(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Part of the chapter that I want to focus on is there in verse 16 where the Bible reads, For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, and we were made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. But were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For we received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard. And we were with Him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star rise in your hearts. 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, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Now I get my title of the sermon tonight from this section where it says a more sure word. So the title of the sermon is a more sure word. And it's interesting if you look there at verse 12, and just notice as he's reading he says, Wherefore, I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them. You know sometimes when you come to an infernal Baptist church as King James only, you take for granted the Bible. You take for granted a more sure word. But he's saying, look, I'm not going to be negligent. I'm going to always put you in remembrance of these things. And the part that he says is a more sure word of prophecy. What is he talking about there? What is the Bible really emphasizing there? I think he's talking about the Bible. I think the whole Bible is prophecy. And so I'm going to present that to you. If you would turn in your Bibles to, turn to Numbers chapter 11. Numbers chapter 11. And I'll read for you in Luke 24. The Bible says, And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened thee their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures. So when Jesus Christ was talking about the Bible, he said, look, there's Moses, there's the prophets, and there's the psalms. But I would say that I believe it's all prophecy. And so let's look at first, he said, Moses, look there at Numbers chapter 11 verse 29. The Bible says, And Moses said unto him, Envious thou for my sake, would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them. Moses is saying, look, I want you to be like me, because I'm a prophet of God. So when they're talking about Moses, Jesus Christ, when he's giving that distinction, he's talking about the first five books of the Bible. But Moses was also a prophet. So you have Moses being the prophet, and giving prophecy. You have the prophets all through the Bible, they're giving prophecy. Flip over just a couple, flip over to Deuteronomy chapter 34, Deuteronomy chapter 34. The Bible says in Luke 16, Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear him. I mean, when they're talking about the Bible and the New Testament, over and over they're saying, look, there's the Moses, which is talking about the first five books, and then there's the prophets. But we know that even Moses himself was a prophet. In Deuteronomy chapter 34 verse 10, the Bible says, And there arose not a prophet, since in Israel light unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. The Bible is very clear that Moses also was a prophet. And that which came from his mouth was prophecy. That which we have in the whole Bible is prophecy. And I read there at the beginning it was the law of Moses, it was the prophets, it was even the Psalms. And some would say, well, you know, there's different classifications of the Bible, there's history, and then there's, you know, future prophetic stuff, and there's songs. Now sometimes when the people heard the word prophecy, all they can think of is some kind of future event, or some type of, you know, foretelling of the future. And that definitely is part of it. But it's not always a future event. Turn if you would to Exodus 15, so flip back a couple chapters, Exodus chapter 15. I think even just the Psalms themselves are prophecy. So we're going to look at a couple places. In 2 Peter chapter 1 where we read it said, For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake, as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. In Exodus chapter 15 verse 20, the Bible says, And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand. And all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the Lord, for ye have triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider have be thrown into the sea. And one of the things that's really well known for Miriam when she prophesied is this Psalm. She got a bunch of people together and they're singing praises unto God. And she's called a prophetess. Now I'm going to show you another place. Turn if you would to Acts chapter 1. Acts chapter 1 there in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts. Now it's said that the prophecy came not by the will of man, but men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. So when he's giving prophecy, what is he explaining is happening? He's just saying the Holy Spirit, by some miracle, is speaking through these men and their prophets. And what's coming out of their mouth is prophecy. Because I believe the Bible is talking about prophecy, it's just to speak forth the words of God. Now, of course, a lot of the Bible is telling of the future events. And when you think about the very beginning when God's giving all these instructions, a lot of what he's saying is what's going to come to pass or what's going to happen in the future. So of course the things that are coming out of their mouth are future events. So a lot of times when you're speaking God's word, you're going to be preaching the future. You're going to be preaching that what's going to come to pass. But just because you're speaking something that didn't come to pass in the future doesn't mean it's not prophecy. So the important thing is there that they're being moved by the Holy Spirit. Now look at Acts chapter 1 verse 15. It says, And in those days Peter swept the midst of the disciples and said, The number of names together were about a hundred and twenty. Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. For he was numbered with us and obtained part of this ministry. Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity, and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out, and it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem, insomuch as the field is called in their proper tongue, Alkodomum, that is to say the field of blood, for it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein, and his bishopric let another take. So the Bible's pointing to the book of Psalms, and he's saying, look, this is what was spoken up by David, by the Holy Ghost, we have it written here, let his habitation be desolate. And if you go to Psalms chapter 69, you see that the Bible's quoting there. So we say, back up just a few verses to verse 16. Men and brethren, this scripture must needs be fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas. So what is prophecy? It's the Holy Ghost speaking through a man of God, and even the Psalms are prophesied because they were spoken by the Holy Spirit through the men of God. So the whole Bible is prophecy, when it's saying a more sure word of prophecy, it's not just some random prophetic thing, it's not just one verse, no, it's the whole Bible. And Peter there, when he's saying, look, I saw the Lord Jesus Christ transformed before my eyes, I saw him descend into heaven, and you know what's more, you can trust more than my personal testimony, is the Bible. He's saying we have a more sure word of prophecy. You can, it says in 1 John chapter 5, if we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. Look, the Bible's much greater to witness than any single man could ever be. You can put more trust in the word of God than you could ever put in any man. Because we can trust what this book says over any man. And that's an important thing to kind of understand where we're going. But turn if you would to Matthew chapter 17. Turn if you would to Matthew chapter 17. So if we have a more sure word of prophecy, God makes it really clear that his word's important to him. And it says in Revelation chapter 22 verse 18, for I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto them the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. God takes this book really seriously. And if he's going to say, look, you have a more sure word of prophecy than someone giving you the best testimony that they could, isn't he going to want to make sure that it's accurate? I mean, if someone gave you a testimony and had it filled with lies, would you have much confidence in it? I mean, if someone was giving you some elaborate story and you found out that part of what they said was not true, wouldn't it make you doubt what they were saying? And Peter's saying, look, you can trust me. I'm not going to lie to you. I saw the Lord Jesus Christ transfigured before you, but guess what? You still have a more sure word of prophecy. So if that's true, shouldn't the Bible be really true? I mean, accurate all the way down to the very word? Look at Matthew chapter 17. Let's really get this in context of what happened there. It says in verse one, Jesus came and touched them and said, arise and be not afraid. When they lived up their eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them saying, television and no man until the son of man be risen again from the dead. So the scriptures reveal that Peter, after, you know, having this revelation, he doesn't tell anybody, but then after the Lord Jesus Christ has been risen again, he's giving us this prophecy and he's saying it's a more sure word. Of course this would be a great testimony. I mean, wouldn't you want to sit down and hear Peter describe to you the fact that he saw the Lord Jesus Christ transfigured into his glory before you and he heard the voice of the father come out and say, this is my beloved son. I mean, that's a great testimony. Can you imagine? Most people, their testimonies are like, well, you know, I gave up drugs and Jesus saved me and blah, blah, blah. It's all about them. Can you imagine somebody giving you a testimony, they saw the Lord Jesus Christ transfigured and guess what Peter's saying? He's saying this book is more special. It's a more sure word. You can have more confidence in this. I mean, a lot of times I would think back and I would say, man, wouldn't it be so great to go back in time and like get to follow Jesus, get to talk with Jesus, talk with Peter, talk with John. Peter's saying this book is better. It's better than actually talking with Peter about the Lord Jesus Christ. We should put that in perspective. You say, man, why did God put me, you know, on this earth in this time frame? You know, he's still getting a special book that you can read. You can still have fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. You want to hear Jesus speak to you? Just read this book out loud. You can have a more sure word of prophecy. And this word is very important to him. The Bible says in Psalms 138, I will worship toward thy holy temple and praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy truth, for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. So we know that the name of Jesus Christ is very special, but he said the word was magnified above all thy name. Again, this book's really important. I mean, the Bible's saying over and over, we don't have time to look at every single place. But the Bible says wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that of the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow of things in heaven and things in the earth and the things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. I mean, his name's really