to have a great time in Bible study today we're going to look at application number three in terms of the Word of God which deals with extra biblical revelation and the fact actually that we reject all forms of extra biblical revelation so let's go to the Lord in prayer shall we O Lord God, this is your holy word. We are your servants. Give us understanding that we might know your testimonies. You have prayed, O Lord, sanctify them in truth. Thy word is truth. Use your holy, eternal, inerrant word to set us apart this day to your service and to your glory. Show us great and mighty things which we do not know. The sower sows the word. Let not your word go out and return empty, but accomplish that purpose for which you are sending it out and for which you have now drawn us together. Protect us from Satan who will snatch your word. Protect us from the world's cares and the delight of wealth and the passion of other interests, which enter in and choke your word. Protect us from a wrong reaction to difficulties and discouragements and persecutions, which make our hearts hard and unresponsive to your word. Rather give us good soil, O Lord. Plow out now the hard ground of our hearts, that your sown word would send roots downward and bear fruit upwards. Unsheathe now the sword of your spirit, O Lord. Cut to dividing point of bone and marrow, soul and spirit. Judge now the thoughts and intentions of each heart gathered here. Spread your word before us as a banquet table, O Lord. Grant grace that we might eat of the rich meat and drink of the sweet milk of the great doctrines of your word. Give us the heart of the prophet who cried to thee. Thy words were found, and I did eat them, and thy words became to me a joy and a delight of my heart, for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts. Oh Lord, we live in a dark and a wicked age. Broad is the way, and many are on it, which leads to destruction. Make your word a lamp to our feet. Make your word a light to our path. Show us that narrow way that you would have us run. And Lord, as we run in the paths of your commandments, enlarge our hearts that in loving you we would be more obedient to your written word. Drop your word against our lives as a plumb line. Grant grace that we might see how we deviate from its high and holy purposes. Make your word to us a mirror grant grace that we might not be as those who look and go away and forget, but make us active doers, not forgetful listeners of your written word. Oh Lord, because of our fealty to you, because of our undying love and devotion to your Son, our resurrected Savior, We pledge to you this day our total submission to your holy, eternal, inerrant written word. And we pledge to you our unquestioning obedience to all of its commands. In the name of our Lord and resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Okay, we're looking at Extra Biblical Revelation. Extra Biblical Revelation. By way of review, remember, when we think or we consider teaching and understanding Holy Scriptures, we ask ourselves these questions. What are the definitions of the key words in the passage? Remember, interpretation is always subject to definition. Secondly, we ask ourselves, is this an Old Covenant or a New Covenant passage? Not Old Testament and New Testament, but Old Covenant and New Covenant. Then we ask ourselves, is this historical revelation or is this doctrinal revelation? Last, is this hidden, higher, or revealed by Holy Scripture? We remind ourselves that the strongest argument from Scripture is a New Covenant doctrinal passage whose meaning is subject to the definition of the words in the passage where we have a historical event in Scripture to be given as an example. and that it is clearly revealed, therefore, in Holy Scripture. We differentiate when we are teaching the Bible between authoritative and direct application, that would be a doctrinal teaching, versus a personal or devotional application. And we always are careful to make sure we say, now the Bible doesn't say this specifically, but it is my personal application. As such, we differentiate between a biblical principle, which is the doctrine, a biblical means of application, which we will find in the historical revelation of scripture, and a method which is simply man's devotional application. We looked at application number two, which was subjection. We subject historical context to the word of God. We subject all church, Christians, Christian organizations, and movements to the word of God. We subject culture to the word of God. Both past, present, and future culture does not judge the word of God. Rather, the word of God judges all cultures as the word of God judges the historical context. When we were looking at subjection, we also covered the fact that experience is subject to the word of God. If God's word says no and we experience yes, we reject our experience. If God's word says no, yes, and we experience no, then we reject our experience. feelings, emotions are subject to the Word of God. And then last week we saw that prayer is subject to the Word of God. This brings us to today's lecture. I've been excited about this. Deals with extra biblical revelation. Extra biblical revelation. First, let's think about the definition of Revelation, shall we? 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17. 