Introduction

Revelation 22:18-19 ESV  I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,  (19)  and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

• As we come to the end of Revelation, with only one more sermon to preach, we get this wonderful warning that I think speaks to the entirety of the Bible.
  • Do not add to this book, and do not take away from this book.
  • If you add to this book, the angle warns us, then the plagues described in this book will be added to you.
    • And if you were with us for our sermons going over the seven seals, the seven bowls, and the seven trumpets… then you know that you DEFINITLY do not want the plagues described in this book added to your life.
    • But further, and more frightening is the second warning… if anyone takes away from the words of this book, then God will take away their share in the tree of life and the holy city…
      • In other words, if you are audacious enough to take things out of this book, then you will not be welcomed into New Jerusalem, you will not live forever with God, you will be damned to hell…
      • That’s a pretty serious warning.
• Now obviously, this warning is specifically about the book of Revelation…
  • If anyone adds to these words of prophecy or takes away from this book of prophecy…
  • That’s the language used… right…
    • But most scholars take this verse to apply to all of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation…
    • That the warning should not only be taken for the book of Revelation, but for the whole Bible…
      • And I agree with them, I don’t always agree with the majority of scholars, but in this instance I do…
    • I think this warning should be applied to all of God’s Word… to all of the Scriptures… to all of the Bible.
  • And before we get into it this morning let me just briefly tell you why.
    • First and foremost, the book of Revelation is unique in that it covers pretty much every major theme, topic, and theology presented in the Bible. It covers all of Scripture…
      • As you have doubtlessly observed as we have gone through Revelation, it would be hard if not impossible to understand this book without also understanding the rest of the Bible.
        • In the 55 sermons that I have written and preached on Revelation, I have quoted so many scriptures from outside of Revelation.
          • I have quoted form Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers.
          • I have quoted from Daniel, and Isahiah, and Ezekiel, and Zechariah.
          • From Nehemiah, and Ezra, and even 1 Samuel a few times.
          • From Job, from Psalms, from Proverbs, we even had a whole sermon centered around a Song of Solomon reference.
          • We have quoted each of the four gospels multiple times… Acts, Romans, Titus, James, 1 John, 1 Corinthians, Romans, Hebrews… I think we even mentioned Jude once or twice.
        • And that’s just what I can remember from the top of my head, and just from our relatively brief overview of Revelation.
      • But I can tell you that without the rest of Scripture, the book of Revelation would be very hard to understand.
      • The only other book in the Bible that I think is this full in covering all the major themes and topics of the Bible is Genesis… and how interesting that these two overarching books are the first and the last book in the Bible.
        • I mean you could make an argument that all the books or most the books in the Bible are this way… but Genesis and Revelation are the most clear.
      • But the fact remains: without the rest of the Bible Revelation does not make sense!
    • So we can see that Revelation is a book about not just the future end times, but really about the entirety of Scripture.
      • So then, if you were to add to or subtract from any Scripture, you would be changing the context of Revelation, thus adding to or subtracting from Revelation
• Secondly I think this warning applies to all of Scripture because we know that all Scripture is God breathed… we know this From 2 Timothy 3:16

2 Timothy 3:16a ESV  All Scripture is breathed out by God…

• ALL Scripture is breathed out by God, therefore God, ultimately, is the author.
  • Through His Holy Spirit, God inspired men to write down His Word.
  • And God does not change… Hebrews 13:8, Malachi 3:6, Isaiah 40:8, James 1:17, and Numbers 23:19 all make this very abundantly clear… God does not Change…
• So it’s not like God was writing the Bible, got to Revelation, and was like “NOW THIS ONE IS SPECIAL… MORE SPECIAL THAN ALL THE OTHER BOOKS… THIS ONE GET’S IT’S OWN SPECIAL PROTECTION”… I just don’t see God doing that…
  • The ENTIRETY of the Bible is holy, it is ALL God’s Word, and now, as we read this warning at the very end of the very last book we know not just that it is all God’s Word… But that it is the COMPLETE Word of God…

• So that is what we are going to talk about today, the complete Word of God.

