Few will argue with the fact that God’s hand was on John Knox during the protestant reformation in Scotland. His life’s work was to restore the doctrinal truths of the sufficiency of Jesus Christ alone for salvation, which had been lost in the rituals and rites of the Catholic church for hundreds of years. But the leadership of Knox went beyond that of recovering truth, to establishing innovative practices for the context in when he ministered. He was mightily used of God and yet did not hold to a strict regulative principle. In this talk from April 2021 of this year, Pastor Murray brings to light some of the fascinating methodological approaches that John Knox utilized.
My ears perked up when Pastor Murray spoke of the role of “exhorter.” I had heard of this spoken of again and again by preachers through the years, but never really knew what they did, nor the origin of their role. But this was one of the innovations that are spoken of as being proposed and supported by John Knox. Although Pastor Murray does not speak of it, I do know that Knox started the practice of using communion coins (which I am quite fond of collecting, a historic church relic that is actually affordable) to fence the Lord’s table. In this audio, Pastor Murray brings out other practices that need to be considered for their potential usefulness in our day.
This encourages me by reminding me that I can remain doctrinally pure, and yet not be so rigidly tied methodologically so as to be completely ineffective to the people I am called to shepherd and reach with the gospel of Christ Jesus. I hope you will take the time to give it a listen.
