What is a Reformed Baptist..

Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.

com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. We really need to start from the basic truth, and the basic truth we want to start from is that God is sovereign, He's all-powerful, He's all-knowing, He's a perfect creator of the universe, and we are His creatures. He's infinite, He's eternal, and His perfections and holiness belong to Him and not to us.

We are limited creaturely beings. We are finite. We exist within the boundaries that God has set for us. So how is it that we can know or comprehend an infinite being like God? The distinction between God and man is so great and his transcendence is so glorious that we could never know him unless he makes a way.

The gap is too big. The biblical authors definitely knew something of this. The psalmist was completely overwhelmed, I think, at this reality when he penned these words. His greatness is unsearchable, he says. And again, great is our Lord and abundant in power.

His understanding is beyond measure. And King David recognizes this when he says, such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain it. authors either.

Even with all the light that we have in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul breaks out in doxology that is in praise in the book of Romans after contemplating God's plan of redemption for the elect. This is what he says, Oh the depth of the riches and the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways. So the biblical authors recognize the huge distinction between Creator and creature. It brought them to praise and exaltation and this is the right response. But in Isaiah 55, God himself shed some light also when he says, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts, your thoughts.

Beloved God is so holy that we could not know him We could not know anything of him unless he makes himself known to his creatures. And he has. He's revealed himself to us. And now we are able to know him. What was once a mystery is made known to his people.

Scripture tells us that God was pleased to make himself known. And we call this act of God revelation. What belongs to Him, He graciously makes known. Now, the Bible speaks of a two-fold revelation. So, theologians have identified this, and they've distinguished between the two with these two categories, and they've labeled one general revelation and the other special revelation.

General revelation can be known as natural revelation also, Both are categories of revelation that I'll explain in a few moments, but it's important for now to realize that general revelation and special revelation, although they are different modes of revelation, they are sourced in the same place. Both have their source in God alone. He is totally sovereign, and He is free to determine how much of Himself He reveals. He makes the decision on His own, according to the counsel of His will. We won't spend too much time on the modes of revelation, because if you'd remember a few weeks back now in Sola Scriptura, we touched on the topic.

So by way of reminder, I'll redraw your memories briefly so that we have a context for tonight's Bible study. But I intend to spend the bulk of our time in special revelation, in particular, Scripture, and in particular, the canon of Scripture. General Revelation is, in essence, God accommodating to reveal Himself to a general audience. Truth about Himself. God makes Himself known to mankind through the natural order, the things that He has created, and in the conscience of every person.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims His handiwork. Psalm 19. God's glory is clearly seen in the work of His hands. Everything he's made bears witness to him and bears his own signature. In creation, God's wisdom is revealed as we see how our world exists in incredible harmony and consistency.

And hear this, even though we live in a fallen world, no one can honestly look into our natural world and conclude that there is no God. Paul tells us in Romans 1, that the only reason a person would come to this, well, foolish conclusion is because in sin, the knowledge of God is suppressed in unrighteousness. This is what sin does. It rejects and it denies the eternal power and the divine nature of God. What he has implanted in his own creation.

Why? Because acknowledging that there is a Creator, God, would make man accountable to this Creator. And if this Creator has given moral demands, and this is clear in our conscience and the conscience of every person, then disobedience to those demands would bring about accountability. And that accountability will bring about a righteous judgment. No one in the natural state wishes to live his or her life this way.

They love their sin and they love the darkness. When a glimpse of light is seen, we're told they run back into the darkness of self-deception. This is the suppression of the truth in unrighteousness. But whether a person acknowledges the existence of God or not, it doesn't matter. All mankind will give an account before God because God has given general revelation and he's given it for a purpose.

And that is, Paul tells us, it renders all mankind without excuse. It won't save a person. It'll only condemn a person. Now, moving on to special revelation, unlike general revelation, which is given to all mankind, it has a general audience. Special revelation is not universal, but specific and its purpose is redemptive.

