On the 31st of October 1517, 509 years ago, Martin Luther, a Roman Catholic monk of the Augustinian order, nailed 95 statements to the door of the castle - church in Wittenberg, Germany. These were protests against the severe abuses of the Roman church, then under the leadership of Pope Leo X (pope from 1513 - 1521). The pope was looking for money to finish the re-building of St. Peter’s Basilica, begun under pope Julius II (pope from 1503-1513). Famous Renaissance artists such as Michelangelo and Raphael were involved in this.
The pope loved money. He also loved the fine
life. The papal household cost upwards of 100,000 ducats a year[1].
His expenditures exhausted the papal treasury and put it 400,000 ducats in debt
by the end of his pontificate.
Coming back to St Peter’s basilica....
This building project begun in 1506[2] needed lots of money. The money was raised by way of indulgences. This needs some explanation. It actually amounts to a Ponzi scheme[3]. Such schemes feed on ignorance, gullibility, fear and greed. Indulgences were a promissory note from the pope by which he promised that those that purchased an indulgence would get their own time in purgatory reduced. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines purgatory as
‘a final cleansing of human imperfections before one is able to enter the joy of heaven.’ We pray for the souls in Purgatory, especially during the month of November[4], to help them pass through to heaven faster than they would on their own.” [5]
When a Catholic dies, their catechism teaches that their subjects following death first go to purgatory - an intermediate state between earth and heaven. Time in purgatory depends on the kind of life one has lived, whether one went to church regularly, did good works etc.
Incidentally, this kind of scheme remains a favourite tool by spiritual manipulators feeding on guilty consciences in our own day. People will give money to anyone that promises to help them to relieve their guilty consciences.
This Ponzi scheme was used to raise funds for St Peter’s Basilica. A monk called Johan Tetzel (1465 – 1519) was chosen to market this idea to ignorant and superstitious Germans. He coined the catch phrase, “As soon as the gold in the casket rings, the rescued soul to heaven springs.”
This was simply too much for Martin Luther, himself a respected professor of the Catholic church. He said,
"before long all the churches, palaces, walls and bridges of Rome will be built out of our money. First, we should rear living temples, next local churches, and only last of all St Peter's, which is not necessary for us…." [6]
This sentiment was shared by many Germans. Thus, Luther
protested the "milking" of the German people by the pope.
Luther’s main concern with the RC teaching on purgatory and of the sale of indulgences was that it undermined the work of Christ on the cross for sinners. Clearly, if you can save yourself from your sin in another way, then Christ’s death for sin becomes meaningless. Imagine for a moment that you could buy your way out of hell (or into heaven) by means of money!
Luther demonstrated from the Scriptures that salvation was not something that could be given by human hands. The Scriptures clearly teach that Christ ALONE secures the salvation of those who would come to Him. Luther’s argument was driven by the Bible. The pope is wrong. The Bible is above the words of the pope! This insistence upon SOLA SCRIPTURA is what drove the Reformation.
Remember that as we now come to 2
Chronicles 34
2 CHRONICLES
34 THE STORY OF JOSIAH’S REFORMATION
34:1 “Josiah was 8 years old when he began to reign…”. Our story begins
with an 8-year-old boy, born to an evil father named Amon (2 Chron. 33:22).
Amon was assassinated by his servants
after only 2 years in office (2 Chron.
33:21-25). Concerning Josiah[7]
we read that “while he was yet a boy, he
began to seek the God of David his father, and in the 12th year he
began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places…” (34:3-7). The little boy–king had an
early God- awareness. It was rooted in the faith of David. We are told twice
that he walked in the ways of David, his father (34:2,3) and not of Amon. That can only be ascribed to the grace of
God.
In the first 7 verses we read of an
outward, moral reformation in which all
the foreign gods and influences, undermining the faith and practise of Israel
were removed in the land under Josiah’s
direction.
Incidentally, the prophet Jeremiah[8]
prophesied in Josiah’s reign. He spoke about the impending doom of Jerusalem
and of the Babylonian exile. Jeremiah
also uttered a lament for Josiah when he had died in battle (see 35:25)-
probably a reference to the book of Lamentations. From Jeremiah 22:15-16 we also know that he commended Josiah for his
reforms. The prophet Zephaniah
also makes mention of him (Zeph.1:1).
So, in the
first 7 verses we read of
a God awareness in Josiah, coupled to a sense of history and the legacy of
David. But more is coming, following the first attempts at reforming the nation, which had
fallen into deep sin, because of the wicked reigns of Manasseh and Amon.
In 34: 8-13 we find the next big
reform: the temple, the meeting place of
God with His people was now being repaired. It had been neglected- the kings
of Judah had let it go to ruin (34:11). Money was collected from
God’s people and the repairs began.
