WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.560 I want to start this morning, I had an interesting 00:00:01.560 --> 00:00:04.240 thing happen this week in class. As some of you 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:06.700 know, I'm teaching a church history course at 00:00:06.700 --> 00:00:09.400 Masters right now, and I did not plan this at 00:00:09.400 --> 00:00:11.660 all, but we're at that point in the semester 00:00:11.660 --> 00:00:14.699 where we're wrapping up the Reformation. We're 00:00:14.699 --> 00:00:16.440 getting to the very end of the Reformation, and 00:00:16.440 --> 00:00:18.980 I was teaching the students about the Reformation 00:00:18.980 --> 00:00:21.820 that took place in England, and I said to them, 00:00:21.839 --> 00:00:25.539 notice the things that were highly precious to 00:00:25.539 --> 00:00:29.239 the English Puritans. And I listed six things. 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:31.760 Now listen to these six things. Number one, that 00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:34.859 they could worship freely without the state being 00:00:34.859 --> 00:00:38.299 involved. Number two, to have their own independent 00:00:38.299 --> 00:00:42.539 self -governing congregations. And number three, 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:45.299 to have the word of God in English. And number 00:00:45.299 --> 00:00:48.759 four, to be free to teach and preach a reformed 00:00:48.759 --> 00:00:50.859 view of salvation. Number five, to have a very 00:00:50.859 --> 00:00:54.259 simple biblical polity of elders and deacons. 00:00:54.299 --> 00:00:56.729 And number six, to live under the terms of a 00:00:56.729 --> 00:00:59.990 covenant with loyalty first to Christ and then 00:00:59.990 --> 00:01:02.609 to other members of the local body. And as I 00:01:02.609 --> 00:01:04.409 finished that list, I looked at the students 00:01:04.409 --> 00:01:09.370 and I said, that was the year 1620. And 400 years 00:01:09.370 --> 00:01:12.489 later, I've just described the very things that 00:01:12.489 --> 00:01:16.829 we desire today at Oak Hill Bible Church. 400 00:01:16.829 --> 00:01:20.159 years later. This is our spiritual heritage. 00:01:20.280 --> 00:01:22.319 Today, we're going to continue our discussion 00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:24.239 of where we left off last Sunday. We're talking 00:01:24.239 --> 00:01:27.859 about various aspects of salvation. In particular, 00:01:27.959 --> 00:01:30.879 I want to talk about how the people who are at 00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:34.239 the center of our historical Thanksgiving holiday, 00:01:34.599 --> 00:01:37.099 what they thought about salvation, what was important 00:01:37.099 --> 00:01:39.340 to them as it relates to not just salvation, 00:01:39.500 --> 00:01:42.299 but how to live out that salvation. Now, traditionally, 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:45.340 we call those people this sort of funny name, 00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:48.579 the pilgrims. The pilgrims. But that's a term 00:01:48.579 --> 00:01:51.060 that was applied to them later in history, and 00:01:51.060 --> 00:01:53.819 it really doesn't explain who they were, what 00:01:53.819 --> 00:01:56.099 they believed, or why they were willing to risk 00:01:56.099 --> 00:01:59.319 their lives to get on a ship and sail all the 00:01:59.319 --> 00:02:02.420 way across the Atlantic to the New World 400 00:02:02.420 --> 00:02:05.799 years ago. But trust me, they had strong convictions. 00:02:06.200 --> 00:02:09.000 They had strong beliefs. And this may come as 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:11.939 a shock to some of you. They had a solid doctrinal 00:02:11.939 --> 00:02:13.780 understanding of what the scriptures taught. 00:02:14.759 --> 00:02:17.300 Now, last Sunday, me, Grant, and Adam took the 00:02:17.300 --> 00:02:21.340 time to define 10 aspects of salvation according 00:02:21.340 --> 00:02:23.840 to Scripture. Here's that list. I'll walk through 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:26.979 them really quickly. Effectual calling, justification, 00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:32.259 faith, adoption, sanctification, repentance, 00:02:32.699 --> 00:02:36.030 good works. perseverance, assurance. And finally, 00:02:36.030 --> 00:02:38.270 we talked about the death of the believer. And 00:02:38.270 --> 00:02:40.490 you guys were so patient with us. You hung in 00:02:40.490 --> 00:02:42.770 there through 10 of those things. And I think 00:02:42.770 --> 00:02:44.689 it was encouraging to the body to know that's 00:02:44.689 --> 00:02:46.669 what scripture teaches. Now, here's the thing. 00:02:46.689 --> 00:02:48.969 The pilgrims would have affirmed everything that 00:02:48.969 --> 00:02:53.150 we taught last week about salvation. They were 00:02:53.150 --> 00:02:55.189 men and women who were schooled in the Genevan 00:02:55.189 --> 00:02:58.430 theology of men like Calvin and Beza and Knox. 00:02:59.180 --> 00:03:01.639 And their view of salvation was very much reformed. 00:03:01.639 --> 00:03:04.139 So today, I want to share with you four areas 00:03:04.139 --> 00:03:07.120 of practical theology that drove the pilgrims 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:09.460 in their view of salvation and how it should 00:03:09.460 --> 00:03:12.080 be lived out. But first, let me just ask our 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:15.500 acorns real quick. Is that the image of the pilgrims 00:03:15.500 --> 00:03:17.419 that you are often taught in school and church? 00:03:18.919 --> 00:03:21.599 Yeah, that cute little picture? What if I told 00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:24.740 you they didn't quite look like that? I know, 00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:27.360 shocking, right? It's okay that we use images 00:03:27.360 --> 00:03:29.419 like this, but what if I told you they looked 00:03:29.419 --> 00:03:34.560 a lot more gritty than that cartoon image? And 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:37.879 I know some of you have studied what life was 00:03:37.879 --> 00:03:40.240 like for these pilgrims in the New World when 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:44.520 they arrived. So who were these people? They 00:03:44.520 --> 00:03:47.780 were English Puritans. English Puritans, a group 00:03:47.780 --> 00:03:50.560 of devoted Christ followers who happened to live 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:54.689 in a very turbulent time. in terms of religion 00:03:54.689 --> 00:03:58.969 in English history. Very difficult time. 85 years 00:03:58.969 --> 00:04:02.469 before the Mayflower set sail, King Henry VIII 00:04:02.469 --> 00:04:05.310 had severed England from the Roman Catholic Church. 00:04:06.129 --> 00:04:09.409 Now, not because of doctrine. Henry was committed 00:04:09.409 --> 00:04:12.610 to Roman Catholic teaching, but he did that because 00:04:12.610 --> 00:04:15.750 it benefited him to become the supreme head of 00:04:15.750 --> 00:04:17.990 the Church of England so that he could do as 00:04:17.990 --> 00:04:20.009 he pleased within the boundaries of his kingdom. 