Becoming Better Theologians (part 18)

The Sufficiency of Scripture and God’s Revealed Word

Father in heaven we thank you for yet another day a day that you have designed and created and given us To gather together and worship you father. We thank you for this opportunity and pray that as we consider what your word says about How you have revealed yourself to us?

The father that we would rejoice in your preservation of it that we would eagerly anticipate Learning it that we would be students of it and that we would Constantly be reminded of your love and grace toward us.

Father, would you bless our time and bless our group in Israel today in Christ's name? Amen. All right. Well, you know sometimes. You know, I get a lot of email during the week and some of it's not too helpful.

Some of it's very helpful. Some of it just takes my time. This was very helpful. I received this this week and I thought this is a. This is very good because it'll be a little bit of a thought experiment for us.

I think you know the Master Seminary has a little motto when you walk into the walls. It's like. You know Notre Dame football. How many of you are Notre Dame fans, by the way, that's good. Then we don't have to have a moment of prayer.

They have a sign as they as the football players exit the locker room one that says, you know Play like a champion today, and I think they I won't say they slap something on their way out to the field.

The Master Seminary has something on the wall and it says we train men as if lives depend on it. And I think you know quite often it does. This is from this is from a blog post that a man who is a pastor of a church where at least one person from this church used to attend and this is.

Where we are what we've been talking about about how God has revealed himself. Well, listen to this. He says today. Let's talk about the six ways God still speaks. God speaks through an audible voice sometimes.

Jesus heard the audible voice of his father both at his baptism. Right, what did God say the father say at Jesus's baptism. Matthew 3 he said in whom I am. Well, please. Okay, and then at his transfiguration Matthew 17, what'd he say there?

What's that? This is my beloved son hear him. So he says Jesus hears the father speak out loud and others around him heard it, too. The Apostle Paul came to faith in Christ because Jesus appeared to him as a bright light and spoke to him audibly.

There are many other examples, but sometimes God speaks out loud. Thoughts about that spoke out loud. Okay. Hebrews. What does somebody say? Hebrews 1 what does he what's he. Let's look at Hebrews 1. Let's see for a resident biblical scholar.

What verses are we referring to in Hebrews 1 or is it Hebrews 2? Okay, or is it Hebrews 1 1 and 2? We have a multitude of options. But we agree it's early on in the book of Hebrews, I'd say it's chapter 1 could be chapter 2.

Let's see. Well, I like chapter 1 better. Chapter 1 verse 1. Long ago at many times and in many ways God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days he has spoken to us by his son. Whom he appointed the heir of all things through whom he also created the world.

Can you think of some problems with the way this man is describing God speaking out loud. Yes, Peggy, it would leave room that revelation isn't complete. I mean if God has to say something out loud. And I mean you could apply this to a number of things that we're gonna be talking about here in a minute.

But if God has to say something out loud, what does that imply? The revelation isn't complete that the Bible is lacking that there's something he needs to say that he needs to. Yeah, he needs to add supplement to the Bible.

It really kind of implies that the Bible is not Sufficient. Yeah, I mean the voice could have multiple sources that deem in all sorts of things. You know what? I don't know about you, but if I hear voices I'm mildly concerned Bruce.

That is so key. What Bruce just said is you know that we presume that because God did something in a particular way. That he necessarily will continue to do that. But he's told us in his word that he's not going to do that.

That he's done speaking to us that he's spoken to us through his son that revelation is complete. And it the other point Bruce raises also excellent, which is we think many of us in evangelicalism. Let me take it down a step many of us in Christendom.

Think that we are on par with the the Apostles the Prophets you know that there's ultimately no difference in the way. God is going to speak to us. Well. There is a big difference. So I mean I think number one his first way.

It's pretty far out there. They the other thing I would say is you know what we have here is a case of what? Description. Not Prescription. God never says hey listen. I'm going to talk to you. You never know when I'm gonna.

Talk to you, so just be ready. We don't see that in Scripture. The second one's kind of a variation on that he says. You know first one was God speaks out loud. Second one is God speaks through a whisper sometimes.

He's just talking in a normal voice or maybe even shouting and sometimes. It's just a whisper. He says the old-timers. This is a quote the old-timers I Thought about it. I'm going hmm. I don't know if some people would want to be called an old-timer the old-timers called it the still small voice of God.

