1 00:00:16,820 --> 00:00:20,110 David McCullagh: So we're in part three of this series that we've been 2 00:00:20,110 --> 00:00:24,929 thinking about, um, a series looking at the life of the church and what 3 00:00:24,929 --> 00:00:26,719 we can learn from our church history. 4 00:00:27,349 --> 00:00:30,230 And tonight it's entitled Into the Depths. 5 00:00:30,850 --> 00:00:35,680 So it's not necessarily a person, but it's a place that was used by 6 00:00:35,700 --> 00:00:37,940 God at a particular time in history. 7 00:00:38,335 --> 00:00:39,995 to preserve the saints. 8 00:00:40,835 --> 00:00:44,665 And so, as we've been looking over these past two weeks, 9 00:00:44,725 --> 00:00:47,985 we can't escape persecution. 10 00:00:48,545 --> 00:00:50,834 It was right there from the outset of the church. 11 00:00:51,265 --> 00:00:54,475 Persecution was rife, and the church endured it. 12 00:00:54,834 --> 00:00:59,095 From really the first, the second, and into the third centuries, and even 13 00:00:59,095 --> 00:01:02,565 at the start of the fourth century, the church was under persecution. 14 00:01:02,775 --> 00:01:05,675 In reality, the church in every generation has been persecuted 15 00:01:05,675 --> 00:01:06,854 in some place in the world. 16 00:01:07,345 --> 00:01:09,755 But a significant thing happened in the 4th century, that 17 00:01:09,765 --> 00:01:11,784 was the Emperor Constantine. 18 00:01:11,965 --> 00:01:16,845 We'll come to him in due course, whether by a good luck charm or whether by genuine 19 00:01:16,845 --> 00:01:22,815 faith, he established Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire. 20 00:01:23,134 --> 00:01:24,504 And of course that changed everything. 21 00:01:25,164 --> 00:01:27,514 You can't persecute the official religion. 22 00:01:28,085 --> 00:01:30,835 And so safeguards were put in place for the Christian community. 23 00:01:31,295 --> 00:01:34,085 But up until then, persecution happened. 24 00:01:34,615 --> 00:01:38,844 We saw that at the beginning with Ignatius and Polycarp. 25 00:01:39,304 --> 00:01:45,024 We saw it with Ernest last week and the people that were there in Smyrna. 26 00:01:45,865 --> 00:01:48,394 And we see it again, this time in Rome. 27 00:01:48,925 --> 00:01:53,785 And we're actually jumping back a little bit in time, just a couple 28 00:01:53,785 --> 00:01:58,075 of years to see how that tracked its way to what we find ourselves. 29 00:01:59,045 --> 00:02:04,335 So the question is, as we've looked at persecution, how does the 30 00:02:04,345 --> 00:02:08,084 Church, how does it preserve itself? 31 00:02:08,225 --> 00:02:16,185 You might say, well, that, that's a very good question. 32 00:02:16,265 --> 00:02:18,065 Open doors could answer that for us. 33 00:02:18,495 --> 00:02:22,225 Uh, indeed they could, and they would, and in due course they will, 34 00:02:22,285 --> 00:02:23,674 um, at our missionary weekend. 35 00:02:23,675 --> 00:02:27,954 But, how did the early church survive? 36 00:02:29,755 --> 00:02:34,095 Well, to survive persecution, they had to do it in two ways. 37 00:02:34,195 --> 00:02:36,095 Because there was two things they had to do. 38 00:02:37,150 --> 00:02:39,780 First of all, they had to preserve the faith. 39 00:02:40,670 --> 00:02:44,420 How could they preserve the gospel message? 40 00:02:45,270 --> 00:02:48,910 And secondly then, how did they preserve their fellowship? 41 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:53,530 How did they preserve the physicality of the church? 42 00:02:55,609 --> 00:03:01,320 New Christians coming into the church would have had to face many issues. 43 00:03:01,420 --> 00:03:05,920 Either coming from Judaism or coming from Roman God worship. 44 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:09,430 It was a wonderful time because they couldn't get enough 45 00:03:09,430 --> 00:03:10,280 of what they were learning. 46 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:12,140 They couldn't get enough of Jesus Christ. 47 00:03:12,590 --> 00:03:17,540 And there was an excitement and an energy that perhaps we only see for 48 00:03:17,549 --> 00:03:19,200 a short period in our own lives. 49 00:03:19,249 --> 00:03:22,978 Maybe just like them, but it was a moment when they were on fire, 50 00:03:22,978 --> 00:03:23,940 when they couldn't get enough. 51 00:03:23,940 --> 00:03:25,220 But of course, they didn't have a Bible. 52 00:03:25,740 --> 00:03:28,140 They might have had some text from the Old Testament, but there 53 00:03:28,140 --> 00:03:30,030 was no New Testament as such yet. 54 00:03:30,030 --> 00:03:33,359 It was coming little by little with some things written down. 55 00:03:34,285 --> 00:03:39,185 And so they couldn't wait to see and hear more, particularly of 56 00:03:39,185 --> 00:03:43,834 how the Old Testament pointed us to the Saviour of the new. 57 00:03:44,734 --> 00:03:47,585 And one way of saying this, and what we're going to look at tonight and into 58 00:03:47,585 --> 00:03:53,945 the depths, is to read Acts chapter 12 and verses 1 to 19, a longer passage, 59 00:03:54,335 --> 00:03:59,435 but one that's familiar and it's about Peter's imprisonment and his release. 60 00:03:59,920 --> 00:04:06,040 So turn to it there, Acts chapter 12 and verses 1 to 19, and I'll 61 00:04:06,070 --> 00:04:07,580 read it for us this evening. 62 00:04:08,930 --> 00:04:13,750 So beginning in verse 1, we read, About that time Herod the king laid violent 63 00:04:13,750 --> 00:04:16,290 hands on some who belonged to the church. 64 00:04:16,899 --> 00:04:20,589 He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. 65 00:04:21,010 --> 00:04:24,530 And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. 