Word of Salvation – Vol. 29 No. 08 – February 1984

 

The Right Bible?

 

Sermon by Rev. S. Voorwinde, v.d.m. on Luke 24:44 & John 16: 13

(Belgic Confession Arts.4 & 6)

Scripture reading: Luke 24: 36 – 53; John 16:1 – 15

Suggested Hymns: 235:5,8,10; 411; 444; BoW.H.502:3

 

As a Christian you believe that the Bible is the Word of God.  From cover to cover it is all true and there are no mistakes in it.  In fact, you are willing to live by it and you are prepared to build your life on it.

But now comes a question which other people may ask you and which sometimes you may even ask yourself: How do I know that I have the right Bible?  How do I know that what I am reading are the very words of God and not just some pious human thoughts?  After all don’t Catholics have one Bible and Protestants another?  Don’t the Mormons have still another Bible and the Jehovah’s Witnesses something different again?

And then what about all those different translations of the Bible?  It seems that every time you turn around there’s another Bible translation.  As a matter of fact, never in the history of the English language have there been so many translations of Scripture.  In one sense that is all very interesting, but in another sense it’s all quite confusing.  A few months ago I was talking to a Christian bookseller and he said that many Christians are getting so confused that they are turning back to the trusted old King James version, and he was selling many more of those then he was of anything else.

Now if anything could be really harmful to the Christian life it’s that you can’t read your Bible with confidence.  There’s hardly anything worse than being unsure or doubtful or confused when it comes to the truth of the Bible.  And so, in this sermon I would like to answer some of the uncertainties that people commonly have, about the Bible.  I’d like to deal with three rather basic questions:

1.  Are the right books in the Bible?

2.  Is the Bible complete?

3.  Which Bible is the true one?

1.  Are the right books in the Bible?

In the Bible that you have before you this evening you will probably find that in the Old Testament there are 39 books and in the New Testament there are 27 books.  You don’t have to count them now, but you can most likely assume that this is the case.  But at home I have the Knox version of the Bible; it’s a Roman Catholic translation and it had 46 books in the Old Testament.  And the same is true of the New English Bible.  They include books like I & II Maccabees, and I & II Esdras, Ecclesiasticus and the prophecy of Baruch.  In the Belgic Confession these are called the ‘apocryphal books’ and the others are called the canonical books.  “Canon” comes from the Greek word meaning measure or rule.  So the canon is our rule of faith.

But now how do we know that the canon should not contain the apocryphal books, and how do we know that the right books are in the canon?  Well, I’d like to answer this question in two parts firstly with regard to the Old Testament and secondly with regard to the New Testament.

With regard to the Old Testament our text in Luke is of the utmost importance: In Luke 24:44 Jesus says to His disciples: “These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

Jesus had just risen from the dead.  Now He stood before His disciples and they were utterly startled and terrified.  And so He needs to set their minds at rest.  He shows them His hands and His feet.  Then He eats a piece of broiled fish.  And then He reminds them that everything that had happened (His suffering, His death, His resurrection), had all been foretold in the Old Testament, in Moses, the prophets and the Psalms.  And then He opens their minds so that it all begins to make sense.

But now notice how He refers to the Old Testament – it’s “the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms.”  Now that’s exactly the way the Jews traditionally referred to the Old Testament.  There is the threefold division of the Hebrew canon that Jesus is referring to.  That was so in Jesus’ day and it’s still true in the Synagogue today.  Jesus often debated with the Pharisees on many points, but the authority of the Old Testament was never one of them.  Their Bible was His Bible.  Their Scripture was His Scripture, and that was the Old Testament without the apocrypha.  The 39 books of the Old Testament that we hold to are the same ones that Jesus held to during His earthly ministry.  In this we simply follow His example.

But now what about when we come to the New Testament?  How do we know that the right books are in the New Testament?  Here I am happy to say that Protestants and Catholics agree; we have no dispute about the 27 books that are in the New Testament.  But still how do you know that both groups are right?  How do you know that these books too are the infallible Word of God?

It’s at this point that our text in the Gospel of John becomes so very important.  Here Jesus is promising the coming of the Holy Spirit: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.”  What an astounding promise this was: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth…!” For the apostles that meant the inspiration of their writing in the New Testament.  For the church it meant that it would be able to discern the inspired writings from those which were not.  The Holy Spirit would guide the Church to be able to tell the difference.

And as the years rolled on that’s exactly what happened.  All the 27 books of the New Testament had been written by the end of the first century, but they weren’t the only Christian books and letters in circulation.  Again there were apocryphal books and there were writings that claimed to be inspired.  Only gradually did the Church.  sort through all the different material; and slowly but surely by the guidance and illumination of the Holy Spirit did it come to recognize which books were in fact the inspired Word of God.

