So we are going to start a study this morning called the Doctrine of Revelation. It has nothing to do with the book of Revelation per se, other than it's part of the canon of Scripture. But it's based on this little book that Bob Short put out there for us a while back, and Bob and I were chatting this morning. And it was an accident, I think a providential accident, because it got me thinking about this. And I'd been for years thinking about the matter of scripture and presenting it again. I'd done a long study a long time ago and wanted something smaller and simpler. So this is the book. If you have it and you want to read ahead, I will, as with all the book study lessons I do, caution you that I am vaguely following the outline. So if you read it and you find something different, that's good. This is kind of the class syllabus that nobody pays attention to until the final exam comes. I will say, if you read the first chapter, because I've been mentioning this, if you read the first chapter and thought you were working ahead, I'm starting in Chapter 5. And I'll explain why in a minute. But Breyer mentioned that he had done 22 lessons in Judges, which didn't seem like it was nearly that long. Really appreciated that. My goal is hopefully 10. It's chapters 5 through 14, I think, whatever comes to 10. And that's partly because part one of the book is the existence of God, the first four chapters. Part two, which we're going to be studying, is the Holy Bible. Part three is subjective revelation. And part four is revelation in glory. I recommend all those chapters. I'm not in any way trying to take away from them. I just want to make clear it's not my purpose to address the existence of God, the subjective revelation, or the revelation in glory. They are all important and useful topics, but instead I intend to focus on the Word of God as an essential tool in the Christian life. And we need to at times stop and go back to the fundamentals of what is it to be a Christian. And the Word of God is an essential tool. Ephesians 6, 17 says, And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And so as we think about the basic fundamentals of Christianity, salvation, What is mentioned in the same sentence with the helmet of salvation is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And notice it's the sword of the Spirit. The helper that Christ promised to give us is I'm sorry, I don't have a Bible here, actually. It's the Word of God. That's what the Scriptures are. They are the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And so it's 66 books delivered from God to guide and to teach us. 2 Timothy 3.16-17, and I'm going to read this out of the ESV because I like the translation. It's a little more literal. But this is directed towards Timothy, but don't in any way think it's not directed towards any Christian in the same sense of what the lesson is from it. 3.16 says, 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 complete, equipped for every good work." But notice they translate the word inspiration, all scripture is inspired, it's breathed out by God. It is the breath of God. It is our life as Christians. There's only one other place that I could find in the Scriptures that talks about God's breath. Genesis 2-7, and the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And man became a living being. The life that we have, the physical life that God breathed into our nostrils, is the same idea, the same reference in Scripture, that the Holy Word of God is breathed out by God. Same essence there, and I couldn't help but think, one is physical life, one is spiritual life. And we need to keep those in mind, and therefore, to take very seriously what we see and what we have in the Word of God. It is never to be taken light of. I think we need to be careful about using it in jokes and things like that. It is the very breath of God in his revelation to us. So that brings us then today to chapter 5, God's written communication. I will say, if you haven't listened to them or weren't present for them, make sure that you go on Sermon Audio and listen to the sermons that Andy did from Wednesday night on June 26th and July 3rd. They touch on this topic. and give more detail to some of those things from the confession, as we do a study on the confession. I will just also throw out there, in no way in a legalistic kind of way, but if you're not coming to prayer meeting or listening to it, you're missing out, okay? It's like skipping meals. You can do it, but it's not a good idea. And so what we enjoy on Wednesday night when we come together is not only the teaching of the Word of God in a way that's focused on something like the confession, but we enjoy the time of fellowship, the time of praying together, the time of worshiping together. And so I just would throw that out there as I was going through this to say, give thought to those things. Not everybody can make it every Wednesday. Some people come every other week or when they can with regard to work or distance or whatever the case might be. At the very least, you can avail yourself of the recording of these things and listen to them and be of great benefit there. So you'll see that when I get to the part on the confession, I'm mostly just going to skip that. And if you're like, well, you didn't touch on that much. No, Andy covered that and covered it to a much greater extent than I had originally even intended to. So let's look then at God's written communication under a couple of thoughts here that Pink had. And by the way, the book is by Arthur W. Pink. If you haven't heard of him, I would question whether you're Reformed or not. He's pretty foundational in the Reformed world. He writes in a style that's relatively easy to understand on topics that are not always easy to understand. I will just make a comment. Some of you probably know why. In his latter years, he gave up on the church and he went off to live by himself, and I think he was wrong. I think he, in fact, did not recognize what