Most welcome Mr. Stoutjes Dijk on behalf of the Trans-Aryan Bible Society. It's good that society is still operating. We need it more than ever, I think. And it's a gift. You're most welcome. I said we shouldn't start that early, but it's time. No, it's a gift that there are children of God and others being interested in the King James Version as a treasure for our nation and the world. Magritte, can you play 428? Stanzas 3, 428, Stanzas 3. O Lord, how shall a young preserve his way at every turn by vanity surrounded. And what's following 3, 428. O come, O come, all ye faithful joyful and triumphant, Let's read the phrase of the Lord in prayer. when we draw nigh unto thy footstool, Lord, who can stand before thee than only when he is covered with thy Son, the Lamb of God. That's the content of the whole Scripture. They speak about me on every page says the Lord of Lords. Lord, that we might have reverence and holy fear for thy word, not to manipulate it, but to be instructed by it, by thy Holy Spirit, to know the meaning of it and the purpose of it. In thy word thou hast revealed thyself, and therefore we need thy spirit to understand, to have it applied to our hearts. The law to condemnation, the gospel to salvation. Remember the work of the Trinitarian Bible Society, Mr. Stauschedeck, when he came just in our congregation with guests. We pray that the work might be blessed that I would give them grace to protect that gift to England and the world. Of thy holy word translated the King James Version. There have been many translations but they didn't last long. But the King James Version lasted since Reformation and well. O Lord, send Thy Spirit to understand it, to revive the church when it walks in darkness, that Thy light might be seen. Thy word is a light on the path of Thy people, a shining light. Open our eyes, forgive our many sins, Lord, when we don't deal with Thy word as the word of Thee, without reverence or fear. not believing, distrusting. We pray, Lord, that Thou would bless this evening when we come together, a short time, a short while, that Thy name may be honored in the people brought to everlasting salvation in Thy dear Son. Forgive us our many sins. We are not worthy of any blessing. But look upon us in thy dear Son. We ask it in his name. Amen. I want to read some of the Holy Scripture found in the Psalms, Psalm 119, reading verse 1 through 16. And I'm reading thus, blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep His testimonies, that seek Him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity they walk in His ways, Thou hast commanded to keep Thy precepts diligently, O that my ways were directed to keep Thy statutes. Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all Thy commandments. I will praise Thee with uprightness with a brightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgment. I will keep thy statutes, O forsake me not utterly. Wherewith shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto? according to thy word. With my whole heart have I thought thee. O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O Lord, teach me thy statutes. With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies. As much as in all riches, I will meditate in thy precepts and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes. I will not forget thy word. some things about the Word of God. In the first place, and that's important to know, the Bible is written in the Old Testament in the Hebrew and Aramaic language. That's the original language in which language God gave the Word to us. That's the Holy Language. And in the New Testament it's Greek. Especially in the time of Reformation we had the handwriting, the Textus Receptus. The Trinitarian Bible Society had the privilege to give us the Greek handwriting of the Textus Receptus. Later on they changed the New Testament and they said they will listen to the science, theological science, change words, leave out portions and add something. But we believe that in time of Reformation, some later, we got the Textus Receptus, that's the Greek handwriting that's given to the church. And we believe by the providence of God that we can trust that Textus Receptus, it's a by scholars who don't know the Lord. But it has been always a blessing unto us that we have these things. That's first. So the languages are Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. And what happens now? Well, the Lord says that we should preach the old language of the nations. So by the grace of God, the Bible is translated in English, in Dutch, in other languages, and the Trinitarian Bible Society is busy with it. If they don't trust the translation, they are seeking for the best or change it. I think even the French is changed for the better. So they are always busy with translation too, and seeking the best translation. Now I will say some words of it and then I come to practical things. Can we trust the translator? If he doesn't fear the Lord, we can't. For only the Spirit can give us understanding of the truth. And a word can be translated in different ways with different English words. It might sometimes even be opposite to what it seemed to be. So we need people who fear the Lord back to understand the scriptures. to use the proper translation. We had it in times of reformation, God fearing man. It started in England already with the Wycliffe Bible translators and earlier. But the King James Version was a gift to the English nation. And there were people fearing the Lord. They made even annotations that means that they said it could be another word. but we think this is the best translation. So the King James Version is a gift of God for people that fear the Lord have translated the scriptures. It's the same with the King James Version. If we look to new translations, I don't trust all those people. They go in a scientific way, they say we have found new handwritings and then we choose the best but they don't listen to the content, to what it means literally. They go by scientific ways. Now let me give an example, and it seems to be difficult, but let me say. If one of you has been a soldier in Europe, and you're writing to your wife in Canada, a letter of love and comfort. Would you bring it to a scholar and say, look to all the words, where they are from? No. You read