And it’s interesting to see how this happened.  It was not as though all the dignified fathers of the Church came together for a council or a synod and said: “Now these 27 books are the canon of the New Testament.”  It was not as though there were meetings where there were motions and votes: “I move that Paul’s letter to the Romans be regarded as the Word of God.”  And the Chairman asking: “All those in favour say ‘aye’.”  That’s not how we got the 27 books of the New Testament.  It was rather that over a period of time all the churches throughout the ancient world came to a common understanding that these books were indeed inspired and infallible.  It was a grass-roots consensus of opinion and not a decision that was handed down from the top.  It was the Spirit of truth guiding them into all the truth.

And this took time – a couple of centuries in fact.  The first list that we have of the 27 books was in a letter written in 367 by Athanasius, the patriarch of Egypt.  Athanasius was not saying something new.  He was simply reflecting what the churches of his time already knew to be true.  By the end of the fourth century the canon of the New Testament was officially fixed and since that time it has been accepted by all Christendom, and never seriously disputed.  All that we can say is that the canon has commended itself to the Church universal, and that the whole process was superintended by the Holy Spirit.  So how do we know that the right books are in the Bible?

In the case of the Old Testament, we have the authority of Jesus Christ.  He gave His stamp of approval to the Scriptures that were held to by the Jews of His day.  When it comes to the New Testament, we believe in the leading of the Holy Spirit.  He guided the churches into all truth so that they unanimously came to agree which books were the Word of God.

And this leads us now to our next question:

2.  Is the Bible Complete?

Or to put the question in theological language: Is the Canon closed?  Is the Bible finished or can we expect more?

Nowadays this is an extremely relevant question.  We have people who are claiming to speak in the name of God.  They believe that God has spoken to them; that they have received new revelations and that God has new messages for our time.  They come with visions and prophecies which they claim are from God.  Could they be true?  Or is the Bible finished?  Has the last word been spoken?

Let me answer these questions first from Scripture and secondly from History.  Scripture makes it clear that God’s revelation came to a climax in Jesus Christ.  This is what we read in the opening verses of the letter to the Hebrews: “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son….!”

From Moses to Malachi over a period of 1,000 years God spoke to His people in various ways.  The Old Testament was written at various times through a lengthy period of human history.  Truth unfolded gradually through many messengers who lived in widely different centuries.  But then in marked contrast to this, God speaks very clearly by His Son.  Christ’s coming had an air of finality about it.  All the prophets pointed forward to Him, but now when He comes He tells us all that we need to know, and no more needs to be said.  God’s revelation reached its climax and its conclusion in the New Testament.  One of our hymns puts it so well:

“How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
 Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
 What more can He say than to you He has said,
 To you who to Jesus for refuge have fled.”

If we say that the Bible is an unfinished book, then we leave ourselves open to problems and heresies that will in fact lead us away from the truth of Scripture.  No wonder John has such a strong warning at the end of the Book of Revelation: “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book; if any one adds to them God will add to him the plagues described in this book…!” On this verse Matthew Henry makes an apt comment: “This sanction is like a flaming sword to guard the canon of the Scripture from profane hands.”

History teaches us the same lesson.  Those who claim to have received new messages from God have very often led people astray.

Joseph Smith claimed to be a prophet who received new revelations from God and he wrote it down in the Book of Mormon.  It was the beginning of the Mormon religion.  Mohammed also believed he was a prophet sent by God and he wrote the Koran and that was the beginning of Islam back in the 7th century.

Over the past few years people have been showing a lot of interest in the prophecies of Nostradamus.  He made a lot of predictions back in the 16th century.  Some have turned out to be remarkably true.  Did they come from God?  The other day I read in the paper that Nostradamus had a great interest in astrology and the occult.  Not all prophecy, not even true prophecy, comes from God.

Back in early 1974 I heard the American evangelist David Wilkerson speak about a vision that he had seen while shaving.  He claimed that the Lord had given it to him to share it.  Among other things, he predicted that one of the biggest recessions in history would hit the Western world in 1975, but the fact of the matter is that it simply didn’t happen.  He was claiming to speak in the name of God and yet what he was saying turned out to be untrue.

What a contrast this is to the Biblical canon which has so admirably stood the test of time.  Perhaps no one could sum it up better than Martin Luther who wrote: “Mighty potentates have raged against this Book, and sought to destroy and uproot it; Alexander the Great and princes of Egypt and Babylon, the monarchs of Persia, of Greece and of Rome, the Emperors Julius and Augustus, but they availed nothing.  They are gone, while the Book remains, and will remain for ever and ever, perfect and entire, as it was declared at first.  Who has thus helped it – who has thus protected it against such mighty forces?  No one, surely, but God Himself, who is the Master of all things…!”

