Okay. Well, we are thankful that we can continue in the Lord’s presence, as we started this time.
Let’s read first the two theme verses that we have been using for this series. The first is from Matthew 16:17-18.
Matthew 16:17-18
And Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father, Who is in heaven.
And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it.”
The precious promise we have there is the Lord saying, “I will build My church.” Praise God for that.
Then, in Revelation 1:17-18, we have this beautiful description of the testimony of Jesus as He shares about Himself.
Revelation 1:17-18
And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as a dead man.
He laid His right hand upon me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last,
and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore,
and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”
As we consider this matter of the testimony of Jesus throughout church history, it is fresh and good to remind ourselves that the testimony of Jesus is all of Him. It is Who He is. He is the all-inclusive One. It is of His life. That is what He is looking for: an expression of His life, His very character and nature.
It is also a testimony of His all-victorious nature—everything that He has done and everything that He is going to do. Everything is found in Him. Even as we started this morning with those verses from Ephesians, we want to continue to see the working of our Lord Jesus and the focusing upon Him throughout these times in history.
As we have already seen, people can have a tendency to add something to Him or take something away. Either one of those actions adulterates the testimony. We want to be those who keep a clear and pure testimony, remaining in that simplicity of Christ and learning from those who have gone before us.
Lord, we are thankful for all that You have done. Lord, we experience it every day in our lives. We are here today, and we want to continue in a spirit of worship and adoration unto You for Who You are and for the great testimony that there is in You.
Lord, we see that the more we consider You, the more we see all the ways that You prove Yourself faithful, in spite of man being unfaithful—even in spite of man’s good intentions and so-called good works. Lord, You remain faithful, and You carry on Your testimony.
We want to be those who continue to focus upon that and allow You to be expressed through us in a fuller and greater way. In Thy name we pray. Amen.
This morning, this is the fourth part of the series. As a matter of review, it is always good to remember that the church was in God’s heart from eternity past, and it had a glorious birth on the day of Pentecost. It had a good, healthy beginning. There was a pure and precious testimony.
God’s desire throughout the ages has been that His people would remain in that place of simplicity and purity in their devotion to Him. You see that expressed in Acts 2 as they met together. There was a beautiful simplicity and purity, and it was all about Him.
But as we see throughout history, it is tragic how the church compromised with the world. This compromise brought about much darkness and much persecution. Some of it—much of it too—the Lord was bringing upon the people to awaken them and cause them to return to Him.
Through persecution, we see a refining fire of God trying to get our attention. First, He tries to get our attention through His love. He shows His love, His tenderness, and His mercy. Then, if that does not get our attention, He will, out of a loving heart and as One trying to woo us back to Him, bring difficult times upon us.
I think one of the things we have been going through in this pandemic in the last year is a very difficult time. But I thank the Lord that there is a testimony from everyone that everyone has drawn a little bit closer to the Lord. We can actually look back at this past year with a spirit of thanksgiving because, through the trial of this pandemic—and it is not over yet—we have each found Christ in a way that we did not know before. For that, we can be thankful.
Would that we hold to that, because we know there is an enemy out there all the time against the testimony of Jesus. But praise God, throughout this time God has His hidden ones.
As it says in Psalm 83—and this is in the King James Version:
For, lo, Thine enemies make a tumult:
and they that hate Thee have lifted up the head.
They have taken crafty counsel against Thy people,
and consulted against Thy hidden ones.
They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation;
that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.”
The New American Standard says, “Your treasured ones.” Your hidden ones. I am going to change one word in that last phrase to show the significance and continuation of this battle today: the battle today is that the name of Jesus would be remembered no more.
That is what we are caught up in, brothers and sisters. It is a relentless battle. It is not something of this century; it has been going on since creation. This is why we need to find our all in all. It is wonderful to sit here and worship on Sunday, declaring Him as our all in all, but it is in the dailiness of life that we need to find that all-sufficiency in Him and Him alone.
