Verse 4:6 “And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.”
As discussed before, the tabernacle/temple on earth was a replica of the temple in heaven. There were certain objects that were a part of the temple that we will now see their heavenly counterparts. This first is the sea of glass which is before the throne. In the tabernacle there was a laver of brass. It was situated between the tabernacle and the altar and held water in which the priests could wash themselves. Ex. 30:18-21. In the temple, the molten sea is much more impressive (it did not have to be moved as the lavers did) in size and ornamentation. This sea was for the priests, but there were ten lavers (five to a side) made in which to wash the things that were offered for burnt offerings. In the heavenly temple the sea is of glass or crystal. It is no longer necessary for it to be of water for anyone to use for washing, as all have been made clean by the blood of Christ and can enter into the presence of God without washing at the sea/laver.
The next part of the description is very difficult to understand. In the midst and round about the throne are the four beasts. How does one explain something being both in the midst and round about? Tackling the round about first, it would seem the these four beasts (Gr. "zoon" - meaning living thing) are on each of the four sides of the throne in some capacity surrounding it. When we think of a throne, we think merely of a seat, but God’s throne is much more than that. In Ezekiel’s vision we see that the throne sat upon an expanse Ez. 1:22, 26 and as already seen in a previous verse in Revelation there is a bow. The living beings or creatures are in the midst of this expanse surrounding the throne. They are the closest ones in proximity to God in heaven. These beasts are full of eyes on every side. There is not a thing that they miss.
Verse 4:7-8 “And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is, and is to come.”
Again, this description of the four beasts is reminiscent of the description of the living creatures in Ezekiel’s vision, but there are some differences. In Ez. 1:5-18 “Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings. Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward. As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle. Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies. And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went. As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four.” Ez. 1:22-23, 26 “And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above. And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies…And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.” Ez. 10:12 “And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had.” This last passage refers to these creatures as cherubim. While there is a similarity in the four faces - a man, an ox/calf, an eagle and a lion, the cherubim of Ezekiel each have these four faces. One face facing in each of the four directions. On the other hand, the creatures in Revelation each seem to represent one of each creature. The creatures of Revelation are round about the throne. The cherubim are beneath it supporting and transporting it. The cherubim have four wings, the creatures or beasts have six. Both creatures are full of eyes. The group in Revelation is praising God, the cherubim are silent. There is another passage in scripture about a particular group of angels that surround the throne of God that might be this same group. This group is the seraphim. Is. 6:1-3 “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” In this case, while there is not a description of the faces, these seraphim occupy the same place as the beasts of Revelation, round about above the throne. They are praising God in the same way, and they both have six wings. It is likely that while the cherubim resemble in some ways what appears to be seraphim, God has made some differentiation to distinguish them for the job they are to do.
It is said that the four gospels represent the four aspects of the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew portrays Christ as the King, Mark portrays Him as the Suffering Servant, Luke as the Son of Man, and John as the Son of God. These four beasts, the lion, calf, man, and eagle portray these four aspects of Christ. The lion is the king, the calf (ox in Ez.) is the servant, the man is the humanity of Christ, and the eagle is the deity of Christ. Christ was first a servant (first coming) then a king (second coming), and he has a dual nature, man and God.
Verse 9-11 “And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever. The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
In heaven the praise of God is continual. When the beasts start the praise, the twenty-four elders join in. (See my archives in May 2009 on Melchizadek for explanation of 24 elders). They cast their crowns before him, as we will also do when we are in God’s presence. He is worthy of this praise and thanksgiving as He has created all things. Now is stated the answer to the perennial question that all of unbelieving mankind has been asking for ages-“What is the meaning of life?”. Mankind was created for God’s pleasure. God wanted fellowship with someone who would respond back to Him in love freely. Following this idea further would lead into a discussion of the doctrine of election, which is probably best left for another time. There are several praises sung during the course of Revelation. This one is addressing the Creator for His creation.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Revelation 4:1-5
Chapter 4
Now we are going to see that John is shown what is going on in heaven up to and through the Day of the Lord. From this point on, events unfold as to what is going to happen at that time.
Verse 4:1 “After this I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.”
John is now given the next part of the vision. He sees a door open in heaven and identifies the voice that calls him up as the first voice he heard back in Rev. 1:10. Since his description likened it to trumpet back then, he refers to it the same way here to identify it as the same individual who is speaking now as was speaking then. Again, just as in the first chapter, this is not a real trumpet blast, simply a voice that makes him think of a trumpet blast. This does not correspond to the trumpet blast of the angel in Matt. 24:31 or 1 Cor. 15:52, where He gathers His elect. That is a literal trumpet blast. This is not.
John is told to come up for one reason and one reason only. The only way he can write and relate what he sees, is to be there and see it. Nowhere does it imply that anyone other than John is invited up. There is no “event” here. It is simply John being shown what will take place up to and during the Day of the Lord. This is the last phase of what John was told to write in Rev. 1:19 “….the things which will be hereafter.” To make this mean more than it says is to add to the prophecy of this book. There is a serious consequence to that. Rev. 22:18 “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.”
Verse 4:2 “And immediately I was in the spirit: and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.”
John is now again in the Spirit. He did not have to be in the Spirit to hear the voice and take dictation for the letters to the churches. He does have to be in the Spirit to see this vision. The first thing he sees is a throne in heaven and a person on that throne.
Verse 4:3 “And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.”
The jasper stone comes in several colors. There is dispute as to exactly which color this is referring to here. Some say green, some white, some clear, and some purple. This verse does not tell us enough to determine which it is, however in Rev. 21:11 we see the jasper stone again. This time it is described as being clear as crystal. “Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.” By scripture's description then it would seem that the jasper is a clear stone. However, a stone can be clear in the sense of transparent, and still have color. To see what was indicated, I checked my concordance dictionary and in it the Greek definition of the word "clear" says "to resemble ice". This would seem then to indicate that there is no color. The sardine stone was one of red color. It was a carnelian stone, but as it came from Sardis, it was called a Sardin or sardius stone. These are two of the stones that would have been found in Aaron’s breastplate. We will study more about the stones when we get to the foundations of New Jerusalem. For now we will just keep it in mind that there are colors emanating from the throne. There was also a rainbow around the throne. When God put the rainbow in the sky after the flood, He said that He would put “His bow” in the sky. The rainbow in the sky is like everything in the temple, a replica of what is in heaven. God has a bow around His throne, but this is an emerald bow. I do not know that the other colors are visible, as John does not mention them, but if they are, the green is certainly dominating. Where I live, we look up and down a rural valley from our front porch. When there is a rainbow, it is huge. We see almost 180 degrees of rainbow that often seem to end in our field. Sometimes there will be a double rainbow. The predominant color that seems to overshadow the others is the green. In Ezekiel 1:28, when Ezekiel saw the vision of God’s throne above the four wheels, he described a bow that was around the throne that was “as the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain.” This would seem to indicate that the other colors were visible, but obviously overshadowed by the green color.
Verse 4:4 “And round about the throne were four and twenty sets: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold”
We have studied the Order of Melchizedek (See my articles in archives - May 2009 on Melchizadek and 24 elders) and now see that these twenty-four elders can be no other than he and the rest of the priests in his order. There has been no rapture of the church, no resurrection. Had there been a rapture at this point, the saints would most certainly be seen in heaven and they are not. The saints are not seen in heaven at all. There is no sign of their presence there. John is seeing the occupants of heaven, and so far we have seen the One sitting on the throne, and we will see that in the next few verses he sees several different types of angels. The only other people there at the moment are the twenty-four elders. The priests of God’s heavenly temple. The missing saints would seem to verify that the rapture has not occurred at this point in the narrative of the vision.
Verse 4:5 “And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices; and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne which were the seven spirits of God.
When God speaks it is in thunderings. Job 37:5 “God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.” Possibly God created thunder and lightning storms to give us a taste of what it will be like in His presence. His throne is one in which lightnings shoot out and His voice is like thunder. When the Israelites were in the wilderness and called to stand at the foot of the mount in which God was residing, they experienced this phenomena. Ex. 19:16 “And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.” Ezekiel also experienced this lightning when he saw the throne of God held up by the wheels within the wheels. Ez. 1:13b “and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.” Again we see the seven-fold spirit of God, this time manifesting Himself as seven lamps, as was described in Zechariah 4. The Holy Spirit seems to manifest in different ways for different reasons. When Jesus was baptized, He manifested as a dove. At Pentecost as cloven tongues of fire. Possibly it was He who was the pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night when the Israelites left the land of Egypt. We again see the number seven mentioned. The number seven, the number of perfection, will be occurring yet again several times in Revelation.
Now we are going to see that John is shown what is going on in heaven up to and through the Day of the Lord. From this point on, events unfold as to what is going to happen at that time.
Verse 4:1 “After this I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.”
John is now given the next part of the vision. He sees a door open in heaven and identifies the voice that calls him up as the first voice he heard back in Rev. 1:10. Since his description likened it to trumpet back then, he refers to it the same way here to identify it as the same individual who is speaking now as was speaking then. Again, just as in the first chapter, this is not a real trumpet blast, simply a voice that makes him think of a trumpet blast. This does not correspond to the trumpet blast of the angel in Matt. 24:31 or 1 Cor. 15:52, where He gathers His elect. That is a literal trumpet blast. This is not.
John is told to come up for one reason and one reason only. The only way he can write and relate what he sees, is to be there and see it. Nowhere does it imply that anyone other than John is invited up. There is no “event” here. It is simply John being shown what will take place up to and during the Day of the Lord. This is the last phase of what John was told to write in Rev. 1:19 “….the things which will be hereafter.” To make this mean more than it says is to add to the prophecy of this book. There is a serious consequence to that. Rev. 22:18 “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.”
Verse 4:2 “And immediately I was in the spirit: and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.”
John is now again in the Spirit. He did not have to be in the Spirit to hear the voice and take dictation for the letters to the churches. He does have to be in the Spirit to see this vision. The first thing he sees is a throne in heaven and a person on that throne.
Verse 4:3 “And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.”
The jasper stone comes in several colors. There is dispute as to exactly which color this is referring to here. Some say green, some white, some clear, and some purple. This verse does not tell us enough to determine which it is, however in Rev. 21:11 we see the jasper stone again. This time it is described as being clear as crystal. “Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.” By scripture's description then it would seem that the jasper is a clear stone. However, a stone can be clear in the sense of transparent, and still have color. To see what was indicated, I checked my concordance dictionary and in it the Greek definition of the word "clear" says "to resemble ice". This would seem then to indicate that there is no color. The sardine stone was one of red color. It was a carnelian stone, but as it came from Sardis, it was called a Sardin or sardius stone. These are two of the stones that would have been found in Aaron’s breastplate. We will study more about the stones when we get to the foundations of New Jerusalem. For now we will just keep it in mind that there are colors emanating from the throne. There was also a rainbow around the throne. When God put the rainbow in the sky after the flood, He said that He would put “His bow” in the sky. The rainbow in the sky is like everything in the temple, a replica of what is in heaven. God has a bow around His throne, but this is an emerald bow. I do not know that the other colors are visible, as John does not mention them, but if they are, the green is certainly dominating. Where I live, we look up and down a rural valley from our front porch. When there is a rainbow, it is huge. We see almost 180 degrees of rainbow that often seem to end in our field. Sometimes there will be a double rainbow. The predominant color that seems to overshadow the others is the green. In Ezekiel 1:28, when Ezekiel saw the vision of God’s throne above the four wheels, he described a bow that was around the throne that was “as the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain.” This would seem to indicate that the other colors were visible, but obviously overshadowed by the green color.
Verse 4:4 “And round about the throne were four and twenty sets: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold”
We have studied the Order of Melchizedek (See my articles in archives - May 2009 on Melchizadek and 24 elders) and now see that these twenty-four elders can be no other than he and the rest of the priests in his order. There has been no rapture of the church, no resurrection. Had there been a rapture at this point, the saints would most certainly be seen in heaven and they are not. The saints are not seen in heaven at all. There is no sign of their presence there. John is seeing the occupants of heaven, and so far we have seen the One sitting on the throne, and we will see that in the next few verses he sees several different types of angels. The only other people there at the moment are the twenty-four elders. The priests of God’s heavenly temple. The missing saints would seem to verify that the rapture has not occurred at this point in the narrative of the vision.
