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Lessons and Sermons from the Longmire Road church of Christ in Conroe Texas USA
Bible is complete.
To say such a statement might not mean
something to us
in relation to controversy to say that the
Bible is complete,
but it is a polemical statement,
meaning it attacks the credibility of
every so-called inspired book
and every so-called inspired person
outside of the canon of Holy Writ.
To say that the Bible is complete.
Is to say that we have everything we need,
and everything that we need for salvation,
everything we need for righteousness.
Any work outside of it, then, outside of
the Bible,
that claims to be additional information
is an attack
on biblical completeness. If someone comes
along and says,
Well, I have a new revelation,
or I have additional revelation.
Then, what we have in the scriptures,
then the Bible cannot be complete.
Either the Bible is complete, meaning God
has given his final revelation to mankind,
or it is not. It cannot be both at the
same time.
And so that's why the statement is
polemical in nature.
But fortunately for us, we do not have to
wonder about
the completeness of revelation.
We do not have to wonder if there are some
lost books somewhere.
If there is more revelation being given to
someone somewhere,
because our God not only preserved his
book but gave us the tools
to ascertain the credibility of any book
or person that claims inspiration.
And why would he not? Because this has
been the modus operandi
of God throughout man's creation.
God has always given man the ability to
ascertain.
Whether or not something comes from him.
Why? Because there are those in the world
who are going to be saying things about
God, saying things in the name of God that
did not come from God.
In fact, Job's friends were rebuked by God
and says,
~ God said to Job's friends, that you have
not spoken of me the things that
are right. And so God has always had
measures in place for us to
be able to ascertain whether something
is from God, is inspired, whether it is a
revelation of God's mind,
or whether it is the musings of man.
If you look at Deuteronomy chapter
eighteen,
verses twenty and twenty two, by way of
introduction here,
but the prophet which shall presume to
speak a word in my name,
which I have not commanded him to speak,
or that shall speak in the name of other
gods,
even that prophet shall die. And if you
say in your heart,
how shall we know
The word which the Lord has spoken.
When a prophet speaks in the name of the
Lord,
if the thing follow not, nor come to pass,
that is the thing which the Lord has not
spoken,
but a prophet has spoken it
presumptuously,
thou shalt not be afraid of him.
So here in the age of the miraculous,
during the l the law of Moses,
the law of Moses is in effect,
and Deuteronomy here.
Is before they go into the promised land,
the Lord warns them again. He said it
already,
but he warns them again. Remember,
if there's a prophet who says,
I'm a prophet of God, and he predicts
something and he says,
Well, this is going to happen,
you should be careful in listening to him,
because if the thing does not come to
pass,
that's not my prophet. That's not my
prophet,
the Lord says. And so you need to be
careful because there are those
Who will guide you or lead you into the
wrong ways.
So the Lord put a measure in place.
First Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 10.
We come to the New Testament, to the age
of the miraculous.
And we note what the Apostle Paul here
says about the miraculous abilities that
existed in the Church of Christ at
Corinth.
Notice what he says: to another,
the working of miracles, to another,
prophecy, to another, discerning of
spirits.
To another diverse kinds of tongues or
languages,
and to another, the interpretation of
tongues.
The discerning of spirits is a measure by
which
an individual could determine whether or
not someone was from God or not.
Whether or not the person who was speaking
was speaking by inspiration.
And so that's why John writes in 1 John 4
and verse 1 beloved,
believe not every spirit. But try the
spirits,
whether they are of God.
Because many false prophets are gone out
into the world.
He says God has given man the ability in
the New Testament,
in the beginning stages, the miraculous
ability here to discern spirits,
to be able to know whether someone is
preaching the truth or not.
Now, we do not have that ability today.
The age of miraculous is over.
What we do have is the completed word of
God that we can go to and we
can search the scriptures to see whether
or someone is speaking to.
The will of God. There has always been
measures in place for us to
be able to ascertain whether something
comes from God,
and then also for us to know without a
shadow of a doubt that the Bible is
complete.
And so the Bible is complete, and we have
the tools to prove it.
And so tonight we'll look at three things.
We'll look at the consequences of an
incomplete revelation.
What are the consequences of saying the
Bible is not complete?
Number two, we will take a look at the
criteria that measures inspiration.
There are four questions that must be
answered in the positive
in order for something to be considered
the revelation of God or a revelation
of God or being inspired of God.
If someone says that their book comes from
God,
what they say comes from God, there are
four questions that are usually asked
and must be answered in the positive.
And we'll take a look at those four
questions.
But then also we'll take a look at the
claims of extra revelation.