affectionately, trusting, you know who read it. And you're not just looking to all the differences. You're reading what you feel and what you believe. Now that's the original reformed translations, King James Version, that's the start of Italian and French and German. That's first. Second, there is a different way of translation. Luther used a different way. Luther used equivalent translation. Now pastor, that's difficult to understand what you're saying. No, he says this word says this, but I gave an equivalent word that Germans would understand it better. So he doesn't stick to the original words. He doesn't stay with the original words. I'm not saying it's a very bad translation. Luther believe the Lord and he trusted. But we say that's another way of translation. The King James Version and the Dutch start of the telling is word for word translation. And every word that's translated is more or less translated in the same way all over the scriptures. So that if you read the Bible you can trust the word and the original language by reading the scriptures. but by an equivalent translation you can hardly do it. Especially, I say Luther wasn't that bad, but if they have kind of new books, I don't know how they are in the Netherlands they say Goed Nieuws and I don't know how are they called today. or even good news, they are not literally translations, but translations by people who think that they know the truth. And I am misleading, changing, taking the sharp points out of it, make it accustomable to those who read it by natural understanding. So it's a gift that the Trinitarian Bible Society, by the grace of God, has a purpose to keep the King James Version under our people, our churches, also today. And we must support him, not only by financial means, but where we can by prayers if we have been given the grace to pray that treasure might be under our young people. One opposition voice, old-fashioned words. I started this year to read with my catechism classes that New Testament Galatians and I took two verses each time, but they didn't understand mostly what it says. To understand the scriptures you need to be guided and instructed by the Holy Spirit. Therefore the letter kills, but the Spirit makes alive. So if they say, ah, they're all difficult words, even if you would translate it to so-called easier words, you don't understand it. Your eyes are blinded. Your heart is a stone. It has to be enlightened and revived by the Holy Spirit. Now, therefore, here in this portion of the scripture, David says, I meditate on it. Luther said, the text of the Bible is sometimes a nut that has to be cracked to eat the pit. And meditation is, God might speak to you, but you need to meditate. Ask, Lord, what does it mean? For me, for their honor, their church. And meditation is necessary. And therefore some people are just reading a whole chapter and at the end, but you should go in your corner and say, Lord, teach me thy ways. Therefore, blessed is the man undefiled in the way, walk in the law of the Lord. That's application. We need the application of the scriptures. Now that's not what we can manage, it's a gift. I had an elder in Al-Basradum, and once he said to me, he said, I was old already, but the first time I understood the word Jesus, I cried. I'd never understood the word, the name, but then I understood what it meant. Do you understand? We are blind. And therefore the Bible says, open in prayer. Psalm 119 is a prayer too. Open my eyes to behold the wonders. of thy truth. We can't understand it unless it's given to us. But that's not a matter of the Trinitarian Bible Society, that's a matter of those who read and are blind to back to open the scriptures. When I have said this, one thing and then I am leaving everything to you, Mr. Stoltenberg. The content of the scriptures, and listen to what I am saying, in the scriptures God reveals himself. Listen to what I am saying. God reveals himself in the scriptures. The Lord Jesus says, they speak of me on every page. It's revelation of God. Therefore, if you have feared the Lord, you fear his word. That's a sign that your eyes are opened. Secondly, the scriptures can be bound or explained by two ways. One way past, right. But in the Scriptures you find the commandments. Why are there commandments, says Paul? The Pharisees said that they could go by the commandments and live a holy life. Paul says the commandments are given for conviction, judgement, death, death by the gospel. in Christ. You might see and experience the fulfilled law, the grace. I read this night out of Luther, he says, on Good Friday God hang all the sins on the neck of the Lord Jesus. And on Easter morning there were no sins anymore, they were buried of all the people of God in the sepulcher. That are the two things we should really understand. If you are not condemned, you won't be saved. That theology also of those who translated the scriptures, John Hawkes, Calvin, Owen, he didn't translate fast enough, but God gave him the words of the letter of Paul to the Galatians translated by Luther. And God used it, the law for condemnation and the gospel for salvation. We have sinned against our creator and by grace we can only be saved. by faith, by repentance and faith in Christ Jesus. That's the whole content. They speak of me. Dear friends, Mr. Stotjesdijk will take over, but thank you, Mr. Stotjesdijk, for coming. I want to listen more ardently to you. May God bless you. Good evening. It's my pleasure to be here again. It's the second time that I've spoken in this sanctuary. And I want to thank the Consistory, Rev. Veldman of the Consistory, for giving me this opportunity to speak to your people. I want to bring you greetings from the Directors and the Executive Committee of TBS Canada and to thank you for your support and your interest. This congregation regularly sends support, financial support, but I trust you also remember us in your prayers. Now I was asked, when we discussed this with Mr. Zekfeldt, I was asked to talk to you about a topic that there are men who hazard their lives in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hazard your life. What does that mean? One of our sons is a volunteer fireman in Alberta and he is expected to hazard his life, to risk his life if needs be, to rescue those who are caught in a burning house. A policeman, a