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good morning to everyone welcome back to free grace baptist church for all our regular folk it's good to be back in the house of the lord if you're out there this morning and you're a visitor we do welcome you it's always a joy to have new faces and the pews with us if you have any questions afterwards feel free to come and approach us and ask away we do hope that for all of us it'll be a joy to be in the house of the lord this morning just just a couple of announcements we do have a visiting preacher with us many of you are familiar with Don Lindblad from Trinity reformed baptist church in Kirkland Washington he's been with us a number of times before he just gave us a good presentation on the work down in Cuba and the Reformed Baptist churches down there and the ongoing work of of Christ in on that island he's now going to be preaching for us this morning and this evening so we welcome Don Lindblad from Trinity reformed baptist church in in Kirkland Washington as well next Lord's Day just a reminder that it is our Lord's Supper service in the evening next Lord's Day so for all those please do remember to attend that well let's begin our worship then by turning in our Bibles to psalm 110 are called to worship from the word of god psalm 110 the word of the living and true God a psalm of David the Lord said to my lord sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool the Lord shall send the rod of your strength out of Zion rule in the midst of your enemies your people shall be volunteers in the day of your power in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning you have the dew of your youth the Lord has sworn and will not relent you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek the Lord is at your right hand he shall execute kings in the day of his wrath he shall judge among the nations he shall fill the places with dead bodies he shall execute the heads of many countries he shall drink of the brook by the wayside therefore he shall lift up the head amen well let's stand together and sing our first him this morning in your Trinity him noble sing 296 to a familiar tune that's 296 let's go to our Lord in prayer a number of things that we can praise our God for and come before him now with prayer and supplication mingled with Thanksgiving let's make our requests known to our great God Heavenly Father we rejoice now that we can gather here in the name of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ a truly Lord God again we would ask that you would help us to hallow your Most High name we pray that you would cause your gathered assembly here to rejoice in you to render unto you those proper praises and Thanksgivings and we come to you now asking that you would help us this morning to worship you are right we long as your children to worship you in spirit and in truth and we do pray for the Ministry of the Holy Spirit in this place today that our souls might be aroused on to proper praise and proper worship we thank you Lord God for sending your son the Lord Jesus Christ into this world sinners to save we rejoice in that blessed gospel we know as the word says that it's a faithful saying worthy of all exception acceptance that Christ Jesus came into this world sinners to save and we rejoice in that truth we rejoice in that truth knowing that Lord God you and your appointed and accepted time brought us forth from darkness to light you brought us forth by your grades from deadness to life in Christ Jesus by grace we have been saved and we pray that you would help us to rejoice in our Savior afresh on this year lord's day Sabbath we rejoice in his perfect life of obedience unto your law given in the stead of all those who believe we rejoice in that perfect salvation upon Calvary's tree we know in the work of the cross we have not an atonement of maybe or a salvation of perhaps but our Lord Jesus Christ did so workup on Calvary's tree giving his life as a substitution ery sacrifice for guilty sinners all those whom you had given unto Him we thank you that we have forgiveness by his blood the remission of sins and we rejoice in that blessed truth Lord God that on the third day he rose again and power and in great victory we further rejoice in that blessed truth that he has ascended to your right hand where he does ever live to make intercession for his people and where he conquers his enemies and we do pray that you'd help us to rejoice in our risen and exalted Christ knowing that all Dominion and glory and power has been given unto Him we do pray that we would give you honor this day Father Son and Holy Spirit before your work of salvation in our lives and we do pray unto the end that you would save more sinners this morning we pray that by the Ministry of the Spirit and by the preaching of your word Lord God you would cause sinners who came in these two doors this morning outside of price that you would cause them to leave this place singing the praises of Amazing Grace we do pray God that you would be with those who are sick and unwell in our midst there are many we regularly pray for those who are afflicted with disease Lord and injury and various things we do pray that you would strengthen them in body that you would knit their physical wounds together and cause them to know gains and strength that you'd be able to cause them to endure in the midst of the physical affliction and pain we do just pray that you'd bless each and every one of our dear struggling Saints and that you would cause them in the inner man to nevertheless in the midst of affliction rejoice in their God and in his Christ and find all blessed things and the promises of your Holy Word we do pray God or we rejoice at pastor Butler's able to join us this morning we thank you for your healing of him we thank you that he continues to recover and gain strength day by day we do just pray that you continue to bless him and cause him to know gains every day that he might swiftly return back to his charge here and we do just pray that in the meantime you wouldnít his wounds together and that caused him to give you glory in the midst of his recovery we do pray God for those who are with child that you would bless each and every mother in our midst who's pregnant we just just pray that you'd watch over them God that you would protect