How the New Testament was Canonized

Dear brethren, last week I started a series of sermons about how the Bible was canonized. And I covered, last week, how the Old Testament is complete, and how it was complete by God under the guidance of God, and it was done by His servants. We also saw how Jesus Christ authorized the tri-party division of the Old Testament, the Lord, the prophets, and the writings.

How He recognized the order of the books from the first or the last. And how we also saw how the temple scriptures were copied or replicated in all synagogues. We also discussed, as far as the Old Testament, how it went through five canonizations, starting from the first one by Moses and the last one by Ezra. Today in my second sermon of this series, I'll cover the canonization of the New Testament. The Greek term kannon, which is canon, as we have in English, basically means a measuring rod, a measuring stick, like a standard.

And as it applies to scriptures or to people, means a list of recognized names or books that are holy. So from a biblical point of view, it identifies a list of recognized holy scriptures. The Catholics then, the Catholic Church, use the term to say, well, a dead person is, after certain evaluations, put into a list of recognized holy people, in a word, saints. So that's basically what a canonization is. It's basically putting together the list of which books are the books of the Bible and specifically of the New Testament.

Now, like in the Old Testament, we basically have two very simple approaches. One is, the Bible is to be trusted. In other words, the canon, or put it this way, the recognized list of sacred holy scriptures, is complete and was completed by the time of the lost surviving apostle, which is John. Or there is the other approach, which is, the Bible evolved during the first few centuries, a type of human progressive evolution of the New Testament.

That's basically those two approaches. The first approach, which the Bible is to be trusted and was put together by God's servants, is what the Church of God believes. And it was, particularly the New Testament, in the context of what we're talking today, was completed by the time John, the lost surviving apostle, died, which was in the late 90s of the first century.

The second approach, which is one of a progressive, human-based evolution of the Bible, or in particular the New Testament, is prominent by secular and very intelligent scholars. It's promoted also by the Roman Catholic Church. And also, there are a number of fictional writings that give, you know, it was like fictional stories or great novels about how the Bible came about to be, such as the Da Vinci Code.

Those scholars and religious leaders or writers which support the progressive evolution of the New Testament, refer to various arguments and disputes that occurred during the first centuries. And of course they did, because there's a Satan. And even Paul said, right at the beginning, there will be false ministers and apostles among you. And those that support this progressive approach, they do not cite Scripture as their authority.

So basically, brethren, it is an issue of who has the authority to declare something holy. But the Holy Father. What does holy mean? It means set apart for holy use. Who has that authority? God or man? That's basically it. In the year 393, the Roman Catholic Church's synod, you know, was at the end of the fourth century, hosted by Hippo Regulus in North Africa, listed the canon, in other words, the recognized holy writings of the Old Testament and New Testament, and included what the Catholics call today the Apocrypha in that list.

And as I mentioned in the first sermon last week, the Apocrypha basically supports a number of heresies or heretic teachings, which obviously support the Roman Catholic Church's doctrine, and therefore, it's convenient for them for the Apocrypha to be there. Later, that listing was approved four years later in the year 397 by the Council of Carthage. Brethren, what this implies, when people say, well, that's when the canon was put together, is this implies that people are accepting, quote-unquote, the authority of the Roman Catholic Church to declare something holy.

Or put it in other ways, they are accepting that church as, quote, the true Mother Church.

The Roman Catholic Church, brethren, basically emerged out of the Council of Messia in the year 325. So that's about 60 or 70 years before that. And when it emerged as an organization in the Council of Messia, it had complete different teachings than the early New Testament Church. And you may research the Council of Messia, and its debate was that they concluded that Sunday had to be observed instead of the Sabbath. And whoever would not observe that should be killed. And they also concluded that Easter Sunday should be kept as a Passover instead of the 40th. So we can see in those first few centuries, there was a progressive evolution, or devolution, of the truth. A transition from the truth as practiced by the apostles to a false Christianity. And then fictional writers, you know, like great stories to read, such as the Da Vinci Code, claimed that there is, quote, other gospels that should be included. And they quote others that have been discovered, which I'll mention to you a little bit more. And therefore, they say that those were kept out of the New Testament, and that was a Roman Catholic Church plot. Again, it's a human reasoning approach in which man decides what he's holding. But brethren, the Roman Catholic Church had nothing to do with creating the New Testament. The apostles did. We in the Church of God believe that it is God that declares what is holy. In other words, it's God that sets something apart for use. It's God that sanctifies. It's God that sanctifies. He sanctifies the Sabbath, the Holy Sabbath. He sanctifies the Holy Days, and he sanctifies the Holy Bible. The apostles and the God's inspiration had therefore decided, or declared, or proclaimed by the end of the first century, which books were, and which books were not part of the New Testament canon. In other words, part of Holy Scripture. So to start, let's look at 2 Timothy 3, verse 16 and 17. 2 Timothy 3, verse 16 and 17.

