I want to start this morning, I had an interesting
thing happen this week in class. As some of you
know, I'm teaching a church history course at
Masters right now, and I did not plan this at
all, but we're at that point in the semester
where we're wrapping up the Reformation. We're
getting to the very end of the Reformation, and
I was teaching the students about the Reformation
that took place in England, and I said to them,
notice the things that were highly precious to
the English Puritans. And I listed six things.
Now listen to these six things. Number one, that
they could worship freely without the state being
involved. Number two, to have their own independent
self -governing congregations. And number three,
to have the word of God in English. And number
four, to be free to teach and preach a reformed
view of salvation. Number five, to have a very
simple biblical polity of elders and deacons.
And number six, to live under the terms of a
covenant with loyalty first to Christ and then
to other members of the local body. And as I
finished that list, I looked at the students
and I said, that was the year 1620. And 400 years
later, I've just described the very things that
we desire today at Oak Hill Bible Church. 400
years later. This is our spiritual heritage.
Today, we're going to continue our discussion
of where we left off last Sunday. We're talking
about various aspects of salvation. In particular,
I want to talk about how the people who are at
the center of our historical Thanksgiving holiday,
what they thought about salvation, what was important
to them as it relates to not just salvation,
but how to live out that salvation. Now, traditionally,
we call those people this sort of funny name,
the pilgrims. The pilgrims. But that's a term
that was applied to them later in history, and
it really doesn't explain who they were, what
they believed, or why they were willing to risk
their lives to get on a ship and sail all the
way across the Atlantic to the New World 400
years ago. But trust me, they had strong convictions.
They had strong beliefs. And this may come as
a shock to some of you. They had a solid doctrinal
understanding of what the scriptures taught.
Now, last Sunday, me, Grant, and Adam took the
time to define 10 aspects of salvation according
to Scripture. Here's that list. I'll walk through
them really quickly. Effectual calling, justification,
faith, adoption, sanctification, repentance,
good works. perseverance, assurance. And finally,
we talked about the death of the believer. And
you guys were so patient with us. You hung in
there through 10 of those things. And I think
it was encouraging to the body to know that's
what scripture teaches. Now, here's the thing.
The pilgrims would have affirmed everything that
we taught last week about salvation. They were
men and women who were schooled in the Genevan
theology of men like Calvin and Beza and Knox.
And their view of salvation was very much reformed.
So today, I want to share with you four areas
of practical theology that drove the pilgrims
in their view of salvation and how it should
be lived out. But first, let me just ask our
acorns real quick. Is that the image of the pilgrims
that you are often taught in school and church?
Yeah, that cute little picture? What if I told
you they didn't quite look like that? I know,
shocking, right? It's okay that we use images
like this, but what if I told you they looked
a lot more gritty than that cartoon image? And
I know some of you have studied what life was
like for these pilgrims in the New World when
they arrived. So who were these people? They
were English Puritans. English Puritans, a group
of devoted Christ followers who happened to live
in a very turbulent time. in terms of religion
in English history. Very difficult time. 85 years
before the Mayflower set sail, King Henry VIII
had severed England from the Roman Catholic Church.
Now, not because of doctrine. Henry was committed
to Roman Catholic teaching, but he did that because
it benefited him to become the supreme head of
the Church of England so that he could do as
he pleased within the boundaries of his kingdom.
Nevertheless, the boldness that he had in divorcing
England from Rome, because of that, the English
people then got caught up in this sort of game
of religious ping pong after his death. When
Henry passed away, England was first ruled by
his Protestant son, Edward VI. But after Edward's
tragic death, they then became ruled by Henry's
oldest daughter, Bloody Mary Tudor, who was Roman
Catholic to the bone. So they went here, there,
and back again. And then in 1558, about 60 years
before the Mayflower set sail, Queen Elizabeth
came into power. Now, by that time, the English
people were ready for a peaceful, moderate Church
of England. Nobody being arrested anymore, no
more executions, no more blood spilled over doctrine
and church polity, just middle -of -the -road
religion. And Queen Elizabeth was happy to oblige.
She was a moderate herself. She had no desire
to take the church back to Rome, but she also
didn't want any more reformation within her kingdom.
