If the Sun Could Talk
The wisest man to ever live once said, “There is nothing new under the sun.”
Just think about all the grandmas and grandpas that have said this very thing while preaching to their grandkids about the good old days. Their unsolicited stories usually go something like this:
“Baby, what you’re doing now, I did it too. It ain’t nothing new under the sun. Back in my day…”
And you know the rest. I laugh because as a 90s kid who was in middle school in the early 2000s, I secretly rolled my eyes when my mom told me that she used to wear platform sandals and bell-bottom jeans too.
“They’re flares, Mom, not bell bottoms,” I replied, no doubt with an ignorance and condescension that only adolescents possess.
But I’ve now lived long enough to see the very fashion trends from “my day” come back around to the present. Apparently, chunky sandals are back in style, and thanks to the most recent Super Bowl halftime performance, wide-leg jeans may be making a comeback too. So my mom and all the grannies and papas in the world are right.
“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.” - Ecclesiastes 1:9
Perhaps like me, you’ve heard that quote from the Bible, but other than fashion trends and cultural proclivities, you never really gave it a lot of thought. I believe most of us understand the main point that King Solomon was making. History repeats itself. The things we think are new are not really new. They are just new to us.
But what if there’s more to it? What if the musings of a king who had quite literally seen and done it all hold more significance than we realize?
So if history repeats itself, what history exactly? All history? What about church history?
In the current, and some would say unprecedented, times we are living in, there is an atmosphere of either fear or anticipation about what’s coming next. We may have differences in point of view, but I think most would agree that we are on the precipice of something big.
It’s like electricity is in the air, and we’re one spark away from “kaboom!”
So I believe there’s not only value in looking back, but there’s a necessity in retracing history’s steps. For we can’t face the future with any confidence or clarity until we understand the past.
I’m inviting you to take a brief journey with me.
Before We Travel
I’ve known about Jesus my whole life, but I can say that I didn’t know much about the history of His church until college. It was during those college years that my relationship with Christ grew exponentially, as did my interest in the Bible. Because of the university I attended, I was required to take some religious classes. In different circumstances, I may have even been a theology major. But thankfully in this information age, we can learn so much without going through traditional channels. And we all have access to the best Teacher in the universe: the Holy Spirit.
All this to say, I am not a Bible scholar or a theologian. But I love the Lord, I get excited about His word, and I have a willingness to learn. And I’ve found that the more I learn, the more I love Him, and the more I trust Him. If our Bible study is not rooted in learning about the God who loves us, then what’s the point? In the times we live in, head knowledge is nice, but heart knowledge is what transforms us.
So I’m hoping you come on this journey with me with a shared sense of wonder and a willingness to learn about things that perhaps you’ve never heard before.
Let’s go.
Back to the Time of the Apostles:
We are in the first century.
The Apostle Paul has given his blood, sweat, and tears in spreading the gospel message. His call to be the apostle to the Gentiles has given him great joy and caused him great suffering.
From a Roman prison, he writes to Timothy, his son in the faith, that he has run his race and fought the good fight of faith. Like the Apostle Peter, Paul will die for the faith that he proclaims with a righteous conviction.
In his many letters, Paul has given instruction to the church, which is the apple of God’s eye and the very bride of Christ.
But even with his race so well run, there is a certain concern Paul has for the bride. He had once expressed his concern in his letter to the church in Galatia. They’d so quickly abandoned the pure faith and turned to another gospel based on works, namely physical circumcision. Bewitched was the word he used to describe them.
“O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you…?” - Galatians 3:1
But in Paul’s time, wasn’t the gospel being established throughout Asia Minor? Was not this the time when Paul was wearing out his shoes, going here, there, and everywhere spreading the gospel? If he were alive today, I’m sure Paul would be in Delta’s million miles club. And isn’t this the time that many were added to faith, even 3,000 in one day?
It would seem like the gospel of Jesus Christ was being shared and spread like wildfire. The Holy Spirit was moving the hearts and minds of men and women. And the pure message of salvation through the blood of Jesus, the Messiah, was the anchor and foundation of the church. What could stop it? What could stand against this good news that went out conquering and to conquer?
