I invite you this morning to open your Bibles to 2 Timothy 3. 2 Timothy 3, we're going to be working this morning through verses 10 through 17. 2 Timothy 3, beginning in verse 10. 2 Timothy 3, beginning in verse 10, let us give our attention. to the Word of the Lord. You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness. my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra, which persecutions I endured, yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, Continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." And thus ends this reading of God's holy, inspired, and inerrant Word. Both this month and this year are massively significant for Christians. This month and this year are massively significant for you and for me. The reason for this is because it was in this month, the month of October, that Martin Luther ignited the Protestant Reformation, and it was in the year 1517 that he did it. which means that this month, October 2017, marks the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Let me quickly set the stage for you. Martin Luther was a trained lawyer turned theologian who was born in the year 1483 in Germany. We learn from his writings that he was, like most pastors are, a rather stubborn man, one who was both brilliant and at the same time, polemical. He became an Augustinian monk after what he perceived to be a near-death experience when he was caught in a lightning storm. So Luther became a monk. But Luther was no ordinary monk. You see, he took God's law seriously. And therefore, he was wracked with guilt over his sin. In fact, we are told that Luther would spend upwards of six hours a day confessing his sins, seeking relief, seeking mercy, seeking this unattainable forgiveness. The more that Luther grew in his understanding of the scriptures, the more Luther grew in recognizing his own sin. At the same time, the more that Luther grew in his understanding of the Scriptures, the more that Luther came to see the aberrant teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. As you can imagine, this all unsettled and provoked Luther. So it all came to a head on October 31st, 1517. A young and ambitious, perhaps naive, Luther approached the castle church in Wittenberg, Germany. And there on its front door, he posted what are called the 95 Theses. These 95 Theses were complaints or concerns revolving around Roman Catholic doctrine and practice that Luther wished to debate. And it was historically this event that marked the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. So as I said, this month, October 2017, 500 years later, here we are together gathered. And what do we do as Protestants when we gather? It's interesting that the word Protestant comes from the Latin meaning to testify publicly. So you may or may not know this, but you are gathering together this morning 500 years later to publicly testify. And what you are publicly testifying against is, there's no point in mincing words, Rome. A Protestant is a protester, do you realize that? So, the question before us is, what are we protesting? In general, the errors of the Roman Catholic Church, but in particular, the distortions in and false gospel of both medieval Roman Catholic theology as well as contemporary Roman Catholicism. You see, that is what we are against. But what are we for? I mean, let's be real, you can't just say what is wrong, at least you shouldn't, you should also have to say what is right. So what do we stand for? What are Protestants for? What are we all about? What is the heartbeat of our life? Well, the battle cry of the Protestant Reformation revolved around five Latin solas. Sola Scriptura, Sola Christo, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, and Soli Deo Gloria. Now, as Eddie already mentioned, sola is a Latin word that simply means alone or only. So today we would say this scripture alone, Christ alone, faith alone, grace alone, and to the glory of God alone. or if you will allow me to say it in a slightly different way, we as Protestants, we gather together this morning to confess that salvation is by grace alone, in Christ alone, through faith alone, to the glory of God alone, as revealed in scripture alone. That is our battle cry. Those are the hills we die on. So what we are going to do this month in celebrating the Reformation is that we're gonna spend, as Eddie said, the next five Sundays in October exploring these solas. And as we do so, my prayer is that you and I would revel in the wonder of our triune God, the one who saves us for our good and for His own glory's sake. So we begin this morning with Sola Scriptura. But why? Why do we begin with Sola Scriptura? Because true Christianity, the truth of the gospel, true gospel preaching, it all depends upon what? A firm and unwavering commitment to the authority of the word of God. Do you understand that Sola Scriptura is the foundation of it all? Let me put it to you this way. Either God has spoken or he hasn't. Either God has revealed himself or he hasn't. Either God has communicated to us who he is, who we are, and how we can be saved, or he hasn't. And if he has, where has he done it? In other words, if God has spoken, if God has revealed Himself, if God has communicated to you and I who He is, who we are, and how we can be right with Him, where do we find it? The answer in the Scriptures. But here is the rub. not just in the Scriptures, but in the Scriptures alone, in the Scriptures alone. Hence, what historians call the formal principle of the Protestant Reformation, sola Scriptura. Isn't that what the Apostle Paul is telling his protege Timothy in