Chapter 3, 2 Timothy 3, 16, and then 2 Peter, chapter 1. We started a series some weeks ago entitled, What About? The What About? series. And we spoke about, Pastor, what about this? What about that? Why does our church practice this? Why does our church practice that? We talked about the What About? series. What about dress? We talked about what about music? Why don't we have the music that we have? We talked about what about stewardship? And why don't we, you know, guilt the way we do. And tonight I want to speak about what about the King James Bible. Why don't we use the King James Bible? Now, let me say this. I'm chewing off a bunch tonight because there's just mountains to talk about. And as I look at it, I kind of tremble in fear because I could spend weeks speaking on this topic. But I want to try to condense it just a little bit. I've got preachers here tonight, too, and I think probably Ben Ray would do a lot better tonight because he's probably on the cutting edge of this kind of stuff. When I was a young man, I used to have folders of this stuff, and I used to just love just to wait and just debate with people about things like this. And I guess about 16 years ago, I took all my debating files and threw them away and thought, you know, I'm going to quit fighting people and just try to keep people married and families together. and win souls. In 2 Timothy 3, verse 16, the Bible says all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Now understand, the Bible says that the Scripture, all Scripture is given by inspiration. The word inspiration there means God breathed. That means the book that we have in our hand, the Word of God, God has breathed this scripture. It's from him. And then he gives us the points that it's profitable for. We get our doctrine from it. It reproves us, doesn't it? When we're at home reading the Word of God, doesn't it reprove us? It will correct us. doesn't the Bible says that it's like a mirror and we look into it and it uh it shows us what we need to adjust just like the mirror before we leave uh it gives uh correction reproof it gives us instruction and righteousness tells us how we ought to live tells us what kind of husband we ought to be tells what kind of wife you ought to be tells what kind of parent you ought to be it covers everything in life that we are to be, it deals with every point. It is the God-breathed book. Now, in 2 Peter 1, verses 20 and 21, he says, knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation. In other words, you can't take a Scripture and it mean one thing to you and I take it and it means something different to me. We cannot manipulate and twist the Scripture. God said what he meant, he meant what he said, and it means what it means. We cannot take it and twist it. And it's always interesting when you speak to the Calvinists, and when you start talking with the whosoevers and the all that believe and different verses, well, you know, couldn't that mean, well, yeah, it could if God had said that, but that's not what God said. He said whosoever and all that believe. That's what he's really said. And so he says that 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. In other words, man didn't get together. They didn't collect together and say, hey fellas, let's get together. Let's put our hands right in here. One, two, three, break. Let's write a Bible. It didn't work that way. Man did not come together and write this. But holy man of God fake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And I don't have time, and you certainly don't either. You don't want me to even try to go into it either. And I don't think I'm really qualified to do the job that D.A. Waite and many other just tremendous, brilliant men of God are to do to cover this subject. But in the scribes of the Old Testament, when they would come to the point of Jehovah, When they would come to the name of God, they would stop and go wash their hands and come back before they would pen it. These were the old men the Bible talks about, or the holy men of God that spake. Now, understand this, the Bible has about 40 human authors who wrote during a period spanning 1,600 years. There was only one divine author of the Word of God, the Bible, and that's God. Although the Word of God was a spanning of 1,600 years with around 40 different authors, we see the unity of the Bible. Don't you see the unity of the Scriptures? You see the indestructibility of the Bible. There have been those who have hated this book. They have burned this book. They have murdered for this book. You've seen the Hitlers who've taken the Bible and they've taken them out and they've burned them, but I'm gonna tell you something, you can't get rid of it. Can I tell you this? The most popular book in the world is what I'm holding up right now. How many copies do you have? Around the world. Understand, you see the harmony of the book. You see the universal appeal of the Bible. You see the perpetual value of the Bible. You see the fulfilled prophecy of the Bible. You see the archaeological findings concerning the Bible. You see the fulfilled prophecies of the Bible. The Bible is inspired, the Bible is preserved, and the Bible is the final authority. It is God's book. Now, we here at Bethel Baptist Church, we have decided to stay with the Old King James Bible. We have not elected to become the Bible of the Month Club. In other words, in January we're going to use the NIV And in February, we're going to use the NASV. And in March, we're going to use the ABC. And then we're going to use the A and on and on and on. And there are those who do that. But we've elected to stay with the King James Bible. There's a multitude of English Bibles of modern language. And we believe that the production of these new translations, and they're new, they're