Preservation of the Bible

Preservation of the Bible

Psalm 12:6-7

Theme: God guarantees the preservation of His Word.

Welcome to Palm Sunday here at Mountain View Baptist Church. We are so thankful you have chosen to attend today’s service. God bless you for coming. We would love to connect with you. If we can help you in anyway, please reach out to us. Be sure to stop by the welcome center.

Palm Sunday is when Jesus entered into the Eastern Gate from the Mount of Olives. As He entered Jerusalem on that Sunday, palm leaves were spread by His followers recognizing Him as King. This is a direct fulfillment of His Word before them. The prophetic Word was preserved and fulfilled in their eyes.

Our theme this year has been Back to Basics where our foundations as believers are being strengthened through God’s Word. Last week, we learned about the inspiration of the Bible. God breathed His Word which the original Bible writers recorded for us.

A man asked one day, “if the Bible is inspired, how do I know it is still inspired today? Is there any Scripture to prove it has been preserved or kept inspired?”

God not only inspired His Word but He also preserved His Word. If you think about it, God would have to preserve His Word, since truth existed with God from the beginning of time. We have been long after that time. God would have to keep His Word inspired and preserved for all of mankind.

There are not only clear statements of God preserving His Word, there are also illustrations in Scripture where He preserved His Word. Preserve means to maintain in its original or existing condition. It could also mean to keep safe from harm or injury.

Farmers will preserve fruit in jars to maintain their original condition. If you were to preserve fruit, you will need to have careful preparation for it to be successful. God’s Word is much more important than fruit. God has made careful preparations to preserve His Word through all ages.

God makes a clear statement His Word is preserved. Through the centuries of the original writings of Scripture, God has preserved His Word through its transmission. In the Old Testament God used the rabbis and priests to protect the transmission of His Word from generation to generation. Church history tells us God’s Word was written on stones, on animal skins, and on plant materials. In the New Testament God’s Word was protected by the church. The church had in its possessions at the time of the closing on the New Testament 5309 MSS on papyrus. Papyrus is a material prepared in ancient Egypt from the pithy stem of a water plant, used in sheets throughout the ancient Mediterranean world for writing or painting on and also for making rope, sandals, and boats.

Preservation is through the miraculous protection by God of His Word to deliver the truth to mankind through the written pages of His Word. Prior to the completion of the Bible, God communicated through prophets, visions, dreams, animals, and through inspired text. Through this work of God, He preserved His Word.

There are several reasons why we can be confident that preservation is the reason to be confident the Bible is God’s Word. There is so much confusion about preservation and I want us to realize the same care and protection God gave to the writers of Scripture is applied to the preservation of Scripture.

There is a brief history to understand which will help us to shore up our understanding of preservation.

The original writers of the Bible wrote in the language of their land and nuanced with their culture. The Old Testament writers wrote in Hebrew and some portions in Aramaic. The New Testament was written in what is called Koine Greek. These languages are ancient and require years of study which is impossible for most people. God has given men with great scholarship to translate with care and Godly preservation the Bible for English readers. There are approximately 900 English translations of the Bible. Which one is the most accurate and trustworthy? By far, the KJV is the most trustworthy. Yes, there are five editions of the text; yet, God has chosen to use the KJV to bring great revivals and two Great Awakenings with the KJV.

The King James is what has been termed the dynamic equivalence of the Bible. This means the translation process is producing the closest natural equivalent to the source language that prioritizes meaning over form. It is absolutely trustworthy.

Guarantees are given to us all the time but in order to activate any guarantee, you read the fine print. The parts that back up the guarantee. God gives us the parts of the guarantee of preservation throughout the Bible.

Part 1. . .

God’s Word presents salvation

“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” (1 Peter 1:23–25)

God’s Word is given to us for mankind to recognize His condition before God and His hope of restoration to a relationship with God. Mankind is born into sin, He has broken God’s Law because of sin. All men are sinners and we are need of forgiveness. Jesus came to die on the cross, was buried and rose again so that man can be forgiven. Our only hope is a Savior through Jesus Christ. This is what it means to be born again.

