The title of my message this morning is Magdeburg, the city that saved the Reformation. We could think of many cities today, many famous place names that we could mention. Hastings, from the Battle of Hastings. We think today of Dunkirk, names that go down in history and that are remembered and so well known. So many other names we could mention even from church history today. Worms in Germany, or I think apparently it's properly pronounced verms. It's pronounced with like a V rather than a W. But the place where Martin Luther defied an empire, and we thought about that last year on the 500th anniversary. Great place names that we remember from history. Let me add to that list Magdeburg. Magdeburg, you maybe have never heard of it before. Well, I'm glad that you're in the service this morning because this is a place that is well worth hearing about because it is the city that saved the Reformation. There's a picture of modern day Magdeburg on the screen. But I want us today to go back to the city of Magdeburg in the 1500s. The name Magdeburg means mighty fortress. That's appropriate because we have already sang Luther's great hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. And he was a mighty fortress in Martin Luther's day, and he's still a mighty fortress for us today. And we as the church, whatever happens, we have a fortress that we can resort to. Magdeburg today is situated in central Germany between the cities of Berlin and Hanover. Martin Luther attended school there. It was the first city to embrace the Reformation in the year 1524. It was the first city to publish Luther's writings in that same year. It was the first city to formulate the doctrine of the lesser magistrate. It's a bit of a mouthful, but it's something that we need to get a handle on. The doctrine of the lesser magistrate, what it means, let me try to explain. When the higher authority makes an unjust or immoral law, the lower authority has both the right and duty to interpose and refuse obedience to the higher authority, and if needs be, to openly resist. Put simply, when tyranny becomes law, resistance becomes duty. And to put it really simply, divine law trumps human laws. Magdeburg attracted Lutheran refugees from many parts of Germany. The population of the city swelled to 40,000. In the 1500s, the refugees came, numbers swelled. We're talking today about refugees coming to a city. If you know your history, that'll ring a bell because we think of the refugees, the Protestant refugees who came to the city of Londonderry whenever the siege took place, many, many refugees came from other parts of the province and they came to Londonderry and they took refuge there. Well, that is what happened at the city of Magdeburg at the time of the Reformation. Protestant refugees who were being persecuted in the empire, they fled to Magdeburg and found safety there. The pastors of Magdeburg, and there were nine of them in the city at that time, the pastors issued their famous confession. The Magdeburg Confession. You want to read the book, I have it here. You can have it afterwards. I would like it back if you don't mind. But the pastors, they signed nine of them, and they issued their famous confession. The date was the 13th of April, 1550. Mark that date, the 13th of April, 1550. Five months later, Charles V's forces, and he was the emperor at the time, Charles V, his forces marched on Magdeburg. The people of Magdeburg burned everything outside the city walls and closed the city gates. Ring a bell? The siege of Magdeburg had begun. It lasted for 13 months. That's longer than the siege of Londonderry, which lasted for 105 days. By the end of the siege of Magdeburg, 468 of its citizens had laid down their lives in defense of the gospel. In the siege of Londonderry, again, there's the parallel. You remember the population of Londonderry at the time of the siege? They said it was 8,000. Half the population in the city perished, 4,000 people, in defence of freedom, 468 of the men of Magdeburg died, they were willing to forfeit their lives in defense of the gospel, in defense of freedom, and in defense of the Reformation. Now you know why the title of the message is Magdeburg, the city that saved the Reformation. You see, you're maybe asking, why did you bother to read Ecclesiastes chapter 9 today? Well, did you notice verse 14? Look at it again. Take your Bible. If you have your Bible open at Ecclesiastes 9. Look at verse 14. A little city. A little city. Solomon, he describes this little city. He gives us this parable. That's what it is. We all know about the parables of Christ. But here's the parable of Solomon, one of Solomon's parables. And it's an amazing little parable. And it's actually the basis for John Bunyan's book, The Holy War. I'm sure you've read The Pilgrim's Progress, or at least some of it. But have you read The Holy War? Another great book written by John Bunyan. But it's based on Ecclesiastes. pardon me, Ecclesiastes chapter nine, and this parable of the little city. But I believe that this phrase can be applied to Magdeburg in Germany all those years ago. A little city that took its stand for the gospel. A little city While other cities across the empire, across Germany, were capitulating to Charles V, the tyrant, Magdeburg defied the tyrant and stood up to the dictator. And whenever the dictator and the tyrant was trying to crush the Reformation, for folks, that's exactly what he was trying to do at this particular time. There was one city that stood in defiance of him. May the Lord give us something of their spirit today. A little city that Solomon wrote about, but a little city in