WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.839 But you'll forgive me if I begin with a complaint. 00:00:03.580 --> 00:00:05.100 I don't often do this. 00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:07.120 In fact, I'm not sure I've ever done it before. 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:08.540 ! 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:31.500 Dark-covered chocolate biscuit. 00:00:33.320 --> 00:00:36.240 But I thought, well, it's like being back in Cambridge. 00:00:37.759 --> 00:00:40.120 But after 17 years in Cambridge, 00:00:40.120 --> 00:00:44.060 I had managed almost to teach my congregation 00:00:44.060 --> 00:00:49.179 to have a supply of biscuits when I came to visit. 00:00:51.760 --> 00:00:54.120 I will know you have become real Presbyterians 00:00:54.740 --> 00:00:57.760 when you provide a decent fare. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:06.519 It is a great privilege to be here with you this morning. 00:01:07.120 --> 00:01:10.460 I'd like to read, first of all, in Ephesians chapter 4, 00:01:10.460 --> 00:01:12.040 first six verses. 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:19.760 And we will be dipping in and out of other passages in the Bible. 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:32.460 Paul's letter to the Ephesians is structured very significantly. 00:01:32.459 --> 00:01:37.639 If I were to ask you how many imperative verbs 00:01:37.639 --> 00:01:40.319 are there in the first three chapters, 00:01:40.759 --> 00:01:43.799 I wonder if you'd have any immediate idea. 00:01:44.059 --> 00:01:46.899 Anyone willing to hazard an educated guess? 00:01:46.979 --> 00:01:49.799 How many imperative verbs does Paul use? 00:01:49.879 --> 00:01:51.159 You know what an imperative verb is? 00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:52.719 Pardon? 00:01:52.979 --> 00:01:53.379 Zero. 00:01:53.379 --> 00:01:53.979 Zero. 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:55.239 No? 00:01:55.979 --> 00:01:56.379 One. 00:01:56.679 --> 00:01:57.159 One. 00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:01.560 But in the next three chapters, there's about 30. 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:06.759 And Paul is reminding us, grammatically as well as theologically, 00:02:07.379 --> 00:02:09.599 that the gospel is first about God. 00:02:10.500 --> 00:02:15.099 It's about who God is and what God has done. 00:02:15.099 --> 00:02:19.539 I say that for this particular reason. 00:02:20.659 --> 00:02:22.479 If I were to ask you this morning, 00:02:23.459 --> 00:02:30.780 why does the Lord raise up elders and deacons in his church? 00:02:31.699 --> 00:02:33.620 What would your instinctive answer be? 00:02:34.099 --> 00:02:35.359 It's not a rhetorical question, 00:02:35.519 --> 00:02:39.019 so I'd like this to be a little interactive if possible. 00:02:39.020 --> 00:02:40.080 So if someone said, 00:02:40.640 --> 00:02:44.380 why do you have elders and deacons in Ealing and Lys 00:02:44.380 --> 00:02:46.320 or Brentford or Ilford? 00:02:47.040 --> 00:02:48.820 Why do you have them? 00:02:48.920 --> 00:02:49.939 The answer would be? 00:02:52.840 --> 00:02:54.719 To equip God's people. 00:02:55.100 --> 00:02:55.740 Good answer. 00:02:55.980 --> 00:02:56.580 B answer. 00:02:57.360 --> 00:02:57.980 B answer. 00:02:58.260 --> 00:02:58.879 A good answer. 00:02:59.400 --> 00:02:59.600 Trigger. 00:02:59.760 --> 00:03:00.439 Good, but B. 00:03:01.400 --> 00:03:02.480 Another answer. 00:03:04.219 --> 00:03:05.120 God's gift. 00:03:05.379 --> 00:03:06.700 Yeah, God's gift to the church. 00:03:07.040 --> 00:03:07.879 Good answer. 00:03:07.879 --> 00:03:08.240 B. 00:03:09.020 --> 00:03:10.020 The answer. 00:03:11.159 --> 00:03:11.640 Service. 00:03:13.020 --> 00:03:13.960 Good answer. 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:14.540 B minus. 00:03:16.540 --> 00:03:18.300 I just said that because it's Graham. 00:03:19.480 --> 00:03:21.760 To guard the faithful preaching of scripture. 00:03:22.320 --> 00:03:24.080 To guard the faithful preaching of scripture. 00:03:24.320 --> 00:03:25.360 Very good answer. 00:03:26.140 --> 00:03:28.240 B slightly plus. 00:03:29.719 --> 00:03:30.439 Because it's in scripture. 00:03:30.860 --> 00:03:31.080 Pardon? 00:03:31.260 --> 00:03:32.020 Because it's in scripture. 00:03:32.260 --> 00:03:33.160 Because it's in scripture. 00:03:33.939 --> 00:03:36.260 Yeah, that's sine qua non. 00:03:36.260 --> 00:03:37.420 So another B. 00:03:37.879 --> 00:03:38.320 B. 00:03:38.319 --> 00:03:39.459 Because Christ has risen. 00:03:39.879 --> 00:03:41.120 Because Christ has risen. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:44.019 These are all helpful answers. 00:03:45.159 --> 00:03:49.879 But they are not ultimate answers. 00:03:51.319 --> 00:03:55.959 You see, all of those answers deal with God's proximate purpose for the church. 00:03:56.319 --> 00:03:58.819 Which is its order, its edification. 00:03:58.819 --> 00:04:04.620 God's ultimate purpose for the church is its beautification. 00:04:06.539 --> 00:04:09.139 God is preparing a bride for his son. 00:04:09.239 --> 00:04:12.299 The church is not first about us. 00:04:12.759 --> 00:04:15.419 It's about our savior, Jesus Christ. 00:04:16.420 --> 00:04:20.539 God has predestined us to be conformed to the likeness of his son. 00:04:20.540 --> 00:04:25.800 In order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 00:04:25.939 --> 00:04:28.500 The gospel is ultimately about Jesus Christ. 00:04:29.220 --> 00:04:31.200 He is God's ultimate purpose. 00:04:31.879 --> 00:04:33.760 We are God's proximate purpose. 00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:41.800 So when we're thinking about elders and deacons and their relationship to the church, 00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:46.180 we need to keep in mind the ultimate purpose. 00:04:46.500 --> 00:04:51.039 God is preparing a bride fit for its king. 00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:54.580 God wants order in his church. 00:04:54.920 --> 00:04:56.080 He wants reverence. 00:04:58.379 --> 00:05:07.900 But God wants a people to reflect in a creaturely, analogical way the glory of his son. 00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:14.259 In order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 00:05:14.259 --> 00:05:19.399 So with that in mind, let me read Ephesians 4, 1 through 6. 00:05:20.939 --> 00:05:23.500 I therefore a prisoner for the Lord. 00:05:23.779 --> 00:05:26.079 Paul is in prison in Rome. 00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:32.579 Urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. 00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:37.099 With all humility and gentleness. 00:05:37.800 --> 00:05:39.019 With patience. 00:05:40.180 --> 00:05:42.259 Bearing with one another in love. 00:05:42.259 --> 00:05:47.539 Eager to maintain the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. 00:05:48.539 --> 00:05:52.199 There is one body and one spirit. 00:05:53.139 --> 00:05:58.039 Just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call. 00:05:59.039 --> 00:05:59.719 One Lord. 00:06:00.779 --> 00:06:01.740 One faith. 00:06:02.719 --> 00:06:03.500 One baptism. 00:06:04.719 --> 00:06:07.399 One God and Father of all. 00:06:07.399 --> 00:06:09.599 Who is over all. 00:06:10.219 --> 00:06:11.839 And through all. 00:06:12.479 --> 00:06:14.719 And in all. 00:06:17.500 --> 00:06:19.759 Let me tell you a little bit about myself. 00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:24.060 So that I can segue into what I'd like to be saying this morning. 00:06:27.060 --> 00:06:30.620 I'm a convinced Calvinist. 00:06:30.620 --> 00:06:34.000 I'm a Westminster Confession fellow. 00:06:34.180 --> 00:06:36.439 From the top of my head to the soles of my feet. 00:06:37.639 --> 00:06:42.360 I'm an unembarrassed, creedal, confessional Christian. 00:06:42.360 --> 00:06:46.319 But before any of that. 00:06:47.319 --> 00:06:49.160 I'm a blood-bought sinner. 00:06:49.960 --> 00:06:51.240 That's my default. 00:06:52.319 --> 00:06:53.400 That's my default. 00:06:54.360 --> 00:06:56.240 I'm not a shepherd who's a sheep. 00:06:57.100 --> 00:06:58.840 I'm a blood-redeemed sheep. 00:06:59.060 --> 00:07:02.160 Who by the mercy and good purpose of God. 00:07:02.300 --> 00:07:04.759 Has become a shepherd in the flock of Christ. 00:07:04.759 --> 00:07:09.120 I was recently reading some words of John Owen. 00:07:09.500 --> 00:07:10.259 If you're interested. 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:12.259 Volume 13. 00:07:12.719 --> 00:07:13.379 Page 95. 00:07:15.680 --> 00:07:16.719 Where he says. 00:07:16.920 --> 00:07:17.800 I would rather. 00:07:19.079 --> 00:07:20.579 Much rather. 00:07:21.500 --> 00:07:23.480 Spend all my days. 00:07:24.019 --> 00:07:26.639 Healing the breaches and schisms. 00:07:27.480 --> 00:07:28.839 In the church of Christ. 00:07:29.319 --> 00:07:31.680 Than spend one hour. 00:07:32.860 --> 00:07:34.579 Defending my positions. 00:07:34.579 --> 00:07:36.379 Though I could defend them. 00:07:36.479 --> 00:07:37.620 With a fair defense. 00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:41.159 I would rather. 00:07:41.859 --> 00:07:42.819 Much rather. 00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:44.579 Spend all my days. 00:07:44.919 --> 00:07:47.259 Healing the breaches and schisms. 00:07:48.539 --> 00:07:50.560 In the church of Jesus Christ. 00:07:51.339 --> 00:07:52.919 Than spend one hour. 00:07:54.039 --> 00:07:55.479 Defending my positions. 00:07:55.659 --> 00:07:56.339 Though I could. 00:07:57.139 --> 00:07:59.360 Make a fair defense. 00:07:59.879 --> 00:08:00.319 Of them. 00:08:02.620 --> 00:08:03.839 I say that. 00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:04.479 Because. 00:08:04.479 --> 00:08:05.799 Owen is reflecting. 00:08:05.799 --> 00:08:06.819 What I think. 00:08:06.819 --> 00:08:08.019 Lies at the heart. 00:08:08.019 --> 00:08:10.899 Of the pristine reform tradition. 00:08:12.479 --> 00:08:13.759 That our. 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:15.439 Principial concern. 00:08:16.239 --> 00:08:17.819 Is not to be. 00:08:18.060 --> 00:08:18.659 Ultimately. 00:08:18.659 --> 00:08:19.419 With our. 00:08:19.959 --> 00:08:20.279 Little. 00:08:20.679 --> 00:08:21.399 Expression. 00:08:21.799 --> 00:08:22.899 Of the reform tradition. 00:08:22.899 --> 00:08:24.899 But with the cause. 00:08:24.899 --> 00:08:25.659 With the cause. 00:08:25.659 --> 00:08:26.819 Of Jesus Christ. 00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:27.919 In its. 00:08:28.259 --> 00:08:28.779 Catholicity. 00:08:30.439 --> 00:08:31.199 Some of you. 00:08:31.319 --> 00:08:31.539 Will know. 00:08:31.539 --> 00:08:32.720 John Calvin's. 