All right, I want you to take God's Word again, if you would please, and let's turn to the book of Romans this time, Romans chapter 1. On this Reformation Sunday, we want to celebrate what has been our Protestant heritage for over 500 years. And today, my message will be entitled, Martin Luther and the Rediscovery of Sola Scriptura, that is scripture alone. And one of the key texts in the life of Martin Luther and one of the key passages, if not the passage of scripture for the salvation of this great German reformer, is Romans chapter 1, verses 16 and 17. So let's read these wonderful verses, and then we'll pray. For I'm not ashamed of the gospel, the good news, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. FOR IN IT, IN THE GOSPEL, IN THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST, FOR IN IT, THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IS REVEALED FROM FAITH FOR FAITH. AS IT IS WRITTEN, THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL LIVE BY FAITH. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for this beautiful passage of Scripture. that testifies, at least to us, the very place, the very message of salvation. In all of the world, there's one place, there's one message, there's one good news, that sinners can believe for the salvation of their souls. And that message concerns the Lord Jesus Christ and His substitutionary atonement, His death on the cross, His resurrection, which came at the climax of a perfect, obedient life, keeping all of your moral law, keeping all of the law that you gave to Israel as positive law, living a perfect life. and establishing a perfect righteousness that can be received as a free gift. Thank you, Almighty God, for such wonderful news. We pray today that we can rejoice in the rediscovery of that gospel in the sixteenth century. And we're thankful to know that you have always had a faithful few, the Master's minority, that maintained the faith once for all delivered to the saints. But as we look back over the ebb and flow of the history of redemption, and specifically thinking about the Church and our history, we know that times can get very dark. And so we thank you for Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. We thank you for those brothers and no doubt sisters who took up this gospel, justification by faith alone, in Christ alone, coming to us by grace alone, all founded upon Scripture alone, and all for your glory alone. Thank you for that. We pray as we think about the life and labor of Martin Luther, and think about your word, that you would rejoice our hearts, that you would strengthen us with conviction to stand as he did. upon Sola Scriptura. This we pray and ask in faith, in Jesus' name, Amen. For in it, verse 17, the righteousness of God, or the righteousness from God, is revealed for faith. as it is written, the righteous or the just shall live by faith. Or to say it another way, and I think the way that you need to hear it to hit you the way that we're going to see it hit this German monk so many years ago, the one who by faith is righteous shall live. The one who by faith is righteous shall live. This was the great discovery, rediscovery of this great man of God so many years ago. Let me take you through just a little trek through his early life and up to his professorship. Luther was born November the 10th, 1483. So you think about how long ago that was, 1483. He was born to a copper miner. According to one of his biographers, Heiko Obermann, there is hardly any authenticated information about the first 18 years of his life, which led him to the threshold of the University of Erfurt. His father wanted him to become a lawyer. And so we do know that he was well on his way to pursuing such a profession. In 1502, 19 years old, he received his bachelor's degree. 1505, he received his master of arts degree. And that summer, July 2nd, 1505, on his way home from law school, he was caught in a thunderstorm. Evidently, under the impulsive fear from a powerful flash of lightning that struck the ground, Luther, not having the comfort in his heart of the Gospel, cried out, Help me, Saint Anne, I will become a monk! And fifteen days later, he made good on his vow. July 17, 1505, he goes to the Augustinian monastery in Erfurt, and ASKED the prior to accept him into that order. Now, he would later say that this was a great sin, not worth a farthing, he said, because it was made against his father, first of all, and secondly, it was made out of fear. Then he added, but how much good the merciful Lord has allowed to come of it. And I think it is worth our moments here, and I think it will do us good to pause and to consider How often God, in His mercy and grace, His divine providence, works by His sovereign grace to overrule our bad decisions. And take a moment to thank Him for that divine providence, how God takes those decisions of our life that we regret and would take back if we only could, and understand that God alone is able to make those decisions, even those decisions, serve His sovereign and good purposes for His glory and for your good. And what that means for us this morning is that our bad decisions are not final in determining our fruitfulness and usefulness in God's Kingdom on this earth. God has the final say on that. And so we praise Him for His graciousness, His mercy, even