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Now let me clarify something here.  Let’s come to Revelation 14:4.  “These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins.”  Now that means from the time of baptism.  See, that has to mean from the time of baptism.  Now hold your place here and let’s go to 2 Corinthians 11 and let’s see that.  Verse 1, Paul writes, “Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me.  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus…” Now that’s when after you have been baptized and you believe in a different form of Christ, then you are not really believing in the true Christ.  So these were the false apostles coming and teaching false doctrines.  And so in believing these false doctrines and following these false doctrines then those who were once virgins lose their virginity spiritually.  But they can repent and still be in the kingdom of God. 

Ok, let’s go back here to Revelation again.  The question was asked: is the 144,000 a literal number or a symbolic number?  Well if you have a symbolic number then what does that mean as a literal number because we have 144,000 literally of the children of Israel, those who were sealed.  And then we have the great innumerable multitude, which then no one can number, so how could you say there could be a symbolic number with the great innumerable multitude because there’s no number.  So I would be more inclined to think that the 144,000 is perhaps a literal number.  Now how is God going to choose that?  Well, He alone knows.  Will there be other virgins who were just slovenly, who are still going to be in the kingdom of God.  Yes we had the parable of the 10 virgins.  But the door to the wedding to be part of the bride was closed.  But it doesn’t say they were excluded from the kingdom of God, they just couldn’t be part of the bride. 

Now let’s clarify something else.  During the break it was brought up that there were these classes of the firstfruits.  Christ the first of the firstfruits.  Then the seven church harvest represented by the seven churches, Revelation 2 and 3.  That’s a second category.  They are firstfruits.  The third category is the 144,000 of Israel.  The fourth category is the great innumerable multitude.  And the fifth category would be the 144,000 of Revelation 14.  So you have five categories all together, and five is the number of grace.  So there may be something to that, but that helps substantiate what we covered in 1 Corinthians 15, Christ the firstfruits, and after that those that are His at His coming, but every man in his own order.  So how Christ is going to order that out we don’t know.

Now let’s look at Revelation 2 and 3 and we will see that out of the seven churches…   Now as I mentioned in the “Seven Church Harvest”, these seven churches represent:

#1  The seven churches that were then.

#2  The projection of the history of the Church down through history.

#3  Represents the attitudes of Christians at anytime during any period.

And some of us can identify with several of the churches with our various attitudes as we have gone through our Christian life.  So it’s awfully hard to say exactly where each person belongs.  And in that sense it is good from the point of view that God is the One Who is going to make the decision, and salvation is by faith.  Salvation is not knowing which category you are in.  Salvation is by faith.  And I think we can trust God to know what He’s doing, and we can trust God that to be in the first resurrection in any category is a blessing.  Because it says in Revelation 19, “Blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”  So it’s all a blessing.  But what it does do, it shatters some of our carnal approaches to who we may think we are.  [Laughter]  Lest we pull a Job and tell God who we are and God tells us we’re not who we say we are.  But you are who I say you are.  See. 

Now let’s look at the seven churches here.  First one is Ephesus.  Now they’re commended for their works.  They have good works, they have patience, they labor.  You can’t stand them which are evil.  I’m just sort of summarizing here.  And you’ve tried them which say they are apostles and are not and have found them liars.  Now some people get mad when you do that.  Well we still do that today, don’t we?  Yes.  And someone said, “Well take me off your mailing list because of what you say about Herbert Armstrong and that if anyone doesn’t agree with you well then you’ll have nothing to do with them.”  No that’s not the case brethren. 

I wish there were 10,000 faithful ministers.  Just think what could be done.  I have tried working with other ministers, to get beat up, knocked down, mailing list stolen, and the whole works.  Now I’d be happy to work with any minister.  But I’ll tell you one thing I will not do.  I will not compromise or play politics to please anybody, because if we do not please Christ then it doesn’t matter who else you please.  All bets are off.  Paul said, “If I should please men I should not yet please God.”  And he wouldn’t even give one minute to any man to come against what Christ had revealed to him.  And he should not.  And so likewise I’ll just take the same attitude that Paul had.  You know.  Be glad to work with any man but don’t come and steal from us.  Don’t come and take brethren.  Don’t come and have your own personal thing.  I don’t set myself up as some big thing.  I just want to teach the word of God and serve and love the brethren.  I don’t want people to look up to me as some big mucky-muck because I’m not.  But in handling the word of God I won’t countenance one minute people twisting and turning the word of God. 

