church

Martin Luther, part IV – Melancthon Reformed

by

When Charles ascended to the throne, he was in the vigor of youth; and everything seemed to point toward a long and prosperous reign. A prince whose scepter extended over a considerable part of the old world, and even over much of the new, he was the most powerful monarch to appear in Christendom since the days of Charlemagne. It was God who designed, by this arrangement, to teach the important lesson as to the nothingness of all the strength of man when it presumes to measure itself with the weakness of God. Never, aside from the final conflict yet to be fought, was it to be more clearly shown that “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are: that no flesh should glory in His presence.” I Corinthians 1:27–29.

Melancthon Joins the Reformed Movement

As the result of the debate at Leipzig, the lecture rooms of the university there were speedily deserted, while the number of students in attendance at Wittenberg soon doubled. Perhaps the most significant event to take place as the fruit of the debate, however, was the calling of the theologian of the Reformation—Melancthon. Until this conference, literature had been Melancthon’s great interest; but as he sat quietly listening to the conference, he received a new impulse. From that day forward, theology became his career. Henceforth, he and Luther became close friends, contending together for the truth, the one with the energy of Paul and the other with the meekness of John.

Luther was strengthened by the debate with Dr. Eck. Driven to new inquiries, he arrived at unexpected discoveries. He was astonished at the magnitude of evil that he saw. “Searing into the annals of the Church, he discovered that the supremacy of Rome had no other origin than ambition on the one hand, and ignorant credulity on the other. . . . The Latin Church was no longer in Luther’s estimation the universal Church; he saw the narrow barriers of Rome fall down, and exulted in discovering beyond them the glorious dominions of Christ. From that time he comprehended how a man might be a member of Christ’s church, without belonging to the popes.” D’Aubigne, History of the Reformation, book 5, chapter 6.

Though Dr. Eck had proclaimed Luther vanquished in their much celebrated debate, he was much less than satisfied with the outcome. Making his way over the Alps, he arrived at Rome where he sought help to find revenge. In the city of Rome, however, he encountered greater difficulties than he had anticipated. The Roman Curia was apathetic. Its members did not yet realize the danger that Luther presented. They scoffed at the idea that Wittenberg could conquer Rome; and in that respect, history showed no evidence to support such an astounding phenomenon. Great tempests had arisen in former ages. Rebel kings and heretical nations had alike beaten themselves to death, seeking to challenge the Church. They no more availed its overthrow than the ocean’s foam to overthrow the rocks. That an insignificant German monk might topple the papal throne was an idea too preposterous to entertain.

In Rome, all appreciated that a move against the monk was not without risks. It was an easy matter for the church to launch a ban, but all depended upon the civil power executing that order. What if it should refuse? Besides, there were not a few more moderate and pious men, even in Rome, who were so displeased with the disorders of the papal court that in their heart they welcomed much of what Luther said. There were others who favored the use of diplomacy. They could not believe that among the many dignities and honors that it was within the power of the Church to bestow, some favor could not be found that would silence the clamorous monk.

In the midst of such indecisive apathy, the indefatigable Eck left no stone unturned to secure the condemnation of his opponent. His zeal in this respect was seconded by that of the banker Fugger of Augsburg. He was the treasurer of the indulgences; and had not Luther so successfully spoiled his business, he would have shown a good gain. This awoke in him a most vehement desire to crush the heresy that was so damaging to the interests of the church, as well as his own.

The news of what was taking place within the Vatican was carried to Luther. At this time of test, these reports caused him no alarm; for he had fixed his eyes on One who was greater than Leo. While all was anxiety and turmoil in Rome, Wittenberg presented a very different picture. Visitors from various countries daily arrived to see and speak with the Reformer. The halls of the university were crowded with youth, and the fame of Melancthon was extending. It was just at this moment that the young Swiss priest, Ullrich Zwingli, approached the papal nuncio in Switzerland, entreating him to use his influence at Rome to prevent the excommunication of the doctor of Wittenberg. This was the first evidence of the breaking of day in Switzerland.

“Rome became more and more exasperated by the attacks of Luther, and it was declared by some of his fanatical opponents, even by doctors in Catholic universities, that he would should kill the rebellious monk would be without sin. One day a stranger, with a pistol hidden under his cloak, approached the Reformer and inquired why he went thus alone. ‘I am in God’s hands,’ answered Luther. ‘He is my strength and my shield. What can man do unto me?’ Upon hearing these words, the stranger turned pale and fled away as from the presence of the angels of heaven.” The Great Controversy, 140.

Luther Excommunicated

At length, Eck triumphed, and on June 15, 1520, the Sacred College brought an end to their lengthy debates regarding the rebellious monk and placed their approval on a bull excommunicating him. With this move, they flattered themselves that they had forever successfully settled the Wittenberg heresy.

Luther, imagining that he might be expelled from Germany, engaged himself in publishing a report of the Augsburg conference. He saw the storm approaching but did not fear it. He desired, however, that when the anathema should arrive, all should know of the struggle between himself and Rome. Spalatin wrote to Luther, on behalf of the elector, asking him not to do so; but the communication arrived too late. Once it became known that the publication had already taken place, the prince gave his sanction to it.

The bull condemned forty-one propositions extracted from Luther’s writings as scandalous, heretical, and damnable. It left room, however, for the recovery of the lost son of the Church if Luther would make proof of the sincerity of his penitence by reading his recantation and committing all of his books to the flames within a sixty-day period. Failing to submit and obey, Luther and all of his adherents were pronounced accursed. All princes and magistrates were enjoined to apprehend and send them to Rome, or banish them fro their country. The towns in which they continued to reside were placed under interdict, and everyone who opposed the publication and execution of the bull was excommunicated from the Church.

“These were haughty words [the pope’s bull]; and at what a moment they were spoken! The finger of a man’s hand was even then about to appear, and to write on the wall that Rome had fulfilled her glory, and reached her zenith, and would henceforward hasten to her setting. But she knew not this. She saw only the track of light she had left behind her in her onward path athwart the ages. A thick veil hid the future with all its humiliations and defeats from her eyes.” Wylie, The History of Protestantism, vol. 1, 311.

While excommunicating Luther on the one hand, the pope wrote a flattering letter to Elector Frederick. In his communication, the pope referred to the errors of that “son of iniquity,” Martin Luther. He expressed his certainty that Frederick cherish an abhorrence of these errors and in a glowing eulogy, praised the piety and orthodoxy of the elector; he had since drunk at the well of Wittenberg and lost his relish for the Roman cistern. The purpose of the letter was transparently clear, but it produced the opposite effect of that which the pope intended. From that day on, Frederick of Saxony resolved that he would protect the Reformer.

Rome had launched her bull, but she had yet to see it published in every country of Christendom. In order to accomplish this, two nuncios were chosen to attend to the mission—Eck and Aleander. Bearing the bull which he had so large a share in fabricating, Eck viewed himself as the very Atlas who bore up the sinking Roman world. As he passed through German towns, he met with coldness and contempt. His progress was more like that of a fugitive than a conqueror. At times he was even forced to seek shelter in the nearest convent to avoid the popular fury.

While awaiting the arrival of the bull, Luther wrote two publications, the first of which was The Babylonish Captivity of the Church, in which he stated, “I know that the papacy is none other than the kingdom of Babylon, and the violence of Nimrod the mighty hunter. I therefore beseech all my friends and all booksellers to burn the books that I have written on this subject and to substitute this one proposition in their place: The papacy is a general chase led by the Roman bishop to catch and destroy souls.” Ibid., 313.

He next attacked the priest and the Sacrament. “Grace and salvation, he affirmed, are neither in the power of the priest nor the efficacy of the recipient. Faith lays hold on that which the Sacrament represents, signifies, and seals—even the promise of God; and the soul resting on that promise has grace and salvation. . . . ‘Without faith in God’s promise,’ without a jewel, a scabbard without a sword.’ . . . At the very moment when Rome was advancing to crush him with the bolt she had just forged, did Luther pluck from her hand that weapon of imaginary omnipotence which had enabled her to vanquish men.” Ibid.

The bull of excommunication arrived at Wittenberg in October of 1520. “Luther and Leo: Wittenberg and Rome now stand face to face—Rome has excommunicated Wittenberg, and Wittenberg will excommunicate Rome. Neither can retreat, and the war must be to the death.” Ibid., 315.

As Aleander and Eck advanced, they left in their track numerous blazing piles. In many of the towns in the hereditary estates of the emperor, a bonfire was made of Luther’s works. To add to these many fires lighted by Eck and Aleander, Luther kindled one of his own. A Placard on the walls of the University of Wittenberg announced Luther’s intention to burn the pope’s bull and that this would take place at nine o’clock on the morning of December 10. At the appointed time, Luther, accompanied by approximately six hundred students and doctors, as well as enthusiastic and sympathetic crowd of town folks, made his way to the eastern gate of the town. Arriving at the spot, they found a scaffold already erected and a pile of logs laid in order. One of the more distinguished Masters of the Arts applied the torch to the pile; and as soon as the flames blazed up, the Reformer stepped forward, holding in his hand the several volumes which constitute the Canon Law and various other writings of earlier popes, committing them one at a time to the flames. Finally, the bull of Leo was also cast into the flames.

The burning of the pope’s bull marked the closing of one stage and the opening of another in the Reformation. Luther knew that one blow was not the battle, but there was now no question that the war had begun. From this point on, an understanding of the nature of the church more clearly developed. It was his clearer and perfected judgment respecting the two systems and the two churches that enabled him to act with such decision—a decision that astounded Rome, which had never doubted that her bolt would crush the Reformer. Though she had been somewhat in doubt as to whether to launch it, she never doubted that once launched, it would certainly quell the Wittenberg revolt.

When Aleander opened his campaign with a bonfire of Luther’s writings in Cologne, someone asked him of what value it was to burn the books of Luther’s opinions, when the real issue was erasing them from the hearts of men. The legate replied that while this was true, it was proper to teach by signs which all could read. It was his secret desire, however, to bring the author of the books to the pile. He realized, however, that to obtain this objective, he must get Luther into his power. In order to do this, he must detach Frederick from Luther’s side and win over the young emperor. In the legate’s mind, the latter goal seemed to pose little difficulty. Born in the Catholic faith and descended from an ancestry whose glories were closely entwined with Catholicism, there was little question where the emperor’s loyalty lay. Though he had marked out a path which he little doubted would bring the Reformer to the stake, Aleander found that the path was beset with greater difficulties than he had calculated on meeting.

Luther’s Condemnation Sought

Approaching the young emperor, on whose authority Luther’s books had been burned, the nuncio pointed out that while the books had been burned, the air was yet thick with heresy. In order to purify it, he proposed a royal edict against the author. The emperor declined to give a direct answer, deferring until he could ascertain the thinking of the Elector of Saxony on the matter.

Aleander next begged an audience with Frederick. The elector received him in the presence of his counselors and the Bishop of Trent. The haughty envoy, assuming a tone that bordered on insolence, asserted that Luther was rending the Christian State, bringing the Empire to ruin, and that Frederick alone stood between the monk and his justly deserved chastisement. He concluded by demanding that the elector himself punish Luther, or failing in that, deliver him over to Rome.

The elector met the bold assault of Aleander with a plea for justice. He pointed out that no one had yet refuted Luther and that it would be a gross scandal to sentence to punishment a man who stood uncondemned. He proposed that Luther must be summoned before a tribunal of pious, learned, and impartial judges.

The elector’s statement pointed directly to a hearing before the Diet soon to be convened at Worms. Knowing the courage and eloquence of Luther, nothing could have been more disagreeable with Aleander. He dreaded the impression that Luther’s appearance would create, and he had no interest in meeting him in a debate or to win from him any more victories of the sort Eck so loudly boasted. From his travels in Germany, he knew how popular the cause of Protestantism had already become. Wherever it was known that he was the opponent of Luther, it was only with difficulty that he was able to find admittance at a respectable inn; and even in these, the portrait of the monk stared back at him from the walls of almost every bedroom in which he slept. Besides, Luther had already been excommunicated. To grant him a hearing under such circumstances would surely give the appearance that the pope’s sentence might be reversed by secular authority, making the chair of Peter subordinate to the States-General of Germany. On all of these grounds, the papal nuncio was resolved to oppose to the uttermost Luther’s appearance before the Diet.

The Teachings of John Chrysostom

by

One of the early church leaders, later claimed to be one of the later church fathers, was John Chrysostom. Like others who, in the passage of time, have been claimed as “father” of the church, but whose lives and teachings were a rebuke to the church of their time, Chrysostom, even in his day, recognized the importance of understanding the true nature of the church.

Born in A.D. 350, Chrysostom is best known for his Christian preaching. An eloquent teacher, he became the bishop of the church at Constantinople in 398. Later, expelled from his bishopric and relegated into misery, suffering much ignominy, he was eventually banished. Though later released, he died not long after, in 408, as a result of the hardship and trials that he had been forced to endue. By imperial edict, those Christians who followed his teachings were greatly persecuted. At that time, the state sponsored church required of all that they attend their services. Those who chose to follow the principles taught by John refused to do so. Instead of listening to their enemies, they would gather in a secluded meeting place on the farthest outskirts of the city. They were constantly watched, however; and when their place of meeting was discovered, a report was quickly taken to the authorities. A squad of soldiers would be promptly sent to the place; and with sticks and stones, they would disperse the meeting, robbing those who had assembled of their goods and apprehending such as could not make their escape. Finding it impossible to hold public meetings of any kind, they chose voluntary banishment.

