Why I am a Protestant!

 On October 21, 1517, Martin Luther’s hammer echoed forth on the wooden door of the castle church in Wittenberg.  The ninety-five theses that were affixed that day are the hallmark of what the Protestant church confesses.  Imbedded in these ninety-five complaints against the Roman Catholic Church, are the three solas and one solus.  The Protestant church is much divided into its various denominations and associations, but they all accept the Bible as the absolute standard of their faith and practices, rejecting the supremacy of the pope, the sacramental system of the Roman Church, and the works salvation as a means to God.

SOLA SCRIPTURA

      Scripture Alone: The Bible is the absolute and final authority for all beliefs and practices.  Whenever something is to be found contrary to the scriptures it must be discarded.  This confession cuts deep into the Roman Catholic, emphasis of tradition and canonical law equal to or more than equal to Holy Scripture.  This belief means that the Scriptures alone, carries all that is necessary for salvation and atonement.  The emphasis that Protestant’s place on the importance of the Bible separates us from the Roman Catholic Church, which places its emphasis on the Pope, as the Vicar of Christ.

SOLA GRATIA

    Grace Alone: This is rooted in the grace that God offers us; His gracious act of offering atonement and justification to undeserving mankind.  God alone is the source of this grace.  There us no chance a human could merit his own favour with God.  Ephesians 2 declares “For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves.”  This verse declares that salvation comes from God by faith, not by any work we can to by our own selves. 

SOLA FIDE

      Faith Alone: Salvation is by grace, but we must respond to it by faith, believing in Christ alone for our salvation.  Ephesians 2 declares again “ye are saved through faith.”  Good works are not the way to God, but are rather the fruits of the faith that we place in God. 

CHRISTUS SOLUS

     Christ Alone: Together the three solas, affirm that Christ is the object of the Protestant faith.  The Easter message or Christ incarnate, crucified, risen again, is the entire object of the Protestant faith.  We are saved by Him alone.

MARRIAGEUS SOLUS

   Marriage Alone:  Lastly we are Protestants because God has not called us to be celibates, and to be alone the rest of our days.  God has given us the privilege of accepting marriage as an honourable estate founded in the very structure of the Church.  Protestant clergyman can not be Roman Catholic, for this very important reason, they must find a helpmate for their ministry.  If we are going to be Protestants, we must follow Martin Luther’s example in this area of his life, and ascend upwards to the high calling of matrimony. 

CONCLUSION

     The term Protestant means that we stand for something.  Our forefathers had something to say against the established Church, and took their stand.  In many cases this stand, cost them their lives, but they realized that truth merits any price.  The Protestant Reformation caused a beam of light to shine once more in the Church, causing people to truly have right relationship with God.  May the Protestant church always confess in their creeds: Scripture Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone and Christ Alone!

The Lord’s Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer: A Personal Line of Communication

        The Lord’s Prayer can be heard across the centuries of time as men and women who love God echo forth the words that our Lord and Savior taught, in response to the question continually on man’s heart, “Lord Teach us to pray,”  (Luke 11:1). The Lord’s Prayer or the Disciples’ Prayer, as it is sometimes called, has sixty-six words in the King James Version and can be repeated in the span of one minute.  Regardless of the brevity in which most people recite it, it is a prayer that contains meaning and a far greater depth than most people gives it credit for.

      This prayer taught by Jesus has become the foundation for all prayer patterns and it also teaches us some formative information about God the Father.  Through this prayer we learn that, when we become Christians that God is ‘Our Father.’  In this recognition of who God is, it creates a since of belonging to the believer; because God as our Father loves us and cares for us.  The personal pronoun that is used to start the Lord’s Prayer brings the emphasis away from it just being a prayer for the Disciples, to becoming a prayer personal meant for us in our communication with God, who is our Father.

     In the context of the Lord’s Prayer there is a deep personal relationship emphasized with God.  Through this we are reminded that God as our Father loves us; as it says in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world,” that He loved the individual person that He was willing to send His son to save us from sin.  In this fact the individual can say that God is our Father with confidence and a surety that He is their Father through adoption.  Through the gift of salvation we are adopted to become sons of God; which establishes the father-son relationship.

