Overcoming The End-Time Nicolaitanes
"neither as lords over God's heritage"
disclaimer: At times it may sound as if I am anti-pastor. This is not so. We love the pastors whom God has graciously put in our lives. The truth is aimed at the harlot system and her institutions, and NOT at any individual.
- What we DO have is: "But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes". There are VERY few Christians that have this, and if one cannot even recognize the Nicolaitane error of church hierarchial government, then one cannot "hate it".
- Secondly, we do not "hate" the men who labor under the Nicolaitane error themselves. Jesus said we are to love those with whom we disagree as well as our friends, and this we strive to do.
from part 1 a short recap:
In this followup to The Nicolaitane error, we will recap a portion of our first article which will bring us into the scriptural profile of what the New Testament ministry model and government looks like.
Revelation 2: (To the church at Ephesus)
6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate; 15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate. 16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Here is the truth: what God detests happens to be the most common form of church government found in almost every church and denomination.
Nicolaitane is from two Greek words "Nike" and Laos", and means:
The Greek word "nike" means "to conquer"…to dominate/ intimidate/ manipulate.
It means exercising carnal control.
The word "laos" means "the people", that is, the laity.
So we have by defintion the deeds and teaching of those who conquer, dominate, manipulate, and "lead" the laity, or the people. What makes it difficult to identify the Nicolaitanes is the labels changed, thus is created the illusion that something is not what it is.
Why does Jesus "HATE" their deeds and doctrines?
Simply put, it because it puts men in the place of God, whether they be called church board, elder, pastor, priest, or some other ecclesiastical title. And it virtually guarantees the majority of God's people never mature into faith as Christians and become the kind of believers Jesus said of His followers in Mark 16:16-20. It results in the people following their "leadership", rather than Jesus Christ and down the "broad way" we all went.
· Deominational, factious, competitive Christianity has given the church a hierarchial, professionalized, titled, church governmental system foreign to scripture. This is indeed, "The error of the Nicolaitanes".
· There is no senior pastor, pope, cardinal, bishop, priest, monsignor, or denominational structure in scripture.
· There is no scripture giving any pastor-priest sole rulership, headship, or authority over God's people.
· There are no formal titles or labels attached to any New Testament disciples including the obvious ones like the apostles.
· There are no church boards, assistant pastors, co-pastor, associate pastors, or senior officials. There are no presidents, superintendents, youth ; there are no capitalized apostles, prophets, bishops, pastors, deacons, elders. Anyone wearing a formal title is well on the way to becoming a Nicolaitane.
· The word "pastor" is used only once in the New Testament, and not even one Titled pastor is named! How many TITLED pastors are mentioned in your local phone book?
part 2 Overcoming the Nicolaitane error and deeds
In Revelation 2, this is one of the admonitions for the people of God who have eyes and ears to overcome.
15: So hast thou also some that hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans in like manner.
16: Repent therefore; or else I come to thee quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth.
17: He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. To him that overcometh, to him will I give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, which no one knoweth but he that receiveth it.
Several strong admonitions are given in scripture in regard to what Jesus said was the relationship among the brethren and what actual church government is:
Here is what Peter said in 1Peter 5:
1 The elders among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
2 Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
3 neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock.
4 And when the chief Shepherd shall be manifested, ye shall receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away.
In this passage, note the elders (plural) are among us, Peter includes himself as an elder, and there is no specific mention of "pastors".
Why not? Because God gave a five-fold ministry to have oversight and "tend" the flock. The "elders" were to do so not from duty, obligation, or money. AND YES,
"NEITHER as lording..."? neither: " as in not even, no, not once". Lording: as in "to lord against, that is, control, subjugate: - exercise dominion over (lordship), be lord over, overcome."
This is exactly what the Nicolaitane error does and Peter said not even once was the flock to be carnally subjegated, controlled, or have someone exercise dominion over. When the Christian sees the truth of scripture, he will need to realign his thinking in terms of what the New Testament ministry truly is, not from what we have seen all around us.
1 Corinthians 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ;
The ministry is given to serve, edify, and stewardship the faith. They are to comfort, correct, and contend for the faith. The faith they are to condend for is THE faith (not the fragmented, conflicting, sectarian mish-mash of faith found in the church world). The ministry is NOT to become the head of every man and woman.
Acts 16:5 And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.
Jude 1:3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for "The faith which was once delivered unto the saints."
Friends, Jesus gave, taught, and lived THE faith to His disciples, who in turn gave the same gospel and the same faith to the churches they established. Read the gospels and book of Acts, that is where you find what we are to become in Christ.
