In our final lesson of our Summer Reformation Survey, we consider the Reformation’s aftermath. What themes emerge from the lives of the reformers we’ve studied? How do their experiences compare to what Scripture says? What were the ultimate results of the Reformation movement, both good and bad? And when did the Reformation end — if it even ended at all? We’ll consider these questions and more.
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let’s explore in detail still I hope from what we’ve covered that you’ve been encouraged to see how God graciously unveiled his gospel light in a powerful way in the 1500s in Europe but what should be our take home truths from all of this what can we learn from these reformers as a group what were the ultimate results of the Reformation what does it lead to and how did the Reformation end if indeed it didn’t we’re gonna investigate those questions this morning and we’ll tackle the questions and roughly the order that I just mentioned mentioned well first look at the biblical themes evident in the lives of the Reformers we’ll just look at a couple well then talk about the ultimate consequences of the Reformation both good and bad and then we’ll try to deal with the slippery question of when did the Reformation end let’s pray before we continue today my god it is a it is a sweet time that we get to have together as we think about the Reformers you think about your word and we think about the implications for our lives today and yeah this is gonna be a sober time so I pray that you’d help me to be able to explain well and accurately the truths from Scripture related to the Reformers and I pray God that you would impact your people today encourage embolden but also convict were necessary I pray that she would be with your people now and build them up by your spirit in Jesus name Amen let’s start by analyzing a few of the main ideas that we kept seeing or that we do keep seeing in the lives of the Reformers and then ask how these themes relate to the scriptures as we’ve gone through these different lessons you’ve probably noticed that there are patterns and the lives of the men that we’ve discussed so I just want to point out three main ones as we are concluding our survey what’s the first theme a biblical theme that we see in the lives of the Reformers well it’s that God’s Word is supernaturally powerful that is God’s understood word is supernaturally powerful think back to the conversions of the men that we studied each of them became transformed after reading or hearing the plain word of God come back to Peter Waldo he committed his life to Christ after hearing Christ’s words from the scriptures Christ’s words to the rich young ruler one thing you lack go sell your possessions give to the poor and come follow me Waldo was convicted and he began to follow Christ John Wickliffe John Wickliffe studied the Bible became convinced of the true gospel and of the folly of popery John HUS was just like him after studying wickless writings and comparing them with Scripture HUS believed the gospel certainly this was true of Luther Luther believed after studying the Psalms and studying the book of Romans and realizing what the righteousness of God and the gospel really is swingley too believed after poring over and memorizing large portions of Erasmus his Greek New Testament Calvin believed after studying the scriptures and hearing the word from his Protestant friends Knox believed after preachers proclaim the true gospel in Scotland it was the word it was the word that transformed these men and what did these men do once they did believe well they themselves became declares of God’s gospel and they worked to get God’s supernatural word into the hands of others Waldo and his followers they shared God’s truth with others and translated portions of the Bible into French Wickliffe preached the Bible taught the scriptures to his students at Oxford he helped translate portions of the Bible into English and his followers became traveling preachers handing out pamphlets and giving out copies of the scriptures HUS preached the Bible and the language of the people he published many pamphlets declaring the errors of the Catholic Church and asserting the truths of Scripture Luther preached incessantly he used the printing press to get the truth out he made the first translation of the New Testament into a vernacular language from the original Greek our first modern vernacular language into German swingley preached the Bible in Zurich Calvin preached the Bible in Geneva and he wrote explanations of the Bible’s teaching William Tyndale translated the Bible into English he smuggled in other pamphlets into his English homeland John Knox preached the Bible and published many works this is what these men did they were transformed and then they sucked to preach and proclaim and publish the teaching of God’s Word and what was the result people were changed Europe was turned upside down as people realized the great hammers of the Catholic Church and the liberating righteousness of God in the gospel people left their dead works they left their lives of sin and hypocrisy they became committed to Christ and his word above all even to the point of suffering and death this all came about by the simple declaration explanation and dissemination of God’s Word and does not scripture tell us that this is God’s design this is how God saves Souls Romans 10:17 you know the verse so faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ do we not see that verse demonstrated again and again and the Reformation revival the word is what causes people to believe the word is God’s word a means of transformation a foolish means according to worldly wisdom but God’s glorious wisdom according to first Corinthians 1st Corinthians 1:21 for