Grace and peace to you, church. Good to see you. If you would, turn in your Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 3. Had a bit of a scheduling error, and we won't be in Jude this morning. So hopefully this will be an extenuation, a highlight of the Bible study over the last couple of weeks. Probably won't say anything clearer than has been said, but probably a lot louder. 2 Timothy 3, we're gonna be looking at verses 14 through 17. As we've been considering the doctrine of sola scriptura, there's many things up under that doctrine, the inerrancy of Scripture, the infallibility of Scripture, the veracity of Scripture. So we're gonna be looking at the sufficiency of Scripture this morning, the sufficiency of Scripture. So if you would, bow your heads with me and let's pray together as we enter in this time of worship over God's Word. Great God in heaven, truth itself, you are true and you are truth. We have nowhere else to go, oh Lord, for the guidance of our souls, for the renewing of our minds, for the hope that we need so desperately to see through the fog of this earth and its struggles and its cares. Where will we go, oh Lord? Apart from you and your word, where will we find the truth? We ask now, Lord, that you would please grant us strength by the Holy Spirit to hear and understand and grant the preacher strength, Lord. He is in weakness and fear and trembling. I ask, Lord, that you would sanctify this moment for the glory of Christ. In his name we pray, amen. Well, the church to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy scriptures alone. Are your antennas going up? Both scripture and tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence. So states the catechism of the Roman Catholic Church. As we're now some 500 years after the events of the Protestant Reformation, we are no less removed from the importance of the truths embedded in that movement. One of the well-known doctrines at the core of the Reformation, the divide really between Protestants and Catholics, is the issue of justification. How a man is made right with God. Is he justified by faith plus works, or is he justified by faith alone? The other doctrinal issue at the core of the divide was the issue of authority. Is the scripture entirely and exclusively authoritative in the life of the church and the life of the believer? Is it the only source and norm of the Christian faith? In other words, is it sufficient? Rome says no, and we beg to differ. The subject before us this morning is one of authority, and as we deal with the question of authority, we're more specifically dealing with that great Reformation truth of the sufficiency of Scripture. It is authoritative, but is it the only authority? Is the Bible alone sufficient for the church, for you? Does it alone contain all things necessary for God's glory, man's salvation, faith, and life, as our own confession would say? Or are the Catholics right? More closely, maybe to our own context, are the Charismatics right? The popularity of a recent devotional book by Sarah Young called Jesus Calling probably presses this truth a little closer to home for us. It's a wildly popular devotional book over the last couple of years. It's sold millions and millions of copies. I want to quote from Sarah Young's book for you. Sarah says this, the following year, I began to wonder if I too could receive messages during my times communing with God. I had been writing in prayer journals for years, but that was one-way communication. I did all the talking. I knew that God communicated with me through the Bible, but I yearned for something more. There's the key underline. Increasingly, she goes on to say, I wanted to hear what God had to say to me personally on a given day. I decided to listen to God with pen in hand, writing down whatever I believed he was saying. It felt awkward at first, she says, but I received a message. Scripture was not enough for Sarah Young. and it's not enough for millions upon millions of professing Christians. This book, again, is extremely popular as a devotional, sold millions of copies. The popularity of the book tells me a lot about what our Christian culture believes practically. We can say inerrancy, infallibility, sign our name to the Chicago Statement, But practically, many of us are just like Sarah Young. We want to hear from God on the daily and have a two-way communication. I've often said kind of tongue-in-cheek, if you want to hear God audibly, read your Bible out loud. If there's a place for unwritten tradition in Rome, or more closely again to our context, unwritten verbal revelation in the form of tongues and prophecy, binding on a believer's conscience, then can we truly say the Bible alone is enough? Can we claim it to be entirely and exclusively authoritative? So our subject is a sobering subject, beloved. We can't revisit this enough. I don't feel bad about kind of piggybacking on Brandon's Bible studies, although he's doing a great job. I'm not gonna offer anything substantially different. But this subject can't be reiterated enough. It can't become boring to us. We can't make any mistakes here. We have to be very, very careful. Tinkering with the authority and sufficiency of Scripture fundamentally redefines the voice and rule of God in our lives and in the church. In a word, it's an attack on the very throne of God. We are playing with fire. Exhibit A, Nadab and Abihu. The Apostle John closes the canon of Scripture with these words, quote, I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. You would think that's enough of a warning. Solemn words and a very stern warning for us, and we have to feel the weight of our subject. Now, one of the premier passages in Holy Scripture that give us a clear picture of these issues is 2 Timothy 3. It's kind of the locus classicus, really, of this subject. So Paul, writing to young Pastor Timothy, says this, beginning in verse 14. 