REFORMATION DAY---CHARLES WOODRUFF

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16, 17)

  I hope you had a Happy Reformation Day. I did. Perhaps your reply to that is “Reformation Day? I thought it was Halloween.”  You are correct, but only because some things are not out in the open, as they should be. You see, on October 31, 1517, a Catholic priest named Martin Luther nailed 95 theses to the door of his church at Wittenberg, Germany. These writings were items of concern to him regarding the corrupt direction of the Roman Catholic Church at that time. Some of his main points had to do with a fantasy called indulgences. It was a scheme promoted in Europe in order to get money from the faithful. It was a pretense, for the scheme was based on giving money, or goods to buy someone out of guilt for their sins. The price was set by the priest visiting the town on behalf of the church to raise this money. There were a number of priests involved in this scheme, which was widespread.

 In Martin Luther’s area of Germany there came a Dominican friar, Tetzel, who was the architect of the plot there to bleed the people dry. Tetzel stated that “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings the soul from purgatory into heaven springs.” Luther opposed him, and had confrontations with him. It later resulted in the writing of the 95 theses, which were nailed to the door. This was not a rare thing. Often the door of the church was an outlet for news and announcements. This batch of information was different, however. First, it was written in Latin. Most of the people could not read Latin. Second, it was strictly church matters, and would not likely interest many outsiders. But because Luther preached on these things, it was spread.

 Somewhat earlier the Lord had been dealing with Martin Luther concerning the life of faith. When he was reading Romans, and came across Romans 1:17, it spoke to him in an urgent and special way. He was especially attracted by the last part of the verse “As it is written, the just shall live by faith.”  It was obvious that God was already dealing with Luther to instruct Him in the truth. He struggled with the truth of this verse. He sought advice from other priests. No one had a satisfactory answer. They all went with the Romanist traditions of interpretation. Luther was not satisfied with this. His struggles with the gospel were already causing interest from the pope. He had sent letters of censure to Luther already, so when he nailed these 95 theses to the door, it caused uproar in Rome. It was the culmination of an ongoing struggle between Martin Luther, and the Catholic Church over reform. Especially so in practice of donations for indulgences. However, there were other deeper issues that revolved around both theological concerns:

• On a theological level, Luther had challenged the absolute authority of the Pope over the Church by maintaining that the doctrine of indulgences, as authorized and taught by the Pope, was wrong.
• Luther maintained that salvation was by faith alone (sola fide) without reference to good works, alms, penance, or the Church's sacraments.
• He had also challenged the authority of the Church by maintaining that all doctrines and dogmata of the Church not found in Scripture should be discarded (sola scriptura).

The turmoil increased over several years, and finally  in 1521, Pope Leo X issued the Papal bull Exsurge Domine ("Arise, O Lord"), outlining 41 purported errors found in Martin Luther's 95 theses, and other writings related to or written by him.  On April 17, 1521 Luther had to appear to answer charges at Worms, a city some 300 miles away from Wittenberg. It was at that time a journey of 15 days. Luther was guaranteed safety for his travel there and back. When Martin Luther appeared before the assembly, Johann Eck, an assistant of the Archbishop of Trier, acted as a spokesman for the emperor, Charles V. Luther was set to explain the meaning of the 95 theses, but Eck demanded that he either affirm or renounce the writings. Luther was very adamant, though polite, and asked for 24 hours to consider it, which was granted to him.

The next day when appearing before Eck, and the others at that hearing, Luther uttered these famous words.  “Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures, or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted, and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot, and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen.”

It is interesting that Luther is sometimes also quoted as saying: "Here I stand. I can do no other". Recent scholars consider the evidence for these words to be unreliable, since they were inserted before "May God help me" only in later versions of the speech and not recorded in witness accounts of the proceedings.

The result of the Diet of Worms was that Luther was excommunicated and considered an outlaw. The emperor Charles V stated in the final draft of the Diet of Worms “We want him to apprehended and punished as a notorious heretic.” It also made it a crime for anyone in Germany to give Luther food or shelter. It permitted anyone to kill Luther without legal consequence. He had the guarantee of safe travel, but Luther did not trust in that. Others had been promised safety and were caught and killed.