66 00:04:25,190 --> 00:04:27,450 This was during the days of unleavened bread. 67 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:32,010 And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over 68 00:04:32,010 --> 00:04:37,200 to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover 69 00:04:37,550 --> 00:04:39,270 to bring him out to the people. 70 00:04:39,950 --> 00:04:44,450 So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer was, for him, 71 00:04:44,450 --> 00:04:46,400 was made to God by the church. 72 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:51,020 Now, when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, 73 00:04:51,130 --> 00:04:55,850 Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains. 74 00:04:56,859 --> 00:04:59,869 And centuries before the door were guarding the prison. 75 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:03,830 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and 76 00:05:03,830 --> 00:05:05,640 a light shone in the cell. 77 00:05:06,070 --> 00:05:10,239 He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, Get up quickly. 78 00:05:10,749 --> 00:05:12,880 And the chains fell off his hands. 79 00:05:14,459 --> 00:05:19,229 And the angel said to him, Dress yourself and put on your sandals. 80 00:05:19,780 --> 00:05:20,700 And he did so. 81 00:05:21,330 --> 00:05:24,929 And he said to him, Wrap your cloak around you and follow me. 82 00:05:25,539 --> 00:05:27,090 And he went out and followed him. 83 00:05:27,515 --> 00:05:31,295 He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but 84 00:05:31,305 --> 00:05:33,015 thought he was seeing a vision. 85 00:05:34,724 --> 00:05:38,305 When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the 86 00:05:38,305 --> 00:05:39,964 iron gate leading into the city. 87 00:05:40,324 --> 00:05:44,784 It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, 88 00:05:44,804 --> 00:05:46,895 and immediately the angel left him. 89 00:05:47,674 --> 00:05:52,604 When Peter came to himself, he said, Now I am sure that the Lord has sent 90 00:05:52,614 --> 00:05:57,604 this, his angel, and rescued me from the hand of Herod, and from all that 91 00:05:57,604 --> 00:05:59,895 the Jewish people were expecting. 92 00:06:01,535 --> 00:06:05,855 When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose 93 00:06:05,875 --> 00:06:09,995 other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. 94 00:06:10,705 --> 00:06:14,155 And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant 95 00:06:14,165 --> 00:06:16,265 girl named Ruda came to answer. 96 00:06:16,895 --> 00:06:21,485 Recognizing Peter's voice, in her joy, she did not open the gate, 97 00:06:21,855 --> 00:06:25,035 but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. 98 00:06:25,725 --> 00:06:30,214 They said to her, you are out of your mind, but she kept insisting that it was 99 00:06:30,214 --> 00:06:34,205 so, and they kept saying, it is his angel. 100 00:06:34,685 --> 00:06:39,514 But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed. 101 00:06:40,734 --> 00:06:44,940 But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, He described to them 102 00:06:44,940 --> 00:06:49,090 how the Lord had brought him out of the prison, and he said, Tell these 103 00:06:49,090 --> 00:06:50,810 things to James and to the brothers. 104 00:06:51,190 --> 00:06:54,280 Then he departed, and went to another place. 105 00:06:54,900 --> 00:06:58,810 Now when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers 106 00:06:58,830 --> 00:07:00,480 over what had become of Peter. 107 00:07:01,090 --> 00:07:05,450 And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and 108 00:07:05,460 --> 00:07:07,340 ordered that they should be put to death. 109 00:07:07,780 --> 00:07:12,810 Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea, and spent time there. 110 00:07:13,620 --> 00:07:14,200 Amen. 111 00:07:15,430 --> 00:07:16,909 This is the Word of God. 112 00:07:18,260 --> 00:07:23,170 I want you to notice two things that are happening in this, uh, passage. 113 00:07:24,290 --> 00:07:26,839 First of all, Herod is mentioned. 114 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:29,150 This is Herod Agrippa I. 115 00:07:29,759 --> 00:07:32,130 Uh, he is the grandson of Herod the Great. 116 00:07:32,810 --> 00:07:36,170 And in verse one, we're told that he was persecuting the church. 117 00:07:36,380 --> 00:07:39,960 So we've gone back even further, back into Acts, to really those 118 00:07:39,970 --> 00:07:42,419 first months or year of the church. 119 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:44,919 And persecution is right there, and it's coming from Herod. 120 00:07:45,250 --> 00:07:47,389 Herod wanting to do it because it's pleasing the Jews, 121 00:07:47,390 --> 00:07:48,460 it's pleasing the people. 122 00:07:48,469 --> 00:07:49,800 Remember, he was a puppet king. 123 00:07:50,399 --> 00:07:55,290 He was a young boy raised in Rome, and so all his contemporaries were the 124 00:07:55,290 --> 00:07:57,590 Caesars and those in high officials. 125 00:07:58,289 --> 00:08:01,419 And so, perhaps it was to please them, but more likely to please 126 00:08:01,419 --> 00:08:06,350 the people, so that Herod could control the people under his care. 127 00:08:06,630 --> 00:08:07,909 But he wasn't a real king. 128 00:08:08,340 --> 00:08:12,539 He was only there as long as the Romans allowed him to. 129 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:17,229 But he is the persecutor of this moment. 130 00:08:17,789 --> 00:08:19,820 The church is under persecution. 131 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:26,359 First, it's to John, and then it is to Peter. 132 00:08:27,205 --> 00:08:27,975 who's put in prison. 