2 Timothy 3, 14. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. We'll handle our text, if you have an outline, in three points. First, I want you to see that Scripture alone is all-sufficient for all the wisdom necessary for salvation. Scripture alone is all-sufficient for the wisdom necessary for salvation. Second, Scripture alone is all-sufficient in its rule of life for the believer. And third, Scripture is sufficient, all-sufficient, to make the man of God complete and equipped for every good work. So a little bit of a background to this text. Paul's writing from a Roman prison. He's awaiting execution. He's writing to a young pastor who is ministering in Ephesus at the time. Scholars believe that the timing of this epistle proves it to be Paul's last. These are in another way to say, these are the last words of a dying man. In the letter, we pick up on the fact that Paul knew his death was very near. In chapter four, he says, for I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. What would the aged apostle say to a young minister? What would be his last words? Among many other things stated in the letter, Paul gives Timothy an apostolic charge regarding Timothy's responsibilities to pastor the flock of God. Paul himself had faced many trials and he exhibited courage among all of them. He knew that what would happen after his death, he knew that false teachers would come in and lead people into increasing ungodliness, upsetting the faith of some with lies. Many, he says, would have the appearance of godliness but deny its power. They would creep into households and they would capture the weak. They would oppose the truth, going on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived, not continuing in the Scriptures. This chapter of Scripture, if you look at chapter three, it's bookended by false teachers on the one hand, you see that in the first nine verses, and people with itching ears on the other hand, who will gather for themselves teachers to suit their own passions. You can see that at the beginning of chapter four. And there was Timothy stuck in the middle with the weight of a shepherd's responsibilities and the purity of the church at stake. What could be the bedrock upon which Timothy would stand? Well, just as we begin to unfold this text, I want to give you two preliminary remarks. They're not on your outline, but two preliminary remarks from verse 14 and verse 15. Preliminary remark number one, Paul begins by saying in verse 14, as for you, continue. He says this in direct contrast to the false teachers of the day, in contrast to the false teachers who are supposedly progressing on, always wanting something new and hearing something new, yet ultimately falling. Paul tells Timothy to continue or to remain, he says, Stay in this certain fixed sphere or domain. And where's Timothy to abide? It says in verse 14, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed. Continue in what you have learned and firmly believed. This is later explained by the explicit statements in verse 15 and 16 as the sacred writings. Continue in the sacred writings and continue in all scripture. So Timothy is charged by Paul to continue in that body of doctrine contained in the Holy Scripture. Seeing the time of his departure was at hand and that he was already being poured out as a drink offering, Paul, that one who had finished the race well and kept the faith, now urges his disciple to do the same. He urges him to remain within the bounds of what he has learned and has firmly believed. And he says, also, recollect from whom you learned these things, knowing from whom you learned it. There's a saying that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. You've heard that phrase before, the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. It's meant to convey the deeply significant role a mother plays in shaping the world around us. In Timothy's case, I think we could kind of tweak that and rework it a little bit. And we could say something like this, the hand that rocks the cradle rules the church. The hand that rocks the cradle rules the church. Timothy was raised with a godly heritage, which Paul used to remind him of the sincere faith that lived in his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. This heritage served as a foundational element for Timothy's ministry. It was from childhood through his mother and his grandmother, but especially through the apostolic authority of Paul, that Timothy learned the faith. The apostle was telling Timothy to continue in what he had learned and firmly believed, to recall it to mind, to remain in those things. But let's not lose the point. Paul's appeal to Timothy was an appeal to Scripture alone. He was not appealing to tradition. He was not appealing to new revelation. He was saying, Timothy, you've learned it from the Scripture. You've heard it from your grandmother. You've heard it from your mother. You've heard it from me. There is substantially nothing different about what I've told