I’ve been looking over my sermons for the past 9½ years and I seen that every year I have peached some sort of message or group of messages centered on the Word of God, emphasizing our need to read, study, memorize, meditate upon the Word of Scripture continually. I have over and over again stressed this need and outline where we as individuals and as a people have lacked in Biblical knowledge.
Hosea 4:6a (NKJV) My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
As I had demonstrated in the “Science and Bible” Series last fall, the Bible can be trusted, not just as a source of truth, but the only source of real truth. Science through the ages have proven to be inadequate in its explanation of the physical world. Just from the evidence of past proofs of the Bible being right when the science of the world was wrong, I consciously choose to believe the Bible when Science and the Holy Scriptures disagree. I will wait for science to catch up to where the Bible has always been.
However, even among Christians, the question that comes up frequently is: "Is the Bible enough? Are there other truths out there I must know?" In matter of knowing God, knowing Jesus, knowing that you have eternal life and all that means, and in matter of how God expects you to live your life for Him, Yes, the short answer is that the Bible is enough.
The ability of the Word of God to address every area of human existence is called the Sufficiency of the Scriptures. An inerrant Bible is an authoritative Bible. Just as the doctrine of the inerrancy of Scripture logically leads to belief in its authority, even so the doctrine of the authority of the Bible necessitates the confidence that the Scriptures are sufficient. [1]
The sufficiency of the Scriptures will be our topic this morning as we pick up where we left off last week.
2 Timothy 3:14–17 (NKJV)
The world has a difficult time believing the Bible. Ill: A little girl was reading on an airplane when the man beside her noticed her storybook, entitled, "Jonah and the Big Fish." So, after saying hello, he asked her to tell him about her book. She said the book was about Jonah, and how he was swallowed by a great big fish. The man said, "You don’t really believe that do you?" The little girl replied, "Yes, I believe the story of Jonah is true." "You mean you really believe that a man can be swallowed by a very big fish, stay inside him for three days, & then come out of there alive?" The child said, "This story is in the Bible & we studied it in Sunday School today!" Then the man asked, "How can you prove that the story about Jonah is true?" She thought for a moment, and then said, "When I get to Heaven I’ll ask Jonah." The man smiled, proud of his superiority & asked, "What will you do if Jonah’s not in heaven?" The girl thought for a moment then replied, "Well, if he’s not in heaven, you ask him!" [2]
Yes, that story is funny but it’s so true. People who have never really read the Bible will tell you it full of nice stories with morals and that Jesus was just a good teacher of moral, but you can’t believe all that is in the Scriptures. But for the record let the say the following, I do believe the story of Jonah is literally true, i do believe God created the heavens and the earth in 6 days, and I do believe God stopped the sun from moving for a whole day (Joshua 10:13). I believe all the stories in the Bible are true.
Warren Wiersbe comments: “Whatever the Bible says about itself, man, God, life, death, history, science, and every other subject is true. This does not mean that every statement in the Bible is true, because the Bible records the lies of men and of Satan. But the record is true.” [3]
And if all the stories are true, so the words about God and how to find Jesus and obtain eternal life are also true. If the Bible is true in all that it says, being the very words of God, it is also sufficient. We do not need to add anything or take away anything. The Bible says as much:
Deuteronomy 4:2 (NKJV) You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
Revelation 22:18–19 (NKJV) 18 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
We do not need to add to the Word of God. We do not need to change the word of God. We do not need to take away from the Word of God. Nor do we need to look anywhere else. What God has for us, we can find in the Bible. Today, there is always the danger of adding to or changing the Word. This is where the much of the NT writings are warnings against false teachings. What are false teachings, bu those things said the either changes, adds or takes away from the Scriptures.
Galatians 1:8 (NKJV) But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
This warning can be found in the OT as well
Proverbs 30:5–6 (NKJV) 5 Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. 6 Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.
God tells his prophets not to leave anything out:
Jeremiah 26:2 (NKJV) “Thus says the LORD: ‘Stand in the court of the LORD’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD’s house, all the words that I command you to speak to them. Do not diminish a word.
Prophets who were caught giving a word, not from God but credited to God, were severely punished:
Deuteronomy 18:20 (NKJV) But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’
Earlier in this letter to Timothy, Paul admonished Timothy to handle the Word of God carefully:
2 Timothy 2:15 (NKJV) Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
God commanded Joshua to live by the Word he had been given. And at that time, all Joshua had was the Torah, the Law, the first five books that Moses wrote.
