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Clement Part 6 - The Church United · The Reformed Corner

• Quentin James: This episode of the Reformed Corner Podcast is brought to you by Squirrelly Joe's Coffee. Choose coffee roasted by believers who share your convictions. Hello everybody, welcome back to the Reformed Corner Podcast. Today we are hopefully finally going to get through Clement. this should be the end of it. Got fifteen chapters to go, but I think we can do it. thank you guys for joining us. don't forget to leave a comment on the podcast and leave a like and subscribe to the YouTube channel. I never remember to say that at the beginning of the video, so I'm saying it now, at the beginning of the video. We've not been here recording for an hour already and having to start over. No, we would never do that. No, that that'd be terrible. We never have technical issues. Ever. Yeah. Ever. So yeah, welcome to the Reformed Corner. This podcast is here to invite you to read the Apostolic Fathers and the Church Fathers for yourselves as the Reformers did. The not saying we're I'm not nearly as good as Calvin at reading the Apostolics, but Calvin's great. You should go read him. Mm-hmm. but also Clement is, and that's who we're reading tonight. That's who we're reading tonight. And again, the point of the Reformed Corner Podcast is to show that Protestantism is actually well grounded in the early church. you can read the early church and not come out a Roman Catholic, not come out an Eastern Orthodox. crazy. Yeah. You can you can read the early church and recognize there's a lot of things we're gonna agree with them on, there's a lot of things we're gonna disagree with them on. And that's okay. And that's okay. And I think from Clement We're finding a whole lot more agreement with him as Protestants than I think we would if we were Roman Catholic or if we were Eastern Orthodox. Well, if we read our theologies back into it, you know, then obviously it'd be fine. Yeah, well doctrinal development. We can always say that that's not actually what he meant. Like we know that's what he said, but But that's not what he meant. No, never. That's how yeah, that's certainly how the Roman Catholics read it. I don't know about the Eastern Orthodox, but anyway So we left off last time, I believe, we finished chapter forty nine and so today we're gonna go through chapter fifty where he's talking about the wonder of love. Did you have something you want to say first? yeah, just real quick. If you guys wanna read this, like we said at the beginning, it's on Logos, it's Rick Brannon's edition, and so it's absolutely free. you can read Clemens, you can read Ignatius, you can read ton of different stuff here. Yeah, it's it's free, it's included. With your free logos software. which is good because most people in this economy can't afford to be buying a whole bunch of stuff. It's expensive. Yeah. So if you've got if you've already got a phone or a computer, you can go read this stuff for free. And we are not sponsored by them, but logos. But we are sponsored by Squirrely Joe's Coffee. check it out. Squirrely Joe's coffee. It's actually fantastic. So this is their peace blend. Are you feeling at peace? What's that? Are you feeling at peace today? I am feeling so peaceful right now. Why is that? Because I had some squirrely joees. Because you had some squirrely joe's. Did you happen to have the peace? I did actually have some peace this morning, so it's kind of ironic that you brought it up. Not ironic, but you know. Quite in order that you brought it up. That's right. And so you guys, if you want some great coffee, head over to squirrelyjoes.com, use code corner for fifteen percent off your first order. And get some great stuff. Covenant Blend is my favorite. Peace is fantastic. Kindness is great. If you can't tell, it's a Christian coffee company that names all of their blends, all of their roasts of coffee on different Christian virtues or different Christian themes like Covenant. So go check them out. Yeah. And you're actually supporting a Christian family. Which is so much better than supporting a business that hates you and yeah, don't do that. Don't support Starbucks when you have other options. Mm-hmm. So And it is really good coffee. It is really good coffee. And if you use code Corner, it supports the show. Keeps us running, keeps the lights on, and maybe one day we can get a functional air conditioner that we can have running during the podcast, 'cause it's like a hundred degrees in this room right now. It's we're gonna do great. We we're just gonna feel the peace as we go through this. The the peace of Christ will be glistening off of us today. Yes. Yes. So If you see us wiping our foreheads, it's because we are Well, how do you how did y that work when you were Pentecostal, you know? I was gonna s I was gonna bring up something for when I was a Pentecostal. there was one time when I was on the worship team for the Pentecostal church where the bassist of the church was leading prayer after practice, and he says, Holy Spirit, pour down your liquid love upon us. And intriguing. Boy was I upset. I was very confused. I was like, Do what now? no. That's what sweat is. Liquid love. The dew from heaven upon the face of Eren. I don't think I had ever heard the phrase liquid love applied to anybody or anything before. You know, that sounds like a like a two thousands garage band that your uncle set up and everyone like you shouldn't talk to your uncle. Yeah. Alright, well Eli, speaking of love, let's get into chapter fifty, where Clement talks about the wonder of love. And he says, You see, beloved, how great and wonderful love is not liquid love, but just general love. And there is no description of its perfection. Who is sufficient to be found in it, except whomever God considers worthy? Therefore, let us beg and plead for his mercy that we may be found blameless in love. apart from human partisanship. All the generations from Adam until this day have passed away, but those who were perfected in love according to the grace of God have a place among the godly, who shall be revealed when the kingdom of Christ comes. For it is written, Enter into the inner rooms for a very short while until my anger and wrath pass away, and I will remember a good day and will raise you up out of your grave. Beloved, we are blessed if we carry out the commandments of God in the harmony of So that our sins may be forgiven through love. For it is written Blessed are those whose trespasses are forgiven, and whose sins are covered up. Blessed is the one blessed is the one the sin of whom the Lord does not take into account, and in his mouth there is no deceit. This blessing was given to those who have been chosen by God through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be the glory for ever. Amen. Amen. Amen. Of course for Presbyterians, we're gonna go straight for that last that last verse there. Those who have been chosen by God. Now what does that remind you of? that reminds me of the sovereign grace and election of God. Crazy. It's almost like it's in scripture. Like John, you know, six, where he talks about, you know, the Father choose giving people to the Son, the Son redeeming those people. Yep. Very cool. Yep. And he says, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him and everyone whom the Father draws will come to him. Yes. it's it's for quite clear. those who receive this blessing are those who have been chosen by God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Ephesians one eleven says the same thing that we have been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. Yep. If I'm not butchering the memories the memorization verse again. That's okay. That's that's something I like. You can go you look it up in your fancy KJV. You know what? I will. I've gotta mention this guy got one of those cool he got a new KJV. I'm surprised you don't have it out tonight. Yeah, it's in the house right now. It's not out here. Okay, so we're rocking with the Skylar tonight. Mm-hmm. Nice. Yeah. He says Ephesians one ten that in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him in whom also we have obtained the inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. That we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. Amen. So we are chosen in Christ, predestined in him from before the