2 Timothy 3, verse 17. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteous, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. The supreme instrument that God uses to prepare his people is the Holy Scripture, the Bible. That God leave that to human beings to determine which books were holy. Obviously not. God identified through the apostles which are the holy books included in Scripture, and you and I with the help of God's Holy Spirit. So we've got God's Word and God's Holy Spirit, because these two are the two convicting agents, the two agents that convict us, that convince us. Let's look how this was prophesied, and we're going to start in Deuteronomy 18. You know, a little bit here, a little bit there, as Isaiah 28 says. So we start in Deuteronomy 18. Verse 15 through 19.

The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me, said Moses. From your midst, from your brethren, him you shall hear. According to all you desire of the Lord your God in horror, in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the word of the Eternal, my God, nor let me see the straight fire anymore, lest I die. And the Lord said to me, what they have spoken is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you, like Moses, from among their brethren, and will put my words in his mouth. He was that prophet, and he shall speak to them all that I commanded him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear my words, which he, that prophet, speaks in my name, I will require it of him. So, a prophet was prophesied. Was that prophet John the Baptist? Turn with me to John 1, verse 21. John 1, verse 21. People came to John the Baptist and said to him, Who are you, John? John 1, 21, he says.

And they asked him, What then? Are you Elijah? He said, I am not. I'm not Elijah. Are you the prophet? And he asked, No. I am not the prophet. Look a bit further then, what Peter said about who the prophet was in Acts 3, 19 through 24. Acts 3, 19 through 24.

Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be plotted out, so that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that you may stand Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, because at that time, he had already come and died, and he was in heaven, and had resurrected him onto heaven. Verse 21. Whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things. It was at the least coming when you'll come and restore all things on earth, in the millennium time and beyond. And which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. God has prophesied the coming of Christ right from the beginning, even in Genesis. They already prophesied a Savior. Think about it. Prophecy pointed to the prophet. Talk a little bit more about that in a moment.

And then he continued. For Moses truly said to the fathers, verse 22, The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever he says to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that prophet, which is Jesus Christ, shall be utterly destroyed.

Utterly destroyed. Not live eternally in hell, in a burning fire, utterly destroyed from among the people. Prophecy pointed to Jesus Christ. In fact, the Lord pointed to Jesus Christ, because the very first prophecies in Genesis are already pointing to Jesus Christ, and Moses pointing to Jesus Christ, and prophecy pointing to Jesus Christ. Look at Exodus chapter 4, verse 16. Exodus chapter 4, verse 16.

And he shall be your spokesman, talking about your Moses and Aaron. So Aaron will be your spokesman to the people, and himself shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God. Moses will be as God, and Aaron will be the spokesman.

Moses, to the Israelites, in fact, to Pharaoh, was like God. Look at chapter 7, verse 1 of Exodus. Chapter 7, verse 1 of Exodus. So the Lord said to Moses, See, I have made you, that's Moses, has God to Pharaoh. And Aaron, your brother, shall be your prophet. Moses was high in authority. He had an authority like, between the very comments, like an authority representing God. On the other side, when he says, you'll raise up a prophet like you, and you better listen to him, otherwise he'll be utterly destroyed, and that's Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was the Word. John 1-1. And he became flesh. He knew words as the Word he was God. And as Philippians 2, verse 6 and 7 says, and he humbled himself, and he was in the form of God, and he came to be in the form of man. And as we read in Hebrews 1, verse 8 and 9, God the Father himself calls Jesus Christ, God, your God, has anointed you. So, Jesus Christ, as God, of the type, of the form, of the shape, of that kingdom, of that family, he was God, he was a greater than Moses. So, the Bible quite often has got types and antitopes. So, the hour we had the type, which was Moses, and the anti-type, bigger, much bigger, was Jesus Christ. So, Christ was much higher in authority because he was God, in the form of God, of the God-kind, of the God-kingdom, but was always submissive to the Father. Now, let's look at Isaiah 42, verse 21. Isaiah 42, verse 21.