As he’s writing to Timothy, Paul understands that alongside the beauty, power, and simplicity of the gospel of Christ would come the sleek and crafty fabrication of another gospel. A counterfeit gospel would masquerade as righteous but would ultimately bear the name mystery of iniquity. Another word for iniquity is lawlessness. Mystery of lawlessness.
In his second letter to the Thessalonians, Paul made that point clear. He warned that despite the power of the gospel to save, there would be those who fall away from it. And there would ultimately arise a man of sin who would claim the prerogatives of God while remaking the religion of Christ into his own image. Paul said that this man of sin’s power and authority would come from Satan. In his letter, Paul gave a glimpse of prophetic events in the future. However, he made it clear that the mystery of iniquity was already at work in his time.
Interesting. So this man of sin is something that God’s people should be on the lookout for, right?
And if Satan is behind it, we should know that he is just going to pop up and say, “Here I am, the bad one. I want to make it clear for you so you can point me out.”
Right?
Wrong.
If you’ve been a disciple of Christ for any amount of time, then you know that’s not the way the enemy operates. (Read previous posts: the M.O. of the Dragon part 1 and part 2 if you’re interested.) If we travel way back in time to the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, we can see that Satan’s main plan of attack is deception.
Nothing has changed, and nothing will change. He bewitched Eve in the garden just as he bewitched the Galatians.
When answering His disciples’ question about the sign of His coming and of the end of the world, what were Jesus’ first words?
“Take heed that no man deceive you.” - Matthew 24:4
So while we know from the warnings of Jesus that deception is the name of Satan’s game, the enemy of God begins his war on God’s people with a frontal attack.
A Time to Kill
You see, killing the Messiah had not worked out as Satan planned. Somehow the Godhead had outsmarted him again by using his own character against him. The One Who Is Like God, the Son of God, had come to earth to save these descendants of the failed Adam and Eve. Where the first son of God failed, Jesus, the Son of God and Son of Man, succeeded. He had defeated Satan and his minions on their home turf. And how did Jesus from Nazareth accomplish such a feat? By dying. No, not just by dying, but by allowing Himself to be sacrificed, by resisting the tempter’s every whim during His life on earth, and by willingly laying His life down for the flawed human race.
Through His death, He will save many. Through His life, many shall live.
It would not all take place right at Calvary, but the nails that pierced the Lamb were the death nails for the dragon. Why? What happens when you try to kill Life? The third day. That’s what happens. The resurrection of Jesus Christ had to come as surely as the feast of Firstfruits followed Passover and Unleavened Bread.
The untainted gospel of righteousness by faith in the death, burial, resurrection, and High Priestly ministry of Christ has the power to undo Satan’s work.
“...For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” - I John 3:8
And so if the accuser of the brethren could not defeat the Son of Man with death, he would try to kill His followers before they could spread the testimony of Jesus to the world.
Paul was aware of the sacrifice required of those who bear the gospel of Jesus.
In his second letter to Timothy, Paul encourages Timothy to keep the faith, to do the work of an evangelist, and to not be afraid. Paul reminds Timothy that he has seen the afflictions Paul has endured, but he has also witnessed Paul’s perseverance to work in his God-given ministry. He encourages Timothy to do likewise, warning him that all who live godly will suffer persecution.
Truer words were never said. Jesus Himself forewarned His followers that the servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Christ, they would most certainly persecute those that follow in Christ.
And so Paul, under the direction of the Roman Emperor Nero, was sentenced to death and beheaded. His letter to Timothy would be his last.
Countless millions of precious saints have sealed their testimony in blood.
Abel was the first. Stephen is counted in that number too. And the Apostle Paul would not be the last.