00:04:20.939 --> 00:04:23.500 Nevertheless, the boldness that he had in divorcing 00:04:23.500 --> 00:04:25.740 England from Rome, because of that, the English 00:04:25.740 --> 00:04:28.399 people then got caught up in this sort of game 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:31.879 of religious ping pong after his death. When 00:04:31.879 --> 00:04:34.120 Henry passed away, England was first ruled by 00:04:34.120 --> 00:04:38.300 his Protestant son, Edward VI. But after Edward's 00:04:38.300 --> 00:04:40.819 tragic death, they then became ruled by Henry's 00:04:40.819 --> 00:04:44.579 oldest daughter, Bloody Mary Tudor, who was Roman 00:04:44.579 --> 00:04:47.019 Catholic to the bone. So they went here, there, 00:04:47.220 --> 00:04:51.370 and back again. And then in 1558, about 60 years 00:04:51.370 --> 00:04:54.930 before the Mayflower set sail, Queen Elizabeth 00:04:54.930 --> 00:04:58.550 came into power. Now, by that time, the English 00:04:58.550 --> 00:05:01.550 people were ready for a peaceful, moderate Church 00:05:01.550 --> 00:05:04.910 of England. Nobody being arrested anymore, no 00:05:04.910 --> 00:05:08.250 more executions, no more blood spilled over doctrine 00:05:08.250 --> 00:05:11.209 and church polity, just middle -of -the -road 00:05:11.209 --> 00:05:15.439 religion. And Queen Elizabeth was happy to oblige. 00:05:15.459 --> 00:05:18.220 She was a moderate herself. She had no desire 00:05:18.220 --> 00:05:20.800 to take the church back to Rome, but she also 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:23.160 didn't want any more reformation within her kingdom. 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:26.819 What she wanted was this. Are you ready? A carefully 00:05:26.819 --> 00:05:30.680 structured brand of religious ceremony led by 00:05:30.680 --> 00:05:33.519 state -approved bishops reading from a state 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:36.699 -approved book of common prayer and preaching 00:05:36.699 --> 00:05:39.120 middle -of -the -road homilies. And that was 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:42.259 it. And from that sad state of affairs, what 00:05:42.259 --> 00:05:45.040 blossomed in England is what we call the Puritan 00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:47.860 Movement. And that name simply refers to what 00:05:47.860 --> 00:05:50.199 those people wanted. They wanted a Church of 00:05:50.199 --> 00:05:53.160 England that was purified from its lukewarm nature. 00:05:53.980 --> 00:05:57.079 And especially they want it purified from sort 00:05:57.079 --> 00:05:59.220 of the remnants of Roman Catholicism that were 00:05:59.220 --> 00:06:02.319 still hanging around. And in the early years 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:04.279 of Elizabeth's rule, there were three types of 00:06:04.279 --> 00:06:06.579 Puritan groups that began to organize themselves. 00:06:06.759 --> 00:06:09.319 First of all, there were the so -called Presbyterian 00:06:09.319 --> 00:06:11.899 Puritans who wanted to build up the Church of 00:06:11.899 --> 00:06:15.160 England, but reform it from within, especially 00:06:15.160 --> 00:06:17.620 in terms of church polity. They wanted to see 00:06:17.620 --> 00:06:20.459 bishops being replaced by a biblical structure 00:06:20.459 --> 00:06:23.660 of elders and deacons. Then there was the Independent 00:06:23.660 --> 00:06:26.240 Puritans, and this was the largest group of the 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:28.980 three. They also wanted reform and change, but 00:06:28.980 --> 00:06:31.600 they wanted more. They wanted each congregation 00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:35.259 to be independently governed. No state oversight, 00:06:35.620 --> 00:06:38.180 no monarch telling them how they have to pray 00:06:38.180 --> 00:06:41.300 or what they have to preach on. And this group 00:06:41.300 --> 00:06:44.160 of Puritans became known as Congregationalists. 00:06:44.920 --> 00:06:46.899 And then finally, there was the last group, the 00:06:46.899 --> 00:06:49.699 most radical group, the Separatist Puritans, 00:06:49.740 --> 00:06:53.100 and this is where the pilgrims come from. They, 00:06:53.139 --> 00:06:55.300 too, wanted thorough reform and independence, 00:06:55.720 --> 00:06:57.680 but they'd given up on the Church of England. 00:06:58.300 --> 00:07:00.839 They thought it was too corrupt, too controlling, 00:07:01.060 --> 00:07:04.459 too misguided, and too similar to the way Rome 00:07:04.459 --> 00:07:07.079 had once oppressed them. And so the separatists 00:07:07.079 --> 00:07:10.019 wanted exactly that, complete separation from 00:07:10.019 --> 00:07:12.899 the state and complete separation from ever being 00:07:12.899 --> 00:07:16.439 a state church. Now, all three of these groups 00:07:16.439 --> 00:07:19.040 had much in common, including the fact, and this 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:22.069 may come as a surprise, They were led by significant 00:07:22.069 --> 00:07:24.949 men of that day, men who came from the highest 00:07:24.949 --> 00:07:27.350 levels of English society. Some were members 00:07:27.350 --> 00:07:30.129 of parliament. Others had teaching positions 00:07:30.129 --> 00:07:33.629 at places like Oxford and Cambridge. And the 00:07:33.629 --> 00:07:35.970 queen may not have wanted Reformation ideas in 00:07:35.970 --> 00:07:38.250 her country, but they'd already arrived. They'd 00:07:38.250 --> 00:07:41.329 already infiltrated every level of English society. 00:07:41.529 --> 00:07:45.029 So the ideas that were promoted by men like Luther 00:07:45.029 --> 00:07:47.350 were now being discussed from the universities 00:07:47.350 --> 00:07:50.750 down to the taverns. And as they say, once the 00:07:50.750 --> 00:07:53.529 toothpaste is out of the tube, you can't put 00:07:53.529 --> 00:07:57.129 it back in. From her perspective, from the queen's 00:07:57.129 --> 00:07:59.370 perspective, this wasn't just about religion, 00:07:59.449 --> 00:08:02.129 it was political too. Because too much freedom 00:08:02.129 --> 00:08:04.790 causes people to ask questions about government. 00:08:05.810 --> 00:08:08.149 And Elizabeth came to believe that if the Puritans 00:08:08.149 --> 00:08:10.589 actually got their way, they might just try to 00:08:10.589 --> 00:08:13.639 do away with the monarchy altogether. And so 00:08:13.639 --> 00:08:16.180 she ended up doing what kings and queens always 00:08:16.180 --> 00:08:18.860 do when they feel threatened by loss of control. 00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:22.379 She clamped down on the Puritans and persecuted 00:08:22.379 --> 00:08:25.740 them in a number of ways. She had their gatherings 00:08:25.740 --> 00:08:29.079 raided. She had their printing presses destroyed. 00:08:29.980 --> 00:08:32.639 Leaders who held academic positions were removed. 00:08:33.259 --> 00:08:37.120 Get this, she imposed licensing rules for sermons. 00:08:37.940 --> 00:08:40.519 And if you were a non -conforming preacher, you'd 00:08:40.519 --> 00:08:43.580 be arrested. She had their property confiscated. 00:08:43.700 --> 00:08:46.019 Even a handful of them were tortured and put 00:08:46.019 --> 00:08:48.960 to death for refusing to recant their beliefs. 