祂忠心的見證者─啟示錄

在別迦摩的教會被主稱讚是忠心的，甚至是在安提帕的日子，主稱他們為『忠心的見證人』。此與『撒但座位之處』有關連，一點都不意外，保羅在帖撒羅尼迦後書二章3-4節寫著：

人不拘用什麼法子，你們總不要被他誘惑；因為那日子以前，必有離道反教的事，並有那大罪人，就是沉淪之子，顯露出來。

他是抵擋主，高擡自己，超過一切稱為神的和一切受人敬拜的，甚至坐在神的殿裡，自稱是神。 

提出此話題的初代教父似乎同意，他們預期此『沈淪之子』或『那行毀壞可憎的』（參考但以理書11:31），正是但以理所提到的，要坐在神的殿裡，也就是教會。沒有任何初代教父或宗教改革者看見猶太聖殿在耶路撒冷重建，或沈淪之子在那裡彰顯，他們只有看見他在教會裡被彰顯出來，直到1844年的復臨運動。 

安提帕（Antipas）意指『反教宗』或『反教父』，這是教會成為羅馬帝國國教之後所興起的一個運動，尤其抵擋羅馬皇帝賜予主教的額外權柄，特別是羅馬主教。在此運動中的參與者相信，教會唯一的頭就是耶穌，沒有人應當佔了祂合法地位或被稱為『父』，此頭銜應當專門保留給主單獨使用。 

一千年過後，宗教改革者也以『安提帕』（Antipas）之名興起，他們宣稱高舉人的機構儼然取代基督合法地位，成為教會的頭，或成為教會裡『那行毀壞可憎的』，將人放在主的位子上來分開人與主的直接關係。

還有許多其他對此議題的因素，值得我們深入研讀初代教父與宗教改革者的寫作，當我們繼續研讀啟示錄時，我們會談到其中一些。在約翰所得著的啟示中，幾乎都與每一個重要教義有關，裡面的屬靈陷阱是每一個基督徒與教會必須學習認出並且避免，以及這些陷阱如何終止的歷史範例─一段事先寫好的歷史。 

主建造祂教會的權柄架構是以簡單為特色；其效率與效力是世界少有的。當主教的地位高過所有長老和職事，而樞機主教與羅馬主教的地位又如同教會的頭，教會的階級制度被劇烈改變，成為世界的反射，也就是當時的人類權柄。 

當我們繼續談論從此所揭開的事物，便很容易看見何以宗教改革者會稱此為『行毀壞可憎的』，或按字面可翻譯為『那行毀壞可憎的』。藉此，教會的性質與本質從基督的樣式轉變成敵基督者，為當時的黑暗打開道路。 

 (摘自喬納 word for the week,Week28, 2016)

 
His Faithful Witness—The Book of Revelation
Week 28, 2016
Rick Joyner

         The church at Pergamos is commended by the Lord for being faithful even in the days of Antipas, whom the Lord called His “faithful witness.” That this is linked to “Satan’s throne” is no accident. Paul wrote in II Thessalonians 2:3-4:

Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,

who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God (NKJV).

         The early church fathers who addressed this subject seemed to agree that they expected this “man of sin,” or the “abomination of desolation” (see Daniel 11:31) as Daniel referred to it, to take its seat in the temple of God, which is the church. None of the early church fathers, or even the Reformers until the 1844 Advent Movement, foresaw a rebuilding of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem or the man of sin manifesting there. Rather they saw him manifesting in the church.

         Antipas means “anti-pope” or “anti-father.” This was a movement that rose up after the church became the state religion of the Roman Empire. This movement resisted the exceptional authority given to the bishops, especially to the Bishop of Rome, by the Emperor. Those in this movement believed that the only Head of the church was Jesus, and that no man should presume His rightful place or be called “father,” a title that should be reserved for the Lord alone.

         Over a thousand years later, the Reformers rose up to be “antipas” as well. They declared the institution that exalted men to Christ’s rightful place as the head of the church to be the “abomination of desolation,” or “the abomination that desolated” the church by separating the people from their direct relationship to the Lord by putting men in His place.

         There are other factors to this issue that deserve a much deeper study of the writings of the early church fathers and the Reformers. Some we will cover later in this study of the Book of Revelation. In this one revelation that John had, there are connections to virtually every important doctrine, the spiritual traps every Christian and church must learn to recognize and avoid, and historic examples of how they played out—a history written in advance!  

         The authority structure the Lord built His church upon was brilliant for its simplicity. If was efficient and effective, unlike anything the world had ever seen. With the elevation of the bishops to a position above elders and deacons, and then the archbishops and the Bishop of Rome as the head of the church, the ecclesia of the church was radically changed into a reflection of the worldly, human authority of the time.

         As we continue to cover what unfolded from this, it is easy to see why the Reformers would call this “the abomination of desolation,” or the way that it is literally translated, “the abomination that desolates.” With this, the character and nature of the church was transformed from an image of Christ to everything that was in fact antichrist, opening the way for the darkness of the times.