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. The inspiration of God, that word inspired, some of your translations may do a transliteration of this, that word inspired in the actual Greek phrase is God breathed. All scripture is God breathed. By that, we mean that when you are reading the written word of God, it is as if you can feel the breath of God up against your face. This is the word of God. If anyone says to you, I have a word from God for you, then he should quote you a Bible verse. The word of God is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be adequate and equipped for every good work. So the word of God, when we say it is inspired, we say it is both authoritative and sufficient. It begins and ends there. In 1 Peter 1, 10-12, God the Holy Spirit says, As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating. Now this is an aspect of our working definition. of inspiration. It is men moved by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit was speaking through the Prophets as He predicted, not the Prophets. Who does it say predicted here the coming of Christ? God predicted it through the Prophets. The Prophets were the typewriter but God was the author. as he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preach the gospel to you by what? By the Holy Spirit. the Apostles were speaking by the Holy Spirit, sent from heaven things in which the angels long to look." This brings us back to an earlier statement which we made concerning the Word of God in that it belongs to God. The prophets wanted to know what they were prophesying and could not understand it. Of course, and the angels wanted to know and they could not understand it. In fact, notice it says that angels long to look at holy scripture. So one place we do not go for revelation is angels. We have more spiritual insight into scriptures than do angels. The prophets also wanted to understand the prophecies which God was speaking through them. So this was not Isaiah sharing things conclusions to which he came in Isaiah 53. This was God the Holy Spirit speaking through Isaiah and in his sovereignty having it written down and then carried on and passed down until the day of the apostles and the church and the giving of the Holy Spirit so that we might now understand it. This then is the working definition of inspiration. But now know this first of all. No prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation. For no prophecy was made by an act of human will. But men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. So, when we say all scripture is inspired by God, we are saying that it was the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit within them that was teaching, and that it was not their human will, but they were being moved by the Holy Spirit who spoke from God. As such, we recognize that some scripture consists of what we call higher things. Isaiah 55, 8, and 9. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are my ways your ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Now, an example of a scripture which we would call a higher scripture would be prophecy. And we see that from the passage, the preceding passage that we just looked at. No prophecy of scripture is of one's own interpretation. so we understand prophecy as it is explained to us by God the Holy Scripture in Holy Scripture. Many people have been embarrassed and have embarrassed the church by interpreting prophecy by their own unaided mental abilities. Turn with me to Daniel 12.4 Notice it says very clearly, Daniel 12, 4. But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time. Notice in Daniel 12 up, 12, 8, and 9. As for me, I heard but could not understand. What does that sound like? First Peter 1.10 The prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you make careful search and inquires seeking to know. I said, My Lord, what will be the outcome of these events? He said, Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up till the end of time. Which is why so many people are embarrassed when they try to explain all the different symbolisms, not only in Daniel, but in the book of Revelation. In some prophecies, God clearly explains it to mankind. Other prophecies are sealed up. What would be another example of something that is revealed, but is higher? Another example of that would be parables. Turn with me to Mark chapter 4. join with me in your holy scriptures to mark chapter four uh... we begin uh... mark chapter four verse nine he has just shared in verses one through eight the parable of the sower He has shared the parable of the sower. And in verse nine, and he was saying, he who has ears, let him hear. And then God the Holy Spirit reveals to us interaction between Jesus and the disciples. As soon as he was alone, now this is going to be just with the twelve, his followers along, no it's going to be with the disciples along with the twelve his followers along with the twelve began asking him about the parables and he was saying to them to you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God but to those who are outside get everything in parables so that while seeing they may not see and not perceive, and while hearing they may hear and not understand. Otherwise they might return and be forgiven. and he said to them do you not understand the parable how will you understand all the parables and then he explains the parable of the sower and the only reason we know that the sower the seed and the parable of the sower is the word of god is because jesus reveals that to us and god the holy spirit passes it on other parables are not explained the parable of the mustard seed is not explained. In verse 33, with many such parables he was speaking the word to them so far as they were able to hear it and he did not speak to them without a parable but he was explaining everything privately to his own disciples so if God the Holy Spirit does not reveal to us the private explanation of a parable, it remains something that is revealed, but is higher, it is a form of judgment. Then there is Deuteronomy 29 