1 Corinthians 4:11-13 “To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answered kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.”

When we look back at the extension of the kingdom of God starting from that small obscure village in Palestine we realized that in the past 2000 years there have been the ups and downs. However, the scale goes slowly upwards throughout these past 2000 years. In other words, there were times when we saw the church declining in influence as well as outreach, but the general direction has been upwards.

The next season of time that we look at is what has been known as the “Dark Ages” from 400 to 800 A.D. Although modern historians have called the next 500 years of European history the dark ages in reality, this era saw truth and light piercing paganism and bringing conversion and cultural liberation to Europe.

The barbarians who had learned their lesson of debauchery from their Roman masters had now conquered the empire. This was also a time of great men/women with faith. A new army was being raised up. It was an army that did not conquer by sword and force, but through love. They laid the foundations of Western civilization, not with swords of steel, but with the sword of the Spirit and its truth, which promised to set the captives free.

It was during this time unknown to most that this new army was beginning to change society, culture, etc. one person at a time. We can compare these two armies. First, we have the pagan army that for 4000 years had accumulated all the wealth and had ruled with unprecedented power over these years. On the other hand, there is a small band of people who had no power, no wealth, but they went out and began to spread the faith one person at a time until their influence began to permeate society.

They were men like Severus who had control over 100 men and had charge to keep order in the Temple of Venus while the people worshiped this idol. Not being able to stand any longer the worship of this false idol he stood in the temple and proclaimed Jesus Christ as Lord. This was not a popular thing to do and sure enough it was reported to the people higher up and he was brought before Caesar and while being held by two men they cut off his head.

There were others like Theodorus who had angels visit him. It is said that because of his faith he was stretched out on a rack with his bones being pulled out of their sockets. He was asked how he could endure the pain and he said: “For a while I did feel pain, but then a young man stood by and was wiping the sweat off my face and refreshing me with cool water and so delighted me that I regretted being let down from the rack.” His bravery was so great that the authorities let him go and helped him to recuperate from his wounds.

Thaddeus was another Christian who was so enraged against the gladiatorial events in the arena, where even Christians would come after church, that he rushed into the midst of the two gladiators who were fighting and shouted: “STOP!” The crowd was so enraged that they shouted, “Down with him!” Sure enough one of the gladiators ran him through with a sword. All of a sudden there was silence. While he laid there in a puddle of blood the people began to leave one by one. That was the beginning of the end of the gladiatorial events. One man made a difference.

When I think of the cultural war of the 21st century that we are in – how we need to see men and women like Thaddeus raised up who will stand in the midst of the malaise that we live in and say: “Stop; enough is enough.”

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God.”

The Dark Ages, or as some historians call the Medieval Ages, was a time of continual fighting between warrior kings of Europe. It was a time of lawlessness, superstition, magic, evil and dragons.

To the north, were the Vikings, who were known as the “Tall Men of the North.” They terrified the southern Europeans with their height, blue eyes, fair coloring, and fierce warlike ways. A prayer during that time was: “Lord, save us from the savages of the North.” The Vikings became known as the Norsemen – People from the North.

Few people could read or write. Most people lived in mud huts that were surrounded by a wooden stockade. Life was localized and self-sufficient. Scholars of the day found refuge in Arabia. There their records were made and kept safe. Societies and religions began during the Dark Ages. Much fighting took place, but it was also a birthing time.

Although there was much violence during this period it was also a glorious period in many ways. Scholars began to pave the way towards creating real scholarship, writing, books, printing, etc. Europe which had been demoralized by Rome’s tyranny of many years also began to break out in its new found freedom.

Shortly after his historic sacking of Rome, Alaric the 1^st dies of fever in 410. He did not live long to enjoy much of his success, but future generations did. Throughout the fifth century – wave after wave of invading tribes flooded into Rome and fought to stake their claim on the waning Roman Empire.

Clovis, King of the Franks (through his wife Clotilda) makes a decision to accept Christianity as his religion and was baptized in 496 at the age of 30. He made Paris his capital and his kingdom was basically what is known as present-day France and southwestern Germany. He formed a crucial alliance with the Roman Catholic Church and brought about a certain stability in the land.

Justinian the 1^st, also called “the great,” was the Byzantine Emperor (527- 565). He extended Byzantine rule in the West, beautified Constantinople and completed the codification of Roman law.

It was during this era of the Medieval Age what is known as the Justinian Code was formalized and became known as the body of civil law which still governs most of Europe today. It was also in this era that Mohammed was born in Mecca. He would often withdraw to a cave where he would meditate and pray. It was during one of these times that supposedly Gabriel the Archangel appeared to him and proclaimed him a prophet.