133 00:08:27,975 --> 00:08:30,255 But of course Peter isn't martyred for his faith. 134 00:08:31,345 --> 00:08:33,275 He escapes in that miraculous way. 135 00:08:34,414 --> 00:08:37,375 So the first thing in this passage is that persecution. 136 00:08:37,945 --> 00:08:41,005 It's very clear, it's very blatant, it's very physical. 137 00:08:41,674 --> 00:08:46,405 It's done for motives, not out of fear, but out of strength, because as Herod 138 00:08:46,415 --> 00:08:49,205 does one thing, it gives him a boost. 139 00:08:49,315 --> 00:08:52,315 And so he thinks this is the way to go, and that's what he does. 140 00:08:53,645 --> 00:08:57,045 But the second thing to notice that when the church is under persecution, 141 00:08:57,425 --> 00:09:01,415 their response is to gather and to pray. 142 00:09:03,915 --> 00:09:06,415 They gather and they pray for the situation. 143 00:09:06,415 --> 00:09:07,655 They want to be together. 144 00:09:07,965 --> 00:09:10,274 You would think it would be the most natural thing for them to 145 00:09:10,274 --> 00:09:13,864 separate, to go out and to hide so that they wouldn't be found. 146 00:09:14,014 --> 00:09:15,805 You would have thought that the most dangerous thing 147 00:09:15,805 --> 00:09:17,465 for them to be was together. 148 00:09:18,435 --> 00:09:21,315 But that's what they chose to do because they were trusting in the Lord. 149 00:09:21,870 --> 00:09:24,670 And yes, they were gathering and they were fearful, there is no doubt 150 00:09:24,670 --> 00:09:26,670 of that, but they were praying. 151 00:09:27,350 --> 00:09:30,920 And this is something that Christians under persecution have done. 152 00:09:32,660 --> 00:09:36,950 Last Friday, I attended the conference that I had been advertising for the 153 00:09:36,950 --> 00:09:38,890 past few weeks, the Church in Egypt. 154 00:09:39,689 --> 00:09:44,730 And the lady that was speaking from the Evangelical Seminary there in 155 00:09:44,730 --> 00:09:48,935 Cairo, was saying that there is, and Open Doors have told us of this 156 00:09:48,944 --> 00:09:52,255 as well, and I think perhaps Joan, you might have been in this place at 157 00:09:52,255 --> 00:09:55,324 one time as well, the Kiev Church. 158 00:09:56,114 --> 00:09:59,584 The Kiev Church seats 20, 000 people. 159 00:10:00,534 --> 00:10:03,744 It's not an underground church as a church in China, it's quite literally 160 00:10:03,744 --> 00:10:05,354 an underground church in a cave. 161 00:10:06,305 --> 00:10:08,885 And it's in moments that the church has gone to. 162 00:10:09,435 --> 00:10:11,655 And if you remember back to the Arab Spring. 163 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:15,010 There was great joy and delight when Mubarak went out, and 164 00:10:15,010 --> 00:10:16,790 that was the first uprising. 165 00:10:17,450 --> 00:10:21,679 But then they got, um, I can't remember his name, but for a year the Muslim 166 00:10:21,690 --> 00:10:27,150 Brotherhood ruled and there was the second uprising, Muhammad Morsi, and they 167 00:10:27,150 --> 00:10:29,979 wanted him out as well because they were so disappointed with all the promises 168 00:10:29,980 --> 00:10:31,430 that were made that were never fulfilled. 169 00:10:31,980 --> 00:10:36,270 And in the second uprising, the church that was more and more under persecution 170 00:10:36,270 --> 00:10:37,610 than it had been under Mubarak. 171 00:10:38,305 --> 00:10:42,194 Gathered, hoping that there would be 20, 000 people wanting to come 172 00:10:42,525 --> 00:10:44,655 and pray in this second revolution. 173 00:10:46,115 --> 00:10:47,395 They got 70, 000. 174 00:10:49,495 --> 00:10:53,974 What happens when the church is under persecution, back in biblical 175 00:10:53,975 --> 00:10:57,225 times, as now, they gather. 176 00:10:58,455 --> 00:11:02,745 They may gather in fear, but they gather to seek the Lord. 177 00:11:04,805 --> 00:11:08,285 And we've preached on this in our series on Acts. 178 00:11:08,285 --> 00:11:08,444 But. 179 00:11:09,124 --> 00:11:13,104 It always surprises me that they were surprised and amazed that 180 00:11:13,104 --> 00:11:14,504 their prayers were answered. 181 00:11:16,095 --> 00:11:20,014 But yet, that's what happens when a people come and when a people pray. 182 00:11:20,855 --> 00:11:25,364 Be it in one large group or in small groups, however it may be, the Lord 183 00:11:25,364 --> 00:11:30,085 hears and knows the gathered presence and fellowship of his people and 184 00:11:30,085 --> 00:11:32,225 that is what comforts and sustains. 185 00:11:33,365 --> 00:11:34,645 Those who have looked into this. 186 00:11:35,105 --> 00:11:38,555 And no, the habit and practice of the early church would even go as far to 187 00:11:38,555 --> 00:11:41,065 suggest it wasn't simply a prayer meeting. 188 00:11:41,835 --> 00:11:44,324 This was a moment where they were quoting scripture and 189 00:11:44,324 --> 00:11:45,915 scripture leading them to prayer. 190 00:11:46,545 --> 00:11:50,364 And so they were trying to come near to the Lord through his word and 191 00:11:50,364 --> 00:11:52,344 opening their hearts before him. 192 00:11:54,385 --> 00:11:55,694 So this is what they do. 193 00:11:56,155 --> 00:12:00,834 The first thing that they do to survive is to gather to come before 194 00:12:00,834 --> 00:12:03,064 the Lord, to preserve the faith. 195 00:12:03,630 --> 00:12:07,130 to keep one another going, to keep the truth of the gospel 196 00:12:07,130 --> 00:12:09,180 alive and its hope alive. 197 00:12:10,069 --> 00:12:15,060 And the second thing they do is, what is this, what is this story that they gather? 198 00:12:15,670 --> 00:12:19,480 And that's what the early church had to do, particularly in Rome 199 00:12:19,880 --> 00:12:22,039 whenever there was great persecution. 