CENTURY OF GENOCIDE 1850-2000 AD

Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”

In the 20th century there has been more mass murder, more genocide, more deaths by governments than in all other centuries put together. However, in the 20th century we have also seen the greatest expansions of Christianity of all time. Even though believers in the West were being weakened by a lack of the knowledge of God, still there was a great movement of the Holy Spirit with the gospel spreading throughout the emerging world.

Great awakening took place in United States in 1945-1950s. More people came to Christ because of movements that started in the 1950s like Campus Crusade, Operation Mobilization (the movement that I am in), Youth With A Mission and some others. It is estimated that more people came to Christ since 1950 than during all previous centuries put together. Consider the following:

87% of Americans consider themselves Christians.

Nearly 50% claim to be born again.

Christian schools have grown in 35 years from 1200 to 60,000.

One third of the 400 plus members of Congress attend some type of Bible study. In 2004, (latest statistics that I have) 57% of the people in Congress were pro-life.

One thing that comes out is that we in the United States will be held accountable. To whom much is given much is expected.

In the 21^st century we are face with three major challenges: First, the situation in our Western culture of what I call the Crisis of Truth; secondly, Radical Islam and thirdly, What it means to be Human. These are the three issues that we are going to have to deal with. I would like to spend some time dealing with these three challenges.

First, the Crisis of Truth: For example, I was listening when Bill O’Reilly debated Whoopi Goldberg (movie star and now talk radio host) about some of the comments made by various movie stars.

A comment that Goldberg made, which is so indicative of our postmodern culture, was that she made decisions based not on her opinion but what her heart was telling her and how she felt. This is the result of post-modernism that we now see; that facts are rejected and the truth is damned.

When I look at the whole political debate taking place today it seems to be based more on what their hearts are telling them and not the facts or what the reality is. How can we continue to live like this in a free society? We get this more and more in our news: feelings and not the facts.

What is also interesting is that an answer like this seems so sincere and trustworthy, like a ‘lofty’ goal. If we are all making decisions based upon what our heart is telling us then what a confusion this will bring about! There are over eight billion people in the world and if they all are following their heart can we imagine the chaos that will come out of all of the decisions that will be made!

When I look at the opinion makers that we all have in our societies it would seem that these opinions are being made not from facts or reality, but from what their hearts are telling them. So, what does this mean? It means that they are shaping world opinion based on feelings of “the heart,” and not facts and truth.

When there is no ultimate truth then what we feel becomes the truth for us whereby we can make our own decisions, based upon what feels best for us. This is what happened in the 60’s with the student rebellion. They went on the assumption of “do your own thing” and “if it feels good, do it.”

There are many things that we can do that might feel good, but in the long run will do us harm. Look at some of the things that we eat, drink, etc. They feel good, but the end result might entail much suffering.

Listening to the program described above how often I heard the words, “This is what I feel.” It is not what I think, or what the facts are, but about what I feel. I think of a lady who made the comment that she knew that Jesus was alive, because, she said, “I feel Him in my heart.” But is this the way that we know that Jesus is alive? I know that Jesus is alive because this is what the Bible (ultimate truth) says. (1 Corinthians 15:4-8)

Our feelings are not a good barometer of what is taking place. The Word of God is. Even in the church today we hear the expression, “I feel”…that this or that is right. We must base our lives on the Word of God. This is a must especially in these days when there is so much deception taking place in the world. Remember that our enemy is out to deceive and that this is what he is trying to do. And I am sad to say he is having success.

We need to be reminded of the words of Solomon in Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” So much of our trusting in our feelings is simply leaning on our own understanding or “following our heart” instead of following the Word of God.

CENTURY OF GENOCIDE 1850-2000 AD

Daniel 2:44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.”

To understand a culture one must understand something of the underlining belief system that it has. Entering the 20th century we see that there was a weakening of the theology that eventually bred many false cults. True Christianity began to withdraw because of ‘weak theology.’

In every culture we have what we call the “opinion makers.” These are people who use words to make a living: teachers, lawyers, politicians, journalists, etc. that have the tendency to form the thinking of the populace.

True Christianity withdrawing from these professions has been catastrophic, because God’s opinion was not being made known. Another group of people who use words are the church pastors and teachers of the Word, etc. However, their voice in the world of opinions was silent and so eventually was silenced.

Sensing weakness and apathy, the infamous butchers of the 20th century took their turn on the world stage, attempting to smother the light – Karl Marx, Engels, Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot, etc. This ancient paganism (for there is nothing new under the sun) came in with modern weapons of mass destruction that resulted in the death of millions.

