It Came Early in the Christian Era.

"The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary." Isa. 63:18. The "little while" in which God's people were to possess true holiness was the early morning of the Christian era. Had the church always retained holiness, there would never have been an apostasy. But by descending from this lofty plane she opened the way for every species of false doctrine and error. The result was that the enemies of truth trod down the sanctuarythe church. "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." 1 John 4:1. "For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist." 2 John 7. "Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us:

but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us." 1 John 2:18, 19. "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way." 2 Thess. 2:7.

From these texts we clearly learn that the way was paved for the reign of Antichrist at a very early date. In A. D. 54 "the mystery of iniquity" was at work. In A. D. 90 John testified that already many Antichrists were working, that many false teachers had entered the world, and that some had gone out from among them; namely, separated from the established church and gone off into heresy. It is very clear that at a very early date true holiness was lost sight of and that the way was being laid for a dark reign of sin and corruption. Many heresies arose one after another, and finally these grew into an awful beast-power-the papacy.

The Falling Away.

The falling away was foretold in the following language: "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he is taken out of the way." "Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie that they all might be damned

who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." 2 Thess. 2:1-4, 7, 9-12.

Some of the Thessalonian brethren, it seems, had an idea that the second advent of Christ would take place in their day; but the apostle disabused their minds of that idea by assuring them that before that day there would come a falling away. What can this mean but an apostasy, a retrogration from the pure apostolic plane? The apostles saw this thing only a little way ahead of them. This falling away is the same as that predicted in 1 Tim. 4:1-3, where it is said, "Some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils." "The faith once delivered to the saints" was the pure faith of the gospel. This faith taught but one God, but one Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 4:5, 6). At a very early time heresies were introduced, teaching a plurality of gods in heaven above and that Christ and Jesus were two separate persons. This theory was taught by many, and thousands were led away into this mythology and were never reclaimed. An account of these heresies will be found in the writings of Irenæus. He wrote his notable work between A. D. 182 and 189.

Through the faith of the gospel people received full salvation from sin and found grace to live free from sin. They entered the holiest and were made perfect through sanctification. Through faith in the name of Jesus the sick were healed of all their diseases, the lame were made to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak; devils were cast out; and great power and grace rested upon the entire church.

The reader can readily judge what the result was when men fell away from that faith; they lost all the foregoing blessings from God. So it can easily be seen how such a departure and falling away brought darkness and superstition and all conceivable doctrines of devils into the world. The ordinances were corrupted soon after the apostles' death. Feet-washing was lowered from a church ordinance to a practise in the home, to a mere act of hospitality. Baptism also was corrupted. In case of sickness, sprinkling and rubbing were substituted for immersion. Oil was sometimes used instead of water. At times the candidates were divested of all clothing. About Tertullian's time triune immersion took the place of single immersion.