The dividing principle for which the Reformation was fought was over Scripture alone. And certainly, the battle over faith alone was an important skirmish in the Reformation battle, but the ultimate reason why the Reformers had left the Roman Catholic Church was over Scripture alone. because Scripture is the only authority for the people of God in both our doctrine and our conduct. And so today you and I are going to be learning about the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture. And we're going to learn that indeed all Scripture is God-breathed. It's inspired by God and it is capable of producing salvation sanctification, and preparing the believer for every good work that you and I will do in our lives. That's what we're going to be learning here today. Now, I want to begin by mentioning where we left off last week in 2 Timothy. Remember, Paul had given kudos to Timothy for following after him in both doctrine and deed. Now, this week, the Apostle Paul wants Timothy to remain in the Word of God and never depart from it. Paul says this, he says, You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Now dear ones, I want you to first note here in verse 14 the term continue. This is a command from the Apostle Paul to Timothy that he is to remain, literally, the Greek term meno can be translated remain, he is to remain in the Word of God and never depart from it. Now, let me make a connection between this verb and the Greek that you see on the screen rendered continue. and John chapter 15. Do you remember in John chapter 15, Jesus says, those who would abide in him, the true vine, they will bear much fruit. Well, the term abide is meno. It's the same verb that you see here rendered continuum. Again, I like the reference or the rendering remain. Okay, now, why am I mentioning that passage in John 15? Because in John 15, Jesus says, if you menno, if you remain in Him, you're going to bear fruit, but if you don't remain in Him, you will not bear fruit. Now, I want to make that connection with what Paul is saying here. The idea is, if Timothy or any Christian will remain in the Word of God, you are remaining in Christ. If you don't remain in the Word of God, you are not remaining in Christ. So in other words, the way you abide in Christ is by abiding in the Word. That's how it's accomplished. In fact, notice Paul says, he was to remain in the things that he had learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom he had learned them. This begs the question, from whom Did Timothy learn the gospel? Well, we learn in 2 Timothy 1.5. In fact, I want you to turn your Bibles there right now. We learn that it was from his grandmother and his mother. His grandmother and his mother. That's where he learned the gospel. So, I want to do a little review with you. 2 Timothy 1.5, if you would turn your Bibles there. And I'll read that. Now, there's some other things that we know about Timothy's background. Pull up my laser pointer here. We know from Acts 16.1 that indeed Timothy had a father who was a Gentile and a mother who was a Jew. But here we find out in 2 Timothy 1.5 that his mother was a believer. 2 Timothy 1.5 Paul said, For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well. So that's how Timothy heard the gospel. He heard it from his mother. He heard it from his grandmother. And this shows us again, isn't it fitting on Mother's Day, the importance of mothers and grandmothers. God bless all of you mothers and grandmothers out there who make sure that your children and grandchildren are prayed for and that they hear the Word of God. And one of the messages you can take with you today is that it will bear fruit. Why? Because the Scriptures are powerful to save. Now, isn't it interesting that Paul says that he had learned the Gospel there from Eunice and from his mother. But notice in verse 15 it says it was from childhood that he had known the sacred writings. The term childhood there comes from the Greek term brephos. And implied there is it's a very young child, an infant. And so from infancy, right out of the chute, Timothy is hearing the gospel from his mother and his grandmother. That's where he heard the gospel. That's where he heard the scriptures being taught to him. Now, notice right after that very important phrase, I underlined it. He says, from childhood you have known the sacred writings. Notice the phrase, known. That verb is a perfect tense verb of oida. And you might say, great! Who cares? Well, it's important. Let me explain why. The perfect tense, I believe, when you look at the Greek language, is often significant regarding texts that have to do with people coming to saving faith. Let me explain why. In the Greek language, the perfect tense has to do with some action that was completed in the past, but the emphasis is always on the lasting results that are always with you. So in this case, that would accentuate the idea that when Timothy had come to a saving knowledge of who Christ is, that would never depart from him. It would be always with him. And so even the grammar here I think speaks to the eternal security of the believer. Paul could have used other tenses, but he used the perfect that he had known. Now what did he know? Notice he knew the sacred writings. The sacred writings, what are they? Well, they're the scriptures. But that begs the question which scriptures? The New Testament? The Old Testament? Both Testaments? Well I think it had to be only the Old Testament. Remember back when Paul was writing 2 Timothy the New Testament is being constructed. There was no Gideon's Bible that was placed in your nightstand by the Gideon's that had both the Old and the New Testament. It was only the Old Testament writings. So the Old Testament, notice the claim that Paul is making, this is very important for your Christian worldview. Paul is saying that he had known these