Sola Scriptura

[0:00] Well, we've begun a Sunday School series on the Reformation, the Protestant Reformation that took place 500 years ago.! Last week we saw a message by Michael Reeves given at the Ligonier Conference earlier this spring down in Florida.

[0:17] I believe it was called After Darkness Light. Steve was going to check about possibly putting a link on our website if you wanted to go back and listen to that again.

[0:29] That link, I believe, will be on our website. And there are other messages at that conference, obviously, on the Protestant Reformation that you might want to hear. But during the Protestant Reformation, certain truths about salvation that had been lost to the larger church of Jesus Christ were again restored.

[0:55] The professing church of Christ had drifted from truth. And in the Reformation, God brought those truths back to light. And the lesson for us all is that if they were lost once, they can be lost again.

[1:13] And that's a sobering reality. This was the church begun by Jesus Christ, built upon the foundation of the apostles, with Jesus Christ himself as the chief cornerstone in that church.

[1:26] Not in entirety, but in the main, had forgotten the very most important truths of the gospel.

[1:38] Therefore, we must know these truths well. We must treasure them. And then we must guard them as the treasure that they are. Because apart from the gospel, there simply is no salvation.

[1:51] There is no peace with God. There is no eternal life. And I appreciated what Michael Reeves pointed out at the end of his message last week, that this is not only a Roman Catholic problem.

[2:01] This is now a Protestant problem as well. That we can, as a Protestant professing church, let go of these critical teachings foundational to the gospel.

[2:15] So in this series of studies, we want to know these five truths. We're going to look at five foundational truths that were recovered. We want to know them.

[2:26] We want to treasure and guard them. Now, the five foundational truths recovered, and these are not the only truths. There were others. But these came to be nicknamed as the five solas.

[2:41] The five solas. Who's a Latin scholar here this morning? Who knows what sola means? Alone only. So if you're singing a solo, you're singing alone.

[2:57] And that can be good or bad, can't it? No one else is singing with you. You alone are singing solo, sola. And it's this sola, this alone, that makes all the difference between these five truths and the five errors that they were meant to address and to correct.

[3:22] So let me just give you the overview this morning, just very quickly, of the five solas. The five truths about salvation. The way to be right with God. To be justified before a holy God.

[3:34] That way of salvation is to be known, is known by the scriptures alone. That's the first one. Scripture alone. Not scripture plus tradition.

[3:48] And that salvation, that justification is by grace alone. Not by grace plus works. And that salvation is by faith alone.

[4:03] Not through faith plus our, I'm sorry, I meant grace and our merit. Not by faith and our works. It is in Christ alone. Not in Christ plus me.

[4:16] And therefore it is to the glory of God alone. Not to the glory of God and to me who contributed something to my salvation. So sometimes the difference between truth and error is just one word.

[4:31] This word only. Scripture alone. Grace alone. Faith alone. And so on. The difference between saving truth and damning error can be one word.

[4:45] Hence the importance of this word alone as it applies to these five truths coming back to light in the Reformation. So Pastor Jason and I are going to alternate our way through the five solas.

[4:58] I begin today with sola scriptura. The scripture alone. So we've looked at what alone or sola means. What does scripture mean?

[5:09] What's this word scripture mean? Not a trick question. Break it down. It's got a smaller word.

[5:20] What does scripture mean? All right. I heard a written. What else? Okay. The B-I-B-L-E.

[5:33] Right. A script is a written transcript. It's something written. Scripture is the written word of God.

[5:43] And we'll see the importance of that as we move along. So scripture alone means that the Bible alone is the supreme authority in all matters of faith and practice.

[5:58] It determines what we must believe and how we are to live. And all truth necessary for our salvation and spiritual life is taught here in the scripture, the written word of God.

[6:10] This then is to be the supreme authority, the final arbiter and judge in all controversies about the gospel and religious things, the scripture alone.

[6:25] Now, why is this the first of the five solas? If we could say there's some natural sense to the order. Why do we start with sola scriptura?