Verse 4:5 “And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices; and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne which were the seven spirits of God.
When God speaks it is in thunderings. Job 37:5 “God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.” Possibly God created thunder and lightning storms to give us a taste of what it will be like in His presence. His throne is one in which lightnings shoot out and His voice is like thunder. When the Israelites were in the wilderness and called to stand at the foot of the mount in which God was residing, they experienced this phenomena. Ex. 19:16 “And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.” Ezekiel also experienced this lightning when he saw the throne of God held up by the wheels within the wheels. Ez. 1:13b “and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.” Again we see the seven-fold spirit of God, this time manifesting Himself as seven lamps, as was described in Zechariah 4. The Holy Spirit seems to manifest in different ways for different reasons. When Jesus was baptized, He manifested as a dove. At Pentecost as cloven tongues of fire. Possibly it was He who was the pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night when the Israelites left the land of Egypt. We again see the number seven mentioned. The number seven, the number of perfection, will be occurring yet again several times in Revelation.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Revelation 3:14-22 Laodicea
Laodicea is the last church which is to be addressed. It is a lukewarm church. Laodicea was about forty-five miles southeast of Philadelphia and about one hundred miles east of Ephesus. It was a very wealthy city. Being on trade route, it was one of the most flourishing commercial centers in Asia minor. One of the major products for trade was black wool for garments. It was also the headquarters for a famous medical school that specialized in eye care and a banking center for Asia minor.
Verse 3:14 “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.”
As in the letter to Philadelphia, the description of Christ covers more of His attributes than chapter one mentioned, although in 1:5, it does refer to Him as the faithful witness. He is the Amen. This word is the equivalent of saying, “So be it.” It is the final word, the last word in the sense of there is nothing more to discuss. What has been said, will be. What Laodicea is about to hear is some really bad news, and there is no argument about it. Christ is also the faithful and true witness, two attributes that could not be said of the Laodicean church. It was in contrast to their lack of these things that He presents Himself in this way. He is the beginning of creation. John 1:3 “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” He takes them right back to the book of Genesis to make them realize that the truth starts there. Today most people do not believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible, especially the first book - Genesis. Without accepting this as the literal history that it is - the whole concept of sin, death coming into the world, and the need for a redeemer - it renders Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection a useless act. This church has lost the whole understanding of that need in their indifference. One of the greatest impediments for Christians today is evolution. Many think that they have to believe in it as "science" says it is so. What they do not understand is that evolution is first and foremost merely man's theoretical interpretation of evidence. Evidence that is just as easily, nay more easily interpreted by the Word of God. 1 Timothy 6:20-21 says "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: which some professing have erred concerning the faith." Paul tells us that even back then, so-called science (the Greeks loved it) was false and belief in it was destroying the faith of some. The basis of their science was not the foundation of the Word of God, but man's suppositions and theories, which are not reliable. Evolution bases its beginnings on spontaneous generation. Yet science has proven that in the natural, spontaneous generation is impossible. Only God can spontaneously create something. Therefore their whole theory's foundation is a lie. Yet some Christians think that it is fact and that they must believe it, which then destroys their faith in the Word of God and leads them astray. Laodicea may have had some problems with this same sort of thing.
Verse 3:15 “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.”
This is a passage that has some people in a quandary. Among some it is said that as Sardis was a cold, dead church, that Christ would prefer a cold, dead church to one that is only lukewarm. I personally do not think that is what is meant. In previous letters, Christ says things to which the local congregation can relate. In this case, water is something that is of significance to this congregation. Several miles south of Laodicea was a hot springs. The city ran aqueducts from this spring to the city. By the time it reached the city it was no longer hot, but lukewarm. After passing through the city, the further away the water got, the colder it would get. Up at the hot springs the water had some medicinal value. Down the road it was a cool refreshing drink that quenched thirst. Both hot and cold water have real value. Lukewarm water is not good for anything, and if one attempts to drink it, it is so unpalatable, that one spits it out of his mouth. This is exactly the way their works are described, good for nothing. Unlike the other churches, they do not even have any works (even with wrong motives), that are good for anything. I have noticed that this seems to be the way with the truly wealthy (which this church was). They are so out of touch with the true needs of people, that what they do give or do amounts to useless acts of charity. And this group certainly was not spreading the gospel.
Verse 3:16 “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”
Just as tepid water is unpalatable, this church is the same to Christ. They are good for nothing and He can only spit them out with distaste. This church is one that does not want to “offend” so they have neutralized and watered down the gospel to the point of uselessness. It is not that they outright deny Christ or the Bible being God’s word. If that were the case, they would not be getting this letter, as they would never have been a true church to begin with. They simple have accommodated everyone by not preaching anything that would cause offense. There are many churches like that today. Just as Thomas Jefferson cut the passages he did not like out of his Bible, so this church has apparently eliminated anything that might cause offense. I knew a church that removed the pew Bibles (put there for visitors), from the pews as they might cause offense. They also stopped serving the Lord’s Supper for the same reason. They did not want anyone to feel “uncomfortable”. This type of church generally does get big and wealthy as people want to go to church and not feel convicted, and this provides that option, so many people come there. This church seems to be the same. They are big, rich, and impressive in the community as a social club. For all that it matters, they might as well be a social club. Most of these types of churches today basically function as such.
Verse 3:17 “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”
Ouch! What a criticism. They are arrogantly proud of their wealth and point to it as a blessing of God’s favor, not realizing that He wants to spew them out. Many mega-churches do the same today. They have thousands of people in attendance, multiple “ministries”, television broadcasts, their pastors live luxurious lives, and all the time they point to it all and say that if God was not blessing and happy with them, it would not be so. I tend to believe the opposite. The church that is truly walking with God and is a witness in the world is probably going to be a persecuted church, a small church, and no doubt a poor church. Satan hates churches that truly preach and teach God’s word and walk in a way that witnesses. He will try to take them down. On the other hand, a church that is useless and will never bring anybody to the Lord is one that Satan will prosper just for the sake of leading as many as possible astray. It is not that God will not bless in material ways (a church may be prosperous and still a good church), but one must look to see from whom the blessing comes by measuring their lives and works against the clear teachings of scripture.
Contrast what Christ says to this church versus what He said to Smyrna. They were poor, yet He called them rich. They were poor in a financial sense, but spiritually they were very wealthy. This church is very wealthy in a materialistic way, but spiritually they are bankrupt. Not only poor, but wretched, miserable, blind, and naked. The last two are particularly poignant given that Laodicea was known for its wool and garment trade, and the medical center that specialized in eye treatments.
Verse 3:18 “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see.”
Christ is counseling them. He is not demanding, He is not begging. He is advising them. It is their choice. A person can only give advice, he cannot make a person accept it and act upon it. He counsels them to buy gold tried in the fire. He wants them to buy from Him. They are used to buying everything that they want, and yet they cannot buy that which is the most important thing - that which we cannot purchase for ourselves, as Christ purchased it for us and gave it to us for free. Is. 55:1-3 “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? And your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you.”
He wants them to buy gold tried in the fire. Everything we ever do for Christ is going to be put through the refiner’s fire to purge it. Only that which remains will have been good. 1 Cor. 3:11-15 “For other foundation can no man lay that that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” They say you can’t take it with you. I say that you can send it on ahead. What we do for Christ are the jewels that are put through the fire. That which is good will remain and we will have riches to throw at Christ’s feet. He is advising them to get that kind of gold so that they might be rich in spirit.
He now advises them to get white raiment to cover their nakedness. Is. 64:6a “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” When it comes to righteousness, they are not just wearing filthy rags, they are naked. Laodicea was known for the black wool they produced and the garments they made from it. It was black. As a filthy rag. He was advising them to get white raiment. The color of the garments worn by the saints in heaven. Rev. 19:8. “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white; for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.”
Lastly he counsels them to anoint their eyes with eye salve so that they might see. For a group of people living in a city renowned for its medical eye treatment center, this was a comparison they could not miss. 2 Pet. 1:4-9 “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.” The church at Laodicea lacked all of these things. They were blind, could not see afar off to their eternal state, being caught up in the present, and had forgotten that they had been purged from their sins. They needed to have their eyes opened. Ps. 119:18 “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” They couldn’t see the goodness of God in living a life in Him rather than the world.
Verse 3:19 “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”
I have heard it said about Christians that are in this state that they are not really Christians, that they never really accepted the Lord, as a “real” Christian could never act in this way. But that is not true. These are Christians, as Christ is chastising them. He loves them; they are His children. Heb. 12:6 “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” The Lord does not chasten the wicked. He simply punishes them, but He does chasten His children that He loves. The Laodiceans, as far from God as they are, are still His children. They are still true Christians. True Christians can and indeed do walk away from the Lord. If they don’t repent, there is only “a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation” (Heb. 10:27)
Verse 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
This verse is the lyrics for an old chorus that I learned as a child. When I learned it, and every time I have since heard people use it, it is always used in the context of Jesus knocking at the door of the heart of an unbeliever. That is not the way this verse is meant. This is Christ knocking at the door of the church, asking to be let back in. The church had let Christ leave. They had closed the door behind Him. He was standing out there, knocking and waiting to be invited back in. Christ does not force Himself on anyone, even the Christian. That is why a person who is a Christian can walk away from the Lord and lose their salvation. We are not compelled to Christ against our will, no matter what some may say. Here is the perfect evidence that this is true.
This church had “Ichabod” written over their door. 1 Sam. 4:21 “And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken….” When a church departs from the Lord, it is said that Ichabod is written over the door of that church. I have been in a church that the Lord has left. It is the one I described above that removed the Bibles and the Lord’s Supper. When the Lord left, so did my family. I was surprised to be speaking to a member of the church shortly after, and out of the blue he said to me, “The Lord has left this church.” That was confirmation for me, as I knew this man was truly a man of God. It took a little while longer for his family to leave, but they did also.
The promise to this church is that if they merely let Him back in, He will sup with them. Unlike the meals that we have most often today, where it is fast food, fast eating, and often not as a family, this is speaking of a different type of meal. Back in Jesus day, when people got together for the big meal of the day, they would recline, and take their time. They spent time in fellowship and conversation, much like we would do at a holiday family meal. I know my family’s holiday meals can go on for hours as we catch up with news, share reminisces, anecdotes, and just converse. This is the type of meal about which Christ is speaking. In fact, it may be that the specific meal about which He is speaking is the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Verse 3:21 “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.”
Even the Laodiceans, if they repent and overcome, will partake of the promises to the saints in the kingdom. Just as Christ was seated at the right hand of God, Heb. 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”, the saints are promised the right to sit with Christ on the throne. This is speaking of having rule and judgment over the nations. Rev. 20:4.….“and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” 1 Cor. 6:2 “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world….”
Verse 3:22 “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”
For the seventh time this command is given. Seven letters, all somewhat different, yet this command is the same each time. It is vitally important that they listen and repent, so God repeats this each time. Again, it is the last thing said, as the church as a whole is lost. Only the remnant can be saved, if they repent.
We have seen the number seven used a number of different ways in these first three chapters. So far we have seen 1) seven Spirits, 2) seven churches, 3) seven golden candlesticks, 4) seven stars, and 5) the repetition of the final command seven times. There are more sevens to come in the chapters ahead.
Verse 3:14 “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.”
