WEBVTT

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Happy Reformation Day Part Two. Friday, of course,

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was officially Reformation Day. And so we wanted

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to make sure, actually I needed about four weeks

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for this subject, but we're doing it in two,

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which means, so Adam was right, there's gonna

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be a lot of photos, there's gonna be timelines

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and maps, and this one may run a little long,

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so be gracious with me, but I wanna make sure

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we cover this well. Last week we set the stage

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for the Scottish Reformation, primarily by talking

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about the early martyrs. that were burned at

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the stake for their Protestant faith. And today

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we're going to take it from there and talk about

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the life and the ministry of John Knox. And he

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is the man whose boldness and courage really

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drove the Reformation in Scotland to its successful

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outcome in the year 1560. It is a wonderful story,

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studying this man. A story of both successes

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and setbacks. A story of ups and downs. And isn't

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that life? Things don't always go exactly as

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we plan it. You have your ups and downs. But

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it was a story of constant battles for the truth

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that Knox and others were fighting in that day.

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Here's the thing that's really encouraging for

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someone like me and maybe for you as well. This

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is a story of a very flawed man in John Knox

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who God used mightily, just as he did with Martin

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Luther, another flawed man. These were not perfect

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men, but they were the right men for their day.

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And Knox was a man who would stand firm and not

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back down. from God's call. And that's what we're

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gonna find out today. The verse that kept coming

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to my mind as I was working on this this week,

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I kept saying, Lord, what passage could I share

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with the body this morning? And in addition to

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the call to worship from Matthew 10, which we'll

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come back to, which is very important, 1 Corinthians

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15, 58 came to mind as well. Because I think

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this really describes Knox so well. Therefore,

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my beloved brothers, be steadfast. Be immovable.

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Always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing

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that your labor is not in vain. And that really

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does speak so much to the life of John Knox.

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Now, why do we read biographies and why do we

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care to listen to sermons about great men and

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women in church history? I hope you know the

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answer to that question, but let me just spell

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it out clearly. We want to see God's sovereign

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hand moving. in human history. We want to see

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how God has mightily used his servants, raised

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up the right people for the right time, and to

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use them in supernatural ways. And in the process

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of that, guys, we get to understand a little

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bit more about our spiritual roots as a church.

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Because as I said last Sunday, we are not isolated

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from church history. We are a part of the flow

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of what God is doing in the history of his body.

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So stories of men like Knox should be, to you

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and I, very encouraging and very inspiring. And

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so I hope his story will bless you this morning.

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So let's dive in. Let's start with our main character.

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And by the way, let's just say before we go any

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further that John Knox had to have had the best

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beard in all of church history. I mean, that

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is glorious, right? Now, interestingly, much

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of Knox's life, his early life, is very much

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unknown. And this doesn't surprise us because

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this is true of most people. Until they step

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on the big stage, a lot of... Their history in

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the past just didn't show up in the history books,

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and that's true of Knox. We do know that he grew

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up in a staunch Roman Catholic family, as everybody

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did prior to the Reformation. We know he was

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a top -tier student at the University of St.

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Andrews, that he earned his degree in the year

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1536, and even served briefly as an assistant

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professor at his school. We also know that like

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all the great reformers, this is something that's

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common to all of them, he was ordained into the

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Catholic priesthood. He was ordained as a priest

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soon after graduating from university. But it

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seems that one of the things that turned his

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heart towards Protestant ideas, of all things,

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was a job that he took tutoring. the sons of

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two noble families in Scotland who both happened

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to be early Protestants. And though we don't

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have details, it seems that there were some things

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as he was teaching these two school -age boys,

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there were things being spoken of in those homes

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that must have rubbed off on him. But the determining

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factor in his life was sitting under the teaching

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of one particular man. And guys, this is, again,

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a story of God's sovereignty. You have no idea.

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In your life, when you sit down with somebody

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to teach them, to disciple them, what that person

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may end up becoming. There was a guy who helped

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to form John Knox's thinking. And we don't even

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know his name, although I'm going to give it

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to you right now. But he's not famous. But he

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poured into the life of John Knox. His name was

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Thomas Guion. And he had once been a Dominican

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friar himself prior to coming to believe in Reformed

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doctrine. And by the year 1543, Knox had done

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the same. He committed his life to scripture,

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to the gospel of grace. But the only details

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he really gives us in his writings about how

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he came to that was this sublime statement. And

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Knox is known for this, the way he speaks. He

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writes this. He says, it pleased God to call

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me out of the puddle of papistry. That's sort

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of the way he spoke and wrote. Two years after

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that is when he met George Wishart in 1545. We

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talked about him last Sunday. And Knox affixed

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himself to Wishart's powerful preaching ministry,

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became his disciple, became his close friend.

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And it was from Wishart that Knox really saw

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firsthand what it looked like to preach with

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boldness and to be faithful and courageous in

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his convictions. And as I shared last Sunday,

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we know that Knox... became his assistant, became

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his personal bodyguard because Wisher's life

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was always being threatened. So Knox would stand

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next to him while he preached with a two -handed

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sword held in front of him to ward off any assassins

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who would try to kill his friend. But when Wisher

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was eventually arrested and burned at the stake

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in St. Andrews the following year in 1546, the

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mantle of that ministry passed to Knox. He didn't

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know it at the time, but it was being passed

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to him. Now, I shared the story last Sunday of

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how a Protestant militia had taken over the castle

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at St. Andrews, and then they asked Knox to come

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in and be their pastor and to be their chaplain

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and to preach. And in that role, which he hesitated

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to do at first, we actually know exactly what

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he preached his first sermon on. It was on two

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verses from Daniel chapter 7 of all places, and

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it was taught in the pulpit of Holy Trinity Parish

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Church. on the campus of the University of St.

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Andrews. That pulpit from the 16th century is

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still in that church today. In fact, here I am

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standing in it looking like a dork on the left,

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and there I am on the right pretending to do

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my Knox pointing my finger. That is John Knox's

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pulpit from that many years ago, and it's still

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sitting in that same chapel. Now, whether it

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was a good sermon or not, we don't know. All

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that Knox would say about his first sermon later

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was, he said this. Oops, I'm going to come back

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to that. He said, St. Andrews was the place where

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God first, in public, opened my mouth to his

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glory. What a great way to describe your preaching.

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Not, hey, that was the first day I got to talk

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to the people. No, God opened my mouth to his

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own glory. By the way, the other pictures, let

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me just go back to those. St. Andrews, if you

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go to Scotland, you need to go there. a beautiful

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university town. So that's the chapel. That's

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the inside of that same chapel where his pulpit

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is. That's the campus of the university on the

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right. So as you walk through there, you know,

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the guide we were with said, yeah, these buildings

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are older than your country. I was like, oh,

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that's nice. I mean, just absolutely beautiful.

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And just, this is the town. You walk down the

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street, just, I mean, Christmas card, right,

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Grant? If there was snow, it'd be perfect. Just

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a beautiful town. Okay, enough of that. So those

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who heard Knox preach in those first couple months

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were amazed. In fact, it was said by some unknown

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observer, they said, others lop off the branches

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of the papistry, but Knox strikes at the root

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to destroy the whole. He instantly, in just the

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first few months, became known for bringing the

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thunder. That's why we've called this series

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Seeing Thunder. That became his reputation. And

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people noted right away, listen, if they burned

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Wishart, they're going to burn this guy as well

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because he seems to be even more aggressive than

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his mentor. And very quickly, he was summoned

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to answer for his preaching by the prior general

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of the local Augustinian order. And Knox... probably

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a little naive at this point in his ministry

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career, stormed into this meeting without any

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fear whatsoever and to the face of the prior

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declared the papacy to be a false office. A false

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office saying no man can usurp Christ as head

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of the church. And then he went on to attack

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the mass as idolatrous and declared that all

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Catholic ceremonies go beyond the commands of

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scripture and therefore must be stopped. That

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was Knox in a nutshell. He never held back. He

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brought the thunder. And oftentimes, one of the

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things that caused him trouble was he lacked

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any sense of tact or diplomacy. But somehow,

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God supernaturally protected him from being arrested

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at this point, and he began to move on. Now,

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I'm going to give you a timeline here throughout

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the rest of the message so that you can follow

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along on the dates. I mentioned this last week.

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In 1547, Knox and his fellow Protestants were

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actually captured by the French Navy after they

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laid siege to the castle at St. Andrews, and

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he found himself... confined to a French ship

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as a galley slave. So get this now. For 19 months,

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he was chained to an oar with little food in

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deplorable conditions. And honestly, without

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God's protection, it's a miracle he survived

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because many didn't. But that was his punishment

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for having rebelled against the authorities in

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St. Andrews. Later, a story would emerge, and

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I think this is probably true, that the crew

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on this ship would often go down into below deck

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and just try to convince all these slaves to

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conform to the Roman Catholic faith and to pray

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to Mary. And of course, Knox would refuse. So

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at one point, Knox was taken above deck, and

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a statue of Mary was pushed towards him, and

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the crew demanded that he kiss the Virgin Mary.

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And what did Knox do? He took the statue in his

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arms and he threw it overboard. And he said to

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the crew, let our lady now save herself. Let

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her learn how to swim. John Knox, ladies and

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gentlemen. Now on two occasions during those

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19 months, he noticed that he was rowing within

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sight of the steeple of St. Andrews. And he writes

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later that he never surrendered hope that someday

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he would get back there and preach again. And

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he would. In 1549, God spared Knox's life. He

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was actually released from slavery through a

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prisoner swap with France. But at that point,

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it wasn't safe for him to stay in Scotland. He'd

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already created enough enemies. So he began a

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life of exile. And this was to mark John Knox's

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life. He spent less time in Scotland than he

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wanted to and many years away from his homeland.

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So in this case, he decided that he would go

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to London. He had seen the Church of England.

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And yes, Henry VIII had brought a measure of

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reform there. But in Knox's opinion, it wasn't

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even close to being as reformed as it should

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be. So his goal was to bring more reform to the

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Anglican Church. And when he came to London,

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he was well -received by the Protestants there.

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In fact, for the next four years, he would preach

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at various locations in England. directed by

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the one and only Thomas Cranmer. If you know

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your English history, Thomas Cranmer was the

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Archbishop of Canterbury and the driving force

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behind Reformation in the nation of England.

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Cranmer first sent Knox to the northern town

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of Berwick, which was just three miles away from

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the Scottish border. By the way, it was there

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that he met his wife for the first time. Her

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name was Marjorie. A year later, he was then

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assigned to a parish in the city of Newcastle.

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And then in 1551, this is important, he was honored

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to be recommended to be one of six royal chaplains

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assigned to serve and teach the King of England.

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Now, at this point, a few years earlier, Henry

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VIII had passed away, and the throne had passed

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to his only son. If you know the story of Edward

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VI, he came to the throne at the ripe old age

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of 14 years old, and he needed teaching, he needed

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tutoring. And by all accounts, Edward was a remarkably

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smart young man. He was, get this now, he was

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thoroughly Protestant in his ideas and able to

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articulate what Protestant reform theology was.

