Knock-knock. Who’s There?By Marshall Foster

In 1940, in the early days ofWorld War II, England’sPrime Minister WinstonChurchill was faced with whatseemed an inevitable invasionby the forces of Nazi Ger-many. He told the English people that it was theirprivilege to stand alone and “save Christian Civi-lization” from Hitler’s Third Reich. They did; andtheir resolve prevented a land invasion of their is-land nation. Now, 75 years later, our culture isabout to be overwhelmed by evil forces and it isour turn to stand. In this generation, Providencehas chosen us to pick up the torch and continuethe great cause of building the Kingdom of God.

In his compelling book, America Alone, MarkSteyn documents why Western nations find them-selves in such a vulnerable position. He presentsdemographic data revealing how Europeans arefacing extinction or slavery under the shroud of Islamic domination. Because of increasingly lowerbirth rates among the native population, most ofthe nations of Europe and even much of Asia havechosen what Steyn calls “a one-way ticket on theoblivion express.” The nations of Europe are at orbelow 1.5 births per native European woman. Islamic women in those same countries are givingbirth at more than twice that rate. This will lead ul-timately to the extinction of Western and Christianculture. This is a fact, and it echoes the observationof historian Arnold Toynbee: “Civilizations are notdestroyed; they commit suicide.”

The first command of Scripture is to “Go forth andmultiply.” Steyn says, “A people that won’t multi-ply can’t go forth or go anywhere. Those who dowill shape the age we live in. Because, when historycomes a-calling, it starts with the most basic ques-

tion of all: Knock-knock.Who’s there?” Within a gen-eration, in an aging, dyingEurope there will be few toanswer the door exceptyoung Muslims.

How did this happen? Post-war Europe, and tosome extent America, turned away from centuriesof a culturally transforming Christianity which hadproduced the greatest freedom and prosperity inhistory. Instead they chose to rely on a god-likewelfare state to provide healthcare, education, careof the elderly, and the forced redistribution ofwealth. This mutated societal design has some fatalflaws. It depends on a religious birthrate to sustainit and upon the virtues of voluntary Christian self-government (self-rule) to maintain liberty.

Where is our hope then? Our hope is in the un-stoppable, loving power of God which transformsand liberates nations. The Kingdom of God hasand will continue to spread regardless of themachinations of men and nations (see Psalm 2).

According to Jesus Himself, His Kingdom willspread to the entire world and live within the heartof every believer. He explains the Kingdom in sev-eral parables recorded in chapter 13 of Matthew’sGospel. In one parable He states that the Kingdomis like a mustard seed that will grow to be a treeand the birds will find shelter within it. This repre-sents the small beginnings of His kingdom whichgrows exponentially over time, providing a place ofrefuge for people and nations. Next, Jesus teachesthat the Kingdom is like leaven which when addedto dough permeates the entire loaf of bread. Jesusportrays His Kingdom as growing throughout his-tory and eventually permeating the whole world.

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History verifies this divine prediction. Christ’sKingdom grew from the Twelve to over 20 milliondisciples by the 4th century. It then peacefullyswept into Ireland in 435 A.D. through St. Patrickand transformed a barbarian stronghold fromhuman sacrifice and misery to freedom. Then theKingdom spread across pagan Europe and beyond,eventually extending to America when we were justa fledgling collection of colonies. In the 19th cen-tury, America and England sent missionaries tonearly every nation on earth. Much of Africa, Asiaand South America, after millenniums in darkness,began to accept the liberating Gospel of Christ.Christianity became the first truly worldwide reli-gion.

Today, Christianity has spread to every continentand is by far the world’s largest religion. Well overtwo billion people identify themselves as Christians.More people came to know Christ in the 20th cen-tury than in the preceding 19 centuries combined.The Kingdom is spreading exponentially in theemerging world, far exceeding the growth of Islam.Europe and America, the bulwark of Christianityfor centuries, are poised for a spiritual awakeningthat, by God’s grace, may confound the prognosti-cators and pollsters.

It is God and His church, the army of compassion,which will triumph over evil through the Gospel,discipleship and procreation. We will win this bat-tle, not with fleshly weapons but with spiritualpower as we recapture our Savior’s vision to goforth and multiply, disciple the nations and teachthem to obey all that He has commanded.

May we have the vision and hope that John Calvinexpressed while he was in exile 450 years ago inSwitzerland. As tens of thousands of Christianswere being martyred in France, his homeland,Calvin said in the face of the ensuing chaos: “We

must not judge the stability ofGod’s Kingdom from the presentappearance of things, but from thepromise, which assures us of itscontinuance and of its constant increase.”

Published monthly by:

The World History InstituteP.O. Box 4673Thousand Oaks, CA 91359

Phone: (805) 523-0072

The Institute embraces the providential viewof history, which observes history as a pur-poseful saga under the direction of a lovingCreator. This historical perspective has beenthe dominant view of Western Civilizationfrom the time of Augustine in the 4th cen-tury A.D. to the present day.

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People in Other Nations Are Praying...What About Us?

LEFT: 3,500 people gatherdaily at Prayer Mountain inPaju, South Korea

BELOW RIGHT: Thou-sands gather in Brazil tojoin their hearts in interces-sion for a lost world.

BOTTOM: Tens of thou-sands of Ethiopians climbAmboricho Mountain(10,500 ft) to pray