Latest / Philosophy and Faith / 11 - Protest of the Princes - The Great Controversy

Transcript

11 - Protest of the Princes - The Great Controversy · Philosophy and Faith

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Chapter eleven, Protest of the Princes. One of the noblest
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: testimonies ever uttered for the Reformation was the protest offered
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: by the Christian princes of Germany at the Diet of
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Spires in fifteen twenty nine. The courage, faith, and firmness
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: of those men of God gained for succeeding ages, liberty
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: of thought and of conscience. Their protest gave to the
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: Reformed Church the name of protestant Its principles are the
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: very essence of Protestantism. A dark and threatening day had
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: come for the Reformation. Notwithstanding the Edict of Vermes declaring
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Luther to be an outlaw and forbidding the teaching or
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: belief of his doctrines, religious toleration had thus far prevailed
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: in the Empire. God's providence had held in check the
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: forces that opposed the truth. Charles the Fifth was bent
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: on crushing the Reformation, but often as he raised his
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: hand to strike, he had been forced to turn aside
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: the blow again and again. The immediate destruction of all
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: who dared oppose themselves to Rome appeared inevitable, But at
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: the critical moment, the armies of the Turk appeared on
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: the eastern frontier, or the King of France, or even
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: the Pope himself, jealous of the increasing greatness of the Emperor,
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: made war upon him, and thus, amid the strife and
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: tumult of nations, the Reformation had been left to strengthen
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: and extend. At last, However, the papal sovereigns had stifled
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: their feuds that they might make common cause against the Reformers.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: The Diet of Spires in fifteen twenty six had given
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: each state full liberty in matters of religion until the
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: meeting of a general council. But no sooner had the
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: dangers passed which secured this concession than the Emperor summoned
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: a second Diet to convene its spires in fifteen twenty nine,
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: for the purpose of crushing heresy. The princes were to
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: be induced by peaceable means, if possible, to side against
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: the Reformation. But if these failed, Charles was prepared to
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: resort to the sword. The Papists were exultant. They appeared
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: at spires in great numbers and openly manifested their hostility
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: toward the Reformers, and all who favored them, said Melanchthon,
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: we are the execration and the sweepings of the world.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: But Christ will look down on his poor people and
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: will preserve them. The evangelical princes in attendance that the
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: diet were forbidden even to have the Gospel preached in
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: their dwellings. But the people of Spires thirstood for the
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: Word of God, and notwithstanding the prohibition, thousands flocked to
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: the services held in the chapel of the Elector of Saxony.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: This hastened the crisis. An imperial message announced the Diet
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: that as the resolution granting liberty of conscience had given
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: rise to great disorders, the Emperor required that it be
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: an auled. This arbitrary act excited the indignation and alarm
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: of the evangelical Christians, said one Christ has again fallen
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: into the hands of Caiaphas and Pilot. The Romanists became
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: more violent. A bigoted papist declared, the Turks are better
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: than the Lutherans, for the Turks observe fast days and
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: the Lutherans violate them. If we must choose between the
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: holy scriptures of God and the old errors of the Church,
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: we should reject the former, said Melanthon. Every day in
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: full assembly, Faber cast some new Stone at us gospelers,
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: religious toleration had been legally established, and the evangelical states
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: were resolved to oppose the infringement of their rites. Luther,
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: being still under the ban imposed by the Edict of Worms,
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: was not permitted to be present at spires, but his
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: place was supplied by his co laborers and the princes
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: whom God had raised up to defend his cause in
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: this emergency. The noble Frederick of Saxony, Luther's former protector,
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: had been removed by death, but Duke John, his brother
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: and successor, had joyfully welcomed the Reformation, and while a
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: friend of peace, he displayed great energy and courage in
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: all matters relating to the interests of the faith. The
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: priests demanded that the states which had accepted the Reformation
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: submit implicitly to Romish jurisdiction. The reformers, on the other hand,
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: claimed the liberty which had previously been granted. They could
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: not consent that Rome should again bring under her control
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: those states that had, with so great joy received the
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: word of God. As a compromise, it was finally proposed
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: that where the Reformation had not become established, the Edict
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: of Terms should be rigorously enforced, and that in those
