Now that we’ve walked through all seven cities and
read their letters, let’s do one last fly over like we did in the beginning. As
we do, you’ll notice how Jesus orchestrated the letters in such a way, to send a
message that could only be seen by us, from our vantage point in HIStory.
Remember, when we discussed this:
Each Letter
Has, Literal, Spiritual and Historical Relevance
1.
Literal: Seven literal churches with a timely
message, in that day.
2.
Spiritual: Timeless message, relevant from that
day to this.
3.
Historical: Each letter represents a time-period
in Church HIStory.
Up to this
point our primary focus was on the literal and Spiritual messages
in the letters. Now, buckle up and hold tight; in one short flight, we’ll reach
speeds to carry us over 2,000 years of HIStory, and heights that’ll allow us to
view all seven Churches at a glance.
Before we
land, you’ll see the beautiful tapestry of all seven letters, woven into a love letter, from Jesus, Faithful and True, to you and me; His not so faithful, or true, Bride.
The first letter was to Ephesus.
It represents the Apostolic age, from 33-100 A.D. From Pentecost to the death
of John, the last apostle. We remember it as, The Loveless Church.
They started off with a bang. The wedding was awesome.
The day of Pentecost, was exciting, tongues of fire danced, the fearful became
bold, a tongue-tied fisherman named Peter, waxed eloquent and gave a speech, his
first sermon, and 3,000 souls were saved that day.
But then, one by one, the wedding party died off. The
glory days were but a memory. They went through the motions, still said they
were married, but they left their first love.
The honeymoon was over.
The second letter was to Smyrna.
It represents the time period between, 100-312 A.D. We remember it as, The Suffering
Church, or, The Persecuted Church.
When the honeymoon is over, arguments begin.
It was a bloody time for the Church. They were mocked
and martyred for sport. Dipped in oil and lit up as a torch.
Loveless relationships wind up that way. Children
reared by rules, without love, result in rebellion. Religious rituals without
love, end in suffering. persecution.
The third letter was to Pergamos.
It represents the time between, 312-606 A.D. We remember this Church as the, The Compromising
Church, or, The State Church.
When the honeymoon is over, arguments begin and fatal
attractions set in.
Things aren’t so great at home, so, we find ourselves flirting
with a serpent, in forbidden spaces, touching forbidden places.
During this time period, the Church compromised with
the world. She left her first love, and then, she lost her innocence.
In 312 A.D. Emperor Constantine had an epiphany that dramatically
changed the relationship between Church and state. Reportedly, he had a vision
of a fiery cross and heard the words, “In this sign, conquer.”
So, he did. Not only did he conquer other nations and
peoples but his own as well. If I’m a Christian, everybody’s a Christian…or
else.
Suddenly, the Church went from the persecuted to the popular.
Just like that the captain of the football team asks you to the prom. The head
cheerleader makes eyes at you. The boss pats your back and hands you a promotion.
We can’t lose that.
So, going out for drinks, jumping in the back seat, shaking
hands with sin, just for a minute, can’t be that bad. You know, just to get my
foot in the door, to make my mark. After all, God wants me happy, healthy and
wealthy. Anything’s better than the non-stop fighting, the suffering, the
persecution.
In 380 A.D. Emperor Theodosius, made Christianity the
state religion.
How awesome, right?
Wrong.
Instead of taking the helm and transforming Rome, they
conformed to it.
They adopted pagan practices of praying for the dead,
worshipping Saints, worshipping Mary. Priests started wearing robes and
clerical collars to separate themselves from the laity. Sound familiar?
The Church lost her identity of innocence, and
developed character traits that Jesus hates. You have there those who hold the
doctrine of Balaam, and of the Nicolaitans, which thing, I hate. Revelation
2:14-15
The fourth letter was to Thyatira.
It represents the time between, 606-1517 A.D. This Church is remembered as The
Corrupt (Idolatrous) Church.
The honeymoon is long gone. Flirtation led to affair.
The child born of adultery, looked a whole lot like daddy: Rome.
They reminded Jesus of the devil worshipping, adulterous,
Jezebel, Revelation
2:20.
In 606 A.D. Emperor Phocas, gave Boniface III, the title
of pope, over the entire Roman Empire.
Thus, the birth of the Roman Catholic Church, and the
love affair with church and state.
The worship of saints and Mary and the priestly garb,
continued, and more.
Unscriptural doctrines developed. Like the doctrine of
kissing the pope’s foot (709 A.D.) If you go there today, you’ll see a statue
of Peter, and the toes on his right foot are kissed, clean off.
The use of holy water began in 850 A.D.
Around 1090 A.D. Peter the Hermit, invented mechanical
praying, with beads, or the Rosary; which Jesus said not to do in Matthew 6:7.
Worst of all, around 1229 A.D. the “church” forbad Bible
reading. Only the priest was allowed to read. Jesus hates this. On the day in
which He died, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom, opening the
door into the Holy of Holies, breaking down the wall of separation between God
and man. No man, (no priest), except The Man, The High Priest, Christ Jesus, is
Mediator, between God and man.
The Beautiful Bride of Christ, started out simply, walking
in the joy of the Lord, breaking bread one with another, from house to house.
But in this era, the time we call the dark-ages, the
Bride, who was once beautiful, glowing with innocence, flowing in white, became
an unrecognizable, power hungry, greed driven, monster.
The fifth letter was to Sardis.
It represents the time between, 1517-1750 A.D. We remember this Church as The
Dead Church.