The Bible record bears no resemblance whatsoever to the practices and structure of the modern church around us. No pews, pulpits, choirs, worship leaders, assistant pastors, co-pastors, boards, orchestrated services, voted-in or hired pastors, etc...
1 Corinthians 12:28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, *governments, diversities of tongues.
Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
*governments"?, "THERE IT IS!!" -say the Nicolaitanes!
(The word "governments" means: "pilotage, directorship, steerage".)
Are we in error? Do we need to correct ourselves here?
Should we put the flock tenders, tithe collectors, hierarchial leaderership, titled clergy, robed or Gucci suited, camera focused, accent lighted, big screen, weekly orators back on their platforms so we can devour their words, visions, and fund their programs?
Let's look at the verse again and run for the shelter of scripture.
1Corinthians 12:28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, *governments, diversities of tongues.
1. NOTICE the order "God hath set in the church", if the pastor is the primary governmental "director, pilot, and steerage of the body, then he is WAYYY down on the list behind the prophets, teachers, miracle workers, and healers.
2. Where in the verse does it even MENTION the word "pastor" in terms of "governmennts"?
3. IF pastors are the head of local church governments, WHERE is that in the verse?
4. If pastors are "governments", then why are the helps, healings, miracles, AHEAD of the directorage-pilotage-steerage?
5. If pastors are "governments" then why are teachers, prophets, and apostles AHEAD of the directorage-pilotage-steerage?
6. If pastors are "governments" the should they not be doing what Jesus said "them that believe" would do in Mark 16?
17 And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. 19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken unto them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.
AND remember when Jesus sent out the disciples to PREACH in Matthew 10? (Attention all preachers!)
7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons: freely ye received, freely give.
I have been to far too many Christian funerals for those who died young and were never healed according to the Word. And that freely give part? ..... well, you can figure out what free means without me. That sounds like God would provide for them as they ministered, and not a word to those PREACHERS Jesus sent, about tithes, salaries, faith-partners, seed sowing, or other manipulated giving techniques.
9 Get you no gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses;
-Get no what? verse 8-9 eliminates 99.8% of modern "preachers" as their gospel does not come close to that of the disciples.
10 no wallet for your journey, neither two coats, nor shoes, nor staff: for the laborer is worthy of his food.
(There was one exception in that group that Jesus sent out in Matthew 10. He was also a healer, a worker of signs and wonders, a man who cast out devils. A man who was hidden in the body of Christ untill the end of Jesus' earthly walk. A man who ministered the gospel Jesus told him to speak. He is the man named Judas who sold out for personal gain. He had one eye on Jesus and the other eye on personal prosperity.)
The pastors of scripture were the "no-name" laborers of their day, "among the people", serving, supporting, and sharing their substance with the believers. The same went for the prophets, apostles, teachers, and evangelists, who all served Christ without expectation of fame or fortune. They were the elders, overseers, and ministers of the faith who did so without a smidgen of self-promotion or lording any carnal authority over the people God gave them to serve.
These actions were NORMAL for the Christians and pastors of scripture, but they sure are rare today; unlike the prosperity gospel, "accept Christ" salvation, and church building centered Christianity we observe.
Many pastors compare themselves to Moses who led the people of God to the "Promised Land". The idea being there must be a leader-centered administration of a church body over the folks in the pew.
From Hebrews 11:
25 choosing rather to share ill treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
26 accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he looked unto the recompense of reward.
27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
We notice as Moses brought deliverance to the people, he so shared their afflictions, and forsook the wealth of Egypt. We also note their is NO comparison of a Moses type of sole-authority given to the Christian church as a model for church government.
You see, when the Nicolaitanes imposed their error and deeds upon the church, the pastor-priest became the preeminent personage; i.e., the directorage-pilotage-steerage. T'was never meant to be.
Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Who gave the pastor-priest preeminence over the rest of the five-fold ministry and the false hierarchial system of "accountability"?
It was the Nicolaitanes. And as many of us finally realize, this is the most common form of church government around us. .
Something has changed now. The time is at hand, the tribulation is at the door, and these are the last days of the church age. What appeared to have God tolerated for 2,000 years, He is tolerating no more.
Before the end of the kingdom of ancient Israel, (the last days of Israel), the Lord was manifested in flesh and CALLED His people to come out of her, the harlot, apostate church of His day. History now repeats, the same act and pattern is being played out in the last days of the church.
How do you "overcome" the Nicolaitanes?
In the great majority of instances it means walking out the "church" doors, going home, and asking God Himself to take their error and deeds out of your hearts. And it means NOT going to find another group that calls itself a church yet has the same error.
God is so serious about this, He may have THEM kick YOU out!