At this time there was another group of people promoting communism. They discovered that they needed to destroy Christianity if they wanted to bring in Marxism and to do so they had to take over the media and education. This is what is happening today.

In the 20th century there has been more mass murder, more genocide, etc. than in all of the other centuries put together. I remember preaching in Bangladesh right after it became a country where millions died in the process. Waiting to be called up to preach I began writing down the resulting death toll because of war, riots, genocide, etc. in country after country where I had been. When I added those figures, it came into the tens of millions. This all took place in my own life-time and ministry.

Coming in on the scene at this time was a man by the name of Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution. “You have no notion of the intrigue that goes on in this blessed world of science,” wrote Thomas Huxley. “Science is, I fear, no purer than any other region of human activity; though it should be.”

Patrick Buchanan said: “As ‘Darwin’s bulldog,’ Huxley would himself engage in intrigue, deceit and intellectual property theft to make his master’s theory gospel truth in Great Britain.” What was being promoted as the ‘gospel of truth’ was the ‘survival of the fittest.’

“Karl Marx loved Darwinism,” writes Windchy. To him, survival of the fittest as the source of progress justified violence in bringing about social and political change, in other words, the revolution. “Darwin suits my purpose,” Marx wrote.’

Darwin suited Adolf Hitler’s purposes, too.

Windchy goes on to say: “Although born to a Catholic family Hitler became a hard-eyed Darwinist who saw life as a constant struggle between the strong and the weak. His Darwinism was so extreme that he thought it would have been better for the world if the Muslims had won the eighth century battle of Tours, which stopped the Arabs’ advance into France. Had the Christians lost, Hitler reasoned, the Germanic people would have acquired a more warlike creed and, because of their natural superiority, would have become the leaders of an Islamic empire.”

The 20th century seemed to be dominated by tyranny, theological liberalism and the theories of social and biological Darwinism. However, Marx would never see his imaginary, godless utopia. Hitler would be reduced to ashes and the statues of Lenin and Stalin would be pulled down from their pedestals. The Kingdom of God marches on and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

CENTURY OF GENOCIDE 1850-2000 AD

2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

We saw the three different waves of the Modern Mission Movement. In the 19th century we have experienced the greatest expansion of prosperity and freedom as well as Biblical faith – in all of history. It is said that the standard of living in America increased 900% by the principles of the Bible permeating every area of society, and it was being imitated around the globe.

However, at the dawn of the 20th century signs of a brutal paganism were coming back into the Western world. Also during this time Christians were abandoning the very institutions that their ancestors had carved out of a wilderness. We see that the future course of nations, just like the past course of nations, rests upon the people of God. When we look back over the history of nations we see that it was theologians who really brought about the change and laid the foundation for governments and families to build upon.

Benjamin Morris in his book Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (written 150 years ago) said: “The institutions of the North American republic had their birth and baptism from the free inspirations and genius of the Christian religion. The founding fathers constituted the Christian religion as the underlying foundation and the girding and guiding element of their systems of civil, political, and social institutions.”

In the light of what former president Obama said; that “we are not a Christian nation,” this statement by Benjamin Morris is very important.

What were some of the points that Benjamin Morris made to back up his statement?

1. It would be an injustice for historical truth not to affirm and admit that our founding fathers with their Christian inspirations and purpose were under a special and constant guidance of an overruling Providence.

2. The Christian men who founded our civil institutions were men who were trained in the midst of battle in which the truest ideas of liberty and religion were developed. Benjamin Morris also said: “The persecutions of the Puritans in England for non-conformity, and the religious agitations and conflicts in Germany by Luther, in Geneva by Calvin, and in Scotland by Knox, were the preparatory ordeals for qualifying Christian men for the work of establishing the civil institutions on the American continent. ‘God sifted,’ in these conflicts, ‘a whole nation, that he might send choice grain over into this wilderness;’ and the blood and persecution of martyrs became the seed of both the church and the state.”

3. They developed the true symbol of civil government. They saw that the Christian religion was not only for spiritual doctrines, but also for the basis of a civil government.

4. The papers and constitution of the different states show a clear understanding of the Christian religion. When one listens to what our founding fathers say about Providence guiding them it is very clear that they are referring to the Christian religion. George Washington said the following: “I am sure that there never was a people who had more reason to acknowledge a divine interposition in their affairs than those of the United States; and I should be pained to believe that they have forgotten that agency which was so often manifested during the Revolution, or that they failed to consider the omnipotence of that God who is alone able to protect them. He must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations.”

