 With our heart soul mind and strength seek to obey it Lord for your glory to be pleasing to our master he who Recruited us if you will as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. So thank you for your word Thank you for this time to study your word together God I pray that by your spirit you to tend the preaching of your word God that your word would as your word says Accomplish that for which it goes out for your namesake Lord. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated And this morning as a part of our clouds without water conference We're gonna wrap up the day wrap up the conference looking at the sufficiency of scripture the sufficiency of scripture and This is a towering subject There's so many different ways that you could look at this subject so many different directions that you could go and I would encourage you as you live live the Christian life to study the sufficiency of scripture to study the authority of scripture We're gonna take an hour this morning and just scratch the surface on Studying the sufficiency of scripture and I hope that the direction we'll take this morning will be informative But also practical for you as we take a look at it. God's word as the Bible says is perfect Rejoicing reviving the soul rejoicing the heart. So why would anyone? Knowing that God's word is perfect the words of God Why would anyone want to undermine the sufficiency and authority of God's word? We have first in our study of the sufficiency of scripture a Motivation for why we see the word of God undermined for why we see the sufficiency of God's word called into question and why men seek to undermine it subvert its authority You are made by God You are made by God and as such you are Accountable to God and that is a high accountability You are to worship him alone above all else You're to love him with all your heart all your soul all your mind all your strength all the time and you are not to sin against God and yet the holy and Sufficient and authoritative word of God has confined you has imprisoned you under sin so that you being without excuse Might have your rebellious self-righteous mouth stopped You are a liar You are an idolater. You're an adulterer You're a murderer in your heart with your anger. You are a thief You're a Sabbath breaker. You are disobedient to parents undiscerning untrustworthy unloving unforgiving unmerciful Who knowing the righteous judgment of God that those who practice such things are deserving of death Not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them under God's holy law You are guilty before God You're guilty of high treason against your Creator the omnipotent king of the universe For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and the accountability for that sin the debt owed For that sin the wage if you will for that sin is death You are a sinner and there will be Justice meet it out for your sin against God every sin of yours will be paid for That's high accountability The sufficient word of God says that it is appointed for men to die once but after this the judgment The apostle John said he saw a great white throne and him who sat on it from whose face the earth and heaven fled away And there was found no place for them and he saw the dead small and great standing before God and books were opened And another book was open which is the book of life and the dead were judged according to their works by the things Which were written in the books and the sea gave up the dead who were in it and death and Hades Delivered up the dead who are in them and they were judged each one according to his works Then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire This is the second death and anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire Daniel has said that there will be some who shall rise to everlasting life and the rest to shame and everlasting Contempt this is high accountability This is high accountability to undermine the sufficiency of God's word is to undermine the authority of God's word over you From Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden down through the ages to you personally there has been great effort expended to cast off God's yoke of accountability and to undermine his authority to undermine his right to rule over you and You yourself have expended great effort with great zeal to do just that yourself And I'll prove it to you now think about this for a moment Some of you are doing it right now as you hear the word of God preached to you Right now in your heart in your mind. You're making excuses for your sin Right now you're casting off accountability to God for your sin by presuming upon his grace Right now you may be arguing in your mind about how this doesn't apply to you how I'm just wrong or it's just my Interpretation and never mind that pesky little fact that you don't know the Bible and never study it Right now you may be evoking your unbiblical view of God that he is loving no matter what that he is forgiving no matter what And how long has it been you've heard the gospel weekend and week out Sunday in Sunday out maybe for years and you've continued to reject forsaking all to become his disciple What you're not doing if you're still in your sin today you're outside of Christ What you're not doing is you're not burying your head in your hands and Weeping over your sin and the many offenses that you've committed against God You won't humble yourself before God because you are proud You are the master of your fate. You are the captain of your soul The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 18 verse 12 Before destruction the heart of man is haughty in other words He is proud in the face of judgment that describes every man outside of Christ He's proud in the face of judgment every effort to undermine the sufficiency of God's word Every effort to undermine the authority of God's word all comes down to pride on the part of man in the face of Accountability from God in the face of judgment from God Rather than humbling himself towards God, which the Proverbs says brings honor He holds on to an imagined security a arrogant self-confidence To those who undermine his word. They're saying in effect. I will not have this man to rule over me It's the rebellious nature in the heart of man that subverts Underminds the sufficiency of God's word the accountability authority of God's word So what does a proud man do a proud man rejects the sole authority and sufficiency of God's word and replaces it With something else in his pride. He rejects