in this bad decision. God would turn it and USE it later on to bring him to true faith in Jesus Christ. Twenty-one years of old now, he becomes this Augustinian monk, and it would be TWENTY MORE YEARS before he married Katharina von Bora, June 13, 1525. And that's another pause along the way to consider how long God took in this man's life to bring him to faith in Christ, and how long he struggled under the darkness of the Roman Catholic Church doctrine. The gospel of Jesus Christ, the brilliant light, the saving message of Jesus had all but been stamped out. COVERED UNDER THE WEIGHT OF TRADITION AND COUNCILS AND POPES, SO THAT IT COULD ONLY BE SEEN AS A FLICKER HERE AND THERE ACROSS THE LANDSCAPE OF THE WORLD. Easter, April the 3rd, is the probable date anyway, 1507. He was ordained to the priesthood, so He's ordained to the priesthood before He is regenerated. That does happen, especially in that kind of context, and unfortunately it sometimes even happens in evangelical churches where you have people serving in ministry that are not born again. Don't find it strange when that happens. It is not unheard of for someone to rise through the ranks, as it were, of church polity and structure and have all of the right words to say and outward conformity to lead someone to believe that they are a regenerate, when in fact they're not. So he's ordained to the priesthood in May of that same year. He celebrated His first Mass, and here's one of the places we get an indication of the kind of man that He really was. He recalls the event later stating that He was so overwhelmed that even the thought of the majesty of God caused Him to almost run away. Again, Heiko Obermann says that this kind of serious and God-fearing heart was common with Luther in those days as he struggled to discover the gospel. He could not understand how someone as sinful as he could be accepted in the sight of a holy God. How can he who has broken God's law, how can he who has so often went through the motions he knows in his heart without being truly right with God? because he didn't understand how a person could really be right with God, how a person could actually be accepted by God. Oberman says that a sense of the mysterium tremendum, the tremendous mystery of God's holiness, was to be characteristic of Luther throughout his life. It prevented pious routine from creeping into his relations with God, kept his Bible studies, prayers, and reading of the Mass from declining into a mechanical matter of course. In other words, he was very sincere. His ultimate concern in all of these, Oberman says, is the encounter with the living God. And of course, he struggles under the weight of that system of belief and practice and worship of God, because he never finds the peace within his soul and heart that he is actually right with God, and that God is pleased with him. Two years later, or for two years rather, he teaches philosophy, and in 1509, His superior, Johannes von Stoppitz, appoints Luther to teach the Bible. So at first, he's a philosophy professor, and now he is in the university a theology professor. Now this is going to be very significant toward his conversion, because he's reading Aristotle and teaching the students, and now he's reading the Bible. Now he's reading and studying and planning lectures on the Psalms. And as he does this, God is going to do a tremendous work in his life. Three years later, October 19, 1512, he's 28 years old. He receives his doctoral degree in theology and Stompitz, his superior, turns over to him the chair of biblical theology at the University of Wittenberg, which he holds for the rest of his life. That's what he is for the rest of his life, is a university professor. He's a theology professor at the University of Wittenberg. Now, I could go on, but time does not permit us today to talk about his preaching in the local churches. He was a powerful preacher. With that little bit of a sketch before us, I want to pause there, and I want to go over and think for just a moment, secondly, about the rediscovery of Sola Scriptura in the life of Martin Luther and in the Protestant Reformation. You see, nothing is more central to the Protestant Reformation and to the life and labor and fruitfulness of Martin Luther than the Holy Scriptures themselves. As a matter of fact, one of the places Luther is quoted that he didn't produce the Reformation at all, but he simply taught and read and preached the Word of God. And the Word of God was what caused the Reformation, and we agree with him this morning as we celebrate Sola Scriptura. Ron Miller in a recent sermon says this, and I quote, by scriptura in this phrase, sola scriptura, the scriptures alone, the Reformers meant the 66 inspired books of the Holy Scriptures. So for them, that's what sola scriptura meant. The term scriptura did not include the Apocrypha. or any of the other writings as it did for the Roman Church. The book we call the Bible, the Old and New Testaments, was the TOTAL SCRIPTURA for the Reformers." John Piper, in one of his statements on Luther, listen to this, this is a little lengthy, but it's worth it. One of the greatest rediscoveries of the Reformation, especially of Martin Luther, was that the Word of God comes to us in the form of a book. In other words, Luther grasped this powerful fact. God preserves the