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[0:00] What an amazing day. I know you guys have had. It probably feels like you've been here for longer than you have. Some of you were probably already exhausted.! But I'm so excited to be here with you this morning. My name is Ryan Tabor. I'm the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Piedmont.

[0:16] And I've got to tell you, this for me is super comfortable. I was a youth pastor, started out as a student minister, got ordained as an elder.

[0:31] So I moved from being a student minister to a student pastor. I did that for 15 years at a church in Texas. And now for a little over four years, I've been the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Piedmont.

[0:46] And for me, sort of feels like after you've been skiing for like a long, hard day. How many of you guys have been snow skiing? Raise your hand. You know that feeling after you've been skiing for a long, hard day and you get back to the lodge and you take your ski boots off and you put your tennis shoes on?

[1:07] It's like the most comfortable, amazing feeling. That's how I feel right now. Speaking to students. Sometimes, as a senior pastor, I have to confess, I still feel like I'm wearing ski boots. But this is good.

[1:20] I have been tasked with speaking to you about the doctrine of Scripture. The doctrine of Scripture is incredibly important. It is a foundational doctrine to our faith.

[1:34] If we misunderstand the doctrine of Scripture, if we have a wrong view of Scripture, we can land in all sorts of unhelpful places.

[1:46] I was going to ask someone to read a passage, but I won't for the sake of time, from this Bible that I picked up a few years ago. So, this is just one of the many Bibles I have on my shelf.

[1:59] And I want to read to you now for the doctrine of Scripture from this Bible, the entire book of Judges.

[2:11] So, I know that you guys are here because you're serious about the Word. And you're here because you're intentional about your faith. So, I think you can handle this. I'm going to read to you from my Bible, the entire book of Judges.

[2:25] Are you ready? This is the book of Judges. Oh, Lord, may those who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.

[2:38] Praise be to God. That is the book of Judges. Judges from the positive Bible. This is a book I picked up a number of years ago.

[2:49] In case you're worried, it's stamped on the front. It says, heretical nonsense for research purposes only. This is a man, if you have a wrong view of the doctrine of Scripture, you could end up like the editor of this book, Kenneth Winston Kane.

[3:04] I hope none of you are related to him. He's a man who decided that, you know, what we really need to do is go through the Scriptures and remove anything that's just hard or not really positive and uplifting.

[3:20] We need to remove all the passages that don't give us a warm and fuzzy feeling. And so, he compiled the positive Bible. The positive Bible would never allow you to stand and sing praises about how you once were a child of wrath, but now because of the great love with which God loved us, we have been transferred into the kingdom of the Lord.

[3:47] So, we need to understand the doctrine of Scripture, lest we end up like Kenneth Kane. So, I'm going to speak to you about a few concepts this morning.

[4:00] I want to encourage you, and we're going to be looking to God's Word to see that the Scriptures are clear. Parker talked about this a little bit last night.

[4:12] We want to see that the Scriptures are clear, that the Scriptures are sufficient, that the Scriptures are necessary, that the Scriptures are complete, and that the Scriptures are authoritative.

[4:23] Typically, in our church, as I suspect is the case for most of you, our normal pattern is to preach through books of the Bible, to open to a text, and to work our way through that text, and do biblical exposition and expository sermon.

[4:38] But, it's hard to do that with regard to the doctrine of Scripture. I wrestled for a while to try to find one passage that I thought would sort of say everything that I thought needed to be said, or ought to be said, about the doctrine of Scripture.

[4:50] And so, this message is going to be a little bit more topical, but I do want us to look at a passage from 2 Peter 1. If you would open your Bibles to 2 Peter 1, beginning in verse 16.

[5:07] I'm going to read verses 16 through 21. We're going to be looking at a lot of Scriptures, but I wanted to start here. 2 Peter 1, verse 16.

[5:19] Peter writing and speaking as one of Jesus' inner circle, one of the three. Peter, James, and John, who among the twelve were granted unique access to the person and work of Jesus in His earthly ministry, Peter writes this, 2 Peter 1, verse 16, For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[5:52] But we were eyewitnesses of His majesty, for when He received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was born to Him by the majestic glory, This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.

[6:06] We ourselves heard this very voice born from heaven, for we were with Him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed to which you will all do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

[6:25] Knowing this, first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

[6:37] I love this passage because Peter recalls perhaps the most spiritually significant event that happened in all of the Gospels, at least for the followers of Jesus, certainly for these three followers, closest followers of Jesus.

