REVELATION – chapter 2-3 (CONT)
7 CHURCH AGES
7 PARABLES OF THE KINGDOM
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Ephesus
Smyrna
Pergamum
Thyatira
Sardis
Philadelphia
Laodicea
30 – 100
100 – 300
300 – 600
600 – 1500
1500 – 1700
1700 – 1900
1900 –
Apostolic Church
Persecuted Church
State Church
Papal Church
Reformation Church
Missionary Church
Apostate Church
Sower
Wheat and Tares
Mustard
Seed
Leaven
Hidden Treasure
Pearl of Great Price
Dragnet
4) THE PAPAL
CHURCH (AD 600-1500)
The church at Thyatira had been
rebuked by Jesus because they
allowed false teaching by a self-appointed prophetess, who corrupted some of the members.
Rev 2:20 (NIV) Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.
Likewise this church period was plagued by false teaching, which had corrupted the gospel of grace, and salvation by faith alone.
Matt 13:33 (Amplified Bible)
He told them another parable, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and worked into three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”
“A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough” (Gal 5:9, NASB). It spreads dramatically causing a whole loaf of bread to rise.
Some try to interpret the leaven spreading through the dough as symbolizing the spreading of the gospel in the whole world. However leaven always has a negative connotation in the Bible.
Jesus told his disciples to beware of the leaven of the Sadducees. We looked at the leaven of the Sadducees which permeated the Church in this period. This was the desire for political and temporal power rather than focusing on spiritual leadership.
He also warned about the leaven of the Pharisees. The Pharisees emphasized tradition over the Word of God, prompting Jesus to say, “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.” (Mark 7:8 )
In this Church period, tradition including sayings of popes and councils) eventually came to be granted equal authority to Scripture. This led to many extra-Biblical practices creeping into the church.
This period also saw the substitution of relationship with Christ for a legalistic works-based religion, ritualism and tradition.
By the 12th century, a sacramental view of Christianity developed. Peter Lombard listed 7 sacraments, which served as a conduit for divine grace.
Grace for the remission of original sin.
1) Baptism
Deepening of baptismal grace.
2) Confirmation
Forgiveness of venial sins.
3) Eucharist
Remission of eternal punishment due to mortal sins.
4) Penance
Aka “Anointing of the Sick”: Forgiveness of sins if the person was unable to obtain it through Penance.
5) Extreme unction
Special grace to serve as a deacon, priest, or bishop.
6) Holy orders
Grace to love each other as Christ loves the Church.
7) Matrimony
We don’t need a “top-up” on the
redemptive work of Jesus on the
cross, to give them a final last
push into heaven?
When Jesus died, he cried “It is
finished (Tetelestai)” (John 19:30),
showing that the work of salvation
was completed. The Greek word
Tetelestai was used on receipts in
business, symbolizing a debt being
“paid in full.”
To imply that Jesus’ sacrifice will not
cover all our sins, is to diminish his
sacrifice on Calvary. We confess; that is
all – we don’t need good works (in the form of penance and alms), money (in the form or indulgences) or the prayers of others (after our
death) to assist in our redemption.(1 John 1:9)
Redemption from sin cannot be bought with money:
1 Pet 1:18-19 (NIV) For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
“Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb 9:22). The only currency that God accepts for the forgiveness of sin is the blood of Jesus.
WHAT CAN WASH AWAY MY SIN?
NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS
Relics are the dead bodies or bones of the saints, whatever other things belong to them in their life and the instruments of torture by which they suffered death. Sadly many of the miracles in this period started to be linked to relics, rather than the direct work of God.
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia:, “The veneration of relics, in fact, is to some extent a primitive instinct, and it is associated with many other religious systems besides that of Christianity… The teaching of the Catholic Church with regard to the veneration of relics is summed up in a decree of the Council of Trent (Sess. XXV), which enjoins on bishops and other pastors to instruct their flocks that “the holy bodies of holy martyrs and of others now living with Christ … are to be venerated by the faithful, for through these [bodies] many benefits are bestowed by God on men…”
Those who opposed this unbiblical and pagan practice were condemned by the Council of Trent:
“… they who affirm that veneration and honour are not due to the relics of the saints, or that these and other sacred monuments are uselessly honoured by the faithful, and that the places dedicated to the memories of the saints are in vain visited with the view of obtaining their aid, are wholly to be condemned, as the Church has already long since condemned, and also now condemns them.”
