Well, please turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 30. Proverbs chapter 30. I'll begin reading in verse 1. The words of Agur, the son of Jaqay, his utterance.

This man declared to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ukal. Surely I am more stupid than any man and do not have the understanding of a man. I neither learned wisdom nor have knowledge of the Holy One, who has ascended into heaven or descended, who has gathered the wind in his fists, who has bound the waters in a garment. who has established all the ends of the earth. What is his name, and what is his son's name, if you know?

Every word of God is pure. He is a shield to those who put their trust in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you, and you be found a liar. Two things I request of you, deprive me not before I die, remove falsehood and lies far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches, feed me with the food allotted to me, lest I be full and deny you and say, who is the Lord?

Or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God. Do not malign a servant to his master, lest he curse you and you be found guilty. There is a generation that curses its father and does not bless its mother. There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, yet is not washed from its own filthiness.

There is a generation, oh how lofty are their eyes, and their eyelids are lifted up. There is a generation whose teeth are like swords and whose fangs are like knives, to devour the poor from off the earth and the needy from among men. The leech has two daughters, give and give. There are three things that are never satisfied, four never say enough, the grave, the barren womb, the earth that is not satisfied with water, and the fire never says enough. the eye that mocks his father and scorns obedience to his mother.

The ravens of the valley will pick it out, and the young eagles will eat it. There are three things which are too wonderful for me, yes, four which I do not understand. The way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea, and the way of a man with a virgin. This is the way of an adulterous woman.

She eats and wipes her mouth and says, I have done no wickedness. For three things the earth is perturbed. Yes, for four it cannot bear up. For a servant when he reigns, a fool when he is filled with food, a hateful woman when she is married, and a maidservant who succeeds her mistress.

There are four things which are little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise. The answer of people not strong, yet they prepare their food in the summer. The rock badgers are a feeble folk, yet they make their homes in the crags. The locusts have no king, yet they all advance in ranks.

The spider skillfully grasps with its hands, and it is in king's palaces. There are three things which are majestic in pace, yes, four which are stately in walk, a lion which is mighty among beasts and does not turn away from any, a greyhound, a male goat also, and a king whose troops are with him. If you have been foolish in exalting yourself, or if you have devised evil, put your hand on your mouth. For as the churning of milk produces butter, and wringing the nose produces blood, so the forcing of wrath produces strife.

Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, thank you for the written Word. Thank you for Proverbs chapter 30.

We ask that you would give us the Holy Spirit now and guide us as we consider verses 5 and 6. We would pray for, again, the forgiveness of all sin and everything that darkens our understanding and help us to see afresh the glory and the beauty and the purity of God's Holy Word. And as we were exhorted this morning, as we hope to exhort tonight, May we love that word and may we find it to be our delight day and night. We ask this for your glory, we ask this for our well-being, and we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Introduction

Well, these are Proverbs attributed to this man, Agur. He is, in fact, the son of Yaqay, and he's writing to Ithiel and to Ukal. And he highlights, or he demonstrates, or he says right at the outset that he doesn't understand. There is a reality where God is incomprehensible.

That doesn't mean we can't know anything about God, but we will never be able to fully investigate and exhaust God. And so Augur recognizes this, and therefore Augur points these particular men that he's writing to, and us by extension, to the word of the living God. Notice what he says in verses 5 and 6. He says, Every word of God is pure.

He is a shield to those who put their trust in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you, and you be found a liar. So in the first place, I want to consider the purity of God's Word. And then in the second place, I want to look at this warning attached to God's Word.

We are prohibited here from adding to the Word of God. Now, Deuteronomy chapter 4 at verse 2, Deuteronomy chapter 12 at verse 32, and Revelation chapter 22 at verses 18 and 19 have similar warnings. Those particular passages make sure that we not only don't add to the Word of God, but that we don't take away from it either. And certainly, Augur would agree with that, but the emphasis here falls on the inability of man, puny man, low man, creaturely man to be able to add to the very Word of God.

The thought that we would even engage in such a thing ought to cripple us with with humility. The thought that we would ever think that we can suggest or put words on par with God's Word really ought to strike fear into our hearts that this is even something that the creature would even attempt to do. But

The Purity of God's Word

let's look first at the purity of God's Word.

Purity Reflects the Author's Character

Now notice this is an attribute. This is something attributed to God. God's Word. Every Word of God is pure, and the purity of the Word reflects the purity of the author.

It's a pure Word because the author of it is, in fact, pure. In the prophet Habakkuk, the Lord God, through that prophet, the prophet Habakkuk says, you are of purer eyes than to behold evil and cannot look on wickedness. So when we see verse 5, every word of God is pure, it's pure because God Himself is pure. Titus 1-2, the apostle Paul speaks of God in hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.