from his childhood and they are able to give Timothy what? Wisdom that led to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. The Old Testament is salvific. the Old Testament could teach about the things of Christ. In fact, notice the term able. The term there, dunamai, is the same term that Jesus alludes to in John 6,44. Remember John 6,44, Jesus says, no one can come to me unless the Father draws him. The term can is the same term used here for able. Literally, Jesus says in John 644, no one is able to come to me. Not one human being can come to Jesus apart from being drawn by the Father. But here, the scriptures have the ability to convert the soul. So whereas humanity doesn't have ability, God does through His Word to save. Now, there's another important implication here, and that is we see here that the Old Testament really was messianic. It really was about the Messiah, and I'll talk more about that in our applications. There are some today who say, no, no, no, the Old Testament isn't messianic. It's just that those New Testament writers, those apostles, read into the Old Testament the fact of Christ after the fact. that these passages really aren't messianic. Well, here we see from the Apostle Paul that indeed they are. In fact, they can lead people to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Isn't it interesting there that the point of the Old Testament is not to make you a better legalist? It's to not make you a rule follower? Not to make you a person who follows the Mosaic Law? What did the Scriptures do for Timothy? It brought him to faith in Jesus Christ. And here we see, therefore, the beginning of this doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture. It is what saves, and it's all we need. In fact, now Paul, as we come into verses 16 through 17, he begins to remind Timothy of the power of the Scriptures so that he'll remain in them all of his life. He says this, he says, all scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. Now I want you to notice here in blue, Paul says that all scripture is inspired by God. The term all is really there in the Greek text, it's pas, every single scripture is inspired of God. it, the entirety of it. Now, when he talks about it being inspired by God, the term inspired there comes from the term that you see in this bullet point, theopneustos. You can see the root there for God, theo, and pneustos has to do, you can hear the root for pneumatic, the idea of something with breath or wind, it's God breathed. So, all of the Scripture is is breathed out by God. And what this means then is ultimately the source of all scripture is God. It bears His authority. And so just as God spoke and the universe leapt into existence, God through His written word that He gives to us can also create new hearts in unregenerate people. And because all Scripture is ultimately from God, if anyone stands at odds with God's Word, they are at odds with the Creator of all things. If someone will acquiesce and believe in the Word of God, they are submitting to the Creator of all things. Now, one more thing I want to point out here before I move on is when it says all Scripture is God-breathed, Notice it does not say that all the readers are inspired, but rather it's the biblical writer. Bob was talking about that today in Sunday school. When it comes to inspiration, what's inspired are the biblical writers, not the biblical readers. So, you're at a Bible study, and three people come to three different conclusions on what the biblical text says. Well, we know one thing, that they all can't be right. Now they may all be wrong, but it's not the reader who's inspired, it's the writer. And so the task of every Christian is to understand what the biblical writer has indeed said. Because when we come into contact with what the biblical writer has actually said, understanding what the author of Scripture ultimately has said, namely God. Now notice after that Paul says to Timothy that all Scripture is what? It's profitable. Literally it's useful. What's it useful for? Well it's useful for teaching. for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. Let's begin with teaching. The term there, didaskalia, has to do with the doctrines that you and I are to believe in as believers. So, where do we learn the doctrines of the faith? It's from the scriptures. It's not word of mouth. It's not from some man's ideology. It's from the Word of God. And ultimately, what the Word of God teaches us is the way reality is. It's a book that defines what reality is. So for example, when the Bible says that there was nothing, and yet there's one being who's eternal, namely God, we can affirm that to be true. Not because you and I were there when all things were created, but because it was revealed to us through the scriptures. It is really the truth, and it is really the reality, the true state of affairs of the world, that all of humanity are rebels against God and that He's angry with us. And so if someone tells you out in the culture, that's not true, they're wrong. Why? Because God's Word has stated ultimate reality. That's part of the teaching that we get. We are told the way the world really is. Now notice the term here for reproof. The term for reproof here is in some sense the negative side of correction. Yes, we can tell people that indeed they are wrong. that they are wrong when it comes to what they believe. Why? Because they can be reproved from the Scriptures. Not everybody's ideology is right. Not everyone's theory is right. The Scriptures can reprove. Notice correction. This is the positive side of what the Scriptures do in correction. This is not just saying someone's wrong, but helping them understand what the truth is. Think about Genesis 8.22. Bob has talked about this in Sunday school. I talked about this in a message not long ago. Genesis 8.22, God