San Andreas: A Foreshock of Things to Come

In one of 2015’s biggest blockbuster movies San Andreas, we become eyewitnesses to the cataclysmic destruction of the cities of the west coast of the United States due to a series of extremely large earthquakes and the tsunami one creates. The images in the film are troubling, especially for residents of west coast cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco, because the west coast is plagued by earthquakes and experts have been warning about “the big one” hitting at some point in the near future. Scientists have criticized the movie as an over exaggeration of what can actually happen in California. Although this is generally true, the movie still does a great job of illustrating the sheer power of the geological forces upon which our cities precariously rest (read New Yorker article on the Cascadia fault, or The Atlantic's article on the New Madrid Seismic Zone). The truth is, these forces are capable of doing damage beyond our imagination. In fact, the Bible predicts an hour, on one day just prior to Christ’s Second Coming, when every major city in every nation of the world will fall due to a massive, simultaneous, and global series of earthquakes. 

It is a fact that we have seen a spike in earthquakes around the world, and their magnitude, over the last 25 years. It is also true that Jesus predicted that in the end times there would be an increase in the number and magnitude of earthquakes worldwide and that this would be one of many signs of His soon return. Jesus said,

"For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows (birth pains).” (Matthew 24:7-8)

Certainly we have seen this increase (and an increase in all of the signs) more and more in our day, just like a women’s contractions increase and get stronger the closer she gets to birth. This seismic activity will culminate, one day, in a massive, worldwide quake just before Jesus returns to establish the Kingdom of God on earth.

One of the reasons that this new movie, a special-effects masterpiece, has so many Christians talking, is that it shows with great detail and accuracy, with stunning visual effects, what the mass destruction of major cities due to a series of large earthquakes could look like. It is surprising to Christians that anti-Christian Hollywood would depict fictional events on film that mirror the biblical events coming on earth as a result of God’s wrath on sinful, destructive humanity. Those producers don’t know what they are doing, but through His providence God is sending us a loud wake-up call to repentance of sin and faith in Christ through these kind of dire, last days depictions.

Let’s take a look at the Scriptures describing the last and most catastrophic earthquake that will take place worldwide at the end of the age, starting with the prophet Isaiah.

“The earth is violently broken,

​​The earth is split open,

​​The earth is shaken exceedingly.

The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard,

​​And shall totter like a hut;

​​Its transgression shall be heavy upon it,

​​And it will fall, and not rise again.

​

​​It shall come to pass in that day

​​That the LORD will punish on high the host of exalted ones,

​​And on the earth the kings of the earth.

They will be gathered together,

​​As prisoners are gathered in the pit,

​​And will be shut up in the prison;

​​After many days they will be punished.

​​Then the moon will be disgraced

​​And the sun ashamed;

​​For the LORD of hosts will reign

​​On Mount Zion and in Jerusalem

​​And before His elders, gloriously.”

(Isaiah 24:19-23)

First off he says, “the earth,” meaning the entire planet will “reel to and fro like a drunkard.” Secondly, we know it is the last quake in pre-millennial history because he says “the earth will fall, and not rise again (in the same condition).” Thirdly, we have confirmation of the end times Great Tribulation judgment because of the use of the phrases “its transgression shall be heavy upon it” and “the Lord will punish” and “after many days they will be punished.” These verses describe an aspect of the Great Tribulation, a seven year period of God’s judgment on the world preceding the Second Coming of Christ to rule and reign on earth. Isaiah connects this giant global quake to the time Jesus spoke of when the moon turns to blood and the sun is darkened. This all happens just prior to His return.

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Jesus, Matthew 24:29-31)

This global series of simultaneous earthquakes happens at the end of Armageddon, the final world war that continues to the end of the Great Tribulation and to the return of Christ.

“And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon. Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, ‘It is done!’ And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.” (Revelation 16:16-19)

Notice the Apostle John tells us “there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth” and “the cities of the nations fell.” In chapter 18 of the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, he makes it clear that this comes “in one day… for in one hour your judgment has come.”