We'll take a look at a couple of books,
several books that claim inspiration,
and we'll take the measure, the questions,
and we'll make sure to apply them to make
sure that we know whether or
not they come from God. So, first of all,
let's consider the consequences of an
incomplete revelation.
The Bible is perfectly harmonious.
We've discussed this in other lessons.
The Bible is perfectly harmonious because
it was written by one author,
God the Holy Spirit. So when you say the
Bible is not complete.
That statement is not benign. When you say
that this book is not finished,
that this book is not complete,
what you say must be viewed in light of
what has already been written.
If you say you have received revelation
from God,
then what you have received from God must
be compared to what
God has already said. If you cannot do
that,
or if
The things do not line up, then one of two
things is correct.
Either you are wrong or the Bible is
wrong.
But it cannot be both. And so when we
consider what the scriptures say,
we can rightly conclude that the claim of
incomplete revelation,
the claim that there is more revelation
coming,
the claim that there are people today who
are still receiving revelation from God.
The claim that others have made that after
the Bible was completed and John wrote
on the Isle of Patmos, after it was
completed,
that other people came along, and they
also had revelation.
That claim, when we consider it in light
of Scripture,
that claim is number one, it's an
indictment of the Savior's credibility.
In Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1 and 2,
the Bible says, God who at sundry times
and diverse manners spoke in times past
to the fathers by the prophets,
and
Hath in these last days spoken unto us by
his son,
by Jesus the Christ, who may appointed
heir over all things,
by who also he made the worlds.
His son authorized twelve men who were
given to him.
Later on, there would be the Apostle Paul
as well.
But he authorized these men, these
apostles,
to carry his inspired word. And this is
the promise that he made to them.
John chapter 16 and verse 13.
Howbeit, when he, the spirit of truth,
is come, he is going to guide you into all
truth.
And so Jesus is talking to his apostles
here.
It's very important. He is not talking to
you and I.
Because there's a clear distinction in
chapter 17 of John and verse number 20,
where Jesus says, I'm not only praying for
these,
but I'm also praying for those who will
believe on them and their preaching.
And so he makes a distinction between the
apostles and those who would believe
on them, that's us. And so he talks to the
apostles and he says to
the apostles that there is a promise of
revelation of all truth would
be made unto them. All truth will be
revealed unto the apostles.
But if the Bible is not complete,
that is an indictment of the Savior's
credibility.
Which is it? Has the Spirit revealed all
truth or has he not?
Was Jesus right in saying that the Spirit
will reveal all truth,
or did he get it wrong? Did the Spirit
fail in his presentation of all truth?
It cannot be both at the same time.
Either the truth has been revealed,
all truth has been revealed, or it is not.
If you're coming today and you're saying
that I have received revelation from God,
I have received more truth, then what
you're saying is that the Holy Spirit
has not revealed all truth.
That what Jesus said to the apostles was
not the case,
that all truth would not be revealed unto
them.
And if you're saying, Well, the truth that
I've received,
that's what they usually say, is the same
as the Bible,
then why did you receive it? Why did you
receive the same can I just not read
it in here? If it's the same truth,
why would God tell you the same thing that
He already said over and over again?
And so it's an indictment on the Savior's
credibility,
but not only that.
It is also an attack on the faith's
singularity.
The faith's singularity. If you consider
Jude chapter three,
Jude says, beloved, or verse three,
there's only one chapter. Jude three says,
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to
write unto you about the common salvation,
it was needful for me to write unto you
and exhort you that
you should earnestly contend for the
faith,
which was once and for all delivered unto
the saints.
James talks about the faith. What is the
faith?
He's talking about the system of faith.
He's talking about the New Testament
system of faith.
He's talking about the doctrines of the
New Testament.
He's talking about the doctrines that
comprise her,
the hope that is found in her,
and the peace that is brought by her.
The entire system of faith, he says,
was delivered. How many faiths are there?
How many systems of faiths are there?
Well, Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 5
answers that question.
We have one faith.
There is one God, there's one Lord,
there's one baptism, there's one body,
there's one faith. And so he says that the
one faith of which Paul speaks
has been delivered. He uses the word hipox
there.
The word hipox is once and for all time in
the Greek.
And so the Bible reads the one faith was
delivered.
I think we get that, especially in the age
of Amazon.
You look on your app and it says that the
package was delivered.
You're not still expecting the package.
Why? Because the thing was already
delivered.
It's already sitting on your front porch.
And so the thing has been delivered.
So he says the faith was delivered in his
time.
The system of faith. The entire New
Testament Christianity was delivered.
But then he also says that the faith was
delivered once and for all time.
The faith is not going to be delivered
again.
The faith was delivered.
