Why Was the Protestant Reformation Necessary?

The Good Confession at Caesarea Philippi

Amen. Take out your Bibles and turn with me to the 16th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. The 16th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, verses 13 -18, will not only be the verse for today, but this will be the verse that will take us through this series, and if you notice on the screens, we're beginning something today that I've been looking forward to for six months.

Actually longer, if you will. We're beginning our series called Foundations for the 500th, and I'll explain more what that means later. But we're going to begin with the confession of the Apostle Peter at Caesarea Philippi.

It says here, it says, Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, Who do people say that the Son of Man is? And they said, Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

He said to them, But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Father in heaven, I thank you for your word. I thank you for the truth, and I pray today that you would keep me from error.

For Lord, I pray always to be kept from the bounds and the bonds of error, as so many have fallen into. And I pray, Lord, that you would open the hearts of your people to hear and understand the truth.

And I pray that they would hear the gospel today. And I pray, Lord, that also, if there are those here who are not yet in Christ, who have not yet bowed the knee to Him and found in Him a perfect Savior, I pray today might be the day that they would recognize the need to turn and believe and to trust in Him.

I pray also, Lord, for this series. Lord, may it not just be an exercise in intellectual pursuit, or a self-aggrandizement over what it means to be reformed. But Lord, let it be a real investigation of the church into what it means to be what we claim to be, and the history that has brought us to this place and this time, and what we need to do looking forward.

And I pray this in Jesus' name and for His sake. Amen. You may be seated. Most people, and I know that that's a dangerous way to start a sentence, most people. Because it somewhat uses a broad brush, but I'm going to do it.

Most people, including Christians, are unfamiliar with history, and particularly church history. And it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the way things are today are the way things have always been.

Because it's all the experience we have. And we tend to think our experience becomes sort of the foundation for all truth, and it's not. And what I'm going to do today is talk about history. And I'm going to use the scripture we opened with, and I'm going to exegete it and talk about it.

But I'm going to be talking a lot about history today. So, this may seem like an odd sermon. In fact, it may seem more like a lecture that one might expect to get if they were going to a seminar or something on church history.

But I hope that you understand that interwoven in this history is the thread of God pulling history together in the direction that He had purposed. And so, there is reason. And you as a church person, as a Christian, if you are a Christian today, you should know your history.

You should know where you came from. And I have, last year or the year before, I can't remember when, I did a very long series, 2 ,000 years of church history, and I taught. And it is, to this day, the most downloaded thing we've ever put online.

Thousands of downloads of those messages. And I'm not going to be rehashing all of the things that I said in that. But I will commend it to your attention. If you've never listened to that series, it would be helpful in going along with what we're doing.

Because the reason for this whole series is that this year, on October 31st, which the world calls Halloween, we call it Reformation Day. The reason why we call it Reformation Day is because on October 31st, the day before All Saints Day, by the way, that's why it's called Halloween, All Hallows Eve.

Because All Saints Day is November 1st. So October 31st, 15 and 17, 500 years ago, Martin Luther, a monk in the Catholic Church, stood against not only the church, but the religious world. And he took a hammer and a nail, and he nailed 95 arguments against the teachings of the church to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg, Germany.

And that nail puncturing the wood of that door echoed throughout the world and changed the world. But Luther wasn't the only reformer. In fact, he wasn't even the first. But we do celebrate that nail.

Because with that nail, a world began to be built, a new world, a new idea. So let's talk today about history. And I want to begin with my favorite cartoon. Do you guys remember Peanuts? Lucy and Linus and Charlie Brown?

Well, in the Peanuts cartoon years ago, Charles Schultz drew what I consider to be one of the best and most poignant statements on church history. Some of you have heard me talk about this before. It's my favorite cartoon because Charlie Brown comes up to Lucy and he says, what are you doing?

And she says, I'm writing a paper on church history. And Charlie Brown says, OK. And he walks away. And the next thing you see is a little thought bubble above her writing. And she says, my pastor was born in 1945.

