As we now commence this afternoon, I would like to say a warm word of welcome to the Reverend Sinclair Horne who comes as our special speaker on a very special subject concerning a very special person, not only in Scottish Church history but in Church history right across the spectrum. Reverend Sinclair Horne from Edinburgh Scottish Reformation Society, you are warmly welcome this afternoon in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, my soul, heaven, King of the Church. And I'd like to say a word of welcome to everyone who has come this afternoon and who have given us your support. You are warmly welcome in the Saviour's name and by the grace of God Let us have an afternoon of the fullness of the Holy Spirit and sound Christian education. Now let us worship God. Our help standeth in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Draw near to God, and he will draw near unto you. Let us pray. Almighty and Eternal God, we come into Thy holy presence in the name and by the perfect merits and mediation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Thine eternal Son. And we thank Thee for this glorious means of access which we have into Thy holy presence. knowing ourselves to be sinners, we realize that our approach to Thee must be one of utter reverence. And as we seek Thy face today, we pray that the power of Thy Spirit, allied to the truth of Thy Word, may be our inspiration, may be our instruction. in things pertaining to the kingdom of God. We come as individuals with our own personal needs and problems. We come as a needy people in these dark and evil days of betrayal. And we realise that our help stands only in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. These hearts of ours are crying out this afternoon that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ be glorified and the people of God edified here and elsewhere. And we ask, O God our Father, that Thou wilt forgive our sins, cleanse our hearts and minds by the inspiration of Thy Holy Spirit, and this afternoon May these souls of ours see into those things which are unseen but eternal. Help us in these dark and evil days. Look upon us in thy mercy and enable us to realise that as in the past, when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord raises up that standard against him. and so placing ourselves under divine protection, looking on to the Son of God who loved us and who gave himself for us, fill our hearts this day with love towards thee, that we may truly magnify thy name. And let thy blessing rest upon the Reverend Sinclair Horne as he speaks to us on these important subjects this afternoon. through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. I say, singing to the praise of God, part of Metric of Psalm number 46, verses 1 to 7. God is our refuge and our strength in straits of present aid. Therefore, although the earth remove, we will not be afraid. I would ask you to follow the presenter this afternoon. We come from different traditions of psalm singing, so let's take the tune, the melody and the timing from the presenter. All standing to praise God. This our refuge and our strength, this trace of present day. Therefore, although we have removed will not be afraid. Though hills are hills, and cities he has, though waters roar in vain, and troubled be, yea, though for thy swelling sins to change. The holy name wherein the Lord most high hath his award. If some harm does dwell, nothing shall that remove. The known to our unhelper will. and that righteously proved. The King hath raised to God justly the King of smooth men were, The Lord God uttered his voice, the earth did melt with our fear. Our safety through maintain, The code of Jacob the fairest. The first paper this afternoon by the Reverend Sinclair Horne, John Knox, The Man and the Reformation. Sinclair As I've said before, we are particularly glad to have you here this afternoon. I now leave the first paper, the scripture reading of the paper in your good hands. I feel it would be very unworthy of me if I didn't respond to the warmth of the invitation to be here this afternoon and to share in this gathering with you. I may say this visit evokes tremendous sentiments, memories and all the rest of it as far as I am concerned. Somebody said, is this your first visit to Northern Ireland? Well, for the past 50 years I have been coming backward and forward to Northern Ireland for various reasons and purposes. And it brings back such precious memories of going round to various places, first of all with my late, very dear friend, the late Norman Porter, and then with Seamus Mulligan. Those were halcyon days in our experience together. And then, of course, in the various missions that I had with the Reformed Presbyterian Church in different parts of Northern Ireland. All of these things are very wonderful memories and it's tremendous to be here this afternoon. And I just want to thank Dr Markhamson for giving me the subjects that he gave me, at least he gave me the key to the subjects. It has been a tremendous time of study as far as I am concerned and I am so grateful to him for giving me the opportunity to look at these wonderful themes. It is truly amazing. Now, we are going to read a few verses from 2 Timothy, reading from the middle of chapter 3 on into chapter 4. Beginning at verse 12, 2 Timothy 2 verse 12, Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But continue thou in the things that thou hast learned, and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. and that from a child that has known the holy scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect, truly furnished unto all good works. I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. Preach the word. Be instant in season, out of season. Reprove or rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. But after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. Amen. May the Lord add his blessing to the reading of his word. To take up a subject such as we have in these two lectures this afternoon is an immense undertaking. not only because of the man that we are considering and trying to come to an understanding of him but also the fact that there's so many aspects of the story of John Knox that remain hidden and you've got to dig very deep sometimes to be able to recapture something of the real wonder of this truly remarkable man. And it has to of course a subject like this cannot be isolated on its own because you miss so much that gives meaning and purpose to it. And this is true when we as we come to the first of the messages this afternoon, John Knox, the man and the reformation. And it necessitates us to look a little more closely at the situation into which John Knox came. Dr. John Caird in the 1800s did a series of lectures in one of the many volumes that were common in those days that were used for Sunday afternoon reading, Christian Tidings and all the rest of those wonderful big books that were available. And in this one, Dr. John Caird writes a lecture dealing with the crisis in church history and particularly dealing with the Reformation. And he brings out from this lecture a very important and significant point. This is what he says. Our interest will be vivified if we regard the Reformation not as one of a thousand isolated and disjointed incidents, each of which might well have occurred at any other time as well. but as playing a distinct and essential part in the purpose for humanity which runs through all the ages. The Reformation, for instance, is not a mere chance breaking upon the ear amidst dissonance of voices, but it is a history of man, but it is a note clear and loud in a great choral harmony of which the history of man will be the completion. Its deeper interests, its true meaning and importance will be lost to us if we view it as an isolated aspect. For anyone who wishes to study the Reformation then, this is how we have to approach it. What was the Reformation? in the background from which we come we may feel that that's an unnecessary question but in these days when history is being relegated to levels that it has never been known before it is a very appropriate question and of course there have been various definitions given but the most appropriate of these two short quotations that I take from these writers. The first is from Dr. A. M. Mitchell. He says, the reformation of the 16th century must be owned as perhaps the greatest and the most glorious revolution in the history of the human race. The movement then initiated was no mere effort to quit of acknowledged scandals which had long been grieved over but never firmly dealt with. no mere desire to lop off a few later accretions which had gathered around and obscured the faith once delivered to the saints, but a progress beyond any previous age since the death of St. John, a deeper plunge into the meaning of revelation. It was, in fact, a return to the old gospel so attractively set forth by him in his epistles and verified to the reformers by their own spiritual experience and deep convictions of sin and shortcoming. Second one is from Philip Schaff and his creeds of Christendom. And he says, the reformation of the 16th century is, next to the introduction of Christianity, the greatest event in history. It was no sudden revolution, for what has no roots in the past can have no permanent effect upon the future. It was not a superficial amendment, not a mere restoration, but a regeneration. It went through the intervening ages of ecclesiasticism back to the fountainhead of Christianity itself. As it came from the lips of the Son of God and his inspired apostles. It was a deeper plunge into the meaning of the gospel than even St. Augustine had made. Now these quotations I think take us to the very heart and meaning of the Reformation and we do well to keep them very much before us in this series of lectures. And as we think of it we have to indeed begin to realise the real impact, the depth of the impact, the width of the impact The tremendous effect that it had on people, especially upon the scholars as new ideas, new methods of research began to work through the colleges and universities and eventually to the people. And that was true of Europe. And the situation in Scotland was similar to that in the rest of Europe. Now, despite efforts by some members of the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church, such as Archbishop John Hamilton, a man who produced a catechism with the object of instructing the people in the Ten Commandments, the Sacraments and the Lord's Prayer, it made very little impact. The reason being, of course, that the clergy of the pre-reformation period were more concerned with the liturgy than the