And then Psalm 31, the Lord Jesus echoes and quotes this particular Psalm on the cross when he commits his spirit into the hands of God. But in Psalm 31, verse 5, the psalmist there addresses God as, O Lord God of truth. And so the reality that every word of God is pure, that reflects the purity of the author himself. As well,

Purity Contrasts With an Impure World

the purity of God's word contrasts with this impure world that we live in. Now, Psalm 19 tells us that God reveals himself in two ways. He reveals himself in the book of nature, and he also reveals himself in special revelation, or the word of God. It's not that the revelation of God in nature is bad.

It's not that the revelation of God is twisted or it's incomplete, but rather we see that, we know that God exists, according to Romans chapter one, and it does that which it is intended to do. But man in Adam, man in sin, distorts. Man in Adam, man in sin twists. Man in Adam, man in sin reads Genesis chapter 1 and concludes there's no way that God could have created the world in the space of six days and all very good.

So he concocts these theories of evolution. He looks out at the created order, he denies God, he suppresses the truth in unrighteousness, and therein he concocts these theories, these fables, these myths, to try and explain reality around him. But the Word of God stands in contrast to that impurity. Every word of God is pure.

And I think that the purity of the word invites contemplation on the part of the creature. In other words, if God's word is what God says it is, then we ought to be students of it. The creator has spoken to the creature. The God of heaven and earth, the glorious being who did make this world and all things in it, the God who governs all his creatures and all their actions, the God who has orchestrated redemption by his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, has actually given you a book.

And you ought to read that book. You ought to examine that book. You ought to search that book. You ought to love that book.

In fact, another passage with reference to the purity of God's Word. The psalmist in Psalm 119.40 says, your word is very pure, therefore your servant loves it. The purity of God's Word results in this very practical implication. We love it.

It's something that our hearts delight in. The Christian, the believer, he doesn't hate preaching. He doesn't hate Bible reading. He doesn't hate family worship.

Now there's remaining corruption. He probably doesn't love it as he ought to. We don't always focus the way we should, but there is this desire in our hearts to love that which God has authored, to love that word that is in fact pure. So he says, every word of God is pure.

There's other passages that detail this. Psalm 12, six, the words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. That purification process, it yields that blessed alloy, that silver or that gold. Psalm 19, eight, we read it.

The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. And again, Psalm 119, 140, your word is very pure. Pure in and of itself is great, isn't it?

But God's Word isn't just pure. It's very pure. You look at a field that's freshly covered with snow. It's pure.

It's very pure. There's no sort of blemish on it whatsoever. And that's what the psalmist says concerning God's Word. And as a result of its purity, he says, I love it.

I love your Word. It's something that my heart delights in. C.H. Spurgeon comments on Psalm 12, 6.

He says, for truth, certainty, holiness, faithfulness, the words of the Lord are pure as well-refined silver. And then he goes on to say, the Bible has passed through the furnace of persecution, literary criticism, philosophic doubt, and scientific discovery, and has lost nothing but those human interpretations which clung to it as alloy to precious ore. The experience of saints has tried it in every conceivable manner, but not a single doctrine or promise has been consumed in the most excessive heat. I love that.

I think he's right on there in Psalm 12, verse 6. So not only those external things, hostile to and contrary to the Scriptures, but also the very trials and the experiences and the afflictions of God's people who have had recourse to that Word. The Word has never come up short, the Word has never come up lying, the Word has never come up impure for us. We all know that and can testify to that and highlight in heartily amen what Augur says here, every word of God is pure.

But notice, it's not only this attribute of purity, but notice the extent. He says every word of God is pure. It's a beautiful statement. It's not just some of it.

It's not just a part of it. It's not just the gospel records, but it's numbers. It's Leviticus. It's Deuteronomy.

It's Genesis. Every word of God is pure according to this sage. Now, of course, there are parallels to this. Psalm 119, verse 160.

The psalmist says the entirety of your word is truth. That's a beautiful statement. The entirety of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous judgments endures forever.

Old and New Testaments Both Pure

Of course, the New Testament equivalent or the New Testament parallel is found in 2 Timothy 3. You can turn there. 2 Timothy 3 highlights the same thing with reference to the extent of God's pure word. 2 Timothy 3, Verse 16, Paul writes, all scripture is given by inspiration of God. It's very important. You know, we all have our hobby horses, don't we?

We all have things that we gravitate toward. We all have sort of affinity with certain things in scripture. I hope we all have that. It's an assumption that I hope is good.

But you know, some are just given to prophecy. All they do is read and study prophecy. You get imbalanced that way. Others never look at prophecy.

You get imbalanced that way. Some really love the law. Well, that's great. We should all love the law, but we need to love the gospel too.