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: where the people had deviated from it, and where they
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: could not conform to it without danger of revolt, they
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: should at least effect no new reform. They should touch
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: upon no controverted point. They should not oppose the celebration
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: of the Mass. They should permit no Roman Catholic to
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: embrace Lutheranism. This measure passed the Diet to the great
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: satisfaction of the Popish priests and prelates. If this edict
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: were enforced, the Reformation could neither be extended where as
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: yet it was unknown, nor be established on solid foundations
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: where it already existed. Liberty of speech would be prohibited,
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: no conversions would be allowed. And to these restrictions and
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: prohibitions the friends of the Reformation were required at once
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: to submit. The hopes of the world seemed about to
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: be extinguished. The re establishment of the Romish hierarchy would
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: infallibly bring back the ancient abuses, and an occasion would
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: readily be found for completing the destruction of a work
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: already so violently shaken by fanaticism and dissension. As the
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: Evangelical Party meant for consultation, one looked to another, in
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: blank dismay, from one to another, past the inquiry, what
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: is to be done? Mighty issues for the world were
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: at stake. Shall the cheats of the Reformation submit and
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: accept the edict? How easily might the Reformers, at this crisis,
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: which was truly a tremendous one, have argued themselves into
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: a wrong course? How many plausible pretexts and fair reasons
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: might they have found for submission? The Lutheran princes were
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: guaranteed the free exercise of their religion. The same boon
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: was extended to all those of their subjects who, prior
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: to the passing of the measure, had embraced the Reformed views.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: Ought not this to content them? How many perils would
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: submission avoid? On What unknown hazards and conflicts would opposition
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: launch them? Who knows what opportunities the future may bring.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: Let us embrace peace, Let us seize the olive branch
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: Rome holds out and close the wounds of Germany. With
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: arguments like these, might the reformers have justified their adoption
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: of a course which would have assuredly issued in no
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: long time in the overthrow of their cause. Happily they
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: looked at the principle on which this arrangement was based,
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: and they acted in faith. What was that principle? It
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: was the right of Rome to coerce conscience and forbid
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: free inquiry. But were not themselves and their Protestant subjects
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: to enjoy religious freedom. Yes, as a favor specially stipulated
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: for in the arrangement, but not as a right as
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: to all outside that arrangement. The great principle of authority
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: was to rule. Conscience was out of court. Rome was
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: infallible judge and must be obeyed. The acceptance of the
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: proposed arrangement would have been a virtual admission that religious
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: liberty ought to be confined to Reform Saxony, and as
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: to all the rest of Christendom, free inquiry in the
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: profession of the Reformed faith were crimes and must be
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: visited with the dungeon and the stake. Could they consent
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: to localize religious liberty, to have it proclaimed that the
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: Reformation had made its last convert, had subjugated its last acre,
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: and that wherever Rome bore sway at this hour, there
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: her dominion was to be perpetuated. Could the Reformers have
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: pleaded that they were innocent of the blood of those
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: hundreds and thousands who, in pursuance of this arrangement, would
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: have to yield up their lives in popish lands. This
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: would have been to betray, at that supreme hour the
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: cause of the Gospel and the liberties of Christendom. Rather,
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: would they sacrifice everything, even their states, their crowns, and
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: their lives. Let us reject this decree, said the princes.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: In matters of conscience, the majority has no power. The
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: Deputies declared, it is to the decree of fifteen twenty
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: six that we are indebted for the peace that the
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: Empire enjoys. Its abolition would fill Germany with troubles and divisions.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: The Diet is incompetent to do more than preserve religious
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: liberty until the Council meets. To protect liberty of conscience
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: is the duty of the state, and this is the
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: limit of its authority in matters of religion. Every secular
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: government that attempts to regulate or enforce religious observances by
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: civil authority is sacrificing the very principle for which the
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: evangelical Christians so nobly struggled. The Papists determined to put
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: down what they termed daring obstinacy. They began by endeavoring
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: to cause divisions among the supporters of the Reformation and
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: to intimidate all who had not openly declared in its favor.