declares to every human being that as long as the earth endures, there's gonna be summer and winter. There's gonna be seed time and harvest. There's gonna be heat and there's gonna be cold. Oops, I just can't get rid of the buzzing, sorry. Should I move this? And so as long as the earth endures, there's always going to be the seasons, there's always going to be hot and cold. So then why do we have so many Christians who are believing that the earth is going to be destroyed through global warming? You see, they need correction, don't they? You see, many Christians who believe the earth is going to be destroyed by man-made global warming, they're lining up with the ideology of the communist neo-pagan earth worshipers. But they should be corrected and say, no, that is not the case. The God who is all powerful, who created the universe, has stated that the earth will always endure. And in fact, we will always have both heat and cold. There's correction that's found in the scriptures. And so if we're at odds with what the scriptures teach, you and I are wrong. That's what this text means. Why? Because all Scripture is breathed out by God. Notice it's also for the training in righteousness. Now, how do you and I know what's pleasing to God? How do we know how you and I should act in order that you and I would live godly and holy lives? We know it from the Scriptures. They reveal to us what is pleasing to God. Now, one more thing I want to talk about is, before I move into verse 17, notice this phrase, all Scripture is inspired by God. Some critics will take that when you and I are contending for the faith. They will say to us, wait a minute, that's circular reasoning. And therefore, you and I cannot simply say, well, the Bible says that the Bible is true. And by the way, they have a point. It is circular reasoning. When you and I say the Bible is true, and someone asks you, well, how do you know that? Well, because the Bible says it's true, that is circular. However, two points need to be made. Number one, every human being has to contend with the fact that the scriptures declare themselves to be the Word of God. It's out there. You have to deal with that. But second, we're not left as Christians only with circular reasoning. No, we have objective evidence that breaks into the circular reasoning through predictive prophecy. Which predictive prophecies? Well, there are so many. For example, Ezekiel 26 when you read that prophecy it accurately predicts the destruction of Tyre 254 years in advance. We see the fact that Christ's birthplace in Micah 5, 2 is announced to be in Bethlehem. That's written 700 years in advance. We see the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ predicted in Isaiah 53, written 715 years in advance. And it is that evidence that breaks into our circular reasoning and once and for all shows people that indeed the Scriptures are the Word of God. The other proof that God has given us, Bob was talking about this in Sunday School, as he's furnished proof through the resurrection of Christ. Christ who gives us the scriptures has been bodily raised from the dead and was seen by over 500 eyewitnesses at one time. Now, there's plenty of objective evidence, but again, you and I must feel confident in asserting the Scriptures declare themselves to be the very Word of God. Now, dear ones, notice here the ultimate purpose statement is in verse 17. What's Scripture for? Notice the so that. It's so that the man of God may be adequate, literally complete, and equipped for what? For every good work. How many good works will you not be able to do if all you have are the Scriptures? None. You'll be able to do all good works because of the Scriptures. That's the sufficiency of Scripture. How many good works will you be able to do if you understand the Scriptures? All good works that God has prepared beforehand that you should walk in them. And so, dear brothers and sisters, this is the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture. This is why here at Gospel of Grace Fellowship, we do preach the Bible verse by verse, and we do that unashamedly. Why? Because all Scripture is sufficient for the people of God. This is why we will never bring in the psychoanalysis or psychology from the secular world, because the Scriptures are sufficient. This is why the primary goal for every single Christian is to want to be one who believes and acquiesces to the Scriptures. Why? Because they are sufficient. This is why the goal of every pastor and teacher and layperson is to come to a correct understanding and interpretation of the Scriptures. Why? Because they are sufficient. This is why you and I can be absolutely convinced that through the preaching and teaching accurately of the Scriptures, people will be saved and believers will be sanctified and transformed. Why? Because the Scriptures are sufficient. Brothers and sisters, there is no religious person, there is no movement, there is no ideology today. that can save or transform a human life the way God desires, but the Scriptures can. Why? Because they are sufficiently powerful for all things. That is what the Bible is teaching us today. All right, now, I have three important applications for you here this morning. Let's dive into them. Number one, Believers must understand the significance of God inspiring the scriptures. And what I'm going to do for you here is I'm going to be laying out the various views of inspiration throughout the history of Christendom. Number two, we must know that the Old Testament really is messianic. Those who claim today that the Old Testament really isn't about the Messiah, it's just those rascal apostles they read into that after the fact, they're wrong. Why else could Paul say, hey, Timothy, you knew the sacred writings of the Old Testament from your childhood, which were able to make you wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. No, it is messianic. Number three, we must truly live out the belief in the sufficiency of Scripture. And I'm going to give you seven things to consider as to what it looks like to live out the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture. Okay, so let's begin with number one. I want to help everyone in here understand how God inspired the Scriptures. Now, to be fair, when we read today 2 Timothy 3, 16, it did not lay out everything about how God inspired the Scriptures, but it asserted that the Scriptures are inspired by God. So I don't want to lay out for you the various views and show which one I think is biblical and I'll prove it to you through Scripture. Let's begin with number one. The first view of the inspiration of Scripture is the liberal view. And I mean by liberal theologians, those who have departed from the main doctrines of the faith. And what they would claim is that the Bible is not inspired. It's merely the words of men, no different than the Reader's Digest or the New York Times. Now, you might say, well, why would anyone go to a church where they don't believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God? Well, there are a lot of people who just want a religious experience, and they want to belong to some organized religion, but they don't necessarily want to be convicted of their sin, righteousness, or judgment. Holy Spirit does through the Scriptures. Ok, so this view that the Bible is the words of men, that stands into contrast with what the Apostle Paul who is a personal spokesman for Jesus Christ said today. It must be rejected is utterly heretical. Second view, this is still heretical, but it's getting better as we go. This is the limited view. And it's the idea that only some Scripture is is inspired by God. That only some of the words are actually from Him. Now let me give you an example of someone would hold to this idea. Do you remember in Jesus' day He often times would argue with the Sadducees. Remember the old joke is they were sad you see because they didn't believe in the resurrection. Well the Sadducees only believed in the inspiration of the first five books of Moses. So, for example, when Daniel 12 talks about the resurrection, they didn't believe that. When Isaiah 26 talks about the resurrection, or Isaiah 53 talks about the prolonging of the days of the Messiah, they didn't believe in any of that. Why? Because those books weren't inspired. They only had the first five. I'll talk more about them later. But what about today? Are there people who say, well, only these books of the Bible are inspired and not these? Yes, red-letter Christians, as I mentioned last week. Christians like Tony Campolo, they won't listen to Paul. They won't listen to Peter. And in fact, they'll only look at the red letters that you see in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. That stands in stark contrast to what we learn today that all Scripture is breathed out by God. It's heretical. Third view. the Neo-Orthodox view. Their view, I'm going to spend more time on this one, the Neo-Orthodox view is heretical. Their belief is that the Bible is not the Word of God, but it can be used by God to bring people into a relationship with Jesus. Much like the Reader's Digest could be used, or anybody else's wisdom. So the Word of God, the Bible, is not the Word of God, but it can be used by God. Now let me tell you a little bit about the New Orthodox Movement and why you want to know something of it. The New Orthodox Movement became in vogue after World War I. And it was this movement, in my opinion, that so devastated the church in Germany it led them vulnerable to accepting Nazism. It's what devastated the church there. What's interesting is this is the precursor to the modern-day emerging church movement that, in my opinion, so devastated the American pulpits and churches, it has led us to be open to Marxism. Neo-Orthodox led to German idealism. the emerging church opened the church to German idealism. Ironically, that's what happened in both cases. Now, where does Neo-Orthodox, where do they get this view that the Bible is not the Word of God? Let me explain why. What Karl Barth, and he was their most able proponent of this view, Karl Barth, many of you have probably heard of him, probably the most significant New Orthodox theologian in the 20th century. Well, what Karl Barth taught was that because God was so other and so different from you and I, there's no way that you and I as human beings can speak meaningfully about who he truly is without equivocation. Now, you might say, what is equivocation? Let me give you an example. I've given this example before, so bear with me. But if I tell my son, son, it's cool outside. Make sure you put a jacket on. And he says, dad, it's OK. I'm a cool cat. Well, I'm using cool, referring to temperature. But he's equivocating on it. He would be. By the way, my son's not. He never said this, so he's not on the hook for this. But he would be equivocating using coolness for a form of hipness. And so we're really speaking past each other. What the neo-orthodox theologians claim is that's the way all communication of God is. It's all equivocation. Why? Because He's so other. But dear ones, this is damnable heresy. The truth is that we don't claim as evangelicals that God equivocates in language. What we claim is that God uses the analogical use of language to speak meaningfully to us. And so what that means is that through the Scriptures, God condescended Himself to speak to us by way of analogy so we can know something about who He is, what He does, why we need Him, and how we can receive Him. So for example, when God reveals in the Scriptures that He is all-powerful, We do not know what it is to be omnipotent or all powerful. But by way of analogy, we know something of power. Because we see a waterfall