The message to Pergamos starts in Revelation 2:13, 'I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny my faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed amony you, where Satan dwells.' The Church in the Eastern Roman Empire migrated to the regions in and around Armenia. This was close to Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire.
The phrase in verse 13 - 'where Satan's throne is' - implies that the Church was located at the seat of Satan's government. The city of Pergamos, representing this era, was the centre of the Babylon Mysteries Religion in Asia Minor. Anciently, this region had been the northern areas of Nimrod's Kingdom, and also the homeland of Balaam, one of the many priests of this mystery religion.
Antipas the faithful martyr was probably Constantine of Mananali, the first leader of the Paulicians - a group of faithful followers devoted to the writings and character of the Apostle Paul. Many followers of false creeds and religions were either converted to the truth or were 'sympathizers to the cause' of the Paulicians. Constantine was stoned to death by a traitor named Justus at the order of a Roman officer named Simeon, despatched by the Byzantine Emperor to squash the Paulicians. Simeon was so moved by the reality of the faith of Constantine and his followers that he was converted to become a faithful believer of the truth, much like the Apostle Paul. After having continued the work of Constantine for about three years, Simeon was betrayed by Justus before Emperor Justinian II and burned at the stake.
In the decades and centuries that followed, the Paulicians flourished under able and dedicated leaders such as Paul, Genesius and Joseph. However, many of the original writings of the Paulicians were destroyed and burnt. Only the Key of Truth, hidden for centuries was preserved. Sadly, they were mistranslated centuries later by Gnostic and Catholic writers that negatively corrupted some of the writings of the orthodox fathers from which many Protestant literatures were influenced. For example, the Paulicians rightly believed the the devil is the ruler of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4; Rev 12:9), and that human nature is dominant on earth. Unfortunately, either through ignorance or duplicity, many of the orthodox fathers like Origen, Eusebius and Athanasius (student of Origen) and Jerome wrote that the 'god of this world' to mean the 'God of heaven'.
A summary of the Paulicians' doctrines, found in the Key of Truth, can be summarized here as follows:
1. They baptized only adults, citing Christ's example. He was 30 years old when baptized.
2. They did not baptize in a font, but by immersion.
3. They believed that Christ, although crucified for man, did not command adoration of the cross.
4. They did no believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary, the mother of jesus, nor did they consider that she was a mediatrix.
5. They were characterized by their obedience to the Ten Commandments and believed that a Christian knows Christ and keeps God's Law.
6. They rejected the Catholic mass, communion and confession.
7. They believed that the Church was not a building, but a body of believers.
8. They believed that true repentance was a prerequisite for baptism.
Christ's warning to the church in the Pergamos era went on in Revelation 2:14-15, 'But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolatians, which thing I hate.' The 'prophet Balaam' was used to practise things that are in defiance of God - to the extent that he thought he could get away with. The doctrine of the Nicolaitians was that of unrestrained indulgence. Practices like attending mass and other Catholic rituals eventually cause them to let their guards down and soon many would revert to the values and practices of this world. The doctrine of the Nicolaitanes went even further where the practices of Balaam had let off - even to extent of wholesale abandonment of God's law!
Another significant group that constitute the true church of God within the 1,260 years of the Church in the wilderness (Rev 12:6) is the Bogomils. They are located in the Balkans, and Bulgaria in particular. They opposed Mary worship, infant baptism and all the Catholic rituals. Like the Paulicians, they strongly opposed the doctrines of the trinity and transubstantiation - the Catholic belief that the bread and wine of the communion became the real flesh and blood of Christ. They believed that Christ came to overcome Satan and hence qualified to rule the world after His Second Coming to set up the Millennial Kingdom. Intense persecution was a daily occurrence as it was for those brethren who had gone on before them.
