So somebody's there might be a group of people they might have some leaders an elder or two or part-time But you discovered the confession and they're like, yeah, we want to go in that direction The people aren't there. So how to bring people in that direction towards a full subscription? I guess we should define what that means without losing people. Yeah, can that be done?

And and how how do you go about that? Yeah, I think it can be done. It has been done. I mean, when I looked at that question, the first text that I thought of was Paul's closing admonition to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and teaching.

So, I think that it's wise if the man of God has a conviction on full subscription to the confession, he needs to be patient. He can't ram it down the throats of those who he thinks should receive it. You've got to be faithful. You've got to be long-suffering.

Teaching the confession is probably one of the best ways to cultivate a confessional mindset. You know, some people are exposed to the Calvinism in a confession, and then they think that, oh, I'm confessional. No, Calvinism or Reformed theology or doctrines of grace are obviously taught in our confession, but it far transcends that. And so, the people of God need to be taught the entirety of the contents of the document.

It should be explained. It should be demonstrated scripturally. It should be shown. And again, with that mindset of long-suffering and patience and don't try to force it and don't lay down ultimatums.

If people don't get this in three months, then I'm going to leave or whatever. You got to just be patient. And, you know, hierarchically, I think there are doctrines, you know, if it were me and I was trying to bring a church to a position, a full subscription to the confession, I would certainly capitalize on and take pains to teach chapter 2. I think there's some big problems on theology proper in the church as a whole.

So, I would definitely want to go there. I'd want to go to chapter 8 and I'd want to teach on Christ the Mediator because, again, I perceive some problems when it comes to the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. I would definitely visit initially those chapters that even if persons don't end up full subscriptionists, they're better theologically and hopefully will be more useful in whatever church they end up in. So, yeah, that's kind of how I think I would go.

And certainly chapter 7, I mean, I'm going to just start rattling off chapters now. They're all good, right? Chapter 7, you know, the thing that distinguishes the Second London Confession from much of Calvinistic Baptist theology is our view of covenant theology. And so, it's important that the people of God who are looking into the Second London understand the architecture of covenant, and they need to understand that that's kind of what You know, we hang our hat on when it comes to the way God works in and through His Son to save people from their sins.

You know, the things that are specifically distinctive to Reformed Baptists, yeah, it's going to take some time. Chapter 22 of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day. Religious worship, you know, the regulative principle of worship, it's a tough pill for a lot of people to swallow. Coming out of churches where there's banjos and and pony shows and whatever, you know, you come into one of our churches and it seems by comparison boring, which I take great objection to.

I don't think it's boring at all. But then the Sabbath day, you know, the Sabbath day and the identification or the perpetuity of the fourth commandment, it's a tough nut for some people to swallow. And so, again, I think patience, faithfulness, and perseverance, and teaching from Scripture these things is the best way to bring people along. What's come to mind is it's got to be integrated through the regular preaching, because you won't get everyone out to a Wednesday night Bible study or a Saturday morning.

It's got to be in the preaching, preaching the text, verse by verse. Which is great, because our confession doesn't do anything other than summarize biblical truth. So it's not like I can't preach on covenant from the Bible, or I can't preach on Sabbath day from the Bible, or I can't preach on, you know, theology proper Christology from the Bible. Of course, I can.

And I think good faithful preachers that have that context or that 1689 mindset Yeah, they not only preach exegetically specific texts, but they do systematic theology as well, connecting it with other texts and other things, dealing with objections to the doctrine, and so on. So, yeah, I think it can and should be done with patience and with, you know, a desire to promote the glory of God and the good of the people. I honestly think that Christians that adopt one of these confessions, they should be happier and more well-adjusted, and they know their Scriptures more. I think it's a great explanation.

I certainly am, so I'm thankful for it.