Sardis and The Hidden Treasure

Temple Baptist Church - 3-8-2020

Revelation 3:1-6; Matthew 13:44

Introduction:

A.  The presence of Biblicists (Biblical Succession) during the Protestant Reformation.  Roman Catholicism named those who disagreed with them Anabaptist or Re-Baptizers. 

1.  These Anabaptists were maligned and hated by both Catholic and Protestant!   Most of the early Anabaptist leaders died in prison or were executed.  The so-called Reformer leaders often gave their voice against the Anabaptist.  Anabaptist people were called radicals and their doctrines were also known as the Radical Reformation.  They were separatists and non-conformist.

2.  The Anabaptists were distinct because of their assertion of the necessity of adult baptism, rejecting the infant baptism practiced by the Roman Catholic Church. They believed that true baptism required a public confession of both sin and faith, which could only be accomplished as an adult exercise of free will.

3.  Another defining characteristic of Anabaptists is their belief in the separation of church and state, and the concept that the church represents the community of saved. 

Hutterites (Germany), Brethern (Germany), Mennonites (Friesland Holland), Albigensian (France), Waldensian (Southern France), Huguenots (France-suffered heavy persecution from Roman Catholics- 1572-Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day-30k to 70k), Puritans (England).

4.  We are not in total agreement with many of these Anabaptist movements because, though they stood against the Roman Catholics and baptized believers only, many of them also had a measure of doctrinal error.

B.  We are not Protestant; we are not Calvinist; we are not Arminian; we are Biblicists. 

Biblicist defined:  adherence to the letter of the Bible.

C.  We do not believe in Baptist succession. 

1.  John the Baptist was not a Baptist and Jesus Christ was not a Baptist because He was baptized by a Baptist.  Baptist Briders push this line of thinking but there is no biblical basis for their teaching.  We believe in Biblical Succession.  That is, that throughout history, God has always had a people who have followed His Word and remained in the Old Paths trodden by their spiritual fathers. 

2.  These Biblicists have always been “few” in number and “few” there be that find it. 

Revelation 3:4-5  Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.  (5)  He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

3.  Why?  Because they are a “treasure” hidden in the field of this world.  They are hidden for two reasons.

a)  Because the Religious Crowd does not want their people to know the truth!  The truth is not found in their denomination, seminaries, or creeds.  Truth is found in the Bible!

b)  Because those who do not want there to be a God are not going about looking for it!

D.  How do you find that treasure?  Matthew 13:44  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field;, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

1.  There Must Be A Definition Of Treasure – “the which” Matthew 6:19-21  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Your Treasure – what is important to you?)

2.  There Must Be A Desire For The Treasure – “when a man”   Matthew 7:7  Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

3.  There Must Be A Diligent Search For The Treasure – “hath found”  Matthew 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

4.  There Must Be A Defense Of The Treasure – “he hideth” – Revelation 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

5.  There Must Be A Determination Of The Treasure – “for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.” – Philippians  3:7-11  But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.  (8)  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,  (9)  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:  (10)  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;  (11)  If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

Sardis: The Protestant Reformation - 1506 - 1750 AD

Temple Baptist Church - 2-23-2020

Revelation 3:1-6

Introduction:  The Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation.  There is too much in church history to cover in one night, so I want to look at 7 different events that historically brought about the Protestant Reformation.

1.  The Renaissance Period.

1350-1650 - The Renaissance, which took place in the important countries in Europe between 1350 and 1650, marked the transition from the medieval to the modern world. The name, which is derived from the Latin words for “birth” and “back,” expressed the idea of a rebirth of the previous culture.

The importance of the Renaissance Period:  The Renaissance has been linked with the fourteenth century in Italy, during which time men’s minds were stimulated to literary and artistic production by the rediscovery of the treasures of the classical past.

Attention was focused on the streets of Rome instead of on the streets of the New Jerusalem. The medieval theocentric conception of the world, in which God was the measure of all things, gave way to an anthropocentric view of life, in which man became the measure of all things. Emphasis was placed on the glory of man instead of on the glory of God.

Although the age clung to religion, it was only as a mere formality on the holy days of the church; and the tendency was to forget the claims of God on the individual in daily life.

2.  St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel Financial Fiasco.

1506: Work begins on new St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome at great cost.

The Sistine Chapel at the Vatican was built for Pope Sixtus IV and used as the private chapel of the popes. The walls of the Chapel were covered with beautiful paintings but the most famous are the scenes from the Bible on the ceiling, done by Michelangelo, which he worked on from 1508 to 1512. On the altar wall is Michelangelo’s Last Judgment.

