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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> committed-walk-with-Christ@groups.io [mailto:committed-walk-with-Christ@groups.io] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Mr. Ed via groups.io<br><b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, May 4, 2021 12:19 PM<br><b>To:</b> Mr. Ed<br><b>Subject:</b> EXT: [CWWC] FIVE EXTERNAL TACTICS<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><h2 style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>FIVE EXTERNAL TACTICS<o:p></o:p></span></h2><p style='background:white;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;text-decoration-thickness: initial;text-decoration-style: initial;text-decoration-color: initial;word-spacing:0px'><i><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and they plotted to arrest Jesus in some sly way and kill him.</span></i><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'> <a href="https://link.biblegateway.com/click/23735152.2243/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmlibGVnYXRld2F5LmNvbS9wYXNzYWdlLz9zZWFyY2g9TWF0dC4yNi4zLU1hdHQuMjYuNA/5ef562bd10222374f46b6174Bdde26c7b"><span style='color:#952004'>Matthew 26:3-4</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='background:white;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;text-decoration-thickness: initial;text-decoration-style: initial;text-decoration-color: initial;word-spacing:0px'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>In the New Testament we see Satan using five external tactics against the church: rulers, priests, merchants, mobs and families—and of course, these often occurred in combinations. The followers of Jesus tend to unite the enemies of Jesus, so that quite unlikely alliances can be created. Jesus himself saw this when the Pharisees and the Herodians—two groups that never spoke to each other—got together to plot his assassination after he healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath (<a href="https://link.biblegateway.com/click/23735152.2243/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmlibGVnYXRld2F5LmNvbS9wYXNzYWdlLz9zZWFyY2g9TWFyay4zLjY/5ef562bd10222374f46b6174C458ce43e"><span style='color:#952004'>Mark 3:6</span></a>).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='background:white;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;text-decoration-thickness: initial;text-decoration-style: initial;text-decoration-color: initial;word-spacing:0px'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>It is surprising to some that the rulers are not the biggest persecutors of Christians in the New Testament. That dubious honor falls to the Jewish priestly caste. But there is no doubt that strong opposition came from the rulers. Pontius Pilate was complicit in the death of Jesus; Herod Agrippa killed the apostle James in Jerusalem (<a href="https://link.biblegateway.com/click/23735152.2243/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmlibGVnYXRld2F5LmNvbS9wYXNzYWdlLz9zZWFyY2g9QWN0cy4xMi4y/5ef562bd10222374f46b6174Dc533cbd5"><span style='color:#952004'>Acts 12:2</span></a>); and of course Nero initiated a terrible persecution against the Christians of Rome in AD 64—the community most think Mark’s gospel was written to encourage.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='background:white;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;text-decoration-thickness: initial;text-decoration-style: initial;text-decoration-color: initial;word-spacing:0px'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>Though it was Pilate’s order, it was really the Jewish high priest who pushed Pilate into giving the order for the crucifixion when he was inclined to let Jesus go (see <a href="https://link.biblegateway.com/click/23735152.2243/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmlibGVnYXRld2F5LmNvbS9wYXNzYWdlLz9zZWFyY2g9Sm9obi4xOC4zMQ/5ef562bd10222374f46b6174Ec8d9bb1b"><span style='color:#952004'>John 18:31</span></a>), and tried to accomplish this by arranging a crowd clemency scene. All throughout his ministry, Jesus’ bitterest enemies were the priests. And so it proved for the early church. The first flogging of Christians was administered under the auspices of the Sanhedrin (<a href="https://link.biblegateway.com/click/23735152.2243/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmlibGVnYXRld2F5LmNvbS9wYXNzYWdlLz9zZWFyY2g9QWN0cy41LjQw/5ef562bd10222374f46b6174F6fbef471"><span style='color:#952004'>Acts 5:40</span></a>), and the first martyrdom of a Christian (Stephen) was carried out by enraged clerics (<a href="https://link.biblegateway.com/click/23735152.2243/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmlibGVnYXRld2F5LmNvbS9wYXNzYWdlLz9zZWFyY2g9QWN0cy43LjU0LUFjdHMuNy41OQ/5ef562bd10222374f46b6174Gebb25759"><span style='color:#952004'>Acts 7:54-59</span></a>). And so it continued also for Paul, the main character of the early church, ironically a former Pharisee and a witness to the stoning of Stephen.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='background:white;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;text-decoration-thickness: initial;text-decoration-style: initial;text-decoration-color: initial;word-spacing:0px'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>But it is a sad fact that the class threatened most by radical Christian faith is the clerical class, whether of one’s own religious persuasion or of a rival one. This is not to say all clerics are persecutors. Many Pharisees became followers of Jesus, and some, like Nicodemus and Simon, were the very model of courtesy and open-mindedness. Nevertheless, in the history of the church, other “believers” have perpetrated most violence on Christians.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='background:white;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;text-decoration-thickness: initial;text-decoration-style: initial;text-decoration-color: initial;word-spacing:0px'><b><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>RESPONSE:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='background:white;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;text-decoration-thickness: initial;text-decoration-style: initial;text-decoration-color: initial;word-spacing:0px'><b><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>Satan uses external as well as internal tactics to attack the advance of the Kingdom of God.</span></b><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='background:white;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;text-decoration-thickness: initial;text-decoration-style: initial;text-decoration-color: initial;word-spacing:0px'><b><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>PRAYER:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='background:white;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;text-decoration-thickness: initial;text-decoration-style: initial;text-decoration-color: initial;word-spacing:0px'><b><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>Lord, help me show love to other “believers” who do not hear Your voice but are used as tools of the enemy.</span></b><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal>Provided by Bible Gateway:<o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:white'>_._,_._,_<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><hr size=2 width="100%" align=center></span></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Groups.io Links: <o:p></o:p></span></p><p>You receive all messages sent to this group. <o:p></o:p></p><p><a href="https://groups.io/g/committed-walk-with-Christ/message/7701" target="_blank">View/Reply Online (#7701)</a> | <a href="mailto:committed-walk-with-Christ@groups.io?subject=Re:%20%5BCWWC%5D%20FIVE%20EXTERNAL%20TACTICS" target="_blank">Reply To Group</a> | <a href="mailto:pinky14@abe.midco.net?subject=Private:%20Re:%20%5BCWWC%5D%20FIVE%20EXTERNAL%20TACTICS" target="_blank">Reply To Sender</a> | <a href="https://groups.io/mt/82581759/21951" target="_blank">Mute This Topic</a> | <a href="https://groups.io/g/committed-walk-with-Christ/post">New Topic</a><o:p></o:p></p><div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><hr size=2 width="25%" align=center></span></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Questions, concerns, suggestions? 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