"Therefore her plagues will come in one day--death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, 'Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.'” (Revelation 18:8-10)

While reading the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, we become acutely aware of the fact that God is going to judge the world for sin, for disobedience and for rejecting His Son Jesus Christ, and we know that there will be a series of demonic, man-made and natural disasters just before Christ’s return. So, when we see a movie like San Andreas depicting this kind of seismic catastrophe, we cannot help but think of that time to come. Jesus said of that time,

"For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.” (Matthew 24:21-22)

Looking at the world today, who can deny that the planet is ripe for judgment? Even many unbelievers think that “mother earth” is angry at people for their treatment of “her” and are predicting catastrophic consequences to come. Experts in all fields, such as defense, economics and ecology agree that we are beyond the tipping point and that big trouble is ahead for the inhabitants of this planet. If they only knew and believed that God has been warning us of this day for thousands of years through His Word, the Bible, and that God has made a way out of this mess for all of humanity. Through the Eternal Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah of Israel, “all who call on Him will be saved.”

Why do we need a Savior?

“As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.’ ‘Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit’; ‘The poison of asps is under their lips’; ‘Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.’ ‘Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known.’ ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’" (Romans 3:10-18)

But, God has made a way for us to be forgiven of our sin and made righteous in His sight, if we are true in our heart toward Him. God knows our hearts. If we can admit that we have done wrong against Him, repent of that sin and believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died to make us right with God through faith in Him, then God will be merciful and will forgive our trespasses. He will remove the punishment of sin, which is death, and give us eternal life with Him.

“But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:21-26)

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (Jesus, John 3:16)

Dear friend, pray to our Creator to forgive you of your sin. Receive Christ in your heart by faith and receive the free gift of God, the most wonderful gift that could ever be given, eternal life. God longs to be your loving Father. He loves you and wants to save you from your sin and His right judgment coming upon our world in the near future.

Visit   http://www.blueletterbible.org/ and http://www.pastorchuck.org/  for resources on the Bible and the Christian faith.

Love Never Fails

"Love never fails…" How do we forgive and love others as Christ has forgiven and loved us? That is only possible through the power of the Holy Spirit living in and through us. Receive Christ and be born again, born of God, and pray to be baptized in the Holy Spirit; filled with His Spirit to overflowing daily (John 3). What does true love look like? It doesn’t look like the world’s ideal. It is perfectly represented in the life, crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord. Read the Gospels to get the true picture of God’s perfect love. "God is Love (1 John 4:8)." 

Here are some additional verses on love and forgiveness/forgive:

"But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew 6:15

“Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.” Romans 15:7

"...but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ--" Ephesians 4:15

“And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” Ephesians 5:2

“…bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.” Colossians 3:13

Faith as a Mustard Seed

So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you." Luke 17:6

So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. Matthew 17:20

These verses make sense once we understand that they are only true when our will is according to God’s will. Whatever God's will is, that's the key, if we have even just the smallest amount of faith in Jesus, a tiny amount like the tiny mustard seed, God can and will still accomplish His will, no matter how large or impossible. For us to come to know His will is impossible in the flesh, but it can be spiritually discerned through our faith in Christ and His Word. But Christians, even with the weakest of faith, can accomplish the will of God no matter how miraculous because “all things are possible with God.”

These verses are about who we put our faith in, not our faith and how much of it we have. It’s about our great God, not us! It’s not about our ability but our faith in Jesus and His ability. Seek His will and even mountains will move, in accordance with His will. When our will lines up with His will, our little mustard seed will move a mulberry tree.

Guest Post: The Late Great Rapture Theory?

Excerpted from WHATEVER HAPPENED TO HEAVEN?  by Dave Hunt

It is an understatement to say that the winds of change are blowing at gale force through the hallowed halls of tradition. Scientific discovery is advancing in quantum leaps, computer technology is literally exploding, and...communications networks are bringing this rapidly expanding knowledge to the world with lightning speed. The inevitable result is a revolution in every field from physics to medicine and from economics to politics. That we currently face dramatic and accelerating worldwide change beyond present comprehension is sensed by almost every person who gives any heed to the contemporary scene. Nor is it possible to seriously doubt the connection between the quickening pace of high-tech's sensuous, self-centered living, and plummeting public morals.

Needless to say, the church has not remained untouched by these currents of upheaval and transformation. Influenced by the world as never before through the subtleties and persuasive power of modern media, Christians are being adversely affected in numerous and deceptive ways. The faith of many, particularly the youth, is being devastated by the challenge of "scientific" or "progressive" ideas which also undermine biblical standards of morality....

