Shindig Sermon

11/10/1483

7/2/1505 - became a monk

lightning storm - cried out to St. Ann, i will become a monk

feared for his soul so tried to save it

joined most rigorous monastery - augustinian order of friars

his only focus was saving his soul

15 years of daily sacrifice - torturing himself

like self freezing, almost froze himself to death

ordained priesthood april 1507

taught philosophy, and then was able to teach the Bible

luther would confess sins for hours at a time

luther understood God’s holiness and man’s need for perfection

received doc degree in theology from university of wittenberg at 28

chair of biblical theology at wittenberg for rest of his life

taught on psalms, romans, hebrews, galatians

his heart begins to wonder

in 1517, pope leo x authorizes indulgences to be sold

reduction of punishment for sin

deceased love ones could get out if the people alive would give enough money

“the moment a coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs”

when luther heard this, he went off

on oct 31, 1517, he nails 95 theses to the castle door of wittenberg

he had been studying scripture

and realizing that the church had been mis-interpreting repentance, as do penance

his student take them and publish them across germany

pope leo denounced his teachings

summoned luther to rome....luther didn’t want to go

luther states the pope could err....john huss was executed for saying this same thing

1518 - luther discovers the true meaning of righteous ( rom 1:17 )

luther thought God was only a God of righteous wrath

meditating day and night luther finally discovers that the righteousness of God is attained through faith, a gift of God

righteousness of God revealed by the Gospel

discovered the love of God

when we think justification, are we thinking legal, or personal?

marriage picture

leipzig appearance with martin eck

luther directly looks at him, “pope and councils can err, scripture can’t. therefore a single layman armed with infallible scripture can reject what a fallible pope says”

jun3 15, 1520 - papal bull issued - death sentence

excommunicated unless repenting = no salvation according to the catholic church

Luther was just emboldened

published 3 treatises

one of them, “The Freedom of the Christian” he says this, “even anti-christ himself, if he were to come, could think of nothing to add to this papacy’s wickedness”

luther than burned the papal bull

Luther was bound by the Scriptures

Diet of Worms, 1520

He could not, he would not recant anything

“I cannot submit my faith either to the pope or to the council, because it is as clear as noonday that they have fallen into error and even into glaring inconsistency with themselves. If, then, I am not convinced by proof from Holy Scripture, or by cogent reasons, if I am not satisfied by the very text I have cited, and if my judgment is not in this way brought into subjection to God’s word, I neither can nor will retract anything; for it cannot be either safe or honest for a Christian to speak against his conscience. Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise; God help me! Amen.”

He was given 21 days of safe passage away from the council

The emperor condemned luther to death…and anyone, at anytime could kill him without fear of punishment

his friends however, kidnap luther and take him to the castle at Wartburg

changed his name to Friar Tuck

Luther decided to translate the entire NT into German

In 1525, he got married to an ex-nun

had 6 children

1537 - tightness in chest, dizzy spells

black plague is rampant

opens his home as a hospital for those who are sick

his youngest son almost dies because of his hospitality

he continued to get worse....acid, kidney stones, arthritis, heart problems, severe digestive disorders

he actually would famously boast about how loud it was when he broke wind!

he recovered somewhat, and kept working for four more years

1541, he finally lost his life

last words, “we are beggars, this is true”

he knew he was unlovely

he knew he was beggarly

and here is what he realized. God doesn’t love us because we are lovely. God loves us in spite of who we are

preached over 7,000 sermons

i’m at like 100

Luther wasn’t perfect

anti-semitism

was used to fuel the Germany Nazi rhetoric

how thankful luther is that justification is by faith alone

application

luther saw the centrality of Scripture. The spirit of God and the Word of God are tied together. Apart from the Word of God being acted on by the Spirit of God, we are hopeless

luther understood the importance of being faithful to the word of God. preach the text, in context, and get out of the way

the gospel is Christ coming to us through the sermon