The History of the Gospel Age Church

The importance of history cannot be overestimated most especially as it pertains to the history of the Gospel age church. Unfortunately, the vast majority of professed Christians have little or no knowledge of church history. They may know something about the early days of the church its founding by the Lord and the apostles and its progress up until about the time of the fall of Jerusalem, but beyond that it all becomes a bit sketchy until about the time of the reformers and even then, most are uncertain as to events leading to the reformation. The dark ages however appear to be the most troubling period of all with most having but a vague idea of what actually took place during this period in church history. This period however is critical to the true Christian as it includes several key events of importance which have had a direct impact upon the church and its teachings ever since.

This lack of knowledge has left them completely oblivious of these events notably among these, the great falling away (the rebellion), which took place during this period and just how it came about. It has likewise left them in darkness to the appearance of the “man of sin”, the antichrist, whom the apostle warned would be exposed during this time. This ignorance has led to the erroneous idea held by many that the great falling away is of a more recent date and has only just begun, and that the antichrist (believed to be an individual) has yet to have been revealed.

History however contradicts this idea as there is abundant evidence which clearly shows these events have already taken place. Nevertheless, the professed church continues to foster this futurist view in the vain attempt to hide the truth from the people.

Now why should they desire to do this?

Because they fear that should the people be moved to a more thorough examination of the history of the church it would reveal to them just who the real antichrist is. History would confirm the apostle Paul’s prediction that the falling away (the apostasy) spoken of has already come and the true antichrist has been revealed. The reformers understood this and they even pointed it out, but alas even this bit of historic revelation has been lost and hidden from the professing church. It is little wonder they have no idea of the “times and the seasons” in which we live nor where we are on the stream of time.

This leads us to our next question:

If all of this is true then where should we be looking to find the truth on the of history of the church?         

When it comes to the history of the church, we have a lot of resources from which to gather insight as a great many historians have written upon the subject. The difficulty however is that not all of these historians are reliable nor are they in agreement with one another, many tend to have their own personal perspective of events. Thus, the biggest obstacle for one seeking the true history of the church is knowing which of these historians is not bound by personal bias, and as such has allowed this to influence their work.

Keep in mind that following the great falling away, the apostates (the “tares”) gained control over the professing church, and as such controlled, for the most part, what was and was not recorded in history (both secular and religious). And as all know history is typically written by the victors. Nevertheless, there were a few brave souls who recorded what actually took place even though in doing so this most likely brought upon them the scorn of the professing church as well as that of many of their peers. The problem is in distinguishing which is historical fact, truth, and which is merely an elaborate subterfuge by the apostate church in order to hide the true facts of history.

Luckily for us we are not left to rely solely upon secular writers and historians to find the truth as we have the true history of the gospel age church recorded for us in the Holy Scriptures themselves, especially as it is outlined in the book of Revelation. This history we find recorded in the seven churches, seals, and trumpets, each giving us a different prophetic glimpse of the history of the gospel age from various viewpoints or perspectives.

The seven churches: These show us the history of the True Church from Christ’s perspective, especially as a shepherd of the flock.

The seven seals: These reveal “the religious history” of the falling away and of the false church. We see here, the step by step the downfall of the church and the corrupting of God’s truth by the apostasy. The true church is seen, but only in the result of the persecutions brought upon it by the apostate church.

The seven trumpets: These show the history of the gospel age, from the perspective of the taking over of God’s church by the false church and state. They show us what happens through the misuse of civil power, especially when it’s controlled by the Papacy.

Note: “Bible Students differ somewhat in respects to the seals notably the first seal, the white horse and its rider. One side believes the rider to be our Lord and or his representatives (the early church), particularly the Apostles who oversaw and controlled the doctrine during the first stage of the church in order to maintain its purity, while the other side admitting that the white horse represent pure doctrine nevertheless questions who exactly the rider is. Both sides have their merits and both appear to be supported by the scriptures.”

(Excerpts taken from Revelation Notes Southern Wisconsin, Edited)

In our next post we will begin our look at the true history of the Gospel age beginning with the first church and see who the Lord chose to be the messenger of the church during this period.