instruction of their people in such subjects as would be set out in the Catechism. An instruction of 1552 from the Provincial Council shows that many of the pastoral churches Charges were bordering on illiteracy, as the proceedings of the same council seven years later showed no improvement had taken place. And the jeering ringster who wrote the words was well justified, the curate his creed he could not read. Professor A. M. Rennick, in his book on the Scottish Reformation Society, brings this up to date with us. He says, it is no wonder then that the clergy was held in derision. According to George Buchanan, many of them were ignorant of the scriptures that they believed. The New Testament was a recent book written by Martin Luther and declared to adhere to the old and it had nothing to do with the new. He goes on and he says, the Archbishop of St Andrews and primate of all Scotland, he wrote in these terms, he says, I declare as I desire God's love that I am ashamed to review all the lives of the common and even certain other priests. obscured all round with the darkness of ignorance, so that I often wonder what the bishops were thinking of when they admitted such men to the handling of the Lord's body, when they hardly knew the order of the alphabet. Priests come to that heavenly table who have not slept off yesterday's debauch." Now what was true of the religious life was also true of the morality in general among the clergy. And if you append to this the great spiritual darkness which envelops Scotland, we see that the land of Scotland was in a condition that was ripe for reformation. And this is where we begin to see God's provision in the situation. And it's a very interesting aspect of the story. And those who read the story of the Reformation in Scotland can see the way in which God brought this movement to this land. Apart from those things that we have given attention to already, there were two very positive things which took place which hastened the movement for reform. They were linked together by forming the vital links between acquiring knowledge and disseminating knowledge. The first one was the work of Bible translation. This aspect was of vital importance in the situation of the 16th century. And the reason why all attempts at reform had failed in previous centuries was because people did not have the Bible in their own language. And those whom God raised up from the 14th century to the 17th century were gifted men whose first priority was to translate the Scriptures into the language of the people. And from John Wycliffe's version right through to the King James or Authorised version, no less than eight different translations were made. And in this way the people were prepared for reform because alongside the translations there was the movements of preachers such as Wycliffe preachers and the Lords who moved across many parts of England and Scotland. And these movements were not allowed a free reign to preach where they liked. They were classed as heretics and there were problems for those who followed their teaching. So we find that this was a situation where people had to resort to all kinds of things to try and maintain the flow of this Bible translation and works of, for example, Martin Luther. But even then, Such efforts were thwarted because the Scottish Parliament in 1525 passed a law forbidding any book or works of Martin Luther to be brought into the kingdom. The books of course were copies of Tyndale's New Testament smuggled into the country in bales of cloth and barrels of meal and threats of confiscation of all cargos and even the ships. did not deter this movement all along the east coast of Scotland, so the work of translation and reading began to move apace. And then combined with that, there was the invention of the printing press. Gutenberg and Caxton were already in the forefront of this new method, giving people access to this new means of knowledge. So we can see the hand of God at work in this way, at the right time, for the right purpose. But not only did God prepare it in these ways, but God prepared it in the forerunners and the heralds of the Reformation. To make it work, there had to be people, not just ordinary people, but there had to be people called of God. And I want you to note how once again the hand of God can be discerned in the choice of those who were to be the forerunners and also the heralds of reform. Two of these were pre-reformation martyrs who made such a lasting contribution to the work of reform. There is however one more striking thing in this whole operation of reform. As I've said, to make it work there had to be people called of God. And those two men that were called were very unusual and very distinct men. For example, Patrick Hamilton was essentially a preacher of the Word. His own conversion brought this about. left St. Andrews University and had gone to Paris and while he was in Paris he became infected, if that's the right word, with the teaching that was spreading at this time from Martin Luther. He came back to Scotland and he began to preach this long lost gospel and eventually Patrick Hamilton was called to answer for this because he had made a point very clearly with regard to this situation. He declared at one point, he says, it is reason and all reason to all men to have a soul to read the word of God that they