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:34.379 Very famous. 00:08:34.379 --> 00:08:35.319 And rightly famous. 00:08:35.319 --> 00:08:35.679 Letter. 00:08:35.819 --> 00:08:36.539 To Archbishop. 00:08:36.659 --> 00:08:37.399 Thomas Cranmer. 00:08:37.459 --> 00:08:38.539 In 1553. 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:41.159 Where he writes. 00:08:41.159 --> 00:08:42.019 Just at the beginning. 00:08:42.019 --> 00:08:43.539 Of the Marian persecutions. 00:08:43.539 --> 00:08:44.679 He said. 00:08:44.679 --> 00:08:46.179 I would willingly cross. 00:08:46.179 --> 00:08:47.500 Ten seas. 00:08:47.500 --> 00:08:49.000 To help heal. 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:50.419 The bleeding body. 00:08:50.419 --> 00:08:51.059 Of Christ. 00:08:51.599 --> 00:08:52.059 Now crossing. 00:08:52.179 --> 00:08:52.679 Ten seas. 00:08:52.679 --> 00:08:53.719 In 1553. 00:08:53.719 --> 00:08:54.719 Is a little different. 00:08:54.719 --> 00:08:55.679 From crossing. 00:08:55.679 --> 00:08:56.500 Ten seas. 00:08:56.500 --> 00:08:57.779 In 2017. 00:08:59.559 --> 00:09:00.279 Calvin. 00:09:00.279 --> 00:09:01.179 Had a passion. 00:09:01.719 --> 00:09:02.519 For. 00:09:03.399 --> 00:09:03.879 Protestant. 00:09:04.679 --> 00:09:05.039 Unity. 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:06.980 And. 00:09:06.980 --> 00:09:08.699 That seems. 00:09:08.699 --> 00:09:09.839 So foreign. 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:12.719 To the reformed church. 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:13.939 Generally speaking. 00:09:13.939 --> 00:09:14.500 Today. 00:09:15.240 --> 00:09:16.559 We're so infected. 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:17.980 By 300 years. 00:09:18.339 --> 00:09:19.219 Of post. 00:09:19.399 --> 00:09:20.240 Enlightenment. 00:09:20.799 --> 00:09:21.980 Atomized thinking. 00:09:22.819 --> 00:09:23.059 That. 00:09:23.579 --> 00:09:25.000 We are hardly moved. 00:09:25.339 --> 00:09:25.759 Never mind. 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:27.079 Scandalized. 00:09:27.939 --> 00:09:29.759 By the dividedness. 00:09:30.360 --> 00:09:30.839 Of. 00:09:31.599 --> 00:09:32.139 The church. 00:09:32.319 --> 00:09:33.319 Of Jesus Christ. 00:09:33.320 --> 00:09:35.680 Maybe I could ask you. 00:09:35.800 --> 00:09:36.080 When. 00:09:36.540 --> 00:09:37.580 When did you last. 00:09:37.780 --> 00:09:38.600 Grieve over. 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:39.879 Weep over. 00:09:40.280 --> 00:09:41.280 Plead over. 00:09:42.500 --> 00:09:44.000 The dividedness. 00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:45.780 Of the church. 00:09:45.780 --> 00:09:46.740 Of Jesus Christ. 00:09:49.520 --> 00:09:51.040 It's almost as if. 00:09:51.520 --> 00:09:52.740 The Lord Jesus Christ. 00:09:52.900 --> 00:09:53.700 Never prayed. 00:09:54.780 --> 00:09:55.260 Father. 00:09:55.960 --> 00:09:57.240 That they may be one. 00:09:57.800 --> 00:09:59.620 That the world might see. 00:10:00.660 --> 00:10:01.060 See. 00:10:01.059 --> 00:10:03.419 Because the only church. 00:10:03.419 --> 00:10:04.500 With which we have to do. 00:10:04.599 --> 00:10:05.779 Is the visible church. 00:10:06.819 --> 00:10:07.879 God alone knows. 00:10:07.979 --> 00:10:08.739 Those who are his. 00:10:08.919 --> 00:10:09.759 We have no access. 00:10:09.759 --> 00:10:10.459 To the. 00:10:10.939 --> 00:10:12.139 To the hearts. 00:10:12.139 --> 00:10:13.059 Of men and women. 00:10:14.919 --> 00:10:15.959 God alone knows. 00:10:16.039 --> 00:10:16.679 Those who are his. 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:17.799 The only church. 00:10:17.799 --> 00:10:18.919 With which we have to do. 00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:20.219 Is the visible church. 00:10:20.219 --> 00:10:21.019 The church. 00:10:21.019 --> 00:10:21.819 Of credible. 00:10:22.500 --> 00:10:22.939 Gospel. 00:10:23.319 --> 00:10:23.799 Faithful. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:24.519 Profession. 00:10:24.519 --> 00:10:27.299 And I say that. 00:10:27.379 --> 00:10:27.720 Because. 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:29.199 I do believe. 00:10:29.379 --> 00:10:30.299 That how we think. 00:10:30.299 --> 00:10:31.519 About the church. 00:10:33.319 --> 00:10:35.139 In a myriad of ways. 00:10:35.559 --> 00:10:36.039 Impacts. 00:10:36.179 --> 00:10:36.819 And influences. 00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:38.220 Without us knowing it. 00:10:38.340 --> 00:10:38.939 How we think. 00:10:38.939 --> 00:10:40.279 About our local churches. 00:10:43.340 --> 00:10:44.480 I have a. 00:10:45.159 --> 00:10:45.600 Fear. 00:10:46.120 --> 00:10:47.100 I've got one or two. 00:10:47.199 --> 00:10:47.799 Minor fears. 00:10:47.879 --> 00:10:48.799 But I've got a big fear. 00:10:48.899 --> 00:10:49.439 As a Christian. 00:10:49.440 --> 00:10:52.160 And one of. 00:10:52.260 --> 00:10:53.360 My big fear is this. 00:10:53.780 --> 00:10:55.440 That I will ever speak. 00:10:56.440 --> 00:10:56.760 Ill. 00:10:57.820 --> 00:10:58.660 Of anyone. 00:10:58.880 --> 00:10:59.580 Bought with the blood. 00:10:59.640 --> 00:11:00.500 Of Jesus Christ. 00:11:02.620 --> 00:11:04.180 Chosen in times eternal. 00:11:04.560 --> 00:11:05.660 By the heavenly father. 00:11:06.560 --> 00:11:07.480 And indwelled. 00:11:07.740 --> 00:11:08.620 By the holy spirit. 00:11:10.120 --> 00:11:10.960 I don't mean. 00:11:11.040 --> 00:11:11.640 I should never. 00:11:12.160 --> 00:11:12.780 Seek to. 00:11:13.580 --> 00:11:14.020 Confront. 00:11:14.140 --> 00:11:14.720 Or correct. 00:11:15.040 --> 00:11:15.580 Such a brother. 00:11:15.700 --> 00:11:16.120 Or sister. 00:11:16.440 --> 00:11:17.480 And be open to their. 00:11:18.300 --> 00:11:18.580 Confronting. 00:11:18.780 --> 00:11:19.380 And corrections. 00:11:20.380 --> 00:11:20.960 I don't mean. 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:21.760 That I should never. 00:11:22.200 --> 00:11:22.800 Passionately. 00:11:22.940 --> 00:11:23.960 Or animatedly. 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:24.700 Seek to. 00:11:25.540 --> 00:11:26.400 Bring them. 00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:27.220 To. 00:11:27.800 --> 00:11:28.260 Embed. 00:11:28.340 --> 00:11:29.180 Their lives. 00:11:29.460 --> 00:11:30.620 In the theology. 00:11:30.940 --> 00:11:31.660 And spirituality. 00:11:31.660 --> 00:11:33.180 Of the Westminster standards. 00:11:33.260 --> 00:11:33.960 I don't mean that. 00:11:36.560 --> 00:11:38.060 But I have this fear. 00:11:38.540 --> 00:11:39.020 And I. 00:11:39.700 --> 00:11:40.200 Honestly. 00:11:40.380 --> 00:11:40.920 Is a fear. 00:11:42.400 --> 00:11:43.480 Of speaking. 00:11:44.040 --> 00:11:44.340 Ill. 00:11:44.620 --> 00:11:45.160 Of a brother. 00:11:45.240 --> 00:11:45.800 Or sister. 00:11:46.860 --> 00:11:47.340 Bought. 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:49.100 With the precious. 00:11:49.100 --> 00:11:49.540 Blood. 00:11:50.540 --> 00:11:51.440 Of the God. 00:11:51.500 --> 00:11:51.720 Man. 00:11:51.800 --> 00:11:52.560 Jesus Christ. 00:11:54.480 --> 00:11:55.720 So when we think. 00:11:55.879 --> 00:11:56.279 About. 00:11:56.820 --> 00:11:57.200 Leadership. 00:11:57.420 --> 00:11:58.060 In the church. 00:11:59.740 --> 00:12:00.940 I do believe. 00:12:01.100 --> 00:12:01.860 We need to. 00:12:03.460 --> 00:12:04.139 Cultivate. 00:12:04.700 --> 00:12:05.019 That. 00:12:05.580 --> 00:12:06.100 Spirit. 00:12:06.500 --> 00:12:07.620 Of expansiveness. 00:12:07.620 --> 00:12:08.779 And catholicity. 00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:10.060 That has marked. 00:12:10.180 --> 00:12:10.840 The best. 00:12:11.620 --> 00:12:12.420 Of the church's. 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:12.700 Leaders. 00:12:12.840 --> 00:12:13.820 Throughout the ages. 00:12:14.260 --> 00:12:14.780 John. 00:12:14.780 --> 00:12:15.660 John. 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:15.660 00:12:15.659 --> 00:12:23.299 no one was not noted for being a vacillator. He wasn't noted for being a mealy-mouthed compromiser. 00:12:24.019 --> 00:12:30.659 But he was passionate in his concern to pursue, as much as he was able, 00:12:31.379 --> 00:12:37.579 unity in the faith. He didn't see it as tangential. 00:12:37.580 --> 00:12:50.040 Like Calvin, he didn't think it was something that he could turn to when the times allowed or when the opportunity allowed. 00:12:50.800 --> 00:12:57.900 It was something that was a divine calling upon his life. 00:12:57.899 --> 00:13:07.759 And I would hope that Presbyterian churches, in these confused times, 00:13:08.500 --> 00:13:15.860 would be noted for steadfastness, faithfulness, unyielding resolve, 00:13:16.620 --> 00:13:23.799 to be faithful even unto death, if it pleases the Lord, for the cause of Jesus Christ and his gospel. 00:13:23.799 --> 00:13:30.059 But I hope in all of that, we might also be noted as being the most generous, 00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:39.299 the most open-hearted, the most embracive of men and women. 00:13:40.379 --> 00:13:44.399 You have a little handout. It might seem a little daunting. 00:13:44.899 --> 00:13:48.519 We won't be here all day. I'm not going to go through the 15. 00:13:48.519 --> 00:13:54.519 The first session will focus on the first two, the 15 points, 00:13:55.299 --> 00:13:58.220 and then there's actually eight in the second. You've got five. 00:13:58.980 --> 00:14:03.360 I just want to touch on them. I won't touch on all of them. 00:14:04.779 --> 00:14:07.620 But if we're going to think about leadership 00:14:07.620 --> 00:14:12.779 and what it means to be a shepherd, a pastor, and a servant 00:14:12.779 --> 00:14:18.379 in the cause of God, his church and kingdom, 00:14:19.159 --> 00:14:22.559 we need to remember, above all, of course, 00:14:22.659 --> 00:14:29.159 that Jesus Christ is the true chief shepherd of the sheep, 1 Peter 5. 00:14:29.620 --> 00:14:35.839 We are to shepherd in such a way that people know that Jesus Christ is the chief shepherd. 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:45.440 If you're interested, John Calvin has a wonderful exposition of 1 Peter 5.4 and Acts 20.20. 00:14:45.540 --> 00:14:50.680 If you've got Calvin's commentaries, they're absolutely fabulous on those two passages. 00:14:51.060 --> 00:14:56.540 We are to shepherd knowing that Jesus Christ is the chief shepherd 00:14:56.540 --> 00:15:01.519 and shepherd in such a way that the congregation knows that Jesus Christ is the chief shepherd 00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:05.579 and also that Jesus Christ is the great deacon of the church. 