You see, that's for most people. That's when church history began. Church history began with Billy Graham, maybe Billy Sunday, you know, a little bit before Billy Graham. Church history really got going when you started having those Southern Baptist singers, those Southern gospel guys come out.

That's because that's God's music, you know. So we have all this sort of this church history is really relegated to the last hundred years. But you know what? A hundred years is not really that long of a time.

Historically speaking, a hundred years is a drop in the bucket. In fact, it is said the difference between Americans and Europeans is Europeans think that a hundred miles is a long way and Americans think a hundred years is a long time.

You know, there's houses in England that are older than our entire country. See, a hundred years is not a long time. A hundred years is a small drop in a bucket of history that spans thousands of years.

And the church is not 50 or 100 years old. The church, beginning with the work of Christ, if we will, and the work of the apostles, has spanned 2 ,000 years of history. And people tend to have a very myopic view of church history.

And what that has happened, the result has happened, is that has created an anti-intellectualism in the church. Because people have become more concerned with feelings and emotions and less concerned with history and theology.

And as a result, we have become a mile wide and an inch deep. And we know not from where we came. And the real sad thing is the people who really do invest in studies of history and things like that are often largely from the liberal perspective.

And they put that presuppositionalism in their teachings. And a lot of the only books you get on history are from a very liberal perspective. Thank God there have been men who trust in scripture and believe the Bible who have given us great works of history.

But they are the minority. So we have a responsibility as the people of God to study and understand history. The old adage is true. Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it. But there is a sad addition to that.

Those who do know the past are doomed to watch others repeat it. And that is what we are seeing. Because we are in a time right now where I am going to tell you the reformation happened five years ago.

But there needs to be a reformation continuing today. The banner of the reformation was Semper Reformanda. And if you know anything about Latin, you know Semper means always. Sort of like in the Marines they say Semper Fidelis which means always faithful.

But in the reformation Semper Reformanda meant always reforming. Always willing to go back to scripture. Compare what you are doing to the Bible and change if necessary. You have a standard. You have a scripture.

You have a truth that has been handed down to you by God. Be willing to go back. And right the ship. Because by 1517 when Luther nailed that parchment to the wall, the ship had almost overturned. It was time to right the ship.

It may be hard for us to imagine. But there was a time in history when things were much different than today. There was a time in history when believers didn't even have a Bible to read. You understand that right?

You understand that there was a time when the clergy were the only ones who really had access to the scriptures to read them. The scriptures were in Latin only. And because most people didn't speak or read Latin, they were bound to only understand and get what the minister would give to them.

And even during the time preceding the reformation, some of the ministers didn't even know Latin. They only knew the little bit that they had for their memorizations. And they would speak the memorizations over the table and things like that.

But they didn't have a working knowledge. So the scripture begins to be unknown by the people. There was even a time where they would chain the Bible to the pulpit. So that it could not be removed. Now I want to say this.

Some people say that that was keeping the Bible out of the hands of people. What it was, was that the Bible was so valuable that it would be stolen. It wasn't so much to keep it out of the hands of people as much as it was to keep it from being taken.

You imagine, it could take a scribe almost a lifetime to copy just one of the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. It was such a massive book. Handwritten. This is before Gutenberg. Handwritten copy.

So it was very valuable. But it tells you how little the people had the word of God. And then on top of that, some parts of church history are hard for us to believe. Sometimes even we don't want to hear about them.

And sometimes we even sweep them under the rug, which we shouldn't. There have been times where those who identified themselves as Christians were willing to torture and kill other people who called themselves Christians.

In the name of preserving the sanctification of the church. And that was wrong. I'm reminded of the fact that every time I step in front of this baptistry. And that is what's back here. There's a basin here that we put people in to baptize them.

And I'm reminded every time I step in front of this. That there have been men and women, my spiritual ancestors. Who stood for believers baptism and were drowned for that belief. It was called the third baptism.

They'd been baptized as infants. They rejected that baptism. They received baptism by faith. And because of that, they were drowned in what was called the third baptism. And you see what happens is we become so welded to our own context.

