Isa
52:7 Reformation
Day, or Halloween? 10/31/2004
ßà
- How Beautiful (Isa 52:7, Rom 10:15,17, Prov
20:12)
#1. October 31 in the Years 1516 and
1517 (Rom 1:16-17)
- The Preacher of Wittenberg,
1517 to 1546 (Matt 10:34-36, Gal 1:8-9)
#2. The Years 1536 and 1541 (Eph
1:3-6)
- The Preacher of Geneva,
1541 to 1564 (Isa 46:9-11, Rom 13:1-2)
#3. The Years 1560 to 1609
- The Preachers of Dort, 1618 to1619 (Rom 11:6, 9:16,
Isa 42:8)
#4. October 31, 600 Years Ago
- Which Preacher Do You Listen To? (Isa 52:7, John 10:27)
Please open your Bibles to the Epistle to the Romans 10:15
(2X). How often does it come to pass that October 31 falls on a Sunday? On the
average only once every 7 years does October 31 fall on a Sunday. And so, I
could not resist to make this sermon a Reformation Day sermon. Therefore the
title of this sermon is, “Reformation Day, or Halloween?” (2X).
What is Reformation Day? Allow me to introduce Reformation Day with the
statement in Isa 52:7, which is repeated in Rom 10:15,
- How Beautiful (Isa 52:7, Rom
10:15,17, Prov 20:12)
Isa 52:7 ¶ How
beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth
salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
God stated here in Isa 52:7 that in the eyes of God it is beautiful
to see those that preach the true Gospel of salvation. God repeated this beauty
of His preachers in Rom 10:15. The Apostle Paul was one of those who
were beautiful in the eyes of God, because he brought the Gospel of salvation
to the regions of Asia Minor and to Macedonia
and to Greece, and to Italy. The
Apostle Paul preached a Gospel that led people to salvation, because he
preached the true Gospel. While Paul preached, God applied the principle that “Faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God”, from Rom 10:17.
At the same time we realize that not everyone who heard the true Gospel
preached was automatically saved. God saved only those whom He wanted to save,
according to the principle that God laid down in Prov 20:12, where God
says, “The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the
LORD hath made even both of them” (2X).
Those who are willing to hear the Gospel, and who are willing to see the beauty
of salvation in this kind of preaching, were made willing by the power of God.
That is the meaning of Prov 20:12. On the other hand, during the
same time others preached a different gospel, which did not lead people to
salvation. For example, the gospel that the Gnostics preached did not
save anyone, and it will still not save anyone. Instead it will inherit the
wrath of God on the last day on every preacher of the Gnostic gospel, and on
all those who have believed them. They are no bringer of good tidings; their
gospel brings death and destruction. And so it was with the gospel that
was peddled by the Roman Catholic Church in the Middle Ages. It was a gospel of
death. It was a gospel where man must do good works in order to be
saved. It was a gospel where we must do the best we can, and then some. After
people went to confess their sins in the confession booth, they were given
tasks to do to show that they were really repentant. Those tasks earned them
some time off from the time they had to spend in Purgatory. Purgatory
was a hellish place where sinners burned off their sins before they could enter
into Heaven. They were purged from their sins. That is why it was called
Purgatory. It was described as an awful place, full of torment, and fire, and
weeping and wailing. And thus it was not any wonder that the church offered to
people time off from Purgatory by paying money to the church. These were called
indulgences. People could buy indulgences to shorten their time in
Purgatory. This background set the stage for the rebellion that we call “The
Reformation”. Now enter:
#1. October 31 in the Years 1516 and
1517 (Rom 1:16-17)
What came to pass in the year 1516? It was on October 31 of
that year, one day before “All Saints Day”, that a monk from the Augustinian
monastery in Wittenberg, by the name of Martin
Luther, preached a fiery sermon in the church at Wittenberg against indulgences. What
happened to him? Martin Luther entered the monastery because one day he was
almost struck by lightning. There he intensely studied the Epistle to the
Romans and there in the 1st chapter he read this. Please turn to
Rom 1:16 (2X). There Martin discovered the importance of faith in
salvation. God’s Word in Rom 1:16
Ro 1:16-17, For I am
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation
to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God
revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith
(2X).