his role as a servant of God should have been. Now, it allowed him to produce a lot of excellent literature, and we certainly avail ourselves of that and appreciate it. But just as a commentary on Pink in general, great gift to the church, and one that we really are thankful for. But the importance of God's written communication. And I'm trying to sum these up, not just for time's sake, but in order to make these things small enough that we keep them in our minds and we go out with them. So if you don't get it, I always hate to say this, and you're like, no, you can not stop listening. But if you don't get anything else this morning, get this. The importance of the written word of God, of God's revelation to us is There is no saving knowledge outside of God's word. Luke 2 29, Simon says, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples. He's talking about Christ, the infant Christ. A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people, Israel. Romans 16, 25 continues this idea. Now to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began, but now made manifest, and by the prophetic scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God for obedience to the faith. To God alone wise be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. There is no salvation outside of Jesus Christ. And any religion or group or teaching that says there is a different way to get to God is wrong. And that's God saying that because the Word of God is God speaking to us. It is His revelation to us. I think we all know, and I didn't put in here a definition of revelation, it's easy enough to look up if you want, but it carries the idea of to reveal oneself, all right, that part of the word itself. And I was struck by this the other day because I had to go into the office for the day, and I drove my car in, the convertible, and because the office is literally empty, I was the only one in there for most of the day. But as I was leaving, another person came in, and somebody that I've talked to, she has connections in Cremora, and she said to me, she said, oh, is that your car? And I said, yeah. She says, oh, another aspect of David that I never knew. And I didn't think much about it. I was just like, oh yeah, I got it years ago. But I thought about that later as I was going back over the notes. You see, that's revelation. You wanna know what revelation is? That's it. Revealing yourself to others, something that they never knew. We talked, I've worked with her for four and a half years now, but never came up that I had a little convertible. Didn't need to, didn't have a reason to. And that is God. We would not know God if God didn't reveal himself to us. We can't create God. If we do, we end up with a God in our own image. See all the other religions of the world. I'm sorry, you look at them. What are they? The Greeks are a good example of this. You look at the Greek pantheon of gods. What are they? They're rotten. They're awful. They have no morals, they have no standards. Why? They're gods created in the image of the men that created them. Whereas God's revelation to us is God saying, this is who I am. Things like, be holy, for I am holy. That's what we know about God because of his revelation. And so then, Another point here, if you're trying to keep track, and I'm sorry if you are, because it's not that orderly, but another point under the introduction, not only the importance of the word of God, but the confession itself. We hold to the 1689 confession as a church, and as individuals, we use that to help guide and direct our thoughts and to consolidate our thoughts and put them together. And so the first thing addressed in the confession, as Andy pointed out, is not God. It's the Word of God, it's the revelation of God. And so the very first sentence in chapter one, in paragraph one says, the Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience. Although the light of nature and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God as to leave men inexcusable, yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and His will, which is necessary, unto salvation. So the very confession that we hold to as a reflection of what the Word of God teaches accurately as it does, is the Word of God is necessary for salvation. Man is culpable because of seeing God in creation. I can't help but think that as I sit out, we've been sitting out here recently and watching the stars come out and just watching the storms and things and thinking about God and creation and all that is manifest around us. Yet, it may show us that there is a God, but it doesn't show us how to be reconciled or how to have a relationship with that God. Now, one other thought, and I threw this in because I thought it was important, were what I would call the limitations of the Word of God. And you might immediately say, what? There's no limitations. Well, it is this. The Word of God is the means to the end Jesus Christ. And what I mean by this is the Word of God is not a holy relic or some kind of a lucky charm. How many times do you see this? You go in certain places and they'll have like the Bible on display, and there's nothing wrong with that. But they have it on display, but they've never actually like read it. There are churches today that I would contend are like that. They have a big old fancy Bible sitting up in the front of the church, but I don't think they've opened it lately and read through it. And it's not that. It's not some relic that we all worship because it's part of our religion, like a cross or some other symbol. It is a revelation. It is the breath of God. It is only useful as you pick it up and ask the Spirit of God to help you understand it and apply it to yourself. That's the value of the Word of God, and that is what is the limiting factor of it, is it points us to Jesus Christ. In John 14, verse 5, Thomas said to Jesus, Lord, we do not know where you are going, and how can we know the way? And Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. You