the passage that we've just read from this morning? In a world that is filled with trials and tribulations, in a world that is riddled with evil and impostors, in a world that is quite literally bursting at the seams with uncertainty and deception, you, Timothy, you, Christian, you must look to the Scriptures alone. For it is the scriptures alone that are inspired, inerrant, infallible, sufficient, clear, authoritative, and necessary. My friends, those are the attributes of sacred scripture. Again, inspired, inerrant, infallible, sufficient, clear, authoritative, and necessary. And it is to those attributes that we now turn. For it is those attributes that get to the heart of what we mean as Protestants when we confess sola Scriptura. Let's begin with inspiration. That word inspiration, you'll find it, well, you won't find it, but it comes from verse 16, doesn't it? All Scripture is breathed out. I believe the new King James says, all Scripture is inspired of God. The term in Greek, just so you know, one that was most likely coined by the Apostle Paul himself, we have no other record of this word being used before 2 Timothy 3.16 ever. Paul probably coined it. He did so by combining two words, the first, theos, which means God, and the second word, pneu, which means what? To blow or to breathe. So the word literally means God breathed. God breathed. Scripture is the breath of God. It means that the Bible in your laps this morning, hear this, the Bible in your laps, the very words that are on the pages that are in front of you, they are not merely human words. No, they are words that come from God, words from your Creator, words from your Redeemer. He has breathed them. He has spoken them. Now, let's also be quick to note that when the Bible speaks about the Bible being inspired, it does not mean that it is always inspiring, right? That's not what it means. Inspired and inspiring are two different things. God's Word might be inspiring at particular times. So, for example, if you are struggling to believe that the Lord is for you and with you in a specific season of life, you may read Psalm 46.1, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Now, that's super inspiring, isn't it? Or God's inspired word might be quite uninspiring at another time. So for example, let's say that you are living a life of sexual immorality and you think that God will overlook your sin. You may read Hebrews 13.4, let marriage be held in honor among all and let the marriage bed be undefiled. For God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous." Now, unlike Psalm 46, that inspired word is super uninspiring, isn't it? The point that I'm trying to make with you this morning is that when we confess the inspiration of the Bible, what we are confessing is that God has breathed, God has exhaled, and that breath, that exhaling, that is what you have in your lap this morning, the very words of the Lord. And because they are the words of the Lord, because they come directly from God, these words are, they are by definition Inerrant. Inerrant. That is to say, they are without error. You see this whole thing teased out in verses 13 and 14. Verses 13 and 14, while evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived, but notice the contrast, but as for you, Continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it." Right? So in verse 13, you have what? You have evil people and impostors. And what are these evil people, what are these impostors doing? Well, they are deceiving and being deceived, aren't they? Falsehoods are abounding. Error is being proliferated. Untruths are spreading like a wildfire. So in the midst of all of this, where is the Christian to look then? Verse 14, but as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed. Speaking, of course, of the Scriptures. Do you see the contrast? In verse 13, you have evil and imposters and deception and error. So therefore, to escape it, verse 14, flee to what you've learned. Flee to what you know. Flee to the inerrant Scripture. Beloved, the Scriptures are inerrant, again, without error, because they come from God, and God is without error. We can say it this way, because God Himself is full of truth and not error, so the Scriptures are full of truth and not error. Now, we also, in a related vein, as Protestants confess that the Scriptures are infallible, What does that mean? Infallible means that the Bible is incapable of teaching any error. Do you see the distinction? It's not just that the Bible is inerrant without error, it is that the Bible is incapable of error. Think, for example, of a phone book. You can, at least in theory, right, you can have a phone book that is inerrant, right? All of the names are spelled right, all of the addresses are up-to-date, the phone numbers are good and accurate. You can, in theory, have a phone book that is inerrant, without error. But nobody would argue that the phone book is infallible. While it may not contain errors, no one would argue that the phone book is utterly incapable of errors. And yet, that is the difference between inerrant and infallible. That is the difference between a phone book and the Word of God. The Word of God is incapable of making an error. Why? Because, and here we have come back to inspiration, because the Bible proceeds from God. It originates with God. It is breathed out by God. This all means, of course, that the prophets didn't zig when they were supposed to zag. It means that the apostles recorded every word perfectly. Not just thoughts, not just ideas, not just vague generalities, but we would confess actual words. Every single syllable is without mistake. That's what we mean. How on earth can this be possible? How can this happen? Again, because the words are not merely human words. 