Reformation part one
I don't even pretend to be an expert although I love to read and write and I am interested in Religion. I know my skills in writing are lacking although I try to write so a simple person like myself could understand what I write. Many people include so many big words that many people can't even get through the first paragraph, get board and give up.
I read through several quotes of those from the Reformation some of which I will include here.
“If the primitive gospel would come again God would have to speak from heaven.”
-Martin Luther, (History of the Reformation, Vol. 2, P. 111). 2
“The times which we have reason to believe are at hand, (if they are not already begun) are what pious men have termed “the latter day glory;” meaning the time wherein God would gloriously display his power and love.”
-John Wesley, founder of Methodistism (Sermon 71). 3
“..Please send forth new apostles, let the last prophet come…”
-Charles Wesley, brother of John Wesley, in a hymn of prayer. 4
“We want the old gospel back that is sustained by the ancient order of things.”
-John Campbell of the Christian Church, (Campbell, Christian System, p. 250). 5
“He denied that any ministry existed in his time which is truly authorized to act in the name of Christ. For he continues that the apostasy of antichrist had so far corrupted all, so that there can be no recovery out of that apostasy until Christ shall send forth new Apostles to plant the Church anew.”
-Roger Williams of the Baptist movement, (Struggles and Triumph of Religious Liberty, pp. 238, 239). 6
“…The genuine and simple religion of Jesus will one day be restored; such as it was preached and practiced by Himself. Very soon after His death it became muffled up in mysteries, and has been ever since kept in concealment from the vulgar eye…”
-Thomas Jefferson, in 1820 7
"The old time Gospel and the gifts are therefore are lost. False doctrines prevail in all churches on the face of the earth. All we can do is exhort the people to be just, fear God and shun evil, and pray." - Christophilus Gratianus, (leader of Swiss Pietism), Die Hoffnung Zions, (Zion's Hope), 1732, 1756, University Library of Bazel, Switzerland.
Sir Isaac Newton, English scientist and theologian, "About the time of the end, in all probability, a body of men will rise up, who will turn their attention tot he prophecies, and insist upon literal interpretation in the midst of much clamor and opposition." - Isaac Newton, Observations on the Prophecies, pg 250-251.
"I will tell you, God will have spoken within one hundred years. He will restore the old church again. I see a little band of people led by a Prophet and faithful leader. They are persecuted and burned out and murdered. From every nation shall true believers be gathered by speedy messengers and then shall the Almighty God speak to the disobedient nations under thunder, lightning and destruction, such as men have never known before." - Christophilus Gratianus 1732
The reverend William Ward taught that the end of the 1260 days (years) as mentioned in Revelation 12:16, would bring us to 1830, and that this year would be "a year of spiritual revival and triumph, the greatest year in the calender of the world." - Rev. William Ward, between 1810 and 1820. Prophetic History, Vol 5, pg 18,32,68,74; Vol 5, pg 266-267.
Alexander Campbell says: "The primitive gospel in its effulgence and power is yet to shine out in its original splendor to regenerate the world." - Hayden's History of the Disciples, pg 36.
"We seldom hear of the manifestations of the gifts after the third century. From this time they almost entirely ceased. The cause of this was not... 'because there was no more occasion for them,' ...The real cause was, 'the love of many, almost all Christians, so-called, was waxed-cold.' The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ [during the dark ages] than other heathens... The Christians were turned heathens again, and only a dead form left." - John Wesley, Sermon 89
Many Christians don't think that there was an apostasy therefore they don't feel there was a need for a restoration of anything never mind the Gospel because they don't feel the Church or the truth was ever taken off the earth. Many Christian churches disagree is so many ways saying: It's ok to baptize babies or no it's not or they will go to hell or limbo if they are not baptized, some say sprinkling is just fine other churches say it must be by immersion to symbolize death and rebirth or leaving your old sins behind others say that having water poured on your head is just fine and other churches say there is no real need for baptism at all even though the Bible clearly states that there is a need and Christ himself was the example to us.
With so many different churches it is clear that it is not just one faith, one baptism and one Lord as stated in the Bible. Clearly men have changed the doctrines of the Churches so much and changed God's word as to make it almost unrecognizable through their own interpretations. We hear of Cathedrals in Europe with Baptism fonts where they used to do Baptisms for the Dead. Some Churches claim Priesthood authority that they received by the laying on of hands and others cannot even make the claim without saying they got their authority from the Catholic Church that really did not authorize that authority in the first place but excommunicated those that separated from them in many instances. Some claim that Peter, James and John came down from Heaven and laid their hands on a man's head and ordained him to the Priesthood as it states in the Bible and began restoring the church as Christ originally set it up. Some Churches claim that priesthood is not needed and that those old things are done away with and there are no longer any miracles or prophets. (Read Amos 3:7) Old Testament
I know we end up dealing with Apostasy of Individuals, Nations such as Israel and my point ---The Apostasy of the Early Christian Church which indeed happened and can also be an ongoing thing in our personal lives if we let it happen.