That it's hard to imagine the times which preceded our own. And the monumental events which have shaped the face of the church. And as I said already, one of the watershed moments was Martin Luther. And from that day on, history in general.

And church history in particular has been affected. You cannot underestimate how much influence the reformation has had. Not on the church, but on the world. There are things like what we call the Protestant work ethic.

Do you know what the Protestant work ethic is? The Protestant work ethic was the idea that you could actually do any job to the glory of God. That you didn't have to be in the clergy. Or you didn't have to be a member of the religious elite to glorify God.

But you could actually be a plumber to the glory of God. You could be a chemist to the glory of God. Or whatever it is Mike does, I'm trying to think. He works with computers. Or you could work for a gas company to the glory of God.

Like Jack did in the oil company. You can do that to the glory of God. And that was something that changed the way people worked. It changed the way people understood work. I can do this and glorify God in it.

So as I said earlier, I'm going to be looking at this history. And I'm going to be making reference to history and creeds and confessions. And we're going to be doing this over the next couple of months.

I'm excited. As I said, I wanted to start this back in January. But we were still in Acts. So I got us through the book of Acts. And now we're here. But before we dive into the study. Because we're going to eventually.

Let me tell you this. And I'm not trying to break up the thought. But we are going to actually use a confession of faith for this study. Not because confessions of faith rise above scripture.

They don't.

Every confession is subservient to the scripture. But a confession of faith provides an outline for us to go through. Sort of like a skeleton. And the confession of faith we're going to use. And I've studied many of them.

And I've looked at which one I thought was best for this series. And I've looked at the Westminster. And I've looked at the 1689. And I've looked at several confessions of faith. We are going to be using the 1646 London Baptist Confession of Faith.

Which is the first one. Not the second one. The second one is 1689. So if you've never read it. I commend it to your reading. Every week when you come in. We'll be using it as an outline. You say why that one?

Well that particular statement of faith. Is seven churches in England. Seven churches in England.

Who believed.

And I would say as we do. Were being accused of believing something they didn't believe. They were being accused of being Anabaptists. And by the way we're not Anabaptists. An Anabaptist is a Mennonite.

Or an Amish. We are not Anabaptists. They were being accused of being Anabaptists. And those seven churches said no we are not that. But we're also not Presbyterians. We are solidly reformed. We are solidly Baptistic.

And we are solidly Bible believing Christians. And here is what we believe. And I love the confession. And I hope you'll take a chance to read it. Because it's beautiful. And we're going to use that as the outline.

Over the weeks to come. But today.

Today.

I want to ask the question. Because before we get to a confession. Before we get to Martin Luther and his hammer and his nail. Before we get to any of that. We have to ask the question. Why was the Protestant Reformation necessary?

Why was this even a thing? Before I dive into that. Let me just say this. What I'm going to say today. I did not come here with a hammer to offend anyone. And if you've come in today. And you have a background in Roman Catholicism.

I want to tell you that I love you. And I in no way am attempting to disparage you as a person at all. But the reason why the Protestant Reformation was necessary. Was because of the corruption. That had infiltrated Roman Catholic teaching.

Again.

I love you.

If that's who you are. Or maybe you have family members. And that's who they are. Our goal is to preach the truth. Our goal is to never. I'm not looking to kick anybody in the teeth. But I got to say it as it is.

And the reason why the Reformation was necessary. Was because of political corruption and theological heresy. Political corruption and theological heresy. Those gave way to the necessity of the Protestant Reformation.

So having said that. Today we're going to look at history between the 6th century and the 16th century. You say that's a thousand years. You guys are going to be here for a while. We got lunch for you.

Don't worry.

We're going to do a thousand years of history. In 20 minutes. I'm obviously not. But I do want to make reference to some things. Because these are what led to the necessary changes that were needed. Okay.

So we're going to talk about Roman Catholic theology. And what was being taught. Roman Catholic theology. If you talk to a Roman Catholic. The argument that you will often receive is that that church goes all the way back to Jesus.