The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake. He will exalt the law and make it honorable.

Jesus Christ will exalt the law. He has a prophecy about Christ, and we know he exalted, he magnified it, he amplified it, he made it bigger, and he made it even more honorable. Look with me in Matthew chapter 5, verse 17. Matthew chapter 5, verse 17. A scripture we've read many times. But now, let's look at it in this context.

Do not think that I've come to destroy the law. Now, if you read the rest of the chapter, you can see how he amplified the law. As far as murder, if you think evil of somebody in your heart, you're committing murder, he amplified the law. He amplified the law of adultery. He amplified the law of speaking the truth. He amplified the law of loving your enemies. To love your enemies. So he says, I've not come to destroy the law or the prophets. Now, important, I have not come to destroy the law or the prophets. Remember, there were three sections in Old Testament, the law of the prophets and the writings, specifically talking about the law of the prophets. And I do not come to destroy but to fall full. In other words, to fall to the top. So he followed the law to the top by magnifying the law and making it honorable, as we saw in Isaiah. But you know what? He fulfilled the prophets. He fulfilled the prophets because he was the prophet to come, and prophecy pointed to him. And so the law pointed to Christ. The ceremonial law and the sacrifices point to Christ's sacrifice. The prophets pointed to the deep prophet that would come and bring peace on earth and the millennium. He fulfilled the law and the prophets.

The word fulfilled it. But just like the law and the prophets, we've written down, when it was fulfilled, when it was complete and added to it, that extra fulfilling was also written down. So the word completed the Bible by fulfilling the law and the prophets. Turn with me to Isaiah 8 starting with verse 13. Isaiah 8 verse 13. Isaiah 8 verse 13.

The Lord of hosts, Jesus Christ, when he came, yes, he's our sanctuary. Yes, we look to Christ as our Savior. But Jesus Christ is Jews and his reliance was a stumbling block and a rock of offense. This is a prophecy about Jesus Christ.

The Jews rejected Jesus Christ and he was killed.

Verse 15. And many of them shall stumble and they shall fall and be broken and be sneered and taken. That's why the Jews look at Christ and say, he is a fake because they were expecting a Messiah to liberate them as a ruling king from Roman, from Rome, from Rome. And Christ, in his first coming, came as a Savior to die for mankind. And so they looked at him as a fake. That was a stumbling block, a stone of stumbling, a rock of offense. Look at verse 16. Look at verse 16. Bind up the testimony. What is the testimony? The testimony is the witness of Jesus Christ and there of the apostles that witness to Christ was. That's the testimony! Bind it up! What do you mean? That means you've got to put it, compile it, put it into a book and bind it. Seal the law. You see, so he magnified the law and the prophets and you've got to seal it by putting it, by completing it, by adding to it, putting it into a book, the New Testament, and stealing it by whom or among whom? My disciples. My disciples were the ones that did that. That was prophesied.

Brethren, like the law and the prophets were bound, the testimony of Jesus Christ and that of the apostles was bound. Bound into the New Testament, which is now part of your whole life. The New Testament was prophesied to be written. And it was canonized in a words bound by Jesus Christ's disciples.

The canonization of the New Testament in a words, the selection of the books of the New Testament, which were to be the Holy Scriptures, was done by the disciples. The time tanked. Initially, they thought, well, Christ's going to come in our time. But as things got moving and Christ had prophesied that Jerusalem would be destroyed, as you read in Matthew 24, and the days where the Jews were starting to rebel and they could see this brewing up, they knew. Then it ticked inside the eye, it binged, it kind of, ah! The bell rang and said, Jerusalem is going to be taken and destroyed. And we need to act in a sense of urgency and canonize the testimony of Jesus Christ. And Peter had that responsibility given to him by Jesus Christ, as we'll see in a moment in 2 Peter. But we're not going there yet. We're going to look at something else first. So Peter had that responsibility in first place, and upon his death was John that completed it. Two of the three that saw Christ in the transfiguration. So those two had a very special responsibility. And so because they realized time was short, and Peter had been told by God to do it, as we'll show it in a moment, Peter then, we conclude, that must have told Paul to select his writings. Let's look at that in 2 Timothy chapter 4. 2 Timothy is the last book that Paul wrote. 2 Timothy chapter 4. And that was written about 66 AD. It was lost, his last epistle, and that was just before he was marked. So 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 9. Now he's writing to Timothy and concluding of his last epistle. The last letter that he wrote, and he signed to Timothy, be diligent to come to me quickly. Quickly! There's a sense of urgency here.

