Our scripture reading this evening will be from Paul's epistle, his second epistle to the Corinthians. So 2 Corinthians 2, and verses 12 to 17. 2 Corinthians 2, verses 12 to 17. This, I assure you, is the very word of the living God. Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother. But taking my leave of them, I went from Thence into Macedonia. 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 saver of death unto death, and to the other the saver 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. So far, the reading of God's Holy Word. May he write it upon our hearts. Friends, just last week, Protestants throughout the world took time to remember, even celebrate the Protestant Reformation of the 16th and 17th century. And this is good because we are living in decidedly ahistorical times. And sometimes it seems that people, especially the young people, have become lost in the eternal present. So with this scripture before us, my hope this evening is to remind you of your rich heritage as Protestants, and also to remind you of one particular treasure that you have inherited from your fathers in the faith, our authorized version of the Holy Bible. First point, remembering the Reformation. As we are reminded in this passage, men have been preaching Christ's gospel since the days of the holy apostles. The apostles, empowered by God, traveled from city to city, from nation to nation, and they always found that a door was opened unto them of the Lord so that they could triumph in Christ as they preached. At the same time, this passage reminds us that not all men believe. The gospel, you see, is much like a two-edged sword. As Paul writes in verse 16, to the one, that is to the unbelievers, we are the saver of death unto death, and to the other, that is to the believers, we are the saver of life unto life, and who is sufficient for these things? No one. No one is, and no one needs to be, Our only calling is to make manifest the knowledge of Christ, the knowledge of the gospel. This the apostles did, and by the grace of God, the good news of the gospel eventually spread into all Europe. And then sadly, there came a time when everyone in Europe was called Christian, but very few knew Christ personally. And this is because the light of the gospel had been hidden, buried beneath a bushel of man-made traditions and ceremonies. Everyone was religious, but it was a religion without knowledge, which is what we call superstition. Those who had sincere interest in Christ had to go to a Roman Catholic priest, many of whom were themselves ignorant of the gospel, ignorant of the scriptures. Historians have called this the Dark Ages because that is exactly what they were. millions and millions of people living and dying within those ages without any true hope of eternal life in Christ. Thankfully, there were a few brave men who dared to challenge the authority and the lies of the Roman Antichrist. And as a result, they were mowed down as the grass of the field, but they knew If only we could get the Holy Bible back into the hands of the people, the light of Christ would shine once again. We would triumph in Christ as we preach the gospel. And they did. In the times of the Blessed Reformation, the Bible was translated, printed, and distributed Souls were set free from sin and shame. The church was set free from potpourri and captivity. But that was a long time ago, and here we stand today, right back in the same situation Paul faced so long ago. While we minister the gospel with all sincerity, there are plenty of others in this world which corrupt the word of God. That will be my main focus this evening. But before we get into the details, let us be clear on at least one point. The scriptures, technically speaking, cannot be corrupted. On then to the second point, acknowledging scripture's integrity. In giving his word to the world, The Lord God did not then abandon it to the whims of wicked men. Scripture contains in itself an essential attribute that we call integrity or indestructibility. Proven, Isaiah and Peter, for example, point us to things that are very easily destroyed and then offer a contrast. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever. Jesus, you will remember, did the same, pointing us even to things that might seem more indestructible than the flower of the field. He said, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. The word of God then is indestructible. It has an unbreakable integrity to it. And this the reformed have always confessed. Here's one example from Van Maastricht, wherein through the singular providence of God, scripture exists free from all corruption. And thus not only would the whole or any of its books never cease to exist, but also it could not, especially in those matters that regard living, be marred by any serious flaw. This is the reformed view. This is objectively, observably, unchangeably true. As your Lord said, the scripture cannot be broken. But at the same time, that's not to say that many men have not tried. Many have, and I will show you a few in my next point. Number three, destroying God's word. Here are some examples from history of men who made an earnest attempt at destroying the indestructible. First, an example from the Bible itself. There was a king named Jehoiakim. He did not like what the prophet Jeremiah said about him and wrote about him. So he took out a knife, a pen knife, and cut out portions from the word of God. He even threw the entire scroll into the fireplace. Was God's word then destroyed? Of course not. Impossible. Jeremiah's scribe just made another copy. In the days after the apostles, the church historian Eusebius reports, royal edicts were published everywhere, commanding that the churches be leveled to the ground and the scriptures destroyed by fire. Later in history, Thomas Paine once boasted, I have now gone