Tonight, turn to 2 Timothy chapter 3. 2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 16 and 17. 2 Timothy chapter Verse 16 and 17. It says, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Tonight's message will be kind of a little different type of message. Our title is this, and we'll have a word of prayer and then we'll get into it, but our title is this. Scripture, regardless of language, is inspired. With that being said, let's go into a word of prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we come to you this evening. We thank you, Lord, for the many blessings you've given unto us. We thank you for this opportunity, Lord, to be here. to gather with the body here at Mount Pleasant, and we pray that you may just bless her, Lord. We pray that you may bless this service, be with the message, give us the words to speak. We pray that it may be God-honoring, God-glorifying, that it may be a blessing unto those that are here, a benefit unto those that are here. We pray, Lord, that it may help us to have more confidence in your word, more confidence in the book that we have before us. We pray, Lord, that you may go with us now, protect us, forgive us of our many sins. And we ask all this in the name of your son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Tonight, our our objective with this message is to address a supposed problem that many have withholding that the King James Version of the Bible is God's pure words. for the English-speaking man. The objection is this, that only the original manuscripts can be considered inspired. And therefore, no translation can really be inspired. Now, how do we address this objection? I think you can prove, this message won't say, I won't say we'll prove that the King James Version is in fact the pure words of God, but I think it will show that a translation can be the pure words of God. However, I do believe that the King James Version is that for the English speaking man. It is God's pure words. It is scripture for us who speak English. It is the truth. And it doesn't just contain the Word of God, but it is the Word of God. Every single word are the words of God. Now, on the surface, it seems like a legitimate objection. Certainly anyone who holds that the Bible is the Word of God would agree that the original manuscripts were given by Holy Spirit inspiration. But how can we claim that an English translation of copies of the original manuscripts is also given by Holy Spirit inspiration. Now, I kind of hesitate in saying it that way, but stay with me. And I hope I didn't get your mind off track there with that statement. But when I proclaim that This is the Word of God. I try to make it a point many times to say that the King James Version is God's pure words for the English-speaking man. I do not believe that the King James Version is the only form that God's pure words come in. Why? Because I believe that God's Word can be found elsewhere. For us, English-speaking people, it is the King James Version. For those that don't speak English, however, where can they find God's Word? Well, this is what I believe, and we'll try to back this up with Scripture tonight. I believe that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. And when I say that, I mean that all Scripture, regardless of the language that it is written in or spoken in, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Now, I believe that the original manuscripts and the original languages were inspired, absolutely. I believe, however, that the Latin Bibles that the Waldensians used were inspired. I believe the Burmese Bible that has been translated by Adoniram Judson in the 19th century was inspired. I believe that regardless of the language, a translation that has been properly translated from the proper source are the pure words of God. I believe that I can prove this from Scripture. And you say, well, I don't believe you. Well, hang on. And if what I have said is correct, then it is possible that an English translation can then be inspired. Now, you might ask, then, how can you prove this? Well, first off, we need to pay close attention to the words of this verse. It says, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. There in verse 16. Now, most people mistakenly think that God inspired the writers of Scripture. the prophets and apostles, but this verse doesn't necessarily say that. It doesn't say that the writers of Scripture are given by inspiration of God, but it says that Scripture is given by inspiration of God. There is a difference. Now, holy men of God, they spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Absolutely, according to 2 Peter 1.21. But these men were not inspired like the words of God are. Now some of their words were inspired, but not all. Only those that we have in this book. What we have to realize is that the spoken word is not scripture. Scripture, by definition, must be something written down. The Greek word here for scripture is, maybe he's pronouncing this wrong, but graphe, I think is how you would pronounce it, which means a writing, a thing written. The Scripture used to denote either the book itself or its contents. You see, the men spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, but the words they spoke didn't really become Scripture until it was written down. Scripture is not the spoken Word of God, but the written Word of God. Now, Scripture obviously can be spoken, it can be read aloud, but Scripture itself is the written Word of God. In the Bible, the word scripture or scriptures always refer to the writings of God's Word either in part or in whole. God has given us inspired writings that we can read for ourselves. Now, because the writings are inspired and not the individuals who wrote them, we can have confidence that if properly translated from the right source, regardless of the language it's translated into, The Scriptures remain inspired because its inspiration is derived from the original. The Word of God does not change just because it is in a different language. Now do we really think that God is bound by languages? I