Genesis chapter 3. Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, did God actually say, you shall not eat of any tree in the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it lest you die. But the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die for God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. And she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. This is the word of the Lord and you may be seated. Now that may admittedly seem like a very strange passage for our subject this morning, but Please bear with me, I assure you it is relevant, and we'll come to that in a bit. But first, I feel that it is a necessity that we lay a little groundwork. And so as we begin Reformation Month, for the next five weeks, we will devote our time to what's often called the five solas of the Reformation. For those who aren't familiar with those five principles, those five solas, what we might call the alone principles, and what I mean by alone is alone in the sense of only or exclusively, nothing else, no other way. Well, these fundamental principles are sola scriptura, meaning the scripture alone, sola Christus, meaning Christ alone, sola gratia, meaning grace alone, sola fidei, meaning faith alone, and sola deo gloria, to God alone be all glory. And so these are the five solas that are often referred to as the solas of the Reformation. I think that's a bit misleading because the 16th century reformers did not invent these principles. They merely recovered them. And the five solas are simply a summarization of foundational biblical principles with respect to the truth and authority, redemption, and divine purpose. Now, these timeless principles are so foundational that we could spend weeks on each one. But Lord willing, this month, I want to address each sola once a week with a particular focus. And while history is vitally important, I want us to review these principles not so much from the historical context of the Reformation as with a view to the desperate need for their reaffirmation within the church today. We are in need of another Reformation. We have descended into our own unique kind of darkness. So the five solas are as relevant to our historical moment as they were to those saints who identified with the Protestant movement in the 16th century. And the first of these principles is sola scriptura, and it is the foundation on which the other solas are built. It's often referred to as the formal principle of the Reformation. In other words, it's that principle that defines the source of the material principles. The material principles are the central teachings of Scripture. Well, where do those central teachings come from? They come from the formal principle, the source from which they come. And so, Scripture alone is that source, and Scripture is the anchor that keeps us from drifting into error. Sin makes us insane and scripture is the only way to recover our sanity. Scripture alone tells the true story. God alone is the transcendent one who has perspective that is necessary that he might speak truthfully on every issue. That belongs to God alone. Folks, scripture doesn't merely contain the truth. Scripture is the truth. Truth with a capital T. As Jesus said, God's word is truth. And that makes sense, doesn't it? If you think about it, if God created all things and God sustains all things, then reality is what he says it is. It's not what we perceive it to be, it's what he says it is. And so truth and God's word are synonymous. Now, we don't have the time this morning to examine all of the intricacies of the doctrine, nor time to explore the many evidences for it. Actually, Steve has been doing a great job of addressing many of those things in Sunday school as he works his way through the Westminster Larger Catechism. So for this morning, what I want to do is simply outline some fundamental issues that will prepare us to think aright about this subject. And, of course, the first question that always arises is, how do we know Scripture is the Word of God? Well, Scripture says it is. It says it is. Scripture is self-authenticating. And so the next question naturally is, well, isn't that circular reasoning, right? You go to the Bible to find out what the Word of God is, and the Bible tells you that it is the Word of God, right? So is that circular reasoning? No, it's not. Why not? Well, there are numerous ways to answer this, but the short answer that I'll give you this morning, and if you are interested in that subject, there's a lot that is available to you, many different ways to authenticate this. But the short answer is this, and this is the one I always go back to, and that is the testimony of Christ himself. Listen, if you believe that Jesus is who he said he is, then you will believe what he said. And he himself affirmed that the Old Testament is the word of God. He also sanctioned what would be the New Testament through the ministry of the apostles that he commissioned and promised the direction of the Holy Spirit in doing so. And he also claimed that scripture down to the very grammar and even the very words themselves are the word of God that cannot be annulled. That's what Jesus says. That's his testimony. So at the end of the day, it comes down to a very simple question. What say you of Christ? Is he a liar or does he tell the truth? If he tells the truth, then the scripture is the word of God. That's what Jesus said. Now, for the sake of time, let me quickly summarize what the principle of sola scriptura means. What does it mean, scripture alone? Well, it doesn't mean no book but the Bible. There are some people who have misconstrued it that way. What it means is, is that the scripture alone is the ultimate authority in all matters relating to faith and practice. And so contrary to what some people claim, Sola Scriptura