In fact they'll say we're the 2 ,000 year old church. We have been the church since Jesus. And they argue that Peter made his way to Rome. And established the church in Rome. And became the pope of the church.

Pope simply means the head or father of the church. And they believe that Peter had successors who came out of him. That were known as the popes. Or the fathers of the church. And they sat in what was called in Latin the cathedra petri.

The cathedra petri was the seat of Peter. So essentially by Peter establishing himself as the head. Everyone who came after him who sat in his chair took his place. And it established what was known as apostolic succession.

What does that mean? Well it is just what it sounds like. He was the first and head apostle. After he died somebody else took his place. And he became the next head apostle. When he died or resigned as we saw the last pope did.

The next person took his place and became the head apostle. And the idea in the Roman Catholic system. And this does make sense at least from their point of view. I always try to hear things from the other side.

Listen to what they're saying. The argument is this. Christ would not leave his church without a leader. Leaders are necessary. And so because the church needs a leader. When Peter died there was another leader and another leader and another leader.

And so on. Down to today which is Francis who is the latest of the popes. But here's the problem with this theology. It's not biblical. The argument for the papacy. The argument for the position of the pope.

Is found in the verse that we looked at this morning. Look back with me. You'll see here. Jesus is asking his disciples. Who do people say that I am? And his disciples are saying. Man people say you're everything from John the Baptist.

To Elijah reincarnated. People don't know who you are but they're thinking a lot. But who do you say that I am? And Jesus asked the pointed question. And of course Peter is the spokesman. Peter had. He had a problem like me.

He talked before he thought sometimes. And over the years I've tried to get better. At letting my brain outrun my mouth. Because for years my mouth outran my brain. And I know none of you have ever had that problem.

But I did.

And Peter did that a lot. Peter would just. He would just blurt things out. And in fact you remember that time. Peter says no this will not happen to you. And Jesus said. You know get behind me Satan.

Right.

It's actually right after this. He says. And so there are times when Peter just said things. But this was a time where he said right. Because Jesus said who do you say that I am? And the you here is not just Peter.

He's asking the apostles. Who do you say that I am men?

You're my men.

Who am I?

And Peter said thou art the Christ. The son of the living God. And that's what we call the good confession. Now I don't know if you noticed this. But everybody who joins our church. That's a question we ask them to respond.

Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ? The son of the living God. Because that's the confession that Peter made. And Jesus said.

Blessed are you. Simon son of Jonah.

For flesh and blood did not reveal that to you. But my father in heaven. You're a blessed man. Because the confession that you've just made.

About who I am.

Is a blessed confession. It's the greatest confession. It's the most precious confession anyone could ever make. Who is Jesus? He is the Christ. The Christ means Messiah. The anointed one. The one whom God has sent.

To take the sin of the world.

He is him.

And you're the son of the living God. And Jesus said. Blessed are you. And I tell you you're. Because at this point he was Simon. He says I tell you you're Peter. And the word Peter there means stone.

Actually it means like a pebble. He said you are rock. And on this rock. I will build my church. Now I want to tell you something. That short phrase. Has become the absolute argument of Rome. That Peter was the head of the church.

That he was the one. Because Jesus said I'm going to build my church on you. And so in fact if you. One of the magazines the Roman Catholics put out. Is on this rock. That's the title of the magazine.

Comes from this passage.

The idea is.

Peter was the rock. Now years later Protestants.

Would argue this.

It wasn't Peter. That Jesus would build his church on. But it was the confession. That Jesus would build his church on. And I hear some saying amen.

Wait.

Hang with me for a minute.

Because.

I want to point this out. Is the confession the foundation for the church? Now you wonder. Well I don't want to answer. Peter said. Thou art the Christ the son of the living God. And Jesus said. You are Peter rock.

And on this rock I'll build my church. And some people say well. The first time he used the word rock. He used pebble. And the second time he used rock. It was boulders. Two different words for rock. And I understand the argument there.