mean, think about over the span of a couple thousand years, our Lord spoke to men the words that would be written down for us to have. Did all these men understand God in the same language? No. The holy men that spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, they all understood the words of God in their own language. That itself, I think, is proof that right translations of the Word of God are inspired. Now, I don't know if God actually spoke in the language of the here when He gave the Scripture to some, or if God gave them the ability to understand in their own language. But regardless, God's Word is God's Word. despite the language that it is spoken in or understood in. And I want to give you tonight seven Biblical proofs of this. Actually, you might kind of consider at the end an eighth one, but I want to give you seven Biblical proofs that Scripture, regardless of the language, is inspired. Number one, the words written on the cross. Turn to Luke chapter 23. Luke 23, verse 35. Luke 23, verse 35. It says, And the people stood beholding, and the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others, let him save himself. if he be Christ, the chosen of God. And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar and saying, if thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew. This is the king of the Jews. Now here we have Christ. He's on the cross, obviously. And many of you probably know that Pilate wrote this title above him here in Luke. And now when you take all the gospels, all the gospel accounts of this into consideration, I think that you would have to say that the full title that we have that was written above Christ would be, This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Now interestingly enough, however, is that Pilate didn't just write this in one language. We are told that he wrote it in three languages, Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. Three times this phrase is written above Christ, once in Greek, once in Latin, once in Hebrew. This is something I would like to ask those who deny that a translation is inspired. Which was the inspired phrase? Was the Greek phrase that was written above Christ, was it the inspired one? Was it the Latin one? Or was it the Hebrew? Which one was inspired? Was just one inspired and two just uninspired translations? Now it seems pretty clear to me that one was just as inspired as the other except they were written in different languages. That was the only difference in the three phrases above Christ, the language they were written in. All three were properly translated into its corresponding language and each one of them was the inerrant, perfect, inspired Word of God. And we can be confident of that because it's in the Word of God that we have before us today. And for the record, the English translation is just as inerrant, perfect, and inspired as the other three translations. Number two. The word spoken from the cross. Matthew 27. Verse 46. Matthew 27, verse 46. It says, In about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Now you will notice here that not only are we given the words of Christ spoken in Hebrew, My understanding, according to John Gill, it's partially even in Chaldean. I don't know if Brother Jim knows more about that or not, but in reading John Gill, he says it was Hebrew and partially Chaldean, but I'm not sure about the Chaldean part. But we have the words that Christ spoke in Hebrew, but we also have a translation of what these Hebrew words mean. In other words, Matthew originally recorded the words of Christ in Hebrew and in Greek. The same is true of the record of this in Mark 1534. So, that begs the question. Which version is the inspired Word of God? The Hebrew version? Or the Greek translation of the Hebrew? What translation is inspired? The answer is both of them. Why? Because God's Word is God's Word regardless of the language. The Greek was just as inspired as the Hebrew and vice versa. It was properly translated into Greek and therefore it remained the inspired Word of God. If properly translated from the right source, the proper source, it is the inspired Word of God. With that being said, the proper English translation of this would be inspired as well. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? In the King James Version. That is just as inspired as the original language. It was spoken in and recorded. Number three, the Great Commission. Turn to Matthew 28. Matthew 28, verse 18. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. In Mark's record of this, it tells us that Christ said, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel. to every creature, Mark 16, 15. Now, you might ask, well, what does this have to do with anything? Well, let me ask, what were the apostles to teach all the world, all nations, every creature? What were they to teach them? Were they supposed to teach them the Hebrew scriptures, the Greek scriptures, or the scriptures in the language of those that they taught or spoken to? What translation of the gospel were the apostles supposed to preach throughout all the world? The Hebrew translation, the Greek translation, or the gospel translated into the language of those they preached unto. You're starting to kind of get the picture here. When you start talking about all nations, all the world, you're talking about a lot of different languages. How could the Great Commission really be upheld if only the original manuscripts in their original languages were inspired? I don't see how it could be. But thankfully we don't have to worry about that. Why? Because God's Word is God's Word regardless of the language. And the English translation of the Scriptures is just as much inspired as any other true translation of the Scriptures. and to kinda answer our number three point. Our number four point kinda helps us do that. So number four, the day of Pentecost. Turn to Acts chapter two. Acts chapter two. We'll start in verse one. It says, And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord and one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue wherein we were born? Parthians, and Edes, and Elamites, and the dwellers of Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and in Cappadocia, and Pontus, and Asia, Phyrgia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews, and proselytes, Cretes, and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. Now the question, the questions we asked in our last point, I believe are answered in this point. What scriptures were the apostles to teach all nations? What translation of the gospel was supposed to be preached to the world? The answer, the scriptures and the gospel in the language of the hearers. What good would have come from the apostles speaking Hebrew to those who couldn't understand Hebrew? or speaking Aramaic to those who couldn't understand Aramaic. It wouldn't have done any good. Now obviously there was a miracle performed here that God allowed them to speak in tongues, speak in different languages. But when they spoke those languages and reading from God's Word, the old manuscripts of the Old Testament, regardless of the language they spoke those things in, it was still God's Word. God's perfect Word. Every man heard in their own language, their own tongue. So who heard the inspired words of God? Only those that heard in the Hebrew language? No. Only those that heard in Aramaic? No. Only those that heard in Greek? No. All of the above. Everyone who was there heard in their own language and they all heard the Word of God. The Scriptures, the inspired Word of God, was properly translated to other languages, and therefore everyone hearing in their own tongue heard the perfectly inspired Word of our Lord. And when we hear the Scriptures properly translated in English, which I believe are contained in the King James Version, we hear the inspired Word of God as well. Number five. kind of somewhat related to the last point, interpreters of the scriptures. 1 Corinthians chapter 14. 1 Corinthians chapter 14, we'll look at verse 27 and 28. 1 Corinthians 14 verse 27. It says, If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course, and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church, and let him speak to himself and to God. Now, first off, I want to make the observation that the speaking in tongues of the world is not the speaking of tongues as declared in the Bible. I think we will probably all know that. In the Bible, speaking in tongues is nothing more than speaking in another language, another real language of the world. And that's clear from what we saw just in Acts. They spoke in other tongues, but the people heard in their own language. It was languages. Every man heard in their own tongue. Clearly that meant that they heard in their own language and not in some man-made gibberish that no one could understand. The speaking in tongues of the world, I believe, is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. God is not the author of confusion, as verse 33 here says. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. When verse 27 mentions an unknown tongue, that just means a language that no one in attendance understands or knows. But it's still a real language. In other words, this is teaching that if there are those who speak in a language that is not understood by those who are in attendance, then there must be an interpreter to translate it into a language that can be understood. Now, I can't speak French. I'm not going to try to do that tonight. I can't speak French, but it would be pointless for me to get up here tonight and begin speaking in French, to try to preach this message in French. Why? Because no one here, I'm assuming this, speaks French, at least not fluently. Maybe you know a few words, but that's probably about it. If someone is going to come in here and speak French, that's okay, but there needs to be someone to interpret that French into English to the language that we can understand. So Paul is telling the Corinthians that if someone is going to preach or teach in another language, then they need someone to interpret that language so that everyone in attendance can understand what's being said. Otherwise, that person just needs to sit down and shut up, basically. That's what he says. He says, but if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church and let him speak to himself and to God. But again, we see a similar issue from what we've seen earlier in this message. In the cases that an interpreter is necessary and is used, which, and when they're reading from the Word of God, which would be speaking the inspired words of God? The speaker of the unknown tongue or the interpreter of that unknown tongue? Well, again, if properly translated, then both would be speaking the inspired words of God. Why? Because God's word is God's word. God's not bound by language. Number six. Old Testament quotes in the New Testament, Matthew 15. And there's a really there's a multitude of scriptures you could go for this point, but we're just going to look at one in particular. Matthew 15, verse 7 and 8. Matthew 15, verse 7 and 8. It says, Ye hypocrites, Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people drawleth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. In verse 8 here, Christ quotes Isaiah 23 verse 13. Isaiah 23 verse 13 says this, for as much as this people draw near me with their mouth and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me. Now first of all, if you paid much attention to that, you'll notice that both quotes are slightly different. The words that we read in English in Isaiah 23, verse 13 is slightly different than what we see in Matthew 15 and verse 8. Now why are they slightly different? The reason for that is because one was translated to English from Hebrew and the other to English from the Greek. And in Matthew, it may have even been literally spoken in Aramaic, Christ's native language. So which version was the inspired word of God? Is Isaiah 29, 13 the inspired words of God? While Matthew 15, 8 just is a translation of Isaiah that is not inspired? I don't think so. No one would make that argument. Remember, our text said