      In the establishment of God as one’s personal Father the next part of the Lord’s Prayer establishes where God’s habitation is.  God is in Heaven and because of this we need to know about the place where He resides.  In the prayer we refer to Him as ‘Our Father, which art in Heaven.’   This refers to Him as being transcended (lifted up), or uplifted as it is said in the Anglo-Saxon definition.  Through this we affirm that Heaven is God’s realm and the Earth is the orphanage where He adopts His children.  In Heaven there is a peace that is free from assault from the devil, release from separation, freedom from grief, no more death, no more regrets, and a forever worship of our Father which is in Heaven.  As a result of where the Lord’s Prayer acknowledges where God is, we are to approach the topic with reverence, humility and complete submission in clear emphasis of God’s power and majesty.  Through this definition of where God is we can emphasis that God is not only our Father in Heaven but He also abides with us here on Earth and is with us at all times in our hearts.

    The next phrase of the Lord’s Prayer is a term of reverence and respect in referring to God that His name is hallowed.  This term ‘Hallowed be thy name’ emphasizes the appreciation and filial awe we have for God’s name.  There is so much contained within the meaning of His names, such as Adonai; which means Lord or in case with Moses at the burning bush “I am that I am.  These names reveal so much about who God is and that He is not confined to one fragment of our lives, but is all through it, for His name is hallowed and respected by all.  This name implies the title that God is our King and that He is a God of authority and those beings recognize His authority before all His creation.

     The next section of the Lord’s Prayer is ‘Thy Kingdom come.’  This section refers to the reign of Jesus, that His kingdom represents the entire Christendom.  This phrase emphasizes that Jesus’ kingdom includes His people, evangelism, and the spread of His Church.  It also implies that His kingdom is made up of the Church, His messengers, Revival fires, missions and missionaries.  This phrase is calling for God’s establishment of His kingdom here on earth, in the hearts and souls of all mankind.

     Through the recognition of whom God is and that His name is to be respect the next obvious division of the Lord’s Prayer is that His will be done.  The Lord’s Prayer said ‘Thy will be done,’ it does not say our will, but the will of our Father that is in Heaven.  A Danish Christian philosopher once remarked in reference to God’s wills that “Prayer does not change God; but it changes those who offer it.” To due God’s will is the most important part of this scripture because without the clear obedience of this fragment of the prayer the others are still meaningful but without the fire of the words.  As John 6:38 says “For I come down from Heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me.”  Jesus when He came to Earth was still doing the will of His Father.  This is the perfect example of how we are supposed to follow God and do His will, even as our Lord Jesus Christ did in obeying God who sees the larger picture.  

     In this next phrase the emphasis is place on the fact that God’s will is not only done in Heaven but also on Earth, as it says ‘In Earth as it is in Heaven.’  In Jeremiah 18:2 it refers to the Potter’s Wheel and how the potter has the master control and that He knows what is best for His pottery.  The same is the case with our Lord His will is done in Heaven and also in Earth in the shaping of our daily lives.  In Psalms 40:2 it says in reference to all God has done for us, “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.”  If we did not have God for our Father we would be in a terrible way; where we would still be sinking in that horrible pit and in the miry clay, but He came and pulled us out and established us in His way of safety.  As Phillip Keller said, “Obey and be blessed; disobey and meet disaster.”  Mankind has two distinct choices, as presented in this quote we can obey  God and be blessed or disobey and reap eternal punishment.

     The Lord’s Prayer next seeks God through a request ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’  In this part of the Lord’s Prayer it is asking for God to bless us with the things we need and that we may do all for His glory and praise.  As Mathew 6:33 says “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you.” Truly we can do all things for the glory of God and thank Him for all that He has given us each day.

