On the day of Pentecost the CHURCH was born (see Chapter 9)! When the Church first began, it was under the HEADSHIP OF CHRIST and it was upon a SOLID FOUNDATION:
As years passed, the Church began to move away from its firm foundation. People began to listen to the words of men, instead of listening only to God’s Word, the Bible. Instead of following the Leadership and Headship of Christ, they began to follow human religious leaders. Some people claimed to be Christians who were not Christians at all (2 Timothy 2:19). Some were baptized who were not even saved! As a result, there was a terrible MIXTURE in the Church. That which was FALSE and WORLDLY was mixed in with that which was TRUE and GODLY:
As time went on, things continued to get worse and worse. Men soon turned away their ears from the _____________ (2 Timothy 4:4) and they began to listen to false teaching or doctrines of demons (1 Timothy 4:1). Religious people did not want to believe the Bible and stand fully upon it. These religious people did not want God to be their HEAD or their KING or their LEADER (see Chapter 6). They wanted to be RULED and LED by men (sinful men!). Thus the Church continued to move away from Christ and the Bible, and this resulted in a false religious system based on MAN’S THOUGHTS and subject to MAN’S LEADERSHIP, and during this time true born again believers were FEW and FAR BETWEEN:
Men refused to let the light shine from God’s Word (2 Peter 1:19), and this is why the DARK AGES (476-1000 A.D.) were so dark! A few believers here and there let their lights shine, but in general these were centuries of great spiritual darkness and ignorance.
Would God let this darkness continue? In the 16th century (almost 500 years ago) the Lord worked in the heart of a German man by the name of Martin Luther. God taught this man from His Word, and Luther began to see that what the Bible taught was VERY DIFFERENT from what the Roman Catholic Church taught. With God’s help Luther launched a new movement known as THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION (he was protesting and speaking out against the religious system of his day and seeking to reform or change the church of his day by bringing it back to Christ and the Bible):
Martin Luther and others who followed him began to recover and rediscover some of the basic truths of the Bible which had been lost by the majority of people for many years and for many centuries. The three great truths which came to light during the time of the Reformation are as follows:
Where can a person go to learn about the Lord and about spiritual things? How can a person find out about life and death, heaven and hell? How can a person discover how to be saved and how to have eternal life? Where can a person find answers about these things? Whom should he listen to? Whom should he believe? Where can he get his answers?
What books should a person read to find the answers to life’s most important questions? Should a person get his answers from a Pastor or a Priest? Does the Pope have all the answers? Does the Roman Catholic Church have the answers? Does the Mormon Church? Does the Lutheran Church? Does any church? Should I trust tradition (that which men have believed and taught and practiced for years)?
What is my AUTHORITY when it comes to spiritual things? Do you know what Martin Luther’s answer was? His authority was this: THE BIBLE, THE WHOLE BIBLE AND NOTHING BUT THE BIBLE!!
His authority was not in any man. His authority was God. The answers to all of life’s important questions are found in the Bible, which is God’s holy Word. The reformation was a BACK TO THE BIBLE movement! There is no better way to come out of the darkness than to go back to the Bible! The constant cry of Martin Luther and others like him was this: "WHAT ___________ THE ________________________ ?" (Romans 4:3). The reformers believed in the absolute and supreme authority of the Bible.
What is your authority? Where do you go to find the answers to life’s most basic questions? Where do you go to find out how to be saved and go to heaven? Is God your Authority, or are sinful and fallible (capable of being wrong and mistaken) men your authority? Is your faith in what men have said or is your faith in what God has said?
How can a person be saved? How can a person be right with God for all eternity? How can a person go to heaven and escape the judgment and damnation of an eternal hell?
For years the RELIGIOUS SYSTEM had taught that salvation was by works. They said that man must EARN his salvation by DOING SOMETHING--by observing the sacraments, by baptism, by going to the mass, by keeping the law, by saying certain prayers, by going through a religious ritual, by trying to live a good life, etc. They thought that by their works they could somehow earn God’s favor and blessing and He would then let them enter His heaven.
Martin Luther and the other reformers realized that salvation is not by works, but it is by FAITH and FAITH ALONE. "Therefore, being justified by _______________" (Romans 5:1). "Not by ___________ of righteousness which we have done, but according to His ____________ He saved us" (Titus 3:5). A person is justified and saved because he puts his faith in a PERSON, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only One who can save SINNERS (1 Timothy 1:15; Hebrews 7:25).
Are you trusting in your own works and good deeds? Do you think that God is going to let you into His heaven because you have tried to be good? Could you ever be good enough to satisfy a HOLY and RIGHTEOUS God? We are not saved by what we do, we are saved by what Christ has already done on the cross. Read Ephesians 2:8-9 which tells how a person is really saved.
For centuries the RELIGIOUS SYSTEM had taught that only a select group of men (called "priests") could have direct access to God. The common ordinary believer could not go directly to God, he had to go through a priest. He could not confess his sins to God directly, but instead he had to go to a priest and make "confession." He could not understand his Bible alone, he had to depend upon a priest for the correct interpretation.
Martin Luther and the other reformers realized that according to the Bible every believer is a priest (see 1 Peter 2:9 and Revelation 1:6). Every believer can go directly to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says: "For there is one God, and one mediator (a Person who goes between God and man) between God and man" (1 Timothy 2:5). Who is this ONE MEDIATOR (1 Timothy 2:5)? __________________________
What a wonderful truth! Every believer can go directly to God in prayer! Every believer can confess his sins directly to God, because He is the one we have sinned against (1 John 1:9)! Every believer can read and study the Bible for Himself, trusting God to be his teacher and his interpreter.
Are you a priest? Do you have direct access to the living God? Do you have that saving relationship with Christ so that you are able to come to the Father (John 14:6)?
Are you STILL IN THE DARK, or has God revealed these three great truths to you?
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