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And so Knox had high hopes for Edward and high

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hopes that he would bring greater reform to England

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and that maybe if England got more reformed,

00:13:37.179 --> 00:13:39.899
it would spread north up into Scotland. So Knox

00:13:39.899 --> 00:13:43.019
came back to London and he taught. the young

00:13:43.019 --> 00:13:46.919
prince privately and also preached in his presence.

00:13:47.179 --> 00:13:49.899
Knox preached in places like Westminster Abbey.

00:13:49.960 --> 00:13:52.899
He preached at Windsor Castle in the presence

00:13:52.899 --> 00:13:56.200
of young Edward the King. And Knox was convinced,

00:13:56.340 --> 00:13:58.220
although Henry had divorced England from Rome,

00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:00.620
that the Church of England was still way too

00:14:00.620 --> 00:14:03.220
Catholic. So with Edward, he had a chance to

00:14:03.220 --> 00:14:05.759
really shape the young man's mind and to hammer

00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:08.759
home all the ways that the Anglican Church needed

00:14:08.759 --> 00:14:11.580
to be reformed. And then just to walk that talk,

00:14:12.220 --> 00:14:16.120
In the year 1552, Knox was offered an actual

00:14:16.120 --> 00:14:20.220
Anglican position as a bishop, the Bishop of

00:14:20.220 --> 00:14:23.379
Rochester. And he said, no, thank you, because

00:14:23.379 --> 00:14:25.960
the Church of England is not yet reformed enough

00:14:25.960 --> 00:14:28.899
for me to join it. And he said, no, thank you.

00:14:28.919 --> 00:14:31.460
He said, I will remain just a simple preacher

00:14:31.460 --> 00:14:33.700
of God's word. That's what I love about Knox.

00:14:33.899 --> 00:14:37.580
He just lived by his principles. But then came

00:14:37.580 --> 00:14:40.059
a shocking moment that changed Knox's life drastically,

00:14:40.220 --> 00:14:42.779
and this propels him into what I would call the

00:14:42.779 --> 00:14:46.700
second stage of his ministry life. In 1553, that

00:14:46.700 --> 00:14:50.820
young king, Edward, suddenly died at the age

00:14:50.820 --> 00:14:54.399
of 16. And along with him, the hopes of a Protestant

00:14:54.399 --> 00:14:59.149
England died as well. 13 days later, the throne

00:14:59.149 --> 00:15:02.009
passed to Henry's oldest daughter. So it had

00:15:02.009 --> 00:15:04.169
gone to the first son, but now it went to the

00:15:04.169 --> 00:15:07.110
oldest daughter, and she was proclaimed Queen

00:15:07.110 --> 00:15:09.049
of England. You probably know who she is. Her

00:15:09.049 --> 00:15:12.570
name was Mary Tudor. And she was a committed

00:15:12.570 --> 00:15:15.909
Roman Catholic. While her younger brother had

00:15:15.909 --> 00:15:17.870
been a Protestant, she was a committed Roman

00:15:17.870 --> 00:15:22.289
Catholic. So committed, in fact, that her reputation

00:15:22.289 --> 00:15:25.990
would go down in history by what moniker? Bloody

00:15:25.990 --> 00:15:29.549
Mary, the greatest persecutor of the Protestant

00:15:29.549 --> 00:15:32.470
church in that day. She will answer to God for

00:15:32.470 --> 00:15:35.990
arresting and executing almost 300 Protestant

00:15:35.990 --> 00:15:39.110
reformers in the country of England, including

00:15:39.110 --> 00:15:41.590
Thomas Cranmer, by the way, who she put to death

00:15:41.590 --> 00:15:44.769
at the Tower of London, as well as famously Hugh

00:15:44.769 --> 00:15:47.509
Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, John Bradford, and

00:15:47.509 --> 00:15:51.210
Miles Coverdale, and many, many more. So Mary's

00:15:51.210 --> 00:15:54.049
ascension to the throne then put Knox in a real

00:15:54.049 --> 00:15:56.820
bind. He knew he would be on Mary's hit list.

00:15:57.120 --> 00:16:00.299
So weeks after young Edward died, he made the

00:16:00.299 --> 00:16:03.879
very difficult decision to flee across the English

00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:07.000
Channel and find safety somewhere on the continent.

00:16:07.539 --> 00:16:09.940
And again, this was Knox's life. He was often

00:16:09.940 --> 00:16:12.899
on the run. He was always facing adversity and

00:16:12.899 --> 00:16:15.139
yet always watching to see where God would take

00:16:15.139 --> 00:16:18.519
him next. But always, always, always with a constant

00:16:18.519 --> 00:16:21.330
eye, I've got to get back to Scotland. Got to

00:16:21.330 --> 00:16:23.509
get back to my homeland. But at this point, he

00:16:23.509 --> 00:16:26.250
needed to find a place that was safe. So he landed

00:16:26.250 --> 00:16:29.009
in Normandy, couldn't stay long because France

00:16:29.009 --> 00:16:31.370
wasn't safe for him either. France was a very

00:16:31.370 --> 00:16:33.870
Catholic country at the time. But while he was

00:16:33.870 --> 00:16:36.669
in Normandy, he wrote a very important work that's

00:16:36.669 --> 00:16:39.070
titled Admonition to England. And he sent it

00:16:39.070 --> 00:16:41.529
off through secret channels. And this was an

00:16:41.529 --> 00:16:44.409
open letter where he pleaded with the English

00:16:44.409 --> 00:16:47.580
believers not to go back. to the Roman religion.

00:16:47.779 --> 00:16:51.379
Do not fall back. He said, Queen Mary is worse

00:16:51.379 --> 00:16:55.159
than a Jezebel. Do not obey her. They must flee

00:16:55.159 --> 00:16:58.399
from idolatry by refusing to attend the Catholic

00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:00.820
mass. And then he reminded them, if the government

00:17:00.820 --> 00:17:03.340
threatens you, don't forget you have a higher

00:17:03.340 --> 00:17:05.940
authority than the queen that you will give an

00:17:05.940 --> 00:17:09.700
account to. That's the Lord Jesus himself. So

00:17:09.700 --> 00:17:11.559
I'll bring up a map here so that you can see

00:17:11.559 --> 00:17:13.599
where he went. This great little black and white

00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:15.500
map. So the yellow area up there is Scotland.

00:17:16.669 --> 00:17:20.549
Leaving France then, so he traveled. So the dots

00:17:20.549 --> 00:17:22.549
up there, the orange dot is St. Andrews along

00:17:22.549 --> 00:17:25.109
the coast. The blue dot is the capital city of

00:17:25.109 --> 00:17:27.730
Edinburgh. The green dot is London, just so that

00:17:27.730 --> 00:17:30.250
you can see where England is. So coming across

00:17:30.250 --> 00:17:33.210
the English Channel, he lands in France. And

00:17:33.210 --> 00:17:36.410
you can see where Normandy is there. And he crosses

00:17:36.410 --> 00:17:38.410
the border into Switzerland where he first goes

00:17:38.410 --> 00:17:41.029
to Geneva, which is the red dot at the bottom.

00:17:41.049 --> 00:17:43.829
It's very close there to the French border. And

00:17:43.829 --> 00:17:47.589
there in Geneva, he meets with John Calvin. And

00:17:47.589 --> 00:17:50.309
they begin to not only discuss theology, and

00:17:50.309 --> 00:17:52.970
can you imagine being a fly on that wall? Calvin

00:17:52.970 --> 00:17:55.589
and Knox talking theology, but also talking strategy

00:17:55.589 --> 00:17:57.890
as well. Then he went on to Zurich, which is

00:17:57.890 --> 00:18:00.009
the yellow dot there, where he met with another

00:18:00.009 --> 00:18:03.390
great reformer, Heinrich Bullinger. But then

00:18:03.390 --> 00:18:05.250
the news came to him from England that things

00:18:05.250 --> 00:18:08.890
were getting so much worse back at home, both

00:18:08.890 --> 00:18:11.210
in England and in Scotland. So he sat down, he

00:18:11.210 --> 00:18:13.829
wrote two more works to the English church. Here

00:18:13.829 --> 00:18:16.349
are the titles of those two works. A Letter to

00:18:16.349 --> 00:18:19.250
My Afflicted Brethren in England, and then this

00:18:19.250 --> 00:18:23.170
catchy title. A comfortable epistle sent to the

00:18:23.170 --> 00:18:26.369
afflicted church of Christ. So you hear his heart

00:18:26.369 --> 00:18:30.390
for his suffering people in those titles. Noxton

00:18:30.390 --> 00:18:32.509
received an invitation to come to Frankfurt,

00:18:32.690 --> 00:18:35.450
Germany because an English -speaking congregation

00:18:35.450 --> 00:18:38.250
was forming there. Everybody was fleeing England

00:18:38.250 --> 00:18:40.750
because of Bloody Mary. And so some were going

00:18:40.750 --> 00:18:43.809
to Frankfurt, Germany. Some 200 Protestants sent

00:18:43.809 --> 00:18:46.069
him a note and said, would you come and preach

00:18:46.069 --> 00:18:48.849
to us? Would you pastor our church? And so after

00:18:48.849 --> 00:18:51.210
getting advice from Calvin, he went to Frankfurt,

00:18:51.369 --> 00:18:53.309
which is that pink dot there so that you can

00:18:53.309 --> 00:18:56.130
picture where that was. And interestingly, in

00:18:56.130 --> 00:18:59.549
Frankfurt, things didn't go well. This was one

00:18:59.549 --> 00:19:01.710
of the ministry failures for Knox. Some of the

00:19:01.710 --> 00:19:05.829
Protestants there insisted on... having a church

00:19:05.829 --> 00:19:09.950
and an order of service that still was very Anglican.

00:19:10.950 --> 00:19:13.509
It wasn't reformed enough, and Knox was not going

00:19:13.509 --> 00:19:15.509
to have it. In fact, one of the leaders said

00:19:15.509 --> 00:19:17.970
to him at one point, our worship should resemble

00:19:17.970 --> 00:19:21.170
the face of an English church, to which Knox

00:19:21.170 --> 00:19:24.130
responded, no, it should have the face of Christ's

00:19:24.130 --> 00:19:27.369
church. And that was his heart. And so by mutual

00:19:27.369 --> 00:19:30.369
agreement, Knox left Frankfurt behind, and he

00:19:30.369 --> 00:19:33.289
thought for a moment about going back to Geneva,

00:19:33.950 --> 00:19:37.829
But in 1555, he took a massive risk. He snuck

00:19:37.829 --> 00:19:42.329
back into Scotland. 1555, after much prayer,

00:19:42.410 --> 00:19:44.569
he sneaks back into Scotland because he wants

00:19:44.569 --> 00:19:47.410
to get a sense of the temperature of the Reformed

00:19:47.410 --> 00:19:50.130
Church in his home country. And he's encouraged

00:19:50.130 --> 00:19:52.750
to hear that groups of reform -minded believers

00:19:52.750 --> 00:19:55.390
were gathering secretly. Now, remember, at this

00:19:55.390 --> 00:19:57.930
point, every church was Roman Catholic. You could

00:19:57.930 --> 00:20:00.029
not have, it's not like today. You just can't

00:20:00.029 --> 00:20:02.809
go plant a Protestant church. Bishops were in

00:20:02.809 --> 00:20:05.410
charge of the churches. There is no Protestant

00:20:05.410 --> 00:20:08.089
church to attend. So they were meeting secretly

00:20:08.089 --> 00:20:10.309
for scripture reading and prayer. They called

00:20:10.309 --> 00:20:13.220
these gatherings. privy kirks or private churches.