29, the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of his law. So, in terms of our definition of revelation, we know that scripture is inspired. That means that the Spirit of Christ was speaking, that it was not an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. As men by the Holy Spirit spoke from God, some things which are passed down to us by God the Holy Spirit are higher. They are a form of judgment. They bring us, they force us to approach the word of God with humility. It is the word of God, not the word of man, and belongs to God. As teachers, we are stewards of God's words. We are not the authority ourselves. Examples of things which are higher are prophecy and parables, or two. Therefore we approach prophecy and parables with humility. We first say, God the Holy Spirit does not tell us what this means. In fact, God the Holy Spirit has concealed it from us. Now, some teachers may think, or it is my opinion but not the word of God, and then we teach on prophecy. Or we say, this prophecy is explained by God the Holy Spirit in, and we give chapter and verse. We do one or the other. Deuteronomy 29.29 says, the secret things belong to God, but the things revealed to us and our sons forever that we may observe all the words of his law. Those things that are revealed to us are not given to us so that we can be puffed up and in a prideful manner say, we figured out the secret. It's so that we can obey and lead those and lead those who are under our instruction to obey. The admonition of Jesus Christ in terms of his return is not to figure out all the intricacies of symbolism in Revelation, but to be ready, to be alert, and to be walking with God when he returns. It is much more enjoyable, much more fun to try to figure out the secret symbolism of the Bible than to obey the Bible. As such, we look for direct written revelation We live in the age of the written revelation of God through the holy scriptures. Notice 1st Corinthians 4.6 is an extremely important passage dealing with this and I would encourage you gentlemen to memorize it. Now these things brethren I have figuratively applied to Apollos and myself for your sakes, so that in us you may learn not to exceed what is written, so that no one of you will become arrogant on behalf of one against the other. So who is speaking here? Here we have Paul, arguably the most prolific writer of New Testament scripture. Then we have Apollos, arguably the most eloquent preachers and teachers of scripture in the early church. And they have both submitted to a spiritual discipline. And what is the spiritual discipline to which they have submitted? It is to not exceed what is written. And they do this as an example for us that we may learn to not exceed what is written. So the first thing we ask ourselves when we are teaching direct written revelation is, is it indeed that? Is it indeed direct written revelation? I testified at Revelation 20, we are not to exceed it. Some people will say, well, you are putting God in a box. and I say no, God is not, I am not putting God in a box, but God is indeed putting us in the book. We have a passage of scripture which we do not understand. Now, many times God does not tell us what it says, but he tells us what it does not say, and we bracket it in as such. the parable of the unfaithful steward and the consequences of that is to be thrown out in the darkness with gnashing of teeth. I remember I asked Christian businessman, Gene Waugh, who was speaking on this, I said, well, you have taught us clearly that we cannot lose our salvation, but this sounds like we can lose our salvation. What does it mean? And he said, what it means is, don't do that. He said, you can't lose your salvation. I don't know what it means, and I do not want to know what it means. So don't do that. Then he shared with us some verses on eternal security. John 5, 24. 1 John 3, 16. and he went over and over through the holy scriptures sharing verses on 1st John 3.16, 1st John 5, 10-14 over and over and over and he bracketed in this parable of the sower with what it does not mean. It does not mean you can lose your salvation. So in explaining That was the parable of the unjust steward. In explaining or giving our thoughts and devotional applications on the parable of the unjust steward, we cannot exceed what is written. We cannot go out here and say you have lost your salvation. No. You cannot go out here and say you've lost your gifts and calling, Romans 11 29. The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. No, we cannot say that we have lost the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 1 10-14. No, we cannot lose the Holy Spirit. So, we are forbidden from exceeding the written Word of God. It's very important for us to remember that when we are teaching. Revelation 22, 18 and 19. Revelation 22, 18 and 19. Revelation 22, 18 and 19. I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to them, I will add to him the plagues which are written in this book. If anyone takes away from the words of the prophecy of this book, God will take away his part from the tree of life and the holy city which are written in this book." So, does that mean we can lose our salvation? Does it? No, it doesn't mean we can lose our salvation. We just covered that. What does it mean? Well, don't do it. That's one thing it means. But it's also very clear that it says we are not to add, over here, we are not to add to Holy Scriptures. and we are not to take away from holy scriptures that's very clear isn't it now uh... it's impossible to teach on this verse without answering a question which i'm sure a number of you are having and uh... that is does the Does this passage not simply speak to the book of