I want to begin this writing to you
with a question:
Would you really want to continue being
part of something that God hates, after it's been revealed to you?
This revelation began to slowly unfold several
years ago but more and more pieces have been revealed just in this past year.
I've received so much understanding and many questions have been answered concerning why events happened in churches today to people I know and
even situations that happened with us, that
just did not seem right. Control. Mistreatment. Spiritual Abuse. Legalism. At first I thought all this was happening in just the church we attended, because of the very core of their doctrine, (which was part of it) but then once I learned that these kinds of things were happening in all churches, I realized it was because of the very structure of the churches which was set up in the way that God did not intend!
I remember my husband Don teaching
about the seven churches mentioned in the book of Revelation, Chapter
2. He stated that he believed that this can be referring to
different church age periods, or different churches or even as a
personal situation found in each individual life, because after all,
our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. We are the Church. Read Revelation 2 and 3 and see if God speaks to you in one or more of the seven churches.
Don shared that the one that God used
to speak into his life was The Church of Philadelphia. God said that
"...He knows his works and He has set before him and open door that no
one can shut, for he has little strength, has kept His Word and has
not denied His Name."
Wow, what an awesome thing, to be looked at as one in The Faithful Church.
The one that I found that spoke into my
life was The Church of Ephesus. The Loveless Church. "...He knows my works, my labor, my
patience and knows that I cannot bear those who are evil. And that I
have tested those who say they are apostles and are not and have
found them liars. He said I have patience and have labored for His
name sake and have not become weary. But He said what He had
against me was I had left my first love and that I needed to remember
from where I have fallen and repent and do my first works". This was
so true of me! I developed such a close relationship with the Lord
while attending Bible College, but afterwards, my time with Him was
not as often and just not the same and I most definitely could tell
the difference. Wow! It made me realize now why God has been speaking to me so much about LOVE. His Love for Me and the Love I should have for Him and for others! Do you know that I often asked, and even heard others ask, "Where is the Love?" For a church (we had attended) that claimed to have all truth, sure did lack the love. But how can you have one without the other??? You can't! THEN what He says next in Revelation was something that really
opened my eyes and sent me searching and studying and brought so much
revelation to me about The Church set up. "...He said that I hate the
deeds of the Nicolaitans, which He also hates." I saw then where He
mentions The Nicolaitan Doctrine when also speaking to the Church of
Pergamus.
I began to study the Nicolaitan
Doctrine and found out that it meant the division between Clergy and
Laity. The Clergy conquering, having power over the people (laity).
God never meant for there to be any kind of division in the Body of
Christ. He never meant there to be a one man leadership, one elevated higher than another.
The name "Nicolaitans" is derived from the Greek word nikolaos, a compound of the words nikos and laos. The word nikos is the Greek word that means to conquer or to subdue. The word laos is the Greek word for the people. It is also where we get the word laity. When these two words are compounded into one, they form the name Nicolas, which literally means one who conquers and subdues the people. It seems to suggest that the Nicolaitans were somehow conquering and subduing the people.
In its ecclesiastical setting, Nicolaitans means the bishops and
prelates of the Church have gained a triumphal victory or conquest over
the LAITON, the laity. Members are compelled and forced to submit to the
arbitrary dominion of men who have become that thing which God hates:
"The
elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a
witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory
that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you,
serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest
gain but eagerly; NOR AS BEING LORDS OVER THOSE ENTRUSTED TO YOU, but
being examples to the flock" (1Peter 5:1-3).
The
teachings and preaching of the Nicolaitans are in religious and
secular dictionaries. When we look for the definition of the term we
find it is a
"hierarchy: the power of dominion, government by
ecclesiastical rulers."
Putting one man in as leader (Pastor) led to
control and also caused the people to look more to a man than they do to
God. People depend on the leader to answer questions or make
decisions for their life instead of consulting God for themselves.
People begin to expect so much from the leader that it is impossible for him to give because all that is put on him in that position. Many of the people do not study the Word themselves but only depend on getting fed
through the leader at church. Some have more of a relationship with
the “pastor” more than they have with God. And it's a dangerous
place to be because there will come a time when the man they looked
to as “pastor” may not be there for them, and they will have no
idea how to hear the voice of God, for themselves because they have
not had that relationship with Him.
