In This Issue

• THE PARABLE OF THE SHEEP AND THE GOATS
• DO WE HAVE A GENUINE BIBLE?
• UPCOMING GOSPEL MEETING SCHEDULE
• MORE INFORMATION...

THE PARABLE OF THE SHEEP AND THE GOATS

"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison, and you did not visit Me.' Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matt. 25:31-46).

Note that Jesus did not say IF the Son of Man comes in His glory -- but WHEN the Son of Man comes in His glory.

Also note that when He does come, many will not be properly prepared. Even some who address Him as "Lord," will be eternally lost, vs. 44-46. This reminds us of what He said in Luke 6:46 and Matt. 7:21. (Look them up.)

Third, this parable, like most of Jesus' judgment parables, emphasizes that many will be lost, not because of what they have done, but because of what they have failed to do.

Finally, perhaps the most outstanding feature of this passage is that it emphatically, absolutely informs us that the duration of heaven and the duration of hell will be one and the same. In verse 46, the Greek word translated "everlasting" and "eternal" is exactly the same Greek word. The fire of hell will never be quenched, vs. 41. See also Mark 9:43-46.

--CRJ

DO WE HAVE A GENUINE BIBLE?

Since no original copy of any of the Bible has been discovered, some raise questions or express statements that suggest doubt, if not outright denial of the genuineness of the Bible. We have heard statements like: "Haven't some books of the Bible been lost?" or "How do we know we have all the books?" or "How can we be sure the Bible has not been perverted by scribes or translators?" or "How do we know the books were not written long after they claim to have been written?"

Not all who cast doubt are atheists, infidels or the usual kind of skeptics. Roman Catholicism claims it has given and preserved the Bible. Mormonism claims a great abominable church has taken away from the covenant of the Lord many parts that are plain and most precious. Orson Pratt, an early leader said, "We do not know that one single verse in the New Testament has come down to us without change." They say this to open the door to their so-called later "revelations." It is amazing that the book of Mormon has many verses, paragraphs and even chapters taken from the King James version of the Bible. The Watchtower Society (Jehovah's Witnesses) undermines faith in all translations except its own garbled and unjustified translation, the New World Translation.

CLAIMS

The Bible claims to be of God. Often we read of statements similar to that in Exodus 33:11-"And the Lord spoke unto Moses…" In the books of the prophets, usually in the opening verses there is a claim that what is being written is the word of God.

The word of God also claims a perfection that would be marred by the additions or subtractions of man. See Deut. 4:2; Rev. 22:18,19. In view of this, the new law is referred to as the "perfect law of liberty." James 1:25.

Jesus promised "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." Matt. 24:35. Peter spoke of the word of God "Which lives and abides forever." I Peter 1:23,25.

THE OLD TESTAMENT

The last book of the Old Testament was completed about 400 B. C. Internal evidence points to this and external evidence from historians verified it. The Old Testament was translated from its original Hebrew (some Aramaic) into Greek beginning about 285 B.C. - long before the coming of Jesus.

Some have learned that our Hebrew manuscripts, from which translations were made, date back to about the ninth century. They felt this may have allowed many errors to creep in, but a find several years ago of the an Isaiah manuscript dated about 1000 years earlier than other existing ones was found in a cave near the Dead Sea. Scholars marveled at the accuracy of our existing texts.

We might add that the Jews to whom God's oracles were entrusted, have the same books we have. By groupings and names they do not have the same number, but the content is the same. The real discussion is over the New Testament scriptures. 

THE NEW TESTAMENT

The oldest manuscripts (MSS) of the New Testament date to about 350 A. D. The three oldest that are also considered the best are the VATICAN, SINAITIC, and the ALEXANDRIAN. These were found in different places. The Sinaitic was found in a Greek Orthodox monastery at Mount Sinai. It must be obvious that the Roman Catholic Church did not tamper with the text for it never had a chance. If it had changed the text, it would have made it favorable to its position in any one of a thousand passages.

The heart of the question is, "What happened to the New Testament between the time the original copies were in existence (say about 100 A.D.) and 350 A.D.?" There are two strong lines of evidences showing the integrity of existing copies:

1. VERSIONS. Translations of the New Testament from its original Greek into other languages began very early. One of the early translations was the Old Syrian or Syriac made around 150 A.D. This was for use in areas around Antioch of Syria. Also the Old Latin translation was made in north Africa. Tertullian (150-220 A.D.) referred to it. Here then are two translations made within a generation or two of the apostles. These translations have been used to check our old Greek manuscripts.

2. QUOTATIONS. Early Christians were prolific writers. They wrote sermons, commentaries, harmonies and debates. These writings of the "fathers" of the first three centuries have been preserved and may be read in any large library. These men wrote so extensively that almost the entire New Testament could be reproduced from their quotations alone. One expert claimed he could reproduce the entire New Testament except for about eleven verses. See A General Introduction to the Bible by Geisler and Nix, Moody Press, 1968.

These men include Polycarp whose life overlapped that of the apostle John, Justin Martyr (A.D. 100-165), Irenaeus (A.D. 170), Ignatius (A.D. 50-115), Hermas (A.D. 95), Tatian (A.D. 170). Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 150-212) gave 2,400 quotations from the New Testament, Tertulliian (A.D. 160-220), more than 7,000 quotations and Origin (A.D. 185-254) left over 18,000 quotations. Up until 325, there have been 32,000 New Testament quotations located verifying both the books and the accuracy of our Greek manuscripts.

VARIATIONS

Some have heard that our Greek MSS are filled with errors. There are variations in the approximately 5000 MSS. Most of these are over variations in spelling through the years, word endings, or order of words, additions or omissions of articles. There is not one doctrine in God's word that stands in doubt because of manuscript difficulties.

The next time some one indicates uncertainty about our text, ask them if they have studied the subject for themselves. Most of those who raise questions or make accusations, are parroting false charges by the misinformed. There will always be a need for updated translations, but we can have confidence in our texts.

--Robert W. Goodman

Providence sends food for the birds but does not throw it in the nest.

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