I want to start this morning by explaining why
here at Oak Hill we observe Reformation Sunday
each and every year. I know that a lot of you
are newer to Oak Hill. If you've come in the
last 12 months or so, you may have seen what's
coming up and wonder why we do this. Because
I realize, our elder team realizes, that not
every church takes the time to observe the Reformation.
So before we just dive into our service, let
me give you a brief... primer on the value and
importance of Reformation Sunday so that you
can understand what we are as a church and why
we think this is important. First of all, we
do this in October because October 31st is the
true date on the calendar when Martin Luther
nailed his 95 theses on the door of Castle Church
in Wittenberg, Germany in the year 1517. Very
important date. And in doing that, he lit a theological
fire that burned across most of Europe and forever
changed Christendom. So the history itself matters
to us. It definitely was a movement of God. He
orchestrated this not just to reshape the church,
but actually to reshape Western civilization
as a whole. You may or may not know this, but
through the Reformation, we're the beneficiaries
of a long list of foundationally good things.
Things like freedom of conscience, Freedom of
assembly, freedom of worship, individual dignity
and human rights, the spread of literacy and
education, not to just the upper classes, but
to every level of society. The priesthood of
all believers, not just one small group of clergy.
And of course, the translation of the Bible into
everyday common languages. We are all the beneficiaries
of those things. So the Reformation matters.
On top of all that, we as a church at Oak Hill,
we are rooted in a combination of various streams
of the Reformation. Baptist, Reformed, and Evangelical.
And so the Reformation is a huge part of our
historical roots. Now, here at Oak Hill, those
roots stretch back further beyond the Reformation,
all the way back to the early church, actually
to the apostolic church of the New Testament.
But then to the first 500 years of the early
church, to the early councils, and then to the
brilliance of the reformers from the 14th to
the 17th centuries. Guys, these things matter
because as a church in 2025, we're not isolated
from the history of the church. In fact, we're
built on the shoulders of many faithful saints
whom God raised up in ages past. Saints who at
a very high personal cost led a charge to recover
the truth about things that we hold dear today.
Things like the authority of scripture, the gospel
of God's grace, the doctrine of biblical justification
that we're saved by faith alone. Through the
reformers, by the way, who were all just men,
they were flawed just like us. But when we study
their lives and we see the courage they showed
in the face of overwhelming pressure to fold,
it inspires us to stand up in our day for what
we know to be true and right. So there's a lot
to consider at the end of every October. And
here's one of the things that's often overlooked.
We tend to think of the Reformation as that past
historical thing. But the very truths that were
recovered back then are still there. vital issues
for the church today. And those battles still
need to be fought. So Reformation Sunday reminds
us that we have to have boldness to stand up
for the truth. It's required of every generation
to fight for these things. And the church is
always in need of being reformed. You know why?
Because our hearts are prone to wander. Always.
We're always drifting away from what is true
and right. So, in fact, this was the rallying
cry of many in the 16th century. It goes like
this. Ecclesia reformata. Semper Reformanda,
which means the church reformed and always reforming.
So the battle for the authority of God's word
and the true gospel is relevant in every age.
And that battle is going to continue right up
until the day that Jesus Christ returns for us.
Now, in past Reformation times, we've studied
all kinds of topics. We've talked about the Reformation
in Germany. We've talked about the life of Luther.
We've looked at Switzerland. We have analyzed
the great solas of the Reformation last year.
You may remember we did a whole two -week series
on the life of Calvin. And this year, both today
and next Sunday, because this too will be a two
-part message, we're going to look at the Reformation
in Scotland. Because that is a very unique story.
And so I can't tell you, having just gotten back
from there, after two weeks, I can't tell you
how excited I am to jump in. But for now, I want
to start this morning with a hypothetical situation
to get your minds going. What would you do if
the United States government officially endorsed
and aligned itself with a particular form of
doctrine and worship that you were convinced
was false? Not only that, what if it then insisted
that every church in America teach that form
of doctrine? That you only sing from one state
-approved hymn book, that you only say prayers
from one state -approved prayer book, and that
you practice a state -sanctioned liturgy? What
if the churches in America were closed to any
other form of doctrine and worship, including
the one that you believe was true. In other words,
what would you do if you were faced with true
religious tyranny without the freedom of conscience,
without the freedom of assembly and worship?
And what if, in addition to all those other regulations
that had come down from the state, this stipulation
was also included, that if you refuse to obey
the government's law concerning doctrine, or
if you speak out against what the government
has told you to believe and do, you could be
arrested. You could have your homes and your
property confiscated. Maybe even burned at the
stake as a rebel and a heretic. Can you imagine
that? Would you still risk gathering in secret
to practice your faith as you were convinced?
The Bible tells you. Would you take that risk
still? Would you consider taking up arms against
your government? Those types of questions are
not easily answered for people like us, right?
