God's Work with Planet Earth

Jesus started Stage 3 of God’s Work with Planet Earth by coming to earth and being born as a human. But you and I are still in Stage 3 two thousand years later. When will Stage 4 begin? When Jesus returns, not only in spirit but in the clouds and “every eye will see Him”. (Revelation 1:7)

I don’t want to gloss over Jesus’ sacrifice at the cross, because it’s so important, but I also know so much has been written about this. So what happened after Jesus ascended to Heaven? Luke wrote about this in the Book of Acts:

Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:6-8

After He said this, Jesus ascended into the clouds, out of their sight. And what Jesus said would happen, did happen. They received the Holy Spirit in power at Pentecost, and they went from being petty, fearful, bragging people to confident yet humble people who were powerful speakers. This transformation was brought on by the Spirit of God working in a more powerful way through them.

Early Persecution

The Devil doesn’t like the Truth of God being spread, and the first persecution came from the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. They thought they had successfully rid the world of Jesus’ influence until the Apostles said things like:

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Acts 2:36

And their preaching converted thousands to the new faith:

“Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.” Acts 2:41-43

You can imagine how threatened the Jewish Leaders were. Saul, a Pharisee who later became an Apostle and wrote nearly half the New Testament, started by arresting followers of Jesus. And he was present when they stoned Steven (Acts 7)

But the Apostles were thrown in jail multiple times and commanded to stop preaching, teaching, healing in Jesus’ name. And these were their responses:

“But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.” Acts 4:19

“But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:29

And those statements spoken in courage given by the Spirit echo down through history to us 2,000 years later. Who do we listen to and obey?

Pagan Rome

Because the Jews demanded the crucifixion of Jesus, stoned Stephen to death, and persecuted followers of Jesus, as He did in the Old Testament, God withdrew His protection from Jerusalem. Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the second temple in 70 AD, fulfilling Jesus’ prophecy:

“And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” Matthew 24:2

Christianity is mono-theistic (only one God), and paganism is poly-theistic (many gods). Christians wouldn’t participate in pagan practices of Roman culture and society, and refused to worship the emperors. So they were persecuted by the Roman Empire.

There’s a long list of martyrs and persecutions from the first century until 313 AD, when the Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity. But none of this should have come as a surprise.

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.” John 15:18

“But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake.” Luke 21:12

“And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.” Matthew 10:22

Even after Jesus had gone up to Heaven, He was still giving the same message to John the Revelator for the churches:

“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 have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Revelation 2:10

Papal Rome

In the next post, I’ll write about “Why so Many Churches”, but for now we’ll just remember that the Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan in 313 AD, making Christianity legal. This was a big change for the Early Christian Church, and instead of being hidden in people’s houses, they were now free to have dedicated buildings and more sophisticated hierarchies of authority.

Over the next two centuries (300s – 400s) the Church grew in power while the Roman Empire crumbled. During this time the Church began to adopt many beliefs which the Old Testament and New Testament scriptures taught against. Anyone who didn’t follow the Church was cursed and excommunicated.

Then in 538 AD, came the end of the siege of Rome by the Ostrogoths, Rome was freed from Gothic rule, and the power vacuum was filled by what had become “the Papacy”, or the Roman Catholic Church. The pro-Catholic emperor Justinian then issued laws forcing people to obey the Church or be expelled from not only the church but also the Empire.

As the Papacy continued to gain political power, it persecuted any who didn’t go along with it’s doctrine. Some examples:

• Inquisitions, investigations, arrests, imprisonment
• Torture was authorized to extract confessions
• The Church could confiscate the property of heretics, leaving them homeless
• The Church would hand people over to secular authorities for execution (amazingly, just like the Jews did with Jesus)
• Eventually they burned heretics at the stake (a heretic being someone who did not agree with the Church)

The people in the Dark Ages who were being dis-possessed and killed said the same thing to the Papacy that the Apostles said to the Sanhedrin (Jewish leaders): “We must obey God rather than men.”

Why is it called “the Dark Ages”? Because few people could read during that time (illiteracy was very high), but there’s another reason. And this has been denied and sanitized to a great degree online, so I post direct quotes:

“We prohibit also that the laity should not be permitted to have the books of the Old or New Testament; we most strictly forbid their having any translation of these books.” Council of Toulouse, Canon 14 (1229 AD)

Just to clarify, “laity” are church members and believers who are not part of the clergy (anyone not priests, bishops, cardinals, etc.). A “canon” is an officially voted on Church law. (canon law)

“No one may possess the books of the Old and New Testaments, and if anyone possesses them he must turn them over to the local bishop within eight days, so that they may be burned…” Council of Tarrogona, Canon 2 (1234 AD)

Now why would a church which professes to serve Christ ban the Bible? Because the Church was teaching things which the Bible condemned. They edited the Ten Commandments, and even deleted one. If an everyday Christian worshiper were to discover all of this, what would come of that? That’s why the Protestant Reformation happened. So it was indeed a threat to the Church at that time, and the Church leaders knew it, so they acted accordingly.

The Periphery

In places like India, Ireland, Ethiopia, far away from Rome, a more pure faith endured, and there were Christians who did not stray away from what the Christ, the Apostles, and the Scriptures taught.

When Jesuits like Francis Xavier arrived in India in the 1500s, they found seventh-day Sabbath keeping Christians, some of whom belonged to “the Church of the East”, which the Apostle Thomas had started when he arrived in 52 AD. The grave of Thomas is still in Edessa to this day.

This is historical, but not found in the Bible. What we know from the BIble is Jesus told His disciples to take the gospel to the whole world, and they did.

So what’s the point of this post? It doesn’t matter which government, church, or institution is persecuting, coercing, forcing religion on people, the same spirit is always behind it, and it’s not God’s way. God invites and knocks, but never forces. The spirits who coerce, manipulate, lie, force, are Satan’s fallen angels. What do God’s angels do?

“Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” Hebrews 1:14

How encouraging! The job of the angels is to help those of us who choose God and want to be adopted as His sons and daughters.