“Scripture Alone”
[Luke
16:19-31]
October 1, 2017, Second Reformed
Church
Over the next six weeks, if the Lord
wills, I will preach on the five solas of the Reformation: Scripture alone, Christ alone, faith alone,
grace alone, and to the glory of God alone.
The beginning of the Reformation is
marked as October 31, 1517, when the Augustinian monk, Martin Luther, nailed
his “95 Theses” to the church door at Wittenberg. Martin Luther was a monk, preacher, and
scholar, and in the tradition of the day, Luther posted a list of points he
wanted to debate with other scholars – it was written in Latin, not German – so
the common folk could not have read it.
Martin Luther had concerns about some of the teaching of the Roman
Catholic Church, and he wanted to discuss these things, not divide the church.
However, the leadership of the
church did not care to be questioned, and as someone translated Luther’s
questions into German and then printed and distributed them, the public became
enflamed with the idea of re-forming the church according to what the Scripture
alone teaches.
This year is the five hundredth
anniversary of Luther posting his theses, and in honor of that, we will look at
these five major themes of Reformation theology, or teaching.
We begin with the very foundational
idea of “Scripture alone” – over against the Roman Catholic Church that taught
and teaches – Scripture plus other things.
The place of agreement between the
Roman Catholic Church and Protestant denominations (such as ours) is found in
the belief – the understanding – that
the Scripture is “inspired” or “breathed out” by God.
As Paul writes, “All Scripture is
breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction,
and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete,
equipped for every good work” (II Timothy 3:16-17, ESV).
And Peter writes, “For we did not follow
cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he
received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by
the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ we
ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the
holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which
you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until
the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of
all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. 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” (II Peter 1:16-21, ESV).
The Roman Catholic Church and those who
began Protestantism agreed, as we see Peter and Paul write, the Scripture is
the very Word of God. God inspires –
breathes out – the Scripture. The
Scripture is not something that someone just made up or based on things about
God. No, the Scripture – the Word of God
– was written down by humans, but God, the Holy Spirit, guided the writing of
the Word of God so that it was written without any errors of fact.
The disagreement comes in the
question of the authority of the Scripture.
Does the Scripture alone – all by itself – have everything a person
needs to know to be made right with God – how to be saved – and how to live
after being made right with God, or, is the Scripture not enough – must other
opinions and documents be added as equal authorities to the Scripture to
proclaim the message of the Gospel and have it be understood to salvation and
life?
The Roman Catholic Church said and
reaffirmed in the Council of Trent,
that it “adher[es] to the doctrine of the holy Scriptures, to the apostolic
traditions, and to the consent of other councils and of the Fathers,” (http://www.thecounciloftrent.com/ch7.htm).
Understand, Protestants look to
other humans and human writings to help us understand the Scripture, but we
affirm that the only authority with regards to salvation is the Bible – the
Word of God – itself – only and alone.
The Scripture alone is the ultimate authority with no other alongside of
it.
The Roman Catholic Church affirms
that the Scripture is not enough to save a person – one must also embrace the
teaching of the traditions, the councils, and the Fathers.
Martin Luther – and Protestants
since – explains that the problem is that humans err – humans make mistakes –
humans purposely obscure the truth for their own purposes. Human documents cannot be relied upon to be
without error, only the Word of God can be relied upon to be without error.
What does Paul tells us?
“For there is no distinction between Jew
and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who
call on him. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
“How then will they call on him in
whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they
have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” (Romans
10:12-14, ESV).
How do people come to believe that
Jesus is the One God and Promised Savior?
Through hearing the Word of God – the Scripture – alone – preached.
The writing of humans do not and
cannot have the authority of the Scripture.
So, here is what you need to
remember this morning: the Scripture
alone – God’s Word alone – has the authority to tell us God’s way of salvation
and how it is accomplished.
The Scripture alone – God’s Word alone –
has the authority to tell us God’s way of salvation and how it is accomplished.
Anyone who says otherwise goes against
sound reason and the Word of God itself.
Now, let us look at our text:
Jesus is finishing a section of
preaching in Luke where He condemns the wrong use of possessions. And Jesus tells this story:
“There was a rich man who was clothed in
purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was
laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with
what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked
his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side.
The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he
lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.”
