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“Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him…”  This tells us what?  There’s no such thing as a secret rapture.  Every eye will see Him.  And of course this is what people have wanted.  They have wanted Christ to return in many different ways, and many different forms but He’s not going to.  He’s going to come the way that He said.  “…And they also which pierced Him…”  Now this is a prophecy going clear then in what?  Let’s ask the question: who pierced Him?  Well the Roman soldier did.  Is that Roman soldier dead?  Yes.  When will he see Him?  The second resurrection see, so this is even projection clear forward into that.  Who also killed Him?  The Jews did, but who also?  Everybody.  So in a sense everyone who pierced Him, because of their sins, shall see Him.  “…And all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him.”  That is they won’t want Him.  “Even so, Amen” (vs. 7).

“I am Alpha and Omega [which is the first letter of the Greek alphabet and the last letter of the Greek alphabet, Alpha and Omega], the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, which was, and which is to come, the Almighty” (vs. 8).  Now this is how we know that it applies, not to a trinity, but this applies to Christ, the Lord, which is now existing in heaven, which was in flesh on the earth, which is to come in the power and glory of God the Father, the Almighty.  So this sets the stage.  It is not just some, how shall I say?  This is the most profound revelation of the seven that we’ve covered here. 

“I John…”  It’s interesting, we’ll talk a little bit about John here in just a minute.  “I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.  I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day…”  And that means the Day Of The Lord, the day of His return and it doesn’t mean Sunday.  “…And heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last…”  So He’s Alpha and Omega, first and last, the beginning and the ending.  He’s the one totally in charge of God’s plan.  “…And What thou seest, write in a book…” And that’s profound because all the apostles wrote.  They knew what they were doing when they were writing.  They knew that it was going to become scripture.  “…And send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia…” (vs. 9-11). Now why not send it to all the churches?  He did.  But specifically, because if you send it to all the churches and list off how many churches there were then you’d have a long listing of it plus then you would be describing each one, so as we will see, God chose these seven churches, which then fit into the whole pattern and plan that God has, which ties into the time and leading up to Pentecost here.  So then He lists all of them.

Verse 12, “And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me.  And being turned, I was seven golden [lamp stands, as it should read] candlesticks.”  Now what you think of when you think of this, you think of the candelabras, as it were, of seven that was to be in the tabernacle.  But these are lamp stands.  “And [notice] in the midst of the seven [lamp stands]…”, so in the middle.  So it’s kind of like that they are in a circle, and in the middle is Christ, meaning He is always in His Church.  And we will also see that He always knows what is going on.  “…One like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle [or that is His chest].  His head and His hairs were white like wool, and white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire; and His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of many waters.  And He had in His right hand seven stars…”  It’s interesting the seven stars are what, the seven churches.  Right hand is the sign of work, isn’t it?  So Christ uses the seven churches to do His work.  “…And out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength” (vs. 12-16). 

Now let’s look at John concerning this because then John would know that this is Christ.  Let’s go to Matthew 17 because John saw Christ in a glorified form already before Christ has ascended into heaven.  And that is on the mount of transfiguration, as we find here in Matthew 17.  And let’s notice how similar the description here is with what we just read in Revelation 1. 

Matthew 17:1, “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as the sun [same description], and His raiment was white as the light” (Matt. 17:1-2).  Now that’s the only description that we have here, but notice how similar it is.  Similar it is to what John saw back there in Revelation 1.  So he knew that this was the Christ.  Now we’re going to see one other thing concerning this.  Let’s come here to John 21, and that is what was going to happen to John. 

John 21:20, “Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on His breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?  Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?”  What about this man?  You told me about me, what about him?  Still political till the end.  “Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry [or remain] till I come, what is that to you? [You] follow thou Me.  Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?” (John 21:20-23).  And so he did remain to see the return of Christ in vision. 