relatively new in comparison to the King James Bible, they're brand new translations, and they serve to undermine the spiritual foundation of the Christian, of the home, of the church, and of the country, I believe. I'll show you that in just a little bit. As a matter of fact, I believe they stripped Jesus of the deity and who he is. The new versions are not better than the old King James. And there's a lot of misunderstanding in the abandonment of the King James Bible by the churches and by the men of God. It's not been a good thing. It has not been a helpful thing. And deciding to keep the old King James Bible is a compelling thing to do. And there's several reasons why we should do it. Let me share, try to touch base with some of them tonight. Number one, there is a theological reason why we should stay with the King James Bible. Some new Bibles are dangerously becoming, are dangerous because of their theological bias towards the translator. You see, if you remember in the garden, what was the argument? It was over what God has said. Remember the debate between the serpent and Eve? And wasn't it the serpent, Lucifer, wasn't the serpent who said, have not God said that you could eat of all the trees in the garden? And Eve said, no, no, no, no. God said we can eat all the trees and fruit in the garden except for this tree in the midst of the garden for if we touch it, we would die. It's what she said. I didn't see where God had said that. I don't know where she came up with that. I have my own philosophy where that might have came from. You know, I don't know if maybe she just embellished that. I don't know if Adam said, don't even touch it or you'll die. I don't know what happened there. But the revised standard version, the RSV, of the Bible was presented to the public in a completed work in 1952. It was authorized by the notoriously liberal National Council of Churches. Now you look at who endorsed these things, and that tells you a lot. You study, you know, when I get a missionary who calls or I get someone who wants to be affiliated with me or with our church I look at their home church I look at their statement of faith and I can find out real quick whether or not I mean very quick whether we're going to be able to do a hold hands or not real quick and the one of the first things I look at is the very first point of their statement of faith is their position on the Word of God you see The RSV was authorized by the National Council of Churches, and the unbelieving bias of the majority of the translators is extremely evident. In the RSV, the Revised Standard Version, in Isaiah 7, verse 14, it reads this way, Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Now, I want to tell you something. There's a lot of young women who conceive. But the King James Bible says that a virgin shall conceive. There's a huge difference there, and there again, that's attacking the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, there's a difference between the RSV, Revised Standard Version, and KJV, King James Version, and it's an important difference. It's a theological reason here. The old Bible, the KJV, says a virgin shall conceive and bear a son. The liberal bias against the doctrine of the virgin birth of Christ is reflected in the RSV. And when you have so many scriptures, it's easy to slide these things in, but the word in the origin of Hebrew means specifically a virgin in the text. And it's an incorrect rendering to say a young woman by the RSV. That is incorrect. That is not correct. That is heresy. Now, what's interesting is, in the RSV, it translates in Matthew 1, verse 23, Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son. And this is the correct rendering in the Greek. But with the incorrect translation of Isaiah 7, verse 14 in the same Bible, the impression is given that Matthew misquotes Isaiah. So not only is the doctrine of the virgin birth undermined in the RSV, but also there's a doctrine of infallibility of the Bible here. They're in conflict with each other in the same Bible. Are you getting what I'm saying? We see that not only is the doctrine of the virgin birth, but the infallibility of the Bible is questioned here. And I don't know a fundamental Baptist, I don't know a born-again child of God who would accept this standard of theology, this liberal translation where Mary and where the challenge of the virgin birth is given so blatantly and carry a Bible like that. There's a lot of young women who are bearing children. But there's only one who's of virgin birth, and her name was Mary, and it was through Jesus. Now, secondly, there's the Good News Bible. It's also known today as today's English version. It was translated by the Neo-Orthodox Richard Bratcher who purposely replaced the word blood with the word death in many of the New Testament passages that refer to the blood of Christ. Let me tell you something. The Bible makes much about the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and his death is not the same as his blood. This is doctrinal conflict. And you take of these verses here, the verses that he substituted the word death for blood in Colossians chapter one, verse 20, look at changes and having made peace through the death of his cross. No, no, no. It was the blood of his cross. in Hebrews 10 verse 19, having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the death of Jesus. Now listen, it's through His blood. And why is that? Because in Genesis, in chapter 3, it was a blood sacrifice. It was the animals who shed their blood. And Adam and Eve who put on those coverings that no longer was their sin seen anymore. And without the shedding of the blood, there's no remission of sin. It's not the death, it's the blood. And why would we carry, let me tell you something, the Good News Bible, that's