What happened to the church that was established by Christ and his disciples in the first century, that glorious church that Jesus so adamantly proclaimed, "... and upon this rock, I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18) This is a bold statement made by the Christ, who would later issue letters of indictment against the church. (Revelation 2-3) In a rambling sort of way let us first explore the history of that church and in doing so we might find the answer as to whether the church will go through the tribulation.
First, to reconcile Matthew 16:18 and Revelation 2-3, we must once again entertain the question of what is the church. The pious have proclaimed the church to exist within the heart, yet the Greek word for church indicates that it is an assembly. The mission of the church is spiritual, but the church or an assembly is a natural entity and need not be spiritualized to fulfill its purpose. As we have indicated in previous studies, the church is the bride of Christ. The parable of the ten virgins is indicative of a time when Christ returns to claim his bride. A careful reading of Matthew 25 should give us a deeper insight into the workings of this process and the coming Kingdom.
Consider this; when the bridegroom came for his bride five were ready and went in with him to the marriage. Follow me on this; a marriage is a transformation ceremony. It is a Holy ceremony where two become one.
Did the true church survive the cruelty of the persecution of the Roman emperors or did the church succumb to the wiles of the Devil? In my book, "The Evolution of A Failed Church", I make a distinction between the true church and the organized church. Now, those who follow a prescribe indoctrination will proclaim the church to be founded upon the rock as proclaimed by Jesus and is impervious to the attacks of the Devil. Here again, do Revelation 2-3 tells the rest of the story?
Constantine often referred to as the first Christian emperor supposedly converted to Christianity in 312. We now know the strategy for his conversion grew out of a desire to unify his empire by creating a "Catholic" –meaning universal- a church that would blend elements from Pagan and Christianity into one. The “Christianity” Constantine endorsed was considerably different from that practiced by Jesus Christ and the apostles. The emperor accelerated the change by his own hatred of Jews and religious practices he considered Jewish.
The fourth century marks a startling transformation of or in the church. There were those whom Jesus and Paul warned the flock off, came in and set themselves up as state sanction rulers of the church. They brought with them the pomp and pageantry of idol worship. Men of skill began hewing out for themselves positions of power and influence. The fourth century also marked the first split in the hierarchy of the church. The church that Christ ordained upon that Holy rock become a divided body. Remember the word of Jesus, "And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand." (Mark 3:25)
“How could the Christian Church, apparently quite willingly, accommodate this weird megalomaniac [Constantine] (and those that followed him) in its theocratic system? Was there a conscious bargain? Which side benefited most from this unseemly marriage between Church and State? … Did the empire surrender to Christianity, or did Christianity prostitute itself to the empire?” ( A History of Christianity,1976, pp. 67-69).
How could the Christian church openly embrace a government that openly rejected the teaching of the Bible? An administration that sought to pollute Christian values in the name of eliminating hatred. Are we so blind as to believe that hatred, a type of madness that has existed since the beginning of time, can be eliminated by a mortal man?
Jesus addressed the problem facing the church in Revelation through seven letters to the churches. These letters seem to address a progressive failure or breakdown of the church. Not only did he point out the errors of the organized church, he prescribed fixes and issued threats if they fail to correct to correct the problem. Did the church as a whole response to Jesus' indictment or did he remove the candlestick?
Martin Luther is one of the most influential figures in the Western history of Christianity. His writings were responsible for fractionalizing the Catholic Church and sparking the Protestant Reformation. Although Luther was critical of the Catholic Church, he also distanced himself from the radical successors who took up his mantle. This is a common occurrence within the hierarchy of the church, one person establishes a new order and other come in seeking fame and glory and control. To achieve their goal they usually exalt the founder to Godhood. Often the new order becomes worse than the one that spews forth the new order.
The Protestant Reformation is a term used to describe a series of events that happened in the 16th century in the Christian Church. Because of corruption in the Catholic Church, some people saw a need to change the way it worked. Yet, if one were to truly separate themselves from what is deemed the pagan influence of the Catholic church, Sunday worship would be deemed unholy. Else we must conclude that we are not under the Law, therefore what day we choose to assemble is irrelevant to salvation. From a financial aspect, it is beneficial to the organized church to accept parts of the Law as enforceable while explaining away the rest. If it wasn't for the issue of the tithes Paul's writing would be accepted without explanation, the law would be superseded by Grace. The clarity of the Law on tithes is just as clear on "remember the sabbath day and keep it Holy,".
Johann Gutenberg's invention of the printing press around 1448 had a significant impact on the spread of ideas in Europe and beyond. Printing technology traveled quickly across Europe and, at a time of great religious change, played a key role in the success of the Protestant Reformation. In today's society, the internet is playing an important role in the spread of false narratives and conflicting Gospels. False narratives spread like wildfire and proclaimed ministers of God are adding the fuel.
Where is the true church, this is a question that we have been toying with since the beginning of this narrative. Isn't it possible that we are living the events portrayed in the book of Revelation? If so then wouldn't it seem feasible that the events are in chronological order? Thus Revelation 4:1 could easily represent the rapture of the church as the church in Revelation is no longer mentioned as being on earth. In Heaven John was able to look back through time and see the plan of God unfold. Once the church has been caught up, Jesus transformed and rewarded those who will be his Holy Angels and rule with him.
Now I ask you to seriously consider this scenario before discarding it as pure garbage. As church-going mortals, I know there is a problem with this scenario, but to say that the church exists as the unified body of Christ requires a stretch of the imagination. Based upon Jesus' profound words concerning the gates of Hell, it would be logical to assume that Christ came back to claim his church at the onset of the fourth century. This would be before the pollution of Christianity by Constantine, his Pagan influence, and the church becomes a divided body. Is it possible we are left behind and are going through the great tribulation? "And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." (Revelation 7:14)
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