As in the letter to Philadelphia, the description of Christ covers more of His attributes than chapter one mentioned, although in 1:5, it does refer to Him as the faithful witness. He is the Amen. This word is the equivalent of saying, “So be it.” It is the final word, the last word in the sense of there is nothing more to discuss. What has been said, will be. What Laodicea is about to hear is some really bad news, and there is no argument about it. Christ is also the faithful and true witness, two attributes that could not be said of the Laodicean church. It was in contrast to their lack of these things that He presents Himself in this way. He is the beginning of creation. John 1:3 “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” He takes them right back to the book of Genesis to make them realize that the truth starts there. Today most people do not believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible, especially the first book - Genesis. Without accepting this as the literal history that it is - the whole concept of sin, death coming into the world, and the need for a redeemer - it renders Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection a useless act. This church has lost the whole understanding of that need in their indifference. One of the greatest impediments for Christians today is evolution. Many think that they have to believe in it as "science" says it is so. What they do not understand is that evolution is first and foremost merely man's theoretical interpretation of evidence. Evidence that is just as easily, nay more easily interpreted by the Word of God. 1 Timothy 6:20-21 says "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: which some professing have erred concerning the faith." Paul tells us that even back then, so-called science (the Greeks loved it) was false and belief in it was destroying the faith of some. The basis of their science was not the foundation of the Word of God, but man's suppositions and theories, which are not reliable. Evolution bases its beginnings on spontaneous generation. Yet science has proven that in the natural, spontaneous generation is impossible. Only God can spontaneously create something. Therefore their whole theory's foundation is a lie. Yet some Christians think that it is fact and that they must believe it, which then destroys their faith in the Word of God and leads them astray. Laodicea may have had some problems with this same sort of thing.
Verse 3:15 “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.”
This is a passage that has some people in a quandary. Among some it is said that as Sardis was a cold, dead church, that Christ would prefer a cold, dead church to one that is only lukewarm. I personally do not think that is what is meant. In previous letters, Christ says things to which the local congregation can relate. In this case, water is something that is of significance to this congregation. Several miles south of Laodicea was a hot springs. The city ran aqueducts from this spring to the city. By the time it reached the city it was no longer hot, but lukewarm. After passing through the city, the further away the water got, the colder it would get. Up at the hot springs the water had some medicinal value. Down the road it was a cool refreshing drink that quenched thirst. Both hot and cold water have real value. Lukewarm water is not good for anything, and if one attempts to drink it, it is so unpalatable, that one spits it out of his mouth. This is exactly the way their works are described, good for nothing. Unlike the other churches, they do not even have any works (even with wrong motives), that are good for anything. I have noticed that this seems to be the way with the truly wealthy (which this church was). They are so out of touch with the true needs of people, that what they do give or do amounts to useless acts of charity. And this group certainly was not spreading the gospel.
Verse 3:16 “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”
Just as tepid water is unpalatable, this church is the same to Christ. They are good for nothing and He can only spit them out with distaste. This church is one that does not want to “offend” so they have neutralized and watered down the gospel to the point of uselessness. It is not that they outright deny Christ or the Bible being God’s word. If that were the case, they would not be getting this letter, as they would never have been a true church to begin with. They simple have accommodated everyone by not preaching anything that would cause offense. There are many churches like that today. Just as Thomas Jefferson cut the passages he did not like out of his Bible, so this church has apparently eliminated anything that might cause offense. I knew a church that removed the pew Bibles (put there for visitors), from the pews as they might cause offense. They also stopped serving the Lord’s Supper for the same reason. They did not want anyone to feel “uncomfortable”. This type of church generally does get big and wealthy as people want to go to church and not feel convicted, and this provides that option, so many people come there. This church seems to be the same. They are big, rich, and impressive in the community as a social club. For all that it matters, they might as well be a social club. Most of these types of churches today basically function as such.
Verse 3:17 “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”
Ouch! What a criticism. They are arrogantly proud of their wealth and point to it as a blessing of God’s favor, not realizing that He wants to spew them out. Many mega-churches do the same today. They have thousands of people in attendance, multiple “ministries”, television broadcasts, their pastors live luxurious lives, and all the time they point to it all and say that if God was not blessing and happy with them, it would not be so. I tend to believe the opposite. The church that is truly walking with God and is a witness in the world is probably going to be a persecuted church, a small church, and no doubt a poor church. Satan hates churches that truly preach and teach God’s word and walk in a way that witnesses. He will try to take them down. On the other hand, a church that is useless and will never bring anybody to the Lord is one that Satan will prosper just for the sake of leading as many as possible astray. It is not that God will not bless in material ways (a church may be prosperous and still a good church), but one must look to see from whom the blessing comes by measuring their lives and works against the clear teachings of scripture.
Contrast what Christ says to this church versus what He said to Smyrna. They were poor, yet He called them rich. They were poor in a financial sense, but spiritually they were very wealthy. This church is very wealthy in a materialistic way, but spiritually they are bankrupt. Not only poor, but wretched, miserable, blind, and naked. The last two are particularly poignant given that Laodicea was known for its wool and garment trade, and the medical center that specialized in eye treatments.
Verse 3:18 “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see.”
Christ is counseling them. He is not demanding, He is not begging. He is advising them. It is their choice. A person can only give advice, he cannot make a person accept it and act upon it. He counsels them to buy gold tried in the fire. He wants them to buy from Him. They are used to buying everything that they want, and yet they cannot buy that which is the most important thing - that which we cannot purchase for ourselves, as Christ purchased it for us and gave it to us for free. Is. 55:1-3 “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? And your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you.”
He wants them to buy gold tried in the fire. Everything we ever do for Christ is going to be put through the refiner’s fire to purge it. Only that which remains will have been good. 1 Cor. 3:11-15 “For other foundation can no man lay that that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” They say you can’t take it with you. I say that you can send it on ahead. What we do for Christ are the jewels that are put through the fire. That which is good will remain and we will have riches to throw at Christ’s feet. He is advising them to get that kind of gold so that they might be rich in spirit.
He now advises them to get white raiment to cover their nakedness. Is. 64:6a “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” When it comes to righteousness, they are not just wearing filthy rags, they are naked. Laodicea was known for the black wool they produced and the garments they made from it. It was black. As a filthy rag. He was advising them to get white raiment. The color of the garments worn by the saints in heaven. Rev. 19:8. “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white; for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.”
Lastly he counsels them to anoint their eyes with eye salve so that they might see. For a group of people living in a city renowned for its medical eye treatment center, this was a comparison they could not miss. 2 Pet. 1:4-9 “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.” The church at Laodicea lacked all of these things. They were blind, could not see afar off to their eternal state, being caught up in the present, and had forgotten that they had been purged from their sins. They needed to have their eyes opened. Ps. 119:18 “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” They couldn’t see the goodness of God in living a life in Him rather than the world.
Verse 3:19 “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”
I have heard it said about Christians that are in this state that they are not really Christians, that they never really accepted the Lord, as a “real” Christian could never act in this way. But that is not true. These are Christians, as Christ is chastising them. He loves them; they are His children. Heb. 12:6 “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” The Lord does not chasten the wicked. He simply punishes them, but He does chasten His children that He loves. The Laodiceans, as far from God as they are, are still His children. They are still true Christians. True Christians can and indeed do walk away from the Lord. If they don’t repent, there is only “a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation” (Heb. 10:27)
Verse 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
This verse is the lyrics for an old chorus that I learned as a child. When I learned it, and every time I have since heard people use it, it is always used in the context of Jesus knocking at the door of the heart of an unbeliever. That is not the way this verse is meant. This is Christ knocking at the door of the church, asking to be let back in. The church had let Christ leave. They had closed the door behind Him. He was standing out there, knocking and waiting to be invited back in. Christ does not force Himself on anyone, even the Christian. That is why a person who is a Christian can walk away from the Lord and lose their salvation. We are not compelled to Christ against our will, no matter what some may say. Here is the perfect evidence that this is true.
This church had “Ichabod” written over their door. 1 Sam. 4:21 “And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken….” When a church departs from the Lord, it is said that Ichabod is written over the door of that church. I have been in a church that the Lord has left. It is the one I described above that removed the Bibles and the Lord’s Supper. When the Lord left, so did my family. I was surprised to be speaking to a member of the church shortly after, and out of the blue he said to me, “The Lord has left this church.” That was confirmation for me, as I knew this man was truly a man of God. It took a little while longer for his family to leave, but they did also.
The promise to this church is that if they merely let Him back in, He will sup with them. Unlike the meals that we have most often today, where it is fast food, fast eating, and often not as a family, this is speaking of a different type of meal. Back in Jesus day, when people got together for the big meal of the day, they would recline, and take their time. They spent time in fellowship and conversation, much like we would do at a holiday family meal. I know my family’s holiday meals can go on for hours as we catch up with news, share reminisces, anecdotes, and just converse. This is the type of meal about which Christ is speaking. In fact, it may be that the specific meal about which He is speaking is the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Verse 3:21 “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.”
Even the Laodiceans, if they repent and overcome, will partake of the promises to the saints in the kingdom. Just as Christ was seated at the right hand of God, Heb. 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”, the saints are promised the right to sit with Christ on the throne. This is speaking of having rule and judgment over the nations. Rev. 20:4.….“and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” 1 Cor. 6:2 “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world….”
Verse 3:22 “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”
For the seventh time this command is given. Seven letters, all somewhat different, yet this command is the same each time. It is vitally important that they listen and repent, so God repeats this each time. Again, it is the last thing said, as the church as a whole is lost. Only the remnant can be saved, if they repent.
We have seen the number seven used a number of different ways in these first three chapters. So far we have seen 1) seven Spirits, 2) seven churches, 3) seven golden candlesticks, 4) seven stars, and 5) the repetition of the final command seven times. There are more sevens to come in the chapters ahead.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Response to Philadelphia comment
Thank you for the comment on my blog. I appreciate the encouragement. I am posting this to the blog instead of as a response to the comment, as I do not want anyone to miss this information. I am posting the web addresses of the quotes spoken of in the comment to the Philadelphia blog. They are great, thank you so much. I would encourage everyone to take the time to read them.
http://www.thewordsofeternallife.com/rapture_watchers.html
http://dyspraxicfundamentalistbp.blogspot.com/2009/04/apologies-to-my-pre-trib-brethren-for.html
http://www.thewordsofeternallife.com/rapture_watchers.html
http://dyspraxicfundamentalistbp.blogspot.com/2009/04/apologies-to-my-pre-trib-brethren-for.html
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Revelation 3:7-13 Philadelphia
The next church is the church of Philadelphia. The name is a familiar one that means “brotherly love”. The city was named by its founder (King Attalus of Peragmum) in honor of his brother. It was situated about 30 miles southeast of Sardis. Today it is known as the town of Alasehir. This church is like Smyrna in that there is no condemnation. This is a remnant church filled with believers who are walking as they should.
Verse 3:7 “And to the angel of the church I Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth.”
For the first time, the description of Christ does not come from the first chapter of Revelation. It is a new (in the sense that it was not mentioned in the first chapter description) aspect of Christ - He that is holy and true. This church is a church that is walking in holiness. It is abiding with the Lord. It is living in and with truth. That is why Christ represents Himself this way. The reference to the key of David can be found in Is. 22:22. “And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.” This was a promise given to Eliakim, who was a high official and faithful servant to King Hezekiah. His predecessor had been unfaithful, so God was giving his position to Eliakim. The key of the house of David literally referred to the keys of the treasuries of the kings of Judah. It also in another sense referred to the responsibilities of government which would be his when he came into the office. Eliakim would be the next one after the king in responsibility in the government. The government would be upon his shoulders. This is what was said of Christ in Is. 9:6-7. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” Christ is of the house of David and the government will rest upon his shoulders. He already said he has the keys of death and Hades, and how he holds the keys to the kingdoms on earth. He opens and shuts doors as he desires.
Verse 3:8 “I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.”
Christ knows their works. They are pleasing to him. Tied to that is an open door that he has set before them. Before, He said that He opens and shuts the doors. There are several kinds of doors that can be opened and shut. The door to evangelizing can be opened for them to present the gospel, and no man (the persecutors) will be able to shut it down. Also the door to persecuting them is shut, as Christ will not allow them to be persecuted. He shuts that door, because 1) they have little strength. This is an entire church that is being commended, so they are probably a very small remnant group, as that sort generally are. It is He alone that will be given the credit for any increase. 2) they have kept God’s word. Churches spiritualize God’s word, mythologize God’s word, ignore God’s word, twist and distort God’s word, water down God’s word, or deny God’s word. This church kept God’s word. They also have not denied Christ’s name. Today people talk of a “christ”, but they don’t mean the Lord Jesus Christ. They speak of Jesus, but they are talking of a man not a deity. This church knows exactly who the Lord Jesus Christ is in full name and being and do not deny any part of who He is.