Because, praise God, we've never had to face
them. But they were very real questions for our
spiritual forefathers who had to face those questions
back in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. Remember,
back in those days, there was only one approved
church in the West. It was the Roman Catholic
Church. And its leadership, beginning with the
Pope, who wielded absolute power, and then down
the line through the cardinals and the archbishops
and the bishops, they tolerated zero dissent
from the nations of Christian Europe, from the
citizens of Christian Europe. Over the centuries,
what had begun is this humble, persecuted apostolic
church in the New Testament had, through the
accumulation of wealth and power and greed, grown
into this massive institutional force that in
many corners of Europe was a breeding ground
for corruption and abuse. And as early as the
12th century, many were looking at what was happening
and saying in a practical sense, the church has
lost its way, that reform was badly needed. The
God -breathed scriptures were no longer the guiding
light of the church. Instead, it was ruled from
the top down by this vast hierarchy of gluttonous
men who were building a religious system for
the benefit of the institution itself while filling
their pockets with financial benefits. One thing
was for sure, the sheep who they were claiming
to shepherd were not being fed well. In fact,
the people were starving from lack of good preaching
and teaching. They were starving from a lack
of theological knowledge and understanding. In
short, the pure gospel had been obscured by all
these layers of liturgy and ritual and tradition.
And for the average medieval European worshiper,
here was the message that they were getting from
their church. Imagine this. Attend the Mass.
Take the elements. Say these prayers. kneel when
we tell you to kneel, put a coin in the coffer,
and don't ask any questions. You can't read Latin,
so don't worry about what the Bible says. We
will tell you what you should believe. And as
long as you identify with us as part of this
Catholic church and you participate in the seven
sacraments that we have given to you, then you're
accepted by God. But was that true? What do you
think happens when a worshiper like that one
day finds out that he can actually hear the scriptures
read in his own language? What happens when a
man can finally hear what Jesus actually taught,
hear it for himself, read it for himself in his
language, actually hear what the Apostle Paul
wrote about grace? and about faith and about
salvation, about how to be justified in the sight
of God, when they're able to open up the Bible
and either read or hear what the church is supposed
to look like. What happens when people who've
been kept in the dark for so long finally get
a glimmer of light, when they hear the truth
for themselves, when they're finally allowed
to exercise freedom of conscience? What happens
when God gets a hold of people like that, when
he begins to renew their minds and brings them
to life through the power of his word applied
by the Holy Spirit in the heart? What happens?
And what happens when simultaneously the institutional
church is telling them, don't do that, don't
listen to those voices, that's dangerous information,
and by the way, if you do, we'll arrest you.
Put that mixture together and you know what you
have? You have a revolution. Welcome to the Reformation.
Grab your Bibles. And let's open up to Philippians
chapter 3. I just want to briefly read once again
our call to worship passage for this morning.
Philippians 3 verses 7 through 11. By the way,
as you're finding your way to that passage, let
me briefly explain to you the title of this two
-part series that we're doing. We have called
it Seeing Thunder. And that is a reference to
the primary historical character that's going
to come in this story of the Scottish Reformation.
His name is John Knox. It's been said by historians
that Luther was the spark of the Reformation,
that Calvin was its pen, but Knox was its thunder.
And we'll see why as we go along. Knox was a
force to be reckoned with. He was the kind of
tough, relentless fighter that God required for
the task at hand in that time. And even in his
day, some 300 years later, Charles Spurgeon famously
said this about the need for reform in the English
church. He said this, John Knox's gospel is my
gospel. That which thundered through Scotland
must thunder through England again. So we're
gonna look at his life. First, let's read this
passage, and we're gonna read through this slowly.
And as we do this, I want you to think about
what someone like John Knox would count as loss.
For the sake of the gospel. This is God's word.
Whatever things were gained to me, those things
I've counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
More than that, I count all things. What's included
in all things? All things. Even our physical
life, right? All things to be lost in view of
this, the surpassing value. Of knowing Christ
Jesus, my Lord. Because that's eternal, isn't
it? For whom I have suffered the loss of all
things and count them all as rubbish. Worthless
in comparison. So that I may gain Christ and
may be found in him. What an important statement.
Found in Christ. Not having a righteousness of
my own derived from the law, that's not possible.
I have no righteousness of my own. But that which
is through faith in Christ, Christ makes me righteous.
And through faith, which was a gift from him
in the first place. The righteousness which comes
from God on the basis of faith that I might know
him, not just intellectually, but in the heart.
Right? to give my life to him, to know him, and
the power of his resurrection, resurrection living,
and the fellowship of his sufferings. That's
the part we don't like so much, right? Everything
else looked really good up until that point.
But the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed
to his death, the way he died, in order that
I may attain, again, eternal picture to the resurrection
of the dead. But look again, the fellowship of
Christ's sufferings being conformed to his death.
