Repeat verse 5 again, and finish our consideration of the Bible's view of miracles, which is by no means exhaustive, but merely an outline of what the Bible does have to say concerning the subject. We've used Galatians 3.5 as a springboard, not improperly, because it is in the context of the whole of Scripture that you must understand what Paul is saying in Galatians 3.5. But we are not, this evening, going to consider his main argument, but consider our, or conclude our thoughts that we began last week about miracles. In Galatians 3 and verse 5, Paul was talking to the church at Galatia concerning his doctrine that salvation is by grace alone through faith, and that the works of the law do absolutely nothing to secure the favor of God for a sinner. One of the arguments that he used to establish his Doctrine that it was truly from God is in verse 5 Where he says to the church and asking them a question He therefore that ministereth to you the spirit That is the extraordinary gifts of the spirit and worketh miracles among you Do it be it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Paul then calls their attention to men who were working miracles and We noted these three facts in the text. Men did work miracles in the New Testament Church. The existence of men working miracles was so common, secondly, that Paul could mention it in passing without any great discussion of the fact that there were men who were working miracles. The third thing that we see from the text is that Paul indicates a major reason for the existence of miracles in the New Testament Church was to establish the authority of those who worked the miracles. Since the Galatians had seen miracles worked by Paul and those who were with him, why did they leave those who had the seal of God, by this power of God attending them, for those who had no working of miracles, the false teachers, who did not have the approval or the credentials that the apostles had of miracle-working power? Now today, Pentecostalism is sweeping the churches. It's making inroads into every kind of church. It's only a recent development, historically. It's developed mainly in the last 75 years of the history of the Christian Church. And the great momentum really has come since the Second World War. So it is a very recent movement. And because it is so recent, there are very few people who know what to think of it. It seems as if it would be impious to suggest that God could not come down with the power that he attended the church with in the early centuries. And so now we have what are called the Full Gospel Movement. We have groups like the Full Gospel Businessmen Association, as was meeting in Harrisburg in the last couple of weeks. And the very name Full Gospel is a reproach to us who have no such working of miracles in our midst. It implies that we have only eight-tenths of the Gospel, or some such thing. They have the full Gospel, and the implication is the rest of the Church is missing part of it. One of the most prominent questions, then, that is asked of me when I do visit people is, what do you think about these speaking in tongues and the healing of people that you hear about and read about in the magazines and everybody seems to be talking about? What do you think of it, Pastor? Shouldn't Men at Grace Baptist Church want to have miracle-working power like some of the men in the New Testament Church? Don't you want everything that the New Testament Church had? Don't you want all of the blessings of God? Miracles, you see, were blessings, not a curse. Don't you want all the fullness of the blessing of God? Is the question that's being put to you and to me. Now, we do not question that God can yet, in 1969, work supernaturally to do extraordinary things. As a matter of fact, he does. I believe God does heal people who are beyond hope medically in our generation. And so I would not hesitate as a Christian to take hopeless medical cases to God and to ask him in prayer to heal them. But I would not take them to men to be healed. And there's a great difference. And the Bible makes a distinction between God working miracles and men working miracles. The scripture is overwhelming in its evidence that men who do signs and wonders do them only in connection with the gift of prophecy. The chief purpose of humanly worked miracles, or God giving a man the power to do miracles, such as speaking in tongues and healing, throughout the Bible the chief purpose was for God to bear witness that this was one of his spokesmen. This was his prophet, who spoke by inspiration of God, who was, as the Old Testament puts it, as God's mouth to men. They were prophets who did such things. So that whenever you see a miracle, you should expect to find a prophet. And if there are men who are working miracles today, that is, when you see a miracle work by men, you should expect to see a prophet. If there are men working miracles today, we should expect that they are prophets and have the Word of God to speak to us. The miracles are to make you listen carefully to the messenger. That's the chief purpose that we find for them in the Bible. Even the satanic power of miracles is attending those who have a message from the Wicked One, they're false prophets. And even Satan gives his false prophets power to enforce the authority of their words upon men. That's the whole purpose of miracles, even used by the Wicked One, to make people listen to his messengers. They are not chiefly ends in themselves, to do great things to surprise people. Now last week we spent most of our time trying to show this and prove this point from Scripture, and we only looked at a few of the texts. So this evening I'm going to, in summarizing what we said last week, to use four texts that we didn't have time to mention last week. You remember Elijah's miracle on Mount Carmel in the Old Testament, when he called down fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice? You remember what Elijah was aiming at in that miracle? Listen to his prayer, and I'll read it to you from 1 Kings 18.36. Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word." In other words, his prayer was, send fire from heaven to consume this sacrifice to prove that I'm a prophet, and that I speak by inspiration, and that I have not come by my own authority. I have the very authority of God to command these people in the things which I have spoken. That's what he was looking for. in doing this miracle. And that's what all of the prophets in the Old Testament were doing with miracles. The miracles attested that Elijah was a prophet of God. It showed that he didn't speak for himself, but for God, and that's the Uniform Old Testament teaching concerning miracles. The same is true in the New Testament. When you look at the ministry of Jesus Christ and His performance of miracles, they were God's testimony that this is a prophet of God. Remember in John chapter 3, when Nicodemus came to Jesus? He had some theological questions that were unanswered. And so Nicodemus came to Jesus for the answers, and he opened up that nighttime interview with these words, Rabbi, we know, we know that thou art a teacher come from God. Demas, how did you come to that conclusion that he was a teacher come from God able to settle your theological questions? How did you know that this was an authority? He was a great teacher in Israel. How did he recognize that Jesus was a teacher sent from God? For no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him. When he saw Jesus healing the sick, he concluded, this is the prophet of God that was promised in the Old Testament, and he is qualified to tell me on the authority of God what I want to know concerning the truth of God. And so he came to Christ. Again, I say, if men are doing miracles, if men are doing them, we have the right to conclude that they are teachers, messengers from God, who are sent to be authorities to us. In Acts chapter 2 and verse 22, Peter rebuked those who crucified Christ for not believing in him. And he said, Jesus of Nazareth was a man approved by God among you. How did God approve Jesus Christ among the people? By miracles and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you. Miracles were God's testimony that he was the great prophet. By miracles, God was pressing the people to believe His Son in all that He taught them. That was the purpose of the miracles, the great purpose that the New Testament points out. We read Hebrews chapter 2. Look at verse 4. Turn there because we're going to be spending a little time in Hebrews this evening. What about the miracles in the New Testament church after Christ ascended? What was the purpose of those miracles? Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 4 tells you why there were so many miracles in the New Testament church. They attested that the apostles were in possession of the gift of prophecy, that they were the infallible spokesmen of God who must be listened to. Verse 4. Well, verse 3 begins by saying, the Lord first spoke concerning this salvation to us, the salvation of the new covenant. And what he said was confirmed by them who heard him, the apostles, God bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders and diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own will. And so the extraordinary gifts and miracles belong to the prophets and to the apostles who were God's spokesmen, who were the authoritative deliverers of the word of God to the church. So miracles are meant to attend God's prophets. And the question being asked, should men be doing miracles in the church today, is one and the same question with, should we have prophets revealing the truth of God to us today? Should we have men who are of an equal standing with the apostles and the prophets, delivering the authoritative truth of God in 1969? For where you see men working miracles, you should expect to find a prophet. Shouldn't we have men delivering revealed truth of God to us? And as a matter of fact, when you begin to look at the Pentecostal movement, you'll find that this is the claim of Pentecostalism. Often it's assumed and not thought through. And I think it's time that somebody brought Pentecostals face to face with what they are implying to the Church of Jesus Christ. For most of the wonders that are claimed to be done by Pentecostals today are things that cannot even be thought of apart from prophecy or revelation of the infallible truth of God. For instance, they speak about tongues. What is it to speak in tongues? To speak in tongues is to have the Holy Spirit take over total control of the speaking faculties of a man so that the man isn't even aware of what he's saying. It is the Holy Spirit speaking infallible truth through the voice of the man and the speaking faculties. That's essentially what the speaking in tongues is. And you cannot think of speaking in tongues without having prophecy, or the word of God, or the will of God delivered, verbalized to the Church of Jesus