Chapter One hundred-thirty-two
The REVELATION of Jesus Christ
CHAPTER TWO
The SMYRNA CHURCH
Smyrna means "myrrh" - a rich and prosperous city of Ionia,
forty miles north of Ephesus, at the mouth of the small river Meles.
Anciently it was one of the finest cities of asia Minor and was
called "the lovely - the crown of Ionia - the ornament of Asia."
To its credit the church at Smyrna was still faithful, and
against her no word of reproach was uttered. It was Polycarp's
field of Christian usefulness, and here he suffered martyrdom,
around A.D. 169. (The New Unger's Bible Dictionary).
Jesus again reaffirms He was the first and the last -
Eternal. He was dead once, but is alive forever more. Jesus, as
God in the flesh, did not exist for three days and three night,
He was as dead as a door nail, as the saying goes. If it was not
for the power of the Father to raise Him back to life, He would
still be dead, and we would have no salvation. we are saved not
only by His death, but also by His life (Romans 5:10).
Jesus tells the church at Smyrna that their works, their
tribulation and their poverty (but rich in the things that count)
He knows well. He knows also those who claim to be spiritual
Jews, but are indeed the synagogue or church of Satan, and what
they claim is blaspheming. He tells these faithful followers of
Him to not fear the things they may suffer: indeed the Devil will
have some of them thrown into prison, to be tried. They will have
tribulation ten days. If they will remain faithful unto death, He
will give them a crown of life. Those who overcome and stay
faithful, shall not suffer from the second death (chapter 20:14).
The second death is the lake of fire, which shall burn up
the wicked, as they become ashes under the feet of the righteous.
See the studies on "Death - Then What?" which also covers the
subject of the second death, for the un-repentant wicked.
This is the church of ONLY TWO that have no reproaches said
against them.
The truth for our spiritual lesson is obvious. Remain
zealously faithful even unto death.
Church history shows that the largest and greatest
"Christian" persecution was under Diocletian from 303 to 313 A.D.
It was exactly 10 years. Using the prophetic day for a year, we
do then have a ten year great persecution against the truth of
the Gospel.
The time age of the first church had ended, when is not
known, but probably into the third century. False teachers had
come, many by this time. The church at Rome was gaining power in
numbers and doctrine. There was one last overall persecution of
anyone under the name of Christian from 303 to 313. It was
Constantine who adopted Roman Christianity, won the battles to
become Roman Emperor, and DECREED a stop to Christian
persecution, at least against Roman Christianity. It was
Constantine who brought in the Sunday laws in about 321 A.D. The
Roman church had been observing Sunday for some time, before
Constantine gave the Sunday official status in the Roman Empire.
Also the Roman church had been observing Easter instead of
Passover for about 200 years by 313 A.D.
So it was that by 313 A.D. there were MANY, not the few, who
claimed to be spiritual Jews, but God knew what they really were,
they were deceived by Satan the Devil.
After 313 A.D. the focus of the Roman Empire was on
persecution of those who differed with the Bishop of Rome, and
the Roman Catholic (the word "catholic" means "universal")
religion. For a number of hundreds of years the true Church of
God was indeed under mighty persecution as we find in the church
of Pergamos as the time of the age moved along.
PERGAMOS CHURCH
Pergamum, a city in Asia Minor, about 200 miles from the
sea. It had a vast library of 200,000 volumes at one time. In
this town was first discovered the art of making parchment, which
was called "pergamena." The city was greatly addicted to
idolatry, and its grove, which was one of the wonders of the
place, was filled with statutes and altars. Here was one of the
seven churches of Revelation 2:13. The wealth of the Attalic
princes had raised Pergamum to the rank of the first city in Asia
as regards splendor. It was a sort of union of pagan cathedral
city, a university town, and a royal residence, embellished
during a succession of years by kings who all had a passion for
expenditure and ample means of gratifying it (The New Unger's
Bible Dictionary).
Please read the above again. Let it sink in what you have
read. Now, think about the city of ROME, in the Roman Empire
until the Empire fell about 500 A.D. Even after that, think about
Rome and the mighty influence it had in the world of
Christianity, under kings and bishops that also wanted wealth and
splendor. The connection should be obvious. Rome was the Pergamum
of the Western world from the time of Constantine to the middle
ages and the famous Protestant Reformation battle under Luther.
The spiritual lesson is clear. Do not mix idolatry and any
stumbling block before yourself, that will lead you away from
serving and obeying the way and life and laws of the true Eternal
God.