Special revelation includes the prophets, the apostles, visions and dreams and Christophanies that we hear of and read about in the Old Testament, and angels, of course. But more to the point, the nature of special revelation is to reveal in detail. It's much more specific than the revelation of God in general revelation in nature, which reveals God's divine nature and His eternal power. You see, in special revelation, God unveils deep truths about himself and uncovers the true condition of a fallen man. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

It reveals the righteous penalties or penalty that our sins deserve. For the wages of sin is death. It discloses the details of the saving work of Christ, that Jesus lived in perfect obedience to the Father, Romans 5.18, that he was willing to suffer and die on the Roman cross 2,000 years ago in order to bear the wrath of God on behalf of his people, 1 Peter 2.24.

He was buried in a tomb, Matthew 27. He rose from the dead, Luke 24.6. And if we place our faith in Him and in Him alone, we will be saved. John 3, 16.

Scripture unveils Christ as the High Priest. Hebrews 5. As a prophet. John 17, verse 8. As a King.

Revelation 19, verse 16. It reveals His perfections. That He is sovereign. that He's all-knowing, that He's all-powerful, and God is love. How do we know these things?

Special revelation. Scripture teaches clearly that God is in three persons. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, yet one in essence, one in being. You see, God has given special revelation so that we would have a meaningful and intimate relationship with Him. not just to know He exists.

It goes beyond that. It's to know Him genuinely in order to be able to worship Him rightly. You see, He hasn't only disclosed Himself in Scripture in the hope that some may know Him in a general way. That's not what He's done. But by His Spirit, He provides spiritual eyes for people who were before blind so that they would be able to see Him in all His glory, and to be able to rest upon the realities and truths found in His Word.

So from a human perspective, we must acknowledge that if it were not for special revelation, we would never ever know God in a genuine, salvific way, that is, in a saving way. This, beloved, is grace. Okay, now that I've described those two categories very briefly, the two categories of revelation, I want to hone in and spend some time or the rest of our time together in special revelation, more specifically in the canon of scripture. I hope to show that after we understand the nature and the purpose of God's revelation, whether it's general or specific, we will recognize that canon is closed because God said all he intends to say in this age." Okay, so the book we have in our hands, or most of our hands anyway, is a collection of 66 smaller books.

Collectively, we call those books, or the book, we call it the Bible. Now, none of us, I hope, in this room would deny that the Bible is the Word of God. That it carries the supreme authority over our lives because it carries the authority of God himself. And that's a great supposition to have because it is absolutely true. And to be honest, the fact that we have these Bibles in our hands is an amazing work of God's providence.

Because we see that not only has God chosen to reveal himself to his people, but he's also made sure that this special body of revelation in scripture is preserved and protected throughout the ages. And we call that the canon of scripture. Now, for those of us who might not know, the word canon has its roots in a Greek word, which means a reed or a rod, which was used for measuring, like a ruler or a measuring stick. So this is to say that the canon of scripture is the list of authoritative books that are inherent to the rule of faith and practice for God's people. And it's important to know that the canonical or canonical authority is intrinsically built into the Bible.

So the authority is in the Word because even though God used human agents, the Bible retains its divine origins. This is what us Christians believe. As the Apostle Peter tells us, for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Now, you may be asking at this point, why are we doing a study of the canon when the series should be defining, well, a reformed church, or what is a reformed church? Well, simply said, a distinctive of the historical reformed church is not only recognizing that God has revealed himself in his word accurately, but also that he has revealed all he wishes to reveal in a now closed canon of scripture.

Closed. In other words, God is no longer giving special revelation to his people apart from scripture. Now, rather, he's illuminating what he has already revealed. And there's a difference between revelation and illumination. Illumination puts a bright light on scripture to allow us to see what's in there, but no brand new revelation is being given by God.

And that is to say that the 66 books of the Bible that we have before us in our Bibles are the only authentic, inspired, special revelation from God for the church until Christ comes back. In fact, the historic Reformed Church thought so also. In almost every confession of faith we find, in the historic confessions of faith, and we spoke about them last week, in the very first chapter, the chapter that speaks of Scripture, almost all of them have a list of the 66 books in the Bible, just as we have them in our Bibles. And they underscore them with the following confession. Like in London Baptist Confession of Faith, it's got the 66 books all listed and then beneath these words.

