1 00:00:01,900 --> 00:00:04,000 Well, thank you again tonight for being here. 2 00:00:04,100 --> 00:00:07,000 You know, we're down really to what amounts to a weekend 3 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:10,400 meeting and it's certainly good to see each one of you again. 4 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:13,900 And I know that many of you have been here every service, and I 5 00:00:13,908 --> 00:00:16,100 appreciate that, and I love the congregation, appreciate, 6 00:00:16,100 --> 00:00:18,700 appreciate that, as well. And if you're a visitor here 7 00:00:18,700 --> 00:00:22,200 tonight, I hope you'll find what we have to say, interesting and 8 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:24,500 edify. And I have to admit that what 9 00:00:24,500 --> 00:00:27,100 we're going to do tonight is a little bit different and really 10 00:00:27,100 --> 00:00:30,400 something that while I'm not uncomfortable with it. 11 00:00:30,500 --> 00:00:33,800 It's not typically my style because I typically like to just 12 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:37,500 take the text and stay right with the text but tonight we're 13 00:00:37,500 --> 00:00:40,200 going to talk a little bit about church history. 14 00:00:40,700 --> 00:00:43,700 Now there's some disclaimers I want to give as we begin our 15 00:00:43,700 --> 00:00:47,600 study tonight and then Lord willing tomorrow night as well. 16 00:00:47,900 --> 00:00:52,000 The first of which is it's going to be impossible to cover every 17 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:57,500 detail of church history from the time of Christ till now 2000 18 00:00:57,500 --> 00:01:01,000 years or thereabouts has come and gone and all Usually there 19 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:03,600 are many rabbit Trails. There are many events that are 20 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:08,600 significant in church history that we cannot even begin to 21 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:13,100 scratch the surface of tonight. Also, I want to say that when we 22 00:01:13,100 --> 00:01:16,700 talk about church history, I'm using the term church and a 23 00:01:16,700 --> 00:01:20,600 relatively accommodative sense. Because obviously, when we look 24 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:24,200 at the scripture, we believe the church is the church that we 25 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:26,600 read about in the Bible. And so, when I use the word 26 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:30,600 church tonight, I'm going to be using it at times in that That 27 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:36,100 way, but as history progresses church, history begins to be a 28 00:01:36,100 --> 00:01:39,800 history of those who fall away from the truth. 29 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:43,000 And so, maybe we might better say that we're going to study 30 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:46,500 the history of Christendom tonight, that's not a lot better 31 00:01:46,500 --> 00:01:49,900 but perhaps it's somewhat better because again, we're going to be 32 00:01:49,900 --> 00:01:53,600 looking at the various Trends and movements that began, of 33 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:55,800 course, with Jesus Christ himself. 34 00:01:55,900 --> 00:01:59,200 And then, as we get on into the second, third, and on, through 35 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:02,200 the centuries, To go in various directions. 36 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:06,300 The one point again that I want you to notice with me as we go 37 00:02:06,300 --> 00:02:09,600 through the study tonight and tomorrow night is that people 38 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:14,600 often depart from God's way, the way of man is not within himself 39 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:16,500 that walketh to direct his own steps. 40 00:02:17,100 --> 00:02:21,100 And so what we see over and over not only in the Bible texts but 41 00:02:21,100 --> 00:02:26,800 also in historical texts is that me and often depart from God's 42 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:29,000 way. And of course, what we want to 43 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:32,600 do tonight is we want to look look at church history and we 44 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:36,500 want to see where people began to go astray because as it has 45 00:02:36,500 --> 00:02:40,900 often been said those who do not study history are sometimes 46 00:02:40,900 --> 00:02:43,700 doomed to repeat it. And so tonight we're going to be 47 00:02:43,700 --> 00:02:47,100 going relatively quickly the first segment or our first 48 00:02:47,100 --> 00:02:50,000 installment tonight is going to be based primarily upon the 49 00:02:50,008 --> 00:02:52,900 first century. We are going to try to cover up 50 00:02:52,900 --> 00:02:57,300 to about 316 ad, when Constantine, becomes Emperor. 51 00:02:57,600 --> 00:02:59,800 But nonetheless tomorrow night, we'll get him more to the 52 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:04,300 history of What happened in the world and also how that impacted 53 00:03:04,300 --> 00:03:06,400 faith in general. But I want to begin tonight and 54 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,000 talk about church history and here are some things we want to 55 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:11,400 notice. Why do we need to study church 56 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:13,200 history? Now, you know, typically when we 57 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:16,000 think of the Bible, we don't think of, you know, the history 58 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:17,900 that goes behind it. But, you know, even when we look 59 00:03:17,900 --> 00:03:20,900 at the scriptures themselves, there was a historical setting. 60 00:03:21,300 --> 00:03:24,700 They were real people who lived in real times and who had real 61 00:03:24,700 --> 00:03:27,700 problems and who had real cultural experiences. 62 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:31,200 And so, it enriches our knowledge of the The Bible to 63 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:34,500 know what happened in history, both in the old and the New 64 00:03:34,500 --> 00:03:36,600 Testament. But beyond that, you know, 65 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:40,200 tonight, as we sit here in this assembly, this assembly didn't 66 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:44,500 just drop in from heaven, we all bring with ourselves, some 67 00:03:44,500 --> 00:03:48,700 cultural baggage, we all bring with ourselves some even 68 00:03:48,700 --> 00:03:51,500 religious baggage, and that doesn't necessarily mean that 69 00:03:51,500 --> 00:03:52,900 you've come from another group or. 70 00:03:52,900 --> 00:03:56,600 But even if you have or haven't, the point is, is that religious 71 00:03:56,600 --> 00:03:59,600 Trends through the world, have influence, even the Lord's 72 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:02,900 Church, In fact, typically, when we talk about the Lord's Church 73 00:04:02,900 --> 00:04:06,000 in history, we talk about the restoration movement where we 74 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:08,900 talked about Alexander Campbell and Barton spunk Stone and 75 00:04:08,900 --> 00:04:11,800 others, and we'll touch on that very briefly tomorrow evening, 76 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:13,800 Lord Willie. But, you know, all of us, of 77 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:15,800 course, have different perspectives. 78 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:19,899 We bring things to the reading of God's word and we need to 79 00:04:19,899 --> 00:04:22,800 just be aware that we might have biases. 80 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:26,900 And it might be that we have you know, past family or past 81 00:04:26,900 --> 00:04:30,800 experiences that have brought us to this point and We need to 82 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:34,300 make for sure that because men often depart from God's way. 83 00:04:34,300 --> 00:04:38,000 We need to constantly be going back to God's word comparing. 84 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,300 What we believe, contrasting, what we believe to the 85 00:04:41,300 --> 00:04:43,700 scriptures. Now Tonight Part 1 and I 86 00:04:43,700 --> 00:04:45,500 apologize. Again, if you can't see the 87 00:04:45,500 --> 00:04:49,400 text, but I hope that our verbal discussion will be sufficient. 88 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:52,300 But anyway, the point is, is tonight we're going to look at 89 00:04:52,300 --> 00:04:54,700 two basic periods. We're going to look at what I 90 00:04:54,707 --> 00:04:58,600 call the apostolic period that goes from about 30 a.d. when the 91 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:02,600 church was established to about a 100 AD when the last Apostle 92 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:06,500 John died and then we will look later on tonight. 93 00:05:06,500 --> 00:05:11,200 Nor dwelling from about 100, AD to about 300, ad as the church 94 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:15,300 to begin to move away from Apostolic teaching and what 95 00:05:15,300 --> 00:05:17,600 we're going to see once again. And you're going to hear me say 96 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:21,400 this over and over is that the history of the church and the 97 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:25,200 history of even God's people. Lynn's to the fact that men 98 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:29,600 often depart from God's way. Now the of apostolic period 99 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:32,100 basically. Covers the period between the 100 00:05:32,100 --> 00:05:35,300 cross and the end of the apostolic. 