00:15:06.679 --> 00:15:16.600 I've come not to be served, but to serve, to give my life a ransom for the many. 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:22.600 He is the great deacon. He's the prototypical deacon of the church. 00:15:24.220 --> 00:15:27.779 But we need to understand that in its widest context. 00:15:27.939 --> 00:15:29.460 What exactly is the church? 00:15:29.460 --> 00:15:33.600 What is it that we're seeking to build? 00:15:34.120 --> 00:15:37.780 When Jesus said, I will build my church, he is the great church builder. 00:15:38.460 --> 00:15:40.440 What was he actually saying? 00:15:40.980 --> 00:15:42.680 Well, these are just 15. 00:15:42.740 --> 00:15:44.160 They're not plucked out of the air. 00:15:46.600 --> 00:15:50.440 They're plucked out of my head, but out of the Bible, I hope. 00:15:51.220 --> 00:15:57.379 They have a kind of order, at least in my disconnected head. 00:15:57.379 --> 00:16:00.159 Let me just run through them. 00:16:00.620 --> 00:16:02.279 The spiritual nature of the church. 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:06.679 The church is a fellowship of the twice-born. 00:16:08.139 --> 00:16:13.799 We are a supernaturally founded community of faith. 00:16:15.100 --> 00:16:18.120 The church is founded on the Holy Trinity. 00:16:18.120 --> 00:16:28.159 The early church and our Reformation forebears would be mystified and appalled in equal measure 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:35.279 at the crystal monism that seems to dominate so much of the evangelical church. 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:45.079 Some of you will know the phrase Calvin in Book 1, 1317 of the Institutes. 00:16:45.579 --> 00:16:50.699 He says, these words of Gregory, meaning Gregory Nazianzen, vastly delight me. 00:16:50.939 --> 00:16:53.139 Now, Calvin wasn't noted for overstatement. 00:16:53.139 --> 00:17:00.000 And when Calvin says something vastly delighted him, you stop and you think, well, let me go 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:01.199 and find out what that is. 00:17:01.279 --> 00:17:08.319 And he quotes a few words of Gregory from his baptismal oration 40, section 41. 00:17:08.460 --> 00:17:10.819 If you haven't read it, it's just a fabulous read. 00:17:11.339 --> 00:17:17.440 I read it recently to Joan and one of my boys, and it takes about five minutes. 00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:21.860 He's catechizing a young man, preparing him for baptism. 00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:25.759 And I read this baptismal oration 40, section 41. 00:17:26.460 --> 00:17:29.019 And I just stopped and I looked at Joan. 00:17:29.940 --> 00:17:31.640 And she didn't know what to say. 00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:35.240 And I looked at Jonathan and he just went, wow. 00:17:37.180 --> 00:17:40.640 Here's someone saturated with the Holy Trinity. 00:17:41.340 --> 00:17:44.840 And Calvin says, these words vastly delight me. 00:17:44.839 --> 00:17:50.139 And Gregory, he quotes Gregory, when I think of the one, I must think of the three. 00:17:51.539 --> 00:17:54.319 But when I think of the three, I must think of the one. 00:17:54.699 --> 00:17:56.359 They are one undivided torch. 00:17:57.459 --> 00:18:01.059 And when I do, my mind is overwhelmed. 00:18:01.720 --> 00:18:03.199 My heart is filled. 00:18:03.699 --> 00:18:07.599 I must turn aside and with tears worship. 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:19.419 Now, when did you last, as you pondered God's revelation of himself as a Holy Trinity, 00:18:20.459 --> 00:18:24.559 when did you last find your heart overwhelmed, your mind filled? 00:18:25.879 --> 00:18:30.019 When were you last, tearfully, bowing down in adoration? 00:18:31.219 --> 00:18:34.559 Well, to my shame, I can hardly think of the last time. 00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:39.319 The early church fathers didn't get everything right. 00:18:39.779 --> 00:18:42.220 Some things they got spectacularly wrong. 00:18:43.220 --> 00:18:44.679 Augustine didn't know any Greek. 00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:47.919 That's why he was so wonky on justification. 00:18:49.339 --> 00:18:52.119 But they got some things spectacularly right. 00:18:52.119 --> 00:19:03.319 And we need to recover and be at the forefront of recovering this glorious Trinitarian heritage 00:19:03.319 --> 00:19:05.959 that, of course, is embedded in Scripture 00:19:05.959 --> 00:19:16.359 and is seen in the life, the worship, the liturgy, the service of the church throughout the ages. 00:19:16.359 --> 00:19:21.319 People need to come into our worship services 00:19:21.319 --> 00:19:27.839 and discover themselves confronted by the God who is three and who is one. 00:19:29.659 --> 00:19:33.459 And yet, in the midst of that Trinitarian foundation, 00:19:33.959 --> 00:19:36.879 there is a Christo-centric note. 00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:40.179 And Luther heralds this at the Reformation 00:19:40.179 --> 00:19:43.240 when he talked about Crook's probat omnia, 00:19:43.319 --> 00:19:44.939 the cross is the test of everything. 00:19:44.940 --> 00:19:48.539 Now, Luther was prone to exaggeration. 00:19:49.400 --> 00:19:50.660 If you know anything about Luther, 00:19:50.820 --> 00:19:54.580 he takes language to the ultimate hyperbole. 00:19:55.720 --> 00:19:57.519 But here, he doesn't. 00:19:59.100 --> 00:20:03.220 He's saying the test of everything is the cross. 00:20:04.279 --> 00:20:06.519 The cross promised. 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:09.519 The cross revealed. 00:20:10.080 --> 00:20:12.440 The cross explicated. 00:20:12.779 --> 00:20:13.779 The cross applied. 00:20:13.779 --> 00:20:21.440 Everything in Holy Scripture focuses upon the one, 00:20:22.019 --> 00:20:25.559 the God-man who, at the behest of the Father 00:20:25.559 --> 00:20:28.059 and indwelled by the Holy Spirit, 00:20:28.519 --> 00:20:32.079 comes to offer himself without spot or blemish 00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:34.940 in our place and for our sake. 00:20:34.940 --> 00:20:41.600 People, as they are confronted by who God is in his triunity, 00:20:42.600 --> 00:20:48.559 will at the same time be confronted by the supreme revelation of the triune God 00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:50.920 in the cross of Jesus Christ. 00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:52.519 It wasn't the Father who died. 00:20:53.080 --> 00:20:54.680 It wasn't the Spirit who died. 00:20:54.680 --> 00:20:58.039 But Jesus Christ died as the sent one of the Father 00:20:58.039 --> 00:21:00.340 and upheld by the Spirit. 00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:02.279 Hebrews 9.14. 00:21:02.279 --> 00:21:06.720 And then there's the Catholic character of the church. 00:21:06.899 --> 00:21:08.200 I've touched on that. 00:21:09.879 --> 00:21:13.180 Read Westminster Confession 26.4. 00:21:13.319 --> 00:21:16.539 It's a fabulous, one of the finest statements 00:21:16.539 --> 00:21:20.759 on gospel Catholicity you'll find anywhere. 00:21:20.759 --> 00:21:25.680 And number five, the preaching ministry of the church. 00:21:25.799 --> 00:21:29.799 It's significant, isn't it, that as Paul faces the execution of sword, 00:21:29.940 --> 00:21:30.980 2 Timothy 4, 00:21:30.980 --> 00:21:33.599 He tells Timothy, 00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:36.160 In season and out of season, 00:21:36.339 --> 00:21:37.799 You kairos, eikairos, 00:21:37.880 --> 00:21:39.440 In good times and in bad times, 00:21:39.720 --> 00:21:40.819 Preach the word. 00:21:41.500 --> 00:21:42.519 Herald the word. 00:21:44.240 --> 00:21:46.460 Let nothing distract you 00:21:46.460 --> 00:21:50.539 from this principal calling that God has given to you. 00:21:50.880 --> 00:21:51.900 Preach the word. 00:21:52.900 --> 00:21:55.700 I was quite struck many years ago 00:21:55.700 --> 00:21:57.700 reading something in Calvin 00:21:57.700 --> 00:21:59.640 that initially surprised me. 00:21:59.640 --> 00:22:03.020 He said the church can exist without the sacraments, 00:22:03.980 --> 00:22:06.600 but it cannot exist without the word. 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:13.600 And our congregations need to be places 00:22:13.600 --> 00:22:15.420 where the preaching, 00:22:15.600 --> 00:22:18.840 the explication of the word of God 00:22:18.840 --> 00:22:20.920 in Jesus Christ is made known. 00:22:22.340 --> 00:22:24.759 Now there will be, of course, gospel application. 00:22:25.100 --> 00:22:26.520 Wasn't it Richard Baxter who said 00:22:26.519 --> 00:22:30.660 many sermons die for lack of application? 00:22:30.859 --> 00:22:32.519 But we live in a day 00:22:32.519 --> 00:22:35.920 when people in evangelical churches, 00:22:36.299 --> 00:22:37.180 our kinds of churches, 00:22:37.859 --> 00:22:40.420 don't really understand 00:22:40.420 --> 00:22:42.900 that Jesus Christ himself 00:22:42.900 --> 00:22:44.480 is the great incentive 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:46.240 for godly living. 00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:51.940 He is the great application of the gospel. 00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:53.980 In his, 00:22:54.500 --> 00:22:55.559 I don't know if any of you have read 00:22:55.559 --> 00:22:56.400 volume one of O, 00:22:56.420 --> 00:22:57.259 and some of you have had it, 00:22:57.319 --> 00:22:58.559 on the glory of Christ. 00:22:58.960 --> 00:22:59.759 He has this, 00:23:00.019 --> 00:23:01.160 I think, 00:23:01.319 --> 00:23:02.000 beautiful, 00:23:02.339 --> 00:23:03.900 lyrically beautiful passage 00:23:03.900 --> 00:23:05.839 which is just so rich in theology. 00:23:06.400 --> 00:23:07.380 And he's really saying 00:23:07.380 --> 00:23:08.480 if people are suffering 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:10.720 and struggling with obedience 00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:12.039 in the Christian life, 00:23:12.980 --> 00:23:14.579 preach the glory of Christ to them. 00:23:15.640 --> 00:23:16.779 That would be so foreign, 00:23:16.860 --> 00:23:17.180 I think, 00:23:17.259 --> 00:23:18.799 to many of our churches. 00:23:19.539 --> 00:23:21.220 If people are languishing, 00:23:21.819 --> 00:23:22.960 if people are struggling 00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:24.019 in any way, 00:23:24.539 --> 00:23:26.980 if temptation is pressing hard upon them, 00:23:26.980 --> 00:23:28.579 preach the glory of Christ. 00:23:28.579 --> 00:23:31.299 A few years ago, 00:23:31.399 --> 00:23:34.839 a young fellow in the congregation, 00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:35.819 a very fine Christian, 00:23:35.960 --> 00:23:36.740 came to me and said, 00:23:36.839 --> 00:23:39.000 I'm struggling badly 00:23:39.000 --> 00:23:40.460 with internet pornography. 