But you can imagine, the Church as they went along, you know the various apostles were killed but John was still alive.  And you can just imagine since this saying went abroad, they said, “Well it’s going to be true.  John is still alive.”  And you know we heard that to, only it wasn’t John it was HWA.  We heard it, you know, that he won’t die till Christ returns.  Well, it’s been 14 years since he died.  Hasn’t returned.  But in John’s case he wrote about the return of Christ.  So when John is there on the isle of Patmos and he sees this vision, he knows exactly Who it is.  Without a doubt. 

Let’s come back to Revelation 1 and let’s see, there’s a lot in here which sets the stage for everything else that is to happen.  So John understood that it was Christ.  Now let’s come back here to Revelation 1:17.  “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.  And He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto Me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and [I] have the keys of hell and of death [not the Pope].  Write the things which thou hast seen…” (vs. 17-19), which is up to this point.  So there are three things that he’s going to do. 

l.    Write the things which you have seen.

2.     The things which are.  And the things which are have to do with the seven churches.  Those seven churches that existed then.

3.     The things which shall be hereafter.  Which then takes it clear to the completion of God’s plan.

So you have all three things there.  “The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in My right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks.  The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks [or lamp stands] which thou sawest are the seven churches” (vs. 20). 

Now angels, in the Greek is angelos, which can also mean “messenger”.  This is where some people will interpret it and say “to the messenger of the seven churches” because…  And I think it is more probable to the ones who are the leaders of the seven churches, being men, because how can you have an angel doing the things like Thyatira?  You know.  In other words, if it meant just angels who are righteous angels of God, do they become Laodicean?  Do they become nearly dead?  Do they get in and know the depths of Satan?  No.  Do they set up a hierarchy against the brethren?  No.  See, so this has to do with the human leader, the messenger, and it would be whoever that particular person is.  But one note of caution.  No one should go into the Bible to try and find themselves except one place.  All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  Too many people make mistakes… “Oh I’m going to go and see if I’m Elijah, or Elisha, or you know, I’m one of the angels, the messenger to the seven churches.” No, no.  We don’t do that.  What ever is, is.  But all that is just a bunch of self-exaltation.  And we won’t do that so we’ll pick up here in chapter 2 in a bit.

Now let’s come to Revelation 2 and let’s begin in verse 1.  Now let’s understand something about these churches here.  Let’s understand what it’s telling us at the last part of the first chapter of Revelation.  Verse 19.  Write.  Now that’s something all the apostles knew they were to do.  They were to write.  Paul knew it.  Peter knew it.  John knew it.  And Christ commanded them because Christ does not want His Church to be without His word.  Since He is no longer on the earth then He sent His word to be on the earth.  Now it’s very, very important to understand, as I will mention again about the NIV Bible as brought out by this book, “If The Foundation’s Be Destroyed”, and also by Gail Riplinger’s book, “The New Age Bible Versions” how much the Bible has been subverted and corrupted.  So it’s very important that we have the right text. 

So, “Write the things which you have seen, the things which are…”  Now this tells us this is a layout for the whole book of Revelation.  “…The things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.”  So this helps us understand how we can answer the question: were the seven churches there literal churches existing side by side at the same time?  The answer, yes.  And they were on a direct mail route, one following the other.  So this is the mail route beginning at Ephesus.  And Ephesus was where the apostle John ended his ministry.  He was exiled for a time on the isle of Patmos, as we saw earlier in the first chapter.  Ephesus was the great center for the Church of God, and that was where the main text of the Greek New Testament that we have, was preserved right at that area of Asia.  “…And the things which shall be hereafter…”  So this is a continuous prophetic revelation of events to take place until, or unto the setting up of New Jerusalem.  All the way to the end.  So this is very important for us to understand.  So the question is, yes there were seven churches then.  

The next question: does this picture a prophecy of the phases or eras of God’s Church through history.  Answer: yes.  And we will see that also, although I won’t go to it in great detail because I just want to do an overview.

