Romans 1:16,17 DO WE NEED ANOTHER REFORMATION?

 

The world changed on October 31, 1517.  Martin Luther[1], a Roman Catholic monk and a teacher at an Augustinian seminary had had enough.  He was greatly disturbed by the sale of indulgences. Let me explain.   

A Catholic bishop, Albert of Mainz (1490 – 1545) was the overseer of two bishoprics, but he wanted even more power and influence. He desired an additional archbishopric over Mainz. At that time the practise of buying of such bishoprics[2] was the done thing. It was actually against church law to have more than one bishopric, but money talks. And greedy pope Leo X (who needed money to build St. Peter’s basilica in Rome) allowed him to do this against the payment of a huge sum. Albert borrowed the money from a wealthy man[3].  He obtained the electorate of Mainz in 1514.  But how was he going to pay back for this?  He procured the services of a Dominican monk, Johan Tetzel, who was known for granting indulgences on behalf of the Catholic Church in exchange for money. Indulgences were guarantees underwritten by the pope that sins committed could be forgiven by means of a payment into the church coffers.  This spiritual abuse made Martin Luther angry. He had to speak out, and so he took his pen and began to write his famous 95 theses. He posted them on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg. The theses or protests  were designed to spark a debate,   but it did far more. It started a huge fire in the church, community and country, and soon it spilled over into other countries around Germany. The corruption of the church had been named and exposed for what it was. The common people saw that clearly. And the 95 Theses revealed that the church was corrupt, greedy and in dire need of a thorough going reformation.  

The 62^nd Thesis of Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses powerfully declares, “The Church’s true treasure is the gospel of Jesus Christ.”  The Roman church of Luther’s day had lost sight of the gospel of Jesus. Just as in the days of Jesus and the Pharisees, the Catholic church of Luther’s day had obscured and replaced the simple gospel of Jesus with manmade traditions and a system of self-righteous works and performance. I remind you that the Gospel does not focus on performance, but on reliance in Jesus ALONE. The gospel teaches us to rest in Jesus and His work of the cross.

Reformation Day celebrates the liberating gospel of Jesus Christ. Christ plus nothing is everything! The 1517 event set off a spark which ignited the hearts of many – men like Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, Menno Simmons, John Knox, and so many other preachers. They were  like matches that ignited  the thirsty souls of the people  who  had  for so long walked in darkness – a repeat of Isaiah 9:2:  “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.”  They directed the people’s attention to the gospel of Jesus. They showed their people that what they needed most was the gospel of Jesus. They needed that great Word from the true Shepherd more than they needed words of popes, bishops and  priests.  

The Reformation started a gospel preaching, missionary movement which spread like wildfire. It brought renewal to the church. The church started singing songs of praise to God. Luther loved singing. He taught the church to sing. New hymns were written.  Sermons were preached from the Bible and in the language of the people. People were converted, changed and renewed by the Word of God.   We celebrate Reformation Day,  even 506 years  later. We remember the  day  the gospel was given back to the church, after many years of darkness, in  a similar way in which the Jews celebrate  Hanukkah[4] (Festival of lights),  commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BC.

Martin Luther’s Conversion

Luther’s encounter with the gospel was a journey – like yours and mine! The actual date of Martin Luther's conversion is disputed. Some think that it is before the posting of the Ninety-Five Theses. It seems more likely however, that Luther’s conversion happened in 1519. In reading the Ninety-Five Theses, it is clear that Luther still held on to a number of formative Roman Catholic doctrines. At that point, he tried to correct the church from the corruptions.  But Luther’s own testimony tells us that his conversion happened while he was lecturing through the Psalms a second time in the early months of 1519.  Shortly before his death, Luther reflected on his conversion,  and  in 1545 he said this:  

“Meanwhile, I had already during that year returned to interpret the Psalter anew. I had confidence in the fact that I was more skilful, after I had lectured in the university on St. Paul’s epistles to the Romans, to the Galatians, and the one to the Hebrews. I had indeed been captivated with an extraordinary ardour for understanding Paul in the Epistle to the Romans…  a single word in (Romans)  Chapter 1, “In it the righteousness of God is revealed”… had stood in my way. For I hated that word “righteousness of God,” which, according to the use and custom of all the teachers, I had been taught to understand philosophically regarding the formal or active righteousness, as they call it, with which God is righteous and punishes the unrighteous sinner.

