So you have turned, you may have put your Bible down, but if you want to pick it back up, you can turn back to the book of Revelation chapter 3. Revelation chapter 3, as we point out again these words of Christ, the Risen Redeemer. Revelation 3, 19, those whom I love. I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him and he with me." Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for this beautiful Lord's Day, this opportunity to start the week out in worship and praise and thanksgiving to you, our God. Lord Jesus, our Savior, Holy Spirit, our Comforter, we pray to you this morning and ask you for help We come to the throne of grace to pour out our hearts and to pray that you would work in us. The power of your spirit would work upon our minds, work upon our hearts, work upon our souls, the work that we need. That through your word, by the power of your spirit, you would bring each one of us to an individual reform, renewal, repentance, whatever it is that we need before you today. And that as a church, oh God, we would consider our doctrines, consider our practices in light of the infallible, inspired, inerrant word of God. To this end, we pray for your glory and for our good, and for the good of future generations, we pray by faith in Jesus' name. And amen. Amen. It's interesting to see that the Lord Jesus Christ said those very familiar words. I could almost guarantee that each one of you, when I read those words of verse 20, recognize that phrase, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. But how many of you would think about those words in their proper context? To understand that these are words of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of saints, who is talking to His churches, He is talking to His people, And He is calling them to reform. He is calling them to consider their ways, calling them to consider their doctrines and their practices in their churches, and of course, churches are made up of individuals. And so, although we can think about the concept of Jesus standing outside the door of a lost person's heart and knocking upon the door through the preaching of the gospel, to call them to repent and believe on Jesus, and therein they would have communion with God. And that is a true biblical concept. But this context is a context where Jesus is knocking upon the hearts of His redeemed people. This is in the context of the lessons and the words to the seven churches in that first century context. And so Jesus says, those whom I love, I reprove, I discipline, and so I'm calling you to be passionate, to repent, I want you to know that there's communion with God that you can have, deeper communion, sweeter communion, but you need to listen to the voice of Christ. You need to listen to the voice of the Redeemer who has been instructing them, and in His Word even today, instructing us. how we are to live as Christians, how we are to believe as Christian churches, and how we are to worship in spirit and in truth. The idea of Reformation, the concept, is really as old as the Garden of Eden. As soon as Adam and Eve began to practice a way of life, and a way of worship that departed from faithful obedience and submission to the Word of God, they needed reform. The moment that they sinned, the moment that they turned away from, thus saith the Word of the Lord, to their own way, to the way of Satan, the deceiver, they immediately needed a reformation. They needed to reform their thinking. They had entertained thoughts about God that was not true. They began to think, possibly, that God, who created them and gave them life and placed them in this beautiful garden, was maybe withholding something from them. Not being totally truthful as Satan would introduce those concepts about God, doubt about God into their thinking. They needed reform in their living according to the Word of God. Because our thinking and our living always go hand in hand. Our theology gives rise to our practice. Nelson's new illustrated Bible dictionary defines Reformation as an improvement by change or correction. Certainly you can hear that definition in the words of Jesus when he gives the various corrections to the churches in the book of Revelation. The concept of Reformation is the process of bringing religious practices and beliefs back into line with the Word of God. And if there is a day in which this needs to happen, it is today. To bring religious practices and beliefs back into line with the Word of God. Joe Beeke and Paul Smalley in their book Essentials of Reformed Systematic Theology write, we can speak of the Reformation of the Church, or when we speak of the Reformation of the Church, we mean its restoration to conformity to the standard of God's Word. That's what they mean. That's what we mean when we talk about the Protestant Reformation and what happened in that historical context. John Calvin, a second-generation Reformer, said that the Reformation arose because the church had become seriously ill. Ill in matters central to true Christianity. What it means to really be a Christian had become obscured by the thoughts and the teachings and the traditions of man. And the gospel of Jesus Christ and what it is to be a Christian, to become a Christian, and to live a Christian life was all but lost. Calvin says the church had become sick, become ill in its soul. that is, in its doctrine concerning the worship of God and the salvation of sinners, but not only in its soul but in its body as well. If the soul, he's referring to doctrines, what we believe, the body is what we live. and our practices. He says that the church had become sick in its soul, the doctrines concerning the worship of God and the salvation of sinners, as well as its body, the sacraments, and the form of church government. The very practice of baptism and the Lord's Supper, the very structure of the church and how Christians are to be formed and organized according to the rule of Christ, had been lost. The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery talking about reform says this, to reform means to reconstitute the life of an individual, so I want you to think about that, What is it in your life that the Lord Jesus Christ, if He were standing here instead of me, and you could see Him and hear His voice, would He say to you as an individual disciple? To reform means to reconstitute the life of an individual or a nation, or I would say, this is me, a church. and bring it into line with