101 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:39,500 Are the last Apostle, the death of John Jesus, probably died on 102 00:05:39,500 --> 00:05:43,100 the cross somewhere around 30 33 ad depending on what chronology 103 00:05:43,100 --> 00:05:46,700 you use and of course on the day of Pentecost the church was 104 00:05:46,700 --> 00:05:50,300 established some say 33, some say 30 but the point is really 105 00:05:50,300 --> 00:05:54,500 moved because indeed that early on after the cross the church 106 00:05:54,500 --> 00:05:56,700 was established. And as you have heard me quote 107 00:05:56,700 --> 00:06:00,300 before Acts 2:42 they continued at that point onward. 108 00:06:00,500 --> 00:06:03,100 Steadfastly in the apostles Doctrine. 109 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:06,400 Well things. Again, begin to even go, shall 110 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:10,200 we say arrived from the very beginning false teachers begin 111 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:12,400 to creep in? And of course the apostles were 112 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:16,300 constantly writing first about Jewish false teachers and then 113 00:06:16,300 --> 00:06:18,200 later about Greek, false teachers. 114 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:20,500 And of course, by the time we get to the death of John, the 115 00:06:20,500 --> 00:06:22,600 Baptist, our John a rather the Apostle. 116 00:06:22,700 --> 00:06:26,100 There had been many, many, many warnings that the apostles had 117 00:06:26,100 --> 00:06:30,200 given about how the church was going to slip away from the 118 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:32,800 Truth, and that's exactly what we find. 119 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:35,700 That's exactly what we find. Is we enter into the second 120 00:06:35,700 --> 00:06:37,500 third on through the 15th. Centuries. 121 00:06:37,500 --> 00:06:42,000 Even up to the day, many false ideas, many false religions, 122 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:46,900 many false denominations have been created by man, which never 123 00:06:46,900 --> 00:06:50,500 were intended by God. Now, of course, I want to begin 124 00:06:50,500 --> 00:06:53,100 back with the preaching of John the Baptist and with Jesus 125 00:06:53,100 --> 00:06:56,400 himself because you remember that, John the Baptist came 126 00:06:56,400 --> 00:06:59,200 preparing the way for Jesus John. 127 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:01,900 Was that Harry? Should a man out in the 128 00:07:01,900 --> 00:07:05,300 wilderness with that. That goats are that camels here, 129 00:07:05,300 --> 00:07:08,500 garment, that was the sort of the Garment of a prophet. 130 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:12,100 And he said, repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. 131 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:15,900 In other words, the writing of God was just be about to be 132 00:07:15,900 --> 00:07:18,900 inaugurated upon the sea. And as we noted the other day, 133 00:07:18,900 --> 00:07:22,300 when we think of the Kingdom, we can think of it as the Church, 134 00:07:22,300 --> 00:07:25,500 of course, because that's certainly an aspect of it. 135 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:29,400 But the kingdom itself, also deals with how God is sitting on 136 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:32,400 the throne of our hearts. Arts and John was calling a 137 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:36,100 decadent culture. A decadent Society back to the 138 00:07:36,100 --> 00:07:39,900 very basic principles of the Old Testament and said, prepare your 139 00:07:39,900 --> 00:07:44,000 hearts because a new scene is about to occur and the king of 140 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:46,900 the reign of God that had been prophesied all the way back as 141 00:07:46,900 --> 00:07:51,200 far as Daniel and before was about to come to be well, of 142 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:54,300 course, John preached. And then, of course, Jesus, 143 00:07:54,300 --> 00:07:57,300 preached as well. Jesus came preaching, basically 144 00:07:57,300 --> 00:08:00,300 the same message that John preached. 145 00:08:00,500 --> 00:08:04,000 He said the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at 146 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:06,500 hand repent and believe the gospel. 147 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:09,700 In fact on one occasion in Mark 9:1, Jesus said that there were 148 00:08:09,700 --> 00:08:13,900 some standing there that very day that would not taste of 149 00:08:13,900 --> 00:08:17,400 death till they saw. The kingdom come with power. 150 00:08:17,900 --> 00:08:21,300 And, of course, we know that the kingdom came Pentecost brought 151 00:08:21,300 --> 00:08:24,400 the church and the kingdom, of course, as we have noted in past 152 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:28,600 studies, briefly contains four things, a king a territory, 153 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:31,900 subjects, and a law. The king is Jesus. 154 00:08:32,299 --> 00:08:35,600 The territory is our hearts, and Jesus wants to sit on the throne 155 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:38,000 of our hearts. And of course he wants to have 156 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:42,299 us his people as subjects. And of course, the law is his 157 00:08:42,299 --> 00:08:44,100 word. You see the kingdom. 158 00:08:44,100 --> 00:08:46,400 The church is not a physical place. 159 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:50,300 It is not a land mass. It is not a political entity. 160 00:08:50,300 --> 00:08:53,500 It is those who assemble together and through all time, 161 00:08:53,500 --> 00:08:56,900 had given their hearts and Minds to Jesus Christ. 162 00:08:57,300 --> 00:09:02,000 So Jesus promised to come and he was You build his church or his 163 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:05,200 kingdom, the Greek word, there is ekklesia which literally 164 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:09,300 means the called out, and we are called out yes, to a central 165 00:09:09,300 --> 00:09:12,100 location to worship. But even more spiritually, we 166 00:09:12,100 --> 00:09:16,700 are called out of sin and we have been translated into the 167 00:09:16,700 --> 00:09:19,000 Delight of the Glorious son. Jesus Christ. 168 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:23,400 Jesus promised to Matthew 16 Verse 18, that he would build 169 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:25,200 his church. It's his church. 170 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:28,600 It's the Church of Christ. It's not any man, denominations. 171 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:31,800 And of course, that's the The problem as we look at church 172 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:35,900 history because man began to usurp the authority of Jesus, 173 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:38,500 they begin to place themselves on the throne. 174 00:09:38,500 --> 00:09:41,800 They begin to view themselves as the head of the church, and 175 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:45,200 Jesus will have none of that. And so we need to know tonight. 176 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:48,300 What the Church of Jesus is really all about so that we can 177 00:09:48,300 --> 00:09:52,100 avoid perhaps falling into the same of the same pitfalls that 178 00:09:52,100 --> 00:09:55,000 those in church. History, have fallen into with a 179 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:58,200 Church, of course Cain was born. If you will on the day of 180 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:02,000 Pentecost, you remember that? Had promised that he was going 181 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:05,000 to send the holy spirit that he was going to guide the apostles 182 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:07,700 into all truth. And of course Jesus there on the 183 00:10:07,700 --> 00:10:09,400 Mount of Olives of sins, back to heaven. 184 00:10:09,500 --> 00:10:12,300 And He commands his Apostles to go in remain in Jerusalem until 185 00:10:12,300 --> 00:10:14,000 they are endued with power from on high. 186 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:16,400 And in about ten days that's exactly what happened. 187 00:10:16,700 --> 00:10:19,100 On the day of Pentecost, they are there. 188 00:10:19,100 --> 00:10:23,200 When one place and the Holy Spirit is poured out and God 189 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:27,100 demonstrates, very miraculously and powerfully that Jesus has 190 00:10:27,100 --> 00:10:30,100 taken the throne in the on the right hand. 191 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:33,300 Of God. And so then the Holy Spirit was 192 00:10:33,300 --> 00:10:38,000 given he was in Jerusalem just as profit such as Isaiah to had 193 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:40,100 said. So now we have the church is 194 00:10:40,100 --> 00:10:41,700 established. So what happens? 195 00:10:41,700 --> 00:10:46,000 Well, the church again is a growing vibrant institution. 196 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:51,900 In fact, in 2:46, the early church was constantly spending 197 00:10:51,900 --> 00:10:54,600 time together. They were hearing the word top, 198 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:57,500 the apostles were preaching people were coming into the 199 00:10:57,500 --> 00:11:03,100 church by baptism and the Was adding to the church daily such 200 00:11:03,100 --> 00:11:05,500 as should be saved. That's an incredible thought. 