Another prominent man during this era was Charles “The Hammer” Martel (688-741). He was also the grandfather of Charlemagne. Eventually he became a Supreme leader of the Franks. His greatest achievement was his war with the Muslims from Spain who invaded France in 742. In a battle near Poitiers, the emir of Spain was killed and the Islamic thrust into Europe was checked.

Also in 742, probably in Aachen, Charlemagne the grandson of Charles Martel was born. Charlemagne led the Frankish armies to victory over numerous other peoples and established his rule in most of western and central Europe. He was probably the best-known and most influential king in Europe in the Middle Ages.

It was in this atmosphere of wars, bigotry, superstition, etc. that the kingdom of God was invading. Slowly, but like yeast beginning to work itself throughout the society and culture, the Kingdom of God was advancing.
 

2 Corinthians 2:11 “….in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.”

Although the truth remains the same, strategy changes according to the times, circumstances and situations that we find ourselves in.

This is also true with Satan down through the ages. His methods have been simple, but effective: persecution, death in the arena, and many other atrocities Satan tried in order to stop the advancement of the kingdom of God. However, Satan has found that the Gates of Hell cannot prevail against the Church of Jesus Christ.

About 300 A.D. we found that Satan’s strategy changes. Constantine supposedly becomes a Christian and Christianity is accepted as the bona fide religion in the Roman world. Now God’s people, instead of being persecuted, find themselves being applauded, accepted and put on a pedestal which is a dangerous place to be.

In the immediate years following Christ’s death there was little formal organization of the Christian movement. The early converts thought that the return of Christ was near and they concentrated on their own personal lives of being ready for His coming. But by the second century there was a formal, hierarchical organization within the church.

There seems to be a two prong attack against Christianity. One comes from being accepted and no more persecution, and another from within by a false doctrine.

The most important development was the rise of the Bishop of Rome to a position of pre-eminence in the hierarchy of the church and with the title of “Pope” or “Father” in Greek. Rome became the center of the Christian faith for it was the largest city in the West, the capital of an empire and had a certain respect that was transferred to the Pope or Bishop of Rome.

It was during this time that serious debates raged about the personage of Christ. Arias, a priest in Alexandria believed that Christ was not fully God because he was not of a substance identical with God. Arias did not believe that Jesus was co-eternal with God and the controversy became so serious that Constantine convened a council called the “Nicene Council.” The council branded the idea of Arias as a heresy which was a doctrine contrary to the official teachings of the Church. Christ was declared henceforth to be of the same substance of God.

It was during these years of relative peace that the doctrines of the Church were being worked out. However, it is like Jesus said when He gave the parables of the kingdom in Matthew 13 that the wheat and the tares (the real and the false) will grow together until the harvest. This is what we had then and this is what we still have today.

Throughout the ages we see three things developing in every congregation and denomination. First, we have the Lord’s commands. This is not debatable; they are simply to be obeyed. Secondly, we have the apostolic teaching. Thirdly, we have what a congregation agrees on doing. There is nothing wrong with this, but what happens is that we begin to substitute point number three with point number one. In other words, what the congregation agrees on doing becomes as authoritative as the Lord’s commands.

Like our text reads at the beginning of this chapter, “we should not be ignorant of the devil’s devices or schemes.”
 

Revelation 12:11 “They overcame him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”

The early expansion of the kingdom of God into the Roman world was not without difficulties and obstacles. However, it was done by men with great faith who believed God in what they were doing.

Seeing the extension of the kingdom of God comes down to our faith. The world is not going to change until people change. We have to go from the internal to the external. But for many evangelicals today the basic approach is to rescue as many sinners as possible from a dying world and then to simply just hang on until the return of Jesus. But, we are told to “occupy” and not just to survive.

When the early disciples started out they started with a protest against the tyranny, slavery, and the injustice that was in the world. Their basic weapon was Truth.  In his book, Shaking the System, Tim Stafford said: “It was truth that launched American anti-slavery. The truth was simple: Slavery is sin. Truth matters. Truth has the power to move people. When truth is recognized, the terms of debate change utterly. We need to be able to articulate the truth powerfully and convincingly.”

Jesus said that when we come to know the truth, the truth will set us free. These men/women armed with truth went out into the Roman world and within 70 years planted fellowships with the followers of the Truth.

Truth will lead to conflict and conflict will sort out our friends as well as enemies. The truth has enemies, but speaking the truth is crucial. When Paul and the other apostles went out, I am sure that they were faced with many frustrations and being faced with those frustrations they probably also had long discussions about tactics.