00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:16.579
And it had to be done in secret because, again,

00:20:16.680 --> 00:20:18.759
there was somebody in charge of Scotland. We

00:20:18.759 --> 00:20:21.039
looked at her last week. Her name is Mary of

00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:24.680
Guise. This woman was the regent in charge of

00:20:24.680 --> 00:20:28.960
Scotland at the time. So she was in charge. Protestant

00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:31.779
ideas were still illegal, and Catholic bishops

00:20:31.779 --> 00:20:35.039
were still hunting for heretics. Yet, over the

00:20:35.039 --> 00:20:37.799
next few months, Knox moves about the region

00:20:37.799 --> 00:20:40.619
very quietly, very stealthily, and he's meeting

00:20:40.619 --> 00:20:43.500
with these privy kirks, and he's teaching them,

00:20:43.579 --> 00:20:45.960
and he's administering the Lord's Supper. But

00:20:45.960 --> 00:20:48.759
finally, Mary of Guise realizes what's going

00:20:48.759 --> 00:20:51.160
on. She becomes aware of him, and she summons

00:20:51.160 --> 00:20:54.240
him to come to the royal palace to answer for

00:20:54.240 --> 00:20:57.470
what he's up to. Now, everybody said there's

00:20:57.470 --> 00:21:00.369
no way Knox would go and meet with this woman.

00:21:00.430 --> 00:21:02.430
There's no way. She'll arrest him. Everybody

00:21:02.430 --> 00:21:04.970
expected him to flee. What do you think Knox

00:21:04.970 --> 00:21:07.910
did? No, he announced as publicly as possible,

00:21:08.170 --> 00:21:11.170
no, I'm coming to meet with her. I insist on

00:21:11.170 --> 00:21:14.150
it because I want to basically preach to her

00:21:14.150 --> 00:21:16.910
Reformed doctrine. Again, a little bit naive,

00:21:17.049 --> 00:21:20.789
but very, very courageous. Well, upon hearing

00:21:20.789 --> 00:21:24.609
this news, the clan leaders in the north of Scotland,

00:21:24.809 --> 00:21:27.869
they got fired up by that. And so they gathered

00:21:27.869 --> 00:21:30.809
their militias and they said, we will march to

00:21:30.809 --> 00:21:34.950
Edinburgh with Knox for that meeting. And as

00:21:34.950 --> 00:21:37.569
soon as Mary of Guise found out that he was coming

00:21:37.569 --> 00:21:40.390
with actual military power, she withdrew her

00:21:40.390 --> 00:21:44.150
summons completely. So Knox stared her down and

00:21:44.150 --> 00:21:46.940
won that particular round. And that brings us

00:21:46.940 --> 00:21:48.799
then to stage three of his ministry, another

00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:51.480
calling from God that would change the direction

00:21:51.480 --> 00:21:55.359
of his life. In 1556, a letter came from Geneva

00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:58.380
where he had spent some time. And same thing

00:21:58.380 --> 00:22:01.140
was happening there. This large English -speaking

00:22:01.140 --> 00:22:03.700
congregation was forming in the city of Geneva.

00:22:03.960 --> 00:22:07.140
And they also said, will you come? And will you

00:22:07.140 --> 00:22:10.819
pastor our church? And will you teach us Reformed

00:22:10.819 --> 00:22:16.269
theology? And so again, Knox agonizes. He leaves

00:22:16.269 --> 00:22:18.769
Scotland, his homeland, and he goes to Geneva

00:22:18.769 --> 00:22:21.150
because he's convinced that this is something

00:22:21.150 --> 00:22:24.589
that God has put on his desk and that he needs

00:22:24.589 --> 00:22:28.069
to learn more about pastoral ministry from John

00:22:28.069 --> 00:22:31.690
Calvin. So he leaves Scotland and goes to Geneva

00:22:31.690 --> 00:22:34.650
and learn he does. He stays in Geneva for more

00:22:34.650 --> 00:22:36.910
than three years pastoring that congregation.

00:22:37.130 --> 00:22:39.750
And if you can imagine sharing chapel time with

00:22:39.750 --> 00:22:42.589
John Calvin. There was a time in Geneva where

00:22:42.589 --> 00:22:45.490
both John Knox and John Calvin were preaching

00:22:45.490 --> 00:22:49.029
every day of the week in the city of Geneva to

00:22:49.029 --> 00:22:52.289
all of these reformed -minded people. Knox would

00:22:52.289 --> 00:22:54.089
later write that Geneva was this. This is the

00:22:54.089 --> 00:22:56.509
quote. He says, it was the most perfect school

00:22:56.509 --> 00:22:59.230
of Christ that was ever on the earth since the

00:22:59.230 --> 00:23:02.450
days of the apostles. And he wanted to stay.

00:23:02.950 --> 00:23:05.630
It was so comfortable, and there was so much

00:23:05.630 --> 00:23:07.970
success going on, but his heart is still with

00:23:07.970 --> 00:23:11.450
Scotland. And if you can imagine, His time with

00:23:11.450 --> 00:23:14.390
Calvin made him even more passionate about Reformed

00:23:14.390 --> 00:23:16.710
theology. In fact, he said this later. He said,

00:23:16.809 --> 00:23:19.529
what was first sparked in me by George Wishart

00:23:19.529 --> 00:23:23.390
was fanned into full blaze by Calvin. And this

00:23:23.390 --> 00:23:26.150
congregation in Geneva was not like the one in

00:23:26.150 --> 00:23:29.160
Frankfurt. They followed their shepherd. He put

00:23:29.160 --> 00:23:32.859
together a fully reformed order of worship following

00:23:32.859 --> 00:23:35.799
Calvin's regulative principle, and they followed

00:23:35.799 --> 00:23:38.500
him. And it was just this amazing time, the most

00:23:38.500 --> 00:23:42.180
peaceful time in Knox's life. Imagine, he's enjoying

00:23:42.180 --> 00:23:44.740
ministry success. He's also enjoying married

00:23:44.740 --> 00:23:48.259
life. His wife Marjorie gives birth to his first

00:23:48.259 --> 00:23:51.180
son there in Geneva, and yet he knew things were

00:23:51.180 --> 00:23:53.160
getting worse back home, and it bothered him

00:23:53.160 --> 00:23:56.720
tremendously. Queen Mary was continuing to arrest

00:23:56.720 --> 00:23:59.869
reformers. And in Scotland, the other Mary, Mary

00:23:59.869 --> 00:24:02.470
of Guise, was still in power. And this is getting

00:24:02.470 --> 00:24:05.329
worse. She's now negotiating the marriage of

00:24:05.329 --> 00:24:08.109
her young daughter to the crown prince of France.

00:24:08.329 --> 00:24:10.869
And if that were to come to pass, it would make

00:24:10.869 --> 00:24:13.089
Scotland even more Catholic than it was then.

00:24:13.670 --> 00:24:16.829
So bad news coming from back home. And in that

00:24:16.829 --> 00:24:19.650
moment of anger and frustration, Knox does something

00:24:19.650 --> 00:24:21.990
that he later regrets. It's one of his biggest

00:24:21.990 --> 00:24:26.170
blunders. He wrote a 45 -page pamphlet. with

00:24:26.170 --> 00:24:29.710
this catchy title. Are you ready? The first blast

00:24:29.710 --> 00:24:32.210
of the trumpet against the monstrous regime of

00:24:32.210 --> 00:24:38.769
women. I mean, he was battling two Marys at the

00:24:38.769 --> 00:24:42.670
same time, and they were both awful. This was

00:24:42.670 --> 00:24:45.849
bad. In this work, he argued that women were

00:24:45.849 --> 00:24:48.049
not designed by God, physically or emotionally,

00:24:48.109 --> 00:24:51.750
to rule nations, that it was unnatural. And this

00:24:51.750 --> 00:24:53.569
pamphlet would come back to haunt him later.

00:24:53.710 --> 00:24:56.230
Later on, he's going to seek help from Queen

00:24:56.230 --> 00:24:58.190
Elizabeth of England. And guess what she said?

00:24:59.089 --> 00:25:03.789
Uh -uh, I read your pamphlet. So it came back

00:25:03.789 --> 00:25:06.650
to haunt him. Even today in Scotland, though

00:25:06.650 --> 00:25:10.269
he is recognized as a hero of Scotland, sort

00:25:10.269 --> 00:25:13.170
of like our revolutionary figures, he is still

00:25:13.170 --> 00:25:16.509
considered the first male chauvinist of Scotland

00:25:16.509 --> 00:25:19.109
because of this. So it sort of haunted him even

00:25:19.109 --> 00:25:22.980
all these years later. And then something back

00:25:22.980 --> 00:25:26.119
home in Scotland happened that really turned

00:25:26.119 --> 00:25:30.319
the tide. That you probably would not, if you

00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:32.119
were just a casual observer, you would say that's

00:25:32.119 --> 00:25:34.880
not a big deal. But it changed everything because

00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:37.960
the nobles, the clan leaders of Scotland, finally

00:25:37.960 --> 00:25:41.000
got riled up enough to do something about what

00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:43.779
was happening in the land. And it has to do with

00:25:43.779 --> 00:25:48.220
another martyr of the faith who watered the church

00:25:48.220 --> 00:25:52.109
with his blood. Remember, 30 years earlier, the

00:25:52.109 --> 00:25:54.049
Archbishop of St. Andrews had burned that young

00:25:54.049 --> 00:25:56.470
man, Patrick Hamilton. We looked at that last

00:25:56.470 --> 00:26:00.710
week. That was 1528. 30 years later now, 1558,

00:26:00.710 --> 00:26:03.670
and there's going to be another important martyr.

00:26:04.029 --> 00:26:07.670
And they could not have chose a worse candidate

00:26:07.670 --> 00:26:11.210
to put to death. His name was Walter Milne, and

00:26:11.210 --> 00:26:14.549
he was 82 years old at the time of his execution.

00:26:14.650 --> 00:26:16.990
Can you imagine? This was a guy who'd been a

00:26:16.990 --> 00:26:19.710
parish priest in a small Scottish town called

00:26:19.710 --> 00:26:23.490
Lunan. But like so many other Protestants, he'd

00:26:23.490 --> 00:26:25.789
come to a conviction about Catholic religion.