that's powerful. Or we see one engine that's more powerful than another. Or a horse that's more powerful than another horse. And so we know something of power. And so we have in our minds something true that is true of God. When He reveals to us that He is all loving. We don't know what it is to love as God does. But we know something of love. Our mothers loved us. We love our mothers. We love our fathers. We love our siblings. Our siblings love us. We love our friends. Our friends love us. We know something of love. And so that's how God speaks to us by way of analogy. And so, dear ones, do not despair that you could know who God is through the Scriptures. No, not all language is equivocation. God uses the analogical use of language to speak meaningfully of who He is and who we are in relationship to Him. And how do I know that? Because the Scriptures tell us. Write this passage down, 1 John 5, 13. 1 John 5.13, John who is a personal spokesman for Jesus Christ an Apostle says, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. John who speaks for Christ said he wrote so that you and I would know eternal life. How could he say that if all language was merely equivocation about God? No, the new orthodox movement was damnable heresy, and those who taught it were leading people astray, and those who are in the emerging church are equally leading people into damnable heresy today. Same type of arguments are used. Now, let's get to one that I don't think is heretical, I don't hold to this view, but there's some merit in it. This is the dictation theory. And in this theory, yes, all the scripture is from God, but it's the way, how did God inspire it? Well, this idea in dictation is that God so overcomes the human, He just speaks directly to them. Like a one-way radio where the biblical writer's on the horn, he says, okay God, I'll just start writing. You tell me what to write. And he writes down the very words of God. Now, there are some texts in Scripture that do allude to some dictation. For example, in Jeremiah 30 verse 2, Jeremiah is told by God to write down the very words that he was told by God. However, it does not take into account all of the biblical data. And so that leads me to what I think the biblical view is. It's called the verbal plenary view of inspiration. Now, why such a name? It sounds like some theologian wanted to come up with some coined term and make a name for himself. Well, he probably did, but let me explain why I think it's a good description. Verbal means every word. Every word is the very word that God wanted. Plenary means the whole thing. All of Scripture in its entirety is from God. But the way it differs from dictation is the way it was inspired to men. It's not that God simply dictated and runs roughshod over the human intellect or personality, but rather that God so moved among men that he still kept their personality and yet gave us the very words that he wanted. So this would account for why, for example, John's Greek skills His Greek grammar isn't as good as the writer of Hebrews. Or Luke, for example, is very good. Now, does that mean John is less inspired? No, no. In fact, John is a genius, by the way. He knew four languages. He ran a fishing operation. This was a Renaissance man. But, dear brothers and sisters, what it points out is that God used the personality of each biblical writer. But he did so in such a way or he got the very words that he wanted. Now, let me give you an analogy here of the verbal plenary view. And think about Jesus. Think about He is the Word of God, often called in the Scriptures. Think about who He is. He's truly God and He's truly man. By the way, don't let anyone ever tell you that that's a contradiction. It is not. Those who say it is, they don't understand the law of non-contradiction. A true contradiction would be to say Jesus is God and not God at the same time in the same relationship. We are not saying that. We're saying that Jesus is both fully God and fully man. Just as I am fully a father and also fully a son. It's not a contradiction to say that. So yes, Jesus is unique. He's the monogamous, the only begotten means unique one. But it's not a contradiction. But in the same way, the scriptures, we have to think of them as truly of God and truly of man. And so if you understand the intent of the human biblical author, that's what Bob was teaching us today. And he's done a magnificent job through Acts showing us the intent of the writer of Acts, namely Luke. If you come into contact, for example, with what Luke says, you're hearing what God says. That's the idea. Now, let me give you a passage that proves the verbal plenary view. Again, 2 Timothy 3.16 affirms what? All Scripture is breathed out by God. It's inspired. But how is it inspired? Well, 2 Peter 1 gives us a clue that shows us the verbal plenary view is on target. 2 Peter 1, 20-21, Peter said this, he says, But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. Now, a couple of points I want to make here. First of all, notice that no prophecy, and that's synonymous with Scripture, Peter says, was ever made by an act of human will. What Peter is talking about is the ultimate origins of the scriptures. They ultimately come from God. But how were they inspired and given to humanity so that men would write them? Well, he says, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. Notice the term moved there comes from the Greek term pharaoh. And it literally means to be carried along or to be brought. And so the idea is that the Holy Spirit so moved that he kept the individual nature of the biblical writer, their personalities, but he so ushered and moved them along that the result of their writing were the very words of God. That's exactly the view of the verbal plenary view of inspiration. Now, this raises another question. Certainly we learn today in 2 Timothy 3.15 that the sacred writings that made Timothy wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus were the Old Testament. But this begs the question, were the New Testament writers aware that when they were writing, they were writing Scripture? Or were they just commenting on the inspired nature of the Old Testament? Well, let me prove to you that the Apostles knew that they were writing Scripture. Turn your Bibles to 2 Peter 3, 15-16. Please turn your Bibles to 2 Peter 3, 15-16. And as you're turning there, you're going to see that Peter elevates Paul's writings to being on par with Scripture. 