Sermon Tone Analysis

Statement of Faith Series.

The Word of God

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

(REV 20:4)

This is an interesting passage of the Bible.

It is found in the end of the book of books and it reveals an astounding truth in the midst of the fourth verse;

and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands.

This is in the end of this present world.

This is when Jesus Christ returns with the armies in heaven which followed him (Ch19), and prior to the new heaven and the new earth (Ch21).

This is after the beast and the false prophet are taken and cast into the lake of fire burning with brimstone and immediately after Satan was taken to be bound for a thousand years.

This is the beginning of that one thousand years of future history when Jesus comes to rule and reign on earth from the City of Peace, so called in its perfect form for the prince of peace has come.

What I am trying to say to you beloved is that during the time of the great tribulation many of the saints of God will be taken and beheaded for their refusal to take the mark of the beast, but this decision is inspired by one significant fact, the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God.

Lest you overlook what is being spoken of here I want you to understand that ALL THAT WE KNOW FACTUALLY CONCERNING CHRIST, WE GAIN FROM THE WORD OF GOD.

In that time Christians willing to die for their witness of Christ, WHICH THEY HAVE COME TO KNOW FIRST THROUGH THE WORD OF GOD.

The Bible is the source of their testimony.

The Bible is their absolute assurance of the truth and they have ALL committed themselves to THE BIBLE ALONE AS THEIR FINAL AUTHORITY, so much so that they will be willing to be “beheaded for” the truth of Jesus found therein!

There is no conflicting authority in their minds, there are no pretentious Pastors surrounding them telling them which words belong and which words don’t belong in the Bible.

There are no sanctimonious Shepherds telling their congregation they believe the Bible is holy and then taking time out of their sermons to correct it.

No, these Christians are beheaded for their witness of what they believe to be the very words of GOD.

They are emboldened to stand for what they KNOW to be true!

And I find this curious in the light of the one hundred years of attack against the English Bible.

Not even the Independent Baptists of the world hold the Bible as perfect anymore.

I thought it was only the vain young and middle aged ministers of IB Churches that had been sold a false bill of Goods, then I sadly discovered to my dismay that even the old ones cant reconcile the Source of Truth with any degree of consistency.

YET, here we have Christians who are willing to beheaded for the witness of a man spoken of in a book so filled with errors, there has needed to be over 450 published attempts to get it right with no end in sight?????

Really????

I think this passage tells me that those who are to be beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, have FOUND the PERFECT SOURCE OF TRUTH not subject to the doubt created by misguided men.

STATEMENT OF FAITH

This Church has a statement of faith that forms a part of its constitution.

It is a statement that I sought to ensure was as clear as possible so that those who hold to ideas that are contrary to that which is publicly available as representing the beliefs held by this Church, can feel free to overlook us and move on, or be willing to study the scriptures and accept that what is believed among us is consistent with the word of God.

Now, for that to occur we needed to IDENTIFY that “WORD OF GOD”, not in an obscure general way that does not exist in reality, but in a very practical way that is readily available.

It is therefore naturally the very first point in our statement of faith;

1.THE HOLY SCRIPTURES

We believe in the 66 books of the Holy Bible contained in the Old and New Testaments as the very word of God.

Believing that every word is verbally and plenarily inspired by God, and perfectly preserved for English speaking people in the text of the Authorized Version of the Bible (KJV).

We hold this book to be our final authority in all matters.

The Bible then being the supreme authority by which all human conduct, creeds and opinions are judged.

2 Peter 1:19-21Psalm 12:6-72 Timothy 3:16

I would like you to notice the specific distinction between this first point related to the scriptures and I would like you to compare it directly to an example that might be found in many other churches of many other denominations, which go something like this

A Bible College

I.

The Scriptures

All 66 books of the Bible in its original documents are the inspired Word of God, without any errors in their statements.

It is the complete revealed Word of God for this age.

More than merely 'becoming' God's Word through an experience, every word of the Bible is definitively the inerrant, infallible, eternal Word of God.

The Bible is to be interpreted in a literal, normal manner.

There is a tremendous distinction between those two statements.

The latter lays claim to a volume that does not exist, not now, NOR HAS EVER EXISTED as a whole in “the original writings”.

No matter how good that statement might sound and might placate most people, it is a statement that is false within itself, and can hold NO ONE ACCOUNTABLE TO ANYTHING.