since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe a simple proclamation of God’s Word seems weak but God tells us that it’s supernaturally powerful Hebrews 4:12 for the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit of both joints and marrow and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart Paul says in Romans 1:16 for I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek this word that they had that we have it is supernaturally powerful but it doesn’t act on its own God is ordained that we his people should bring this word should be the declares of this word to others I read Romans 10:17 earlier but just a few verses before Romans 10 14 to 15 says this how then will they call on him on whom they have not believed how will they believe in him in whom they have not heard and how will they hear without a preacher and how will they preach unless they are sent just as it is written how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things the word has to be declared by the people of God if men are going to be saved let us not think then that we have done a sufficient job of making disciples if we merely live holy lives before them truly we ought to live lives that back up our faith but our commission is for more than holy living it is also for gospel declaration this is our duty as much a disease our privilege for Paul also says in 2nd Corinthians 5:18 to 22nd Corinthians 5:18 2:20 now all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the Ministry of reconciliation namely that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself not counting their trespasses against them and he has committed to us the word of reconciliation therefore we are ambassadors for Christ as though God we’re making an appeal through us we beg you on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God this is our calling it is a simple and profound way that we love God and love others in the world we share with them Christ’s saving and liberating word so we see there is application for us based on what we’ve observed and the Reformation we who have been saved by God’s Word must also be declares of it so is this true of you are you a faithful messenger of Christ do you recognize the supernatural power of God’s Word do you realize that you yes you are God’s means that people will not be saved unless we all go in light of God’s compassion and reconciling you to himself do you have any compassion to see others reconciled do you understand the desperate state that your unsaved countrymen are in separated from God under his wrath committed to idols that cannot help or save slaves to their own sin and lusts and on their way to eternal suffering in hell do we have any kin fashion let us then be bold declares of God’s Word God will be with us he will use us he will save others through us he’s sovereign so let us look for those opportunities let us proactively seek relationships with those that don’t know God so that we can tell them about Christ not just not content ourselves to be saved while everyone around us perishes let us have some compassion God’s simple word is powerful let’s help men understand it that’s what they did in the Reformation that’s our first point that we see from the lines of the Reformers but here’s the second one and it corresponds with the first and that is that God uses weak and imperfect men and women I just mean men in the general sense I’m not saying only males but God uses imperfect people as the ministers of his word and the Reformation God’s word went forth powerfully even from those who didn’t have a completely correct understanding of all of Scripture and who even seriously erred at times in applying God’s Word we saw this the pre Reformers held to certain salvation fundamentals but they didn’t have a full grasp of God’s truth if we analysed everyone and their doctrines you’d say oh they’re off there they’re off year to Martin Luther at times he was vulgar and abrasive he showed little toleration for those of even slightly different theological view that is he considered the reformed brethren hardly brethren of all he also very greatly aired and the handling of the bigamy of Philip Hess and in his tract against the Jews but he wasn’t alone over X wing Lee he showed too much deference to the government when it came to church matters it compromised biblical principles to violently oppose the Swift brethren who taught biblical baptism believers baptism and Zwingli even advocated open warfare with Swiss Catholics John Calvin maybe aired and fewer tangible ways accusations of his handling of Michael Servetus is trial and execution notwithstanding nevertheless Calvin like meat like nearly all the other reformers at this time he taught infant baptism he compromised principles of the Bible of principles of Bible interpretation in order to explain the way the eschatological promises given to Israel in the Old Testament this doctrine longer standing wasn’t perfect Thomas Cranmer great Protestant reformer in England he granted Henry the eighth an unbiblical annulment of the Kings marriage and he even temporarily recanted of his faith in the gospel after observing some of his brethren being martyred John Knox allow political considerations to color his view of Scripture condemning rule by all women just because certain queens were at that time Catholic and he explained the way the Bible’s commands to submit to government in order to justify SCOTUS opposition to their Catholic queen but though these men were imperfect it didn’t have complete understanding of Scripture and their mistakes are not to be imitated their lives were still characterized by righteousness and sound doctrine and God saw fit to use them powerfully and is this not the way that God has always acted through his people consider the Scriptures Moses was the