A Time to Die
While Christ walked the earth, the empire of Rome was the ruling authority in the known world. Jesus was born in a manger under Caesar Augustus and nailed to the cross under Tiberius Caesar. And while the Bible makes it plain that many of the Jewish leaders at that time despised Jesus and conspired to put Him to death, it took the cooperation of the Roman state power to sentence, flog, and crucify Jesus. No matter how many times Pilate washed his hands, prophecy would be fulfilled.
Centuries beforehand, the prophets testified of the manner in which Christ would die. And the Prophet Daniel’s vision foretold the exact year when the Messiah would be cut off, but not for Himself. There’s no room for doubt. Jesus would be our sacrificial Lamb, and Rome would be the ones in charge to actually nail Him to the tree. He became accursed for us so that all may be fulfilled.
“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree…” - Galatians 3:13
Rome was the instrument that Satan used to persecute not only the Messiah but the Messiah’s people as well. Remember the frontal attack? While Satan used the medium of the serpent to wage war on Eve, the first woman, he used individuals in the pagan Roman empire as his instruments to stamp out Christ’s bride.
Christians during the time of the Apostles and thereafter were still seen as a Jewish sect who refused to worship the gods of Rome and refused to acknowledge Caesar as LORD. Christ’s followers faced the fiercest afflictions for their refusal to compromise their faith. Beginning with Nero and his political maneuvering in blaming Christians for the Great Fire in Rome in 64 AD until 313 AD, Rome persecuted Christians by seizing their property, falsely accusing them of crimes and imprisoning them, using them as human torches to light cities, burying them alive, and tossing them into the colosseum as fodder for wild beasts to tear apart.
The persecution was particularly intense from 303 to 313 AD under Roman emperor Diocletian. During this period, it was clear that the Roman state government was against Christians. The horrors that our brothers and sisters faced during these first centuries are honestly too much to bear. You can do your own research if you want more specifics. Suffice to say, those who chose to stay faithful to Christ over all else paid dearly. But Heaven has recorded their names in the book of Life, and they will receive a crown of life that can never be taken away. They loved not their lives even unto death.
And it’s key to remember this one thing. Many times the enemy’s agents don’t actually realize they are working for the enemy. They are just going about their lives, but because they have the mark of selfishness and self-preservation, their natural inclinations fall in line with Satan’s ultimate plans.
Did this intense persecution successfully drown out the pure faith? Was the enemy’s plan successful?
Just as Satan’s attack, which bruised Christ’s heel, ended up crushing his own head, the enemy’s frontal attack on God’s bride ended up having the opposite effect on the kingdom of darkness. His attempt to stamp out the light of the world was unsuccessful. When faced with this straightforward and malignant mistreatment, the true believers of Christ stood firm. Their unwavering commitment ended up multiplying the church. For in the faces of martyrs for Jesus, onlookers could see that what these followers of the Way possessed was real, more real than anything they’d ever seen. They had faith in a world unseen and peace in a promised land not yet realized. And so as one martyr for Jesus was thrown to the wild beasts to be torn apart or faced the torches with forgiveness in their hearts for their persecutors, many more joined the ranks of these Christian soldiers.
The persecuted church’s experience during these early centuries can be summed up in one word: myrrh.
Myrrh is a resin used to relieve pain and used to embalm the dead. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea used a mixture of myrrh and aloes to prepare Jesus’ body for burial. And though we can assume their persecutors did not treat their bodies with such care, there is a God in heaven who has recorded the sacrifice of His faithful ones and will resurrect them with glorious bodies when He comes again to receive them unto Himself.
The bittersweet thing about persecution is that while it’s never desired, persecution does a purifying work in the church. When the fires of affliction are turned up, those who have only given lip service to the gospel but who have not really experienced sincere surrender of self will fall away from the faith, leaving behind the true Bride who refuses to let go of Christ. Instead, she clings to the name and character of Christ. Much like a refiner’s fire, under persecution’s flame, the dross is removed, and the pure gold and silver remain. Persecution reveals who will bow the knee to Caesar and who will worship the Lord God and only serve Him.
Real persecution separates the three Hebrew boys from the false worshippers of Babylon.
Remember the Master’s words. Remember Paul’s words. All who live godly will suffer real persecution.