Once and for all time. You're not going to
continue to receive deliveries
at your door. If the faith has been
delivered,
if your package was delivered at the door,
you don't go to the front porch the next
morning and expect another package
if you didn't order anything. That'd be
ridiculous.
You're standing every morning looking
outside the door and saying,
Man, I'm I'm waiting for another package.
Why? The thing has already been delivered.
You ordered it, it was delivered,
it's there, you have it in hand.
It was once and for all time delivered.
The same wording is used to describe
Jesus' sacrifice.
The word hipox is used to describe Jesus'
sacrifice.
In Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 28,
it says, So Christ was once offered to
bear the sins of many,
and unto them that look for him shall
appear ye the second time without
sin unto salvation. Christ was hipox one
time for all time offered.
He's not going to be offered again.
He was offered once for all time.
James, or rather, Jude, uses that same
word,
that the faith, the one system of faith,
was once and for all time delivered.
If God's system of faith was once and for
all time delivered,
in Jude's day, why are you still
delivering?
Why are you out on deliveries?
Saying that you now have more information
about this faith.
That you have a new system of faith,
Joseph Smith, Muhammad.
You have a different system of faith that
you have now brought in.
Better yet, what are you delivering?
If the faith has already been delivered,
what are you delivering? Because James
said,
or Jude rather, he says the faith has been
delivered.
So it's not a benign statement to say that
the Bible is incomplete.
An incomplete revelation is an indictment
on the Savior's credibility.
It's an attack on the faith's singularity,
but then also it's impeding the
Christian's responsibility.
We have been commanded in 1 Corinthians
chapter 1 and verse 10,
the Apostle Paul speaking to the brethren
at Corinth,
who are saying varying things,
he says to them, I beseech you,
brethren, by the mercies of God,
that rather I beseech you, brethren,
sorry, that's Romans chapter 12 I have in
my mind.
I beseech you, brethren, by the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ,
that ye all speak the same thing.
And that there be no divisions among you,
but that you be perfectly joined together
in the same mind and in the same judgment.
We are supposed to be speaking the same
thing.
You should be able to walk into the Lord's
church,
whether it's here or down the road or
anywhere,
and you should hear the same thing from
the pulpit.
If you don't hear the Bible, leave.
Because they're not following the laws of
God.
God says you should all be speaking the
same thing.
Now pray tell me, how are we going to be
speaking the same thing?
How are we going to keep keep this
commandment when you have thousands
of additional revelations that man comes
up with?
How can we speak the same things with the
Book of Mormon?
He says he received revelation from God.
This is also revelation from God.
God said we ought to speak the same
things.
So how do we combine those two books?
They can't be combined. You can't keep
both of them.
You have to keep one or the other.
How is it that we're going to speak the
same things when you've
got people in denominations all over the
world who are saying
so many different things? We will not be
able to keep this commandment.
In fact, this is not the only commandment
we won't be able to keep.
There's many other commandments we cannot
keep.
The commandment to be able to even spot a
false teacher.
How would you do that? How would you spot
a false teacher?
How would we do that today? We would go to
the scriptures and see what
the Bible says about what the person is
saying.
But all that person has to say is,
Well, I received revelation from God.
Well, that settles the matter then.
That person is then speaking the truth.
And so every person can then say that.
It is impossible for us.
To keep our responsibility to speak the
same thing,
if indeed revelation is not complete.
But then also consider this: it cripples
the scripture sufficiency.
It cripples the scripture sufficiency.
Second Timothy chapter 3, verses 16 and
17.
All scripture is given by the inspiration
of God,
and it is profitable, meaning it
satisfies.
It satisfies in what? It satisfies in the
area of doctrine.
It satisfies in the area of reproof.
It satisfies in the area of correction.
It satisfies in the area of instruction in
righteousness.
The scripture satisfies in all of those
areas.
And it is able to make you, he says in
verse 17,
that the man of God may be, the word there
is complete
and then thoroughly furnished unto all
good works.
Ex Artitizo, if I'm not mistaken.
Thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
And so the Word of God is profitable for
doctrine.
It is satisfying in the area of doctrine,
so that we can be complete and thoroughly
furnished in the area of doctrine.
But if the Bible is not complete,
then we cannot be complete in the area of
doctrine.
If the Bible is still incomplete,
then we cannot be fully equipped.
Unto all good works. Because I have what
God has written over here,
but there might be something else
somewhere else,
but I don't know. And how would I know?
I cannot be fully complete and fully
equipped if the Bible is
not complete in doctrine. If the Bible is
not complete in reproof,
in correction, and instruction in
righteousness,
what am I going to do? I'm going to have
to wander through this life.
Aimlessly wondering and hoping that I have
everything I need,
but I know I don't. I hope I have enough
to make it.