Christ. You cannot have visions, you cannot have dreams, apart from thinking about God communicating some truth or some will to the people in the pew. So without ever stating it so boldly, what Pentecostalism is claiming, for the large part of its so-called wonder-working, is that God is still speaking directly to the Church through tongue, and dreams, and visions, and so forth. This is the very claim of the Pentecostal movement. And those who are taken up with the Pentecostal movement have this attitude, though they haven't thought it through. If you have read any accounts of such meetings as the Full Gospel Businessmen meetings, or if you have happened to attend any, you'll find that when someone finally speaks with tongues, everybody gets excited and says, God spoke to us tonight. No excitement about the Word of God, it's that He didn't really speak through the Scriptures, but when somebody speaks in tongues, God's really spoken tonight, and the Scriptures take a back seat. But God's direct communication is exciting to people. And that's at the very forefront of the whole movement today. And man-performed wonders are taken as signs of God-given authority, and that's just what the New Testament indicates they are. So, we have in the Pentecostal movement people who are relying upon the Scripture plus the messages that are being delivered by tongue-speakers and vision-seers and dreamers And they are equated with the infallible truth of Scripture. God communicates by them as well as He does by the Bible. And it's very logical. For if we expect to see wonders, we should expect to have a prophet. And if we don't expect any more prophets, then we shouldn't expect to see any more man-work miracles. Our Church's position on this fact is extremely clear. Let me read to you a very brief paragraph from our Confession of Faith. The whole counsel of God, this is in the first chapter of the Confession, Article 6, the whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, necessary for man's salvation, necessary for faith, necessary for life, all things necessary for these things, for normal 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 the traditions of men." Now, you can't be any stronger on this whole point as to whether men are to expect profits in our day. The Scripture contains everything necessary for the Christian life. It is utterly sufficient. as our God, and it is our only authority, and to the Scripture absolutely nothing is to be added at any time, whether by dreams or visions or speaking in tongues or any such prophecy in our generation. So our confession asserts that no further revelation is to be expected from God beyond what we have in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. In other words, the Bible alone is our authority for life and practice. That's not true of those who run after the Pentecostal movement. They have the Bible plus something else, just as many of the sects of today. You see, Roman Catholicism says that the Bible is the revealed word of God, but so is what the Pope says when he speaks ex cathedra. That's the fly in the ointment, you see. Christian scientists say, well, the Bible's really God's word, but so is the writing of Mary Baker Eddy. Pentecostals say the Bible is God's word, but so are the messages that come from those who speak in tongues and have dreams and visions in our churches, you see. They have another authority in addition to the Word of God, which is spoken by present-day prophets. And our confession of faith speaks out strongly against it. Well now, what Bible evidence is there that our confession is correct? Upon what scriptures are these things founded? The early church did have the scripture plus prophets. You remember, Paul not only had the Old Testament to guide him, but he had prophets coming to him. Remember Agabus, who came to Paul and said, Bonds await you in Jerusalem. And other prophets came and told him God's will for the future in his life. Infallibly speaking, the will of God for the future. If you go to Jerusalem, you're going to be in bonds. That's the word of God to you, Paul. Well, should we expect to have them today? Our confession says, no, we should only have the scriptures and no prophets in our generation. Again, we have limited time for our survey of scriptural evidence, and we can only look at a very little bit of the biblical material on the subject, but we'll begin by looking in Hebrews chapters 1 and 2, and go on to looking at some of the texts that speak to this in the Gospel of John. Now, in Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1 to 3, first of all, we have a contrast between the Old Covenant revelation and the New Covenant revelation. Everywhere through the Book of Hebrews, Paul sets up a contrast between the Old Covenant and the New. And here in the first three verses, we have the contrast between Old Covenant revelation and New Covenant revelation, or Old Covenant prophecy and New Covenant prophecy. Notice, if you will, in the first verse, Paul says, the Old Testament was written at various times. God, who at sundry times or various times spoke unto the fathers by the prophets. There was a progressive unfolding of the truth of God in the Old Testament. It took many centuries for God to reveal all that he had to say. Hundreds of years. Thousands of years for God to give all of the revelation that he had under the Old Covenant. And the second thing he says about the Old Covenant in verse 1 is that it came by different