the authority of God's word and replaces it with tradition He replaces God's word with his own definition of what spirituality looks like What the Christian life is to be like he replaces it with his own experience Maybe with charismatic signs and wonders He replaces it with a fruit of his own imagination his own logic his own philosophy his own psychology his own reasoning and he replaces it with a works based salvation something that he can take pride in This speaks to method There's a motivation on the part of all men outside of Christ to undermine the sufficiency of God's word There's motivation in the pride that oozes out of your own flesh to undermine the authority of God's word over you But then there's a method to that as well. We see motivation. Let's look at the method Let me give you an example of this from Mark chapter 7 turn with me there mark chapter 7 Let me give you one example from God's word with respect to the Pharisees who do this Let's look at the method For how the sufficiency of God's word is undermined By those in their pride mark chapter 7 and Look beginning in verse 1 Here the Bible says in the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to him Having come from Jerusalem and now when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled that is with unwashed hands They found fault For the Pharisees and all the Jews did not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way Holding the tradition of the elders and when they come from the marketplace They do not eat unless they wash and there are many other things which they have received and hold like the washing of cups Pitchers copper vessels and couches Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him why do your disciples not walk? According to the tradition of the elders but eat bread with unwashed hands now Upfront here in verses 1 through 5 here. This has nothing to do with cleaning dirty hands, right? Nothing to do with having their hands dirty and just needing to wash their hands before your eat So when your mother tells you to wash your hands before dinner, this is not the same thing. This was ceremonial cleansing ceremonial rinsing okay, and this was a religious ritual that the Pharisees added to scripture There were the commands of scripture and then there were rabbinic rituals that were added to scripture This is one of those and they called them a tradition of the elders now It's important by adding this tradition to scripture the tradition then actually replaced Scripture as the highest authority you notice that they didn't go to scripture to support this they went to the tradition of the elders And so the tradition actually ends up replacing scripture as the highest authority in pride in pride they instituted their own authority their tradition and scripture then was rendered insufficient Scripture was not sufficient and they added their own in verse 6. He goes on to say Christ answered and said to them well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites as it is written this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me and in vain they worship me Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men now first Look at the comparison here at first. They were just walking According to the tradition of the elders Right on a very slippery slope So they slide down the slope a little bit and now they're teaching as doctrine What were the traditions of the elders at first just walking by them now teaching as doctrine this tradition of the elders these Commands of men so what does Jesus do? Jesus first demonstrates here where authority belongs Authority belongs with scripture and not with tradition and then to he places them personally under that authority Their problem is them not their ceremony. Their problem is their heart Not their ritual and so Christ properly places them under the right authority look at verse 8 Now he says for laying aside at the commandment of God You hold the tradition of men the watching of pitchers and cups and many others such things you do now Here's how pride leads to undermining the authority of scripture by undermining the sufficiency of scripture first they simply followed a tradition. Do you see that verse 5? They simply followed a tradition second They taught that tradition then as a command It was a commandment of men at first. They just followed then they taught the tradition as a command and now third in verse 8 Now they lay aside God's word and hold instead to the tradition. They see the slippery slope that they're on This is a slippery slope and it is declining fast verse 9. He said to them next All too well now listen to this now you reject the commandment of God that you may keep your tradition So now they follow the tradition then they taught it as a command Then they laid aside God laid aside God's word in favor of the tradition and now they just reject God's word altogether Right, so what does Jesus do in light of this? He sets them straight and he confronts them in their error says in verse 10 from Moses said Honor your father and your mother and he who curses father or mother let him be put to death and that is biblical law All right, that was something straight out of scripture. That is we see that in the Ten Commandments. That's God's law verse 11 but you say and here it is now they're gonna put their tradition put their own philosophy their own logic their Own reasoning with the word of God. They're going to add to the word of God their own worldly Imagination their own worldly thinking but you say verse 11 if a man says to his father or mother Whatever prophet you might have received from me as Corbin that is a gift to God Then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother and here's the next step Downward on the slippery slope verse 13 Making the word of God then of no effect through your tradition which you've handed down and many such things you do So here's the final step The word of God is made of no effect The word of God then is rendered useless to you. It has no impact any longer in your life You've rendered it of no effect So this is what happened that happens now in this method when you undermine the sufficiency of God's word and here the example is Example given is concerned with tradition and so we see that in Catholicism. Don't we Catholics take note legalists take note self-righteous Pharisees take note You can add Virtually anything to this formula here for this destruction to take place. So you can add let's say religious experience You can add your religious experience