Join us for a journey through Revelation’s Seven Churches, and discover how these prophecies have been fulfilled through the ages.

<p>Join us for a journey through Revelation’s Seven Churches, and discover how these prophecies have been fulfilled through the ages.</p>

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Empower Missions

Christian Hjortland

Revelation’s Seven Churches- Part 2

Okay, so we have the Church of Featheria.

It means, some say it means sacrifice of contrition.

In other words, the sacrifice of being contrite.

They had a chief deity of this city called Apollo, the sun god.

And they had some industries here, they were dyeing fabric, and in particular they used the colors purple and crimson.

Interesting colors relating to the time and colors that Antichrist is using, having in the church.

This is 1 of the longest letters to the churches and as we know this time about 538 to 1517, so from the rise of the Catholic church to the Reformation.

We know the tradition you know of standing about the Bible and we have all these things that Martin Luther was protesting against.

So a lot you know now it was really a dark time of the church and of the history, the dark ages.

And so the fact that we have the, I mean, of course we have the doctrine that they hold, that they are saved by not only the faith in Christ, but you need to do these works and you can work your way to salvation.

So the fact that the Reformation came was really necessary to give light again in the world and to come with this important doctrine of righteousness by faith and to get these things right.

Let's see here, so I'll start reading from verse 18 here.

And to the angel of the church in Theathera writes, this thing says the son of God who has eyes like a flame of fire and his feet like fine brass.

We think that is significant that he says son of God here.

Did they use Christ as their only mediator?

No, people were taught that they had to go through a priest so it's not a coincidence that it says son of God here which is or truly the son of God and our mediator, our only mediator, not the Pope, not the priests.

So verse 19 says, "'I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience "'and As for your works, the last are more than the first.

We have groups like the Wolven Seas, they were fleeing at this time, hiding in caves.

They were copying the Bible by hand and they did mission work in the villages and then they went back again to hide in the mountains and copying these things by night and they were selling some some things while they took to get some some money while they did missionary work So they were the first in Europe, 1 of the first in Europe to get the Bible in their language.

And these were really faithful through persecution.

Now in verse 20 we're introduced to a certain woman.

It says, nevertheless I have a few things against you because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce my servants to committing sexual immorality and each thing sacrifice to idols.

She was married to an apostate king, Ahab, and she was pushing for idol worship and she killed God's prophet and persecuted God's prophets but even through this time in history, the great push of Jezebel, God still had his faithful ones, but they had to hide from the face of Jezebel.

And God had his remnant and she had time to repent, but she didn't.

And Jezebel represents people of Rome, obviously.

This is a woman, like an impure woman, you know that woman represents a church and this was, this is obviously a fallen church representing here and we know what happened during this time and how the Roman Church played a central role.

But in a sense we could also say that it represents Babylon more as a whole, the other fallen churches as well.

We had, as mentioned, Christianity blended with paganism and a lot of rituals and all these things that came in, the forums and the works of the Catholic Church.

And the Roman Catholic Church was a daughter, if you will, to pagan Rome came out of pagan Rome and and they're also acting like I mean like prophets speaking against the Bible and they they cause great persecution with those that didn't accept their ideas and accepted their authority and control.

And Eloantes says in Review and Herald, May 26, 1891, Elijah was not to be found, and neither June nor rain fell upon the land of Israel for 3 years and a half.

This was during you know Jezebel when people were hiding for 3 and a half years.

He fled from Jezebel, it says in education page 151.

And you know was God's people in the wilderness at this time in history?

They were there for 3 and a half prophetic years.

So you see the picture here, and when the Bible points back to Jezebel, we see, aha, we need to study, okay, what happened here.

We had this woman that was persecuting God's people and also some interesting things that she did.

She wrote a letter in the name of the king.

And with this letter she intended to kill 1, this guy named Naboth, for refusing giving up his property to the king.

And in 1 Kings 21 verse 10, It says, and set 2 men, sons of Belial, before him to bear witness against him, saying, thou didst blaspheme God and the king, and then carry him out and stone him that he may die.

So you see church and state here, in a sense, in this setting here, mixed and it can be a punishment if you don't follow, if you don't do in this way, we're gonna punish you, we're gonna stone this guy.

Back to Revelation again, verse 22 Says indeed I will cast into her into sickbed, that is Jezebel And those who commit adultery with her into great jubilation Unless they repent of their deeds I will kill her children with death and with the churches shall, and all the churches shall know that I am he who searches the minds and the hearts and I will give to each 1 of you according to your works." So, the fact that Jezebel was supposed to be cast into bed is like signifying that she was sick, she had problems and needed to be put in bed.

