372. APOSTASY AND REVIVAL OF THE TRUTH
"When the Son of man cometh, shall he find the faith on the earth?"
Paul wrote to Timothy, "This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come", and he listed the evil characteristics from which God's people must stand apart (2 Tim. 3:1-5). The Lord also foresaw the dif ficulty of trusting in God in a world of material values and loose moral standards. He drew attention to the difficulty in standing apart from evil and said that few would be prepared to do so. Since the apostolic age, outside influences have led to apostasy. God has, however, preserved a remnant over the ages and has in these latter days caused the Truth to re-emerge.
The aim of this lesson is to understand how the Truth was corrupted, and the wonderful way in which it has been revived in the last days.
2Thess. 2
CHRISTENDOM ASTRAY.
The docrinal foundations upon which Christendom rests are not those of the First Century Ecclesia. Its teaching is a mixture of errors which produces the works of the flesh and not the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:17-26). Thus Christendom is powerless to save from sin and death.
Error crept into the early ecclesias because the Truth requires sacrifice and discipline, which has no appeal to fleshly minded people (Matt. 7:14; Rom. 8:7-8). Corruption from "The Way" occurred because the corrupters made appeal to: €
- The lusts and desires of the flesh (2 Pet. 2:18-22; Jude 4)
- The human imagination (Jude 8)
- The pride of life (Jude 16; 1 Tim. 6:4-5)
- The desire for riches, comfort and a release from earnestly contending for the faith (2 Pet. 2:3; 2 Tim. 3:1-8; 1 Tim. 6:10).
NEW TESTAMENT WARNINGS.
Within two generations from the apostles, the New Testament had been written, and the purpose for which the Holy Spirit was given had been accomplished (1 Cor. 13:8-10). One by one the apostles died in the service of the Truth which they loved, until only John was left. The aged apostle wrote:
"Little children, it is the last hour: as ye heard that antichrist cometh, even now have there arisen many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest, how that they are not of us" (1 Jn. 2:18-19 RV).
Those described as "antichrists" taught wrong doctrine concerning the sacrifice of Christ: they denied that he had "come in the flesh" (4:1-3). The Lord and the apostles had frequently warned of the growth of false teaching (cp. Mait. 24:24; Acts 20:29-30; 1 Tim. 4:1-5; 2 Pet. 2:l-3;Jude 18).
The letters of Christ to the ecclesias in Revelation 2 and 3 witness the decline that had already commenced.
HISTORY OF THE DECLINE.
By the fourth century Christianity had become, by the decree of the Emperor Constantine, the official religion of the State with the Bishop of Rome the "head of all the churches". The clergy organised themselves in to an elaborate system of priesthood, and discouraged the common peo ple from privately studying the Scriptures. They kept the people ignorant of the Scriptures, set aside the doctrine of Christ's Millennial reign on earth and introduced doctrines such as the Trinity, Immortality of the Soul, Hell Torments and Heaven-going. They taught that" the world would be ultimately converted by the Roman Church and that the Pope and the clergy were to be revered as God's representatives on earth.
Christianity became paganised and commercialised, the people being impressed by the ritual and ornate churches and cathedrals. The higher offices of the church were eagerly sought after by the leaders. Thus the "Mystery of Iniquity", whose elements were present even in the first cen tury, was born as the state religion in A.D. 313, and was headed by the Bishop of Rome by A.D. 610. By A.D. 800 it was fully developed and joined with the German Emperor, Charlemagne, to form the Holy Roman Empire.
In 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul describes this system as "the man of sin", with the Pope at its head "sitting in the temple of God showing himself that he is God" (vv. 3-4). Its confessionals, purgatory, indulgences, celibacy, image worship and relics have well-earned it the description "the working of Satan with all the power and signs and lying wonders" (v.9). Though lasting for many years it will be destroyed at Christ's com ing (v.8).
While this state of spiritual darkness continued, the true witnesses ex isted as small and persecuted minorities who were branded as heretics by "the church". They often sealed their faithful testimony with their own blood (e.g. Rev. 6:9-11). Some of these communities were known as Novations, Donatists, Paulicians, Albigenses, Waldenses and Huguenots. It was not until the French Revolution (1790), that the iron grip of the Church-State relationship was broken and in 1870 the Pope lost all his temporal power. By then men were reading the Bible without fear and many had broken away from the Roman Church. But in these last days various pressures such as evolution, materialism, and com munism have sapped belief in God and bred atheism and immorality.
REVIVAL OF THE TRUTH.
The scriptures indicate that a remnant will be waiting for Christ when he returns (1 Cor. 15:51-58; 1 Thess. 4:15-18). When the right time came for a revival in these latter days, Providence could be seen at work. The invention of the printing press and the translation of the Bible into dif ferent languages meant that more and more people were able to read the Bible. As they understood, they began to challenge the commonly ac cepted but wrong views of the Roman Catholic Church. Men like William Tyndale in England and Martin Luther in Germany, from their Bible studies exposed some of the false doctrines of Rome. Others joined them in the struggle of protest against Rome, which was known as the Reformation and the Reformed or Protestant Churches were established. Their reforms, however, were incomplete and much of the tradition and false teaching of the Roman Church was retained. Some small groups though saw the need to take the reforms much further and some, such as the "Brethren of Christ" in 16th century Poland, came substantially to the Truth. God had not left Himself without a witness in the earth.