to this downward spiral in the same way that these Pharisees added their tradition Or in the same way that a Catholic adds their tradition or in the same way a legalists adds their laws You can add charismatic experience. You can add emotional experience You could add speaking in tongues anything you want, right? Let's take as an example. Let's take speaking in tongues Okay, step one. We're gonna walk According to the tradition and in this case the tradition of the elders This might be speaking in tongues the traditions of the charismatic church We have this tradition of speaking in tongues Christians today Speaking tongues never mind how the Bible talks about that never mind the guidelines that scripture gives Here's a tradition the charismatic church speaks in tongues Then you take that tradition and you teach it as doctrine you teach it as a commandment of men They would say then you have to do it You must do it in order to get to the next level of spirituality Some would go so far as to say that you have to do it in order to be saved so now they're speaking teaching doctrine this Tradition of speaking in tongues as a doctrine of men teaching it as a command then the third step Laying aside the commandment of God so someone comes in they teach as Doctrine that tradition of speaking in tongues and so someone says I got to learn that and so they'll teach it to you They'll spend time teaching. They just say these words shaka laka Waco taco, you know Now do that faster shaka laka. They'll teach you that doctrine as a commandment of men get you to learn how to do it And then what do you do next you lay aside step three the commandment of God You fail to concern yourself with meditating on his law day and night It should be your delight you should be studying the word of God But you lay aside the commandment of God for your tradition. I'm speaking tongues and you feel Better about yourself. You feel more spiritual about your religious experience. You lay aside the commandment of God You don't study to show yourself approved. Listen. There is horrible Theology that comes out of the charismatic movement. They're not known for being Biblicists not known for being accurate exegetes of Scripture When I've witnessed the charismatic's not many know anything about the word of God may know everything about their experience They simply lay aside the commandment of God They don't rightly divide the word of truth and just horrible theology fourth step then after laying aside the commandment of God is Then rejecting the commandment of God here. They are they have heard of the tradition They've been taught the tradition as a doctrine of men. They've laid aside the word of God with respect to that They don't care what the guidelines are that are given. They don't care what the Bible has to say about that They're simply practicing in the way that they think is best then they lay aside the commandment of God next They reject the commandment of God altogether. I am saved Because I've had this religious experience and I don't care what anybody has to say about it I've witnessed the guys before one man. I remember standing in his driveway Witness to him was giving him a gospel He is saying he is saved because he has spoken in tongue since the day that he got saved and he has a living girlfriend for many years Living in open rebellion against God living in sin. You cannot be a Christian and live in unrepentant sin You must turn from your sin put your faith in Christ But here's someone who is laid aside the commandment of God has now rejected all together the commandment of God And believes himself to be saved based on what based on the tradition of a charismatic church who taught him that tongues Speaking was an evidence of conversion Lay aside rejected the commandment of God Remember talking to a man one time came to the same circumstance His living girlfriend was in the house behind him He came to the door and said that he knew that he was saved because he peaked during a prayer and saw a demon leave his body Was convinced that he was saved because of that experience Rejecting the word of God laying aside the commandment of God But then lastly the last step in the downward spiral is then making the word of God of no effect And in this the the process becomes complete you undermine in this case for themselves They undermine the word of God they undermine the sufficiency of Scripture Replacing it with their tradition replacing it with their experience and in making the word of God no effect You got a brother that comes along it preaches the gospel to them, and they simply won't hear it. I Know that I'm saved and you're not gonna convince me otherwise. They won't listen. They become Inoculated to the truth of God's word because of their belief in this experience that they had and you can't convince them of the truth Now you can take that that five-step process and you can put anything in there Right you can put anything in that five-step process and have the same thing happens And this is what men do in their pride to undermine the sufficiency of God's word to undermine the authority of God's word Maybe you in your experience have done the cell the same thing. So Examine yourself. What are you trusting in? What excuses are you making? What reasons do you give? Where are you basing your assurance and think through this? You can put anything in that that five-step downward spiral the prosperity gospel being rich right, it's a Tradition of such-and-such a church that God wants everybody healthy and rich So then you begin teaching that as doctrine you want to be spiritual you're gonna be blessed by God You're gonna be rich then they lay aside the commandment of God in all of those passages in scripture which speak directly against that And they hold to the commandment of men God wants me rich right? It works for just about anything add this to it most of what the Catholic Church teaches You can put all of that through that that five-step process right teaching as commandments are the traditions of men Put this one in we see this very frequently asking Jesus into your heart Asking Jesus into your heart the first step you're gonna walk according to tradition Here are churches by and large throughout professing evangelicalism who use this tradition of men as a teaching of Salvation as a Prescription for conversion listen Jesus Christ isn't looking for a profession of faith Jesus Christ is looking for what for conversion the profession of faith will come out of that conversion You who confesses the name