As we continue today, we will be looking more at the latter part of the Dark Ages. Like last time, we will start with what I call the negative side: describing the environment, the circumstances, and the conditions in which people were living. Then we will end with the glorious side of that silver thread—the testimony of Him in those who were living through the midst of it.
A few major events occurred during this time. The Roman Catholic Church gained more and more world power. We see a rise in monastic orders, the Crusades, the Inquisition—where anything against the pope or the Roman Catholic Church was suppressed—and also the plague, the Black Death, in which from thirty to sixty percent of Europe was wiped out.
I am just going to pick a couple of examples to show how the pope gained more and more power. There were numerous ones, but I will just pick a couple.
This was during the time of Pope Gregory, when Henry was the king of Germany. There was a change of archbishop in Germany, and Henry wanted a certain person to become archbishop. Now, none of these people were acting out of pure motives, okay? Let’s be clear. It was not as though Henry wanted this man because he was godly. Henry wanted a bishop who would show favor to him, and the pope wanted a bishop who would show favor to him. That is what it was about.
Pope Gregory disapproved of the bishop and excommunicated Henry. During this time, superstition was so strong and the power of the church was growing so greatly that people were taught there was no salvation outside the church. There was not a great educational system teaching people how to read the Bible, and they did not even have access to it. It was superstition and word of mouth that were passed down.
We will see throughout this period the dawn of education. One of the beautiful things believers brought about was the dawn of education. But at this point, it was not there. To be cast out of the church brought a terrible hopelessness.
Henry was brought to his knees. The pope was in a castle in the mountains during the wintertime, when it was snowing. To show his power and utterly humiliate Henry, this powerful king of Germany had to wait on his knees for three days in the snow before he could see the pope and receive forgiveness. That was utter humiliation, and the pope was gaining this power. It is tragic.
The same thing happened in England under Pope Innocent III and King John of England. Again, there was controversy over who would be the next Archbishop of Canterbury. John wanted one candidate, and Innocent III wanted another. John was excommunicated.
This affected not only the king but the people of England. Roman Catholic church services were banned in England. There was nowhere for them to go. They could not be married, baptized, or buried. It brought about revolt, terror, and fear among the people.
Because the pope had excommunicated the king, all the king’s subjects were freed from their allegiance to him. It also freed the king of France to possibly invade England, since England was no longer under the protection of the pope. Finally, John humbled himself in a similar way. The pope restored everything, and they were able to continue on.
But the popes during this time became more and more corrupt. They attained the papacy by bribery, bargains, and every sort of arrangement. At one time, in what was called the Great Papal Schism, there were actually two popes claiming to be the true pope—one in Rome and one in Avignon, France. They were both excommunicating each other. “I am the real pope; I will excommunicate you.” The people were in terror. They did not know what was going on. It shows the utter confusion and corruption of the time.
Some significant dates during this time of the Roman Catholic Church include the First Crusade in 1096. A significant development occurred in 1215, when transubstantiation was confirmed. This is the Catholic belief that, when they take the cup and the loaf, these mystically and literally become the body and blood of Christ. Every time they take the Lord’s Table, Christ is being crucified again and dying for them.
It is heresy. But people believed it. This was what they were brought into, and if you did not partake of it, you were in trouble.
We also see the Inquisition beginning. In 1229, the Bible was forbidden to laymen. During the time of the Inquisition, it was a capital offense if you had one. It was not only forbidden, but if you possessed a Bible, you could be put to death.
To me, this shows how much the enemy hates the Word of God. We see over and over again that if the enemy can keep the Word of God out of the hands of God’s people, then he can gain a lot of ground. The only thing people knew was what they were told. Many monks, friars, and priests were not well educated; some could not even read. They were simply sharing and teaching what they had been taught. There was very little firsthand knowledge of what the Bible truly said. It was a sad time.
