shaped

the style, informed the

intellect, affected the

laws, and decreed the

morals of the North

American colonies.

This nation, folks, was

built on the word of God.

And that translation was

the King James Bible.

Let me say this tonight.

Do you know what's wrong in

America tonight?

I mean, we see the riots

and we see all the

shootings and the moral

confusion of girls being

called boys and boys being

called men in homosexual

marriage, and I could go on

and on about that.

Do you know what's wrong in

America tonight?

As a nation, we have

departed from the word of

God.

Like I said yesterday, I am

old enough to remember when

there was Bible reading in the

public schools.

And the Supreme Court kicked

it out in 1963.

And things have gone downhill

ever since.

Professing themselves be wise,

they became fools.

But this nation was founded by

people, they may not have been

fundamental Baptists, but they

had a reverence to the word of

God.

And they read it.

And it shaped the culture and

the character of this nation.

Historian Marion Sims wrote,

No nation in all history was

ever founded by people so

dominated by the Bible as

America.

And that Bible primarily was

the King James Bible.

Not only that, the King James

Bible has influenced literature.

Historian Alistair McGrath wrote,

The two greatest influences on

the shaping of the English

language are the works of

William Shakespeare and the

English translation of the Bible

that appeared in 1611.

And you know what that is.

Now, many of these modern

versions

purport to be easier to read.

And what they really mean is

it's watered down.

It's dumbed down.

And

imagine

if

they did to Shakespeare

what they've done to the Bible.

recall in Shakespeare's

Romeo and Juliet

where Romeo cried out,

What light through yonder window

breaks?

It would be

who turned the light on.

Historian McAllister

McGrath

said that

the King James Bible

was the very greatest

literary achievement

in the English language.

That's interesting.

The King James Bible

has influence

spiritually.

England's common

Christian culture

was largely shaped

by the King James Bible.

And by the way,

today England's

even worse shape

than America.

Because

they have departed

from the Bible

that they publish.

The King James Bible

in England

is

in America

we'd call it copyrighted.

In England

it's called patent.

And in England

the king

or the crown

holds the patent

on the King James Bible.

In America

it's not copyrighted.

But

my point is this

that nation

which holds the copyright

which holds the patent

on the word of God

they departed from it.

And England

today

is in sad shape.

But

it's common culture

centuries ago

was shaped

by the word of God.

One common denominator

in the great awakening

both in England

and in America

was using

the same Bible

the King James Bible.

The aftermath

of the first

great awakening

was the

modern

missions

movement

where churches

sent missionaries

all across the globe.

And the vast

majority

of

missionary

translations

on the field

they work

from the King James Bible.

I think technically

the best way

is to go to the Greek

and Hebrew

but most missionaries

aren't proficient

to do that.

And so

they translated

from the Bible

they knew

and that was

the King James Bible.

And my point is

its influence

on a secondary level

is all over the world.

It was said

not that long ago

that the sun

never sets

on the British Empire

and that was true

in the era

prior to World War II

and further backward

in history.

