Well, today is Reformation Sunday. That's the third time you've heard that, third time I've said it, but I was thinking about what we could preach on Reformation Sunday, the message to bring on Reformation Sunday. And you know, I was saddened to think about the events of the past week. Maybe you're wondering, well, what are you talking about? Well, during the past week, The relics of a Roman Catholic saint have toured around Ireland. On Thursday past, they were brought to St. Peter's Cathedral in Belfast. I'm speaking about the relics of St. Anthony of Padua, as he's known. And I just was reading and looking at pictures yesterday on the internet of Roman Catholic churches in Cork and in other places. And precious souls queued outside the churches in the rain. And I mean queued away back, long queues. And you know why they were queued there? To go inside the chapel to go to what's known as a reliquary at the front, a little golden container that contained a piece of skin of Saint Anthony and a piece of his rib bone. It's inside this little container. And you know what they would do? When they walked up beside it, after having queued, I don't know, maybe for, Ours that walk up along file and single queue and walk up to St. Anthony's relics and do this, kiss the container." I was so sad. You know, friends, those people are lost. They're perishing. I know today that you'll not find many Protestant ministers speaking out against it. You'll not hear many Protestant church leaders today speak out against this. The silence is deafening. But those souls are perishing because they're breaking the second commandment which says, thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor worship them, for I the Lord thy God am the Lord of heaven and earth." And I was so sad. I found it so disturbing when I saw those pictures, when I realized what was happening. Maybe you've read about it, you've heard it on the news the past week. I was encouraged speaking to Keith yesterday. Keith Shields, just checking with him that he's coming tonight and giving him directions to the church. I was so encouraged when he said about going to the church in Dungannon, our sister congregation in Dungannon. He said he went there one night to testify. And in that service, there was a dear Roman Catholic man was saved. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't your heart stirred when you hear that? Oh, my heart jumped for joy when I heard that. You know, I pray tonight, whenever our brother comes to this church to testify, that there'll be a Roman Catholic soul saved. I tell you, friends, honestly, I would go out those doors, I would go home walking on air. But how sad it is that so many Roman Catholics today, they're in darkness, And, you know, they're doing what we've read about today in Exodus 32, that Aaron and the Israelites, as they waited for Moses to come back down from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments, they made the image, and they started to worship the image. You know, we read today in 2 Kings 18, later on in the history of Israel, how the people bowed down to the brazen serpent. You know, the time came when that brazen servant, that's a picture of Christ lifted up on Calvary's cross for you and for me, the time came whenever the people of Israel began to venerate it and worship it and fall down before it. And Hezekiah came along, bless the Lord, praise the Lord, a reformer came along. And he said, enough of it, away with it. And he broke it down and he broke it in pieces and the Bible tells us he ground it to powder. And then he said, it's only nahushtan. You know what that word nahushtan literally means? A bronze thing, the bronze thing. You're worshiping a bronze thing. Away with it, it's only an idol. Does your heart not go out to Roman Catholic people? When you see them going to worship, you say, what is it? It's just a piece of cheek skin from this Saint Anthony. It's just supposedly a little bone that's been preserved from one of his ribs. I mean, friends, is the darkness not great? Is it not true what the prophet Isaiah said? Darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people. Now, don't misunderstand me today. I'm not just saying that Roman Catholics are the only people who are guilty of idolatry. I tell you, there's other religions today that are guilty of idolatry. You take the Buddhists, the Hindus, they're full of idols and relics. But sure, what about Protestants today? Are there not Protestants in new buildings that are idolaters? Let me mention some idols that Protestants worship today. They worship the box. You've heard me say that. You know the box in the corner of the living room? It's on a Sunday morning, of course, glued to the television. Sunday evening. It's during the week as well. I know that thing, it might be a 56-inch plasma screen or whatever it is, but it's just an idol. And sure, that screen in the corner, it's every bit as bad as the poor Roman Catholics in Cork Cathedral or St. Peter's Cathedral bowing down before the relics of St. Anthony. I tell you, those Protestants who do that, they're just as guilty of idolatry as the dear Roman Catholics. They worship the box. Oh, but then there's Protestants today and they worship the bottle. Boy, they think satisfaction's found at the bottom of a bottle. Last night, and Friday night, and probably tonight, and