The Decline Of The Church, Part 1

The Decline Of The Church:

Part 1:

Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, it was an image of a man having a head of gold down to,

Daniel 2:.41, “feet and toes, part of potters clay, and part of iron, their kingdom shall be divided; BUT there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with miry clay.” Rome is said to be the legs of iron.

The Roman Empire included much of the land of the Middle East, European and North Africa. Rome gave birth to the Universal Church, the one we call Catholic, it being the mother of most Protestant denominations today. As broken branches coming from both are the men and women who became the authors of the cults such as the Arian doctrine, Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, New Agers, Evolutionist etc. all having known Christ, yet all walked away from him.

The Christian churches today have tens of millions of people as does Islam. In the early years, Christianity laid its foundation in both the Middle East and Europe. Both the seat of the Holy See, and the man Mohomet changed Christianity as Jesus had intended it to be. The Holy See declared itself the Vicar of Christ, and Mohomet declared himself to be the Christ.

History shows the Christian Church to be in a steady decline. Islam and the Catholic Church have been enemies of the Jews as were Babylon, Persia, the Medes, Greece, and Rome, those Empires spoken of in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The Catholic Church had also made itself an enemy of the Protestant movement, its own brothers and sisters in Christ, declaring them to be heretics.

“The failure of the early Christian Church has established only this; that the determination of those put in authority was not strengthened by the word of God, but by pride that shared its bed with vanity, and dined with contempt.” 

Christianity is the knowledge of the relationship existing between man and God, and man must be informed of the nature of this relationship. This relationship cannot be understood without a correct view both of the divine character of our Creator, and of man’s own imperfect nature. Jesus Christ must be known as both infinite and eternal; he possessed of every moral value, the author of our salvation, and as man’s Redeemer and Judge, all to the glory of the Father in heaven.

These truths must be understood, including our obligation as Christians, and the truth understood that is written within the pages of the Bible. God’s divine aid for our salvation and His revelation concerning creation are never to be doubted. Yet because of our human nature and our darkened understanding, and the corruption of our hearts, this evidence is but imperfectly discerned, and in many cases, the truth is poorly understood.

Christianity is the religion of all who believe in Christ as the Savior of all who receive the scriptures as his word. This is than to be professed by the faithful to every people and nation. Today the professors of Christianity are divided into many denominations and sects. Yet because of this fact which the mysterious providence of God has always suffered to exist, the enemies of Christianity have contended that it cannot be ascertained what Christianity is: they say that different denominations describe it in a very different manor, yet each pronouncing the others to be wrong.

This is not a new thing, for Paul and the apostles had to deal with it in the 1st century churches. This is a regrettable situation, and because of this difference it has been magnified by the enemies of the cross.

Let’s begin by laying out the conditions that prevailed when the Lord Jesus would be manifest into a world not of barbarians and wars, but of peace.

Julius Caesar Augustus, born 63 B.C. died in August 14 A.D. at the age of 70. His father had risen to the rank of senator and praetor, but died in the prime of life when Augustus was four years old. After a course of many victories over his enemies in Asia, Spain, Pannonis, Delmatis, Gaul, etc., in 9 B.C.

Augustus suffered his greatest defeat in his long rule. This affected him greatly, and from this point he confined himself to plans of domestic improvements and reform, and so began to beautify Rome. It was said of Augustus, “Augustus found the city built of bricks and left it built of marble.”

He brought piece to the Roman world and to the high seas where marauding Pirate’s plundered the shipping lanes, making safe travel impossible. He encouraged agriculture, road building, patronized the arts and literature, he himself an author, and made Greek the language of the common people.

Hebrew and Latin were more isolated languages, Hebrew spoken by the Jews, and Latin spoken mostly by the educated classes. Augustus was noted for bringing aid and charity to his people, a characteristic that was to be picked up by Christians, and then expanded to foreigners. 

So now the time was right for our Savior to enter into the world as a child as the Christ, this to be followed by the 12 apostles, than the 120 at Pentecost, than Paul who brought the Gentile nations into the bosom of the Lord Jesus. At first there was a small remnant of Jews who received the gospel of Christ, but because of their rejection of Jesus, it was extended to the Heathen nations.

Why and how did the corruption begin?

The immediate causes for the corruption and violations that began to creep into the church and into the word of God would come by certain ministers who were to care for it. So many questions remain as to when did the early church begin to violate the gospel of Jesus Christ? It may have begun because in the early years there was a serious regard for the welfare of the Church; this induced the early Christians to form an association around every metropolis, and to give a sort of pre-eminence to the minister of Christ who resided there.

But soon, those who were elevated above their brethren, for prudential purposes, claimed a superiority of office; took unto their hands the sole power of ordaining, and began to prescribe, as if they had been delegated of Christ, the rules of faith, rites and ceremonies.

In support of their pretensions, they shrewdly took to themselves the form of the Jewish priesthood; asserting that they were the natural successors of the High Priest; this while other members of the governing body of Christian’s succeeded to the priests, and the deacons to the Levites.

In the third century, we find the bishops of Rome, Antioch and Alexandria, commanding great respect and reverence as bishops of primitive and apostolic churches, and assuming a place above all other bishops; and the bishop of Rome exercising a preeminence of order, though not as yet of power over the other two bishops in Antioch and Alexandria.

When Constantine made Christianity the religion of the state, he accomplished little alteration in the government of the Church. The chief thing that he did was to place himself at its head, and make its government, in some measure, like that of the Empire he ruled over.

The four bishops of Rome, Antioch, Alexandria and Constantinople, answered to his four Pretorian Perfects; under these were the patriarchs, who governed several provinces; then came the archbishops who ruled over certain districts; then the bishops of dioceses and pastors of churches.

Phillip LaSpino  www.seekfirstwisdom.com