Some focus only on the gospel to the neglect of the law. It's the entirety of God's Word that is pure. Therefore, it is the entirety of God's Word that we are encouraged to search. It is the entirety of God's Word that we love.

And when the apostle says all scripture is given by inspiration of God here, he obviously means the Old Testament. Look back for just a moment at verse 15. That's primarily what's in view. Verse 15, and that from childhood, you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.

So Timothy, as a young man, was exposed to scripture by a godly mother and by a godly grandmother. That wasn't Timothy. Timothy didn't have the book of Timothy. Timothy had the Old Testament.

And notice what Paul says the Old Testament is able to do. It is able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. As we were reminded this morning, the prophets wrote of Christ. They set forth Christ in his offices.

They set forth Christ in his work. They set forth Christ as the altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. Now, Paul's statement in verse 16, all scripture is given by inspiration of God, certainly applies to the old, but it also applies to the New Testament as well. You have the instruction of the apostle Paul in the letters sent to the churches.

In the first place, he demands that his letters are read in the churches. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 27. He demands that his letters are exchanged among the churches in Colossians 4, 16. This is important because this idea that the apostles weren't really sure what it is they were doing, they were absolutely positively sure what they were doing. They knew of a truth what they were doing, and they did it very, very well.

So this thought that they just, you know, it was just this movement that was spawned, and they just sort of bumped into each other and out popped the New Testament. No, that's not the way it was. These men, moved by the Holy Spirit, wrote Scripture. Paul demands that his letters are read in the churches.

He demands that his letters are exchanged among the churches. He demands that his words, written in letters, are obeyed. They are obeyed. Now, I can tell you to obey Scripture, but if I have a particular word for you from my own heart, you don't have to obey it.

You have to obey what the Apostle Paul has to say. He also highlights that his words are taught by the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 2. And then there's a few specimen passages in the New Testament that highlight for us that the New Testament is certainly recognized as authoritative, infallible, and inerrant Word of the living God. Notice back in 1 Timothy chapter 5. 1 Timothy chapter 5.

Verse 17, let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. Here's the reason for that command. Verse 18, for the scripture says, you shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain and the laborer is worthy of his wages. You see, he quotes the Scripture there, an Old Testament passage and a New Testament passage.

He quotes from the book of Deuteronomy, and he quotes from the book of Luke, Luke 10, 7. The laborer is worthy of his wages. Both are called Scripture by the Apostle Paul. 2 Peter 2. 2 Peter 2. Again, this was alluded to...

I'm sorry, 2 Peter 1. This was alluded to this morning in the sermon we heard from 1 Peter 1. but in 2 Peter 1 at verse 19. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation. For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

And then look at chapter 3 in 2 Peter at verses 14 to 16. 2 Peter 3, verse 14, Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless, and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation. Beautiful thing, isn't it? The longsuffering of God, the fact that He has not consumed this dross, the fact that the earth still stands, we ought to interpret the longsuffering of God to be salvation. Have you ever looked around and thought, how in the world can we continue down the pathway we are moving?

I mean, you look at the world around us, and as one brother recently reminded us, there are monsters among us. There are horrible things that take place in this world. They're just wicked, wretched, despicable things. You might wonder, how much longer until the last of the elect are called by the power of the Holy Spirit?

That's what Paul says here in 2 Peter chapter 3. We need to interpret the long-suffering of our Lord to be salvation. There are still sinners out there. I've often wondered about the last of the elect that gets called.

Think about that life of sanctification. He gets saved and then Jesus comes. We're all going, boy, I wish that would have been me. That would have been great, wouldn't it?

Somewhere, somehow, at some particular time, that's going to happen. The last of you'll act will be called, and then our Lord will come. The reason our Lord has not come is there are sinners to be saved, and that is precisely Peter's point. Now notice what he goes on to say.

Consider that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation, as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you. Incidentally, this is one of the arguments for Paul's authorship of the book of Hebrews. Remember that Peter is writing to Jews. Paul the Apostle is the one that many respect or think wrote the epistle to the Hebrews, and this is a piece of evidence.

He has written to you, Jews. You believing Jews, he wrote to you specifically in the book we call Hebrews. But then notice specifically the attestation of Paul's writings to being scripture. Verse 16, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, and which are some things hard to understand.

Don't ever get discouraged if you don't understand everything in the word of God. Peter says there's things in Paul that are hard to understand. I would suggest there's things in Peter that are hard to understand. There's things in Paul that are hard to understand.

There's things in James that are hard to understand. There's things in David in the Psalms that are hard to understand. There's things in the gospel record that are hard to understand. Never, ever get down on yourself because I just don't get it all.

