St. Timothy chapter 3. This morning, I want to start off by asking a somewhat basic, maybe even silly question. What is someone without breath? The answer to that, someone without breath would be someone without life. When we breathe in, so as we are all doing right now, by God's grace, we are breathing in. And when we breathe in, air flows into our lungs. And from there, oxygen is picked up by red blood cells and carried to the body. The air, by God's providence, is taking life to the body, giving it life. The air is giving life to the body. When a body part goes without oxygen, tissue damage quickly occurs, followed by loss of function and then death of that body part. Our body parts, even the smallest of body parts that we have cannot live without air, without oxygen. Lifeless without air. Lifeless without breath. That's true of each of us. We would be lifeless without breath. And unless the Lord returns first, that will be this flesh one day. Air will pass from this body and for a time it may still look like life, but it will not be. For where there is no breath, there is no life. In Genesis 2-7, we see who the giver of life is. Genesis 2-7, Then the Lord formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. We see here that who the giver of life is, that God is the giver of life, that He formed man, but man was not yet alive. But then yet he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man lived. And then we see in our text this morning that God is not only the giver of human life, the giver of animal life and of plant life and life to the angels and so on. Yes, he brings all of these things to life and he sustains that life. But He has also brought something else to life. That is His Word. Turn with me to 2 Timothy 3.16. And when you find it, if you'd please stand this morning as we reverence the reading of God's Word. 2 Timothy 3.16 All Scripture is breathed out by God. Let us pray. Father, this morning we are thankful for your Word. Lord, we are thankful that it is not like any other Word, it is not like any other book. Father, for this is your Word. This is the Word of the sovereign God of the universe. Help me this morning to preach from it rightly, to preach of it rightly. Father, I pray that You would give us ears to hear, Lord, that we would hear Your Word preached, Lord, and that it would be applied rightly. We pray that, Father, this service and this preaching of Your Word would be for Your glory and for the good of Your church. I pray that You would help me this morning. In Christ's name, Amen. Very simple sermon this morning. Very simple title. And that title is God Breathed. God Breathed. Our text this morning says all Scripture. It's very short. All Scripture is breathed out by God. I want to work through that statement. This statement. All Scripture is breathed out by God. The first word of this statement we see is all. This is the Greek word pas. Pas. Means the whole. The entirety of. So we have all Scripture. And I want to start this morning by defining Scripture. So I hope for us to see this morning, first, Scripture defined. What is Scripture? We see here in the text that Paul uses the word that is translated as Scripture. What is Scripture? There's different things that you could say here for this, but most simply, it is God's written Word. What He has written. What He has written to His people. It has been given to them. What He has written about Himself. What He has written about His people. What He has written about His will. What He has written about His gospel. To declare truth with authority. This is God's Word. The sovereign God of the universe. The creator and sustainer of all. From whom all life flows. The Alpha and Omega. The beginning and the end. The first and the last. The one true God, Yahweh. Just stop for a moment before we really get into the text and ponder that thought. What is Scripture? It is the Word of this God. To His people. to His people that have sinned, to His people that still sin, who have broken His law, who have been willfully and boastfully disobedient. And He has saved them and given them a book. His Word. What a marvelous fact that the God of the universe has graced the world with this book. His book. What Paul refers to here in our text as Scripture. So one might ask, when Paul is using this word Scripture, what is he referring to here? What does he really mean when he says, all Scripture? Is it just the Old Testament? Is that what Paul is speaking of here? I don't believe so. I want you to notice that there is a distinction here from the wording of sacred writings in verse 15. So I'll read verse 15. So just go back one verse. and how from childhood you've been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. So, verse 15, what is translated as sacred writings in ESV, if you have the King James, it's translated as holy scriptures, which supports that the writings we refer to now as scripture or as the Bible, they're holy, they're from God, But there is a little bit of a difference here in what I believe Paul would be referring to. In verse 15, Paul is not speaking of all Scripture, but rather what Timothy had been taught from his youth. So he says, and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which were able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. He is referring here to the Old Testament. And then Paul in verse 16, he says all Scripture is breathed out by God. All Scripture. Which would have very much included the Old Testament. Paul is not leaving that out here. That is included. But I don't believe what Paul is speaking here as being God breathed is limited to the Old Testament. But rather all Scripture. Hendrickson writes that this means everything which through the testimony of the Holy Spirit in the church, is recognized by the church as canonical that is authoritative. I believe Paul would be speaking