important. The name of Jesus Christ. It's what we call upon to be saved, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. But he says his word has been magnified above his name. I mean, how important is the word of God to God? He's saying it's a more, it's a better testimony than someone could just give you of probably the greatest miracle that was ever seen, arguably. We're talking about his word's very important, and we don't have enough time to necessarily go to every place. But let's go to Deuteronomy chapter 18. Deuteronomy chapter 18. And I'll start reading for you there in verse 18. It says, I will raise them of a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth. Notice there again, he's saying, I'm going to put the words in your mouth, just like the Holy Ghost spake through these men. He says, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto my words, which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart, how shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken. But the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously, thou shalt not be afraid of him. Now in the world today, we have a lot of prophets. We have a lot of people that say a lot of things, they'll say, they'll say it the Lord even. They'll say, hey, this is what God told me. What happens if what they said didn't come to pass? Well God wanted them executed, according to the Old Testament law. Not only that, he said, you can't, you shouldn't even fear this guy, don't even regard anything that he's saying. But what was the convicts of 2 Peter when we were talking about prophecy, when we were talking about prophets? It was this book, right? So what if there was another book that was saying things that didn't come to pass? Should we have any fear of it? No. Turn to Genesis chapter 13. Now these, there's a lot of Bibles out there that you could buy today. I mean, there's probably over 500 English translations that I've heard of. Now what would happen if one of these Bibles said something presumptuously that didn't come to pass? Should you give any reverence to it? Should you fear it? Well let's look at Genesis chapter 13 verse 15. The Bible says, for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it. And to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. And so here in the Bible, God is talking to Abraham, and he's saying, look, I'm going to bless thy seed. Now thy there is singular, meaning he's talking to him and he's saying he's seed. Now in Galatians, the Bible makes it very clear who he was talking about. He was talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. Now turn if you would, keep your finger there, and turn if you would to Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3, and we're going to see the New Testament explain to us what this passage was saying. And it says there in verse 16, it says, now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds as of many, but as of one and to thy seed which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant that was confirmed before of God and Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot this annul, that it should make the promise of no effect, for if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more a promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise. So what was he talking about? Was he talking about all of Abraham's physical children? Was he talking about all of his descendants that he was going to bless? No, right here it made it very clear. He was talking to Jesus Christ. That's why he said specifically, it's not to seeds. And he said, look, it was confirmed before of God in Christ, meaning what? It was fulfilled when Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world. And we can all be blessed by believing in Jesus Christ and being saved. And it's saying, you know what, it got rid of the law, even though the law came, it couldn't disannul this promise, because it was given to Abraham by promise, and then it was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. So who fulfilled this? Jesus Christ, right? And it was talking about Jesus Christ. Now there's other Bibles, and they say something different. I'll read for you from the New King James. Says in verse 15, go back to Genesis chapter 13, you can kind of follow along. Says for all the land which you see, I give to you and your descendants forever. Now is that the same as thy seed, when he says your descendants? He even makes it plural, on purpose. So what was the Bible saying, the New King James saying? It's like, look, I'm going to bless your physical descendants. Now did that come to pass? No, it was fulfilled by George Jesus Christ. So that was something spoken presumptuously. That was spoken something false. So what should happen to the New King James? Well you shouldn't fear it. You shouldn't have anything to do with it. And it says you should kill it. I mean, I say you just get rid of it. How about the NIV? Says in verse 15, all the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. So again, is it talking about the Lord Jesus Christ? No, it's talking about his descendants. It says that I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. So why would God, in Galatians chapter 3, make it very clear that he wasn't talking to someone plural, and then all these Bibles change it to something plural? And you know, if you read Galatians chapter 3 and all those Bibles, they still say the same thing the King James does, they condemn themselves. But even the Amplified Bible, I mean, it just, I can't even believe how they worded it. But in verse 15, in Genesis, the Bible says, for all the land which you see I will give to you and to your descendants forever. Now if you actually go to Galatians chapter 3 and the Amplified version, it says this in verse 16. Now the promises