doesn't exclude other kinds of authority, whether they're religious or secular. There are other authorities. I mean, after all, scripture doesn't claim to address everything there is to know. For example, it doesn't show us how to solve algebraic formulas. I know my grandson Josiah wish it did because if it did, the Bible would explain it better than any human teacher could. But it doesn't. You can't learn the particulars of chemistry or engineering or medicine from the Bible. And while the Bible contains history, it doesn't tell us everything that has ever happened since creation. But what it does tell us is important in history for everything that matters concerning faith and practice. In other words, you don't need to look to secular history to find out what's important. Look to the scripture. It'll tell you what history you really need to know. So no, sola scriptura does not mean that there aren't other sources of authority, but it does mean that all of those other sources of authority are subservient to and under the authority of Scripture. You see, whatever issues that Scripture doesn't address are always temporal and trivial issues in light of eternity. Listen, whenever you stand before God, he's not going to ask you to solve some mathematical equation. He's not going to ask you to recite the periodic table of the elements, or he's not going to ask you if you know how to build a safe structure. I mean, you know, those matters, they're all important in the short term, but they pale in comparison to the question of your eternal standing before God. And though scripture doesn't tell us everything there is to know, We need to remember what David says in Psalm 136. Even though God has revealed much knowledge to us, what He has revealed is often too wonderful for us to fully comprehend. In other words, why are we looking for things that God hasn't told us when we can't even comprehend everything He has told us? Contemplate those things that are too great for us to understand and ask the Holy Spirit to grant us strength in our minds so that we may comprehend something of the incomprehensible. But again, my point is, is God's Word is truth, truth with a capital T. It shows us who we are by revealing the God who made us in his image. You want to know what it means to be human? Look at God and how he created us to image him, all right? It tells us why we're here. You know, so many people in the world are looking for a reason of why they're here, their existence, right? Well, let me tell you something. Go to the scripture. The scripture will tell you why you exist, why you're here. There's a purpose. It's to glorify God. It's not the purpose most people are looking for, but it's the only purpose that really matters. And the Word of God explains to us why the world is the way it is. Have you ever noticed that the world has a very difficult time being able to answer for the fact that the world is the way it is? This is a very difficult world in which to live, isn't it? With all of the blessings and all of the goodness, there is all of the evil. And so, we have all of this that we have to deal with, we have to struggle with. Well, the Bible explains to us why the world is the way it is. Everything good in this world is because it is still, in some sense, reflecting something of its good creator. But all of the bad in the world is due to the fact of the rebellion and sin that has corrupted this age. No other worldview can account for the world as it is. Also, the word of God, the scripture, exposes our sin, calls us to repentance, and it proclaims salvation, and it renews our minds. Folks, the scripture reveals our desperate need and proclaims that the only remedy is Christ. And so it shines a light into the darkness and restores our sanity. And that's why, sola scriptura, that's why Scripture alone is the absolute authority in all matters of faith and practice. Scripture is God's Word and His Word is truth. Now, since God's Word is the ultimate authority in all matters relating to faith and practice, that means that the Word of God is sufficient. It is a sufficient authority. Listen, scripture tells us everything we need to know to lead meaningful and significant lives. It tells us all we need to know in order to fulfill our purpose. It tells us everything we need to know to live godly lives in this present evil age. In other words, as the Westminster Confession of Faith says, scripture contains everything we need to know in order to live as God intends for us to live. Now, I didn't say that scripture tells us everything we want to know, right? But let me assure you that God isn't interested in satisfying our trivial curiosity. You know, I like the way Augustine addressed this because someone once posed a question to him. They said, what was God doing in eternity before he created the universe? And Augustine said, well, perhaps he was creating hell for people who are too curious about such matters. Now he's speaking tongue in cheek, obviously, but the point is, what does that have to do with anything? It has nothing to do with how you live your life before a holy God and what really matters in this life. So scripture doesn't tell us everything we want to know, but again, it does tell us everything we need to know. And so the Westminster Confession of Faith puts it quite succinctly. It says everything that we need to know is either expressly laid down in scripture or it can be deduced from scripture by good and necessary consequence. Now, what does this mean, good and necessary consequence? Well, in other words, everything we need to know is either given to us explicitly in the text, or we can, with our minds that God gave us, deduce from the truths that the Scripture sets forth. God expects us to use our minds. That's why He's renewing them, right? Renewing