Acts 23:1-2 Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, "Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day." NKJV.
Of Obstinate Heretics & Tri-Fold Fetters
Today in 1520, Martin Luther finally got his opportunity before the assembly of Nobles and Judges at the German city of Worms. This assembly, or this Diet of Worms, is one of the most important places in Western history, for here, a man triple bound by the Scriptures, his conscience and good reason, would so stand against demonic authority that he would split the fat and weighty heavens with the humble but sharp scimitar of his mighty tongue and from this bulbous bladder of bad Romanism, from this stench filled and foul pestilent cloud of Medieval Papist domination, would rain down principalities, powers and dominions, yes, demons of every kind would all come tumbling out and begin running about Europe in wild and wanton madness, each one vying for new positions and in the so doing, as Melvyn Bragg puts it, begin "tearing countries apart, setting nation against nation, felling kings and plunging dynasties into suicidal bouts of infighting."At Worms, Luther let a lot more than the cat out of the bag, that’s for sure. Thousands upon tens of thousands would die in the ensuing years as the ‘not flesh and blood forces,’ furiously battled it out amongst flesh and blood people. Between darkness and light, new boundaries were being drawn, new fronts were opening up, as light in all its blood stained-glass redness, shone along the floor of Europe’s once so darkened continent. Since this day in 1520, it seems the tumult has rarely ceased.
There are three things of note for us this evening:-
Firstly, that the free men of the Kingdom of Christ are indeed, still today bound by Luther’s same tri-fold fetters. Those being the Scriptures, conscience and good reason.
Second, that it is indeed most dangerous for the individual to break these bonds from around themselves, and
Lastly, that being bound in such a way and in being vocal with it before authority that demands compliance, shall indeed bring down the fearful and condemning curse of ‘Obstinate and Heretic’ upon our own bald and vow-shaven heads.
'Imagining all the people', Lennon was wrong. For without the conflict that darkness always brings against these tri-fold fetters of light, there shall reign over all the people as one, such blackness, such bondage, and such brutality, that Hitler’s Third Reich shall seem like a kindergarten soft toy punch up at a middle class Christmas nativity play.
Oh, bondservant of Jesus Christ, count your fine fetters tonight and if all three are still intact and your mouth is ready to give an account for the hope that is within you, then you had better get ready for trouble!
Listen: - Now when there arose a great dissension, the commander, fearing lest Paul might be pulled to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them, and bring him into the barracks. But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, "Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome." And when it was day, some of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. Now there were more than forty who had formed this conspiracy. Acts 23:10-14 NKJV.
Pray:- Lord, unless we shall be convinced by the testimonies of the Scriptures or by clear reason, then we shall never step on the unsafe ground of acting against conscience. This is our testimony to You this night then, for Christ’s sake we shall now say to you, “Here we stand, we can do no other. So God help us. Amen.”
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