2 Peter 3, 15 through 16. Now, as you're turning there, remember the context is all about eschatology. It's all about the end times, right? The day of the Lord. And so Peter's point is, hey, Paul taught these same things. Listen to what he says. 2 Peter 3, 15 through 16. It says, And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction." Does everyone see that Peter there is affirming that what Paul wrote was what? It was Scripture. It was God-breathed. It's ultimately from God. And so what this tells us, dear brothers and sisters, is that from Genesis to Revelation, all 66 books that we have in here are breathed out by God. And again, it tells us that what is inspired is the biblical writer and not the reader. You and I are to come to know what the inspired writer has said, but I can err and have and will, unfortunately, as the reader. It's the text that's inspired, not us. Brothers and sisters, that means you and I must endeavor to understand the point of the biblical author. Okay, so now let's come to our second point, and that is the Old Testament really is messianic. And I know as I say that, many of you are saying, well, I already believe that, and I know you do. Praise be to God for that. But I want you to know that there is a movement afoot in evangelicalism where this is under attack. Let me tell you a little story. When I was in seminary, I was forced to read a book called Inspiration and Incarnation by a man named Peter Enns. And in this book, what this man alleges is that the Old Testament really isn't messianic. It's just that after the cross and the resurrection and ascension of Christ, the apostles look backwards and they read Christ into the Old Testament after the fact. Are you with me? Well, this took off and it created a firestorm in evangelicalism. But here is one of the critiques that I had when I read the book, and I want to share it with you today, and I want you to have it in your back pocket. What did Paul say today that would refute that in 2 Timothy 3.15? Paul said, Timothy, you have known the sacred writings from your childhood which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. How could Paul say that if the Old Testament really wasn't messianic? I don't think Paul is blowing bubbles. He is saying that the Old Testament that Timothy read and understood made him wise unto salvation and brought him to faith in Christ. That's his claim. The Apostle Paul who speaks for Christ is telling us that the Old Testament was messianic. And so I'm going with Paul rather than Peter Enns and whatever seminary will affirm him. Now, let me show you another passage that affirms all of the Old Testament is messianic. Remember here in Luke 24, Jesus is actually ironically in His resurrected body, He's walking with His disciples and they don't even recognize Him. In fact, they're belly aching and rightly so, they're sorrowful because they don't know what's happened to all the promises. And so right after that, think of the irony, Jesus in His resurrected body is walking with them. Listen to what Luke records. And he said to them, that's Jesus to the disciples, O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary? By the way, that's the divine necessity. Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory? What's the answer to that? Well, of course it was. Of course it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer. Now notice verse 27, Luke records this, he says, Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, he, that's Jesus, explained to them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures. in all the Scriptures. Brothers and sisters, notice here when he talks about Moses and he talks about the prophets, he's talking about the Law and the Prophets, often times that is shorthand for the entirety of the Old Testament. Sometimes they would talk about the Law, the Prophets and the Writings, but sometimes it's just shorthand the Law and the Prophets. And so notice we're not left with ambiguity because it says concerning himself in all the scriptures. What that tells us is that indeed for Jesus himself and all the biblical writers they knew the Old Testament was messianic. That the Old Testament really was about Jesus Christ and therefore the design of it wasn't simply to make you a better legalist, but rather to bring you to faith in the Messiah. That was the purpose all along. Now, don't make the error, now when you pull up your Old Testament and you're looking for Jesus in every single verse, and you have to like spiritualize it, everything's about Jesus, don't do that. Think about this joke where the little Sunday school room, they've got the Sunday school lecture going, and the teacher says to the children, now children, I'm thinking of an animal, and it's a little furry one with a bushy tail and little legs, and it likes to eat acorns and go up and down trees. And the little girl says, well, teacher, it sounds like a squirrel, but I'll say Jesus. because you've got to spiritualize it, you're in Sunday school, right? Well, you and I can end up doing the same thing with the Old Testament and say, well, if it's all about Jesus I have to find Jesus in every verse. No, that's not the point. The point is that the totality of the Old Testament thrust is to show you our need for Christ, the remedy of Christ. Think about Genesis 3.15, the very first promise in the Bible is what? The seed of the woman is going to come and crush the serpent's head. The rest is details. The seed comes from Abraham. He comes from Isaac. He comes from Jacob. He comes from Judah. Genesis 49. 