What she wanted was this. Are you ready? A carefully
structured brand of religious ceremony led by
state -approved bishops reading from a state
-approved book of common prayer and preaching
middle -of -the -road homilies. And that was
it. And from that sad state of affairs, what
blossomed in England is what we call the Puritan
Movement. And that name simply refers to what
those people wanted. They wanted a Church of
England that was purified from its lukewarm nature.
And especially they want it purified from sort
of the remnants of Roman Catholicism that were
still hanging around. And in the early years
of Elizabeth's rule, there were three types of
Puritan groups that began to organize themselves.
First of all, there were the so -called Presbyterian
Puritans who wanted to build up the Church of
England, but reform it from within, especially
in terms of church polity. They wanted to see
bishops being replaced by a biblical structure
of elders and deacons. Then there was the Independent
Puritans, and this was the largest group of the
three. They also wanted reform and change, but
they wanted more. They wanted each congregation
to be independently governed. No state oversight,
no monarch telling them how they have to pray
or what they have to preach on. And this group
of Puritans became known as Congregationalists.
And then finally, there was the last group, the
most radical group, the Separatist Puritans,
and this is where the pilgrims come from. They,
too, wanted thorough reform and independence,
but they'd given up on the Church of England.
They thought it was too corrupt, too controlling,
too misguided, and too similar to the way Rome
had once oppressed them. And so the separatists
wanted exactly that, complete separation from
the state and complete separation from ever being
a state church. Now, all three of these groups
had much in common, including the fact, and this
may come as a surprise, They were led by significant
men of that day, men who came from the highest
levels of English society. Some were members
of parliament. Others had teaching positions
at places like Oxford and Cambridge. And the
queen may not have wanted Reformation ideas in
her country, but they'd already arrived. They'd
already infiltrated every level of English society.
So the ideas that were promoted by men like Luther
were now being discussed from the universities
down to the taverns. And as they say, once the
toothpaste is out of the tube, you can't put
it back in. From her perspective, from the queen's
perspective, this wasn't just about religion,
it was political too. Because too much freedom
causes people to ask questions about government.
And Elizabeth came to believe that if the Puritans
actually got their way, they might just try to
do away with the monarchy altogether. And so
she ended up doing what kings and queens always
do when they feel threatened by loss of control.
She clamped down on the Puritans and persecuted
them in a number of ways. She had their gatherings
raided. She had their printing presses destroyed.
Leaders who held academic positions were removed.
Get this, she imposed licensing rules for sermons.
And if you were a non -conforming preacher, you'd
be arrested. She had their property confiscated.
Even a handful of them were tortured and put
to death for refusing to recant their beliefs.
And this in a moderate England. So it was a constant
struggle for freedom of conscience and freedom
of worship in England during Elizabeth's 44 years
on the throne. And then in the year 1603, when
King James came to the throne, yes, that King
James, hopes were high again. But guess what?
Very quickly, the Puritans found out. King James
was no different from Elizabeth. He was going
to protect the monarchy and protect the status
quo. And so the time had come, and the Puritans
had a big decision to make. They weren't going
to wait any longer. Five years after the disappointment
of King James, a group of Puritans from the town
of Scrooby in northern England gathered their
belongings, and they set sail for not America,
but Holland. Now, why Holland? Well, 20 years
earlier, the Dutch had won their independence
from Spain and they had established the Netherlands
as a Calvinist land. And that sounded good to
the Puritans. So the scrooby Puritans set sail
for Holland in 1608 and they settled in this
little town of Leiden and they thought they could
restart their lives. But guess what? Planting
churches is hard. especially in a foreign land.
And over the next 12 years, they struggled culturally,
and they struggled economically, and they recognized
that their children were growing up Dutch and
losing connection with their English heritage.