5. In Washington DC, our capital, one will see evidence of the Christian religion. Ten Commandments are over our Supreme Court; words of our founding fathers espousing the Christian religion on our government buildings. On our coins and fiat money we have “In God We Trust.”

6. The revolution for liberty, independence and even our type of government was due to the Christian religion. It was the Gospel of Christ that girded our men for war, our statesmen for debate and gave the early pilgrims hope and courage.

In closing, I again would like to quote Benjamin Morris: “The leaders of our Revolution were men of whom the simple truth is the highest praise. They were singularly sagacious, sober, thoughtful and wise. Lord Chatham spoke only the truth when he said to Franklin of the men who composed the first Colonial Congress, “The Congress is the most honorable assembly of statesmen since those of the ancient Greeks and Romans in the most virtuous times. They were most of them profound scholars, and studied the history of mankind that they might know men. They were so familiar with the lives and thoughts of the wisest and best minds of the past, that a classic aroma hangs about their writings and their speeches; and they were profoundly convinced of what statesmen know and mere politicians never perceive—that ideas are the life of a people— that the conscience, not the pocket, is the real citadel of a nation.”

We are in a cultural war here in the West and therefore it is imperative that we review our history as to where we have come from and what we need to stand on.

CENTURY OF GENOCIDE 1850-2000 AD

Matthew 28:19-20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

During the 19th century we saw one of the greatest expansions of Christianity in world history. In the 18th century we saw a man by the name of William Carey who left the shores of Great Britain and went to India. He felt an overwhelming responsibility for the people who had never heard of the Gospel.

At a ministers’ meeting in 1786, Carey had raised the question of whether it was the duty of all Christians to spread the Gospel throughout the world. J. R. Ryland, the father of John Ryland, is said to have retorted: “Young man, sit down; when God pleases to convert the heathen, he will do it without your aid or mine.”

William Carey published a little book called: AN ENQUIRY INTO THE OBLIGATIONS OF CHRISTIANS TO USE MEANS FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE HEATHENS. It was divided into five parts. The first part consisted of a Biblical basis for missions; the second part was a history of missions from the beginning to the present time; the third part consisted of statistics of what still needed to be done; the fourth part dealt with answers to objections that were raised, and the fifth part called for a mission society that could meet the practical means of seeing missions being accomplished.

Carey became famous for his saying: “Attempt great things for God; expect great things from God.” In 1793 William Carey, along with his wife Dorothy and a missionary doctor by the name of John Thomas, arrived in Calcutta, India and began their missionary work. Later their son Peter died of dysentery which caused his wife Dorothy to have an emotional breakdown from which she never recovered.

William Carey started what was known as the “Modern Missionary Movement.” New mission societies were formed, missionaries were sent out and the kingdom of God began to spread. In 1793 William Carey left for India and he died at the age of 73 in 1834. During those years of discouragements: no Indian convert for seven years, debt, disease, a deterioration of his wife’s mind, death – the grace of God and the power of the Word continued to conquer for Christ through William Carey.

By the time Carey had run the race he had started what is known as a “Modern Missionary Movement,” and seen the Scriptures translated and printed into 40 languages, and founded a college at Serampore, been a college professor and started schools for girls. The Good News of the Gospel of the Kingdom was beginning to go out all over the world. An Indian theologian said about William Carey that he did more for India than Mahatma Gandhi did. Gandhi is known as the father of India. What a testimony of William Carey.

This was the first wave of the modern missionary movement. About 100 years later another young man (age 21) by the name of Hudson Taylor went to China and instead of working on the coast (as most missionaries were doing) he decided to dress like the Chinese and go into their interior. In so doing he started what is now known in mission history as the “second wave” of the Modern Missionary Movement. New societies were born, new endeavors were taken and the word of God began to spread into the interiors of the different nations and continents of the world.

The third wave, and possibly the last wave of nations in reaching this world, started in the 1930s when another young man was handing out Spanish Bibles in Central America. He met an old man that he gave the Bible to and the old man asked: “If your God is so great why can’t he speak my language?” This young man, William Townsend, realized that in the boundaries of what we now call “nations” there are different groups of people who speak different languages, having different cultures, dress, etc.

He saw the need to get the word of God into these different languages and to see a church planted in these different people groups that could then evangelize their own people. At the beginning of the 21st century we now have an understanding of what it takes to get the job done (world evangelism), where we stand at the moment in completing that task and what it will take to finish. It is an exciting time to be alive!

However, during this time there are many other evil forces at work which we will look at.

