In his sermon "The Sufficiency of Scripture in Church and Family Life," Scott Brown discusses the importance of adhering to the doctrine of sola scriptura, or Scripture alone, for guiding both church and family life. He describes a personal journey that began in the mid-90s, triggered by a realization that many churches and families had moved away from relying solely on Scripture. Brown emphasizes the necessity of understanding and applying the biblical order and commands in family life, particularly for fathers, and criticizes the modern church's tendency to incorporate unbiblical elements. He reflects on the influence of the Puritans and reformers who upheld the sufficiency of Scripture, and he urges a return to this foundational belief. Brown highlights the benefits of embracing Scripture's sufficiency, noting it leads to wholeness, healing, and beauty, ultimately resulting in joy and peace. He references various Scriptures, including Deuteronomy, Proverbs, and Psalms, to affirm the purity and protective nature of God's Word. Brown concludes by encouraging individuals and communities to live by God's Word, for it brings blessings and aligns them with divine beauty and glory.

Well, that song, you couldn't have had a better song to bridge between the morning message on the Lord of Hosts. His name is your keeper. Lord Sabeoth is His name. Praise God for that. I'd like to speak about the heart of the sufficiency of Scripture for church and family life.

This is something that has been burning in my soul for many years. I had the privilege of doing a large conference on this subject the sufficiency of scripture in Cincinnati, Ohio It was one of the great joys of my life as I was planning it I prayed that I wouldn't die before I would do that conference, frankly. I did. I did not want to die without doing that conference. And somewhere in the mid-90s, it began to occur to me that both churches and families had rejected the sufficiency of Scripture.

You could hardly find families anywhere, particularly fathers who had any understanding of the biblical order for the family and how to create it. Brain-dead on the commands of God for family life. Same thing with the church. The church had become, you know, one pragmatic circus performance after another with all kinds of unbiblical elements incorporated in order to thrill people and make them feel good and I began to get very disturbed there in the mid 90s and And so it set me on a journey. There were a number of things that happened to me that started that journey Reading the Puritans was very helpful that really shifted in many ways my whole worldview The Puritans really believed that scripture was sufficient for the church and the family, and we should regulate ourselves by Scripture and by Scripture alone.

And of course this is the Reformation doctrine of sola scriptura, Scripture alone. And I know many of you were there at that conference in Cincinnati in 2009, and some of you were very young. Some of you were little children. Some of you were just barely born, and you know who you are, and your parents know who you are. And so I know there have been many of us here in this church and across the country who have attempted by fits and starts and as best we could to try to really believe that Scripture was sufficient for church life and for family life.

My view is that it's the most important decision a church can make, it's the most important decision a family can make, is to regard Scripture and Scripture alone as the guide for everything in life. And I pray that there is a greater and greater awareness of that in our own hearts, in our church and in our families, and in the many people that we know all around the country who have also embraced this idea. And I'm very thankful for it. I'm seeing so much fruit from it right now. I'm just extremely encouraged to see what has been happening.

It's very important that we know why we are doing what we are doing. And of course, we do have a rich heritage of a belief in the sufficiency of Scripture in the history of the church. Our confession, the Baptist, the London Baptist Confession of 1689 does a really good job explaining some of the details of the sufficiency of Scripture for church life. And so there are many places that we can go, but it's also very important to think about Where does it all go? What are we looking for?

Where does the sufficiency of Scripture for church and family life really lead? It's really important that you ask this question of anything. Where does it go? Where does it go? And I'd like to just talk about that and share with you some of the things that have been on my heart, particularly lately.

Where does it go? It goes toward wholeness. It goes toward healing. It goes toward blessing. It goes toward beauty.

It goes toward restoration. That's where it goes. And It comes under The heading of pleasant ways All God's ways are pleasant ways All his paths are peace you can find that in Proverbs 3 Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus. That's where it goes. It's so important that we understand where this goes.

It's easier to understand what it is. It's a little harder to understand how to pull it off, but it's really important that you understand where it goes. Coming under the authority of the Word of Jesus Christ Is coming under the authority of the wisest most powerful most loving most happy being Because all of his ways are pleasant ways I Was captivated by that verse in Proverbs 3 when my children are very small and we memorized it together. The Bible makes it very clear that the people of God ought to gaze in the face of Jesus and be transformed into his image and that the way that you do that is that you you do not add and you do not subtract from the Word of God you take it very seriously You take it so seriously that you adore what it says rather than resist what it says and find five ways to try to sneak around it, which is what our corrupt hearts always want to do. Moses spoke about this in Deuteronomy quite a few times.