Germany that we need to know about. And then you will notice that Solomon in his parable, he not only speaks of a little city, but he speaks of a great king. Notice what it says in the same verse, verse 14, there came a great king against it and besieged it and built great bulwarks against it. So you've got the little city and you've got the great king who's coming to fight against the little city. Folks, this is a picture of your soul. And my soul, the little city that Solomon refers to, is a symbol of man's soul. That precious possession you have within you today that is worth more than all the possessions that you have, by the way, your soul, it's like a diamond. And there's a lot of people in our world today, and they're throwing the diamond up and tossing it up. It's like the man tossing the diamond on the edge of the ship, just throwing it up willy-nilly. And at any moment, it could fall over the edge and be lost forever. A lot of people today are playing with the diamond of their soul, and it could be lost forever. How precious is your immortal soul, your little city. And there is a great king who has come against you today. In the book of Revelation, he's the king of the bottomless pit. Satan, the devil, we thought about him on Thursday night. Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. And that word devour in the original, it means to swallow whole. He's not going to chew you. There's no escape for you. He's going to just swallow you whole for all eternity. And your soul will go down into the depths of hell. This great king, the devil, he wants to destroy you. He wants to destroy the people who will be out tomorrow night in the city. He wants to damn their souls. That's why we're going, actually, by the way, on the outreach. Yeah, it'd be very easy on Halloween night just to sit in the house, light the fire, just take it easy. But because we're able-bodied, we have the health to go, we're going to go. And did you notice from our opening hymn, The Battle Hymn of the Reformation, did you notice what it said? And were this world all devil's o'er, and watching to devour us, we lay it not to heart so sore, not they can overpower us. And let the Prince of El look grim as e'er he will, he harms us not a whit, for why his doom is writ, a word shall quickly slay him. My what an encouragement to go out into the city tomorrow night. He that is in you is greater than he that is in the world. Wasn't it Luther himself who said, before he went to Worms, someone said to him, don't go, Martin. You know, of course, the great statement of Luther, he said, if there are as many demons in Worms as tiles upon the roofs of the city, I will still go, it doesn't matter. because he knew the Lord was with him. He was filled with the Holy Ghost, and when you're filled with the Holy Ghost, then the amazing thing is that fear evaporates. That's why, as the church in these days, we need to be filled with the Holy Ghost. You don't have to work for it, you don't strive for it. No, it was bought for you and for me by the blood of Christ. It's our inheritance, this fullness of the Spirit, And the problem with the church in the West today is that there are too many believers who are not filled with the Spirit, and that's the reason why the church is in the state it's in today. Or at least one of the reasons. Pietism's another. Ever hear of pietism? Oh, don't talk about those things, just preach the gospel. Don't talk about current affairs or things that are happening today. No, don't mention those things. Pietism. The curse of the church. I could say more about that. But the devil is the great king, isn't he? And the great king came upon Magdeburg at the time of the Reformation. As we've already mentioned, his name was Charles V. He was the tyrant, by the way, who ordered the execution of Luther in 1551. Or I beg your pardon, get my dates right, 1521. 1521, Luther was afforded safe conduct to the Diet of Firms. But when he took a stand at Worms and said, here I stand, I can do no other, he refused to recant in the face of an empire. The whole empire was against one man, but Luther wouldn't capitulate. And Charles V wasn't one bit enamored. And he ordered the execution of Luther. But of course, the Lord was a way ahead of the emperor, and it was planned that Luther would be kidnapped. His friends, they planned this fake kidnapping. And Luther didn't know anything about it, but when he arrived at the Wartburg, at the castle, he knew all about it then, and he was brought there, and of course he translated the scriptures into German. You see, all things work together for good to them that love God. And that's the secret to it, folks, isn't it? In our lives as believers to love the Lord. We hear about loving our neighbor, and yes, that has a place, but it's secondary to loving the Lord. And when you love the Lord, first of all, and put him first, then you'll have no problem loving your neighbor. And of course, the best way that you can love your neighbor is to share the gospel with him or her, and to pray for him or her. That is the best gift that you can give to them. There came a great king against it and besieged it. Martin Luther died in 1546. And Charles V, he realized, now is my opportunity to crush rebellion against the Roman Catholic Church. And in 1548, he imposed what is known as the Augsburg Interim. You don't have to worry too much about the name. It just means that he issued a decree, a law, that proclaimed that Roman Catholicism was to be the sole religion in the empire. No other religions were allowed. Protestantism will not be tolerated any longer. And this Augsburg interim, as it is called, was an attempt, as I have already said, to smash the Protestant Reformation. While all of Protestant Germany conformed to Charles's decree, You've guessed it, there was one city that decided to take a stand and resist his authority, the city of Magdeburg. The only city that refused to conform. In Romans chapter 12 and verse 2, Most of us probably know it. Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Too many Christians today are conformed to this world. Not enough Christians are transformed. Said F. Magdeburg, the Christians within it, They were transformed and they refused to conform. They would not deny their Lord. They were like Luther in 1521. They would not recant. They would not bend. They would not bow in the face of the tyrant and his tyranny. See, it's one thing, folks, for tyranny against the common man, but it's another thing when it's tyranny against the church. And Charles' tyranny was tyranny against the church. And the city of Magdeburg rose up against it. So there's a little city in Solomon's parable, and there's a great king who comes and he lays siege to it. But then you notice in verse 15, as we finish today, that there was a poor wise man who delivered the city. Do you know that in the city of Magdeburg there was a man called Nicholas von Amsdorff? He was Martin Luther's personal friend. He was involved in the kidnapping that we spoke about. Remember the fake kidnapping of Martin Luther in 1521. Nicholas von Amsdorff, another name that you need to remember from history. Von Amsdorff was to become the leader of the Magdeburg resistance. He was the first citizen of the city to sign the 1550 Confession. A poor wise man who delivered the city. A man who was involved in the leadership of the city and ultimately in its deliverance 13 months later. You see, Magdeburg did win the victory. At the end of the siege, Charles V had to step back and climb down. And a great victory was won. The city was delivered. The Reformation was saved. But as we think today at the end of our service about this poor wise man in Ecclesiastes 9, I want to talk to you about another poor wise man who delivers people even today. His name is Jesus Christ, the Savior of sinners. Oh, he was poor. He was born into poverty. Real poverty now, not talking about pretend poverty that we hear a lot about today, real poverty. A lot of people today cry poverty, but they don't know what poverty really is. I heard of a couple there lately, and there were two phones in the house. And one of them, their monthly contract is 120 pounds. The other one for their phone is 135 pounds a month. And they were crying poverty, claiming that they were in poverty. Not real poverty. But the Lord Jesus knew all about real poverty. I mean, he was born into it because his parents couldn't even pay for a lamb to bring it to the temple. Whenever he was being dedicated and presented, they could just bring two little birds. That's all they could afford. One day, 5,000 men stood before him with their wives and their children. He needed to ask a little boy for five loaves and two fish to perform his mighty miracle. In John chapter seven, verse 53, We read something amazing. Would you just turn with me as we close to that passage, because this is something worth noting today, about the poverty of our Savior, the one who was rich, yet for our sake became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich. that we might have the riches of his grace, that we might have the riches of his glory freely given to us. John 7, 53, notice it, and every man went on to his own house. What about Jesus? Chapter 8, verse 1, Jesus went on to the Mount of Olives. Everybody else goes to their house. Jesus doesn't have a house. He goes to a mountain instead. the poverty of our beloved Redeemer, the poor man. But he was wise too, this savior of sinners. Every question that his enemies hurled at him, he could answer. We can't always do it, but he was able to do it. He sent them away. Confounded every time the scriptures actually say there came a point when no man durst ask him any more questions. They dared not. The one who was greater than Solomon had come. A poor wise man who can deliver you from the tyranny of your sins today. Will you be wise? That's the question. Oh, Jesus is wise, the wisest of the wise, but will you be wise today? Will you receive him if you're not a Christian? Will you return to him if you're a backslider? And if you are a Christian, will you live for his glory? Whatever your need is, he can meet it this morning. Let's pray. Lord, we bow before you today, and we just take a moment to thank you for Magdeburg, for this city that saved the Reformation. And we thank you, Lord, for... We thank you so much for the courage and the bravery that the citizens showed when they were all alone against the might of the emperor and the Church of Rome. but we thank you that you wrought a glorious victory, a mighty victory for them in the end. But Lord, we want to thank you above all today for the gospel and for our wonderful Savior. And we thank you, Lord, today that he is able to deliver thee. He is able to deliver thee, though by sin oppressed, go to Christ for rest, for he is able to deliver thee. These things we pray in his name. Amen. 420, as we finish, please, hymn number 420, guide me, O thou great Jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land. I am weak. We all say that as Christians, don't we? I am weak. But doesn't really matter, the next part's the important part. But thou art mighty, hold me with thy powerful hand. We'll have the first and last verses only of hymn number 420. Let's stand.