Then he says, for others that left, and then he says in verse 11, Peter, only Luke is with me. Now Luke was Paul's scribe. Luke was Paul's scribe. And yet Mark, and Mark was Peter's scribe. So the Gospel according to Mark, it's actually Peter telling Mark what to write, and the Gospel according to Luke is actually Paul telling Luke what to write by his disciples. But anyway, only Luke is with me, which is my scribe, and yet Mark, yet Peter's scribe to come here as well, bringing him with you, for he's useful for the ministry, or what are we going to do now? Because he had received instruction from Peter to compile his letters.

And looking then in... And here you can see he's saying, he's saying, bring them, and then he continues, and takikas are sent to Ephesus. Verse 13, bring the cloak. Now this is an interesting phrase, because translate is the bite, where the cloak is the correct word. You do a little bit of searching, you'll find there is a lot of debate. They say, well, it must be a trunk. You must have left a coat. But a clue is found in Vincent's word studies, volume 4, under the section Epistles, that says, it's a wrapper of parchments. A wrapper of parchments. It's like a roll case with parchments. It's like, bring a whole the parchments there that we can write on, make things neat and correct. It's like, bring a roll of paper to use, for us to use.

Bring the wrapper of parchments that are left with coppers that froze when you come, and when you come, and the books, especially the parchments. Bring them.

You see, Paul here had a job to do, and the job was to choose 14 letters that he wrote, and if necessary, using those two scribes to rewrite them and clean them up nicely. The remaining ones would be destroyed, and then Mark, which is Peter's scribe, will then take them to Peter. Now let's go to 2 Peter. 2 Peter, chapter 1.

Now, 2 Peter, chapter 2, and 2 Peter is basically about heresy inside the church, and in the first few verses, the sign, you know, had these things, had diligence at your faith and knowledge and self-control and perseverance and broadly kindness and love, and he says, if you do these things, you'll never fail. And then he says, therefore, in verse 10, he says, Reverend, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure. You've been called to be in the church. You've been selected to be in the church, but make sure that you remain faithful till the end. For if you do these things, you will never leave the church. That's what he said. You'll never stumble. If you do these things, you'll never leave the church. This is a life, eternal life, life insurance policy. 4. So an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly. 5. Into where? Into the kingdom. Eternal life in the kingdom. Into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So make sure that you call and election is sure that you enter in the kingdom of God. For this reason, verse 12, I, Peter, will not be negligent. I will not let down the bowl. To remind you of all these things, there was the hope, the calling of eternal life. I will not be negligent to do this job. Though you know and are established in the present truth, yes, I think it is right as long I am in this tent, as long as I live, to stir you up to remind you. Knowing that, I shortly must put off my tent. Knowing that, I have to die soon, just as the Lord Jesus showed me. You know, why didn't Jesus Christ show him that he's going to die soon? Because he told him he had a job to do, to canonize the New Testament. And he said, you got little time. Do you not have a sense of urgency? You've got to finish that. Moreover, therefore, I will be careful. I will be careful. I will fulfill the responsibility that Jesus Christ gave me to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things, of the prophecies. How? Because he's going to write it and canonize it. That's why. That's why he's going to ensure. Because that's the job Jesus Christ gave him.

For we, verse 16, do not follow cunningly devised fables. Now remember, up to verse 15, you're saying, I, I, I. You notice that? I will do the same. He says, I think it's right. I will not be negligent. I'll be careful to ensure. But look at verse 16. For we, now who's we?

We will not follow cunningly devised fables. So this gospel of Christ, of what he's done for us, and that we got to encapsulate into the New Testament. This is not a cunningly devised Bible. This is not a fictitious story.

When we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but when we were eyewitnesses of His majesty, when were they, and we have a they, and we're seeing that just now, where were they, when were they eyewitnesses of His majesty? For He, Christ, received from God the Father honor and glory, when such a voice came to Him, Christ, from the excellent glory, this is my beloved Son, in whom I'm well pleased. And we heard this voice, we, who's we? We heard this voice which came from heaven, when we were with Him on the holy mountain. Who was the three that were on the holy mountain that saw the transfiguration? That's we. Who are those three?

