Two prophecies regarding the work which God used Martin Luther to kindle will be spoken of here. The first is from the martyr, John Huss. A Christian man, who lived in the third century AD, rightly said:

“We are not a new philosophy but a divine revelation. That’s why you can’t just exterminate us; the more you kill the more we are. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. You praise those who endured pain and death – so long as they aren’t Christians! Your cruelties merely prove our innocence of the crimes you charge against us.”

We will show in this article that martyrdom (which we should all understand aright) of the Christian is a divine revelation that cannot be quenched. We will show that God foretold the great movement of the reformation through the martyr, Huss, and we’ll see that it was the blood of the martyrs that lit the reformation with a light that was never to be put out, but would extend to God’s faithful children even until the second coming.

 

The Reformer John Huss

John Huss was a faithful reformer from Bohemia during the period of the dark ages. During those days, many who believed differently from the Papal system would be persecuted, imprisoned, tortured, and put to death for their dissent. As it is written:

(Gal. 4:29) “But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.”

Huss stood for Bible truth, and was a bright and shining light in his day, and for this cause, the Roman powers of darkness sought to oppress and put out that light. However, so long as Jesus is the resurrection and the life, the truth is as immortal as Himself and would raise up men who would follow the Lamb “whithersoever He goeth.”

The condemnation took place on 6 July 1415, in the presence of the assembly of the Council in the Cathedral. Hus was led into the church. The Bishop of Lodi delivered an oration on the duty of eradicating heresy.

(Rev. 17:6) “And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.”

This was the common order of things in the dark ages from the gross excesses and intolerance of the Papacy, and will again be so shortly. Every martyr of Jesus Christ went as a lamb to the slaughter, even as He, the Lamb of God, did. In the typical service, a lamb was slain in the courtyard, outside of the temple, at the altar, thus demonstrating the sacrifice of Christ as that Lamb without spot or blemish. The Scripture defines the martyrs deaths as being a living sacrifice, as lambs without spot or blemish, to seal to their testimony the light of the truth for every succeeding generation:

(Rev. 6:9-11)  “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.”

Thus with every martyr we see in such a one the revelation of Jesus Christ; a lamb to the slaughter revealing the Lamb of God as a witness to all in whose presence they are slain. What a glorious revelation! Consider Christ as you read the condemnation of Huss, and the prophesy that God placed upon his lips:

As Huss’ trial, a total solar eclipse swept across the face of the land. Yet the heart-hardened Roman bishops did not have the fear of God before their eyes, crucifying the Lord of glory afresh in the man who was to be put to death. An Italian prelate pronounced the sentence of condemnation upon Huss and his writings. Hus protested, saying that even at this hour he did not wish anything, but to be convinced from Holy Scripture. He fell upon his knees and asked God with a low voice to forgive all his enemies. Then followed his degradation — he was enrobed in priestly vestments and again asked to recant; again he refused. With curses his ornaments were taken from him, his priestly tonsure was destroyed, and the sentence was pronounced that the Church had deprived him of all rights and delivered him to the secular powers. Then a high paper hat was put upon his head, with the inscription “Haeresiarcha” (meaning the leader of a heretical movement). Hus was led away to the stake under a strong guard of armed men. At the place of execution he knelt down, spread out his hands, and prayed aloud.

As it was time to burn Huss, God placed upon his lips a wonderful prophecy.

Prophecy regarding the Protest of Luther

As the official executioner was about to light the pyre at the feet of the reformer, he said, “Now we will cook the goose.” (Huss in Bohemian means goose.) “Yes”, replied Huss, “but in a hundred years, there will come an eagle, and him will not reach.”

The burning of John Huss was nothing less than a revelation of Jesus Christ.
The burning of John Huss was nothing less than a revelation of Jesus Christ. How glorious is the blood of the martyrs!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One hundred years later, a dream came to the Elector of Saxony, named Frederick, whose support God enlisted to aid Luther in the mission that God raised him up for. The dream was of startling significance, and would awaken any out of a spiritual slumber.

 

The Dream of Frederick, Elector of Saxony That Shook Papal Europe:

“The elector told it the next morning to his brother, Duke John, who was

Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, under the providence of God, did much to protect Martin Luther in his work of reformation.
Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, under the providence of God, did much to protect Martin Luther in his work of reformation.

then residing with him at his palace of Schweinitz, six leagues from Wittenberg. The dream is recorded by all the chroniclers of the time. Of its truth there is no doubt, however we may interpret it. We cite it here as a compendious and dramatic epitome of the affair of the “Theses,” and the movement which grew out of them.

On the morning of the 31st October, 1517, the elector said to Duke John,

“Brother, I must tell you a dream which I had last night, and the meaning of which I should like much to know. It is so deeply impressed on my mind, that I will never forget it, were I to live a thousand years. For I dreamed it thrice, and each time with new circumstances.”