of Lord will be saved it comes out of being born again comes out of God granting you grace granting your repentance And faith this idea of asking Jesus into your heart is a nowhere in scripture Nowhere in scripture it is a man-made tradition So then you teach it as doctrine if someone who is sitting there and they're lost and they're sitting listening to the preaching of God's word God's word Accomplishes the purpose for which it goes out and maybe they get convicted over their sin and they say to themselves. I want the Lord I want to be saved. I want to go to heaven when I die and they get convicted of their sin But they've been listening to this tradition now This tradition is being taught from the pulpit as a commandment of men if you want to be saved come down front and ask Jesus Into your heart Right. They're listening to tradition They believe themselves not to be saved unless they come many of those false teachers Believe the person not to be saved unless they come down front and say the prayer and mean it So then they lay aside the commandment of God to repent and believe in the gospel My salvation is incumbent upon me to go down front to say this prayer to say it Sincerely and if I'm sincere in my prayer that I'm saved never mind the command to repent Turn from your sins and live with all your heart soul mind and strength for Christ So they lay aside the commandment of God to repent lay aside the commandment of God to believe in the gospel Which includes a commitment of all that you are to all that he is never mind those commands and now they Reject the commandment of God all together. You're standing there witnessing to them and they're saying listen This is how I got saved. I remember witnessing to another man The ask Jesus in your heart is nowhere in the Bible nowhere in the Bible. That's how I got saved The Bible says repent and believe in the gospel. Well, I got saved by asking Jesus into my heart Yeah, but the Lord says you have to turn from your sin You have to forsake all to become his disciple and sure to follow Christ by faith This is how I got saved. I got saved by asking you to my heart And then the last step make the word of God of no effect to them because they have been Inoculated by a false understanding of the gospel a false gospel. You can put just about anything in that process That's the method by which men in their pride Cast off accountability cast off the authority of God's word to be able to live in their sin To be able to continue living for themselves. It is how the sufficiency of God's word the authority of God's word is undermined So what does Jesus do then? Jesus in mark 7 brings it right back to the real issue the real issue is your sin and Your accountability before God in verse 14. He said when he called all the multitude to himself. Jesus said to them hear me Everyone and understand There is nothing that enters man from outside which can defile him in other words Put off your empty ritual put off your commandments of men put off this ridiculous tradition It is the things which come out of him Those are the things that defile a man if anyone has ears to hear let him consider his tradition No, let him trust in his experience Let him make up his own logic for how things ought to be. No, let him hear the word of God. Amen The word of God is sufficient. So we have motivation men in pride are Heavily motivated to cast off authority to cast off accountability to God Men in their pride have the method by which they do that they slowly But surely through a progression of compromises Replace the word of God with another authority with something else that to them is all sufficient But then here let's take a look at the meaning of this. What does it mean then? The sufficiency of scripture the sufficiency of scripture is the front line in a battle to undermine God's word and undermine its authority Undermine its sufficiency to say that scripture is sufficient is saying that all the truth that is necessary For our salvation and for our Christian life is taught either explicitly or implicitly in the Bible scripture is the perfect and only standard of truth Perfectly revealing all that we must believe in order to be saved and all that we are to know and believe about God to live for God's glory Scripture is sufficient our confession of faith the 1689 London Baptist confession of faith in chapter 1 paragraph 1 describes it this way Our confession says the holy scripture is the only sufficient Certain and infallible rule of all saving knowledge faith and obedience. Well, that is a powerful statement, right? A very wise statement Although the light of nature goes on to say in the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness wisdom and power of God as To leave men inexcusable Yet they those works of creation They are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and his will which is necessary unto salvation Therefore it pleased the Lord at sundry times and in diversified manners to reveal himself and to declare his will under the church and afterward for the better preserving and propagating of the truth and for the more sure Establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh and the malice of Satan and of the world to commit the same Holy and completely Unto writing that is the holy Bible that we have the scripture that we have it goes on to say which makes the holy scriptures to be most Necessary and then it says those former ways of God's revealing his will undo his people being now completed And that's a strong statement at the end of that paragraph for cessationism that that continued revelation now that we have a complete and total and sufficient and Authoritative revelation in our hands. There's no need for those other ways of revealing himself This is a statement of cessation ism our confession goes on in paragraph six to say this It says the whole counsel of God concerning all these things necessary for his own glory man's salvation Faith and life is either expressly set down or necessarily contained in the holy scripture Everything we need is in the Bible. It is completely sufficient Unto which it goes on to say nothing at any time is to be added whether by new revelation of the spirit or traditions of men Don't we see that all the time when someone has a word of prophecy I have a word of the Lord for you It's in effect adding new revelation from God that wrote new revelation does not come today paragraph 9 it goes on to say this the infallible rule of interpretation of scripture is The scripture itself in