soldier, they are expected to risk their lives, to hazard their lives, to save those in danger. Yes, but what has that got to do with the Bible? What has that got to do with distributing the Word of God? Translating the Word of God? Was that risky business? Let's go back to the Bible itself, to what the Apostle Paul says in 2nd Corinthians where he describes the difficulties that he experienced as an apostle, as a missionary. In labours more abundant, day and night. In stripes above measure, in whippings above measure. In prison more frequent, in death oft. You can read those things yourself in 2 Corinthians 11. It was dangerous for Paul to proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ as he travelled around Asia Minor and other places. In a meeting in Antioch, He and Barnabas were sent out, and they are described by the people in Antioch, by the church of Antioch, as men that have hazarded their lives, because even on his first missionary journey, remember, he went to Cyprus, and Elamaz the sorcerer withstood him, did everything he could to stop him. Then he went to another place and the Jews turned against him and drove him out of the city. And in Lystra Paul was stoned and left for dead. It was dangerous for Paul to be a missionary. Well, why would he risk his life to this trip to preach? Or why would the people I'm going to talk about later tonight, why would they risk their lives to translate the word from, as Reverend Feldman has said, from the best Greek manuscripts into English or Dutch or whatever, even the languages they are using today. Why? Why risk your life simply so you can give someone a Bible? Why? Because for those men, for those people, it was not a book. It was the word of God. Just think about that for a minute. Think about who we are, who we became in paradise. We fell, deliberately, willfully. And did God then say goodbye to the human race? Did he write them off? No. Over the centuries, in different ways, he gave his word, which alone could make wise unto salvation. He gave his word in different stages, but he gave it to fallen sons and daughters of Adam, so that they might be pointed first to themselves, what they are, and by grace to the way of escape in Christ Jesus. He did not give that word to all nations at the same time. When that word was being preached in Greece, for example, our forefathers sat in darkness under the oak trees and worshipped Woden and Thor and whatever other monstrous idols they had. Later the word came to our forefathers. North America, South America were left in darkness. Did it come to our forefathers first because they were so good? Does it come to us because we are better than the people in Tibet or so many millions in India? go to your canons of dirt, chapter 3rd, 4th head, article 7. It is not because of our merits, deserts, not because we make a better use of the light of nature, but solely in God's sovereign good pleasure. But now, if it is dangerous to distribute the Bible, or to translate the Bible as it was for Tyndale, why do it? Let me give you a little anecdote. William Chalmers Burns was a young Scottish minister. He was a friend and colleague of Robert Murray Machin. In the early 1840s he came to Canada. He preached in Montreal in the street. They threw gravel and horse turds at him. It was a Roman Catholic city. He came as far west as Niagara, preaching to the various Presbyterian congregations. But Canada was not to be his home. Scotland was not to be his home. One day he was walking through the streets of Glasgow and his mother was walking in the same street but at the other end. With her shopping basket, she saw her son. Like every mother, and probably father, when you see your child at the end of the street, you look for recognition, you wave. But her son did not see her. He didn't see anything. They get closer, closer together, and then she steps right in front of her son and she says, William, I'm your mother. Oh, mother, he says, I did not see you just now. I was so overcome with the sight of countless crowds of immortal beings, hasting hither and thither, all posting towards the eternal world, I could bear it no longer. He couldn't stay in his study, he couldn't bear the thought of millions, of hundreds of millions, hurrying to eternity, with no That's what drove him. That's what, with the providence of God, brought him to China. And in China he met with another missionary. You may have heard of the Hudson Taylor Society. Hudson Taylor was there at the same time as Burns. They worked together for a while. But when Burns, when Hudson Taylor had been in China for a while, and he met with groups of men, I wouldn't call them catechism classes, but they were sort of classes. And in 1858, at the end of one of these meetings, a Chinese man stood up and he said with tears, I have been seeking the truth for years. I've fought it in Buddhism and Taoism and in other religions, but I have never found the truth. I've found no truth anywhere. But tonight, I've found it. I believe in my heart that I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then later, he and Taylor had a conversation. It's painful, because the Chinese man said to Mr. Taylor, Sir, how long have the people of England had the Bible, the word of God? And Taylor says, well, for several hundred years. What? For several hundred years? And you have only come to China now? My father searched for the truth for his whole life. He never found it. For him, you came too late. There you have the burden that God places on certain individuals. A burden to translate the Word, regardless of the price, to bring the Word to other parts of the world, to the ends of the world, regardless of the price. And that is my purpose this evening. I want to try to tell you something about several individuals who had that burden placed on their shoulders, either to translate or to distribute or to preach. I want to tell you a little bit about TVS today, how we are striving to follow in the footsteps of those men, in providing sound translations of the word of God. Now, you cannot talk about the English Bible translations without talking about William Tyndale. It's just not possible. And you must, regardless, William Tyndale didn't do the King James Version, he had long been gone by then, but his work underlies it. Through the grace of