may understand the same and in the special the latter will and testament of the Lord Jesus Christ. These words brought a verdict in the charges that were laid against Patrick Hamilton and he was condemned to be burned as a heretic and the same day he was burned at the stake before the gates of St. Salvator's College. For six long weary hours he suffered the torments because the wood that they brought was damp and it couldn't take fire and he was left in this desperate situation. Alexander Alesius, one of Hamilton's friends, has preserved for us his thoughts on the death of Patrick Hamilton. He says, the martyr never gave one sign of impatience nor anger Never ever called to heaven for vengeance on his persecutors, so great was his faith, so strong his confidence in God. And the last words that he was distinctly heard to utter were these words, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. How long shall darkness overwhelm this kingdom? How long wilt thou suffer the tyranny of men? His death created a great impression on those who witnessed it. Elysius again reminds us about it and he himself embraced the Reformed faith and he was not alone. And the saying which went around St. Andrews at that time following Patrick Hamilton's martyrdom was, the reek, the smoke of Patrick Hamilton infected all on whom it blew. And it was said that his death had done more to further the cause of the Reformed faith than he could ever have done in his life. Now the second man that God chose in this situation was George Wishart. He was different in upbringing to Patrick Hamilton in his training and in his experience. George Wishart was essentially a teacher. And the skills he brought from his early profession were brought into the work of the ministry in the Reformation. He travelled widely to gain contact with the reformers both in different parts of the continent. And it was George Wishart who was responsible for bringing back to Scotland the first reformed catechism or confession. after he had assisted in the translation of the Second Helvetic Confession in Zurich under Henry Bullinger, the successor to Zwingli. And after the death of George Wishart, the movement seemed to be retarded because he had been very careful about his protection. When he was in Dundee for example preaching there was an attempt at assassination and when it came to his latter days his constant companion was John Knox and he in fact became a sword bearer after that attempted assassination. And so he died in front of the castle in St Andrews. The castle was all gaily bedecked with tapestries and cushions for the comfort and ease of the cardinal and his bishops as they watched this gruesome scene of George Wishart dying for the faith. And George Wishart indeed suffered greatly at it. But it shows something of the faith of the man, his constancy to the faith he professed. He testified that he was suffering for the true evangel and for Christ's sake. And he urged the onlookers not to be offended at the word of God because of his torments. And one of his most moving statements made at this time was this. Some have said of me that the soul of man shall sleep until the last day, but I know surely that my soul shall sup with my Saviour this night ere it be six hours. He prayed for his accusers and murderers, and when the executioner asked for his forgiveness, he kissed his cheek, saying, Lo, here is a token that I forgive thee. My heart do thine office. And again, Professor Rennick, in the moving words, says this. It has been truly said that Wishart's death rang the knell of the papacy in Scotland. It is a great testimony to the power of the gospel that such men as Patrick Hamilton, George Wishart, and Walter Milne, reared in the bosom of the Roman church, should be so transformed by the new life that they were willing to die for what they now saw to be the true faith. But where did John Knox fit into this situation? Well we find that Knox himself had an unusual relationship with George Wishart. On that last preaching tour that George Wishart had embarked on, that took him from Leith Links all through the Lothians and finishing up in Haddington, John Knox was at his side. And Knox tells us that he attributes his knowledge of the Reformed faith to the teaching and the instruction of George Wishart. And George Wishart was in Ormiston House or Ormiston Hall on the last night after a very moving and a very telling experience that he had had in Haddington where he closed down a work of mission and evangelistic services because there was so little response from the people of Haddington. And he uttered a curse on the town because of their failure to support and to respond to the gospel message. He went back to Ormiston Hall, and there he read from Psalm 51, Have mercy on me, O good Lord. And then he prayed, and Knox came to him, and he pleaded with him to stay with him. The bishop turned to him, and he said to him, Go your way. Go to your bairns. and leave me one is sufficient for a sacrifice. And John Knox left him but he was greatly moved by the fact that his friend had been martyred in St Andrews. But John Knox again we see the providence of God was at this time teaching a number of boys belonging to noble families. And there was a nutsurge of reaction when Wishart was martyred and the church authorities were afraid of what was going to