God In a scripture that we hold in our hands, has given us a relatively perfect expression of His eternal will to establish all the necessary truth for spiritual life and duty, and that word. in the life of an individual, energized by the Spirit of God, brings about consummate sufficiency. Welcome to Grace to You, featuring the Bible teaching of John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. No doubt the world is a very different place now than it was even ten years ago.
Yes, times change and they bring new problems.
So how can the Bible, an ancient book, help you get through modern life's toughest trials? Can it still meet your spiritual needs in the twenty first century? The answer is yes, and you'll get answers today as John continues one of his most popular studies. It's titled The Sufficiency of Scripture. And now here's John with today's lesson.
It seems to me that one of the most subtle and dangerous threats. Facing The word of God is coming from within. The category of evangelical Christianity. By people who claim to believe the Bible to be the Word of God, but betray a lack of trust in its sufficiency. And therein Speak evil of the word of God.
And it has forced me to ask the question: is the Bible really sufficient for matters of spiritual life? Is it sufficient? for the people of God. And all of the necessary resources for the fullness of living in the will of God. Or do we need to concede that the Bible has some rather glaring limitations that can only be overcome?
by wisdom and technique developed by well-meaning people who want to help God out a little bit.
Now, to answer the question of scriptural sufficiency, I want you to look with me at Psalm 19. What I believe to be the most concise and direct Treatment of the sufficiency of scripture in all of the Word of God.
Now, to begin with, let's notice the sufficiency of Scripture, verses 7 through 9. Follow them as I read. 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 clear. enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean. enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true. And righteous altogether.
Now, I want you to note for a moment the structure of those three verses. There are six lines of thought. And each of those six lines has three elements. It has a title for the Word of God, a characteristic of the Word of God, and a benefit of the Word of God. Number one.
Inverse seb. The law of the Lord is perfect. converting The soul. The word of God then has the power of total transformation. It is so comprehensive that it can mold a soul, a living person, into precisely what God desires that person to be.
And that begins at conversion. Secondly, the psalmist says, The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. And he takes another step in building this tremendous, magnificent presentation of scriptural sufficiency. The word of God Can take a naive, inexperienced, undiscerning, uninformed, ignorant person and bring them to such wisdom that they can live out a godly life according to the will of God. Thirdly, would you notice verse eight of Psalm 19?
The statutes of the Lord are right. Rejoicing the heart. Where does a believer go to find joy? Where does a believer go to find relief? happiness.
Deliverance from sorrow, anxiety, and depression. Where does a believer go? Where is the resource? The testimony of the psalmist is: it's the word. It is the Word that rejoices the heart.
The scripture Is perfect enough to convert the soul, wise enough to make the simple profound. and able to make the sad Joyful. Fourthly, You will notice At the end of verse 8, the commandment of the Lord is. Clear. The best translation is clear.
enlightening the eyes. And he uses here the word commandment.
Now commandment is another way to look at scripture. Yes, scripture is precepts. Yes. It's instruction, yes, it's testimony, but it is also divine decrees. And here we find the emphasis on authority, on the non-optional character of Scripture.
The Bible is not full of a lot of suggestions. It is commandments, binding, authoritative commandments. This is what God requires. And for those who respond, there is blessing. For those who do not, there is judgment.
And the word of God, which comes to us as a commandment from God, he says, is clear. Is clear. That is to say, it's lucid. It's not mystifying. It's not confusing and puzzling.
Oh, yes, there are obscure elements of it. But the word of God in general as read Is clear. It's easy to see. It gives clear direction for life. The Old Testament says: a wayfaring man, though he be a fool, need not err.
It enlightens the darkness. When there is darkness in the world and you can't understand what's going on and you don't know why things are happening the way they are, the Word of God makes things clear. In contrast to the muddled, muddy musings of men who themselves are blind. To be able to see truth in this dark world, struggling to know what truth is, to be able to understand what is right and wrong, to be able to understand and be comforted in times when we can't comprehend what's happening, times like Job endured. All the knowledge of things not readily seen is revealed in the Word of God to the degree that our eyes can be sufficiently enlightened.
What a wonderful truth. The Word of God is all the revelation we need. It is clear, it is easy to understand. It leaves no doubt as to necessary truth. Proverbs 6.23 says, The commandment is a lamp.
And Teaching is light. In other words, he's saying the word is sufficient to give me the information I need. It lightens the dark way, it gives me understanding. Yes, the scripture is sufficient for salvation. Sufficient for skill in living, sufficient for joy and happiness and satisfaction, sufficient for clear understanding of things not easily understood.
