Bible Matrix ⑦_185_REV 2:19 – you are now doing more than you did at first

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Bible Matrix ⑦_185_REV 2:19 – I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zM7AoOW4T0Y

Bible Matrix ⑦: Historical & Scientific Views on Daniel and Revelation

Part 2. Revelation

Revelation 2:18~29 - To the Church in Thyatira, adhered to the truth, but where false prophetess was active

Revelation 2:19 – I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first

☞ <Revelation> 2:19 - I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.(NIV); I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.(KJV); "I know all the things you do. I have seen your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things.(New Living Translation)

○ Jesus praised two things: the first is "your works, your love and faith, your service and perseverance", and the second is "the last to be more than the first or your constant improvement“. Honestly speaking, I have failed to find out what the words of praise of Jesus, which corresponded to the church in Thyatira, are specifically referring to.

○ However, from the perspectives of Christian history, the meanings can be found in the events that took place during the millennium of the Middle Ages (AD 538~1517).

1) Jesus praised the church in Thyatira for their “deeds (or works), love, faith, service, and patience,” but who had these five beliefs (or values) in the dark age of religion or in the Middle Ages? The Church Age of Thyatira refers to the churches prior to the beginning of the Reformation movement in the early 16th century(1,517). During the millennium of the Middle Ages (AD 538~1517), Jesus praised the faith and the works of Christians who fled to the wilderness or mountains or caves to escape the persecution from the papacy of Roman Catholic and in order to adhere to the truth of Jesus.

2) Waldensians or Waldenses - Among the Christians who fled to the wilderness or caves to escape the persecution from Roman Catholic, the representative Christians are the Waldensians or Waldenses. They fled to the deep mountains of the Alps from around 1,170 and did many Christian works with love, faith, service, perseverance, and a spirit of sacrifice.

(1) Waldensian missionary works - For example, only the clergy and priests of the Roman Catholic could read the Latin Bible, but they translated and distributed it so that the general public could also read it.

(2) Waldensian missionary works - In addition, Waldensian youths were dispatched as missionaries to each city in Europe for two years. If caught for carrying a Bible, they were executed, so Waldensian missionaries had to memorize many Bible verses. When they met a soul seeking the truth, they preached the gospel by secretly writing the Bible verses they had memorized on paper. Each year, less than 50% of the young missionaries never came back, because more than 50% of them were caught, imprisoned, beheaded, or burned at the stake. The missionary works that the Waldensians risked their lives continued until the Waldensians were absorbed into the Protestant movement in 1532.

(3) Starting point of the Reformation Movement - This was the ‘works, love, faith, service, and perseverance‘ which the Waldensians gave to God the Father. Their devotion became the seeds of the Reformation movement from the early 16th century(1,517) to the end of the 18th century(1,798). Their sacrifice became the starting point, leading to the Reformation movement of Martin Luther (1483~1546) in Germany, and the Protestant Churches could be established.

○ What is “the last to be more than the first or your constant improvement”? In terms of Christian history, its meaning can be found in the early reformers of the Middle Ages (AD 538~1517). The Reformation refers to the large-scale innovation within Christianity that directly denied the doctrines and institutions of Roman Catholic and demanded renewal.

○ Furthermore, Jesus says, “you are now doing more than you did at first“, so it prophesizes that the faithful Christians who fled to the wilderness and adhered to the truth shall stick together and lead the next Reformation, from the early 16th century(1,517) to the end of the 18th century(1,798).

○ Pioneers of the Reformation

☞ For example, in the late Middle Ages, John Wycliffe (1330~1384) of England began reforms around 1360, and in 1415, 31 years after his death, in the Council of Constance (1414~18) of the Roman Catholic Church as the 16th Ecumenical Council, which was held in Konstanz in southwestern Germany, he was condemned as a heretic and all his writings and books were banned and burned at the same time. In 1428, 44 years after his death, by order of the Pope, posthumous execution and his bones were burned and scattered in the river.

☞ Also, Jan Hus(John Hus or John Huss, 1370~1415) and Jerome (Jerome of Prague, 1365~1416) of the Czech Republic participated in the reform, who later were condemned as corrupt heretics at the Council of Constance (1414~18) of the Roman Catholic Church and sentenced to be burned at the stake as martyrdom.

☞ Because of their bloody reformation works, the Reformation movement in the early 16th century(1,517) was successful.