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Reformation Into the Twenty-first Century

Timothy Tow

Text: Jude 3, 4

When Luther nailed the 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church at Wittenberg on Oct 31, 1517 to protest against the dark Roman System of Salvation by works, he set the 16th Century Reformation ablaze. It gave birth to the Protestant Church.

When Carl McIntire founded the International Council of Christian Church in Amsterdam 1948 to challenge the Ecumenical Movement of the World Council of Churches, he called for a 20^th Century Reformation. While the Ecumenical Movement of the WCC was to dismantle the 16^th Century Reformation by gathering all Protestants to reunite with Rome, the 20^th Century Reformation Movement rallied the faithfuls to come out from among them and be separate. We heard McIntire’s call and established the B-P Church in 1950 as a separatist church.

The Bible-Presbyterian Churches in Singapore which have spread to all ASEAN countries and around the world are a strong constituency, of the ICCC (International Council of Christian Churches). And Maranatha B-P Church which is celebrating your Ninth Anniversary Thanksgiving today is a true son of the 20^th Century Reformation through your pastor Jack Sin. His timely publication of The Reformation: Retrospect, Introspect and Prospect is a vital contribution to the 20^th Century Reformation.

Reformation is an ever-ongoing battle for the Faith. For no sooner is Satan subdued in one area of the fight than he appears in another. He is a Hydra-headed Snake. The second half of the 20^th Century sees him spawning one hundred new versions of the Bible which are rightly called “perversions”. These hundred newfangled versions are based on the corrupt text of Westcott and Hort.

Who are Westcott and Hort? They are what the apostle Jude revealed to be “men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ” (v.4). Westcott and Hort were two Anglican clergymen, Greek scholars who supplanted the Authorised Version, the King James Bible with their corrupt text. Out of this corrupt text came a new translation the Revised Version in 1881 to take the place of the KJB. Being the evil fruit from a corrupt tree it died a diseased death in the earlier part of this Century. In my boyhood I possessed a copy of the Revised Version. Soon after this it went out of print. But the KJB goes on forever.

Though Greek Scholars that they were, Westcott and Hort are now exposed to be false prophets, wolves in sheep’s clothing. Both are modernists and liberals of the deepest dye. Dr. D. A. Waite, Th.D., Ph.D., President of Dean Burgon Society, certifies them to deny all the fundamentals of the Faith, especially the doctrine of the infallibility and inerrancy of Scripture, the Virgin Birth, Substitutionary Death and Ressurection of our Lord Jesus Christ. They ridicule Adam and Eve to be no more than a fairy tale, but take to Evolution as Gospel Truth. They were friends of Darwin and Freud (called by Straits Times a Fraud). Westcott and Hort were secret worshippers of Mary.

Westcott started a club called the Hermes Club. This club for young people was infected with homosexuality. Later he founded the Ghost Club to communicate with the dead. It was dubbed the Bogey Club (Bogey means Devil). One who communicates with the dead is called a necromancer, which is condemned in Deuteronomy 18:11, 12 to be “an abomination unto the Lord.”

Now, David asks, “Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully” (Ps 24:3, 4). By their treacherous conduct to the Cause of Christ, they have disqualified themselves from touching the sacred Text.

But, they did. They intruded into the holy office. And what they did was to tear away from the Bible the equivalence of eight chapters of I and II Peter. Using two earliest Manuscripts of the Bible Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, but the most corrupt according to Dean Burgon of Oxford, they mercilessly cut up the traditional Textus Receptus upon which the KJB is based. They scissored the last 12 verses of Mark and the passage of the woman taken in adultery (Jn 7:53–8:11) and the Johannine Comma I Jn 5:7 which clearly teaches the Holy Trinity; and numerous other parts of the Bible. A new Westcott and Hort text arises to topple the venerable Received Text, like Cain killing his brother Abel.

The God who inspires to write an infallible and inerrant Bible also preserves an intact replica, so that we have in the Received Text the same infallible Word. This is taught in the Westminster Confession and affirmed by David, “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” As Providence follows Creation, so Preservation of Scripture follows Inspiration. Yes, God who has given an infallible and inerrant Bible follows up to preserve it intact through the ages, even to eternity. Jesus reaffirms, “Heaven and earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away” (Matt 24:35).

Now, God in His providence has blessed the English-speaking world nearly 400 years with the KJB. But during the last 50 years a flood of new translations, based directly or indirectly on Westcott and Hort has invaded the Church. Under the guise of putting it in easier to read modern English, the New International Version (NIV) has now supplanted the KJB, insofar as Singapore is concerned. But the equivalence of eight chapters in the KJB is missing from the NIV. But hypocritically why do the NIV publishers retain the last 12 verses of Mark and the woman taken in adultery passage in print? Sharp businessmen, they know the household of faith will not buy their product if these two passages are left out. But, hey presto! They have cunningly deleted the Johannine verse I Jn 5:7 on the Trinity, because, being very brief, its deletion is not easily detected. Satan, like the Monkey god has 72 disappearing tricks.

“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men (Westcott and Hort) crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men…” Reformation is an ever on-going battle for the Faith. Reformation into the 21^stCentury is the battle of the King James Battle vs the NIV and the hordes of “perversions” based on W&H.

If you are in a Church that uses the NIV, you should tell your pastor why he should not use it. If you cannot persuade him to change back to the KJB, then you should get out and join a Church that upholds it. You can play a part for the 21^st Century Reformation. As B-Ps we’re in the 21^st Century Reformation which is only 60 days away.

“The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it” (Ps 68:11). Let everyone here today take a stand for the Truth wherever we go, till Jesus returns. Amen.

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