It was Peter, it was James, and John. James, John's brother. But James died, remember? He was the first apostle to be martyred. That's 12. So we remains two. We have a job. Peter and John have a job. Therefore, before his death in late 68 AD, Peter made the first canonization of the New Testament by putting together 22 books. Just like the Old Testament, 22 books.

But in the years 19, just before his death, John, the last surviving apostle, he then wrote John. The apostle, according to John, he wrote 1, 2, and 3 John. And under the inspiration, he wrote the book of Revelation. He added another five books, making a total of 27. Now, 27 New Testament books, plus 22 Old Testament books, makes 49. Seven times seven is 49, a complete perfection of God's Word. So by the before John died, the New Testament church had the whole New Testament, and was canonized by his disciples as we saw the prophecy in Isaiah. And therefore, we saw in the first sermon, there were five canonizations in the Old Testament, and there were two in the New Testament, making how many canonizations? Seven. Another coincidence. But obviously, it's not coincidence. The Bible is completely canonized, and that was completed by Peter and John. Continue reading in 2 Peter, now in chapter 1, verse 19. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, huge which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place.

What is the prophetic word?

John 1, 1 is read that the Word was God, it became flesh. So the Word was Christ.

We also saw that the prophet to come was Christ, and so that he knaps. So the prophetic word is Christ. And Christ says, I am the light. Right? So he says, and we have the prophetic word confirmed which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Now look at Revelation 19, verse 10. Keep Peter handy, because we're going to go back to it. But just look briefly at Revelation 19, verse 10. Revelation 19, verse 10.

At the end of Revelation 19, verse 10 says, he was talking about this angel that says, don't worship. The angel that worshiped God. And then he says, at the end, the last phrase says, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

That is a powerful statement that you may have probably never thought about. But that means the testimony of Jesus. In other words, the testimony which is, in a sense, the witness of the apostles and what Christ said, in a word which is the New Testament, it's the spirit of prophecy. In other words, prophecy pointed to Christ. Prophecy pointed to Christ. So, by implication, the vital principle of prophecy is to point to Christ as a Messiah that is going to bring peace on earth. And so he magnified the law, and he magnified the prophecy. That's why he says he amplified the law and prophets. So let's go back to 1st Peter chapter 1 verse 20. 1st Peter chapter 1 verse 20. In finished reading 19. So let's go reading now verse 20. Knowing this first, there's no prophecy of Scripture. It is of any private interpretation. Now, obviously, when we read Scripture and we say, well, at that time they only had Old Testament, but when he's talking about, in the context, the prophetic word and it is the light, it's also including the New Testament as prophecy of Scripture. It's of any private interpretation, because the prophetic word, therefore, is Scripture. Let's move on one chapter further, or two chapters further, in 2nd Peter chapter 3 verse 15. 2nd Peter chapter 3 verse 15. And this is how Peter is concluding his last book. And it says, therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent, be found by him in peace without spot and blameless, and consider that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation. As also, our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you. Verse 16. As also in all his episodes. So now, Peter is already saying, as he is canonizing Paul's letters, he's calling them epistles. Speaking in them, these things in which some things are to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. So he's already calling Paul's epistles part of Scripture, because they twist Paul's letters like they twist the rest of the Scriptures. So he's pointing Paul to Scripture.

And now, let's look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2.

Verse 13. For this reason, we also thank God without ceasing, because when you receive the Word of God, which you heard from us, the word that you heard from us, this is Paul's saying, is the Word of God. 1 You will come not as the word of man, but as it is in truth, as it is indeed the Word of God, the Bible, Scripture, the Word of God, which also effectively works in you to believe. 2 The faithful brethren in Thessalonica knew that Paul's writings were Scripture. Now look at Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12. For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any to which soul, piercing even to the vision of the soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and ease at the sermon of thoughts and intents of the heart. Let me ask you a question. How can the Word of God be sharp, sharper than any to its sword, if the Church of God did not have the Word of God completed? So it'll be an incomplete sword, a broken down piece of armoury. So by the second century, we can evidencey see. We can see that early writings of the so-called Church Fathers proved that the New Testament canon was already in existence. We don't have time to go into those, but we remain sufficient to say that indeed there were attempts since then by Satan, as we heard in the sermon, that he wants to destroy us. What better to destroy the veracity of God's Word? He wants to destroy us. This is not a game. This is more than a gang. This is a plot to destroy us. And what better to destroy the Word of God than it was to destroy your faith in God's Word, in the veracity of God's Word? Surely the attempt, therefore, to destroy the New Testament canon. But God was faithful, and they were not changed, as you read in Romans 3, verse 3 and 4. God is faithful. Even though man tried to destroy it, God did not allow his Word to be destroyed. Now we read in the New Testament of warnings against spurious, in the words illegitimate, or bastard writings, of false glossals. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 11. 2 Corinthians chapter 11.

