TBS Meeting 2026

I'd like to thank the Church members for this opportunity of coming to you to speak regarding the work of the Trinitarian Bible Society. The Society has been in existence for 195 years and has remained true to its founding principle of providing faithful and trustworthy translations of the Scriptures.

Now just a few headline figures, maybe of interest to the outset of the meeting. Last year, the Society published and distributed 4.5 million scripture items. That was nearly a 25% increase on the previous year. So we're quite encouraged by the advance regarding the scriptures and the number that's sent out, but we're also encouraged by the increasing number of translation projects. So at the present time, we have 101 translations under consideration. We've been worked on at the present time. In addition, another 68 projects under consideration. So we're looking to see what needs to be done, who can do it. It may well be in a few weeks, few months time, some of those will become live projects as well.

So we're quite amazed really how the Lord is raising up people for the task. I'm sometimes asked the question, how does TBS find all the translators? Well, generally speaking, it's the other way around. They come and find us. The Lord lays it on their hearts.

They perhaps have seen what's available already in their language. They've seen the deficiency of it. They've seen perhaps things missing, verses missing, perhaps even whole passages missing. And perhaps they've seen things being very poorly translated. And they feel the Lord is calling them to engage, to do something better, something purer, something more close to the Hebrew and the Greek.

So we're quite amazed really how the Lord is working in this regard and how the Lord is endowing people with linguistic abilities to undertake this important task. And often it's a work of some years because it's an arduous activity. You know the Bible is a big book and it needs to be done very carefully and prayerfully. So we're thankful for the way the Lord has raised up people in more recent years in quite a significant way.

Now, one or two things regarding the UK to begin with. Now, we try to visit schools where we can. Schools visits vary very much because it depends on the view of the headteacher. Sometimes schools have been going to for 10 years and more suddenly the door closes because of a change of headteacher. But sometimes it's the other way around. A door may open by a change of headteacher. There's a school I've been going to for three years in a row now. Last July, I went to this school in little village in Hertfordshire. And I was told there'd be 19 children due to leave that school to go up to the next stage of education.

But one boy was from a Hindu background. They assumed he wouldn't want a Bible. So they said, bring 18 Bibles. Well, I took 19 just in case. And I'm very glad I did, because at the end of the assembly, when I spoke to the whole school, and the 11-year-old children were called up to receive a Bible, this Hindu boy very gladly came forward to receive a Bible.

A couple of days later I had this message from a Christian mother who had children at the school. She said I had some wonderful encouragement last night which also reproved me for my lack of belief in God's power. The mother of the Hindu boy told me how pleased and grateful they are with the Bible and that he's reading it already and insisted on taking it to school yesterday so he could continue reading it. Apparently his grandmother in India has converted to Christianity And he is excited to talk to her about what he's reading from his Bible. So I think the maxim applies, assume nothing. We may tend to think, well, they won't be interested because of their culture or their background. But sometimes we get these happy surprises.

And who knows what the Lord intends to do in this family through the word of God. Now, I'm sure you'll be familiar with the Daily Light, a publication that TBS has produced now for some years. It was originated in the 1800s by the Baxter family, and TBS has been publishing it now for about 20 years. Now, I have some copies available, hardback edition and also a paperback edition, in the room behind me.

And I had this letter recently from a lady who had contact with a lady who'd formerly been a Roman Catholic. This last week I received a letter from an elderly lady who has been a lifelong Roman Catholic but who since reading the Daily Light has been brought to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus and is now resting on Him alone. I am so glad that TBS is faithful to the AV and also the Daily Light. I was given my first copy of the Daily Light in 1975 when I was first converted And it led me into the scriptures to find out where the verses quoted came from. Sometimes in following up a verse in the Bible, I would then read several chapters. So just to explain, if you're not familiar with The Daily Light, it's a daily devotional.

It's simply words from the Bible and very carefully and prayerfully put together by the Baxter family. And they put verses together on a certain theme for the morning readings and a different theme for the evening. And that pattern follows all the way through the whole of the year. and special readings are back for special occasions. And as I say, it's available from the Society.

Interestingly, during the 1960s, during the time of the Simba uprising in the Congo, that soldiers came to rummage through Christians' homes and took away Bibles from them, but not realizing the daylight was all based upon the Bible. They left those behind. So Christians were having to survive on the daylight during those difficult years. So the Lord has used the daylight for many years for many people and we're thankful that it's still available so I recommend that to you after the meeting.

Now last year when I came to you I began talking to you about William Tyndale because The 500th anniversary of the publication of the New Testament, translated by Tyndale from the original Greek, spans two years. It spans last year and this year, because it was in 1525 when he completed the New Testament translation, but he was interrupted by an enemy of the gospel. So he had to flee up the Rhine to the city of Worms. So it wasn't until early 1526 when we believe something like 6,000 copies was produced by the printing press.