Next question: could this be seven churches existing at the end time just like there were seven churches at the beginning?  Because Christ says, “I am the beginning and the ending.”  So it’s very possible.  And it’s very possible that that could be because we have the example throughout Revelation.  And if you don’t have the series that we’ve done on Revelation be sure and write for it.  Which shows that you have seven, and then out of the seventh one, like with the trumpets, comes…out of the seven seals then the seventh seal is opened and there are seven trumpet plagues.  Then the seventh trump sounds and then after that, out of that comes the seven last plagues.  So you have seven out of which comes seven, out of which comes seven.  So it’s entirely possible that that could be with the churches at the end time, that you could have as God looks at the Church on the earth, which is entirely different than how we view it.  There may be seven categories of those Christians who fit the seven churches.  But never the less, what we are dealing with here, we’re dealing with all the problems that the Church will confront.  So I’ll bring in a little history.  But I’m going to bring out mainly their problems so that we can see today, since we are at the end time, how we need to learn the lessons of the seven churches.

Now it’s also very interesting that Paul wrote epistles to seven churches, one of which was Ephesus.  So we have a connection with Paul and John beginning with Ephesus.  The other connection with Paul and John was Laodicea.  Laodicea, we don’t have the letter that Paul wrote to Laodicea, but we have a reference of it in Colossians 4 where Paul said, “When this epistle is read in Colossi, you send it to Laodicea and have them read it over there and you get their epistle and you read it over here.”  So it’s interesting how all of these then tie together. 

So let’s pick it up here in Revelation 2:1.  “Unto the angel…”   Now angel in the Greek is angelos, and can also mean messenger.  John the Baptist was a messenger, an angelos.  He was not an angel as an angel is an angel.  But when you stop and think about it, when it talks about the angels here, how can an angel lose it’s first love and then have it’s candlestick removed?  So this has to mean to whoever the physical leaders are, as in whoever the messenger is.  “…Of the church of Ephesus write; these things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand…”, and the seven stars are the seven churches.  Now the right hand is symbolic of work, so Christ is showing that He is working through the seven churches.  That’s important to understand because Christ is always the head.  And we are going to see all the problems and difficulties related to the seven churches, whether the seven right there at that time, or the seven down through history, or if there be seven at the end, all relate to Christ doing His work through His Church.  We need to understand that.  Therefore no man is to take upon himself to do a work for God.  God will do the work through whom He chooses.  “…Who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks…”  The seven golden candlesticks being then the seven churches.  The seven stars are the angels or the messengers.  So whoever is doing the teaching and preaching, God is doing a work through them, doing a work through the Church.

Verse 2, “I know thy works…”  First thing we need to learn, there are works.  There has to be.  So let’s just read the whole message down here through verse 7.  “I know thy work, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how you 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: and hast borne, and hast patience, and for My name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted” (vs. 2-4).  So it shows, boy they were really working.  Talks about all the work that they were doing.  “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.”  And we’ll ask the question: what is it to leave your first love?  What constitutes that?  Verse 5 then is a warning.  And of the seven churches five of them are given warnings to repent.  Two of them are not.  The two that are not are Smyrna and Philadelphia.  But all the rest are commanded to repent. 

“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.  But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”  Now we’ll find out what that is when we come to the church at Pergamos.  “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” (vs. 5-7). 

Now let’s begin right here in verse 7.  The message is to the churches.  So what we need to do with everyone of these messages is this, there’s an old saying in English:  “If the shoe fits, wear it.”  So if this describes your condition as a Christian then you better accept the admonition from Christ and repent.  Now not only can He remove the candlestick, being the whole church if He needs to, but He can remove an individual who has the same attitude that way just as well.

Now let’s come back to verse 2 and let’s focus in on two things here.  “I know your works and your labour, and your patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil…”  Means we don’t have to put up with evil within our midst,  We do not.  We don’t have to cow-tow to it.  And as we were discussing last night after doing the video last night, if we have the right structure, and if we have the right preaching perhaps we can keep the infiltration of tares down to a very few.  Because Satan is going to always trying, cause he’s always against the Church.  You cannot bear them that are evil.  And of course evil then has to do with going against the commandments of God, giving license to sin and all that sort of thing.  “…And thou hast tried them [or proved them, or tested them] which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars…” 

Now how do you test?  How do you know concerning false prophets?  Because that’s one of the first things that Jesus said.  Remember in Matthew 7, we’ve gone over it many times.  He says, “Beware of false prophets.”  One of the first things He preached, “Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”  He also told the disciples many times, as it’s recorded in Matthew 24.  First thing He says, “Beware [one of the signs of the end] that no one deceive you for many will come in My name saying I am the Christ and shall deceive many.”  So they were on guard.  Beware means to be on guard.  So they were. 

