to 2 Peter chapter 1. 2 Peter
chapter 1. We'll read verses 16 through
20 for our text. The Apostle Peter writes, by
divine inspiration, we have not followed cunningly devised fables. when we made known unto you the
power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses
of his majesty." He said, we haven't invented things to teach
you, we haven't concocted stories to tell you, we haven't followed
after, nor have we given you fables, but we have told you
that which we saw with our eyes. We've told you the truth. for
he received from God the Father honor and glory. When there came
such a voice to him from the excellent glory, this is my beloved
son in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from
heaven, we heard, we heard for ourselves when we were with him
in the Holy Mount, in the Mount of Transfiguration. We have also
a more sure word of prophecy. Now you stop and think about
that for just a minute. That's an astounding, astounding,
important statement given by divine inspiration. Peter says
we were with the Lord when he was transfigured. We were with
him in the Holy We saw his face transfigured like the sun in
front of us. We saw the glory of God appear
right there in him. We saw it. And we heard God speak
from heaven while we were there in the holy mount with the son
of God where Moses and Elijah had been talking to him about
his death that he would accomplish at Jerusalem. And we heard God
speak from heaven. We heard God speak. This is my
beloved son in whom I am well pleased. We have also now a more
sure word of prophecy. What on earth can that be? What
can this more certain, more absolute, more sure word of prophecy be? We have also a more sure word
of prophecy wherein to you do well that you take heed as unto
a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and
the day star arise in your hearts, knowing this first, that no prophecy
of the scripture," there it is, the more sure word of prophecy,
more sure than an eyewitness account of the transfigured Son
of God, more sure than a person-to-person account of God speaking from
heaven. We have this word, the prophecy
of scripture, and it is not given of any private interpretation,
verse 21. For the prophecy came not in
old time by the will of man, but holy men of God, sanctified,
separated men of God, spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Now you have in your This book written on the cover
called the Holy Bible, the Holy Word of God. And what you have in your hands
is the greatest, most wondrous, miracle standing in the world
today, this book, this book. This book is, in its entirety,
as I've said to you so many times, verbally, plenary, infallibly
inspired of God. That is, it is, in its entirety,
the Word of God without any defects, without any flaws, without any
mistakes. It is the Word of the Living
God. This book, the scripture says,
is that which is able to make thee wise unto salvation through
faith which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. All this book, all
of it, all scripture, is given by inspiration of God and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect,
that is complete, entire, throughly furnished, furnished unto all
good works. Now this book alone is God's
verbally inspired word. Men who were chosen, sanctified,
and led by God the Holy Spirit were caused by him to pin exactly
the words of God which you would have for us to receive. Now you
can take many different theories of inspiration. Some folks talk
about inspiration as being a matter of God just giving the apostles
the idea and they, by divine inspiration, worked out their
own words and grammar construction and all that. I don't buy that.
I believe the word of God to be that which God himself calls
the apostles to write, being exactly in the order in which
God the Holy Spirit designed it for our instruction, for our
understanding, so that if you want to talk about a mechanical
theory, that is, that the apostles and the prophets were merely
instruments by which God wrote his word at perfectly all right.
This is God's holy word in its entirety. It is one of the greatest
mysteries that you'll ever find in the world. This book, remember,
there was never an order given to anyone saying, now sit down
and write the book of God. Never an order given. Never was
there a meeting so that men got together and said, now fellows,
we need to get together and accumulate the scriptures to have a record
of God's word for men. There was never such a meeting
held. Never any council saying, let's make the word of God. But
rather in divine providence, God the Holy Spirit directed
men specifically at various ages and various times and places
to pin his word and in his providence brought it together for us in
the volume of Holy Scripture. This book, you think about these
things, this book was written on two continents. Written by
men separated by hundreds of miles and hundreds of years. without any means of communication
such as we have today. The Bible was written under every
conceivable circumstance by men of extremely differing conditions
and extremely differing characteristics. It was written in the wilderness,
it was written in caves, it was written in palaces, and it was
written in prisons. The Bible was written in three
different languages, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Written by
scores of men who lived and wrote over a span of 1600 years. And it was written by those men
so that it comes from all different backgrounds, men of all different
walks of life, men with all kinds of different occupations, and
yet it comes together in God's providence. And it is brought