Theologians believe that they know a great deal about Chrysostom, as some of his teachings and exhortations have been preserved and passed down to us. From them we learn that he not only understood the coming of the spirit of antichrist within the professed church, but the nature of the true church of Christ.

We know that he taught against cruelty, tyranny, war, and bloodshed, maintaining that it is altogether improper for Christians to wage war and that peace and quiet are to be taught in the kingdom of Christ. “Christ,” he says, “compels not, drives not away, oppresses not, but accords to each his free will, saying: ‘If any man will.’”

Expounding on Matthew 13, he explained that the tares (to which the heretics were compared) are not to be rooted out; for, speaking of them, he said, “Christ spoke for the purpose of preventing and forbidding war and bloodshed; no violence is to be employed in heavenly things. The wicked teachings which have proceeded from heretics are to be reprehended and anathematized, but the man we must spare.”

He also opposed worshipping saints, saying, “God is not like the tyrants with whom intercession is necessary.: Concerning Matthew 23, he taught, “With human doctrines we serve God in vain, that there is no other testimony of the truth, no other certain test of heresy than the Holy Scriptures, and no other way by which we may know which is the Christian Church.”

Chrysostom believed that, “When the Roman Empire shall be put down, then shall antichrist come.” Speaking on Matthew 224, he said, “He speaks not unreasonably, who by the abomination of desolation understands antichrist, who it is thought will shortly afterward rise and occupy the holy place of the church, under the name of Christ.” With regard to II Thessalonians 2, he said, “When the Empire shall be waste and vacant, then antichrist shall occupy it and endeavor to draw to him the kingdom of God and men.” Further, on Matthew 24, he said; “Beloved, be not moved when antichrist does the works of Christ and in the sight of Christians performs all the offices of Christ; for Satan himself can transform himself into an angel of light. What wonder then, that his servants assume the garb of servants of righteousness and a semblance of Christianity.”

Chrysostom also taught, “The Jewish abomination is to be understood as having reference not only to the Jewish war, but in a spiritual sense, also to antichrist, who in the last times shall sit in the holy place occupying the chief places of the church and leading the souls of men away from God. This is very likely the one of whom Paul says; ‘He shall oppose and exalt himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God showing himself that he is God.’ He, standing in the Holy Place, has laid waste the church of God with multitudes of heresies.”

Chrysostom also understood the importance of understanding the true nature of the church, and that a failure to do so could prove disastrous in the experience of the believer. “Since the Lord Jesus knew what great destruction would come in the last days. He commanded that the Christians who are in Christendom, if they would always continue in the true faith, should resort only to the Holy Scriptures; for if they would look to other things, they would be offended and corrupted and not understand what the true church is; and, in that way, fall into that horrible abomination which sitteth in the holy place of the church.”

Like others of the early Christian teachers who lived during the time of the development of the great apostasy in Christianity, Chrysostom did not understand all things. There are some points on which he was mistaken, but it is amazing how many points of prophecy in Christianity about which he had a clear understanding.

Another early church leader, who, like Chrysostom, understood the prophecies to point to the rise of the antichrist within the professed church of Christ, was Jerome. Of the antichrist, Jerome said, “And do we not know that the coming of antichrist is nigh at hand? He shall sit in the temple of God, that is to say, in Jerusalem, or in the church, as I apprehended with more truth. Antichrist shall war against the heathen and overcome them.” Jerome understood the spiritual nature of Christ’s kingdom and taught that it was not the place of the church to compel the conscience. He said that he who is spiritual never persecutes him who is carnal. “I have learned,” said he, “from the command of the apostles to avoid a heretic, but not to burn him. Christ came not to smite, but to be smitten. He who is smitten follows Christ; but he who smites, follows antichrist.”

Concerning the Lord’s Supper, he said that “with this bread, Christ intended to prefigure, represent, and show the truth of His body.” In many places, he calls the cup a figure of the blood.

Regarding Matthew 16, he taught that the priests have no more power or just as little power to bind or to loose as the priests of the Old Testament had to pronounce lepers clean or unclean. The words of the priests made them neither clean nor unclean, but simply indicated who, according to the law of Moses, was leprous and who was not. He believed that, in like manner, according to the law of Christ, it only devolved upon the priest to pronounce whose sins are retained and whose are forgiven.

Concerning the nature of the church, he taught that the Roman Church was not to be esteemed more highly than the church of the whole world, regardless of where it might be found, but that each was to worship one Christ and have One Ruler or Teacher of the truth. This he understood to constitute the true church of God on earth.

Martin Luther, part III – Luther Stands Firm Before The Council

by

When he nailed his theses on the door of the church at Wittenberg, Luther acted without a plan, a fact that he later admitted. He was acting upon what he believed to be his duty of the moment, without thought that the sound of his hammer would resound throughout Christianity for years to come, toppling the throne of the pontiff that, as of yet, he professed to revere. At the time, Luther’s great concern was that his flock at Wittenberg not be ensnared by Tetzel’s indulgences. Little did he dream that by the action that he was taking he would arouse the opposition that was soon to be manifest.

The theses spread with the rapidity of lightning. A month had not elapsed before they had arrived in Rome and, in as little time, they had been circulated throughout all of Christendom. A response was not lacking. The widespread interest that they aroused greatly increased the fears of the papal authorities, and Luther received a summons to appear in Rome within sixty days to answer the charge of heresy. In spite of the rising storm of opposition, however, Luther was unmoved. Though he stood alone, he was ready to stand on his theses. He had thrown down the gage, and he would not decline the battle. Luther’s friends, fearing greatly for his safety, petitioned the elector to have the case heard in Germany; and a hearing was eventually arranged in Augsburg.

Before Luther’s lodging in Augsburg, the Italian courtier, Urban of Serra Longa, presented himself. He made unbounded professions of friendship for the doctor of Wittenberg and had come, he said, “to give hi a piece of advice before appearing in the presence of De Vio. . . .

“The advice of Urban was expressed in a single word—‘Submit. Surely he [Luther] had not come this long way to break a lance with the cardinal: of course, he had not. He was speaking, he presumed, to a wise man.’

“Luther hinted that the matter was not so plain as his advisor took it to be.

“’Oh,’ continued the Italian, with a profusion of politeness, ‘I understand: you have posted up “Theses,” you have preached sermons, you have sworn oaths; but three syllables, just six letters, will do the business—Revoco.’”

God’s Word Luther’s Only Authority in Matters of Faith

“’If I am convinced out of the sacred Scriptures,’ rejoined Luther, ‘that I have erred, I shall be but too glad to retract.’

“The Italian Urban opened his eyes somewhat widely when he heard the monk appeal to a Book which had long ceased to be read or believed at the metropolis of Christendom. But surely, he thought, Luther will not be so fanatical as to persist in putting the authority of the Bible in opposition to that of the pope; and so the courtier continued.

“’The pope,’ said he, ‘can by a single nod change or suppress articles of faith, and surely you must feel yourself safe when you have the pope on your side, more especially when emolument, position, and life might all lie on your coming to the same conclusion with his Holiness.’ He exhorted him not to lose a moment in tearing down his ‘Theses’ and recalling his oaths.

“Urban of Serra Longa had overshot the mark. Luther found it necessary to tell him yet more plainly that the thing was impossible, unless the cardinal should convince him by arguments drawn from the Word of God that he had taught a false doctrine.” Wylie, History of Protestantism, vol. 1, 275, 276.

Three times Luther appeared before the council at Augsburg. As he returned for the third meeting, accompanied by the elector’s councilors, he was immediately surrounded by the Italians, who were present at the conference in great numbers. They crowded around him, eager to obtain a glimpse of the monk who had stirred up such a commotion in Christianity. Luther advanced to present his protest to the cardinal. In this protest, Luther addressed two points on which he had been attacked. The concept that the indulgences were the treasure of the merit of Jesus Christ and of the saints was the first point to which he had objected. Second, Luther showed that no man can be justified before God if he has not faith, a point that he proved with a number of statements from Scripture.

The legate took the declaration from Luther’s hand; and after coldly looking it over, declared, “’You have indulged in useless verbiage; you have penned many idle words; you have replied in a foolish manner to the two articles and have blackened your paper with a great number of passages from Scripture that have no connection with the subject.’ Then, with an air of contempt, De Vio flung Luther’s protest aside; as if it were of no value, . . . he began to exclaim with all his might that Luther ought to retract. The latter was immovable. . . . The cardinal then began a long speech, extracted from the writing of St. Thomas; he again extolled the constitution of Clement VI and persisted in maintaining that by virtue of this constitution it is the very merits of Jesus Christ that are dispensed to the believer by means of indulgences. He thought he had reduced Luther to silence; the latter sometimes interrupted him; but De Vio raved and stormed without intermission and claimed, as on the previous day, the sole right of speaking. . . .

“His [Luther’s] indignation burst out at last; it is his turn to astonish the spectators, who believe him already conquered by the prelate’s volubility. He raises his sonorous voice, seizes upon the cardinal’s favorite subject, and makes him pay dearly for his rashness in venturing to enter into discussion with him. ‘Retract, retract!’ repeated De Vio, pointing to the papal constitution.

Luther Meets De Vio on His Own Ground

“’Well, if it can be proved by this constitution,’ said Luther, ‘that the treasure of indulgences is the very merits of Jesus Christ, I consent to retract, according to your eminence’s good-will and pleasure.’” D’Aubigne, History of the Reformation, book 4, chapter 8.

The Italians, who were not expecting such a response, were in complete astonishment. As for the cardinal, he was beside himself, scarcely believing how completely he had captured his opponent. Exulting in the victory he now thought to be certain, De Vio seized the book which contained the famous constitution and eagerly read the passage. The Italians could not suppress their elation, nor could the elector’s councilors hide their embarrassment. Luther, however, waited for his opponent. “At last, the cardinal read the words: ‘The Lord Jesus Christ has acquired this treasure by His sufferings,’ and Luther stopped him.

‘Most worthy father,’ said he, ‘pray, meditate, and weigh these words carefully: He has acquired. Christ has acquired a treasure by His merits; the merits, therefore, are not the treasure; for, to speak philosophically, the cause and effect are very different matters. . . .’

“De Vio still held the book in his hands, his eyes resting on the fatal passage; he could make no reply. He was caught in the very snare he had laid; and Luther held him thee with a strong hand, to the inexpressible astonishment of the Italian courtiers around him. The legate would have eluded the difficulty, but he had not the means; he had long abandoned the testimony of Scripture and of the fathers. . . . Desirous of concealing his disgrace, the prince of the church suddenly quitted this subject and violently attacked on other articles. Luther, who perceived this skillful maneuver, did not permit him to escape; he tightened and closed on every side the net in which he had taken the cardinal and rendered all escape impossible. ‘Most reverend Father,’ said he, with an ironical, yet very respectful tone, ‘your eminence cannot, however, imagine that w Germans are ignorant of grammar; to be a treasure, and to acquire a treasure, are two very different things.’

“’Retract!’ said De Vio, ‘retract! Or if you do not, I shall send you to Rome to appear before judges commissioned to take cognizance of your affair. . . . Think you that your protectors will stop me? Do you imagine that the pope cares anything for Germany? The pope’s little finger is stronger than all the German princes put together.’” Ibid.

Luther’s only reply was to request that the legate forward his reply to the pope. At these words, the legate in anger said, “Retract, or return no more.”

Without reply, Luther, followed by the elector’s councilors, withdrew. The cardinal and the Italians, remaining alone, looked at one another in confusion.

Though they never met again, messages of friendship from the cardinal were conveyed to Luther. The concern of the Germans for Luther’s safety increased, however, just in proportion to the mildness of the prelate’s language. They greatly feared that the legate was laying plans to seize the Reformer and throw him in prison; but he feared to move and violate the imperial safe-conduct on his own, until he should receive a reply from Rome.’’

Luther, realizing that God had preserved him until that hour, determined not to tempt God. Quickly plans were laid for a secret departure. A horse was provided, and the city magistrate supplied him with a guide. Before daybreak, they slipped through a small gate and as rapidly as possible made their way away from Augsburg. Luther pressed his poor animal to gallop as fast as its strength would allow. He well remembered the supposed flight of Huss and the manner in which he was caught. At the time when Huss was committed to the flames, his adversaries asserted that by his flight he had forfeited the safe-conduct and that they had a right to burn him.

Surprised and angered at the news of Luther’s escape, the legate wrote Frederick, the elector of Saxony, bitterly denouncing Luther and demanding that Frederick send him to Rome or banish him from Saxony.

Though the elector had, as yet, little knowledge of Luther’s doctrine, he was greatly impressed by the force and clearness of his reasoning; and until he should be proved to be in error, Frederick resolved to stand as his protector. He wrote the legate: “’Since Doctor Martin appeared before you at Augsburg, you ought to be satisfied. We did not expect that you would endeavor to make him retract without having convinced him of his errors. None of the learned men in our principality have informed me that Martin’s doctrine is impious, anti-Christian, or heretical.’ The prince refused, moreover, to send Luther to Rome or to expel him from his states.” Ibid., chapter 10.

The darkness seemed to thicken around Luther. Everywhere were ominous signs of a gathering storm. Just when the danger had reached its height, Emperor Maximilian died (January 12, 1519). Negotiations and intrigues were now set on foot for the election of a new emperor. The pope, who favored a particular candidate, found it necessary, in order to obtain his objective to court the favor of the elector Frederick, whose position as regent and whose character for wisdom gave him a potential voice in the electoral college. For the time being, it did not seem prudent to push the issue regarding Luther.