Verse 3:9 “Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.”
Both faithful churches had more than not being criticized in common. They were both being persecuted by the synagogue of Satan who said they were Jews. We have already discussed who these people were, so I won’t repeat that. Christ says that he will make them come and bow down and worship before the Philadelphians feet. When it says they will worship before their feet, it doesn’t mean that they will worship the Philadelphians. This means that they will bow down and worship Christ in front of the Philadelphians, who will be honored as saints that are truly people of God, which these Jews who so arrogantly thought they were, weren’t. Even unbelievers will one day be forced to kneel before the King of Kings. “For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” Rom. 14:11 “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Phil. 2:10-11. It will be a humiliating experience to see the ones that they persecuted in a place of honor by the side of Christ and realize that the Philadelphians, not they, were and are the ones Christ loves. And it will give the Philadelphians a sense of vindication for what they suffered.
Verse 3:10 “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.”
There is a promise made to this church because they have kept the word of His patience. What is that patience? There are a number of scriptures that deal with patience. Starting with a verse that we have already seen in Luke 21:19 in the Olivet discourse, “In your patience possess ye your souls.” Rom. 8:25 “But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.“ Rom. 15:4 “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” 1 Thess. 1:3 “Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father.” 2 Thess. 1:4 “So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure.” 2 Thess. 3:5 “And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.” Heb. 6:12 “That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” Heb. 10:36 “For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” Heb. 12:1 “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” James 1:3-4 “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” Here especially are relevant verses to what Christ said to Philadelphia . James 5:7-8 “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waited for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” Rev. 13:10 “He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” Rev. 14:11-12 “And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” The patience that they must have is to wait for the Lord. They have to keep the word of God’s patience. As shown at the beginning of Revelation, there is a blessing promised to those who read and heed the book. There are many faithful Christians who are exemplary in every aspect except one. They are not studying the end times. They do not know what is coming, and have accepted certain erroneous ideas. If they were to study, really study, they would see the error, listen to the words of the book and be prepared for what is coming. As things get much worse, it will become harder and harder to maintain faith, patiently wait, and especially not be deceived in the face of what will occur. It will probably seem like the Lord will never come, as things go from bad to worse. Those who do not know what to expect will either be deceived or give up hope entirely. This group has been patiently enduring, waiting on the promise of the Lord’s return. They are looking forward to it with eager anticipation. They have kept His word, which means that they understand that they will be going through great tribulation. They will patiently endure to the end.
Because of their patience, the promise is that they will be kept from the hour of temptation that will come on the whole world to try them. This is clearly a reference to the tribulation/Day of the Lord. Luke 21:35-36 “For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” Here is a verse that directly relates to the promise to the Philadelphians. They will be accounted worthy to escape all those things. They will be kept from that time that will try the entire earth. This is a promise that everyone wishes they had, but few will probably earn.
The irony is that every pre-trib believer thinks that they are a Philadelphian. It does not matter that they might not meet the criteria, in fact they might fall into any one of the other church categories, but for some reason think that they qualify as Philadelphians. Does it really seem possible that so very many (entire church demonimations that believe this theory) all qualify as a faithful remnant? That they need no chastisement or refinement in this day of apostasy? Who then would the other six churches be that are thrown into the tribulation? There was no such promise to the faithful remnant in the other churches, not even to the church at Smyrna. It is only the Philadelphian church; not Ephesus, not Pergamos, not Thyatira, not Sardis, and not even Smyrna, (who has received no criticism and are walking with God) that receives this promise. So who does qualify? Only those who believe in a pre-tribulation rapture? Every Christian even if they do not believe in a pre-tribulation rapture? But then who would be martyred from the church at Smyrna? Everyone should be gone from that church, if that was the case. Does anyone see a problem here besides me?
Verse 3:11 “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.”
Even the Philadelphians are not beyond being warned to watch themselves and not let their guard down. They still could lose their crown of life.
Verse 3:12 “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.”
In ancient days when a city wanted to honor someone by giving him the keys of the city, so to speak, they would erect a pillar in the temple and carve the name of the person on it. In that way the person’s deed and they themselves lived on “forever”. But as we know, these temples were not forever. They became ruins. In fact Philadelphia was over an earthquake fault. It was very common for them to have earthquakes and tremors and have to go running out of buildings and out of town while the town fell down around them. Then they would have to come back and start rebuilding. This is a reference that these people would clearly understand, and to which they would relate. Here the overcomer is promised that they will be a pillar in the temple of God, which is eternal and will never fall down. Notice that it is not that a pillar is erected for the person, the person themselves is the pillar. God’s temple will be filled with living pillars that are a testimony of the deeds they have done for which they are being honored. They will not have to go out of the temple. They get to live in the presence of God forever.
Upon this person is written the name of God, the name of New Jerusalem, and the new name of Christ. Back in those days, slavery was common, and branding them was a way of proving ownership. God puts a seal on those of His for their protection. It is a sign to the enemy of God’s ownership so that they may not touch them without God’s approval. Ez. 9:1-7 “He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand. And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writers inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar. And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side; and the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and site; let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house. And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth, And they went forth, and slew in the city.” God marks His people for protection from the enemy. Christians are sealed with the sign of God. 1 Cor. 1:21-22 “Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” He will also put a mark or seal in the forehead of 144,000 of the tribes of Israel for their protection from the enemy. Rev. 7:3-4 “Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.”
As for putting the name of New Jerusalem on the overcomerer, this is like a passport. It shows our citizenship and allows us entrance into the city. Rev. 21:27 “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Only those whose name is written in the book of life, only those who have the seal of God, or God’s name, only those with their citizenship clearly written on them and can prove their worthiness will enter into the city of New Jerusalem.
Lastly the overcomer has written on him the new name of Christ. And what may that name be? Only Christ knows. Rev. 19:11-12 “And I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.” As a bride takes the name of her husband, so the church as the bride of Christ is identified with that name. So the new name of Christ, which only He knows, is written upon the one who endures to the end. Rev. 22:4 “And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.”
Verse 3:13 “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”
Even though this church as a corporate entity are all able to hear what Christ says, he does not reverse the order of the promise with the ear to hear statement. He leaves it in the same order to which he has switched. Possibly because the statement is irrelevant in their case, as they as an entire church are faithful. In terms of today or the last days, I believe Philadelphia and Smryna are not necessarily corporate churches, but faithful Christians who have left the apostate organized churches (which explains why they do not have the problems) and simply meet together as possible for worship and fellowship. I believe the difference in the two, when it comes to why one is martyred and one is preserved, comes down to the statement that Philadelphia has kept the word of God’s patience. Smyrna is exemplary in their walk with the Lord, but if they have not studied the Word of God about the end times, there is a chance they could either be deceived, or could give up that Christ will return when He does not come when they expect Him to come. To preserve these faithful saints, it may be necessary for the Lord to remove them before either of those things can happen. They would be very confused to be “left behind” as it were, as they had been faithful. Under the circumstances, they would begin to doubt their own faith. God has said that he will not let us be taken out of His hand by circumstances beyond ourselves, and He will not let His faithful remnant be deceived. He would rather they were martyred than lose their faith. That is not the case with Philadelphia. They have kept the word of God’s patience. In other words, they know what is coming; that they will have to patiently endure to the end. They will not be deceived by antichrist, as they understand exactly what will be happening. They will not lose faith having been disappointed by a rapture that did not happen, as they know it will not happen until very near the end. They will be prepared to endure. Therefore, they do not have to be martyred in order to preserve their salvation.
Verse 3:7 “And to the angel of the church I Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth.”
For the first time, the description of Christ does not come from the first chapter of Revelation. It is a new (in the sense that it was not mentioned in the first chapter description) aspect of Christ - He that is holy and true. This church is a church that is walking in holiness. It is abiding with the Lord. It is living in and with truth. That is why Christ represents Himself this way. The reference to the key of David can be found in Is. 22:22. “And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.” This was a promise given to Eliakim, who was a high official and faithful servant to King Hezekiah. His predecessor had been unfaithful, so God was giving his position to Eliakim. The key of the house of David literally referred to the keys of the treasuries of the kings of Judah. It also in another sense referred to the responsibilities of government which would be his when he came into the office. Eliakim would be the next one after the king in responsibility in the government. The government would be upon his shoulders. This is what was said of Christ in Is. 9:6-7. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” Christ is of the house of David and the government will rest upon his shoulders. He already said he has the keys of death and Hades, and how he holds the keys to the kingdoms on earth. He opens and shuts doors as he desires.
Verse 3:8 “I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.”
Christ knows their works. They are pleasing to him. Tied to that is an open door that he has set before them. Before, He said that He opens and shuts the doors. There are several kinds of doors that can be opened and shut. The door to evangelizing can be opened for them to present the gospel, and no man (the persecutors) will be able to shut it down. Also the door to persecuting them is shut, as Christ will not allow them to be persecuted. He shuts that door, because 1) they have little strength. This is an entire church that is being commended, so they are probably a very small remnant group, as that sort generally are. It is He alone that will be given the credit for any increase. 2) they have kept God’s word. Churches spiritualize God’s word, mythologize God’s word, ignore God’s word, twist and distort God’s word, water down God’s word, or deny God’s word. This church kept God’s word. They also have not denied Christ’s name. Today people talk of a “christ”, but they don’t mean the Lord Jesus Christ. They speak of Jesus, but they are talking of a man not a deity. This church knows exactly who the Lord Jesus Christ is in full name and being and do not deny any part of who He is.
Verse 3:9 “Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.”
Both faithful churches had more than not being criticized in common. They were both being persecuted by the synagogue of Satan who said they were Jews. We have already discussed who these people were, so I won’t repeat that. Christ says that he will make them come and bow down and worship before the Philadelphians feet. When it says they will worship before their feet, it doesn’t mean that they will worship the Philadelphians. This means that they will bow down and worship Christ in front of the Philadelphians, who will be honored as saints that are truly people of God, which these Jews who so arrogantly thought they were, weren’t. Even unbelievers will one day be forced to kneel before the King of Kings. “For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” Rom. 14:11 “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Phil. 2:10-11. It will be a humiliating experience to see the ones that they persecuted in a place of honor by the side of Christ and realize that the Philadelphians, not they, were and are the ones Christ loves. And it will give the Philadelphians a sense of vindication for what they suffered.
Verse 3:10 “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.”
There is a promise made to this church because they have kept the word of His patience. What is that patience? There are a number of scriptures that deal with patience. Starting with a verse that we have already seen in Luke 21:19 in the Olivet discourse, “In your patience possess ye your souls.” Rom. 8:25 “But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.“ Rom. 15:4 “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” 1 Thess. 1:3 “Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father.” 2 Thess. 1:4 “So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure.” 2 Thess. 3:5 “And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.” Heb. 6:12 “That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” Heb. 10:36 “For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” Heb. 12:1 “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” James 1:3-4 “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” Here especially are relevant verses to what Christ said to Philadelphia . James 5:7-8 “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waited for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” Rev. 13:10 “He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” Rev. 14:11-12 “And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” The patience that they must have is to wait for the Lord. They have to keep the word of God’s patience. As shown at the beginning of Revelation, there is a blessing promised to those who read and heed the book. There are many faithful Christians who are exemplary in every aspect except one. They are not studying the end times. They do not know what is coming, and have accepted certain erroneous ideas. If they were to study, really study, they would see the error, listen to the words of the book and be prepared for what is coming. As things get much worse, it will become harder and harder to maintain faith, patiently wait, and especially not be deceived in the face of what will occur. It will probably seem like the Lord will never come, as things go from bad to worse. Those who do not know what to expect will either be deceived or give up hope entirely. This group has been patiently enduring, waiting on the promise of the Lord’s return. They are looking forward to it with eager anticipation. They have kept His word, which means that they understand that they will be going through great tribulation. They will patiently endure to the end.
