No. 786
“I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars.” (Rev. 2:2)
The Bible unmistakably shows that God never designed that there would be more than twelve Apostles of the Lamb. In response to a question by the Apostle Peter, our Lord Jesus said to the twelve: “Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Matt. 19:28) There were to be twelve apostolic thrones – no more. In Revelation, we are shown a picture of the Church portrayed as a woman clothed with the sun, having the moon under her feet, and having on her head a crown of twelve stars. (Rev. 12:1) The sun in this figure represents the Gospel, and the moon represents the Jewish Law, which supports the Church but is not the source of her light. The stars represent her divinely appointed and inspired teachers. From this we see that only twelve stars were authorized by God.
Our Lord Jesus gave another picture of this through John the Revelator, one of those twelve stars. In it, the glorified Church (“the holy city, the new Jerusalem”) is pictured as coming down out of Heaven to begin her great work of blessing the world of mankind. She is shown as having twelve foundations wherein are the names of the “twelve apostles of the Lamb.” (Rev. 21:2-5, 9-27) This shows that no more than twelve apostles were ever purposed by the Lord, so it is a very serious blunder for our Catholic and Anglican friends to claim that their bishops are “apostolic bishops.”
Our opening text bluntly points out that those who claim to be apostles when they are not are lying. Despite this, we have a certain amount of sympathy for those who have been taught for centuries that they were apostles, just the same as the original twelve appointed by our Lord, having the same inspiration and speaking with the same authority. We have sympathy for them because they are sadly deluded, but this will not hinder us from speaking the Lord’s Word. If we were to hold back for fear of man, then we would be sharing in the sin. “The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully.” (Jer. 23:28)
What they call themselves may seem unimportant, but it matters a great deal whether or not they call themselves apostolic bishops. They have discarded some of their former claims because increased enlightenment is making those claims appear more and more absurd. Nevertheless, they still claim to be the only ones who have the right to authorize anyone to preach, and they claim to have this right because they are apostolic bishops. However, they are not pressing this claim as loudly as before, hesitating to say that they are the Church, they are the Apostles, they only are God’s servants and others have no right to preach unless ordained by them. They do not like to state these things and hence they are in a somewhat vacillating condition today.
HOW THE PEOPLE BECAME DEPENDENT ON THE CLERGY
By the fourth century A.D., this doctrine of apostolic succession had been growing for some time and the bishops had begun to behave as “lords over God’s heritage.” (1 Pet. 5:3) They manifested the sentiment that they were higher than the common people – that they were of a different class altogether. This change in attitude later resulted in the designation of the people as the “laity” and the Church as the “clergy.” The thought was that the various elements of the clergy (priests, bishops, cardinals, etc.) were all apostles with varying degrees of authority from the Lord.
Until a few centuries ago, copies of the Bible were very scarce and expensive because they had to be hand printed upon fine vellum parchment by scholars, of whom there were few. Hence very few people had Bibles, and there were very few who could even read at that time, education being only for the wealthy and favored class. Under such conditions, the people were very dependent upon the clergy, who claimed that they were the proper ones to read and interpret the Scriptures and that they had received this authority from the Lord.
Jesus said to His twelve Apostles: “Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matt. 18:18) Their writings were especially supervised by the Lord and their doctrinal declarations were inspired. So we see that these inspired writings of the Apostles in their various Epistles are as authoritative as were the words of Jesus. (Rom. 16:25-27; 2 Cor. 12:7, Gal. 1:11-12) The Apostle Paul assures us that the Word of God is sufficient that the man of God may be “thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” (2 Tim. 3:17) Hence we need no further doctrinal statements or writings than the Scriptures, and we have no need of any more apostles than the original twelve – St. Paul taking the place of Judas. Since the advent of printing and since the close of the 1260 symbolic days (1260 years) of Papal persecution, education has become general and Bibles have been printed in immense quantities and distributed far and wide by the Bible societies. Bibles are now widely available and inexpensive, allowing all the opportunity to read them.