In God’s providence someone was looking out for Martin Luther. Frederick III, the Elector of Saxony, had him intercepted on his way home by masked horsemen, and escorted to the security of Wartburg Castle at Eisenach. During his stay at Wartburg, which he called “my Patmos”; Luther translated the New Testament from Greek into German, and poured out doctrinal and polemical writings. Luther was protected by God for the purpose God had ordained for him. He wasn’t a perfect man, but he was a vessel of honor, used by the Lord in a mighty way to set forth the Reformation. It was January 18, 1518 when the 95 theses were translated out of Latin into German. It was printed and widely copied, making the controversy the first in history to be aided by the printing press.

So we must remember Reformation Day. Why do you think the devil has been so enthusiastic about Halloween? Surely you must know. The date is so obvious. Satan does not want mankind awakened out of sleep and following Jesus Christ. At all costs he has wanted that door to remain closed. Luther didn’t have all the light, but he had a lot. Those who came after him were given more. We need to work while we still have some light, for night is coming when no man can work. We must preach Christ to the nations. Pray with us about this ministry. It is getting out all over the world. Pray that God will anoint it, and use it to reach sinners. I am amazed at where letters and emails come from. We have only scratched the surface. We can do so much more. You can help us to spread the uncompromised word of God. Will you? Our Sermon Audio work is accomplishing much. I want it to do much more. Do you? God bless you!!

Published by Charles Woodruff- email: oursong2000@yahoo.com

SOME THOUGHTS FOR TODAY

Today I offer you some various thoughts to consider. We must seek God for all
our answers.He has spoken to us clearly in His word. I hope these thoughts are a help
to each of you. Please pray for me.   

    
 “He Must Increase, But I Must Decrease” John 3:30
I would far rather publish the good writings of my brothers and sisters than to seek glory
for myself by always being the one doing the writing, or the preaching. Let Him who “ever
lives to make intercession for us” (Hebrews 7:25), receive any glory that comes from these
feeble publishing efforts. To paraphrase George Whitefield “Let the name of Woodruff
perish, but Christ be glorified!” I only let you know who I am so that I may be of service to
you in Jesus Christ.
As George Whitefield himself said:
“Unloose my stammering tongue to tell, Thy Love immense, unsearchable”.
 
Enemies of the Christian That Rise Up Against Him                            
We know that the world, the flesh and the devil are our enemies. We may have our worst
problems with the flesh, though that very flesh may lead us to say “the devil made me do it”.
The flesh brings the believer these problems:
1. Indifference= spiritual coldness.
2. Ingratitude= unthankful to God.
3. Inconsistency= unstable in all our ways.
4. Inactivity= Not interested in the things of God.
5. Indecency= Immorality, sin, rebellion.
(The remedy can be found in Psalm 3:3, 4.)
“If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel
you believe, but yourself.”(Augustine of Hippo).
 
The Subject of Liars                                                                                                                     
A preacher finished the service one morning by saying, “Next Sunday, I am going to preach on
the subject of liars. As a preparation for my sermon, I would like you all to read Mark 17.”
On the following Sunday, the preacher rose to begin. Looking out at the congregation he said,
“Last week I asked you all to read Mark 17. If you have read the chapter, please raise your
hand.” Nearly every hand in the congregation went up. Smiling, the preacher said, “You are the
very people I want to talk to. Mark has only 16 chapters.”
 
Reformed Theology - Sola Scriptura                                               

The Arminian doctrine of election states that God looked into the future and chose those people 
who were going to choose Him. In Romans 8, the Greek word for ‘foreknew’ means to ‘to
know beforehand’ ‘forelove’ or ‘foreappoint’, not ‘look into the future’. The Arminian
absurdly believes that the eternally omniscient God looked into the future to gain knowledge
from His creations.No being can choose Christ until He is revealed to himself by the Lord.
 
The Author of Salvation
"For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many
sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings" Hebrews
2:10).A Captain in today's U.S. military is a high ranking officer. In the U.S. Navy the rank of
Captain is equivalent to U.S. Army Colonel, which is higher up the ladder than the Air Force,
Army or Marines’ Captain. So when we see the King James phrase "captain of their salvation"
we realize it is an officer of high rank in the military. But, actually the same Greek word is
translated "author" in Hebrews 12:2. "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our
faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is
set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Some versions say "leader", "originator",
"founder", "author", etc... Jesus Christ is all that. He is the author, leader, originator of this life
changing event, this thing, this joy, which we call salvation. Our following of this leader is not
to simply be going forward in a congregation one time to make a confession of faith, but is a
lifetime of endeavoring to follow Him who is the Good Shepherd. The sheep do follow Him. I
remember well the hymn we sung so often in my Southern Baptist childhood "Where He Leads
me I will Follow". (See link) http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/w/h/e/wherehlm.htm .To sum
it up, a captain is a leader. There is much more we could say, but that is beyond the purpose of
this short meditation. As His sheep, we should be prepared to do as the old hymn says, and
follow Him today wherever He leads and "Go with Him, with Him, all the way".
 