here of the completed canon. Some may argue that and point out that the canon had not yet been completed when Paul was writing this. And they take the view that he could only possibly be referring here to the Old Testament. If you take this view or one similar, I believe you're misunderstanding what Paul is saying here. I believe Paul to be referring here to the completed canon even though it had not yet been completed. Because the only qualifier that he gives here is all Scripture. All. All Scripture. All Scripture that was already completed and would be completed. And we won't get into this very much today. But verse 17, I believe, supports this. So verse 16, all Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. That all Scripture is breathed out by God. And the man of God can be complete because he has God's completed Word to his people. This firmly supports the view of Protestants, that we have a completed canon. The man of God is fully equipped. There are no more prophets. There are no more apostles. In this day, there are many out there that claim to be prophets. There are many out there that claim to be apostles. And to have that view, this belief that there are prophets and apostles, is to reject the idea of a completed canon. That this is God's completed Word to His people. This is why what happens in so many, you could say, charismatic circles today is dangerous. The speaking of in a made-up tongue and someone is interpreting it in a known tongue as the Word of God. It is not just a harmless difference in doctrine. It is at odds with Scripture. It is at odds with our text. If God is continuing to speak to people and give these revelations through tongues, then how could someone be fully equipped unless they have heard all of these revelations from all time, from all over the world? They're missing out on something that God has told this group or that group. And so they may be somewhat equipped, but they don't have all of His Word. That's not what the text says. Fully equipped. I do want to be charitable and gracious. We could get into Rome, adding books and labeling them as scripture. I won't be as charitable there. But the idea and belief of a completed canon is extremely important. It's not something we should neglect or gloss over. And we need to understand that this idea of a completed canon is being undermined in less obvious ways than we realize today. We have a completed canon. God's Word to His people is complete. What is the completed canon? It is these 66 books. Quatro taught on this in his teaching on Rome. It was very good. I don't have time to get through all of it, but I fully recommend that to you. And so very quickly, what is the completed canon? It is these 66 books. And we must defend the view of a completed and closed canon with these 66 books. A closed canon, none to be added, none to be taken away. Votie Bauckham writes on this. The Bible was written on three different continents in three different languages by more than 40 authors. from many different walks of life contained in 66 volumes with hundreds of different subjects written over a period of 1,500 years. Some believe this takes away from the credibility of the Bible, but it actually adds to its reliability as a collection of documents. It is not one man out of the blue making a claim of his own, but it is a collaboration of sources that all align with one overarching story. The Bible is not one book, but a compilation of books that fit perfectly together despite being written through different personalities, cultures, and time periods. We have here in this completed canon 66 books by over 40 different authors spread out by time and distance. And it agrees perfectly. The church did not give us this book. Rome most certainly did not give us this book. These 66 books are not given to us how they are because of any counsel or reformation. This is not the reason they are considered Scripture. The contents of the books themselves attest that they are the words of God. We have canonical Scripture because God has made it to be so. All Scripture. All Scripture. That is the scope. And now that we have seen the scope of what is considered Scripture, that every part of Scripture is included, we need to understand the nature of its inspiration. What does God mean when He says that Scripture is God breathed? Scripture defined? What is Scripture? That is all 66 books. The completed canon. We see Scripture defined. Now I hope for us to see Scripture inspired. All Scripture is breathed out by God. What does that mean? It means this is the very Word of God. His very words, authored by God. Some translations will be inspired by God. You know the old saying, I think Quattro has used it several times, if you want to hear God speak, what should you do? Read His Word. If you want to hear God speak out loud, what should you do? Read His Word out loud. This is His Word. It is God's Word. It is inspired by God. It is God breathed. This is essential to the Christian faith. that Scripture is not men writing what they think about God or what they have learned from God. And while those things are true in a sense, it is much more than that. It is so much more than that. It is His very Word, God's very Word given to men. And that has great implications. We see the very character of God displayed in His Word. Its origin and its distinctiveness come from God Himself. Remember verse 15. Those sacred scriptures. This word in the King James is translated as holy. Now this is not the same word that is translated as holy when talking about God being holy. But this word can be translated as holy as belonging to a deity. And we know that there is only one who is a deity. Who is that? That is God. That is Yahweh. He is the only God. The one true God. The only God who can be described as holy because He is the only true God. Who do we read in Scripture as being