All are given by the inspiration of God to be the rule of faith and life. The scripture has an authority over us because it's spoken by God. So how was this revelation done in the Old Testament? So open your Bibles with me to Hebrews. Let's open up our Bibles to Hebrews chapter one.

and we're reading from verses one through two. Hebrews chapter one, we're reading from verses one through two. Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his son, whom he appointed the heir of all things. The author to the Hebrews is saying this. Until Christ, God spoke.

He communicated. He revealed himself to his people in many times and in many ways through the prophets. And the prophets are the mouthpiece of God. And this was done progressively, over time. Not all at once, but over time.

Slowly unveiling more and more of himself to his people throughout history. Providing not only revelation, but the means to do so. God wanted to give his people revelation of himself. He wanted to disclose himself to his people, make himself known His righteousness, His holiness, He wanted to make that known to His people. Yet not only did He want to make it known, He's instrumental in making it known, of course, but He also organized the means, and that means was the prophets, the mouthpiece of God.

And He did that, according to the Old Testament, as we know, through the prophets, through visions, through dreams, and so on. The prophet's words are recorded in scripture and they're used authoritatively as the very words of God for God's people. And this is why the author to the Hebrews writes, God spoke to our fathers. God speaks through the prophets, the very words of God. The words of the prophets are the words of God.

God is speaking. And He is sovereign from the beginning to the end in these prophecies. He also makes sure His people are aware of how to identify a false prophet. You see, we see in the book of Deuteronomy that God takes His words very seriously. And those who presume to speak on God's behalf in the Old Testament, at least, when God has not commanded them, you know what happens?

They're put to death. because how dare they presume upon God his own words when he had not commanded them. But it's important also to recognize that the words God gave to his people through the prophets were not arbitrary. They weren't without purpose. His self-disclosure always has purpose and meaning, sometimes a dual meaning.

But irrespectively, every word finds its goal in a person. Every word finds its goal in Christ. God's revelation to his people was purposed in his unfolding plan of redemption in his son, Jesus Christ. The scripture is Christ-centered and its goal is always pointing to him. In speaking to the Jews, Jesus says, you search the scriptures because you think in them you have eternal life.

And it is they that bear witness about me." John 5, 39. And I'm sure we all remember the words of the Savior on the road to Emmaus, speaking to the two disciples. He says, and beginning with MacWooly, the narrator, which is Luke, says, and beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he, that's Christ, interpreted to them in all the scriptures, the things, hear this, concerning himself. Jesus walking with these disciples to Emmaus after he was crucified and rose from the dead.

He's walking with these disciples and they didn't know who he was. Yet as he walks, he speaks to them and says, you know, the Old Testament scriptures, that's everything. They speak of me. The whole Bible, the law, the prophets and the writings. Jesus is claiming that the whole Bible is centred on him.

Beloved, these are very big claims. He says here that the primary focus of God in revelation is himself. And he truly is. If the special revelation of God is concentrated on Christ, then all the self-disclosure of God finds its goal and purpose also. in Christ.

So when we go back to our passage in Hebrews, the passage we read a moment ago, in the last days, God has spoken fully and finally through his son, because it was his plan from the beginning. Progressive revelation was needed to prepare the way for Christ. But now Christ has come and he himself is the full communication and full revelation of God. For in him the wholefulness of deity dwells bodily." That's Colossians 2 verse 9.

So we know that Christ is the final revelation of God to his people. But Jesus never penned any scripture. Jesus never wrote any books of our Bible. Is the author of the Hebrews inferring only that Christ's communication in his earthly ministry? Or does Jesus continue to speak in the 21st century also?

Of course he does. Jesus continues to speak, but how? Through the apostolic writings. John will help us understand this. So let's open our Bibles again to John chapter 14, and we'll be reading from 25 through 26.