"At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto
babes." Matthew 11:25Jesus' words here show us:
To some sinners truth is revealed;
To some it is hidden and concealed.
 
A Warning! 

This is a warning I hope we all take to heart. As people of The Word,we have to ask ourselves
“How we can really expect to improve on a perfect model?” Cautiously, I will say that some new
ways of applying the unchanging biblical principles are fine. We need to be able to communicate
with 21st Century culture, but we must not abandon the heart of the Gospel, and basics of 
authentic discipleship in the process. We must preach the pure gospel as Paul, John,
 and Peter did! Amen!
Published by Charles Woodruff- email oursong2000@yahoo.com

NOTES FROM MY BIBLE- VOLUME 6

As my latest Morsels for 2012, I decided to give you one more of the Notes From My Bible series. Those have been appreciated by many, and I have a bunch of notes from over the years. Your comments in this series have been read with much appreciation. Thank you.

                             Notice in a Small Town Newspaper

In case you should find a mistake in this paper, please consider that it was put here for a purpose. We publish something for everyone, and some folks are always looking for mistakes.

                                                   Christ’s Love

1)  The church: His love when loveless and unlovable.

2)  His love had no cause (that is, in us).

3)  His love when hated by the world.

4)  His love when tempted and deserted by all others.

5)  Christ’s love-from first to last. He loved the church and gave Himself for it.

(From John Bunyan; Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners)

                                                       Thoughtful Sayings

A man should learn something from many examples; even every one that he meets. That is learning. However godly wisdom can only come from God. (Read James 1:5)

The songs we sing and listen to reflect the song in our heart. Sing me a song about Jesus!

There happen to be more places than ever where we Christians are desperately needed. Real love, however, is not thin skinned. We must not follow Christ in search of welcoming parties or applause. Sometimes we are going to receive opposition, and we must honestly face that.

                                        Do You Go To Church?

There are many who do not, for various reasons. One of the most common objections is “There are too many hypocrites there”. Not a good reason. The issue is between you and God, not others. What about when you die. Will someone have your funeral in a church?

If they do, there are several things to consider.  1) You will go regardless of the weather. 2) You    will go regardless of how your family feels. 3) You will go to the altar, but you will not pray. 4) You will go regardless of how much you are needed at your job. 5) You will go regardless of the hypocrites there. WHY DON’T YOU GO NOW WHEN IT CAN DO YOU SOME GOOD?

               The Triune God Has Designed Man as a Three Part Creature

Man is a three part being. 1) The body is world consciousness. 2) The soul is self consciousness. 3) The spirit is God consciousness. (But the spirit does not live until you’re born again.) “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” (Ephesians 2:4-5)

                                            

                                                          About Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is the only man who has ever lived who had power to choose where, how, and to whom He would be born. Yet He chose, 1) The espoused wife of a lowly carpenter as the vessel to born Him. 2) The most despised nation on the earth to be His people as far as race. 3) The poorest way, and time in history to be born. 4) They were evil times, yet He lived there perfectly.

5) His people were in bondage to the Romans, yet He came not to deliver them from the worldly powers, but from sins dark power. 6) He never did wrong to anyone, yet He died the cursed death of a vile criminal. His own crime did not take Him to death, but ours did. Hallelujah!

God will have nothing to do with anything He did not originate, that He did not sustain, or that does not bring glory to Christ.

The Source—God Almighty                                    

The Course—Calvary

The Force—Pentecost

Grace is unmerited favor bestowed.

Mercy is deserved punishment withheld.

Wrath is the unleashing of the deserved punishment.

You cannot believe what you have no knowledge about anymore that you can return from somewhere you have never been. The Bible is our key to truth, and we must study it.