[6:54] Peter is recalling a specific event where he and James and John accompanied Jesus up onto the Mount of Transfiguration, and there before their very eyes, Jesus received the fullness of the glory of God.

[7:09] He was transfigured. He's referencing this account. They heard the audible voice of God who said, this is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.

[7:23] Peter's recalling this spiritual, literal, spiritual mountaintop experience. And he says, but we have something which we're more sure of.

[7:35] Something that's more fully confirmed. We have the prophetic Word of God. Peter says, I'm more certain about what's revealed in God's Word than what I saw with my own eyes and what I heard with my own ears.

[7:48] He says, the prophetic Word of God is more surely and more fully confirmed than even my own spiritual experience. I'm more certain of what I read in God's Word than what I see with my eyes and hear with my ears.

[8:05] He said, and you too would do well to pay attention to the Word of God. Quoting the psalmist who says, it's like a lamp shining in a dark place, like a lamp into our feet.

[8:18] And he gives us some indication of the very nature of the inspiration of Scripture in verse 20, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from one's own interpretation. He says, I want you to understand, I want you to know the significance of the Word of God because the Word of God didn't begin with man.

[8:38] It was written by men, a number of men, writing in different places over hundreds and hundreds of years. But Peter says, I want you to understand that the author of Scripture is God, for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man.

[8:56] But men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. You know, I didn't grow up in a solid church.

[9:09] I grew up in a church that was not like the churches that are represented here this week. The church that I grew up in was a church that never really talked about sin, never really talked about judgment or wrath, overemphasized, if it's possible, the love of God certainly emphasized the love of God to the detriment of other attributes or characteristics of God.

[9:41] The church that I grew up in, I would say, had a cheap understanding of God's grace. The Bible, for us, was typically used as a prop to support whatever the pastor wanted to say on Sunday mornings.

[9:55] But listen, as insufficient as the church that I grew up in was, as a whole, they were right about the gospel. And in that church, I heard the gospel and I was saved.

[10:15] And I would say that as a result of my own lack of commitment and to a much lesser degree as a result of the culture that I was brought up in, I struggled with a lot of things that hopefully, God willing, most of you won't struggle with.

[10:35] I went to college at Oklahoma State and when I got there, I did some of the things that good Christian college kids should do, but I did a lot of the things that good Christian college kids shouldn't do.

[10:48] and after living this sort of duplistic life for a couple of years in college, trying to really have one foot in the kingdom and one foot in the world, the Holy Spirit did a work in my life.

[11:05] After a while of leading this duplistic lifestyle, when some of my sin was brought into the light, I had this experience of feeling like I was being crushed under the weight of my own sin and the conviction of my rebellion against God.

[11:27] And so after several years of leading a totally duplistic lifestyle, I had a very real moment where I knew I had to make a decision about who I was going to be.

[11:40] What was my life going to be characterized by? And in that moment, I decided to do two things that proved foundational in my life and I did them for both the same reason.

[11:53] Because despite the inadequacies of the church that I grew up in, this is what I knew. I knew that the Bible was the Word of God. I didn't have this vast sort of repertoire of good resources to go to.

[12:10] I didn't have this vast depth of knowledge as Parker was talking last night about the depth of walking with God in Christ and the depth and the richness of it.

[12:25] I didn't have that to draw on, but I knew this. I knew that the Bible was the Word of God. I couldn't explain inerrancy or infallibility or perspicuity. I could not have told you whether I believed the Bible to be complete or sufficient or authoritative, but I knew this.

[12:41] I knew that the Bible was the Word of God and I knew that it was true. And so at age 21, under the full weight of conviction from the Holy Spirit as a result of my sins, some of which, the tip of the iceberg of my sin, had been brought into the light, I made two decisions and the first was this.

[13:01] I was going to read through the Bible cover to cover, which I had never done before. Though I had been saved, I was saved when I was 12. I'd never read the entire Bible and I just decided that I was going to do this.

[13:15] I was just going to read the Bible and whatever it said, I was going to believe with no qualifications because I knew that the Word of God was true and I knew that I needed truth.