together for us as the Word of God. and it has stood the test
of time. It's been scrutinized, analyzed,
and criticized by men and women of every generation for 2,000
years. Many have been the attempts to discredit it. Many have been
the attempts to destroy it. Many have been the attempts to
just cast it aside as not being the word of God. But I defy any
man, I defy any man upon any grounds of reason, upon any grounds
of intelligence to explain the existence of this book apart
from divine inspiration. How can this book exist as it
does apart from divine inspiration? Now I can explain to you the
existence of the Koran. I can explain to you the existence
of the Book of Mormon. I can show you how they came
into being. They are imposters as the Word
of God. This stands as the Word of God. It stands absolutely uncontradictable
insofar as its inspiration is concerned. And yet, this book,
old as it is, written as it was over this period of time, comes
to us every time you open it, and God's pleased to speak to
our hearts by it, as fresh and as new as if it was written this
morning. Merle read back in the office
back here, Isaiah 51, Ron read here the 30th Psalm, and as they
read them, God again spoke fresh to my soul, And I've read them
hundreds of times, hundreds of times. But once more, God's Word
speaks with fresh vibrancy to my soul. I listen to men preach
the Word, and I love to hear it. Oh, I love to hear the Word
proclaimed and the power of God's Spirit, for it is as God himself
opens heaven and speaks to my soul afresh. This book is a book
completely unified in its message. It contains one doctrine, one
system of truth, one rule of conduct, one plan of salvation,
and one rule of faith. It cannot be explained except
by this word from Peter. Holy men of God spake as they
were moved by the Holy Spirit. Now I've said that because I
want you to understand. The foundation of our faith cannot
be improved upon. We believe what we believe. We
preach what we preach. Our lives are governed as they
are governed by this word because this is the foundation of our
faith. How firm a foundation ye saints
of the Lord is laid for your faith in his excellent word.
What more can he say than to you he hath said? To you who
for refuge to Jesus hath fled. Yet, having said that, there
is a religious movement afoot today, and has been for some
time, but it gains constant momentum in the religious world that threatens
in the church of God, and I use that word church in the widest
possible sense, it threatens among those who profess to be
the people of God, the very authority of the word of God. Christianity
today, Christianity again I use in the very widest possible sense,
is plagued with what we sometimes call the charismatic movement.
It's just old Pentecostalism with a new face. Pentecostalism
is no longer the obviously fanatical small sect of holy rollers who
meet in a back lot somewhere under a tent with sleeves rolled
up and their collars you know, kind of wrinkled up and shouting
and hollering and rolling around and making all kinds of nonsense.
Oral Roberts is no longer found like that. He's now a slick,
polished Mr. Roberts, Mr. President of Oral
Roberts University. I remember when he was a nut.
I remember when everybody thought he was a nut. I remember when
he came to Winston-Salem when I was a boy, he couldn't put
up with King anywhere except in some back part of town, and
there he'd meet in a sawdust floor tent and hold meetings
with folks, and they called them holy rollers. They're preachers
of the charismatic persuasion, but the theology is just the
same. The doctrine hasn't changed one iota. Pentecostalism has
refined its actions. It is now a militant, aggressive,
widespread movement which has infiltrated and infested every
branch of professed Christendom. Every branch. There is not a
single branch or denomination of what's called Christianity
that is not infested with Pentecostalism. I get letters. I'll be surprised
if I don't get one a week. from folks all over the country
asking me about the signs and wonders movement. What about
the Pentecostals? What about these folks who speak
in tongues and claim to have signs and wonders from heaven
and perform miracles? Is this satanic? Is it of God?
How do we look at this thing? I'm telling you it is altogether
a satanic movement and I'm going to demonstrate it to you from
the scriptures. I'm telling you it is altogether contrary to
the scriptures and contrary to the New Testament. Somebody said,
but preacher, you surely, surely don't think that we would look
at someone who has the power to heal the sick and question
them. You know you've got to pay attention
to them. You've got to pay attention to
them. I watched one of them on TV the other day, somewhere else,
I forgot where I was, but he's on all over the country. He's
the one that's bald-headed and curls his hair around, you know,
trying to make it look like God's son. But he just waved his hands and
folks fall in a scream in the spirit. He just touched folks
to be healed, or at least professed to be. Now, it may be they genuinely
are. The issue is not whether or not
these fathers had power to heal. The issue is not whether or not
these fellows have power to speak a word and cause a man to be
healed of a disease. That's not the issue at all.
Even if they have such powers, even if they have such abilities,
I recognize that there are folks who capitalize on stuff for monetary
purposes and they fake all this stuff, but let's just give it
to them. Let's just give it to them. to speak the word and heal
the sick. Well, you know he's of God. Let's
see. Hold your hands here in 2 Peter.
