In the sermon titled 'The Sufficiency Of Scripture', Jason Dohm emphasizes the importance of Scripture as the foundational element of Christian faith, referencing the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith which places the Holy Scriptures as its first chapter. Dohm argues that without Scripture, Christianity would be akin to a game of telephone, losing its message over time. He asserts the Bible's claim to be the direct revelation from God, highlighting its role in revealing God's nature, attributes, and commandments. The sermon discusses the concepts of inerrancy and infallibility, asserting that the Bible is incapable of error and perfectly trustworthy. Dohm uses Psalm 19 to illustrate the perfection and purity of God's Word, emphasizing its sufficiency and ability to convert the soul. He discusses the Holy Spirit's role in making the Scriptures alive and powerful, helping believers understand and remember God's truths. The sermon warns against adding to or subtracting from the Bible, likening it to tampering with a parent's words. Dohm also underscores the need for Scripture in teaching, rebuking, correcting, and instructing in righteousness, asserting that it makes believers complete and equipped for every good work. He concludes by encouraging believers to build their lives on the solid foundation of Scripture, treating it as a plumb line against which all other truths are measured.

Our title of the sermon is a topical title that almost never happens here. It's the sufficiency of Scripture. We're finished with Romans. We haven't gone yet to Genesis 1 through 11. Normally when we're between sort of big preaching projects, which most books of the Bible are a big preaching project, we take a little bit of time to either preach on a few Psalms here and there, or a minor prophet maybe, a one chapter book like Jude or 2nd or 3rd John.

We would do something like that. Or we would preach some topical sermons on things that we think are timely to preach on. During this period of time between finishing Romans and starting Genesis 1 through 11, James and I determined to preach on 12 distinctives. Some of the core commitments that make us us, that make us who we are, and make us different than others, different either than other real live warm-hearted Christians in certain ways. These are things that have always been core commitments.

As I look down the list of these 12 things. We'll publish them in the email this week to sort of tell you where we're going. But these things were core commitments from the first day that we met. They've been near and dear to us. And James and I are convinced that they're as valuable today as they were then.

They'll be as valuable 10 years, 20 years from now as they are today. And we want to make the case for them. We want to make sure that these core commitments are core commitments to you and that you love them or at least you understand why we love them because we've made the case for them. Overall, if you look across the 12, They're not in order of priority. Some just have to do with the scheduling and when James is on vacation, when I'm on vacation, so when we can slot these things in.

But this one is. This is the first one and This one is in the order of priority. If you look at our Confession of Faith, the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, Chapter 1 is of the Holy Scriptures. That's on purpose. That's not random ordering at all.

That is because if you don't have the Scriptures, You don't have anything. Not to diminish the Gospel, but to say that without the Bible, what Gospel do you have? You have a game of telephone played across the centuries. You know the game, one person says it to the other, to the other, to the other, to the other, and by the time you get all the way around in the circle, it's a jumbled mess. God has not left us with a jumbled mess in the Gospel.

He's actually given us black and white pages on paper that you can go back to, and very, very specific, very direct revelation from God. So, none of this, nothing that I say today should be taken as diminishing the gospel in any way. It's just to say, We have the Gospel because we have the Word of God. Without the Word of God, we have nothing. Christianity rises and falls on this question.

What is the Bible? The Bible makes its own claims to the answer to that question. The Bible comes making claims on what it is. We find hundreds of times this phrase in Scripture, Thus says the Lord. God says, I'm telling you this, I'm revealing this truth to you, in similar phrases, hundreds of times, thus says the Lord.

The Bible claims to be the revelation of truth from the one true God to mankind. It sets forth God as the only God, the one true God. And the Bible claims that this is His revelation. This is what God wants mankind to know as truth. According to the Bible, our Creator God is not standing aloof from His creation and hiding Himself.

But He has made Himself and His ways known in His Word. How do we know who God really is? He revealed Himself in His Word. How do we know what He loves and what He hates? He's revealed these things, these truths to us in His Word.

He has revealed Himself in His Word and preserved His Word. Do you believe that you have in your hand a trustworthy copy of the revelation that he actually gave to the authors? Well, if you believe in a God who is almighty and who loves His Word, and wants his revelation to be preserved, you do believe that you have something trustworthy in your lap. And he has spread his word. Put it in his hands and his people and told them to take it to the corners of the earth.

Disciple the nations, teach them to obey all the things that I've commanded. Listen to how Peter says it in 2nd Peter 1, 19 and 20. I doubt you can even get there by the time I'm gone, but 1st Peter, excuse me, 2nd Peter 1, 19 and 20 says this. Peter says, And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Now listen to this, verse 20.

