http://www.americanwisdomseries.comPresents the Tell
it like it is! series
of studies:
REVELATION
OF SAINT JOHN THE DIVINE BY JESUS CHRIST
Chapter 2 begins after the line of red stars ************* below.
"You're going to be gone anyway at that time".
They also say;
"It's not
to be understood yet".
This is odd because the
very word
"Revelation"
means to
"to reveal"
or "unveil" something.
When you unveil anything,
you make it known.
The book of Revelation is a sister book to the book of Daniel in the Old Testament.
Both of these books were written to the people who live in the final generation, of the "latter days".
Daniel was told to, "shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end:" [Daniel 12:4].
He was told by God; "Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand: but the wise shall understand." [Daniel 12:10]
The wise are those who study God's word, line upon line, chapter upon chapter, and all these words are wisdom from God.
This is why the wise should understand.
As we study Revelation, let us take a fresh look at the book, and allow God's Word to speak through us. Let's permit the Holy Spirit to allow His words to speak to our hearts which is our minds with understanding.
This chapter covers a time period that most people living on the face of the earth today will live through, and the wise Christian should understand these teachings.
So, be very cautious of any group that would tell you not to study, or to throw away part of God's word. Those are words Satan would use.
Caution to students of God;s Word - Please remember two things when using our American Wisdom Series studies:Revelation 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.
John 15:26
But when the
Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth,
which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
John
16:13-14
[13] Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he
will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of
himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will
shew you things to come. [14] He shall glorify me: for
he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
This
Bible Study was originally written by Roger Christopherson,
published
at http://www.theseason.org/
Without the leading by the Holy Spirit, there is no understanding of the truths, for all the truth of the Scriptures are revealed to us by God's Spirit.
***********************************************************************************
Now here is our revised study from: Christopherson's Revelation chapter 2
"Revelation to the Seven Churches."This was pointed out in the first chapter.
The churches John saw, the "seven candlesticks", were right here on earth on the "Day of the Lord".
On that "Day of the Lord" the entire tribulation is over, finished, and the churches [candlesticks] are still on the earth.
My fellow Christian, if your looking for a "Rapture", for someone to fly you out of here before Satan comes to earth in his role as the antichrist, the false-christ, the spurious messiah, as many churches teach; it means you will have already worshiped Satan, as the spurious messiah at the time described in John's vision.
It means that you have already taken Satan's name, and that you have also taken his number; it means you have been deceived.
This is why it is important that you should study all of God's Word, and not listen to the traditions of men that go against the Word of God, even if that is what is taught in your church.
It will save you a great deal of embarrassment when you stand before your Heavenly Father on "The Day of the Lord". Don't be ignorant of God's Word.
Not
to mention that you will have missed out on the
"First
Resurrection to Eternal Life"
And now let's hear what Jesus has to say to the first church:
Revelation 2:1 "Unto the angel of the church of Eph'-e-sus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;"
This letter is written to the church of Ephesus. Here, the promises of blessings are not given to the church itself; but only to those few overcomers that are within it. These stars are the angels over each of these churches, and the "golden candlesticks" are the seven churches. This was established in the first chapter.
Jesus told John to write to the church at Ephesus first. The message is to Christians in all churches of these end times, and now especially to those who have doctrines and works that match that of the Ephesus Church.
Revelation 2:2 "I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars [false]."
Christ continues speaking to the Church of Ephesus, and all churches with like doctrine and works. Jesus recognizes the good traits of this church and it's people, including the fact that this church even tests their members according to their fruits of their works and words. This church even has pinpointed the liars, or hypocrites that live and worship amongst them.
Revelation 2:3 "And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted."
This sounds like a pretty good church. They are trying; they have patience, they can't stand evil around them, and they are strong of the Lord.
Revelation 2:4 "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love."
Now what is the "first love"? If you love and are a follower of Almighty God, that isn't too difficult to understand. The first covenant is God, and Christ is "the living Word". There are many who have left Christ, and have gone to forms of godliness, but in doing so, they deny the power thereof [of God].