• Now this morning I have three points that I want to go over, so I am going to move kind of quickly…
  • The three points are this:
    • Point One – God’s Word is Complete
    • Point Two – God’s Word is Perfect
    • Point Three – God’s Word Brings Blessings and Breaks Curses
• Let’s Get into it with point One… God’s Word is Complete…

Point One – God’s Word is Complete

Revelation 22:18-19 ESV  I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,  (19)  and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

If we are not allowed to add or take away from this book, that means that it is finished…

• It is complete… it is final… nothing more will ever be needed… nothing in it is frivolous or no longer needed…
  • Everything needed is in the Bible… everything that will ever be needed is in the Bible…
    • Everything that is in the Bible is needed….
• It is the complete work of God.
  • THERE WILL NEVER EVER EVER EVER NEED TO BE AN EXTRA HOLY TEXT.
    • If anyone suggests to you “Yeah the Bible is great, but God also wrote this other book… we also need this other text…”
      • RUN AWAY FROM THAT PERSON. GET FAR FAR FAR AWAY.
      • That’s what cults do.
  • They add books and call them holy texts…
    • That’s what the Mormon’s did with the book of Mormon…
  • Muhamed added the Quran to the Bible, saying “There is more to this story”…
  • Now Jehovah’s Witnesses on the otherhand, they take away and change God’s word, putting out a false Bible called “The New World Translation” but in it the remove references to Jesus being God, amongst other things.
• The Bible is complete! It does not need additions!

Deuteronomy 4:2 ESV  You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you.

Deuteronomy 12:32 ESV  “Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.

• And listen y’all it is not just cults and false religions that add to the Bible, it is Christians to…
  • When I was taking Theology classes in my “Christian” university… I can’t remember one time that we were tasked with reading from the Bible.
    • We would read book after book from this scholar, and that professor, and this pastor, and that preacher…
    • We would read all of these books ABOUT the Bible…
      • But we were never asked to, you know, actually read the Bible.
    • In a way, those professors where adding texts to the Bible…
  • That’s not to say that commentaries are bad, or other books are bad… BUT Y’ALL WE HAVE THE WORD OF GOD, THE BREATH OF GOD, THAT WE CAN READ, THAT WE CAN CONSUME… WHY WOULD WE WAIST MUCH TIME ON ANYTHING ELSE.
  • THE BIBLE SHOULD BE YOUR MOST READ BOOK.
  • YOU SHOULD SPEND MORE TIME READING THE BIBLE THEN READING ABOUT THE BIBLE!

Hebrews 4:12 ESV  For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

• What other text is living and active?
  • That book by that theologian you like… yeah it’s not living and active…
  • That book by that pastor you really like to listen to… it’s not sharper than any two-edged sword.
  • That commentary that really helps you understand things… it will not pierce to the division of the soul and spirit.
  • That motivational series that you have been reading to encourage yourself… guys, I know it is really good, but it can’t discern the thoughts and intentions of your heart…
• That is NOT to say that any of those other books are bad… it is just to say LOOK HOW MUCH BETTER THE BIBLE IS.
  • So yes, read the commentaries, and the books, and the motivational series… they can be a blessing…
  • BUT THEY ARE NOT A REPLACEMENT FOR GOD’S WORD.
• Listen you could burn all those other books, blogs, podcasts, and motivational materials…
  • And you would still have everything you need right here (*Hold up Bible*)
    • Again, please don’t burn those other things, they can be helpful and entertaining… but my point is that the Bible is complete!
    • THE WORD OF GOD IS COMPLETE.
• There is not a single issue you are facing today that the Bible does not talk about…
  • Loneliness
  • Depression
  • Financial struggles
  • Porn
  • Adultery
  • Career choices
  • Family issues
  • Health issues
  • Even Paying your taxes
    • Whatever you are going through… the Bible has an answers, there are verses and passages, and truth for you…
    • There is guidance, and instruction, and wisdom for you.
• I have been pastoring this church for almost 9 years now, and I pastor as a young man for 3 years before that…
  • In my 12 years of ministry I have never once, not one time, come across a situation where the Bible was completely silent… Not one time did I come across something in someone’s life where I was like “I don’t know… the Bible doesn’t talk about that”.
  • *Ask another pastor if it has happened to them*
• And if you are going through something, if you are struggling… and you are new to the Bible and you are new to this Christianity thing…
  • I have good news for you! God has provided you with Pastors and Deacons and Disciplers who LOVE the word of God and can help you find what you need in Scripture…
  • More than that, God has provided a Helper for you, the Holy Spirit, to help you find what you need in the Word of God… all you need to do is open your bible, read it, and do what it says!
    • And the Holy Spirit is there to help you, and we as a church are here to help you.
• And we may not be perfect, but we serve a God who is… and that brings me to point two…

Point Two – God’s Word is Perfect

Psalms 18:30 NIV  As for God, his way is perfect: The LORD’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in Him.