00:26:25.970 --> 00:26:29.269
He had read the Lutheran material coming across

00:26:29.269 --> 00:26:33.029
into the land. He had gotten a hold of Tyndale's

00:26:33.029 --> 00:26:35.569
English Bible, and he was convinced of Reformed

00:26:35.569 --> 00:26:38.390
doctrine. For 20 years in this tiny little parish

00:26:38.390 --> 00:26:41.470
church, he quietly and subtly taught Reformed

00:26:41.470 --> 00:26:46.390
doctrine. But finally he came to... the alert

00:26:46.390 --> 00:26:49.789
of the authorities. And in 1546, he was declared

00:26:49.789 --> 00:26:52.170
a heretic and he had to flee for his life. He

00:26:52.170 --> 00:26:55.690
spent 12 years outside of Scotland, both in Germany

00:26:55.690 --> 00:26:58.529
and then in Switzerland. And when he turned 82,

00:26:58.910 --> 00:27:01.349
he thought to himself, I'm going to go back to

00:27:01.349 --> 00:27:03.829
Scotland. I want to see my homeland for one last

00:27:03.829 --> 00:27:07.000
time. And he came back and he could no longer

00:27:07.000 --> 00:27:08.859
go into his church that he had pastored because

00:27:08.859 --> 00:27:12.059
it had been turned into a Catholic parish. So

00:27:12.059 --> 00:27:14.740
what did he do? 82 years old, he started doing

00:27:14.740 --> 00:27:17.940
open air preaching in the fields in the county

00:27:17.940 --> 00:27:20.259
where he had served. And people came to hear

00:27:20.259 --> 00:27:23.140
him. And guess what? They went out and arrested

00:27:23.140 --> 00:27:26.900
him. 82 years old. And they put him in the prison

00:27:26.900 --> 00:27:29.720
in St. Andrews and they tortured him and they

00:27:29.720 --> 00:27:31.940
demanded he recant his beliefs, which he would

00:27:31.940 --> 00:27:34.619
not do. In fact, on the day that he was put on

00:27:34.619 --> 00:27:37.180
trial, he was so weak from both age and being

00:27:37.180 --> 00:27:40.359
tortured that they had to carry him up into the

00:27:40.359 --> 00:27:43.619
seat of the accused. And in front of the assembly

00:27:43.619 --> 00:27:46.680
of bishops and abbots and scholars, he was cross

00:27:46.680 --> 00:27:49.200
-examined and he was accused of breaking a whole

00:27:49.200 --> 00:27:52.019
series of papal laws. And then he was accused,

00:27:52.099 --> 00:27:54.779
get this, of preaching in private homes and in

00:27:54.779 --> 00:27:58.740
open fields without approval of the bishop for

00:27:58.740 --> 00:28:01.440
preaching the gospel. And you know how he responded?

00:28:02.089 --> 00:28:04.089
He said, don't forget also preaching on ships.

00:28:06.210 --> 00:28:08.950
Because I've done that too. I mean, he literally

00:28:08.950 --> 00:28:11.309
just said, yeah, put that in my charge as well.

00:28:11.750 --> 00:28:13.990
Which caused the observers that were there that

00:28:13.990 --> 00:28:17.269
day to laugh. People saw courage in this very

00:28:17.269 --> 00:28:20.730
old man. Perhaps the most damning testimony came

00:28:20.730 --> 00:28:22.609
in response to the question about him denying

00:28:22.609 --> 00:28:25.869
that the mass was a sacrifice for the sins of

00:28:25.869 --> 00:28:27.410
both the living and the dead. He said, oh, no,

00:28:27.450 --> 00:28:30.069
no, no. And he said this, this is a quote from

00:28:30.069 --> 00:28:32.849
his trial. He said, Christ was once offered on

00:28:32.849 --> 00:28:35.710
the cross for the sins of men and will never

00:28:35.710 --> 00:28:39.130
be offered again for on that day he ended all

00:28:39.130 --> 00:28:44.029
sacrifice. Amen. And when threatened with death

00:28:44.029 --> 00:28:46.569
at the stake, he found the strength to stand

00:28:46.569 --> 00:28:49.049
up on his own and he looked at his accusers and

00:28:49.049 --> 00:28:50.769
this is what he said. This is all on record.

00:28:50.970 --> 00:28:53.970
He said, I know I must die once and therefore

00:28:53.970 --> 00:28:56.849
as Christ said to Judas, what you do, do quickly.

00:28:59.049 --> 00:29:01.529
Ooh. You should know that I will not recant the

00:29:01.529 --> 00:29:03.950
truth, for I am not chaff. I will not be blown

00:29:03.950 --> 00:29:08.130
away with the wind. And the observers there that

00:29:08.130 --> 00:29:11.210
day, the townspeople, were so offended by the

00:29:11.210 --> 00:29:14.609
way this godly old man had been treated. They

00:29:14.609 --> 00:29:17.190
refused to sell to the authorities the cords

00:29:17.190 --> 00:29:20.029
and the tar that were necessary to perform the

00:29:20.029 --> 00:29:23.430
execution. The provost of the town who was in

00:29:23.430 --> 00:29:25.869
charge of the executions said, I won't do it.

00:29:26.859 --> 00:29:29.799
The chamberlain of the archbishop said, same

00:29:29.799 --> 00:29:33.519
with me, I will not put this man to death. Eventually,

00:29:33.559 --> 00:29:35.319
they found somebody willing to do it. They got

00:29:35.319 --> 00:29:37.980
enough cord, and they bound this 82 -year -old

00:29:37.980 --> 00:29:40.859
man to the stake, and the fire was kindled beneath

00:29:40.859 --> 00:29:45.099
him. And once more, from the fire, Milne found

00:29:45.099 --> 00:29:47.579
the supernatural strength to speak to the crowd.

00:29:47.859 --> 00:29:51.019
Now, didn't Adam read from Matthew 10 earlier?

00:29:51.420 --> 00:29:55.240
What did it say? When they hand you over, Do

00:29:55.240 --> 00:29:58.819
not worry about how or what you are to say, for

00:29:58.819 --> 00:30:01.339
it will be given to you in that hour what you

00:30:01.339 --> 00:30:04.019
are to say. For it is not you who speak, but

00:30:04.019 --> 00:30:06.500
it is the spirit of your father who speaks in

00:30:06.500 --> 00:30:09.480
you. And that promise came true in the life of

00:30:09.480 --> 00:30:13.180
Walter Milne, the last great martyr of the Scottish

00:30:13.180 --> 00:30:15.660
Reformation. Here's what he said. Here's what

00:30:15.660 --> 00:30:17.339
he declared to the crowd that day. It's long,

00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:20.160
but listen. He said, the cause why I suffer this

00:30:20.160 --> 00:30:24.079
day is not for any crime laid to my charge. although

00:30:24.079 --> 00:30:27.460
I am a miserable sinner before God, but only

00:30:27.460 --> 00:30:29.420
for the defense of the faith of Jesus Christ

00:30:29.420 --> 00:30:33.480
set forth in the scriptures. Be no more seduced

00:30:33.480 --> 00:30:36.900
with the lies of priests, monks, friars, abbots,

00:30:36.900 --> 00:30:40.160
bishops, and the rest of the sect of Antichrist,

00:30:40.299 --> 00:30:43.700
but depend only upon Jesus Christ and his mercy

00:30:43.700 --> 00:30:46.220
that you may be delivered from condemnation.

00:30:46.759 --> 00:30:49.980
I praise God that he has called me of his mercy

00:30:49.980 --> 00:30:54.380
to seal up his truth with my life, which as I

00:30:54.380 --> 00:30:57.480
have received it of him, so willingly I offer

00:30:57.480 --> 00:31:03.599
it to his glory. Wow. Wow. That's what we call

00:31:03.599 --> 00:31:07.519
a faithful testimony. Knox would later write

00:31:07.519 --> 00:31:10.180
that the execution of this godly old man became

00:31:10.180 --> 00:31:13.660
a huge scandal across the nation and a new spirit

00:31:13.660 --> 00:31:17.819
of revolution. came upon the clan leaders. Now,

00:31:17.839 --> 00:31:19.779
while this was going on in Scotland, Knox is

00:31:19.779 --> 00:31:22.539
in Geneva still, and he's putting down on paper

00:31:22.539 --> 00:31:26.160
another one of his writings on a very controversial

00:31:26.160 --> 00:31:29.160
topic. In fact, on a topic that he and Calvin

00:31:29.160 --> 00:31:32.440
argued about and disagreed about. And the title

00:31:32.440 --> 00:31:34.680
of his work has come down. It's called The Appellation.

00:31:34.680 --> 00:31:37.460
That's a shortening of the title. But here was

00:31:37.460 --> 00:31:40.900
the main theme. It's not just the right, he said,

00:31:41.119 --> 00:31:45.349
but the duty of the people of a nation to resist

00:31:45.349 --> 00:31:49.829
and overthrow any ruler who is ungodly and tyrannical,

00:31:49.950 --> 00:31:54.829
even with force. To allow an ungodly ruler to

00:31:54.829 --> 00:31:57.809
stay in power, he argued, would invite God's

00:31:57.809 --> 00:32:01.609
judgment upon that nation. Still controversial

00:32:01.609 --> 00:32:04.569
to this day. And then finally, before leaving

00:32:04.569 --> 00:32:07.289
Geneva, he wrote his longest work, his most elaborate

00:32:07.289 --> 00:32:10.670
work on a subject that he and Calvin 100 % agreed

00:32:10.670 --> 00:32:15.690
and talked about all the time. 468 pages on the

00:32:15.690 --> 00:32:19.529
subject, a treatise on predestination. Just in

00:32:19.529 --> 00:32:21.670
case you were wondering if the Scottish Presbyterians

00:32:21.670 --> 00:32:26.210
were reformed, they are. Predestination, 468

00:32:26.210 --> 00:32:30.849
pages on election and salvation. Now, that pushes

00:32:30.849 --> 00:32:34.630
Knox in the year 1558 into the fourth and final

00:32:34.630 --> 00:32:37.529
stage of his ministry life, and mercifully, it

00:32:37.529 --> 00:32:41.089
comes about by another death. In that year, Bloody

00:32:41.089 --> 00:32:44.109
Mary, Queen of England, died of uterine cancer

00:32:44.109 --> 00:32:49.069
at the age of 42. And two months later, her younger

00:32:49.069 --> 00:32:51.710
sister came to the throne, who is, of course,

00:32:51.750 --> 00:32:55.410
Queen Elizabeth I. And Elizabeth is a Protestant

00:32:55.410 --> 00:32:58.349
sympathizer, very different from her sister.

00:32:58.549 --> 00:33:00.690
She ascends to the throne of England, and this

00:33:00.690 --> 00:33:03.589
is an absolute game changer. Almost immediately,

00:33:03.650 --> 00:33:05.789
that English -speaking congregation in Geneva

00:33:05.789 --> 00:33:09.289
makes plans to go back home under Elizabeth,

00:33:09.369 --> 00:33:13.339
and now Knox Going back to our timeline. Now

00:33:13.339 --> 00:33:16.200
decides that with his congregation in flux, it's

00:33:16.200 --> 00:33:18.900
time for him also to return to Scotland. And

00:33:18.900 --> 00:33:20.559
that's the last time he would ever leave his

00:33:20.559 --> 00:33:24.500
homeland. He goes back to Scotland in 1559. Now,

00:33:24.519 --> 00:33:26.759
when he arrives, Mary of Guise is still in control.

