JHOPSD GEAR

Mr. McKinley’s article on “Why Abortion is Biblical” is a perfect example of scripture being twisted and misused to prove a stance on immorality, and a posture that is anything less than wicked.  So before we dismantle this heretical argument,  I would like to give you  a crash course on Bible interpretation.  This is an important subject for the saints of God, who are to have  a love of the Truth in there hearts.  Paul admonishes Timothy to know how to right discern between teachers of false doctrines, and those who would teach and lead men astray through deceitful words.  In 2 Timothy 2:15 Paul says:

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

In other words, when Paul says “approved” he is stating that taking a back seat, or pleading ignorance about the scriptures is not acceptable. Three terms in this crash course are :

Hermeneutics
Exegesis
Eisogesis

Hermeneutics: The science of Bible interpretation
The Bible has different types of literature in it like the Psalms or the Major and minor Prophet writings.   A Psalm is interpreted differently than a Historical account, and  prophecies  would be interpreted different than the books of the Law.  One of the first rules of Bible Hermeneutics is the law of context.  This law is set that when you read a passage, it bares relation to the surrounding verses.  Now if I was to quote a line of scripture such as- “…Judas through the money into the temple and left.  Then he went away and hung himself, …go and do likewise!”  The reader will probably walk away with a sad view of scripture and no hope.  Now these are two separate verses from from two completely separate parts of scriptures cut and put together to produce a horrible passage.  To correctly understand the law of context you must read the surrounding chapter(s) and verse(s) to identify what the author is trying  to convey in the message.   The first part about Judas is from Matthew 27:5, which is the account of Judas’ guilt about his apostasy, and betrayal of Jesus resulting in his suicide.  The latter portion stating “go and do likewise” is an excerpt from Luke 10:37, where Jesus is talking to one of the scribes about the parable of the good Samaritan.
Exegesis: The analysis of the historical intention of the writer to the reader.
Exegesis is an important tool of Bible interpretation that lays down the parameter that the original meaning of the text is the only true meaning of the text.  So when scripture refers to Jesus being born of a virgin birth, Jesus was literally born of a virgin birth.  Another example of an exegesis of scripture would be of the book of Joel, and that when there is an army referred in the second chapter, it is a description of an actual army that is coming.
Eisogesis: Misinterpreting scripture by adding ones perspective that is not the true interpretation of the text.  In other words, “I read a verse today, and this is what it means to me…”  This is the area that many people fall into, including Mr. McKinley.

The subject of Bible Interpretation is more detailed, and much, much broader than this crash course, but that is another article, another time…

Mr. McKinley starts off his argument stating “One sided.  That’s the abortion stance of most Christians–one sided.”(1) I can’t really take this as a bad critique of most Christians’ because it’s true.  What I mean is,  God is one sided on this topic. His side.  God has set parameters, and boundaries.  In them are life, wisdom, peace for the mind and soul.  There is fullness of joy, and a beautiful inheritance when you find yourself with the guidelines of Gods’ word.   The psalmist said “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I may not sin against thee.”(2) His word is what we hide and cling to, not so we can say that we have verses memorized, but so that we would not sin against God.  That is the point, it is about Him.  I have no shame in saying God is narrow minded; I am thankful for His ways.  As a result of those who are fully persuaded to following God, and keeping His precepts, a culture is created of like minded believers.  Brian McKinley states that there is overwhelming evidence in the Bible.(1) He is right, there is overwhelming evidence in the Bible that babies from conception are important to God.  Brian states that anti-abortion Christians support their view, by way of a few verses, which he does not believe is the proper interpretation.(1) The first verse quoted (McKinley does not give book/chapter/verse reference too) is from Exodus 20:13- “Thou shalt not kill.”  To this verse, McKinley asks if it is murder to kill a fetus, which leads to his next question of  “is a fetus a full-term human person?”  The answer is yes,  but McKinley is thinks not, and proceeds to attack Psalm 139:13-16(1)

^“13For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.¹⁴I will praise thee; for I am        fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.¹⁵My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.¹⁶Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. ”

Brian recognizes God’s hand in the creation of man, but does not believe that a fetus is of the same value as man when God created Adam.  That the fetus is only on the level a created living thing, until it is outside of the womb. Then is becomes man.