It is the mercy of God that He has given us the Bible to hear of God’s plan for man’s forgiveness.

A person must believe what God’s Word says about our sin because this is a fact that never changes. Notice, the message of God’s Word is forever which is called the gospel. If you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior, will you call upon Him today. Will you be born again?

God preserves this message for all of mankind through His Word and notice this message endures forever. It could not endure if God doesn’t preserve His Word.

While society may change, while morals may change, and while technology may change, God’s Word never changes, because it is preserved in heaven. It is etched permanently in heaven.

This truth is backed by an unchangeable God.

“For I am the Lord, I change not; Therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” (Malachi 3:6)

The gospel is the same for all of mankind from every generation and every location in the world. Regardless of nationality, culture, social standing, or physical make up. Every needs salvation that is only found in Jesus Christ.

The unchanging God gives man an unchanging gospel which changes man’s relationship with God.

Part 2. . .

God’s Word promises durability

Preservation guarantees His Word will be endure all the tests of time. The statements outlined in the Scriptures promise this truth.

“LAMED. For ever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.” (Psalm 119:89–90)

God’s Word is already settled in heaven and He communicates His Word through the pages of the Bible. Again, my concern is we protect His Word from those who would seek to damage or destroy His Word.

“The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, And all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: Because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: Surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: But the word of our God shall stand for ever.” (Isaiah 40:6–8)

God preserves His Word throughout all the ages of time. Civilizations come and go. Political leaders, armies and military leaders come and go. Farmers, businessmen, athletes, musicians, TV actors and actresses come an go, church leaders come and go, but God’s Word still stands. It is preserved and protected by God Himself.

The preaching of the Bible brought the first Great Awakening in the 1700’s as a reaction to the Age of Reason. In 1790’s a Second Great Awakening occurred as a result of preaching God’s Word. God’s Word was honored, God used His Word, and blessed the preaching of the gospel as many turned to the Lord in those days.

Jesus told us that His word would last time

“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” (Matthew 24:35)

This means when time is no more, God’s Word will endure and today you can count on God’s Word. It is true in the past, the present, and the future.

Part 3 . . .

God’s Word illustrates preservation

Moses had spent forty days and forty nights in Mt. Sinai with God when God gave the ten commandments to Moses on stone. While Moses was with God away from the people of Israel, in just a short time, they had turned to idols from the living God. Moses came down only to find the people in total rebellion to God. Moses in anger through broke the Ten Commandments. The word for brake here means to shatter into tiny pieces.

“And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear. And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.” (Exodus 32:15–19)

God tells Moses to go back to Sinai where Moses returns to the same place. God gave Moses a second set exactly like the first.

“And the Lordsaid unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest. And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount.” (Exodus 34:1–2)

If God’s Word is settled in heaven, God can give His Word because it is preserved in heaven. This body of truth about God is settled and secured already in heaven. God chose men through which to communicate this body of truth. Man did not originate the message, this is God’s message.

There is another illustration in Jeremiah 36:21-26.

King Jehoiakim took the Word of God from the scribe, cut it with a penknife and put it in the fire. He did not like what the Word said and He thought He could destroy it. Many a person does not like what God’s Word says, but the message will not change. You cannot destroy His Word.

In vv. 27-29, Jeremiah was to write down God’s Word for the people again.

What is the take away from this preservation?

1. God says every person needs Jesus Christ as their Savior. This is the reason on Palm Sunday He entered Jerusalem. Today, God wants you to be saved, to trust Christ as your personal Savior.

2. We can trust God’s Word completely. If He powerful enough and strong enough to create, He certainly can preserve His Word for us.

3. We must honor and respect God’s Word. As God’s inspired and preserved Word, we will respect it when we read it, honor in our life, and make sure the next generation have the opportunity to have it.