holy? Whose name is holy? It is Yahweh. It is God. So how then can the Word, how can Scripture be referred to as sacred? as belonging to God. If God is holy, why are we okay with this book saying Holy Bible on its cover? Because it comes from He who is holy. He is holy. He is set apart. He is separate from all else. Free of sin. And so is His Word. It is His Word. It is God's Word. It is not just any old writing. It is God-breathed writing. He breathes life into it. God-breathed. That is theopneustos. This Word actually occurs nowhere else in the Bible. Although the idea is found throughout His Word. But it is God-breathed. His breath. We read Scripture correctly when we read it with the understanding that God is saying it. As if we were before Him and audibly hearing it from Him. This is His Word. This is why, if you go back to chapter 2, verse 9, this is why Paul writes, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal, but the Word of God is not bound. This is why the Word of God cannot be bound. Why can it not be bound? Because it comes from God, who Himself cannot be bound. Paul could be bound. Timothy can be bound. We can be bound. But God cannot, and neither can His Word. Not only can man be bound, but his words can be bound. Any other book would not have survived what has been attempted against this book. Men and women, entire governments have sought to destroy it for centuries, but they have failed and will continue to fail. Why? Because they cannot bind or destroy the One within its pages. God lives and so does His Word. And we have a completed canon inspired by God. This is as opposed to inspired by man. This inspired by God, this breathed out by God, sets the Word of God apart from any and all other knowledge, writing, information, and so on. They cannot be compared. What we have in every single writing outside of Scripture, even good writing, Even writing that we love. Books that point us to Christ. Even our confession, whom we love. And I'm going to quote here in just a minute. Even the best theology books. Authored by man. What we have in these is exactly that. Books authored by man. Capable of error. Capable of being wrong. That is not true of this book. It is inerrant. We'll look at inerrant and infallible in just a moment. It is authored by God. Without God's breath in these words, they're just lifeless words. Just as man was without God breathing into him. Just lifeless form. But, just as He has breathed life into man, He has breathed life into this Word through His Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1, 20 and 21. Knowing this, first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man. But men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. So Peter, he's writing there and he's saying, look, this didn't come from us. This prophecy, what we are writing, no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man. But men spoke, how did they speak? They spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. This is God's Word. Some will look at this book and they will go from book to book. They'll go from Exodus to Chronicles to Timothy to Matthew to Mark, Luke, John. They will go to it and they'll say, each of these books, there's a different style. There's a different language. The writing is different. And some will argue and say, well, because of this, this cannot be the word of God. Because the style is different from book to book. This is not a good argument. Yes, we agree. These were merely men. We don't hold Paul as being. A deity, we don't hold Paul as being God, we hold Paul as being merely a man. The same with all others who wrote Scripture. We agree with that. But we also attest that this is God's inspired Word. The human authors were not inspired men. They were not perfect men. The personalities of the writers were not suppressed, but rather directed by the Holy Spirit. John 14, 26, But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. One commentator, he writes that inspiration, God's inspiration, is organic and not mechanical. You may say, well, what does that mean? We must understand that God's providence and sovereignty, they were behind the scenes of Scripture, in the lives of the authors, bringing them upon the scene at a certain time, causing them to undergo certain experiences. Think of all the experiences, everything that Paul went through. It was not by chance. Everything, the shipwrecks, the snakebites, the being stoned, none of this was by chance. God was not just directing Paul's words as he wrote Scripture, but Paul was behind the scenes directing Paul's life in order that he might write the things that he wrote. Causing him to undergo certain experiences. The Holy Spirit guiding each step in the same spirit moving him to write. Hendrickson elaborates on this, says, finally, during the process of writing that same primary author in a thoroughly organic connection with all the preceding activity suggested to the mind of the human author that language, the very words and that style, which would be the most appropriate vehicle for the interpretation of the divine ideas for people of every rank and position, age and race. Hence, though every word is truly the word of the human author, it is even more truly the word of God. Peter writes himself on the inspiration of Scripture. 2 Peter 1, 16-21, so just backing up from what we've already read. For we did not follow cleverly designed myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when we received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to Him by the majestic glory, this is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. We ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with Him on the holy mountain, and we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. And then verse 20 and 21. Knowing this, first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. So people can say, well, God breathed. That's one verse, one little verse in 2 Timothy. One little part of a verse in 2 Timothy, which alone is enough. We need no more. But this idea of God inspiring is found all throughout Scripture. We find it here in Peter. We find it in the very next chapter in Peter, when Peter, he's writing of Paul's writings. This is what he says. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him. Where did Paul get the wisdom that he wrote the Scriptures down? Was it from Paul? No, it was given him. As he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them which are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction. Listen to this. As they do the other Scriptures. Peter's writing and he's saying, Paul, what you're reading in these letters from Paul, it's not Paul. He's been given this knowledge and this is Scripture. This is God breathed. This is the very words of God. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you're not carried away with the air of lawless people and lose your own stability, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory now to the day of eternity. Amen. Paul in 1 Corinthians 2.13. And we impart this in words. In words what? Who taught? Who taught him these words? And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the Spirit. Interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. It's God breathed. This is God's Word. And because of its author, this Word has authority. It is authoritative. Chapter 1, paragraph 4 of our confession, the authority of Scripture for which it ought to be believed depends not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God who is truth itself. Why can we take this as truth? Because the author of this book is truth himself. And the author thereof therefore is to be received because it is the Word of God. Scripture is authoritative. What Scripture, which Scripture? All of it. From Genesis one. All the way to the end of Revelation, it is authoritative and it is equally authoritative. All Scripture has equal authority. You may say, well, I mean, we all believe that, but this is also something people debate in our day. It's all inspired. But is it all inspired and authoritative in the same way? You know, some well-meaning people say things that question equal authority of all of scripture without really meaning to. Pastor Quatro mentioned this a little bit this morning in Sunday school. Some of this we owe to Louis Klops. Anybody know who that is? He is the creator of the Red Letter Bible. And now I can't speak for sure of his intentions, but I'm going to assume they were pure. But maybe he wanted to highlight Christ as the central figure in Scripture, which that is true. But what has happened since then has gone beyond that and sometimes goes into dangerous territory. For some have been led to believe or think that the words in red are greater or hold more authority than the words in black. You even have popular songs like red letters that give this impression. I think one line of it is, then I read the red letters. You see, you hear quotes like this. Well, I just, I just listened to the words in red. Or when there seems to be some kind of contradiction between the words in red and the ones in black, which we know is not true. It's just an error on the account of the reader. People say things like this. Well, I'm going with this over that because this is in red and that is in black. Most of this is done not with the desire to discredit part of God's word or elevate one part over the other, but the reasoning is faulty. And when followed to its natural end, it's dangerous for it to say that one area of scripture is higher than the other is to say the other is less with not as much authority. That would be to either say that it is less of God's word and therefore more susceptible to error. So we go with the ones in red. which actually would make it not Scripture and therefore not the Word of God. Or to say that God is more serious here than He is there, which would lead to the same end. This is not a light error. Now, I'm not telling you to go burn your red-letter Bibles or throw them away. I have red-letter Bibles. The danger only arises when people wrongly assume that the letters in red, the red words carry more authority than the black ones. And maybe you like to see the words of the incarnate Christ directly spoke from his mouth during his time on earth. Fine. But understand that when the incarnate Christ was speaking, God is speaking. And when you read the black letters right beside the red ones, God is still speaking with equal authority. Equal in inspiration, equal in authority, no higher authority to the red words. All of scripture is breathed out by God. Every single word. When scripture speaks, God speaks. We see scripture defined all scripture, all 66 books, every word. We see scripture inspired that all scripture. Every word from beginning to end is inspired by God. It is breathed out by God. Next, finally, we see scripture applied. All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable. Next month or the month after when we cover verse 16 and 17 as a whole, we'll go into Paul's list of how it is profitable. But I do want to mention a few things here. This truth, this truth that we have mentioned this morning, that all scripture is God breathed, the very words of God that Yahweh, that the God of the universe, our sovereign creator and Lord, has spoken to us through his word, and it is authoritative, and it is holy. That truth, has implications. What does that mean for us? Now, what does that mean to us? What does that mean for us? Because if that is true, that this word that we hold. This Bible that we have, if it is the very word of God Almighty. There are ramifications. And there are also applications. Some of that we'll get into next time. But one thing it means is that