Though I lived as a monk without reproach, I felt that I was a sinner before God with an extremely disturbed conscience. I could not believe that he was placated by my satisfaction. I did not love, yes, I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners, and secretly… I was angry with God, and said, As if, indeed, it is not enough, that miserable sinners, eternally lost through original sin, are crushed by every kind of calamity by the law of the decalogue, without having God add pain to pain by the gospel and also by the gospel threatening us with his righteousness and wrath!” Thus I raged with a fierce and troubled conscience.

Nevertheless, I … most ardently desired to know what St. Paul wanted. At last, by the mercy of God, meditating day and night, I gave heed to the context of the words, namely, “In it the righteousness of God is revealed, as it is written, ‘He who through faith is righteous shall live.’” There I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives by a gift of God, namely by faith. And this is the meaning: the righteousness of God is revealed by the gospel, namely, the passive righteousness with which merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written, “He who through faith is righteous shall live.” Here I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates. There a totally other face of the entire Scripture showed itself to me….Thus that place in Paul was for me truly the gate to paradise.

Romans 1:16,17

This is the text that finally settled it for Luther. A little background to the letter is needed. Paul writes this letter to the Romans, probably from Corinth. When he wrote this letter he believed that he had fulfilled his ministry in the eastern Mediterranean region (15:17-23). From there he had hoped to go west, even as far as Spain (15:24), and he hoped to visit the Roman Christians (1:10), whose faith was reported upon (1:8), fulfilling a promise to them, and perhaps to solicit their help as a supporting church (15:24). The Roman church was probably born as a result of Pentecost, when Jews were present at the feast of Pentecost (Acts 2:10). There the Holy Spirit touched the lives of many, and subsequently the many returned back to their homes carrying the good news of the gospel with them, giving rise to gospel communities – churches, everywhere as they went. Within a few hundred years (and after much suffering) the Christian gospel would conquer the Roman empire and Europe, and the east, and North Africa. These early Christians were the matches that the Holy Spirit used to light fires everywhere. The gospel was the fuel which they carried. The gospel is God’s solution to save the world from itself, and most of all, to save it from His terrible wrath (see Romans 1:18ff). Pray now that the gospel will save the world of our day as our world currently heads into big trouble. There is no healing in sight for the many angry nations now at each other’s throats.   Our world has no power whatsoever to save itself. The world needs real salvation, and the gospel of God is given ALONE to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of Jesus’s Name among all the nations (1:5). That  was Paul’s mission – the gospel for  a perishing  world: “I am  under obligation to both Greeks and to Barbarians…”  (1:14). Paul’s great confidence for the world is the gospel of God (1:1,15,16). Is it your confidence, or are you still thinking that we can fix this world simply through politics and diplomacy, through education and replacing  Christianity with  all sorts of cheap  and useless philosophies? Let me ask again? How was the world changed in Paul’s day? How does the gospel work to change society? How did it change Luther and Germany and so many other nations? Look at 1:16,17

Paul says, “for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also to the Greek”… and then he gives the punch line, “For in it (i.e. the gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written (in Hab.2:4),  ‘The righteous shall live by faith’”.

What is it in the gospel that makes the difference in the world? It is the righteousness of God. Luther struggled with this, because he constantly thought of self - righteousness, when in truth that thought is furthest here. He hated God, because He knew that in himself he could not attain to that standard. But Paul speaks here not of self- righteousness as a means  for being justified  before God. No! He speaks  of an alien righteousness, a righteousness imputed or given from the outside.  It is the righteousness of God, freely given to sinners who believe  on the merits of  the death of His Son who died for sin, so that whoever looks to Him is not condemned (i.e. is justified). By this righteousness imputed, I am counted righteous and I receive the power to be righteous.  It is THAT which Martin Luther finally understood , and this changed EVERYTHING. This is the Gospel!

How do I receive that righteousness? Answer: By faith. What is faith? Faith is believing the gospel of God! That means that you believe and receive  all that is there in the gospel for you: Jesus  died for your sin and He exchanges His  righteous life for your unrighteousness.  DO YOU BELIEVE THAT? When you stop trusting in yourself , stop looking at yourself , and when you look to Jesus and all that He is for you, then the Holy Spirit  does that great work  which happened at Pentecost  in a large scale , and again at the Reformation. 