Keep those words in mind as we walk through the
story of the Scottish martyrs. After the Reformation
in Germany, it kicked off around the years 1517
to 1520. If you had looked at Scotland at that
time, you'd say there's nothing about Scotland
that would lead you to believe that very soon
it would become a Protestant nation for almost
a thousand years. Scotland had been a very typical
and very devout Roman Catholic country. But soon
after Luther lit that fire in Germany, Scotland
would find itself gripped by a religious civil
war that would very quickly result in a reversal
of her national policy. Get this, in just 35
years, she would go from being a staunchly Roman
Catholic country to a solidly Protestant country.
And really there's three things, as scholars
look back, step back and look, there's three
things that contribute to that. Their list is
on the screen. Number one, the steady and secret
infiltration of biblical truth into the land.
Things that have been kept from the people were
now finding their ways in. Number two, committed
leaders like Knox and others who took that truth
and they preached it with incredible boldness.
And by doing that, they infused courage. and
steadfastness in Scottish nobles and clan leaders,
bringing them over to the Protestant cause. God
works through his people, through his servants.
And number three, the failure of Catholic authorities
from Rome to Edinburgh to recognize their cold
and heavy -handed ways. They failed to do their
own internal reform before it was forced upon
them by their own subjects. On the street level,
the story of the Scottish Reformation is the
story of churchmen and theologians and nobles
and monarchs. Makes for a great movie. But on
a much higher plane, this is the story of the
prevailing power of the gospel that is too compelling
and too powerful to remain hidden forever. That's
the big idea of this morning. There is a general
truth about the human spirit, and it's true of
all people. in all ages and all places, when
they see an institution using fear and intimidation
and in violence to enforce ideas, it causes people
to look at that and go, hold on a second, is
that justified? When an institution says you
will agree with us and fall in line or else,
it naturally doesn't sit well with us, does it?
Now, most people won't stand up and do anything
about that. They'll recognize it and say that's
bad, but they won't do anything about it. And
the institution is counting on you doing nothing.
The human tendency is to back down out of fear
and self -preservation. That's what the institution
wants. But there will always be a small percentage
of people who are convinced of their righteousness
of their cause who will have the courage to stand
up and say, no, I won't fall in line. I won't
back down. We saw this happen in the early centuries
of the church, right? In the face of Roman threats,
men like Ignatius and Polycarp and Justin stood
up and said no. And they were put to death under
the reigns of wicked pagan governors and wicked
pagan emperors. But those persecutions that were
designed to scare away other dissenters actually
had the opposite effect historically, didn't
they? So much so that the church father Tertullian
wrote this around the turn of the third century.
He said, the blood of the martyrs is actually
seed for the church, which is counterintuitive,
isn't it? But the spilling of blood of the martyrs
actually grows the church. In other words, persecutors
be aware when you put one martyr to death, you're
planting the seeds for many more to spring up
in his place. And that's exactly what happened
in Scotland in the 16th century. Only the shocking
difference in all this between what I just described
in the early church and what we're going to talk
about in Scotland is the identity of the persecutor.
Back in the day, it was a pagan Roman empire.
In Scotland in the 16th century, it was the visible
church. Think about that. Don't brush that off.
Listen again to what I'm saying. The visible
institution that claimed to be the bride of Christ,
whose leaders claimed to represent Jesus' voice
on the earth, began to arrest, torture, and brutally
execute professing Christians who dared to challenge
their teaching. Sometimes when we do Reformation
Sunday, I get accused of being a Catholic basher.
I'm not. I'm just, this is history. This is what
it is. And we ought to have great empathy for
our Roman Catholic friends who are locked in
a system and are blind to it right now. So I
don't want, I'm not hating on Catholics. I'm
just, we're speaking about brute facts here.
Now, as you probably know, the history of the
church is a history of constant disagreement.
You see it in every generation of the church.
But the question always is, well, not that is
there disagreement, it's how do we handle disagreement?
And we see this even in the first century, right?
Even in the apostolic period, guess what? People
disagreed. Shocking, isn't it? But what did they
do with it? How did they handle that disagreement?
Well, those in authority, apostles wrote letters
to the churches and said, we need to push people
to repent and come back to what is true. Is that
a godly way to handle things? 100%. In the early
centuries of the church, in the first 500 years,
you see church leaders entering into vigorous
debate, trust me. They didn't hold back. They
produced detailed theological works to justify
their arguments. And then when disagreements
continued, what did they do? They called church
councils. And they came together, and by the
end of those councils, they'd established creeds
so that everybody understood what is orthodox
and what is heretical. But in the medieval period,
there is a major shift, a major shift. It's no
longer about entering into reasoned debate. It's
no longer about writing detailed theological
works to justify what we teach. It's an issue
of raw power. You have to know that. Do not question
or challenge what we tell you. You're not qualified
to object. don't ask questions and fall in line
or else. Guys, when an institution becomes so
powerful and so corrupt that it no longer feels
it has to justify its positions by words and
reason, it can simply condemn you to death for
disagreeing. It's time for reform. Isn't that
true? It shouldn't be forgotten that the so -called
one true church of Jesus Christ has to this day
put to death hundreds of thousands of professing
Christians over the centuries. And we shouldn't
allow Roman Catholic apologists, they like to
do this, to gaslight us into thinking, well,
you know what, it's okay because that's just
the way things were back then. No, it's murder.