So in the year 1620, after much prayer, they
made a very difficult decision. 102 brave souls
boarded a ship called the Mayflower, and they
sailed for 66 days across the Atlantic Ocean.
aiming for the mouth of the Hudson River, but
getting blown south, ending up in Cape Cod, where
they settled in a town called Plymouth. And over
the next 20 years, from 1620 to 1640, wave after
wave of Puritans would arrive in the same way,
establishing what they called New England. Now,
that's a very short history of the Puritans,
very, very quickly. What I'm more interested
in is what did they actually believe? What do
they believe about salvation? So that's what
we're going to talk about this morning. And it
begins where it should begin with principle number
one. Authority. Authority. Now, acorns. What's
the most important thing about this book? Acorns.
Parents. What's the most important thing about
this book? Good. Yeah, it's God's word. It's
who wrote it. Correct? God wrote this book through
his human servants. And if he's the author of
this book, that makes a big difference, doesn't
it? This is what the reformers called the first
principle of the Reformation. Everything about
the Christian life is ultimately built on the
issue of authority. Let me say that again, because
this is for all of us. Ultimately, everything
about the Christian life is built on the issue
of authority. What authority can be trusted to
tell us what salvation is? Good. He said God.
That was a good answer. And how it's received.
What's the authority that tells us how salvation
is received? Now, prior to the Reformation, the
answer to that question was defined by the teaching
office of the Roman Catholic Church, which for
centuries had strayed from the very simple, straightforward
answer in the Bible. They had promoted a synergistic
system of salvation that combined a whole bunch
of things. First of all, God's pervenient grace.
But then second, being incorporated into the
church through baptism, the regular partaking
of the seven sacraments of the church, particularly
the Mass and the Eucharist and Penance, all of
which in their mind kept adding to your account
of grace, and then striving to have enough faith
and enough good works to please God so that at
the end of your life you might qualify to enter
into his eternal presence. That was the system
that they had set up. That's what they were teaching
to the people. And by the way, if you still weren't
good enough, they had option number two, right?
Option B, which was purgatory. Purgatory, where
in some undefined way, which still can't be explained
to me, you can be purified over some undetermined
amount of time, which has not been laid out to
this day, until the moment that God says you
are cleansed enough to be in his presence. So
pre -Reformation, what was the authority when
it comes to defining salvation and how it's received?
It was the church. It was the church. And specifically,
it was a class of clergymen within the church
who were said to have the authority to act on
behalf of Christ. Men who could read Latin, the
only language the Bible was allowed to be written
in, and who believed that the average person
did not have the right or the ability to read
the scriptures for themselves. and know what
it says. So salvation was defined by the clergy
and available only through obedience to the church's
prescribed system. Now, here was the problem
with that from the reformer's perspective. So
little about what I just described about the
church's teaching about salvation actually lines
up with what the apostles told us in the scriptures.
There's a massive disconnect between what the
apostles said about it and what the church was
saying about it in the year 1500. And as the
century passed, what happened was the Roman Catholic
Church took on all these little accretions that
grew and grew and grew. One dogma after another
was added to the church by cardinals and bishops
and popes and then passed on to the next generation
as if they had come from God. When they hadn't.
So logically, the reformers had to start with
this issue. Authority. Where do we turn to to
know what is true? And they boldly declared that
scripture alone, sola scriptura, is the only
infallible source of truth because it comes from
God. Now that's a logical argument, is it not?
If you're going to rely on one authority in your
life, are you going to take what God has clearly
said or are you going to take the interpretations
of fallible men? It must be the authority for
all matters of faith and practice. for those
who profess to follow Christ. And all other writings,
and all other traditions, and all other spiritual
authorities, including what the clergy say, including
what I say this morning, all of it must be held
up and tested by the standard of Scripture. And
ultimately, all of it has to be subordinated
to the infallible Word of God. This is what the
Puritans believed. And, of course, this principle
is drawn from Scripture itself because Scripture
is self -authenticating. It tells you what its
source is. Peter, of all people, Peter tells
us that the Scriptures have not come to us by
an act of human will. Rather, he says, the biblical
writers, moved by the Holy Spirit, spoke from
God. In 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17, Paul says that
all Scripture is inspired by God. breathed out
by the Lord himself, and it's profitable or useful
for everything we need, for teaching, for reproof,
for correction, and for training in righteousness.
To what end? That the man of God might be adequate
or fit, equipped for every good work that God
has laid out for us to do. It's very clear in
scripture. Scripture is everything that we need.