not good news for anybody. Today's English version, Revelation chapter 1 verse 5, again, he changes it, it says, And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the king of the earth, unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own death. No, it's in his own, he washed us in his own blood, is what the Bible says. Now he replaces the word virgin with girl in Luke chapter 1 verse 27 as well. So other versions like the Phillips translation, other versions like the New English Bible were also produced by liberal neo-Orthodox religionists. And for this reason, we don't need to use them. Why do we not use these Bibles? Because there's theological reasons and heresy that's involved there. And that's why we don't carry them. Let me tell you this. If it's not broken, why try to fix it? And let me tell you this, too. Are you going to trust Holman and Nelson with the word of God? You know who they are? They're publishers who are making money selling Bibles. That's who they are. Thomas Nelson, they publish the Bibles. And when I pick up a Bible, when I pick up one by Homer or by Nelson, I go to several passages and read there because if one of them has been changed, there's about 16 changes throughout the rest of that Bible. And even though it says King James, it doesn't mean it's King James anymore if Nelson or Holman, I've forgotten the name, Holman Bible. It doesn't mean it's King James. So, you know, there's a theological reason why we stay with King James. Number two, there's textual reasons why we stay with King James, textual reasons. Many lay people don't understand The debate of the TR, or the Texas Receptus, are the majority texts. These are things that you learn in Bible college or seminary or cemetery, some of these places. As a matter of fact, a lot of people come out of cemetery not believing right. But a lot of lay people, your average church member, they don't have a clue. They don't understand that more than 100 New Bible versions are not translated from the same Hebrew and Greek text that the King James Bible was translated or the translators used. So let me say this to be technically straight. Long before I'm a King James Bible person, I'm a TR person. We are a Greek Textus Receptus people. And that's the majority text, that's the TR, that's the text that was translated and that's where our King James Bible came from. Let me put it like this. You know a jello mold? and you put Jell-O in there, and you put it in the refrigerator, and you pull it out in a few hours, and you pull it out, and whatever it's in the shape, if it's a star, if it's a cowboy riding a horse, whatever it is, that's what it is. You know, it fits that mold. And if that mold has got a flaw in it, if it's got a crack, if it's broken, if there's something about it that's not right, it's going to show. And I don't care how many times you pour the jello in there, it's going to show every time because there's a flaw in that mold. And understand this. The other Bibles are not using the TR, the Textus Receptus, the majority text. They do not come from that accurate text, from that original text, and therefore they're flawed in all these other Bibles. The product is flawed because of the text that it is being processed from. So when someone says that the translation of a certain verse of the King James is unfortunate, usually the problem is text rather than translation. In the late 1800s, there's a committee of British and American scholars who began to work on the revision of the King James Bible. This is late 1800s. And it was decided by them that the Greek text of the New Testament used in the translation of the King James Bible was seriously defected. These people took it upon themselves to say this text was seriously defected. Now, although the text represented the New Testament as it had accepted by most Christians over centuries, it was spurned because they disagreed with some of the older manuscripts. And almost all of the new versions are actually translated of this new Greek text that is generated by this committee of this later 1800 group. You read about Westcott and Hort. And you read about some of these people. And when you do your study, and it's intricate, and it's a weighty, heavy study. And let me tell you this. I didn't come from a Christian home. I was just lost in this kind of stuff. And I went off to a large university. And I went off and I went to T.G. and Y. How many remember T.G. and Y? Remember that? How many remember that? I want to see your hands. Man, that was the day, wasn't it? You could go there and buy anything. Three dollars and a quarter could get you anything, TG and wine. I went there and got my Bible. That little cross on it, you zipped it up, and I went off to Bible college with that. That's what I had. I mean, I was so low. I was on my own. And I got there, and Dr. Thurman Wisdom, who was over at the Theology Department at Bob Jones University, said the New American Standard Version was more grammatically correct than the King James Bible could ever be. Being the young, impressionable, mind of mush that I was, I went out to the campus bookstore and bought a New American Standard. Now, Dr. Thurman Wisdom, he was over the theology department of Bob Jones University. He was not a pastor, he was not a missionary, not an evangelist. He was a professor. He should know these things, right? I'm sitting in the class, and I don't have a problem calling names. I mean, Paul said Alexander the coppersmith and different ones. I'm just telling you what happened. So I'm sitting there in class, and I carry this Bible, this New American Standard Version. I carry it for probably six months or so. And I'm in this class. And in our classes, we have professors. And in some of the classes, we had pastors, local pastors, who came in