CHAPTER SIX
The early church within one hundred years after
the resurrection of Christ reached the known world with the gospel. The question is why, with so much success in the
face of persecution and martyrdom, did the third century Christians for the
most part abandon the Lord's design for His church? The events must be pieced together to help
answer that question.
Instead of keeping the New Covenant pure, it was mixed with the Old
Covenant, resulting in a church distinctly different and weaker than the one we
read about and admire in the New Testament.
The early church was transformed when the leadership base went from
service to authority. The
new buildings and, perhaps more so, the pulpit, gave clericalism its
opportunity for control, displacing the intimate and complete work of the Holy
Spirit upon the whole congregation for these seventeen hundred years. Here we need to return to the historical work
of Andrew Miller as he gives us some insight into what happened as the
immediate followers of the apostles influenced the church.
We have today the privilege and satisfaction of appealing to the sacred writings. Before the canon of Scripture was closed, many of the errors, both in doctrine and practice, which have since troubled and rent in pieces the professing Church, were allowed to spring up. These were detected and exposed by the inspired apostles in the wisdom and grace of God. If we keep this in mind, we shall not be surprised to meet with many things in the internal history of the Church entirely contrary to Scripture. Neither need we have any difficulty in withstanding them. We have been armed by the apostles. The love of office and preeminence in the Church was manifested at an early period, and many observances of mere official invention were added. The "grain of mustard seed" became a great tree and the symbol of political power on the earth. This was and is the outward aspect of Christendom, but in reality an evil leaven did its work, "till the whole was leavened.
Here an important
question arises: At what time, and by what means, did the whole system of clergy gain so firm a
footing in the professing Church? Its
growth and organization were gradual.
Arguments were drawn from the Old Testament, and in a short time
Christianity was recast in the mold of Judaism.
The distinction between bishops and presbyters, between a priestly order
and the common priesthood of all
believers and the multiplication of Church offices followed rapidly as
consequences. However difficult it may be now to trace the inroads of
clericalism, the synagogue was its model.
It is more than probable, however,
that many may have been persuaded then, as many have been since, that
Christianity is a continuation of
Judaism, in place of being its perfect contrast. The Judaizing teachers boldly affirmed that
Christianity was merely a graft on Judaism.
But throughout the epistles we learn that the one was earthly and the
other heavenly; that the one belonged to the old, and the other to the new
creation; that the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ.
The Apostolic
Fathers, as they are called, such as Clement, Polycarp, Ignatius and Barnabas,
were the immediate followers of the inspired apostles. They had listened to their instructions,
labored with them in the Gospel, and probably had been familiarly acquainted
with them. But notwithstanding the high
privileges, which they enjoyed as scholars of the apostles, they very soon departed from the doctrines
which had been committed to them, especially as to Church government. Surely both John and Paul speak much of the
presence, indwelling sovereign rule and authority of the Holy Spirit in the
Church. John 13-16; Acts 2; 1Corinthians
12, 14; Ephesians 1-4 give plain directions and instruction on this fundamental
truth of the Church of God. Had this
truth been maintained according to the apostle's exhortation "Endeavoring to keep" not to make
"the unity of the Spirit," clericalism could never have found a place
in Christendom.
The new teachers of the Church seem also to have forgotten the beautiful simplicity of the divine order in the Church. There were only two orders of service that of elders and that of deacons. Elder, or bishop, simply means "overseer", one who takes a spiritual oversight. He was to be "apt to teach," but not necessarily a teacher. And as for the institutions of divine appointment, we only find baptism and the Lord's Supper in the New Testament. The deacons were those who exercised any public ministry in the Church, such as preaching, teaching, taking charge of or distributing the alms of the saints. Nothing could be more simple more easily understood or more plain than the directions given for faith and practice, they left no room for the exaltation and glory of man in the Church of God.
The Holy Ghost had come down to take the lead in the assembly, according to the Word of the Lord and the promise of the Father. No Christian believing this, however gifted, could take the place of leader, and thus practically displace the Holy Spirit. But from the moment that the Christians lost sight of this truth, men began to contend for place and power, and of course the Holy Spirit no longer had His rightful place in the assembly.
Scarcely had the voice of inspiration from the apostles become silent in the Church when the voice of the new teachers began crying loudly and earnestly for the highest honors to be paid to the bishop and a supreme place to be given to him. They spoke not a word about the Spirit's place as sovereign ruler in the Church of God. This is evident from the epistles of Ignatius, said to have been written 107 A.D. The Church of England has long accepted them as genuine and considers them as the basis and the triumphant vindication of the antiquity of Episcopacy.
Ignatius, in the course of his
journey from Antioch to Rome, wrote seven epistles. These epistles, written with great
earnestness and vehemence on the eve of his martyrdom, must have produced a
great impression on the Churches. After
all, Ignatius was the disciple and friend of John and was at that time Bishop
of Antioch, probably the most renowned position in Christendom. The way to office, authority and power has
always a great charm for vain human nature.
