The Church after
Apostasy – God’s Seed was Still Alive!
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This sermon may be viewed here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi72yfuLVcE
Reading: Mark 4:26-32
In previous lessons we
have surveyed the church’s apostasy, in which the leaders abandoned New
Testament teaching in favor of man-made traditions and rules. Did that
departure mean the death of authentic Christianity? Or did the true faith, like
seeds in the ground, remain alive but dormant? Would biblical teaching ever
resurface and grow again? Thankfully, the answer is yes, as men of courage began
to study, question, challenge, and teach. May we do the same!
Note: These are my
sermon notes, which I have expanded to present here. As a result, this post is not
entirely written in full sentences.
Credits: Much of this
material is taken from these sources:
The Cause We Plead: A Story of the
Restoration Movement, by J. M. Powell, 20th Century Christian,
1987. Used extensively here, sometimes quoted verbatim.
Eerdmans Handbook to the History of
Christianity, 1977.
The Secretly-Growing
Seed
Luke 8:13 “The seed is the word of God.”
Jas 1:21 “Receive the word implanted …”
1 Pet 1:22-25 “born again: imperishable seed”
What happened to the
seed?
Did Christianity die
as a result of the apostasy?
When church leaders
rejected truth in favor of their own traditions, rules, and creeds …
When people blindly
followed them …
Did the seed die – or
go dormant underground?
Mark 4:26-32 (NASB95)
26 And He was
saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27
and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and
grows—how, he himself does not know. 28 “The soil produces crops by
itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29
“But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the
harvest has come.” 30 And He said, “How shall we picture the kingdom of
God, or by what parable shall we present it? 31 “It is like a
mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the
seeds that are upon the soil, 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and
becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its
shade.”
Once the
seed was planted, the farmer could be confident that it would grow, no matter
what he did or did not do. Why? Because the life was in the seed. When Jesus
said, “The soil produces crops by itself,” the phrase “by itself” reneders the
Greek, automate, from which we get
the word “automatically.”
In his book, Age of the Reformation, pp. 34-35,
Preserved Smith says: “In all ages Christendom has not lacked minds independent
enough to cut away what they considered corrupt or rotten in ecclesiastical teaching
and life.”
AD 1054 – The Great Schism – Eastern Orthodox and Western Roman
Catholic
The Pope
excommunicated the patriarch of Constantinople and “his churches” when they
refused to acknowledge the Pope’s claim to be the head of the universal or
“Catholic” church.
Eastern Orthodox Church
–
Required marriage of church leaders.
Rejected sprinkling; immersed infants.
Rejected statues as “graven images;” used
icons or religious pictures.
Rejected instrumental music.
As time went on, individuals
and groups studied the Bible and saw stark contrasts between its teachings and
the doctrines and traditions of the current religious authorities.
We would not endorse
everything that these people taught or practiced. We certainly would not follow
them or wear their names. We are making one simple point:
The seed was still alive!
Peter Waldo in France (c. 1140 – c. 1205)
Wealthy
clothing merchant in Lyons, France.
Sold his
possessions and used the proceeds to give the Bible to the people in their
vernacular. He had translations made from the Latin New Testament. (Note: Gutenberg's printing
press would not be invented until AD 1440. These Bible copies were written out
by hand.)
Formed an
order of evangelists who gained many followers in central and southern France.
Followers
were numerous and were called Waldenses or Waldensians.
They sold
their possessions and lived lives of poverty. Their lifestyle was a striking
contrast to the wealth, worldliness, and laxity of the established church and
its leaders.
Slogans:
“Everyone
ought to believe, for the gospel has spoken.”
“Scripture
speaks, and we ought to believe.”
“Whatever
is not enjoined in Scripture must be rejected.”
“The Bible
is the only safe guide in religion.”
They called
for the church to return to the pure teaching of Scripture.
They
rejected masses and prayers for the dead.
They denied
purgatory as unbiblical.
They
defended “lay preaching.” They believed that they could preach the Word of God
without the permission or approval of the Catholic Church. They preached with a
missionary emphasis, in the local language, with a strong New Testament
emphasis.
They
rejected the intermediary role of the clergy.
They
rejected all Catholic feast-days, festivals, and prayers, with a couple of
exceptions.
They
refused to take oaths, since they said the Bible prohibited such.
Around AD
1181, the Archbishop of Lyons prohibited their scriptural preaching. The
Waldensians responded by preaching even more zealously.
They were
violently opposed and bitterly persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church. In AD
1184 at Verona, Pope Lucius III excommunicated the Waldensians and other
similar groups. He directed that they should be eliminated by church
inquisition and secular punishment.