foundation of the world. Yeah, it's pretty cool that you can have confidence in God 'cause he has confidence in his son. Mm-hmm. We've already completed that work. And it's pretty cool that Paul says this. And then his good best friend Clement says the same thing. I know, I know. It's almost like like they talk to each other. Almost like they talk to each other. Yeah. I don't think I don't think they ever did though. no, no. Obviously not, because obviously Paul didn't exist. Mm-hmm. I just found this out from a Muslim today. No way. Yeah, and Paul didn't exist. No, he's a someone in the two hundreds came up with him, who was trying to compete with Marcion. That's very fascinating. Very fascinating. That's confusing because Clement is written before the two hundreds and is mentioned to Paul multiple times. You know, shoot me. I I was convinced by the Dawah, so shoot me. You know. It's like almost my favorite I had a guy, I was talking to a guy. S you guys are gonna get a little sidebar here. Okay. I had a Muslim talk about it. This was a w this was one of the most incredible conversations. he told me that the reason you knew that Islam was true was that and that Christianity was false was that because Mary was twelve when she was twelve and Aisha was twenty five when she was six. So she looked like she was twenty five. But she was six years But she was six years old, you know. Not that she was still and looked six and looked six. No. No, that she looked I don't know which of those is worse. No, no. That's if you never experienced the doll on TikTok, my friends, it is a pure it is pure joy to be found in Christ to laugh at this. Not la necess well actually, yeah, do laugh at them, laugh at the foolishness of it. but then also preach the gospel to them. Because they do not know it. Right. They do not know it. They we do not worship the same God. No. No, no, we don't. So anyway, apart from that last verse, something that I found very interesting was that the Is in verse three. All those who were perfected in love, according to the grace of God, have a place among the godly who shall be revealed when the kingdom of Christ comes. So we have a revelation of the godly. so we see a little bit of division there between the visible and the invisible. so I enjoy that. Those who are approved, it will they will be revealed. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I thought it was interesting. Verse five. Beloved. We are blessed if we carry out the commandments of God in the harmony of love, so that our sins may be forgiven through love. Yeah. my goodness. Is Sola Fide over? Sola Fide. You know, it's almost like like people haven't had these conversations for the last five hundred years. Yep. You know, Calvin actually talks about this in his response to Trent, canon I believe it's canon nine, I will. pull it up here. Okay. but essentially he says that we d we don't disagree that that true faith is a living faith and that it's worked through and that it works with charity, but that just but that faith itself is the justification for our righteousness before God. but that faith is never alone. That's where you get Calvin's quote there. You know, it may be faith alone, but is but faith is never alone. So that's where it comes in. here's a bit of a tangent. okay. I'm I'm just kinda going through Galatians to try to find that verse 'cause I can't remember where it says that what matters is faith working through love. He says, Galatians three twenty four wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us into Christ that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster, for ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Or as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Almost like baptism saves. Almost like being justified by faith and being justified by baptism are the same thing. No way. Does Scripture actually say that? Sure seems that way. Because he says we are justified by faith, right? We firmly adhere to Sola Fide. For as many of you has as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. No. We believe in infant baptism. We are not saying every single person who's been baptized automatically has faith or automatically is justified. We are assuming when we baptize somebody that they already have faith. Yeah. The baptism is still the sign and seal of the covenant of grace, the sign and seal of regeneration, but we are applying it to someone Because we believe that they are already justified by faith, as Psalm twenty-two talks about, you have been my God for my mother's womb. Wow. Wow, that's amazing. Yeah. It's almost like the reformers were reading this stuff. Stop giving your hard-earned money to pagans. Look, we are Christians, we are reformed Christians, and all of us love coffee. But every dollar you spend on coffee is a vote for what you value. Instead, choose coffee roasted by believers who share your convictions. Why fund the enemy's kingdom when you can keep the money in-house? But not only that, Squirrely Joe's makes fantastic coffee. So far I've tried three of their blends. This here is peace, but my personal favorite is the Covenant Dark Roast. You've reformed your theology. Now it's time to reform your coffee. Head over to squirrelyjoes.com and use code CONRER at checkout for 15% off your first order. That's squirrelyjoes.com and code corner. C-O-R-N-E-R at checkout for 15% off your first order. It supports the show, it supports a great Christian family, and it tastes amazing. Now, back to the show. so I did find that I believe the yes, here it is. So this is John Calvin in his Access The Council of Trent with the antidote. This is on I love that one. It's quite good. So here we go. So hence in justification itself, along with the remission of sin, man receives through Jesus Christ, in whom he is engrafted. All these things infused at the same time, faith, hope, charity, for faith, unless hope and charity are added unto it, neither unites perfectly with Christ nor full forms a a living member of his body. So in this, you know, he's talking about it and he's just Yeah, you're not y truly united to Christ if you don't have faith, hope, and charity. Right. You know, and these are the this is the sanctification. This is the Holy Spirit being in I'm gonna say infused into us. Crazy. so we've Christ's righteousness imputed to us for our justification, which is our how we are righteous before God, but then our sanctification is an infusion. Right. It's our wills being conformed to Christ. Not so that our will Our wills are meritorious, but in in that we are united to Christ, his works acted through us are are meritorious because they are Christ's. Yeah, the the reformers never denied imputation of the righteous or infusion of Christ's righteousness to us. They what what they argue is that it's the imputation of Christ's righteousness which justifies us. We are then infused with his righteousness through the process of sanctification. We become what we already are. We are justified by imputation, and through infusion we become what we are. Mm-hmm. in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. and so I think that's what what Clement is saying here, our sins may be forgiven through love. Well, it's because faith works through love. love is the purest demonstration of our faith. Mm-hmm. I hope that makes sense. I hope so too. Yeah. And in the antidotes here, so I found I found here's Calvin speaking in it. This is Canon eleven, this is his antidote to it. I wish the reader to understand that as often as we mention faith alone in this question, we are not thinking of a dead faith which worketh not by love, but by holding faith to be the only cause of justification. It is therefore faith alone which justifies, and yet the faith which justifies is not alone. Just as it is the heat alone of the sun which warms the earth, and yet in the sun it is not alone, it is constantly conjoined with light. Therefore we do not separate the whole grace of regeneration from faith, but claim the power and faculty of justif justifying entirely for faith as we ought. And yet it is not us that these trident fathers anathemized. Anathematize so much as Paul, to whom we owe the definition that the righteousness of man consists in the forgiveness of sins. And then he goes on to quote Romans 4. these are the words in the fourth chapter to the Romans, Psalm 32. yeah, Calvin's just