      The Lord Jesus now tells His disciples to pray continually each day that God may forgive there debts or trespasses.  The phrase in this section is ‘And forgives us our debts.’  This illustrates to us clearly that we must remember our failures of the past so that we can forgive those who commit sin against us in the future.  Through the gift of God’s only Son to ransom us from sin, we have an eternal debt of gratitude to God.  But as truly as He forgave our debts we can pray that God will not only forgive us, but also pray ‘As we forgive our debtors.’ For even Jesus illustrated this fact in Luke 23:34 when He said “Father forgive them…” Truly Jesus is a living example of how He taught His Disciples to pray and to us in the present and to those in the future.

    ‘And lead us not into temptation’ is the phrase that means so much as we are not only asking God’s help for the past, but we are continuing to seek it for the present and the future.  The power of the tempter verses man is a spiritual struggle, but man can come out the victor through God’s help, as we pray for help in times of temptation.  As I John 4:4 “Greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world.”  The prayer also continues ‘Deliver us from evil.’  We pray this in I Timothy 6:11-12a “But thou O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life…”  Paul is instructing Timothy that the key in life is to follow God and nothing else.  If other things get in the way flee from it and follow after God with your whole heart.

     The final part of the Lord’s Prayer is the benediction ‘For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.’ We pray in this part that God’s kingdom is here even now in the hearts of man, and that we serve a God of power and majesty and that it is His glory and not that of mans.  This final phrase concludes the Lord’s Prayer with Praise, emphasizing the position of God, His power, majesty, glory, and his goodness.  This concluding sentence summarizes the definite purpose of the Lord’s Prayer which is to worship and praise Our Father in Heaven.

   The Lord’s Prayer is the most influential prayer in history because it emphasizes a clear communication with God.  Thomas Carlyle, a nineteenth century Scottish writer said “I tried to think out the Lord’s Prayer, but found it beyond my depths.”  Truly the Lord’s Prayer is an important form of communication with God as it emphasizes a personal relationship with Him and establishes a clear idea of the greatness of God.  It was once said “The Lord’s Prayer may be committed to memory quickly, but it is slowly learned by the Heart.” The Lord’s Prayer is an established communication line with Heaven for through it; Christians learn how to pray and connects us in a more deeply personal relationship with God.  As Matthew Henry said “The Lord’s Prayer is a letter from Heaven.”  Truly the Lord’s Prayer is a line of communication, by which we talk to the Father and He talks to us.

Rules for a Preacher’s Conduct:

1. Be conscientious and apply yourself in the administration of the gospel and in the means of grace.  In whatever you do, do all for the glory of God.  Never partake in something that is not beneficial for His kingdom; do not waste time, for every second is precious to God. 

2. Hold dearly to your heart, the word of God and follow the path that Christ laid, with fervor and take the ordinances of God seriously.  Follow the Lord, with all your heart, soul, might, and strength.  Do not waist time with thoughtless matters.  

3.  Talk less, minister much. Avoid all appearances of evil and be respectful to women.

4. Do not pronounce judgment against someone when you do not have all the facts.  If you see something that violates scripture, then report it.  Always remember that God has forgiven you, so observe this statute carefully and do not judge others prematurely. 

5. Do not talk about someone behind their back.  If you have to talk to someone do it carefully; and respect everyone’s feelings.

6. If you see sin, do not hesitate to rebuke it, but take care in how you express yourself to others.

7. Avoid all divisions among the brothers and sisters of Christ.  Always remember you are not there to serve half the Church, but to serve all of it.  You are the pastor of the entire Church body and should treat each one equally.

8. Do not allow anything sinful to enter into your life or into the Church.  Be ashamed of evil, such as are listed in the Ten Commandments and avoid all things that destroy and corrupt the mind. 

9. Time is the key to success.  Remember, one who keeps time and allows the clock to run smoothly will have a successful pastorate.  Follow and keep all the rules of the Discipline and forsake not one article of it.  

10. Be diligent in use of your time.  Remember that your occupation’s focus is one winning souls, therefore spend much of your time focused on the means of grace and witnessing to others.  Share the gospel with everyone!