happen and so they began to say to, as we say nowadays, round up those who were supporting the work of reformation. And for John Knox's safety and also for the safety of the boys, he went to St. Andrew's and St. Andrew's Castle. And while he was there, he was noted for the way in which he was teaching the Scriptures. He was actually conducting a series of lectures on John's Gospel. When John Ruff, who was chaplain, noted this situation, and John Ruff earnestly travelled upon Knox to take the preaching place upon him. But Knox refused stating quite strongly that he would not run where God had not called him. That rebuff to John Ruff was just the last for a short time for soon in a very dramatic scene the call of the people was made to John Knox once again. One Sunday morning in the church, the parish church in St. Andrews, Knox was listening to John Ruff preach a sermon on the right of a congregation to call a minister. And when coming to the close and climax of his sermon, John Ruff turned directly to John Knox. And he said to him, Brother, be not offended that I speak to you what I have in charge from those present, which is this. In the name of God and His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the name of those that present call you by my mouth, I charge you that you refuse not this holy vocation. Taken aback with this strange move on the part of John Ruff, John Knox turned to the congregation and asked if they had made this charge and approved of the vocation. Their answer was clear and definite, it was and we approve it. The occasion was too much for Knox and here we catch a glimpse at this early stage of the humanity of John Knox. He broke down in tears and he fled to hide himself in his own room. Mrs. Elizabeth Whitley in her book Plain Mr. Knox gives us a record of the days which followed. She says his countenance and behavior from that day till the day that he was compelled to present himself to the public place of preaching did sufficiently declare the grief and trouble of his heart, for no man saw any sign of mirth in him, neither yet had he pleasure to accompany any man many days together. Now Knox knew that an affirmative reply would bring with it many problems. He knew what had happened to his friend George Wishart. But the answer was to be given in a sermon in which he made a response to the harassment that John Ruff had been suffering at the hands of Dean Annan. Knox trembled as he mounted the steps and looked out on that august assembled company. He took his text from Daniel chapter 6 verse 24 and 25 and began step by step to demolish the arguments which Dean Annan had been using in his interruptions of John Roth. This was an inspired sermon. And he began by systematically refuting the Roman Catholic position from Scripture and setting forth the true doctrine of the Church. Salvation by grace through faith and justification by faith. He also taught that the blood of Jesus Christ purges us from all our sins. The effect of that sermon was tremendous. Some of the comments have been preserved for us. Some said, others said, that is locked off the branches of the papistry, but this one strikes at the root to destroy the whole. Or again, others said more plainly, Mr. George Wishart spake never so plainly and yet he was burned, even so will he be. Knox never forgot that experience in St. Andrews. And though he went through many and varied experiences, he could recall later in his life, and he would speak of it in this way, as the place where God opened my mouth in public to His glory. And much later, he wrote these wonderful words where he says that he was given a reverential fear of my God who called me and was pleased of his grace to make me a steward of divine mysteries and it had such a powerful effect as to make me utter whatever he put in my mouth without respect of persons. In June 1547 Knox's life took another turn because he was put on board one of the French galleys and he was carried off to slavery being forced to ply at the oars. This torturous experience for John Knox lasted for 19 months and the experience permanently shattered his health for the remainder of his life and he was never free from pain. In those early days of 1549, John Knox was freed from the gallows and many people wondered why John Knox had to suffer such agony and pain and why he was not allowed to continue the work of reformation. Dr. Renwick again puts it in a very interesting way. He says, it seems tragic that the work of reformation in Scotland should have been arrested by the carrying captive of its leading figure. The hand of God, however, was in it. Note these words. The hand of God, however, was in it. If the whole nation had suddenly embraced the Protestant faith, it might well have led to a shallowness and overconfidence. It was desirable that the people should have time to ponder well the truths which had been proclaimed among them. John Knox's hard experiences in the galleys, followed by ten years in exile, were to be invaluable preparation for his life's work. He learned self-control, patience and steadiness, and developed a character marked by calm self-possession. Though freed from the galleys, John Knox could not return to Scotland and he spent, as Professor Rennick says, the next ten years in exile with just fleeting visits to the land of his birth. He spent some time in