“According to Genesis, God was involved in the creation of every living thing, and yet that doesn’t make every living thing a full human person. In other words, just because God was involved in its creation, it does not mean terminating it is the same as murder. It’s only murder if a full human person is destroyed.”-Brian McKinley(3)

Brian’s thinking is totally flawed and contrary to what Scripture teaches.  The creation of man was completely different in the process than the rest of creation.  Man according to Genesis 1 and 2,  was made in the likeness of God, and formed out of the dust of the ground.  He breathed the breath of life into man,and called him Adam.  Eve was the helpmate God made for Adam, and He spoke purpose into them, and blessed them.  He told them to be fruitful and to multiply.  The rest of creation was not made into the likeness of God, nor did he give it the blessing that He gave Adam and Eve.

Mr. McKinley,  then argues that Psalm 139 was used out of context by anti-abortion Christians, to build a “stand-alone doctrinal statement.”   This is truly not the case.  Psalm 139 is, and has been a part of Judeo-Christian liturgy.  It is also contains orthodoxies about Gods’ attributes, such as His Omniscience, His Immutability, His Omnipresence, His sovereignty, and so forth.  The writer of the Psalm uses “I am”, “me”, which is personification, and a reference to having identity, and purpose.  The writer does not refer to himself in the womb as just a blob!  But special to God.   McKinley then teaches that the Psalms are songs and not to be taken literal.  He describes how the writer of most of the songs, being King David, was swayed by different emotions and wrote what he was feeling at the time.  This is classic example of eisogesis.  The Psalms like the rest of the Bible can be interpreted with  Hermeneutics and Exegesis to determine what is literal, and what is not.  A prime example is Psalm 22, which is a literal, and non literal prophecy about Jesus’ crucifixion.  Verse 6 states, “I am a worm…” which we know historically, and naturally that Jesus was not a physical worm.  But is a metaphor of His life to be crushed as a worm for the staining of garments.  Verses 7 and 8 are actual sayings that the mockers said to Jesus while being crucified on Golgotha.  Once again this was to describe the Psalms using literal and non literal excerpts.  Brian McKinley brings up 2 Kings 2 to further his point of the danger of using certain verses out of context.  2 Kings 2 is the event of Elisha receiving the mantle of Elijah, and then proceeding to bless Jericho’s water source.  When leaving Jericho, Elisha the prophet of God was mocked by 42 young men.  The prophet called a curse upon them, and two female bears came and killed them.  The Hebrew word for “young men” is Neurim Qetannim, which refers to an age group of 12 to 30 years old.  These are not ignorant young men, who were innocently cursed by a “bitter and cruel” prophet. He uses Song of Songs to again make the point, and importance of context.  If only he used this rule when reading and interpreting the whole of other Scriptures.  Jeremiah 1 is another scripture that Brian McKinley is unsatisfied with the interpretation of anti abortion Christians.  He claims that because this is a reference to the birth of a prophet,  it can not therefore be used in understanding that God can know someone before they were in the womb, and that anyone less than a prophet does not have divine purpose.

“This is a special event — the birth of a prophet. God brought the prophet Jeremiah into the world for a divine purpose, and because of that, God was planning Jeremiah’s life “before” he was even conceived. God was preparing him to do miraculous things, such as speak on behalf of God while still a child and setting him up as an overseer of nations and kingdoms. “ - Brian McKinley(4)

Throughout all of Scripture, God refers to generations, and generations being known by Him and and the importance of the seed of Abraham which He made covenant with.  Psalm 8:3-4 says

Those Who Make a Covenant with God

The Covenant- Keeping God
Throughout the history of God’s dealings with man, He has revealed Himself as a covenant-making God. The Almighty covenanted with Noah, Abraham, Moses and David; He renewed His Abrahamic covenant in His call to Isaac and Jacob. Each covenant initiated a new wave of redemptive power into the world and forever impacted the human condition.