Often it is just God Guiding our thoughts, but we learn to recognize when it is God guiding our thoughts, and when it is just us thinking. This is probably the most common way that God speaks to me. Wonder what he whispered while he was typing this up.

This is really dumb stop. Then he thought that's not God. That's just me talking. No no wrong. What about that you know people want to have that still small voice? God spoke to me people do that all the time.

Daniel brings up the the idea you know the people say God has given them a piece about XY or Z. You know and sometimes it's even sinful to Christians decide they're going to break God's commandments. And and you know God's okay with it because they have a piece or God spoke to them in a still small voice.

Well, it does raise a key issue because if God communicates to us in a still small voice in a way that Contradicts what he's revealed to us in his written word then one of those two isn't the voice of God now which one would that be.

And we know from Jeremiah 17 9 that the heart is deceitful above all else. Desperately wicked who can know it. We deceive ourselves. You know we'd say. You know I don't know if I should do this or not.

But I have a piece about it. I hear a still small voice. You know the picture of the angel on one side of your shoulder the devil on your other shoulder. You know and Did I guess the devil shouting and the angels speaking in the still small voice?

It's absolute rubbish, but he goes on sometimes these thoughts are interrupting thoughts. We're driving down the road, I mean I just can't believe people go to this church. We're driving down the road and all of a sudden out of the blue.

We think that we should call someone call Jim. That's in quotes. The thought may keep pressing through because God is on the line with a divine appointment. Often these thoughts come when we are intentionally quiet and listening for a prompting of the Spirit.

We may be asking God for wisdom. By the way if you ask God for wisdom, what's the source of wisdom? His revealed word what at what other sources of wisdom might there be. He says I want to buy the Lamborghini.

She says that would not be wise. That is the voice of wisdom indeed. Sometimes you have to settle for the Toyota. What's that? Godly counsel is another source of wisdom. I mean sometimes you don't know what to do and you need to get somebody who's detached who has a Solid biblical understanding of things and just say you know.

Both choices are okay, but here's the better one and here's why? But this idea of You know James 1 5 asked for wisdom and so the idea would be well just ask God for wisdom and then wait to hear. That's still small voice.

You still have the same problem. Is it God speaking to you in a still small voice, or is it you know your multitude of personalities manifest, you know? We don't know. Yeah, Pam says you know sometimes you're not really sure what to do and you pray for some wisdom and God provides Through providential means in other words through the normal course of life things come to light new information comes to light and You're able to make a more informed decision.

But you know it gets worse. Often I've been sitting in pastoral counseling sessions or praying for someone when I heard the whisper of the Spirit. There are times God has said to me quote This person has been abused ask them and I asked them have you been abused?

After I recovered in the hospital the I mean this is just not something that you You know oh, you haven't been abused. Well. God told me to ask you. I I Guess that really wasn't God he says and all these horrid secrets came out and healing began to flow.

And I think this is this is quite bad, too. There are times when I have been praying for someone the Lord whispered to me the Lord has a secret tell them and it's safe. To tell it why doesn't the Lord just tell them the secret I?

Conveyed the word and a secret came out and into the open that had been long since buried and destructive. God speaks through whispers. That last sentence is kind of telling God speaks through whispers.

What's he really saying? How's he sort of summarizing all this that I know God speaks through whispers. How? By his experience he didn't even bother to list a list of scripture. Why bother because there isn't one.

You know please give me the scripture where it says God whispers sometimes still small voice yeah. All right number three God speaks through pictures. In Acts 2 17 and 18 Peter tells us your young men will see visions your old men will dream dreams.

God is and that's the end of the quote of the scripture. And then he says God is going to speak to people through dreams and visions those are pictures. Thoughts on that yeah, and you wake up, or you you know you?

Mysteriously look over at your clock randomly and it says 747 that means you're gonna take a trip. Yeah, what's the problem with dreams and visions? What's that? Yes, it's in reference to the last days given the context.

Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep, and I mean it takes a lot of a Lot of work to even understand what that means, but you don't just say well You know what we're in the last days therefore it must mean that we're going to have visions.

And we're gonna dream dreams, and God is going to speak to us through those things. If you think that God is speaking to you through your dreams. What do you do you act on them? Yeah, but I mean let's say last night.