201 00:11:05,700 --> 00:11:08,700 Because today if we add to the church or the Lord does of 202 00:11:08,700 --> 00:11:12,400 course, but if we baptize someone yearly, we think we do. 203 00:11:12,700 --> 00:11:16,000 We think we're doing a fairly good job but here was a vibrant 204 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:20,100 time in the early church 3000 had been baptized simply on the 205 00:11:20,100 --> 00:11:23,500 day of Pentecost alone and then the church continued to grow it 206 00:11:23,500 --> 00:11:26,900 continued to spread and people begin to again, assemble and 207 00:11:26,900 --> 00:11:29,600 worship. And they I know I have no doubt 208 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:32,000 begin to. Assemble in small congregations 209 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:35,700 around the city of Jerusalem and began to do what the apostles 210 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:38,700 taught them to do. Well, of course, Jesus had 211 00:11:38,700 --> 00:11:41,700 promised that his kingdom the church would spread. 212 00:11:42,100 --> 00:11:45,500 In fact, Jesus told the apostles in Acts chapter 1 that they were 213 00:11:45,500 --> 00:11:49,000 going to receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. 214 00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:52,400 And then in verse 8, you find what we really might say is a 215 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:57,100 small outline of the entire book of Acts because Jesus says there 216 00:11:57,100 --> 00:12:00,200 that they would be Witnesses of him in Jerusalem. 217 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:05,100 Judea and Samaria and then to the uttermost parts of the 218 00:12:05,100 --> 00:12:06,800 earth. And that's exactly the outline 219 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:09,400 of the book acts you. First of all, of course, have 220 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:13,100 the apostles in Jerusalem in Acts 8, you have you have 221 00:12:13,100 --> 00:12:15,600 Phillip down in Sumeria and then, of course, the gospel 222 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:18,300 begins to spread out into other places and by the end of the 223 00:12:18,300 --> 00:12:21,400 book of Acts, you've got the Apostle Paul making three, 224 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:25,000 marvelous Journeys, throughout the Mediterranean world, and 225 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:28,800 then the fourth journey to Rome and the church literally meets 226 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:30,600 the end of the Earth. Earth. 227 00:12:31,100 --> 00:12:34,700 Well the history of Acts is an exciting history. 228 00:12:35,100 --> 00:12:37,300 In fact, if you want to know the real Biblical history of the 229 00:12:37,300 --> 00:12:40,300 church, read the book of Acts because in Chapter 2 the Earth, 230 00:12:40,300 --> 00:12:43,400 the church is established in chapter 4 Peter and John preach 231 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:45,600 to the Jews. In chapter 5, the church begins 232 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:47,800 to be persecuted in chapter 7, Stephen. 233 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:50,500 The first martyr is killed for his faith in chapter 8. 234 00:12:50,500 --> 00:12:52,400 Christians begin to flee Jerusalem because of the 235 00:12:52,408 --> 00:12:56,000 persecution but they take the gospel with them in chapter 9, 236 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:59,800 the Apostle Paul is converted Saul of Tarsus who becomes fall 237 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:03,500 as And then in chapter 10, the Gentiles are converted through 238 00:13:03,500 --> 00:13:06,900 the household of Cornelius. And then in chapter 11, Antioch 239 00:13:06,900 --> 00:13:09,900 way up there in the city of begins to receive the Gospel. 240 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:13,100 And then, of course, Acts chapter 13, Paul begins to make 241 00:13:13,100 --> 00:13:16,300 his missionary Journeys. And so if you want to know what 242 00:13:16,300 --> 00:13:19,500 the history of the church is read the book of Acts, at least 243 00:13:19,500 --> 00:13:23,100 as it pertains to the first century named of, the way of the 244 00:13:23,100 --> 00:13:27,300 church was always a bloody way. In fact, it's very ironic to me 245 00:13:27,300 --> 00:13:30,200 that the church always spread the most in hard times. 246 00:13:30,300 --> 00:13:32,300 Times, you know, today and rightly. 247 00:13:32,300 --> 00:13:36,400 So we pray that God would give us the right and the ability and 248 00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:39,600 the country in which we lived the worship in Freedom and we 249 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:41,400 pray. Sometimes, you know, if there 250 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:44,700 ever were laws, enacted, give us the strength to stand. 251 00:13:45,100 --> 00:13:47,000 And you don't really think in the back of our minds are, at 252 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:49,700 least in my mind, I don't really think that will ever happen. 253 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:52,600 Oh, I think it really will, but I really gum become logical 254 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:55,300 about it because we're seeing a wholesale change in our culture 255 00:13:55,300 --> 00:13:58,200 tonight but you know in my lifetime I think yeah, you know, 256 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:00,100 it's never happened before, maybe it won't happen. 257 00:14:00,300 --> 00:14:02,500 But you know what? That's not necessarily a bad 258 00:14:02,500 --> 00:14:03,800 thing. Oh, it's bad. 259 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:06,800 For those who are persecuted in might be bad for us, I wouldn't 260 00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:09,400 want to give my life for my faith necessarily, and I 261 00:14:09,408 --> 00:14:12,500 wouldn't want to necessarily, you know, be thrown in jail, but 262 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:17,100 in the early centuries, those who were being persecuted, you 263 00:14:17,100 --> 00:14:19,000 know, were standing for their faith. 264 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:22,600 Others were seeing it and the church was growing. 265 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:26,500 In fact, when the early church was in Jerusalem, this is sort 266 00:14:26,500 --> 00:14:28,200 of interesting. I think you know the early 267 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:30,700 church was in Jerusalem having been found It on the day of 268 00:14:30,708 --> 00:14:34,300 Pentecost and it almost seems like God has to start a shake up 269 00:14:34,300 --> 00:14:37,600 the church, because they're comfortable, they're enjoying 270 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:39,800 the camaraderie. It's like a, you know, a big 271 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:41,800 Fourth of July meeting or New Year's meeting. 272 00:14:41,900 --> 00:14:44,800 You just love the fellowship of those around you, and God, kind 273 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:47,500 of shakes him up. Those Jews began to persecute 274 00:14:47,500 --> 00:14:50,500 the church and it's not the apostles, by the way, who flee 275 00:14:50,500 --> 00:14:52,900 first. It's the normal everyday, 276 00:14:52,900 --> 00:14:54,500 average, Christian. But what do they do? 277 00:14:54,500 --> 00:14:57,700 They just lie for their lives. Well, yes and no. 278 00:14:58,100 --> 00:15:00,200 It says, then that those that were scattered. 279 00:15:00,300 --> 00:15:03,800 Turd abroad, went everywhere, preaching the word. 280 00:15:04,100 --> 00:15:07,400 Now, the apostles find the do lead Jerusalem, but it's the 281 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:11,300 persecuted Saints. It's the common guys, it's us 282 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:13,800 who then were going and preaching the Gospel wherever 283 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:15,700 they went and the church was growing. 284 00:15:16,100 --> 00:15:19,400 You know, it's been said that the blood of Martyrs those who 285 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:23,300 gave their lives as the ultimate witness, the blood of water 286 00:15:23,300 --> 00:15:27,600 Martyrs became the very thing that watered, the seed of the 287 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:29,800 word. You know, the seed of the word 288 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:32,600 is sown in people's hearts and you know sometimes we don't 289 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:35,000 appreciate it because we have to give nothing for it. 290 00:15:35,500 --> 00:15:39,100 But these were folks who, when they became a Christian they 291 00:15:39,100 --> 00:15:43,100 understood this could be their very lives. 292 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:47,200 And so the church begins to spread and of course, Philip you 293 00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:50,400 remember goes down to the place called Samaria. 294 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:54,700 And there he encounters, you know, the, the, the Simon, the 295 00:15:54,700 --> 00:15:58,400 Sorcerer And of course, many things occur including bad. 296 00:15:58,500 --> 00:16:02,600 Baptism and the apostles send down help and the Holy Spirit is 297 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:05,000 given there's a wonderful chapter in Acts 8. 298 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:07,200 That tells us so much about the preaching of the word. 299 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:10,100 It tells us so much about how the holy spirit is given it even 300 00:16:10,100 --> 00:16:12,200 tells us so much about what the holy spirit is. 301 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:15,700 And then the church bench to Africa, who would have thought 302 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:19,700 that at this very early stage, the church goes to Africa, you 303 00:16:19,700 --> 00:16:22,700 know, this really resonates when we're in Africa because of 304 00:16:22,700 --> 00:16:26,300 course they love hearing things about their own culture and we 305 00:16:26,300 --> 00:16:29,700 say, Hey, you know, that one of the very first Converse was an 306 00:16:29,700 --> 00:16:34,200 African and they go really yeah. Acts chapter 8, the Ethiopian 307 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:38,300 nobleman was from Africa. From Ethiopia. 