Church History - Ephesus vs. Rome

Let's go ahead and start with the history of God's original Church. Ephesus versus Rome. This has to do with the importance of knowing our spiritual roots. This isn't a church that appeared, you know, founded by Luther or founded by popes or whoever it is. This is the original church that has survived almost 2,000 years. And so, I'm going to do this through maps, primarily, because, as I mentioned, pictures worth a thousand words.

And so, I'm going to summarize where we have been, because it's very important to know where God's true Church existed throughout time. Christ said it would never die. The gates of hell would never destroy it. But that doesn't mean Satan wasn't going to attempt it. And so, in parts 1 through 3, we covered how two main and opposing churches, one true and another false, developed in the first ten centuries. And again, we're not talking about persons so much as we're talking about beliefs, how beliefs came to be. There are a lot of people who have no idea. I had no idea there existed another church. And that wasn't what I was taught in the Catholic Church. I thought that was the only one. But no, and history does back. That there was an original church that opposed these beliefs. So God's small, original and persecuted church is described as those, quote, whom the world was not worthy. Hebrews 11.38. In other words, these people that don't have money, they don't have politics, they don't have military government, they don't have the influence of the world. These people, the world was not worthy of because, as in the first message, they practice what they preach. They're not perfect, but they do know God's way of life and they live it as best as they can. And so they are God's true heroes. You look at Hollywood, how many productions do they have about superheroes? Oh yes, they've got all of these heroes. And they know it's going to be a blockbuster because inside human beings, they want to be heroic. They want to be courageous. They want to defend what is good and get rid of evil. But actually, one day, when Christ comes back, it will be shocking to the world, who were the true heroes? Who stood out for the truth and in pain of death, faced death courageously? And so it says here, they are God's true heroes, of whom we are a part, if we overcome to the end. So we don't know if we're going to be part of those heroes or not, but we are being called to be part of those heroes. That defend the truth, that have the courage to live it, that have the humility to know they're nothing without God backing them. And they've got a great work to send the true gospel to the world before things close on this earth. So let's go to the next slide.

So here at the bottom, it says, the apostasy was growing at that time. Now Emperor Constantine sided with the Catholic Church. That's part of history. Sunday worship was officially decreed in 321 A.D. by Constantine. He said, you're all in the Empire, going to keep Sunday. And then the Catholic Church, shortly after that, also enforced keeping the first day of the week. Then, in A.D. 325, the Council of Nicaea began the great persecution against the Church. They didn't want to have competition. We consider this begins the 1260 years, with a day for a year prophetic element, in Revelation 12.6. The time of the Dark Ages for the Church, from 325 A.D. That's when the Emperor Constantine, with his armies and his police state, basically enforced the conversion of people, whether you wanted to or not. And millions converted. Not because they had repented and changed, but because they had the point of a spear or a sword in front of them, and also because of all the benefits they would have. Because there wasn't two ways about it. Constantine told the other churches, you better join the Catholic Church, or else. And that began this persecution. You can look it up, and I plan to, I have footnotes for all of this. After this time, Sabbath keepers, there would be a hiatus, or a period of 1260 years, from 325 A.D. to 1585. This is the best we understand, but there's this period. When the imperial persecution started, and it did not end until the time of Queen Elizabeth I in England, who broke with the Pope. They had the Spanish War at that time, in which the Spanish Armada, which invaded and tried to enter England, they wanted to make it Catholic, and basically impose their will. Well, that Spanish Armada was destroyed in 1588. And then, Sabbath keepers could emerge from being hidden. Because if not, you are going to be hounded to death. So, I plan, I have here footnotes, where you look and I'll quote from the historical records. Next slide. So, what happened to the church? It had to flee from Ephesus and Antioch, and they went into the area of Armenia, far from the confines of the Roman Empire. They were there by the border of the Parthian Empire, which actually was a Persian Empire, and there they could practice their religion more peacefully. And around AD 650, Constantine of Mananali headed what were called the Paulicians, or the followers of the Apostle Paul. This isn't what they were called. They were always called the Church of God. But they were given the name of, okay, you're following Paul's epistles, you're following his teachings. Who kept the same teachings as the original Church. Only one of these books survives, written by them. It's called the Key of Truth, around 800 AD, outlining their beliefs and practices. Basically, it's the same thing we teach. And it was very difficult at that time, from the 600s to the 1000s. Next slide. We're still here in the area of Armenia.