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:53.720 And this in a moderate England. So it was a constant 00:08:53.720 --> 00:08:56.200 struggle for freedom of conscience and freedom 00:08:56.200 --> 00:08:59.259 of worship in England during Elizabeth's 44 years 00:08:59.259 --> 00:09:02.940 on the throne. And then in the year 1603, when 00:09:02.940 --> 00:09:05.440 King James came to the throne, yes, that King 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:08.940 James, hopes were high again. But guess what? 00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:11.559 Very quickly, the Puritans found out. King James 00:09:11.559 --> 00:09:14.399 was no different from Elizabeth. He was going 00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:16.860 to protect the monarchy and protect the status 00:09:16.860 --> 00:09:21.080 quo. And so the time had come, and the Puritans 00:09:21.080 --> 00:09:22.620 had a big decision to make. They weren't going 00:09:22.620 --> 00:09:25.539 to wait any longer. Five years after the disappointment 00:09:25.539 --> 00:09:28.639 of King James, a group of Puritans from the town 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:31.860 of Scrooby in northern England gathered their 00:09:31.860 --> 00:09:35.480 belongings, and they set sail for not America, 00:09:35.480 --> 00:09:38.629 but Holland. Now, why Holland? Well, 20 years 00:09:38.629 --> 00:09:40.769 earlier, the Dutch had won their independence 00:09:40.769 --> 00:09:43.490 from Spain and they had established the Netherlands 00:09:43.490 --> 00:09:46.809 as a Calvinist land. And that sounded good to 00:09:46.809 --> 00:09:49.830 the Puritans. So the scrooby Puritans set sail 00:09:49.830 --> 00:09:53.149 for Holland in 1608 and they settled in this 00:09:53.149 --> 00:09:55.830 little town of Leiden and they thought they could 00:09:55.830 --> 00:09:58.690 restart their lives. But guess what? Planting 00:09:58.690 --> 00:10:02.169 churches is hard. especially in a foreign land. 00:10:02.289 --> 00:10:04.389 And over the next 12 years, they struggled culturally, 00:10:04.610 --> 00:10:07.590 and they struggled economically, and they recognized 00:10:07.590 --> 00:10:10.250 that their children were growing up Dutch and 00:10:10.250 --> 00:10:12.149 losing connection with their English heritage. 00:10:12.669 --> 00:10:17.029 So in the year 1620, after much prayer, they 00:10:17.029 --> 00:10:20.929 made a very difficult decision. 102 brave souls 00:10:20.929 --> 00:10:24.529 boarded a ship called the Mayflower, and they 00:10:24.529 --> 00:10:27.210 sailed for 66 days across the Atlantic Ocean. 00:10:27.779 --> 00:10:29.879 aiming for the mouth of the Hudson River, but 00:10:29.879 --> 00:10:33.080 getting blown south, ending up in Cape Cod, where 00:10:33.080 --> 00:10:36.580 they settled in a town called Plymouth. And over 00:10:36.580 --> 00:10:40.639 the next 20 years, from 1620 to 1640, wave after 00:10:40.639 --> 00:10:43.340 wave of Puritans would arrive in the same way, 00:10:43.419 --> 00:10:48.460 establishing what they called New England. Now, 00:10:48.500 --> 00:10:50.700 that's a very short history of the Puritans, 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:52.639 very, very quickly. What I'm more interested 00:10:52.639 --> 00:10:55.029 in is what did they actually believe? What do 00:10:55.029 --> 00:10:56.629 they believe about salvation? So that's what 00:10:56.629 --> 00:10:58.309 we're going to talk about this morning. And it 00:10:58.309 --> 00:11:00.350 begins where it should begin with principle number 00:11:00.350 --> 00:11:05.029 one. Authority. Authority. Now, acorns. What's 00:11:05.029 --> 00:11:09.669 the most important thing about this book? Acorns. 00:11:09.669 --> 00:11:11.549 Parents. What's the most important thing about 00:11:11.549 --> 00:11:17.429 this book? Good. Yeah, it's God's word. It's 00:11:17.429 --> 00:11:21.889 who wrote it. Correct? God wrote this book through 00:11:21.889 --> 00:11:25.279 his human servants. And if he's the author of 00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:27.539 this book, that makes a big difference, doesn't 00:11:27.539 --> 00:11:30.539 it? This is what the reformers called the first 00:11:30.539 --> 00:11:33.039 principle of the Reformation. Everything about 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:36.100 the Christian life is ultimately built on the 00:11:36.100 --> 00:11:39.480 issue of authority. Let me say that again, because 00:11:39.480 --> 00:11:42.600 this is for all of us. Ultimately, everything 00:11:42.600 --> 00:11:45.740 about the Christian life is built on the issue 00:11:45.740 --> 00:11:48.960 of authority. What authority can be trusted to 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:54.879 tell us what salvation is? Good. He said God. 00:11:55.019 --> 00:11:57.740 That was a good answer. And how it's received. 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:00.539 What's the authority that tells us how salvation 00:12:00.539 --> 00:12:03.340 is received? Now, prior to the Reformation, the 00:12:03.340 --> 00:12:06.220 answer to that question was defined by the teaching 00:12:06.220 --> 00:12:09.159 office of the Roman Catholic Church, which for 00:12:09.159 --> 00:12:12.179 centuries had strayed from the very simple, straightforward 00:12:12.179 --> 00:12:16.440 answer in the Bible. They had promoted a synergistic 00:12:16.440 --> 00:12:19.399 system of salvation that combined a whole bunch 00:12:19.399 --> 00:12:21.679 of things. First of all, God's pervenient grace. 00:12:22.379 --> 00:12:24.860 But then second, being incorporated into the 00:12:24.860 --> 00:12:27.759 church through baptism, the regular partaking 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:30.580 of the seven sacraments of the church, particularly 00:12:30.580 --> 00:12:32.820 the Mass and the Eucharist and Penance, all of 00:12:32.820 --> 00:12:35.500 which in their mind kept adding to your account 00:12:35.500 --> 00:12:38.879 of grace, and then striving to have enough faith 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:41.620 and enough good works to please God so that at 00:12:41.620 --> 00:12:45.200 the end of your life you might qualify to enter 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:48.740 into his eternal presence. That was the system 00:12:48.740 --> 00:12:50.600 that they had set up. That's what they were teaching 00:12:50.600 --> 00:12:52.940 to the people. And by the way, if you still weren't 00:12:52.940 --> 00:12:55.360 good enough, they had option number two, right? 00:12:55.399 --> 00:12:59.580 Option B, which was purgatory. Purgatory, where 00:12:59.580 --> 00:13:03.039 in some undefined way, which still can't be explained 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:06.399 to me, you can be purified over some undetermined 00:13:06.399 --> 00:13:09.200 amount of time, which has not been laid out to 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:12.220 this day, until the moment that God says you 00:13:12.220 --> 00:13:16.679 are cleansed enough to be in his presence. So 00:13:16.679 --> 00:13:19.399 pre -Reformation, what was the authority when 00:13:19.399 --> 00:13:22.200 it comes to defining salvation and how it's received? 