In the Book of Revelation beginning with chapter two we find Jesus dictating letters to seven churches located in seven cities located along a Roman mail route. I write about these churches in the series involving church eras (key word–Eras) in which He tells each church what He likes and what He dislikes about it. Each of the churches represents an era of church history that began with the first letter written to the church at Ephesus and ended with the Laodicean church–the church era in which we are living today.

One of the churches Jesus was addressing was located in the city of Pergamos (2:12), which Jesus identified as Satan’s headquarters. In spite of being located in Satan’s earthly capital, most of the people in the Pergamos Church had not bowed down to him. Jesus complimented those Christians for upholding HIs name (vs 13). However, in the following verse He states: “Nevertheless, I have a few things against (some of) you ….” These were those who followed “… the teaching of the Nicolaitans, which I hate” (vs 15).

What was this mysterious “teaching of the Nicolaitans” that Jesus hated so much that He threatened to “… come to you and FIGHT AGAINST THEM” if they did not deal with the problem and eliminate it (vs 16). It is vitally important that we understand the Nicolaitan problem because the same problem plagues all but a minutely few churches in this final (Laodicean) age of the church. The problem involves the churches’ weekly Sabbath which Jesus hated. Without an understanding of the “teaching of the Nicolaitans” we cannot fully grasp how such a change in church beliefs and practices took place and has remained a part of the lives of the vast majority of church members to this day. The change was so serious that Jesus commanded the church to “REPENT. Otherwise I will come to you and will FIGHT AGAINST THEM ….” (vs 16), “them” meaning the Nicolaitans in the church. Notice that though Jesus hated the idolatry and infidelity going on in the church, He had a special hatred for Nicolaitanism. As this series will reveal, His hatred involved the change from the Lord’s seventh day (Saturday) Sabbath to Satan’s first day (Sunday) sabbath. In it we will learn how the change came about and who was involved in the deadly Law-breaking custom that has plagued professing Christianity since the heathen practice became part of the Christian religion.

The Greek word “Nicolaitan” comes from a man known as Nicolas of Antioch, a convert to Christianity (Acts 6:5) who became a heretic and began to teach a false doctrine within the church. The Greek word for Nicolas means “victorious over the people” and “conquest of the people.” To understand the change in the weekly Sabbath Day we must go back in history to the time when the Catholic Church, which came into being two years after the New Testament Church was established in 31 A.D., was gaining power and prestige within the Roman Empire which ruled most of Europe with an iron fist. Nicolas introduced to the church the “teaching” that the Bishop of Rome had absolute authority over church doctrine and therefore had dictatorial power over the church, meaning the people in the church. The Biship of Rome embraced the teaching of Nicolas and, over time became the dictator-conqueror of the people. As the Bishop’s power and influence grew, his bishopric evolved into the office of Pope–God’s VICAR–His representative on earth. As the vicar aligned himself with the Roman emperors he and the Popes who came after him were given power to issue orders and have them enforced by the armies of the Roman Government.

Being recognized by the kingdom’s emperor as having great religious power, the Popes eventually came to possess dictatorial power over all of the people in the Roman Empire relative to all things religious. In many cases the Pope’s influence was exerted in matters that were not of a religious nature. A Pope’s influence made him something akin to a vice emperor. The description of the woman (church) riding the beast (government) in Revelation seventeen symbolized the influence the Pope exerted in matters of both church and state. The leader of the Catholic Church had become co-dictator with the Roman Empire over most of Europe.

Obedience to every law which the Pope devised was unconditional and backed by the threat of being consigned to hell forever if one did not obey an order from “on high,” meaning the Pope who became in effect GOD ON EARTH. Satan, having orchestrated the situation, and knowing that a church person needed only to break one of the Ten Commandments to separate him/herself from God, he chose to work through the Pope to institute a change that would condemn the people of the Roman Empire who were forced to embrace Catholicism at the point of a sword.

The most obvious choice of commandments to work with was the fourth commandment. He (Satan) would work through the Pope to bring about the change. At the Council of Laodicea in 364 A.D. Pope Sylvester I decreed that from that day forward, the Sabbath would be celebrated on the first day of the week which aligned with the teaching of Nicolas. The change would also appease the sun worshipers who had been forced into the church by the Roman government. Their sabbath was the “day of the sun”–the sun’s day–Sunday. Read the series using the key word–Sabbath.