11. Remember that you are employed by God; you are not to act according to your own will, but follow His ordinances and His directions for your daily life.  Keep all rules outlined in your Discipline, as long as; they do not violate God’s Holy Word.

12. Take heed in all your actions, do nothing that will not or can not glorify God.  Always remember for all that you do, you will be held accountable for it someday.

The Sabbath and the Christian

    The emphasis one places on the Word of God and the principles that it maintains is focused on whether an individual truly loves God.  To love God is to self-sacrificially commit oneself: to delight in Him, to rejoice in serving Him, to desire to continually to please Him, to seek one’s happiness in Him and to thirst for a fuller enjoyment of Him.  One’s regard to this definition of what it means to love God, all comes down to one’s commit to serve Him. The Bible contains a clear emphasis that to serve God, believers must worship Him, i.e. Isaiah 66:23 “And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.”

    The one significant factor of truly loving God is delighting in what He delights in.  One of these elements that is emphasized 174 times (BBW 6.0) in the scripture is that God considers the Sabbath to be essential for a relationship with Him.  The concentration of the Sabbath in the Christian life is imperative to truly love and honour God with our entire being.  Some questions that believers ask today in regards to Sabbath observance are: “Is the Sabbath Saturday or Sunday” and “Is the Sabbath binding upon the 21^st century Christian?”

“Is the Sabbath Saturday or Sunday?”

    This is a question that has plagued the Christian world over which day of the week are we to worship God.  In determining this factor one must take into account why we worship at all.  Why did God make the Sabbath?  God said in the book of Ezekiel 20:20 “and keep my Sabbath days holy, for they are a sign to remind you that I am the LORD your God” (NLT).  The Sabbath day was originally meant for a sign between God and man.  It is up to mankind to keep the Sabbath day holy, so that it may act as a day of remembrance to the God who has delivered us and kept us (just as He did for the Children of Israel).  Another key element to concentrate upon is found in the words of Jesus, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (KJV, Mark 2:27).  The Sabbath was created by God for the chief of His creation, mankind, to act as a sign and a symbol of remembrance.

     In the scriptures the recognition that God made the Sabbath is quite clear as it was seen in Mark 2:27.  The Sabbath was made for man by God for a specific purpose.  In order to love God it requires us to delight in what He delights in, as it says in Isaiah 58:13-14,  “Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the    Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the LORD’s holy day. Honor the LORD in   everything you do, and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly. If you do this, ¹⁴ the  LORD will be your delight. I will give you great honor and give you your full share of  the inheritance I promised to Jacob, your ancestor. I, the LORD, have spoken!” (NLT).  This reference emphasizes the truth that God wants us to keep His Sabbath, and He will delight in us.  He made it for us. 

     The issue of is the Sabbath, Saturday or Sunday is decided in the focus of what we are celebrating.  In the Old Testament the Jewish people were required by God to worship one day week.  It comes from the Hebrew word shabbath and means to desist, cease or rest.  This day God called the Sabbath, has a two-fold definition.  It refers to either a Jewish sacred day of worship and rest (the seventh day – OT) or the first day of the week (celebrating Jesus’ resurrection – NT).

      In the Old Testament God command His people to worship Him and picked a day that calls to remembrance the six days that God worked and then rested the seventh day (Genesis 2:2-3; Exodus 20:10-13; Leviticus 19:30).  This word Sabbath was not just focused upon the seventh day of the week, as some church groups emphasizes, but scripturally the Sabbath refers to a special time reserved to worship God, to rest and to remember His work in ones life.  One of these occurrences in found in Leviticus 23.  This passage is referring to the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, and is a call to remembrance of what happened in the Egyptian captivity.  Other special Sabbaths included the Day of Atonement and the seventh year release to let the ground lie fallow.

