In this audio message, Scott Brown presents an introduction to the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689. Through this study, we have the opportunity to look from Genesis to Revelation and examine key topics and doctrines.
This series will aid us all in better understanding Scripture, raising our knowledge of the will of God, connecting biblical doctrine with specific Scriptures, and preparing to give an answer for why you believe.
Oh Lord, we've gathered here to drink out of a fountain, out of a fountain full of such rich and wonderful water. Oh Lord, you have purified water for your children. You purified it seven times. You have taken it, Lord, and you've made it. Such beauty, such help, such power.
Oh God, that You would, as we drink from this well in these next few days, that You would thrill our hearts, that You would fill our minds, but also, O Lord, that You would give us such hearts within us that we might fear you to always keep all of your commandments. That these things would be such compelling and helpful motivations in our hearts that you place there as we're together. Lord help us not to waste a moment as we're here imbibing, as we're here considering, as we're here filling up our minds with the knowledge of your will. Thank you for revealing your will. I thank you for taking care of every person in this room, their whole life long, every second of their lives, ordered by your loving kindness, every hair on their head numbered, every tear in a bottle, every step known beforehand, every thought known by you and cared for.
For what? Oh Lord, for what? That you might sum up all things in Christ. Our most terrible failures, our greatest hardships are covered by your righteousness And You take all of it, oh Lord You've taken all of it, to establish it for a testimony of Your mercy towards sinners. Oh Lord I thank You for what You've done.
And now that You would come, that you would prick our hearts, that you would illuminate our minds, that you would come and fill up your servants with the knowledge of your will. Not so that we would let it sit rotting in our heads, oh Lord, but that it would give motion to our feet, to our hands, and that it would open up our mouths to bring the wonderful, wonderful truth that you've given to us. Amen. I want to try to introduce our time here this morning. I've entitled this opening session, a confession for the everlasting treasures of redemption.
And I want to try to turn our minds to an image that a 19th century theologian, Louis Gausson, tried to speak of in explaining just how rich and beautiful it is to be before the Word of God. We're going to be before the Word of God for many many hours. We're going to consider so many beautiful things from God's Word. We're going to stop on them one by one, 32 of them with dozens of points underneath them, in order to just saturate, in order to try to understand more deeply who this God is who has redeemed us. Lewis Gausen was in Geneva in the 1850s.
Calvin's Geneva had deteriorated and the pastors in Geneva wanted to introduce a new catechism that would replace Calvin's catechism. So here, 200 years later, a man is in Geneva, and the pastors are wanting to replace Calvin's catechism. And Gausson recognized that it was an enlightenment-oriented catechism. And it overthrew many of the critical doctrines of the faith. And so he was thrown out of Geneva.
He was thrown out of his post as being a pastor. And he wrote a book called God Breathed, which you can tell by the markers in it, I really like this book. It contains some of the richest testimonies of the Word of God. The entire book, God Breathed, is an attempt to do exposition on the term theodistia, God breathed, that all scripture is inspired, that it's actually breathed from God. He talks about the word of God in so many different images in this book.
They grip me every time I read them. But in one section of the book, he speaks about God as a skillful musician writing a long score across the ages. And I want to read to you what he says. As a skillful musician when he would execute a long score by himself, takes up by turns the funeral flute, the shepherd's pipe, the Mary Fife, or the trumpet that summons to battle. So did Almighty God when he would make us bear his eternal word choose out from of old the instruments which it seemed fit to him to inspire with the breath of his spirit.
He chose them before the foundation of the world and separated them from their mother's womb. He had from eternity before him all the human stops which he required. His creator's eye embraces at a glance this range of keys stretching over three score centuries. You understand what he's saying? He's saying here's God in heaven.
He's imagining how he might communicate his glory through men, through sinful men. And he sees it like a giant piano with the keys stretching out over three-score centuries. That's how Gausson is explaining this. And God is going to play on this instrument and that instrument and this instrument throughout all of history So that he could make known to our fallen world the everlasting Council of his redemption and the coming of the Son of God He put his left hand on Enoch, the seventh man from Adam, his right hand on John, the humble and sublime prisoner on Patmos. Between Enoch and John, listen to Jeremiah.