methods. Some people saw visions, some people had dreams, some of the prophets heard voices speaking from heaven, sometimes angels came down and spoke directly to men. There were all different kinds of ways in which God slowly revealed His truth and it always was veiled somehow, as the Old Covenant was, somewhat restrained in its revelation of truth. But there is a contrast with the New Covenant. For we have come, verse 2 indicates, to the last days. We no longer are in that generation where things are being slowly revealed over a long period of time. Where there are many different ways of revealing truth. In these last days, God has spoken to us by His Son. And there it is. Jesus Christ Himself came, and that is the great consummation of all revelation. That is the grand finale of all prophecy. Jesus Christ Himself. He's come. And all of the scriptural revelation in the New Covenant centers in Him and comes from Him directly. Everything came at once in Jesus Christ. There's nothing needful for man that was held back for a later time. There weren't different methods or different procedures. All of it's connected with God the Son. And notice what a great thing it is to have this revelation in Christ in verse 3. No greater revelation can be imagined. Anything after Jesus Christ had come would be anticlimactical. It would be going backwards, not forwards, to return to visions and dreams and such things. For we find in verse 3 that this Jesus Christ, who is the embodiment of the new revelation, is the brightness of God's glory. All of the wraps have been taken off of the truth of God and the revelation of God, and in this person of Jesus Christ. all of the fullness of truth has been revealed to the world. He's the brightness of His glory. He's the express image of His person. He's fully and perfectly revealed all that there is to know concerning God. So that the greatest of all revelations has come in the Son of God who is called the Word of God, the very expression of all the truth of God in the flesh. This then, according to this chapter in Hebrews, is suggesting that the ultimate in revelation has come. God did reveal himself in Old Testament scriptures. But now the ultimate has come and we have it. We have it all in Jesus Christ the Lord. And he is fully sufficient to give us all that we need to know about life and about eternity. Well, then what about the apostles and the New Testament books that were written after Jesus Christ was here? Well, turn again to chapter 2, because at the beginning of chapter 2, the writer of Hebrews takes up again with his discussion in the first three verses in comparing the revelation. If the revelation that came by angels in the Old Testament had to be listened to, then certainly people will listen to this greatest of all revelations in the person of Jesus Christ. Well, what is that revelation? What is that great salvation that is so great that nobody dare disobey its truth? Well, that great revelation was spoken by the Lord and confirmed by those who actually heard Him. It was spoken by the Lord and written down for posterity by those who listened to Him and heard Him. And all of the New Testament miracles are bearing witness that they truly are connected with Jesus Christ. in Revelation. So Jesus Christ then is the grand period, exclamation point, end of report, to what God has to say to fallen man. The terms of this passage, as well as others in the New Testament, are terms of unreserved finality. In times past, God spoke in different ways and at different times, but in these last days, He's spoken in His Son. The fullness of God's glory is a very express image of His person. Nothing held back. This is it. Christ came in all of His fullness. Now turn to the Gospel of John. Chapter 1. And we'll just confirm some of these things by a few of the texts that we find in John. John's Gospel, Chapter 1. And at the very beginning of that, Gospel we have Jesus Christ called the word of God in the beginning was the word Here is the person who embodies all of the truth of God in Him in his person are hid all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge and when he became flesh all of that was made available to man in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God and when you come down to verse 14 and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and He is God, Jesus is. He is the expression of God. He is all the truth of God. And that's why later in the Gospel of John, he could say in chapter 14 and verse 6, I am the truth. They said, how can we know the truth? That's what the disciples were asking. He was about to go back to heaven. Well, Lord, what's our guide going to be? Aren't you going to leave us a prophet to tell us the truth? I am the truth. You've seen the truth. You've had the truth. What are you looking for? I am the truth. The whole truth, the last word in the truth. He is the complete truth. And that's when He dwelt among us. We have something greater than the Shekinah glory of the Old Testament. For the Shekinah glory that descended upon the temple was but a saint ray of the glory of God. But in Jesus Christ, we have God with us. In all of the effulgence of His glory unrestrained and unhidden. Well notice verse 18. The comparison between Christ as a prophet and any other prophet there has ever been. No man has seen God at any time. Not even Moses has looked full into the face of the glory of God. The greatest of the Old Testament prophets, Moses, never saw the