As if she was reading from a printed script, the Institutional Church has rejected the tried and true rules of life as put forth by the Eternal in His Holy Bible. There was a time when “Thus saith the Lord” ended any debate relative to the will of God. The Apostle Paul spoke of this attitude in Acts 17:11 where he wrote about the men of Berea who, after hearing him speak about the Word of God, “searched the Scriptures daily to see if these things (that he told them) were true.” However, Paul laments in Galatians 1:6-9 that within 20 years of her founding the church had already begun the demoralization–Truth rejecting–process. God’s Truths were being challenged, evaluated and, in most cases, rejected. Evil men had already begun to turn the people away from the Truths of the Lord and to the false truths of the devil. Except for a few true believers (Mat. 7:13,14) the church soon turned toward a new Rome-based religion that had sprung up and, having the power of the Roman Empire behind it, quickly gained control of all things religious. A counterfeit version of God’s true church had arisen. Within 150 years of her founding, the “improved” version of Christianity, enforced by the armies of Rome, had turned the majority of God-seekers away from the teachings of the Lord’s apostles and toward the “truths” being espoused by Satan’s false prophets. By the end of the fourth century the Lord’s Word (Jn. 17:17) had been replaced by policies formulated by a centralized religious government that would come to be known as “Popery.” By not allowing the people access to the Words of the Lord, the dictates of the religious hierarchy headquarted in Rome soon replaced God’s Word as spiritual “truth.” For God-seekers there remained only two options, obey the Counterfeit Church’s religious rulers, or flee from them. Their eternal lives being at stake, they fled.

For several generations God’s obedient saints were literally on the run from the Catholic church which had the power of the entire Roman Empire behind her. God’s remnant church lived wherever they could find a place of safety. His statement that “All who will live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer prosecution” (2 Tim. 3:12) proved to be true in real life. His people were hated and despised. Seeking “a better resurrection,” many gave their lives rather than succumb to the dictates of the Romish church (Heb. 11:35). These God-centered, self-sacrificing souls comprised God’s true “remnant” church which continues to this day to hold onto the basic Truths as put forth in His Holy Bible. While the church in general has rejected the Lord’s Word this tiny group–His “little flock” (Lk. 12:32)–continues to cling to Him by refusing to enter into the demoralization stage through which the Institutional Church has already passed.

The so-called Protestant Revolution/Restoration movement did little to slow down the apostasy (rejection of Bible Truths) that had infected the church. By retaining most of the mother whore’s heathen beliefs (darkness) and rejecting most Bible Truths (light), her harlot daughters refused to separate from her (Rev. 17:1-5). As a result the “protesters” simply built another house whose foundation, like that of  their mother, is built on sand. As a result both will fall during the soon-coming storm–the Great Tribulation. And because they have for some 2000 years claimed to be God’s church, He calls their (doctrinal) darkness “great darkness” (Mat. 6:23). As a result their fall will be equally “great” (Mat. 7:27). L.J.