Persecution teaches us that the true church would rather die than compromise.
A Time of Compromise
Imagine it’s 311 AD in the Roman Empire, and you are barely surviving on scraps of bread and whatever else you can muster. Imagine night after night taking shelter in dark caves because your business, your land, and your property have been seized by the state. Imagine being mocked and maligned in society because of something you hold so dear: your faith in Christ. Your future in a climate like this seems bleak. But you take courage in knowing that you are to be counted blessed by heaven’s court.
“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” - Matthew 5:11-12
And you are not alone. Jesus, whom you love and serve, has not abandoned you. You still take joy in the presence of God, and you remember what He has promised.
“And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.” - Deuteronomy 31:8
And you are blessed with the company and comfort of other believers. For God still has 7,000 that have not bowed the knee to Baal.
“Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” - I Kings 19:18
But as faithful as you and many of the fellow saints have been, you can not help but be saddened by those among you who have turned their eyes away from Christ and have begun to slide down the slippery slope of compromise. The stony side of life, the struggle of living under a government system that has become fiercely hostile to their religion and to their way of life, became too much to bear. Slowly and secretly, they began to doubt the promises of God. Little by little they began to place their hope, not in the life to come, but in this life in the here and now. And so their focus drifted from becoming more like Christ and being seated with Him in heavenly places to building and maintaining their way of life here on earth.
But after all, what could be wrong with maintaining your way of life if the life you want to live is a Christian one?
What these professed believers fail to understand is that while it is preferable to not have your Christianity attacked by those in authority, it’s better to be persecuted for the purity of your faith than to gain the support and favor of the state for a faith you have compromised.
Nevertheless, this time of persecution has revealed to you that many say they are Christ’s, but when put under pressure, they end up denying His power to save.
A Savior So-Called
It’s now 312 AD. Still concerned about some of your Christian comrades who seem to be moving further and further away from the apostolic faith, you are somewhat hopeful about the changes that may take place in the empire after you hear that one of the contenders for emperor of Rome has become a Christian. He supposedly had a vision of the cross with a sign that said, “In Hoc Signo Vinces,” meaning “In this sign thou shalt conquer.” After seeing this vision, this Roman leader reportedly won a battle against one of his rivals to power. And he thanked God for the victory.
Interesting.
You wonder, by conquering, does he mean spreading the gospel in order to win the hearts and minds of the people to Christ? For that is what followers of Christ have been doing for hundreds of years despite the persecution they’ve encountered. The Holy Spirit has been conquering the hearts of men and women and empowering Christ’s disciples to make more disciples. The wonderful Great Commission is being fulfilled. If the persecution would stop, and if given more space to expand, the beautiful message of Christ and Him crucified can spread untattered throughout the whole world!
You understand that what is needed most is freedom to worship, everyone according to his own conscience. The pagans, God help them, are free to serve their myriad of gods. But let God’s people serve Him with liberty of heart and mind. Once Christ is truly lifted up, He will draw even the pagan worshippers out of the blindness and into His sheepfold.
Although many of the leaders that have emerged in the church have pledged their support for this man, you reserve judgment for this professed Christian Roman leader. You remember what Jesus said. You will know them by their fruits. If he has the fruits of repentance, then they will be evident.
The following year, in 313 AD, the hopes and prayers of Christians throughout the Roman Empire seem to be answered.
You hear that this professed Christian leader has signed a document that has brought an end to the persecution of Christians everywhere! This edict made it possible for Christians and others to worship freely. Property and land that had been confiscated from Christians was restored. No longer would Christians be forced to worship the pagan deities. Mistreatment of Christians was no longer tolerated. Christianity was off of the chopping block.
This is wonderful news. But is there a catch?
This edict marks the beginning of a turning point in Christianity, and it marks a change of tactics for the enemy of souls. He knows that just like with Israel of the Old Testament, as long as God’s people remain faithful, they will be victorious, even in the face of persecution. God will preserve His people who carry His light. But like Balaam, if he can get the church to compromise, he can invade the armies of God, this time from the inside out. And he can extinguish the light. The M.O. of Balaam and the M.O. of the dragon are the same: compromise.
