Revelation 2:6 Haughty Eyes Mark
But you have this, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
What the Lord hates, His holy word tells us, and what a Christian should hate should be similar. Most people dislike sin but are only sometimes on the same page as to what sin is. In Proverbs 6:16-19, Solomon wrote there are 6 to 7 things God hates, but it sums up that disobeying God and humans hurting each other is what the Lord hates. The Nicolaitans were so-called Christians who had no problem seeking self-pleasure. Many false doctrines began even when the apostles’ Paul, Peter, and John were still alive and teaching simply because many of the words of the Old Testament were too harsh or difficult to obey. So false teaching such as once saved, always saved began, so some Christians felt they had a license to sin because grace allowed it—the area of Asia Minor and where the Ephesus was an ancient metropolis. The people of Ephesus were wealthy, so the Christians of the church had difficulty being spiritually poor and still had a love for money. The Artemis Temple in Ephesus was a major place of worship built for the Greek Goddess Artemis, who the Romans renamed Diana. She was the Goddess of pets and fertility, so very often, sex was a part of the worship at her temple. So, Ephesus had a lifestyle of self-indulgence, but Christianity is against such behavior. Lots of money and wealth help a person indulge themselves with sex. Especially in a pagan temple where money is given to the temple prostitutes so that more money is used to build the temple. The Lord hates greed and does it to genuine Christians. The Christians who enjoy a life of self-indulgence see nothing wrong with greed. When a Christian is wrestling in his or her mind and heart, do I or love God or wealth, he or she will love one and hate the other. Money-loving Christians cannot serve the Lord with all their heart and soul. When Christians have wealth, they give it to God to serve the church and the community. The church will experience growth, and so will the members of the church. So therefore, hates the deeds of the Nicolaitans; their deeds do not serve the Lord or the body of believers, which is the church. God bless you all, and let the Lord be your wealth; He loves you, and so do I, His humble bondservant, Samuel Jerry Head.