We're going to look at this passage in a minute, but turn to 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. The apostle Paul is talking about
a time of great, great religious deception. He's talking about
the coming of Antichrist. And the coming of Antichrist
being demonstrated by an apostasy from truth. That is, by the wholesale
embracing of our many and free will works religion in every
branch of what's called Christianity. And these who come with such
sweeping, sweeping influence among the nations of the world
will come with signs and wonders from hell. from hell. Look at it. Ephesians 2 verse
8. I'm sorry, 2 Thessalonians 2. Then shall that wicked be revealed,
whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and
shall destroy with the brightness of his coming, even him whose
coming is after the working of Satan. Did you see it? Whose
coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs
and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness
in them which perish, because they received not the love of
the truth, that they might be saved. Can it be that these indeed
are of the wicked one? Indeed, it must be so. A survey
of the Pentecostal movement reveals these three things. A very low
esteem of God Almighty. Pentecostalism has a low, low
view of God. Pentecostalism makes God a superman,
that's all. Pentecostalism has a very high
view of man. You have within you the potential,
the potential to be as God, the Pentecostal will teach. And they
have a very low view of Holy Scripture. The scriptures to
the Pentecostal are merely a revelation from God, not the revelation
of God. Those who attend their meetings
are more elated by dreams and visions of their supposed 20th
century prophets than by the words of Jesus Christ and his
apostles. As their pretenses of charismatic
gifts increase, the exposition of Holy Scripture decreases.
I don't suggest that you do so, but if you watch them on TV,
if you happen to be in an area where you see them on TV, watch
and listen. Watch and listen. You will see
no exposition of scripture. You'll see folks take a text
of scripture and run hither and yon with it, having no regard
for what it says or the context in which it's written. Their
concern is for signs and wonders and ecstasy and feelings, because
their whole appeal is flesh. Their whole appeal is flesh.
And this religious world has given into it. This religious
world has wholesale given into it. Even those who would deny
theologically Pentecostal teaching have given into this wholesale
giving over to flesh to appeal to men on the basis of emotion,
on the basis of feeling, on the basis of their fleshly experiences,
rather than upon the basis of God's holy word. That's the reason
churches have become entertainment centers. That's reason churches,
instead of being called churches these days, is called a family
life center. Instead of being called churches,
it's called fellowship of excitement. Instead of building churches,
they build gymnasiums and call that a family life center. All
the nonsense in this world, appealing to the flesh. Because the basis
of appeal in Pentecostalism is no longer the word of God, but
rather is the experience, the emotion, and the feeling of men.
The Bible is of secondary importance. Charismatic meetings are filled
with sharing experiences, with an occasional reference to the
Word of God. Pentecostalism is built upon and lives in the physical
realm altogether, the emotional realm altogether. It's all experience
and feeling. It has little to do, if anything
at all, with divine truth. The Pentecostal interprets the
Word of God by what he sees, by what he hears an angel say,
by what he feels, by his experiences, whereas we must interpret what
we see, what we think we hear, what we think we experience by
the Word of God. I'll give you an example. When I was a young man, it's
a true story, I'm not making it up. I went to work at a service
station when I was 14, 15 years old. Back in those days, not
many folks had cars with air conditioning in them. This fella
pulled up at the service station, had a car that was overheated.
I didn't know anything about mechanics or anything of the
kind. And I learned real quick, you don't take off radiator caps
when the car is overheating. Just reach in, turn that thing
off, open it up. He asked me to check his water,
and I reached in there and opened that thing up. And when I got
it loose, buddy, it exploded all over me. I mean, it exploded
all over me. I pulled my long-sleeve shirt
off, it pulled the hat off with it. I was burnt, just horribly
burnt. The doctors called them third-degree
burns. I had an aunt who claimed to have special gifts, and I
was just a boy. She blew the fire out. And you
won't find a scar anywhere. You won't find a scar anywhere.
Oh, what a miracle. Oh, no. Oh no. Contrary to this word. Contrary
to this word. Because she gave me the secret
and nothing but satanic. Nothing but satanic. Sincere
as she can be. Honest as she can be. But all
together deceived with the delusion of Antichrist. Do you understand
what I'm saying? We do not look at the Word of
God and say, now there, I've experienced this great thing. It must be of God. No. Let's
see what this book says about those things and see if it's
of God. Let's see what it says. And you
deny your own experience if your experience speaks contrary to
the Word of God. Now this is my subject this evening.