Now what we’re doing here for the Bible Study tonight, we’re trying to understand some difficult to understand scriptures, wouldn’t you say?  Yes.  Maybe not everything we have here is exactly correct yet.  But what we’re doing, we’re thinking it through, comparing the scriptures, looking at the scriptures to try and have it so we can understand the word of God even more.  And there is nothing wrong with that at all.  And that’s something that we should do.  If we find ourselves wrong in anything we’ll change.  We’ll change.  If someone finds something that I’m doing wrong that I shouldn’t do, or say something I shouldn’t say let me know, and I’ll correct it.  No problem with that.  But I don’t want the brethren to be beat up, and I don’t want to be beat up.  And I’ve been beaten up enough.  I fought the hierarchy within Worldwide from 1972 on and it was really a tough situation.  And I’ve seen what they did to each other and to the brethren.  And that should never be.  And yet we called ourselves the church of brotherly love, right?  Everyone wants to be a Philadelphian, we’ll look at that one in just a minute, but it’s very obvious that not everyone can be. 

Now those at Ephesus, he says here in verse 4.  “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.”  Now what is losing your first love?  That’s not just being excited and knowing the truth when you first come to it.  The first love is loving God with all your heart, and mind, and soul, and being.  That’s what they lost.  Now how could they lose it?  Could it be from negligence?  Could it be letting in some idolatry?  I don’t know but they lost it.  So He says, “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen…”  So He considers this a great sin.  “…And repent, and do the first  works…”(Rev.2:4-5).  So we can conclude from what we have here that those who did this and lost their first love probably have defiled their garments.  Probably have lost their spiritual virginity from baptism, but then if they repent and do the first works they can be restored.  Now the question is will they be part of the bride of Christ?  That is God’s judgment.  But if we look at it from Revelation 14 we can say that these have defiled themselves with women. 

Now then we come down here to the church of Smyrna.  Now this one there is no correction at all, no calling to repentance.  He says, verse 9, “I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.  Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: 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” (vs. 9-10).  No correction.  They didn’t submit to any of the false things that came along.  Whether it was persecution by the Jews.  Whether it was persecution by the pagans.  Whether it was inquisition of the Roman Catholic Church.  They didn’t give in to any of it so they kept their spiritual virginity. 

Now Pergamos really got themselves in trouble.  Pergamos and Thyatira, wow.  It’s self-explanatory here.  They had the doctrine of Balaam, which I will talk about here in the very near future.  They also had the doctrine of Nicolaitans.  They ate things sacrificed unto idols.  So He says verse 16, “Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth”  So here Christ has to fight against His own Church here.  But notice Pergamos is right where Satan’s capitol is.  And when you are so close to the things of Satan it’s awfully hard to not inculcate some of those practices into your daily way of doing things.  But that’s what happened.  We’ve had some of that today in this form.  Not exactly, well we’ve had some of this very same thing recently with the demise of Worldwide Church of God going clear into Sunday-keeping.  But we have had some of it even within the ministry and teaching that they bring out a lot things of psychology instead of preaching the word of God.  And so that’s getting so close to the world that you look at the things that the world has which is good and you bring in that and equate that with righteousness of God.  The goodness of this world comes from which tree?  The tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  It is good.  It can do good things.  But it doesn’t equal the righteousness of Christ.  Now we’ve seen that. 

Then we come to Thyatira.  Boy Thyatira is perhaps the best and the worst all combined together here.  It talks about their…  It says, “I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.  Notwithstanding I have a few things agains thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce My servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols” (vs. 19-20).  Well there it is right there.  Most of those in Thyatira, even in repenting, could not be considered virgins after they were baptized, because talking about their condition after they were in the Church because the message was to the church at Thyatira.  So it’s not before they were in the Church but after they were in the Church.  

Then we come to Sardis and when you get the “Seven Church Harvest” with Sardis in there I did an in-depth study on that and it was really quite a revealing thing here.  Chapter 3:1, “And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith He that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.”  I tell you this is perhaps the worst spiritual condition.  This is worse than lukewarm.  At least lukewarm you’re still alive.  But here you’re a corpse with just a pulse.  “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works [complete] perfect before God.  Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent.  If therefore thou shall not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.  Thou has a few names even in Sardis [just a few] which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.  He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels” (Rev. 3:1-5).  So here they just make it by the skin of the teeth.  I don’t even say skin of the teeth.  Boy.  But only a few are going to make it.  I mean when you go through and you look at these things and you ask the question: how much does our choice count in all of this?  Everything, as far as our responsibility is concerned. 