[6:35] Why do we start with sola scriptura? Because the Bible says it is so. It is that part of this. How do we start with sola scriptura? All right. We want to know how is a sinner justified, made right with God?

[6:51] Well, there's going to be many things we're going to consider. But at the beginning, we've got to have the base right, don't we? So what will we allow as authoritative truth in answering that question?

[7:05] When two people sit down to play a game of Scrabble, what must happen first before the game begins? Okay, let's grant that.

[7:20] Something must be determined. What? The rules. The rules. Which dictionary are we going to use? Are we going to use the Scrabble, the official Scrabble dictionary or Webster's or what edition?

[7:35] A slang, is that allowed? We've got to get set on the rules because the rest of the game then, that book will determine what is allowed as a word, a legitimate word.

[7:47] In the same sense, if we're going to ask this question, this most important question of all time, how can I, a sinner, get right with this holy God? How can he accept me?

[8:00] Well, we've got to agree on what's the standard of truth? What will be allowed and admissible in this discussion? And your ideas, my ideas, the Pope's ideas, the Confessions, Scripture, and the Reformation answered with a resounding, Scripture alone.

[8:26] This alone. This is the authoritative determiner of religious truth.

[8:36] It's the critical starting point then to all the rest of these questions as to how we're saved. And after all, we're not talking about a game of Scrabble.

[8:47] We're talking about eternal life. So it's important that we agree as to what is admissible truth, what determines as a standard of truth.

[9:01] Let me clear up right at the beginning here a common misunderstanding of sola scriptura. Does Scripture alone mean that we Protestants place no value whatsoever in uninspired, unwritten church history?

[9:19] That we have no time at all for what the church has believed in the past, what they have said before us, what they have held to, whether it be the early church fathers, the reformers, councils, confessions.

[9:38] Is Scripture alone just saying, you can just throw all those things in a bonfire. They mean nothing to us. This is all that means anything to us. No. Now, that's often how it's caricatured by the Roman Catholics.

[9:52] I saw it online that they would like to twist it to that end. But it's not that at all. Well, we see value in these things.

[10:04] My library is full of preachers from the past and what they have believed about Scripture. We as a church hold to a confession with a date, 1689.

[10:18] Long ago, a group of churches believed these things. We don't just burn them and say they're worthless. No, that's not it at all. Rather, we see that Christ, as the head of the church, has given these men as gifts to the church to teach and preach his truth through them.

[10:36] Christ has been teaching his true people in every age. They shall all be taught by God. John 6 is what Jesus says in John 6. So we see value in uninspired church history.

[10:53] Church history that's not recorded here. And statements of faith and so on. But we reserve the final test of truth to the scriptures alone.

[11:04] This is the stone on which every one of these preachers, councils, confessions will be tried and tested and the outcome determined by what is here in Scripture alone.

[11:16] So to the law and the testimony, if they do not speak according to this word, there is no light of dawn in them. So we hold to the 1689 confession of faith.

[11:28] Chapter one. Right at the beginning of our confession of faith. It reserves the highest place for the scripture alone. The confession takes its place underneath the scriptures in the very first chapter, paragraph 10.

[11:44] All religious controversies are to be settled by scripture and by scripture alone. So right there is the sola scriptura.

[11:56] All decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men collectively or individually are similarly to be accepted or rejected according to the verdict of the scripture given to us by the Holy Spirit.

[12:12] In that verdict, faith finds its final rest. So that's that's the statement of our own. Protestant, reformed confession, reformed Baptist confession of faith.

[12:26] And it's that statement. It was borrowed from the Westminster, the Presbyterian. And there's there's other reformed statements of faith that would have the same statement about the role that the uninspired teachings of the church have.

[12:43] They are subordinate to the one sola scriptura. What is written. Now. Turn to Second Timothy, chapter three.

[12:55] Why do we say that the scripture alone is the supreme authority and matters of faith and salvation and life?

[13:09] Second Timothy three. Paul is writing to Timothy. And he says.