1512: Michelangelo completes Sistine Chapel frescoes (wall paintings).  Michelangelo decorated the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel with magnificent paintings. He also became the able architect who supervised the completion of Saint Peter’s Cathedral in Rome and crowned the building with its lovely dome.

3.  The false doctrine and abuse of Indulgences.

Pope Leo X began granting indulgences for payments towards the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica. These indulgences would have been very expensive and unfair as the basilica took roughly 120 years to make, meaning it would have been a magnificent but EXTREMELY expensive build. Hence the Pope selling indulgences to afford it. This abuse was what sparked Martin Luther to officially begin his reformation, as he believed he could use this case as evidence.   

Indulgences were associated with the sacrament of penance. After one had repented of sin and had confessed it, one was assured of absolution by the priest, provided satisfaction was made. It was thought that the guilt of sin and eternal punishment for sin were forgiven by God but that there was a temporal satisfaction that the repentant sinner must fulfill either in this life or in purgatory.  This satisfaction might be a pilgrimage to a shrine, a payment of money to a church, or some meritorious deed. The indulgence was a document that one could buy for a sum of money and that would free him from the temporal penalty of sin.

The amount charged was determined by the sinner’s wealth and social position. Indulgences were given free to the destitute, but a king might pay more than three hundred dollars for his indulgence.

4.  The invention of the Printing Press.

1439 - Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press.  Now literature and especially the earliest Bibles could be printed quickly for the common people.  Before the invention of the printing press, books and literature, along with the Word of God had to be copied by hand.

For the first time in human history, reproduction of the Word of God became the means of placing it in the hands of the common people.

5.  The translation of manuscripts into Bibles.

1455 – Johannes Gutenberg Produced the First Printed German Bible using his revolutionary invention—printing from movable type—he made the Scriptures potentially accessible to every person.

1516 - Erasmus publishes Greek New Testament – The beginning of the Canonization of Scripture.

1522 - Martin Luther translates and publishes the New Testament for the first time into German from the 1516 Erasmus version.

1524 - Bomberg prints a second edition Masoretic text prepared by Jacob ben Chayim.

1525 - William Tyndale produces the first translation of the New Testament from Greek into English.

1527 - Erasmus publishes a fourth edition Greek-Latin translation.

1530 - Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples completes the first French language translation of the entire Bible.

1535 - Myles Coverdale's Bible completes Tyndale's work, producing the first complete printed Bible in the English language. It includes the 39 Old Testament books, 27 New Testament books, and 14 Apocrypha books.

1536 - Martin Luther translates the Old Testament into the commonly spoken dialect of the German people, completing his translation of the entire Bible in German.

1537 - The Matthew Bible (commonly known as the Matthew-Tyndale Bible), a second complete printed English translation, is published, combining the works of Tyndale, Coverdale and John Rogers.

1539 - The Great Bible, the first English Bible authorized for public use, is printed.

1546 - Roman Catholic Council of Trent declares the Vulgate as the exclusive Latin authority for the Bible.

1553 - Robert Estienne publishes a French Bible with chapter and verse divisions. This system of numbering becomes widely accepted and is still found in most Bible's today.

1560 - The Geneva Bible is printed in Geneva, Switzerland. It is translated by English refugees and published by John Calvin's brother-in-law, William Whittingham. The Geneva Bible is the first English Bible to add numbered verses to the chapters. It becomes the Bible of the Protestant Reformation, more popular than the 1611 King James Version for decades after its original release.

1568 - The Bishop's Bible, a revision of the Great Bible, is introduced in England to compete with the popular but "inflammatory toward the institutional Church" Geneva Bible.

1582 - Dropping its 1,000-year-old Latin-only policy, the Church of Rome produces the first English Catholic Bible, the Rheims New Testament, from the Latin Vulgate.

1592 - The Clementine Vulgate (authorized by Pope Clementine VIII), a revised version of the Latin Vulgate, becomes the authoritative Bible of the Catholic Church.

1609 - The Douay Old Testament is translated into English by the Church of Rome, to complete the combined Douay-Rheims Version.

1611 - The King James Version, also called the "Authorized Version" of the Bible is published. It is said to be the most printed book in the history of the world, with more than one billion copies in print.

6.  The Protestant Reformation.

1517 - Luther posts his Ninety-Five Theses - The writer has chosen 1517 because the activities of Luther in that year ushered in an entirely different era, in which the emphasis was not so much on the church as an institution as it was on the church constituted as a body of individual believers by a personal faith in the redemptive work of Christ.

It was Luther’s famous protest in the Ninety-five Theses against the abuse of indulgences that precipitated the train of events that resulted in the Reformation in Germany. From Germany the Reformation spread all over northern and western Europe.

