11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord
GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst
for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: 12 And they shall wander from sea to sea,
and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word
of the Lord, and shall not find it. (Amos 8:11-12)
The
Ninth Sunday after Trinity.
The Collect.
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RANT to us, Lord, we beseech thee, the spirit to think and do
always such things as are right; that we, who cannot do any thing that is good
without thee, may by thee be enabled to live according to thy will; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Ninth Collect is that which expresses,
according to Massey Shepherd, the "whole doctrine of grace." The
strength of the Collect was slightly reduced by the 1662 revisers in the
phrase, "we cannot do any thing that is good without thee"
from the original of Cranmer's "which CANNOT BE without thee!"
While it is true that we cannot do anything good without God, it is more
importantly true that we cannot do anything at all without Him for, without
Him, we could not exist. The Collect petitions for a grant of benefit. As is
customary of all Godly prayers, nothing of personal and material benefit is
sought, but only that which is pleasing to God. It is important to bear in mind
that only those things which are pleasing to God are of any benefit to us as
well, in the last resort, for He loves us and pines for only the good
things of His Love to be manifested through our lives and testimonies. We can
only live a life pleasing to God through the efficacy of His Will and Word both
for us and acting through our members. Of course, His grace is not restricted
to believers only, but is also manifested in a general application to the whole
world. The world is full of lost and dying souls, but God is present even in
the darkest corners of our world, and His saving Light only revealed to those
whose souls and spirits respond to that bright beam of the Searchlight which
tops the turbulent waves of the sea and draws us near by faith.
The grace expressed always in God's Word is
very like a great Magnet which draws the metal whose properties are of the same
nature with His own by having the Law of God written in scarlet letters upon
the tender tissues of the heart. The great comfort we may have in all of this
promise of grace is that God knows WHERE we are and where we are GOING! He sees
our small bark on the restless waves of the sea and He knows, as well as we,
that we cannot brave the storms of the seas in our bark without a great Power
of Help. His outstretched Arm sustains us on these seas of life, and we are
without in Him danger though the sea billows roar. This is our Friend, our
Father, our God, our Redeemer, and our Lord. Have you seen the Light?
11 Behold, the days come, saith the
Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a
thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord The text for today opens with
this parabolic expression of `famine.' But the parable's meaning is revealed in
the same passage. So what is this famine to which the text makes
reference, and how do we see its beginning manifested in our day as it has been
in times before?
Perhaps we should first note that this famine
is not an accident of nature, but sent by God Himself. Secondly, the famine is
sent upon "the land." What is "the land" to which this
reference is made? It refers to all of the lands of believers, for there has
always existed a famine of hearing the Word in heathen lands. Thirdly, this
famine is not one of physical bread and water. Such a famine of physical bread
and water would be far less hurtful to our souls; but a famine of hearing the
Words of the Lord deprives us of the very livelihood of our souls. The famine
of physical bread and water makes itself starkly obvious to us in the pangs of
our stomach and the dryness of our mouths; but the famine of the Word is less
profound in any physical manifestation. We slowly begin to starve in our souls,
but there are no red flags of warning to alert us. It is a matter of both forgetfulness
and a callous disregard and irreverence for God's Word. Fourthly, the
"days come" always in which we may face such a famine. The condition
of our souls are the triggers of this famine. If we are diligent in study,
fervent in love, and zealous in defending truth, the famine is forestalled; but
if we take a flippant view of the things of God – His Word, His love, His
Will for us, the worship due Him, or His excellency requiring reverence – we
shall hasten the days of famine.
Have you known grinding hunger, or ravishing
thirst? Perhaps you have not known that hunger for bread or water that
threatens death. But there are grave signals today of impending famine of
hearing the Word of the Lord. Those signals are subtle to the ear of those who are
not keen to God and His Word, but they are growing with great rapidity and the
famine is at our very doorstep today.