Well, you're never going to get it all. Let me just, you know, blast that myth. You'd be just as successful as putting the Pacific Ocean into a glass, as getting it all. Have you ever had that experience?

You know you've read through a passage maybe, I don't know, a handful of times, and then you pick it up again, you go, wow, I never saw that. Well, it's not like it just magically appeared. Or you hear a sermon, well, I never saw that. It's interesting, as preachers, sometimes people will come and they'll hear a sermon from somebody else and say, wow, I never knew that.

I've said it to you on 20 occasions over the last 20 years, but now they got it, so praise God. That's just the nature of the study, right? It's the way things go. But with reference to this idea of all Scripture being pure, there are these things that are difficult at times for us to get our minds wrapped around.

But then notice what Peter goes on to say, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also, look at the text, the rest of the Scriptures. So he appeals to Paul's writings, and he identifies Paul's writings as scriptures. So when we go back to Proverbs chapter 30, when we look at Psalm 119, when we contemplate 2 Timothy chapter 3 at verse 16, it is every word of God that is pure, both the Old and the New Testaments, each of the particular genre. the writings, which include the Psalms and the Proverbs and the Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon, the prophets and the law, all those things, every word of God is pure according to Agur here and according to other men. Now, there was a reprint of the Baptist catechism several years ago.

I think it was the fellows in the church in Grand Rapids. They did a shorter catechism, Baptist version. Of course, we have Keech's catechism back there. I encourage everybody to be familiar with those things.

They're great sort of summary statements and definitions of Christian theology. They're fantastic. Catechetical instruction is wonderful. Sometimes people hear that and they think, Roman Catholicism.

I think Protestants did it first. So if there's anybody that should get freaked out, it should be Catholics, not Protestants. Catechism is a good thing. It's a great means for you as parents to teach Christian doctrine to your children.

It's a valuable resource, and though it may not be experientially received by them at an early age, it's there. It's in them. And when, by God's grace, they come into that place of confessing faith in Jesus Christ, they know how to define justification, and they feel it, and they know it, and they benefit from it in a blessed way. So catechism, good thing, but these brothers in Grand Rapids supplemented a little bit to deal with particular challenges in our own generation and in our own day.

And number three in this particular edition of the catechism asks the question, are the scriptures trustworthy in all that they affirm? Remember the debates concerning inerrancy? Some of you may not remember that, but there was this big debate, and it probably still is lasting, as to whether or not the Bible is inerrant. Inerrant means that the Bible does not contain errors.

The Confession of Faith, our Second London Confession, doesn't say the Bible is inerrant. Better, it says it's infallible. Infallible means that the Bible cannot lie. Therefore, it necessarily follows that it does not lie.

If you have an infallible Bible, you certainly have an inerrant Bible. But these brothers are responding to the particular threats made against the Church and Scripture today. So the question, are the Scriptures trustworthy in all that they affirm? The Scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments, being God-breathed, are infallible and inerrant in all their parts.

Beautiful. In all their parts, we've never been called to pick and choose, we've never been called to weigh or consider or ask, is this what I think should be in Scripture? No, it's all God-breathed, it's infallible and inerrant in all their parts and are, therefore, trustworthy in all that they affirm concerning history, science, doctrine, ethics, religious practice, or any other topic. It's a great statement that we need to embrace and understand concerning the value and the integrity of God's Holy Word.

Implications: Sufficiency and Profit

Now, before we move on, what are a couple implications that we should draw out of this statement, every word of God is pure? In the first place, we ought to appreciate the sufficiency of Scripture. The sufficiency of Scripture. God's Word gives us everything necessary that we need for His glory and for our salvation.

In fact, our Confession says the whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man's salvation, faith, and life is either expressly sat down or necessarily contained in the Holy Scripture. Everything we need. You have a great resource in Scripture, a sufficient word from the living and true God for you to bring glory to Him and for you to know that salvation wrought out by Jesus. And then as well, the Word of God is profitable.

See, Paul doesn't stop after saying all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. He then goes on to highlight its utility, its profitability in the hearts and lives of God's people. It's profitable for doctrine. It teaches us.

It instructs us. It gives us the data necessary for God's glory, for our salvation. It is profitable for reproof. Brethren, do not shy away from reproof.

We all need reproof. We've all got issues. We've all got problems. This idea, when somebody reproves you, you flip out and you freak out.

What about you? We all need to be corrected. And the Bible does that. So it not only reproves us, but it's also profitable for correction.

Once God reproves us, He then sets us on the right path. He then sets us on the place where we need to be. And then it's profitable for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished unto every good work. Notice that, every good work.

Everything that pertains to life in this world, certainly salvation in the world to come, but also life in this world, politics, history, science, doctrine, ethics, religious practice, any other topic. The word of God is sufficient for us and it is profitable to us. Consider Psalm 119, verse nine. How can a young man cleanse his way?