The word covenant means “to fetter” or chain together. It was the highest form of commitment that two individuals could share. Any of several rituals were employed to express the covenant partners’ unity: A sword might be passed, signifying that the two would be united against the enemy as one. They might pass a sandal between themselves, which symbolized they would travel any distance to be at one another’s side. Or, they might cut an animal in two and pass between its halves. As the two halves, though separated, were still one animal, so the two covenant partners would become as one individual.

When the Lord initiated His covenant with a man, He did so as an extension of His eternal purpose; the man was a component in a series of divine initiatives. Contained within the Lord’s covenant was His divine intervention, His supernatural wisdom and strategies, and His provisions.

Thus, if we look at the Lord’s call to Noah, we see that it was not the ark, but the covenant of God, that preserved Noah and his family during worldwide judgment. Noah was a component, a factor in a series of divine initiatives, which accomplished the Lord’s predetermined plans. God established the covenant, designed the ark and brought the animals. The Lord even shut the door after Noah entered the ark.

When the Lord established His covenant with Abraham, twice a flaming torch passed through the halves of the animals Abraham offered in sacrifice. The two passes signified that God would keep His part of the covenant and He would keep Abraham’s part of the covenant as well! Today, a restored Israel testifies to God’s faithfulness in His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And it is God’s covenant with Abraham, not merely the Jewish military, which preserves Israel in our times.

The agreement the Lord cut with His covenant partner upheld not only His servant, but His servant’s descendants as well. Noah and his family, Abraham and his seed, and David and his family were all united as beneficiaries of God’s covenant relationship. Similarly, we are saved and sustained through life’s battles by Christ’s covenant with the Father.

Payment And Pattern

Our salvation has been secured, not only because Jesus died for our sins, but because His death was part of a covenant He had with the Father. The fact that Jesus suffered on my behalf is staggering, but His crucifixion was a component of an even more powerful reality: His covenant with the Father.

The terms of Christ’s covenant were such that, if He would live His life blamelessly and offer that holy life upon the cross for sins, everyone who looked to the Son of God would be granted forgiveness. The Father would look to Christ’s sacrifice and see justice and sinners would look to Jesus and find mercy. Yet, as maturing disciples, we find in Christ’s covenant-mission not only our peace, but also a pattern Christ calls us to follow. He told His disciples, “…as the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (Jn 20:21). Having laid down His life in covenant surrender, He now bids us, “take up [your] cross, and follow Me” (Matt 16:24). Of course, our cross does not replace His cross nor do the sub-covenants we make with God supersede Christ’s covenant. The truth is, our cross extends the power of Christ’s cross into our world and times, and our sub-covenant with God finds its backing because of Christ’s covenant with God.

Thus, the Lord calls us to follow Him in personal covenants for our homes, cities and nations. The covenant we embrace is nothing less than the expression of Christ’s nature, revealed again through us for our families, cities and nation.

The Harvest and Covenant Power

To many Christians, the idea of making a special covenant with God is unfamiliar. Yet, I believe that many have already felt the Holy Spirit speaking, urging them to deepen their commitment to Christ. Even so, covenants and our obedience to them must come from our hearts in response to the Lord’s initiative. You will know the extent of your covenant by the measure of vision and faith, which also come from God.

Especially in the last days, we need to become a people who know the truth given us through Christ’s covenant. And, in following Him, we should also know the unique endowment of grace He brings in making special covenants with us.

Indeed, Daniel 11:28-32 warns that the last days will be a time of unprecedented deception and spiritual intrigue. According to this text, Satan’s rage will be hurled uniquely against “the holy covenant”! (v 28a) Yet, in this same chapter we read, “…but the people who know their God will display strength and take action. And those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many” (Dan 11:32-33a).