So the challenge for Tyndale now was this. How is he going to get all these illegal New Testaments into England itself because the authorities were on the alert? Well, Tyndale had a good working relationship with the English merchants. They'd underwritten the cost of the publication, so it was in their interest to help him get them into the country.

And also, in 1525, England experienced a disastrous harvest. So in early 1526 large quantities of grain had to be imported from Northern Europe and this was ideal for hiding away New Testaments in sets of grain. Also they hide them in bales of cloth and hampers of paper. Cryptic marks were being placed on these goods so that people at the English ports who were in the know could set aside these items and make sure the scriptures got into the hands of people that really wanted them. And there was a ready market.

People were weary with all the medieval superstitions of the day. And they wanted to hear what God had to say to them in their very own language, English. Because previously, the Bible for most people was only available in Latin. And not many people were interested in reading the Bible in Latin because only the priests really could read the Bible in Latin. So people were just completely misguided regarding what the gospel was until they heard it for themselves from the English scriptures.

We're told that people bartered goods, sometimes people clubbed together to purchase a copy and they'd share it amongst themselves. So the Bible was being read to people, people reading it for themselves if they could read. And the work of reformation was going on apace simply through reading the word of God in English. Now as the years went by, many more thousands of copies came into the country.

And this caused alarm amongst the English bishops. They realised if people start to read the Bible in English that would undermine their position because people would see that many of the practices imposed upon them had no foundation whatsoever in the Bible. So the Bishop of London, Cuthbert Tunstall, sent out a directive to all the bishops around the country telling them that on pain of death, sorry on pain of excommunication, it might have meant death, but they were told on pain of excommunication they must call in as many of these New Testaments as possible. It's believed that something like 20,000 copies were gathered in and burnt to ashes. in public places like St Paul's Cross, but nevertheless it's also believed that at least 30,000 copies were still in circulation.

So that meant that Tyndale was fast becoming the most wanted man in Europe. He was seen as guilty of producing the most dangerous book in Tudor England. So Henry VIII requested of Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, that he might arrest Tyndale, but he refused. So there's only one course of action left. Tyndale must be kidnapped. So they managed to find a young man by the name of Henry Phillips, who was prepared to end the money.

He was sent over to Europe. He managed to track down where Tyndale was in the house of Sir Thomas Point in Antwerp. And he pretended to be his friend, pretended to be in favor of the Reformation and Bible translation. And little by little, he was ingratiating himself with Tyndale, and Tyndale started to trust him. And then, Judas-like, He betrayed him into the hands of the authorities.

Tindale was arrested, carried off to the Vilvoor Castle in Flanders, where he spent at least 16 months in poor conditions. And then there's a show trial. I deliberately say a show trial. It wasn't intended to be a fair trial at all. And inevitably, he was condemned to death. And it's believed to be on the 6th of October, 1536, when he's brought forth to the place of execution. He was tied to a stake. He was strangled to death. and his body burnt to ashes. But before he died he was heard to pray, loud and clear, O Lord, open the King of England's eyes.

And within two years that prayer was wonderfully answered. because Henry VIII had a change of mind. He now believed it's a good thing for the Bible to go abroad, in his own words, that's what he said. And so a decree was passed in 1538 that meant the large volume of the Bible in English should be chained to the lectern of every parish church up and down the country. At that stage, there were 9,000 parishes in England. So the whole country had access to the word of God if they so desired. So people gathered around the lectern And the lectern was supposed to be in a prominent position in the church so people would easily see where it was and the Bible was being read to them. And so God was working in a remarkable way during that period of time simply through the reading of the Holy Scriptures. So you can see why Tyndale was such a significant character in reference to the work of Reformation here in this country.

Now there are three monuments. in reference to Tyndale. The first I've mentioned is not far from where he was born in South Gloucestershire on a high point known as Nibley Knoll and there's a tower that rises 111 feet. You can climb up the inside if you so wish and get a good view of the countryside which probably hasn't changed very much from Tyndale's time apart from a few villages sprung up here and there. The second is in London on the Thames Embankment. I forgot to bring me from the back room a commemorative edition of the Bible. And on the front cover, you'll see a picture of the London statue of William Tyndale. And the third statue or monument, I should say, was placed in Vilvoorde, not far from where he was put to death.

And that was erected in 1913 by supporters of TBS and the Belgian Bible Society. there's no doubt the greatest monument to Tindale is his translation. So I want to say a few things about his translation because we all live in the benefit and legacy of his tremendous translation work. You probably didn't realise just how much when you read your bible, just how much you're reading Tindale's translation.