I mean

the British

had colonies

in South America

they had colonies

in Africa

in South Africa

in

oh goodness

I can't think of

but anyway

there's several colonies

in Africa

there was India

and what was now

called Pakistan

were British colonies

Singapore

Hong Kong

were British colonies

North America

of course

the United States

and Canada

British colonies

colonies

and there was a time

when the sun

never set

on the British language

but folks

when the Brits

went around the world

they took their Bible

with them

and it was the

King James Bible

I'm not sure

that was a coincidence

I think God

may have so ordained it

that the influence

of his word of God

spread through an empire

that at that time

gave credence

to the word of God

but the Bible

has been

the King James Bible

has been the Bible

of modern translations

now the question

must be asked

is the

supremacy

of the Bible

that is the supremacy

of the King James Bible

is it a fluke

of history

and a coincidence

or has God

had something

to do with it

well I would submit

to you

I think God

has had something

to do with it

he knew in advance

what the most

widely published

translation of his word

would be

and to the contrary

rather I think

he so ordained that

now the King James

translators

themselves

were not

inspired

but I think

God providentially

helped them

and guided them

and worked through them

and his word

has gone all over

the world

I mean

who wins

the Super Bowl

may be a fluke

of history

I don't think

God cares

who wins

the Super Bowl

to be honest

with you

World Series

are coming up

I don't think

I have no idea

who's going to be

in the World Series

this year

I guarantee

it won't be

the Minnesota Twins

but I don't think

God cares

who wins

the Super Bowl

or the Stanley Cup

or a major

sporting event

but I do believe

he cares about

his word

and the

critical text

crowd

that says

that God's

words have been

lost to history

has the philosopher

the idea

that though God

may have inspired

his word

and many of them

don't even believe

that

but we'll give them

we'll grant them

that though God

may have inspired

his word

he just cast it

upon the oceans

of time

to fend for itself

I don't believe

that

he has

providentially

preserved

his word

down through

the centuries

I mean

who wins

a junior high school

basketball game

in Dubuque

Iowa

I don't think

is much concern

to God

but I believe

the publication

and distribution

of the most

widely printed

copy of

scripture in history

I think that is

important to God

and he's blessed

and used

his word

and so

number one

tonight is

inspiration

number two

is preservation

number three

is translation

number four

is domination

number five

tonight is

alteration

by the way

people sometimes

say to me

well brother

Sorensen

don't you know

that there are

mistakes in the

King James Bible

to which I say

show me one

well

well don't you know

there in Acts

Acts 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12

where it says

it's translated

Easter

should be

translated

Passover

folks

if you study

that it's

very clear

that they

did it right

Easter had

already

Passover

had already

passed

it was the

days of

unleavened bread

that comes

after Passover

and Easter

was a Roman

holiday

that was coming

shortly thereafter

but people

pick at things

like that

and they don't

know what

they're talking

about

and when

someone says

to me

don't you know

there's mistakes

I say

just say

show me one

show me one

and they can't

do it

well let's talk

about alteration

tonight

and this is where

we're going to go

particularly tomorrow

night

some will say

well the King James

Bible is in

older English

and the newer

translations are

simply more

modern English

that sounds

plausible doesn't

it

but as we said

yesterday

thinking if you're

in NIV

and there's a bunch

of others there

on the stack

and as I said

yesterday we could

have scores of

different translations

here

what the salesman

at the religious

bookstore doesn't

tell people

and he probably

doesn't even know

it himself

is that whether

it's the NIV

or the ESV

or the new

American standard

or all the

multiplicity of

modern translations

they're based

on a different

text

than the old

King James Bible

it's the critical

text

we're going to go

into it in much

detail tomorrow

night

and it is

different

than the

traditional text

as we're going

to see here

in just a moment

there have been

numerous alterations

and deletions

and changes

in the modern

Bibles because

that's where the

critical text is at

for example

let's just look

at a few things

here tonight

take your Bible

and turn with me

to Luke chapter 2

Luke 2 · chapter mention

and verse 33

Luke chapter 2

Luke 2 · chapter mention

and verse 33

notice here

I guess I ought to

find it in my

own Bible first

alright here we go

Luke chapter 2

Luke 2 · chapter mention

and verse 33

and Joseph

and his mother

marveled at those

things which were

spoken of him

now it's in the

greater context