00:23:41.799 --> 00:23:44.980 I was so full of admiration for him. 00:23:45.099 --> 00:23:47.639 He came and he said, 00:23:47.740 --> 00:23:48.599 with shame, 00:23:48.659 --> 00:23:49.519 I want to tell you. 00:23:50.019 --> 00:23:52.240 And we would meet together regularly 00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:54.299 and I thought, 00:23:54.379 --> 00:23:54.559 you know, 00:23:54.740 --> 00:23:57.019 I don't quite know what to do. 00:23:57.019 --> 00:23:59.319 I've not read any books about this. 00:23:59.619 --> 00:24:00.279 It's quite neat. 00:24:00.859 --> 00:24:01.139 Do you see, 00:24:01.379 --> 00:24:03.240 when a sin doesn't trouble you, 00:24:03.579 --> 00:24:04.859 and that has never troubled me, 00:24:04.920 --> 00:24:06.059 other sins trouble me, 00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:07.480 they're actually worse than that. 00:24:07.539 --> 00:24:08.019 You might think, 00:24:08.079 --> 00:24:08.779 is that possible? 00:24:09.099 --> 00:24:09.500 Yes. 00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:11.539 That sin's never bothered me. 00:24:11.579 --> 00:24:12.660 When a sin doesn't bother you, 00:24:13.480 --> 00:24:13.859 I don't know, 00:24:13.940 --> 00:24:15.039 I think psychologically 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:17.279 you tend not to dwell 00:24:17.279 --> 00:24:18.400 upon how you might 00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:19.980 pastorally respond to it. 00:24:21.500 --> 00:24:22.940 But every time we met, 00:24:23.359 --> 00:24:24.519 I would choose passages 00:24:24.519 --> 00:24:26.519 that focused on the glory 00:24:26.519 --> 00:24:27.420 of Jesus Christ. 00:24:30.059 --> 00:24:31.500 And it struck me 00:24:31.500 --> 00:24:34.500 that when the Lord 00:24:34.500 --> 00:24:35.579 restores Peter, 00:24:36.440 --> 00:24:37.700 John 21, 00:24:37.900 --> 00:24:39.660 Peter has failed horribly, 00:24:39.859 --> 00:24:40.180 remember? 00:24:40.980 --> 00:24:42.460 Before a servant girl, 00:24:42.579 --> 00:24:44.200 he denies the Lord with curses. 00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:46.619 And when Jesus restores her, 00:24:48.059 --> 00:24:49.720 he doesn't say to Peter, 00:24:49.920 --> 00:24:50.240 Peter, 00:24:50.660 --> 00:24:52.220 do you promise from now on 00:24:52.220 --> 00:24:54.059 to be courageous and bold? 00:24:54.059 --> 00:24:55.359 Do you promise no longer 00:24:55.359 --> 00:24:57.440 to be pusillanimous 00:24:57.440 --> 00:24:59.339 and weak-willed 00:24:59.339 --> 00:25:00.059 and faltered? 00:25:01.000 --> 00:25:02.440 Do you promise to be resolute? 00:25:02.659 --> 00:25:03.019 He says, 00:25:03.099 --> 00:25:03.319 Peter, 00:25:03.399 --> 00:25:04.039 do you love me? 00:25:05.659 --> 00:25:06.799 Do you love me? 00:25:08.279 --> 00:25:08.599 You see, 00:25:08.679 --> 00:25:09.460 Peter's failure 00:25:09.460 --> 00:25:10.639 was not that 00:25:10.639 --> 00:25:11.940 he lacked courage. 00:25:13.119 --> 00:25:14.220 Peter's failure was 00:25:14.220 --> 00:25:15.339 he didn't love Jesus 00:25:15.339 --> 00:25:16.759 as much as he thought he did. 00:25:16.759 --> 00:25:19.460 And it's when you love someone 00:25:19.460 --> 00:25:20.480 that your affections 00:25:20.480 --> 00:25:21.539 have taken up with them. 00:25:22.039 --> 00:25:23.099 And you are the better 00:25:23.099 --> 00:25:23.980 armoured 00:25:23.980 --> 00:25:24.900 against 00:25:24.900 --> 00:25:26.079 temptation. 00:25:28.339 --> 00:25:29.980 And so in our preaching ministry, 00:25:30.099 --> 00:25:30.480 we're to 00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:32.140 proclaim Jesus Christ. 00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:33.480 When we pastor people, 00:25:35.180 --> 00:25:35.779 people will 00:25:35.779 --> 00:25:36.900 come to you 00:25:36.900 --> 00:25:37.559 and they'll say, 00:25:37.619 --> 00:25:38.339 I've got this problem 00:25:38.339 --> 00:25:39.000 and that problem. 00:25:39.099 --> 00:25:39.420 And you'll say, 00:25:39.500 --> 00:25:39.680 well, 00:25:39.680 --> 00:25:43.019 let's think about 00:25:43.019 --> 00:25:43.700 the Lord Jesus. 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:44.400 Well, 00:25:44.580 --> 00:25:44.759 yeah, 00:25:44.840 --> 00:25:45.920 I'm happy to do that 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:46.799 later, 00:25:46.920 --> 00:25:47.380 but please, 00:25:47.500 --> 00:25:48.180 will you address 00:25:48.180 --> 00:25:48.799 the problem? 00:25:49.740 --> 00:25:49.940 Now, 00:25:50.060 --> 00:25:50.480 one or two 00:25:50.480 --> 00:25:51.380 who might be medics 00:25:51.380 --> 00:25:51.940 and you know about 00:25:51.940 --> 00:25:52.880 referred pain. 00:25:53.420 --> 00:25:53.600 You know, 00:25:53.620 --> 00:25:54.400 you go to the doctor 00:25:54.400 --> 00:25:54.880 and you say, 00:25:54.940 --> 00:25:56.200 I've got a really bad knee. 00:25:56.460 --> 00:25:57.580 The doctor examines you 00:25:57.580 --> 00:25:58.000 and says, 00:25:58.060 --> 00:25:58.180 yeah, 00:25:58.220 --> 00:25:58.759 you've got a problem 00:25:58.759 --> 00:26:00.299 with your right shoulder. 00:26:01.160 --> 00:26:01.519 And you say, 00:26:01.580 --> 00:26:02.259 what a numpty. 00:26:03.100 --> 00:26:04.480 My shoulder's fine. 00:26:04.980 --> 00:26:05.779 It's my knee. 00:26:05.880 --> 00:26:06.220 He says, 00:26:06.279 --> 00:26:06.420 yeah, 00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:07.299 your shoulder's actually 00:26:07.299 --> 00:26:07.860 not fine. 00:26:08.299 --> 00:26:08.980 Your knee isn't 00:26:08.980 --> 00:26:09.539 the problem. 00:26:10.560 --> 00:26:11.799 It's coming out there 00:26:11.799 --> 00:26:12.580 that the problem's 00:26:12.580 --> 00:26:13.500 actually somewhere else. 00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:16.940 And Jesus does that 00:26:16.940 --> 00:26:17.940 in the upper room 00:26:17.940 --> 00:26:19.640 in John 14 through 17. 00:26:20.840 --> 00:26:21.400 He begins, 00:26:21.519 --> 00:26:22.000 you'll remember, 00:26:22.160 --> 00:26:23.019 let not your hearts 00:26:23.019 --> 00:26:23.539 be troubled. 00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:24.740 You believe in God, 00:26:24.820 --> 00:26:25.600 believe also in me. 00:26:25.700 --> 00:26:26.980 The disciples are 00:26:26.980 --> 00:26:28.860 besides themselves 00:26:28.860 --> 00:26:30.360 with anxiety. 00:26:31.320 --> 00:26:32.240 They're worried. 00:26:32.420 --> 00:26:33.100 They're fearful. 00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:35.220 Jesus is going to leave them. 00:26:35.279 --> 00:26:36.500 How are they going to cope? 00:26:37.140 --> 00:26:38.140 Life seems to be 00:26:38.140 --> 00:26:39.580 falling apart around them. 00:26:39.680 --> 00:26:40.519 What does Jesus 00:26:40.519 --> 00:26:41.400 actually do 00:26:41.400 --> 00:26:43.279 in John 14 to 17? 00:26:45.220 --> 00:26:45.440 Well, 00:26:45.460 --> 00:26:46.259 he does many things, 00:26:46.360 --> 00:26:46.900 but if you run, 00:26:47.120 --> 00:26:48.580 if you read through, 00:26:48.620 --> 00:26:50.060 if you stand far enough back 00:26:50.060 --> 00:26:52.100 and look at the terrain 00:26:52.100 --> 00:26:53.480 of the chapters, 00:26:53.900 --> 00:26:54.799 you discover something 00:26:54.799 --> 00:26:55.500 very striking. 00:26:56.039 --> 00:26:56.980 Jesus is saying to them, 00:26:57.019 --> 00:26:57.820 I know you're troubled. 00:26:59.100 --> 00:27:00.060 Let me tell you 00:27:00.060 --> 00:27:01.080 about the Holy Trinity. 00:27:03.620 --> 00:27:04.560 Imagine someone comes 00:27:04.560 --> 00:27:05.480 to your door tonight, 00:27:05.799 --> 00:27:06.759 some fellow member 00:27:06.759 --> 00:27:07.960 or dealing or whatever, 00:27:08.759 --> 00:27:09.140 and they say, 00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:11.220 I'm in great distress 00:27:11.220 --> 00:27:12.299 that this has happened. 00:27:12.299 --> 00:27:13.440 Can you help me? 00:27:14.519 --> 00:27:15.359 And you give them 00:27:15.359 --> 00:27:16.019 a cup of tea 00:27:16.019 --> 00:27:16.740 with a biscuit. 00:27:18.980 --> 00:27:19.900 And you say, 00:27:20.180 --> 00:27:20.379 well, 00:27:20.619 --> 00:27:22.220 let's think about 00:27:22.220 --> 00:27:22.579 what? 00:27:22.579 --> 00:27:23.579 Well, 00:27:23.579 --> 00:27:29.619 let's think about 00:27:29.619 --> 00:27:30.399 the Holy Trinity. 00:27:31.679 --> 00:27:32.579 I would guess 00:27:32.579 --> 00:27:33.659 most people would think, 00:27:33.879 --> 00:27:34.119 well, 00:27:35.579 --> 00:27:36.740 that's nice, 00:27:37.299 --> 00:27:37.859 but 00:27:37.859 --> 00:27:39.579 that's really not 00:27:39.579 --> 00:27:40.159 what I need. 00:27:42.119 --> 00:27:43.259 And Jesus is saying 00:27:43.259 --> 00:27:44.039 to his disciples, 00:27:44.579 --> 00:27:46.299 this is what you need. 00:27:46.379 --> 00:27:47.519 You need your lives 00:27:47.519 --> 00:27:49.740 sunk into who God is. 00:27:49.740 --> 00:27:52.900 Number six, 00:27:53.000 --> 00:27:53.859 the covenantal, 00:27:54.059 --> 00:27:54.779 sacramental, 00:27:54.980 --> 00:27:55.819 sealing signs 00:27:55.819 --> 00:27:56.420 of the church 00:27:56.420 --> 00:27:56.900 are called 00:27:56.900 --> 00:27:58.359 the drama of identity. 00:27:59.579 --> 00:28:00.900 The evangelical world 00:28:00.900 --> 00:28:01.339 today, 00:28:01.579 --> 00:28:02.740 in all its forms, 00:28:02.839 --> 00:28:03.140 I think, 00:28:03.599 --> 00:28:04.519 plays down 00:28:04.519 --> 00:28:05.700 the significance 00:28:05.700 --> 00:28:07.359 of the sacraments. 00:28:08.940 --> 00:28:09.480 And yet, 00:28:09.599 --> 00:28:10.240 in the Bible, 00:28:11.160 --> 00:28:12.440 Old and New Testaments, 00:28:13.160 --> 00:28:14.440 sometimes the language 00:28:14.440 --> 00:28:15.019 of the Bible 00:28:15.019 --> 00:28:16.380 collapses the sign 00:28:16.380 --> 00:28:17.460 into the reality. 00:28:19.740 --> 00:28:20.799 Genesis 17, 00:28:21.400 --> 00:28:22.339 circumcision 00:28:22.339 --> 00:28:23.079 is called 00:28:23.079 --> 00:28:23.640 the covenant. 00:28:24.920 --> 00:28:25.160 Now, 00:28:25.960 --> 00:28:26.519 is it not 00:28:26.519 --> 00:28:27.759 the sealing sign 00:28:27.759 --> 00:28:28.319 of the covenant? 00:28:28.700 --> 00:28:28.920 Yes, 00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:29.400 it is. 00:28:30.779 --> 00:28:31.579 But it's actually 00:28:31.579 --> 00:28:32.299 called the covenant. 00:28:33.400 --> 00:28:34.160 1 Peter 3, 00:28:34.339 --> 00:28:34.839 Peter says, 00:28:34.960 --> 00:28:36.319 baptism now saves you. 00:28:36.700 --> 00:28:37.500 It's a great question 00:28:37.500 --> 00:28:38.539 to ask an ordination 00:28:38.539 --> 00:28:40.039 of elders and pastors. 