      Leviticus 25:7 “And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the          increase thereof be meat. ⁸ And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee,  seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee  forty and nine years. ⁹ Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the  tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound  throughout all your land. ¹⁰ And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty  throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and  ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his    family.” (KJV).  Therefore the Sabbath was not just a once a week observance by the Children of Israel on Saturday, but also a means of celebrating their love to God at different occasions.  This means that the word Sabbath does not just mean the Jewish Sabbath, but a day set aside to worship and glorify God, (Byer, The Sabbath). 

      There was a distinct historical shift that took place in the middle to late part of the 1^st century A.D.  This was a time where the Apostles and other believers focused on worshiping God both on the Jewish day of worship and on the day in which Jesus rose from the dead.  The historical shift is depicted in Revelations 1:10 where John said “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day…” (KJV).  Another scripture reference in which this is revealed to is in Acts 20:7 where it says “And upon the first day of the week the Disciples came together…” (KJV).  The Apostle Paul also stated this first day of the week as a time of worship in his letter to the Corinthians.  In 1 Corinthians 16:2 it says “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store…” (KJV). 

     Through examining these references we can confer that the day of worship for the Christian has migrated from the seventh day of the week to the first day.  At one time in the earlier church, both were observed but as time progressed the seventh day was dropped as a day of worship and only the first day of the week, Sunday was celebrated as the Christian Sabbath.  The focus of God’s command in Exodus 20:8 is to “Remember the Sabbath day, and to keep it holy.”(KJV).  “Christians are free from the Sabbath in that they can gather on the first day, and at the same time stand under the sign of the Sabbath in that they gather every seventh day” (Byer, The Sabbath).

“Is the Sabbath binding upon the 21^st century Christian?”

     Sabbath observance is binding upon all Christians.  The day that we worship may have changed but the universal principle, which states we are to delight in what God delights in, is still a factor.  God made the Sabbath day for man (Mark 2:27) before the commandments that Moses wrote were even codified. 

     The evidence is revealed in Genesis 2:2-3 “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. ³ And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” (KJV).  God had sanctified or set apart, one day out of seven in a week.  This was done approximately 3500 years before the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8-11), so this can signify that God considers this observance important in serving and delighting ourselves in Him.  If God, the creator of all things instituted this day of rest and worship in the beginning it is obvious to assume that He would require it not just for a short time span of a few thousand years, but for eternity (Isaiah 66:22-23). 

     The necessity of Sabbath observance was also codified in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15).  God specified in His law that we are to keep the Sabbath.  In various passages throughout the Old Testament a clear emphasizes is placed upon maintaining the Sabbath and keeping it holy.  In Numbers 15:32 “And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day.”  The scripture reveals more detail about this case in the next several verses.  The man is brought before Moses and the congregation of Israel and tried and taken out of the camp and stoned for violating the Sabbath, this is a specific application, as people are not stoned today for breaking the Sabbath, but the same element of God’s wrath has not changed, it does not please God for people to violate the Sabbath (Exodus 34:21 “Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: even during plowing time and in harvest thou shalt rest.”). 

     In the book of Nehemiah it gives more references to the importance of keeping the Sabbath Holy.  In Nehemiah 10:31; 13:15-21 it refers to the occasion when merchants tried to entice the God’s people to buy on the Sabbath day.  Nehemiah corrected this problem by ordering the merchants out of the city, locking the gates and then finally threatening to kill the merchants if they were to continue to violate the Sabbath. 

     The scripture specified in Leviticus 23:24 that the seventh day is an holy convocation of remembrance of what God did for them (Numbers 28:25 “And on the seventh day ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work.”)

      In this holy convocation to the Lord there is an emphasis placed upon three reasons why a day was reserved by God for man.  The first reason is that God reserved the Sabbath day for man (Genesis 2:2-3).  The second is that God made Sabbath for us to rest (Exodus 20:8).  Thirdly God made the Sabbath for a day of remembrance (Deuteronomy 5:12-15):

      Deut. 5:12-15 “Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath  commanded thee. ¹³ Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: ¹⁴ But the seventh  day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy  son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine  ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant   and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. ¹⁵ And remember that thou wast a servant  in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a   mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee  to keep the sabbath day.” (KJV).