God, Tyndale in the early 1500s, the same time as Luther, went to university. He was going to be a priest. But by that time, There was a new version. The Greek manuscripts had been rediscovered. And Erasmus, who was a humanist, had nevertheless been an instrument in the hands of God to prepare the Greek New Testament, which was far, far better than the old Latin Bible, which nobody had anyway. And Erasmus' eyes were opened when he read that Greek New Testament. And what he read in there was quite different than what he heard and was taught in church and in universities, very different. Church told him he had to pray through the saints, but he certainly didn't hear that or read that when he read the Greek manuscripts, not at all. that he had to worship the idols, that he had to believe in the mass, in all these kind of things. No, Tyndale was brought to the truth in the early 1500s by reading. And when he becomes a teacher, a tutor, he only had two students in a rich man's house. But in that house he met many other people. Churchmen who came for dinner to this man's house, and Tyndale was, usually tutors weren't too highly respected, but he was highly respected. He was allowed to sit at the dinner table. When he came to dinner, he always brought his Greek New Testament, and the priests would talk about this terrible monster. This boar let loose in the wood of the church in Germany. They knew about Luther. And Tyndale would say, it is written. He would correct them. He wasn't very popular. You never are if you correct people from the word of God. And one day a very highly placed church man said, the laws of the Pope are more important than the laws of God. Did you hear that? Blasphemy. And then Tyndale in holy indignation says, I will, if God spare me, year long, cause that the boy who drives the plough to know more than thou dost. But William Tyndale How can you cause the boy that drives the plow to no more? The boy that drives the plow can't read, and he certainly can't read Greek or Latin. And that was Tyndale's burden. I must make the scripture available to my people, to the people of England, in their own language. not in antiquated Latin of a poor translation, not in Greek, but in English. And if they can't read, fine, but they can listen. That's why his translation is so eminently worth listening to. It flows. When others read it, you can hear it. And Tyndale says to his employer, he says, Sir, I must translate the word. And Mr. Walsh, his employer says, I agree, but not in my house. We're already being watched. He goes to London, he's watched there. He goes to Germany, he's watched there. But nevertheless, I'm skipping some details, nevertheless, he manages to finish the New Testament in 1526. You know, we live in a world, even when I was like some of you young people here in school, we didn't have computers, but we had dictionaries and encyclopedias and all kinds of things. Today, with your computers, it's hard to understand what it means to translate in those days. A Greek New Testament on his table. Luther's German New Testament on the table, and an inkwell, and a goose-quill pen, and a piece of paper. He was in hiding because he was being watched, so probably in an attic or a cellar. I can just imagine him reading the Greek aloud, getting the weight, the feeling of the words, translating it into English, feeling each word, writing it down, or dictating it to his helper. Page by page, when he finished Matthew, The authorities found out that he was doing it, and they were ready to come after him. But they managed to escape through worms, and there it was finished. But, what's the good of having an English New Testament in Germany? It has to go to Britain. They had to smuggle it in, because King Henry VIII didn't want it. And Tyndale carries on with the Old Testament, and then he's caught, he's betrayed. And he's in jail, in a dungeon, a deep hole in the ground for 16 months. And you know, I said earlier, he had a burden, a dungeon. I can't even form a conception of a dungeon. Cold, wet, filthy, and he says to the governor of the prison, Sir, please, may I have my coat and my hat, because I'm so cold, but sir, above all, may I have my Hebrew manuscript, and a Campbell, and my pen, so I can carry on. At the doors of eternity, in a filthy cold hole, what was Tyndale's burden? Carry on. And when he was at the stake, and he was being strangled before they burnt him, his last words, Lord, open the eyes of the King of England. And the Lord did. Because even Henry, that nasty man, that terrible man, nevertheless gave command that a Bible should be placed in every church. It was called the Great Bible. It was chained to a lectern so you could not steal it. But now I go back to Tyndale's first statement, I will, if God spare my life, ere long cause the boy that drives the plow to no more. that's what happened. I can in my mind, I can see these people, these plowmen, their wives, gathering around this Bible, to them it was closed, even when it was open. But then they would say, hey John, you know how to read, hey Margaret, you know how to read, read to us. And they heard. And they listened. And the Lord blessed the word mightily. I think you have to recall Luther, the reformer of Germany, and Knox of Scotland. But in a sense, Tyndale is the father of the English Reformation. And his work underlies 85% of the New Testament. That's how good a job he did. Even the King James translators, 54 learned men, were reluctant to touch Tyndale's work. And his word gets printed and it gets spread. When the men of King James did their work, their lives were not at risk. But Tyndale knew, when I start this work, I am going to be watched. Because there is a death penalty on translating the scriptures from old languages into English. he took the risk. He hazarded his life that his fellow Englishmen might have the word of God in a way that they could understand. And that gift led to the King James, led to the Reformation of England. And that gift, that King James Bible, has gone When the pioneers came here to this area and sat in their log cabins from Scotland, from England, they didn't have much, but they had their Bible, and it was a King James Bible. When some man went to the outback of Australia, he would take his King James Bible, or to the jungles of Africa, they took it