It is also, fifthly, Verse 9, clean. enduring forever. And here he uses the term fear. As a synonym for Holy Scripture. Why does he do that?
Because the Holy Scripture intends to convey. Fear or the awesomeness of God. to bring about a reverential awe. to draw us to worship. It is used in the sense of what it seeks to produce.
The scripture intends to produce fear or awe or respect or worship to God, and so it is said to be the fear of the Lord. And since the habit of the human soul is to worship, the scripture then instructs us who we are to worship and how we are to worship. And this scripture, which instructs us in the worship of God, he says, is clean. Marvelous thought. The word Tahor is the root word.
The word means... The absence of impurity. The absence of filthiness, the absence of defilement, the absence of imperfection. That is to be unsullied with sin, without evil, without corruption, without error. This again, in contrast to the evil imaginations of men, the word of God is clean.
There's not a taint of evil in it. You can go to it and know that what it says is absolutely pure. The truth it conveys has no taint of evil in it. The testimony of the psalmist in Psalm 12, verse 6 is a marvelous one. The words of the Lord, he says, are pure words.
Like silver. Purified seven times in an earthen furnace. The word is so pure. Hallowed, holy. Separate from sin.
Now that's in contrast to the words of men. You can't always trust them. You can the word of God, and consequently, you'll notice it endures forever. That is to say, you can follow it always. It's trustworthy all the time.
It never changes. It's never altered. It doesn't matter what generation it is. And when I hear these people come along and say, well, the Bible isn't sophisticated enough for our high-tech society, they don't understand. The Bible is absolutely pure and without flaw and without error and without sin and therefore needs no updating and no editing and no refining.
It is perfect. Are we to believe all of a sudden that it's got inadequacies and errors and shortcomings? that need correction and addition. Are we to believe it needs to be bolstered by people who are more sophisticated than the Holy Spirit who wrote it? Are we to believe that it cannot purify a heart and a soul and a life?
Are we to believe that people have to go someplace to learn a formula to get rid of their sin, to have an inner healing, to have a soul cleansing by some practitioner somewhere, because the word of God is not sufficient to deliver people from sin? Do we no longer believe in its power to purify a nation of people?
So that we must turn to power politics to overcome the weakness of the eternal word of the living God. God forbid that we should believe that for a moment. The word is adequate and sufficient. As a clean word to clean the heart. to purge the heart.
I call you to the testimony of the psalmist in Psalm 119. It's all right there. Psalm 119. Starting in verse 3, and we could look at a lot of scriptures. Verse 2, rather, he says, Blessed are they that keep thy testimonies and seek him with the whole heart, they also do no iniquity.
They walk in his ways. People of the word are clean. People of the word are pure. Verses 9 to 11. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?
How do you go about purifying your life? By having an inner healing? By having an encounter with somebody who can direct your problems because they've got some supernatural magical power. By calling on some Contemporary science of the mind? No.
By taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee, O, let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. In verse 38, Establish thy word unto thy servant. Who is devoted to thy fear or worship?
Fill me with the word. Verse 67. Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I've kept thy word. The word and obedience going together. Verse 101.
I have restrained my feet from every evil way that I might keep thy word. Verse 172: My tongue shall speak of thy word, for all thy commandments are right, righteous. Listen, the word is sufficient for cleansing. It's sufficient for purifying the life. It is eternally relevant.
It is all that is necessary for the cleansing of the soul. We do not need Practitioners. We need the word of God. And lastly, And so importantly, He says in verse 9, The word Called here. The judgments or the ordinances of the Lord are true.
And as a result, they are altogether righteous. The word ordinances means divine verdicts.
So we have divine instruction. The law of the Lord. Divine witness, the testimony of the Lord. Divine principles, the statutes of the Lord. We have divine decrees in the commandments.
We have divine worship in the fear of the Lord, and now we have divine verdicts from the bench of the judge of all the earth. The Bible is God's judicial determination for the life of man and eternal destiny. From the eternally supreme judge. And he says his word is True. Oh, what a statement.
Do you know how hard it is for people in our society or in any part of the planet Earth to find truth? Do you know what a battle it is to discover truth? And we have the word that is true. The word of the Lord is true. It's always true.
Therefore, it's always dependable, always relevant, always applicable. In contrast to the lies of men who are victims of their father, the lying Devil himself. It is always true. Listen, beloved, If the word of God is sufficient for salvation, If it is sufficient to perfectly transform the soul of a person, if it is sufficient for all the skills of spiritual living, if it is sufficient to bring full joy to overcome the sorrows and struggles of life, if it is sufficient to bring understanding to the dark things hard to see, if it is sufficient to purify all sin, and if in all of this it's always true, then it's got to be the source of everything in spiritual living. And it is so trustworthy.