Between Enoch and Jeremiah, listen to Moses. Between Jeremiah and John, listen to Paul of Tarshish. And you see then when it was sometimes the artless and sublime simplicity of John, sometimes the impassioned elliptical rousing and logical energy of Paul, sometimes the fervor and the solemnity of Peter, it was It was the simple and majestic narratives of Moses, or the sentience and royal wisdom of Solomon. Yes, it was all this. It was Peter.
It was Isaiah. It was Matthew. It was John. It was Moses. Yet It was God.
And we have this opportunity in the next few days to do what Gausson is picturing, to go from Genesis to Revelation and see the celestial instrument being played across a tremendous space of time and individuals in history in various eras of history. And so it really is quite an opportunity. My prayer for our time here is that we would raise our knowledge of the will of God, that we would consider the scriptures, even memorize some of them, connect the doctrine with specific passages of scripture so that you can be more ready than you ever were before to give an answer to why you believe. But at the same time that your hearts are thrilled, here would be a great tragedy. Is that if we were together all this time, and all we did was thought, and somehow it did not reach our hearts to the degree that it would move our feet and do something inside of us.
That would be a great tragedy. So I believe it's going to take some discipline to do that. We're going to have to be reminded over and over again to so relish these things in our hearts, to treasure them in our hearts, because they are treasure. And that we would be given the ability to be stopped up in our own souls to think, oh Lord, this is thrilling. This is so helpful.
We're going to read some very, very densely packaged doctrinal truth. I was with my friend Andy Davis the other day. We were talking about the confession, particularly the second chapter on God. And we were in a restaurant, and we were just reading it together. And he said, yeah, it brings me to tears just to read this.
I pray that's what happens to us, that we're brought to tears reading the confession as it relates to the things that are in Scripture. The authors of the confession wrote a letter to the reader and at the very end of that letter, Here's what they say. We shall conclude with our earnest prayer that the God of all grace will pour out those measures of his Holy Spirit upon us, that the profession of truth may be accompanied with the sound belief and diligent practice of it by us, that his name may in all things be glorified through Jesus Christ our Lord." And that really is our only real hope here, is that somehow the God of grace would pour out his Spirit upon us. And we would learn from him. We would be like a stilled child in his presence, to take it in, to soak it in.
And I'm so grateful for the opportunity. Now, I'd like you to turn to 1 Timothy chapter 4 and look at verses 1 through 8. 1 Timothy 4, 1 through 8. Not only are we here to fortify our minds and fill our hearts. We are also here to sharpen our swords.
We're also here to do battle. We're also here to become warriors for the things that are true and lovely. 1 Timothy 4, 1 through 8. And I just want you to notice the powerful language that's used here. I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom.
Preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. But according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things.
Endure afflictions. Do the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry. And now in verse 6, The Apostle Paul turns his mind toward, I'm just going to call it a reminiscing. And notice that he looks back on his life, and then he looks downward into the grave, and then he looks forward to eternity.
Verse 6, for I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day.
And not to me only, but also to those who have loved his appearing. So the apostle here, he looks back on his life as we're together. Let's do that while we're here. Look back on our lives and then look downward into the grave. That day is coming.
And it's appointed by God. He knows the day of your departure from this world and then look forward to heaven. Those three things are so helpful to mankind to be able to engage honestly in all those three areas. And as we're engaging in a confession like this, it's critical that we do all those things kind of simultaneously. This is why the Apostle Paul said to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 6, verses 20 and 21, oh, Timothy, Guard what was committed to your trust.
Guard what was committed to your trust. It's like he's saying, guard the deposit, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge. By professing it, some have strayed from the truth. And so here the Apostle Paul is instructing Timothy to guard that deposit, To hold the center, because there's always something pushing against the stake of the center of the heart of God. To preserve sound doctrine in every generation.
This is what God appoints his children for. That they would stand firm in the midst of the great tides that wash against the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. You need to see yourself rightly in history. All of us have been born at a certain time for a certain purpose in history. And we've been born in a time of history with very particular tides, waves that are washing against the church to try to destroy it.
The rains descended, the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house. And it will either fall or it will stand. And that's what's happening to all of us here now. The rain is descending, the floods are coming, and the winds are blowing. But what will we do?
Guard the deposit. And that's really what this entire time is about, is that we would so be galvanized together to guard that deposit in this generation, and that God would help us to do what the Apostle Paul said to the Corinthians, watch ye therefore, stand fast, quit you like men, be strong. So the result of all this is men who operate with a protective posture in the world, who are diligent, who understand their times. They're not just floating down the river of life. Now one thing that's really clear to me, in order to protect one must prepare and that's what this time is about.