00:33:27.259 --> 00:33:30.000
And her daughter Mary has now married that Prince

00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:32.779
of France. And he's already being called the

00:33:32.779 --> 00:33:36.079
King of the Scots. So Knox sees a problem coming,

00:33:36.160 --> 00:33:38.440
and with her daughter planning to relocate to

00:33:38.440 --> 00:33:41.000
Scotland to serve as the queen, Mary of Guise

00:33:41.000 --> 00:33:43.440
realizes now's the time to start clamping down

00:33:43.440 --> 00:33:46.779
even harder on the Protestant rebels. And remember,

00:33:46.880 --> 00:33:50.240
she's got French troops in Scotland to back up

00:33:50.240 --> 00:33:53.140
her royal laws. So after landing in Scotland,

00:33:53.240 --> 00:33:55.940
Knox goes right past St. Andrews, it's too hot

00:33:55.940 --> 00:33:58.700
there, and he goes to the nearby city of Perth,

00:33:58.720 --> 00:34:00.980
knowing that he would have strong support in

00:34:00.980 --> 00:34:04.359
that city. On his first Sunday, In the city of

00:34:04.359 --> 00:34:07.660
Perth, he preaches in open defiance of Mary's

00:34:07.660 --> 00:34:10.280
rule. And on that morning, he preaches on the

00:34:10.280 --> 00:34:13.039
idolatry of the mass. He preaches against Catholic

00:34:13.039 --> 00:34:16.099
images in the churches of Scotland. And because

00:34:16.099 --> 00:34:19.340
of the fire of that sermon, and you can probably

00:34:19.340 --> 00:34:22.099
anticipate this would happen, many young men,

00:34:22.199 --> 00:34:25.550
Protestant young men, began to riot. in the cities

00:34:25.550 --> 00:34:27.650
in the county of Fife. And they began attacking

00:34:27.650 --> 00:34:30.730
churches. They began tearing down Catholic altars,

00:34:30.789 --> 00:34:33.530
pulling down statues and images from the walls

00:34:33.530 --> 00:34:37.329
of churches. It created a huge problem. And Knox

00:34:37.329 --> 00:34:39.670
was, he didn't condemn it, but he was a little

00:34:39.670 --> 00:34:42.250
hesitant to approve it as well. But the fact

00:34:42.250 --> 00:34:44.670
is the momentum of the revolution had now begun.

00:34:45.610 --> 00:34:49.090
And this would go on for weeks and weeks. Knox

00:34:49.090 --> 00:34:51.489
then announced his intention to go to St. Andrews.

00:34:51.949 --> 00:34:53.949
to confront the authorities there, and to preach

00:34:53.949 --> 00:34:56.429
in that same place where he had been taken as

00:34:56.429 --> 00:34:58.949
a slave and promised to get back to, he got back

00:34:58.949 --> 00:35:01.489
to it. But when the archbishop was told that

00:35:01.489 --> 00:35:04.150
he was coming, this is what he said. He would

00:35:04.150 --> 00:35:08.150
welcome Knox with a salute of a dozen muskets.

00:35:09.670 --> 00:35:12.510
So what do you think Knox did? He marched to

00:35:12.510 --> 00:35:14.730
St. Andrews. Of course he did. This is what he

00:35:14.730 --> 00:35:17.050
said to his friends. He said, my life is in the

00:35:17.050 --> 00:35:19.960
custody of him whose glory I seek. Therefore,

00:35:20.039 --> 00:35:23.219
I cannot fear their boast nor their tyranny that

00:35:23.219 --> 00:35:26.039
I would cease from doing my duty when of his

00:35:26.039 --> 00:35:30.420
mercy he offers me the occasion. It's a gutsy

00:35:30.420 --> 00:35:34.639
dude. And so Knox comes to St. Andrews and guess

00:35:34.639 --> 00:35:37.159
what? The authorities back away. And he enters

00:35:37.159 --> 00:35:39.719
the pulpit that I showed you earlier and preaches

00:35:39.719 --> 00:35:42.460
to the largest gathering the city of St. Andrews

00:35:42.460 --> 00:35:45.360
had ever seen. People want to hear what he has

00:35:45.360 --> 00:35:48.800
to say. Guess what he preaches on? Jesus cleansing

00:35:48.800 --> 00:35:55.460
the temple. I mean, he's not subtle. And he basically

00:35:55.460 --> 00:35:57.739
says, this is what you need to do. You need to

00:35:57.739 --> 00:36:00.840
throw off the vestiges of papal religion. And

00:36:00.840 --> 00:36:02.980
the crowds are so fired up, they ask him to come

00:36:02.980 --> 00:36:06.000
back. He preaches for four days straight. And

00:36:06.000 --> 00:36:09.699
so many people convert, 21 Catholic priests in

00:36:09.699 --> 00:36:12.280
those four days convert to the Protestant faith.

00:36:12.820 --> 00:36:16.239
He's making a huge difference. Then he goes on

00:36:16.239 --> 00:36:18.699
basically a tour all over the county of Fife

00:36:18.699 --> 00:36:21.880
preaching. And this is what he says about this

00:36:21.880 --> 00:36:24.820
time. And again, listen to the humility here.

00:36:24.900 --> 00:36:27.099
He's not going, look what a great preacher I

00:36:27.099 --> 00:36:28.820
am. Here's what he says about this. He says,

00:36:28.940 --> 00:36:32.139
the trumpet of God's word sounded all over the

00:36:32.139 --> 00:36:35.980
land. We do nothing but go about Jericho, blowing

00:36:35.980 --> 00:36:38.820
with trumpets as God gives us strength, hoping

00:36:38.820 --> 00:36:42.559
victory by his power alone. John Knox got it.

00:36:42.619 --> 00:36:45.239
It wasn't him. It was God working through him

00:36:45.239 --> 00:36:48.019
and God working through the word that was changing

00:36:48.019 --> 00:36:51.599
lives. Now, Mary of Guise is enraged by all this,

00:36:51.639 --> 00:36:54.639
so she sends 2 ,000 of her French soldiers north

00:36:54.639 --> 00:36:57.659
to suppress this rebellion, and when they get

00:36:57.659 --> 00:37:01.139
up there, they bump into a surprise. The Klan

00:37:01.139 --> 00:37:03.320
leaders have come together and raised their own

00:37:03.320 --> 00:37:05.980
militia, a larger force than the French came

00:37:05.980 --> 00:37:08.489
with. And the French are forced to withdraw.

00:37:08.789 --> 00:37:11.429
And then another big break comes. A man by the

00:37:11.429 --> 00:37:14.210
name of James Stewart, who was Queen Mary's half

00:37:14.210 --> 00:37:17.510
-brother and the Earl of Argyle, declared his

00:37:17.510 --> 00:37:21.909
intention to join the rebellion. They had a royal

00:37:21.909 --> 00:37:24.809
on their side now. This is a game changer. He

00:37:24.809 --> 00:37:27.030
becomes the flag bearer of something called the

00:37:27.030 --> 00:37:30.269
Lords of the Congregation, a bunch of powerful

00:37:30.269 --> 00:37:33.090
nobles who come together and they make a pact.

00:37:33.719 --> 00:37:36.460
to defeat Mary, to drive the French out of Scotland,

00:37:36.599 --> 00:37:39.519
and to establish Reformed theology in the land.

00:37:39.780 --> 00:37:43.059
And so this army commanded by these lords marches

00:37:43.059 --> 00:37:46.300
to St. Andrews, and they tear every vestige of

00:37:46.300 --> 00:37:49.199
Catholicism out of the churches. In fact, here's

00:37:49.199 --> 00:37:52.480
a picture. We were just there, as you know. See

00:37:52.480 --> 00:37:55.079
that little alcove? See all those blank spaces?

00:37:55.820 --> 00:37:57.880
Back in the 16th century, they would have been

00:37:57.880 --> 00:38:00.400
filled with statues. They all got ripped down.

00:38:01.760 --> 00:38:04.480
Part of removing all the images and all the icons

00:38:04.480 --> 00:38:07.059
and all the statues that these guys preached

00:38:07.059 --> 00:38:11.539
was idolatrous. So within just weeks then, after

00:38:11.539 --> 00:38:13.739
taking St. Andrews, they marched south to Edinburgh

00:38:13.739 --> 00:38:17.039
and they chased Mary of Guise out of the city.

00:38:17.619 --> 00:38:20.559
And they took possession of the castle at Edinburgh.

00:38:20.820 --> 00:38:22.000
How many of you guys have been to Edinburgh?

00:38:22.519 --> 00:38:24.639
Have you seen the castle? It's one of the most

00:38:24.639 --> 00:38:27.300
spectacular buildings you'll ever tour. They

00:38:27.300 --> 00:38:29.719
took the fortress. The lords of the congregation,

00:38:30.079 --> 00:38:32.639
these clan leaders and their militia, took it

00:38:32.639 --> 00:38:35.619
from Mary of Guise. Now, they knew Mary would

00:38:35.619 --> 00:38:37.940
respond in some way, so James Stewart was so

00:38:37.940 --> 00:38:40.920
smart, he immediately sent word to Queen Elizabeth

00:38:40.920 --> 00:38:43.519
in England and said, hey, we need your help.

00:38:43.820 --> 00:38:46.059
There's a Protestant thing happening up here.

00:38:46.159 --> 00:38:48.539
We need your help. How did Elizabeth respond?

00:38:48.920 --> 00:38:51.360
First of all, I don't want to talk to John Knox.

00:38:52.400 --> 00:38:55.400
But I will send forces. She sent a fleet of ships

00:38:55.400 --> 00:38:58.380
that anchored outside the city of Edinburgh.

00:38:58.639 --> 00:39:00.960
She sent a land force that actually attacked

00:39:00.960 --> 00:39:04.159
the French troops at the city of Leith. And so

00:39:04.159 --> 00:39:06.519
Mary of Guise was now cornered. She had the Scots

00:39:06.519 --> 00:39:08.820
on one side. She had the English on the other.

00:39:08.920 --> 00:39:11.820
And she was forced to negotiate. And even before

00:39:11.820 --> 00:39:15.739
she could negotiate a treaty, she died. God's

00:39:15.739 --> 00:39:20.219
mercy. At the age of 44, of Dropsy, which killed

00:39:20.219 --> 00:39:22.739
people back in the day. She dies at the age of

00:39:22.739 --> 00:39:25.679
44. That is the final blow against Catholicism

00:39:25.679 --> 00:39:29.400
in Scotland, at least for the moment. And then

00:39:29.400 --> 00:39:32.039
what comes next over a series of weeks is just

00:39:32.039 --> 00:39:34.519
one victory after another for the Protestant

00:39:34.519 --> 00:39:37.900
faith. John Knox at this point receives his final

00:39:37.900 --> 00:39:41.139
call to ministry, the last one he would get for

00:39:41.139 --> 00:39:43.719
the last 12 years of his life. He's appointed

00:39:43.719 --> 00:39:47.159
minister at St. Giles Church in Edinburgh. That

00:39:47.159 --> 00:39:50.440
is the most prestigious pulpit in all of Scotland.

