Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #6 of Revelation 2, and we will be reading Revelation 2:6:

But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

We were looking at this verse in our last study, and we saw that Nicolaitans were probably a sect, individuals that followed Nicolas.  Nicolas was one of seven men chosen to be the first deacons, as we read in Acts 6.  It is not conclusive, and it is not absolute because God does not make that connection anywhere, but since that is the only individual named Nicolas in the Bible, and since the word “Nicolaitans” comes from the name “Nicolas,” I think we can be fairly sure that not only was he was this deacon that was chosen, but he developed some sort of doctrine that God hated.

And the people of the church at Ephesus also hated it.  The true believers did not follow his teachings, but the church at Pergamos did follow his teaching, so his teaching got a fairly wide audience, and we would expect that for a man that was properly chosen and installed in the office of deacon.

At the end of our last study, we were wondering, “What was that doctrine?  What were the Nicolaitans teaching that God hated so much?”  We are not sure.  We cannot know what that doctrine was because God does not specify what it was, so we will never know exactly what the teaching was, and it is not important.  However, we can know that it was a teaching that was not pleasing to the Lord.  It says in Psalm 101:3:

I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.

The Lord hates the work of those that turn aside.  That is our clue.  That is really the only thing we have to go on because God hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans, as also did the people at Ephesus.  And here we read that God hates the work of those that turn aside.

It also says in Psalm 119:104:

Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.

This reveals the hatred of God toward any kind of gospel or doctrine that teaches contrary to the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus tells us in John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life…”  To hate the “false way” would be to hate the  religions of the false gospels that try to sway people to believe there is “another way” other than the way laid out in the Bible, the true Gospel of God’s salvation that teaches that He does all the work in saving His people, and then He bestows that salvation on certain individuals through the hearing of His Word.  And these things are the way of the true Gospel.  Man can do nothing to get themselves saved.

And Nicolas and his followers, the Nicolaitans, came up with some sort of “work,” a doctrine that taught that a person could do a particular “good work,” and they would enter into heaven.  They would find salvation.  We do not need to know specifically what he was teaching.  As soon as we know that God hates it (and the Bible teaches that God hates every false way), we can know it was just another false gospel, another road that leads to destruction.  And the Nicolaitans were teaching people whatever it was, and the true believers during the church age (as represented by the church at Ephesus) that heard false gospels hated it.  And God commends that because He also hates every false way.  He hates the works of them that turn aside and develop gospels that lead people astray, and that lead to destruction rather than salvation.  That is all we really need to know regarding the doctrine of the Nicolaitans.

Let us return to Revelation 2 and go on to the next verse, in Revelation 2:7:

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

This is the concluding verse in the address to the church at Ephesus.  Now we see the pattern that God is developing.  First, He writes to the angel of the church, and He may commend them on something, or He may find fault with them on something, and then He will conclude the address with the statement: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches,” so it is not just a message to the church at Ephesus, but it is a message to the churches as a whole, the entire church institution of the New Testament era.  Everything we are reading here applies to the corporate churches, the outward representation of the kingdom of God on the earth during the church age, for 1,955 years. 

In verse 8, God beings to address the angel of the church in Smyrna, and when He is finished with the address to that church, He says in Revelation 2:11:

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches…

And it is repeated again in Revelation 2:17:

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches…

This is said seven times in total, after each of the seven churches are addressed.  Why?  Why is Christ making this statement?  Why is He telling the churches, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches?” 

Of course He is not referring to their physical ears.  That is not what Christ has in view because just about everyone has physical ears.  There may be a rare person that does not have ears, but just about all human beings have ears, so God is not saying, “If you have a physical ear, hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”  It is another kind of “ear.”  It is what the Spirit says to the churches, and this is referring to an ear that can hear the Spirit of God.  And what would the Spirit of God say and teach but spiritual things?