And Antioch was also one of the places where true Christians fled to Armenia. So here are some of the leaders, the scene of work of the Pergamos era of God's Church. Now modern Turkey. Just as the congregation of Pella, after AD 69, continued to be known as the Jerusalem Church. So congregations in Armenia were made up of those whose ancestors had fled Macedonia, Laodicea, Achaia, Ephesus, Colossae, etc. as a result of Constantine's persecution. So this is where they had their, one of the leaders was named Constantine of Mananali. You see their circle. Another one was Sergius, one of the leaders at that time. So they did exist. But they could not survive the persecutions of the Emperor's armies. Let's go to the next slide.

So God's Church is forced to move into Europe. The Polysians eventually were expelled from Armenia. After centuries of persecutions, most Polysians were deported from 752 to 860s. Byzantine Empress Theodora reportedly had 100,000 of them killed. The rest were sent to Thrace and Bulgaria. Also, the Muslims who protected them from the Emperor eventually wanted them converted to Muslims. And so the Polysians finally went westward through Turkey to Thrace and Bulgaria. And there, these people who came, what were they called? The term, a Slavic term, that they put, Bogomils, which means friends of God. That's what the populace said. These people really keep God's way of life. And they are God's friends.

So that's the way it starts now from the Middle East. It starts going into Europe. And then, next slide, God's Church settles in northern Italy and southern France. From Bulgaria, the Polysians, now named Bogomils, meaning friends of God, were pushed up in the 800s, mainly to the area of northern Italy and southern France. So here it begins where the Catholic Church had so much power. You know that from the year 800 to the year 1000 in history is the worst of the papacy. This is where the popes are just absolute corrupt as a whole. They call it the reign of prostitutes because it was so horrible. And at that time, these people with a pure religion appear in southern France and northern Italy. And this is the period of called the Pergamos Era, from 325 AD to 1100, all the way from the time of Constantine's persecution to about 1100. When these Polysians make it to Europe and a new church era begins. I'm going to mention that in a moment. I'll go over it. Let's go to the next slide. Now, this is the route that this small persecuted church took. From Jerusalem, it went to Ephesus, where the Apostle John, the last of the apostles, taught God's way of life. And from Ephesus, during the 500, 600s, they fled because of the Byzantine Empire, basically persecuting them to Armenia. That's the number two here. And then, they were pushed out to the area of Bulgaria, these Slavic areas, number three. Now, at first, they were called Nazarenes, or Quartodessimons, which means keepers of the Passover on the 14th of the first month. So, you see, not everybody kept Easter Sunday. And actually, the Pope, or the Bishop of Rome, around 190 AD, sent a letter excommunicating all of these people in Ephesus and Asia Minor, because they would not keep Easter Sunday. They kept the Passover according to the Christian Passover found in the Book of Acts. And Christ never changed the Passover date. Didn't change it to an Easter Sunday. So, from being called Nazarenes, then they were called Paletians, when they went to Armenia. When they got pushed to Europe, they were called Bogomils. And then, you have what is called the pre-Waldensian period. Because there would be a great work when Peter Waldo arises in a new church era, where God gives it more power. And the pre-Waldensians were known as Petrobrusians, from Peter the Breeze. The Henricians, who followed him once he died. Arnoldists from Arnold, who was the leader at that time. And they would be called by the Catholics, Pasaginians. Which, under this name, it meant those who keep the Sabbath in God's feasts. So, here we are, around 1100 AD, people keeping the Sabbath in God's feasts. It never disappeared. And then, we come to the next era. See, all these eras are marked by certain things that Christ predicted would happen. He's in the midst, in Revelation, which is a book on prophecy, he gives the prophetic history of the church. From the time that he's on earth, to the time when he returns. And it would encompass these seven church eras. Which I'm going to touch in a moment. The next slide.

