Sufficiency of the Word (Part 2 of 2)

People are desperately looking for answers from her life today. Answers that can only be found in the Bible, and yet so many churches are watering down the message or they add to what it says today on Truth for Life. Alastair beg encourages us to hold tightly to the absolute sufficiency of God's word continue in second Timothy 316, the gospel is not a means to the advancement of a sociopolitical agenda preaching, which offers men and women set of Christian ideas to appropriate and to assimilate in the hope that they might be better citizens in the long run is not what Paul is resetting to hear in these vast what he speak about faith in Christ Jesus.

Why is the only thing to speak about. Why would you use your time talking about something else. If you're a dying man confronting dying men and women.

If your life is been transformed by the power of the gospel. If you know that it is appointed unto men once to die, and after that comes judgment. If you know that God has set a day when he will judge the people and he will separate the sheep from the goats. Surely you wouldn't go into a context like that and simply try and ingratiate yourself with Felix and his wife surely you wouldn't go in there and simply say well you know if I could get out of here and use this little tête-à-tête this evening as a means to get back on track and I can go on get back about the business of the preaching of the gospel. No, instead he spoke to them about faith in Jesus Christ and he had a three point sermon. He discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come see what I was either of the first century.

They like that stuff then you know they were they were inter-like hellfire and brimstone in lions and tigers and people in their heads chopped off and everything else bogus idea on your part. If you hold Felix stole Drusilla from her husband, by the aid of a Cypriot magician called Simon they were living in an adulterous relationship and post enzymes is my first point this evening is righteousness. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly are stands in the way of sinners, was or sits in the seat of the scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night. Felix is going okay skip that one go to the next one. Okay let me go to my second point. Self-control then we can move directly to the third one okay. Glad you asked.

I want to talk about the judgment that is coming. There is no equivocation in these matters and loved ones. There cannot be.

The times are two perilous the depth of human depravity is too deep. The means of proclamation is too powerful to clown around with anything else than a sufficient Scripture sufficient through faith in Jesus Christ to bring men and women to salvation see the great drag on Christianity today is not where the majority of people think it is.

They think it's coming from the outside thinning is coming from secularism know the great drag on Christianity D is coming from within the propounding of religious generalities and psychological theories and political agendas with it. We were killing ourselves we don't need anybody to do it for us from the outside wife because of a lack of confidence in the sufficiency of the Scriptures is why people are told on television: shows on radio shows you sure you don't need to go to your pastor, you need to go to somebody who has a white coat and understands about how you are locked in a box when you are seven and a how your grandmother used to trap you in the back of the card and all those kind of things so go to the people with a long white coats and the tiny revivals.

What is that saying I'm not saying this, an indictment on the help that comes by means of all kinds of agencies. What I'm saying is it that the holding a shift so people's last thought is that you would go to the Scriptures, because they are all sufficient for the needs of a life we've done that to ourselves.

In the last quarter century without any help from outside to spend less time on the second point set up your encouragement sufficient for salvation and sufficient for transformation because it is not transformation that is referring to here in verses 16 and 17 all Scripture is God breathed and you'll notice at the end of our 17 so that what's the purpose so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Paul is not teaching here incidentally on the doctrine of inspiration. Not that these verses teach is nothing about inspiration but in terms of his purpose. He's not giving a discourse on the inspiration of Scripture. This great summary statement on the part of Paul is showing that the Bible is absolutely essential to both maturity and Christian usefulness.

He is not informing Timothy of the fact that Scripture is inspired that wasn't in any doubt in Timothy's money. Instead he is reminding Timothy that the basis of the profitable nests of Scripture lies in its inspiration. The reason he says that you can use it in this way is because of the nature of this book is unlike any other book in all of the world because he says it is the op used us it is God pre-know what that means is mysterious and wonderful.

It is not that the Scriptures existed, and God came along and breathed life into the works of a man or men, but rather it is that God breathed, he spoke and he spoke out the very Scriptures and their very existence, by means of ordinary men in extraordinary time by dint of their personality and in the environment of their historical context writing as as ordinary man inspired by the power of the spirit of God. God was actually breathing out his true in order that through it man might come to salvation, and in order that by means of it. God's people might be transformed another transformation that takes place is delineated for is there in the 16th verse, it's useful for teaching, for teaching the faith as I move around the country now is an old man now find that young men come and seek me out and the questions are always the same questions if they're involved in the possibilities of pastoral ministry if they have already embarked on that and they want to know what you think I ought to do. What's the key. What should I endeavor to accomplish my answers always the same and fairly boring, teach the Bible on exhibit a must be more than that, you know there's going to be a secret hidden spring I'll leave you know something you pull no the Bible is useful for teaching the faith you know about a young man who wrote to his bishop was an Anglican clergyman he was, or curate, and he was excited because it was his first opportunity to preach in the parish church in Iraq to his bishop regarding them and he said dear Bishop on Sunday. I will preach my first sermon.