Charismatics or the Word of God? The Bible alone is the foundation
of our faith. I can't stress that sufficiently. When it comes to what we believe,
what we practice, what we receive as being of God, Rex Bartley,
it doesn't matter what you think. It just doesn't matter. It doesn't
matter what mama and daddy taught you all your life. It doesn't
matter what you experience. It doesn't matter what you feel.
It doesn't matter what you see. What does the book say? That's
all that matters. But preacher, you can't expect
folks to just cast aside the teaching of a lifetime. You can't
expect folks to just cast aside experiences. You can't expect
folks to just cast aside their emotional entanglement in things. Oh, yes I can. God demands it. We must submit to the Word of
God and believe that which is revealed in Scripture. We once
again raise the cry of the Reformation. It needs to be heard. Scripture
alone. Scripture alone. Scripture alone. That was the problem in the Roman
world. Roman Catholic Church, when it held dominancy in the
dark ages over the dark minds of depraved men, held them in
bondage because men submitted to traditions and traditions
and traditions and customs and customs and customs and various
things that were passed along to them, and they ignored the
Scriptures. And the Reformers came and cried,
the Scriptures are wrong! Show us what the book teaches!
Show us what God says! That alone is what we must believe.
And that alone is what we must believe today. Here are the,
the Holy Spirit gives us this testimony concerning the scriptures. Someone asked, well, if you don't
have signs and wonders, if you don't have these miracles, if
you, if you don't speak in tongues, if you don't, if you don't see
men healed of their diseases, how do you know that your faith
is correct? How do you know the gospel you
believe is proper and true? The Holy Spirit gives us three
bases for our faith in this passage of Scripture. First, we're told
that we believe the gospel, the gospel of Christ, the message
of his power and his coming, upon the divinely confirmed testimony
of the apostles. Read what he says in verse 16. We have not followed cunningly
devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his
majesty. For he received from God the
Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him
from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased. And this voice which came from
heaven we heard when we saw him, in the Holy Mount. Now, before
we look at these verses closely, let me set before you some warnings
of what I consider to be the greatest dangers of Pentecostalism
with respect to the Word of God. Number one, Pentecostalism adds
to the Word of God. Speaking in tongues, ecstatic
visions, holy trances, a word of prophecy, a word of wisdom,
a word of understanding, they add those things to the word
of God. In other words, they make their
experiences and their revelations to be equal to, if not superior
to, the word of God. Give you an example. Let's suppose
that we are in a meeting here and Bobby S. just stands up and
he says, I have a word from God. And the whole meeting is given
over to listening to his word from God. And Bobby's word is
given with such eloquence and such rapid speech and such clear,
distinct tones that folks listen and say, well, God must have
been in there. And it's, he kind of wraps up the whole congregation
and you have this, just a tingling feeling all over you. Boy, God
spoke to us today. Then you begin to open the scriptures
and you say, well, wait a minute, Paul. I must admit, Bobby was
right. Paul didn't state that just exactly
the way it ought to have been stated. And they look upon that
fresh word as being equal to this word, if not superior to
this word. So that a man stands up and says,
I have a word from God. In doing so, that man declares
himself to be a prophet of God. In doing so, that man declares
himself to be an inspired messenger of God, an apostle of God. Second,
the practice of Pentecostalism is a denial of the sufficiency
of scripture. You see, Pentecostalism implies
that the Bible alone is not enough to make you wise unto salvation. That the Bible alone is not enough
to make you thoroughly furnished unto all good works. They would
have us to know that something more is needed. Something more
than the gospel. Something more than redemption.
Something more than salvation. Something more than eternal life.
Something more than Christ is needed. The Pentecostal doesn't
seek enlightenment from the Holy Spirit as he studies the Word. We pray, Ron did just a little
while ago, and we pray that God the Holy Spirit will give us
greater enlightenment to understand his word. The Pentecostal prays
for a new word. All the difference in the world.
All the difference in the world. These men fully believe that
they are indeed prophets and apostles. Possessing all the
gifts and powers that Elijah and Paul. And they're seeking
a message from heaven itself. like these men did, and that
they receive a message from heaven itself like these men did. Thirdly,
the modern day miracle workers deny flat out, not only do they
imply it, but they deny flat out that the scriptures alone
are enough. I've been the object of men putting words in my mouth
saying I believe what I don't believe at all. So let me give
you a quotation. This is found in a book called
Miraculous Healing by Henry Frost. This is exactly what he says.
