329, 1 through 4. Thou, Lord, hast dealt well with thy servant. Thy promise is faithful and just. instruct me in judgment and knowledge, for in thy commandments I trust." And what follows in 1, 2, 3, and 4, Psalter 329. I promise it's faithful and just. It's the gift of heaven and earth for ever. Before my affliction and hunger, but now thy good word I obey. O Thou who art holy and gracious, ♪ Shall be his splendor ♪ ♪ Thy grace that shall still be my God ♪ ♪ My God is my joy and my treasure ♪ ♪ Though still it hurts me most today ♪ When I drew thy statues, my Lord, I thought if my soul is more precious than thousands of stars, I would like to read a portion from Scripture that you can find in the book of Psalms. And there of Psalm 93. Psalm 93. A short psalm, but it is about a glorious king. The Lord reigneth. He is clothed with majesty. The Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself. The world also established that it cannot be moved. Thy throne is established of old, but from everlasting. The floods have lifted up, O Lord. The floods have lifted up their voice. The floods lift up their waves. The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea. Thy testimonies are very sure. Holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, forever. So for the scripture reading, let us ask the Lord for His blessing and presence in our meeting tonight. Lord of heaven and of the earth, It all has brought us together in this evening around a word and testimony. That word that is sure, that will stand forever. We hope to hear about it. And Lord, that word that may still be printed and distributed And when we are down here together to also have our meeting as a Trinitarian Bible Society auxiliary and we may be gathered to hear about the work that is done and why it needs to be done tonight, why it needs to be done in distributing thy word, in caring for the most reliable translations also when the word goes out over the world. May we then command unto thee all those who work for the TVS in London and in the countries where we also may have places where the work is founded and where the need of this work is emphasized and proclaimed. O Lord, to that end we have come together tonight. Will Thou bless all those labors which may still be done in a world in which Thy word is more and more trampled upon, pushed aside, or made powerless, as far as man is able to do that, so that it is no longer the infallible word of thee in the mind of many, so that also in translations the power of that word is obscured. The Godhead of thy dear son is sometimes pushed to the background. And where more and more we see what our catechism also has stated already, all the devices of Satan, of the prince of darkness against thy holy word. And Lord, when we see what time we are living, then there is reason for concern. For thy word may still go out in places and countries where that was not or hardly possible in the past. We think of China and other countries that lived in the oppression of a communist regime and where thy word was hardly available. there is in areas of this world a hunger for thy word. And Lord, we ask thee, may that hunger continue. May thy church be built also in those countries Well, we may well be afraid that thou could replace or change the place where the candlestick is that I worked, that I would move it away, and that I would say, you had your opportunity, and you had my word, but what did you do with it? Our Lord, we all must turn into ourselves and say, what did that word do to me today? What has it done in my life? Is it really my food and drink? Is it for me and for my house, the only guide? And is it a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path? Lord, may that word then also go out in this evening, help the speakers. It also, I call to have the topic, the brother in the ministry, and the other brother, who will also tell something about the work that is done, also in the season that has passed, also in the Spanish translation, Help him in that work. Remember all those who work in this area to support this cause and may thou give that also in this evening that love for thy word and for our King James Version may increase, may be kindled, that thy word may indeed be for us also our daily meat and drink. Lord, help us also in speaking a few words as an introduction, and may that word not only be spoken about, but may it be made alive and applied to our hearts so that we may feel the power of it in our heart and lives. Lord, we ask that thee remember us for the sake of him who has said, Search ye the Scriptures, for these are those who testify of me, and in whom all the promises are yea, and in him are amen. Lord, hear us and help us. In Jesus' name, alone. Amen. Well, dear friends, how do you welcome this evening in God's house? You may still have that word on the pulpit. You have it in your homes. We take so many things also for granted in that regard. I read a portion from the Bible from Psalm 93. I will not seek to explain that whole psalm. It is about the kingdom of the Lord. The Lord Who Reigns, and it's one of several songs that follow, who have that same theme, or the heart of it is about the kingdom, the power, the might of the king. And indeed, and we may say that king that is now upon the throne, and at the right hand of the father. Elections lie behind us. You see how many things can change overnight and unexpected things happen. This world is really a world full of changes. There's really also the spirit of the time that nothing should be nailed down in absolute truth. We are just floating on the current or this time and opinions and feelings of today. And a very personal individualism is something that is very prevalent and also the emphasis