homeless man who ever lived he led the people of God out of Egypt but he also cowardly sought to avoid his calling and he pridefully struck the rock at masa when God told him to speak to the rock David was a man after God’s own heart and he received a special covenant from God yet he multiplied wives for himself sinned greatly with Bathsheba and also sinned in numbering the men of Israel for war consider Peter it was an apostle pillar of the early church but he fled Jesus when Jesus was arrested he denied Jesus three times he even temporarily caved to pressure from the Judaizers regarding whether it was right for Jews to eat with the uncircumcised none of these men even these great men of the Scriptures were perfect God is an act through perfect people other than his son but he does act through righteous people men and women whose lives are characterized by repentance and growth and holiness and truth the Apostle Paul says this himself in Philippians Philippians 3:12 2:14 Paul talks about his own experience of sanctification Philippians 3:12 2:14 not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus brethren I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet but one thing I do forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus Paul says further in second Corinthians 2nd Corinthians 4 verses 5 to 7 said Corinthians 4 verses 5 to 7 for we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord and ourselves as your bond servants for Jesus sake for God who said light shall shine out of darkness is the one who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ but we have this treasure in earthen vessels so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves make no mistake great men and women of God I’m not superhuman but they are humble servants God decides to use for his own glory we’re godly ones in the past have erred there were painful consequences but God still saved these men he still worked through them he built up his church its application then led us on the one hand beware of falling into the same kind of traps that our spiritual forefathers fell but on the other hand let us also draw encouragement that God will still use us imperfect and still growing in sanctification and understanding as we are God is pleased to work through humble men and women no we may never excuse unrepentant sin in our lives we are to make progress in holiness and we are to put sin habits to death but ministry is not reserved for the superhuman or the perfect we are all to be ministers of God’s gospel let us not shy away then from the fields of ministry by feelings of inadequacy we are all mere earthen vessels but we have the precious treasure of Christ within us to share with others so we see a second truth that was evident in the Reformation that comes from the Scriptures and is still true for us today God uses weak and imperfect people like you and me there’s a third point third theme we’ve seen the Reformation now that I also want to draw to our attention yes that God’s true followers suffer persecution this is pretty obvious in the Reformation right and in the lives of the Reformers Waldo and the poor Leone they were labeled as heretics and hunted down survivors were forced to hide in the alps region Wickliffe when he spoke against the catholic church and on behalf of christ scripture he was relentlessly attacked and though he escaped martyrdom he was posthumously condemned as a heretic his corpse was dug up and burned his followers were mocked and then later violently person John us John Haas was attacked for the truths sake excommunicated multiple times betrayed after being guaranteed safety at the Council of Constance condemned as a leader of heretics and burned at the stake the Pope then called multiple armed Crusades against his followers in Bohemia but by God’s grace his Crusades failed Luther was excommunicated ordered to recant to the diet of worms and if not for the Prince of Saxony special protection over Luther Luther surely would have been killed I know he survived martyrdom Luther was constantly hated slandered and opposed during his life not just by Catholics but also by some radical Protestants swing Glee’s life was also full of danger his wife had to make sure her husband didn’t walk alone through the streets of Zurich but ultimately a Catholic army ended Zwingli’s life he was wounded left helpless on the battlefield and a Catholic sergeant after demanding Zwingli’s recommendation thrust him through Swiss brethren in Zurich were persecuted by Zwingli and by the City Council for rejecting a state-run church and for practicing believers baptism many of the Swiss brethren were banished others were drowned in Zurich or burned at the stake in Catholic cities john calvin had to flee violent french persecution but he was not much safer in geneva opposed and reviled simply for preaching god’s word in a worldly silly city near memory calvin was forced out of his pastor it and even after he was invited back to geneva calvin was opposed threatened and nearly killed by the libertines his own congregation when Tyndale was condemned for translating the Bible into English and for calling out their the king of England’s wicked pursuit of an annulment for his marriage Tyndale was betrayed tried and burned at the stake almost 300 protestant preachers were burned to death under the reign of Bloody Mary including Thomas Cranmer John Knox witnesses mentor George Wishard being burned at the stake he too had to flee Mary’s persecution in England of course this was just a sampling not one of the men we looked at in this class now one of these reformers our preachers escaped suffering for Christ’s sake to say nothing of their wives and families who experienced many of the same sufferings and additionally endured opposition slander and