other words. We're not to judge the scripture by our experience. Listen. That's the way I was saved Doesn't matter how you think you got saved. What does the Bible say? Judge your experience by the word of God paragraph 10 says this the supreme judge by which all Controversies are to be determined is the scripture as delivered by the Holy Spirit How do you settle controversies you go to the word of God and listen the word of God is clear the word of God is Understandable it is the revelation of God Why do so many? controversies exist Because people don't study the word of God. They don't let the text speak for itself We've seen haven't we over the last three days time and time and time again how those in their self will those in their pride Who wish to cast off authority cast off the sufficiency of God God's word twist the scripture to their own destruction? Twist the scripture to justify themselves by it. You can make the Bible say just about anything that you want it to say You must know learn study to show yourself approved and then rightly divide the word of God From our Baptist Catechism question for what is the word of God? The answer to that question the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the word of God and the only Certain rule of faith and obedience These are wise brothers from our history brothers and sisters throughout the ages who have held the word of God to be sufficient question six What things are chiefly contained in the holy scriptures the answer the holy scriptures chiefly contain what man ought to believe Concerning God and what duty God requires of man Everything that we need is contained in the holy word of God. It is sufficient for us That means then that adding to changing replacing deleting all Undermine the sufficiency of the Bible and therefore undermine the authority of the Bible. It's a way to cast off God's supposed yoke over us. It's a way to cast off authority in light of scripture sufficiency second Timothy 3 and Verse 16 says this all scripture is given by inspiration of God That means breathed out the breathed out words of God And that scripture is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction and righteousness that the man of God may be Partial because he needs his tradition Partial because he needs this experience over here. No complete the man of God in the scripture the inspired word of God Maybe complete it all comes and only comes through the word of God It's a statement of the sufficiency of God's word and it goes on to say thoroughly equipped for every good work Complete for salvation complete for the Christian life complete for our sanctification. It is everything we need the sufficiency of scripture then begins with its inspiration its inspiration God breathed out his words Now in scriptrated now written down Every jot and tittle that God intended to reveal to us every jot every tittle every Tense of every word every clause all that we have here is sufficient and all comes from the breathed out Word of God. These are God's words breathed out the authors Mind you were not inspired The authors were a means or an instrumentality by which God penned his inspired words It's the words of God that are inspired and they're sufficient for us There's an interesting text or passage that communicates this go with me to Luke chapter 16 Luke chapter 16 Just an interesting way that the Bible communicates its sufficiency Luke chapter 16 and look down at verse 24 It's Luke chapter 16 beginning of verse 24. This is the the account of the rich man in Lazarus And so the rich man now is in hell rich man is in hell and in verse 24 He cried and he said father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water And cool my tongue for I am in torment in this flame But Abraham said son Remember that in your lifetime you receive your good things and likewise Lazarus evil things But now he is in is comforted and you are tormented and besides all that between us and you There is a great gulf fixed so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot nor can those from there pass to us Verse 27 then he said I beg you there for father that you would send him to my father's house For I have five brothers that he may testify to them lest they also come to this place of torment listen to the The testimony of the sufficiency of scripture here verse 29. Abraham said to him They have Moses and the prophets Let them hear them that is a statement of the sufficiency of the word of God They have Moses and the prophets your Bible in their hands. They've got Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them Verse 30 and he said no father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent Verse 31, but he said to him if they do not hear Moses and the prophets neither will they be persuaded Though one rise from the dead They need Moses and the prophets the word of God is God's instrumentality also in the sovereignty of God to bring about salvation and sanctification in the Christian life Here if they're not going to be persuaded by Moses and the prophets They're not going to be persuaded. Let's even if one rose from the dead if you go to someone with experience and you Supposedly win them by experience. You've won them to experience. You've not won them to faith in Christ You go to them with cheap grace easy-believism as Jesus in your heart kind of a gospel message You're gonna win them to that gospel message, but you may not win them to Christ The God's word is sufficient and we need to use God's word This is an interesting passage communicating the sufficiency of scripture. So we've got motivation. We've seen the method We've seen the meaning now the sufficiency of the word of God. Let's take a look at from the word of God then the mandate We it is mandated that scripture is to be Sufficient for us. It is our only and soul rule for faith and practice and let's look first at the Old Testament In Deuteronomy chapter 4 verse 2 the Bible says this you shall not add to the word Which I command you nor take from it that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God Which I command you came straight out of God's law the purpose given For the sufficiency of the scriptures here in Deuteronomy chapter 4 was so that you could obey God We have the scripture that scripture is sufficient to us From God for the purpose that we might obey him the God has said obey me and you live disobey me and you Die we are to obey the Lord our God We're to obey God's law as a Christian when it says you are not under law But now under grace