In this blog we are going to give you a few Biblical examples of impostors, such as Judas Iscariot, Nicholas and the Nicolaitans, Ananias and Sapphira, Alexander and Hymenaeus and Simon the Sorcerer all the while relating them to the false assembly.
The English Dictionary defines impostor as a person who pretends to be someone else in order to deceive or defraud others; a deceiver or a cheat.
Judas is first mentioned in the choosing of the twelve apostles in Matthew 10:2-4, Mark 3:14-19 and Luke 6:13-16, which says in verse 16,
…Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor.
Judas was the treasurer of the twelve apostles, as stated in John 12:4-6 and we know that at the anointing at Bethany [Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-10 and John 12:1-8] after Jesus’ rebuke it seemed to invoke the displeasure of Judas and he immediately went to the chief priests to bargain for the betrayal:
And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill Him, for they feared the people. Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. So he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude. -Luke 22:2-6
And we know that he was betrayed by Judas and arrested in the garden of Gethsemane from the account of Luke in chapter 22 verses 47 and 48:
And while He was still speaking, behold, a multitude; and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him. But Jesus said to him, ‘Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?’
Can you imagine the feeling that Jesus had of being utterly betrayed by a friend and chosen one? More so, can you imagine the astonishment and confusion among the eleven of what exactly was happening? And among those eleven was Peter who was so incredibly upset that he tried to defend Jesus with a sword and cut off a man’s ear.
In 2 Peter 2:1, he writes,
But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.
And we can’t help but wonder if Peter had Judas in mind when he wrote ‘even denying the Lord who bought them’.
The false assembly is essentially giving the kiss of Judas to Jesus [and the remnant] all over again today.
In Matthew 27:3-10, when Jesus was officially condemned to death, Judas was overwhelmed with remorse and attempted to undo his evil deed by returning the money, only to be contemptuously rejected. Judas even recognized that he greatly sinned, because he said to the chief priests and elders in verse 4, ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.’
So, we see in this verse that Judas recognized his sin and tried to make amends for his wrong, but found no place for repentance; but all was done so that the will of God might be fulfilled concerning Judas.
And an excerpt from Jesus’ prayer for his disciples in John 17:12 says,
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
The key to understanding all the things that we have been sharing with you is to never forget the last thing that Jesus says in the above verse – that the Scripture might be fulfilled. Just as Judas betrayed Jesus to fulfill God’s will, the falling away [defection] began and has continued to also fulfill God’s will. Our goal is to make these scriptures known to you, so that you are able to come to the knowledge of the truth and be free from those that pretend to be the ‘church’.
Next, we are going to talk about Nicholas and the Nicolaitans.
‘Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.’ And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch. -Acts 6:3-6
This same Nicolas was talked about by Irenaeus [who was an early church father born around 130-140AD and possibly died as a martyr around the year 200AD] in his writings, Against Heresies 1.26.3. Irenaeus said that they [the Nicolaitans] were followers of Nicolas, a proselyte who was among the seven men chosen to serve the Jerusalem congregation [Acts 6:5] and who allegedly had forsaken true Christian doctrine. The Nicolaitans were mentioned twice in the book of Revelation.
In Revelation 2:6 Jesus is writing to the church of Ephesus, commending them and says,
But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
And then in chapter 2 verse 15, Jesus while writing to the church of Pergamus as a rebuke says,
Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
The doctrine of the Nicolaitans was dualistic. They probably reasoned that the human body was evil anyway and only the spirit was good. A christian, therefore, could do whatever he desired with his body, because it had no importance. The spirit, on the other hand, was the recipient of grace, which meant that grace and forgiveness were his no matter what he did. The Nicolaitans were judged by Christ in Revelation to be most dangerous, because the result of their teaching would have conformed them and their followers to the world, rather than to Christ.
Irenaeus also noted in Against Heresies that the Nicolaitans lived in unrestrained indulgence. Hippolytus in his writings, Refutation of All Heresies, confirmed this by noting that Nicolas left the correct doctrine and had the habit of being indifferent as to what a man ate and how he lived. Thirdly, The Apostolic Constitutions, described them as “shameless in uncleanness.” [Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, Vol. 4]
Now do you understand when the writer of Hebrews says,
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. -Hebrews 6:4-6
or what Jesus says in Matthew 23:15,
‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.’