00:13:22.240 --> 00:13:26.740 It was the church. It was the church. And specifically, 00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:29.679 it was a class of clergymen within the church 00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:32.419 who were said to have the authority to act on 00:13:32.419 --> 00:13:36.440 behalf of Christ. Men who could read Latin, the 00:13:36.440 --> 00:13:38.460 only language the Bible was allowed to be written 00:13:38.460 --> 00:13:40.580 in, and who believed that the average person 00:13:40.580 --> 00:13:44.019 did not have the right or the ability to read 00:13:44.019 --> 00:13:46.529 the scriptures for themselves. and know what 00:13:46.529 --> 00:13:50.190 it says. So salvation was defined by the clergy 00:13:50.190 --> 00:13:53.929 and available only through obedience to the church's 00:13:53.929 --> 00:13:56.409 prescribed system. Now, here was the problem 00:13:56.409 --> 00:13:59.590 with that from the reformer's perspective. So 00:13:59.590 --> 00:14:01.730 little about what I just described about the 00:14:01.730 --> 00:14:04.470 church's teaching about salvation actually lines 00:14:04.470 --> 00:14:06.649 up with what the apostles told us in the scriptures. 00:14:07.649 --> 00:14:09.970 There's a massive disconnect between what the 00:14:09.970 --> 00:14:12.110 apostles said about it and what the church was 00:14:12.110 --> 00:14:15.450 saying about it in the year 1500. And as the 00:14:15.450 --> 00:14:18.769 century passed, what happened was the Roman Catholic 00:14:18.769 --> 00:14:21.690 Church took on all these little accretions that 00:14:21.690 --> 00:14:25.049 grew and grew and grew. One dogma after another 00:14:25.049 --> 00:14:27.889 was added to the church by cardinals and bishops 00:14:27.889 --> 00:14:30.610 and popes and then passed on to the next generation 00:14:30.610 --> 00:14:35.129 as if they had come from God. When they hadn't. 00:14:36.110 --> 00:14:38.629 So logically, the reformers had to start with 00:14:38.629 --> 00:14:43.080 this issue. Authority. Where do we turn to to 00:14:43.080 --> 00:14:45.659 know what is true? And they boldly declared that 00:14:45.659 --> 00:14:48.980 scripture alone, sola scriptura, is the only 00:14:48.980 --> 00:14:51.720 infallible source of truth because it comes from 00:14:51.720 --> 00:14:55.000 God. Now that's a logical argument, is it not? 00:14:55.080 --> 00:14:57.139 If you're going to rely on one authority in your 00:14:57.139 --> 00:14:59.299 life, are you going to take what God has clearly 00:14:59.299 --> 00:15:01.379 said or are you going to take the interpretations 00:15:01.379 --> 00:15:08.080 of fallible men? It must be the authority for 00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:10.639 all matters of faith and practice. for those 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:13.480 who profess to follow Christ. And all other writings, 00:15:13.659 --> 00:15:16.720 and all other traditions, and all other spiritual 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:19.919 authorities, including what the clergy say, including 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:23.080 what I say this morning, all of it must be held 00:15:23.080 --> 00:15:27.039 up and tested by the standard of Scripture. And 00:15:27.039 --> 00:15:29.360 ultimately, all of it has to be subordinated 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:32.279 to the infallible Word of God. This is what the 00:15:32.279 --> 00:15:35.429 Puritans believed. And, of course, this principle 00:15:35.429 --> 00:15:38.009 is drawn from Scripture itself because Scripture 00:15:38.009 --> 00:15:41.970 is self -authenticating. It tells you what its 00:15:41.970 --> 00:15:46.090 source is. Peter, of all people, Peter tells 00:15:46.090 --> 00:15:48.750 us that the Scriptures have not come to us by 00:15:48.750 --> 00:15:52.190 an act of human will. Rather, he says, the biblical 00:15:52.190 --> 00:15:55.210 writers, moved by the Holy Spirit, spoke from 00:15:55.210 --> 00:15:59.809 God. In 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17, Paul says that 00:15:59.809 --> 00:16:03.519 all Scripture is inspired by God. breathed out 00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:06.720 by the Lord himself, and it's profitable or useful 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:10.220 for everything we need, for teaching, for reproof, 00:16:10.220 --> 00:16:13.220 for correction, and for training in righteousness. 00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:17.840 To what end? That the man of God might be adequate 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:21.399 or fit, equipped for every good work that God 00:16:21.399 --> 00:16:24.980 has laid out for us to do. It's very clear in 00:16:24.980 --> 00:16:28.190 scripture. Scripture is everything that we need. 00:16:28.370 --> 00:16:31.429 Now, that does not mean that traditions are meaningless. 00:16:31.629 --> 00:16:34.049 It doesn't mean that creeds and confessions don't 00:16:34.049 --> 00:16:36.289 matter. It doesn't mean that quotes from church 00:16:36.289 --> 00:16:39.269 fathers can't be used. It doesn't mean that we 00:16:39.269 --> 00:16:41.690 can't read books written by contemporary pastors. 00:16:42.009 --> 00:16:44.210 It doesn't mean we can't have certain practices 00:16:44.210 --> 00:16:46.710 in the church. All of those things can be very 00:16:46.710 --> 00:16:50.149 helpful, but only as long as they're in agreement 00:16:50.149 --> 00:16:53.850 with Scripture. Only as long as they are subordinated. 00:16:54.460 --> 00:16:56.759 to the authority of the infallible word of God. 00:16:56.860 --> 00:17:00.659 Does that make sense? The Westminster Catechism, 00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:02.980 which we talked a lot about last Sunday, puts 00:17:02.980 --> 00:17:04.920 it so well. I'll put this quote on the screen. 00:17:05.240 --> 00:17:23.390 It says, by good and necessary consequence, may 00:17:23.390 --> 00:17:26.529 be deduced from Scripture, and nothing at any 00:17:26.529 --> 00:17:29.309 time is to be added, whether by new revelations 00:17:29.309 --> 00:17:33.549 of the Spirit or by the traditions of men. That 00:17:33.549 --> 00:17:36.710 is a brilliant quote. It goes on to say this, 00:17:36.849 --> 00:17:39.630 the supreme judge by which all controversies 00:17:39.630 --> 00:17:43.130 of religion are to be determined. and all decrees 00:17:43.130 --> 00:17:46.089 of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines 00:17:46.089 --> 00:17:48.210 of men, and private spirits are to be examined, 00:17:48.289 --> 00:17:52.470 and in whose sentence we are to rest can be no 00:17:52.470 --> 00:17:55.650 other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scriptures. 00:17:57.170 --> 00:17:59.930 Sola Scriptura. This is what the Puritans saw 00:17:59.930 --> 00:18:05.829 as the primary doctrine of the church. Sola Scriptura. 00:18:05.890 --> 00:18:09.789 Make sense? Okay, principle number two that the 00:18:09.789 --> 00:18:12.630 Puritans held to. The perspicuity of scripture. 00:18:14.470 --> 00:18:17.650 That's a great word. Say it. Perspicuity. Very 00:18:17.650 --> 00:18:22.589 good. Acorns. Acorns. Parents. Can you understand 00:18:22.589 --> 00:18:28.369 what this book says? Good. Because there's actual 00:18:28.369 --> 00:18:32.769 words in it, right? Do words have meaning? Good. 00:18:32.930 --> 00:18:35.009 So you can read it and understand it, correct? 00:18:36.450 --> 00:18:38.650 Do you realize that was a big question in 1500? 