So Tyndale was concerned to be as accurate as possible in the work of translation. He had a high view of Holy Scripture. He realized that this was God's word, and he confessed that he hadn't ever deliberately altered one syllable against his conscience. He was that diligent and that faithful in the process.

So he's trying to effectively make Hebrew and Greek speak English. So that meant that English took on a slightly different form, a biblical form of English. He was picking up the nuances, the delicate shades of meaning of those original tongues and conveying that into English. So where possible, sometimes he conveyed the same sentence structure in English. So one example is this, where he would use what is known as the noun of the noun. So putting two nouns close together, making the first noun serve as an adjective.

So you have expressions like house of God or kingdom of God. Now, of course, in English, you would be just as accurate to say God's house or God's kingdom. But Tindale made the Hebrew and Greek speak English, so we have that construction in English now as a result of Tindale's translation. As well as other expressions like King of Kings and Lord of Lords and Song of Songs and Holy of Holies.

You know these expressions very well, but they've come to us simply through Tindale's translation, keeping as close as he could to the sentence structure. Also he found it necessary to invent new words because there were certain expressions in the scriptures that he felt there weren't a sufficient number of words in English at the time to convey the meaning properly. So he was a great wordsmith, he put words together and gave them new meanings. Words like beautiful, or fisherman, or broken hearted, or busybody, or scapegoat, or atonement, literally atonement, reconciliation through the blood of the cross. And Passover, now we're very familiar with all these words, aren't we? But they didn't exist until Tinder came along and translated the Bible into English.

Now we find that our translators today sometimes have to do the same thing. Because some languages are so impoverished when it comes to expressions to convey biblical concepts. So that means that a translator may have to coin a new word entirely, or perhaps modify an existing word and give it a new meaning, and do something very similar to what Tyndale did. He provided a glossary at the back of the New Testament so people would learn the meaning of these new words. That's the time-honored way of translating the Bible. The other way, sometimes it's done, unfortunately, is to dumb down the meaning by using a current expression but it reduces the impact of the meaning of the scripture at that point. So people have to be taught the meaning of these new words and the principles that are being taught and conveyed by those words.

Also, Tyndale wanted to use single-syllable Anglo-Saxon words wherever possible, trying to avoid the longer Latin-based words. Now, of course, sometimes he had to use Latin-based words. That was unavoidable. But he was trying to keep it as simple as possible.

So you take, for example, Luke 19, verse 10, which is a very important statement just after the conversion of Zacchaeus. And it says this, for the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost. Now you notice it's words of just one syllable, the whole verse. It's accurate, it's a faithful translation, it's memorable and it's in a good English form.

And you see the genius of Tindale, his tremendous ability both in the original tongues of Hebrew and Greek but also a great master of the English language itself. And the other interesting feature of Tindale's translation is in the process of translation He used what have become catchphrases today. So the average person walking down the street in St. Leonard's today might use phrases like, the powers that be, or allure unto themselves, or let there be light, or oh, ye of little faith, or similar expressions. Fight the good fight is another one that this was coined by Tyndale.

It was accurate, but also it was memorable. And of course, it's been very much popularized by the fact it was carried forward into the authorized version, which of course, as you know, has been so widely used for over 400 years throughout the English speaking world. So when people use these expressions, they don't realize they're actually quoting from the Bible and going back as far as 500 years ago. Now, such was the quality of Tindall's translation work that, having been very closely scrutinized in the 1550s by the Geneva Bible translators, and then again closely scrutinized by the Authorized Version translators from 1604 to 1611, much of his work couldn't be bettered. they simply carried it forward unchanged. And something like 85 to 90% of the New Testament that we have today is Tyndale's work. So we owe a great debt to this great man, William Tyndale.

Now before Tyndale was martyred, he didn't have opportunity to complete the whole of the Old Testament. He got up to the end of 2nd Chronicles, and also he translated the prophecy of Jonah. Now we didn't know about the prophecy of Jonah, his translation, until 1861. He'd been hidden away somewhere in a library in Oxford or Cambridge University, but it was discovered and it was realized that he'd translated it. So it was left to Tyndale's friends, Miles Coverdell and John Rogers, to complete the English translation.

And so the Ploughboys had their Bible at last. That was Tyndale's ambition, wasn't it? To make the Bible available to people in all walks of life. So God used him in a marked way to that end. Now I have here a copy, a facsimile, of Tyndale's 1526 New Testament. As far as we know, there's only one original 1526 New Testament in existence, and the only one's complete, and it's on display this year in St. Paul's Cathedral. It was purchased by the British Library for a million pounds from the Bristol Baptist College, and this is a facsimile of that original.

