Luther

Learning to Walk With God, Part II

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We can learn much from Martin Luther, the Reformer in the Dark Ages. He was a man for his time; rightly described as a champion of truth. This man also went through difficult experiences like Elijah and Elisha. Luther had to face the religious leaders of his day to answer for his faith. This called forth from this man of God the need for much prayer and strong faith. As a result, these spiritual exercises, plus a knowledge of Christ and His truths, produced heavenly bravery and holy boldness in this servant of God.

As you read the story of his encounters with the authorities, imagine the scenes in your mind, and let us endeavor to discover what kind of mind Luther had and what kind of thoughts made him as solid as he was. We pick up his experience as he is about to set out on a long and very dangerous journey:

“Luther was not to make his perilous journey alone. Besides the imperial messenger, three of his firmest friends determined to accompany him. Melanchthon earnestly desired to join them. His heart was knit to Luther’s, and he yearned to follow him, if need be, to prison or to death. But his entreaties were denied. Should Luther perish, the hopes of the Reformation must center upon his youthful colaborer. Said the Reformer as he parted from Melanchthon: ‘If I do not return, and my enemies put me to death, continue to teach, and stand fast in the truth. Labor in my stead. . . . If you survive, my death will be of little consequence.’ [J. H. Merle D’Aubigne, History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century, London ed., b. 7, ch. 7.] Students and citizens who had gathered to witness Luther’s departure were deeply moved. A multitude whose hearts had been touched by the gospel, bade him farewell with weeping. Thus the Reformer and his companions set out from Wittenburg.

“On the journey they saw that the minds of the people were oppressed by gloomy forebodings. At some towns no honors were proffered them. As they stopped for the night, a friendly priest expressed his fears by holding up before Luther the portrait of an Italian reformer who had suffered martyrdom. The next day they learned that Luther’s writings had been condemned at Worms. Imperial messengers were proclaiming the emperor’s decree and calling upon the people to bring the proscribed works to the magistrates. The herald, fearing for Luther’s safety at the council, and thinking that already his resolution might be shaken, asked if he still wished to go forward. He answered, ‘Although interdicted in every city, I shall go on.’ Ibid., b. 7, ch. 7.

“At Erfurt, Luther was received with honor. Surrounded by admiring crowds, he passed through the streets that he had often traversed with his beggar’s wallet. He visited his convent cell, and thought upon the struggles through which the light now flooding Germany had been shed upon his soul. He was urged to preach. This he had been forbidden to do, but the herald granted him permission, and the friar who had once been made the drudge of the convent, now entered the pulpit.

“To a crowded assembly he spoke from the words of Christ, ‘Peace be unto you.’ ‘Philosophers, doctors, and writers,’ he said, ‘have endeavored to teach men the way to obtain everlasting life, and they have not succeeded. I will now tell it to you: . . . God has raised one Man from the dead, the Lord Jesus Christ, that He might destroy death, extirpate sin, and shut the gates of hell. This is the work of salvation. . . . Christ has vanquished! this is the joyful news; and we are saved by His work, and not by our own. . . . Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “Peace be unto you; behold My hands;” this is to say, Behold, O man! it is I, I alone, who have taken away thy sin, and ransomed thee; and now thou hast peace, saith the Lord.’ Ibid., b. 7, ch. 7.

“He continued, showing that true faith will be manifested by a holy life. ‘Since God has saved us, let us so order our works that they may be acceptable to Him. Art thou rich? let thy goods administer to the necessities of the poor. Art thou poor? let thy services be acceptable to the rich. If thy labor is useful to thyself alone, the service that thou pretendest to render unto God is a lie.’ Ibid., b. 7, ch. 7.

“The people listened as if spellbound. The bread of life was broken to those starving souls. Christ was lifted up before them as above popes, legates, emperors, and kings. Luther made no reference to his own perilous position. He did not seek to make himself the object of thought or sympathy. In the contemplation of Christ he had lost sight of himself. He hid behind the Man of Calvary, seeking only to present Jesus as the sinner’s Redeemer. [Emphasis added.]

“As the Reformer proceeded on his journey, he was everywhere regarded with great interest. An eager multitude thronged about him, and friendly voices warned him of the purpose of the Romanists. ‘They will burn you,’ said some, ‘and reduce your body to ashes, as they did with John Huss.’ Luther answered, ‘Though they should kindle a fire all the way from Worms to Wittenberg, the flames of which reached to heaven, I would walk through it in the name of the Lord; I would appear before them; I would enter the jaws of this behemoth, and break his teeth, confessing the Lord Jesus Christ.’ Ibid., b. 7, ch. 7.

“The news of his approach to Worms created great commotion. His friends trembled for his safety; his enemies feared for the success of their cause. Strenuous efforts were made to dissuade him from entering the city. At the instigation of the papists he was urged to repair to the castle of a friendly knight, where, it was declared, all difficulties could be amicably adjusted. Friends endeavored to excite his fears by describing the dangers that threatened him. All their efforts failed. Luther, still unshaken, declared: ‘Even should there be as many devils in Worms as tiles on the housetops, still I would enter it.’ ” The Great Controversy, 151–153.

Not Alone

This was a brave man! Imagine the number of tiles or shingles it takes to make one roof, and imagine all those tiles on all the housetops in a whole city, each of them representing a demon who wants to destroy you. Imagine that you have to make a long journey, and you have to pass each and every one of them. The only way you could speak like Luther is if you have the experience of Luther. What made Luther’s experience so solid was his belief that he was not alone. He believed that God was with him, in him, and for him. When this became his outlook, his faith became a reality—his belief was real to him, he was not alone. His constant communion and strong faith in God prepared him to do his Master’s will; this is what made him a champion of God.

Lost Sight of God

However, one particular night Martin Luther became afraid to face these rulers. He was on his knees nearly all night, begging God to be with him. He feared that he would have to come up against these men by himself. Like Elijah when Jezebel was coming after him, Luther temporarily lost sight of Him who was his support all along. (See The Great Controversy, 156, 157.)

This happens again and again with the people of God, even with those who stand in the forefront of many spiritual battles. They are human too. The apostle James writes: “Elias [Elijah] was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.” James 5:17, 18.

Just Like Us

Elijah and Martin Luther were human beings just like us. They had emotions similar to ours, including fear. Therefore, we have to learn from their experiences. We have to learn how they gained victories, how and when they were successful, what made them heroes for God. One sure ingredient was that their faith was strengthened by their constant prayers and belief that they were not alone. When they prayed and believed that the Creator was with them, like Enoch, they were able to walk with God.

Faith is something that often confuses people. We wonder what faith is. But faith can be narrowed down to the concept of believing that God loves you and wants to bless you, that if you seek to abide in Him, He will abide with and in you, that you are not alone in any situation, in any place, at any point in time. When we can take hold of this truth, we will know what it means to “be still, and know that I am [the Lord is] God.” Psalm 46:10. Yes, only then will we know what it means to be a hero for God.

The Mind of a Champion

A man who fails to pray often and trust God cannot say or do the things that champions of truth, such as Luther and many others, have said or done. Because Luther believed that the Lord was with him, he went on his long journey to Worms to face his enemies and answer for his faith. Despite the earnest cries of those who loved him and did all they could to urge him not to go because his life was in danger, Luther bravely and boldly went on. He prayed constantly; he had faith; he knew God loved him, and was with him. He, like Enoch, walked with God.

We again pick up the story just after he had made a clear and noble defense of his faith. Let us now see what was Luther’s experience and what was going on in his mind when he stood before those in authority.

“He was directed to withdraw from the Diet while the princes consulted together. It was felt that a great crisis had come. Luther’s persistent refusal to submit might affect the history of the church for ages. It was decided to give him one more opportunity to retract. For the last time he was brought into the assembly. Again the question was put, whether he would renounce his doctrines. ‘I have no other reply to make,’ he said, ‘than that which I have already made.’ It was evident that he could not be induced, either by promises or threats, to yield to the mandate of Rome.

“The papal leaders were chagrined that their power, which had caused kings and nobles to tremble, should be thus despised by a humble monk; they longed to make him feel their wrath by torturing his life away. But Luther, understanding his danger, had spoken to all with Christian dignity and calmness. His words had been free from pride, passion, and misrepresentation. He had lost sight of himself, and the great men surrounding him, and felt only that he was in the presence of One infinitely superior to popes, prelates, kings, and emperors.” The Great Controversy, 161. [Emphasis added.]

A Champion of Truth

This really gives an insight into the mind of the man and what made him who he was, a champion of truth. Luther was very prayerful and obedient and possessed great faith in God, and, as a result, the power of God abided in him and with him. This was the secret of Luther’s life of heavenly bravery and holy boldness. Because of his prayerfulness and faith, Luther did not see himself alone. He saw himself in the presence of the Lord. So when he spoke to these men, he looked beyond them and spoke as one who was addressing the Lord in behalf of His cause. This, the man of God believed, was a reality, and it was, for the Lord of hosts was truly present as a protector of His servant and a witness to the whole event.

Luther looked within the invisible realm. He looked beyond the physical and saw that he was not alone, and because of this belief, he uttered what he knew would be pleasing and acceptable in the ears of God, regardless of men’s opinions. Such faith, coupled with a genuine Christian experience, was the secret of Luther’s bravery and boldness for the cause of God. He was a man with Enoch’s experience; he was a man who walked with God.

Armies of Heaven

Summing up the experiences of Luther and other faithful workers, Ellen White plainly declares: “God’s faithful servants were not toiling alone. While principalities and powers and wicked spirits in high places were leagued against them, the Lord did not forsake His people. Could their eyes have been opened, they would have seen marked evidence of divine presence and aid as was granted to a prophet of old. When Elisha’s servant pointed his master to the hostile army surrounding them and cutting off all opportunity for escape, the prophet prayed: ‘Lord, I pray Thee, open his eyes, that he may see.’ 11 Kings 6:17. And, lo, the mountain was filled with chariots and horses of fire, the army of heaven stationed to protect the man of God. Thus did angels guard the workers in the cause of the Reformation.” Ibid., 208. [Emphasis added.]

All of God’s true laborers were guarded by these same armies of heaven during the Reformation. It is a gift that God extends to all of His true servants clear down to the end of time. It is something we need to know, believe in, and cherish in our hearts even now, because it will help us to become the much-needed champions of truth in these last days.

Champions of Truth

In order to become champions of truth, we too must pray in season and out of season and trust in God’s care always. We must also become diligent students of God’s Word. But we must not only know the truth, we must also choose to obey it every day. The prophet Daniel and his friends studied the Scriptures earnestly and were approved unto God. So did Luther. Like Enoch, these men walked with God by striving to trust in Him, studying God’s Word, and obeying His will in all things. As a result, they were blessed with the Master’s presence and protection.

“In acquiring the wisdom of the Babylonians, Daniel and his companions were far more successful than their fellow students; but their learning did not come by chance. They obtained their knowledge by the faithful use of their powers, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. They placed themselves in connection with the Source of all wisdom, making the knowledge of God the foundation of their education. In faith they prayed for wisdom, and they lived their prayers. They placed themselves where God could bless them. They avoided that which would weaken their powers, and improved every opportunity to become intelligent in all lines of learning. They followed the rules of life that could not fail to give them strength of intellect. They sought to acquire knowledge for one purpose—that they might honor God. They realized that in order to stand as representatives of true religion amid the false religions of heathenism they must have clearness of intellect and must perfect a Christian character. And God Himself was their teacher. Constantly praying, conscientiously studying, keeping in touch with the Unseen, they walked with God as did Enoch.” Prophets and Kings, 486. [Emphasis added.]

We, too, can become champions like these great men of old. Remember, they were not much different from us, and we, like them, also have the assurance that the Lord our God “in the midst of [us] is mighty” and willing to work in our behalf and “save” us. Zephaniah 3:17.

To be continued . . .

Pastor Patrick Herbert is the senior pastor of the Tucker-Norcross Adventist Church and Director of the Gilead Institute of America, a medical missionary evangelistic training institution located in Norcross, Georgia. He holds a Doctorate in religion and speaks and writes on a wide range of religious and health topics. He may be contacted by e-mail at: gilead.net@usa.net.

Yielding Brings Ruin

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We need to have the story of Jesus written in our hearts. God has promised, under the new covenant, to write His Law into our hearts and minds—our hearts representing our affections, and our minds representing our intellectual aspects. We need to believe and to love His Law and the story of Jesus, and it needs to be more dear and precious to us than life itself. “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” Revelation 12:11. We need to come to the place that we would give our life for Christ’s sake because we love Him that much, and we do not want anything to separate us from Him.

This was the experience Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had when they refused to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s image. We also need that experience, for things are happening all around us—increase of crime, wars and rumors of wars, and the judgments upon the land. (See Matthew 24.) The United States is speaking like a dragon.

But, we are not to be fearful. The Bible says in 1 John 4:18 that perfect love casts out all fear. We need that perfect love to cast out all fear! There is a tendency to become frightened about what the Bible tells us is going to occur in the last days. It is comforting to know that Jesus is coming again soon to redeem us. But, the Bible also speaks of a “time of trouble,” which may not appear very comforting to us. It is natural for us to be afraid. “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” Matthew 24:6. We are not to be troubled or to fear or have apprehension for the future, because we know that Christ will carry us through. If we are planted on the Rock, nothing can shake us. We are to lift up our heads, because our redemption draws near.

“We have nothing to fear for the future except we forget how the Lord has led us in the past.” Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, 196. It is important that we remember the past, because what happened in the past is applicable to us today. “These things . . . were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” 1 Corinthians 10:11. That is us! We must study history so we will not be led astray in the future. It only makes sense that if someone else has gone through an experience we are to go through, that we look and see how the situation was handled. It is well to learn from previous mistakes, failures, and successes. We do not need to worry about the future if our soul is right with God.

Beware of Men

In Matthew 10:17-19, Jesus, giving instruction to His disciples before sending them out to witness, said to them, as well as to us, what they were going to encounter: “But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak.” These things happened over and over again. Many people have gone through these experiences, and we will face such things, too, but we are not to be frightened, for Jesus will be with us.

Protestant Reformation

During the Protestant Reformation, the Papacy tried many different tactics to destroy it. Persecution did not work, but one scheme was almost successful. If God had not intervened, the Protestant Reformation would have failed, because they were on the very verge of accepting the bait.

When Luther was brought before the Diet, he boldly declared that nothing was going to shake him. He said, “Here I take my stand; I can not do otherwise. God be my help.” (See Christ’s Object Lessons, 78.) The Diet was baffled. Here was one man, one lone monk with no backing, standing before all the great men of the empire, and they could not shake him. We need to stand as Luther, as the three worthies, and as Daniel stood. We dare not swerve our allegiance to God.