and taught classes. And I had this one class by a pastor. He taught the Book of Acts. And I mean to tell you, he made the Book of Acts come alive. I couldn't wait to get his class. It was great. I just loved it. And after one class, I had some questions about the situation, about the man. Remember the man who tried to buy the Holy Spirit and the demons ripped his clothes off? Was he saved or was he not? What happened with that? And I went up to ask him about that. That was puzzling to me. I'm still not sure I understand it all. And I went up to him and I was talking to him and I said, I don't understand. So he took my Bible and he started reading it. And he went just like this, he went just like this. So he started reading it, and I had a New American Standard Version to this pastor, pastor slash professor, and he went, what is that? I said, it's a New American Standard Version. He says, it's what? I said, it's a New American Standard Version. Why don't you get a King James Bible? I said, I have you know that Dr. Thurman Wisdom says that the New American Standard Version is more grammatically correct than the King James Bible could ever be. And he says, I have you know that Thurman Wisdom doesn't know his Bible from the hole in the ground. That's what he said. And that was a pastor talking. Can I tell you something? Pastors don't care when it comes to truth. You see, The new text is significantly different from the traditional text. Now, when the reader comes to John 7, verse 53, through John chapter 8, verse 11, even in conservative translations such as the New American Standard Bible and the New International Version, he finds the whole story of the woman taken in adultery set apart with lines and brackets. Why is that? And they'll have some kind of bracket section with this, with a star or an asterisk. The earlier and most reliable manuscripts do not have this. Yeah. I was, we were watching, a church service one day. We were in church. We just had taped it. And the preacher was preaching. And he came to a certain point in the book of Mark. And he said, now I'm going to stop here, and I froze it. I said, you know what he's going to say, Debbie? Let me tell you what he's going to say. He's going to stop here, because the rest of this chapter is not inspired. It's not there. And I hit play. Because the rest of this chapter is not inspired, and it's not there. Now I've got to tell you something. I'm not smart enough to know that. And neither are they. You see? Something similar was done with the Great Commission in Mark chapter 16 through verse 9 through 20. And what the textual critics a century ago were saying was that the new version, the new versions are saying is that the large amount of the New Testament read and believed and preached and obeyed by most of the spiritual forefathers were actually unexpired material that were added to the text and should not be be there at all. However, the new theory is under great controversy because, listen, Matthew 4.4, the Bible says, and he answered and said, it is written, men shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Every word. We need every word of God. a man needs will be met or will not be met unless we receive every word of God. Matthew 24 verse 35 says, heaven and earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away. Jesus promises us that the very words we need in order to live in order that we should be able to continue, will be preserved throughout all ages. His Word will be preserved through wars. His Word will be preserved through persecution. His Word will be preserved through disasters. His Word will even be preserved through the fiery end of creation. God promises it. He says heaven and earth will pass away, but His Word shall not pass away. So the souls called textual critics You know, it's more faith than it is science. And there's much more I could say about this, but the only widely used English versions that are translated from the traditional text is the King James Version and the New King James today. That's the only versions that use the traditional text. Now, thirdly, there's the textual reason why we use the King James, there's a theological reason, then there's a philosophical reason why we use the King James. You see, the King James is translated, or is a translation that seeks what the scholars are looking, or rather, you know, it has the understanding, it seeks the expression in English, the meaning of the words in Greek. And there are some who seek the expression of the meaning. In other words, There are those in the translation who translate the words and leave the definition, the defining to the reader. That's what the King James does. But in the new translations, they translate it in what they think it's saying for us. And that, my friend, is the difference. You say, Pastor, we want you and Miss Debbie to come over for dinner. And we're going to watch the movie Old Yeller. Would you like to come? And Kurt and Katie invite us over. I said, sure. And Katie's been cooking all day. She's got peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and all kinds of stuff ready for us. She's been cooking all day. She's got all kinds of stuff. And we're going to sit down and watch the movie, O Yeller. And we sit down, and we've eaten, and it's good. And they sit in the movie, and it starts playing. I said, oh, watch this now. Those wild boars are fixing to come out, and they're going to get the boy. And he's going to be roping them, but he's going to fall down. And when they fall down, they're going to come in, and they're going to rip up his arm. And oh, Yellow's going to get in there and save him, but he's going to be tore up pretty bad now. And the mom's going to come and say, what's happening? And I'd say, oh, Arliss, what's going on? And he would