of the Christmas

story here

Joseph and his

mother marveled

at the things

which were spoken

of him

that is of Jesus

now I won't take

the time to open

up the NIV

but it'll read

something like

this

and his father

and his mother

wondered at the

things written

about him

now I ask you

tonight was

Joseph the father

of Jesus

he was not

and what we have

here is a

diminishing

of the virgin

birth

of Jesus Christ

and you say

what's the big

deal about the

virgin birth

folks if Jesus

had not been

virgin born

born he could

not have died

for anyone's

sin if he

had not been

virgin born he

would have had a

sinful human nature

just like you and

I have and he

couldn't pay for

anybody's sin but

in the critical text

and we're going to

just touch a little

of it on here

tonight there is a

systemic and

systematic

diminishing of the

person of our

Lord Jesus Christ

here we see a

diminishing of his

virgin birth

come with me to

Ephesians chapter

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

3 and verse 9

and by the way

I'm picking on

the NIV

but

the reason that

the NIV has

these alterations

is that it's

there in the

critical text

they're just

translating what

is in the text

Ephesians chapter

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

3 and verse 9

a long verse

but I'll read it

and to make all

men see what is

the fellowship of

the mystery which

from the beginning

of the world

hath been hid in

God who created

all things by

Jesus Christ

now what the

NIV will say

and then the

ASV and the

new ASV and

the ESV and

all these modern

Bibles here's what

they'll read

something like this

I'll just pick up

the last part of

the verse because

it's the salient

part

which from the

beginning of the

world hath been

hid in God who

created all things

period

what's been left

out by Jesus

Christ

now you say

what's the big

deal about that

folks this is a

diminishing of the

creative work of

our Lord

the Bible teaches

that God

delegated if I

could use that

word the actual

creative work of

the Son in John

1 in the beginning

was the Word and

the Word was with

God and the Word

was God and it

goes on to say all

things were made by

him and without

him was not anything

made that was made

talking about Jesus

the Word but there

are several places

in the critical text

where our Lord's

creative work has

been deleted and

there's a reason for

that I'll get to it

here in just a second

let's go to

Revelation chapter 1

Revelation 1 · chapter mention

and verse 11

another long verse

all right

Revelation chapter 1

Revelation 1 · chapter mention

and verse 11

saying I am Alpha

and Omega

this is Jesus

speaking I am Alpha

and Omega the first

and the last

and what thou

seest write in a

book and send it

unto the seven

churches I won't

read all of them

but notice I am Alpha

and Omega the first

and the last and

what thou seest

write in a book

in the modern

language Bibles

because they're based

on the critical text

it reads something

like this I am

well let me start

over again it

reads what thou

seest write in a

book you notice

what's been left

out I am Alpha

and Omega the

beginning and the

last or the first

and the last and

we're touching here

on the eternality

of Jesus Christ

again his

his divine

character is

diminished in

the modern

critical text

come with me to

Revelation chapter

Revelation 11 · chapter mention

11 and

verse 17

Revelation 11

Revelation 11:17

verse 17

saying we give

thanks O Lord

God Almighty

which art and

wast and are to

come because

thou hast taken

unto thy great

power and has

reigned

modern language

Bible says

read something

like this

we give thee

thanks

because thou

hast taken

to thee

thy great

power and

they leave

out that

whole section

there who

art and

wast and are

to come

again the

eternality of

our Lord

is diminished

maybe not

eliminated in the

greater sense of

scripture but it

certainly has been

diminished and

the reason is

this and we'll

get into this

tomorrow night in

greater detail

the reason is

that the

Alexandrian family

of manuscripts

which were the

precursors to

Sinaiticus and

Vaticanus we went

into great detail

on that yesterday

morning they were

rooted in the

Alexandrian text

family and

Alexandria in the

third second third

and fourth

centuries in fact

even going back to

the first century

Alexandria Egypt

was the hotbed

of the seat of

Gnosticism in the

Roman Empire

now that sounds

like an esoteric

ancient philosophy

and in some cases

that's true

but folks its

tentacles reach

right to this day

you remember

oh about 10

years ago

15 years ago

the popularity

of the book

The Da Vinci

Code

it was a book

and it was a

movie and

because there

was so much

noise about it

when I was on

the line to the

west coast

one day on

an airplane

I read it

and it's based

on the gospel

of Thomas

which is a

Gnostic

gospel

a false gospel

but here is

what the Gnostics

believed

and there are

quite a number

of things

but as it

pertained to

our Lord

they believed

that anything