"OF WHOM THE WORLD WAS NOT WORTHY"
-74-
APRIL
1, 4 B. C. --Palestine. After having reigned as King for thirty-seven
years, after having married ten wives, and after having been tormented
by the memory of his several murders, Herod the Great dies. He is
smitten with cancer of the intestines and dropsy.
When the popularity
of his son Aristobulus made him jealous, Herod held a banquet in his
honor at Jericho, but while his son was bathing, Herod had his servants
murder him by drowning. Two other sons have also been murdered as well
as at least one of his wives.
He is infamous for having ordered the
"Murder of the Innocents" --all children, two years old and under
according to the time the Wise men told him the star appeared.
1, 1703 --France. Marshal Montrevil, in command of the Royal troops has
been told of three hundred persons assembled for worship in a mill near
Nismes. He hastens with a strong detachment of soldiers, Ordering the
doors be forced open, he commands the worshippers be slaughtered on the
spot. Not content with the slowness of the butchery, he orders the mill
to be set afire. All, not murdered, are burned to death --all except one
girl, who is spared through the humanity of the Marshal's lackey.
Tomorrow, however, she will be hanged and her would-be deliverer will
narrowly escape the same.
1, 1933 --Germany. Two months following the installation of Adolf Hitler
as Chancellor of Germany, the Nazi government calls for a boycott of
Jewish shops. All Jews will be purged from German Civil service by
another order, while still another decree will forbid church
appointments of ministers who are of Jewish lineage.
2, 1521 --Germany. Martin Luther, having determined to go to the Diet to
be held in the city of Worms turns to Philip Melancthon, his devoted
friend, "If I do not return, and my enemies put me to death, o my
brother, cease not to teach and remain firm in the truth. Labor in my
stead since I shall not be able to labor any longer for myself. If you
live, it matters little though I perish . . .."
2, 1524 --Switzerland. Ulrich Zwingli marries Miss Anna Reinhard. Four
children will grace their household.
2, 1571 --France. At the Seventh National Synod of Reformed Churches
meeting at La Rochelle, the Gallican Confession is laid before the whole
world. Theodore Beza presides. Henry Navarre (IV), the Prince of Conde,
and Admiral Coligny are present as are representatives of all Reformed
congregations. Also known as the "Confession of La Rochelle" the "Gallican
Confession" is the confession of the martyrs. It was adopted by the
First National Synod of the Reformed Church in France in 1559 and
contains forty articles divided into four headings: God, Christ, the
Holy Spirit, and the Church. The Scriptures are declared the sole rule
of faith and derives its authority from the testimony of the Holy Spirit
in the believing soul.
It emphasizes Adam's Fall, Original
Sin, Total Depravity, the Free Grace of God, Redemption through the
B1ood of Christ, Predestination and Justification by Faith. Calvin's
concept of being nourished by the substance of the flesh and blood of
Christ is retained in the doctrine of the Lord's Supper.
2, 1789 --England. "Our beloved pastor (William Carey) who has been in
considerable straits for want of maintenance, informed us that the
church at Leicester (Harvey Lane Church) had given him an invitation to
make trial with them, on which account we appointed to meet every Monday
evening for prayer on that affair."
2, 1872 --New York. Samuel Morse dies in New York City. He has invented
the telegraph, and the code that bears his name. His confession is
simple: "It is His work, and He alone could have carried me thus far
through all my trials and enabled me to triumph over the obstacles,
physical and moral, which opposed me."
He has studied art in England under
Benjamin West, and came under the influence of William Wilberforce who
has led him in early manhood to Christ.
2-12, 1914 --Arkansas. The Assemblies of God are organized in a
constitutional convention at Hot Springs.