I hope I have enough in this book because
I don't know what else God
is going to reveal to me. You see,
if the Bible is not complete, it cannot
make us complete or equip us.
It cannot equip us into every good work
because it is
not sufficient because it's incomplete.
And so you cannot claim an incomplete
Bible without rendering what
is contained in the Bible contradictory.
You are going to attack the savor's
credibility,
the faith's singularity, a Christian's
responsibility,
and the all sufficiency of Scripture when
you say the Bible is incomplete.
But then we move on to number two when we
consider the criteria that measures
inspiration.
Since we no longer have the ability to
discern spirits,
what can we do to measure or prove those
who say they have been inspired
or wrote by inspiration in addition to the
scriptures?
How can we then look at that and go,
well, we need something to measure them
by?
And so this is where the process of
canonization comes into play.
The word canon means rule.
It means a measuring stick, or it is a
measuring stick both in the Hebrew
and in the Greek. I think it's probably
transliterated in the Greek from
in the Hebrew to canon in the Greek.
It's a measuring stick. And so when we
talk about canonization,
we are talking about the process whereby
the authority of Scripture is recognized.
Now I must emphasize this point.
Canonization is not the process whereby
authority is assigned.
It is not the case that we are looking at
a book and we're answering questions about
it, and then we say that book is
authoritative.
That book comes from God and we put our
stamp on it.
No, that's not canonization. Canonization
recognizes a book that
is already authoritative. Why?
Because God is the only one who can
authoritate something.
God is the only one who can give authority
to something.
We don't have that power.
And so it does not give authority to
scripture,
it recognizes the authority that already
exists.
And that process involves four questions
that must be answered in the positive.
Now, we don't have the time to go into all
of them.
That's an entire course called GBI.
Give me about four months or something
like that,
and we can get through it. But before any
book can be recognized as scripture,
four questions have to be asked.
Number one, we have to ask the question:
was it written by a verified prophet of
God?
Was this book written by a verified
prophet of God or somebody who
is speaking and saying they've received
revelation?
Is this a prophet of God? The assumption
of canon is that God speaks only through
his appointed messengers. That God only
speaks through those whom he
has chosen to speak through. A writing
with no identifiable prophetic author
has no mechanism of divine origin.
Consider this in Deuteronomy chapter 18
and verse 18.
This is a messianic prophecy. I will raise
them up a prophet from among their
brethren, like unto thee, and I will put
my words in his mouth,
and he shall speak unto them all that I
shall command him.
Now, who is this prophet? Who is this
prophet of whom the Lord speaks?
See, Deuteronomy speaks of somebody who's
coming,
and the Lord says, I'm going to raise up a
prophet,
but who is he exactly? It's Jesus the
Christ.
How do I know?
Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 1,
God with sonder times and diverse,
man has spoken to the times by the
fathers,
as in these last days spoken unto us by
his son.
And all throughout the Gospels,
the Lord is set forth as that prophet.
He's set forth as the one who is to come
and now is here.
And so the question is not merely whether
a man claimed to be a prophet,
it is whether the claim could be verified.
You could say you're a prophet of God.
But can that be verified? Moses was
verified a prophet of God.
Isaiah was a verified prophet of God.
Go through the list. Jeremiah,
Paul, the apostles, they were all
verifiably named.
They were named prophets, known prophets
rather,
and they were traceable. You could know
that these were men of God.
They spoke for God. Now, we somebody's
gonna ask,
well, what about the book of Hebrews?
What about the book of Hebrews?
We don't know who the author of Hebrews
is.
Well
Hebrews was written about from let's just
be 60 to 70 AD,
right? You know who's still living during
that time?
At least John. At least the Apostle John.
But also every other Christian who was
baptized a number of years ago,
and they are still living. They're not
that old by that time,
by the way. We're talking what,
about 30 years? And so you have Christians
who were around the apostles,
Christians who circulated the Word of God.
And who would know that, wait a second,
this book, this book of Hebrews,
this was not written by a prophet of God,
but it is accepted by the people of God.
We'll look at that here in a second.
Anonymous authorship is not a disqualifier
where a community knew the source,
where they accepted the writings and said,
this is from God. Because it would have
been very easy for us to go,
if we lived in that time rather,
for us to go, wait, this book of Hebrews,
who wrote it? Who wrote? Well,
we don't know who wrote it.
We don't know who wrote it, but they did.
And so, but the unidentifiable source with
no prophetic standing,
that is something that must be
disqualified.
When you have a book, you don't know who
it is,
you don't know where it was written,
you don't even know whether the church has
accepted it or whether anyone accepted
it. It just appeared out of nowhere.
That's questionable. But then also,
not only was the writer a prophet,
a verified prophet of God.