Let’s look at several of the things here and see where the first encounter of a false prophet takes place, coming back to Acts 8, and this is a key which helps us unlock all of the other false doctrines that come along.  Every one of them.  And we’re going to talk about a certain man called Simon.  Simon Magus.  He’s quite a guy.  He was a religious leader, in Samaria.  Now if you remember the history of the Samaritan temple, which we wrote about in “The Passover Book”, it’s very significant that he was there, and what kind of religion that was being foisted off on the people.

Verse 9 now, “But there was a certain man, called Simon [which is the same as Peter], which beforetime in the same city…”  Now notice what he did.  He used sorcery, which is witchcraft.  So these were the powers of Satan the devil.  “…And bewitched the people of Samaria, [that means deceived them, had control over them], giving out that  [he] himself was some great one.”  Now a “great one” means, as it explains here. “To whom they all gave heed…”  Just like the Pope, right?  And as a matter of fact, the religion that Simon had, as we will see later, was part of what was Gnosticism, which then is Satanism, witchcraft, all of that put together under the guise of good.  “…From the least to the greatest, saying, this man is the great power of God.”  Now that’s quite a title.  That is quite a title. “And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries” (vs. 9-11).

Now what happens when something comes along that looks a little bit better?  You want to join yourself to it.  What if you have the lust for power, because he saw there was another power now of healing and casting out demons that Philip was doing, that he wanted.  Well you go after it.  And that’s what Simon did.  Now if you want a very interesting study, get out McClintock’s and Strong’s Encyclopedia of Religion, and look up Simon Magus.  And in there you will see there is no question whatsoever that he was the Simon that went to Rome.  The apostle Peter never went to Rome.  We have no record of it.  As a matter of fact, he was undoubtedly martyred in Babylon because that’s where he was sent to preach to the circumcision.  He was never an apostle to the Gentiles.  He did, however, write one letter, the epistle of 1 Peter from Babylon to those who were in Asia, and that was apparently after the apostle Paul was martyred.  So here’s the beginning foundation of the false religion, the false apostle, which came to then develop into the Catholic church and this is the whole system that the Churches of God have had to fight down through history.  So let’s go on a little bit more here and read some more about it.

Well, “When they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.  Then Simon himself believed also…”  Now it’s easy to believe.  But notice the difference here.  It is not believe with all your heart.  It is easy to believe from the point of view to accept.  “I accept the fact.  Yes, that will be a great idea.”  “…And when he was baptized…”  Now think of the misplaced zeal of the near fatal mistake of what Philip did.  Now if you would like a comparison of this, it would be like going to Rome and the Pope comes out of the Vatican.  He sees you doing miracles and says, “I believe.  Baptized me.”  Now that’s how serious the problem was.  That’s why this is recorded here in Acts 8.  This is the first encounter with a false prophet who wanted to take the name of Christ and attach it to everything that was pagan.  “…He continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done”(vs. 12-13).  Cause this was greater than he could do with his sorceries.  This was greater than he could do with his demons. 

“Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John.”  Now why send Peter and John?  Cause they had to go down there and make sure that everything was all right.  Let’s see what happened.  “Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy [Spirit] Ghost: (For as yet [it] he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)  Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy [Spirit] Ghost” (vs. 14-17).  So apparently at this particular juncture God inspired Philip somehow to not lay hands on for the receipt of the Holy Spirit, because Simon Magus was baptized.  That’s the only explanation that I can have for it because this is the only occurrence where you find that hands were not laid on, and the apostle Peter and John both of them came down there and did it.  So they must have recognized the seriousness of this problem.

