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Saturday, October 29, 2011

5 Reasons to rejoice on October 31

Today and Tomorrow I want to share with you why I find so much joy over October 31st.  One of the Greatest Revivals occurred almost 500 years ago,  altering and realligning Christianity back to the Bible. We will be surveying what took place, and why there are five reasons to rejoice over October 31st. 

A SYSTEM THAT NEEDED TO BE CONFRONTED

494 years ago the Roman Catholic Church had a repressive system of religion that had people buying what was hoped to be a right standing with God.  Over the centuries a whole system of church tradition had accumulated, telling people that in order to be right with God, they had to make pilgrimages to certain churches and make financial contributions to achieve salvation.  In addition, the church also manipulated people to make contributions, alleging that once paid, their dead relatives would be freed from an imagined place called purgatory, and thus go to heaven.

ONE MAN HAD REACHED HIS BREAKING POINT


One man, a monk, a "holy man" in the Roman Catholic system of religion, was very troubled in his soul.  He had dedicated his life to achieving the salvation promised by the Roman Catholic church.  Despite his best efforts, he felt more guilty and alienated from God, even though he confessed to the priests, prayed hours a day and went on long fasts.  That man's name was Martin Luther.

HOW PEOPLE ARE TRULY MADE RIGHT WITH GOD


Luther was so troubled that he began searching the scriptures and read these words in Galatians 3:11 - "The just shall live by faith".  God's Grace was at work, and suddenly Martin Luther saw that all of the pilgrimages, the contributions to the churches, the confessions, fastings, being baptized into the church, even being a Monk - all of it - contributed nothing to his salvation.  Alas, Luther rediscovered the heart of the Christian Gospel that all but a faithful few had forgotten over the centuries - that a man is made right before God by faith alone in Christ Alone.  After this discovery, Luther began to research

16TH CENTURY VERSION OF FACEBOOK

Luther did a 16th century equivalent of facebook - He made a post.  Only this post was pen and paper nailed to the door of a church (much like if we were to post on facebook or announcements on a bulletin board).  Luther wanted to make a public announcement for all to see, posting what was called his "95 theses" on a church door in Wittenberg Germany.  These 95 reasons or "theses" aimed to protest the Roman Catholic system to which the Bible revealed to be corrupt.  Luther did this on October 31, 1517, sparking the greatest move of God in the past 500 years - The Protestant Reformation.

FIRST REASON TO REJOICE OVER OCTOBER 31ST

Soon the new invented printing presses all over Germany were distributing copies of Luther's document.  Out of the movement would come five phrases that would describe the gospel rediscovered by Martin Luther.  The first phrase is the most fundamental - namely that a man or woman is made right with God by faith alone.  This is the first reason to rejoice over October 31.  Because  of God's movement in the life of one man, the Gospel, preached by the prophets, Christ and the apostles, would once again shine.  How is it that a man is made right with God?  Paul states in Ephesians 2:8-9 that faith is a gift of God, that salvation is not earned by what one does, lest there would be grounds for boasting.  Faith alone is sufficient grounds for receiving God's free gift of salvation.  It is not faith plus baptism, nor faith plus church membership nor faith plus anything. 

LET'S TAKE BACK OCTOBER 31ST, REJOICE IN GOD!

It is time to take back October 31, and use this day to proclaim the truth of scripture and the reformation, sparked on October 31, 1517.  Tomorrow we will look at four other reasons to rejoice over October 31, and look at the four other statements coming out of the Reformation.  As you will see, these statements further clarify the richness of the Gospel message.