This is Pastor Patrick Hines. We are live here at 3 p.m. in Kingsport, Tennessee at Bridwell Heights Presbyterian Church. And today, I just want to do a little reading from one of my favorite books. This is a book, it's kind of falling apart, but a friend of mine gave this to me many, many years ago, probably, grief, 26 years ago, grief. Long time since I got this book. And it's the Ecumenical Creeds and Reformed Confessions, and this is one of the early introductions I had to Reformed theology. And I remember back then, I was so interested in all this stuff and was learning so much from this book, and then I was introduced to the Westminster Standards. But I still remember the first time that I worked all the way through the Heidelberg Catechism, and I read through the whole catechism one afternoon on a Sunday, And the church that I attended at the time in Akron, Ohio, I wasn't being fed really at all from that church. It was really a bad experience, and I was just really, really wanting to learn and wanting to grow in my faith. So I've actually used the Reformed Confessions, I actually have the green hardback thing that was published not too long ago that's got the seven main Reformed Confessions and catechisms in it. That's what I use as a devotional on a lot of days, not every day, but a lot of days. But I wanted to just read the first few questions and answers of the Heidelberg Catechism since the Reformation's been on my mind and We just had Reformation Sunday a couple Sundays ago, and just thinking about the basics of the Reformed faith, and just thinking about how sad and how tragic it is that so many in Reformed circles today, they don't value this stuff. They don't value what Scripture says about these things, and they're dedicated to creating fog and mud when it comes to the gospel. and they're not clear, and there's all these strange denials of justification by faith alone, there's all these strange denials of the covenant of works, there's all these weird, quote-unquote, pseudo-reformed ministry outlets that reject the distinction between the law and the gospel, which is one of the easiest things to understand in Scripture. I mean, it's just one of the plainest teachings in the Bible. So there is, I believe, a judgment of God going on, and part of the judgment of God on our nation is the removal of discernment among ministers to discern basic truth from error. And I think that that's what we're seeing today. We're seeing men who are very learned, many of whom have written many books and do all kinds of stuff, and they can't seem to get the most basic truths of the Christian faith correct. And I'll tell you too, you know, thinking about all of the scandals that have happened in my lifetime with people that I once followed and looked up to, and I was, there's actually, there was a, I think it might've been a Wikipedia article or something. There's a website that like has a chronicle of all of the scandals associated with evangelical Christianity, and there's just no end to them. And it's really sad stuff. And I think, man, people are just dropping like flies. And it just kind of hit me more and more and more, the need for strong, smaller local churches. You know, the church I pastor here is not a big church. I mean, it's not even a mid-sized church. I mean, we average about 120 on a Sunday, maybe 130 on a Sunday morning, and maybe 70, 80 at night, something like that, when we do service in the evening. I like that. We're hoping to get maybe an elder or two more, maybe a deacon or two more. We just opened up nominations for that. So if you're a praying person, pray for our church. Me and my fellow elders could use some help. We need some more elders. But I'm very, very thankful to God for such a great congregation. And we just kind of have a pretty simple ministry model. But I try to emphasize these truths because I know that the lack of emphasizing these truths is the reason that our culture is the mess that it is. Because there used to be a very vibrant, very committed group of Reformation biblical Christians in this country, and there's just not anymore. And it's really sad. It's very sad to me to think that there was once, at one time, a church in our country that was very clear on the gospel, very clear on the substitutionary atonement, very clear on how to be right with God, and it's pretty messed up stuff. Now, I wanted to read a quotation from R.C. Sproul that I think is really good. I wish I'd gotten this queued up before I'm looking for it right now. It's from his great book, Faith Alone, because the Christian church in America used to be united. If there were a couple of things that you could count on it, that you could count on it being unified on, it was the gospel. And it was the clarity of sola fide that were justified by faith alone. And the word unity occurs so many times in there. Basically what he says, and I'm going to find it. Here we go. Evangelical disunity. This is in the early part of R.C. Sproul's book, Faith Alone, The Evangelical Doctrine of Justification by Faith Alone. Sproul says this. Listen to this sentence. It's just heartbreaking. It's just heartbreaking. Let me back up two paragraphs. He says, the flap over ECT, that was the Evangelicals and Catholics Together document where the likes of J.I. Packer and many others said that there's unity of faith. Chuck Colson, Oz Guinness, Bill Bright, Mark Nolan, many others signed this document saying, we're justified by grace through faith because of Christ, which is not sufficient. And they pointed this out and it caused a big stink. And then it caused all these meetings to take place. Now, Okay, let me just read the Sproul. Sproul says, The unity that was once tacitly assumed to exist among professed evangelicals