This is a story of two men:
The first man is filthy rich – in the
worst sense of the expression – he was a pompous peacock – he spent untold
riches on purple – a rare and expensive dye – wearing it as though he was
royalty, strutting around in his fine linen, feasting every day – not just
during a celebration – no – eating and eating because he had the money to do so. And everyone knew his name – except for us.
At the gate of the rich man’s house lay a
beggar named Lazarus, whose name means, “God has helped me.” Lazarus is not only poor, he is sick, covered
with sores, and the wild dogs lick the oozing sores on his body day after day,
as the rich man walks past Lazarus and never even considers giving him the food
that fell on the floor under his table.
The rich man shows no concern for Lazarus, whom he practically has to
fall over every day.
Lazarus dies and the angels come for him
and bring his soul to the bosom of Abraham – Lazarus is brought into the sweet
felicity of the Father of the Jews – a fellow believer in the Savior Who was to
come. And while Lazarus’ body is likely
thrown off into a corner to decompose until Jesus raises it from the dead,
Lazarus in his soul is received into the joy of his salvation, because God
helped him.
The rich man also dies and is buried, and
his soul goes to the torment of Hades.
What a difference: the rich man was “all that” in his life – or
at least he thought he was – but it is Lazarus whose name is remembered, and it
is Lazarus who is brought into salvation and eternal joy.
Next, we see there is no mercy after
death.
“And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have
mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my
tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember
that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner
bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides
all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those
who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there
to us.’”
Notice, after death, our bodies wait in
the grave for the resurrection, but our souls go to Paradise or Hell. After death, we live and know what is going
on and experience joy or suffering – depending on where we are. Our souls are not asleep or in a void or
unconscious – when we die, we are still alive, conscious and experiencing.
Lazarus is with Father Abraham in peace
and joy and comfort, while the rich man is in the place of suffering and
torment and anguish. And the rich man
has the hutzpah to call over to Father Abraham and ask him to send Lazarus to
him with a drop of water on his finger to ease his burning torment.
And we might think, “Well, we are to do
good things and help people – the Scripture tells us to give the thirsty a
drink of water.” In this life, that is
true – after death it is not. As the
author of Hebrews tells us: “And just as
it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,” (Hebrews
9:27, ESV). Mercy, which is a gift, is
not given after death.
Remember, Jesus is addressing those who misuse
their possessions.
And Father Abraham tells the rich man,
“no.”
Father Abraham says, “You received what
you thought was good in your lifetime; Lazarus received the bad. Now, Lazarus is in comfort and glory, but you
are in anguish. And there is no way to
bridge the chasm between Paradise and Hades after death.” Once you’re dead, you are judged and received
into the place you wanted to be. It is
in this life that you secure your everlasting repose.
Second, we see that Scripture alone has
the authority to proclaim the way to salvation.
“And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to
send him to my father's house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn
them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They
have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’”
The rich man has five brothers, who he
understands to be on the same road to torment that brought him to Hell, so he
asks Father Abraham to send Lazarus back to tell his brothers the way to
salvation and eternal rest.
What’s the implication?
“If I had only known the way of salvation,
I would not be here. If someone had
told me – if it was even written down somewhere. My brothers have no idea that the way they are
living and what they believe is wrong.
Send Lazarus to tell them.”
“No.
They have Moses and the Prophets.
They have the Scripture.”
Notice, Abraham did not say, well, they could
always buy a Bible and read it, or go to church and hear the Gospel
preached. No, Abraham said his brothers
have the Scripture. Whether they
personally had copies of the Scripture, or whether they worshiped and heard
them preached, the brothers already heard the Scripture. They had received the only authoritative Word
concerning salvation. They don’t need it
given to them, they have it – they just have not believed. They have – at that point, anyway – rejected
it.
We know people, don’t we, who grow up in
the church, hear the Word of God preached, hear the Gospel presented as the Only
Way to salvation, and they rejected or just ignore it.
Paul writes:
“For the wrath of God is revealed from
heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their
unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to
them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely,
his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since
the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are
without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or
give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish
hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the
glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and
animals and creeping things” (Romans 1:18-23, ESV).
“I didn’t know,” is not an excuse, and
these men, we are told, know – they had heard – the Scripture – and the way to
salvation preached. The Word of God –
the Scripture – is the means to salvation – and they heard it.