brightness of the glory of God. He could only look at the back parts of God. But the only begotten Son, which has dwelt for eternity in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. Now we have the fullness of the Declaration. It's not like we're lacking something because we don't have prophets in 1969. We've already had the best of prophets, more than any man could imagine, to ask for himself in Jesus Christ. He has declared the Father perfectly fully, is the implication as we see it in the whole of Scripture. That's just what he did. Let's turn to John chapter 14, when we get to the end of his ministry and see that that's precisely what he did as the prophet of God. After they asked him, how can we know the way, tell us something about the truth, give us some guidelines for the future, he said, I am the truth. Then Philip had a question in verse 8 of John 14. Philip said unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it suffices us. Philip, after being with Christ for years, being with the very embodiment of all the truth that exists, He said, Lord, give us some revelation of the Father. Give us a vision, give us a dream, give us some kind of an experience that we'll see the Father, and then we'll be satisfied. And Jesus was disappointed in verse 9. Jesus said unto him, Have I been so long time with you? And yet hast thou not known me, Philip? Look, you've been with me, and you haven't seen me. He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. How can you say, Show us the Father, after being with me? How can you be looking for further revelation after you've seen me? The problem is not with revelation. The problem is with your blindness, Philip. You have the greatest revelation that man can imagine. All of the stops have been taken out. The Son of God in the flesh is with you. And then you say, won't you please give us a revelation? Show us your will. Show us the Father. Isn't that what Pentecostals are doing? We have the New Testament, which shows us Jesus Christ and all of the truth that's in him. And men are looking for some kind of direction by visions and dreams. They want to see the Father by some prophet who's speaking still. He that has seen me has seen the Father. Christ had held nothing back. He personified all truth that was ever needed for men. Look in John 15 and verse 15. What did Jesus say He did? He said, Henceforth I will not call you My servants, speaking to His disciples, for the servant doesn't know what his Lord does, But I have called you friends for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. I didn't keep some secrets for the future ages to be revealed by other prophets. All things that ever I knew of the Father I have revealed to you." Look at John 16, well John 17 for a moment. Jesus' report to the Father. Verse 4 of John 17. I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. What was the work that he was given to do? Well, among other things, he was told to be the prophet, the greatest prophet of all ages, the mankind. In verse 6 he tells us what he finished. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee, for I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me. And I have finished that job. I've finished the job of prophecy, I've given them the words, which you gave to me." Oh, there was still a problem. See, it's interesting, some people think that there's still something left for man to do in the atonement. Christ didn't quite finish the atonement, there's still something to be done by other men. He didn't quite finish the job as a priest, men still have to add something in order to salvation. Same thing is true if it's a prophet. Some people think Jesus never quite finished that job, and there's still something for men to do as prophets today. Let's look back at John 14 or 16 for a moment, because there was a problem, as I've already mentioned with Philip. The problem was not that the Church had received insufficient revelation, it had all that man could possibly ask for in Jesus Christ. The problem was with the ability of the Apostles and the Church to understand and to receive what God had said. Notice, if you will, in the 12th and 13th verses of John 16. Jesus said, I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. He already indicated in the 15th chapter that he told them everything that the father had told him. In principle, he had revealed all the truth. And yet there was some working out of that truth that was already revealed in his person that he couldn't tell them because they weren't ready to receive it. It wasn't because there was insufficient revelation of it yet, but it was because they were not prepared to receive it. And so in verse 13 we're told, how be it when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth. For He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak, and He will show you all things to come. And if you tie that in with verse 25 of John 14, you find the same promise, these things I've spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things, which I've already shown you. and bring all things to your remembrance, so that you can write them down, apostles, whatsoever I have said unto you." And so the Holy Ghost came to be an interpreter of what Christ had already revealed to the apostles. He had to come to illumine their hearts. And then those who wrote the New Testament books had to be those who heard Jesus. Interesting, isn't it? Look at Acts chapter 1 for a moment. Why was the New Testament