And then in a few moments, we'll flick over a couple of pages and read another passage also. That's John 14 from 25 through 26. These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you, but 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 that I have said to you. And again, if you just turn over a couple of chapters to chapter 16, verses 12 through 15. So chapter 16, verses 12 through 15.

And Jesus is still speaking to his disciples. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth, for He will not speak of His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak. And He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you."

All that the Father has is Mine. Therefore, I said that He will take that which is Mine and declare it to you. Why is Christ making this promise to the soon to be apostles? Because the words of Jesus are to remain with his people until he returns. And the apostles will be the ones who proclaim the words of Christ.

The Spirit will enlighten them to all truth. The truth that Jesus wants his church to receive. Glorious truths that the disciples had a hard time understanding even while they were with him in his three and a bit years in his earthly ministry. Truths about the necessity of his suffering and death. Truths about the salvation that he offers and sanctification to those that are in him.

Truths about the glorious blessings of becoming a child of God in Christ Jesus. These are awesome truths left with the apostles to proclaim those truths and he handpicked the disciples and he entrusted them to speak his words and hear this, to preserve them in written form for the church in all ages. And his spirit will empower them to do so. This is a privilege given only to the apostles and no one else. So this privilege was given only to the apostles and no one else.

Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter two, that the apostles were foundational for building up the church. Foundations are foundational. It sounds silly, but it's true. It means that they are instrumental in the beginning of the building process. You don't pour the foundation more than once.

This is why we know that the apostles were not replaced. Their role and function was for the first century church, and now their teachings have been passed down through church history or through history for the church of Jesus Christ in the written words of Scripture. Hebrews 2, the very next chapter to what we read before, verses 1 through 3, speaks of this transmission of scripture by the apostles that had already been the case even as early as in the first century church. Beloved, since God has intended to have the words of Christ proclaimed through the apostles and then preserved in the canon of scripture as his final revelation, then all supposed revelations that follow are not from God. They are false.

If anyone claims to have new revelation from God after the compiling of the full canon of scripture, then they are claiming to have apostolic authority. But we know that's not possible. Jesus never intended to replace the apostles because Christ's word would be preserved through their teachings for the church. You see, there is a purpose for why the apostles were sent, and that purpose has been fulfilled. In the preaching and the writing down of the words of Christ, so when they pass away, that teaching is given to the church that follows.

Scripture is complete and sufficient. 2 Timothy 3, 16. through 17 reads, all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correcting, and for training in righteousness. Now hear these words, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Complete, complete means lacking for nothing.

And then he goes on to say equipped for every good work. If you remember in Ephesians chapter two, it says we've been saved by grace through faith unto good works or for good works. But here it tells us that scripture equips us for every good work. Scripture is complete. And we recognize therefore that we don't need to look to any other source to know God or to know his will for our lives.

It's all revealed in scripture and scripture is complete. I believe this is evident in the book of Jude. Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about the common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once and for all delivered to the saints. The faith spoken of here is not the gift of faith by which sinners like us are justified. The faith spoken here is the objective body of truth given to the Christians.

This is the body of truth that is in God's word. But if you read carefully, the passage connotes more than that, that the faith has been given and intended to be given in its totality once and for all, he says. So no more elements of this faith, no more elements of this faith Are we awaiting to be revealed? It's been completely revealed by God to His people, and we have that in Scripture. The former ways God revealed Himself to mankind, as in the Second London Baptist Confession states in the first chapter, the chapter on Scripture, and it reads this way, those former ways of God revealing His will unto His people being now ceased.

Scripture now stands alone. Okay, so God has revealed fully, been revealed fully, and finally, all that he intends to reveal in Scripture. We agree. No more apostles. We agree.

But how do we know that the 66 books that we have in our hands, how do we know that they are the books God intended for us to have? How do we know that the 66 books that we have in our Bibles are the inspired words of God? Or said another way, could there be other canonical books that we don't have? Well, this question can be answered simply by acknowledging that God is sovereign. Our sovereign God accomplishes his plans perfectly and nothing happens outside his will.