What should I preach about the bishop wrote a post card back that simply said preach about the Bible and preach about 20 minutes. I certainly got the first part clear my mind. I'm not sure I have a second part. So let me move on is useful for teaching the faith for rebuking, rebuking, in other words, correcting error pointing out where things are wrong. You go to these churches in the end they tell you good morning and welcome to our church were very positive.

Progressive and peaceable and palliative. And you know and and you just want to know that everything's okay. Are you feeling okay everything is okay you're going to be okay and I'm sitting back there and the one thing I know about myself is not okay if we believe in the sufficiency of Scripture. Then we will proclaim the Scripture in such a way that it teaches the faith and it rebukes ever. Not that we become those whose agenda in life is to be constantly searching out error and turn our exposition of the Scriptures into a shambles into nothing other than simply taking the high road and point how the best chaps wrong and that's wrong in this church doesn't Rod do it right and what were nothing other than a cantankerous rascal that is not what he is refitting to he saying that in the balance of the exposition of Scripture.

Not only will people be engendered in a love for Christ and stored in a renewed commitment to the faith, but they will also have their lives brought in lying with the truth of God's word errors and belief errors in behavior must be pointed out and must be pointed out in a spirit of love and of genuine kindness.

Paula feuding the price rose is very willing to identify the dangers very willing to identify the deceivers because he understands how crucial it is that not only is the faith talked, but that error is rebuked and also that correction takes place is not enough for a pastor to be warning of the wrong path he needs to be directing under the right is no good if are constantly harping and carping on people's problems. They understand they have problems.

I was the key to this, don't preach topical sermons preach the Bible because in the balance of it all. Incidentally, that is not a categorical statement. Don't preach topical sermons. Let me rephrase it and say this. The danger in preaching topically is that we will preach what comes easiest to us or our hobby horses and we will neglect the broccoli we will neglect the liver and onions. We will neglect the kidney.

We will neglect all that stuff how we are people ever have some spiritual haggis someone make steel tell you what that is. Poor ignoramus, but if you go to a golf teacher.

You are a golf teacher. He says okay why I just take major grip take your stance and make a swing and then he looks at you and he goes well your grip strong your stance is wrong.

Your takeaways wrong.

Your follow-through is wrong, that only $75.

Thank you. Know it won't do, correcting, rebuking, training in righteousness, resetting the direction of our lives so that the man of God will be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

That's a great challenge of our day and what is the answer to fully mature believers. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly says in Colossians 3 but the Scriptures be your guy. Let them be your food. Let them be your Mac. You of all that is necessary in this book the word that is used here for thoroughly equipped for the phrase was used to describe a rescue boat that was fitted out with all the necessary materials so as it could go out on a voyage.

Alas, how many professing believers are so poorly kitted out that when we go I would under the voyage of the high seas and we meet the mariners who are in difficulty and are ship racking undertaking on board. All that deprives them of the enjoyment of life and the opportunity of faith were not there to speak because were not men and women who embrace the sufficiency of the book Jim pack on one occasion said if I were the devil. One of my first aims would be to stop folk digging in the Bible and this conference is so timely because for all of the emphasis and all of the push were really not making a tremendous dent in the cause of the gospel and along that journey that has been at the same time as an overarching emphasis on all kinds of thing and accompanying loss of conviction in the sufficiency of the Bible is sufficient for salvation it sufficient for transformation and finally it is sufficient for proclamation XYZ goes into chapter 4. He says I want you to preach the word.

It's a very stirring charge that he gives him is it not Jesus is going to appear. He says his kingdom is going to be ushered in. In all of its fullness. Men and women are going to face the judgment.

Therefore, he says, in light of these truths. I give you this charge.