[13:20] Chapter three, verse 14. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of because, you know, those from whom you've learned it and how from infancy you have known the holy scriptures, the holy, the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

[13:50] All scripture is God breath. All writings from God. These scriptures is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

[14:10] You see the connection between the holy scriptures and. The truth of salvation. What do I need to be saved? Do I need a pope to tell me something that's not found in here or or is everything here that I need to be saved?

[14:28] Timothy, you've heard the holy scriptures from your mother and grandmother. And these scriptures are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

[14:40] They are sufficient in this matter. This book tells us how to be saved. Our Lord Jesus made it clear what he saw as the ultimate arbiter and judge of truth.

[14:52] When he said to his father in John 17, 17, your word is truth. Remember, Pilate, what is truth? Jesus says your word is truth.

[15:04] Jesus himself appealed to scripture. God's written word is the final authority. When issues came up, when he's teaching, when controversies were swirling over some matter.

[15:20] Jesus appeal is repeatedly to the scriptures, the sacred writings. It is written. It is written. You see that in the temptation when Satan would like to tempt him to sin.

[15:34] It is written. End of discussion, you see. This is it. The sacred writings. An end to all controversy. When he's explaining his actions, he's just cleansed the temple, made the whips and driven out the sellers and overturned their money tables.

[15:52] And they're saying, what authority do you have to do this? That's their question. And Jesus says, it is written. My house will be called a house of prayer for all people.

[16:03] And you've turned it into a den of robbers. It is written. End of the discussion. Remember when the Sadducees came to Jesus and they tried to make fun of Jesus' belief in the resurrection, the final resurrection.

[16:18] So what's going to happen, Jesus? There was this man and he was married to one woman and her first husband died. And so his brother married her.

[16:28] And then he died. And so the other brother married her. And so it went. Not sure what was wrong with that woman. But she put seven people in the grave. Seven husbands.

[16:39] Not all at once, but subsequent. Now in the resurrection, Jesus, whose husband will whose wife will she be? We got you in the corner. And Jesus says, you are in error because, you know, not the scriptures.

[16:56] Nor the power of God. And Jesus quotes the scriptures as the end of the argument. And nobody knew them like Jesus did.

[17:08] So Jesus appealed to scripture as the final authority in all matters of faith. It was the same with his apostles. And should we expect other from these that he taught?

[17:20] So Peter, on the day of Pentecost, read a sermon in Acts 2. The scriptures. He's quoting them over and over. As the end of discussion.

[17:33] James and John and Paul. It is written. The book of Romans. Paul is making clear that the saving power of the gospel is not found in our righteousness.

[17:46] But it's found in a righteousness of God. A righteousness that is his. And it's from him. And it's received by faith alone.

[17:57] From first to last. As it is written. The just shall live by faith. You see. He's betting the whole truth of the gospel.

[18:10] On what is written. His view of the gospel. As he's going to lay it out in Romans. At the very outset. Romans 1. 16 and 17. It is written.

[18:20] And then he unfolds his whole gospel. Some 16 times in Romans. It is written. It is written. It is written. And far more than 16 times. He just quotes. What is written.

[18:32] Though he doesn't say. It is written. And use those words. So in all of his letters. In the New Testament. We find this written word of God.

[18:42] Being appealed to. As the end of discussion. Now I wonder if we appreciate. Just that much. The fact that. We have not been left.

[18:55] To speculate. And guess. On this matter of. What must I do to be right with God. How can I a sinner be right with God. I am not left to guess.

[19:06] To speculate. Neither am I left. At the opinions of men. But God has weighed in on the matter. Isn't that a beautiful thing. That he has told us. Listen how Wesley put it.

[19:16] John Wesley. I am a creature of the day. Passing through life. As an arrow through the air. I am a spirit. Come from God.

[19:27] And returning to God. Just hovering over the great gulf. Till a few moments hence. I am no more seen. I drop into an unchangeable eternity. I want to know one thing.

[19:39] The way to heaven. How to land safe on that happy shore. God himself has condescended. To teach the way. For this very end.

[19:50] He came from heaven. He has written it down. In a book. Oh give me that book. At any price. Give me the book of God.