It's tyranny and it's murder. That's what God's
word says. And those who perpetrated that tyranny
and that murder in the name of the church. We'll
have to answer at the judgment seat of Christ
for it. Now before we dive into the history of
the martyrs, let's look at a map. I mean, you
knew this was coming. Plus, I just need to lighten
the mood. That was heavy. Just in case you're
unfamiliar with the geography of the British
Isles, here's a look at them. What you see there,
that big pink area in the south, that is... England,
very good. To the left there, you see Ireland
and that small section at the top, that's Northern
Ireland. They are two separate nations today,
Northern Ireland. And then up in the north in
the yellow there, that is Scotland, correct?
And there are some dots there that represent
key cities that we will mention in today's story.
So take a look. The blue dot is the capital of
Scotland. That is Edinburgh. The green dot is
Glasgow. The red dot is the coastal city of St.
Andrews. A lot takes place in St. Andrews. And
then the purple dot there is the city of Perth.
So just so that you have an idea of the geography.
Now, the first shot that was fired in the war
for truth in Scotland happened in the year 1528,
and it happened with this guy. His name is Patrick
Hamilton. A decade earlier, Luther had begun
turning the world upside down, simply asking
questions about how the Catholic Church was selling
indulgences, the abuse of that situation. And
as Luther's ideas then began to sort of expand
and germinate, they were being put down in the
form of pamphlets. And they were being translated
into languages other than German. And they were
being printed. And they were being disseminated
through parts of Europe. And Lutheran ideas had
begun to trickle into Scotland in 1528. So much
so, this is so funny, the Scottish Parliament
actually had to pass a law, pass a law banning
the importation of anything from Luther. The
government passed a law to stop these ideas from
hitting the shores of Scotland. As a Catholic
nation, they said, we can't allow those ideas
onto our shores. Luther is not welcome here,
and if we catch you in possession of his materials,
you will pay a price. Yet, Lutheran materials
continued to be snuck into the ports of Scotland,
and they were getting into the hands of the common
people. Something else was going on at the very
same time. In that same year, 1525, an Oxford
scholar and linguist by the name of William Tyndale
had done the unthinkable. What is the unthinkable?
He translated the Bible into English. He had
taken the New Testament Greek manuscripts of
Erasmus and over a three -year period had translated
them into this guttural common language of Old
English. But he didn't have papal approval to
do that. He didn't have approval from the Catholic
Bishop of London at the time. And so he found
out that the authorities were targeting him.
So he took his manuscripts and he fled to Germany,
to the city of Cologne, and there he began to
try to print and publish his work in English.
But then word came to his printer that he'd been
discovered in Germany. So Tyndale had to run
for his life with just the first 22 chapters
of Matthew completed. That's all he had at first.
And that work, which one copy of it still survives
to this day, it's in the British Museum, is called
the Cologne Fragment. It actually looks like
this. What an artifact that is. Look at the artwork.
That's the beginning of Matthew. You see the
genealogies there, if you can read it. Only the
first 22 chapters at that point. And the Cologne
Fragment was smuggled into Scotland. Now, Tyndale
escaped. He eventually got to Holland where he
was able to begin to print again and he finished
printing his entire New Testament from Holland
and that work also found its way into Scotland.
This is what I meant when I said when people
finally get a little bit of light, they finally
can see the Bible for themselves, read it and
hear it in their language. It's a game changer.
And by the way, historical note, for this great
service to Christianity, nine years later, Tyndale
was burned at the stake by Catholic authorities
for translating the Bible. His final words were
this, Father, open the eyes of the King of England.
Patrick Hamilton was 19 years old when Tyndale's
New Testament and Luther's material were coming
to the shores of Scotland. Now, he was a unique
young man. He was a noble Scot by birth. In fact,
he was the great -grandson of King James II.
He was an important young man. He was raised
in power and wealth and privilege. At the age
of 14, he'd studied abroad in Paris. He was a
real scholar. He'd gone on to Holland. He studied
under Erasmus. And in both places, he came into
contact with the writings of Luther and Philip
Melanchthon. And what he saw in those writings,
and he made this clear, was a connection between
the Pharisees of Scripture and their works -oriented
view of the law. and the works -oriented view
of salvation that was being taught by the Roman
Catholic Church. He made that important connection.
And he came to embrace the gospel of sola fide,
salvation by faith alone, and he saw it as the
only hope for his Scottish countrymen. So at
the ripe old age of 20, 20, he came back to Scotland,
he came to the University of St. Andrews, he
became part of the teaching faculty, and his...
People are wont to do as they teach, guess what?
The truth about what they believe comes out and
he begins to speak publicly about his Lutheran
leanings. And that did not meet with approval
from his colleagues. In fact, soon after the
Bishop of St. Andrews interrogated him, recommended
that he face a public trial for holding heretical
beliefs and understanding where that might lead,
Hamilton decided to flee. And he went to Germany.