Jesus, who has the two edged sharp sword, the Word of God,
says He knew His true followers in the Pergamos time age of the
Church of God. He knew their works, And He knew that many of them
lived where Satan's seat was. Now, was the old literal city of
Pergamum, at the time of the last years of the first century when
John was writing this revelation of Christ, the CENTER, the SEAT
of Satan? When you consider WHAT the city of ROME was becoming in
the way of so-called "Christianity" by the end of the first
century A.D. the city of Pergamum could not have been the SEAT of
Satan! When you consider what Polycarp and Polycrates did in
going to ROME over certain doctrinal issues, during the second
century, it is clear that ROME was the SEAT of Satan.
Anti-pas can be a derivation of Anti-patris "instead of his
father" - put in simple language, "instead of father" - against
the "father" in the Roman Catholic churches. There was as some
record the probability that a man by the name of Antipas was put
to death in the city of Pergamum. But the time setting of it all
could well fit the true church of God being against what the
Roman Catholic church was teaching. The idolatry, things tied in
with mystery spiritual fornication and idols, dressed up in
Christian names is fitting during the powerful rise and
domination of the Roman Catholic religion until the Protestant
Reformation.
This is again brought out in verse 15, where we again meet
the doctrines of the Nicolaitans - the rulership over people. The
true church of God, hated as Jesus did, the teaching that
individual people as pastors and bishops had FULL DICTATOR
RULERSHIP over the people.
Satan had a HUGE SEAT of POWER at ROME, the influence of the
Roman Catholic religion for a 1,000 years and more, was
staggering to say the least. It not only ruled the religious life
of people, it was also very political, and governed much of
secular life, such as claiming the earth was flat and other such
teachings. It persecuted people who said the earth was NOT flat.
It branded all who did not accept its teachings in theology and
otherwise, as HERETICS.
So for hundreds of years God's people fought the religion of
Rome. For the most part God's children remained faithful and
true, BUT as it is with time, eventually the people of God caved
in, got spiritually lazy, were slowly decaying. The church
history of Britain shows as recorded by the famous Bede, that by
700 A.D. the Catholic church had gained strong footing in
Britain. Again, the Passover as observed by John and Polycarp,
and brought to England, under the early apostles, was conquered
by the Roman Easter. The 7th day Sabbath observation in Britain
was finally destroyed by 1100 A.D. (The Welsh held on to it until
that century).
By and into the second millennium A.D. God's people had to
be told to REPENT, or that candlestick of the Pergamos time age,
was going to be corrected very harshly by the mouth of the Lord.
If the people of the Almighty would REPENT, they would then
overcome and eat of the hidden manna, the true bread of life
(Jesus in truth), be given a WHITE stone (white represents
righteousness - see chapter 19:8), and in that stone a NEW name
only known to that righteous person. Exactly what that "name"
subject is all about ... well I cannot know to tell you, for only
he that has receives it knows. Will it be such for all eternity,
I cannot tell you the answer to that either.
All so far said, fits very well with the historical record of
Church History up to the time of around about the Protestant
Reformation, up to some time BEFORE and then INTO that historical
time age is the church of Thyatira.
As mentioned before, keep in mind that true church time ages
can OVERLAP by sometimes hundreds of years.
....................
To be continued
  Chapter One hundred-thirty-three:The REVELATION of Jesus Christ #4
The REVELATION of Jesus Christ
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 thy 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,
decked 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
sisters 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 east 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 certainly 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.
..................
  Chapter One hundred-thirty-four:The REVELATION of Jesus Christ #5
THE LAST TWO CHURCHES
After the Protestant Revolution, it was getting much easier
for the true people of God, the Church of Jesus Christ, to openly
proclaim all truths found in the Bible, without being persecuted
even to death. The Church of God was then, as is put in
Revelation, "alive." But, as nearly always happens, over time,
the zeal FOR truth as well as the zeal to PROCLAIM it, starts to
dwindle. Whatever the time frame was (God knows) it was true that
the Church of God was alive, but yet they were in many ways
"dead."
And when this happens, Jesus, who is in charge of His
Church, moves SOME within His body the church, to move on out so
to speak and form other individual local groups and/or a work
that has many local groups co-operating together, to proclaim the
Gospel around the world.
So it was, no time date to pin-point it, but from what we
can see from church history, it was probably in the 1700 A.D. and
after, that the people who would be the 6th time frame, or the
church of Philadelphia came on the scene of the world.
I want you to take special note of the below, taken from the
New Unger's Bible Dictionary.
PHILADELPHIA
"brotherly love" - A city in Lydia of Asia Minor. It was
built by Attalus 11 Philadelphus, whose name it bears. It was
situated on the lower slopes of the Tmolus, about twenty-eight
miles southweat of Sardis and 100 miles west of Smyrna. It has been several
times almost destroyed by earthquakes. Its name is now Alasehir,
"city of God." The town is an unimportant place of fifteen to
twenty thousand people.