Duke John: “Is it a good or a bad dream?”

The Elector: “I know not; God knows.”

Duke John: “Don’t be uneasy at it; but be so good as tell it to me.”

The Elector: “Having gone to bed last night, fatigued and out of spirits, I fell asleep shortly after my prayer, and slept calmly for about two hours and a half; I then awoke, and continued awake to midnight, all sorts of thoughts passing through my mind. Among other things, I thought how I was to observe the Feast of All Saints. I prayed for the poor souls in purgatory; and supplicated God to guide me, my counsels, and my people according to truth. I again fell asleep, and then dreamed that Almighty God sent me a monk, who was a true son of the Apostle Paul. All the saints

A Truly Powerful Dream.
A Truly Powerful Prophecy.

accompanied him by order of God, in order to bear testimony before me, and to declare that he did not come to contrive any plot, but that all that he did was according to the will of God. They asked me to have the goodness graciously to permit him to write something on the door of the church of the Castle of Wittenberg. This I granted through my chancellor. Thereupon the monk went to the church, and began to write in such large characters that I could read the writing at Schweinitz. The pen which he used was so large that its end reached as far as Rome, where it pierced the ears of a lion that was crouching there, and caused the triple crown upon the head of the Pope to shake. All the cardinals and princes, running hastily up, tried to prevent it from falling. You and I, brother, wished also to assist, and I stretched out my arm; — but at this moment I awoke, with my arm in the air, quite amazed, and very much enraged at the monk for not managing his pen better. I recollected myself a little; it was only a dream.

“I was still half asleep, and once more closed my eyes. The dream returned. The lion, still annoyed by the pen, began to roar with all his might, so much so that the whole city of Rome, and all the States of the Holy Empire, ran to see what the matter was. The Pope requested them to oppose this monk, and applied particularly to me, on account of his being in my country. I again awoke, repeated the Lord’s prayer, entreated God to preserve his Holiness, and once more fell asleep.”

“Then I dreamed that all the princes of the Empire, and we among them, hastened to Rome, and strove, one after another, to break the pen; but the more we tried the stiffer it became, sounding as if it had been made of iron. We at length desisted. I then asked the monk (for I was sometimes at Rome, and sometimes at Wittenberg) where he got this pen, and why it was so strong. ‘The pen,’ replied he, ‘belonged to an old goose of Bohemia, a hundred years old. I got it from one of my old schoolmasters. As to its strength, it is owing to the impossibility of depriving it of its pith or marrow; and I am quite astonished at it myself.’ Suddenly I heard a loud noise — a large number of other pens had sprung out of the long pen of the monk. I awoke a third time: it was daylight.”

Duke John: “Chancellor, what is your opinion? Would we had a Joseph, or a Daniel, enlightened by God!”

Chancellor: “Your highness knows the common proverb, that the dreams of young girls, learned men, and great lords have usually some hidden meaning. The meaning of this dream, however, we shall not be able to know for some time — not till the things to which it relates have taken place. Wherefore, leave the accomplishment to God, and place it fully in his hand.”

Duke John: “I am of your opinion, Chancellor; ‘tis not fit for us to annoy ourselves in attempting to discover the meaning. God will overrule all for his glory.”

Elector: “May our faithful God do so; yet I shall never forget, this dream. I have, indeed, thought of an interpretation, but I keep it to myself. Time, perhaps, will show if I have been a good diviner.”5

So passed the morning of the 31st October, 1517, in the royal castle of Schweinitz. The events of the evening at Wittenberg we have already detailed. The elector has hardly made an end of telling his dream when the monk comes with his hammer to interpret it.” History of Protestantism, Vol. I. by Dr. J.A. Wylie

 

Here we see that pen of the goose, Huss, was to strike the devouring lion, Satan, and his system of religious tyranny: the Papacy. Not just a pen was in the hand of Martin Luther, but an “iron” pen as it were, thus fulfilling the promise to those who overcame, making truth their confession:

(Rev. 2:26-28) “And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star.”

What is that “power over the nations”? It is the gospel, which is the power of God:

(Rom. 1:16)  “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.”

May each one of us esteem our Bibles, and our history as Protestants, as blood bought, even as by their blood, our experience has been bought upon this foundation.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

Dream symbols:

Crouching Lion: Satan (1 Peter 5:8)/Kings of the earth under Satan’s power (Revelation 17)

The Monk: Martin Luther

Iron Pen: The Word of God

“A True Son of the Apostle Paul”: Luther’s Confession- The Just Shall live by faith.

The 100 year old goose: John Huss (interpreted goose) who 100 years prior prophesied of the God’s reformation instrumentality, Martin Luther.

 

 

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