00:28:40.160 --> 00:28:40.539 Do you believe 00:28:40.539 --> 00:28:41.640 baptism saves? 00:28:43.339 --> 00:28:43.900 No. 00:28:44.500 --> 00:28:45.940 The Bible says it does. 00:28:45.940 --> 00:28:48.900 Peter says, 00:28:49.000 --> 00:28:49.980 in the day of Pentecost, 00:28:50.380 --> 00:28:51.180 people say, 00:28:51.680 --> 00:28:52.700 what must we do? 00:28:53.080 --> 00:28:53.440 He says, 00:28:53.500 --> 00:28:54.500 repent and be baptized 00:28:54.500 --> 00:28:56.740 for the forgiveness 00:28:56.740 --> 00:28:57.920 of sins. 00:29:00.420 --> 00:29:01.460 The drama 00:29:01.460 --> 00:29:03.360 of covenantal identity 00:29:03.360 --> 00:29:05.380 belongs to the very 00:29:05.380 --> 00:29:06.700 nature of the church. 00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:09.100 And there are times 00:29:09.100 --> 00:29:10.440 in order to accent 00:29:10.440 --> 00:29:11.559 the significance 00:29:11.559 --> 00:29:12.580 of the sealing 00:29:12.580 --> 00:29:13.759 covenant signs, 00:29:13.759 --> 00:29:15.160 the language, 00:29:15.420 --> 00:29:16.559 if not the reality, 00:29:18.039 --> 00:29:19.259 collapses the sign 00:29:19.259 --> 00:29:22.579 into the rays, 00:29:22.920 --> 00:29:23.539 into the things 00:29:23.539 --> 00:29:24.200 signifying, 00:29:24.319 --> 00:29:25.140 into the reality. 00:29:27.019 --> 00:29:27.480 That's why 00:29:27.480 --> 00:29:27.960 when you read 00:29:27.960 --> 00:29:28.619 John Calvin 00:29:28.619 --> 00:29:29.319 in the Institutes, 00:29:29.420 --> 00:29:29.859 at times you're 00:29:29.859 --> 00:29:30.879 scratching your head. 00:29:33.059 --> 00:29:33.579 Because 00:29:33.579 --> 00:29:35.680 he puts things 00:29:35.680 --> 00:29:37.240 in ways 00:29:37.240 --> 00:29:37.579 that 00:29:37.579 --> 00:29:39.259 I don't think 00:29:39.259 --> 00:29:39.940 Calvin would be 00:29:39.940 --> 00:29:40.779 invited to a 00:29:40.779 --> 00:29:41.579 reform conference 00:29:41.579 --> 00:29:42.019 anywhere. 00:29:42.019 --> 00:29:43.480 I help organize 00:29:43.480 --> 00:29:44.299 banner conferences. 00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:45.200 We wouldn't invite 00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:45.579 Calvin. 00:29:46.859 --> 00:29:47.359 He would be 00:29:47.359 --> 00:29:48.400 suspect on any 00:29:48.400 --> 00:29:49.359 number of levels. 00:29:50.279 --> 00:29:50.660 He mixes 00:29:50.660 --> 00:29:51.599 with Lutherans. 00:29:52.539 --> 00:29:52.940 Not good. 00:29:54.059 --> 00:29:55.000 He talks to 00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:55.819 Roman Catholics. 00:29:56.440 --> 00:29:57.259 Not good. 00:30:00.379 --> 00:30:01.259 He's willing 00:30:01.259 --> 00:30:02.379 to accommodate 00:30:02.379 --> 00:30:03.579 even convictions, 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:04.779 cherish convictions. 00:30:06.460 --> 00:30:07.579 He doesn't fit 00:30:07.579 --> 00:30:08.819 into the monochrome 00:30:08.819 --> 00:30:09.980 reductions view 00:30:09.980 --> 00:30:10.779 of the reformed 00:30:10.779 --> 00:30:11.319 faith that 00:30:11.319 --> 00:30:12.960 we unhappily have 00:30:12.960 --> 00:30:13.700 in the churches 00:30:13.700 --> 00:30:14.200 today. 00:30:16.099 --> 00:30:16.519 But when you 00:30:16.519 --> 00:30:17.099 read Calvin, 00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:19.539 he can be 00:30:19.539 --> 00:30:20.400 very perplexing 00:30:20.400 --> 00:30:20.660 because he 00:30:20.660 --> 00:30:21.380 talks about 00:30:21.380 --> 00:30:23.279 the duplex 00:30:23.279 --> 00:30:24.079 loquendi 00:30:24.079 --> 00:30:24.480 modus, 00:30:24.559 --> 00:30:25.160 the twofold 00:30:25.160 --> 00:30:25.900 way of speaking. 00:30:26.620 --> 00:30:27.120 He writes 00:30:27.120 --> 00:30:27.819 sometimes 00:30:27.819 --> 00:30:29.940 as if 00:30:29.940 --> 00:30:31.860 the sign 00:30:31.860 --> 00:30:32.279 and the 00:30:32.279 --> 00:30:33.319 things signified 00:30:33.319 --> 00:30:33.839 are one. 00:30:35.839 --> 00:30:36.319 At other 00:30:36.319 --> 00:30:36.759 times, 00:30:37.099 --> 00:30:37.599 he writes 00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:38.319 as if they're 00:30:38.319 --> 00:30:39.539 miles apart. 00:30:40.899 --> 00:30:41.799 The church 00:30:41.799 --> 00:30:42.439 can exist 00:30:42.439 --> 00:30:43.000 without the 00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:43.519 sacraments, 00:30:43.639 --> 00:30:44.099 can't exist 00:30:44.099 --> 00:30:44.559 without the 00:30:44.559 --> 00:30:44.799 work. 00:30:45.879 --> 00:30:46.319 And Calvin 00:30:46.319 --> 00:30:46.779 would say, 00:30:46.899 --> 00:30:47.019 well, 00:30:47.099 --> 00:30:47.460 here's the 00:30:47.460 --> 00:30:47.700 thing. 00:30:48.099 --> 00:30:48.480 When I'm 00:30:48.480 --> 00:30:49.039 talking to 00:30:49.039 --> 00:30:49.839 Roman Catholics 00:30:49.839 --> 00:30:51.439 who collapse 00:30:51.439 --> 00:30:52.200 the sign 00:30:52.200 --> 00:30:53.240 into the 00:30:53.240 --> 00:30:53.779 reality, 00:30:55.099 --> 00:30:56.839 I separate 00:30:56.839 --> 00:30:57.460 the sign 00:30:57.460 --> 00:30:57.740 and the 00:30:57.740 --> 00:30:58.200 reality 00:30:58.200 --> 00:30:59.220 to show 00:30:59.220 --> 00:31:00.240 them that 00:31:00.240 --> 00:31:02.279 the sacraments 00:31:02.279 --> 00:31:03.079 do not work 00:31:03.079 --> 00:31:03.960 ex operae 00:31:03.960 --> 00:31:04.500 operato 00:31:04.500 --> 00:31:05.720 by their 00:31:05.720 --> 00:31:06.399 own internal 00:31:06.399 --> 00:31:06.859 power. 00:31:06.859 --> 00:31:07.599 they work 00:31:07.599 --> 00:31:07.959 by the 00:31:07.959 --> 00:31:08.500 power and 00:31:08.500 --> 00:31:09.019 grace of 00:31:09.019 --> 00:31:09.399 God 00:31:09.399 --> 00:31:11.000 through faith, 00:31:11.119 --> 00:31:11.479 which is why 00:31:11.479 --> 00:31:12.539 Calvin called 00:31:12.539 --> 00:31:13.299 the sacraments 00:31:13.299 --> 00:31:14.259 means of 00:31:14.259 --> 00:31:14.759 grace, 00:31:15.359 --> 00:31:16.479 sacramenta 00:31:16.479 --> 00:31:17.019 conferut 00:31:17.019 --> 00:31:17.419 gratia, 00:31:17.500 --> 00:31:18.099 the sacraments 00:31:18.099 --> 00:31:18.959 confer grace 00:31:18.959 --> 00:31:20.240 by the will 00:31:20.240 --> 00:31:20.719 and purpose 00:31:20.719 --> 00:31:21.179 of God 00:31:21.179 --> 00:31:21.639 through the 00:31:21.639 --> 00:31:22.139 Holy Spirit 00:31:22.139 --> 00:31:22.699 received by 00:31:22.699 --> 00:31:22.979 faith. 00:31:23.659 --> 00:31:23.959 But when 00:31:23.959 --> 00:31:24.419 he's talking 00:31:24.419 --> 00:31:25.579 to Zwinglians, 00:31:26.139 --> 00:31:26.539 a bit 00:31:26.539 --> 00:31:27.599 broad brushless, 00:31:28.019 --> 00:31:29.000 who separate 00:31:29.000 --> 00:31:30.240 the sign 00:31:30.240 --> 00:31:31.079 and the 00:31:31.079 --> 00:31:31.639 reality, 00:31:32.599 --> 00:31:33.179 Calvin brings 00:31:33.179 --> 00:31:33.740 them together. 00:31:33.740 --> 00:31:37.319 he wants 00:31:37.319 --> 00:31:37.900 the church 00:31:37.900 --> 00:31:38.640 to realize 00:31:38.640 --> 00:31:39.579 that God 00:31:39.579 --> 00:31:40.259 has given 00:31:40.259 --> 00:31:41.059 us these 00:31:41.059 --> 00:31:44.240 drama 00:31:44.240 --> 00:31:45.519 identifiers 00:31:45.519 --> 00:31:48.259 to placard 00:31:48.259 --> 00:31:51.240 that we 00:31:51.240 --> 00:31:51.839 are the 00:31:51.839 --> 00:31:52.359 people of 00:31:52.359 --> 00:31:52.799 God 00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:54.160 united 00:31:54.160 --> 00:31:55.099 in Jesus 00:31:55.099 --> 00:31:55.740 Christ 00:31:55.740 --> 00:31:57.120 to the 00:31:57.120 --> 00:31:57.559 triune 00:31:57.559 --> 00:31:57.980 God. 00:31:58.620 --> 00:31:59.200 And that's 00:31:59.200 --> 00:31:59.579 why the 00:31:59.579 --> 00:32:00.180 sacraments 00:32:00.180 --> 00:32:01.099 should not 00:32:01.099 --> 00:32:02.839 be downplayed 00:32:02.839 --> 00:32:03.659 in any sense. 00:32:04.299 --> 00:32:04.639 And that's 00:32:04.639 --> 00:32:05.179 why Calvin 00:32:05.179 --> 00:32:05.740 wanted the 00:32:05.740 --> 00:32:06.039 Lord's 00:32:06.039 --> 00:32:06.220 Supper 00:32:06.220 --> 00:32:06.679 every 00:32:06.679 --> 00:32:07.119 Lord's 00:32:07.119 --> 00:32:07.379 day. 00:32:08.519 --> 00:32:08.919 He said 00:32:08.919 --> 00:32:09.379 that's 00:32:09.379 --> 00:32:09.919 surely what 00:32:09.919 --> 00:32:10.259 the Bible 00:32:10.259 --> 00:32:10.659 teaches. 00:32:11.099 --> 00:32:11.779 We preach 00:32:11.779 --> 00:32:12.299 the word 00:32:12.299 --> 00:32:12.740 and then 00:32:12.740 --> 00:32:13.759 the word 00:32:13.759 --> 00:32:14.179 is made 00:32:14.179 --> 00:32:14.720 visible. 00:32:17.339 --> 00:32:18.039 He didn't 00:32:18.039 --> 00:32:18.480 get his 00:32:18.480 --> 00:32:18.839 way. 00:32:22.419 --> 00:32:23.139 Much more 00:32:23.139 --> 00:32:23.480 to be said. 00:32:23.559 --> 00:32:23.939 Number seven, 00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:24.299 the holy 00:32:24.299 --> 00:32:25.019 identity of 00:32:25.019 --> 00:32:25.480 the church. 00:32:25.779 --> 00:32:26.319 I think 00:32:26.319 --> 00:32:26.839 that means 00:32:26.839 --> 00:32:27.339 that church 00:32:27.339 --> 00:32:27.879 discipline 00:32:27.879 --> 00:32:28.799 belongs to 00:32:28.799 --> 00:32:30.119 the wrong 00:32:30.119 --> 00:32:30.679 spelling here, 00:32:30.740 --> 00:32:31.019 the notes 00:32:31.019 --> 00:32:32.299 of the 00:32:32.299 --> 00:32:32.500 church, 00:32:32.619 --> 00:32:32.980 the marks 00:32:32.980 --> 00:32:33.279 of the 00:32:33.279 --> 00:32:33.579 church. 00:32:34.220 --> 00:32:34.599 Church 00:32:34.599 --> 00:32:35.139 discipline, 00:32:35.359 --> 00:32:36.059 the Scottish 00:32:36.059 --> 00:32:36.700 Reformation, 00:32:37.539 --> 00:32:38.139 I think 00:32:38.139 --> 00:32:38.879 Calvin actually 00:32:38.879 --> 00:32:39.659 teaches it 00:32:39.659 --> 00:32:40.599 but doesn't 00:32:40.599 --> 00:32:42.559 particularise it. 00:32:42.759 --> 00:32:43.359 John Knox 00:32:43.359 --> 00:32:44.680 particularises it. 00:32:45.159 --> 00:32:45.799 Not only is 00:32:45.799 --> 00:32:46.319 a church, 00:32:46.960 --> 00:32:47.839 a true church 00:32:47.839 --> 00:32:48.480 where the word 00:32:48.480 --> 00:32:49.079 is faithfully 00:32:49.079 --> 00:32:49.659 preached and 00:32:49.659 --> 00:32:50.399 the sacraments 00:32:50.399 --> 00:32:51.339 rightly administered, 00:32:52.180 --> 00:32:53.019 the true church 00:32:53.019 --> 00:32:53.980 also has 00:32:53.980 --> 00:32:55.339 godly discipline 00:32:55.339 --> 00:32:57.159 because God 00:32:57.159 --> 00:32:57.740 is a holy 00:32:57.740 --> 00:32:59.039 God and 00:32:59.039 --> 00:32:59.500 the church 00:32:59.500 --> 00:33:00.460 is to reflect 00:33:00.460 --> 00:33:01.079 the family 00:33:01.079 --> 00:33:01.899 likeness. 