Friday, October 24, 2014
Acts 17:6 ... they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: "These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here ..."
REFORMATION RECAP: "HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF"
In a Pentecost sermon of 1534, Luther pointed out that the slanderous accusations that Germany was wild and unruly because of his teaching was simply another example of how ...
"People accuse us of being seditionists [rebels], as they accused the apostles (Acts 17:6), and of breaking the unity of the church. Every evil that happens, happens because of us, they say. Formerly, under the papacy, the situation was not so bad, our slanderers cry, but now that these teachers have arisen, all the trouble has come: famine, war, the Turk. All this is blamed on our preaching. If they could burden us with the fall of the devil from heaven, nay with the crucifixion and death of Christ, they would not fail to do so."
Luther looked back to the days of the apostles and saw the same thing that happened to them happening in his day: Christians standing up for the truth getting blamed for everything. We can see history repeating itself again. Conservative Christians today are being blamed for being "seditionists" and intolerant of abortion, homosexuality, living together outside of marriage, etc. Throughout the history of the world, the minority is often set apart and blamed for the ills of the land or time. God has truly set us apart, He has called us to be holy to humbly proclaim His Word of truth and the Gospel that has redeemed the world from its sin! As history continues to repeat itself in in our day, may we ever repeat history in being willing to speak our faith with all boldness and confidence in Christ Jesus our risen Lord and Savior!
(Quotations taken from "What Luther Says," E. M. Plass, 1195)