2 Peter 1.20 teaches us this. that men spoke from God, I love the way this is translated, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. It doesn't necessarily tell you how, it just tells you that it's true. Unlike the phone book, God the Holy Spirit is involved in the writing of the Bible, in the writing of Scripture, in a deep, in a mysterious and a wonderful way. so much so that God's Word is perfect, and it could be no other way. Now, this all leads to perhaps one of the most neglected and essential truths of Scripture, namely, the sufficiency of Scripture, the sufficiency of Scripture. It's been said that the battle for the Bible in the 19th century revolved around the Bible's inspiration. Then, in the 20th century, the battle for the Bible revolved around the Bible's inerrancy. And now, today, in the 21st century, what is the battle that we are fighting? The sufficiency of Scripture. Sure, some will say, we have the Bible, but it's not enough. I need signs and wonders. I don't know about you, but I need a fresh word for today. I need liver shivers. I need visions and dreams. I need a new prophet or a new apostle. I need something more, something deeper, something better, and something more relevant. Now, of course, it's not always put so crassly, but people do want more than the Bible. They want to supplement sacred Scripture. They want to supplement sacred Scripture with either experience or emotions or still small voices or God talking personally and privately to them outside of His revealed and written Word. You must know this is what many professing Christians crave today. But hear me well, the word of God need not be supplemented. The word of God is sufficient. The Word of God is sufficient first for knowing God, for knowing Christ, and for knowing salvation. That's what verses 14 and 15 are saying, isn't it? That the Bible is sufficient for knowing who God is, who Christ is, and how we can be saved. Verse 14, but as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, that means the Scriptures. which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. So let me ask you, do you want to know who God is? Do you want to know who Jesus Christ is? Do you want to know how you can be made right with God? Look to the word. Look to the word. The word is sufficient for such things. And. The Word of God is sufficient second for living the Christian life. In other words, the Bible is not only sufficient in telling us who God is and how we can be right with Him, but the Bible is sufficient for how we can walk with Him. Verses 16 and 17, all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man or woman of God May be what? Competent, equipped for every good work. So do you want to be a man or woman of God who is competent? Do you want to be a man or a woman of God who is equipped for every work that God has for you to do? That sounds pretty far reaching, doesn't it? Then where are you to look? You look to the scriptures. You look to the Scriptures for they are sufficient, brother and sister. We need not look elsewhere. We dare not look elsewhere. And yet, the fact of the matter is, day after day, we see the sufficiency of Scripture directly challenged. For example, Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong, if you know his name, you ought not to. John Shelby Spong, he wrote this, this is back in the late 80s, but considering everything going on, and you'll understand what I mean in a moment, you can see how relevant this is. In the late 80s, he wrote this as he was reflecting upon the Bible's view of sexuality. I stand ready, writes Bishop Spong, to reject the Bible in favor of something that is more human, more humane, more life-giving, and dare I say, more God-like. More recently, and perhaps hitting a little closer to home, you have someone like Sarah Young and her book, Jesus Calling, where she writes in the introduction, and I quote, I knew that God communicated with me through the Bible, but I yearned for more. I decided to listen to God with pen in hand, writing down whatever I believed he was saying. Now, outside of this context, if I were to ask you, what do John Shelby Spong and Sarah Sarah Young have in common? We wouldn't really know. Except they do share one thing in common, and that is a complete and utter rejection of the sufficiency of scripture, and when you do that, when you go there, You are not merely supplementing the Bible. Make no mistake about it, you are supplanting the Bible. And when you do this, when you set aside the Word of God, you set aside the God of the Word. Now when we confess Sola Scriptura, we are confessing again that the Scriptures are inspired, they are inerrant, they are infallible, they are sufficient, and we also confess they are clear. They are clear. We are affirming, in no uncertain terms, the clarity of the Bible. So what do we mean by that? We mean, when we speak of the clarity of the Bible, that the saving message of Jesus Christ, okay, His gospel, it is plainly taught in the pages of Scripture, and it can be understood by all who have ears to hear. We see this, don't we, in verse 15. It is the sacred writings, again, the Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. You see, the Bible points you to Jesus. The Bible points you to Jesus, the one, the only one who can save you from your sin. That is really the Bible's message, isn't it? When you distill it all down, the Bible is a message about how God saves guilty