THE WORK OF THE REFORMATION.

By the Rev. S. Schillinger, A. M., West Alexandria, Ohio.

"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him. that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."-Thess. 2, 1-12.

Dear Brethren in Christ:

On the 31st of October, three hundred and eighty-nine years ago, Martin Luther, an humble servant of God, struck the key-note of the Reformation by nailing his ninety-five theses upon the door of the Castle Church at Wittenberg. These theses set forth salvation through the merits of Christ apprehended by faith, which is the kernel of all gospel preaching.

The natural inclination of man's heart to forsake this all-important doctrine, and to put in its stead his own works, underlies the apostle's admonition: "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand." He would say, we beseech you in the name of Christ and by all that He shall do at His second coming, to be steadfast in those doctrines which you must believe to escape the judgment of divine wrath. Do not suffer yourselves to be deceived when that falling away from the true evangelical doctrines shall begin, and that man of sin, the son of perdition shall introduce his errors, for he shall be revealed. To furnish ourselves with an example of such falling away from the truth, we need only to consider how the Romish church, with the pope at her head, had buried the saving truth of Christ beneath the rubbish of human works and indulgences. As proof that the wickedness of this wicked one has been revealed we need only to consider the work of the Reformation, which dates its beginning from the 31st of October, 1517.

Nor was it accidental that Luther nailed his theses upon the church-door just on this day. There was an incentive thereto. The following day, viz: the first of No

vember, the anniversary of the church's dedication was to be celebrated, in consequence of which multitudes of people usually assembled there to be supplied with indulgences by permission of his holiness the pope. An indulgence is a writing, which by way of illustration, may be compared with a receipt of the liquidation of a debt, given by permission of the pope to the people to certify that for certain sums of money their sins had been forgiven. Thus the Romish priests withheld from the people the merits of Christ, the true foundation of the forgiveness of sin, and establish the traffic in indulgences to accumulate wealth and to gratify the appetite of that man of sin. The pope, the pretended head of the church, had authorized one named Tetzel to carry on the sale of indulgences in and about Wittenberg, where Luther was faithfully performing the duties of his pastoral office. God, who in His wisdom even makes man's wickedness render Him glory, so arranged affairs, that when Luther admonished several gross sinners, though they acknowledged their guilt, they threw their indulgences before him, supposing them to be authority from the head of the church. Luther would not recognize their indulgences, and refused them absolution on account of their impenitence. The selling of indulgences and its evil influence upon the people put Luther's pen in motion, from which flowed the ninety-five theses that were firmly fixed upon the church door at Wittenberg, and greeted many a poor soul on the morn of the first of November. The world soon heard of this courageous act. In fourteen days the theses were spread throughout all Germany, and that day was fixed as the beginning of a period in church history. Our church, the church of the Reformation, has ever observed that day. It has ever been to her a day of joy, upon which her children open their hearts in gratitude to God

for the blessed Gospel that through this glorious work, was placed upon the candle-stick and again permitted to shine before the world. May our hearts by the grace of God, be engaged this morning in the same service while we consider

The Work of the Reformation.

I. Its necessity.

II. Its cause, and

III. Its benefits.

In considering the necessity of the Reformation we would naturally inquire about the previous condition of the church. Who can, with an unbiased mind, take a glance at the church's condition and not at once see the words of our text verified? The "falling away" had come; the man of sin occupied a lofty position; he showed himself to be God, thus robbing God of the honor due Him alone. The church with the pope at her head, and the priests with their godless walk, could not have become much more corrupt. That she needed a reformation in doctrine and practice was felt by many an honest soul, and will be admitted by every one who becomes acquainted with the dreadful condition into which she had fallen. The visible church is here meant, for the invisible church can never degenerate. The Romish was then the only generally acknowledged church, for she would not permit any other to exist. The church had in doctrine and morals fallen into the meshes of Satan through the leadership of that man of sin. Instead of acknowledging Christ as the head of the church, the pope, who showed himself to be God, was acknowledged as head and infallible rule over all. Instead of worshiping the living God the Virgin Mary was worshiped and adored as the only mediator between God and man. Instead of teaching and

preaching the pure Word of God the pope and priests taught and still teach the doctrines and commandments of men. They falsified the doctrine of the forgiveness of sin, through the merits of Christ alone, and taught that justification before God must be accomplished by man's works, a natural sequence of the vanity of the man of sin. They forbade the universal reading of the Scriptures; taught that matrimony, confirmation, penance, extreme unction and holy waters were sacraments; forbade certain food at certain times; taught that Christ died for original sin only; sacrificed Christ daily in the mass; mutilated the sacrament of the altar; worshiped images and the dead; placed the pope in the temple of God as the successor of the Apostle Peter; ascribed to him unlimited power over the Word of God; demanded on the part of the people blind obedience to his mandates; claimed that he possessed the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and that he could save whom he would, and whom he would he could damn. These were, and still are some of the false doctrines of the Romish church. She had also turned the temple of God into a den of thieves and in the midst thereof sat the pope, the man of sin, the true anti-christ, the son of perdition, opposing and exalting himself above all that is called God, and showing himself that he is God. But we do not wish to call the Romish church a den of thieves and robbers and murderers and not show you in what respect she was such. She stole that evangelical liberty and freedom from the people which Christ acquired for them through His innocent suffering and death. That liberty which was bestowed upon them freely, by a merciful God, through the blood of His only begotten Son, the Lamb of God, she stole and hid beneath the vile authority of the pope's presumption. She robbed them of the gospel truth which they ought to have known and