If we ever if we ever hope to guard the deposit of sound doctrine then we must prepare to do that. That makes sense. Anything of value takes preparation. And in order to protect, we must prepare. And the forces that are raging war against the church today are so mighty and they're so insidious.
The forces of liberalism, the forces of pragmatism, the forces of autonomy and relativism, these things are absolutely battering against the people in our churches. There are all kinds of new challenges in our day with technology and image and this whole spirit of the age that you can just believe whatever you want to believe and somehow it's legitimate. That culture is neutral. There are so many things that are waging war against the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so in order to protect, it's important that we prepare for what?
To think Christianly about everything. And this week what we'll be exposed to is Christianity. This confession, I just want to say, it is the sum total of systematic theology for Christianity. It explains what the Christian faith is and what it means to think like a Christian. And so what's so helpful about this confession is that it helps you to think rightly about the various categories of thought regarding regarding Christianity.
So this confession in some ways is Christianity. Now I want to just talk about the confession in general terms here. First of all, who embraced this confession? I just have a list of some maybe familiar personalities that embraced this confession. Charles Spurgeon, John Bunyan, John Gill, John Broadus, B.H.
Carroll, William Carey, Adoniram Judson, Luther Rice, and Lottie Moon, Basil Manley, W.B. Johnson, R.B.C. Howell, P.H. Mel, James P. Boyce, and John Degg.
So these are well-known theological and pastoral and missionary personalities. And the confession that's before you has been embraced by some of our mightiest brethren in the history of the Church. We're in good company here in this confession. I'd like to classify this confession by just trying to explain its nature and its roots. This is a Reformed Puritan confession.
This confession was born out of the Puritan era. The authors of this confession believe that their testimony was, quote, the final application of the Reformation principle of sola scriptura. It is a Reformed confession arising out of the Protestant Reformation and that was sweetened and more helpfully clarified during the Puritan era as the Puritans began to really codify these things for church life. What is the category of theology in this confession? Well, it's systematic theology.
In contrast, biblical theology seeks to present the entire scriptural teaching on the unfolding of God's revelation throughout history. But a systematic theology presents the entire scriptural teaching on specific truths of the Christian faith or the doctrines one at a time. So there are these two categories of theology that are different. But systematic theology begins with God proper. With Christology, as you can see the outline of this confession, it's organized in this fashion.
While biblical theology is historical and chronological in its design, it explains redemptive history. Systematic theology focuses in on the particular doctrines that run throughout that history, if you can understand the difference between the two. The confessions follow the flow of systematic theology. I'd like to also just make a comment about the importance of a confession and ranking the importance of confessions. Confessions don't take the place of the Bible.
Those who read confessions have to be good Bereans. They should read their Bibles, not just their confessions. This is one of the great dangers of our time. We're more attracted to secondary sources than primary sources. And so a confession should be a launching pad, not an endpoint for us.
They're so helpful because they systematize the overall teaching of the Bible in an orderly fashion in order to answer particular questions that Christians need to have answered. But we can't stop at the Confession. So let me just encourage you to make sure that your focus is on the Scriptures in all of this. With each paragraph of the Confession that we'll go through, there are many passages of Scripture. Those are the things that you should really walk away with.
I just want to make sure that we understand that confessions are not an end-all. They're really just a launching pad for other things. Now this confession was written from the flames of conflict. It was written out of the experience of an era when religious authorities and civil authorities were trying to extinguish biblical Christianity. And the authors of this confession desired to clarify what it meant to be a Christian and how to think Christianly.
Interestingly enough, it was also written for families. It was written for churches. It was written so that believers would not be tossed about by every wind of doctrine, but to preserve the church and guard that deposit, to keep the faith. And it's such a helpful document for personal training, for church unity, for protection of the church from attack. If churches that have a confession or churches that have this confession that's detailed enough, they have something that they can refer to when controversial issues come up in their church.
It's so important, it's so helpful to be able to say this is what we believe about that. It's a way that you can protect your people in a church from even attack from their own relatives, from their friends by saying no this is what we believe, This is what we believe on this matter. It's so easy for people in the church to be slandered for what they believe. But a distinct, carefully written confession helps so much, particularly in times of conflict. We live in such a time of doctrinal confusion that I believe that churches must have confessions because there is so much fuzziness.