It may be confidently anticipated that Christ will manifest his
deity and lordship in increasing measure through miracle signs,
including healings. We are not to say, therefore,
that the word of God is sufficient. Christ continues to manifest
himself. He continues to make himself
known through visions and miracles and wonders. So we dare not say
the Word of God alone is sufficient. The charismatic sees these signs
and wonders and miracles as aids to the scriptures. If men do
not believe the Bible simply, purely as the Word of God, the
charismatics, Well, we'll give you a sign. We'll show you a
wonder. We'll give you proof that it's
the Word of God by a miracle. By a wonder. Then you believe.
And in that case, your faith stands not in the power of God's
Spirit, but in your experience. Not in the revelation of God,
but in your experience. Our faith stands alone upon the
revelation of God. Sometimes we feel very much like
we walk close with God. Those feelings are rare. But
sometimes we sense his presence. Sometimes we are aware of our
blessed union with Christ in a living, vibrant sense. Much of the time, much of the
time, in honesty, We feel very little. We feel very little. Our hearts
so cold, so empty, so barren, so fruitless. Now what's the
basis of our faith? How can you deem yourself a child
of God feeling like you do? How can you deem yourself a believer
when your heart's so empty? How can you deem yourself a believer
when you're so full of sin? I believe God because it's written
in his word, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. I sat here this morning listening
to the hymns. As Judy sang, as Josh sang, and
we tried to sing together. listening to what I had just
read myself from the scriptures, and I said here, all together,
acknowledging God, I'm an utterly empty, empty, empty, worthless
piece of human flesh. I can't sense anything. My heart's
so dead, so utterly dead, but I do believe you. I cast my soul
upon Christ alone. I have no hope but Him. And I
believe your word. You promised. You promised. Believing
on Christ, I have life everlasting. That makes good sense to the
flesh, doesn't it? That's exactly what the rich man said when he
lifted up his eyes in hell. He said, Lord, my brethren will
not believe, but if one should rise from the dead, then they
would hear Him. But this is the Lord's response.
If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be
persuaded, though one rose from the dead. Won't work. Well, I've seen it
work. Have you not? You've seen something
work that God says won't work? I think maybe what you saw was
a distinct I've seen folks who would be persuaded by these miracles
to believe God. Oh no. Persuaded by these miracles
and signs and wonders to a deceitful religion that will carry them
to hell. That's all. Oh Brother Don, you don't dare
say that. I did. God did. If they believe not
Moses and the prophets, if they believe not the written word
of God, neither will they believe, though a man arise from the dead
and say, here I've got a word from God. These miracle workers with their
miraculous spiritual gifts claim that they had the gifts of the
apostles, but the gifts of the apostles were never intended
to produce faith in men. They were intended as temporary
gifts confirming the faith of God's elect and the authority
of the apostles while the scriptures were being formed. And this is
the thing that I want you to see. We believe the gospel of
Christ upon divinely confirmed testimony of inspired witnesses
and messengers called the apostles. These men were separated by God
to be the infallible recorders of the gospel, the infallible
recorders of that which the Lord Jesus Christ revealed. And he
confirmed, that is, God the Holy Spirit confirmed their authority
to deliver his message by the supernatural gifts that were
bestowed upon them. You see, the gospel of Christ
was not and is not a mere invention of men. But rather, as we have
read, it is the revelation of God. The apostle says, we've
not followed cunningly devised fables. We've not, we've not,
we've not deceived you. We've not cast before you, uh,
uh, uh, smoking mirrors. We're telling you the truth. I don't know how much more plainly
we can speak to men. You who don't know God, you who
are yet without Christ. I wouldn't go through what I
go through. I wouldn't carry the burden I carry. I wouldn't
endure the strife I endure. I wouldn't fight the battles
I have to fight to dupe your soul in religion. I wouldn't
do it. We've not followed cunningly
devised labels that these things are so. These things are so,
and we have God's stamp that they're so, right here in this
book. The apostles were men who, to
whom the Lord Jesus Christ revealed himself, to whom he made known
the mystery of his incarnation, his obedience, and his power.
And they were responsible to declare it. He says that these
eyewitnesses of his were responsible to declare the power of Jesus
Christ, to make known his power. We were eyewitnesses of his majesty,
and we were those when he made known unto you, we made known
unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus, and we were
eyewitnesses of his majesty. They came to proclaim the power
of Jesus Christ as God Almighty. the omnipotent Savior, able to
save to the uttermost all who come to God by him, and being
especially ordained of God as his messengers, these men were
identified by special privileges and special gifts as the apostles. Let me tell you what they were.
Now, listen carefully to me. There are no apostles today,
and there are no prophets today, just as there are no priests
today, in the sense in which those terms are used in Scripture.