[As one symptom of "changing hope"] there are many Christians today (and their number is growing rapidly) who view the hope of an imminent rapture as the negative product of a defeatist theology. They sincerely believe that the expectation of being taken home to heaven at any moment undermines the "victory" they are convinced could be won by the church if Christians would only catch the vision of taking over the world and would unite to fulfill it.

On the contrary, there is a much more exciting and worthwhile hope for those who believe in the rapture. We will return with Christ from heaven in transformed bodies to reign over this earth with Him. That hope involves a truly new world order far superior to anything we could establish in these mortal bodies and without His physical presence on earth. Such a vision of the future helps us to realize that we are not part of this old world order and to make a clear break with it even now.

The ground is being laid for a major confrontation between those who long to leave this earth for heaven in the rapture, and others equally sincere who believe it is the Christian's duty to establish the kingdom upon this earth and that only when this has been accomplished by the church in His absence will our Lord at last return....

Of course, there have always been diverse views of the Second Coming. The amillennial position, generally held by Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Catholics (among others), sees history moving on for many thousands of years with Christ finally winding things up at some indefinite time in the future and with prophecy having little if anything to say that would give us any hint of timing or events along the way. Similarly, the postmillennial view suggests that we are already in the millennium (which is not a literal thousand years but could be hundreds of thousands), that the church is gradually taking over the world and will eventually establish the kingdom in Christ's absence, after which He will return for the final judgment. While there is a general belief in the rapture, postmillennialism puts that event so far in the future that it has no practical motivating effect in one's life.

In the early 1970s the rapture was the most-talked-about topic in the church. Lindsey had captured the attention and imagination of his generation. Pastors preached about heaven and Christians eagerly anticipated being caught up at any moment to meet their Lord in the air. Even the secular world became familiar with the concept. There were movies, such as The Omen , about the end times. Radio and television mentioned the Second Coming frequently, and cartoons and bumper stickers also took up the theme. One of the latter solemnly warned: "I'm leaving in the rapture, ride at your own risk!"

All of that has changed. The bumper stickers have worn off, the movies have lost their appeal, and the sermons have gone on to currently popular themes. The subtitle of a recent article in Moody reflects present sentiment: "Hal Lindsey was premature. The earth is great, but it's too early to call it late."

Most Christians no longer know what they believe about prophecy and now realize that their previously held opinions must be given an honest and careful review. Many who were once excited about the prospects of being caught up to heaven at any moment have become confused and disillusioned by the apparent failure of a generally accepted biblical interpretation they once relied upon. Those who believed in the rapture because it was popular are, of course, abandoning it now that it has become unpopular. They never had a good reason for what they believed based upon their own carefully weighed convictions. It is sad that so few Christians know the Bible for themselves....

The church is now ripe for the developing views of history and prophecy that either downplay or eliminate the rapture and put the emphasis upon "Christianizing" (in contrast to "converting") the world. A new genre of books espousing the idea that "victory in Christ" means a Christian takeover of this world is coming off the presses and selling well. Such ideas are being successfully taken into mainstream evangelical churches by [groups] denigrating...the rapture."

Today, the once-bright hope of the church being taken home to heaven by Christ at any moment has become the butt of crude jokes and a common subject of ridicule or scorn even among many Christians. The initial ad for the Reconstructionist Biblical Blueprints book series derisively called the rapture "God's helicopter escape." Earl Paulk, founding pastor of the 10,000-member Chapel HillHarvesterChurch near Atlanta, and a popular Christian television teacher, calls the rapture "The Great Escape Theory."

Being taken to heaven in the rapture has been to a large extent replaced by the rapidly growing new hope that the church is destined to take over the world and establish the kingdom of God. The focus has turned from winning souls for citizenship in heaven to political and social action aimed at cleaning up society. Scarcely a sermon is being preached about the world to come. Attention is focused instead upon achieving success in this one. If we have a big enough march on Washington and vote in enough of our candidates, then we can make this world a beautiful, safe, moral, and satisfying "Christian" place for our grandchildren. This is a very enticing scenario. George Grant's appeal sounds logical and extremely persuasive:

I became very disenchanted over time with the pessimistic mentality that the purpose of world history is to back the church into the corner and finally at the last second, right before the moment of absolute destruction, God snatches us into the heavenly realms and says: "Well, you lost the world, you lost your culture, you lost your children, you lost the schools, you lost all the unborn babies, you lost South Africa, you lost everything. Well done, my good and faithful servants." I just couldn't buy that. Reconstructionists say that's not the only view on how the church is to operate in the world.