I had a dream where. You know an axe murderer came into my home. How do I interpret that with a 357? Axe axe 357. Reminds me of another joke you know the inmates used to ask me you know deputy can I ask you a question and say if You're gonna ask me anything take two steps back.

Yeah, so. What about interpreting dreams. Well the problem is how do you how would you even know? How would you know that if a particular dream was from God? Or if it was from the food you ate or if it was from some other circumstance in your life.

That was causing you stress and making you Dream things or because you're grinding your teeth too much. Who knows what you dream is. Every dream a divine message. Do we have any dreams that are divine messages?

I don't think we have anything in Scripture that would tell us. You know Steve be on the lookout because sometimes. I'm just gonna send you a little messages through dreams. He says not every picture that comes to our mind not every dream.

We have is from God. Amen. Just like not every voice that is heard not every thought we have is from God. Sometimes it's the medication we're on. He didn't say that. He says we have to test it, but sometimes God speaks through dreams and visions, and what's.

What's the Bible reference for that? He says this occurs throughout the Bible from the first book in Genesis to the last book in Revelation. Which is a vision. Is that true? Yes revelation is a vision.

Does God speak to people in dreams? I mean we know that Daniel interpreted dreams, right? Call me old-fashioned, but I tend to be a New Testament guy. When Paul's writing to Timothy when he's writing to Titus when he's writing to Peter when he's ready.

They are winning when he's talking to the Apostles and telling them how to run the church. Did he ever say listen guys? They're gonna be people who have dreams. When they have dreams this is how you interpret them.

There were men who were gifted in the Old Testament with interpreting dreams for specific reasons, and what were those reasons? I'm sorry, I still didn't hear. To authenticate what was being said exactly and to sometimes authenticate the messenger.

I mean when we think about Joseph. What why was he interpreting dreams because it kind of made him stand out a little bit. You know we could you know when you see that sort of thing in the Bible it is to elevate someone to Separate them out from the crowd.

So I I don't know why we would get dreams down again. What does it go to it goes to the sufficiency of Scripture? Number four. God speaks. God speaks through emotions. Now listen the biblical basis for this Ephesians 4 tells us not to grieve the Holy Spirit.

This is this a little bit of a bank shot. Ephesians 4 tells us not to grieve the Holy Spirit. Grief is an emotion. Sometimes the conviction of the Spirit comes to me, and I feel it okay, so we don't want to grieve the Holy Spirit.

Grief is an emotion the Holy Spirit gets grieved, and then he visits that grief on us. I guess right because he says sometimes the conviction of the Spirit comes to me, and I feel it. I feel uneasy. I feel unsettled.

Yeah, God's law written in our hearts. We violate it and that therefore our conscience afflicts us. Yeah, that's exactly right. It's not our grief. It's it's not talking about us being grieved. It's the Holy Spirit's grief so Ephesians 4 has nothing to do with God.

Speaking to us through emotions. This is the response of the Holy Spirit to our actions. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with God talking to us through our emotions. He says Romans 5 tells us that God pours out the love of God in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

Okay, that's true. Many times God speaks to us through love. I don't know what that means. Often I will begin to feel God's love for a person right before God gives me a prophetic word to encourage a person.

God speaks through emotions. I don't see any credible source for that. Okay number five God speaks through a word we see in our mind's eye. It's like a cartoon caption. We see a word spelled out for example.

Sometimes I have seen the word forgiveness when praying for someone. I'll say I see the word forgiveness. Does that mean anything to you? I see the word apple pie. Does that mean I mean it? It has often led to a breakthrough.

I You know, I just hope they're good words. You see I I don't even understand that. I See the word what is word association or something? Anyway, that's crazy. And again, no biblical. He doesn't even attempt to support that and sixth and last and I think probably the worst.

Yeah worse than seeing words God speaks to our and I listen quotations to our knower. Sometimes we just know something God speaks to us spirit to spirit. Is that true? That's in Romans 8 right the Spirit of God testifies to our spirit that what that we belong to him.

That's what he testifies to is not just generally. Now listen this for years. My wife struggled to believe the goodness of God. She knew it now. This is a pastor's wife. For years my wife the pastor's wife struggled to believe the goodness of God.