A prophet was a man of special office in the Old Testament until
John the Baptist, he was the last prophet. A priest was a
man with special office in the Old Testament until the Lord
Jesus Christ came, who is our high priest. There's no such
thing as a priest today between God and men. We are all believer
priests, but no kind of an official priest. Don't, don't, you just,
well, call a man Jesus Christ is calling you a priest. We don't
have any priest in the world today. And there are no apostles.
There were just 12 of them. The Lord identified them as twelve,
only twelve. There are twelve foundations
to the holy city, and there are twelve gates to that city. Those
twelve apostles and twelve alone are the men whom God ordained
as his messengers, inspired to give the word of God. You might
say, well what about Jesus? Peter takes care of that, and
the Apostle Paul takes care of that. Peter fell from his Apostle's
yard, or Judas fell from his Apostle's hemp, he lost his bishopric,
and Paul was the Apostle born out of Jews' reason, whom God
had ordained to be the Apostle to the Gentiles. Still just twelve
Apostles. Now these Apostles must be men
who have these three traits. First, they had seen Christ in
the flesh. An Apostle's got to be a man
who in the flesh saw the Son of God, just like I'm looking
at you. Secondly, they must be men who received the gospel,
were taught the gospel directly by the Son of God. Not by a preacher
talking to them like I'm talking to you, but the Son of God himself
being the preacher who taught them the gospel. And thirdly,
they must be men who have seen Christ in the flesh after his
resurrection. Now there were just 12 fellas
who meet those characteristics. just twelve who meet those qualifications.
And there was another mark of an apostle. This mark identifies
him as the infallible penman of Holy Scripture. He must be
a man who both possessed and had the ability under God to
communicate the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Not only one who
speaks in tongues, Not only one who performs miracles, not only
one who comes in the power of the Holy Spirit, but one who
by laying his hands on you is able to communicate to you the
gifts of the Spirit. That means the last apostle died
and the gifts of the apostles died, though many pretended to
have them throughout church history. When the apostle John died, he
was the last one. I'll give you an example of it.
We won't look at it tonight. the right was there, in Acts
chapter 8. You remember Philip was in Samaria,
preaching, and God sent a revival. God calls multitudes to believe. And Philip was there And he experienced
the miraculous outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of
Pentecost. Philip, the evangelist, had the gifts of the Spirit so
that he could speak in tongues. So that he had the power to heal
the sick. He was there and received it.
But Philip wasn't an apostle. He couldn't communicate that
gift. Though he possessed it, though he experienced it, though
he was there on the original day when the Holy Spirit was
poured out, Philip was not an apostle. So he could not communicate
the gift of the Holy Spirit. When Peter came down from Jerusalem,
Peter laid his hands on the Samaritans and they received the Holy Spirit.
Well, what's important about that? When the apostles died,
the ability to communicate these gifts ceased. Why? Because then the Word of God
was complete. The Word of God was finished. There was no more
need. The Word of Scripture was absolutely fixed. Turn to 1 Corinthians
chapter 13. 1 Corinthians chapter 13. I realize
there's some debate as to whether this is what Paul is talking
about or not, but I think the context will bear it out. In
1 Corinthians 13, verse 9. We know in part, and we prophesy
in part. But when that which is perfect
is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. What you have in your hand is
the perfect, complete, entire revelation of God inscripturated
in these words. In Hebrews chapter 2 and verse
3, How shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken
by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him?"
Confirmed unto us. God also bearing them witness
both with signs and wonders and with divers miracles and gifts
of the Holy Ghost according to his own will. These apostles
were given the Word of God. They were given the ability to
explain to us the Holy Scriptures, that is, to explain to us what
our Lord Jesus taught in the Holy Scriptures, so that they
add nothing to His Word. They didn't add a single thing
to the Revelation. When Christ came, He's the final
Word of God, but the Holy Spirit now came upon the apostles and
gave them, brought to their memory those things that Christ had
taught them, And by divine inspiration, they write out to us in the epistles
what the Lord meant. That's what it's all about. The
whole New Testament from the book of Acts through the book
of Revelation is the Holy Spirit's record and interpretation of
the doctrine taught by Jesus Christ while he walked upon the
earth. I've got to hurry, so let me move along a little bit
here. When we talk about the message of Scripture, The message
of Scripture is Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone. So then,
we believe the gospel, the gospel of Christ, upon the testimony
of faithful men confirmed to us by God Almighty. Secondly,
we believe the gospel upon the testimony of the infallible,
inspired Word of God. Look again at our text in 2 Peter,
2 Peter chapter 1. How did we get our Bible? How
did we get this book? Verse 21. The prophecy came not
in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as
they were moved by the Holy Spirit. It was given to us by divine
inspiration. Now, no man will ever believe
God. No man will ever, ever be saved. No man will ever experience
the grace of God who does not receive the Bible as the inspired
word of God. Somebody comes along and says,
well, you know, that's something you come to in time. I beg to
differ. I beg to differ. Men and women
who are born of God bow to the scriptures and receive the testimony
of God upon the authority of scripture. We don't try to figure
out and prove the Word of God, we receive it as the testimony
of God himself. Well, where must we go to find
confirmation of God's Word? Where must we go to learn the
meaning of Scripture? Let's get our history books out,
let's get our textbooks out, let's get our grammars out, let's
get our concordances out. Now, listen carefully to me.