The expectancy of the Lord's soon return which was so evident in the 1970s...has all but vanished from the church.... There has developed a surprising and growing antagonism against eagerly watching and waiting for Christ's return, which surely was the attitude of the early church. The pendulum is swinging to an outright rejection of not only the pretrib but also the premillennium rapture....

The trend...has accelerated. We could cite the current struggle going on in the Southern Baptist Church as one example. It is the largest Protestant denomination, but is presently losing members at a surprising and growing rate to independent churches that deny the rapture, deny any place for national Israel in prophecy, and believe that an elite group of "overcomers" will soon manifest immortality in their bodies without the resurrection or the Second Coming, and take over the world for Christ. Only then will Christ return. Not to take His bride home to heaven as the Bible clearly teaches, however, but to reign over the kingdom that has been established by her for Him here on this earth. One of the leaders in this movement writes:

"You can study books about going to heaven in a so-called 'rapture' if that turns you on. We want to study the Bible to learn to live and to love and to bring heaven to earth."

Is this issue even worth discussing? After all, what does it matter when Christ comes or when or how the kingdom is established? Is eschatological debate of any significance? A partial answer would lie in the fact that "last days" prophecy is a subject that takes up about one-fourth of the Bible. How could we dare to suggest that the Holy Spirit would give such importance to something which, in the final analysis, really doesn't matter? Based only upon the amount of attention given to it in the Bible, when and how and why Christ returns must be of great importance both to God and to us. We need to seek to understand why.

One reason for the significance of this issue should be quite obvious. Paul tells us that Christ is going to catch His bride away from this earth to meet Him in the air-"and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (1 Thess 4:17). Consequently, those who expect to meet Christ with their feet still planted on earth--a "Christ" who has arrived to take over the kingdom they have established in His name--will have been badly deceived. In fact, they could have been working to build the earthly kingdom for the Antichrist. Yet this teaching that we must take over the world and set up the kingdom for Christ has become the fastest-growing movement within the church today.

One of the key doctrines of this movement is the claim that the church is now Israel, heir to all of her promises, and that national Israel has been cut off from God and has no further place in the prophetic scheme. This new focus on an earthly inheritance for the church has further turned the hope of being taken to heaven in the rapture into an object of ridicule. It has also produced a drastic change in attitude and a serious reduction in the evangelical church's traditional support of Israel, an about-face which is being viewed with alarm by that tiny nation....

Speaking at Edmond near Oklahoma City on April 11,1988, Rick Godwin, a long-time associate of James Robison and popular speaker on Christian media, delivered the type of anti-Israel rhetoric that is becoming so typical in charismatic circles: "They [national Israel] are not chosen, they are cursed! They are not blessed, they are cursed!... The church--that's the Israel of God, not that garlic one over on the Mediterranean Sea!" Earl Paulk's criticism of national Israel and those who look favorably upon her includes the ultimate accusation:

The hour has come for us to know...that the spirit of the antichrist is now at work in the world...[through] so-called Holy Spirit-filled teachers who say, "If you bless national Israel, God will bless you." Not only is this blatantly deceptive, it is not part of the new covenant at all!

Currents of change are sweeping through the world and the church. In the crucial days ahead, the evangelical church could well suffer a division over the rapture and the related issue of Israel comparable to that experienced by the Catholic Church as a result of the Reformation in the 1500s. Nor would it be surprising if, in the cause of "unity," the larger faction in Protestantism moved much closer to ecumenical union with Catholicism, which has been traditionally antisemitic and discarded the rapture about 1600 years ago. Some of the reasons why this could happen, and the likely consequences, should become clear in the following pages.... [See resource pages for details.]

We must beware that in our zeal to "change the world for Christ" we do not become so wedded to an ongoing earthly process stretching into the indeterminate future that we lose our vision of heaven. We cannot be truly faithful to the totality of what Scripture says unless we are sufficiently disengaged from this world to be ready to leave it behind at a moment's notice.

