Sermon Tone Analysis

Message

This past Sunday, I preached a message from Mark chapter 16 verses 14 through 20.

However, tonight, I would like to ask the question: Should I have preached that message?

Many Bibles (even some copies of the KJV), after vs. 8, have a note that says something like this:

Some of the earliest manuscripts do not include Mark 16:9-20.

In fact, you may also find something like this:

Some manuscripts end the book with 16:8; others include verses 9–20 immediately after verse 8.

At least one manuscript inserts additional material after verse 14; some manuscripts include after verse 8 the following: But they reported briefly to Peter and those with him all that they had been told.

And after this, Jesus himself sent out by means of them, from east to west, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.

These manuscripts then continue with verses 9–20

As a side note: The manuscripts that contain, “But they reported briefly to Peter and those with him all that they had been told.

And after this, Jesus himself sent out by means of them, from east to west, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.”

are referring to the Douay-Rheims Bible, the Bible used by the Catholic Church!

Even my own Bible, a KJV Bible, the Bible that I preach from states:

The passage from verse 9 to the end is not found in the two most ancient manuscripts, the Sinaitic and Vatican, and others have it with partial omissions and variations.

But it is quoted by Irenaeus and Hippolytus in the second or third century.

Therefore, depending on the Bible I use - or even had I taken seriously the note in my own Bible, I wouldn’t have even been able to preach the message which I did this past Sunday morning!

Having preached from Mark chapter 16, gives me a perfect opportunity to preach at least a couple of messages on one item that appears in our doctrinal statement - our statement of faith.

The first item in our statement of faith reads:

We believe in the verbal (every word) and plenary (complete) inspiration of the Old and New Testaments; that they are the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and God-breathed, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions shall be tried.

We believe in the verbal (every word) and plenary (complete) inspiration of the Old and New Testaments;

All … Every word of the Bible is God-breathed.

(The Bible does not simply contain God’s Word.

All of it is God’s Word.)

Scripture … The very words of the Bible are God-breathed.

This [Bible] is the writing of the living God: each letter was penned with an Almighty finger; each word in it dropped from the everlasting lips; each sentence was dictated by the Holy Spirit.

Inspiration … Every word - the very words - of the Bible is God-breathed.

God breathed out His words over a period of about 1,500 years to approximately forty specially chosen and prepared men of God who wrote them down to give us our Scriptures, the Word of God. - A Beka Bible Doctrines

Just as a musician breathes into a trumpet to produce the notes he wants, so God breathed into forty chosen writers of the books of the Bible the exact words that He wanted preserved for all mankind.

- A Beka Bible Doctrines

King David, near the end of his life said:

King David also wrote:

We believe that God’s Word is the final authority for faith and life.

Because it is truth, it is the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions shall be tried.

God’s Word teaches us what is right.

God’s Word points out what is wrong.

God’s Word shows us how to get right.

God’s Word shows us how to stay right.

The Word of God trumps man’s authority, church tradition, and our own opinions!

When the Bible clearly reveals a truth, we believe it with all our hearts.

When the Bible clearly commands us to do something, we make sure we are doing it.

So, to say that the Bible is our final authority for faith and practice may seem extremely apparent to us but we must not make the assumption that every “Christian” believes that.

In their book, “Why Baptist?,” James Alter and Dolton Robertson, II, makes these distinctions:

Traditional Christianity

This would include Roman Catholic, Eastern-Orthodox, and many of the “main-line” Protestant churches of our day.

Their stated authority is the Word of God and tradition.

When conflicts arise between the Word of God and their tradition; tradition over-rules the Word of God.

Charismatic Christianity

Their stated authority is the Word of God and experience.

When conflicts arise between the Word of God and their experiences; experience over-rules the Word of God.

The Apostle Peter addresses this in 2 Peter chapter 1:

Peter here states that God’s Word was/is more reliable than his own experience.

Why?

The inspiration of God’s Word (by God Himself) is superior to experience (Peter’s eyewitness account) because inspiration is not influenced by fallible man.

Illustration: Gentleman getting fighting mad when I dared to question his experience based upon the truth of God’s Word.

Evangelical Christianity

Their stated authority is God’s Word and scholarship.

When conflict arises between the Word of God and scholarship; scholarship over-rules the Word of God.

Recently, just such an evangelical Christian wrote the following article:

2 Reasons Why ‘Jehovah’ Should Not Appear in English Bibles

This “scholar’s” article ends with:

“Even if its origins lie in a blunder, Jehovah has become a word in many languages, a word that’s here to stay.

I don’t mind if people say it.”

https://blog.logos.com/jehovah-in-bible/

Finally, the last group:

Bible-Believing Baptists

Our authority is the Word of God.

God said it and that settles it, regardless of who believes it.

Understanding these four groups of Christians should help us to understand why it is that, for example, some “Christian” denominations can accept LGBTQ+ clergy and why some denominations are openly accepting of the homosexual lifestyle and agenda.

Now, moving on to

We believe that it is inerrant (without error) in the original writings, infallible (not capable of being wrong) and God-breathed.

If it is God’s Word than it must be without error because God is without error!

If it is God’s Word than it is not capable of being wrong because God is incapable of being wrong!

At this point, I must also point out that one of our stated beliefs is that...

We believe that God has preserved His Word so that we, in 2022, can confidently say, “Thus saith the Lord.”

We no longer have the original documents.

And yet we know that God is mighty and powerful enough to preserve His Words through the generations so that we can confidently stand, with the Bible in our hand, and say, “This is the inerrant, infallible Word of God!”

Which leads me to this statement:

We believe that God has preserved His Word, for English speaking people, in the King James Version of the Bible.

As you have heard me say many times,

“We are King James only but not King James ugly.”

But the question is: Why?

Allow me to share with you a little of my testimony:

I grew up attending an independent Baptist church which taught its congregation that they should use the KJV.

The pastors that I had were never ugly about it nor did they shove the KJV down people’s throats.

The Christian school that I attended, as part of that church, required the students to use the KJV,

I have always used the KJV.

I knew that there were other translations out there - the Living Translation, The Message, etc. - but I was always taught to use the KJV and I never questioned that.

I did not realize that there was such a big “issue” until I was a student at Pensacola Christian College and there were a series of interactions between PCC and Bob Jones University about the text “issue.”

I have always served in churches where the KJV was the only Bible translation that was used.

I have never been in the position where I really needed to “defend” my position.

I have simply followed leadership.

Until now...

Gone are the days when church congregations simply did (or didn’t do) whatever the pastor said.

If the pastor said, “Use the KJV,” then people used the KJV.

That those days are gone can be a bad thing.

It’s almost as if many Christians have an attitude of “You can’t tell me what to do!”

That those days are gone can also be a good thing.

If it is accompanied with a Berean Attitude!

Now, as pastor of South Charlotte Baptist Church, I need to be able to explain to our church congregation why it is that we exclusively use the King James Version of the Bible.