even the deaths of their beloved men but is this not exactly what Christ promised his followers you know this Matthew chapter 24 verse 9 matthew 24:9 Jesus declared they will deliver you to tribulation and it will kill you and you’ll be hated by all nations because of my name that time many will fall away and will Trey will betray one another and hate one another many false prophets will arise and mislead many because lawlessness is increased most people’s love will grow cold but the one who endures to the end he will be saved Jesus says also in john 16:2 they will make you outcasts from the synagogue but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God and you know appalled reports in second Timothy 3:12 indeed all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted Jesus made clear that was what wouldn’t happen to his followers but he also makes clear that those who suffer for his sake will be blessed and they will inherit an eternal Kingdom with him Matthew 5 verses 10 to 12 Matthew 5:10 2:12 Jesus says blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me rejoice and be glad for your reward in heaven is great for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you Peter says 1st Peter 4:12 – 14 1st Peter 4:12 – 14 beloved do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your testing as though some strange thing were happening to you but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ keep on rejoicing so that also at the revelation of his glory you may rejoice with exultation if you are reviled for the name of Christ you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests on you konstanz you last do you follow Christ and suffer for his sake moreover God promises vengeance and vindication for his suffering Saints no one will get away with slandering harming or slaying God’s sheep revelation makes that abundantly clear so this application in this aspect from the Reformation as well if we want to be true followers of Jesus today we must expect to suffer for his name and I don’t just mean in a hypothetical future sense when the American government or American society decides that it’s just not no longer gonna tolerate Christians and that may happen but I mean right now I mean today if we if you are gonna be faithful to Jesus you should expect to experience persecution now and many of you have separate relationships among your friends and family mockery misrepresentation and slander exclusion angry opposition financial or job loss legal action threats physical harm perhaps even death yeah we won’t necessarily experience all of these things all the time and we aren’t to seek out persecution needlessly but we have to be honest with Scripture those who desire to live godly will be persecuted not might be persecuted it’s a guarantee it comes with being a Christian the dark world that we live in hates light and can’t help but oppose it when you think about various faithful preachers today you think pastor Bobby has an experienced persecution not position or John MacArthur two weeks ago and one of my seminary classes I heard Steve Lawson share his experience of being run out of his church for faithfully preaching God’s Word and I’m sure many of you can think back to conversations or experiences that you’ve had already in your life where you suffered for doing what was right this is our lot as Christians we cannot avoid persecution without being unfaithful to our Lord for he said he was ashamed of me and my words I will be ashamed of him at my coming it’s a sober word but the Lord is with us the Lord is with us in our suffering just as he was with faithful men and women of the past he will protect us he will protect us from anything that is not his perfect design we have the opportunity to entrust ourselves to our father’s care to witness to the world the value of Christ and let my tissue somewhere else I knew this would happen we too are promised abundant reward and vindication if we will endure a little momentary light of fiction for Jesus sake so my bro and sisters are you willing to stand up on the Lord’s the half will you follow his lead and the lead of your brethren in the past and love and give your life for the very people who ignorant ly hate you and speak against you that’s what Jesus did will you share the truth with others were you contend for sound doctrine when you speak God’s Word in season and out of season this is not only a calling for preachers all of us are called to be gospel witnesses we’ve all been charged with living faithfully in the world so will you heed Christ’s call or will you seek shelter and cowardice when you compromise your faith in order to enjoy the world’s favor and the passing pleasures of this world would you hide your gospel light to the delight of the teens a Mammon that the rewards of heaven are only for those who overcome yes we are weak and we need the Lord’s help to stand but he’s promised to help us he promised to be with us let us then commit to following the lamb wherever he goes jesus said that those who want to come after him must take up their cross daily and follow him and that phrase doesn’t mean you take up burdens you take up the burden of being a Christian one took up the cross in those days when one was being a letter way to execution so daily we are to submit ourselves if Christ should will it too prolonged humiliating death Christ’s sake this is the proclamation we made when we were baptized when you were baptized you proclaimed your willingness to follow Jesus into suffering and death I’ll just make good then on that confession so that my honor the Lord share the treasure of his gospel with people and obtained to the resurrection of the dead in Christ we can mention other themes based on the lies the Reformers but we’ll stop with these main three so we’ve