you than what's been written before. Stay in the Scriptures. This brings us to a preliminary second point, verse 15. Verse 15 clarifies the previous point by mentioning the sacred writings, and we learn much about that in Bible study. It's a phrase only used once in the New Testament. It's directly connected to the source of the writings. Sacred writings means they are God's writings. They are from God himself. They're not just simply writings, but they are the sacred writings. And these things, Timothy's grandmother and mother, and even Timothy himself, were acquainted with. They walked with them. They talked with them. They were constant companions of the scriptures. They talked to them when they sat in their house, when they walked by the way, when they lay down, when they rose. They bound them to their life. And Timothy, along with his family, were those who ultimately hoped in the Messiah to come. That's what the Old Testament was pointing to. That's the end and goal of the entire Old Testament, to point to Christ. Scripture, and in context here, the Old Testament was life for them. One theologian says this, Timothy had learned the doctrines of Christianity from his grandmother and mother and the genuine apostle. And as Christianity is founded on the law and the prophets, Timothy was able to compare its doctrines with all that had been typified and predicted, and consequently was assured that the Christian religion was true. He came to faith in Christ through the Old Testament. So those are the two preliminary remarks to kind of speed us up to this more main point that I want to get to here on the sufficiency of Scripture. So that brings us to our first point. Scripture alone is all sufficient for the wisdom necessary for salvation, verse 15. This is plain. in the rest of verse 15, he says, how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. So in context, Paul's not referring to, I don't think he's referring to salvation in the initial sense, being born again. repentance, and faith. Though Scripture is clear that our initial salvation is through the incorruptible seed of the Word of God, 1 Peter 1.23, and though it's certain that apart from Scripture, men are not wise in and of themselves for salvation. Paul's speaking to Timothy as a pastor. As a man who has already possessed eternal life, he has it in his possession. So Paul's aim in this statement was much broader and more encompassing than that initial moment of salvation. Salvation here carries with it the idea of the future goal of salvation, that final day of deliverance and every step in between. Paul's referring to that final day of salvation. Not only must Timothy learn or lean on the sacred writings, but he must also use them to lead others to that same possession of that final salvation, which is the Christian's future hope of glory. Peter says something similar in 1 Peter 2. He says, like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk that by it you may grow up into salvation. He's not talking about being born again there, but maturity in Christ for that final day when we see him face to face. The sacred writings alone possess the ability to make the believer wise for salvation, both initially and for that great day. And notice too in verse 15, it's for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. The goal of the Old Testament scriptures was not for a cold and bare adherence to the letter of the law. It was for salvation through faith in Christ. That's their design, that's the sum of all the teaching in the Old Testament. So as modern men might say, to unhitch yourself from it, how could you? You would never arrive at Christ without it. That's the sum and substance of everything God wrote in the Old Testament. Jesus says this in Luke 24, oh foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" And what does he do? Not beginning with Matthew or Mark or Luke, hadn't even been written. Beginning with Moses and the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. So scripture alone is all sufficient for the wisdom necessary for salvation. You need not look anywhere else for your life in Christ. Number two. Scripture alone is the all-sufficient guide for the believer's life. Scripture alone is the all-sufficient guide for the believer's life. So moving from a more general statement regarding the sufficiency of Scripture, Paul now commends its sufficiency on account of its authority. He expounds on and expands on what he just mentioned by the sacred writings in a much more specific and formal way. He kind of crystallizes what he means here. And the apostle says in verse 16, all scripture is theopneustos. Theopneustos. If you were here at the Bible study, you know what that means. It's a compound of two words, theos and pneuma. It's God and breath. God and breath. Scripture is breathed out by God. The utter uniqueness and sufficiency of Scripture forced Paul really, and he does this a lot in the New Testament, it forced Paul to compound two words together to make a completely unique Greek word. Theopneustasis is nowhere else in the Greek corpus. It's a totally unique neologism, as some people say. It's a new word. This word of God is theopneustos. Paul strains to encapsulate this idea, so he comes up with this brand new word. It's God-breathed. Hermann Bavink says this about the inspiration of Scripture, the God-breathed Scripture. He says, by inspiration, Scripture is kept alive and made efficacious. That means it