February 24, 2023 | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | Ted N.C. Wilson, President, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Greetings, friends! Martin Luther is no doubt the most well-known of all the Reformers, and today we look at the life and works of this powerful man of God as we review highlights found in Chapter 7 of the book, The Great Controversy, titled “Luther’s Separation From Rome.” You may download a free copy of this book at the URL shown at the bottom of the screen [Insert: greatcontroversyproject.org].
Martin Luther was born into a humble peasant home on November 10, 1483, in Eisleben, Germany. His parents, Hans and Margarethe Luther, were hardworking, God-fearing people who valued the education and training of their children. As a boy, Luther often heard his father praying for him by name, asking that he would stay true to the Lord “and one day aid in the advancement of His truth” (The Great Controversy, p. 121). Little did Hans Luther know how amazingly his prayer would be answered.
Martin Luther was a diligent student and by the time he was 18, he entered the University of Erfurt, where he excelled in his studies. Nevertheless, he felt a deep dependence upon God, “and he did not fail to begin each day with prayer, while his heart was continually breathing a petition for guidance and support” (The Great Controversy, p. 122). Recognizing the vital importance of prayer, he said, “To pray well, is the better half of study” (The Great Controversy, p. 122).
It was while a student at the University that Luther first became acquainted with the Scriptures. One day while in the library, Luther discovered a Latin Bible. He had never seen such a book and was unaware it even existed. He had heard parts of the Gospels and Epistles read during worship services and had assumed these were the entire Bible.
Now, for the first time, he held the complete Bible in his hands. “With mingled awe and wonder he turned the sacred pages; with quickened pulse and throbbing heart he read for himself the words of life, pausing now and then to exclaim: ‘O that God would give me such a book for myself!'” (The Great Controversy, p. 122).
A love for the Word of God was kindled in Luther’s heart that would never be extinguished. Nevertheless, he had not yet discovered God’s amazing grace written in those sacred pages, and with an earnest desire to be free from sin and find peace with God, Luther decided to enter a cloister and become a monk.
However, even in his sparse and rigid life as a monk Martin Luther did not find the peace for which his soul longed. It was then that God sent him a friend by the name of Staupitz, who “opened the word of God to Luther’s mind and bade him look away from himself . . . and look to Jesus, his sin-pardoning Saviour” (The Great Controversy, p. 123).
It was a lesson Luther never forgot.
Luther was ordained a priest and was called from the cloister to be a professor at the University of Wittenberg. He began lecturing on the Bible, especially from the book of Psalms, the Gospels, and the Epistles. The listeners were delighted as, for the first time, they understood the beauty coming from God’s Word.
It was during this time that Luther visited Rome but was appalled at what he found. He later wrote, “No one can imagine what sins and infamous actions are committed in Rome; they must be seen and heard to be believed” (The Great Controversy, p. 125).
Around that time, the pope had issued a decree, promising an indulgence–that is forgiveness of sins–for those who would climb on their knees a staircase that had supposedly been the very stairs Jesus had descended after leaving the Roman judgment hall.
Luther went to the site, and as he was slowly crawling up the stairs on his knees, a flash of Scripture, found in Romans 1:17 entered his mind: “The just shall live by faith.” Jumping up from his knees he ran from the place in shame and horror. He saw, as never before “the fallacy of trusting to human works for salvation, and the necessity of constant faith in the merits of Christ” (The Great Controversy, p. 125).
Luther returned to Wittenberg where he soon earned his Doctor of Divinity degree. With the fire of truth burning in his heart, he began preaching as never before the truth of a Saviour’s love and the assurance of pardon and peace though His atoning blood. He spoke directly against Rome and the selling of indulgences, declaring that “the grace of Christ cannot be purchased; it is a free gift” (The Great Controversy, p. 129).
Going even further, on October 31, 1517, on the eve of All Saints’ Day, Luther posted on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg a paper containing 95 propositions, or theses, against the doctrine of indulgences. The news of this bold act, along with the 95 theses, spread like wildfire across Germany and beyond, enraging all of Rome.
Although Luther trembled when he saw the forces arrayed against him, “he looked to God alone and learned that he could lean in perfect safety upon that all-powerful arm” (The Great Controversy, p. 132).
And friends, today, we too can lean in perfect safety upon the mighty arm of God, trusting in His Word and relying on His strength.
Next week we will continue to focus on the incredible life and work of Martin Luther, and again, I encourage you to download a free copy of the book, The Great Controversy, at the URL shown at the bottom of the screen greatcontroversyproject.orgif you have not yet done so.
I invite you to pray with me just now.
Father in heaven. We thank you for inspiring Martin Luther with the words of Scripture that the justice shall live by faith that he understood from the reading of the word. The full impact of what truth really is. Thank you for working through Martin Luther to help bring the Scriptures to the common person. And now, Lord, help us to make use of these wonderful, powerful words from heaven itself in the Bible. Help us to make use of them because they are available to us right now. Thank you for hearing us in this prayer. Keep us focused upon you and the truth in your holy word. In Jesus name, we ask it. Amen.