does not, in fact, exist. One repercussion of ECT, the Evangelicals and Catholics Together document, is that it has revealed a serious disunity among evangelicals on the question of justification and the nature of Rome. Now, that's just a fact, and things have only gotten worse since R.C. Sproul wrote that. I think this book was written in 1994. That's 30 years ago. And yeah, the unity that we once thought existed on, you know, the gospel, it doesn't exist. That unity is not there. And so those of us that do love the gospel and that do believe the gospel, we need to make sure that we stay focused on it and make sure that the world hears it, because if we don't do that, they're not going to hear it. So I want to read the first questions and answers and just make some comments about this wonderful catechism, this great, great summary of biblical truth that was written by Ursinus way back in the Reformation period. 1559 to 1576, the Heidelberg Catechism was composed, and Heidelberg, at the request of Elector Frederick III, who ruled the Palatinate, an influential German province from 1559 to 1576. Zacharias Ursinus and Caspar Olevianus, they were the primary authors of this catechism. But it's still the test of time, and it's still used today in Reformed churches, and I love it. I love the Heidelberg Catechism. The opening question, what is your only comfort in life and in death? And listen to the answers. I love the answers because the answers are written in the first person, which is wonderful. It doesn't just give a theological answer, it puts the answer in the mouth of the catechumen. Here's the, what is your only comfort in life and in death? That I am not my own. but belong, body and soul, in life and in death, to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven. In fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to Him, Christ, by His Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for Him. Isn't that wonderful? What is my only comfort in life and death? I don't belong to myself. I belong to Jesus Christ, my faithful Savior. He has satisfied for all my sins. He set me free from the tyranny of the devil, and He watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head. Now, question two, what must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort? Answer, three things. I love how simple this is because it's so true and it's glorious. Three things I need to know in order to live and die in the joy of this comfort. First, how great my sin and misery are. Second, how I am set free from all my sins and misery. Third, how I am to thank God for such deliverance. Question three, how do you come to know your misery? Answer, the law of God tells me. Question four, now think about that. You see, the law—it's so weird to have to say this. To me, having to say what I'm about to say is as foolish as having to say, no, there's only two biological sexes. But Reformed churches don't get this anymore. The law and the gospel are different things. The law demands and inflicts its curse upon us because we don't obey it. And it does require perfect obedience for us to be right with God by it, which nobody can do since the fall. The gospel is the free gift of righteousness that God gives by faith alone, completely and entirely apart from and without worth to the account of the believing sinner when they believe the gospel. So the gospel freely gives. The law demands and inflicts its curse. They are radically different things. And you'll hear foolish people today saying, well, there's a sentence in which the law is the gospel. No, there's not. The law is not the gospel. The law inflicts its curse. The law brings about wrath. That's why we need the gospel to be saved. What does God's law require of us? Answer. Christ teaches us this in summary in Matthew 22. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments. Now, that's not good news. And I want to say, anyone listening, anyone that ever hears or listens to this podcast or this program, If you think that you love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength, then a couple things. Number one, you don't need Christ then. You don't need to be saved because you're perfect. Number two, you're also miserably deluded. If you think that you are a doer of the law, you are deceived. And when Paul says in Romans 2.13, for it is not the hearers of the law who are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified. If you think that that's talking about individuals that actually do the law, you are deluded. You are self-deceived and you have no idea what Christianity is, what it's about. No idea. Question five, can you live up to all of this perfectly? Answer, no. I have a natural tendency to hate God and my neighbor. And listen, if you think that you obey all of God's commandments perfectly, you do hate God. You do hate him because you don't keep his commandments perfectly and you're lying. If you think that you actually keep them perfectly, nobody does. No one ever has, except one, and his name is Jesus Christ. And that's why you have to have his obedience to the Ten Commandments imputed to your legal account. Jesus entered into that covenant of works, that covenant of justice that demands and requires perfect righteousness of us, which we don't have and could never earn. You have to trust in his righteousness imputed to your account to be right with God. because you can't live up to the law of God. Question 6. Did God create people so wicked and perverse? Answer, no. God created them good and in His own image, that is, in true righteousness and holiness, so that they might truly know God their Creator, love Him with all their heart, and live with Him in eternal happiness for His praise and glory. Question 7. Then where does