00:39:51.079 --> 00:39:53.159
And for those 12 years, he would preach, you

00:39:53.159 --> 00:39:57.000
ready? For up to 3 ,000 people a Sunday in an

00:39:57.000 --> 00:39:58.719
old, old building. Here's what it looks like.

00:39:59.059 --> 00:40:01.659
If you've been there, St. Giles is a spectacular

00:40:01.659 --> 00:40:05.360
cathedral. Absolutely spectacular. That's the

00:40:05.360 --> 00:40:09.860
outside. And then on the inside, just beautiful.

00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:14.820
The ceilings are magnificent. Look at the pipe

00:40:14.820 --> 00:40:18.500
organ, musicians. Just absolutely spectacular.

00:40:21.130 --> 00:40:23.349
So John Knox begins to preach in this amazing

00:40:23.349 --> 00:40:26.630
church. The French lose their will to fight in

00:40:26.630 --> 00:40:28.989
Scotland after Mary passes away. So they begin

00:40:28.989 --> 00:40:31.750
to withdraw. And then the Scottish Parliament

00:40:31.750 --> 00:40:34.909
gathers in Edinburgh and they pass legislation.

00:40:35.150 --> 00:40:37.570
Are you ready? Outlawing the Catholic religion

00:40:37.570 --> 00:40:41.010
in Scotland. Papal authority is abolished. The

00:40:41.010 --> 00:40:44.070
Catholic mass is declared illegal. All the churches

00:40:44.070 --> 00:40:46.369
are to be stripped of their idolatrous religious

00:40:46.369 --> 00:40:49.510
art so that, this is a quote, only Christ would

00:40:49.510 --> 00:40:53.400
be worshipped. Not Mary and not the saints. And

00:40:53.400 --> 00:40:55.340
then Parliament asked Knox to form a council

00:40:55.340 --> 00:40:58.460
of theologians to put together a confessional

00:40:58.460 --> 00:41:01.440
statement of Reformed doctrine. In just four

00:41:01.440 --> 00:41:04.300
days, they authored what's called the Scots Confession,

00:41:04.380 --> 00:41:07.719
which basically reflected all the things that

00:41:07.719 --> 00:41:10.059
he had learned in Switzerland under the teaching

00:41:10.059 --> 00:41:13.570
of Calvin. Very reformed. And the Scots Confession

00:41:13.570 --> 00:41:15.429
would be the confessional standard of Scotland

00:41:15.429 --> 00:41:19.210
for 86 years until it was superseded by what

00:41:19.210 --> 00:41:22.010
we read from this morning, the Westminster Confession

00:41:22.010 --> 00:41:24.699
of Faith. And then that was followed by a second

00:41:24.699 --> 00:41:27.519
request. Knox was asked to draft a document that

00:41:27.519 --> 00:41:30.179
would establish the polity or the church structure

00:41:30.179 --> 00:41:32.699
of the Church of Scotland. And he wrote something

00:41:32.699 --> 00:41:35.019
called the First Book of Discipline, where he

00:41:35.019 --> 00:41:38.159
outlined the need for the church to establish

00:41:38.159 --> 00:41:41.300
a structure according to Scripture and Scripture

00:41:41.300 --> 00:41:45.179
alone. Unheard of at that time. A church polity

00:41:45.179 --> 00:41:48.480
just based on Scripture. So among other things,

00:41:48.519 --> 00:41:50.519
he laid out the role of elders and the role of

00:41:50.519 --> 00:41:53.659
deacons, the congregation's right to elect its

00:41:53.659 --> 00:41:57.260
own minister, absolutely revolutionary, and then

00:41:57.260 --> 00:41:59.920
the three marks of a true church. Do you know

00:41:59.920 --> 00:42:02.639
what they are? The right preaching of the gospel

00:42:02.639 --> 00:42:05.360
by the word, the right ordering and practice

00:42:05.360 --> 00:42:08.440
of the two sacraments only, baptism and the Lord's

00:42:08.440 --> 00:42:11.440
Supper, and three, the necessity of church discipline

00:42:11.440 --> 00:42:14.789
for unrepentant sin. All thoroughly biblical,

00:42:15.010 --> 00:42:17.530
not according to popes, not according to bishops,

00:42:17.710 --> 00:42:20.889
not according to the traditions of men. Absolute

00:42:20.889 --> 00:42:24.030
revolution from top to bottom. John Knox, amazing.

00:42:25.530 --> 00:42:28.710
Now, that sounds like a wonderful victory, right?

00:42:29.489 --> 00:42:31.750
You know every time we do a historical lesson,

00:42:31.849 --> 00:42:34.210
there's always a PS, right? Like what happens

00:42:34.210 --> 00:42:36.409
next? I actually have two PSs I want to share

00:42:36.409 --> 00:42:38.289
with you, so take a deep breath. We're going

00:42:38.289 --> 00:42:39.909
to stick with it because this is the important

00:42:39.909 --> 00:42:44.019
lesson for us. First, you have to know that what

00:42:44.019 --> 00:42:47.119
I just described, that happens in 1560 and it

00:42:47.119 --> 00:42:49.219
officially makes Scotland a Protestant nation.

00:42:49.699 --> 00:42:52.380
But listen, friends, the fight for biblical truth

00:42:52.380 --> 00:42:56.579
never ceases. I cannot say this loud enough.

00:42:56.619 --> 00:42:59.920
The enemy doesn't sleep and he never quits, right?

00:43:00.119 --> 00:43:02.280
And we drove that home last Sunday, but I want

00:43:02.280 --> 00:43:04.980
to say it again. The battle for truth belongs

00:43:04.980 --> 00:43:07.920
to every generation. Just when you think you

00:43:07.920 --> 00:43:10.539
have it settled, is when it comes under attack

00:43:10.539 --> 00:43:13.420
and it can be lost. So we have to stay vigilant.

00:43:13.840 --> 00:43:16.800
John Knox still had a dozen years of fighting

00:43:16.800 --> 00:43:19.840
ahead of him and it wasn't gonna be easy. And

00:43:19.840 --> 00:43:24.059
here's why. Mary of Guise had died, but now her

00:43:24.059 --> 00:43:27.960
daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots, was coming to

00:43:27.960 --> 00:43:31.340
Scotland, thoroughly Catholic. And so the battle

00:43:31.340 --> 00:43:33.940
was on once again. Now, so here's the history.

00:43:33.980 --> 00:43:36.139
Here's a picture of, her name is Mary Stewart.

00:43:36.860 --> 00:43:39.880
She is the daughter of King James V of Scotland

00:43:39.880 --> 00:43:43.199
and Mary of Guise, and that made her a dynastic

00:43:43.199 --> 00:43:46.320
prize. Through her grandfather, she has a strong

00:43:46.320 --> 00:43:49.860
claim to both the English and Scottish thrones.

00:43:49.960 --> 00:43:52.119
And so it's interesting, while he was still alive,

00:43:52.320 --> 00:43:55.500
Henry VIII tried to make a match with her and

00:43:55.500 --> 00:43:58.400
young Edward when they were both kids to promise

00:43:58.400 --> 00:44:01.320
them to one another. But Mary of Guise shut it

00:44:01.320 --> 00:44:03.619
down because of her French leaning. She did not

00:44:03.619 --> 00:44:06.079
want her daughter to marry an English prince.

00:44:06.400 --> 00:44:10.159
So Henry was frustrated by this. And in order

00:44:10.159 --> 00:44:13.739
to keep Mary, Queen of Scots, safe, she was taken

00:44:13.739 --> 00:44:16.239
out of Scotland. She was sent to the French court

00:44:16.239 --> 00:44:19.960
in Paris. And she was promised to a French crown

00:44:19.960 --> 00:44:23.139
prince. She was raised Catholic in Paris and

00:44:23.139 --> 00:44:26.980
promised to Francis II. There's a picture of

00:44:26.980 --> 00:44:30.659
him. Francis was 15, and she was 14 at the time,

00:44:30.719 --> 00:44:34.260
but they were raised in Paris and raised as Catholics.

00:44:34.760 --> 00:44:37.860
Francis became a king the next year, and this

00:44:37.860 --> 00:44:39.880
is all during the time when Protestantism is

00:44:39.880 --> 00:44:43.179
rising in Scotland, but Francis was a very sickly

00:44:43.179 --> 00:44:47.159
young man, and he died at the age of 16. Life

00:44:47.159 --> 00:44:50.400
was short back then. Now, here's the thing. So

00:44:50.400 --> 00:44:53.199
Mary, her mother has passed away now. She's now

00:44:53.199 --> 00:44:57.460
a widow. And so she decides to leave France and

00:44:57.460 --> 00:45:00.059
come back to Scotland and go, where's my throne?

00:45:01.860 --> 00:45:05.219
She had every right to it. She is royalty. But

00:45:05.219 --> 00:45:07.460
guess what? She was not walking in at a position

00:45:07.460 --> 00:45:10.000
of power because the country had moved past her.

00:45:10.440 --> 00:45:13.199
The country had not had a royal on the throne

00:45:13.199 --> 00:45:16.059
for many years. And now they'd also rejected

00:45:16.059 --> 00:45:19.269
her religion, Catholicism. The clan leaders and

00:45:19.269 --> 00:45:21.369
the parliament of Scotland were basically in

00:45:21.369 --> 00:45:24.190
control. So Mary's walking in as a monarch, as

00:45:24.190 --> 00:45:27.070
a royal, and they're like, uh -uh, we're not

00:45:27.070 --> 00:45:29.570
interested, which is a difficult thing. Now,

00:45:29.610 --> 00:45:33.429
Knox is smart. He knows that she can still be

00:45:33.429 --> 00:45:36.289
a threat. First of all, she's charming. She's

00:45:36.289 --> 00:45:38.909
beautiful. She's young. And people in Europe

00:45:38.909 --> 00:45:42.030
love their monarchs, do they not? So he's worried

00:45:42.030 --> 00:45:46.219
that something could come of this. Word gets

00:45:46.219 --> 00:45:48.619
out that Mary, Queen of Scots, is thinking about

00:45:48.619 --> 00:45:52.500
marrying again, and she has her eye on a crown

00:45:52.500 --> 00:45:57.119
prince of Spain, the son of King Philip II, another

00:45:57.119 --> 00:46:00.460
ultra -Catholic country. If that match happens,

00:46:00.639 --> 00:46:03.980
then Scotland is once again under threat. So

00:46:03.980 --> 00:46:06.400
the trouble starts early. Mary comes back to

00:46:06.400 --> 00:46:08.860
Scotland. Within a week, she demands to celebrate

00:46:08.860 --> 00:46:12.630
the Catholic Mass in the city of Edinburgh. And

00:46:12.630 --> 00:46:15.429
they do. They allow her to do that because she's

00:46:15.429 --> 00:46:18.949
royalty. Well, Knox is furious. And that Sunday

00:46:18.949 --> 00:46:21.489
in St. Giles, he thunders against the queen,

00:46:21.710 --> 00:46:24.789
thunders against her blasphemous religion. And

00:46:24.789 --> 00:46:27.730
the next day, the Privy Council of Scotland declares

00:46:27.730 --> 00:46:30.690
that the queen has violated the act of the Reformation

00:46:30.690 --> 00:46:33.829
Parliament in 1560. And from this point forward,

00:46:33.889 --> 00:46:36.449
cannot do the mass. She's got to uphold the Protestant

00:46:36.449 --> 00:46:40.750
faith or be arrested. So this is the big square

00:46:40.750 --> 00:46:44.730
off, the divine right of monarchs versus the

00:46:44.730 --> 00:46:47.690
law of the land. Who's gonna win? Well, when

00:46:47.690 --> 00:46:49.710
Mary hears this, that she's been threatened,

00:46:49.849 --> 00:46:53.469
she summons Knox to her royal palace and she

00:46:53.469 --> 00:46:56.710
threatens Knox. And guess what he did? He ran

00:46:56.710 --> 00:46:58.309
in there to meet with her, of course, right?