maybe every night of the week, and sure, you don't even have to go out of the house nowadays to get drunk. You just go to the cellar down the street there, the off license, you just fill your blue bag and bring it home, and just bow down before the bottle, and just kiss the old bottle of the booze. and worship it every day, all day. It was good to hear young Andrew Stewart a few weeks ago talk about how whenever he put the alcohol on his lips, he couldn't physically swallow it. There was a reflux. All I can say is, Lord, do it for more people. Deliver them from drunkenness. Help them, Lord, to drink from the wells of salvation. Oh Lord, help them to taste the water of life that Christ wants to give to them, and they can take of it freely. Tell me, have you ever drunk from the wells of salvation? Leave the alcohol. Forget about it. If you've got it at home, you go home today, you pour it down the sink. I remember a few years ago, going to the home of a young man. And it was a great day. That was one of the best visits I've ever had. You know why? Because he said to me, take that bottle there, pour it down the sink for me. I did that. I would like to do that more often, but you know, I don't have to do it for you. You can just go home and do it yourself. There's people that'll worship the box, the bottle. Oh, there's people who worship the ball. There's Protestants today. Now, they mightn't go into a chapel and they mightn't fall down before a box of relics, but they'll worship the ball today. What do I mean? Well, the football, or the golf ball, or the cricket ball, or the rugby ball, or whatever. Sport is their God. What about the belly? Oh, there's Protestants and all they think about is their belly. Food, food, food. Bread of life. Taste and see if the Lord is good. Oh, wise up. They have no time for the bread of life. They have no time for spiritual food. Oh, it's just the belly, the physical that they want to satisfy. They're idolaters and they need to be saved just as much as the Roman Catholics. You know the good news is that on this Reformation Sunday, Protestants and Roman Catholics can be saved. You can come to know the Savior that Martin Luther came to know all those years ago. Whenever Martin Luther discovered that just shall live by faith, whenever he discovered that you don't have to try to earn God's salvation, you just trust in what Christ has already done and you'll be saved. You believe in Christ and God says you're righteous. He declares you righteous. He says you're perfect now. I see you in Christ. You're redeemed now. You're my child now. Live for me because you're saved. I was just thinking this morning about the relics that have been carried all over Ireland this week. You know, those relics of St. Anthony, they're not the only relics in the Roman Catholic Church today. The Roman Catholic Church is full of relics. I hear people say that the Roman Church has changed, not a bit of it. They're no better than they were in Martin Luther's day. In fact, they'll say something, they're probably worse. It's only that people are gullible today and people don't read their Bibles and they're duped, they're taken in. There was one old preacher, he said that a Bible reading people will never be deceived. The problem is today the Protestants don't read their Bibles. They don't come to the house of God to hear the word preached. So, you know, whenever the relics of St. Anthony or whatever other saint are brought in a hearse around Ireland or wherever, you know, they just say, oh, isn't that nice? That's nice and religious. Look at those good Christians. Oh, they're faithful, they're devout, but some Protestants, they're as dark as can be. They just don't see that it's wrong, that it's idolatry. You know, I was thinking about the relics. You know you can go to Roman Catholic chapels in the world today and supposedly venerate the hay from the manger in Bethlehem. There's chapels that claim to have some of the hay that Jesus was led in in Bethlehem. You can go and you can see the stones that were used to murder Stephen, the first Christian martyr. There's the tale of Balaam's donkey. The ashes from the burning bush, apparently in Italy today, there's a cathedral you can go to and you can worship the ashes from the burning bush. Now, have you your thinking cap on? There are no ashes. For the bush didn't burn up, it wasn't consumed. That's a good trick, isn't it? The Roman Catholic Church is full of tricks and frauds. You can worship St. Edmund's toenails. You can worship St. Elizabeth's leg bone. Her leg bone was brought through Armagh just a few years ago. Just a few years ago, the whole town came to a standstill and people got out of work and they were standing out to venerate, to worship this hearse that was going by with the leg bone of St. Elizabeth from France. So sad. No wonder, friends, we get worked up. Maybe you're saying, what are you getting worked up about? Well, I tell you why I'm getting worked up today, because souls are perishing, and those Roman Catholics in Armagh or wherever, they're going down into the pit of hell today, and it's so frustrating, and it's so sad. I wonder, are you sad? Maybe you're not sad. Maybe it doesn't mean the least to you. You couldn't care less about what we're saying today. Oh, how sad that you don't feel any compassion, sadness, sorrow for these