Now Martin Luther understood why all the fasting and
penances brought him no peace of mind. Such things did not count with God. And
likewise indulgences, pilgrimages, visiting relics, or crawling up 28 sacred
stairs did not count with God. They were all abominations in the sight of God.
Not only did these works not count with God, but also they increased the guilt
of those who do them, and so they made them twice more a child of Hell than
before. His sermon was well received. Townspeople, students and monks alike
were excited by his new ideas. The following year, 1517, on October
31 all of Wittenberg
waited to see and hear what this monk would do and say. But now the situation
had become worse. The Pope had sent a Dominican monk by the name of Tetzel to Germany to
collect more money from the German people by selling indulgences, to finance a
gigantic new cathedral. Luther was furious. “Why does the Pope not build this
cathedral of his own gold, instead of the offerings of the poor?” Luther had
been to Italy,
and he knew that the Pope’s money bag was fatter than those of the richest
merchants. And so, on the evening of October 31, in the year 1517,
Martin Luther nailed Ninety Five Theses, or statements, on the door of
the church in Wittenberg.
These theses were written in Latin. But someone secretly translated these
theses into German, send them to the printer, and sent copies of this document
to other university towns. Suddenly Martin Luther and his attack on the Pope’s
indulgences became the talk of all of Germany. Luther went on to ask if
the Pope really had power over Purgatory. The Scriptures did not say so.
Besides, Purgatory is not found in the entire NT. The Bible says that only the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ remits the penalties of sins, not the Pope.
Luther went on to write many more books. Now his writings were not only
for Germans, but his writings reached all over Europe,
and in fact they were discussed all over the world. It was in the year 1492
that Christopher Columbus sailed West and discovered America. And so, in the time of
Martin Luther all kinds of Europeans sailed to all six continents of the world,
and brought with them an interest in matters of faith going on in their home
country. Martin Luther, the monk of Wittenberg,
was clashing head on with the greatest power in Europe, the Pope, and with the
Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles the
5th. This one man was:
- The Preacher of Wittenberg, 1517 to 1546 (Matt
10:34-36, Gal 1:8-9)
Please turn to the Gospel according to Matthew 10:34 (2X)
For a thousand years the Roman Church had claimed and enforced a monopoly on
God and truth. The Roman Church claimed that it was the only source of Divine
revelation on earth, and that the church was the author of Scripture itself,
had insights into traditions so heavenly that even the Apostles had not written
them down, and was God’s representative on this earth. For a thousand years
millions of people believed these outrageous claims. The church had humbled
Kings and princes and Emperors. This church organized a confrontation.
Luther was summoned to come to Worms, a
city in Germany,
where he had to defend his writings and his teachings. There before the
assembled princes, nobles, bishops, and the Emperor himself, Luther faced his
greatest challenge: The entire medieval church and state were arrayed against
him. Luther was confronting a thousand years of history. There was a stack of
books that Luther had written. A spokesman for the powers that were assembled
demanded that Luther publicly recant his writings. A simple “Yes” or “No”
was all that they asked for. To the surprise of almost everyone Luther asked
for a postponement of one day, which the Emperor granted. In that one
day Luther prepared his speech. I am giving only a fraction of Luther’s speech.
Luther said:
“I have seen what has happened and what is happening. And I must
say that for me it is a joyful spectacle to see that passions and conflicts
arise over the Word of God. For that is how the Word of God works. As the Lord
Jesus said in Matt 10:34-36, “Think not
that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to
set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother,
and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own
household.” And so we must weigh carefully how wonderful and how awful our
Lord is in His secret counsels. We must be sure that those things we do to
banish strife do not rather lead to a flood of unbearable evil. I could call on
many examples from Scripture – Pharaoh, the King of Babylon, the Kings of
Israel – that would show how they were brought utterly to earth when they tried
to free their kingdoms from strife by means of their own wisdom.”