In 1302, Pope Boniface VIII issued the Unam Sanctam. This was intended to clarify his power and make sure everyone knew how powerful he was. He decreed that outside the Roman church there was no salvation; that the pope was the supreme head of the church; that submission to all papal decrees was necessary for salvation; and that all temporal authority—including kings—was subject to spiritual authority.
This was when it was solidified. Again, it was during a time of weakness, and sometimes when you are in a time of weakness, you shout loud. He made this proclamation, but it held throughout the ages.
One of the things we see during this time is the rise of monastic orders. These were monks, nuns, and others who gathered in monasteries and lived together under a set of rules and orders.
Because of the corruption of the time, many of these orders began with very good intentions, even with people who knew the Lord in a living way. They sought holy living because there was so much unholiness. They valued self-denial, poverty, and service to others. In general, they saw the mass church and the popes themselves had become so adulterated that they wanted to bring things back. You could almost call it an attempt to reform from within.
But it is almost impossible to reform from within something that has become so corrupt. Tragically, as most of these orders grew, they became rich, powerful, worldly, and abusive in their use of power.
One of the ways the church gained so much wealth was through people who were dying, particularly nobles. Priests, friars, and monks would stand by a person’s deathbed and say, “To really ensure that wonderful place in heaven, why do you not give all your property, kingdom, and money to the church? You will get a better place.” As people died, they passed things on to the church, which gained great wealth and property.
As one order deteriorated, another would arise to try to improve it and start over. But then it would repeat the same cycle. Eventually, all these orders came under the authority of the pope and became his emissaries.
There were many orders within the Catholic Church. Later, after the Reformation, we will see another order called the Jesuits. Among the more famous orders were the Augustinians, Dominicans, and Franciscans.
Luther, whom we will see during the Reformation, was an Augustinian monk. He was sold out. He was within the Catholic Church, seeking the Lord, and the Lord met him there.
Among the Dominicans, we see a great contrast. Savonarola in Italy was martyred for preaching the gospel. He was a priest in Florence and a great testimony for the Lord. Master Eckhart was another significant figure. Yet Torquemada in Spain was as evil as evil gets. So, you see within these orders a mixture. You cannot say all were good or all were bad.
When we use the phrase “Roman Catholic Church,” we are not talking about every individual within it. We are speaking about the system. Even today, within any group, there are those who truly love the Lord. We are referring to the system, not necessarily to individuals, because there were people during this time who deeply loved the Lord, even though it is perplexing to see how they could remain in these places.
The Franciscans, created by Francis of Assisi, began with a certain purity. But the movement grew so quickly that he lost control of it before he even died, and it began abusing many things.
Another sad thing during this time was the Crusades. Before this, believers had often made pilgrimages to Jerusalem throughout the first thousand years. Jerusalem was controlled by Muslims, but people were allowed to visit the holy sites.
In 1070, however, the Muslim Turks prevented them from visiting Jerusalem. The pope gathered the Crusades together. Overall, they were an utter failure.
It is hard to estimate the numbers because historical sources vary. For the First Crusade, some say fifty thousand went, while others say one hundred thousand. They went out supposedly to regain Jerusalem and free it for believers.
Some nobles and knights may have had a noble cause, but many had selfish motives: to gain loot and pillage. The pope granted absolution to anyone who went on a Crusade. Whatever sins they committed were forgiven, and if they were killed, they were told they would go to heaven.
You can imagine the result. As they went out, they raped, pillaged, stole, and murdered all along the way. It was tragic. The First Crusade did recapture Jerusalem for a little while, but it was lost again. The Crusades were an utter failure, and the damage done through them still affects us today. There are still bad feelings about them.
People ask, “How did the so-called church—the Roman Catholic Church—justify it?” Well, the wonderful thing about the Bible is that you can always find a verse to justify your actions, even when they are impure.
They used Galatians 4:30, speaking of Hagar and Ishmael:
Nevertheless what saith the scripture?
Cast out the bondwoman and her son:
for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
They claimed that they were returning to Jerusalem to cast out Ishmael and his descendants, who were prevailing over Jerusalem at that time. It is tragic.