experience of salvation and holiness from generation to generation by means of a book of Revelation, not a bishop in Rome. That's going to become very important. Even today, Roman Catholicism holds as the highest court of appeals in terms of their doctrinal positions and interpretation of the Scriptures, the statements of the Pope and the councils gone before them. The traditions of the Church and the clergy determine what the meaning of Scripture is, and from THEM, the Book derives its authority. But here we see that this rediscovery, that God preserves the experience of salvation and holiness from generation to generation by means of a book of revelation, not a Bishop of Rome, not the ecstasies of Thomas Muntzer and the Suicale prophets. And we could relate that to our times today in charismatic circles where people are constantly proclaiming that they have a fresh revelation from God, And that is the way in which you and I should seek to live out faithfulness to God and live our Christian life, but not for Luther and the Reformers, not after they discovered sola scriptura, not after they came back to understand where the real foundation of authority for the Church is, the Word of God. Piper goes on, the word of God comes to us in a book, this rediscovery shaped Luther and the Reformation. One of Luther's arch opponents in the Roman church, Sylvester Prierias, listen to this, this will tell you what they believe, wrote in a response to Luther's 95 Theses, he, this is Sylvester Prierias, He who does not accept the doctrine of the Church of Rome, and Pontiff of Rome," listen to this, "...as an infallible rule of faith." There's a couple of words there that should ring in your ears, infallible rule of faith. What do we talk about today as Protestants? the infallibility of the inerrant Word of God, the inspired Word of God. So for them, the deposit of authority and the rule over the church in terms of its doctrine and practice is not Sola Scriptura. but it is the doctrine of the Church of Rome and Pontiff of Rome as an infallible rule of faith, listen to this, from which the Holy Scriptures to draw their strength and authority, strength and authority of the Scriptures is drawn from the Church and the Pope, is a heretic. So I know I broke that up. from which the Holy Scriptures to draw their strength and authority is a heretic. If you don't accept that for Sylvester and the Roman church, you're a heretic. You're a heretic. In other words, the Church and the Pope, this is Piper, the Church and the Pope are the authoritative deposit of salvation, and the Word of God, the Book, the Bible, is derivative and secondary, and I would say, to give you another word, subordinate. Subordinate. For them, the Bible is subordinate to the Pope. Church councils, Church tradition, and it's secondary at best. What is new in Luther, Heiko Obermann says, is the notion of absolute obedience to scriptures against any authorities, be they popes or councils, close quote. Commenting in 1533, Luther says, the word of God is the greatest, most necessary, and most important thing in Christendom. Sounds pretty important to Martin Luther, the Word of God. 1539, moving on, he is commenting on Psalm 119 as he is, as we mentioned, studying the Scriptures, listen to this. In this Psalm, Psalm 119, David always says that he will speak, think, talk, hear, read day and night and constantly, but about nothing else than God's Word and commandments. God wants to give you His Spirit ONLY through the external Word. This is Luther commenting on Psalm 119. In 1545, the year before he died, Luther says, Let the man who would hear God speak read Holy Scripture. I'll say Amen to that. If you want to hear from God, open your Bible. One more writing about the importance of the permanence of the Holy Scriptures. Listen to this. The apostles themselves, this is Luther, considered it necessary to put the New Testament into Greek and to bind it fast to that language, doubtless in order to preserve it for us, safe and sound as in a sacred ark. For they foresaw all that was to come and now has come to pass. and knew that if it were contained only in one's head, wild and fearful disorder and confusion and many various interpretations, fancies and doctrines would arise in the church, which could be prevented and from which the plain man, the ordinary person of the pew, could be protected only by committing the New Testament to writing and language." He said the only way, the way that God has sovereignly decreed to preserve the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints is to preserve it in the book we call the Bible. That's what he believed. Now, how did he come to believe these kinds of statements? How did he come to the point and the place where he was so convinced that it was not those superior clergymen and popes of the past or the present, or all of them collectively combined, that would serve to be the deposit of salvation and the deposit of truth FOR THE SALVATION OF SINNERS. WELL, THE REASON IS BECAUSE, BELOVED, THE WORD OF GOD WAS THE MEANS OF SALVATION FOR THIS MAN, AS IT IS FOR EVERY PERSON WHO IS TRULY SAVED. WE ARE BORN AGAIN, JAMES WRITES, WE ARE BORN AGAIN BY THE WORD OF GOD. Born again by the Living Word, the Word of God that testifies of the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the way