we have a standard from which we measure. It is the standard of truth that we measure all else on. We can be sure of this. We have the truth and we can believe it. We can believe this truth in a world that is full of lies. You go out in the world, it won't take you very long and you'll run into lies in a world full of lies. We have divine truth. There is such a thing as divine truth. I don't know how many of you were at the goat fest, but there was a some kind of somebody help me with the word. What kind of church trinity? Universal Unitarian Church. And so out of curiosity and Charles sent me a picture of it and I go out of curiosity, I just want to go talk. See, what is this universal Unitarian Church? And here's what I was told. We all have our truths. And we just all come together and we agree that even if our truths disagree, it is our truth. And so therefore it is true. Now you can try to make sense out of that statement if you want, but you will not be able to. I tried to make sense of it. I tried. I asked several questions to try to make sense of that question, but it's nonsensical. It's nonsensical. You cannot have two opposing views and they both be true. We can not, we could go around a room. We've got a lot of people in here. We could go around this room and we could ask somebody something and we could say, hey, what what is that right out there? The big tall thing with leaves. And we could go around this and everybody say something, have a different answer. But what's the truth? It's a tree that no matter what you say, it's a tree. And if we all have differing things, we believe is truth. There's one of two possibilities. Either one of us is right and everybody else is wrong or we're all wrong. We can't have it both ways. There is truth and there is not truth. True and untrue. And with this, we have truth. In a world full of lies and a world full of when you go out there, you'll hear many things about the church. You'll hear many things about the word of God in the midst of lies, in the midst of a godless culture. Praise be to God that we have truth, infallible and inerrant truth. What does that mean? Inerrant. His word is inerrant. I've heard that since I was a kid. God's Word is inerrant and it is infallible. What does this mean? Inerrant means there is no error. Because God is truth and without error, His Word is truth and is without error. No error in any part. It's theology, it's history, it's morality, and so on. All without error. Completely and wholly true from front to back. John 17, 17. Sanctify them in truth. What is truth? Your Word is truth. It lines up perfectly and it fits perfectly. No contradictions. The message is consistent throughout. I tried and I tried to cut this quote out from John Gill, but I couldn't. Listen to John Gill talk about scripture, the purity. This is talking about the scriptures. the purity and holiness of them before observed, show them to be the word of Him that is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. As also their harmony and agreement, though wrote by different persons in different places and ages, and at sundry times and in divers manners, what seeming inconsistencies are observed in them may, with labor and industry, by divine assistance be reconciled. the predictions of future events in them, as particularly concerning Josiah and Cyrus by name, long before they were born, and especially concerning Jesus Christ, and which have had their accomplishment, and many others in the New Testament, both by Christ and His apostles, are a proof that they could not be the writings of men. but must have the omniscient God for their author. The impartiality of the writers of them, and not concealing the mean extract of some of them and the sins of others before conversion, and even their sins and failings afterwards, as well as those of their nearest relations and dearest friends, strengthens the proof of their divine authority. There's no other way. Forty authors. Over 1,500 years. Three different languages. Three different continents. All represented here in Scripture. And they agree perfectly. That is the work of God. That is the work of our divine God. And this is His divine Word. It is inerrant. It is infallible. What does that mean? It cannot fail. It cannot deceive. And it cannot lead God's people into falsehood. Any falsehood in churches today is not a work of God or His Word. It is due to the sinfulness of man. They are completely and wholly trustworthy. Because God cannot lie and cannot fail, neither can His Word. We read in John 10.35 that Scripture cannot be broken. It will continue as God will continue. It is infallible. It is inerrant. It is true and it is worthy of our trust. And now, since we have seen that all scripture comes from God and not man, and it is fully authoritative, it is inerrant, it is infallible, and then there, if that is true, then it therefore stands in judgment over every other worldview. including the worldview of our culture today. With that knowledge, let us think about a few things. The world and science claim a lot of things to be true. Things that are not consistent or even completely against what is taught in scripture. What are we to make of this? How should we respond? First, understand that the world and the Bible cannot both be right if they contradict one another. One is right and one is wrong. We cannot believe both. They don't jive. So what do we do? I'll give you a few examples. So the world says this about creation. A big bang. Billions of years ago, there was a big bang and I don't understand all of it. Alex could probably give you more of a breakdown of what the world believes on this. He's really good at refuting it. But there was a big bang and then all of this came to be and evolution and so on. That's what the world believes. You watch some very small kids shows today and they're going to talk