great. Yeah. Always has been. Always has been. All right, let's continue then through chapter fifty one of Clement. he jumps into schism as schism being antithetical to love, the the direct opposite of what love is. So he says, However then, we have fallen away and whatever we have done through any insidious plots of the opponent, let us ask that we be forgiven. And those who those also who became leaders of the rebellion and dissension ought to pay careful attention to the common hope. And then he goes on to talk about if you're gonna be a leader You need live your life in fear, love, for those that you are in service to as their leader. God hates when leaders in the church abuse the flock. if you read the book of Ezekiel, it is all over that book. God hates shepherds that abuse the sheep. It is one of the things that he hates probably more than anything, because not only is man made in the image of God, but so The shepherds of the church are his representatives. So man is God's representative to all of creation. The shepherds of the church, the pastors, are the representatives of God to the people of God. So there's a a glory on a glory type of of deal with pastors. And so when they are so grossly misrepresenting him, it is atrocious. And also, we need to submit to our elders. as they are God's representatives to us, we must submit to them. Because if we won't submit to them, we are not submitting to God. If we can't submit to the representative of God to that He's given us to be our leaders, then no way are we gonna actually submit to God. Yeah, it's the type and prototype. You know, they When you have a pa a elder and they are given the souls of their flock, that actually means something. And we should be very careful when we go against that shepherding. Very careful. the places where you'd have permission to do that would be where you see direct heresy. And what that would look like is you'd have to follow the prescription given in scripture. You'd have to go to them personally. They do not ac accept counsel or reproach. Those are fantastic. I'm very jealous. but yeah, you'd have to follow the process, you know. And if they're asking you to sin. Right? It's the same the same thing where like a wife can't disobey her husband unless she's unless he's asking her to believe heresy or commit sin. Yeah. Those are your it's all about your hi the hierarchy of duties. You know, how does your values go? you know, my wife has a has a duty to me, but if I'm leading her in the wrong way, her duty is primarily to God. Right. Yeah, you can't if y if your obedience to your husband means disobedience to God. That's bad. That's bad. Now we recognize God has called women to obey their husbands, and God has called everybody in the church to obey the pastors. But there is still a higher authority and they can't override what he said. Yeah. and how do we judge those things, you know? how are the elders of your church supposed to judge? cool thing, we have God's word written for us, and that word is infallible. And I think we got we got this thing here. So the King James. Yes. The only It is the authorized version. It is. The King James Bible, the official sponsor of the Reformed Corner Podcast. I cannot keep this wet. Yeah. And try one more time. Well you a new you a new tobacco, so it's I did it's a different different one for you. It is a very different experience. try try sticking to the end of the match inside. Okay. That might help. Try it. he says in verse three here of chapter fifty one, for it is better for a person to confess concerning his sin than to harden his heart. And then he goes on to talk about how Pharaoh rebelled against Moses. Or not Pharaoh, The ones at the wilderness rebelled against Moses, the servant of God, and they were condemned, and then Pharaoh as well. and so when we are in sin and we don't confess, we don't confess it to God, the natural outplaying of that is hardening your hearts. just as, you know, giving over in to indulgence increases your appetite for the thing in which you're indulging. I was just reading C. S. Lewis yesterday. Christianity is talking about the sexual morality. Mm-hmm. And he says he he has this really great analogy of like strip clubs. yeah. So you know the analogy is not a strip club. He's saying that a society that's so perverted as ours has strip clubs. Yeah and so people go there to indulge in sexual fantasies. you would think it odd if a nation who had like that this is their sexual appetite. This you'd find it odd if another nation or culture had such a such an affinity for food that they had strip clubs for food where you've got a platter of food but it's covered by a sheet or a blanket and they're just like slowly lifting off a little bit to give you a peek at the food. Dude, you're I feel like you're talking to me about Chinese buffets. What you know, you know, you got all the food laid out there and you're Well yeah, and but that's that that's an example of overindulgence and potentially gluttony. Not always. there's a time for celebration. I don't know why you'd celebrate at a Chinese buffet, but hey, there's some pr there's some pretty I guess where we are, there's no like amazing Chinese restaurants, but And so he he floats the hypothesis that well, you know, perhaps it's they're they they would have that if they're famished, right? They're they're starved people and so they have these strip clubs for food. Like sure, that's a potential that's a possible explanation, but that's actually not really the case anywhere. what we instead see in reality is it's people who are overindulged in those things. He said the the the gluttonous as well as the famished will be obsessed with food. The person the person who eats too much all the time is constantly thinking about food, just like the person who's starved. And so the happy the happy medium is in the middle. Someone who has enough to eat, someone who's satisfied with what they have. And you tie that to sexual indulgences as well, or sexual appetite. You don't indulge, you don't obsess. if you obsess over these things, you're gonna be easily swayed. Mm-hmm. And so here he's he Clement is saying it's better for a person to confess concerning his sin rather than harden his heart. because if you don't confess, if you don't bring your sins before God, you are going to just keep going further down this road. You're just gonna keep indulging and growing your appetite for this wickedness. And here he's specifically tying it to schism, dissension, rebellion against your pastors. And so yeah, that the main thing here is what he's saying is confess your sins, obey your elders. Yeah. But aren't we reformed? We don't have like confession, do we? We do. We do actually confession. How does that work? Well, every Sunday there's a portion of our service dedicated to confessing our sins to God and receiving, dare I say, absolution. But that's a Catholic term. No. No, it's not. Jesus said, the whoever's sins you forgive, they are forgiven. When Jesus heals the paralytic man, he says, Son, take up your bed and walk, your sins are forgiven. Or son, your sins are forgiven, take up your bed and walk, right? Wrong order. and the the cr it says there in the text the crowds were astonished that the authority to forgive sins had been given unto men. Weird weird thing to say. If the only person who has the authority to forgive sins is Christ and Christ alone. Well yes, but he delegates that authority to his faithful ministers. Because when they forgive sins, they are doing so under his authority. Christ is forgiving sins through his ministers. Mind blown right now. Mind blown. Yeah. And I'm not a Roman Catholic. No way. No way. That sounds very Catholic of you. Yeah, reformed Catholic, you could say. And then he says he says again in chapter fifty two, brothers, the master has no need of anything at all. He requires nothing except confession to him. That is what Christianity is. True faith is actually confessing with your heart, your soul, your mind, your strength. You truly do believe in Christ, and it plays itself out in the way that you live and the way that you love people, and the way that you love God. Mm-hmm. fifty three, we got we gotta go through this a little bit. We do have to go a little quicker. I'll I can read this one. Yeah. All right. For you know and you know well the holy scriptures, beloved, and you have