[20:01] I have it. Here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be a man of one book. Now I say. There is embodied. What ought to be the fitting response.

[20:12] Of Christians. To this truth of scripture alone. God has written. God has written. The. The answer to the most important question.

[20:23] In a book. Then. Let me have that book. And let me devour it. And let me eat it. And let it be my meat. And drink. Day and night. Let me be a man.

[20:36] Of one book. Doesn't mean Wesley didn't read other books. But this is the supreme book. You see. And all other books are tried by this one. Now the problem is.

[20:47] That this isn't the only book written. About how to get to heaven. Is it? Man has always had other ideas. About the ways of salvation. So who do we trust. Our eternal well-being to.

[20:58] Well. I'll take God's book. And that's what the Protestant Reformation was saying. We must get back to what God himself has said. In the Holy Scriptures. That alone.

[21:10] Is our supreme authority. Now the Roman Catholic Church. Has long disagreed. With that. Sola Scriptura. And that's seen in their own.

[21:23] Authorized statements. In addition to the. Written word of God. The Roman Church. Added. Church Tradition. So you have the written word of God. And.

[21:34] Church Tradition. On equal footing. Church Tradition. The writings of the early. Church Fathers. The decisions of Popes. And councils. These are regarded.

[21:46] On equality. With. The written word of God. Now. Don't just take it from me. Let me quote. Vatican II. Sacred scripture.

[21:57] Is the word of God. In as much as it is consigned. To writing. Under the inspiration. Of the divine spirit. And every good Protestant.

[22:08] Will say amen. We agree with Roman Catholics. On that point. But they don't. Put a period. There's a comma. And it goes on. To the successors.

[22:20] Of the apostles. Sacred tradition. Hands on. Its full purity. God's word. Which was entrusted. To the apostles.

[22:31] By Christ. The Lord. And the Holy Spirit. There's other things. That Christ has passed on. Through his apostles. That weren't written down. In Holy Scripture. And these two.

[22:42] They're saying. Is the full purity. Of God's word. I continue quoting. Consequently. It is not. From sacred scripture. Alone.

[22:53] That the church. Draws her certainty. About everything. Which has been revealed. Therefore. Both. Sacred tradition. And sacred scripture.

[23:05] Are to be accepted. And venerated. With the same sense. Of devotion. And reverence. Sacred tradition. And sacred scripture.

[23:16] Form one. Sacred deposit. Of the word of God. Which is committed. To the church. So. What is the word of God? It is. The sum total.

[23:26] Of two parts. The sacred scriptures. Written. And the oral tradition. Passed down orally. Through the church. Now.

[23:37] Rome. Wants to be clear. On this matter. You hear. They spoke of. Sola scriptura. Sacred. He says. It is not. From scripture. Alone. You see.

[23:48] That phrase. Is right out of. Martin Luther. And other reformers. Sola scriptura. They're wanting it. To be clear. That they repudiate. This idea. Of scripture.

[23:59] Alone. So. That complicates. Things. Doesn't it? In the answer. Of how do I. A sinner. Get right with God. The problem. Is not. That we all. Agree. In one standard.

[24:11] That we. We. Both agree. There is just. One final. Judge. And it is. Scripture. Alone. And. And. And. And. The problem. Is just that. That Protestants. And Catholics. Interpret this.

[24:23] Differently. That's not. The problem. Now. It is true. That. That we differ. In our interpretations. Of. Of. Of. Many. Things. Written. In the scripture. But that's not the only problem.

[24:34] The problem is. We say. This is the final judge. Of what truth is. And they have put sacred tradition. On an equal plane. And saying it's scripture.

[24:46] Plus. Tradition. So Rome. Claims. These two standards of truth. The written word. Sacred scripture. And the oral. Or unwritten word.

[24:58] Passed down. Through the church. In the question. And answer. Catholic catechism. Rome teaches. Quote. The bible. And sacred tradition. Are of equal authority.

[25:10] Because they are equally. The word of God. So we must understand. What Rome is saying. They're equally. The word of God. One is written. The other is passed down.