308 00:16:38,500 --> 00:16:41,100 Had a great position in the government had gone to 309 00:16:41,100 --> 00:16:42,400 Jerusalem. Apparently he was a 310 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:45,200 proselytized, I had some Jewish background, he had been 311 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:47,600 worshipping and he's on his way home. 312 00:16:47,700 --> 00:16:50,300 When God, Taps Philip, and he says, you need to go up there. 313 00:16:50,300 --> 00:16:52,500 Preach to that guy, it's a desert place. 314 00:16:52,500 --> 00:16:55,300 It's not a very fun place but you need to go and preach to 315 00:16:55,300 --> 00:16:56,500 him. And you remember that wonderful 316 00:16:56,500 --> 00:17:00,400 story Phillip goes He joins himself to that Chariot, that, 317 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:03,600 that Ethiopian is in. He preaches to him, Jesus. 318 00:17:04,300 --> 00:17:07,700 And in the process of that teaching, he teaches baptism 319 00:17:07,700 --> 00:17:11,099 because you see the European says, see here is water. 320 00:17:11,099 --> 00:17:14,000 What hinders me from being baptized and Philip said, if you 321 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:16,900 believe you, may be baptized and he said, I believe that Jesus 322 00:17:16,900 --> 00:17:20,000 Christ is the Son of God. And so Philip and he went down 323 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:22,700 into the water, and he baptized him. 324 00:17:22,700 --> 00:17:26,300 And then the Ethiopian eunuch went away rejoicing. 325 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:31,800 Tremendous story, he goes away rejoicing because he is now not 326 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:34,400 in Jew. He is a Christian and he's going 327 00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:37,100 to take the gospel down there to Ethiopia and no doubt, there 328 00:17:37,100 --> 00:17:38,800 were other Jewish folks down there too. 329 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:40,800 No doubt. There were other Ethiopians down 330 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:43,000 there. It is Ethiopia after all, and 331 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:45,200 he's going to teach them and no doubt there was a church 332 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:48,500 established. And so the gospel is spreading. 333 00:17:48,500 --> 00:17:51,400 You see, Jerusalem Judea Samaria. 334 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:54,800 And then to Africa and the uttermost parts of the world. 335 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:56,700 What about this time? You have solid. 336 00:17:56,800 --> 00:18:00,800 Nurses, he's kind of a wicked man, not Wicked in the sense 337 00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:04,000 that he is a person against God's law, but he's wicked in. 338 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:06,300 The sense that he is persecuting Christians. 339 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:09,200 He is one, that is very zealous for his faith. 340 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:13,600 He is one that was raised with the best Jewish Education. 341 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:18,300 He was one who was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, he would say, later 342 00:18:18,300 --> 00:18:21,900 on, and of course, you remember on that road to Damascus, he's 343 00:18:21,900 --> 00:18:25,700 heading up there to persecute Christians in Damascus and bring 344 00:18:25,700 --> 00:18:27,900 them bound. He's got A letter of authority 345 00:18:27,900 --> 00:18:30,200 from the chief priests to bring them bound to the through, 346 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:33,200 living to jail. He's on that Damascus Road and 347 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:35,300 what happens? A bright light. 348 00:18:35,700 --> 00:18:40,300 Jesus appears to him and Jesus appears and says, basically I've 349 00:18:40,300 --> 00:18:43,600 got a better job for you salt. And of course, you remember that 350 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:47,900 saw he is, he is scared to death, he for three days and 351 00:18:47,900 --> 00:18:52,000 three nights fasts, he goes to the city and ananias is sent to 352 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:56,400 tell him what he needs to do to be saved and ananias says arise 353 00:18:56,400 --> 00:19:00,000 and be AB ties wash away your sins and call upon the name of 354 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:02,200 the Lord. You see, when you call upon the 355 00:19:02,208 --> 00:19:04,500 name of the lord, it's not just a verbal thing. 356 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:08,500 It's obedience and its obedience in the waters of baptism and 357 00:19:08,500 --> 00:19:11,500 Saul was baptized. He was baptized just like every 358 00:19:11,500 --> 00:19:14,900 other person was saved in the New Testament. 359 00:19:15,300 --> 00:19:19,300 Well, then later on, of course, we leave Saul, there are two 360 00:19:19,300 --> 00:19:21,500 sort of take care of his own needs. 361 00:19:21,500 --> 00:19:24,500 And then we come to Cornelius and the household of Cornelius. 362 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:26,600 That's a great story to in Acts chapter. 363 00:19:26,700 --> 00:19:28,700 Ten. You remember when Peter he's up 364 00:19:28,700 --> 00:19:32,500 there on the housetop there, in Joppa down by the Seacoast, he 365 00:19:32,500 --> 00:19:34,700 staying with one called Simon the Tanner. 366 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:37,800 And of course, the cancer was one who took these skins and 367 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:41,800 process them which was a very no no for a Jew, but nonetheless, 368 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:44,700 he's up there on the housetop. He's he's sleeping, he's hungry, 369 00:19:44,700 --> 00:19:47,500 it's about lunchtime and this great sheet this Vision. 370 00:19:47,500 --> 00:19:50,200 He had the sheet is let down by the Four Corners. 371 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:53,400 Have a all manner of Beast and unclean animals, and all things. 372 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:56,600 And the voice says Rise, Peter, kill and eat. 373 00:19:56,700 --> 00:19:59,000 Eat and Peter is shaken. He says, Lord. 374 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:02,200 I have never eaten anything that is unclean. 375 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:05,000 I don't do that. I'm a Jew, I eat kosher food. 376 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:07,000 Well, this happened some three times. 377 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:08,300 And what God is showing, Peter is. 378 00:20:08,300 --> 00:20:11,200 Listen, I'm about ready to put you on a mission and I'm going 379 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:13,100 to send you to some unclean people. 380 00:20:13,100 --> 00:20:17,100 Ceremony Louis Leakey, and about that time out of the gate, The 381 00:20:17,100 --> 00:20:20,200 Messengers Come Peter is summon. He goes to the household of 382 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:24,700 Cornelius and their Cornelius has the gospel preached to him, 383 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:28,500 and he's baptized too. Well, the next chapter 11, the 384 00:20:28,500 --> 00:20:32,300 disciples began to flee and they begin to spread and the church 385 00:20:32,300 --> 00:20:34,700 spreads. And now up here in Antioch way 386 00:20:34,700 --> 00:20:38,400 up here, north of Jerusalem, the church is thriving. 387 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:40,600 In fact, it's going to be from that point. 388 00:20:40,700 --> 00:20:44,700 That Paul is later set out. And it says the disciples were 389 00:20:44,700 --> 00:20:46,700 called Christians first in Antioch. 390 00:20:47,300 --> 00:20:50,100 You see why this time the Christians were again, 391 00:20:50,100 --> 00:20:53,400 formalizing their faith, and they were beginning to grow and 392 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:55,400 they were beginning to be Evangelistic, they were 393 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:57,100 beginning to understand their In the world. 394 00:20:57,100 --> 00:21:00,700 And by the way, the mission of Christianity is evangelism this 395 00:21:00,700 --> 00:21:04,100 not just to sit in the building and enjoy the Comforts or here, 396 00:21:04,100 --> 00:21:07,800 good preaching, it is evangelism, you know, going to 397 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:11,700 the world and it is said that in the first century each 111, 398 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:16,600 everyone 11. And that's our job tonight. 399 00:21:16,700 --> 00:21:20,100 That's our job today is to be like the early church. 400 00:21:20,500 --> 00:21:22,300 Well, Paul makes his missionary Journeys. 