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation. For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. So Peter tells us how we got this book. Holy men of God, men who God set apart to Himself, that's what holy men of God means. God put His hand on men, claimed them for Himself for this specific purpose.

He set them apart to Himself, and they were moved by the Holy Spirit to give us these words. What you find in the Scriptures is many human authors writing across 1, 500 years, and yet actually one divine author. One divine author. Never contradicting. These authors never contradicting each other.

Always explaining each other. Interconnected with each other across the centuries because though there are many human authors, there's actually one divine author. God made this known by overwhelmingly making the human authors miracle workers. Are you with me? Please stay with me.

God made this known, that the Holy Spirit had moved them to give us these words. He made that known by overwhelmingly making the human authors miracle workers. They parted seas. They gave sight to the blind. They raised the dead.

So that not only did the contents themselves bear his divine fingerprints, meaning the more familiar you get with these words, the more convinced you are that the fingerprints of the divine are all over these words. Spend more time with it. You'll be more convinced of that, not less, as you spend more time with this book. So yes, the contents themselves bear his divine fingerprints, But the men who God raised up to be the channels of his revelation were also authenticated by the signs and wonders God did through them. God stamped approved on the words that they gave us, saying that they were His words by raising up these men to do signs and wonders, along with giving this revelation.

Think about the authors. Almost without exception, that is true. Let's pray. God, thank you for the topic before us. Thank you that you are not standing aloof from your creation.

That you have revealed yourself, given us a book of truth We can build our lives on. I pray that You would convince us of this more than we've ever been convinced before just by bringing us to embrace the claims that the Bible makes of itself. Please use this time to encourage us in your word to pray in Jesus name. Amen. I'm going to in our time, these are designed to be short sermons, so we'll see how we do with that.

You could do a conference on each one of these topics, but our aim is not to do a conference, or even to condense a conference, but to go right to the big points and hit them hard. I'm going to take us to five texts of Scripture that declare to us the truth about Scripture. Scripture teaching us about Scripture. If it doesn't make any claims of itself, then what are we doing? If the Bible doesn't make claims of itself, then why should we make claims for it that it doesn't make for itself?

Does that make sense? But it does make claims for itself a lot, and they're astonishing claims. I'm going to take us to five of those places. The first is Psalm 19. Please turn to Psalm 19.

I won't read these, but Psalm 19, 1-6 talks about the universal language of creation. Meaning, you look at creation and It is declaring the glories of God. The heavens declare the glory of God. There's no language where you don't get what the heavens are declaring. The heavens speak all the languages.

And so there is a kind of revelation that comes just from having eyes and ears. If you never encountered a Bible, you would still know what creation declares about the Creator. That He is and that He has eternal attributes of Almighty power. Otherwise, why are we seeing what we're seeing and hearing what we're hearing? And then we come to verses 7 through 11, Psalm 19, 7 through 11.

Let me read them. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey in the honeycomb. Moreover, by them your servant is warned.

And in keeping them, there is great reward." I hope that sounds familiar. We just sang that almost exactly word for word. I don't think we sing a song that is actually more word for word with Scripture than the song that we sang this morning, The law of the Lord is perfect. In this section, David, the psalmist, calls scripture, the Word of God, different things. He calls it the law of the Lord.

So It's law, but it's not any law. It's God's law. It is the law of the Lord. He calls it the statutes of the Lord. So it's statutes, but not just any statutes.

It's God's statutes. The statutes of the Lord. He calls it the testimony of the Lord. So it's a testimony, but it's not just any testimony, it's God's testimony. He calls it the commandment of the Lord.

He calls it the judgments of the Lord. The pronouncements. Not just any pronouncements, but God's pronouncements. The judgments of the Lord. If you become familiar with Psalm 19, 7-11, you start to read over the top of it, and of the Lord doesn't hit your radar.

But look at it again and again and again. Of the Lord, of the Lord, of the Lord. God is claiming these words. These are my words. It's a law.

It's my law. They are statutes. It's my statutes. It's a testimony. It's my testimony.

It's a commandment. It's my commandment. It's judgments. It's my judgments. And then he describes this revelation of God in different ways it is perfect converting the soul it is sure making wise the simple we're off to a good start.

It's perfect and sure. Do you need that? I need that. It is right. Rejoicing the heart.

It is pure. Enlightening the eyes. It is true and righteous altogether. It's desirable. No, it's more than that.