this corrupt human nature come from? Answer, from the fall and disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve in paradise. This fall has so poisoned our nature that we are born sinners, corrupt from conception on. Question eight, but are we so corrupt that we are totally unable to do any good and inclined toward all evil? Answer, yes, unless we are born again by the Spirit of God. Question 9. But doesn't God do us an injustice by requiring in his law what we are unable to do? Answer, no. God created humans with the ability to keep the law. They, however, tempted by the devil in reckless disobedience, robbed themselves and all their descendants of these gifts. Question 10. Will God permit such disobedience and rebellion to go unpunished? Answer, certainly not. He is terribly angry about the sin we are born with as well as the sins we personally commit. As a just judge, he punishes them now and in eternity. He has declared, first is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law. That's Deuteronomy 27 verse 26, cited by Paul in Galatians 3 verse 10. So what does the law require of us? Perfect conformity to it. Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law. Question 11, but isn't God also merciful? Answer, God is certainly merciful, but he is also just. His justice demands that sin committed against his supreme majesty be punished with the supreme penalty, eternal punishment of body and soul. Question 12. According to God's righteous judgment, we deserve punishment both in this world and forever after. How then can we escape this punishment and return to God's favor? Answer. God requires that His justice be satisfied. Therefore, the claims of His justice must be paid in full, either by ourselves or another. Isn't this great? Isn't this just so clear? See, that's the thing that's missing today. Clarity. So many young men are being seduced by, well, I really like this guy or that guy because they're so against all the cultural and social evils. Yeah, but what about the gospel? They're pretty unclear and ambiguous about that. You've got to be clear on this stuff. It's an irony of ironies. If you're not clear on this stuff, you're not going to have any influence on culture at all. Question 13, can we pay this debt ourselves? Answer, certainly not. Actually, we increase our guilt every day. Question 14, can another creature, any at all, pay this debt for us? Answer, no. To begin with, God will not punish another creature for what a human is guilty of. Besides, no mere creature can bear the weight of God's eternal anger against sin and release others from it. Question 15. What kind of mediator and deliverer should we look for then? Answer, one who is truly human and truly righteous, yet more powerful than all creatures, that is, one who is also truly God. Question 16, why must he be truly human and truly righteous? Answer, God's justice demands that human nature, which has sinned, must pay for its sin, but a sinner could never pay for others. Question 17, why must he also be true God? Answer, so that by the power of his divinity, He might bear the weight of God's anger and His humanity and earn for us and restore to us righteousness and life. You understand what they're talking about here? This is pure Chalcedonian, Nicene Christology. Jesus Christ is God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, of the same substance as the Father. He is God in the fullest sense, and He is also fully human, just like us, in every way, except sin. Because Christ, Jesus, had to enter into that broken covenant of works that Adam was in and failed to keep. Christ has to come into the world, just like Adam did, with no sin on his account, representing the elect of God. And he earns, by pure personal merit, our right to eat from the tree of life and live forever. You see, there is no grace of any kind in the covenant of works. It is a covenant of justice that requires and demands perfect obedience to satisfy its requirements. And if it's violated, it requires death. And that's why Jesus had to come into the world, enter into that broken covenant of works, but also die to satisfy that penalty and to bear the awful weight of the infinite wrath of God against all his people's sins and die and be buried. but he rose from the dead and destroyed and conquered the curse as well. Listen, question 18, and who is this mediator? True God, and at the same time, truly human and truly righteous. Answer, our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us to set us completely free and to make us right with God. Question 19, how do you come to know this? Answer, the holy gospel tells me. God himself began to reveal the gospel already in paradise. Okay, I'll stop there just for a minute. When did God very first reveal and announce the gospel? Genesis 3, 15. Enmity, hostility, I will put between you and the woman, he said to the devil, between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head and you shall crush his heel. God promised one of the descendants of Eve, a man would destroy the works of the devil. So God himself began to reveal the gospel already in paradise. Later, he proclaimed it by the holy patriarchs and prophets and portrayed it by the sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law. Finally, he fulfilled it through his own dear son. Question 20. Are all saved through Christ, just as all were lost through Adam? Answer, no. Only those are saved who by true faith are grafted into Christ and accept all his blessings. Question 21. What is true faith? Now, I want to just stop here for a minute. This is where all of the neonomians, heretics, false teachers, and bad guys in our time, including every federal visionist, John Piper and all of his cohorts that agree with him, and