I read commentaries, I read books, I search concordances, I search
the various grammatical texts. All those things are helps. They're
helps in understanding things. But our understanding of scripture
must not come from the words of men, but from the words of
God. If you've got a choice, listen to me now, if you've got
a choice between reading what I've written and reading what
God said, read what God said. Now I want you to read things
I've written or would write them. But don't take what I've said
and supplant the scriptures with it. My words are the fallible
words of a fallible man. This is the infallible word of
the infallible God. Look what it says here. Verse
20. Knowing this, that no scripture is of any private interpretation. What on earth does that mean?
Let me take a minute and tell you exactly what it means. Traveling
as I do, I occasionally set in on Sunday school classes in places
that would just astound you. They just astound you. You folks
who sit here and listen to Lindsay on Sunday mornings and listen
to him teach and Bob and the others teaching here, you don't
know how privileged you are. I sit in Lindsay's class and
listen and prop it. Every Sunday morning, prop it
by the words that's taught. Usually this is how it works.
Usually we read a text, or not we, in most Sunday schools, at
least that works. We read 2 Peter 1 verse 28, knowing
this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of any private
interpretation. Now, I've studied that a little,
and this is what I've come up with. Bobby, what do you think
that means? Ron, what does that mean to you? Larry,
what's your opinion? And after sitting and yapping
about it for 15 or 20 minutes, well, now we've come to some
understanding of that. Hogwash. It don't matter what
it means to you. It's not important how it applies
to you. It's not important what you feel
about that. What does the scripture mean?
You don't just read the text and say, now let's see what that
means. But rather you take the scripture
and you go to the scripture. This is what that means. God
told us, tell me what that means. We don't have to debate about
this. We don't have to discuss this. We don't have to take a
vote on this. We don't have to put this down in a creed. This is
what God said. And we bow to God's word so that
we interpret the scripture with the scripture. I recall reading
several years ago, a learned intellectual fella had taken
John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, you know, And this fellow had
given notes. He sat down and went through
Pilgrim's Progress and he explained it. Now if you read Pilgrim's
Progress, you read it and you see the beauty of the work. You
read it and your heart moves along with it. Can you imagine
reading that thing with a commentary? But he had given a commentary
on it. He explained Pilgrim's Progress. And he was visiting
one of the older ladies in his church, a kind of simple lady,
uneducated. And he said to her, said, I see
you have my book on Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress there. Do
you understand Pilgrim's Progress better now? And she said, oh,
I've always understood Pilgrim's Progress very well. Your notes,
on the other hand, I had some trouble with. And I'm telling
you that the book here, the book here, sheds a whole lot of light
on the books I've got back in my library. You don't come to
the scriptures with men's opinions and learn what the scriptures
say. You take the scriptures and understand what men have
said in the light of Holy Scripture. But what are we to do with the
Bible? We submit to it. Listen to what he says. Whereunto
you do well that you take heed. You see it there? you do well, verse 19, that you
take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until
the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts. There's no knowledge absolutely
necessary for man's salvation except what's revealed right
here. I don't mean to suggest that
You shouldn't go to college and learn some trade or learn the
various sciences. By all means, do that. You know
better than that. I shouldn't even have to say
that to you. Learn everything you can learn to increase your
knowledge and understanding of things in this world. But learn
everything you can learn in the light of this book. In the light
of this book. This book alone that will make
you wise to salvage. It tells you who you are, who
God is, who Christ is, and how God saves sinners. And if you
learned that, you have learned more than most folks will ever
learn. The Word of God tells us the truth concerning those
things that are necessary for us, and every aspect of that
truth is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The Bible is a book
with one message. The message of the book is redemption
by the blood and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Hear the Word
of God. Because no other book, no other
book has done so much for this world. No other book has so radically
changed the nations of the world. No other book has so radically
changed men and women. No other book has been used of