Was the writer confirmed by God?
Was the writer confirmed by God?
Claiming to speak for God was never
self-authorizing.
God authenticated his spokesman by
supernatural confirmation.
That's why it is very hard for you today
to claim that you're a prophet,
because you cannot verify that you are a
prophet.
Because verification of prophecy or
prophethood,
if you will, came by supernatural means.
Mark chapter 16 and verse 20, the Bible
says,
and they went forth and preached
everywhere.
And the Lord working with them and
confirming the word with signs following.
When they were preaching Jesus and him
crucified,
how do we know they're speaking the truth?
They were performing miracles.
Why? Because that was the purpose of
miracles,
one of the purposes, was to bring glory to
God and to confirm the word
of God spoken by the prophet of God.
The Hebrews writer would say, Hebrews
chapter 2,
verses 3 and 4.
How shall we escape if we neglect so great
a salvation?
Which at the first began to be spoken by
the Lord and was confirmed unto
us by them that heard him. God also
bearing them witness,
both with signs and with wonders,
and with diverse miracles and gifts of the
Holy Spirit,
according to his own will. What we heard
was confirmed.
It was confirmed by who? By God.
And so I know that these guys who are
preaching Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
I know that they come from God.
Acts chapter 2 and verse 22, it was said
about Jesus as well.
Jesus of Nazareth, a man accredited or
approved
by God among you. How? By miracles,
wonders, and signs, which God did in the
midst of you.
Even Jesus did not come on the scene and
said,
Hey, I'm a prophet. You have to believe
me.
I'm a prophet of whom the Old Testament
speaks.
You know what they would have asked of him
and did?
Well, let's see the signs. And Jesus
performed those signs,
the Bible says, in front of them,
and so they could know without a shadow of
a doubt that Jesus was indeed
not just a prophet, but the prophet.
And so this is the question that
immediately disqualifies so many
who claim inspiration. If you are a
prophet of God,
prove it. If you make the proclamation,
do the demonstration.
If you are able to do what the Bible says
you are able to do if you're
a prophet of God, then I will believe what
you say right now,
right here. Let's go to the cemetery.
You're a prophet of God, you tell them to
get up,
I'll tell them to stay down. Let's see who
wins.
They never want to do that for some
reason.
You would think all of these miracle
workers would be at the hospital helping
folks.
And so God authenticated his messengers
publicly in the presence of witnesses.
And so was the writer confirmed by God?
Joseph Smith was not confirmed by God,
period. In fact, he says he could not
perform miracles.
Muhammad was not confirmed by God.
In fact, he would also say he cannot
perform miracles.
We'll look at that here in just a second.
But then we have to also ask another
question:
Did what was revealed tell the truth about
God?
A writer may survive,
or someone who claims inspiration may
survive the first two questions.
And still fail here. God's truth is
internally consistent.
We've already covered this. God's truth is
consistent from back to front,
from front to back. Any message that
contradicts what has already been
established
is false. Any message that comes in and
says something different than what
has already been revealed must be rejected
as false.
Because God is not going to contradict
Himself.
In Deuteronomy chapter 13, verses 1
through 3,
a remarkable passage, the Lord is going to
prove his people.
He's going to test them. Notice what he
says If there arise among you a prophet
or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a
sign or a wonder.
And the sign or the wonder come to pass,
whereof he spoke unto thee, saying,
Let us go after other gods which thou hast
not known,
and let us serve them. Notice this.
Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of
that prophet.
Wait a second. The Lord will go on to say,
I'm using him to test you. So he says,
even if this guy comes along and does a
sign or a wonder,
which he could only do by the power of
God,
by the way. That's why God is telling
them,
I'm behind this. If he does that,
but then tells you to serve another God,
the litmus test is not whether or not he
performed the miracle.
Just the miracle. The litmus test is
whether he performed the miracle
and whether he is saying the things that
are true.
Both of them have to go together.
Just because you performed a miracle,
or at least you pretended to perform a
miracle in these cases today,
doesn't make you a prophet of God.
What makes you a prophet of God is if you
were to be able to do that
and you preach the truth. Both of those
two have to be together.
And so the Lord tells the the children of
Israel,
if he's not talking the truth.
If he's not telling the truth,
then even if he you see a sign,
you should still not follow him.
But that was used as a test for them,
the Lord being behind that. Isaiah chapter
8 and verse 20.
To the law and to the testimony,
if they speak not according to this word,
it is because there is no light in them,
Isaiah warns. Galatians chapter 1 and
verse 8.
But though we or an angel from heaven
preach any other gospel unto
you than that which we have preached unto
you,
let him be accursed.
