scripture says we must be taught, instructed, catechized by the apostles
We must be taught by Peter, the apostles, and their successors! Lk 10:16 Matt 28:19 Jn 21:17
In the beginning of the church, this was the case as Only the 120 had the Holy Ghost fall upon them. they are the foundation, but this did not limit who could preach to select few. To the contrary those who the Holy Ghost came upon became leaders of house churches themselves and became Ministers of the Word. Being a minister is not a class of people but based on the maturity of the believer, their ability to digest the meat of the Word. That is why Elders are the ones called to teach. the Only Qualification for an Elder is their maturity in Christ Jesus, and the gifting of the Holy Ghost, which has enabled them to be Apostles prophets, evangelists or teachers of the Word. They are Brethren with all believers, not a higher class of believer, and all believers can mature to the be elders of the faith as they mature. That is what Peter Himself instructs....The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight
thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over
God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. (1 Peter 5;1-3) This is anything but a hierarchy like the Catholic church has, or for that matter many protestant denominations. What they have is a Nicolaitan system of lording over the laity, as opposed edifying the faithful to maturity and to be elders and teachers themselves.
Imagine if every believer took the great commission seriously and applied to their own lives instead of letting others do the ministering for them. That is the difference between Nicolaitan doctrine and Biblical Christianity. We who are believers now are One with the apostles, we are Brethren, and we are gifted with the same gifts as they were. Jesus Prays: Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father,
art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. (John 17:20-21) Thus Jesus was extending that Prayer that he prayed for the Apostles that were sent to all who would believe their testimony. He was saying we all will be sanctified through the truth of the word. That we all are sent ones. That we all who believe are called to grow to maturity and become elders in the Church, and that church leadership is not a class thing but a maturity thing. It is not a hierarchy of priests over the laity but the laity growing to maturity and becoming elders.
I Have personally witnessed this sort of Nicolaitanism in the following example. I Knew someone who had a gift of teaching, though he was not an intellectual. He had a simplicity and ability to express complex biblical doctrines in a simple way that made them easy to understand for everyone. One day a Nicolaitan came up to him and questioned his credentials, and tried to silence him because he had none in the way of worldly credentials but he was Holy Spirit taught and gifted teacher. That Church then Lost this Gifted teacher who was replaced by the credentialed one, who overcomplicated doctrine and raised himself up by his intellectual Hubris. Eventually that church died, as so many are dying in this day and age. They stopped producing Ministers, and their numbers dwindled to where they could no longer support the church.
This in itself is a big problem in the Catholic church, is it not? Not having enough Priests and Bishops, and the ones they do have have issues? In the true church, this is never a problem, when one is persecuted and killed another stands up in their place. When one is seduced by the world, and goes after riches, another rises up and takes their place. When one dies of Old age another elder rises up and takes their place. this is the church that gates of hell shall not prevail against, not the one that is dying because of the scandals in their leadership, so they have to move their priests around and conceal their inappropriate behavior, and pay reparations to their victims in clandestine settlements.... You know what I am talking about.... In other words, How are those Nicolaitans in your church doing for you?