say, preacher, you're ruining it. You're ruining it. You know how annoying it is when you're watching a movie with somebody and they're telling everything before you get there? You just want to see it and interpret it for yourself. We don't need Thomas Nelson interpreting the Bible for us. And that's exactly what is taking place here. You see, the translators of the King James, they were careful to translate the meaning Of exactly what was was said? Anyone who takes seriously the Lord's saying in Matthew 4 4 But by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of the Lord will understand the importance of translation So so the so-called Living Bible Remember the Living Bible Anybody got a Living Bible don't raise your hand It doesn't pretend to be a translation, it's a paraphrase. Copies of the book identify it as a paraphrase of God's Word. Dr. Kenneth Taylor wrote the Living Bible and he admits that it's what the Bible says to him, it's a paraphrase of Scripture. And there are people walking around with the Living Bible. You know, it'd be like me writing John 3 16 and me writing down now I can get up and read John 3 16 if I get up and read John 3 16 That is God's Word, but I get up and tell you what I think John 3 16 says That's not infallible and that's not inspired. I'm giving you what I think it says and There's a difference if you walk around with what I said As the Word of God Preachers make it clear when they are reading God's word and when they're paraphrasing. It's acceptable to paraphrase scripture in explaining it, but it's unacceptable to confuse the paraphrase to be the actual word and living Bible is not a Bible. Dr. Taylor paraphrases, by the way, he tells that it's a paraphrase. He doesn't mislead. He says that's what it is. The very popular New International Version, NIV. It's a rival among the conservative modern version of the New American Standard Version. And when you look at these and say, these are good translations, understand they're still interpreting the Word for you. That's the key that you need to see. They're still, in their translation, they're interpreting what they think the Word is saying And that's how they're pinning it. So the scholars who did the translation believe that it is possible and beneficial to put into English what the writers of the Scripture met rather than what they actually said. And that is key. One of the great problems with this approach is the element of interpretation that is introduced in the translation process. To translate is to put into English. To interpret is to explain what it means. Is it a translation or is it an interpretation? What do you want? Experts will say that all translation involves some type of interpretation. Even when this is not the object of translation, much more interpretation will go on when the composer of the new versions tried to convey the thought rather than the words. They're purposely trying to convey the thought instead of giving a true definition of the words. Now, I know this is not a regular message and you're having to concentrate, but it's key. I'm trying to explain to you why we have the King James Bible and why we use it. The advertising for the new international version has often include references such as the translation of Job 36.33. Promoters of the NIV ask us which versions will we have. This is their advertisement. And they'll use Job. Here's Job in the KJV. Job 36 verse 33, the noise thereof showeth concern in it. The cattle also concerneth the vapor." Now, here's the NIV, Job 36, verse 33. His thunder announced the coming storm, even the cattle make known its approach, the New International Version. Now, without question, the NIV reads clearer, doesn't it? I mean, the truth is that it's hard That's a hard verse to read and understand the Hebrew, the KJV. And any good commentary, if you look up Job 36 verse 33 in a commentary, they'll tell you the same, that this is a difficult verse. But the NIV makes it clearer than the original Hebrew. Actually, the NIV interprets from what the translation committee thinks the passage means, rather than what it says. And the KJV tells us what it says and leads it to us, as much as possible, the business of interpreting what it means. This is an important distinction. Understand, if we let the translators interpret the Bible for us, we might as well let the priests do it for us. Isn't that what we got away from? I mean, our belief in the priesthood of believers calls us to reject the highly interpretive version where the priest only can read the Bible in Latin and tell us what the Bible says. So there is a philosophical reason. Number four, notice there's a cultural reason. Proverbs 22 verse 28 says, Remove not the ancient landmarks which thy fathers have set. In the spirit of the Fifth Commandment, we're to honor the traditions given to us by the previous generations. Understand this. If our traditions contradict Scripture, that's one thing, but we are not to reject the favor of what the Bible says. In Matthew 15, verse 3, it says, But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandments of God by your traditions? We never elevate traditions to the same level as the authority of the Scripture, but we should give our forefathers the benefit of the doubt. What I'm saying is, you know this, you know that God's blessing on our country and on this nation, this Bible has been used. There's not been another Bible used than this Bible. Why do we want to throw that away? We're not talking about technology. We're not talking about whether we have screens on the wall or have projectors. We're not talking about that. We're talking about God's Word here. That's the big difference. And we should also be careful to preserve all that we can that is truly Christian about our culture. The King James Bible