Wednesday, February 8, 2017
A DOOR OF OPPORTUNITY
“Out
of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light”— Martin Luther passionately and
thoughtfully penned a list of “propositions” that his church urgently needed to
discuss.
His timing was perfect. The next day,
All Saints Day, (the first of November), as the belfries of the Castle Church
chimed in remembrance of “the poor souls in purgatory,” men in black were set
to parade down the stone paved lanes Wittenberg.
While cool breezes whisked the last of
fall’s radiant foliage from the trees, Luther’s heart beat with conviction. His
hand tightly gripped his theses as he walked with determination toward the
church door—a door of destiny.
As the faithful were thinking of saints
and purgatory, Luther nailed his passionate plea, calling for his Church to re-think
indulgences—those “get out of purgatory” tickets they were selling.
Known as “Luther’s 95 Theses for
Debate,” the devoted Monk carefully and precisely enumerated his points
beginning, as all Christianity begins, with the doctrine of repentance:
1.
Our
LORD and MASTER JESUS CHRIST, when He said Poenitentiam
agite [Translated “Do Penance”] willed that the whole life of believers
should be repentance…
3.
It
means not inward repentance only; nay, there is no inward repentance which does
not outwardly work divers mortifications of the flesh.
After disparaging the Pope and His
unscriptural doctrine of Indulgences, Luther concluded with these strong
admonitions:
92.
Away then with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, “Peace,
Peace, and there is no peace.
93. Blessed be all those prophets who say to the
people of Christ, “Cross, cross, and there is no cross.
94.
Christians are to be exhorted that they be diligent in following Christ, their
Head, through penalties, deaths, and
hell;
95. And
thus be confident of entering into heaven rather through many tribulations,[84] than through the assurance of peace.
Luther nailed more than just “95 Thesis”
to that door in Wittenberg. He drove a
nail through Papal absolutism that for centuries had been exacted in Rome. The
world would never be the same.
Excommunicated by Rome for doubting
their word, the liberated Luther found himself captivated by God’s Word. It was Sola
Scriptura (By Scripture Alone) that opened his eyes to salvation Sola Fide (By Faith Alone) in
Solus Christus (Christ alone).
Having translated the New Testament into
the language of his German countryman, Luther set out to write a commentary. It was his introduction to Paul’s Letter to
the Romans that John Wesley heard when he felt his heart “strangely
warmed.” It warms my heart to read what Luther wrote:
“Faith…is a divine work in us. It
changes us and makes us to be born anew of God (John 1); it kills the old Adam
and makes altogether different men, in heart and spirit and mind and powers,
and brings with it the Holy Ghost…
“Faith
is a living daring confidence on God’s grace so sure and certain that a man
would stake his life on it a thousand times.
This confidence in God’s grace and knowledge of it makes men glad
and bold and happy in dealing with God and all His creatures; and this is the
work of the Holy Ghost in faith.”
GIVEN
THE STATE OF THE CHURCH AND OUR ANXIOUS, RESTLESS CULTURE, WE ARE ONCE AGAIN
RIPE FOR REFORMATION. LIKE LUTHER WE
MUST NAIL DOWN OUR SCRIPTURAL CONVICTIONS WITH CONFIDENCE AND DECLARE, “HERE I
STAND, I CAN DO NO OTHER. GOD HELP ME!”
HERE
WE STAND!
+ God’s Holy Word—the 66 books of the
Old and New Testament—is infallible and inerrant.
+ All who repent and believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ are justified, regenerated, initially sanctified, and saved from
the penalty and power of sin.
+ The very God of peace sanctifies
wholly, so that the whole spirit and soul and body are
preserved blameless unto the coming of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This
definite
work of God’s grace renews the image of
God within, purifies us of the stain of inherited depravity, and perfects the
heart in love.
+ The Spirit of Christ within changes
the way we think, the who we love, and the what we do and the how we present
ourselves. The mind of Christ, the love of Christ, and the life of Christ is
our consuming passion.
THE
ST LOUIS HOLINESS CONVENTION
FEBRUARY
23 & 24, 2017
You are cordially invited to attend two wonderful
days of fervent praying, powerful preaching, anointed singing, insightful
discussions, strategic thinking, and warm fellowship. We will provide a delicious lunch and dinner
each day for a free-will offering. We
would be happy to help you with arrangements upon your arrival in St. Louis.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24
9:00AM DEVOTIONAL AND PRAYER
David
Knight Steve
Oliver
10:00 THE WORLD IS MY PARISH ARMINIUS & FREEWILL
John
Poff, American Indians Dennis
Skinner
Verne
Asbury, EFM
Becky
Schenck, Central America
11:00 INSIGHTS & IMPLICATIONS
Mark
Bird Dan
Plemmons
LUNCH
BREAK
1:30
PM HOLINESS ON THE FRONT LINES
Andrew
Durst John
Eavey
3:00
PM DISCUSSION FORUM
Can
Theology Blind Us To God? Wallace
Thornton
Marsh
Jones, PhD.
4:00
PM PREACHING SERVICE
Brian
Rauschenberger Benjamin
Crawford
DINNER
BREAK
7:00
PM EVENING RALLY
Paul
and Nancy Gray, Song Evangelists Phil
Alexander, Keyboards
Mark
Sankey, Evangelist
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