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Psalm 119:160 “The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.”

We live in a WOKE society, and the attacks on the Bible will get more and more aggressive as we get deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole. In Canada, we have had some laws either be proposed or passed that will make reading and using certain parts of the Bible illegal. We do not have the death penalty here, so I don’t think we will have to face death for reading the Bible, but there are consequences. The following is a quote from Mark Kellner of the Washington Post:

Legislation introduced in Canada’s Parliament would eliminate the use of “belief in a religious text” as a defense against hate crime charges.

Repealing the exemption in Canada’s criminal code could criminalize sermons and messages using the Bible or other religious texts as the basis for critiquing other religions or addressing issues such as transgender rights, critics warn.

There are a lot of writings that state that this does not make reading certain parts of the Bible illegal, but if someone were to be ‘offended’ or ‘triggered’ while attending your church service, they could feel that the vast majority of Romans 1 is ‘hate speech.’ Even if they could not win in court, and they might, they can make it very difficult and expensive for a lot of churches to fight a criminal charge or financial lawsuit.

The Bible is always under attack; it has been from the time it was written. There are counterfeit gospels all around the same time as when the true scriptures were being written. There were false apostles offering ‘another’ gospel, as Paul points out to us, and on and on for centuries, there have been and will always be attacks on the Bible. People hate the scriptures because if they are true, then Hell is real and there is the true God to answer to.

One of the most fascinating studies is the journey of how we got the English translation of the Bible. I would encourage you to research for yourself and learn. I do not know about you, but I probably have 15 or more Bibles in various translations in my library. But the cost of getting us an English Bible was paid with many lives about 400 years ago. Many churches, and the one I pastor, do not talk about this very much, and of course, secular schools will not teach this kind of history. But the battle to stop us from getting an English Bible was real, hard-fought, and a path filled with dead bodies.

Most are familiar with Wycliffe; he translated the Bible in 1380 from the Vulgate (Latin). In 1391, the British parliament tried to make the English Bible illegal. The attempt failed, but later, in 1408, an assembly of churches at Oxford prohibited the translation of the Holy Scriptures into English by any ‘unauthorized persons.’ William Tyndale, 1492-1536, is another famous Bible translator. He, with the help of certain wealthy benefactors, moved to Europe and translated the Bible into English there. He desired that even the poor ‘boy that driveth the plough’ would know more scripture than the Pope.

Tyndale’s translation is the basis for ones like the 1611 Authorized Version and the 1881 Revised Version. The Roman church denounced Tyndale, but he kept on working. Soon, Tyndale’s chief teacher, the bishop of St. Paul’s Cathedral, was denounced for teaching the Lord’s Prayer in English. In 1539, five Scotchmen were burned at the stake in Edinburgh for ‘studying, memorizing and preaching from the Bible.’ Others like Taverner, who published an English Bible in 1539, was imprisoned. Marbeck, in 1550, was threatened but not executed. Thomas Matthew was also executed in 1555; his mentor was Tyndale, who was burned at the stake in 1536. Publishing the Bible in English was their horrible crime.

Who, pray tell, was trying to stop us from getting the Bible in English? It was none other than the Roman church. At the Council of Trent in 1546, the Roman church condemned all versions of the Bible except the Vulgate Latin. They believed that any other translation of the Bible would be, ‘food of death, the fuel of sin, the veil of malice, the pretext of false liberty, the protection of disobedience, the corruption of discipline, the depravity of morals, the termination of concord, the death of honesty, the well spring of vices, the instigation of rebellion, the milk of pride, the nourishment of contempt, the death of peace, the destruction of charity, the enemy of unity, the murderer of truth.’

This became the justification for extreme persecution. This opposition to the English Bible lasted for 150 years.

As he was dying, Tyndale asked the Lord to ‘open the King of England’s eye.’ He would never see the results of what he and Wycliffe started, but by 1537, King Henry VIII allowed his name to be used in the title page of an English Bible. The vice-regent of England, Thomas Cromwell, got permission from Henry to allow this authorized version to be sold. In 1539, the Great Bible was published with royal consent, and soon, each church was ordered to get an English Bible and use it to teach the Lord’s Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and The Creed.