By what? By taking heed according to your word. Psalm 119, 105. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Psalm 119, 130, the entrance of your words gives light. It gives understanding to the simple. Psalm 119, 133, direct my steps by your word and let no iniquity have dominion over me. Beautiful testimony to the integrity and the beauty and the glory of God's word.

Psalm 119 stands as a great beacon concerning the glory of God's word. And then of course, Jesus in John 17, 17, sanctify them by thy truth, thy word is true. And then back to Proverbs 30 at verse 5,

God as Shield to Those Who Trust

he says, every word of God is pure. That deals with the particular attribute of purity, deals with the extent to which it applies, every word. But then note the blessing attached. Verse 5b, it says, he is a shield to those who put their trust in him.

It's a bit of an incentive, isn't it? It's a bit of an enticement. That's a bit of a, go ahead, come on. Every word of God is pure.

He is a shield to those who put their trust in him. In other words, the word of God isn't simply given to reveal data. It does do that, and that's a blessed thing that it does, and we need to avail ourselves of that revelation of data, but it also invites us to a relationship with the living and true God. He is a shield to all those who put their trust in Him.

Bruce Waltke says the revelation of God aims to promote trust in the speaker, not simply to give bare knowledge. So every word of God is pure. He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Every word of God is pure.

Put your trust in Him. He will be your shield. That's incentivizing. That is enticing.

That is a blessing attached. to this particular statement that every word of God is pure. Not just bare knowledge, but a relationship with the one who gave us this word that is pure. Now, the specific background to this statement is likely David. King David in Psalm 18 and also 2 Samuel 22.

Both those passages are parallel. You can put them side by side and they say just about the same thing. A couple of differences along the way. But in Psalm 18.30, David said, as for God, His way is perfect.

The word of the Lord is proven. He is a shield to all who trust in Him. Think about that. Well, I don't think we do think about that because we're not wandering out into battle.

Those men we recently considered D-Day on Thursday, the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Shields are important, aren't they? Especially when you're storming a beach at Normandy. Without a shield, you are subject to execution.

You are subject to death. You are subject to passing out of this life. A warrior going into combat without a shield is very ill-prepared. What's the emphasis?

Those who are God's people going into the world without His shield-ship are very ill-prepared. We need God as shield, and probably the broader context is Genesis 15, where the Lord God says to Abraham, do not fear Abraham. He said, I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward. Consider this theme throughout the Psalter, Psalm 84, 11, for the Lord God is a sun and shield.

The Lord God or the Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly. Psalm 115, 9 to 11 highlights the fact that God will be a shield to Israel, to the house of Aaron, to those who fear the Lord. And then in Psalm 119, 114, you are my hiding place and my shield, I hope in your word.

Those are blessed concepts. And when Augur says every word of God is pure, he is a shield to those who put their trust in him. He means that. Why would you live your life without a shield?

Why would you go into battle without a shield? Why would you try to function in this world without a shield? If you have not put your trust in him, put your trust in him. Look unto the Lord Jesus Christ.

He will be your shield. The Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are safe. That is the beauty that we have with our blessed Lord. Remember this morning in John chapter 18, are you a king?

Jesus says, you say rightly. For this cause I was born. Our king is our shield. Blessed are those who put their trust in him.

John Gill explains the beauty of the shield, as a shield to protect such by his power and grace from all their enemies, sin, Satan, and the world, and also from all errors and false doctrines. Again, I think that's something we under-appreciate. If we had a man or men or women in our church that were looking at pornography, we would be very upset and we would want to discipline them. And yet, within our churches, there are people that are looking at the equivalency of pornography in terms of heresy and false doctrine and false teaching that is absolutely positively alarming.

There is some anti-God stuff that parades itself as being pro-God. There is some anti-Christian stuff that parades itself as being Christian. There is some anti-biblical stuff that parades itself as being biblical. We need to be aware, and we need to be in tune, and we need to understand that every word of God is pure.

He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him, and a shield is what you and I desperately need.

The Warning: Do Not Add to God's Word

Now, let's look at this warning attached to God's Word. Verse 6 says, Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar. Let's just get those other texts before us. Deuteronomy 4.

Parallel Prohibitions in Scripture

Let me turn there. Deuteronomy chapter 4. Isn't this beautiful? God not only tells us the positive.

Every word of God is pure. He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. There's this warning. See, we live in this world where there's always the true and there's always the false.

There's always the right and there's always the wrong. And God doesn't leave us without instructing us in the problems that attach with reference to the Word of God. We have that susceptibility to take away from it. And I remember a famous comedian one time saying, oh, I believe in seven of the Ten Commandments, and everybody laughs and all that sort of thing.

