God’s Word
Questions:
Question – do you take your Bible for granted?
Question – do you believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God?
Great leaders such as Martin Luther, John Hus, John Wycliffe, Johann Gutenberg,
William Tyndale , John Colet, and many others have helped to make sure the Bible
was
something for everyone to read.
John Hus
One of Wycliffe’s followers, John
Hus, actively promoted Wycliffe’s ideas: that people
should be permitted
to read the Bible in their own language, and they should oppose the tyranny of
the Roman church that
threatened anyone possessing a non-Latin Bible with execution. Hus was burned at the stake in 1415, with
Wycliffe’s manuscript Bibles used as kindling for the fire. The last words of
John Hus were that, “in 100
years, God will raise up a man whose calls for reform cannot be suppressed.”
Almost exactly 100 years
later, in 1517, Martin Luther nailed his famous 95 Theses of Contention (a list
of 95 issues of heretical
theology and crimes of the Roman Catholic Church) into the church door at
Hus had come true!
John Hus
(a.k.a. Jan Huss) was a religious thinker and
reformer, born in
initiated a reform movement based on the ideas of John Wycliffe. His followers
became known as Hussites.
The Catholic Church did not condone such uprisings, and Hus
was excommunicated in 1411 and burned at
the stake in
trial . . .
Almost
exactly 100 years later, in 1517, Martin Luther
nailed his famous 95 Theses of Contention (a list of
95 issues of heretical theology and crimes of the Roman Catholic Church) into
the church door at
John Wycliffe:
The first hand-written English
language Bible manuscripts were produced in the 1380's AD
by John Wycliffe,
an Oxford professor, scholar, and theologian.
Gutenberg Press:
Johann Gutenberg
invented the printing press in the 1450's, and the first book to ever
be printed was a Latin
language Bible, printed in
Now lets’ look
at some Scripture about God’s Word . . .
Team work:
Acts 18:24-26 (NIV):
24
Meanwhile
a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria ,
came to
Ephesus
Scriptures.
25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he
spoke with
great fervor and taught
about Jesus accurately, though he knew
only the baptism of John.
26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When
Priscilla and
Aquila heard him, they invited him to their
home and explained to
him the way of God more adequately.
The Bible has
additional has examples that God’s work load should be shared.
Moses’ Father in-Law:
Moses’ father in-law understood the enormous work load that Moses had taken on
to be a Judge of the people of Israel, and suggested to Moses to train other
leaders
to share the load . . . God’s work is not for one person to bear alone, but as
a
shared duty of many.
Exodus 18:13-23 (NIV):
13 The next day Moses took his
seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood
around him from morning till evening.
14 When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing
for the people, he said, "What is
this you are doing for the people?
Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these
people stand around you from
morning till evening?"
15 Moses answered him, "Because the people come to
me to seek God's will.
16 Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me,
and I decide between the parties
and inform them of God's decrees
and laws."
17 Moses' father-in-law replied, "What you are
doing is not good.
18 You and these people who come to you will only wear
yourselves out. The work is too
heavy for you; you cannot handle it
alone.
19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and
may God be with you. You
must be the people's representative
before God and bring their disputes to him.
20 Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the
way to live and the duties they
are to perform.
21 But select capable men from all the people—men who
fear God, trustworthy men who
hate dishonest gain—and appoint them
as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties
and tens.
22 Have them serve as judges for
the people at all times, but have them bring every
difficult case to you; the simple
cases they can decide themselves. That will make
your load lighter, because they will
share it with you.
23 If you do this and God so
commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these
people will go home
satisfied."
The Holy Spirit:
Not all Christians have the same spiritual gift, but all Christians have
the power
of the Holy Spirit in their life. Once
again . . . God’s work is not for one person to bear
alone, but as a shared duty of many.
Lesson learned: The Bible is For ALL to read.
Lesson learned # 2: God’s work
load is to be shared.
References:
The following websites were referenced on April 18, 2007:
http://www.greatsite.com http://www.biblegateway.com
Other information:
The website http://www.greatsite.com/sitemap.html has pictures and stories of some of
the older versions of Bibles (and some of them for sales). The item that I like is the free
information about some of the authors such as Hus
above. Per greatsite.com:
1385 Wycliffe
Manuscript New Testament:
This very first translation of the Bible into the English language, done
decades before the
invention of the printing press, is a beautiful hand-written manuscript. It
features the
dramatic and uniquely challenging “Middle-English” of the middle
ages. John Wycliffe is
called “The Morning Star of the Reformation”. This is the only facsimile
reproduction of
the first English translation of God’s Word that has ever been produced.