The CHURCHES continued
THYATIRA
One of the seven churches of Asia Minor. It was situated a
little south of the river Lycusand at the northern extremity of
the valley between Mt.Tmolus and the southern ridge of Temnus.
The waters of Thyatira are said to be so well adapted for dyeing
that in no place can the scarlet cloth out of which fezes are
made be so brilliantly or so permanently dyed as here. So in the
Acts (16:4) Lydia, the first convert of Paul at Philippi. is
mentioned as "a seller of purple fabric" from Thyatira. The
principal deity of the city was Appolo, and a priestess of
Artemis is also mentioned in the inscriptions (The New Unger's
Bible Dictionary).
Ah, remember that important fact, a PRIESTESS is mentioned
in that city. The color "scarlet/purple" is also connected with
this city. Now read Revelation 18 and note the words "scarlet"
and "purple." then go back to Revelation 17 and read verses
1-3,4,6 (blood is scarlet). As most OLD Bible Commentaries tell
you, what you are reading in chapter 17 and 18, is the mighty
power of the state/church Roman Catholic Holy Roman Empire. And a
"woman" as most will agree, represents in prophecy A CHURCH (see
Rev.12 for that proof).
The Son of God, with eyes like unto a flame of fire, and
feet like fine brass, speaks to Thyatira. "I know they works, and
charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works;
and the last to be more than the first" (verse 18,19).
Jesus has a few things against them. There is a woman in the
equation. she is called Jezebel, who says she is a prophetess.
The Old Testament Jezebel comes to mind. Bottom line, she was
against God and the truth of God, she was outwardly appealing,
deck in her Sunday best as we say. But under it all was basic
evil and deception. The people of God in this time age had got to
the point where this "woman" was influencing them into spiritual
fornication and various practices of idolatry.
God had given and allowed much time for her to REPENT, but
she would not.
Note verse 22, there is a time coming when she will be cast
into GREAT TRIBULATION, unless she repents. And then note verse
23. This woman church in scarlet and purple, will HAVE CHILDREN!!
And unless they also repent, they will DIE! God will search the
heart and He will give rewards according to works - good
righteous works = good rewards; bad evil spiritual deceptive
works = death.
This mighty religious power DID HAVE CHILDREN born out of
her - they protested at their mother, and became the PROTESTANT
churches movement. They all have SOME spiritual fornications that
their mother has.
God gives encouragement to those who have not fallen for the
DEPTHS of Satan. Satan comes at times, maybe most of the time, as
an angel of LIGHT! It all looks good outwardly. The Roman
Catholic church looks nice and good - many of its leaders do good
works, with different less fortunate people around the world. It
speaks truth many times, it has an outward form that makes it
sound very "Christian" religious. She is somewhat MYSTERIOUS in
her form of religion, especially to those who are far from her
rites and outward dress and ceremonies.
This time age of Thyatira is from some hundred of years
BEFORE and some few hundred years AFTER the PROTESTANT children
were born to her. But unless mother and children REPENT they will
all come to nothing and will have to be killed.
Jesus tells the church of Thyatira, the people, to hold fast
to the true faith once delivered to the saints. And he that does
so, and keeps Jesus' works to the end, shall have rulership over
the nations, they shall share with Jesus the ruling of the
nations during the 1,000 year Kingdom of God on earth (verses
25-27).
They will also inherit the MORNING STAR! Again no need to
guess what that is. The Bible interprets itself. Turn to
Revelation 22:16. There it is. Now isn't it wonderful that the
Scriptures interpret themselves. The morning star is JESUS the
CHRIST! Those that remain faithful in the true ways of the Lord
will inherit JESUS HIMSELF, meaning they will be His brothers and
sister in ETERNITY. What could be more wonderful and splendid
than for all eternity to have Jesus call you His brother or
sister. Do you remember in the Gospels Jesus once said, "Who is
my mother, my brother, and my sister, but they who DO the WILL of
my Father in heaven."
It was a long time age for the people of the church of
Thyatira. They were persecuted and often killed for their stance
against the doctrines and the depth of Satan as he governed the
mighty Holy Roman Empire. That is why this woman "Jezebel" in
chapters 17 is said to have become DRUNK by the blood of the
saints and the martyrs of Jesus (Rev.17:6). And she also is said
to have made the inhabitants of the earth drunk by her spiritual
fornication. She is also in bed with the kings and rulers of the
earth, she is a political as well as a spiritual Jezebel.