you're not under condemnation law You're not under the law as a system for salvation You are now under the grace of Christ under the grace of God for salvation. You are still to obey the word of God Obedience of the word of God is a fruit and evidence of genuine saving faith Here the word of God is sufficient so that we might obey it. How often do we see? Frequently right where someone supplants the sufficiency supplants or subverts the authority of God's word in order to live in sin You don't ever see someone undermine the sufficiency of God's word so they could live holy It's to be a legalist. It's to be a hypocrite. It's ordered to Justify themselves with their heartless tradition justify themselves in their sin Justify themselves doing things their own way, but certainly not doing things God's way it undermines the authority of God's word God's word is to be a sufficient rule for us in faith and practice so that we will obey him Obey him rightly. We see the same principle in Deuteronomy chapter 12 Deuteronomy chapter 12 verse 32 says this whatever I command you be careful to observe it You shall not add to it nor take away from it Anything that was added anything that was taken away ultimately resulted in undermining the authority of the word of God By replacing it with a different authority as soon as you say the word of God is not sufficient It's why I have to add experience or I have to add my own tradition my own thinking You've said then that your tradition your own thinking are now Superimposed on the Bible you have undermined the authority of God's word and in authority over God's word You've placed your tradition or you place your experience We can't add anything or take anything away scripture alone is the supreme soul and final authority in all circumstances It's also important to note That is in Deuteronomy chapter 4 chapter 12 is referencing the written word of God Moses wrote the words in Exodus 24. You remember that story Exodus 24 Moses wrote the words Down that he heard from the Lord these permanent written words Became the basis for the covenant that God had with his people they ended up putting that written word in the Ark Didn't they this became the basis of their covenant in Exodus 24 so much so that God told Joshua Joshua chapter 1 verse 7 and 8 He said only be strong Joshua and very courageous that you may observe to do according to all the law Which Moses my servant commanded you what did Moses command him? He commanded the words of God He had written down from Exodus 24 Says do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left that you may prosper wherever you go This book of the law God's written word in scripturated word shall not depart from your mouth But you shall meditate in it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it Sufficiency of God's word is that to it is written down in its entire and complete form We have the complete revelation of God written down for us from that point forward The written word of God then became sufficient and authoritative for their practice for their lives And it became the basis for their covenant with God was not to be tampered with it wasn't to be added or taken away from You have that in Deuteronomy in Proverbs chapter 30 verse 5 the Bible says this every word of God is pure He is a shield to those who put their trust in him And he says do not add to his words lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar Later in the New Testament we have this command throughout the Bible So let's anyone just believe that it's revelation alone and it doesn't apply to the rest of the Bible It's all the Bible that this applies to Revelation chapter 22 and verse 18 for I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book if Anyone adds to these things God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy God shall take away his part from the book of life from the holy city and from the things which are written in this book The written scriptures the written scriptures became the sole standard for life and practice Isaiah chapter 8 verse 20 says this To the law and to the testimony if they do not speak according to this word It is because there is no light in them If they don't speak according to God's word, that's the the quintessential Characteristic of a false teacher right they ran when God didn't send them. They didn't speak God's words They spoke the dictates of their own wicked arts and here in any circumstance Whatever element of life when you've got questions to the law and to the testimony when you need counsel to the law and to the testimony When you want to obey the Lord learn of the Lord when you want to be Sanctified when you want the Lord to the law and to the testimony But in spite of the mandate what do men who are haughty or prideful in the face of judgment do in their pride They merge and mislead so we've looked at the motivation. We went to the meeting We see the mandate in the Bible now proud men Merge the scripture with tradition Merge the description with something else and in that they mislead the people They attempt to merge with the scripture tradition experience their own philosophy psychology and whatever That occurs and we've seen is a misleading then of the masses traditional Judaism Once holding to God's word in the Old Testament began almost immediately to merge with the scriptures tradition Eventually they added the Talmud the Talmud is a collection of rabbinic writings the the opinions of priests the opinions of rabbis that now are considered to be the central documents of Judaism placed with scripture as Tradition and then according to the downward spiral Eventually they rejected the word of God all together and the Talmud becomes the central document of the Judaism of Judaism central document of their faith as mark 7 that progression depicts the Talmud now has authority to them for them over the Hebrew Bible Today we see this exemplified in the traditions of the Catholic Church in the 16th century Council of Trent Declared that God's special revelation is contained in both the sacred scripture and the tradition of the church Called the dual source view of revelation. This is an issue of authority. It's an issue of sufficient Let me read that section to you The only time you'll see me holding it a Catholic catechism in this church I pray you got to have you a heresy shelf. It's good to say This is in chapter 113 Read the scripture within the living tradition of the whole church According to a saying of the fathers sacred scripture is written