The only issue I take is that Jesus didn't speak Greek. He spoke Aramaic. And this is a translation of what he said. So I don't usually use that argument. I want to take this to consideration. What if Jesus did mean.

You're a rock.

And on this rock I'm going to build my church. What if that was what Jesus meant? Does that then tell us. That there's going to be this successional line called the papacy?

No.

In fact I want to show you something. Go with me to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. Beginning at verse 19. This is talking about the unity we have in Christ. And this is what it says. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens.

And remember why that's saying that. Because you were strangers and aliens from God. When you were outside of Christ. Because you were a sinner. But now you're not. But you are fellow citizens with the saints.

And members of the household of God. Built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. Christ Jesus being the what? Being the cornerstone. So if somebody came to me and they said. Okay I believe Peter is the rock.

In Matthew 16. I would say well linguistically. We can have that conversation. But here's what I think. And this is what I think bears out in Ephesians 2. I do think the apostles were used by God to be the foundation stones of the church.

Because it says here that he built his church on that foundation. The foundation of the prophets and the apostles. But that in no way means that that office is meant to continue forever. In fact the office of the apostle died with the apostles.

The office of the apostle is no longer an office that is exercised in the church today. What office today is the teaching office of the church?

The elder.

Not the apostle. The apostles were used by God. The apostles were used in the first century. To lay the foundation which was given to us codified in their written word. Which is the word of God. And thus this becomes the foundation.

But since then there is no apostolic succession. Peter did not appoint a successor. Paul did not appoint a successor. The idea of apostolic succession is a myth. It is not founded in the scripture. It's founded upon the need for power.

Because what came with the rise of the papacy? The rise in the political power of the Roman church. Do you know when the first person received the title of pope? It wasn't until 607. 600 years later. Well if you count the first century.

500 years later. From the foundation of the church.

We have a man.

Called Boniface III. And he was called by emperor Phocas.

Pope.

Which means papa. Which is Latin papa or Greek papas. Which means it's a child's word actually. The word for father. But do you know what other titles the pope has taken? Do you know what other titles the pope has given in Roman Catholicism?

Here is where you really can abandon the ship. Even if you want to argue about the rock. Even if you want to argue about what Jesus was talking about. When he said on this rock I will build my church.

Even if you want to debate all day long about the difference between Petra and Petras. Because that's the two Greek terms. The pope today is called. By titles that were never meant for any mere man. Number one.

He is called the vicar of Christ. You may have heard that. You may even have seen that. The term vicar means vicarious. Vicarious means a person who stands in the place of another person or a substitute.

Like if I said I can't go. But Nathan is going to go vicariously. He is going to go in my place. So you pretend you are me. Or at least you stand up for me. And you go for me. The problem here is that the pope has not the authority to be in the place of Christ.

In fact do you know who has that authority? The Holy Spirit of God. Because Jesus said this in the gospel of John. He said it is good for you that I go away. Because one will come like me. And walk with you.

And who is it?

Not the pope.

Who is going to come and walk with you? The Holy Spirit of God. It is actually if you want the verse. John 14 verse 16. I will ask the father and he will give you another comforter to be with you forever.

Even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him for he dwells with you and will be with you. The vicar of Christ is not the pope. The vicar of Christ is the Holy Spirit.

And when the pope calls himself the vicar of Christ. He is adopting a title that is a blasphemous title. But there is another title. I think even more blasphemous. Pontiffus Maximus. Even sounds kind of blasphemy.

This title has a long history. Goes back to the college of pontiffs in ancient Rome. Pontiff means a bridge builder. So Pontiffus Maximus means the greatest bridge builder. Now you ask a Roman Catholic and say that is not an official title.

But it is used on buildings. It is carved into stone referencing the pope. Coins and monuments to the pope have Pontiffus Maximus on them. And what is a person who is a bridge builder? It is a priest.

It is a person who takes somebody across. Somebody who takes someone to. Who has that role in scripture? Who is the mediator in scripture? Christ. There is one God and one mediator between God and man.