England where he moved in the highest circles of both church and state. He saw the problems associated with the English Reformation which had been more or less imposed from the throne to the people and Knox learned well these lessons for the future of the Reformation in Scotland. With the death of Edward VI and the accession of Mary Tudor to the throne events took a turn for the worse and Mary was intent on ridding England of the heretics and so for a period fierce persecution broke out. And we find that at this time people began to raise questions with regard to John Knox. And they began to ask questions about him in a way that were very personal. And we find that John Knox tells us something about this. Professor J.S. McEwan writes about it and he does it so well, he says Knox himself with a gruff honesty shows us in his writings what he was, a natural born coward with no stomach for high adventure, a timorous man whose heartfelt desire was to find some quiet backwater away from the roaring tides of life where he could settle down in blessed obscurity with his books and a few congenial friends. And I like this next part where he says, A man whom God had to take by the scruff of the neck and drag to duty before he would begin to do it. And who often faltered and looked back with longing to the easier road he would have chosen for himself. And so as we see this we can see something of the problems that John Knox faced. But these years that he was in exile weren't wasted years at all because it was during this time that John Knox travelled across Europe, travelled through England and across Europe and he brought, he learned so much from these experiences and eventually he was brought to Geneva and it was there that he forged one of the strongest friendships that he had known in his life. apart from George Wishart. And here he became a very close friend and associate of John Calvin. Knox's task in Geneva was to preach to the refugees who had fled England from the rule of Mary Tudor. You can well imagine John Calvin preaching in St. Peter's Cathedral and John Knox preaching in the Auditoire next door. It must have been a wonderful combination of preaching. And during these years of exile he ministered to the exiles from England and it's in these years that we find that so many of his letters were written to various people at this time. And during this time he met the leading reformers in Europe and he brought to them his deep searching questions. Questions that he wanted to know and to understand. He did return for short periods to Scotland but he couldn't stay very long but during this time as we'll see in the second part of the conference this afternoon John Knox wasn't idle. John Knox travelled from east to west and west to east in Scotland. Going across the central belt of Scotland preaching and teaching and instructing. He met with the nobles and we find that when he was with the nobles he was able to lay the foundation for reformation. And this wonderful movement that he engaged in was very wonderful indeed. He returned to Geneva in July 1556 and in 1557 he received an urgent call from the Lords of the Congregation that the time was ripe for a big Protestant move. He left Geneva and travelled to Dieppe. This was the stopping place before he crossed the English Channel. And he had written a letter to the nobles reminding them of their obligation in the work of reformation. And he encouraged them to draw up what he called a band or a covenant. in which they accepted the binding obligation to apply our whole power, substance and our very lives to maintain, set forward and establish the most blessed word of God and his congregation. John Knox was encouraged. Another blessing that came to him came from this short interlude from his ministry in Geneva in Dieppe. when he was in Dieppe. When he was there, he had been there in 1554, there were no Protestants in the town. When he went back in 1557, a number of converts had been made by French evangelists. A month after John Knox was there, between 600 and 800 took communion publicly in the Protestant fashion. Here was another facet of John Knox's ability. He was preaching in a language other than his own. And those who were his friends put this remarkable period of ministry down to the power of God at work amongst them. His enemies even described it as something demonic. And so John Knox returned to Scotland on the 2nd of May, 1559. He had been involved in many other situations. For example, he had written a much maligned book, The First Blast of the Trumpet Against Women, and there was considerable problems and pressure building up against Knox. But he was determined that he was going to further the cause of reformation. His arrival in Edinburgh caused a sensation and wherever he went he was received with great acclamation. He was recognised as the leader of the Scottish Reformation and the ordinary people responded to his appeals. Unfortunately, just as Martin Luther had found There were some who took precipitate action, as happened by those who were excited in the time of Luther and were under the rule of Karlstad. There were those who took the wrong action in Knox's time. Knox roundly condemned them and those responsible were called the rascal multitude by Knox. Now much has been made of these incidents and many have maligned the character of