      The Lord Jesus Christ is our example of how we need to keep and reverence the Sabbath day.  There were three main exceptions that Jesus reveals in His observance of the Sabbath that do not violate the universal principle of keeping the Sabbath holy. 

       The exceptions are 1) Deeds of Mercy, such as healing, or feeding animals (Matthew 12:10-12, Mark 3:2-5, Luke 6:6-10, 13:10-17); 2) Deeds of Necessity, such as the proper care of animals (Matthew 12:1-12, Mark 2:23-28, Luke 6:2-5); and 3) Deeds of Worship, such as priests in the Old Testaments preparing the burnt offering on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:5).

       The reasons we observe the Sabbath to day as Christians is routed firmly in the question of whether we truly love God.  The universal principle of this matter is focused on the fact that we are to delight in what He delights in.  The 21^st century believer is to keep the Sabbath holy as it was specified in God’s eternal law (Exodus 20:8-10).

     The Sabbath day is a day of rest and remembrance made by God for man.  We are to observe it and keep it in concordance with His divine will for the believer.  The Lord’s Day in which we choose to worship should be a day we set apart to focus on Him (Genesis 2:2-3), A day of celebration that Jesus is risen from the dead, A Day of assembly (Acts 13:42; Hebrews 10:25), and a day of rest from our normal work schedule (Exodus 20:8-10). Leviticus makes it quite clear that we are to obey God and keep His commandments of worshiping on the Sabbath.  “Ye shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary, I am the LORD.”  (Leviticus 26:2).

THE TRIUMPH OF JAN HUS

      “God is my witness that I have never taught that of which I have been accused by false witnesses.  In the truth of the Gospel which I have written, taught, and preached I will die today with gladness,” so said Jan Hus July 6, 1415 on the occasion of his execution.  Jan Hus was born in the year 1373, in southern Bohemia.  In 1390 he began attending the University of Prague where he obtained his BA and MA, in which he ranked sixth of twenty-two.  His literary mentor was John Wycliffe, whose teaching was transplanted from England with the marriage of Bohemia’s Princess Anne to King Richard II of England.  In 1396, Hus began to teach at the university and in 1402, he was received priestly ordination, and was appointed the rector and preacher of Bethlehem Chapel, a church in central Prague. 

      The plague of politics confronted Hus, in his attempts to support truth.  He lived during the time of the three popes, which were in a constant struggle for control of the church.  King Wenceslas, the Czech University and Jan Hus supported Gregory XII, but unfortunately he was deposed, and Alexander V gained the papal office and Gregory was deposed in 1409.  The following year in 1410, the declaration came in the form of Papal Bull, which ordered all Wycliffe, books and documents to be destroyed.  The Archbishop of Prague (Zbynek) achieved a prohibition of preaching in Prague, from Alexander V.  This greatly upset Hus, who kept preaching in Bethlehem Chapel.

      The King of Bohemia, was greatly angered with the German interference within his ecclesiastical province and decreased their voting power at the university.  Hus began to seek for reconciliation for the church in Bohemia and sought equal rights in regard to ecclesiastical rights and privileges (a Wycliffe teaching).  The theological faculty in Prague, urged Hus to yield his views of repentance and equality with God, for the sake of peace, but Hus replied “even if I should stand before the stake which has been prepared for me, I will never accept the recommendation of the theological faculty.”

      In 1411, the Pope John XXIII issued a call for an increase in the sale of indulgences and also issued a crusading bull against King Ladislas of Naples who was protecting Pope Alexander V.    Jon Hus spoke out against this and encouraged everyone to find peaceful means of reconciliation, instead of shedding blood, and also condemned the pope for raising an army to fight other Christians.  For this transgression on the behalf of Hus, he was excommunicated by Cardinal Peter degli Stephaneschi.  The city of Prague was also put under an edict because of his presence, and Hus therefore fled into exile.  Hus found residence in south Bohemia, were he proceeded to do much of his writing, such as Exposition of Faith and Exposition of the Lord’s Prayer. 

