Lesson 7: Lessons from Church History

By the end of this lesson, the student should:

(1) Recognize important lessons from church history.

(2) Apply lessons from church history to your ministry today.

In the Hebrew Bible, the “Historical Books” are called the “Former (or Early) Prophets.” This name shows the purpose for biblical history. The job of a prophet was to bring a message to God’s people. The purpose of the Historical Books was prophetic: to bring God’s message to God’s people.

The message is sometimes in the form of positive examples to be imitated. For example, David was a man after God’s own heart. When all Israel was afraid of Goliath, David faced the Philistine “in the name of the Lord of Hosts.”[1] David’s faithfulness to God provides an example for us today.

The message is sometimes in the form of negative examples to be avoided. For example, in spite of David’s successes, he sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah. The rest of David’s life showed the fruit of that sin. David’s sin provides a warning to us today.

Another example of history’s lessons is found in the New Testament book of Jude. Jude warns against “ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:4). Jude compares these people to other people from biblical history. He compares their behavior to the immorality of Sodom and Gomorrah (1:7). Those sinful cities “serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.” The punishment of Sodom and Gomorrah serves as a warning to those who live like these false teachers. Later, Jude (1:11) points to other historical events that warn against rebellion and disobedience: Cain’s sacrifice, Balaam’s folly, and Korah’s rebellion.

Why did Jude include this history lesson? Because the lives of Cain, Balaam, and Korah serve as warning to the people of Jude’s day. History teaches lessons for today. It warns of dangers and points to positive examples. By learning the lessons of history, we can avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. In this lesson, we will review some lessons that we can gain from our study of church history.

[1] 1 Samuel 17:45

Enemies of Christ have tried to destroy the church many times, but church history shows that God is stronger than any enemy. In spite of the enemies of the church, God is working his purpose in human history.

As we study biblical history, we see God’s sovereignty. He accomplished his purposes in spite of the opposition of Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar. God used Cyrus to bring the Jews back to Jerusalem; he used Caesar Augustus to bring Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem. Biblical history shows that God is sovereign.

In the same way, we see God’s sovereignty as we study church history. In the early fourth century, Diocletian tried to destroy the church by killing Christian leaders; within twenty years, Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire. In the seventh century, Muslims tried to drive Christianity out of Africa; today, we are seeing a massive turn to the gospel among Muslims. More Muslims have converted to Christ since 1990 than in the previous fourteen centuries combined. In the fifteenth century, the Roman Catholic Church tried to destroy the Protestant Reformation by killing its leaders. Instead, the Protestant revival spread around the world.

In the twentieth century, God worked in spite of the opposition of Mao Tse-Tung to spread the gospel throughout China. In 1966, a headline in the South China Morning Post announced, “CHRISTIANITY IN SHANGAI COMES TO AN END.” The article said, “The final page of the history of Christian religion in Shanghai was written on August 24.”

Today, fifty years after this headline, there are dozens of churches and more than 100,000 Christians in the city of Shanghai. Church history shows that God is sovereign.

As twenty-first century Christians, we can trust in God’s sovereignty and God’s faithfulness. As we face the pressures of our society, we can know that the God who was faithful to Christians facing opposition and persecution in the second century will be faithful to us today. God is working his purpose in human history. This gives us confidence to face the future.

Although a sovereign God could accomplish his purposes without using humankind, he graciously chooses to work through human vessels. As we study biblical history, we see that God worked through faithful men like Abraham; and he worked through flawed men like Jacob.  He worked through the brilliant mind of the Apostle Paul, and he worked through the straightforward thinking of Simon Peter.

As we study church history, we see this same principle. God works through people of many different personalities, abilities, and social classes. In the Reformation, God worked through a plain spoken German monk, Martin Luther – and through a scholar of the classics, Erasmus. In the Methodist revival, God worked through an Oxford trained scholar, John Wesley – and through an self-educated preacher like Francis Asbury.

As we study church history, we see that God works through people of prayer. In Lesson 4, we saw the great revival and mission movements of the nineteenth century. It is exciting to see how God worked through men like William Booth, William Carey, and Samuel Ajayi Crowther to accomplish his purposes. However, we must not forget the hundred-year prayer meeting started among a quiet group of Moravians in 1727. Although the names of the people in that prayer meeting are unknown, the fruit of their prayer may be seen in the revivals that spread during this century.

In 1906, a group of missionaries to Korea heard about revivals in Wales and India. Twenty missionaries began to pray daily for revival. In early 1907, during a week of daily prayer services at a church in Pyongyang, God began to move. An elder in one of the churches stood to confess hidden sin. This confession opened the way for God’s Spirit. Until 2 a.m., dozens of people were confessing sin and seeking forgiveness. During the next two months, more than 2,000 people came to Christ in Pyongyang. Over the next three years, more than 80,000 converts were saved throughout Korea.  God moves in response to prayer.