every other form of neo-Nomianism that's out there, every form of legalism that is out there masquerading as Reformed theology, this is what they all get wrong. They do not understand what faith in Christ is. And if you think faith in Christ includes our works, includes our righteousness, includes anything we do, you don't understand what faith is. Faith in Christ is the opposite of working. It's the opposite of working. True faith, here's the answer, true faith is not only a conviction and knowledge that everything God reveals in His Word is true, it is also a deep-rooted assurance created in me by the Holy Spirit through the gospel that out of sheer grace earned for us by Christ, not only others, but I too have had my sins forgiven and have been made forever right with God and have been granted salvation. Faith in Christ isn't works. It is being assured that what Christ did, He did for me, for my forgiveness, and that He's made me right with God, and that I've been granted salvation by Him and what He does. Question 22. What then must a Christian believe? Answer. everything God promises us in the gospel, that gospel is summarized for us in the articles of our Christian faith, a creed beyond doubt, and confessed throughout the world. And they go into all of the articles of the Apostles' Creed, except they the Catechism does a much better job of filling it all out and talking about all of the details that are left out of it. You see, the Apostles' Creed is a wonderful creed, but the problem is it's totally silent on the Gospel. Okay? It's totally silent on the Gospel, sadly. Now, question 56 asks, what do you believe concerning the forgiveness of sins? Answer, I believe that God, because of Christ's atonement, will never hold against me any of my sins, nor my sinful nature, which I need to struggle against all my life. Rather, in his grace, God grants me the righteousness of Christ to free me forever from judgment. Okay, now it goes on from here. to ask even more clarifying questions. Listen. How are you right with God? Question 60. Listen. Only by true faith in Jesus Christ. Even though my conscience accuses me of having grievously sinned against all God's commandments and of having never kept any of them, and even though I am still inclined toward all evil, nevertheless, without my deserving it at all, out of sheer grace, God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction, that's Christ's cross work where he satisfies divine justice, the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, that's Jesus Christ's preceptive obedience to the law in my place vicariously. He grants to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner, as if I had been perfectly obedient. as Christ was obedient for me, all I need to do is to accept this gift of God with a believing heart." Isn't that wonderful? That's it. That's the free offer of the gospel. If you have sin in your life, if you see your sin, and you know that you're in big trouble with God because of all the sin you've committed, all the lies that you've told, all the adultery you've committed, either physically or just in your mind, all the stealing that you've done, all the blasphemy that you've done, Then believe in Jesus. Accept the gift of God with a believing heart. Get out of the Savior business and trust in the finished work of Christ. Question 61. Why do you say that by faith alone you are right with God? Answer. It is not because of any value my faith has that God is pleased with me. Only Christ's satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness make me right with God. And I can receive this righteousness and make it mine in no other way than by faith alone. Listen to question 62. Why can't the good we do make us right with God, or at least help make us right with Him? Answer. Because the righteousness which can pass God's scrutiny must be entirely perfect and must in every way measure up to the divine law. Even the very best we do in this life is imperfect and stained with sin. So, folks, do you see why our good works, the fruits of our salvation, the fruit of our conversion, can't play any role any role. It can't even at least help in making us right with God. It can't. Why? Because the righteousness which can pass God's scrutiny must be perfect and must in every way measure up to the divine law. I just want to say again, whether you're a lay person or a pastor, if you think you are a doer of the law such that by your works you can satisfy the law of God, you're not a Christian. You are not a Christian. You don't understand who Jesus is. You don't understand what he did either. You just don't. And I implore you, I implore you to Lay aside your confidence in anything that you do whatsoever. Don't be like ignorance in the pilgrim's progress. Remember, ignorance said, I believe in Christ for justification, and that I shall be accepted by God on the day of judgment by His gracious acceptance of my obedience to His law. Don't look to the judgment of works, which is only for rewards, and think that, well, in some sense, maybe my works help make me right with God. Your works cannot make you right with God, can't help either. How can you say, question 63, how can you say that the good we do doesn't earn anything when God promises to reward it in this life and the next? Answer, this reward is not earned, it is a gift of grace. This is perfect. 