By the year 325 A.D., the Church bishops were claiming to be “apostolic bishops” with apostolic authority. They claimed to be living apostles whose teachings were the voice of God but, unlike the true Apostles, they did not agree among themselves on doctrine. Emperor Constantine of Rome began to feel that his pagan supporters were gradually slipping away from him because the Christian religion was coming to the forefront. He sought to join with the Christians as a means of unifying his subjects, but the divisions among the Christians were hindering this effort. The Emperor did not become a real Christian; he was not baptized until he was on his deathbed. While we cannot judge his heart and say that he completely lacked sincerity, the circumstances indicated that he professed Christianity as a matter of policy.
In hopes of unifying Christian doctrine, the Emperor sent out a call in the year 325 A.D.to all the bishops of the churches, asking them to come to the city of Nicaea for a general convention, and offering to pay all expenses. About 384 bishops – far from the entire number – came together and held a conference. This was the first Ecumenical Council, other than the one held at Jerusalem by the Apostles of Jesus themselves. This meeting was purported to be another meeting of apostles, and the Emperor, assuming they were fully authorized to establish doctrine, made a proposition to them. Since they all claimed to be apostles, but did not agree on matters of doctrine, something was obviously wrong. He suggested they set forth their views on what they considered proper orthodox doctrine and come to an agreement. Thereafter, anything taught that differed from these agreed-upon doctrines would be heresy.
He further proposed that he himself would join with them. He wanted their support and they needed his. With his support, the pagan peoples would flock into their churches in great numbers – they would be anxious to get in. He promised to back up their doctrines and to make sure heretics would not be tolerated in the Roman Empire. If the bishops would establish the orthodox creed, he would enforce it. While he attended to the heretics in the present life, they could warn them of the danger of eternal roasting in the next. It was thus that the first of the great creeds, the Nicene Creed, was formulated, and it was made by these self-appointed “apostolic bishops.” These bishops had assured the Emperor that they had full authority from God to properly interpret Scripture, and the Emperor took their word for it.
So between the Emperor and the bishops a heavy hand was laid upon the people, who being uneducated, were largely at the mercy of the Church leaders. That was the end of Bible study – there was no more need for the people to study the Bible, as it was all interpreted for them. They were to follow the Nicene Creed, and it was not necessary for them to study for themselves the writings of Moses and the Prophets, or what the Jewish Apostles of Jesus said. They had “apostles” inspired of God right with them, and these could teach them all they needed to know.
BIBLE RESTORED AFTER 1200 YEARS
For about twelve hundred years after the Nicene Creed was established, the Bible was unknown to the people. Numerous councils were held during that period and many of them produced various nonsensical creeds. All this was done by deceived men who thought they were apostles and were not. All of this has caused much trouble in the so-called Christian world.
Near the close of this period, the Bible began to be translated into the languages of the common people, and the invention of the printing press in 1455 allowed for the mass production of books. English Bible scholar William Tyndale, believing all people should be able to read the Bible in their own language, translated the Greek New Testament into English. Because of great opposition from Church leaders, he was compelled to go to Germany to complete his translation and get it printed. The first copies were smuggled into England in 1526, and having heard much publicity about the translation, the people were anxious to get them. They wanted to know what Christ and the Apostles actually taught. It was even proposed that Bible classes be started and educated men employed to read to the people.
The bishops knew that if the people learned of the real teachings of the Bible, their own power and influence would soon be gone. The people would question where the bishops got their authority to establish creeds and call themselves apostles. Accordingly, they bought up the edition and burned the books in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Before Tyndale could complete the translation of the entire Bible, this faithful servant of the Lord was apprehended and imprisoned near Brussels. After a protracted trial for heresy, he was strangled and his body burned at the stake in 1536. How terrible are the blinding influences of Satan!
