Scripture is Sufficient

The Bible is totally comprehensive in its ability to address every need in your life. Dr. Tony Evans says Scripture speaks to our lives and can show us the best way forward. Put it another way, you'll never see life as it really is until you look at it through the lens of God's Word. Celebrating 40 years of faithfulness, this is The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans.

Author, speaker, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, and president of the Urban Alternative. There's an old saying that goes, you are what you eat. Well today, Dr. Evans points out that's also true when it comes to our spiritual diet, as he talks about the importance of scriptural nourishment.

Let's join him. The word Bible is associated with the final word on the subject. So when you read the vegetarian Bible, what they're trying to say is, the bottom line on everything you need to know about being a victorious vegetarian is contained in the vegetarian Bible. Or everything you want to know about hunting is contained in the hunter's Bible. Or everything you want to know about fashion is contained in the fashion Bible.

Well, vegetarian Bible, the fashion Bible, the chocolate Bible, and all the other Bibles, as well as one other Bible that's the Bible, and that's the Bible. And today I want to talk a moment about the comprehensive nature of scripture. What I mean by that is that the Bible is totally comprehensive in its ability to address every need in your life.

There is no need in the life of the Christian that has gone unaddressed in the Bible. There's one simple passage that kind of lays this out in a very simple format in Psalm 19, a beautiful psalm, and it talks about the revelation of God. But he starts off by saying, the heavens are telling the glory of God, and the expanse is declaring the work of His hand.

In other words, even if you don't know how to read, it ought to be clearly as to God. He then goes and he discusses how nature speaks on behalf of God. It doesn't give you all the details, but it does tell you a few things about Him, that is, He must be great, He must be powerful, He must know a lot. That leads him to verses seven through 14, where he makes six statements about the sufficiency of scripture or its comprehensive nature to address all of life. Number one, he says, the law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. He is saying that scripture lacks nothing. It is complete in its revelation of divine truth, and while God has not told you everything, He's told you everything you need to know.

What's the benefit? He kind of gives the context or the content, the law of the Lord. He gives what its nature is, the compliment, it's perfect, and then He gives what it can achieve or the blessing or the benefit. It restores the soul.

The word restore means to convert, revive or refresh. In other words, the word of God can change you. It can change you. It can make things different. Many of us have seen old furniture restored, brought back to life. We've seen broken things repaired.

We've seen old things made new. What he's saying is that this book is so powerful that it is able to take your soul. Now, where's your soul? Your soul is the essence of your life. Your soul is beyond your body. Your soul goes to who you are as a being. Most of us start with what we do as a being, and that brings in our body. But we only do what we do because we are who we are. He's saying the scripture can change who you are, which will automatically affect what you do.

The scripture can restore or give you back your soul. There are two reasons I encourage my youngest son, Jonathan, during his high school days of playing football. There are two reasons. Reason number one, I love football.

Reason number two, I didn't want to pay for college. So I felt like I could express my love for football and save money at the same time if he would get good enough to get a college scholarship. Well, he got a college scholarship and I got my praise on.

I mean, because I was happy. They pay for his classes. They pay for his books. They pay for his food. They pay for a place to live. It's a comprehensive agenda. It would be a shame to have that much investment not to be taken advantage of. Am I right? Now you know why I got my praise on. It's a five year scholarship.

It would be a shame. I don't want to hear you didn't go to class. I want to hear you don't want to play ball all day. In other words, when you know the value of a comprehensive scholarship, what you ought to do is take advantage of it.

Maximize it. After three and a half years, he'll graduate with his BA degree. But he has another year of football eligibility so that he can come out with his master's degree. He came on talking about I'm tired. What? I'm tired? I say, but you can't get the scholarship unless you take 12 hours.

Well, he says, well, what I'm going to do is I don't think I'm a go work on the master's. I'm just going to take 12 random easy hours that aren't going anywhere because I'm tired. I said, tired? Did I hear you say tired? There's no tired here.

You're going to get your master's degree. You can't have that much comprehensive gift and not take advantage of it. You can't have all this and not take advantage of it. It is the comprehensive word of God. He says the scripture will restore your soul. Now, if the scripture will restore your soul, that means it'll also save you money.

Because that means you don't have to go beyond it to get your soul fixed. Second thing he says, the testimony, another way of saying scripture, the testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple. When he says scripture is sure, he's referring to scripture as trustworthy. In other words, it's witness testimony.

Sure means to give testimony or to give witness. It's true about who God is, what God says. It's a reliable document and therefore provides a sure or solid foundation upon which life is to be built.

It's sure you can bank on it. Jesus said in Matthew 7 about two men who built houses, one built on a rock, one built on sand, one foundation was sure, the other was flimsy. Scripture is sure. Many of our lives often are built on philosophies that are not sure. How we were raised, which wasn't sure.