200 00:12:23,099 --> 00:12:25,980 And so during the different waves that there were in the second 201 00:12:25,980 --> 00:12:31,015 and third centuries The church joined together in the one place 202 00:12:31,075 --> 00:12:33,475 that the Romans would not go to. 203 00:12:33,975 --> 00:12:38,415 And so, they head down to the catacombs of Rome. 204 00:12:40,135 --> 00:12:44,805 If you've ever been to Rome, you'll have seen the Colosseum, you'll have 205 00:12:44,805 --> 00:12:48,695 seen the Vatican, you'll have seen different stages of the history of Rome 206 00:12:48,695 --> 00:12:53,635 itself, and the Circus Maximus, and everything like that, and all that. 207 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:58,640 One of the places you might visit is called the Appian, or the Appian Way. 208 00:12:59,580 --> 00:13:01,890 Um, this is holiday photos again, I'm afraid. 209 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:07,899 Andrew Mullen and I had a week in Rome in 2009, and we decided we 210 00:13:07,899 --> 00:13:12,169 would walk along the Appian Way and visit some of the catacombs that 211 00:13:12,169 --> 00:13:13,880 the early Christians went into. 212 00:13:13,890 --> 00:13:18,060 What's happening with them now is, uh, churches have been built over 213 00:13:18,060 --> 00:13:21,530 these catacombs where Christians were known to have gathered. 214 00:13:22,910 --> 00:13:26,660 And this is just one of them along that way, quite close to the center 215 00:13:26,660 --> 00:13:28,280 of what old Rome would have been. 216 00:13:28,740 --> 00:13:32,190 Um, but now with the spread of Rome, it's, it's just surrounded 217 00:13:32,190 --> 00:13:33,480 by, by modern buildings. 218 00:13:35,490 --> 00:13:37,970 But these catacombs played a key part. 219 00:13:38,170 --> 00:13:41,530 It was this place that preserved Christianity in Rome. 220 00:13:44,339 --> 00:13:47,190 The Romans had a funny dealing with death. 221 00:13:47,849 --> 00:13:51,519 When death happened, they wanted nothing to do with it. 222 00:13:52,949 --> 00:13:56,839 Whenever you think of Rome, you think of the strong men. 223 00:13:57,740 --> 00:14:00,930 You think of Olympics and the Circus Maximus. 224 00:14:00,930 --> 00:14:03,440 You think of the gladiators in the Colosseum. 225 00:14:04,130 --> 00:14:07,970 Rome was all about strength and the look and appearance of strength. 226 00:14:08,925 --> 00:14:12,235 And whenever you go after those things, the last thing you want to 227 00:14:12,235 --> 00:14:15,495 think about is frailty and death. 228 00:14:17,175 --> 00:14:21,624 So when death came, the Romans actually turned a blind eye to it. 229 00:14:22,624 --> 00:14:25,734 There was no period of mourning or grief. 230 00:14:26,315 --> 00:14:31,115 It happened and they were wanting quickly to move on with life again. 231 00:14:32,115 --> 00:14:39,744 And so they seconded work out, really, to slaves who would dig down under the 232 00:14:39,744 --> 00:14:45,225 city so that there wasn't even any any sign of death into these catacombs. 233 00:14:46,255 --> 00:14:49,584 So the only people who would go down to these places were the slaves 234 00:14:49,915 --> 00:14:54,855 who were tasked to, to dig them and prepare them for different burials. 235 00:14:55,665 --> 00:15:00,935 Well, what a perfect place to go for the Christians to avoid the Roman authorities. 236 00:15:01,634 --> 00:15:05,444 And if you go today, you can go down into those catacombs and 237 00:15:05,444 --> 00:15:07,425 you can see wonderful things. 238 00:15:08,290 --> 00:15:14,110 Um, technology wasn't such, we didn't have cameras back in 2009 that could take 239 00:15:14,110 --> 00:15:17,420 good pictures in the dark so I wasn't able to take any pictures that you could 240 00:15:17,420 --> 00:15:19,890 see of what's written and inscribed. 241 00:15:21,110 --> 00:15:25,710 But whenever you went into these places, these chambers under the streets, there 242 00:15:25,710 --> 00:15:30,590 would even be seats carved into the stone so that the Christians would come and sit. 243 00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:34,390 And you always knew it was one of their places of worship because they 244 00:15:34,390 --> 00:15:36,290 would have that fish, the Ichthys. 245 00:15:37,660 --> 00:15:40,060 that was developed around this time. 246 00:15:40,629 --> 00:15:43,490 Jesus Christ, God's Son, Saviour. 247 00:15:43,510 --> 00:15:48,380 That's what Ichthys, whenever it's, uh, in its Greek, is spelled out to mean. 248 00:15:49,230 --> 00:15:52,719 The Ichthys was there as a sign to say, this is where we 249 00:15:52,719 --> 00:15:54,540 are, and this is where we meet. 250 00:15:55,659 --> 00:15:57,059 Of course, the Romans never saw it. 251 00:15:57,380 --> 00:16:00,490 And to any slave, they didn't know what it meant, just thought it was a, another 252 00:16:00,849 --> 00:16:03,790 image of the Roman pantheon of gods. 253 00:16:04,599 --> 00:16:07,819 And so deep down, Christians gathered. 254 00:16:08,620 --> 00:16:14,389 Deep down, Christians gathered to teach and instruct and mature in the faith. 255 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:18,920 Disciple, sing and pray. 256 00:16:20,359 --> 00:16:23,939 And one of the things we do have from that time is actually a hymn 257 00:16:24,499 --> 00:16:26,919 that was written from the catacombs. 258 00:16:27,459 --> 00:16:30,089 And that's what you have across on your next page. 259 00:16:30,530 --> 00:16:34,680 And it's really a testimony to the practice of worshipping in the catacombs. 260 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:38,340 And so it's an early Christian hymn that's entitled, Oh, Glad Some Light. 