Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord.

One other lesson that we can learn during this period is that we need to be intellectually ready to give a reason for the hope that is within us. When the barbarians came and the church was being wiped out in the Middle East and North Africa – this is what was needed.

It is said that history repeats itself. Also, it is said that the one thing that we have learned from history is that we do not learn. When we look back in history do we see any difference with what was happening then and what is taking place in our society today? I don’t think so.

For example, in his book RELIGION OF PEACE Robert Spencer brings out the following: “The ‘war on terror’ is an ideological conflict – one of which Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, atheists, secular Muslims, and others have a stake. But on that ideological front, the West is being notably deficient. And this is due, in no small part, not only to a lack of cultural self-confidence, but also to a sense that Christianity – upon which Western civilization is largely based – and Islam are at best morally equivalent. In the view of many left – liberal leaders, Christianity itself, or religion in general, is the real problem.”

Throughout history the early church faced “a war on terror.” Robert Spencer goes on to say: “If it is widely recognized, however, that the war on terror is in fact a struggle against an Islamic Jihad that would conquer and subjugate Western non – Muslims, and which is well on its way to doing so in Europe, and Western countries face a choice. They can acquiesce to the demands of their Muslim populations and, little by little, adopt provisions of Islamic sharia law until the Islamic social order is fully implemented. Or, they can choose to stand up for Judeo – Christian values and defend them against the ideological challenge of Jihad and Sharia Law.”

A question that comes to my mind is: Isn’t this what took place during the rise of Islam that began to spread through the Middle East and North Africa where the church had been planted, but was slowly beginning to disappear? They can ‘acquiesce to the demands of their Muslim populations and, little by little, adopt provisions of Islamic sharia law until the Islamic social order is fully implemented.’ We see this taking place in the West even today in countries like Great Britain, Germany, France and Sweden.

World Magazine interviewed author Rodney Stark about Islam and asked him the question: Why did the Muslims gain military victory with such ease during the seventh century? His response was: “They were very well-organized and led, and they were highly mobile (everyone rode on a camel and then dismounted to fight). In addition, they were opposed by fortress garrison troops who were poorly suited to fight battles of maneuver. Eventually, the Muslim invaders ran into quality Christian forces at Tours (Poitiers) and were routed. From then on the Muslim tide began to ebb. Christians soon began to retake Spain, then Sicily and Southern Italy, so that they were liberated.” However, it would be safe to say that there was no mass conversion to Islam. It took almost two centuries despite the immense financial and social benefits of converting.

It seems that the argument that Satan uses quite often is the argument of moral equivalency. In our Western world today (and it would seem the same in the Medieval Age as well) that we have modern liberals who would claim that there is no difference between the radical ideology of the Islamic Jihadist and the fundamental Christian today.

After September 11, 2001 very few in power would even suggest that Islam was the problem and that Christianity might be the answer. They saw the Islamist imposing Islam on their society, but the Christians doing the same thing and the latter posing a more serious threat. The modern liberal saw the Taliban beheading the people, but so would the Christians if they got the chance, according to their thinking.

Robert Spencer said: “It is a common assumption among many left – liberals in the West that Christian and Muslim extremist, radicals, or fundamentalists are two sides of the same coin.”

But is there a difference between Christians and Muslims? “When a tsunami devastated Muslim Indonesia and other South Asian countries in 2004, Western states pledged millions. The United States sent $950 million, Great Britain almost 800 million, Germany over 670 million, Canada of 400 million, France about 300 million, Norway 175 million and so on. The European Union also kicked in $628 million aside from the individual contribution of its member states, making Europe’s contribution two billion. The West contributions weren’t merely financial; the United States and Australia Armed Forces were the first responders to bring aid to people in need. This Western generosity, however, has gone largely unnoticed. What of oil rich Muslim nations? Qatar sent $25 million. After criticism of their initial paltry responses, Saudi Arabia sent 300 million, Kuwait 100 million, and the United Emirates 20 million.” (Quote from the book Religion of Peace)

What comes out to me is that we can learn from this period of history so that we need to know what we believe and be able to articulate it well. The more I look at history and the spread of the Kingdom of God the more I see that Jesus Christ is the answer and that the love of God conquers all; it never fails. Paul said: And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak.” 2 Corinthians 4:13 Do we believe that Christ is the way, the truth and the life? If so, we too will speak.

“Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His Name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Luke 24:47

It was during this time in the dark ages (400 AD – 800AD) that Islam began and it spread quite rapidly – mainly through the sword. This new religion moved into areas where Christianity had sprouted and soon the church began to disappear. If you were to go to Turkey today you will find the ruins of the seven churches of Asia Minor mentioned in Revelation chapters 2 and 3.

Islam spread throughout the Middle East, came across North Africa and then over to Spain and tried to cross over the Pyrenees Mountains into France and the rest of Europe.  I mentioned Charles “The Hammer” Martel who fought the Muslim invasion and the Islamic thrust into Europe that was checked when a battle was fought near Poitiers and the Emir of Spain was killed. During this time the “Tall Men of the North,” that terrified the southern Europeans with their height, blue eyes, fair coloring, and fierce, warlike ways were also pushing into other parts of Europe.

It was during this time that our church fathers had to make a decision. When they sat down and evaluated all that was taking place in the world – especially with the spread of Islam wiping out the church in the Middle East and across North Africa – they had to make a decision. Should they dig in and try to hold on to what they have or should they go out and evangelize the Norsemen/men of the north? They decided that to go out and not dig in. It was a right decision and 300 years later after the fall of Rome Christianity had taken over Europe except perhaps for Norway.

Matthew Henry said: “The mighty heroes of the world conquered nations for themselves and made them miserable. The apostles conquered them for Christ and made them happy.” This was true not only of the Apostles, but also those who followed in their footsteps. Part of that army were those who took in the babies that were going to be aborted, fed the poor, and did other acts of mercy. They were seen by the others and this led many to accept Christ. The one thing that you find with this army is their commitment and sacrifice of the Gospel.

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 was a small band of people that had no influence politically speaking and no wealth, but they went out and began to spread the kingdom of God one person at a time until their influence permeated society.

Our view of God determines everything. If we have bad theology we will compromise and eventually our liberties will be taken away from us.

What can we learn from all of this for our day and age? One lesson that I would like to bring out is that we should never have a “dug in mentality.” After World War II some of our church and missions’ leaders in the early 1950’s sat down to evaluate the world after that tremendous war to see where we stand in regard to missions.

Communism took over China and the missionaries had to leave. Nationalism had taken over Indonesia and India (some of our largest mission fields) and missionaries could not come in anymore. Church and mission leaders had to make a decision: Should we hold on to what we have or advance? Sadly, they saw a down trend in missions and made the decision to ‘dig in’ and hold on to what they have.

When I was converted and sensed God was calling me to the mission field I took a course in missions. In that course the teacher spent so much time telling me about all the places where I could not go as a missionary which were the places where missionaries were needed.  I was questioning God if He was really calling me to the mission field. The teacher was thinking like those who have a ‘dug in’ mentality.

In Acts 2:14 Peter stood up in Jerusalem and preached the Gospel of the Kingdom and it began to spread. Through the Apostle Paul it took a westward course. In the last 50 years we have seen some of the greatest advancements of missions in the history of the church.

A couple of years ago I was in the Middle East and saw how there was such a movement of the Gospel back to Jerusalem. The thought that came into my mind was: The Gospel of the Kingdom has circumnavigated the world and is now coming back to Jerusalem. Luke said: “Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His Name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Luke 24:47
 

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.