Then in 34:14-21, in the
process of the ‘clean–up’, “the Book of
the Law (TORAH)”, was found in the temple by Hilkiah the high priest. Imagine
that! The high priest found the Book of the law. He clearly had forgot it. He
never used it. What was he doing without
it? When Shaphan the secretary read the contents of the Book of the Law of God,
the king’s heart was broken, and he tore his clothes in grief. He had
understood instantly that his nation was in deep, deep trouble: “great is
the wrath of the LORD that is poured out on us…” (34:21). This event
had a great effect and thus began a period of reform that lasted until the
death of Josiah (34:33).
In 34:22-25 the prophetess
Huldah (along with Jeremiah and other prophets) confirms that the nation was
indeed in deep trouble, BUT here is the amazing thing: Josiah’s
spiritual leadership, his tender heart, his humility, his genuine repentance
and his great sorrow over sin will cause
the wrath of God to be delayed in his generation! Oh Lord, delay your wrath in our
generation!
In 34:22-33 we find an earnest attempt to hear the Word of God and to deal
with the Word of God, which in context is the Torah- the Law of God. A summary
of the law of God is found in Deuteronomy
5 - the 10 commandments. This is followed by Deuteronomy 6 - the Shema, the summary of the
greatest commandment. These two chapters explicitly teach that Israel’s God
must be loved supremely. To that end we have been created. And it wasn’t happening in Israel. The Law of
God was clearly forgotten. The regular worship of God in the temple was
neglected. The law was never read, and the people had no regular reminders of
their duty to God and man. And so, in
this spiritual vacuum, evil and idolatry flourished instead. And
Josiah was greatly disturbed when he heard and understood this.
At the heart of this chapter, we find that the
Book of the Covenant was read to all, both great and small (34:30)- please note: children were not excluded! The covenant was subsequently
reaffirmed, and a new commitment was made. The results are seen in 34:33. Josiah was faithful in his day. He really helped his own generation to fear
and obey the Lord, and it went well with them in his day.
That is our great responsibility. That is my responsibility to you. Each generation needs a reformation under the Word of God. Each generation needs to be brought under the Word of God and be taught to OBEY it. God’s Word alone can keep us from backsliding, sinning and idolatry. We are responsible for THIS generation. Woe is me if I do not preach the Word.
1. God must work by giving us a catalyst. God gave Josiah. God
gave Luther. They were catalysts in their day. In biblical
history and in church history there are many examples of how God brought His
people back through human catalysts, human instruments that bring the church
and society back from the brink of disaster. Pray that God would give us
godly leaders to lead us out of this present spiritual darkness.
2. Central to our Reforms needs to be the Word of God. It is
when the Word of God is read, explained and applied that deep-seated conviction
occurs. Josiah’s reforms really took off once the Word of God was read and
heard. This is also what happened in the Reformation. Pray that our people
would develop an appetite to hear and obey God’s Word
3. There
needs to be a desire to see our environment reformed. It is no good hearing the Bible read and
explained, but nothing done. Josiah and
Luther challenged and removed some of the idolatrous stumbling blocks of their
times and real change followed. Look out for the following effects:
·
Real response to the Word
of God-
not just lip service.
·
Real repentance for our faithlessness to
God
·
Real desire to go forward in obedience.
·
Real humility.
· Real, heartfelt, glad, habitual worship of the Tri-une God, one- day- in-seven, getting rid of the false altars upon which we
build our lives; stopping the neglect of Sunday worship.
· Real Reformation is to be
expected in the old and the young (34:30). The scandal of the evangelical church is that
we want to send the children out when the Word of God is preached.
· Real Reformation of
society must be expected. Reformation brings about spiritual changes, moral changes, resulting in
political and societal changes. A great example of this is the 18th
century Reformation under the preaching of men like George Whitefield. Josiah
saw this in his day. So did Luther. So
did many others. Why not we? Pray for
a new Reformation in our day
In Summary – the 5 SOLA’s of the Reformation:
A real Bible
A real Christ
Real Grace
Real Faith
A God really glorified!
A Prayer: Psalm 85:1-7
[1] A yearly income or amount of 100,000 historical gold ducats translates to R243 million ZAR today, based purely on the gold melt value
[2] Construction of the present basilica began on 18 April 1506 and was
completed on 18 November 1626.
[3] Named after 1920s swindler Charles Ponzi.
[4] All Souls Day – 2st November : praying for all the souls
that have not yet reached heaven; All Saints Day on 1st November
is celebrating those who have already entered heaven.
[6] Roland Bainton: Here I stand, p.63 (Hendrickson Publishers)
[7] Josiah reigned for
thirty-one years, from 641/640 to 610/609 BC. He is also one of the kings
mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew
[8] Jeremiah 1:1