That must have been something. She knew it, but she struggled with it because of the evil in the world. She wrestled with this for years and then one day she woke up and she just knew God was good. Maybe she'd been reading the Psalms for months.

And no, he doesn't say that but God revealed his goodness to her deep in her spirit and she doesn't struggle with that anymore. Sometimes we just know something again, no biblical support for that and again, I would say there's a Biblical unsupport for that and that's Jeremiah 17 9.

Sometimes we know things we just know and we're wrong. What do you do then? I? Guess it wasn't God. He concludes this way he says these are the ways God speaks. Whatever we receive we need to humbly test.

But the story of the Bible is a story of God speaking to his people. He wants to speak to you. How is God communicating to you these days? Are you listening? And I thought you know what? I mean one of my I don't want to say it's one of my favorite passages.

Just a passage that always amazes me is in Judges, let's look at Judges for a moment. I think it's in Judges 14. I want to kind of illustrate Some of the silliness here actually Judges 13. Starting in verse 2.

There was a certain man of Zorah of the tribe of the Danites whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children and the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her Behold you are barren and have not born children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.

So sometimes I could add to this list sometimes God sends an angel to speak to us and to tell us that we're going to have a baby. I Have to carry off because I have to I have to summarize this before I forget it.

She said and I think this is an excellent point that there's a dissatisfaction. Among some people who had named the name of Christ with what with the ways he has told us He is going to communicate with us.

It's not enough for them. They have to have something more and what better way to do things or what better way to expand the way God might Speak to us then to look in the pages of the Old Testament and to say well he spoke in that way.

So why can't he speak to us that way now? I mean shouldn't we expect. I mean logic if we follow this man's logic here. We would expect every time there's a baby. Being born, you know, the angel of the Lord does show up and say hey, guess what?

You're gonna have a baby. Of course then he should go on to give us what the Nazarite vow for the wife for the mom to keep and tell us that we have to keep our baby in that same state. I mean the big problem here on top of ignoring the Bible and wanting something extra biblical to happen is to look at things like even God the Father speaking to the Lord Jesus Christ when he is baptized or on the Mount of Transfiguration and saying well God spoke then audibly.

Therefore God must speak to us today. God Sent an angel of the Lord to speak to Manoah. Therefore God must send angels of the Lord, you know, the angel of the Lord to speak to us today. That's not what Hebrews 1 says says that in ancient times God spoke in various ways to these men.

But now he has spoken to us through his son. So when you see things like this and this is so and the reason I wanted to go over this is because I think it's so common To hear Christians talk this way to see people preachers teachers talk this way to in broad evangelicalism Christianity speaking of that.

I somebody sent me a little YouTube deal and How many of you are familiar with John Hagee and In it he would it that he's written this book. I in fact if I could I just show the whole video especially since I didn't turn off my cell phone.

I hope it doesn't ring. And in it he says in this video he says that Jesus Christ did not come to be the Messiah and I thought That is Quite bad. He says he went out of his way to deny being the Messiah.

Anyway, just another false teacher. So we're talking about how God does speak to mankind how he has revealed himself. And ultimately we know that it's through the scripture, but there are a number of ways in which he's Shown us that he does exist some things with regard to who he is.

And I'm trying to find exactly where we left off and I will know here in a moment there it is Casey. Yeah, Casey says, you know the our opponent the devil Is very powerful and can use some of these same things, you know that this man is attributing to God.

Who's to say? I mean if we were to look at a history of false religions how did Joseph Smith come about the His startling discoveries because he had a vision. Yeah, he saw an angel and furthermore. He also saw The very first vision in fact, if you ever talk to more missionaries, they'll try to convince you that Joseph Smith while praying Saw God the Father and God the Son two separate personages.

If you ever see the movie, they look like identical twins. They both have a body. They both look identical. Mohammed supposedly got the Quran was dictated to him by. What's that. Yeah by Satan, but By by an angel, I mean this is you know, so if God speaks and We can just presume that anything we hear that is not You know from a person must be from God then we're in a lot of trouble.

We can do all sorts of things and found all kinds of false religions. Good, that's absolutely right. I mean there's no way of knowing whether those things are from God or from Satan and I would Discount the God part because he has given us his word and told us that it's all we need some of the different ways that God talks to us or has communicated with us and one of them was the.