00:18:40.329 --> 00:18:43.089 That was a big question. Can a lay person pick 00:18:43.089 --> 00:18:46.029 up a Bible and read it and understand what it 00:18:46.029 --> 00:18:49.789 says about salvation? In 1500, the Roman Catholic 00:18:49.789 --> 00:18:54.769 Church said no, no, and no. And that's a sad 00:18:54.769 --> 00:18:58.049 state of affairs. Once again, the medieval Catholic 00:18:58.049 --> 00:19:00.750 Church said no. Latin, they said, is the only 00:19:00.750 --> 00:19:04.519 legitimate biblical language. Because it's the 00:19:04.519 --> 00:19:06.140 language of the Roman Empire and the language 00:19:06.140 --> 00:19:08.380 of the original Church of Rome. But more importantly, 00:19:08.460 --> 00:19:11.960 Latin was seen as the language of learned scholarship 00:19:11.960 --> 00:19:15.720 and advanced theology in that day. And so to 00:19:15.720 --> 00:19:18.660 have the Bible translated into a common language 00:19:18.660 --> 00:19:21.900 like German or English was blasphemy against 00:19:21.900 --> 00:19:25.619 the sacredness of the text, they said. And this 00:19:25.619 --> 00:19:27.839 in spite of the obvious fact that the New Testament 00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:30.839 was written in Koine Greek, which is the common 00:19:30.839 --> 00:19:34.369 man's language. In the first century. Do you 00:19:34.369 --> 00:19:37.289 see the disconnect? So here was God purposely 00:19:37.289 --> 00:19:40.769 choosing to use his servants to put down his 00:19:40.769 --> 00:19:43.450 word in a common language in the first century 00:19:43.450 --> 00:19:46.150 only to have the medieval Roman church say, no, 00:19:46.190 --> 00:19:51.589 that's not acceptable. That's a disconnect. The 00:19:51.589 --> 00:19:54.250 fact is by controlling the text, the church was 00:19:54.250 --> 00:19:57.549 able to control the people. Just listen to what 00:19:57.549 --> 00:20:00.220 your priest says. He'll tell you what to believe. 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:02.680 He'll tell you what to do. And if you obey what 00:20:02.680 --> 00:20:04.960 we tell you, the church, then you'll make it 00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:08.059 to heaven. But the reformers knew otherwise. 00:20:09.380 --> 00:20:11.000 They knew otherwise. And by the way, sometimes 00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:14.299 the reformers are mischaracterized as men who 00:20:14.299 --> 00:20:17.400 were just simple. Did you know almost every single 00:20:17.400 --> 00:20:20.460 reformer that we ever talk about was an absolute 00:20:20.460 --> 00:20:24.380 scholar? These were men who came out of universities. 00:20:25.289 --> 00:20:27.369 Men who studied the classics, men who taught 00:20:27.369 --> 00:20:30.470 rhetoric and law, men who studied, yes, Latin 00:20:30.470 --> 00:20:33.130 and Hebrew and Greek and knew what the Bible 00:20:33.130 --> 00:20:38.109 actually said. They weren't uninformed. And they 00:20:38.109 --> 00:20:40.069 knew that if the common people could read the 00:20:40.069 --> 00:20:42.589 scriptures for themselves in their own language, 00:20:42.789 --> 00:20:44.990 see it with their own eyes, hear it with their 00:20:44.990 --> 00:20:48.170 own ears, see what God has actually said about 00:20:48.170 --> 00:20:50.869 salvation, then that would break the power that 00:20:50.869 --> 00:20:54.869 the church had over them. William Tyndale once 00:20:54.869 --> 00:20:56.970 said this. This is a great quote. He said, if 00:20:56.970 --> 00:21:01.329 God spares my life, I will cause a boy who drives 00:21:01.329 --> 00:21:03.849 the plow to know more of the scriptures than 00:21:03.849 --> 00:21:07.750 the Pope. And then years later, Luther would 00:21:07.750 --> 00:21:09.970 add to that statement. He said, the plow boy 00:21:09.970 --> 00:21:12.890 with the scripture is mightier than the greatest 00:21:12.890 --> 00:21:18.890 Pope without. Because it's God's word. So the 00:21:18.890 --> 00:21:21.049 Reformers declared that in all essential matters 00:21:21.049 --> 00:21:23.450 regarding salvation, the message of Scripture 00:21:23.450 --> 00:21:26.930 is not hidden, it's not obscure, it's perspicuous, 00:21:27.069 --> 00:21:30.609 it's clear. And because the Holy Spirit lives 00:21:30.609 --> 00:21:32.930 within the believer and is literally given to 00:21:32.930 --> 00:21:35.309 each one of us as a guide to illuminate Scripture, 00:21:35.650 --> 00:21:38.950 then it has to be understandable to every Christian, 00:21:38.990 --> 00:21:43.769 not just clergy. Not just clergy. Even in ancient 00:21:43.769 --> 00:21:46.460 Israel. This was known to be true. That's why 00:21:46.460 --> 00:21:50.220 it says in Psalm 119, your word, Lord, is a lamp 00:21:50.220 --> 00:21:54.599 to my feet and a light to my path. That's why 00:21:54.599 --> 00:21:56.819 Jesus constantly challenged his enemies with 00:21:56.819 --> 00:22:00.819 this phrase, have you not read? Have you not 00:22:00.819 --> 00:22:04.359 read the scriptures? That's why the Bereans in 00:22:04.359 --> 00:22:07.200 Acts 17 were called noble -minded because they 00:22:07.200 --> 00:22:09.579 not only received the word with great eagerness, 00:22:09.619 --> 00:22:14.220 but they examined the scriptures every day. To 00:22:14.220 --> 00:22:16.240 make sure what was being taught to them was true. 00:22:18.140 --> 00:22:20.640 That's why Paul told Timothy to continue in the 00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:22.680 things that he had learned, in the things he'd 00:22:22.680 --> 00:22:25.319 become convinced of, the sacred writings which 00:22:25.319 --> 00:22:27.359 are able to give you wisdom that leads to what? 00:22:28.019 --> 00:22:31.779 Salvation. That's why he told the Colossian church 00:22:31.779 --> 00:22:34.720 to let the word of Christ richly dwell within 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:37.720 you with all wisdom, teach and admonish one another. 00:22:39.279 --> 00:22:43.140 And yet here was the church in 1500 withholding 00:22:43.140 --> 00:22:46.240 that from the people, saying you can't read it. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:51.539 All of this, the Bible says, is because it's 00:22:51.539 --> 00:22:54.619 the word of God that changes lives. And the people 00:22:54.619 --> 00:22:58.440 need it. They need to be fed by it. It's a lamp 00:22:58.440 --> 00:23:00.819 and a light and a guide. It's the path of wisdom. 00:23:00.920 --> 00:23:04.119 It was designed by God to be received with eagerness, 00:23:04.180 --> 00:23:07.420 to be read, examined, and understood apart from 00:23:07.420 --> 00:23:11.740 any mediating clergyman, but by every single 00:23:11.740 --> 00:23:16.559 believer. Now, we talk about the perspicuity 00:23:16.559 --> 00:23:18.039 of Scripture. It doesn't mean that every part 00:23:18.039 --> 00:23:20.299 of the Bible is equally clear or that every part 00:23:20.299 --> 00:23:22.779 of the Bible is easy to understand. We all know 00:23:22.779 --> 00:23:24.299 that there's some difficult passages, right? 00:23:25.039 --> 00:23:27.400 And that's why principles of sound interpretation 00:23:27.400 --> 00:23:30.039 are important. It's why believers need to dig 00:23:30.039 --> 00:23:33.940 deeply to study the word. But the plow boy can 00:23:33.940 --> 00:23:37.180 look at the core truths required for salvation 00:23:37.180 --> 00:23:40.900 and understand it. The plow boy can see what 00:23:40.900 --> 00:23:43.440 the fall brought about. The plow boy can understand 00:23:43.440 --> 00:23:46.400 how God defines sins. He can understand the good 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:49.940 news that God sent his one and only son to bear 00:23:49.940 --> 00:23:52.980 our sins on the cross as our substitute, to pay 00:23:52.980 --> 00:23:55.779 the ransom for our sins. That can be read in 00:23:55.779 --> 00:23:59.299 plain language. But the people needed to see 00:23:59.299 --> 00:24:05.359 it. The plow boy can know how he is saved because 00:24:05.359 --> 00:24:09.109 it's clearly revealed in God's word. And so this 00:24:09.109 --> 00:24:11.049 is what the Puritans became known for, education. 