So, basically, the Polysians, they become, they teach this group, which comes to be known more as the Waldensians. This would be the Thyatira era, from around 1100 to 1585. We're still in the Middle Ages. We're still in the height of papal power. You could not keep the Sabbath at that time with the spy system, that they had the different monks and everything conspired. So, we trace the Thyatira era to the first leaders in the early 1100s. Peter de Bruis in southeastern France. After his death, Henry of Lassen and then Arnold of Brescia. After them, the greatest leader was Peter Walden. They were known for, number one, keeping the Ten Commandments and the Sabbath, of course. Two, opposing Catholic idols and relics. Three, adult baptism, no infant baptism here. And four, by living by God's Word. In other words, they govern themselves not by church councils, but what does God's Word say? And what can we prove from the Bible? In Revelation 2, 19, it says, I know your works. Talk about the Thyatira. Your love, service, faith, and your patience. And as for your works, during that period of time, the last are more than the first. And so these other men did have a work, but then with Peter Waldo, it really, there were hundreds of thousands of people in this area of Europe that became part of the church.

Let's go on to the next slide. The spreading of the Waldensians in Europe. You can see the Waldensian strongholds in orange. The expansion of the Waldensians in Europe between 1177 and 1532. This is the era before 1585, when finally there's more religious freedom.

During the Middle Ages, the Waldensians constituted the most widespread, non-Catholic Christian movement. From the 13th to the 15th century, they were present in great parts of Western and Central Europe. At the beginning, its center was located south of the Alps, in southern France and in Lombardy, but it soon moved further north. The last persecution of Waldensians north of the Alps took place in Brandenburg in 1480. The survivors joined the unity of brethren in Bohemia and Moravia, a church which emerged out of Husism in 1458. South of the Alps, the Waldensians were able to hold their own in the Cauchian Alps, in Luberon and in Calabria. By the 1580s, Sabbatarians appeared in England and thrived. And so, of course, the church, at that time, the Catholic Church established an inquisition precisely because of these people. It did not start on their own, or not because of the Jews. They've always had Jews. It was because they were getting competition, and they had to squelch it.

Next slide.

Here's where the center of Peter Waldo's work was in Leon, the scene of the evangelistic work of God's church in the Thyatira era. Inceit shows the headquarters, vicinity, and a part of the Waldensian valleys. The college was located about five miles from the town of Natori. So they had a college, they developed ministers, they developed literature that they did not sell. It was offered free for them.

And then we come to the last slide.

And that is the most important, where the Waldensians, as they taught the truth of God, keeping of the Sabbath, keeping of the feasts, knowing mortality of the soul, no trinity, all of these things, they finally have a group that makes it to England, where there is more religious tolerance.

So the Waldensians in the north finally reach England. This is where the church would thrive. The Inquisition started in 1184 by Pope Lucius III against Waldensians and Cathars, which means the Puritan in southern France. In 1208, Pope Innocent III ordered the first crusade against them called the Albigensian Crusade. Thousands perished. Some Waldensians, also called maulards, fled to England. This, we believe, would begin a new church period, the Sardis Era, with numerous Sabbath keepers arising in Great Britain around 1585. The woman is finally able to leave her place. Let me just go there first in Revelation. So now we're going to look at the Scriptures.

Revelation 12.

