We urge people to return to the proper state of the church. One of the most significant things was the translation of the Bible into English.
There was a group of people who preached the gospel. People called them the Lollards. They bore testimony to the Lord in Europe until the fifteenth century.
Then other groups arose in Europe, including the United Brethren and the Brethren of the Common Life. They proclaimed the need for baptism, holy living, and freedom of conscience.
They said that all children of God are one. They did not want to begin another denomination; rather, they wanted to be with all God’s children.
The Brethren of the Common Life established schools. Their most famous book was The Imitation of Christ, written by Thomas à Kempis, who was among them.
Even within the rigid organization of the Roman Catholic Church, our Lord was still building His church.
When we look into church history and search for the real history of the church, we find that what may appear to us today as a new revelation had often already been seen in earlier times. The Lord is building His church.
Before the Reformation, for about three hundred years, the Lord was preparing the way for this movement. There were new translations of the Bible, and the printing press had been invented.
The deviations of the Roman Catholic Church also provoked many people. Then, when the sixteenth century came, the Reformation began.
There was Martin Luther in Germany; Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin in Switzerland; and other reformers in France and elsewhere.
I think most of you know something about the Reformation, so I will not go into the details. But there was a very important document at that time which explains why the Christian churches came to be called Protestant churches.
In the year 1529, at the Second Diet of Speyer, the princes in Germany protested. That is why they were called Protestants.
They had a document declaring that they would use every means to advance the glory of God and to maintain doctrine in conformity with His Word.
The truth of justification by faith, which had been buried at that time, was apprehended again. They would not allow the truth newly recovered to be diminished.
Because of this protest document, the Reformation churches came to be called Protestant churches.
There were two things most important for the Reformation: first, justification by faith; second, the open Bible.
The power for the Reformation came from the Word of the Lord. But the reformers made one great mistake: they put themselves under the Protestant princes who allowed them to protest.
They overlooked the fact that all power, inwardly and outwardly, is hidden in the Head of the church, who is the Lord. The result was a great sorrow for the Reformation.
The churches that came out of the Roman Catholic Church became national churches. If you belonged to a certain nation, you belonged to its national church.
At the time of the Reformation, there was a group of people who sought the Lord with a pure heart. They felt that the Reformation had not gone far enough. They wanted to return to the absolute truth of God.
They proclaimed believer’s baptism. In the national churches, people were merely sprinkled with water when they were born.
If you were born in Germany, you were already a member of the Lutheran church because you had been sprinkled as an infant.
But many people rejected this. They said, “We need to believe first, and then we should be immersed in water.”
At that time, people called them Anabaptists, meaning those who were baptized again. In official church history, they were often treated as heretics, and many evil things were said about them.
Only during the past twenty years or so has the history of the Anabaptists gradually been more clearly revealed to us.
They suffered not merely because they were called those who baptized again. Many people were killed because they wanted to be baptized as believers.
They would tie a person’s hands and throw him into the water, and many were martyred in this way.
The Anabaptists were not just one group. There were many kinds of people among them, and they differed in some matters. Yet all of them wanted to return to the original purpose.
They wanted to have direct communication with the Lord the Saviour. They did not allow human assistance to stand between them and the Lord.
They sought to keep the original character of the first church. How did they describe the church of Christ? They said that it is the assembly of believers gathered together by the Holy Spirit.
They offered spiritual offerings from the heart to the Lord Christ. Whoever wanted to be a member in God’s family had to live and walk in the Lord.
In France, some were called Huguenots. History records the terrible massacres they endured.
When we consider the Reformation, it was a revival and a major change in church history. I cannot go through the whole matter, one period after another.
We have materials in the office, but we are not going to mention everything here.
Now we come to Philadelphia. The church testimony in the nineteenth century was deeply affected by the Reformation, although you will not find this clearly presented in official church history.
In 1825, in Dublin, Ireland, several brothers came together because they wanted to have unity with all God’s people.
They did not desire to join any denominational church. As a result, they were not welcome anywhere and could not do much at that time.
Several brothers met in a home. They worshipped God there, broke bread, and remembered the Lord. Other brothers and sisters in the Lord came to them.
They did not have a name. No matter what title a person had, these brothers learned to love one another.
The Word of God was abundant among them. Many truths were recovered at that time.
For example, the truth of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ became very prominent. This was recovered during the Brethren movement.
The truth of the church was also recovered. They did not want to be separated into denominations. They saw one Body and wanted to live the Body life.
They received light from the Bible, and this movement began in Dublin, Ireland. Nobody knew their name because they did not have a name.
God’s Word spread from Dublin to other places, to Britain and to Europe. Within twenty years, this movement had become widespread.
Many people joined because they loved the Lord. But unfortunately, in the year 1848, a division came among them concerning discipline.
They were divided into the Exclusive Brethren and the Open Brethren. But praise and thank God, even so, from the nineteenth century until today, there has been a testimony of continuing brotherly love.
They did not deny the name of the Lord. They learned how to love one another, even though many today have nothing to do with the Brethren movement.
The Lord is doing His work everywhere. According to the world, many are hidden people, but the Lord knows them.
This brings us to twentieth-century Christianity. We know that its situation is much like Laodicea.
It is neither hot nor cold. It says, “I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing.” But the Lord says that it is wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.
The Lord counsels us to pay the price, to buy refined gold, and to buy white garments. Today Christianity is very much like this: it does not want to pay the price.
The Lord says, “If you do not return, I am standing at the door.” Whoever hears His voice and opens the door, the Lord will come in to him and sup with him.
Strictly speaking, the Lord’s word to Laodicea is spoken in the presence of the Philadelphia church. Only when there is Philadelphia can there also be Laodicea.
When we read the seven letters in Revelation, the churches appear one after another. Ephesus represents the first-century church.
Then, in the second and third centuries, the church changed. Pergamos came in, and eventually the Roman Catholic Church appeared in its full form.
Then, in the sixteenth century, came Sardis, representing the Reformation churches. However, the Roman Catholic Church did not disappear.
In other words, the Reformation churches were there, and the Roman Catholic Church remained as well. The coming of the Lord was mentioned in Scripture, but the testimony continued through Sardis.
Then, in the nineteenth century, the Philadelphia testimony appeared. Yet Sardis was still there, and in the twentieth century the Laodicean condition also remained.
Today there are the Roman Catholic Church, the Reformation churches, the Philadelphia testimony, and the Laodicean condition. Before the Lord, we have a choice.
This is why it is vitally important for us to know the way of the church. If the Lord is willing, we will continue on Saturday morning.
Lord, we pray that You would show us Your intention, because You said that You are going to build Your church upon this rock, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Our Lord and our God, we see in this generation much Christianity made by mankind. But we thank You that the church You build upon this ground will remain forever.
Not only can the gates of Hades not prevail against it, but Your church overcomes the power of darkness. Lord, we praise and thank You.
Lord, You are beautiful and glorious. You offered Yourself to obtain Your bride.
We plead that You will do Your work among each one of us, young and old, so that we may walk according to Your will in these last days. We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Amen.
Please turn to page 56: “I Will Build My Church.” Shall we stand and sing together?
I will build My church,
And the gates of Hades
Shall not prevail against it.
I will build My church,
And the gates of Hades
Shall not prevail against it.
Please.