Another tragic thing that occurred during this time was the Inquisition. Inquisition simply means to inquire or question someone. It began in 1210, and its whole object was to identify and deal with anyone who did not fully agree with the teachings and traditions of the Roman Catholic Church or the pope.
Remember, at this time the Bible was prohibited too. If they found a Bible among you, you could be put to death. Any small disagreement could bring trouble.
In these inquisitions, you were guilty until proven innocent. If your neighbor had a dispute with you or simply did not like you, they could turn you in to the inquisitor. The inquisitors would often come to a person’s house at midnight, arrest a husband or wife, and take them away to a castle or prison.
There they would torture them. Basically, you were tortured until you confessed that you were a heretic. At the end, they would conduct a great elaborate religious ceremony, a public festival called the auto-da-fé, where people were put to death publicly in great disgrace.
In Spain alone, three hundred and fifty thousand people were killed. It is hard to get records for other places.
One name during this time spoke of horror: Tomás de Torquemada, the Grand Inquisitor of Spain. Hearing his name caused people to faint with fear.
Again, people ask, “How could you justify the Inquisition?” They found Luke 14:23:
And the Lord said unto the servant,
“Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in,
that My house may be filled.”
They applied this totally out of context. Anyone who was not in what they considered the fullness of the house—the Roman Catholic Church—would be compelled to come in. The word compel had force associated with it. That was their justification.
That is enough of the negative. It shows you the difficult times in which people lived. But we are thankful that during this time there were faithful ones as we continue looking at that silver thread.
We have the Waldensians throughout Italy and France, the Friends of God throughout Germany and Switzerland, and the Brethren of the Common Life in the Netherlands. All of these were precious testimonies.
The Waldensians lived in the Alps of France and Italy. Their name is associated with the Italian or Greek word for valley; they were the people of the valleys.
The map shown uses present-day national boundaries simply to give us a point of reference. The Alps run through this region, and that is where they lived. The Alps are real mountains. Virginia does not really have mountains—sorry to those of you who live near mountains—but Virginia has little hills compared to the Alps.
The Waldensians were prominent from about the tenth through the seventeenth centuries. They are referred to by a number of names: Waldensians, Vaudois, Valdese, and the Poor Men of Lyons.
They were never part of the Roman Catholic Church. They had remained separate, and because of that they endured great persecution. Many were martyred.
This is a very significant group because it is the first group we see that is still around today. They have churches and meetings, though now they are institutionalized. I am not going to paint them as some grand picture of the glorious church of God, but the group itself is still around today throughout Italy, Uruguay, and Argentina.
In the 1800s, some settled in the United States, including in Valdese, North Carolina. There is still a Waldensian group there, though it merged with a Presbyterian church. They settled in many places, and they had a great influence upon many who came after them.
We will see their influence in the pre-Reformation period with Hus and then in the Reformation with Luther and others. We see their continuing influence throughout history, which is one reason we are spending more time on them today.
Their beliefs were based upon simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. The foundation for all their living was the authority of the Word of God in daily life. They preached often from the Sermon on the Mount because it dealt with how to live.
They did not want merely outward religion. They were looking for an inward life with the Lord. They believed in believers’ baptism: only those who were truly believers could be baptized. The Lord’s Table was open to all believers, not merely to their own group. It was a very simple table, similar to what we had this morning: a cup and a loaf. Except they used real wine, not grape juice—but I will not get off on that.
They also had a great burden for the gospel. They sent people out two by two as merchants. They were called the Poor Men of Lyons. As they went out as merchants, they would say, “We have the pearl of greatest price. Would you be interested in that?”
They spread throughout much of Europe, sharing the gospel. Often an older person and a younger person went together. The younger one was there to help the older one and to learn from him. It was a beautiful picture of discipleship—raising up the next generation and caring for one another.
They believed that only the indwelling Spirit of Christ gives real understanding of the Word. You have to have that indwelling Spirit.