that you and I are born again and saved and converted and become Christians. For Luther, it happened right here in Romans chapter 1. He actually dates the discovery of the gospel to 1518. During a series of lectures on the Psalms, And he tells the story in his preface to the complete edition of Luther's Latin writings. And so listen to this account from March 5th, 1545. So this is later on in life. He's looking back and thinking about his conversion. This is one of the most beautiful things you can read. I love church history for this reason right here. It's a little bit long, so stay with me. And I want you to notice the centrality of the word of God here to his conversion. I had indeed been captivated with an extraordinary ardor. We would say we were very passionate for understanding Paul in his epistle to the Romans. But up till then, it was a single word In chapter 1 verse 17, that word in it, the righteousness of God is revealed. Listen to what he says. That stood in my way, for I hated that word, righteousness of God. which according to the use and custom of all the teachers, I had been taught to understand philosophically regarding the formal or active righteousness, as they called it, which God is righteous and punishes the unrighteous sinner. That part they got right. God is holy and we are sinful. God is righteous and we are unrighteous in and of ourselves. but that's not what Paul means. I'll go on. Though I live, so he's thinking about how he can live so with these external rules and laws and he can so live in a way that will ultimately Make him righteous enough in God's sight that God will accept it. That's what he's been taught. God is righteous and holy. We are sinful and we have to do all of these things and perform all of these religious acts in order to get ourselves right with God. Listen to what he says, though I lived as a monk without reproach. Sounds like Paul here. I felt that it was a sinner before God with an extremely disturbed conscience. Thank God for that. I could not believe that he was placated. He was satisfied by my satisfaction, by his sanctification and his works and his penance and his good works. I did not love, yes, I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners. And secretly, if not blasphemously, certainly murmuring greatly, I was angry with God and said, as if indeed, it is not enough that miserable sinners eternally lost through original sin, are crushed by every kind of calamity by the law of the Decalogue, talking about the law of God, without having God add pain to pain by the gospel, and also by the gospel threatening us with his righteous wrath. Thus I raged with a fierce and troubled conscience. Nevertheless," now listen to this, I beat importunately upon Paul at that place. It means he's sitting there on Romans 1, 16 and 17, and he's just beating on it. Over and over again, what is he mean? What is he saying? Most ardently desiring to know what Saint Paul wanted. At last, by the mercy of God, meditating day and night on the Word of God, meditating day and night, I gave heed to the context of the words. Namely, in it the righteousness of God is revealed as it is written. He went on to say the context, as it is written, he who through faith is righteous shall live. There I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives by a gift of God, namely by faith. And this is the meaning, the righteousness of God is revealed by the gospel. Namely, the passive righteousness with which the merciful God justifies us by faith as it is written, he who through faith is righteous shall live. Here, I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates. Here, a totally other face of the entire scripture showed itself to me. Thereupon, I ran through the scriptures from memory, and I extolled my sweetest word with a love as great as the hatred with which I had before hated the word, righteousness of God. Thus, that place in Paul was for me truly the gate to paradise." What an amazing testament. As he had studied and read and prayed and pleaded, finally at God's appointed time, his eyes were opened to see. and to hear and to know that a sinner is justified in the sight of God, not by works of righteousness which we perform, but by the free gift of grace through the work of Jesus Christ to be received by faith alone, by faith alone. And all of it, all of it founded upon sola scriptura. Well, let me close with just a few exhortations to this idea. Number one, sola scriptura for Luther meant that the Bible was to be valued above the teachings of commentators or church fathers or church councils. This is significant for you and I today, that you have your Bible teachers that you like, you have a pastor who teaches to you the Word of God, but it is never in the councils or commentators or grandma or your mom or your dad who taught you a certain kind of doctrinal teaching. It is the infallible, inerrant, inspired, all-sufficient Word of God. That is the rule of faith that is the foundation upon the convictions of our Christian belief. And it is to be valued above all of the teachings of men and women. And every teaching is to be held up against the Word of God to see if it passes the test. And if it fails the test, I don't care who taught you, it needs to be rejected. The alone in Sola or Sola Scriptura, the alone, or Sola refers