261 00:16:39,790 --> 00:16:43,020 So, you have to think of this, you're sitting down in the darkness. 262 00:16:43,450 --> 00:16:44,580 You might have a torch. 263 00:16:44,820 --> 00:16:46,780 You might have lit a, a small fire. 264 00:16:47,170 --> 00:16:49,869 Um, and so this is how you're, you're dwelling. 265 00:16:50,050 --> 00:16:53,959 And this is what they sing, Oh, glad some light in the darkness. 266 00:16:53,990 --> 00:17:00,339 Oh, glad some light, oh grace, of God the Father's face, the eternal splendor 267 00:17:00,339 --> 00:17:03,539 wearing, celestial, holy, blessed. 268 00:17:03,935 --> 00:17:08,714 Our Savior, Jesus Christ, joyful in thine appearing. 269 00:17:09,733 --> 00:17:16,464 And that early hymn continues, The day falls quiet and we see the evening light. 270 00:17:18,425 --> 00:17:22,095 What they were doing in writing this hymn was to communicate their 271 00:17:22,104 --> 00:17:26,994 physical experience as well as knowing what it means spiritually. 272 00:17:27,585 --> 00:17:31,705 That although they may be in the catacombs of darkness with minimal light, the 273 00:17:31,705 --> 00:17:37,949 greater light, the light of the world, was shining bright into those spaces because 274 00:17:37,949 --> 00:17:44,590 the word was preserved as the people gathered as they faced untold persecution. 275 00:17:44,919 --> 00:17:47,949 It truly was gladsome light. 276 00:17:49,590 --> 00:17:55,730 And actually after Christianity was legalized under Constantine, it was a 277 00:17:55,730 --> 00:17:59,140 wonderful moment because those catacombs where they had worship were no longer 278 00:17:59,140 --> 00:18:03,080 the places that they had to go and they themselves then started to bury their 279 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:05,909 dead in Christian burial ceremonies. 280 00:18:07,324 --> 00:18:11,054 And the further you go out along the Appian Way, the more Christian, and 281 00:18:11,054 --> 00:18:16,054 indeed Jewish, uh, those catacombs become, uh, with now different 282 00:18:16,064 --> 00:18:17,405 churches built on top of them. 283 00:18:17,835 --> 00:18:21,665 Um, as over the years the Christians built what would have been above their 284 00:18:21,665 --> 00:18:26,814 family burial ground in many ways, uh, as they moved along family by family. 285 00:18:27,634 --> 00:18:29,334 They're, they're an amazing place. 286 00:18:29,474 --> 00:18:31,504 Some small, some big, some caverns. 287 00:18:31,980 --> 00:18:37,330 As big as this and some small, some as small as a small store or under your, 288 00:18:37,370 --> 00:18:39,100 your stair cupboard kind of thing. 289 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:46,019 A place that we would never imagine, but yet a place that kept the faith alive. 290 00:18:47,589 --> 00:18:51,029 And one of the things that struck me on one of these, and this has 291 00:18:51,030 --> 00:18:52,430 been quoted in different places. 292 00:18:53,085 --> 00:18:59,034 Is one particular, uh, headstone or one particular inscription in the catacombs. 293 00:18:59,514 --> 00:19:03,574 And it's to, uh, an early Christian called Quintilian. 294 00:19:04,364 --> 00:19:08,365 And it says, here lies Quintilian, a man of God, a firm believer in 295 00:19:08,365 --> 00:19:13,464 the Trinity, who loved chastity and rejected the allurements of the world. 296 00:19:15,305 --> 00:19:16,575 Imagine that on your headstone. 297 00:19:16,585 --> 00:19:19,844 I don't think any of us would think about that. 298 00:19:20,114 --> 00:19:23,275 We might think about the last bit, uh, the allurements of the world was not 299 00:19:23,295 --> 00:19:26,860 given to those, but So, would we ever think of writing about the Trinity? 300 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:29,440 Why would he need to say that he believed in the Trinity? 301 00:19:30,330 --> 00:19:31,700 He's not the only one that did it. 302 00:19:32,530 --> 00:19:37,020 You can go past, uh, gravestone after gravestone in the catacombs. 303 00:19:37,725 --> 00:19:40,764 And the same thing of this time comes up again and again. 304 00:19:46,955 --> 00:19:47,635 The Trinity. 305 00:19:49,334 --> 00:19:53,314 There's something that happened at this period in history that, that defined 306 00:19:53,314 --> 00:19:54,844 our understanding of the Trinity. 307 00:19:55,544 --> 00:19:59,274 And it all comes from the next man on your page. 308 00:20:00,044 --> 00:20:02,754 It's Pope Clement the Third, or the First. 309 00:20:02,794 --> 00:20:04,184 Now, don't get too excited. 310 00:20:06,344 --> 00:20:10,735 Put aside our cultural thinking here. 311 00:20:11,554 --> 00:20:15,024 We're talking about a church that was truly a church. 312 00:20:16,345 --> 00:20:18,995 Gregory the Great will come years later, and he was the last 313 00:20:19,205 --> 00:20:21,944 true Pope, as John Calvin says. 314 00:20:22,595 --> 00:20:28,915 So we're talking about gospel hearted, gospel minded, leaders of the church 315 00:20:29,835 --> 00:20:31,815 in the shadow of the Apostles. 316 00:20:32,385 --> 00:20:36,785 There's no sense of modern day Catholicism that we know in this man. 317 00:20:37,595 --> 00:20:41,305 But what he does is something that defines the church for us, 318 00:20:41,635 --> 00:20:44,445 and it is to do with the Trinity. 319 00:20:44,555 --> 00:20:47,195 In fact, there he is there, it's the best we have of him. 320 00:20:48,235 --> 00:20:48,974 He lived between A. 321 00:20:48,974 --> 00:20:49,064 D. 322 00:20:49,065 --> 00:20:52,254 35 and actually he himself was martyred. 