looked into the sayings of God. Therefore we write these things as a reminder. For Moses, having gone up to the mountain, and having spent forty days and forty nights in fasting and humiliation, God said to him, Go down quickly from here, because your people whom you led out of the land of Egypt broke the law. They have deviated quickly from the way which you commanded them. They cast for themselves molten images. And the Lord said to him, I have spoken to you time and again, saying, I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff necked people. There let me utterly destroy them, and I will blot out their name from under heaven, and make you into a nation great and wonderful, and much more than this. And Moses said, By no means, Lord, forgive the sin of this people, or also blot me out from the book of the living. O great love, O unsurpassable perfection. The servant speaks boldly to the Lord, he asks for forgiveness for the crowd, or he demands himself also be blotted out with them. Notice you have the shepherd of God's people interceding for the forgiveness of God's people. No, Christ is that true shepherd. Christ is the true intercessor. Yet at the same time our pastors are interceding for us. Mm-hmm. this is why they have the authority to say, be at peace, your sins are forgiven in Christ. And all the people reply, Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. All right. I like there at the top he said, beloved, you have looked into the sayings of God. yes. Again emphasizing the the this acknowledgement that the Holy Scripture is the very Word of God. I in the the Reformation Study Bible, mm-hmm there's a great introduction at the very beginning, talking about how the the Bible is the I think it's a vocum dei, the voice of God. And that's just a an interesting way to think about it, 'cause it's yes, it's God's word, but there's something mean more meaningful when we when we think of it as God's voice. Yeah. It's God's word, but it's also his voice. I don't know how to extrapolate the d distinctions, but to me that that hits heart. Yeah, well it's it's the difference between having a reading a book and having it read to you. Mm-hmm. so the scriptures were not written to us, but they are written for us. And and Christ says my sheep hear my voice. Mm-hmm. They know me, they follow after me, they won't follow after another. And so when we have the scripture and we recognize the scripture is the voice of God, we follow the word of God wholeheartedly. Amen. So, going on to f let's see. Fifty four. Fifty four, yeah. therefore, who among you is noble, who is compassionate, who is filled with love? Let him say If there is rebellion and strife and division because of me, I will depart, I will go away wherever you desire, and will do whatever is commanded by the people. Only let the flock of Christ be at peace with its appointed presbyters. Presbyters. I find it so fascinating how frequently Clement is saying presbyter. Whereas other early church fathers use the word bishop a lot. And if you look in the New Testament, the word bishop shows up I think four times at most, maybe less, honestly. the word presbyter is Much more frequent. It is. It is. you know, and that's just because we're reform because we're Presbyterian, we're gonna it's 'cause they're the same thing, and bishop is a an honor more of a like an honorific title for one of the local leaders in the Presbytery. Yeah. But a bishop is a presbyter. Yes. Same exact office. Not a different office, not a different kind. It is still within that that genus of presbyter. Is that the right word? Sure. That's fine. Classification. Yeah, yeah. As you can tell, I did great in school. I didn't. going on, verse three. The one who does this will win for himself great fame in Christ, and every place will welcome him, for the earth is the Lord's and its fullness. These are the things that those who lead their lives without regret in the commonwealth of God have done and will continue to do. So if you're causing stress you know stress, strife, division in the church. And it it's because of you. Clement is recommending that you remove yourself. Yeah. for the peace of the church. Yeah, I remember I was at another church before we joined before I joined the church church that we're at now. And I had a lot of issues with the way that the leadership was taking the church. But I only just joined. Yeah. And I recognized I would be causing division if I'm fighting with the pastors about the way that they're leading the church. If I'm saying, Hey, we need to actually change the way we're doing our music because the way we're doing our music is not actually glorifying to God That would have been cause causing a lot of problems. Mm-hmm. so, you know, we talked about Zoomer a whole lot last time. I know. Reconquista. He's gonna s put like a whole comment list in there. He's probably gonna do a video on what we did wrong. I hope he does. it'd be fine. But staying and fighting is actually not necessarily the right thing to do when you are actually causing division by your staying and fighting. as as he says here, if there is rebellion and strife and division because of me, I will depart. I will go away wherever you desire. Submit to your elders. Mm-hmm. This is why when I was talking to the pastor about the kinds of songs we were singing. He said, This is what we're gonna do. We're not gonna change. So your options are either be okay with it or we'll help you find somewhere else. And that's what happened. Yeah. And that was a good thing. Yeah. So Because because peace and harmony and unity in the church is more important than your preferences. Yes. It's more important than necessarily doing things by the letter. The letter is important. Obviously, I thought it's so important that I I felt like we had to go to a different church in order to be obedient to the letter of the law. But the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace is more important. Amen. So this is why we have different churches. I mean, because God will speak to different people in different ways. And that is totally okay. God is within his right to do so. you know, there's you know, there's churches that are know Happy clappy and people can still worship God rightly and properly in there. and then you have more somber churches, you know, who are you know, hellfire and brimstone. Right. Both of those churches can be equally pleasing in the sight of God. Yeah. I was listening to King Saul last week. Yeah. He's an older episode. I'm only a few episodes behind, so it's not that much older. but they were talking about the the guy who is fully on board with all the stuff that King Saul is doing and, you know, trying to go deeper in more of a liturgical s church service, congregational psalm singing, more robust Christian living, and and bringing all of it in from the church, out of the church, all of it, everything. and they ask, What do you do if you're the only guy in your church that thinks that way? Or just you and a handful of guys. Think that way, and everybody else is thinking differently. It's like, well, you find another church. You don't break this church to try to get them to change. It's it's unloving to do that. Yeah. Amen. Alright. I thought that was good advice. It is good advice. Good advice. Unity is important. And so we're on to Fifty Five. Let's go. Fifty five. He he it's examples of nobility. And he brings up many different examples, including Judith. He says verse four The blessed Judith, when her city was under siege, asked of the elders to permit her to go out into the fortified camp of the foreigners. Therefore, giving herself over to danger she went out because of love for her country and for the people who were under siege, and the Lord delivered Hilophones into the hand of a woman. It's been a bit it's been a bit since I've read Judith. this is saying it's from Judith eight. Yeah. And If I remember right, she cuts his head off and takes it back to the camp. Yeah, yeah. She seduces him and then beheads him. Super based. Yep. Super based. Now, is he saying this is scripture? This is a an apocryphal work. Is he saying it's scripture? No. No. Why do you say that? Well, because we see what the rest of the early church believed. So the church is the church used the word scripture in a different way than we do now. So scripture would referred to something that is read