to the ultimate nature of Scripture's authority to judge religious teaching. In other words, Sola means only the Bible is the final court of appeal on truth claims about God and about salvation. It's not popes, it's not councils, it's not commentators, it is the Word of God. To quote Professor Miller again, the Scriptures do not share first place of rule with anyone or anything. No pope, no church, no tradition, no philosophy, no prophet, no other book equals or displaces Scripture as the ground upon which men like Martin Luther can say, convince me from the Scriptures alone, for here I stand. And that's exactly what happens later on as we'll get to in Luther's life. Listen to this quote from Luther, "'He who is well acquainted with the text of Scripture is a distinguished theologian. For a Bible passage or text is of more value than the comments of four authors.'" In other words, you can stack up four of the greatest authors outside of the Word of God, and they don't even compare to one text from Holy Scripture. In his open letter to the Christian nobility of his day, Luther explained his concern, quote, the writings of all the Holy Father should be read only for a time in order that through them, so by the way, he doesn't deny the validity and the helpfulness of human writings. He doesn't deny that. Neither does the doctrine of sola scriptura, by the way. Because the Word of God is the ultimate authority, it's not the only authority. For in the Word of God, we find that God has ordained other kinds of authority that are subordinate to the Word, but are still real authority in our lives, including those that He gives to the Church as pastor-teachers. But he says, the writings of the Holy Father should be read only for a time in order that through them we may be led to the Holy Scriptures. As it is, however, we read them only to be absorbed in them and never to come to the Scriptures. We are like men who study the signposts and never travel the road. The dear fathers wished by their writing to lead us to the Scriptures. But we so use them as to be led away from the Scriptures, though the Scriptures alone, Sola, are our vineyard in which we ought all to work and toil. The place to labor the most, beloved, and your understanding of God is in Holy Scripture. Later on, 1539, he says, the Bible, is being buried by a wealth of commentaries. Can you imagine him saying that? Think of what he would think today if he could say in his day that the Bible is being buried under a wealth of commentaries and the text is being neglected, although in every branch of learning, they are the best who are well acquainted with the text. Close quote. So you don't read other people's writings about the Constitution if you really want to understand what the Constitution says, you read the Constitution. If you want to know what the Bible says, the best place to go is the Word of God itself. The Word of God itself. That's what Luther's saying. Looking back on his early days and study of Scripture, Luther says when he was young, he said, I read the Bible over and over and over again and was so perfectly acquainted with it that I could in an instant have pointed to any verse that might have been mentioned. I then read the commentators, but I soon threw them aside, for I found therein many things my conscience could not approve, as being contrary to the sacred text. It is always better to see with one's own eyes than with those of other people. That's the reason I tell you to bring your Bible to church. Bring your Bible. For the Reformers, Sola Scriptura did not imply that the Scriptures were the only authority in the Christian life, but they are the ultimate authority. They also taught that God had, through the Bible, instituted other authorities and had given other gifts to help men know the truth, to understand the truth, and to apply the truth in our current situations and lives. Sola Scriptura, beloved, is the doctrine that the Bible alone is the authoritative source and the authoritative rule for all religious truth. It is the ruler of rulers because God himself is the ruler of rulers. Secondly, Sola Scriptura was so important because the Bible is the only objective source of God's special revelation wherein people can be saved. That's very important. This man could quote scripture better than we could probably listen to it and kind of recall. I think I know where that scripture may be, what book that's in. But it wasn't until he had a fixed attention upon that passage of Scripture, and the Holy Spirit opened his blinded eyes to see the reality of the truths of the righteousness coming to a sinner, by the gracious gift of God received by faith, that he was finally and at last saved. No, Romans 1.16 says, Paul says, I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God and the salvation for everyone who will believe. The only objective source that God has given in special revelation wherein people can be saved is the Word of God, the Bible. Going to the text of Scripture itself, 2 Timothy chapter 3 verses 14 to 17, listen to this, 2 Timothy 3 verse 14, But as for you, Timothy, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred Scriptures. And notice this phrase, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. You set the book to the side and begin to use commentaries and counsels and