[13:26] I needed to be grounded in truth and so I decided to read through the Bible cover to cover and just like whatever it said, I was just going to believe it. Growing up in a church like I did, there were times when the Bible would plainly say things and then our pastor or other leaders would pull us aside and say, now let me explain to you why the Bible doesn't really mean what it plainly said.

[13:52] And so I just decided I'm done with that. Like I'm just going to read the Bible and whatever it says, I'm going to believe it. I'm going to let the Bible speak for itself. Like if the Bible says that the earth was formed in six literal days like Genesis 1 said, I'm just going to believe it.

[14:06] I'm not going to try to reconcile it with what my like earth, you know, world history or geography or geology teachers talk. I'm just going to, if it says it, I'm just going to believe it. Or when the Bible said that God formed man from the dust of the earth and breathed life into his nostrils, I decided like I'm just going to believe that.

[14:24] When the Bible says that God preserved Noah and his family and literally killed every other human being on the planet, like I just decided, I'm just going to believe it. When the Bible said that God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son and then provided a substitutionary sacrifice, I just decided, I'm just going to believe that that's actually what happened.

[14:49] When Jesus said in John chapter 6 that all the Father gives to me will come to me and whoever comes to me I will never cast out, like I just decided, you know what, that just is what it is, I just believe it.

[15:02] When the Bible says we were chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight, as Ephesians 1 said, I was just going to not try to explain it through some other lens but just believe it.

[15:18] And this for me was revolutionary. I read the Bible cover to cover and whatever God had plainly said in his word, I just resolved in my heart to believe it.

[15:29] This truly revolutionized my life. This was transformational for me because the Spirit which was in me already began to open my eyes to the truth and life and doctrine in ways that I could have never imagined.

[15:47] By the way, every passage that I just referenced was a passage that someone as a young person in the faith, either a child or a teenager, had said, let me explain to you why the Bible doesn't really mean what it literally says in these areas.

[16:05] I know it says these things but you need someone else to explain to you what it means. So when I just took the Bible at its face value, it was transformational for me.

[16:16] I want each of you students to hear me say something very clearly this morning that the Bible is the Word of God and the Bible is clear.

[16:28] Parker talked about this last night. I think the idea is important for us to stop and meditate on for just a second that God has revealed Himself in His Word.

[16:38] A lot of people, a lot of even Bible teachers, I think, in an attempt to make themselves sound more spiritual, they would lead you to believe that God has concealed Himself in His Word.

[16:49] Listen, that's not the case. God has revealed Himself in His Word. Some people treat the Bible as if it's a collection of secret codes that will reveal some hidden truth to you if you're spiritual enough.

[17:04] God has revealed Himself. He has not concealed Himself in His Word. So if you will read God's Word, if you'll allow it to plainly and clearly speak to you, I'm telling you, it will transform your life.

[17:17] I know it's true because it transformed mine. And where the Bible has clearly spoken, if you are a new creation in Christ, that is, if you have received new life through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit, you don't need someone to tell you what it means where it has clearly spoken.

[17:35] There are certain, I'm not discounting the fact that there's a depth and there are intricacies, wait, that's not the right, intricacies, thank you, intricacies in God's Word.

[17:47] There's nuance in God's Word and godly people, people who have wisdom can come around you and help you to see the depths of God's Word. But listen, where God's Word has plainly spoken, Parker said it last night, if you have the Spirit and if you can read, you can understand God's Word.

[18:06] The Bible's clear. Listen to the words of John in John chapter 20 verses 30 and 31. This is John's purpose statement for reading, for writing his gospel.

[18:19] John says this, Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book, but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.

[18:34] Listen, the Bible has nothing to hide. I don't stand to risk anything. I don't fear anything from telling a room full of young people if you will just read the Bible and believe it, it will transform your life.

[18:51] Like there's nothing that worries me about that. I don't say that going, boy, I really hope they don't turn to this verse. They turn to this verse and if they really just actually believe this verse, they are going to be so jacked up and messed.

[19:03] Like I don't fear that. The Bible has nothing to hide. God has revealed Himself in His Word. John is saying under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, this is so clear that an unbeliever can read it and be saved.

[19:17] An unbeliever can open the Bible and turn to the book of John, the Gospel of John, and read the things that John recorded about the life and work and ministry and death and resurrection and ascension and reign of Christ and they can be saved.

[19:31] They can understand that God's Word is clear. So the first thing I did was to plainly read the Bible and let it plainly speak to me and the second thing that I did was decided that I would go to a church where they would simply open the Bible and proclaim what it says.

