Church Sermon for October 29

November 10^th, 1483 little, Martin Luther was born in Eisleben, Germany. He went to grammar school at Eisenach, Germany, where his parents sent him. When he was 18 years old, his father, Hans Luther, wanted Martin Luther to become a lawyer, so he sent him to the University of Erfurt. In the spring of 1505 Martin Luther earned his master of arts degree at the University of Erfurt and was to continue to study to be a lawyer. During the summer of 1505, during a violent thunderstorm, Martin Luther promised God, that if God would spare his life, Martin Luther would become a monk. God did spare Martin Luther's life, and in the fall of 1505 Martin Luther entered an Augustinian Monastery, in order to study to become a priest.

Martin Luther was very concerned with how to get to Heaven. He was very concerned about his image of God. He saw God as an angry judge, who was constantly looking at our sins. And, Martin Luther had been brought up to believe that he had to earn God's favor, somehow. And so, Martin Luther threw himself, he threw himself into how the church told him to earn an angry God's favor. Martin Luther threw himself into the human traditions of the church, things that you do not find in scripture.

✔ The church taught him that if he fasted, if he did not eat food, he could earn God's favor. He did that.

✔ The church taught him that if he put on a monk's garb, (clothing), he could earn God's favor. He did that.

✔ The church taught him that if he crawled up the steps of a church in Rome, he could earn God's favor. He did that.

✔ The church taught him that if whipped his body, he could earn God's favor. He did that.

He threw himself into trying, by his works, to earn an angry God's favor. But, Martin Luther realized that the more he tried and tried, by his good works, to earn God's favor, the less and less he felt that God loved him. And so, Martin Luther began to pour through the Bible. He studied passage, after passage, after passage, time and again.

Finally, one day, Martin Luther discovered in the Bible that he had been mistaken all along. He discovered

the Bible teaches

we are not saved by our works.

We cannot earn God's way to Heaven.

We are trapped in our sin and we cannot free ourselves from our sin. Martin Luther discovered the passage in the book of Romans that we read today. It say, "But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

When Martin Luther read that and similar passages, he said, "It is as if the gates of Heaven opened up to me." He realized that the righteousness God is looking for is not a righteousness in me, but it is a righteousness in someone else. It is a righteousness in Christ.

➢ Jesus is holy.

➢ Jesus is perfect.

➢ Jesus made complete and total payment for all sin.

And God promises, in scripture, that whoever believes that, is credited with Jesus' holy life and with the forgiveness of sins!

With that, Martin Luther was reborn and began to teach that in Wittenberg, where he was a professor. No one thought much of it, until October 31^st, 1517. There was a man by the name of John Tetzel, who had been going around Saxony, Germany selling indulgences, (pieces of paper) which said, "If you buy this piece of paper, your loved one in Purgatory will be able to get into Heaven more quickly."

Martin Luther was greatly troubled by that.

John Tetzel said, "As soon as the coin in the coffer clings, the soul of a loved one from Purgatory springs." In other words, as soon as you pay the money, your loved one will be let free from Purgatory. Well, Luther was greatly troubled with that, because

✔ he knew that the Bible never mentions Purgatory.

✔ He knew that the Bible never mentions indulgences.

✔ And, he knew that the whole system of indulgences was based on the teaching that we have to earn our way to Heaven.

And so, Martin Luther wrote 95 thesis, or statements, and nailed them on the church door, which said we are not saved by indulgences, but only by Christ alone.

Somebody took those 95 thesis to the printing press, and within three weeks Martin Luther became a household name through all of Germany. The church then realized that they had a problem on their hands. There was a man, (Martin Luther), who was teaching what the church did not teach. And so, they tried to silence Martin Luther. They tried for a year and a half, until January 1519, the church came up with a plan. They were going to make a fool out of Martin Luther. They told Martin Luther he was to go to a city called Leipzig, in Germany. There he was to debate with a very famous German debater the whole issue of indulgences. The debater's name was John Eck.

John Eck was superior to Martin Luther in his ability to debate. He was superior to Martin Luther in his understanding of church history. He knew what all of the church fathers said. He knew what Ambrose said. He knew what Augustine said. He knew what Justin Martyr said. He knew what Bernard of Clairveaux said. He knew the church councils of the past thousand years. He knew all of the decrees of the Pope. He was far superior to Luther, in knowing his church history and all that the church fathers and Popes had said. And, he was to debate with Martin Luther the whole issue of indulgences.

However, Martin Luther was superior in one thing. He was superior in his knowledge of scripture. He had studied and studied scripture.

And so, the debate began and it lasted for three weeks! A debate, for three weeks, over the issue of indulgences! Every time John Eck would say, "Well, Augustine says," or "Justin Martar says," or "Thomas Aquinas says," or "The council of the church back five hundred years ago says," or "The Pope decreed,"

Martin Luther would respond,

"But, that is not what the Bible says."