them with your sovereign care you would watch over the babies in the wounds and cause them to grow day by day into in due time be brought forth to the to the praise of your most glorious grace and mercy and we do just pray that you bless mother and father that they would lean upon you daily for all things and we do pray for each and every young one in our midst that in due time you would bring them forth from darkness to light God that you would conquer their hearts that you would remove stony hearts and replace them with hearts of flesh so that at a young age they might rejoice in our God and bless the name of our Redeemer we would pray God that you'd be with the persecuted Saints around the world we would ask that you would just be with each and every one of our brothers and sisters in Christ that endure such hostility around the world for their faith in the Lord Jesus just watch over the Saints God and in so many countries where there is anger hatred act of violence even unto death we do just pray that you would impress upon the hearts of your people but the glory of their God and the victory of their Christ and it caused them in the midst of such suffering and affliction to look with eyes of faith upon the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and find comfort and courage in Our Blessed King of Kings we would ask God that you would have be with our brothers and sisters in Cuba as we just prayed watch over that Island and grow your your truth there might you spread your gospel in that place and cause your saints daily to rejoice in your name and find comfort in their God and in their Christ there on that island we do pray Lord that you would be just a comfort the Fisher family and the light of this loss we pray that you would watch over them and strengthen them God and just bless them in the midst of the loss of the Father and just cause them to rejoice in their God and to find comfort in your Most Holy Word we do pray God that you would be with us now as we worship we know that the preacher dawn when he comes up here he need not be leaning upon his own strength but upon the strength of the triune God affords his ministers of the gospel so might dawn in this pulpit know your aid Lord God might be give him what he needs to open his Bible and to proclaim richly the things of your revelation to men we do pray that us gathering here now that we would know the grace of our God through the proclaimed word that we would take in your word that we would your Saints gathered here would be nourished and strengthened and all the more equipped to go out into this world to rejoice in Christ and to live in a manner worthy of our calling and we do pray yet again father that the spirit would be mighty in this place today that you by your victorious grace would thought it would cause unbelievers here now to leave this place believing singing the praises of Amazing Grace and confessing along with your Saints hallelujah what a savior so might all this be done now Lord God to the glory of your name might each and every mouth because it is possible only with you sing the praises of our risen Christ and rejoice in our God and we pray all these things now in the name of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ amen well let's stand and sing our next team is going to be him number 220 again in your Trinity hymnal at stand and sing to 20 together you you you please be seated our new testament scripture reading this morning will be from Revelation chapter 20 just a reminder that we do read consecutively through the New Testament each and every Lord's Day morning the Old Testament in the evening and so in our morning consecutive reading this is where we are now Revelation chapter 20 once again the word of the living and true God revelation 20 verse 1 then I saw an angel coming down from heaven having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand he laid hold of the dragon that serpent of old who is the devil and Satan and bound him for a thousand years and he cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal on him so that he should deceive the nation's No More till the thousand years were finished but after these things he must be released for a little while and I saw Thrones and they sat on them and judgment and judgment was committed to them then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God who had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years but the rest of the Dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished this is the first resurrection blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection over such the second death has no power but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years now when the thousand years have expired Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth Gog and may God to gather them together to battle whose number is as the sand of the sea they went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the Saints and the beloved city and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them the devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever then I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and there was found no place for them and I saw the dead small and great standing before God and books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life and the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books the sea gave up the dead who were in it and death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them and they were judged each one according to his works then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire this is the second death and anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire amen let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you for this your revelation we thank you for your word of god it's been given to us the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments we rejoice in the fact that chapter after Chapter page after page we have set before us in Christ upon the cross working out the salvation of men we rejoice in this particular book the book of Revelation we thank you for what it discloses concerning the victory of our king of kings and Lord of lords the Lord Jesus Christ we know that the Lord Jesus Christ has been victorious and that he will be victorious and that he rides as it were upon