Remember, these are the seven types of Churches in the world that exist on "the Day of the Lord", or the Lord's day. That day is the day the seventh trumpet will sound, and our Lord Jesus Christ returns.
Does your church preach and believe in the "Virgin birth of Christ"? How about the death, and resurrection, and the ascension into heaven of Jesus Christ? Does your church believe that the only way to the Heavenly Father is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ? How about all those stories and parables in the Bible; how is your church teaching them? This is what tells you if your church has left it's first love.
To deny Jesus' virgin birth, His death and resurrection, and ascension into heaven, is to deny that Jesus Christ is our Savior. Many ministers today simply do not believe that the Bible is anything but a storybook. Their sermons are about everything sweet and lovely, but not of God's love and justice. Many of these pastors are locked into the traditions of their denominations that they learned in their seminary, and to sway from that could mean loss of job, and more important to many of these preachers, their pensions or livelihood. But for whatever their reason, the truths of God's holy Word has taken the back seat to their systems traditions.
Revelation 2:5 "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."
There are many churches that never study from the Old Testament. They leave their members in total ignorance and open to the deceptions that are coming upon us, that are increasing by the day. Jesus is warning this Church of Ephesus to repent, and get back into all of God's Word. Christ is the center of the entire Word of God, and He is the first love of all your study.
God is threatening that if you do not get back to your first love, He will tare your church up. If that candlestick represents your church it will be gone. What again was this church doing that was so wrong? They strayed from Christ and His teachings, and in their believing in the Word of God. The focus of their worship was not Christ, but on worldly matters. If you have strayed, repent and get back on track.
Revelation 2:6 "But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nic-o-la-i'-tanes, which I also hate."
There are no written records of the Nicolaitanes, however this type are appearing in churches now, at the end of this earth age. They are hateful and disruptive people towards God. In the Strong's Concordance, their number is #3531, "Kebarah", and here we are referred to #3527. When we go there we see these people are called, "Kabar; to accumulate in large number, an abundance; to multiply." The church at Pergamos also practiced this.
The Dixon Bible Dictionary said of the "Nicolaitanes", "They had become established in the Churches of Ephesus and Pergamos; and taught that it was the right and liberty of Christians to eat meat offered to idols, and indulge in other forms of heathenism."
In modern day churches, most are taking in heathen forms of religious practices in their worship, and accepting heathen traditions as being from God. Doctrine and deeds which are contrary to God's Word are allowed and even promoted. This should cause you to draw attention to Romans 11:7, where Paul said, "Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded."
This is speaking to the time of our generation, and that obtainable thing that is the wisdom and knowledge within all of God's Word. Included are all prophecies, and the understanding that the spurious messiah comes first. This one world system spreading now over the earth will drag all religious orders to it, including Christian churches. The Nicolaitanes will try to convience the churches of the type of Ephesus and Pergamos to join them. And they will accept the heathen customs and traditions that fit into this godless "one world system", that has already been formed.
Revelation 2:7 "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God."
The "Tree of Life" is Jesus Christ, and if you are an overcomer against these godless practices and doctrines, you will partake in Christ's Millennium Kingdom. This is discussed fully in chapter twenty two. You will either be in this "paradise of God" as an overcomer, or after judgment you will be sent to the lake of fire. Your church system might be leading you there.
American Wisdom Series Editor's Note: We are going to stop here in this "Revelation of Jesus Christ" study to review some commentary from verses 1 through 7 in an earlier study we published on the "Revelation of Jesus Christ." I don't believe you will find much difference in the general opinion of these 2 authors, but to read another person's perspective of events that did and will take place may prove helpful in our understanding of Jesus' revelation. Also, our introduction #9300 was taken from this earlier study so keep your eyes open for study tips and rules to help simplify your grasp of Jesus' end time revelation.
Our Lord speaks:
Make no mistake about it. The message to the church of Ephesus is directly from Jesus Christ. The "picture" is refreshed in our minds and we now understand the symbology.Rev. 2:1
Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
Jesus Christ knows all of our works and our labours and our patience (of the lack thereof) .[2] I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
These good folks obviously have some degree of common sense. They can spot a "phony" preacher on the street corner or on TV, and after listening awhile (trying them) they find them to be liars, con artists! We need more people to be able to do that, i.e. to try these phonies and realize they are liars, and that they are not sent from God.