[19:51] I got so, I got such a distaste in my mouth, especially in college, for college ministries that were just trying to attract the biggest crowd and trying to convince the greatest number of lost people that they should come to church and they were offering all sorts of things to try to get you there.

[20:12] They were doing the exact opposite of what Peter said when he said, we didn't follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[20:23] I saw college ministry after college ministry and church after church that I feel like was characterized by cleverly devised myths like a lot of bait and switch.

[20:35] I decided, you know what, I'm not going to go to the cool, attractional college church that all the other college students are going to where they have this big, exciting college.

[20:46] I want to find a church where they're just unashamed about the fact that when they gather together that they believe the word of God is the word of God and they're just going to proclaim it.

[20:57] So I read the Bible and let it plainly speak to me and I decided in my heart I wanted to immerse myself in a church that just preached the unashamed word of God and I'm telling you that those two decisions as much as any other other than the decision to follow Christ when I was 12, those two decisions have shaped me into where I am today.

[21:24] What I believed about the Bible and what I believed about the church were huge for me so now I pastor a church where we say regularly that our desire is for the word of God to be central in everything that we do.

[21:41] We believe in the centrality of the word. What does this mean for us? Well I tell our people all the time when we gather for worship we don't want to do anything that the Bible doesn't tell us we ought to do.

[21:53] For us the fact that we would say we want the word of God to be central in everything that we do means for us we truly like actually want the Bible to shape everything that we do.

[22:04] When we gather for worship we say this all the time this is what we want to do we want to read the word we want to sing the word we want to pray the word we want to preach the word and we want to see the word through the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper which allow us to see the word of God the gospel on display.

[22:24] That's what we want to do. That's my vision for the church. Read the word sing the word pray the word preach the word see the word there's some people even people who profess faith in Christ who wonder if we don't focus too much on the Bible.

[22:43] I've heard even Christians say man it's like you guys are like a broken record it's always about the Bible don't you ever do anything else sometimes people ask me the question couldn't you do things a little bit differently on Sunday mornings so that you might attract a bigger crowd like don't you think if you did music that was a little more upbeat you could get more people here have you ever thought through maybe doing it like some of the big huge attractional ministries where all these lost people have you ever thought about trying to do it the way that they do it I mean like why does your church have to be so focused on the Bible and here's the answer that I always give because God wrote a book we're focused on the Bible because God wrote a book and if that's true that God wrote a book what else would we preach what else would we study what other wisdom would we give time to on a Sunday morning or really anytime we gather as the church

[23:55] I honestly can't think of anything more arrogant than for a preacher to preach his own thoughts and ideas if we really believe that God wrote a book we believe that that the Bible is the word of God that God the Holy Spirit inspired men to record for us the very word of God if it's true that God is in fact the author of this book it has tremendous implications for us it means that the words contained in this book share many of the attributes of God many of the things that are true about God are true also of God's word if in fact God is the author of this book creation assumes a creator and the Bible assumes the existence of God the very first words of the Bible state this in the beginning right in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning

[24:56] God existed that is before there was anything that existed there was God the first chapter of the Bible depicts a God of creation God spoke everything that exists into existence so God is outside of time and space Parker talked about this some last night so I'm going to dial it back a little bit but there are some necessary implications of this truth one of those is this the only way that we can know God and what he's like what he would require of us how we ought to relate to him and how we ought to relate to each other and how we ought to relate to the rest of creation is for God to reveal himself to us God created us in his own image he created us as people he gave us personhood and he gave us he created us for relationship every human being who lives or has ever lived is in relationship with God say that again because some of you are like I don't know maybe that's heresy every human being who lives or has ever lived is in relationship with God you either relate to

[26:03] God on the basis of his grace in Christ Jesus or on the basis of his wrath that's heresy we just sang heresy a little bit ago right you once were children of wrath but now you're children of God everyone has relationship with God the only way that we can know how we might be able to relate to God through the richness of his mercy and grace and love for us is because he has revealed it to us in his word if we're to know anything about God God must reveal himself to us but praise be to God that God has done exactly that God reveals himself to us in two different modes or two different ways by way of general revelation like creation the natural created order of things and by way of special revelation I want you to listen to this word from Psalm 19 two Psalms if you just get lit on fire for understanding the doctrine of scripture and you want to know more about the depth and the riches of