On July 4, 1519, a debate was held between Dr. Eck and Luther at Leipzig, relative to the primacy of the papacy. As the debate proceeded, Eck was constantly and consciously losing ground. Finally, on the second day of the debate, he sought to direct the course of discussion in such a way as to prejudice the audience against Luther, hoping to destroy the effect of his words. Addressing the council, he said, “From primitive times downward it was acknowledged by all good Christians that the Church of Rome holds its primacy of Jesus Christ Himself, and not of man. I must confess, however, that the Bohemians, while obstinately defending their errors, attacked this doctrine. The venerable father must pardon me if I am an enemy of the Bohemians, because they are the enemies of he Church, and if he present discussion has reminded me of these heretics; for . . . according to my weak judgment, . . . the conclusions to which the doctor has come, are all in favor of their errors. It is even affirmed that the Hussites loudly boast of this.” A. T. Jones, Ecclesiastical Empire, 729.

Luther well knew the peril in which Eck had placed him. He replied, “I love not a schism, and I never shall. Since the Bohemians, of their own authority, separated from our unity, they do wrong, even were divine authority decisive in favor of their doctrines; for at the head of all divine authority is charity and the union of the Spirit.” Ibid.

The debate was adjourned for dinner. During the interval, Luther’s conscience began to trouble him for speaking as he did about the Bohemian Christians and he determined to correct the false impression that he had left on the minds of the people.

Luther Rejects the Primacy of the Church

Luther saw the difficulty of his position. He had already repudiated the primacy of the pope and had appealed from the pope to a council. This decision involved the rejection of the Council of Constance, one of the greatest councils of the Church. For him to endorse the attitude of the Christian Bohemians was to declare that a Council had condemned what was, in fact, Christian—in short, of having erred—breaking from himself the last remaining bond of attachment with the papacy; and, doing so, opening all of the floodgates of papal opposition. Yet, in Luther’s mind it was becoming clear that the infallible authority of councils, as well as that of the pope, must be given up and that he must stand on the Word of God alone.

“Accordingly, as soon as the meeting had assembled in the afternoon session, Luther seized the first moment. He arose and, with the decision of conviction in his voice, said: ‘Certain of the tenets of John Huss and the Bohemians are perfectly orthodox. This much is certain. For instance, “That there is only one universal Church,” and again, “That it is not necessary to salvation to believe the Roman Church superior to others.” Whether Wycliffe or Huss said so, I care not. It is the truth.’” Ibid., 730.

Eck had, without realizing it, done both Luther and the Reformation a great service. The blow which he had anticipated would destroy Luther served, instead, to sever the last link in the chain that still bound the Reformer to Rome.

Luther’s statement produced a sensation. Several persons who had until that moment listened to him with favor, began to doubt his orthodoxy. The impression made upon Duke George was never effaced; and from that moment, he viewed the Reformer with an unfavorable eye.

When the Bohemian Christian heard the news of the discussion, they wrote to Luther: “What Huss was formerly in Bohemia, you, O Martin, are now in Saxony. Wherefore pray, and be strong in the Lord.” Ibid., 731.

The choice for emperor fell between two men—Charles I of Spain, and Francis I of France. Charles, who at nineteen was seven years younger than his rival, scattered gold profusely among the electors and princes of Germany to gain the coveted prize. His rival, Francis, was liberal; but he lacked the gold mines of Mexico and Peru which Charles had at his command.

The very power of the two rivals nearly defeated both of them. Encouraged by the pope, who feared the rising power of both monarchs, the electors chose Frederick of Saxony. Frederick, perhaps as an act of weakness when suddenly faced with the fearful challenge meeting a multitude of distractions within the empire and the Moslems on its frontier, declined what the two most powerful sovereigns in Europe were so eager to obtain. On June 28, 1519, the electors again met; the vote was unanimous in favor of Charles. How differently might history have been written had Frederick, the friend of Luther, accepted the imperial crown. Instead, however, it passed to Charles, who was to become the bitter foe of the Reformation.

It was a year before Charles was to arrive for his coronation, and the regency was continued in the hands of Frederick. During that time, “the little group at Wittenberg busily engaged in laying the foundation of an empire that would long out last that of the man on whose head the diadem of the Caesars was about to be placed.” Wylie, The History of Protestantism, vol. 1, 305.

Luther began reading the writings of John Huss. To his surprise, he found in them the truth of free justification of the sinner. “’We have all,’ he exclaimed, half in wonder, half in joy, ‘Paul, Augustine, and myself, been Hussites without knowing it!’ and he added, with deep seriousness, ‘God will surely visit it upon the world that the truth was preached to it a century ago, and burned!’” Ibid.

It was now that Luther published his famous appeal on the reformation of Christianity to the emperor, the princes, and the people of Germany. It was the most graphic and stirring appeal that had yet issued from his pen. Like a peal of thunder, it rang from side to side of Germany, sounding the deal knell of Roman domination.

Presuming that the new emperor would be just and magnanimous, Luther appealed to Charles, knowing that his cause would triumph regardless of which side Charles might espouse. While he would rather have had its progress peaceful and its arrival at the goal speedy, Luther never doubted the ultimate triumph of truth. The emperor never condescended to reply to the doctor of Wittenberg.

The Meaning of the Time in Which We Live

by

Present truth has always been important. Peter speaks about being grounded and established in present truth. (See II Peter 1:12.) Before every significant event in the plan of salvation, there have been special messages given so that God’s people could be established in present truth. If, however, the people to whom the message is given leave that message and turn back from following the light, they’re leaving present truth; and they do so at the loss of their souls.

As an example, in the days of Noah, if you were going to have your sins forgiven, if you were going to have eternal life, it was the same plan of salvation as today. There is just one plan of salvation. There was present truth in the days of Noah; and the present truth was that if you wanted to be saved, you had better get into the ark. If, at that time, you failed to listen to present truth, could you still be lost? Most certainly you could.

It has always been the purpose of the devil to distract God’s people or in some way divert their attention from these messages of present truth. Paul tells us, however, that we are not to be ignorant of Satan’s devices. We must know what is going on so that we will be prepared to resist Satan’s advances and not be deceived.

We have also been warned, “So subtle and untiring are the efforts of the enemy of souls, that God’s people need to be very watchful, and to labour earnestly and unceasingly to counterwork evil in the church and in the world. Satan and his agencies are laying out special lines of labour for those who are controlled by his power. Deceptions of every kind and degree are arising, so that, if possible, he would deceive the very elect. With the same subtle power that he plotted for the rebellion of holy beings in heaven before the Fall, Satan is working today to operate through human beings for the fulfillment of his purposes of evil.” Australian Record, April 15, 1912.

If you leave the message of present truth that God has given, the devil is going to take control of your mind. It is just that simple. Did you notice that if he gains control of your mind, Satan is going to outline a special work for you to do?

Where is Satan working? “I say to all be on your guard for as an angel of light; Satan is walking in every assembly of Christian workers and in every church trying to win the members to his side.” Review and Herald, May 14, 1908. The great controversy is going on in every church, in every family. Every soul whom Satan can deceive and is lost brings dishonor upon the name of Christ, and it is his purpose to bring as much dishonor upon Christ’s name as he possibly can.
There are all kinds of theories present in the world today to cast doubt on what God has said so that His people will not have faith in what is written. The devil knows that if you do not have faith in His Word, when temptation comes, you are going to fall.

Speaking of the last days, we read: “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; yours sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions, and also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.” Joel 2:28, 29. According to these verses, in the last days God’s people are going to have the gift of prophecy. The New Testament teaches exactly the same thing. Notice also how important the gift of prophecy is as we prepare for the coming of Christ. “I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you.” I Corinthians 1:4–8. According to Revelation 19:10, the testimony of Christ is the spirit of prophecy.

The gift of prophecy is one of the gifts of the Spirit that has been promised the church. Unless the remnant church, which is waiting for the Second Coming of Christ, has the gift of prophecy, it cannot truly be said that it comes short in no gift.

This counsel was not written primarily for the people living in the first century. The apostle Paul says very clearly that these books were written to the Christian church. Though this book was addressed specifically to the church of Corinth, in his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul said, “Even if you receive this letter that is purported to be from us, do not think that the Second Coming of Christ is going to take place right away, because it is not.; the great apostasy is going to come first.” (See II Thessalonians 2:2–4.) The apostle Paul knew that the Second Coming of Christ was not going to occur in the first century. He is addressing the Christians and the people who are waiting for Jesus to come in the last days. We also read that these gifts were given “till we all come to the unity of the faith.” Ephesians 4:13. Are all of God’s people in the unity of the faith yet? No they are not; so we still have need of the gifts, including the gift of prophecy.

“The dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17.

Now, if you were the devil, what would you do? You would do the same thing that you did in the Garden of Eden, the same thing that you have done all down through history; you would try to get God’s people to doubt the authenticity of that gift. You see, if the devil can get you to doubt the Spirit of Prophecy, you will lose your way. One of his methods is to ask questions that no one can answer. You do not have to have a Ph.D. to do that; little children can do it. One of the devil’s deceptions is to lead people to ask questions that God is not going to answer, even throughout eternal ages. If you allow yourself to start asking questions that no one can answer, the day is coming when you will become a skeptic. That is just the way the human mind works.

“The Lord has given me a special work to do in giving words of warning that should come to our people. Satan’s forces are preparing their seductive temptations to deceive, if possible, the very elect. Satan will work through those who have disregarded the warnings of God to the church. They will be exceedingly zealous unto the working of a deceptive influence and most strange manifestations will appear.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 19, 376.

Where are the warnings of God to the church found? They are found in the inspired writings of the Spirit of Prophecy.

What is the result of disregarding the inspired writings? The devil is going to take control of the mind of the one who is questioning, and then he is going to use that person to take control of someone else. In an attempt to accomplish this, he has aroused doubt using a whole new theology which attacks that foundation pillar of Adventism, including the Third Angel’s Message.

“The mark of the beast is to be presented in some shape to every institution and every individual.” 1888 Materials, 477. Now, if it must come in some form, can it come in more than one way? Evidently. The devil is studying your character to try to find out what the most attractive form of the mark of the beast would be for you. If he can induce you to disregard the warnings of God to the church, you are going to be taken in by the snare and not even know it until it is too late.

Oh friend, do you want to be kept from the deceptions that will take the world and most of the Adventist Church captive? How are you going to be kept? The people who will be kept are people who do not doubt the Spirit of Prophecy.

Today, the devil will attempt to bring into the church every kind of confusion, but creating doubt with regard to inspired truth is one of the main ones. Satan knows that if people have confidence in the Bible and in the writings of Ellen White and they start to study them, wonderful things will happen. This leads to harmony and unity among God’s people. Even people who have newly come into the faith gain such a clear understanding of present truth that they are safe from the deceptions coming upon the world. These books enlighten people’s minds.

When studying the counsel of God on a subject, do not just take one little verse or sentence here or there and build your whole theology on it. The Bible says that there is a principle involved in studying inspired writings. We find in Isaiah 28:9, 10 that “precept must be upon precept . . . line upon line . . . here a little, there a little.” What is the principle? You look at all of the instruction. Remember, the Bible is inspired by a mind that is infinite, that is so much greater than yours or mine, that we will not be able to understand it all. IF we take just a little piece, without the benefit of all of the instruction in any given area of study, we are prone to misinterpret it. But if all of the counsels on any subject are considered, there is little danger of being deceived. In the past, when I have heard of new doctrines and teachings and wanted to know, Does the Lord endorse these teachings? Are they according to the Spirit of Prophecy? I have followed this method of study over and over again. You may not be able to explain every statement or every text; but if you are willing to look at all of the counsel on he subject, considering, what is the weight of evidence? You will be led to the truth.

Have you ever met people who want to interpret certain prophecies differently? This is common, not only in Adventism today, but all across the Christian world. People are studying prophecy, and there is more confusion than I have ever seen in my entire life. When considering something of this nature, the first thing that you want to do is to go to the inspired writings and ask, “Is this interpretation in line with all of the statements in inspired writings on that subject?” If you do this, you will be kept from much of the wild speculation that is going about today.

“The church, soon to enter upon her most severe conflict, will be the object most dear to God upon earth.” Testimonies to Ministers, 20. We are also told that the last conflict will be the devil’s most deceptive. She says, however, that it will result in the worst defeat that Satan has ever had. It will not look like defeat for a while, but truth and righteousness will emerge triumphant.

There is another area of deception that the devil is seeking to use to deceive Seventh-day-Adventists. Before examining it more closely, let me ask you a question. Suppose that you enlist in an army (the church militant is an army) and your commander tells you, “We are now going to enter into the most severe conflict you have ever experienced. Now as we enter this conflict, the army in which you are fighting is invisible, and you cannot tell who is part of your army and who is not.” How would you like to be in a conflict of this nature?

Do you understand what I am getting at yet? There are some people who believe that the true church is invisible. Though we have been accused of teaching the idea that the true church is invisible and only God knows who they are, we do not believe this is true, nor have we taught it.