The prophecy continues, “And those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever” (Dan 12:3). In the midst of great deception there will be a time and a people who know their God, have great insight, do exploits and lead many to righteousness. They will receive a new and powerful endorsement of God’s Spirit.

Additionally, if the enemy will be warring specifically against the Holy Covenant, we can assume there is something of unparalleled power that Christ’s covenant provides against Satan! A new authority is coming to those who desire full conformity to Christ. For a great harvest is indeed prophesied for the end of this age, and those leading the way will be individuals who understand Christ’s covenant and have themselves covenanted with God for their land.

God’s Unalterable Commitment

It is right to pray for the Lord to bless our lives. However, praying for the blessing and provision of God is not the same as covenanting with Him. A covenant is an altar upon which the Lord and His covenant partner give themselves fully to each other. The quality of a covenant relationship with God does not cease once prayers have been answered. For, in covenant love we mature from simply being “believers” to becoming living sacrifices, given to God’s highest plans. By so yielding, He creates within us a life that He can use extraordinarily in the process of divine redemption.

Covenant power is greater than that which comes through prayer alone. The effects of a covenant reach far beyond simple faith. Prayer and faith are essentials, they are prerequisites, but not substitutes, for covenant power. The covenant relationship is a lifelong pledge, an unbreakable oath which God Himself initiates and promises to sustain. Contained within His promise is His unalterable commitment, not only to satisfy His redemptive purposes, but to supply grace and faith to His human counterpart. Together, the All-Sufficient God and a believing man accomplish the impossible through their covenant relationship.

The Power Released in a Covenant

A covenant with God accomplishes two interconnected goals. It thrusts us beyond “subjective prayer” (prayer made primarily for our personal needs), and it brings us into a deeper commitment to God. Out of greater commitment comes greater grace to accomplish God’s redemptive work in the world. An example of covenant power is seen in ancient Israel during the revival which occurred after Athaliah, an idolatrous Judean queen, was dethroned. Jehoiada, the high priest, looked to God in covenant prayer. We read, “Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people, that they should be the Lord’s people…” (2 Kings 11:17).

The result of his covenant was that grace came upon the people and they cleansed the land of idolatry. We read, “So all the people of the land rejoiced and the city was quiet…” (v 20). Jehoiada’s covenant brought the nation back to God and ended violence in Jerusalem!

Consider also the power released in Hezekiah’s covenant with God. The nation of Judah had been fully corrupted by Ahaz, the preceding king. However, Hezekiah began his reign by seeking God’s highest favor. He opened the doors of the temple and reconsecrated the priests.

Yet, the purification of priests and buildings by themselves would not have brought about revival had not Hezekiah taken one further step. He said, “Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that His burning anger may turn away from us” (2 Chr 29:10).

Just eight days after the king made a covenant with the Lord, we read, “Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had prepared for the people, because the thing came about suddenly” (v 36). The difference between a long-term struggle and a speedy turning of the nation was, I believe, in the power which was released when the king covenanted with the Almighty.
It is vital that we who are Americans remember that our spiritual forefathers were people who knew and exercised principles of covenant sacrifice. When they came to this country, they knelt on its shores and covenanted with God for this land, dedicating the “new world” to Christ and His kingdom. It is unlikely that the revival of our nation will come without local and national church leaders covenanting together with God for their land.

Making A Covenant With God

A personal covenant with God is a serious commitment, worthy of extended prayer and focused waiting before God. I have covenanted with the Lord to see the body of Christ delivered of carnal divisions and racism; my covenant goal is that Christ’s prayer of John 17 be answered.

I have also united my life and faith with the covenants of our Pilgrim forefathers. Together with other brethren, both locally and nationally, we have covenanted with God to see this land restored according to 2 Chronicles 7:14.

I believe there will be a time when this nation, like all nations, will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (Rev 11:15). Until then, whether revival comes quickly or we pass through the fires of divine judgments, our lives belong to Christ-not simply to be blessed or prosperous, but to see His highest purposes accomplished in our land.