[27:11] God's word I want you to immerse yourself in Psalm 19 and Psalm 119 Psalm 119 is a lot longer so this morning I'm going to read Psalm 19 thinking about the fact that God has revealed himself to us in creation and more specifically through his word listen to the words of David in Psalm 19 the heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork day to day pours out speech and night to night reveals knowledge there is no speech nor are there words whose voice is not heard their voice goes out through all the earth and their words to the end of the earth in them he has sent a tent for the sun which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber and like a strong man runs its course with joy its rising is from the end of the heavens and its circuit to the end of them there is nothing God the commandment of the

[28:36] Lord is pure enlightening the eyes the fear of the Lord is clean enduring forever the rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether more desired are they than gold even much fine gold sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb moreover by them is your servant warned in keeping them there is great reward who can discern his errors declare me innocent from hidden not have dominion over me then I shall be blameless and innocent of great transgressions let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight oh Lord my rock and my redeemer verses 116 David talks about God's glory being revealed in creation and with the rest of the psalm he talks about God's glory being revealed in his word God has given us his word God has revealed himself to us yes in a general way through creation but more specifically through his word which he's given to us inspired of the

[29:46] Holy Spirit written down by men as they were carried along like Peter described even in the garden God gave specific instructions to man he said be fruitful and multiply and subdue the earth but God even gave a restriction in the garden a commandment God said to the man don't eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the world looks at these restrictive commands of God and they say you know would a loving God really be so restrictive why would God not just allow Adam and Eve to do whatever they wanted well it's interesting that's the exact same argumentation that Satan used but the reality is this what did God say was going to happen if Adam or Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil do you remember what are the consequences you can shout it out you'll die people act like

[30:56] God giving restrictions to man is somehow not good but God knew that eating from the fruit of the tree would lead to death would a good God say I'm just going to put them in the garden knowing that there's a tree there that will kill them and not give them any kind of warning and just see what happens God has given special revelation private revelation through his word to man from the God Paul says that it was breathed out by God in the passage that Dalton read and if the word of God is true if the word of God is in fact the very word of God breathed out by God then we know it's true why because God cannot lie this is a point that I think we need to hear because it's particularly under attack today if

[31:57] God said it's true and God doesn't change his word doesn't change listen if God said it 2000 years ago or 4000 years ago or 6000 years ago or if he decreed it from eternity past then it's true and it's just as true today as when God said it for the first time because God cannot lie and God doesn't change Paul tells Timothy that the scriptures alone are sufficient to produce in you what God desires to produce in you that's the passage that Dalton looked at I want to look at another passage also from 2 Peter right before the one that I alluded to already 2 Peter 1 verses 3 and 4 it says this his divine power has granted us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises so that through them you might become partakers of the divine nature having escaped from corruption that is in the world because of sinful desires the word of God is clear but the word of

[33:05] God is sufficient like I'm so thankful for the resources that we have available and we have the benefit of receiving wisdom from literally thousands of years of faithful men who wrote good things and those things as much as they're consistent with what God's word has to say are a blessing for us but God has revealed himself in his word and the truth of the matter is this all that we need for life and godliness is contained in God's word it's sufficient it's not lacking in any area there's there's no area of God's word where I would say well you really need to read God's word but you should supplement that by reading some Spurgeon in this area Spurgeon really completes what God didn't quite get right in this one area or any other author there's no human author that I would say well if you really want to understand the doctrine of justification

[34:07] I mean yeah you should read Romans but you should also read John MacArthur because I think he really gets it right where Paul is a little no! that's not the case the word of some benefit for us from reading the works of godly writers yes but the word of God is not insufficient it's not lacking in any area God has revealed himself in his word and his word points us to the gospel by which we're saved he's given us all things that pertain to life and godliness so I want to encourage you as students yes you should read as much as you more carefully but I want you to hear this stop looking to the wisdom of the world to produce in you the righteousness of god like can we just stop as

[35:08] Christians like can I just speak to all of Christianity right now and say we don't need to look for the gospel in Taylor Swift lyrics like can we just stop doing that whole thing where we are like let's take whatever is popular and try to find some gospel wisdom in that man what an exercise in stupidity the wisdom of the world does not produce the righteousness of god because god's word is sufficient the bible is clear the bible is sufficient the bible is necessary once again the passage that we're in in second peter peter says we didn't follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our lord jesus christ!