This is the size it would have been, so not exactly pocket-sized, but at least it was portable and not too difficult to hide away. You're welcome to have a closer look after the meeting. It's quite difficult to read because it's in Gothic script. So like the letters for the Daily Telegraph, the old English letters, that was the style of the printing in those days.

And also the spellings are very different to what we're used to and quite inconsistent. In fact, Tyndale spelt the word righteousness five different ways on the same page. That was acceptable in 1525. There's no standardized form of spelling. Now, some of those Irregularities may have been because of printing errors as well, so it may not have been all Tyndale's work.

But nevertheless, do have a closer look after the meeting, as well as the commemorative Bibles. They're just eight pounds, so do have a look in the room at the back. So I'd like to move on now to some of the translation activity of the present time. But before I do so, let me read to you this motion that was tabled in the Commons last September by Gregory Campbell, MP for East Londonderry, that this house notes the ongoing work of a number of organisations, including the Trinitarian Bible Society, to commemorate the 500th anniversary of William Tyndale translating the Bible into the English language in 1525, and recognises that this momentous event meant that for the first time in history, millions of people, for whom English was their first language, began to have the opportunity to read the Bible for themselves, which transformed religious practices and subsequently enabled tens of millions of lay people and those with no previous Christian leanings or upbringing to learn from the scriptures in their own language and know the transforming power of the saving grace that comes about in Christ alone. It's a very long sentence, I realise that, but it's quite remarkable because it's not every day motions like that are tabled in the House of Parliament. So we're very grateful to Gregory Campbell for doing so.

Now, regarding present-day translation activity, let me first take you to the country of the Philippines. Now, the Philippines is a sovereign state made up of over 7,600 islands. 115 million people live in the Philippines. Now, the Philippines were colonized by the Spanish in the 1500s during the time of King Philip of Spain, hence the name Philippines.

And not surprisingly, the Roman Catholic faith was brought to bear, perhaps even imposed upon the people. And even today, something like 80% of the population regard themselves as Roman Catholic. But having said that, there's an openness to the word of God.

It's a country that's troubled by various difficulties. Overcrowding in some islands is a major problem. You may have seen photographs of the shanty towns and the unhygienic conditions that some people have to live in. And also the country's troubled by earthquakes from time to time, quite serious earthquakes, and also typhoons, and sometimes whole villages are wiped out by these tremendous winds.

Now, TBS has been working for some years now on three particular projects for the people of the Philippines. It's encouraging, of course, to know that there's a great demand for Bibles in English, and we've sent tons of English Bibles to the Philippines over the years. because English is one of the official languages.

But we believe it's important where possible to provide Bibles in the first language of the people. Someone recently said, when I read the Bible in English, I understand the words, but when I read it in my first language, I understand the meaning. Now, of course, ultimately, it must be the Holy Spirit that gives us true spiritual illumination so we understand the meaning of the Scriptures. But our task, of course, is to provide the Scriptures in a faithful form for these people.

So let me tell you about three projects we have ongoing for the people of the Philippines. First of all, the scriptures for the Manobo-speaking people. Now, Manobo-speaking people live mainly in the south of those islands, mainly in Mindanao. Some live in quite primitive conditions, whereas others are more literate. They live in the towns and the cities. And around about three quarters of a million people speak the Manobo language. Now, we had an online meeting a few weeks ago with our Monobo translator.

Something he said really impressed me. Now, just to explain, this man is both a tribal chief and a Presbyterian pastor. You may wonder how that works, but it does. He's a godly man who tries to help his native people. He arranges a good water supply for them. He sells them good livestock and so forth. But his grand ambition is to give them the word of God in a faithful rendition. And what he said that sort of remained with me was this. He said, I really want these people to understand the grace of God.

Now we're so used to hearing about grace, but do we understand what grace really is? Because all of us by nature have a legal bias. We think perhaps we can make ourselves acceptable to God. Now, some do that by means of chaplatenders that think that's enough, or perhaps obeying a certain outward moral conduct and acceptability in that sense, in a moral way. But others, by means of sacrifices and rituals and so forth, they may think that by these things they're appeasing a holy God. So there's a legality in the heart of man by nature.

So he said, I really want them to understand the grace of God. And grace is, by its very definition, something you can't deserve or can't earn, something freely given through the Lord Jesus Christ. So he said, I really want them to understand the grace of God.

So we're hoping soon to publish the Gospel of John along with Genesis and Exodus. That's quite unusual. We usually publish the Gospel of John as a first step forward. The reason, he said, why we're doing it this way is because if we go to these tribal people with the Gospel of John and tell them that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, they will assume that we're talking about the Son of one of the gods they have traditionally worshipped. He said they need Genesis and Exodus first, so they conceive themselves the character and nature of the true God of heaven, who made the world in six days and has revealed himself in the Word. and then move on to the Lord Jesus Christ and the Gospel of John. So that is the plan, to publish those three books together, Genesis, Exodus, and the Gospel of John.