Psalms 19:7-12a ESV  The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;  (8)  the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;  (9)  the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.  (10)  More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.  (11)  Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.  (12)  Who can discern his errors?…

• I love that last line… “Who can discern His errors?”
  • You can not simultaneously believe that this is the Word of God, breathed out by Him, and believe that it is imperfect.
  • Because then you are saying “I have found errors in what Got has said! I have discerned His errors”.
    • And frankly, I don’t want to serve a God who makes errors.
    • The God I serve is perfect, therefore His Word must be perfect…
• But when I was first saved, I thought I knew better… and I believed something that maybe some of you believe… I thought “The Bible was written by man, and man is imperfect, so the Bible is imperfect… even if God inspired these men, men are not perfect, so the Bible CAN’T be perfect.”
  • Spoiler alert: I was wrong.
    • And really it was a stupid argument… let me explain why.
      • Think about the last thing you wrote… maybe it was a check this morning for the offering…
      • Maybe it some notes on the back of the announcement sheets…
      • Maybe it was a paper you are writing for school…
        • Just think about the last thing you wrote…
        • Now, answer to yourself, what did you use to write that with?
      • Did you use a pencil, or a pen, or maybe a computer, maybe even your phone’s keyboard.
        • Now this is a dumb question, but who wrote that thing you are thinking about…
          • Did your pen write that check, or did you write that check?
          • Did your phone write that text, or did you write that text?
          • When you were finished writing that paper did you put your name on it, or do you put the make and model of your computer?
            • “Theoretical physics and their implication on modern day wormhole theory” -By Dell Laptop
            • “What I learned on my summer vacation” -Written by Macbook Pro
          • I mean imagine if that’s how books worked:
            • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring -By Imperial Model-T Typewriter…
• No, that’s not how writing works… You wrote what you wrote regardless of the tool you used to write it.
  • God used men as tools to write scripture.
  • They were His pencils…
    • If they messed up, God would flip the pencil over, use the eraser, and then get back to work writing.
      • It’s not like God is up in heaven inspiring Paul to write 1 Corinthians and is like “Oh man, Paul really went off the deep end here with this Spiritual Gift stuff… I didn’t tell Him to write that… Oh well, I guess I will just leave it like it is and forever confuse my holy church”.
• And guy’s it is so important that you believe that God’s Word is perfect, because without perfection you can make scripture say whatever you want.
  • For example, in my “Christian” college, the professors started by trying to teach us that God’s word wasn’t perfect.
    • Then they used that to teach that homosexuality wasn’t a sin.
    • And I would say “What about Leviticus 18:22?” and they would say
      “Well that is about gay orgies used to worship false god’s” and I would say
      “where does it say that?” and they would say “It must have gotten lost in translation…”
      • Lost in translation, was God on vacation while that was being translated? Was He napping? Does He not care?
    • But then I would say, ok, but what about Romans chapter 1?
      • And they would say “Paul was a bigot, misogynist, homophobe… you can’t trust what Paul has to say about men, women, sex, or morality”.
    • Like… what? God was just up there inspiring some morally deranged man, and was cool when that man put his own stuff in God’s Word?
  • THAT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE.
    • You mean to tell me you believe that God is powerful enough to create the heavens and the earth in 6 days by speaking them into existence…
    • But the task of writing a perfect book is too hard for Him?
      • He was foiled by some pharisee named Paul, after all these years of being all powerful and all knowing, He get’s bested by some dude in ancient Rome?

2 Peter 1:21 ESV 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.

• And guys, hear this warning… I have seen it time and time again, where people question the perfection of scripture… they start going down a slippery slope… and it ends with them walking away from Jesus…
  • “Well I don’t believe in the creation story, that’s just a myth…”
    • “I can’t believe that homosexuality is a sin… that was added later”
    • “I know Jesus said “God created them male and female” but He was quoting the mythological origin story in Genesis”
    • “Paul and Jesus just didn’t know any better…”
    • “Jesus was a good teacher but he wasn’t perfect”
    • “I don’t follow Jesus anymore, it’s all just fairytales”.
  • Y’all I have seen this happen SO MANY TIMES, even to big name Christians… and they end up leaving the faith and facing an eternity in hell…

Revelation 22:19 ESV  and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

• When you doubt the perfection of the Word of God, when you attack it’s perfection… when you willingly say “Those verses aren’t actually God’s word, they were a mistake” you are literally taking away from the Word of God, and if you do so He will curse you with the curses of revelation, and you will not be saved… That’s what this verse says… you don’t get to make heaven when you take away from the Bible.
• The Bible is perfect, it is God’s Word, it must be perfect!
• Church, I believe in the Jesus of the BIBLE!
  • If the Bible isn’t perfect, then I have problems, because I have based my life on following and obeying and serving and submitting to THE JESUS OF THE BIBLE.
  • It is because of the bible that I know about Jesus, about salvation, about baptism, and prayer, about servitude, about heaven and hell, about my eternal future in New Jerusalem.
    • So yes I believe the Bible is perfect, and to doubt that is to doubt my Lord and my God.
• The Bible is perfect.
  • I am not.
• The Bible is perfect.
  • My interpretation of it is not.
• The Bible is perfect.
  • My understanding of it is not.
• The Bible is perfect.
  • And I serve a perfect God who sent His perfect Holy Spirit to help me understand and interpret His perfect Word.
• I don’t know it all, church, but I serve the God who does!
• Finally, that brings me to point three, God’s Word brings blessings and breaks curses…