Now, that does not mean that traditions are meaningless.
It doesn't mean that creeds and confessions don't
matter. It doesn't mean that quotes from church
fathers can't be used. It doesn't mean that we
can't read books written by contemporary pastors.
It doesn't mean we can't have certain practices
in the church. All of those things can be very
helpful, but only as long as they're in agreement
with Scripture. Only as long as they are subordinated.
to the authority of the infallible word of God.
Does that make sense? The Westminster Catechism,
which we talked a lot about last Sunday, puts
it so well. I'll put this quote on the screen.
It says, by good and necessary consequence, may
be deduced from Scripture, and nothing at any
time is to be added, whether by new revelations
of the Spirit or by the traditions of men. That
is a brilliant quote. It goes on to say this,
the supreme judge by which all controversies
of religion are to be determined. and all decrees
of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines
of men, and private spirits are to be examined,
and in whose sentence we are to rest can be no
other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scriptures.
Sola Scriptura. This is what the Puritans saw
as the primary doctrine of the church. Sola Scriptura.
Make sense? Okay, principle number two that the
Puritans held to. The perspicuity of scripture.
That's a great word. Say it. Perspicuity. Very
good. Acorns. Acorns. Parents. Can you understand
what this book says? Good. Because there's actual
words in it, right? Do words have meaning? Good.
So you can read it and understand it, correct?
Do you realize that was a big question in 1500?
That was a big question. Can a lay person pick
up a Bible and read it and understand what it
says about salvation? In 1500, the Roman Catholic
Church said no, no, and no. And that's a sad
state of affairs. Once again, the medieval Catholic
Church said no. Latin, they said, is the only
legitimate biblical language. Because it's the
language of the Roman Empire and the language
of the original Church of Rome. But more importantly,
Latin was seen as the language of learned scholarship
and advanced theology in that day. And so to
have the Bible translated into a common language
like German or English was blasphemy against
the sacredness of the text, they said. And this
in spite of the obvious fact that the New Testament
was written in Koine Greek, which is the common
man's language. In the first century. Do you
see the disconnect? So here was God purposely
choosing to use his servants to put down his
word in a common language in the first century
only to have the medieval Roman church say, no,
that's not acceptable. That's a disconnect. The
fact is by controlling the text, the church was
able to control the people. Just listen to what
your priest says. He'll tell you what to believe.
He'll tell you what to do. And if you obey what
we tell you, the church, then you'll make it
to heaven. But the reformers knew otherwise.
They knew otherwise. And by the way, sometimes
the reformers are mischaracterized as men who
were just simple. Did you know almost every single
reformer that we ever talk about was an absolute
scholar? These were men who came out of universities.
Men who studied the classics, men who taught
rhetoric and law, men who studied, yes, Latin
and Hebrew and Greek and knew what the Bible
actually said. They weren't uninformed. And they
knew that if the common people could read the
scriptures for themselves in their own language,
see it with their own eyes, hear it with their
own ears, see what God has actually said about
salvation, then that would break the power that
the church had over them. William Tyndale once
said this. This is a great quote. He said, if
God spares my life, I will cause a boy who drives
the plow to know more of the scriptures than
the Pope. And then years later, Luther would
add to that statement. He said, the plow boy
with the scripture is mightier than the greatest
Pope without. Because it's God's word. So the
Reformers declared that in all essential matters
regarding salvation, the message of Scripture
is not hidden, it's not obscure, it's perspicuous,
it's clear. And because the Holy Spirit lives
within the believer and is literally given to
each one of us as a guide to illuminate Scripture,
then it has to be understandable to every Christian,
not just clergy. Not just clergy. Even in ancient
Israel. This was known to be true. That's why
it says in Psalm 119, your word, Lord, is a lamp
to my feet and a light to my path. That's why
Jesus constantly challenged his enemies with
this phrase, have you not read? Have you not
read the scriptures? That's why the Bereans in
Acts 17 were called noble -minded because they
not only received the word with great eagerness,
but they examined the scriptures every day. To
make sure what was being taught to them was true.