Because of their patience, the promise is that they will be kept from the hour of temptation that will come on the whole world to try them. This is clearly a reference to the tribulation/Day of the Lord. Luke 21:35-36 “For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” Here is a verse that directly relates to the promise to the Philadelphians. They will be accounted worthy to escape all those things. They will be kept from that time that will try the entire earth. This is a promise that everyone wishes they had, but few will probably earn.
The irony is that every pre-trib believer thinks that they are a Philadelphian. It does not matter that they might not meet the criteria, in fact they might fall into any one of the other church categories, but for some reason think that they qualify as Philadelphians. Does it really seem possible that so very many (entire church demonimations that believe this theory) all qualify as a faithful remnant? That they need no chastisement or refinement in this day of apostasy? Who then would the other six churches be that are thrown into the tribulation? There was no such promise to the faithful remnant in the other churches, not even to the church at Smyrna. It is only the Philadelphian church; not Ephesus, not Pergamos, not Thyatira, not Sardis, and not even Smyrna, (who has received no criticism and are walking with God) that receives this promise. So who does qualify? Only those who believe in a pre-tribulation rapture? Every Christian even if they do not believe in a pre-tribulation rapture? But then who would be martyred from the church at Smyrna? Everyone should be gone from that church, if that was the case. Does anyone see a problem here besides me?
Verse 3:11 “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.”
Even the Philadelphians are not beyond being warned to watch themselves and not let their guard down. They still could lose their crown of life.
Verse 3:12 “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.”
In ancient days when a city wanted to honor someone by giving him the keys of the city, so to speak, they would erect a pillar in the temple and carve the name of the person on it. In that way the person’s deed and they themselves lived on “forever”. But as we know, these temples were not forever. They became ruins. In fact Philadelphia was over an earthquake fault. It was very common for them to have earthquakes and tremors and have to go running out of buildings and out of town while the town fell down around them. Then they would have to come back and start rebuilding. This is a reference that these people would clearly understand, and to which they would relate. Here the overcomer is promised that they will be a pillar in the temple of God, which is eternal and will never fall down. Notice that it is not that a pillar is erected for the person, the person themselves is the pillar. God’s temple will be filled with living pillars that are a testimony of the deeds they have done for which they are being honored. They will not have to go out of the temple. They get to live in the presence of God forever.
Upon this person is written the name of God, the name of New Jerusalem, and the new name of Christ. Back in those days, slavery was common, and branding them was a way of proving ownership. God puts a seal on those of His for their protection. It is a sign to the enemy of God’s ownership so that they may not touch them without God’s approval. Ez. 9:1-7 “He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand. And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writers inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar. And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side; and the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and site; let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house. And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth, And they went forth, and slew in the city.” God marks His people for protection from the enemy. Christians are sealed with the sign of God. 1 Cor. 1:21-22 “Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” He will also put a mark or seal in the forehead of 144,000 of the tribes of Israel for their protection from the enemy. Rev. 7:3-4 “Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.”
As for putting the name of New Jerusalem on the overcomerer, this is like a passport. It shows our citizenship and allows us entrance into the city. Rev. 21:27 “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Only those whose name is written in the book of life, only those who have the seal of God, or God’s name, only those with their citizenship clearly written on them and can prove their worthiness will enter into the city of New Jerusalem.
Lastly the overcomer has written on him the new name of Christ. And what may that name be? Only Christ knows. Rev. 19:11-12 “And I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.” As a bride takes the name of her husband, so the church as the bride of Christ is identified with that name. So the new name of Christ, which only He knows, is written upon the one who endures to the end. Rev. 22:4 “And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.”
Verse 3:13 “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”
Even though this church as a corporate entity are all able to hear what Christ says, he does not reverse the order of the promise with the ear to hear statement. He leaves it in the same order to which he has switched. Possibly because the statement is irrelevant in their case, as they as an entire church are faithful. In terms of today or the last days, I believe Philadelphia and Smryna are not necessarily corporate churches, but faithful Christians who have left the apostate organized churches (which explains why they do not have the problems) and simply meet together as possible for worship and fellowship. I believe the difference in the two, when it comes to why one is martyred and one is preserved, comes down to the statement that Philadelphia has kept the word of God’s patience. Smyrna is exemplary in their walk with the Lord, but if they have not studied the Word of God about the end times, there is a chance they could either be deceived, or could give up that Christ will return when He does not come when they expect Him to come. To preserve these faithful saints, it may be necessary for the Lord to remove them before either of those things can happen. They would be very confused to be “left behind” as it were, as they had been faithful. Under the circumstances, they would begin to doubt their own faith. God has said that he will not let us be taken out of His hand by circumstances beyond ourselves, and He will not let His faithful remnant be deceived. He would rather they were martyred than lose their faith. That is not the case with Philadelphia. They have kept the word of God’s patience. In other words, they know what is coming; that they will have to patiently endure to the end. They will not be deceived by antichrist, as they understand exactly what will be happening. They will not lose faith having been disappointed by a rapture that did not happen, as they know it will not happen until very near the end. They will be prepared to endure. Therefore, they do not have to be martyred in order to preserve their salvation.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Revelation 3:1-6 Sardis
Chapter 3
The next church is Sardis. Sardis was a wicked and wealthy city. It was the capital of ancient Lydia, the home of Aesop (of Aesop’s fables) and King Croesus (from where we get the phrase “rich as Croesus”). It was located about thirty miles south-east of Thyatira. The meaning of the word “Sardis” is “escaping one” or “come out”.
Verse 3:1 “And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.”
Again the description of Christ comes from the first chapter. In Ephesus it was the one holding the seven stars in the midst of the seven candlesticks. Here it is he that hath the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars. The Holy Spirit (seven Spirits) is apparently missing from this church, as they are said to be dead. That is why this description of Christ is used for this church. Sardis must have been doing works, but they were works of men, not works for the Lord. In the eyes of the world, they appeared to be a living church, because of their history of having been a living church and their ongoing works, but there was nothing of God in them or their works. There are many churches like this today. They are the people who go through the motions of religion. They have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof, 2 Tim. 3:5. I personally know of a number of these kind of churches, and sadly have friends who attend them. They do a lot of good in the world, but most of the people have absolutely no relationship with Christ on a personal level or else have let that relationship dwindle away. Some do not even understand salvation by being born again. They have a head belief, which is further worsened by believing the Bible is a book of literature, or mythology, or only to be taken in the most spiritualized manner, not literally. They do not understand that a heart belief with a personal relationship is necessary. I do not even understand some of these people’s desire to be in church every Sunday (which they are), when they do not have a relationship with the Lord. It defies understanding. This is that type of church.
Verse 3:2 “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.”
Up until this church, the churches were commended for their works, but this church is not. They may have had works that looked good to the world, but not to the Lord. They were not done with the right motive, even if they were works that were beneficial. The few remnant believers that did exist were about to die (spiritually) from being in such a spiritually dead atmosphere. They are warned to be watching. When one is watching for the return of Christ, it encourages one to persevere in their relationship with Christ no matter what the surroundings.
Verse 3:3 “Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.”
They are reminded to think back to when they originally heard the gospel and repented, and to hang on to that and to repent of their lethargic relationship with Christ. They are warned that if they do not start watching and remembering that the Lord will return, they will be like unbelievers and His return will come on them like a thief in the night. We have seen this verse about coming like a thief when we went over the scriptures in 1 Thess. 5, for the Day of the Lord and 2nd coming.
Verse 3:4 “Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white; for they are worthy.”
There are a very few, who still are clinging to their faith in spite of the church they are attending. They are promised that they will walk in white, the color of garment we will be given in heaven, Rev. 7:9,14; for they have been found worthy. Not because of their own works, but because they have not fallen away from their relationship with Christ.
Verse 3:5 “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.”
Again, he mentions being clothed in white, the raiment of heaven. Rev. 19:8 “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” This is the bridal apparel for the bride of Christ, the church. Christ says that for those that overcome, he will not blot their name out of the book of life. It is important that your name be in this book, as “whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Rev. 20:15. This book is the one that will not contain the names of those who worship antichrist. “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Rev. 13:8. The most straightforward reading of this seems to indicate that it is possible to have your name blotted out of the book after it is already in there. That would mean that it is possible to lose your salvation once you have accepted the Lord. We need to examine this in other scriptures and see if that is possible.
Ex. 32:33 “And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.”
Ps. 69:28 “Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.”
Rev. 17:8b “and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was and is not, and yet is.”
Rev. 21:27 “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
Rev. 22:19 “And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”
Taken at face value or literally, it does say that names can be blotted out of the book of life. Furthermore, two verses seem to indicate that those names were written in the book from the foundation of the world. God foreknows who will accept him and who will not. Rom. 8:29. “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Therefore He wrote those names in the book of life from the foundation of the world. But what if that person after accepting the Lord does not maintain their walk? What if they fall away? If a name can be blotted out once there, does that mean a person who has been truly saved can lose their salvation? Why, if they were not going to be saved in the end, would God put there name in the book to begin with?
We need to search further for the answer to this. We already discussed several parables. In each case, there were servants (or brides) who were not ready when the master (bridegroom) appeared and they were thrown out with the wicked into where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth. This indicates that true believers can find themselves being punished with the wicked. Some feel that this is talking about posers or frauds, not true Christians, but a fraud could never get by Christ. He would not call a fraud a servant. He would be able to see into the heart and know whether or not that person had truly accepted Him.
Another parable that might shed some light is that of the seeds. Mark 4:3-9, 14-20 “Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow; and it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred. And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear…….The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts, and these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended. And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirty fold, some sixty, and some an hundred.”
This parable is saying that there are four different ways of responding to the word. The first is that it never penetrated the heart. The Holy Spirit convicts everybody at some point in their life with the truth, and it is at that moment that they have to make a decision. I believe that this is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit about which the scriptures say that there is no forgiveness. Mark 3:28-29 “Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.” It is the Holy Spirit that reveals the truth to people as to whom Christ is. If they reject that truth, there is nothing else that can save them. All other sins can be forgiven except rejecting Christ as Savior. There is no other means of forgiveness available except for Christ’s blood. So to reject the revelation the Holy Spirit gives of this truth is a blasphemy that cannot be forgiven. A person cannot be forgiven for rejecting Christ as Savior. He is eternally damned.
The second person is the one who receives the message with joy and gladness, but they have no depth of character and when persecuted or mocked, or made uncomfortable, or made to suffer in any way for their faith, they do not feel it is worth it and choose to let their faith be left by the way side. It does say, though, that they did receive the message. We cannot receive it, but not really receive it, as I have heard some say. We either receive it or we do not. Christ knows the difference, even if we do not know if someone is faking it. These people cannot endure to the end. They fall away.
The third person is one who receives the word, but they are caught up in worldliness, riches, and other idols. Matt. 6:24 “No man can serve to masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” These Christians have no fruit. They are not growing in the Lord spiritually, and they are not producing works. The carnal Christian cannot expect to walk with the world and then enter into heaven as is, simply because they once made a confession of faith. We must show our faith by our fruit and our works.
Matt. 3:10 “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” If a Christian is not bringing forth fruit, it is cast into the fire. That is the lake of fire. The final punishment.
Matt. 7:16-23 “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name: and in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Not every one that has called the Lord their Lord will enter into heaven. This does not necessarily mean that they have never been Christians. This says they have not been doing the will of the Father. They have been living their lives for themselves in spite of what they say they have been doing for the Lord. Their motivations have not been pure in their works. Their fruits have been corrupt. What are the fruits? Gal. 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
Matt. 12:33 “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.” A Christian is known by his fruits. We have seen that fruits are a serious factor in determining the final destination.
John 15:1-6 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth (prune) it that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” If someone is not abiding in the Lord and producing fruit, he will wither and be lopped off and cast into the fire. This is speaking of a Christian, for an unbeliever is not grafted into the vine (Lord) to begin with. It says they are “in me“ or in the Lord. You cannot be “in the Lord” if you are not born again. When it says they will be cast into the lake of fire, it is speaking of casting Christians into the lake of fire or eternal damnation. There can be no other way of understanding this verse without twisting it. It is very clear that Christ is talking about a Christian. A non-believer is never “in the Lord.”