However, not all of us will covenant with God for the nation. According to their faith, some will make covenants with Him for their families. Others will covenant to see abortion ended in their cities. While still others will covenant with God for the church–to see unity established in the citywide church in their cities.

Making a covenant with God takes us further into our goal of Christlikeness. It is the highest relationship we can enjoy with God and it is the most deeply surrendered. It is, in truth, that which brings Him the most pleasure. To those who covenant with God, He says, “Gather My godly ones to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice” (Ps 50:5). Today, as this nation stands at the threshold of two realities, let us take time in contemplative prayer and kneel before the Almighty Father. In Christlike, focused surrender, as Christ was a living sacrifice for our sins, so let us become living sacrifices to God for those we love. Let us embrace covenant oneness with God that His purpose and passions be fulfilled in our lives and in our times.

A Rees Howell’s Company
by Lou Engle
Scripture Focus
Daniel 10

Jesus’ forty day fast prepared the way for His messianic shout, “The Kingdom is at hand!” The redemption of the world depended on Jesus’ abandonment to the Father as He fasted in the wilderness. Here was a focused man. Without failure, without faltering, He faced the strong man of the earth and bound him with His, “it is written.” Then from His facedown 40, He returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. This was the first Jesus Movement!

This 40-day fast, being trumpeted across California, the nation, and the world, must take on the dimensions of do or die. Spiritual awakening is not an option in California! All hell is bent to squeeze the Church into its mold, and muffle its’ prayers that defy this present darkness. We must have another Jesus Movement and the 40-day fast could be God’s prescription.

As well as revival, California must have a cultural reformation. “The Bible has alerted us to the possibility of supernatural evil powers establishing themselves in local cultures and then controlling life and custom…Satan’s infiltration reaches its intended climax in the establishment of a control center on earth, from which to direct the powers of darkness in their opposition to God’s purposes of grace.” (Born For Battle, Arthur Matthews, Page 31) This has happened in California, where the government and the Supreme Court of California have conspired to change the very definition of marriage. California has poised itself to break away from God’s fixed moral standards and lead the nation in this rebellion. Principalities and powers are clearly mustering their forces. Chuck Colson quoting a professor from Princeton declared, “The marriage battle in California, which will determine the future of the institution of marriage in America, is the Armageddon of this nations cultural wars.” That means there is no tomorrow.

But there is hope!!! One man, Daniel, fasting with total focus, no side issues, refusing to take no for an answer, was the deciding factor in the heavenly war between the archangels of Heaven and the Prince of Persia. In like manner, the great prayer movement in the earth today is being called once again to this holy place of influence in the heavens, to restrain antichrist systems and lawlessness, and unleash another great wave of revival. We must be all out for this one!

Reese Howells and his praying band understood their place of intercession and its role in shaping history and withstood the spiritual powers that raged over Hitler and the Nazi regime. Listen to Howell’s journal as he challenges his holy band:

May 17th

9:30am

“You are more responsible for this victory today than those men on the battlefield. You must be dead to everything else, but this fight.”

1:00pm

“Because you have committed yourselves, you are responsible. You will never have peace again until the world has peace, but you have a place in the cleft of the Rock,”

Friends, there is no peace in California! You cannot peacefully coexist with ideologies that attack the image of Christ “For in the image of God he created them male and female.” You cannot remain silent when laws are being passed that ultimately will bring destruction to our children and our children’s children. Will God find His Reese Howells’ company again? I say yes and let it be now! The fast begins today, September 24th through November 2nd.

Prayer

Oh God, Ruler of nations, Lord of history, we set our face to seek you with prayer and fasting. Find in us the spirit of your own Son, the great intercessor, who loved not his life unto death. Call forth thousands now, those who have found their place in the Rock, and out of that place are committed to war in the spirit for a great awakening in California, our universities, among our children, and in the cultural power centers of our nation. God restrain homosexual marriage and send revival to California. We pray for the sake of your Son, Jesus. Amen.