Secondly, the scriptures for the Cebuano-speaking people. Now that sounds quite Spanish, doesn't it? Cebuano. And that's because the language borrows heavily from both Spanish and English. 25 million people speak Cebuano. This is spoken primarily in the center part of those islands. So we've got the capital city Manila, so several miles north and several miles south of Manila, the people speak across those islands the Cebuano language.

And we're hoping to publish the Gospel of John soon. And then thirdly, the scriptures for the Tagalog-speaking people. Now Tagalog is very widely spoken on the official languages of the Philippines. We have the Gospel of John available already. I don't have a date for the publication of the New Testament as yet, but the work is ongoing. Now, there's a great need for this, and some believe that at least 90 million people speak the Tagalog language.

Our translator was formerly a Roman Catholic, but upon his conversion, he felt a concern to provide a good translation for his people. And there are already translations into the Tagalog language, but they leave a lot to be desired for accuracy and for completeness.

They're based upon an abbreviated version of the scriptures. So you've got words missing, phrases missing, even whole verses missing in some cases. And if you were to add up the total that's missing, it's like having first and second Peter missing from your Bible. And some of those verses missing, or words missing, impinge upon fundamental doctrine, like the divinity of Christ, the Trinity, and redemption through the blood of Christ.

So it really is quite important these people have a good translation from the full text of Holy Scripture, so they can see for themselves what God has to say to them. There has been an attempt to actually translate from the authorised version into Tagalog but that hasn't worked very well. That's not the best way of translating but some have tried doing that and it comes out rather awkward the way it reads. So you can see why there's a great need for a good translation to be made using the same principles that Tindal used and going back to the Hebrew and Greek original and conveying that into the Tagalog language. One of the problems with some of the present day Tagalog scriptures available is that it uses an inappropriate word for repentance.

And it basically means due penance. Now that's a Roman Catholic term, isn't it? Now due penance in Roman Catholic terms means you have to do something unpleasant, which perhaps will earn you forgiveness. Now that's a works kind of approach, isn't it? That's not grace.

So the expression to do penance instead of repentance, of course, is very unhelpful in a translation. So our translators aim to find the best words to use to convey the best sense of the word repentance, evangelical repentance, a change of heart, a change of attitude to sin and a sense of contrition before Almighty God. So you'll see why our translators need to be careful and need to be consistent in the work they're doing. So we value your prayerful support regarding these projects. And then just one more project I want to bring you up to date on, and that is the scriptures for the Turkish-speaking people.

You will be aware, of course, in the New Testament, you read about Asia and places like Galatia and Cappadocia, Bithynia, and the seven churches of Asia. Now, those places are today called Turkeion. They were part of Turkey, an area that was greatly blessed with gospel witness in the apostolic era. In the first century AD, as you know, the apostle Paul and many other fellow laborers went from place to place using the Roman trade routes to preached in the towns and the cities wherever they could, and gospel churches were established.

But that area of the world has been a barren wilderness spiritually for many, many centuries, been under Muslim control, under the Ottoman Empire, and today is still a Muslim country. When you start to think there's 87 million people that live in Turkey, and there are only 10,000 evangelicals in that country. It's just a tiny proportion of evangelicals there in Turkey. So it's still then a Muslim country, but it does have more freedoms than some Muslim countries. When you think of what it's like in Saudi Arabia or Iran, it is somewhat more free in Turkey.

So there's freedom to evangelize, freedom to meet for worship, freedom to witness to someone else on the street if they want to. And they do experience some of the difficulties that sometimes preachers on the streets in our country are starting to experience. They may be arrested because someone pretends to be offended. So they're arrested by the police, carried off to a police cell for a few hours, and then released without charge. It's kind of a nuisance thing rather than direct persecution. So what's happening in England is happening there in Turkey as well. So TBS has been working on an important project now for some years.

It was an elderly gentleman who felt a particular call from the Lord to translate into the Turkish language. He was aware There was nothing very satisfactory available already. So he used his abilities, a native Turkish man, and knew the language well, and knew the biblical languages. So he began translation, and he went into a care home before he died. But just before he died, he was able to complete the final draft of the Old Testament. So we are hoping to publish, soon after that, the whole Bible. But upon closer inspection, we found that his translation needs more work. being done to make it more accurate. So thankfully his family are continuing the project and we thank the Lord for that.