The man Christ Jesus. Not the man the pope. But he claims the title of the Holy Spirit. He claims the title of Jesus for himself. And he calls himself father. Which is the title for God himself. Beloved the pope steals all three of the triune titles for himself.

And there is a very real sense in which the pope proclaims himself as deity. Because he accepts the titles that are reserved for God. There are a lot of folks. I want to say this. And again not trying to be ugly.

I really. I think sometimes people think I am the meanest guy in the world. But people will say this. I really like the new pope. Because he is so humble. Any man who would let someone bow and kiss their ring.

And worship at their feet is not humble. Because when that happened to Peter. By the way who they say was the first pope. Cornelius fell down at his feet. What did Peter say? Stand up. For I am a man like you.

Worship God alone. Later in revelation what happened? John fell down before an angel.

A celestial being.

And the angel said no. Don't bow down before me. Worship God. Beloved. The papacy by itself. Has been the most destructive force in the history of the church. More destructive than even the outside dangers of the world.

Yeah. I mean at the same time the middle ages. At the same time the rise of Roman Catholicism. There is the rise of Islam. There is a lot of bad that came with that. There is a lot of danger that came with that.

And there is a lot of history that goes along with that. And the crusades and all that stuff. And that was bad.

And it is still bad today.

But the most destructive force for the souls of men. Has not been Islam. The most destructive force for the souls of men. Has been false teachings in the church. And beloved. The papacy. Rises above them all.

Because with the papacy comes.

The power.

To create that which is De Fide. De Fide means that which must be believed. To be saved. You realize the Roman Catholic Church has created doctrines. That must be believed.

In fact.

Changed doctrines. There are things that are believed by Roman Catholics today. That men like St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine. Would not have believed at all. And according to modern Roman Catholic theology.

Were they alive today they would be heretics. Things like the bodily assumption of Mary. The sinless nature of Mary. The immaculate conception of Mary. Do you know the immaculate conception has nothing to do with the birth of Jesus?

The immaculate conception is the doctrine that Mary was born without sin. Has nothing to do with the conception of Jesus.

If you look it up.

The immaculate conception is that Mary was born without sin. Actually conceived without sin. So that she could be the sinless womb through which the Savior would come. Absolutely unbiblical. Absolutely unfounded in history.

But now considered De Fide. If you do not believe it. You have denied the official teachings of the church. I'm running out of time. I am out of time. Let me just give you a few things. These things happened.

These things were added to Christian teaching over the years. Prayers to Mary, saints and angels. Didn't happen until the 600s. Worshipping of the cross, images and relics. Not until the 700s. Use of holy water by priests.

Not until the 800s. The prayer of the rosary. Where you use the little beads. Not until 1090. The sale of indulgences. Not until 1190. And the doctrine of transubstantiation. Not until 1215. And every one of those doctrines today is De Fide.

Must be believed. The last one is the one that gives me the most pause. Because the doctrine of transubstantiation radically perverted what happens at the table. And I'm going to end with this. Because if you want to ask me what was the thing that really drove the reformation into its birth.

It was that.

Because what happened with the table. Was they took this beautiful memorial service that was given to us by Christ. Where the blood was represented in the cup. And the body was represented in the bread.

And they said now this table is no longer a memorial sacrifice. No this table is the sacrifice. And they said this bread right here. When it is blessed by the priest. And it must be blessed by the priest.

Literally becomes the body of Jesus. Which is again sacrificed for you. And thus the sacrifice of Jesus. Is performed again. On your behalf. That is why in Roman Catholic teaching this is not a table.

This is an altar. Because on this altar the sacrifice of Jesus. Is performed again. You know what the Bible says? The Bible says Jesus died for sins once for all. A sacrifice that needs not to be repeated.

Next week we are going to look at some men. One of them being John Wycliffe. And one of the things that drove John Wycliffe out of the church. Was his teaching on transubstantiation. When he said this is not only a false teaching.

It is a new teaching. Because he was in the 1300's. And it was less than a century old. He said this is a new false heresy. And it has made its way into the church. And it has corrupted the gospel. Because now we have this.