But how much is that actually the case with people? How much is that actually the way people function? Well, I like nine of them, but you know this other one, I just don't want that. No, the entirety of God's Word.

Every word of God is pure. You see, we need to understand that. But as well, we need to make sure that we not take away, we don't add. Deuteronomy 4.2, you shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you.

Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor, for the Lord your God has destroyed from among you all the men who followed Baal-peor. But you who held fast to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you. Deuteronomy chapter 12. Deuteronomy chapter 12, verse 32.

This is a great textbook, inspired textbook definition of the regular principle of worship. Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it. You shall not add to it nor take away from it. If anybody ever asks you, why do you guys not have bongo drums and puppeteers and mariachi bands in your church?

Because of Deuteronomy 12.32. Why don't you parade or have ponies walking up and down the aisle or pastors rappelling down from the ceiling with their headgear on and their holy jeans and their lattes? And I don't know if they do all that at once with the latte and the rappelling, but I'm sure that'll be the next step, the next phase. Deuteronomy 12.32.

Brethren, you and I have problems conducting the daily affairs of our lives, let alone orchestrating how it is to be the case that we worship the God of heaven and earth. See, we're not supposed to encroach on that territory. It isn't innovation. It isn't creativity.

It is obedience that God demands when it comes to worship. But 1232, whatever I command you, be careful to observe it. You shall not add to it nor take away from it. And then Revelation 22.

Revelation 22. Verse 18, for I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the book of life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Now, keep these passages in mind, because if we add to the Word of God, according to Agur, then the Lord will rebuke us. What does that mean, the Lord rebuking us? Well, it's right here. If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book.

It's the same as in Deuteronomy 4. 2 is the prohibition, but 3 and 4 indicate the punishment or penalty. Don't be like the men at Baal Peor that committed fornication with those Moabites and engaged in gross wickedness and God destroyed them. You are not to be that kind of person. So when it comes to this whole idea of adding to the Word of God, this is a prohibition against addition to the Bible.

Doctrinally, this means we reject the sufficiency of Scripture. Doctrinally, if we add to the Word of God, it is to suggest that the Word of God is insufficient. It needs something. It needs some supplementation.

It needs some addition. It needs something to sort of round it out. But as well, practically, in terms of the status of a man who would think that, it's arrogant pride, isn't it? To think that you and I can add to God's Word?

That is just outlandish. Matthew Henry makes the observation. He says, this forbids the prohibition here of agar. Do not add to his words.

This forbids the advancing of anything, not only in contradiction to the word of God, but in competition with it. I thought that was masterful, the way he points that out. It's not just that which is in contradiction to the Word, but it's that which is in competition to it. As if somehow our addition will fill things out and will help God.

He goes on to say, yet if it pretend, or rather he says, though it be under the plausible pretense of explaining it. There's a great danger here for preachers, teachers, interpreters. We need to make sure that we're giving what God's word actually says. We're not giving what we hoped it would say, or what we want it to say, or what we think it should say.

He says, though it be under the plausible pretense of explaining it, yet if it pretend to be of equal authority with it, it is adding to his words, which is not only a reproach to them is insufficient, but opens a door to all manner of errors and corruptions, which, again, should be self-evident.

Who Adds to God's Word

Now, who does this? Every word of God is pure. He is a shield to those who put their trust in him. Do not add to his words.

Why that prohibition? Who potentially adds to the Word of God? Well, in the first place, unbelieving Jews. The unbelieving Jews have a book, it's called the Talmud.

And the Talmud is made up of two things, the Mishnah and the Gemara. And Mishnah is basically oral interpretation of the Bible, and then Mishnah is commentary on that. You see, Jesus reproved the religious leaders of his own day in Matthew chapter 15, highlighting to them that they held, on equal par, the traditions of men. So don't think that this doesn't happen.

It absolutely, positively happens. Roman Catholicism. Sorry, but that's just the way it is. Papal tradition and the traditions of men.

But not only Jews, Papists, but also Charismatics. This idea that we have received this word from the Lord that's not scripture is wrong. Gil says, he calls them enthusiasts, that's what they used to call them, Charismatics and Pentecostals. He says, and as all enthusiasts do, who set up their pretended dreams, visions, revelations, and prophecies upon a foot with the word of God or as superior to it.

Again, brethren, this isn't not done. This is done by Jews, by Romanists, by Charismatics. Our confession, again, I already quoted the sufficiency of Scripture. 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.

