After Darkness, Light The Next 500! (October 31, 2017)

Transcription

1 After Darkness, Light The Next 500! (October 31, 2017) After Darkness, Light The Next 500! Sometimes I find myself worrying about the future of the church. Australian society seems bent on removing Christ from our culture. Islam seems to be on the march. Evangelism seems such a hard road to sew. I wonder about the fate of tomorrow let alone the next 500 years. But, the Reformation reminds us that in the history of the church times have been darker far darker. But it also reminds us the light of the gospel is greater far greater. I want to give you one simple thought this evening. Christ will build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it so get on board Christ will build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it so get on board. In Mark chapter 4 verses Jesus said this: With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes 1

2 larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade. This parable reminds us that the kingdom the church grew from small beginnings to touch the world and God controlled every moment of that growth. 2,000 years ago, Jesus called twelve men to follow Him. When He died the twelve deserted Him and scattered. It looked like the church was done before it started. But God was not done. The Father raised the Son from the dead and He told the 12 feed My sheep. At Pentecost, He added to their number. Persecution followed from Jews, Romans and pagans. Who can fight against Rome? But the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church. The gospel spread relentlessly over the face of the known earth. The world was turned upside down. But then pride and sin began to eat away at the core of the church. Hard won gospel truths were forgotten. The truths seemed to stagnate and slowly the light began to fade. By the 16 th century it was almost extinguished. But our God the One who promised to build His church was not done. The Reformation was not something driven by a few gifted men. It was something sovereignly ordained and planned by the Lord from eternity past. The fingerprints of the Almighty were over every single part of this movement. Tonight we do not just celebrate the men and women of the Reformation but much more we remember the God who used them to His glory. The Reformation was a sovereignly appointed moment in church history. God brought so many strands together to bring the light back to the world. Every facet was orchestrated by the: One who sits above the circle of the earth, so that its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; the One who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. Isaiah 40:

3 What we celebrate tonight was all God s doing. Consider how He prepared the way. The printing press had been invented in 1436 and by the early sixteenth century it was perfected and ready to spread the Bibles and truths of the Reformation. Erasmus Greek New Testament was published in 1516 one year before the Reformation began ready for accurate translations. Dissent with the avarice and power of the Roman Catholic Church had been building among the common people and among the nobility. Men wanted change. Everything was ready and then the spark came. October 31, years ago today Luther s 95 theses were posted. In truth, Luther never meant to start a revolution but in the hands of God that is exactly what he did. And in the providence of God, the man he chose to start the revolution was uniquely gifted to fan the fire of what he stated. Luther was a leader fearless, bold and innovative. He was someone men would follow. He was a visionary he grasped what needed to happen to spread the truth. He was a scholar incredibly talented in languages, theology and preaching. He was a musician accomplished in singing, writing, composition and production. But he was not alone. Christ won our redemption alone. Since then no one does it alone. There were so many significant figures in the Reformation: Theodore Beza Martin Bucer Heinrich Bullinger Katherine von Bora John Calvin Thomas Cranmer William Farel John Knox Lady Jane Grey William Tyndale Huldrych Zwingli Just to name a few. But without the power of God without the moving of the Lord it would not matter how gifted these men and women were the light would have died. But God used them to bring light into the darkness. 3

4 Later, the Reformers recognised this and the motto of the Reformation became Post Tenebras Lux After darkness, Light. God built His kingdom. It was not the Reformers who built it but God. God decreed that the mustard seed would become a full-grown tree. God decreed that the gospel would transform the ends of the earth. He sent His truths out and they transformed the world and do so to this day. As the Reformation developed and matured these recovered truths became known as the 5 Solas. 5 SOLAS SOLI DEO GLORIA SOLA SOLA SOLUS SOLA GRATIA FIDE CHRISTUS SCRIPTURA Or in English the 5 Alones. 5 S THE GLORY OF GOD GRACE FAITH CHRIST SCRIPTURE To the Glory Of God Alone. By Grace Alone Through Faith Alone In Christ Alone Based On Scripture Alone. Foundational, unalterable, unshakeable truths that must never again be allowed to be suppressed. The history of the Reformation is a vivid reminder to us that if the church ever moves our eyes our focus our hope from God to anything else we inevitably lose our way. Brothers and sisters the point of tonight is not just to look back and thank God for the Reformation. 4

5 The point is that we you and I are the beneficiaries of the truths of the Reformation. The truths of the gospel and Christ have been faithfully handed down to us. And the question now becomes not so much how thankful are we that they came to us but what are we going to do with them? Every person here has a spiritual ancestry. Someone passed the truths that saved you down to you. And if you do not use them and transfer them they stop here. In a sense you have not truly understood the gospel until you have passed it on. There is a saying that has been attributed to Luther: If I believed the world were to end tomorrow, I would still plant a tree today If I believed the world were to end tomorrow, I would still plant a tree today. Almost certainly this is apocryphal there is no evidence Luther actually said it. But, I think it is something Luther could have said. While we might believe the Lord is coming back tomorrow we should realise that we could be wrong so we should live both as if He is coming tomorrow and as if He is coming in 500 years. Here is the reality you and I do not know if Jesus is coming to end this word in 500 seconds or 500 days or 500 years. But we are to live in the certain knowledge that He is most certainly coming back. He might come tomorrow He might not have come 500 years from now. So if the Lord tarries what will the millennial celebration the 1000 year celebration of the Reformation look like? I don t know. I don t know if the Lord will allow another time of darkness or whether His gospel will continue its march through the kingdoms of this world unabated. What I do know is that Jesus builds His church and nothing not even the gates of Hades can stop its advance. 5

6 The gospel will reach the outermost parts of the world. Jesus will gather all His chosen ones and then the day will come when the great angel will say time and the period of this world will end. But what intrigues me the most is that until that day the Lord chooses to use fail fallible men and women like you and me. We laud Luther but for all his strengths he had massive weaknesses and failings just like you and me. In fact every Reformer had huge failings. So I guess one of the lessons I learned is that God uses fallible men and women so that He gets all the glory. Soli Deo Gloria. So as we begin the next 500 years what is your part in the great story of the kingdom of God on earth? God desires to use you weak and fallible as you are. What will heaven have to say about you? Will you join the ranks of the church assaulting the gates of hell or not? Together, our churches state this: Our vision is: To see the Gospel permeate and transform Brisbane and beyond through a network of biblically faithful churches. Our mission is: To proclaim Christ, to equip and mature His saints, and to plant other churches who share our vision. We are the children of the Reformation. To whom much has been given much is expected. So as we remember this wonderful event, rejoice in the fact that Christ is building His church and get on board with the truth that He uses men and women like you and me to do His work in this world. If we do this then we honour the legacy of the Reformation. Soli Deo Gloria To God Alone be the Glory! 6