He went to Wittenberg. He met Luther. He sat
under Luther's teaching for six months. And then
he traveled to Marburg where he studied under
a man named Francis Lambert who had been a French
Catholic monk who had also been converted to
Lutheranism. And Lambert wrote later about Hamilton
this incredible condemnation, not condemnation.
This is what he said of Hamilton. His learning
was of no common kind for his years. Still a
young man. And his judgment in divine truth was
eminently clear and solid. His object in visiting
was to confirm himself more abundantly in the
truth. And I can say truly, I have seldom met
with anyone who has conversed on the word of
God with greater spirituality and earnestness
of feeling. While he was at Marburg, Hamilton
began producing his own theological pamphlets,
which he offered for public debate. Come, let's
talk about these things. One of them was titled,
and this is a really catchy title, Errors and
Absurdities of the Papists. Subtitled, Touching
the Doctrine of Law and Gospel. These became
known as Patrick's Places. They were deeply theological
and brilliant, and they also made their way,
to England and back to Scotland. And in that
same year, Hamilton once again mustered up the
courage to return to Scotland, fully convinced
of his need to bring reform to the church there.
His friend said, please don't come, Patrick.
It's too dangerous. But his heart for his people
and for his country was too great. This time
he avoided going to St. Andrews. He chose to
do open air preaching in the fields around Inverness.
Talk about humility. He didn't need a big church.
He didn't need a big cathedral. Just fields and
hungry people. And predictably, once again, his
words came to the attention of the authorities.
The Archbishop of Scotland summoned him to come
to St. Andrews and defend his... his positions
in private interviews. In over three weeks, he
was able to speak openly about what he believed
in front of the archbishop. He was even given
a chance to debate a Catholic friar. And it was
his effectiveness in those settings that led
the archbishop to demand that he be put on trial
for heresy. Hamilton's friends begged him to
flee the country, but he refused because he wanted
to keep pressing the issue at the court. But
when he arrived at the proceedings, he found
there were 13 charges leveled against him. Among
them, these statements which he had preached.
Number one, that baptism does not remove the
depravity of man. Two, that a man is not justified
by works but by faith alone. Three, that remission
of sins cannot be obtained by means of penance.
Neither Hamilton's youth, his good character,
or his noble birth was going to save him from
the bloodlust of the authorities. So the council
found him guilty on the official charge, listen
to this, this is the official charge, holding
and maintaining the heresies of Martin Luther.
Not that he was being unbiblical. Nothing else
to say, well, this is why. Biblically, this is
why he's a heretic. No, he just holds to the
teachings of Luther. Guards escorted Hamilton
to the site of his execution, which had already
been prepared. in front of the gate of St. Salvatore's
on the campus of the University of St. Andrews.
As he approached the site, he still had a copy
of the Gospels in his hands, which he gave to
a friend along with his faculty cap and gown.
And when asked if he would recant, he looked
at his accusers, and this is what he said. As
to my confession, I will not deny it for awe
of your fire. For my confession, I always get
emotional when I read these. I'm sorry. For my
confession and belief is in Christ Jesus, therefore
I will not deny it. I will rather be content
that my body burn in this fire for confession
of my faith in Christ than my soul should burn
in the fire of hell for denying the same. The
executioner bound Hamilton with an iron chain
to a stake and lit the fire beneath him, but
unfortunately it was a very damp day. as it usually
is in Scotland, and the wood would not light.
Hamilton stood there hour after hour as the pile
just smoldered. At one point, to speed things
up, the executioner threw gunpowder on the wood.
It exploded, but it still didn't take his life.
After six hours of agony and suffering, and finally
on the brink of death, he cried out in pain.
How long, O Lord, shall darkness overwhelm this
nation? How long will you suffer this tyranny
of men? And then he uttered his final words,
Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Patrick Hamilton
was 24 years old. As I was contemplating his
life this week, this passage from Mark, Mark
chapter 8, came to mind. Jesus summoned the crowd
with his disciples and said to them, if anyone
wishes to come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever
wishes to save his life will lose it. But whoever
loses his life for my sake and the gospels will
save it. For what does it profit a man to gain
the whole world and forfeit his soul? Patrick
Hamilton embodied that truth right to the very
end of his short life on earth. But friends,
I have this feeling in my heart that the current
life that Patrick Hamilton is enjoying is glorious
beyond what we can imagine. Today he's considered
the first martyr of the Scottish Reformation,
but he certainly won't be the last. And his execution
did not sit well with the people of Scotland.