Please turn now to the Epistle to the Galatians 1:8-9 (2X).
The matter of supreme importance to us is to appreciate the value and use of
Scripture. It is a Witness that exceeds by far all miracles. The dead may
deceive us, but Scripture shall not deceive us, because God cannot lie. The doctrines
of Scripture should be approved even if Herod presents it, and commits
nothing but murder besides. On the other hand, the doctrines of men
should not be approved even if Peter, or Paul, or an angel presents it and
produces a cloudburst of miracles besides. Therefore we are reminded again of
the words our Savior gave us in Gal 1:8-9, “But
though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that
which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said
before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you
than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” Is that possible that
people bring another gospel? Now enter:
#2. The Years 1536 and 1541 (Eph
1:3-6)
What happened in the year 1536? John Calvin intended to pass
through Geneva,
but a preacher urged him to stay. Calvin was already world famous, for he had
written the “Institutes of the Christian Religion”, in which he tried to
set the Reformer’s beliefs in order, to organize their ideas in a way that
would stand up against any argument. He also outlined in his book the way that
a church should be organized in order to teach the new doctrines and to make
them part of the everyday life of a city or town. Calvin was shocked to find
that the citizens of Geneva
new next to nothing about the new religion, and each minister seemed to preach
a different doctrine. And so, he stayed. But Calvin’s rules were too strict for
Geneva, so they
thought. After 2 years they asked Calvin to leave Geneva, but 3 years later they pleaded with
him to come back. And thus, in 1541 John Calvin stayed in Geneva until the end of
his life. This was about 5 years before Martin Luther died. How did John
Calvin’s theology differ from Luther’s theology, and in what way were they the
same? Both Luther and Calvin preached that the will of man is under bondage to
sin and Satan. Therefore salvation is entirely by grace, and outside of God’s
grace there is no salvation. Luther stressed that man is justified by faith,
based on Rom 1:17. Calvin stressed that man is justified by grace, based
on Eph 2:8. But these two viewpoints are one and the same, because “that
faith is not of ourselves, it is the gift of God”, according to Eph 2:8. Please
turn to the Epistle to the Ephesians 1:3 (2X). Calvin’s view of God
was that He is eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, immutable, infinite,
almighty, perfectly wise, just good, and the overflowing fountain of all good.
And since God is infinitely wise and knows the end from the beginning, God also
knows whom He is going to take up into Heaven. Therefore God had to choose
whom He elected unto salvation, and passed by everyone else whom He was not
going to save.
Eph 1:3 ¶ Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: {places: or, things}
Eph 1:4-5 According as he hath chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love: Having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good
pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace,
wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Unambiguously this passage states that God chose His elect from
before the foundation of the world, “before they could have done any good or
evil”. Verse 5 says that God predestinated us to be the adopted
children of God by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And all this was not
based on something that we would do, or the fact that we would be believers of
Jesus Christ, but the fact that God has chosen us entirely “according
to the good pleasure of His will”. God did not look down the corridors of
time to see who was going to believe on Jesus, and these were the ones whom God
chose unto salvation. This would not be “according to the good pleasure of
His will”. And thus we see that the principle of election was not an
invention of Calvin, or of Peter, or of Paul. The principle of election is a
Biblical concept. God invented it, and God is applying it because it was
His plan. God’s counsel shall stand, and God’s providence (God’s hands) shall
work out what His counsel determined to be done. This was the Biblical theology
of:
- The Preacher of Geneva, 1541 to 1564 (Isa
46:9-11, Rom 13:1-2)
John Calvin reminded us of what God says in Isa 46:9-11. Please turn
to the prophecy of Isaiah 46:9 (2X). God speaks here of the coming of
Cyrus who would deliver the children of Israel
out of their captivity to Babylon.
