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God be passed from era to era.
It
was like a relay race-in
which the baton is passed from
runner to runner, each one doing
his part, until the finish line is
reached.
Sometime during the early
decades of the second century, the
baton was passed from the Ephe–
sian era to the people that God had
called to the Smyrna era of his
Church.
Powerless, often persecuted, and
he Church is called
lieved it. But it was not the gospel
Christ preached- his prophetic
message of the coming kingdom of
God.
Emperor Decreed Doctrine of
False Church
What happened to the true Church
during those centuries in which the
gospel was suppressed?
Emperor Constantine d ied in
A.D.
337, just over 300 years after
Christ was crucified. He had given
his blessing to a church
that claimed to be the one
that Christ founded.
Now that they were
free from fear of oppres–
sion-the persecuted be–
out of the world to Iive the
way God, through the
Bible, teaches.
carne persecutors. Those
of the true Church who
dared to disagree with
thei r doctrine were
branded as heretics, wor–
thy of punishment.
rejected as heretics, the world lost
sigbt of t hem. Instead, there
emerged from the lost century a
church that was steadily growing in
popularity but growing furt her
away from the gospel that J esus
taught.
Persecution continued at various
times under the Romans until the
fourth century, when Constantine
recognized the degenerate Church
of that period as an official religion
of the empire.
But the Church that he recog–
nized was by now very different
from the Church that J esus
founded. The doctrines and teach–
ings that he had taught his apostles
were now buried amid the trap–
pings, ceremonies, mysteries and
rituals of a church that called itself
by the name of Christ.
lt
was es–
sentially the Babylonian Mystery
religion, now being called Chris–
tian, accepti ng tbe doctrine of
grace but turning it into license. In
other words, it was the old pagan
Babylonian Mystery religion wear–
ing a new cloak: "Christianity."
Once Constantine recogni zed
them, this Church threw renewed
energy into taking its message to
the world. Teachers and preachers
went to all parts of the Roman
Empire with a message about
Christ. Thousands- maybe mil–
lions- heard this gospel and be-
24
In about
A.D.
365 the
Catholic Council of Laodicea wrote
in one of its most famous canons:
"Christians must not judaize by
resting on the Sabbath, but must
work on that day, rather, honour–
ing the Lord's Day. But if any shall
be found to be judaizers, let them
be anatbema from Christ." This
was a virtual sentence to torture
and j or death . The false church did
not herself put true believers to
death, but caused them to be put to
death (Rev. 13:15) . This decree of
A.D.
365 definitely shows that there
were true Cbristians observing the
Sabbath.
The small remnant of Christians
of the Smyrna era fled once
more-to seek the religious fre.e–
dom they needed to practice their
beliefs.
Tbey left few records. Occasion–
ally they appear as a footnote of
history , rejected as heretics,
ridiculed , and hounded by their en–
emies. But their strongest testi–
mony comes from Jesus himself, in
his words of encouragement to the
Churcb that was at Smyrna. " I
know your works, tribulation, and
poverty. . . . Do not fear any of
those tbings which you are about to
suffer .. . . Be faithful until death,
and I will give you the crown of
life" (Rev. 2:9-1O,
Revised Autho–
rized Version
).
And so the baton passed from
the Smyrna Christians to those of
the Pergamos era.
These had been called to carry the
truth through one of history's most
difficult periods-the Dark Ages.
The power and influence of the
great universal cburch spread far
and wide, driving those who clung
to the t ruth of God ever further
into the wilderness.
But they were never far from
threat of persecution and martyr–
dom.
And so very few of the Pergamos
Christians remained faithful.
One thousand years after Jesus
had founded his Church, the ex–
hausted remnant of the Pergamos
era handed over the baton.
The Thyatiran era got off to a
vigorous start, preacbing repen–
tance throughout the Alpine Val–
leys of Southern France and
Northern Italy. Many heard and
were converted.
The religious authorities quickly
reacted to this cballenge.
Leaders of tbe true Church were
arrested. Sorne were martyred.
After the death of its first leaders,
the Church went into a temporary
decline- but emerged once more
under the dynamic leadership of Pe–
ter Waldo. For severa! years in the
12th century, these Waldensians
flourished in the Alpine Valleys,
preaching what truth they had.
Booklets and articles were written
and copied by hand. This was still
before the days of printing.
As Jesus prophesied of the Thy–
atiran era, they had faith and they
worked hard. Their latter works
were greater than the first.
But once again, persecution fol–
lowed , as the full force of the In–
quisition was felt in the peaceful
valleys that had once provided a
safe haven for the work of God.
Many that remained began to
adopt the customs and traditions of
the world around them.
Europe now had many scattered
groups of people calling themselves
Christians.
Meanwhile , the world was
changing. Printing had been in–
vented- and knowledge began to
be increased . The Protestant Ref–
ormation broke the monopoly of
the Church of Rome.
As religious wars swept across
the European continent during the
The
PLAIN TRUTH