They knew of the gracious character of this young
man. They sensed injustice in his death. In fact,
one writer of the day wrote this in the local,
I guess you'd call newspaper of the day. It says,
the reek of Patrick Hamilton's death infected
all on whom it did blow. To this very day, you
will find his initials set as a monogram in the
cobblestone pavement at the exact site where
he was executed in St. Andrews. That's us. We
were just there. It's powerful. Now, we've talked
about a couple of foundational dates, which means
I want to give you a timeline. I know that's
not a surprise either. For you visual learners
like myself, remember Luther's 95 Theses. are
posted in the year 1517, the accepted dates of
what we call the Scottish Reformation, 1525 to
1560. 1560 is when Scotland becomes officially
a Protestant nation. So we're gonna start walking
down this timeline just so you can see these
dates. Luther on one end, the end of the Scottish
Reformation on the other, and we have the martyrdom
of Hamilton there in 1528. Now, in spite of the
public's reaction to the execution of Hamilton,
the Scottish authorities were not done. They
pressed forward with more persecutions. There
was a young man named Henry Forrest, a young
Scotsman who had dedicated his life to Christian
ministry, so much so he had become a Benedictine
friar of the Catholic Church. But soon after
making that commitment, he'd become aware of
Lutheran teachings. He had heard the preaching
of Patrick Hamilton. And he was present on the
day that Hamilton was put to death. And in 1533,
five years after Hamilton was executed, Henry
Forrest was arrested because he was caught in
possession of an English New Testament. That's
it. He was caught in possession of an English
New Testament. But because the archbishop was
unable to convict him based on public testimony,
The archbishop, get this now, sent a fellow monk
to go hear his confession under false pretenses.
And trusting the sanctity of confession, Henry
Forrest admitted his beliefs. Quote, Patrick
Hamilton died as a martyr, he said. And his articles
were true. This was then relayed to the authorities
and Forrest was brought before a council. He
was stripped of his holy orders and he was accused
of heresy. In response, he looked at the monk
who had betrayed him and he said, shame on your
falsehood. Shame on you, revealer of confessions.
After this day, let no man trust a friar. Haters
of God's word and deceivers of men. And then
he turned to the archbishop and he said, take
from me not just my orders, take my baptism as
well. He would have nothing to do with the Catholic
Church. Henry Forrest would spend the next few
months in the... prisoned in the Tower of St.
Andrews before being taken to the north style
of the Abbey Church where he was burned alive.
The Archbishop of St. Andrews, who now had been
elevated to the position of Cardinal, then went
hunting for even more heretics that he could
use as public examples, as if he could scare
away the people from truth. He became aware of
two young men in the city of Glasgow who had
recently been arrested. Jerome Russell was a
monk as well, a Franciscan monk, and 18 -year
-old Alexander Kennedy was a Scottish poet, and
both had been publicly, both publicly expressed
support of Reformation principles. And on the
day that they were examined, Kennedy surprised
everyone, 18 years old, when he fell to his knees
and began to praise God and thank him for the
trial. And as he looked at his accusers in the
eyes, he said, now I defy death. Do what you
please. I praise my God. I am ready. According
to eyewitnesses, Jerome Russell was even more
blunt and more eloquent. He said this. This is
your hour, he said, the hour of darkness. Now
you sit as judges as we stand wrongfully accused
and wrongfully to be condemned. But the day shall
come. when our innocence shall appear and you
shall see your own blindness. To your everlasting
confusion, go forward and fulfill the measure
of your iniquity. Man, I hope if this ever happens
to me, I have words that eloquent. Wow. More
martyrdoms. Still, that wasn't enough. In the
year 1543, six members of the local mercantile
community in the city of Perth were arrested
for having Protestant sympathies. Now, these
six people were not churchmen. They were not
theologians or monks or priests. They were just
everyday folk who had embraced the materials
that had come over from the continent, come across
their vision, and they had read it. Two of the
men worked with barley. They were farmers to
make whiskey in Scotland, which everyone does,
by the way. Two of them were farmers. One was
a skinner. Two others were butchers. And the
sixth was a woman by the name of Helen Stark,
a wife and a mother. The charges leveled against
them included this, interrupting a friar in the
pulpit to ask a question about his understanding
of the scriptures, eating a goose on All Hallows'
Eve, which was a fast day in the Catholic Church,
And in Helen Stark's case, are you ready for
this? Do not throw anything at me. Declining
to call upon the Virgin Mary during childbirth.
That was an actual charge against her. And even
though there was great sympathy and intercession
made by the townspeople to square their lives,
these five men, I'm just gonna read their names
because it matters. William Anderson, James Finlayson,
James Hunter, Robert Lamb, and James Ravelson
were taken to the gallows and hanged for those
crimes. As for Helen Stark, the council did not
have the stomach to watch her hang, so they drowned
her in a sack in the nearby river. These are
known as the Perth Six. Three years after that,
the most important martyr of the Scottish Reformation
was executed. And this one was truly the hinge
point that sparked the movement. His name was
George Wishart. Like Hamilton, Wishart descended
from a noble Scottish family. Like Hamilton,
he was a learned scholar. And like Hamilton,
through his studies, he became absolutely convinced
of Reformed theology. Wishart first came into
contact with the gospel, get this, while teaching
New Testament Greek. He was a linguist. He'd
studied the classics at the University of Aberdeen.
