Reformation Day Sermon 2023
Text: Romans 3:21-30
Good morning Church! I’m so glad that you have gathered with us this morning. That you have obeyed the command to not forsake the assembly. It’s the last Sunday in October… we call it Reformation Sunday – remembering the Protestant Reformation. And so today, we’re going to take a break from looking at John’s Gospel, and I’m going to do a little teaching as well as preaching this morning.
Historically speaking, we say that the Protestant Reformation kicked off on October 31, 1517 with Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses on the doors of Castle Church in Wittenberg Germany… but that was more like the dynamite exploding. The fuse had already been lit by men like Wycliffe and Hus… John Wycliffe dissented against the Catholic Church in the late 1300’s… he translated the Bible into English, and called for reforms. Jan Hus, who read the writings of John Wycliffe, and was then led to read the writings of Augustine, which led him to read the writings of the Apostle Paul, and the Scriptures, called for reform of the Catholic Church as well, and he was burned at the stake in 1415 for speaking the truth, and speaking out against the Pope and the Catholic Church.
That took place 100 years before Martin Luther did what he did in Wittenberg. So the fuse was lit, and exploded with Luther – so to speak.
Martin Luther was born in 1483 to working class parents. His father, Hans Luther, was a miner, and both he and his wife recognized that their son Martin was intelligent. And so they had high hopes for him. They managed to send him off to college in Erfurt Germany to study law. And that’s what Luther did. He studied to be a lawyer. And he was good. And you’ve got to understand that college wasn’t like it is today. When Luther began studying law, he was one of 300 students at Erfurt, by the time he had graduated only 17 students remained. Super high attrition rate. Super rigorous – mentally strenuous education. So Luther was 3rd in his class. And he graduated with a masters degree in law. After this; Luther returned home to see his family, and spent a little time with them, and then headed back to Erfurt to start his new career, but on his way back to Erfurt he finds himself in the middle of a terrible storm, and a bolt of lightning nearly hits him. And Luther is terrified. The reason he’s terrified is because he’s Catholic, and the Catholic Church has taught him, and everyone else… they’ll only go to heaven if they’ve done enough good works, and done enough good deeds, and been faithful, and gone to confession. But Luther liked to party. He liked his German beer. He had a temper. He wasn’t very faithful, and he knew that if he died, it was at best tens of thousands of years in Purgatory, but more likely hell. And so he was afraid, and he cried out, and made a vow that if he lived through this storm, he would become a monk.
Well, shortly the storm passed, Luther made his way back to Erfurt, and he kept his vow. He left the legal profession and joined the Catholic Church as a monk.
His father wasn’t very happy with him, but its what he did. And Martin Luther really thought that by doing that, he could find peace and comfort and security, and assurance that he would be right with God. But that’s not what he found. But something did happen at Erfurt that would have an impact on him. For the first time in his life, he came into possession of a complete Bible. And he begins to read the Bible. In-fact; what Luther does is begin reading the Bible, and he also becomes aware of Jan Hus… and in becoming aware of Jan Hus, he becomes aware of John Wycliffe, and that leads him to Augustine, which leads him to the writings of Paul… and while Luther is reading all of these works, and reading Scripture, he’s also taking a closer look at what the Catholic Church was teaching, and had been teaching for centuries. And he discovers that the Roman Catholic Church teaches that salvation is gained by works… He discovers that the doctrine of Purgatory isn’t Biblical at all. He discovers that the only way a sinner can stand justified before God is if he or she is clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
And the particular text that God used to convert Martin Luther was Romans 3:21-30… let me read that to you really quickly (READ).
So there it is… it actually ties right back in with what we’ve just seen on John’s Gospel. This righteousness of God THROUGH faith in Jesus Christ FOR ALL WHO BELIEVE. Verse 24… Justified BY HIS GRACE as a gift… THROUGH the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Verse 25, and it was God who put forth Jesus as a propitiation (as an atoning sacrifice) by His blood – TO BE RECEIVED BY FAITH!