in church or liturgical something part of the the liturgy, of which obviously you have our twenty seven books of the old testament. You're I was at an Anglican church one time and they were they read I think an entire chapter of Narnia as part of the sermon. that's something. Yeah. He said, I know it's not scripture, but I'm gonna read it anyway. Probably shouldn't I probably shouldn't read that in liturgy. but it's something read in liturgy and like Jerome draws a great distinction in this. that we see the works that are God breathed, which is the twenty seven or the twenty two books, you know, fitting with the Hebrew letters. Yep. And then we have the other books that are useful for reading. They're they can still be part of the church service. but they're but we can't put dogmas on them. So him quoting it, I mean, that's not an issue. He's just giving an example. If he was to lay down a dogma that, hey, you know, if you're in danger, if the nation's in danger, well guess what, women, you gotta hike up your skirts and go be heads of generals. I mean and made that a dogma. That might be an issue. That yes, that would be a huge problem because generally not God's calling for most women. No. No. Believe it or not. but he does say in there, you know, verse three, many women being strengthened by the grace of God have accomplished many manly deeds. Mm-hmm. so I mean there is a place for women to hike up their skirts, you know, and get the job done. Yeah. But it's by the grace of God. That's out of context, that is a horrible phrase. shoot, no. That's not what it was. Let's rephrase that. Let's rephrase that. we can just cut this out, right? Nope. Nope. No, this one's saying it. many women s being strengthened by the grace of God can accomplish many manly deeds. They can what is it? be a man. How about roll up your sleeves? Roll up your sleeves. And get the job done. Well I was thinking, you know, hey, you're going through a wilderness, gets like you're doing. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, Because earlier you said Judith seduced Philophrenes and cut it. yeah. Yeah, that is not the context that I want that in. Okay, good. But glad you made that clarification. Yeah. No, but I appreciate you calling me out on that. Well one other one other reason I think it's important we can we can recognize he's not affirming Judith as from the Apocryphal books as scripture, is earlier he referred to the story of the Phoenix as a true story. So he probably believes this is a true story with Judith too, which I think there's a there's a strong case to be made. does does that mean that the legends of the Phoenix belong in the can of scripture? No. Does not. You're supposed to say absolutely. Nope. Nope. Gotta bring the Phoenix. there is no Phoenix referenced anywhere in the text of Scripture. I believe they're real, but I don't believe they are part of the canon of Scripture in the way that dragons, unicorns, satyrs, the cocketress those are all Biblical canon. Leviathan is a particular favorite of mine. That's right. So that's right. This is why we read the King James here on the King James the King James only podcast. Yes. all right. chapter fifty six. He says, Therefore let us also intercede for those who have fallen into any sin, so that gentleness and humility may be given to them, so that they may submit not to us, but to the will of God, for so they will have fruitful and perfect remembrance before God and the holy ones with mercy. This is what I was saying earlier. Moses interceded on behalf of the people, and God forgave the people through through Moses' intercession. Christ is the primary intercessor for us, right? Our sins are forgiven because of the work of Christ and the work of Christ alone. His intercession applies that to us. and the work of the Holy Spirit applies that to us, but at the same time we intercede before God for those who have fallen into any sin. This is, I think reference to first Corinthians five, which again Clement is writing to the Corinthian church. first Corinthians five, the guy's cahootin' with his stepmother, and gets kicked out of the church, handed over the Satan's handed over to Satan so that he may learn not to blaspheme. but the church is to be interceding for him, calling on God to grant him repentance, bring him back into the fold, so that gentleness and humility may be given to them, so that they may submit not to us, but to the will of God. Yeah, I the the passage of scripture that came to me was Job one, where we see Job that you know, his kids would go and they would feast throughout the days, and Job would offer would rise early in the mornings and would offer burnt offerings according to the number of all of them. For Job says in his heart, It may be that my children have sinned and curse God in their heart. And thus J Job did continually. And this is counted as something that is righteous to him. It's something that is seen as a good thing. So, yes, you can intercede for others. Absolutely. That's why we, you know, as part of our prayer for the church and the local body, we bring specific needs from the church to God and say, God help them. Yeah. then he goes on to talk about admonishing one another, Christ or God is is merciful, but he also disciplines and disciplines sometimes with mercy, and he quotes so much. The Old Testament here, in this section. I'm looking at it, there's like seven sentences that are just straight quotations from the Old Testament. I don't know if it's all just off the top of his head remembering or if he just was writing it down because he had the the text of scripture next to him. but again, he really knew his stuff. He really knew the old testament and he knew how to apply it. Yeah. So Alright, so fifty seven? Fifty seven. Alright. We gotta get through this. We do. He says fifty-seven Therefore you who laid the foundation of the rebellion, you be subject to the presbyters and be disciplined to repentance, bending the knees of your hearts. Learn to be submissive, putting away the boastful and arrogant stubbornness of your tongue. For it is better for you to be found small and and reputable among the flock of Christ than seeming prominent and being depraved of this hope. So again, submit to your elders, your presbyters. But again, r remind us what is this situation goes on in Corinth. Yeah, so in Corinth, so from the time of yeah, totally. So from the time of Paul's first and second letters to the Corinthians, they made a great change to the church and things got way better. And then from that time until until Clement, which is probably like ninety-five eighty, that's what most people agree on, The church has gone downhill. They've returned back to their evil ways. And specifically, they have upset the leadership of the church. Those who have been rightfully ordained by Paul and the other ministers have been removed from their offices. So this would be an example of them overthrowing their presbyters or their bishops. Right. And that is a no bleno thing. God has instituted this. You have bishops and deacons. Clement sees that as the fulfillment of prophecy in Isaiah 60. And we see an a succession, almost like an apostolic succession of the presbyters, where they have to be ordained. And we had specific people come up through the ranks of the church and remove them. So when he's saying, Hey, you need to bend the knees of your hearts, they have to remove those usurpers and reinstall the proper leadership. Yeah. And it's important that he says bending the knees of your hearts. Right. It's not just outward submission, but it's inward submission to your elders. Truly submit to them. Not just in the way that it looks but on the inside. Yeah. And in this he says, you know, it's better to be found small and reputable among the flock of Christ than being prominent. Yeah. I think he's saying small to the world, reputable in the flock of Christ. Yes. make sure that your good reputation Is everywhere, right? We want to be of a good reputation. Paul's It's what our works do. You know, they they prove our faithfulness to Christ. so if you have no good works, you're this is gonna sound bad, but you don't have assurance that God is working in your heart. Yeah. And that's gonna look different for everyone. You know, some people are gonna be very Like maybe God working their hearts is a small thing. There are times in my life where