Since we have the Bible as it is, 66 books, 39 in the old, 27 in the new, then I believe this is exactly what God intended for His church. We must believe this simply because of who He is. Knowing what we know about God, it becomes obvious to us that God is involved in every detail, making sure His people receive that which He intends for them to receive. His intention for revelation will not be blocked, it will not be thwarted, and it will not be maligned by any person or any power. He won't allow for it.

Now that's not to say that modern day liberal scholarship won't cast a shadow over the Bible, because they do. They always have questioned the authority of the Bible, the purity or its inerrancy, or the transmission of the text. They are always seeking and placing doubts in people's hearts. Their attacks are endless, but this should not surprise us because it's always been the same. The enemy back in Genesis attacked the spoken word of God then and it cast all humanity into sin.

You remember when Satan said surely God did not say that surely you will not die but God said you will die if you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He casts a doubt in Eve's mind and she falls. The enemy of God now is doing the same thing with the written Word of God. But this is to be expected. Doesn't Paul himself say that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, and God's wisdom is a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles?

That's exactly the point, that unless the Spirit of God opens the eyes of the sinner, they can never come to realize the treasure that is the Word of God, the Bible. But we can have complete confidence that the 66 books of the Bible that we have in our hands are exactly what God intended for us to have as His special revelation because of His special providence. I know it's simplistic, but it's true. Now, contrary to common belief, the 27 New Testament books were not chosen by an official church council, or as some have suggested, by the Emperor Constantine in the Council of Nicaea. Now, that's not what happened.

They always were recognized by the church or the true believers as the Word of God. In fact, within a generation after the death of the last apostle, there was canonical agreement on the majority of the New Testament already. About 20-23, depending on the scholars, would tell you that within 30-40 years of the death of the Apostle John, that they had around 20-23 of the 27 books of the New Testament in agreement already. The books that took longer to be identified as canon only took longer because mainly they weren't cited as much by the church. Now for example, the Gospels were cited all the time and agreement on the Gospels was very early.

But when you have books like Jude or the third letter of John, now when's the last time you heard a sermon or a Bible study on the third letter of John? That's my point exactly. It's the same in the early church and because these books weren't cited as much, it took a little bit longer for them to be identified as canon. They're not like the Gospels, because the Gospels were, well, upon being written, they were deemed, of course, canonical. For example, the official gathering of the 27 books of the New Testament in one collection may have been as late as 367 A.

D. But that's not when the Bible became official. Now, I want you to hear this. This is really important. The moment every one of those 27 letters of the New Testament was penned under inspiration, they were God's Word and authoritative in that moment.

The people of God only identified or recognized them as canon. They did not in any way decide them to be canon. This is very important. God or the authority in God's Word is inherent to God's Word. The authority is because God's Word is from the being of God.

No man can stand judge over it. As John Calvin would say, it's speaking about Scripture. It's owed the same respect we owe to God Himself. Why? Because it's from the being of God.

Now, we also know that God applied his special providence to make sure these books were identified as for what they truly are. Nothing was left to chance, but of course, a sovereign God leaves nothing to chance. In Matthew 24, Jesus tells us that heaven and earth will pass away, but his word will what? Never pass away. The truth, as well as the purpose of God to reveal himself genuinely to his people throughout the ages, gives us complete confidence that he will always preserve his word for his church.

And so, for over 1600 years, the true church has only recognized the 66 books of the Bible as truly canonical. but there's also a profound truth we must never neglect. The Spirit of God, well, the Spirit of God, I should say, He dwells in every believer, enabling us to hear the voice of Christ. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, John 10, 27. No matter what the world says and how much criticism comes against the word of God, The true child of God knows the voice of his shepherd, and he follows him.

This is the nature of true faith. It's not blind faith. Actually, it's the opposite. The believer has been given eyes to see and ears to hear the treasures in God's word. The world does not see these things because they are devoid of the Holy Spirit, as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians.