church so insistent that an apostle be one who had been with Jesus from the beginning of his ministry to the end? It's for this very reason. It was delivered unto those who heard Jesus and were with him to record his word for future generations. Acts chapter 1, looking down at verse 21. When they wanted to choose an apostle, they said, Wherefore, of these men, which have accompanied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. The apostles were not revealing new truth as a new prophet. But they were merely recording by the aid of the Holy Ghost what Jesus Christ had revealed to them. Apostles, then, were those who had been with Jesus and seen in Him all of the glory of God. And thus we find that at the end of the days of the apostles there is an end of prophecy, an end of those who had been with Christ, and the fullness of the revelation had been recorded for His Church. We believe, then, in the utter sufficiency of the Scriptures. In other words, that the Bible is sufficient for every need of man in 1969. We believe that the Bible has universal authority. That it demands and directs man in every area of his life and thought. And this is an important distinction. For there are many people who believe in the inspiration of the Bible who do not believe in the sufficiency of the Bible. and who do not believe in the universal authority of the Bible. Ask Pentecostals if they believe that the Bible is inspired and usually you'll get the answer, yes, I do. But evidently it is not sufficient. There has to be yet other revelation from God to direct them. And often it's of very little authority as you attend their meetings and find that these experiences and exciting circumstances take over the place of the Word of God. at the center of their worship. You see, they're just like the Roman Catholics who say, yes, we believe the Bible's inspired, but it isn't sufficient. We've got to have the Pope to interpret it. Very little difference when you have evangelicals running to signs and dreams and tongues for guidance. Because they have not found the Bible sufficient as a guide in their life. Of sufficient authority, sufficient clearness. I believe the Pentecostal movement is a de facto admission that the Bible is insufficient as a guide. that it's incomplete, that it's lacking somewhere. And we deplore this lack of confidence in the Scripture. For everywhere is it indicated that since Jesus Christ has come, and since his apostles have recorded for us his revelation of truth, which is the fullest possible, it is perfectly sufficient in and of itself with the aid of the Holy Ghost for all of the needs of the Church and for sinners alike. Many are searching for God, speak in a meeting by means that are other than the words. And I think it's a way of despising so great a salvation, looking for some greater revelation yet. A lack of esteem for the Scriptures, deeming it inferior or insufficient. This is no slight issue then, but it's a major issue to the Church. Those who heard Jesus Christ were the last prophets, and they left for us all things which will thoroughly furnish us unto all good works." Thoroughly furnish us. Absolutely sufficient is the Scripture in and of itself. And we need not look for any new prophecies. And because this is the whole bent of New Testament teaching, that Revelation reaches its great and dramatic climax in Christ, I believe the words in Revelation 22 apply to all of the Scripture and not just to this one book. If any man shall add unto the things these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. If any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city from the things which are written in this book. God put a climax to his word of truth. This is no letdown to the Christian because God does not speak directly by prophets today or in visions. We have something far greater than what Pentecostalism is suggesting. We have the fullness of the glory of God revealed in the purpose of Jesus Christ and infallibly recorded by those who heard Him and were moved by the Holy Ghost. Sometimes by the sheer suggestion that this is an inferior position, Pentecostalism makes its headway, suggesting, oh, you people, all you do is read a dead book. We've got some living prophecy in our midst, is a suggestion, even if it's not stated that crassly. But really the testimony of the scripture is just like the hymn that we sing. I don't know if you've ever thought about the words, but we sing it. How firm a foundation ye saints of the Lord is laid for your faith in his excellent words. What more can he say than to you he has said? That's it. What more can he say than to you he has said? The Bible is utterly sufficient for every area of direction and instruction. Well, this does leave certain questions in the mind that I'd like to give some hints about very quickly. And those questions are these. What are you going to say about these experiences that people are talking about? People are talking about being healed, people are talking about speaking in tongues and having visions and dreams and they dream about something at a great distance and they go there and it's just like the way they dreamed it. What are you going to say about these facts, these evidences that you see in the Church? First of all, I'm going to suspect them because the Bible tells me that There are going to be many wonder-working false prophets, but it leads me to expect the end of prophecy and human miracle-working with the death of the apostles, so