that white steed valiantly conquering and to conquer and we rejoice that that two-edged sword protrudes from his mouth the word of God that he goes out by gospel Verity to conquer the nation's and we do pray that this day Lord God truly it a thousand tongues might sing of the glories of our Savior we pray that you would cause newly redeemed tongues this day by spirit and gospel to rejoice in the king of kings and we do pray for the spread of your gospel around the world we pray that you would equip men and that you would equip churches to proclaim with great vigor the things of our Savior and that many would believe and once again Lord God that all of these things would be done unto the praise of your most high in glorious name and it's in the name of the Savior Jesus Christ we pray amen well our final him then before the preaching of the word of God is 133 o for a thousand tongues to sing let's stand and sing 133 together please be seated once again it's a joy to have a pastor Don Lindblad with us a dear friend of this church and Jim and I and we welcome him now to the pulpit to bring the Word of the Living in true God be with you again and I do bring greetings from 22 reformed baptist church in kirkland we consider you dear brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ and we're happy to know you and delighted to walk in concert with you supporting the same great cause through our association of churches again it was good to see that your pastor up and about and recovering from his surgery and we do trust and pray that he'll be back in the pulpit here shortly would you turn in your Bibles please to the book of Hebrews chapter 1 and i want to speak this morning on the subject sola scriptura the bible alone and of course sola scriptura is latin for that very phrase the bible alone what do we mean by that what do we not mean by that into why is that so important and so significant to our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ so I want you to notice with me and I'll read in your hearing Hebrews chapter 1 and verses one through four remembering again this is the word of the Lord God having of old time spoken unto the father's by the prophets in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners half at the end of these days spoken unto us in his son whom he appointed heir of all things through whom also he made the world's who being the effulgence of his glory and the very image of his substance and upholding all things by the word of his power which he had made purification when he had made purification of sins sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high having become by so much better than the Angels as he F inherited a more excellent name than they thus far the reading of God's Word again let's ask for God's blessing upon the preaching of his word our Father in Heaven we do thank you for your word and for this particular portion of your word and would ask that as we humble ourselves before you preacher and listener alike that indeed you might be our teacher and our instructor that the Spirit of God might come in a in a mighty way that he might illumine these verses for us that we might understand them better appreciate them more clearly and be eager to embrace them and to implement them in a way that brings pleasure to you we do pray that as the word is preached if there is any resistance to that word in our hearts for truly we are sinners we ask that again your spirit might so work as to make our hearts pliable and give to our minds the ability to reason and reflect and to take in your word and above all things we do pray that at the end of the day as it were that we might embrace and obey that which we hear above all things we do pray in this grand text that we may see more of the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior your son and our sure insert and Savior that we might see more of him and truly be drawn closer to him for we pray these things in Christ's name Amen january 1 1959 is a date that is etched in the memory of every Cuban citizen it marks the triumph of the Cuban Revolution and while we have billboards that sometimes appear to be ubiquitous that is everywhere present advertising every imaginable product known to man billboards in Cuba are devoted to the victory of the revolution and everywhere there are these billboards reminding the people of this most important date and not only to remind them of the date but for them to remember their heroes dates are important to us we remember birthdays and we remember anniversaries and sometimes men we need a little prodding perhaps to remember our anniversaries but we do remember them because they're important to us October 31 1517 is a date that marks another revolution a spiritual one and one that ought to be etched in the mind of every Protestant and reformed christian and beyond that even to stir the hearts of others it was I'm sure as you know the day that Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of the castle church in wittenberg germany protesting the abuses selling of indulgences and in so doing he sought to promote the gospel of god's grace in Jesus Christ and everywhere there are reminders of that great event Christians churches and confessions of faith is John Murray wrote the Reformation was the rediscovery of the revealed counsel of God on the most vital issues of the Christian faith it might be summed up as the rediscovery of salvation by grace it's important to remember that it was rediscovery the Reformers Luther and others were not seeking to be inventive or creative but rather to return the church to its earlier its pristine its foundational and fundamental biblical truths it was rediscovery and with that in mind I think we also need to remember that Luther's protest Minh must not be seen as something that was entirely negative we used the term and rightly so of Protestantism of protest but in fact that identifying marker is far more positive than it is negative Protestant is not actually a negative term at all Protestant comes from the Latin protest array which is a compound it's made up of two words pro or four and tests are eight to testify to something a Protestant is not one who is so much or is so much one who is negative but a Protestant who is one who is positive is testifying to something he witnesses to something in this