Reformation Day
October 31, 1517

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This day is one of the most important in the history of the Christian church. It is considered the turning point in the history of the church. It is often called Halloween (All Hallows Eve), but it is better called Reformation Day because of the desire to reform the church of Jesus Christ.

1. The Condition of the Church in 1517
   The masses could not read or write. People had no access to God's Word, only the priests who spoke Latin. Priests were the sons of nobility. They were often vulgar, immoral and concerned about worldly riches. Superstition, idolatry and paganism saturated the Roman Catholic Church. One of the worst superstitions was: INDULGENCES People were not in fear of hell. If blessed by the priest before death they were guaranteed heaven since the church held the key to the gates of heaven. What people feared was purgatory. This was the place where people supposedly went in order to be purged of their sins through punishment before they went to heaven. The Roman Catholic Church took advantage of this fear by selling "indulgences." An indulgence was literally a piece of paper signed by the church which allowed a person to "indulge" in sin and not be punished for it in purgatory. The indulgences were very expensive, but in the view of the common man, well worth it! As the monk Tetsel used to sing when he sold them, "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from Purgatory springs." Along with indulgences the Roman Catholic Church taught the power of relics. People could obtain favor from God by worshipping the relics of dead saints. These superstitious teachings led to great ignorance among the masses regarding the true gospel.
2. The Coming of Martin Luther
   Luther was born on November 10, 1483 in Prussia (modern day Germany) to a very poor family. He was disciplined sternly by his parents, sang for money on the streets at 14 and has been called rough granite rather than a polished diamond. At 18 he entered the university to study philosophy and graduated in 1502 with a Bachelor of Arts, in 1505 with a master's degree at the age of 22. His father wanted him to enter law, but Luther entered the monastery in 1505 because lightening had struck and killed his best friend and then a few weeks later lightening almost killed him. "St. Anna," Luther said, "I will become a monk." Luther was a dedicated monk. He lived in a room with a table, chair and bed. He prayed seven hours a day. He fasted and went to confession often. He said 25 Ava Maria's a day but he "could find no peace." He was appointed professor of Wittenburg University and in 1510 traveled to Rome and crawled up the 28 steps of the St. Peter's Church on his knees looking to earn the favor of God. However, a verse kept coming into his head, "The just will live by faith" (Romans 1:17). Through this verse, the Holy Spirit converted Luther. It was seven years later that Luther penned his 95 reasons why the Catholic church ought not sell indulgences and the Reformation began, lasting until 1648.
3. The Cry of the Reformers
   
   • Sola Gratia -- by grace alone.
   • Sola Fide -- through faith alone.
   • Sola Scriptura -- Scripture alone.

• When Martin Luther married, neither he nor his bride, Katherine von Boar, felt "in love." Katherine was still getting over a broken engagement to a man she truly loved. And Martin admitted, "I am not 'in love' or burning with desire." Yet their love for each other blossomed throughout their 20-year marriage.
• Luther knew most of the New Testament and large sections of the Old Testament by memory.
• Nearly everyone noticed Luther's remarkable eyes. One of his students described Martin Luther's "deep black eyes and brows, sparkling and burning like stars, so that one could hardly bear looking at them." One of Luther's enemies said his eyes were "unusually penetrating and unbelievably sparkling, as one finds them now and then in those that are possessed."
• Luther's German translation of the Bible had more influence upon the German language than the King James Version had on English. Though almost 460 years old, Luther's translation is still sold and read widely.
• Martin Luther has been called "one of the greatest preachers of all time," yet he became deeply discouraged with his congregation. Despite his admonitions and instruction, Luther felt, his people remained godless. "It annoys me to keep preaching to you," he said, and in 1530, he actually went on strike and refused to preach for a time.
• In 1527, a terrible plague struck Wittenberg, and virtually all of Luther's students fled for their lives. The elector (prince) begged Luther to leave town also, but Luther felt pastors should stay and help the afflicted. Because he and Katherine took in so many sick and dying people, their house had to be quarantined even after the plague ended.
• Luther was so generous he was sometimes taken advantage of. In 1541, a transient woman, allegedly a runaway nun, came to their home. Martin and Katherine fed and housed her, only to discover she had lied and stolen. Yet Luther believed no one would become poor by practicing charity. "God divided the hand into fingers so that money would slip through," he said.
• Even on his wedding night, Luther couldn't refuse a person in need. At 11 p.m., after all the guests had left, radical reformer Andreas Karlstadt knocked at the door. Largely because Luther fiercely opposed him, Karlstadt had fled town. But now, when Karlstadt was fleeing the Peasants' War and needed shelter, Luther took him in.
• Luther made singing a central part of Protestant worship. In his German Mass of 1526, he dispensed with the choir and assigned all singing to the congregation. He would often call congregational rehearsals during the week so the people could learn new hymns.
• Luther was convinced he lived in the last days. In the foreword to his translation of Daniel, he identified the Antichrist of Daniel 11 as the papacy; the "small horn" of Daniel 7 was the invading Turks.
• Luther enjoyed beer and wine as God's good gifts. He has a mug with three rings. The first, he said, represented the Ten Commandments, the second the Apostle's Creed, and the third the Lord's Prayer. Luther was amused he could drain the mug of wine through the Lord's Prayer though a friend could not get beyond the Ten Commandments. But Luther is never recorded to have gotten drunk.
• Luther said he would be glad for all his works to perish except On the Bondage of the Will, which emphasizes people's inability to save themselves, and his Small Catechism, which explains the faith to children.