We have suffered for so long in the church because the churches have pumped out the last 30 to 50 years of interesting, applicable, topical sermons. And the church has no idea what God says about particular things. It astonishes me that people will come into your church and they've been Christians for 10, 20, 30, 50 years and they cannot even explain simple doctrines that your children should be able to explain. So in this time of confusion, confessions are helpful because of the conflicts that rage around us. You know, because of the, you know, the death of expository preaching, the rise of pragmatism, the average churchgoer is almost completely disconnected from a systematic understanding of Christian doctrine.
I hope that you're here to change that in the churches that you're a part of. I hope that you're here to have a new kind of Christian world than the one that we've experienced in the last 100 years in America. And I believe that you can make an enormous impact on the Church of Jesus Christ by, in your own thinking, in your own preparation, in your own communication, in your own church, in your own family, to change the landscape of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's so important that we do. People are so fuzzy on the matters that are just carefully explained in this confession.
Think of how fuzzy people are on the Gospel and the Law. This confession clears up so many of those matters in a very helpful and distinct way. I'd like to give you a little bit of a history of this confession, just to give you some of the roots of it. The roots of the Baptist Confession is the Westminster Confession of Faith. Now, they did have a few Baptists among the Westminster Divines, but unfortunately there were so few of them, they lost all the votes on baptism in church government.
But this confession, the Baptist confession, was first penned in 1596. It was called the true confession of faith and it was penned either by Henry Barrow or John Greenwood. And this was really the beginning of the Baptist confession. And then in 1644, the First London Baptist Confession was drawn up. Seven Baptist churches drew this confession to demonstrate their orthodoxy and to refute various heresies, particularly in Anabaptism and various expressions of Arminianism.
So in the 1630s and the 1640s, what was going on during this time was the English Parliament desired to force all the churches into conformity with the Church of England. And the Clarendon Code, which was distributed, was designed to destroy dissent against the Church of England and to force compliance. And the result was persecution. So these confessions were nailed down in this time of conflict. The 20 so years before 1689 was the embryonic season of the refining of this confession.
What had happened was that the Presbyterians during this time adopted the Westminster Confession. And this wonderful providence of God that these men gathered together to produce a confession of faith has been such a blessing to the world. Here are a few facts about the Westminster Assembly. They began in 1643. There were 121 clergymen and you had to have a quorum of 40 members in order to have a meeting.
And there were 1, 163 sessions in the Westminster Assembly between July 1, 1643, and February 22, 1649. They also developed the directory of worship, which was intended to replace the Episcopal prayer book, and then this confession was drafted. And there are very slight differences between the Westminster Confession of faith and the Baptist confession. The Baptist confession is shorter. There's a really neat tool online that compares the confession line by line, the Baptist confession and the Westminster confession, and you can see the differences in each paragraph and it's really helpful.
The Baptists seem to be a little bit shorter in their treatment of particular subjects, but the primary differences were in ecclesiology, particularly church government, and also baptism. So in 1658 the Congregationalists adopted the Savoy Declaration. That's important because the Savoy has a tremendous influence on the Baptist Confession. So you have the Westminster Confession, the Savoy Confession, and the Second London Baptist Confession. By 1675 now, the major leaders in London and the countryside had died, and the churches were being passed into new hands, and they had these confessions.
And it really was a blessing to them. So in 1677 the Baptists adopted what is now called the Second London Baptist Confession which was drawn up in some of the darkest hours of oppression for the church in England. It was first published anonymously because of the persecution. And it was just a summary of what these churches had embraced. There were 100 churches that formally adopted this confession.
And then in 1688 something happened that changed everything. The Glorious Revolution took place, the persecution ceased, Charles II is deposed, and the Catholic persecution ends. And then the next year, 1689, they came out of hiding. And that's why it's called the Baptist Confession of 1689. They were under wraps and then came out, many of the pastors affixing their names, to the document And that was the official beginning of the Baptist Confession of 1689.
So just some summary thoughts about the Baptist Confession. It was a revision of two pedo-Baptist confessions, the Savoy and the Westminster. And there was such broad agreement between the Baptists and the Presbyterians in the fundamental doctrines. They were being persecuted alongside of one another. And they were being thrown into prison.
