I was recently blessed through attending the sold-out Church at War conference along with participants from 100 different churches. Here a republished book by John Bunyan, Of Antichrist and His Ruin and a documentary entitled Antichrist and His Ruin were premiered.
Besides a time, rich in prayer, worship, teaching and preaching the tenor of the conference put into better context the current affairs of man, in relation to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
The principled stand which John Bunyan took in his day, was a brave example to future generations to stand firm against the spirit of antichrist in all its manifold expressions. History has repeated itself in that Bunyan, a preacher of the gospel, was imprisoned for not submitting to the ruling authorities with regards to the functioning of the church. Likewise, Canadian pastors who shared at this conference, were imprisoned and given massive fines for resisting the mandates of ruling authorities who they believed were operating outside of their sphere of authority.
Whether it is the apostle Peter, John Bunyan or James Cotes they all would hold that “we ought to obey God rather than men,” Acts 5:29. Sadly, when the church is persecuted like this, many often believe those suffering rightfully deserve it. Before church leaders stoned Stephen, he reminded them “Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been the betrayers and murderers:” Acts 7:52. Is this the case today? Is most of the professing church supportive of the persecution of modern-day John Bunyans? If so, we ought to evaluate again the nature of this battle between Christ and antichrist.