There is cause to be concerned that...kingdom/dominion advocates could be fostering a false conception of our earthly ministry--a conception which we must guard against lest we subtly fall into...[the] mistaken notion that mortal man can accomplish what only immortal Man, our risen Lord, and we as immortal resurrected beings with Him, can perform. We dare not settle for anything less than the fullness of what Christ has promised! The glory that He offers is light-years beyond the...agenda of Christianizing and taking over this present world in these bodies of weakness and corruption....

The joy and glory He has planned and in which He desires that we participate--and the prospect of being caught up at any moment to see this hope realized--are more than enough to excite and inspire and motivate us to victorious living and witnessing.... We dare not, however, in the name of unity and the avoidance of controversy, abandon the hope given to us in [the] Scriptures (See 1 Cor:15:51-53

, 1 Thes:4:16-18

).

Hunt, Dave. (2011, October 1). The Late Great Rapture Theory?. thebereancall.org. Retrieved April 27, 2015 from http://www.thebereancall.org/content/october-2011-classic

The Word is our Counselor

To a great extent, sin is its own judgment. When it is fully developed, the sin itself is the judgment of the seed of rebellion that started in our hearts, sometimes years earlier.

It is surprising and perplexing how our sinful actions, which inevitably bring judgment and our own demise, so often feel empowering, rewarding, satisfying and blissful, especially in the beginning. Sin is usually brutally deceptive, which is why we are to know God’s ways and be on guard for sin’s lure.

As Christians, we do not follow our own feelings in determining what is good or bad because we know from God’s Word (and experience) that our feelings can, and often do, lead us astray. As Christians, we trust our wondrous and gracious God and His Word alone in determining right and wrong.

As the prophet has warned,

"The heart is deceitful above all things,

And desperately wicked;

Who can know it?" 

Jeremiah 17:9

But we seek God’s inerrant Word,

"Princes also sit and speak against me,

But Your servant meditates on Your statutes.

Your testimonies also are my delight

And my counselors." 

Psalm 119:23-24

Guest Post: On the King James Only View

Question: Dave, you have been accused lately of undermining the Bible and opposing the authority of God’s Word because you don’t insist upon using the King James Version exclusively. How do you respond to such indictments?

Response (Dave Hunt): I will publicly defend God’s truth and expose false doctrine regardless of who teaches it, without judging hearts and motives. Heresy that is taught publicly must be opposed publicly. But I will not publicly defend myself in response to personal attacks against me, no matter how vicious and false—and there have been some lately. In obedience to Christ I am obliged to pursue Matthew:18:15-17

 privately with individuals who make false charges (though publicly) against me personally, and I have done so.

As for undermining the Bible and opposing the authority of God’s Word, the falsity of such charges should be apparent to anyone who has read my writings or listened to my talks. Anyone with doubts may read the chapter on sola scriptura in my latest book, A Woman Rides the Beast , or listen to the tape of my debate with Karl Keating on that same subject, or the five-tape series of messages I preached on the sufficiency, inerrancy and authority of God’s Word. Nor is it true that I defend the modern versions and run down the King James Version. I have been living in the KJV for more than 50 years and it is the KJV which I use when I preach and teach. The record speaks for itself. In the past, on occasion, I have quoted a modern version in my books where it seemed to be more understandable to the average reader, particularly the non-Christian.

As for the KJV-only debate, I hesitate to step into that arena because whatever one says only seems to heighten the controversy. However, we have received so much mail on this topic, reflecting confusion from both sides, that I will try once again to bring some balance where I believe it is badly needed. Where doctrinal purity is not involved, we need to respect one another’s sincere differences of opinion. We must disagree courteously and in love and deal with the issues rather than attack persons or motives. There are godly and sincere people on both sides of this controversy.