As we study church history, we see that God works through people with a passion for mission. In Lesson 5, we read of Booth’s vision for the lost; “Souls! Souls! Souls! My heart hungers for souls.” This passion is seen in many of the men and women that God has used to transform church history. God works through men and women who have a heart that loves people like God loves people.  From the Apostle Thomas traveling to India in the first century to Cameron Townsend devoting his life to Bible translation in the twentieth century, God has worked through men and women who had a passion for winning the lost.

As we study church history, we see that God works through people who are surrendered fully to his will.  One of the great evangelists of the nineteenth century was Dwight L. Moody.  Moody had little education, but he was committed to God. One day, his friend Henry Varley said, “The world has yet to see what God can do with, and for, and through, and in a man who is fully and wholly consecrated to him.” Moody began to think about Varley’s words. God wasn’t asking for education, wealth, or great ability. He was asking for “a man who is fully and wholly consecrated to him.” D.L. Moody resolved to be one of those men. Moody became one of the greatest evangelists in history. He founded a Bible college and a Christian publishing company, both of which are still operating more than 100 years after Moody’s death. God works through people who are fully surrendered to his will.

Frank Crossley (1839-1897), a businessman in Manchester England, shows how God uses an ordinary person who is surrendered fully to God. After hearing the testimony of a teenage girl at a Salvation Army, Crossley testified to the experience of entire sanctification. A short time later, Crossley contacted General William Booth to become a minister in the Salvation Army. Booth responded, “God made you a businessman. Use your business for God’s Kingdom.” Crossley accepted Booth’s advice and served the kingdom of God in two ways.

First, Crossley used his wealth to support evangelism. During his lifetime, he gave over fifteen million pounds to the Salvation Army. His business provided an opportunity to support the spread of the gospel.

Second, and more importantly, Crossley followed Christian principles in his daily business. He moved his factory to the poorest area of Manchester and gave jobs to the needy. Later, he sold his country home to live among the people of this industrial city. He bought an old music hall, Star Hall, and turned it into a mission.

Even after Crossley’s death, Star Hall continued as a Bible School, Christian publishing house, and the site of Salvation Army holiness conventions. Frank Crossley was never a preacher; he was never a foreign missionary; he was a Christian – and that was enough. He lived out Paul’s calling to be “children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.”[1] Thousands of lives were touched by the gospel through Frank Crossley’s life; 20,000 people attended the funeral of this “ordinary Christian.”

[1] Philippians 2:15, English Standard Version

The history of the church shows many dark days. There have been entire centuries when the institutional church showed little sign of spiritual life. Yet, God continued to work through the church to accomplish his purposes.

As we study biblical history, we see the importance of the church for God’s purposes. God used the church at Antioch as the “home base” for the spread of the gospel through Asia Minor and the western world. God works through his church.

As we study church history, we see that God continues to work through his church. The church serves as a defense against false teaching. As we study church history, we are reminded of the core doctrines of the Christian faith, the doctrines that God’s people have believed everywhere at all times. Paul placed great emphasis on this role for the church. He wrote that the church is “a pillar and buttress of the truth.”[1]

Because God works through his church, we should remember several truths regarding the church:

(1) The church must remain hungry for revival.

Church history shows the repeated need for revival. As we study church history, we find that persecution alone cannot destroy the church. Regardless of the opposition of the world, the church stands strong. In fact, the church has often flourished during times of persecution. Persecution alone will not destroy the church.

However, apathy and compromise can effectively destroy the church’s witness. Because of this, we must maintain our fervor. We should remain hungry for spiritual renewal and revival.

Periods of revival such as the Reformation, the Wesley revival, the Great Awakening, and the worldwide revival at the beginning of the twentieth century brought new spiritual vitality and a passion for evangelism to the church. True revival within the church brings a new passion for evangelism of those outside the church. We must never accept lukewarmness as the norm for the church.

(2) The church must seek to maintain unity.

Church history shows the church’s tendency to division. In his High Priestly Prayer, Jesus prayed for the church.

"I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me."[2]

What a powerful prayer! Jesus prayed that the church would “be one.” Through this unity, he said, the world will “believe that you have sent me.” The unity of the church serves as a testimony to Christ. This is a powerful prayer. Sadly, Christians have not always sought the unity that Jesus expressed.

Because the unity of the church serves as a witness for Christ, Satan works hard to divide the church. Divisions and conflict in the church have sometimes served as a witness against the gospel. As we read of Christians killing other Christians in the days after the Reformation, we see an extreme example of church disunity.  Through the centuries, churches have divided over many issues, some major and others very insignificant.

This does not mean that we should seek an artificial “unity” that ignores difference. Difference in itself is not wrong. The rise of denominations in the Reformation period was partly a recognition that Christians have differing convictions on some important issues. There is benefit in worshiping together with other believers who share your convictions.

