So tonight we're going to focus on the doctrine of Scripture that is in the Confession. And when we come to this chapter, we come to what is the logical beginning of this doctrinal treatise. And it really does begin with Scripture. And it's so critical that we understand the doctrine of Scripture. Church problems, family problems, state problems, they're always doctrinal in nature. And the problems manifest themselves in different outward ways, but you can always trace them back to unsound doctrine, wrong thinking, distorted understanding. For example, just this week, the school district in Charlotte, Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, instructed their teachers not to use the terms boy and girl anymore. This is a doctrinal problem of a mega sort. Everything that we deal with in life really has to be studied and evaluated through the grid of scripture. When you have the worldliness of the world pressing upon you, when you have your own thoughts, when you have your own culture pressing upon you, you need a sufficient and authoritative, inerrant word of truth. And that's what this first chapter is really all about. And here's why you ought to understand the doctrine of Scripture. and understand scripture itself. First of all, it'll always make your family stronger if you take it seriously from the heart. Secondly, it'll make your church stronger. Thirdly, it'll give you a permanent record to refer to as life progresses on. Fourthly, you'll learn how to apply biblical doctrine directly to your life. And fifthly, you won't be so easily tossed about by every wind of doctrine. if you understand the Word of God, and particularly understand the statement regarding the Word of God in this confession. You will be far less susceptible to vain notions, ridiculous ideas of man, whims, trends, the next cool thing that washes over the culture and rips everybody apart, until the next one comes along. There are trends, there are fads, and fads need to be really examined by Scripture and by Scripture alone. So it's really critical that we understand how important this doctrine is. Now, tonight we're going to do a brief overview of the first three paragraphs in the first chapter on scripture. And then next week we'll deal with paragraphs 4, 5, 6, and 7. So we're breaking this section in half. And now with the first paragraph before you, do you have it before you? Because I want to point out some specific words that are here. The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule. Now, those three words, sufficient, certain, and infallible. Those are three really critical words. If you want to understand the doctrine of Scripture, those three words are pivotal. They really are the foundation of everything that the Bible speaks regarding Scripture. Sufficient, meaning they are all you need for life and godliness. Certain, meaning you can absolutely count on them. The law of the Lord is perfect, it converts the soul. Your ways are pleasant ways. They are certain. You can rest your whole life, your whole reputation, your whole career. You can rest everything on the Word of God. Trust it. That's certain. And then, infallible. In other words, they are absolutely true. They are true in every single part. So those three things form the basis of the doctrine of Scripture. Sufficient, certain, and infallible. They are rules of such, of all saving, knowledge, faith, and obedience. Okay? They are designed to communicate saving knowledge. You know what it means to be saved. And secondly, through faith and obedience. They teach you what it means to be saved, they teach you what it means to have faith, and they teach you how to obey. So those three words are critical as well. And then the authors say, 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, they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and His will which is necessary unto salvation. So do you see what the authors have done? They've placed scripture at the highest level of authority, and then they acknowledge how instructive nature is. You can't look at anything in nature without being reminded of God. But nature isn't enough for saving knowledge. It can draw your eyes Godward. But it is not sufficient for saving knowledge. So they make that distinction. Is it possible that someone has been saved by looking at the creation? It's possible. But what the authors here are saying is that there is a far superior testimony and it's not nature. Nature is marvelous. It's incredible. yet it is nothing like a sufficient, certain, infallible rule for saving knowledge, faith, and obedience. Nature doesn't teach you everything you need to know. So, if you see the word, therefore, therefore, it pleased the Lord at sundry times and in diverse manners to reveal Himself and to declare that His will unto His church. Okay, so, the authors then turn to the reality that God throughout history has revealed himself in Scripture. There's a book that I always have my interns read called God Breathed by Lewis Gowson. And Lewis Gowson is communicating the doctrine of Scripture. One of the most remarkable parts of the book is where he talks about how Scripture is It's so diverse. There's poetry, there's