These are some of the alleged relics displayed both now or in days past:
The manger and Jesus’ baby clothes.
Hair of Mary (some brown, some blonde, some red, and some black),
Mary and Joseph’s marriage ring.
The tail of the donkey Jesus rode.
A tooth of the apostle Peter and Peter’s beard.
The 12 apostles’ combs.
Stones that were thrown at Stephen.
Feathers from both the angel Gabriel and Michael’s wings.
At the formal exhibition of relics at St. Peter’s in Rome, the Pope and Cardinals kneel before them as they do before the host and the altar.
On the left, Catholics from the Philippines queue up to see the relics of the late Pope John Paul II on display at a chapel in Manila, on April 1, 2014. Hundreds of people queued to kiss the hair, bloodstained clothing and a cassock of the late pope, beseeching him to perform miracles for them.
There is no record in the Bible of bones or relics being dragged out, venerated, and used to cure sickness. Men of God were always buried.
When Josiah came across the bones of the prophet of God, he commanded that they be left undisturbed.
2 Kings 23:17-18 (NIV) The king asked, “What is that tombstone I see?” The people of the city said, “It marks the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced against the altar of Bethel the very things you have done to it.” “Leave it alone,” he said. “Don’t let anyone disturb his bones.” So they spared his bones and those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.
In the book of Acts there is no evidence that the body of the first Christian martyr, Stephen, and the bones of the martyr James, were distributed around or sent on a tour as relics by early Christians.
To the contrary, the Scripture states that Stephen was buried.
Acts 8:2 (NIV) Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.
Four locations claim to have the head of John the Baptist. And the finger with which he pointed out Jesus, there are six of these.
This is despite the fact that the Bible says of him:
Matt 14:12 (NIV) John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.
The only Biblical account of bones being linked to a miracle is in 2 Kings 13:21.
A dead man came to life after coming in contact with the bones of the prophet Elisha, but there is no record that Elisha’s bones were worshiped either before or after that miracle.
It was God that performed that miracle, not the bones; so it was proper that all veneration, worship, glory, honour and praise be given to God and not to the lifeless bones.
The Catholic Encyclopedia also claims that Mary’s house from Nazareth is now in the town of Loreto, Italy, having been transported there by angels! Remarkably the house has moved several times in ages past (up to 3 times in one year) before the angels settled down and left it in it’s present location.
There are many duplicates of relics.
The apostles apparently each had several heads and a corresponding number of limbs to have furnished the present supply.
Helena (Constantine’s mother) had 3 bodies.
There are 18 Crown of Thorns and 4 spears which pierced Jesus’ side.
There are many relics which are clearly fakes:
In Spain, a cathedral once displayed what was said to be
a feather from the wing of the angel Gabriel when he
visited Mary. Upon investigation, however, it was
found to be a ostrich feather! *
John Calvin mentions that in his day they had some of the
wine that Jesus made from water in Orleans. According to
him, once a year they gave a tasting to anyone who
brought an offering. Calvin said of the
pieces of Jesus’ cross: “If all
the pieces which could be
found were collected into
a heap, they would form
a good shipload.”
The Catholic Encyclopedia admits that many of their relics are spurious. *
Yet it claims that no harm is done when someone pays homage to a relic, that they in good faith assume to be genuine. **
* “Nevertheless it remains true that many of the more ancient relics duly exhibited for veneration in the
great sanctuaries of Christendom or even at
Rome itself must now be pronounced
to be either certainly spurious
or open to grave suspicion.”
** “On the one hand no one is
constrained to pay homage
to the relic, and supposing it
to be in fact spurious, no
dishonour is done to God
by the continuance of an
error which has been
handed down in perfect
good faith for many centuries.”
Yet Hezekiah was commended for destroying the genuine religious relic of the bronze serpent because people were paying reverence to it.
2 Kings 18:3-4 (NIV) Hezekiah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done… He broke into pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it.
During this period, we see the start
of the veneration of religious images
or icons. This included portraits of
Jesus, Mary, saints and angels.