I had the pleasure, the joy, and the tumult in my life to preach through Deuteronomy about ten years ago. Deuteronomy 4 Verse 1, now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe. Observe, that means to do, that you may live and Go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you 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 in Deuteronomy 5 He continues and of course in Deuteronomy 5 Moses records the Ten Commandments as he does in Exodus chapter 20, here for the second time, Deuteronomy 5, 29, "'O that they had such a heart within them that they would fear me and always keep all my commandments why that it might be well with them and with their children forever. In other words, your children's everlasting happiness depends upon it. It grieves me when people take so lightly the Word of God, they neglect the idea that everlasting happiness hangs in the balance of obedience.

Solomon spoke of this in Proverbs 30 verses 5 and 6 where he said, Every word of God is pure. But then he says something else, which is another answer to why we ought to consider this and where it goes. Every word of God is pure. He is a shield to those who put their trust in him. That's another way of saying recognize the greatness and the majesty and the purity and the goodness of the Word of God because of where it goes.

Where does this go? He is a shield. That's where it goes. People are very concerned about protection today in this society. Do you want a shield?

The greatest shield you will ever have in your life and for your family life and for your church life is to recognize that every word of God is pure. It's so important that we let our vision of beauty to be shaped by the Word of God. You know, our visions of beauty are so messed up. We get born into this world and there's so much un-beauty that comes to us. So our vision of beauty gets so mangled and we need it.

We need to get it reoriented and only the Word of God can reorient your vision of beauty so that you actually begin to love what is beautiful. That's the problem. We loved what wasn't beautiful and wow, look what happened. And we spend the rest of our lives trying to learn what is truly beautiful. You know, when Paul wrote to Timothy, he said, I write these things that you might know how you ought to conduct yourself in the household of God.

Now, Why did he write that? I suggest that he wrote that for the very same reason that Jesus wrote and said what he wrote and said. For the very same reason that your joy might be made full in the church, in the household of God. In John 16, 24, Jesus says, Ask and you will receive that your joy may be full And of course he's talking about praying in his name he's talking about believing what is truly beautiful and then praying about the manifestations of that beauty in the world. When you know what is beautiful, you pray for what is beautiful and what is beautiful happens.

And Jesus gives us this astounding promise to encourage us to pray but it's also an incur it's also an encouragement to pursue true beauty the beauty of the Lord The truth of the Word of God the things that do not change that are pure and perfect That actually become a shield for you In John 16 20 through 24 Jesus says I speak in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves In Romans 14 17 The apostle paul Makes it very clear where all of this is going. Where does the kingdom rulership of God go? What are we talking about? Where did these ideas take you? It's so important that we consider where ideas land in the end.

And the Apostle Paul answers this for the Roman Christians and he tells them what the kingdom of God is all about And it's really stunning what he says. What kind of kingdom is this? He says the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men Well, I mean this is just so consistent with everything we know about the gospel when the Lord Jesus Christ Entered into this earth. Do you remember what the angels said? Do you remember what happened around his birth?

The angel says to the shepherds do not be afraid for I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be for all the people that's where it goes that's where the gospel goes that's where obedience the Word of God goes That's where the embracing of the sufficiency of Scripture goes. And that's what it means that Jesus Christ was born in the city of David, who is Christ the Lord. That's what the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger means. That's where it all goes. Tidings of joy.

Then they say, glory to God in the highest and on earth, on earth, in your family and in your church, peace, goodwill toward men. That's where it goes. Everything that you do in your family life, everything you do in your church life goes somewhere, And we should be very careful where we're going. What a blessing it is. Where does the sufficiency of scripture go when you embrace it?

David talked about it in Psalm 65, 14. You know, I was reading through the Psalms just looking for all these things this last week and I thought this is in every Psalm This is in almost every Psalm Psalm 65 for 13 the pastures are clothed with flocks. The valleys are also covered with grain, they shout for joy and they also sing Psalm 66 for 66 one make a joyful shout to the Lord all the earth sing out the honor of His name Make his praise glorious say to God how awesome are your works? That's where it goes. That's where the sufficiency of Scripture goes They shall sing praises to you they shall sing praises to your name come see the works of God He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men." And I think that includes not just the works of nature and the works of God in the world through kingdoms and nations and things like that, it includes particularly those who love the appearing of Jesus Christ and who believe that He is their only sufficient Savior, who keeps our soul among the living and does not allow our feet to be moved.

Psalm 16 11. You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. That's where it goes.

And what a blessing it is to know that, that God has given us such a rich and beautiful testimony to guide us into all truth, to be sanctified by the truth. You know what it means to be sanctified by the truth come back next Sunday that's where we are in John 17 what a rich beautiful thing it is to be sanctified by the truth. You know, if you follow popular culture, popular psychology, popular entertainers, creatives, Here's what they tell you. Find yourself. Follow your heart.