For about forty years after the burning of Tyndale’s translation in London, the people continued to complain and wonder why the Bible was taken from them. The Protestant bishops eventually concluded that perhaps they should let the people have the Bible, and they issued a special edition called “The Bishop’s Bible.” They assured the people that it was the bishops who were giving them the Bible, and they solemnly warned them of the great risk they were incurring in reading the Bible for themselves. They impressed upon them the necessity of giving it no interpretation other than what had been given by the bishops, stressing that anyone not loyal to the creeds was certain to go to eternal torment. This warning had the desired effect, and everyone was on the alert to keep in line with the creeds.
The Catholic bishops were soon practically forced to do as the Protestant bishops had done, and they issued the Douay Version of the Bible, prepared at the clerical university of Douay, France. They gave this to their Catholic flocks, accompanying it with the same warnings as the Protestant bishops had given to their people. Thus the influence of the Bible was for a long time largely nullified, and the people were kept in superstitious fear and under the influence of the Church authorities.
The Bible could not be fully put down, and in time the entire Scriptures were translated into the various languages of the people. After the beginning of the nineteenth century, education became much more general and Bible Societies sprang into existence. The people began to read for themselves as never before, and superstition gradually broke down and people dared to think for themselves. Many people are still fettered by superstition, but the number is gradually lessening, and the shackles are breaking.
DRUNK WITH THE WINE OF BABYLON
How much trouble all this nonsense and false teaching has caused! Instead of reading the Bible in the light of the creeds, we should read the creeds in the light of the Bible. Their absurdity would then become apparent at once. They have been a terrible bondage upon God’s people, but all this will be overruled for good. It will teach mankind a lesson never to be forgotten. The Bible foretold it all. The Apostle Paul declared that many would abandon the Truth, following “seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” (1 Tim. 4:1-3; Acts 20:29-30) We lay the blame upon these seducing spirits – Satan and his fallen angels. We are not claiming that our Catholic, Anglican, and other friends have actually intended to perpetrate a fraud, but we agree with the Apostle that they were deceived by the great Adversary and his hosts of evil spirits.
Christian people have been quick to quote texts stating that “God is love,” and stating that God pities His children and is merciful and gracious toward them. (1 John 4:16; Psa. 103:8, 13) We have even hung these quotations of Scripture upon our walls. But we must ask ourselves these questions: Is God truly a God of love? Is He truly like a father that pities his children? Is He truly plenteous in mercy? If all those things are true, would He make a plan before the world was created that ensured the eternal torture of the vast majority of His human creatures?
We can now see that a God of love would never arrange a plan for His creatures such as the one presented by the accepted creeds. Such a plan seems especially unjust when we consider that those creatures were brought into the world through no will of their own, and placed under conditions that made it almost impossible for the majority to do right and to live Christian lives. Our loving Creator has been portrayed as more despicable than the most evil demon imaginable.
The origin of these horrible doctrines is explained in the book of Revelation. There the Lord Jesus, speaking through the Apostle John, shows that the people have been made drunk with the wine of Babylon, the drink of false doctrines and blasphemies concocted by the apostate church, pictured as a woman holding a golden cup full of abominations. (Rev.17:1-6) The people are still drunk with this wine today, as very few are able to reason properly on religious matters even now. In their bewildered, intoxicated condition, they have seen visions of flames, and of devils and poor humanity writhing in torment, although some have come to have a somewhat more refined idea of Hell. While still declaring that the torture will be eternal, they say it will be mental rather than physical, consisting of agonies of terror and remorse, which will be as bad as, or worse than, physical tortures. These are the kinds of deluded imaginings, a kind of delirium tremens, brought on by blindness and intoxication.