on how I feel and how this word is not given to make you feel good about yourself. but it is the word that proclaims the glory of the King, the glory of the Lord of Lords. And there's one verse that really, remember, was in theological school, and we had a little break at lunchtime, and then we ate together as students, and one opened and one closed. Suddenly one of the brothers said, Let us sing. We didn't usually do that. I still remember he gave up a psalm, Psalm 93. And in 93, that psalm, that also lies here before us, sang in my heart. Maybe you time sometimes when you're studying, you think, Will I ever get to the end of it? How must it go in a way that stays the way? And every time you have to go to the pulpit, you stand before a mountain. Every time you have to do this work, you may do this work, it's a privilege, I agree, but then you feel human impossibilities. And when you look around you, when you see the world in which we are living, and also the condition of the church today, well, then there is not so much reason, we would say, for optimism, and everything is changing. But in that psalm is a word, and that word I would like to lay before you as the anchor of hope for the church in a turbulent, changeable time. And as this, thy testimonies are very sure So whatever may not be sure and may be different tomorrow, this Word, thy testimonies, that is thy commandments, thy precepts, but maybe especially thy promises, what thou hast promised, but the entire Word of God is very sure, very trustworthy, very reliable, is utterly to be trusted. If you remember that many years ago I had a Reformation Day service and on the way to church I found out that I had done the same topic that I had prepared in that church a year earlier. What now? I cannot do that. What now? I had written it down. Somebody had told me the day before, no, you had something else. But on the way to church, he said, yeah, I remember. I was wrong yesterday. You spoke about that to Peter 1, verse 19. And I thought, well, no. Then something came back to me. What Luther has experienced, what Calvin has experienced, and in his Dutch commentary—I didn't write in Dutch, you understand, but in Dutch translation—it says, Uw getuigenisse, thy testimonies are very true en zijn zeer waar bevonden. So I thought that's beautiful. It doesn't appear in the English translation or in other translations. I don't say that it is really in the original, but it says, thy testimonies are very sure. You can rely upon it, and that has been experienced throughout the ages. That Word of God has been tested, has been attacked. Also inside, think of Abram. He may have thought many times what will come of the promise of the Lord, and thee all the families of the earth shall be blessed. And Joseph, where did he come with the promise in the prison? And maybe there's a people tonight that cannot deny the Lord has spoken to their soul, but tonight you're sitting with riddles and puzzles and seems it all goes wrong and just the other way around. The Lord has promised you that he would work on your children. You see them leaving church. The Lord has promised you that Maybe that he would bless you with more light and you see more darkness, and so that everything seems to come against the waves of the mighty waters, and not just the enemies outside, but there's that mighty enemy who attacks the work of God in the heart of God's people and God's servants. And if then it will not be true that thy testimonies are very sure, and that has been experienced, even if that's not in the English translation of Calvin's commentary, neither in other commentaries, as far as I saw, but it is true. Thy testimonies are found to be true. and that through impossibilities and in a way that faith was tried, but the outcome, the result was that he could say, Lord, thou hast kept thy word and thou hast fulfilled thy promises. and that a glorified God in his faithfulness. So in the midst of this changeable time, and I'm going to close, we have this word. And you do well that you give heat unto it, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawns. It's coming, the parousia. And the days start arising in your hearts. And that word is very sure. That also means that what that word has said about the work of the Holy Spirit still continues to be so today. The Lord lives in the midst of us and afflicted the poor people, but they may trust as faith may be an exercise in the name of the Lord. And you know, in whom that word is now unchangeable, in whom all the promises are yea, and in him are amen, who is the heart of it, foundation of it, in him who is the same yesterday, today, forever. Well, then I would say, pilgrim, there are some, keep a little courage. Everything may go upside down in your heart, in your mind, this word will stand forever. And the Lord is fulfilling it also in the signs of the times, in the turmoil of the people, in what happens in the world and in the church. But God will have His church. The word of Him who is the Amen will be true. May that word also be your hope. Remember the word. unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused him to hope. Thank you. I would now like to give the word to Mr. Greenback. Thank you, Reverend Vogelar, for that introduction. Very appropriate word regarding how the Lord's word is unchangeable. It's really sometimes a humbling thought to think that we've been used as little tools in His hand. that his word may go out from our offices of TBS USA. And that's what I'm here for tonight, just to give you a very brief overview of the past year. We may be encouraged once again. I think if I had to use one word, it would be faithfulness, the Lord's faithfulness for an unfaithful people. We have seen that