James 2:17, 20, 22, 24, 26 “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone…But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?…..Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?….Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only……For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” We can see that works are needed along with faith. A Christian who accepts the Lord and leaves it at that, living a life for themselves, will not be sufficient to make it into heaven. We demonstrate our faith by our works. Without them, our faith is as dead as the faith of the church at Sardis.
The last seed or person is the one who hears the word, receives it, and brings forth fruit. Some much more so than others. This is the person who endures persecution, affliction, who does not let the world and its things become his idol, and who is producing fruit and works. This is the only seed that actually makes it.
Now we must look to find if there are scriptures other than parables that teach that we can fall away from the faith and have our name blotted out of the book of life.
1 Cor. 9:24 “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.” This indicates that all Christians have to run the race that has salvation as a prize, but that not everyone will get that prize.
Heb. 6:4-8 “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: but that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burned.”
This passage, as hard as it is for some to accept, says that it is impossible for those “who were once enlightened” and have “tasted of the heavenly gift” and were made “partakers of the Holy Ghost.” and have “tasted of the good word of God” and the “powers of the world to come”. Here are five different statements qualifying this person’s condition and each one of them can only be experienced by a true born again Christian. I do not care how people try to make this not mean that, it is clear from the description that this can be no other than a Christian. Only a Christian is “enlightened”. Only a Christian has “tasted of the heavenly gift”. Only a Christian can be a “partaker of the Holy Ghost”. Only a Christian has “tasted of the good word of God”. And only a Christian has experienced the “powers of the world to come”. No pseudo Christian can have done any of this. This is not just a person who claims to be a Christian, but really isn’t born again. This person has had the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Only a Christian can have that. For the Christian who falls away, and this is not talking of merely committing a sin, this is speaking of turning from Christ as the means of salvation (think Oprah’s gospel), they cannot come back, as that would require a second sacrifice on Christ's part as they have thrown away the first. They have embraced another gospel when they leave Christianity.
Heb. 10:26-31 “For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remained no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, and unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belonged unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
This is a most frightening passage. This says that if we deliberately keep on in sin, we are trampling the Son of God under foot and treating the blood as an unholy thing. There is no more sacrifice for sins other than what has already been given. If this passage is to be taken as is, it would seem that nobody would make it into heaven, as at some point, we all sin willfully. I would like to meet the person who is capable of never committing one. Under that circumstance, I don’t think we can take it that one deliberate sin will condemn us or nobody would be saved. After all David committed both adultery and murder deliberately, yet he was a man after God’s own heart. Also it would negate other scriptures that we have about forgiveness, such as 1 John 1:9. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I think the key is found in what David did, he repented. I believe the sin about which this verse is speaking in Hebrews is found in the verse that follows 1 John 1:9. 1 John 1:10 “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” This passage in Hebrews is speaking of unrepentant sin. If we keep on unrepentantly sinning, there is no more sacrifice for sin, as the only way sins are covered are by repentance through Jesus Christ. If we refuse that repentance, there is nothing else that can cover the sin. So this passage teaches us that a Christian can, if they continue to sin without repentance, forfeit their salvation.
From all of these scriptures, and there are many more, I think it is safe to say that a person’s name can be blotted out of the book of life. Why then would God put it in the book at all? There are two possibilities for this. If a person has accepted the Lord at any time in their life, they are entitled in all fairness to have their name written in there, for whatever length of time that may be. And God is fair. He will not blot out anyone’s name until He is required to do so. Or it could be that everyone’s name starts out in the book of life. This seems to be more likely, considering an infant that dies has not committed a sin, so their name should be in the book of life, yet they would not have accepted the Lord to have their name written in there. It could be that when someone rejects the Holy Spirit’s call, that their names are then blotted out of the book of life. Whichever way this works, and we are not really told, this should be a wake up call to all of us.
Now to be fair, I must address several verses that are used to refute this belief and teach eternal security. John 10:28-29 “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” Romans 8:35-39 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
These two passages are the backbone of the teaching of eternal security, and on the face of a superficial reading, one would say that indeed that must be what is being taught. But in order to accept that interpretation, one must completely ignore every passage that I have outlined above that teach differently. And not only those, but many, many more. Should two passages outweigh so many others that clearly teach the opposite? If they are in opposition, it is because one of them is not being understood correctly. I think the former ones are quite clear in their intent. So is there a way to reconcile these latter scriptures to that intent? I believe there is. In the first verse, it says that no man shall be able to pluck us out of the Father’s hand. In other words, if we want to be there, no one, nobody else has the right to take us away from the Father, where we want to be. Nobody has that power over us. However it does not say that we do not have that power over ourselves. It clearly says that nobody else can take us out of the Father’s hand. No thing, no person, no angel, no creature, nothing has the right to take us out of the Father’s hand if we want to be there. This is our eternal security. However notice it does not say that we cannot take ourselves out of the Father’s hand by turning away from Him. If we want to be with the Lord, He will give us the strength and grace to endure tribulation, persecution, famine, the sword, whatever. We will endure by His grace if we want to endure. Nobody has the right to steal our salvation from us. We, however must want that salvation enough to abide in the Lord, do the works, etc. that the other scriptures say we must be doing and having. The former scriptures clearly teach that we can remove ourselves from the Father's hand.
Now we can see that while the former passages cannot be reconciled to these two, they have to be ignored if one wants to believe in eternal security as it is usually defined; these latter two can be reconciled to the former quite easily.
Back to Revelation 3:5. Christ will confess the overcomer’s name before the Father and before the angels. We are told that if we deny Christ, He will deny us. Matt. 10:32-33 “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” We must be very careful not to deny our Savior or be embarrassed about being Christians, especially when we are in the company of the world. Denying Christ is basically what this church was doing as they were spiritually dead.
Verse 3:6 “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches.”
Again we see that the order is that the promise is given, then the statement that he who has an ear to hear, let him hear. This church falls into the same category as Thyatira. The church as a corporate entity is lost. Only the few remnant are even able to “hear” this letter. Christ is calling on the remnant who will open their hearts and minds and listen and hear and repent and escape or come out, as the name Sardis means.
The next church is Sardis. Sardis was a wicked and wealthy city. It was the capital of ancient Lydia, the home of Aesop (of Aesop’s fables) and King Croesus (from where we get the phrase “rich as Croesus”). It was located about thirty miles south-east of Thyatira. The meaning of the word “Sardis” is “escaping one” or “come out”.
Verse 3:1 “And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.”
Again the description of Christ comes from the first chapter. In Ephesus it was the one holding the seven stars in the midst of the seven candlesticks. Here it is he that hath the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars. The Holy Spirit (seven Spirits) is apparently missing from this church, as they are said to be dead. That is why this description of Christ is used for this church. Sardis must have been doing works, but they were works of men, not works for the Lord. In the eyes of the world, they appeared to be a living church, because of their history of having been a living church and their ongoing works, but there was nothing of God in them or their works. There are many churches like this today. They are the people who go through the motions of religion. They have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof, 2 Tim. 3:5. I personally know of a number of these kind of churches, and sadly have friends who attend them. They do a lot of good in the world, but most of the people have absolutely no relationship with Christ on a personal level or else have let that relationship dwindle away. Some do not even understand salvation by being born again. They have a head belief, which is further worsened by believing the Bible is a book of literature, or mythology, or only to be taken in the most spiritualized manner, not literally. They do not understand that a heart belief with a personal relationship is necessary. I do not even understand some of these people’s desire to be in church every Sunday (which they are), when they do not have a relationship with the Lord. It defies understanding. This is that type of church.
Verse 3:2 “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.”
Up until this church, the churches were commended for their works, but this church is not. They may have had works that looked good to the world, but not to the Lord. They were not done with the right motive, even if they were works that were beneficial. The few remnant believers that did exist were about to die (spiritually) from being in such a spiritually dead atmosphere. They are warned to be watching. When one is watching for the return of Christ, it encourages one to persevere in their relationship with Christ no matter what the surroundings.
Verse 3:3 “Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.”
They are reminded to think back to when they originally heard the gospel and repented, and to hang on to that and to repent of their lethargic relationship with Christ. They are warned that if they do not start watching and remembering that the Lord will return, they will be like unbelievers and His return will come on them like a thief in the night. We have seen this verse about coming like a thief when we went over the scriptures in 1 Thess. 5, for the Day of the Lord and 2nd coming.
Verse 3:4 “Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white; for they are worthy.”
There are a very few, who still are clinging to their faith in spite of the church they are attending. They are promised that they will walk in white, the color of garment we will be given in heaven, Rev. 7:9,14; for they have been found worthy. Not because of their own works, but because they have not fallen away from their relationship with Christ.
Verse 3:5 “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.”
Again, he mentions being clothed in white, the raiment of heaven. Rev. 19:8 “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” This is the bridal apparel for the bride of Christ, the church. Christ says that for those that overcome, he will not blot their name out of the book of life. It is important that your name be in this book, as “whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Rev. 20:15. This book is the one that will not contain the names of those who worship antichrist. “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Rev. 13:8. The most straightforward reading of this seems to indicate that it is possible to have your name blotted out of the book after it is already in there. That would mean that it is possible to lose your salvation once you have accepted the Lord. We need to examine this in other scriptures and see if that is possible.
Ex. 32:33 “And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.”
Ps. 69:28 “Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.”
Rev. 17:8b “and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was and is not, and yet is.”
Rev. 21:27 “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
Rev. 22:19 “And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”
Taken at face value or literally, it does say that names can be blotted out of the book of life. Furthermore, two verses seem to indicate that those names were written in the book from the foundation of the world. God foreknows who will accept him and who will not. Rom. 8:29. “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Therefore He wrote those names in the book of life from the foundation of the world. But what if that person after accepting the Lord does not maintain their walk? What if they fall away? If a name can be blotted out once there, does that mean a person who has been truly saved can lose their salvation? Why, if they were not going to be saved in the end, would God put there name in the book to begin with?
We need to search further for the answer to this. We already discussed several parables. In each case, there were servants (or brides) who were not ready when the master (bridegroom) appeared and they were thrown out with the wicked into where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth. This indicates that true believers can find themselves being punished with the wicked. Some feel that this is talking about posers or frauds, not true Christians, but a fraud could never get by Christ. He would not call a fraud a servant. He would be able to see into the heart and know whether or not that person had truly accepted Him.
Another parable that might shed some light is that of the seeds. Mark 4:3-9, 14-20 “Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow; and it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred. And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear…….The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts, and these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended. And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirty fold, some sixty, and some an hundred.”
This parable is saying that there are four different ways of responding to the word. The first is that it never penetrated the heart. The Holy Spirit convicts everybody at some point in their life with the truth, and it is at that moment that they have to make a decision. I believe that this is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit about which the scriptures say that there is no forgiveness. Mark 3:28-29 “Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.” It is the Holy Spirit that reveals the truth to people as to whom Christ is. If they reject that truth, there is nothing else that can save them. All other sins can be forgiven except rejecting Christ as Savior. There is no other means of forgiveness available except for Christ’s blood. So to reject the revelation the Holy Spirit gives of this truth is a blasphemy that cannot be forgiven. A person cannot be forgiven for rejecting Christ as Savior. He is eternally damned.
The second person is the one who receives the message with joy and gladness, but they have no depth of character and when persecuted or mocked, or made uncomfortable, or made to suffer in any way for their faith, they do not feel it is worth it and choose to let their faith be left by the way side. It does say, though, that they did receive the message. We cannot receive it, but not really receive it, as I have heard some say. We either receive it or we do not. Christ knows the difference, even if we do not know if someone is faking it. These people cannot endure to the end. They fall away.
The third person is one who receives the word, but they are caught up in worldliness, riches, and other idols. Matt. 6:24 “No man can serve to masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” These Christians have no fruit. They are not growing in the Lord spiritually, and they are not producing works. The carnal Christian cannot expect to walk with the world and then enter into heaven as is, simply because they once made a confession of faith. We must show our faith by our fruit and our works.