Do we need another Reformation?   Don’t you see that what our churches and our world lack  most at this time  is that God centred perspective? We are  all so focussed on human solutions. We are caught up in secular philosophical thought systems that contradict and deny the power of the gospel. Repentance and believing the gospel is the ONLY cure for the world. Right now we need fundamental change within  and the gospel of Jesus alone contains the cure for that.   If not, we will soon destroy ourselves in this generation.

The church must not forget the lessons learned during the Reformation. We cannot forget what happens when the gospel is obscured and distorted and replaced by false cures procured from the devil’s medicine box. We need a new Reformation because everything else has failed and is failing. Humanism and its allies are bankrupt. We need God's help to reform our world again! We need Holy Spirit anointed preachers that radically believe in God and His word and preach it fearlessly and care little for public opinion. We need the truth as it is in Jesus. May God have mercy on us!

 

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[1] Martin Luther :  10 November 1483  – 18 February 1546

[2] Simony  is the act of selling church offices and sacred things. It is named after Simon Magus, who is described in the Acts of the Apostles as having offered two disciples of Jesus payment in exchange for their empowering him to impart the power of the Holy Spirit to anyone on whom he would place his hands. The term extends to other forms of trafficking for money in "spiritual things”

[3] Jacob Fugger -  a major German merchant, mining entrepreneur, and banker.

[4] Occurs roughly around the same time as Christmas

2 KINGS 22&23 : “The Bible, God’s Primary Tool For An Effective Reformation“

 

Martin Luther was  born in 1483 in Eisleben, Germany.  During a Thunderstorm in July 1505, lightning had almost struck him. He was a Catholic man, and in typical Roman catholic fashion he cried out not to the Lord Jesus, but to St. Anne (whoever she was),  because  she was superstitiously believed to be the patron saint  of miners. Luther cried, “St. Anne, help me! I will become a monk.”  Luther subsequently   became a monk in the Augustinian order.

Martin Luther was always terrified by the thought of the holy.  He was terrified at the thought that he could never meet God’s holy standards.  He once said, “I was myself more than once driven to the very abyss of despair so that I wished I had never been created. Love God? I hated Him!”[1]  “I hated Him!” He now believed  that he had blasphemed God with that thought! This despair continued for many years.

With this burdened mind and heart he set out to learn and expound the Scriptures. Being a promising student he was asked by his mentor Johann von Staupitz, to prepare for his Doctorate and to teach at the local university. In August 1513 he commenced his lectures on the Psalms. In 1515 he was lecturing on Paul’s epistle to the Romans and in 1516-1517 he taught on Paul’s epistle to the Galatians. These studies proved to be the Damascus road experience for Luther. Listen to his testimony:

“I greatly longed to understand Paul's epistle to the Romans, and nothing stood in the way but that one expression, "the justice of God," because I took it to mean that justice whereby God is just and deals justly in punishing the unjust. My situation was that … I stood before God as a sinner troubled in conscience, and I had no confidence that my good works would satisfy him. Therefore I did not love a just and angry God, but rather hated and murmured against him. Yet I clung to the dear Paul and had a great yearning to know that he meant.

Night and day I pondered, until I saw the connection between the justice of God and the statement that "the just shall live by his faith."[2] Then I understood that the justice of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith. Thereafter I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise. The whole of Scripture took on a new meaning, and whereas before   the “justice of God” had filled me with hate, now it became to me inexpressibly sweet in greater love.  This passage  of Paul became to me a gate of heaven … If you  have a true faith  that  Christ is your Saviour, then at once you have a gracious God, for faith  leads you in,  and opens  God’s heart and will, that  you should see pure grace and overflowing love …”[3]

Luther now was born again. The wind of the Spirit had swept through his soul[4]. He now had a new view of God, a new view of Christ, and a new view on the work of the Holy Spirit. He now understood that the cross on which Jesus had died was the key to solving the problem of the just wrath of God on the one hand, and the mercy of God on the other hand. Paul had helped him to reconcile the justice and the forgiveness of God.