were decreed to Abraham and to his seed. God does not say, and to seeds, and then in quotes it says, descendants. So in Galatians, in the Amplified Bible, he says God did not say that he was going to bless your descendants. And then you go back to Genesis and it says, I'm going to bless your descendants. Now that sounds like a contradiction to me, I mean how can somebody be reading the Bible that God says he's magnified above all his name, that's a more sure word of prophecy and it just has a silly contradiction like that. It's not the word of God. We shouldn't fear them. And let's go back to 2 Peter chapter 1. This maybe makes a little bit more sense if we go back to 2 Peter chapter 1. He says, let's read the last few verses of chapter 1, he says, knowing this verse, that no prophecy of the Scriptures of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Look at verse 2, chapter 2, but there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who primally shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they lay with feigned words, make merchandise of you. So now the primary application of 2 Peter is talking about physical false prophets, talking about men that would stand up and preach lies just to make money from you. And the Bible says that there's false teachers speaking things which they ought not for filthy lucre's sake. But even as the Bible's saying here, talking about the Bible being a more sure word, there's Bibles out there that are just made to make merchandise of you. So the first point is that we should understand that the whole Bible is God's prophecy, and he takes it very seriously. So if he takes it this seriously, then wouldn't you think he would preserve it? Wouldn't he make sure that he kept it, I mean he was saying, look, you shouldn't add anything to it, you shouldn't take anything away from it, well if you didn't have it in the first place, how could you do that? I mean, if you didn't have a sure word, if you didn't have something that you could go to and change, imagine this, imagine no Bible is perfect. Would you ever change God's word? No, that prophecy wouldn't even make sense. If you didn't actually have a real copy of God's word that was perfect, then you couldn't ever change it. That wouldn't even make any sense. But why would God say that he has a more sure word of prophecy if it didn't exist? And now I can show you hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of examples where these modern versions will speak things presumptuously, where they'll contradict themselves, where they'll say things that just don't even make any sense, they say that Jesus lied in John chapter 7, they talk about Jesus Christ taking the place of Lucifer and Isaiah. Let's look at one other place, turn with me, if you would, to Psalms chapter 12. The Bible says, the words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in the furnace of earth, purified seven times, thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever. Now why would God say he's going to preserve his word from this generation forever if we didn't have it, if he didn't preserve it, if we didn't have a more sure word? Why would God make that promise? Turn with you to one other place, go to Isaiah 59, and I'll read for you a couple more places. God makes it very clear that he doesn't want you to just get the ideas of the Bible, he doesn't want you to get just the thoughts, he wants you to get every single word, and he's preserved every single word. In Luke chapter 4 it says, and Jesus answering him said, it is written that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Now how do you abide by that verse if you don't have a perfect Bible? If you don't have every word, how could you live by every word? It wouldn't be possible. It says in Proverbs chapter 30 verse 5, every word of God is pure. How could you have, how could you say that if you didn't have it? How could you verify? John chapter 10, the Bible says, if he called them gods until the word of God came and the scriptures cannot be broken. He said look, in the New Testament the scriptures can't be broken, but if you don't have them, then they already are broken. So you can't believe that verse, you can't believe the every word verse. Jesus said, verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jaw or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. So if he says not in one jaw, one tittle, talking about just even the smallest little piece would pass away, till all be fulfilled, I mean has everything in this book been fulfilled? I mean has the second coming happened? Does the millennial kingdom of Christ happen? Nothing's going to be diminished from God's word. It says in Isaiah chapter 30, now go and write it before them in a table and note it in a book that it may be for a time to come forever and ever. Why would God have all those guys write these things in the book if they're just going to pass away? If you're going to lose it. He says no, it's going to be there forever. Said heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. God made it clear that his words are not going to pass away. Jeremiah 26, the Bible says, thus saith the Lord, stand in the court of the Lord's house and speak unto all the cities of Judah which come to worship in the Lord's house. All the words that I command thee to speak unto them diminish not a word. He said on Jeremiah, look, you better preach every single word. Diminish not a word. Well, how are you going to do that if you don't have all of God's word? You know, and I think that's a good command for any preacher, that they should never diminish a word of God. If there's something not popular in this Bible, or something that's out of season, you shouldn't diminish a word. You should preach the whole Bible. We have a more sure word of prophecy. I