REVISITING CHRIST’S MESSAGE TO TODAY’S EVANGELICALS

Part V - Epilogue: Grasping The Importance Of Overcoming In Our Era

(Revelation 2-3)

I. Introduction

A. Compared to His messages to the other six church eras in Revelation 2-3, Christ gave a very sharp critique of our “Laodicean Church” era in Revelation 3:14-22, but He also offered a great reward for its overcomer(s)!

B. Thus, the spiritual dynamics in our era of the Church are both intense and strategic, so we view our Revelation 2-3 Church History context to grasp the significance of our era that we might be motivated to overcome in it.

II. Grasping The Importance Of Overcoming In Our Era, Revelation 2-3.

A. In fulfillment of Christ’s Matthew 13:33 prophecy, the Church has become fully leavened with false teaching:

1. It began with the Church’s Rev. 2:6 Nicolaitan foes, but they are hard to identify as a cult in that Apostolic era (B. K. C., N. T., p. 934), meaning their etymology of nikao+laos=“conquering of the people” (Z. P. E. B., p. 435) was a code to hide their identity as the Neo-Platonists from John’s captors who admired them:

a. John’s Roman captors admired pagan philosopher Plato who taught that an aristocracy was better than individual liberty, a “conquering-of-the-people” view (Edward M. Burns, West. Civ., 1963, p. 166-167).

b. Neo-Platonist Porphyry then held that Rome’s Emperor fit the role of Plato’s aristocracy, so he judged Christians who held to Christ as King to be enemies of the state and wrote the work Against Christians, helping to fuel Rome’s persecution of Christians. (Camb. Anc. Hist., v. XII, 1971, p. 202-203, 630-631)

c. Thus, in Rev. 2:6, Christ supported the Apostolic era leaders’ hatred of the Neo-Platonists’ WORKS!

2. However, 2 eras later in the Rev. 2:15 Pergamum era, Christ critiqued the Neo-Platonists’ TEACHING:

a. Church Fathers Origen and Clement interpreted Scripture allegorically to harmonize Christianity with Plato’s philosophy, leading to amillennialism, posttribulationism and dominion theology that appeared later in Reformed Theology’s eschatology (John Walvoord, The Blessed Hope and the Trib.,1976, p. 12-15; W. Walker, A Hist. of the Christ. Church, 1959, p. 75-77, 106-107; gotquestions.org/Arianism.htm).

b. Also, Augustine tried to form “a Christian philosophy out of Platonic materials” (B. B. Warfield, Calvin & Aug., reprint 1956 (1974), p. 375). Plato held to a lower, imperfect world known by the senses and an upper “World of Being” of perfect knowledge beyond the senses, at the top of which was the “Good” (Carruth, ed. in ch., The Vol. Lib., rep., 1917 (1974), v. 22, p. 2025). Augustine saw the “Good” as God, inadvertently forming an idolatrous pantheism where God IS creation and man is an extension of God (Ibid., Walker, p. 98, 163f). So, resisting Pelagius’ Stoic-laced works-salvation error (Ibid., Walker, p. 168), Augustine readily wrote that God authors faith, Ibid., Warfield, p. 378, 395f; Ibid., Burns, p. 272.

c. Christ then critiqued Pergamum’s leaders for allowing idolatrous transubstantiation caused by an influx of ancient Babylonian self-help salvation views (Ibid., Walker, p. 89-91; L. Boettner, Rom. Cath., p. 179; Harry I. Ironside, “Babylonian Religion,” Idolphin.org; Z. P. E. B., v. One, p. 358; Rev. 2:14) and for tolerating Augustine’s idolatrous Neo-Platonism and its related eschatological errors (Rev. 2:15).

3. However, Pergamum’s leaders failed to handle these errors, leading to MORE problems in LATER eras:

a. In the Thyatira era, the Protestant Reformers faced several MAJOR errors – Catholicism’s faith-plus-works salvation caused by the influx of ancient Babylonian self-help salvation theology with Pelagian influence, idolatrous transubstantiation and Augustine’s idolatrous Neo-Platonism with its errant eschatology. Christ chose not to add to the Reformers’ load by not making them correct every error they faced (Rev. 2:24b), so they opposed Catholicism’s errant salvation but held to idolatrous Neo-Platonism, errant communion views, errant eschatology and other errors.

b. Thus, in the Sardis era, Christ told the Reformation CHURCH to complete what the Reformers BEGAN (Rev. 3:2), but it did NOT FULLY do so: it held to idolatrous Neo-Platonic Calvinism and its errant eschatology, what fueled a reactionary Pelagian-Arminianism and moderate Neo-Platonic Calvinism!

c. The Philadelphia era leaders left the Calvinist-vs.-Arminian issue unsettled in battling Liberal Theology that was impacted by Darwinian evolution. Christ in Rev. 3:8b said that Philadelphia’s believers had “little strength,” for their era experienced waning spiritual vigor due to long-term, unhandled errors!

B. So, today, we face a Neo-Platonic-vs.-Pelagian, Darwinian-laced, Neo-Marxist, post-conservative mix that departs from handling Scripture literally in a Church that is spiritually weakened by such false beliefs!

Lesson and Application: Christ’s call that we overcome the Calvinist and Arminian factions’ errors involves our handling Scripture literally to confront a host of errors in a needy era. May we overcome by God’s grace!