323 00:20:52,610 --> 00:20:52,970 in A. 324 00:20:52,980 --> 00:20:53,270 D. 325 00:20:53,310 --> 00:20:57,410 99, and we'll come to that just by a little bit of information at the end. 326 00:20:58,460 --> 00:21:02,180 If I were to ask you, where in the Bible do we get for sure and 327 00:21:02,180 --> 00:21:05,519 certain a teaching of the Trinity? 328 00:21:06,930 --> 00:21:07,979 You'll find it hard. 329 00:21:10,340 --> 00:21:16,600 That might surprise you, but you will find it hard to find a place in Scripture 330 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:19,670 that explains fully what the Trinity is. 331 00:21:20,590 --> 00:21:24,639 And for the first three to six hundred years, there were 332 00:21:24,670 --> 00:21:30,230 debates and there was Trying to understand what this trinity was. 333 00:21:30,230 --> 00:21:34,740 Oh, they believed in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. 334 00:21:34,740 --> 00:21:36,629 But how were they connected? 335 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:38,699 How could they be one yet three? 336 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:42,219 Our human minds today, if you think too long about it, it 337 00:21:42,219 --> 00:21:43,859 will baffle you how it works. 338 00:21:45,660 --> 00:21:46,649 But yet it does. 339 00:21:47,780 --> 00:21:51,180 And so coming into this new faith, trying to understand God the Father, 340 00:21:51,180 --> 00:21:54,940 which would have been known from a Jewish perspective, to all of a sudden 341 00:21:54,940 --> 00:21:57,290 God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. 342 00:21:58,060 --> 00:22:02,590 It took years of thinking, years of prayer, years of discussion, years 343 00:22:02,590 --> 00:22:05,410 of discernment to try and understand. 344 00:22:05,970 --> 00:22:12,089 I turn to one of my heftier books, I'd like to say I've read this 345 00:22:12,089 --> 00:22:13,620 from cover to cover, I have not. 346 00:22:14,579 --> 00:22:19,040 But I turn this week to what it actually says about the Trinity 347 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:22,920 because I thought it was helpful and it's a book on systematic theology. 348 00:22:23,300 --> 00:22:28,730 So in other words, a teaching, a concise teaching thematically of what we believe. 349 00:22:29,405 --> 00:22:31,735 And there's three parts in this book about the Trinity. 350 00:22:32,215 --> 00:22:35,635 Where Trinity is in the scriptures, how it was developed, and what 351 00:22:35,635 --> 00:22:38,714 are the problems for us today in continuing to understand the Trinity. 352 00:22:39,405 --> 00:22:41,865 And this is what he writes, he says, The doctrine of the Trinity was 353 00:22:41,865 --> 00:22:43,865 formally developed in the 4th century. 354 00:22:44,265 --> 00:22:47,135 It followed decades of controversy and confusion. 355 00:22:47,664 --> 00:22:51,324 The problem was how to conceive of God as one while according 356 00:22:51,324 --> 00:22:56,585 to the Son and the Spirit, the status given them in the Bible. 357 00:22:57,475 --> 00:23:02,455 It required the forging of linguistic tools to express what the church 358 00:23:02,715 --> 00:23:04,395 had believed and confessed. 359 00:23:04,814 --> 00:23:09,515 And eventually, at Constantinople I, the Church confessed that 360 00:23:09,525 --> 00:23:15,905 God is one indivisible being, three irreducible persons. 361 00:23:16,354 --> 00:23:20,814 The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are each fully God, equal 362 00:23:20,814 --> 00:23:25,844 in power and glory, indivisible and inseparable in all their works. 363 00:23:26,125 --> 00:23:29,284 While the Father generates the Son from eternity, and the 364 00:23:29,284 --> 00:23:31,215 Spirit proceeds from the Father. 365 00:23:32,014 --> 00:23:39,195 Generation and procession demonstrate that God is infinite, uh, superabundance of 366 00:23:39,195 --> 00:23:45,905 life and vitality, and are the basis from which he freely and sovereignly creates. 367 00:23:46,855 --> 00:23:50,994 Now that's a textbook way of saying, we have an understanding 368 00:23:50,994 --> 00:23:53,745 of the Trinity, but it took years. 369 00:23:54,514 --> 00:23:58,685 And the first record we have of it written down, in any way of understanding, 370 00:23:58,945 --> 00:24:01,485 is by Pope Clement the Third. 371 00:24:02,504 --> 00:24:08,175 And it all comes from this idea of him talking about the persons of the Godhead. 372 00:24:08,985 --> 00:24:12,524 There wasn't just one, nor he argued was there two, but there 373 00:24:12,524 --> 00:24:14,114 were three persons of the Godhead. 374 00:24:14,295 --> 00:24:16,585 Something we take for granted today. 375 00:24:16,845 --> 00:24:21,264 And in fact, it was Ignatius of Antioch, who we looked at two weeks 376 00:24:21,264 --> 00:24:24,655 ago, who took further what Clement said. 377 00:24:25,010 --> 00:24:29,520 And developed it that it eventually arrived at the Council of Nicaea in 325, 378 00:24:30,620 --> 00:24:32,860 where they then, uh, later would write. 379 00:24:33,360 --> 00:24:40,250 The Nicaean Creed and adding this to the bottom that says and I believe in 380 00:24:40,250 --> 00:24:45,169 the Holy Spirit the Lord and Giver of life who proceeds from the Father and 381 00:24:45,169 --> 00:24:51,199 the Son who with the Father and the Son together is Worshipped and glorified who 382 00:24:51,199 --> 00:24:57,420 spoke by the prophets and again someone else has written very well on this a 383 00:24:57,420 --> 00:25:03,705 guy called Chad van Dixhorn And I want to read to you what he said about this. 384 00:25:03,745 --> 00:25:07,054 Because he said the creed was issued as a brief statement at the Council 385 00:25:07,054 --> 00:25:12,645 of Nicaea, while the First Council of Constantinople, which I quoted just a 386 00:25:12,645 --> 00:25:17,084 moment ago, later provided a substantial addition concerning the Holy Spirit. 