He had taught languages as a schoolmaster. In
1538, a decade after Hamilton had been executed,
Wishart was first accused of being a heretic.
And while Hamilton had run off to Germany, Wishart
ran off to Switzerland. And there he was profoundly
influenced by the teachings of John Calvin. A
few years later, after proving himself theologically,
get this, Wishart was invited by King Henry VIII
to come to Cambridge to join his faculty of reformers
that he was assembling there. He spent time teaching
at Cambridge, and in spite of the risk, he returned
to Scotland in 1544 with the very simple goal
of preaching the gospel and exposing the pagan
idolatry that he believed had come into the church.
And when he found that churches in Scotland,
when he got back, he expected to be embraced.
When he found churches were closing their doors
to him because they'd been ordered to close their
doors, like others, he went out into the fields.
into the hills of Scotland and began to preach
to large crowds that were hungry for the truth.
He spent time preaching in public spaces around
Montrose and Dundee. And one incident in particular
that's worth mentioning in Dundee, listen to
what happened. The new Cardinal of St. Andrews,
a wicked man by the name of David Beaton, he
sent a priest in disguise to attend one of Wishart's
sermons, but with the goal of assassinating him,
an archbishop. an archbishop. But when the plot
failed and the crowd realized that this assassin
was there to kill Wishart, they wanted to lynch
him on the spot, and Wishart defended the man.
He actually told the crowd to back away. He forgave
the man. He freed the man and sent him back to
Cardinal Beaton as a message of grace. You think
that didn't impact people? After that close call,
Wishart left Dundee. He went to stay in East
Lothian where God orchestrated a divine meeting
between himself and a young man by the name of
John Knox who became not only his disciple but
a very close friend. In fact, Knox, who was known
to be sort of a tough guy and very good with
a sword, volunteered to be Wishart's personal
bodyguard and would stand next to him in the
fields while Wishart preached. sword in hand,
just in case another assassin came his way. This
was the heart of John Knox. But it was clear
that Wishart's ministry was upsetting all the
wrong people. He was a marked man. He knew it.
And so one night during their travels, George
Wishart turned to Knox and ordered him to depart.
He knew deep in his soul he was going to be betrayed.
He wanted to spare Knox. So according to Knox's
own recollection, Wisher turned to him and said
this. He said, return to your barons, meaning
his students, and God bless you. One is sufficient
for this sacrifice. Wisher was arrested within
a week. He was condemned by the church council
to burn at the stake. And Cardinal Beaton planned
to make sure that Wishart was publicly humiliated
in front of him. He chose to have him executed
just outside the castle at St. Andrews where
Beaton lived and worked so he could watch it
happen from his bedroom window. And on March
1st, 1546, Wishart was burned alive as the cardinal
coldly watched from his window. Now the ruins
of that castle, We were just there a week ago.
They still stand. They're pretty beaten up, and
you'll learn why in a bit. See that window? That's
where Cardinal Beaton stood, gleefully watching
George Wishart burn to death. But when he came
to this place of death, Wishart knelt and he
prayed, and then he addressed the watching crowd
with these words. I love that people recorded
this. He said, If I had taught the doctrines
of men, I would have received greater thanks
from men. But for the true gospel, which was
given to me by the grace of God, I suffer this
day by men, not sorrowfully, but with a glad
heart in mind. This grim fire I fear not. I know
surely that my soul shall sup with my Savior
this night for whom I suffer this. As the fire
was lit, he said of those who had persecuted
him, I forgive them with all my heart. And finally,
he said to all those who could hear his voice,
he left this. He said, I beseech you, brothers
and sisters, exhort your bishops to the learning
of the word of God that they may be ashamed to
do evil and learn to do good. Like Patrick Hamilton,
today the initials GW are built into the street.
there in St. Andrews on the site of his execution.
So we have a last martyr. Not the end of it,
but this really is the hinge point for the Scottish
Reformation. And here's what makes Wishart's
execution so important. It's not just that John
Knox was his disciple, that this was Knox's mentor.
The bigger issue was the response from every
corner of the Scottish countryside at the death
of Wishart. Beaton was already disliked by the,
by the clan leaders, by the Lairds of Scotland.
They had grudges against him for all kinds of
things, but now the injustice of this, the speed
at which Wishart was put to death, they began
to see that there was this growing tyranny of
the Catholic Church because the people had known
Wishart and they had seen his character. They
saw how he cared for people. They saw how he
forgave. They saw how he preached the truth of
God's word and they had seen his sacrifice now.
for the cause of Christ, that he would not deny
his Lord. So when the nobles and the lairds stepped
back and they said, look at the Protestant martyrs
of St. Andrews, look how they carried themselves,
and then compared them to the Catholic authorities
that ruled over them, there was no comparison.
And the smell of an uprising began to form. Although
Wishart didn't have a long gospel ministry in
Scotland, its effects were very long -lasting.
