“Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the gate, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood. So then, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come” (Hebrews 13:12-14).

       Jesus lived and ministered outside the camp. He never became a part of the camp, or establishment—and neither did His disciples for the first few generations. When Christianity became an institution, it was so quickly corrupted that many of its doctrines were so changed that they had become almost the opposite of what the Lord and His apostles had preached.

       Soon, those who refused to embrace the perverted teachings of the new institution of Christianity were denied a part in the institution. Soon after this, they were being tortured and killed for their refusal to embrace the new teachings that were so different from the Lord’s. I believe these were the true saints—true believers—and wherever they gathered was the true body of Christ.   

       Institutional Christianity led Western Civilization into over a thousand years of perhaps the worst darkness the world has yet known. This is why so many historians refer to them as “the Dark Ages.” Halley’s Bible Handbook estimates that 50 million Jews and Christians were martyred in Europe during this time for refusing to bow the knee to the religious establishment. Other historians corroborate this number. If this number is not accurate, it is likely to be more, not less.

       Even a cursory study of these martyrs reveals that most of them were the true followers of Christ. Though their lives on earth were cut short, they loved the Lord and His truth more than their lives, so they will live forever. As we’re told in Revelation and other prophecies, those who “loved not their life even to death” will rule with their Lord when He returns with His kingdom.

       These martyrs were not just killed, but those deemed “heretics” by the institutional church endured evil and demented methods of torture that were worse than anything conceived by the Nazis or Communists of recent times. The bestselling book Foxe’s Book of Martyrs and other works document this. It reveals the depth of depravity and evil that religious institutions are capable of, which is still the worst depravity the world has experienced. Certainly, such diabolical devices could never even be considered by a true follower of Christ.

       By the end of this age, all Christians will have to choose between their allegiance to Christ and their allegiance to the institutions of Christianity that now dominate the world’s perception of Christianity but are in conflict with much of what Jesus taught.

       I searched the writings of the “early church fathers,” who were either direct disciples of the Lord, but not apostles, or were the direct disciples of the first disciples of the Lord, such as John, Peter, and James. One thing I was especially looking for was any reference to John’s revelation, which we call the book of Revelation. They foresaw many of the predicted events in Revelation being fulfilled just as they were centuries into their future.

       For example, I could find no early church fathers who expected a physical temple to be rebuilt in Jerusalem (so that “the man of sin,” or “antichrist,” would take his seat in to declare himself to be God). Some noted that the temple of the Lord was the church and that something would rise in a counterfeit church to espouse teachings that were contrary to Christ’s and be a substitute for Christ, ultimately taking Christ’s place as the Head of the church.

       When we have laid enough of a foundation with the general concepts of the prophecies that were symbolically portrayed in Revelation, we will be able to fill in many details and see a timeline that is confirmed in other biblical prophecies, such as the book of Daniel.

       The main point we need to get now is that history is a continual witness that, if any truth gets institutionalized, it will get corrupted. This includes political truth, scientific truth, or any other truth. Once it gets institutionalized, it can be subject to the worst of fallen human nature. But those who stand for the truth and against this evil will be purified by the conflict between the two.

 

© 2025 Rick Joyner. All Rights Reserved.