that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. And Matthew 15, verse 8 is just as much part of Scripture as Isaiah 29, verse 13. In other words, the proper Greek translation was just as much given by inspiration of God as the original phrase in Hebrew was given by inspiration of God. And for the record, the proper English translation is just as much inspired of God as well. And again, you could make this argument from countless portions of Scripture in the New Testament because the New Testament quotes the Old Testament all over the place. We just kind of, to some degree, randomly picked this one. Number seven, our last one. Man shall live by every word from the mouth of God. Matthew 4, verse 4. We know probably familiar what's going on here. Christ is being tempted by Satan. And this is one of the responses that Christ gives to one of the temptations. Matthew 4 verse 4, But he, and this Christ, answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Now Matthew 4 verse 4 is actually another example of our last point. It is a quote from the Hebrew scriptures, if you will, of Deuteronomy 8 verse 3. So you could make the same argument that we made in the last point for this scripture. We won't go into that. We just made that argument. But the truth that is contained in this quote alone, I believe, is proof that scripture, if properly translated, regardless of the language it is translated into, is inspired. You might say, well, how so? How is this proof of that? Well, this verse tells us what? That if we are to live and by live here, it's referring to spiritual life. So if we are to live spiritually, we must have the words of God. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. But if only the originals in the original languages are truly the words of God, then we don't have the words of God. The original manuscripts do not exist. Have you seen them? I haven't. You may have seen copies of them, portions of it, but you haven't seen the originals. Therefore, if only the originals can be the inspired words of God, then man cannot live spiritually because man does not have the words of God. Or at least they can't be confident that they can live spiritually because they can't be confident that they have the word of God. When this book tells us that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, that means that all Scripture has the breath of God, the breath of life behind it. Therefore, the Word of God, Scripture, is quick. It is alive according to Hebrews 4.12. It has God's life behind it. And for the Scriptures to die, for the Scriptures to fail, or to fall away, would mean that God Himself would have to die, fail, or fall away. And that is not going to happen. His Word shall not pass away. Scripture is clear on that. Neither is God. Neither is God going to pass away. And if that is true, and it is, then God's inspired Word must still exist today. And since the original manuscripts do not, The inspired Word of God must be in right translations of the Scriptures. You could probably use this as another proof. Turn to Psalms 12 in conclusion, kind of in conclusion for this. Psalms 12, verse 6. Well, we'll just make it another point. Point number 8. God promised to preserve His pure words. Psalm 12, verse 6. The words of the Lord are pure words. a silver tried in a furnace of earth purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord. Thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever." God has promised to preserve His pure words, all of them. And if His pure words are only found in the originals the original manuscripts, then we don't have His pure words. So if you believe that we no longer have His pure words, then you must believe God has failed to keep His promise to preserve His Word. Furthermore, how could we live? Man shall live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. I believe we have the pure words of God in the King James Version Bible. I believe all these other versions, in fact, that you have in English are perversions. And you can go into the manuscript evidence for that. You can go into Biblical evidence of that. They delete portions of Scripture. They add stuff in. Obviously, we're not going to go into that tonight or anything. But I believe that the pure words of God are in the King James Version Bible. And therefore we can live by these words through the illumination of the Holy Spirit of God. And since these are the pure words of God, we can be confident in them. And that's why we preach this message to you tonight. Not just so you have knowledge of this, but that you can have confidence in this book. Whether it's translated in Hebrew or Greek or Latin or English or Spanish or French, the scriptures are inspired. Despite the textual criticizers of our day, we have no reason to doubt. that this book, the King James Version Bible, are in fact the pure words of God, the inspired words of God for us as English-speaking men and women today. That is our message tonight. We pray that it may be a blessing unto you. And again, help us to have confidence in God's Word, the Bible that we have before us. I believe this book is his inspired word. And if you don't believe that, then it's really hard to have confidence in anything that this book says. Where do you draw the line? Well, you know, this wasn't, you start slicing everything up and say, well, this person says, well, this wasn't in the original manuscript or that wasn't in the manuscript. Where would you say, well, this portion of Scripture is God's Word and this portion is not? That would all be based on your opinion in reality. But I believe God has preserved His Word. His Word shall not pass away. And we can be confident in that fact that He will keep His promise and that He has kept His promise. We have His Word today. What a great blessing that is that we can read this in our own language and be confident that this is God's Word. That's our message. Again, I pray that the Lord may use it for His honor and for His glory. We'll have everyone to stand if you would. Brother Joe, can you get a psalm for us? Page number 61.