00:46:58.409 --> 00:47:01.010
He loves the confrontation and he has the first

00:47:01.010 --> 00:47:04.329
of four face -to -face confrontations with Mary,

00:47:04.469 --> 00:47:07.440
Queen of Scots. And basically the way this goes,

00:47:07.559 --> 00:47:10.099
and man, they have a really good transcript of

00:47:10.099 --> 00:47:13.260
how this conversation went. Mary begins by charging

00:47:13.260 --> 00:47:16.099
Knox with rebellion, fomenting violence against

00:47:16.099 --> 00:47:19.380
the crown. And Knox makes it clear. In his opinion,

00:47:19.539 --> 00:47:22.739
monarchs need to be resisted if they're ungodly.

00:47:22.960 --> 00:47:25.980
And when Mary then declares, I will defend my

00:47:25.980 --> 00:47:28.719
Catholic faith with all that I am, you want to

00:47:28.719 --> 00:47:31.380
hear what Knox said? You'll love this. He's saying

00:47:31.380 --> 00:47:35.500
this to the Queen of Scotland in private. He

00:47:35.500 --> 00:47:57.159
says, That was the nice part of the conversation.

00:47:58.300 --> 00:48:01.969
There's a conversation later where Now, again,

00:48:02.070 --> 00:48:04.670
she's a young lady. She's 18 years old here.

00:48:04.789 --> 00:48:08.469
And Knox is a mid -40s guy at this point. There's

00:48:08.469 --> 00:48:10.610
a conversation later on they have where he literally

00:48:10.610 --> 00:48:13.530
makes her cry to the point where she cannot recover.

00:48:13.869 --> 00:48:16.429
And he stands there for an hour watching her

00:48:16.429 --> 00:48:19.809
cry. Just stands there waiting. And she never

00:48:19.809 --> 00:48:23.349
is able to regain her composure. And her ladies

00:48:23.349 --> 00:48:25.829
come in and drag her out, and he leaves. Like,

00:48:25.829 --> 00:48:33.150
the guy was unbending. Anyway, so this verbal

00:48:33.150 --> 00:48:36.250
battle between these two goes on. The queen breathing

00:48:36.250 --> 00:48:38.989
out threats against Knox. Every Sunday, Knox

00:48:38.989 --> 00:48:42.170
is railing from St. Giles against the queen and

00:48:42.170 --> 00:48:44.849
her Catholicism. She would later go on to say,

00:48:45.030 --> 00:48:48.550
she feared the prayers of John Knox more than

00:48:48.550 --> 00:48:52.690
all the armies of Europe. She was scared to death

00:48:52.690 --> 00:48:55.690
of the guy because he was so unbending. This

00:48:55.690 --> 00:48:58.070
went on for six years. And then interestingly,

00:48:58.250 --> 00:49:02.510
in 1567, The Scottish nobility rose up and deposed

00:49:02.510 --> 00:49:04.510
Mary. She was involved in a criminal conspiracy

00:49:04.510 --> 00:49:08.150
to murder somebody and the nobles deposed her

00:49:08.150 --> 00:49:11.070
and locked her up. And eventually she broke out

00:49:11.070 --> 00:49:14.070
of prison and fled to England and spent the last

00:49:14.070 --> 00:49:17.289
19 years in exile in England until what? Does

00:49:17.289 --> 00:49:20.210
anybody know how her life ended? Her cousin,

00:49:20.329 --> 00:49:24.329
Queen Elizabeth, beheaded her because she was

00:49:24.329 --> 00:49:26.670
involved in an assassination plot against Elizabeth.

00:49:27.599 --> 00:49:31.940
So she's a super tragic figure. John Knox was

00:49:31.940 --> 00:49:35.460
not empathetic. When it was all said and done,

00:49:35.519 --> 00:49:38.099
biblical truth won the day. And the preaching

00:49:38.099 --> 00:49:40.400
of Knox was the means that God used to win that

00:49:40.400 --> 00:49:43.900
victory. Now Knox dies in 1572 at the age of

00:49:43.900 --> 00:49:46.820
58. He was just physically worn out from life

00:49:46.820 --> 00:49:49.340
and from ministry. We know that on his deathbed,

00:49:49.400 --> 00:49:52.980
he asked his wife to read from John chapter 17.

00:49:53.440 --> 00:49:56.860
He said, this is where I first cast my anchor.

00:49:57.570 --> 00:50:00.110
As a Christian, it was John chapter 17, the high

00:50:00.110 --> 00:50:02.710
priestly prayer of Christ. And she read that

00:50:02.710 --> 00:50:04.949
chapter to him as he passed away. Now he was

00:50:04.949 --> 00:50:07.449
buried in the graveyard just outside of St. Giles.

00:50:07.610 --> 00:50:09.570
And if you've been to Scotland today, you know

00:50:09.570 --> 00:50:13.190
that that whole area, that old graveyard, was

00:50:13.190 --> 00:50:16.889
paved over and turned into a parking lot for

00:50:16.889 --> 00:50:18.869
the Scottish Parliament building, which is right

00:50:18.869 --> 00:50:22.030
next to St. Giles. And so there's hundreds of

00:50:22.030 --> 00:50:26.010
people buried under this parking lot. But only

00:50:26.010 --> 00:50:28.710
one spot is marked, and it's John Knox's. So

00:50:28.710 --> 00:50:35.670
that's the parking lot. He's in space 23. Which

00:50:35.670 --> 00:50:39.969
is amazing. And just as a juxtaposition, we'll

00:50:39.969 --> 00:50:42.150
get to this guy next. The guy on the horse there

00:50:42.150 --> 00:50:46.329
is King Charles I. And he's an awful, awful man.

00:50:46.730 --> 00:50:50.530
But look at the juxtaposition of a braggart who

00:50:50.530 --> 00:50:53.750
ends up commissioning a statue of himself. And

00:50:53.750 --> 00:50:56.690
John Knox is buried under a parking lot. And

00:50:56.690 --> 00:51:00.110
yet, who walks with God today? And yet, who impacted

00:51:00.110 --> 00:51:02.570
the world more? There's no question about it.

00:51:03.269 --> 00:51:05.750
So by the way, when we were in Scotland, the

00:51:05.750 --> 00:51:08.030
guide that was taking us around is a licensed

00:51:08.030 --> 00:51:11.250
guide. And as such, he has access to the royal

00:51:11.250 --> 00:51:13.929
archives of Scotland, going back into the time

00:51:13.929 --> 00:51:15.769
of Knox. And he said, by the way, do you want

00:51:15.769 --> 00:51:17.530
to see some pictures? Here's a picture of Knox's

00:51:17.530 --> 00:51:21.530
Bible. Actually, that's his Bible on the left.

00:51:21.980 --> 00:51:26.360
He requested to hold Knox's Bible at the National

00:51:26.360 --> 00:51:28.559
Library in Scotland, and they brought it to him.

00:51:28.599 --> 00:51:30.539
They said, here you go. He literally was holding

00:51:30.539 --> 00:51:33.360
Knox's Bible. And when he opened it up, there's

00:51:33.360 --> 00:51:37.079
Knox's personal writings on the inside. In fact,

00:51:37.139 --> 00:51:40.280
here's some zoom in. There's his name. He literally

00:51:40.280 --> 00:51:44.400
wrote his name, 1561 John Knox, and like an outline

00:51:44.400 --> 00:51:46.980
of a sermon that he was writing. And this is

00:51:46.980 --> 00:51:48.940
in the Royal Archives in Scotland even today.

00:51:49.039 --> 00:51:54.000
Amazing. Pretty cool. Okay, that's one PS. Second

00:51:54.000 --> 00:51:56.900
PS, and I promise I'll be done. I said it last

00:51:56.900 --> 00:51:59.539
Sunday, I'm gonna say it again. Reformation is

00:51:59.539 --> 00:52:02.239
never a one -time thing. The church not only

00:52:02.239 --> 00:52:05.300
has to be reformed, but keep reforming. Always

00:52:05.300 --> 00:52:07.739
coming back to the anchor of God's word. Because

00:52:07.739 --> 00:52:10.239
again, our spiritual enemy never quits. When

00:52:10.239 --> 00:52:13.420
Knox dies in 1572, if you were an outsider, you'd

00:52:13.420 --> 00:52:16.519
say, well, look, things are settled. The nation

00:52:16.519 --> 00:52:19.719
is Protestant. But within 50 years, everything

00:52:19.719 --> 00:52:22.860
changed. After Mary, Queen of Scots, the next

00:52:22.860 --> 00:52:25.900
ruler on the throne of Scotland was James VI

00:52:25.900 --> 00:52:30.199
of Scotland. James I of England, that's the James

00:52:30.199 --> 00:52:34.059
of the King James Bible. He's the next guy. His

00:52:34.059 --> 00:52:38.400
son, Charles I, is a real problem. This is Charles

00:52:38.400 --> 00:52:41.260
I. He creates a bloody crisis for the Protestant

00:52:41.260 --> 00:52:44.420
faith. Charles was a big fan of the divine right

00:52:44.420 --> 00:52:46.599
of kings. He believed that he could do as he

00:52:46.599 --> 00:52:49.139
pleased as a monarch regardless of the laws of

00:52:49.139 --> 00:52:53.570
his own land. And so in 1637, he imposes a new

00:52:53.570 --> 00:52:57.010
liturgy on the churches of Scotland, just by

00:52:57.010 --> 00:52:59.909
fiat. All the churches in Scotland will have

00:52:59.909 --> 00:53:02.329
a new liturgy. This doesn't sit well with the

00:53:02.329 --> 00:53:04.750
people. And in fact, there's an amazing story

00:53:04.750 --> 00:53:08.889
that goes with this. Sunday, July 23rd, 1637.