Still today in both Roman Catholicism
and Eastern Orthodoxy, “They pray
to these figures through their images,
requesting their intercession before God,
and they bow before the images, light
candles to them, and offer them incense.” *
* https:// carm.org/ roman-catholicism/
is-the-veneration-of-images-an-apostolic-tradition
What precedent is there in the
Bible for ‘venerating’ images,
besides the practice of the
heathen and backslidden Israel?
Hosea 11:2 (NIV) But the
more I called Israel, the
further they went from me.
They sacrificed to the Baals and
they burned incense to images.
Ex 20:4-5 (NIV) You shall not
make for yourself an idol in the
form of anything in heaven above
or on the earth beneath or in the
waters below. You shall not bow
down to them or worship them.
Opposition to the use of images is known as Iconoclasm. Iconoclastic tendencies were supported by early church theologians such as Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Lactantius, Justin Martyr,
Eusebius and Epiphanius. *
Discussing Carpocrates, the leader of a heretical
sect, Irenaeus writes: “They style themselves
Gnostics. They also possess images, some of them
painted, and others formed from different kinds
of material; while they maintain that a likeness
of Christ was made by Pilate at that time when
Jesus lived among them.” **
He says that, ‘They have also other modes of
honouring these images, after the same
manner of the Gentiles.” **
* Ibid. ** Against Heresies, Bk 1, Ch. 25.6
In his writings, Tertullian (early 3rd century) emphasized the importance of spiritual worship over physical representations.
He states that “we know that the names of the dead are nothing, as are their images”. 1
He says that Christian craftsmen should not even make images which other people worship as they are facilitating idolatry. 2
1 De Spectaculis, Ch. 10
2 On Idolatry, Ch. 4
Marcus Minucius Felix (3rd century) relates how pagans mocked Christians for not using any images in their worship.
“For why do they endeavour with such pains to conceal and to cloak whatever they worship, since honourable things always rejoice in publicity, while crimes are kept secret? Why have they no altars, no temples, no acknowledged images?” *
* The Octavius of Minucius Felix, Ch. 10
Eusebius (died 339) wrote a letter to Constantia (Emperor Constantine's sister) saying “To depict purely the human form of Christ before its transformation, on the other hand, is to break the commandment of God and to fall into pagan error”. *
Bishop Epiphanius of Salamis (died 403) wrote to John, Bishop of Jerusalem (c. 394) relating how he tore apart a curtain hanging on the doors of the church decorated with an image of “Christ or one of the saints” and admonished the other bishop that such images are “opposed ... to our religion”. *
* https:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Aniconism_in_Christianity
The veneration of icons (holy images) was suppressed by imperial edict inside the Byzantine (Eastern) Empire by Emperor Leo III (717-741) although this was opposed by the popes in the West. Leo is said to have described image veneration as “a craft of idolatry”.
Leo’s son, Constantine V (741-775) held a synod (Council of Hieria) to make the suppression official. In a response recalling the later Protestant Reformation, Constantine V moved against the monasteries, had relics thrown into the sea, and stopped the invocation of saints.
Regrettably the Second Council of Nicaea met in 787 AD to restore the practice of honouring icons. The assembled bishops affirmed the veneration of icons, images and relics, based on tradition rather than on Scripture: *
They did however attempt to distinguish this from the worship of God. **
* “We accept the image of the honourable and life-giving Cross, and the holy relics of the saints; and we receive the holy and venerable images; we accept them and we embrace them, according to the ancient traditions of the Holy Catholic Church of God…” (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Vol 14)
** “Therefore, it is proper to accord to them a fervent and reverent adoration, not, however, the veritable worship which, according to our faith, belongs to the Divine Being alone — for the honour accorded to the image passes over to its prototype, and whoever adores the image adores in it the reality of what
is there represented.”
The word “saint” means “holy” and is derived from the Latin “sanctus”. The word, previously applied to all Christians, became more narrowly applied to a few select people, who were venerated after their deaths because of their good or heroic deeds.
These “saints” are recognized for their virtuous lives and their dedication to God. They serve as models of holiness for other believers.It was believed that they could be venerated, and requested through prayer, to intercede to God on behalf of people on earth.