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: The representatives of the free cities were at last summoned
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: before the Diet and required to declare whether they would
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: accede to the terms of the proposition. They pleaded for delay,
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: but in vain when brought to the test, nearly one
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: half their number sided with the reformers. Those who thus
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: refused to sacrifice liberty of conscience and the right of
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: individual judgment well knew that their position marked them for
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: future criticism, condemnation, and persecution, said one of the delegates.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: We must either deny the word of God or be burnt.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: King Ferdinand, the emperor's representative of the diet, saw that
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: the decree would cause serious divisions unless the princes could
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: be induced to accept and sustain it. He therefore tried
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: the art of persuasion, well knowing that to employ forces
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: such men would only render them the more determined. He
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: begged the princes to accept the decree, assuring them that
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: the Emperor would be exceedingly pleased with them. But these
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: faithful men acknowledged an authority above that of earthly rulers,
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: and they answered calmly, we will obey the Emperor in
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: everything that may contribute to maintain peace and the honor
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: of God. In the presence of the diet, the King
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: at last announced to the Elector and his friends that
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: the edict was about to be drawn up in the
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: form of an imperial decree, and that their only remaining
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: course was to submit to the majority. Having thus spoken,
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: he withdrew from the assembly, giving the reformers no opportunity
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: for deliberation or day. To no purpose. They sent a
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: deputation in treating the King to return to their remonstrances.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: He answered, only it is a subtle affair. Submission is
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: all that remains. The imperial party were convinced that the
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: Christian princes would adhere to the Holy Scriptures as superior
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: to human doctrines and requirements, and they knew that wherever
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: this principle was accepted, the papacy would eventually be overthrown. But,
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: like thousands since their time, looking only at the things
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: which are seen, they flattered themselves that the cause of
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: the Emperor and the Pope was strong and that of
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: the reformers weak. Had the reformers depended upon human aid alone,
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: they would have been as powerless as the papists supposed.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: But though weak in numbers and at variance with Rome,
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: they had their strength. They appealed from the report of
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: the Diet to the Word of God, and from the
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: Emperor Charles to Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: Lord of lords. As Ferdinand had refused to regard their
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: conscientious convictions, the princes decided not to heed his absence,
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: but to bring their protest before the National Council without delay.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: A solemn declaration was therefore drawn up and presented to
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: the Diet. We protest by these presents before God, our
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: only Creator, Preserver, Redeemer and Savior, and who will one
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: day be our judge, as well as before all men
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: and all creatures, that we for us and for our people,
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: neither consent nor adhere in any manner whatsoever to the
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: proposed decree, in anything that is contrary to God, to
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: His Holy Word, to our right conscience, to the salvation
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: of our souls. What we ratify this edict. We assert
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: that when Almighty God calls a man to his knowledge,
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: this man, nevertheless, cannot receive the knowledge of God. There
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: is no sure doctrine, but such as is conformable to
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: the Word of God. The Lord forbids the teaching of
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: any other doctrine. The Holy Scriptures ought to be explained
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: by other and clearer texts. This Holy Book is in
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: all things necessary for the Christian easy of understanding, and
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: calculated to scatter the darkness. We are resolved, with the
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: grace of God to maintain the pure and exclusive preaching
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: of His only Word, such as it is contained in
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: the biblical books of the Old and New Testaments, without
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: adding anything there too that may be contrary to it.
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: This word is the only truth. It is the sure
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: rule of all doctrine and of all life, and can
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: never fail or deceive us. He who builds on this
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: foundation shall stand against all the powers of hell, while
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: all the human vanities that are set up against it
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: shall fall before the face of God. For this reason
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: we reject the yoke that is imposed on us. At
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: the same time, we are in expectation that His imperial
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: majesty will behave toward us like a Christian prince who
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: loves God above all things. And we declare ourselves ready
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: to pay unto Him as well as unto you, gracious lords,
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: all the affection and obedience that are our just and
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: legitimate duty. A deep impression was made upon the diet.
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: The majority were filled with amazement and alarm at the
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: boldness of the protesters. The future appeared to them stormy
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: and uncertain. Dissensions, strife, and bloodshed seemed inevitable. But the reformers,
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: assured of the justice of their cause and relying upon
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: the arm of omnipotence, were full of courage and firmness.