Speaking about the meaning of the times in which we live, Ellen White says, “Before the great trouble shall come upon the world such as has never been since there was a nation, those who have faltered and who would ignorantly lead in unsafe paths will reveal this before the real vital test. The last proving, comes so that whatsoever they may say will not be regarded as voicing the True Shepherd. The time of our educating will soon be over. We have no time to lose in walking through clouds of doubt and uncertainty because of uncertain voices.” 1888 Materials, 1002. God is going to arrange things so that those who would lead His people astray will manifest their true character so that people will know not to put confidence in them in the time of trouble. I believe that this helps us to understand a great deal about the meaning of the times in which we are living right now. If you think that in the last days, during the time of trouble, the 144,000 are not going to be able to know who each other are, you are sadly mistaken; and if you believe that God’s army in the last great conflict is so invisible that nobody can figure out who they are, you are sadly mistaken.

Do not sink into the trap of believing that you are to live a godly life and develop a godly character but no one will know who you are. God’s church is visible now, and it is going to be more and more visible. The Second Advent Movement is going to be public, and it is going to be visible until the end. Do not let anyone confuse you with the theory that the true church is invisible and that you cannot tell who it is. The true church is visible. In Testimonies to Ministers, 20, Sister White is talking about the church militant. The church is soon to enter upon her most severe conflict. Because we are entering a time of most severe conflict, it is a time to press together, to pray for unity of doctrine, faith, and spirit. It is a time to meet together to pray and to ask the Lord to send us the Holy Spirit—to bring us, to make us, a unified, organized army to finish God’s work in the world.

Present truth is going to triumph gloriously very soon. Do you want to triumph with it? Well, friend, if you want to triumph with it when it triumphs, you need to be part of it now. And being part of it is not being part of some invisible, amorphous mass that nobody knows who and what it is. I am sorry if that sounds hard to some, but it is important that we do not get mixed up and be lost because of false theological teachings.

If you belong to an invisible church, it is time for you to make a public profession of faith and become visible, because there is not going to be an invisible church that is going to triumph. The church that triumphs is going to be a people who have made a profession of faith publicly and are visible. The devil and all of his angels even know who they are, and they are going to see them triumph. I want to be a part of that group, do you? It will not consist of people who doubt the Spirit of Prophecy. It is going to be made up of people who have accepted the warnings and said, “Lord, whatever needs to be changed in my life, I am willing to change. I am willing to change my mind on anything; just show me.

Children’s Story – Armies of the Aliens Put to Flight

by

Through the centuries, God has worked in many ways to preserve His truth and to protect His people. Sometimes, as when He freed Israel from their Egyptian bondage, He worked with signs and wonders; but at other times, He has used very simple means.

For hundreds of years before the Reformation, there were faithful people of God who lived in the Piedmont valleys of northern Italy. These faithful people were known as the Waldenses. They refused to accept the Roman Catholic religion, and this made them special objects of papal hatred. In 1487, Pope Innocent VII issued a decree, or bull, against them, urging that they must be completely destroyed.

Troops came in by the thousands—eighteen thousand regulars from France and Piedmont who were joined by a large number of rabble hoping to become rich by plundering the homes of these faithful people.

Cataneo was the papal legate, or representative, who led this army in its attack on the valley of Angrogna. As the battle proceeded, the enemy began to break through the line of the Waldenses’ defense, behind which were women, the children, and the aged. Seeing their defenders yielding before the attacking enemy, the Waldensian families fell to their knees and with tears began to cry, “Oh, Lord help us! Oh my God, save us!” This cry of distress caused their enemies to laugh. Seeing the praying company on their knees, one of the chiefs in the papal army, known as Black of Mondovi, cried out, “My fellows are coming—they are coming to give you your answer.” He then raised the visor of his helmet to show that he was not afraid of the people whom he had mocked and ridiculed. At that moment, a steel-pointed arrow struck him with such force that it penetrated his skull between his eyes, killing him instantly. His men, seized with panic, fell back in disorder.

Though they had been driven back, the invaders were not defeated. The next day they returned more determined than ever.

It seemed impossible that the Waldensian people could escape this time, but God was watching over them. He said to their enemies, as He had said to a tyrant many years before, “I will put my hook in thy nose, and My bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.” II Kings 19:28.

As the invaders entered the valley, they threaded their way up the narrow pathway that led along the face of a high wall. The path was so narrow that no more than two men could walk side by side. On one side was the mountain wall stretching upwards, and on the other was a deep ravine through the bottom of which a river flowed.

As the papal army advanced, the Waldenses noticed something that the invaders were completely unaware of. High over the mountain top, a small cloud about the size of a man’s hand appeared. The Waldenses watched as the cloud rapidly grew in size and began to descend to the valley below. In a few moments, it completely filled the narrow valley into which the papal army had come, filling it with the darkness of night. The blinded soldiers could neither advance nor retreat. Terrified, they halted, unable to move.

The Waldenses believed that God was working for them. Climbing quickly to the top of the slopes leading to the valley, they tore loose huge stones and rocks and sent them thundering down into the ravine below. The enemy soldiers, unable to move, were crushed where they stood. Some of the Waldenses then boldly entered the narrow valley, their swords in hand, and began attacking the invading papal army from the front. As they did so, a panic seized the papal army; and they began to flee in the darkness. This proved more disastrous to them than the stones. In their struggle to escape, they jostled against one another; and many of them fell to their death in the chasm far below.

This terrible defeat, coming as it had in so unexpected a manner, brought about the deliverance of the valley. After this battle, the Waldenses had peace in their valley for a number of years. The captain who commanded the invading force was named Saguet de Planghere; and the chasm, into which he fell, after all these centuries, is still called Saguet’s hole.

The Reformation history shows that it was by witnessing and suffering and not by fighting, that the light of truth was caused to shine; but in these experiences of deliverance, we see God’s providence in keeping alive a small band of witnesses in the Piedmont valleys until the time that the Reformation should come.

Martin Luther, part II – The Doctrine of Indulgences

by

From Wycliffe, the good seed of the Word of God had been sown throughout Europe. In Bohemia and at Constance, it had been watered with the blood of the saints and proved by fire. A hundred years had passed since the martyrdom of Huss and Jerome. The condition of the church, rather than improving because of the light, had reached new depths of depravity. During the Reformation, the court of Rome had been scandalized by acts of treason, murder, and incest. Even its most respectable members were utterly unfit to be ministers of religion. The Church of Rome had made plain her complete antagonism to the Word of God and to the way of salvation which she professed to know and of which she claimed to be the exclusive channel. By His faithful witnesses, God had sought to call the Church of Rome to repentance; but she would not. If reform could not be brought about within the church, the only course remaining was to do so from without.

Luther’s status as an envoy from Germany obtained him numerous invitations to meetings. At one of these meetings, several of the prelates were openly displaying their buffoonery and impious conversation. He discovered that many of the priests were but playing a part and that in private they held in contempt and treated with mockery the rites which in public they celebrated with such a show of devotion. Surely, he thought, faith and piety must still be found among the dignitaries of the Church. A short time late, he was to find how greatly mistaken he was.

One day he was with some prelates when they humorously related how, when they were repeating the mass at the altar, instead of the sacramental words that were to transform the bread and wine into the flesh and blood of our Saviour, they pronounced: “’Bread thou art, and bread thou shalt remain. Wine thou art, and wine thou shalt remain. Then,’ continued they, ‘we elevate the host, and all the people bow down and worship it.’” D’Aubigne’s History of the Reformation, book 2, chapter 6, 69. Luther scarcely believed his ears. He was horrified.

Righteousness by Faith

There was, at the time of Luther’s visit, a stairway of marble that was said to have been the stairs which Christ climbed to Pilate’s judgment hall. These stairs were said to have been miraculously transported to Rome by angels. Everyone who climbed them on his knees, it was said, merited an indulgence of fifteen years for each ascent. While climbing the stairs, Luther was startled by a sudden voice which sounded in his ears as thunder saying, “The just shall live by faith.” Luther started to his feet in amazement. In this one truth, which burned itself indelibly into his mind, lay folded the whole Reformation.

Though Luther’s stay in Rome was no more than two weeks, during this short period of time, he learned lessons that remained with him throughout the rest of his life. No more did he have anything to do with relics. He had found that which had a thousand times more efficacy than all of the holy treasure of which Rome could boast.

A few months after his return, Luther received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the University of Wittemberg. On that occasion, Luther took an oath upon the Bible to defend the faith contained in the Holy Scriptures. From there he turned to the Bible as his lifework.

Truly, “we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.” 2 Corinthians 13:8. “The Roman Church had made merchandise of the grace of God. The tables of the money-changers (Matthew 21:12) were set up beside her altars, and the air resounded with the shouts of buyers and sellers. Under the plea of raising funds for the erection of St. Peter’s Church at Rome, indulgences for sin were publicly offered for sale by the authority of the pope. By the price of crime, a temple was to be built up for God’s worship—the cornerstone laid with the wages of iniquity! But the very means adopted for Rome’s aggrandizement provoked the deadliest blow to her power and greatness. It was this that aroused the most determined and successful of the enemies of popery, and led to the battle which shook the papal throne and jostled the triple crown upon the pontiff’s head.” The Great Controversy, 127.

The license to sell indulgences in the various countries was sold to the highest bidder, with the pope to be paid in advance. The indulgences in Germany were farmed out to Albert, Archbishop of Mainz and Madeburg. The Archbishop was in Germany what Leo X was in Rome. In looking for a man to transverse the country extolling and actually selling the indulgences, he found in Tetzel a man who in every way suited his purpose. Tetzel, the son of a goldsmith of Leipzig, had been convicted of a base crime at Innsbruck and had been condemned to be placed in a sack and drowned; but powerful intercession being made for him, he received a reprieve and lived to help, unconsciously, in the overthrow of the system that he espoused.

When Tetzel entered a city, he made his way directly to the cathedral. A cross was set up in front of the altar and a strong, iron box was placed beside it. Tetzel, mounting the pulpit, would expound on the incomparable merit of his wares. Never before had the gates of Paradise opened so wide. “’Indulgences,’ he said, ‘are the most precious and most noble of God’s gifts. . . . Come, and I will give you letters all properly sealed, by which even the sins you intend to commit may be pardoned. I would not change my privileges for those of St. Peter in heaven, for I have saved more souls by my indulgences than the apostle did by his sermons. . . . But more than this . . . indulgences avail not only for the living, but for the dead. Priest, noble, merchant, wife, youth, maiden, do you not hear your parents and your other friends who are dead, and who cry from the bottom of the abyss: “We are suffering horrible torments! A trifling alms would deliver us; you can give it and you will not.”?

‘At the very instant,’ continues Tetzel, ‘that the money rattles at the bottom of the chest, the soul escapes from purgatory, and flies liberated to heaven. Now you can ransom so many souls, stiff-necked and thoughtless man; with twelve groats you can deliver your father from purgatory, and you are ungrateful enough not to save him! I shall be satisfied in the Day of Judgment; but you—you will be punished so much the more severely for having neglected so great salvation. I declare to you, though you have a single coat, you ought to strip it off and sell it, in order to obtain this grace. . . . The Lord our God no longer reigns; He has resigned all power to the pope.’” Wylie, History of Protestantism, vol. 1, 57.

Indulgences Become License

The matter of indulgences quickly became the focal point of discussion from the palace to the university and even in the market place. That a little money could atone for the guilt and efface the stain of the most enormous crimes was a blow at the very foundation of the moral fabric of the nation. The more sensible portion of the population were shocked, and those who had some small knowledge of the Word of God viewed the matter in an even worse light. “The papal key, instead of unlocking the fountains of grace and holiness, had opened the floodgates of impiety and vice; and men trembled at the deluge of licentiousness which seemed ready to rush in and overflow the land.” Ibid., 258.

Leo’s Quest for Gold

When the gold began to pour into Rome, the joy of Leo X knew no bounds. “He had not, like the Emperor Charles, a ‘Mexico’ beyond the Atlantic; but he had a ‘Mexico’ in the credulity of Christendom, and he saw neither limit nor end of the wealth it might yield him. Never again would he have cause to bewail an empty treasury. Men would never cease to sin; and o long as they continued to sin, they would need pardon; and where could they go for pardon if not to the Church—in other words, to himself? He only, of all men on the earth, held the key. He might say with an ancient monarch, ‘Mine hand hath found as a nest the riches of the nations; and as one gathereth eggs, so have I gathered all the earth.’ Thus Leo went from day to day, building St. Peter’s, but pulling down the papacy.” Ibid.

“Men of all characters, righteous and unrighteous, will stand in their several positions in God’s plan. With the characters they have formed, they will act their part in the fulfillment of history. In a crisis, just at the right moment, they will stand in the places they have prepared themselves to fill. Believers and unbelievers will fall into line as witnesses to confirm truth that they themselves do not comprehend. All will cooperate in accomplishing the purposes of God, just as did Annas, Caiaphas, Pilate, and Herod.” Review and Herald, June 12, 1900.

Luther, who acted as confessor as well as preacher, as he sat one day in the confessional, was approached by some citizens of Wittemberg who confessed having committed thefts, adulteries, and other heinous sins. Luther told them that they must abandon their evil course; otherwise he could not absolve them. To his surprise, they replied that they had no thought of changing, in as much as these sins were already pardoned. They then pulled out their indulgence papers obtained from Tetzel. Luther could only tell them that the papers were worthless and that they must repent and be forgiven of God or they would perish everlastingly.

The poor, deluded people, quite unhappy at losing both their money and, at the same time, their hope of heaven, quickly found Tetzel and informed him that a monk in Wittemberg was warning the people against his indulgences. Tetzel was enraged. Kindling a fire in the marketplace of Juterbock, he indicated what would be done to anyone who should presume to obstruct his noble work, declaring that the pope had given him authority to commit all such heretics to the flames.