history, there's politics, there's all these things in Scripture, and through various eras of history, from Genesis to Revelation, how Scripture just runs along this rich contour of history. And he says it's like keys on a piano, where God, He comes down to the low tones and plays, and then coming all the way back down to the others and playing everything in between. He views scripture like that. The diversity, the richness, the beauty of it, the distinctiveness of each part, how each part is different, pinned by different men, with different personalities, at different times and histories. for particular needs with certain governments. And so scripture was written in diverse times. That's why that language is there. Diverse times. All kinds of times for all kinds of people in all kinds of ages. That's why scripture is so applicable today. Because it reaches across thousands of years and delivers the testimony of God to man. That's what he means by sundry times and diverse manners." And he revealed himself, declaring his will to the church. And then there's a comment here, do you see the words, for the better preserving and propagating of the truth? What does that mean? That means that it was written down so that the truth would be propagated in a better way. In other words, not just by word of mouth. Much is lost by word of mouth. The scripture wasn't delivered by word of mouth, by the way. Moses wrote it down. God wrote the Ten Commandments. Moses took the law of God and he wrote it down. These things have been passed on through writing. This idea that the Bible came about because of the telephone game, one person talked to another person's ear, that's totally wrong. The Bible doesn't represent itself that way at all. It is a written record. And why? For a better preserving and propagating of the truth. And then look at the next phraseology here, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church. At this point, the authors are going to point out different wonderful parts about scripture. The establishment and comfort of the church. So the words are there to comfort you in the midst of the nations, the difficulties, the trials, the tribulations, the weather, the people, whatever you encounter, God put that there for the comfort and the establishment of the church. Why? Against the corruption of the flesh. Now, that's the first reason that he gives for the establishment of scriptures. It is written down to comfort the church, to come against the corruption of the flesh, in other words, to confront you of your sin, that's why God gave his word, and then, and the malice of Satan, in other words, the direct attack of the devil, because there is a real devil alive in the world, and of the world. So, because we're afflicted by the flesh, Satan, and the world, We need a testimony in writing. So that's why they have written, to commit the same holy unto writing, which maketh the holy scriptures to be most necessary. Those former ways of God's revealing his will unto his people being now ceased. So God has given us scripture for all these reasons. It's first classified as certain and sufficient and infallible. and then the purposes of scripture are given, and then this final statement makes it very clear that the writing of scripture has ceased. In other words, there's no new revelation. There's no new Bible. The Book of Mormon? Burn it. The Vedas? Burn it. These are not revelations of God. They are revelations of something else. They are from the devil. And so anything that claims to be revelation outside of the written word of God is from the devil. That's what you have to recognize. Because the writing of scripture has ceased. Now, let me give you a couple scriptures here. There are several that are listed below. I'm just going to read a small number of them. 2 Timothy 3.16, the Apostle Paul is speaking to Timothy and he says that, "...from childhood you've known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." Do you notice the connection with these words and the confession? make you wise for salvation through faith." The Confession cited those very two things as purposes of Scripture. All Scripture, verse 16. is given by inspiration of God. Inspiration. The word that the Apostle Paul uses is the word for breathed. God breathed. That's why Lewis Galston named his book, God breathed. Scripture is the breath of God. It's God exhaling His strength, His wisdom, His energy into the world by His word. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and it's profitable. For what? reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. It does those things. Why? Well, it's for man, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. What do you need to do every good work in this world? You need doctrine, you need reproof, you need correction, and you need instruction in righteousness. You need all those things in order to be equipped for every good work. So God gave His Word to equip you for every good work, and He does it through these various means. So that's 2 Timothy 3, 15 through 17. Now, Psalm 19. This is the classic statement in the Psalms and the poetical books regarding the Word of God. David makes it in Psalm 19. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are sure and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned. and in keeping them, there is great reward. Would that we could spend the entire evening on that text. It's so beautiful. But the power of the word of God, it converts your soul, it makes wise the simple, it rejoices the heart, it enlightens the eyes. God is so kind to give us his word. He gave us a testimony that does all these things to you. Do you want those things? Would you like your eyes enlightened? Would you like to be comforted? Would you like to have your ways endure forever? Well, doing them by the Word of God is the way to secure that. Psalm 19 is something that I think should be memorized in every home, because it really declares the beauty and the power of Scripture. Verse 7 declares probably the most important aspect of this. The law of the Lord is perfect. It's perfect. Everything else is imperfect. Everything is judged by the Word of God. And then Isaiah chapter 8, there's this scene where the culture is just engulfing people. And everybody's listening to wizards and consultants and mutterings and all kinds of stuff like that. And Isaiah comes out and he declares how the word of God must be obeyed and these mutterers should be rejected. Isaiah 8.19. And when they say to you, seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter, should not the people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony, if they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." And then right after that, Isaiah explains the tragedy. that befalls the person who rejects the Word of God. And the language really speaks of the tragedy of setting aside the Word of God for your own preferences. He says, they will pass through life hard-pressed and hungry. It shall happen when they're hungry that they will be enraged and curse their king and their God. and they will look to the earth and see trouble and darkness, gloom and anguish, and they will be driven into darkness." That's the result of rejecting the Word of God. And so this first paragraph makes it very clear. Now, what does this mean for us? What does it mean for you as an individual? What does it mean for you as a family? The Bible ought to be the absolute far and above most important resource in your home. The Bible should capture the greater part of your time. And unless a family makes that its principle of life, then you'll find the family to be devoured by all kinds of other literature, literature that's not so bad, but literature that's not perfect. The Word of God is perfect. And so as a result of its perfections, we should recognize it to be the most important book. I think it was John Piper who said it ought to be the son, the son of your family. Everything revolves around it. The Bible doesn't change for culture, it doesn't change for times and seasons, it's always true. And you always need it, every day. And so this whole idea of being dependent upon scripture. A family ought to be completely dependent upon scripture for their life. Moses said it like this, it's your life. That's what he said. For it is your life and it is the only way to live life. It's the only way to live a happy life. Because the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. That's Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12. And that's why we should take every thought captive to Jesus Christ and His Word. That's in 2 Corinthians 10 verse 5. So the Bible shows us His will. The Bible shows us how to be comforted in this world of troubles and insecurities. The Bible shows us how to be saved. That's the essence of the first paragraph. Then the second paragraph begins to speak about what portion should be regarded as Scripture. What is Scripture? What is the Word of God? And so we read, under the name of Holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testaments, which are these, and then they are all mentioned. The 39 books of the Old Testament are mentioned, and the 27 books of the New Testament are listed, and all of them are given by the inspiration of God to be the rule of faith and life. Now, here the books of the Bible are listed, reminding us to know the whole Bible. There's a tendency in evangelical Christianity today just to kind of know your favorite part. Today we have the church of your favorite verse, but people don't know the whole counsel of God. Because some parts of the Word of God are harder than others. By the way, in 1 John, we're in what, compared to Isaiah, very, very easy comparatively to interpret. That doesn't mean that it's superior in any way. God didn't give us a perfectly easy book. He gave us a book that stretches our minds, that sometimes drives us crazy to try to figure out exactly what the author is saying. Why is that? Because God wants to humble you. He wants to show you how dumb you are, so that you can begin to think thoughts like He thinks, and to saturate your mind in His thoughts. And after a while, you'll have a better feel for Him and His glory. So, knowing your whole Bible is critical. Don't let your family members get stuck on their favorite verses. but bring them the whole counsel of the God-breathed pure scripture. There's