Assurance (Part B)

Before Jerusalem was named Jerusalem and you see the word Jerusalem. You see Josh with the book of the end of Joshua someone said and Joshua died. Joshua didn't write that someone had to add and that is not corrupt the information. In fact, it helps so we need to have better understanding of reality, we are going to be children of truth. We better be ready to accept facts. This is cross-referenced with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of first John, please stay with us after today's message here. More information about cross-referenced specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching today. Pastor Rick will continue his teaching in first John chapter 5 and it's called assurance spirit of life water of cleansing the blood of love. That's what the blood of Christ as it is love. What a price. Now we come to verse seven and eight will take them together because these two verses form one of the most if not the most controversial verses in all the New Testament.

Perhaps the Bible verse 74 there are three that bear witness in heaven the father. The word, and the Holy Spirit in these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth spirit and the water and the blood and these three agree as one. Now if you are using one of the Alexandrian source material Bibles the NSA be the NIV, for example, you are the English standard version. You may have noticed I read words in verses seven and eight that you don't have in your Bible that you may have a footnote.

If you are using the bison team text of the Syrian text and you are you may have it in a footnote that tells you this is not in over manuscripts of the Greek looking at verse seven. The words that are there in the older manuscripts. For there are three that bear witness then it jumps to verse eight the spirit. The water and the blood and these three agree as one. Manuscripts agree that this was written by John, what about the other information here is that from John.

This is called by the scholars.

The Johan in, all the, your honey and I'll give you both sides as best I can in the short amount of time because we talk how we got our Bible to didn't just show up under a tree you know gift wrapped will look as the Bible is so much went into getting us this New Testament that we have in our language or French language whatever language you're in the Bible is given to us somewhat fragmented.

The New Testament, especially, but that fragmentation does not mean we can put it together we can. We have but there are these glitches, there are these sub bumps in the road and I believe all of them can be dealt with. Because I believe full heartedly. The Bible is self-correcting in its manuscripts and this verse has been again and again the focus of much to me now if you are a King James only type of person you are probably intolerant of everybody else.

How dare they disagree with you, and if they don't agree with you that the King James are the only inspired version they are anathema. Unfortunately, that's almost King James only people think that makes them irretrievable and is so so sad.

It's a sad deal what you do about people in all the languages that have gotten there Bibles from Greek manuscripts, not from King James at the just point that out because the King James only years have just turned and turned me off when a minute. I said this is not likely in the earliest Greek manuscripts like that's it. Well let that be as it is the facts of the facts and if you are a person is says don't confuse me with facts that made up my moral own mind because of how I feel, then you cannot be reasoned with, so that verse in Isaiah come let us reason means nothing to you, what mean something to you is come make me feel good. The Bible is not an habit of making us feel good.

It can do it and it will do it, but it also convicts us and nothing could about being convinced you're a sinner and feeling there is good in it but not feelings. I don't enjoy being corrected to you. I know people don't enjoy being corrected is hard to go to someone to say I'm sorry I was wrong and I think we should put a lot of effort into not being wrong, but when we are. We should also put a lot of effort into owning up to it and not getting becoming indignant and have you met the perfectionist was a problem for everybody else is not as perfect as them. You watch those kind of folks are very nice and friendly until the flesh is offended like everybody else. Anyway, let's get back to this.

It's not found in any of the earlier Greek manuscripts. In fact, it doesn't show up in the Greek manuscripts until the 15th century. That's a long time. All of a sudden it shows up. This does not at all affect the trustworthiness of the inspiration of the Scriptures.

Because of that self-correcting feature that I mentioned… We also all you know somebody got all Bibles. Yep, someone also corrected from our Bibles hold doctrines were lost in the dark ages. Let's not act like you know God is not protecting us of the gotten the doctrine of the rapture wasn't around and that there was there in the Scriptures. There were some who sought but overall it was lost to humanity because of the Roman Catholicism adorned everybody down no teaching suffers because this is an ongoing approach at this way. I'm going to give you the evidence you make to your choice whether it's in there or not. If you leave it or take it out.

