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Chapter 9: The Letters To The Seven Churches
Revelation 1:20 "The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches." Until about 1900 AD, when enough time in history had passed for us to look back and view the history of the church, it was not understood that God had given us an overview of the history of the church, from beginning to end. Each church that God told John to write to had certain characteristics about it that would portray the evolution of the church until the time of the end. Ephesus
Revelation 2:1-4 "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet, I hold this against you: you have forsaken your first love." When a person first becomes a Christian they are excited about studying the bible and learning new things about God and his word. After a while, the excitement wears off, if you do not continue to learn new things each day or each week. God compares it here to marriage, the forsaking of ones first love. If a couple doesn't continue to work at keeping a marriage alive and interesting and exciting, love will depart and the marriage will grow stagnant and cold. Christ is warning us here not to let this happen concerning the things of God, as the early church was doing in about 100 AD. Revelation 2:5-7 "Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate." "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God." The church at Ephesus represented the first 100 years of church history. For the first 100 years the church and it's doctrines were relatively pure. As long as the apostles were alive they could be consulted if a difficult problem arose, and given a correct answer. After the death of the apostle John, power struggles began to develop between the bishops of the larger cities as they sought to maintain and increase their areas of authority. We will see what the Nicolaitans taught when we study the church of Pergamum. Smyrna
Revelation 2:8-11 "To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. I know your afflictions and your poverty-yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death." The church at Smyrna represented church history from about 100 AD to 325 AD during this time the church endured ten waves of persecution from the Roman emperors, and many people were killed for holding to their faith. During this time it was a crime to be a Christian in the Roman empire. It was the belief during this time that the emperors were Gods, and deserved to be worshipped. The Christians refused to do this and were, according to the law, traitors, a crime which was punishable by death. Pergamum
Revelation 2:12-15 "To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. I know where you live--where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city-- where Satan lives. Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans." False teaching, immorality and idol worship was beginning to creep into the church. These are called the teachings of Balaam, a prophet for hire and sorcerer in the Old Testament. Jealously and strife were also entering the church through the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which is the teaching that the clergy is supposed to rule over the laity, the congregation. The literal Greek translation of "Nicolaitans" is "conquered laity." After the death of the apostles the bishops began consolidating all of the power in the church into the hands of the clergy. The parishioners became spectators in the service of God, rather than participants. God says that he hates this doctrine. The Lord warned the disciples about this when they were arguing about who would sit nearest to him in his kingdom. Mark 10:42-45 "Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles Lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all." What happened to the church during this time is that it now became politically advantageous to be a Christian, because the emperor was one. All kinds of unscrupulous and unspiritual people began to join the church and seek high offices in the church in order to please the emperor. They brought with them their pagan customs and doctrines and incorporated them into church doctrine. In 275 short years, from 325 AD until 600 AD, the pure doctrines of the church were ruined. When Christianity became the state religion of pagan Rome, the state, the Roman emperors, and the new pagan members changed it to make it resemble the type of religion they were used to. The Christian church was being transformed into the image of the ancient religion of Mystery Babylon. Revelation 2:17 To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it. In spite of the problems in this church the Lord promises that he will reward those who overcome the obstacles in it. They will receive the hidden manna, which is a reference Christ, who is called the bread of life in the scriptures. The white stone with a new name on it is another reference to marriage, a new bride receives a diamond and her husbands last name, and those who are faithful in this church will be permitted to be a part of the group known as the "bride of Christ, when the first resurrection takes place. This church still exists today in the form of the Eastern Orthodox group of churches. These churches broke away from the Roman church and froze their doctrine right where it was at when they split. The dispute began in 325 AD when the Roman church changed the name of Passover to "Easter" in honor of the goddess Ishtar, and changed the celebration of it to a different date than the fourteenth day of the first Jewish month. You can look at the Eastern Orthodox churches today and see exactly what the church was like about 600 AD. The formal separation between the eastern (Constantinople) and western (Rome) churches occurred in 879 AD when the Pope of Rome and the Patriarch of Constantinople excommunicated each other. In 1054 the split became permanent. Thyatira
Revelation 2:18-23 "To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first. Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So, I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her children dead Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds." This is the continuation of the ruined church, from about 600 AD to 1500 AD this was the papal church, the church that now had included in its doctrine along with the teachings of Balaam and the Nicolaitans, the teachings of Jezebel. This is more spiritual adultery, a deeper form of idol worship. The church was beginning to venerate idols, images, paintings, and so called "holy relics." This church continued on down through the centuries adding false doctrine after false doctrine to their list of beliefs. Notice that this church has children. These children are the Protestant Churches that would break away during the Protestant Reformation and later The Church of England and The Episcopal Churches. This church permitted all types of sin so long as it's members were faithful in giving money. Notice though, that this church had and still has some people in it who are doing good works out of love and faith in Christ. This church is still in existence today, it is known as the Roman Catholic Church. The children of this church are described in the next set of verses. Sardis