Luther was unmoved by Tetzel’s angry words. He had no thought but that the pope, if not ignorant of the sale of indulgences, was at least unaware of the frightful excesses that attended their sale; and he became even more strenuous in his condemnation of them.

Tetzel continued his sale of indulgences, and Luther felt constrained to take even more decisive measures. Elector Frederick had recently completed a church-castle in Wittemberg. He had spared neither money nor labor in gathering relics in their settings of gold and precious stones. These were put on public display and shown to the people on the festival of All Saints. On the eve of the festival, October 31, Luther, who had given no hint to anyone of what he proposed to do, joined the crowd that was approaching the church. Pressing his way to the front, he quickly nailed to the door a paper on which he had put forth ninety-five theses, or propositions, against the doctrine of indulgences. The sound of his hammer drew a crowd, and they quickly began to read. These points, Luther announced, he would defend at the university the next day against all who might choose to dispute them.

In this paper, Luther struck at more than the abuses of indulgences. The theses put God’s free gift of salvation in sharp contrast with the pope’s salvation to be obtained by purchase. Though he little realized the full significance of the step that he had taken, Luther had set the stage for the Reformation. The two systems—salvation by Jesus Christ and salvation by Rome—were brought face to face.

The news traveled quickly. Erasmus, on being asked by the Elector of Saxony his opinion on the matter, replied with characteristic shrewdness, “Luther has committed two unpardonable crimes—he has attacked the pope’s tiara, and the bellies of the monks.” Ibid., 263.

A Remarkable Dream

The morning of October 31, the elector said to Duke John, “’Brother, I must tell you a dream which I had last night, and the meaning of which I should like much to know. It is so deeply impressed on my mind, that I will never forget it, were I to live a thousand years. For I dreamed it thrice, and each time with new circumstances.’

“Duke John: ‘Is it a good or a bad dream?’

“The elector: ‘I know not; God knows.’

Duke John: ‘Don’t be uneasy at it; but be so good as to tell it to me.’

“The elector: ‘Having gone to bed last night, fatigued and out of spirits, I fell asleep shortly after my prayer, and slept calmly for about two hours and a half; I then awoke, and continued awake to midnight, all sorts of thoughts passing through my mind. Among other things, I thought how I was to observe the Feast of All Saints. I prayed for the poor souls in purgatory; and supplicated God to guide me, my counsels, and my people according to truth. I again fell asleep, and then dreamed that Almighty God sent me a monk, who was a true son of the Apostle Paul. All the saints accompanied him by order of God, in order to bear testimony before me, and to declare that he did not come to contrive any plot, but that all that he did was according to the will of God. They asked me to have the goodness graciously to permit him to write something on the door of the church of the Castle of Wittemberg. This I granted through my chancellor. Thereupon the monk went to the church, and began to write in such large characters that I could read the writing in Schweinitz. The pen which he used as so large that its end reached as far as Rome, where it pierced the ears of a lion that was crouching there, and caused the triple crown upon the head of the pope to shake. All the cardinals and princes running hastily up, tried to prevent it from falling. You and I, brother, wished also to assist, and I stretched out my arm;—but at this moment, I awoke with my arm in the air, quite amazed, and very much enraged at the monk for not managing his pen better. I recollected myself; it was only a dream.’

“’I was still half asleep, and once more closed my eyes. The dream returned; the lion, still annoyed by the pen, began to roar with all his might, so much so that the whole city of Rome and all the States of the Holy Empire ran to see what the matter was. The pope requested them to oppose this monk, and applied particularly to me, on the account of his being in my country. I again awoke, repeated the Lord’s prayer, entreated God to preserve his holiness, and once more fell asleep.

“’Then I dreamed that all the princes of the Empire, and we among them, hastened to Rome and strove, one after another, to break the pen; but the more we tried, the stiffer it became, sounding as if it had been made of iron. We at length desisted. I then asked the monk (for I was sometimes at Rome, and sometimes at Wittemberg) where he got this pen, and why it was so strong. “The pen,” replied he, “belonged to an old goose of Bohemia, a hundred years old. I got it from one of my old schoolmasters. As to its strength, it is owing to the impossibility of depriving it of its pith or marrow; and I am quite astonished at it myself.” Suddenly, I heard a loud noise—a large number of other pens had sprung out of the long pen of the monk. I awoke a third time; it was daylight.’

“Duke John: ‘Chancellor, what is your opinion? Would we had a Joseph, or a Daniel, enlightened by God!’” Wylie, History of Protestantism, vol. 1, 263-265.

The elector had scarcely finished telling his dream in the royal castle of Schweinitz the morning of October 32, 1517, when Luther, with paper in hand, arrived at the castle church to interpret its meaning.

Secret Closure

by

“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!” Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’” Matthew 25:1–12.

They were all Seventh-day Adventists waiting for the coming of the Lord. They had all been friends, working together to tell people that Jesus is coming soon and that they need to be ready. They had all let their lights shine brightly, but somehow the Lord did not come as soon as they had expected. As time went on, they became involved with good things, such as various church activities, raising a family, and planning for retirement. They had not expected quite such a long delay; and with the passage of time, they began to lose some of their energy and enthusiasm. They were all still faithful Seventh-day Adventists; they were just more relaxed, going to church, doing the things they should; until all of a sudden, things began to happen that caused them to realize that they had better get ready for Jesus to come because He was coming now.

As they aroused and went forth to proclaim Jesus’ soon return, some of their lights shone brightly and they proclaimed with power that Jesus is coming again. Others, however, could not quite seem to get the message all together. They decided that they had better go to some meetings, get involved in some Bible studies, and do some praying and get that power again. But the Bible says that the day will come when there will be a famine in the land. “’Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord God, ‘That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.’” Amos 8:11–13.

I have recently come to the startling realization that this text applies in a special way to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This is a text for the Laodiceans. It does not say that they are not going to hear some words, but somehow they are not going to be the Lord’s words.

This latter group represents the five foolish virgins who will be seeking after oil. They are not sitting down doing nothing; they are going from sea to sea, from north to south, attending meetings, listening to preachers, reading books that are published by the only people they know who claim to teach the truth, and whom they have been taught to trust; but there is a famine and they will not find it. You see, these young maidens went to the preachers in whom they had trusted; but their preaching somehow had no power to change their lives, and they did not know where to go; they did not know to whom to go. We have been told that the time is coming when the church will have no more “faithful, firm, and true” preachers. (See Testimonies, vol. 5, 77.)

“Who knows whether God will not give you up to the deceptions you love? Who knows but that the preachers who are faithful, firm, and true may be the last who shall offer the gospel of peace to our unthankful churches? It may be that the destroyers are already training under the hand of Satan and only wait the departure of a few more standard-bearers to take their places, and with the voice of the false prophet cry, ‘Peace, peace,’ when the Lord hath not spoken peace.” Ibid.

Ministers Taught by Satan

If this statement said that the church would come to the place where it just could not afford any more pastors, or even that there were no more pastors to pastor the churches any longer, that would be bad; but that is not nearly as bad as having pastors who are trained by Satan himself. I will take no pastor any day to having a pastor that has been trained by Satan.

Sister White goes on to day that it is not even a question of if it could be, but that it will happen. “When God shall work His strange work on the earth, when holy hands bear the ark no longer, woe will be upon the people.” Ibid. This is looking forward to that time when men and women see the signs of God’s coming. Things are happening in the world and they have awakened, but they have no oil in their lamps. They will search from north to south, from east to west. They will read things from the publishing houses that they have trusted. They will go to the churches that they have trusted, and listen to the preachers whom they have trusted; but there is a famine in the land. A little later in Testimonies, vol. 5, Ellen White tells us some most startling things: Let me share some with you.

“The leaven of godliness has not entirely lost its power. At the time when the danger and depression of the church are greatest, the little company who are standing in the light will be sighing and crying for the abominations that are done in the land. But more especially will their prayers arise in behalf of the church because its members are doing after the manner of the world.

“The earnest prayers of this faithful few will not be in vain. When the Lord comes forth as an avenger, He will also come as a protector of all those who have preserved the faith in its purity and kept themselves unspotted from the world. It is at this time that God has promised to avenge His own elect which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them.” Ibid., 209.

It is the little company of those sighing and crying ones because of the abominations that were done in the church. These are the only ones, it says, who will be sealed. The great majority are becoming more and more like the world. We may be surprised at how small that group will be.

Speaking of this small group, she says, “They had reproved, counseled, and entreated. Some who had been dishonoring God repented and humbled their hearts before Him. But the glory of the Lord had departed from Israel.” Ibid. The glory of the Lord departed from Israel once before, but she says that a time is again coming when the glory of the Lord will have departed from Israel. She does not stop there, but continues, “Although many still continued the forms of religion, His power and presence were lacking.” Ibid. Sabbath after Sabbath church is going on, with the forms of religion, all the functions of the church are being carried out, Ingathering is continuing, church schools and hospitals are continuing to be operated, but the glory of the Lord has departed from Israel and somehow they do not realize it. They are going on with their religion without the glory of the Lord.

“While others try to throw a cloak over the existing evil, and excuse the great wickedness everywhere prevalent, those who have a zeal for God’s honor and a love for souls will not hold their peace to obtain favor of any.” Ibid. I do not believe that you should focus on problems, but many want to ignore that the problems even exist. They say things like, “We make some mistakes, but let us not get critical.” It is interesting how everyone is concerning about people being critical when we are dealing with certain things; but dear friends, there is a place for genuine concern. There is a place for speaking out.

“They are powerless to stop the rushing torrent of iniquity, and hence they are filled with grief and alarm. They mourn before God to see religion despised in the very homes of those who have had great light. They lament and afflict their souls because pride, avarice, selfishness, and deception of almost every kind are in the church. The Spirit of God, which prompts to reproof, is trampled underfoot, while the servants of Satan triumph. God is dishonored, the truth made of none effect.” Ibid., 210, 211. It seems that over the last few years it is just like a dam has broken open and we are experiencing a flood of evil. Ellen White continues, “The abominations for which the faithful ones were sighing and crying were all that could be discerned by finite eyes, but by far the worst sins, those which provoked the jealousy of the pure and holy God, were unrevealed.” Ibid., 211. Whatever we see, according to inspiration, it is but the tip of the iceberg.

Now, dear friend, this is shocking to me because somehow in my schematics of the end day, I have always held a picture of the church growing and ruling with apostasy; but there comes a shaking and all of the evil is shaken out. Then we have a pure church and the members go out and give a loud cry. Others come in to take the place of those who have been shaken out, then probation closes, and we go through—a happy, glorious church like at Pentecost. I have been reading things lately, however, that do not seem to fit into that nice, little picture that I have had in my head. Who did we just read about who are going to triumph in the church? It is the servants of Satan, while God is dishonored and the truth made of none effect.

Power, But Not From God

Well, there is a famine in the land and so these foolish virgins went out to find oil. They once had it, but they were careless. They went to find oil again and they went to the preachers whom they had trusted. They went to the church that they had grown up in; the church that they knew was the remnant church of Bible prophecy. They read the books from the authors with whom they were acquainted. And, dear friends, as they went out to find oil for their lamps to get their light shining again, by and by they accomplished their purpose, and their lamps were lit again. From somewhere, they found the power for which they were looking. Now that is all in the prophecy.

We are told that when Jesus went into the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, that some Adventists, by faith, went in with Him, meaning that they entered by faith into a most holy place experience. While Jesus is cleansing the heavenly sanctuary, they are cleansing their hearts of sin. (See Early Writings, 55.) But some Adventists stayed in the holy place. Now, of course, this refers to First-day Adventists in Ellen White’s day, but it also refers to any Adventist who does not go into the most holy place. “I turned to look at the company who were still bowed before the throne; they did not know that Jesus had left it. Satan appeared to be by the throne, trying to carry on the work of God. I saw them look up to the throne, and pray, ‘Father, give us Thy Spirit.’ Satan would then breathe upon them an unholy influence; in it there was light and much power, but no sweet love, joy, and peace.” Early Writings, 56. Notice that it is not a little, but much power.

Have you ever heard of people who have had a Laodicean experience but now they have found new power in their life—like they have never experienced before? Religion has taken on a new meaning, but when you investigate, you find that it is like the experience of Eve when she ate the forbidden fruit. All of a sudden she felt like she had entered a higher plane. She had a testimony that she could go and tell Adam. “Listen, this fruit is not dangerous. I have entered into a higher realm of experience. My Christian experience has grown. I feel more like God than I ever have before.” And he ate, too.

The Virgins Represent Adventists

We need to remember that the virgins were all Adventists, were they not? They were all waiting for the coming of the Lord. They all had lamps and they all, at one time, had their lamps burning. Let us continue: “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you. ‘Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” Matthew 25:10–13.

Now granted, they got the wrong oil and the wrong fire, but they apparently did not know that. They got some oil, they had some fire in their lamps, and they were out witnessing again with light and power. But while they were getting the oil, the door had closed and they did not know it!

“But of that day and hour no one knows, no, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark.” Matthew 24:36–42.

Now I want you to notice that it says that they did not know it until the flood came. I want you to notice that this is not talking about the fact that the flood came; everyone knew when the flood came. They did not know when probation had closed. Noah had entered in, the door had closed, probation closed, but they did not know it. No one knew that probation had closed. They went on eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the flood came seven days after probation closed. And so, Jesus said, ‘Also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Matthew 24:39.

