be with you again, and I do bring greetings from Trinity 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 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? And 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 1 through 4. Remembering again, this is the word of the Lord.
God, having of old times spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by diverse portions and in diverse manners, hath 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 worlds, 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 hath 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 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 and certain 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.
Introduction: Two Revolutions
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, the 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. As 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. With that in mind, I think we also need to remember that Luther's protest must not be seen as something that was entirely negative. We use the term, and rightly so, of Protestantism, 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 protestare, which is a compound. It's made up of two words, pro or for, and testare, to testify to something.
A Protestant is not one who is so much or is so much one who is negative, but a Protestant is one who is positive. He's 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 we'll look at this morning. But you're familiar with them, this affirmation, this declaration, sola scriptura, the Bible alone, sola Christus, Christ alone, sola gratia, grace alone, sola fide, faith alone, and sola 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.
Sola Scriptura, 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 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.
And they believed in grace, and they believed in faith. And 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 a little different today than it did in his day. The world is full of Elmer gantry types 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.
Six Things Scripture Teaches About Itself
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.
Scripture's Source and Paternity
First of all, notice with me from these verses 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 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 abruptly, 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 in Antioch, he goes to the synagogue, and there, after 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.
It'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 then 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 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 and return, much like the book of Galatians focuses upon returning to aspects of Judaism, especially circumcision. John Fesco is one of his books. John Fesco teaches at Westminster Seminary in California. The book of Hebrews is much like, and the book of Galatians, much like a prisoner of war being released from a prison camp.
And he spent years and years in terrible conditions, a horrible jail cell, and food barely even edible. Now he's released from prison. And as he's released and he's taken back under the care of his own country and the military perhaps has gathered him up and taken him to a military base. And there before him is the most wonderful meal prepared, the finest steak on the planet, everything that he would love to eat.
And he looks at all of that and he says, Nah, I don't think so. I think I'll go back to my prison cell. I really miss that watery soup and all of the rest of the things." We say, well, how absurd. But that's exactly what the writer wants to communicate and wants to convey.
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 wrong-headed turn in a wrong-headed direction.
And so he says, God, God, in our English translations, the first word, God, having of old times spoken unto the fathers and the prophets by diverse portions and in diverse 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 alliterated. And if you know anything of my sermons, I'm drawn to alliteration. There'd 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 alliterated, 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 canon 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 view or 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 in which God said absolutely nothing at all. Think of the 400 years between the closing of the canon of the Old Testament and the coming of John the Baptist and 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 F.F. Bruce says, He has spoken His revealing, redeeming, and life-giving Word, and in His light we see light. Our author is thinking of that special revelation which has been given to us in these two stages. So, we come to this passage and we realize, first of all, God has spoken.
It's paternity, that is, it's source. Where does it come from? It comes from God. And secondly, and relatedly, almost redundant perhaps, but needs to be stressed,
Scripture's Authority
notice it's 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 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 F.F. 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 statement 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. It wasn't all given at once.
Begin with the 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 speaks. And God who is truth always speaks truth. Now 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 and Chapter 10, and the distinctions to be drawn between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.
His emphasis is different here. His 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, typologies found in the old.
And again, 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. 2 Timothy chapter 3, a 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 inerrant. It does not err. comes to us with authority.
Scripture's Finality in the Son
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 grammar, we call it anarthrus. There's no definite article. 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 when a word does not have the definite article, it often speaks of its character and of its uniqueness.
And here the text emphasizes not only character, but an absolute change of category. Here was God speaking at different times in different ways, using different men, prophets, but now something's altogether different. There's a change of category. There's an intensification here indicating the solemnity of God speaking.
The Son is the ultimate category of revelation. The Son is the ultimate category of revelation. Here is phraseology suggestive of the words of the Son and the works of the Son, 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 sort of hold out the last and the best card until 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 the character of the son that is emphasized and is the focus for the text. He appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds, 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 is 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 and 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 possesses in himself all the qualifications to be the mediator between God and men. And Philip Hughes says, this contrast too 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 its leadership, its priesthood, and its kingdom belong uniquely to Him who is the eternal Son." Paternity, authority, finality. Now
Scripture's Beneficiaries
notice something that 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 in a fragmentary way, choosing the time and the prophet and all of the rest. Now, in these last days, in His Son, to us, to us, His new covenant people, no better, than the people who lived before, no less sinful, every bit as needy. But 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, we think all too often of the sin all around us, and the degradation, and the shift 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.
These are 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 writes to us. For he is a man, but rather wonder that God wrote the law for men 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 provincer 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.
Scripture's Perspicuity
Fifthly, we see the Scriptures and their perspicuity or their clarity. Our confession draws attention to this in Chapter 1. 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 7 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'm one of the Lord's simple ones, but God makes wise the simple. Well,
Scripture's Sufficiency
sixthly 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 2nd Peter that God has given to us everything necessary for life and godliness, 2nd 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 ye 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 a word that functions. It functions as God's last word.
John R. DeWitt, in 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, and 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 2 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 of 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.
The Scope and Limits of Sufficiency
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 design 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 it's important to remember this. It's not a manual of auto repair. I have a friend in Cuba who, as long as I've known him, probably almost 10 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 raises pigs. He actually raises pigs in the churchyard. Imagine the windows open on a very hot day here and there was a pig pen right outside the window or the doors.
Well, he does that. You always know when you're coming to church. Trust me, you always know when you're coming to church. But I've never yet seen him take the Bible and open it to a particular text that would help him repair his car.
Nor have I seen him take his Bible and open it to a 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 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. It just isn't.
Doctors go to medical school, and yet we turn to the Bible and we often look for tips as to help us how to live better, healthful lives. But it's not designed to do that. It's not a manual of political theory. There are a 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 at 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. 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 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 Renahan and others have called Biblicism. The individualism that marks the way we often come to the Bible and interpret it.
Dr. Renahan refers to it as the hermeneutics of person and place, divorcing ourselves from the scriptures themselves 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 ruled 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. Calvin says 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, 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.
Application
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 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's spoken clearly. He's 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 than 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's spoken clearly. He's spoken finally.
He's spoken authoritatively. And above all, it is God Himself who has spoken. And he has not stuttered. Not every verse is as easily understood as every other, but the main thing can be easily understood.
Will you hear him or will you listen to the siren 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 ones with long lists of degrees, the ones who have written famous books.
Beware 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 Son.
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've 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 keep things as they are. Moses and Elijah and Jesus, let's build these temporary booths out of sticks and whatever we have 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 heaven.
What's the voice say? This is my son. Hear him. The 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 count, 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. 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 has 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 as 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." I think Owen's saying the same thing. So the person by whom he accompanied this work makes it indispensably necessary that it 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 prophet." And who is that prophet? Who is the final prophet?
Who is the best prophet? Who is the sufficient prophet? But Jesus Christ, God's own Son, the Savior 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, His best word, His sufficient word.
Closing Prayer
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 in times past, for the message of that Word and all that it says by way of prophecy concerning the coming 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 might still be in their sins, still not having turned to Christ, We do pray that something within the Word that was preached to them might spark an interest and might be used of the Spirit of God as He takes the Word read and the Word preached, drives it home to the heart and to the conscience. We do pray that together all of us might be true believers in this great Word of the Son. For we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.