     The Holy Roman Emperor, Sigismund, called a council at Constance on November 1, 1414, to try to reconcile Hus with the Church.  He was promised a safe conduct both ways, even if the charges against him were not dropped.  Popr John XXIII, presided over the council at first, but was later deposed.  Hus was then seized by the Archbishop and imprisoned, in complete disregard of the safe conduct.  On June 5, 1415, he was tried for the first time, and he publicly announced that he would willingly recant, if errors in his doctrine could be produced.  He was instructed by King Wenceslas, encouraged Hus to bring himself to the mercy of the council, which Hus did.  The council asked him to confess: that he had erred in the theses which he had maintained; that he renounced them for the future; that he recant them and that he declare the opposite of these sentences.  Hus refused to do this, declaring that he had never taught what he was being charged with.  He continued to only ask for the council to show him from the scriptures where he had erred. 

     Jan Hus’ condemnation took place on July 6, 1415.  Hus prayed in his trial: “O God and Lord, now the council condemns even thine own act and thine own law as heresy, since thou thyself didst lay thy cause before thy Father as the judge, as an example for us, whenever we are sorely oppressed.”  Hus repeated over and over, that he only desired for them to show him from scripture where he had erred, but he was forced to be silent.  Hus fell upon his knees and asked God with a low voice to forgive his enemies. 

      He was then robed in priestly robes and then asked again to recant, which he refused.  His ornaments were taken from him and a high hat, which marked him as a heretic was placed upon his head.  He was then led to the place of execution were he was entreated again to recant, which he again refused.  He was stripped of his clothes in public humiliation, much like his Saviour and was tied to a stake and covered up to his neck in hay, wood, and manuscripts of John Wycliffe were added to the pile. 

      He was asked one final time to recant, but he refused again stating clearly “God is my witness that I have never taught that of which I have been accused by false witnesses.  In the truth of the Gospel which I have written, taught, and preached I will die today with gladness.”  As the wood was kindled and the flames began to rise, Hus sang a hymn “Son of God have mercy on me.”  Then as the smoke began to overcome him he cried out one final word of prophesy “In one hundred years, God will raise up a man whose calls for reform cannot and won’t be suppressed.”

            Jan Hus ashes were scattered into the depths of the Rhine River.  His life was ended but truth of his message lived on.  In almost exactly one hundred years later, an Augustinian monk, Martin Luther, nailed his 95 Theses to the Church door, final bring justice to the Roman Catholic Church, in the spirit of the many men of the faith that had died, for daring to confess the truths of Scripture.  On December 18, 1999, Pope John Paul II apologized for the execution of Jan Hus, but refused to pardon him, despite having adopted much of his then controversial teaching. 

            Jan Hus fought a good fight, he finished the course, he kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for him a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give him at that day: and not only to him, but also unto all them that love his appearing (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

How To Misinterpret The Scriptures

   The evaluation and interpretation of the Biblical text is foundational to how one group or an individual understands God’s word.  The resulting factors of not understanding properly how to interpret the scriptures is that one misinterprets what the Bible says.  This process of misinterpreting the scriptures can create conflicts over doctrine and create confusion in a new Christian’s life.   It is imperative that believers know how to study and to interpret the Bible properly and in its proper context.

    For a believer or anyone for that matter, to misinterpret the scriptures is not of any great trial.  There are numerous passages found in the Bible that people consistently take out of context and misinterpret.  The key element about how one would misinterpret the Bible is through ignoring the interpretive process altogether.  This causes one to evaluate the Bible as they would any book that is being printed off the press today.  The Bible is the word of God and is also a historical book and needs to be read and interpreted in its proper context. 