I'm going to suspect it, number one. And you'll find as you look into many of these movements that many people by them are being led into immorality and neglect of the means of real grace, and many people are being led into heresy. It's very interesting if you read the periodicals of the Full Gospel Businessmen Association. You'll find that one of the chief notes that sounded time after time after time is ecumenism. Because the whole movement is saying, well now look, here are the Roman Catholics that are speaking in tongues, and here are the liberals speaking in tongues, and here are the evangelicals speaking in tongues. This great experience is going to get us all together. We can't agree on doctrine, but we're all experiencing a common thing in this great movement of the Spirit of God. And that's exactly what's happening. They're filling their platforms with men who believe every kind of shade of doctrine, from Roman Catholic to liberal. And ecumenism is one of the forces in this whole movement. And in abandoning the means of grace, the normal means of grace, many souls are being sadly injured. But we still have to say that some of them are not in this sweeping tide of excess, and some of the people who practice these things seem to really believe in Jesus Christ, and that's a fact. And yet as you begin to look in the great mass of these experiences, you'll find that they're all together unlike what the New Testament is talking about. You'll find somebody talking about one day he had a headache and somebody laid their hands on him and the headache went away, which is not like the man who was lame for 38 years being raised up to walk. And you have people who are babbling emotionally with their tongues in something that's not anything like a language. And they call this speaking in tongues, altogether different from what the New Testament is talking about. Emotional experiences, no doubt, but wrongly named miracles in many cases. And I think if you reason in this way and see the excesses and really the very small things that are being labeled miracles, you'll very soon have only a few instances left to deal with it all. But you will find a few cases of sincere Christians who really seem to be healed through the laying on of hands of some man who claimed to work miracles or who really seem to talk in a foreign language. At least I've heard this. I've never met one yet, but people keep telling me there are such. But you will come, apparently, upon a few of these cases. What are you going to say about them? About these exceptions? Well, first of all, you have to remember that these same phenomenons are happening in the liberalist of churches. And the very same things are happening at Lourdes, over in Europe, where Roman Catholics go to a certain place and they throw away their crutches and they do walk away healed. How are you going to explain them? The point is that you're not going to overthrow the principles of God's Word for a few unexplainable cases of men's experience. There are some possible explanations. You've heard of psychosomatic illness. I'm sure that this is involved in some cases. Where the body is really in pain or distorted because of a mental disorder and obscured by mental power or a frame of the mind. But there's still some cases, no doubt, that you won't be able to answer. Are you going to scuttle one of the most important principles of God's Word of its sufficiency and authority because of one experience or a few experiences that you can't explain? Certainly not. Because this truth that the Bible is sufficient and the only authority for faith and life is the foundation of all else that we believe. And when it once opened the door that God can speak by prophets today, for this principle is contrary to the New Testament. Once open that door, and you've opened Pandora's box to every kind of excess and deceit. The Bible then is the perfect, sufficient, and only guide to life and practice and doctrine. And as we come to the Lord's table this evening, we don't come because we've found in our experience that it does something good for us, or because We think that God has spoken through a new prophecy in this day. We come to the table because of the express command of God's words. Jesus said this too, in remembrance of me. And thus in worship and in life, our life should be ordered around the word of God, and we should seek the Spirit to attend that word, but not apart from it. Let us pray. Our Heavenly Father, as we do come to the table this evening, our hearts have been very little prepared to think about your death on the cross, and our minds have been very little directed to self-examination concerning the great things which you have accomplished on our behalf for time and eternity. And yet, Lord, we have seen thee as a great prophet. and the one in whom is embodied all truth. And we come to the table this evening to gaze upon Thee, the crucified Lamb, who shows us the love of God as never any other prophet did. And as we come to the table, Lord, we see Thee revealing the justice of God as never any other prophet did. And we see Thee embody and reveal to us the way of salvation as never any other man spake. Lord, we do believe thy word and we believe in the great salvation that you've brought to us through your own death and resurrection. Help us then as we look to thee to have full confidence in thee as our great prophet and in the word which thine apostles did record. We pray it for thy name's sake. Amen.