had you turn to Isaiah 59, look there at verse 21, it says, as for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord, my spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I put in thy mouth. Again, God's putting the words in his prophet's mouth. Very consistent with what we've been seeing. Now how could God say that if we didn't have a perfect Bible? He says, look, these words are not going to be diminished, they're going to come out of your seed's mouth, and your seed seed's mouth, and your children and children and children, forever. Why? Because he's always going to preserve his word. And sometimes people attack you and they say, oh, it's just Psalm 12 verse 6, that's your only verse in the Bible. No, there's a lot of verses in the Bible that talk about him preserving his word. About the fact that we should live by every word. About how important it is. And I'm not going to look at every single verse, but you say, well why do you really believe it? I honestly believe it because of faith. The Bible says faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Now when someone first showed me, they showed me like three examples of where the King James Bible and other Bibles kind of deviated. And I knew this, I knew that God wasn't going to make a mistake. And I knew that he would have a perfect Bible. So when they were showing me these silly, stupid examples in the Bible where they're making contradictions and having all these problems, and this one wasn't, I was like, that must be God's word. And I just took it right there. He said this is God's word without error. And I saw some examples and I just believed it right then. And now after I believed that, I studied a lot. I was like, I'm just going to go and I'm going to research it and I'm going to look at it. Because there's a lot of people that are against believing that we have a perfect Bible. And they'd say, oh there's problems with that Bible. And I've studied hundreds and hundreds of examples where people are saying this Bible made a mistake. And with an honest heart, looking at it, there were some that were a little difficult. Many of them were not. But I've never seen one example where the Bible made a contradiction. And even if, at this point in my life, even if I saw something that in my carnal fleshy mind I kind of thought was a contradiction for some reason, I still believe this Bible is the perfect, inerrant word of God. And that I must be at fault. And that this Bible is perfect. Because I take it on faith. And you say, well that's not logical. Well the Bible says that the preaching of the cross is foolishness in them that perish. We have to take our salvation by faith and I take that this book is word perfect by faith. But here's the problem. If you say that you don't have a perfect Bible, who's really in charge? Are you in charge or is the Bible in charge? I mean if you look at the Bible and you say, well I think this verse has mistakes, who's your final authority? Is it the Bible or is it you? Now if you say that this Bible is your final authority, it can change what you believe. And I submit that this is my final authority. If this book says something, I'm going to believe what it says. I'm going to get corrected by this book. But if I said there was no perfect Bible, ultimately I'm saying I'm trusting myself. Because when I look at a verse, I get to decide whether or not I think it's right. Rather than saying, you know what, this is right and I'm just going to submit to what it says. I'm going to believe what the Bible says. I'm going to let God be the one that leads me and directs me. But if you don't have a perfect Bible, if you don't have God's perfect word, you're trusting in yourself. You're trusting the fact that I know what the Bible says. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 2. The Bible says why you have a preserved word is so you can trust it. So you can trust in Him. Why would God give you something that was lies? The Bible says in Psalms 119, so shall I have wherewith to answer Him that reproaches me. For I trust in thy word. The Bible says in Psalms that David was trusting in His word. How could you trust in His word if it wasn't perfect? If it wasn't what God really said? So the first point was this, that the whole Bible is prophecy. The second point was that God has preserved that word so that we can rely on it. And the third point is the reason why He's done all that is so you can trust in it. The point is that God wants you to trust in His word. The Bible says in Jeremiah chapter 7, Behold, ye trust in lying words that cannot profit. So the Bible says if there's a lie and you trust in that lie, there is no profit. So if you have a Bible that has lies in it, how much is that going to profit you? Zero. So if someone shows me even just one lie in that book, I'm going to disregard it. Now I don't think that there's any Bible, any Bible translation that's not the King James that only has one error. I mean there's hundreds and hundreds, I can show you thousands. But the thing is, the person that sees the one or the two and they get it, and there's the person that says, you know what, I just don't want to believe that because they still want to trust in themselves. That's all there is to it. Because if you believe God's a perfect God, if you believe the verses that He gave you, you can say, well where is the perfect word? And the Bible says the word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. The King James Bible is the most readily Bible in the world. It's the most influential book. I mean you say, where is this Bible, God? Where can I hear your word? Well how about the most popular language on the planet? How about the most popular book on the planet? That's a good place to start. Why don't we just start with that? And then when you read it and you see for yourself, man, this is the word of God. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. When you see it, you just know it's right. I mean just think about many of the things you learn as a child, even math. Someone says one plus one equals two. You don't have to be convinced, you're just like, that's just right. Because when something's right, when something's the truth, it's just you can believe it, it's faith. And when God's word comes in your heart, you can just believe it because it's so true, man. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 17, it says, 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 in 2 Corinthians chapter 2, Paul was warning, look, there's a lot of people corrupting God's word. So here's my question. If you think that all the Bibles, like most people, here's their view, either they think there's one perfect Bible or they think all the Bibles are God's word. Well, if you think all the Bibles are God's word, where's the corrupt versions? Where's the bad versions? Where's all these people that are corrupting the word of God? Well, it makes a lot more sense if there's one perfect Bible and all the other ones are deviating from it, they're not the same book. Says in 1 Timothy chapter 6, first disputings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness, from such withdraw thyself. Well, the Bible says, look, there's a lot of people in this world, and it's just kind of a natural, I think, human tendency to look at someone prospering or having success and think that that's somehow God's blessing. You look at a church and maybe it's just, man, it's just booming. They're growing by thousands every single week and they've got this huge beautiful building and there's just money flowing in and you're like, God's hand must just be on that. They're supposing that gain is godliness. They think just because there's this huge increase that that's godliness. Now, of course, the Bible does not teach that we should be looking for a small God. We shouldn't be looking for, you know, nobody coming to your church and not seeing growth. No, in Acts chapter 2 there's 3,000 people saved in one day. We should be looking for a church that's growing, but we shouldn't be looking at the money pouring in and saying, oh, that must mean God's there, that must mean God's hands on it. They're supposing that gain is the godliness. They look at some man that has a bunch of money that's just rich, that's just real nice. The Bible says, woe, woe unto the preachers that all men speak well of them. It says the Bible, these people that are just loved by the world, that have all this money, the Bible paints a very clear picture that those are the false prophets, that those are the people that you shouldn't be trusting in. It says, but godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out, and having food and raiment, let us be there with content. 2nd Corinthians chapter 11, the Bible says, for he that cometh preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if he received another spirit which he had not received or another gospel which he had not accepted, he might well bear with him. There's a lot of people out there preaching another Jesus. Now the Bible says, in the beginning was the word, the word was with God, the word was God. So this book is the Lord Jesus Christ, not the pages, not the ink, the words. So someone coming preaching another Jesus, it's another Bible. I mean they're coming, they're preaching another gospel. You look at the Mormons, the book in their hand says, another testament of Jesus Christ. How much clearer could it get? I mean they have it written on their book. They're like, hey, I'm a false prophet, don't listen to anything that I have to say. But you know the interesting thing is, and it happened to me today, I was at the gas station just getting gas, minding my own business, and some guy just walks up and he's like hey do you want to read this? I just knew, I already knew, he was Jehovah's false witness. He was one of those guys, he was trying to give me their information, he was trying to preach to me, I didn't take his information, I never take their information, I would just throw it in the trash if he gave it to me right away. But the thing is that we started talking about the Bible and he says, well we only believe the Bible. And I said, you know I don't believe the Bible too, but you all have a different Bible. And he said, yeah, we have the new world translation. I said, well I believe the King James Bible is the perfect generic word. He said, well we got to change some of those words because you know for modern vernacular, you know it's an accurate translation of what's in the Greek. Now if you were really honest with yourself, you could study and see that the new world translation deviates from the Greek text very much. They change a lot of words, they change the word Lord and Jehovah, you know which is not the same word. But the thing is that really profound to me though this guy, is he was really convinced that he was right. And you know what, he was willing to come and tell me about his false book. Now how much faith does that guy have to believe in a book of lies? I mean you have the truth in your hand and this guy's convinced that his book's the truth. How much more should us as Christians believe that this is the word of God? How much more faith should we have in the book that's truth than a guy can have in a book of lies? That's not going to profit him any, is what the Bible says. So us having the word of God, we should have complete confidence that this is the word of God, that we should get people believing this. I mean it's kind of impressive sometimes to see these false converts, how much they're willing to go for their false religion. They have a lot of