( I John 2:16)
Making mistakes is a condition of human frailty. A week or so ago I was listening to the radio , the host summed it pretty well when he put it this way: �In the comedy that is life we are often interested spectators watching others. More often we are the actors upon the stage.�
I personally have made more than my share of mistakes. I have heard this as a joke, but I -honestly!, lived it. I was in my late teens, maybe early twenties, and working at a factory during a summer vacation while in college. One of my supervisors sent me to the tool crib to get a �Phillips� screwdriver. I went to the tool crib and asked for, �Mr. Phillips. Someone wants to use his screwdriver.� There are still people who remind me of this move of mine. This, after nearly four decades have passed.
Every, it seems, has either heard or told most of the �Blond Jokes.� Did you hear about the blond who stayed up all night just to see what happened to the sun when it got dark? It finally dawned on her! Sounds like the way I generally live my life!
My major mistake is accepting the invitation to address this revered group of men and women. I said this the first time I spoke at a Burgon meeting. I repeated this the second time. I say it now, again. I am the least able person to speak to you about the important topic of Scriptural transmission. I am the least knowledgeable about the mechanics, the methods, and the meandering of the stream of Scriptural transmission.
I do value this opportunity to speak mostly so that I can express how much I value this opportunity to learn from all of you. Again, this not humility. This is simply and acknowledgment of reality.
I have nothing new to say to you. I don�t even have a novel way to say the old things that I will relate. I am hopeful that I will have a different perspective, a new angle, that may allow me to say an old thing in a fresh light.
That is one of the many beauties of the Scripture. The Word of God never grows old. His Message is constantly showing us new insights from the old, old story.
Ethan, a few days ago, told me about a friend of his who had said that he could not believe in God because of all the evil in the world. I told Ethan, as you all know, that this was one of the proofs that the Scripture is true.
Man sinned and turned his back on God. Man remains in rebellion against God and Godly things. If there were no evil in the world it would mean that the Scripture was mistaken.
Some glad morning God will eradicate evil from this world. But, for now, He gives us a way to live through - and gloriously above - the evil that is so vividly contrasted in this Scripture from the Goodness that is God.
I have chosen a verse to sort of hang my hat on. This is not intended to be an exegesis of the passage. It is simply intended to be an acknowledgment that my words are less than nothing unless they pay homage to the Word that God has preserved for our edification.
I John 2:16 says, �For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.�
First of all, I would like to look at some of the mistakes which were made by various persons in the Scripture.
The Hang our Hat verse first speaks of the lusts of the flesh.
There is a real mistake of anyone saying, �I know the will of God so well that even He can not convince me of any other path!� This is not, of course, to say that we should follow any new path which may be offered. I believe that God has used men like Moody, and Sunday, and Rice (to name just a few) to �beat down the grass,� - so to speak - that it might be easier to follow the old paths that lead to the Will of God. The problems come when one begins to trust his own instincts, or his own hero�s, rather than trusting on a reliance upon the Sure Word of God.
The first group of which I�d like to speak could be called the Traditional Religionist.
You will find the story of the scribes and the Pharisees, and the woman taken in adultery, in John 8:1-10. At least that is where you will find this story in my Bible. According to the footnotes and marginal readings of most of the new translations - and, sadly speaking, of many editions of the King James Bible as well! - there are those religionist of this day who would still deny this sinner woman an audience with the Master. I see this as a mistake of observance through our own physical (not spiritual!) eyes.
The first thing I want to notice is that this poor lady, who forsook her sin in the presence of the Son of God, was the victim of what we would call today a sting operation.
I do not believe that it is reasonable to believe that her being caught (By the way, where is the guy who must have also be �caught in the act?�) was simply a happy coincidence for these religious snobs!
What were these religious leaders doing when the caught this woman? Were they simply out for a mid-day stroll and decided to see what might be going on in someone�s window? And, about this man. What happened to him? Did he escape? Did he threaten these pious clerics? Was he well known to the accusers so that they would let him go rather than �ruin his reputation?� Why, if these religiously offended persons were serious about their revulsion to the sin, was he not also brought before the Lord?
Notice that this woman was �caught in the act.� It is quite possible that these men set her up to commit this sin. In such a case they were as guilty as her! More. In this type of a case they would have been guilty of a mindset that they were so superior to this woman that they could simply trick her.