there has been a continued interest in the Lord's word in the King James translation, but also the foreign translations that we distribute. Sales have been increasing over the past year, which is remarkable in a world in which we live where we see less and less interest in true religion. So then to see that there is still an interest, but also the donations that come in, the prayers that people tell us that they're remembering us in their prayers that work because who is able to do these things of himself. And yes, so we would like to thank collectively, the churches, the individuals, all those who support us, whether it be in your prayers, your interest, your support, financial and otherwise. It's all for one cause, and that the Lord may receive honor and glory through the salvation of sinners as His word goes out over the length and breadth of this earth. In other years past, as you know, we've been, traditionally I speak individual words of thanks to each one, but we thought to do it differently this year. We have our faithful helpers in the office. Our staff have made a nice little brochure here where you can read the acknowledgments for different ones. I'd like to, where you see also, we'd like to thank Mr. who is no longer able to be a board member. Mr. DeBrine, at 99 years old, regrettably had to give up the board membership. He was still very an active board member when he did so, but his wife's health and his own health have been suffering. So as you'll read about that in the brochure here. The work on the Spanish, in which I'm involved, we're just about ready to finish with the New Testament, which will go to publication next year. They're neck-and-throat willing, as you'll see in the announcement of the offering that we hope to take at the last song, which will be at the close of Dr. Velkos' presentation, will be for that printing of the Spanish New Testament. The interest in that continues to be remarkable. It's quite something to see that we have no Spanish Bible. The Society has no Spanish Bible to offer per se at this moment, but still we receive sometimes on the website 3,000, 4,000 people a day are visiting the website. That's quite something. So as you see, we have an active following, which leads me to what I'd like to share a little bit tonight. just give a little anecdote of something of what we experience when we go on these presentations to present to the Spanish churches a new Bible. Because as I mentioned before, imagine if someone came in the door here and stood on this pulpit and said, the Bible you have in your pulpits is really not the most faithful. I think we would show them the door very quickly. So it's our task to pave the way for this translation, which is bringing it back to the faithfulness of the 1602 Reina Valera Bible. We have these conferences normally for pastors, seminaries, and those who are church leaders, so they can spread the word to others. We give them brochures. But in the March of this year, we had a conference in San Jose, Costa Rica. Costa Rica is in Central America. And a pastor wrote me an email. He said, I have a few new young men coming to my church. He said, are they allowed to come? I said, You're all welcome. Bring as many people as you like. These are open meetings, generally held in a hotel conference hall. I said, bring as many people as you would like. There's no charge, so he did so. And he brought with him a young man, at that time was 18 years old. That man approached me afterward and he said, Sir, I have a question. He said, I don't have a Bible. Can you give me a Bible? Well, I do carry with me some of the older translated, the Spanish Bibles that are in circulation at present because it's the hardest thing for me in the world to have someone say, can I have a Bible? I have no Bible, and to say, I have no Bible for you. So I have been given permission from my superiors in London to give a copy of the Bible that, for example, the one that we use in Bolivia. It's called the Reina Valera 1960. So this young man asked me for a Bible, and he asked me, I put my business card in there. I said, if you ever feel you want to write, feel free to do so. It was an interaction of maybe two minutes at most. About two months later, I received an email from that young man. And he said, sir, I have a question for you. He said, and our volunteers at the office will have heard this before, but it's worthy of hearing again. He said, I have a question for you. Is it wrong for me to read my Bible in the latrine? He lives in a very, very poor shack in Costa Rica, and his mother is very against him reading the Bible. So he said his mother was beating him when she found him reading the Bible. So he said, I have no other resource. He said, I get up in the morning and I go into the, you might say, the outhouse. He says, is it disrespectful to the Lord to read that Bible in the latrine. And I wrote back to him and said, oh, dear friend, I'm so sorry to hear what you're going through. I will be praying that your mother's heart will be changed. But I said, in your circumstances, I believe it is not wrong to read the Bible and pray for the Lord's blessing on it when you're in the latrine. And he wrote back to me. He wrote back to me, thank you for your response, but he said, I really wasn't looking for your sympathy. He said, the sympathy should go to those who don't have this precious word of God. He said, I was only looking for an answer about whether it's disrespectful to read the Bible in the bathroom or not. Thank you for your answer. So I wrote back to him and acknowledged him. I said, may the Lord bless the reading of his word to you. Didn't think to hear from him again. A couple weeks later, he wrote to me. He said, sir, I have something