them with His Word. And so, let me give you an example. There is no command in Scripture to stop at red traffic lights, is there? You wouldn't expect it to be. Traffic lights weren't invented at that day and time, right? But there are a host of other truths in scripture that should inform the way we behave when we approach an intersection, right? I mean, from obeying those who are in authority to preferring others above ourselves, it is clear that all things being equal, God would have us obey those traffic laws, right? It can be deduced from good and necessary consequence. You know, we don't have to ask God about everything. There are things that are set forth plainly, and we should pursue them. Now, we should ask God for the grace and strength to carry them out. But nonetheless, we don't have to pray, is this your will that I obey the traffic light? Is it your will that I stop at this red light? Good and necessary consequence from the word of God will tell you so, right? Now, I've heard people actually say, and these are many times professing Christians, well, where is sola scriptura affirmed in the Bible? Where is it affirmed in the Bible? Well, where is it not affirmed in the Bible, right? That's the answer. I mean, from beginning to end, if you know what you're looking for, you can see the affirmation throughout all of Scripture. But if you need one verse that shows us the absolute authority of Scripture and the sufficiency of Scripture, it's 2 Timothy 3, verses 16 and 17. And I think I have provided that for you on your outline. for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." This is a stunning verse. All Scripture is breathed out by God. That's a graphic way of saying that the Scripture is the creative act of God. In other words, Scripture was brought forth the same way as creation itself. How has creation come about? God said, and it was, right? Well, this means that all of scripture, including the very words and grammar, are God's words. He breathed them out, so to speak. In other words, scripture says exactly what God wanted to say and how he wanted to say it. And since the scripture is the word of the almighty God, it is the final authority on all matters it addresses. I mean, you can grant that, can't you? Is that if the one who speaks this is the sovereign ultimate power and authority in all the earth, then therefore what he says is the ultimate authority. One naturally follows the other. There is no higher appeal. Now people often object. to this divine authorship. How can it be that Scripture is God-breathed? I mean, after all, Scripture was penned by men. Anyone ever told you that? Penned by men, and the various writings themselves reflect differences in personality and style and vocabulary. Well, of course they do. The documents reflect the character of different human authors who were writing from the perspective of their particular experience. You know, Christians don't deny this. So, clearly, God did not dictate scripture. I think sometimes when we talk about the scripture as being inspired of God, that people think that God dictated it. But all Christians who understand what the scripture says freely admit that the human authors were much more than just stenographers, right? They weren't just scribes. But you see, this is no problem if you believe that God is the God of the Bible. Again, going to the scripture, if you understand who God is, this isn't an issue at all. He created all things, and He sustains them at every moment by His mighty power. In Him, we live and move and have our being, and He ordains whatsoever comes to pass. Can you see where this is going? God used human authors, including their personalities and their experiences. And yet he sovereignly and providentially superintended the entire process so that what issued from the pen of the human authors was nothing less than the God-breathed message he intended. You know, Peter puts it this way. He says, nothing scripture says comes from man's own interpretation. No utterance of scripture, he says, was ever produced by the will of man. But men, he says, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy spirit. Listen, though these men penned scripture, it wasn't some kind of vague inspiration that resulted in human interpretations. You know, the kind of inspiration that artists often talk about. You know, I saw this and I was inspired and I created this work. Well, that's his work. That's his interpretation of what he saw. That's not what Scripture is. Scripture is much greater than that. No, the authors of Scripture, we are told, by Peter, were picked up and carried along by the Holy Spirit. And think of this, the word spirit is the same word for breath in the Greek and in the Hebrew. And so, in other words, Peter is also, we could translate it this way, they were picked up and carried along by the holy breath of God. God breathed, the word of God is God breathed. Now, Timothy, after declaring that all scripture then is the product of the divine breath, Paul goes on to explain its sufficiency. Scripture is profitable. It is useful, sufficient for equipping us with all we need. That's what he says. Everything you need, you don't need to look anywhere else. The scripture will provide it. So scripture, he says, is given to teach us what we need to know. It's given to refute error. It's given to us to correct us when we're wrong, and that is a daily exercise, right? And the scripture is given to train us in righteousness, he says, that we might live righteously as God intended. And so, scripture provides all we need to live lives that are pleasing unto God, to live lives that matter, to live lives with a view to eternity. Now, with all of that in mind, I want us, before we close then, to go back to our opening passage, that seemingly at the moment, I think, strange-sounding