The New Testament describes and teaches a form of Church leadership and authority remarkably different from that by many places today. Historians say the emergence of “ecclesiasticism” (church hierarchy and clear clergy/laity distinctions) did not occur until sometime in the 2nd century. From early on the rise of secular authority models continued until eventually Church leaders held powers equal to civil government.
The Dark Ages with its feudalism and barbarism were supported by the leaders of the Christian Church in their quest to gain, hold, and exercise power. The Spanish Inquisition of the 1600’s, with its horrific brutality and greed, only magnified this abusive pattern.
What other outcome could be expected from the “work of the Nicolaitans” which Jesus said, “I also hate” (Revelation 2:6). The word Nicolaitan means “one who rules over the laity” and their deeds are described in the New Testament.
Revelation 2:1-6: 1To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:
2“I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; 3and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. 4But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place–unless you repent. 6Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”
2 Corinthians 11:13-20: 13For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.
16Again I say, let no one think me foolish; but if you do, receive me even as foolish, so that I also may boast a little. 17What I am saying, I am not saying as the Lord would, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting. 18Since many boast according to the flesh, I will boast also. 19For you, being so wise, tolerate the foolish gladly. 20For you tolerate it if anyone enslaves you, anyone devours you, anyone takes advantage of you, anyone exalts himself, anyone hits you in the face.
Colossians 2: 1For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, 2that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, 3in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument. 5For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.
6Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
8See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. 9For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; 11and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; 12having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.
16Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day– 17things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. 18Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, 19and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.
20If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, 21“Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” 22(which all refer to things destined to perish with use)–in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? 23These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.
3 John 1:9,10: 9I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. 10For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren, either, and he forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church.
God allowed the evil planting to grow and blossom for a moment of time. In His administration of the ages, He raised up a man to turn over the soil of His garden and plant new seeds of grace, truth and, ultimately, glory.
In the early 1500’s, Martin Luther stood in opposition to the Church by declaring the Bible truth of “salvation by grace through faith”. As a result, Luther endured severe persecution from Church leaders. Luther’s experience, the penalty and death dealt by the Church to those who paved the way for him, the ill treatment of those who followed his footsteps, the suffering inflicted on those whose only offense was to disobey Church leaders in translating and distributing Bibles printed in commonly understood languages, all these give strong testimony to the death grip the spirit-of-the-world held on the Church.
An early bloom in this reformation planting was the 1611 publication of the King James Bible, the first legally authorized English language Bible. In spite of this breakthrough, worshiping outside the Anglican Church in England resulted in serious civil penalties and punishments. The continued lack of religious freedom was responsible for the flight of the pilgrims to the New World, a savage wilderness promising freedom to worship God as personal conscience dictated, without risk of penalty.
Beginning with the Protestant Reformation of Martin Luther, many movements have been breathed by God to plant, prune, tend, and harvest His garden. Revivals have stirred His people, restoring to the Church lost truths and forgotten experiences. Chief among these revivals are:
The Protestant Reformation (early 1500’s) restored the individual believer’s personal approach to God through faith in Jesus Christ, as opposed to the church’s teaching which placed priest between the saint and his Savior. In the established church salvation was obtained from the church through the priests in the administration of the holy sacraments. The Protestant Reformation broke the Church’s monopoly for dispensing salvation. Once again as in the Early Church anyone could by grace, through faith in Christ’s propitiatory work, receive forgiveness of sins and begin an eternal relationship with God.
Ephesians 3:8,9: 8For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God– 9not because of works, lest any man should boast.
The Wesleyan Revival, in the early to mid 1700’s, witnessed the reading and practice of Bible truth embraced by common working folks in an organized and methodical way. The movement emphasized the study and application of the Bible to everyday life. The revival began in England with John Wesley, the leading figure, but spread more successfully in America with the establishment of the Methodist Church. The Methodists held two radical beliefs. First, Methodists believed individuals could “know” or have the assurance of their salvation... a witness of the Holy Spirit in the heart, confirming their adoption as sons of God. Second, that each believer could be “entirely sanctified” or perfected in love as a second work of grace.
Romans 8:14-16: 14For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
1 John 3:1-10: 1See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
4Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. 5You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. 6No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. 7Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; 8the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 9No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.
The Pentecostal Revival, starting with the Azusa Street Revival in 1906, reintroduced the infilling and empowering ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Luke 11:13: 13If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?
Mark 1:8: 8I (John the Baptist) baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
The Charismatic Revival in the mid 1900’s emphasized Bible truths regarding the gifts of the Holy Spirit given to ordinary Christian people. The revival empowered “lay” people to use spiritual gifts to minister to the saints and the world (1 Corinthians 12; also see Chapter 3: “The Ministry of the Holy Spirit”).
It is possible to be so captivated by our own generation, the traditions, concerns and daily events, that we lose sight of God’s acting in history to fulfill His plan for the ages, “the summing up of all things in Christ” (Ephesians 1:10).
We live almost two thousand years after Jesus birthed the Church by giving the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Important New Covenant truths revealed in the New Testament scriptures were “lost” to the Church-at-large for almost fifteen hundred years. Mercifully, the Protestant Reformation and revivals that followed restored many of these truths. What is God heading for?
Can you imagine a Church with each saint filled and possessed with the Holy Spirit? Can you imagine those saints meeting together in gladness and sincerity of heart, Jesus personally present leading unopposed and the Holy Spirit ministering unhindered through each saint to build up His Body? It is time for our Lord to take His rightful place in the midst of His gathered ones. I believe this is what the Bible teaches as the will of God. Ours is to understand Jesus’ rightful place and surrender that position to Him; to know our rightful place and surrender ourselves to His will.