Verse 4. He says, I'm jealous for you, but you know, I fear because there's a Satan that he corrupted, and he says, verse 4, For if ye who comes preaches another Jesus, whom you have not re-breached, whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit, which you have not received, or a different gospel, here was written books. Nowadays, those people would have written books, so-called gospels, receive a different gospel, which you have not accepted. He says, I fear that you may well put up with it. I fear that you are giving years to it and listening to that garbage, garbage that you get on the internet, garbage that you get all over the place, garbage of false gospels. I fear that you put up with it. Look at verse 13. For such are false prophets, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. In other words, they write books as if they were the apostles of Christ. False identity. And no wonder for Satan himself transforms himself into angel of light. Therefore, it's no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works. And brethren, they wrote many books. Paul was warning them, and they wrote many books. And some of those books have survived, and they digging and finding them. And those is what people call the last books of the Bible, the last gospels. It's called the Seldo Epigrapher. You know, it was the books that attempt to imitate Scripture, but they were written under false names. There were four juries, and there was false identification. They were written somewhere in a period of 500 years from 200 years before Christ to 300 years after Christ. Now, imagine you're going to write a book like that, and you're going to give it a title. And you're going to give it a title. Quote, the counterfeit testament of an unknown author. How many people are going to listen to that? But if you give it a title, it says the Testament of Abraham. Or you're going to pick your ears. See? Because that's what they do. So while the Seldo Epigrapher may be of interest to students of history, and people that study religion and things like that, they are not inspired by God, and therefore they are not part of Scripture. The reasons to reject the Seldo Epigrapher are they were written under false names, so any pretense of falsehood in the book naturally negates its claimed truthfulness. Secondly, they contain anachronisms. In other words, for instance, say that something happened on a certain date, but not on that date, and historical errors. And third, they contain outright errors. The apostle Paul had to deal with Seldo Epigrapher. In his own day, look at 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, verses 1 and 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, verses 1 and 2.

2 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 1 and 2. Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask Him, it was Second Coming, and I was getting together with Him, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, neither by Spirit or by word or by letter as if from us. By letter as if from us. They were writing verse during the while He was living. 3 Look at chapter 3, the same book, chapter 3, verse 17. The Salutations of Paul. With my own hand, which is a sign in every epistle, so I write. Yeah, He had a scribe to do, but at the end, He wrote His own hand as an authentication to prove it was His letter. Why? Because there are fake ones all over the place. So you already have to do this. You can see the same thing in 1 Corinthians 16. 1 Corinthians 16. Verse 21.

The Salutation with my own hand, Paul. Look at Galatians 6, verse 11. Galatians 6, verse 11. And there are others, so these are just a few to show you. Galatians 6, verse 11. See what large letters I have written to you with my own hand. Brethren, there are many books that fall under the category of Seldoepigrapha. Let me just mention a few to you. The Testament of Ezechiah, the Vision of Isaiah, the Books of Enoch, the Secrets of Enoch, the Book of Noah, the Apocalypse of Baruch, the Rest of the Words of Baruch, the Salter of Solomon, the Orders of Solomon, the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, the Testament of Adam, the Testament of Abraham, the Testament of Job, the Apocalypse of Ezra, the Prayer of Joseph, Elijah the Prophet, Zechariah the Prophet, Zechariah the Father of John, the Artenary of Paul, the Acts of Paul, the Apocalypse of Paul, the Artenary of Peter, the Artenary of Thomas, the Gospel according to Thomas, the History of James, the Gospel of James, the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, the Gospel of Philip, the Apocalypse of Peter, the Ephesus of Barnabas, etc. And all over the place. How do we treat such findings? Because they digging them out and finding them, and they say, oh, we found this new thing in this little capsule! It should be part of the Bible! How do we treat these so-called lost Gospels? Look at 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 5. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 5.

Take part in verse 25. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 25. But the Word of the Lord endures forever. How can it be lost? If it endures forever, how can it be lost? Right? Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6. We heard this referred to in the sermon as well, which is the armor of God.