That's why Paul told Timothy to continue in the
things that he had learned, in the things he'd
become convinced of, the sacred writings which
are able to give you wisdom that leads to what?
Salvation. That's why he told the Colossian church
to let the word of Christ richly dwell within
you with all wisdom, teach and admonish one another.
And yet here was the church in 1500 withholding
that from the people, saying you can't read it.
All of this, the Bible says, is because it's
the word of God that changes lives. And the people
need it. They need to be fed by it. It's a lamp
and a light and a guide. It's the path of wisdom.
It was designed by God to be received with eagerness,
to be read, examined, and understood apart from
any mediating clergyman, but by every single
believer. Now, we talk about the perspicuity
of Scripture. It doesn't mean that every part
of the Bible is equally clear or that every part
of the Bible is easy to understand. We all know
that there's some difficult passages, right?
And that's why principles of sound interpretation
are important. It's why believers need to dig
deeply to study the word. But the plow boy can
look at the core truths required for salvation
and understand it. The plow boy can see what
the fall brought about. The plow boy can understand
how God defines sins. He can understand the good
news that God sent his one and only son to bear
our sins on the cross as our substitute, to pay
the ransom for our sins. That can be read in
plain language. But the people needed to see
it. The plow boy can know how he is saved because
it's clearly revealed in God's word. And so this
is what the Puritans became known for, education.
Education at every level of life. And it was
biblical literacy that was the priority in every
Puritan home. They encouraged children to learn
reading and writing primarily so that they would
have access to the scriptures. And what they
did in the church and in the home was what we
call catechesis. It was designed, it was intentional.
We're gonna catechize our children. This concept
of teaching them systematic biblical doctrine
with the goal to lead our children to salvation
and to help them to understand what a full Christian
life looks like in the spirit. Catechesis. The
Puritans even passed laws which required every
town and village to establish and fund schools
to teach reading, writing, and Christian virtue.
Huge emphasis for them. They developed primary
schools and advanced grammar schools. They taught
Greek and they taught Latin and they built into
these schools the concepts of hard work and discipline
and Christian virtue. And they didn't stop there.
They founded university. Harvard. Harvard was
a Christian university. Did you know that? John
Harvard was a Puritan pastor. and a scholar who
left England for the Massachusetts Bay Colony
in 1637. He only lived one year in the New World
before he died, but he left half of his estate
and his entire library to the college that bears
his name. And he intended that so that there
would be a faithful theological education that
could be passed down to future generations of
Puritan ministers. That's our Harvard University,
you guys. Amazing. Here's the other thing to
know about the Puritans in education. And parents,
I want you to listen carefully. Biblical education
was not left up to the schools or to the church
in Puritan communities. It was seen as a communal
activity and the most basic duty of parents.
The most basic duty. Just faithful moms and dads
catechizing their children. That's our spiritual
heritage. Have we lost some of that these days?
We have. We need to get back to it. Okay, principle
number three, the Drove the Puritans. The priesthood
of all believers. The priesthood of all believers.
Acorns, question for you. Zion, you ready? He's
my answer guy. When you pray, who do you talk
to? We talk to God. Directly? Oh. I hesitate
to ask for more information from that answer.
You know what they say, never, yeah, never ask
questions like that. Okay, yeah, we speak directly
to God, right? Through Jesus Christ, right, we
speak directly to God. That's right. Well, part
of the Reformation, the Catholic Church promoted
its priests as the mediators between God and
the faithful, serving what they said was in persona
Christi, standing in the place of Christ and
acting with his authority. Did you catch that?
Priests standing in the place and acting with
his authority. How is that possible, you ask?
Well, the church declared it so. By the sacrament
of holy orders and ordination, they said this
is so. So here's what this means. Now catch this
now. Representatives of the church declared their
authority and their control over the forgiveness
of sins. The church controlled forgiveness of
sins. Through the sacrament of confession, the
priest sits in the place of Christ and he either
declares forgiveness or withholds it. The priest.
So in the year 1500, if a believer wanted to
confess his sin and repent and seek forgiveness,
where would he turn? Not to God, but to the church.