And God still has his faithful people inside the church and outside the church during this time.

Like Martin Luther for instance, I mean he was a priest, priest and professor.

He was in the whole system and then said wait a minute something is completely wrong here.

So in some translations, I think it says kidneys, doesn't it?

Now we're right from the New King James here.

Well, it says reins, basically kidneys in verse 23 which was thought to have to do with feelings, then we have the heart which is we have to do with the mind and the intellect, and these 2 make up the character.

God is the 1 who is looking, you know, looking at our characters, looking at what is inside our mind and what is here, and yeah, we're all judged for our works which is revealing our character so this is what Jesus is doing in the judgments looking to our hearts or minds in verse 24 and 25 it says but unto you I say and unto the rest in theatera 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 You have already hold fast till I come So there were still some faithful here and You know the teachings of Jezebel in this sense we can we can say I mean spiritually the church committed adultery and people in the church spiritually speaking but God still had his faithful people and this is how the Reformation then started during this time.

And then, well, like we're a whole fast to what you have until I come, that's what Jesus wears, and then it comes to the promises.

And then we are in the fifth church in Sardis, and this is the time of Reformation, maybe this time period is focusing a little bit more toward 1600s 1700s there, because yeah we will discover that, because it's not a lot of it's not a lot of positive things that the name means that which remains or the escape of the remnant okay so chapter 3 now verse 1 And to the angel of the church in Sardis, write, This thing says he who has the 7 spirits of God and the 7 stars, I know your works, that you have a name, that you are alive, but you are dead.

So, the 7 spirits of God what is this A77 spirits of God is it What is this, the 7 spiritual of God?

You mentioned it, I think, some days ago.

So, yeah, we don't believe in 7 spirits, but we believe in the Holy Spirit as the third person of the Godhead and in every church at the end of each church we see the Spirit saying to the churches, you know, He gives them counsel to him that overcometh the Spirit.

So we need to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit is what I believe it means.

And then, obviously, as we have seen, number 7 is a symbol, right?

Yeah, I believe it's, we're gonna touch on this again tomorrow, and it's in chapter 4, I think, as you said.

Okay, but then it says here that you have a name that you're alive but you're dead.

You think about this time period, what do you think this means?

You have a name that you're alive but you're dead.

What were these, this group that came out of the Catholic Church, what are the name of all of these which we are also under?

You have a name that you rely on, Protestantism.

But they were, what happened, I mean, okay, the Reformation, it was light again in the world.

But then what happened quite soon again with the churches that call themselves Protestant Church.

Yeah, they went back again more to the teachings of the Roman Church, of the Catholic Church.

Even starting to accept the, you know, as a counterattack of the Reformation, the Catholic Church came up with futurism.

And, you know, I think it was, I believe it was a Jesuit that came up with this.

And then also pre-trism, then both comes from them.

Sending this to just confuse people, and with these methods of interpreting prophecy, you cannot identify them as the Antichrist.

So again, slowly the church would go back to the mother church, that's why it says, you have a name that you're alive, but you're dead Well, By the way, let me say on the 7 spirits of God again, we're going to touch on it tomorrow, in verse 5 in Revelation 4, it says, you see the 7 spirits are portrayed as the 7 lamps of fire.

So you see that, I mean, because we know that the oil represents in the spirit.

So if you connect it with the candlestick, it makes sense, right?

So you see that this is a message more focusing on the latter part of this time period.

Verse 2 and 3, could someone read verse 2 and 3 for us?

Okay, there were some things that had been remaining, right?

And still is remaining in the Protestant Church, even though right now, as you heard Reid mention some things, what is going on, you know, already some things going on in the Protestant world.

Some things are remaining but it's getting less and less and less but at this time more things are remaining than now.

So that's why it says strengthen the things which remain and it says remember therefore how you have received and heard and hold fast and repent.

There was still hope, but they, I mean, they had problems.

In verse 4, it says, you have a few names in Sardis, even in Sardis, who have not defiled their garments and they shall walk with me in white for they are worthy." So it's showing you know the moral defilement during this time of church history but there are still some as I said that were faithful but as we see in Revelation 7, it says that it's those that have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

You see in the Bible, I'm talking about name.

We have Jesus, he's called the second Adam.

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Revelation’s Seven Churches- Part 2

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