00:24:11.630 --> 00:24:14.630 Education at every level of life. And it was 00:24:14.630 --> 00:24:17.849 biblical literacy that was the priority in every 00:24:17.849 --> 00:24:21.369 Puritan home. They encouraged children to learn 00:24:21.369 --> 00:24:24.309 reading and writing primarily so that they would 00:24:24.309 --> 00:24:27.230 have access to the scriptures. And what they 00:24:27.230 --> 00:24:29.430 did in the church and in the home was what we 00:24:29.430 --> 00:24:34.710 call catechesis. It was designed, it was intentional. 00:24:34.930 --> 00:24:38.619 We're gonna catechize our children. This concept 00:24:38.619 --> 00:24:41.339 of teaching them systematic biblical doctrine 00:24:41.339 --> 00:24:44.400 with the goal to lead our children to salvation 00:24:44.400 --> 00:24:47.380 and to help them to understand what a full Christian 00:24:47.380 --> 00:24:51.359 life looks like in the spirit. Catechesis. The 00:24:51.359 --> 00:24:53.720 Puritans even passed laws which required every 00:24:53.720 --> 00:24:56.819 town and village to establish and fund schools 00:24:56.819 --> 00:24:59.420 to teach reading, writing, and Christian virtue. 00:25:00.559 --> 00:25:03.259 Huge emphasis for them. They developed primary 00:25:03.259 --> 00:25:05.460 schools and advanced grammar schools. They taught 00:25:05.460 --> 00:25:07.859 Greek and they taught Latin and they built into 00:25:07.859 --> 00:25:10.920 these schools the concepts of hard work and discipline 00:25:10.920 --> 00:25:15.220 and Christian virtue. And they didn't stop there. 00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:20.240 They founded university. Harvard. Harvard was 00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:23.980 a Christian university. Did you know that? John 00:25:23.980 --> 00:25:27.390 Harvard was a Puritan pastor. and a scholar who 00:25:27.390 --> 00:25:29.529 left England for the Massachusetts Bay Colony 00:25:29.529 --> 00:25:33.369 in 1637. He only lived one year in the New World 00:25:33.369 --> 00:25:36.369 before he died, but he left half of his estate 00:25:36.369 --> 00:25:39.450 and his entire library to the college that bears 00:25:39.450 --> 00:25:42.849 his name. And he intended that so that there 00:25:42.849 --> 00:25:45.890 would be a faithful theological education that 00:25:45.890 --> 00:25:48.490 could be passed down to future generations of 00:25:48.490 --> 00:25:52.029 Puritan ministers. That's our Harvard University, 00:25:52.210 --> 00:25:56.119 you guys. Amazing. Here's the other thing to 00:25:56.119 --> 00:25:58.200 know about the Puritans in education. And parents, 00:25:58.200 --> 00:26:00.980 I want you to listen carefully. Biblical education 00:26:00.980 --> 00:26:04.420 was not left up to the schools or to the church 00:26:04.420 --> 00:26:09.119 in Puritan communities. It was seen as a communal 00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:13.400 activity and the most basic duty of parents. 00:26:14.660 --> 00:26:18.740 The most basic duty. Just faithful moms and dads 00:26:18.740 --> 00:26:22.920 catechizing their children. That's our spiritual 00:26:22.920 --> 00:26:24.799 heritage. Have we lost some of that these days? 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:29.059 We have. We need to get back to it. Okay, principle 00:26:29.059 --> 00:26:31.440 number three, the Drove the Puritans. The priesthood 00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:34.660 of all believers. The priesthood of all believers. 00:26:35.380 --> 00:26:40.779 Acorns, question for you. Zion, you ready? He's 00:26:40.779 --> 00:26:43.759 my answer guy. When you pray, who do you talk 00:26:43.759 --> 00:26:54.009 to? We talk to God. Directly? Oh. I hesitate 00:26:54.009 --> 00:26:56.309 to ask for more information from that answer. 00:26:58.829 --> 00:27:01.069 You know what they say, never, yeah, never ask 00:27:01.069 --> 00:27:03.569 questions like that. Okay, yeah, we speak directly 00:27:03.569 --> 00:27:05.789 to God, right? Through Jesus Christ, right, we 00:27:05.789 --> 00:27:08.710 speak directly to God. That's right. Well, part 00:27:08.710 --> 00:27:11.309 of the Reformation, the Catholic Church promoted 00:27:11.309 --> 00:27:14.269 its priests as the mediators between God and 00:27:14.269 --> 00:27:17.829 the faithful, serving what they said was in persona 00:27:17.829 --> 00:27:20.569 Christi, standing in the place of Christ and 00:27:20.569 --> 00:27:24.390 acting with his authority. Did you catch that? 00:27:24.789 --> 00:27:29.369 Priests standing in the place and acting with 00:27:29.369 --> 00:27:31.309 his authority. How is that possible, you ask? 00:27:31.549 --> 00:27:35.589 Well, the church declared it so. By the sacrament 00:27:35.589 --> 00:27:37.569 of holy orders and ordination, they said this 00:27:37.569 --> 00:27:40.029 is so. So here's what this means. Now catch this 00:27:40.029 --> 00:27:43.769 now. Representatives of the church declared their 00:27:43.769 --> 00:27:46.690 authority and their control over the forgiveness 00:27:46.690 --> 00:27:52.089 of sins. The church controlled forgiveness of 00:27:52.089 --> 00:27:55.420 sins. Through the sacrament of confession, the 00:27:55.420 --> 00:27:58.200 priest sits in the place of Christ and he either 00:27:58.200 --> 00:28:01.799 declares forgiveness or withholds it. The priest. 00:28:02.779 --> 00:28:05.400 So in the year 1500, if a believer wanted to 00:28:05.400 --> 00:28:08.000 confess his sin and repent and seek forgiveness, 00:28:08.279 --> 00:28:13.559 where would he turn? Not to God, but to the church. 00:28:14.259 --> 00:28:17.339 And that was a huge red flag in the minds of 00:28:17.339 --> 00:28:20.480 the reformers. Now, does a believer need a mediator 00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:23.859 to come to God? Absolutely. The scripture says 00:28:23.859 --> 00:28:28.759 yes. Not me, not the church. The scriptures say 00:28:28.759 --> 00:28:31.680 yes. We need a mediator in order to have access 00:28:31.680 --> 00:28:34.220 to the throne of grace. But that's not through 00:28:34.220 --> 00:28:37.660 a human fallible priest. As in the days of ancient 00:28:37.660 --> 00:28:40.480 Israel, that day was a foreshadowing of something 00:28:40.480 --> 00:28:43.160 far greater to come. And with the arrival of 00:28:43.160 --> 00:28:45.900 the new covenant, you and I as believers, we 00:28:45.900 --> 00:28:49.680 have a new single mediator, a great high priest 00:28:49.680 --> 00:28:52.869 who has, ready? finished the work of atonement. 00:28:54.369 --> 00:28:57.430 He's finished it. This is the argument of Hebrews 00:28:57.430 --> 00:29:00.009 7. The priests of the old covenant, it says, 00:29:00.069 --> 00:29:03.869 were weak and fallen sinners. They had to offer 00:29:03.869 --> 00:29:06.109 up sacrifices for themselves before they could 00:29:06.109 --> 00:29:08.309 deal with the sins of others. And then they died, 00:29:08.329 --> 00:29:11.710 which means their ministry ended. But Jesus is 00:29:11.710 --> 00:29:14.529 different. Jesus is one of a kind. Because he 00:29:14.529 --> 00:29:17.490 lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 00:29:17.900 --> 00:29:20.519 He's able to forever save those who draw near 00:29:20.519 --> 00:29:23.799 to God through him. And on behalf of the elect, 00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:27.819 he lives to make intercession for us. A high 00:29:27.819 --> 00:29:30.119 priest who has no sins of his own to repent of. 00:29:30.680 --> 00:29:34.140 A holy, innocent, undefiled mediator, the very 00:29:34.140 --> 00:29:36.539 son of God, exalted in the heavens at the right 00:29:36.539 --> 00:29:39.720 hand of power. Now, with that clearly stated 00:29:39.720 --> 00:29:43.400 in scripture, that cannot be missed. It is perspicuous. 