00:33:02.299 --> 00:33:04.359 And then 00:33:04.359 --> 00:33:05.000 allied to 00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:05.440 that is 00:33:05.440 --> 00:33:05.639 the 00:33:05.639 --> 00:33:06.000 counter 00:33:06.000 --> 00:33:06.579 cultural 00:33:06.579 --> 00:33:07.099 holiness 00:33:07.099 --> 00:33:07.599 of the 00:33:07.599 --> 00:33:07.960 church. 00:33:08.879 --> 00:33:09.399 Don't be 00:33:09.399 --> 00:33:10.119 conformed to 00:33:10.119 --> 00:33:10.619 this world 00:33:10.619 --> 00:33:10.960 but be 00:33:10.960 --> 00:33:11.539 transformed 00:33:11.539 --> 00:33:12.680 by the 00:33:12.680 --> 00:33:13.299 renewing 00:33:13.299 --> 00:33:14.000 of your 00:33:14.000 --> 00:33:14.460 mind. 00:33:15.240 --> 00:33:15.740 The church 00:33:15.740 --> 00:33:16.359 is called 00:33:16.359 --> 00:33:16.899 to live 00:33:16.899 --> 00:33:17.419 counter 00:33:17.419 --> 00:33:18.119 culturally. 00:33:19.200 --> 00:33:19.539 And I've 00:33:19.539 --> 00:33:19.960 used the 00:33:19.960 --> 00:33:20.259 phrase 00:33:20.259 --> 00:33:20.639 sola 00:33:20.639 --> 00:33:21.339 scriptura 00:33:21.339 --> 00:33:21.680 not 00:33:21.680 --> 00:33:22.059 nuda 00:33:22.059 --> 00:33:22.700 scriptura. 00:33:23.359 --> 00:33:23.579 You know 00:33:23.579 --> 00:33:24.299 it's the 00:33:24.299 --> 00:33:24.599 year of 00:33:24.599 --> 00:33:24.720 the 00:33:24.720 --> 00:33:25.259 Reformation. 00:33:26.460 --> 00:33:26.659 And 00:33:26.659 --> 00:33:27.819 many 00:33:27.819 --> 00:33:28.460 Christians 00:33:28.460 --> 00:33:30.319 dismiss 00:33:30.319 --> 00:33:30.980 tradition 00:33:30.980 --> 00:33:32.640 in a 00:33:32.640 --> 00:33:33.120 way that 00:33:33.120 --> 00:33:33.440 would 00:33:33.440 --> 00:33:34.120 appall 00:33:34.120 --> 00:33:34.599 our 00:33:34.599 --> 00:33:35.220 Reformation 00:33:35.220 --> 00:33:36.860 forbears. 00:33:37.620 --> 00:33:38.299 Because when 00:33:38.299 --> 00:33:38.860 they spoke 00:33:38.860 --> 00:33:39.400 of sola 00:33:39.400 --> 00:33:40.039 scriptura 00:33:40.039 --> 00:33:40.460 they didn't 00:33:40.460 --> 00:33:41.039 mean sola 00:33:41.039 --> 00:33:41.720 scriptura 00:33:41.720 --> 00:33:45.120 removed and 00:33:45.120 --> 00:33:46.319 isolated from 00:33:46.319 --> 00:33:47.140 the history of 00:33:47.140 --> 00:33:47.880 tradition in the 00:33:47.880 --> 00:33:48.200 church. 00:33:48.319 --> 00:33:49.000 They embraced 00:33:49.000 --> 00:33:49.740 tradition 00:33:49.740 --> 00:33:51.940 insofar as 00:33:51.940 --> 00:33:54.140 it could be 00:33:54.140 --> 00:33:54.960 established from 00:33:54.960 --> 00:33:55.740 holy scripture. 00:33:57.200 --> 00:33:57.440 Nuda 00:33:57.440 --> 00:33:58.420 scriptura is 00:33:58.420 --> 00:33:58.800 what the 00:33:58.800 --> 00:33:59.200 Jehovah's 00:33:59.200 --> 00:33:59.960 witnesses and 00:33:59.960 --> 00:34:00.600 the Mormons. 00:34:01.200 --> 00:34:02.180 If you took 00:34:02.180 --> 00:34:02.539 a hundred 00:34:02.539 --> 00:34:03.320 passages from 00:34:03.320 --> 00:34:03.680 the Bible, 00:34:03.759 --> 00:34:03.980 a hundred 00:34:03.980 --> 00:34:04.700 key verses 00:34:04.700 --> 00:34:05.259 that you 00:34:05.259 --> 00:34:05.740 think are 00:34:05.740 --> 00:34:06.759 evangelical and 00:34:06.759 --> 00:34:07.340 reformed, 00:34:07.660 --> 00:34:08.099 gave it to 00:34:08.099 --> 00:34:08.639 a JW, 00:34:08.840 --> 00:34:09.619 do you believe 00:34:09.619 --> 00:34:09.820 that? 00:34:09.880 --> 00:34:10.139 They'd say 00:34:10.139 --> 00:34:10.619 absolutely. 00:34:11.200 --> 00:34:11.900 Because they 00:34:11.900 --> 00:34:12.639 believe in 00:34:12.639 --> 00:34:13.700 verbal inerrancy. 00:34:13.880 --> 00:34:14.320 So they 00:34:14.320 --> 00:34:14.579 say. 00:34:15.340 --> 00:34:15.920 Mormon would 00:34:15.920 --> 00:34:16.220 say the 00:34:16.220 --> 00:34:16.680 exact same 00:34:16.680 --> 00:34:16.960 thing. 00:34:17.900 --> 00:34:18.280 But if you 00:34:18.280 --> 00:34:18.720 were to say 00:34:18.720 --> 00:34:19.420 now tell me 00:34:19.420 --> 00:34:20.880 do you 00:34:20.880 --> 00:34:22.180 understand this 00:34:22.180 --> 00:34:22.740 verse to 00:34:22.740 --> 00:34:22.980 mean 00:34:22.980 --> 00:34:24.220 oh no? 00:34:24.219 --> 00:34:27.339 So the 00:34:27.339 --> 00:34:28.019 life of the 00:34:28.019 --> 00:34:29.119 church is 00:34:29.119 --> 00:34:29.699 never to be 00:34:29.699 --> 00:34:31.059 dislocated from 00:34:31.059 --> 00:34:32.879 the flow of 00:34:32.879 --> 00:34:33.779 its history or 00:34:33.779 --> 00:34:34.239 tradition. 00:34:35.519 --> 00:34:37.079 Calvin, I'm 00:34:37.079 --> 00:34:37.439 just using 00:34:37.439 --> 00:34:37.959 Calvin as 00:34:37.959 --> 00:34:38.219 an example, 00:34:38.419 --> 00:34:38.919 he quotes 00:34:38.919 --> 00:34:39.459 Augustine 00:34:39.459 --> 00:34:40.739 403 times 00:34:40.739 --> 00:34:41.299 the Institute 00:34:41.299 --> 00:34:42.099 I once 00:34:42.099 --> 00:34:42.439 counted. 00:34:43.719 --> 00:34:44.659 He quotes 00:34:44.659 --> 00:34:45.299 Bernard of 00:34:45.299 --> 00:34:45.899 Clairvaux. 00:34:46.519 --> 00:34:46.919 He quotes 00:34:46.919 --> 00:34:47.799 all kinds of 00:34:47.799 --> 00:34:49.359 people to 00:34:49.359 --> 00:34:50.419 show that the 00:34:50.419 --> 00:34:51.379 reformed church 00:34:51.379 --> 00:34:52.639 is not 00:34:52.639 --> 00:34:53.299 de novo. 00:34:53.300 --> 00:34:53.880 it didn't 00:34:53.880 --> 00:34:56.019 just come 00:34:56.019 --> 00:34:56.420 out of the 00:34:56.420 --> 00:34:56.720 air. 00:34:57.320 --> 00:34:58.640 It belongs 00:34:58.640 --> 00:34:59.460 to the 00:34:59.460 --> 00:35:00.860 true tradition 00:35:00.860 --> 00:35:01.620 of the 00:35:01.620 --> 00:35:02.000 church. 00:35:03.100 --> 00:35:03.740 And the 00:35:03.740 --> 00:35:04.539 counter-cultural 00:35:04.539 --> 00:35:05.300 holiness of 00:35:05.300 --> 00:35:05.820 the church 00:35:05.820 --> 00:35:10.480 is not to 00:35:10.480 --> 00:35:10.960 be lived 00:35:10.960 --> 00:35:12.720 out irrespective 00:35:12.720 --> 00:35:14.240 of the 00:35:14.240 --> 00:35:14.720 church's 00:35:14.720 --> 00:35:15.300 history and 00:35:15.300 --> 00:35:15.620 tradition. 00:35:15.900 --> 00:35:16.620 Ultimately we 00:35:16.620 --> 00:35:17.240 take everything 00:35:17.240 --> 00:35:17.940 back to the 00:35:17.940 --> 00:35:18.539 word of God, 00:35:18.640 --> 00:35:19.060 to the law 00:35:19.060 --> 00:35:19.320 and the 00:35:19.320 --> 00:35:19.780 testimony. 00:35:21.060 --> 00:35:21.420 If they 00:35:21.420 --> 00:35:21.860 speak not 00:35:21.860 --> 00:35:22.420 according to 00:35:22.420 --> 00:35:22.920 this word 00:35:22.920 --> 00:35:23.159 they have 00:35:23.159 --> 00:35:23.579 no light 00:35:23.579 --> 00:35:24.039 of dawn. 00:35:24.619 --> 00:35:25.019 Isaiah 00:35:25.019 --> 00:35:26.460 8.20 00:35:26.460 --> 00:35:28.460 Number 00:35:28.460 --> 00:35:28.840 nine, the 00:35:28.840 --> 00:35:29.240 familial 00:35:29.240 --> 00:35:29.980 membership of 00:35:29.980 --> 00:35:30.460 the church. 00:35:31.079 --> 00:35:31.659 I take 00:35:31.659 --> 00:35:32.119 that as a 00:35:32.119 --> 00:35:32.880 given here. 00:35:33.440 --> 00:35:33.940 The promise 00:35:33.940 --> 00:35:34.680 is to you 00:35:34.680 --> 00:35:35.360 and to your 00:35:35.360 --> 00:35:36.420 children and 00:35:36.420 --> 00:35:36.900 to all who 00:35:36.900 --> 00:35:37.300 are far 00:35:37.300 --> 00:35:37.539 on. 00:35:38.400 --> 00:35:38.940 Children 00:35:38.940 --> 00:35:40.659 belong by 00:35:40.659 --> 00:35:41.119 the will 00:35:41.119 --> 00:35:41.860 and purpose 00:35:41.860 --> 00:35:42.400 of God 00:35:42.400 --> 00:35:43.659 to his 00:35:43.659 --> 00:35:44.079 church. 00:35:44.079 --> 00:35:45.259 densdensdensdens 00:35:45.259 --> 00:35:45.259 00:35:45.259 --> 00:35:45.259 00:35:45.259 --> 00:35:45.259 00:35:45.259 --> 00:35:48.000 If someone 00:35:48.000 --> 00:35:48.679 asks me 00:35:48.679 --> 00:35:50.159 why are you 00:35:50.159 --> 00:35:50.519 a predo 00:35:50.519 --> 00:35:51.000 baptist, 00:35:51.000 --> 00:35:51.299 I tell 00:35:51.299 --> 00:35:51.500 them I'm 00:35:51.500 --> 00:35:51.779 not a 00:35:51.779 --> 00:35:51.980 predo 00:35:51.980 --> 00:35:52.460 baptist, 00:35:52.860 --> 00:35:53.239 I'm a 00:35:53.239 --> 00:35:53.739 baptist. 00:35:54.659 --> 00:35:55.199 Who happens 00:35:55.199 --> 00:35:55.860 to baptize 00:35:55.860 --> 00:35:56.279 children? 00:35:57.079 --> 00:35:57.880 Because God 00:35:57.880 --> 00:35:58.599 commands it. 00:36:00.599 --> 00:36:01.159 Children 00:36:01.159 --> 00:36:02.179 belong. 00:36:03.519 --> 00:36:04.259 They're not 00:36:04.259 --> 00:36:06.239 by their 00:36:06.239 --> 00:36:06.779 baptism 00:36:06.780 --> 00:36:16.980 them junior members of the church in one sense, they are members of the church of Jesus Christ 00:36:16.980 --> 00:36:25.260 by the goodwill and purpose of God. God places his name upon them. It's the most remarkable 00:36:25.260 --> 00:36:36.240 thing. I can't think how many children are baptized in 38 years as a minister. I moved 00:36:36.239 --> 00:36:45.159 beyond anything I could tell you every time I baptized a child. That the triune God who's 00:36:45.159 --> 00:36:51.799 from everlasting to everlasting stoops down in undeserved kindness and grace and mercy 00:36:51.799 --> 00:37:01.679 to a judgment deserving little sinner and says, I will be your God and you will be my child. 00:37:01.679 --> 00:37:09.399 I just think it's breathtaking. And if people press me, I say, I baptize children because 00:37:09.399 --> 00:37:19.539 I'm a Calvinist and not an Arminia. Because the great movement of the gospel is not from 00:37:19.539 --> 00:37:22.139 faith upwards, it's from grace downwards. 00:37:22.139 --> 00:37:30.739 Number 10, the Presbyterian polity of the church. Acts 9.31, we'll come to develop that later. 00:37:30.859 --> 00:37:36.359 The pilgrim faith of the church. Again, you can read the passages. The scriptural worship 00:37:36.359 --> 00:37:46.460 of the church. I find it bemusing that evangelicals will argue so passionately for what the Bible 00:37:46.460 --> 00:37:56.480 teaches about justification and have the scripture absolutely shape and style and inform all their 00:37:56.480 --> 00:38:02.360 view of justification but never think that worship, which is more important than justification, 00:38:03.360 --> 00:38:08.980 you can't divide the two, but in terms of essential priority, that the doctrine of worship should 00:38:08.980 --> 00:38:17.360 not be contended for as eagerly, as passionately as the doctrine of justification. I think it's part of 00:38:17.360 --> 00:38:26.980 the anthropologizing of the gospel. God is to be worshipped according to his word. God is to be believed 00:38:26.980 --> 00:38:34.320 according to his word. Worship isn't something that God has left us to. Remember what happened to Nadab and 00:38:34.320 --> 00:38:42.640 Abihu, Leviticus 10? They offered up strange, unauthorized fire. God killed them. You think, oh, goodness 00:38:42.640 --> 00:38:52.080 me. Uzzah, he was simply trying to help the ark and he was struck down. Well, okay, that's the old covenant. 