The door is going to close while people are not just eating and drinking, but while they are coming to church on the Sabbath, while they are paying their tithes and offerings, and while they are going on with all of the activities of the church. The door is going to close, and they will no know it. Thus it was with the Jewish nation. While they were doing all these things, the Master came, humbled and disguised; and they did not know it. The door closed, and they went right on with their church business as though nothing had ever taken place. “Many are grieving away the Holy Spirit for the last time, even now, and they do not know it. Pride of heart prevented His hearers from humbling themselves before God and confessing their sins and resisting His Holy Spirit and reluctantly It left them.” Review and Herald Extra, December 23, 1890.
She goes on to say, “The words spoken by Christ of Jerusalem are, ‘Behold your house is left unto you desolate.’ . . . The Lord forbid that this scene should now be repeated in the experience of God’s professed people! ‘My Spirit,” He says, ‘shall not always strive with man. The time will come when it must be said of the impenitent, ‘Ephraim is joined to his idols; let him alone.’

“Will the church see from where she has fallen?” Ibid.

Our Danger—Greater than Israel’s

Now, dear friend, we are told that our danger is even greater than that of ancient Israel. “I was pointed back to ancient Israel. But two of the adults of the vast army that left Egypt entered the land of Canaan. Their dead bodies were strewn in the wilderness because of their transgressions. Modern Israel are in greater danger of forgetting God and being led into idolatry than were His ancient people.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 609.

I was quite startled by something that I read. I thought that everyone was shaken out of the church before the close of probation, but we are told that, “Those who refuse to be hewed by the prophets and fail to purify their souls in obeying the whole truth, and who are willing to believe that their condition is far better than it really is, will come up to the time of the falling of the plagues and then see that they needed to be hewed and squared for the building. But there will be no time then to do it and no Mediator to plead their cause before the Father.” Early Writings, 71.

There is a pure and holy church that is going to go through; but dear friend, the outward, legal, obvious church is not going to be purified any time this side of the close of probation. I am afraid that there was never a more fearful delusion than the idea that being part of the church is an assurance of salvation. That is what the Jewish people thought back in Jesus’ day, and when the church crucified Jesus, they went right along with it because they stayed with the church.

Oh, dear friends, may the Lord grant that when the door secretly closes, just as imperceptibly and secretly as the door closed upon the Jewish nation, that we will all be on the inside.

Today, God is weighing the church in the balances; He knows their works. He is walking up and down the aisle of every conference office; and dear friend, the Bible says that every tree which does not bear good fruit is going to be cut down and thrown into the fire. We may fool men. We may even fool ourselves. But friends, God reads the thoughts and intents of the heart, and someday soon, while life is going on without any great catastrophe taking place, the door will close. Only those people who fully reflect God’s character will have entered in. When the rest of the people will wake up, it will be too late.

Martin Luther, part I – The Groundworks

by

During the days of Valentinian (A.D. 364), the Roman Empire was divided into the Eastern and Western sections. The Turks eventually came to control the Eastern Empire, but proved unable to conquer Western Europe. Largely as a result of the efforts of the pope to revive the Empire in the west, the nations were grouped into a body, or federation of confederate states. From the kings of these various states, one was chosen to rule over them collectively and was given the title Emperor.

Charlemagne, the first head, succeeded in giving the confederation empire a show of power, but true to the words of prophecy: “And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.” Daniel 2:43. It was extremely difficult to introduce universal laws or to bring the nations together, even in matters of mutual interest. It was only the terror inspired by Mahomet II that led the princes of Germany to unite themselves in an empire.

Pope Gregory, about the year 997, is believed to have instituted seven electors. Of these, three were churchmen and three lay princes, to which one of kingly rank was added. The three churchmen wee the Archbishop of Treve, Chancellor of France; the Archbishop of Mainz, Chancellor of Germany; and the Archbishop of Cologne, Chancellor if Italy. The four laymen were the King of Bohemia, the Duke of Saxony, Count Palatine of the Rhine, and the Marquis of Brandenburg. The election was to take place in Frankfort; and no elector was permitted to enter the city attended by more than 200 horsemen, of which only 50 were to be armed.

The emperor had no special revenue to support the imperial dignity and no power to enforce the imperial commands. The princes were careful not to make the emperor too powerful, lest he should infringe on their independent sovereignty. In the end, the Empire had only two elements of cohesion—Roman Catholicism and their fear of the Turks.

With the death of Maximilian, in 1519, the imperial crown became vacant. There were two powerful contenders who came forward to claim the price—Francis I of France and Charles of Austria, the grandson of Maximilian and King of Spain. Henry VIII had an interest; but finding his chances of winning small, he early withdrew. In the end, the Germans chose Charles.

The Turks, hovering on their frontier, helped the German princes to recognize the benefit of a strong central government. They were not, however, unaware that the hand which could be strong to protect them could as easily crush out their rights. In order to protect themselves, they drew up an instrument called a Capitulation, or claim of rights, enumerating and guaranteeing the privileges and immunities of the Germanic Body, which the representatives of Charles signed. At the time of his coronation, Charles confirmed the agreement with an oath. In so doing, these men were, quite unconsciously, creating an asylum to which Protestantism might retreat when the emperor would later raise his hand to crush it.

Charles V was more powerful than any emperor had been for centuries. To the imperial dignity he added the substantial power of Spain, which was, at that time, by far the mightiest nation in Europe. In order to better understand how Spain had achieved this position, we will briefly look at the events that had taken place to bring Spain to the pinnacle of power and grandeur that it then enjoyed.

 

Spain Emerges

 

In 711, a Berber Muslim army crossed the Strait of Gibraltar from northern Africa into the Iberian Peninsula. By 719, Moorish rule was established in Spain. Their progress northward was arrested, however, at a battle fought in France, between Tours and Poitiers, in 732 by the Frankish ruler Charles Martel.

During the centuries of Moorish supremacy, numerous schools were built, many of them free and for the education of the poor. At the great Muslim universities, medicine, mathematics, philosophy, and literature were cultivated, placing Spanish civilization far in advance of that experienced by the rest of the continent.

With the death of Hisham III, the dynasty ended and the dissolution of the central Moorish power began, enabling the Christian kings of northern Spain to gain the advantage and subdue some Moorish states, while making others tributary. The Christian kings, in a great battle fought on the plains of Toledo in July 1212, won a decisive victory and shortly thereafter largely expelled the Muslims from Spain.

Except for small areas that were still under Moorish control, Spain, for the next two centuries, consisted of various principalities. As the Reformation approached, this suddenly changed with the merging of the various kingdoms into the two kingdoms of Castile and Aragon. Only one step remained to make Spain one monarchy, and that step was taken in 1469 by the marriage of Princess Isabella of Castile and Prince Ferdinand of Aragon. They became joint rulers of Castile in 1474 and of Aragon in 1479.

In 1492, sponsored by Ferdinand and Isabella, Christopher Columbus sailed west and landed in the West Indies. The opening of the New World made Spain the richest and most powerful European State of the sixteenth century. Through conquest and exploration, the Spanish colonies came to include the West Indies, Cuba, Mexico, all of Central America, the greater part of South America, Florida, and the Philippine Islands. In a series of Spanish campaigns from 1509 through 1511, Oran, Bougie, and Tripoli, in North Africa, became Spanish tributaries. It could then be said, as was later said of the British, that the sun never set on the Spanish Empire. Upon the death of Ferdinand, his grandson Charles became the first king of a united Spain.

In addition to Spain and the Spanish colonies, Charles inherited Naples (through his mother) and the Netherlands and Burgundy (through his father) and also acquired the duchy of Milan, including most of Lombardy. “Since the noon of the Roman power, the liberties of the world had at no time been in so great peril as now. The shadow of a universal despotism was persistently projecting itself father and yet farther upon the kingdoms and peoples of Western Europe. There was no principle known to the men of that age that seemed capable of doing battle with this colossus, and staying its advance . . . Unless Protestantism had arrived at that crisis, a universal despotism would have covered Europe, and liberty banished from the earth must have returned to her native skies.” Wylie, The History of Protestantism, vol. 1, Book 2, 220.

From the fall of the Western Empire to the eleventh century, Europe experienced an era of unparalleled darkness. It was the crusades that first began to break the darkness. Though it was a feeble beginning, and of itself would not have been sufficient to bring the day that was yet to break over the world, commerce, art, and poetry began to appear to act upon society. In the passage of time, the printing press appeared, and soon after, the mariner’s compass. Men, who until this time had but a limited view of the world, suddenly awakened to discover a world larger and richer in natural resources than they had dared to dream existed.

 

The Bible Brings Light

 

Though these things could not have brought the dawn, they opened the way for the true light to make its way, scattering the darkness before it. The Bible, so long buried, was brought forth and translated into the various languages of Europe. “The light of heaven, after its long and disastrous eclipse, broke anew upon the world.” Ibid., 227.

It was into this setting that Martin Luther was born on November 10, 1483, in Eisleben, Germany. John and Margaret, Luther’s parents, were very poor. His father, however, was determined to make a scholar of his son; and at the age of fourteen, Luther was sent away to advance his education at Madeburg, and later at Eisenach. At eighteen, Luther entered the university at Erfurth where he pursued a course in law, according to his father’s wishes.

At this time, books were very rare. One day, during his second year at Erfurth, he was in the library, opening books to learn the writer’s names, when he came upon a Bible. His interest was greatly aroused to learn that there was such a book. Until this time he had thought that the fragments of the Gospels and Epistles that the Church had selected for reading made up the entire Bible. With indescribable emotion he turned the pages of the sacred Volume. The first part to which his attention was drawn was the story of Hanna and Samuel. As he read of Samuel’s dedication to the Lord, of how he witnessed the wickedness of Eli’s sons, the priests of the Lord who made the people to transgress and abhor the offering of the Lord, he fancied that he saw a parallel with his own times. Day after day he returned to read, rejoicing in the truth that began to open to his inquiring mind.

Luther continued to pursue his education until he acquired a Master of Arts, or Doctor of Philosophy; and for a time, the Bible appeared to be forgotten as he began to give public lectures on physics and ethics of Aristotle.

God did not, however, leave Luther. About this time, a very dear friend and companion, Alexius, was overtaken by a sudden and violent death. Soon after this, Luther paid a visit to his parents in Mansfield. On returning to Erfurth, as he neared the city gate, he was caught in a fierce thunderstorm. One bolt struck so close that, by some accounts, he was thrown to the ground. In his extremity, he vowed to God that if his life was spared, he would devote his life to His service. The storm passed, and a solemn Luther made his way into town.

On August 17, 1505, Luther entered the Augustinian Convent. He had expected that in a place so quiet and, as he thought, so near to heaven, he would find rest for his soul and relief from the burden of sin that was, to him, becoming an insupportable burden. “There is a city of refuge to which the sinner may flee when death and hell are on his track, but it is not that into which Luther had now entered.” Ibid., 236.

At the news of his son’s change of plans, John Luther became indignant and wrote an angry letter to his son. He withdrew all of his favor, and declared him disinherited from his paternal affection. In vain did the father’s friends seek to effect reconciliation.

Not long after this, the plague deprived John of two of his sons. At that time, it was related to him that Martin had also been taken in death. The father’s friends seized this opportunity to reconcile him to the young novice. Somewhat grudgingly, and still half-rebellious, John relented. “Some time after this, when Luther, who had been reconciled to his father, related to him the event that had induced him to enter a monastic order: ‘God grant,’ replied the worthy miner, ‘that you may not have taken for a sign from heaven what was merely a delusion of the devil.’” D’Aubigne’s History of the Reformation, Book 2, Chapter 3, 57.

The monks at the convent received Luther with joy. It was no small gratification to their vanity to have one of the most esteemed doctors of the age abandon the university and join their order. Nevertheless, they treated him harshly and imposed on him the meanest occupations, seeking to humble him.

The drudgery of the monastery, combined with the late nights of study, worked a transformation in the communicative and jovial student. He became solitary and withdrawn. At times he fell to the floor of his cell in sheer weakness, more like a corpse than a living man. One day, when his door had not been opened as usual, they knocked on his door; but there was no response. “The door was burst in, and poor Fra Martin was found stretched on the floor in a state of ecstasy, scarcely breathing, and well-nigh dead. A monk took his flute, and gently playing upon it one of the airs that Luther loved, brought him gradually back to himself. The likelihood at that moment was that instead of living to do battle with the pope, and pull down the pillars of his kingdom, a quiet grave, somewhere in the precincts of the monastery, would erelong be the only memorial remaining to testify that such a one as Martin Luther had ever existed.” Wylie, The History of Protestantism, vol. 1, Book 2, 237, 238.

Later, as a Reformer, he wrote to Duke George of Saxony, “I was indeed a pious monk and followed the rules of my order more strictly than I can express. If ever monk could obtain heaven by his monkish works, I should have certainly been entitled to it. Of this all the friars who have known me can testify. If it had continued much longer, I should have carried my mortifications even to death by means of my watchings, prayers, reading, and other labors. D’Aubigne’s History of the Reformation, Book 2, Chapter 3, 59.

 

Staupitz Points Luther to Christ

 

A tender conscience inclined Luther to regard the slightest fault as a great sin. He would endeavor, by the severest mortifications, to expiate it; but in all of this, he found no peace.