passage for this topic. Genesis chapter 3. And the setting, I'm not going to reread it, we just read it a moment ago, but most of you know the story, you're familiar with it. But in Genesis chapter 3, the world was young. Adam and Eve had been given dominion over the entire earth. And the first couple are living in a lush and abundant garden, a fertile home filled with delightful provision. Just reach out and take it. All right? And they were enjoying fellowship with their gracious creator. It doesn't get any better than that, right? And yes, they were given commands, but they're very simple instructions. They're told to freely eat of every tree, every tree except one, that is, right? And they're told to cultivate this earth, a very cooperative earth, so that they could expand the borders of their Edenic paradise. And then they're told to fill the earth with God's images. Now, I want you to think about those commands. Every act of obeying God was something that would bring delightful pleasure with it. That's what life was like before the fall. I want you to think about that, the command. We often misunderstand what the Scripture says, but actually, the text tells us that God commanded them to freely eat of every tree in the garden except one. In other words, the command was, enjoy yourself. I put you here, I command you to enjoy this. And enjoy it, they could. It was there. It was beautiful. It was delicious. And then, of course, there was the pleasure of bringing and cultivating this garden further out to the entire earth. Someone says, work, work? What was that? Delightful pleasure? Yes, it was before the fall. Can you imagine what it would be like if you approached a task and everything went right as it was supposed to, right? That everything just fell into place. There were no obstacles. There were no weeds. There were no problems. You know, the earth cooperated with you. The whole process just cooperated with you. There is great pleasure and satisfaction and a job well done, but most of the time is a thorny process getting there. That's because of the fall, but it wasn't so. And then, of course, they're told to fill the earth with God's images. So Adam and Eve were able to come together and enjoy intimacy with each other without the fear of the woman having to bring forth children from that union in pain. Think about it. Everything was a delightful pleasure, everything. And God commanded this delightful pleasure. I mean, it's not just that the woman would not have to bring forth the child in pain, but they wouldn't have to raise a sinful child either. That's a part of the pain, isn't it? That your children are sinners just like you. That's a painful thing to go through. But think about that. Before the fall, none of that was in view. None of that was in view where Adam and Eve were concerned. And so, God's commands were given and he had gifted them with these commands. Think of it that way. God's commands to us are a gift, a gift on what will truly fulfill us and what will truly bring pleasure, what will truly bring delight. And they were all abundant blessings accompanying them. But then the crafty serpent enters the picture, right? And he says to the woman, did God actually say, you shall not eat of any tree in the garden? Did God really put you in this beautiful lush garden and say, look, but don't eat. And Eve said, no, no, that's not right. We may eat of the trees of the garden, but God did say, you should not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden. That one tree, there could have been a thousand other trees, a thousand other trees. They just couldn't eat of the thousand and first tree, right? One tree. And, but you're not eat of that tree in the midst of the garden. Neither shall you touch it lest you die. Ooh. Now that last part, you see now Eve, she's improvising, right? She's exaggerating. Don't miss what's going on here. Satan intentionally misrepresents God's prohibition. He's provoking Eve, not only to question God's authority, but his goodness as well. That's what Satan is doing. Did God actually say, you shall not eat of any of this? Satan knows what he's doing. He deliberately is ignoring all the positive commands, all the positive blessings, and he's trying to paint God as an austere, restrictive, and petty authoritarian. But notice Eve's response. She's already taken the bait. because she exaggerates. She adds to what God has said. God said nothing about touching the fruit. And so Satan cuts to the chase and he says, okay, then don't believe what he says. You'll not surely die. Listen, God knows that whenever you eat of this fruit, your eyes will be opened. You'll be like him. He doesn't want the competition. You'll be like him. You'll know good and evil. In other words, God's holding out on you. God's a killjoy. He's deceiving you. He's keeping you from reaching your full potential. So what does Eve do? She begins reasoning within herself. That's what the scripture says. That's the way it describes it. She inspected the fruit. Word, she saw the fruit. Actually, that is a deeper word than just a glance. She inspected the fruit, and she found it quite appealing. It looked delicious, and she desired the knowledge that the enemy had promised she would have. And so, Eve begins to think within herself, well, why would God keep this from me, this good thing? Why would he keep? It makes no sense. And so, Eve decided to believe her own limited senses and knowledge. She decided to trust her own judgment over the word of the gracious God. Are you getting a picture of how this all comes about? And so, she ate, and so did Adam. I think that fruit must have been so bitter the moment it reached their stomachs, when their eyes were suddenly opened, open to the perils of rebelling against God, against the God from whom all