The change in the observance of the Sabbath became Roman law enforced by the world’s largest and most powerful military force. Any resistance to the Nicolaitan sabbath brought about immediate retaliation which ranged from dismissal from the church to death. During the Catholic Inquisition some 50,000,000 people were martyred, most of them for refusing to obey the Nicolaitan Sunday Sabbath Rule. Also, employers would not hire anyone who did not align with the Sunday Sabbath decree. People within the empire were not allowed to buy or sell on Sunday. Sound familiar? Read Revelation 13:17 where we are told that a Sunday Sabbath Law will again be forced upon the people. This time it will encompass the entire world and will involve a religious civil war. Read about this soon-coming war using the key word– War. Remember what Jesus said to and about those who obeyed the Nicolaitan teachings–that He would come to them and FIGHT AGAINST THEM. Understand this: when all hell breaks loose over the Sunday Sabbath Law, IT WILL BE THE LORD HIMSELF WHO IS ORCHESTRATING IT. HE WILL PUNISH SUNDAY SABBATH OBSERVERS WITH WRATH SUCH AS THE WORLD HAS NEVER SEEN.

I ask those in the Institutional Church to study God’s Word relative to His Sabbath commandment and to repent for breaking it. Also, if the religious organization in which they are involved continues to defy the Almighty in any way, leave it immediately as they are commanded to do (2 Cor. 6:14-7:1). Why does the Lord command us to leave the religious organization (a so-called church) which He calls “that unclean thing”? The Apostle James tells us: “If you keep the royal law found in Scripture–Love your neighbor as yourself–you are doing right. For whoever keeps the whole Law and yet stumbles at just one point IS GUILTY OF BREAKING THE ENTIRE LAW.” He Who said, ‘Do not commit adultery’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ If you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a LAWBREAKER–A WORKER OF INIQUITY” (2:10,11). Listen to what Jesus said about workers of iniquity: “Not everyone who says unto Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven (will enter). Many will say to Me on that (Judgment) day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name and done many wonderful works in Your name?’ And I will say to them, ‘I NEVER KNEW YOU; DEPART FROM ME YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS'” (INIQUITY) (Mat. 7:21-23).

When Martin Luther and his “protesters” (Protestants) departed from the Catholic Church they did not leave because of the false (heathen) teachings of the church, some of which are listed on the home page of this website. They left because of the sins of the priesthood. Luther and his people believed in and participated in the Nicolaitan system, having been born into that system. Not being allowed to own or read the Bible, they had no way of knowing what God said about the Sabbath or any of the other pagan beliefs and customs that the church continues to embrace to this day. Like those in today’s Laodicean Church System, Luther and his protesters (Protestants) believed what they had been taught in church. For this reason they took many of the church’s heathen “truths” and customs with them. The devil’s deception (Rev. 12:9) is so powerful that 99% of those he has lured into his Catholic/Protestant Religious System reject God’s plainly stated Sabbath command while observing other heathen practices such as the celebration of Christmas and Easter. Read about those abominations using the key words–Christmas and Easter respectively. As a result of her apostasy (falling away from the Lord–2 Thes. 2:3), that which calls itself “the church” will soon feel the wrath of God like never before. Read about the 3 1/2 year Tribulation Period that will follow the church’s civil war using the key word–Tribulation. Read about the church’s soon-coming religious civil war using the key word–Global.

The Apostle Paul was very concerned about the Hebrew (Israelite) converts to Christianity. He wrote the Book of Hebrews to a people who were very familiar with the ceremonies, rituals and services that “the law that was added” (Gal. 3:19) was forced upon the Israelite people after having been freed from Egyptian captivity. These physical acts had been thrust upon the Israelites because they refused to obey the Ten Commandment Law God had given them from Mount Sinai following their release from slavery. These rituals, etc. had not been part of the Ten Commandments which the people had been commanded to obey and had been written in stone by the Lord himself.