In writing to the Church at Ephesus,
Ignatius said, "Let us take heed,
brethren, that we set not ourselves against the bishop, that we may be subject
to God...It is therefore evident that we ought to look upon the bishop even as
we do upon the Lord Himself."
In his epistle to the Magnesians he says, "I exhort you that ye study to do all things in a Divine concord;
your bishops presiding in the place of God; your presbyters in the place of the
council of the apostles; and your deacons, most dear to me, being entrusted
with the ministry of Jesus Christ."
Ignatius greatly deceived himself in this. The leading idea in all his letters is the
perfect submission of the people to their rulers, or of the laity to their
clergy. Thus the miter was placed on the
head of the highest dignitary, and henceforth become the object of
ecclesiastical ambition and, not infrequently, of the most unseemly
contentions, with all their demoralizing consequences.
The mind of the Lord concerning His
Church, and the responsibility of His people, must be learned from His own Word
and not from the writings of any earthly father, however dearly beloved or
esteemed. It may be fair to suppose that
those good men, by whose means a new worldly order was brought into the Church
and the free ministry of the Holy Spirit in the members of the body excluded,
had the welfare of the Church at heart.
It is evident that Ignatius, by this arrangement, hoped to avoid "divisions." But,
however good our motives may be, it is the height of human folly, if not worse,
to interfere with or seek to change the order of God. This was the original sin
of the Church, and the sin from which it has suffered these seventeen hundred
years.
The Holy Ghost sent
down from heaven is the only power of ministry, and the Lord must be left free
to choose and employ His own servants.
Alas, the Church soon found that to hinder ministry (as it is set before
us in the Word of God) and introduce a new worldly order did not hinder
division, heresies or false teachers from springing up.” [i]
It amazes me how clever the Lord is to use us
even when we are in error. For example,
the very bishops that used Ignatious letters to stretch their authority and brought
hierarchical Old Covenant control over the church, are the very ones that
rejected Ignatious letters to be included into the cannon of Scripture. The letters obviously didn’t measure up to
the standards used to discern only those authentic letters that the Holy Spirit
inspired. The scriptures clearly tell
us of Jesus rejection of a hierarchical structure over the church. He warned His disciples that they should not
lord it over the church. His apostles
learned the lesson well and passed the teaching on in their epistles. Paul
wrote from prison a stern warning for us saying:
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting
the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different
gospel--which is really no gospel at all.
Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to
pervert the gospel of Christ. But even
if we or an angel from heaven could preach a gospel other than the one we
preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! (Galatians 1:6-8).
In these mountains of Western North Carolina, we are fortunate to have a regional house church apostle our beloved Tom Neely. He is 82 years young, a former pastor, missionary, and past president of a Baptist College. He has all the gifts of the five-fold ministry, and is greatly honored by all. House church folks come from all over and retreat at his house. Recently I heard him speak at a gathering and he said, “I believe the number one heresy in the church is the clergy laity split. You can’t find clergy or pastor as an office in the New Testament, and pastor is only mentioned once. We are all on common ground, a holy priesthood of believers.” Andrew Miller takes this subject, head on, as we shall see:
Christianity at the
beginning had no separate priestly order.
Its first converts went everywhere preaching the Lord Jesus. They were
the ones to spread abroad the glad tidings of salvation, even before the
apostles themselves had left Jerusalem.
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at
Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and
Samaria (Acts 8:1). In the course of
time, when converts were found sufficient in any place to form an assembly,
they came together in someone's home in the name of the Lord on the first day
of the week "to break bread" and to edify one another in love (Acts
20:7).
When the opportunity came for an apostle to visit such gatherings he
ordained elders to take the spiritual oversight of the little flock. Temporal deacons were chosen by the assembly,
and spiritual gifts were given by the ascended Christ.
He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the
heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be
evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for
works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach
unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature,
attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians. 4:10-13).
This was the entire constitution of the first churches. If the Lord raised up an evangelist and souls were converted, they were baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It will be seen, from this brief sketch of the divine order of the churches that there was no distinction such as "the clergy" and "the laity." All stood on the same ground as to priesthood, worship and nearness to God. As the apostle Peter and John wrote: Ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, an Holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:4-5).
The only
priesthood then, in the Church of God, is the common priesthood of all believers. The humblest menial Christian if washed in
the blood of Christ is whiter than snow and fitted to enter the most holy place
and worship within the veil.