has played a tremendous role in the development of America. If you look at the Liberty Bell and other artifacts of the foundation of our country, you'll see it's the King James script that has been put on these different artifacts of our country. Listen, the theology of the Bible influenced the ideals behind the Constitution. The language of the King James Bible was scattered throughout early literature. The revivals that formed and changed the culture resulted from the preaching of this Bible text. And for many years, Americans knew a certain amount of Scripture. As a matter of fact, you understand this, that most Americans could quote the 23rd Psalm, They could recognize the Beatitudes. They knew the Ten Commandments and most of them knew parts of the Sermon on the Mount. And now that's diminished because there's so many different versions. They don't know any of those things. When in the very beginning of this country, there was one room, schoolhouses, the pastors were the teachers and the textbooks was the Bible. And children learned to read from the Bible. this book that's in your hands tonight. For most of us, the first 200 years of our nation, the KJV, was the Bible for most Americans. Even after so-called modern versions came out, the most popular version was the King James Bible. And it continued to be memorized, quoted, publicly read. And with the demise of the King James Bible, our country is left without a standard of Scripture. A matter of fact, when someone's going to do the Christmas story, the echoing question is, which version? I'm trying to cut out some. I got so much material here. I'm trying to cut it out. Let me give you this thought. The Constitution of America is jealously guarded against change, and it is extremely difficult to amend. It takes two-thirds of Congress and three-fourths of the states to change one sentence in our Constitution. Get the point? Why shouldn't churches be careful? And why should churches so willingly accept great changes in the Bible without a serious due process? Lastly, there's practical reasons when we use the King James here. some of the features of the King James that are criticized. The V's and the vowels, really. For the first three years we were in this building, and I have some very, very good men who are known as Gideons, would come and visit me every year. And they would ask me if they could come in our church and present the Gideon ministry. And I respect these men. They're good men. I believe that they love the Lord. But I said, I'm sorry, but, you know, in your ministry, you have accepted works of apostasy. And I said, you know, you guys used to be only King James, but you've got NIVs now. And you've got other translations. That's a real problem. That's the first year. And they're very cautious, and they're very, very, extremely respectful of me as a pastor. They are. And I began talking about the Greek Textus Receptus, and they know nothing of this. They have no clue of it. And you can see, you know, there's a big question mark. I give them books. I said, you should read these books. You know, you know, you men are all about the Bible and passing at the Bible. This is what you do. You should really understand where your Bible came from. And they'll say, well, you know, they'll say, well, you know, that these and the vows are so confusing to people. And I said, no, wait a minute. If I could name these men, you would know them. You'd know who they are. They're very well known in the town. And they're very successful businessmen. They're very wealthy men. And they serve on the school board and on the city council. These men, these Gideon people do. And I said, you men are very, very intelligent men. You're a very successful businessman. I know the Vs and the Vows don't trip you up. Now, do they? And I said, well, no, that's been something they've been told to say. They've been taught to say that. I said, that doesn't stop you. And they said, you know, Pastor, it doesn't matter. I read the King James. And when I I still quote it from my childhood and I love the King James. You know, I said, you know why you do that? Because it's God's word. But I would have the hit in my heart that I'm not sending it today. And we had a wonderful conversation. Now, they've come back two more years, and I still won't support them. I still won't have them in. And I said, Preacher, we're done with all of them except for one. We still have the NIV. That's the only one. Will you let us in? And I said, no. When you get rid of that one, come on back. And I have a good relationship with them. But I'll tell you something. They're wrong. They're wrong on that. And I have a good relationship. I have there and I respect them and I've treated them with honor. But they're wrong on that. And they need to see it. And it's a confusing thing for them. And I understand that that that and they carry a King James. They read the King James. But they're in an organization that's compromised there. And I'm not going to yoke up their folly with that. Now, listen. The King James was not written in the everyday language of the people on the streets in 1611. Did you know that? You see, it was written in the high English in the very precise form of language. It was written in a higher expression of language of that day. And most other European languages have both singular and plural pronouns. And I have a whole list of things I'm not going to take time to go through with first person, second person, third person. I just don't have time to do it. I'm going to skip this. But High English uses thou, for a second person singular and you for the plural. And in this way, the King James Version lets us know whether the scripture means a singular you or plural you. Thou or thee means one person being addressed and ye or you means several