Now, many generations later, the people Paul was dealing with were the two southern Israelite tribes who had been nicknamed “Jews” by the Bible translators. The “Jews” consisted of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and a few priests from the tribe of Levi. The added law was enforced through and revolved around the Temple in Jerusalem. The people were forced to come to the Temple once each year with their animal sacrifices to present to the Lord through the High Priest in order to gain God’s forgiveness of the sins they had committed during the previous year.

Recall in Matthew 24 that Jesus prophesied that the Temple would be destroyed. This took place in 70 A.D. when the people were defeated, enslaved and scattered throughout the rest of the world where they joined their fellow Israelites who had come to be known as “the lost ten tribes of Israel” who had previously suffered the same fate and for the same reason–INIQUITY. Paul was concerned that the Jewish Christians would dissolve their relationship with God and lose their chance for salvation. Read Who and Where is Israel Today? Key word–Where.

Concerning the Ten Commandment Law, the Lord said: “Behold the days are coming … when I will make a NEW COVENANT with the House of Israel (the ten northern tribes) and the House of Judah (the Jews–the southern tribes) …. I will put MY LAWS in their minds and write them on their hearts, and (then) I will be their God and they will be My people” (Heb. 8:10-12). Notice that God’s people would be those who would have His Ten Commandment Law written in their minds (hearts) by the indwelling Holy Spirit. GOD’S LAWS WERE NEVER TO CEASE TO EXIST. He had written them in stone when He proposed the Old Covenant with the biological children of Israel. With the New Covenant they would be written on the hearts/minds of His true saints–His true church–“the Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16)–SPIRITUAL ISRAEL. Note verse thirteen of Hebrews eight: By calling this covenant “new” He (God) tells the Hebrews that He had made the first covenant obsolete, and what is obsolete and aging had disappeared. Paul was reminding the Hebrew Christians that the entire system connected with the Temple in Jerusalem had become “obsolete.” He was telling them, and us, that the New Covenant involved writing His Ten Commandments in believers’ minds/hearts. Now we have not only the Holy Spirit, but also a Mediator to help us obey the Ten Commandments. It was the added law that was nailed to Christ’s cross, not the Ten Commandments.

And obey them we must. Jesus made this abundantly clear to the prostitute and the man at Bethesda when He commanded them to “SIN NO MORE” after having been forgiven and healed. Paul gives New Covenant converts a stern lesson concerning the Lord’s Sabbath (Heb.–rest), saying: “For if Joshua had given them (Old Testament Israel) rest, God would not have spoken later about … a Sabbath rest for His people …. Let us therefore make every effort to enter into THAT (WEEKLY SABBATH) REST so that no one will fall by following their (sinning Israelites’) example of disobedience” to the stone-etched Law following its presentation at Mount Sinai.

By keeping the true seventh day Sabbath we look back to the first Sabbath and also forward to the coming 1000-year rest Christ will usher in when He returns to this earth to establish His Father’s kingdom where He, His Son and Their true saints will live forever.

In summary: The Old Covenant consisted of the Ten Commandments written in stone which the people were to obey using their own power because the Holy Spirit had not been available to them. The New Covenant is written in our hearts/minds and is empowered by the Holy Spirit which Christ’s death made available to true believers.

Concerning a primary difference between the two Covenants, Jesus proclaimed that the blood of animals could not bring about forgiveness of sins, that it could only COVER THEM UP AS THE SINNERS CONTINUED TO COMMIT THEM. Now, following His death and resurrection, HIS BLOOD WOULD BRING ABOUT FORGIVENESS OF ALL PAST SINS (JUSTIFICATION) AND THE RECEIVING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WHICH WOULD EMPOWER THE TRUELY REPENTANT BELIEVER TO RESIST SATAN’S TEMPTATIONS AND TO CONVERT TO THE WAYS OF THE LORD WHICH, IF FOLLOWED UNTIL DEATH, WOULD RESULT IN SALVATION. Read “It Is Finished.” Key word–Finished for a more complete understanding concerning what Jesus accomplished on the cross. Also read Justification, Righteousness, Conversion and Salvation–Satan’s Deadly Deception. Key word–Conversion. L.J.