And that was a huge red flag in the minds of
the reformers. Now, does a believer need a mediator
to come to God? Absolutely. The scripture says
yes. Not me, not the church. The scriptures say
yes. We need a mediator in order to have access
to the throne of grace. But that's not through
a human fallible priest. As in the days of ancient
Israel, that day was a foreshadowing of something
far greater to come. And with the arrival of
the new covenant, you and I as believers, we
have a new single mediator, a great high priest
who has, ready? finished the work of atonement.
He's finished it. This is the argument of Hebrews
7. The priests of the old covenant, it says,
were weak and fallen sinners. They had to offer
up sacrifices for themselves before they could
deal with the sins of others. And then they died,
which means their ministry ended. But Jesus is
different. Jesus is one of a kind. Because he
lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.
He's able to forever save those who draw near
to God through him. And on behalf of the elect,
he lives to make intercession for us. A high
priest who has no sins of his own to repent of.
A holy, innocent, undefiled mediator, the very
son of God, exalted in the heavens at the right
hand of power. Now, with that clearly stated
in scripture, that cannot be missed. It is perspicuous.
With that in mind, why would anyone then turn
to a fallible earthly priest to seek forgiveness
when the Son of God has rendered that office
obsolete and has made himself available? Why
would you go back to a priest? Why? The Reformers
saw all of this in the Bible, plain as day. And
then they said, look at 1 Timothy 2 .5. There
is one God, it says, and one mediator, one. between
God and man, the man Christ Jesus, just one.
And since we have such a great high priest, it
says in Hebrews 4, we can now draw near to the
throne with confidence to receive mercy and find
grace in our time of need. And we can do that
directly. Without a human priest is a go -between.
Because there, listen now, there is no elite
spiritual class of men within the church who
have exclusive authority to mediate God's presence
or his forgiveness. There is none. Rather, and
this is what Luther first argued, he said, all
true believers, male, female, Jew, and Gentile,
we all belong to a class of priests who have
access, direct access, to the heavenly tabernacle
where Christ intercedes for us. We, all of us
together, have been made into a holy priesthood
serving our great high priest. And ironically,
it's Peter who says this. The Catholic Church's
favorite apostle. Peter, who makes this case
in 1 Peter 2, he says, you also, speaking to
the church, as living stones, every one of you
are being built up as a spiritual house for a
holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through our mediator, Jesus
Christ. We make sacrifices as priests. That's
amazing. He goes on, you're a chosen race, church.
A royal priesthood. Not some of you, not an elite
class. You are a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people for God's own possession. Why? Why?
So that you may proclaim the excellencies of
him who has called you out of darkness and into
his marvelous light. And so each and every Christ
follower is a priest and a minister to this day.
Each one of us offering spiritual sacrifices.
of worship and prayer and praise and the proclamation
of the gospel and a life lived for God's glory.
Good morning, priests. I think I should start
with that beginning next Sunday. Just good morning,
priests. This is a truth, you guys, that the
Puritans absolutely saw in scripture and said
this is part of how we need to reform the church
moving forward. Okay, final principle. That the
Puritans really cherish. This one's a little
less theological and a little more practical.
And it's the idea of ambassadorship. It's the
idea of ambassadorship. Acorns, question. Do
you love Jesus? That's an easy one. Do you let
his light shine in your life? Good. People can
see Jesus in you? Good. That's what I want to
hear. That's what I want to hear. The Puritans
thought long and hard about this. What should
a committed community of Christ followers who
are living life together and loving each other
well, according to the instructions in Scripture,
doing it according to the Bible, what should
that look like to the outside world? Jesus talked
about it, didn't he, in the Sermon on the Mount?
You're the light of the world, he said. You're
the light of the world. A city set on a hill
cannot be hidden, nor does anyone light a lamp
and then put it under a basket. Puts it on a
lampstand. It gives light to all who are in the
house. So let your light shine before men in
such a way that they may see your good works
and then glorify, not the church, glorify your
Father who's in heaven. Jesus talked about it.
In the year 1630, 10 years after the pilgrims
came to the new world, There was a Puritan governor
by the name of John Winthrop, and he preached
a sermon on the deck of a ship called the Arbella.