00:29:44.960 --> 00:29:47.759 With that in mind, why would anyone then turn 00:29:47.759 --> 00:29:51.200 to a fallible earthly priest to seek forgiveness 00:29:51.200 --> 00:29:54.059 when the Son of God has rendered that office 00:29:54.059 --> 00:29:58.559 obsolete and has made himself available? Why 00:29:58.559 --> 00:30:03.440 would you go back to a priest? Why? The Reformers 00:30:03.440 --> 00:30:07.259 saw all of this in the Bible, plain as day. And 00:30:07.259 --> 00:30:09.720 then they said, look at 1 Timothy 2 .5. There 00:30:09.720 --> 00:30:14.519 is one God, it says, and one mediator, one. between 00:30:14.519 --> 00:30:17.160 God and man, the man Christ Jesus, just one. 00:30:18.839 --> 00:30:21.119 And since we have such a great high priest, it 00:30:21.119 --> 00:30:23.859 says in Hebrews 4, we can now draw near to the 00:30:23.859 --> 00:30:27.279 throne with confidence to receive mercy and find 00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:30.160 grace in our time of need. And we can do that 00:30:30.160 --> 00:30:33.650 directly. Without a human priest is a go -between. 00:30:33.890 --> 00:30:36.589 Because there, listen now, there is no elite 00:30:36.589 --> 00:30:39.789 spiritual class of men within the church who 00:30:39.789 --> 00:30:42.789 have exclusive authority to mediate God's presence 00:30:42.789 --> 00:30:48.299 or his forgiveness. There is none. Rather, and 00:30:48.299 --> 00:30:50.299 this is what Luther first argued, he said, all 00:30:50.299 --> 00:30:53.700 true believers, male, female, Jew, and Gentile, 00:30:53.720 --> 00:30:57.019 we all belong to a class of priests who have 00:30:57.019 --> 00:31:00.519 access, direct access, to the heavenly tabernacle 00:31:00.519 --> 00:31:04.940 where Christ intercedes for us. We, all of us 00:31:04.940 --> 00:31:07.380 together, have been made into a holy priesthood 00:31:07.380 --> 00:31:10.700 serving our great high priest. And ironically, 00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:14.460 it's Peter who says this. The Catholic Church's 00:31:14.460 --> 00:31:17.470 favorite apostle. Peter, who makes this case 00:31:17.470 --> 00:31:20.930 in 1 Peter 2, he says, you also, speaking to 00:31:20.930 --> 00:31:24.549 the church, as living stones, every one of you 00:31:24.549 --> 00:31:27.849 are being built up as a spiritual house for a 00:31:27.849 --> 00:31:31.509 holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices 00:31:31.509 --> 00:31:35.349 acceptable to God through our mediator, Jesus 00:31:35.349 --> 00:31:41.470 Christ. We make sacrifices as priests. That's 00:31:41.470 --> 00:31:44.450 amazing. He goes on, you're a chosen race, church. 00:31:45.180 --> 00:31:48.359 A royal priesthood. Not some of you, not an elite 00:31:48.359 --> 00:31:51.680 class. You are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, 00:31:51.900 --> 00:31:55.759 a people for God's own possession. Why? Why? 00:31:56.160 --> 00:31:59.140 So that you may proclaim the excellencies of 00:31:59.140 --> 00:32:01.819 him who has called you out of darkness and into 00:32:01.819 --> 00:32:06.740 his marvelous light. And so each and every Christ 00:32:06.740 --> 00:32:09.539 follower is a priest and a minister to this day. 00:32:10.420 --> 00:32:13.220 Each one of us offering spiritual sacrifices. 00:32:14.039 --> 00:32:18.579 of worship and prayer and praise and the proclamation 00:32:18.579 --> 00:32:22.740 of the gospel and a life lived for God's glory. 00:32:24.599 --> 00:32:27.940 Good morning, priests. I think I should start 00:32:27.940 --> 00:32:30.500 with that beginning next Sunday. Just good morning, 00:32:30.500 --> 00:32:33.759 priests. This is a truth, you guys, that the 00:32:33.759 --> 00:32:36.539 Puritans absolutely saw in scripture and said 00:32:36.539 --> 00:32:40.980 this is part of how we need to reform the church 00:32:40.980 --> 00:32:43.650 moving forward. Okay, final principle. That the 00:32:43.650 --> 00:32:45.289 Puritans really cherish. This one's a little 00:32:45.289 --> 00:32:47.029 less theological and a little more practical. 00:32:47.369 --> 00:32:51.329 And it's the idea of ambassadorship. It's the 00:32:51.329 --> 00:32:55.170 idea of ambassadorship. Acorns, question. Do 00:32:55.170 --> 00:32:59.150 you love Jesus? That's an easy one. Do you let 00:32:59.150 --> 00:33:03.730 his light shine in your life? Good. People can 00:33:03.730 --> 00:33:08.730 see Jesus in you? Good. That's what I want to 00:33:08.730 --> 00:33:13.880 hear. That's what I want to hear. The Puritans 00:33:13.880 --> 00:33:16.660 thought long and hard about this. What should 00:33:16.660 --> 00:33:19.420 a committed community of Christ followers who 00:33:19.420 --> 00:33:22.259 are living life together and loving each other 00:33:22.259 --> 00:33:25.059 well, according to the instructions in Scripture, 00:33:25.319 --> 00:33:28.200 doing it according to the Bible, what should 00:33:28.200 --> 00:33:32.319 that look like to the outside world? Jesus talked 00:33:32.319 --> 00:33:33.900 about it, didn't he, in the Sermon on the Mount? 00:33:35.180 --> 00:33:38.859 You're the light of the world, he said. You're 00:33:38.859 --> 00:33:42.059 the light of the world. A city set on a hill 00:33:42.059 --> 00:33:44.140 cannot be hidden, nor does anyone light a lamp 00:33:44.140 --> 00:33:47.519 and then put it under a basket. Puts it on a 00:33:47.519 --> 00:33:49.579 lampstand. It gives light to all who are in the 00:33:49.579 --> 00:33:53.880 house. So let your light shine before men in 00:33:53.880 --> 00:33:55.740 such a way that they may see your good works 00:33:55.740 --> 00:34:00.680 and then glorify, not the church, glorify your 00:34:00.680 --> 00:34:04.460 Father who's in heaven. Jesus talked about it. 00:34:05.400 --> 00:34:08.260 In the year 1630, 10 years after the pilgrims 00:34:08.260 --> 00:34:11.519 came to the new world, There was a Puritan governor 00:34:11.519 --> 00:34:14.159 by the name of John Winthrop, and he preached 00:34:14.159 --> 00:34:16.760 a sermon on the deck of a ship called the Arbella. 00:34:17.440 --> 00:34:20.099 They had docked in Massachusetts Bay, and they 00:34:20.099 --> 00:34:22.519 were about to row ashore, but he stopped, and 00:34:22.519 --> 00:34:24.500 he turned to the people, and he preached a sermon. 00:34:25.139 --> 00:34:27.039 And here's what he said. This is just a portion 00:34:27.039 --> 00:34:30.000 of what he said. He said, we must consider that 00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:34.519 we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of 00:34:34.519 --> 00:34:38.519 all people are upon us. So if we shall deal falsely 00:34:38.519 --> 00:34:41.340 with our God in this work we've undertaken and 00:34:41.340 --> 00:34:44.619 so cause him to withdraw his present help from 00:34:44.619 --> 00:34:48.079 us, we shall be made a story and a byword throughout 00:34:48.079 --> 00:34:51.000 the world. We shall open the mouths of enemies 00:34:51.000 --> 00:34:54.760 to speak evil of the ways of God. We shall shame 00:34:54.760 --> 00:34:57.639 the faces of many of God's worthy servants and 00:34:57.639 --> 00:34:59.780 cause their prayers to be turned into curses 00:34:59.780 --> 00:35:02.880 upon us till we be consumed out of this good 00:35:02.880 --> 00:35:07.320 land. Therefore, let us choose life that we in 00:35:07.320 --> 00:35:10.960 our seed may live by obeying his voice and cleaving 00:35:10.960 --> 00:35:14.440 to him for he is our life and our prosperity. 