When you can understand the Bible through God's Spirit guiding you, it's amazing how things open up. In Revelation 12, in verse 5, it talks about the woman, the church. It says, verse 5, she bore a male child, talking about Jesus Christ, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. When he comes back, it's not going to be this humble, meek, artisan, carpenter that is crucified. No, he's coming to rule. And there's not going to be another religion besides Christ's religion when he comes back. It says, and the child was caught up to God and his throne. So, this is after Christ was resurrected there in Acts 1. It says that from the Mount of Olives, he talked to his disciples, and then he rose up, and they could see him going all the way up to the clouds, and then two angels that were there told the disciples, why are you so shocked? This saying Jesus is going to come back, and he's coming back to that Mount of Olives. It's already designated in the Bible. And so, he was caught up to God. And what happened to the church that he founded? There would be this period of time. It says the woman fled into the wilderness. There was a moment, and we consider 325 A.D. When the true persecution took place, and a woman was taken, or where she fled, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there 1,260 days. Prophecy tells us in Numbers, and also in Ezekiel 3.6 it says that prophecy, many times, one day symbolizes a year. And so there would be these 1,260 years that the church would be hidden away. And notice in verse 7, what happens after the church returns to now be visible again. We believe in 1585 that happened. It started with Queen Elizabeth I granting more religious freedom, and eventually Sabbath-keeping people coming to the United States, of which we are spiritual descendants of them. Verse 7, after the woman is there for that period, next time in world history is when Christ is about to come. And war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought. This hasn't happened, but he's going to try one time before Christ comes back to try to defeat God and Christ. He wants to keep the power he has on this earth. But they did not prevail. Satan and his angels did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. He can't even come up to heaven to report to God that is denied. So the great dragon was cast out, that circuit of all, called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. People don't know they're deceived, because they don't know the true history of things. He was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of its Christ have come. For the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. That's what he's doing up when he goes and talks to God. He's just accuser of the brethren. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you having great wrath, because he knows he has a short time. They'll only have three and a half years to carry out a conquest with deceit and power. We know that's the next stage that is coming. So let's go to Revelation 2. Revelation chapter 2. And let me just, now we went through the slides. Let me show you here how these prophecies are described by Christ as the different church eras transpire.

Revelation chapter 1. Christ directs first his attention to the angel of the church of Ephesus. Ephesus, remember, is going to be the place where the headquarters with the Apostle John. He was the one that continued with the truth. He trained his men. It wasn't in Rome. Rome had another group, another trainers, who were not associated with the Apostle John. It says, these things says, he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, these are the seven churches, and walks in the midst of the seven golden land stands. See, Christ is going to be with us to the very end. I know your works, he says. This is the first era. The one that we talked about, the Ephesian era.

I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars. So, that first church with the apostles protecting, because there were false apostles that tried to come in. We already showed maps of Simon Magus from Acts 8, and how he was one of the false apostles. But they rejected him. He never was part of the two churches. He just got baptized by Philip, but no hands were laid on him, so he did not receive God's Spirit.

He says, verse 2, And you have persevered, and have patience, and have labored for my name's sake, and have not become weary. You look at all these men, the apostles, Peter, Paul, and others. There's nobody that can keep up with them today. All the work that they did, he says, nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

And this is what happened to that first church. Basically, those first 60 years. From 31 to around 100, what happened? Well, Jerusalem was destroyed in the year 70. The church had to flee to power. Just a little remnant that survived. And then, it was never able to truly come back with the power that had been there in Jerusalem. And John eventually has to go to Ephesus. Because there, he can supervise the work. They all thought that Christ was going to come during their own generation. And they misunderstood Christ. He didn't tell them. And, of course, he didn't want them to feel there was going to be over a thousand years left. Or they would have just become very complacent. He says, and you have left your first love. Remember, therefore, where you have fallen, repent, and do the first works. Or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand. In other words, where you are at from its place unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolations, which I also hate. So this is part of the false church. What we call moderate Gnostic church. In other words, they weren't extreme, but they were introducing pagan elements to their teachings.

So then, that's basically from 31 AD to about 100. And then the second one is the church at Smyrna, verse 8. It says, and to the angel of the church in Smyrna, right? Notice here that Christ is using this as a symbol.

The angel, now as this era appears, these are the events, the historic events during that stage in history. He says these things says the first and the last who was dead and came to life. I know your works.

They're always going to be a work to do in God's church. Tribulation and poverty. Now, they were pretty destitute. They didn't have the Jerusalem community. They didn't have all of these churches that were persecuted. And these, they lost most of their possessions. And then he says, but you are rich spiritually. You have not become corrupted. You have not become complacent. He says, and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. So now, here again.