seen the truth of Scripture lived out and the lives of the reforms but what did the Reformation actually accomplish what did it produce was it successful what were its different results let’s now consider the results of the Reformation and not all of them were good though it’s not the Gospels fault that’s due to other things we’re gonna go through these somewhat quickly I have seven of them what’s the first result of the Reformation to mention well the salvation of many souls and this should be obvious right the Reformation was primarily a recovery of Christ and His salvation through the scriptures and many many people were saved with a faithful witness of Christians throughout Europe it’d be impossible to obtain firm figures on the numbers saved only the Lord knows certainly not everyone who embraced Protestantism was a true believer just look at Henry the eighth but thousands of people did genuinely give their lives to Christ all over Europe believers spread from France to Poland I have a map later on that I’ll show you high concentrations of Christians were especially present in northern and western Europe though convert to even made in southern in Eastern Europe and praise the Lord for showing his salvation grace to so many certainly that is a pain result of the Reformation and along with that number to a legacy of preaching and sound doctrine the Reformation reestablished preaching as a central part of the true Church of God and a firm conviction of the authority and the sufficiency of of the Word of God meant people cared again about here an interpretation of the Bible and Biblical orthodoxy and as the Bible commands our Reformation brethren sought to pass on these truths in the next generation and then that generation did the same all the way until today we have received their legacy we too value faithful preaching and the knowledge attitude true doctrine and let us continue in that number three the Reformation produced increased literacy and economic development that’s kind of a strange outcome you might think but as Protestants wanted people to read the Bible for themselves those Protestants made a concerted effort to train children and adults and how to read and so illiteracy increased well over Protestants reasserted the respectability of non-religious work you don’t have to be a monk to glorify God in your vocation a seamstress can glorify God just as a preacher can and thereby was born the famed Protestant work ethic people were able to pursue vocation in the world in an attitude to glorify God as the consequence places that embraced potterson is intended to be more economically developed over time number four another result was the Catholic counter-reformation Catholic Church should not simply stand by in Europe as the people of Europe were being won over to Christ true gospel Protestant Reformation provoked a Counter Reformation the centerpiece of this Reformation was the Council of Trent which met between 1545 and 1563 this council determined the Catholic Church’s official response to the Protestant revival and it wasn’t a good one the Catholic Church refused to change its doctrine of message or doctrine or message of salvation but it did acknowledge that some of the Protestant complaints against the church were valid the Catholic Church and then implemented reforms intent on cleaning up its act getting rid of the worst abuses including and these reforms included establishing seminaries to better trained Catholic priests and also returning monastic orders to strict an upright living most notably the Catholic Church determined to train its clergy to debate well with Protestants and win Protestant converts back to the Catholic fold to this end the Catholic Church established the Jesuit Order the Society of Jesus a religious order run like a military operation the Jesuits were zealously devoted to the Pope into the Catholic cause well-trained in countering Protestant preachers and ready to obey orders from their superiors without question Jesuit missionaries went all over Europe serving as advisors Catholic Kings publishing works against Protestantism and preaching where they could determine Protestants back some Jesuits even became involved in covert operations and political intrigues other Jesuit missionaries brought the Catholic message to the rest of the globe establishing missions in Central America South America India and even Japan unfortunately a Catholic counter-reformation combined with state persecution it proved very effective some kingdoms that have been turning Protestant reverted due to the counter-reformation including the kingdoms of Poland and Austria many confessed Protestants did find excuse to return to the Catholic Church and as we see today many parts of the new world became Catholic strongholds I have a little map here I’ll show you real quick here’s the spread of Reformation at its peak we have Protestants mostly in western and northern Europe but you can see some of the the gains even into Austria and moving into Eastern Europe parts of Poland Lithuania but then the counter-reformation some of that is rolled back less of France’s Protestant Austria goes back to the Catholic fold some of the neighboring nations around Austria though there are pockets of Protestants in Poland and Lithuania they the nation as a whole is training back towards Catholicism so the counter-reformation was unfortunately effective number 5 was another result from the Reformation well warfare warfare and revolt this also is an unfortunate outcome it’s not a factor of the gospel itself this warfare is instead generated by opposition to the gospel by overzealous converts to the gospel by political and national ambitions that became married to religious struggles and then this was also the result of the near universal connection