Now listen to this last clause. Unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelation of the Spirit, charismaticism, or traditions of men. In the 17th century, they saw the propensity and they wrote or commented about it. So there's Jews, there's papists, there's charismatics, but

The Danger Among Believers Themselves

I want to go one step further and suggest that it may be us as well. It might be you and I, the well-meaning believer. We get a B in our bonnet, we think there's a way to obey God that everybody else ought to do it too. You're looking at me puzzled, okay, I guess I, maybe it's just me, you know, sympathize with me, pray for me for, you know, after this sermon.

But I think it's in a lot of God's people, this desire to be the Lord over other people's consciences. This is typically what goes on, fundamentalism, this is typically what goes on in reform as well. I've quoted many times Charles Hodge from his systematic theology. He says, it is a common saying that every man has a pope in his own bosom.

That is, the disposition to lord it over God's heritage is almost universal. Men wish to have their opinions on moral questions made into laws to bind the consciences of their brethren. We don't want Christian liberty. We want everything our way.

We want our preferences to be a part of the Ten Commandments. We want our focus and our desire to be the law to bind every other man. Brethren, if you have a preference in something that happens to work and you encourage somebody with that, that's fine. But if they don't opt to do it, you cannot hold them in contempt.

That's simply unacceptable. Well, I gave them advice. It's like pastors. People come to pastors for advice.

Sometimes it's not specific texts and specific passages. And you ask a question, well, I'll give you an answer. If you don't follow that advice, that's OK. There's no potpourri here.

I don't have a big hat, and I don't have that chair's just a regular chair. There's no ex cathedra going on there. I may give you advice, and you may not like it, and you may not take it. That's OK.

Do you understand? We're not to be the lords of each other's consciences. We're not to hold things over person's heads. We're not to make laws where God has not.

We're not to legislate where the Lord has left freedom. We're not supposed to go back to the old covenant theocracy and assume the posture of Moses for our brethren. That is not our calling as God's people. Our calling is to obey God.

Our calling is to respect Christian liberty. Our calling is to understand that the Ten Commandments are what binds God's people. And what we have found to work in terms of application is not necessarily on par with the commandments themselves. We need to be aware that this temptation to add to his words is in our hearts.

Now at the end, Augur makes this statement. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar. You receive the judgment of God. This is the response of God to a person who denies the sufficiency of Scripture.

This is the response of God to a person who arrogantly thinks that their words are on par with God's words. It is right, legit, and glorious that God rebuke such a person that tries to be a rival lawmaker with God himself. So on the part of God, you will be rebuked. But on the part of man, you will be found a liar.

You see, church history is filled with page after page vindicating the heroes of the faith. And what did the heroes of the faith do? They preached accurately the Word of God. That's it.

That was their claim to fame. What marked the blessedness of a Calvin or a Luther or an Owen or a Spurgeon? I mean, where in do we hold them up as heroes? In that they accurately proclaim the truth of God.

But those same history books, page after page, reveal those who lied. And the liars are those who added to the Word of God. They are those who subtracted from the Word of God. Those who did not confess with augur that every word is pure.

They didn't do that, and therefore, they are found out as liars.

Application

Well, in conclusion, I'm going to make a couple practical observations, and then we'll close. First, the purity of the entirety of God's Word. That's a good thing for us to consider and ponder. The purity of the entirety of God's Word.

The recognition that the purity of the Word reflects the purity of the author. Now, in having said that, God, the pure author, oftentimes reveals to us impure man. Doesn't he? I mean, I don't know if you all are getting this benefit on Wednesday night, but isn't it wonderful to see God's grace, God's mercy, God's forgiveness?

You see Abraham, you see Lot, you see the various persons in the Old Testament, and they're a foil. to show and demonstrate to us that there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. I was commenting to brothers yesterday, there's a book by David Steinmetz called Luther in Context. And one of the things that Luther really liked in the Bible wasn't the virtuous man, he liked the man of vice. Not because Luther wanted to sin, not because Luther wanted to go out and do wicked things, not because Luther wanted to, you know, get drunk and uncover himself or anything like that.

But in the vices that we see in the men of God, we see the grace of God. We see the forgiveness of God. Now, for the genuine believer, there is never that yearning, that desire to say, wow, you know, God forgave David, so I'm going to go out and commit adultery and murder too. No, the believer doesn't do that.

The believer is constrained by that Roman 6.1 ethic. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? May it never be.

I don't want to sin against my God. But if I do sin, I have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous. That's who Noah had. That's who Abraham had.

That's who Lot had. That's who all the men of God in the Old Testament had. That's who David had. See, David doesn't ever use that experience to say, wow, you know, I got away with it once.

I'm going to go out and do it again. No, that's not the genuine Christian response. The genuine Christian response is, I don't want to sin against God, but if I do sin, I have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous. As well, the recognition that we possess a pure word in an impure world.

I think this is getting more and more important for us. The brother this morning alluded to it. The activity that happened in Toronto this past week shows us this. There is animosity.