They had docked in Massachusetts Bay, and they
were about to row ashore, but he stopped, and
he turned to the people, and he preached a sermon.
And here's what he said. This is just a portion
of what he said. He said, we must consider that
we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of
all people are upon us. So if we shall deal falsely
with our God in this work we've undertaken and
so cause him to withdraw his present help from
us, we shall be made a story and a byword throughout
the world. We shall open the mouths of enemies
to speak evil of the ways of God. We shall shame
the faces of many of God's worthy servants and
cause their prayers to be turned into curses
upon us till we be consumed out of this good
land. Therefore, let us choose life that we in
our seed may live by obeying his voice and cleaving
to him for he is our life and our prosperity.
Amen, right? He was right back then and it's
still true today. All eyes are upon us. Whether
we like it or not, guys, we are ambassadors for
Christ in everything that we do. We're either
good ambassadors or Poor ambassadors. But our
lives say something to the people around us.
A church that's set apart for the glory of God,
that is living life together, that is loving
each other well, ought to reflect the precious
values that we find in Scripture. In Scripture.
Anything less than that, and we risk doing what
Winthrop talked about, undercutting our testimony
to the goodness of God and to the power of the
Spirit in our lives. And every single one of
us, not just leadership, every one of us bears
this responsibility to let our light shine before
men, to show them what it means to know Jesus
and to have a transformed life. We all bear that
responsibility. Now, what does that mean in a
practical sense? Guys, this is a big reason why
we have a church covenant because it spells out
exactly how we're to live life together as a
city on a hill. It talks about unity in the spirit.
In forgiveness and reconciliation and rejecting
harmful gossip. It talks about walking together
in brotherly love. Having an affectionate care
for one another. Having a watchfulness over one
another. It also means faithfully admonishing
one another when that time becomes needed. It
means gathering together regularly. It means
praying for one another. It means delighting
in one another's joy. And when things get difficult,
bearing with one another in their burdens and
sorrows. It means discipleship and evangelism
and cheerful giving. And of course, it means
striving to lead new and holy lives as ambassadors
for Christ. All of that is spelled out in our
church covenant for a reason. Because we're to
let our light shine before this unbelieving community
that we live in. Christians, we are the light
of the world. We are that city on the hill. And
so this is the Puritans. I know they get a bad
rap, don't they? Sometimes we hear the word Puritan
and we get a negative reaction. Don't let it
be so. Know your history. Know your theology.
This is our spiritual heritage. Let's remember
that on Thursday. When you go to eat that turkey,
when you dig in and you bite, remember. Remember,
right? Remember your spiritual heritage. May
we truly be thankful for those who've gone before
us. Men and women who suffered and battled and
bled so that we can worship freely. here together
this morning, so that this congregation can govern
its own affairs as the scriptures tell us, as
the Spirit leads us, and not according to what
our government says we have to do. All praise
to Christ for the beauty and the preciousness
of the salvation we have because of his sacrifice
for us. Amen? Let's bow our heads. Father, it's
a blessing to be able to look back in history
and to see how you've worked through the church,
Lord. But as we talk about Puritans, as we talk
about people who have suffered, Lord, we're most
grateful just to you, Lord. Just grateful that
here we are now praying directly to you through
our great mediator, our high priest, Jesus Christ.
That we're not lining up in a confessional booth.
That we're not lining up to talk to some human
fallible priest priestly mediator but that you
incline your ear to your children because you
love us because we belong to you and you want
to hear us pray and so father father we thank
you we thank you for your word this morning we
thank you that it it is sufficient we thank you
that it is perspicuous that we can read it and
understand it and we can see what salvation is
in our own language even lord What a blessing,
Lord. You have taken care of us in so many ways.
So we praise you right now this morning, but
we also, Lord, ask that you go before us as we
celebrate Thanksgiving this week, that we would
really be thankful for the things that matter
most. So guide us in those celebrations with
family, friends, and Lord, if we're coming to
a place where there are unbelievers, help us
to maybe share a little bit of this message about
what you have done in church history, what you
have done in the lives of so many saints who
have gone before us. Give us wisdom in that,
Lord. We praise you again for this morning. In
Christ's name, amen.