case to the truth of God though it was a time of scandal and darkness and the Reformation did protest against the selling of and the purchasing of certificates of religious indulgence it was far more than that it testified to a number of closely allied articles of faith only one of which will look at this morning but you're familiar with them this affirmation this declaration sola scriptura sola scriptura of the bible alone Solus Christus christ alone Sola gratia grace alone solafeet a phase faith alone and soli Deo Gloria to God alone belongs the glory now one of the interesting things about those five solas and as we think in terms of Protestantism and testifying for something scripture alone Christ alone grace alone faith alone to God alone be the glory it's made up of two words except for the final one to God alone be the glory soil a script or for example we want to look at that this morning the Bible alone now the interesting fact of that little phrase that term is that the emphasis not is not to be found upon the noun but rather upon the adjective because Roman others believed in the bible and they believed in christ they believed in grace and they believed in faith in to some degree God ought to have glory but it wasn't scripture alone faith alone Christ alone grace alone to God alone be the glory and so the emphasis is upon the adjective and so it must be today and in the case of the bible scripture alone and it's as important today in the 21st century as it was in Luther's day because the fashion seems little different today than it did in his day the world is full of Elmer Gantry tight selling salvation for a generous offering to their ministry the selling of books that make little reference to the gospel itself but are mystical moralistic or filled with prophetic speculation tips on how to live a better life replace the life-giving message of salvation in Jesus Christ and so like the 16th century a theology of Glory has come to replace a theology of the cross you can have it all right now yes we believe in the Bible and we believe in Christ and we believe in grace and we believe in faith and we believe in the glory of God but not those things alone we've discovered a better way well so let's come just to one of them this morning then Sola scriptura the Bible alone what does the Bible say about the Bible itself what is the character what is the constitution of the scriptures our writer the author to the book of Hebrews plunges right into his subject by drawing attention to the uniqueness and the finality indeed beyond that even to the sufficiency of the Scriptures themselves so we want to look at this text and I believe there are at least six things that this text tells us about the Bible itself six things that we need to retain six things that we need to believe six things that we need to protest for and testify to as we give thought to the nature and character of our faith rooted in the Bible first of all notice with me from these verses of the scriptures and their source or perhaps we might say the scriptures and their paternity their divinity where do they come from well once again notice how our author begins the book of Hebrew the book of Hebrews begins abruptly it begins without the ordinary introduction of a new testament epistle there's no salutation no greeting there are no identifying markers whatsoever the author does not identify himself it just begins a broad play and the particular issue that the author wants to address he wants to address from the perspective of the Scriptures themselves and so he begins by telling us something about this word about this book that we believe I hope and we read and we hear preached in fact the book of Hebrews may well be an extended sermon in acts chapter 13 and verse 15 when Paul arrives in the city of pasilla Antioch he goes to the synagogue and thereafter the formalities of the synagogue the leader of the synagogue says is there anyone here that has a word of exhortation which was common that any male member could stand up and give a word of exhortation in the synagogue what's the same language that's used in Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 22 where the writer tells us that he has just given to us a word of exhortation well the word of exhortation that the writer gives to us is a word that is rooted in the Scriptures themselves and he begins with an affirmation he begins with a protest if we think in terms of what the word Protestant actually means he begins with an affirmation and he says this and do not miss it because it's really the heart of the text God has spoken the God of heaven the God of heaven and earth the god who is our maker has spoken nothing is more relevant than or now the identity of the speaker is relevant to this subsequent speech that is what is about to be said pay attention the writer says because it is God who has spoken and that was it was important it is important for the theme of the book because the church was facing a difficulty it faced a crisis these Hebrew Christians were feeling the pressure to return to the paths of Judaism at least in some sense and they were feeling pressure from their own countrymen and they needed to come back in a return much like the book of Galatians focuses upon returning to aspects of Judaism especially circumcision John fesco is one of his books John Fusco teaches at Westminster seminary in California says it it's the book of Hebrews is much like in the book of Galatians much like a prisoner of war being released from a prison camp and he spent years and years and in terrible conditions a horrible jail cell and and food you know barely even edible now he's released from prison and as he's released and he's taken back under the care of of his own country and the military perhaps has gathered him up and have taken him to a military base and there before him is that it is the most wonderful meal prepare the finest take on the planet everything that that he would love to eat and he looks at all of that and he says Matt I don't think so I think I'll go back to my prison cell I really missed that watery soup and and and all of the rest of the things we say how absurd but that's exactly what the writer wants to communicate and wants to convey it says it's it's that absurd to return to the past in part because any return any shift any