Sufficiency of the Word (Part 1 of 2)

When we look at the early church, it's clear that its stability was threatened by persecution from outside and confusion inside the church. Christians struggled to understand what to believe and how to behave. Today's church faces similar predicaments.

So how do we keep from giving in to the ways of the world? Alistair Begg shows us how today on Truth for Life. We find it in 2 Timothy 3. And I would like to read, breaking into Paul's line of thought, from the 14th verse of this third chapter of 2 Timothy. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, I give you this charge. Preach the Word, be prepared in season and out of season, correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.

Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

Amen. Now, I want to say, as something of a disclaimer, that my purpose is not to enter into some technical discourse on the nature of the sufficiency of Scripture, nor on the doctrine of inspiration itself. I think I'm fairly safe in assuming that that is familiar material to many of us, and that what our concern is is not so much to discover those principles and those truths, but it is, as with so many other aspects of our Christian living, to be reminded of them and to be reinforced in them and to be renewed in our commitment to them. I think in this respect we will be helped by reminding ourselves that the context in which Paul was writing to Timothy was one of quite incredible confusion. The church was facing a variety of threats which were coming to it both externally and internally. And they were, from a human perspective, challenging, threatening the existence of the Christian community. Those who, from a human perspective, looked at the events of those days might have safely assumed, on the basis of their secular understanding, that the church would not make it into a subsequent generation.

Bishop Henley Moo, writing in an earlier generation of this, says, Christianity trembled, humanly speaking, on the verge of annihilation. And it was in this environment—not a very encouraging environment, but a very daunting environment—that this most unlikely of servants, young Timothy, was called to receive the baton of responsibility from his colleague and his mentor and his father in the faith. There was incredible persecution which was unleashing itself on the church.

There was, we're told from the tenth verse of chapter 1, a wholesale defection on the part of many in the province of Asia. And if that were not bad enough, Timothy was also aware of the fact that what he was receiving from Paul was, according to Paul's understanding of things, his swan song. As verse 6 of chapter 4 makes clear, Paul was aware of the fact that his life was ebbing away, that he was living in this dingy dungeon in Rome, under the shadow of execution.

And he recognized that the possibility of him being able to advance the ball, as it were, up the field for another first down in the cause of the gospel was largely going from him. And therefore, the pressing urgency of his life was to convey to this young man, Timothy, in an environment of manifold confusion, the absolute clarity and authority and sufficiency of the Scriptures. These were not truths that were new to Timothy, but they were necessary for Timothy, even as they are for us this morning. The confusion in Timothy's day was disparate, but it could be summarized in two thoughts, namely that it was doctrinal confusion, insomuch that people did not know what they were supposed to believe, and it was moral confusion, which of course will always accompany doctrinal confusion, insofar as the men and women in the congregations were just unclear as to how they ought to behave. So both in the realm of belief and in the realm of behavior, the church trembled on the brink, says Mull, of annihilation.

And here we are, and you don't have to be too brilliant to recognize that there is an immediate point of identification, despite the fact that we are removed by some two thousand years from the events in Timothy's day. Because I think it is safe to argue that once again, right at this point in history, the church trembles on the brink of capitulation. More pressing than any other issue is the challenge of pluralism and syncretism. And when the church is tempted to take on board anything other than the simplicity of the gospel and the sufficiency of Scripture, then it will always be in danger of capitulation. And its missionary zeal will diminish, and its desire to see unbelieving people becoming committed followers of Jesus Christ will begin to falter.

And more money will begin to be spent on political causes than on the evangelization of the world. The church trembles on the brink of capitulation. We live under tremendous pressure to capitulate to the idea that there is no unique revelation in history. In other words, that Gaia and the belief in Mother Earth, that Buddhist notions, Hinduism, all of that smorgasbord of pluralism is actually the answer to the question. We live at a time in which truth has been devalued and tolerance has been enthroned, and young men and women growing up in our churches with a kind of how-to Christianity, devoid of a solid understanding of biblical theology, are trembling on the brink of capitulation. To capitulate to the notion that there are many different ways to reach the divine reality. To capitulate to the idea that all formulations of religious truth or religious experience are by their very nature inadequate expressions of that truth. To succumb to the notion that it is necessary to harmonize as much as possible all religious ideas and experience so as to be able to create one universal religion for all mankind. That is where we live today. And the great challenge is then to hold to the sufficiency of the Scripture in a context that not only in the secular realm but in the ecclesiastical realm is tottering on the brink of capitulation.

Now, there are all kinds of things that contribute to it. I don't want to digress and get myself in trouble immediately. Perhaps they will come out as I go along.