has work to do. It's effective. our lives. It's ever-living and eternally youthful in a word, an ever-ongoing speech to God from God to us. It's the abiding report between heaven and earth, the living voice of God, the letter of the omnipotent God to his creature. Not only was scripture God-breathed at the moment it was written down, it is God-breathing. Wasn't just God breathed when Paul wrote it, it is God breathing right now to you through a donkey up here. All scripture has God-breathed character. It's ever-living, Bavinck says, eternally youthful. It never gets old and stale. It's ever-ongoing, abiding. a living voice, a letter of omnipotent power from God to his creature. Not only was it God-breathed, it is God-breathing. It is theopneustos to you. Notice also that it is not some scripture or even the certain scriptures. This was highlighted in the Bible study in a very clear way. It is all scripture that has God-breathed character. Every single word, verbal, plenary inspiration. It's the entire corpus of the sacred writings, those things that Timothy knew well from childhood. And it also incorporates those things that had already been inscripturated by the apostles, and by extension, those writings that would be inscripturated by them in a later time. John Calvin offers some clarifying words here. He says this, so far as relates to the substance of the Old Testament scripture, nothing has been added. As we look at the New Testament, as far as the substance of the Old Testament goes, there's nothing substantially different in the Old Testament than is in the New. Nothing has been added, he says, for the writings of the apostles contain nothing else than a simple and natural explanation of the law and the prophets, together with a manifestation of the things expressed in them. I think it was Augustine, I believe this can be attributed to him, but Augustine who said, the new is in the old concealed, and the old is in the new revealed. Everything contained in the Old Testament has now blossomed and come to its final and full fruition in the New Testament. So Paul then gives Timothy in verse 16 what we might label a body of doctrinal and practical divinity in four simple words. Here's where he crystallizes all Scripture. What does it mean that all Scripture is breathed out by God? Why is it sufficient for us? The Apostle says, these four things encompass the entirety of the purpose of divine revelation. Wrapped up in these four terms, we are instructed regarding really what we could call a fourfold purpose of the Bible, of divine revelation. First, it is all sufficient for teaching. You see there in verse 16, all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching. Scripture is profitable for teaching. That is, it's profitable for doctrinal instruction, for the discovery, for the illustrating, for the confirming of those things about God and man and Christ and salvation and the future world. It teaches us about our heavenly home and what we ought to expect. Paul instructed Timothy that until he returned, Timothy was to devote himself to the public reading of Scripture, exhortation, and teaching. that he must keep guard over that teaching. And teachings mentioned first here among those things, before all the other things, Calvin says, it would be of no purpose that you exhort or approve someone if you've not previously instructed them. Well, duh, thank you, Calvin. It's very clear. Scripture alone is sufficient for teaching a true knowledge of God and for understanding the will of God. Second, it's all sufficient for reproof, for reproof. It's meant for the formal testing of someone who may be in error or in heresy. In English, that word reproof or rebuke means quite literally to beat down, not literally with a stick or something, but to beat down the argument. Among the works of the flesh mentioned in Galatians 5, we see that word factions. Behind that word is the Greek word heresis, where we get the English word heresy. A faction marked out groups or individuals making intentional, divisive choices in light of or apart from the established teaching of scripture. We've seen a lot of this in Jude as we've covered that book. These false apostles or these false teachers were constantly trying to bring in something new, bringing in a new teaching. Scripture is all sufficient for reproof. Here's what that means for us ground level. There is absolutely no error or no heresy the world, past, present, or future, that the Scripture cannot effectively dismantle and defeat. There's nothing you under the sun. There's no error or heresy in the world that Holy Scripture cannot defeat. Think of it, the Judaizers in all their heresy fell at the authoritative Word of God. Gnosticism, Montanism, Marcionism, Dacitism, Sabellianism, Arianism, Pelagianism, Wokeism, and every other ism, all are dealt a death blow at the hand of Holy Scripture. As the old hymn goes, what more can he say than to you he has said? I really do wonder how our reformed charismatic brothers can sing that with any ounce of gusto. What more can he say? They're all there to hear something brand new. Scripture alone is all sufficient for addressing and guarding against error and heresy. It's all sufficient, third, for correction. You can see that in verse 16. It's sufficient for building back what has been previously destroyed or restoring what has become dilapidated by sin. Holy Scripture alone sets in place our spiritual bones when they're out