along, and for centuries, for three and a half, for more centuries, that was the only version, and it was blessed. Think, think how richly that was blessed, without the people of Scotland and England, of the East Coast of the Americas, how many, many were converted to the Lord by means of that word. But that's still only a small part of the world. That word has to go further. In the Old Testament, the word was restricted to the Jews, except for a few exceptions like Ruth and Rahab the harlot and so forth. But in the New Testament, that wall of partition falls away. And at God's time, we cannot understand God's purposes. We must not, says the canons, curiously pry into them. But at God's time that word will go further. And who will he use? Who is the next person who hazarded his life? Not someone that you would think would ever become a missionary and a translator. grew up, his father was a minister in New England, his mother was a God-fearing lady, it was an exemplary family. And his father had great hopes for his son, because Adoniram was brilliant. He taught himself to read, not only English, my son will become important, an official in the state, or a minister in the church of God in a large congregation in Boston. But God's ways are not, are higher than ours, because when his son goes to college, He meets people. And I have to say this, young people, when you go to college, or workplace, you might just meet some people who think very differently than you were brought up to think. I know I did. And one of his friends was a man called James Eames. And Eames talked to Adoniram Judson about his foolish religion, his foolish beliefs, his foolish Bible. James Eames didn't believe in God anymore. He was an atheist. And what happens? Judson becomes an atheist. He goes home. And I can just imagine those parents when he tells them, Father, I'm tired of your sermons. I don't believe a word you say from that pulpit. I don't believe that Bible is the word of God. There is no God. And his father's anger, nor his mother's tears can change him. And he leaves with no intention of ever returning. and he is going to work in God's vineyard. He goes to New York, joins a theatre group, gets into all kinds of things. And then one day he can't find any more work, he gets on his horse and he heads west to meet his uncle. And as he comes to the end of the day, he comes to an inn. We would call it a motel. He has to find a place for his horse. He's allowed. He gets in. He says to the innkeeper, sir, do you have a room? Yes. But I don't think you're going to want this room. Why? Well, there's somebody in the room next door who is very sick. In fact, I think he's dying and it's not going to be very nice to be in the room beside him when he makes all those noises and he has company, his family coming. Ah, it's too bad that he's dying, but what is death? I'll take the room. Well, his neighbor is quite noisy. Until sometime in the middle of the night, the noise stops. judge and can sleep. The next morning when he goes down to pay his bill, he says to the innkeeper, and how is the man in the room beside me? I'm sorry sir, but he's dead. Dead? That's a thunderbolt! Dead! Atheists aren't supposed to get thunderbolts. where is he now?" was the first thought that popped into his head. Where is he now? And sir, may I ask you, do you know his name? Yes, his name is James Eames, the friend who had led Adoniram Johnson to atheism. Then the next question, where would I be if I had died like James Eames? Atheists aren't supposed to have those kind of troubles, are they? But God brought that home, and he turns his horse and he goes back home. A home he had never intended to go back to. A prodigal, if you will, with weeping, loss, lost, on his side, turned his back to God, but the Lord brought him to himself, and brought him to conversion, powerfully. And then, yes, now he wants to go into the church, now he wants to become a missionary, and he studies for that, and just before he goes, he wants to go to India, he falls in love, he sees this young lady. And in those days, courtship patterns were rather different than today. Even before you talked to the girl, if she was interested in you, you first had to talk to her father. And Mr. Judson wrote a letter to the girl's father. And I sometimes wondered, I have daughters and they were young men who were interested in them. If I had received a letter like this, would I have given permission? I have now to ask whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world. whether you can consent to her departure and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of missionary life, whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean, to the fatal influence of the climate of India, to every kind of want and distress, to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death. That's quite a wedding proposal. And can you consent to all this for the sake of him who left his heavenly home and died for her and you, for the sake of perishing immortal souls, for the sake of Zion and the glory of God? Will you give your daughter permission? Well, Mr. Hazeltine, the girl's father, doesn't give permission and he doesn't give denial. He simply says to his daughter, Nancy, you decide. And she decides to go with him to India. Long journey. And just think, you're never going to see your parents again, at least that would be very unlikely. And after months and months on a very slow sailing ship they get to India, to Calcutta, and what are they told? You're not welcome. What? Yes, the British East India Company, which was something like our Hudson's Bay Company, controlled India, and they didn't want missionaries. Indians don't need missionaries, they just need to work for our profit. Missionaries are not welcome. First ship, you get out. The British officers were probably so-called Christians, but the dollar was their god. But there was no ship that was going back to England. And anyway, Judson, pardon me, back to the States. Judson didn't want to go back. God sent me to be a missionary. And the only place, the only ship he could get on was going to Burma, just across the Bay of Bengal. Well, a couple of weeks sailing, bad weather. And he spoke to people in Calcutta and India. I guess I'll have to go on that ship to Burma. That's the only open door. And