Shortly after Luther’s experience came one of the grandest moments for the Protestant Reformation, namely the “Protest of the Princes.” Instead of one man standing before the Diet, some of the most powerful princes in the empire stood on the offensive, not on the defensive. (See The Great Controversy, 197-210.)

Peace prevailed for a few years, but then came one of the most formidable obstacles to the Protestant Reformation—the Augsburg Diet in 1529 and 1530. The elector and princes were going to what seemed certain death. Their heads and morale were hanging low. It was then that Luther composed the song, A Mighty Fortress. It was timely and uplifted their spirits. It would be well for us to memorize that song.

Charles V had returned. He had vanquished Italy, and he controlled almost all of Europe. The pope had given him the order, “Crush Lutheranism.” He marched to Augsburg with that sole purpose. The princes and the elector knew it was dangerous, but Luther encouraged them. He said, “Go ahead, confess Christ before the great men in this world.” The Papists met them with warm friendship. They were trying to get them to yield to compromise, but that did not work. Next, they threatened persecution and death. That did not work either. Then they tried the most successful inducement and the most to be feared. The Romans said, “We will send three of our theologians, and you send three of yours. We will try to come to an agreement.” This was the newest and most formidable of the dangers. This plan almost crushed the Protestant Reformation.

Luther Begs to Be Excused

First, the Romanist party made amazing compromises and concessions. The Protestants put together a confession of 21 points. There were only three that the Protestants and Romanists were wrangling over. The Roman party made it appear that they had won the Reformation. They knew that if they could get the Protestants to yield once, they would eventually yield on everything. Unfortunately, the Protestants agreed at first, but Luther, from his hideout, wrote letters. From one letter we read: “I learned that you have begun a marvelous work, namely, to reconcile Luther and the pope, but the pope will not be reconciled, and Luther begs to be excused.” The Reformation was saved. He knew that when they began to yield, they stepped off the platform to sure ruin. Yielding will always bring ruin. We cannot compromise!

Whenever the church has yielded to compromise, the result has always been a lost battle. The early church was pure in the days of the apostles, but it compromised, and now we have the Roman Catholic Church. Compromise is spiritual suicide on the installment plan. We cannot pull down the banner even a little bit. Compromise may appear to look good, but it is not. That is what resulted in the Dark Ages. The Waldenses compromised, and many lives were lost. The Bohemians compromised, and their nation was bathed in blood. This sad history is for us to ponder.

We read from The Great Controversy, 607: “As the movement for Sunday enforcement becomes more bold and decided, the law will be invoked against commandment keepers. They will be threatened with fines and imprisonment, and some will be offered positions of influence, and other rewards and advantages, as inducements to renounce their faith. But their steadfast answer is: ‘Show us from the word of God our error the same plea that was made by Luther under similar circumstances. Those who are arraigned before the courts make a strong vindication of the truth, and some who hear them are led to take their stand to keep all the commandments of God.” The early Christians let down the standard to convert pagans, and it resulted in converting the church to paganism.

We, too, are going to have to answer for our faith. We must stand firm. Our God is A Mighty Fortress. He will uphold us and give us strength. We must say, as did Luther, “Here I take my stand; I can not do otherwise. God be my help.” The Great Controversy says that if Luther had yielded in one point, Satan would have won the victory. Neither can we yield in one point.

Dare to be a Daniel

Daniel was thrown into the den of lions because he prayed with his windows open, as he always did. (Daniel 6:10.) He did not compromise on one point, and God shut the lions’ mouths. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego could have bowed down to tie their shoes, but that would have been compromising. They knew very well that to not bow could result in their deaths, but they stood firm, even though the greatest man in the world opposed them. (Daniel 3:12-19.) Their steadfast adherence to right converted Nebuchadnezzar. It is encouraging to know that if we stand for the right, souls may be converted. Before these experiences, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were tested on the point of appetite. Because they stood firm on the Word of God then, they were able to stand the more severe trials.

We must set our faces as firm as a flint now, if we are to stand later. “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? And [if] in the land of peace, [in which] you trusted, [they wearied] you, then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?” Jeremiah 12:5. Right now we are deciding if we are going to stand as did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego or if we are going to bow down as all the other Hebrews did. We are choosing under which banner we are going to be arraigned. We are either with Luther, saying, “Here I take my stand; I can not do otherwise. God be my help”; or we are compromising.

Little Things

Some people excuse themselves, saying, “God understands.” God does understand your situation, and He tells you in His Word what you need to do. The devil is in the business of giving excuses, not God. We read in Romans 1:20 that we are all without excuse. There is no excuse if it goes against God’s Word. Daniel and his three friends stood firm in the little things. Because they had proved faithful in that which was least, they could be trusted with that which was more. “What if Daniel and his companions had made a compromise with those heathen officers and had yielded to the pressure of the occasion by eating and drinking as was customary with the Babylonians? That single instance of departure from principle would have weakened their sense of right and their abhorrence of wrong. Indulgence of appetite would have involved the sacrifice of physical vigor, clearness of intellect, and spiritual power. One wrong step would probably have led to others, until, their connection with Heaven being severed, they would have been swept away by temptation.” The Sanctified Life, 23. It is the little things in life that make up the sum of life’s big things.

Too many times we think that little things do not matter much. But little choices set us upon the path that we are going to take. If you bend a tree when it is young, it will grow bent. There are some funny looking trees, because they were bent that way when they were saplings. By compromising in little things, we prepare ourselves to compromise in big things.

Compromise and indifference in a religious crisis is one of the sins that God hates the most. We cannot flatter ourselves that we will stand when we are forced by law to disregard the Sabbath if we do not keep the Sabbath now. It is not just in the Sabbath; it is in everything of our lives. “It is the grossest presumption for mortal man to venture upon a compromise with the Almighty in order to secure his own petty temporal interest.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 249. God says what he means, and He means what He says. Right now, in the little things, we are determining our destination. “It is as ruthless a violation of the law to occasionally use the Sabbath for secular business as to entirely reject it, for it is making the Lord’s commandments a matter of convenience.” Ibid. It is just the same to compromise in any other point. It is always the principle.

Solomon compromised. This was what led to his ruin. He knew that polygamy was against God’s Law, but it was a very common practice. The first wife he took appeared to be converted, but eventually he set up an idol to another god, which he and his children worshipped—because he took one wrong step. If we, like Solomon, take that one wrong step down, it will be much easier to take the next one. We are developing habits that determine where we are going to stand. One little compromise in sin will eventually crowd out all the good.

Do you think that the Jews at their first departure from the right had any intentions of crucifing the Son of God? No, none whatsoever. But they took the one wrong step, and it led to that terrible sin. The fall of any person can be traced back to one departure from the right. We cannot, even in the slightest thing, compromise. It will not work. God considers it the grossest presumption to compromise in the smallest thing.

Compromise is the most dangerous thing we can do for our souls. In the history of the Israelites, there are many examples of failure, but, fortunately, there are encouraging examples also—Daniel and his three companions, Joseph, and others.

There is a song with these words: “Dare to be a Daniel, Dare to stand alone! Dare to have a purpose firm! Dare to make it known!” We must dare, like Daniel, to stand for the right no matter what. We cannot depart in the slightest, because it will lead to us going all the way renouncing everything and being lost.

Right now we are deciding if we are going to be numbered on the Lord’s side. If we know to do right, and do not do it, we will be weighed in the balances of the sanctuary and found wanting. Different people have different temptations and problems. It may not be the Sabbath issue for you; it could be something else. We dare not depart slightly; we must stand firm as a rock. The record says of Jesus that “He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.” Luke 9:51. That is what we must do—set our face steadfastly to go to the New Jerusalem. We must not allow anything to hinder us. We must not compromise in the slightest, because it will be our ruin if we do. Many pleasing allurements and inducements may be held out to us, but we cannot compromise. We must, as did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, stand erect, not allowing anything to sway us.

Cody Francis is engaged in worldwide evangelism through Mission Projects International and pastors the Remnant Church of Seventh-day Adventist Believers in the Seattle, Washington, area. His gospel service began with Steps to Life in Wichita, Kansas. Cody and his wife, Mandy, have one daughter and live in western Washington. He may be contacted by e-mail at: cody@missionspro.org.

Bible Study Guides-Justification by Faith – Luther: The Man for His Time

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September 30 – October 6, 2018

Key Text

“Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4).

Study Help:  The Great Controversy, 120–144; 197–205.

Introduction

“Zealous, ardent, and devoted, knowing no fear but the fear of God, and acknowledging no foundation for religious faith but the Holy Scriptures, Luther was the man for his time; through him God accomplished a great work for the reformation of the church and the enlightenment of the world.” The Great Controversy, 120.

Sunday

 LUTHER FINDS THE LIGHT

  • What parable illustrates the experience of Martin Luther when he found the Bible for the first time? Matthew 13:44–46.

Note: “While one day examining the books in the library of the university, Luther discovered a Latin Bible. … He had heard portions of the Gospels and Epistles, which were read to the people at public worship, and he supposed that these were the entire Bible. Now, for the first time, he looked upon the whole of God’s word. With mingled awe and wonder he turned the sacred pages; with quickened pulse and throbbing heart he read for himself the words of life.” The Great Controversy, 122.

  • As Luther studied the Word more deeply, what effect did this have upon him? Psalm 119:130; Jeremiah 15:16.

Note: “He who tastes of the love of Christ will continually long for more; but he seeks for nothing else. The riches, honors, and pleasures of the world do not attract him. The constant cry of his heart is, More of Thee.” The Desire of Ages, 187.

Monday

LIGHT PIERCES THE DARKNESS

  • As Luther studied his Bible further, what conviction did he feel concerning his own life? Isaiah 6:5.

Note: “Angels of heaven were by his [Luther’s] side, and rays of light from the throne of God revealed the treasures of truth to his understanding. He had ever feared to offend God, but now the deep conviction of his condition as a sinner took hold upon him as never before.

“An earnest desire to be free from sin and to find peace with God led him at last to enter a cloister and devote himself to a monastic life.” The Great Controversy, 122, 123.

  • As Luther sought to find pardon and peace through painful acts of penance, what was God trying to teach him? 1 Timothy 1:15.

Note: “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’Aubigné, b. 2, ch. 4).” The Great Controversy, 123, 124.

  • As he was climbing Pilate’s staircase on his knees, what central Bible truth became clear to Luther? Romans 1:17.

Note: “By a recent decretal an indulgence had been promised by the pope to all who should ascend upon their knees ‘Pilate’s staircase,’ said to have been descended by our Saviour on leaving the Roman judgment hall and to have been miraculously conveyed from Jerusalem to Rome. Luther was one day devoutly climbing these steps, when suddenly a voice like thunder seemed to say to him: ‘The just shall live by faith’ (Romans 1:17). He sprang to his feet and hastened from the place in shame and horror. That text never lost its power upon his soul. From that time he saw more clearly than ever before the fallacy of trusting to human works for salvation, and the necessity of constant faith in the merits of Christ.” The Great Controversy, 125.

Tuesday

SAVED BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH

  • When in 1517 Luther published his ninety-five theses against the power of indulgences, how did he teach that our works cannot atone for sin? Galatians 2:16; Acts 20:21.

Note: “Luther … set before the people the offensive character of sin, and taught them that it is impossible for man, by his own works, to lessen its guilt or evade its punishment. Nothing but repentance toward God and faith in Christ can save the sinner. The grace of Christ cannot be purchased; it is a free gift. He counseled the people not to buy indulgences, but to look in faith to a crucified Redeemer. He related his own painful experience in vainly seeking by humiliation and penance to secure salvation, and assured his hearers that it was by looking away from himself and believing in Christ that he found peace and joy.” The Great Controversy, 129.

  • How alone are we saved from sin, and by whom? Romans 1:16; Ephesians 2:8–10.

Note: “By these [Luther’s] theses it was shown that the power to grant the pardon of sin, and to remit its penalty, had never been committed to the pope or to any other man. … It was also clearly shown that the gospel of Christ is the most valuable treasure of the church, and that the grace of God, therein revealed, is freely bestowed upon all who seek it by repentance and faith.” The Great Controversy, 130.

  • From whom do we obtain a saving faith in Jesus, and how may we increase it? Romans 10:9; Luke 17:5.

Note: “Faith that enables us to receive God’s gifts is itself a gift, of which some measure is imparted to every human being. It grows as exercised in appropriating the word of God. In order to strengthen faith, we must often bring it in contact with the word.” Education, 253, 254.

“Now, brethren, you have educated yourselves so much in doubts and questionings that you have to educate your souls in the line of faith. You have to talk faith, you have to live faith, you have to act faith, that you may have an increase of faith.” Faith and Works, 78.

Wednesday

THE SCRIPTURES: THE FOUNDATION OF OUR FAITH

  • What attitude held by Luther towards the authority of Scripture became the vital principle of the Reformation? Colossians 2:8; Isaiah 8:20.

Note: “He [Luther] firmly declared that Christians should receive no other doctrines than those which rest on the authority of the Sacred Scriptures. These words struck at the very foundation of papal supremacy. They contained the vital principle of the Reformation.” The Great Controversy, 126.

  • In an effort to counter the effect of Luther’s teachings, in 1529 the German Emperor prepared a Decree that would end religious freedom and restore the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. What two principles contained in the Protest of the Princes of Germany against this decree constitute the essence of Protestantism? Acts 4:18–20; 5:28, 29; Matthew 15:8, 9.

Note: “ ‘The principles contained in this celebrated Protest … constitute the very essence of Protestantism. Now this Protest opposes two abuses of man in matters of faith: the first is the intrusion of the civil magistrate, and the second the arbitrary authority of the church. Instead of these abuses, Protestantism sets the power of conscience above the magistrate, and the authority of the word of God above the visible church. In the first place, it rejects the civil power in divine things, and says with the prophets and apostles, ‘We must obey God rather than man.’ In presence of the crown of Charles the Fifth, it uplifts the crown of Jesus Christ. But it goes farther: it lays down the principle that all human teaching should be subordinate to the oracles of God’ (D’Aubigné, b. 13, ch. 6). The protesters had moreover affirmed their right to utter freely their convictions of truth. They would not only believe and obey, but teach what the word of God presents, and they denied the right of priest or magistrate to interfere. The Protest of Spires was a solemn witness against religious intolerance, and an assertion of the right of all men to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences. …

“Satan’s manner of working against God and His word has not changed; he is still as much opposed to the Scriptures being made the guide of life as in the sixteenth century. In our time there is a wide departure from their doctrines and precepts, and there is need of a return to the great Protestant principle—the Bible, and the Bible only, as the rule of faith and duty.” [Emphasis author’s.] The Great Controversy, 203–205.

