The Reformation

(a glimpse of how God uses His angels in the affairs of man)
But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days:

but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me;

and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

Daniel 10:13

*

*

*

Hand of God

One can see the hand of God in the Reformation. You can see the reformers each bringing out different elements of truth (and sometimes also getting things wrong).

Hand of Lucifer

Then as you look down over the European continent during the 16th century, one sees the radical reformation causing problems, like Muntzer and his revolt or the cultic spiritualism that went on in the city of Munster. Or the failed, radical apoctalyptic predictions of 1524. Then across Europe were the image smashers. One can see the hand of Lucifer trying to stem the tide of reform through these, and other actions. For the radical reformation turned some princes against the Reformation, for they were afraid it meant political revolt.

Another example of the hand of Lucifer stirring the pot on the continent, was the placing of placards across Paris one night, critical of Catholicism, but the tolerant French king became outraged. He walked the streets of Paris to show contrition for such an insult to the church and to mother Mary. As a result, he turned on the Reformation, and ordered the Bartholomew Day massacre of the protestants (nearly all Calvinists in France). About 10% of France had converted to Calvinism by that time.

And of course the rise of the humanists. Initially they claimed to belong to the faith, but were laying the groundwork for doubt, that would eventually blossom into full fledged atheism. It started as a backlash led by Petrarch long before the Reformation to counter the silliness and waste of time questions debated by theologians. They decided faith had to be tested by human reason. The big one during the Reformation was Erasmus...who contributed a translated version of the Greek New Testament, which was more accuarate than Catholic version in use. All the reformers used the Erasmus version. Yet these humanists sowed seeds of doubt across Europe. For Erasmus, the truth of Scripture didn't matter much. It was called a "low view" of scripture. Today humanism is synonymous with atheism.

Big 3

The big 3 reformers---Luther, Zwingli & Calvin brought different things out.
But some ask why God didn't bring out all truth yet....(for example, the Sabbath, Sanctuary, etc.). He let the light break through as people could handle it-a little here-a little there.

Pace of Present Truth

Here is an example of moving to fast with truth--Andreas Carlstadt, a colleague of Luther, pushed reform to fast. On Christmas day, he burst into a church with bread & wine. The people, who had spent their lives believing only the priest could touch the bread and place it in their mouth (since their fingers were contaminated by dirty sins) were terrified when Carsldadt orderd them to take of the bread themselves. One old man shook in terror so much that he dropped the bread.
Luther had to come out of hiding and confront Carlsdadt-who was moving to fast......
The Reformation was about bits & pieces of truth coming out-here & there. Or as Zwingli believed, convert the heart first before you smash the churches images. Looking back over time-we call this "present truth", the truth as we understand in the time we live. If the "present truth" of today was all laid out, some may have become more confused. God moves at the pace of man most of the time in His dealing with us down here.

Bits 'n Pieces fitting together

Bringing it all together-Luther believed in Justification so much so-that one day he opened for a sermon the book of James (about how faith & works go together) he read a verse from it, then closed it and said he could not preach from there.
The annabaptists, (who borrowed some ideas from Zwingli & who would later produce the breakaway sub groups of Mennonites & Amish), were big on piety, as anyone who has had contact today with the Amish would know. The primary focus was sanctification for the Annabaptists-to the point they thought Luther the heretic.
Calvin believed (wrongly) that you were predestined to be saved or lost (so he was not a big fan of free-will) and believed in piety. Calvin may have been further off the mark of truth than Luther or Zwingli, but Calvin served a purpose in waking up Europe.
Today-we understand that it is both for TRUE RIGHTEUOSNESS BY FAITH-both Justification AND  sanctification.

Present Truth-Then & Now

(Truth is always Truth-we are just refering here the pace it is pulled out from Scripture over time)

Notice the difference between the seed of the woman persecuted for 1260 days (years) in Revelation 12 and the REMNANT of her seed at the end? The Remnant at the end are identified as COMMANDMENT KEEPERS, whereas His people during the 1260 days (years) were not identified as such....they kept some, but not ALL the commandments. But the group at the end do...the group of HIS people persecuted during the 1260 days (years) had not yet rediscovered the truth of the 4th commandment.

 ...the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God,
Revelation 12:17

BattleCry of the Reformation

The words of Luther at trial - Here I stand. I can do no other

Sidenote of a story of Farel (who would be the man who would later bring Calvin into the forefront of the Reformation)
"While Farel was preaching Jesus Christ and His promises, the priest and the choir were chanting the

The Hammer that sounded the REFORMATION

missal. The solemn moment approached: the ineffable transubstantiation was about to take place: the priest pronounced the sacred words over the elements. At this instant the people hesitate no longer; ancient habits, an irresistible influence,draw them towards the altar; the preacher is deserted; the kneeling crowd has recovered it's old worship: Rome is triumphant... Suddenly a young man springs from the throng- traverses the choir- rushes to the altar- snatches the host from the hands of the priest, and cries, as he turns toward the people: "This is not the God whom you should worship! He is above- in heaven- in the majesty of the Father, and not, as you believe, in the hands of a priest." This man was Anthony Boyve. Farel and Boyve were taken out of the city and as one chronicler put it- "the ministers were so beaten that they nearly lost their lives." D'Aubigne

Prayer

"From the secret place of prayer came the power that shook the world in the Great Reformation. There, with holy calmness, the servants of the Lord set their feet upon the rock of His promises. During the struggle at Augsburg, Luther "did not pass a day without devoting three hours at least to prayer, and they were hours selected from those the most favorable to study." In the privacy of his chamber he was heard to pour out his soul before God in words "full of adoration, fear, and hope, as when one speaks to a friend."
The Great Controversy p. 210 E.G.W.