And I wouldn't discount this but it was the inward prompting by the Holy Spirit. Can he do that? Yes. What I don't think is we're driving down the street. He says call Jim. I would dispute that. And That work I don't really know.

I think there there are some times that we just we. What is a way that we do know that we are prompted by the Holy Spirit? What's an example that Daniel? Okay. Yeah, I could bring scripture to mind. Absolutely John your conscience In the Holy Spirit uses our conscience to convict us of sin.

Pam. Yeah, Pam points out that Hudson Taylor was burdened for China rather than Argentina or Nicaragua or any number of other places he could have been burdened for. Why was that? Because it was God's design.

I Mentioned Romans 8. Holy Spirit testifies to our spirit, you know, how do you know that you're saved? One way is certainly you can look at your life as you Look back and see, you know, well, this is this is what I designed for my life.

This is what I wanted and I've seen the work of God in my life up to this day. And when I think about how it's not like I've arrived. But when I think about how my life is now versus how it was 20 years ago.

I can certainly see the work of God in my life and that gives me great comfort and Assurance of salvation, but how else does God. I mean, have you ever had this sense and I think this happens to most new Christians.

When they realize when you're struggling with the issue of salvation and you come to realize the burden of your sin I think that generally happens first is that you realize that you have indeed sinned against a holy God and there's a certain weight of that.

And then you come to realize what? That Jesus Christ died for your sins that you've been forgiven of your sins in Jesus Christ and what happens there is almost like a weightlessness and I and again, I think that would be that's not God talking to you.

That is the Holy Spirit giving you that sort of assurance of salvation and let's see the Roman Catholic Church in the Vatican to continues to make her exclusive claims as the sole sphere of salvation and custodian of divine revelation.

And I think I even said something about yeah, they were the custodians. They were ones who locked it up and wouldn't let anybody read it. Yet she consistent with her insistence that human rate reasoning faculties remain unimpaired in the fall allows.

Oh, yeah, I remember this. This was terrible. That's special revelation. Without benefit of special revelation that is scripture. Human beings can know God in a saving way. This is from back into the sacred synod professes that God the first principle and Last end of all things can be known with certainty from the created world by the natural light of human reason.

That is sick. Because that basically says that the fall had no. Not such a severe impact on us that we can't know God just by natural revelation. We close with this this is in keeping with the latent doctrine of universal salvation prevalent in Vatican to.

Now here we go. In any case if God is in other words of God exists. He must not be ignored but worshipped. God spoke of how the comforter the Holy Spirit would be sent in the world to convict the world of sin in John 16 7 through 10, but it is doubtful of Jesus's promise.

Relates to the Spirit's work apart from the preaching of the word. Let's look at John 16 Verses 17 to 10 and I think Culver makes a note an important point there. How would the Holy Spirit? Convict us of sin if it were not through the preaching of the Word of God, let's read John 16 7 through 10 and Somebody want to read that?

Pretty. Now you can look at verse 9 there concerning sin because they do not believe in me. Well, how could they possibly believe in the Lord Jesus? Apart from divine revelation by just looking at the world as it is.

You can know certain things about God and we've talked about that a little bit. You can know that he's a God of order. He's a God of power. You can know a lot of truths about God, but can you know about Jesus Christ just by looking at?

The natural world. I think the answer is no. So if he's going to convict you of your failure to worship Christ, it has to be through the preaching of his word. Okay aside from that promise. It has been argued from John 1 9 John 1 9 that Christ the eternal log us word has also been lighting every person Coming into the world and that such.

Is the meaning of Micah 5 2? Whether or not these texts teach. The presence of God's Spirit in the world has always been through what some teachers call God's common grace and influence for good and a restraint on evil.

I Mean, why aren't all people as bad as they possibly could be? Why aren't we all? Cannibalistic, you know evil people because of their strength of God we all have a Conscience we'll have the law of God written in our hearts and we all have not the Holy Spirit in the sense of Salvation or anything of that nature, but we have that conscience constantly pricking us and that is in some respect the work of the Spirit of God thought-stating.

Yeah, Daniel asks if. Well, I guess we could just make it larger if Christians or the church generally speaking don't have some kind of restraint on Sin, I think they do if we look at well, let's put it this way the more fervently a country or a church is.