One of the great leaders of the Bogomils was Basil. Together with his twelve ministers, they had great success in evangelizing the region of the Balkans. So successful were they that Emperor Alexius Comnenus from Constantinople felt threatened that he plotted to entrap Basil and his ministers. Eventually, Basil and many of his faithful disciples were burned alive for refusing to renounce their beliefs and way of life. Subsequently, their remnants became known as the Paterines who continued the work of the true Church of God.
For the next few centuries, the work of the Church of God was focused in the south and western part of France, northern Italy and Switzerland which would then usher in the Thyatira Era.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
THE SMYRNA ERA
The Bible is about one-third prophecies, and of these almost ninety percent of the prophecies are for these last days. This is because of the principle of duality in biblical prophecy where one aspect of a particular prophecy had been fulfilled and another aspect has yet to be fulfilled until the end times of which we are currently in now. This dual principle is clearly seen in 1 John 2:19, 'They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.' Not only were defections and heresies prevalent in the early centuries following the death of the first apostles, they are equally prevalent now in these days just before the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
After the death of John at the close of the first century AD, his faithful disciple Polycarp succeeded him in preserving the truth of God handed down from the Apostles. Polycarp turned many from heresy to the true church of God. He presided over the Church for over fifty years and was finally martyred by being burnt at the stake at Smyrna in AD 155.
Polycarp's successor, Polycrates, carried on the work of the true church of God with zeal and courage inspite of mounting opposition from detractors loyal to the Bishop of Rome in observing the Passover according to Scriptural manner.
During the Smyrna Era, the term Ebionites - meaning paupers - came into existence. These are the poor and destitutes who constitute the true and faithful disciples of the Lord. Christ commended them in Revelation 2:9, 'I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.' This false church, started by the Samaritans, grew so strong that it was able to influence, and later dominate the Roman government.
The prophetic proclaimation of tribulation for 'ten days' (Rev 2:10) was actually a ten year period (based on the principle of using the day-for-a-year principle of Numbers 14:34) inflicted from 303-313 AD under the rule of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. It was during this period of the beginning of the Dark Ages that the pastors and deacons of the church turned to worldliness and compromises on the truth taught by the early apostles. According to church historians, some ten thousand died as martyrs in Britain - many tragically after much torture.
According to church history, there were three splinters during this period. The first group accepted the original apostolic teachings to the letter, including the Nazarenes of the Pella area, later named as Ebionites. The second splinter was somewhat Pharisaical, rejecting the teachings and writings of the Apostle Paul. The third splinter group adopted the Gnostic doctrine, and became the liberals.
The Gnostic liberals were skilled at twisting the meaning of Scriptures in their preachings to justify their action or inaction through the use of allegory. The warnings in Matthew 24:4, 11 & 24 about deceptions and false prophets/teachings were meant not just for the Smyrna church, but also for the Laodicean church of these last days. The duality of biblical prophecy shows that these liberals are upon us again - coming full circle at the close of this present age. It is simply amazing that after all these centuries, their spirtual descendants are still around!
The growth of sects and false doctrines like the doctrine of the trinity were spreading indirectly under the patronage of the Roman Caesar, Constantine. Before his victory at the Battle of Mulvian Bridge outside Rome, Constantine was said to have a vision of the first two letters of the name of 'Christ' (in Greek are "X' and "P") and heard a voice telling him that he would conquer with this sign. Despite being a sun worshipper (sunday as holiday), Constantine issued the Edict of Toleration which gave Christianity legality in the Roman Empire. This ended the ten years of severe persecution against the true church and gave rise to false Christianity which ultimately enshrined in Roman Catholicism.
In AD 325, Constantine convened the ecumenical council of Nicea to resolve doctrinal differences between the various Christian denominations. As sun worshipper, he decreed that Sunday as a public holiday be kept throughout the Roman Empire instead of Saturday which is the actual Sabbath. Such 'mariage of convenience' between the Church at Rome and the state (Roman Empire) was initiated by Constantine and decreed as state religion for political reason - unification of the empire. Hence, anyone who objected were persecuted and forced into exile.