[36:12] he says we we're not even looking to our own experiences i mean i can't i can't sort of relate strong enough how significant this experience was on the mount of transfiguration and yet peter says this is what i'm sure of what i'm sure of is the prophetic word of god like the revealed word of god more sure of that than what i saw with my own eyes and what i heard with my own ears the bible is necessary because when we read the scriptures we can be absolutely certain that what we are reading is the wisdom of god sometimes i experience things and even in my own sort of theological camp sometimes i've experienced things that i don't really have a category to put them in theologically!

[37:05] sometimes i've experienced things i'm like i don't know what to do with that and people are like oh that was a god thing that had to be a god thing and i'm like yeah maybe probably like i'm having a really hard time trying to understand how what i just experienced is explainable through natural processes and so yeah i'm sort of inclined to say maybe that was some sort of supernatural movement of god but i don't know what i know is that when i open the bible i'm reading the wisdom of god of that i'm certain i think that's exactly what peter was trying to convey this is exactly what paul was telling timothy paul knew that his time on earth was about up paul knew that the time of his departure was soon he knew that very soon the emperor nero was going to give the word for paul to be executed and so paul wrote this passage which we already looked at to the young pastor timothy he says this you however have followed my teaching my conduct my aim in life my faith my patience my love my steadfastness my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at

[38:36] Antioch at Iconium at Lystra which persecutions I endured and from them all the Lord rescued me indeed all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted while evil men and imposters will go on from bad to worse deceiving and being deceived he says this to Timothy though but as for you continue in what you've learned and firmly believed knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you've been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you breathed out by God and profitable for teaching for reproof for correction and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete equipped for every good work Paul goes on to say this I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead and by his appearing and his kingdom preach the word don't preach your own thoughts and your own ideas preach the word what the people of

[39:39] God need is the word of God the people of God don't need wisdom from men the Bible is necessary to produce in God's people what God through his spirit desires to produce in them the next point I want us to contemplate this morning is this that the Bible is complete there's no new revelation coming because there's no new revelation needed listen to the opening words of the book of Hebrews Hebrews 1 1 long ago and at many times and in many ways God spoke to our fathers by the prophets but in these last days he's spoken to us by his son whom he appointed the heir of all things through whom he also created the world as the redemptive work of Christ is finished so the special revelation of God to man is finished because the whole point of the book from Genesis to Revelation is to reveal God's plan for the redemption!

[40:39] of humanity the work of Christ is finished and so the word of God to man about his redemptive purposes are finished the word of God is complete Deuteronomy 4 2 says you shall not add to the word that I command you nor take from it that you may you and from Revelation 22 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book if anyone adds to them God will add to them the plagues described in this book the scriptures are complete lacking nothing in them contain all that you need to know for life and godliness and my final point is this that the word of God is authoritative the word of God has the authority of God to bear on our lives one of my favorite passages in scripture is the feeding of the 5,000 from the book of

[41:44] John and not for the reason that it's a lot of people's favorite passage you follow this story of the feeding of the 5,000 from John chapter 6 through to its conclusion in scripture it begins with Jesus miraculously feeding 5,000 men with just 5,000 loaves and 2 fish and really there are probably like 15 or 20,000 people there because they just counted the men and that's really where a lot of people stop when they're telling this story isn't it amazing Jesus miraculously fed these people yes it is amazing but this crowd that gathered to hear Jesus they just sort of hung around and Jesus after he did this miraculous feeding he began to say harder and harder things and as Jesus continued teaching harder and harder things things are more difficult to hear the crowd begin to shrink this is why I love it because sometimes when I preach I feel like the crowd begins to shrink and I'm like I'm in good company the same thing happened to Jesus but he's preaching and the crowd people are leaving Jesus eventually rebukes the crowd he says you're looking for me not because you saw the signs that

[42:54] I performed but because you ate the loaves and were full and eventually they were so bold that they actually asked Jesus for more bread he's talking about God sustaining Israel by the manna from heaven and they says yeah we want more bread give us more bread Jesus he continues teaching and people keep leaving and he says I mean he keeps saying harder and harder things John 6 53 Jesus says truly I tell you unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood you have no life in you whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day I mean what you will it says this from this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him the very next verse John 6 67 the only people that are left are the twelve