God to break the powers of faithlessness, darkness and superstition in
the world. Hear the word of God and take heed to it. Because
no other book can do for you what this book will do. This
book say will make you wise unto salvation. Hear the word of God,
take heed to it, because no other book in the world can strengthen
a man while he lives in this world and cook for the man when
he's about to leave this world except the word of God. Nothing
else. Visions and dreams won't do you
any good. Trances and experiences won't do you any good. The word
of God will stand you in good stead when you need something
to lean on. One last thing. We believe the
gospel. upon the revelation of Christ
unto our hearts. We have also a more sure word
of prophecy and we know it because now the day of grace has dawned
in our hearts and the day star has arisen in our hearts and
souls. We believe because God's chosen
us. We believe because God has made
known his will. We believe because God has enabled
us to see Christ in his redemptive glory. We believe because God
has made us to hear his voice. We have experienced grace and
we need no other word but this word. Beware, beware of the charismatics
or of anyone who dares add to the word of God. Remember the
last warning of the book. If any man shall add to these
things, God shall add to him the plagues that are written
in this book. This sanction is like a flaming
sword to guard the canon of scripture from profane hands, Happy Henry
said. Now listen to me. The only thing you need is Jesus
Christ. The only thing you need. I know Grace Church and this
preacher is out of step with the times, I'm aware of that.
I know we're out of step with the religious world, I'm fully
aware of that. And it's not by accident, it's deliberate. I'm
not limping along, I'm walking with deliberate pace. You don't
need the nonsense in religion. You don't need the nonsense that
goes on in the name of Christ. You don't need the superficial
gimmicks and tricks and entertainment and shows and programs Just the
muck and mire that goes on in the name of Christ. All the things
that influence man. I'll tell you what you need.
You need Jesus Christ. You don't need to change your
ways. You need Him who is the way. You don't need a deeper
life. You need Christ who is life.
You don't need to speak in tongues. You need the word of life. You
don't need some ecstatic vision. You need a vision of Jesus Christ
crucified. If ever God gives you that, you'll
be like Isaiah, you'll cry, woe is me, woe is me, I'm a man of
unclean lips. You don't need to fall down in
a trance. What you need to do is fall down at the feet of the
Son of God and cry like the leper of old, Lord, if you will, you
can make me whole. I challenge you, my brothers
and sisters, Return in your hearts to the very basic cry of the
Reformation, the Bible alone, Scripture alone. Today we need
a greater measure of the power and influence of God's Spirit
to understand this word, but we don't need the Holy Spirit
to come again as he did on the day of Pentecost. That was a
once and for all final act of God, just as much as redemption
does. We need a greater knowledge of
Christ's redemptive work, but we don't need to be redeemed
again. And we need a greater influence of God the Holy Spirit
upon us, but we don't need another baptism in the Spirit. The Word
of God is sufficient. It's sufficient. It's sufficient
for every purpose in the Church of God. The preaching of the
Word is sufficient for evangelism, spiritual growth, guidance, Counseling,
cleansing our hearts and lives, teaching us, sanctifying us,
and protecting us. Now preachers, where'd all this
other stuff come in? I'll tell you exactly where it
came in. I'll tell you where the counseling comes in. I'll
tell you where the social work comes in. I'll tell you where
the gymnasiums come in. I'll tell you where the religious
tomfoolery comes in. Folks saying, goodbye God, we
don't need you. That's exactly where it comes
in. This book is sufficient for everything your soul needs. The
Word of God is authoritative and the Word of God alone. This
is our creed, our only creed. This is our weapon, our only
weapon. The weapons of our warfare, not
carnal, but spiritual, casting down the strongholds, bringing
in the subjection to Christ, even the thoughts of your hearts.
This is our only power, the Word of God. What about the laws of
Congress? What about the laws of the nation?
What about the moves to get the nation back to God? You can't
get folks back to what they don't know. You can't get them back
to where they've never been. We're not concerned about those
things. We recognize the power by which God changes men is His
Word. His Word. Find somebody who'll
submit to this Word, and you'll find somebody who's changed forever.
Children of God, leave those poor souls who must to drink
from the polluted cisterns of their own emotions and their
charismatic experiences. We have a more sure word of prophecy. This book right here, its promises
are sure, its hopes are sure, its salvation is sure. Amen.