02 The Things which are.The seven Church Messages revealing the History of the Church on Earth

2. The Things which are.The seven Church Messages revealing the History of the Church on Earth Chapters 2 and 3

These two chapters are extremely rich in prophetic and spiritual truths. “The things which are,” the second division of this book, is now before us. The churches mentioned in the two chapters, and never after, actually existed. They can easily be located geographically and traced historically. We do not attempt this as it has no spiritual value. These messages of course had a deep and significant meaning for the different local assemblies. That there are many spiritual lessons written in these messages, is also true. However, all this must take a secondary place. The primary thing is the prophetic interpretation. The seven churches represent the entire Church on earth, as already stated, and the conditions of these seven churches foreshadow the different periods of the Church on earth from the Apostolic times to the ending days, when the Lord calls His Saints to meet Him in the air. There were many hundreds of churches in existence throughout the countries where the Gospel had been preached. But messages from the Glorified Son of Man were-not sent to all of them. Only seven, and these closely connected in the province of Asia, were selected by the Lord. The Son of Man is the omniscient Lord and as such He knows the end from the beginning. He knew the entire history of the Church from the beginning. He knew the coming persecutions, declensions, revivals, the perversions of His truth, the denials of His Name, the depths of Satan and the final apostasy. In the days of His humiliation that future was not hidden from him, for in the Kingdom parables He revealed the religious conditions of this Christian age (Matthew 13). With the divine knowledge, what this age would bring forth and how it would end, He looked with His all-searching eyes into the conditions of the different churches. He saw in seven of them conditions which were in embryo, the conditions through which the whole church on earth would pass, so that we have in these seven messages, which uncover the state of the different churches, the moral and religious history of Christendom. Our hints on all this must be necessarily brief, but enough will be given to prove the assertion. Hundreds of pages have been written on these two chapters tracing in them the history of the Church.

Chapter 2

1. Ephesus, the Apostolic and Post-Apostolic Period.Revelation 2:1-7. Ephesus means “desired;” the Church is the object of His love, so beautifully stated in the Epistle to the Ephesians. He loved the Church and gave Himself for it; He cleanseth and sanctifieth it and He will present it to Himself a glorious Church (Ephesians 5:25-27). To that Church was communicated the highest revelation, especially the truth concerning the Church, the body and glory of Christ. Ephesus stands therefore for the first period of the Church on earth. The Lord bears witness to its faithfulness. For His Name’s sake they labored and fainted not. What is especially a mark of the Apostolic and post-Apostolic times is the statement “thou hast tried them (tested them) which say they are apostles and hast found them liars.” Compare this with 2 Corinthians 11:13 “for such are false apostles, deceitful (lying) workers.” Men arose who pretended to be apostles even while the apostles were still living and more so after their departure. But the early church did not tolerate these false apostles who appeared in large numbers during the second half of the first century. The deeds of the Nicolaitanes they also hated. What the Nicolaitanes were we shall find later. But the Lord touches the sore spot, the beginning of evil in the words “I have against thee because thou hast left thy first love.” What is the first love? The Apostle Paul in his heart devotion to the Person of Christ, with His burning desire to know Christ and to win Christ, with His wonderful confession “Christ is all in all”—”not I, but Christ,” illustrates the first love. The affection for Christ and devotion to Him, the One altogether lovely, was waning. Outwardly everything may have looked right, but the Lord, who desires the deepest affection of His people, knew that their hearts were departing from Him. This is the starting point of all church and individual failure. Their hearts were growing cold towards Himself. Think it over! The beginning of evil, in doctrine or in life, is heart-departure from Christ, and not giving Christ the pre-eminence. Read also Paul’s prediction concerning Ephesus and what should come after his departure (Acts 20:29-30)

2. Smyrna, the Period of Persecution.Revelation 2:8-11. Smyrna stands for the next period up to about 313 A.D. Smyrna means “myrrh” which was one of the ingredients used for the embalming of the dead. The Lord in addressing this church speaks of Himself as He “who was dead and is alive.” It is the Church in tribulation and persecution. This is clearly marked in the message itself. “Behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days; be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life.” Such a martyr-period is recorded in the history of the Church. The number ten is of special interest, for history informs us that there were just ten great persecutions of Christians by the Roman emperors. It was the work of the devil. Persecution of the Saints of God by pagan Rome, papal Rome or by any other power, is always the devil’s work. But who are those mentioned here and in the message to Philadelphia, who say they are Jews and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan? It is a Judaized Christianity and with it a perverted and obscured Gospel. That evil was present in the apostolic age; it is fully manifested in our own days. They deny the Gospel of Grace and put in its place the Gospel of works and salvation by character in keeping the law. They make much of Sabbath-keeping, ordinances and religious observances and yet with it all they obscure the Cross and deny the Blood. They are the synagogue of Satan, brought together by that cunning being as a religious company. It is the false, the spurious Church as we see it almost universally about us.

