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      The Church in the Wilderness

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Introduction:
One of the miraculous gifts that God, by the Holy Spirit, bestowed on the Apostles was the ability to see certain future events.  This was given so that the early Church might be warned of the dangers that lay ahead of them.  On the page, within this site, dealing with the apostasy of the Church, we find that Paul made an ominous warning to the leadership of the congregation at Ephesus.  He wrote: "For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock" [Acts 20:29 ].  This warning by Paul pinpointed the origins of the falling away of the Church from what Jesus had intended it to be.  The leadership of the Church would become corrupt.  It did not take long for this to happen.  By the 2nd century AD some Church leaders had begun to change the structure of the Church from had the Apostles had taught and ordained.  When, in 533 AD, John II was named the Lord of the Church the leadership had fallen completely away from the instruction found in the scriptures.  God made Jesus head of the Church and His word was to the the only and total authority.    "... Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body"  [Ephesians 5:23].  " So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God"  [Romans 10:17]. 

James O'Kelly

The religious thinking continued to slide further and further away from the scriptures until 1793 when a denominational preacher by the name of James O'Kelly began to teach that Popes, archbishops, presidents, councils, synods, and all such like was contrary to the teaching found in the New Testament.  He maintained that the leadership of the Church should return that found in the scriptures. The years between 533 and 1793 are often referred to the times of the Church in the Wilderness. This phrase is taken from the book of Revelation 12:6 "And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days".  In the book of Revelation, the phrase "the woman" or "the lady" refers to the Church (remember that the Church is described in the New Testament as the Bride of Christ).  Here we are told that the Church would be in the wilderness for 1260 years.  (Notice that 1793-533=1260.)  This length of time spanned the periods known in secular history as the "Medieval" or "Dark Ages", the "Renaissance", and the "Reformation Movement". 

The Church During The Dark Ages

We noted in our last two lessons the church during the Ante-Nicene Period. Note that church history, like secular history often is studied in "periods" that draw their name from important occasions. This is the case here. The Ante-Nicene Period draws its name from the events of the Council of Nicea in 325 AD. This marks the beginning of "church creeds". The Lord's church has no creed except the New Testament. (1 Peter 4:16)

 Thus far we have:

 1. Considered the church of Jesus Christ as it was planted upon the earth accord­ing to the divine
     pattern. 

2. We noticed a gradual growth away from the divine pattern.  This is called an "Apostasy" (falling  
   away).  Our present day plea to "Restore New Testament Christianity" is based upon this 
   truth... that the church did not retain its pristine beauty.

3. We have noticed the change in the organization and government of the church.

4. Hence, heretical doctrines being introduced, followed by sharp controversy.

5. We have noticed that in order to settle some of these differences, Constantine, sympathetic
  toward the church called a universal church council which met at Nicea in Bithynia in 325 AD. and
  developed the first human creed.

The Union of Church and State

With the meeting in Nicea Christianity became recognized as the state religion and it was evident that the empire and church which so long had been antagonistic toward each other were joining hands.

1. This tendency of joining church and state raises a question in the minds of those who would
   study church history.  "What is the teaching of Christ relative to the church and state?"

      a. Jesus recognized the authority of civil government in secular affairs and taught His followers  
          to live by the law of the land unless it opposed the law of God.  Matthew 22:15-22

     b. When He answered to "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the
         things that are God's" He really accomplished two things:

      a. First he taught His followers to live in subjection to both civil and divine laws. 

2. Second, He set forth the principle of separation of church and state. ( Romans 13: 1 2.   
  I Timothy 2:1-2 3.     Titus 3:1   4.       I Peter 2:13-14)

 From these statements we learn that it is impossible for one to be a faithful Christian without obeying the laws of the land.

But note, while teaching Christians to recognize the authority of civil government, the apostles also charged Christians to put God's authority above that of civil officers.  For instance, when officers of the civil law charged the apostles that they should no longer preach the name of Jesus, they replied: "We must obey God rather than men" [Acts 5:29]

 Constantine-The First "Christian Emperor"

 1. Early in the 4th century Constantine was "converted" to the Christian Religion.

     a. While most historians seem to think that Constantine's professed belief in the true and living
         God, all admit that his interest in Christianity was more political than otherwise.

2. None-the-less, it led the church into an alliance with the state that would bear both good and evil.

3. The Roman Empire came from being its enemy and persecutor to being its protector and patron.

 The Effect of Constantine's Reign

Surely we all can see that the conversion of an emperor to the Christian religion would produce many and far reaching results---both to the church and state. Some were good and some were evil.