Point Three – God’s Word Brings Blessings and Breaks Curses

Revelation 22:18-19 ESV  I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,  (19)  and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

• Listen, if adding to God’s word adds curses to your life, and removing from God’s word removes blessings from your life…
  • Then it stands to reason that keeping God’s word, keeping it pure and holy, reading it, obeying it, not adding to it or subtracting from it… it stands to reason that if you keep God’s word Holy that it will add blessings to your life and subtract curses from your life.
• Did you follow that?
  • If you profane God’s word you will have curses added to your life.
    • If you keep God’s word, you will have curses broken from your life.
  • If you profane God’s word you will have blessings removed from your life.
    • If you keep God’s word, you will have blessings added to your life.
• This truth has been said in many different ways by many different preachers:
  • I have heard it said “Do things the Bible way, Get Bible Results”.
  • Or “To get what the Bible prescribes  you must do what the Bible describes”
  • Here at CLC our unofficial moto is “Open your Bible, Read it, and Do what it says” because I believe that obedience to God’s Word brings blessings.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV  All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,  (17)  that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

• All scripture is God breathed and PROFITABLE!
  • WE PROFIT FROM THE WORD OF GOD!
  • I WANT SOME OF THAT PROFIT!
    • I want some of that teaching and reproof and correction and training and righteousness.
    • I want to be a man of God complete and equipped for every good work.
    • Give me some of THAT profit.

Romans 15:4 ESV  For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

• Man I want some of that hope, I want some of that encouragement, I want some of that endurance!

Isaiah 55:10-11 ESV “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

• God’s Word will SUCCEED!
  • I want that success! I want that blessing! Let me be like the fields you water, Lord, that I would produce fruit in good season by reading and obeying Your Word.
• And it is so important that we obey… we must obey!

James 1:22-25 ESV  But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  (23)  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.  (24)  For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.  (25)  But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

• HE WILL BE BLESSED IN HIS DOING!
  • If you want to be blessed this is what you need to do: Open your Bible, read it, and do what it says!
• The Bible is full of blessings and promises for you…
  • But you don’t get to accept God’s blessings and promises while at the same time rejecting His commands… when you do that you have taken away from the Word of God… and we know from Revelation what happens when you do that.
• Now let me end today by saying this: God’s word is complete, it has everything you or anyone else will ever need as far as a holy text… It is perfect, without error, flaw, or contradiction, and reading and obeying it will bring blessings and break curses in your life… I truly believe this…

Matthew 4:4 ESV  But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

• Y’all, live on the word of God, everything else will fall into place.

Conclusion

• Now I was going to talk about how the Bible was Canonized…
  • And how the Bible has been miraculously preserved.
  • And I was going to show proof after proof that the Bible is perfect and complete…
    • But that is not what God had me do today… if you want that kind of conversation, let me know… if enough people are interested maybe I will do a Sunday school class on it one day…
• But that is not how God had me prepare this sermon…
  • And I think that is OK, because better than all of that is the power of the Holy Spirit… better than all of that is the voice of God confirming it to you…
    • When I was first saved, I had this thought in my head, as we talked about earlier, that man wrote the Bible thus the Bible can’t be perfect because man isn’t perfect…
      • And one Sunday shortly after I was saved, I was out to lunch, Mexican food if I remember correctly, with Pastor Matt and Pastor Crystal.
      • And the topic of the perfection of God’s Word came up…
        • And I began to argue quit passionately with Pastor Crystal.
        • And she looked at me with authority and said “Christian, the Bible is the Word of God, Perfect and Complete”.
        • And immediately, for the first time in my life, I heard the clear voice of God speak inside my head. God said “Christian, listen to this woman”.
• I was shocked to be hearing the voice of God, I was in awe… and I responded in my head, as I often due to God… with  a simple “yes sir”… and from that point forward I knew that the Bible was the complete word of God without error, flaw, or contradiction.
  • And since then I have studied dozens of so-called contradictions, and found that they were all stupid and easy to explain if you just read the verses in context.
  • I have studied about how the Old Testament came to be, and the New Testament… about the councils of Laodicia, and Hippo, and Carthage…
  • I have viewed the dead sea scrolls
  • I have debated with the critics…
  • I have studied, studied, studied…
    • And all of this, every time, pointed me to the truth the Scriptures are the perfect and complete Word of God…
• But it all started, first with Salvation, then with hearing God tell me clearly that the Bible is His Word.
• Gospel Call
• Prayer for those who doubt.

Aaronic Blessing