they said, Antoniram, you can't go to Burma. That's a terrible place. It's a country full of hate and murder and violence. They don't want anything to do with whites. You can't go there. But he has to go there. and he comes to Rangoon eventually, he can see the pagodas, the temples, which outside is covered with gold to the Buddhas, and he gets ashore, remember he cannot speak a word of Burmese, and he and his wife in a very unhealthy climate, that's where they're going to work. He wants to learn to speak Burmese, so he manages to get someone to come in, a man who can speak no English, and he can speak no Burmese. So he points to things, chair, table, book. He has to learn to write. But the language of Burma is a bunch of circles and squares and no spaces between the words. And they write on palm leaves for paper. But he persists, he persists. Three years later he wrote a letter. Three years after he got to Burma he wrote a letter. And he says, there is not a single individual in the country that I can pray with except my wife. not a single soul with whom I have the least religious communion. I have been here and I find myself unable to communicate the divine truth intelligibly. What can a solitary, a lone individual, a feeble individual do in such a land of darkness? But the Lord is all-powerful, wise and good, and this consideration alone affords me unspeakable comfort." His wife, they built a little house on a busy street, a street that leads to the heathen temple. He built it right on the street, and he would stand on the veranda and try to get people to come and listen to him. This man could have had the biggest church in Boston, in New England, trying to get a few people to come and listen, who basically, if they came at all, poked fun at him, mocked him, and never came back. Seven years, seven years, before he had his first convert. Johnson was not a man who went over thin ice, as you say. He didn't just automatically assume, he talked a lot with this man, and then he could say, yes, this man has been brought to know the Lord. That's his first baptism, an adult baptism, in a pond right by the heathen temple. The church didn't grow very fast in Burma. Judson gets thrown in prison, a filthy hole. He's afraid that he's already finished the Gospel of Matthew. Will he lose it? His wife hides it in a pillowcase, and they manage to keep it. And then when he's released from prison, he comes home to find his wife dead, their only baby dead. and he goes almost insane with depression. He spends forty days in a little cavern in the jungle. He dug a hole in the middle, six feet long, two feet wide, and he sat staring into that hole. But the Lord delivered his servant. And he continues his work, he continues to translate the Bible into Burmese. And later, after many years, after he also lost his second wife, who was a widow, he goes to a different group of people in northern Burma, the Karen, and there his word is richly blessed. and to this day are persecuted by the Burmese authorities because many of them are Christians. The Apostle of Burma, a man who as it were could have had such A comfortable, easy life, working in the churches of New England, being a professor. I'm not saying that being a pastor is easy, but being a missionary in Burma, under those incredible obstacles, he would understand in dangers, in death, But that word was blessed slowly. It wasn't one of those sort of a rush missionary job where people are converted by the hundreds within a few days. But the Lord built a little church in Burma. And when it came to the end of his life at age 62, he was sick. They took him aboard a ship to go to a healthier climate. but he died at sea, buried in the ocean. To wait the day of the resurrection, when the sea will also give back her dead. And this man who hazarded it all, will be, will hear, come in, thou good and faithful servant. Tyndale, England Judson, Burma Let's come closer to home. Let's come to Canada. You mean there were things like this in Canada? I've studied a fair bit of Canadian history. I never heard of this man's name. In fact, most religion is erased from school textbooks, even though it played an enormous part in Canada's early history. Just look at how many churches there are everywhere. But today we erase those things. This is about a man called James Evans. He was a Methodist minister from England. He got sent by the Methodist Church to be a missionary among the Indians somewhere around the north of Lake Superior. He had to learn the language to know a thing. But after a while they call him away and say, we want you to go to Norway House, which is north of Lake Winnipeg. So he had to go through the states, up the Red River to what is Winnipeg today, and then the Hudson's Bay Company gave him and his wife a ride in their big canoes. Every spring their canoes went from Winnipeg, then called Fort Garry, to the northern end of Lake Winnipeg, and then further, and he could get up there. He was going to work among the Cree Indians in Norway House. The Kree, he doesn't know their language. They have no written alphabet. They worship their own things. There he has to begin his work. He was a brilliant man, at least in terms of languages, so he managed to understand Kree in relatively short order. And then he designs his own alphabet, it only had eight characters, but they would cover the whole of the Cree language. And then he starts to translate a simple hymn, a few songs, just a few pieces. But he also wants to teach his Cree people to read. But he's only got this one copy, there's no photocopier up in Norway House. So he goes to the master, the factor as they call them, of Fort in Norway House and he says to him, Sir, when those big canoes come north, don't you think you could bring me a small printing press, so I could print these pieces of the scriptures for the Cree people? And the answer? No. The Cree don't need the scriptures, they don't need Christianity, they just need to work for the company. Isn't that awful? That's our Canadian history. But the Lord not only made James Evans able in languages, he was also very resourceful. So he'd made his own little printing press. But then he had no paper. And the Hudson's Bay Company again refused, we're not going to bring you paper. So he printed his pieces of scripture on birch bark. Up north