Lord’s Day, Vol. 13 No. 43
The Reformation – A Spiritual Standard Uplifted
Isaiah 59:15-20 (KJV) Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment. 16 And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him. 17 For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke. 18 According to theirdeeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence. 19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. 20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.
When man fell into sin and evil men pervades and evil overrun the earth, the truth of God is suppressed, and the people of God are oppressed. But God is still on the throne reigning triumphantly over His creation. When godly men are assaulted and God’s truth seemed to have been snuffed out, God Himself, moves to defend and vindicate His truth and His servants. This is well-attested in this passage of Isaiah for the comfort and strengthening of the faith of His people throughout the ages – When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him (Isaiah 59:19b).
God made coats of skin, and clothed them (Gen. 3:21) pre-figuring the redemption of Christ. This was so after Adam and Eve fell, they represented the only hope for mankind. When evil pervades the earth, God’s grace was upon Noah, who was instructed to construct an ark to save his family and the animals from the judgment of the global flood upon evil men (Gen. 6-9). When the whole world came together in rebellion against God at the tower of Babel, God confounded the language of all the earth, preserving the descendants of Shem, Peleg, who did not participate in the rebellion. Peleg was the ancestor of Abraham, whom God called, who models true faith, travelling to an unknown land according to God’s leading, to invite all mankind back to Him. Through his son Isaac and grandson Jacob, the nation of Israel was raised as the witness of God to all the nations of the world. When the nation of Israel defected and rebelled against God, out of the nation of Israel will come forth the Redeemer, who shall come to Zion (Jerusalem), and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob (Isaiah 59:20). Through the remnant of Christ’s disciples will begin the New Testament church and His promise of sending the Holy Spirit after His ascension to heaven, inaugurating the church age and energizing the plan to reach Jews and Gentiles by the preaching of the gospel of God (Rom. 1:1). The Roman Empire is the last human empire upon earth that will be destroyed by Christ at His Second Coming – Daniel 7:27 (KJV) And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him. Also, Daniel 2:44 (KJV) And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
The Roman Empire was split into two represented by the two legs of the figure (the Eastern and Western Roman Empire) that will culminate in the ten kings depicted by the ten toes that Daniel saw in His vision in Daniel 2:41 or ten horns in Daniel 7:7 & 24.
The 16th century Protestant Reformation is the scene of transition when the strength of the Christian faith in the Eastern Roman Empire commonly called the Byzantine Empire that spans the 4th century (11 May A.D. 330) to the 15th century (29 May 1453) centred in Constantinople wanes with the conquest by the Turks and the awakening and revival of true Christian faith in Western Roman Empire coming out of the Roman Catholic Church in the Dark Ages of a thousand years. On 31 October, 1517, Martin Luther, the German Augustinian monk, nailed 95 theses on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, igniting the Reformation, the greatest revival of the church since Pentecost (Acts 2). It is 508 years since that pivotal event, that is the foundational strength of the modern world through the preaching of the gospel by the unction of the Holy Spirit, that saved souls from Europe to America to Asia. The sanctifying and restraining work of the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-11) will certainly persevere till Christ comes to receive His church to glory. Amen.