creeds and confessions alone and put them in an elevated position above the Word of God and you run the risk of obscuring the only objective eternal means for people to get saved. He goes on, verse 16, "...all Scripture is breathed out by God, and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." Or think about one of our most recent texts of 1 Timothy 3.14, to 16, where Paul says, if I delay, I want you to know how to behave in the household of God, who is the church of the living God. The church of the living God is the household of God, and the church is a pillar and the foundation of the truth. And so, beloved, you and I are called to stand upon the foundation of the Word of God as the supreme authority and the highest rule and the objective truth of God so that we will uphold the truth in the world and all of our lives. And this church will be built upon the bedrock of the truth of God's Word in the gospel. And number three and finally, sola scriptura meant for Luther that the holy scriptures are the bedrock upon which Christians must take their stand. Do you believe that? We live in a day where many people who once professed an orthodox Christianity are now denying it. Next week, Lord willing, we'll come back to our text in 1 Timothy about that threat of apostasy and see that it is very real in our world today. It seems fewer and fewer and fewer men, especially in pulpits, are willing to stand and take their stand upon the bedrock of Holy Scripture. Listen to this final description in the life of Luther. The trumpets blasted as the covered wagon passed through the city gate. Thousands lined the streets to catch a glimpse of their hero. Many more waving pictures of him from windows and rooftops. It was the evening of Wednesday the 16th. April the 16th, 1521, as Martin Luther enters into the city of Worms. Luther was ordered not to speak until bidden. Then the emperor's spokesman, pointing to a pile of Luther's books on the table in front of him, told him that he had been summoned to see whether he would acknowledge the books that had been published in his name, and if so, whether he would recant, reject them. In a soft voice that people strained to hear, Luther admitted that the books were his. But then, to the shock of all, he asked for more time to decide whether he needed to recant. I might have done that, put in that position. You see, it looked like he was going to back down. In fact, Luther had been expecting to deal with specific things that he had taught. He was expecting to have a dialogue with the religious leaders of the day, the Emperor's presence, and to dialogue and look at the Scriptures, but he was not given that opportunity. He had not anticipated that he would be asked to reject EVERYTHING in one fell swoop that he had ever written. That needed further consideration. He was grudgingly given one day to reflect, and after that he was warned he should expect the worst if he did not repent. The following day, it was six in the evening before Luther was readmitted into the emperor's presence. The hall was packed. The gathering was full. Torches were lit, stifling hot. History records Luther sweating heavily. Looking at him, everyone expected an abject apology, begging for forgiveness for his heinous heresy that he was teaching and writing. But the moment he opened his mouth, it was clear that that was not going to be the case. This time he spoke with a loud and ringing voice, He announced that he could not retract his attacks upon false teaching. And if you've ever read anything of Luther, you're going to like this. You're going to recognize this. For that would give even more reign to those who thus destroyed Christianity. Good God, what sort of tool of evil and tyranny I then would be. Despite an angry shout of NO coming from the lips of the Emperor himself, Luther went on demanding that if he be wrong, he be refuted from Scripture. Then he promised that he would be the first to burn his own books. For the last time, he was asked if he would retract his errors, and then he concluded with the historical statement. I'm bound by the Scriptures. I've quoted, my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience and I cannot do otherwise. Here I stand. May God help me. Amen. For Luther, it was the Word of God that freed him that saved him, that brought him to peace with his creator God, the righteous. He had no other security, he had no other foundation, but it was the inspired, infallible, inerrant, and all-sufficient Word of the living God that gave Martin Luther and the other Reformers the courage and the conviction to make their stand, even when it cost them their lives. And I ask you this morning, this afternoon, if you have that kind of conviction on the basis of Sola Scriptura, or did you just get it secondhand? I plead with you today to love the Word of God because you love God, to seek God as the center of your life, as the audience of one to whom you are accountable, and submit yourself to His deposit of objective truth in the 66 books of Holy Scripture. And that you would so know them, and love them, and understand them, and live by them, that if you're called upon to compromise, you'll be able to say with Luther, my conscience is captive to the Word of God. On this bedrock, I take my stand. I can do no other, so help me God. Let's pray.