No teaching in the New Testament, all the old suffers because of his presence, or its extraction rendering pretty much irrelevant, because the New Testament truth on the Trinity, which this Iranian, is about is found elsewhere in the new. In the Old Testament. No truth is lost. No truth is really gained by the Trinity is not dependent on this passage in that is very important because when the church fathers. The apostolic fathers, those that came after the apostles had to deal with the Arian heresies and other heresies trying to say the Trinity is not taught in the Bible. They refuted them from the Scriptures. This would've been a wonderful verse to use. They never do.

We have the writings we have the Apple Store met much of what the apostolic fathers wrote in response to these heresies and they never use the Iranian, that does not work well for it being part of what John originally put in the letter. Is this what were saying. John did not originally right. Look again verse seven in heaven, the father, the word, and the Holy Spirit in these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth. Those are likely not John's words, if you look at the evidence, how we get our Bible and you can just change occasional likable we had for manuscripts in his okay when I go toward management anymore. We get from the Greek manuscript not the Latin and if you don't like that is all I'm going over the Latin then you have another problem because the apostles wrote in the Greek so everything from in heaven. In verse 72 on earth.

In verse eight, is what is being challenged here, no integrity again is loss because of the self-correcting feature fragmented but present. I can take portrait and I can cut it up. I fragmented it but it's all still there unless I get rid of it was for the puzzle is in the Bible is a puzzle.

Even with the understanding of the Scripture, life is a puzzle, a mystery many times. No Christian should be at all bothered by this, should understand it because if you know you sweeping something under the rug that needs to be on top of the rug and the cultists will bring it up. Given the chance they will city of your Bibles a perfect and should have an answer to everyone who has a reason for the faith that is in you so so why did it show up well. The first creeps in and in the Latin version not in the early Vulgate which is the translation by Jerome taking the old and New Testament in the Hebrew and Greek and translating it into the Latin which is why the Roman church spoke for centuries. Only in the Latin, thereby keeping the people in darkness but anyway it then and later copies of the of the Latin Scriptures translated from Greek into Latin.

It was a footnote, a marginal know we have them in our Bible study marginal notes. Some of you make your own. Some come with the Bible you purchase.

After a while it made it into the actual verse. It crept its way into the verses by the 15th century over almost you know almost 1500 years after the birth of Christ. Erasmus that Dutch scholar, he put together two translations he took in the manuscript that he had to six or 12 manuscript that we have with like 5700 oh manuscripts now in many fragments thousands and then you have the Scripture in the writings of the apostolic fathers also in their commentary so we have many sources. They call it the eclectic collection anyway and in the men that deal with this, they ought to be applauded is not easy work. The honest ones. It's always been hard work, and you can look back at the ancients like a Rasmussen the other than say wagon. They didn't use all the management often have them they could get their hands on them. They work with what they had and then there was the influence of the Catholic Church. As you can print anything without the pope saying you can print that.

That is how largely the language gets sort of restricted by the time we get to the King James version in the King James 611 version is even what the people reading today that also adamant about it, but don't argue with them. That's just Michael's argument. The new King James and do a little different class and if you read the introduction of the new King James. You get a lot of enlightenment from unfortunate they have a lot of apologies about you know why we had to change some of the King James version will they know the people up in arms about the Dare you change again. Jennifer changing the King James version. We are taking the manuscripts and putting it into our language and their association with the King James, as we are trying to retain from its sources as much of the language as possible. Well anyway, this Iranian, the verses words that really don't belong here concerning the Trinity, the true what they did there. Not again. Likely from the hand of John the taking from the latter Greek manuscripts, so this is not a corruption person. Well, it is a corruption in the sense that John did right and someone else put it in there and makes us think John wrote the but is not a corruption in the sense that it's a false teaching or contradicts anything that John is saying or any of the other apostles.

It is a corruption in the sense that it is someone who has inserted this after the fact. Well that's not entirely foreign to us as Bible students.