Matt. 3:10 “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” If a Christian is not bringing forth fruit, it is cast into the fire. That is the lake of fire. The final punishment.
Matt. 7:16-23 “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name: and in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Not every one that has called the Lord their Lord will enter into heaven. This does not necessarily mean that they have never been Christians. This says they have not been doing the will of the Father. They have been living their lives for themselves in spite of what they say they have been doing for the Lord. Their motivations have not been pure in their works. Their fruits have been corrupt. What are the fruits? Gal. 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
Matt. 12:33 “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.” A Christian is known by his fruits. We have seen that fruits are a serious factor in determining the final destination.
John 15:1-6 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth (prune) it that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” If someone is not abiding in the Lord and producing fruit, he will wither and be lopped off and cast into the fire. This is speaking of a Christian, for an unbeliever is not grafted into the vine (Lord) to begin with. It says they are “in me“ or in the Lord. You cannot be “in the Lord” if you are not born again. When it says they will be cast into the lake of fire, it is speaking of casting Christians into the lake of fire or eternal damnation. There can be no other way of understanding this verse without twisting it. It is very clear that Christ is talking about a Christian. A non-believer is never “in the Lord.”
James 2:17, 20, 22, 24, 26 “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone…But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?…..Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?….Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only……For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” We can see that works are needed along with faith. A Christian who accepts the Lord and leaves it at that, living a life for themselves, will not be sufficient to make it into heaven. We demonstrate our faith by our works. Without them, our faith is as dead as the faith of the church at Sardis.
The last seed or person is the one who hears the word, receives it, and brings forth fruit. Some much more so than others. This is the person who endures persecution, affliction, who does not let the world and its things become his idol, and who is producing fruit and works. This is the only seed that actually makes it.
Now we must look to find if there are scriptures other than parables that teach that we can fall away from the faith and have our name blotted out of the book of life.
1 Cor. 9:24 “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.” This indicates that all Christians have to run the race that has salvation as a prize, but that not everyone will get that prize.
Heb. 6:4-8 “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: but that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burned.”
This passage, as hard as it is for some to accept, says that it is impossible for those “who were once enlightened” and have “tasted of the heavenly gift” and were made “partakers of the Holy Ghost.” and have “tasted of the good word of God” and the “powers of the world to come”. Here are five different statements qualifying this person’s condition and each one of them can only be experienced by a true born again Christian. I do not care how people try to make this not mean that, it is clear from the description that this can be no other than a Christian. Only a Christian is “enlightened”. Only a Christian has “tasted of the heavenly gift”. Only a Christian can be a “partaker of the Holy Ghost”. Only a Christian has “tasted of the good word of God”. And only a Christian has experienced the “powers of the world to come”. No pseudo Christian can have done any of this. This is not just a person who claims to be a Christian, but really isn’t born again. This person has had the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Only a Christian can have that. For the Christian who falls away, and this is not talking of merely committing a sin, this is speaking of turning from Christ as the means of salvation (think Oprah’s gospel), they cannot come back, as that would require a second sacrifice on Christ's part as they have thrown away the first. They have embraced another gospel when they leave Christianity.
Heb. 10:26-31 “For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remained no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, and unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belonged unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
This is a most frightening passage. This says that if we deliberately keep on in sin, we are trampling the Son of God under foot and treating the blood as an unholy thing. There is no more sacrifice for sins other than what has already been given. If this passage is to be taken as is, it would seem that nobody would make it into heaven, as at some point, we all sin willfully. I would like to meet the person who is capable of never committing one. Under that circumstance, I don’t think we can take it that one deliberate sin will condemn us or nobody would be saved. After all David committed both adultery and murder deliberately, yet he was a man after God’s own heart. Also it would negate other scriptures that we have about forgiveness, such as 1 John 1:9. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I think the key is found in what David did, he repented. I believe the sin about which this verse is speaking in Hebrews is found in the verse that follows 1 John 1:9. 1 John 1:10 “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” This passage in Hebrews is speaking of unrepentant sin. If we keep on unrepentantly sinning, there is no more sacrifice for sin, as the only way sins are covered are by repentance through Jesus Christ. If we refuse that repentance, there is nothing else that can cover the sin. So this passage teaches us that a Christian can, if they continue to sin without repentance, forfeit their salvation.
From all of these scriptures, and there are many more, I think it is safe to say that a person’s name can be blotted out of the book of life. Why then would God put it in the book at all? There are two possibilities for this. If a person has accepted the Lord at any time in their life, they are entitled in all fairness to have their name written in there, for whatever length of time that may be. And God is fair. He will not blot out anyone’s name until He is required to do so. Or it could be that everyone’s name starts out in the book of life. This seems to be more likely, considering an infant that dies has not committed a sin, so their name should be in the book of life, yet they would not have accepted the Lord to have their name written in there. It could be that when someone rejects the Holy Spirit’s call, that their names are then blotted out of the book of life. Whichever way this works, and we are not really told, this should be a wake up call to all of us.
Now to be fair, I must address several verses that are used to refute this belief and teach eternal security. John 10:28-29 “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” Romans 8:35-39 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
These two passages are the backbone of the teaching of eternal security, and on the face of a superficial reading, one would say that indeed that must be what is being taught. But in order to accept that interpretation, one must completely ignore every passage that I have outlined above that teach differently. And not only those, but many, many more. Should two passages outweigh so many others that clearly teach the opposite? If they are in opposition, it is because one of them is not being understood correctly. I think the former ones are quite clear in their intent. So is there a way to reconcile these latter scriptures to that intent? I believe there is. In the first verse, it says that no man shall be able to pluck us out of the Father’s hand. In other words, if we want to be there, no one, nobody else has the right to take us away from the Father, where we want to be. Nobody has that power over us. However it does not say that we do not have that power over ourselves. It clearly says that nobody else can take us out of the Father’s hand. No thing, no person, no angel, no creature, nothing has the right to take us out of the Father’s hand if we want to be there. This is our eternal security. However notice it does not say that we cannot take ourselves out of the Father’s hand by turning away from Him. If we want to be with the Lord, He will give us the strength and grace to endure tribulation, persecution, famine, the sword, whatever. We will endure by His grace if we want to endure. Nobody has the right to steal our salvation from us. We, however must want that salvation enough to abide in the Lord, do the works, etc. that the other scriptures say we must be doing and having. The former scriptures clearly teach that we can remove ourselves from the Father's hand.
Now we can see that while the former passages cannot be reconciled to these two, they have to be ignored if one wants to believe in eternal security as it is usually defined; these latter two can be reconciled to the former quite easily.
Back to Revelation 3:5. Christ will confess the overcomer’s name before the Father and before the angels. We are told that if we deny Christ, He will deny us. Matt. 10:32-33 “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” We must be very careful not to deny our Savior or be embarrassed about being Christians, especially when we are in the company of the world. Denying Christ is basically what this church was doing as they were spiritually dead.
Verse 3:6 “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches.”
Again we see that the order is that the promise is given, then the statement that he who has an ear to hear, let him hear. This church falls into the same category as Thyatira. The church as a corporate entity is lost. Only the few remnant are even able to “hear” this letter. Christ is calling on the remnant who will open their hearts and minds and listen and hear and repent and escape or come out, as the name Sardis means.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Revelation 2:18-29 Thyatira
The next church is the church at Thyatira. It was about forty miles east of Pergamos. It was a trade center with many trade guilds. Lydia, the seller of purple (Acts 16:14) resided there.
Verse 2:18 “And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass”
This time Christ actually calls Himself the Son of God. He again refers to a part of the description we found in chapter one. This time it is referring to his eyes and his feet. This is again speaking of judgment by the eyes which see everything and the feet which are going to trample the winepress of God's wrath.
Verse 2:19 “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.
This church was given a long list of commendations. Their works were so much that they are mentioned twice, with the last implying that they are growing in leaps and bounds. They were loving, they ministered to people, they had a strong faith, and they were patient in tribulation. One would think that this church could not go wrong, but that is not the case. This should be a real warning to Christians who are walking with the Lord in love, faith, works, and patience in tribulation, that even they can be guilty of some type of sin.
Verse 2:20 “Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.”
Thyatira was not watching their doctrines. Not only were they tolerating false doctrines, but they were allowing a woman called Jezebel (who was a self-proclaimed prophetess) to teach these doctrines, seducing the congregation to commit fornication and eat things sacrificed to idols. First, allowing a woman to teach the church was strictly against scripture. In 1 Timothy 2:11,12 the church is specifically instructed that a woman is not supposed to be in authority over a man and teach. Whether her name was actually Jezebel or not, the name immediately brings to mind the story of Jezebel from the O.T. and makes a spiritual connection with that woman. The Jezebel of the O.T. was responsible for promoting whoredoms, witchcraft, and Baal worship in Israel during the time of Elijah. Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab, was not an Israelite but a princess of the Zidonians. Ahab, to strengthen the kingdom of Israel, married Jezebel, and she with Ahab’s willing help introduced the worship of Baal into Israel, and killed all the prophets of the Lord she could find.
This Jezebel, by virtue of calling herself a prophetess, was obviously introducing “new revelation” that she supposedly received as a prophetess. Those revelations apparently had to do with carnal living, participation in pagan rituals and the like. She most likely was stressing love and works, as this church was strong in those things, but the love was a little too loving in some cases. Other churches had people like this (the Nicolaitanes) but the difference was, these people were not only tolerating her, they were allowing her to teach this heresy. Another problem may have had something to do with the fact that this city was a trade city with trade guilds. You didn’t work unless you were a member of the guild. These guilds had certain requirements that involved their members participating in pagan practices and feasts. Think in terms of something similar to the masons of today. Jezebel was probably teaching that it was okay for people to participate so that they could continue to work.
In the churches today there are people who belong to the Masonic Lodge, which is a pagan organization, regardless of what some of their members may like to believe. They are actually pledging their allegiance to Satan when they join. At the lower ranks, the individuals are probably completely unaware of what they are doing, if they are not truly studying their Bibles and can see the truth. They think the words they are saying are harmless, but God is holding them accountable for the promises to which they are giving a vow, and what they are vowing to is blasphemous. Their symbols are occultic, but unless a person has studied the occult and recognizes the meanings, they would be meaningless to them. On another front, I have heard many older people complain about the new teachings that are coming in to the church, yet they stay there and tolerate it. It is the older congregants that keep the church’s works going, have the strong faith, the discernment, the ministries, and the like. It is the younger ones who are embracing the new teachings and ways. So the church still qualifies as a good church in the sense that overall they still have those things which are so important, but they are letting these new doctrines creep in. As the younger ones enjoy the new ways, the older ones, in the name of peace, remain silent in the face of the younger people‘s intolerance of their complaints. In time the ways of Jezebel finally take over the whole church and they become apostate. All of these things would qualify as the possible candidates for the sins in this church.
Verse 2:21 “And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.”
Apparently someone had confronted Jezebel with her sin, but she had refused to acknowledge that is was a sin, as is usually the case with a ringleader. She deliberately was rejecting God’s Word and His warning.
Verse 2:22 “Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.”
Judgment has been pronounced on Jezebel, as she has refused to repent. She will be cast into a bed of great tribulation. Although we do not know what happened to her, it is safe to assume that God did judge this woman. Her followers were still given time to repent. While at the time of this letter and down through the centuries, the tribulation that she and her followers were cast into may have been intense tribulation, the “great tribulation” is yet to come. This shows us that this letter is also for those that are alive at the time of the great tribulation during the 70th week as this phrase only applies to that particular time.
Verse 2:23 “And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.”
Jezebel’s children might include biological ones, but for certain it refers to spiritual ones, those who follow her. The phrase kill with death is an idiomatic expression that would mean they die from execution. They are killed by a means of death. This definitely points to the great tribulation when Christians will be executed for their faith. This is how God will refine and purge those who have not repented and cleaned up their act. God will punish according to their sins.
Verse 2:24-25 “But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye have already, hold fast till I come.”