John Knox with the result that the work which he did has been lost in the torrent of criticism. Again, Professor McEwan answers the critics. He says, incidentally, the existence of these scurrilous tales need not surprise us. They were part of the armory of the 16th century controversy. Every leading figure on the Protestant and Roman Catholic side suffered similar attacks and Knox himself did not scruple to use the same weapon against his opponents. The same disgusting tales went round and round with minor alterations of names and dates to suit each new victim. and even the libel writers themselves cannot have believed one tenth of what they wrote since they unblushingly borrowed stories from each other's repertories. The aim was not to prove any single charge against the victim, but to hurl as much mud as possible in the hope that at least some of it would stick. So far as Knox is concerned, It is sufficient to say that the few libels on his moral life that are sufficiently precise to be historically investigated are demonstrably false. History knows nothing of the moral turpitude against Knox. Its testimony is rather a blameless life. I do wish that more of the critics of John Knox would read some of these things and recognize for themselves, as Professor McEwan did, the issues that were involved. You see, it's easy for our present generation to condemn such actions as futile and destructive, but what we've got to remember is we are 400 years away from these situations and furthermore, We have not had the pent-up feelings which these people had as they saw their country being robbed of its wealth. The church growing richer and above all a Queen Regent who constantly broke her word and could only promise swift retribution against those who defied her laws. A new order was coming and much of what took place was just frustration and anger against authority on the throne and in the church. Now John Knox and his fellow reformers were greatly assisted by events which took place at this time. We find that there was a short time before his arrival had taken place, an event took place which was called the beggar summons. These were summons nailed to the door of friaries, priaries, abbeys, hospitals and convents demanding that the properties and mortifications be surrendered to the poor. There were however other events which had the opposite effect. The Queen Regent had summoned several Protestant ministers to Stirling to answer several charges and the Protestant body saw this as an attempt to arrest and to remove the ministers as a result of the failure of Mary's bigger demand made earlier that all in Scotland return to Roman Catholicism by Easter day. That was 29th of March, 1559. The next few months were crucial for the work of reformation. French forces were deployed across the southern part of Scotland, all part of the plan of Mary of Guise to work the work of reformation and to maintain the Roman Catholic position in Scotland. The Lords of the congregation appealed to Elizabeth and her council for help. The agreement was reached under the Treaty of Leith whereby she agreed to send an army from England to assist in this situation. Things moved very rapidly and the grievances which the Lords of the Congregation and Knox held were removed and the way was now prepared for the Scottish Reformation. On the 1st of August 1516 was the day fixed for the Estates of Parliament to meet. It was a great day for the Scottish people as multitudes gathered to witness the event that was taking place. At this Parliament a petition was presented. It had three main points which were to be the foundation upon which the Reformation was to be built. One, that the anti-Christian doctrine maintained in the Roman Catholic Church should be discarded. Two, that means should be employed to restore purity of worship and primitive discipline. And three, that all ecclesiastical revenues which had been engrossed by corrupt and indolent hierarchy should be applied to the support of the pious and active ministry to the promotion of learning and relief of the poor. Parliament requested the reform ministers to lay before it a summary of the doctrine which they could prove to be consistent with the scriptures and they desired to have it established. This work was entrusted to the six Johns, John Knox, John Spodiswood, John Willock, John Roll, John Douglas and John Winram. And in the incredibly short time of four days they had produced and presented what was to become the Scots Confession. This does not mean that the work was done in that time. For several months they had expectations along this line and the basis of the confession had been prepared in that time. And that preparation work was largely the work of John Knox who through this time on the continent had access to the various reformed confessions. Parliament adopted the confession with great enthusiasm and so was born the Scots Confession of Faith. Little opposition came from the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church and the procedure of adoption was striking. Each member of the house was called upon in turn to express his opinion individually. And an English envoy who witnessed the scene records his reaction. He says, I have never heard matters of so great importance neither sooner dispatched nor with better will agreed unto. And the acceptance of