Thursday

THE WORD BRINGS LIFE TO THE SOUL

  • What does the word of God do for those who hear or read it? Psalm 119:103, 104.
  •  How did Luther’s teaching of the word of God affect those he taught? Romans 10:17; Hebrews 4:12.

Note: “The word of God, by which Luther tested every doctrine and every claim, was like a two-edged sword, cutting its way to the hearts of the people. Everywhere there was awakening a desire for spiritual progress. Everywhere was such a hungering and thirsting after righteousness as had not been known for ages. The eyes of the people, so long directed to human rites and earthly mediators, were now turning in penitence and faith to Christ and Him crucified.” The Great Controversy, 133.

  • What will happen as we study and obey the word of God? John 17:17.

Note: “The Scriptures are the great agency in the transformation of character. … If studied and obeyed, the word of God works in the heart, subduing every unholy attribute. The Holy Spirit comes to convict of sin, and the faith that springs up in the heart works by love to Christ, conforming us in body, soul, and spirit to His own image. Then God can use us to do His will. The power given us works from within outwardly, leading us to communicate to others the truth that has been communicated to us.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 100.

Friday

PERSONAL REVIEW QUESTIONS

1     What was Luther’s reaction to finding a Bible for the first time?

2    What fallacy became clear to Luther as he climbed Pilate’s staircase?

3    In what way alone can a sinner be saved?

4    How can we continue to uphold the essence of Protestantism today?

5    What role do the Scriptures have in transforming character?

Two Very Different Reformation Characters

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As Protestantism began to fight and win spiritual battles, it became clear that, given only a few years, Protestantism’s victory would be so complete that any opposing power would fight vainly to win the battle; for a new light was shining and a new life was stirring the souls of men. Schools of learning, pure churches and free nations were rising up in different parts of Europe. It was clear that armies would never overthrow this flourishing power. A new weapon must be forged and other armies mustered to succeed where the powers of emperors and kings had failed. “It was now that the Jesuit corps was embodied. And it must be confessed that these new soldiers did more than all the armies of France and Spain to stem the tide of Protestant success, and bind victory once more to the banners of Rome.” Wylie, History of Protestantism, book 15, 377.

Ignatius Loyola

Don Inigo Lopez de Recalde, the Ignatius Loyola of history, was the founder of the Order of Jesus, or the Jesuits. His birth was near the same time as that of Luther. He was born to one of the highest Spanish families in his father’s castle, in Loyola, during the time of the wars with the Moors. He was an ardent man who caught a religious fervor and longed to distinguish himself in battle. He was wounded severely in both legs while attempting a defense of a besieged garrison. His bravery won the respect of the foe who carried him to a hospital and saved him from bleeding to death.

During his confinement he first read tales of war, but when these were finished, legends of the saints were brought to his couch. As he read of martyrs, monks and hermits, and of the conquests they achieved, he panted to rival these heroes whose battles were so pure and bright compared to the battlefield which he had known. “His enthusiasm and ambition were as boundless as ever, but now they were directed into a new channel . . . The change was a sudden violent one, and drew after it vast consequences not to Ignatius only, and the men of his age, but to millions of the human race in all countries of the world, and in all the ages that have elapsed since.” Ibid., 380.

He determined to be a knight for Mary and so he took his armaments to her shrine at Montserrat and laid them before her image. He next gave up his fine clothing and put on the filthy rags of a monk and with uncombed hair and untrimmed nails he lived in a cave near Manressa for some time. He fasted for days and underwent penances and mortifications, battling evil spirits and talking to voices heard only by him, until he was found at the mouth of the cave half dead and was carried to the town of Manressa. He spent seven hours each day on his knees and scourged himself three times a day. He planned a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and his efforts were to cleanse himself in preparation for it. His revelations included a vision of the Savior, in the Host, at mass. What further evidence did he need for proof of transubstantiation? The Virgin revealed herself to him, he believed, not fewer than thirty times.

Visions Above the Bible

There is some similarity in the early experiences of Luther and Ignatius. Both had set before them a high standard of holiness and had nearly sacrificed life to achieve it, but their pursuits led in different directions. Luther turned to the Bible for relief of his sufferings while Ignatius gave himself up wholly to visions and revelations. “It required no aid from Scripture, it was based on the belief he entertained of an immediate connection between himself and the world of spirits. This would never have satisfied Luther . . . He would have the simple, written, indubitable Word of God alone.” Ibid., 381.

Feeling that he needed better qualifications to battle Protestantism, at age thirty-five, he enrolled in school and learned Latin and then transferred to another institution to study theology. He began to preach and drew followers. This excited the notice of the Inquisition and he was arrested, but freed with a warning to hold his peace when they found no heretical bias in him.

He next moved from Spain to Paris and enrolled as a student in the College of St. Barbara. His stay in Paris coincides with a period of great religious excitement. He witnessed the time of Louis de Berquin’s martyrdom.

Louis de Berquin

“Louis de Berquin was of noble birth. A brave and courtly knight, he was devoted to study, polished in manners, and of blameless morals. ‘He was,’ says a writer, ‘a great follower of the papistical constitutions, and a great hearer of masses and sermons; . . . and he crowned all his other virtues by holding Lutheranism in special abhorrence.’ But, like so many others, providentially guided to the Bible, he was amazed to find there, ‘not the doctrines of Rome, but the doctrines of Luther.’—Wylie, book 13, chap. 9. Henceforth he gave himself with entire devotion to the cause of the gospel.

“‘The most learned of the nobles of France,’ his genius and eloquence, his indomitable courage and heroic zeal, and his influence at court,—for he was a favorite with the king,— caused him to be regarded by many as one destined to be the Reformer of his country . . . They [the Romanists] thrust him into prison as a heretic, but he was set at liberty by the king. For years the struggle continued. Francis, wavering between Rome and the Reformation, alternately tolerated and restrained the fierce zeal of the monks. Berquin was three times imprisoned by the papal authorities, only to be released by the monarch, who, in admiration of his genius and his nobility of character, refused to sacrifice him to the malice of the hierarchy . . .

“So far from adopting the politic and self-serving counsel of Erasmus, he determined upon still bolder measures. He would not only stand in defense of the truth, but he would attack error. The charge of heresy which the Romanists were seeking to fasten upon him, he would rivet upon them. The most active and bitter of his opponents were the learned doctors and monks of the theological department in the great University of Paris, one of the highest ecclesiastical authorities both in the city and the nation. From the writings of these doctors, Berquin drew twelve propositions which he publicly declared to be ‘opposed to the Bible, and heretical;’ and he appealed to the king to act as judge in the controversy.

“The monarch, not loath to bring into contrast the power and acuteness of the opposing champions, and glad of an opportunity of humbling the pride of these haughty monks, bade the Romanists defend their cause by the Bible. This weapon, they well knew, would avail them little; imprisonment, torture, and the stake were arms which they better understood how to wield. Now the tables were turned, and they saw themselves about to fall into the pit into which they had hoped to plunge Berquin. In amazement they looked about them for some way of escape.

“‘Just at that time an image of the Virgin at the corner of one of the streets, was mutilated.’ There was great excitement in the city. Crowds of people flocked to the place, with expressions of mourning and indignation. The king also was deeply moved. Here was an advantage which the monks could turn to good account, and they were quick to improve it. ‘These are the fruits of the doctrines of Berquin,’ they cried. ‘All is about to be overthrown—religion, the laws, the throne itself—by this Lutheran conspiracy.’ Ibid., book 13, chap. 9.

Berquin Martyred

“Again Berquin was apprehended. The king withdrew from Paris, and the monks were thus left free to work their will. The Reformer was tried and condemned to die, and lest Francis should even yet interpose to save him, the sentence was executed on the very day it was pronounced. At noon Berquin was conducted to the place of death. An immense throng gathered to witness the event, and there were many who saw with astonishment and misgiving that the victim had been chosen from the best and bravest of the noble families of France. Amazement, indignation, scorn, and bitter hatred darkened the faces of that surging crowd; but upon one face no shadow rested. The martyr’s thoughts were far from that scene of tumult; he was conscious only of the presence of his Lord.

“The wretched tumbrel upon which he rode, the frowning faces of his persecutors, the dreadful death to which he was going—these he heeded not; He who liveth and was dead, and is alive for evermore, and hath the keys of death and of hell, was beside him. Berquin’s countenance was radiant with the light and peace of heaven. He had attired himself in goodly raiment, wearing ‘a cloak of velvet, a doublet of satin and damask, and golden hose.’ D’Aubigne, History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin, book 2, chap. 16. He was about to testify to his faith in the presence of the King of kings and the witnessing universe, and no token of mourning should belie his joy.

“As the procession moved slowly through the crowded streets, the people marked with wonder the unclouded peace, and joyous triumph, of his look and bearing. ‘He is,’ they said, ‘like one who sits in a temple, and meditates on holy things.’ Wylie, book 13, chap. 9.

“At the stake, Berquin endeavored to address a few words to the people; but the monks, fearing the result, began to shout, and the soldiers to clash their arms, and their clamor drowned the martyr’s voice. Thus in 1529 the highest literary and ecclesiastical authority of cultured Paris ‘set the populace of 1793 the base example of stifling on the scaffold the sacred words of the dying.’ Ibid., book 13, chap. 9.

“Berquin was strangled, and his body was consumed in the flames. The tidings of his death caused sorrow to the friends of the Reformation throughout France. But his example was not lost. ‘We, too, are ready,’ said the witnesses for the truth, ‘to meet death cheerfully, setting our eyes on the life that is to come.’ D’Aubigne, History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin, book 2, chap. 16.” The Great Controversy, 215–219.

The Society of Jesus

Ignatius Loyola began to attract devoted followers who he put through a rigid course of discipline.”Thus it was that he mortified their pride, taught them to despise wealth, schooled them to brave danger and contemn luxury, and inured them to cold, hunger, and toil; in short, he made them dead to every passion save that of the ‘Holy War’ in which they were to bear arms.” Wylie, History of Protestantism, book 15, 383.

To foster the more rapid growth of his forces, Loyola prepared his book entitled Spiritual Exercises which was a skillful imitation of the process of conviction, of alarm, of enlightenment,and of peace which the Bible calls conversion. The one who participates in the exercises during the four week course, is indeed changed, as if by a miracle. However, he does not find a Savior to lean on; he finds a rule by which he works, and works as methodically and regularly as a piece of machinery. “There are few more remarkable books in the world. It combines the self-denial and mortifications of the Brahmin with the asceticism of the anchorite, and the ecstasies of the schoolmen. It professes, like the Koran, to be a revelation.” Ibid., 384.

In August of 1534, his little army of nine followers joined him for mass at the Church of Montmartre, in Paris. They took a solemn oath to dedicate their lives and services to the Pope. Following their solemn oath, the little army proceeded to Rome. In Rome, Loyola at last found recognition as his new order was given approval by Pope Paul III. Its rules and constitution were drafted and approved and the new order was named The Company of Jesus since Ignatius claimed to have received their constitution by revelation, in the cave at Manressa, directly from Christ. His name they should bare. The date of the papal bull giving formal existence to the order was 1540. Ignatius Loyola became the first General of the order.

The Constitutions were declared a revelation from God and yet their contents were secret. Each General has power to add to them and there are many volumes. The powers of the General are vast. He acts without control of any other body, without responsibility to anyone, and without law. From his orders there is no appeal even to the Pope. His powers are absolute. Through the hierarchy of the Jesuit structure, he has a network of information gathering, regarding everything of interest to their plans, from an intimate knowledge of each member to the secrets of governments.

Enrollment in the Society of Jesus is allowed only after undergoing a severe and long-continued course of training. At the successful completion of the course and, after being closely watched, tested and noted, the member promises absolute obedience to the General.

Moral Code of the Jesuits

Loyola sent forth his men fully equipped to prosecute the war against Protestantism. He gave them the Institutions. “They were set free from every obligation, whether imposed by the natural or Divine law.” Ibid., 393. They were cut off from their country as they vowed to go wherever they were sent and to give allegiance to a sovereign higher than the monarch of any nation—their General. They were cut off from family and friends. They were cut off from wealth and property since they must give everything that they might inherit to the society. “Nay, more, the Jesuits were cut off even from the Pope. For if their General ‘held the place of the Omnipotent God,’ much more did he hold the place of ‘his Vicar’. . .

“They were a Papacy within a Papacy—a Papacy whose organization was more perfect, whose instincts were more cruel, whose workings were more mysterious, and whose dominion was more destructive than that of the old Papacy.” Ibid. 394.

They supplied themselves with their own ethical code which allowed them exemption from all human authority and from every earthly law as well as from the law of God. “The keynote of their ethical code is the famous maxim that the end sanctifies the means . . . There are no conceivable crime, villainy, and atrocity which this maxim will not justify.” Ibid.

Regicide and Murder

“The lawfulness of killing excommunicated, that is Protestant, kings, the Jesuit writers have been at great pains to maintain.” Ibid., 398. The society was first banished from France, as a society detestable and diabolical, from the evidence of papers written by the Jesuit Guignard, a Professor of Divinity, which supported the murder of Henry III and maintained that the same should be done to Henry IV.

The track of the Jesuits may be traced in every country in Europe by their bloody foot-prints. Henry III and Henry IV both fell by their dagger. The King of Portugal dies by their order. The great Prince of Orange is dispatched by their agent, shot down at the door of his own dining room. There were many attempts to murder Elizabeth and yet she escaped. Clement XIV, the Pope who tried to banish the order was poisoned. The Gunpowder Plot, the St. Bartholomew massacre, and the “Invincible Armada” is associated with the Jesuits. “What a harvest of plots, tumults, seditions, revolutions, torturings, poisonings, assassinations, regicides, and massacres has Christendom reaped. Nor can we be sure that we have yet seen the last and the greatest of their crimes.” Ibid., 399.

Luther and Laodicea

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“Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.”

Psalm 97:11 NKJV

 “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”

Proverbs 4:18

On our Christian walk, we are either constantly growing, receiving, learning, gaining new light and understanding, or we are dying, stagnating, losing light and understanding, and locking ourselves into spiritual darkness and eternal death. This principle is exhibited in nature. Is there such a thing as a plant that simply stays at the exact same point of growth? No, it is either growing, or it is dying.

This same instruction God has given throughout inspiration. We could look at this principle throughout history, but we are going to study a little in inspiration from the life and example of Luther and how God views his work and the work of future generations.

Most Christians are familiar with the reformer Martin Luther and his lifelong striving and gaining greater light and truth from the Holy Scriptures. Those things which he understood in his later years were not even thought of or supposed when he first began his quest for truth. He was constantly seeking a better understanding of God’s word, and because of his faithfulness and earnest desire for truth, God opened up tremendous truth to him.