You go to the book of Joshua Judges before Jerusalem was named Jerusalem and usually the word Jerusalem. You see Josh with the book of at the end of Joshua someone said and Joshua died. Joshua didn't write that someone had to add and that does not corrupt the information. In fact, it helps so we need to have a better understanding of reality. If we are going to be children of truth. We better be ready to accept facts and work with those facts and I always regret when I go on the Internet. I almost never regret when I go on the Internet to watch baseball games or you know grand slam home runs are super amazing catches. I enjoyed when I go to Christian websites.

I always come away depressed. The comments the things that people's it's always combative.

It's for people that usually don't know what they're talking about. I think is just is this Christianity. Well I did go make the mistake of Scylla see what some folks are saying out there because I know people are church government of the Internet more than likely, some of them will a stable step ahead of them will one of them troubled me the most. He said will go listen to your pastor, don't listen to the scholars justice be led by the Spirit, not when there are facts in front of you, you good to be led by the spirit and ignore what is in front of you is to insult the spirit because it is the Holy Spirit that brings the facts in front of us.

That is a poor bit of advice to tell someone this your handy and, if you don't like someone saying it's not in there or if you do like that. It's near just trust your heart heart is deceitful desperately wicked man can know it. Bad advice and because someone is apparently knows what they're talking about doesn't mean they do exceptionally so coming back to this, these words in verses seven and eight direct reference to the Trinity again. They are accurate, but there's no manuscript evidence the source material sources everything it means when you get you when you get your English Bible, where you get your German Bible Greek manuscripts you know in Homer's Iliad. He makes a profound point about consider the source when the Greeks give the people in the city of Troy, who were besieged the Trojan horse. You would think the military commanders would say wait a minute taking that from our animate and be different if it was from one of our neighbors and we know from our enemy.

Because the source is wrongly trying to kill us, but they take it in in home story and what happens out pops the troops at night open the gates and all the armies come in and city of Troy is conquered, so home or in a secular way is saying you better consider the source will we Christians should know that we have to know when to when he stood before the tree and the serpent spoke with her she should've consider the source. This is a created being is not God Almighty God told me don't eat of the tree that should've been well as I mentioned, no Greek or Latin father used as a proof text, this portion of John, five, seven and eight to refute the challengers to the Trinity and it is explicitly stated true. But why, why is the Trinity not as explicitly stated in all the verses of our New Testament because the peculiar problem that those first century apostles and Christians had they needed to guard against being lumped in with polytheism when they presented the Trinity. They had to watch that people did other Christians have three God's. And that's why the language is a little veiled so if you read it led by the Spirit, and you concentrate on what's going when you begin to say wait a minute Woodhead is a pattern forming year. The Holy Spirit is treated as a person and he is holy and if you blaspheme him. John that deal five him when laid there bowing down to Jesus as though he were God because he has. He did not consider it robbery to be counted equal with us. We see this pattern and of course the father's all God. So the Trinity is all over the New Testament there something else I wanted to comment on that just escaped me as I was thinking so I'm babbling to try to retrieve it because I thought it was very important but it's apparently gone so anyway if it comes back to me than I'll bring it up but this is a critical information concerning the Trinity and again though it is correct it's not from John's hand and we want to know about that you can again become emotionally emotional and toss it out. I listen to both sides of the argument, I think aside, this is no.

John wrote this.

I don't think they have the facts on their side, not without creating greater problems in the greater problem is to get rid of the source they have to circuit when I got to go by ancient Greek manuscript anymore were going to go by once you got a big problem so and you should hear the vitriol the hatred coming from areas. You are a devil would dare suggest that man you.

You don't even understand other parts of the Old Testament that have similar issues well. He continues for there are three that bear witness.

I hope I've I've communicated that hope you got that from beginning at in heaven and on earth is believed to have been put the crept into the Scripture. It's not an original from John. The evidence is is quite profound on that position. There are mentions of Cyprian using these words in defense of the Trinity, but it is a very that's a stretch actually if you look at but Cyprian said he could go a lot of ways that's it. I remember last time a torch on it and was finished I said boy I'm glad I'm done with this and here I am again, though I don't know if I'll live long enough to go to first John again, but if I do go to verse John and is my choice to be the last book I choose because it's a difficult book to to communicate because of so much of the background and this doesn't help any. Don't be afraid of these things.

