| Highlights of Dawn | November 1966 |
The Conversion of the World
AS WE approach the close of 1966 we find the world in a state of chaos even worse than that at the beginning of the year. The war in Viet Nam continues to escalate, and the heads of state and the people are fearful of the outcome. The churches continue to do what they can to direct the rulers toward a peaceful solution of their problems, but their efforts seem futile. Billy Graham’s campaign in London did not change the course of that nation, and Catholic nuns have been summarily thrust out of communist China. The ecumenical spirit is at work among the Catholics and Protestants, and they are doing what they can to present a solid front of action against the increasing forces of irreligion and atheism.
How different is the religious outlook in the professed Christian world today from what it was as few as fifty years ago! At that time all the denominations were enthusiastically sending missionaries to the heathen lands in the hope of converting the remainder of the world to Christ. Shortly after the first World War, tremendous missionary efforts were made to convert the world within the then present generation. But a majority of that generation have died, and today the world is further from being converted than it was then.
The expression, “conversion of the world,” reflects an age-old concept of the professed Christian churches as to their God-given responsibility toward mankind. This concept of the divine will for Christians stems in part from the great commission given td the apostles by Jesus when he instructed them to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. (Matt. 28:19) When, after his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his apostles for the last time before returning to the heavenly courts, he said to them, “Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”—Acts 1:8
When Jesus first sent his disciples into the ministry he restricted their activities to the little nation of Israel, saying, “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matt. 10:5) When, after his resurrection, he instructed them to go to all nations, even to “the uttermost part of the earth,” Jesus wanted his disciples to realize that the original and temporary restriction no longer applied.
But was it the Lord’s intention that the missionary work of his followers would convert the world to Christianity? The apostles did not so understand it. James, addressing an apostolic conference at Jerusalem, said, “God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.” (Acts 15:14) The expression, “take out,” implies that many would be left, and that the whole Gentile world would not accept and profess the name of Christ.
The expression, “a people for his name,” denotes that those called out of the world become members of the divine family. They are pictured as being on symbolic Mount Sion with the “Lamb,” and as having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. The first of these to be called to this high position were the believing Jews of Jesus’ day. Jesus said that these were given the power, or authority, to become “sons of God.” (John 1:11,12) But the invitation was not accepted by enough of these to make up the desired number, so the Gospel was extended to the Gentiles. Paul speaks of the completion of this aspect of the divine plan as the coming in of “the fullness of the Gentiles”—that is, the full number from among the Gentiles, as designed by God.
These faithful sons of God will constitute God’s ruling house. They are brought forth in “the first resurrection” to live and reign with Christ a thousand years. (Rev. 5:10; 20:6) It will be through this rulership that the world in general will be converted. It will be in that kingdom that the knowledge of the Lord will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea. (Isa. 11:9) At that time the remainder of mankind will have an opportunity to call upon the name of the Lord.—Acts 15:17
Human Efforts Fail
Soon after the apostles fell asleep in death, the professed followers of Jesus began to lose sight of the real objective of their missionary efforts. As this departure from the truth became more pronounced, methods were changed so that that which was mistakenly called Christianity was forced upon many nations of Europe by the power of the sword. Here are sample quotations from the noted church historian, Mosheim, picked at random from his works:
“There is no doubt but that the victories of Constantine the Great, the fear of punishment, and the desire of pleasing this mighty conqueror, and his imperial successors, were the weighty arguments that moved whole nations, as well as particular persons, to embrace Christianity.”
“A war broke out at this time between Charlemagne and the Saxons, which contributed much to the propagation of Christianity, though not by the force of a rational persuasion.”
“More forceful means were afterwards used to draw them into the pale of the church, in the wars which Charlemagne carried on against that gallant people. … During these wars, their attachment to the superstitions of their ancestors was so warmly combated by the allurements of reward, by the terror of punishment, and by the imperious language of victory, that they suffered themselves to be baptized, though with inward reluctance, by the missionaries which the emperor sent among them.”
“Precautions were employed among the Huns in Pannonia, to maintain in the profession of Christianity that fierce people whom Charlemagne had converted to the faith, when exhausted and dejected by various defeats, they were no longer able to make headway against his victorious arms, and chose rather to be Christians than slaves.”
The General Method
These are not isolated items of history, but they reflect the methods by which, almost without exception, the various nations of Europe were forced into the “Christian” fold. Nor were the leaders of the apostate Christianity of that time out of sympathy with these methods. Concerning Charlemagne, and the clergy who supported him, Mosheim wrote:
“Succeeding generations, filled with a grateful sense of the famous exploits which Charlemagne had performed in the service of Christianity, canonized his memory, and turned this bloody warrior into an eminent saint. … And indeed, Charlemagne merited this honor, according to the opinions that prevailed at that period of time; for to have enriched the clergy with large and magnificent donations, and to have extended the boundaries of the church, no matter by what methods, was then considered as the highest merit, and as a sufficient pretension to the honor of saintship.”