2 Samuel 7, he's coming from David. We find out what he's going to do, where he's going to come from, why we need him, how we receive him. It's all there in the Old Testament, dear brothers and sisters. Let that be a powerful powerful apologetic to you, that you can give to the dying world, that the Old Testament, hundreds of years in advance, was teaching not just haphazard predictions, but the doctrines of Christ. That's what it was doing. All right, now, let's move on. I have seven things that I want to share with you. I have slides for most of it. The last one I'll just leave you off with just some words. But these are seven things that I think we have to be dedicated to if we really want to live out the sufficiency of Scripture or Scripture alone. Number one, we must treasure belief in and obedience to the Scriptures above all else. What's our goal in life? Our goal in life is to treasure belief in to Scripture above all else." Now, we see Jesus role model this for us in Matthew chapter 4. Remember in Matthew chapter 4 Jesus has gone into the wilderness for 40 days. Now, why does He go for 40 days? Because Jesus has to be the faithful Son that Israel never was when they failed in the wilderness for 40 years. So Jesus is tempted in all ways that humanity is tempted, and yet He is without sin. Now, one of the temptations, as He's very hungry after 40 days, I can't even imagine, I can't go 40 minutes hardly without eating. He went 40 days. And the tempter goes to Him, and he says to Jesus, why don't you turn these stones into bread? Now, the real temptation is this, Jesus is going to take His hungry stomach and He is going to put that need before obeying the Word of God and what God had for Him. That's the risk. Which is He going to follow? Is He going to follow God's will for Him as revealed in the Word? or is he gonna satisfy his empty stomach? So listen to how Jesus responds, and isn't it interesting, how does he defend himself against Satan with the scriptures? Another part of him being a role model for us. Jesus answered, Matthew 4, 4, but he answered and said, it is written, now notice in all caps, this is Deuteronomy 8, 3, man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Jesus is going to live not to satisfy his hunger, but he is going to live according to every word that comes from God. And brothers and sisters, that should really be our goal. The number one goal in our life is to believe in and obey the Scriptures. All right, number two, if we wanna really live out Scriptures or the sufficiency of Scripture, Scripture alone, we have to realize the primary goal of every pastor, every teacher and every lay person is to accurately handle or interpret the Word of God. In fact, we learned that in 2 Timothy 2.15, Paul calls Timothy to accurately handle the truth, he says. Now, let me tell you a little bit of that story again going back to the Sadducees. The Sadducees did not accurately handle the Word, and it brought them into a damnable heresy where they didn't believe in the afterlife. And I want you to remember how that discussion went. Remember in Matthew chapter 22, the Sadducees, they think they can trap Jesus by showing an absurdity that if you believe in the absurdity, it would be absurd to believe afterlife. So, the Sadducees go to Jesus and they say, you know what, think of this analogy, think of a man who is married to a woman and the man dies and he has six other brothers. Well, according to the Levite marriage law in Deuteronomy 25, when a man dies and his wife has brothers underneath that other, the brother that died, she is to be married to one of the brothers. That was in the law, so that way she would be taken care of. That was the purpose of it. She wouldn't perish. That's Deuteronomy 25. Well, the conundrum, excuse me, the Sadducees put them in is, let's say there are seven brothers, they all die. Well, then they go to heaven, who is she going to be married to in heaven? And they fold their arms and they think, we got you Jesus. How do you get out of that one? Therefore, it's absurd to believe in the afterlife. Well, how does Jesus respond to that? Listen to what He says. Matthew 22, 29, but Jesus answered and said to them, you are mistaken. not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God. Because they didn't understand the Scriptures, they didn't believe the truth about the afterlife. Now, it's interesting, I don't have a slide for this, but do you remember how Jesus responds? Remember, the Sadducees did not believe in the inspiration of any other books except the first five books of Moses. So isn't it interesting to prove Jesus' point? Jesus uses a book that they would receive as authoritative. He cites Exodus 3, 6, where God says to Moses at the burning bush, I am the God of Abraham, I am the God of Isaac, and I am the God of Jacob. And what Jesus concludes from that is that God is the God of the living, not of the dead. In other words, wouldn't it be false advertising for God to say, well, yes, I'm the God of three dead guys? Well, whoop-dee-doo. I'm the Lord of this grave plot over here. No, He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They are not dead, they are alive. And God isn't the God of the dead, but of the living. And so Jesus shows them, even in Exodus 3, 6, a book that they would receive, they don't understand it. Brothers and sisters, when you go out the door, how many times are you going to hear from people in Christendom today that the greatest thing that they treasure is the accurate handling of the Word of God? I don't hear that too