They also placed great value on Christian education for their children. They created a children’s catechism called The Smaller Questions, based on faith, hope, and love. It was a series of fifty-seven questions, and it was used by believers throughout Europe for many centuries.
The questions were simple and foundational: What are the Ten Commandments? What are the fruit of the Spirit? What must one do to be saved? They valued educating children and training them to think for themselves, to read, and to write, with the purpose that each individual might come into a personal relationship with the Lord.
If you want to look it up, it is called The Smaller Questions by the Waldensians. If you Google it, you can still find some of the questions. I have not found a book on it yet, but if anybody ever finds that little booklet, I would love to see it.
One of the key figures among the Waldensians was a man named Peter Waldo. Now, many history books say Peter Waldo was the founder of the Waldensians. If you Google Waldensians on Wikipedia—do not ever use Wikipedia for church history study—you will find that claim. But it is not true. They were around before he was. People simply associate the name Waldo with Waldensian.
Peter Waldo was not the founder, but he was a successful merchant in Lyons. He was saved through contact with some Waldensians. He had the Scriptures translated into the Roman dialect of that time, making the Bible available for people to read and to learn to read through it.
He sold all his property and gave it to the poor. He encouraged the Poor Men of Lyons to go out and share the gospel. It was a precious testimony of how he really gave his life.
Because of his success, the pope began forbidding contact with him and with the Waldensians. They were driven out of Lyons. But, like most persecuted believers, they scattered into many countries. One of the greatest ways for the gospel and the testimony to go forth is through persecution, because people are scattered.
They spread through Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands. Later, Waldo died in Bohemia. It is interesting how the dots begin to connect. He was taking the gospel to Bohemia, and later we see people such as Comenius, Hus, and Zinzendorf coming from those regions.
This helps us see the precious work God was doing. We can connect the dots all the way back from today to this time. That is encouraging.
For most of their history, the Waldensians were under persecution. In 1209, the pope organized a crusade against that region. The Crusaders were again given absolution.
There was a massacre at Béziers, and about twenty thousand people were killed. The Waldensian testimony was present within that community. When the Crusaders came, many people from outside fled into the town for safety.
Because of the testimony of the Waldensian believers, Catholic people literally stayed and stood with them. They saw their lives and said, “These are our friends. These are our neighbors. These are not heretics.” They knew there was a reality there.
When the soldiers surrounded the town, the commanding officer gave the order to go in and kill. The sergeant-at-arms asked, “Who do we kill?” The officer said, “Kill them all. God will know His own.”
What he meant was that God would know the Catholics from the Waldensians. But he uttered a great phrase: God will know His own. That is the testimony. The Inquisition then began in that area.
Whenever someone was arrested and executed during the Inquisition, their goods were divided between the church and the civil authorities. There was almost an incentive for the church and local government to bring rich people before an inquisition, because they would lose everything. But persecution continued to scatter these believers throughout Europe and the Balkan countries.
During the 1300s, there was a relative quiet period. There were still battles, but then in the 1400s a new inquisitor was appointed and persecution was renewed.
The Waldensians were people of the valleys. When troops came in, they would flee up into the mountains because they knew the mountains. Most of the troops came from the flatlands and did not know how to fight in mountainous terrain. Often the troops would back off once the Waldensians fled into the mountains.
At times, however, the troops followed them up into the mountains, where they hid in caves. If they found people in a cave, they would set a fire at the mouth of the cave, and everyone inside would be burned.
Many fled over the mountains into Switzerland. In one year of severe persecution, one hundred and ten babies died during the trip over the Alps because of the severity of winter. It is pretty sad.
As the troops became more experienced, they learned how to march up the mountains. In two towns in particular, the Waldensians were invaded, and the troops drove people over the cliffs.
The Waldensians always had an option: repent and join the Catholic Church. That was always available to them. But they did not choose that.
The Edict of Nantes in 1598 gave some religious liberties. This affected the Huguenots, whom we will see later, but it was eventually revoked and persecution began again.
