Matthew 28 verses 16 - 20
Romans 10 verses 5 -15
We are the heirs or the spiritual descendents of the eleven disciples
or apostles,
who witnessed Jesus' death
and His resurrection,
and spent over 5 weeks with Him
before He ascended into heaven
where He is seated at the right hand of the Father.
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We are the heirs or the spiritual descendents of the apostles
and the rest of the 120 Christians,
who were gathered in that upper room in Jerusalem
on the Day of Pentecost
when the Holy Spirit came down upon them in the form of wind
and tongues of fire
and filled them with ‘dunamis’
giving birth to what is now called the Christian Church.
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Along with all the other Christians who have ever lived
and who live around the world today,
we are believers in the Triune God,
One God in Three Persons,
Whom we address as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
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We do not worship Allah, or Ganesha or Shiva, or Mars or Venus,
or Woden or Thor;
we do not believe that faith in Gautama the Buddha
or Guru Nanak or Muhammad,
can result in eternal salvation
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We confess the beliefs listed in the ancient Creeds,
that there is only One God, the divine trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit;
and that God's only-begotten Son Jesus Christ
who died on the cross and rose again on the third day,
is our Saviour and Lord;
and that it is the Holy Spirit Who brings us to God’s grace,
not any knowledge, or merit, or money, or attribute of ours
and this is the message that in Matthew 28 v. 20
Jesus told His disciples to preach
until the very end of the age.
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To all these things, Martin Luther employed the phrase:
‘This is most certainly true’
and that is our confession also.
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According to the Book of Genesis, God created the world;
it did not just happen as an accident.
If there was a ‘Big Bang’, then God caused it to happen
on the 1st day.
Nothing has ever happened unless He made it happen.
To this, we also say: ‘This is most certainly true’.
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According to Genesis 1 verse 26
God made man in His image
and in His likeness;
and man was created to rule over God’s created things,
the physical environment, the fish of the sea and the birds of the air,
over the livestock, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.
We are not evolved apes;
monkeys who gradually dominated other animals
through a process called ‘Survival of the fittest’.
We are essentially different from all other life forms
in that we have spirits,
which will either spend eternity with God
or spend eternity in damnation;
no animal has anything to look forward to, or fear,
on the Day of Judgement.
To this, we also say: ‘This is most certainly true’.
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According to the closing verses of Matthew’s Gospel
Jesus told His disciples to go and preach the Good News of salvation,
the forgiveness of sin, the availability of eternal life,
to those who could never earn or merit it by their own devices.
To this also, we go on record as saying: ‘This is most certainly true’.
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In Acts chapter 2 we have an account of Peter on the Day of Pentecost
preaching to the crowds gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Weeks,
that the man they had put to death by nailing Him to the cross,
was none other than the Son of God,
Who was willing to die to bring about the forgiveness of sins,
and Who God raised from the dead.
To this also, we say: ‘This is most certainly true’.
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Martin Luther was a sincere and godly man
and from what I have studied about him,
it appears that he would never teach or preach something
that he could not say was ‘most certainly true’.
Luther struggled and struggled with his Catholic faith
based on the teachings of the popes,
until as a Professor of Theology
he sat down and studied Romans 1.
In it he read that in the Gospel righteousness comes from God - by faith.
but the Catholic Church was teaching people that only the purchase of an indulgence could free souls from God’s wrath.
The very thought of obtaining salvation by purchasing a piece of paper
was appalling to him,
so he wrote the 95 Theses in rebuttal of this practice
and nailed it to the Castle Door of the Wittenberg Church
on October 31, 1517.
This questioning of the Pope’s authority
to sell indulgences and free people from spiritual torment in Purgatory,
resulted in Papal and Imperial attempts to silence Luther, permanently!
Under Church law and the law of the Holy Roman Empire,
Luther could have been arrested and even put to death
on the orders of either the Pope or the Emperor,
but due to the political situation prevailing in the early 16th century,
the Catholic Church, the Pope, and the Emperor
were not as powerful as they had been in earlier times.
Luther didn’t want to start a Reformation let alone a religious war in Germany,
but when Tetzel started selling indulgences and telling people,
“when the coin in the coffer clings, another soul heavenward springs,”
Luther couldn’t take it anymore.
He saw the people wasting their money on indulgences
and using them as excuses to sin.
He knew this was not Biblical, so he wrote the 95 Theses
in Latin - in order to have a theological debate,
but before he knew it,
he found himself in the middle of a spiritual and physical battle
that he had never intended to start.
He thought, he hoped, that the pope would admit he was wrong
and get the Catholic Church back to the simple Gospel;
how wrong he was!
The forces of darkness rose up against him
and others like him
such as Huss, Coverdale, Wycliffe, Tynedale, Calvin and Knox
who put the Word of God before the traditions of man.
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But Jesus had promised
‘Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial,
do not worry beforehand about what to say.
Just say whatever is given you at the time,
for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.’
As he stood on trial before the papal and imperial councils,
what did Martin Luther say?
“I’m sorry, I’ll take back everything I said”? No.
With the strength God provided, he stood by God’s Word
and said “Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.”
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It would be lovely to believe that one day
we’ll not have to remember people who died in wars,
because everyone lives in peace and harmony;
and it would be nice to think that one day
there will be no earthquakes or famines or floods,
so there will be no need for charities such as World Vision and Christian Aid to make appeals;
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and it would be nice to think that one day
there will be no false prophets preaching doctrines
that most certainly are NOT true;
and it would be nice to think that one day
there will be no more persecution of Christians,
such as that which is taking place now in the Philippines and Pakistan,
Nigeria and North Korea;
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but Jesus said these things are going to happen,
but only for a time, because one day, in the twinkling of an eye,
God will step in and end all wickedness
and we will live with Him and the saints for all eternity.
Until this happens, let us ask God to keep us strong in our faith,
believing only that which is most certainly true,
and let us continue to pray that His Holy Spirit
will bring more of our family members, friends and neighbours
into His family and kingdom, before it is too late.
Amen, and ....................................