“And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy [Spirit] Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy [Spirit] Ghost” (vs. 18-19).  You see now, there’s no repentance, there’s no understanding of the truth of God.  It’s just a lust after the power, which then he would use if he could receive it, to control people.  Well God’s Spirit doesn’t work that way.  God’s Spirit does not control you.  It leads you. 

Now notice verse 20, “But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee…”  The equivalent today, in English saying, “You go to hell.”  “…Because you thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.”   Let’s understand something very important.  All the gifts of God cannot be purchased.  The Holy Spirit, the gift of righteousness, the gift of faith, the gift of love.  You cannot purchase spiritual things by physical means.  So we learn a lesson here which we have learned: do not merchandise the people of God.  Do not think that money is going to bring you power.  Do not think that power is going to bring you money.  Because if we all don’t serve Christ, and serve Him from the heart then we just missed the whole thing, period.  

Now notice verse 21, that becomes a very important thing to understand.  “Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter…”  Now hold your place here and go back to Acts 1.  This is talking about an apostleship.  Simon Magus wanted to be an apostle, hence then in his religious office was the first major false prophet that they encountered and tested and resisted and rejected.  This is all a part of the beginning Church in the era of Ephesus. 

Now let’s pick it up here in Acts 1:20.  Now they’re talking about the field of blood that was purchased with the 30 pieces of silver that Judas had.  “For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take.  Wherefore of these men which have companioned with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that He was taken up from us, must one [now that means in the Greek it’s obligatory for one to be ordained] be ordained to be a witness with us of His resurrection.  And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Mathias” (Acts. 1:20-23).  Now this was a special thing.  Why?  Because Christ was the One Who ordained the 12 apostles.  So this had to come directly from Christ.  It couldn’t be something that a man would choose or they sit down and they voted about it. 

Notice verse 24.  “And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two Thou hast chosen, that he may take part of this ministry…”  And when we’re talking back here in Acts 8:21, “…you have neither part [that’s talking of the ministry] nor lot in this matter.”  He was showing here clearly, because in order to select an apostle to replace Judas they did what?  They cast lot.  That’s the only instant in which it was done.  “That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.  And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles” (vs. 24-26).  Now there we have it, part or lot, that’s what it means. 

Now then let’s come back here to Acts 8:22.  “Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.  For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity” (vs. 22-23).  Now gall of bitterness then has to do with idolatry and an attitude coming from Satan the devil as well as the bond of iniquity.  Now doesn’t that sound very similar to the mystery of iniquity, which we’ll talk about later when we come to the synagogue of Satan. 

“Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me…”  Isn’t that the same philosophy that Catholicism has to this day?  The priest will pray for you, yes, see.  In other words, he had the attitude that no one could pray directly to God on his own behalf.  He would do so in relationship to others.  He would do the atonement for them in his false religion.  So that was really something.  He says, “…Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me” (vs. 24).  So there may have been some other things that were said which were not included in this summary.  And I imagine it was a fierce denunciation. 

Now we’ll look at one thing here in just a minute concerning the  …{missing words}…  that helps us to understand.  No we’ll do that later when we come to the Nicolaitans.  Let’s come to Acts 13 and let’s see where there is another encounter with a false prophet.  And we are going to see when we get done with this, a lot of these false prophets and apostles were Jews.  Now that’s hard to comprehend, because most people have the idea in mind that Jews all believed in God.  Not so.  So I’m going to make a very startling statement.  Judaism is Gnostic paganism using the days of God and the Bible as cover for their religion.  But it is not of God.  Where did Jesus say that their father was from whence they got their religion?  Acts 8, from Satan the devil.  Same thing as Simon Magus on the pagan side, the Gnostic side, the Gentile side.  Now we’re going to see in Acts 13 that we have a Jew who is also a Gnostic and have the pagan Judaism.  So you’ve got pagan heathenism on one side, pagan Judaism on the other side, So we need to understand what we’re dealing with here.

Now let’s come through here, verse 4, so we can get the story flow.   Let’s go ahead and end this tape here and we’ll pick it up on the next tape.