of joint. It fortifies what's weak. It corrects all false notions. It clears up mistaken views. One theologian says of the correction of scripture, after all the means which have been employed to reform mankind, and there are many, the history of mankind is full of all sorts of philosophies and ideas to reform the nature of mankind. After all the means which have been employed to reform mankind, and all the appeals which are made to them on the score of health and happiness, respectability, property, and long life, The Word of God is still the most powerful and the most effectual means of recovering those who have fallen into vice. No reformation can be permanent which is not based on the principles of the Word of God, period, full stop. Scripture alone is all sufficient for correction. And fourth, it's all sufficient for training in righteousness. Scripture is profitable or all-sufficient for training in righteousness. That word training there is paideia. It's where we get that word to walk around or pediatrician. It refers to a nurturing or maturing of the faith that we may lead a good and holy life. If we're born of this word, we have to be brought up by the word. Man must not only be taught about God and rebuked when in error and set back right after sin's destruction, but he also has to be trained regarding right living. It's sufficient for training in righteousness. As we saw in Jude, it's even sufficient for weighing out and balancing doctrines, how we ought to apply them to our lives. Three, third point, Scripture alone is all sufficient to make the man of God complete and equipped for every good work. You can see that in verse 17, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Here we kind of reach the crescendo of Paul's argument. All Scripture is breathed out by God, theopneustos. It's profitable for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, and training in righteousness. That, now what's the that there for? It's a purpose clause. That the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Paul introduces the result of the training that the scripture alone can produce. It gives the man of God completeness or adequacy for his task. It fully equips him, as the text says, for every good work, every good work. Now, I wanna take a minute just to explain this phrase because many people read this and think, okay, well, that applies to every Christian. It does, but only secondarily. Primarily, what's in view in verse 17 is the task of the pastor. That word man of God is a very specific phrase. It speaks directly here to Timothy and all the men of God, like Timothy, who have been commissioned with the task of shepherding the church." So that phrase, man of God, is found other places in Scripture. It refers to people such as Moses, and Samuel, and David, and Elijah, and Elisha. In his first letter to Timothy, Paul refers to Timothy specifically using that phrase, man of God, as a designation for the office of pastor. One theologian says of this, the fact does not impair the witness of the passage to the sufficiency of scriptures for Christians in general, it rather enhances it. If it's sufficient for me and for Brandon and for Robin to pastor your souls, it's certainly sufficient for you. It's sufficient for us in every good work, whatever you may face. Surely, if the Scriptures," he goes on to say, are sufficient for the multifaceted duties of the man of God, they must be sufficient to show the ordinary Christian his path of duty. That's what you expect from your pastors, right? Where do you want to hear from? You certainly don't want to hear from this knucklehead. You want to hear from this. This word is sufficient for my task. This word is sufficient for Robin's task and Brandon's task. And by that, it's sufficient for all of life for you. So Paul's point is this, the man of God is furnished with the perfect, complete revelation of God, and thus is equipped with everything necessary to meet all the demands he's been commissioned to do. Why is the man of God complete, equipped for every good work? Because of the very nature of Scripture itself. It is perfect, it is complete, it contains everything necessary for the life of faith. John Gill, in closing this section, he says this, the design of the scriptures and the end of writing them are that both preachers of the word and hearers of it might have a perfect knowledge of the will of God, that the former might be a complete minister of the gospel and that nothing might be wanting from the information of the latter. The man of God has all he needs in God's Word alone. And because of that, the people of God can be completely cared for. Hallelujah. I want to give you a few closing observations. Maybe a few of these will be surprising to you, maybe not. Observation number one. in light of what we've just discovered. The all-sufficiency of Scripture is the hearty companion of inerrancy and infallibility. Inerrancy, what does that mean? That's a big word. The Scripture is without error, basically you could say that. Infallibility, the Scripture is incapable of error. But is it not sufficient as well? I'm gonna give you kind of an analogy I've thought of over the years because Even in Southern Baptist churches, there was a recovery of the inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture. But if you look at their practical church life, the doctrine of sufficiency has just fallen off the table. They chant inerrancy, they chant