On Guard ~ The Word (part 3 of 3)

 

 

It is one of the things that Satan puts a lot of effort into: destroying the Word of God and its credibility... or trying to. I hear it first hand from people. They bought into the lie. “The Bible can’t be accurate after all of that time and all of those different translations.” This is one of the largest lies that many of the younger generation believes. They are taught this.

Some years ago the Dead Sea Scrolls made their way to an exhibit at the Minnesota Science Museum. These scrolls were discovered in Qumran not all that long ago when you comprehend the scope of time; 1946. They had been kept in clay jars and preserved; hidden in dry desert caves for approximately 2000 years. The discovery is incredible. Shortly after they were found and taken out of those perfect conditions of preservation, there was some deterioration. Still, many scrolls and parts were well in tack.

Standing before these precious pieces of written words at the museum were passages from Isaiah. The parts I saw were written perfectly concise to the Hebrew. There was no change. The book of Isaiah had been originally written another 600 years before this collection of scrolls were written and tucked into the cave for another 2000 years. I can open Bible sites and find Isaiah written in Hebrew and the various English words translating that unchanged Hebrew word which was written over and over again for thousands of years.

 The word was precious; guarded with their lives. Scribes took on lives of monks, giving their life to do nothing but transcribe it perfectly and beautifully because there were no printing presses to duplicate it. Whole lives were dedicated to transcribing it exactly as written. The holiness was worth a life commitment of deepest reverence and care for a message worthy of producing more.  The same is with the New Testament books in care and duplication of the text.

Here is a chart depicting major Greek writings including the New Testament and the number of copies transcribed. Notice, we do not dispute the works of Aristotle or Homer, yet the New Testament work has been painstakingly copied a multitude of times with greater accuracy by comparison to the other texts duplicated and written by other authors. The very nature of the historic documentation, the consistencies between authors of the gospels, and the occurrences of Christ’s life that are nothing short of miraculous prophetic fulfillments of that amazing book of Isaiah, are knee-bending and head-bowing!

Author	Date Written	Earliest Copy	Approximate Time Span between original & copy	Number of Copies	Accuracy of Copies
Lucretius	died 55 or 53 B.C.		1,100 yrs	2	----
Pliny	A.D. 61-113	A.D. 850	750 yrs	7	----
Plato	427-347 B.C.	A.D. 900	1,200 yrs	7	----
Demosthenes	4th Cent. B.C.	A.D. 1100	800 yrs	8	----
Herodotus	480-425 B.C.	A.D. 900	1,300 yrs	8	----
Suetonius	A.D. 75-160	A.D. 950	800 yrs	8	----
Thucydides	460-400 B.C.	A.D. 900	1,300 yrs	8	----
Euripides	480-406 B.C.	A.D. 1100	1,300 yrs	9	----
Aristophanes	450-385 B.C.	A.D. 900	1200	10	----
Caesar	100-44 B.C.	A.D. 900	1,000	10	----
Livy	59 BC-AD 17	----	???	20	----
Tacitus	circa A.D. 100	A.D. 1100	1,000 yrs	20	----
Aristotle	384-322 B.C.	A.D. 1100	1,400	49	----
Sophocles	496-406 B.C.	A.D. 1000	1,400 yrs	193	----
Homer (Iliad)	900 B.C.	400 B.C.	500 yrs	643	95%
New Testament	1st Cent. A.D. (A.D. 50-100)	2nd Cent. A.D. (c. A.D. 130 f.)	less than 100 years	5600	99.5%

(Source: CARM)

Matthew 5:17-18  "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18"For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19"Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven…”

It’s serious. The Word is of vital importance and it stands. From the beginning, the Enemy was after discrediting the Word of God. Slyly insinuating doubt to Eve from God's words about not eating the fruit, “Did God really say that?” Then the Enemy said that the reason God told her she shouldn’t eat from the tree is because He didn’t want them to become like God. But what has God always sought out? He sought out for us to do the things He is doing.

John 14:12 "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father."