401 00:21:22,300 --> 00:21:24,100 You remember that? And of course, most of the 402 00:21:24,100 --> 00:21:27,200 letters that we have in the New Testament, First Corinthians, 403 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:29,200 second Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians 404 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:33,100 Colossians, our letters Thessalonians, that Paul wrote 405 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:36,300 as he would go and establish a congregation and preach the word 406 00:21:36,300 --> 00:21:38,200 and people would be converted but then they would have 407 00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:41,300 problems. You see, God's people are not 408 00:21:41,300 --> 00:21:44,000 without problems. The church is not without 409 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:46,400 problems. People do often struggle and 410 00:21:46,500 --> 00:21:48,600 sometimes the apart from God's way. 411 00:21:49,100 --> 00:21:52,100 And so Paul would write these letters back to them and he 412 00:21:52,100 --> 00:21:55,500 would reprimand him and encourage them and strengthen 413 00:21:55,500 --> 00:21:58,000 them. And, of course, they grew. 414 00:21:58,500 --> 00:22:02,300 And from those letters, we have the doctrines tonight that God, 415 00:22:02,300 --> 00:22:05,900 the Church of Jesus Christ. We don't have Creeds, we don't 416 00:22:05,900 --> 00:22:09,100 have bad doctrines, we just go back to the words of these 417 00:22:09,100 --> 00:22:11,200 Apostles. And so by the end of the first 418 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:15,100 century, the gospel had spread throughout the entire Roman 419 00:22:15,100 --> 00:22:17,000 Empire. Is that Paul said it this way, 420 00:22:17,100 --> 00:22:21,800 in Colossians 1 verse 23, if you continue, he says in the faith 421 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:26,500 grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the 422 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:29,700 Last fall, they get this which you have heard and which was 423 00:22:29,700 --> 00:22:34,100 preached to every creature under Heaven whereby Paul and made a 424 00:22:34,108 --> 00:22:36,700 minister, not think. Of course, there's a little bit 425 00:22:36,700 --> 00:22:40,300 of rhetorical license here. The Paul was saying the gospel 426 00:22:40,300 --> 00:22:42,700 has had. Full course, it's at free course 427 00:22:42,700 --> 00:22:46,900 and it has gone far and wide. And now Christianity is well 428 00:22:46,900 --> 00:22:50,000 known. Well, it's a wonderful time. 429 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:53,400 The church is spreading, there are persecutions the Jews had 430 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:56,300 been persecuting the church, but the church spread and of course 431 00:22:56,300 --> 00:23:00,500 hit Fled and now things are going well, all in all, but you 432 00:23:00,500 --> 00:23:05,700 know, there was some rough, Seas ahead, the ship of Christianity, 433 00:23:05,700 --> 00:23:08,800 the shipment of Zion was going to be tossed and turned in the 434 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:13,300 next several centuries. Even maybe do the next twenty 435 00:23:13,500 --> 00:23:15,800 centuries. You know, the Apostle had 436 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:20,500 warned, not only the churches but also men like Timothy the 437 00:23:20,500 --> 00:23:26,200 Protege when he said the spirit speaks specifically expressly 438 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:31,400 that Some will depart in latter times from the faith, he warns 439 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:33,100 over and over the Apostle warns over. 440 00:23:33,100 --> 00:23:37,900 I think he is concerned about the future strength of the 441 00:23:37,900 --> 00:23:43,100 church and he says, there is going to be a falling away, no 442 00:23:43,100 --> 00:23:48,900 sooner than John was buried. In fact, even before that did 443 00:23:48,900 --> 00:23:54,400 the very ugly head of division, false Doctrine, and those Pagan 444 00:23:54,500 --> 00:23:56,700 theories. And theologies of the Agent 445 00:23:56,700 --> 00:23:58,800 World began to slip into the church. 446 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:00,500 In fact, some belief and probably rightly. 447 00:24:00,500 --> 00:24:04,000 So that the Epistles of John first. 448 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:08,100 Second third, John are written to ward off a gnostic. 449 00:24:08,100 --> 00:24:11,600 Heresy, the idea that you have to have special Enlightenment, 450 00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:14,700 and that God's word isn't enough, some believe that, that 451 00:24:14,700 --> 00:24:17,500 was the beginning of gnosticism that John already was beginning 452 00:24:17,500 --> 00:24:20,400 to ward off. Well, part 2 tonight, as we look 453 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:23,900 at the rest of our little study, we're going to go from the end 454 00:24:23,900 --> 00:24:27,600 of the first century, the apostles now Have died away, 455 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:30,800 spiritual gifts, are beginning to see some. 456 00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:33,000 We don't go into this in this study, but that's a very 457 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:35,200 important part. In component of the first 458 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:37,900 century. Remember that the word of God 459 00:24:37,900 --> 00:24:41,000 was still being written, Paul was pinning, the letters to 460 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:44,900 various congregations, but in the meantime, God had given 461 00:24:44,900 --> 00:24:49,900 spiritual gifts gifts of Prophecy Gifts of tongues, give 462 00:24:49,900 --> 00:24:53,100 some interpretation of comes, Gifts of Faith, Gifts of 463 00:24:53,100 --> 00:24:56,000 healing, to the early church, so that they could confirm the 464 00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:58,700 word. And know what to do doctrinally 465 00:24:59,100 --> 00:25:01,900 until the New Testament could be completed now. 466 00:25:01,900 --> 00:25:04,800 I believe that in Paul, in First Corinthians 13, when he speaks 467 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:08,600 of the completed thing coming, he speaking of the completed 468 00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:11,500 revelation of God's will but nonetheless, after the first 469 00:25:11,500 --> 00:25:16,000 century, things began to get very difficult no longer. 470 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:19,500 You have an apostle that you can call over and say, Paul what 471 00:25:19,500 --> 00:25:22,400 what, what now are we to do about this now? 472 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:26,100 False teachers are circulating. Now, of course, it's dependent 473 00:25:26,100 --> 00:25:28,700 upon those. The congregations to go back to 474 00:25:28,700 --> 00:25:31,800 the word, to go back to the writings to go back to what they 475 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:34,700 knew the apostles had taught, and we're going to see again a 476 00:25:34,700 --> 00:25:37,900 wholesale departure from the from the truth. 477 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:40,800 But let me talk to you just for a moment tonight about this 478 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:42,700 persecution. You know, one of the problems 479 00:25:42,700 --> 00:25:46,000 with dealing with history is that there's so many movements 480 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:48,900 that you would like to discuss that are sort of parallel 481 00:25:48,900 --> 00:25:50,700 movements they occur at the same time. 482 00:25:51,100 --> 00:25:54,200 So it almost as if you're not being totally linear you kind of 483 00:25:54,208 --> 00:25:56,400 have to keep jumping back. Well, I want to talk about this. 484 00:25:56,500 --> 00:25:59,600 This idea of persecution because, you know, persecution, 485 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:03,100 as I mentioned was that which spread the church initially acts 486 00:26:03,100 --> 00:26:05,600 84? They went everywhere preaching, 487 00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:09,300 the word and of course, the first four centuries of the 488 00:26:09,300 --> 00:26:12,300 church were fraught with persecution. 489 00:26:12,700 --> 00:26:17,900 It was a bloody time in church history and so as the church 490 00:26:17,900 --> 00:26:21,900 spread and as it begin to encounter first Judaism, that 491 00:26:21,900 --> 00:26:23,600 didn't believe Jesus was the Messiah. 492 00:26:23,900 --> 00:26:27,100 And then later Pagan philosophies and And then to 493 00:26:27,100 --> 00:26:30,600 also take money out of the pockets of pagan temples there 494 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:33,400 began to be a spread of persecution as well. 495 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:35,500 And I want to spend just a little bit of time but I think 496 00:26:35,500 --> 00:26:39,500 it's a fascinating study and it will lead us ultimately to our 497 00:26:39,500 --> 00:26:43,100 final destination tonight which is emperor Constantine who 498 00:26:43,100 --> 00:26:46,800 finally makes Christianity legal and sort of ends persecution and 499 00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:49,000 you say well that's a great thing, maybe not. 500 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:51,000 We'll see you tomorrow night. That probably was one of the 501 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,100 worst things that could have happened as far as the strength 502 00:26:53,100 --> 00:26:56,300 of the church, but, you know, Jesus had already begun. 503 00:26:56,500 --> 00:26:59,400 To warn about persecution. In Matthew 5 verse 10. 504 00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:02,800 He said, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness 505 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:05,000 sake? You see, even in Jesus day, it 506 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:06,300 was nothing new to be persecuted. 507 00:27:06,300 --> 00:27:11,300 In fact, he convicts in Matthew 23, those Jews who had crucified 508 00:27:11,300 --> 00:27:14,700 or killed rather of the old prophets, everyone, from a-z 509 00:27:14,900 --> 00:27:19,200 able to Zakaria and he says, you know, godly people are going to 510 00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:22,400 be persecuted. The Old Testament bore that out 511 00:27:22,500 --> 00:27:25,700 and the new as well and Paul and second Timothy 3, the last 512 00:27:25,700 --> 00:27:27,800 letter that Paul. Probably Paul ever wrote. 