Welcome to the Further Gospel Podcast where we provide sound doctrine for everyday people. I'm your host, Costi Hinn, and I want to welcome our listeners on Apple and Spotify. And those of you enjoying this on our YouTube video podcast format. If you haven't already subscribed on our YouTube channel, be sure to do that. And if you would like to leave us a review on Apple or somewhere else for that matter, you can do that. It encourages people to know that the ministry is serving you well, reaching people, and changing lives through sound doctrine. Always good for our team to see the impact that we're having, hopefully, for the glory of God in your life. On this particular episode, it is week four of the summer sermon series. And I've got HB Charles for you. He's a fantastic preacher. The title of this sermon, I just summarized it in one word. It's sufficiency. It's about the sufficiency of scripture. And if you're new to that idea or need a refresher, the sufficiency of scripture comes from 2 Timothy. And what I don't want to give too much away because he's going to preach this, but what we usually say is a lot of people believe in the inerrancy of Scripture or in the inspiration of Scripture. That's that the Bible came from God and that it doesn't have a lot of mistakes in it or any. That's inerrant. And people would say, Yeah, I don't think the Bible has much wrong with it. Well, sufficiency becomes the issue. What is sufficiency? Well, that you actually believe that the Bible is enough for you to live your life, make decisions, know God's will, live out God's will, and trust God's word. Sufficiency is the idea that the Bible is enough. Now you start thinking about the way the world is, and a lot of people, even in the church today, and you start thinking, hmm, I think sufficiency might be one of the premier issues of our day. A lot of people will say, yeah, yeah, the Bible is God's word, but they don't treat it like it's enough. H.B. Charles, in the surgical way that he does, with precision and application and clarity, brings us this message on sufficiency. Get this one deep down in your soul.
SPEAKER_01Grace and peace be multiplied to each of you tonight in the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord. What a blessing it is to be here. Grateful and thankful in more ways than I can describe, for the ministry, the example, the faithfulness of Dr. MacArthur, for the blessing this church is, the blessings even this conference has been in my own life. And what a privilege it is for us to be here together one more time. And for specifically this privilege to proclaim to you the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. If you would get your copy of God's word and be turning with me to 2 Timothy, let me breathe a word of prayer. And then ask and ask God's blessings over our time together. Then I want you to hear the reading of God's word up front. And then we will consider together this evening what God will say to us through what He has already said to us in His Holy Word. Let's pray. For your matchless love toward us in Christ. Thank you for the blessings of this day and for this time together to sing praise to your high name. We praise you for the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our all-sufficient prophet, priest, and king. And in his name now we ask that you would open our eyes that we may behold wondrous things from your word. Give us understanding, and we will obey your word and keep it with our whole heart. Grant me tonight physical strength and spiritual energy to speak your word with faithfulness, clarity, authority, passion, wisdom, humility, and freedom. Guide my thoughts, govern my word so that everything I say would be consistent with sound doctrine, and may Christ alone be exalted. As the word is explained, we pray. Amen. 2 Timothy chapter 3. Verses 14 through 17. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. That the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Amen. But understand this that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. That's Paul's prediction for the days in which Timothy would live and minister. He warns things are bad and will get worse. There are many who may predict an end-time revival in a real sense. Paul predicts an end-time rebellion. He warns that things are bad and will get worse. Optimists see things getting better. Pessimists see things getting worse. Paul was a Christian realist who recognized that things would get worse before they got better. Things are bad and they will get worse. The first half of 2 Timothy chapter 3 makes it clear to us, brothers, that making society more safe or moral or religious does not advance the kingdom of God. The world is the world. Indeed, there is coming a day when Matthew chapter 6, verse 10 will be fulfilled. Your kingdom come. That day has not yet come. The reality of the day and time in which we live is that things are bad and will get worse. The first half of this chapter, Paul describes the reality of cultural decline. In the second half of this chapter, Paul prescribes the response to cultural decline. And in a real sense, this is the burden of the message tonight. As you read through this chapter, you will note that Paul does not give Timothy a new strategy for the changing times. He simply instructs Timothy to stick with the scriptures. Brothers, if the Lord spares us and if the Lord tarries his coming, as shepherds of his people, you will inevitably face a fork in the road where you must choose to follow the times or follow the truth. Stick with the scriptures. Having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. Those people Paul is talking about there are not hardened unbelievers. He's talking about professing believers. There are times when the truth is not safe in the world, and there are times when the truth is not even safe in the church. But