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: The principles contained in this celebrated protest constitute the very
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: essence of Protestantism. Now, this protest opposes two abuses of
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: man and matters of faith. The first is the intrusion
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: of the civil magistrate, and the second the arbitrary authority
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: of the Church. Instead of these abuses, Protestantism sets the
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: power of conscience above the magistrate and the authority of
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: the Word of God above the visible Church. In the
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: first place, it rejects the sovice power in divine things,
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: and says, with the prophets and apostles, we must obey
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: God rather than man. In presence of the crown of Charles.
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: The fifth it uplifts the crown of Jesus Christ, but
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: it goes farther. It lays down the principle that all
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: human teaching should be subordinate to the oracles of God.
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: The protesters had moreover affirmed their right to utter freely
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: their convictions of truth. They would not only believe and obey,
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: but teach what the Word of God presents, and they
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: denied the right of priest or magistrate to interfere. The
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: protest of Spires was a solemn witness against religious intolerance
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: and an assertion of the right of all men to
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: The declaration had been made. It was written in the
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: memory of thousands and registered in the books of Heaven,
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: where no effort of man could erase it. All Evangelical
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: Germany adopted the protest as the expression of its faith. Everywhere.
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: Men beheld in this declaration the promise of a new
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: and better era, said one of the princes to the
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: Protestants of Spires. May the Almighty, who has given you
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: grace to confess energetically, freely and fearlessly, preserve you in
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: that Christian firmness until the day of eternity. Had the Reformation,
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: after attaining a degree of success, consented to temporize to
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: secure favor with the world, it would have been untrue
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: to God and to itself, and would thus have insured
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: its own destruction. The experience of these noble reformers contains
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: a lesson for all succeeding ages. Satan's manner of working
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: against God and his Word has not changed. He is
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: still as much opposed to the scriptures being made the
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: guide of life as in the sixteenth century. In our
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: time there is a wide departure from their doctrines and precepts,
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: and there is in need of a return to the
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: great Protestant principle, the Bible, and the Bible only as
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: the rule of faith and duty. Satan is still working,
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: through every means which he can control, to destroy religious liberty.
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: The anti Christian power which the protesters of Spires rejected,
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: is now with renewed vigor, seeking to re establish its
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: lost supremacy. The same unswerving adherence to the Word of
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: God manifested at that crisis of the Reformation, is the
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: only hope of reform Today. There appeared tokens of danger
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: to the Protestants. There were tokens also that the divine
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: hand was stretched out to protect the faithful. It was
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: about this time that Melanthon hastily conducted through the streets
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: of spires toward the Rhine, his friend Simon Grenius, pressing
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: him to cross the river. The latter was astonished at
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: such precipitation. An old man of grave and solemn air,
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: but who is unknown to me, said Melanthon, appeared before
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: me and said, in a minute officers of justice will
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: be sent by Ferdinand to arrest Gryneus. During the day,
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: Grynius had been scandalized at a sermon by Favor, a
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: leading papal doctor, and at the close remonstrated with him
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: for defending certain detestable errors. Faber dissembled his anger, but
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: immediately after repaired to the king, from whom he had
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: obtained an order against the importunate professor of Heidelberg. Malanthon
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: doubted not that God had saved his friend by sending
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: one of his holy angels to forewarn him. Motionless on
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: the banks of the Rhine, he waited until the waters
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: of that stream had rescued Greneus from his persecutors. At last,
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: cried Melanthon as he saw him on the opposite side.
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: At last, he is torn from the cruel jaws of
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: those who thirst for innocent blood. When he returned to
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: his house, Malangthon was informed that officers in search of
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: Greneus had ransacked it from top to bottom. The Reformation
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: was to be brought into greater prominence before the mighty
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: ones of the earth. The evangelical princes had been denied
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: a hearing by King Ferdinand, but they were to be
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: granted an opportune unity to present their cause in the
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: presence of the Emperor and the assembled dignitaries of church
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: and state. To quiet the dissensions which disturbed the empire,
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: Charles the Fifth, in the year following the protest of Spires,
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: convoked a diet at Augsburg, over which he announced his
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: intention to preside in person. Thither the Protestant leaders were summoned.