The honeymoon feels like someone else's memory. There’re
no arguments, because we don’t even talk—what’s the use? The affair happened. We
went for what we wanted. Got it. Thought we were really living. But one look in
the mirror, and it’s easy to see—we’re dead. We’ve reaped the consequence of
our corruption, and the wages of sin, is death.
Our new norm is ex-this, ex-that. Life is lifeless. Numb.
But at least we see it. That’s good. Real Good. God’s
specialty is bringing Life from death.
In a twist of irony, life was breathed back
into the church, on the day of the dead.
October 31, 1517, a smalltown monk named Martin, marched
up to The Castle church in Wittenberg Germany, and nailed a list of protests
against the Catholic church.
Today we remember this protest as Martin Luther’s
Ninety-five Theses; and the birthing of the Protestant Reformation.
Rome ordered him to recant. Luther refused. In 1521, Pope
Leo the 10th excommunicated Luther. Later that year, Roman Emperor Charles
the 5th of Germany, issued the edict of Vermes, which banned
Luther’s writings and declared him a heretic and an enemy of the state. Which gave
permission for anyone to kill him without consequence.
But God wasn’t done. Luther lived another three decades,
was instrumental in translating the Bible from Latin to German and died
peacefully in his bed, at three o’clock in the morning, February 18, 1546.
God still wasn’t done with the ex-catholic monk. His
legacy lived on, breathing life into a dead Church, leading to the wonderful resurrection,
we remember today as the Great Awakening.
The sixth letter was to Philadelphia.
It represents the time period from 1750 to the Rapture. We remember this Church
as The Faithful Church.
After the last letter, to the Church of the dead, you’d
expect to see a big sign that read:
RIP.
THE END.
Or, you may think, Jesus put the letter to Sardis, in
the wrong place; it should’ve been the seventh letter, at the very end.
But He didn’t.
The Divinely Orchestrated order places the faithful remnant,
after the funeral of the masses.
Whoever has ears, hear what the Spirit is saying to
the Church.
Except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3.
The placement of the letter to Philadelphia echoes The
Voice of Him who says, today I set
before you, Life and death; choose Life. Deuteronomy 30:19.
The situation may look and smell like Martha’s brother,
“Lord, by now he stinketh.”
But it wasn’t too late for Lazarus, four days in the tomb. Or Jesus, who was in
there for three. Nor is it too late, for you and me.
There is Life after death. In this life and the next. Yes, even after the lost love. The fight. The affair. The separation. The break up. The divorce. The death. The loss. The abortion. The failure. The accident. The disease. The bankruptcy. The prison sentence. The incident. The sin. The rape. The abuse. The molestation. The…
During this time in HIStory, God opened a door of Great
Awakening, to His Bride. Revivalists thundered throughout the land. Colleges
like Princeton, Brown, Rutgers and Dartmouth, were started for the purpose or
training ministers.
The brave hearts of the Protestant Reformation in the
1700s, gave the colonies courage to stand against religious intolerance, and
thus began the American Revolution, and the birth of our nation.
We can still hear the voice of Billy Graham, thundering
from the last Great Awakening in the 70s and 80’s.
The time is ripe for another. We’re praying for
another. We’re in need of another, great revival.
Lately, the bell has tolled all over the globe; news
reports rang, like global obituaries.
But the remnant remains. The Faithful Church, is awake,
watching, praying, for one more great revival, for the Final Harvest.
To the Church in Philadelphia, Jesus placed an open
door. This Church, represents that Church, to hear the trumpet, and be caught
up (raptured), through heaven’s door. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Come
quickly Lord Jesus.
Are you part of this Church…or the next?
The seventh letter was to Laodicea.
It represents the time period from around 1900 through the Tribulation. We
remember them as, The Lukewarm (or Apostate) church.
This final
letter is the saddest of all. It’s not about the persecution from without, but
their rejection of Jesus, from within.
The Laodicean church and the Philadelphian Church are
the last two standing. There’s an open door in one, and a closed door in the
other.
Philadelphia will be raptured. Laodicea will not.
In the 1900s a soft selling serpent slithered into the
Church. Some listened, and the forked tongue of the devil created a fork in the
road for the Church.
One Church, stayed right on the straight and narrow. Another
church, strayed left and became what we have today in liberal theology.
Laodicea, or more accurately, Lao-deceive-ya, is the church that gets triggered over social issues, but lukewarm toward God’s.
They created the unconstitutional
lie of “separation of church and state.” They listen to those who tickle their ears, saying there is no hell, and promote
those who condone their sin, like Nancy Jezebelosi, who talks about God, while
applauding the slaughter of His little ones. They have seminaries (more like cemeteries)
that teach preachers to get followers, not win souls. They have a form of Godliness, but
deny the power thereof. 2 Timothy 3:5.
They built a door, and slammed it in God’s face.
This is the church that will say, “Lord, Lord, don’t
you remember, all the good things we’ve done? Tolerance? Women’s rights? The climate?
The trees? The whales?
Jesus will say to them, “Depart from
Me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you.” Matthew 7:22-24.
But He won’t say it, until the end. The very end. Even
through the great tribulation, He stands at the door, (the door they built to
reject Him, to shut Him out, to slam in His face), He stands, to the bloody
end, and knocks.
As long as there’s a breath of hope, He’s reaching out
His nail-scarred hand.
Today, if you hear His Voice, harden
not your heart. Hebrews 3:15.
Whoever has ears, hear what the Spirit is saying
to…you.
CQLJ.
Amen.
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