Let both sides remember that all versions are translations . For the KJV to be perfect in every word , the translators must have had the same infallible inspiration of the Holy Spirit in their translating as those who wrote the original Greek and Hebrew documents (2 Tm 3:16; 2 Pt 1:21) had in their writing . Claiming such inspiration for the KJV’s translators, some KJV-only advocates even denounce all other translations as New Age or of the devil. Yet the King James Bible translators themselves, far from claiming inspiration or perfection, confessed that they had consulted other “translators and commentators” to improve their work. They acknowledged that the KJV was not perfect but could be improved, and that there were places where they were uncertain of the exact meaning of some words. They even recommended consulting a variety of translations. Why should I be castigated for agreeing with the KJV translators? The following is from the introduction to the 1611 KJV, titled “The Translators to the Reader” (note that in seventeenth-century English the “u” and “v” were reversed):

Neither were we barred or hindered from going over it again, having once done it [the work of translation]...[nor] were we the first that fell in hand with translating the Scripture into English, and consequently destitute of former helps....Neither did we thinke much to consult the Translators or Commentators, Chaldee, Hebrewe, Syrian, Greeke, or Latin , no nor the Spanish, French, Italian , or Dutch ; neither did we disdaine to reuise that which we had done, and to bring back to the anuill that which we had hammered...vsing as great helps as were needfull....

Yet for all that it cannot be dissembled...[that] it hath pleased God in his diuine prouidence, heere and there, to scatter wordes and sentences of that difficultie and doubtfulnesse, not in doctrinal points that concerne saluation (for in such it hath beene vouched that the Scriptures are plaine) but in matters of lesse moment, that fearfulnesse would better beseeme vs than confidence ...and to resolue upon modestie....There be many words in Scripture, which be neuer found there but once...there be many rare names of certaine birds, beastes and precious stones, &c. concerning which the Hebrews themselves are so divided among themselves...so to determine of such things as the Spirit of God hath left (euen in the judgement of the iudicious) questionable, can be no lesse than presumption. Therefore as S. Augustine saith, that varietie of Translations is profitable for the finding out of the sense of the Scriptures; so diuersitie of signification and sense in the margine, where the text is not so cleare, must needes doe good, yea, is necessary, as we are perswaded....They that are wise, had rather haue their judgements at libertie in differences of readings, then to be captiuated to one, when it may be the other.

So the KJV translators themselves disagree with those who claim inspiration and inerrancy for the KJV. They admit their own fallibility, the imperfection of their KJV translation, give alternate readings in the margin and recommend consulting a variety of translations! This is only logical. If, as some insist, the KJV is the perfect translation and all others are of the devil, then the Spanish, German, French, etc. Bibles are not the Bible either! The whole world must learn seventeenth-century English and read the 1611 KJV if they would have God’s Word. Nor could anyone refer back to the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts behind the KJV; for to do so in order to be more certain of the exact meaning would be to suggest that the KJV was not perfect after all. The unreasonableness of that view is obvious.

In fact, the KJV translators take up many pages of their introduction arguing that the Bible needs to be in every language so that all may read it in their “mother tongue” and thus understand it better. That fact, they say, is the justification for their labors to put it into the daily language of their countrymen. These men even argued that “the very worst translation of the Bible in English, set forth by men of our profession...is the word of God.” How far they were from what some are claiming today! Of course, the KJV translators had not encountered the deliberately perverted translations of today’s cults.

They were confident that while the many translations in English or other languages differed on some words and phrases, no doctrine was affected . (Doctrine is affected, however, in today’ s perverted versions such as the New World Translation of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Joseph Smith’s Inspired Version, and a few others.) Thus, to tell the millions of people who were saved through reading the NAS or NIV, for example, and who are edified and growing in faith through daily study of such versions that they are using the devil’s false Bibles, is, in my opinion, extremism and only causes division and confusion. Rather, suggest consulting the KJV as well.

I was reared on the KJV and use it exclusively in all my study and speaking, only rarely consulting other translations for comparison. Why consult other translations at all? The KJV translators did so and recommended the practice! In following their advice we discover that, whereas in some places modern versions are deficient, in other places they excel. For example, the KJV at 2 Thessalonians:2:2 says not to be troubled by rumors that “the day of Christ is at hand.” If one believes in a pretrib Rapture which marks the beginning of the Day of Christ, then it is not disturbing but good news if that day is “at hand.” Nor need that be disturbing even if one believes in a mid- or post-trib Rapture. It would only be disturbing if the day of the Lord had already come , for that would mean one had been left behind at the Rapture—which is why it is obvious that Paul had taught a pretrib Rapture to these people. The KJV 1611 edition had many marginal notes elsewhere, but none here. One was added later: both the Greek and common sense required it. Today’s KJV margin suggests “is now present.” That changes the meaning entirely, makes sense, and admits that the 1611 edition wasn’t perfect. The NAS reads “that the day of the Lord has come,” and the NIV, “has already come.” So a required later revision (one of many) in the KJV shows that the 1611 edition was not “inspired”—and the revision agrees with the NAS, the NIV and the NKJV!