change from biblical truth is fatal to the soul therefore what God has said and how he has said it is important New Directions either a return which would be a new direction a return to the old or some brand new direction these are fatal to the soul anything new is a wrongheaded turn in a wrongheaded direction and so he says God God in our English translations the first word God having of old times spoken unto the father's in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners hath at the end of these days or in these last days spoken in his son now I'm particularly drawn to these opening verses and your pastors will smile at this because they know me all too well but I'm drawn to the text because in the original Greek it's all alliterate 'add and if you know anything of my sermons I'm drawn to alliteration there probably be some that you will recognize in the course of this sermon but the writer uses this memory device if you will several words all beginning with the equivalent of our letter P to draw attention to three things God has spoken and what he has said is fragmentary or was marked by variety and it is rooted in antiquity now that's not alliterate it just happens to rhyme he refers to its taxonomy different portions to the type of Revelation different fashions and he refers to time different seasons or periods of time in which this material was given by God God spoke in nature God spoke to individuals and to persons but what the writer undoubtedly has in mind here is as we look at the and of scripture and you look at the Old Testament you discover that there are different literary types or styles that are employed there's law the prophets there's poetry there's history that God spoke differently but he also spoke in a fragmentary manner not giving everything all at once and he didn't speak all of the time I think sometimes we have the viewer we have the impression that God spoke all of the time and maybe there was some advantage to living under the Old Covenant living in the Old Testament because we would always have the ear of God we would speak to him and he would speak right back to us I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself here but that's not the case at all long periods of time which God said absolutely nothing at all think of the 400 years between the closing of the Canon of the Old Testament in the coming of John the Baptist's in the Lord Jesus Christ 400 years and God didn't say one word to anybody at least that we have recorded and so here is an initial affirmation basic to the whole argument of the Epistle God has spoken as FF bruce says he has spoken his revealing redeeming and life-giving word and in his light we see light our authoress thinking of that special revelation which has been given to us in these two stages so we we come to this passage and we realize first of all God has spoken it's paternity that is its its its source where does it come from it comes from God and secondly and relatedly almost redundant perhaps but needs to be stressed notice its authority well if it comes from God then it ought to be important right if it comes from God then it comes to us with authority now when we think of this authoritative revelation we also number notice a number of things this revelation is progressive it's gradual again God didn't say everything there was to say all at once many different prophets at different times in different ways fragmentation variety now as one writer has reminded us in fact it's FF Bruce again he says divine revelation is thus seen to be progressive but the progression is not from the less true to the more true it's not that God corrects himself but rather it's progressive a little here and then a little more and a little more and a little more and a little more and then we have as we'll see in just a moment the finality of God's revelation in his son you know our confession says something like that as well in chapter 7 and paragraph 3 the opening paragraph having to do with the or the opening statements having to do with God's covenant says this covenant that is the covenant of grace is revealed in the gospel first of all to Adam in the promise of salvation by the seed of the woman and afterwards and we underline this as we think of our unique contribution to covenant theology by farther steps wasn't all given at once begin with a revelation of promise and then bit by bit we learn more and more until we come to the new covenant the context is a little bit different but it echoes this same perspective revelation is progressive revelation is also cohesive God spoke in old time and God spoke in last days but in both cases it's God who speak geeks and God who is truth always speaks truth now what may be in what may be in view is law and gospel but notice the emphasis here is not so much what the writer will deal with later in chapter 8 in chapter 10 and the distinctions to be drawn between the Old Covenant of the new covenant is emphasis is different here is emphasis is that it is God who speaks and whatever he has said is authoritative and what he has said is comprehensive cohesive and comprehensive there is continuity as well as diversity the New Covenant in Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of promises prophecies typology found in the old and again what whatever the law whatever the author develops later with regard to a distinction that doesn't seem to be the point here the emphasis again is on paternity and authority God has given to us an objective revelation of himself second Timothy chapter 3 very familiar passage to us reminds us that this word is an inspired word God breathed it is an infallible word it cannot err and it is in aren tia does not air comes to us with authority thirdly God speaks with finality the scriptures and their finality notice how the writer works this out God spoke occasionally not all the time as I said earlier not to everyone about everything God was selective he chose the time he chose the person he chose the occasion and he chose the particulars of the message that he revealed he spoke occasionally but now he spoke or the text tells us he now speaks conclusively this is important he spoke occasionally but now in the Sun and it's interesting that the language here is in in grammar we call it an arthur estar t'kul it's not in our translations to make sense