HUMANISM: Forerunner for Antichrist
By Derek Prince
For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons without bodies—the evil rulers of the unseen world, those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world; and against huge numbers of wicked spirits in the spirit world.
(Eph. 6:12, TLB)

As followers of Jesus Christ, we find ourselves caught up in a conflict that spans both heaven and earth. The forces that confront us are “persons without bodies”—evil spiritual powers in the unseen realm that oppose all true righteousness and seek to establish Satan’s dominion over the whole world. Our responsibility in this conflict is unique, because Christ has committed to us alone the spiritual insight and weapons that can give us victory. The governments and the armies of this world, operating solely on the natural plane, have no understanding of the conflict and no power to deal with the satanic forces in the heavenlies. On the contrary, without realizing it, they themselves are manipulated and controlled by those forces. One essential requirement for victory is to identify the nature of the forces that are at work in any given situation. In recent months as I have been meditating on developments in the world—and especially in the U.S.A. and Israel—I believe that God has shown me the identity of the evil, deceptive power that Satan plans to use to consummate his purposes for the end of this age. It is HUMANISM.

I had always thought of humanism as a comparatively harmless error. When I consulted a dictionary, I was taken aback by its definition: “the denial of any power or moral value superior to that of humanity; the rejection of religion in favor of a belief in the advancement of humanity by its own efforts.” I realized that humanism is not spiritually neutral. On the contrary, it is a deliberate denial and rejection of God’s power and authority. It is an anti-religious religion. For this reason, it can be—and often is—taught in educational systems, such as that of the U.S.A., which prohibit the teaching of religion in its usual sense. I decided to trace humanism back through history, starting with Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of an image with a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, and legs of iron. Daniel interpreted this as foreshowing four Gentile empires which would arise in succession. The head was Babylon; the chest and arms were Media-Persia; the belly and thighs were Greece; the legs were Rome (Dan. 2:31–40). One key factor was impressed upon me: the reproductive organs were in the area identified with Greece. With my background in Greek philosophy, this became particularly vivid to me. I realized that it was Greece—more than any of the other empires—which, through its philosophy, reproduced itself in subsequent cultures. Two of the early Greek philosophers of whom we have a record are Heraclitus and Protagoras. Three of their surviving sayings state: “all things flow” . . . “you can never step twice into the same river” . . . “man is the measure of all things.” It is amazing how these three sayings sum up the essence of humanism. They assert that everything is relative; there are no moral or legal absolutes; and man is the highest authority in the universe.

It is outside the scope of this study to analyze how this thinking has molded, first, the concepts of Europe, and then, through Europe, the concepts of contemporary “civilization.” The Greeks idolized the human mind. Aristotle’s concept of God was a perfect mind contemplating itself—because nothing less was worthy of its contemplation. Out of this the whole philosophy of rationalism has developed. In addition to philosophy, another main element of Greek culture was its emphasis on athletic contests. Their Olympic Games represented what was, in fact, an idolatry of athletic prowess, which has come back to life in the present century. The most widely viewed TV programs today are the great international sporting contests. The Greeks also tended to downgrade the marriage relationship between a man and a woman, and to view a homosexual relationship between two men as being more “intellectually fulfilling.” In their statuary, the idealized male form was usually presented naked, whereas the female was draped with some form of robe. The so-called “gods” of Greece exhibited all the moral failings of humanity: lust, immorality, jealousy, vindictiveness and deception—a complete absence, in fact, of any binding moral code. This left man free to be his own god, and to establish his own moral code. After all, no people can be expected to live above the level of its own gods.

All these effects of Greek humanism have been increasingly evident in our Western culture throughout the present century. In 1992, however, the spirit of humanism launched a major new offensive against both the U.S.A. and Israel. Almost simultaneously, a cloud of dense spiritual darkness descended upon both nations. In their national elections that year the spiritual force that brought to power both the Clinton administration in the U.S.A. and the Labor Coalition in Israel was blatant, undiluted humanism. Both administrations represent an open and deliberate rejection of God’s righteous laws and of the covenants He made with man, first through Moses and then through Jesus Christ. They have demonstrated that, carried to its ultimate, humanism will believe anything but the truth and will tolerate anything but righteousness.