God did a small thing and it didn't look like very much until, you know, two, three years later. So, be submissive to your elders. Obey them. Yeah. Don't usurp them. I think one of the primary things that Clement is trying to get across to the Corinthians and to us, right? Again, as as scripture was not written to us but but for us, so also Clement was not written to us but There's so much to gain from it. Yes. Yes. And he he then goes on to cite Proverbs chapter one, verses twenty three through thirty three, ten whole verses. all about wisdom, calling men away from evil and folly and and contempt and instead to be innocent and faithful and again, submissive to your eld s submitting to your elders is godly wisdom. Yep. All right. All right, now we got fifty eight Listening to the advice of the Roman church. Yeah, I don't think it's specifically about Rome, but like in the way that the Papists will take it. But Rome was a prime it had primacy in the early church. We see this. It was a faithful church there. Yeah, no question there. It was a faithful church and it was at the seat of the empire. So obviously prominence was a thing that was granted to that church. So let us therefore let us obey his all holy and glorious name, escaping The threats foretold by wisdom to those who disobeyed, that being confident we may dwell upon the most holy name of his majesty. Accept our advice, and there will be nothing for you to regret. For as God lives and as the Lord Jesus Christ lives in the Holy Spirit, both the faith and the hope of the elect, that he who has done without regret and humility, with eager gentleness and regulation, the regulations and commandments given by God, this one enrolled and included with will be within the number of those who are saved by Jesus Christ, through whom is to him the glory forever. So I love that last passage, that last part particularly. Yes. if you if you obey Christ, you can be sure you are saved. Yes. faithfulness is one of the primary indications that we truly love Christ, right? If ye love me, you'll keep my commandments. Yes. So if you are walking in habitual unrepentant sin, watch out. Repent. Repentance is the surest way of knowing that you're in Christ. at least from our perspective. And then we have, of course, Word and Sacrament. Yes. Where we receive the promises of God given to us and absolution of sins. But if you do so without regret, in humility, with eager gentleness, Obeying the regulations and commandments of Christ, you will be included in the number of those who are saved by Jesus Christ. The elect obey God. It's it's not that hard. It really is not. It's not that hard to understand. It's hard to do, but it's not that hard to understand. Yeah, no. enacting things is significantly harder than just learning about them. Yeah. So this is why Jesus says you'll know a tree by its fruit. yes. Yeah. Yes. so let's read fifty-nine. but if some should disobey what has been said by him through us, they must know that they will entangle themselves in no small sin and danger, but we will be innocent of the sin and will ask, making earnest prayer and supplication that the number of those who are counted among his elect throughout the whole world, the creator of everything, may guard unharmed through his beloved child Jesus Christ, through whom he called us from darkness into light, from ignorance into the knowledge of the glory of his name. Grant us, O Lord, to hope. Upon the source of all creation, your name, and open up the and open the eyes of our hearts to know you, who alone remains highest among the high among the most high, and the holiest among the holies? You humble you who humbles the pride of the proud, who destroys the speculation of the nations, who lifts up the humble to the heights and humbles the proud, who makes the people rich and the people poor, who kills and who makes alive. Who alone is the discoverer of spirits and the god of all flesh, who looks into the depths, the eyewitness of human deeds, the helper of those who are in danger, the Savior of those who are in despair, the creator, the guardian of every spirit, who multiplies the nations upon the earth, and choose from all of those all of them those who love you through Christ through Jesus Christ, your beloved child, through whom you have taught, sanctified, and honored us. We ask you, master, to be our helper and protector, save those of us who are in tribulation. On the lowly have mercy, those who fall, raise to those who pray. Reveal yourself, the sick, heal, those of your people who wander about, turn back, feed those who hunger, ransom your prisoners, raise up those who are weak, encourage those who are discouraged, let all the nations know you that you are the only God, and Jesus Christ is your child, and we are your people, and the sheep of your pasture. Beautiful word in that that paragraph there, that prayer. Yes. Directly to God, asking intercession for us and for the people in general, the nations, right? It's not he's not just praying for the Church of God, he's praying that all men would know him. Mm-hmm. I thought it was really interesting that first line. But if someone if someone should disobey what has been said by him, that is God, through us, the us. I think that's the bishops and the presbyters. Not the Roman church. No, not necessarily the Roman church. You'd have to prove that. but we see in scripture, you know, like we said, the entire point of this, like this section, that the entire point of Clement is that your elders and your bishops are vital to the church. Yeah. You need to submit to them. And when they bind something to the conscience of your church, you need to be obedient to them. Yeah. Because God has put them in those in that Position. you you need a very good reason to disobey, other than I just didn't want to. I didn't feel like it. It needs to be what they're binding to my conscience is actually outside of the will of God, outside of the express written scriptures. Yeah. And so this would go into like a derivative authority. So we as Presbyterians, you know, we hold to the Westminster Confession of Faith. that is a binding document upon our consciences. So we need to be able to show From the word of God if something in it's not true. Or we need to show or we need to submit ourselves to it because it is a binding authority. Correct. So also I just I love that from verse four on. That is such a good doxology. Absolutely. I may bring that just into my own prayer life because that is just it's absolutely beautiful. Yeah. I appreciate the spirit who I appreciate that the Holy Spirit spoke through Clement. I do hold like obviously I hold the Westminster Confession of Faith. So confessionally I believe that Hebrews was written by Paul. I don't think Westminster actually I think it's just the Belgian confession. Just the Belgian confession. Okay. Well I'm gonna hold the Westminster then. but you know, our confessions say that. It was Paul who wrote Hebrews. But in this, like I I read so much of this and it's it's very reminiscent to me of Hebrews. Yeah. So just as a personal choice, like I think it would be fantastic if Clement actually wrote Hebrews. Yeah. So I agreed. and someone But I do think it's Paul. probably Paul. But we can you know, we can affirm that the spirit speaks through someone and it not be scripture. Explain that. well, it's the same thing with I'll give an example. So we have our we have a command in scripture that we need to go forth and preach the gospel to all the world. And we're told that y we shouldn't worry if we're brought before anyone. You know, if we're brought brought before a ruler, because the words that we speak will not be ours, they will be the Holy Spirit's. In that same way, when our pastors, when our bishops, deacons come up and they in the liturgy express what is written in scripture. They are being guided by the Holy Spirit. Right. as long as it's in accordance with scripture, you can make that affirmation completely because our it's a derivative authority. It's deriving God's word and applying it to our lives. Yeah. So Yeah. Excellent. Excellent explanation. chapters sixty and sixty one prayer for harmony and peace respectively. And again it's it's more him praying to God, right? So he he didn't finish his prayer there in ch in chapter fifty nine, verse is it it's not sixteen. Verse four? Yeah, it's a long ver it's a