Then, in 1689, came what is called the Glorious Return of the Waldensians. Many were living in Switzerland, in the Geneva area. As they prayed before the Lord, they felt they were supposed to return to their land. Some were still there, but most had fled.
Nine hundred men left Geneva in August to return. They had to cross the Alps, and they were attacked by French and Italian armies. They literally had to spend the winter in the Alps, and it was severe.
The following spring, in May, the French and Italian armies began attacking them again. They were chasing the Waldensians up a mountain. By this time, only about three hundred remained.
It is an amazing miracle of the hand of God. The armies were chasing these three hundred men up the mountain, believing that the end was in view. Then a fog came in and completely covered the mountain.
The mountain men knew what to do with a fog: they did nothing. They stood still. The troops, who were inexperienced in the fog, panicked. They thought they needed to go back down, but they could not see a thing.
Most of the troops literally fell off the mountains. The pathways were not nice highways; they were little footpaths with cliffs beside them. If you were not experienced and did not know the mountains, you did not know how to handle it.
It was the hand of God that protected these people. Afterward, the three hundred were able to arrive back in the valley and reclaim their land. At the same time, political alliances were severed, and the persecution of the Waldensians stopped for a time.
It is a tremendous testimony. These three hundred remind me of that little verse: “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.” When we are in the midst of a fog, when we are in the midst of a battle and do not know which way to go, do not go anywhere. Stand there and see the salvation of God.
He delivered them, and He will deliver us. There may be days ahead for us when everything is dark around us and we do not know what to do, but we can stand in Him. They stood. They did not budge. They knew what to do. They were prepared for that day.
We have been hearing a lot over the last few years about being prepared for what is ahead. These people were prepared, and they knew how to handle it. We are thankful for that.
The persecution of the Waldensians was so severe that John Milton wrote a poem about it. It is called “On the Late Massacre in Piedmont.” Milton was in England, but they had heard about this massacre in 1655.
It is a precious poem of testimony, almost a prayer:
Avenge, O Lord, Thy slaughtered saints, whose bones
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold;
Even them who kept Thy truth so pure of old,
When all our fathers worshipped stocks and stones,
Forget not in Thy book record their groans
Who were Thy sheep and in their ancient fold
Slain by the bloody Piedmontese that rolled
Mother with infant down the rocks. Their moans
The vales redoubled to the hills, and they
To Heaven. Their martyred blood and ashes sow
O’er all the Italian fields, where still doth sway
The triple tyrant; that from these may grow
A hundredfold, who, having learnt Thy way,
Early may fly the Babylonian woe.
It is a prayer that out of this suffering, people would learn to flee that Babylonian woe. The Roman Catholic Church was often referred to as Babylon. It is a very precious testimony of these people. If you ever have an opportunity to read more about them, I would greatly encourage it.
Along the same lines, we see the Friends of God. These were active during the fourteenth century, mainly through Strasbourg, Cologne, and Basel in Switzerland. Key brethren among them were Eckhart, Tauler, and Suso.
Tauler himself was saved through Waldensian merchants. All three were Dominican friars, part of the Roman Catholic Church, but they were really seeking the Lord. Tauler heard about these Waldensian merchants, talked with them, and exchanged fellowship with them. His eyes were opened, and he came to know the Lord in a marvelous way.
Eckhart was saved in a similar way. These dear ones went around teaching and bringing much truth. Eckhart was eventually charged with heresy by the church and brought to trial before the pope, but he died before they could sentence him. He went to glory beforehand.
Tauler remained in Strasbourg during the plague and died there, serving and caring for people in the midst of the plague.
In general, these were more mystical people. They emphasized communion with God. They went outside the cities into forests or mountains, finding hidden places for prayer and for the Lord’s Table. They did not allow circumstances to restrict their worship. They found a way to be together and worship the Lord.
One of their key writings was the Theologia Germanica. This greatly affected Luther as he was seeking the Lord and finding his way. He found these writings, and they impacted him, opening his eyes more and more.
