Once upon a time there was a man who had potential to do great good. He was privileged to possibly have known Jesus. We know for a fact that he knew the Apostles! We read that he was appointed as one of the first seven deacons. His name was Nicolaus. In the Bible, we read the names of those appointed to the new office of deacon in the early church, “This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus from Antioch, a convert to Judaism.” (Acts 6:5) The first six deacons served God honorably. Ancient sources tell us that the seventh deacon listed left the faith. An apostolic father, name Irenaeus talked about Nicolaus. Check out this link
We read accounts of what happened to this early church leader in early church sources. Nicolaus had a beautiful wife and according to many ancient sources Nicolaus mixed Christianity with immorality.
Clement of Alexandria wrote, “Nicolaus, they say, had a lovely wife. When after the Savior’s ascension he was accused before the apostles of jealousy.” Nicolaus did not repent of his jealousy. Instead, he took offense. In a twist of values, Nicolaus, possibly in an effort to prove he had no jealously reverted to wife sharing instead. Again Clement of Alexandria writes, “He brought his wife into the concourse and allowed anyone who so desired to “marry” her. For, they say, this action was appropriate to the saying: “One must abuse the flesh.” Those who share his heresy follow both his action and his words simply and without qualification by indulging in the gravest enormity…” (Clement of Alexandria works)
The followers of Nicolaus are mentioned again in the book of Revelations. Some in the church at Pergamum held to the teachings of Nicolaus. These teachings allowed for all kinds of immoral behavior. The apostle John writes, “Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans” (Revelations 2:15). The leaders of this church did not preach strong enough about the dangers of wife sharing in the church. Some have said, this could not have been one of the first deacons. Other say it was. The point is this sort of thing happened in the early church and it still happens today. Many Christian men do not have a clear understanding about the Biblical way. The Biblical way of sexuality is between one man and one woman in marriage exclusively.
(Note: It is possible that some traditional sources were talking about a different Nicolaus. But many different ancient sources point to this Nicolaus. The fact is that many gnostic Christians left the path of Biblical sexuality. This certainly could have been a different Nicolaus, as some commentators like Ungers have said, but the warning to every man and woman is the same. Do not leave the faith.)
Married men need to humbly cultivate their fantasy imaginations to not hurt their wives in ways that lead them to compromise their purity. Many in our culture have tried to glamorize “alternative” expressions of sexuality in the name of “spicing things up.” The dangers of wife sharing are not talked about very much, but there are many.
We read accounts of what happened to this early church leader in early church sources. Nicolaus had a beautiful wife and according to many ancient sources Nicolaus mixed Christianity with immorality.
Clement of Alexandria wrote, “Nicolaus, they say, had a lovely wife. When after the Savior’s ascension he was accused before the apostles of jealousy.” Nicolaus did not repent of his jealousy. Instead, he took offense. In a twist of values, Nicolaus, possibly in an effort to prove he had no jealously reverted to wife sharing instead. Again Clement of Alexandria writes, “He brought his wife into the concourse and allowed anyone who so desired to “marry” her. For, they say, this action was appropriate to the saying: “One must abuse the flesh.” Those who share his heresy follow both his action and his words simply and without qualification by indulging in the gravest enormity…” (Clement of Alexandria works)
The followers of Nicolaus are mentioned again in the book of Revelations. Some in the church at Pergamum held to the teachings of Nicolaus. These teachings allowed for all kinds of immoral behavior. The apostle John writes, “Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans” (Revelations 2:15). The leaders of this church did not preach strong enough about the dangers of wife sharing in the church. Some have said, this could not have been one of the first deacons. Other say it was. The point is this sort of thing happened in the early church and it still happens today. Many Christian men do not have a clear understanding about the Biblical way. The Biblical way of sexuality is between one man and one woman in marriage exclusively.
(Note: It is possible that some traditional sources were talking about a different Nicolaus. But many different ancient sources point to this Nicolaus. The fact is that many gnostic Christians left the path of Biblical sexuality. This certainly could have been a different Nicolaus, as some commentators like Ungers have said, but the warning to every man and woman is the same. Do not leave the faith.)
Married men need to humbly cultivate their fantasy imaginations to not hurt their wives in ways that lead them to compromise their purity. Many in our culture have tried to glamorize “alternative” expressions of sexuality in the name of “spicing things up.” The dangers of wife sharing are not talked about very much, but there are many.
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