infallibility. The Bible's inerrant, brothers, but is it sufficient? What does that mean? I've tried to think of an analogy for this situation. Imagine for a moment that a man says to his wife, honey, you're perfect, without a flaw, and you are incapable of a flaw, but you're not enough. How long do you think the warmth of affection is going to last between those two people? If you tell your spouse you're perfect, You couldn't be any more flawless, but you're not enough. It doesn't matter how loudly you chant inerrancy or infallibility. If she isn't sufficient, it don't matter. You have just admitted you're looking somewhere else for what you need. And there are a billion churches all across this land that profess to love One thing, but practically love another. Show me practically what a church does and how those believers worship and live, and I'll show you whether or not they think the Bible's enough. I really just kind of go deaf to infallibility and inerrancy. Show me ground level what a church does, and it'll let you know right up front if they think the Bible is sufficient. We'd never love our spouse that way, but we love the Bible that way. It's not enough. We come up with all sorts of things. So the all-sufficiency of Scripture is the hardy companion. It's something without which infallibility and inerrancy mean nothing, really. It's the hardy companion of those two. Number two, the all-sufficiency of Scripture rules out the oxymoronic definition of labeling yourself a charismatic Calvinist. The all-sufficiency of Scripture rules out the oxymoronic definition of labeling yourself a charismatic Calvinist. Some of your toes may be hurting right now, it's okay. What is a Reformed charismatic? It's a person who deeply wants to bridge this massive gap between sola scriptura, and the affirmation of continuing prophecy in tongues as revelatory gifts in the church today, and binding on the believer's conscience. It's a hybrid of two mutually exclusive ways or systems of thinking. Why am I bringing this up? There is always the danger of the sensational. We are still in a body of flesh. It doesn't take long before, quote, please turn in your Bibles to 2 Peter 3 becomes boring and the sensational takes its place. Churches all across the land and around the world will perk up if a pastor says, on my way to church this morning, God spoke to me. Your ears just tilt forward. What's this guy about to say? It's something new from the Lord. It's more interesting to them. Scripture has become, at that very moment, subservient to experience. Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary estimates that in their Center for the Study of Global Christianity, that over 640 million people call themselves charismatics. I don't know how they get away with some of these terms. 195 million charismatic Catholics. How is that even possible? 252 million independent Charismatics, 191 million Protestant Charismatics. From 1900, with its humble beginnings of around 980,000 adherents, to 2020, just over 100 years, this movement, by my own calculations, has seen a 65,000% increase in its adherents. It was an utter explosion in the 1960s. The all-sufficiency of Scripture and continuing revelation through tongues and prophecy are diametrically opposed to one another. The Reformation truth of the all-sufficiency of Scripture stood against Rome for sure, and it still stands today, but it also stands against any supposed charismatic Calvinism in our modern Christian culture. If we're forbidden to add or to take away from the word, it follows that that word is perfect and complete. This may be an understatement of the last 2,000 years, but the apostles are dead. The apostolic age is over. With the apostles' death comes the cessation of the gifts and any further divine revelation. As our own confession says, the former ways of God revealing his will to his church have now ceased. You can be one or you can be the other consistently, but you cannot be both. It destroys any oxymoronic definition of trying to label yourself a charismatic Calvinist. Three, the all-sufficiency of Scripture guards against potentially disastrous decisions Christians make based on supposed revelation outside of God's word. The all-sufficiency of Scripture guards against potentially disastrous decisions Christians make based on supposed revelation outside of God's Word. Kind of following up on this previous point that I just made, you wonder how this unwritten verbal revelation among Reformed charismatics is not binding on the believer's conscience. Follow me here for just a minute. It must be asked whether or not the supposed revelation from God carries the authority of God with it. In Corinth, it did. In Paul's understanding, the need to discern the tongue gift exercised in the church in that classic text in 1 Corinthians 14 seems to necessitate the obedience in the life of the believers who have now a clearer understanding of the will of God. When interpreted, the tongue gift clears up the church's understanding so the believers can live in obedience to what has been said. If a believer speaks in a tongue and the tongue is clarified, why clarify what does not need to be obeyed? Are we just playing church? This is a clear signal to all who hear that interpretation that it carries with it the authority of God and thus the will of God. This supposed revelation is binding on the believer's conscience. Aside from the many dangers this presents in the modern charismatic