God says here in Isa 46:9,
Isa 46:9 Remember
the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I
am God, and there is none like me,
Isa 46:10 Declaring
the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are
not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my
pleasure:
Isa 46:11 Calling a
ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far
country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have
purposed it, I will also do it.
What does it mean when God says that He declares the end from the
beginning? It means exactly that. It does not mean that God knows the end from
the beginning. Yes, God knows that too, but that was not what He was referring
to. God declares the end from the beginning because He is the One who makes it
come to pass. What God in His counsel before the foundation of the world has
determined shall come to pass. That is why God can call a ravenous bird from
the East, another name for Cyrus) who executes His counsel. It means that Israel’s captivity in Babylon
was no surprise to God, and thus that Israel’s
apostasy, which led to Israel’s
captivity in Babylon,
was also no surprise to God. God made Israel’s sin part of His plan,
whatever that plan may be.
On some practical matters John Calvin also differed from Martin Luther.
God said in Rom 13:1,
Ro 13:1 ¶ Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.
For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
{ordained: or, ordered}
Ro 13:2 Whosoever
therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist
shall receive to themselves damnation.
Therefore Martin Luther taught his followers that it is impossible to
resist the magistrate without at the same time resisting God Himself. Luther
said that under no circumstance may we rebel against whoever is king of the
land. But John Calvin added some significant qualifications. “When
Moses led the Jews against the king of Egypt he was armed with authority
from Heaven, and he punished an inferior power by a superior one. The
correction of tyrannical domination is the vengeance of God, and the obedience
due to the civil government ought not to seduce us from obedience to Him to
whose will the desires of all kings ought to be subject”. These
words traveled all over Europe, and set a
continent on fire with political revolution that raged for the rest of the
century. The preacher of Geneva
died in 1541. Almost 20 years later, in the year 1560 something else came to
pass.
#3. The Years 1560 to 1609
What occurred in the year 1560 that was worth noticing? It was the year
that Jacob Arminius was born. Jacob Arminius was a master of deception,
who worked himself into the position of preacher, and subsequently to the
position of professor of Sacred Theology at Leiden,
in the Netherlands.
That was a very prestigious job. Such an appointment in the Netherlands is
made for life. A professor cannot lose his job. By God’s providence he lived
only 49 years. Jacob Arminius was appointed to his post at the university of Leiden in 1603. Six years later
he died. But those six years were enough to rally almost half the population of
the Netherlands
behind him. Why did he have such a large following in only 6 years? This goes
to show that the true Gospel reaches only the few elect who will find the
narrow gate and the narrow way to eternal life, by the grace of God,
whereas wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to Hell, and many
there be which go in thereat. Not until he was at Leiden
did Jacob Arminius preach a free-will gospel, which is the gospel of Rome. The Netherlands wrestled themselves out of the grip
of Spain.
This was a long war, which lasted 80 years. At the same time it was a
religious war of the Dutch Protestants against the Roman Catholic oppressor, Spain. But
Jacob Arminius was going to lead the entire country back into the hands of Rome. God intervened.
God revealed to a significant fraction of the preachers in the Netherlands
that the diseased heart of the Roman Catholic heresy was the doctrine of
free-will. All preachers were in possession of the Belgic Confession of Faith,
which says in Article 14, “Therefore we reject all that is taught repugnant
to this concerning the free will of man, since man is but a slave to sin, and
can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven”. And so, the
preachers of the true Gospel of grace were on their guard against those who
preached another gospel. But the followers of Jacob Arminius were crafty. They
cast their heresy in the form of the teaching that only the grace of God can
enable the will of the sinner to believe. This grace however is universal, to
all who hear the Gospel preached. Basic to their subtle lie were the twin
notions of universal grace and resistible grace. It was the
Arminian Party in the Dutch reformed churches who first summarized their
teachings into five points of doctrine. This they did following the death of
Jacob Arminius, the man who initially advanced these erroneous doctrines, and
after whom the Arminian Party was named. He taught conditional election
based on foreseen faith, universal atonement, partial depravity, resistible
grace, and the possibility of a lapse from grace. This was the
poison that was injected into the Dutch reformed churches. Slowly it sent the
entire country into turmoil and confusion. Something had to be done. In 1618
the Dutch Reformed Church decided to hold a Synod, a meeting of all the
delegates from the churches, in the city of Dort,
which in Dutch is the city of Dordrecht.