Jesus set him free through His Word, and from that time onwards, God used him to begin a mighty work of the Holy Spirit – the 16^th Century Reformation. The official date of the start of the Reformation is the 31^st October 1517. On that day he nailed his so called “95 Theses” to the church door in Wittenberg. They were protests against a corrupt Roman Catholic system and her popes. They were a strong appeal to the authority of the Holy Bible. In September 1522 he published the German New Testament.[5] This really got the Reformation going. A spiritual revival began, the effects of which are felt to this very day, 503 years later! And it all began when Luther studied and taught and translated the Bible, in which he discovered the grace of God.

 In the Bible we find the greatest example of a revival in the Bible in the book of Acts, and particularly in Acts 2. Revival there began after the Holy Spirit had appeared blessing the Word that Peter had preached, after which more than 3000 were converted on one day. All these were baptized and they became the early church.  

I also want to show you that even in the OT there were such occasions where God sovereignly revived and reformed a worn out (OT) church by means of His word.  In 2 Kings 22 we find a biblical example of such a Reformation.

 BACKGROUND TO 2 KINGS 22

Josiah was only 8 years old when he became king. His father, king Amon had been assassinated by his servants after only 2 years in office (2 Ki. 21:23). Before that, Josiah’s grandfather, king Manasseh had been probably the most wicked king in Judah ever (2 Ki. 2:1-18).   What a sad legacy!

But this young man Josiah was different.  He, by contrast to his father and grandfather was one of the best kings in Judah. He joins 7 other kings ‘who do what is right in God’s eyes‘[6]. He shares a particular honour with two of those kings[7]  by way of a favorable comparison with David - the standard by whom all kings were compared. 

Josiah’s steadfastness is described in 2 Ki 22:2: “He did not turn aside to the right or to the left.”  This was also said of great men like Moses and Joshua.

But this good king is currently walking by the legacy of the idol worship of his fathers (see 23:4-20). He can only do what he knows. At this stage he has presumably never seen a copy of the Law of Moses. That is strange because God in Deut. 17:14-20  had explicitly commanded that  the first duty of  any new   king was to be  that, “he shall write for himself in a book a copy  of  this law, approved by the Levitical  priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God…” Clearly, this habit had ceased long ago!

When he was 26 years old  (22:3), Josiah  sent his secretary Shaphan to the temple  with a few instructions  to check on the repairs being done there, and while  Shaphan  is there the  high priest Hilkiah says to him, “I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord” (22:8). Shaphan takes it to King Josiah and reads it to him (22:10). What happens now is fascinating. “When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes“ (22:11). The king then orders a 5 man commission to go and obtain prophetic confirmation and light on this matter.  The prophetess Huldah is consulted (22:14).  Please note, that Josiah already has the ‘law word’. What he seeks in addition now is the ‘prophetic word’.  The prophetic question is this, “What will God do to us, having neglected  the  Book of the Law?” Huldah’s prophecy (22:15-20) makes 2 points:

(i) There is no hope: (see 22:16-17). God   is determined to bring disaster.

(ii)  But there is some mercy:  (see 22:18-20) there will be peace in Josiah’s time.

So they learn that judgment is certain, but judgment is delayed.   Righteous, God fearing leaders that lead God’s people into the discovery of God’s Word are a blessing to any community. For their sake God will not destroy that community where sin is so rife!  (Gen.18:22ff). Men, like Abraham who know the promises of God’s Word will know that God is gracious and kind and slow to anger. He hears the prayer of the righteous. He is even kind to the unrighteous for their sake!

Though God’s righteous wrath will certainly come upon all unrighteousness (and by the way, you need no further prophetic word on this, since Jesus and the apostles have said that this must happen e.g. Matt. 24/25; Romans 1:18ff), the obedience of just men and women in our day will hold back the wrath of God in our generation. So, dear congregation, answer the question: Are there steadfast men and women of God in our community, faithfully proclaiming the gospel to this nation and praying for our nation? Does God have people to listen to because they obey Him and because they pray? And will He withhold His certain   judgement on this nation for their sake of their pleading?

Listen! Judgment is certain, and it will be terrible for those that are not reconciled to God through Christ the Saviour! Jesus has announced the judgement. It is coming, but He is currently withholding His wrath on account of those that are like Abraham, pleading for God’s mercy upon sinners - pleading that God will withhold His wrath for  yet a while. Faith holds back  God’s wrath  on all your unconverted families! When the Son of man comes will he find faith on earth? (Lk. 18:8).