In Matthew 3, which is a very important chapter in the Bible where Christ speaks many parables, is also a chapter where the Lord explains why He speaks in parables.  It says in Matthew 13:3:

And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

Then the following verses are the parable of the sower.  Then it says in Matthew 13:9:

Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Christ would speak a parable, and then after finishing the parable, He would say, “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”    That is, He is saying, “I am speaking a parable, and let him who can understand what I am saying, hear it.”  Many people heard Christ’s parables all through history during the church age, but they have not understood the things He taught, and that is precisely according to the plan of God.  As a matter of fact, the nature of the Bible is that it is written as a “parable.”  And when we examine a parable and we try to define what a parable is, we find that a parable is “that which hides truth.”  That is the nature of the Bible, even in verses that appear to be plain statements like, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,” or, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.”  These statements may not appear to be parabolic in the sense that Christ spoke parables, but they are parabolic in the sense that God has hidden truth within them.  That is, they are not as they seem.  For example, many people have heard John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son,” and they have concluded that God loves everyone.  They have missed the hidden truth, or the parabolic truth that God is referring to His people that He had chosen to salvation before the foundation of the world, and they are the ones that He loves.  He does not love all mankind.  He does not love those that He intends to destroy in judgment.  That verse hides that particular truth that God is going to destroy the vast majority of mankind, and only save His elect. 

When a parable is broken down to its basic meaning of it hiding truth, then we must say that the whole Bible is parabolic, and intentionally so, because it was God’s program to hide truth from all man, but especially from all those He never intended to save.  But He will cause His people to understand the hidden meanings of the Bible once they become saved.

But let us read on here in Matthew 13:10-17:

And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Here, the Lord declares that they have ears, but they hear not; their ears are dull of hearing.  Notice how the “hearing” is joined together with the condition of their heart in verse 16: “For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing…”  And this shows us that the condition of the heart is also the condition of the ears.  When a person is spiritually dead in their soul (heart), they have no life in the spiritual realm, and they have no ears to hear, or eyes to see.  It is like a corpse.  If someone is physically dead and you try to talk to them, they cannot hear you, and they cannot see you.  They have no life.  Their condition of being physically dead also means they are deaf, blind, dumb, and they cannot walk.  These are all figures of speech the Bible uses to point to someone who is in a spiritually dead condition before God.

The Lord also makes this connection in the book of Acts, in chapter 7, when Stephen was testifying to the Jews right before they stoned him to death.  It says in Acts 7:51:

Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

And we are familiar with being “uncircumcised in heart,” as in the Old Testament God commanded the Jews to “circumcise the foreskins of their heart.”  Of course that was an impossible command for them to obey, or for anyone to obey.  You cannot take a knife and circumcise your heart, or you will die.  But in that command, the Lord is spiritually pointing to salvation and how you must be born again by having the blood of Christ covering your sin.  You must have a new heart and a new spirit, so the Lord said, “Circumcise your heart.” 

The hearers of that command should have realized, “No man can do this, and that must meant that salvation is impossible with man.”  And Christ tells us this in Matthew 19:26: “…With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”   That command to circumcise the foreskin of your heart that we read in the book of Deuteronomy is a parabolic statement in which God was hiding the truth that mankind cannot find salvation on their own; they can do no work to get themselves saved.  They must turn to God: “O, Lord, could it be that you would circumcise my heart.  I cannot do it.  May you change me within and make me a new creature, and give me a new soul.”  That was the intent of the command.  It was to lead the hearer to the salvation of God.

Of course the Jews did not understand because they were uncircumcised in heart and ears.  They had no ears to hear.  You know, God does not allow man to use that as an excuse: “I continued to think that physical circumcision is a means of salvation, and that if I am circumcised and of the seed of Abraham, this alone makes me right with you, Lord.  I did not understand that through circumcision you were pointing to the fact that my sins had to be cut off in the Person of the Christ, the Messiah.  I just did not know that.  I lacked understanding, and therefore I plead ignorance.”  But, no, there is no acceptance of the “plea of ignorance” on behalf of sinners for failing to obey His command and the true Gospel of the Bible.  God holds us responsible to listen to the Gospel and to understand the deeper spiritual things of God.  That is, He holds us accountable, and we are responsible to obey even spiritual commands. 