This Synod had a truly international character, since it was composed not only
of the delegates of the Reformed Church of the Netherlands, but also of 27
delegates from foreign countries. The Synod discussed the issues until all were
resolved. This lasted 9 months, well into the next year 1619. Let us see
what the preachers of Dort came up with.
- The Preachers of Dort,
1618 to1619 (Rom 11:6, 9:16, Isa 42:8)
Please turn to the Epistle to the Romans 11:6 (2X). The
preachers at Dort came up with this foundation
of the Christian Faith: Salvation is all of grace. And so, the five
points they came up with were called the “doctrines of grace”. Quite
often these are also called the “five points of Calvinism”. Keep in mind
though that John Calvin had nothing to do with these statements. Calvin was
already dead and buried 55 years earlier. Only to say, “Salvation is all by
grace” would not have helped. The Arminian Party gladly said this, as they
worked at leading the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands
back to Rome.
But the Synod at Dort preserved the
Reformation. The Reformation exposed the lie of the works gospel peddled by
the Roman Church. Dort preserved the
Reformation by stating precisely the meaning of grace, which is
unmerited favor, and the meaning of works gospels as abominations in
God’s sight. What does God say in the Bible? God says in Rom 11:6, “And if by grace, then is it no more of works:
otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no
more grace: otherwise work is no more work”.
It is not possible that salvation should come by man’s will cooperating with
God’s will. God says in Isa 42:8, “I am the LORD: that is
my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven
images”. Clearly salvation is all by grace, and grace means that it is 100%
God’s initiative. God exposed the lie of salvation by the will of man as a
false gospel. God says in Rom 9:16, “So then it is not of him
that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy”. The
Synod at Dort met the five doctrines of the
Arminian Party head on, and the Synod declared that the Biblical view of
salvation is given by the following five points: Unconditional election,
Limited Atonement, Total Depravity, Irresistible grace and Perseverance of the
saints. Moreover, Dort dared to
establish the message of the Gospel by confessing reprobation. It
confessed reprobation in the face of the deliberate crafty policy of the
Arminian heretics to destroy the gospel of grace by concentrating their assault
on the doctrine of reprobation. They appealed to man’s natural aversion to
reprobation. But the Synod of Dort never wavered. Silence about reprobation
would mean the end of Biblical election. And Biblical election is the
foundation and source of the message of grace. The Synod at Dort
boldly confessed reprobation and demanded that it be preached wisely, but
always in connection with election. The impossibility of maintaining election
apart from reprobation is evident from God’s attribute of infinite
wisdom. God cannot become wiser as time progresses, and therefore God
cannot be surprised. Those in the reformed churches who clamor for election
without reprobation either proclaim an election that is universal, or an
election that is temporal, because the elect can fall from grace. Both of these
are the death of the Gospel of grace. Therefore we hold that the event of the
Synod at Dort was an event that stood out as a
great event in the history of the Reformation. God gave us these preachers at
the time of the Synod of Dort to preserve the Gospel of grace. Now let us enter
another date:
#4. October 31, 600 Years Ago
This brings us into the time of the Middle Ages. We find that October 31
was a religious pagan feast day. Already in the time of the Romans October 31
was a special feast in the honor of the goddess Pomona, the goddess of the fruit
trees. Then later the Druids, which was an ancient order of Celtic priests in Britain,
extended this celebration of October 31 in honor of Samhain, the lord of
the dead. This was normally done on November 1, and therefore they decided to
honor both Pomona
and Samhain on October 31 and November 1. The Druids believed that on the night
of October 31 Samhain called together the souls or spirits which had
been condemned to live in the bodies of animals during the past 12 months. Since they
were afraid of these spirits, they chose October 31 as a day of sacrifice to
their gods, hoping they would protect them. They really believed that on this
day they were surrounded by strange spirits, ghosts, witches, fairies, and
elves, who came out to hurt them. In addition to this, they also believed that
cats were holy animals, as they considered them to represent people who lived
formerly, and as punishment for evil deeds were reincarnated as a cat. All this
explains why witches, ghosts, and cats are part of Halloween today.