see, again, both the path, Christ saying, if you want to come to the Father, it is through me. I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. All things that men in this day and age and every day and age have needed and always will need. No one comes to the Father except through me. And that hedges in Christianity and makes it a very exclusive religion, not in a snotty kind of, oh, we're better than you way, but in a way of, if God saved me, he can save you. And there is the revelation of God that teaches us Jesus is that way. Now, I couldn't help but throw in, and I'm going to take the time to read it, because it's Spurgeon. Spurgeon's one of the few people you can read and follow along relatively easy, I think. But Spurgeon had this to say. He says, it was a great mercy that regarded the lowest state of the shepherds. And it was far-reaching mercy which gathered from lands that lay in darkness a company of men made wise unto salvation. Mercy, wearing her resplendent jewels, was present with divine sovereignty in the lowly abode of Bethlehem. Is it not a delightful thought that around the cradle of the Savior, as well as around his throne in heaven, these two attributes meet? He makes himself known, and herein is mercy. But it is to those whom he has chosen, and herein he shows that he will have mercy on whom he will have mercy, and he will have compassion on whom he will have compassion. That's Spurgeon in the little book called Good Tidings of Great Joy. I highly recommend it. It's not just a book around Christmas time, because I'm still reading it, and it's July. But he makes himself known, and herein is mercy. If you at times wrestle with your relationship to God and feeling cold and not feeling like worshiping, this is an area to stop and to meditate on. God has had mercy on you, how? By making himself known to you. So that we know something of God through the word of God. And we should ask, I tend to think, not as a legalistic, ritualistic thing, but I tend to think we should be careful. Anytime we pick up the word of God, we should offer up a prayer that says, God, help please to open this word to me by your spirit, which Jesus Christ promised. That's a promise of Jesus Christ. That's one of those things you can take to God and say, I'm not being presumptuous. You told me this. You revealed this to me. So open your word to me by your spirit and make it known to me the mercies that you have had on us. Now, the Word of God is also to be preeminent. Psalm 138 and verse 2 is an excellent summary of this. It says, I will worship toward your holy temple and praise your name for your loving kindness and your truth. For you have magnified your word above all your name. And keep in mind that that was before the canon was complete. We now have with the New Testament added to the Old Testament in explaining and interpreting and showing the fulfillment of the Old Testament. We have a complete revelation of God for everything we need for salvation. Not all of our curiosity is satisfied. But everything that we need for salvation is complete and contained in the Word of God. And so therefore, it should be preeminent. It should be magnified above all other things. It is also, and I wanted to throw this in there, because I thought it was important to think about this, especially in terms of our modern context and even modern social things that are going on. The Word of God is also under relentless attack just as it was from the very beginning. Genesis 3.1, and the serpent said to the woman, has God indeed said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden? What is that? It's an attack on the word of God. It's an attack on the revelation of God. And we know this well enough that you could probably all draw the same thoughts out. Satan was misquoting God. God hadn't said they couldn't eat of every tree of the garden. God had said you can eat of every tree of the garden except one. And that is all the restriction that God had placed on them. And I heard recently, because I just can't pull the plug completely on social media, I'm close though. But I heard somebody say, well, what kind of a God is that that you want to serve who denies you the knowledge of good and evil? And the person answering him, who I'm not sure is fully professed to be a Christian yet, still gave him a solid answer. He said, that was God protecting an innocent man who had just been created. He may have been an adult in created form, but he was still innocent like a child. And he wasn't ready for that yet. And the proof is, as soon as he disobeyed God, what happened? He brought all kinds of death and condemnation on himself, his wife, his race. You don't have to even go beyond his sons to see immediately the impact of what he did by disobeying God. But the Word of God has been under relentless attack. from the very beginning. And so it's why I think we see things like Louisiana passing what really should have been an inconsequential thing to say we're going to put the Ten Commandments on the walls in school. It's turned into a firestorm of, that's all, that's terrible, that's all. Well, aside from the fact that as a nation, the Ten Commandments are all over courthouses and places because our founding fathers recognized, even the ones that were not Christians, you have to base your country, your laws, your morality on something. What are you gonna base it on? You're gonna base it on What we have is the revelation of the Word of God. And there's all kinds of conversation, and we won't get into it. Should we want the public schools to be teaching religion? Personally, me, no. I'm pretty sure they're not going to get it right. But the point that the Ten Commandments, which is a pretty simple summation of how a man should live and act, is somehow controversial, is a sad, sad indictment of our country and of the people that are in it, which are reflected all the way up to the leaders that we don't forget to be praying for and asking God to have mercy on. So the Word of God is under