11-02-08 Sermon Review

Thank God for the Reformation
Luke 24:13-35

This past Halloween, when many in America were celebrating what we call Halloween, a few of us decided to spend the time to celebrate what God was doing in a town called Wittenburg in Germany. 491 years ago, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenburg Cathedral. Most scholars mark this day as the beginning of what we know as the Reformation.

What is so great about the Reformation that I am willing to take a break this week and dedicate a sermon to reflect upon it? To say it simply, the Reformers paved the way for us to enjoy the truths and blessings that we know and experience today. The blessings we enjoy such as a bible in our hand, the teachings that confronted heresy that we now hold dearly, both were in some sense a product of God's work in the Reformation. The Reformation was also one of the greatest work of God to bring people to Himself that we know of in all of Church history. If we truly desire God to work again in our day, it would do us well to reflect upon the Reformation.

Before I get into the reason why I believe the Reformation was as powerful as it was, let's take a look at the events that led up to the Reformation. The time of the Reformers was all-together different from the present day. For centuries, the light of the Gospel was being ignored, put under a table. The Church had become nothing more than an organization whose top leaders were simply vying for power. 200 years before Martin Luther came around, the Avignon Papacy began. As Kings were rising to power, they were able to tax all the gold that was shipped out of their domain. This made the Kings rich, and the Catholic Church was getting less money by the day. Therefore, instead of going back to biblical theology, the rulers decided to compete for money. in 1378, Pope Gregory the 9th brought the papacy back to Rome where he soon died. This is where it gets really interesting. A group of bishops wanted to revitalize the Roman primacy, but soon realize they chosed the wrong man for the job. The other bishops at Avignon decided to set up their own Pope, and so began what we now know as the Great Schism. The Church at this time was more concerned about power rather than faithfulness to God and to Scripture.

Something else that started was Indulgences. As the Church was growing poorer, in some sense, they needed to employ something that would bring money back into their treasury. How sad that this money-driven mentality started such heresy as the indulgences that takes advantage of the biblically illiterate. Johan Tetzel would go around saying, "As soon as a coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs!" They promised that their offering would shorten time in purgatory for themselves or for their loved ones who have gone before them. Not only was this bad theology, heresy to say the least, it was also exploitation! Salvation now become something to be bought rather than received from God.

Not only were the people being exploited, but they were also kept from handling Scripture for themselves. Only the priests were allowed to handle God's Word. The Bible was almost entirely in Latin at that time, and so the common people had no access to a Bible in their own language. When the light is kept under a table, it cannot brigthen the room. These times were dark times.

And that is why the Reformation was like a beam of light piercing this gloomy darkness, shedding warmth and clarity to poor souls who have never seen the bright noon sun. The Reformers were returning to biblical studies and were once again striving for biblical fidelity. John Calvin, Martin Luther, Balthasar Hubmaier are a few more notbale figures who were teaching the Bible to the people. When Calvin fled France and entered Geneva, he decided to start his own institute. On opening day, 900 students showed up. Luther, after being excommunicated by the Roman Church, hid and spent years translating the Bible into German. Balathasar Hubmaier would baptize 300 people in one year in one city and 1,200 in the region of Moravia. A return to Scripture sparked a revival. Many lost their lives. But many gained the salvation of their souls.

So a return to biblical teaching spearheaded this great revival. It was the commitment to biblical teaching that allowed these men to help lost souls. People were being freed from the yoke of tyranny and legalism, and were finding justification by faith alone as the Scripture teaches. The commitment to Scripture and to Scripture alone by the Reformers is summed up in Martin Luther's response at the Diet of Worms: "Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason – I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for each have contradicted each other – my conscience is captive to the Word of God… Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.”

Would it be safe to say that if the Reformation never happened, we would not have a copy of our own Bible today? If it was not the Reformation, I truly believe that God would have used another means by which He would have gotten His Word to His people. But the fact is this: God did use the Reformation to provide for His people for ages to come. If we truly see the Word of God as precious, the truths of the Scripture as precious, Christ as precious, than thank God for the Reformation.

This is my prayer, that God would raise up men as He did in the days of the Reformation who are committed to Scripture. I pray that God would bring sweeping revival in America, that He would free these lost souls from the yoke of materialism. I pray He accomplishes this by the clear teaching of His Word as He did in the Reformation. Stay strong and God bless!