to tell you. He said, I'm finding out that the latrine that I talked to you about is inside my heart. He said, I'm finding that it's filthier in my heart than within the latrine I'm sitting in. And it really touched me. That is what the Lord does, huh? With His work, the Spirit doing its work. A young man, he had never been to a, he had been just attending a church, they said about two months. He had never gone to a church in his life before his 18th year. Never into any church, not, wasn't, Roman Catholic wasn't, it was nothing. And this man writing, yeah, we grew up in the denominations, we have a certain language we're used to hearing. For the language he spoke came from his heart. He said, I find that latrine in my heart. And he said, my only hope is I hope and pray that the Lord Jesus may wash that filth that I find in my heart. So I thought to share that with you because those are the types of encouragements that really, you say, well, may the Lord be glorified through the conversion of sinners, such as that young man, by this distribution of his holy word. We don't want to make it too late tonight, so with that, I would like to thank you again for all coming. We're encouraged to see the attendance tonight. It's very encouraging to see that there's still people who are standing strong for our King James Bible, which is the most faithful translation of the English. We would never say it's perfect, because there is no such thing as a perfect translation. Any translation is man-made. but yet it comes from the perfect manuscripts of God's Holy Word. Well, now I would like to turn it over to Dr. Bilquist who will speak to us about the indestructibility of God's Holy Word. Thank you for coming. I call your attention to the prophecy of Jeremiah. The 36th chapter. We'll begin reading at verse 20. Jeremiah 36, beginning at verse 20. And they went in to the king and to the court, but they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishamah the scribe, and told all the words in the ears of the king. So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll, and he took it out of Elishamah the scribe's chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king. Now the king sat in the winter house in the ninth month, and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him. And it came to pass that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with a penknife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth. until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. Yet, they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words. Nevertheless, El Nathan and Deliah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll, but he would not hear them. But the king commanded Jeramiel, the son of Hamelek, and Saraiah, the son of Azrael, and Shalamiah, the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the Lord hid them. Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. After that the king had burned the roll and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah saying, take thee again another roll and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned. And thus shalt thou say to Jehoiakim, king of Judah, thus saith the Lord. Thou hast burned this role, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land? and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast. Therefore, thus saith the Lord of Jehoiakim, King of Judah, he shall have none to sit upon the throne of David. And his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat and in the night to the frost. And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity. And I will bring upon them and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and upon the men of Judah all the evil that I have pronounced against them, but they hearkened not. Then took Jeremiah another rule and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah, All the words of the book which Jehoiakim, king of Judah, had burned in the fire. And there were added besides unto them many like words. Thus far, a reading of God's holy and fallible and precious word. May he bless this reading to our hearts. Esteemed directors of the board of the Trinitarian Bible Society, the staff members, volunteers, members of the society, visitors, friends. We are so thankful that in a day like today, there is an organization like the Trinitarian Bible Society that is fighting on a very important front. Ever since our fall in paradise, The battle has raged against the Word of God. Hath God said were the words that came from the serpent's mouth. And the battle is as intense now as it ever has been. And to see an organization like the TBS laboring on this front is heartening. And may we Look to the one who said, heaven and earth shall pass away. These are sobering words. But my word shall not pass away. The one who spoke these words is still on the throne. He's the same, ruling and reigning. And his truth is like an immovable mountain Against all the scoffings, all the strategies, and all the spears which carnal men would send against the Word of God, God's Word remains straight through everything, even through the judgment into eternity to come. And this is exactly the message, dear friends, that we see illustrated for us in such a poignant way in the chapter before us. We wish with the Lord's help to focus on it for a few brief moments and to learn a few lessons for our times and also could it be for our own hearts. Well, in our chapter, the prophet Jeremiah had been a minister of the Word of God for 23 years. He lived in dark times, and the word that the Lord gave him to speak was largely one of threatenings, of calls back to the Lord to return unto the God of Israel. He warned against sin, the sins of his day and the sins