We continue our study of the sufficiency of scripture with Pastor John MacArthur
The Sufficiency of Scripture Part II
The power is not in some mystical mind control, the power is in the Word of God. When you speak the Word of God, when you live by the Word of God, when you believe the Word of God, there is sufficiency there. The power of God to deal with any need comes from the Word of God energized in the believer by the Holy Spirit.
Now think about another familiar passage that speaks to the same issue in Hebrews, a very familiar one, Hebrews 4:12. Let me remind you of what it says. "For the Word of God is living and effective, or active, and sharper than any two-edged sword." You talk about a weapon, I'll tell you, the greatest weapon there is is the Word of God. It's sharper than any other weapon. That's what the writer is saying. There's no weapon like the Word...no weapon. It pierces as far as the dividing of soul and spirit. In other words, it gets way down in to the heart and soul and nature of a person. Is able not only to reach as far as a division of soul and spirit, but of joints and marrow and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
People say, "Oh, boy, that's such a deep problem. You better go into psychotherapy. Boy, that's such a deep problem, you better go over here to this person who has a ministry of binding the devil and get those demons out of you. Oh, that's a real deep problem, that's too much for us. We better send you off to some clinic somewhere. You better get into a different environment because we can't handle that." Listen, the Word of God is living, it's active, it's powerful, it's sharper than any other weapon and it will go deeper and cut cleaner and truer than anything that exists to reveal the deepest thoughts and intentions of the human heart...so that verse 13 says, "All things are open and laid bare." It will do what psychoanalysis will never do. The Word of God opens the soul. It penetrates. It breaks up the heart. It reveals. It is sufficient to penetrate the deepest part of a person's soul.
And I take exception to those who would deny the Word of God that which God gives it, and that is the power to penetrate deeper than anything else. I believe to say that the Bible, the Word of the living God cannot deal with a problem is to sin against God. Can there be more sufficiency than the mind of Christ and the Word of the living God?
Jesus also said, and this in Luke 11:28, "Blessed is the one who hears the Word of God and keeps it, or obeys it." Luke 11:28. Now what did He say by that? What He said was, all spiritual sufficiency is bound up in hearing and obeying the Word of God...hearing and obeying the Word of God.
What does the word "blessed" mean? Well, I think we think of the word "blessed" as sort of a little tingle, a little momentary excitement. The concept of "blessed" means a blissful state of life...a blissful state of life, that is life with peace and joy, life with meaning and value, life with hope and fulfillment, life with happiness. A fulfilled and happy and meaningful blissful life belongs to those who hear the Word of God and obey it. And that, dear friend, is the testimony of the lips of Jesus. Obedience to God's Word is the door to sufficiency. It's a door to a blissful life. It's the answer.
I've occasion the last couple of weeks to speak with a woman twice, once in person with her and once on the phone. She has a terminal disease. She's near death and she's a very dear and precious lady. She told me, she said, "I'm absolutely living in fear...I am so afraid."
I said, "Why are you afraid?" She said, "I'm afraid that I won't go to heaven." I said, "But, you believe the gospel, don't you?" "Yes." "And you've committed your life to Christ?" "Yes." "And your deepest desire is to obey Him?" "Yes." "And you love Him?" "Yes." "Well, what are you afraid of?" "Well, when I first got this disease, I cursed God and I'm afraid that He can't forgive me and He won't forgive me and I'm going to go to hell for what I did. I did a terrible, terrible thing. I spoke to God and I used profane words."
Now what are you going to say to a person like that on the edge of death? I mean, that death is maybe days away. "Well, you need...that's a very deep problem, you need some analysis." Or, "You better bind the demon of doubt. So I've got to get the formula so you can do that." Or, "You better visualize, just visualize yourself in heaven...just..." Well, that's what's being advocated today and we laugh at that but that's pretty serious stuff with some people.
No, you know what you say to someone like that? First I said, "Let me quote you a passage of Scripture, even if you did that...even if you did that, cursed God. There was someone who cursed God even more than you did, his name was the Apostle Paul who was a blasphemer." And I quoted her 1 Timothy 1:12 and following, how Paul says the Lord counted me faithful having put me into the ministry who before was a blasphemer and injurious and he says that there's one thing I know for sure, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. And I pointed out to her that the reason Paul gave that testimony as being the chief sinner was that he might be set forth as an example to the whole world that if God could save the chief sinner, He can save all the lesser ones, too. And I said, "God saved the worst blasphemer on the face of the earth who fought against Jesus Christ Himself, who persecuted and killed His beloved saints and if He can forgive him, He can forgive you."