through the Bible as a man would go through a forest with an ax on his shoulder and felled trees. Here they lie. And the priest, if they can, may replant them. They may perhaps stick them in the ground, but they will never make them grow. Thomas Jefferson did the same. He went through the New Testament and removed all the miracles, the resurrection accounts, most supernatural references, so that only the moral and ethical lessons of the Lord remained. Another example, the Chinese Communist Party used to confiscate Bibles and burn them. But as of late, more recently, they have begun changing the word of God. When it comes to the woman caught in adultery, for example, a current university textbook now has Jesus stoning her to death, rather than saying, neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more. I could give more examples, but these will probably suffice. men corrupting the word of God with pen knife, with fire, through royal edicts, through editing. It happened in times past, it is still happening today. So let us renew our commitment as Christians to be those who can honestly say, according to verse 17, we are not as many. We are not as many which corrupt the word of God. But now know this, corrupting something is not the same as destroying something. So let me make sure you understand that and appreciate it in my next point. Number four, learning a new word. You're going to learn a new word tonight and that's good. Learning new vocabulary is important for all of our studies under the sun. And that does not change just because we are studying the word of God. The word translated here as corrupt is what we call a hapax legomenon. Maybe you're going to learn more than one new word tonight. And that word simply means it's a word that only appears once in the Bible, which makes it, to be honest, a little harder to interpret. We can't just compare scripture with scripture as we usually would. Now, thankfully, the word translated here as corrupt was used commonly enough in the ancient world, and the word is actually one that I would like you to learn tonight from the Greek New Testament, kapeluo, kapeluo. It's a Greek word. It comes from the business world, and it originally referred to an innkeeper. especially one who offered full hospitality to his guests. And here we can acknowledge that the industry of innkeeping has not changed much over the years. All you need is a room to rent and a meal to serve. But like many business owners, not all innkeepers in the ancient world were honest. And that's why this word, papelu'o, eventually took on a decidedly negative meaning. Now innkeepers couldn't cut too many corners. I mean, a room is a room and a meal is a meal. But what they could do and did do and were notorious for doing was this. They would water down the wine before bringing it to the dinner table. And if you wonder why would anyone do that? The answer is simple, to make extra profit. They mixed, they adulterated their product in order to deceive their customers and make more money. This is why modern versions use words like peddlers and hucksters while translating this verse. And I mentioned modern versions, and that's actually become something of a huge debate, this verse alone. How is it properly translated? So let me offer a quick survey of renderings of this word from the Reformation era. Point number five, translating the word, the word you just learned. But first let me say more generally, the goal of translation is to convey the meaning. that was originally intended by the inspired authors of scripture. And sometimes that's easy enough. But here's the problem with this word. Its original meaning is complex. It communicates more than one thing. It communicates, in fact, at least two things. First, it intimates the crooked motive of the innkeeper. He's wanting to take advantage of his customers for profit's sake. But the word also communicates this, the crooked means that he employs to accomplish his crooked end, namely diluting, mixing the wine. And that's why we see a diversity of expression in different translations, even those from the Reformation era, because the translators choose to emphasize different aspects of the word. Examples listed in chronological order. The Vulgate renders it this way, adulterantes verbum dei. And you can hear the word, can't you? Even though you speak not Latin, adulterate. There the Vulgate was focusing on the admixture of the water and wine. The Tyndale Bible is a bit more dramatic. It says, for we are not as many which chop and change with the word of God. The Bishop's Bible uses the same phrase. The Geneva Bible emphasizes more the motive of those who are adulterating and corrupting, saying, for we are not as many, which make merchandise of the word of God. The Reina Valera uses the phrase mercateres falsos, and you can almost hear that also, false merchandise. And then we come back again to another emphasis in the authorized version, which I've already read. We are not as many which corrupt the word of God. And this I suppose is where the so-called onlyists of our day would force us to choose. But I don't feel compelled to choose because all these translations are conveying the same general idea. And it is this, there are men driven by a profit motive who deceive and defraud people by compromising the product they are attempting to sell. And that's the fullest meaning of the word at hand. Now let me tell you why it matters. Point number six, exposing the racket, the modern Bible version racket. Now, looking back to the text first, we don't know exactly how people in Paul's day were corrupting and then profiting from the word of God. Who knows, maybe they sold forged copies of his letters. Maybe they charged admission to church services. And there are churches that do that nowadays. Mega churches that charge to come in during their pretended holiday