 The Word of the Lord to Luther and Paul and Josiah brought the fear of God back into their respective societies. When that happens we call that a Reformation  and a Revival.  People repent  of their sin in large numbers  and they start listening attentively  to God. The Bible  listened to transforms  a peoples  thoughts and actions, and the more  people listen to the Word of God, the greater the effect upon our society.

The first thing that Josiah did was  to  destroy and remove  the false gods and idols and the false priests. Note that Baal and Asherah were controlling the temple worship (23:4ff).  The sex cult (male cult prostitutes) was abolished (23:7). Child sacrifice to the idol god Molech was abolished (23:10). False altars (23:15) were torn down and destroyed.  The Passover was restored (23:21). Witches, mediums, necromancers, the household gods, the idols … were abolished (23:24)

No wonder  that it was said of Josiah  in 23:25,  “Before him  there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul  and with all his might, according  to all the law of Moses, nor  did any  like him arise after him.”

How would this translate into a modern Reformation?

Essentially the same issues need to be addressed

1.    The church needs to be stripped of its false views of God:  Our self - centeredness, consumer Christianity, our lukewarmness in worship.  God is holy. He will not be served in any way we please. Repent and return to the Lord of our covenant. (23:3)

2.      The church needs to be delivered from false priests and pastors (23:5) who are holding  the  hearts  of people  captive  with false doctrine  and no gospel! These are  the ones  that  remove the gospel  of Jesus’  death for sin out of the church, substituting  it  with a  false gospel (which is no gospel at all! – Gal. 1:7).

3.      The sex cult needs to be taken captive (23:7). This is destroying the heart of our men and women. Pornography destroys the dignity of biblical intimacy.  Our nation suffers from HIV/Aids, broken marriages, fatherless children, teenage pregnancies because unsanctified  sex has become an obsession among us. 

4.      Child sacrifice needs to stop. (23:10) We may not sacrifice and burn children in the fire to the god Molech, but we abort them by the millions for the sake of our god of convenience   and pleasure!

5.      Satanic manifestations must stop (23:24). A society in which the Bible is no longer respected will find itself another religion: Satanism, witchcraft , esoteric religions.

We need another Reformation. But where shall we begin?  

We must begin with the Word of God. 

We must preach it and insist that it be obeyed. Luther, Paul and Josiah did that, and they took no prisoners in their proclamation of this fact. You either obey God, or you face His wrath. Look at the extensive reforms brought to Germany and Europe under Luther and Calvin. They brought the Bible back into the pulpits of the lands. The Bible purged the church from its idolatry and false priests and sexual offenders. Many priests and popes had  illegitimate children! Many  lived  under the terror of witches and superstition  while the Roman church  did nothing to help them!  See what effect the reforms of Josiah had. See how wide ranging the effects of the Reformation were.  

Can God do a similar work in the world today?  

Lord have mercy upon this generation!  

Revive your church. Hear the prayers of your children. Give wings to your Word. Amen.

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[1]  Here  I stand : Martin Luther,  Roland  Bainton, p. 59

[2] Rom 1:16,17 quoted from Habakkuk 2:3

[3] Ibid,p.65

[4] John 3:1-8

[5] The publication of the complete German Bible only happened in 1534.

[6] Asa  (1 Ki 15:11) ; Jehoshaphat  (22:43) ; Joash (2 Ki. 12:2) ; Amaziah (14:3)  Azariah (or Uzziah) 15:3 ; Jotham (15:34)  and Hezekiah (18:3)

[7]  Asa & Hezekiah

2 Chronicles 34 : REMEMBERING THE REFORMATION @ 500

On the 31st of October 1517, 500 years ago, a Roman Catholic monk of the Augustinean order nailed 95 statements to the door of the castle - church in Wittenberg, Germany. These 95 theses were protests against the severe abuses of the Roman church under the leadership of Pope Leo X. 

One of the things that Luther protested against was the "milking" of the German people by the Italian pope who wanted money to build the very expensive St. Peter's basilica in Rome. This was done was by the sale of indulgences in conjunction with the so called doctrine of purgatory.[1] Indulgences were a kind of promissory note from the pope that the person that purchased an indulgence would get their 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, to help them pass through to heaven faster than they would on their own.”  

So, when a member of the Catholic Church[2] dies   he or she first goes 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., plus the prayer of the living for the dead (especially in November[3]) to get them out there sooner.  It certainly is not marketed as a place where you want to be for a long time.