This exaltation of man is the force which will finally give rise to the Antichrist, whose name is the number of man (Rev. 13:18), the man of lawlessness, who opposes and exalts himself above everything that is called God or is worshiped, and even sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God (2 Thess. 2:3–4). Scripture reveals that he will bring under his dominion all who have refused the love of the truth. For this reason God will send them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie—the original lie, that is, with which Satan deceived our first parents: “You will be like God . . .” or “like gods.” This exaltation of man in the place of God will usher in “the great tribulation”—a period of worldwide agony so terrible that it will exceed even the holocaust of 1939–1945 (Matt. 24:21–22). Before this final period of tribulation, however, God still has tremendous purposes to work out for both Israel and the Church. A harvest of mercy will precede the harvest of judgment. God’s preparation for this is revealed in Zechariah 9:13: “I will raise up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece. . . .”

The “sons of Greece” are those who embrace the deception of humanism. The “sons of Zion” are those who take their stand upon the infallible Word of God, embracing both its promises and its covenants. They will be drawn both from natural Israel and from the professing Church. Of them it will be said, “They overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” They will be people with one overriding priority; to do the will of God will be more important to them than to hold on to life itself. Faced with this challenge, we each need to ask ourselves: Am I ready to take my stand as one of the sons of Zion? Numerically, we are vastly outnumbered by the forces of humanism. Nevertheless, we can take courage from the example of Asa, king of Judah. Facing an invasion by an overwhelmingly superior army, his prayer of desperation turned sure defeat into total victory. For us today, his prayer provides a wonderful pattern with which to counter the self-exalting forces of humanism.

“LORD, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. O LORD, you are our God; do not let man prevail against you.” (2 Chron. 14:11, NIV)

Yours in the Master’s service,
Derek Prince
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THE ACTS AND MONUMENTS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
by
JOHN FOXE (or FOX)

Introduction

The Times

There was never a worse place or time to be religious than Europe in the 16th Century. These were cruel times. There was the death penalty for all but the most petty offences, and hangings were a popular spectator sport. Indeed, hanging was a lenient punishment: flaying, impaling, breaking on the wheel, and being hung upside down and sawn through from groin to scalp were alternatives. Lesser crimes such as begging were punished with flogging, branding or mutilation. Torture was widespread and trials, if held at all, often a travesty of justice. Warfare, too, was conducted with the utmost brutality; massacre, rape and pillage of the civilian population were standard practice, and the slaughter of enemy prisoners was common, sometimes even including those who had been promised their lives if they surrendered.

Religious hatred made things even worse. Reading Foxe, or other authors of the time, whether Protestant or Catholic, it is striking how absolutely certain everyone was that not only were they right, but that their opponents were the agents of Satan. (See here for a Catholic example and here for a Calvinist one). Foxe knew that the Pope was the Antichrist predicted by the Bible in the same way as he knew that water was wet or that the sun went round the earth. From this certainty sprang the intolerance from which persecution arises. It was argued, that if a murderer, who only slew the body, deserved death; how much more deserving of death was a heretic, whose evil falsehoods could destroy the victim’s soul. This being so, it was clear that any means could and should be used to stamp out these devil’s spawn.

Both sides believed that there was only one true religion and all deviation from it was hellish; they only differed about which religion it was. Catholics persecuted Protestants and vice versa; each side persecuted its own heretics with equal vigour. In Eastern Europe, the Orthodox faith was both perpetrator and victim. In England, the official religion changed four times in less than thirty years, and each change was accompanied by persecution of those who would not change with it. The division of Europe into Catholic and Protestant powers, often at war with one another, meant that in some countries (especially England) preaching the wrong religion was regarded as supporting the enemy and punished as treason.

Read More of Foxe’s Book of Martrys online