[43:54] Jesus has preached this crowd down from like 15 or 20 thousand to twelve and you think at this point he would turn to the twelve and say don't you leave me too I really need you guys to stick with me don't you abandon me but that's not what Jesus does he looks at the twelve and he says do you want to leave too reason I love this passage if it's followed to its natural conclusion is because of Peter's answer Peter says Lord to whom shall we go you have the words of eternal life we have come to know that you are the holy one of God Jesus looks at the disciples after everyone else has left and he says do you want to leave too and Peter says we don't have anywhere else to go because in your words the words of God through Jesus Christ the word of God contains the path to eternal life it's exactly what

[44:55] Peter is recalling Luke 24 Jesus is with his disciples after his crucifixion his resurrection listen to what Luke says happened in this time together after the resurrection before Jesus ascended to the father from Luke 24 43 Jesus said to them this is what I told you while I was still with you everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms did you hear that Jesus said the things that you've experienced are the very things that all of the law of Moses and all of the prophets and all of the Psalms they were all saying about me it all points to the person and work of Christ Luke goes on to say then Jesus opened their mind so that they could understand the scriptures he told them this is what is written the Messiah!

[45:51] will suffer and rise from the dead and on the to understand the truth of what God has done for us in Christ Jesus Bodie Bauckham says this the modern church is producing passionate people with empty heads who love the Jesus that they don't know very well Luke writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit records the words of Jesus as having said all that was spoken through Moses all that was spoken through the law all that was spoken in the

[46:53] Psalms all that was spoken through the prophets it's all about me the Bible is the word of God it's the only source of authority for the church because in it from Genesis to Revelation God's plan for redemption of rebellious sinners is revealed scriptures point us to eternal life through salvation in Jesus Christ by pointing us to the truth that Jesus was who he claimed to be the perfect son of God who took on flesh and though he walked in perfect obedience to the father all of his days having never sinned and never deserving any sentence of death because of that sin and yet he willingly went to death on a cross so that all who would come to him in faith all who would turn from sin and trust in him might be saved this is the message of redemption through

[48:00] Jesus Christ that God has provided which is revealed for us in the holy scriptures I hope as we set aside time this week to thinking deeply about doctrine that your doctrine of scripture will increase that your love of the word of God will increase as a result of this time we are the people of the book it is our conviction it's a truth for which I would gladly die that this book is the word of God let's pray father we love you we thank you for these truths God we thank you that you have not left us to our own to wander and grope about in the darkness trying to find our way to you but God that you have revealed yourself to us in your word so God we thank you for your word I pray that understanding the doctrine of scripture would cause us to love your word

[49:04] God that we would delight in your word that we would rejoice in your word and that all the things that the psalmist says that David says in Psalm 19 would be true of us that we would embrace who you have called us to be as your people a chosen people people of the book Father we love you we pray these things in Jesus name and for his sake!

[49:29] Amen Let's stand together I hold firm a foundation you saints of the Lord is laid for your faith in his excellent word what more can he say than to you he has said to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled so speak oh Lord as we come to you to receive the food of your holy word and take your truth plant it deep in us shape and fashion us in your likeness that the light of

[50:36] Christ might be seen today in our acts of love and our deeds of faith speak oh Lord and fulfill in us all your purposes for your glory teach us Lord teach us Lord full obedience holy reverence true humility please test our thoughts and our attitudes in the radiance of your purity cause cause our faith to rise cause our eyes to see your majestic love and authority words of power that can never fail so let their truth prevail over unbelief unbelief speak oh

[52:20] Lord and renew our minds help us grasp the heights of your plans for us truths unchanged from the dawn of time that will echo down through eternity and by grace we'll stand on your promises and by faith we'll walk as you walk with us to speak oh Lord till your church is built and the earth is filled with your glory and by grace and my grace will stand on your promises and my faith will walk as you walk with life so speak oh

[53:31] Lord till your church is built and the earth is filled with your glory yes speak oh Lord till your church is built and the earth is filled with your glory father we pray the same words of Peter where else will we go you have the words of life Christ thank you a word for coming and living so clearly and perfectly that everything that was written about you is fulfilled!

[54:19]  in you every promise of your word finds there yes and amen in your life and death and resurrection and ascension and promised return so spirit speak and build us on that word please we need it so we ask it in the strength and the power and the help of Jesus name amen