Today this is called �entrapment.�
The only likely alternative to the above is that they were constantly observing her. This is, of course, a very unhealthy preoccupation with anothers faults. It is also an indication of their superior attitude. No wonder they declined when Jesus gave the command, �Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.�
These scribes and Pharisees were not at all interested in what Jesus had to say. Although, they might have been mildly interested in His hearing what they had to say. Their real interest lie in exposing the theological flaws of this humble Carpenter Who had decided to set Himself up as a theologian. After all, this was their bailiwick. He must conform to them or be discredited.
Next, in Matthew 22:23-33, we see the mistakes of the liberal/learned theologian. In the asking of , �Whose wife shall she be?,� they were not seeking any sort of information. The Sadducees did not even believe in an afterlife or resurrection. That doctrinal flaw was why they were sad, you see!
They made the mistake of relying on their own learning.
Their interest in the confrontation with Jesus lie in their attempt to show an exercise in their mastery of the Word of God. These men believed that they already had the doctrine correct. �How dare anyone,� they seem to reason, �Challenge our grasp of the message of God!�
Those who believe that they already know it all will never be able to learn any of it, let along, all!
The method chosen by these men was to ridicule Jesus by showing the foolishness of His teaching on resurrection.
The Sadducees did not see this as much of a problem. They probably though that Jesus was O. K., for an armature But, He would be completely unable to grasp the �big picture� of the outworking of His teaching.
They would be willing to help Him if only He would acknowledge their superiority in the field of religious knowledge.
Moving on, may we notice the lust of the eyes. Men often make the mistake of seeing something that certainly seems to be correct in their own eyes. Therefore it must be right.
In Genesis 4:3 we see Cain make the mistake of observed knowledge. His understanding was not centered on God.
Cain saw, at the very least, the preparation of his herdsman brother�s sacrifice and decided to give of his own work without thought as to the meaning of sacrifice.
He (Cain) felt that the offering of his work would show that his devotion to his God was through his complete life. Too many �his�s� and the only thought of God was as �his� God.
God is not our property, and it is not up to us to decide what it is that ought to be accomplished. God calls the play. We must execute His plan.
The plan and offering of Cain was neither unsacrifical nor profane in intent. Everything about the sacrifice of Cain spoke of devotion to the best of Cain�s ability. What was lacking was that reverential respect for the Word of God which says, �Not our own will, but Thine, be done.�
The worship of Cain may have looked proper. But, it was done outside the known will of God. Water from the well of disobedience, no matter how pure it may seem, will never quench the soul thirst of unregenerate man.
Now, we move to Genesis (19:1-11) to see the mistake of Lot. Lot made the mistake of tolerance.
Back in Genesis 13:10-11 we read the story of just how it came to be that Lot was in this wicked city. Lot may have felt that he could maintain his uncle�s righteousness in this unrighteous place - or he may have felt that he had found something better. Whichever, he was sure that he could handle any situation which might arise.
Lot did know, for certain, that he wanted the best that the world had to offer!
Now, read what happened in Genesis 19:1 ff. Notice, especially, that the men of the city did not sneak up on Lot. They came in a boisterous crowd. I don�t believe that these men ever expected anything other than complete compliance from Lot. It seems likely that Lot had never given them any reason to suspect that he might disapprove of their �lifestyle.�
When is a Christian lifestyle not a testimony? When it never testifies!
Now we come to the pride of life. Many people make the mistake of believing that they know better what it is that they want, or need, than does God.
Look, first, at Eve in Genesis 3:5. She may have been the world�s first known follower of a self-improvement guru. She was looking for a way to make her place in life a little bit better than it, in her eyes at least, had been.
Eve did, after all, have a perfectly reasonable rationalization as to why she would choose the forbidden fruit. To do otherwise would keep one from experiencing all that life had to answer. �Why should I,� she may have reasoned, �Be held back by the provincialism of God. After all, we only go this way once.� So Eve may have thought.
Eve could also have found some theological purpose in partaking of the forbidden fruit. Here was a chance to be as God in knowing both good and evil. Eve may have reasoned that this was a way to be even closer to God through this experience.