00:38:53.920 --> 00:38:59.519 Well, you come to 1 Corinthians 11. And Paul said, you know the reason why some of you have died early? 00:38:59.519 --> 00:39:06.780 Because you're abusing the Lord's supper. Christians were treating other Christians with disdain. 00:39:08.320 --> 00:39:19.199 God says, I take my worship seriously. And our worship is to be shaped and styled by what God 00:39:19.199 --> 00:39:26.440 has declared. It's what's called the regulative principle. Although we must never interpret it 00:39:26.440 --> 00:39:31.960 woodenly. That's why the reference to Calvin, hopefully you'll find helpful. David Fyfe has 00:39:31.960 --> 00:39:39.099 probably heard me say this 101 times. Calvin deals with worship about the context that should 00:39:39.099 --> 00:39:43.480 you kneel to receive the supper, all that sort of stuff. And Calvin's written to the English 00:39:43.480 --> 00:39:49.940 exiles in Frankfurt and said, well, yeah, it's not good, but bear with tolerable foolishnesses. 00:39:49.940 --> 00:39:57.720 Don't get hung up on smaller things. Remember the big thing. But then at the end of his exposition 00:39:57.720 --> 00:40:04.500 in Book 4, Chapter 10, he says, let love be our guide and all will be safe. Because cultures 00:40:04.500 --> 00:40:11.480 change, times change, history advances, he writes. Therefore, don't treat the regulative principle 00:40:11.480 --> 00:40:21.139 woodenly. Allow for change and development all within the absolute scrutiny of Holy Scripture. 00:40:22.840 --> 00:40:28.500 13, the multinational, multicultural expression of the church. You can look at that. The evangelistic 00:40:28.500 --> 00:40:36.500 mission of the church. Some years ago, I read a little sentence in J.I. Packer. I can't 00:40:36.500 --> 00:40:45.900 remember where I read it. But he said, evangelism is a Christian living as a Christian in the 00:40:45.900 --> 00:40:56.800 world. And I just was absolutely struck by that. Evangelism is essentially a Christian 00:40:56.800 --> 00:41:02.940 living as a Christian in the world. He's not saying we are not to engage in evangelistic activity. 00:41:02.940 --> 00:41:14.200 He is saying what I think the whole Bible tells us, is that the heart of evangelism is Christian 00:41:14.200 --> 00:41:20.260 living as Christians. That's why the early church made such a profound impact. They live 00:41:20.260 --> 00:41:28.139 so differently. And to my shame, it's because I don't live so differently. I don't mean oddly. 00:41:28.139 --> 00:41:33.059 I don't mean we have to get out of our way and behave bizarrely, as I think some Christians 00:41:33.059 --> 00:41:43.099 do. But to live distinctively different lives. So that people, I was converted through a boy 00:41:43.099 --> 00:41:48.539 at school who lived a different life. I'd never heard the gospel. Although he told me in later 00:41:48.539 --> 00:41:53.960 years he would always share the gospel with me. I remember him never doing that. Absolutely, 00:41:53.960 --> 00:42:00.099 I've got no recollection of ever speaking one word about Jesus to me. But I remember first 00:42:00.099 --> 00:42:04.320 encountering his life. He was the year ahead of me. School, he was very different from me. 00:42:04.440 --> 00:42:09.800 I was in the academic stream. He wasn't so much. I was into sport. He wasn't so much. I was 00:42:09.800 --> 00:42:15.440 into girls. He wasn't too bothered. He played in a gospel band. I did clubbing Saturday nights 00:42:15.440 --> 00:42:24.820 on Sunday nights. We didn't call it clubbing. We called it discos. I remember his life. 00:42:26.059 --> 00:42:31.860 And at first I thought, he should be odd. He's called Albert Bogle with a name like that. 00:42:31.860 --> 00:42:38.500 But then after a few months, I think, I thought, he's not odd. He's just a bit of a name. 00:42:40.500 --> 00:42:46.380 And then a few more months, I thought, there's something about him that I would like to have. 00:42:46.480 --> 00:42:55.500 I didn't know what it was. I would remember in my later teens coming home from an evening 00:42:55.500 --> 00:43:05.000 out in Glasgow, lying in my bed and thinking, is this it? Is this life? You get through your 00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:11.300 studies. You blow off steam Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday night, back Monday. Is that it? 00:43:12.139 --> 00:43:20.960 It was his life that intrigued me. And that eventually when I bumped into him one Saturday night, 00:43:20.960 --> 00:43:25.460 he'd been at a gospel something and I'd been, you don't need to know what I'd been. 00:43:27.539 --> 00:43:33.460 Why don't you come to the Bible class I go to tomorrow? I said, yeah, yeah. Went along. 00:43:34.119 --> 00:43:39.699 Someone preached in John 3.16. Never heard of John 3.16. Didn't possess a Bible. And the Lord 00:43:39.699 --> 00:43:49.039 saved me. It was his life. And you say, well, that's your story. It is my story and we all have 00:43:49.039 --> 00:43:57.219 different stories. Evangelism is a Christian living as a Christian. And the weakness of the 00:43:57.219 --> 00:44:08.099 church is because we don't live the Christ-like lives that confronts society in the way I think 00:44:08.099 --> 00:44:13.880 the early church did. And then just look at the last thing before I quickly transition. 00:44:13.880 --> 00:44:19.160 the scriptural foundation of the church. I've mentioned before I'm going to finish that 00:44:19.160 --> 00:44:28.380 little segment. It is written. The absolute, unbreakable authority of the Word of God. 00:44:28.380 --> 00:44:38.660 when Jesus is tempted by the devil. Matthew 4. He plunders the book of Deuteronomy and three 00:44:38.660 --> 00:44:46.599 times replies, not with a Bible in his pocket, but from his own memory. Giga-rapti. It is written. 00:44:48.340 --> 00:44:54.940 And I think Jesus didn't, obviously he didn't have a conduit from his divine nature into his human 00:44:54.940 --> 00:45:02.880 nature so that he was excused. The rigor of reading and learning. Isaiah 50, third service song. 00:45:03.579 --> 00:45:10.240 Morning by morning you awaken my ear to hear as one who is taught. Jesus had to learn the scriptures. 00:45:12.300 --> 00:45:15.880 I could well imagine he had memorized the whole of Deuteronomy. 00:45:15.880 --> 00:45:30.240 I'm embarrassed. I hardly memorized any of them. I muddled through passages in major books. 00:45:31.840 --> 00:45:39.780 The Savior just knew exactly where to go. He had such confidence in the authority and power 00:45:39.780 --> 00:45:45.340 and truth of the Word of God that he was able to use it. 00:45:48.340 --> 00:45:58.800 The church is to be shaped and styled and impregnated in all that it is by Holy Scripture. 00:45:58.800 --> 00:46:07.800 Now, that's the context for really what I want to say from now on. 00:46:08.820 --> 00:46:20.240 I wanted to say that because, at least for me, and I basically try and speak to myself and 00:46:20.239 --> 00:46:30.119 let everyone else listen in, I need always to be reminded that as a Dei Uri Divino Presbyterian, 00:46:30.179 --> 00:46:33.819 a divine right Presbyterian, that's what I am. That's what the Bible teaches. 00:46:34.099 --> 00:46:38.719 We should all be Westminster Confession Presbyterians. 00:46:39.539 --> 00:46:40.119 I think. 00:46:41.399 --> 00:46:43.259 I try and persuade people of that. 00:46:43.259 --> 00:46:49.539 But as I said at the beginning, that's not my default. 00:46:50.239 --> 00:46:57.439 Heaven will be populated, ultimately by quote to our Western circumcised refugees, 00:46:58.279 --> 00:47:02.479 that Heaven will be populated by blood-redeemed repentance sinners. 00:47:04.399 --> 00:47:08.079 And if I forget that, woe unto me. 00:47:09.079 --> 00:47:12.939 I'll be like Jesus' disciples who came to him one day, Mark 9, and said, 00:47:13.019 --> 00:47:16.000 Lord, we saw a man casting out demons in your name. 00:47:16.000 --> 00:47:20.300 We told him to stop because he wasn't one of us. 00:47:23.039 --> 00:47:24.420 And Jesus rebukes them. 00:47:26.059 --> 00:47:30.760 And in effect says, well, he may not have been one of yours, but he was one of mine. 00:47:30.760 --> 00:47:39.320 And if we have a well-rounded biblical doctrine of the church, 00:47:39.580 --> 00:47:46.160 we can passionately contend for what we believe the scriptures teach 00:47:46.160 --> 00:47:50.380 concerning how God wants his church to be ordered, 00:47:50.640 --> 00:47:54.460 how he wants it to be lived out and expressed, 00:47:54.460 --> 00:47:56.500 and how he wants worship to be done. 00:47:57.500 --> 00:48:04.119 But we do it from the context of the Catholic faith of the church. 00:48:05.820 --> 00:48:09.539 And keep reminding ourselves, 00:48:10.220 --> 00:48:16.440 am I speaking ill of anyone but with the precious blood of Christ? 00:48:16.440 --> 00:48:17.720 Right. 00:48:18.139 --> 00:48:19.800 Before we stop for a peeking, 00:48:19.800 --> 00:48:22.360 I have five or six minutes to tell you why I'm a Presbyterian. 00:48:22.420 --> 00:48:23.599 This is a personal testimony. 00:48:24.480 --> 00:48:26.059 I wasn't always a Presbyterian. 00:48:26.559 --> 00:48:30.980 I was baptized in a dispensational Baptist church when I was 18. 00:48:33.340 --> 00:48:36.360 The first book of the Bible I was really taken through was Revelation. 00:48:37.099 --> 00:48:40.519 I had a chart up on my wall with the seven dispensations. 00:48:41.480 --> 00:48:44.260 I would go to university, just started university. 00:48:44.260 --> 00:48:47.460 I brought up my large housing scheme in Glasgow. 00:48:48.400 --> 00:48:50.120 First person in my family ever to go. 00:48:51.700 --> 00:48:53.500 I would work out scenarios, 00:48:54.180 --> 00:48:57.680 how to speak to people about the tribulation, the rapture. 00:48:58.640 --> 00:49:01.300 I just thought that was what Christians believed. 00:49:01.780 --> 00:49:02.880 There were two kinds of Christians. 00:49:03.040 --> 00:49:03.820 There were Protestants. 00:49:04.640 --> 00:49:05.320 There were Catholic. 00:49:05.400 --> 00:49:06.380 My mum was a Roman Catholic. 00:49:07.120 --> 00:49:07.680 I knew that. 00:49:08.080 --> 00:49:08.860 I was Baptist. 00:49:09.060 --> 00:49:10.400 I'd never heard of that Presbyterian. 00:49:10.500 --> 00:49:11.240 I didn't know what that meant. 00:49:11.720 --> 00:49:12.120 Methodists. 00:49:12.320 --> 00:49:12.800 Who are they? 00:49:14.260 --> 00:49:17.340 So my background isn't Presbyterian. 