[25:21] Orally. So. Rome also claims. That the magisterium. Of the Roman Catholic Church. Is the infallible. Teacher. And interpreter.

[25:32] Of both. Scripture. And tradition. So. So who determines. What this means. And what's included. In tradition. The magisterium. The pope. And his bishops.

[25:43] And they are infallible. In their decisions. Now. When we go to. Comparing. Sacred scripture. And.

[25:54] Roman Catholic tradition. We have a problem. Because some of the things. They teach. In their tradition. Contradict.

[26:06] The written. Word. Of God. Things like. Praying. To the saints. Praying.

[26:16] To Mary. The immaculate. Conception. Of Mary. The belief. The belief. That Mary. Was conceived. Without sin. That she herself.

[26:27] Was sinless. That she ascended. Into heaven. Even as Jesus did. At the end of his life. She too. Ascended. Without death. Transubstantiation.

[26:40] That when the priest. Utters the sacred. Words. Over the host. The bread. The bread. Turns into the real. Physical body. Of Jesus. And the. Wine.

[26:50] Turns into his real. Physical blood. Purgatory. Indulgences. To. To get you out.

[27:00] Of purgatory. To shorten your stay. Or the stay of others. In purgatory. The authority. Of the pope. As the vicar. Of Christ. On earth. These and other things.

[27:11] Are taught. In their. Tradition. But they are not found. In. The written. Word of God.

[27:22] Now. That's. That's. What Luther. Was up against. But it wasn't the first time. For this. And I. I just want you to.

[27:33] To see that. It's very similar. To what was happening. In Jesus own day. With the Jewish religion. Religious leaders. Of his day. They were teaching.

[27:43] Things. In their traditions. That were. Not just. In addition. To. But were actually. Contrary. To. The written. Word of God.

[27:54] And Jesus. Called them out. On it. Didn't he? We saw it. With regard. To the Sabbath. What does the scripture say? And what did they say? And the two did not. Work together.

[28:05] And Jesus. Calls them out. On it. Corrects them. And it's true. As well. With regard. To the fifth commandment. Honor your father and mother. Turn to my. Matthew 15. I believe we had.

[28:16] This passage read. Last Sunday morning. In Mark's account. But just look at it again. Real quickly. Here. In Matthew 15. Then.

[28:30] All right. The Pharisees. And teachers. Of the law. These are the religious leaders. These are the pope. And his bishops. Of the day. That Jesus was. On the earth. These are the leaders. Of the Jewish religion.

[28:41] Then some Pharisees. And teachers of the law. Came to Jesus. From Jerusalem. And asked. Why do your disciples. Break the tradition. Of the elders. You see. Here it is. The tradition. Of the elders.

[28:52] They don't wash their hands. Before they eat. And Jesus replied. And why do you break. The command of God. For the sake. Of your tradition.

[29:04] You see. The collision. The command of God. And your tradition. For God said. And now he's quoting. Exodus chapter 20. And other. Another passage. Honor your.

[29:15] God said. Honor your father and mother. And anyone who curses. His father or mother. Must be put to death. But you say. If a man says. To his father or mother.

[29:26] Whatever help. You might otherwise. Have received from me. Is a gift. Devoted to God. Well then. He is not. To honor his father. And mother with it. His father with it. Thus you nullify. The word of God.

[29:37] For the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites. And so on. You see. God says. You say. Now what happens.

[29:47] When we get into. A situation. Where God says. And. The tradition. Of the elders says. Well. Paul says.

[29:58] Let God be true. And every man a liar. Jesus says. God's word. Written. Trumps. Any. Human. Tradition. Isaiah was right.

[30:10] Your worship. Is nothing more than. Rules made up by men. It's worthless. We see. The. Test. Of any tradition. Is the written. Word of God.

[30:21] And Jesus. Saw that situation. Clearly. In his day. So. The reformation. Was not facing. Something new. Oh. We've never seen. This before. No.

[30:32] It was. It was the very. Battle. That our Lord Jesus. Was in. So. Scripture. Plus. Tradition. Equal. Authority. Was the system.