Which starts in verse 13, the whole armor of God. But look at the end of the section in verse 17, which says, take on the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which heaves the Word of God. So the Word of God and God's Holy Spirit work in conjunction, they do convicting agents, but the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. How can the sword of God be broken? Because there are parts missing. Because it is used forever. Do we have a broken sword? Look at John 10 verse 35. John 10.35.

John 10.35.

And Christ is talking to these Jews and saying, he called them gods to whom the Word of God came, and Scripture cannot be broken. Scripture cannot be broken. So God's sword is not broken. Parts of Scripture is not lost, because it is used forever, so it cannot be broken. So that's about the Code of Epigraph. What about books mentioned in the Bible, or quoted in the Bible? Brethren, just because a book is mentioned in the Bible, or quoted in the Bible, they're not structured. For instance, in Numbers 21.14, we're not going to look at there, but you can take a note, talks about the book of wars of the Lord. Cited or quoted, but it's not in the Bible. In 2 Samuel 1.18, talks about the book of Jascha. It's quoted, but it's not Scripture. In 1 Kings 11.41, talks about the book of the Acts of Solomon, but it's not Scripture. In 1 Chronicles 29.29, talks about the book of Samuel the Seer. And in 2 Chronicles 9.29, talks about the book of Nathan the Prophet, and other books as well, right there. So just because a book is mentioned in the Bible does not mean it's Scripture. Scripture is complete. So, Brethren, we saw that Peter did the first canonization, and then John completed it with those extra five books. So let's look at the last book of the Bible, which is Revelation. And let's look at chapter 1, verse 11. Revelation chapter 1, verse 11.

It says, saying, I'm the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, and what you see, write it in a book. There was an instruction to write in a book. And this was the last book written, because the other books were before, including the gospel, according to John, first and the second and third John, and then the last one was Revelation. So you write it in a book and send it where? To the churches in Asia Minor, which was where the early New Testament church started. You know, there was Ephesus, Smyrna, Pegamis, Phytopira, Sardis, Philadelphus, and Laodicea. Those are the five, I think part of seven churches in Asia Minor, but also the seven years. And that is prophesied. So the early New Testament church of God had the whole Bible. They had a whole sword. They had a whole New Testament. In fact, most of Paul's letters and books in New Testament were written right there in Asia Minor. So surely they had it. And so it was in Asia Minor that in New Testament, Canada was formed. But let's look at then Revelation 21, verse 5 and 6. Revelation 21, verse 5 and 6. And then he sat on the throne and said, We all are make all things new. And he said, Right! For these things are true and faithful. And verse 6 he said to me, It's done.

The scripture was called to be written. And the instruction he had that the inspired says, It's done. It's done. It's complete.

The Bible is complete. Look at verse 7. He overcomes shall be there at all things, and I'll be his God, and he shall be my son. We've got everything in the Bible that we need to be God's children. All necessary, the full sword, the full, quote unquote, spiritual diet for us to be in the kingdom. Look at Revelation 22, verse 6. Then he said to me, These words are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the Holy Prophet sent an angel to show his servants the things which must shortly come to pass. Behold, I'm coming quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. So Jesus Christ sent his messenger, and the message was written down and canonized completely for the New Testament church, and you and I have it today. The early New Testament church had the complete Bible. We today, today is New Testament church. We have the complete Bible. We have the sure word of prophecy, which is the test of testimony of Jesus Christ. And it's testified, as we see in Revelation 22, verse 16. It says, I, Jesus, have sent you my angel to testify to you these things, and they were written down. And therefore, we've got this. It's written down for us. So these things are testified, and they are written down for the churches of God. Remember when Adam and Eve first sinned, and then they were expelled out of the Garden of Eden, and a flaming sword was put around you, you split that in Genesis 3.24, guarding the Tree of Life. Brethren, God fenced his Bible. With a flaming sword. He fenced the law. You read that in Deuteronomy 4 verse 2. It says, don't add or take from it. But likewise, the flaming sword of the Bible is right here in Revelation 22, verse 18 and 19. It says, for I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book. That's a flaming sword, alright? And verse 19, if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part in the Book of Life. And Yah is another book. So, after the 49th, Yah is the 50th book, the Book of Life. From whom? From the Holy City. And from the things which are written in this book. And he who testifies to these things says, surely I'm coming quickly. Brethren, surely he's coming quickly. You and I look at the things that are happening in the world and in this country, surely he's coming quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Be with you all. Amen.