of all times. And patiently he urged his hearers to look to the ancient paths, where is a good way, where you'll find rest for your souls. And much to Jeremiah's great dismay, his message fell for the most part on deaf ears. The people's hearts were so hardened that they even forbade him to speak. In our chapter, we find him under what we would call house arrest. It's something, isn't it? That sin will not have itself exposed. It must at all costs continue on its course without anything, without anyone to stand in its way. The last thing that sin wants is for the conscience of the sinner to be awakened. The remarkable thing is, in our chapter, if you were to begin at the beginning, which we didn't do for time's sake, but if you began at the beginning of chapter 36, you would hear that God's patience had still not come to an end. He says in verse 2, write all these words, for it may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them. You see, the Lord had opened Jeremiah's holy eyes to a vision, bright and glorious, that God had given him both of blessing, but also of curse. The coming storm that would come of judgment, upon the people's sins. And also that only remedy, the balm in Gilead and the great physician there. And the Lord had called Jeremiah to write down those truths, letter by letter, word by word. In fact, they still come, don't they? Even in our translation, with such light and such power. With the blessing of the Lord, they reach into hearts of sinners still today. Jeremiah had dictated all these words that the Lord had spoken to him to Barak, the scribe whom the Lord had entrusted to Jeremiah. And since Jeremiah couldn't go into the temple himself, he instructed Baruch to go in his place to read all the words that the Lord had spoken to him for the people And these are the words that Jeremiah spoke to Baruch. "'It may be,' he says, "'that they will present their supplication before the Lord, "'and will return everyone from his evil way, "'for great is the anger and the fury "'that God hath pronounced against this people.'" As you read on in the chapter, Baruch reads these words of the Lord in the Lord's house, and many who gather there hear them and in a measure tremble. In fact, we read that the princes were so gripped by the word of the Lord, they were afraid. It came to pass, we read, that when they heard all the words, they were afraid, both one and the other, and said to Baruch, we will surely tell the king all these words. It's something, isn't it, when a soul is gripped by the word of God, begins to fear, and to tremble, and to realize that it is with God his creator that he has to do. Well, these words were brought before the king. It was a cold winter day. We're told in the scriptures that it was the ninth month, which according to the biblical calendar would be around this time, November or perhaps December. And these would be wet and rainy months in the land of Israel, and sometimes even stormy. Snow would occasionally fall, and we find here the king all decked out in his royal apparel in the winter house. That is the sheltered part of the palace. You can read of that in verse 22. And there, probably in the center of the room, is a fire. a fire to warm the king and those with him. And there Jehudi, the king's scribe, has this role with the word of the Lord on it. And he reads it line by line, page by page, as we would say, leaf by leaf. And friends, we're all witnesses tonight through the word of God what happens. It's a solemn thing. It's a sobering thing. It's an awful thing that is going on. I don't know if you can really see it, but picture it with me this way. Perhaps you just see one king in this room there with that heart. But actually, there are two kings. The one king indeed is visible, it's King Jehoiakim sitting there in front of the fire, but there's another king, the one who fills heaven and earth, of whom we heard earlier from Psalm 93, he who sits upon his throne and judges righteously, unseen to the human eye. There's another king, the Lord Most High. And there's not just that fire there warming Jehoiakim, there's another fire. Again, unseen to the human eye, but it is a fire that burns. Mightily, it's this word that's being read there in the presence and in the hearing of King Jehoiakim. You see two kings, a human king with his fire and a great and glorious divine king with his word which burns like a fire. In fact, if you turn to Jeremiah 23, verse 29, Jeremiah says, Is not the word of the Lord as a fire? And in chapter 20, verse 9, he says, His word was in mine heart as a burning fire. Do you know something of the power of the word of God as being holy, glorious, Like the sun in its strength, as Psalm 19 says, a powerful, radiant, splendid glory which can burn right through the darkness. of the coldest heart, the deadest heart. Well, how we need this word of God to shine in the darkness of our world, in the darkness of our hearts that are so cold and so dark and so dead by nature. And so we see here two kings and two fires. And friends, this is a picture of life. This is a picture of you and of me. It's a picture of our whole world. Man everywhere sits on his own throne, thinking to rule and to judge. The ruler of his own life and destiny, so he thinks. But all the while, he lives out his days. And unless the Lord opens his eyes, there's the Lord judging him. How we need the fire of the Lord's Word. How we need the Holy Spirit. It was called in the scriptures the seven lamps of God to shine upon our hearts. How we need that word of God, which is said to shine like a light, like a lamp unto our feet, a light upon our path. But friends, look at what happened. It's almost such that you wouldn't speak it unless the Word of God said