A Question for all Preachers
What do you base your Bible Teaching on?
Is it based upon the Words in the Bible or on the interpretations of the Bible that you have been taught by the Preachers you have sit under, the Bible school or Church Seminary that you have attended, or on your own personal revelation of what the scriptures are saying? I for one was not content to accept the teaching of any Bible school, Seminary or any other Preacher unless it could be verified by the words of Bible scripture.
Each one of you should ask yourself about where your loyalty and faith should be based upon. Shouldn’t it be based upon the words of God, especially the words that Jesus uttered since He only spoke that which God gave to Him?
There are many of you preachers that believe that your own revelation of the Bible scriptures must be the truth of what they are saying because you believe that God has called you into the ministry and thus your revelation of the meaning of scripture must have been revealed to you by Him. Let me give you a revelation that started my ministry of Bible teaching by looking at just one scripture in the Bible. I quote the scripture of Luke 17:34 as follows:
Jesus is quoted to have said: “ I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.”
When I first saw this, I couldn’t believe that Jesus had spoken those words. Why is that? Do you not realize the implications of Jesus speaking about two men being in one bed? Not being able to accept this as being accurate, I decided to compare this statement with what was written in the original Greek manuscript. The word for word translation from Greek into English was as follows:
In Greek: lego nux duo mia kline heis paralambano heteros aphiemi
In English: tell night two one bed one taken other left
This could have been translated as follows: “I tell you, in that night there shall be two in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left
Did you notice that in the translation there was not a Greek word that was translated into the English word “men”? Someone took the liberty to add the word “men” to what Jesus was supposed to have said and was not necessary to make the point about what Jesus was saying.
It is very obvious that a word for word translation of scripture would be difficult to read and understand that it was necessary for the Bible translators to add some words to the scriptures to improve the readability of them. But for a man to have the audacity to add a word to what Jesus was saying, which was not necessary to improve the readability of this statement, was wrong to do even though the significance of the word was not important. I began to wonder that if adding a word to this scripture, putting words in Jesus’ mouth, what else was added or changed in the translated Bible that may have changed the meaning of other scriptures.
The Bible speaks much about “wisdom” that it is a gift from God that every person should possess, for without wisdom there is no understanding of the truth. Wisdom is something that every Bible teacher should possess to be able to determine the real truth of what he is teaching in the Church of God.
There are a lot of good scriptures in the Bible that speak of wisdom, but I would invite you the reader to take time at this point to read Proverbs Chapters 7, 8 and up to 9:18.
Wisdom is a trait that Jehovah God possessed in the beginning which enabled him to have the knowledge and understanding which He needed to create the Worlds. This same wisdom is needed by all the people, especially those who are called to preach and teach the Bible with the understanding that He expects us to have.
I would like to call your attention to a scripture that is very important to God for you to understand. That scripture is John 14:23-24 and is quoted as follows:
Jesus said: “If any person loves me, they will keep my words: and my Father will love them, and we will come unto them, and make our abode with them. Those that don’t love me keep not my words: but the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.”
Jesus made it very clear in this scripture that it is important for everyone to keep the words that He spoke because the words that He spoke came from the Father, Jehovah God. The meaning of keeping His words means to observe and preserve all that God has spoken. Those who possess wisdom and understanding realize the importance of preserving those words that He spoke which are recorded in the Bible and reject any interpretation of them that does not agree with them throughout the Bible in the context they were given in.
One other scripture that I feel is necessary to discuss with you at this point is found in First Corinthians Chapter three, verses 10 thru 15 as follows:
10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another builds thereon. But let every man take heed how he builds thereupon. 11 For another foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Paul is not just talking about any man here; he is talking about a Preacher or Bible Teacher. Paul is giving a caution here for any Bible Preacher or Teacher to be very careful about what they teach, that it follows the revelation he received from God. That revelation that Paul received was that Jesus was the Son of God and the words of God that He spoke formed the foundation of the Christian faith. Those same words are contained in the Bible which represents the foundation of the Christian faith.
12 Now if any man builds upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
Paul says that there are two types of building that can be built upon the foundation he has laid. One type can survive a test of fire and another type that will be consumed by fire. The gold, silver and precious stones can survive a test by fire and remain standing, but that which is made of wood or hay or stubble will be consumed by the fire.
The gold, silver and precious stones represent the truth of God’s Word, but the wood, hay and stubble represent false teaching about God’s Word, which is not according to scripture. The fire which tests what is built upon Paul’s foundation is God himself, for our God is a consuming fire as the scripture states. (re: Deut 4:24)
13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
Paul says that every preacher’s work shall be made manifest or made known as to what they have taught the people. He says that the day shall declare it. What day? The Day of Judgment of course. The fire that will try or prove ever preachers work is the consuming fire of God.
14 If any man's work abides which he has built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
Paul states that if a preacher’s work abides or survives the test by fire, he will receive a reward from God.
15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
Now here is where a poor translation into English makes this verse say just the opposite of what it really means. It says that if a Preacher’s work does not survive the test by fire, he shall suffer a loss. Now here is where the problem exists as it continues to say “but he himself shall be saved”.
First it states that “he will suffer a loss”, then it says “he will be saved.” If a preachers work does not survive the test then why would he? It did say that he would suffer a loss didn’t it? That is exactly right. If his work failed the test then he failed also. You see, the words saying “but he himself will be saved” are translated incorrectly. It should have been translated as “the other people will be saved”.
God will hold a preacher accountable for what he teaches his people and if his teaching is in error, he will be punished for it, but those people that he has taught in error will be saved.
Now here is the way the whole passage should have been translated:
12 Now if any preacher builds upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 Every preacher’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every preacher’s work of what sort it is. 14 If any preacher’s work abides which he has built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any preacher’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but the other people shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
So what else can I say other than beware if you are a Bible Preacher or Teacher. Be certain that you are on solid ground and the Word of God is being taught according to what was contained in the original scriptures and not what is represented by the many translations of the Bible that are in circulation today. Remember that there can only be ONE TRUTH. If you are a Bible Preacher or Teacher then God expects you to be accurate when handling His Word. You are in a position of trust when you stand before your congregations and they expect you to present the truth of God’s Word to them.
Your Future may depend on it.
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