Preach the word is not interesting. This is his last letter. If you are writing the last letter to somebody. Surely you would put in the things that were most presently urgent in your mind, you wouldn't fill it up with trivialities you would want to ensure that whoever it was that was on the receiving end of the information would grasp the nettle of what was being conveyed and now as he moves into the final section of the letter, he says, in light of all that is about to unfold and in light of all the confusion that you're facing, and in light of all the temptations that are before you. Timothy is a young man for power and for passions and for all that accompanies your young life. He says listen devote yourself to this. Preach the word of God because it is sufficient not only to see people equipped and to see them see what it is also sufficient for the building of the church she can raise a large crowd by all kinds of means, the building of the church is something that God does those who have been called to the privilege of preaching a been called to a high task and will return to something of its power and something of its pitfalls tomorrow morning.

God willing, let me note enjoying this to a close, that it is the word that were supposed to preach it's referred to elsewhere sound doctrine as the truth. In verse four as the faith in verse seven, Jim Packer came to Scotland some years ago, and address the group of Scottish preachers and in doing so, he gave this definition of preaching.

He said Christian preaching is the event of God, bringing to a congregation, a Bible-based Christ related life impacting message of instruction and direction from himself, through the words of a spokesman from himself, through the words of a spokesman. Now when we use this as a standard, it becomes quickly obvious that not every performance from behind a pool. His preaching are not talking about style, but the cool chatty approach which sounds as passionate as a man reading from the Yellow Pages trivializes the master and erodes any sense of expectation on the part of the congregation that God is about to speak to his word, so congregations instead of heading for worship in the expectation that are going to hear a word from God an opportunity to give him praise to hear him speak. The average congregation sits out in a spirit of detached passivity become as observers to measure the performance rather than as participants waiting on the word of God instead of sitting up and expectantly praying master speak thy servant here waiting for thy gracious word. The setback they relax and they wait to see if anything, the preacher has to say tickles their fancy or tall, and as a result, many churches are being brought up under knowledgeable fellows speaking with emphasis. That's all they are just knowledgeable chaps that get excited about stuff, but there is no sense of the accompanying power of the spirit of God. There is no sense of that resting on the lives of individuals. There is no expedience of being cut to the heart and seek men and brethren, what are we supposed to do and that the very heart of it.

In encountering such individuals and in seeing myself reflected in them and so readily drawn to that approach.

Identify the missing elements that is in a conviction regarding the absolute sufficiency of this book. See ultimately I don't care if you think I was long sure good bad funny or whatever it is I care not. If I am judged by you, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear. But that doesn't make me innocent. I'm going to stand before Almighty God an answer for every occasion, including this morning when I stood before a group of people standing in the gap between a holy God, and those to whom he is chosen to communicate his truth in the very sufficiency of his work. Therefore, we mustn't be trivial and it takes an expectant praying congregation along with the preacher who is equally expectant and equally prayerful to make an authentic preaching occasion. So he says I want you to be prepared. People one choose churches on the basis of the truth, they won't first listen to the preacher and then decide whether what if it is true the first decide what they want to hear and then the going select teachers who will oblige by toeing the party line is verse three will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

Tell me lies tell me lies tell me sweet little lies tell me it's all right your fine people of that. Tell me I'm handsome. Tell me I'm cute tell me I'm fine. Tell me what I want to hear.

No, he says Sue day will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths that we people coming other churches in the most unbelievable things really come up with a stuff when people stop believing in the Bible. They don't believe in nothing. The start to believe in everything, if you seen people are set out on their journey of faith who were in the group. One of the parable of the sower, and you met him now. Along the journey of their spiritual pilgrimage. Goodness gracious. Their heads are full of whistles and and all manner of stuff. What are they do turn aside from the truth. Turn to myths with them was the pastor to do run down this avenue and chase this train correct that no it's there in verse five you Timothy number one. Keep your head number two endure hardship number three do the work of an evangelist number four. Discharge all the duties of your ministry. Some of your hearing, your pastor's been going either hard and long yearly but we came here for word of encouragement maybe thought you get a lever you know is the secret nursery golf books. Everybody wanted to know what Hogan secret was the Hogan secret sold like crazy.

Everybody read and when they finish the said I couldn't find any secret because it wasn't really a secret action. There was still a secret. I know what it was is the secret's right here, get down on your knees and ask God to fill your heart with a love for Christ through his word. Let's stay on our knees till he fills us with a passion concerning the absolute sufficiency of this book and then let's take it and don't let speak given it to our friends and neighbors like this, no force-feeding let's go in amongst all those lonely people really welcome to Alister bearing Truth for Life.

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