387 00:25:17,564 --> 00:25:22,774 Thus historians termed this creed the Nicaean Constantinoplean Creed. 388 00:25:23,355 --> 00:25:27,044 Even later, a line in the creed was changed in the Western Church only. 389 00:25:27,379 --> 00:25:31,940 to capture the significant teaching that the Holy Spirit proceeds not only from 390 00:25:31,940 --> 00:25:34,570 the Father, but from the Son as well. 391 00:25:35,020 --> 00:25:38,669 And that then becomes what we know as the Athanasian Creed, 392 00:25:38,690 --> 00:25:40,760 which was written in 633. 393 00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:46,730 So even until 633, we were developing what we believed about the Holy 394 00:25:46,730 --> 00:25:51,480 Spirit, and how the Holy Spirit linked in with the Godhead of the Father. 395 00:25:52,430 --> 00:25:58,379 But it all began with Pope Clement, the first in room, and that teaching went 396 00:25:58,379 --> 00:26:01,320 from up here and down to the catacombs. 397 00:26:01,529 --> 00:26:06,850 So much so that these early Christians depended on the Father, and on the 398 00:26:06,850 --> 00:26:12,120 Son and on the Holy Spirit, and was so important for them that they had 399 00:26:12,120 --> 00:26:15,710 it inscribed on their headstones. 400 00:26:17,060 --> 00:26:22,970 In many ways, it's like what we put by hymns, perhaps safe in the arms of Jesus. 401 00:26:24,380 --> 00:26:29,800 Or, are my own father's headstone, absent from the body, present with the Lord? 402 00:26:30,750 --> 00:26:34,480 What is important to us that we want to leave a marker? 403 00:26:36,239 --> 00:26:42,230 So the catacombs played a key part in our understanding of the Trinity and 404 00:26:42,230 --> 00:26:44,199 its importance in what we believe. 405 00:26:44,709 --> 00:26:51,090 We take it for granted, but yet for almost 700 years, the church was still 406 00:26:51,090 --> 00:26:53,490 trying to work out what this meant. 407 00:26:54,340 --> 00:26:56,619 And so, from very humble beginnings. 408 00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:01,200 With Clement, who was not like any pope we would know today or 409 00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:03,340 have known in previous centuries. 410 00:27:03,900 --> 00:27:09,859 He was a humble man who simply discipled and taught, with no regalia and no seat. 411 00:27:10,710 --> 00:27:15,510 But he taught on the Trinity the persons of the Godhead, and that sustained God's 412 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:17,809 people as they looked into his word. 413 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:19,830 to discover what this meant. 414 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:24,940 Well, at the end of the first century, Clement was banished from 415 00:27:24,940 --> 00:27:30,709 Rome and he went to, uh, that place there, which I'd never heard of, 416 00:27:30,740 --> 00:27:34,489 but if you're wanting to pronounce it, uh, just go with my confident 417 00:27:34,499 --> 00:27:39,910 pronunciation, which is Chersonesus, uh, during the reign of Emperor Trajan. 418 00:27:40,830 --> 00:27:42,840 And he was set to work in a stone quarry. 419 00:27:43,630 --> 00:27:47,579 And when he got there, he discovered, as you would expect, the conditions 420 00:27:47,579 --> 00:27:52,980 to be And the prisoners were running out of water or had no water at all. 421 00:27:53,310 --> 00:27:55,050 And he immediately prayed to the Lord. 422 00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:58,110 And as he looked up, he saw on a hill a lamb. 423 00:27:58,540 --> 00:27:59,939 And he went to where the lamb was. 424 00:27:59,940 --> 00:28:02,920 And when he got there, he went to the place where the lamb had stood. 425 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:07,610 And he struck his pick or his axe and out gushed water. 426 00:28:08,990 --> 00:28:11,070 Well, this didn't go down too well with the authorities. 427 00:28:11,830 --> 00:28:16,770 And immediately, they tied him to an anchor and threw him into the sea. 428 00:28:17,959 --> 00:28:20,580 There, uh, sorry, that place is up in the Crimea. 429 00:28:21,390 --> 00:28:25,110 And so in the Black Sea, he was plunged to the depths, tied to that anchor. 430 00:28:25,670 --> 00:28:30,390 A man faithful in his witness, faithful in his worship. 431 00:28:30,849 --> 00:28:35,780 And his contribution has led us to our understanding of the Trinity today. 432 00:28:37,420 --> 00:28:38,450 And that's his legacy. 433 00:28:39,159 --> 00:28:40,659 That's the legacy of the catacombs. 434 00:28:40,659 --> 00:28:44,574 That's why we think about them, because They kept something for 435 00:28:44,574 --> 00:28:46,125 us that we now take for granted. 436 00:28:47,305 --> 00:28:51,075 But we're thankful, because it has been fully thought out for us. 437 00:28:51,385 --> 00:28:56,365 That in the second and the third centuries, these people in the catacombs, 438 00:28:56,605 --> 00:29:01,274 who worshipped in darkness, because there was no light down there, but who 439 00:29:01,274 --> 00:29:04,584 worshipped in truth, defended the faith. 440 00:29:04,585 --> 00:29:10,724 And what they did is what Psalm 145 verse 4 says, One generation shall 441 00:29:10,725 --> 00:29:14,014 commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. 442 00:29:14,825 --> 00:29:18,975 That's what they taught each other, that's what they told each other, that's what 443 00:29:18,975 --> 00:29:25,995 they learned together of what it meant to, to survive persecution and to pass on this 444 00:29:26,004 --> 00:29:31,134 goodness as, as Paul writes to Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. 