It's sweeter than honey. It warns you. It holds you back from things that will harm you, and it will lead you to great reward. Now let's talk about a couple of words that theologians use. Inerrancy.

What does inerrancy mean? Theologians say, the Bible claims for itself that it is inerrant. It claims inerrancy. This means incapable of being wrong. It can do a lot of things.

One thing it can't do is be wrong without any error or any fault in all its teachings. Imagine a book like that. You can't find any error or any fault in all of its teachings. It is inerrant. Scripture claims for itself inerrancy.

Psalm 19 is one of the places where it does. It's perfect. It's sure. It's right. It's pure, it's true and righteous altogether.

Another fancy theological word other than inerrancy? Infallibility. Scripture claims of itself that it is infallible. Often these words, inerrancy and infallibility, get used interchangeably. There's so much overlap that I really have no objection to that.

There is a little nuance in meaning, and fallibility means never failing, perfectly trustworthy. Not only is it incapable of being wrong, It is also never failing and perfectly trustworthy. In other words, there can never be an instance where you trust it and it lets you down. How much do you need a book like that? Incapable of being wrong.

Inerrant. Never failing. Perfectly trustworthy. Infallible. This is what Psalm 19 is teaching, inerrancy and infallibility.

Listen to what the inspired King David says in Psalm 12, 6, and 7. So, same author as Psalm 19, but now Psalm 12, verses 6 and 7. There, David says, the words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace, purified seven times. You shall keep them, O Lord. You shall preserve them from this generation forever here the inspired author King David says, what's the word of God like?

It's like silver. What kind of silver? Pure, pure, pure, pure, pure, pure, pure silver. It's like you heated it up in the furnace so that the impurities rose to the top and you skimmed off all that you could, and then you reheated it and you did it again and you reheated it and you did it again just to make sure that the very last of the impurities was gone. The Word of God is like that, only more pure.

If you skimmed off the skimming off of the skimming off of the skimming off of the skimming off of all the impurities, you would end up with something like the Word of God. David acknowledges that the Lord will keep His Word. He will preserve it from this generation forever. So David is writing these Psalms in a generation, and he's saying, from the generation in which it's written until there are no more generations, God will preserve His Word. He has.

That's what you have in your lap. Not only is it pure, but God has undertaken with His own almighty hand to preserve it and give it to you. So we have it. So There are many things revealed about the Creator by the creation. That is general revelation.

All you need is eyes and ears. You don't even need a Bible. It tells you that there is a God and it tells you about some of His eternal attributes. Remember Paul saying it this way in Romans 1.20. Paul in Romans 1.20, For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.

There's enough from general revelation just from having eyes and ears, even if you've never even seen a Bible, had a Bible, There's enough to show you that there is a God and to render you guilty. There's enough in general revelation to condemn you. But we need this perfect, specific revelation. Truth revealed in these words to convert the soul. The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul.

Does that mean that anybody and everybody who ever reads the Scriptures is automatically converted? No, that's not what that's teaching. It means that the truths needed to be received in order to be saved are here in this book and nowhere else. That was Psalm 19. Number 2, Revelation 22.

It's the last chapter in the Bible. Should be easy to find. Revelation 22. Listen to how God chose to close the book. Often, there's a powerful punch in the opening and the closing of a book.

Special attention should be paid to the opening and closing of a book. And so it is with the Bible. This is Revelation 22, verses 18 and 19. John writes, 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. If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away from it, shall take away His part from the book of life, from the holy city, and from the things that are written in this book.

Because the words of God, because the words of the Bible are not man's words, we may not add a single word or subtract a single word. I could have used Deuteronomy 4.2. It says don't add, don't take away. I could have used Deuteronomy 12.32. It says don't add, don't take away.

I could have used Proverbs 30 verses 5 and 6. I'll read that in a minute. I could have used Galatians 1, 6-9, where Paul says, if even an angel brings you another gospel, let him be condemned. Listen to Proverbs 30, 5a, and 6. Proverbs 30, 5a, and 6.

Proverbs 30, 5a and 6. Every word of God is pure. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar. So you have these multiple places in Scripture saying, thus says the Lord, these are the words of God. So don't add a word, and don't take away a word.

The implications are at least threefold. First, these words must be handled with holy fear. Don't you dare trifle with your Bible. Don't you dare let this become a common book. If you find yourself starting to treat this like a common book, go read Revelation 22, 18 and 19 where it says, if you add, the plagues of the book will be added to you.