it's in the Sun it's the only way we can translate it in English or the best way but literally it's in Sun and and when a word is does not have the definite article it often speaks of its character and if its uniqueness and hear the text emphasizes not only character but an absolute change of category here was God's speaking at different times in different ways using different men profits but now something's altogether different there's a change of category there's an intensification here indicating the solemnity of God speaking the Sun is the ultimate category of Revelation the Sun is the ultimate category of Revelation here is phraseology suggestive of the words of the Sun and the works of the Sun the mediation of Jesus Christ think about this for a moment if there's a change in category and there's an emphasis upon character here if God had something else to say what would it be you know how could he say anything that would trump what he's already said in his son furthermore who would he use to say it if he's already used his son and reinforced that through the Ministry of the Spirit in the Apostolic age who now will he use to make the point you know when you want to build a case you you sort of hold out the the last and the best card till the end but God's already done that what would he say and through whom would he say it since he's already used his son what more could be in an advance over the Son of God and I think really that's what the author is getting at here in the latter part of verse 2 and verse 3 notice that again it's it's the character of the Sun that is emphasized and is the focus for the text he appointed heir of all things through whom also he made the world's who being the effulgence of his glory the very image of his substance and upholding all things by the word of his power when he had made purifications of sin sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high having become so much better than the Angels as he hath inherited a more excellent name than they seven things seven things are mentioned his appointment he's the heir of all things his arrangement that is he arranged certain things he arranged the ages his assessment he's the radiance the shining forth of God's light he's the supreme revelation of God as the point his accomplishment in Providence and in Redemption and finally he's enthroned at God's right hand as the one who successfully accomplished that work of mediation for us what more can be said and who would God use when we consider the person in the work of Jesus Christ one writer has said thus the greatness of the son receives Sevenfold confirmation and it appears without being expressly emphasized that he possessed possesses in himself all the qualifications to be the mediator between God and men Phillip Hughes says this contrast to plays a prominent part in the structure of the Epistle as our author demonstrates that the old order of patriarchal expectation prophetic utterance Mosaic Covenant and Levitical priesthood has given way to the new order of Messianic reality which unlike the old is final and permanent because it needs to be said briefly perhaps but notice the scriptures and their beneficiary notice what the writer says to us think of that that's a glorious statement I mean it's really a blessed truth for centuries God had spoken periodically and it Pierre has its leadership its priesthood and its kingdom belong uniquely to him who is the eternal son paternity authority finality in a fragmentary way choosing the time and the profit and all of the rest now in these last days in his son to us to us his new covenant people know better than the people who live before no less sinful every bit is needy with brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ it's to us if you're outside of Jesus Christ take note of this that God has spoken to us in this unique this final this glorious way it's the last word in the last days which have become the best of days now I think all too often of the sin all around us and the degradation and the shift and the move the the shift in in our culture toward greater wickedness and all of the rest but you know once again in some ways these are the best of days he's the best of days because these are the days in which God has spoken to us his new covenant people his church in his son not by prophets but in his son Athanasius one of the early church fathers said in a letter that he wrote to a young man he said do not be astonished if an emperor rights to us for he is a man but rather wonder that God wrote the law firm in and has spoken unto us through his own son it's a greater marvel that God speaks to you than if you were to receive a letter from some political politician the premier himself of the province or of Canada as great as that would be you might frame it and all the rest of that if you liked him i guess but you'd frame it or whatever but it's even greater to know that God has spoken in his son fifthly we see the scriptures and they're perspicuity or their clarity our confession draws attention to this in chapter one with the scriptures there is clarity not every verse not every passage is as clear as every other one but certainly there is clarity in fact Psalm 19 and verse seven and psalm 119 and verse 130 both echo that theme when it speaks that God makes wise the simple I take great comfort in that because I think I think i'm one of the Lord's simple ones but God makes wise the simple well 6ly and finally we need to see from this text as well the scripture and its sufficiency it is sufficient it is sufficient because it is the last word and therefore it must be sufficient Peter tells us in his second Peter that God has given to us everything necessary for life and godliness second Peter chapter 1 and verse 3 in fact our confession uses this particular text at this particular juncture to speak of the sufficiency of the scriptures Peter says seeing that his divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him that called us by his own grace and virtue whereby he hath granted unto us his precious and exceeding great promises that through these he may become partakers of the divine nature having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust everything necessary for life and godliness God has given to us is God has given to us a word that functions it functions