Repeating Lessons

One of the most difficult struggles I have fought as a minister has been my desire to always present something "new", something my audience has never heard or thought of, everytime I teach or preach. Thankfully, God has slowly delivered me from this over the past decade or so. Luther has been one of the means the Lord has used to convict me of my foolishness on this matter. You and I need to hear the "same old doctrine" repeated over and over and over again!

Luther loved the book of Galatians and lectured on it at least 6 times. In 1535 he wrote a forward to lectures he gave on the book in 1531-1532. Note the opening paragraph of his forward.

We have taken it upon ourselves in the Lord's name to lecture on this Epistle of Paul to the Galatians once more. This is not because we want to teach something new or unknown, for by the grace of God Paul is now very well known to you. But it is because, as I often warn you, there is a clear and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure doctrine of faith and may substitute for it the doctrines of works and of human traditions. It is very necessary, therefore, that this doctrine of faith be continually read and heard in public.

God has given the good doctor great wisdom in these remarks. We need to hear the clear teaching of the Lord again, no matter how many times we have heard it before!

You don't have to be "new" everytime you preach and teach. You simply need to be Scriptural.

On Prayer

Thus if anything is to be done well, it requires the full attention of all one's senses and members, as the proverb says, 'The one who thinks of many things, thinks of nothing and does nothing right.' How much more does prayer call for concentration and singleness of heart if it is to be a good prayer!

Luther, "How One Should Pray, for Peter, the Master Barber", 1535

Why "Luther"?

Why does Luther so fascinate me? I have often asked myself the same question. There are a few reasons that come immediately to mind and I thought I would post some of those reasons here.

I can trace my initial love of Luther to a course I took at the Criswell College (then the Criswell Center for Biblical Studies). The class was an overview of Church History taught by Dr. John Pretlove. When Dr. Pretlove reached the period of the Protestant Reformation, I became extremely interested in the people and events of that time. I took another course with Dr. Pretlove on the Protestant Reformation specifically in which we dealt, in more detail, on the people, places, and theology of the Reformation.

At some point during my Christian walk, I received some wise counsel instructing me to find Christian heroes in history. I was encouraged to study these heroes, emulate their good qualities, and avoid their bad ones. Having developed a natural love of the Protestant Reformation, Luther leaped out as one of my heroes.

Martin Luther is a hero to me because of his stance on the Word of God. To Luther, the Word of God, the teaching of the Bible, had authority over all aspects of one's life. When the church's teaching was contrary to the Word, Luther opted for the Word. When those around him preached and lived contrary to the Word, Luther opted for the Word. As he said at the Diet of Worms in 1521, "my conscience is captive to the Word of God." How I love that characteristic of Martin Luther and have tried to emulate it!

Also, is a hero to me because of his boldness. Here was a man who stood before Catholic leaders as well as political leaders, including the Emperor and would not yield his committment to the Lord and His Word. Here was a man who was under the condemnation of both church and state, an outlaw to both, yet persevered in the Lord's work. Here was a man who faced execution from both the religious and political worlds nevertheless continued to preach God's Word. May I be so bold in the presence of what little persecution I ever experience!

There are other reasons why I admire Luther and other characteristics of the Reformer which I want to emulate in my life. However, there are also some Luther traits that I want to avoid as well. Perhaps I will share some of those in the future.