Third, we see that if we don’t believe the
authority and the truth of the Scripture alone, no additions to it will cause
us to believe.
“And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if
someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they
do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone
should rise from the dead’”
And the rich man tells Father Abraham that
the Scripture is not enough – but, if it is accompanied by miracles – if
someone were to rise from the dead and give the message of the Scripture to
them – then it would be believable.
The other Lazarus rose from the death and
proclaimed what the Scriptures teaches – that Jesus is God and Savior, the Only
Way to salvation – and did the people all fall on their knees and repent and
believe the Scripture? No, they sought
ways to kill him.
Jesus rose from the dead and proclaimed
the securing of the salvation of the people of God – and did the Pharisees who
sent Him to His death repent and believe the Scripture? No, they sought ways to kill Him.
Sending someone back from the dead to give
the message of salvation that they already have in the Scripture will not
help. Adding anything to the Scripture implies
that the Scripture is not enough. Adding
something to the Scripture makes the Scripture less than authoritative. If we give equal authority to any act or
document, it makes the Scripture less than authoritative.
If we make the spandex choir dancers as
authoritative as the Scripture, the Scripture is not enough.
If we make the clown ministers for the
sacraments as authoritative as the Scripture, the Scripture is not enough.
If we put anything or anyone on the same
level of authority with the Scripture, the Scripture is not enough.
Father Abraham is telling the rich man, if
you have the Scripture, if you have the Scripture, if you have the Scripture,
and absolutely nothing else in the world – if you are a Lazarus – you will have
everything you need for salvation.
Nothing else is needed, and claiming anything else has equal authority
to it demeans it.
As we are taught in our Belgic Confession:
Article 7: The Sufficiency of Scripture
We believe
that this Holy Scripture contains
the will of God completely
and that everything one must believe
to be saved
is sufficiently taught in it.
For since the entire manner of service
which God requires of us
is described in it at great length,
no one—
even an apostle
or an angel from heaven,
as Paul says—2
ought to teach other than
what the Holy Scriptures have
already taught us.
For since it is forbidden
to add to the Word of God,
or take anything away from it,3
it is plainly demonstrated
that the teaching is perfect
and complete in all respects.
Therefore we must not consider human
writings—
no matter how holy their authors may have
been—
equal to the divine writings;
nor may we put custom,
nor the majority,
nor age,
nor the passage of times or persons,
nor councils, decrees, or official
decisions
above the truth of God,
for truth is above everything else.
For all human beings are liars by nature
and more vain than vanity itself.
Therefore we reject with all our hearts
everything that does not agree
with this infallible rule,
as we are taught to do by the apostles
when they say,
“Test the spirits
to see whether they are from God,”4
and also,
“Do not receive into the house
or welcome anyone
who comes to you
and does not bring this teaching.”5
2Gal. 1:8
3Deut. 12:32; Rev. 22:18-19
41 John 4:1
There are people in our denomination who
are arguing that the Scripture is not the ultimate authority. They are saying that science and psychology
have taught us that the Scripture is wrong about this issue and that issue – we
must come up to date – we must be contemporary – we must change the Word of
God, we must blot out sections of the Word of God, we must show the truth that
the Scripture is less reliable that modern thought. Then it’s not even the Word of God, is it?
The Scripture alone – God’s Word alone –
has the authority to tell us God’s way of salvation and how it is accomplished.
Denominations make mistakes. Synods make mistakes. Pastors make mistakes. Councils make mistakes. Popes make mistakes.
The Scripture has no mistakes. It is the only Word that is of Divine origin
– it is inspired – God-breathed. And
that makes it the ultimate authority concerning salvation and life. The Scripture alone.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we are quick to run after
popular ideas and marketing strategies and want to have living people before us
to tell us what we should believe and how we should live, but we are slow to
pick up our Bibles or to come and hear Your Word. Forgive us for being poor examples. Forgive us for giving anything equal
authority with the Scriptures. Send the
Holy Spirit to convict us of the authority of the Scripture and to help us to
hear it and understand what You have said regarding salvation and life. May we submit to You through what You have
said and quickly send away any who would say anything contrary to Your Word or
to attempt to add to Your Word. For it
is in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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