Sadly, even in this victory, there was a great cost. In 1540, Thomas Cromwell was beheaded; in 1555, Latimer, one of his helpers, was burned at the stake, as was Cramer in 1556. These were all in the title page of the Great Bible. But by 1558, with the installation of Queen Elizabeth 1, there was a change, and soon the English Bible became accepted for the state and the common people.

Most of this was based on the research of Clyde Weber Votaw Ph.D., Professor of Literature at the University of Chicago. I take for granted the precious privilege of having the truth of the Word of God in my hands. Many men died making sure that we have that privilege and right to read the Bible and have communion with God through His word and the Holy Spirit.

The forces of evil fought to keep the truth from us, but God prevailed, and one day, we will meet these men who laid down their lives for the truth. How will I/we respond when our turn comes to be counted for the truth? I pray that the Lord will give me the strength to stand and be counted like these men. Lord, help me/us!!

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding

Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

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What are some specific things that we can do to stand with—that is, bless (Gen. 12:3)—the people, nation, and land of Israel?

As we documented in the previous installment, we certainly have good reason to desire to do so. As Jesus told the Canaanite woman, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24). And as He reminded the Samaritan woman, “Salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22).

The Apostle Paul spoke about the relationship between the Gentiles and “the poor who are among the saints in Jerusalem” (Rom. 15:26). He comments on those Gentiles in verse 27, stating: “They are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things.”

So, how can we serve our Jewish friends and neighbors?

Of course, the answers will be as many and as varied as the number of people seeking them—and the number of their Jewish friends. In these days of unprecedented antisemitism, the most basic thing that we can and must do is simply to reassure a Jewish person that we are concerned for them—that we love them and pray for them. I have personally done this on several occasions recently and have seen the visible results that flow from such small acts of Christian kindness.

There are many more sophisticated things that we might attempt to do to reach out in very meaningful ways. Great occasions to begin with would be holidays such as Hanukkah and Passover. These are vitally significant in the Jewish heritage, and should likewise be important for us as Christians in terms of understanding the historical context of our faith.

For example, The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry sends Hanukkah boxes to Jewish people throughout North America each holiday season. We also aim to educate believers about the Biblical backgrounds and implications of Passover and the other feasts that are such a vital part of the Mosiac Law (see Lev. 23).

Unquestionably, it would always be appropriate to engage in a study of Jewish history and culture and to try to understand more about their concerns and the forces that pose a threat to them. This would certainly display genuine empathy for their plight.

In terms of more tangible support for the Jewish people, FOI sends a great deal of humanitarian aid and relief wherever it is most needed through our representatives located around the world. Currently, that especially entails giving lots of help to people within Israel, where bomb shelters and medicycles are in high demand during these days of terrorism and warfare. There have also been heroic efforts undertaken over the last two years to assist the Jewish people in Ukraine. Certainly, our ministry is not alone in these kinds of efforts. There are many organizations striving to do the same kinds of things. But FOI definitely offers one channel through which you might endeavor to be a blessing to God’s chosen people.

Again, Paul exhorted us: “As we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Gal. 6:10). So, do you know a Jewish person? We should all be seeking to get acquainted with them, gain their confidence and show sincere interest in them—just as we would with anyone! But we ought to be looking for specific ways to be a blessing to our Jewish neighbors by showing them that we are concerned and that we genuinely care. They may not concur with us, and we may not agree with them, even on the biggest issues of life. But, if nothing else, we ought to be able to show them that we are indeed their friends and that we condemn antisemitism in all of its forms. If they ever need a friend, they should rest assured that they already have one in us.

In the course of living this philosophy out, you will doubtless encounter and envision more ways to stand with Israel and her people than I might ever imagine or list.

But the greatest thing we could ever do—the ultimate thing we must do and that which we must always keep in the front of our minds—is to share the gospel of their own Messiah with the Jewish people. We must do this in a meaningful way because we love them and because they are the ones who have first brought this gospel to us.

As Paul finally reminds us: “If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:29).

If you’re going to stand with Israel, now is the time.

Where do you stand?

***

Paul J. Scharf (M.A., M.Div., Faith Baptist Theological Seminary) is a church ministries representative for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, based in Columbus, WI, and serving in the Midwest. For more information on his ministry, visit sermonaudio.com/pscharf or foi.org/scharf, or email pscharf@foi.org.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version.

The Bloody Path to the English Bible :: By Sean Gooding

What Does it Mean to Stand with Israel? Part 3 :: By Paul J. Scharf