the moral or spiritual standard. In the Bible, stories of reform involve a return to an earlier standard from which individuals or nations, in the case of Israel, had drifted. Such reform is implicitly accompanied by repentance. That's the reason that in Revelation 3, Jesus says that they are to be zealous to do what? I didn't hear you, to repent. Because at the very heart of what it is to reform is to return back to that standard that has been established in the Word of God, and that is a call for repentance, whether it's in the individual life or whether it's in the life of a church. You see, because, beloved, of remaining corruption in churches and within individual disciples, there's always going to be the temptation to drift from faithfulness to the Word of God, to be distracted by other voices outside of the Word of God, and even the possibility of being deceived. Did you know that? That's one of the scariest things, I think, in the whole Bible. That a person can be deceived, and so they think that they are right with God when they're not. And they think that them and their church are practicing faithful Christianity, and they're not. And that's the reason that we have many of the letters and the instructions of the New Testament scriptures, including these pointed words from Jesus. in the book of Revelation. Turning to the Scriptures, we find story after story of the covenant people of God needing reformation because of this drift away from the Word of God and toward idolatry. One story stands out, I think, in the Old Testament among the nation of Israel needing reformation is found in the book of 2 Kings 22 and 23. So you can go back and read that, but many of you are going to be familiar with 2 Kings 22 and 23. In this historical record, we find the Reformation that took place under the reign of King Josiah. Under Josiah's leadership, the house of God was cleansed and renovated. And during the process of this renovation and cleansing, they actually found a copy of the Word of God that had been shuffled to the side and lost. Can you imagine it? The Word of God! The very instructions for the king of the nation of Israel, for the priest who would serve as the leadership of the religious activity and the worship of Yahweh in that old covenant structure, and for all of the people of God to walk in covenant-keeping faithfulness to their God who had redeemed them with an outstretched arm, they had lost it. They had lost it. This is how it happens, isn't it? The Word of God is diminished. We begin to be distracted by other things, other voices, other ideas. And after it's diminished, it becomes disregarded. We begin to slip, as it were, down this slippery slope, disregarding things in the scriptures that we don't particularly understand. We may not particularly like the way it sounds. We begin to evaluate the things that we really think are worth our attention and practice, and other things become indifferent. And finally, on this slope, the Word of God is discarded altogether. And that's exactly what had happened in the nation of Israel in 2 Kings. So King Josiah, after reading the Word of God, realized just how far they had drifted from faithfulness as a nation. Their worship of God, their commitment to God's Word, needed serious reform. And I mean serious reform. As a matter of fact, let's read a few of the words here. 2 Kings 22, verse 11. 2 Kings 22, verse 11. When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes. This is an act of mourning. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahiakum the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah. and Chaffeth the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying, Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for old Judah concerning the words of this book that have been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, the word of God, to do according to all that is written concerning us. Jump down, if you will, to verse 15. They go to the prophet of the Lord, the prophetess, actually, and she says to them, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, tell the man who sent you to me. This is verse 16, chapter 22. Thus says the Lord, behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants. All the words of the book that the king of Judah has read, because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands. Therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord of Yahweh, thus you shall say to him, thus says the Lord. the God of Israel, regarding the words that you have heard, because your heart was penitent." He repented. He humbled himself. And you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me. I also have heard you, declares the Lord. Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace. And your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place." And so even though the book was found, and even though the king returned to the contents of the book, the wheels of the wrath of God were already turning. The people of God had so abandoned, diminished, and dismissed, and disregarded, and then discarded the Word of God that this judgment was inevitable. It did not stop the king who had been humbled before the word of the Lord, and so he renewed the covenant with the people, if you go on and read, to keep faithfully the worship of God according to the word of God. That is what reform is. To return in the worship of God according to the Word of God, to keep faithfully the worship of God according to the divine Word of God. Look at 2 Kings 23, beginning in verse 1. 