Your Bible is not been compromised. Not one bit.

In fact, it has been proven to be more solid because we have again the way to fact check which was supposed to mean so much. He says, for there are three that bear witness the spirit, the water, the blood and these three agree as one.

That's how verse seven likely should read the John is now saying we have a collection of evidence that supports Christ was real and that everything we preach is genuine as opposed to the naysaying gnostics that come along at John's baptism at price crossed at the Pentecost of Jesus Christ giving the Holy Spirit Terry in Jerusalem till I come. And you shall receive power, and of course that was the Holy Spirit. So God made it clear that Jesus is who he claims to be God in the flesh verse nine.

If we receive the witness of men. The witness of God is greater for this is the witness of God which he has testified of his son so we can accept. Would men say we doing many things every time you drive over nor pass or bridge you've accepted somebody said this to gold you and we had. We understand this logic, how much greater when it's God's old humanist comes along and says denies God's sovereignty. He has no right to communicate with men. He is no right to have an exclusive religion is no right to damn people he has no right to be God. That's the humanist position.

John is saying that makes no sense. We can if we can receive information from and why can't we receive things from God gather a lot of imposters and frauds.

But there's also enough material to overcome them.

How much more how much greater is God's witness over men. Men may be wrong, God is not. That's why we bring our Bibles.

You may go to a church just to say let us not use this church. This just use another once in all fairness, a good church and maybe the pastor wrong more often something you have a Bible to check him but this church we don't have to worry about that right well the spiritual communication of God again.

Second Peter chapter 1 that you know how can you not love this this here's this fisherman that assists if Peter lived today and was a fisherman like he was then who would go hear him preach who would study his letters and no one would Christ put his hands on Peter never let him go.

Even when Peter St. had some to the worst of the worst, he could be denying the Lord Christ never let him go single them out at the resurrection single them out on the beach.

Peter writes we did not follow cunningly devised fables, when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ were eyewitnesses of his Majesty. That's the kind of gumption that is expected of we Christians.

We talk about our faith was supposed to be able to say no I'm not following fables. I've got facts to back up what I believe and my facts come from God and that I can demonstrate how they come from God. That's the more prophetic words that Peter would go on to talk about. We have the more prophetic word. We have predictive prophecy both fulfilled in the process of being fulfilled and to be fulfilled. No one else has.

They may have their prophecies but they have no validation of the camper van and spiritual feature. The facts of the New Testament are greater than the facts of everybody else and that alone upsets those who have not the spirit fine God is out for those who receive the truth at my conversion. It was instant I was the antichrist was reading the Bible to disprove the Bible is trustworthy at to disprove that Jesus is who he said he was. I was reading it so that it's a man wrote this, and it's not to be accepted. While I was reading it. God spoke to me in an instant. In an instant I knew Jesus Christ to be the son of God under the Holy Spirit to be the Holy Spirit of God.

I knew God the father. I knew the Trinity. Instantly I understood the lights just turn inhabited the first verse. I got in a little bit actually was.

When I got to that part about weeping and gnashing of teeth. That's when it really began work that I didn't want that, but I was already believing years ago I was working on us a construction site and I just let go of the steel column so I could stand back and look at the piece and out of the corner of my eye I saw electricity coming down the cable of the crane went right into the column would kill me. I was the fourth story corner of the building and there was nothing but death waiting for me on the ground, a God save me from that I spoke about this with the electrician brother and he said that electricity was therefore used by well he's right moving. I know that electricity is not only the abolishment and the movies right that's how was it my conversion I was saved even before I knew I was saved. The processes were in place. It was a done deal. Thanks for tuning in to cross reference cross reference is the ministry pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia. If you'd like to learn more about this ministry, we invite you to visit our website cross reference.com find a number of teachings from Pastor Rick available there.

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