So in
little more than a decade the Catholic Church had branded the enthusiastic,
popular movement as heresy.
They were driven
from France to hide in the valleys of northern Italy.
They organized
the movement as a church with bishops, priests and deacons.
They began
to claim to be the “true” church.
In AD 1214
Pope Innocent described the Waldensians as heretics and schismatics.
Such
outbursts convinced the Waldensians that the Catholic Church was the harlot of
Babylon described in Revelation.
After Waldo
himself died, the movement continued to examine and reject other external
traditional elements of the Catholic Church.
Altars,
holy water, liturgies, pilgrimages, indulgences … church buildings and
cemeteries.
Spread
throughout various parts of Europe.
Helped lay
the groundwork for further reform and eventual restoration.
Marsilius in Italy (AD 1275-1342)
Intellectual
and devout.
Wanted the
people, as well as himself, to know the will of God.
Coined
these slogans:
“The only
authority in the church is Scripture, the final seat of authority being the New
Testament.”
Concerning
the mission of the church:
“The church
should concern itself with the spiritual welfare of mankind.”
Opposed the
many false claims of the Roman Catholic Church.
Believed in
the right of private judgment.
Stoutly
maintained that priests had no power of physical force to compel men to obey
Scripture.
He said,
“No bishop or Pope has authority to define Christian truth as contained in the
New Testament or to make binding laws.”
He was bold
to say that Peter had no higher rank than any other apostle and that there was
no Bible evidence that he was ever in Rome.
He made
brave and heroic efforts to put the Bible into the hands of the common people.
William of Occam in England (c. AD
1300-1349)
A
distinguished scholar and professor at Oxford University in England.
Ockham was
the village in the English county of Surrey where he was born.
A Franciscan friar who
studied logic.
You may
have heard of the following principle named after him.
Occam's razor (or Ockham's
razor) is a principle from philosophy. Suppose that two explanations exist
for an occurrence. In this case the simpler one is usually better. Another way
of saying it is that the more assumptions you have to make, the more
unlikely an explanation is. Occam's razor applies especially in
the philosophy of science, but also more generally.
William of
Occam was the most powerful critic in his day of the Catholic Church.
As a
theologian, widely known and highly respected.
Willing to
speak his mind when it was not popular to do so.
Said,
“Scripture, and not the decisions of councils and popes, is alone binding on
the Christian.” (Source: Williston Walker, A
History of the Christian Church.)
No wonder
that Martin Luther, in this respect, could call him “dear master.”
Insisted
that “Scripture is the final seat of authority for the church.”
What a bold
statement for the age in which it was made!
John Wycliffe in England (AD 1324-1384)
In Oxford,
rose to great scholarly distinction, lecturing to large classes.
Was looked
upon as the ablest theologian at Oxford University.
A priest in
the Catholic Church.
Did not
withhold his criticism of the church when he felt that it was teaching and
practicing things contrary to the New Testament.
Taught,
“The Scriptures are the only law of the church.”
Taught that
a papal decree had no validity except as it was consistent with the Scriptures.
Attacked
the Catholic Church’s doctrine of transubstantiation, which asserted that the
bread and the wine of the Lord’s Supper miraculously changed into Christ’s
physical flesh and blood when the priest prayed over it.
Asserted
that in the original church there were only two classes of officers – elders
and deacons.
Referred to
the Bible as the only source of spiritual truth.
That is,
that God spoke to men only through the Bible and not church leaders and
councils.
Said,
“Scripture is the property of the people.”
Convinced
that the Bible is God’s law, he determined to give it to the people in their
own English language.
Between
1382 and 1384, translated Jerome’s Old Latin Vulgate into English.
His
followers often called “Lollards,” a popular derogatory nickname given to those
without an academic background, educated (if at all) only in English, who were
reputed to follow the teachings of John Wycliffe in particular, and were
certainly considerably energized by the translation of the Bible into the
English language. By the mid-15th century, "lollard" had come to mean
a heretic in general.
They were
bitterly persecuted and nearly extinguished under King Henry IV and Henry V.
Attacked
the Pope – his avarice, his tyranny, and his usurping of power and privilege
that were not rightfully his.
Referred to
the Pope as “antichrist.”
“He lashed
his bishops, contrasting their pomp and luxury with the simplicity of the New
Testament bishops.”
Because of
this the Pope ordered his imprisonment.
Wycliffe
was literally hounded to death by the CC of which he was a member.
Died in
1384.
Forty years
later his bones were dug up and burned, and the ashes were thrown into the
River Swift.
Has been
called “the morning star of the Reformation.”