00:53:09.250 --> 00:53:12.010
Now remember, Knox dies in 1572, so this is 50

00:53:12.010 --> 00:53:15.030
years later. A minister at St. Giles Church,

00:53:15.250 --> 00:53:18.099
where Knox had preached. stands in the pulpit

00:53:18.099 --> 00:53:21.400
and begins to read from Charles' brand new Book

00:53:21.400 --> 00:53:24.280
of Common Prayer. But in the ears of the congregation,

00:53:24.320 --> 00:53:27.099
as they hear it, they're like, that sounds really

00:53:27.099 --> 00:53:31.340
Catholic. And they're not having it. And a famous

00:53:31.340 --> 00:53:34.699
Scottish woman by the name of Jenny Geddes, she

00:53:34.699 --> 00:53:37.480
wasn't having it. And as the minister is reading,

00:53:37.599 --> 00:53:40.579
she stands up, she picks up the stool that she

00:53:40.579 --> 00:53:46.079
has, and she throws it at the guy's head. Yeah.

00:53:46.960 --> 00:53:48.840
I mean, these people felt strongly about their

00:53:48.840 --> 00:53:51.480
religion. And then she yells this in the congregation.

00:53:51.820 --> 00:53:54.300
You'll love this. She says, the devil caused

00:53:54.300 --> 00:53:57.519
you colic in your stomach, you false thief. Dare

00:53:57.519 --> 00:54:02.380
you say the mass in my ear? That's a gutsy woman.

00:54:03.940 --> 00:54:06.300
And that kicks off a whole new reformed rebellion.

00:54:06.420 --> 00:54:08.840
In fact, when you go to St. Giles today, there

00:54:08.840 --> 00:54:14.179
is a copy of her stool. It's sitting there with

00:54:14.179 --> 00:54:17.769
a plaque. It's famous. He just started throwing

00:54:17.769 --> 00:54:23.170
stuff. Amazing. So another group of nobles then

00:54:23.170 --> 00:54:26.230
come together. Listen, this is amazing. And there's

00:54:26.230 --> 00:54:29.010
a facsimile of this in St. Giles. They signed

00:54:29.010 --> 00:54:32.030
a national covenant literally with their blood.

00:54:32.969 --> 00:54:35.690
Literally, you see it. You see the blood on the

00:54:35.690 --> 00:54:39.170
manuscript. Signing to pledge their lives to

00:54:39.170 --> 00:54:43.099
resist. King Charles and to resist these Anglican

00:54:43.099 --> 00:54:45.360
practices in Scotland. And they end up having

00:54:45.360 --> 00:54:48.219
to fight actual military wars. They're called

00:54:48.219 --> 00:54:51.019
the Bishop's Wars against their own king, King

00:54:51.019 --> 00:54:54.699
Charles I. And they win the battles. They actually

00:54:54.699 --> 00:54:57.760
force King Charles to come and to give up his

00:54:57.760 --> 00:55:00.820
new Anglican liturgy. But then it gets worse.

00:55:00.900 --> 00:55:04.440
His son, Charles II, is the most bloody persecutor

00:55:04.440 --> 00:55:08.210
of all. Charles II goes well beyond his own father.

00:55:08.349 --> 00:55:12.710
He repeals all of the Protestant reforms that

00:55:12.710 --> 00:55:15.070
had been set in place in the days of Knox. He

00:55:15.070 --> 00:55:17.989
literally puts bishops back in charge of all

00:55:17.989 --> 00:55:20.750
the churches in Scotland, pushing out some 400

00:55:20.750 --> 00:55:24.090
presbytery ministers out of their churches. And

00:55:24.090 --> 00:55:26.630
when these covenanters come together and begin

00:55:26.630 --> 00:55:28.829
to hold outdoor worship services because they

00:55:28.829 --> 00:55:31.369
can't go back in their churches, guess what he

00:55:31.369 --> 00:55:33.989
does? He sends soldiers to start rounding up

00:55:33.989 --> 00:55:36.989
anybody who went into the fields to listen to

00:55:36.989 --> 00:55:40.190
the gospel being preached. Catch this now. This

00:55:40.190 --> 00:55:42.969
is known in Scottish history as the killing time.

00:55:43.570 --> 00:55:48.750
And it is their biggest national tragedy. So

00:55:48.750 --> 00:55:50.510
catch this now. According to records from the

00:55:50.510 --> 00:55:54.679
1700s, and there's a monument to this, 18 ,000

00:55:54.679 --> 00:55:59.280
Protestants were rounded up, many of them executed

00:55:59.280 --> 00:56:02.139
within a nine -year period under the reign of

00:56:02.139 --> 00:56:05.519
Charles II. Let me give you the scope on that

00:56:05.519 --> 00:56:07.460
for a second. When we look at the early church

00:56:07.460 --> 00:56:10.460
being persecuted by the Roman emperors, this

00:56:10.460 --> 00:56:14.019
is three times that many killed in a nine -year

00:56:14.019 --> 00:56:16.579
period as the Roman emperors killed in 300 years.

00:56:17.820 --> 00:56:20.820
This is the bloodiest persecution that Protestantism

00:56:20.820 --> 00:56:24.719
has ever gone through. In Scotland, under a Scottish

00:56:24.719 --> 00:56:27.900
king. 18 ,000. In fact, here's the monument to

00:56:27.900 --> 00:56:31.559
it. We took a picture of it. To the bodies that

00:56:31.559 --> 00:56:36.260
are buried there. Absolutely stunning. Now, good

00:56:36.260 --> 00:56:38.780
news. The reign of terror for Charles II would

00:56:38.780 --> 00:56:42.800
end in 1688. And it was ended by a strong man

00:56:42.800 --> 00:56:45.079
by the name of William of Orange. Anybody know

00:56:45.079 --> 00:56:48.440
William of Orange? An amazing guy. He had led

00:56:48.440 --> 00:56:52.380
the Protestant revolution in Holland, the Netherlands,

00:56:52.619 --> 00:56:55.699
freeing themselves from Catholic Spain. And then

00:56:55.699 --> 00:56:57.980
when he looked across the ocean, he said, I see

00:56:57.980 --> 00:57:01.219
problems in Scotland. He brought his Dutch army

00:57:01.219 --> 00:57:04.320
to the Scottish shores and chased King James

00:57:04.320 --> 00:57:07.760
off the throne. And he and his wife, William

00:57:07.760 --> 00:57:11.599
and Mary, we have a university named after them,

00:57:11.639 --> 00:57:14.099
right? William and Mary became king and queen

00:57:14.099 --> 00:57:17.239
of Scotland. in James's place. From that point

00:57:17.239 --> 00:57:21.739
forward, 1688 until today, Scotland is a Protestant

00:57:21.739 --> 00:57:25.780
nation. But it took the blood of so many people,

00:57:25.820 --> 00:57:28.460
you guys, and that's the big PS I want to get

00:57:28.460 --> 00:57:31.099
through. There's a cost to this. I know that

00:57:31.099 --> 00:57:33.619
we're Americans. We don't have to fight like

00:57:33.619 --> 00:57:38.500
that. Are you grateful for that? Would you fight

00:57:38.500 --> 00:57:41.559
for it? Would you stand up and fight for it?

00:57:43.019 --> 00:57:46.119
Truth can easily be lost, friends. It just takes

00:57:46.119 --> 00:57:49.320
one generation. So commit yourself to it. Okay,

00:57:49.400 --> 00:57:51.860
what do we say about John Knox as we wrap up?

00:57:52.920 --> 00:57:56.900
Well, he's a guy with rough edges, right? A little

00:57:56.900 --> 00:57:59.820
bit pugnacious, perhaps, like Luther, but that's

00:57:59.820 --> 00:58:02.659
exactly what God needed in that day. He was the

00:58:02.659 --> 00:58:05.079
perfect man for that job. He was bold, he was

00:58:05.079 --> 00:58:07.519
courageous, he was unbending. One historian puts

00:58:07.519 --> 00:58:10.380
it this way. He says, Knox was not a gentle flute.

00:58:11.280 --> 00:58:14.920
He was a militant called to awaken a slumbering

00:58:14.920 --> 00:58:18.340
nation from its spiritual sleep. And so there's

00:58:18.340 --> 00:58:20.599
many examples of Knox angering people with his

00:58:20.599 --> 00:58:23.460
style, with his content. He believed that God

00:58:23.460 --> 00:58:25.719
had called him to preach the truth and that's

00:58:25.719 --> 00:58:27.420
all that mattered. He was like an Old Testament

00:58:27.420 --> 00:58:29.780
prophet. He really didn't care what you thought

00:58:29.780 --> 00:58:33.000
of him. He was gonna preach the truth. So while

00:58:33.000 --> 00:58:35.039
I don't think today that church leaders should

00:58:35.039 --> 00:58:37.719
pattern their speech after him, we should definitely

00:58:37.719 --> 00:58:40.739
look at how fearless he was. and how courageous

00:58:40.739 --> 00:58:44.199
he was. I think he lived with Psalm 56, 11 in

00:58:44.199 --> 00:58:47.159
mind. It says this, in God I have put my trust.

00:58:47.340 --> 00:58:50.639
I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

00:58:51.840 --> 00:58:54.500
May God continue to raise up men like that with

00:58:54.500 --> 00:58:58.760
that spirit even today in our church. Amen? Thanks

00:58:58.760 --> 00:59:00.579
for your patience with me. It's a great story.

00:59:00.639 --> 00:59:03.860
Let's pray together. Father, thank you for your

00:59:03.860 --> 00:59:06.500
work through this man. We know, God, that...

00:59:07.039 --> 00:59:08.940
Apart from you, John Knox could not have accomplished

00:59:08.940 --> 00:59:13.480
anything. None of us can. Lord, as I say every

00:59:13.480 --> 00:59:15.840
week in my prayer time, my words have no power

00:59:15.840 --> 00:59:19.400
in this place. It's only when your spirit moves

00:59:19.400 --> 00:59:22.239
in our hearts and minds that transformation takes

00:59:22.239 --> 00:59:24.739
place. So thank you, Lord, for what you're doing,

00:59:24.860 --> 00:59:27.320
what you've done in all these hundreds of years

00:59:27.320 --> 00:59:29.579
since the time of John Knox, what you're doing

00:59:29.579 --> 00:59:31.639
in this church, what you're doing around the

00:59:31.639 --> 00:59:34.360
world, Lord, as we continue on this Reformation

00:59:34.360 --> 00:59:38.260
week. to lift up Protestant reform doctrine and

00:59:38.260 --> 00:59:40.519
say, thank you, Lord, that we've come back to

00:59:40.519 --> 00:59:43.099
what scripture says and not to the traditions

00:59:43.099 --> 00:59:45.699
of men. Thank you, Lord, for that grace in our

00:59:45.699 --> 00:59:47.980
lives. Thank you for this church. We praise you

00:59:47.980 --> 00:59:50.159
this morning. In Christ's name, amen.