Parliament of the Confession of Faith on the 17th of August 1560 marked the beginning of a new era in the history of Scotland. Thomas McRee, the biographer of John Knox, sums it up in this way. In Scotland, the people were converted to the Protestant faith before the civil power had stepped in in the cause. And when the legislature became friendly to the Reformation, nothing remained for it to do but to ratify the profession which the nation had adopted. The nation by its ruler and representative passed from potpourri to Protestantism and in its civil capacity ratified not the gospel indeed which no acts of parliament can ratify but the profession of the gospel which the people in their religious capacities had already embraced. And thus it appears that there was a civil establishment of true religion in Scotland before there was even an established church. The Reformed Church in Scotland had not yet been regularly organised. And on December the 20th, 1560, in that lovely little building of which I am primarily the custodian, the Magdalene Chapel, the first General Assembly of the Reformed Church took place. 42 commissioners were held in that chapel and they carried through the work of establishing the work of reformation of giving the guidance to those present regarding how the confession of faith was to be dealt with John Knox produced the first book of discipline and put it forward to the assembly and that became the guideline, gave the guidelines for what was to be a reformed society in Scotland. There were so many things in it that were very wonderful. Social issues, the care of the poor and so on, education, John Knox had declared in the face of what had been taking place primarily before the assembly, he declared that education was not just the privilege of the few, it was the right of all. And he outlined what he meant by the right of all by saying that that embraced children right from what we would call primary school age today right through to university. And then you find that he began to deal with the issue in a practical way when he said that in every parish there was to be a church and there was to be a school. So this was the work of the Reformation. Let me just close, as time has gone, giving the assessment of another historian. Principal Smeaton is quoted by Thomas McCree and this is what he says. I know not if ever such piety and such genius were lodged in such a weak and frail body. Certain I am that it will be difficult to find one in whom the gifts of the Holy Spirit shone so bright to the comfort of the church in Scotland. None spared himself less than enduring fatigues of body and mind. None was more intent on discharging the duties of the province assigned to him." And in another section he says, this illustrious I say, illustrious servant of God, John Knox, I will clear from the feigned accusations and slanders by the testimony of a venerable assembly than by his own denial. Beware, sycophant, of insulting him when dead, for he has left behind him many defenders of his reputation, as there are persons who were drawn by his faithful preaching from the gulf of ignorance to the knowledge of the gospel. That was John Knox's gift to Scotland. And in giving it to Scotland, it has spread across the whole world. And despite what people say and what people do in the situation, we find that John Knox is the one who rises above it all. At the turn of the millennium, I had a group in the Magdalene Chapel from what was called the Mary Stewart Society. I knew what they stood for and everything else, but they had asked me to speak on the Reformation, which I did for 40 minutes. And I've never spoken in a meeting where you have been, I don't know if you've ever had the experience where you can sense not only by the coldness but also sense it by the movements of the opposition. As I was speaking there were people sitting there and they were shaking their heads and they were making gestures and so on. and after the meeting was finished the chairman got up and he said thank me for what I had said and he turned and he said you know there has been a poll taken in Scotland at the beginning of the millennium and the poll asked the question who was the most hated man in Scotland in the last millennium? And he just very proudly said the answer was John Knox. I had to respond to that and I got up and said well it's rather striking that I've been asked to take part in a poll and the poll was to ask which person in the last millennium contributed most to society in Scotland. I said John Knox and strikingly enough John Knox came out top. So you see you have different viewpoints in these situations. But let us never forget, and we go right back to what I said at the very beginning of this lecture, John Knox was a man whom God called, whom God opened his mouth, and John Knox recognised that he opened his mouth for his glory and for his work. May the Lord help us then as we come to the second lecture to see the lead on from that and see something of the deeper aspects of John Knox's life. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Gordon and I know there's a tremendous amount of work put into that, a lot of research and a lot of information to make us think deeply. Thank you again. Just before we have tea and compressions, I'd like to ask Reverend Martin Smith if he would lead us in this.