If you take away, then the people who take away will be taken out of the book of life. This is a book that is to be handled with holy fear. Second, this is all the revelation we need. This is what God wants mankind to know is true. Not one extra word is needed, and certainly not one extra word from man.

So There is no need to add. Here's why we don't add, because there's no lack. There's no need to add, and we must not add. Third, we need all of this revelation. So two and three are very similar, but they're different.

Listen, two was this is all the revelation we need. Three is we need all of this revelation. Meaning, we cannot afford to lose or ignore one word of the truth that God has revealed to us. You can't afford to say, all we need now is the New Testament. That is actually taking away from the Word of God.

This whole thing is the Word of God. We cannot afford to lose or ignore one word of the truth that God has revealed to us. We do that at our own peril. Messing with the words is a huge deal. Adding is a huge deal.

Taking away is a huge deal, because they are God's words. Not even people like it when you mess with their words. How much less God? Has any child in this room ever said, Mom said when Mom didn't really say? What happened when mom found out?

Mom doesn't like it when you mess with her words. Has any child ever conveniently forgot to mention something mom certainly did say. Because it stood in the way of what they wanted. What happened when mom found out? Mom doesn't like it when you mess with her words.

How much less God? 3. 2 Timothy 3. Turn to 2 Timothy 3. This was our sermon text.

I've done it before. I'll do it again calling the chapter break here one of the most unhelpful chapter breaks in all of scripture. Because the end of 2 Timothy 3 talks about what the Word of God is, And the beginning of chapter 4 tells us what you should do with it. You should preach it. In season and out of season.

You should just keep preaching it. I'm going to read 2 Timothy 3, 14-17. Paul writes to Timothy, But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 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. 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 complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." This is the flagship text for the sufficiency of Scripture. So we had inerrancy incapable of error.

We had infallibility perfectly trustworthy. Now we have sufficiency. It means perfectly suited to the purpose without any lack at all for the purpose. That's what sufficiency means. God has a purpose for the book, and so He gave us a book that's perfectly suited to His purpose.

It doesn't have any lack at all for His purpose, to reveal truth about Himself and His ways to mankind. Here's what we learn from this text. We should teach the Holy Scriptures to our children because the Scriptures are able to make our children wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. It confronts them about who they are. And it sets forth the great remedy.

We should teach the Holy Scriptures to our children because the scriptures are able to make our children wise for salvation through faith in Jesus. If you think the Bible is for you when you become a believer, that's not what scripture teaches. The Bible is actually the instrument by which you become a believer. Sometimes in a short period of time, but often over a long period of time. Keep exposing to the Bible.

It is able to make your children wise for salvation. We learn that all scripture is given by inspiration of God. Why shouldn't you add a word to it? Because all scripture is given by inspiration of God. Why shouldn't you take away not even one single word from it?

Because all scripture is given by inspiration of God. God is the source of all scripture. God inspired every word of scripture. God breathed out. The Greek word there is a compound word that just is literally God breathed.

That's what this book is. It is the revelation of God breathed out by God given to mankind. Because it is God's Word, it is profitable across the categories. It is useful, good, helpful, Profitable for doctrine. Doctrine is this body of truth.

God has given us a body of truth, and it's useful, it's good, it's helpful, it is profitable. And also for reproof or rebuke. Sometimes we're going in exactly the wrong direction, and the Word of God confronts us and contradicts us. We don't always like it, but when we're going in the wrong direction, we need it. The Word of God does this for us.

It is useful, good, helpful, profitable to rebuke us, to confront us, to contradict us, and send us back in the other direction, because we were going in the wrong direction. It's profitable for correction. Sometimes we just need a little redirection. We're just a little off track. We Need to be corrected.

Not a full 180, but we need an in-course correction. The Word of God is profitable for that. It's profitable for instruction in righteousness. You know that righteousness is not our native language. Righteousness is a language, so to speak, that is hard learned.

We need instruction in righteousness. I said this in Men's Bible study. I knew a family that had twins and they kept them, they were sleeping together in the same crib. They were about two years old and they could tell them apart by the bite marks. I go, why?

Who taught them how to bite? You teach children to share. You need instruction in righteousness. Children don't need biting instructions. They're good at biting.

They like to bite. The complete written revelation of God, I'm holding it, brought to bear across these categories, is perfectly suited without any lack at all to make the believer, the man or woman of God, complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." Just read that again. Hopefully it will just settle in one layer deeper. The complete written revelation of God, brought to bear across these categories, doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction, and righteousness, is perfectly suited without any lack at all to make the believer complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. If this verse is true, then there is not one single good work in existence in all the world that the Bible cannot make the believer complete and thoroughly equipped for.