between church and state at this time there were four main sites of armed conflict in the Reformation period France the Low Countries England and the Holy Roman Empire I’ll just mention each of these briefly as Protestant numbers grew in France especially among the French nobility France and or de series of religious civil wars between 1560 to in 1598 these wars ended with the Edict of Nantes which extended official toleration to French Huguenots but this edict was later revoked in the 1600s but Low Countries modern Belgium and the Netherlands they were under Spain’s control in the mid 1500s but in 1568 the Calvinistic dutch began a war of independence against their catholic overlords it was a prolonged struggle in which Belgium sided with Spain and would remain Catholic but the Dutch Republic of Netherlands Netherlands finally achieved independence in 1648 so about 80 years later civil war also broke out in England in 1642 as relations between English Puritans and their anti reform-minded King Charles the first reached a boiling point the English Civil War lasted from 1642 to 1651 though Charles the King was captured in 1649 and executed after the war a short-lived Puritan Commonwealth was established in England under Oliver Cromwell but after Cromwell’s death the ruling England reverted back to the English monarchy and Charles son and religious tensions continued to exist in England then finally there’s the Holy Roman Empire there were a number of religious wars and revolts in the Holy Roman Empire in the 1500s but the climactic conflict was the 30 Years War which lasted from 1618 is 1648 what started as a local war between a few Catholic and Protestant states ended up engulfing nearly all of Europe and a struggle for political hegemony on the one side was Catholic Austria Spain Hungary Poland and various German states fighting against Protestant Sweden the Dutch Republic Bohemia England Scotland Transylvania various Protestant German States and then the Muslim Ottoman Empire Orthodox Russia and even Catholic France Catholic France joined the Protestants the war ended with a famous Peace of Westphalia which officially extended toleration to Lutheran’s and reformed Protestants in the Holy Roman Empire but of more political significance that peace established France as the dominant power in Europe so this widespread warfare was an unfortunate and indirect consequence of the Reformation and it leads to the sixth consequence another unfortunate one that is serious suffering displacement and death again these don’t really this consequence doesn’t really come from the gospel or their Reformation teaching it’s due to other factors but we have to note persecution erupted all over Europe as reform spread mostly the persecution was Catholic against Protestant Protestants were the minority but sometimes it was Protestant against Catholic and even Protestant against Protestant as we saw with the Anabaptists as persecution arrived or when a ruler changed his religious stance and meant that people had to get in line with the reigning religious regime go underground or flee and many people fled you had refugees travel traveling all about Europe from one kingdom to another we think about refugees today moving in various places it was the same this time the Reformation others though were killed for their faith thousands of Lutheran reformed in Anabaptist Protestant believers were executed or murdered as heretics sometimes they responded in kind by murdering Catholics but certainly the majority of deaths were Protestant one infamous slaughter Protestants to bring to your attention was the massacre of st. Bartholomew’s de France anniversary of this day just passed not too long ago on August 24 1570 to a Royal French edict called for they called for the murder of a group of Protestant leaders in France that were considered to be a threat to the French crown these assassinations were carried out swiftly on the unsuspecting Protestant leaders but when the Catholic populace heard about the murders they thought that the king or maybe someone reported this it was a rumor they thought that the King had called for a general massacre of Protestants in Paris and even in France mob violence broke out in the city of Paris and spread to other French cities over the preceding weeks we don’t know today just how many French Protestants were killed as a result of this violence but it was many thousands perhaps as many as 30,000 30,000 of our brothers and sisters murdered without warning and without reason after the mass the number of Protestants in France took a sharp drop many were dead many fled and many converted back to Catholicism but death wasn’t just a result of persecution the religious wars took a staggering toll on human life modern historians estimate that the French Wars of Religion I mentioned earlier they resulted in the death of 3 million persons to the combat famine and disease but this wasn’t even as bad as the 30 Years War historians estimate that’s a bit modern historians estimate that the 30 Years War which involved most of Europe but waged mostly in the Holy Roman Empire it likely resulted in the death of 8 million persons mostly Germans representing maybe 25% or even up to 40% of the population of the German states this is a very sad truth many died many died over these religious struggles which became United with political ambitions is this proof that religion only causes conflict and death no not at all there are other factors that got tied up in these things but we do see again the unfortunate results of a world where every state is intimately connected to one church or another and it becomes impossible to separate political considerations from religious ones so we have to recognize this sad outcome to God the gospel going forth but one more one more