not a single part that we should leave unread or unappreciated. And I would just urge you to read the Bible through and through over and over again as you're raising your children. Just read it from cover to cover and do it every year if you possibly can. Yeah, it'll take some time. It'll be worth it though. You can do this by reading about four chapters a day. And you can teach your children how to read also by reading the Bible. That's what we did. When they were only able to say a couple of words, we would have them read a couple of words, and then it turned to five words, and then it turned to ten words, and then it turned to a hundred words. Our pattern was that we would each read five verses going around. But it improved our reading and comprehension and things like that. It's critical that you read the entire Bible. Don't let your children leave home without it. And then the third paragraph addresses books that are not scripture, the Apocrypha. And the paragraph reads like this, the books commonly called Apocrypha not being of divine inspiration, are no part of the canon or rule of the Scripture, and therefore are of no authority to the Church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved or made use of than other human writings." So this paragraph rejects the Apocrypha, as having authority from God. The Apocrypha were books that were written between 400 BC and the time of Christ, during the intertestamental period where there was a silence of prophecy. There were 400 years where God did not speak to his people in written form through the prophets. But there were things that were written during that time that some have actually embraced as authoritative. In fact, Martin Luther's Bible actually contained the Apocrypha between the Old and the New Testaments, calling it the Intertestamental Period. Even though he regarded it as different, it was there. In the preface to the Geneva Bible, we find these words, that it was explained that while these books were not received by a common consent to be read and expounded publicly in the church, they did not serve to prove any point of Christian religion, save in so much as they had the consent of the other scriptures called canonical to confirm them. Nevertheless, quote, as books proceeding from godly men, They were received to be read for the advancement and furtherance of the knowledge of history and for the instruction of godly manners." In other words, in the introduction to the Geneva Bible, there's a really clear statement, this is not scripture. But some of the Geneva Bibles do contain the Apocrypha. Why were they put in the Geneva Bible? Strictly for history. That's the reason they were there. The only reason they were put there declared in the introduction to that Bible that they were not authoritative. The Roman Church did embrace the Apocrypha and they did it formally after embracing it earlier in 1546 in the Council of Trent, the Roman Catholic Church officially declared some of the Apocryphal books to be canonical. Now, I want to give you several reasons why, I'm going to give you five reasons why they should be rejected, number one. Neither in Jesus' day or in ours did the Jews accept the Apocrypha. Jesus didn't accept them, the Jews didn't accept them. Luke 24 speaks of Jesus speaking to his disciples in 24.7, and beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning So when Jesus spoke about authoritative scripture, he didn't speak of the Apocrypha. He spoke of Moses and the prophets. Secondly, Jesus assumed that the 39 books of the Jewish Old Testament was his Bible. There's no indication that he embraced any other scripture than the 39 books of the Old Testament. Thirdly, Neither Jesus nor the apostles quote them, while they do recognize many Old Testament books. There are 295 references in the New Testament from the Old Testament. There are zero from the Apocrypha. And so it's critical that the Apocrypha was never considered of divine authority. Number four, the early church fathers did not recognize the Apocrypha. Number five, the Apocrypha endorses strange doctrines and corrupt practices. For example, they teach salvation by works. In 2 Maccabees, the doctrine of purgatory and purchasing salvation for the dead is taught. Further, it teaches that God hears the prayers of the dead. So the Apocrypha should be rejected. even though it is embraced by the Roman Church, many Greek Orthodox churches embrace it, but Orthodox Christianity does not embrace the Apocrypha. So, this paragraph is designed to declare the absolute authority of the Bible over all other writings. The Bible is distinctly in a class of its own, and all of us should be very well aware of the vast difference that there is between the Bible and all other writings. Books can be helpful, but only the Bible is perfect, only the Bible is pure, only the Bible is a sharp two-edged sword, only the Bible can equip you for every good work, only the Bible can do that. And so this is why we so desire to fill our minds with the knowledge of God. So, these three paragraphs are the beginning, and then there are other issues that are brought up in the final paragraphs that will be dealt with next Sunday night.