513 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:30,300 He's an old man but yet he's about to die. 514 00:27:30,300 --> 00:27:34,800 Probably by the sword, the Roman sword and he writes to his young 515 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:38,300 man Timothy who he is love so long and it's going to be 516 00:27:38,300 --> 00:27:42,700 carrying on the cross of the of the Gospel on after his death. 517 00:27:42,700 --> 00:27:45,900 And he says, all of those who live Godly will suffer. 518 00:27:45,900 --> 00:27:50,100 Persecution, is quite a promise. But Paul seems very emphatic 519 00:27:50,100 --> 00:27:53,200 about that and then of course, in revelation. 22 verse 10. 520 00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:57,000 That familiar verse Revelation is this story or the Is this 521 00:27:57,000 --> 00:28:00,900 this book about right? Wrong, good evil, and no matter 522 00:28:00,900 --> 00:28:03,200 how you interpreted it, all comes down to the fact that 523 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:07,200 Christians get caught in the grinding wheel of the cultures 524 00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:10,500 in which we live, and we're going to be sometimes even 525 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:13,000 killed. And of course, John as he 526 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:15,200 writes, there be faithful unto death. 527 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:18,800 John says, or Jesus says really, and I'll give you the Crown of 528 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:21,500 Life. Well, during the apostles 529 00:28:21,700 --> 00:28:25,600 period, during the first century after the church in about 30 33. 530 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:32,000 IE was You have the persecution mainly by the Jewish leaders, 531 00:28:32,100 --> 00:28:35,200 for theological reasons, and that's important because you see 532 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:38,200 those Jews. Look at what the Christians were 533 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:40,800 teaching about. Jesus Christ, the Messiah, they 534 00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:43,600 didn't believe that. And so they persecuted 535 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:46,800 Christians because they had left the law, they were no longer 536 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:49,200 binding, things like circumcision, or the Sabbath. 537 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:54,400 And so, they view, Christianity, as being Heretics from Judaism. 538 00:28:54,700 --> 00:28:57,800 And so there was a great amount of Persecution. 539 00:28:58,100 --> 00:29:01,500 They, you know, when we think about Israel and Palestine of 540 00:29:01,500 --> 00:29:06,400 that period of time, we have to remember that in 63 BC Rome had 541 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:08,600 come in and taken over the land of Palestine. 542 00:29:09,100 --> 00:29:13,300 Now, Rome was fairly tolerant of tribal religions. 543 00:29:13,300 --> 00:29:17,500 They were fairly tolerant of the religions of the Nations that 544 00:29:17,500 --> 00:29:21,000 they conquered. As long as those Nations did not 545 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:26,000 rise up against Rome and or accepted the Roman gods. 546 00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:29,000 Really care what you believe, as long as you believe the emperor 547 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:32,200 was God as well. Well, you know, Rome allowed a 548 00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:35,900 lot of these religions to slide by including Judaism. 549 00:29:36,300 --> 00:29:38,900 Well, you see it. First Christianity was sort of a 550 00:29:38,908 --> 00:29:43,400 subset of Judaism, wasn't it? It was a religion that was 551 00:29:43,900 --> 00:29:46,300 acknowledged as just part of Judaism. 552 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:50,800 Well, since Judaism had the rights of existence, by Rome 553 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:52,500 they had said, okay, you're fine. 554 00:29:52,900 --> 00:29:56,800 Then Christianity was fine. But now something to get into To 555 00:29:56,800 --> 00:30:00,900 happen as the Jewish Nation begins to die and of course you 556 00:30:00,908 --> 00:30:03,100 remember that the Jewish nation revolts. 557 00:30:03,100 --> 00:30:07,300 And finally, in ad 70, the Jewish nation is obliterated by 558 00:30:07,300 --> 00:30:10,500 Titus and Vespasian. The city is destroyed. 559 00:30:10,700 --> 00:30:15,100 You know, many many folks are killed murdered as the city is 560 00:30:15,100 --> 00:30:16,700 surrounded. In fact, that's what Matthew 24 561 00:30:16,700 --> 00:30:19,200 is all about. It's about the destruction of 562 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:22,500 the city of Jerusalem. Now, with the demise of Judaism. 563 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:26,600 Now, Christianity that has already spread taken on other 564 00:30:26,700 --> 00:30:32,100 Doctrines Stands Long, and it stands out from that once Judy, 565 00:30:32,100 --> 00:30:34,700 istic background. And so now they become the 566 00:30:34,700 --> 00:30:39,100 target for the Romans, who down? Look at these Christians who 567 00:30:39,100 --> 00:30:44,300 refuse to acknowledge the Emperor as God, whereas once 568 00:30:44,300 --> 00:30:47,500 Christian sort of went under the umbrella of Judaism, now they 569 00:30:47,500 --> 00:30:50,100 stand alone. And so with the destruction of 570 00:30:50,108 --> 00:30:55,600 Jerusalem now the persecution ramps up in full force and now 571 00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:59,300 Christianity, Is going to be a Target by the Jews. 572 00:30:59,300 --> 00:31:02,100 Now, are by the Romans. Now, why would the Romans care? 573 00:31:02,100 --> 00:31:04,200 You know, Christians this is one of the things that I think is 574 00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:07,200 always been interesting to me, you know, Christians, arguably 575 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:10,500 are the nicest best people you could ever have in the Empire. 576 00:31:10,500 --> 00:31:13,200 They're hard-working. If they're good Christians, they 577 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:15,400 take care of their families, they don't rely on the 578 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:17,700 government. What more could you want? 579 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:22,600 Well, the issue came down to three main things as to why the 580 00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:26,100 Romans didn't like the Christians number one was they 581 00:31:26,100 --> 00:31:28,200 didn't. Recognize the emperor's Lord. 582 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:30,700 Now, why did the Romans want people to recognize the 583 00:31:30,700 --> 00:31:33,500 emperor's Lord or it's God or deity? 584 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:36,300 Well, there are several reasons. Number one, the emperor's were 585 00:31:36,300 --> 00:31:38,600 pretty narcissistic they like that. 586 00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:43,000 But nonetheless, if you can get a single political ruler in 587 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:46,700 your, in your kingdom or in your your Empire and remember, Rome. 588 00:31:46,700 --> 00:31:48,600 But this time, it's spreading really far and wide. 589 00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:53,100 If you can get a single entity that everyone looks to and holds 590 00:31:53,100 --> 00:31:56,700 its a cohesion Factor. It holds people together. 591 00:31:56,700 --> 00:32:00,000 And so here's these Christians who are saying Caesars not Lord, 592 00:32:00,500 --> 00:32:03,800 he's not worth is only one Lord, One Faith, one baptism member 593 00:32:03,900 --> 00:32:09,700 Hebrew are you know Ephesians 4. So they were criticized and 594 00:32:09,700 --> 00:32:13,700 persecuted because they refused to offer incense and bow to the 595 00:32:13,700 --> 00:32:15,700 emperor. But you know also they were 596 00:32:15,700 --> 00:32:18,900 accused of being in moral ladies, how in the world could 597 00:32:18,900 --> 00:32:22,500 Christians being more released, we live by the highest standards 598 00:32:22,500 --> 00:32:24,700 of Ethics ever put upon this world. 599 00:32:24,800 --> 00:32:26,600 Old. Well, they were accused of 600 00:32:26,700 --> 00:32:29,800 accused of many things, most of it Scholars say, came about from 601 00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:32,500 misunderstanding. For example, the example, 602 00:32:32,500 --> 00:32:35,100 Christian Firkin, you a were accused of in cannibals. 603 00:32:35,500 --> 00:32:38,600 They ate flesh. You say, wow, how that happened? 604 00:32:38,600 --> 00:32:40,200 Well, think about the Lord's table. 605 00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:42,800 We say that we're eating the body of Jesus. 606 00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:44,800 Not literally. Now, some religions do say, 607 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:48,700 literally, but that was misconstrued, we call each other 608 00:32:48,700 --> 00:32:51,700 brother and sister in Christ. Do we believe in incest? 609 00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:56,500 No, you see a secular mind. That religious truths and 610 00:32:56,500 --> 00:32:59,200 misunderstands and then economics. 