History of Bible-Believing Christianity II

Bible Study at Gospel Light Christian Church, Singapore
by Pastor Dr Paul Choo
Mid-Week Teaching Service

Summary of the previous lesson:
1. GLCC is a bible-believing church.
2. Bible-believism is a principle placed in a believer's heart by the Holy Spirit that assures him that what the Bible says is so.
3. All born-again Christians have this principle in their hearts. However, repeated doubts about the truth of God's Word from the world and church leaders destroy this simple faith. In the beginning of human history, Satan put doubts about the truth of God's Word in Eve's mind and shook her faith.
4. Bible-believing Christians become more and more Christlike as they receive God's Word in simple faith.
5. Countries that have significant numbers of bible-believing Christians have the twin characteristics (ie, liberty and order) that promote the growth of democracy.
6. Satan first hid the Bible under the seal of a dead language (Latin). Then he persecuted those who translated or read the Bible. Nowadays, he tells Christians that it is almost impossible to understand the Bible. He also uses scientists to question the truth of God's record of Creation. And he promotes numerous "better translations" to insinuate that the Bible we possess is not good enough.
7. In the past, God used faithful men to hide, translate and distribute the Bible. Nowadays, God raises men to tell the world that the Bible can be understood by all who seek the truth, that the Bible we have is good enough for us, and that the theory of evolution is a scientific hoax.

The Declension Of The Early Church

God's preparation for the spread of the Gospel:
The Gospel was introduced
1. in Israel - which is at the "hub" of earth's three main continents (Asia, Europe, Africa)
2. at the time when Rome ruled a vast empire and it was possible to travel freely within the empire
3. at the time when a vast network of roads had been built for the Roman army.
4. at the time when Greek was the common language of the Roman Empire.

The three factors that contributed to the rapid growth of the early church:
1. Scripture available in the language of the people.
2. Faithful and zealous preachers.
3. Persecution (and martyrdom).

Today's missing ingredient:
In many countries today, the first two ingredients for church growth are present (ie, available scriptures, preachers). However, persecution is often missing. While persecution is painful to the church, it is necessary for its purification.

In the absence of persecution (eg. Singapore) many people profess to be Christians for wrong reasons. Large numbers of nominal Christians "choke" the spiritual life of the church and it is often difficult to differentiate the church from the world. There is little true church growth under these conditions, though there is much counterfeit growth of unsaved members.

The early Christians were so different from the other people that they were called the "Third Race," (the first were the Romans, and the second were the non-Romans). Today's Christians are usually indistinguishable from the others.

Furthermore, persecution and martyrdom confirms the reality of the Gospel because only those who
believe what they preach will suffer or die for it. The regular spectacle of Christians bravely facing cruel deaths in the Roman Coliseum in the early centuries of the Church was the catalyst for the spread of the Gospel. It has been said that: "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church."

The persecuted church becomes the preferred church:
In AD 312, a Roman general named Constantine was on the brink of defeat in a critical battle for the control of the Roman Empire. His troops were severely demoralized. Constantine claimed that he saw the sign of the cross in the sky and these words "In this sign conquer." With this claim, he motivated his troops and won the decisive battle.

When Constantine became the Roman Emperor he made Christianity the "state religion." The persecuted church became the preferred church. It became prestigious and advantageous to be a Christian. All that was needed was to be sprinkled by the waters of baptism, to learn a few Christian phrases and to have one's name in the church register.

Thousands of pagans became "Christians." They converted their temples into churches and renamed their pagan idols (which were mostly Greek gods) with Christian names.

When the world enters the church, the Word exits:
As unsaved men filled the churches for its prestige and privileges, they vied for positions within them. As they sought pre-eminence and "center-stage," the Word was slowly eclipsed.
These unsaved men brought their pagan practices into the churches and modified them and "Christianized" them. Christianity, which is a principle of faith in God's Word (situated in man's heart), became transformed into a religion of rituals which have their sphere solely in the physical senses (especially sight). In other words, the ministry of the Word in the Church was transformed into the practice of religious rituals - rituals where the performance of the rituals was more important that the principle behind the ritual. In fact, the principle was often forgotten and totally replaced by the ritual.

Because the pagan "Christians" loved rituals, more and more rituals were added to please them and keep them coming back. And as more and more men sought positions in the church, more rituals had to be created so that these men would be kept occupied. The simple worship of the Church had been transformed into one with elaborate rituals (the Mass being the chief).
The performing ministry of showy priests replaced the teaching and preaching ministry of simple preachers.

A mongrel church:
From the 5th Century and continuing for many centuries after, militarily strong northern pagan Germanic tribes descended on the weakened Roman Empire bringing in many more pagan practices (adding to the Greek pagan practices of the early Church). Many of these practices remain in the Church today (eg. Christmas, Easter celebrations).

By the 6th Century, Roman Christianity was a mongrel system that was almost unrecognizable from the original biblical faith. The worshipers were unable to discern this because the ministry of the Word had almost totally disappeared from the Church.

Apostasy has the tendency to begin insidiously and grow with ever accelerating speed. For example, lamps were first lighted at the tombs of martyrs to honor them. Then Christians decided to hold the Lord's Supper at their tombs to honor them. Then prayers were offered for the martyrs, next prayers were offered to them. Then their images began to appear in churches, then parts of their bodies were "encased" in churches, and then relics of their bodies were carried about to "perform miracles."

By the 5th Century, Christianity became just another idolatrous, superstitious religion - that offered salvation by works.