principally. That's some of this Sacred scripture is written principally in the church's heart Rather than in documents and records for the church carries in her tradition The living memorial of God's word and it is the Holy Spirit who gives her the spiritual interpretation of the scripture According to the spiritual meaning which the spirit grants to the church is a Catholic catechism. They're words not mine this means then that The word of God is written primarily in the heart of the church and not in the Bible Such that now the only way to understand the word of God is in the traditions of the church It is the supplanting completely a replacing Anyone ever tells you the Catholic Church that well tradition is just equal to the word of God or tradition is Accessory an accessory to the word of God. No in the Catholic Church Tradition has replaced the word of God. It is an authority over the word of God Yeah When the church speaks when the church speaks the Catholic Church speaks to the magisterium Her voice is considered the voice of God rather than the words of Almighty God But you can't speak except for through the church tradition then replaces scripture becomes authoritative Over the scriptures and now think about it for a moment. What what effect has all of this? Undermining of authority undermining of sufficiency. What effect has that had on the hearts and minds of the masses? What a most people think about the scriptures today where we headed is it getting better or is it getting worse? It's getting worse this past Friday Friday just passed a Journalist Zakan wrote an article for the Huffington Post And I think this describes the attitude that most people have toward the word of God today Sadly, this is the attitude of most professing Christians toward the word of God And I want you to hear this the article was entitled does God care about the Bible as much as we do I Can tell you he doesn't care about the Bible and A vast majority of his readers aren't going to be carrying out about about the Bible either But he's making the case that we care about the Bible more than God does listen what he says What if God didn't intend for the Bible to be the unquestioned final authority on everything that we've turned it into My suspicion begins in the Gospels where time and time again we hear Jesus declaring you've heard it said but I say He says we tend to gloss over Jesus's words as nothing more than a rhetorical device But when we do we miss the gravity of what he's actually doing? He's breaking the bonds of Scripture to bring new truth and breathe fresh life into the people of God He speaking of Jesus is refusing to be held captive to the words on the page in order to get to the real heart of faith I'm not making it up Is that what Jesus was doing there no You've heard it said you shall not commit murder. I'm telling you that if you're angry in your heart you're committing murder Jesus is intensifying He is explaining the clear understanding of scripture He is showing them that scripture rightly understood far more intense than what they had held it out to be But he's refusing to be held captive to the words on the page. He goes on to say this I think our fundamental problem in all of this is that we've forgotten That the Bible was meant to be a guide on how to live in love in this life and the next but instead We've turned it into a jailer that shackles us to ideology dogma and legalism Answering the call of God to join the new work of the spirit Doesn't negate the inspiration authority of scripture. That is a lie from Satan himself It's just a lie. It simply puts he says in proper perspective and allows it to serve its proper function as a guide To be followed not an idol to be worshipped or a weapon to be wielded now those that hold tradition or hold experience to be Equal with scripture or to replace scripture those who place great emphasis on experience or on tradition Common frequent objection you're going to hear is what you guys worship the Bible or Yes, the Bible is an idol to you the Bible is supposed to be a God a guide. It's not to be an idol He follows us up with so then Does God care about the Bible as much as we don't do it doesn't seem so From someone who doesn't know the Bible that's what it's so aggravating and frustrating sometimes these people that get up and talk about the Bible who have absolutely no clue what the Bible saying They're blinded every compromise here with the sufficiency and authority of God's word breeds a Consequence once you remove yourself once you remove yourself from the view of solar scripture a scripture alone scripture alone When you remove yourself from a view of the sufficiency of God's word or from the supreme authority of God's word then you Become the arbiter or judge over God's word You become free then to pick and choose what portions of scripture are going to be normative for your Christian life What you will ultimately believe how you'll ultimately live Once you step away from God's word being sufficient and fully and finally Authoritative over you then you put yourself as judge and you get to pick and choose how you want and isn't that what sinful men do in their pride All right goes back to that motivation Holding to anything outside of the Bible holding to anything outside of the Bible leads to legalism Leads to Phariseeism leads to ecumenism right this idea that we can all just get along leads to hyper emotionalism mysticism heresy it eventually leads to apostasy every church Every professing Christian that goes astray on this point goes astray at this point every church That goes astray every Christian that goes astray will go astray at this point and now the modern church in most of the modern church the Bible is left on a shelf it is Replaced with drama replaced with skits replaced with entertainment replaced with mimes replaced with clowns When the law the Lord is perfect converting the soul And the word of God that is to be a lamp to our feet and light to our path For them is dark Those that gathered in the open square from morning to midday in the MIA didn't come to see a skit They sat from morning to midday to hear the word of God The people didn't gather all day in front of the temple in 2nd Chronicles 34 for music or for drama They came to hear King Josiah read the word of God those that met daily Daily at Solomon's porch didn't go there for social reasons. They met daily small group is once a week They didn't go there to hear or to for social reasons. They met daily to hear the word of God the 16th century