The Reformation
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And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Tonight we will be talking about how God has been at work throughout all history - the Bible says He works all things together for the good of those who love Him. God is working, and He continues to work today. Also Jesus says to us in the great commission at the end of the gospel of Matthew, that He will be with us always, even to the end of the age.
Tonight we will be exploring an event that happened between when the Bible was written, and our day in age today. I believe it’s important to have an understanding of what happened from then to now.
Draw out a timeline on white board
Biblical time
Present day at Belgrade Alliance
But what happens here?
Dates of when the last book of the Bible revelation was written.
A brief summary of the early church/Roman empire. -> Growth of the church.
16th Century AD.
What did the church look like in the 16th Century AD?
In this time there was the Catholic church church, and they are very different then the early church. What happened?
Drift away from Bible
Adding tradition
Church = more authority than God’s word
Corruption = people caring about power and serving themselves
manipulation
false teachings
The commandments that we explored last week were not being kept!
Not only this, the common folk, like you and me, could not read the Bible in our own language! The Catholic church considered translation to be corrupting of the text and there is a high probability I would be burned at the stake for what I am doing right now.
So it’s not a good situation, on top of this, people had to do good works to be saved!
confession to priests
A practice that was happening at this time was a practice called indulgences.
Priests would sell indulgences to raise money for the catholic church, however a lot of this profit would be raised for archbishops and the pope to grow in power/influence. They said that for those who bought indulgences they would shorten the time they would spend in purgatory, an unbiblical in between place (between heaven and hell). Not in the Bible, whatsoever.
This brings us to Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a Monk, the guys who had shaved heads and would read/write a lot. He lived in Germany and was also a professor at the University of Wittenberg.
Martin Luther saw people in the church selling these papers for money using really strange advertisements. He thought it was messed up that they were advertising salvation that people can buy.
Slide to Martin Luther Nailing the Papers to the door
So on October 31st 1517, Martin Luther wrote 95 theses, or reasons why this practice and the heart behind it was wrong, and he nailed it to the door of the church in Wittenberg Germany!
There is something really important to add that happened 2 years after this. Martin Luther spent time memorizing scripture, reading, and learning but he didn’t understand the good news after all of this! He put the weight on himself to do good in order to be saved. However in 1519, he says he was reading the book of Romans and something clicked. Instead of relying on good works to be saved, doing religious practices, he read where Paul writes, “He who through faith is righteous shall live”. Martin Luther after all his studies realized it’s not about what we do. Ephesians says.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
It’s not about what we do! Martin understood this and he was saved!
Explain who Pope Leo X and Charles V were
Diet of Worms
Luther escapes to Wartberg / Junker George
Translated the New Testament in 4 MONTHS!
Eventually returns to Germany to resume his teaching at Wittenberg.
People from around Europe read his writings and move to Germany to be under his teaching. Martin Luther is known as one of the first reformers of the Church. Because the Emperor Charles was distracted from warring countries surrounding him, he couldn’t stop Martin Luther from being used to bring the truth back into the church.
The Reformers held the Bible as the authority, and the church under that.
We live by the word of God, and test everything by it.
Key take aways!
God was at work in this time to save lives!
We are saved by faith in what God has done for us, not in any good work!
We will be attacked for standing up for what’s true!