Constantine and Christianity

For the first 300 years of Christianity, there was barely a breather from violent persecution. Roman emperors harangued Christians by confiscating church property, arresting worshippers, and even executing them in arenas like the Colosseum as entertainment. That persisted until the glorious year of 313 AD. Christians were granted by their government an unprecedented relief from persecution and even encouragement to convert others to their faith.

On 28 October, 312 AD Constantine and Maxentius clashed in a military battle outside Rome for the highest position in the Empire. The day before, while mustering his troops, Constantine observed a pattern in the clouds that looked to him like the overlapping of two Greek letters Chi and Rho, what to us would be an X with a P over it.

These two letters happened to be the first letters of the Greek word “Christ.”

He saw this portent as a divine communiqué in which Jesus was promising him victory. He immediately ordered his troops to emblazon their shields with this symbol and to fight in the name of Jesus Christ.

Constantine won the battle, marched into Rome, and dutifully gave credit to Christ. He assumed the throne, translocated his capital to Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople, and in February of 313 AD he issued the world’s most helpful civil document for Christians: the Edict of Milan.

This edict made Christianity legal, returned confiscated property, and stemmed the tide of persecution, to usher in a golden age of freedom for Christians unknown to anyone before. Although he didn’t claim to be a Christian himself until later in life—he was baptized on his deathbed—Constantine supported the church financially, built churches, exempted pastors from paying taxes, promoted Christians in his government, and in 321 he declared Sunday a day of rest for all citizens.

Whether Constantine was a true believer is a matter of debate among scholars, but there is no debate about what kind of blessing it is for Christians to have a leader who protects them from persecution. And fortunately for us, God has told us how to get and keep one of those leaders. So, …

3 Aspects Of Evangelistic Prayer So We Can Effectively Spread God’s Kingdom On Earth

Breeds Of Prayer For The Lost
1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,

Paul mentions four types of prayer: supplication, praying, interceding, and thanksgiving.

Some people say that they don’t know what to pray for, but when you expand your prayer life to pray for others, you will find you never run out of things to pray about—spiritual needs, physical welfare, and more. But there is one particular kind of prayer for all men, and especially leaders, that is more important than any other: that they hear the truth and believe it.

Breadth Of Prayer For The Lost
1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions…

Jesus says in Matthew 5:44-45 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

God wants you to pray for those who persecute you. He wants you to love them.

Why? So that you are like God – because God loves unbelievers.

You know this because the reason you are a believer is that God loved you before you believed.

Rom 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

So the breadth of our prayers should be wide enough to comfortably encompass all people.

But there is a sub-group of this “all people” that we should pray for especially: kings and all who are in high positions…Paul had a heart for the Roman and Jewish leaders, and he wanted Timothy to cultivate that heart in his flock.

We need to have a heart for our leaders, we need to show respect and honor and pray for them. Prayer for leaders is a Christian duty.

Do you pray for your president? Do you pray for the politicians who are not in the party you support, simply because they are in leadership?

Benefit (To Us) Of Prayer For The Lost
1 Timothy 2:2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

First prize is that the leaders get saved and join us in the body of Christ; the second prize is that they leave us alone!

That’s the main benefit to the church when the government keeps to themselves: that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly, and dignified in every way.

We shall gather, pray, preach the Bible, and worship Jesus no matter what— in season and out of season—but isn’t it pleasant to do it in season?!

We need to pray that the government keeps protecting our rights to meet instead of hunting us down, forcing us underground. Pray for this, that your government protects your right to preach and gather. Author: Cripplegate