12 And they shall wander from sea to
sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the
word of the Lord, and shall not find it. Who are those peoples referred to as
"they?" Those are all those peoples who have been privileged to hold
the Word of God in faith but who have turned to lesser expressions of that
word, watered down by the dirty hands of men. Surely we would all prefer to
drink from the mountain spring where it emerges from the stones of the earth
rather than downstream of the wading herds of cattle and men! The pure stream
is the purely preserved Word of God "as they are commonly received"
as the Sixth Article of Religion stipulates. So what were the textual evidences
"commonly received" to which the article refers and upon which the
Reformers relied for true faith and worship? The Received Text of Holy
Scripture which underlies all reformation Bibles including the King James
Bible, the Geneva Bible, the Great Bible, the Bishops Bible, the Tyndale Bible,
etc. This text relies upon more than 5,000 manuscripts of evidence (95% of all
evidence) which all agree in form and effect with one another. This contrasts
sharply with the 5% of the manuscript evidence underlying the corrupt
Westcott-Hort translations (and which do not agree in many places with one
another). These corrupt bibles include the RSV, the NIV, and ESV (among a host
of others). They leave out important verses and change meanings where the
divinity of Christ is undermined in their "more reliable' textual
evidence. These new versions are far more than harmless and amateur
attempts to translate the Word of God more accurately and with greater
articulation – they are intentional departures from the true Word simply for
the purpose of advancing a modern political agenda and modifications required
in order to gain a copyright. I will never depend upon a copyrighted Bible, for
God's Word is not subject to copyright.
The danger is deadly, but subtle. A young
person, having no idea about textual evidence, goes into a Christian bookstore
to purchase a Bible oblivious to the ramification of error hidden between the
covers of a modern translation. He may inquire of the clerk for a
recommendation of a good study Bible. The clerk will inevitably recommend a
modern version since the required copyrighted version will render a greater
profit to the seller. "It is written, My
house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
(Matt 21:13) The thieves den may now extend beyond the walls of the false
church to the so-called Christian bookstore.
There occurred a great famine of my soul many
years ago when the Episcopal Church departed from the truth of God in both
worship and practice in the sixties. I sought diligently for a church that,
first of all, believed the Word of God and, secondly, actually held that Word
in reverence. I sought many years, and finally found that church expressed in
the life and practice of the Anglican Orthodox Church under the God-fearing
Bishop James Parker Dees. I have been in this sanctuary of truth ever since.
Slowly, through the increasing influence of
publishing houses, the Received Text Bibles are being subverted. If I go to a
Christian publisher to publish my works, they will insist that I use their own
corrupted and copyrighted Bible version in my references. Since these
publishers monopolize the distributive means of published works to Christian
book stores, the true Word is locked out. The ideological intent is subtle but
deadly in its influence of discouraging even an open discussion of the merits
of the Received Text (Textus Receptus). So men wander from sea to sea
seeking the Word of the Lord and they shall not find it – not in corrupt
Bibles, nor shall they hear it preached from pulpits.
One of the most oft quoted verses is more
profoundly changed in the NIV translation than even the omissions of verses in
other places of these corrupt Bibles - John 3:16. Who is Christ?
Is He different from the rest of humanity? Is He simply `another son of God' as
we all are assured of being in faith? For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (Romans 8:14) If we believe
the modern versions, we must also believe that Christ is nothing special in His
difference from the rest of mankind. Look at this one deadly change of
this verse (John 3:16) as rendered by the ESV and its illicit
sister – the NIV : For God so loved the world, that he gave
his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have
eternal life John 3:16 (ESV). Now note the significant difference in
how Christ is identified by the KJV: For God
so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16 (KJV)
Christ, in all truth and all
creeds of the Church Catholic, is the only Son Begotten of the Father and of
the same substance with the Father. He differs fundamentally as the only
Begotten Son of God to those of us who are sons and daughters through the
adoption. Why was the wording changed? What do you suppose motivated sinful men
to change that wording? Is Christ just a man only, and just another son of God,
or is Jesus the only Begotten, sinless and perfect, Son of the Father who ONLY
could redeem us and make the way possible for us to become sons and daughters
through adoption into the family of His Father? This is just one of the many
changes in meaning incorporated in the ESV, and other modern versions. Do we
strive for truth, or do we seek `political correctness?'
We might save our money on these monstrosities of translation and
simply purchase a Jehovah Witness (New World Translation) since its ideological
intent is in perfect unity with that of the modern versions. It omits the same
verses and denigrates the divinity of Christ in the same way (for the JW's do
not believe that Jesus was divine). Do not take my word for the error propagated
by the new versions. If the Word of God is sacred, find out the truth through
diligent study of the evidence – both internal and external. Do you believe the
Word of God can be changed by men?
I ask you, Reader, to answer that question,
for a low view of Scripture will result in famine, and a very low place in
eternity as well.
