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The Twenty Third Sunday After Trinity
God's Messengers Bring us the Word
Reformation Sunday
October 26, 2008

TEXT:  NKJ Revelation 14:6 Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth -- to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people -- 7 saying with a loud voice, "Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water."
 
Ever since the days of the Reformation this text has served as the epistle lesson for Reformation Sunday—our learned forefathers selected this text because they believed it is a reference to Martin Luther and the other reformers—they preached the Gospel at the very risk of their lives—Luther survived persecution by the Roman Catholic Church and died of natural causes—and is considered the leader of the Reformation—however, we must consider the two precursors who inspired Martin Luther to have the courage to stand before the church and proclaim the truth of the Word—such men of faith are rare
 
An Englishman named John Wycliffe challenged the authority and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church in the 1300s—he led a team of scholars who translated the Vulgate Bible into English—the Wycliffe Bible was the first generally accepted English translation available
 
John Wycliffe died of natural causes—but his influence on the catholic church was so despised by the church that they ordered all of Wycliffe’s books to be gathered and burned—and they dug up his bones twelve years after he was buried and burned them—then they threw his ashes into the river
 
A couple of years after publishing the English translation of the Bible—John Wycliffe died, and a Bohemian named John Huss came upon the scene—Huss was greatly influenced and inspired by the ideas of John Wycliffe—John Huss continued to challenge the teachings and authority of the Roman Catholic Church—and Huss led a group of followers who came to be known as the Moravians—one encyclopedia I consulted stated that these Moravians sent out more missionaries per church member than any other protestant denomination in history—out of the Moravians came another famous preacher of the Word, John Wesley—founder of the Methodist Church
 
John Huss refused to recant his teachings because the Roman Church could not show him in Scripture where he was in error—John Huss was stripped of his robes and burned to death at the stake—it is said by the witnesses that one of the last statements John Huss shouted to his murderers was “in a hundred years, God will raise up a man whose calls for reform cannot be suppressed”—102 years later Luther posted his 95 Theses on the Church door in Wittenberg—and the REFORMATION was begun
 
These three men are certainly worthy of our consideration during this reformation celebration—but now let us consider the words of the text—they not only apply to these men of such terrific faith—but the text includes all preachers of the Word—those that deliver the Gospel to man—and we notice that the angel—is in the “midst of heaven”—that is, he is in the middle—between the men in the world and God in heaven above—the original language is telling us that the message comes from God in heaven—through the messenger—and to man on earth—Luther, Wycliffe, and Huss certainly fit this description—but then, so does every preacher throughout history
 
The word angel means messenger—and certainly the reformers were messengers of God—but Wycliffe, Huss, and Luther brought the message to the common man—they were not interested in increasing the power of the organization on earth called the church—they were sincerely interested in improving the average man’s understanding of their Savior Jesus Christ—and understanding of the promises God made to man—which would lead to understanding of their salvation
 
 
John Wycliffe and Martin Luther translated the Bible and placed it into the hands of the common man—what greater purpose could a man serve in this world?—these were truly messengers of God—their work set the population free from the doctrines of man
 
NKJ John 8:31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
 
But how shall they know the truth if it is not preached?—that is the question Paul asked in his letter to the Romans
 
NKJ Romans 10:13 For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved." 14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? …
 
Jesus teaches us that the angels in heaven rejoice when a sinner understands that Jesus is his Savior and paid the price for sin
 
NKJ Luke 15:10 "Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
 
There are many things we could say about angels and the work of angels—but today we will focus on the announcement of the angel in our text—"Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water."
 
Jesus knew that He had to become the Ultimate Sacrifice for our sin—be crucified, dead, and buried—be glorified in His resurrection—and that we would be victorious over death only if He was victorious over death—then He would ascend into heaven until the time that He would come again and judge the world
 
Jesus also knew that we would need the help and power of the Holy Spirit to survive this world until God calls us home to heaven—these are things He taught us through His dissertation in the upper room on the evening of His arrest—Jesus wanted us to be strong enough to survive—listen to some of that lesson that is so important for us to understand
 
NKJ John 16:2 "They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. 3 "And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.
NKJ John 16:7 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 "of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 "of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 "of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
 
This world is not intended to be a pleasant place for Christians—it is dangerous in a physical and spiritual way—and without the Holy Spirit to guide us and empower us we could not survive—Jesus knew that—and He knew we would be judged just as He was judged—that is—we would be judged unfairly by those of this world—but He will eventually judge them to eternal condemnation
 
All of this comes back to the Word of God—which until the Reformation was in the hands of the people who called themselves the church—and they were men—and they were invaded and manipulated by Satan to follow the pleasures and treasures of this world—and they became evil as Satan is evil—and the reformers—Luthe and Wycliffe and all who loved God more than the things of this world—placed the power of the Word of God into the hands of all—took away the mystery of the Word—and set God’s people free
 
Jesus summarizes it all with the most quoted Scriptural lesson of all—John 3:16—but listen carefully to the verses that follow it—and you will see the “Reformation in a nutshell
 
NKJ John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 "And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 "For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 "But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."
 
Jesus died that He might be resurrected for God’s glory and our salvation—in the Reformation, men died that we would have the Word to smite the devil and his workers—and the Word has the power to take us to heaven
 
ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!