And then, Martin Luther would quote scripture. He would quote the simple scripture.

John Eck finally looked at Martin Luther and said, I can see that this is an issue of authority. And Luther, I can see that you believe that the Bible is an authority over the tradition of the church for the past thousand years, and over the traditions and the decrees of the Pope for the past thousand years.

And then he said, "I can see that you are following the damned errors of John Wycliffe and John Huss."

Now, that was a real threat, a real threat, because over a hundred years ago, two men, one by the name of John Wycliffe and another by the name of John Huss had said that we are only saved by what Jesus did and we do not submit to anybody's authority except the Bible's authority. Both of those men were burned at the stake, because of what they said.

So, John Eck said, "I can see that you are following the damned errors of John Wycliffe and John Huss."

To which Luther responded, "Jah, Ich bin ein Hussite." Yes, I believe what John Huss believed, that we are only saved by what Jesus has done. And, there is no authority but God's Word. And then Martin Luther made this famous statement. He said, "A simple layperson (that is you), a simple layperson, armed with scripture, is to be believed above all the church councils and all the Popes, without scripture."

What was Luther saying there? Even a little child, who knows the Bible, who knows what God's Word says, and can quote scripture and can prove what he believes from scripture, should be believed, even though all of history says something different, even though the most powerful person in the church says something different! "A simple layperson, armed with scripture, is to be believed above all church councils and all the Popes, without scripture."

That is one of the great heritages of the Lutheran Church. One of the great heritages of the Lutheran Church is that we believe the only authority, when it comes to knowing what is true spiritually, is the Bible. There is no other authority, only the Bible.

The Bible

is always to stand in judgment

over what anybody else says.

It should not be the other way around – that what other people say stand in judgment over scripture.

Two years later, Martin Luther found himself in the city of Worms, where he was told he needed to take back everything he had written. Martin Luther bravely stood in front of the whole audience, knowing that he, at this point, could be risking his life and said, "I will not submit to what the Pope says, or what the church councils say, because Popes and church councils have erred. They have made mistakes and they often contradict one another. Unless I am shown from scripture and plain reason, I will not take back what I have said, because it is not right, nor is it safe to go against conscience. I cannot and will not take back what I said. Here I stand, so help me God."

It is a great heritage that you are a Lutheran. You believe that the only source of doctrine and teaching is the Bible. That is your authority. Jesus said,

"If you hold to my teaching,

(or if you continue in my Word),

you are really my disciples.

You will know the truth

and the truth will set you free."

u The truth in scripture sets us free from the errors and mistakes of others.

u The truth in scripture sets us free from human traditions.

u The truth in scripture causes us to cling to God alone and His Word.

What is the most important teaching in scripture? You know, it is one thing to say, "I believe the Bible is God's Word." But, what good does that do you? What good does that do you, unless you cling in your heart to its teaching? The key teaching in scripture, which is also a great Lutheran heritage, is the way of salvation. Martin Luther, who personalized the teachings of scripture, (and we all should), Martin Luther, as if he were having a personal conversation with Christ, said, "Jesus, you have become what you are not, and you have made me what I am not." By that, Martin Luther meant, "Jesus, you have become what you are not. You are holy and perfect. But, you have become a sinner, because you have taken all of my sins. You have taken all of my guilt. And you have made it yours. You went to the cross and you took my punishment for all of my sins. And, Jesus you have made me, what I am not. I am a sinner, but because of what you did for me, you have declared me to be holy. You have declared me to be forgiven. You have declared me to be a child of God."

Martin Luther clung to that, (as should you and I in our hearts). That is the only way of salvation. As Luther taught us in the catechism to cling in our hearts and say, "I believe that Jesus Christ is true God, begotten of the Father from eternity. And also true Man, born of the virgin Mary. And, He is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature. Purchased and won from all sin, from death and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy and precious blood, and His innocent sufferings and death, in order that I might be His own, live under Him in His Kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, even as He has risen from the dead. He lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true!"

"If you hold to my teaching,

(continue in my Word)

you are really my disciples.

Then you will know the truth,

and the truth will set you free."

The truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, sets us free!

➢ It sets us free from a guilty conscience.

➢ It sets us free from our sin.

➢ It sets us free from the dominion of the devil.

➢ It sets us free to live for our Savior.

➢ It sets us free for our home in Heaven.

As a Lutheran, you have a great heritage. And, that great heritage is that we believe the only source and rule, and norm for doctrine is the holy Word of God. And, we believe the primary teaching in scripture is the way of salvation, that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

If you believe that about God's Word, if you believe the Bible is the Word of God,

then read it.

Read it!