 We potentially have years more than His three of ministry on this earth. He calls us into relationship and a life that never ends in Paradise and then a new and perfect earth. It isn’t fantasy. One only needs to read Isaiah to see how Jesus fulfilled what was said would be. There is more said that will be. The Promises. God’s Word is Promise as all Promises are words. Fulfilling them is the character of God.

He is a truth-keeper and a truth maker.

John 14:6  Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

The graying of the Word is smoke and mirrors. It’s sly deceit to try and take away what it really says. Satan tempted Jesus in the desert by distorting God’s word or trying to feed him and fill him with something else. Jesus’ response:  But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4

Destroying the Word is Satan’s attempt at destroying God Himself. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

Being on guard with eyes opened in clarity to seeing the attempts of the many who are trying to discredit the Word, is a way to remain armed. The Word is your great weapon against evil, because this is a spiritual battle, not a flesh and blood one. Ephesians 6:17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

I have seen when the Word of God is spoken or read or prayed that demons are cast out, that healings happen, victories are won and that peace comes and joy returns even when turmoil may be stirred around them. The Word is the breath of God and it is His living power. It is the weapon against evil when you speak it in fullness of faith in Christ Jesus’ Holy Spirit. Because,…this is a spiritual battle.

I recently met a young man who had just been in a very real spiritual battle. He was invited in to party and hang out with people through a cousin of his. He quickly discovered they were practicing witchcraft. He had slipped back into taking some drugs and he was taking them with those who were proclaimed witches. He was traumatized and still visibly shaken as he spilled his experience out to me, but he was exuberant at how real the Holy Spirit was too. He said he saw the pills in his hand take on the form of demons. He knew the drugs and those around him were steeped with evil.

 He had his small Bible with him that he kept in his backpack. Drugged, weakened and scared, he heard God speak to him and tell him to take it out and start reading from it. He read from where He was hearing God telling him to read and that he was to read it out loud. As he read, the drugs started losing their power, he was able to run out of there. His eyes were bright with excitement and revelation as he told me about it. He said he put his backpack back on and he felt a burning like he was on fire. He heard God say that he had a curse placed on him and they used an object to do it that was in his backpack. He found a CD inside of it and God gave him the words to speak against it and break the curse. He said he immediately said those words and then ran and threw his entire backpack into a public trash can. He said the burning stopped. He was exuberant over the Word of God, the power of God and the power of His Spirit.

He got up later and shared with the group with eyes bright and clear and a smile as wide as I have seen as someone meets with the power of God, he exclaimed, “God is REAL!!! The HOLY SPIRIT IS REAL!”  This young man has a call to go into those dark places now and bring others out. He knows how to do battle and he has seen the enemy. As these words for him were being spoken, another man, not hearing any of the previous conversation said those exact same words for his calling. He’s to go back and bring others out. This is what God does. He confirms His Word.

His story is up there on the intensity level, but these stories are out there and the people are sharing them directly to me, not secondhand. I hear other stories and lived some too, where the demons are so subtle that we have given them other names like bad habits or character flaws, etc.  The deliverance ministry is one drastically lacking in our country and churches. Other countries are familiar with them, especially in Africa.

A man from the Congo that I heard last week said that a lot of the demons have left Africa for America because we don’t recognize them as such. The Word of God is the power against these things. Jesus cast them out with a Word. He was tossing demons out all over the place. He did it peacefully and powerfully and by His words. Jesus never shamed any of the people, but brought them back to a life of freedom and healing. Mary Magdalene was brought to a place of Jesus’ inner circle.  People here tend to fear them more than they should or not acknowledge it. If one has faith in the goodness of Christ, we also need to know that on the spiritual flipside is the evil of Satan and that he is destroyed by the weapon of the Word of the Spirit of God. Unarmed, without our swords, he runs amuck. Of course he is going to try and discredit the Word.

Let’s step up our time in His Word and sharpening our ears to hear the LORD speak directly to us. Watch those who are moving in the power of His Spirit and learn from them. But more so, start having conversations with God yourself. Let Him talk too. He can take years worth of frustration, confusion or mishandled behaviors and change them in an instant by guiding you with His truths and love and in that comes incredible freedom, power and strength through His grace.