you have lots of birch trees, you can peel that bark off. And his nickname was the man who made the birch bark talk. He managed to teach many of the Cree to read, and they would take these legal pieces with him when they went far away into the wilderness to hunt and trap. But now to get to the point. Mr Evans not only translated and printed, he also taught. And quite naturally, he came to the Ten Commandments. And he explained commandment by commandment. And then one day the Cree were used, especially by the Hudson's Bay Company, were used especially to row their canoes up north to still more isolated places. And of course up north, in that area, the ice in the lakes and rivers doesn't really melt until mid-May, early June. And by mid-September it's freezing again. So they haven't got a big window. And one day these Cree people, the ones who row those canoes, they say to the manager of the fort, Sir, we can't row anymore on Sundays. Had James Evans told them that? No. He just explained the Bible. He explained the fourth commandment, six days shall thou labor. And these Indians tell their employer, we can't work on Sundays anymore. the manager of the fort who was probably a Presbyterian from way back in Scotland was angry and he tells James Evans listen you've got to get this nonsense out of their heads they have to row on Sunday we've only got so many days to go way up and whack down the game of the cargo we can't afford to lose Sunday tell them to start he says no they came to this on their own shall I tell them to break the day of the Lord or he made enemies. But let's go back to the Indians, the Cree. The ones, the so-called Christians, and whatever their Christianity is, I shall not rest, but they say to each other, we are not going to row on the Lord's Day. And when those canoes set up north, set out, there's two groups, a Christian group and a non-Christian. And they row all week If by Saturday afternoon the Christian group is ahead, they stop, they make camp, not just an overnight camp, it's going to be two nights. And on Sunday they don't. They wash themselves on Saturday. They had even brought along some Sunday clothes, cleaner clothes. And whoever could read and had a piece of birch bark, they had their own little mini service. And the others passed them. The ones who worked on Sunday passed them, jeering. But on Monday morning, when the stars were still in the sky, the Christians set out again. And you know what happened? They got to their destination six days before the others. They had unloaded and reloaded and were headed back down before the others showed up. And by the time they got back to Norway House, they were ten days ahead. How can that be? then that honour me, I will honour." And the words of James Evans, that translation and those simple lessons, those Cree people took them to heart. They would put many of our fellow Canadians, maybe of ourselves, to shame. They would not break the Lord's Day. And what about James Evans? Well, he had enemies now. The Hudson's Bay Company was not something to cross. They scandalized him, they sent him back to England. And he was cleared of his accusations, but he died with a broken heart. But the word went into Manitoba, he hazarded his life, basically lost everything. We do not know to how many that word was blessed, but the Lord will never have his word return unto him void. Three men, one the greatest of all English translators, to a missionary who also translated the Bible, not from English into Burmese, but from Greek into Burmese. And then James Evans, who probably translated from English into Cree, and lost his reputation, his health, his life. Hazarded his life for the cause of his Lord. What about today? Does the Trinitarian Bible Society, what does it do today? Well, there's a number of things. I guess we can sum them up in first translating, printing, distributing, and promoting or defending. So we translate. The Chinese Bible that was done by Robert Morrison way back in the 1800s is no longer useful because the Communists changed the Chinese dialect and forced everyone to use Mandarin Chinese. The Chinese Bible that there is today is based on the manuscripts that Rev. Feldman referred to. They are not the sound manuscripts. So here we have a billion people without a good Bible. we translate a good Bible. But where can you find people who a. speak Mandarin Chinese as their native language, b. know Biblical Greek well, and c. understand the way of the Lord at least somewhat. So far we've got two. They're working in Grand Rapids. The Gospel of John in Chinese has now been printed. It's a long ways to go. But there's progress being made. And so we have 40 different teams working, some on a revision, some on a brand new translation in a language that has never had the Bible before. You and I have the Bible. We have them everywhere. open or closed, but there are some people who still, in God's sovereign decree, have never had the word. Is it not incumbent on us to try to bring it to them? So they are translating. They are revised over and over again to make sure they are sound translations. And of course, There's a lot of concerns about internet and this kind of stuff, but there was one translation project where one worker lived in Argentina in South America, another one lived in Grand Rapids, another one was in Outer Mongolia. They could communicate every day easily by internet, email, and Skype. They have now finished the Spanish New Testament. So we soon will be able to supply the Spanish New Testament, because the Spanish Bible, when it was first done, was an excellent translation. But during the last 150 years, every time it was reprinted, they changed it. It's no longer sound. The new one will be. And to me, when I was growing up and a long time later, South America, that was a Roman Catholic continent, a continent of darkness. But there is a great demand for the Spanish Bible, and in Brazil there is a demand for the Portuguese Bible. The TBS branch in Brazil sells more Bibles than the rest of us put together. What they will accomplish is not for us to say. We have to print the Bibles. Not every Bible can be printed on a printing press in the United Kingdom or in Holland, like many of them are, or in Grand Rapids. Some of these are very funny looking alphabets. To me they are all squiggles