often as a pastor who talks to people. It's always about programs or someone's personality or something that's superficial. No. Job number one is to accurately handle the Word of God. If we fail there, we failed utterly. Number three, we have to understand Christian fellowship as the arena in which the Word of God is taught, learned, understood, and proclaimed, and all of the other means of grace. Okay, let me explain. Let's put up Acts 242. Acts 2.42, this is about what the early church was devoted to. It says, they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Now notice here, the fellowship, what I'm claiming is that is the arena in which you have these other three things, the apostles' teaching, the Word of God, the breaking of bread, that's the Lord's Supper, and prayer. Are you with me? So let's ask ourselves the question, what does your fellowship look like? And I know you in here are fellowshipping in this way, but those of you that are listening, is your fellowship merely, well, I went out with some friends for pizza the other day, and they happened to be Christians, or I played a football game with some people who were Christians. What I'm claiming is that the fellowship the scriptures call us to is one in which the other means of grace are dispensed. namely the Word of God. That's primary. Number four, the offices that Christ gave the church all have to do with the proclamation and teaching of the scriptures. Let me show you. Ephesians 4, 11 through 12. This is after Jesus ascended and He gave gifts to men. It says, And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ. Notice, dear ones, the blue. We have apostles and prophets no longer on the scene of history. These were the men who penned the Scriptures. We don't have them anymore, and that's why we have a faith once and for all handed down to the saints, as it says in Jude 3. But what do we have? Well, we have evangelists, teachers, and pastors who proclaim and teach what the Word is. But notice what office is strikingly absent, the one of the resident psychologist. Right? Or what about that office of the guy who finds the felt needs of the unregenerate and then tones down the gospel for him or her? You don't see that office anywhere. All of the offices that Christ gave us were about the accurate proclamation and teaching of the Word of God, because it's sufficient. Number five, we must be convinced that God really will use the accurate preaching and teaching of the scriptures to convert the lost. We see that in Romans 10, 17, so faith comes by hearing, and hearing by what? The Word of Christ. Or as Paul said today, 2 Timothy 3, 15, the sacred writings were able to make Timothy wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Dear brothers and sisters, do you believe that? Do you believe that with your coworkers, your friends, and your family who don't believe, that God can use the Scriptures powerfully to convert. He will and He does. Number six, we must be convinced that not only do the Scriptures save, but they transform or sanctify. That they will remind us and enable us to persevere until the end. And we see that in Romans 15, 4 where Paul says, but whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction. Stop there. Written when in earlier times? That's the Old Testament. Notice it was so that through the perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. The term hope there, elpis, I like saying that because I remember in Greek it sounds like Elvis. And people hope that Elvis is alive, right? So it's hope. But here the hope that we have isn't where you cross your fingers, I hope I don't get audited, I hope the Vikings can win a Super Bowl, everything's contingent. No, the hope that's found here in Romans 15.4 is a certain hope of the future resurrection and kingdom because those are promises based on the character of God. And what Paul is showing us is that it's through the encouragement of the scriptures that you and I are constantly reminded that these promises are true, that we're heading for the kingdom, that we're heading for resurrection. Dear ones, you and I only need the scriptures. The final one, I don't have a slide for this, but it's one that Bob had taught up in Saskatchewan. It's the priesthood of every believer. If you and I really believe in the sufficiency of scripture, we have to be convinced that every single believer can interpret and read the scriptures. that we don't need some pope or magisterium. How do we know that? Because in 1 Peter 2, 4 through 6, we find that we are a royal priesthood. We don't need a guy with a pointy hat to tell us what it means or a magisterium. We as believers are capable, by God's grace, to coming to understand what the Scriptures have said. And as Luther said, the lowliest saint armed with the truth of the Scripture can tell an erring Pope to be silent and sit in the corner. Brothers and sisters, the Scriptures are sufficient for all you need. Let us be those who are dedicated to believing them, obeying them, proclaiming them, and explaining them. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do thank you that in your Scriptures we have life. because they bring us to faith in Christ. We thank you, Heavenly Father, for the great gift of your word, the apostles and prophets who penned them. We thank you, Lord, for the ability to come together in fellowship, in peace, and learn your scriptures together. I do pray, Heavenly Father, that in the months and years ahead, you would give us ample opportunity to proclaim and teach your word to those who don't know you, that you would give us the ability to be those who acquiesce and are doers and not just hearers of the word. We pray, Lord, that you would use the scriptures to enable us to persevere until that day. Either we go to be with you or you come for us. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.