There was great hope in her voice. And then on the earlier occasion, I had gone over the scripture passages that talk about the complete forgiveness that belongs to believers. You see, the answer for someone in that kind of anxiety is simply to open to them the Word of the living God which they believe and which when read and heard is energized in them by the living Spirit of God. There's no insufficiency there. And even for someone on the edge of death, there can be a blissful life if there is the confidence in the Word of the living God.
James also gives testimony to the sufficiency of Scripture. James says, "The one who obeys the Word of God," and he calls it, I love this, "the perfect law." What does "perfect" mean? What's another word for "perfect?" Complete. The complete law...is it incomplete? Is the Bible incomplete? Not hardly. In fact, at the end it says, "If you add anything to this, shall be added to you the plagues that are written in it." No, the Bible is the complete law. James 1:25, the perfect law...beautiful thought. He calls it the "royal law" in the second chapter...the perfect law. And he says anyone who obeys the perfect law, James 1:25, shall be blessed. Again, bliss, satisfaction, fulfillment, all that pertains to life and conduct for a believer is bound up in the Word of God. Our spiritual sufficiency comes from God, is ministered from the Word of God by the Spirit to the heart of a believer.
Listen to the testimony of Luke in writing the book of Acts. Luke identified the most noble Christians in Greece. They were in a little town called Berea. And this is what he said, "The saints in Berea were the most noble of all the saints," quote, Acts 17:11, "Because they received the Word with readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily." What a great statement. Spiritual nobility belongs to those who receive the Word of God with readiness of mind. What does that mean? With acceptance, with faith, with eagerness. They received the Word of God and they searched the scriptures every day. Beloved, the key to adequate living is not the Bible plus a lot of stuff, it is the Word of God pursued with readiness and eagerness and searched out every day of one's life. It's a daily diet...a daily diet.
And I don't think we approach spiritual life like that at all. We get ourselves into problems, we assume the problems are beyond the purview and the capability of the Word of God because we're really not into the daily application of the Word of God. Noble spirituality is tied to a daily study of the Word of God. That's where the strength comes to deal with life. And that's where the sufficiency lies. People sadly who are finding their sufficiency...chasing their sufficiency, not finding it, but chasing it in psychology and in this sort of science of the mind and mysticism and ecstatic experiences and the supernatural and in entertainment and management techniques for the church, all of that pursuit is running the wrong direction. And instead of bringing what they think they need and what they think they're going to get, it will bring them the very opposite...the very opposite.
In his letter to the Colossians, the Apostle Paul identifies the key to a happy life. Listen to this. The key to a happy life, the key to a joyous heart, would you like to have a joyous heart? Happy life? Would you like to have a singing spirit, just singing all the time because you're so happy? A good relationships with everybody? An absolutely rich and stable marriage? A totally fulfilling family life and rewarding employment? I mean, that's it, folks. Everything...everything-- Colossians 3:16--depends on this one phrase, "Letting the Word of Christ dwell in you...what?...richly." That's it. And out of that flow all those other things. Get them again...a happy life, a joyous heart, a singing spirit, good relationships, a rich stable marriage, fulfilling family life, and satisfying employment. It's all bound up in letting the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.
You say, "You mean the Bible alone can provide all that?" Of course, that's what it's for...the ticket to the Spirit-filled life is the Word controlled-mind..the Word-controlled mind which leads to sufficiency and adequacy.
Listen to the words of Peter in 1 Peter 2:2. "As babes desire the pure milk of the Word that you may grow by it." Spiritual growth, spiritual maturity, spiritual strength, the maturation process, moving toward Christlikeness is tied to your desire for the Word of God. You will grow by the Word of God. And growing is really developing the strength to deal with difficulty. And you do that by feeding on the Word of God. A baby grows by drinking milk. And that's what Peter is saying. Peter is saying that as a baby desires milk, with that same singular devotion, that same strong singular desire, and we all know how much a baby wants milk, that's the way a believer should long for the Word of God. When your heart seeks that and desires that on a daily basis, you'll find spiritual strength. The Word provides all the spiritual resource for strengthening.