In the message of God to Laodicea as found in Revelation 3:14–22, Laodicea is content with the “knowledge” that she has. She considers herself “rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing” (verse 17).

Is there not a stark contrast between these two principles, these two attitudes? Which one does God value? Which one does He require?

“The Reformation did not, as many suppose, end with Luther. It is to be continued to the close of this world’s history. Luther had a great work to do in reflecting to others the light which God had permitted to shine upon him; yet he did not receive all the light which was to be given to the world. From that time to this, new light has been continually shining upon the Scriptures, and new truths have been constantly unfolding.” The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, 123.

“Luther and his co-laborers accomplished a noble work for God; but, coming as they did from the Roman Church, having themselves believed and advocated her doctrines, it was not to be expected that they would discern all these errors. It was their work to break the fetters of Rome, and to give the Bible to the world; yet there were important truths which they failed to discover, and grave errors which they did not renounce.” Ibid., 180.

Was it safe to stop with the light that was revealed to Luther and his co-laborers? No. They still retained grave errors. Does God want us in error? No. He wants us in the purity of His truth, untainted with error.

“The infinite God, whose throne is in the heavens, condescends to address His people, ‘Come now, and let us reason together’ (Isaiah 1:18); but frail, erring men proudly refuse to reason with their brethren. They stand ready to censure one who accepts any light which they have not received—as though God had pledged himself to give no more light to any one than he had given to them. This is the course pursued by opposers of the truth in every age. They forget the declaration of the Scriptures, ‘Light is sown for the righteous’ (Psalm 97:11). ‘The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day’ (Proverbs 4:18). It is a sad thing when a people claiming to be reformers cease to reform.” Ibid., 185.

The following is a powerful and wonderful promise of God, and note the condition for that promise, which begins with the mighty word “if.” “If professed Christians would but carefully and prayerfully compare their views with the Scriptures, laying aside all pride of opinion and desire for the supremacy, a flood of light would be shed upon the churches now wandering in the darkness of error. As fast as His people can bear it, the Lord reveals to them their errors in doctrine and their defects of character. From age to age He has raised up men and qualified them to do a special work needed in their time. But to none of these did He commit all the light which was to be given to the world. Wisdom does not die with them. It was not the will of God that the work of reform should cease with the going out of Luther’s life; it was not His will that at the death of the Wesleys the Christian faith should become stereotyped. The work of reform is progressive. Go forward, is the command of our great Leader—forward unto victory.” Ibid., 186.

Dare I say that it is not the will of God that the work of reform should cease with the going out of Ellen White’s life; it was not His will that at the death of Ellen White the Christian faith should become stereotyped.

What is our attitude? Do we prayerfully compare our views with the Scriptures and lay aside all pride of opinion and desire for supremacy? Or, do we, when new ideas are presented immediately defend our position, our way of thinking. In this respect, I must ask a question here. If I genuinely want to understand something better, will I continually be giving my interpretation, my understanding, or will I be eagerly asking questions of those who know with a genuine desire to understand what is being presented? How do you approach “new light”?

Do you think it dangerous to broach “new light” with candor and a desire to understand the position of what is being presented? I submit to you, according to the Lord, it is dangerous to broach “new light” in any other way, or to refuse to broach it at all.

“We shall not be accepted and honored of God in doing the same work that our fathers did. We do not occupy the position which they occupied in the unfolding of truth. In order to be accepted and honored as they were, we must improve the light which shines upon us, as they improved that which shone upon them; we must do as they would have done, had they lived in our day. Luther and the Wesleys were reformers in their times. It is our duty to continue the work of reform. If we neglect to heed the light, it will become darkness; and the degree of darkness will be proportionate to the light rejected.

“The prophet of God declares that in the last days knowledge shall be increased. There are new truths to be revealed to the humble seeker. The teachings of God’s word are to be freed from the errors and superstition with which they have been encumbered. Doctrines that are not sanctioned by the Scriptures have been widely taught, and many have honestly accepted them; but when the truth is revealed, it becomes the duty of every one to accept it. Those who allow worldly interests, desire for popularity, or pride of opinion, to separate them from the truth, must render an account to God for their neglect.” Ibid., 186, 187.

“Those who received the great blessings of the Reformation did not go forward in the path so nobly entered upon by Luther. A few faithful men arose from time to time, to proclaim new truth, and expose long-cherished error; but the majority, like the Jews in Christ’s day, or the papists in the time of Luther, were content to believe as their fathers believed, and to live as they lived. Therefore religion again degenerated into formalism; and errors and superstitions which would have been cast aside had the church continued to walk in the light of God’s word, were retained and cherished. Thus the spirit inspired by the Reformation gradually died out, until there was almost as great need of reform in the Protestant churches as in the Roman Church in the time of Luther. There was the same spiritual stupor, the same respect for the opinions of men, the same spirit of worldliness, the same substitution of human theories for the teachings of God’s word. Pride and extravagance were fostered under the guise of religion. The churches became corrupted by allying themselves with the world. Thus were degraded the great principles for which Luther and his fellow-laborers had done and suffered so much.” Ibid., 194.

“The church cannot measure herself by the world nor by the opinion of men nor by what she once was. Her faith and her position in the world as they now are must be compared with what they would have been if her course had been continually onward and upward. The church will be weighed in the balances of the sanctuary. If her moral character and spiritual state do not correspond with the benefits and blessings God has conferred upon her, she will be found wanting. The light has been shining clear and definite upon her pathway, and the light of 1882 calls her to an account. If her talents are unimproved, if her fruit is not perfect before God, if her light has become darkness, she is indeed found wanting. The knowledge of our state as God views it, seems to be hidden from us. We see, but perceive not; we hear, but do not understand; and we rest as unconcerned as if the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, rested upon our sanctuary. We profess to know God, and to believe the truth, but in works deny Him. Our deeds are directly adverse to the principles of truth and righteousness, by which we profess to be governed.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 83, 84.

“Unless the church will follow on in His opening providence, accepting every ray of light, performing every duty which may be revealed, religion will inevitably degenerate into the observance of forms, and the spirit of vital godliness will disappear. This truth has been repeatedly illustrated in the history of the church. God requires of His people works of faith and obedience corresponding to the blessings and privileges bestowed. Obedience requires a sacrifice and involves a cross; and this is why so many of the professed followers of Christ refused to receive the light from Heaven, and, like the Jews of old, knew not the time of their visitation (Luke 19:44). Because of their pride and unbelief, the Lord passed them by, and revealed His truth to men in humble life, who had given heed to all the light they had received.” The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, 200, 201.

God’s words of inspiration are not only rich with warning and rebuke, but filled with treasures and promises for the true and faithful.

“If the followers of Christ were but earnest seekers after divine wisdom, they would be led into rich fields of truth, as yet wholly unknown to them. Whoever will give himself to God as fully as did Moses, will be guided by the divine hand as verily as was the great leader of Israel. He may be lowly and apparently ungifted; yet if with a loving, trusting heart he obeys every intimation of God’s will, his powers will be purified, ennobled, energized; his capabilities increased. As he treasures the lessons of divine wisdom, a sacred commission is intrusted to him; he is enabled to make his life an honor to God and a blessing to the world. ‘The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple’ (Psalm 119:130).” Ibid., vol. 3, 417, 418.

Do we live by the principles that governed Luther, seeking new light, new revelations from the word of God, or do we exhibit the principle found in Laodicea, satisfied with our current position, “rich and increased with goods.” My friends, we have studied God’s view of both. It is impossible to hold to both principles. Where are you? Are you with Luther, or are you with Laodicea? Your works will tell the tale, not your words. It is time we deal honestly with our souls, for the night is far spent, and the morning cometh.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the King James Version.)

Brenda Douay is a staff member at Steps to Life. She may be contacted by email at: brendadouay@stepstolife.org.

Bible Study Guides – Luther

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November 20, 2010 – November 26, 2010

Key Text

“Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.” Habbakuk 2:4.

Study Help: The Great Controversy, 120–170; Early Writings, 222–226.

Introduction

“Zealous, ardent, and devoted, knowing no fear but the fear of God, and acknowledging no foundation for religious faith but the Holy Scriptures, Luther was the man for his time; through him God accomplished a great work for the reformation of the church and the enlightenment of the world.” The Great Controversy, 120.

1 What parable illustrates the experience of Martin Luther when he found the Bible for the first time? Matthew 13:44–46.

Note: “While one day examining the books in the library of the university, Luther discovered a Latin Bible. Such a book he had never before seen. He was ignorant even of its existence. He had heard portions of the Gospels and Epistles, which were read to the people at public worship, and he supposed that these were the entire Bible. Now, for the first time, he looked upon the whole of God’s word. With mingled awe and wonder he turned the sacred pages; with quickened pulse and throbbing heart he read for himself the words of life, pausing now and then to exclaim: ‘O that God would give me such a book for myself!’ ” The Great Controversy, 122.

2 As Luther drank deeper and deeper at the fountain of truth and light, what did he do to better understand it? How did he share his joy? Psalm 119:97–104.

Note: “Luther was ordained a priest and was called from the cloister to a professorship in the University of Wittenberg. Here he applied himself to the study of the Scriptures in the original tongues. He began to lecture upon the Bible; and the book of Psalms, the Gospels, and the Epistles were opened to the understanding of crowds of delighted listeners.” The Great Controversy, 124.

3 When an official raising money to rebuild St. Peter’s Basilica was selling indulgences where Luther was pastor, what Scriptures came to Luther’s mind? Acts 8:20; 4:12. What effect did the publication by Luther of ninety-five theses have against this practice?

Note: “His [Luther’s] propositions attracted universal attention. They were read and reread, and repeated in every direction. Great excitement was created in the university and in the whole city. By these theses it was shown that the power to grant the pardon of sin, and to remit its penalty, had never been committed to the pope or to any other man. The whole scheme was a farce—an artifice to extort money by playing upon the superstitions of the people—a device of Satan to destroy the souls of all who should trust to its lying pretensions. It was also clearly shown that the gospel of Christ is the most valuable treasure of the church, and that the grace of God, therein revealed, is freely bestowed upon all who seek it by repentance and faith.

“Luther’s theses challenged discussion; but no one dared accept the challenge. The questions which he proposed had in a few days spread through all Germany, and in a few weeks they had sounded throughout Christendom. Many devoted Romanists, who had seen and lamented the terrible iniquity prevailing in the church, but had not known how to arrest its progress, read the propositions with great joy, recognizing in them the voice of God. They felt that the Lord had graciously set His hand to arrest the rapidly swelling tide of corruption that was issuing from the see of Rome. Princes and magistrates secretly rejoiced that a check was to be put upon the arrogant power which denied the right of appeal from its decisions.” The Great Controversy, 130.

4 What most powerful weapon was in constant use by the Reformers and has been the foundation of reform in all ages? Nehemiah 2:4; Isaiah 38:2, 3.

Note: “From the secret place of prayer came the power that shook the world in the Great Reformation. There, with holy calmness, the servants of the Lord set their feet upon the rock of His promises. During the struggle at Augsburg, Luther ‘did not pass a day without devoting three hours at least to prayer, and they were hours selected from those the most favorable to study.’ In the privacy of his chamber he was heard to pour out his soul before God in words ‘full of adoration, fear, and hope, as when one speaks to a friend.’ ” The Great Controversy, 210.

5 What were some unfortunate reactions to Luther’s work?

Note: “The sin-loving and superstitious multitudes were terrified as the sophistries that had soothed their fears were swept away. Crafty ecclesiastics, interrupted in their work of sanctioning crime, and seeing their gains endangered, were enraged, and rallied to uphold their pretensions. The Reformer had bitter accusers to meet. Some charged him with acting hastily and from impulse. Others accused him of presumption, declaring that he was not directed of God, but was acting from pride and forwardness.” The Great Controversy, 130.

6 In bringing Luther before the Diet of Worms, to what did the papists resort in an effort to silence him? Matthew 27:1, 2. What characterized his response?

Note: “Those who stubbornly closed their eyes to the light, and determined not to be convinced of the truth, were enraged at the power of Luther’s words. As he ceased speaking, the spokesman of the Diet said angrily: ‘You have not answered the question put to you. … You are required to give a clear and precise answer. … Will you, or will you not, retract?’

“The Reformer answered: ‘Since your most serene majesty and your high mightinesses require from me a clear, simple, and precise answer, I will give you one, and it is this: I cannot submit my faith either to the pope or to the councils, because it is clear as the day that they have frequently erred and contradicted each other. Unless therefore I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture or by the clearest reasoning, unless I am persuaded by means of the passages I have quoted, and unless they thus render my conscience bound by the word of God, I cannot and I will not retract, for it is unsafe for a Christian to speak against his conscience. Here I stand, I can do no other; may God help me. Amen.’ ” The Great Controversy, 160.

7 How was it that Luther, a simple monk alone, was not intimidated by the assembly? John 16:33. Who stood alone in similar circumstances? Acts 6:9, 11, 15.

Note: “Thus stood this righteous man upon the sure foundation of the word of God. The light of heaven illuminated his [the Reformer’s] countenance. His greatness and purity of character, his peace and joy of heart, were manifest to all as he testified against the power of error and witnessed to the superiority of that faith that overcomes the world.” The Great Controversy, 160.

8 Who was favorable to the cause advocated by Luther?

Note: “The elector Frederick had looked forward anxiously to Luther’s appearance before the Diet, and with deep emotion he listened to his speech. With joy and pride he witnessed the doctor’s courage, firmness, and self-possession, and determined to stand more firmly in his defense. He contrasted the parties in contest, and saw that the wisdom of popes, kings, and prelates had been brought to nought by the power of truth. The papacy had sustained a defeat which would be felt among all nations and in all ages.” The Great Controversy, 162.

9 Who was with Luther in this trial? Matthew 28:20. Under the persuasion of the papists, what decision did Charles V make?

Note: “Two conflicting opinions were now urged by the members of the Diet. The emissaries and representatives of the pope again demanded that the Reformer’s safe-conduct should be disregarded. ‘The Rhine,’ they said, ‘should receive his ashes, as it had received those of John Huss a century ago.’ …

“Charles himself, in answer to the base proposal, said: ‘Though honor and faith should be banished from all the world, they ought to find a refuge in the hearts of princes.’ … He was still further urged by the most bitter of Luther’s papal enemies to deal with the Reformer as Sigismund had dealt with Huss—abandon him to the mercies of the church; but recalling the scene when Huss in public assembly had pointed to his chains and reminded the monarch of his plighted faith, Charles V declared: ‘I should not like to blush like Sigismund.’—Lenfant, vol. 1, p. 422.