Revelation? Well, in my opinion it does not, but we have 1 Corinthians 4-6 to fall back on, which is even a more powerful statement, do not exceed what is written. If you say you have Revelation from God, but you are not adding to the Book of Revelation, then I would question that immediately. But even so, the Book of Revelation is written by the last living Apostle, the Apostle John on the Isle of Flatmost, writing the last book or chapter of the Holy Scripture. And in the last book, in the last chapter, he says don't add or take away. A good example of this is if you were forming a church football league. Church, let's call it a basketball league. You, the different adult classes in your church were playing against each other. And then you discovered that another church in town wanted to form a basketball league. So you, your church teams and their church teams began playing with each other. They were playing by some different rules, not radically different, but some of the nuances of their rules were different. They had decided, well, this isn't a professional league, so we are not going to worry about double dribbling. We are not going to have referees. We're just going to play on the honor system. And then another church joins. And then they have some very gifted athletes in there, and they had a two-point shot line and a three-point shot line. And then arbitrarily, they said a half-court shot would be five points. Well, you found some tension as the different churches began to play each other. So you said, you know what? Let's form a church league. And we will write up a, uh, a rule book for the church league. And it's going to be that they're going to be referees. It's going to be that it's going to be based on time. If, uh, If one church is so much better than the others, and they are just racking up the score, like we had a high school game that was reported here in Houston recently, where a large school played a small school, and they beat them by 100 to 20. To me, I would be embarrassed if I was a coach. to beat up and bully a smaller school like that. A larger school should have been playing its third team. Well, let's go back to the illustration though. And so they would say once the referee may call the game and the game can be finished as a scrimmage where the two teams are just having fun and they take turns with possession of the ball. And then you could come up with all sorts of chapters like that. And then the last chapter would be projections on the future of the league. And then it closes with this statement. Nothing can be added or taken away from this book without a full vote by the members of the league. And that's how it ends. So you're playing a new church joint, you play it, and the shooting guard gets the ball and he runs down, knocks over without dribbling the ball, two or three players, runs up to the basket, another player lifts him up so that he can dunk the ball. And then you come and say, hey, you can't do that. And they say, but look, we've added some new, a 15th chapter to the rule book. And they say, no, look at chapter 14 ends with don't add or take anything away. And they say, well, we didn't add or take anything away from chapters one through 14. We've just added chapter 15. Well, that's nonsensical, isn't it? simply because they didn't insert it in the first fourteen chapters and instead added a fifteenth chapter arbitrarily doesn't mean they haven't added to or taken away and people who claim to have extra biblical revelation and say well we're not adding to the book of revelation we're just adding new revelation are playing the same word games you may not exceed what is written. God is not placing us within a box. He is placing us within the book. Some people say, well, when you would teach on extra biblical revelation, God can do anything. And what you are doing is arbitrarily placing God in a box, which limits him from doing things. And we say, no, we are not doing that. God indeed can do anything. Can he? Can't he? He can do anything, but God does not do anything, does He? God does His holy will. It is just, it is good, it is loving, but it is His will. God is not Zeus, a Greco-Roman God. who can do anything, and so he says he's going to function in a certain way, but he arbitrarily does not function in that certain way, given his whims. That is not Yahweh. That is not our God. God clearly reveals to us His will and He always does His will. We are not putting God in a box. Rather, God is putting us in the book, isn't He? We are limited to the Holy Scriptures. And there you are. And you are not allowed to exceed that. People who want to indulge in extra-biblical revelation play a war game. You're putting God in a box. He can do anything. No, God has placed man in a book, and man cannot do anything. That's the issue here with extra-biblical revelation, is man can do anything. Well, you say, no, well, God can give more revelation. Well, He can, but He won't, because He has said He will not. That's just like, uh, I was, uh, I had a man in Bible study who was convinced that he had married the wrong person and that God had told him to get a divorce and to marry this girl he had met. It was his old high school sweetheart. She was in an unhappy marriage. He was in an unhappy marriage. They put a fleece before God that, um, If it was God's will for them to get a divorce, the fleece was number one, they wouldn't fall in love with each other, and number two, their spouses would grant them a divorce. So they fell in love with each other, they started having this affair, and their spouses did divorce them. So they said, see? And I said with them, no. I said, no, what you did was sin. When you met each other while you