world, the greatest danger is the utter abuse of the believer's conscience. Now, with a little help from Nine Marks Ministries, I want to give you a few dangers that result from binding someone's conscience when it's not according to the Word of God. You can see these here on your outline. Number one, those of a tender conscience may fall into needless fear that they're incurring God's wrath because they failed to behave in a certain way. Those of a tender conscience can be crushed apart from the word of God by some standard imposed upon them. Needless fear, incurring God's wrath because they failed to behave in a certain way. Number two, those who tend towards more of a complacency may feel false assurance that they're spiritually all right because they in fact have towed the line of the outward behavior being condemned. Nothing will soothe the alarm of conscience like a shared, manufactured experience of the spirit in church among your peers. It will just quiet a conscience, not in a good way. Those who tend towards complacency feel a false assurance. Number three, those who are pharisaical may be tempted to look suspiciously at other Christians not following the command and conclude with this smug satisfaction that those other believers are less holy. You see, one of the main ideas behind Charismaticism is the avoidance of looking like a Pharisee by, quote, sticking to the word alone. You hear this a lot in Charismatic circles. Those guys who are Reformed, they're stodgy, they're rigid, and they're word-only people. They're Pharisees, they stick to the word alone. All the while, They open up this entire world of looking down their own noses at those in their estimation who are quote, quenching the spirit. They're legalists just like the Pharisees, just in a different way. And fourth, those who are wavering in the faith may see that the command is foolish or unreasonable and conclude that God must be a tyrant Our culture today is full of men and women who left the church because they came to associate the faith with this arbitrary legalism and petty taboos of their church culture or communities. Charismaticism opens up those same dangers. The same dangers that a staunch, rigid legalism of the fundamentalists open up. It creates taboos and arbitrary commands that are definitive of their church communities, and it burns people out. It just burns people out. Fundamentalism, legalism, and charismaticism end up burning people out because it's not according to the word. Now, never mind the entire problem of church discipline among Reformed Charismatics. I really just want to pose the question, should a believer openly disobey this word from the Lord? How do they handle that? Do they bring someone under church discipline for not obeying the tongue that's been revealed among them? I really do wonder that. I haven't really gotten a clear answer on that, and I've asked a few folks. The all-sufficiency of Scripture guards against potential disastrous decisions Christians make based on supposed revelation outside of God's Word. Number four, the all-sufficiency of Scripture compels us to guard our freedom, to guard our freedom. Paul said in Galatians 6.1, for freedom Christ has set you free. For freedom, Christ has set you free. Stand firm in the scripture. Let no man put a yoke of slavery around your neck. You're required to obey only what God has outlined in his word and in his word alone, period. We are slaves to no man's conscience, to no man's tradition, and to no claims of messages from God apart from scripture. The supreme judge by whom all matters of spiritual life are to be determined is none other than the holy scripture. David put it well in the Psalms, I shall walk in liberty for I have sought your precepts. The word of God is the ultimate freedom we have. And fifth and finally observation here, the all sufficiency of scripture tells us that we must stick to what is written. The all-sufficiency of Scripture tells us that we must stick to what is written. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4, do not go beyond what is written. The secret things belong to the Lord our God. They are his. Don't try to pry open that door. Don't try to take things that are not yours. But that very same verse says, the things that are revealed belong to you. They belong to us. That's Deuteronomy 29. Use them. The things that belong to us are enough, beloved, for every trial. They're enough for every tear. They're enough for every decision. It's enough for salvation. It's enough for life. It's enough when facing the great enemy of death. His word will sustain you even in that dark hour. The word of God, beloved, is enough. It's enough. Add nothing to it, take nothing away from it, and equate nothing with it. Do not go beyond what is written. For this word is not an empty word for you. It is, as Deuteronomy says, your very life. There are only two options, beloved. Either scripture is sufficient or it's not. Take your pick. It's either authoritative or it's not. We say it is. Let us live and worship like it is. Amen? Let's pray. Oh Lord, we thank you now for the clarity of your word, which gives us just a bedrock of hope. When our minds are scattered with trials, when our hearts are wrenched with doubts and fears, whatever they may be, we have a sure refuge. We have a sure hope, we have clear, wise guidance from you. It's in your holy word. Help us to not look anywhere else, Lord. In Christ's name we pray, amen.