In fact, I can pretty well guarantee they will. Now, with that rambling introduction, the question is, what then is the safeguard in view of such a danger? Well, a renewed commitment to the sufficiency of the Scriptures. Because, unlike other religions of the world, when you take away this book and the one of whom this book speaks and the one to whom this book introduces us, we're done.

We're left with moralism and platitudes and religious ideas and agendas and notions for the well-being of a culture, but we are devoid of authority, we are devoid of clarity, we have nothing really to say to our environment. And therefore the antidote to the threat from within and to the threat from without is to be renewed in our conviction regarding the matter that Paul conveys to Timothy here in these verses. Now, what Paul does is simply what Jesus himself had been doing. I'm sure all of us have decided that we have favorite points along the journey of the life of Christ, that if we were able to go back in a time-space capsule and be dropped down into that existential moment, we could tell one another where we would like to be. Of all encounters and all occasions, in my estimation, one stands out more than any other. Apart, of course, from the events of the empty tomb and the cross. And that is the encounter between Jesus and the disciples on the Emmaus road. If there is one sermon that I would like to have heard preached, it is the sermon that is there in summary form. In Luke chapter 24 and verse 27, after these poor souls have said, you know, we thought that this Jesus of Nazareth was going to be the savior of the world.

We thought that he was going to fulfill the claims, but everything has come to a grinding halt in a cul-de-sac of a Palestinian tomb. And Jesus looks at them lovingly, and he says, Oh, how slow of heart you are to believe all that the prophets have written of me! And then, beginning with Moses and the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

In other words, to his followers, tottering on the brink of unbelief, he did not pump them up. He turned them to the Bible. He turned them to be aware of the absolute sufficiency of the Scriptures which were theirs—namely, of course, the Old Testament Scriptures.

Now, in light of that, I want to say three things. The Scriptures are sufficient, first of all, for salvation. They're sufficient for transformation, and they're sufficient for proclamation. And I think if you look with me at the text, you'll see that I'm simply saying what Paul is saying to Timothy. 2 Timothy 3, verse 14, he says, As for you, in comparison to the imposters who will go from bad to worse, the deceivers who themselves are dreadfully deceived and then deceive others, unlike those individuals, Timothy, I want you to continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of. Now, you see, this is foundational.

And the underpinning of this is on the basis of two things. One, because, he says, you know from whom you learned it, and secondly, because you know what it was that you learned. Timothy would have been on the receiving end of all kinds of instructions coming from the home that he did. The influence of a godly grandmother and a godly mother, and all the benefits that would have accrued with that, would surely have found him in his early days, learning the things that God had given to his people as he walked along the road and as he lay down and as he got up. Learning the necessity of binding them on his heart and talking about them through the pilgrimage of his life. And Paul has already mentioned to him how the benefits of a godly heritage are something for which he must be tremendously thankful.

But underpinning that which was conveyed to him is the very truth that was conveyed. And from his infancy, according to verse 15, he had known the holy scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. What are the scriptures for first of all?

To make men and women wise unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. In other words, the Bible is a book about Jesus. In the Old Testament, Jesus is predicted. In the Gospels, Jesus is incarnated. In the Acts, Jesus is preached. In the Epistles, Jesus is explained.

And in the Revelation, Jesus is expected. But when we go into the Bible from the beginning all the way to the very end, we are encountering a book which comes to us in our foolishness, which comes to men and women in their lostness, which comes to folks whose minds have been darkened by the god of this age who are blind to things. And it is the scripture which is able to make dumb people wise. It is the scripture that is able to make blind people see. It is the scripture that is able to make deaf people hear.

And it is totally sufficient. You see, that is why it is a call to the proclaiming, to the dispersing, to the conveying of the Bible that we are called. And it is such an exciting thing, is it not, to see a company such as this gathered at this point in history under the express concern to preach the word of God. For preaching is in the shadows.

The world does not believe in it. But it is to this that Paul calls Timothy, salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. So we have it not only in apostolic precept, but we also have it in apostolic practice.

From the very beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, what do you have in the Apostles? You have preachers. Man and brethren, he says, these folks are not drunk in the way you've been suggesting.

No, that's not the case. He says this is to fulfill what was said by Joel the prophet, that in the last days, I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. He says, let me tell you what the Bible says. And he preaches the Bible to them, and as a result of his preaching of the Bible, the people are cut to their hearts. How do men and women get cut to their hearts? What cuts to the hearts? Oh, you can have a sharp tongue and cut people. You can cut people's hearts as a result of emotional manipulation. They're a way to tell stories and induce tears.