Now some years ago we were able to publish many many thousands, tens of thousands of copies of the Turkish Gospel of John and we heard a remarkable conversion. On one occasion someone was on the streets of a Turkish city and they were handing out these Gospels to passers-by Someone took a copy, a young man, and a bit further down the street, he decided he didn't want it after all and threw it in a rubbish bin. Now an army officer just happened to notice and out of mere curiosity went over and retrieved this Gospel of John and took it home and read it and the Lord blessed and saved him by his grace. So you never know how the law may work, even in unusual circumstances.

Now, we also have available the whole of the New Testament in Turkish. So it's a great step forward when we get to the point of publishing the New Testament. So think of Tindale's New Testament. This is the same caliber of translation, but for the Turkish speaking people. And we got very close to completing the Old Testament. We got to the stage where the committee has agreed for its publication, satisfied it's an accurate translation. We're now involved with typesetting and formatting.

It's quite time-consuming, that kind of activity. So we hope, in a few months' time at least, to have the whole Bible available for the Turkish-speaking people. So we value your continued prayerful support regarding these aspects of the work of the Society.

Let me just tell you about two free booklets on Tyndale, available in the Sunday School Room. The Fugitive Translator, This focuses mainly on Tyndale's life and experience, whereas this one, Tyndale, The Costly Legacy of Faithful Bible Translation, is mainly on his translation work itself. So both are interesting, both are well-written. Do help yourself, they're entirely free.

So we're going to turn now to the Word of God and to the passage I read from earlier, and it's Romans chapter 16. Romans chapter 16. Let us hear again the word of God. Shall I read from verse 25? The doxology at the end of this Chapter. Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret since the world began but now is made manifest and by the scriptures of the prophets according to the commandment of the everlasting God made known to all nations for the obedience of faith To God only wise be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. Now these words form a closing doxology to this important part of the scripture.

This letter to the Romans is a masterly exposition of the grand doctrine of justification by faith. And so this part of scripture became especially significant at the time of the Reformation. as people's eyes were opened to the truth. You think of Martin Luther, who one day at the age of 18 went to the library of Erfurt University and took down a volume and was surprised to find it was a Bible.

He started to read the Word of God and was deeply convicted of his sin. And he went on for some long time under this pain of conscience because of the awareness of the holiness of God and the gravity of his sin. And he's tried to find relief of conscience by going to the father confessor and in great detail confessing his sins to the point where the father confessor got very weary with him. He also spent long hours fasting and praying. Then he began to flagellate his body with a whip and hoping the physical pain might somehow bring relief to his conscience, but all to no avail.

Until at last the truth shone in his understanding. The just shall live by faith. He saw for the first time that salvation was something that had been accomplished already. That Christ had performed all things necessary. And it was given as a free gift to those who believed. The just shall live by faith. And he said it was like this. It was as if I entered paradise through open gates. I knew I was born again. And it was a great turning point for not only Martin Luther, but also for the Reformation, because he was one of the leading figures in the Reformation. And it was Luther who used to say, the doctrine of justification by faith is the article of a standing or a falling church.

A church that denies it will lose its status as a gospel church. So these things are very important and Tyndale likewise understood how significant this letter of Paul was to the Romans. He said it's like a lantern whereby with the light of this part of God's Word you can go back to the Old Testament truth and see it more clearly. The famous American Theologian B.B. Warfield once said, the Old Testament is like a room richly furnished, but dimly lit. All the great doctrines of salvation are there. Christ is there, but not so clearly revealed as in the New Testament. So with New Testament eyes, we can go back and see these things more distinctly. So you can see then why this part of God's word is so important.

In fact, Tyndale went as far as to say that every Christian man should memorize the whole of this letter to the Romans. I'm afraid I don't reach his high standard at that point. So I want to notice then these verses with you. And just to perhaps, I trust it might be helpful just very briefly to give overview of this legend of the Romans.

Just to remind you to begin with, in chapter 1 he tells us that he's not ashamed of the gospel of Christ because it's the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. Then he goes on to explain why the gospel is so necessary because the wrath of God is revealed against all unrighteousness of men. And in that first chapter he lists a long that list of the glaring sins of the Roman world. And sadly, when you read that list, you see the same sins very apparent in 21st century England. Then he moves on to speak of the Jews and their need of salvation because in a sense they were more guilty because they had had greater privileges.

They'd had the oracles of God given to them. God revealed his word to them. God had given to them great leaders like Moses and David and Samuel. but they had rejected Christ when he came. So in that well-known verse, he says, all have sinned, Jew and Gentile, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Then he begins to open up the gospel plan that Christ has provided salvation. God has sent his son to deal with the issue of sin so that God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So as he opens these things up, he moves on to the deeper doctrines that lie behind salvation, like foreknowledge and predestination and so forth in chapter eight. Now then, as his practice was, he goes on to practical matters, the application of the gospel in people's lives. And then in this final chapter, it's time for him to send greetings to Christians he's met or has heard of around the Roman Empire.