Canonization is the term used for the official admission of a dead person into sainthood. This practice is unbiblical and based on tradition and superstition. The first recorded canonization of a saint is Ulrich of Augsburg by Pope John XV in 993.
In 1170 Pope Alexander III established rules for canonization, whereby candidates could be officially recognized as saints. The current process involves several steps: *
Venerable: A person is recognized for having lived a life of heroic virtue.
Blessed: Beatification occurs after a miracle is attributed to the person’s intercession.
Saint: Canonization requires a second miracle, although this requirement can be waived by the pope.
Once canonized, a saint is offered for public veneration and imitation by the entire Church.
* https:// learnreligions.com/ what-is-a-saint-542857
But does the Bible teach that we have “normal Christians” and “super Christians”?
How is a saint defined in the Bible?
It is used to describe all followers
of God * and not a special group
of holy elite. ** Paul addresses
regular believers (excluding
overseers and deacons) as “saints”.
And yet the definition in this Papal
Church Age required a person to
be dead and pass certain tests
before they became a saint.
* Ps 147:1 Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in
the assembly of the saints.
Acts 9:13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many
reports about this man and all the harm he has done to
your saints in Jerusalem.”
Acts 9:32 As Peter traveled about the country, he went to
visit the saints in Lydda. ** Phil 1:1, cf. Rom 1:7, 2 Cor 1:1, Eph 1:1
Queen of Heaven was a title given to
a number of ancient sky goddesses
worshipped throughout the ancient
Mediterranean and the ancient Near
East. Goddesses known to have been
referred to by the title include Inanna,
Anat, Isis, Nut, Astarte, and possibly
Asherah. In Greco-Roman times, Hera
and Juno bore this title. *
The first recorded use of the title “Queen of
Heaven” as applied to Mary was in hymns of
the 11th to 13th centuries. Some of these hymns
include “Salve Regina” (Hail, Holy Queen) and
“Regina Caeli” (Queen of Heaven).
* https:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Queen_of_Heaven_(antiquity)
Some have noted that iconographically the similarities between the seated Isis (an Egyptian “Queen of Heaven”)
holding the child Horus,
and Mary holding the
baby Jesus are apparent.
On the right is “Our
Mother of Perpetual
Help,” a famous
medieval icon of
Mary and Jesus.
On the left is a
statue of Isis
holding Horus
dating from the
Ptolemaic era
of Egypt.
In the Bible, God is called the “King of Heaven”
(Daniel 4:37). But the title “Queen of heaven” is only used of a pagan deity, possibly the Semitic goddess, Asherah.
Jer 7:18 (NIV) The children gather wood, the fathers
light the fire, and the women knead the dough and
make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. They
pour out drink offerings to other gods to
arouse my anger. [cf. Jer 44:15-19 *]
* Jer 44:15-19 Then all the men who knew that their
wives were burning incense to other gods, along
with all the women who were present… said to
Jeremiah, “We will not listen to the message you
have spoken to us in the name of the LORD! We
will certainly do everything we said we would:
We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven …
The women added, “When we burned incense
to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink
offerings to her, did not our husbands know that
we were making cakes like her image and
pouring out drink offerings to her?”
Elizabeth told Mary, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!” (Luke 1:32).
Mary sang, “From now on all generations will call me blessed.” (Luke 1:48)
But when someone tried to give Mary special honour and pre-eminence because she was his mother, Jesus gently corrected them.
Luke 11:27-28 (NIV) As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
He put “whoever does the Father’s will” on the same level as his mother, brother or sister.
Matt 12:46-50 (NIV) While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
The Immaculate Conception is the belief that Mary, the mother of Jesus was conceived without any stain of original sin, in her mother’s womb, and that she lived a life completely free from sin.