it. Verse 23, it came to pass that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves or sections of the scroll, he Most likely the king himself, or else this scribe Jehudi, ordered by the king. They take this pen knife, a little pocket knife, something like our jack knives. They take this roll of the Word of God. They cut right into it, right through it. And there they throw it into the fire, leaf by leaf, section by section. And when you read verse 23, it's remarkable how it says it there. It says, he cut it with the pen knife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. Until it was consumed. The impression we're given here is that Jehoiakim watched it until the last letter shriveled up into the flames and couldn't be seen anymore. He watched it till it was all gone. Until the roll was consumed. In other words, he wanted to make sure that not a single word, not a single letter of this, the Lord's word, would somehow outlast this fire. Not a page of it would blow in the wind and be kept for later that someone else might pick up and read. He watched until every syllable was consumed. Friends, Jehoiakim was the son of Josiah. As I'm sure most of us know, Josiah had been a godly king, a man of whom we read that he trembled at the word of God. But this God of his father meant nothing to Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim didn't tremble at all. What a picture this is of the natural man. That's what he does to the Word of God all his life long until he's stopped. And unless he's stopped, that's what he does. Do you see here that the carnal mind is enmity against God? And really the most stunning thing about our chapter, well, Almost the most stunning thing about our chapter can be read in verse 24. Where the Lord comments. Yet they were not afraid. Nor rent their garments. Neither the king. Nor any of his servants that heard all these words. Yet were they not afraid. There's no fear of God before their eyes. And that while El Nathan, Deliah and Gemariah pleaded with the king not to burn the scroll. So there in his own hearing, there are these three men who are pleading, they're interceding, O king, don't destroy the word of the Lord. Despite these pleadings ringing in his ears, Jehoiakim would not listen. And he wouldn't tremble. And he wasn't afraid. And he didn't rend his garments. But friends, was it really the word of God that was burning in that winter house there in the palace in Jerusalem? In a certain sense, we can say that it wasn't the word that was burning because the word of God cannot depart. Heaven and earth may depart, but God's Word will not depart. From one perspective, these men were not throwing the Word of God into the fire. In a certain sense, you could say these men were searing their own consciences in the fire. No wonder they weren't afraid. They were throwing away the very thing which the Lord had ordered should come to them, which set forth that only way of escape. How could Jehoiakim do this? How can a man or a woman Take what his creator has spoken and deal with it like this. The God who gives us life and breath and upholds us in being every moment to take his word, the word that proceeds from his mouth, and to deal with it like this. Job 9, verse 4 says, Who ever hath hardened himself against God and prospered? Mojahoyekim here certainly doesn't prosper. Did Mojahoyekim think that just because he was rid of the Word of God, he was rid of the threat? Do you think that Jehoiakim thought that now that he was rid of the Word of God, he was rid of the judgment of God? Was he rid of his sin? No. He had put from him, really, the Word of God. It revealed that only door of escape. Jehoiakim, what are you doing? Well, friends, we may be horrified here tonight as we've gathered together for this special meeting as we watch and see Jehoiakim as Scripture unveils him to us. Have you ever seen something of yourself in Jehoiakim? You know, we have all kinds of little pocket knives. The natural man has many different ways in which he cuts apart the Word of God that he doesn't want to believe. Whether it's the first chapters of Genesis, or the warnings against sin, the strictness of the commandments. We live in days in which all over in colleges and universities, professors are teaching their students to cut and paste the Word of God in a way that's more palatable to our modern day theories. We live in a day and age in which the mutilated manuscripts that the church rejected early on in its history have been resuscitated and revived and made their way into many of the Bibles sold on bookshelves and in homes that are in homes today. cut-and-paste versions of the Scriptures. But there are other ways in which we can take Jehudi's pocket knife and slight the Word of God. We can cut away at the Word of God when we cut away at the messengers whom he has sent to bring to us the Word of God. We can cut away the Word of God. We absent ourselves without warrant from the preaching, the true preaching of the Word of God. We can cut away the Word of God when we take what we hear and fail to become afraid, rend our garments, humble ourselves under the calls of the Word of God. Even the Lord's people have penknives, whereby they take this or they take that, minimize this or minimize that. I'm sure the Lord's people among us see their own heart here in Jehoiakim. May the Lord keep all of us from doing what Jehoiakim does here and uncover us to the various ways in which we do it. For whenever we trifle with the Word of God, we are in essence doing what Jehoiakim did that day. What should Jehoiakim have done? Well, he should have done what another king did one day when the prophet of the Lord came to him with the Word of God. After he had deeply fallen