“Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice” (Phi 4:4). All our joy must terminate in God; and our thoughts of God must be delightful thoughts. Delight thyself in the Lord (Psm. 37:4)… Observe, it is our duty and privilege to rejoice in God, and to rejoice in Him always; at all times, in all conditions; even when we suffer for Him, or are afflicted by Him. We must not think the worse of Him or of His ways for the hardships we meet with in His service. There is enough in God to furnish us with matter of joy in the worst circumstance on earth… Joy in God is a duty of great consequence in the Christian life; and Christians need to be again and again called to it.
Matthew Henry

Bob Harris

Bob Harris

TESTIMONY OF BOB HARRIS

You're about to read the account of a prejudiced man, whom Christ redeemed.

On the cruel cross of Calvary many, many years ago, the Lord Jesus Christ died for my wicked soul. He shed His precious blood at the foot of that cross, thus paying the penalty for my sins forever. He was buried for three full days, and on the third day rose again, according to the Scriptures, conquering death, hell and the grave, and is set down at the right hand of God, making intercession for my sins even now.

In April of 1971, I came to believe all of this. My name is Bob Harris. I was born August 8, 1952, in Toledo, Ohio, and grew up there and then later in California. My adolescent years were spent during the turbulent '60s, when kids my age were experimenting with drugs, "free love" (translation: fornication), and protests against the Vietnam War. I engaged in my share of wickedness and sinful pleasures, and you know where it got me? To a time when I attempted suicide in 1969. Thank God, I didn't succeed; otherwise, I'd be in hell today.

After recovering from the suicide attempt, my life was still empty and meaningless, and I just sort of trudged along, graduating from high school and entering a junior college in Northern California, not knowing why I was alive.

One evening, a couple of fellow college students–I didn't know them–showed up at my door and invited me to Sunday School at the local Baptist church they attended. For me, that was a monumental experience. Rarely had anybody shown enough interest in me to invite me to ANYTHING–and CERTAINLY not to church! I accepted with some hesitation, not knowing what I was getting into.

The following Sunday, the Sunday school teacher opened the Scriptures and showed me what my soul hungered for:

I was a sinner: "As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10).

That sin required punishment: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

God loved me enough to send His Son to pay the penalty for my sins in my stead by sacrificing Himself on the cross: "But God commendeth his love for us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

And all that was required of me was to call on Him and receive this free gift of eternal life and redemption of my sin debt: "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13). In April 1971, I received the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour.

One day, bless God–perhaps today–He's coming back, and I for the first time will be able to see my blessed Saviour face to face, the One who loved me–a worthless, hell-deserving sinner– enough to trade places with me. Because He bore my sins on that tree, I wear His righteousness forever, and I shall dwell in the house of my Lord forever and forever.

During these past several years of being a child of God, I have grown in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. There's a blessed old Book that tells the story of God's love for mankind. Thank God, we still have it! He promised to preserve it forever, and He has done so!

It's crucial that you realize the importance of that last statement. I didn't believe it until just recently. Though I've grown as a Christian, I feel I haven't grown as much as I could have, if only I believed that last statement earlier in my Christian life. You see, I was taught to believe that God's Word was inspired only in the so-called "original autographs"–the manuscripts penned under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by Moses, David, Samuel, Paul, Peter, Luke, Matthew, John, and the prophets themselves. Then, once the manuscripts were copied and translated into other languages, and the originals were lost or destroyed, there was room for error. Only the "originals" were without error. Thus, the King James Bible, according to my teachers, had errors. They taught that, although its language was beautiful and it still was their favorite version, it translated some passages from the Greek New Testament wrongly. They could have been translated into English better.

In fact, they taught that a series of Greek New Testament manuscripts which were discovered in the 19th Century–nearly 300 years after the King James Bible was translated–were older, and thus more reliable, than the Textus Receptus and the other texts from which the King James translators worked. To the best of my knowledge, ALL of the modern versions of the Bible–the New American Standard, the Revised Standard, the New English, the New International Version, the New King James–rely heavily on these so-called "older" manuscripts. By the way, these "older" manuscripts all stem from Alexandria, Egypt, a pagan center of worldly intelligence and mystery religions, whereas the Textus Receptus can be traced back to the church of Antioch, Syria–the same church where the disciples were first called Christians and from where Paul and Barnabas were sent out as missionaries.