The Conception of Mary was celebrated as a liturgical feast in England from the 9th century, and the doctrine of her "holy" or "immaculate" conception was first formulated in a tract by Eadmer (c. 1060 – c. 1126), companion and biographer of Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury. The Normans suppressed the Anglo-Saxon celebration, but it lived on in the popular mind. *
* https:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ History_of_Catholic_Mariology
On it’s popularization in the 12th century, the Immaculate Conception was rejected by Bernard of Clairvaux, Alexander of Hales, and Bonaventure (who, teaching at Paris, called it ‘this foreign doctrine,’ indicating its association with England).” 1
Even after the introduction of this heresy, the belief in it was not unanimous in the Roman church:
Pope Innocent III (1216): “She (Eve) was produced without sin, but she brought forth in sin, she (Mary) was produced in sin, but she brought forth without sin.” 2
Cardinal Cajetan (1469-1534) wrote, “If the Scriptures be duly considered, and the saying of the doctors ancient and modern, who have been most devoted to the glorious Virgin, it is plain from their words that she was conceived in sin”. 3
1 https:// religion.fandom.com/ wiki/ Immaculate_Conception 2 De festo Assump., sermon 2
3 De Loc Theo.
The Bible teaches that all people are sinners and this would include Mary.
Rom 3:23 … all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…
Rom 3:10 … There is no one righteous, not even one …
1 John 1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
1 John 1:10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
Nowhere does the Bible claim that Mary is sinless. Again this is an extra-Biblical doctrine based on (late) tradition.
In fact, despite their high regard for Mary, the early Church writers explicitly refer to her as a sinner.
Irenaeus (2nd cent) says of her, “For more being obedient she became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race.” 1
Augustine (4th & 5th C) says that Christ “took flesh of the sin of his mother.” 2
Bishop of Rome, Gelasius (492): “The unclean seed includes Mary.” 3
1 Against Heresies 2 P. 61, tom. x. Benedict Ed. Paris, 1630
3 Gellasii Papae dicta, Paris
The Bible only says that Christ “committed no sin” (1 Pet 2:22 ), and that he was “a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Pet 1:19).
2 Cor 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us…
Heb 4:15 … but we have one [Christ] who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.
1 John 3:5 … in him [Christ] is no sin.
Jesus was sinless because he was God in flesh. How then could Mary manage this unless she
too was divine?
The early church writers also believed that ONLY Jesus was sinless. This was explicitly stated by Justin Martyr, 1 Clement of Alexandria, 2 Tertullian, 3
Ambrose, 4 Augustine 5 and the Bishop of Rome, Gelasius. 6
Not only did he live a sinless life; he was born sinless [cf. Bishops of Rome,
Leo I (440) 7 and Gregory the Great (6th cent.) 8
1 “After you had crucified the only sinless and just Man” (Dialogue With Trypho)
2 “He (Jesus) alone is judge, because He alone is sinless.” (The Instructor)
3 “God alone is without sin. The only man who is without sin is Christ; for
Christ is also God.” (The Soul)
4 Ambrose held that Jesus was the only immaculately conceived human.
(Cited in Augustine, On The Grace Of Christ, And On Original Sin)
5 “He, Christ alone, being made man but remaining God never had
any sin, nor did he take of the flesh of sin. Though he took flesh of
the sin of his mother.” 2 (P. 61, tom. x. Benedict Ed. Paris, 1630)
6 “The unclean seed includes Mary. The one being from Adam
who is sinless is Jesus” and “It belongs alone to the immaculate
lamb to have no sin at all.” (Gellasii Papae dicta, Paris)
7 “The Lord Jesus Christ alone among the sons of
men was born immaculate.” (Sermon 24 in Nativ. Dom.)
8 “For he (Christ) alone was truly born
holy”. (Quoted in “The Secrets of Romanism”)
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), the famous medieval scholar didn’t believe in Mary’s Immaculate Conception, but believed that she lived a sinless life. 1
The feast of the Immaculate Conception, celebrated on December 8, was established as a universal feast in 1476 by Pope Sixtus IV. He did not define the doctrine as a dogma, thus leaving Roman Catholics freedom to believe in it or not without being accused of heresy; this freedom was reiterated by the Council of Trent. 2
It was finally defined as a dogma 3 by Pope Pius IX in 1854.
1 “Since Mary would not have been a worthy mother of God if she had ever sinned, we assert without qualification that Mary never committed a sinful act, fatal or non-fatal…” (Summa Theologica IIIa:27.4.)
2 https:// religion.fandom.com/ wiki/ Immaculate_Conception
3 A dogma of the Catholic Church is defined as "a truth revealed by God, which the magisterium
of the Church declared as binding".
The ‘logic’ behind believing in the Immaculate Conception and Mary’s sinlessness was - that in order for Jesus to be sinless, his mother had to be sinless too.