Faced with such decree, the true church of God had no choice but to flee. Revelation 12:6 prophesied, 'Then the woman (church) fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.' According to the biblical principle of prophecy of the day-for-a-year principle, the Church was to be in the wilderness for 1,260 years from AD 325 until AD 1585. The rest of the Smyrna Era saw many true disciples migrated to the north and east into Armenia and Cappadocia. Some even went to the west, far and away from the influence of the authority in Rome. The end of which ushers the church into the Pergamos Era.
After the death of John at the close of the first century AD, his faithful disciple Polycarp succeeded him in preserving the truth of God handed down from the Apostles. Polycarp turned many from heresy to the true church of God. He presided over the Church for over fifty years and was finally martyred by being burnt at the stake at Smyrna in AD 155.
Polycarp's successor, Polycrates, carried on the work of the true church of God with zeal and courage inspite of mounting opposition from detractors loyal to the Bishop of Rome in observing the Passover according to Scriptural manner.
During the Smyrna Era, the term Ebionites - meaning paupers - came into existence. These are the poor and destitutes who constitute the true and faithful disciples of the Lord. Christ commended them in Revelation 2:9, 'I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.' This false church, started by the Samaritans, grew so strong that it was able to influence, and later dominate the Roman government.
The prophetic proclaimation of tribulation for 'ten days' (Rev 2:10) was actually a ten year period (based on the principle of using the day-for-a-year principle of Numbers 14:34) inflicted from 303-313 AD under the rule of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. It was during this period of the beginning of the Dark Ages that the pastors and deacons of the church turned to worldliness and compromises on the truth taught by the early apostles. According to church historians, some ten thousand died as martyrs in Britain - many tragically after much torture.
According to church history, there were three splinters during this period. The first group accepted the original apostolic teachings to the letter, including the Nazarenes of the Pella area, later named as Ebionites. The second splinter was somewhat Pharisaical, rejecting the teachings and writings of the Apostle Paul. The third splinter group adopted the Gnostic doctrine, and became the liberals.
The Gnostic liberals were skilled at twisting the meaning of Scriptures in their preachings to justify their action or inaction through the use of allegory. The warnings in Matthew 24:4, 11 & 24 about deceptions and false prophets/teachings were meant not just for the Smyrna church, but also for the Laodicean church of these last days. The duality of biblical prophecy shows that these liberals are upon us again - coming full circle at the close of this present age. It is simply amazing that after all these centuries, their spirtual descendants are still around!
The growth of sects and false doctrines like the doctrine of the trinity were spreading indirectly under the patronage of the Roman Caesar, Constantine. Before his victory at the Battle of Mulvian Bridge outside Rome, Constantine was said to have a vision of the first two letters of the name of 'Christ' (in Greek are "X' and "P") and heard a voice telling him that he would conquer with this sign. Despite being a sun worshipper (sunday as holiday), Constantine issued the Edict of Toleration which gave Christianity legality in the Roman Empire. This ended the ten years of severe persecution against the true church and gave rise to false Christianity which ultimately enshrined in Roman Catholicism.
In AD 325, Constantine convened the ecumenical council of Nicea to resolve doctrinal differences between the various Christian denominations. As sun worshipper, he decreed that Sunday as a public holiday be kept throughout the Roman Empire instead of Saturday which is the actual Sabbath. Such 'mariage of convenience' between the Church at Rome and the state (Roman Empire) was initiated by Constantine and decreed as state religion for political reason - unification of the empire. Hence, anyone who objected were persecuted and forced into exile.
Faced with such decree, the true church of God had no choice but to flee. Revelation 12:6 prophesied, 'Then the woman (church) fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.' According to the biblical principle of prophecy of the day-for-a-year principle, the Church was to be in the wilderness for 1,260 years from AD 325 until AD 1585. The rest of the Smyrna Era saw many true disciples migrated to the north and east into Armenia and Cappadocia. Some even went to the west, far and away from the influence of the authority in Rome. The end of which ushers the church into the Pergamos Era.
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