Joshua 1:7 (NKJV) Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.
God’s word is sufficient for all aspects of our lives. When we say that the Scriptures are sufficient for all matters pertaining to faith and practice, we are not claiming that the Bible gives exhaustive or explicit teaching about all things. For example, the Bible does not give specific instructions on how to counsel the victims of child abuse or how to provide treatment for patients with Alzheimer’s disease. What the Word of God does provide is a set of clear teachings, principles, and commands that provides the Christian with the framework and tools to deal with all the issues of life. [4]
God’s word is sufficient. If we hear any other word, it must be tested against the Scriptures we have in our hand. The more we know the Word, the easier it will be to pick out heresies and falsehoods.
But there are those who feel they must have a word from God to move forward. They must have some special revelation from God to believe. To contend that a Christian must receive a private word from God in order to completely know and do God’s will is to implicitly deny the sufficiency of Scripture. [5]
If the Bible needs something to be added to it, then by implication it is not complete and sufficient. It is worth noting that several major cults are based on the claim of additional revelation. Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Christian Science—just to name a few—all base their aberrant doctrines on the claims of their respective founders to special revelation. [6]
The Jehovah Witnesses with their Watchtower publications. If you want to know what the word of God means, they tell to you read the Watchtower.
The Mormons, have their “Book of Mormons” and “Pearl of Great Price” and a couple of other lesser known books that they regard as scripture and equal to the Bible. There are various cults that their leaders through a claimed revelation from God, have the same or greater authority as the Bible. Remember Jim Jones? I don’t doubt they have had a revelation, but it was not from God.
We are not to turn away from what is in Scripture, neither to the left or to the right. This is what Paul was stressing to young Timothy.
2 Timothy 3:14–15 (NKJV) 14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
Timothy must continue in the truth, the things which he has been taught from the Scriptures. “the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” Studying the Bible will not save you, but the Bible will take you Jesus, and it is Jesus and Jesus alone that saves.
2 Timothy 3:16–17 (NKJV) All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
All Scripture is from God, directed and written down by select men of God, who through their own writing styles and vocabulary, wrote as God directed them. It is all truth from God, and “is profitable for doctrine” Doctrine is just a another word for teachings. Teaching of the Bible. We all need to learn the teachings or doctrines of the Bible, this is why it is so important we are involved in regular Bible Study.
Is profitable “for reproof” meaning The Bible will show you your faults. The word will convince man the error of his ways, and through the moving of the Holy Spirit will convict men of their sins.
Is profitable “for correction” to correct the errors that we encounter, both in our lives and in the world. Anything that is contrary to the word of God needs correcting; whether it be in our Theology – the Study of God; or in our biology – the study of life (evolution); or in our sciences, or in our history. Everything that contradicts the word of God must be corrected. We must quite literally judge everything by the Scriptures.
Is profitable “for instruction in Righteousness” or knowing how to live right in the eyes of God (not in the eyes of the world). From the movie “God’s Not Dead 2” the main character in the story makes an amazing statement:
“I would rather stand with God and be judged by the world, than stand with the world and be judged by God.”
Having been made righteous by the blood of Jesus, we need move forward by living righteously by the standards God sets for us in His Word. “that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” The Bible is sufficient in that if we order our lives by its teachings, so that we would be qualified to undertake whatever task God calls us to do.
Note the term “man of God.” It is worth noting that all of the “men of God” named in Scripture—including Moses, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, David, and Timothy—were men who were devoted to God’s Word.[7]
Are devoting yourselves to the study of God’s word, living by its precepts. There are a lot of good books and devotionals out there that will assist you in your study of the Bible, but there is nothing like studying the Bible itself, and allowing the words of Scripture, through the Holy Spirit, speak to you directly.
The Bible is our authority for life and it points us to Jesus for our salvation. It is the word of God and is sufficient. Will you allow the word to speak to you today?
[1] James T. Draper Jr and Kenneth Keathley, Biblical Authority: The Critical Issue for the Body of Christ (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2001), 108.
[2] www.sermoncentral.com/sermon-illustrations/17856/children-by-tim-richards?ref=TextIllustrationSerps
[3] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 253.
[4] James T. Draper Jr and Kenneth Keathley, 108–109.
[5] Ibid., 113.
[6] Ibid., 114.
[7] Warren W. Wiersbe, 253.