Nicolas was taught the apostle’s doctrine, received the full benefits of the Holy Spirit [yet later rejected and blasphemed Him], and had a good reputation among his peers, but did not remain faithful to the true doctrine or the behavior of a true convert. Likewise, the false assembly today was given the solid foundation of the doctrine of the apostles and initially kept and demonstrated the true adherence to the gospel. The false assembly also has a good reputation among the multitudes and even received the Holy Spirit, but has rejected and blasphemed Him. It seems to us that if Nicolas and the Nicolaitans were present today that the false assembly would receive them with open arms right alongside the many other denominations that ‘claim’ to be unified in Christ, because ‘they have a right to their opinion’ or whatever the excuse would be. There’s only one problem – Jesus hated the Nicolaitans and their doctrine. And Jesus hates what is happening in the assembly today, because it has strayed from the doctrine that He founded.
Next, we want to talk about Ananias and Sapphira.
The account of Ananias and Sapphira happened in Acts 5:1-11,
But a certain man named, Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostle’s feet. But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled [to fully finish, fully furnish or fully equip] your heart [same word used in Romans 10:9 in relation to salvation] to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.’ Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. And the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him.
Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.
And Peter answered her, ‘Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?’ She said, ‘Yes, for so much.’
Then Peter said to her, ‘How is is that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.’ Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband. So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.
The account of Ananias and Sapphira is quite enlightening, especially when you relate it to today’s assembly. As we read the account above, it’s clear that their motive was strictly earthly, their focus was on their reputation and what man would think of them – appearing to have given all, but not doing so.
Peter makes it clear to them in verse 4 that they were under no obligation or requirement by God or the apostles to give anything, but their greed, ambition and desire for their own needs to be met led them astray to a strong delusion, just as we see in the current assembly today. People think they are required to tithe and give offerings and then place a requirement on God that He is obligated to meet all of their needs.
For several centuries in the early church there was no support of the clergy by a systematic giving of a tithe. In time the tithe came to be regarded generally after the pattern in the Jewish synagogue. The practice was supported by an appeal to some NT passages [Matthew 10:10, Luke 10:7, 1 Corinthians 9:7-14], but Irenaeus and other leaders in the church showed the arguments drawn from these texts were not valid. Rather, freedom in Christian giving was emphasized. [Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, Vol. 5]
As noted above, God places no such obligation on us today in regards to compulsory giving, but emphasizes in the New Testament the freedom that is in Christ. The intent and thoughts of our hearts will be revealed through what we spend our monies on, along with every aspect of our lives, but we should not give with the motive of getting. Giving all that we have is part of denying ourselves and is done out of love and honor to God. We are required by God that if we see a need we are to meet that need – first within the body, then to the orphans, widows, etc… as we are doing it to God himself, because the scripture says in 1 John 3:17-18, “But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.”
Contrary to what scripture says, the false assembly uses scripture for their own purpose. They place a heavy yoke of bondage on their members and give them the illusion that they are providing for the poor and needy, while the majority of the monies are going to salaries and building care and the smallest portion is going out. This is not what the Bible teaches and the false teaching of ‘tithing’ as we know it today is part of the falling away.
We also want to cover a few other details concerning Ananias and Sapphira. They denied the Lord who bought them with their words [Acts 5:1-2] when they verbally planned to pilfer the monies first; in Acts 5:3 they denied the Lord who bought them in their thoughts and Satan filled their heart; finally they denied the Lord who bought them with their deeds [Acts 5:4] when they went through with holding the monies back from the sale.
Make no mistake about it, when Ananias and Sapphira perished at the feet of Peter, they were eternally damned and not among the elect as some false teachers would claim.
We are going to wrap up this blog, because we don’t want it to get too lengthy.
In The Impostors Part 2, we will cover Alexander and Hymenaeus and Simon the Sorcerer.
Live Love 