[30:42] That Roman. That. Martin Luther. Grew up. With. And was trained under. As a monk. And a priest. In the Roman Catholic Church. In the early 1500s. But Luther.

[30:53] Began to feel. The weight. Of his own sin. And guilt. He became. What. Just fixated. With this question. How can I. A sinner. Be right.

[31:03] With this holy God. And he became. Increasingly. Dissatisfied. With what the church. Was telling him. And so. He searched.

[31:14] The scriptures. For answers. He was dissatisfied. This didn't bring. His soul. Peace. So he searched. The scriptures. For answers. And the more. He came to see.

[31:25] The scriptures. The more. He came to see. That they. Were in contradiction. To Rome's traditions. And teachings. And he came to see.

[31:36] That this question. Of authority. Was at the very bottom. Of so many. Of Rome's heirs. So Luther. Didn't just fight. Against each individual. Heir of Rome.

[31:47] He did speak out. On the various heirs. That he saw. But he went. To the foundation. What is. The basis. Of determining.

[31:57] Truth. From error. It is the scripture alone. And in. Laying down. That. Sola scriptura. He. He went a long way. In correcting. Many of the.

[32:08] Lies. That were being taught. Under the. Form of. The word of God. They viewed it. As the word of God. Passed down orally. Versus the word of God. Written. So Luther.

[32:19] Demanded. That all tradition. Be brought to the test. Of scripture alone. He said. A simple layman. Armed with scripture. Is greater than the mightiest. Pope without it. Okay.

[32:30] He's attacking. This second source. Of truth. That's equal with the Bible. He rejected. The infallible authority. Given to the magisterium. To interpret scripture.

[32:40] And to establish beliefs. From church tradition. He said. The true rule. Is this. God's word. Shall establish. Articles of faith. And no one else. Not even an angel.

[32:51] Can do so. Swallow that one. But that's Galatians 1. That's what Paul says. Though. Me. An apostle. Or an angel from heaven.

[33:03] Should teach you. Some other gospel. Than the one. That I have declared to you. Let him be. Accursed. And Luther's taking that up.

[33:13] Here. This is the. Article. On which. All truth. Is to be judged. In 1518. Luther debated.

[33:23] Cardinal Cajetan. At Augsburg. Cajetan claimed. That the Pope. Was the final judge. Of the meaning of scripture. Luther replied. His holiness. Abuses scripture. I deny. That he is above scripture.

[33:35] Well neither. Persuaded the other. Luther continued. To write. And speak out. For scripture alone. As the supreme authority. Rome responded. With this decision. Quote.

[33:45] He who does not accept. The doctrine of the church. Of Rome. And the Pope of Rome. As an infallible. Rule of faith. From which the holy scriptures. To draw their strength. And authority.

[33:56] Is a heretic. You see. When you claim both. As equally. The word of God. What invariably. Ends up happening. Is that what the church. Says. In its tradition.

[34:07] Begins to judge. What holy scripture is. And so. It becomes. The important thing. Not the scriptures. And indeed. As they decided. That the holy scriptures. To draw their strength.

[34:18] And authority. From. What Rome says. Well. That was the. The ruling. 1521.

[34:28] Luther was excommunicated. Then. From the Roman Catholic Church. And condemned. As a heretic. The church. And the Pope. Had weighed in. Condemning him. Now. The state authority.

[34:38] Was to judge him. And to try him. For heresy. So you had the church. And the state. And the church courts. Excommunicated him. As a heretic.

[34:49] Well. Now. He must appear. Before. The Roman Empire. The holy. Roman Empire. The emperor himself. At the Diet of Worms. April.

[35:00] 1521. His very life. Hung in the balance. Because if the emperor. Too condemned him. As a heretic. He would be put to death. His friends. Warned him not to go. Luther. Would not.

[35:11] Stay away. He went. Trusting in the Lord. So there. Before the emperor. Charles the fifth. And dukes. And nobles. And catholic bishops. And cardinals. And papal representatives. Luther was asked.