Furthermore, some modern versions excel in places, even when it comes to declaring the deity of Christ . For example, there are eight verses in the New Testament which clearly declare that Jesus is God: John:1:1, Acts:20:28; Romans:9:5; 2 Thessalonians:1:12; Titus:2:13;Hebrews:1:8; 2 Peter:1:1 and Revelation:1:8. The KJV is only clear in four of these (Jn:1:1; Acts:20:28; Rom:9:5 and Heb:1:8), whereas the NAS and NIV are clear in seven of the eight (the same four plus Ti 2:13; 2 Pt 1:1 and Rv 1:8) For example, in Titus:2:13 the KJV says “the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ,” while both the NAS and NIV say “our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,” certainly a more definite declaration that Jesus is God. In 2 Peter:1:1 the KJV says “God and our Saviour Jesus Christ,” whereas again both the NAS and NIV say “our God and Savior Jesus Christ.” (Actually that’s what the Textus Receptus says in the Greek—the KJV translators simply made a mistake, which was corrected in the NKJV as well.) At Revelation:1:8 the KJV says “the Lord,” whereas the NAS and NIV say “the Lord God,” clearly declaring that Jesus is God.

If the situation were the other way around (i.e., the KJV clearly declared Christ to be God in seven of the eight places and the modern versions in only four), some KJV-only advocates would surely accuse the modern versions of downplaying Christ’s deity. Instead, they ignore the weaknesses in the KJV while jumping on those in other versions. It is surely helpful to the church to have the deficiencies in modern versions pointed out, and those using them should beware of such improper renderings. At the same time, however, those championing the KJV should honestly acknowledge those places where the modern versions excel.

The fact is that the KJV, NKJV, NAS, and NIV (in spite of some failings in each) clearly teach that Jesus is God, one with the Father; and all four clearly present the gospel and all of the other cardinal doctrines of the Bible if one reads the entire text and doesn’t take an isolated verse here or there to prove a point. Therefore, to suggest that the NAS and NIV are “the devil’ s Bibles” and part of a New Age conspiracy to usher in a one- world religion by destroying God’s Word is simply not true and places an unwarranted condemnation upon those who use such versions. Tragically, this faulty perception is causing confusion and division in the church. We must repeat our earlier warning that Gail Riplinger’s book, New Age Bible Versions , is literally filled with errors and cannot be relied upon as a defense of the KJV. She even lumps the NKJV in with modern versions, whereas it is based upon the same Hebrew and Greek texts as the 1611 King James Version.

TBC Staff. (1995, January 1). Question: Dave, you have been accused lately of undermining the Bible and opposing the authority of God’s Word because you don’t insist upon using the King James Version exclusively. How do you respond to such indictments?. thebereancall.org. Retrieved March 30, 2015 from http://www.thebereancall.org/content/january-1995-q-and-a



For more on the subject, see my article here:
http://ph16.blogspot.com/2013/08/king-james-only.html

Guest Post: The Preaching of the Cross

Dave Hunt
Mar 1 1988

In our great concern over the growing apostasy and in our zeal to contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints, we must constantly take heed of our personal relationship with and testimony for our Lord. And to do this, we must always keep foremost in our hearts and minds the Cross .

Scripture makes it very clear that the cross of Christ is the heart of the message we preach, the determinant of our relationship to this evil world, and the secret of victory over the world, the flesh and the devil in our daily lives. Christ reminded His listeners repeatedly that it was not possible to be His disciple and thus a true Christian without denying self and taking up the cross to follow Him. I think the Bible makes it clear what this means, although there is also more depth of truth in the Cross than we will be able to fathom in this life.

Paul wrote, "I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Cor:2:2). This characterized his consistent conduct and the message he preached. For him there was one important rule: "Not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ be made of none effect" (1:l7). We dare not compromise, dilute or try to improve, with man's wisdom, the straightforward simplicity of the Cross. To do so destroys its truth and power to save others and to deliver us from succumbing to daily trials and temptations.