And then Peter added this in his second epistle, 2 Peter 1:3, one of the great statements on this subject in all of Scripture, he says, "According as God's divine power has given unto us...listen to this...all things that pertain unto life and godliness." What a statement! God's divine power has given us, not some things, but all things that pertain to life and godliness. Then he says, "Through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue." When we come to know Him and He is revealed through His Word, we are cashing in on the resources that allow us to be able to face anything. We have all things that pertain to life and godliness. Beloved, all we need for life, all we need for godliness, all we need in all of our Christian living is bound up in the Word of God. And you ask yourself, why do you always teach the Bible? Why do we always study the Word of God? Because where else do we go for spiritual sufficiency? Everything else is superfluous. For the matter at hand through the knowledge of Him, through the knowledge of Him who called us and He reveals Himself in His Word, comes all we need for life and godliness. And I tell you, it grieves me no end when people come up with this idea that the Bible is not enough and we've got to study all this other stuff and gain all these other techniques in order to tap necessary resources. The Word of God energized by the Spirit of God is sufficient for life and godliness.
Now even more direct and comprehensive is the statement of Paul in the book of Acts in chapter 20. When he was meeting with the Ephesian elders, this is an interesting statement, he said to them, reciting a little bit of the history of his ministry, "I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you." I gave you everything profitable. Now he didn't hold anything back. He gave them everything that was profitable. And they were just like us, they had all the problems we have. They had all the life struggles we have. They had all the spiritual needs we have. He said, "I didn't hold anything back that was profitable, but I have shown you and I have taught you." And what he's saying is, comprehensively I've given you everything that was profitable. That's in verse 20 of chapter 20.
Then down in verse 27 he tells us what that was. "I have not failed to declare unto you all the counsel of God." Not all the counsel of God and some of the counsel of men. He saw in the revelation of God, total sufficiency. And then later on to them, in verse 32, he says, "So I commend you to God and the Word of His grace which is able to build you up."
Is it sufficient? Is the bible sufficient to build us up? Is it sufficient to meet every vicissitude, struggle, need and anxiety of human life? Of course it is. And anyone that says it isn't, whether by explicit statement or by implication, sins a sin against God, for he calls God a liar. And that's no small act but indeed an act of serious treachery. No, he says I commend you to the Word of His grace which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified. The Word is all you need. The Word is what is profitable. The Word will strengthen
Now think about another familiar passage that speaks to the same issue in Hebrews, a very familiar one, Hebrews 4:12. Let me remind you of what it says. "For the Word of God is living and effective, or active, and sharper than any two-edged sword." You talk about a weapon, I'll tell you, the greatest weapon there is is the Word of God. It's sharper than any other weapon. That's what the writer is saying. There's no weapon like the Word...no weapon. It pierces as far as the dividing of soul and spirit. In other words, it gets way down in to the heart and soul and nature of a person. Is able not only to reach as far as a division of soul and spirit, but of joints and marrow and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
People say, "Oh, boy, that's such a deep problem. You better go into psychotherapy. Boy, that's such a deep problem, you better go over here to this person who has a ministry of binding the devil and get those demons out of you. Oh, that's a real deep problem, that's too much for us. We better send you off to some clinic somewhere. You better get into a different environment because we can't handle that." Listen, the Word of God is living, it's active, it's powerful, it's sharper than any other weapon and it will go deeper and cut cleaner and truer than anything that exists to reveal the deepest thoughts and intentions of the human heart...so that verse 13 says, "All things are open and laid bare." It will do what psychoanalysis will never do. The Word of God opens the soul. It penetrates. It breaks up the heart. It reveals. It is sufficient to penetrate the deepest part of a person's soul.
And I take exception to those who would deny the Word of God that which God gives it, and that is the power to penetrate deeper than anything else. I believe to say that the Bible, the Word of the living God cannot deal with a problem is to sin against God. Can there be more sufficiency than the mind of Christ and the Word of the living God?
Jesus also said, and this in Luke 11:28, "Blessed is the one who hears the Word of God and keeps it, or obeys it." Luke 11:28. Now what did He say by that? What He said was, all spiritual sufficiency is bound up in hearing and obeying the Word of God...hearing and obeying the Word of God.