For instance, God hid much truth in the Scriptures concerning the end of the church age.  Did He just lay it all out plainly and explain?  “Right before the end of the world, I am going to end the church age, and I am going to command all professed Christians to leave their congregations, and to flee out because I am going to loose Satan and set him up as ‘the man of sin’ within all the churches.”  No. God did not make it that plain.  He did not say that directly.  He did say those things, but He said them in parabolic (hidden) form, and He sealed that information up until the time of the end.  He used types and figures such as Judah and Jerusalem to typify the end of the church age in the book of Jeremiah, the book of Ezekiel, and elsewhere.  And He used Babylon as a figure of the world, and people were to come out of Judah and go into Babylon, picturing the people of God leaving the churches and going out into the world at the time of the end.

All those things were hidden in parabolic form in the Bible.  They were hidden truths, and then God opened up the understanding of His people by giving them ears to hear.  We will look at some verses in a little while that will explain that, but His people heard what the Spirit said about the end of the church age, and they responded in obedience.  They hearkened to the warning of God to depart out of the midst of Jerusalem, and to leave the churches and congregations, and to not look back.

And the people of God shared these things with their friends in the churches.  We shared it with the pastors, elders, and deacons, and they heard the same thing the believers had heard.  “Look.  Jerusalem is a figure that God uses to represent the churches.  And in Matthew 24 the Lord says, ‘There shall not be left here one stone upon another,” a figure of the temple (churches).  And we are to flee to the mountains, which represents the kingdom of God and the Word of God.”  But the pastors, elders, and deacons were shaking their heads: “What is wrong with you people?  What are you talking about?  God will never give up His church.”  They did not hear a word, although they heard it with their physical ears as the teaching was laid out to them.  And maybe they even gave it some attention as they listened to what we were saying, and maybe they even checked out some verses.  But what it comes down to is that they were not given “ears to hear.”  They are “dull of hearing,” which indicates that their heart is waxed gross, and they are dead in sin.  They are spiritually dead to what the Spirit sayeth, no matter what the child of God might say, and we just do not understand because it is so clear to us, “as plain as the nose on your face,” as the expression goes.  “God is serious.  Why will you not listen?  Why will you not hearken and obey the Word of God?”  And it is because they are uncircumcised in heart and ears, and they cannot hear.

We have to understand that when anyone hears the Gospel but are dead in sin, they cannot “hear.”  It would save us a lot of frustration and striving with them as we try to force understanding upon them.  They cannot understand because they cannot “hear.”  It is because they are dead in sin – they have no life.  It would really be a good experience for any of us in order fully grab hold of this truth to go the cemetery, and pick out any gravestone, and go to that individual’s grave and speak to them.  Tell them whatever you want to tell them, and talk as long as you want to talk to them, and you will finally come to the realization, “He cannot hear me.  The one in the grave has no ears to hear because he is dead.”  While he was alive, he could hear physically, but not spiritually.  But these poor souls that did not understand the end of the church age – the pastors, the bishops, or even the pope – are dead in their hearts.  They are spiritually dead.  There is no life in them, and they cannot hear.  It is impossible.  They cannot grab hold and understand these things because they are dead in sin. 

We also read in Acts 28 where the Apostle Paul was in Rome, and he was preaching to the Jews and telling them things they had never heard, and it say sin Acts 28:26-27:

Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

That is, God is saying, “If they could understand, it would mean they have a heart that is born again.  They would have been converted and healed from their spiritual disease.  They would be cured of their sin-sick soul.  They would be alive, and not dead, and then they would have ears to hear.”

So the Apostle Paul finally realized he had done enough, and it was time to send the Gospel elsewhere, as it says in Acts 28:28:

Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.

God had much elect people among the nations of the world, and when this Gospel went forth that contained hidden truths, the elect that were out there would hear and understand, by the grace of God.