Our friends who are as messed up as we are, they're not sure. He says scripture is sure, that is reliable. And he says it will make the simple wise. What is the simple in the biblical worldview? What does it mean to be simple?

Well, he doesn't mean as sometimes we may use the word, somebody lacks intellect. The simple person in the Bible was the person who didn't know how to make good choices. It was the person whose judgment ability or discerning ability was flawed. They didn't know how to make choices. They didn't know how to set the right boundaries. They didn't know how to position themselves under God correctly. They were called simple, not because they lacked intellect, but they lacked the ability to make judgments. How many of us, if we knew then what we know now would have chose differently? In other words, it was a judgment problem. We didn't calculate the data correctly. We didn't investigate it correctly.

We were maybe too immature at that point in our lives. And so we were unsure and therefore we could not make judgments. What he's saying is the scripture will save you that heartache. To put it another way, you'll never see life as it really is until you look at it through the lens of God's word. Dr. Evans will have more on this efficiency of scripture when he continues our message in just a moment.

Stay with us. God has an amazing plan for your child's life, and there is no greater joy than helping them discover it. Dr. Tony Evans' Kids Guide series can help, instilling kingdom principles in your child by teaching them how to build others up with their words, understand God's attributes through his names, and engage in spiritual warfare against the enemy. Written for kids ages 8 to 12, these easy-to-read books are filled with biblical truth, aimed at guiding young readers into a deeper love for God and confidence in his faithfulness. And because you can read them as a family, these guides are sure to encourage everyone in your home. Bless your child by helping them discover God's amazing plan for them so they can unlock their potential for a lifetime of following Jesus.

Find out more at tonyevans.org. And while you're there, you can also make the arrangements to get a copy of the special sermon series you're listening to today. It's called Tony Evans Top 40, a selection from his most powerful sermons over the last 40 years. Earlier this year, we put together the first portion of this four-volume series. Now volumes three and four are available and can be yours with our thanks when you make a donation to help keep this broadcast coming your way. The final installment of this series, available on CD or digital download, includes messages on overcoming emotional strongholds, maximizing your potential, the sufficiency of Scripture, and much more. Please visit tonyevans.org, make your donation, and let us send you all 20 lessons in Tony Evans Top 40, volumes three and four.

And if you missed out on getting the first two volumes, you can learn more about how to get those for your audio library as well. Just visit tonyevans.org or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222 day or night. I'll repeat that contact information after part two of today's lesson and this.

Coming to theaters this November. We're at the Church of the Nativity here in Bethlehem, where it is believed that the birth of Jesus Christ occurred. Travel with Dr. Tony Evans as he retraces the life and human journey of the greatest being to ever walk this earth. Well, we're here in Capernaum, a place where Jesus did most of His miracles. And it is in this place that He demonstrated He truly is the Son of God. You'll travel the streets, fields, and synagogues that Jesus walked and visit the locations where some of the most powerful events recorded in the Bible took place. It is highly likely that much of what we read about Jesus' ministry in Galilee happened right here. Journey with Jesus in theaters November 15th, 16th, and 17th with Dr. Tony Evans.

Visit tonyevans.org for locations, showtimes, and to learn more. Thirdly, the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. Some things the Bible states directly, other things it gives guidelines concerning.

These principles are designed to govern character and conduct. And what he's saying is Scripture has every principle needed for a well-ordered life. It's a book for people who don't know what to do. And what happens when he leads you down the right path? It says, rejoicing the heart, you'll be happy you took that road.

Now, let me tell you how you know you're on the right road. It will produce joy. The Word of God operating in the life of the believer who will apply it in their lives and experience its joy given the path it takes them down. He goes on, verse 8, the commandment of the Lord. Again, the commandments of the written Word of God. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. Commandments express the fact that the Word of God is not optional. God is not writing suggestions. Scripture functions as a divine mandate, authoritative and binding. They're pure.

They have no contamination. What will happen? You will see, enlightening the eyes. It will clear up the dark things, the things that are hard to figure out. You don't have to wonder about death, the dark part of death. You don't have to wonder about death. You know to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. You know where you're going to spend eternity.

How did you find that out? You found it out from the Word. So you get to see things as they really are because Scripture enlightens your eyes. It gives you divine vision. He continues, the fear of the Lord is clean. The word fear here is again used referring to response to God's Word. The fear of the Lord is clean. God conveys His truth without flaw or without blemish. Psalm 12 verse 6 says God's Word is flawless.

He says that the fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The Bible is permanent. It's unchanging.

And watch this, it's always relevant. It will never go out of date. It will never go out of print. You know this book has never been out of print.

It just gets translated into language after language after language. No book is sold more in the history of publications. Well, how could it be since it's the Word of God? So it says it will endure forever.

It is a permanent record of the revelation of God. It always has been sufficient. It is sufficient. It will always be sufficient.

He goes on. The judgments, verse 9, of the Lord are true. They are righteous altogether. Judgment means the ordinances or divine verdicts from the bench of the supreme judge of the earth. The Bible is the standard, he says, of judging life, of leading life, and of evaluating life.