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: Great dangers threatened the Reformation, but its advocates still trusted
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: their cause with God and pledged themselves to be firm
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: to the Gospel. The Elector of Saxony was urged by
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: his counselors not to appear at the Diet. The Emperor,
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: they said, required the attendants of the princes in order
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: to draw them into a snare. Is it not risking
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: everything to go and shut oneself up within the walls
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: of a city with a powerful enemy. But others nobly declared,
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: Let the princes only comport themselves with courage, and God's
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: cause is safe. God is faithful, He will not abandon us.
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: Said Luther. The elector set out with his retinue for Augsburg.
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: All were acquainted with the dangers that menaced him, and
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: many went forward with gloomy countenance and troubled heart. But Luther,
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: who accompanied them as far as Coburg, revived their sinking
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: faith by singing the hymn written on that journey, A
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: strong Tower is Our God. Many an anxious foreboding was banished.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: Many a heavy heart lightened at the sound of the
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: inspiring strains. The Reformed princes had determined upon having a
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: statement of their views in systematic form, with the evidence
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: from the scriptures, to present before the Diet, and the
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: task of its preparation was committed to Luther, Melanchthon, and
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: their associates. This confession was accepted by the Protestants as
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: an exposition of their faith, and they assembled to affix
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: their names to the important document. It was a solemn
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: and trying time. The reformers were solicitous that their cause
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: should not be confounded with political questions. They felt that
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: the Reformation should exercise no other influence than that which
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: proceeds from the Word of God. As the Christian princes
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: advanced to sign the confession, Melanthon interposed, saying, it is
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: for the theologians and ministers to propose these things. Let
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: us reserve for other matters the authority of the mighty
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: ones of the earth. God forbid, replied John of Saxony,
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: that you should exclude me. I am resolved to do
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: what is right without troubling myself about my crown. I
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: desire to confess the Lord. My electoral hat and my
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: ermine are not so precious to me as the cross
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: of Jesus Christ. Having thus spoken, he wrote down his name,
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: said another of the princes, as he took the pen.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: If the honor of my Lord Jesus Christ requires it,
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: I am ready to leave my goods in life behind.
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: I would rather renounce my subjects in my states, rather
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: quit the country of my father's staff in hand, he continued,
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: than receive any other doctrine than that which is contained
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: in this confession. Such was the pain and daring of
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: those men of God. The appointed time came to appear
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: before the Emperor, Charles the Fifth, seated upon his throne,
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: surrounded by the electors, and the princes, gave audience to
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: the Protestant Reformers. The confession of their faith was read,
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: and that August Assembly, the truths of the Gospel were
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: clearly set forth, and the errors of the papal Church
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: were pointed out. Well has that day been pronounced the
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: greatest day of the Reformation, and one of the most
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: glorious in the history of Christianity and of mankind. But
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: a few years had passed since the Monk of Wittenberg
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: stood alone at worms before the National Council. Now in
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: his stead were the noblest and most powerful princes of
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: the Empire. Luther had been forbidden to appear at Augsburg,
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: but he had been present by his words and prayers.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: I am overjoyed, he wrote, that I have lived until
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: this hour in which Christ has been publicly exalted by
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: such illustrious confessors, and in so glorious an assembly. Thus
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: was fulfilled what the scripture says, I will speak of
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: thy testimonies before kings. In the days of Paul. The
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: gospel for which he was imprisoned was thus brought before
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: the princes and nobles of the Imperial city. So on
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: this occasion, that which the Emperor had forbidden to be
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: preached from the pulpit was proclaimed in the palace. What
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: many had regarded as unfit even for servants to listen to,
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: was heard with wonder by the masters and lords of
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: the empire. Kings and great men were the auditory. Crowned
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: princes were the preachers, and the sermon was the royal
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: truth of God. Since the Apostolic age, says a writer,
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: there has never been a greater work or a more
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: magnificent confession. All that the Lutherans have said is true.
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: We cannot deny it, declared a papist bishop. Can you
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: refute by sound reasons the confession made by the Elector
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: and his allies? Asked another of doctor Eck. With the
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: writings of the apostles and prophets, no, was the reply.
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: But with those of the fathers and of the councils. Yes,
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: I understand, responded the questioner the Lutherans, according to you
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: are in scripture and we are outside. Some of the
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: princes of Germany were won to the Reformed faith. The
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: Emperor himself declared that the Protestant articles were but the truth.