23, 1. Then the king sent And all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him. So he gathers the rulers and the leaders. And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him all the men of Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the prophets, and the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found at the house of the Lord. And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the people. He renewed the covenant with the people. to walk after the Lord and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all His heart and all His soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant. And so, beloved, this is what we see over and over throughout the history of the people of God. Today, many, many of the mainline denominations that once held to the true gospel have abandoned it. They have turned away from the Word of God and redefined the gospel according to their own ideas and created their own traditions. And the prophets had often called the people of God to repent and return to God from their heart, to reject their false worship and return to the true worship of God that is in alignment with the Word of God. In the New Testament, we find the need among the churches for ongoing reformation, for the churches to return to the instructions and the doctrines given by Christ through the apostles. that are now contained for us in the New Testament Scriptures. But why were they written? Think about all of the New Testament letters that the Apostle Paul wrote, thirteen of them. Think about what Peter writes about and John wrote about when he was writing to the churches and what James was writing about, the writer to the book of Hebrews. They were writing to the churches and they were saying to them that some of the things that you are believing and some of the ways that you are trying to worship God according to the new covenant are wrong. And you need to return back to those instructions given by Christ through the apostles. And so you find the New Testament letters full of these kinds of exhortations calling the people of God and warning them if they do not return to the Word of God. The title of our message today, that Latin phrase associated with the Protestant Reformation, Semper Reformanda, always being reformed, it actually comes from a little bit larger statement that was made which means that the church is reformed and always being reformed according to the word of God. So I'm not gonna quote the Latin there, but that's where that little phrase is lifted out of, and it's used more often than the larger phrase. But the church is reformed and always being reformed, semper reformanda, according to the word of God. And one of the things that we have to understand about the Protestant Reformation is that it was not a Reformation that would move the church into alignment with the culture that it happened among, but to the ongoing reform of the church according to the authoritative instructions of God's Word. In other words, the Reformers were not looking at the ideas and the doctrines and the practices of the church in their day and looking at the culture at large and saying, we need to conform ourselves more to this culture. No, they were saying, we need to return back to the worship of God according to the teachings of God and the practices of the church given to us from the apostles that we have contained in the New Testament scriptures. Think about what Rodney read for us a little bit earlier from Galatians chapter 1 beginning in verse 6. Galatians chapter 1 verse 6, Paul says, I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and returning to a different gospel. These churches had begun to entertain ideas and teachings that were not in alignment with the word of God. And it was teaching that was central to the gospel of Jesus Christ, which by the way, is central to your salvation. So that's what is at stake. He says in verse 7, not that there is another one, there is no other gospel, good news from God. But there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. So there were in those days, and there always have been and always will be until glory, people who are enemies of Christ, enemies of the church, and enemies of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And they will always seek to have a hearing, not just outside in the public square, but inside the churches. That's where they want to be heard. Or consider 1 Timothy 1. 1 Timothy 1, verses 3 and 4, as Paul writes to Timothy concerning the church in Ephesus, one of the seven churches that Jesus addresses in Revelation. 1 Timothy 1.3, As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus, so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine. nor to devote themselves to myths, these fanciful stories that are not based upon the objective deposit of truth in God's Word. They were stories that had arisen around, many times, the Old Testament Scriptures, but they were not substantiated by those Scriptures. They were myths. and endless genealogies, which promote speculations, rather than the stewardship from God, that is by faith, rather than holding to, by faith, in faithfulness to that objective deposit of truth. The gospel that Jude talks about that was once for all delivered to the saints, holding to that in faith and faithfulness to God. And so the ongoing work, it is an ongoing work, Semper Referendum, the ongoing work of the Reformation, what does it include? Let me suggest to you that it includes the removal of man-made teachings and practices. Now we've already touched on this a little bit, but I wanna camp out there for just a moment. It includes the removal of man-made teachings and practices. Philip Schaff and David Schaff, in their book, The History of the Christian Church, gives this summary of the Protestant Reformation. First of all, the Reformation, they say, removed the obstructions which the papal church, the pope, the church led by the pope, had interposed between Christ and the believer. It opened the door, the Reformation opened the door to direct union with Him, with Christ, as the only mediator between God and man, and made His gospel accessible to every reader without the permission of a priest. That's what happened. the removal of the obstruction of the priesthood, the clerical priesthood, and the papacy that had been inserted between the individual believer and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a privilege of the new covenant people of God that many today seem to have taken for granted, or they take that idea to places and concepts that are not in alignment with the Word of God. But how precious, how wonderful to have direct access to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans chapter 5 verse 1. Romans chapter five verse one, therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him, listen, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. We have access. to God through Christ Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 18 for through Christ we both have access in one spirit to the Father whether you're a ethnic Jew or a non-ethnic people group doesn't matter we both have access Ephesians 2 18 we for through Christ we both have access in one spirit to the Father Ephesians chapter 3 verses 11 and 12, this was according to the eternal purpose that He has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in