611 00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:01,900 Now, you want to get somebody against your case, get in their 612 00:33:01,900 --> 00:33:04,100 wallet. And of course, you remember, for 613 00:33:04,100 --> 00:33:07,100 example, in Acts chapter 16, where Paul they are comes to 614 00:33:07,100 --> 00:33:08,600 Ephesus. Remember that story we talked 615 00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:11,900 about our Philip Philip, I rather and of course those those 616 00:33:11,900 --> 00:33:15,400 Pagan temples were suffering because the preaching of the 617 00:33:15,408 --> 00:33:18,700 Gospel was taking converts away from paganism and making them 618 00:33:18,700 --> 00:33:21,400 Christians. And so the economics of, you 619 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:23,700 know, supporting those temples was dying away. 620 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:28,200 So many Many things that when you put it all together led to a 621 00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:31,600 persecution of the Christians. Now there had always been some 622 00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:35,500 persecution fact a lot really. In Paul's day, the emperor was 623 00:33:35,500 --> 00:33:38,200 Nero. Nero was an evil man. 624 00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:41,700 In fact he is known to first of all, have brought blame the 625 00:33:41,700 --> 00:33:45,100 burning of Rome of when Christians second of all, he is 626 00:33:45,100 --> 00:33:48,800 also known to take Christians and literally tie them to steaks 627 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:52,200 and burn them alive as torches for his garden parties. 628 00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:54,700 These men were two minute. They were deprived. 629 00:33:54,900 --> 00:33:58,400 Depraved and of course a terrible. 630 00:33:58,500 --> 00:34:04,700 Bloodshed deletion, who came later in 95 confiscated Church 631 00:34:04,700 --> 00:34:06,700 properties. Complicated, Christians 632 00:34:06,700 --> 00:34:08,699 murdered. Christians was probably the one 633 00:34:08,699 --> 00:34:13,400 that exiled John, the John, the Apostle rather and then decius 634 00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:16,000 who I'll talk more about in just a second very briefly. 635 00:34:16,300 --> 00:34:20,100 He wanted to White Christian. He had took it personally, he 636 00:34:20,100 --> 00:34:23,800 wanted to wipe Christianity out and then finally Diocletian. 637 00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:26,300 Now there were others who who persecuted the church. 638 00:34:26,300 --> 00:34:29,199 But these are for that are very prominent and by the way 639 00:34:29,199 --> 00:34:31,199 Diocletian and we don't have time to talk about it in this 640 00:34:31,199 --> 00:34:32,900 meeting. I wish we did on how we got the 641 00:34:32,900 --> 00:34:34,400 Bible. But you know one of the 642 00:34:34,408 --> 00:34:36,900 questions that's asked is why don't we have more of the 643 00:34:36,900 --> 00:34:40,400 original manuscripts like back to the 2nd 3rd Century, probably 644 00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:44,199 because of Diocletian. He burned every book. 645 00:34:44,199 --> 00:34:46,900 He could get his hands on that deal with Christianity, 646 00:34:46,900 --> 00:34:50,800 including the copies of the Bible, he made them very scarce. 647 00:34:50,900 --> 00:34:54,400 But what about this? Decius felt decius was evil. 648 00:34:54,900 --> 00:34:59,100 He was evil incarnate. He wanted to destroy every 649 00:34:59,100 --> 00:35:03,100 Vestige of Christianity and he wanted a white every Christian 650 00:35:03,100 --> 00:35:04,400 out. And if you were a bishop or 651 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:07,500 church leader, you were dead. No mercy on you. 652 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:12,200 Now, if others that were Christians, would recant if they 653 00:35:12,200 --> 00:35:14,600 would bow the knee. If then we give the pinch of 654 00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:18,000 incense and say, Caesar is Lord. He had let you off inside a 655 00:35:18,008 --> 00:35:23,100 little of those certificate. Well, of course many did recant. 656 00:35:23,100 --> 00:35:26,000 Many did give up their faith but many did not. 657 00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:29,700 So there was a terrible Bloodshed during this period of 658 00:35:29,700 --> 00:35:33,600 time, great difficulty for the church as it began to go through 659 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:37,300 terrible persecution. Now again we don't have time to 660 00:35:37,300 --> 00:35:40,400 apply this tonight, but think about your life, think about my 661 00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:45,200 life and think about would you be willing to deny Jesus just so 662 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:47,000 you can live? I mean, after all, this is a 663 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:50,100 pagan Empire, this is a pagan Emperor wouldn't hurt just Just 664 00:35:50,100 --> 00:35:52,000 a offer. A pinch of incense. 665 00:35:52,100 --> 00:35:54,200 I mean, who's gonna know the best the difference. 666 00:35:54,200 --> 00:35:56,200 You're under duress. Anyway, that doesn't count. 667 00:35:56,700 --> 00:36:00,600 You did to the Christians, they took it very seriously, they 668 00:36:00,600 --> 00:36:04,600 were willing to go to death. Well, there are a lot of Barbers 669 00:36:05,200 --> 00:36:07,600 were almost nearing the end. So bear with me, there were a 670 00:36:07,607 --> 00:36:11,400 lot of Martyrs and I think again this phrase, the blood of the 671 00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:16,000 Saints has watered the seed of the kingdom is so applicable and 672 00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:19,500 pertinent to this period and the martyrdom appreciative. 673 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:24,100 All the way back with Steven and that seven the Jews stoned him. 674 00:36:24,300 --> 00:36:27,000 And, you know, he had gotten on their case and preached about 675 00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:30,900 their stiff neck attitudes and they had stoned him. 676 00:36:31,500 --> 00:36:35,800 James later in Acts 12 is killed Paul. 677 00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:39,200 And first second Timothy 4 6 indicates that he's about ready 678 00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:42,000 to die. And so even in the New Testament 679 00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:46,600 itself you have various markers, well, polycarp comes along and 680 00:36:46,600 --> 00:36:49,800 he's a very historical figure that many of you recognize, but 681 00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:53,800 But he's was a bishop or leader of the Church of Smyrna and they 682 00:36:53,800 --> 00:36:56,600 bring him up and ask him to offer the pinch of incense. 683 00:36:56,600 --> 00:37:00,700 He refuses and his famous words supposedly you know. 684 00:37:00,700 --> 00:37:05,200 I think quoted by Silvius is that he says, 80 and six years I 685 00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:07,200 have served him. That is Christ. 686 00:37:07,500 --> 00:37:09,700 How then, can I blaspheme my king? 687 00:37:09,700 --> 00:37:14,300 And my savior bring forth what thou Wilt and so he dies. 688 00:37:14,300 --> 00:37:18,100 Then for his faith, well persecution and martyrdom may 689 00:37:18,100 --> 00:37:22,000 seem like a terrible thing. But certainly it separates, the 690 00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:24,500 wheat from the chaff, it separates those who are truly 691 00:37:24,500 --> 00:37:27,600 dedicated, those who are really serious about their faith. 692 00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:30,600 One of the reasons, no doubt today in the religious world, we 693 00:37:30,600 --> 00:37:34,200 have people who are so including maybe ourselves so laksa days 694 00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:37,600 ago about their faith is because our faith has never been tried. 695 00:37:38,300 --> 00:37:43,700 Well Christianity, eventually comes to the point where they're 696 00:37:43,700 --> 00:37:46,100 not persecuted anymore. Well let's talk about that just 697 00:37:46,100 --> 00:37:48,600 for a moment and then we'll close, you know, Christianity 698 00:37:48,600 --> 00:37:50,400 has gone through a bloody Centuries. 699 00:37:51,100 --> 00:37:54,400 It's been tough now in the meantime false doctrines have 700 00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:56,500 also been creeping and we'll deal with that tomorrow night 701 00:37:57,000 --> 00:38:00,600 but it's been a tough time. The church has taken a beating 702 00:38:01,100 --> 00:38:04,200 physically and also theologically during this period 703 00:38:04,200 --> 00:38:08,300 of time but all of a sudden the tide begins to change. 704 00:38:08,700 --> 00:38:12,000 There's this man by the name of Constantine, Constantine the 705 00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:16,300 Great, he comes the power and about 30 684 Century. 706 00:38:16,900 --> 00:38:19,600 So he comes to power and he's not a Christian. 707 00:38:19,600 --> 00:38:21,100 By the way, he's never been baptized. 708 00:38:21,100 --> 00:38:24,200 Like, he wasn't even baptized still his deathbed, but 709 00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:27,700 supposedly, he's a military guy and he begins to see. 710 00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:29,400 This is my slope summation of it. 711 00:38:29,500 --> 00:38:31,300 He begins to see the persecution of the Christians. 712 00:38:31,300 --> 00:38:33,200 You realize how strong they are. Any thinks that's a good 713 00:38:33,200 --> 00:38:35,200 attitude. That's a good people to have on 714 00:38:35,200 --> 00:38:38,200 my side. And so Adam Battle of the 715 00:38:38,200 --> 00:38:41,900 milvian bridge. He supposedly has this vision 716 00:38:41,900 --> 00:38:47,000 and sees this sign of the cross in the sky and he sees this 717 00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:49,500 letter or gets this message in lat. 718 00:38:49,700 --> 00:38:52,900 And it is, it is something and in English, it means in this 719 00:38:52,900 --> 00:38:56,600 sign conquer. And so, at that moment, he 720 00:38:56,600 --> 00:38:58,900 basically takes upon Christianity. 721 00:38:59,300 --> 00:39:01,900 And really, it's that moment when papal Rome begins really, 722 00:39:01,900 --> 00:39:05,300 if you want to be technical about it and he changes the 723 00:39:05,300 --> 00:39:09,900 eagle as the Hallmark for his army to the cross. 