Conspiracy of the Ages (Part 4)

J. Satan's dilemma: The key to world government is the elimination of God's word which declares his defeat and exposes his agenda, supplanting his own doctrine in its place. But God has promised to preserve His words forever. PSA 12:6-7; 119:152, 160; MAT 24:35. 1. Remember that the only people for whom the word of God has a beneficial and effectual working are God's children who receive it in faith as God's word. 1CO 1:18; 2:14; 1TH 2:13. 2. Believers are the salt of the earth by which it is seasoned and saved (MAT 5:13) but only as long as they retain their savour. 3. If Satan could deceive God's people into believing that God's Holy Scripture was lost, the net effect would be the same as if there was no inspired Scripture. 4. Paul was concerned that the churches might be beguiled, or deceived in the same manner AS WAS EVE. 2CO 11:3 c/w 1CO 15:45. 5. GEN 2:16-17 c/w GEN 3:1-6. By CASTING DOUBT on the words of God, Satan plunged mankind into death and his program was underway. Satan's primary tactic of deception is casting doubt on plain truth. a. Remember, a basket of healthy food is of no saving value to the starving person who is deceived into thinking that it's all made of plastic. b. If the “plastic food” deception is insufficient to undermine the effect of the Holy Scripture in the mind of the Christian, Satan has another powerful means of accomplishing his goal: crafty footnotes and such like which set forth positions contrary to the plain text of Scripture and are revered more than the Scripture. 6. Since about 1870 there has been an onslaught of varying Bible versions in the English language, all of which have cast doubt on one Bible that changed the course of world history for hundreds of years: the AV1611 or King James Version. a. It is beyond dispute that AV1611 became the vehicle of a sustained revolution in the minds of English-speaking people which had profound social and political implications. b. Whereas there was once a time when English-speaking Christians in general had no doubt that they had God's word in their hand, that has changed. c. Today, relatively few English-speaking Christians believe that there is an infallible Bible preserved in perfect detail down to the last jot and tittle. As such, how effectual could that word even be on people so numbed and deceived? Is it any wonder we see this world accelerating towards world government? d. One might wonder if the times of the releasing of Satan to “deceive the nations once more” are upon us. e. Remember that this deceptive conspiracy is ultimately against Jesus Christ, Whose kingdom must be preserved in order to maintain His sovereignty and therefore the final battle will be against the camp of the saints. REV 20:8-9. XI. The foregoing leads us to ask some very searching questions: A. What is Scripture? B. If there is such a thing as Scripture today, do we have it? C. How do we identify Scripture? D. How do we distinguish it from counterfeits? E. The most important question of all is not “Which Bible is the right one?” but rather “Is there such a thing as a preserved Bible?” 1. If there is not today a preserved, letter-perfect Bible, then it must be assumed that God was unable to preserve His word as promised. 2. It is hypocritical and deceitful for a Christian to say that his faith is built upon the infallible Scripture if he does not even believe that he has such. XII. Scripture is as the very voice of God in recordable and transmissible form. 2SAM 23:1-2; PSA 45:1; 2CO 13:2-3; GEN 12:3 c/w GAL 3:8. A. Scripture came by divine inspiration. 2PE 1:20-21; EXO 34:27; ISA 8:1-4; 30:8; JER 36:1-4; JOH 16:13. B. This inspiration is comprehensive (2TI 3:16). The inspiration extends to: 1. individual words. Christ and the apostles argued doctrine on the basis of a single word. MAT 22:42-44; HEB 7:21; 8:8-13. 2. single letters. Paul places the whole doctrine of Christianity on the basis of a single letter. GAL 3:16. 3. smallest details. MAT 5:18. (The jot was the smallest letter in the O.T; the tittle was a small line or point to distinguish letters in the Hebrew alphabet.) C. Scripture also has the following characteristics: 1. It can be searched. JOH 5:39; ACT 17:11. 2. It can be known. 2TI 3:15. 3. It is profitable. 2TI 3:16-17. 4. It can comfort. ROM 15:4. 5. It promotes conversion and growth. PSA 19:7; 1PE 2:1-2. 6. It is perfect, pure and unbroken. PSA 12:6; PRO 8:8; 30:5; JOH 10:35. 7. It would be preserved. PSA 12:6-7; 119:152, 160; MAT 24:35; ECC 3:14. XIII. Compare the above statements with the wisdom of modern theology as seen in the following quote from "New Testament Survey; A Syllabus" by Daniel Krusich. page 6 (a standard work among fundamentalists): “II. The Extent of Inspiration. A) Only the original text of the OT and the NT are inspired. B) No copies made from the originals were inspired. C) No translations were inspired. D) Although we do not possess the originals, scholars say that we have copies which are very close to them. No important doctrine is affected because of this fact.” A. Advocates of this position, under a veil of inquiry, sincerity and higher learning, have actually affirmed that there is NO inspired word of God today. B. This is an appropriate place to set forth the warnings of God about worldly wisdom and reasoning (vain philosophy of men). ROM 1:21-23; 1CO 1:18-24; 2:4-8 COL 2:8-9. C. God is not restricted to our limited human intellect and reasoning. ISA 55:8-9. D. Consider some problems with Mr. Krusich's position. 1. If “scholars” have never seen the original autographs, how can they possibly know that their copies are close to them? a. This is tantamount to a claim to have had the substance of the original autographs mystically channelled to oneself. See DEU 18:10; EZE 13:6. b. This is a “snow job” argument at best, and a deceitful faulty premise. 2. If they have never seen the inspired word of God, how do they know that “no important doctrine is affected?” The fact is that their position has destroyed the basis for all doctrine. E. The inspired text would be preserved in copies. DEU 17:18-19; JOS 8:32-35; PRO 25:1. 1. If the original autographs were the only thing that could be properly called inspired Scripture, what was Timothy doing with them? 2TI 3:15-16. 2. Likewise, how could the Bereans have daily access to them (ACT 17:11)? Weren't they previously hustled off to Africa by the Ethiopian eunuch? ACT 8:32. 3. If the originals are the only true Scripture, how is that Paul and Apollos were able to use them regularly in witnessing (ACT 17:2; 18:28)? Did they both have the stone tablets of Moses? 4. The apostles copiously argued from the Law of Moses as Scripture in their preaching and epistles. a. The original Mosaic Decalogue was smashed to bits. EXO 32:19. b. The replacement Mosaic Decalogue was sealed in the Ark of the Covenant and a penalty was due unto the person who presumed to look therein. HEB 9:4 c/w 1SAM 6:19. 5. Nothing less than a perfect Scripture will bring true, full and enduring conversion (PSA 19:7; 1TH 2:13). Are we to believe that the originals were shared by the apostles in their evangelistic outreach?