Him. We have access to the throne of grace. No book in the Bible tells this and teaches this more clearly than the book of Hebrews, right? Hebrews chapter 4 verse 16. The writer of the book of Hebrews chapter 4 verse 16, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. He's not talking about going to a confessional booth. He's talking about you as a follower, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, going directly to the throne of grace in prayer by faith on the basis of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews chapter 10 verses 19 to 22, Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and the living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near, let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." The Reformation was all about direct access to God. This is about the priesthood of all and every believer. that we find in the New Testament Scriptures. The Apostle Peter, for example, writes in 1 Peter that we are a holy nation, a peculiar people. We are those who are called out of darkness so that we might offer up spiritual sacrifices made acceptable through Jesus Christ. But secondly, not only is the Reformation the removal of those obstructions of man-made ideas and doctrines and practices, but the Reformation was a return to first principles, to first principles. And for this I want you to turn back to Revelation chapter 2, because this is exactly what Jesus Christ says to the church in Ephesus. Return to the first principles of Christianity, Revelation 2, 1-7. Revelation 2, 1, the angel of the church to the angel of the church in Ephesus write the words of him, so here you get to see a little bit of that, what I was talking about earlier. It's going to pick one of those pieces of imagery of the resurrected, glorified Christ. Listen to what he says. The words of the one who holds the seven stars, so in his vision he saw the Lord Jesus Christ holding the seven stars in his right hand. Each one of these churches gets a little piece of this as a preface for the instructions. The words of the one who holds the seven stars, who holds those messengers. TO THOSE CHURCHES IN HIS RIGHT HAND, WHO WALKS AMONG THE SEVEN GOLDEN CANDLESTICKS OR LAMPSTANDS, THE ONE WHO IS WALKING AMONG THE CHURCHES, THE ONE WHO IS EXERCISING HIS POWER AND AUTHORITY IN THE CONTEXT OF HIS CHURCHES. VERSE 2, I KNOW YOUR WORKS, YOUR TOIL AND YOUR PATIENT ENDURANCE, SO HE'S COMMENDING THEM HERE, AND HOW YOU CANNOT BEAR WITH THOSE WHO ARE EVIL. but have tested those," this is great, you're being Bereans, you've tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary, can you say that? But, verse four, I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love, you had at first. The first love, the principles that you had at first, love for God, love for Christ, love for the brotherhood in the church. Verse 5, remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. At first, their hearts were inflamed with the gospel of Jesus Christ. At first, they could not shake the joy that they had as those who had been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, who had been received in mercy and grace by a holy God through Jesus Christ. And they were living and acting and worshiping from a love, from a love of God and a love of Jesus Christ. And then some of the words that, again, to me, are some of the most sobering and fearful words in the Bible. If not, verse five, if you don't repent, if you don't return, if you don't reform, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent. The sign out front, on the front of your bulletin that says, we are this Christian church, is not going to change. But the light and the heat that is the power and the authority of King Jesus is not there. You don't have a lampstand. Call yourselves Call the places what you want. Without Jesus working, walking, communing in power among those who profess to be His disciples, it's not a church. It's not a church. He goes on in verse 6 to kind of commend them again. He says, yet this you have, you hate the work of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. See, love the things that God loves, hate the things that God hates. Verse 7, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will grant to eat of the tree of life more imagery, which is in the paradise. of God. The Reformation removed the obstructions that had been placed between each individual disciple and Christ directly. The Reformation was a return to the first principles and the first love of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And thirdly, the Reformation was a revival of primitive Christianity. A revival of primitive Christianity. And this is so striking to me that in the first century, this was already necessary. I mean, I could understand it if you had Pastor Kevin, but if you have the apostles there, I mean, what kind of remaining corruption do you and I actually have to deal with every day in our hearts, in our being? If having the apostles there on the Lord's day and every time you gather the church, you have the apostles who heard directly from Christ and were anointed and given authority by Christ himself to establish Christian doctrine and establish Christian practice. If they could drift, a marvel. 1 Timothy chapter four. First Timothy chapter 4, listen to what Paul writes to Timothy about this same church in Ephesus. First Timothy 4.1. Now the Spirit, the Holy Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons. through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared. It's a spiritual warfare. And there's a lot of people, and you may be one of them, you don't know who you're listening to. These people, Paul says, The Holy Spirit has revealed that they're going to depart from the faith and devote themselves to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons. Turn over to II Timothy chapter 3. I'm going to read a large portion of this because I want you to see how the Reformation is always needed. Even in the first century, Paul warned the church at Ephesus. Jesus warned the church at Ephesus in Revelation there in chapter three. And here we find Timothy in this church, 2 Timothy 3.1, but understand this, that in the last days, there will come times of difficulty, for people will be lovers of self. I wonder if that's true today. Lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit. Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Having the appearance of godliness. The name is on the church door. They profess to be Christian. But, he says, they only have the appearance of godliness, but denying its what? Its power. avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins, and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at the knowledge of the truth." They learn and they learn and they learn, and they listen and they read, and they never come to the truth. Just as Janus and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men will oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind, disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all as was that of those two men. You, however, notice here the transition, the false teachers and the voices outside of the Bible, outside of the apostolic Tradition, if you want to call it that, outside of the apostolic deposit of truth in the Word of God. You, however, have followed my teaching, the Apostle Paul, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love and steadfastness. MY PERSECUTIONS AND SUFFERINGS THAT HAPPENED TO ME AT ANTIOCH, AT ICONIUM, AT LYSTRA, WHICH PERSECUTIONS I ENDURED, YET FROM THEM ALL THE LORD RESCUED ME. INDEED, ALL WHO DESIRE TO LIVE A GODLY LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS WILL BE PERSECUTED, WHILE EVIL PEOPLE AND IMPOSTERS WILL GO ON FROM BAD TO WORSE, DECEIVING AND BEING DECEIVED. THEY WILL GO ON DOING THIS. Our beloved, we would have to be extremely naive if we were to believe today that this is not happening among professing Christians in this world. And if we can agree that it is happening, then we have to consider to what degree is it happening and how bad is it? We'll come back to that. because they're going to go on deceiving and being deceived. Verse 14, But as for you, continue in what you have learned, and firmly believe, knowing from whom you learned it. and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, that's the Old Testament Scriptures, that's the Word of God, the Book, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. And then he says, all Scripture is breathed, is inspired by God, and is profitable for teaching. for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Chapter 4, verse 1, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who has judged the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom, preach the word. be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. I owe to God that every Christian today around this world, including every one of you, would ask the question in your heart before God while you are looking at this book, does my life and the life of my church align with the Word of God? Oh to God, that every person who names the name of Christ would ask that question. I have to briefly come to an end, so some of the things that I would be tempted to draw out in these next few moments, I'm just going to have to give you in quick summary. In summary, thinking about the fundamental principles of the Protestant Reformation and some of those principles that I do believe still apply because they come from the word of God, let me give you three. Number one, the supremacy of the scriptures over traditions. The supremacy of scripture over traditions. Beloved, every church, every Christian should ask the question, the traditions of my church, where do they come from? And if you can't answer that with book, chapter, and verse, you've got a problem. Secondly, the supremacy of faith over works. When it comes to salvation, this is absolutely crucial. Because if you believe that faith is inferior to works, and therefore works is superior and more significant in your salvation, your works, then you are damned. you are damned. Because no person, according to the word of God, as we have learned in all of these Reformation sermons, and all of these biblical passages that we've looked at, no one will be justified in the sight of God by the works of the law. The supremacy of faith over works. And faith is how you live the Christian life, it's how you get Righteousness, the righteousness of God, Romans chapter three. And it's how you continue to live the Christian life, looking away from yourself to Jesus Christ for the power to obey. And thirdly, the supremacy of the Christian people over an exclusive clerical priesthood. the supremacy of the Christian people, the church, and I would say as a Baptist, the local church, over an exclusive clerical priesthood. And we've already talked about that, so I'll leave you with that. Now, let's finally hasten to this final thing. What should we do? What should we recover? What should we think about recovering? What should we think about returning to and reforming? Because I do believe that it's accurate to say that God's people in every generation need to review their beliefs and practices according to the word of God. And again, this is gonna be like blazing. First, we need to consider our prayer life. We need to consider our prayer life. It may not be the most fancy, flashy thing that you can put on your church sign, but I assure you that at the heart of true Christianity is a man or a woman of prayer. And the churches today need to consider their churches' prayer lines. Second, we need to recover the constant cultivation of heart devotion in our walk with God. Heart devotion in our walk with God and His church. Joel Beakey in that little summary It's not very small, but in his book there was small, he says, an external form of religion, this is exactly what was going on before the Protestant Reformation, and it's happening all over today. An external form of religion can replace the power of a living faith. Just going through the motions, just sitting through the services, Checking your watch. Reformation is the recovery of the constant cultivation of heart devotion in our walk with God and His church. Oh, maybe I ought to come back next week. I don't know. I wasn't planning on doing that. Number three. We should renew our commitment to God and his word. We should renew our commitment to God and his word. And number four, we should renew our dependence upon God, the Holy Spirit. So maybe we will come back, I'll pray about that. And unpack those a little bit. Let's pray. To renew our dependency upon the Holy Spirit. Programs can be good. Personalities can be something God uses. He does. But the power is always God, the Holy Spirit, if there is any eternal spiritual work being done. That's what we need. Gotta have it. Let's pray.