as God's last word John our do it and a little pamphlet entitled what is the Reformed faith reminds us that Jesus Christ is master in his own house the confession says the whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory man's salvation faith in life is either expressly set down or necessarily contained in the Holy Scripture unto which nothing at any time is to be added whether by new revelation of the spirit or traditions of men all things necessary all things necessary for his glory man's salvation and echoing second Peter faith and life John Brown said God in the combined or completed revelation of his will respecting the salvation of men through Jesus Christ is still speaking to all who have an opportunity of reading the New Testament or if hearing the gospel it functions then this word functions as God's final clear and sufficient word of grace but function raises a question question that we need to flesh out a little bit sufficient for what and so the function of Scripture as a sufficient and completed and final word draws attention to what we might call its limitation it is sufficient for all of life and godliness but in saying that it points to a restriction and a restriction that does not reflect or does not suggest any imperfection but rather design it's designed as a sufficient word for life and godliness and therefore it's not designed for other things now I don't think we think about this very often but but it's important to remember this it's not a manual of auto repair I have a friend in Cuba as long as I've known him probably almost ten years he's had his car in a garage it doesn't run this is a pastor that also again because people need to do something extra to get enough money to support themselves he raised his pigs actually raises pigs in the churchyard imagine the windows open in a very hot day here and there was a pigpen round out right outside the the window or the doors well he does that you always know when you're coming to church trust me always know when you're coming to church but I've never yet seen him take the Bible and open it to a particular tax that would help him repair his car nor have I seen him take his Bible and open it to particular text that tells him how to raise pigs there is a restriction it's not designed as a manual of auto mechanics and I think we need to keep this in mind in the day and age in which we live in it which it seems to be people are pressing the limits of what the sufficiency of Scripture really means it's not a manual of auto repair it's not a manual of animal husbandry it's not a manual of Medicine just isn't doctors go to medical school and yet we turn to the Bible we often look for tips as to help us how to live better healthful lies but it's not designed to do that it's not a manual of political theory number of things that it doesn't do faith in life as the confession says and as Peter says must be taken in what we might call a religious or spiritual sense and we need to draw this conclusion if we're confessional all because the rest of chapter 1 and paragraph 6 which I just quoted a minute ago deals with public worship it speaks of God's worship and the regular principle of worship so clearly our authors had in mind this restriction or this limitation it's not a manual for everything t David Gordon wrote an article years ago that was really quite controversial but to me it seems rather something of a no-brainer seems very it's not radical at all it was entitled the insufficiency of Scripture and he said this that the entire Canon taken its entirety is sufficient therefore to govern the members of the New Covenant made in Christ that's its purpose I would clarify that the Divine's intended by faith in life what one is to believe and what one is to do as a member of the new covenant community he goes on to speak of the historic Protestant understanding of the importance of natural revelation somehow being lost so Scripture is sufficient but it's sufficient in in the area for which it was designed faith and life and worship now I think that that has some practical implications and ramifications it has implications for what Jim renan and others have called bib let's ism the individual the individualism that marks the way we often come to the Bible and interpret it Jim or dr. renehan refers to it as the hermeneutics of person in place divorcing ourselves from the the Scriptures themselves or or the hermeneutics of the Scriptures themselves and so we come to the scriptures as if they address us personally individually uniquely apart from anybody else and the particular time frame in which I live and so hermeneutics fly out the window a kind of individualism it addresses the issue of legalism the church cannot determine doctrines or morals not found in the Bible faith and life the church is not in a place to determine the nature and character of that worship which God Himself regulates papal infallibility sometimes has been replaced with pastoral infallibility not here thankfully but it's certainly the case and I think that one of the greatest problems we face in modern Christianity is the problem of moralism where the gospel again as I said earlier in the introduction has been replaced with books and sermons tips for better living manuals for success you can have your best life now even Calvin who lived in a different day and who would have viewed politics differently than we do said for there are some who deny that a Commonwealth is duly framed that neglects the political system of Moses and is real by the common law of nations Calvin says let other men consider how perilous and Sedition this notion is it will be enough for me to have proved it false and foolish calvess is not Apple it's not a manual of political theory the sufficiency of Scripture sufficient for faith and life sufficient for the members of the new covenant community to live out their lives rooted in the gospel in a way that is pleasing to God and in the new covenant community of the church as she gathers together to please God through her worship and through her corporate life that's what the text teaches at least I'm convinced that's what it teaches well where does that leave us what do we say by way of some practical applications well the first one is this God has spoken and whether you agree with everything I've said or not I hope