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Living Hope SDA Church

Christian Martin

Why I Am a Seventh-day Adventist

And because he's alive, we have a message to share.

Today I wanna share with you how a German monk in the 16th century played a pivotal role in my Christian journey when I was but a young adult looking for answers.

Today I want to tell the story of why he had anything to do with my life today.

Father in heaven, Lord, we live in very strange times.

And it is no wonder because we know that you are on your way back.

And so we pray that today you would once again speak to us.

You're alive and we pray that you would speak to us through your living word.

We need to hear from you and we thank you in Jesus name, amen.

On this day in history, in 1517, a charismatic young monk by the name of Martin Luther woke up very early on October 28, 1517, Sunday morning as his daily practice was to to fast, to confess his sins, and to study the Latin Vulgate, which was the Latin translation of the Bible, which he would later translate into ordinary German in 1522.

On October 28, 1517, he knew he only had 3 days, that's it, 3 days to complete the task of formulating scholarly arguments for debate.

You see, he wanted to complete his work by All Hallows' Eve, today known as Halloween, the evening before All Saints' Day, when hundreds would gather at the castle church in Wittenberg, gathering together.

And his plan was to publicly display his, the copy of his points of debate against certain practice of the medieval church.

And he wanted to nail it on the front entrance of the church so that as people arrived for this special holiday that they would that they would see his work as they arrived.

And what was the young 34 year old monk debating about?

What was he so adamant and passionate to speak up against?

Well you see, what was a burden in his heart was to speak against what was known as the selling of indulgences.

The selling of indulgences, which at that time was a very popular popular thing.

Well, it was a type of forgiveness for sins that people could obtain through donations to the church.

In fact, there was a popular superstitious belief that as they poured their offerings into the coffer, when the coins reached the bottom of the coffer and went ding ding ding ding ding ding, that each ding of the coins landing on the bottom of the coffer would release souls from purgatory.

And when they gave, they were also promised that their punishment or time spent in purgatory would be diminished by every amount donated to the church.

You can only imagine how Martin Luther felt about this, because as he read the Bible, there was not even a hint that God would operate that way.

And his 95, 95 statements that demonstrated that selling indulgences was wrong could be summed up in 2 central beliefs.

1, that the Bible and the Bible only is the rule and practice for the Christian.

If Martin Luther was here today with us, he would be in good company.

And second, that human beings may reach salvation only by dependence and faith on Jesus Christ and not by their works.

This sums up what this 95 points were all about.

And so the posting of his 95 thesis on this massive door of the castle church in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517, came to be considered the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

So you can only imagine on this day in history 1517 Martin Luther is praying, he's praying, he's wrestling with God.

And when he took this bold stance, very bold, Martin Luther realized that there's consequences here.

He knew that he would face excommunication from the medieval church, even death for protesting the traditions and beliefs of the Catholic Church.

Yeah, I mean to do so is considered heresy, heresy against God.

And he was going all out public for as many people to see.

But like the disciples of old, He knew with the strongest of convictions that he ought to obey God rather than men.

And on April 17, 1521, a few years later, Luther came face to face with what would be the greatest fear to any human being.

Luther was asked in the presence of emperors, in the presence of authoritative officers, he was asked if his books were his, yes or no, Answer us.

And if he would recant and whether he would stand by their contents or give them up, recant.

Well if he chose to recant and repent of his works, he would be welcomed back into the church.

But if he refused, he would be declared a heretic and could be burned At the stake.

So the next day in a remarkable display of courage, man oh man, and conviction, before the emperor and his assembled princes, Luther delivered his speech, A response to these questions.

First in German and then when he was all said, when it was all done he was asked to repeat it in Latin.

And clearly stated that he, what he stood for and why.

And then he concluded with the most famous passage of his speech, his closing remarks in 1 short phrase, here I stand.

And though he stood alone in that hall, that hall in the Emperor's presence.

Calvin, Swigley, Knox, and a long list of Protestants, Reformers, stood with him.

And their convictions were based on what became known as the 5 solas of the Reformation.

In time, the convictions of these men of courage and boldness could be summed up in 5 solid statements that would be the heart of the Reformation.

And this is what fueled the Protestants to stand tall.

And it was these key theological principles and beliefs that distinguished and, may I use the word divided, the Protestant Reformers from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century.

This is where they stand and this is where the church stands and they're 2 worlds apart.

And believe me, as the Reformers preached the 5 solas, it was not a call for unity.

In fact, several faithful men like Luther stood before papal councils and and fearlessly declared These strong words, if unity could be secured only by the compromise of truth and righteousness, then let there be difference, even war.

White in the book, Grey Conversie, which chronicles the history, the history of the Christian church, and the boldness of these reformers to say, to make statements like this.

And if that's a problem, well, let there be a difference, even war.

And ever since then, ever since then, righteous leaders, religious leaders rather, and more than ever before, even in our day, even now, they have strived to achieve Unity, reconciliation among professed followers of Christ.

Ever since this time period where the divide was black and white, Unity, unity is the call that's going out.

A call for unity, to bring Christians together for a common purpose or by common feelings.

And such ecumenical attempts have been made even now.

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Why I Am a Seventh-day Adventist

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