1600-5 Church

REVELATION 2:12-17
“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of
sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful” (Ps.1:1).

2. The worldly church is guilty of making the false profession of the Nicolaitans (see note, pt.2—Rev.2:5-6 for discus-
sion and verses).

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(2:16) Repentance: the counsel is to repent. The church and its believers needed to repent and to change their ways.
What does this mean? The church and the true believers...
• needed to deal with those who were worldly and lead them to repentance.
• needed to change its practice of accepting people into the church just because they professed Christ. There
needed to be evidence of repentance.
• needed to discipline those who refused to repent and chose to continue on in their worldly living.
• needed to stop conveying a sense of false hope and false security to unbelievers by baptizing them when
they made profession without true repentance.
• needed to stop allowing the worldly to seduce, deceive, and mislead other believers in the church.

“Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt.3:2).
“I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Lk.13:3).
“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38).
“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the
times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19).
“Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine
heart may be forgiven thee” (Acts 8:22).
“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every
where to repent” (Acts 17:30).
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and
seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will for-
give their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chron.7:14).
“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him re-
turn unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abun-
dantly pardon” (Is.55:7).

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(2:16) Warning: there is the warning. Christ warns the church that becomes worldly. He will come quickly and make
war against the worldly. Note this: the Lord is not going to punish the faithful believers who are spiritual minded. He is
going to punish only those who refuse to repent of their worldliness. The anger of Christ is always against the impure. Christ
will never punish the spiritual members of a church; He will only punish the worldly members. Note how: with the sword of
His mouth, that is, with the power of His Word. His Word is strong enough to judge all the worldly, no matter who they are
or how many there may be.

Thought 1. Note this: the church as a whole is responsible for allowing worldly people to be baptized. The com-
mand of Christ is to repent and believe the gospel. True belief always involves repentance—a turning away from the
world to Christ—total denial of self—the total commitment of all one is and has to Christ and His cause of world
missions.

“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be
spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him” (Heb.2:3).
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but ex-
horting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Heb.10:25).
“Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led
away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness” (2 Pt.3:17).

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(2:17)

Overcomers—Promise: there is the great promise to the overcomers. The promise is twofold.
1. The overcomer is given the right to eat the manna or bread of heaven. This is a reference to the manna that was used
to feed the children of Israel during their wilderness wanderings. God actually caused the manna or bread to be rained down
from heaven upon them (Ex.16:4). The point to note is that the manna was given by God to feed them and to keep them alive
during their wandering upon this earth. Now, what does the hidden manna mean? What is the bread of heaven? It means
Christ Himself. The overcomer is given the right to feed upon Christ. This is exactly what Christ Himself said.

“Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from
heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which
cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world” (Jn.6:32-33).
“And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and
he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (Jn.6:35).
“I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for
ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (Jn.6:51).
“This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are
dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever” (Jn.6:58).
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