There is no outer court worship
now. The separation of a privileged
class, a sacerdotal order, is unknown in the New Testament. The distinction between clergy and laity was suggested by Judaism, and
human invention soon magnified it. But
it was Episcopal ordination that established the distinction and widened the
separation. The bishop gradually assumed
the title of pontiff. The presbyters,
and at length the deacons, as well as the bishops, became a sacred order. The place of mediation and of greater
nearness to God was assumed by the priestly caste, and also of authority over
the laity. In place of God speaking direct to the
heart and conscience by His own Word, and the heart and conscience brought
direct into the presence of God, it was priesthood coming in between them. Thus the Word of God was lost sight of, and
faith stood in the opinions of men. The
blessed Lord Jesus, as the great High Priest of His people and the one Mediator
between God and men was thus practically displaced and set aside.
It was not until
about the year A.D. 245 that the “clergy"
received a salary and was forbidden to follow their worldly employments. Towards the close of the second century,
circumstances arose in the history of the Church which greatly affected the
original humility and simplicity of its overseers, and which tended to the
corruption of the priestly order.[ii]
The Lord's simple hospitality plan for His church
surely took a beating between the new order of clergy and the return to the
“temple syndrome.” It was as though
Christianity lost her innocence. No
longer the virgin, the sowing of wild oats and its inevitable consequences
began. Instead of the Lord's design
being the main plan, it became an alternative or emergency plan. The virtues of the house church, which were
easy to foster and maintain in a small group, began to wane; for example, agape
love, compassion, evangelism, commitment, covenant, faithfulness, fellowship,
hospitality and loyalty. Although they
tried to maintain the intensity of these virtues, it proved to be impossible in
a large congregational setting.
Planting a modern church begins with a lot of
excitement, reaches a growth peak, achieves a plateau and then experiences an
eventual decline. A settling in posture
occurs, and to some degree stagnation sets in. This fosters discontent,
especially among those who pursue God and are called to do more than warm a pew. Many times this discontent is promoted by God
because He has a growth plan for His Church.
Those pursuers will have to make a choice either to work within the
system to change it or go outside the system to expand it. The
“temple syndrome” is very rigid and resists change, so most of the time a
pursuer will have to die with his dreams and be content or count the cost, gain
spiritual strength and go out and beyond by faith. Martin Luther is one of many examples of
those who had to go beyond by faith. When
this scenario develops, house churches continue to be born.
The Lord, in all His wisdom and ability knows the
future, and the plans of man as it related to advancing the kingdom of
God. He could see that man occasionally
stagnates the process by falling into a mold of rigid tradition. Given the liberty that the gospel affords,
there are now thousands of denominations.
No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old
garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear
worse. Neither do men pour new wine into
old wineskins. If they do, the skins
will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they
pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved (Matthew 9:16-17).
In this process of birthing a new flock, the
like-minded people inevitably start meeting in someone's house. Unknowingly, they enter into the dynamic
principle that deals with the Lord's design for His church. Before long this group of people pray more,
study their Bibles faithfully, help and love one another. God blesses the new relationships, and they
feel His presence when they meet, which encourages them to go forward in
Him. Their excitement, which develops
evangelism as normative, attracts others to come and see the power of the Lord
at work, and the group starts to grow.
Unfortunately, in most cases this is where the “temple syndrome” enters the picture,
and plans are made--not to multiply by starting more home churches--but to
consider renting, buying or building another edifice. After meeting in their new building, with a
great deal of pride and lots of money and energy expended, the house church is
discarded like an old garment, without even a thank you.
Now the stage is set for this new flock to fall
into the same problems they just recently left.
They have to pay for a building and its upkeep, pay for a pastor, pay
for a staff, pay for insurance etc., etc., etc.
As their numbers increase they grow farther apart. They see each other only
casually at a church service. After
their number peaks there is a decline in attendance, a leveling off, which
strains the finances. A split might even
occur, and they settle in for the long haul,
wishing it would be like it used to be when they met in someone's home. How sad.
That is what Jesus’ church has been doing for some 17 centuries. I believe there are four basic reasons why
house churches exist:
1.
It is Christ's only plan presented to His church in the New Testament.
2.
When the
church falls into error, house churches begin.
3.
When the
walls around denominations or church movements will not allow the Holy Spirit
to advance them, house churches begin.
4.
In these
last days the Holy Spirit will strongly call His church back home to begin the
preparation for the Lord’s return.
The roots of the Church of Rome go back to the
original apostles. The believers met in
house churches and the catacombs. They
suffered the most horrible persecutions under Roman rule and finally they were
the source of its overthrow. It is
inconceivable to me that in the course of time the Church of Rome would turn on
His church with the same demonic fury they themselves had suffered. A brief look into Miller's Church History
will bring us up to speed concerning this period in time.