I want that to sink in too. Is it or isn't it? If what Paul claims, if what the Holy Spirit through Paul claims here is true, then there are no good works throughout human history anywhere on earth, any culture, any circumstances, there are no good works that the Bible has any lack in making the believer complete for, thoroughly equipped for. Every good work it will make you complete and thoroughly equipped for. You see in Paul's choice of words, he has happily painted himself in a corner by eliminating any and all wiggle room.

Paul, are you sure you want to do that? Keep painting the floor as you back into the corner and now you're in the corner and the only step you can take puts paint on your feet. Are you sure you want to do that? He happily does that. Paints himself right into the corner and eliminates all the wiggle room and gives himself no way of escape, so that you will.

So that you'll trust the Bible that much, to be that sufficient, to be without lack, to train you how to do any and every good work that has ever existed. That's what the Bible is claiming for itself, so decide. Question, do you believe that? Most professing believers in Jesus deny that, either outright or practically. They either say, that's not true.

We also need all these other sources of truth too. For mental health, for understanding our origins, for raising children, and once you open that door, it's open to all sorts of things. Or, they order their lives and live like it's not true. So, we might shake our finger at the one who doesn't embrace six-day creation, but we actually order our lives and live like that that verse isn't true. At Sovereign Redeemer, we say as a matter of our confession of faith, We believe that.

We believe that Scripture has no lack at all to make us complete and thoroughly equipped for every good work that ever has been, that ever will be. And Where we fall short, and we know that we fall short, we acknowledge that as a failure that we should repent of. In other words, we know that we ought to spend our lives and keep spending our lives, not making Scripture conform to us, but to more and more, little by little, make ourselves conform to Scripture. In the end, you'll end up doing one or the other. We know we're not all that.

We got plenty of our own problems, but at least we know That what Paul says is true, and we need to be conforming to what Paul says. Where we fall short, we should repent. By the way, that's why the Word of God is always to be the subject and basis of all our preaching. Start right into chapter 4. I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead, preach the Word!

Stop giving people your own ideas. Bring them revelation from God. Number four, Hebrews 4 verse 12. A single verse, Hebrews 4 verse 12. Hebrews 4 verse 12.

The writer of Hebrews says this in Hebrews 4 verse 12, For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. This drives home the point, the Bible's not like any other book you have. You'd be ridiculous to describe another book on your bookshelf this way. Oh, look at this one by David McCullough. It's living and powerful.

Get out of here. I want you in your mind's eye to envision a bookshelf with all your books. The top shelf only gets the Bible. All the other shelves beneath it can have all sorts of all other kinds of books, but the top shelf just gets one book and it's above all the others and the others are subject to it and are judged by it. Jesus said this to his disciples, I will ask the Father and He will give you another helper that He may abide with you forever the Spirit of truth.

The helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. For the believer, the Bible comes with a helper, a tutor who makes it alive and powerful and able to discern the thoughts and intents of your heart. It's not magic. This is the Holy Spirit coming and making use of His book. You know it is His book.

He's the one who moved men to give us these words. And then He comes to teach you all things and to help you remember the things that Jesus said. Paul wrote this to the Thessalonians. By the way, that was John 14, 16 and 17, and then verse 26. Paul wrote this to the Thessalonians.

We thank God without ceasing, Because when you received the Word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the Word of men, but as it is in truth the Word of God. So why is Paul thanking God without ceasing that they received His preaching as the Word of God. Because it's only the work of God that allows a person to see this is the Word of God. Yes, it has internally, it has these fingerprints. This is divine.

And it was given through miracle workers. God authenticated these channels of the revelation of truth from God to man by having them part seize and raise the dead. But you know what? A hard human heart will dismiss all that. I don't believe that happened.

I don't see any beauty in the words. In the end the Holy Spirit has to come and do His work of convincing you that the things that you're reading and hearing, that's the Word of God. There's no way around it. There doesn't need to be a way around it. The Holy Spirit is almighty.

The Word of God has been given by the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit makes it alive and marks it out as the revelation of God in the hearts of believers. Finally, Matthew 22. Our last stop. Matthew 22. Our last stop, Matthew 22.

In the lead up to verses 31 and 32, we're in Matthew 22, In the lead up, Jesus is arguing with people who don't believe in the resurrection. Jews, Sadducees, who don't believe in the resurrection. They think this life is it. There's no afterlife. Here's what Jesus says in Matthew 22 verses 31 and 32.