WITH GREATER LIGHT CAME FURTHER SATANIC DEVICES
Thank God that some of us are sobering up! We believe the majority of intelligent people are beginning to think a little more rationally. A couple of centuries ago, one’s life would have been seriously jeopardized if he had dared to hint at the truth on the subject of eternal torture. Today one can dare to think and to express the truth on this vital matter and on other matters, an evidence of much progress. Luther, Knox, Calvin, Wesley and other reformers saw some light, and they were noble, Christian men, true children of God. They lived up to their light, but they did not have all the light. They could not get out of the darkness of more than twelve centuries and into the full blaze of light and truth. They were wearing creed spectacles, and when they smashed one pair they got another.
But we praise God for the light they did bring and we are very thankful for one doctrine that God gave us through Brother Martin Luther – the doctrine of justification by faith, as opposed to justification by penances and masses, etc. The Bible says, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. . . . The just shall live by faith.” (Rom. 5:1; Rom. 1:17) God does not say that we should do penance by wearing hair jackets to torture ourselves or anything else of that nature. Those ideas are far from the spirit of the Bible.
We praise God that the reformers liberated the world from some of the darkness and stupidity that once enveloped it in a thick fog, but there is much still to learn as we have not yet come into the full light of the “perfect day.” (Prov. 4:18) Regarding the Reformation, the Lord told the Prophet Daniel through the angel Gabriel: “Now when they [the true Church] shall fall, they shall be helped with a little help; but many shall join themselves unto them with flatteries.” (Dan. 11:34, ASV) These reformers also made mistakes because, they were misled by the flatteries of kings and princes who offered them their backing in return for supporting their kingdoms. Again it was the Adversary and not the reformers themselves who was responsible for this. As the Apostle Paul explained, Satan poses as an “angel of light” and his servants, his apostles, also do the same. (2 Cor. 11:14-15)
The Lutherans and Calvinists and all the other sects that sprang out of the Reformation each staked out their own creed and determined to live and die by it. Each of them proclaimed itself the only true Church, and that is just what the Adversary wanted. The Catholics persecuted the Protestants, the Protestants persecuted the Catholics, and the different sects of Protestantism persecuted each other. They thought that if God was going to send the others to Hell to roast forever, why should they not be faithful servants of God and help His work along?
Public sentiment gradually changed as people became more educated. Around 1846,[1] mainstream Christian denominations, with the exception of Roman and Greek Catholics and the Church of England, began to fellowship with one another. The Catholics and Anglicans were reluctant to recognize any church except themselves, but that too began to change somewhat. There is now a sort of general creed that all denominations subscribe to: They all must believe in eternal torment, the inherent immortality of the soul, and the Trinity. None of these doctrines is taught in the Bible. They are cardinal errors that originated in the Dark Ages. All these different denominations are without the slightest authority from God or the Bible. God tells us that the Church of Christ should be united in the one faith “once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3), not joined into alliances, with each still holding to its own creed.
As proof that God did not authorize any of these sects, note the Apostle Paul’s clear indictment of sectarianism: “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you my brethren . . . that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas [Peter]; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Cor. 1:10-13)
MODERN HYPOCRISY AND LUKEWARMNESS
The Lord tells us that we are to walk in the light and not become entangled in “the yoke of bondage.” (Gal. 5:1) The majority of professed Christian people have neglected the Word and gotten into bondage and sectarianism. In general, they are living lives of unrecognized hypocrisy. When asked if they believe the creed of their church, they may answer that they do not, but they feel that if all the other people of their church are also hypocrites, it is not so bad. However, if one person supports a falsehood it is bad and if two do it, it is twice as bad. If a thousand do so, it is a thousand times as bad, and so on. The more people there are who are hypocritical, the worse it is. So if anyone tells you he is a Presbyterian, a Baptist, a Catholic, etc., and tells you he believes the creed of his church completely, you may be sure that he has either not read it or is lying.
