Pastor's Blog

 

Part 1 of a great article by Dr. Wade E Taylor

“…Where the Spirit is Lord, there is liberty.”II Corinthians 3:17 Paraphrase

At this present time, many are feeling an intense burden for the Body of Christ and sense that something, beyond our present level of understanding, is about to unfold.It is very important that the mistakes of the past are not repeated during this coming visitation.

The Word of the Lord to the seven Churches (Revelation 2:1-3:22) prefigures the progression of events that span the entire Church Age.Indications as to why past visitations did not come into the fullness of all that was intended, or why they did not last, can be found within the Word of the Lord to each of these seven Churches.

The first of these, the Church at Ephesus, was told that they had departed from their “first love” (Revelation 2:4).This was the Church that witnessed the faith and power of the early Apostles who had personally experienced the presence of the resurrected Jesus.The Lord expected those within the Church at Ephesus to maintain this experience of His personal (manifest) presence, but they had already begun to fall away.

The Church of Ephesus was commended, however, because they “hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate” (Revelation 2:6).There is no explanation given in Scripture as to who these Nicolaitans were.However, we can come to an understanding of their identity through the meaning of the word “Nicolaitan” itself.

“Nikao” means to conquer or consume the “Laos” or laity, the people.Those who became identified as being Nicolaitans advocated a compromise with the world system so Christians would be able to take part, without embarrassment, in the social and religious activities of the society in which they lived.In the time of the Church at Ephesus, the Nicolaitan teaching allowed Christians to participate in the Roman civil religion.

This resulted in the withdrawal of the manifested presence of the Lord from their meetings, which caused the loss of the spontaneous, quickening power and stirrings of the Spirit that came to the members of this Church.Thus, the Nicolaitans represent a clergy that departed from the “presence and power” of the supernatural, and substituted “form and ritual” in its place.The compromise that they advocated caused the “dulling of the spirits” of the Lord’s people, as they became conversant with the society and practices of their time.