DOES GOD CHANGE HIS WORD IN HEAVEN?
By DR. ROBERT E. CLARK
POST OFFICE BOX 991
BASTROP, TEXAS 78602

It is a comfort to know that God's word is pure and that by the closest examination, no flaw, error, or contamination can be found in the King James Authorized 1611 Version.

The Psalmist said, "Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven." (Psalm 119:89).

I wonder if every time a new translation comes out, does God alter His word in Heaven? The answer is simple and plain; It is forever settled in Heaven.

I would like to address myself to three issues. They are these: (1) The issue of translations. (2) The issue of the "originals" only. (3) How has God preserved His word (what method)?

1. THE ISSUE OF TRANSLATIONS

There have been about four so-called new translations in the past five or six years: N.A.S.V., N.K.J.V., Readers Digest Bible, and the N.I.V. Each of these have numerous changes and the average Christian sits back and wonders which is the word of God.

Can you imagine King David saying to the scribes of his day, "What we need is a new translation, one that is closer to the originals and easier to understand." Hey folks, what about King Josiah, King of Judah? He heard the words of the Law, he rent his clothes and said:

"Go ye, enquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us." (2 Kings 22:13)

King Josiah was not looking for a new translation. He knew what God said and that God required complete obedience in following it. Likewise, the saved man is still bound to read and rightly divide the word of God, and to follow It and not to change It.

Now the issue of translations arises over the Greek and Hebrew manuscripts that are used. The K.J.V. 1611 was translated out of the "Received Text" or "Textus Receptus".

This family of Greek and Hebrew texts was used by Martin Luther for the Reformation Bible, for Tyndale's new Testament and for foreign language translations put out by the Trinitarian Bible Society.

Rome hates this text. The Puritans were slain for this text. This shows me Ä this ministers to me Ä that I have the right Bible, THE AUTHORIZED KING JAMES BIBLE OF 1611.

Listen, the Roman Catholic system hates the A.V. 1611. If I did not know much else about the K.J.V. 1611 and I knew the "Whore Church" hates It, that is proof enough for me. Praise God for a perfect Book, God's living Word, the K.J.V.!!

The King James Version maintains the prophetic course of God's will and purpose outlined in the Old Testament and carries It to ultimate fulfillment in the New Testament.

The King James Version leaves unbroken the scarlet thread of Christ's blood as it flows from Genesis through Revelation.

The King James Version maintains the intricate numerical design that the Holy Spirit wove throughout the original autographs of Scripture.

2. THE ISSUE OF THE ORIGINALS

As we continue this, I must be very candid and honest Ä there are no original manuscripts. Yet God states that He has kept his word (Psalms 12:7). The God of Bible inspiration is also the God of Bible preservation. You say, "How has God preserved His Holy word?" The answer is through COPIES.

Now as you study the Scriptures, you will find that God has preserved His word through accurate, perfect copies without error. I believe this. I believe that the God Who raised His Son from the dead, can preserve His word and allow me to have It in this Age of Grace. Don't you? If you don't, how do you know that you got saved the right way according to a Bible that has error in it?

I want to show you how God has preserved His Holy word. Turn to Matthew 22:31 and you will find the

Lord Jesus Christ quoting scripture. Would He be quoting from the original or from a copy when He said "Have ye not read . . ."?

Several thousand years from the time that scripture was written down in the original, Jesus asked the Sadducees if they had read the Scriptures. Would what they had read be from the originals? I think not.

The Bible issue is not the fact of the original manuscripts. The issue is, has God preserved His word until now without error?

Now the process of preservation is as follows: Note very carefully the God-ordained process of preservation in Deuteronomy 17:18b.

"he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levities."

Is that so hard to understand? If you have a problem understanding this, turn to Proverbs 25:1.

"These are also proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah King of Judah copied out."

Turn to Daniel 9:2.

"In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books . . ."

Please finish reading this passage.

Let me ask you something. The books Daniel understood by, were they original manuscripts or do you think they were copies? There are many more scriptures that deal with how God has preserved His word through copies.

The apex of these is Jeremiah 36. Read it Ä all of it. Thumb your nose at the so-called Bible scholars who say God cannot preserve His word by and through copies without error.

Did you ever read Ezra 7:6, 10, 11)? Ezra was a scribe of words. Ezra copies God's inspired Words. He copied them, did you get that? If not, read the scripture.

If you want more scripture, read Acts 8:26-32. Was the Ethiopian reading the original? Or do you think he was reading a copy of Isaiah 53:7-8? Notice in verse 32 of Acts 8 the word "scripture".

The Holy Spirit called what this black man was reading "scripture". Read Luke 4:16-20. Was what Christ read out of the "original", or do you think it might have been a copy? I rest my case.

I know I have the word of God in my hand when I pick up the King James Version 1611. Do you? The copy I have is just as inspired as the original.

3. HOW HAS GOD PRESERVED HIS WORD

As we begin with part three of this thought, let me say that God has a specific method for presenting His Holy word. The issue among the scholars seems to be the fact of "inspiration".

We Bible believers believe the issue is "Inspiration and Preservation". Can God inspire His word and can the God of Inspiration preserve what He inspired? The answer is yes, based upon the word of God. How has God preserved what He has given? BY COPIES.

The A.V. 1611 is a copy of the inspired word of God and the copy is just as inspired as the original autographs. It would be strange for God to say, "Forever O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven" (Psalms 110:89), and not be able to get a copy.

Pastor Rolland Starr, of Belmont, Mass., said, "If the K.J.V. is not the inspired word of God, going back to the originals the world was without the true scriptures for 1,500 years, for the Alexandrian manuscripts (the ones all modern versions come from) were lost to the world from 350 to 1850 A.D."

Many believe that, but this preacher does not. I believe God has preserved His word without fault or error, since It was first spoken, then written down. I showed you in the article before this one that God uses copies to preserve His word.

To conclude these three articles, I want to say that the King James from the received text has been the Bible of the English speaking people for 300 years and more.

This has given the received text and Bible translated from it into other tongues, standing and authority. At the same time, it has neutralized the dangers of the pro-Roman Catholic manuscripts and the Bible in other tongues translated from them.

The Authorized Version was translated in 1611 just before the Puritans departed from England. They carried it with them across the stormy seas to lay the foundation of the greatest human government the world has ever known.

The King James Bible is the Book of the human race. It is the author of more evangelism and missionary work than any other Bible version. It is God's Preserved word.

"The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever." (1 Peter 1:24b-25a)

"The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever." (Psalm 12:6-7)

When the Bible was translated in 1611, God foresaw the wide extended use of the English language. Therefore, in our authorized Bible, is the best translation that has ever been made, not only in the English language, but as many Bible believers say, "ever made in any language".