The history of the Low Countries from this time is so full of martyrdoms that it is like a gradual extermination of the population. Nevertheless, the Spirit of God wrought wonderfully and the holy courage, which was shown by man, proved the Lord's presence with them in sustaining grace and power. It was discovered that the Austin friars in the city of Antwerp, had read and approved the books of Luther. Many of them were thrown into prison. Three of the monks were degraded and condemned to the flames in 1523. While the fire was being lighted, they repeated the creed, and then sang together the Te Deum in alternate verses, until the force of the flames silenced their heavenly praise. Erasmus is made to witness on this occasion, that these martyrdoms had the very opposite effect, which the persecutors intended. The city of Brussels, where they were executed, had been perfectly free from heresy till this event. But many of the inhabitants immediately after began to favor Lutheranism.
Persons of eminence, among both the
clergy and the laity, ventured to espouse the cause of truth, though the
martyrdoms were constantly occurring.
This has always been the case. If
persecution keep some at a cold selfish distance, it brings the accession of a
greater number, through that instinct in connection with the truth which impels
the human conscience to rise against injustice, and incline to the side of the
oppressed. The fires were now kindled
all over the country, and edict followed edict, with increasing severity, kept
them burning. It was death to read a
page of the Scriptures; death to discuss any article of the faith; death to
have in one's possession any of the writings of Luther, Zwingle, or death to
discuss a doubt respecting the efficacy of the sacraments, or the authority of
the Pope. In the year 1536, that good
and faithful servant of the Lord, William Tyndale, was strangled and burnt at
Vilvordi, near Brussels, for translating the New Testament into English, and
printing it in 1555.
A second invasion was arranged for exterminating the Reformed, tens of thousands though they were. In the year 1567 the cruel Duke of Alva was sent into the Netherlands with an army of fifteen thousand Spaniards and Italians; and the Inquisition was to put forth all its energies. This added greatly to the general consternation. The reign of terror began. The very name of Alva, and the mention of the Inquisition, made the whole land shudder. The Counts of Egmont and Horn, and other persons were immediately arrested, and executed. The Prince of Orange escaped to Germany, and crowds of Protestants forsook their homes and fled to other countries. The foreign merchants, manufactures, and artisans fled from Antwerp, and other once thriving cities, as if the plague were raging within their gates. The wooden Churches were pulled down, and, in some places the beams were formed into a great gallows on which to hang the minister and his flock.
As the Inquisitors, by the authority of Charles, before his abdication were doing their dreadful work, we will give particulars of a few cases, to show the reader what was to be witnessed almost daily in the country for nearly forty years; yet the Word of God prevailed mightily, and thousands were converted.
One of the Inquisitors of the name of
Titemann, notorious for the number of his victims, boasted that he only
"seized the virtuous and the innocent, because they made no
resistance", Thomas Calbaerg, tapestry weaver, of Tournay, being convicted
of having copied some hymns from a book printed in Geneva, was instantly burned
alive. About the same time, 1561, Walter
Kapell, a man of property, and benevolence, and greatly beloved by the poor
people, was burned at the stake for heretical opinions. A most touching scene occurred as Titlmann's
officers were binding him to the stake: a poor idiot, who had often been fed by
his kindness, called out, "Ye are bloody murderers; that man has done no
wrong, but has given me bread to eat".
With these words he cast himself headlong into the flame to perish with
his beloved benefactor, and was with difficulty rescued by the officers. A day or two afterwards he visited the scene
of the execution, where the half-burnt skeleton of Walter Kapell still
remained. The poor idiot laid it upon
his shoulders, and carried it to the place where the magistrates were sitting
in session. Forcing his way into their
presence, he laid his burden at their feet, crying, "There murderers! Ye have eaten his flesh, now eat his
bones". The fate of the poor man is
not recorded; but the testimony of so daring a witness would most likely be
effectually silenced.
The year following, Titelmann caused one Robert Ogier, of Ryssel, in Flanders, to be arrested, together with his wife and two sons. Their crime consisted in not going to mass, and in practicing private worship at home. They confessed the offense, for they protested that they could not endure to see the profanation of their Savior's Name in the idolatrous sacraments. They were asked what rites they practiced in their own house. One of the sons, a mere boy, answered: "We fall on our knees, and pray to God that He may enlighten our hearts and forgive our sins. We pray for our sovereign, that his reign may be prosperous, and his life peaceful. We also pray for the magistrates and others in authority, that God may protect and preserve them all". The boy's simple eloquence drew tears even from the eyes of some of his judges. The father and eldest son were, however, condemned to the flames. "O God," prayed the youth at the stake, "eternal Father, accept the sacrifice of our lives in the Name of Thy beloved Son,” “Thou liest, scoundrel!” Furiously interrupted a monk who was lighting the fire; “God is not your father; ye are the devil's children.” As the flames rose about them, the boy cried out once more: “Look, my father, all Heaven is opening, and I see an hundred thousand angels rejoicing over us. Let us be glad for we are dying for the truth.”[iii]
You may be stunned by what you have just read,
but we need to know what we are capable of when we desert God's plan.