Now over here to the Laodiceans.  We beat up on the Laodiceans long and often and hard and difficult so we won’t get in here and beat up on them too bad.  But being lukewarm, talking back to God saying, “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods…” (vs. 17).  Sounds a little bit like Job doesn’t it, talking back to God?  “…And have need of nothing…”  Well now as I wrote in a letter recently it’s all taken away.  It is all gone.  Ok, now He commands them to…  They are so bad they are vomited out of the mouth of Christ.  Christ is outside knocking on the door to get in.  They can repent.  They can receive salvation.  They can sit in the throne of judgment as Christ sits in the throne of judgment, but they have to become zealous.

Now let’s look at Philadelphia and let’s compare that to the 144,000 of Revelation 14.  And the church at Philadelphia comes the closest to describing Revelation 14 and the 144,000 there, with the exception that we have to also do as Christ did in commending Smyrna.  That they had no faults before God.  Now let’s read it here, verse 7.  “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; these things saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that hath the key of David, He that openth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth.”  We always like to look to the open door but there’s a time when God shuts it.  And I think we’ve lived in the time where God has shut the door of radio and television as an effective way of reaching people.  Now He’s going to open another door, and when He does we have to be prepared and be ready.  Whatever it may be Christ will have to open the door for any one of the seven churches here, but in particularly for those who really love God, He’s got to open the door.  Why?  We’ll see. 

Verse 8, “I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength…”  So here is a small church.  Little strength.   “…And has kept My word…”  Now no other church is commended of really keeping the word.   Now if you’re going to keep the word that means you have to number one, you have to have it.  Number two, you have to know it, because how can you keep something that you don’t know?  You can’t.  “…And hast not denied My name.” 

Now that’s a little different than over here with Pergamos.  It says verse 13, “I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat [or throne] is: and thou holdest fast My name, and hast not denied My faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.”  So they only held on as long as they had Antipas for their leader.  After that everything went to hell in a handbasket to Baalim and to the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which this book “Primitive Christianity…” does an excellent job of bringing out what that really means. 

“Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan…” (Rev. 3:9).  Now who’s the synagogue of Satan?  The synagogue of Satan combines the economics, the religious, and the political affairs of this world, who control the world.  And we are living in a time when that synagogue of Satan is coming to the fore again like it never has.  Now I’m going to give a sermon here in the very near future on the beast that was and is not and yet is.  And I think we will understand it even more clearly.  And that we are living in those times. 

Now these we can just say, those of the synagogue of Satan are rewarded by Satan.  How does he reward them?  What did he promise Christ if He would worship him once?  The whole world.  So those who control the world and the world establishment in banking, in religion, and in politics are all part of the synagogue of Satan with all of their followers and all of their subordinates with them, and those who truly are part of the synagogue of Satan worship Satan directly and get their orders directly from him.  And we are in a struggle brethren.  We are in a fight, and I’m going to bring out, well I won’t bring it out tomorrow but I’ll bring out a little bit about it.  But we are in a fight for the word of God.  We are in such a position today that no longer can we say, “Look it up in your Bible.  Read it in your Bible.”  Now we’ve got to tell them, “Look, before you can even look it up in the Bible, you better make sure you have the right Bible.”  Cause you may not find it in the one Satan has perverted through Westcott and Hort, and through the New International Version, and the New American Standard Bible, and some of the others.  I mean it’s a horrendous thing that they have done to it.  And that’s all part of the synagogue of Satan, “…which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.”

Now Christ loves His whole Church but there is a special love that God has for the Philadelphians, why?  Because they love Him.  That’s why.  And you can’t love the brethren truly unless you love God first.  Now you can have a social club.  You can get along with each other, you can like each other, you can be desirous to be in each other’s company, but to truly love the brethren with the love of God, that’s got to come from God.  It has to come from God.

Now notice verse 10, “Because thou hast kept the word of My patience…”  Now notice.  Twice He says, “You have kept My word and have not denied My name”, verse 8.  Then He says, “Because you have kept the word of My patience [or patiently kept My word]”, which means what?  In spite of the synagogue of Satan, in spite of anybody else is around, in spite of the consequences that comes to you, in spite of what you go through you stay faithful and keep the word of God.  He says, “…I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown” (vs. 10-11).  Showing that there is a battle, there’s a fight.  That you’re having to fight against all of the odds that are coming.  Someone trying to take your reward, take your crown.

Now notice verse 12.  Notice how closely this ties in with Revelation 14 more than any other.  “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go no more out [follow Christ wherever He goes]: and I will write upon him the name of My God [which Revelation 14 says], and the name of the city of My God [which is not back there in Revelation 14], which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My God: and I will write upon him My new name.”