But as Christians with eyes that can now see, eyes that have been opened, we're able to acknowledge the Scripture is indeed God's Word without appealing to any external sources. It is self-authenticating and does not require the approval of anyone. It bears certain qualities of being the Word of God, fingerprints, if you will, of God. You remember that we said in the beginning that the natural world is the handiwork of God, and therefore, as the handiwork of God, it bears witness to God, bears witness to its maker. Well, the same can be said about Scripture.

Since it is from the being of God, created or made by God, it's His word, it's His revelation, it too bears witness of Him. It is perfect in unity with who He is, and by definition, an extension of His character, and in particular, that of Christ. It too reflects His beauty, His excellence, His holiness. Beloved, this is why every Christian loves the Bible. If you read Psalm 119, a psalm all about the Word of God, You'll see that these are the exact sentiments of the Psalmist.

He's completely taken over by the beauty of God's word. You remember, remember when you were converted, the time the Lord saved you? You may, you may not have known how many books there are in the Bible or who the authors were or how it was compiled or any of the details, but you loved it. You wanted nothing more than to read it and spend time meditating upon the Bible. It's a living, breathing word because it's empowered by the Holy Spirit.

And when you read it, you come face to face with its author. You encounter God in Scripture. You can say, you can't say this of any other book you've ever read. When you open up your Bibles, beloved, Jesus speaks. This is beauty.

And this is why the true Christian is able to be completely given over to the authority in the Word of God. So as God's Word, it claims the highest authority known to man and must not be subject to anyone's view or opinions. I don't know if they still do this, but you remember in the courts, They used to bring the witnesses or people who would take the stand and they'd make them place their hand on the Bible and swear on the Bible. Why? Because they recognize that the Bible is a higher authority.

But that's not the case with God's Word. God's Word is the highest authority. And it is to say that nothing and no one can stand in judgment over it. To stand in judgment over God's word is to dishonor God and to dishonor His word. You remember in Hebrews chapter 6, when the author of Hebrews is speaking about God's promise made to Abraham, it reads like this, he says, Since he, that's God, had no one greater by whom to swear, what does he do?

He swears by himself. The courts recognize there is something of a higher authority. but God swears by himself because he is the highest authority. Beloved, all that to say that the highest authority to verify the truth and the veracity of God's word is God himself. Our commission is not to convince people that the Bible is true, but rather to share the gospel.

They need a savior and that's what we preach. Without Him, they'll never have spiritual eyes that would be convinced that the Bible is true. And without Christ, they will never see the preciousness in God's Word. So with that said, we ought to remind ourselves how great a treasure the Bible is. How great a treasure the canon of Scripture is that we all own.

It's God's final revelation for the Church until Jesus returns. You see, Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament. Now, it's not the last book written, but providentially, it is the last book in the Old Testament. And it shows that the Old Testament saints were still waiting for more from God. So much remained unfulfilled.

So many prophecies yet to come to fruition. And most of all, the Messiah was yet to make his entrance into the world to save his people. And true to His word, after 400 years of silence, God again, God again shows up and He speaks. But this time, He speaks through John the Baptist, the one who bore witness to the Messiah. But in contrast with the last book of the Old Testament, the last book of the New Testament, the book of Revelation, it speaks of the completed work of God in salvation.

with only the consummation of the kingdom and judgment yet to come. But in the final verses in the book of Revelation we see some very strong warnings to anyone who adds or subtracts from the book of prophecy. To do so will bring about terrible consequences. Yes, I have to clarify, The words or the final words in the book of Revelation do seem to be revelation specific. But providentially being the last book of the Bible, this principle, I believe, applies to all the 65 or the other 65 books in the canon.

Why? Because God has something to say and he has said it all in his son, Jesus Christ. who has spoken through the apostolic writings, the scripture, the Bible, the 66 books that we have before us. Scripture is sufficient and scripture is complete. As God says in his divine, in Timothy, he says, in his divine power, he's granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.

No further revelation. is needed. The canon is closed.