“Yet Charles had deliberately rejected the truths presented by Luther. ‘I am firmly resolved to imitate the example of my ancestors,’ wrote the monarch.—D’Aubigne, b. 7, ch. 9. He had decided that he would not step out of the path of custom, even to walk in the ways of truth and righteousness. Because his fathers did, he would uphold the papacy, with all its cruelty and corruption. Thus he took his position, refusing to accept any light in advance of what his fathers had received, or to perform any duty that they had not performed.” The Great Controversy, 163, 164.

10 When Luther had triumphed over the papists before the Diet, how was he protected from their wrath and determination to kill him? Psalm 31:19–21. What other benefits came as a result?

Note: “God had provided a way of escape for His servant in this hour of peril. A vigilant eye had followed Luther’s movements, and a true and noble heart had resolved upon his rescue. It was plain that Rome would be satisfied with nothing short of his death; only by concealment could he be preserved from the jaws of the lion. God gave wisdom to Frederick of Saxony to devise a plan for the Reformer’s preservation. With the co-operation of true friends the elector’s purpose was carried out, and Luther was effectually hidden from friends and foes.” The Great Controversy, 168.

“While his [Luther’s] enemies flattered themselves that he was silenced, they were astonished and confused by tangible proof that he was still active. A host of tracts, issuing from his pen, circulated throughout Germany. He also performed a most important service for his countrymen by translating the New Testament into the German tongue. From his rocky Patmos he continued for nearly a whole year to proclaim the gospel and rebuke the sins and errors of the times.” Ibid., 169.

11 What Divine plan was also fulfilled in the concealing of Luther for a while? Psalm 115:1. How is this a lesson for our time?

Note: “He [God] desired that work [of the Reformation] to receive, not the impress of man, but that of God. The eyes of men had been turned to Luther as the expounder of the truth; he was removed that all eyes might be directed to the eternal Author of truth.” The Great Controversy, 170.

Personal Review Questions

1 How and where did Luther find the light of gospel truth?

2 What brought Luther to publicly proclaim the arguments of the truth?

3 How did the papal authorities try to silence Luther?

4 How was Luther’s appearance before the Diet both a triumph and a tragedy?

5 Explain how God’s goodness overruled perilous adversity in the life of Luther.

Additional Reading

“Notwithstanding all the persecution of the saints, living witnesses for God’s truth were raised up on every hand. Angels of the Lord were doing the work committed to their trust. They were searching in the darkest places and selecting out of the darkness men who were honest in heart. These were all buried up in error, yet God called them, as He did Saul, to be chosen vessels to bear His truth and raise their voices against the sins of His professed people. Angels of God moved upon the hearts of Martin Luther, Melanchthon, and others in different places, and caused them to thirst for the living testimony of the Word of God. The enemy had come in like a flood, and the standard must be raised against him. Luther was the one chosen to breast the storm, stand up against the ire of a fallen church, and strengthen the few who were faithful to their holy profession. He was ever fearful of offending God. He tried through works to obtain His favor, but was not satisfied until a gleam of light from heaven drove the darkness from his mind and led him to trust, not in works, but in the merits of the blood of Christ. He could then come to God for himself, not through popes or confessors, but through Jesus Christ alone.” Early Writings, 222, 223.

©2003 Reformation Herald Publishing Association, Roanoke, Virginia. Reprinted by permission

Bible Study Guides – The Reformation Ends

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November 28, 2010 – December 4, 2010

The Dark Ages and the Reformation

Key Text

“And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved.” Matthew 24:22.

Study Help: The Great Controversy, 197–210, 237–244.

Introduction

“The experience of these noble Reformers contains a lesson for all succeeding ages.” The Great Controversy, 204.

1 How did the Lord defend His work of the Reformation by His overruling providences? Proverbs 15:9.

Note: “A dark and threatening day had come for the Reformation. Notwithstanding the Edict of Worms, declaring Luther to be an outlaw and forbidding the teaching or belief of his doctrines, religious toleration had thus far prevailed in the empire. God’s providence had held in check the forces that opposed the truth. Charles V was bent on crushing the Reformation, but often as he raised his hand to strike he had been forced to turn aside the blow. Again and again the immediate destruction of all who dared to oppose themselves to Rome appeared inevitable; but at the critical moment the armies of the Turk appeared on the eastern frontier, or the king of France, or even the pope himself, jealous of the increasing greatness of the emperor, made war upon him; and thus, amid the strife and tumult of nations, the Reformation had been left to strengthen and extend.” The Great Controversy, 197.

2 How did the papists try to quench the budding desire for religious liberty? Acts 5:27, 28.

Note: “If this edict [of Worms] were enforced, ‘the Reformation could neither be extended … where as yet it was unknown, nor be established on solid foundations … where it already existed.’ … Liberty of speech would be prohibited. No conversions would be allowed.” The Great Controversy, 199.

3 What quiet principles were nonetheless at work? Revelation 3:6; 22:17.

4 What example should all civil authorities adopt when asked to adjudicate on religious issues or matters of conscience? What is the duty of the state in matters of conscience? Acts 18:12–16.

Note: “ ‘Let us reject this decree,’ said the princes. ‘In matters of conscience the majority has no power.’ The deputies declared: ‘It is to the decree of 1526 that we are indebted for the peace that the empire enjoys: its abolition would fill Germany with troubles and divisions. The Diet is incompetent to do more than preserve religious liberty until the council meets.’ … To protect liberty of conscience is the duty of the state, and this is the limit of its authority in matters of religion. Every secular government that attempts to regulate or enforce religious observances by civil authority is sacrificing the very principle for which the evangelical Christians so nobly struggled.” The Great Controversy, 201.

5 What fundamental principles that are the very essence of Protestantism were outlined in the formal protest brought by the princes before the national council? II Corinthians 4:2–5.

Note: “ ‘The principles contained in this celebrated Protest … constitute the very essence of Protestantism. Now this Protest opposes two abuses of man in matters of faith: the first is the intrusion of the civil magistrate, and the second the arbitrary authority of the church. Instead of these abuses, Protestantism sets the power of conscience above the magistrate, and the authority of the word of God above the visible church. In the first place, it rejects the civil power in divine things, and says with the prophets and apostles, “We must obey God rather than man” [Acts 5:29]. In presence of the crown of Charles the Fifth, it uplifts the crown of Jesus Christ. But it goes farther: it lays down the principle that all human teaching should be subordinate to the oracles of God.’ … The protesters had moreover affirmed their right to utter freely their convictions of truth. They would not only believe and obey, but teach what the word of God presents, and they denied the right of priest or magistrate to interfere. The Protest of Spires was a solemn witness against religious intolerance, and an assertion of the right of all men to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences.” The Great Controversy, 203, 204.

6 Why is there such a great need for us to review and return to the great fundamental principle of Protestantism and religious liberty? What should we remember of history? Ecclesiastes 1:9, 10.

Note: “In our time there is a wide departure from their [the Scriptures] doctrines and precepts, and there is need of a return to the great Protestant principle—the Bible, and the Bible only, as the rule of faith and duty. Satan is still working through every means which he can control to destroy religious liberty. The antichristian power which the protesters of Spires rejected is now with renewed vigor seeking to reestablish its lost supremacy. The same unswerving adherence to the word of God manifested at that crisis of the Reformation is the only hope of reform today.” The Great Controversy, 204, 205.

7 In face of powerful foes, what far-reaching principle was clearly enunciated by Luther when the princes proposed a defense league? John 18:36, 37.

Note: “One of the principles most firmly maintained by Luther was that there should be no resort to secular power in support of the Reformation, and no appeal to arms for its defense. He rejoiced that the gospel was confessed by princes of the empire; but when they proposed to unite in a defensive league, he declared that ‘the doctrine of the gospel should be defended by God alone. … The less man meddled in the work, the more striking would be God’s intervention in its behalf. All the politic precautions suggested were, in his view, attributable to unworthy fear and sinful mistrust.’ ” The Great Controversy, 209.

8 During the protest of the princes, how was God working in a manner similar to the way He did in the days of Elisha? II Kings 6:15–17.

Note: “God’s faithful servants were not toiling alone. While principalities and powers and wicked spirits in high places were leagued against them, the Lord did not forsake His people. Could their eyes have been opened, they would have seen as marked evidence of divine presence and aid as was granted to a prophet of old. … [II Kings 6:17 quoted.] And, lo, the mountain was filled with chariots and horses of fire, the army of heaven stationed to protect the man of God. Thus did angels guard the workers in the cause of the Reformation.” The Great Controversy, 208.

9 When Luther saw the danger of armed conflict, what were the only weapons he used in defense of truth? Ephesians 6:11–17.

Note: “When powerful foes were uniting to overthrow the reformed faith, and thousands of swords seemed about to be unsheathed against it, Luther wrote: ‘Satan is putting forth his fury; ungodly pontiffs are conspiring; and we are threatened with war. Exhort the people to contend valiantly before the throne of the Lord, by faith and prayer, so that our enemies, vanquished by the Spirit of God, may be constrained to peace. Our chief want, our chief labor, is prayer; let the people know that they are now exposed to the edge of the sword and to the rage of Satan, and let them pray.’ …

“Luther declared that the only weapon employed in this warfare should be ‘the sword of the Spirit’ [Ephesians 6:17]. He wrote to the elector of Saxony: ‘We cannot on our conscience approve the proposed alliance. We would rather die ten times than see our gospel cause one drop of blood to be shed. Our part is to be like lambs of the slaughter. The cross of Christ must be borne. Let your highness be without fear. We shall do more by our prayers than all our enemies by their boastings. Only let not your hands be stained with the blood of your brethren. If the emperor requires us to be given up to his tribunals, we are ready to appear. You cannot defend our faith: each one should believe at his own risk and peril.’ ” The Great Controversy, 209.

10 What great example has been inherited from the Reformation of the sixteenth century concerning the peril of compromise for temporal gain? Psalm 146:3–6.

Note: “Had the Reformation, after attaining a degree of success, consented to temporize to secure favor with the world, it would have been untrue to God and to itself, and would thus have ensured its own destruction. The experience of these noble Reformers contains a lesson for all succeeding ages. Satan’s manner of working against God and His word has not changed; he is still as much opposed to the Scriptures being made the guide of life as in the sixteenth century. In our time there is a wide departure from their doctrines and precepts, and there is need of a return to the great Protestant principle—the Bible, and the Bible only, as the rule of faith and duty. Satan is still working through every means which he can control to destroy religious liberty.” The Great Controversy, 204, 205.

11 Besides Germany and Switzerland, what other nations opened their doors to the Reformation? Who were other leaders with a wide influence? Acts 11:19–21.

Note: “The teachings of Luther found a congenial soil in the Netherlands, and earnest and faithful men arose to preach the gospel. From one of the provinces of Holland came Menno Simons.” The Great Controversy, 238.

“Tausen, ‘the Reformer of Denmark,’ was a peasant’s son. …

“Tausen went to Cologne, which was then, as now, one of the strongholds of Romanism. Here he soon became disgusted with the mysticisms of the schoolmen. About the same time he obtained Luther’s writings. He read them with wonder and delight, and greatly desired to enjoy the personal instruction of the Reformer. But to do so he must risk giving offense to his monastic superior and forfeiting his support. His decision was soon made, and erelong he was enrolled as a student at Wittenberg.

“On returning to Denmark, … Tausen began to preach. The churches were opened to him, and the people thronged to listen. Others also were preaching the Word of God. The New Testament, translated into the Danish tongue, was widely circulated. The efforts made by the papists to overthrow the work resulted in extending it, and erelong Denmark declared its acceptance of the reformed faith.

“In Sweden, also, young men who had drunk from the well of Wittenberg carried the water of life to their countrymen. Two of the leaders in the Swedish Reformation, Olaf and Laurentius Petri, the sons of a blacksmith of Orebro, studied under Luther and Melanchthon, and the truths which they thus learned they were diligent to teach.” Ibid., 241, 242.

Personal Review Questions

1 What enabled the Reformation to survive against overwhelming odds?

2 What was the keystone of the Reformation in the sixteenth century?

3 Wherein is the strength of every true reformation?

4 What alternative is given for temporal weapons?

5 Who were the leaders of the Reformation in different lands?

Additional Reading

“This contest, though conducted upon a stage comparatively obscure, serves to show us ‘the sort of men that formed the rank and file of the army of the Reformers. They were not illiterate, sectarian, noisy controversialists—far from it; they were men who had studied the word of God, and knew well how to wield the weapons with which the armory of the Bible supplied them. In respect of erudition they were ahead of their age. When we confine our attention to such brilliant centers as Wittenberg and Zurich, and to such illustrious names as those of Luther and Melanchthon, of Zwingli and Oecolampadius, we are apt to be told, these were the leaders of the movement, and we should naturally expect in them prodigious power and vast acquisitions; but the subordinates were not like these. Well, we turn to the obscure theater of Sweden, and the humble names of Olaf and Laurentius Petri—from the masters to the disciples—what do we find? … Scholars and theologians; men who have thoroughly mastered the whole system of gospel truth, and who win an easy victory over the sophists of the schools and the dignitaries of Rome.’ ” The Great Controversy, 243, 244.

©2005 Reformation Herald Publishing Association, Roanoke, Virginia. Reprinted by permission

Martin Luther, part XVI – Emperor Charles V

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Editor’s Note: This is the final article in a sixteen-part series on the life and times of Martin Luther. As we pause to meditate on the lives of Martin Luther and Charles V, what a striking contrast can be seen. Can we have the slightest doubt who was the greatest? The one, sitting in his closet, sent forth words which shook into ruin ancient systems of superstitious religion, rending the shackles from the consciences of men, and saying to the slave, “Be free.” He gave sight to the spiritually blind, raised up the fallen, and cast down the mighty. He led hearts captive, and plucked up and planted kingdoms. It was a God-like power which he exercised, because he trusted not in the arm of flesh, but in God’s Word.

When we look at the emperor in his magnificent palace, we find a totally different and far inferior set of forces at work. Before Charles V could achieve anything, he had to gather an army, collect great sums of wealth, blow his trumpets, and beat his kettle-drums; yet how little of real importance did he obtain from all of his bloodshed! Cities and provinces called him master, but waited for the first opportunity to throw off his yoke. What truth did he establish which can mold the lives of men and be a blessing in ages to come? It is now that we can see which of these two men exercised real power and which of the two was a true monarch. See The History of Protestantism, part 1, page 568, by J. A. Wylie.

The Schmalkald League

The Augsburg Diet ended in September 1530. On November 19, 1530, the emperor “issued a decree, addressed to the Protestant princes, States and cities, commanding them, under peril of his displeasure, to return to their obedience to the See of Rome, and giving them till the next spring (15th of April) to make their choice between submission and war.” The History of Protestantism, part 1, book 12, 95.