724 00:39:10,700 --> 00:39:14,300 And so Constantine, then goes forth and he begins to make 725 00:39:14,300 --> 00:39:18,000 Christianity legal. There was an edict called the 726 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:23,100 Edict of Milan in 313 ad. The eateth of Madan, was really 727 00:39:23,100 --> 00:39:27,400 kind of the focal point of now. Christianity is no longer A 728 00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:30,300 persecuted religion. It didn't mean the constants 729 00:39:30,300 --> 00:39:33,000 Constantine really just became you know, overly involved with 730 00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:36,800 Christianity necessarily at that point, but he gives Toleration 731 00:39:36,900 --> 00:39:40,100 to Christians. Now, persons, join the ranks of 732 00:39:40,100 --> 00:39:45,500 every other allowed religion in the Roman Empire, and he sets 733 00:39:45,500 --> 00:39:48,400 the stage. Age really, for some of the most 734 00:39:48,400 --> 00:39:52,000 political movements that ever wove their way into Christendom 735 00:39:52,600 --> 00:39:55,600 because as well. See, Constantine. 736 00:39:55,900 --> 00:39:58,900 Not only made the Edict of Milan made in Chris making 737 00:39:58,900 --> 00:40:03,400 Christianity legal but just a few layers later when there was 738 00:40:03,400 --> 00:40:06,800 a problem over, who is Jesus, the deity of Christ. 739 00:40:06,900 --> 00:40:11,100 He sets himself up and says, I'm going to preside over this great 740 00:40:11,100 --> 00:40:15,200 Council, the called the Council of nicaea, and I'm going to make 741 00:40:15,200 --> 00:40:17,700 the decisions here. With you guys who are religious 742 00:40:17,700 --> 00:40:19,900 leaders. Now, of course, by this time, 743 00:40:19,900 --> 00:40:21,600 the church had begun to fall away. 744 00:40:22,100 --> 00:40:24,800 So we don't look to these leaders as being men of God 745 00:40:24,800 --> 00:40:26,800 necessarily. But the point is this he brings 746 00:40:26,800 --> 00:40:31,700 the political aspect full and Center into the church, and from 747 00:40:31,700 --> 00:40:34,700 this point on you begin to have creeps. 748 00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:36,700 That begin to slip into church history. 749 00:40:36,900 --> 00:40:39,200 You begin to have ecumenical councils. 750 00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:41,500 There were many, but there were at least seven ecumenical 751 00:40:41,500 --> 00:40:44,500 councils where people from all over the world, Lee religious 752 00:40:44,500 --> 00:40:47,600 leaders in the churches. Is would comment powwow 753 00:40:47,600 --> 00:40:50,800 politically you see? It begins to leave the 754 00:40:50,800 --> 00:40:54,800 Grassroots effort of the first century begins to leave the 755 00:40:54,800 --> 00:40:57,400 truth of the gospel and the writings of the Apostles. 756 00:40:57,500 --> 00:41:01,500 And now it's about creeps now, it's about man-made ideas. 757 00:41:01,800 --> 00:41:04,900 Now it's about man-made ideals and of course, that's going to 758 00:41:04,900 --> 00:41:09,100 lead, then ultimately to a lot of trouble for the church. 759 00:41:09,900 --> 00:41:11,900 Well, one more point and then we're finished. 760 00:41:12,600 --> 00:41:15,700 You know, now, Christians are being persecuted, you know, I 761 00:41:15,707 --> 00:41:19,100 think there was a thing or a part about Christianity and 762 00:41:19,100 --> 00:41:22,300 persecuted that I won't say people like it Christians. 763 00:41:22,300 --> 00:41:24,900 Never liked being persecuted, but he gave me something 764 00:41:24,900 --> 00:41:29,000 tangible to say. I'm doing this for my faith. 765 00:41:30,200 --> 00:41:33,700 But now all of a sudden you're not persecuted, it's an easy 766 00:41:33,700 --> 00:41:35,700 life. So what are you going to do? 767 00:41:36,600 --> 00:41:39,800 Monasticism begins to rise and that's an interesting study and 768 00:41:39,800 --> 00:41:44,800 of itself but monks and nuns and you know convents and all of 769 00:41:44,800 --> 00:41:47,400 these organizations that come out of this period of time on 770 00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:50,400 through, of course, even the Middle Ages, the rise of extreme 771 00:41:50,400 --> 00:41:53,400 asceticism and I want to leave you with one kind of fun 772 00:41:53,700 --> 00:41:56,200 ascetic. There are some of these guys if 773 00:41:56,200 --> 00:41:59,200 you read some of these are writings and and they literally 774 00:41:59,200 --> 00:42:02,300 were just Almost nuts. I mean, they would go out and 775 00:42:02,300 --> 00:42:04,100 live by themselves in the desert. 776 00:42:04,200 --> 00:42:06,100 They would talk to themselves. They would joust. 777 00:42:06,100 --> 00:42:09,200 Flip the devil out when the devil wasn't even there. 778 00:42:09,300 --> 00:42:13,100 I mean, they were Mystics and people, then be good to join 779 00:42:13,100 --> 00:42:15,100 them and this began to be a growing movement. 780 00:42:15,100 --> 00:42:17,100 Because now, how do I demonstrate my faith? 781 00:42:17,100 --> 00:42:18,800 Well, they should have demonstrated by just living and 782 00:42:18,800 --> 00:42:20,800 telling others about Jesus, but that wasn't good enough. 783 00:42:20,800 --> 00:42:23,400 So they begin to build massive Cathedrals and begin to develop 784 00:42:23,400 --> 00:42:25,700 organizations that you get to do some really crazy things. 785 00:42:25,700 --> 00:42:29,400 Well, there was this man called Simeon of stud like eise. 786 00:42:30,100 --> 00:42:35,600 And he lives in about 400 ad. Now, this man lived on a pillar 787 00:42:36,500 --> 00:42:39,600 erected a pillar and this was not just indicative of him. 788 00:42:39,600 --> 00:42:43,400 This type of thing happened in other church history, and by 789 00:42:43,400 --> 00:42:46,800 other individuals, but he was a monk and he took up at the age 790 00:42:46,800 --> 00:42:51,200 of 33 residents on a platform that was 60 feet tall. 791 00:42:51,800 --> 00:42:54,100 Well, first of all, I don't like heights, that's enough to do 792 00:42:54,100 --> 00:42:58,800 Meehan but second of all, he never bathed the weather pelted 793 00:42:58,800 --> 00:43:02,100 him. His flesh became so filthy, that 794 00:43:02,100 --> 00:43:05,300 the worms began to infect his skin. 795 00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:09,100 He would not kill them, they would fall off on the ground and 796 00:43:09,100 --> 00:43:13,300 his followers who ought him would be just falling all over 797 00:43:13,300 --> 00:43:16,500 themselves. To have what fell from his 798 00:43:16,500 --> 00:43:20,600 Tower. He took no care of his body and 799 00:43:20,600 --> 00:43:26,500 again he constantly cut himself, self asceticism and he allowed 800 00:43:26,500 --> 00:43:29,000 the bugs to feed off of these wounds. 801 00:43:29,700 --> 00:43:32,500 Now, why did he do that somewhere in his mind? 802 00:43:32,500 --> 00:43:34,100 He thought he was doing it for the Lord. 803 00:43:34,800 --> 00:43:38,600 You know, the Apostle had said that self-imposed religion is 804 00:43:38,600 --> 00:43:43,400 not accepted by God this man and many, many, many others took 805 00:43:43,400 --> 00:43:46,200 vows of Silence, took vows of hunger. 806 00:43:46,200 --> 00:43:50,300 Took vows of poverty, took all kinds of valve's put themselves 807 00:43:50,300 --> 00:43:55,800 in terrible conditions, just so they could feel religious and 808 00:43:55,800 --> 00:43:58,600 faithful. Well, before we get critical 809 00:43:58,600 --> 00:44:00,400 about that which is certainly crazy. 810 00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:03,400 But there are still religions maybe even we do it a little bit 811 00:44:03,400 --> 00:44:06,200 today. Even ourselves, you know kind of 812 00:44:06,200 --> 00:44:10,200 that idea if we can just you know crucify ourselves 813 00:44:10,200 --> 00:44:12,400 physically it's just a little more, we're more righteous 814 00:44:12,400 --> 00:44:15,000 that's really self-righteousness is by the way, this is nothing 815 00:44:15,000 --> 00:44:16,400 but a picture of self-righteousness. 816 00:44:17,300 --> 00:44:22,200 But nonetheless, you see then what is beginning to develop the 817 00:44:22,207 --> 00:44:26,300 church has left that simple view of Christ and the apostles 818 00:44:26,300 --> 00:44:29,400 Doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in 819 00:44:29,400 --> 00:44:31,600 prayers. And now they've gone political. 820 00:44:31,600 --> 00:44:33,600 Now, they've gotten the government involved. 821 00:44:33,800 --> 00:44:35,900 And by the way, anytime you get the government involved, you've 822 00:44:35,900 --> 00:44:39,400 got a mess and that's exactly what's going to happen. 823 00:44:39,900 --> 00:44:42,400 Well, tomorrow night, we'll talk a little bit about what happens 824 00:44:42,600 --> 00:44:45,700 after the centuries. As the centuries go on, we will 825 00:44:45,700 --> 00:44:50,100 discuss a little bit about the the Reformation period Martin 826 00:44:50,100 --> 00:44:55,300 Luther sees a great departure of course and the church at the 827 00:44:55,300 --> 00:44:58,000 time which was the Catholic church and he remember he wants 828 00:44:58,000 --> 00:45:00,400 to reform things. We'll talk a little bit about 829 00:45:00,400 --> 00:45:04,000 that and then perhaps close out with just a word of small word 830 00:45:04,400 --> 00:45:10,100 about reformation restoration and where do we go from here? 831 00:45:12,200 --> 00:45:14,800 We thank you for listening to our podcast, put on by the 832 00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:20,500 Church of Christ at 22:15 plans. Road in Bakersfield, if you 833 00:45:20,508 --> 00:45:23,600 would like any additional information, or you would like 834 00:45:23,600 --> 00:45:26,800 to receive a free Bible correspondence, course by mail. 835 00:45:27,400 --> 00:45:31,300 Please email us at info at her Church of Christ 836 00:45:31,300 --> 00:45:35,200 Bakersfield.com. Our service times are on Sundays 837 00:45:35,200 --> 00:45:40,900 at 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. and Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. 838 00:45:41,500 --> 00:45:45,000 Please make plans to join us. We would love for you to be our 839 00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:45,900 honored guest.