That will produce no lasting benefit at all. But when the sword of the Spirit cuts to the heart of a man or a woman, then they will ask, what are we supposed to do? And then we will say, repent and be baptized, every one of you, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. What did that, Peter? Peter? Peter who capitulated when the lady asked him if he'd been with Jesus? Peter who was walking on the water? Peter who was drowning? Peter who was walking on the water, drowning? You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Get thee behind me, Satan.

That guy? No, there couldn't have been anybody more surprised at the end of his sermon when the folks started crying out, what are we supposed to do? And he looked around at his friends, and they must have said, just go ahead and tell them what Jesus said. And three thousand people were added to the church as a result of the preaching of the Word of God. It's no surprise then, by the time you get to Acts chapter 4, and they're called before the Sanhedrin, and those folks are not particularly pleased with what's going on, they're asking a variety of questions, by what power or what name did you do this? And Peter stands up and he says, filled with the Holy Spirit, by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He's the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.

What's he doing? He's preaching the Bible. Why would he be quoting the Bible? Because of the sufficiency of Scripture. Not his ability to talk about the Bible, but his ability simply to proclaim the Bible.

Let the Bible go. The people said to Spurgeon on one occasion, how do you defend the Bible? He said, I don't defend the Bible. He said, why would you defend the Bible? You don't defend a lion, you just let the lion out of his cage. Can you imagine what it cost Peter to stand before this group, who came from the same background as did he in Judaism, who were his people whom he loved with a passion, and to say with all of the passion of his heart, salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men, by which we must be saved.

And that, you see, is the challenge in our day. Hinduism says that God has incarnated himself many times. We say only once, we cannot both be right. Judaism says that Jesus was not the Messiah.

We say he was. We cannot both be right. Buddhists say if we would clean up our act and do a little better, God will accept us. We say we cannot clean up our act, and God will not accept us on the basis of what we do.

We cannot both be right. So we are stuck with the particularity of Jesus Christ. And it is in that essential truth that all of the sufficiency of Scripture is conveyed. Philip does the exact same thing with the Ethiopian eunuch who is doing what? Reading his Bible. Why was he reading his Bible?

Because God prompted the seeker to look in the right place. About whom is this man writing? He says.

Is he talking about himself or someone else? Then Philip said, Do you know anything about Judeo-Christian ethics? Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture, and he told him the good news about Jesus.

That's what our friends at McDonald's need to hear. They need to hear the good news about Jesus. Where is the good news about Jesus? It's in the Bible.

Now, I must move on, but let me say this. In each case, in the Acts of the Apostles, the gospel was preached for its own sake. Or, if you like, the gospel was preached for Christ's sake.

And there's a subtle distinction here that I want you to notice. The gospel was not preached as a means to an end. The gospel was not preached in order that the culture of Ephesus might be changed. The gospel was not preached so that the temple of Diana would be pulled down. The gospel was not preached so that Christian people could have a kind of better lifestyle for themselves as a result of the benefits of the gospel message spilling out into the culture. No, the gospel was preached for no other reason than that men and women might be saved. And as a result of the transformation of individual lives, families, communities, and cultures were radically altered. Is there a reason why so much preaching, apparently of the gospel, yields so very little in our day?

Yes, and I think this is part of the reason. Because men are not convinced of the absolute necessity of proclaiming the Bible between the reality of eternity and the experience of time in order that the most important transaction might take place in the life of this individual. And it's been seen in the British Empire and it's now seen in the American Empire. The gospel is not a means to the advancement of a sociopolitical agenda. Preaching, which offers men and women a 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 referring to here in these verses. You're listening to Truth for Life with Alistair Begg.

That's part one of a message titled, Sufficiency of the Word. This message was a message Alistair preached to an audience of pastors, and the book we want to recommend to you today was also selected to benefit anyone who is in church leadership, and it's a book that Alistair is here to tell us about. Well, thanks, Bob. I'm glad always to talk to the pastors who are listening, and I know that many are, and any of them who are serving in any leadership capacity, whether pastors or lay leaders, will definitely benefit from this book by Rico Tice, Faithful Leaders, and the subtitle, The Things That Matter Most. Rico possesses a wonderful ability to get to the very center of a pastor's concerns, and once again, he reminds us of what we need to know, namely that our usefulness to God is not tied to our talents, but actually to our faithfulness to God's word and to God's people. And those of you who are listening and would like to get a copy, Bob will tell you how that can happen. Well, again, the book is titled Faithful Leaders. You can obtain a copy when you support Truth for Life today. Donate online at truthforlife.org slash donate, or call us at 888-588-7884. I'm Bob Lapine. Thanks for listening. Join us Monday for the conclusion of today's message, when we'll hear the secret to successful preaching. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.