blessings flow. They had their eyes open to their vulnerability without God. They saw that they were naked and they were ashamed and they tried to cover themselves. They were confronted with the reality of their own feudal reasoning. This didn't turn out at all. Like I thought it was right. And humanity died that day. They did. They died that day by rejecting God's word, the word of spirit in life. Now, that death takes time to work its way through their natural bodies, but they eventually will die. Oh, but they died immediately that day. They lost something in the fall. Spiritual death came upon all mankind. And so, they would one day return to the dust from which they came. Of course, we know the hope in this story. When God calls him into account, he gives the gracious promise of redemption, the first words of the gospel that we hear. But here's the point. Humanity is now under the burden of corruption, and a sinful pattern was born that everyone who comes from Adam must bear. Paul in humanity has a corrupt eye of skepticism where God's word is concerned. Humanity joins the serpent in asking, did God actually say? And if he did, is it true? Did he mean it? And most people conclude, surely not. You see, we're born challenging God's authority, the authority of his word. And so, my point is that original sin and all sin thereafter is rooted in the principle of sola scriptura, that God's word is the ultimate authority in all matters pertaining to life and godliness. It is a rejection of the truth that God's word alone is absolute truth, that it is the ultimate authority. And in the twisted and distorted reasoning of our corrupt minds, we tend to follow Satan's lead, and we twist God's word, and we misrepresent his intentions to justify pursuing our rebellion against him. For instance, When people say, did God really say premarital sex is wrong? Listen, I'm just following my heart. I love this person. What's wrong with that? Right? How can that be wrong? You know what they're actually saying? I know better than God. That's what they're saying. Cut to the chase. Get rid of all the pretense. Get down to the heart of the matter. What you're saying is, I know better than God does. Whenever people say, did God really say that my sexual preference is wrong, that it's sin? I mean, would he really keep me from loving someone fully and giving myself to them? These are things that are sad, folks. I'm not making this up. You know what they're saying? They're saying, I know better than God. When people say, did God really say there are only two genders, genders that are decided not by how I feel about myself, but actually assigned to me by my creator at birth, right? Would God deny me my own sense of identity? Well, when you're insane, yes, right? Because that's what the scripture says about all of us until we come to the knowledge of the truth is that we are insane. But again, what they're saying is I know better than God. And in every instance, what they're saying is God is trying to deprive me of happiness. He's trying to deprive me of pleasure. Now, actually, God is trying to save you from destruction that's been packaged as pleasure. Pain and eternal suffering that has been wrapped in a bow. You've been lied to that following your own way will bring you happiness. It will not, not in the end. And so God is not trying to keep you from reaching your full potential. It's exactly the opposite. And that's my point of going to Genesis chapter three. This is the lie of Satan. He told them that God's commands are actually the opposite of what they were. that what God intended by them was something completely different than what God actually intended. All of the commands that God had given were for pleasure and for knowing him. And he turned around and said, no, God's actually trying to deprive you because there's one single tree in this whole beautiful place that you can't have. And so God is a mean God. God is an austere God. He is a jealous God of your happiness. And when the Bible says God is a jealous God, it's not talking about jealousy like we know it. No. God is jealous for the glory that is due him because it is due him, right? But God isn't jealous of you, and he's not jealous of your happiness. And actually, what he offers is the only true path to pleasure. At his right hand are pleasures forevermore, not at your sin are pleasures forevermore. And so Satan implanted this in their mind and he implants it still in the minds of all who were born in sin. Folks, God wants us to know true happiness. He wants his images to fulfill their true potential. But that means living as we were created to live. That means living as we were created to, that we might know the greatest possible blessing. And those who defy God's word are forsaking blessing for a curse. They're forsaking fulfillment for emptiness. They're forsaking eternal joy for everlasting suffering. As the scripture says, there is a way which seems right to man. What is the end thereof? Death. And so in their rebellious questioning of God, those who say, did God really say this? They're actually pursuing misery and pain that ends in death. And folks, I'm not just talking about the world. Before we close, this is really important. As Christians, we are still tempted to believe Satan's lie, are we not? Are we still tempted to believe this? Whenever we find God's word uncomfortable, if we look for some kind of loophole, some way of justifying ourselves, we're echoing those very words, did God really say? It's a subtle way of denying God's absolute authority and the authority of his word. I mean, make no mistake, there are many evangelicals today, conservative, they claim, who are listening to the world's objection that, well, did God really say? And remember, they're actually posing the question twisted like Satan