WARNING: do not subtract (revelation 22:19)

This message was preached at New Testament Christian Fellowship in Claremont, NC on January 29, 2023. The focus of this message is the second half of the LAST WARNING found in the Bible, a dire warning: DO NOT SUBTRACT FROM GOD’S WORD.

This grave warning appears at the beginning (Deuteronomy 4:2), the middle (Proverbs 30:5), and the end of the Bible. Those who are adopted into the Body of Christ and are guilty of subtracting from God’s Word will lose of their allotment, their authority, their share and inheritance in Christ’s Kingdom. Moreover, such will lose out “of the things written in this book,” of its promises and blessings realized in this present pilgrimage. Subtracting from God’s Word has consequences for the believer in this life, and in the life to come. Beware!

Beware also the modern English Versions of the Bible! These have foolishly subtracted from God’s Word in many places. In most editions, fourteen complete verses are missing from the New Testament. Doctrinal teachings are removed, weakened, and changed by such omissions. Foolishly claiming that these omissions are “minor” and don’t affect any fundamental doctrine because all the “essential” biblical truths can be found in other places in the Bible … such logic is tantamount to claiming it’s no big deal to remove a stop sign or a traffic signal from a busy intersection in a town simply because there are other stop signs and traffic signals at other intersections in that same town.

The Bible’s last warning cautions us against adding to or taking away from God’s Word. What then should be do with it? Tremble before it (Isaiah 66:2). Study it (II Timothy 2:15). Get off the tit and the bottle, and start chewing on the meat of the Word (Hebrews 5:11-14). Therein lies the honed ability to discern good from evil in dark days of deception.