WE have thus completed our short sketch of the history of the church during the first five hundred years. That which was begun with so much power and blessing was not long committed to the care of man before he began to fail to preserve it in purity. Even the apostle had to speak of perverse men seeking to draw away disciples after themselves, and of others who crept in unawares, bringing in destructive heresies—a state of things that has never entirely disappeared.
Satan, indeed, at first endeavored to stamp out the name of Christ from the earth, through persecution by the pagans; but in this, as in many other things, he was deceived: the blood of the saints became the seed of the church, as has so often been seen and spoken of. For every saint put to death a number sprang into life. These persecutions had a purifying effect: few who were not real cared to risk all their property and their lives at the will of a pagan ' emperor: so that, if Christianity was not in full vigor, there was but little of mere profession.
As we have seen, Satan changed his mode of attack, and, from the time of Constantine the Great, he caused Profession to take the place of Persecution, and the aspect of the whole was changed. Not only must those who would stand' well with the Christian emperor be Christians, but, when the church was broken up into parties, they must be of the same party as the emperor as long as he was in power; and with the change of the emperor must come the change of the people, or persecution might ensue. Thus the emperors became not only the guiding star of the church, but also its ruling power. They made and unmade bishops as they pleased, and that office, which should have been confined to such as God chose and God gifted, was thrust upon any who would serve the purposes of the emperors or of those in places of authority. Happily there were noble exceptions—men who asserted they were God's servants, and were answerable to Him alone.
But even in some of the best of these champions we see seeds of leaven that came into full bearing afterward in the church, as is clearly shown by the apostate Church of Rome in later years seeking to prove its doctrines from quotations from these very fathers, though, as we have seen, their language was so uncertain that it is quoted also against such errors.
The councils of the church also were too often made the mere instruments of the powerful either in the church or in the state, without the semblance even of a holy convocation of heavenly men. Here, too, there were exceptions: from the, council of Nice proceeded the Nicene Creed, and from the council of Constantinople the condemnation of Pelagianism.
As to doctrines, we have seen how the leaven of evil spread everywhere. No sooner was one great heresy put down, or rather silenced, than another sprang up, dividing the church into parties, each zealous for its own views, and often contending, not with the sword of the Spirit—the word of God; but with the weapons wielded by flesh and blood. Happily there were exceptions—those who stood firm for the truth in all its fundamentals, and who fought manfully the fight of faith.
We have also seen how persistently and subtly Satan led men, again and again, to attack the doctrines touching the Person of Christ as set forth in the scriptures. If he could lead men into error touching that sacred subject, all was gained; for error as to this was fatal.
We have also seen the rise of monasticism—begun comparatively in a harmless manner, yet with the mistaken idea of perfecting the flesh—a system that afterward ripened into one of the most God-dishonoring things conceivable—a disgrace even to common morality, and which should not have been so much as once named in connection with the church of God.
What a sad picture does the whole history present of that which should have been a testimony for the absent Lord. Instead of truth, there was much error; instead of saints loving one another, they were hating each other; instead of unity, there was division everywhere; instead of being of "no reputation," leaders were contending for place and power.
It may be asked, But were there not many in those days, down, indeed, from the days of the apostles, plain honest Christians who lived to the glory of God in all good conscience? We doubt not that there were many such, and trust there were thousands; but, alas history names them not, except a few who suffered martyrdom, and the more prominent of these we have recorded. But God does not leave Himself without a witness, and we doubt not there were many, who, led of the Holy Spirit, kept themselves, at least in a measure, unspotted from the world, and brought forth fruit to the glory of God, maintaining the truth according to the light they had.
How refreshing it is to turn to scripture, and see that, though the spread of evil was foretold, and the prediction has been and is still being fulfilled, yet the Lord Himself "knoweth them that are his," and there is a day coming when our Lord will present to Himself a glorious church "without spot or wrinkle or any such thing." To His name be all the glory.