The overcomers have overcome all the degradations of the degraded churches spoken of in Revelation 2:4, 6, 13, 14, 15, 20, 24; 3:1,15, 20a, and 17:5. During the degradation and desolation of the church, in order to maintain and continue the church’s testimony concerning Christ that the church may be recovered to her original state, the need to have the overcomers is a pressing matter, and it is something of the Lord’s desire. For this reason, at the end of each of the seven epistles which the Lord wrote to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3, He consistently sounds out a serious call to the overcomers. Throughout the generations there have been many believers who have answered His call and have been strong to rise up to spread the Lord’s testimony and the church’s recovery.
Let us now briefly consider the degradations of the churches that need to be overcome. In Revelation 2:4 the Lord Jesus says, “I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” The degradation of the church begins with the leaving of the first love, the best love, for the Lord. The church in Ephesus had good works, labored for the Lord, endured suffering, and tried the false apostles. However, she left her first love for the Lord. Leaving the first love is the origin of the church’s degradation. Therefore, we should not allow anything to separate us from the love of the Lord. We must take care of the first love and constantly love the Lord.
Revelation 2:6 speaks of “the works of the Nicolaitans,” which the Lord hates. The Nicolaitans are those who esteem themselves higher than the common believers. They regard themselves as the “clergy” as opposed to the “laity.” However, in the proper church life there should be neither clergy nor laity, for all believers should be the priests of God.
Revelation 2:13 says, “I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and you have not denied My faith, even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.” This verse speaks of “where Satan’s throne is,” and “where Satan dwells.” Satan’s throne is in the world, where he dwells. Because the worldly church entered into union with the world, she dwells where Satan dwells.
Revelation 2:14 says, “I have a few things against you, because you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat idol sacrifices and to commit fornication.” Balaam was a Gentile prophet who brought fornication and idolatry to God’s people (Num. 25:1-3; 31:16). In the worldly church signified by the church in Pergamos, some began to teach the same things.
Idolatry always brings in fornication (Num. 25:1-3; Acts 15:29). When the worldly church disregarded the name, the person, of the Lord, she turned to idolatry, which issued in fornication.
In verse 15 the Lord goes on to speak of “the teaching of the Nicolaitans.” The teaching of the Nicolaitans destroys the function of the believers as members of the Body of Christ, thus annulling the Lord’s Body in expressing Him. In the church in Ephesus only the works of the Nicolaitans were found, whereas in the church in Pergamos their works progressed into a teaching. Today, in both Catholicism and Protestantism, the Nicolaitan hierarchy prevails in both practice and teaching.
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