Amos 8:11 speaks of a famine of hearing the words of the Lord and all through the New Testament we learn about false Christs and false prophets deceiving many so we really do need to be very careful when someone claims to be a prophet. Many people use these same scriptures to try to show that you should not believe in modern Prophets but looking at the Bible the Jews did not recognize Jesus as their savior either so let us not throw the baby away with the bath water either.
2 Thes 2:3 -" Let no man deceive you by any means: For that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that main of sin be revealed , the son of perdition." We read this to mean that before the second coming there will be a falling away of the Church or a time of apostasy because it makes sense that in order to have a restoration of all things that those things had to have been taken away at one point.
Matt 17:11 Elias ...come to restore all things Eph 1:10 In the Dispensation of the fulness of times....gather together in one all things. There is a church that believes that Elijah has come back and restored the sealing power spoken of in the old and new testament. Malachi the last book in the Old Testament speaks of turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers in the last book of the old testament. Some Churches point out that the love we need to have for those that are here and for those that have passed on needs to be connected, doing Genealogy (not endless genealogies) can help us have this appreciation for those that have gone on. Some churches do proxy work in their Temples for the dead thereby giving them the same blessings we enjoy of baptism etc... that they did not have the opportunity of here in this mortal life. Jews are still waiting for Elijah to return and they still set a plate on the table for him as a symbolic gesture of his return.
When Martin Luther nailed his grievances up on the door of the church he was expressing his very well founded opinion that the Church had strayed from the doctrine and changed many things that should have stayed as Christ organized them. To some it is very clear that there was much more than just a personal apostasy throughout the world. Many when referring to those times refer to the Dark ages and isn't it interesting that after certain churches received revelation that God poured out his spirit much more abundantly than in the Dark Ages because since then many things in science and technology have advanced to a point where for hundreds of years had not moved at all.
Preparing for the Restoration
A Great and Marvelous Work—
Part One: 1350–1805
Preparing for the Restoration
By Arnold K. Garr
Act 3:21 Restitution of all things
Ephesians 4 not only speaks of One Lord, One Faith and one Baptism (verse 5 ) but speaks of how Christ organized his Church with a specific set or configuration of Apostles, Prophets etc.... This configuration was restored and as you can see there is no other Church that has 12 Apostles, a Living Prophet etc....
The Old Testament prophet Joel foresaw the Spirit of the Lord working among individuals to help prepare the world for the Restoration. The Lord said, “I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
“And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit” (Joel 2:28–29).
Columbus himself declared: “With a hand that could be felt, the Lord opened my mind to the fact that it would be possible to sail and he opened my will to desire to accomplish the project. … This was the fire that burned within me. … Who can doubt that this fire was not merely mine, but also of the Holy Spirit … urging me to press forward?” 11
Later this made it possible for those seeking religious freedom could do so in America. A restoration could not take place effectively in any other land because of the lack of religious freedom.
*Englishman John Wycliffe (1330–84) has been called “the Morning Star of the Reformation.” 16 A priest and an Oxford University professor, Wycliffe was courageous and outspoken about religious corruption, and consequently his church condemned him. In 1382 Wycliffe was put under house arrest, under which circumstances he died two years later. However, before he passed away he began the first English translation of the Bible, which his followers completed after his death. Keeping the doctrines locked up and from the people was never intended by Christ but many did not have the ability to read.
*Hus and Wycliffe were precursors to the most prominent figure of the Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther (1483–1546). Luther was an Augustinian monk and a professor at Germany’s University of Wittenberg. After a monk came to Saxony in 1517 selling indulgences—essentially permission to commit sin—to raise money for Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Luther protested such corruption and worldliness by nailing his historic 95 theses—statements urging reform—to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church. Antagonism between Luther and the church grew, and in 1521 he was summoned by Emperor Charles V to appear before the Diet (Council) of Worms, where he made this courageous statement: “Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason—I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other—my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. … Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise.” 1
*About a hundred years after Wycliffe’s English Bible translation, William Tyndale (1494–1536) made an even more significant English translation of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew. When Tyndale could not find a publisher in England, he arranged for copies to be printed in Germany and smuggled into England. Tyndale’s translation was later used extensively by the King James translators of the Bible. Tyndale said: “If God spare me I will one day make the boy that drives the plough … to know more of Scripture than the Pope does.” 20 Tyndale was executed in Belgium as a Protestant heretic.