Notice the Good for Christianity:

• Imperial persecution would cease
• Church buildings would be rebuilt and reopened.
• Heathenism was discouraged

Among the Good for the State:

• Crucifixion was abolished as a form of execution for criminals.
• Infanticide was repressed.

·        The modification of slavery. Better treatment & certain legal rights were extended them.

• The contests of the Gladiators were repressed.

According to Hulburt in "The Story of the Christian Church ", 79 the ceasing of persecution was a blessing but the establishment of Christianity as the State Religion became a curse.  He said:  

"Everybody sought membership in the church, and nearly everybody was received. Both good and bad, sincere seekers after God and hypocritical seekers after gain, rushed into the communion. Ambitions, worldly, unscrupulous men sought office in the church for social and political influence"

 Some of the evils for the church:

•  Many passed from heathenism to Christianity by no other conversion than a mere change of name.

• Pagan forms and ceremonies gradually crept into the worship.
• Images of saints and martyrs began to appear in the churches-first installed as memorials, later came to be worshiped
•  The meaning of the Lord's supper was changed in the minds of the worshiper.  It became a sacrifice rather than a memorial.

o       It came to be considered as a means of protection and salvation :  From all  dangers and evils and as of great benefit for the souls of the departed 

• The adoration of the Virgin Mary was substituted for the worship of Venus and Diana.

 Hulburt said: "As the result of the church sitting in power, we do not see Christianity transforming the world to its own ideal, but the world dominating the church ".

 This was the result of the use of the wrong means in an effort to influence the world.  God never intended for the church to be a political machine, but rather a Teaching Institution!

 The power of the church to influence both the individual and the government of the world lies not in political maneuvers, but in the great work of imparting the principles of Christianity by teaching the Word of God to all nations. 

 The Church of Christ during this time.

 1.  Had slowly fallen away by this time.

 2. In 175 AD. some of the writers of the time had written that a bishop was different from an Elder -  
    one was selected to be head over the other elders. 

3. About 250 AD. They began selecting one man ITom each of those bishops around the country to  
    be head of all the area ( diocese). 

4.  By 606 AD. The Western Church (Latin) declared Boniface III to be “The Universal Head of the
     Church”.

       a.  It was determined at that time that whatsoever he spoke was indeed the Word of God.

 5. Paul painted this picture in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 - perhaps had papal Rome in mind.

 6.  By 580 AD. instruments of music were added to the church worship and at first were rejected. 

       a. About 60 years later they were introduced again and gladly received.

         b. This shows how error creeps in-slow process, but it comes.

 After 1000 A.D.

 By 1100 AD. Papal customs came to be regarded with equal weight as scripture.  In order to assure this policy was accepted, the Bible began to be remove from common languages and from the hand of the common people.  This kept ordinary people ignorant of the scriptures and under the subjection and of the Catholic authorities.

 By 1200 baptism by sprinkling (clinical) was practiced

   1. A few years later the practice of praying through Mary began.   In 1967 she was finally deified
       by the church. 

   2. Sprinkling of the dead was practiced to save the dead.  Notice the direct contradiction of this       teaching to scripture ; see  Hebrews 9:27    1 John 5:17 

     3 Even then, some men desired to return the Bible to the hands of the common people.  Many of
       these men, like John Wycliffe and John Huss were hunted by Catholic authorities, arrested,
       and often put to death.

      a.  In 1415 John Huss, in Prague, Czechoslovakia was burned at the stake

       b.  The bones of John Wycliffe were dug up and burned as well.

      c. These signified that the Catholic Church was not going to tolerate those that threatened its
          grip on society. 

     d.  The sin of these men was the desire that every man be allowed to study the Bible for   
          themselves.

The Catholic Church continued its downward decline by including more and more practices by Papal decree and by tradition that were and are contrary to the established authority of the scriptures.  As has already been stated within this site, the scriptures are the word of God and man has no right nor authority, nor does he have enough insight as to allow him to change them.  Paul was quite plain on this issue when he wrote:  "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. " [Galatians 1:8 .  The Apostle John through extraordinary revelation from Christ penned the following warning:   "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."  [Revelation 22:18,19]

Below is a chart that outlines the major erroneous doctrines that the early false teachers and later the Catholic Church perpetrated upon the Christian world up through the Dark Ages:

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