reformers Didn't go to the stake for worship styles The Scottish reformers Didn't huddle on the moors in the freezing rain For hours To avoid death for a watered-down gospel They risked their lives for the all-sufficient word of God. What importance do you place on the word of God? in 2nd Peter chapter 1 Verse 16 the Bible says this for we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ But were I witnesses of his majesty for he received from God the father Honor and glory when such a voice came to him from the excellent glory This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased and we heard this voice Which came from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain in this passage Peter is writing to Christians who are being tested They're being tested by false teachers who are seeking to undermine the sufficiency and authority of God's word Here like Paul said to Timothy behind of those false teachers were doctrines of demons were deceiving spirits And you must be able to defend yourself against these wicked liars and to contend earnestly for the faith He gives two reasons in 2nd Peter chapter 1 two reasons for the sufficiency and authority of God's word One is the account that you have in the Bible comes from eye witnesses Apostles who were eye witnesses to those things that happened and the only eye witnesses and to this inspired truth Comes from God himself who moved men to write it now He starts that passage of verse 1 they didn't follow cleverly devised or cunningly devised fables That's what the false teachers were doing. They weren't listening to what the false teachers were manufacturing They were listening to the words of Christ himself Peter is explaining when he speaks of salvation that these are not fables and myths they're based in Peter's experience the Apostles experience as Eyewitnesses and then in the fact that God inspired holy scripture It speaks directly to the sufficiency of the scriptures and those that we have from Peter from Paul from James from John From Luke the burden of proof will always be on those who now today claim new revelation who now today want to add tradition They aren't Despite what many of them will say they aren't eyewitnesses. They've not been to heaven for eight minutes Or seven minutes or someone wants to sell more books. I've been to heaven for ten minutes They're liars When you read your Bible and what I would like to have the time to go through this passage We just don't so I'm going to summarize it for you. But when you read your Bible, you're reading the testimony of eyewitness accounts These are men who died died for Christ Who died Contending for the scriptures that it was the word of God These are eyewitnesses Who followed Christ to their death? It's not a minor point. They followed him despite persecution They followed him despite great difficulty and they followed him to their death in verse nine Peter goes on to say that we have the prophetic word then confirmed the prophetic word confirmed literally the Greek It says and we have more sure the prophetic word because God's word at that point in time Was attested to by the eyewitness accounts of the apostles you have the prophetic word confirmed Because that prophetic word is saying that scripture even with that experience scripture is itself a more sure guide Remember Peter is writing to oppose false teachers They were denying the truth of scripture and here in order to defend against that which is false We must know that which is true So we have the prophetic word confirmed down the eyewitness accounts of the apostles and secondly we have the supernatural inspiration of God to attest to the truth of scripture as sure and as Definite and as clear as Peter's experience was an Experience no one in our day has ever had there must be more evidence There must be something more sure and that is the word of God more sure than what? It's a Peter in that passage more sure than his experience More sure than what the false teachers were teaching even the experience of the apostles The Bible is a more reliable and proven resource than experience and that And in that everything needs to be run through the scripture The we there refers to all of us and he says to all of us that you'll do well to heed the scripture These are the words of God Remember the mark of a false teacher is that he speaks the dictates of his own heart and then attempts to supplant the scripture with it The entirety of the scriptures in Romans 3 are called the divine Oracles of God in that they are perfect as God is God cannot lie. God's not going to lie to you Being from God. They are immutable Not one jotter tittle is going to change His word is established forever. They are powerful Living active sharper than a two-edged sword. The Bible is infallible as God is inerrant as God is clear Understandable as God is it is also final Authoritative and sufficient for salvation and your Christian life Give primacy to the word of God Give supremacy in your Christian life to studying and learning the word of God Build your life On the bedrock of God's word and in that there is safety We have the eyewitness accounts of the apostles and we have the more sure Prophetic word of God in our hands were to live our lives by it. Amen Father in heaven, thank you for your word. God. Thank you that it is a sure guide that is Perfect converting the soul rejoicing the heart. God. Thank you that we Have everything that we need the pages of scripture and thank you that by your spirit God you give us the the eyes to see the ears to hear the strength Or to live accordingly and so we thank you for these great and glorious gifts God, please protect us from that motivation that The vestiges of resides in our own wicked heart to supplant the word of God or to Argue ourselves out of the authority of God's word over us God or the the temptation is to fall into sin. Please God strengthen us help us God to live the Christian life to be pleasing in your sight God to obey you Lord protect these brothers and sisters here from Any way in which we would compromise with the word of God or turn from it for their good God their Salvation God for their eventual glorification God for your eternal glory for your worship and praise Preserve your people according to your word by your spirit for your glory. We love you lord. We thank you for christ God, we thank you for the living word god The supreme revelation Of you and him and we thank you for that. Thank you for your word. Thank you for our time together and studying it in jesus name