sinners, just like you and just like me, in and through faith in Jesus Christ. You see, that's how the sacred scriptures are able, verse, what is it, 15, to make you wise for salvation. And that message, that reality, It is clear. It's not hidden away somewhere in the Bible. You don't need to count like the third letter of the fourth word of the first paragraph and try to decrypt this like magical code. Nor do you need some magisterium to tell you what the Bible teaches. No, we as Protestants confess the Bible is clear. It tells the wonderful story of a God who saves by the giving of His Son for people just like me and people just like you. Now, with that being said, we want to be equally clear about what clarity doesn't. So for example, when we confess the clarity of the Bible, that does not mean that there are no passages in the Bible that are hard to understand. Quite the contrary, there's a lot of Bible passages that are hard to understand. And we share a good company because in 2 Timothy 3.16, Peter himself acknowledges, what? That some of Paul's writings are a tough nut to crack. So clarity does not mean simplicity. We want to acknowledge that there are passages, there are doctrines that are tough for you and I to understand. Nor does the clarity of Scripture mean that every single person on planet earth will understand the Bible. We must remember that this is first and foremost a spiritual work. The gospel is veiled to unbelievers, 2 Corinthians 4.3. John 3.19 tells us that people turn away from Christ and His truth. Why? Because they love the darkness rather than the light. So clarity is the result of both the Spirit's work of regeneration and of illumination. This is why we pray each Lord's Day before we approach the scripture that we're going to be preaching from, and we ask the Holy Spirit to help us. For you and I to understand the Bible, we must first be granted new life by the Spirit, that's regeneration, and then that same Spirit must open our minds to understand and to believe and to revel in and to exalt in what His Word says. That's illumination. So, the Holy Spirit is involved lockstep on this journey. And finally, the clarity of Scripture does not mean that we will agree on the interpretation of every single text in the Bible. Faithful Christians differ on issues, for example, related to baptism or eschatology. Believe it or not, this stuff actually happens. Christians disagree on what the Bible teaches about certain issues. That's okay. The point is that when we confess the clarity of Scripture, we are confessing that the saving message of Jesus Christ, His gospel, that is what is plainly taught in the pages of Scripture, and it can be understood by all who have ears to hear. What is clear is not necessarily the events surrounding the return of Jesus Christ, but who God is, who we are, who His Son is, what His cross accomplishes, and how you and I can be brought into a saving relationship with Him. That much is all crystal clear. When we speak of the authority of Scripture, the authority of Scripture, we are saying that the last word goes to the Lord, which means that the last word goes to the Word of the Lord. In other words, when God speaks to us in His Word, He is not offering suggestions. He is not just giving you and I some really good advice that you and I might think about taking if we so desire. No, when God speaks, He only speaks one way. And that's authoritatively. And therefore, we are required, therefore it is incumbent upon us to listen and to obey. We see a glimpse of this in verse 16, don't we? Verse 16, the Scripture that is breathed out by God is what? It is profitable. Profitable for what, you ask? Well, as the passage says, profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. And so be certain that teaching, that reproving, that correction, that training, it is all authoritative. It is all authoritative. What God says is true. What God says is right. And therefore, as those who are committed to the authority of Scripture, we must never allow the teachings of science or of human experience or of church councils to take primacy over Scripture. For they are not authoritative like God's Word is authoritative. So for example, and each one of these is true that I'm going to share with you, when a cosmologist tells you with a straight face that something came from nothing, we shake our heads. Or when a friend tells us that God told them to leave their spouse, we part ways. Or when a pope says that Muslims worship the same God as Christians, we must dissent. Why? Because the Scriptures are our authority, plain and simple. And we bow the knee, not to hunches, not to whims, not to opinions, not to men and not to women. but to the Lord of glory who has spoken to us in His authoritative word. Okay, beloved, when we confess all the scriptura, let's recap and we're bringing her to a close. When we confess all the scriptura, we are confessing that the scriptures are inspired, inerrant, infallible, sufficient, clear, authoritative, and finally, necessary. They are necessary. We are saying without any reservation that the scriptures are absolutely necessary. What do I mean by that? I mean that general revelation, as it is often called, is not enough to save us. We cannot know God savingly by means of personal experience or of human reason. Rather, we need God's Word to tell us again who we are, who Christ is, how we are to be saved, how we can live a life pleasing in His sight. The Scriptures, you see, are necessary for this task. There is no substitute. Put it this way, you can't wander around outside and observe chipmunks and