We might also note that Eve�s grasp of God�s Word was tempered by her own �additions to the text.� (See Genesis 3:3) Of course she was using the NEV - The New Eden Version. She had studied the text and was able, with reasonable accuracy, to say that this is what God had really meant to say. She had simply given a dynamic equivalency reading of the text.
In the same chapter where we find Eve, we also find Adam. (Genesis 3:6) Adam was a joiner. He saw the fellowship with his fellow creature as a desire to be fulfilled.
When Adam saw that Eve had partaken of the forbidden fruit he was truly able to say that everybody else (And, in this case we do mean everybody else!) was doing it. He must also take part of this forbidden fruit or deny his humanity. And, he must have reasoned, God had created that humanity.
The reasoning of Adam to take of the forbidden fruit must have seemed sound. After all, had not God Himself made this woman to be his companion? Adam may have felt that he must eat if Eve ate, or he would be disobeying God. After all Eve was to be his companion. That was the Word of God.
Separation from the sinner was just for those silly fundamentalists.
We also read of Judas who was the social manipulator. (John 18:3) The mistake of Judas, one of them!, was that he completely misunderstood the Mission of Jesus. Whereas Jesus had said (Luke 19:10) that He had come to �seek and to save that which was lost,� Judas found his constituency among the poor, the political, and the pride which he felt within himself.
Just what may have been the thinking of Judas when he committed the act which forever sealed his name as a putrid reminder of all that is amiss with the human race? I do not believe that Judas ever considered, until it was too late, that his actions were evil. That does not detract from the horror of his person and acts. It may help us to understand how Judas could do such a thing as to betray the Son of Man, but it can never excuse the heinous nature of his actions!
Judas had seen Jesus escape from other traps (ex. John 10:39). Judas may have felt that Jesus could simply walk away from this as well. Judas would then have thirty more pieces of silver for himself, or even for the poor.
Judas may have felt that the sacrifice of Jesus would help to ferment rebellion and free the Jewish people from the Roman occupation.
Judas may have simply been dissatisfied with Jesus and was looking for a way to get Him out of the way so that he, Judas, could better lead the group.
Also, of course, Judas may have simply been greedy for the money so as to improve his own position. This seems somewhat unlikely given the reaction of Judas in Matthew 27:3-10.
We do not know the reasons behind the actions of Judas. We do know, or at the least strongly assume, that Judas had rationalized a purpose in his actions. How far from the Truth does the depraved mind of sinful man depart when it denies the Person and Mission of Jesus Christ! Or, when it seeks to use that Blessed Person of Jesus as a means of personal enrichment or glory!
The rich man, of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31, committed the mistake of self-sufficiency.
This man had it made. He had the world on a string. He was, most assuredly a rollin� along He was in love - unfortunately the love was self-directed rather than God directed. He was to find that the string on his finger was really a noose around his neck. The rainbow �round his shoulder was a tombstone. If you are old enough to catch all those allusions to some old popular sons, you�ve probably been preaching even longer than I!
Those song allusions, by the way, are from the popular world of entertainment. Entertainment of the moment was this rich man�s rational for life. He cared little, or not at all, for the realities of eternity.
Seriously, this man made the same mistake as did Cain. He made the same mistake of all why try to work for their own salvation. He trusted in his own work rather than in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
That, my friends, is a soul damning mistake!
I recently read that some modern theologians (The word theologian means, �those who study God.� I sometimes wonder just Who is that God that some people study. The answer, of course, is that they themselves are the gods of their own fantasies!) are studying the concept of eternal damnation. They say that this is inconsistent with the mind of modern man.
I got some news for these theologians. It ain�t inconsistent with the mind of God!
Many of these men, and sadly many of their followers, are going to find out that sad fact on some sad morning.
This is, of course, simply the kind of thing which happens when we cast forth from the solid mooring of the solid pier of the Word of God and go out, rudderless, into the storm tossed ocean of the sin darkened intellect of modern man.
These is one common thread in the mistakes of each of these persons - Pride in themselves, or in something else, which caused them to move outside the revealed Will of God. How important it is that we know that we have the Revealed Word which God has intended to be our possession and guide!
Now is the time that we must consider some of the mistakes which God has made and recorded in the pages of Scripture. These have to do with His promise to preserve Scripture.