“The edict of the emperor forbade from that hour all further conversions to Protestantism, under pain of forfeiture of goods and life; it further enacted that all which had been taken from the Roman Catholics should be restored; that the monasteries and religious houses should be rebuilt; that the old ceremonies and rites should be observed; and that no one who did not submit to this decree should sit in the Imperial Chamber, the supreme court of judicature in the Empire; and that all classes should assist with their lives and fortunes in carrying out this edict. The edict of Spires was directed mainly against Luther; the ban of Augsburg was wider in its scope; it fell on all who held his opinions in Germany—on princes, cities, and peasants.” Ibid.

Melancthon was filled with dismay and Sleidan describes him as “drowned with sighs and tears.” Luther’s faith rose to the occasion and he faced the obstacles and produced a publication that foretold the failure of the edict. He declared that the emperor’s sword, though strong, could not extinguish the light and bring back the darkness.

Luther’s spirit fired the princes who met at Christmas, 1530, at Schmalkald to decide on the necessary action. They decided that their religion and liberties must be defended at all costs and that it was necessary to form a League. Known as the League of Schmalkald, the princes decided to join together to resist with military might any attempt to carry out the Edict of Augsburg. Their religious liberty was not the only question, since Charles was also involved in schemes that were dangerous to the constitution and civil liberties of Germany as well. The League was renewed the following year at Christmas, 1531, with many cities and princes joining. The Swiss Protestants were repulsed because of their views on the Lord’s Supper. Not long after this, Zwingle died in battle.

Luther was not pleased with the League. He shuddered at anything that would bring the Gospel and war into contact. He was assured that the League was for defensive purposes only and meant to exercise unity and their natural right to self-defense, and so he acquiesced in the League of the princes. It was political entanglements that Luther feared. “He foresaw the League growing strong and beginning to lean on armies, neglecting the development of the religious principle in whose vitality alone would consist the consolidation, power, and success of their federation.” Ibid., 98.

Spring came, but Charles was unable to carry out his threats. The Turks were again threatening war in eastern Europe and in addition, Charles’ old enemy, Francis of France, was making preparations for war against him. He had angered the Popish princes by making his brother Ferdinand, King of the Romans, and he could not turn to them for assistance. “It must have seemed, even to himself, as if a greater power than the Schmalkald Confederacy were fighting against him.” Ibid., 99.

He was forced to make peace with the Protestants and “after tedious and difficult negations, a peace was agreed upon at Nuremberg, July 23rd, and ratified in the Diet at Ratisbon, August 3rd, 1532. In this pacification the emperor granted to the Lutherans the free and undisturbed exercise of their religion, until such time as a General Council or an Imperial Diet should decide the religious question.” The Protestants promised to aid the emperor in war against the Turks, and Charles enjoyed victory over them. Charles then went on to other military projects in his dominions and the Church had rest, which lasted for close to a decade and a half.

The years that followed brought steady growth to the Protestant dominions. Wurtemberg, Brandenburg, and Brunswich were added to the League. By 1542, the whole of central and northern Germany was Protestant. Only Austria, Bavaria, and Palatinate remained with Rome, but great advances were made by Protestantism in these areas also.

Death and Burial of Luther

“The man of all others in Germany who loved peace was Luther. War he abhorred with all the strength of his great soul. He could not conceive a greater calamity befalling his cause than that the sword should be allied with it. Again and again, during the course of his life, when the opposing parties were on the point of rushing to arms the Reformer stepped in, and the sword leapt back into its scabbard. Again war threatens. On every side men are preparing their arms: hosts are mustering, and mighty captains are taking the field. We listen, if haply that powerful voice which had so often dispersed the tempest when the bolt was ready to fall shall once more make itself heard. There comes instead the terrible tidings—Luther is dead!” Ibid., 107.

The Counts of Mansfield had requested that Luther come in January of 1546, to arbitrate a boundary dispute. Luther did not care to meddle in such matters, but, since the matter was in the province of his birth, he consented to go as it would enable him to see his old birthplace once more. He was taken ill on the journey but recovered. On entering the province he was received like a prince.

After settling the dispute to the satisfaction of the counts, he occasionally preached in the church and took Communion, but he had many signs that warned him that he did not have long to live. ” ‘Here I was born and baptized,’ said he to friends, ‘what if I should remain here to die also?’ He was only sixty-three, but continual anxiety, ceaseless and exhausting labour, oft-recurring fits of nervous depression, and cruel maladies had done more than years to waste his strength.” Ibid.

On the 17th of February, after having dinner, he withdrew to pray as was his custom. Pain in his stomach caused him to go to bed early and he awakened in the night with an oppression in his chest and knowing that his life was soon to end. Three times he prayed, each time his voice more faint, confessing his faith and thankfulness to God. ” ‘Into thy hands I commit my spirit; thou hast redeemed me, O God of truth!’ He in a manner gently slept out of this life, without any bodily pain or agony that could be perceived.” Ibid., 107.

“Luther’s career had been a stormy one, yet its end was peace. He had waged incessant battle, not with the emperor and the Pope only, but also with a more dreadful foe, who had often filled his mind with darkness. Yet now he dies expressing his undimmed joy and his undying trust in his Saviour. It is also very remarkable that the man whose life had been so often sought by Popes, kings, priests, and fanatics of every grade, died on his bed. Luther often said that it would be a great disgrace to the Pope if he should so die . . . During the last twenty-five years of his life—that is, ever since his appearance at the Diet of Worms—the emperor’s ban and the Pope’s anathema had hung about him; yet there fell not to the ground a hair of his head . . . To be rid of him Rome would have joyfully given the half of her kingdom; but not a day, not an hour of life was she able to take from him.” Ibid., 109.

John, elector of Saxony, commanded that he should be laid to rest in Wittemberg. The procession grew with each town it passed through. The multitudes sang psalms and hymns. He was buried in the Schloss-kirk of Wittemberg where he had nailed his Theses.

The Schmalkald War and the Defeat of the Protestants

For two years, while Luther was yet alive, war had threatened but was withheld. Now it moved on rapidly as Charles hastened to arrange all of his affairs so that he might deal with the Protestants. He recruited soldiers and made a treaty with Pope Paul III. The Pope payed large sums of money and supplied a great number of soldiers for the battle in Germany.

“Another step toward war, though it looked like conciliation, was the meeting of the long-promised and long deferred Council . . . There had assembled at the little town of Trent some forty prelates, who assumed to represent the Universal Church, and to issue decrees which should be binding on all the countries of Christendom, although Italy and Spain alone were as yet represented in the Council . . . The Council, in its third session, decreed that the traditions of the Fathers are of equal authority with the Scripture . . . and that no one is to presume to interpret the Scriptures in a sense different from that of the Church . . . The Protestants affirmed that the one infallible authority was the Word of God. They made their appeal to the tribunal of Holy Scripture; they could recognize no other judge. The sole supremacy of Scriptures was in fact the corner-stone of their system, and if this great maxim were rejected their whole cause was adjudged and condemned.

“This was another way of saying, ‘you must submit to the Church.’ . . . They were told that they must accept their opponent for their judge . . . The first decree of the Council, then, embraced all that were to follow; . . . thoroughly Popish decisions . . . It was clear that the Fathers had assembled at Trent to pass sentence on the faith of the German people as heresy, and then the emperor would step in with his great sword and give it its death-blow.” Ibid., 113.

While he made great preparations for war, the emperor made even greater claims that he meant only peace. In a meeting with Phillip of Hesse, this prince, who held him most suspect, came to believe that he was indeed intent on peace, and the Protestants were lulled to sleep. It was the Pope who revealed the truth when he published a bull announcing his league with the emperor and their true intent and calling on all the faithful to concur in it. This caused Charles to let down his disguise but he still succeeded in convincing many Protestants that his warlike preparations, though they were indeed for Germany, were not meant to interfere with its religious opinions but to put down the Schmalkald League. Which was, he said, an empire within an empire and so it could not be tolerated by imperial supremacy.

“The pretext was a transparent one, but it enabled the timid, the lukewarm, and the wavering to say, ‘This war does not concern religion, it is a quarrel merely between the emperor and certain members of the League.’ How completely did the aspect the matter now assumed justify the wisdom of the man who had lately been laid in his grave in the Schloss-kirk of Wittemberg! How often had Luther warned the Protestants against the error of shifting their cause from a moral to a political basis! The former, he ever assured them, would, when the day of trial came, be found to have double the strength they had reckoned upon—in fact, to be invincible; whereas the latter, with an imposing show, would be found to have no strength at all.” Ibid., 115.

“On the 20th of July the blow fell . . . The war, now that it had come, found the League neither united nor prepared . . . The campaign, from its commencement in the mid-summer of 1546, to its close in the spring of 1547, was marked, on the part of the League, by vacillation and blundering. There was no foresight shown in laying its plans, no vigor in carrying them out.” Ibid., 116. One of the three leading princes in the League sided with the emperor. The war ended with the remaining two princes, John Frederick and Landgrave Phillip, in prison. Charles stripped them of their title and power, destroyed their castles, confiscated their lands, and lead them about from city to city as a spectacle to their former subjects.

“If, instead of stepping down into the arena of battle, they had offered themselves to the stake, not a tithe of the blood would have been shed that was spilt in the campaign, and instead of being lowered, the moral power of Protestantism thereby would have been immensely raised . . . No greater calamity could have befallen the Reformation than that Protestantism should have become, in that age, a great political power. Had it triumphed as a policy it would have perished as a religion.” Ibid., 117.

The Interim—Reestablishment of Protestantism

Charles then proceeded to frame a creed meant to let Lutheran Germany down easily. Styled as a halfway between Wittemberg and Rome, the “Interim taught, among other things, the supremacy of the Pope, the dogma of transubstantiation, the sacrifice of the mass, the invocation of the saints, auricular confession, justification by works, and the sole right of the Church to interpret the Scriptures; in short, not one concession did Rome make.” Ibid., 118. Protestants were offered two paltry boons. Married clergy would not have to put away their wives, and where the Sacrament was being offered in both types, it could continue to be tolerated.

This document was presented to a Diet at Augsburg on May 15, 1548, where not a single dissenting voice was raised against it. They sat silent before the emperor’s soldiers amassed around the city. “The Interim was straightway promulgated by the emperor: all were to conform to it under pain of his displeasure, and it was to remain in force until a free General Council could be held.” Ibid.

But Charles was to find that his Interim had no friends. The Vatican was sore displeased. “That the emperor in virtue of his sole authority should frame and promulgate a creed was not to be tolerated; it was to do the work of a Council; it was, in fact, to seat himself in the chair of the Pope and to say, ‘I am the Church.’ Besides, the cardinals grudged even the two pitiful concessions which had been made to the Protestants.” Ibid.

There were some areas of Germany where there was open resistance to the Interim while in others everything Protestant was removed. Old rites were restored, Protestant magistrates replaced, and Protestant pastors and their families forced from their homes. Those who did not escape were lead about in chains by their enemies.

“There is one submission that pains us more than all the others. It is that of Melancthon. Melancthon and the Wittemberg divines, laying down the general principles, that where things indifferent only are in question it is right to obey the commands of a lawful superior, and assuming that the Interim, which had been slightly manipulated for their special convenience, conflicted with the Augustan Confession in only indifferent points, and that it was well to preserve the essentials of the Gospel as seed-corn for better times, denied their Protestantism, and bowed down in worship of the emperor’s religion.” Ibid., 119.

“But amid so many prostrate one man stood nobly erect. John Frederick of Saxony, despite the suffering and ignominy that weighed upon him, refused to accept the Interim. Hopes of liberty were held out to induce him to endorse the emperor’s creed, but this only drew from him a solemn protestation of his adherence to the Protestant faith.” Ibid.

Charles believed that Roman Catholicism was the basis of his power and through thirty years of intrigues and wars he held fast to his determination to strike a fatal blow to Protestantism. This blow he had struck. “It was at this moment, when his glory was in its noon, that the whole aspect of affairs around the emperor suddenly changed . . . Not a friend or ally had he who did not now turn on him.” Ibid.

The Pope was alarmed at Charles’ conquests and feared that the Papacy was about to receive a master. He was also offended that he had received none of the spoils of their war. Paul III recalled his army and moved the Council of Trent to Bologna.

The Germans had lost many liberties and they felt deceived. They had been told that the war was not over religious questions and yet their pastors were banished, their churches taken over by mass-priests, and filled with burning tapers and chants and prayers in an unknown tongue. This all told of a promise unkept and to deception was added insult.

Prince Maurice, a professed Protestant who had sided with the emperor for ambition’s sake, now came to know that his defections would cause him to be swept away in the gathering storm. He determined to “atone for his betrayal of his Protestant confederates by treachery to the emperor.” Ibid., 120. He succeeded at length to convince the princes to join him in his schemes to win back the liberties of Germany. He yet had a sizable force in his charge which he was using in Charles’ service to besiege Magdeburg, which was brave in its resistance to the Interim. He was able to convince the citizens of that city to sign the Interim, in order to deceive Charles, while he secretly promised that they would never be deprived of their religious freedoms, and he convinced King Henry of France to move in from the south. All of this was done with masterly skill and secrecy.

At Innspruck, Charles was lulled into security by Maurice’s artifices. His campaigns had exhausted his money-chest and he had only a handful of guards at his side when the revolt broke out in March of 1552. He was hemmed in on every side. The Turks were watching by sea, the French to the south, before him was the angry Pope and behind was Maurice “pushing on by secret and forced marches, ‘to catch,’ as he irreverently said, ‘the fox in his hole.’ And probably he would have done as he said, had not a mutiny broken out among his troops on the journey, which, by delaying his march on Innspruck, gave Charles time to learn with astonishment that all Germany had risen, and was in full march upon Innspruck. The emperor had no alternative but flight.” Ibid., 121. The emperor was suffering from gout and had to be carried on a litter over rugged mountain paths by light of torches. Maurice entered Innspruck just hours after his prey had escaped. “The emperor’s power collapsed when apparently at its zenith.” Ibid. He was forced to sue for peace.

“There followed, in July, the Peace of Passau. The main article in that treaty was that the Protestants should enjoy the free and undisturbed possession of their religion till such time as a Diet of all the States should effect a permanent arrangement, and that failing such a Diet the present agreement should remain in force for ever. This was followed by the Treaty of Augsburg in 1555. This last ratified and enlarged the privileges conceded to the Protestants in the pacification of Passau, and gave a legal right to the Augustan Confession to exist side by side with the creed of the Romish Church. The ruling idea of the Middle Ages, that one form of religion only could exist in a country, was abandoned . . . The members of the Reformed Church, the followers of Zwingle and Calvin, were excluded from the privileges secured in the treaties of Passau and Augsburg, nor was legal toleration extended to them till the Peace of Westphalia, a century later.” Ibid., 122.