Jesus says He is holy, true, and has the key of David, He
opens and no man shuts, He shuts and no man opens. Jesus is in
charge of His church. And He is the One to give it POWER to go
here or there and spread the Gospel in this manner or that
manner. The key of David? As David had the key to his house so to
speak, had authority and power over his house, so Jesus has
authority over His house, His church, and can execute whatever
judgement as He needs to for the keeping of His house. As Jesus
said, He would build His church and the gates of hell or the
grave would never prevail against it.
Jesus knows the works of this people in this time age of His
church. There will be an open door for them to proclaim the
truths of God and the Gospel, and until Jesus says differently,
no man can shut that door. Certainly the modern worldwide
INTERNET is maybe the greatest open door for teaching the truths
of God all around the earth. And it will for now only get more so
with the Internet, as modern space age technology develops.
If you noticed above about today's literal town of
Philadelphia in Turkey (Asia Minor), it is UNIMPORTANT, SMALL, IT
HAS THEN LITTLE STRENGTH as such. The true people of God have
always been the relatively SMALL unimportant, in the view of the
world, religious group of Christians. Jesus once said that His
followers would be the VERY LITTLE flock (as the Greek reads). On
the whole they would have very little strength, very little
compared to the Babylon Mystery Christian Catholic church. It
would be something like Elijah in his day, when he lamented that
to the Lord that he was the only person NOT bowing the knee to
Baal. God answered him by saying he was wrong, because God had
7,000 others out there, here and there, that had not bowed the
knee to Baal.
It is true, the VERY ELECT, are few and far between, they
are the SALT of the earth, the very little flock. A few here and
a few there, one here and two or thee there, scattered around the
world. So it has been for the last 500 years or so. But they have
been there, and the door to spread the Gospel has been open in
various ways, personal evangelism, written words of evangelism,
broadcasts over radio, TV, and now the Internet. The true people
of God have had an open door which no man can shut. At the
present that door remains open.
God's people in these end time hundreds of years, have NOT
DENIED His name, and have been willing to KEEP His word. They are
the faithful. They are the ones who strive for the faith once
delivered to the saints. They are willing to grow in grace and
knowledge, willing to be taught, be corrected, willing to be
humble and submissive to the leading of the Spirit of God.
We have had people in the last few hundred years who kept
the 7th day Sabbath, and who observed and proclaimed the keeping
of the Festivals of God. We had the black man working on the
trains in the late 1800s who just read his Bible and came to see
the Festivals of Leviticus 23 should be observed, and raised up a
good work among other black people. We had the Seventh Day
Adventist minister in the very early 1900s who came to see the
Festivals of God should be observed, had his study paper printed
in the worldwide Adventist magazine, and some SDA churches in
South America were willing to agree and observe those Festivals.
We had minsters in the 1930s in the Church of God, Seventh Day,
who came to admit those Festivals should be observed. Some formed
their own organizations and spread the word of God. We have SDA
ministers like Samuele Bacciocchi PhD, who admit the Festivals of
the Lord should be observed, and some in the SDA church DO
observe them.
So the word of God is not denied, the name of God and what
He stands for is not denied. They are few relatively speaking,
but they do have an open door. One day the world will have to
admit, come before those people made immortal, and actually
worship at their feet. Yes, those people will then be in the God
Family, and worshipping before them, will be natural, as they
will have the name of God in their character. All that I fully
explain in my study called "A Christian's Destiny."
Yes, the world, and the false Christianity in it, the
BILLION plus will have to one day admit, those few with outward
little strength WERE and ARE the very sons and daughters of God
the Father. They will KNOW THEN that God truly DID LOVE those
few!
And because they did KEEP the word of Christ's PATIENCE,
which is interpreted for us in Revelation 14:12 as KEEPING the
COMMANDMENTS of God and the FAITH of Jesus Christ, they will, a
part of them (this is another of those "general" statements used
in the Bible) be KEPT SAFE from the hour of TRIBULATION or
Temptation to come on the WHOLE world (see Rev. 12:14-16; Luke
21:36).
Jesus says, "Behold, I come quickly; hold FAST what you
have, that no man take away thy crown" (verse 11).
Yes, when the prophecy of this book of Revelation REALLY
starts to unfold, when we are down to the last 42 months, 1260
days of the close of this age, then Jesus WILL COME QUICKLY! The
point is when Jesus is ready to come quickly, there will be true
faithful people of God on this earth, doing the work of God,
going through the open door set before them to teach, to preach,
to expound the prophesies of Revelation and all the prophetic
books of the Bible. They will be spreading the Gospel and warning
the nations of this earth what will take place as the Lord has
declared. For a short while God will stop His word going but by
the Elijah to come and the two witnesses of Revelation 11. But
until then His children will have an open door set before them.