into sin, Nathan came to King David. David didn't cut the Word of God at that time. He said, I have sinned against the Lord. You see, rather than David cutting aside the Word of God from him, it was the Word of God that cut into David. That is the work that we so desperately need in our souls, which we so desperately need in our day as well. How things would have been different, humanly speaking, if Jehoiakim here had followed his great, great grandfather, David, and humbled himself under the Word of God, humanly speaking, of course. And nevertheless, A moment ago, I said the most stunning thing was that he was not afraid when he cut this roll of the Word of God. There's actually something more stunning yet, and it's stunning in a glorious way. It's stunning in a way in which the Lord reveals his own heart. Because what does the Lord tell Jeremiah? Verse 27, Notice that. The Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. The Word of the Lord was not destroyed. The Word of the Lord was living. It was quick and powerful. It was still in existence no matter what Jehoiakim had sought to do The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the roll and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah saying, Take thee again another roll. Take thee again another roll. And write in it all the former words that were in the first roll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah had burned. Notice here how the Lord gives another role. He gives His word yet again. He commands His prophet yet once more. And we read in verse 32 that He added thereunto many like words. Words of punishment for Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim would not go unpunished. He and his seed would suffer greatly for his action of setting the Word of God aside. Many like words. Oh friends, these are stunning words also for us tonight. The Lord's Word will not depart no matter what men do to it. No matter what men seek to do to it. No matter how much they try to cut it up. No matter how much they seek to destroy it, God's Word can't be burned. We read in Psalm 12 that it is tried in the fire seven times. It can't be consumed. It's pure. It's holy. It comes from God's own lips. And will any word that comes forth from God's own lips ever fall to the ground? Will they ever fail? And then my mind goes to the New Testament. We think of the One who was the Word incarnate, who came unto His own. His own received Him not. What Jehoiakim did here to the written Word of God, the people in Christ's day, saw to do with Christ Himself. No, they didn't cast him into the fire, but they did say away with him, away with him. We will not have this man to reign over us. And so they put Christ. Apart from them. Seeking to destroy him. But we read of this Christ whom God raised up and proved before all the nations still today that the Word of God lives and abides forever. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. Friends, much in our lives is changing. It was already referred to at the beginning, meditation. Our health, our status, our finances, our world is constantly changing. Everything is so fragile. Everything is so changeable. Also, people of God, our frames and our feelings, they're so changeable, aren't they? We can't fall back on any of these three things. There's only one thing that ultimately we can and must fall back on, and that is the Word of God, which lives and abides forever. It is indestructible. Just think for a moment with me that one day this earth and even heaven itself will be rolled up as a scroll. It's so difficult for us to imagine that, to picture that, that one day the things that seem so stable and so certain will flee and fly away. And then that throne of God will be there, visible, no longer invisible, but visible to every eye. But the word of God will not fly away. It will never disappear. No word from God's lips will ever flee away. What a comfort this is also to the Lord's people when they think of it, that His promises, yes, His threats will not disappear. The Lord will be faithful to every one of them, but also every one of His promises. Everything that the Lord Himself has said, it will stand even in the judgment. Nothing of His Word will dissipate. Nothing will disappear. Oh, for that Spirit of grace and of supplications to operate upon our hearts, to take the knife of the Word of God, and to work upon our hearts and upon our lives, because then something happens. You know, friends, I stand before you today, and I say this to my shame, but tonight before you stands one who has a Jehoiakim heart. And were it not for the mercy of the Lord becoming too strong for me, that penknife The hardness of the human heart would still be firmly in my hand, and I'd be cutting and cutting and cutting the Word of God and casting it from me and watching until it burned every last It's something when the Spirit of God drops that pen knife out of your hands, you lose it. Instead, you become small before God. You come off your throne. You realize He's on His throne. And it's with God with you, whom you have to do. You realize your sin. You realize, especially this sin, that you have slighted the infallible, the perfect, the holy, the steadfast Word of God, that everything in your heart was against this God, against His Word, even in pious ways, even in well-intentioned ways. something when that pen knife falls out of your hand. Oh, the work of the Spirit is so necessary. To that end, we don't do this of ourselves. How we need that precious, that irresistible work of the Holy Spirit and the Word that comes and probes into our hearts, kindles a light, true light. puts out all those false lights which we kindle for ourselves, and instead kindles that light from above