I Corinthians 1: 10-13 also spoke of division in the church but how we are to be perfectly joined in the same mind and judgment, because some were saying "I am of Paul; I am of Apollos; I am of Cephas; I am of Christ" Sound familiar? We often hear and have even said it ourselves, "I go to Pastor so and so's church". We have even heard "pastors" say, "This is MY church." Oh really? I thought it was Christ's Church? Is Christ divided? You know what I'm saying. We've all heard it.
10 Now
I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye
all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but
that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same
judgment.
11 For
it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of
the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
Ephesians 4 mentions the five GIFTS
that were given to men, NOT titles. They are gifts: Apostles,
Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers. The church is to have
the five fold leadership and body ministry.
We have heard quoted often from the
Bible about “forsaking the assembling of ourselves together” (Heb. 10:25),
which is mainly taught by the "pastor" when people keep missing church. But I
realized that you can be a faithful church goer yet still be guilty
of “forsaking the assembling...”. If you are just attending
church by gathering together with others just to sit and hear one man
teach, preach, etc, you are not assembled. But people don't know! They must be taught!!
Using a Factory as an example: You
have a product that you are manufacturing. You have many parts that
must be assembled before the product is even of any good use. It is
the same as the Body of Christ. We are a Body of many parts (gifts),
and when we come together, we must be assembled, not just gathered
together. We must be fitly assembled by the gifts (given to us by
God) in operation.
I Corinthians 14:26 even mentions that
"...when we assemble together, one hath a psalm, one has a doctrine, a
tongue, a revelation, an interpretation, letting all things be done
unto edification".
The Church will never reach its
fullness nor any form of unity until all five ministry gifts are
functioning together in the Body of Christ. The Church needs to
undergo a major reformation in its structure that will enable it to
handle a great out-pouring of God's Spirit. If the people aren't ready, get them ready! Again...They Must Be Taught! Many sit in the pews and have gifts but don't even know. Some know of their gifts but are not taught how to use them. Then there are others who know their gift yet are not allowed to use them. Do You Know Your Gift?
Once this revelation was shown to us, we attempt to share it where God directs. Many "pastors" reject this way because they do
not want to give up the power; the position. Others don't want to give up the
income, for they will have to get a job. No where in the Bible was
the “gift” of Pastor ever a title given to a leader of a church.
Yes, our churches are in dire need of Pastors, but not in the sense
as we know them today in the church. We all want revival. We want to see lots of people come in to the church. But seriously, we are not ready. We can't even keep and take care of the people we already have that are attending. As soon as the Pastors find
their rightful place in the church, we will see much revival, healing and deliverance take place. We will be ready for those who come in. Many non Christians and Christians are walking
wounded, and it is sad today, because many have been wounded not only from
the world but from the churches.
Learning what a “pastor” really is,
and what their true calling is, has opened my eyes to see the very
need for them in the churches today. The gift of pastor is as a
shepherd is to sheep. They watch out for them and take care of them.
Spend time with them. One on one time. The position the “pastors”
are in, in today's churches, they have no time for what they are
truly called to do.
I know I've randomly thrown out a lot
of stuff here in this writing, but I do plan to write up a booklet in
the future, on all this that will have so much more detailed
information to help give more understanding.
This is my passion, my heart!
The problem with the Church today is, we are not equipping the saints. I long
to see the Church get to where it is suppose to be, in the rightful
structure that God meant, so there will be no divisions, there will be no elevation of men above others, but that the
gifts given unto men can begin to be in operation as the Holy Spirit
leads and directs, for the equipping of the saints for the work of
the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ, till we all
come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of
God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness
of Christ, that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro
and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of
men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but speaking
the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head
– CHRIST, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by
what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by
which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the
edifying of itself in love. (Ephesians 4:11-16)
If we cannot find a group that will receive, then we will assemble in a home praying for God to send like-minded people who also see it, receive it and want it!
There is such a danger of many being
tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine and
trickery of man, being deceived because of sitting and learning from
one man, and accepting everything they teach as truth, yet never
studying it out for themselves. One man leadership is dangerous not
having accountability of others. We all must be accountable to one
another! There is no such thing as “a little wrong teaching”
being a small thing. It's a serious thing! One wrong teaching
perverts it all, and can open up doors to more false teachings.
Please be in prayer always and study Scripture (2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth) for yourself if you
are even unsure about something you hear taught. I cannot stress it
enough just how important it is to not only KNOW THE WORD OF GOD, but
to also KNOW THE GOD OF THE WORD. I will never stop stressing to
others how important RELATIONSHIP is.
Love you all,
Connie Schmoll