Most of the writings of these people were destroyed. One thing the Roman Catholic Church did, when it declared someone a heretic or did not like what they said, was destroy everything they had ever written. We do not have many writings from these dear ones.
Much of what we know about them is what the church accused them of believing. The church would say these people believed that only believers could be baptized or that anyone could take the Lord’s Table. Those are pretty good accusations, but they differed from what the official church taught. That is why it is difficult to find their writings today.
We are thankful for their faithfulness. The Waldensians impacted them, and they in turn impacted others.
Finally, the last group we want to look at today is the Brethren of the Common Life. They lived during the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries in the Netherlands, near Deventer.
One key figure was Gerhard Groote. He was a precious testimony because he cared for the saints so much. When the plague came, he remained in the area where he was living, caring for people in Deventer. Many fled to other places, but he stayed and lost his life there.
Thomas à Kempis was one of the brothers influenced by this movement. His famous writing is The Imitation of Christ, which is still with us today. Kempis influenced Erasmus, who became greatly involved in the Reformation.
Probably the best-known contribution of the Brethren of the Common Life was their emphasis on Christian-based education. They said, “The root of study and mirror of life must first be the gospel of Christ.”
They used the Waldensians’ little book, The Smaller Questions, to teach children. It was published in different languages and spread throughout the region. These believers established many schools throughout the Netherlands and into Germany.
By the end of the fifteenth century, there were many schools begun by this group. Later, after the Reformation, many were taken over by governments as circumstances changed. But these believers saw the value of education.
As we focus more and more on the value of education, we see one of the things that helped bring about the Reformation. More people began thinking for themselves. They could read, they could understand, and the Word of God became available to them.
These dear ones also encouraged people to work for themselves, like the merchants. A whole new merchant class began to develop throughout Europe. This opened the door for the gospel. Economically it helped the countries, but it also created a merchant class. It was no longer simply nobles and serfs. Life in Europe was beginning to change.
Next time, we will look at the pre-Reformation period leading right up to the Reformation.
We see here how God, in a wonderful way, maintains a testimony. When there are people who desire to live and remain in the simplicity and purity of Christ, they find the all-sufficient One.
If you read some of their writings, they did not have the greatest clarity that we might have today, because the Lord has brought more and more things to light. But they had that simplicity of Christ, and they had devotion to Him.
May we be encouraged in this day and time. Things are trying to come in more and more against us, whether through temptations to compromise or other pressures. There is so much out there today that is pressing Christians to compromise. You have a choice between being called a hate group or being accepted. It has not been formalized yet, but it is working that way.
Sometimes we think compromise will bring about peace. It never does. It weakens the testimony.
May we be encouraged by those who have gone before us. We do not know what types of persecution we will face. It may be economic persecution. It may be social persecution. There are various types of persecution.
But we can find our all-sufficiency in Him. As we rely upon Him and stand in Him, we have His precious and magnificent promises that He will carry us through—not somehow, but in an overwhelming, overcoming way—to His glory and honor.
That is our desire. That is what we are looking to learn from and be encouraged by in those who have gone before us. So let us close in prayer.
Lord, as we look at many who have gone before us, it breaks our hearts to see what some of our dear brethren had to go through. We cannot really imagine it, Lord.
But Lord, we know that they found You in a very living way, and they have received that eternal weight of glory.
Lord, we too want to be those who are learning of You in the circumstances of life in which we find ourselves, that we may be the testimony You are calling us to be.
Lord, as we look around in this day and time, in general throughout Christendom, the testimony of Jesus is in a weakened state. But we are praying, Lord, that You would touch people here, throughout this country, and throughout this world, that the testimony of Jesus might shine brighter and brighter.
Lord, may there be a recovery of the simplicity and purity of devotion to You. May all the outward entrapments and all the machinations of everything that goes on be put aside. May we come back to that place of being the people of God that You have called us to be.
In Thy name we pray. Amen.