See the opposition. No, they claim to be faith and that they are God's church. But they're not. And the term synagogue here is the same equivalent as church. Notice, it's not talking about a whole bunch of groups. You basically have two groups. A small one keeping the faith and then all of these others that multiplied, but they basically came out of this.

And of course, most people that follow them have no idea. It's only the top leaders that know their origins, know and cover up with hypocrisy what they're doing. Look what has happened in the past 25 years here. When in Boston it was uncovered all of the sexual abuse going on by the priesthood. And that went around the world. Now, that's not just a small group. That's enormous covered up. These are people that are giving you, you know, the bread and doing the whole mass thing. And so, it tells us, you will look at their origins, look at the fruits. And he goes on to say, do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer.

Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison. That you may be tested and you will be in tribulation 10 days, again, a day for a year in prophecy. Be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life. So, this second, this Myrna church is the one that went through 10 years of persecution under Emperor Diocletian. From 303 AD to 313. You can read about those 10 years. Those were the worst years. You could not have a Bible.

They, Emperor, ordered all the Bibles burnt. And everything, they tried to destroy Christianity completely. After 313, 313, 313, 313, 313. They basically, Diocletian, got this horrible disease. And he had to abdicate. Everything went bad for them, and finally he died, and the ones who survived, one of them, in 313, was the Emperor Constantine. And he saw that the Church was never going to be destroyed.

The good ones had the bad ones, because they didn't discriminate. So then we come to the Church in Pergamos. So this would take us all the way from 100 to 325, with the Council of Nicaea. Verse 12, it says, and to the angel of the Church in Pergamos, write, These things as he, he who has the sharp two-edged sword, I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is.

And where was that? That was in Pergamos. That was the Imperial City. I just saw a couple years ago in the Berlin Museum, the Pergamum, altered to the false guide of Zeus. And they actually brought the, not the replica, the thing. How many have seen that Pergamum Museum? Okay.

Nathan, anyone else? No. But so this was Satan's headquarters of the Roman Empire in that area. At this time, it was still going on with Ephesus and churches there. Now they have to flee, because this is when Constantine declares war on all the other churches, and the church, the true church.

He says, I know your works. And he says, Hold fast to my name, and you did not deny my faith, even in the days in which Ephesus was my faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. So this is the period of time we talk about Constantine of Menonnali, around 600 AD. He was the leader of the church that, in Armenia, he was killed by the Roman church and authorities and emperor.

They're all in collusion there. And he said, But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine, Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things, sacrifice idols, and to commit sexual harm.

So now we've got people that are going back to the Catholic Church, because of the persecutions, or pretending they're Catholics, going and taking the host and all of this, to avoid the horrible killings that would happen if you did not. Thus, you also have those who hold the doctrine of Nicolations, which think I hate.

And these are part, again, of the teachings of the false church. Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight with the sword of my mouth. So God says, I know you go through things, but you are not to deny the faith. You're to hold on faithfully. And believe me, as we come to other church eras next time around, we're going to the end of the Thyatira era, and then we'll get into the Phil, the Sardis era, which is a time when in England the Sabbatarian churches start, and then how they make it to the United States, and how these Sabbath keepers continued to the Philadelphia era, which we identified with a type of a Peter Waldo that appeared back in the 1930s.

And God used them powerfully. And as someone was mentioning, if it hadn't been for Mr. Armstrong, we would not have understood a lot. He restored so much. He didn't add one personal doctrine, but he showed in the Bible what should be taught. And so that, in summary, has to do with the church that we belong to. You can be a hero of this church. You can be one that God is going to be proud of, and bless you, and protect you. Or do you rather be part of the corrupts?

That, oh, they'll massage you, and offer you fame, glory, and whatever, but you've got your hands dirty. You've compromised with the truth. That's something that God's church, we cannot afford. We cannot change. And so that's the story, for this time, of the history of the original church.