Brothers and sisters, that is the Bible: it is complete, it is finished, and it is sufficient to meet all our spiritual needs.  In the Bible God has said enough and we cannot expect Him to say more.  We do well to listen to the wisdom of Proverbs where it says:

“Every word of God is tested;
 He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
 Do not add to His words
 Lest He reprove you, and you be proved a liar.”

Several years ago I heard a story of which I don’t even know whether it is true to life, but I’ll tell it anyway.  It’s about a minister who came to a new congregation.  On his first Sunday he preached a really terrific sermon, and as people shook hands with him on the way out they expressed their genuine appreciation.  Then on the next Sunday he preached the same sermon again and after the service he didn’t get the same appreciation as the week before.  Then the Sunday after that he preached the sermon a third time and the session began to complain.  Why had he preached the same sermon three times in a row?  And he replied: “Because you haven’t put it into practice yet.”

Last week I preached about the need for us to read and learn and study the Bible.  So let me ask you: If your Bible study habits were poor, have they improved over the last week?  How much of the Bible have you read; how much have you studied; how much have you learned over the last week?  The Bible is God’s Word to you, are you taking it seriously?  God is speaking to you through the Bible, are you listening?

But now let’s say that you are serious about studying the Bible.  You really want to read and learn, but you have a genuine question…

3.  “Which Bible is the true one?”

And this brings us to the third point of the sermon.

You believe that the Bible is the Word of God, that it is true and infallible.  But which Bible – is it the King James or the RSV or the Good News or the NIV or what?  That’s a good question.  When we say that the Bible is the Word of God then what we mean is the Bible as it was originally given.  It was those first manuscripts that were true and infallible.  But seeing that we no longer have the original manuscripts where does that leave us?  What’s the point of believing that there were no mistakes in the original when we no longer have the original?

Let me illustrate.  Suppose that one day the Queen were to visit one of the primary classes at our local Christian School.  The teacher and the children had made all kinds of elaborate preparations for her visit.  Their classroom was neat and tidy and their best work was on display.  When the Queen came she was beautifully welcomed and she was really impressed by the teacher and her class.

Then when the Queen returned to Buckingham Palace she wrote a special letter of thanks to that teacher.  Then the teacher not only read the letter to her class, but she dictated the letter so that each pupil would have his own copy.  But a few days later the teacher lost the original letter.  Now the question is: Would she be able to reconstruct what the Queen said from the copies that her pupils had made?

Well, she probably could.  Johnny left out a word here and Mary misspelled a word there, but by comparing all the copies, the teacher could no doubt figure out exactly what the original letter from the Queen said.

Now we have a similar situation when we come to the Bible.  The original manuscripts in Hebrew and Greek have been lost, but there are many, many copies of these manuscripts.  When scholars compare these copies carefully, they can come very close to the original indeed.  In fact the more copies of the Scriptures are discovered the closer we come to the original manuscripts.  God has seen to it that the Scriptures have been so well preserved down the ages, that even if the worst possible readings from all the copies were accepted, not one article of faith or one moral precept would be lost.  We do not have the original, but by comparing the copies we have an extremely reliable text.  The original manuscripts were without error and what we have today is very close to the original manuscripts.

So what Bible is the true one?  Only the original.  And even today we can come very close to that original.  But then what about translations?  Which of those is best?  This question has often been asked in our churches.  So much so, in fact, that the matter was studied for several years.  At the Synod in June, we finally came to a conclusion – the New International Version was to be used as a pulpit Bible and for devotional reading the New American Standard Bible was recommended as a study Bible.  Personally I believe that that was a good decision.  These Bibles were found to be the most accurate and readable translations of Scripture.  The others have their value, but at present these two are the best.

And so, in conclusion, I can say that we can read the Bible with confidence.  Each of the questions with which this sermon began, we can answer in a positive way:

1.  Are the right books in the Bible?

Yes, they are.  We have it on Christ’s authority for the Old Testament, and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit for the New Testament.

2.  Is the Bible Complete?

Yes, because God’s revelation to mankind came to its climax and conclusion in Jesus Christ.

3.  Which Bible is the True One?

Only the original manuscripts.

Although they are now lost we know what they said with a high degree of accuracy and we have some excellent translations.

So let’s really get stuck into our Bibles.  As Christians let’s learn and feed and grow from the Word of God.  We have His revelation, we have it in full and we have it in language that we can understand.  Compared to believers in other times and in other places, this makes us very privileged indeed.

Are you making the most of your privileges?  What are you doing with the treasure that God has put into your hands?

Remember that on Judgement Day we must all give an account.

Amen.