The 1st Century Church was under a great deal of strain, struggling with explosive growth, stretched borders with no authority and leadership, and persecution from inside the ranks of the newborn church, as well as, influence from outside pagan influences. Clement was known for the following:
· Consecrated by St. Peter as one of the first Apostolic Fathers of the early church, and is known to be a leading member of the 1st Century Church.
· Assisted St. Paul.
· Possibly the Clement Paul spoke of in his letter to the Philippians -
3 And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life -- Philippians 4:3 (NLT)
· Wrote 1st Clement to the church in Corinth. A second letter was written, however, most believe it was by a different author.
Clement, like Polycarp, loved the church and resisted frequently the influences that emerged and attempted to infiltrate the church. Clement was very concerned about the world's influence and pull on a believer. He warned that divisiveness within the church is not started with groups but with individuals. Individuals who spread dissension to hungry ears. Clement said this -- “Every kind of honour and happiness literally, “enlargement” was bestowed upon you, and then was fulfilled that which is written, 'My beloved did eat and drink, and was enlarged and became fat, and kicked.” Hence flowed emulation and envy, strife and sedition, persecution and disorder, war and captivity.'"
He went on to say, "For this reason righteousness and peace are now far departed from you, inasmuch as every one abandons the fear of God, and is become blind in His faith, neither walks in the ordinances of His appointment, nor acts a part becoming a Christian, but walks after his own wicked lusts, resuming the practice of an unrighteous and ungodly envy, by which death itself entered into the world."
Clement stood by the church and her defense as a guardian and all the while, like Polycarp, continued to encourage the church to love and care for one another within her ranks. His love for the church was obvious in his message to her, the message of repentance with confession.
"Let us look steadfastly to the blood of Christ, and see how precious that blood is to God, which, having been shed for our salvation, has set the grace of repentance before the whole world.”
The term "refreshing" means to recover your breath, like what happens when you get the wind knocked out of you and you suddenly get your breath back. The same analogy is true when it comes to repentance, which Clement believed to be a necessary part of a Believers walk. Clement understood that repentance brought refreshing and release to the life of a believer, versus heaviness and guilt, which only strip one of joy and the ability to bring release to another struggling with the same weight.
Clement loved the church, and he especially loved a church that lived under the canopy of joy that was a result of true confession. The same principle applies today. For many of us, heaviness is a daily infection that plagues us and keeps us from truly living the promises of Christ. Often the answer lies simply in confession of personal sin or the restoration of a relationship gone awry that was partly or completely our fault. You can fill in the blanks. Times of refreshing await us when we take the steps necessary to bring joy and life to our bones.
Give it a try!
Randy
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