faithful ministry requires steadfast confidence in the sufficiency of God's word. Let me say that again. Faithful ministry requires steadfast confidence in the sufficiency of God's word. Stick with the scriptures. Why should we continue in the word? Two answers given to us in the text. The first reason is that the word of God saves. Hebrews 13, verse 17 tells us that as pastors, we are to keep watch over the souls of the flock entrusted to us. Remember, brothers, as pastors, we are caregivers for souls and caretakers of words. In the life of a church, words can be misplaced and need to be retrieved. Words can be neglected and need to be nurtured. Words can be attacked and need to be defended. I'm talking about big, important theological words like sin. Whatever happened to sin. You got to guard that word. Sin is the problem. Jesus is the answer. Scripture is the truth. And so Paul bids Timothy to continue in the word. Because the word of God saves. He specifically says in verses 14 and 15 that scripture convicts, verse 14, and scripture converts, verse 15. He first says that scripture convicts. To go back a couple of verses, verses 12 and 13 says, indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. While evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. Feel the tension between verses 12 and 13. Godly people are going in one direction. Evil people are going in another direction. And then Paul says to Timothy in verse 14, but as for you. Evil people are going in the wrong direction. But as for you, to be faithful, you cannot be reactionary. Let the crowd do what the crowd will do, but as for you, he says, continue, remain, abide in what you have learned and have firmly believed. John chapter 8, verses 31 and 32, Jesus says, If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Disciples continue in the word under the leadership of disciple makers who continue in the word. And so Paul says to Timothy, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed. Learned assumes you know what you believe. First Timothy three, Titus one, First Peter five. The biblical qualifications for pastoral ministry are character-driven. The skill the pastor is to have is the ability to teach. And ability to teach refers to doctrinal truth, not pulpit style. He must be able to teach. And thus teachers must first be learners. In fact, faithful teachers are ongoing learners. Do your best to present yourself to God as one who is approved, as a workman who has no need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Continue, he says to Timothy, assuming you know what you believe, what you have learned, but not just what you have believed, but but continue assuming you know why you believe. He says, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed. You learned it, and you firmly believe it. This, brothers, is how a sound teacher can fall into doctrinal error when one learns but does not firmly believe. By learning you possess the truth, but by firmly believing the truth possesses you. Biblical knowledge must become personal conviction. Continue, he says, in what you have learned and have firmly believed. Oh brothers, most definitely, the day calls for men who are formally trained, but more than that, more than needing men who are formally trained, the hour calls for men who are fully convinced. Continue, he says, in what you have learned and what you have firmly believed. Continuation of that going into verse 15, continue, he says, and what you have learned and have firmly believed the end of verse 14, knowing from whom you have learned it. Knowing from whom you have learned it. Paul learned the truth. Timothy that is learned the truth from Paul. Go back up to verse 10. He says, You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness. But the plural pronoun indicates that he learned from more than Paul. Paul says here, remember not just what you have learned and firmly believed, but remember from whom you have learned it, not where you learned it, but from whom you have learned it. It is a reminder that faith is nurtured in fellowship around the word. This is why the public and corporate assembly for worship of God's people is so essential. 1 Timothy chapter 3, verse 15 tells us that the church is the household of God, the church of the living God, the pillar and the buttress of the truth. So he says in verse 14 that the word of God convicts, but then he says in verse 15 that the word of God converts. This truth that you have learned and have firmly believed. Know who from whom you learned it, and verse 15, how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Indeed, verse 16 is a big statement about scripture, but don't neglect what verse 15 says about scripture. Verse 15 is a statement about the nature of scripture, the clarity of scripture, and the power of scripture. It is a statement about the nature of scripture. He calls it the sacred writings. The sacred writings. The emphasis there on writings affirms for us that God has revealed himself and his truth through the written word, through special revelation. What we have written here is the word of the living God. Isn't it amazing that so many who claim to speak for God ignore, minimize, and even contradict what he has clearly written to us? Proverbs 30, verses 5 and 6. Every word of God proves true. He is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar. Those who truly speak for God, quote chapter and verse. All others are liars. He says, Scripture is not just writings, but the sacred writings. The Bible is rightly called the holy Bible. He is affirming that what we have in the scriptures is the word of God. And Isaiah 40, verse 8 is true. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever. But not only is verse 15 a statement about the nature of scripture, it is a statement about the clarity of scripture. He says, don't just remember from whom you learned it, remember when you learned it. You didn't become acquainted with the scriptures when you got to seminary. You learned as a child the scriptures from your grandmother Lois, your mother Eunice, 2 Timothy chapter 1, verse 5. From childhood, he says, you have been acquainted with the sacred writings. Here is a reminder. You may wait to teach your children the truth, but the world will not wait to teach them lies. Faithful, godly parents prioritize biblical instructions, and faithful and pastor healthy churches come alongside those parents to help cultivate in children and in youth a biblical worldview. Charles Spurgeon said. You have been acquainted with the scriptures, he says, from childhood. But what he says about learning the scriptures in childhood is not merely a statement about learning the scriptures in childhood. It's a statement about the clarity of scripture. You are acquainted with the scriptures from childhood. It's true that the word of God is so deep that the greatest of scholars can dive in and never reach the bottom, and yet it is shallow enough for the smallest of children to come and get a drink without the fear of drowning. He says, From childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings. Or in the words of Psalm 19, verse 7. He says that the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. And the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. These sacred writings that you have been acquainted with from childhood, Paul says in verse 15, are able. The word of God is able. It makes you wise. But this is godly wisdom, not general wisdom. It's wise for salvation. The Bible, we are reminded here, in no uncertain terms, is not a manual for health, wealth, and success. The word is given to us to make sinners wise for salvation. How does that happen? He says, faith turns knowledge into wisdom. It makes one wise for salvation through faith. Faith in Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus is the object of saving faith. Remember the Ethiopian eunuch who is struggling with Isaiah? Until Philip presents Christ to him from Isaiah, and his eyes are open to the truth, and he repents and trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. This is the power of God's word. It is able to make one wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. John chapter 5, verses 39 and 40, Jesus says, You search the scriptures because you think that in them you will find life. But these are they that testify of me, but you refuse to come to me that you may have life. So Paul rightly says in Colossians chapter 1, verse 28, Him we proclaim, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man mature, perfect in Christ Jesus. Paul bids him to continue in the word because, first of all, the word of God saves, verses 14 and 15. But secondly, continue in the word because the word of God sanctifies verses 16 and 17. When a sinner repents of his sin and trusts the finished redemptive work of the crucified but risen Savior for salvation, he receives free forgiveness, new life, and eternal hope. But that event begins a process. Initial positional conversion becomes, should become, increasing practical conversion. And the primary means of this process of sanctification is the word of God. John 17, verse 17 says, Sanctify them by the truth. Your word is the truth. How does the word of God sanctify? Two affirmations here in verses 16 and 17. He first affirms that scripture is God breathed. All scripture is breathed out by God. I didn't grow up in a King James only church, but the church I grew up in only used King James, if you know what I mean. And I learned this verse that in language that says all scripture is given by inspiration of God. When I was introduced to that language as a child, I understood it to refer to the uniqueness of scripture, but we use that term inspired so loosely now, don't we? Musicians are inspired. Artists are inspired, entertainers are inspired, but that most definitely is not the sense in which Paul speaks here about the word of God. He is not, in fact, saying anything about the human authors, he is making a statement about the divine origin and thus the divine authority of the Bible. All scripture is breathed out by God. Think about that. In the beginning, God said, Let there be light, and by his word created the world out of nothing. That same God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living creature. That same God that spoke the world into existence, that same God that made man a living creature, the text says that scripture is breathed out by God. It has God as its source. It comes, the bottom line of what Paul is saying here is that the Bible is not man's words about God. It is God's word to man. No, the writers were not human typewriters who dictated scripture. Their thoughts, their personalities, their words were used, but 2 Timothy, 2 Peter, that is, chapter 1, verse 21, tells us that the men wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. God, the Holy Spirit, superintended the entire process so that all scripture is breathed out by God. God Himself is the source of the scriptures. It is in that sense inspired. It has God as its source. It is inerrant, it has no errors in it. It is infallible. It cannot and will not fail. Or in the language of Isaiah 55, verses 10 and 11, the prophet says, But as the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return there, but water the earth and causes it to spring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that comes from my mouth. That's what God says about the scriptures. It is my word that comes from my mouth. It will never return to me empty. It will accomplish that for which I purpose it, and it will succeed in the thing for which I send it. All scripture is breathed out by God. This is a direct statement about the Old Testament. It