It requires no special discernment to realize that nations supposedly converted by such methods were not in reality Christian. If the Gospel thus imperfectly proclaimed truly reached into the hearts and lives of some individuals, these would be among those few “taken out” as a people for the Lord’s name. But the world knew these not, even as the world did not know Jesus in the true sense.—I John 3:1
The fact that whole nations, and virtually an entire continent, should be forced by the power of arms to adopt what was called Christianity does not mean that Jesus’ commission to go into all nations and preach the Gospel was accomplishing the conversion of the world. Neither did the changes which were brought about by the impact of Protestantism make the nations of Europe Christian. The torture of rack and pinion, the Inquisition, and the preaching of hell-fire and brimstone have not caused the true knowledge of God to be embraced by the peoples of Europe.
With the discovery of the Americas, the European concept of Christianity began to move into the Western Hemisphere. But today liberalism has demolished much of the superstition of European Christianity which was brought to this country. But liberalism has also destroyed faith in the Bible, which is the source of the true Christian religion. A very large segment of the American clergy today, and probably an even higher percentage of laymen, think of the Bible as merely a good book, but without divine inspiration and authority.
However, there are exceptions, chiefly among the smaller denominations. But while professing to believe the Bible, these still hold to the religion of fear which Charlemagne and other warriors of Europe forced upon the people of that continent during the Middle Ages. Most of these still believe that God will eternally torture the wicked in a fiery hell. They still believe that the thousand years of probation, called in the Bible the judgment day, is a twenty-four-hour day of horrible doom. They still believe that at “the crack of doom” the planet Earth is to be destroyed by literal fire so hot as to reduce it to a mere cinder in twenty-four hours.
Thus we see that while methods other than those authorized by the Lord have caused that which many think of as Christianity to spread over large areas of the earth, the true Gospel of the kingdom, the Gospel of divine love, is little known among the general public. And this is not surprising, for the conversion of the world in the true sense was not the divine purpose for this age. God’s work in the earth during the present age has been in preparation for the future enlightenment and blessing of the world of mankind.
True believers taken out from the world throughout the age have been taken by the Lord into his church. God’s church is not a denominational arrangement. It is made up of those who have dedicated themselves to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. The word “church” is a translation of a Greek word meaning “a calling out,” or a “called-out people.” Those who compose this church are those who are taken out from the world to be a people for God’s name.
Those throughout the age who have mistakenly endeavored to convert the world by the power of the sword, and through fear of torture, and by other unscriptural methods, have supposed that the Lord wants the whole world to join the church. But this is not so. The very meaning of the word precludes the possibility of this viewpoint being correct.
Jesus said to Peter, “Upon this rock I will build my church.” (Matt. 16:18) This implies that in the Lord’s due time the church will be completely built, and this has been the work of the Lord during the present age. Jesus also said that when his church was built “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” What did Jesus mean by this statement?
Many have erroneously supposed that Jesus was giving assurance that the forces of evil would not prevail against his church to destroy it. But this is not the thought. “Hell,” according to the Bible, is the state of death. Jesus is the Head of his church, and while it was necessary for him to die as the world’s Redeemer, death, or hell, did not prevail against him, for his Heavenly Father raised him from the dead. Jesus’ true followers suffer and die with him. These all go into the Bible hell, but hell will not prevail against them, for we are assured in Revelation 20:6 that they are brought forth in the first resurrection to live and reign with Christ a thousand years. There are many precious promises assuring these of a resurrection from death.
And there is another wonderful sense in which “the gates of hell” will not prevail against the church. In Galatians 3:27-29 this church is referred to as those who have been baptized into Christ, and we are told that they are the seed of Abraham “and heirs according to the promise.” The promise made to Abraham was that his seed would bless all the families of the earth. Jesus, primarily, is that Seed. (Gal. 3:16) The church will be associated with him, and together they will extend the blessings of life to “all families of the earth.”—Gen. 12:3
But nearly all the people of earth are dead, in the Bible hell. Beginning with Adam, and on down through the ages, those whom God has promised to bless through Christ and his church have continued to die. The present generation is dying—dying now at the rate of 150,000 every twenty-four hours. Those who are dead are unconscious. “The dead know not anything,” the Bible declares. (Eccles. 9:5) How, then, are these to be blessed?
Only by means of an awakening from the sleep of death. While they are now being held prisoners in the Bible hell—that is, the state of death—divine power, operating through Christ and his resurrected and glorified church, will release them. In Revelation 1:18 we are told that Jesus has “the keys of hell.” The Bible assures that he will use these “keys” to unlock “the gates of hell” and set its prisoners free. Since his church will be associated with him in this great future work of blessing, it will be true that “the gates of hell” will not prevail to hinder the blessing of the people which God has promised:
That, then, will be the time when the world will be converted. That conversion will not be forced upon the people by the power of the sword. It will not be induced by the fear of eternal torture. First of all, the people will be enlightened concerning the true God. They will learn to know of his wisdom, justice, love, and power. They will be given a knowledge of the truth concerning the provision made for them by the death of Jesus, that through belief in him and obedience to the laws of the kingdom in which he will be King, they may live forever in peace, and health, and happiness.—I Tim. 2:3-6
We read of that time that “the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” (Isa. 40:5) Mankind in general has seen little of the glory of the Lord. The great Creator, for the most part, has been misrepresented to them. But it will be different in the Millennial Age of enlightenment and blessing.
In another prophecy, Isaiah tells us about the kingdom of the, Lord—under the symbol of a “mountain”—and tells us that in: this mountain the Lord will swallow up death in victory, and wipe away tears from off all faces. What a time of rejoicing that will be! The people’s response to this will be, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, … we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”—Isa. 25:6-9