The fact is that God in a scripture That we hold in our hands has given us a relatively perfect expression of his eternal will to establish all the necessary truth for spiritual life and duty. And I believe that with all my heart because that's the testimony of God Himself. And that word in the life of an individual, energized by the Spirit of God, brings about consummate sufficiency. To believe anything less is to strike a blow against the integrity of the living God.
Now, notice the result of the truthfulness of Scripture in verse 9 is that it is altogether righteous. That is, it is totally right. And the idea of that phrase is to talk of its comprehensiveness. It is altogether righteous. There are no errors in it, yes.
But more than that, it is a complete, comprehensive, sufficient source of truth. Are we to believe? That we need more revelation? Are we to believe that we need more visions and words of prophecy? You see how ridiculous all of this is?
The word of God is sufficient. It is true and absolutely comprehensive. And I draw you one more time to Psalm 119. Verse 89. Let's start at verse 89.
Forever, O Lord. Thy word. is settled in heaven. Marvelous statement. To the sufficiency and the comprehensive completeness of Scripture.
Verse 128. Therefore, I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right, and I hate every false way. Verse 137. Righteous art thou, O Lord, and upright are thy judgments. Verse 138, thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful.
Unchanging. Verse 142: Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth. Verse 151, Thou art near, O Lord, and all thy commandments are truth. Verse 160: Thy word is true from the beginning, and every one of thy righteous ordinances endures forever. Tremendous testimony.
Utterly complete, comprehensive source of spiritual truth necessary for spiritual life, and perfectly meeting all the spiritual needs of man. Secondly, I want you to see as a result of that the value of Scripture. The value of it. Look at verses 10 to 13. I'm only going to mention them, so listen carefully.
It is so valuable. As a comprehensive resource for life, unequal in value because, number one, it provides the greatest possession. Verse 10. More to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold. Listen, the word of God is the greatest possession.
To have the word of God is more valuable than all the precious metal. It is The source of the greatest possession, secondly, the greatest pleasure. In verse 10, he says, sweeter also than honey in the honeycomb. Nothing is as sweet, nothing is as pleasurable, nothing This is enriching. Nothing is as personally meaningful.
It brings the sweetest things of earth. What do you seek for? Where do you find your pleasure? I can honestly say to you. There's no pleasure in life like the pleasure and the joy, the lasting pleasure and lasting joy of hours spent in the Word of God.
You see, the resolution of all of our problems Is not a result of inadequacy of scripture, it's the result of inadequate application of scripture. Inadequate Diligent study of scripture. Scripture is the greatest possession and the source of the greatest pleasure. Thirdly, it's the source of the greatest protection. Verse 11, Moreover, by them is thy servant warned.
It's a source of protection. In the face of temptation and sin and ignorance, we need the word. It protects us. We hide it that we might not sin. And fourthly, it's the source of the greatest profit.
for in keeping of its truths there is great reward. The true reward is not here and now. The true reward is not positive confession, visualization of what you want right now. The true reward is the obedience to Scripture that brings about the glory to come. Instead of living for what we can amass here and now, like the Christian cultic preoccupation of health, wealth, and prosperity and immediate success.
we need to know the blessedness of living for the eternal reward. The scripture, yes. It is the one thing that gives us. Without question, the greatest possession, the greatest pleasure, the greatest protection, the greatest profit, and fifthly. Verses 12 and 13, the greatest purification.
It is a purifier. Look at the response of the psalmist. Even as he is going through all of this, he says, Who can understand his errors in the midst of this kind of statement about scripture? How can I ever understand why I sin, right? Why would I ever violate that which can transform me and make me wise and fill my heart with joy and enlighten my eyes?
And purify my heart. And comprehensively supply all my resources. Why would I ever violate such truth? How can I understand that? And in looking into the word, he cries out, Oh, cleanse me from secret sins.
Those are the ones that I don't plan and I don't premeditate. They're the hidden ones. And maybe I don't even remember. To confess. And then he says, and keep me also from presumptuous sins.
Those are the sins I see and premeditate and plan and know about, the arrogant sins. Keep me from the ones I don't know about it. Keep me from the ones I do. And don't let those dominate me. Then I'll be upright and I'll be innocent from great transgression.
Oh God, hold me back. The term great transgression is the idea of freeing oneself or breaking past a barrier. Escaping The Dominion of God, the realm of grace.