Daniel 12:9 says, �And he said, Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.�
Oops! God should have given the meaning of that message to Daniel back around 600 B.C. Since God has apparently lost control of the transmission of that Message, we�ll never be able to be certain that we�ve gotten it right. He�ll never be able to explain that Message in the �end time� if that really is what He said!
Isn�t that what those who are more intellectual than are we mean when they cast doubt upon the transmission of God�s Message? Isn�t that the logical progression of their theological bent!
Isaiah 40:8 says, �The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever.�
But, since all the new translations - and the footnotes of most of our King James Bibles! - tell us that we do not have that Word today, it must be standing as a weed patch in winter. Those words of God must be a dead shadow of their former self.
God must not have been considering the situation of the copyist, or of Hort and Westcott, and Nestle�, and this ilk, when He said that His Word would stand �forever,� else He�d not have made this mistake.
Doesn�t that square with modern Biblical criticism?
I Peter 1:24-25 says, �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.�
Did Peter get it right? He preached from what he believed to be a Bible text. Of course, he was too unlearned and unsophisticated to understand that the text was corrupted and uncertain!
This is, however, that upon which we place our faith - this Word of God. If the Word be, in truth, uncertain, then so also is our salvation!
Imagine God allowing one of His servants, a writer of New Testament Scripture no less! - to rely upon the flawed transmission of inspired Scripture.
Ah, well, maybe it is the fault of the copyist, or the revisionist. Maybe Peter didn�t really write this. How would we know? If only there were a footnote added here by a translator or critic so that we could get help to clear up the question raised by this, hopefully, inspired text.
II Timothy 3:16 reads, �All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness...�
Now, why would God forget to remind the reader that this only applies to the �original manuscript.� Shouldn�t He have known about all the error which would creep into the flawed copies?
Maybe He only meant it for the first century readers - well, those who had the privilege of reading that first draft. That does sound scholarly and logical, does it not?
Now, Matthew 5:18: �For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one title shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.�
I don�t want to say too much on this subject until I see the report of The Jesus Seminar people. It may be that Jesus just didn�t really say those things after all.
If He did say them we have to assume that His misunderstanding of the truths of Westcott and Hort, and all the other superior Christian intellects, was due to the Kenosis. He just did not have the understanding at the time of what the situation was in regards to Bible preservation.
Even though I�ve said these things in jest - derision of the supposed scholarship of the scholars, I apologize to Jesus for the effrontery of uttering those words!
Notice that pride, once again, rears its ugly head! Notice the pride of even otherwise good Christian men in ascribing these sort of responses to the Word of God, Almighty!
Most of those who would champion the newer versions, drawn from the fetid fountain of the Alexandrian manuscripts may disagree. They may argue that they�ve not said these things. But, if this is true, the burden is upon them to explain the inconsistencies of their views of a God Who either could not, or would not (But, most definitely did not!) preserve His Own Written Record which He gave to His Own Church - albeit for only a short time.
It is time that we return to a humble reliance upon the Sure Word of God and on the all Powerful, Immutable, Loving God Who both inspired and preserved His Message to Man! To do otherwise is the second biggest mistake a human can ever commit. The first, of course, is to reject salivation through the Lord Jesus Christ.
However, without trust in His Written Word, what basis do we have to trust the Living Word?
In the final analysis, God does not need me to defend His Word. That is the understatement of the decade, century, millennium, time, and all eternity! Neither does God need you to defend His Word. His Word is �...quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.� (Hebrews 4:12)
What a joy it is. What a privilege, what an awesome responsibility that God has called us to be witness for Him and His Word in this age and in this age and in this generation. It is with a sense of purpose that we must stand up, speak out, and move on with this message that God has preserved His Word.
We do this, not because of our own intellect and abilities, but because God has deemed to give to us those duties in our positions as solider of the Cross of Jesus Christ.
I missed an airplane that was to take me out of Viet Nam some twenty-five years ago. The army did not see the humor in that situation. My inattention did not dely the mission; but, it cost me favor with my superiors and a day out of my life. If you fail your mission for God that mission will surely continue. It is the Will of God. But, what you will lose by your lack of fidelity to the Will of God!
The airplane is leaving and, oh, to what heights of peace and glory it will take us if we are simply faithful to the One we call our Lord!
BOARD!