So Charles was unable to extinguish the light of Protestantism. “Hundreds of thousands of lives had he sacrificed and millions of money had he squandered in the contest, but Protestantism, so far from being extinguished, had enlarged its area, and multiplied its adherents four-fold.” Ibid. And Charles, with a nearly empty treasury, his prestige diminished, and revolt on every side of his dominions, chose to abdicate in favor of his son Phillip. He retired to a Spanish monastery and ended his days nearly friendless in a sparsely furnished apartment spending his time in gardening and trying to reconcile the differences in his clocks which he was never able to make strike together.

The End

Martin Luther, part XV – The Diet at Augsburg

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Emperor Charles V had called for a Diet of all the German States in Augsburg on April 8, 1530. With spring and the opening of the Alps, Charles began his travels to Germany from Italy. He arrived at Innspruck in May. Here the counselor Gattinara, who had encouraged Charles to avoid using the sword against Protestantism, sickened and died. This left only Campeggio as counselor to Charles, and he was the Pope’s specially commissioned counseler, who called for an inquisition against the reformers. Many of the Protestant princes themselves called for war, but Luther replied, “No, let no man resist the emperor: if he demands a sacrifice, lead me to the altar.” History of Protestantism, 581. He wrote to the princes calling for Christian patience and firm faith and “his noble hymn, ‘A Strong Tower is Our God,’ began to be heard in all the churches of Germany. Its heroic strains pealed forth by thousands of voices, and swelling grandly aloft, kindled the soul and augmented the confidence and courage of the Protestant host. It continued to be sung in the public assemblies during all the time the Diet was in session.” Ibid., 581, 582.

In early April, the Protestant princes and the theologians began their journey to Augsburg. The people watched them leave with great anxiety. Not since the Diet at Worms in 1521, had there been such a widely felt and deep agitation in Germany. This contest was to decide great issues and the people, along with their representatives went in prayer to Augsburg . Luther’s hymn, sung by the travelers, drowned out the tramp of horses and the clank of armor, and served to increase their courage. Luther also preached a sermon at the end of each day’s march. Charles advanced closer to Augsburg, causing the hymn to be sung more loudly. Since he was to be present at the Diet, this brought out a full attendance of princes and deputies who were determined to also be present at this momentous occasion.

In March, Elector John of Saxony had issued an order for the theologians of Wittemburg to write a summary of the Protestant faith. It was meant to state, in a concise manner, how they differed from Rome. Luther, Melancthon, Jonas and Pomeranus worked on it jointly and presented it to the Elector before the trip. But a few weeks later at Augsburg, Melancthon enlarged and remodeled the articles, with a view in mind of having them read at the Diet. He worked long days and nights on this important task. “Nothing did he spare which a penetrating judgment and a lovely genius could do to make this Confession, in point of its admirable order, its clearness of statement, and beauty of style, such as would charm the ears and lead captive the understandings and hearts of the Roman Catholics in the Diet. ‘They must listen,’ he said, ‘in spite of themselves.’ Everything was put in the least offensive form. Wittemburg and Rome were brought as near to each other as the eternal barrier between the two permitted.” Ibid., 585.

During the journey it had been deemed best for Luther to stay at Elector John’s Castle of Coburg, rather than to be present at the Diet in person, since the Edict of Worms was still in effect. There he could still be kept informed of events and his advice could be sought, but he would not be in such danger. Luther studied and spent hours each day in prayer. Melancthon’s revised articles were sent to Luther at Coburg. He gave them his approval. “I have read over Master Philip’s apology: it pleases me right well, and I know not how to better or alter anything in it, and will not hazard the attempt; for I cannot tread so softly and gently. Christ our Lord help that it bear much and great fruit; as we hope and pray. Amen.” Ibid.

During the weeks that the crowds waited on Charles to arrive, they were given opportunity to hear the Protestant teachings, as the churches were opened and Protestant preachers gave daily messages which attracted thousands. The Papists were confounded by the courageous Lutherans, and they determined to replace these preachers with their own. These proved they had not learned how to preach and the crowds left them to deliver their noisy speeches in empty cathedrals.

The Emperor at Augsburg and the Opening of the Diet

June came, long past the April 8 date for the Diet, and Charles had still not arrived. The long delay caused Luther much anxiety. He used the time well, in study and prayer, and completed his translation of several books of the Old Testament during his confinement at Coburg. He daily spent three hours in prayer and added to this hours with the Scriptures. He needed rest but was not able to rest. He suffered from fears that seemed realities, but he wrote Scripture on the walls and claimed promises of safety and rest. He was able to come out the victor as he beheld in the skies the great firmament and the Hand that upheld it, and by faith he saw the mighty Hand that guided this movement. With this Hand in control what was the need of his own weak arm? From here he was able to strengthen Melancthon who was trying to uphold the heavens himself and was being crushed by its weight.

Melancthon was rushing here and there from one Romanist to another trying through every device to reconcile the parties. Luther clearly saw the two diametrically opposite churches and faiths in this matter, and he also saw that it was a waste of time and a risk to character and truth to try to reconcile the two. This Melancthon did not see. Luther counseled his friend, “If we are not the Church, where I pray is the Church?” Ibid., 593.

At last Charles made it to Augsburg on June 15, 1530 , and directed an assault against the Protestant sermons. “The crowds that gathered round the preachers were as great as ever. The emperor was galled by the sight of these enthusiastic multitudes . . . That the heresy which he had crossed the Alps to extinguish should be proclaimed in a score of churches, and within earshot of him, was more than he could endure. He sent for the Lutheran princes, and charged them to enjoin silence on their preachers. The princes replied that they could not live without the preaching of the Gospel, and that the citizens of Augsburg would not willingly consent to have the churches closed . . . After two days’ warm altercation it was concluded on the part of the Protestants—who feared to irritate too greatly the emperor, lest he should forbid the reading of their Confession in the Diet —that during the sitting of the Senate the Protestant sermons should be suspended; and Charles on his part agreed to appoint preachers who should impugn neither creed in their sermons, but steer a middle course between the old and the new faith . . . Those who went to witness the promised feat of preaching something that was neither Popery nor Protestantism, were not a little amused by the performances of this new sort of preachers. ‘Their sermons,’ said they, ‘are innocent of theology, but equally innocent of sense.’” Ibid., 589.

Charles opened the Diet with a speech. He told of the dangers presented by the Turks and then called for his hearers to execute the Edict of Worms. His speech shows the sad state of Christianity at this age. Priestcraft and despotism had so weakened the West that it was ready to be overcome by the Turks. Protestantism had arisen just in time to rekindle the nearly extinguished fires of patriotism and valor. Charles was calling for the death of the only hope the West had of being saved from being ruled from Constantinople and forced into Mohammedanism. The Diet had been called to deal with the problem of the Turks and to answer the religious questions. Charles decided to begin with the religious question.

Reading The Augsburg Confession

On the 23rd of June the Protestants met to sign their Confession which Melancthon had polished. This document had been prepared by theologians but it was signed by the laity. This was significant since “it proclaimed the forgotten fact that the laity form part of the Church . . . The Protestants agreed to demand that their Confession should be read publicly in the Diet. This was a vital point with them. They had not kindled this light to put it under a bushel, but to set it in a very conspicuous place; indeed, in the midst even of the princedoms, hierarchies, and powers of Christendom now assembled at Augsburg.” Ibid., 594.

After deliberations and delays, a public reading was granted to be given in a small hall that held only two hundred persons. Finally on the 25th of June the reading was given in German by Bayer, a chancellor of Elector John. All eyes were on the Protestants whose faces were radiant with joy. Bayer’s voice rang strong so all could hear, and for two hours the reading of the Confession continued. “Not a word was spoken all that time. This assembly of princes and warriors, statesmen and ecclesiastics, sat silent, held fast in the spell, not of novelty merely, but of the simplicity, beauty, and majesty of the truths which passed before them in the grand spiritual panorama which Melancthon’s powerful hand had summoned up. Till now they had known the opinions of the Protestants only as rumour had exaggerated, or ignorance obscured, or hatred misrepresented and vilified them: now they learned them from the pen of the clearest intellect and most accomplished scholar in the Lutheran host . . . The effect on some was surprise; on others, conviction; on most, it was the creation of a more conciliatory spirit towards the Lutherans.” Ibid., 599.

“The presentation of the Confession to the Diet was the culmination of the movement on German soil. It was the proudest hour of the Lutheran Church . . . The Augsburg Confession was not a perfectly accurate statement of Scripture truth by any means, but as a first attempt, made before the Reformation had completed its second decade, it was a marvellous effort . . . ‘Christ has been boldly confessed at Augsburg,’ said Luther, when the news reached him. ‘I am overjoyed that I have lived to this hour.’” Ibid., 601, 602.

“The Popish members were dismayed and confounded when they reflected on what had been done. The Diet had been summoned to overthrow the Reformation; instead of this it had established it.” Ibid. Two other Confessions followed, one from Bucer and signed by the four cities which held to the Zwinglian rather than the Lutheran view of the Lord’s supper, and the other from Zwingli stating his individual views. The Papists had hoped to find “a schism in a schism” but they found “that on one point only did they differ and that all were united in their repudiation and condemnation of Rome.” Ibid.

“Moreover, powerful princes were passing from the Romanist to the Protestant side . . . Their accession wellnigh doubled the political strength of the Reformation . . . The Confession was translated into most of the languages of Europe, and circulated in the various countries; the misrepresentations and calumnies which had obscured and distorted the cause were cleared away; and Protestantism began to be hailed as a movement bringing with it renovation to the soul and new life to States.” Ibid., 602, 603.

The morning after the reading, Charles knew that he had made a bad start of this matter. He determined to correct his first false move and he sought counsel. Some suggested concessions that might appease the Protestants while leaving the mass and the authority of the Church intact. Charles liked this idea but Campeggio convinced him not to follow this counsel. He listened to many and varied counselors and determined that he must look into this matter himself. He did not speak German and so he ordered a perfectly accurate translation of the Confession into French.

In the meantime he called the deputies of the free cities of Germany into his ante-chamber. They were astonished by the demand made upon them. After the reading of Melancthon’s eloquent words which had caused such obvious perplexity among the Romanists, they expected a concession or an overture of conciliation, but they received a demand that they withdraw their support of the “Protest of the Princes” given at Spires in 1529. The deputies answered that in a matter of such importance they must have time to make an answer.

They had not thought much of the protest at the time but it was becoming evident that a wisdom not their own had ruled in the matter. “The Protest had deposited in Christendom the one everlasting corner-stone of freedom and virtue—an emancipated conscience . . . An emancipated conscience they committed to the guardianship of the Bible: and the supremacy of the Bible they placed under the sovereignty of God. Thus they brought conscience in immediate contact with her Lord, and human society they placed under the rule of its rightful and righteous king.” Ibid. The Protest “restored society to God . . . Protestantism came to reinstate the Divine government over the world. It did so by placing the authority of Scripture above the chair of the Pope, and lifting the crown of Christ above the throne of the emperor.” Ibid., 605.

Attempted Refutation of the Confession

Charles summoned a council of the Popish members of the Diet to give him advice concerning the Confession. Their counsel was not wise and was more of a distraction and embarrassment to Charles than a help. In the end it was decided that a few learned doctors would be appointed to write a Refutation of the Lutheran Confession which would then be read to the princes and ratified by Charles. Those selected for the task were twenty extreme Romanists, and it was clear that there would be no concessions to the Protestants. “Before unsheathing the sword, they would first make trial with the pen. They would employ violence with all the better grace afterwards.” Ibid., 608.

All knew too that this Refutation could not stand against the Confession if the Bible were the basis of its arguments. “‘Doctor,’ inquired the Duke of Bavaria, addressing Eck, ‘can you confute that paper out of the Bible?’ ‘No,’ replied he, ‘but it may be easily done from the Fathers and Councils.’ ‘I understand,’ rejoined the duke, ‘I understand; the Lutherans are in Scripture, and we are outside .’” Ibid.

Luther was inspired and encouraged at the prospect of the battle, but Melancthon was in despair. Luther’s hours of prayer and his great faith begat faith, as he wrote to encourage his friend that the battle was God’s and that He would win. The adherents of Lutheranism might die, but the cause would win. “So did the battle proceed on the two sides. Wiles, frowns, threats, with the sword as the last resort, are seen on the one side—prayers, tears, and faith on the other.” Ibid., 610.

Charles had sent two groups away with instruction to return with answers. The first to return were the deputies of the free cities. Charles had hoped that the differences within the cities on the question of the Lord’s supper might split the Protestant front, but they stood united and firm against the common foe and stated that they could not obey the emperor’s wishes as this would cause them to disobey God. The second group to return were the Popish doctors with their refutation or more rightly stated condemnation of the Protestant Confession.

After seeing the 280 page document and finding that it made no refutation at all but was full of abuse, Charles could see that “her worst foe could not do Rome a more unkindly act, or Wittemburg a greater service, than to publish such a document.” It would never stand under contrast with the Confession. Another refutation must be attempted.

End of the Diet of Augsburg

Six weeks were required to rewrite the Refutation. In the mean time Charles attempted to split the Protestants through the princes. “They were taken one by one, in the hope that they would be found less firm when single than they were when taken together. Great offers—loftier titles, larger territories, more consideration—were made to them would they but return to the Church. When bribes failed to seduce them, threats were had recourse to . . . Neither were threats able to bend them to submission . . . Their faith taught them not to fear the wrath of the powerful Charles. No efforts were spared to compel the Elector John to bow the neck . . . He must make his choice between his crown and his Savior.” He could not be moved to deny his Lord. “John risked all; but in the end he retained all, and amply vindicated his title to the epithet given him—‘John the Constant.’” Ibid., 614.

On September 3, Charles called his princes together to hear the reading of the Refutation. There were some areas of agreement with the Confession of the Protestants, but this Refutation professed the old fabric of salvation by works and “maintained the Divine authority of the hierarchy, and of course the correlative duty of absolute submission to it; the Protestants acknowledged no infallible rule on earth but the Scriptures.” Ibid., 615.

“When the reading was finished the emperor addressed the elector and the other Protestant princes to the effect that, seeing their Confession had now been refuted, it was their duty to restore peace to the Church, and unity to the Empire, by returning to the Roman obedience. He demanded, in fine, consent to the articles now read, under pain of the ban of the Empire.” Ibid.

“The Protestant princes were not a little surprised at the emperor’s peremptoriness. They were told that they had been refuted, but unless they should be pleased to take the emperor’s word for it, they had no proof or evidence that they had been so . . . and as they knew of no power possessed by the emperor of changing bad logic into good, or of transforming folly into wisdom, the Protestant princes—a copy of the Refutation having been denied them—intimated to Charles that they still stood by their Confession.” Ibid.