3. Pergamos, the Period of Worldly Corruption.Revelation 2:12-17. Pergamos means “a thorough marriage.” Pergamos is described as dwelling where Satan’s throne (not seat) is. And Satan’s throne is not in Hell, but his throne is in the world, this present evil age, whose god he is (2 Corinthians 4:4). This shows prophetically that period when the church gave up her pilgrim character and was thoroughly married to the world. A great change took place. When the devil found that “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church” he stopped his work as the roaring Hon and took on the form of an angel of light. What had led to Israel’s ruin was brought by the enemy into the professing Church, that is an unholy alliance with the world. The instrument used to accomplish this was the Emperor Constantine. The suffering, persecuted Church became joined to the world, wedded to the state; Constantine made the Church a world-institution. This third church-period corresponds to the third parable in Matthew 13 : The little mustard seed became a Big tree, rooted in the field (the world) and the branches filled with birds (representing unconverted people). Church historians have spoken of Constantine’s work as the work of God and a victory of Christianity. It was rather the opposite, the work of the enemy and the defeat of true Christianity. The name of Balaam appears also. When he could not curse Israel, he put the daughters of Midian and Moab amongst the people of God and in the unlawful mixture which followed he succeeded in hurting Israel (Numbers 31:16; Numbers 25:1-18; Jude 1:11). And here the Nicolaitanes are mentioned for the second and last time. The best and perhaps only solution of this mysterious word is to examine its meaning. It is a Greek compound. Nikao means to have the upper hand, to domineer; laos means, the people (our English “laity”). Nicolaitanes signifies the people, the so-called laity. And this domineering class claimed a superior place in the body of Christ and a priesthood which rightly belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. This evil was rejected in Ephesus, but is fully sanctioned and tolerated in Pergamos. Priestly assumption became then, and ever since has been, the corruption of Christianity. This is what our Lord hates and what He hates we must hate with Him.

4. Thyatira, the Period of the Romish Corruption.Revelation 2:18-29. The corruption which set in like a great flood with the fourth century increased till the depths of Satan (Revelation 2:24) were reached. Thyatira brings us into the period of the Papacy and its wickedness, ecclesiastical and otherwise. Here our Lord reveals Himself as “the Son of God.” Rome speaks more of Him as the son of the virgin, the son of Mary, than as the Son of God. The Roman Catholic apostasy has put a woman in the place of the Son of God. Her corruption is fully revealed in verse 20. Jezebel, who called herself a prophetess, was permitted to teach and seduce God’s servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. Jezebel the wicked woman represents the Papacy. Jezebel was a heathenish woman married to an Israelitish King. She was a queen and an idolatress and persecuted the true prophets of God (1 Kings 18-21). Apply all this to the Romish church with her spiritual fornication and idolatry. The church—more strictly speaking the Papacy—assumes the place of tether and -dictator; and Christ is rejected. Jezebel has a double meaning. It means “the chaste one” but also means “a dunghill.” Rome claims to be the Bride of Christ, but in reality is a dunghill of all vileness and corruption. In Revelation 2:21 is another significant statement “she repents not” (repented is incorrect). Rome does not change. She is the same to-day as she was 500 years ago. She exists to-day and will continue in her impenitent state till the predicted doom will overtake her (Revelation 2:22; Revelation 17-18). In the fourth kingdom parable (Matthew 13) corresponding to this fourth church-period, our Lord speaks of a woman, who took leaven (corruption) and put it into the fine, pure, three measures of meal (symbolical of the doctrine of Christ). The woman in the parable of the leaven is Rome, the Jezebel in the message to Thyatira.

Chapter 3.

5. Sardis, the Period of the Reformation and Protestantism.Revelation 3:1-6. We have traced briefly the decline during the 1450-1500 years of Church history. The climax is reached in Thyatira, prophetically the Roman abomination and apostasy. In Sardis we see the progress of evil stayed. Roman Catholicism, as already mentioned, is a fixed and unchanging religious system. Rome will yet have for a brief season a startling revival and get back her place as the mistress of the nations. But in Sardis we see a reaction. Sardis means “those escaping.” It is the reformation period, the movement which produced Protestantism. The reformation itself was of God and the great men who were used were the most mighty instruments of the Holy Spirit. It was the greatest work, up to that time, since the days of the apostles. But out of it came the human systems which go by the name of Protestantism. The reformation began well, but soon developed in the different Protestant systems into a dead, lifeless thing. They have a name to live but are dead. This is the verdict of our Lord upon the churches which sprung out of the reformation: “Thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead.”