Revelation 3:1-3 "To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars." "I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you." This "dead" church represents the churches that broke away from the Roman Catholic Church during the reformation era. This church age began in about the year 1500 and continues until today. The reformation started off on the right foot by restoring the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith. Where they failed was in not continuing on and rooting out the rest of the false doctrines that had crept into the church during the previous 1500 years. In actuality, they were almost carbon copies of their mother, the Roman Catholic Church. They froze their doctrine as soon as they were formed and have remained there until today. Protestantism became the state religion in many countries. They had a form of Godliness, but without any power. When ever a government controls the religion of a country, that religion becomes a political force rather than a spiritual force. Most of the Protestant churches will be reunited with their mother before the Great Tribulation. They will be caught off guard when the first resurrection takes place. It will surprise most of them like a thief in the night, because they do not study or teach about biblical prophecy. Philadelphia
Revelation 3:7-9 "To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars--I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you." The church of Philadelphia represents the church age that began with the holiness revival in the 1700's and continues to the present time. Some of these churches are now about as dead as the reformation churches, but not all of them. The holiness revival of the 1700's was the foundation from which the modern day Pentecostal movement was born in 1906. Once again, the new churches did not investigate and go back to the beginning of the church age and recover all of the teachings of the first century church. They did however, bring the church closer to the original doctrines of the early church than any of the previous church ages after 325 AD. These churches have been given the job of preaching the gospel during the last 120 years of the age of grace, from 1906 until the return of Christ. The Lord has given this church an open door to preach the gospel to all the world before he shuts the door when he takes this church out of the world. This church will continue until the return of Jesus Christ, but it will split off into two different directions when the Antichrist and the False Prophet arrive. The dead branches will merge with the Laodicean church, while the live branches will produce those faithful saints who will be martyred during the reign of the Antichrist and those who will never die, but will live until the first resurrection (The Rapture) occurs. Revelation 3:10-12 KJV "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the Earth. I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name." This church will be spared from the "hour of temptation," the wrath of God that will be poured out on an unbelieving world. They will be spared because the first resurrection will take place at the sounding of the seventh trumpet, and then the wrath of God, will be poured out to try them that dwell upon the Earth. 1 Th 5:9 KJV For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Laodicea
Revelation 3:14-16 "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth." The church at Laodicea represents the final condition of organized religion just before the return of Christ. The church of today is the lukewarm church. The majority of the people who attend church today, do so for the wrong reasons. They go to church be cause they were taught that it was the right thing to do, and so that they will have someone to baptize, marry, and bury them and their children. Many of the preachers in these dead churches are just there for a job. They cannot teach from the bible because they do not understand it, and when they do quote from it they do so in ignorance and twist the meaning of the scriptures to suit their own purposes. God has said that he would rather have people hot or cold, love him or hate him, than to belong to a "so called" Christian church that does not really believe or teach the commandments of Christ. The Laodicean church began forming about 100 years after the holiness churches. It began with the so called "age of reason," which was the name of a book published by Thomas Paine in 1794. Following this, in the early 1800's, Karl Marx fathered atheistic communism and later Frederick w. Nietzsche proclaimed that "God is dead." Their writings have influenced millions of people, and their humanistic "man is his own God" teachings have crept into many dead churches. From the middle 1800's and onward the Laodicean church has been growing steadily. It now consists of all of the churches who are members of the world council of churches, the "new age" religions, and many other organizations who are all seeking to unite the religions of the world into one global new age, humanistic, idol worshipping organization. Any and all false religions and philosophies are welcome to join into the Laodicean church. The only religions that are not welcome to join are those that teach that Jesus Christ is the only way that mankind may be reconciled to God. Revelation 3:17 "You say, `I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked." The dead churches of today are rich with money, but they are poor and blind when it comes to spiritual things. They are unable to give their members any spiritual help because the leaders themselves are blind to the truth of God's word. God will still be dealing with the people in these dead churches on an individual basis until the day that the first resurrection takes place. He will open the eyes of those who have a little faith to bring them out of it before the wrath of God strikes the Earth. When the Antichrist and the False Prophet come to power they will complete the uniting of all of the dead churches and religions of the world into one worldwide organization. If you are in a dead church that does not teach about Jesus and prophecy, you would be well advised to get out of it and join one where the word of God is being preached and taught. Revelation 4:1 "After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said," Come in here and I will show you what must take place after this." This verse looks forward to the time when all of the prophecies concerning the successive church ages have been fulfilled. Then, a door will be opened in heaven, and the sound of a trumpet will be heard, and the first resurrection will take place. This verse is also the proof that the letters to the seven churches are a prophecy of church history, and not merely letters to the seven ancient churches. Notice, that the angel tells John to come in here, and then the angel would show John what must take place after this, after the seven church ages have been accomplished. If the letters to the seven churches were simply letters, and not prophecies, then John hasn't even seen anything yet. But, if the letters are prophecies, then what the angel is showing John is what must take place after the Laodicean "lukewarm dead church," becomes the dominant religious force on the world scene. We are nearing that point in time today |