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: The confession was translated into many languages and circulated throughout Europe,
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: and it has been accepted by millions in succeeding generations
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: as the expression of their faith. God's faithful servants were
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: not toiling alone. While principalities and powers, and wicked spirits
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: and high places were leagued against them, the Lord did
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: not forsake his people. Could their eyes have been opened,
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: they would have seen as marked evidence of divine presence
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: and aid, as was granted to a prophet of old.
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: When Elisha's servant pointed his master to the hostile army
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: surrounding them and cutting off all opportunity for escape, the
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: prophet prayed, Lord, I pray thee open hisald that he
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: may see. And lo, the mountain was filled with chariots
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: and horses of fire, the army of heaven stationed to
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: protect the man of God. Thus did angels guard the
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: workers in the cause of the Reformation. One of the
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: principles most firmly maintained by Luther was that there should
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: be no resort to secular power in support of the Reformation,
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: and no appeal to arms for its defense. He rejoiced
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: that the Gospel was confessed by princes of the Empire,
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: but when they proposed to unite in a defensive league,
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: he declared that the doctrine of the Gospel should be
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: defended by God alone. The less man meddled in the work,
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: the more striking would be God's intervention in its behalf.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: All the politic precautions suggested were, in his view, attributable
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: to unworthy fear and sinful mistrust. When powerful foes were
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: uniting to overthrow the Reformed Faith and thousands of swords
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: seemed about to be unsheathed against it, Luther wrote, Satan
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: is putting forth his fury. Ungodly pontiffs are conspiring, and
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: we are threatened with war. Exhort the people to contend
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: valiantly before the throne of the Lord by faith and prayer,
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: so that our enemies, vanquished by the spirit of God,
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: may be constrained to peace. Our chief want, our chief
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: labor is prayer. Let the people know that they are
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: now exposed to the edge of the sword and to
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: the rage of Satan, and let them pray again at
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: a later date. Referring to the league contemplated by the
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: Reformed princes, Luther declared that the only weapon employed in
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: this warfare should be the sword of the Spirit. He
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: wrote to the Elector of Saxony, we cannot on our
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: conscience approve of the proposed alliance. We would rather die
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: ten times than see our gospel cause one drop of
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: blood to be shed. Our part is to be like
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: lambs of the slaughter. The cross of Christ must be born.
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: Let your Highness be without fear. We shall do more
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: by our prayers than all our enemies by their boastings.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: Only let not your hands be stained with the blood
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: of your brethren. If the Emperor requires us to be
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: given up to his tribunals, we are ready to appear.
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: You cannot defend our faith. Each one should believe at
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: his own risk and peril. From the secret place of
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: prayer came the power that shook the world in the
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: Great Reformation. There, with holy calmness, the servants of the
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: Lord set their feet upon the rock of his promises.
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: During the struggle at Augsburg, Luther did not pass a
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: day without devoting three hours at least to prayer, and
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: they were ours, selected from those the most favorable to study.
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: In the privacy of his chamber, he was heard to
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: pour out his soul before God in words full of adoration, fear,
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: and hope, as when one speaks to a friend. I
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: know that thou art our Father and our God, he said,
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: and that thou wilt scatter the persecutors of thy children,
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: for thou art thyself endangered with us. All this matter
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: is thine, and it is only by Thy constraint that
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: we have put our hands to it. Defend us. Then,
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: O father to Melangthon, who was crushed under the burden
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: of anxiety and fear, he wrote, grace and peace in Christ.
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: In Christ, I say, and not in the world, Amen,
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: I hate with exceeding hatred, those extreme cares which consume you.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: If the cause is unjust, abandon it. If the cause
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: is just, why should we belie the promises of Him
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: who commands us to sleep without fear. Christ will not
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: be wanting to the work of justice and of truth.
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: He lives. He reigns what fear? Then? Can we have God?
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: Did listen to the cries of his servants. He gave
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: to princes and ministers grace and courage to maintain the
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: truth against the rulers of the darkness of this world.
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: Saith the Lord. Behold, I lay in Zion, a chief
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: corner stone, elect precious, and he that believeth on him
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: shall not be confounded. The Protestant Reformers had built on Christ,
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: and the gates of Hell could not prevail against them.
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: End of Chapter eleven.