faith. You know, but we can have even more faith in the word of God because we know it's true. And the Spirit of God witnesses, it testifies with us that we are the children of God, that we have the Spirit of God in us. Let me show you one other place. Go to Deuteronomy chapter 22. So maybe you're not convinced, you say, well, are these Bibles really that bad? I mean, do they make that big of changes? Well in Deuteronomy chapter 22 in the Kings and News Bible it says, but if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her and lie with her, then the man only that lay with her shall die. It says, skip down a few verses in 28, but if a man find a damsel that is a virgin which is not betrothed and lay hold on her and lie with her, and they be found, then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he hath humbled her. He may not put her away all of his days. Now the Bible's teaching here is saying, look, if a man would come and force himself upon a woman, that he should be put to death. And the Bible's saying if there is two that were committing fornication together, and they were found, that they should be forced to get married. That's the proper thing to do. Now the NIV, it doesn't like that. So in verse 28 it says, if a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her, they are discovered he shall pay the father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her, he can never divorce her as long as he lives. So the NIV literally says that if you find a young maiden who is not married and you rape her, that you're not supposed to be put to death, you're able to marry her. So imagine the guy that gets rejected by some maiden, all he has to do is force her, and then he gets to marry her, according to the NIV. Now is that the word of God? Is that every word of God is pure? No, that's a lie. That's false. The King James Bible does not teach that. The King James Bible teaches that when a man loves a woman, he cleaves unto his wife, that he lay hold on her. And when the King James Bible says that he would lay hold on a woman, it's talking about a consensual relationship. It would never make such a perverse, gross distinction from the truth to preach some lie. And you say, well, I think the NIV is God's word. Well then you think rape is justified, according to the Bible. You have to believe then that lie. How much, I mean, you look at the King James Bible and you can study every page, and it would never say something so gross. It would never deviate from the truth. And to me, if someone could hear that and still believe that the NIV is the Bible, there's no hope. I mean, I can't convert you, I could show you hundreds and hundreds of verses, but if you really believe that the Bible justifies rape, I mean, that's not the spirit of truth, that's the spirit of error. So the Bible's saying what? That we have a more sure word of prophecy. That God's going to preserve his word, and because he has a preserved word, then we can trust in it. We don't have to trust in these lies, we don't have to trust in all these false dealings. But just think about how much God cares about even the smallest details. I mean, God, I was thinking about hair. The Bible says in Leviticus 19 that thou shalt rise up before the hoary head and on to the face of the old man, and fear thy God, I am the Lord. The Bible said in Matthew chapter 5, neither shalt thou serve by thy head, because thou cannotest not make one hair white or black. Jesus, when he was talking about, there was a woman that came and washed his feet with tears and says that she wiped them with the hairs of her head. The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 16, the hoary head is the crown of glory if it be found in the way of righteousness. First Corinthians chapter 11, God's talking about men and women, he says, Doth not even nature itself teach you that if a man have long hair, it is a shame on them. But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given her for a covering. So God even cares about your hair. I mean, there's a lot of verses in the Bible, God talking about the hoary head, talking about you can't even change your color over here, God's the one that does that. Talking about the reason why he gave hair unto the woman as a covering, as a glory, and that it's a shame for a man to have long hair, Luke chapter 12, the Bible says, but even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. God cares about the even smallest details. Even if you look on the microscopic level, God is a caring God, he's a wise God, he's given place to the smallest details. He's numbered every hair on your head. And then some people say, yeah, but he couldn't give us a perfect Bible. I mean, he couldn't preserve his word, which he's magnified above all his name. He can number all the hairs on your head, but he doesn't care to give you a perfect word. I mean, we're talking about God, who the Bible says is the king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God. I mean, the wise God, the only wise God can't keep his word. I mean, if you don't understand the Bible, it's interesting. You study about the age, it's only about 6,000 years. And it's interesting, if you look, the first 2,000 years of the Bible's history is really only covered in the first like 11 chapters. I mean, you pretty much just have Genesis 11, and then Genesis 12, you're introduced to Abraham. And that first series of people is about a 2,000 year period of time where you only have about 11 chapters. Then the next 2,000 years from Abraham unto Jesus, you have basically the whole Bible. And then starting about Revelation 5, you start getting into the future. And maybe just the last few chapters of the Bible, you have the next 2,000 years. So why is it that if the Bible is covering, you know, just this one portion, this