And then he comes to these final words, from verse 25 to the end. Now these verses have been described as being like the final cause of a grand symphony. You may not understand all the technicalities of music, but you instinctively know when a piece of music is about to come to an end. You may not know about perfect cadences and rallentando and that sort of thing, but you instinctively know, don't you? And likewise, this chapter's got the same feel about it when you come to the closing verses.

Effectively, it's a doxology, but in the middle of the doxology, Paul opens up an important statement regarding the scriptures and the means whereby the gospel goes forth to the nations by means of the scriptures. And it's rather interesting that he's addressing a local body of believers in Rome, a local church, reminding them of their responsibility regarding the scriptures among all nations. So that's where TBS fits in because we have no authority over any church. We are simply a handmaid or a servant to the churches to assist churches in their God-given responsibility. How many churches do you know have people with linguistic and translation abilities? You may know some. How many churches do you know have sufficient funds to publish maybe 20 or 25,000 Bibles in one go? Probably none at all.

But TBS is in the position, having support from so many different denominations around the world, that we're in a position to publish large quantities of scriptures on behalf of the churches. So that's why we appreciate the support of churches like yourselves, who show a prayerful, practical support this work.

So I want to notice four things briefly with you from these verses. First of all, we're going to think about the Scriptures. Secondly, the scope. It's among all nations as verse 26 reminds us. Thirdly, the commission according to the commandment of the everlasting God. And finally, we notice the purpose for this important work. So first of all, the Scriptures which are described in verse 26 as the Scriptures of the prophets. Now don't see this in a rather exclusive manner.

It's not referring to just the written prophecies like Isa and Jeremiah or the minor prophets. The scripture of the prophet is a general term to describe God's revelation as it had been revealed up to that point, because we're told that Moses was a prophet in a certain sense. Likewise, David the Psalmist also is described as a prophet. So all the writers of scripture in a certain sense had a prophetic ministry. They were telling out God's truth. And so all that God had revealed up to that point, I'll refer to here as the scriptures of the prophets, because God has spoken and God still speaks through his word, given by inspiration, given by a direct miracle, God working upon the minds and hearts of chosen individuals, moving them and superintending the process so they wrote exactly what God intended them to write. And we're told these scriptures are to be made known, at the end of verse 26. We've been thinking already about being made known by distribution, but also these scriptures are to be made known by study.

You think of the Ethiopian eunuch, for example. He was on his way back from Jerusalem, and he'd come all the way from Ethiopia, as you know, and he's on his way back, but hadn't found the blessing he was looking for. So he's still searching the scriptures.

And we know he got to that point that we now refer to as Isaiah chapter 53, which really was quite significant. He got to that point when Philip drew near to speak with him and asked him the question whether he understood what he was reading. And his answer was, how can I except some man should guide me?

And so from that script, he preached to him, Jesus, Jesus, the son of God, Jesus, the lamb of God, Jesus, the substitute for sinners. And God blessed him through the preaching of the word of God there in the dusty desert of Gaza. So the scriptures are to be made known by distribution, by study, personal study and collective study, and by the preaching of the word of God. And that is our task to prayerfully support these various means of blessing.

We move on secondly to notice the scope of the work. It says in verse 26, to be made known to all nations, no nations excluded by names, to be made known to all nations. Now, when I first started to work for TBS nearly 20 years ago, I was told there were 6,800 languages spoken throughout the world. We now know there's over 7,200. We keep discovering new languages. So what a great task is yet before us regarding reaching these various language groups.

When my wife and I and family lived in Eastbourne, until the end of 2002, I got to know an elderly man who was a retired missionary. He was a great linguist. He could preach in four languages. But now he's dying of cancer. And I used to go and visit him once a week.

And we had some fascinating conversations. And one conversation I particularly remember, he said this, the greatest task facing The missionary is seeking to overcome the curse of Babel. And surely that's likewise true with the TBS. The greatest task facing the society is seeking to overcome the curse of Babel. So many language groups, so many differences weakened within certain languages.

Some languages, particularly spoken in larger countries, may have, in one region, one name for God. In another part of that country, another name for God. So what do you do then? Do you have two translations with two different names for God? How do you get around these problems where these things have to be thought through very carefully? And this is part of the curse of Babel, isn't it? And so the scope then is vast to all nations.

It needs to be made known because men and women need to see the light of God's truth. They need to see the truth regarding themselves as sinners alienated from the life of God, and they need to see themselves in the light of the gospel. There's hope in the gospel. There's a Savior who has come to deal with the issue of sin. There's a way of forgiveness, a way of reconciliation with the Holy God. Free forgiveness through the gospel is presented to us in the Word of God time and again.

