When it ain't over 'til it's over

Last year, I remember a podcaster on YouTube explaining the motivations behind the evil deeds of the Jesuits (of which Pope Francis is their first pope), saying, “It’s their reclamation of the Reformation.”

Here’s a study from the 500^th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, which was in 2017:

If some of you were up at Brian Ross’ conference the other week in Grand Rapids (MI) and wanted information about the Protestant Reformation, I think there’s a 170-page syllabus from that thing you could read about, you know, like going to a college class and so forth, but it’s worth knowing about those things, said Richard Jordan.

In particular, God used the Reformation to break the political power of the Roman Catholic Church. He used it to disseminate and bring about the widespread availability of the Word of God. That’s THE most important thing that it did, and thus the preaching of the gospel in a wide-open kind of a way.

It led Europe out of the Dark Ages. By the way, the American brand of western civilization is the specific fruit of the Protestant Reformation. Our economic freedoms, our political liberties, the fact that you have a 1^st Amendment that separates church and state . . . Europe didn’t do that. Europe was bound; the Reformers didn’t do it, but the American application of it produced those things.

If you ever wonder where freedom of speech comes from . . . Where does freedom of religion come from? The separation of powers and so forth? They come as the direct fruit of the Protestant Reformation applied in a new world, on a new canvas. Without the history of the baggage it came out of.

Now, I have to say I’m not a big proponent of the Reformers because we were there before and I’m also aware of the doctrinal, ecclesiastical, eschatological shortcomings of the Reformers.

They didn’t believe in a Rapture; they had some real bad doctrine. I know that they were deeply flawed individuals where some of them persecuted our real spiritual ancestors, but the truth is that we’re all flawed, folks. The fact that God uses any of us is a testimony to His grace and because the Reformation literally changed the trajectory of western history . . .

When you look back at the three solas: the Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone), Sola Gratia (grace alone) and Sola Fide (faith alone)—those three things were what brought the light and information. Of those three things, the most important one is the Scripture.

Paul says in Romans 5, “It’s of faith that it might be of grace.” Grace requires but will accept only the response of faith, so faith is what establishes grace and grace requires faith. But both require the Scripture, not tradition; the Scripture is the source of things and that’s really where the spiritual power of the Reformation; the spiritual power of anything comes from.

The question we really face today is, “Is the Reformation over?” My answer to that is, “Yeah, probably.” Looking at our culture today, what you’re seeing is the demise, not simply of a way of life, but what supported that way of life.

What supported it is social-economic political religious application of the spiritual powers that produced the Reformation. The underlying things that pinned it are gone.

So, what does that mean for us Believers? We’re going to have to go back to “the days of yore”, and you all didn’t watch the Lone Rangers when you were young. We’re going to go back to the way it was before. There were people just like us there and we’re going to wind up going back to doing the things that they did; doing ministry the way they did it.

In Acts 19:10, Paul is in Ephesus, and the greatest outreach ministry Paul had, the place where his ministry took root and spread all across the whole territory, that’s recorded in Scripture, is there.

[10] And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

Paul spends two years there and what continued is what’s in verse 8 and 9 about him speaking, disputing, persuading and teaching daily the Word of God.

If you read verses 11-20, you’ll see that they had such an impact that it put witchcraft and occultism on the run. It caused the dissemination of the Word of God.

Verse 20: [20] So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. [21] After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome.
[22] So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season.

All through Asia, from Ephesus (we would say “all through the middle west from Chicago”) the Word of God prevailed. Everyone HEARD the Word. That’s why we spend so much time here trying to get the message out THERE. That’s why we do the radio, the television, the literature, all the media. It’s to get the message OUT. That’s what these people . . . that’s the natural thing you do when you’ve got truth. You want other people to hear it too.

There was a tremendous movement all across Asia and it spread over into Europe in Acts 18. In fact, there’s a great verse in Thessalonians. Paul said, “Everywhere I go they always talk about you guys. You guys don’t need me down there; you’re doing the job. I’m going to go somewhere else where nobody’s ever heard.”

I want you to contrast that with II Timothy, Paul’s last epistle. Paul is in his last moments. Here’s an old guy fixing to die, talking to a young guy who’s going to have to live on.

Timothy is at Ephesus where we just read about in Acts 19, but things are different now. II Timothy 1:15: [15] This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.

In Acts 19 the Word of God prevailed all through Asia. Now all they that are in Asia are turned away from me. See the difference? Now it’s fallen in the street.

That contrast, if you look at II Timothy 2:18, he says, [18] Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.

What did they do? They quit rightly dividing the Word and they said the resurrection’s past. We’re not in the dispensation of grace anymore. We’re off in a future dispensation. “That’s over with; we’re back in Israel’s program.” They had the Bible but they’re not rightly dividing it.

II Timothy 3:8: [8] Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

You try to show them the truth, saying, “Hey, here’s what the Scripture says,” and what do they do? They resist. Jannes and Jambres were the two guys that when Moses came in and threw his rod down it became a snake, they threw down their rod to make two snakes. They outdid Moses two to one. Now, did it work out in the end? No, but you see how it says “as”?

Listen, your ministry is going to look like the opposition outdoes it two to one. I tell people all the time, “If you’ve got more than eight people you’ve got more than Noah had and he saved the world with eight people.” They had thousands down at the circus, but he saved the world with eight people because he had the truth and it’s the truth that saves the world; not how many people have it.

II Timothy 4: [4] And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

This is how they went from the Word of God growing and prevailing to “all they have turned away from me.” I want you to understand, if that’s true, then you can’t go back to church tradition. You can’t go back to even the earliest church fathers.

You can’t go back to church scholarship for truth because where was the church scholarship, the church tradition and the church fathers when Paul died? They left him; they departed. They’re in error and apostasy.

The only place you can go back to the Book. That was the fundamental underlying concept of the Reformation. The truth be told, our ancestors have always been there. You got to understand that.

(to be continued)