Deuteronomy 13 says allows for that
possibility,
even if a sign, and here the apostle Paul
says,
even if an angel came down, right now,
came through the roof, causing a big
scene,
big wings, if you will, and tells us,
listen, you don't need to be baptized in
order to be saved.
What are we supposed to say? The Lord
says,
even if an angel itself preach any other
gospel unto you,
don't listen to him. Why?
Because it's about the truth of God.
That's how important the truth is.
And so the Lord says here, when we look at
the criteria
for that measures inspiration,
was it written by a verified prophet of
God?
Was it the writer confirmed by God?
Did it tell the truth about God?
But then also we have to ask this
question:
was it accepted by the people of God?
Now, this is a two-edged sword which we do
not have the time to get into.
But the community reception test.
It is the final and most practical
confirmation.
The people who were closest to the events,
who sat under the apostles' feet,
who handled and circulated the letters,
recognized what was authentic and what was
not.
The very people who were right there with
the apostles,
they would be able to tell whether or not
something was from God
or from the apostles. And their reception
did not grant authority to scripture.
It acknowledged the authority that was
already there.
Now, this is a two-edged sword.
Just because some folks accepted it,
doesn't make it the word of God.
All of these things must be true in
relation to it.
Colossians chapter 4 and verse 16.
And the epistle is read among you.
Make sure that when the epistle is read
among you,
cause it to be read in the church of the
Laodiceans,
and that ye likewise read the epistle from
Laodicea.
They could know that the letter to the
Laodiceans was from God.
Why? Because they had an apostle there
telling them it's from God.
First Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse
13.
When you received the word of God,
which you heard of us, you received it not
as the word of men,
but as in truth the word of God.
The community received the letters from
the apostles as the word of God.
They accepted it. Second Peter chapter 3,
verses 15 and 16, and an account.
Of the long suffering of our Lord in
salvation,
even as our beloved brother Paul also
according to the wisdom giveth unto
him hath written unto you, as also in all
his epistles speaking of them
of these things. He says, He verifies that
the Apostle Paul is writing for God.
And so these letters are being circulated
throughout all the church,
and the church can verify that these
books,
these letters that we have, these come
from God.
All sixty-six books of the Bible passed
the test with fine colors.
All of them. Robert Milligan in Reason and
Revelation said the following
It is a remarkable and well authenticated
historical fact that on
no other question has any body of men been
so fully and firmly united.
During the first three centuries,
the 27 books of the New Testament and the
39 books of the Old Testament were
the only books quoted as canonical.
By any Christian writer. I can't take too
much time
to explain how absolutely remarkable that
is because of how much these jokers
disagreed with one another. They were at
odds with one another about just about
everything, but one thing they all agreed
on is that this book,
these 66 books, came from God.
There were others who wrote, in addition
to this.
And they were rejected.
This same cannot be said for any other
book that has ever been written
and claimed divine inspiration.
What we have in the 66 books is God's
completed revelation.
And we can measure every book by the
measurements that God has given us.
We can measure every book by the
historical facts contained in them.
The Old Testament, obviously, being a
whole lot easier.
Why? Because Jesus came after,
verified all of them.
And so we can have complete confidence
that the 66 books in the Bible
is indeed complete and come from God.
But let's consider then very briefly the
claims of extra revelation.
This book, when we consider it in light of
others,
stands out when we consider what the
others say about themselves.
Let's put it all on the screen there.
The Gospel of Judas. I don't know if
you've heard of it,
but Judas had a gospel. Yes?
This book was discovered in Egypt in 1970.
And it is said to have been written near
the second century.
It's about a century too late.
The text and translation were made public
in 2006.
It claims to be, this is what the book
claims to be,
it claims to be the secret account of the
revelation that Jesus spoke
in conversation with Judas Iscariot during
the week,
three days before the celebrated Passover.
So before he's going to be, ~ the Lord is
going to say,
go and do what you're supposed to do.
Or what you're going to do before that
day,
three days, the Lord approached Judas.
The Lord approached Judas and said,
Come here. No, leave the others,
you by yourself. That's literally how it
writes.
You come here and you let me talk to you
privately.
This is what John chapter 12, verses 4 and
6 says.
Then saith one of his disciples,
Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should
betray him.
Why was this ointment not sold for 300
pence and given to the poor?
This he said, not because he cared for the
poor,
but because he was a thief and a handler
of the bag and bare that was put therein.
So the Bible describes Judas as a thief.
The Gospel of Judas, however, paints a
very different picture.
Jesus singles out Judas to receive hidden
mysteries,
quote unquote, of the world. Notice what a
excerpt from the text in
the Gospel of Judas says.
It says, Step away from the others,
and I shall tell you the mysteries of the
kingdom.