What does the word "blessed" mean? Well, I think we think of the word "blessed" as sort of a little tingle, a little momentary excitement. The concept of "blessed" means a blissful state of life...a blissful state of life, that is life with peace and joy, life with meaning and value, life with hope and fulfillment, life with happiness. A fulfilled and happy and meaningful blissful life belongs to those who hear the Word of God and obey it. And that, dear friend, is the testimony of the lips of Jesus. Obedience to God's Word is the door to sufficiency. It's a door to a blissful life. It's the answer.
I've occasion the last couple of weeks to speak with a woman twice, once in person with her and once on the phone. She has a terminal disease. She's near death and she's a very dear and precious lady. She told me, she said, "I'm absolutely living in fear...I am so afraid."
I said, "Why are you afraid?" She said, "I'm afraid that I won't go to heaven." I said, "But, you believe the gospel, don't you?" "Yes." "And you've committed your life to Christ?" "Yes." "And your deepest desire is to obey Him?" "Yes." "And you love Him?" "Yes." "Well, what are you afraid of?" "Well, when I first got this disease, I cursed God and I'm afraid that He can't forgive me and He won't forgive me and I'm going to go to hell for what I did. I did a terrible, terrible thing. I spoke to God and I used profane words."
Now what are you going to say to a person like that on the edge of death? I mean, that death is maybe days away. "Well, you need...that's a very deep problem, you need some analysis." Or, "You better bind the demon of doubt. So I've got to get the formula so you can do that." Or, "You better visualize, just visualize yourself in heaven...just..." Well, that's what's being advocated today and we laugh at that but that's pretty serious stuff with some people.
No, you know what you say to someone like that? First I said, "Let me quote you a passage of Scripture, even if you did that...even if you did that, cursed God. There was someone who cursed God even more than you did, his name was the Apostle Paul who was a blasphemer." And I quoted her 1 Timothy 1:12 and following, how Paul says the Lord counted me faithful having put me into the ministry who before was a blasphemer and injurious and he says that there's one thing I know for sure, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. And I pointed out to her that the reason Paul gave that testimony as being the chief sinner was that he might be set forth as an example to the whole world that if God could save the chief sinner, He can save all the lesser ones, too. And I said, "God saved the worst blasphemer on the face of the earth who fought against Jesus Christ Himself, who persecuted and killed His beloved saints and if He can forgive him, He can forgive you."
There was great hope in her voice. And then on the earlier occasion, I had gone over the scripture passages that talk about the complete forgiveness that belongs to believers. You see, the answer for someone in that kind of anxiety is simply to open to them the Word of the living God which they believe and which when read and heard is energized in them by the living Spirit of God. There's no insufficiency there. And even for someone on the edge of death, there can be a blissful life if there is the confidence in the Word of the living God.
James also gives testimony to the sufficiency of Scripture. James says, "The one who obeys the Word of God," and he calls it, I love this, "the perfect law." What does "perfect" mean? What's another word for "perfect?" Complete. The complete law...is it incomplete? Is the Bible incomplete? Not hardly. In fact, at the end it says, "If you add anything to this, shall be added to you the plagues that are written in it." No, the Bible is the complete law. James 1:25, the perfect law...beautiful thought. He calls it the "royal law" in the second chapter...the perfect law. And he says anyone who obeys the perfect law, James 1:25, shall be blessed. Again, bliss, satisfaction, fulfillment, all that pertains to life and conduct for a believer is bound up in the Word of God. Our spiritual sufficiency comes from God, is ministered from the Word of God by the Spirit to the heart of a believer.
Listen to the testimony of Luke in writing the book of Acts. Luke identified the most noble Christians in Greece. They were in a little town called Berea. And this is what he said, "The saints in Berea were the most noble of all the saints," quote, Acts 17:11, "Because they received the Word with readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily." What a great statement. Spiritual nobility belongs to those who receive the Word of God with readiness of mind. What does that mean? With acceptance, with faith, with eagerness. They received the Word of God and they searched the scriptures every day. Beloved, the key to adequate living is not the Bible plus a lot of stuff, it is the Word of God pursued with readiness and eagerness and searched out every day of one's life. It's a daily diet...a daily diet.