attack. Understand that. Understand that as you study it, as you read it, as you use it in your life, you are gonna be attacked if you follow the Word of God. There are going to be people that say, well, why do you do this? Why are you so precise in this? And you can, even in a very simple way, take them to the 10 Commandments. Say because here's the Word of God basic moral law for how men are to act towards God and how they're to interact with one another and this commandment says this and we see in the New Testament that Christ applies it to say it goes far beyond that as Opposed to thou shalt not murder The next time you have a traffic incident where somebody cuts you off and you have harsh words for them, you need to think about Christ's application of the commandment, thou shalt not murder, thou shalt not be angry. without cause, and place those things into your heart and use them and understand them. Now, in the last few minutes that we have here, I'm gonna do, and this is following along with the way that Pink did this, and sometimes I get into a book, whether it's for a book study or whether I'm using it for lessons like this, and at some point I'll think, well, I don't know if this was a good choice. It's not simple to take it and to lay it out into an outline, but I'm committed, we're into it, so we're gonna just go through it. So at any point, if you're like, I don't understand that, that's my fault. You can go back and read the book, and if you need to borrow a copy, I'll let you have mine after I'm done. And you can see all the things I highlighted that I have skipped, because time is always not with me with the notes that I have. But I wanna look at this as far as just basically a brief New Testament overview with regard to the word of God and how it fits in to the Christian's life in particular. And so first of all, it's pointed out, it is a precursor to the final revelation at Christ's return. And it's interesting, I hadn't thought of it in these terms. And that's why we read books like this by men that have gone before us because They have had different thoughts and different life and different revelation, application of revelation. And so it's a good thought. It's a precursor. The word of God is a precursor that it comes before. I pretended I was doing that for Will and Sam. Will and Sam may be the only ones here that probably can give me that definition. No offense, all you adults, but I know they read big, big words. But it's something that comes before a final revelation of Christ's return, both for the godly, 1 Corinthians 1, 7, and 8, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so Pink makes the point, what is it that the word of God does? It points us to the return of Christ. What are we doing? We are eagerly waiting for the revelation, the revealing of Jesus Christ who will confirm us to the end. And it leads us that we might be blameless in that day. We should, as we conform more and more to the word of God, as we grow in the things of God, we should be more and more walking in a Christ-like manner so that when Christ returns, he'll recognize us. He'll say, those are my children, they're bearing fruit. That's how I know they're my children. And so it's a precursor to the final revelation of Christ's return, both for the godly as well as for the ungodly. Romans 2.5 says this, but in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart, you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. We should, as we look at that, first, of course, question, are we godly or ungodly? But if we are the people of God, that should be one of those things that drives us to pray for those around us. Those who don't believe in Christ, who because of the hardness and the impenitence of their hearts are treasuring up for themselves wrath. in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. How many people do you know or have you met or have you experienced who in trying to talk in any way about the things of God say, not worry about that, that's some non-existent thing, that doesn't matter to me. You're just being silly. That's religion is for women and children and not people that have anything to them. And they are treasuring up for themselves wrath. And when that wrath is revealed, it will be too late. There will be no repenting at the return of Jesus Christ. There, Christ will be returning to pour out the wrath of God on those who have disobeyed and not turned to him. And that is the revelation of the righteous judgment of God. No one will stand before God and say, well, that's not fair. God will say, I've revealed myself to you as a holy God. I have given you a revelation that showed you the holiness of God, and you have ignored that. And next week, by the way, chapter six has to do with addressing reason and conscience, and focuses a lot on miracles, which I kind of wasn't expecting, but it's interesting why, and we'll get into that more next week. But the point is, they were given to testify to the truth of these things. Faith in Christ is not some blind faith in nothingness. And you just have to suspend all thinking and reasoning. The opposite is true. You have to suspend all reasoning and thinking in order to believe there is no God. In order to believe that all that we see is just nothingness. Just came from nothing. I saw something the other day, it had to do with a friend sent me some stuff about some math things that they discovered. And it basically, the summary was, if you in any way look at math, you can't help but believe in God. The entire universe Everything that we can see as far out as they've looked so far, everything we can see as far in as they have looked so far has a mathematical orderliness and precision to it that just can't be explained by a random chance. That doesn't make sense. No, it makes sense only if God is a God of order and God has set a framework that everything works and one that can be discovered by men. Because remember, that's one of the charges given to us at creation is to fill and