It is possible for you to reach it,
but you will grieve a great deal.
Come away from the other disciples.
And I'm going to tell you something that
I'm not going to tell them.
That's the gospel of Judas. Speaking to
his disciples,
Jesus said all truth. Speaking to Judas,
apparently, he said, There will be more
truth.
And this is not the only one.
There's also the so-called Gospels of
Mary,
the Gospel of Thomas, and the Gospel of
Peter.
Brethren, these have all been rejected.
These have all been rejected as
non-inspiration,
not inspired, but yet people today will
say,
Well, what about the Gospel of?
It's in contradiction to this.
It must be rejected. What about the
Apocrypha?
These are religious writings which some
say belong in the canon of Scripture.
Specifically in the Old Testament.
They were compiled during what is known as
the Intertestamental period.
And what is that period? That's the blank
page between the Old Testament
and the New Testament, which is about 400
years,
to put it mildly, or to put it briefly.
That's the abridged version of the
intertestamental period.
It's that blank page. It's 400 years.
A lot happened during that time.
And this scripture, or rather,
this book, sorry, this book, let the
rakers say this is not scripture.
This book was compiled, or these books
were compiled.
During that time. Most Catholic Bibles
have the Apocrypha mixed in with
the Old Testament. They are Tobeth,
Judith, First and Second Maccabees,
the Prayer of Manasseh, Wisdom,
Sedak, Baruch, and additions to Esther and
Daniel.
Rome held councils and pronounced them
inspired,
and in Catholicism they hold these books
that are inspired.
We don't have the time to get into it,
but let me just say say this. The
Apocrypha
Was already in circulation by the time
Jesus came on the scene.
Yet not one single time in all of the New
Testament
did any Jew use it against Jesus or even
bring it up.
Do you think if there was something in the
Apocrypha,
if there was something of inspired
inspiration,
if the Apocrypha said something that could
trip up Jesus,
they would use it? Absolutely.
They used everything else. But the
Pharisees didn't even quote the Apocrypha.
Not once did Jesus, in his 78 direct
quotations of the Old Testament and
up to 160 allusions to the Old Testament,
mention anything about the Apocrypha.
That's remarkable. Since he's the one who
wrote it,
if it's but inspired. Not once did the
apostles point to the Apocrypha
as inspired or argue from it. There's
nothing said about the Apocrypha.
It's like the Lord just brushed it aside.
He said, We're not even gonna mention it.
We're not even gonna mention it in the
canon of holy writ.
The Apocrypha was not worth the papyrus it
was written on,
and yet Catholics believe today that it
belongs in the scriptures.
No, it is a damnable addition.
What about the Talmud? The Talmud is a
Jewish book of ceremonial laws
and legends divided into two sections,
the Mishnah and the Gemata. And the Jews
said that God gave Moses an oral
tradition,
which they passed from one person to
another person.
Over the course of the centuries,
and then the Talmud or the Mishnah and the
Gemara,
they were compiled later on. It's like
playing telephone.
How would that work? Oral tradition.
How well does that work? I'm going to say
something to Brother Dale over here.
I'm going to whisper something in his ear.
He's going to say it, and everybody's
going to follow that.
By the time he gets over here to Brother
Bailey,
I guarantee you won't have the same thing.
But they say God gave oral tradition and
it was passed along.
Notice what Jesus said about their
traditions.
Matthew chapter 15, verses 7 through 9.
You hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy
of you,
saying, These people draw nigh unto me
with their mouths and honor
me with their lips, but their heart is far
from me.
What do they do, Jesus? In vain do they
worship me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of
men.
That's your oral traditions. You have a
lot of traditions,
Jews, and it's not the word of God,
but you hold to your traditions.
These oral traditions.
Are not inspired. The Talmud is not
inspired.
The Jews are anti-Christ. But then also
the Quran,
another group of people who are
anti-Christ,
the Quran does not merely claim to be an
addition to God's revealed will,
it claims to be God's singular revealed
will.
And so when we look at what the Quran is,
was it written by a prophet of God?
No. The only endorsement of Muhammad is.
As a prophet came from the mouth of
Muhammad.
He's a self-proclaimed prophet with no
credible endorsement from God whatsoever.
Was the writer confirmed by God?
No. Not in the least. The Lord said his
apostles would confirm,
would be confirmed by signs and wonders.
Muhammad never claimed the power to work
any miracle.
In fact, he states that the fact that
others performed miracles gives
him credibility. His credibility is
founded on someone else's ability.
Did his message tell the truth about God?
No. Consider this. Surah, the surahs is a
compilation of the Quran.
In Surah 4, 157 to 158,
it says the following. And for their
saying,
we have killed the Messiah, Jesus,
the son of Mary, the messenger of God.