people being addressed. And this feature often helps us interpret the passage. That's the purpose of the these and those. Don't you think God knows what he's doing there? There's practical reasons. You know, the King James Version uses italicized words. What is that for? The translators italicized words that were put into the text that did not appear in the original language. It was to help to make the thought flow, but they were honest. They wanted to let us know what was the original and what was not. They were honest about it. Can't you appreciate the integrity of the ancient scholars who are letting us know what they added and what the original had, and we're not disappointed in their work with the modern translators. They just interpret the whole thing for us. The matter of quotation marks is also a question of importance. The King James, they don't use them because Greek and Hebrew manuscripts didn't have them. Then, lastly, I'll get to it. These features make the King James Bible the most helpful translation Bible in English for serious readers. Even the New King James, which was translated from the traditional text, denies the practical help of the high English italicized additions and the absence of quotation marks. I have sat underneath D.A. Waite, I've sat under other men who've taught the King James Bible, and I've sat there and that's all I could do to keep my eyes from glazing over, and I hope I haven't done that with you tonight. These are the reasons, and it makes good sense when Bible-believing churches stay with the King James Bible. There are theology issues with the other versions. major issues. There are philosophical reasons. There's a number of practical reasons that we've mentioned. But to abandon the King James is like moving from clarity to confusion, from authority to anarchy, and from faith to doubt. And that's why we're King James. This is the Whatabout series, and this is why we're King James Bible in this church. That's why. Are we King James only? Well, obviously not. Our Spanish uses a different Bible. Are we King James only? Well, we have missionaries that are in China. They don't use the King James there, you know, and they're struggling to get an accurate text there. But I'll tell you this, and, you know, and we're not, and when we speak, and I want to You may not understand this, but we have no connection with Peter Ruckman or Ruckmanites. And some of you don't understand that phrase. We have no connection with that. So we're not King James only because of these other issues that I just mentioned. But I believe that this is God's word for the English speaking people. And any other text, they're either wrong in its theology or they're interpreting the Scriptures for us, are they're annexing or chopping off part of the Scripture and deciphering what's inspired and what's not. Listen, this has a rich history of God's power and God's use. This nation was founded using this book. I can't help but think how disgusting it is for anybody, any political figure, to put his hand on anything else other than this book sworn in office, much less a Koran. Would you stand with me? Now some of you look like it's as clear as mud to you. But it's important to me that you know that it's not, well, preacher says so. That's not good enough. And it's not. Or our church stands here. And that might be good enough for you, but it's not really good enough. You need to know why. And if you don't get anything else, understand this, before we're King James, we're TR. were the Greek Texas Receptus. And that's where the King James was translated from. And you say, how important is that? That is a point of breaking fellowship with other pastors and other churches. That's the point of allowing missionaries to come in or not come in. That's the point of apostasy with us. That's how strong it is. Now, if you come to the altar tonight, I'm not going to think that you're curing an NIV or something. But we've covered some burdens tonight. We think of Marta going to tomorrow. Can you imagine how they feel tonight? And I'm just begging God for a good report and for this to be done. I'll be crushed if it's not. I'll be absolutely crushed. I think of Carolyn's, what relationship is she to you, Carolyn? I can't think of anything as hard as that tonight. Lost his son in an automobile accident and the husband passed heart failure today. And I still think of this sweet church in Indianapolis, Colonial Hills. We still need to lift them up. And so, as the Lord leads you, don't just think about the message, but think of others, and let's lift others up. Let's pray for our school and our staff tomorrow. Tomorrow's a big day, our first day of school. And I lift up our staff, they got a lot on them as well. Lord, I ask that you help us tonight. And we thank you for your word. And I certainly am no scholar and what a feeble attempt I made, but I believe in what we did cover. And while there's such a mountain of weeks and just brilliant men who've put together deep studies, help our people to dig deeper and to know why we carry this word of God and will not compromise on these others. Why it's important to know what God has said, and every word is important, and why we're not going to allow the publishing companies to publish Bibles and let them interpret it for us. And that it's the original and the majority text, the TR, the Textus Receptus, that is key. And that's where the King James Bible is translated from, and that's why we hold to it. And Lord, while we stand firm on the King James, help us be a people that's in it, that reads it, and that loves it, and that walks in it. Save the lost, work in our hearts, lift up the brokenhearted, be with our beloved people who are in great need tonight. In Jesus' name, as the Lord speaks to your heart, you come.