6. Philadelphia, the Faithful Remnant.Revelation 3:7-13. Philadelphia means “brotherly love.” As Sardis came out of Thyatira, a protest against it, so Philadelphia comes out of Sardis and is a protest against the dead, lifeless, Spiritless condition prevailing in Protestantism. Out of the deadness of the state churches over and over again came forth companies of believers, energized by the Holy Spirit. Philadelphia has been variously applied to Methodism, the evangelical movements, missionary efforts and to the revivals of the nineteenth century. But it is more than that. It is a complete return to the first principles. The message makes this clear. It one message (besides Smyrna) in which the Lord does not say “I have against thee;” it is that which pleases Him and which He commends. It is a revival and turning back to the first love. The Lord Jesus Christ is once more as the all absorbing object before the heart; Philadelphia repudiates all that dishonors Him and owns alone that worthy, ineffable Name. It is a faithful remnant gathering around His Name as there was a faithful remnant in the closing days of the Old Testament (Malachi 3:16-17). All human pretensions are rejected. The truth of the unity of all believers is owned and manifested in brotherly love towards all the Saints. They walk in the path of separation, in self-judgment, in lowliness of mind; they have a little strength, which means weakness; they are a feeble few. Twice the Lord speaks of obedience to His Word. “Thou hast kept my Word”—“Thou hast kept the Word of my patience.” And the Philadelphian does not deny His Name. These are the two chief characteristics of this phase of Christianity during the closing days of the professing Church on earth: Obedience to His Word and faithfulness and devotion to His Name. The Word and the Name are denied in the last days. The apostasy of Christendom consists in the rejection of the written Word and the living Word. And turning their tacks upon a dead profession, going on in confessed weakness are such paralyzed in their service? Far from it! The Lord f promises to open the door for service which no man \ can shut. Every child of God may test this. True and continued service is the result of true and continued faithfulness to the Lord. Especially is this service to be blessed to those who hold to a perverted Judaized Gospel (Revelation 3:9). And there is the great promise for them, which they believe and hope for, the coming of Himself to keep them out of the great tribulation (Revelation 3:10). In Philadelphia there is a revival of prophetic truth, an earnest waiting for the coming of the Lord. Philadelphia is not a defined church-period but rather a description of a loyal remnant called out by the Spirit of God and bearing the final testimony to the whole counsel of God by word and deed. If the reader desires to please the Lord then study the details of the message to Philadelphia and walk accordingly.

7. Laodicea, the Indifferent and Apostate Church.Revelation 3:14-22. Laodicea means “The judging or rights of the People.” It is the opposite from Nicolaitanism. The domineerers of the people still go on in Rome, but in Protestantism the people (the laity) arise and claim their rights and do the judging. This condition was also foreseen by the Apostle Paul. “For the time will come when they (the laity) will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears” (2 Timothy 4:3). We see in Laodicea the final religious and apostate conditions of protestant Christendom and the complete rejection of the professing body. “I will spue thee out of my mouth.” He Himself is seen standing outside, which shows that He is rejected. But infinite Grace! He knocks and is still willing to come in and bestow the riches of His Grace. And the Philadelphian-Christian, who is separated from the Laodicean state, whose heart is filled with the Love of Christ can learn a lesson here. If our Lord stands outside and yet knocks and waits in patience, we too with Him outside of the camp where He is disowned, can try to gain admittance to Laodicean hearts. Epaphras did this (Colossians 4:12-13). Laodicea consists in a proudly boasting spirit with total indifference to the Lord Jesus Christ and to His Name. It is religiousness without any truth nor the power of the Holy Spirit. Lukewarmness expresses it all. “Lukewarmness, a perfect jumble of sacred and worldly matters. The word does not point chiefly to half-heartedness. But as lukewarmness is produced by pouring of hot and cold water together into the same vessel, so in the Laodicean state, intense worldliness will be varnished over by plausible and humanitarian and religious pretences.” Great reformation movements for the advancement of religion and the betterment of the world, and rejection of the Gospel as the power of God unto salvation, are characteristic features of this final phase of Christendom. It will continue and wax worse and worse till His patience is exhausted. Then the true church will be caught up with the departed Saints to meet Him in the air, and Laodicea will be spued out of His mouth. It is important to notice that Thyatira (Rome), Sardis (Protestantism) and the two phases of Protestantism represented by Philadelphia and Laodicea co-exist. They go on together. This is seen by the fact that in each our Lord speaks of His second coming (Revelation 2:25; Revelation 3:3; Revelation 4:10-11; Revelation 16). The Lord takes His own to Himself. Rome and an apostate Protestant Christendom continue on earth during the period of judgment, preceding the visible coming of the Lord.