Today in History - April 16

1917: Vladimir Lenin issues his radical "April Thesis" calling for Soviets to take power during the Russian Revolution (Source)

Recommended sermons and podcasts:

KGB, Active Measures, Disinformation and Subversion, by Dr. Peter Hammond
Cuba, Castro, and Communism, by Dr. Peter Hammond
Christian Colleges - Pro-Marxist? Communism for Kid - New Curriculum, by Pastor Kevin Swason
How Apostate Presbyterian Churches Support Communism, by Dr. Carl McIntire (1906-2002) [Note: This sermon was preached in 1971]

Recommended article & video:

95 Years Ago, The USSR Was Formed. Let's Look at the Numbers - dailycaller.com
History of the Soviet Union Set to the Music of Tetris

1521 Martin Luther Arrived at Diet at Worms (Source)

Recomemend sermons and podcasts:

Martin Luther at Diet at Worms 1521, by Rev. Brian McClung [Text: Matthew 10:19]
Luther: Here I Stand, by Pastor Kevin Boling

Here are some excerpts from Faith Alone: The Evangelical Doctrine of Justification, by R. C. Sproul (1939-2017):

"Does saving faith require a trust in the righteousness of Christ alone as the grounds of our justification? Or may a person have a different view of the gospel and still be a Christian?" 

"The Reformation was waged, not over the issue of justification by faith, but over the issue of justification by faith alone. It was the Sola of Sola Fide that was the central point of dispute." 

" Agreement between Rome and Evangelicals can be reached in several ways. One is for Evangelicals to abandon their historic position of Sola Fide. A second is for Rome to adopt Sola Fide as its official doctrine. The third is for agreement to be reached that Sola Fide is not essential to the gospel." 

Here is how Pastor Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) felt about the importance of the Reformation (in the 1500s, the 1800s, and in 2017!

"It is today as it was in the Reformers’ days. Decision is needed. Here is the day for the man, where is the man for the day? We who have had the gospel passed to us by martyr hands dare not trifle with it, nor sit by and hear it denied by traitors, who pretend to love it, but inwardly abhor every line of it….Look you, sirs, there are ages yet to come. If the Lord does not speedily appear, there will come another generation, and another, and all these generations will be tainted and injured if we are not faithful to God and to His truth today. We have come to a turning-point in the road. If we turn to the right, mayhap our children and our children’s children will go that way; but if we turn to the left, generations yet unborn will curse our names for having been unfaithful to God and His Word." (From The Forgotten Spurgeon, by Iain Murray