seasons. We don't know what they were doing in Paul's day, but we do know this. Paul says, that's not us. We don't want your money. And we are not going to adulterate or mix the pure words of God in order to profit from it personally. That is not us. Now in preparing this message, I was tempted, very tempted to give specific examples where I think this is being done today. But there's one thing that gave me pause, namely this, a sinful profit motive is oftentimes a secret matter of the heart. I mean, I, for example, run a small publishing house and I could have brought a case of books to put on some table somewhere. And as long as they were modestly priced, no one would know what my motive was. So I'm not going to name names this evening. Instead, I will offer a more general warning and you can apply it as led by the spirit of discernment. And here's the warning. There are people in this world who do nothing else other than study how to manipulate you as a consumer. Worse, there are people in this world who do nothing else but develop and perfect computer algorithms that track and evaluate your every online movement. Why? To make you a better consumer. And by the phrase better consumer, I simply mean this, manipulating you into buying things that you do not need. And this is nothing new. You can see the color of my hair. It was happening back when I was your age. There were plenty of commercials that I watched on the television. There were plenty of billboards that spotted the side of the road. There were catalogs that came in the mail. But thinking back, I don't think I ever saw a new Bible advertised in any of those forms. And today, that sounds dated. Today, all of that is moved to your cell phone. All of it. And if the algorithms discover that you have some interest in God or Christ or His kingdom, you will begin receiving ads for the latest and greatest, the new and improved, the note, you really must have it, new version of the Bible. And further, just like any other racket, again, these ads will include endorsements from whatever evangelical celebrities you're supposed to be worshiping and obeying. Worse, the ads will often appeal to Christian guilt. Here's an example way back from 1952. If you have too seldom opened your Bible, because the way it is written makes it too hard for you to understand, the Revised Standard Version can bring you an exciting new experience. Here is a Bible so enjoyable, you'll find you pick it up twice as often. That wasn't true then, and it's not true now. Yet the new additions continue to be made, continue to be pushed. And I looked it up on Amazon so that you don't have to. We have a NASCAR edition for those who like race cars. We have sports collection Bible, Bible for teen girls, Bible for teen guys, the outdoorsman Bible, lost camo edition. Gimmicks. All of it, they're manipulating you to buy a Bible that you do not need. And here's what you need to remember. You don't need a new Bible. Read the one that you have. Treasure the one that you have inherited from your fathers in the faith That will be my final point and my final appeal. Point number seven, treasuring your inheritance. Treasuring your inheritance as Protestants. As Protestants, you have received a rich inheritance and all the modern hucksters know it. That's why they always, mention our authorized version in the advertisements for their new versions, their new and improved Bibles. Here are some examples from actual advertisements. The RSV announcing a new authorized version, more accurate and easier to read that preserves the timeless beauty of the beloved King James Translation. The NIV is even more melodramatic. When world historians look back at these final days of the 20th century, one event of great spiritual significance is sure to stand out in October. 1978, the new international version of the Bible, which many consider the most important scripture translation since the King James Version, will be completed and ready for the English-speaking world. The ESV. The ESV Bible carries forward the trusted legacy of the Bible in English The Legacy, established first in the Tyndale New Testament, 1526, and the King James Version, 1611. Finally, the LSB. This is an AI overview, which was offered to me by Google. The Legacy Standard Bible is a translation of the Bible that is based on the King James Version, and other translations, and is intended to be accurate and faithful to the original languages. Friends, there is a reason that our authorized version is always mentioned in the advertisements. And the reason is this, it is the Reformed Bible. It is a product of Protestant Reformation theology, and piety and scholarship. And as such, it was accepted as the Protestant standard for nearly four centuries and on four continents. Now those days, it seems are drawing to a close. Today, there are literally thousands and thousands of warehouses filled with new versions which need to be sold. which is also to say there are also thousands and thousands of peddlers and hucksters who are trying to make that happen every day through every means possible. So just to remember this, if you don't read the Bible that you have now, you will not read the new one that someone convinces you to buy. Sorry to be so blunt, but it is the truth of the matter. If you do not read the Bible you have now, you will not read the new and improved version that someone manipulates you to buy. We, to speak more positively, have received an inheritance from our fathers in the faith and an inheritance by very definition is something that existed before you and something that was prepared for you. Our fathers in the faith shed their blood that we might have the uncorrupted word of the living God and their blood remains the seed of our church. So don't let some merchant fool you into thinking that new must necessarily mean improved. Amen.