The danger is not difference; the danger is when we divide the essential unity of the church over these differences. As believers, we should value the theological convictions of our own faith traditions, while respecting the Christian testimony of those with whom we disagree. This maintains the unity of the church while respecting the variety that marks different parts of the body of Christ.

(3) The church must remain faithful to the truth of Scripture.

Repeatedly, the church has been confronted by false teachers. In every generation - from those who denied the deity of Jesus in the first century, through Arius in the fourth century, to some “prosperity gospel prophets” today who deny the doctrine of the Trinity – false teachers have tried to lead God’s people astray. Martin Luther said, “Whenever God builds a church, the devil builds a chapel right next door.”  In other words, Satan always tries to attack the true church with a counterfeit.

There are three lessons we should remember about false teachers.

False teachers are deceptive.

False teachers do not announce, “I am teaching heresy! I am trying to deceive the church.” Instead, they act as angels of light. They often begin with orthodox teaching and then gradually move away from the truth.

As I am writing this section, I am flying from Virginia to Florida. If the pilot gets off course, just one degree, neither I nor any of the other passengers will notice a change. We will still look out the window and see familiar land. However, by the time we reach Florida, we will be in the ocean instead of at the airport. A small error can lead to fatal results.

Few false teachers deny all biblical truth. Instead, they distort parts of the gospel. The Roman Catholic Church of the Middle Ages distorted Paul’s teaching on church authority in order to claim that the pope held the keys to heaven for every person. Prosperity gospel teachers today distort Jesus’ teaching in order to claim that Christians have the right to demand that God heal every illness without submitting to his will. The words sound close to orthodoxy, but the teaching is deceptive.

False teachers appeal to people’s desires.

False teachers appeal to fleshly desires instead of the truth.  Paul warned, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”[3] Paul foresaw a time when people would look for teachers who appealed to their fleshly desires.

False teachers do not ask, “What do my followers need?” They ask, “What do my followers want?” They try to satisfy the “itching ears” of their listeners. Instead, true pastors ask, “What does my church need to hear from God?”

Faithfulness to Scripture is the answer to false teachers.

The darkest days of church history have been periods when the church abandoned the authority of Scripture. In the Middle Ages, Roman Catholic bishops claimed authority equal to the Bible. In the twentieth century, liberal theologians abandoned the authority of Scripture. Each time, the church suffered as the authority of God’s Word was ignored.

In the twentieth century, evangelical churches that are faithful to Scripture saw explosive growth. Mainline churches that abandoned Scripture in order to “fit in” with modern culture shrank both spiritually and numerically. God honors churches that honor his Word.

(4) The church must confront the world with the truth of Scripture.

The temptation to withdraw from a sinful world can be appealing to committed Christians. In times of turmoil, it is easiest to withdraw within the walls of the church and leave the world to its own fate.

However, a study of biblical history shows that God raised up men like Daniel to confront a pagan ruler. God used Elijah to confront an apostate King Ahab. God called Paul to testify to the Roman Caesar.  God calls his people to confront the world with his message.

A study of church history shows that God continues to call the church to confront the world with the message of Scripture. In Survey of Church History 1, we studied Athanasius who stood almost alone against false doctrine, “Athanasius contra mundum.” Through Athanasius, orthodox doctrine was preserved against the attacks of the Arians. In the same way, William Wilberforce confronted his world with the message of the Bible condemning the slave trade. Repeatedly, God has raised up the church to speak his truth to our world. We cannot withdraw into a private faith; we must speak truth in the public square.[4]

[1] 1 Timothy 3:15

[2] John 17:20-21

[3] 2 Timothy 4:3-4

[4]“I want to experience the same pain and suffering of Jesus on the cross;
the spear in his side,
the pain in his heart;
I’d rather feel the pain of shackles on my feet,
than ride through Egypt in Pharaoh’s chariot.”
- A hymn from prison by Simon Zhao
(Quoted in Timothy C. Tennent,
Theology in the Context of World Christianity)

As we study church history, we benefit in many ways. We learn positive lessons from the heroes of the past; we receive warnings from the mistakes of the past. As we study church history, we better understand where our local church and theological branch fits into the history of the church. As we study church history, we learn to distinguish between beliefs that are central to the Christian faith and beliefs that are secondary and are identified more with a particular tradition or time in history.

I hope that you will continue to read about the history of the church and to read biographies of great Christians. As you read, ask God to teach you lessons that will help you to be a more effective leader in the church today.

► Discuss the lessons you have learned from the study of church history. What are some positive lessons that will guide your ministry? What are some warnings that will keep you from failure? Find ways to apply the lessons of church history in your ministry.

Submit your final course project within thirty days of completing this lesson.  This is a 6-8 page paper on the spread of Christianity in your nation or among your people group. This paper should include three parts:

1. The story of the arrival of the gospel to your people
2. An evaluation of the strength of the church today
3. A vision for the growth of the church in the next twenty years

If the class leader approves, you may work together with your classmates in preparing this paper.