So Luther becomes aware of this and he puts it out there SOLA GRATIA, SOLA FIDE, SOLA CRISTUS – By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
And as God opens his eyes to this, Luther becomes more and more frustrated, and disgusted by what he’s seeing in the Catholic Church.
And so finally, he writes his 95 Theses… 95 points where the Catholic Church has erred, and on October 31, 1517, early in the morning, Martin Luther takes this list and nails it to the doors of Castle Church in Wittenberg Germany. He had hoped that it would foster discussion amongst the clergy and maybe even bring about reforms in the church. He had written it in Latin… but someone translated it into the common German language and the common folk began reading it. And the fuse that was lit in the late 1300’s had now reached the dynamite!
The next year, in 1518, Luther debated with the Monks at Heidelberg and really put himself on the radar… so in 1519 he’s called before a Catholic Inquisitor named Johanes Eck, and Eck asks him, “Do you not believe in the authority of the Pope and the Catholic Church?” And Luther says, basically, in a nut-shell, “Not if they disagree with the Word of God.” And it was at this point he argued for the doctrine of SOLA SCRIPTURA – by Scripture alone.
So we’ve got, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to the Scriptures alone.
So Eck runs back and tells the Pope that Luther is a heretic, and that he needs to be stopped before he spreads his teaching further. And Luther is summoned to Rome by what’s called a “Papal Bull”. Luther burns it publicly. And this doesn’t make the Pope very happy. They call him to come to Rome for a trial, but the local prince of this area in Germany. A guy named Fredrick the Wise, says, “He’s a German monk, he will be tried in Germany.” And so they hold the trial in a place called Worms (Verms).
And so, on April 16, 1521 Martin Luther stands before the Pope, and the Holy Roman Emperor, and on a table in front of him is laid out all of his writings. The 95 Theses, some of his sermons, some of his letters, and a little work titled “On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church”, in which he rejected most of the sacraments of the Catholic Church. And he is asked, “Are these your writings?”
Luther looks them over and says, “Yes.” And then he is told to recant or else.
Luther asks for a day to pray. And Charles the V – the Holy Roman Emperor, gives him 24 hours. During that 24 hours, Luther prays and reads his Bible, and then he’s again brought before the council – the Pope, and the Emperor. And once again, they tell him to recant.
And at that moment, Luther stands up straight, and looks at the Pope, and the Emperor, and the council and says, “Unless I am convinced by the Holy Scriptures and plain reason, as I do not accept the authority of popes and councils because they have contradicted each other numerous times, my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me.”
Luther was immediately excommunicated, and he would’ve been executed had not Fredrick the Wise sent a group of knights to rescue him and hide him away. For the next few years Luther was in hiding, and he took the time to translate the Bible into German. He would be followed by guys like Zwingli, and Calvin, and Knox… and later on Edwards, Whitefield, and Wesley. And then Spurgeon, and others.
And church, here we are, a little over 500 years later and again we see the infiltration of the enemy within the Church. We see lies, and false teaching, and wickedness, and immorality running rampant in our world. We see things that are blatantly contrary to the Word of God, and the clear teachings of Scripture being lauded and applauded and touted as being loving and good.
And sometimes you’ll hear people say things like, “What we need is another Martin Luther.” But let me tell you something – Martin Luther is not the hero of the story – JESUS IS!
Luther was just someone who became convinced that the Bible was true, and that it was authoritative. But he was a regular human being just like you and me. Jesus is the one who moved him, and empowered him, and inspired him, and equipped him. We don’t need another Luther, we need more Jesus!
Because here’s the reality – God did not call Martin Luther to do anything that He hasn’t called you and me to do. He’s called us to stand! To stand on the Word of God! To stand up for Jesus! To stand on the truth! So that He might be glorified. Which brings us to the last Sola of the Reformation. SOLA DEO GLORIA!
To the glory of God alone!
Let’s Pray.