Here is
what he said about Bible study:
It
shall greatly help ye to understand Scripture, if thou mark
Not
only what is spoken or written,
But
of whom,
And
to whom,
With
what words,
At
what time,
Where,
To
what intent,
With
what circumstances,
Considering
what goeth before
And
what followeth.
John Huss in Bohemia (AD 1373-1415)
Born in
1373. Ordained to the Catholic priesthood in AD 1401.
Professor
in the University of Prague.
Believed
that the true head of the church was not the Pope but Christ.
As a
preacher, gained immense popularity through his fiery sermons.
Became a
disciple of John Wycliffe.
With Wycliffe,
believed Scripture to be the only source of authority for the church.
At the
University of Prague, “Almost the whole content of his lectures, as of his
writings, was borrowed from Wycliffe, from whom he copied not only his main
ideas but long passages verbatim and without specific acknowledgement.” –
Preserved Smith
Started a
campaign against indulgences.
Therefore
banned by his church superiors.
Excommunicated
by the Pope.
Summoned
before the Council of Constance.
Promised
safe conduct to and from the Council by church leaders.
In spite of
that was tried, condemned, and burned at the stake July 6, 1415.
The charge
against him – heresy.
His heresy
– simply saying that Christ alone, and not the Pope, is the head of the church.
Died with
steadfast courage regarding his faith, love for his friends, and forgiveness
for his enemies.
We enjoy
freedoms today because of the courage and faithfulness of this remarkable man.
Irony that
corrupt leaders used violent force and even executed those whose “crime” was
Bible study and preaching. Of course, these men threatened the religious
establishment much as Christ himself had done in his day. As he was crucified,
these men were attacked and even killed, also.
Jerome Savonarola in Italy (AD 1452-1498)
Wycliffe in
England and Huss in Bohemia had a parallel in Italy.
Luther
called him a proto-martyr of the Reformation.
Came to Florence,
Italy, at age 30. Remained there until he died.
Referred to
as “a second John the Baptist, pleading for a return to the purer life of early
Christianity.”
Castigated
the sins and wrongs of the church and the world.
Drew from
the Bible lurid prophecies of danger and woe that would come to pass unless the
people repented.
For 20
years in the Cathedral of Florence he preached the Bible as he understood it,
and he did so with telling effect.
His
preaching produced a religious and moral revival.
Scandals in
Roman society and in the Roman church were notorious.
Papal
corruption and immorality reached their height during the time that Alexander
VI was the Pope. He was described as “a monster of all the vices.”
Savonarola denounced
Rome and its clergy.
Quoted a
common saying of the time: “If you want to ruin your son, make him a priest.”
His
preaching made him a bitter enemy of Pope Alexander.
The Pope
tried to bribe the powerful preacher by offering to give him a cardinal’s hat. Savonarola
refused.
The Pope
tried to silence him by repeated admonitions. No success.
So the Pope
excommunicated Savonarola.
At length
he was tried for heresy.
On May 23,
1498, with two of his followers, he was hanged and then burned publicly in the
great square of Florence, Italy. His ashes were thrown into the Arno River.
His crime? Pleading
for the primitive faith of the Bible against the traditions of the CC.
John Wessel in Germany (d. AD 1482)
Taught
theology at several leading universities.
Regarded
the Bible as the only rule of faith.
Rejected
the alleged infallibility of the Pope, along with many other tenets of the RC.
Repudiated
the authority of the church to interpret the Scriptures for believers.
Because of
his stand for the Bible and the right of the people to read it, seen as a
heretic.
Died in
prison in 1482.
We close by
reading a familiar passage.
2 Tim
2:14–19 (NASB95)
14 Remind them
of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to
wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers. 15
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need
to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. 16 But avoid
worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, 17
and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and
Philetus, 18 men who have gone astray from the truth saying that
the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some. 19
Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord
knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to
abstain from wickedness.”
When the
King James Version was produced, “study to show thyself approved unto God” was
equivalent to saying, “make every effort, be diligent, give it all you have to
present yourself approved to God.” The preacher’s job, whether Timothy’s or
mine, is also to remind the church of God’s truth and warn against its corruption.
In other
words, stick with the seed!
If you are
not a Christian, it is that imperishable seed that Peter connected with the new
birth.
1 Pe
1:22–25 (NASB95)
22 Since you
have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the
brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, 23 for you have
been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is,
through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, “All flesh is like grass, And all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers, And the flower falls off, 25 But the word of the Lord endures forever.”
And this is the word which was preached to you.
Invitation
– Be born again of God’s incorruptible, imperishable seed! Of water and the
Spirit, by the power of God, as you turn from sin, confess Christ, and are baptized.