We see the same condition in the pulpit, with the majority of ministers not believing the creed they took a vow of allegiance to uphold. There is no longer any persecution for religious convictions in these denominations. They are entertained by scholarly dissertations, fine music, and flowery oratory that lull the people to lukewarm repose. A general condition of apathy exists. (Rev. 3:14-18)
This is a terrible state to be in. Those who are awake, whose eyes are open to present conditions, believe that we are now at the very close of the present Gospel Age. We see the conditions fast ripening that will demolish in a maelstrom of ruin and chaos all kingdoms and governments of the world. Just beyond that, the “fire” of anarchy will utterly destroy present civilization. Then thank God, the “still, small voice” of the Lord Himself will speak peace through Emanuel. (1 Kings 19:11-12)
MAN’S EXTREMITY IS GOD’S OPPORTUNITY
Ominous as present conditions are, the true children of God can with peace and confidence look up and lift up their heads, since they know that however terrible may be the oncoming troubles, God has provided that through this doorway, Armageddon, Messiah’s Kingdom is to be ushered in – the Kingdom of God’s dear Son. It will mean deliverance, first to the Church of Christ, then to the world. The Bible intimates very clearly that just at the height of anarchy, when men get to the place where everything appears lost, it will then be the opportune moment for Messiah to intervene. Man’s extremity will be God’s opportunity.
The 107th Psalm presents a picture of a great storm at sea when men are tossed about and in a terrible condition, and their souls melt within them. “Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.” (Psa. 107:25-31) We see a similar picture when our Lord Jesus stilled the waves upon the Sea of Galilee as a storm raged and threatened to engulf the ship and all in it. The disciples cried to the Master in their distress, and He arose and rebuked the wind and the waves, and said: “Peace, be still.” Immediately the billows were quiet and the winds ceased, and all was calm. We believe this is a picture of how the Kingdom of Christ will be inaugurated. The Lord will wait until the world is frenzied with fear and despair. They will come to see then that unless the Lord helps them all is lost, everything will go to destruction. Then they will cry unto Him as did the disciples of old, when they said, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” (Mark 4:35-39)
The nations will not pray then to the Lord as they are praying now, each taking it for granted that He is on their side. No, it will then be a prayer of real distress. They will not be boasting then, they will have become humble: “The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day [the day that now is]. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low.” (Isa. 2:11-12)
The Lord will permit present civilization to go into destruction, because He has something far better for the world. He will not put a patch upon the old garment. He will have an altogether new arrangement. There will be a “new heavens” – the Church in glory – a new ecclesiastical arrangement, and a “new earth,” a new social and political order, under control of the Heavenly Kingdom that will then take the reins of government. (2 Pet. 3:13; Isa. 65:17)
When we understand that the wonderful blessings of Messiah’s Kingdom are to come through the portals of this great Time of Trouble, a trouble such as never was since there was a nation, we can have confidence in God and our hearts can rest even while we see the clouds gathering blacker and blacker. We can rejoice, not at the pain and sorrow and trouble, but because we know that soon the Kingdom will be fully set up in power. It will soon bless and deliver all the families of the earth, and bring to mankind the full, clear knowledge of the true character of God, scattering all ignorance and blindness. When clear light and opportunity are given, all who are willing will be raised up out of their fallen condition of sin, sorrow and death, into the light and blessedness of sons of God.
Knowing this, our hearts are calm and at rest in the Lord, despite the present conditions and the conditions soon to come. It will be a brief, dark night, just before the glorious morning of the Millennial Day. It will be the kind of wound caused by a skillful surgeon who wounds to heal, because the malady affecting mankind requires thorough and drastic treatment. In view of these facts, let us alert others, not so much to the troubles now accumulating and just ahead, but rather to the great blessings beyond. Let us point them to the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom alone there will be safety and rest and strength in this Time of Trouble. The great plowshare of sorrow must do its necessary work to prepare mankind for the uplifting blessings of the Kingdom of Christ in the new age.
(Based on What Pastor Russell Wrote for the Overland Monthly, pages 410-421.)
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[1] In 1846 the Protestant sects were organized into The Evangelical Alliance. See Studies in the Scriptures, Volume III, Chapter IV, for a detailed discussion.