This is flawed reasoning. Following the argument to its logical conclusion you should then say that - in order for Mary to be sinless, her mother had to be sinless too, and so on all the way back to Eve.
Luke records the song of Mary as, “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.” (Luke 1:46-47)
Definition: Saviour… refers to a person who helps people achieve Salvation, or saves them from something (Wikipedia).
Having God as your Saviour implies that you are a sinner.
The Assumption of Mary is the belief that she ascended bodily into heaven without dying.
Noted Church historian Philip Schaff’s says that, “The entire silence of the apostles and the primitive church teachers respecting the departure of Mary stirred idle curiosity to all sorts of inventions, until a translation like Enoch’s and Elijah’s was attributed to her.” *
* “History of the Christian Church”
Schaff says that, “Two apocryphal Greek writings de transitu Mariae, of the end of the 4th or beginning of the 5th century, and afterward pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite and Gregory of Tours (595), for the first time contain the legend that the soul of the mother of God was transported to the heavenly paradise by Christ and His angels…” *
Former Catholic Nun, Mary Ann Collins, writes, “In 495, Pope Gelasius issued a decree which rejected this teaching as heresy and its proponents as heretics. In the 6th century, Pope Hormisdas also condemned as heretics those authors who taught the doctrine of the Assumption of Mary. Here we have ‘infallible’ popes declaring a doctrine to be a heresy.” **
* Ibid. ** https://catholicconcerns.com
The rosary is a set of prayer beads used
in a devotional prayer, which combines
vocal (or silent) prayer and meditation
based on sequences of repeated reciting
of the Lord’s Prayer, the ‘Hail Mary’ and
‘Glory Be to the Father’ prayers.
Some trace its origin to Dominic of Osma
(13th century) while others say that it
originated with Alanus de Rupe (15th century).
Jesus explicitly forbade this practice when he said, “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.” (Matt 6:7, NKJV).
Jesus warned the church at Thyatira (which was a type of this age) of pending judgment of suffering and death.
Rev 2:21-23 (NIV) “I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling.
So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways.
I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.”
The Great Famine of 1315–1317 was the first of a series of large-scale crises in Europe (where most of the Papacy’s followers lived).
Crop failures were not the only problem; cattle disease caused sheep and cattle numbers to fall as much as 80%. The period was marked by extreme levels of crime, disease, mass death, and even cannibalism and infanticide. *
* https:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Great_Famine_of_1315
Most believed this was some form of divine retribution, but no amount of prayer seemed effective. Those who opposed the papacy blamed this failure of prayer upon the corruption and doctrinal errors within the Roman Catholic Church.
Then there was the Black Death (bubonic plague) from 1346 to 1353 - one of the worst pandemics in history. About 50 million people died, possibly 50% of Europe’s population. John Wycliffe believed that this was God’s punishment on humanity, not least for the many corruptions of the church.
Finally, the Hundred Years War (14th and 15th cent.) added to these murderous scourges. The estimated number of casualties ranges from 1.5 to 3.5 million. This includes both military personnel and civilians, with many deaths resulting from battles, sieges, and the accompanying famines and diseases.
Many who attempted to reform the church of these errors we have listed were martyred.
E.g. Peter of Bruys, a French religious teacher opposed infant baptism, the veneration of crosses, the doctrine of transubstantiation and prayers for the dead.
Around 1131 AD an angry mob murdered him (threw him into a fire).
Others who persecuted or martyred:
Arnold of Brescia (hanged)
Savonarola (hanged)
John Hus (burnt at the stake)
John Wycliffe (remains burnt)
the Waldenses (village burnt
and hundreds killed)
The exhortation Jesus gives to Thyatira rings true for these early reformers.
Rev 2:24-25 Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets (I will not impose any other burden on you): Only hold on to what you have until I come.
AUTHOR: Gavin Paynter
For more sermon downloads: https:// agfbrakpan.com
For more sermon downloads by Gavin Paynter: https:// agfbrakpan.com/ free-sermon-downloads-by-speaker/ Gavin%20Paynter
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Scripture quotations taken from the NASB:
New American Standard Bible®,
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission. (http:// Lockman.org)
Scripture quotations are taken from the ESV:
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.