The personal lesson is that the ways of Satan can be DEEP -
mentally understand them, but do not KNOW them in relation to how
you live and worship the true God.
SARDIS CHURCH
Sadris was a western Asia Minor city fifty miles E of
Symrna. It was located on important commercial routes running
east and west through the rich kingdom of Lydia, of which it was
the capital. It was also made wealthy by textile manufacturing
and jewelry making. Wealthy Sardis citizens took up with mystery
cults, notably with that of Cybele (The New Unger's Bible
Dictionary).
Jesus says He has the seven Spirits and the seven stars.
Yes, He is in charge of his church. He knows their works, they
live but yet are dead.
Probably during the Protestant Reformation and certain some
time after it, the Sardis church time age came into being. The
Protestant Reformation did do one thing for God's people. It
brought a new zeal of LIGHT into God's children, a new spiritual
age had come for the truth's of the Lord to be proclaimed loud
and strong BY SOME of the Church of God. The SEVENTH DAY Sabbath
was loudly proclaimed by SOME. A FEW even taught the keeping of
the Festivals of Leviticus 23 - the Feasts of the Lord. The truth
of who and where the House of Israel had wandered to, the truth
of the tribe of Joseph and who they had become, was proclaimed
loud and strong. The truth of water baptism by full immersion was
taught by many of God's people. The truth of the SECOND coming of
Jesus in glory, back to this earth, in literal form, was
proclaimed by some in the Church of God. The truth of the depth
of Satan and the mysteries of Babylon as found in the Roman
Catholic religion was shouted from the housetops by some in the
Church of God.
All of this and more, was done by SOME in the congregations
of the Lord. We had now entered the Sardis time age for the body
of Christ. God's people were SPIRITUALLY LIVE with zeal ...
WELLLLL some of them were. For a few hundred years or so,
(especially, and even to this day as it will be till Christ
comes) after the Protestant Reformation, God's people were ALIVE
yet DEAD.
The Lord Jesus tells them to be WATCHFUL, to STRENGTHEN the
things that remain, truths that remain, but yet are ready to die!
God has not found the works of wishy-washy Christians perfect.
There were and STILL ARE the descendants of God's people from the
Reformation period, who are barely hanging on to certain truths
of the word of God. They DID HEAR, Jesus says they did, they are
to get and HOLD FAST, to REPENT!
The lesson for us? Love the truth, love searching the
Scriptures, desire to grow in grace and knowledge, prove all
things and HOLD FAST to that which is good.
Now here's where many have not understood church ages. They
can OVERLAP each other, sometimes by hundreds of years. This age
of the Sardis church will STILL BE ON THIS EARTH WHEN JESUS COMES
BACK. If they do NOT repent and WAKE UP from spiritual slumber,
Jesus will come in an hour they think not, as a thief in the
night, unexpected. So this Sardis church time age IS STILL WITH
US, and will be right up to the coming of Christ!
In this body of people there are SOME who have NOT defiled
themselves. They were willing to LEARN, be CORRECTED, willing to
GROW in grace and knowledge. Some were still searching the
Scriptures and so were able to be led into MORE truth and light
by the Spirit of God. They were willing to buck the trend, swim
up-stream, when everyone else was going with the flow
down-stream.
Jesus says to those people, that they shall walk with Him in
WHITE, for they are WORTHY!
So from the Protestant Reformation or there-abouts have been
the Sardis people of God, and they will still be there at
Christ's coming, but only a relative FEW will walk with Jesus in
white.
For those who overcome that "dead" attitude of mind, they
will be clothed in white raiment, and their names will NOT be BLOTTED
OUT of the book of life. Their names Jesus will confess before
the Father, and the angels.
As we shall see in the last two church time ages. They also
will be in existence when Jesus comes again. We shall have
THREE ages of the Church of God in existence when the end comes and
Jesus returns to establish the Kingdom of God on earth.
And that all makes good sense for when the rubber meets the
road, there can only be THREE types of spirituality in the
overall world of Christianity concerning the true body of Christ.
The ones who are in the main spiritually DYING, they are not looking
to grow in grace and knowledge; the ones who are fully and zealously
remaining STRONG in all the truths of God, and willing to grow;
and the ones who THINK they are spiritually just great, but are
really SICK and have become BLINDED through their own
self-righteousness and affluent physical riches (they are sickly
luke-warm), not wanting to be shown any errors.
We'll finish with the last two churches of Revelation next
time.
..................
Entered on this Website November 2007
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