applies to the New Testament. All scripture is breathed out by God. The Bible is God's self-revelation. And hear me. The nature of scripture is the foundation for expositional preaching. The nature of scripture is the best argument for expositional preaching. The Bible is God's self-revelation. And if the Bible is God's self-revelation, think about the weight of the task we have been given. If the Bible is God's self-revelation, to misinterpret the text is to misrepresent God. God preaching to me every time I read or hear any part of it. God the Father preaching, God the Son in the power of God the Holy Spirit. He says the scripture is God breathes. And then he says, Scripture is profitable. That really is the heart of verse 16. Scripture works. Thus he says that the word of God is profitable for Christian maturity and Christian ministry. The word is profitable for Christian maturity. Verse 16. There's four ways God's word is profitable. Each term is highlighted by the shared preposition four, and the four terms can be grouped into two couplets. He says, on one hand, that scripture is given to help us think biblically. It's profitable for teaching. Jesus says in the Great Commission, make disciples. Then he says, mark the disciples by baptism. And then he says, Matthew 28, verse 20, mature the disciples by teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. A true church is a teaching church. Disciple-making churches are unapologetically teaching churches. Programs, events, and activities may fill pews, but if disciples are going to be made, somebody's got to teach. Warning and teaching one another as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness from the heart. I don't have time to linger there. But Colossians 3.16 reminds us, brothers, that a part of our stewardship is also shepherding not just what is taught in the preaching, but what is taught in the singing. Music and worship is to be an extension of the ministry of the word. Reproof is the other side of teaching. The word of God clarifies truth and confronts error. Students are given true or false questions on tests and assignments, and if you don't know, you guess. At the truth. And so there must be both teaching and reproof. This is why affirmations and denials are important. Affirmations and denials make truth so airtight that lies and falsehoods and deceptions do not slip in. Scripture then is profitable for maturity to help us think biblically, but also to act biblically. In a real sense, we we need to know better that we may do better. Truth shapes life, belief orders behavior, conviction governs conduct. So he says also it is profitable for teaching and for reproof, but also for correction. That's significant that that comes after reproof. It is profitable for correction. We must confront falsehood and lies, but brothers, it's not merely our job to shout at the darkness. We need to turn on lights. To correct means to restore to a proper condition. Legalism condemns without correcting. Scripture seeks to rebuke and restore. So it is profitable for correction and profitable for training and righteousness. February 11th, 1990. It was my 17th birthday. I had plans for that night, but I was surprised by family and friends who came over for dinner. It was a good time, but it was not how I wanted to spend my birthday that night. I had already had a plan for my night. It was a Saturday night. I wanted to watch the heavyweight boxing championship. Family and friends came. I didn't get a chance to do that, but at 11 o'clock I slipped into the bedroom and turned on eyewitness news so that I could just hear what round Mike Tyson knocked out Buster Douglas. It was a assumed conclusion in my mind. I just wanted to know what round. But the news announced that the 42 to 1 underdog knocked out the baddest man on the planet in the eighth round. It would later come out how the greatest upset in boxing history took place. There in Seoul, Korea, the champ was partying and came to the ring unprepared. But to honor his dying mother, Buster Douglas, trained himself as best as he had ever done for any fight. That whole experience is kind of etched in my mind, and I learned that lesson, a lesson from that night. Training trumps talent. It's not sincerity or giftedness or experience that produces spiritual victory. We must be trained for righteousness. The term there is the term used in Ephesians 6 and 4 for training up, bringing up children in the instruction and admonition of the Lord. Without training, children become entitled delinquents rather than responsible adults. And so it is in the church. There needs to be training from God's word for righteousness. One more verse. In verse 16, he says that the word of God is profitable for Christian maturity, but then verse 17 says that the word of God is also profitable, brothers, for Christian ministry. That the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Glory to God. Man of God is a technical term, terminology for prophets and pastors. The term is not used often in scripture. As used here, it refers to called and qualified pastors and teachers. And he says that the word of God that trains up the people of God through teaching, reproof, correction, and instruction and righteousness is also sufficient for the man of God. That the man of God may be complete and equipped. Complete and equipped. Complete in terms of spiritual maturity, equipped in terms of ministerial skill. The word of God. It's sufficient for whatever is needed that you would be complete and equipped. Notice the closing words, for every good work. I remember when I was starting out as a young pastor, I'm not sure. But for whatever reason, the question about spiritual gifts for service in the body was a big thing. And I had members just ask me about their spiritual gifts. And then they asked me, Pastor, what's your spiritual gift? I didn't know. I went out to Lighthouse Bookstore in Long Beach and picked me up. They had multiple spiritual gift inventories. I bought them all. I took them all, and they all had different answers. I didn't know what my gift was. But brothers, verse 17 set me free. You don't need to chase down spiritual gift. Just devote yourself to the word, and the word will make you complete and equipped for every good work. In a real sense, if I may, you don't have to learn to master a particular role on the team. Just master the playbook. And the coach can put you in anywhere. You will be thoroughly equipped for every good work. For instance, what good work? What good work will devoting your life to the Word of God make you complete and equipped for? What good work? Glad you asked. Chapter 4, verse 1. I charge you. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, by his appearing in his kingdom. Verse 2. Preach the word. I describe myself A as a student of expository preaching and secondly as an advocate of expository preaching. Why expository preaching? My elevator answer. My elevator answer to the question why expository preaching is because 2 Timothy chapter 4, verses 1 and 2 come right after 2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 16 and 17. Hear me. Expository preaching is a view of scripture, not a style of sermon. How you preach betrays what you think about the scriptures. If you believe the Bible is the word of God, why are you running all over the place looking for something to say? Take a text. Study it until you understand its proper meaning. Build the message so that it is the theme of the message is rooted in, in alignment with, and flows from the God-intended message of the text, and then get to the pulpit and hold on to the text. And let the word do its work. Pray that God will use you, as it were, to be a mouthpiece for the text. His son was sitting on the bed with him. He says, I think I'm about done. His son. He said, Dad, you got a little bit of space left here in the suitcase. What you gonna do with that little bit of space? The old man smiled and said, son, with that space left in the suitcase, I still got enough room to take with me bread when I'm hungry, fire to keep me warm, a hammer to build, light for dark places, milk to nourish me, a map to guide me, seed to plant for harvest, and a sword to fight with. The little boy obviously asks, Daddy, how you gonna fit all of that in that little space? I'm gonna put my Bible there. And in God's word, I have everything that I need. Let's pray. Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we do praise you that you have spoken to us definitively, completely, perfectly in the sacred scriptures. We give you thanks and praise that your word is alive and powerful and sharper than any double-bladed sword. We give you praise that your word works. It is mighty to convict and to convert. It is sufficient to save and to sanctify. And I pray, Father, that in these critical times that we live in, that you would bless us with your strength, grace, and help to continue in what we have learned and firmly believed. I pray in the name of Jesus that you would help us to be sober-minded, to endure suffering as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, to do the work of the evangelist, and to fulfill our ministries to your glory. Amen.
SPEAKER_00What a sermon, what a faithful servant H.B. Charles is. I remember specifically sitting in the first few rows under that particular sermon and just thinking, that is a tremendous display of preaching, and it stirred my heart all the more to be faithful in the way that I handle God's word and trust God's word as sufficient for everything I need in my life. I hope you're challenged to do the same. And I hope that you're thinking about the kind of church that you're at. If you're in a great church or a faithful church, take this as your cue to shoot your pastor a text or an email and say, hey, pastor, thanks for treating the Bible as it's supposed to be treated. Sufficient, authoritative, powerful, and the very breathed out word of God to my life. Thank you for your faithfulness. But for some of you, if you're in a church that does not treat the word of God as sufficient, it's time for a different type of meeting with your pastor. I think you should talk to him. I think you should encourage him. I think you should be a voice of truth, wind in his sails, hoping that what you're asking for and what you're encouraging would not fall on deaf ears, and that that pastor would think, hmm, yeah, it's time to tighten my bootstraps up, stop being pragmatic and letting the culture drive the bus in this church and start thinking about God's word the way I ought to. However, if it doesn't go well, your family, your spiritual life, your future is dependent on being a part of a faithful church. Jesus did not intend for us to be Lone Ranger Christians. And so if you're not in a faithful church and you're in a church that doesn't even want to be more faithful when it comes to the sufficiency of Scripture, friend, I am exhorting you, based on what the Bible teaches, leave that church. Not rudely, not in a in a in a storming conflict and pick and fights. No, no, just quietly, faithfully, and clearly, in love, leave. And go find a church where the Bible is treated as sufficient so that you can grow spiritually and be part of a community that thinks about God's word the way we ought. Thanks as always for listening, for watching, for supporting, and for sharing these resources. I'll be back with another sermon next week. It'll be number five, and it will be loaded with gospel-rich truth that will encourage you. If you haven't already, be sure to subscribe on our YouTube channel. Follow our channels on social media for daily encouragement. I'll be back next Monday with another episode. Keep on living for the gospel.