outcome to note and that is settlement of the new world and the Reformation had a large part to play in the settlement of North America with persecution warfare in unsatisfactory state religions in various places in Europe many people wanted to escape to a place where they could live in peace and simply practice their own religion but where could they go true certain places were more tolerant of differing beliefs and others especially Amsterdam in the Netherlands but many religious dissenters decided that they were going to seek a better life and unsettled North America and all sorts came to the colonies Presbyterians Anglicans Puritans Baptists Mennonites Quakers and even some Catholics colony of Maryland was actually established to be a haven for persecuted Catholics in England now we like to commend ourselves for our legacy of religious freedom and sanctuary in America but we should note that most of these new world settlers were not looking to establish freedom of religion they were looking to establish freedom of their religion now I’m not looking to extend tolerance to any who emigrates their area of a differing religious viewpoint nevertheless starting in the 1600s many many settlers came to North America to a state to escape religious conflict and persecution mostly from England but also from other areas of Europe so in a way the Reformation had an impact on the establishment of the thirteen colonies and subsequently establishment of the nation in which we live there were other consequences to the Reformation other outcomes but these are just the seven that I will mention one last question for us to deal with when did the Reformation end we’ve talked surveying the Reformation we’re coming to the end so what’s the end date well they asked that question really depends on your point of view and it also depends on how you define the Reformation if we define the Reformation as a period of religious revival and impassioned conflict in Europe then the Reformation ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 at that date most states in Europe gave up trying to convert one another through warfare but if we define the Reformation as a period of religious revival that has a main aspect asserted the authority of God’s Word as supreme and especially over the Pope’s word we might see the Reformation ending around 1700 that’s when the Enlightenment movement began to gain steam in Europe and people began to assert the authority of man’s reason over the Bible they’re formers were asserting the authority of the scriptures the Enlightenment rejected that authority but there’s another way we can define the Reformation we defined the Reformation as more than a period but as the reigniting of a movement committed to the authority of Christ and His gospel as declared in the descriptions the Scriptures well then the Reformation never really ended in fact in such a view the Reformation was not really a new movement it was really the continuation of an old movement of a long line of reformation and contending for God’s truth a movement that goes back to the very establishment of the church when Christ was on the earth truly the church has always needed reform since its inception it has always needed humble but bold men and women willing to stand up for Christ and his word men and women willing to teach sound doctrine live out holy lives and suffer even to the point of death the Apostles and their followers in the early church they were the first group of such persons and the others who came after them until the time of the Reformation and others came after them until the time the Reformation when a new group took the field for Christ people came after the Reformers even until the present day and now we see the need for reform again in the world and in the church how similar is all world to the one that the Reformers encountered God’s Word is so rare today even though people have access to it it’s hardly taught taken out of context made to tickle people’s ears replaced with tradition ritual or man’s foolish thinking so many Christians today take the label of Christian but don’t actually live lives consistent with the claim as was true in Reformation or before the beginning of the Reformation others may affirm right doctrine but they seem unmoved to serve Christ or to serve their fellow brethren at all and then there are the doctrinal flashpoints of our age the exclusivity of the gospel the believability of the creation account and miraculous in the scriptures God’s words on sexuality and gender the necessity of holy living for all Christians proper understanding of miraculous gifts and more and we know that many Christians and even Christian leaders today compromise and have compromise in these areas so what will we do will we by Christ’s spirit and for Christ’s sake join with the Apostles and the Reformers and all the other faithful men and women of the past and contend for the truth and of love for God and love for our fellow man will we declare the whole Word of God to the world will we make it our mission to bring new disciples to Jesus feet to build up the church and to see God’s name magnified the task is too great for us but it’s not too great for God and just as he was with our brethren in the past he will be with us today may we be found faithful brothers and sisters in these days just as our brethren were in the past may we likewise a tent came to heavenly reward with Christ I want to thank you for joining me in this short summer survey the Reformation if you’d like to know more about the Reformation of the Reformers I can recommend some resources you can obviously look in the Calvary book nook but otherwise just contact me and I will point you in certain directions but that’s it for this week next week we’re back in our answers Bible curriculum