1518: Ulrich Zwingli comes to Zurich Switzerland. Ulrich Zwingli (1484 –1531) was the leader of the Protestant Reformation in German-speaking Switzerland. Independent from Martin Luther, who came to his understandings over the course of a long and tortuous personal struggle, Zwingli arrived at similar conclusions by studying the scriptures as a Christian humanist scholar.

1521 - Diet of Worms.   A meeting of the Diet (assembly) of the Holy Roman Empire held at Worms, Germany, in 1521, made famous by Martin Luther’s appearance before it to respond to charges of heresy. It was here that Martin Luther was officially excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church for heresy.

1536 - Calvin publishes first edition of Institutes.  Establishes the TULIP – 5 points of Calvinism.

The Protestant churches that came out of this upheaval differed in the extent to which they departed from the medieval church, but all of them accepted the Bible as the final authority.

Luther retained many things in the ritual that were not prohibited in the Bible. The Anglican church departed little further from the ritual and practice of the medieval church than the Lutherans did, but it must be understood that both the Anglicans and Lutherans completely disavowed the hierarchical sacramental system of the Roman church. The Reformed and Presbyterian churches, which followed Calvin in France, Holland, Scotland, Switzerland, and Hungary, disavowed all practices that could not be proved to be in accordance with the New Testament.

7.  The Anabaptists.

A.D. 1536 - Tyndale is condemned as a heretic, strangled, and burned at the stake.

A.D. 1536 - Menno Simons (1496 – 31 January 1561) baptized as Anabaptist.  Menno Simons was a former Catholic priest from the Friesland region of the Low Countries who became an influential Anabaptist religious leader.  His followers formed the Mennonite church.

“Anabaptist” is an invented name meaning “re-baptizers.” It was given to 16th-century Christians who rejected infant baptism and, therefore, baptized each other as adults upon confession of faith.

These Anabaptist Christians were the forerunners of today’s Mennonite Christians and many others in the Free Church tradition. Anabaptist/Mennonite Christians hold many beliefs in common with other believers.

They believe in a personal three-in-one God who is both holy and gracious, in salvation by grace through repentance and faith, in the humanity and divinity of Jesus, in the inspiration and authority of Scripture, in the power of the Holy Spirit, and in the church as the body of Christ.

1563 - Foxe’s Book of Martyrs published.

The Church at Thyatira - Part 1 - The Prophetical Interpretation

Temple Baptist Church - 1-19-2020

Revelation 2:18-29

Introduction: 

A.  The Prophetic Interpretation of the Church at Thyatira covers the period of 606-1520 AD.  “The Papal Age.”  The beginning and rise of the Roman Catholic Church.

B.  The Roman Catholic Church would have people to believe that it was Christ’s church and had its beginning during His life.

C.  The Roman Catholic Church teaches that Peter was the first Pope by misinterpreting this portion of the Scriptures:

Matthew 16:13-19  When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?  (14)  And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.  (15)  He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?  (16)  And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.  (17)  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.  (18)  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.  (19)  And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.  (The “Rock” upon which Christ builds His church is the statement “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God!”  Not upon Peter!)

D.  From the Apostolic Age forward, heresy continually crept into the local churches as Satan chose to divide and conquer.  The deeds of the Nicolaitans turned into the doctrine of the Nicolaitans.  The synagogue of Satan turned into the seat of Satan.

E.  Considering the problems in the Church at Thyatira, let us look at the history of the Papal Age and the development of the Roman Catholic Church.  I cannot take the time to give an in-depth look at almost 1,000 years of church history in one night so I will give some of the highlights that will set up the next two messages.

313-590 AD - The Rise of the Roman Catholic Church.

313 AD -The Edict of Milan granting religious tolerance. 

Constantine the Great converted to “Christianity.”

The tie between church and state was established.

Government aid and freedom of worship under Constantine led to extensive building of church buildings.  The Christians borrowed the basilica type of architecture that the Romans had developed for public buildings devoted to business or pleasure.

325 AD – The Counsel of Nicaea, the official beginning of the Catholic Church.

330 AD – The Catholic Church’s rise to power. 

Because of the increasing heathen hordes from the Far East attacking the Roman Empire, Constantine the Great moved the center of political power from Rome to Constantinople, thus leaving a political and military void in Rome which the growing Catholic Church was more than happy to fill. 

With Constantine gone, the Roman Bishop became the single strongest individual in Rome for great periods of time.