We know that these letters were addressed to the angels specifically and to the members of the church as a whole. Now there is a change. From the context it can be seen that Christ is now speaking to the person to whom the letter is addressed (the angel) and “the rest.... as have not this doctrine.” What Christ is about to say is only to this group, the angel and the faithful remnant. This might seem like an odd thing, as an angel would not be guilty of any of these sins, but that is not what this is about. This is also addressed to the faithful remnant in this church that has not participated in any way in these sins that Jezebel has been promoting. What is said is that Christ will not put any other burden on them other than holding onto what they have. He is not going to chastise them for any other sin, nor expect anything more from them other than they just stay away from Jezebel and her teachings and stay faithful. The angel who is in charge is not going to be given any more demands other than just watching over and keeping these who will not participate in this heresy. It is not required for him to watch over the rest of the church as was required of the previous angels.
The remnant has been faithful in every other way, in love, faith, works, and ministry. Their only problem has been tolerating Jezebel. They may not have had any choice in the matter. Usually the faithful remnant is the minority in a church and their voices go unheeded and unnoticed. They are told to simply hold on to what they have been doing. And they are told to do this until the Lord returns. While this original church may have hoped that the Lord would return in their lifetimes, that was not the case. However, there will be Thyatira-like churches around at the Second Coming of the Lord who can and will be cast into the great tribulation, so Christ does expect Christians to be around at His Second Coming.
Verse 2:26 “And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations.”
The overcomer who endures to the end (2nd coming) will be given rule over the nations. Rev. 20:4 “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them…..and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”
Verse 2:27 “And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.”
This verse is a reference to Psalm 2:7-9. “I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” This imagery shows up in Revelation again in 12:5 “And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne”, and 19:15b “…and he shall rule them with a rod of iron:…” In these verses, it is speaking of Christ who will be the one to rule with a rod of iron. But in the above verse, the promise is that the overcomer will rule them with a rod of iron. The saints have been promised that they will judge the world. 1 Cor. 6:2 “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?…” This is also promised in Daniel 7:18, 27. “But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. ….And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” We have already seen the verse in Rev. 20:4 that the saints will judge the nations.
Verse 2:28 “And I will give him the morning star.”
Jesus is the bright and morning star. Rev. 22:16b “…I am the root and the offspring of David and the bright and morning star.” This is a promise of Christ’s eternal presence with His people.
Verse 2:29 “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”
In the previous churches, this warning came before the promise to the overcomer. Now the positioning of it has been changed. It comes at the end. The Lord is making a change to give us a jolt to realize that something has changed from the previous churches to this one. In looking at the other churches, we see that the entire letter was addressed to the entire church. In this church, halfway through the letter, Christ quit addressing the entire church and addressed only the angel and the remnant. The reason for this becomes evident when one examines a little more closely the subject of doctrine. In the first three churches, the church still held to correct doctrine. They may have had people within the church who individually chose to believe in false doctrines (the Nicolaitanes and Balaam followers), but they did not tolerate this to be taught by the church. In Thyatira, they had embraced these false teachings as church doctrine. Therein lies the difference. Christ does warn the entire church that they should not tolerate false doctrine, but the corporate church had already forsaken Christ, and is already condemned to judgment. This explains Him presenting himself as the one with eyes that flame and feet that are like brass, signs of judgment. While in the other churches everyone was available to have an ear to hear and become an overcomer, this is not the case in this church. The promise to overcomers and to him who has an ear to hear comes after Christ stops addressing the corporate church and starts addressing the remnant. Had the order been reversed, it might have been assumed that this promise was to all the church, but the grammatical positioning of the promise indicates that it is not being given to the entire church, but to the remnant. They still are guilty of tolerating Jezebel (although they probably could do nothing about her) and stand in danger of judgment too, if they are not careful, therefore they need to have an ear to hear.
Verse 2:18 “And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass”
This time Christ actually calls Himself the Son of God. He again refers to a part of the description we found in chapter one. This time it is referring to his eyes and his feet. This is again speaking of judgment by the eyes which see everything and the feet which are going to trample the winepress of God's wrath.
Verse 2:19 “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.
This church was given a long list of commendations. Their works were so much that they are mentioned twice, with the last implying that they are growing in leaps and bounds. They were loving, they ministered to people, they had a strong faith, and they were patient in tribulation. One would think that this church could not go wrong, but that is not the case. This should be a real warning to Christians who are walking with the Lord in love, faith, works, and patience in tribulation, that even they can be guilty of some type of sin.
Verse 2:20 “Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.”
Thyatira was not watching their doctrines. Not only were they tolerating false doctrines, but they were allowing a woman called Jezebel (who was a self-proclaimed prophetess) to teach these doctrines, seducing the congregation to commit fornication and eat things sacrificed to idols. First, allowing a woman to teach the church was strictly against scripture. In 1 Timothy 2:11,12 the church is specifically instructed that a woman is not supposed to be in authority over a man and teach. Whether her name was actually Jezebel or not, the name immediately brings to mind the story of Jezebel from the O.T. and makes a spiritual connection with that woman. The Jezebel of the O.T. was responsible for promoting whoredoms, witchcraft, and Baal worship in Israel during the time of Elijah. Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab, was not an Israelite but a princess of the Zidonians. Ahab, to strengthen the kingdom of Israel, married Jezebel, and she with Ahab’s willing help introduced the worship of Baal into Israel, and killed all the prophets of the Lord she could find.
This Jezebel, by virtue of calling herself a prophetess, was obviously introducing “new revelation” that she supposedly received as a prophetess. Those revelations apparently had to do with carnal living, participation in pagan rituals and the like. She most likely was stressing love and works, as this church was strong in those things, but the love was a little too loving in some cases. Other churches had people like this (the Nicolaitanes) but the difference was, these people were not only tolerating her, they were allowing her to teach this heresy. Another problem may have had something to do with the fact that this city was a trade city with trade guilds. You didn’t work unless you were a member of the guild. These guilds had certain requirements that involved their members participating in pagan practices and feasts. Think in terms of something similar to the masons of today. Jezebel was probably teaching that it was okay for people to participate so that they could continue to work.
In the churches today there are people who belong to the Masonic Lodge, which is a pagan organization, regardless of what some of their members may like to believe. They are actually pledging their allegiance to Satan when they join. At the lower ranks, the individuals are probably completely unaware of what they are doing, if they are not truly studying their Bibles and can see the truth. They think the words they are saying are harmless, but God is holding them accountable for the promises to which they are giving a vow, and what they are vowing to is blasphemous. Their symbols are occultic, but unless a person has studied the occult and recognizes the meanings, they would be meaningless to them. On another front, I have heard many older people complain about the new teachings that are coming in to the church, yet they stay there and tolerate it. It is the older congregants that keep the church’s works going, have the strong faith, the discernment, the ministries, and the like. It is the younger ones who are embracing the new teachings and ways. So the church still qualifies as a good church in the sense that overall they still have those things which are so important, but they are letting these new doctrines creep in. As the younger ones enjoy the new ways, the older ones, in the name of peace, remain silent in the face of the younger people‘s intolerance of their complaints. In time the ways of Jezebel finally take over the whole church and they become apostate. All of these things would qualify as the possible candidates for the sins in this church.
Verse 2:21 “And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.”
Apparently someone had confronted Jezebel with her sin, but she had refused to acknowledge that is was a sin, as is usually the case with a ringleader. She deliberately was rejecting God’s Word and His warning.
Verse 2:22 “Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.”
Judgment has been pronounced on Jezebel, as she has refused to repent. She will be cast into a bed of great tribulation. Although we do not know what happened to her, it is safe to assume that God did judge this woman. Her followers were still given time to repent. While at the time of this letter and down through the centuries, the tribulation that she and her followers were cast into may have been intense tribulation, the “great tribulation” is yet to come. This shows us that this letter is also for those that are alive at the time of the great tribulation during the 70th week as this phrase only applies to that particular time.
Verse 2:23 “And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.”
Jezebel’s children might include biological ones, but for certain it refers to spiritual ones, those who follow her. The phrase kill with death is an idiomatic expression that would mean they die from execution. They are killed by a means of death. This definitely points to the great tribulation when Christians will be executed for their faith. This is how God will refine and purge those who have not repented and cleaned up their act. God will punish according to their sins.
Verse 2:24-25 “But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye have already, hold fast till I come.”
We know that these letters were addressed to the angels specifically and to the members of the church as a whole. Now there is a change. From the context it can be seen that Christ is now speaking to the person to whom the letter is addressed (the angel) and “the rest.... as have not this doctrine.” What Christ is about to say is only to this group, the angel and the faithful remnant. This might seem like an odd thing, as an angel would not be guilty of any of these sins, but that is not what this is about. This is also addressed to the faithful remnant in this church that has not participated in any way in these sins that Jezebel has been promoting. What is said is that Christ will not put any other burden on them other than holding onto what they have. He is not going to chastise them for any other sin, nor expect anything more from them other than they just stay away from Jezebel and her teachings and stay faithful. The angel who is in charge is not going to be given any more demands other than just watching over and keeping these who will not participate in this heresy. It is not required for him to watch over the rest of the church as was required of the previous angels.
The remnant has been faithful in every other way, in love, faith, works, and ministry. Their only problem has been tolerating Jezebel. They may not have had any choice in the matter. Usually the faithful remnant is the minority in a church and their voices go unheeded and unnoticed. They are told to simply hold on to what they have been doing. And they are told to do this until the Lord returns. While this original church may have hoped that the Lord would return in their lifetimes, that was not the case. However, there will be Thyatira-like churches around at the Second Coming of the Lord who can and will be cast into the great tribulation, so Christ does expect Christians to be around at His Second Coming.
Verse 2:26 “And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations.”
The overcomer who endures to the end (2nd coming) will be given rule over the nations. Rev. 20:4 “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them…..and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”
Verse 2:27 “And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.”
This verse is a reference to Psalm 2:7-9. “I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” This imagery shows up in Revelation again in 12:5 “And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne”, and 19:15b “…and he shall rule them with a rod of iron:…” In these verses, it is speaking of Christ who will be the one to rule with a rod of iron. But in the above verse, the promise is that the overcomer will rule them with a rod of iron. The saints have been promised that they will judge the world. 1 Cor. 6:2 “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?…” This is also promised in Daniel 7:18, 27. “But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. ….And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” We have already seen the verse in Rev. 20:4 that the saints will judge the nations.
Verse 2:28 “And I will give him the morning star.”
Jesus is the bright and morning star. Rev. 22:16b “…I am the root and the offspring of David and the bright and morning star.” This is a promise of Christ’s eternal presence with His people.
Verse 2:29 “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”
In the previous churches, this warning came before the promise to the overcomer. Now the positioning of it has been changed. It comes at the end. The Lord is making a change to give us a jolt to realize that something has changed from the previous churches to this one. In looking at the other churches, we see that the entire letter was addressed to the entire church. In this church, halfway through the letter, Christ quit addressing the entire church and addressed only the angel and the remnant. The reason for this becomes evident when one examines a little more closely the subject of doctrine. In the first three churches, the church still held to correct doctrine. They may have had people within the church who individually chose to believe in false doctrines (the Nicolaitanes and Balaam followers), but they did not tolerate this to be taught by the church. In Thyatira, they had embraced these false teachings as church doctrine. Therein lies the difference. Christ does warn the entire church that they should not tolerate false doctrine, but the corporate church had already forsaken Christ, and is already condemned to judgment. This explains Him presenting himself as the one with eyes that flame and feet that are like brass, signs of judgment. While in the other churches everyone was available to have an ear to hear and become an overcomer, this is not the case in this church. The promise to overcomers and to him who has an ear to hear comes after Christ stops addressing the corporate church and starts addressing the remnant. Had the order been reversed, it might have been assumed that this promise was to all the church, but the grammatical positioning of the promise indicates that it is not being given to the entire church, but to the remnant. They still are guilty of tolerating Jezebel (although they probably could do nothing about her) and stand in danger of judgment too, if they are not careful, therefore they need to have an ear to hear.
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