People need to know this, don't they? I hope we should never grow weary of John 3 verse 16 and other similar verses. 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. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. So the scope of the work then for all nations. And God has made known the largeness of his heart towards sinners in the gospel. And then thirdly, the commission. The middle of verse 26 says, according to the commandment of the everlasting God.

So this work of Bible translation, publication and distribution, it's not my idea, it's not your idea, it's not TBS's idea, but God himself has purposed and planned that we should be involved practically and prayerfully in this important work. of making the scriptures known among all nations.

So we should be encouraged by this because it reminds us that we're not involved in some sort of hidden agenda or works of darkness. We are children of the light. We have nothing to hide and we can be upfront and we can tell people plainly if there's opportunity to do so that we desire they might be saved. They can read for themselves God's revelation. God speaks to us through his word. pass on the scriptures, encourage them to read it. So we have nothing to hide. So the commission then should encourage our hearts in this important work. And then finally, the grand purpose of this activity. There are three things here. First of all, for conversion.

Notice the expression at the end of verse 26, for the obedience of faith. It's another way of speaking of those who come to a saving knowledge of the truth. A person reads the word of God. A person hears the word of God being preached. They realize they are condemned by it as sinners.

But as they hear of Christ and his grace that's free to sinners, and faith is given whereby they believe, they embrace the truth of Christ and the gospel and find peace and joy in believing, that's the obedience of faith spoken of here. rendering of the soul to God, that sense of giving ourselves to the Lord, committing ourselves to the Lord, submitting to him. As the hymn writer says, only reserve for Christ who died, surrendered to the crucified. And that's the obedience of faith, isn't it? That's what we pray for, that's what we desire. As God's word goes out, we pray that many souls will be converted through the scriptures. But there's a second purpose to this work and that is for the establishment of believers. Notice the first 25 says, now to him that is a power to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ.

It's a sobering fact. There are many believers in the world that don't have a Bible as yet. I heard of one church in China and there's only one Bible amongst the whole fellowship. And the Bible started to fall to pieces. So they divided it up into sections, they gave one part to one family, another to another family, distributed the whole Bible by that means, and they had a chart on the wall, so they could determine at any given point where each section of the Bible was. I heard of another church in a rural part of Zambia, and there's only one lady member who had a Bible. And in God's mysterious providence, she had to move a long way away, and of course took her Bible with her, and the church had to disband because they didn't have a Bible.

We are so familiar with the fact that we can gain access to the Bible any time of the day or night, can't we? You can read the Bible on the phone and read the Bible a physical copy. But many believers don't have that privilege. It may be that they have to rely upon the opportunities when they do gather for worship and they hear the Bible being read and they try and memorize it and store it in their hearts and think about it afterwards. They can't pick up a Bible like where you can. So there's a great need for Bibles for believers quite apart from anybody else.

Because the Word of God is necessary for establishment spiritually to be well grounded in the truth. It means people need the Word of God. They can read it and seek to understand it and meditate upon it. So establishment of believers as well. But there's a third reason, third purpose.

More important than establishment of believers, even more important than conversion, is the glory of God. And that's what Paul is aiming at here, verse 27, to God only wise be glory through Jesus Christ forever. What an appropriate way for Paul to finish this important letter, because he's been at pains to demonstrate that God has made a way whereby he can be just, that is true to his standards of righteousness, and the justifier of those that believe in Jesus. It's all to the glory of God, isn't it? Salvation is for the benefit of individual believers. They might be safe from their sins and go to heaven at last. But the grand purpose of salvation is for the glory of God.

He is glorified and will be glorified for a never-ending eternity. For this vast multitude of men and women and boys and girls from among the nations of the earth will be gathered together in one in heaven for all eternity. So to God only wise be glory through Jesus Christ forever.

Amen. Well, may we seek to glorify God as we continue to promote the Word of God far and wide. We're going to conclude by singing now from Gatsby's Hymns number 176. 176, and the tune is 138. Now, dearest Lord, to praise thy name, Let all our powers agree.

Worthy art thou of endless fame. Our springs are all in thee. 176 is thy name, that all our palms are green. Worthy are thou of endless fame, thou springs of holy name. Here in thy love may we rejoice, both sovereign, rich, and free, singing, we hope, with heart and voice thus free. O to whom needy sinners flee. Thou didst hear thyself, ere Bezalel's calm was free. who trembling sleep before thee now may be, let not his herbs or wishes faint, his sweet Yet sinners such as we, Salvation's blessings taste and feel, Our springs are o'er in thee. And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all, now and for evermore. Amen.

TBS Meeting 2026

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