Ps.119:105 – Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
The Lord breaks in upon our world at various times to speak and to advance His kingdom and call His children unto Him. One of those great moments in history was the Protestant Reformation in the 1500’s that radically changed civilization. The two names that stand out above all others in this season were Martin Luther and John Calvin. These men, like all of us were imperfect with various flaws in their lives and saw the spiritual world imperfectly like Paul said, “we see through a glass darkly”. Their revelation, teaching, and preaching launched the Protestant movement that is alive and well today bringing the gospel to the nations.
Today, I want to mention one of the the truths the Reformation introduced back to the church during that season, a restored emphasis on the written Word of God. Over the hundreds of years since the church started God’s word became unavailable to the common man only being available in Latin which no one spoke in the 1500’s. Only the priests and the highly educated could read God’s Word. Luther translated the Bible into German which began a revolution of Bible translations to the people of the world that continues today. The availability of God’s words to the masses brought an awakening because we know that God’s word is alive and active as Paul said in Hebrews 4:12 – “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”.
Now that the Word of God became available to the common man and woman the world was turned upside down in a short period of time. Nations changed in a matter of years, colleges began to train pastors for the ministry, and churches were birthed all throughout western civilization. In the 1600’s persecution began to break out against Puritan and other Protestant groups that resulted ultimately in the birthing of our nation, the United States of America. Our response today should be to value God’s Word and saturate our lives in its teaching. The results will certainly lead to another of those God seasons of Spiritual Awakening.