in the soul and in the heart. Has anything of this ever taken place in your heart and in your life? Dear friends, we can look out over our world. And I spoke about the university professors and the college professors of which I could have been one. doing exactly what I described that they were doing. But it must become personal. And the Holy Spirit alone can do that. But it's something when you see that, when you realize that. And then it becomes such a miracle, such a stunning miracle, that the Lord said to Jeremiah, take thee another role. that despite all the sin, all the shame of our own hearts that have lifted themselves up against the Lord, that yet the Lord had designs, and the Lord's word prevailed. And on in through the New Testament, there we have the word of Jeremiah quoted as it is written in the prophet Jeremiah, Rachel weeping for her children. The word of God continues. And the great son of David, he treated the word of God with utmost respect, that the scriptures might be fulfilled, he said. When he was tempted by the devil, he appealed to the scriptures. The scriptures were the love of his heart. So perfectly, so sublimely, we must find it in him and in him alone. And yet he was the one who was cast outside the gate. He was put aside. And yet he ever lives and the Word of God still goes forward. As we heard also from our brother, even in the Spanish language and in throughout our world, in ways that we can't see and only eternity will reveal. Dear friends, the Word of God is indestructible. Indestructible. Is that a terror for you tonight? Well, seek this Word. Humble yourself before this Word. And if you do in truth by the Spirit and by the grace of God, then the doctrine of the indestructibility of the Word of God won't just be a terror. It'll be a comfort that God will not go back on one jot or one tittle of His Word, but come the judgment, come eternity. That word, that never-failing word, that rock, will endure and abide, come what may. Oh, may the Lord give us this, a portion of it, in our hearts and in our lives, to His praise and to His glory alone, the pardon of every sin. Thank you. We will continue our program with the singing of Psalter 334, the four stanzas. And as is noted in the bulletin in the program, this psalter will be sung a cappella. So I will ask Pastor Stehauer if he would come and lead us. In singing the song, we will sing this without accompaniment. We try to, we have, as we've mentioned before, the society is the handmaiden of the church, which means that we are not a church, we are not a denomination, we do not represent a specific denomination, but we provide the churches with Bibles. And there have been those churches and those members of churches who have requested that we sing without accompaniment, so in a wish to also be conforming to the wishes of each one and the concerns Beliefs, we will sing this psalter without accompaniment. While we're singing, the offering we'll be taking for the forthcoming printing of the Spanish New Testament, the Lord willing, next year. We thank you in advance for your generosity and your prayerful support. After that, we would ask our society, local society president, Pastor Lawrence Bilkus, if you would come up and offer a closing prayer, after which we'll have the doxology, which will be with accompaniment by the organ. So we will now sing 334, stanzas one through four, and Pastor Stahler will lead us in singing. Thank you. ♪ I come on high, my friend ♪ ♪ A shining light, it brights my way ♪ ♪ Thy righteousness to us, sir ♪ In my distress, I'll be with thee. Send out the glory to thy word. Accept my sacrifice of praise. ♪ And make me, Lord, thy just messiah. ♪ ♪ In nature oft am I to death, ♪ I'll remember this my name. The winners see I overflow. Yet from thy truth I have not strayed. Thy precepts are my heritage. For daily they my heart rejoice To keep thy statutes faithfully Shall ever be, I will rejoice. Let us give thanks and pray. Merciful Lord, grant us a prayer at the close of this evening, and grant us to say with David, I have sinned against the Lord. O Lord, we confess that indeed we have come into this world with a Jehoiakim heart and an Adam heart in whom we have sinned. And when thou dost say to another prophet, be not thou as the rebellious house of Israel. We must say, O Lord, we are like the rebellious house of Israel. O grant us that thou come to us with the penknife of thy word, that knife with two edges. and do thou deal with us. Oh, indeed not as we deserve, for thou must cut us away and cast us into the fire that will never be quenched. But do thou cut us that we may have not merely our garments rent, but our hearts indeed rent, broken, humbled to the dust, but also cut to see our need of him who is thy word, who was in the beginning and who was made flesh of whom thy other prophet disciples said, and we beheld his glory. Oh, give us that grace to partake of the grace in him. But give us, O Lord, to leave this house of prayer with a prayer in our heart that we don't have so much to talk about so with a hard heart that we may be given that brokenness of heart. And also that we may be given that longing in the heart for thy word. to be taught to our soul, to be a light in the darkness, and to be a light of which we sing that when thou descendeth forth, O lead us then on that holy hill. for Jesus' sake. Bless the labors of the Trinitarian Bible Society and grant that also in our homes and in our families we may be given a love for this thy word, for Jesus' sake alone. And as we will now sing the doxology, O give us to sing it with the heart, by thy Holy Spirit, for Jesus' sake. Amen. Praise him, all creatures, dearly loved. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.