They are steadfast in their labors. They are faithful churchgoers and tithers and never grow weary.[3] And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
This is not good! Whenever one has Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, against them they have a big problem. This is not to be taken lightly.[4] Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
What is a Christian's first love? It is Jesus Christ, the Savior, the living Word of God. How is it then that they leave Him? By becoming involved in "church" and following the teachings of the church, the traditions of men, that make void the Word of God, which is Christ. They are wasting their time. Christ said so Himself!
However, Jesus provides the solution to the problem:Mark 7:7
Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
They better leave "Churchianity", i.e. quit playing church, and start studying and following the will of God, else HE will come quickly and remove their candlestick, by declaring it a non-Christian church, a Beth-Aven, which is Hebrew for "House of Vanity".Rev. 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
Some people have a real hard time understanding how there will be Christians that do all these wonderful works and yet don't make it into the kingdom of heaven! Jesus addressed this issue.
Well meaning people can be running around calling themselves Christians, saying "Praise the Lord this" and, "Praise the Lord that" and still not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Again, one must do the will of our Father.Matthew 7:21-23
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.
What exactly is His will? His "will" is His "testament", both the Old and the New. If one doesn't do His will they are simply "kidding" themselves by calling themselves Christian! James 1:22 reads: "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves."
So Jesus says, when talking about the same time period where John is now, i.e. the day of the Lord:
Look at all the wonderful things this church has done. They have prophesied in the name of Christ, cast out demons, sent missionaries to various parts of the world, raised money at benefits or by playing Bingo to buy food for the homeless, etc, etc.Matthew 7:22 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?
Though they profess Christ, too often well meaning Christians turn their will and their lives over to the care of their "church", and their church actually becomes their "means to salvation". This is especially true when their church thinks that only they are God's "elect", a term they interpret wrongly to mean "elite". Then just "belonging" to this church gets them into the kingdom. Here's what Jesus will say to them:
Christ never knew them because they never knew Him. If one doesn't know the Written Word of God then one doesn't know the Living Word of God, for they are one.[23] And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Christ now continues to give His message to the church of Ephesus.
At least they also hate licentiousness and lustful, perverted practices (which would not make them politically correct). Although there is not much history on the Nicolaitanes, Smith's Bible dictionary gives us a brief outline of this sect of heretics whose doctrines originated with Balaam. They worshipped idols, did not believe in creation, and held their women in common.Rev 2:6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.
It is amazing how many church goers today do not believe in creation, but believe evolution took place in one form or another.
Jesus Christ has one more thing to say to all of us, not just to the church of Ephesus:
"He that hath an ear, let him hear" are words used exclusively by Jesus Christ on seven separate occasions, to emphasize and call attention to the utterance He has just made. For only through Him can one obtain true understanding, and in this case, to understand what the Spirit is saying unto the churches, it requires "ears to hear". If you don't have them, ask Him. He has a pair waiting for you.[7] He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
We will learn more about the tree of life in the final chapter (22) of Revelation.
What can we conclude about the church of Ephesus. Well, they appear to pretty "main stream" Christians, good hearted, well meaning church goers, who are definitely against sinful, lustful practices. The problem is that they are Biblically illiterate, they have left their first love, and so they don't have the seal of God, His Word, in their foreheads. Consequently, they will worship Satan when he appears first as the spurious messiah, i.e. they will believe that he is Jesus Christ Himself. That is not an opinion, for we will document this in the remaining chapters of the Book of Revelation beyond a shadow of doubt.
The truly sad part is, that when one worships Satan, even through ignorance, guess what? They can kiss their candlestick good-bye! Did you "hear" that?
Next in #9302b we will see one of only two churches that Christ has nothing against. Hey, that's one to pay close attention to and become a part of what they teach.
Published by:
Rhine
Publishing Co.
E-mail address - americanwisdomseries@verizon.net