did. Did God really say he didn't want me happy? That is not what God said. God said he didn't want you pursuing your way, which will bring an utter ruin to any chance of happiness. That's what he actually said. But they hear the world saying, did God really say this? And now they're compromising to please society. They're trying to make the word of God fit into the world's agenda concerning racism, and feminism, and sexuality. For professing Christians are suddenly questioning whether God means what he said in his word, suddenly questioning issues that the church has had no problem understanding for two millennia and beyond. We have always believed these things. And we have always known that the word of God says them. Why in this day and age, when the world says, that's awful, do we say, well, maybe God's wrong? Or maybe we've read God wrong. Maybe we could either look at this again. God's word is forever settled in heaven. Do you think that he would have allowed his church, his people, to go on false understanding for millennia, for century after century? No. God has preserved his word. He has preserved his church. And so why are today we are suddenly unsure about what is sexually moral and what isn't? Why are we suddenly unsure how the scripture would have us address prejudice and racism? The Bible says it's a sin. The Bible gives us a way to deal with it. But instead, we look to the world and say, how do you think we ought to deal with it? And perhaps we can make God's word fit what you think. No, the real answer is Christ. It is in him. And so this is the influence of the evil one who delights in getting God's images to contradict their creator and their redeemer. And once you begin to question the authority of scripture, when you cast off that anchor, it's not long until you're going to find yourself adrift in a sea of agnosticism. If the evangelical church keeps going in the direction it's going, before long, there won't be an evangelical church. It will just be the liberal church. And by that time, the liberal church will have completely ceased to exist. And those who are now evangelicals will have simply taken their place. Because decades ago, I mean, you can look at history. Decades ago, the liberal church gave up on Sola Scriptura. Oh, you know, the word of God's not really, you know, that's not what it is. And they had all kinds of ways of massaging that to try to make it sound better. Oh, the word of God becomes the word of God to you. That was neo-orthodoxy. But then, you know, even that's difficult because some of the words are just too plain to get around, right? And so they gave up on it altogether. And now they're awash in agnostic insanity. A few weeks ago, at Union Theological Seminary, in their chapel service, they gathered together and confessed their sin to plants. Lance. And you know, they admit, you know, they admitted we're developing a new theology here. You know what new theology is? Heresy. There's a faith once for all delivered to the saints. That's what the Word of God says. His Word stands sure, it never changes. But they said, no, we're developing a new theology, a new liturgy to heal and sow, replacing the old authority and the old liturgy of reaping and destroying. Well, look again at how they cast that aspersion, that the old liturgy which was biblical is Destroying? No, it's not. It's life-giving. This is the lie of the enemy, again, twisting. And so they resorted to worshiping creation instead of the Creator. A church in New York now is proud of the fact that they attract atheists and Muslims in the same numbers as those who claim that they're actually Christians. And I would think that would be a wonderful thing if they were attracting them by preaching the gospel. But that's not what they're doing. They're attracting them by forsaking the gospel in order for a political and ecological message. All of their messages, all their services are around ecology and how to save the planet and on political matters of a liberal nature. And in the United Church of Canada, there is now a pastor, has been for over two decades, who is a professed atheist, and the church can't get rid of that pastor. Because that would be wrong. We're to be all inclusive. You think of the absurdity of that, a pastor who doesn't even believe in God. Folks, once you abandon Sola Scriptura, you will wander away. There is no question about it. You aren't smart. You aren't astute. You aren't clever. You're none of those things. And without the word of God to guide you, without the word of God to guide me, we will wander away like sheep going astray, as the scripture says. Again, the scripture is the ultimate authority, the final word in all matters of faith and practice, and the principle of sola scriptura as it liberated the Christians in the 16th century, it will liberate us today. We've got to get back to the word of God. Listen, Christianity didn't give birth to the scriptures. The scriptures gave birth to us, to the church. And so, if you say you believe in Christianity, you believe in Scripture, I've given you a quote, and I believe that the terms Christianity and Scripture, in this case then, are interchangeable. Let me give you the quote from C.S. Lewis. I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun is risen, not only because I see it, but because by it, I see everything else. Well, now let's look at where Christianity comes from, the scripture, and let's insert that. I believe in scripture as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it, I see everything else. It is only by the scripture that we will see clearly and that we will understand and that we will know that God is God and he is gracious and he is good and he has called us unto himself for salvation and for his glory and to our Lord be all glory forever and ever. Amen.