They have to get that kind of alphabet, get that kind of setting to print the Bible in that language. And then we have to get it to that country. You know, not every country has open doors. They might have open doors for other things, but not for the Word of God. Our schools in Canada don't even have open doors for the Word of God. And certainly the Islamic countries don't. China, it is still very difficult to import Bibles. We are trying to get an underground printing press to do things. Farsi, the language of Iran, our Bible is almost ready. Will we be able to get it in? Will we have to smuggle it? So actually most of the work that TBS is engaged in is in the translation and distribution of Bibles in other languages. And most of the money that you donate goes to that work. Do we do anything in Canada itself? Every now and then, but the example that sticks in my mind was one that came to my desk last fall. It was a letter. The envelope was... I could tell immediately where it was from. I had seen letters like this before. It was from a prison. Please, sir, may I have my own Bible? My cellmate has one, and sometimes I can use it, but if our page is ripped out, and sometimes he won't let me, let me please have my own Bible. I think he has one. We send, there isn't a month that goes by that we don't send at least a hundred Bibles to prison. I have to say with shame, when I became General Secretary in 2010, and I looked at these numbers, a thousand Bibles to our prisoners, that's $10,000. What's the good of giving Bibles to prisoners? Are they less than you and I? The seed is scattered. There's a little parable, I think it's in Mark 4, that the farmer, the husbandman scatters the seed, and it sprouts, and he knows not how. When I was a little boy, I used to seed maybe red beets with Dad in the garden, and then every day after school I'd come back and watch if they were growing yet. I couldn't do anything to make them grow, and I couldn't do anything really to stop them from growing. Who am I? to deny prisoners the word. Can the Lord not convert a prisoner? Can he who converted a Manasseh under the thorns not convert a prisoner? I'm not saying that all these thousand Bibles that go to the prisons are blessed in a good way, in the right way, in a true way. That's not for us to say. So we have a prison ministry. We have some people, there's a gentleman in Hamilton, there's a gentleman in Halifax, there's a lady in Regina. They say, I'll just talk about the lady in Regina. She's got liberty. I have some questions about her theology, but she knows her Bible. And she talks to people at the bus stop, people with coloured faces. We have lots of those in Canada. And then she said to me, can I have some Nepali Bibles? Bibles designed for the people in Nepal. We have them. Can I have a Russian Bible? A Romanian Bible? And she passes them out. Just handfuls here and there. Again. Outreach. The word to the end of the earth. We give Bibles to students in Christian schools. and those of you who are engaged in homeschooling, if you would like to engage in that program you should talk to me. End of last year I had three requests. A school in Nigeria wanted a thousand Bibles. A school in India wanted a thousand Bibles. in a school, or actually an orphanage in Malawi, one of the hundreds. They're on their way. You paid for them. You make it possible. Now, the Lord inclines your heart. Let us hope He also inclines the hearts of the people who receive those Bibles. I have read of people In an African country, when Bibles were going to be handed out, that they fought, they pushed, they shoved to get to the front of the line. Because this was their only chance to have their own. How privileged are you and I? A few years ago at TVS, we heard of a church in Zaire, right in the middle of Africa. Very restless, violent country. It was a church. What kind of church? Some kind of Protestant denomination. But it had several thousand people, came every Sunday. How many Bibles? Two. Two. One for the pastor. He had to prepare his sermon. And the other one? They ripped it apart. And they gave the Zettfeld family a few pages on a certain Sunday. They gave that family a few pages, and that family a few pages, and the following Sunday they swapped. That's the only way they could all get at the Bible. Since then, we've sent them a large shipment. That is our work. Part of the work I do is to go to schools and churches and tell people why the King James is the best translation available in the English language, and colleagues in Holland would say why the Statenvertaling is the best translation in Dutch, and so forth. That's part of the That's the work I do at home. But the biggest work of the society is to translate, to print, to bring that word to others in the hope that the Lord will add his blessing. May he also add it in your midst. Marguerite happens to be my wife's second cousin. We just happen to meet this evening. Psalter 49. The ends of all the earth shall hear and turn unto the Lord in fear. All kindreds of the earth shall own and worship Him as God alone. 1 and 3 of 49. you When children shall grow old, let human heart We need to ask questions about what we talked about earlier on this time. Thank you very much for coming, Mr. Stout-Yastyk. I think it's good for us to hear about people who will sacrifice all for God's Kingdom. Shall we pray together? O Lord, we have heard about those who sacrificed all, that Thy Word could be spread abroad. and that work was blessed for we have heard of the fruit that it brought forth and we pray that thou would bless also in this day the work of Bible translation and we pray that that seed which is sown may bear a rich increase. That sinners may be convicted of sin. And that they may also come to that knowledge that their sins have been blotted out. And that is also what we, each one of us, needs. We have Thy Word, Thy Word which was given to us through the effort and the blood of many. And we pray that we may see the value of it. But we pray also for the light of Thy Spirit, that we wouldn't read it with only our human understandings, but grant the light of Thy Spirit. We pray, be with us in this evening, bless the activities further, and bring us all home again in safety for Jesus' sake. Amen. there is coffee and refreshments in the meeting room.