You can’t say you believe in something that does NOT presently exist, nor ever has existed as a whole, it could not have because it was written originally over a period of 1500 years.

(the ten commandments “originally” in stone)

And we will talk more to that as we go on in this series.

In short, never did the original writings ever exist in one bound volume of 66 books, nor do ANY of the “original writings” exist today so that such institutions, churches or pastors can be held directly accountable to.

The former statement of Faith however (Ours), directs the reader to the very book that is in their own hands and lays claim that this book retains the perfect inspiration qualities that all perfect copies have retained throughout history, losing NOTHING in translation.

And it thereby holds the church and its pastor directly accountable.

Over the next six weeks I aim to demonstrate why we believe the very source of truth is found in this book, that this KJV of the Bible is the only book in the English language that can rightly claim to be Gods Holy Bible for the English speaking people.

Yes beloved, I will address the arguments that are generally laid against the KJV.

I will speak to why they are false arguments and more importantly how they contradict the very words of God itself.

I will show that denying we have a perfect Bible both denies what is plainly written in the Scriptures concerning Gods promise to preserve his words, but also impugns God’s own character and our Lord Jesus Christ who is also called “The Word of God”.

Over the next six weeks that I deal with this subject, though it truly can be so easily dealt with in a single hour of sermon for anyone who believes their Bible and knows the character and nature of Christ, yet because of all the deception out there respecting this issue, I will take the time needed to address it.

Seven sermons are intended, they will deal with.

The Persona of Truth

The Promise of Truth

The Preservation of Truth

The Proclamation of Truth

The Protest of Truth

The Prohibition of Truth

The Permanence of Truth

[I just made note that the issue concerning the preservation of the Bible and the trust we have that it is found even in a translation, could take less than an hour to understand.

So I intend to do just that in this first sermon and If you are happy and content with it….you can take the next six weeks off 😊]

BUT, if your desire is to truly understand it, then I’d encourage you to return and rejoice together with us as we truly do celebrate what it is like to hold on to the very SOURCE OF TRUTH.

Introduction

I would like you to imagine for a moment a world where there is no truth.

A world so filled with deception, a world where every man does only that which is right in his own eyes.

Imagine a world where even the greatest institutions of learning, those institutions that are promoted to teach of the very source of truth, instead teach things which are self-contradictory.

Imagine a world filled with books where the truth is said to be proclaimed but instead we discover that they are filled with only the vain opinions of men and woman who themselves are guessing at best as to what is true or false.

Imagine what it is like living your life believing you have done you best to follow what truth is, only to come to the realisation that there is no such thing.

No absolutes, no right or wrong, no purpose or in-ate reason for life, just a world where the human population has lost its will to live and looks to the end of life with more fondness than they look for tomorrows hope.

Imagine a world where those who are both charged to preach the truth, and are expected to have the sure foundation, the very source of truth in The Book, themselves create doubt in it, and the best they can do is give to you the opinions of men they agree with.

That, through the force of their arguments they persuade you to follow them, all the while leaving any absolute notion of Truth in the dust to be trampled under the foot of men.

‌Imagine now a world that has completely lost its mind.

Up is down

Good is bad

Bad is good

Bitter is sweet

Sweet is bitter

A world where boys no longer know if they are boys, and the greatest attribute of women personified in all your entertainments, is to be the men that they hate.

A world where a child is believed to be safer in a home filled with sexual perversion rather than a home where the foundation of civilisation had always prospered.

Imagine a world where small children are killed for the sake of convenience by their own parent.

Imagine a world that cares so little for those who sacrificed to bring the world to prosperity, are themselves sacrificed by the world that believes they have expired their used by date.

A world where people desire to be killed because they can no longer walk to the Cinema, or ride a bicycle.

A world where doctors do more harm than good.

Beloved, this is the world we are entering all because not one man in ten thousand believes they have the absolute source of truth.

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This is a world that truly believes God has left us with NOTHING, right when we need it the most.

This is a world where men who claim to believe the Bible as true, really don’t.

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I see them everywhere today.

Pastors who say the believe the Bible, but in practise they deny it.

They claim they have the very source of truth, and then choose another authority to correct it.

They claim to believe every word of God is pure, then spend ten minutes in a sermon saying why the word they have chosen better fits the passage.

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This is a picture of todays Independent Baptist Churches.

Truth in an absolute sense is cast into the streets.