                                                      Truth

Truth needs no defense. False teachers always find it necessary to defend their false doctrine. We could say these are tests 1) What think you of Christ?  2) What think you of the word of God?  3) What doctrines are the highest regarded, or is there a scriptural balance? 4) What think you of hell, heaven, Christ, God, Second Coming, the Bible, the judgment, Righteousness?  Heretics are distorters of the truth, and teach error. Apostates are those who once knew the truth, then left it; yet still maintain the guise of it. The World Council of Churches, the ecumenical movement, liberalism, etc., have all been, in reality, like this all the time; but were manifested after a season. As 1 John 2:19 tells us “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have no doubt continued with us; but they went out, that they might be manifest that they were not all of us.”  God ordains all things for His children. He has put me in the 20^th, and 21^st century; the jet age. But, God never changes the teachings of His word. The old truths will work today. Jesus is the same today. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”  (Hebrews 13:8)  Preach Him, worship Him and love Him! Amen

Published by Charles Woodruff- email: oursong2000@yahoo.com

A SOCIALIST NATION? BY CHARLES WOODRUFF

Over two years ago, on Sunday, March 21, 2010, the US House of Representatives passed a controversial health care bill which Congress had debated and struggled with for over a year. The bill and the changes in health care that it represents has been labeled Obama Care. This is a truthful label, for President Obama’s greatest passion for his first year in office was the passage of this bill into law. He was quoted as saying that his presidency was finished if it did not pass. Maybe that was overstated, maybe not. That is not even the important thing here. What is important concerns the impact on the nation. There are many problems with this legislation which I will not try to cover at length. There was so much opposition that it has not been yet implemented. Here are what I see as the major problems with it, not necessarily in order of importance.

1) It is socialized medicine. This is the type of controlled program they have in Great Britain, Canada, Sweden and other nations. It actually makes health care less accessible, and regardless of what they say, gives the government control over about 20% of the US economy. They have already tried to take control of the automobile industry, banking, etc... National ID cards are in the works, and they are looking hard at the communications industry, including the internet. This is all the first giant step of implementation of socialism. I have studied socialism and communism, and believe me, this is not what the USA needs, and the bill is totally unconstitutional as well. These people in control of the White House and Congress are radical, dangerous and socialist. For now, at least, they have their way. This is dangerous for the USA. Can’t you see that?

2) It is such an expensive program that it will bankrupt this country that is already on the brink. The United States may become a third world country. Our status as the world leader was already coming down because of liberal policies and economic changes. If  I, and many others are correct about the socialist agenda of our leaders, then this is the natural progression--bankrupt the country, and cause the people to look to the government for everything.

3) It is allowing abortions to be funded by our tax money. Even though Obama signed an “executive order” forbidding it to be done in order to get Rep. Stupak and other “pro-life” Democrats to come over to his side, it does not forbid tax payer funded abortions, because a portion of this whopping $3,000,000,000,000 (three trillion!!) bill goes to Planned Parenthood,  the biggest abortion advocates, and providers in the nation.. So as Obama and crew knew all along, there will be taxpayer funded abortions. Since Roe v. Wade was passed in 1973 we have had about 60 million slaughtered unborn.. Such wickedness! There are many repercussions from that. I will tell you one you may have never thought about. The radical Muslims hate us. Not all Muslims, but many. One thing true about Muslims: they do not abort their babies. Their birth rate is high. England is almost a Muslim majority country now, and America is not far behind. When they are a majority, there will be blood! Does America deserve this? Sadly, I think so. For a comparison, look at Habakkuk the prophet. Read these words: “The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see. O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! Even cry unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save! Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth” (Habakkuk 1:1-4).

Habakkuk was a prophet very concerned about the sins of his land and the violence and judgment on his people, so he cried to Jehovah. Here is God’s answer: “Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you. For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat. They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand. And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it. Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god” (Habakkuk 1:5-11).

God allowed the heathen, idol worshiping, Chaldeans to defeat His people to punish them, and allowed the Chaldeans to even praise their “god” (as if an idol had some power). This may confuse us, but it also confused the prophet, though he did see that Jehovah had sent them to correct His people: “Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he? (Habakkuk 1:12-13)

Is a similar thing going to happen to us? I hope not, but unless there is spiritual change I am convinced it is. All I am going to say just now is that America is in serious trouble, not just internationally, but with God Almighty. We have sown the wind, and will reap the whirlwind.

I would say if you care about your children’s future, and your grandchildren’s future, repent of your personal sins, join in repentance for our national sins, and pray for our land as never before.

It sure won’t hurt us to remember, and obey, 2 Chronicles 7:14. Let’s do it!

There is a lot more you can learn about Obama Care by contacting Congressman Tom Price of my state, and others who have studied this issue. We need to learn all we can, but that alone will not save us. Only Jesus Christ can save us, both spiritually and nationally. Pray!

Published by Charles Woodruff- email: oursong2000@yahoo.com