But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God saying, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. So this is Jesus' doctrine of Scripture. You want to know how Jesus viewed Scripture? This tells us.

I want my doctrine of Scripture to match Jesus's doctrine of Scripture. You should too. In this, Jesus quotes the burning bush passage. So it's the most familiar passage of all familiar passages. Moses in front of the burning bush, Exodus chapter 3 verse 6.

God says to Moses, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jesus uses this to prove, first he says, have you not read what was spoken to you by God? He quotes Exodus 3 and says, Exodus 3 was spoken to you by God. This is the Word of God. Then he says, in Exodus 3, in Scripture, in the revelation of truth that God has given us, God said, I am the God of Abraham, therefore there must be a resurrection from the dead, because God is just the God of the living, not the God of the dead.

What's his secondary argument? There is no secondary argument. That's it. In Jesus' mind, it is sufficient that a tenth of a single verb carry the argument on whether the dead are raised or not. And he does not bring a second witness.

That's it. One verb down to the tense. Had it been, I was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he would say there's no resurrection from the dead because that verb tense is past tense. But because it's present tense, then the dead must be raised. That's Jesus' whole argument.

One verb, and even the tense of the verb, is trustworthy in the mind of Jesus. Astonishing. This is called verbal plenary inspiration. Why we have to make fancy names for simple concepts I do not know. I'll familiarize you with the fancy name.

Verbal plenary inspiration. It simply means that the individual word is the unit of inspiration. When God is inspiring an author of scripture, what's the unit? The word down to the tense. God picked each word.

God picked each tense of every verb. That is Jesus's understanding of Scripture, and since he is God, The Word made flesh. That should be our understanding of Scripture. Applications, I'll give you three. One.

Jesus said this, Whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. Hear the words, do the words, like a wise man building on a rock. That's Matthew 7 24. What's the alternative? Building on sand.

Sooner or later the winds blow and the rains come. You don't want to have built on sand. We should build our lives on this book. When we build our lives on what Jesus has said in this book, you can make all the letters read. These are all Jesus' words.

You want to read the letter Bible? Make them all read. He is the Word made flesh. These are all His words. Hear them and do them.

You're building on rock. Build your life on rock. Starts with the gospel, does not end with the gospel. Number two, by all means read other books. But choose them carefully.

All the rest of them are a mixture of wheat and chaff. You only got one that's all wheat. It gets the top shelf. All the ones on every lower shelf have some mixture of wheat and chaff. But why do you want to read books with more chaff than wheat?

With a lot of chaff. Choose them carefully. And understand that they are helpful to the extent that they help you understand the truths of Scripture. The really helpful books are the ones that help you understand this book. This is for all the truths we need to know.

This is a very condensed book. If you ever felt like you could use some help understanding bits and pieces of this, I feel like that every week because I have to preach. I'm thankful for the other books that help me understand, that show me the connections in Scripture and explain things that I wouldn't have known. They are helpful, these other books, to the extent that they help you understand the truths of Scriptures. Friends, recognize that there are all sorts of other sources claiming to have the truth.

Clamoring for your recognition that they have the truth. You have to measure them all by this book when they contradict this book if that's not truth. That's falsehood. Builders use a plumb line. What's a plumb line?

It's a weight at the end of a string. And because of how gravity works, it's always vertical. You can trust it to always be vertical wherever you are on planet Earth. A weight on the end of a string, when it comes to rest, is vertical. So you can build one story and it will be straight, and a second story it'll be straight, a third story, a hundred stories, two hundred stories, it'll be straight if you're using a plumb line.

Okay, but if you don't, it'll be a little off, and as you go up, what was a little off becomes more off, and more off, and more off, till you have the leaning tower of Pisa, and till you have the great crash. The plumb line is what you need to make sure that as you continue to build that you're still vertical. The Bible is our plumb line. Three, understand the gospel is only meaningful if we have a trustworthy revelation from God. Undermine this book, throw out the Gospel.

If the other things aren't true, why do you trust the stories about Jesus? The little stories about Jesus. If you can't trust the rest, why do you trust that? To undermine scripture is to undermine the gospel. People who want to hold on to the gospel, but undermine the trustworthiness of the rest of it, at best they're just inconsistent.

God, thank you for your book. Thank you for giving us A law, a commandment, a testimony that is pure and sure and true and righteous altogether. Thank you God. Pray that the future would find us reading it and studying it and meditating on it and memorizing it and loving it. In Jesus' name, Amen.