In Luther’s times the sale of indulgences for time off in purgatory was used to raise funds for the pope’s extravagant building projects in Rome.  Offering a financial way out of a guilty conscience remains a favourite tool by spiritual manipulators in our own day. People will spend a lot of money to relieve their guilty consciences. A Roman Catholic monk called Johan Tetzel (1465 – 1519) drove the indulgence agenda of the Roman Catholic church in Germany. He marketed the idea to ignorant and superstitious Germans and he coined the catch phrase, “As soon as the gold in the casket rings, the rescued soul to heaven springs.” [4] This was simply too much for Dr.Luther, 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. We German's can't attend St Peter's… why doesn't the pope build the basilica out of his own money? He is richer than Croesus. He would do better to sell St Peter's and give the money to the poor folk who are being fleeced by the hawkers of indulgences." [5] 

Now this kind of sentiment expressed by Luther was shared by many a German.  In fact, the Italian leadership in Rome did not think much of the Germans, and so when bishop Albert of Mainz forwarded Luther's 95 theses to Rome, Pope Leo apparently said: "Luther is a drunken German. He will feel different when he is sober!"   He made light of Luther. Luther in turn referred to the Pope as an anti-Christ because he believed that term appropriate for anyone blocking people from freely coming to Christ without money and price (Isa. 55:1).

Luther’s main concern with the Roman Catholic teaching of purgatory and the sale of indulgences was that it undermined the free gift of God in salvation. It undermined the definite work of Christ on the cross for sinners, and therefore it is heretical.   Clearly, if you can save yourself from your sin in another way, then Christ’s death for sin becomes just an option, or even worse, His death on the cross becomes irrelevant.    Imagine for a moment that you could buy your way out of hell (or into heaven) by means of money!  So Luther began to demonstrate from the Scriptures that salvation was not something that could be given by human hands. The Scriptures clearly teaches that Christ ALONE had secured the salvation of all who would come to Him.  There can be no human aid or effort involved in the work of true removal of our guilt and sin. Salvation is from Christ the Lord   ALONE. Substituting the work of Christ for any other form of human scheming makes null the Word of God!

Now why do I tell you this story about pope, purgatory and indulgences? I want show you   that the problem and principle remain relevant in our own day.  Everything conspires against the work of God in Christ   for sinners. Everything conspires against that which God has written for us in His holy Word.   But right now, I want to take you back to an example in the Bible in which biblical principles of Reformation are clearly seen.  In 2 Chronicles 34   we see what the rediscovery of an inspired piece of Scripture does in its day, bringing about a profound transformation.

JOSIAH AND THE REFORMATION :  2 Chronicles 34

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 Amon. Amon, his father was in fact assassinated by his servants after only 2 years in office. (2 Chron. 33:21-25).  Concerning Josiah[6] we read that “while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David  his father, and in the 12^th year  he began to purge  Judah  and Jerusalem of the high  places…” (vv. 3-7). Note then firstly, that the little boy–king had an early God- awareness, and it related to the faith of David, and we are told twice that he walked in the ways of David, his father (and not of Amon).  

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 under Josiah’s direction. Now there are many important things that one wants to say about Josiah, and I have been privileged to do some profitable reading concerning the times in which Josiah ruled. Incidentally, the prophet Jeremiah[7] prophesied concerning the impending doom of Jerusalem and the Babylonian exile, but he is not mentioned here.   Yet from Jeremiah 22:15-16 we know that he commended Josiah (Jer.22:15) for his reforms. The prophet Zephaniah also make mention of him (Zeph.1:1).  

I simply  wish to  focus  on  Josiah’s  attempts  at reforming   the society of his day under the Word of God and the effects that this had  on his own generation.     

Following the  first  attempts  at reforming the nation which had fallen  into  deep sin as a result of the wicked reigns of Manasseh and Amon, in vv. 1-7, something deeper and profounder happens in vv. 8- 33. Josiah had given instructions to repair the temple, when in the process of the ‘clean–up’, “the Book of the Law (TORAH)”, was found in the temple (v.14). Thus began a period of reform that lasted until the death of Josiah (v.33).  