Don't let anybody get in the way of your dreams. Find your voice. Don't let Anybody constrain who you are. You can look and see where that leads. It doesn't lead to life.

It doesn't Because in his presence is fullness of joy. At his right hand are pleasures forevermore. And this is the blessing of the sufficiency of Scripture. God has given us a perfect, pure, beautiful, cleansing flood of His Word. You know, The Bible gives lots of images, dozens and dozens of ways to try to understand what the Word of God is.

It's like a river of life. It's like dew on the grass. It's like a hammer. It's like a fire. Just so many graphic ways to understand just how powerful and how good.

I forget who said it. It was one of the prophets. Your word, O Lord, was joy to me." That's where it goes. That's where the sufficiency of Scripture goes. So why should we return to biblical order in the church and always be about it and in the family.

Well, first of all, this is what it means to be a Christian. When self-will is replaced with God's will, our ways are replaced with His ways, our identity replaced with His identity, our salvation with His, our vision for our life, our vision for our church Replaced with his vision we take his yoke upon us For his gentle and humble in heart and that's where you'll find rest for your souls. That's where it goes. For quite a while I've been captivated by a phrase that I bumped into again, I think it was just last month, reading about the tabernacle. And when you read about the tabernacle, and particularly in this case, the clothing of the priests, And there's all this elaborate, absolutely beautiful embroidery, and some of my favorite colors are in the clothing of the priests.

And they're just luxuriant clothing. Now we know that we are clothed with the robes of righteousness in Jesus Christ, which is so wonderful. But when Moses commands the artists, the creatives, to sew the garments for the priests. He tells them where it's going. He tells them why.

For beauty and for glory. That's why. All of the robes that Jesus Christ wants to put on you is so that you find rest for your soul. So in a church, we always want to explain the beauties of the kingdom of God and how those beauties are expressed in a church and in a family, Because all of these things, including ourselves, are designed to be reflectors. We are pictures, we are pointers to everlasting joy in His presence.

Paul says we are epistles, we are like letters. Have...there are things that we write. There are ways that we look and act that are for beauty and for glory. And these two institutions, the church and the family, these are the most important institutions that exist on the planet today. These are the only two institutions that God created for the spread of the gospel and the discipleship of his people, the church and the family.

God created two institutions. These are the most glorious institutions. They are the most important institutions, and they are the Places where beauty and glory are designed to shine under the government of a sufficient perfect and pure word of truth and So that's why we proclaim the sufficiency of Scripture because church life and home life and family life and individual life and work life, when they are defined and when they're governed and when they are nourished by God through His Word, they are for beauty and for glory. And so I want all of us, by the way we live and by what we say, to encourage everyone around us to live for beauty and glory and to create our lives out of something far greater than our lives out of his life to be hold the face of Jesus Christ to look to someone more wonderful than ourselves, not to become like ourselves, not to find our voice, but to find His voice in everything. When we speak to each other, even when we think about one another, when we think about our community, to have His voice, His words, His ways, His sufficient and perfect and beautiful ways for us.

We really, I mean, we've been created for something far more beautiful than our ways. And so it's just so critical that we think about where all of this takes us. Where does it lead? What is the light at the end of this tunnel? What is at the end of that rainbow?

Blessings happiness healing Blessings, happiness, healing, water flowing from the throne of God. Like in Ezekiel, I think it's 37, you're getting carried down a river with beautiful trees on the banks where the leaves are for the healing of the nations and the trees never stop bearing fruit. And the fruit is delicious. So let's just keep pressing on and help one another to encourage one another to have our eyes on glory to encourage families to order their family life according to the beauty of holiness And I pray that out of our church and out of all of what we do We don't we pass the baton to the next generation We write we publish books that speak of the beauty of the Lord We preach to a new generation to help them to create happy and healthy generational cultures in their church and in their family for the spread of heavenly glory so pray for the work of the sufficiency of Scripture in your own heart, in your own church, and in all the churches in our land? Well of course It is right, but where does it go?

Where do these ideas lead? They lead to beauty and glory. Praise God for His marvelous gift of a perfect and pure word of truth to guide us. And I pray that really is the central occupation of all of us here in this Church—that this is what consumes us. Would you pray with me?

Would you pray with me? Oh Lord, we're thankful that your word is truth. The heavens have shown us your majesty. The earth and all that is in it, the rivers and the oceans, the animals, all these things in your world that you created are astounding, and they are astoundingly beautiful and incomprehensible in their power to us. And so we worship you as the only sufficient God who has given us a sufficient word that we might live by.

And let that be our life. And to believe with all of our hearts, as Moses said, for it is your life. Amen.