His heart for preaching in the fields helped
to lay a foundation of biblical truth among the
people of that region and in the sovereign plan
of God. It was the foundation that Knox would
build upon over the next 14 years to turn Scotland
to a Protestant nation. Now, I'll wrap up with
this. There is an interesting PS to the story
of Cardinal Beaton. It'll set the stage for next
Sunday's message. Next Sunday we'll really focus
on the life of Knox and how those last 14 years
came about. But two months after Wishart had
been humiliated and executed, a group of Klan
leaders from the county of Fife hatched a plan
to get revenge. Disguised as stonemasons, a well
-trained group of operators snuck into that same
castle at St. Andrews. They overwhelmed the guards.
And they paid a visit to Cardinal Beaton in his
bedroom. Not only did they stab him to death,
they returned his humiliation of Wishart by hanging
his body from that very same window where he
watched Wishart die. And so for the next two
years, catch this now, a Protestant militia,
a Protestant militia led by Protestant clan leaders
controlled St. Andrews from that castle. One
year into their rule from that castle, those
same clan leaders sent word to John Knox. And
they said, will you come to St. Andrews? Will
you join us in this garrison in the castle? Will
you be our chaplain and our preacher? To this,
Knox hesitated. He responded by writing to them,
I cannot accept such a role without a clear and
lawful calling from God. But after further urging
and days spent in prayer, Knox eventually accepted
their invitation and he joined the Protestant
garrison at the castle. And he began to preach
for the first time. He'd been a bodyguard. He'd
been present with Wisher, but now he was in charge.
You're our preacher. And he began to teach the
word of God to the men in this castle. Now I'll
share more about this next Sunday, but very quickly,
the political situation in Scotland at this time
is important. Four years before Wishart was executed,
the king of Scotland, James V, had died. And
his heir was one daughter, and she was an infant.
Now she would grow up to be a very controversial
figure. Her name is Mary Stuart. We know her
as Mary, Queen of Scots. But while she was an
infant, her widowed mother, took control of Scotland
as the regent in her place, and her name was
Mary of Guise. And this Mary was not Scottish.
She was French. She was from a very powerful
French house, the House of Guise. And her two
goals in life became these. Number one, protect
her daughter's throne, and number two, increase
French influence over Scottish politics. So when
Mary of Guise was told about this Protestant,
Clan leaders have taken over the castle of St.
Andrews. She reached out to her contacts back
home in France and said, I need some help. And
soon enough, French Navy ships were spotted off
the coast of Scotland. For weeks, they bombarded
the castle from the sea as Knox and his fellow
Protestants barricaded themselves inside. And
they held out for weeks, but eventually the French
Navy landed. They surrounded that castle with
soldiers and with cannons, and they said, you
have one chance to surrender, which they did.
Smart move, saved their lives. But among the
men that were arrested that day, Knox was not
seen as an important man. So you know what the
French did with him? They took him as a slave.
So catch this now. For the next two years, the
great reformer of Scotland was forced to live
below the deck of a French Navy ship chained
to an oar as a galley slave. He rode for two
years in the French Navy, day in and day out,
as a slave. And later he would admit he never
physically recovered from this period of his
life. But we'll unpack all that next week as
we talk more about... Knox's Protestant reforms.
For today, I just want to leave you with this
one thought, coming back to where we started
at the beginning of the message. If you were
suffering religious tyranny at the hands of your
government, what would you do? Just consider
it this week. Think carefully about it. Don't
just think emotionally. Think biblically. What
would you do? Whenever we talk about martyrs
for the cause of Christ, it's worth considering.
What things am I willing to count as loss in
view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ
Jesus as my Lord and my Savior? What are we willing
to count as loss? We all know Paul wrote these
famous words, right? Philippians chapter one.
For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Is that a slogan that we live by? Just a slogan,
or do we actually believe that? I pray that none
of us has to be in the position of a Patrick
Hamilton or a George Wishart, but it's always
profitable to ask the question of our own hearts,
given that kind of test, am I willing to give
my all for him? Consider that this week. In the
meantime, happy Reformation Day. Honestly, may
we as a church continue, continue to remember
our history well. May we honor those who have
gone before us, honor those who have paved the
way to the freedoms that we enjoy today, and
may we never, never, never, never take the gospel
of God's grace for granted. Amen? Let's bow our
heads. Father, when we look back at things like
this, we are overwhelmed by The level of sacrifice,
the level of courage that these men have showed
in the face of great testing. Lord, we also know
that in those moments, we 100 % believe that
it was you that was strengthening them for that
time. And so we praise you, Lord, for their examples.
We praise you for the work you did in their lives.
We praise you for the movement that was created
through your servants, God, that you were doing
a work in Europe at that time and that we sit
here today because you did that work. So we praise
your name above all else. We can talk about the
great deeds of men, but Lord, it's about you.
It's about what you've done through them. So
thank you for the inspiration of these examples.
Lord, may it cause us to Spend time even this
week asking good hard questions of our own heart.
What are we willing to give up? Are we willing
to sacrifice all? Thank you for that. Thank you
for our time together this morning. In Christ's
name we pray. Amen.