Those at this end time who do overcome the world and Satan,
will be some of the very "pillars" of glorified perfection in the
Temple of God. They will have the VERY NAME of GOD, and in type
symbolism the name of NEW Jerusalem, which will come down from
God eventually (as shown in Revelation 21,21). And they will
have, in what ever way Jesus means it, HIS NEW NAME!
All of this for the true faithful children of God at the
close of this age (which remember can cover a number of hundreds
of years).
LAODICEA
The town was located on a flat-topped hill. A wall (about a
kilometer long on each side of its four sides) surrounded the
crown of the hill. The Laodicean condition describes the
spiritual lukewarmness and worldliness that will prevail in the
professing church of Christ at the end of the age. Rich,
cultured, religiously ritualistic - this church will have become
so self-satisfied and worldly as to have ostracised Christ
completely. He is represented prophetically as standing on the
outside knocking for admission (Rev.3:20). The awful spiritual
condition, so utterly abhorrent to God, calls forth one of the
boldest figures used in the NT, "So because you are lukewarm, and
neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth" (Rev. 3:16
cf. 2 Tim.3:1-8 for the spiritual and moral condition at the end
of the church age) (The New Unger's Bible Dictionary).
As it happens so often, because of time and human nature
twisted by the help of Satan the Devil, there will be a people
during the whatever decades or more (maybe a few hundred years)
who will still be at the very close of the age, in a Laodicean
mind-set. Jesus says He is the Amen! The faithful and true
witness of His very own body - the Church of God. He is the
beginner (as it should be understood) of the creation of God.
Yes, Jesus was the ONE who DID the creating in Genesis chapter
one. All that subject is covered in various studies on my
Website.
Jesus knows their work, that they are neither hot nor cold,
they are resting with their feet up, in a self-righteous manner,
and so because of it, because they are "lukewarm" He will spit
them out of His mouth.
Look at their attitude. They say they are "rich and
increased with goods; and have no need of anything." They must be
saying, "I'm physically blessed so God must be rewarding me for
serving Him, in the way I do." Or "I have all I need, physically
and spiritually, I have the truth, so I'm just fine."
Jesus answers them, "You know not that you are WRETCHED, and
MISERABLE, and POOR, and BLIND, and NAKED...." What language
Jesus uses, He is really telling them the naked truth (excuse the
pun)! These people will not even come close to trying to see
WHERE and HOW they are short of the maturity of spirituality.
They have deceived themselves into thinking it's all over, just
hang on to what they have had, or what they NOW have as thinking
it is the better truth than what they had before, but in reality
it is going back into UN-truth. Either way, they have deceived
themselves, and they are really WRETCHED and BLIND and NAKED,
they have no white garment of the righteousness of God, in
reality, but they think they are wearing a spotless white robe.
When you loose the desire to LEARN, to be CORRECTED, to GROW
in grace and knowledge, when you loose the desire to HUNGER and
THIRST after RIGHTEOUSNESS, then you are Laodicean! The personal
lesson should be clearly evident.
Christ counsels them to buy of Him GOLD tried in the fire.
He wants them to have the REAL spirituality that makes a
difference, actually the difference of life or death. Then He
says they can have true riches, and a WHITE garment, so they are
then clothed in the correct outfit for His wedding (see
Rev.19:7-9). And so being clothed properly their spiritual
nakedness does not appear and does not bring them shame. Jesus
wants them to anoint themselves with EYESALVE, get their eyes
open and have true vision, so they can SEE the spiritual reality
and truth that is REALLY of God, and not manmade.
Jesus WILL CORRECT! He will REBUKE! He does it because He
loves people. He wants people to REPENT! He stands at the door of
our hearts and minds, wanting us to OPEN to Him, so He can come
in and have a FEAST with us on truth and righteousness. If people
WILL REPENT, admit the error, go the right way, do the correct
thing, be HUMBLE, then He can come into them. And those who will
open to Him, can sit with Him at His throne (during the
millennium age - Rev.20:1-4), just as He sat down with the Father
at His throne, when He went back to heaven after His resurrection
from death.
There will be, there already IS ... THREE church time ages
in existence today. They are overlapping each other, maybe by
hundreds of years. There is the walking dead, with only a few in
clothes of white and still have their names in the book of life.
There is the true faithful, who have found and are remaining true
to the faith once delivered to the saints, and there are the
"rich" in their OWN eyes, who will not see their wretchedness,
who will not admit error and sins and all that makes them
spiritually naked.
My prayer for you dear reader is that you will be a pillar
in the Temple of God, and have written on you the name of God,
and be given Jesus' new name (verse 3:12).
....................
Written November 2007
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