subdue the earth. Well, submission, having the earth be submitted to us is, taking over, controlling it, understanding it, being able to predict it. And we get better at it. I have hopes that maybe I'll live long enough to see weathermen be able to actually predict the weather. Not strong hope, but it's possible. I just get such a kick out of it. I mean, and I know, you knew I'd work this in at some point. guys can launch rockets every day just about in very precise ways so they get exactly where they need to be. And yet, that hurricane comes barreling across the Atlantic and they're like, well, it could hit anywhere from, oh, I don't know, Central America to Texas. Hmm, that's a pretty big shot you got there. But the point is, they simply can't understand the forces and the mathematics of it yet. They keep putting up more satellites, they keep trying, and they get a little better at it, they get a little better at it, maybe someday they'll get really good at it. But all of that, is a reminder of the orderliness of God's creation and how the godly and the ungodly have no excuse in believing what God has said. It's not blind faith. Now, the next thing, and I was already planning to skip over this a little bit quicker, but is revealing a mystery. And this is a repeat of Romans 16, 25 above. And now to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began. The word of God is the revelation of a mystery. We would not know these things if God had not revealed them to us. It's a revelation to the Gentiles, Luke 2.32, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. The Gentiles, that's us, all of you that are not Jewish, The Gentiles, we would have no idea of salvation. We would have no hope of salvation if in fact God hadn't made this revelation to us. It is the promise of Christ fulfilled. Galatians 1.12 says, for I neither received it from man nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. Paul said, these things, I didn't make these up. There's no Pauline gospel that differs from the gospel of the other apostles. It is Christ fulfilling his promise and revealing these things to me, which included the taking of the gospel to the Gentiles, far beyond anything the world had ever seen and far beyond anything the world has ever seen since. It is also a spur to action. And I wanted to cover this even though I'm pushing the time. It is a spur to action. First Peter 1.13 says this, therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober and rest your hope fully upon the grace. That's all very familiar with us, right? That is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Why are we to gird up our minds? Why are we to be sober? Why are we to rest in the hope that God has given us? Because those things have been revealed to us. And in Jesus Christ, in his revelation, we know what is going to happen. And we know Christ is coming again, and we're going to stand before him. And so therefore, we should take these things seriously. as opposed to just the idea that, well, I got my train ticket and I'll get on the train when it arrives. These are matters of life and living. And so the next time you're thinking, ah, it's so hard to stop and to gird up your mind and to be sober. It's much easier to just relax and let go and let God. That's heresy. That's terrible when we are told to be men and women of discipline and soberness. And then finally, It is preserved in the Holy Scriptures. Revelation 1 and verse 1 says, the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants things which must shortly take place. And he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant, John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it, for the time is near." And so, you see, as you go through your daily life and as you maybe lose sight of where you are during the day or what your role or what your responsibilities as a Christian are, look at the Scriptures. That's all preserved in the Scriptures. It's preserved there so that we might know the things that have happened, we might know the things that will happen, and that we might know how to live and what's to come, and to keep those things. And to keep them, why? Because the time is near. How do we know the time is near and that Christ will come soon? The Word of God tells us that. And to question that and say, well, it's been 2,000 years. Yes. And what's the word of God tell us? With God, a day is as 1,000 years, and 1,000 years is as a day. It's been two days. We all remember two days ago, right? We were all celebrating the fourth. We were eating. We were having fun. We were enjoying friends and family. That was just yesterday, hardly, it seems like. And so the Word of God fits together and reminds us of these things as we go through it and as we study it. So I hope that we'll find this to be a profitable study. I don't say this selfishly, but even if you don't, I have. And I hope that in sharing that with you, it'll give you some thoughts as you work through these things. And again, good little book. If you don't have one, maybe Bob can help you out. But thank you for helping me start back into this. And please keep Briar and myself and Andy in prayer. I enjoy and look forward to coming and teaching again, and I am terrified of it all at the same time. So please keep us in mind as we teach these things. Let's close with a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we do thank you so much for your revelation of yourself to us. Father, we cannot begin to estimate the value of what you have given to us, the knowledge that we would never have if you hadn't told us these things in your holy word. May we be students of your word. May we seek to dig and mine in it and to pull out of it each day, something which will direct and guide us in our lives. And father, so often we'll make our lives easier to live before you. And even in times of trial will bless us and guide us and direct us. Thank you for your mercies to us. And for all those who hear this word, we pray these things in Jesus name.