middle portion so much, that people say, well, I don't think that we have a perfect Bible. Because if God spent 2,000 years through like 40 different people to write down his word all through this time to then just lose it, why would he do that? He said, well, I mean, you know, it's hard to keep it for these last, you know, 2,000 years. Look, he has it all planned out. He has it all figured out. He wouldn't spend all his time speaking of his word and all the prophets for it to just be lost. An interesting thing, we don't have time to go look at all this, but there's a couple times where he gave his word on like Jeremiah, and Jeremiah wrote it down, and he gave it unto the king, and the king threw the fire. He said, oh, God's word's lost. Nope. It's interesting, you can study this. I don't even know that Jeremiah knew that it was thrown in the fire, but the Bible says that God told Jeremiah, you know, the king threw it in the fire. So why don't you write it again and add a couple extra verses. And I like to just think that this guy, this king, you know, threw in the fire, and then all of a sudden somebody comes and is like, oh, God has another letter for you, and he's reading it, and he's like, I threw in the fire? He's like, man, I can't even escape God's word. You can't destroy it. You can throw it in the fire, you can bury it in the ground, you can't get rid of God's word. And these people, these modern versions, they think God's word's been buried somewhere. They think it should have been hidden. You can't find it. No, the Bible says the word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and thy heart, the word of faith that we preach, I believe every single person hears God's word in their life. They hear John 3 16, they hear some verse, the Bible, you know, is quoting there the Old Testament. It's totally the fact that, look, you don't have to go up to heaven to find God's word, you don't have to go down to the sea, it's everywhere. You can't hide God's word, and he's preserved it, but you know what? It's perfect. It's not with error, it's not mixed in with a bunch of, you know, poison, like these modern versions. The Bible says God is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the Lord which is, which was, and which is to come. The Almighty is what the Bible says. It says great is our Lord and of great power, his understanding is infinite. You think God in his infinite wisdom, oops, I lost the Bible, oops, you know, I gave my word to these 40 guys over a period of 2000 years, and then we just lost it. We just couldn't get it right. Says in Exodus 20, it says, for the Lord hath made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that in them is in six days. You think God could create this entire universe, this entire world, oh, but he lost his Bible. John chapter 1, the Bible says, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God, all things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. Everything was made by God, even this Bible is God, and it was made by him, but he spake by holy men, speaking by the Holy Ghost, and you think, oh, well, I made this perfect Bible, but it was just for like, you know, a couple years after Christ was here, and then we kind of lost it, and then nobody really knows what I said anymore, and you can't live by every word, doesn't make any sense. What God, who God do you serve? I serve a big God that's the creator of the heaven and the earth and the universe, the only wise God, immortal. The Bible says he's infinite, the Bible says the Lord omnipotent reigneth. You know, it's interesting, the hand on the Messiah is some music, oh, piece that people sing for an hour, like an hour, I don't know exactly how long, it's like an hour, an hour and a half, I mean, they're just singing like the Lord omnipotent reigneth, just over and over and over, saying how powerful he is, and then they'll get up, and they'll be like, but we don't have a perfect Bible. I mean, you'll sit up there and say the Lord omnipotent reigneth, I mean, he's so all powerful, but here's what we think he might have said maybe, kind of, a little bit. And think about Genesis chapter three with Satan. Yea hath God said, what was Satan's attack? God's word. If Satan can get you off this book, if he can say, nope, don't put your final authority on this book, just trust yourself. The Bible says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it? Your heart will lead you to destruction. You need God's word to be your light under your feet, to be a lamp, but the thing is, sometimes you think, man, I'm right, my heart's right, I got this right, and then you run into this book, and you have a decision, where's your final authority? Are you going to trust his word, that's a more sure word of prophecy, or are you going to trust in your heart? The Bible says in second Timothy chapter one, for I know whom I have believed. I believe in this book, it's God's perfect and errant word, I'm not going to doubt it for a second. And I hope that, you know, I've given you some verses to think about, the whole Bible is prophecy. I think I was able to kind of prove that to you. And it's the preserved word of God, and I believe we can trust in every single page, and every single word. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Thank you Jesus Christ for letting us come here, to hear your word, priest, I pray that everyone in this room would just know that we can trust in your word. We just thank you so much, God, for giving us a perfect Bible, that we can live by every day, that we have something that we can trust on, and rely on, we just thank you for your unspeakable gift, as the Bible says. I pray that everyone in this room would just have a blessed week, we just thank you for everything you give us, in Jesus' name we pray, amen.