So what we see in vv. 22-33 is an earnest attempt to deal with the Word of God. I remind you that at the heart of the Torah is the teaching found in Deuteronomy 5 and 6 - the Shema, the summary of the greatest commandment in Deut.  6:1-9, as expounded in the 10 commandments of the preceding Chapter (Deut. 5:1-33).   These two chapters have taught God’s people to always love God supremely and from this, to also love our fellow man. To that end we have been created to glorify God.  And it wasn’t happening in Israel. The Law of God was clearly forgotten, and   the regular worship of God in the temple was neglected. The temple was in a bad state of repair. Evil and idolatry flourished instead.   And Josiah was greatly disturbed and he understands the consequences as laid out in v.25. The  young king’s repentance brought about  a word of comfort by the prophetess Huldah,   and  with it  followed temporary reprieve and assurance  from the Lord  (vv. 27,28)  and the  subsequent reforms are recorded for us in verses  29-33.

At the heart of this chapter we  find  that  the  Book of the Covenant was read to all,  both great and small (v.30). The covenant was reaffirmed, and a new commitment was made to perform the words of the covenant, and the results  are seen  in v.33. Josiah was faithful in his day, and he really helped his own generation to fear and obey the Lord. That, dear people  is  our great responsibility.  Each generation needs reformation under the Word of God. Each generation needs to be reminded  anew  that we can only be saved  from our ongoing  problem  of sin and continual backsliding  when we are brought under the  Word of God which  ALONE  will save us.  It alone  can restore health and healing to our  idolatrous  society.

So what do we learn from Josiah’s  and Luther’s Reformation ?

1.   God must work by giving us a catalyst.  God gave us many catalysts in biblical history and church history. They were instruments of bringing society back from the brink of spiritual apostasy   followed  by man made disaster.  We have recently shared  with you a cross section of Reformation Cameos – people who  were used by God as catalysts  in their respective environments, and often beyond. Pray  that God would give us godly leaders, such as Josiah and Luther  to lead us out of this mess that was created by our fathers  and forefathers.   

2.     There needs to be a desire to see our environment reformed.   It is no good hearing the Bible read and explained, but nothing done about it.  Josiah  and Luther worked hard  to remove the idolatrous  stumbling blocks of the  societies in their  day  and real change followed.

3.     Central to our Reforms  needs to be the Word of God.   Note, it is when the Word of God is read   and explained that deep-seated conviction occurs. The Reforms   brought about by the Word of God need to have  the following effects :

 ·       A real response to the Word of God- not just lip service.

 ·       Real repentance for our faithlessness to God and a real desire to go forward in obedience. If we are never moved to change when reading the Bible, then let us search our souls, and ask ourselves why we are not able to respond in obedience.  

 ·      Real humility.  We need to see ourselves as God sees us.  The Bible helps us to maintain that perspective that produces proper humility before God.  

 ·    Real Worship of God and Christ in the Holy Spirit.   Heartfelt, glad, habitual   worship from a heart that has been set free by God to serve Him, replacing the  idol worship (the replacement of God)   in which we  have learned to indulge..  

 ·       Real Reformation for old and young.  Josiah assembled both, the young and the old to hear the Word of God. Children must  hear the Word . They must not be kept out of the   church where   the Word is preached. Pastors must learn to communicate the Word of God to young and old alike. 

 ·   Real comprehensive Reformation of society. Reformation brings about not only spiritual changes, but moral changes, resulting in political and societal changes. A great example of this is the 18^th century Reformation under the preaching of men like George Whitefield. In our own country the ministry of a man like Martin Rautanen had a similar effect among the Oshiwambo people.  Josiah saw this in his day. So did Luther.  So did many others. Why not we?  We have seen some very positive changes in our Baptist Churches in  Namibia. Let us call out to God for more substantial  changes.

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

                                                  

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[1] http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a12.htm#III 1030 All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. 1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.

[2] Any  person baptised  by the RC Church is considered a member , and in their eyes this cannot be undone.

[3] All Souls Day – 2^st November : praying for all the souls that have not yet reached heaven; All Saints Day on 1^st November is  celebrating those  who have already entered into heaven.

[4]  Altes Deutsch : “Sobald der Gülden im Becken klingt,  im huy die Seel im Himmel springt“ [Hochdeutsch: “Sobald das Geld im Kasten klingt, die Seele in den Himmel springt!“]

[5] Roland Bainton: Here I stand, p.63 (Hendrickson Publishers)

[6] 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

[7] Jeremiah 1:1