KINGDOM OF GOD

AMERICAN REVOLUTION 1650-1850 A.D.

Psalms 33:12 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance.”

We cannot go into all the details now regarding the founding fathers, but one thing that stands out is that there was a sense among them that God’s hand was upon this new continent. Listen to the words of Benjamin Franklin:

“In this situation of this Assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understanding?

“In the beginning of the Contest with G. Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor.

“To that kind Providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?

“I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?

“We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that ‘except the Lord build the House, they labor in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel…

“I therefore beg leave to move — that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business.”

The question now comes: How will the colonies respond? Will they deteriorate into anarchy and senseless violence, like France would do a decade later? Or, would they respond to the admonition that Benjamin Franklin gave to call upon divine help in laying the foundation of a Biblical nation, a nation that is based on Biblical law and order?

In the American and French Revolution we see that both extolled the ‘virtues’ of human rights. The difference between the American and French Revolution is that the American Revolution believed that human rights came from God, whereas in the French Revolution human rights came from the government. In the Western world today, this is the way that we are moving; that our government gives us our rights and not God.

What are the foundations that were laid by our founding fathers here in the United States of America?

1. An aggressive acceptance of Biblical Christianity. We see this in the words of Benjamin Franklin quoted above. President Obama made the statement that we are not a Christian nation but a nation made up of many different faiths. Was he right in saying this?

What is a Christian nation? Stephen McDowell said in his book Liberating the Nations: “A Christian nation is one that is founded upon Christian principles, whose laws and institutions reflect a Christian worldview.” Have we been founded on Christian principles? The answer is a definite yes!

2. An in-depth knowledge of the Bible by citizens. Our founding fathers were men of the book and as Stephen McDowell goes on to say: “The Bible teaches, and history confirms, that to the degree that nations have applied the principles of the Bible in all spheres of life – it is the degree to which they have prospered, been free, and acted justly.” If we do not recognize God as sovereign, then there will be someone or something else – most usually the government or some individual that we recognize instead.

3. Rejected the influences of the Renaissance.

4. A keen understanding of history and its causes and effects with obedience to God. They recognized that history was God’s story and not just a lot of isolated incidents, dates, places, etc. It was God working out his plan and purpose.

5. No toleration of pornography.

6. Voting with secret ballots.

7. An economy based on the Puritan work ethic.

8. A media dominated by religious writings.

9. The days of fasting and prayer for battles, elections, and by pastors and civil authorities.

When I look at these foundations I think of the words of Benjamin Franklin when he quoted the Scripture: “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.” (Psalms 11:3) “If the foundations should be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” This is the question that we need to be asking ourselves.

 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION (1650-1850 AD)

Psalm 2:1 “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?”

When Paul was in Athens he was invited to speak in a meeting of the Areopagus. In the midst of his discourse he said: “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.”

One of the things that we see is that every nation has a relationship with God whether they know it or not. Nations can choose to walk in God’s ways or not to. By the 18th century nations in Europe were making their choice. Some ran towards the Creator, but others did not. Some of the richest and most powerful nations in Europe decided to go their own way.

France was one of the nations that decided not to go God’s way. Instead of going for the reformation they went for a revolution with the model of “libert`e, fraternit`e, equalit`e.” Would the French revolution succeed where Rome had failed in freeing the human nature of its brutal propensity to murder, theft and slavery?

We see that the revolution killed or exiled its leaders, kept the masses ignorant and set the stage for their own downfall. We see that the temptation to have power and the excitement of the guillotine overwhelmed the model of liberty, fraternity and equality. It is said that at the time of the French Revolution there was such a sophistication of deception that the world is still deceived after 200 years.

It is important for us to see what some of the foundational stones were in the French Revolution. Later on we will be looking at the American Revolution and in all honesty there is no comparison. The reason this is important because we see some of these same foundational stones in our own Western civilization today. We need to learn from history so that we do not repeat those mistakes.

Foundational results of the French Revolution:

1. A violent rejection of Biblical Christianity. When we see today how God is kicked out of our schools, businesses and our courts we see this same rejection in our own society.

2. Ignorance in respect to God and the Bible. A survey was taken in one particular denomination to find out why so many pastors were dropping out of the pastorate. They came up with four reasons, but the last was interesting and highlights this second point. They dropped out because of “Biblical illiteracy.” They did not know the Word of God!

3. The “Enlightenment” filled the vacuum created by unbelief. Man is a religious person. If we do not believe in God then that vacuum needs to be filled with something else. What is filling the vacuum in our Western Society today?

