Please find below Sam Karl's notes from the Mid-service comments this past Sunday. Prayerfully reflect and give thanks for God using a man in such a way to preserve His Word for His Glory Alone.
Martin Luther & The Reformation
“This man is famous as a reformer, theologian, professor, translator, prodigious author, and polemicist (meaning an excellent Orator). He is well known as hymn-writer, musician, friend of students, mentor of pastors, and pastor to countless clergy and laity (meaning, congregation). Yet he saw himself first as a preacher.” (Fred W. Meuser’s comment of on Martin Luther - the author of the book “Luther the Preacher” [1])
Tomorrow, October 31, 2016, will mark a milestone in Protestant Reformation. Exactly 499 years ago Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the Church doors at Wittenberg.
I have read through quite a few versions of his biographies from various authors. The notable ones are from Steve Lawson & John Piper. Piper’s delivery [2] was little more than 20 years ago, January 30, 1996, and Lawson’s [3] is as recent as 2013.
Anytime you have multiple biographies written on a person, each author tends to focus on different things and sometimes they provide some unique details that the other authors might miss. At least in my experience, in all of those writings on Luther, the following themes were consistent which is rather rare. Here are some of those:
Luther had a deep conviction about the word and had a relentless drive and a radical focus in his study. Luther prayed over for Holy Spirit’s illumination and meditated on the word repeatedly. He once admonished, “Let the man who would hear God speak, read Holy Scripture”. He was thoroughly convinced; "man shall not live by bread alone by every word that comes from the mouth of Lord". That must have been the only thing that kept this exhausted man going. In God’s sovereignty, I’m reminded of this truth repeatedly in the last few months.
His love for the word of God was made obvious in his passionate deliveries. His unshakable commitment to the original text was contagious. He challenged and inspired his students. He preached over 200 sermons a year. Let me put that in perspective for us: we have 52 Sundays a year. In a leap year or in a year that starts on a Saturday or Sunday, there may be 53 Sundays – that’s a rare thing in itself. It only happened 4 times in the 19th century: in 1911, 1916, 1944 & 1972. The year 2017 will have 53 Sundays. So approximately in a 52 Sundays year, he preached “a sermon every 2.5 days”. Over 3000 sermons in 36 years. By the grace of God 2300 of his sermons survived in written form to this day.
Lest we think he ignored his family, in spite of that many times of preaching, he still had family worship services every Sunday afternoon whenever he was in town.
He was willing to die to preserve the purity of the gospel. His God given courage to stand before the most powerful man in the known world at that time and before the most intimidating counsel was legendary.
His famous words were, “Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason, I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. I cannot do otherwise, here I stand, so help me God, Amen.”
That testimony of Scripture was made clear in his 62nd thesis. It read “The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God.”
All of his 95 theses were a result of His convictions solidly founded on the word of God.
- On the highest authority of Scripture - Scripture Alone (Sola Scriptura)
- That salvation is a gift given by God’s grace alone (Sola Gratia)
- Through the instrument of faith alone (Sola Fide)
- In the death and resurrection of our savior and mediator, Jesus Christ alone (Sola Christus),
- So that all glory would always be to the Triune God alone (Sola Deo Gloria).
Luther’s saving faith manifested itself in action – He had a living faith as James admonishes us in his epistle.
When the Black Plague swept through Germany, many fled, but Luther chose to remain in Wittenberg and opened his home as a hospital. Amid the crisis, he almost lost his young son to death. At this soul-crushing time, he wrote his most famous hymn, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” based on Psalm 46. God is “a bulwark never failing,” he wrote, whose “kingdom is forever.” Without a doubt, God was the inexhaustible source of Luther’s strength.
The man’s convictions always stayed with him even in his deathbed. In his last moments, Luther was asked by his friend Justus Jonas, “Do you want to die standing firm on Christ and the doctrine you have taught?” He answered emphatically, “Yes!” Luther’s last words were: “We are beggars. This is true.”
He died in Eisleben on Feb 18, 1546.
Here is what I learned from the life of Martin Luther.
First, we are all beggars of God’s mercy. We are slaves of the Almighty God. We are privileged to be one. We should act like it. Our walk and talk should reflect our standing before God here on earth.
Second, if we want to leave behind a legacy of righteousness, we should rely on God as our inexhaustible source and get to work. This includes:
- To share the gospel and to preserve the purity of the gospel.
- Make every attempt to understand the author’s original intention behind the passage and never misquote a Scripture. It could lead someone astray.
Third, stand firm in the grace of God. Fear God and not men. Until God is ready to call us home, every turn, every hill, every valley, every raging waters is an opportunity for us to stand up and display the glory of God at work.
Finally, if God graciously chooses to use us, always remember we are just beggars. He alone is God. To the Triune God alone be the glory!
Prayer:
Father, please bless us with a deep love for the word of God. May it embolden us to speak and live out your word like it did for the disciples in Acts 4 and in Martin Luther’s life. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.
References:
[1] - https://www.amazon.com/Luther-Preacher-Fred-W-Meuser/dp/080662051X
[2] - http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/martin-luther-biography-free-ebook
[3] - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BXIQYT4/