The Defense and Confirmation of the Gospel (part 4)
If we summarize this chapter we can see four churches that are described in Revelation. The Catholic church claims their authority comes from God as the first Pope was Peter and this authority has been handed down by the laying on of hands ever since. However, we also see that this church is not going to willingly greet Jesus as the Messiah, rather some will be broken and others ground to powder. They have built their own little kingdom and do not want to hand it over. In revelation we discover that the overcomers in this church will be given a rod of iron signifying authority.
The second church we see is Sardis. This represents the big denominations. They have FreeMasons on the board and have cut a deal with the government in exchange for their tax exempt status. The 501(c)3 churches. This is like the rich young ruler who is told to sell all that he has and come follow the Lord. As long as you let the Board of directors pull the strings and tell you what you can and cannot speak you can't follow the Lord's leading in your spirit. If you belong to the Lord, if you have his image and superscription on your heart then He should be the only one who has the final say on what you can and cannot say.
The third church is Laodicea, they are depicted by the Sadducees, those who worship the Lord according to their own opinion and not according to the truth in the word of God.
The fourth church is Philadelphia, much harder to see but clearly there. At the conclusion Jesus speaks directly to His disciples to beware of the hypocritical worship of those who love the long robes, the best seats, but who secretly devour widow's houses and make a big show of their spirituality. In the church of Philadelphia they are told that they will not have to go out anymore indicating that they were in one of these other churches but eventually were forced out, either by Jezebel, or excommunicated from Sardis (blotted out of their book) or locked out of Laodicea along with Jesus.
If we summarize this chapter we can see four churches that are described in Revelation. The Catholic church claims their authority comes from God as the first Pope was Peter and this authority has been handed down by the laying on of hands ever since. However, we also see that this church is not going to willingly greet Jesus as the Messiah, rather some will be broken and others ground to powder. They have built their own little kingdom and do not want to hand it over. In revelation we discover that the overcomers in this church will be given a rod of iron signifying authority.
The second church we see is Sardis. This represents the big denominations. They have FreeMasons on the board and have cut a deal with the government in exchange for their tax exempt status. The 501(c)3 churches. This is like the rich young ruler who is told to sell all that he has and come follow the Lord. As long as you let the Board of directors pull the strings and tell you what you can and cannot speak you can't follow the Lord's leading in your spirit. If you belong to the Lord, if you have his image and superscription on your heart then He should be the only one who has the final say on what you can and cannot say.
The third church is Laodicea, they are depicted by the Sadducees, those who worship the Lord according to their own opinion and not according to the truth in the word of God.
The fourth church is Philadelphia, much harder to see but clearly there. At the conclusion Jesus speaks directly to His disciples to beware of the hypocritical worship of those who love the long robes, the best seats, but who secretly devour widow's houses and make a big show of their spirituality. In the church of Philadelphia they are told that they will not have to go out anymore indicating that they were in one of these other churches but eventually were forced out, either by Jezebel, or excommunicated from Sardis (blotted out of their book) or locked out of Laodicea along with Jesus.