And I don't think we approach spiritual life like that at all. We get ourselves into problems, we assume the problems are beyond the purview and the capability of the Word of God because we're really not into the daily application of the Word of God. Noble spirituality is tied to a daily study of the Word of God. That's where the strength comes to deal with life. And that's where the sufficiency lies. People sadly who are finding their sufficiency...chasing their sufficiency, not finding it, but chasing it in psychology and in this sort of science of the mind and mysticism and ecstatic experiences and the supernatural and in entertainment and management techniques for the church, all of that pursuit is running the wrong direction. And instead of bringing what they think they need and what they think they're going to get, it will bring them the very opposite...the very opposite.
In his letter to the Colossians, the Apostle Paul identifies the key to a happy life. Listen to this. The key to a happy life, the key to a joyous heart, would you like to have a joyous heart? Happy life? Would you like to have a singing spirit, just singing all the time because you're so happy? A good relationships with everybody? An absolutely rich and stable marriage? A totally fulfilling family life and rewarding employment? I mean, that's it, folks. Everything...everything-- Colossians 3:16--depends on this one phrase, "Letting the Word of Christ dwell in you...what?...richly." That's it. And out of that flow all those other things. Get them again...a happy life, a joyous heart, a singing spirit, good relationships, a rich stable marriage, fulfilling family life, and satisfying employment. It's all bound up in letting the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.
You say, "You mean the Bible alone can provide all that?" Of course, that's what it's for...the ticket to the Spirit-filled life is the Word controlled-mind..the Word-controlled mind which leads to sufficiency and adequacy.
Listen to the words of Peter in 1 Peter 2:2. "As babes desire the pure milk of the Word that you may grow by it." Spiritual growth, spiritual maturity, spiritual strength, the maturation process, moving toward Christlikeness is tied to your desire for the Word of God. You will grow by the Word of God. And growing is really developing the strength to deal with difficulty. And you do that by feeding on the Word of God. A baby grows by drinking milk. And that's what Peter is saying. Peter is saying that as a baby desires milk, with that same singular devotion, that same strong singular desire, and we all know how much a baby wants milk, that's the way a believer should long for the Word of God. When your heart seeks that and desires that on a daily basis, you'll find spiritual strength. The Word provides all the spiritual resource for strengthening.
And then Peter added this in his second epistle, 2 Peter 1:3, one of the great statements on this subject in all of Scripture, he says, "According as God's divine power has given unto us...listen to this...all things that pertain unto life and godliness." What a statement! God's divine power has given us, not some things, but all things that pertain to life and godliness. Then he says, "Through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue." When we come to know Him and He is revealed through His Word, we are cashing in on the resources that allow us to be able to face anything. We have all things that pertain to life and godliness. Beloved, all we need for life, all we need for godliness, all we need in all of our Christian living is bound up in the Word of God. And you ask yourself, why do you always teach the Bible? Why do we always study the Word of God? Because where else do we go for spiritual sufficiency? Everything else is superfluous. For the matter at hand through the knowledge of Him, through the knowledge of Him who called us and He reveals Himself in His Word, comes all we need for life and godliness. And I tell you, it grieves me no end when people come up with this idea that the Bible is not enough and we've got to study all this other stuff and gain all these other techniques in order to tap necessary resources. The Word of God energized by the Spirit of God is sufficient for life and godliness.
Now even more direct and comprehensive is the statement of Paul in the book of Acts in chapter 20. When he was meeting with the Ephesian elders, this is an interesting statement, he said to them, reciting a little bit of the history of his ministry, "I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you." I gave you everything profitable. Now he didn't hold anything back. He gave them everything that was profitable. And they were just like us, they had all the problems we have. They had all the life struggles we have. They had all the spiritual needs we have. He said, "I didn't hold anything back that was profitable, but I have shown you and I have taught you." And what he's saying is, comprehensively I've given you everything that was profitable. That's in verse 20 of chapter 20.
Then down in verse 27 he tells us what that was. "I have not failed to declare unto you all the counsel of God." Not all the counsel of God and some of the counsel of men. He saw in the revelation of God, total sufficiency. And then later on to them, in verse 32, he says, "So I commend you to God and the Word of His grace which is able to build you up."
Is it sufficient? Is the bible sufficient to build us up? Is it sufficient to meet every vicissitude, struggle, need and anxiety of human life? Of course it is. And anyone that says it isn't, whether by explicit statement or by implication, sins a sin against God, for he calls God a liar. And that's no small act but indeed an act of serious treachery. No, he says I commend you to the Word of His grace which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified. The Word is all you need. The Word is what is profitable. The Word will strengthen
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