4. Historical revision bred shame of French heritage. I think of the chant given at a demonstration at Stanford University: “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Western Civilization’s got to go!” Yes, there are problems with our Western Civilization, but we still have the freedom to demonstrate, etc.

5. The reversal of the true nature of man. Instead of the recognition that the problem is sin, the explanation for the problems was that man was tied in knots by rules and laws, etc. It seems today in our Western society that nobody takes responsibility for their own actions. It is always someone or something else that is to blame.

6. A destruction of all order and established institutions.

7. Rejection of moral standards. They had moral anarchy. Anything goes today as well. Since there is no absolute truth everybody does what he/she thinks is right. The history of all societies is not class warfare, but ethical warfare against a sovereign God.

8. Christianity is persecuted while the occult is promoted. I left the USA in 65 and did not come back home for seven years. When I did I was surprised to see how many occultist shops had been opened in those seven years. 9. Crime, vice, indulgence and socialism destroyed the French economy. In our Western world today we are seeing the destruction of our economy because of the same thing. 10. Circuses were given as holidays just like they did in the days of Rome. We have the same today with football, basketball, etc. If we do not turn our worship to God then we will turn to something else; it’s our nature to worship.

Like I said, the one thing we can learn from history is that we do not learn from history.

KINGDOM OF GOD

AMERICAN REVOLUTION 1650-1850 AD

Luke 16:16 “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John (the Baptist). Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.”

After the French Revolution another man by the name of Napoleon came upon the scene and eventually brought death to over 20 million people. It is estimated that two generations of men between the ages of 15 and 25 lost their lives.

This eventually brought in communism, Nazi-ism, Statism which in turn eliminated millions of people in the 20th century. (We will look at this later.) We also see a shift in the enemy’s tactics. We now see Paganism in our day, using different ideologies to try to destroy the truth.

After 5000 years of human history a new continent opened up that became a bed of evangelicalism so that after 1600 years the kingdom could flow throughout the world. Our problem is that we do not see history as God’s story; the story of His kingdom coming into full fruition. The American colonies, 3000 miles west of Europe, had developed a model of liberty which was unique in human history.

From the time that Columbus discovered America and before the first Puritans came over – 100 years passed by. Benjamin Franklin Morris states in his epoch book The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (written almost 150 years ago) that God did not allow anyone to set foot upon the American soil until His prepared people over in Europe were ready.

The men and women who came over were Christian men and women who were trained and formed by the fires of conflicts raging in Europe. Ideas of liberty and religion were formed and developed through civil and religious revolutions. The persecutions of the Puritans in England for non-conformity, the religious agitations in Germany by Luther and in Geneva by Calvin and in Scotland by Knox – were the preparatory work for those who came over to this new continent to lay down the ground work of establishing the civil institutions of the American continent.

Morris in his book states: “It would, however, be a violence to historic truth not to affirm and admit that they were under the special and constant guidance of an overruling Providence. The Bible, as the divine charter of their political rights, as well as of their hopes of immortality, they reverently studied, and on it laid the corner-stone of all their compacts and institutions. The system of Moses (Mosaic) of political jurisprudence, which contains more consummate wisdom and common sense than all the legislators and political writers of the ancient nations, was thoroughly understood by the founders of the American republic and incorporated its free spirit and democratic principles into their organic institutions.”

When we look back over history we see that ideas have consequences whether good or bad. With these ideas come symbols that characterize a nation or an empire. For example Morris goes on to show that:

1. The Hebrew commonwealth was the symbol of a theocratic government. Its rituals of religion and liberty maintained the form and diffused the spirit of freedom and of a true republican government.

2. The Roman Empire, in its colossal unity and form, was the symbol of law, of the stately grandeur of a strong government, of the reign of military rule and conquest.

3. The symbol of the Greek republic was the ideal.

4. The symbol of the British Empire, from its earliest history till the present, was national aggrandizement and selfishness, originating in the feudal system.

5. The symbol of the French empire is glory. Atheism, practical and theoretical, has ruled the French empire, and its fatal power has more than once threatened the very life of the nation.

6. The founders of the Christian republic of North America adopted the symbol of civil and religious liberty as the great idea and end of all their civil institutions.

It is important for us to understand God’s hand in history so that we might comprehend what He is doing and work along with Him. Since Paul said, “From one man he made every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:16-28), several things are worth mentioning here.

First, it is God who determines events – whether it is nations or individuals. It is God who is in control.

Secondly, God moves all things so that men might seek Him or come into redemptive contact of Christ’s work on the cross. God is on the throne and we are moving towards the climax of history: His…story.