445 00:29:31,684 --> 00:29:39,104 That's exactly what they did so that today we would stand in their shoes and in 446 00:29:39,104 --> 00:29:43,724 their footsteps to be the next generation that guards the deposit entrusted to 447 00:29:43,724 --> 00:29:46,214 us so that the church will continue. 448 00:29:46,285 --> 00:29:51,045 Down to the depths. 449 00:29:51,615 --> 00:29:55,805 We don't think of much of good coming out of the ground. 450 00:29:56,645 --> 00:29:57,635 But yet here. 451 00:29:58,710 --> 00:30:02,310 The faith was maintained in those catacombs so that 452 00:30:02,310 --> 00:30:04,100 today we can worship well. 453 00:30:05,290 --> 00:30:10,350 We have a deposit and we have the freedom to offer it widely. 454 00:30:12,279 --> 00:30:16,460 We can offer it to those around us, but yet we don't. 455 00:30:17,139 --> 00:30:21,490 We shy back because we're afraid, because we don't perhaps 456 00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:22,890 trust the Lord to be with us. 457 00:30:24,420 --> 00:30:27,500 The problem when we look at church history, it becomes 458 00:30:27,500 --> 00:30:28,760 an indictment against us. 459 00:30:31,700 --> 00:30:36,100 And I want to say thank you to you for what you did do for last weekend. 460 00:30:37,250 --> 00:30:41,220 As I stood up in the pulpit and as I looked out, not only was Sunday morning 461 00:30:41,220 --> 00:30:44,119 full, but Sunday evening was full as well. 462 00:30:44,900 --> 00:30:48,389 You will have seen as well as I will have seen faces that perhaps 463 00:30:48,389 --> 00:30:52,770 we haven't seen in a while, and indeed faces that we've never seen. 464 00:30:54,020 --> 00:30:56,930 We're to give thanks to God for that, but we're not just to stop 465 00:30:56,940 --> 00:30:58,660 because of a particular weekend. 466 00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:03,100 We're to keep going, because we have been given a deposit. 467 00:31:03,785 --> 00:31:10,865 We are to be like those people in John Mark's house who prayed, who gathered, 468 00:31:11,095 --> 00:31:15,225 and who continue to gather so that we can proclaim the goodness of God. 469 00:31:16,185 --> 00:31:19,825 And that's what our questions this evening are going to help us think about. 470 00:31:20,575 --> 00:31:23,554 Because in our discussion we want to think of in times of great difficulty 471 00:31:23,555 --> 00:31:27,665 the early church met in the catacombs to find comfort in God's word, and in 472 00:31:27,665 --> 00:31:32,384 fellowship, where and how do we find comfort in times of trouble today? 473 00:31:32,785 --> 00:31:34,305 That's not maybe simply a place. 474 00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:38,970 But it may be scriptures that you want to share that you find particularly 475 00:31:38,970 --> 00:31:42,880 helpful so that you can help others and encourage others around your table. 476 00:31:43,950 --> 00:31:47,670 Secondly, we take for granted the teaching of the Trinity because 477 00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:49,120 we are so accustomed to it. 478 00:31:49,620 --> 00:31:55,410 Do we risk being so familiar with scripture that it loses its sense of awe? 479 00:31:55,820 --> 00:31:57,420 How can we prevent this? 480 00:31:58,070 --> 00:32:02,490 And then thirdly, who in the past invested in you so that you 481 00:32:02,490 --> 00:32:04,450 can be mature in faith today? 482 00:32:04,995 --> 00:32:09,905 Who are you passing faith on to, so that they likewise can grow in the faith? 483 00:32:09,905 --> 00:32:14,184 And that question comes from not only the catacombs of passing that faith 484 00:32:14,215 --> 00:32:17,825 on, where young and old would meet, but also in what has been given to 485 00:32:17,825 --> 00:32:22,164 Timothy, so that he could guard that deposit, so that it would be passed 486 00:32:22,164 --> 00:32:27,404 on to the generations after him, as we have seen with Ignatius and Polycarp. 487 00:32:28,385 --> 00:32:31,955 So let me pray as we finish this part of our evening and then let 488 00:32:31,955 --> 00:32:33,605 you get to think about these things. 489 00:32:34,705 --> 00:32:38,234 Our Father God, we thank you for your goodness and how you 490 00:32:38,244 --> 00:32:39,485 have preserved your church. 491 00:32:39,505 --> 00:32:44,705 And in many times it looked as if the church was going to fall, but you have 492 00:32:44,705 --> 00:32:48,844 promised that it will not because you will build your church and not even the 493 00:32:48,845 --> 00:32:51,035 gates of hell will prevail against it. 494 00:32:51,835 --> 00:32:55,685 So Father, we thank you that we do not stand on our own strength and forgive 495 00:32:55,685 --> 00:33:00,385 us when we, when we sometimes perhaps do and think that we know better. 496 00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:06,620 Father, may we be a church and a people who stand firm on Christ and 497 00:33:06,620 --> 00:33:08,500 know that He is the one who builds us. 498 00:33:08,950 --> 00:33:15,120 He is the one who, who calls sinners to repentance, who calls us believers 499 00:33:15,539 --> 00:33:20,630 to grow and mature in faith and be confident in faith so that like the 500 00:33:20,630 --> 00:33:22,370 generations that have gone before us. 501 00:33:22,850 --> 00:33:27,350 We will not only guard the deposit, but we will meet, and we will share, 502 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:30,220 and we will see lives won for Christ. 503 00:33:30,620 --> 00:33:33,400 So be with us as we talk about these things, and not just talk 504 00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:37,010 about them, but live them out, and we ask it in Jesus name. 505 00:33:38,290 --> 00:33:38,730 Amen.