Now there are two problems with the modern versions. First, these older manuscripts differ markedly with the Textus Receptus. Important phrases–sometimes whole verses and whole passages–are taken out, and sometimes things are put in. The deity of Christ, His blood atonement, His virgin birth, His bodily resurrection– all of these doctrines are watered down in the Alexandrian manuscripts. Second, all of the modern versions claim to make the Bible more readable and understandable. Who says we're supposed to take it upon ourselves to make it more understandable? I thought Jesus said that was the job of the Holy Spirit–to guide us into all truth! He's the one who's supposed to help us understand the word of God. Why are we robbing Him of His work?

Until about five years ago, I bought the Alexandrian cult theory–that the Alexandrian manuscripts are older and thus more reliable. The cult teaches that we no longer have the word of God–the best we have are translations, and we must rely on something that comes as close as it can to the original autographs. But every translation will not be an exact copy of the original autographs–therefore we don't have the pure word of God now! So which Bible is the best one? Which Bible IS the word of God? How do I know I now have ALL of God's word? Is there something missing, that God wanted me to have, but it became lost?

And, finally, when God said, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God," was He in fact talking only about the original autographs? Or was He referring to a particular translation?

All of these questions began to trouble me about a year ago. I wanted to know the truth. Is the King James Bible the word of God? Or should I reject it in favor of the New International Version? Or the New American Standard Bible?

It all came to a head during a Bible Conference held at the Bayview Baptist Church, San Pedro, California. My pastor, Terry Prather of Fundamental Baptist Church, Ventura, California, had invited me to attend this conference. Chip Williams, the pastor of Bayview, had invited several Bible-believing, fundamental preachers from across the country, including Dr. Herbert Noe of Livonia, Michigan, Rex Harrison of Akron, Ohio, and Dr. Roland Rasmussen of Canoga Park, California, to teach about the superiority of the King James Bible, AV 1611, over all other socalled versions.

But the keynote speaker during these two days of meetings was Dr. Peter Ruckman, pastor of the Bible Baptist Church of Pensacola, Florida, and president of the Pensacola Bible Institute. I marveled as I heard him teach about the King James Bible and manuscript evidence. I listened as he told that the main problem of Christians in this Laodicean age is a lack of final authority. We make ourselves and our intelligence the final authority when we tamper with the word of God. We say a passage might better be translated such-and-such; well, who gives us the right to make that judgment? We give ourselves the right! We boast of our knowledge of Greek and Hebrew, and try to impress people with our ability to go into the "original languages" of the Bible and come up with a better way to translate a passage than the King James translators.

As I've said, I went away from that conference deeply troubled. Is Ruckman right? Are these pastors and teachers right? Have we tampered with the pure word of God? Am I myself being used in Satan's efforts to destroy the word of God, by going along with the Alexandrian cult teachings?

Well, I've seen both sides. I've investigated this matter deeply. On one occasion, I even called up Walter Martin's Bible Answer Man radio program, and asked him on the air if Dr. Ruckman is right about the King James Bible. Dr. Martin said no, he's not right, the Alexandrian manuscripts are more reliable, and gave me the name of a book to read–"The King James Version Debate" by D.A. Carson. I read the book; it didn't even seem to skim the surface of the issue. I read some of Dr. Ruckman's writings. I read another book.

Then I decided to go to the Final Authority! One night, as I thought about this matter, I prayed to God and asked Him, "Lord, who's right?" I prayed about it all night long–agonizing over that one question alone.

Now, mind you, I'm definitely NOT charismatic, and I heard no audible voice. But, by daybreak, I was impressed with an answer!

Here it is: The King James Bible, AV1611, IS the word of God! Every page has the breath of God! It has NO errors in it, and every word of it is God's Holy Book, from cover to cover, including the covers.

Now, I spent all of this time telling you this, so you'll understand my prejudice. Since that wonderful morning with God five years ago, I have a new outlook on my Bible. I have a new love for God's Word that I didn't have before. I have a new desire to read it, to study it, and to obey it! And nobody is ever going to take my Bible away from me again. "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."

It is my prayer that, first of all, you'll receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, who redeemed your sin debt and died on the cross for your sins, was buried, rose again the third day–for YOU. And, second of all, that God will continually bless you as you study His Holy Word, and realize that His Word is pure!