we resumed our study of the New Testament with an investigation of Jesus’s mission as expressed in the Gospel of John chapter 3 we have some minutes any comments or questions before we close today and our series yeah yeah yeah there’s a lot of truth to what you’re saying though I do want to make one other point Satan indeed sought to use persecution use the death and suffering or Christians to snuff out the light of Christ but actually that only in a sense magnified the light and it not only had an effect in its time but its effect lasted we look back to these reformers for encouragement for emboldening so their suffering was investment in God’s kingdom that continues to pay dividends for God’s people and for God’s glory though I will say and maybe this you gather this from a little bit of what we said today we have sometimes quote I think that quote comes from Tertullian that the bullet the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church that’s true sometimes sometimes the blood of the martyrs is the end of the church in certain areas I mean it’s still it’s still glorious it still is a benefit for those who want to go at they attain a heavenly reward and they do witness God powerfully but it’s not true to say that persecution always grows the church no there’s a reason the Reformation didn’t really extend into Spain and Italy and some other places in Europe it’s because the persecution was too strong and the government control was too strict Christians were eliminated true believers were eliminated and of course that’s happened in other places throughout time so just remember that yes persecution is good at glorifies God it’s certainly encouraging us today couraging to us today sometimes God allows persecution to remove the light in a certain area practically persecution can diminish the witness of God in an area not just because people die but because they also flee or because they compromise but other questions or comments wait can you say the last thing again it was on a little hard for me to hear yeah yeah that’s a great point and we can certainly thank the Lord for some of the ways that separation of church and state has been implemented in our country of course the question of the connection of church and state is always tricky certainly we see in the Reformation period in other periods of history and I think you’re right to even point out today that when the government adheres to a certain religion or a certain brand of religion they inevitably persecute those that don’t follow that faith and that results in religious violence that results in persecution that results in death but on the other hand if the government is not willing to uphold the standards of God and that becomes its own source of tyranny to the society and we’re seeing that the reverse of that right the opposite side of church and state connections where the government because it’s committed to secular rule it’s now actually persecuting religion you are right bill that there is wisdom in the separation of church and state and almost seems like the most optimal arrangement is to have a government that is Christian but that is willing to tolerate all religions because that way it can enforce wise and beneficial standards of behavior but it will not result in religious violence it’s such a government possible or able to be maintained probably not not until Christ comes but of the certainly there were severe consequences and there have been there’s been a lot of collateral damage from even well minded Christians controlling governments throughout time and then engaging in religious warfare or religious violence yeah good observation maybe one more comment or question yeah in the back ha thanks Joey I appreciate those words yes certainly it’s been a joy to go through this with you and I hope that you are all gaining an understanding from this justice Roy’s said that oh it’s so great that we’ve studied this history because we know how indebted we are to the men of the past and to God’s gracious workings in the past men and women of the past who were willing to stand up for the truth commit sound doctrine to the next generation and to suffer for his sake we can be encouraged by them but we’re also charged by them in a sense it’s the same thing as Hebrew says right we stand before a great cloud of witnesses we are as I said not able to stand alone today even with this cloud of witnesses but Christ will enable us to do that so we’ve got a watch we’ve got to pray we’ve got to strengthen ourselves in the word and then trust that the Lord will be with us as we obey Him thank you all again that’s it for this week let me close in prayer I look forward to seeing you next week got a thank you for these people I thank you that you called out the men and women at Calvary from darkness the same way you did in the Reformation I pray God that they and I would be faithful to you and we’d be encouraged that your word is so powerful that it is sufficient for salvation and for sanctification and I pray God that they would pursue your word that they would pursue fellowship with one another that they would evangelize that they would pray that they would serve because this world is this time in this world is so short but we can we can make a significant impact for your sake or Jesus but we need you with us spirit we need your your strengthening and we need your power father we need your care and your provision but we know that you promised to be with us we know that you’ve promised your care and provision you’ve promised to strengthen us so Lord we we will go forward on that foundation and we trust God that you will vindicate our faith in you God I pray that the people would rejoice in you today as they continue worship at Calvary in Jesus name Amen all right see you all next week