In the early nineteenth century a revival movement commenced par ticularly in the U.S.A., and in 1832 John Thomas, a doctor of medicine, found himself against his will in the midst of this revival. He wanted neither controversy nor to be an expositor of the Word. He merely wanted to sit down quietly and reach his own conclusions on the teachings of the scriptures.
Circumstances did not permit this, however, and it became apparent that God was using him to reveal trie Truth in the latter days, and he could not refrain from speaking (cp. Jer. 20:9). On the foundation laid by his labours, others have since built and are building. Notwithstanding the work of others, however, the history of the revival of the Truth in the latter days centres around the life of Dr. Thomas. All students are en couraged to read "Life and Works of Dr. Thomas", noting that at all times his appeal was to the Word of God. € "The Bible is the enlightener. If men would not be carried about by every wind that blows, let them study this. It will unfold to them the future and make them wiser than the world" (Elpis Israel, page 385), This has remained the standard practice of Christadelphians ever since. Every attempt to explain the Bible must be tested by the Bible itself (Isa. 8:20).
KEY TO THE REVIVAL.
The key which unfolds the message of the Scriptures is the "hope of Israel" (Acts 28:20). Dr. Thomas saw clearly that "salvation is of the Jews" (Jn. 4:22), and that the promises made to Abraham (Gen. 12-22) and to David (2 Sam. 7), have their fulfilment in Christ (Gal. 3:16; Lk. 1:32-33). These promises require a return of the Jews to Palestine at the time of the return of Christ and of the resurrection of the dead (Rom. 11:15; Acts 3:19-21).
Then Dr. Thomas came to realise that the scriptures taught that man is mortal because of sin and that at death he ceases to have any conscious existence. His only hope lies in the resurrection when Christ returns (1 Cor. 15:16-23). Thus he exposed the error of the doctrine of the immor tality of the soul (Ezek. 18:4). Further to this, if man was unconscious in death (Ecc. 9:5, 10), then the teachings of immediate reward (in heaven) or punishment (in hell) upon death must likewise be false. Thus the whole fabric of church doctrine was exposed as false. Dr. Thomas came to realise that toleration of error had brought about apostasy in the first place. As he contended for "the faith once delivered to the saints" (Jude 3), he realised that he must separate his followers from the churches, that the Truth might survive and be presented more clearly.
Dr. Thomas was also a great writer and many of his writings are still in demand and are often called "standard works", viz. "Elpis Israel", "Eureka", "Phanerosis", "Anastasis" and "Faith in the Last Days". Through his work done in England, he was joined by Robert Roberts, another prolific writer and first editor of the "Christadelphian" magazine which tied the Christadelphian communities together as men and women came out of the darkness of the world and the established churches and saw the glorious light of the Truth.
LESSONS FOR US:
- The Gospel was corrupted because wrong doctrine was tolerated (Rev. 2:14, 20). Where the Truth is at stake, there can be no tolerance of error. Matters of personal weakness, however, should be treated differently, and there should always be readiness to forgive in the case of personal offence (Lk. 17:3-4; 2 Cor. 2:6-8; Gal. 6:1).
- The Truth has been revived but its adherents are few in number. In every age believers have eventually fallen victim to their own environment. There is a desperate need for us to put away those things that might seduce us from our "first love", e.g. T.V., worldly magazines and books, activities and friends outside the ecclesia € that the Gospel might be preserved in doctrine and practice.
- Instead of following the rebellious attitudes that cause a breakdown in family life, or the permissiveness the world condones, we should make it our business to know the commandments of Christ and to keep them.
- If the Faith is to be preserved in our days we must give diligent atten tion to God's Word and practice its precepts.
- God has never left the world to itself but through His angels He "rules in the kingdom of men" and controls the movements of men and nations.
REFERENCE LIBRARY:
"Thirteen Lectures on the Apocalypse" (R. Roberts) € Revelation 2, 3
"God's Way" (J. Carter) € Part II of Chapters. 2, 3, 9, 10
"Man of Sin" (R. Abel) € C.S.S.S. Study Notes
"Dr. Thomas: His Life and Work" (R. Roberts)
"The Faith in the Last Days" (J. Thomas) € Pages 1-45
"The Protesters" (A. Eyre)
PARAGRAPH QUESTIONS:
- Who were the antichrists of whom the Apostle John spoke?
- What means has God used to bring about the revival of the Truth in these last days?
- Name one of the keys which led to a clearer understanding of the Gospel in the revival of the last days.
- List five apostolic doctrines which were corrupted by false teachers.
ESSAY QUESTIONS:
- What effect has environment had upon the Truth throughout the ages? Illustrate your answer with examples.
- What were some of the factors which brought about the development of the apostasy?
- What are our responsibilities towards God and His Truth in these last days? Discuss both doctrinal and moral aspects.