ROBERT@kontu.utu.fi (Robert W. Johnson) (03/09/91)
In a series of articles I am going to present the entire Church history as
phrophezied in Revelation 2:1-3:22. These verses phrophezy concerning the
first Church to the last Church before the Lord returns.
If you would like a list of references on Church history please send me a
note.
Note: This posting is very long. It will be divided into seven parts (there
are epistles to seven Churches.) Each part will consist of one or more
subparts.
Part III of VII - Subpart 2 of 3 of Part III
CHAPTER 2
III. "THE THINGS WHICH ARE" --
THE SEVEN LOCAL CHURCHES
2:1-3:22
C. Church in Pergamous --
the Church in Marriage with the World
15 Thus you have also those who hold in like manner the (1a)teachings of
the (2b)Nicolaitans.
(1) The worldly and degraded church holds not only the teaching of Balaam,
but also the teachings of the Nicolaitans. The teaching of Balaam distracts
believersfrom the Person of Christ to idolatry, and from the enjoyment of
Christ to spiritual fornication; whereas the teaching of the Nicolaitans
destroys the function of the believers as members of the body of Christ, thus
annuling the the Lord*s Body in expressing Him. The former teaching disregards
the Head, and the latter destroys the Body. This is the subtlety of the enemy
in all religious teachings.
In the church in Ephesus only the works of the Nicolaitans were found (Rev.
2:6), whereas in the church in pergamos their works progressed into a teaching.
Firstly, they practiced the hierarcht in the initial church; now they they
taught it in the degraded church. Today, in both catholicism and Protestantism
this Nicolaitan hierarchy prevails in both practice an teaching.
(2) "Nicolaitans" is an equivalent of the Greek word nikolaitai, the root
of which is nikolaos, composed of two words--niko and laos. Niko means
"conquer" or "above others." Laos means "common people," "secular people,"
or "laity." So nikolaos means "conquering the common people," "climbing
above the laity." "Nicolaitans," then, must refer to a group of people who
esteem themselves higher than common believers. This was undoubtedly the
hierarchy followed and established by Catholicism and Protestantism. The
Lord hates the works, the behavior, of these "Nicolaitans," and we must hate
what the Lord hates.
God in His economy intended that all His people be priests to serve Him
directly. In Exodus 19:6, God ordained the children of Isreal to be a
"kingdom of priests." This means that God wanted them all to be priests.
However, because of the worship of the golden calf (Exo. 32:1-6) they lost
the priesthood, and only the tribe of Levi was chosen, because of their
faithfulness to God, to replace the whole nation of Isreal as priest to
God (Exo. 32:25-29; Deut. 33:8-10). hence, there was a mediatorial class
between God and the children of Isreal. This became a strong system in
Judaism. In the New Testament, God has returned to His original intention
according to His economy in that he has made all the believers in Christ
priests (Rev. 1:6; 5:10; 1 pet. 2:5, 9). But at the end of the initial church,
even in the first century, the Nicolaitans intervened as the mediatorial class
to spoil God's economy. According to church history, this became a system
adopted by the Roman catholic Church and also retained by the Protestant
churches. Today in the Roman Catholic Church there is the priestly system,
in the state churches there is the clerical system, and in the independent
churches there is the pastoral system. All these are a mediatorial class,
spoiling the universal priesthood of all the believers. Thus, there are
two distinctive classes--the clergy and the laity. But in the proper church
life there should be neither clergy nor laity; all believers should be the
priests of God. Because the mediatorial class destroys the universal priest-
hood in God's economy, the Lord hates it.
In Acts 6:5, among the seven serving ones was one named Nikolaos (Gk.).
There is no trace in church history that this Nikoloas was the first of the
"Nicolaitans."
(a) rev. 2:14 (b) Rev. 2:6
16 (a)Repent therefore; but if not, I (1b)come to you quickly, and I will
war with them with the (c)sword of My mouth.
(1) This should not refer to the Lord's coming back, but to His coming to
war with the Nicolaitan teachers in the degraded church when He will judge
the degraded church with the slaying word out of His mouth. However, the
worldly church, signified by the church in Pergamos, issues in the Roman
Catholic Church, signified by the church in Thyatira, and the worldliness
and evil brought in by this degraded church will continue in the Roman
Catholic Church until the Lord comes back to exercise His full judgment.
(a) Rev. 2:5 (b) Rev. 2:5 (c) Rev. 2:12; 1.16
-----
Robert W. Johnson
Computer center, The University of Turku, Turku Finland
robert@kontu.utu.fi (InterNet)
robert@firien.bitnet (BITNET)
The preceeding is my opinion and may not express the opinion of my employer
and furthermore has nothing to do with my employment.