Someone is Angry
Jesus is the perfect leader. The problem is not with his leading, the problem comes in when His sheep do not follow.
An overwhelming number of the early churches, at the time when the last sentence of scripture was finished. Most of them were closely following their Lord. Things are happening. People are getting saved, baptized, and taught. Churches are being planted. And I believe Jesus is pleased. Many of those early saints of God heard well done my good and faithful servant.
But someone else is not happy. Someone is angry.
Angry is not the appropriate word. Someone is insanely inflamed. Totally infuriated, maddened in their storming wrathful raging fuming murderous vicious hatred. That might come somewhat close to describing it. And still I feel it falls short. It is actually worse than I can describe.
1Pe_5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
2 Corinthians 2:11 Lest Satan should get an advantage or us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
Not ignorant of his devices. That means he has more than one and that we can know what his devices are. In regards to Church history the wicked ones devices can be categorized under two main headers. We see these two main means of attack from the very first.
The first is the attack of error and deceiving.
We see this with Eve.
Gen_3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
He cast doubt. He used planting error and deception, and man fell into sin. Please do not underestimate the power of this attack and the great damage that error and deception can inflict. It is one of the main devices of the wicked one.
We see him operating this way later on in the O.T. Aaron made golden calfs and said here are the gods that delivered you from Egypt. Time and again Israel was plagued with false teaching. Baal worship for example. Over and over again the wicked one uses the attack of error and deception.
We see him still operating this way in the New Testament.
Gal 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth,
The Galatians were deceived, error had crept in. We also saw it a few weeks ago when we took a brief look at the letters to Churches in the book of Revelation. False teaching is one of the main devices of the wicked one. God has some very harsh things to say about error and those who teach it.
The second method of attack is persecution.
We also see this method of attack from the very first with Cain
Gen 4:8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
It was the first time that the religion of works killed a child of faith. Able was persecuted unto death.
We see him operating this way later on in the O.T. God would send prophets and they would kill them.
We see him still operating this way in the New Testament. Paul before salvation.
1Co 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
Paul being stoned. He was on both ends on this one. The persecutor and the persecuted.
We see him still operating this way in the N.T. Stephen was stoned to death. Yes men did the hands on dirty work. But not men of God. Men whose father is the devil
John 8:40 But now ye seek to kill me
42Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
43Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
44Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
The devil is the father of lies, and he was a murderer from the beginning. These are the two methods of attack. Lies (that is the error and deception attack) and murder (the persecution attack)
Jesus tells them ye are of your father the devil and the lusts of your father ye will do. We see this all throughout the Bible and we see it big time in Church History. Men doing the lusts of the devil. And most, just like the men Jesus is talking to, don’t even realize whose lusts they are doing. But the devil is still behind it even when men do not know it.
To properly understand Church History we need to understand who is really behind false teaching, and its purpose to destroy God’s church and His work.
And we need to understand who is really behind persecution.
Church History Filter #4 There is a twofold attack from the wicked one. It has been the same since the beginning, continuing thru both the O.T. and the N.T. And as we will see both the attack of error and the attack of persecution were conducted simultaneously. Both at the same time. And after Jesus won at the cross, both were increased in volume and intensity.
Much that has been written on Church history will either deny this or minimize this. Without understanding that there is a raging adversary against truth and the Lord’s churches you cannot properly understand Church history.