So you can see that a look at the scripture causes a backwash. A cry for purity in the heart. Yes, it is the source of the greatest purification. That little list ought to be something you keep somewhere And when you study the word of God and look at it, it'll remind you of what it'll do in your life. It is the greatest possession because it gives you that which is needed for every issue of life.
It is a glorious Wealth. It is the greatest pleasure. It fills your heart with joy in all circumstances. It is the greatest protection because it warns you. It is the greatest profit, it leads you to eternal reward, and the greatest purification, it cleanses.
cleanses the heart. The sufficiency of scripture. The value of it. Finally, the commitment to it. What is the response to all of this?
It comes in verse 14. As the psalmist cries out, and I trust you will from your heart, let the words of my mouth. And the thoughts or meditation of my heart. Be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. What he's saying is, oh God.
May the things I think And the things I say. be acceptable to you. Why? Because they're consistent with your what? Your word.
Your revelation. He's saying, make me a man of the word. Make my thoughts biblical. Make my words biblical. Keep me in the word.
That's the right commitment. I really believe That we're seeing sad things happen in the evangelical church today. People are leaving the word of God while affirming its truthfulness and chasing after all other kinds of things. Because they have the feeling that the word can't meet their need, and that is a lie of the devil that has arisen because they've never really lived a biblical life. And they've never really been noble like the Bereans who daily search the scriptures.
And they've never allowed, as Paul said of the Colossians, the word of Christ to dwell in them richly. They've treated it in a cursory way. and never enjoyed the power of its depths. And oh, how in this day we ought to call the Church of Christ back to a preoccupation that consumes them with the living word of God. And let our message not be the message of the Bible plus the world.
But let it be the message of the sufficiency of the Word of God alone. You're listening to Grace to You, featuring the verse-by-verse teaching of John MacArthur. Today's lesson is from one of his most requested series, The Sufficiency of Scripture.
Now, John MacArthur was a pastor and a Bible teacher for over five and a half decades. And one thing was clear all of that time, John loved God's Word. studying it, preaching it, teaching it, and seeing it reach people and transform their lives. We once asked John what aspect of teaching the Bible he found to be the most energizing and rewarding, and here's what he said Well, on a personal level, the most satisfying thing about preaching and teaching the Word of God is its own work in my heart. I am first and foremost a Christian, a lover of Jesus Christ, a lover of God, a lover of His Word, a lover of the truth.
and the truth does its work in my life. What an amazing way to spend one's life This is what I've done.
Well, it's been 50 years plus now that I've been teaching and preaching the Word of God. Still, every week has a very familiar course that I run, and it involves digging into the passages in the Word of God that I'm preparing to preach on the Lord's Day and at other events, working on commentaries, working on books. I'm constantly saturated in the scripture, and the most energizing and rewarding part of that is what it does in my own soul. to strengthen me, and to sanctify me, and to give me joy. and peace And then beyond that, to proclaim it and teach it and preach it, And see its work in the lives of others.
You know, it's been wonderful to be in the same church and to be working on the third generation of people and to have seen the transforming power of the Word of God. You know, uh, Paul said that the hard-working farmer tastes the fruit. And that's what happens in a pastoral ministry where you're in the same place with the same families, the same people. You enjoy the fulfillment of the promise of God to bless His Word. You enjoy the fruit.
What a joy that is. It is a joy indeed. And friend, keep in mind, John's passion for verse-by-verse teaching led to the creation of a resource that can transform your own study of Scripture. It's been doing that for many people for more than two decades now. It's our flagship resource, the MacArthur Study Bible, and it combines the text of Scripture with about 25,000 footnotes to help you understand virtually every passage.
To order a copy, contact us today. You can call us at 80055 GRACE or go to our website gty.org. The MacArthur Study Bible is affordably priced in hardcover, softcover, and leather. You can also purchase a premium goat skin edition. It's available in the New King James English Standard, New American Standard, and Legacy Standard versions of Scripture.
Again, you can order the MacArthur Study Bible when you call 855 Grace. or go to our website, gty.org. Also, if you'd like to review John's study that we wrapped up today, you can download both messages free of charge. The sufficiency of Scripture and 3,600 other messages from John MacArthur. are available for free at gty.org.
That's every sermon from John's 56 years as a pastor and Bible teacher, and all of it is available free of charge at gty.org.
Now for the entire Grace DU staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Thanks for joining us today, and be here next time to find out exactly what distinguishes the Bible. from other religious books like the Quran or the Book of Mormon. John MacArthur's message tomorrow is titled The Doctrine of Scripture. Don't miss the next 30 minutes of unleashing God's Truth one verse at a time.
on tomorrow's Grace TU.