were married to someone else and began meeting together and praying together, that's called a date and you were in sin. That was a temptation presented to you by Satan, not a divine encounter by God. When you laid the fleece before God and said that if you fell in love with each other it was His will, that was a sin. When you asked your spouses for divorces, that was a sin. And when you got married, that was a sin. And they said, well, no, you're putting God in a box. God can do anything. Who are you to say that God did not lead us to do this? You're putting God in a box. Our God does not live in a box. He can do anything. And I said, well, your God, which is the God of your creation, may lead you in any direction. But the God of Holy Scriptures, He is not the God of my creation. I am the servant of His choosing, gives us commands. concerning marriage, adultery, fornication, illicit relationships. And we are not allowed to arbitrarily say God told me to do something when it violates Holy Scripture. Now, divorce and remarriage is not the unforgivable sin. We all sin. But when we sin, we don't justify the sin, we just say, well, I sinned, don't do it. But they weren't saying, I sinned, don't do it. They were saying, hey, God sanctioned it and you can do it too. At some point we become responsible in our teaching for the people in our churches and our ministries who have not sinned as opposed to seeking to make people who have sinned feel comfortable. I have no problem with a church having a divorce recovery class. As long as the people understand that they sinned and are recovering from a sin, not a divorce enabling class. But if you are going to have a divorce recovery class, you should also have a marriage class to prevent divorce. Very rarely when a church offers a marriage enrichment class do they say, now we're giving this class specifically so that you will not fall into the sin of divorce. We don't have to be more conscientious than God the Holy Spirit. We are not putting God in a box. God is putting us in the book. As such, we realize that there has been a timeline of revelation for the church. Now when we talk about Old Testament and New Testament, Old Testament and New Testament, as we discovered earlier, we're not going to repeat this, it's an earlier lecture, you can access that earlier lecture. Old Testament and New Testament has to do with the timeline. It begins roughly, it begins, not roughly, it begins in Genesis 1-1 with the creation of the world and that timeline ends with the book of Malachi. Then there are 400 years whereby God did not speak through a prophet and then we find in Matthew Zachariah in the temple and that prophet whom God would send as a forerunner to the Messiah and then that ends with the book of Revelation and the closing of Scripture. Now, on this timeline from Adam to Moses on top of Mount Sinai We have a period of what we would call mystical revelation. God simply spoke to man through dreams, through apparitions, through visions, all sorts of mystical events. Genesis and the first part of Exodus was not given by oral tradition. Rather, when Moses went up on Mount Sinai and was given the 12 tablets, that began the period of written revelation for man and that's when the nation of Israel found out about everything that had happened in Genesis. From Moses to Malachi we have a period of written and mystical revelation, both. and that period of written and mystical revelation extends to the book of Revelation. It extends on. But, beginning with the close of Revelation, we enter the Church Age, which is a period of written revelation my sausage fingers here we have a period of written revelation we do not exceed what is written Now, when I share this with people, and I say from Adam to Moses it was a period of mystical revelation only, no written revelation, they don't have a problem with that. But when I say now, in the Church Age, there is only written revelation, Boy, people say, oh no, don't say that. No, you're putting God in a box. Well, why aren't I putting God in a box when there is no written revelation? Well, God is free to reveal himself in any manner he chooses. From Adam to Moses, he chose mystical revelation. From Moses all the way to the Isle of Patmos. He chose mystical and written revelation. And then with the Isle of Patmos and the Apostle John, from that point on it is purely written revelation. So we have the Garden to Mount Sinai, mystical. Mount Sinai to the Isle of Patmos, mystical and written. from the Isle of Patmos until Jesus' return or our entrance into Heaven, we have written Revelation only. Now that is a very important conviction. for us to have in the church age. We are stewards of the word of God. When I teach on a subject such as witnessing, the Holy Spirit, marriage, child raising. I always remind people that I did not come to free them from the Word of God, but to bring myself and the hearers into subjection to the Word of God. Anytime we begin talking about historical context, anytime we begin talking about cultural context, anytime we begin talking about, well, that's not my interpretation, anytime we begin saying, well, yes, that may be true, but I had a dream, I had a vision, I put down a fleece, I, I, I, I. And invariably, inevitably, the speaker is seeking to free himself and the listeners from the authority of the written revelation of God. Now God can and does give leadership without it being classified as revelation. So we are going to stop here. Our hour is up. And the reason we're going to stop here is I do not want to cut this next lecture in half. It's very important. So we will stop here and ask God to bless the teaching of his holy word. In Christ's name I pray. Amen.