We see something of this when Paul and his team tried to go to different places in Asia Minor, but the Holy Spirit stopped them. They finally wound up in a place called Troas on the Aegean Sea. After Paul’s dream of the Macedonian Call, Paul and his team debated over tactics as to what they should do. We read that they concluded that they were to go into Europe. Their tactics had changed, but the Truth remained the same.

Having the privilege of being able to travel in so many countries of the world I see that each country is unique and every country has the need for different strategies at different times. For example, in Karnataka India where I first worked almost 40 years ago I could not find any village pastors, but there was need to get as much of the Word of God out as possible then. Now, 40 years later the strategy has changed. Instead of being in the villages, preaching in the markets, giving out as much literature as possible, we are now finding that there is need for teaching the thousands of village pastors who have come into existence. The strategy has changed. However, the Truth is still the same. We must never forget or neglect the Truth.

I thought it was rather interesting to see the strategy of Paul and what Tim Stafford said in his book, Shaking the System: “We need to have a strategy for presenting truth (Paul did. He went to key cities). First, we need to stick to principle, not sentiment. Second, we need to insist on public debate (Paul stayed several years in Ephesus in a rented hall. He also spent time in the synagogues to reason and persuade). Thirdly, the discussion should be thorough and deep. We need to get away from ‘sound bites.’ Fourthly, we need to emphasize facts. Fifthly, calmly present the truth to ordinary people and not the elites (often Paul was among the masses of ordinary people). Sixthly, we need to press for a decision. Facts must lead to commitment.” We should not only know the truth that undergirds what we are doing, but we should think and plan on how to make it prominent.

To me this was the basis of the early disciples’ strategy to see the extension of the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 10:20 “The sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons.”

Rome, like empires before and after, were caught up in what is known as the five deadly sins. What were the five deadly sins of history?
1 – Rejection of God’s laws. 2 – Tyranny/ worship of leaders. 3 – Enslave or execute enemies. 4 – Human sacrifice. 5 – Persecution of the believers.

We can see the same five deadly sins operating in some countries in the world today where the kingdom of God is spreading. One thing that comes out is that there is a major problem in the heart of man. God’s laws are written on the hearts of all men.  “Since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.” Romans 2:15

When we reject the laws of God we will have problems in our families to the third and fourth generation.  We can trace this through history.  We do not break God’s laws, but God’s laws should break us unto obedience. Persecution of believers takes place in all pagan empires.

It was this type of environment that the 12 apostles, along with the other disciples, went out into the Roman world preaching the gospel of the kingdom. The book of Acts shares some of the problems that they faced as well as victories won and sacrifices they made.

Paul, one of the guiding lights in the days of the early church, is converted in a dramatic way on the road to Damascus. During those days of Paul’s blindness and as he fasted, his theology was shaped. He begins to move out in the power of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. He is chosen to go to the Gentiles.

From Antioch Paul begins his missionary journeys into the Roman world and the kingdom of God begins to spread. Although Rome committed the five deadly sins mentioned above, there was still a certain amount of peace and common language, and the Roman roads that allowed the gospel to spread.

We read in Acts 16 that Paul and his companions traveled throughout the province of Asia. However, when they came to the border of Mysia they tried to enter Bithynia (which is located in the northern – Eurasian part – of modern-day Turkey), but the Spirit of God would not allow them. So we read that they came down to a place called Troas located on the Aegean Sea.

It was during the night that Paul had a dream of a man standing in Macedonia calling and begging him to “come over to Macedonia and help us.” We read that the next morning they concluded that God had called them to preach the gospel to them in Macedonia.

We see that this decision to go to Macedonia in fact caused the gospel of the kingdom beginning a westward movement. The gospel was coming into Europe. It is quite remarkable to think that within 70 years the apostle Paul, with his companions and other disciples – that God used, spread the Kingdom of God throughout the Roman Empire.

In 68 AD Nero committed suicide and Rome was left without a leader. Civil War ensued and the generals fought for control of the empire. About 50,000 people died. Eventually Vespasian becomes the Emperor, but he lacked authority and so he knew that he needed a foreign victory to secure his throne.

He turned his attention upon Jerusalem and the destruction of Jerusalem came about. Not only was the Temple destroyed but over 1 million people died. However, Rome was coming to the end of the empire, but the kingdom of God that started in a small obscure village in Palestine was beginning to spread throughout the world.

Today, in the 21st century the Roman Empire is long gone, but the kingdom of God is moving on.