Now the bride always what?  Takes the name of Her husband, which is a new name.  Now, since there have always been Philadelphians down through time, is this out of these kinds of Christians, are these the ones who are going to be part of the bride of Christ?  Of all that we have examined of all the firstfruits, being the seven churches, being the 144,000 of Israel, the great innumerable multitude, and the 144,000 of Revelation 14, this attitude here ties in more closely with Revelation 14.  So the only thing we can say is the parallel is very close.  But, lest we get carried away with categorizing things ourselves and saying, “He is, he isn’t.  She is, she isn’t.  We are, they aren’t.”  We’ll just say it is all in God’s hands and let Him take care of it.  And when it comes time for the resurrection we’ll all find out then won’t we.  And regardless of what it is we’re all going to be happy about it.  The whole goal is to be in the kingdom of God and receive eternal life.  God is the One Who is going to give the rewards.  God is the One Who is going to pick the bride.  Christ is the One Who is going to marry the bride.  And if we can be there as guests why hey I’m all for that, because it says, “Blessed and holy is he that is called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” 

So at least this will give us something to think on.  Give us something to study more into, and we don’t want to get carried away with anything and treat what we’ve had with…now we have something new and we can beat everybody over the head with, because that’s not correct, you know.  Because whatever we understand comes from God.  Now when we try and understand these things and the understanding that comes from God will then lead us to change any of our understanding in the future, then by all means we’ll change.  No question about it.  I don’t want to be in a category of holding on to any teaching or doctrine which isn’t correct.

But let’s understand this, the knowledge of this does not change your salvation.  Does it?  No.  In other words it gets right back to the same thing that we covered in Matthew 20 when we started.  When Christ told the mother of John and James the sons of Zebedee, “You don’t know what you’re asking for and it’s not Mine to give, but the Father’s.”  So here the Father has to make the decision doesn’t He?  All we can do is look at it and say, the most we can come to is that these scriptures give us a little better understanding and some indications of what God is going to do.  That’s the most that it can do for us.  If we try and make any more out of it, then we will get carried away with our own self-importance.  We don’t want to do that at all.  And we certainly don’t want to pull a Job and walk up and tell God what to do.  You know, thatt didn’t work then, and it won’t work now.  And I’ll just close with this.  The longer that I have been in the Church, the more that I understand that there is really literally nothing that we haven’t received.  Everything comes from God.  And the most important thing we need to concentrate on…

Let’s finish with this by going to 2 Corinthians 10.  Here’s the most important thing, and this is the greatest tool for overcoming.  Begin in verse 1.  “Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you: But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh” (I Cor. 10:1-2).  And walking according to the flesh is as according to human reason, human rational, human ideas and things like this.  Or as Paul was fighting it, philosophy, as he brought out the first part of 1 Corinthians 1.      

“For though we walk in the flesh [which we do], we do not war after the flesh…”  And as I mentioned concerning psychology and psychological methods of overcoming.  No, you don’t do that.  Here’s the way we overcome.  “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)”  And this is the battle we have to keep at.  “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (vs. 4-5).  Now that’s what we have to work on.  That’s what’s the most important thing.  Why?  Because in your mind is where sin begins.  And your mind and your thoughts of self and importance and all of the things of the world to puff up the self then are idols before God.  Meaning that anything that you think that you understand or know, or can do, earns you salvation or earns you something or makes you more special than someone else, becomes an idol.

For us to proclaim, “We are Philadelphians and anyone who is not with us is not a Philadelphian.”  Look, we don’t know.  That would be an imagination.  A thought exalting itself against God.  So when thoughts like that of self-exaltation or thoughts that come along of sin, or whatever it may be, you are to grab that thought, bring it into captivity and cast it down and bring your mind into obedience to Christ.  And this is what we need to do.  Now, I don’t know about you but I have a struggle with my own mind.  Just like Paul did, see.  So that’s why it’s so important we keep our perspective in this. 

And verse 6, “And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.”  Wow, that’s quite a statement, isn’t it?  How do you fulfill your obedience?  Ok, everything that you do and it starts in your mind, see.  “Do you look on things after the outward appearance?  If any man trust to himself that he is Christ’s, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ’s even so are we Christ’s.”  And that’s what we really need to keep in mind. 

So anyway, it’s late so we’ll have to quit here.  It’s after 10 o’clock.  Let’s see, shall we be back at seven?  [Laughter]