people. You know, you can go to the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Drogheda today, and you'll see the head of St. Oliver Plunkett. You know, whenever the Pope, Pope John Paul, visited Ireland in 1979, you know what he did? He went to Drogheda to the cathedral. He brought out the head of Oliver Plunkett and he raised it up to the crowd and they all worshipped it. The head of a dead man from the 1600s. You see, we're not speaking today about things from away in the dim, distant past, the Middle Ages. No, this is right up to date. You know what I find so sad today? There are Protestant clergymen who are worshiping with Rome. Just a few weeks ago, on Thought for the Day, on Good Morning Ulster, There was a Presbyterian minister, a Reverend Liz Hughes from White House Presbyterian Church in Belfast. And she boasted about how she had been to Mass two weeks in a row. Listen, I'm not going to misquote her. I'm going to quote what she actually said. Listen to this. This is actually what she said. She said, I've been to Mass two weeks in a row. You should be impressed. Then she went on to boast about the fact that she had gone to St. Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh and had been there for the Mass as well. Now, let me just make it clear. I am not saying today that the Presbyterian Church is wrong. Don't you go from this service today and say, oh, our pastor was criticizing the Presbyterian church and was just tarring them all with the one brush. I'm not doing that today. Thank God for Presbyterian ministers who are faithful to the gospel. I know of them. We have had one in our church. I think of other Presbyterian ministers, I could mention them to you today. I'm friendly with them. I thank God for them. I can have fellowship with them because they have nothing to do with Rome or idolatry or worshiping relics. But I want to say today it's so sad that there are those within its ranks, the ranks of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, who are quite prepared to join in with the mass to praise the priests of Rome who offer Christ afresh and trample on his precious blood. You know, Martin Luther had to deal with relics as well. I want to finish off, time has gone. In Luther's day, Luther spoke out against the worship of relics. You remember that on the 31st of October, 1517, that the great reformer nailed the 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg. Those 95 theses, they were just complaints, protests against the Church of Rome and the errors of the Church of Rome. Do you know that in that very church in Wittenberg, the castle church, that it was full of relics? If you want to read about them, ask me for this list after the service. There you go, an A4 page full of the relics. Thank God in 2013 in New Buildings Independent Methodist Church, we don't worship any relic, Saint Anthony or any other relic. Thank God we worship a risen Savior. By the way, you'll not find a relic of Christ on earth. You'll not find the bones of Jesus on earth because he has ascended to heaven. And he ever liveth to make intercession for us. And he wants to set you free today, because you're just as lost as the dear Roman Catholic. And if you don't trust Christ, you'll be in the same hell as the Roman Catholic. Oh, these are sad things, but we must be faithful to the Lord. How could you possibly be faithful to the Lord and not preach against these things? I mean, I'm amazed. I often, I just marvel at it. How is it that there are men in pulpits today and they think that they're being faithful to the Lord, but never once will they say anything against these things, against the Roman Catholic Church or against other religions that are full of idolatry and relics? Oh, friends, we have to speak out against these things. The reason we do it is not to offend or to hurt anyone. The reason we do it is because we love souls and we want to see them brought out of darkness and into the marvelous light of the gospel of Christ. Are you in the light today? Well, if you're still in darkness, there will be no better day for you to be saved than Reformation Sunday. You wouldn't forget that day, would you? Oh, come to the Savior, make no delay. Here in His word, He has shown us the way. We'll turn to verse 472. It's 472. We're not gonna sing verses three and four, but just the first two verses. Reformation Sunday wouldn't be complete without singing this hymn. A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing, our helper he amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing. Verses one and two only please and let us stand to sing hymn number 472. Let's sing our very best. A mighty fortress is our God A bulwark never failing Our helper He amid the flood For still our ancient foe, God seemed to work us whole. Your fish don't taste me well. Jesus is Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave Let us pray. Our gracious God, we thank Thee for the Lord Sabaoth's Son. How we thank Thee for our precious Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank You, Lord, that He is waiting to save the whosoever will today. And we ask, O Lord, that precious souls this morning would run to Christ and would trust in him alone for salvation. Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with us until we meet again, for we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.