Impacts a society. You know, is there more or less sin? Well, I'll just give you the most obvious example if surveys say that 70 to 80 percent of Americans are Christians and They do say that, you know the Christians or that Americans say.

Somewhere between 70 and some polls are like 85 percent say that they're Christians. What would the United States actually look like if that were true? I mean, what do we be having a debate on whether we should you know fund Planned Parenthood for a 360 million dollars a year.

We wouldn't be having that debate just. Would we be having a debate about abortion? No, we wouldn't because we would all understand that that is wrong. We'd be having debates about how to deal with You know Unwanted children and all those kind of we'd be having those debates.

We'd be having debates about how to adopt more kids. We'd be having debates about what the church's role should be in supporting orphans. But we wouldn't be having debates like we have in this country.

Yeah. Yeah, I think it's definitely true that the that. The farther we get from you know, those kind of principles the more we're going to see sin sort of multiply and I mean you don't really have to even talk about the United States to look at it if you just Look at Europe and see how it has.

Yeah, I mean it's really spiritually dead it's a vacuum over there so. Yep, very true. Okay. Yes, Charlie God won't share his glory with dirt with created matter and the idea being that if creation itself could save then God would Would receive or he would be granting glory to his creation and he doesn't do that.

Salvation is through God alone through Christ alone through his word of law through a specific revelation about himself. J. O. Buswell wrote this. Scholar wrote this actually a fundamentalist. So he's worth listening to in my opinion.

The convicting work of the Holy Spirit in the world in general is a work upon the hearts of all men. Prior to either faith or regeneration a work wherein not only is the gospel freely offered to all. But all are brought to a point of enablement to such a degree that if having been convicted They reject the grace of God thus offered to them but they are subject to the eternal wrath and curse of God because they have not believed and Because they have not received the knowledge of the truth, but have taken pleasure in unrighteousness.

In other words, the Holy Spirit is at work in the world. But people reject his work. Sometimes it's even to the point where they can clearly understand the gospel the choices that are being presented to them and they reject it anyway.

All men are held accountable for what they do reject because they do suppress the truth that they that they know.

Yes, don't they. It's gonna be a girl.

They got it. Yeah, I mean Isaac and Alicia's separately each individually dreamed. That their little boy was gonna be a girl that didn't that didn't quite work. I mean that this whole idea and Dottie's exactly right.

You know when when people when Christians especially and I think this is just so dangerous and so many of you here this morning. Know this from experience that when people set aside when Christians set aside the scripture or when they go out side of scripture to look for something better to look for something deeper and Actually, I would argue it's not to look for something better or something deeper but to look for something Easier.

Easier it takes work to study the Bible it is easy to say God. I Need to know what to do. Could you just you know, show me a short sentence? I'm just asking for three or four words. I just want to see them clearly in my mind's eye.

God could you just give me a dream tonight God? Could you just you know speak to me so that I don't have to you know. Study your word and try to figure things out for myself. I don't want to humble myself and go to get godly counsel.

So if you could please just you know, have a still small voice whisper in my ear, that'd be so much better. I I think it does. I think it does fall into the the practice of divination. I mean, what's the difference between?

Waiting to see so he'd see hear whatever some kind of sign from God and saying, you know what God? If you want me to do X, I'm gonna roll these two dice and if they come up You know doubles then I'm gonna say, okay.

It's choice a if they come if they don't then it's you know choice B and if one of the dice lands on its side. Then I'm you know. You might as well be the men it I you know, there are examples now I I notice he didn't say that God doesn't speak to us through the casting of lots.

Why not, you know, we could go to the example of Jonah. We go to the example of how they chose an apostle. We could say well look, you know casting lots. It's divinely appointed. God speaks to us through the rolling of dice.

Charlie. Yeah delight yourself in the things of God in God himself in the attributes of God in his word. You know, there are promises made to us if we study God's Word. About the effect that God's Word will have on us.

There are no promises with regard to what? God Speaking to us in a variety of different ways and that we should just wait on those things. We have no instructions. We had no promises concerning those things our our goal our objective our.

Our focus needs to be on what God has revealed to us that we might know him and might know his will for us and not all these extraneous things that Don't have any promise for us whatsoever. We need to get closed here.