We have a tendency to forget that "The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness" (1:18). One of the greatest problems today is the often well-intentioned attempt to reinterpret the gospel to make it sensible and acceptable to the natural or carnal man. Instead, the unchangeable message must change the thinking and lives of those who receive it or it cannot change their eternal destiny. Let that never be forgotten. That transforming power is missing, both from the gospel preached to the lost and from the Christian's life, when the sharp sword of the Word with its radical message of the Cross has been sheathed in the popular psychologies and self-oriented thinking of our day.

What we are trying to say is illustrated through a man who had the most amazing and unique testimony of anyone who ever lived. A resident of death row, he knew on the day of his execution, as footsteps came resolutely down the corridor, that he was going to die. When the door of his cell swung open, however, the jailor spoke these astonishing words: "You are being set free. Another man is dying in your place!"

Of course, I'm referring to Barabbas, the only man who ever lived who could literally testify, "Jesus died for me, in my place!" But Barabbas was not saved. Why? Simply because the death of Christ had freed him to live his own life. Yet that is often today's self-centered understanding of the gospel: Jesus died for me so that I can live for myself, for worldly success and happiness, and go to heaven when I'm too old or too sick to enjoy earthly pleasures anymore. Against that false impression, A.W. Tozer wrote:

Among the plastic saints of our times, Christ has to do all the dying and all we want is to hear another sermon about His dying—no cross for us, no dethronement, no dying. We remain king within the little kingdom of Mansoul and wear our tinsel crown with all the pride of a Caesar; but we doom ourselves to shadows and weakness and spiritual sterility.

People would come to Christ promising to follow Him wherever He would lead. His reply was simple: "Let Me make it very clear. I'm heading for a hill outside of Jerusalem called Calvary, where they will crucify Me. So if you intend to be true to Me to the end, take up your cross right now, because that is where we're going."

Of course no one did that. Even His closest disciples all forsook Him and fled to save their own lives. Nor would it have saved their souls had they died on crosses erected beside His. He had to die in their place. But after His resurrection they were changed men, no longer afraid to die for their Lord. For then they understood and believed and gladly submitted to the truth: Christ had died in their place because theydeserved to die. His death was not to deliver them from death, but to take them through death and out the other side into resurrection.

At last they understood and believed. Acknowledging that God was just in condemning them to death for their rebellion against Him, they accepted the death of Christ their Savior as their very own. They had died in Him; and believing that changed everything .

In Galatians:6:14 Paul writes, "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." As those who have been crucified with Christ, we have been completely cut off from this world. One of the problems with today's Christianity is its attempt to make itself appealing to the spirit of this world and thus to become popular with the world. Christ would no more be popular today than He was in His day; and He said that those who hated Him would hate His disciples. So John wrote, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 Jn:2:15).

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Paul explained further: "For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you" (2 Cor:13:4). How are we weak in Him? Not in our relationship to sin or Satan or to the temptations of this world, over which we have the victory through Christ. We are weak in the same way that He was weak, i.e., in that He did not fight to defend Himself or His kingdom against the political or military might of this world. His victory (and ours in Him) over Satan also came in submitting to death: "That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Heb:2:14-15
).

It is not through gritting our teeth and determining by our will power that we overcome temptation, but in accepting the fact that we are dead in Christ. The dead no longer lust, lose their tempers or act selfishly. Our victory is in our being " dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom:6:11). We have given up life as we would live it in order to experience His life being lived in and through us. The life He gives is resurrection life, and only those who are dead can receive that. We cannot know the fullness of the power of the Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit of Christ, until we have willingly accepted His death as our death.

These few thoughts scarcely scratch the surface of the meaning of the Cross (which includes, of course, the Resurrection). In meditating upon this greatest event of all time and eternity, we begin to see both the horror of our sin and the amazing love of our Lord—the two chief motivations for holiness. May we abide in His love, that the Cross so fully proved, and become the messengers and channels of that love to the world for which He died. TBC

Hunt, Dave. (1988, March 1). The Preaching of the Cross. thebereancall.org. Retrieved February 28, 2015 from http://www.thebereancall.org/content/preaching-cross