64. But doesn't this teaching make people indifferent and wicked? Answer, no. It is impossible for those grafted into Christ by true faith not to produce fruits of gratitude. But I want to emphasize something I've had to emphasize for 25 years. The fruit that grows on the tree does not make the tree the kind of tree it is. The fruit that grows on the tree does not make the tree good or bad. It only makes it known to other men whether the tree is a good tree or a bad tree. And works do not make us good or bad. They serve only as fruit. They serve only as proof of our justification, which is by faith alone. And it's absolutely vital that we see this. Our fruit is just that. Fruit is fruit. It's not what saves us. It is the byproduct. It is the natural byproduct of being made alive in Jesus Christ. So please remember that. Question 65. It is by faith alone that we share in Christ and all his blessings. Where then does this faith come from? Answer, the Holy Spirit produces it in our hearts. Isn't that great? It's like the Westminster Confession. What is faith in Jesus Christ? A saving grace. The Holy Spirit produces faith in Jesus in our hearts. And see, that's why As painful as it is, as heartbreaking as it is, people who hold to strange doctrines of faith where they think that works and faith are the same thing, or they're toe instruments in our justification, those people don't have true faith in Christ. Those people are not Christians. Because when the Holy Spirit effectually calls someone, the Holy Spirit teaches them how to put their faith in Christ alone. And they don't trust in their works anymore. They're not going to rely upon their works anymore in any way at all, at all. So all these new-fangled ways of looking at living faith is living faith. And works are the animating principle of it. No, they're not. They're the fruit of it. Nothing more. They are merely fruit. Merely fruit and evidence. They are not more organically connected to saving faith than that. They are fruit and evidence. Now, if you're a Roman Catholic, The Roman Catholic Council of Trent pronounced an anathema upon anyone who says that good works are merely the fruits and signs of justification obtained and not the cause of the increase. They said, if you believe that, let it be anathema. There are a lot of Reform folks whose doctrine of saving faith is the same as the Council of Trent. And I say, just become a Roman Catholic and get it over with. You're already dressed like them anyway. Y'all wear clerical collars. Anyway, why not just become one? you don't hold to this, you don't hold to the Reformation understanding, and I would just maintain you don't hold to the Bible's teaching on this. Okay, the Holy Spirit produces faith in our hearts by the preaching of the Holy Gospel and confirms it through our use of the holy sacraments. Okay, that's wonderful stuff. The Heidenberg Catechism is marvelously devotional. In fact, and this is my copy, I've had this for almost three decades, and I used to read this over and over and over again. In fact, in the Cans of Dorton here, it's funny, I was looking at my notes on the Cans of Dorton, coming out of evangelical fundamentalism, I actually wrote the names of people that held the views they were condemning in the Synod of Dort. I actually had their names in here. From my conversations with them, I was like, so-and-so believes this, so-and-so teaches this. My pastors and friends that I had in college, held to the views that were condemned by the Senate outdoors. So it's really interesting, really funny to see all that. Okay. Huh, there's no chat room over here. Hmm. What is the deal with that? That has never happened before. Huh. Okay. I guess nobody's chatting. Okay, well, I'm a little bit behind on my summer preparation, but I just want to commend to you the Heidelberg Catechism. The Heidelberg Catechism is such a great catechism, and the Three Forms of Unity, the Belgic Confession is the second one, and the Canons of Dorne is the third one. Those are wonderfully devotional pastoral documents. I use them for devotionals. I have for years, and not only has it helped me understand the Bible better, it's helped me understand what it really means to be Reformed. What defines Reformed theology? It's not what Reformed theologians debate about. It's the confessions of the Reformed faith. This is what defines what Reformed means. And the thing is, if you don't believe these basic truths, don't say you're Reformed. You're not. Be something else. Don't try to bring neonomianism and legalism into the Christian faith, because all you're doing is destroying people's souls. And believe you me, I've spent a lot of time as a pastor cleaning up the mess that the federal vision and piperism and every kind of legalism you can imagine has created over the years. And it's not fun to do. Trying to get that stuff out of people's systems is worse than trying to get someone off crack cocaine. So anyway, I've got a lot of work to get done. Love y'all. Thank you for being here and for watching, for listening. Thank you for your emails and some of the comments and stuff. I do see those. Very encouraging stuff. And I'm excited to preach on Sunday, but I better get working on my sermon or I'm not going to have anything to say. So anyway, love y'all. Take care. Peace. Keep following Christ. Study your Bible. Evangelize. Pray for revival. And pray for your local church. pray that God will raise up ministers and preachers for churches. The need is so great for shepherds to shepherd small local communities. We don't need any more mega churches. We don't need any more celebrities to pull Steve Lawson on. We don't need any more of that. We need strong local community churches that week in, week out, expose the Word of God, preach the gospel, the call on the sick, wind up the brokenhearted, and everything else. That's what we need. Please pray for that. And pray for your pastors. If you have pastors that love the gospel and preach the gospel, encourage them, help them. Pray for them. Pray for their protection. Pray for their sermon preparation time. Thank you all for watching or for listening.