During the Middle Ages (about
600 years ago), the Roman Catholic Church at that time, decided to make the
changeover from pagan religion to Christianity a bit easier, and therefore
allowed the new converts to maintain some of their pagan feasts. It was agreed,
however, that from now on they would be celebrated as "Christian"
feasts. So instead of praying to their heathen gods, they would now pray to,
and remember the death of saints. For this reason the church decided to call
November 1 the "Day of All Saints," and the mass to be celebrated on
that day was "Alhallow mass." In consequence of this, the evening
prior to this day was named, "All Hallowed Evening," which
subsequently was abbreviated as "Halloween." In spite of this
effort to make October 31 a "holy evening," all the old customs
continued to be practiced, and made this evening anything but a holy
evening!
It is still a pagan feast.
Halloween is most definitely not a holy evening! This annual event is
far from the harmless, innocent tradition it is promoted to be. Many dread this
"holy" evening as they think what could happen to them, their
property, or their children! Consistent with its historical
roots,
this evening is characterized by fear, and frequently arouses dormant
fears in many. The fear generated by this event is symbolic of the fear which
plagues so many in our modern, morally bankrupt world. It is a fear that is
symbolized by the costumes people wear on Halloween.
And so, let us look now at all the events from an objective point of
view.
- Which Preacher Do You Listen To? (Isa 52:7, John 10:27)
The Roman Catholic Church established Halloween as a feast day on October
31, and “All Saints Day” on November 1. It is an ugly pagan feast, with all
the attributes of idolatry. It is Satanic. The Christians then
established October 31 as a day to remember the Reformation. It is
called Reformation Day, to honor the fact that on October 31 the
Reformation started, and it drove away the ugly Roman Catholic heresy from the
hearts of many. It was not Martin Luther who started this Reformation. God
started it. God’s providence worked things out, so that the right preachers of
the Word appeared on the scene at the right time. God was preserving His
Gospel message for the generations to come. It is therefore with deep gratitude
to God that we want to commemorate October 31, as it reminds us of God’s
gracious and mighty deeds about 500 years ago. Then later, when the gospel was
again threatened to disappear from the scene, God raised up holy men who came
together in the city of Dort and they left us the legacy of the Canons of Dort,
so that future generations may be blessed reading them. All this is connected
with October 31.
The question then is: Which preacher do you listen to?
Will you continue to listen to the voice of the Roman Catholic Church, which
promotes a gospel of death? Or will you listen to the preachers of the Gospel
of grace, of whom God says, “How
beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth
salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” from Isa 52:7. Whom do you listen to? The ball is
in your court. No one is twisting your arm. No one forces you to abandon the
celebration of Halloween beginning today. No one forces you to throw those
Halloween costumes in the trash. Just be honest with yourself. You have
heard now all the facts. Do you believe all the facts? Whatever you
believe, that you will follow up with action. And remember that your children
will look at your actions and they will remember them, for you are a role model
to them.
The Lord Jesus Christ tells us in John 10:27,
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they
follow me”. No ifs and buts. They will
follow me. Whatever your choice is that is whom you follow because that is the
one whose servants you are.
AMEN. Let
us turn to the Lord in prayer.