get saved. You can't isolate yourself in your office, turn off the lights all by yourself, and think and reason your way to God. Nature's not enough. Your intellect isn't enough. We need the word. Why? Because it is the word that contains the gospel, and it is the gospel that is the power of God unto salvation. Looking at chipmunks doesn't save you. Thinking about you doesn't save you. We need a word from God. Listen to that great declaration, for example, from Romans 10.13. Romans 10.13. for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord, speaking of Jesus, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So how is one saved? How are you saved? How am I saved? Well, by calling on the name of the Lord. That's how. People have to call upon Jesus to be saved, which is simply here a metaphor for faith. That's what he means by calling, right? Mute people can be saved. It's a metaphor for faith. But notice how the passage continues, beginning in verse 14. I'll read it to you if you're not there. How will they call on Him whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? These are all really good questions, aren't they? If it is by calling upon Jesus that people are saved, they need to know Jesus, right? So they can call upon Him. And how are they going to know Jesus? Well, someone has to preach Jesus to them. But where is this Jesus found who is being preached? In other words, where do we find this Jesus who we are to call upon, and when we do, He saves us? Enter verse 17, you know the passage. Faith comes by hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ. The point as Romans 10 unfolds, people are saved as they place their faith in the Son of God, which happens only when the Spirit of God grants new life as the Word of God is open. Salvation comes as spirit and word work together in the heart of an individual. This is what we mean, beloved, when we say that the scriptures are absolutely necessary, they are necessary because it is the scriptures alone which testify of Christ, the one who saves. This is what makes the ministry of the Gideon so imperative. If we have no Bible, we have no saving word from God. If we have no saving word from God, then we have no way to be saved. If we have no way to be saved, we have no hope. This is why the scripture, do you see why the scriptures are absolutely necessary? Absolutely necessary. It's no surprise that there is much that is vying for your attention and my attention these days. So let me ask you. As we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, where is your foundation? Where will you stand? The truth of sola scriptura reminds us that there is only one inspired, inerrant, infallible, sufficient, clear, authoritative, and necessary revelation from God to you and I. And it is the Word of God, the Bible. And we mustn't be moved from that conviction, not today, not tomorrow, and not ever. Well, in the spirit of the Reformation, I feel like I should quote some Reformers. Let me close with men that are more brilliant than I. It was this conviction of Sola Scriptura that led John Calvin to make the following statement. Listen to this well. For scripture is the school of the Holy Spirit in which as nothing useful and necessary to be known has been omitted, so nothing is taught but what is of importance to know. Okay, now I know you'll never read Calvin because that's too confusing. Let's try Holdren's Zwingli. He said this, the foundation of our religion is the written word of God, the scriptures. It was this conviction of Sola Scriptura also that provoked Martin Luther to make his famous speech in 1521 at the Diet of Worms, a trial to either get Martin Luther to recant, or if he would not, to convict him of heresy, which was, in this time, a capital offense. And when asked if he would recant, Martin Luther responded famously this way. But since then your majesty and your lordships desire a simple reply, I will answer without horns and without teeth, unless I am convinced by sacred scripture and plain reason. For I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other. My conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither safe nor right. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen." Let's pray together this morning. Our great God, the one who creates all things, the one who gives us a life. You are also the one who reveals yourself to us. You have revealed yourself, O God, to us in the incarnate word. And in the written word. We confess our sins before you this morning for too often we do not revere you or your word. We don't tremble. We don't bow. We don't treat your word as we ought to. We take it and we take you for granted. We play fast and loose with you in your word. We approach you in all sorts of cavalier manners. We pray, oh God, that you would forgive us for our high treason. We thank you for Christ, for his life, his death, his resurrection, the very life and death and resurrection that is told of us in the scriptures. We thank you for the forgiveness of sins that is found in Jesus alone. We thank you for the Holy Spirit who opens our minds that we might understand the gospel in your word. We pray this morning, oh God, that you would give us a renewed passion for you. and for your word, and we pray that as a result of this renewed passion for you and your word, that we would come to esteem your word as more valuable than gold, yes, much fine gold, and that your word would be sweeter to our taste than honeycomb. We ask these things, O God, because we cannot do it on our own. We ask these things, O God, in the name of Jesus, your Son, our Savior. Amen.