Every attempt of the emperor and the Romish representative of the Diet had failed to bring the Protestants into submission. Everyday they seemed to display more courage and their cause was gaining strength, while the anger and perplexities of the Romanists increased. The emperor was at his wit’s end. He dared not carry out his threats against the Protestants. Luther, still in the Castle of Coburg was filled with joy and courage, and his letters reflect his assurance of victory and an elevation of faith.

“Meanwhile in the Diet promises had been tried and failed; threats had been tried and failed; negotiations were again opened, and now the cause had wellnigh been wrecked.” For though Luther was able to see by faith the Hands of God upholding all, Melancthon who was the chief negotiator for the Protestants seemed to imagine the imminent fall of the cause and was about to surrender all. For the sake of peace he all but sacrificed himself, his colleagues, and the work. His concessions were extraordinary. The lay Christians felt they were witnessing the burial of the movement. The Swiss Protestants were grief stricken. “Luther was startled and confounded.” He wrote to Augsburg. “I learned that you have begun a marvellous work, namely, to reconcile Luther and the Pope; but the Pope will not be reconciled, and Luther begs to be excused. And if in despite of them you succeed in this affair, then, after your example, I will bring together Christ and Belial.” Ibid., 616.

But Melancthon would not be counseled by Luther. His patience was short and his temper sour, and he was about to finish what he termed his work of conciliation when deliverance came from another avenue. The Romanists, as if smitten with madness, drew back at the very point of victory and refused to be reconciled. “Thus Rome lost the victory, which would in the end have fallen to her, had she made peace on the basis of Melancthon’s concessions. Her pride saved the German Reformation.” Ibid., 617.

Now it was left to Charles to end the Diet. An edict was sent out allowing the Protestants till April 15th to be reconciled to the Pope and forbidding the circulation of their books or proselytizing and demanding that they help to reduce the Anabaptists and the Zwinglians. “This edict Charles would have enforced at once with the sword, but the spirit displayed by the Protestant princes, the attitude assumed by the Turks, and the state of the emperor’s relations with the other sovereigns of Europe put war out of his power; and the consequence, was that the monarch who three months before had made his entry into Augsburg with so much pomp, and in so high hopes of making all things and parties bend to his will, retired from it full of mortification and chagrin, disappointed in all his plans, and obliged to conceal his discomfiture under a show of moderation and leniency.” Ibid.

The End

Martin Luther, part XIV – Charles V

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Charles had been present at the Diet of Worms in 1521 where Luther had been condemned as a heretic. For nine years he has been prevented from carrying out the edict against Luther. First the Pope, fearing Charles’s growing power, had joined in the “Holy League” with Francis I of France and Henry VIII of England, and from 1521 to 1525 Charles was in war against that league.

Charles set his brother Ferdinand in charge of the Diet at Spires in 1526 for the purpose of having the Edict of Worms executed, but the outcome was just the opposite, with every state being given the freedom to decide on religious matters within its borders. That same year Charles found it necessary to carry the battle against the “Holy League” to Rome. The Pope and his cardinals fled to the Castle of St. Angelo while twenty thousand of Charles’ troops terrorized Rome’s inhabitants and sacked and pillaged the city. For the next three years the King was kept busy with intrigues and battles, as ambition and war strove together.

“Now it is from the region of the Danube that the hoarse roar of battle is heard to proceed. There the Turk is closing on fierce conflict with the Christian, and the leisure of Ferdinand of Austria, which otherwise might be worse employed, is fully occupied in driving back the hordes of a Tartar invasion.” History of Protestantism, 566.

The cities of Germany waited in terror for the approach of the Asiatic warriors and were greatly cheered by news that the invaders had suffered a defeat at Vienna. “The scarcity of provisions to which the Turkish camp was exposed, and the early approach of winter, with its snow-storms, combined to effect the raising of the siege and the retreat of the invaders; but Luther recognized in this unexpected deliverance the hand of God, and the answer of prayer.” Ibid., 567.

These troubles in the political world left the church, in peace, to organize and spread the doctrines of the Reformation. During these years of peace for the church, Luther translated the Bible into German, wrote his “Larger and Smaller Catechisms,” and produced numerous tracts and Bible commentaries. Wittenberg was not quiet for a minute. The university continued to teach religion and theology as well as the sciences.

Charles Refocuses His Attack on the Reformation

Now the emperor is “victorious over the league which his enemies had formed against him. He has defeated the King of France; he has taught Henry of England to be careful of falling a second time into the error he committed in the affair of Cognac; he has chastised the Pope and compelled Clement VII to sue for peace with a great ransom and the offer of alliance; and now he looks around him and sees no opponent save one, and that one apparently the weakest of all. That opponent swept from his path, he will mount to the pinnacle of power. Surely he who has triumphed over so many kings will not have to lower his sword before a monk. The emperor has left Spain in great wrath, and is on his way to chastise those audacious Protestants, who are now, as he believes, fully in his power.” Ibid, 567.

It would be much easier for Charles if these rebels were in some other part of his realm. He could easily have carried out the Edict of Worms had the offenders been in Spain or Flanders, but in Germany, Charles must follow the constitutional forms he had agreed to, at his coronation as emperor. In Germany he had to consult the will of others, so he proceeded to convoke another Diet at Augsburg. He first needed to make sure the crafty Pope was going to abide by their alliance, and this necessitated a trip to Italy for a personal interview.

In the autumn of 1529, he set sail from Spain through the Mediterranean to Genoa. The Italians feared the approach of their new master and were pleasantly surprised to see, when he landed, not a ferocious conqueror but a prince of winning address and gentle manners. But this smiling prince could certainly frown sternly. The Protestant deputies that were on their way to meet with him would have the latter experience.

The Reformed princes had given the famous protest at Spires in April of 1529. The Arch-Duke Ferdinand, brother to Charles, had presided over that Diet. He had stormed and left the assembly, so the protesters had appealed to a general assembly and to posterity. They followed up this act with an appeal to the emperor, and their ambassadors, three in number, were now on their way to approach the emperor. “Their mission was deemed a somewhat dangerous one, and before their departure a pension was secured to their widows in case of misfortune. The prospect of appearing in the imperial presence was no pleasant one, for they knew that they had come to plead for a cause which Charles had destined to destruction. Their fears were confirmed by receiving an ominous hint to be brief, and not preach a Protestant sermon to the emperor.

“Unabashed by the imperial majesty and the brilliant court that waited upon Charles, these three plain ambassadors, when the day of audience came, discharged their mission with fidelity. They gave a precise narrative of all that had taken place in Germany on the matter of religion since the emperor quitted that country, which was in 1521. They specially instanced the edict of toleration promulgated by the Diet of 1526; the virtual repeal of the edict by the Diet of 1529; and Protest of the Reformed princes against that repeal; their challenge of religious freedom for themselves and all who should adhere to them, and their resolution, at whatever cost, never to withdraw from that demand, but to prosecute their Protest to the utmost of their power. In all matters of the Empire they would most willingly obey the emperor, but in the things of God they would obey no power on earth. So they spoke. It was no pleasant thing, verily, for the victor of kings and the ruler of two hemispheres to be thus plainly taught that there were men in the world whose wills even he, with all his power, could not bend. This thought was the worm at the root of the emperor’s glory. Charles deigned no reply; he dismissed the ambassadors with the intimation that the imperial will would be made known to them in writing.” Ibid., 569.

One month following their appearance before the emperor, the written answer was delivered by the emperor’s secretary, Alexander Schweiss. It stated that the emperor was well acquainted with matters in Germany, through his brother Ferdinand, and that he intended to carry out the last edict from Spires of a few months before. Namely, his intention was to abolish the toleration and advance to destroy the religious movement. He called for the Duke of Saxony to obey the decree because he owed allegiance to the emperor and if he chose not to obey, the emperor would find it necessary to punish him.

The ambassadors had already prepared an appeal; for they had guessed what would be the contents of the written reply from Charles. They sent this back to the emperor with his secretary. After reading the appeal, the emperor ordered Schweiss to go and arrest the ambassadors and hold them under house arrest, where they were not only kept inside, but they were also not permitted to write to friends, nor send any servant abroad, under penalty of death.

It so happened that one of the three deputies was away from the hotel when the emperor’s secretary came to carry out the order. His servant slipped out and told him what had happened. He was able to write an account of the happenings and send it by a trusty messenger to the Senate at Nuremberg. He then joined his fellows in the inn to share their fate. Within a few days the emperor’s great retinue set out for Bologna to meet with the Pope. He took the three Protestant deputies as captives.

The Schmalkald Articles

As the emperor was traveling to Bologna the letter from the captive deputies arrived in Nuremberg. News of the emperor’s stand against their protest and of the arrest of the ambassadors caused a profound sensation. The Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse called a meeting of the Protestants in late November at Schmalkald. By this time Charles had released two of the deputies and the third had escaped. They were present to give a report in person. They “gave a full account of all that had befallen them at the court of the emperor. Their statement did not help to abate the fears of the princes. It convinced them to prepare against it; and the first and most effectual preparation, one would have thought, was to be united among them.” Ibid., 573.

Luther and friends had recently revised the Marburg Articles, in a strictly Lutheran sense, and these revised articles, known as the Schmalkald Articles were presented and signatures demanded, that they be first united on religion so they might be united for a political league. This required that all signers be agreed on transubstantiation. “This course was simply deplorable. Apart from religious belief, there was enough of clear political ground on which to base a common resistance to a common tyranny. But in those days the distinction between the citizen and the church-member, between the duties and the rights appertaining to the individual in his political and in his religious character, was not understood. All who would enter the proposed league must be of one mind on the tenet of consubsantiation. They must not only be Protestant, but Lutheran.” Ibid. The Lutheran princes would hear of no confederation with those who would not take the religious test. “The gulf between the Lutheran and the Reformed Churches was deepened at an hour when every sacrifice short of the principle of Protestantism itself ought to have been made to close it.” Ibid., 574.

Luther was not only opposed to union with those who did not see the Lord’s Supper in the exact light that he saw it, but he was also opposed to war. He believed that only the “sword of the spirit” should be used in the battle. “If then Luther must make his choice between the sword and the stake, between seeing the Reformation triumph on the field of war and triumph on the field of martyrdom, he infinitely prefers the latter. To have transferred the cause of Protestantism at that epoch from the pulpit, from the university, and the press, to the battle-field, would not have contributed to its final success.” Luther’s stand at Schmalkald is not defensible but the division did “ward off a great danger from Protestantism” and conducted “it into a path where it was able to give far sublimer proofs of its heroism, and to achieve victories more glorious and more enduring than any it could have won by arms.” Ibid.

Charles and Clement VII at Bologna

Bologna presents a splendid scene as the Pope and his host are housed in one palace with Charles and his troops in one that adjoins. The city is filled with church bells and military parades, “for religious ceremonies and military shows proceed without intermission.” A door is placed in the wall between the palaces of pope and emperor, and they are free to meet at all hours of the day or night. By day they meet with their counselors, and at night they meet secretly to form a plan against the Protestants.

Charles however has come to these meetings with a double mind. “He was now coming to see that to extinguish Luther would be to leave the Pope without a rival. The true policy was to tolerate Wittenberg, taking care that it did not become strong, and play it off, when occasion required, against Rome. He would muzzle it: he would hold the chain in his hand, and have the unruly thing under his own control. Luther and Duke John and Landgrave Philip would dance when he piped, and mourn when he lamented; and when the Pope became troublesome, he would lengthen the chain in which he held the hydra of Lutheranism, and reduce Clement to submission by threatening to let loose the monster on him. By being umpire Charles would be master.”

The counselors who were in Charles’ company were not less divided. “Campeggio and Gattinara advocated opposite policies. Campeggio was for dragging every Protestant to the stake and utterly razing Wittenberg.’ said he, ‘The first step in this process would be to confiscate property, civil or ecclesiastical, in Germany as well as in Hungary and Bohemia. For with regard to heretics, this is lawful and right. Is the mastery over them thus obtained, then must holy inquisitors be appointed, who shall trace out every remnant of them, proceeding against them as the Spaniards did against the Moors in Spain.’ . . . Not so did Gattinara counsel. He would heal the schism and unite Christendom, by other means. He called not for an army of executioners, but for an assembly of divines . . . ‘Assemble the pious men of all nations, and let a free Council deduce from the Word of God a scheme of doctrine such as may be received by every people.’ The policies of the two counselors stood markedly distinct—the sword, a Council.” Ibid., 575.

Pope Clement had more than one reason for opposing a council. Since the days of Pius IX and the decree of infallibility, the Pope had been the absolute head of the church. A council might threaten his superior authority. He also feared the council because he had gotten his pontifical chair by no blameless means, and had squandered the means of his office on his family inheritance, in Florence. A reckoning would be most inconvenient. “It is not” said he, “by the decree of councils, but by the edge of the sword, that we should decide controversies.” Charles sided with Gattinara. “The ecclesiastical potentate continued to advocate the sword, and the temporal monarch to call for a Council. It is remarkable that each distrusted the weapon with which he was best acquainted. ‘The sword will avail nought in this affair,’ urged the emperor; ‘let us vanquish our opponents in argument.’ ‘Reason,’ explained the Pope, ‘will not serve our turn; let us resort to force.’ ” Ibid., 578. The discussions continued through January. Battle on either front was not imminent since winter had closed the Alps and the emperor was quite comfortable in Bologna.

There was another reason that Charles preferred to have a council to an inquisition—because the Protestants were not small in number, and they had enough political power to be considered a threat to his throne. “It was clear that the burning of 100,000 Protestants or so would be only the beginning of the drama. The Pope would most probably approve of so kindly a blaze; but might it not end in setting States besides Germany on fire, and the Spanish monarchy among the rest? Charles, therefore, stuck to his idea of a Council; and being master, as Gattinara reminded him, he was able to have the last word in the conferences . . . Till a General Council could be convened, and as preparatory to it, the emperor, on the 20th January, 1530, issued a summons for a Diet of the States of Germany Augsburg on the 8th April.” Ibid., 578. The summons called for all parties to lay aside all differences and come together in one communion, one Church, and one unity.

Charles Crowned by the Pope.

The only thing Charles lacked in completing his grandeur was receiving the imperial diadem from the Pope. He had already been crowned emperor of Germany; crowned King of Lombardy by the Pope, on the 22nd of February, and on the 24th of February he was crowned as emperor of the Romans. The ceremonies included magnificent symbolism. Theocracy was the form of government in that day, so no king had any right to the throne unless he first became an officer in the church. Charles submitted to the elaborate ceremony by stripping his garments of royalty and replacing them with those of a deacon.

The End