With the new religious tolerance came an elevation of the professed church. But Christianity’s new exalted profile in the empire of Rome comes with a price.
Did this Roman leader who claimed to accept the Christian faith prove to be a true or false tree?
Let’s just lay out the evidence, and you make your own judgment:
After his professed allegiance to the Christian God, this leader was known to be ruthless against his rivals. He was a perjurer and orchestrated the murder of his wife and eldest son, along with others.
Most markedly, instead of denouncing his pagan title and turning away from the gods of Rome, he maintains the title Pontifex Maximus, the high priest of the Roman pagan religion, and continues to practice the pagan customs traditional to Rome.
A Church to Rule Them All
Let us zoom back out from 313 AD and look at this period in time as a whole.
The emperor was Constantine the Great. The edict was the Edict of Milan. And the church of Christ began a relationship with a new husband: the state.
After centuries of persecution, now under the supposed protection of the state, the church received an elevated status. And while the end of the persecution was a good thing, it came at the cost of purity. With Constantine’s professed conversion, the door was opened for the emblems of paganism to enter the church under the guise of Christianity. As a result of this syncretism, pagans didn’t come out of paganism and worship Jesus. Instead, the worship of Christ was mixed with the worship of pagan gods. The end result: another gospel.
No man can judge the heart. But based on Constantine’s actions and the history that followed during this time, the pure religion of Christ was sacrificed for political expediency. And the building blocks for the establishment of the man of sin were laid more securely. What the Apostle Paul had warned about was close to becoming an established reality.
What happened next?
Later in the 4th century, Christianity became the official state religion. And the ultimate hallmark of that religious system’s preeminence was established as a litmus for Christians.
Sadly, what followed in the next centuries is an empire that takes on the name of Christ but carries out the persecution of those who refuse to adopt the traditions of its system of worship. The enemy found success with this more stealth-like method of attack. Persecution was from the inside out rather than from the outside in. But just as with the history of God’s people from the beginning of time, there was a faithful remnant who refused to honor a system that purported a Christian way of life at the expense of the Way, the Truth, and the Life. These precious ones were pushed into the shadows. God would not leave the world without a remedy. The light would come out from under the bushel and shine brightly again.
But let the records clearly show.
When the church joined with the state, the world was left in darkness.
A Time to Learn
The scariest things I’ve seen in my life are not the shadows that used to go bump in the night in my bedroom. The scariest thing I’ve seen is a church repeating a history that it is too blind to see. That blindness is confusing political expediency for gospel spreading and disciple making.
But just like in the past, there’s always a morning star shining if you have the eye salve to see it.
Here’s another warning from brother Paul.
“For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.” - Acts 20:29-31
Paul experienced his time for weeping. (Ecclesiastes 3:4)
Now is the time to gather stones. (Ecclesiastes 3:5, I Peter 2:5)
Now is the time to speak. (Ecclesiastes 3:7, Revelation 14:6-12, Revelation 18:1-5)
Thank you for coming on this journey with me. I again want to say that I’m studying, I’m learning, and I’m praying that as the Holy Spirit leads me, I continue to share what I’ve learned. This has been the purpose of mysurrenderedheart.com from day one. I encourage you to do your own study as well. But know this: the true church of God has one husband, the man Christ Jesus. A church that looks to another man, another Constantine, to save it is bound to walk in the same dark footsteps of the past.
There’s nothing new under the sun. But the Son of God holds the future.
Questions for further study:
What can we learn from this history?
How should God’s people respond to persecution?
Are there more parallels in the Bible that we can learn from?
What happened in the past when the church merged with the state government?
Is history repeating itself?
Recommended Resources:
Series by Dare to Dream Network: Salvation in Symbols and Signs
Series by Lineage Journey: The Great Controversy
Audiobook: The Great Controversy
Presentation by David French: Reconstructing Religious Liberty