long verse. All these all these footnotes here confuse me about what's actually the verse and what's yeah. It's it's verse four. Tonight I might have accidentally said the footnote number instead of the verse number. I hope it didn't do too. Well you know, if you're going along with us on Logos, you know exactly what he was referring to. Yeah, you drop a comment down, let me know. You can if I where I screwed up. but yeah he didn't end there in verse four. He continues his prayer in chapters sixty and sixty one and his his whole thing that he's asking for is that God would bring peace and harmony to the church. And that is the point of this letter. It's specifically to the Corinthian church. But it's applicable to all churches. It is not good for a church to be characterized by dissension, infighting, disunity, and quarrelling. We need to be a united people. And it's such a tragedy that the church at large is also categorized by quarrelsomeness and and fighting with each other. we hold to branch theory. the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Protestant Church are all branches of Christianity and sp specifically within Protestantism, there's many different branches. Yes. but that's actually not good. It's still one tree, but we want it to be more visibly united. Yes. And so I mean the w the way I see it how it would work ideally is we just we s we go into communion with each other. Yeah. Because those who are 'cause the churches who are in communion are visibly united. you see this like the mainline Protestant churches are all in communion with each other. they're also in communion with Satan, but a lot last week. We did. but I'm just we're using it as an example. Yes. But the like Napark, they're in communion with each other. You see I mean even recently there are there were discussions like in the last like thirty years of Eastern Orthodoxy recognizing Anglican Yep. with those those dreaded female bishops that's what kept them out. Super based, by the way. Super based. Of the Orthodox Not the Anglicans. No. but there's discussion about that. Pope Leo has stated that it's his it's his desire to see the the Eastern Orthodox churches and Rome come into full communion with each other. Which I think would have been awesome. And and the Protestants. I mean this has been I think the best part about Protestantism is that we have helped guide the rest of the visible body of Christ into recognizing that there's a church outside of you. Yeah. Th there would have been no acknowledgement of that whatsoever without the Protestants. I mean go I mean you can read any of the councils between Rome and the East. They anathmize anathematize each other. Constantly. You the filioque. Anyone who holds the filioque is damned by God. They are cursed by God. and now we're starting to see that language kind of fade. it's being used less. And more than that, you know, recently had the Pope go out with the Patriarch of Constantinople and recite the Nicene Creed together. Of course they left out the Philosoph, but you know, through the sun is just as valid as and the sun. which wasn't in the original Nicene Creed, but we still look at it and we see, hey, there's visible unity coming to the church. Yeah. Which we should all be praying for. we should all pray that the you know the hellish nature of the PC USA is removed from it. We should all pray that for the ELCA, we should pray that for that for the for the Anglicans, you know. Yeah, as critical of as we are of the the Reconquista movement, we're very critical. But we would love it to succeed. Dude, Redeem Zilber, if you can do that, like all the power to you. Mm-hmm. All of the power to you. All all the praise and glory to God. But hey, dude, I'll give you a high five a handshake and I'll buy you a cigar, you know? But the are what we see in the PCOSA is it's a church that's lost its lamps. That's lost lamp stand. It's been removed. And so we're seeing the the effects of God's judgment on it. Right. so why go back to Sodom? Yeah. Yeah, don't go back to Sodom, it's it's about to be burned. Yes. but God could bring repentance and that's what the Reconquista movement is trying to promote, that God would bring repentance to the mainline churches. They say that, but they also I mean, we see I I'm gonna harp on it, but women pastors. Yeah, that's a big deal. That's a big deal. That's a big issue. So like Richard, you can't say in one breath that you are a historic mainline branch that holds the confessions and also deny what's specifically stated in the confessions. Mm-hmm. Can't do it. Can't do it. You can't deny Paul when he says that the elders of the church Have to be husbands of one wife. That means that they can't be wives. They can't be women. Yeah. Can't be lesbians. Can't be lesbians. No. Can't be gay. Can't be gay. No. There's a lot of exclusion in Paul's language and the sinful inclusivity of the mainline churches has has been one of the reasons why we think its lampstand has been removed. so and now we're just seeing the the effects of that. Fortunate as that is. So I did want to read one verse from chapter sixty one. He says verse three. This is the actual verse, not the footnote. Are you sure? yes. Verse three the only one able to do these things and even better things for us. To you we give praise through the high priest and defender of our souls, Jesus Christ. So God is the only one who can do it through Christ, who is the high priest. Which lends credence to your theory that. Clement wrote Hebrews because that's all he knows as well. He knows Hebrews. He knows Hebrews right here. but it's important to recognize the early church acknowledged Christ is the high priest. Yes. there's not a I don't think the Roman Catholic Church would say that the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, is the high priest of the church. They would say he's the head of the Bishop of the Vicar, the Vicar. but here the Pope of Rome is affirming Christ is the high priest. Defender our souls. Yeah. Notice he doesn't say Mary, the defender of our souls. Yeah, there's been a lot of that going on online with the Orthodox and Cleve to Antiquity. Yeah. I can't believe that Cleve got rebaptized. Like what a Donatist. That's a Eastern Orthodox thing. They believe in that. They they do not believe there's any validity in baptism outside of the Orthodox Church. I I understand that, but it's Yeah, it's it's a Donatus schism. They recognize the Roman Catholic they do recognize the Mass. they recognize the apostolic succession. you know, it's in the emergencies a Roman Catholic priest can give the Eucharist to a Orthodox parishioner. It has happened, it can happen. it's obviously only in emergencies, but you still see that as a concession. Right. Which would not have been the case before the Reformation. No. No. I mean you did have some Everyone should go read the up on the Council of Florence when the all the four patriarchs agreed to submit to Rome and then the body did not accept it and then they reversed their decision. Yeah. Yeah. We're I just realized we are almost there. We are almost done. sixty three or sorry, sixty sixty two. Sixty two. he summarizes what He's talked about thus far in the letter. And again, the main thing repentance, genuine love and self control and moderation, endurance, we need to be living actually as Christians. And so we have to be at peace with one another, we have to be obeying our elders, in unity, we need to be living in love and self control and moderation and true biblical temperance, not the hyper pietistic temperance that we saw in the eighteen nineteen hundreds I think that's right. Whenever Graham crackers cornflakes were invented. We can get into that another time. It's it's a wild found out about that? Yeah. anyway, he's yeah he's he's a he's encouraging the Corinthians to live faithfully as true Christians, humble minded, pleasing to the Father, in love and peace with eager gentleness. and then he says in chapter thirty three, to hear the wisdom of repentance. that's the section heading that is is given to this here by the translator. we're to be living in a position of obedience, ceasing from the futile rebellion that the Corinthian Church has been categorized or characterized by lately, we may obtain the goal truly set before us without any blemish. For you will give joy and exaltation to us if, being obedient to what