It was at this time that the Lord brought the pious John Staupitz into Luther’s life. Staupitz was Vicar-General of the Augustines of Germany. Through his study he had learned the way of salvation. The purity of his own life condemned the corruption that surrounded him, but he lacked the courage to be the Reformer of Christendom. In spite of this lack, God used him in preparing Luther for that work. “The pious Staupitz opened the Word of God to Luther’s mind and bade him look away from himself, cease the contemplation of infinite punishment for the violation of God’s law, and look to Jesus, his sin-pardoning Saviour. ‘Instead of torturing yourself on account of your sins, throw yourself into the Redeemer’s arms. Trust in Him, in the righteousness of His life, in the atonement of His death. . . . Listen to the Son of God. He became man to give you the assurance of divine favor. Love Him who first loved you.’ D’Aubigne’s, History of the Reformation, Book 2, Chapter 4. Thus spoke this messenger of mercy. His words made a deep impression upon Luther’s mind. After many a struggle with long-cherished errors, he was enabled to grasp the truth, and peace came to his troubled soul.” The Great Controversy, 123, 124.

The light that pierced the darkness that surrounded Luther freed him from the principles of popery. He no longer looked to himself and to the Church for salvation, but to Jesus Christ. Before he left the convent cell to break the shackles of Rome from the Christian world, the Reformation first rehearsed itself in his cell at Erfurth.

A short time later, Luther was ordained a priest and accepted a call to professorship in the University of Wittenberg. There he applied himself to his study of the Scriptures in the original tongues. He began to lecture on the book of Psalms, the Gospels, and the Epistles. His friend Staupitz urged him to ascend the pulpit and preach the Word of God; but Luther hesitated, feeling himself unworthy of such a high calling. It was only after a long struggle that he yielded to the invitation of friends.

Luther was still a true son of the papal church and had no thought that he would ever be anything else; but in the providence of God, he was led to make a trip to Rome. About this time a quarrel broke out between seven monasteries of the Augustines and their Vicar-General. It was agreed to submit the matter to the pope, and Luther’s eloquence recommended him as the person most fit to undertake the task. Descending the mountains to the fertile plains of Lombardy, he stopped for a few days of rest at a monastery on the banks of the Po. He was filled with misgivings as he observed the magnificence and luxury. The monks, endowed with a princely income, lived in splendid apartments and dressed themselves in the richest and most costly attire. His mind became perplexed as he contrasted this lifestyle with the self-denial and hardship of his own life. Friday came and, according to church law, there was to be no meat served. The tables of the monks, however, groaned under the abundance as before. Luther could no longer remain silent. “’On this day,’ said Luther, ‘such things my not be eaten. The pope has forbidden them.’” Wylie, The History of Protestantism, vol. 1, Book 2, 248.

Though it did not spoil their appetites, the manners of this rude German did startle the monks. They became apprehensive that he might report their style of life to their superiors at headquarters, and they consulted how this danger might be avoided. A friendly porter disclosed to Luther that to remain longer would be to incur great risk. Profiting by the friendly warning, Luther quickly departed with as little delay as possible.

At the first sight of Rome, Luther fell to his knees, exclaiming, “Holy Rome, I salute thee!” Expecting there to find the spotless beauty of apostolic truth, he made his way into the city.

Bohemia at War, Compromise and Betrayal

by

As he was dying, Ziska had named Procopius to be his successor. Though he is not as well known, Procopius was to prove himself an even greater leader than Ziska had been. The son of a nobleman, Procopius had an excellent education and was broadly traveled. Though his spirit was less fiery than that of Ziska, it was not due to a lack of devotion to the Hussite cause, but rather because it was better regulated. Ziska was a soldier and general; but in addition to these qualities, Procopius was a statesman as well.

The enemies of the Hussites, knowing that Ziska, their famous leader, was removed by death, deemed the moment opportune to strike another blow. They confidently expected an easy victory, failing to reflect that the blood of Huss and Jerome was weighing against them. They did not realize that it was not a blind warrior who had defeated them, but that he was merely the instrument of a righteous Power that they would encounter wherever they might raise the sword on Bohemian soil.

A new summons to arms was made. The emperor, having already suffered much for the cause and having no real delight in bitter defeat, was in no great hurry to take up the standard in another campaign. To encourage him, the pope wrote to the princes of Germany, exhorting them to unite in dealing a death blow to the Hussite cause and assuring them that the Hussite heretics were worse than the Turk himself and likewise, a greater threat to Christianity. The letter was soon followed by a bull ordaining a new crusade against the Hussites.

When the first mutterings of the distant storm reached Bohemia, it found the Hussites unhappily divided. There were the Taborites, who acknowledged Procopius as leader; and there were the Calixtines, commanded by Coribut, a candidate for the Bohemian crown. The sudden threat so rapidly approaching, however, had the effect of drawing them together for the common good. Forgetting their differences in the presence of the great danger that faced them, they stood side by side to meet the advancing foe.

The pontiff’s summons had been generally responded to, and the advancing army numbered not less than seventy thousand picked men, though some historians place the number as high as one hundred thousand. Entering Bohemia in three columns, they advanced toward the Hussite camp. Procopius sent a proposal to the invaders that quarter should be given by both sides. The Germans, not anticipating that they would need to avail themselves of this provision, refused to promise it, saying to the Hussites that they were under the curse of the pope and that to spare them would be to violate their duty to the church. “Let it be so, then,” Procopius replied, “and let no quarter be given on either side.” Wylie, The History of Protestantism, vol. 1, 193.

The Bohemians awaited the early morning attack; entrenched behind five hundred wagons fastened to one another by chains, which formed a somewhat formidable fortification. As the Germans stormed their first line of defense, hacking to pieces the wagons, the Bohemians were resting on their arms, discharging an occasional shot on the foe as they struggled to break through. Having once broken through the first line of defense, the Germans were faced with a weaker line of wooden shields stuck into the ground. They arrived within the second line of defense greatly wearied by the labor that their advance had cost them.

Now that they were face to face with the enemy, the Bohemians raised their war cry and, swinging their terrible flails, exacted a terrible price from their attackers. Rank after rank of the invaders pressed forward only to be felled in the terrible carnage. The battle raged till late in the afternoon. Though they fought with valor, the German knights’ labor was in vain. While the Germans were every moment falling before the rain of arrows that fell upon them and suffering greatly from the buffeting of the iron flails, the Bohemian ranks remained almost untouched. As the day wore to a close, the invaders fled the field in confusion, seeking refuge in the mountains and surrounding woods.

“The fugitives when overtaken implored quarter, but themselves had settled it, before going into battle, and accordingly, now quarter was given. Twenty-four counts and barons stuck their swords in the ground, and knelt before their captors, praying that their lives might be spared. But in vain. In one place three hundred slain knights are said to have been found laying together in a single heap.” Ibid. Of the Hussites, there fell only thirty men, while the loss to the invaders is estimated to have been as high as fifty thousand. The German nobility suffered greatly, nearly all of their leaders being left on the field.

The Bohemians, on the other hand, were greatly enriched by the booty that fell into their hands. This advantage was not, however, as important as the prestige that it gave them. From this day forward, the Hussite arms were looked upon as invincible.

The pope, undaunted, organized an even greater crusade the following year. Realizing that it would be in vain to look for a German prince to agree to such an undertaking, he sought the English for help. To his dismay, he found that the English held little enthusiasm for such an endeavor which, while it was no doubt holy, was also beyond doubt going to be very bloody. It was in Belgium that better fortune awaited him; and from all Western Europe, there was such a response, as Europe had not seen since the early crusades. Contemporary writers give the size of the newly formed army at ninety thousand, with an equal number of cavalry. Though this is but a guess at best, there is no doubt that there was a much larger response to this call to arms than for any crusade against the Hussites to that point.

Led by three electors of the empire, by many princes and counts, and headed by the legate-a-latere of the pope, the mighty host moved toward Bohemia and, as it was believed, toward a victory that would strike such a blow as would redeem all past defeats. Until this time, many of the Bohemian Catholics had opposed their Protestant countrymen; but faced with a common peril, they united forces and marched to meet the invaders. They drew within sight of each other with only a river between them. The crusaders, though in greatly superior numbers, instead of dashing across the stream to meet their foe, stood gazing in silence at them. In the face of the Hussites, whose features were hardened by constant exposure, they seemed to realize all of the terror that had been reported to them and suddenly, panic hit them. In utmost confusion they turned and fled. The legate, seeing his hopes and the result of his labors disappearing before his eyes, sought in vain to stop the human tide that was sweeping past him. The Hussites plunged into the river and were soon falling upon the fleeing enemy. The carnage was increased by the fury of the peasantry, who, having suffered the ravages of the advancing papal army, sought their revenge on the vanquished foe.

Still desiring the Bohemian crown but in utter despair of gaining it by force of arms, Emperor Sigismund resorted to diplomacy. Most of the Bohemians, feeling strongly the gulf which had been created by the violation of Huss’s safe conduct and greatly broadened by the bloodshed since, were adamantly opposed to any discussion of the matter; but Procopius was unwilling to forego the hope of peace if there was a possibility of bringing an end to the bloodshed. Though he was willing to die for liberty, he longed for anything resembling an honorable peace, if it could be obtained. In this hope, he assembled the Bohemian Diet at Prague in 1429, at which he obtained its consent to lay the terms of the Bohemian people before the emperor in person.

The terms of the Bohemian people were essentially the four points which they had held to when the war began—the free preaching of the gospel, Communion that included both the bread and wine, the ineligibility of the clergy to hold secular office and rule, and the execution of the laws in the case of crimes, without respect to persons.

Sigismund refused to listen to the proposal; and Procopius returned to Prague at peace in his mind in the knowledge that he had held out the olive branch, and that if blood must again flow, the responsibility would lie at the door of those who had spurned the overtures of a just and reasonable peace.

The Hussites now assumed the offensive; and those nations which had been so eager to carry war to Bohemia, experienced its miseries on their own soil. Procopius entered Germany in 1429; and during that summer and the summers that followed, the whole of Western Germany felt the weight of his sword. He converted some hundred towns and castles to ruins; and from the wealthy cities he spared; he exacted a heavy ransom as the price for their escape from captivity or death.

There was trembling throughout not only Germany but even Rome. The Hussite arms were the terror of all Europe. With the passing of Martin V in February of 1431, Eugenius IV ascended the papal throne. He proclaimed a fifth crusade against the Hussites. Confessors were appointed to give absolution of even the most heinous crimes, even to the burning of churches and murdering of priests, that the crusader might go into battle with a clear conscience. If he was to fall in battle, he was given the assurance of going immediately to Paradise; but should he survive, there awaited a paradise on earth in the booty that he was assured of gaining.

At last, on August 1, 1431, an army of 130,000 footmen assembled on the Bohemian frontier. The Hussites, day by day receiving news of the approaching horde, lifted their eyes to heaven and calmly awaited the approaching foe. Clouds of foreboding had before darkened their skies, only to be scattered by an omnipotent Hand. The advancing host came on, chanting triumph as they approached. Forming into three columns, the invaders moved forward. Procopius fell back before them, sowing reports as he retreated that the Bohemians had quarreled among themselves and were fleeing. His design was to lure the enemy further into the country and then fall upon them from all sides. On the morning of August 14, the Bohemians marched to meet the foe, who now suddenly became aware of the strategy that had been practiced against them. The terrible Hussite soldiers, once believed to be in flight, were not advancing to offer battle.

Before the Hussites broke into view, the rumble of their wagons and their war hymn, chanted by the whole army as it advanced, could be clearly heard. Suddenly, among the invading force there was a strange movement. As if smitten by some invisible power, it appeared all at once to break up and scatter. The proud army was suddenly only a rabble-rout, fleeing when no man pursued. So great was the supernatural terror with which the crusaders were smitten that many of them, instead of continuing their flight into their own country, wandered back into Bohemia. Others, meanwhile, reaching their own hometowns, did not recognize their native city; and when they entered it, began to beg for lodging as if they were strangers.

Having failed with the force of arms, Rome now resorted to wiles. The victorious Hussites were carrying the war to the enemy’s country. They had driven the Austrian soldiers out of Moravia and had invaded Hungary and other provinces, burning towns and carrying off booty. All of this had effectively opened the eyes of the pope and the emperor to the virtue of conciliation, which until this time they had flatly rejected.

A general council of the Church was called at Basel. Letters from the emperor and legate Julian invited the Bohemians to come and confer on their points of difference. Before leaving Prague, the deputies received instructions that they were to insist on the four points which they had previously submitted to Sigismund. Accordingly, when they appeared before the Council, they made it clear that their deliberations must be confined to these points and that the nation had not empowered them to entertain the question of the renunciation of their faith.

The Council sought to draw the Bohemian deputies into a broader discussion, believing that they could more easily be overcome. The Bohemian delegates, however, proving themselves able to defend themselves on both the broader ground and the four points, showed no inclination to yield. They managed to maintain their ground and proved themselves as worthy antagonists in the Council as well as on the field of battle. After three months of fruitless debates, the Bohemian delegates left Basel and returned home. The Council would admit to no terms other than that the Bohemians agree to surrender their faith and submit fully to Rome. The Council failed to remember that it was the Bohemians who were victorious and that it was they who were suing for peace.

A proposal was made to renew negotiations at Prague. The Hussites, reluctant to again engage in armed conflict, agreed. Many an armed embassy had sought to approach Prague, only to be turned back by the valor of her sons. Under a guise of friendship, the papal messengers were able to bring about that which her armies had been unable to accomplish.