They were being burned at the stake together. And so they wanted to make known their doctrinal unity. So this confessionalism wasn't born out of conflict with one another so much, but it was to state the distinction of their views. One thing that you notice is that the Baptist Confession tends to favor the Savoy when it differs from the Westminster Confession. The authors of the Baptist Confession wanted to continue their fellowship with their Presbyterian brethren.
Here's what they said. We have no itch to clog religion with new words, but to readily acquiesce in that form of sound words." He's talking about the Westminster Confession. "...which hath been in the consent with the Holy Scriptures, used by others before us." So They said they had no itch to clog religion with a bunch of new language. They wanted to state their unity with the Westminster divines. And of course, the differences were in the two areas that I've identified.
The dissenting brethren, the Baptist brethren in the Westminster assembly, were Thomas Goodwin, Philip Nye, Jeremiah Burroughs, William Bridge, and Cedric Simpson. And they did not want to censure their pedo-Baptist brethren. That's why when you get to those sections, they're not written in a polemical style at all. They said this in the foreword, we didn't conclude it necessary to confess ourselves more fully and distinctly and finding no defect in this regard in that fixed on the Westminster Assembly. And after them, by those of the congregational way, we did conclude it best to retain the same order in our present confession, making use of the very same words with them both.
So there really was this desire to express unity with their Presbyterian brothers. And then later on in 1742, the Philadelphia Baptist Confession was written very similar to the London Baptist Confession, but with some changes. In 1855, Charles Spurgeon reprints the London Baptist Confession with some minor revisions. We'll talk about those as we go on. Spurgeon had a different view of the salvation of infants, and his confession reflects that.
And he writes a preface to it and then in 1991 Sam Waldron writes this about the confession for almost 300 years this has been the standard doctrinal statement for such Baptists Most Reformed Baptists today hold this confession as comprehensively summarizing their understanding of the word of God. That's just a brief history of this confession. Now, I want to talk about the purposes of the confession. Interestingly enough, in the introduction, the writers speak of three objectives. The earnest prayer of the authors is that the Holy Spirit would enliven the doctrine, not only by a profession of faith, but also by sound belief and diligent practice.
And this is how Jesus Christ is glorified in all things. I think those are probably the clearest, cleanest ways to summarize the importance of this confession. I want to give you here in closing five elements of confessional Christianity. Now there are people who object to confessional Christianity and they claim the statement for themselves, no creed but Christ. The term creed is from the Latin credo, which means I believe.
And so it's merely a summary statement of someone's beliefs. Whatever you believe, that's your creed. Everyone has a creed. Even saying no creed but Christ is a creed. So no one can ever escape creeds.
It's impossible. It just depends on what your creed is and how you define it. That's what really matters. Is there a difference between a creed and a confession? No, there's no difference at all.
These five elements of a confession. First of all, the importance of doctrine. There are people who say all we have to do is love one another. Let's dispense with doctrine. We have to understand that that's really not a biblical idea.
The Apostle Paul speaking to Timothy, he says let no one despise your youth but be an example in doctrine. He says in 4.6, if you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you carefully followed. So in a young man's ministry, he must know doctrine, and then he must communicate that doctrine. This is why he said, till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine. So Paul is saying that Timothy's ministry is to communicate sound doctrine.
And so he's saying that the goal of your life really is to understand it and the purpose of your life is to communicate it. It is important to be able to communicate sound doctrine. I think we should just dispense with this whole idea that we all just have to love one another. Well, of course that's true. But how do you love your brother?
You love your brother by speaking the truth in love to your brother. And that has to do with doctrine. That has to do with a confession of faith. It has to do with saying, I believe this, I don't believe that. The importance of doctrine forms one of the critical elements of confessional Christianity.
The second thing that I'd just like to identify is the role of elders to defend sound doctrine. The apostle Paul says that the very operation of the gifts of the Spirit in the church have a purpose. He says that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by trickery of men and the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. But speaking the truth in love, we may grow up in all things who is the head. So this is one aspect of speaking in love, is that you speak sound doctrine.
The Lord Jesus himself said, my doctrine is not mine, but he who sent me. If anyone wills to do his will, he shall know concerning the doctrine whether it is from God. Even the Lord Jesus Christ is appealing to God for his doctrine. And that's what we ought to do as well. And it's the role of elders to defend sound doctrine.
Let me just say this, it's the role of a mom to defend sound doctrine in her house. It's the role of a father. This doctrinal ministry is really given to all heads of the various governments that God has established in the world. There are three basic governments. There's the civil government, there's the government of the church, and there's the government of the family.