In fact, they did not kill him,
nor did they crucify him, but it appeared
to them as if they did.
That's in the Quran. Brethren,
you can't have the Quran and the Bible at
the same time.
Stop trying to pretend that these folks
are a peaceful folk and just trying
to live side by side with Christians.
No, they are not. They are trying to kill
Christians.
Why? Because their book says so.
We don't have the time to get into all the
things their book talks about
in relation to Christianity. We are the
enemy that they have marked so.
And so, no, it does not come from God
because that is not God's modus operandi.
God has not sent us into the world to go
and kill people who doesn't
who do not believe in him. But that is
what their book teaches.
And so one of these two accounts is a lie.
Either Jesus died or he did not.
What about the Book of Mormon?
It needs no introduction. You its credits
very well.
In 1823, three years after a vision
received at 14 years old,
Joseph Smith.
At 17, he claimed another, an angel named
Moroni appeared in his bedside
and gave him the Bible. Now measure his
book against what the book says.
Notice what he says in Alma chapter 7 and
verse 10.
Alma chapter 7 and verse 10. And behold,
he shall be born of Mary at Jerusalem.
How dumb do you have to be? You have the
entire Bible that he plagiarized,
by the way. He plagiarized this book.
He stole information from this book and
pawned it off as his own.
You have the Bible, and you still get the
birth of Jesus as to where he's born,
you get it wrong. He says Jesus was born
in Jerusalem.
No, he wasn't. He was born in Bethlehem.
In fact, Micah said that 700 years before,
but he got it wrong. In Mosiah 18 and
verse 17,
it says, And they were called the church
of God or the church of Christ from that
time forward. That's what it was written
in.
In 150 or 45 BC. 145 BC,
before Jesus came into this world,
he has speaking in his book about the
church of Christ.
Matthew chapter 16 and verse 18,
Jesus says, I will build my church.
Joseph Smith said, No, the church is
already in existence.
You didn't need to come. You could stayed
in heaven.
We already got the church. In fact,
we called it the church of Christ.
That's what we called it.
Jesus said he would build, Joseph Smith he
had said he had already built.
In Alma 64 and verse 15, and we'll close
with this.
Alma chapter 64 and verse 15, he said,
or Christians as they were called.
He has people being called Christians in
73 BC,
according to him, as to where this book
was written.
When. Acts chapter 11 and verse 26.
And the disciples were the word de
crematizo,
if I'm not mistaken, that is a word that
references divine calling.
When that word is used, it means God is
the one who is doing the calling.
The disciples were divinely called
Christians first
in Antioch. Joseph Smith says they were
called Christians in 73 BC.
Brethren, one of two things is correct.
Either the Bible is wrong or Joseph Smith
is wrong.
The world is filled with extra biblical
revelation that cannot stand
the test of canonicity. God has revealed
Himself.
And he has revealed himself and preserved
66 books by which we may know him.
Anyone who claims new revelation from God
is insulting his divine economy
and the all-sufficiency of Scripture.
When folks start going beyond the Word of
God,
they assert that it is not complete.
They assert that God, in his infinite
wisdom,
gave us half a book and told us to figure
out the rest.
No, the Bible is complete.
It has everything you could possibly need
to live a righteous life.
He has given us all things that pertain to
life and godliness.
And if someone comes to you and say that
they have received a new revelation,
if someone comes to you and say that the
Holy Spirit had laid something
on your heart, stop them right there and
then and say,
No, no, no, sir. You are the one of whom
the Apostle Paul speaks,
who's trying to bring in something in
addition.
To what the Lord has said. God left
nothing out of this book,
and what you have left out,
or rather, what we have, is man trying to
put in what should not belong there.
Completed Bible demands complete
obedience.
Since there is nothing missing from this
book,
there is nothing missing for you to be
what God would have you to be.
And so the question for all of us is,
are we treating it like we have everything
we need?
And if we have everything you need or we
need,
why are we still lacking to do the things
that God has said to do?
If God has given us everything we need,
we should be doing those things that He
has said.
But then also consider this if you're not
a Christian,
God's completed plan of salvation is in
the book.
God has already told us how to be saved
and what must do in order to be saved.
And if you're not a Christian and you
desire to become a Christian,
You desire to have your sins washed away
and to stand before God,
an innocent and justified individual.
The Bible clearly answers this:
to hear the gospel, believe it,
repent of sins, confess the good name of
Jesus before witnesses,
and be immersed in water to have your sins
washed away.
And the Lord will add you to his church,
the church that he built, the church that
he died for,
the church you can read about in the
Bible.
If we can help you in any way,
we pray that you make it known while we
stand.