[35:21] Do you. Are these your books? Yes. Do you repudiate. Your books. And the errors. Which they contain. His immortal answer. Unless.

[35:32] I am convinced. By scripture. And plain reason. I do not accept. The authority. Of popes. And councils. For they have contradicted. Each other. My conscience.

[35:43] Is captive. To the word of God. I cannot. I will not. Recant. Anything. Because to go against. Conscience. Is neither right. Nor safe. Here I stand. I can do no other.

[35:53] So help me God. Amen. Do you see. Sola scriptura. Luther is ready. To live and die. By it. Well.

[36:05] The emperor. Declared Luther. A heretic. And that means. Now he is not only. An outlaw. In the eyes of the church. But also in the eyes. Of the state. His friends.

[36:15] Somehow managed. To kidnap him. And hide him off. In a. Wartburg castle. And. There he. Translated. The new testament. From the Greek. Into the German. So that a.

[36:27] Lay person. Could. Take up the scriptures. And read for themselves. The way of salvation. And not be dependent. Upon what the Pope told them. Or what their priest. Told them.

[36:39] So that's just a running. Take of. This doctrine. Of sola scriptura. As it's seen. In the life. Of. Of Martin Luther.

[36:50] The same could be said. For Calvin. And some of the other. Magisterial. Reformers. But. Turn just briefly. To lessons. For us today. How do. What do we do.

[37:01] With this belief. Scripture alone. Well. If scripture alone. Is the supreme authority. By which. We answer the question. How can I be right. With God. Then it's. It's. Pretty important.

[37:12] That we have the word of God. In our own language. Isn't it. And that's what the reformers. Were committed to. Translating scriptures. Into the common language. Of the people. And those who.

[37:25] First translated. And published the bible. In the common language. Were put to death. By the Roman church. You see. The common man. Is not capable. Of understanding. The scriptures. The scriptures.

[37:35] Are too holy. The common man. Needs the pope. And the magisterium. The bishops. And the priest. To tell him. What the truth is. And it's a dangerous thing.

[37:47] I mean. Look what Luther. Came to. Look how he. He opposed. What. So. It was a forbidden thing. And William Tyndale. Gave us. English bibles.

[37:58] For the first time. And for it. The church. Strangled him. And burned him. At the stake. So.

[38:09] Let's. Let's treasure. The word of God. Written. In our own. Language. I was struck. When. Robert Elliot.

[38:19] Told us. Sunday night. That he was here. That for the first. Thousand years. Of Christianity. In England. They didn't have. The Bible. In their own language. It was in the language.

[38:30] Of Latin. That the. The priest. Knew something. Of perhaps. But. But I could hardly. Found. Can you imagine. Spending.

[38:41] A year. Of your life. Without. A Bible. Or. Or how about. All your life. About thousand years. Of life. Without.

[38:52] The Bible. In your own language. To be totally. Dependent on. What the man. Of the cloth. Says. And. Never sure.

[39:03] That. Whether what you're hearing. Is the unadulterated. Word of God. Or just. The teaching. Of fallible men. No. No test. No final.

[39:14] Standard. To put it to. Well the. Reformation. Changed this. Thank God. For the. Reformation. Love your Bible. Love the. Written. Word of God. Another lesson.

[39:25] Can church leaders. Be mistaken. And mislead others. Well. We don't have to get outside. Of our Bibles. To. To see that. This. This happened later. In church history.

[39:36] But. Rome said. No. That the popes. And his bishops. Cannot. Be mistaken. And mislead others. When they speak. Ex. Cathedral. It is infallible. Teaching.

[39:48] But. We're going to see. In the rest. Of the solas. Just how far. They've strayed. From. The written word. Of God. Consider. Peter. Who.

[39:59] Rome. considers. As the first pope. Of their church. Was he ever wrong. In something. That he believed. In something. He said.

[40:10] Or did. Jesus said. I must. Go up to Jerusalem. And be mishandled. By the leaders. And be betrayed. And condemned. And abused. Mocked.

