Can The Bible Be Added To?

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=50 BGCOLOR="#333366" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Can The Bible Be Added To?</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=165 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 35 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id292.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bible Versions, Part 2"><U><B><IMG SRC="007151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="21"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="35" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="20" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="13"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="27"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> Previous/Next Sermon</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="www.stanbaker.org"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biblical and Theological Studies"><U><B>Biblical and Theological Studies</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church Ministry"><U><B>Church Ministry</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sermon Notes"><U>Sermon Notes</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Personal"><U><B>Personal</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org"><U>stan@stanbaker.org</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Can the Bible Be Added To?</B></div> <div> <B>Series: Why We Can Trust the Bible, Part 9</B></div> <div> <B>Berean Bible Church, December 9, 2001pm</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Does the Bible Say For Sure?</B></div> <div> A. Revelation 22:18 - “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book.” It is possible that this verse refers just to the book of Revelation and not to the whole Bible.</div> <div> B. Jude 3 - “Contend for the faith once for all entrusted to the saints.” The “faith” seems to be the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It probably does not refer to the completion of the Bible.</div> <div> C. Deuteronomy 4:2 - “Do not add to what I command you, and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.” This refers to the basic admonition to not to presume to speak with God. No one would argue that this verse does not allow for more revelation to follow. We accept revelation that came after this.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Revelation Through Christ</B></div> <div>      Hebrews 1:1-3 - “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”</div> <div>      There is a sense in which the culmination of God’s revelation was in and through Jesus Christ (“in these last days”).</div> <bR> <div> <B>Revelation Through the Apostles</B></div> <div> A. Revelation through the Apostles was predicted by Christ (John 14:26, 16:12-15).</div> <div> B. The Apostles were eyewitnesses of Christ’s ministry (Acts 1:21-22, 2 Pet 1:16). They had unique authority because of who they were and who they knew - Christ.</div> <div> C. Paul was the last of the Apostles (1 Cor 9:1, 15:8). What was given to Paul was the supernatural revealing of what was previously hidden (1 Cor 2:9-13, Eph 3:8-9).</div> <div> D. When the Apostles were gone, Scripture was complete. No one else has the unique authority to speak for God that they and the earlier Prophets had (again, Jesus was the culmination of the revelation, Heb 1:1-3).</div> <bR> <div> <B>The Test of a Prophet</B></div> <div>      Any “prophecy” or revelation must be in accordance with already revealed and accepted prophesies.  Deuteronomy 18:20-22 says, “If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.” On this basis alone, the teachings of Islam, Mormonism, and Jehovah’s Witnesses are ruled out.</div> <bR> <div> <B>The Gift of Prophecy</B></div> <div> A. Not every “prophecy” was kept and collected as Scripture (Acts 15:32). </div> <div> B. Even if one accepts the “gift of prophecy” today, it still does not equal the authoritative level of Scripture. </div> <div> C. When one presumes to speak for God, he or she must be right, all the time.</div> <div> D. Not every so-called “prophet” is a spokesperson for God (Matt 7:21-23). False prophecies are expected, but not condoned.</div> <div> E. Be careful of the language, “God <I>revealed</I> to me . . .” or “I got a <I>revelation</I>.”</div> <div> (Material courtesy of Dr. Bob Pyne, Dallas Seminary, class notes.)</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B> <A NAME="_"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>The “Bible Codes”</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Introduction to the Bible Codes</B></div> <div> A. The Bible Codes are based on “Equidistant Letter Sequences” (ELS). It seeks to find words conceptually linked, grouped together, intentionally in code form. Various modern events are said to have been predicted (discovered after the event), including Princess Diana’s death, the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, and the World Trade Center attacks (the World Trade Attacks are purported to have been “predicted” in the King James Version; click <A HREF="id295.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bible Code Example"><U>here</U></A> to see for yourself).</div> <div> B. Someone tried to give it a scientific basis in a 1994 article. The study is not widely accepted by other scientists.</div> <div> C. It requires great flexibility with the Hebrew language (various spellings, backwards or forwards, variety in spacing - 4771 equal letters apart for "Rabin"). Sometimes Hebrew words are used, other times English words in Hebrew spelling.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Evaluating the Bible Codes</B></div> <div> A. No two Hebrew manuscripts are the same. Equal letter spacing would not work when there are minor differences in manuscripts.</div> <div> B. Is this necessary to prove the truth of the Bible? Islam tries this too. It is a weak and unnecessary way to seek to prove the Bible (see the above section on the Resurrection).</div> <div> C. Is God prone to hiding his “revelation” for highly specialized believers to discover? The very nature of “revelation” is the idea of something being “revealed.”</div> <div> D. Have we got the plain text figured out and lived out already?</div> <bR> <div> <B>A Final Comment . . .</B></div> <div>      “Drosnin [<I>The Bible Code</I>] claims mathematical proof that ‘no human could have encoded the Bible in this way.' He says, ‘I do not know if it is God,' but adds that the code proves ‘we are not alone.' He proceeds to speculate that alien intelligences may have left a message for us to discover. He further believes the code ‘is more than a warning. It may be information we need to prevent the predicted disaster. It is not a promise of divine salvation. It is not a threat of inevitable doom. It is just information. The message of the Bible code is that we can save ourselves.'” [John Jelinek, "Understanding the Bible Code Controversy," p. 13.]</div> <bR> <div> <B>. . . You Decide</B></div> <div> A. 1 Corinthians 1:9-10 - “No eye has seen, no ear has heard . . . but God has revealed it to us.” Does that sound hidden?</div> <div> B. 2 Peter 1:19-21 - “And we have the word of the prophets made more certain . . .” Does that sound hidden?</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> copyright, 2002, Stanley Baker</div> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> </td> </tr></table></body>