The festival of Christmas or “The Mass of Christ,” became a regular practice in the West about the middle of the fourth century, with the adoption of the December date that had been previously used by the pagans. The Feast of Epiphany, which in the West celebrated the coming of the Magi to see Christ.

313-590 AD – The Supremacy of the Pope.  Orthodox Church bishops were equal but with the rise of the now Roman Catholic Church, the bishop of Rome won primacy over all other bishops.  Beginning with Leo 1st accession to the episcopal throne in 440 AD, the Roman bishop began to claim his supremacy over other bishops. 

The Roman Catholic Bishop, i.e. Pope, was the guarantor of Catholic Doctrine.  In modern days, the Vicar of Christ on earth.

Thus, the beginning of the Papal Age.  The Roman Catholic Church became more and more ritualistic and its structure and canon law reflected imperial Rome.

During this era there arose a special sacerdotal hierarchy under a dominant Roman bishop, the tendency to increase the number of sacraments and to make them the main avenues of grace, and the movement to elaborate the liturgy. These things helped to lay the foundation for the medieval Roman Catholic church.

Sacraments - By the end of the sixth century all the seven acts that the Roman Catholic church regards as sacraments were in use and had an exalted position in worship.

The use of images and pictures in worship expanded rapidly as more and more untutored barbarians came into the church. Both images and pictures materialized the invisible reality of deity for these worshipers. They also had a decorative function in beautifying a church.

The fathers of the Catholic Church tried to make a distinction between the reverence of these images—reverence that was a part of the liturgy—and the worship of God; but it is doubtful whether this subtle distinction prevented the ordinary worshiper from offering to them the worship that the fathers would reserve for God alone.

The practice of reverencing, bowing to, and praying to idols continues today.

476 AD – The fall of the Roman Empire

476-1300 AD – The Middle Ages. 

The first part of The Middle Ages is often called the Dark Ages because of the void in the world power structure caused by the Roman Fall and the continual rise of doctrinal heresy.

The Dark Ages was a period of religious struggle between Orthodox Christians and Catholicism.  Orthodox Christians regarded this time as a period of Catholic corruption and repudiated the ways of the Catholic Church with its papal doctrines.

Orthodox Christians strove to recreate a pure Christianity, void of the doctrinally corrupt Catholic heresies, vast Muslim conquests which continued until the times of the Crusades.

But, beginning with Leo I’s accession to the episcopal throne in 440, the Roman bishop began to claim his supremacy over other bishops. The need for efficiency and coordination led naturally to centralization of power. The bishop was also considered the guarantor of orthodox doctrine. In addition, some of the Roman bishops of this period were strong men who missed no opportunity to increase their power.

590 AD – Gregory the Great headed up the Roman Catholic Church.  He loved the title “papas” from which the word “Pope” is derived.

The veneration of Mary, the mother of Jesus, developed rapidly by 590 and led to the adoption of the doctrines of her immaculate conception in 1854 and her miraculous assumption to heaven in 1950. The false interpretation of Scripture and the mass of miracles associated with Mary in the apocryphal gospels created great reverence for her.

The Nestorian and other Christological controversies of the fourth century resulted in the acceptance of her as the “Mother of God” and entitled her to special honors in the liturgy.

Clement, Jerome, and Tertullian had ascribed perpetual virginity to Mary. Augustine believed that the mother of the sinless Christ had never committed actual sin. Monasticism, with its emphasis on the virtue of virginity, strengthened the idea of the veneration of Mary. These and other considerations led the Roman church to give special honor to Mary.

What at first was merely acknowledgment of her exalted position as Christ’s mother soon became belief in her intercessory powers because it was thought that the Son would be glad to listen to the requests of His mother. Mariolatry (worship of Mary) of our day elevates Mary to the positions of Co-Mediatrix and Co-Redemptorist. 

The veneration of Mary, the mother of Jesus, developed rapidly by 590 and led to the adoption of the doctrines of her immaculate conception and her miraculous assumption to heaven. The false interpretation of Scripture and the mass of miracles associated with Mary in the apocryphal gospels created great reverence for her.

  1232 AD - Gregory IX appoints first “inquisitors.”

The Inquisition was a powerful office set up within the Catholic Church to root out and punish heresy throughout Europe and the Americas. Beginning in the 12th century and continuing for hundreds of years, the Inquisition is infamous for the severity of its tortures and its persecution of Jews and Muslims. Its worst manifestation was in Spain, where the Spanish Inquisition was a dominant force for more than 200 years.

1054 AD – The Schism of the Roman Catholic Church.

The East–West Schism, also called the Great Schism and the Schism of 1054, was the break of communion between what are now the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Churches, which had lasted until the 11th century.