Why can it be trusted? Because the judgments of the Lord are true. And when applied, it produces comprehensive righteousness in the life of the believer who accepts it. It is the inexhaustible source of truth, and when truth is applied, you become right. The Bible pronounces a curse on anyone who adds to it or takes from it because you're messing with the revelation of God. So if the Bible is this comprehensive, how should you view it?

What kind of priority should it have? Notice what he says in verse 10. They are more desirable than gold. Yes, they're much fine gold. First thing he wants you to know is anything this precious is more important than your paycheck.

Gold is your money. I would dare to think that many of us view the Bible as more important than our paycheck. Very few of us look at the Bible that way. That's not how David looked at it. And David was a wealthy man. He wasn't sitting home reading his Bible all day.

He was a very wealthy man. But when it came to what was valuable, he said, your word is more, when Paul was in prison, getting ready to die, he said, word, Timothy, when you come, bring me a blanket because I'm cold in prison. It's cold here. Bring me a blanket and bring me the scriptures. Because right now in this situation, I need something divine. When Christians are on their deathbed, first thing they want is somebody to read in the Bible. It's not only valuable in death, it's valuable in life because it's written for life. He says it's more precious than my paycheck or anything that the paycheck can buy. So it's more valuable than anything this world offers. That is not just the book sitting on your shelf is more valuable.

It is the reality of God's revelation, which is incorporated in scripture that is more valuable. Notice how else valuable it is. He says it's sweeter than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. It's better than your dessert.

Because your dessert has got sugar in it. It makes it sweet. He says this thing is sweet. Have you ever read a verse that got sweet to you? Or read a passage that was sweet to you? Now, how do you know when something's sweet? I'll tell you how you know something's sweet and tasty. You can taste it. See, that's why the Bible says taste of the Lord and see that he is good. See, I'm not talking about reading the Bible. Although reading, of course, is part of that's the way you can read what God has said. I'm talking about you tasting it. Some people would call feeling it, experiencing it. So you don't just want to say I read my two chapters today. You want to say I experienced God while reading my two chapters today. You want to taste the sugar. There's a big difference between reading about a kiss and kissing.

Am I telling the truth? He wants you to taste it. For David, the Word of God was something to be experienced as well as known. Now, it's true, even if you don't experience it, but you don't just want the fact of it.

You want the reality of it. You want it to take on life for you. Of course, that's the role of the Holy Spirit, to animate it in your experience. And what he says is that that's what the Scripture will do.

It will be a taste for you. Moreover, by them your servant is warned, and keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors that equip me of my hidden faults?

Things that are deep down inside that are flaws. I'm going to need your word to help me with those. Keep back your servant from presumptuous sins, sins you plan to do. Do not let them rule over me, that I shall be blameless and shall be acquitted of great transgression. And then he says this famous closing verse, Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer. He says the Word of God is sufficient. It can satisfy the soul.

It can quench the thirst. Dr. Evans will come back in a moment with an old ad campaign that perfectly sums up the significance of the Bible for our lives. Stay with us. In the meantime, I wanted to let you know that the message you've been listening to today is part of Tony Evans' Top 40, a collection of his best and most powerful messages of all time. Remember, Volumes 3 and 4 of this four-volume collection are now available and they can be yours with our thanks in return for your donation to the Urban Alternative. We depend completely on the prayers and gifts of friends like you to keep Tony's teaching on this station. And we consider making these resources available to help strengthen your faith and life impact as both our privilege and sincere responsibility. So contact us today at TonyEvans.org or give us a phone call at 1-800-800-3222 where someone on our resource team is waiting to assist you. That's 1-800-800-3222 or online at TonyEvans.org. Christians experience emotional pain just like anybody else, but Dr. Evans says sometimes we're just better at hiding it. Tomorrow he'll explain how God can heal our hurts and meet our emotional needs in healthy ways.

Right now, though, he's back with this closing thought. Any of you use preggo spaghetti sauce? They used to have a commercial about preggo spaghetti sauce. The commercial would simply say, it's in there.

Right? Because they would ask, does it have tomatoes? And he'd say, it's in there. Or does it have Italian sausage? It's in there. Or does it have basil? It's in there. Or does it have garlic? It's in there.

Does it have pepper? It's in there. I'm going somewhere.

David is saying scripture is comprehensive. My life is falling apart. It's in there. I'm worried. It's in there. I'm losing my mind. It's in there. I don't know how I'm going to pay my bills. It's in there. I found out I got terminal cancer. It's in there. I found out that I'm in conflict with my neighbor. It's in there. Because the Bible is totally comprehensive to address every need because it is the absolute Word of God. You ought to look through here because it's in there. The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans is brought to you by the Urban Alternative and is celebrating 40 years of faithfulness thanks to the generous contributions of listeners like you.