was written by us through the Holy Spirit, you do away with the disgusting anger of your jealousy according to Which we have made with peace and harmony in this very letter. So is he saying this letter is written by the Holy Spirit? Yeah. Explain that. and if it was, why is it not part of the canon? Well, because we recogni I mean, cool thing was there are this was part of the liturgical canon for many, many churches early on. But it's not recognized as I guess ecumenical. this was a specific no church affirms first Clement as actual scripture. It's not it's not used for dogma. But you can still affirm that it was inspired. Yeah. You know it's inspired in the same way that the scriptures are inspired? not necessarily. I'd say I draw a distinction. not necessarily it's from the same source, but there's a distinction to it. first Clement is not written as scripture. It doesn't necessarily view itself in that same light, but it does view itself as inspired by whole by the spirit. And we should see it too. You know, he is a faithful bishop. There's probab there's a council of presbyters behind it, and they are writing to a blaspheming church. And so when we see we could see this happen, you know, canon the canons of Dort. They're written as a response to the Armenians. Yeah. I see it as inspired by the Holy Spirit. Mm-hmm. does that mean it's on the same it's true, it's correct. It's in accord with scripture. Mm-hmm. It's a derivative of scripture. It's a derivative of the same from the same source. So it's a derivative inspiration? Yeah. and so we just look at it and we say, Okay. Yeah. It it appears to be written by the Holy Spirit because it's in accordance with scriptures. It's written to a blaspheming church. And so we can read it and feel very confident in it. Yeah. So that's right. chapter sixty four he says, Finally the all seeing God and Master of Spirits, and Lord of all flesh, who chose out the Lord Jesus Christ, and us through him for a specially acquired people. May he give to all souls who call upon his magnificent and holy name faith, reverence, peace, endurance, and patience, self control, purity, moderation, so that being found pleasing to his name through our high priest and defender Jesus Christ, through whom through whom to him be glory, and The glory in the majesty, power, and honor both now and for all eternity. Amen. Ending there with a doxology and an acknowledgement of divine election. Fantastic. Chosen in Christ to be a specially acquired people. Yep. And then we have his final request and his benediction. Now those who are s it's kind of like a you know a PS statement on a letter. Now those postscript for those of you who have never written a letter. To be clear, the past few chapters were a prayer to God in the letter, and now he's d addressing the Corinthians again. Now those who were sent from us, Claudius, Ephesius, and Valerius Beto, along with the Fortunatus, send them back to us very soon, in peace, with joy, so that they may report quickly the peace and harmony prayed for and greatly desired by us, so that we may also soon rejoice about your stability. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you and with everyone everywhere who have been called by God through him, through whom to him be the glory, honor, power, majesty, and eternal throne from eternity into eternity. Amen. Amen. The letter of the Romans to the Corinthians. And that's it. That's it. We made it. We did it. It's only a hundred and two in here. I'm not sweating as much as I thought I would. No. But takeaways. Takeaways. Protestantism is vindicated. Sol Solofide, vindicated. the authority of the elders of the church. Vindicated. Presbyterianism. Vindicated. We're just gonna say we're right about everything. That's right. Yeah. And you know we are because we're authorized, because we're the King James only podcast. Yeah, it's it was it was such an excellent journey going through this. He was so pastoral the whole way through. He knew what he was about. He knew what time it was for the Corinthians. They are in serious danger. They are about to lose their lampstand. He is writing to them, imploring them eagerly and earnestly that they would repent. And I think it would do well the church would do well to heed his admonitions. Absolutely. And this is a letter I think that could be sent to any number of churches now. it would do all of us good to take time and Hey, have a Bible s have take one of your Bible studies, may maybe not substitute for a Bible study, but a like one of your book studies, and go through Clement and say, hey, here's what Clement saw in the first century church. Is anything here applicable to us? And how does Clement prescribe restitution and resolution? so that would be my recommendation. And then the other part about it that I've really enjoyed has been his doxologies and his prayers throughout the entire letter where it's constantly and consistently attributing all the glory to God. Yeah. As it should be. Yep. there is no glory found in us. That is not from Christ. That's right. So now next up next podcast episode we got special episode. Yes. it's gonna be a break from the Apostolic Fathers. I I I sat down with my friend Doctor Skipper Cagmaster to talk about why theistic evolution is dumb. And why biblical creationism is the true and correct understanding of the science, not just of the scripture, but specifically of the scripture. And after that we're gonna be going into Ignatius. we're not gonna do second letter of Clement because it's widely affirmed, I think by all traditions. Clement didn't write second Clement. Yeah, we don't have any confirmation. The closest you'll get is someone saying that this is a like a homily from him that someone may have written down, but it's not we don't have any confidence in it being written by Clement. Yeah. Yeah. And so since we we don't really know and we can't really believe with any degree of certainty that Second Clement was written by Clement, we are going to skip that one and jump over to Ignatius. He's got a lot of letters, to the Ephesians, Magnesians, Tralians, Romans, Philadelphians, Sumerians, and Polycarp who was a giga chad of the early church. So good. and so we're gonna be going through Ignatius next and we're gonna try to do it a lot faster. we are not planning to read every single line like we mostly did here through time. instead we're gonna be going through the best of Ignatius, the highlights. do you want to just do like a podcast per letter? Yeah, I think we can do one podcast per letter for Ignatius because that's gonna give us several seven or eight. He is the church father that Protestants supposedly fear and we're gonna show you guys Protestants have no need to fear Ignatius. and it's again it's important to i interpret Ignatius in light of the scriptures and in light of all of the early church, not to reinterpret the rest by Ignatius. Yes. Ignatius is not a singular authority over the rest of the church. He's an important church figure and an important church father, and we love and appreciate Ignatius. There will be probably some things we have, some minor quibbles and disagreements with him on. But we hold him in great esteem. We honor Ignatius. Yeah. And you're gonna see that as we go through his his letters here on the podcast. And he's just like super based. Yeah. He's fantastic. So yeah, so we'll go through Ignatius and then after Ignatius, we're doing Polycarp and then Didicay. And then Diddekay. And if you guys were following along at all with my podcast a year or two ago. I started this podcast with some friends of mine. We did the we did Didicay already. But we're gonna do it again, me and Eli. And we're gonna go through it a little bit more clearly and a little bit more concisely too. And we're gonna have a great time. So we'll s we'll do a rain check on concisely given our history. Given our history, yeah. Anyway, thank you guys so much for joining us tonight on the Reform Corner Podcast. again, remember to leave a like, comment, and subscribe. Give us five stars on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and Whatever else I'm going to upload this. I don't know. All this text stuff. And if you dislike the video, just press the dislike button twice. Yes. Thank you, Zoomer, for that. All right. Thank you guys so much. We'll see you in about two weeks. Take care and God bless. God bless.