The Bohemians sought to display great courtesy and respect on the occasion, and every expression of public welcome greeted the arriving delegates.

The Diet of Bohemia, convoked in 1434, met with much better success than that which had earlier met in Basel. Though the basis of the treaty, which was eventually signed, had the original four points, which Rome professed to accept, the Church reserved for herself the right to determine their true sense. The agreement, known as the Compactata, while ostensibly preserving the faith and liberties of the Bohemians, was, in fact, a surrender of both. It should have been foreseen that from this point onward, it would be the interpretation, rather than the Articles, that would be the rule.

Many of the Bohemians, and most notably the Calixtines, now returned to their obedience to the Roman See; and Sigismund was not acknowledged as the legitimate sovereign of Bohemia.

Divisions that had existed among the Bohemians from the beginning now widened in proportion as the great struggle relaxed. The party that most closely held to the teachings of John Huss was the Taborites. With them, the defense of their religion was the primary concern, with the defense of their civil rights and privileges taking second place. The Calixtines, on the other hand, had become lukewarm and believed that the rift between their country and Rome was unnecessarily wide. The majority of the city leaders and materially advantaged belonged to this party, helping to carry support for the Compactata with public opinion, in spite of the opposition of the Taborites.

In accepting the agreement, the Bohemians stepped down from a position of unparalleled grandeur. Their campaigns had been among the most heroic and brilliant in the annals of war. A little country, with but a small army, she had managed not only to withstand but to triumph over the armies of Rome with their almost unlimited resources that the Church then had at her command. As long as they remained united in purpose, there was no army in Europe that dared to attack them. From the day that the Compactata was accepted, the tide of national prosperity and prestige began to wane.

The Calixtines accepted and the Taborites rejected the proposed arrangement. The Calixtines were much the larger party, as it included not only the majority of those who had been dissenters from Rome but also the Roman Catholics. The Taborites, under the command of Procopius, though loath to take up arms, were unwilling to accept a peace that was fatal to the nation’s peace and liberty. Rather than witness this humiliation, Procopius again took to the field at the head of the Taborites.

After a series of bloody skirmishes, the two armies met on the plain of Lipan on May 29, 1434. In the battle that ensued, Procopius lost his life. With his passing, the Hussite wars came to an end. It was no longer possible for the Taborites to make an effectual stand.

Sigismund was permitted to ascend the throne of Bohemia but only after having sworn to enforce the Compactata. As could be expected from one who had broken his pledge to John Huss, as soon as he was securely seated upon the throne, he immediately set out to restore the dominance of the Church of Rome. This open treachery provoked a storm of indignation; and the country was on the brink of war when the emperor died in 1437, within a year after having been acknowledged as king by the Bohemians.

The years that made up the remainder of the century were checkered. There were wars with periods of relative peace but never again the unity and strength that the country had when it was united in its opposition to the tyranny of Rome.

Wherever the Taborites looked, there was only error. Resolving to separate themselves from the evils that everywhere prevailed, about the year 1455, they formed themselves into a distinct church under the name of the United Brethren. This step exposed them to the bitter enmity of both Calixtines and Roman Catholics. In the persecutions that followed, they were scattered into the woods and mountains where they met secretly in caves.

Wondering if they were along in keeping the true faith, they sent messengers into various countries of Christendom. These messengers returned to say that though darkness covered the face of the whole earth and prevailed everywhere, they had found isolated confessors of the truth. Most notably, they found in the Alps an ancient church that rested on the foundation of the Scriptures. This news greatly cheered and encouraged them.

Separated from the Church of Rome, the question of ordination caused them considerable perplexity. They had left the Church and had no bishop in their ranks. How were they to perpetuate that succession of pastors which Christ had appointed in His church? After much deliberation, seventy of their chief men met and, after humbling themselves with tears and prayer before God, chose nine of their number. From along these nine members, it was decided that three would be ordained. They then placed twelve pieces of paper in the hands of a boy who had no knowledge of what was taking place. Nine of the twelve pieces of paper were blank; the other three had the word Est—i.e., “It is the will of God,” written on them. He distributed the papers; and it was found that the three bearing the word Est had been given to Matthew Kunwaldius, Thomas Prezelaucius, and Elias Krezenovius. These three then received ordination at the hands of a group of Waldensian pastors.

The accession of Valdislav to the Bohemian throne in 1471 brought an end to persecution. The quiet that the Brethren now enjoyed was followed by an increase in their membership. “Their lot was cast in evil days, but they knew that the appointed years of darkness must be fulfilled. They remembered the words first uttered by Huss, and later repeated by Jerome, that a century must revolve before the day should break. These were to the Taborites what the words of Joseph were to the tribes in the House of Bondage: ‘I die, and God will surely visit you, and bring you out.’ The prediction kept alive their hopes in the night of their persecutions and in the darkest hour their eyes were still turned to the horizon like men who watch for the morning.” Ibid., 213.

The end of the century found two hundred churches of the United Brethren in Bohemia and Moravia. Such was the goodly remnant which, escaping persecution, was permitted to see the day foretold by Huss.

The Synagogue of Satan

by

Have her doctrines exerted an influence in your heart? Are you a part of her and not even aware of it? Is the power of the all-seeing eye influencing you?

“She is silently growing into power. Her doctrines are exerting their influence in legislative halls, in the churches, and in the hearts of men. She is piling up her lofty and massive structures, in the secret recesses of which her former persecutions will be repeated.” The Great Controversy, 581.

In the letter to Smyrna, we read, “I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.” Revelation 2:9. The term Jew no doubt refers to those claiming to serve God. In the context, however, it is clear that they are in actuality serving Satan. Jesus warned us in very strong language of the danger of falling into the class professing to be His while not accepting Him truly as Lord and Master in their lives. “Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? And in Thy name have cast out devils? And in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity [lawlessness].” Matthew 7:21–23. The Buddhist does not refer to Christ as Lord; neither does the Hindu, Moslem, Atheist, or Satanist. Jesus must, therefore, be referring to Christians. Clearly, it is possible to be a professing Christian, while unknowingly being a member of the synagogue of Satan.

In order to distinguish clearly between these two groups and to avoid being deceived, let us observe some of the characteristics of the synagogue of Satan.

“Satan had declared to his synagogue that not a single human soul would maintain his loyalty to God’s Commandments. One soul saved would prove this statement to be false. One soul saved would demonstrate the righteousness of God’s government. . . . Christ came to this earth, and by a life of obedience showed that man could obey. He canceled the guilt resting upon the sinner. That the sinner might stand before God clothed with His robe of righteousness. He clothed Himself with the robe of sorrow.” Upward Look, 223. [All emphasis supplied.]

“Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie.” Revelation 3:9.

“Christ speaks of the church over which Satan presides as the synagogue of Satan. Its members are the children of disobedience. They are those who choose to sin, who labor to make void the holy law of God. It is Satan’s work to mingle evil with good, and to remove the distinction between good and evil. Christ would have a church that labors to separate the evil from the good, whose members will not willingly tolerate wrong-doing, but will expel it from the heart and life.” Review and Herald, December 4, 1900.

Before becoming a Christian, at one time I worked as a bartender. I had regular customers who would come into the bar wanting their usual drink, “Which had a lot of good in it.” The “screwdriver” consisted mostly of orange juice, a lot of good, and a shot of vodka, poison. It was my work to mingle evil with good in such a way that it was acceptable.

Other customers would come in asking for “Stoly on the rocks,” or “straight up,” which meant pure vodka, poison, either on ice or without ice. Quite often the one who left the bar most intoxicated was the customer who had the poison mingled with a lot of good.

Friends, Satan is a master bartender, mingling evil with good in just the right proportions to make it acceptable. If the best we can say about a certain television program, certain Christian music, certain favorite foods, or certain books, magazines, and articles is that they have a lot of good in them, then we should beware lest we be drinking from the hand of Satan whose work it is to mingle evil with good and to remove the distinction between good and evil, to build up our tolerance for evil to the point where he can eventually serve it straight up.

“There is no natural enmity between fallen men and fallen angels; both are partakers of the same spirit through indulgence in evil. It is according to the law of the synagogue of Satan that in the controversy of the evil against the good, fallen men and fallen angels shall unite in a desperate companionship. From the beginning Satan has worked continually to dethrone the Creator, and whatever may be the divisions among evil men and evil angels, there is no division in their opposition to God. Satan is determined to utterly deprave human nature through making of none effect the commandments of God. He originates traditions, and through his maxims he succeeds in assimilating to his own nature the nature of those who do not yield allegiance to the Law of God.” Signs of the Times, June 11, 1894.

“Those in the synagogue of Satan will profess to be converted and, unless God’s servants have keen eyesight, they will not discern the working of the power of darkness.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 1, 281.

“And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness.” II Corinthians 11:14, 15.

“Satan has a large confederacy, his church. Christ calls them the synagogue of Satan because the members are the children of sin. The members of Satan’s church have been constantly working to cast off the divine law, and confuse the distinction between good and evil. Satan is working with great power in and through the children of disobedience to exalt treason and apostasy as truth and loyalty. And at this time the power of his satanic inspiration is moving the living agencies to carry out the great rebellion against God that commenced in heaven.” Testimonies to Ministers, 16.

“Those who are deceivers are those who have turned away their ears from hearing the truth, and who have opened the door of their heart for the entrance of the sophistries of Satan. At first those who are finally deceived do not believe what they assume themselves; but as they misinterpret the Scriptures, as they claim to have received new light, as they enter into by-paths, as they repeat their own falsehoods, they come to look upon their theories as matters of importance. They deceive others, presenting the arguments that were prepared by the synagogue of Satan. Every repetition of their errors confirms them in their false theories. They are inspired by the satanic agencies to present falsehoods before others, and finally come to believe a lie, deceiving and being deceived.” Signs of the Times, December 5, 1895.

“Never was Satan so fiercely stirred as now. As never before he will inspire everyone who has apostatized from obedience to God’s Law. He will work to create rebellion at the very time when the proclamation of the Third Angel’s Message—the Commandments of God and the faith of Jesus—is going to the world. He will inspire members of his synagogue to make most desperate efforts to clothe in defiled garments all who take an active part in this message.” The Adventist Apocalypse, 62.

Let us summarize the characteristics that identify the members of the synagogue of Satan:

1. They do not keep God’s Commandments

  • They lie (hypocrites)
  • They are children of disobedience (sin)
  • They love and choose to sin’
  • They make void the Law of God
  • They mingle evil with good
  • They confuse the distinction between good and evil
  • They unite in opposition to God
  • They originate traditions
  • They profess to be converted
  • They assume the role of ministers of righteousness
  • They work to cast off the divine Law
  • They exalt treason and apostasy as truth and loyalty
  • They misinterpret the Scriptures
  • They claim to have received “new light”
  • They enter into by-paths
  • They repeat their own falsehoods
  • They look upon their theories as matters of importance
  • They deceive others
  • They clothe in defiled garments all who take an active part in the Third Angel’s Message of Revelation 14:12.

How can we be sure we are not of the synagogue of Satan, but are truly Israelites—the children of promise?

“God would have His children bear testimony to the fact that God cannot be satisfied until the fallen race is redeemed, reclaimed, and reinstated to their holy privileges, having free access to the tree of life. He would have them bear testimony to the fact that through the grace of Christ, they may represent Christlikeness of character, and find greatest joy in the assurance of His great love wherewith He has loved us. Once separated from God by the lying devices of Satan, they are reunited to Him by learning the lesson of redeeming love, as manifested in the great sacrifice of Christ in giving His precious life for mankind. The human united to the divine by a tie so strong that unfallen worlds, angels, and men are amazed, for those who believe in the love of God to them are secure in the refuge of His love, and not all the arts of Satan can induce them to continue in transgression of the Law of God.” Signs of the Times, April 11, 1895.

“Christ assumed human nature to demonstrate to the fallen world, to Satan and his synagogue, to the universe of heaven, and to the worlds unfallen, that human nature, united to His divine nature, could become entirely obedient to the Law of God, that His followers, by their love and unity, would give evidence that the power of redemption is sufficient to enable man to overcome.” Ibid., November 5, 1896.

“All need to inquire, ‘What must I do to be saved?’ God requires humble, contrite hearts, that tremble at His Word. It is only from the divine altar that we can receive the celestial torch, which, when received, will give us a full view of our incompetence, and reveal to us the dignity and glory of Christ. When this is seen, God places us under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and it will lead us into all truth.” Ibid., July 20, 1896.

Yes, “Satan has a church upon the earth which outnumbers the church of Christ. Christ calls it the synagogue of Satan, because its members are the children of sin and transgression. They have ceased to honor God [meaning they once were of Christ’s true church]; they have cast His divine law aside: they have confounded the distinction between good and evil. But, the world’s Redeemer will have a church in which these essential differences will be made apparent, where the character of God will be represented. In marked contrast to the character of Satan, the beauty of holiness will be exemplified, the loveliness of truth shine forth in life and practice. Its members will honor, love, and glorify God Whom the world has despised. These are the fruits by which they are known to the world; these will have the superscription of heaven by which all men may know that they are Christ’s disciples.” General Conference Bulletin, April 1, 1897.

“Remember that the nearer we approach Christ’s coming, the more earnestly and firmly we are to work, for the whole synagogue of Satan is opposed to us.” The Adventist Apocalypse, 214.

May the Lord bless you and impress upon your heart the desire to make Him truly Lord and Master in your life, allowing Him and His Word to be your only rule of practice. [All emphasis supplied.]