    One of the things that most individuals do wrong when studying the Bible is that they assume the scriptures are saying something, from the way the language reads.  They would follow the process of misinterpreting the Bible and then apply it to themselves.  In doing this they are applying principles that are not in the scripture.  An example of this is that in 2 Kings 4:1-7 the Biblical account where the widow ran out of oil.  In the New Testament and in passages throughout the Old Testament a reference to oil sometimes referred to the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 1:9 – Matthew Henry’s Commentary).  If one took the passage in 2 Kings 4:1-7 and interpreted oil as the Holy Spirit the application of this would be that believers today are not indwelt by the Holy Spirit. 

     Another example is found in Genesis 32:24-30.  This is the passage in which Jacob wrestled with an angel.  Some people would misinterpret this by saying that this should apply to us today that we need to wrestle with God in our prayer times in order for Him to answer.   People often misinterpret scriptures, like these because the fail to take scripture in context.  They want to allegorize when none is present and literalize an allegory. 

     In reference to misinterpretation one recalls the Neo-Calvinists who misinterpret the scriptures and believe in eternal security.  They use passages like John 10:29 “My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”  This is used to say that once we are saved, we can never be lost.  This is not what the scripture is saying.  It is saying temptations and trials given by the devil do not have to defeat us, we still have a choice as seen in passages like Matt. 15:1-6; Romans 6:22-23; 8:12-13; Galatians 1:6, etc.  The important element to remember is that the scriptures always need to be taken in their proper context. 

    To misinterpret the Bible one just as to read it in one of the translations (ex. KJV) and read it in the language it was translated in and except that as what the scripture is saying.  This person would continue on in not considering the historical setting of the book of scripture and why initially this book was written.  Once an individual did this the value of reading the scripture diminishes for him/her because they begin to think that the scripture is full of contradictions.  How one reads the Bible and how the attempt to apply it effects their Christian experience and ultimately in how they serve Christ. 

    The question of how one should interpret the Bible is found in the principles of interpretation that one must apply because it is a divine book written to mankind.  The principles that effect interpretation are:

1.      Principle of Simplicity: this involves in taking the scripture in its literal sense unless it is specified that it is to be taken figuratively.  This is crucial in such passages as Isaiah 55 where it says the trees clapped.  This obviously should be taken figuratively.  Another example is found in which the Roman Catholics believe that they actually are eating Jesus’ flesh, because he said “take eat this is my body.”  This is also to be taken figuratively. 

2.      Principle of History: When reading the Bible this is important to understand that the Bible is an historical book written in a certain time period to a certain group of people.  We must take it in its original literary, political. Physical, religious, technological, ideological, and social context. 

3.      Principle of Context:  When interpreting a passage of scripture one must take it in its immediate context (verse, passage, book, Bible).  For example in order to understand Mark 10:11 one needs to look to parallel passages like Matthew 5:32

4.      Principle of Harmony: God spoke without contradiction.  The Bible contains parallel passages, similar ideas and balanced ideas.  An example of this is found in James where it emphasizes works instead of faith.  This seems to be a contradiction, but it is not for it is emphasizing one part of the Christian experience where Hebrews is expressing the other.  

     One should interpret the Bible by following a specific method.  The method that most scholars support is 1) Read the Bible; 2) Observe the text; 3) Observe (ask questions about the text); 4) Begin to interpret the meaning (follow the principles of interpretation); 5) Once you apply the principles the next step is application. 

    The important elements of interpretation are based upon following the principles of interpretations in how to properly study the Bible.  Most people who misinterpret the Bible claim it is full of mistakes and errors.  The come to this conclusion because they fail to interpret the Bible properly.  If one is to misinterpret the Bible it leads to false doctrine and heresy.  Misinterpretation of scripture is what has led to cultic religious who read the Bible and applied their own understanding to the Biblical text.  The principles of interpretation must be applied in order to properly understanding the Biblical text.  The Bible must be interpreted properly in context.  The unfortunate thing is that many people go to the Bible for a blessing or for guidance for the day, ignoring the interpretive process altogether.  Without proper interpretation controls, people can attempt to make the Bible mean almost anything they want it to mean.  Proper interpretation is imperative for an inductive study of the Biblical text. 

Rev. Joseph L. Krohn