about billions of years ago. But God's Word says that God created it in six literal days. What do we do when the world says this, but God's Word says that? What do we do? We believe the Bible. You know, the world says this about sin. The world says that abortion is health care, that it's not murder. That, you know, that's health care for a woman's body. It's not murder, it's a fetus. Which, what is a fetus? It's a human baby. Or no, that's just an embryo. The world says that the LGBT lifestyle is fine and should be celebrated. That sexual sin of any kind really isn't a big deal. Pornography is just normal. Self and money are God. You just do you. But the word of God says abortion is murder. The taking of life is murder. That sex is designed for one man and one woman within the confines of marriage until death do them part. That love of self and money are wickedness. That the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. that all sin is deserving of punishment and the lake of fire for all of eternity. What do we do? We believe the Bible. The world says this about salvation. You don't need it. You're fine just how you are. I don't need to repent or I was born this way. But the Bible says you must be born again. When we see these two conflicting ideas and beliefs, what do we do? We read the Bible and we believe what it says. We believe the Bible. The world says this about how to get to heaven. Oprah says all roads lead to heaven. But Jesus says, so that's what Oprah says, but Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Who are we going to believe? What do we do? We believe the Bible. The world says this about the gospel. Just do enough good works and you'll be fine. Let the good outweigh the bad. Just have faith that God will bless you and you will be blessed. Help the socially oppressed and you'll get to heaven. But the Bible says, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. that we are owed condemnation for our sins. But God sent His Son, who lived the perfect life that we couldn't live, to die in the place of His children, to suffer the righteous wrath of God Almighty, even though He had done no wrong, so that they might go free. And the Bible says the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. The Bible says in Galatians 4, 4-8, But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. And he died for his people. And He rose the third day for the justification of those children declaring that their debt had been paid in full. And now He commands everyone everywhere to repent and believe. To believe in Christ. To believe in His Word. In His truth. To forsake sin. And to turn from it. That call goes out this morning. If you're in sin, if you're lost, repent and go to Christ. When the world confronts you and says, hey, just do enough good deeds and you'll be fine. No, you can't. Your righteousness is filthy rags. There are none righteous, not even one. None do good. None seek God. You need Christ. Reject that false gospel. Reject the false gospel of the world that says you are good just how you are in your natural state. If you perish in that state, you will die and you will go to hell for all of eternity. Repent and believe in Christ. When faced with these false gospels, the social justice gospel, the prosperity gospel, the good works gospel. Reject them. What do we do when we're confronted by worldly false gospels? We believe the Bible in this true gospel. This is the gospel that saves. This is the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have the word. John chapter one. Tells us that the word became flesh. The Word became flesh, and the written Word bears witness to Him. If you love Christ, you must love His God-breathed Scriptures. That's true today. If you love Christ, you must love His Word. We have neglected it. What must we do with His Word? Well, one thing we must not do with His Word is set it on a shelf to collect dust. We must not ignore the Word of God. For it is neglecting the very voice of God. We are guilty of this. We are guilty. I am guilty. You're guilty of neglecting the Word of God, of not reading it, not studying it, not meditating upon it. You say, I've neglected it. What must I do? Repent. Go to Christ. Pick up the Bible. Read it. Read it. Hunger for it more than you hunger for the food that's right there in that room. Thirst for the Word of God more than you thirst for the next drink. Read it daily. This is how we hear God speak. This is what must we do with His Word. Study His Scriptures. Grow in His Scriptures. Peter, when he was confirming that Paul's writing was Scripture, he ended with an exhortation to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. How can we do that? One sure way is through His Word. It can be trusted. All of it. Every single word can be trusted. For it is all God breathed. Father, this morning we thank you for your word. May we trust it, may we believe it, may we not neglect it, Father. We are guilty, I am guilty of neglecting your word. Father, may those that have neglected, those of us that have, may we fall before you in repentance, Father. And by your grace, neglect it no more. May we be people of your book. Lord, there's a lot of things I could say about Providence Baptist Church. But not for any notoriety in us, but for your glory and honor. Maybe say Providence Baptist Church is a people of the book. Help us to be that we cannot on our own. Father, I pray that we would cherish the word more. Each of us can grow in that we don't love your word enough. Maybe love it more. Father, if there be any in here father that they haven't trusted in you. Father, Bound for hell. Pray that you would save them this morning, if they might repent and trust in you this very morning. We ask all this in Christ's name. Amen. Let's stand and let's turn to page four hundred and twenty three. Sorry, four hundred and thirty four.