It's so important that we are defenders of sound doctrine in whatever sphere God has placed us in. There are doctrines of demons out there and we have to understand how to counteract those doctrines. In Romans 16 7 the Apostle Paul says, now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you learned and avoid them. Here the Apostle Paul is speaking about the tremendous conflict against sound doctrine. There's always conflict in the church because people have unsound doctrine.
Elders are required to fight the wars of doctrinal unsoundness. There are always doctrines of demons walking into your church and you have to be able to name them and you've got to be able to to dissect them according to Scripture. And so having a clear understanding of doctrine is critical. That's why the Apostle Paul said all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness. And so Scripture is the place to go for sound doctrine.
And a confession like this helps us to codify it. I'd also like to talk about the role of the family in upholding sound doctrine. God has given these confessions of faith to families to help instruct children in sound doctrine. The introductions to these confessions make it very, very clear. This was one of the critical motivations of the authors in writing these confessions.
We think, oh, these are so complex. These are so heady. These are so theological, seminary-like. Well, the authors didn't think that way at all. They thought it was something that should be dealt with by fathers in a family.
It was meant to bolster family worship and hinder decay. Here's in the original letter, the authors appeal to fathers to teach these things to their families. And verily, there is one spring and cause of the decay of religion in our day, the neglect of the worship of God in families by those to whom the charge and conduct of them is committed. May not the gross ignorance and instability of many with the profaneness of others be justly charged upon their parents and masters who have not trained them up in the way wherein they ought to walk when they were young, but have neglected those frequent and solemn commands which the Lord laid upon them. So to catechize and instruct them that their tender years might be seasoned with the knowledge of the truth of God as revealed in the scriptures.
Again, this is the introduction to the Westminster Confession of Faith. It's so important that, fourthly, that we're using historic, time-tested doctrinal statements in all of our work. And the Baptist Confession is just that. And lastly, I just want to say again, a church without a doctrinal statement is an unprotected church. My advice to people is very consistent.
Don't go to a church without a statement of sound doctrine. The Apostle Paul said, I have not failed to bring to you the whole counsel of God. The whole counsel of God is critical. We're here advocating a new kind of church because there are very few confessional churches in America today. The church needs to be very clear on its doctrine.
I want to close with an illustration regarding this issue of a church having a doctrinal statement. There are many, I'm going to call them light and thin doctrinal statements that churches embrace. And they don't cover very many issues. They basically cover soteriology, and that's about it. Well, those doctrinal statements which are light and thin and they cover soteriology are important and they speak absolutely the most critical aspect of the Christian life.
They're not enough. I just don't believe they're enough. I think if you're a Southern Baptist and you just embrace the Baptist faith and message of 2000, it's not enough. And we could list a number of, I'm just going to call them thin and light doctrinal statements. You have people coming into your church that need a lot more answers than what's in those doctrinal statements.
I read an article by Sam Waldron where someone was taking him to task for advocating the Baptist Confession because it was so historically bound. At the end of his rebuttal, he said, I want you to think of two different baskets of fruit. Take your light confession and go and serve it to your people, and you'll pull out three or four items. But if you take the Baptist confession, we'll be pulling up our SUVs, and we'll be pulling out all kinds of drinks, all kinds of fruits, and there will be enough food for everyone and for absolutely everything. Compare it to a very small basket of fruit to a large basket of fruit full of rich and pleasant food that's there.
I believe that this confession is one of those. That it speaks to so many critical issues that will help you raise your children, that will help you unify your church, that will help you raise up a new generation of Christians who understand what the Bible says, to make mighty warriors, to help people understand the riches and the treasures that are there in this wonderful word of God that we've been given. And so I commend it to you. And as we launch out into our journey, I pray that God would give us such hearts to respond in obedience, in love. I'm praying that our hearts would be so thrilled.
Here's one thing I know. The men who are going to give these presentations are not capable of thrilling your hearts. I know I'm not and I know the next guy is not and I know the next guy is not and I know the next guy is not. But here is one thing that can. The operation of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a person who says, oh how I love thy law.
Oh Lord, help me to understand your will. That's what I pray that we have from now on as we go on. For more messages, articles, and videos on the subject of conforming the church and the family to the Word of God, and for more information about the National Center for Family Integrated Churches, Thank you.