00:35:17.559 --> 00:35:22.800 Amen, right? He was right back then and it's 00:35:22.800 --> 00:35:25.780 still true today. All eyes are upon us. Whether 00:35:25.780 --> 00:35:28.960 we like it or not, guys, we are ambassadors for 00:35:28.960 --> 00:35:31.860 Christ in everything that we do. We're either 00:35:31.860 --> 00:35:35.639 good ambassadors or Poor ambassadors. But our 00:35:35.639 --> 00:35:37.900 lives say something to the people around us. 00:35:38.639 --> 00:35:41.000 A church that's set apart for the glory of God, 00:35:41.059 --> 00:35:43.320 that is living life together, that is loving 00:35:43.320 --> 00:35:46.019 each other well, ought to reflect the precious 00:35:46.019 --> 00:35:50.539 values that we find in Scripture. In Scripture. 00:35:51.119 --> 00:35:53.980 Anything less than that, and we risk doing what 00:35:53.980 --> 00:35:56.099 Winthrop talked about, undercutting our testimony 00:35:56.099 --> 00:35:58.719 to the goodness of God and to the power of the 00:35:58.719 --> 00:36:02.000 Spirit in our lives. And every single one of 00:36:02.000 --> 00:36:04.219 us, not just leadership, every one of us bears 00:36:04.219 --> 00:36:07.300 this responsibility to let our light shine before 00:36:07.300 --> 00:36:10.159 men, to show them what it means to know Jesus 00:36:10.159 --> 00:36:13.039 and to have a transformed life. We all bear that 00:36:13.039 --> 00:36:16.059 responsibility. Now, what does that mean in a 00:36:16.059 --> 00:36:18.780 practical sense? Guys, this is a big reason why 00:36:18.780 --> 00:36:21.980 we have a church covenant because it spells out 00:36:21.980 --> 00:36:24.539 exactly how we're to live life together as a 00:36:24.539 --> 00:36:29.260 city on a hill. It talks about unity in the spirit. 00:36:30.119 --> 00:36:32.840 In forgiveness and reconciliation and rejecting 00:36:32.840 --> 00:36:36.739 harmful gossip. It talks about walking together 00:36:36.739 --> 00:36:40.300 in brotherly love. Having an affectionate care 00:36:40.300 --> 00:36:43.340 for one another. Having a watchfulness over one 00:36:43.340 --> 00:36:46.199 another. It also means faithfully admonishing 00:36:46.199 --> 00:36:49.659 one another when that time becomes needed. It 00:36:49.659 --> 00:36:51.980 means gathering together regularly. It means 00:36:51.980 --> 00:36:54.300 praying for one another. It means delighting 00:36:54.300 --> 00:36:56.360 in one another's joy. And when things get difficult, 00:36:56.500 --> 00:36:58.960 bearing with one another in their burdens and 00:36:58.960 --> 00:37:02.300 sorrows. It means discipleship and evangelism 00:37:02.300 --> 00:37:04.940 and cheerful giving. And of course, it means 00:37:04.940 --> 00:37:07.579 striving to lead new and holy lives as ambassadors 00:37:07.579 --> 00:37:11.260 for Christ. All of that is spelled out in our 00:37:11.260 --> 00:37:14.360 church covenant for a reason. Because we're to 00:37:14.360 --> 00:37:16.639 let our light shine before this unbelieving community 00:37:16.639 --> 00:37:19.599 that we live in. Christians, we are the light 00:37:19.599 --> 00:37:23.340 of the world. We are that city on the hill. And 00:37:23.340 --> 00:37:26.139 so this is the Puritans. I know they get a bad 00:37:26.139 --> 00:37:28.760 rap, don't they? Sometimes we hear the word Puritan 00:37:28.760 --> 00:37:31.699 and we get a negative reaction. Don't let it 00:37:31.699 --> 00:37:34.500 be so. Know your history. Know your theology. 00:37:34.679 --> 00:37:37.099 This is our spiritual heritage. Let's remember 00:37:37.099 --> 00:37:40.920 that on Thursday. When you go to eat that turkey, 00:37:40.980 --> 00:37:44.820 when you dig in and you bite, remember. Remember, 00:37:45.059 --> 00:37:48.300 right? Remember your spiritual heritage. May 00:37:48.300 --> 00:37:50.440 we truly be thankful for those who've gone before 00:37:50.440 --> 00:37:54.519 us. Men and women who suffered and battled and 00:37:54.519 --> 00:37:57.489 bled so that we can worship freely. here together 00:37:57.489 --> 00:38:00.510 this morning, so that this congregation can govern 00:38:00.510 --> 00:38:03.150 its own affairs as the scriptures tell us, as 00:38:03.150 --> 00:38:05.909 the Spirit leads us, and not according to what 00:38:05.909 --> 00:38:08.610 our government says we have to do. All praise 00:38:08.610 --> 00:38:11.010 to Christ for the beauty and the preciousness 00:38:11.010 --> 00:38:14.409 of the salvation we have because of his sacrifice 00:38:14.409 --> 00:38:27.519 for us. Amen? Let's bow our heads. Father, it's 00:38:27.519 --> 00:38:30.900 a blessing to be able to look back in history 00:38:30.900 --> 00:38:32.920 and to see how you've worked through the church, 00:38:33.059 --> 00:38:36.320 Lord. But as we talk about Puritans, as we talk 00:38:36.320 --> 00:38:39.059 about people who have suffered, Lord, we're most 00:38:39.059 --> 00:38:42.320 grateful just to you, Lord. Just grateful that 00:38:42.320 --> 00:38:45.659 here we are now praying directly to you through 00:38:45.659 --> 00:38:48.059 our great mediator, our high priest, Jesus Christ. 00:38:49.420 --> 00:38:52.420 That we're not lining up in a confessional booth. 00:38:52.559 --> 00:38:55.420 That we're not lining up to talk to some human 00:38:55.420 --> 00:38:59.010 fallible priest priestly mediator but that you 00:38:59.010 --> 00:39:02.130 incline your ear to your children because you 00:39:02.130 --> 00:39:05.210 love us because we belong to you and you want 00:39:05.210 --> 00:39:08.070 to hear us pray and so father father we thank 00:39:08.070 --> 00:39:11.570 you we thank you for your word this morning we 00:39:11.570 --> 00:39:14.210 thank you that it it is sufficient we thank you 00:39:14.210 --> 00:39:17.409 that it is perspicuous that we can read it and 00:39:17.409 --> 00:39:19.829 understand it and we can see what salvation is 00:39:19.829 --> 00:39:24.050 in our own language even lord What a blessing, 00:39:24.150 --> 00:39:26.130 Lord. You have taken care of us in so many ways. 00:39:26.309 --> 00:39:28.409 So we praise you right now this morning, but 00:39:28.409 --> 00:39:30.889 we also, Lord, ask that you go before us as we 00:39:30.889 --> 00:39:32.809 celebrate Thanksgiving this week, that we would 00:39:32.809 --> 00:39:35.110 really be thankful for the things that matter 00:39:35.110 --> 00:39:38.210 most. So guide us in those celebrations with 00:39:38.210 --> 00:39:40.389 family, friends, and Lord, if we're coming to 00:39:40.389 --> 00:39:42.010 a place where there are unbelievers, help us 00:39:42.010 --> 00:39:44.610 to maybe share a little bit of this message about 00:39:44.610 --> 00:39:47.110 what you have done in church history, what you 00:39:47.110 --> 00:39:49.449 have done in the lives of so many saints who 00:39:49.449 --> 00:39:51.750 have gone before us. Give us wisdom in that, 00:39:51.809 --> 00:39:53.630 Lord. We praise you again for this morning. In 00:39:53.630 --> 00:39:54.670 Christ's name, amen.