There is antipathy, enmity against the word of the living God. It's getting to the point where to even mention God or Christ is just horrifying to the unbelieving mind. It is to invade them. It is to harass them.

It is to just betray them. It is to be a horrible person in their sight. Brethren, freedom of speech is going to ultimately be freedom of speech as they determine it. And we need to be aware of that.

And we need to thank God for a pure word in an impure world. And then the recognition that the purity of God's word extends to every word. Brethren, I really encourage you to read your Bibles every day. Now, I get it.

There's things that come up and hinder you from that. But let's be honest. We've got it pretty good here in the West. We have cars.

We have all of the, what's the word, amenities to make life pleasant and delightful and to free up time. Notice how we always find time in each day to eat. I'm guessing that's true because we're all here, we're all breathing, so we've all taken that time along the way to stop and eat. We need to find time to eat God's Word, the entirety of God's Word.

Don't just focus on one particular area. Don't just highlight one particular passage. Understand that we do gravitate to things that interest us, and there are times when we need to go to things that perhaps aren't as interesting, because the entirety of God's Word is pure, and we need to search it out. Bridges says, if every word is pure, take care that no word is slighted.

How few range over the whole revelation of God. Secondly, we need to understand the propensity to add to God's word. I have recently shared with a couple of the brothers a quote from C.S. Lewis.

I wondered how I was going to get it into a sermon, and I was able to do so. Listen to what Lewis says. Okay, here's where I want to caution all of us, not just the Jews, not just the Papists, not just the charismatics that have a propensity to add to the word, but you and I do too. Now, Lewis wrote this in a particular essay called The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment, if anybody's interested in searching that out.

It's in the book God in the Dock, essays on politics and ethics, or ethics and politics. And he's specifically speaking to the civil state. He's talking about the government and the way that they deal with men. But I think there are ecclesiastical implications in this quote.

I think that the church needs to guard against what the state is being warned against by Lewis in this particular situation. Because remember, when you and I add to the Word of God for the benefit of our brethren, we do it out of love. We do it out of a desire to see good in their hearts and lives, don't we? But our motivation doesn't justify our addition to Scripture.

Please remember that. You may have in your head the desire to do good to your brother. If you add to God's Word, he's going to rebuke you and you're going to be found a liar. Here's Lewis, again, civil state, tyranny, and I'm not saying everything by C.S.

Lewis is phenomenal. I think he had issues in his theology, but he's spot on here. He says, of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies." Again, civil state, but the church too.

The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep. His cupidity may at some point be satiated. But those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end. for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to heaven, yet at the same time likelier to make a hell of earth.

Their very kindness stings with intolerable insult." Again, you may not feel the full weight of that particular statement as applied to the civil sphere. You probably will eventually. But presently, just like you don't want the government involved in your life where God has not authorized them, neither do you want moral busybodies within the context of the church doing that either. Do not add to his words lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.

This is grave stuff. This is serious stuff. It's not just a Jew thing. It's not just a papist thing.

It's certainly not just a charismatic thing, but it can be a reformed thing, too, when we are the moral busybodies that make laws over people where God never has. So brethren, please take this to heart, enjoy and delight in the entirety of God's Word and respond like the psalmist. Because it is truth, I love it.

Closing Prayer

Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for your Word. We thank you that every Word of God is pure. We thank you that you are a shield to those who put their trust in you and keep us from this grave sin of adding to that Word or taking away from it. but give us the grace to be obedient and to be submissive to that authoritative, infallible, and inerrant word of the living God.

And grant us help to be faithful in our own society, help us to be faithful in our families and in our churches, and help us in all things to bring glory to you, our great God. We ask that you would go with us now. Please protect us and watch over us in this coming week. Keep us by your spirit, keep us by your truth.

And we pray in Jesus' name, amen. We'll close with a brief time of meditation and then be dismissed.

Scripture References

• Genesis 15:1
• Deuteronomy 4:2; 4:3-4; 12:32; 25:4
• 2 Samuel 22:31
• Proverbs 30:1-33; 30:5-6
• Psalm 12:6; 18:30; 19:1-14; 19:8; 31:5; 84:11; 115:9-11; 119:9; 119:105; 119:114; 119:130; 119:133; 119:140; 119:160
• Habakkuk 1:13
• Matthew 15:1-9
• Luke 10:7
• John 17:17; 18:37
• Romans 1:18-21; 6:1
• 1 Corinthians 2:13
• Colossians 4:16
• 1 Thessalonians 5:27
• 1 Timothy 5:17-18
• 2 Timothy 3:15-16
• Titus 1:2
• 2 Peter 1:19-21; 3:14-16
• Revelation 22:18-19