that it's been biblical and I hope that it's been helpful but but but at least remember this God has spoken and to put it somewhat in a vernacular way God has spoken and he has not stuttered he spoken clearly he spoken finally and brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ and those who may be outside of Christ as I addressed you he has spoken finally completely sufficiency in the category of son there's no greater word no better word that word which he has spoken to us in Jesus Christ will you hear him have you heard him are you listening to him and will you hear him where do I hear him how do i hear him in the still small voice echoing in my head no in that new covenant word given to you the Bible itself God has spoken he spoken clearly he spoken finally he spoken authoritative Lee and above all it is God Himself who has spoken and he has not stuttered not every verses as easily understood as every other but the main thing can be easily understood will you hear him or will you listen to the sirens song of the world and the church aping the world to change everything to fit the age in which we live there's the choice listening to the Sun or listening to those in our world who would craft the message of the Sun to fit our day and our age so with that in mind by way of a second application but related beware the tyranny of the experts the one ones with long lists of degrees the ones who have written famous books you where the tyranny of the experts of revering the relevant of confessing the consensus again regard revelation as from God final sufficient for all of life and godliness the greater the regard we have for God's revelation the greater the regard we will have for himself it's not the word of man that's important it's the Word of God it's that final ancient word that he has given to us found in its final form in its highest form in its completed form in its new covenant form in the word and works of the Sun again have you heard him do you hear him are you listening to him you know when I think of this text and when I preached from it before I can't help but think of the Transfiguration you remember Peter and two of the apostles were on the mountain with Jesus and they fall asleep and they wake up and there is this wonderful vision in fact I think I may even have preached that sermon here it's a wonderful text and Peter wants to retain the existential moment let's let's keep things as they are Moses and Elijah and Jesus let's build these temporary booths out of sticks and whatever we have in and keep everyone here for a bit longer Moses and Elijah disappear Jesus looks the same as he did before he was transfigured and there's a voice from the heaven what's the voice say this is my son hear him message is the same this is my son hear him it's not the word of a man that's important but it's the Word of God it's not the attractive words found on a website or a well-known preacher that cow but what is it that God himself has said Paul contended with false apostles who were more popular than he was we contend with the internet we contend with the internet internet the Bible is neither a gumby of putty or a governing document for every sphere of life pulled here there and everywhere God has given to us this word and then he is given to us principles whereby we might govern our lives think of the book of Proverbs natural revelation natural law if you're dealing with laziness you don't have to turn to a particular text look at the ant even Solomon said the way of a man with a maid who can know it he's saying there are mysteries about the relationship between a man and a woman who can know it wisdom natural revelation the scriptures are given to us principally to reveal the way of salvation and the way of worship the scriptures are sufficient to reveal the whole truth of God in conjunction with God's revelation of himself John Owen wrote for is this was the last way and means that God ever designed for the discovery of himself as to the worship and obedience which he requires they go in saying the same thing so the person by whom he accompanied this work makes it indispensably necessary that'd be also absolutely perfect from which nothing can be taken to which nothing must be added under the penalty of the extermination threatened to him that will not attend to the voice of that profit and who is that prophet who is the final prophet who is the best profit who is the sufficient prophet but Jesus Christ God's own son the Saviour of sinners once again dear ones have you heard him and having heard him do you listen to him and for those who have not heard him really the application is quite simple turn to him and listen to him hear that word and believe believe upon the only begotten Son of God sent for us guilty sinners to save us and to deliver us from all of our sins God's last word its best word is sufficient word father in heaven we do thank you for the word in its entirety for that word which was given to the prophets many different times and in many different ways times passed for the message of that word and all that it says by way of prophecy concerning the of the Lord Jesus all that it tells us by way of typology but above all we thank you for that final word and completed word and sufficient word and glorious word in the word of the Lord Jesus himself and may he and his words and his works be the focus of our Christian experience and should there be those young or old who happen to be here today and for whatever reason I'd still be in their sins still not having turned to Christ would you pray that something within the word that was preached to them might spark an interest it might be used to the Spirit of God as he takes the word read and the word preached drives it home to the heart into the conscience we do pray that together all of us might be true believers in this great word of the Sun for we pray this in Jesus name Amen why don't we all stand together and sing the doxology if you don't know it it's Roman numeral 16 and your Trinity hymnals let's stand and sing the doxology together it was able from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy to God our Savior who alone is wise be glory and Majesty Dominion and power both now and forever amen please be seated we'll have a brief time of prayer and when the piano is finished your just met you