00:49:19.020 --> 00:49:26.480 I was a Schofield dispensational Christian because I just thought that's what Christians believed. 00:49:27.400 --> 00:49:28.560 That's what I was taught. 00:49:30.640 --> 00:49:32.120 So why did it change? 00:49:32.119 --> 00:49:38.920 Well, let me mention seven brief things. 00:49:39.819 --> 00:49:42.179 Number one, because God is who he is. 00:49:42.880 --> 00:49:44.839 God is a unity and a diversity. 00:49:45.500 --> 00:49:47.259 He's a diversity and a unity. 00:49:48.880 --> 00:49:51.699 Number two, because of the pattern of the old covenant church. 00:49:51.880 --> 00:49:52.880 Unity and diversity. 00:49:53.079 --> 00:49:53.819 Twelve tribes. 00:49:54.539 --> 00:49:55.639 The one people of God. 00:49:55.980 --> 00:49:56.839 There was diversity. 00:49:57.299 --> 00:49:58.039 There was unity. 00:49:58.039 --> 00:50:08.360 Number three, because the New Testament is absolutely clear that individual churches are to be served and led by presbyters and deacons. 00:50:09.059 --> 00:50:10.340 It should be Philippians 1.1. 00:50:10.420 --> 00:50:11.759 I don't know why it's 1 Timothy 1.1. 00:50:12.440 --> 00:50:15.360 Where you have a parity of responsibility and government. 00:50:15.360 --> 00:50:18.980 That doesn't mean there will not be a deferring. 00:50:20.039 --> 00:50:29.760 But it means there is a principal conviction that the church is ruled by a plurality of elders and deacons. 00:50:29.760 --> 00:50:35.880 But then fourthly following on from that because individual churches or congregations are not autonomous. 00:50:37.380 --> 00:50:40.940 Now I may return to this later, but take Acts 9.31. 00:50:41.500 --> 00:50:44.120 Paul talks about the church singular. 00:50:45.200 --> 00:50:47.240 Singular throughout Galatia. 00:50:48.580 --> 00:50:49.380 Not the churches. 00:50:52.020 --> 00:50:53.480 There were individual churches. 00:50:53.480 --> 00:50:58.639 That Paul could write there and in other places of the church singular. 00:51:01.579 --> 00:51:08.159 And so in Presbyterianism, you have this wonderful principle of the strong. 00:51:08.920 --> 00:51:10.000 Helping the weak. 00:51:10.159 --> 00:51:12.639 First as a privilege and then as a requirement. 00:51:13.440 --> 00:51:17.780 And I think the imagery, Paul's imagery of the church as the body of Christ, 00:51:18.199 --> 00:51:22.119 highlights that and placards that to us. 00:51:22.119 --> 00:51:24.980 There is one body. 00:51:26.719 --> 00:51:29.579 There is only one body of Jesus Christ in this world. 00:51:31.519 --> 00:51:32.920 And there is diversity. 00:51:36.019 --> 00:51:38.039 And infelously because in Acts 15, 00:51:38.199 --> 00:51:41.579 we read of the elders in Jerusalem and other appointed men 00:51:41.579 --> 00:51:43.839 taking decisions for the whole church. 00:51:44.920 --> 00:51:49.199 This is the rock on which independency is shattered. 00:51:50.359 --> 00:51:51.900 There's other little rocks as well. 00:51:51.900 --> 00:51:57.039 But I think Acts 15 is the exegetical rock. 00:51:57.200 --> 00:51:59.960 The theology of the Bible, the theology of who God is, 00:52:00.059 --> 00:52:01.539 I think more than anything else, 00:52:02.160 --> 00:52:04.900 confronts and challenges independency. 00:52:06.160 --> 00:52:09.780 But here we find the first general assembly of the church 00:52:09.780 --> 00:52:11.519 resolving a doctrinal matter 00:52:11.519 --> 00:52:15.960 and exercising a power of order 00:52:15.960 --> 00:52:19.960 by telling other churches to refrain from certain practices. 00:52:19.960 --> 00:52:21.159 They didn't offer advice. 00:52:22.119 --> 00:52:23.940 They gave an instruction. 00:52:23.940 --> 00:52:31.400 And then sixthly, because children belong to the life and witness of the church. 00:52:31.400 --> 00:52:37.460 I studied divinity for over a year at U College in Edinburgh 00:52:37.460 --> 00:52:39.960 before I became a Presbyterian. 00:52:39.960 --> 00:52:42.760 I had finished university in Glasgow. 00:52:44.960 --> 00:52:48.260 I felt strongly called to the ministry. 00:52:48.260 --> 00:52:51.360 But I was worshipping in a Presbyterian church. 00:52:51.360 --> 00:52:54.400 But I was still inwardly a Baptist. 00:52:55.320 --> 00:52:59.300 Everything else had fallen to the weight of the Paragraph. 00:53:00.260 --> 00:53:02.500 I was now a Calvinist. 00:53:03.340 --> 00:53:06.220 I had a satiriology that was reformed. 00:53:06.219 --> 00:53:09.919 But baptism, baptism. 00:53:12.259 --> 00:53:16.819 I was sitting in a bus north of Aberdeen 00:53:16.819 --> 00:53:21.339 at late one Saturday night, travelling back to Aberdeen, 00:53:22.459 --> 00:53:25.779 when one moment I was a Baptist 00:53:25.779 --> 00:53:28.439 and the next I was a Presbyterian. 00:53:29.959 --> 00:53:33.980 All the pieces of the jigsaw went boom in a second. 00:53:33.980 --> 00:53:37.639 I was pondering, I was thinking about Joshua's words 00:53:37.639 --> 00:53:39.139 at the end of Joshua 24. 00:53:39.539 --> 00:53:41.920 As for me in my house, we will serve the Lord. 00:53:43.539 --> 00:53:47.159 And I thought, he didn't turn to his wife and say, 00:53:47.240 --> 00:53:48.539 Mrs. Joshua, what do you think? 00:53:49.940 --> 00:53:51.139 Didn't say to his children, 00:53:52.320 --> 00:53:53.940 would you like some input into this? 00:53:55.699 --> 00:53:58.139 I thought, he's acting as a covenant head. 00:53:59.280 --> 00:54:00.460 And in that instance, 00:54:01.159 --> 00:54:03.900 some of you got surprised by joy, C.S. Lewis. 00:54:03.980 --> 00:54:07.000 I'm sure most of you have. 00:54:07.360 --> 00:54:07.980 The great week. 00:54:09.800 --> 00:54:12.840 And he has this epiphany 00:54:12.840 --> 00:54:15.740 on his way to Whipsnay Zoo, isn't it? 00:54:16.260 --> 00:54:19.260 That one moment, he's an agnostic, 00:54:19.380 --> 00:54:20.300 next minute he's a seer. 00:54:20.519 --> 00:54:22.019 Well, it was like that for me. 00:54:22.480 --> 00:54:25.659 The dawning realisation that the weight of the paradigm 00:54:25.659 --> 00:54:27.880 had finally overwhelmed me. 00:54:28.880 --> 00:54:32.820 Romans 11, that we Gentiles are engrafted 00:54:32.820 --> 00:54:35.900 into Israel, the old stock, 00:54:36.059 --> 00:54:37.240 the church of God, 00:54:37.579 --> 00:54:38.340 the ecclesia, 00:54:38.539 --> 00:54:40.860 the kahal Yahweh, 00:54:41.320 --> 00:54:42.599 the congregation of God. 00:54:42.680 --> 00:54:43.980 We are grafted into that. 00:54:44.059 --> 00:54:45.140 And then Paul warns us, 00:54:45.260 --> 00:54:46.200 don't get high-minded. 00:54:47.019 --> 00:54:48.599 God is able to cut you off again. 00:54:49.579 --> 00:54:50.599 So watch it. 00:54:51.799 --> 00:54:52.219 And then, 00:54:52.619 --> 00:54:53.860 it struck me, 00:54:55.039 --> 00:54:55.819 Peter's words, 00:54:55.960 --> 00:54:57.099 the promise is to you 00:54:57.099 --> 00:54:58.079 and to your children. 00:54:58.239 --> 00:54:58.860 You know what he's saying? 00:54:59.500 --> 00:54:59.759 Hey, 00:55:00.400 --> 00:55:01.619 the Abrahamic covenant 00:55:01.619 --> 00:55:02.659 has not died. 00:55:03.460 --> 00:55:04.599 We are not preaching 00:55:04.599 --> 00:55:05.639 anything new. 00:55:06.360 --> 00:55:07.599 The gospels come out 00:55:07.599 --> 00:55:08.380 of the shadows. 00:55:09.039 --> 00:55:10.339 The types are being replaced 00:55:10.339 --> 00:55:11.319 by the reality. 00:55:11.320 --> 00:55:13.539 That's what Jeremiah 31 is about. 00:55:13.780 --> 00:55:14.380 The new covenant. 00:55:17.220 --> 00:55:19.660 What God promised to Abraham 00:55:19.660 --> 00:55:20.320 still stands. 00:55:23.120 --> 00:55:24.420 And the last thing. 00:55:26.980 --> 00:55:28.519 Presbyterianism is, I think, 00:55:28.620 --> 00:55:30.820 essential to the well-being 00:55:30.820 --> 00:55:31.500 of the church. 00:55:31.680 --> 00:55:32.320 There's many essays, 00:55:33.260 --> 00:55:35.720 but not to its essay-to-be-being. 00:55:35.719 --> 00:55:38.379 In other words, 00:55:39.159 --> 00:55:40.659 you can be a true church 00:55:40.659 --> 00:55:41.519 of Jesus Christ 00:55:41.519 --> 00:55:42.719 and not be Presbyterianism. 00:55:44.859 --> 00:55:45.259 But, 00:55:46.699 --> 00:55:48.399 you will not be the church, 00:55:48.779 --> 00:55:50.159 and I'm going to give you 00:55:50.159 --> 00:55:50.980 my conviction, 00:55:51.119 --> 00:55:52.059 you will not be the church 00:55:52.059 --> 00:55:53.079 God wants you to be. 00:55:56.439 --> 00:55:56.839 Now, 00:55:58.359 --> 00:55:59.679 stellar figures 00:55:59.679 --> 00:56:01.079 in the history of the church 00:56:01.079 --> 00:56:02.699 would differ from that 00:56:02.699 --> 00:56:03.779 in our own day 00:56:03.780 --> 00:56:06.080 Dick Lucas, 00:56:06.380 --> 00:56:07.060 Jim Packer. 00:56:08.620 --> 00:56:09.240 John Owen 00:56:09.240 --> 00:56:10.740 was persuaded 00:56:10.740 --> 00:56:11.940 to move from 00:56:11.940 --> 00:56:13.860 a form of Presbyterianism 00:56:13.860 --> 00:56:14.840 to a form 00:56:14.840 --> 00:56:16.760 of Congregationalism 00:56:16.760 --> 00:56:19.060 that still had synods 00:56:19.060 --> 00:56:19.960 and everything else. 00:56:21.360 --> 00:56:22.120 Thomas Goodwin 00:56:22.120 --> 00:56:24.060 became really an independent. 00:56:24.780 --> 00:56:24.960 So, 00:56:25.460 --> 00:56:26.700 stellar figures 00:56:26.700 --> 00:56:27.200 in the church. 00:56:27.340 --> 00:56:27.480 But, 00:56:28.400 --> 00:56:29.460 even pygmies 00:56:29.460 --> 00:56:30.740 can throw little stones 00:56:30.740 --> 00:56:31.320 at giants. 00:56:32.540 --> 00:56:32.740 And, 00:56:32.739 --> 00:56:34.939 you can be 00:56:34.939 --> 00:56:35.599 a church 00:56:35.599 --> 00:56:36.500 of Jesus Christ. 00:56:36.659 --> 00:56:37.179 Absolutely. 00:56:37.899 --> 00:56:38.500 A communion 00:56:38.500 --> 00:56:39.719 with the saints 00:56:39.719 --> 00:56:40.839 in the wider church. 00:56:41.500 --> 00:56:42.179 And yet, 00:56:42.259 --> 00:56:43.319 not be the church 00:56:43.319 --> 00:56:46.679 God calls you 00:56:46.679 --> 00:56:47.179 to be 00:56:47.179 --> 00:56:49.259 in His Word. 00:56:50.139 --> 00:56:50.459 So, 00:56:51.019 --> 00:56:52.879 that's all really 00:56:52.879 --> 00:56:54.179 back round 00:56:54.179 --> 00:56:55.059 to the next session. 00:56:55.199 --> 00:56:55.259 But, 00:56:55.299 --> 00:56:56.459 we're having a break. 00:56:56.739 --> 00:56:57.159 Is that right? 00:56:58.039 --> 00:56:58.379 Okay. 00:56:58.820 --> 00:56:58.960 Let's go. 00:56:58.960 --> 00:56:59.400 Let's go. 00:56:59.400 --> 00:56:59.460 Let's go. 00:56:59.460 --> 00:56:59.559 Let's go. 00:56:59.559 --> 00:56:59.559 00:56:59.559 --> 00:56:59.880 Let's go. 00:56:59.880 --> 00:56:59.880 00:56:59.880 --> 00:57:00.220 Let's go. 00:57:00.220 --> 00:57:00.500 Let's go. 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500 00:57:00.500 --> 00:57:00.500