[40:20] And crucified. And the. First pope. Of Rome. As they would like. To think of him. Said. Never you. Lord. And Jesus.

[40:30] Had to rebuke him. And correct him. You have in mind. The things of man. Not the things of God. Peter. Played the hypocrite. In Galatians 2. And was leading.

[40:41] Others astray. When before. The men from. Jerusalem. Came down. Peter was hobnobbing. With the Gentile believers. But when the. Folks from the Jews.

[40:52] Came from Jerusalem. Came. He. No longer. Was. Found. Commingling. With Gentile believers. And Paul saw. What was happening. And so all the. The people.

[41:02] Even Barnabas. If you can imagine. Being drawn away. By his hypocrisy. And so. Paul stood up. And rebuked. The apostle Peter. To his face. Publicly.

[41:13] So important. Was this matter. Well. This is Peter. And we see. Paul himself. What was he? He. He was trained. In the scriptures.

[41:25] By the best. Of the teachers. Gamaliel. And he. Was very. Sincere. In thinking. That he was. Serving God. As he was. Killing Christians.

[41:36] Can someone. Be sincerely. Wrong. Can someone. Be sincere. And yet. Sincerely wrong. And misleading. Others. Yes. We can't judge.

[41:47] Every. Priest. And pope's. Heart. God will do that. But we must say. That no human being.

[41:59] Outside of human authors. Of the scriptures. Whom the holy spirit. Inspired. So that what they wrote. Was the. Inerrant. Word of God. Outside of this book.

[42:09] There is no. Infallible. Man. And we see that. In the scriptures. Why were the Bereans. Commended. As being more noble. Than the Thessalonians. Act 17.

[42:22] Why? They search. The scriptures. So Paul comes to town. He's preaching. He's saying. It is written. And he's quoting.

[42:32] Scriptures. And before they swallowed. All that Paul was preaching. They first. Searched the scriptures. To see if these things be so.

[42:46] And Paul wasn't saying. Shame on you. I'm an apostle. How could you ever. Doubt what I say. Ah. These are more noble. Than those guys at Thessalonica.

[42:57] Where I just come from. These are wiser. They're not just taking it. From some man. Because the next guy. Coming down the road. May not be. Truly from God. And if they're swallowing.

[43:09] What men are feeding. Without checking. The word of God. They could be led. Astray. He commends them. So that ought to be. Our posture. Before we swallow.

[43:20] What men are teaching us. Is that indeed. Found in the written. Word of God. And then just. Yeah. The whole. Appreciation. Aren't you glad.

[43:30] That. That God's word. Is in a book. In. In a book. With ink. On paper. That doesn't change. There is a. There's a. There's an old testament.

[43:41] Scripture. That every time I read it. I thank God for. His word. Written in a book. You know. In the old testament. God spoke through prophets. And. And. There was a.

[43:52] A time back in the kings. I can't find my text. Right now. But. When one of the prophets. Said to a younger prophet. God told me to tell you. Only what.

[44:03] He said to the young man. Was not. From God. And so the man. Followed. What the old prophet said. And God sent a lion. To kill him.

[44:14] Because he listened. To the lie. Of the false prophet. Now. I've sometimes said. Wow. I mean. If I've got an older prophet. Coming to me. Saying God told me to tell.

[44:25] God had already spoken. To the young prophet. He had given him. Clear instructions. On what he was to do. And then an older prophet. Says. Now God sent me to you. To tell you. I'm glad.

[44:36] That I don't have to just. Listen to all these voices. And wonder. Which one's true. I can come to my Bible. And I can see for myself. What has God really said. And on such an important.

[44:47] Pivotal issue. As. How can I be saved. Forever and ever. I thank God. For a Bible. Let's love it. Let's let it dwell. In us richly. Let's let it live in us.

[44:58] Let's memorize it. Let's hide it in our hearts. Let's meditate on it. Let's not neglect. His word. It's 1st Kings 13. If you want to read that. This afternoon. And thank God.

[45:08] For a written. Revelation. Of God's mind. We're dismissed. So next week. Grace alone.

[45:19] Right.