Directional Devo - Ephesians 5:3-4

In today's study Paul continues to admonish the Ephesians to walk in love by remaining sexually pure and being careful with what comes out of their mouths.

Directional Devo

Directional Devo - Ephesians 5:1-2

In today's devotion we take a look at the necessity of love and forgiveness.

Directional Devo

The Seven Churches - Revelation 1:20

Today, I want to focus on Revelation 1:20 and a brief introduction of chapters 2 and 3. Revelation 1:20 says, “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 which thou sawest are the seven churches.”

Verse 20 is what I call the explanation verse. I have always believed that the best commentary on the Bible is the Bible itself and its true! When we find things in the Bible that don’t make sense, usually there is another verse that explains it. That’s the case here. We are told that the stars in the right hand of Jesus represent the messengers or pastors of each of the churches and the candlesticks represent the actual churches.

Now, let me take a moment to introduce chapter 2 and 3 where we see the seven churches. There are three things that we must first know about these churches before we proceed. First, they were literal churches in Asia Minor. Second, they represent a dispensation, time, or age of the church from the time of Christ to the present. Third, a little bit of each of them can still be found in churches today (i.e., some churches have left their first love, others have fallen into dead orthodoxy, and many have accepted the doctrines of men over the clear teachings of Scripture). We will discover these three things as we go through chapters 2 and 3 together.

Another thing to note about these churches is that their names are very important. Each name correlates to the age or time in which it represents. Ephesus means Desirable. It represents the apostolic church of the 1^st Century. Smyrna means Myrrh. It represents the persecuted church of 2^nd and 3^rd centuries. Pergamos means Marriage. It represents the compromising church that started around 345 A.D. under the leadership of the Emperor Constantine when he created the first church-state relationship by establishing not only political Rome but also a spiritual one. Thyatira means Continual Sacrifice. It represents the church of the Dark Ages. Sardis means Remnant. It represents the church of the Protestant Reformation. Philadelphia means Brotherly Love. It represents the true church or the revival church. Laodicea means People’s Rights or Rule. It represents the lukewarm church of the last days in which we live.

Another interesting parallel is the relationship between each of these seven letters and the seven Kingdom Parables found in Matthew 13. These parallels will be mentioned in some of the churches.  It’s a great study to do on your own.

Another point that I want to cover briefly is some background on the church. The church began with Jesus. He said in Matthew 16:18, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Understand that when Jesus said this, it was brand new! There was no such thing as a church in Jesus’ day; only synagogues, the temple, and the Tabernacle in the Old Testament.

The church upon this Earth will end at the rapture at the end of the church age. That will happen in Revelation 4:1. When the rapture does happen, I really don’t think that the world for the most part will realize it, because so much of the organized church will still be here. That sounds weird until you realize that there must be a distinction made between what many refer to as the organism and the organization.

The Bible tells us that the church has within it both wise and foolish virgins (Matt. 25:1-13), faithful and lazy servants (Matt. 25:14-30), and wheat and tares (Matt. 13:24-30). The wise virgins, the faithful servants, and the wheat all represent the true church of Jesus Christ which is the organism or Body of Christ. The foolish virgins, the lazy servants, and tares all represent the false church which is the organization.

The organization is man-made. It is of the world; while the organism is the true body of Christ made up of the redeemed. When the Lord returns for His church, He is only going to receive the wise, the faithful, and the wheat. He will leave behind foolish, the lazy, and tares. The organism will be taken and the organization will be left. Which one do you belong to?

The Outline Verse - Revelation 1:19

This week, I want to take another look at Revelation 1:19 where it says, “Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;” Again, this is called the outline verse of the book of Revelation. Unless you understand and apply this verse consistently throughout the book, it will be very confusing to you.

I’ve heard all kinds of interpretations of the book of Revelation over the years. Some of them are fanciful and simply reflect ignorance. While others seem to be an honest attempt, but fall short. The Bible says in 2 Peter 1:19-20, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.”That means exactly what it says.

It only stands to reason that God put an outline verse there for our benefit. Let’s use it. The book is pretty straightforward and simple actually. Unfortunately, some people struggle with it because they can’t wrap “their theology” around it. I believe that if a person tells me what they believe about the book of Revelation; I can tell them what they believe in regards to the rest of the Bible (i.e., creation, the eternal security of the believer, works as compared to grace, the church, etc.).

This outline verse clearly tells us that the book is divided up into three parts: “the things which thou hast seen”, “the things which are”, and “the things which shall be hereafter”. Let’s take a look at each of them. The “things which thou hast seen” are found in chapter one as John describes Jesus. In this chapter John describes Jesus as being the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending, and the first and the last (v.8). He describes Jesus as walking in the “midst of the seven candlesticks” which represent the seven churches that he is about to write to. The chapter describes exactly what John saw and what he was told to do.

The “things which are” are the seven churches that are described in chapters two and three. There are three things about these churches that need to be noted. First, these were literal churches. They actually existed in what is today called, Asia Minor. Second, each of the churches had characteristics that can be found in churches today. On the negative side, some churches today have left their first love, fallen into dead orthodoxy, begun to worship idols, and think they are rich and don’t need God anymore. While on the positive side, there are some who have not given in to these things, serving the Lord faithfully, and looking for His soon return. Third, each of the churches represent a time period in the life of the church beginning with its birth in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost and ending with its rapture or taking out Revelation 4:1.

And then finally, the “things which shall be hereafter” refers to chapter four and following. Of course, it is going to be a horrible time to be alive on Earth. These final chapters of Revelation cover what is known as the time of the Tribulation. It is also referred to in the Bible as the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (Jeremiah 30:7) and Daniel’s Seventieth Week (Daniel 9:27). By whatever name, it’s going to be very bad for anyone left alive during that time. Hopefully, you’re a part of the church that will be taken in Revelation 4:1. If not, there is no better time to become a member than right now by asking Jesus to come into your live and save you (Romans 10:9-13).

Now, you may ask, “How do you know that Revelation 4:1 is when the Rapture of the church will take place and the horrible Tribulation will begin?” The answer is found in the word “hereafter” in v.19. The word means “after this”. The first time the word appears is in 1:19 and the next time the word appears is in 4:1. That means that at the conclusion of the church age (Chapters 2 and 3) which ends with the Church of Laodicea, the Rapture will take place and the Tribulation will begin.

Message Link

Here is the link to the message that I taught this past Sunday at the Calvary Chapel in Travelers Rest, South Carolina. 

http://listen.ccgvl.org/audio/20160417_teaching.mp3