What would happen during the church ages, let's just read down Revelation 2 and 1, to the angel of the church in Ephesus write, alright, the messenger of the church in Ephesus write, to the one who holds the seven stars in his hand, the one who walks among the seven golden candles, and that you cannot endure evil men, evil deeds of evil men, and that you put to the test, all right, those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false. You put them to the test. And then it says you have perseverance that you have endured. You have endured for my name's sake and have not grown weary. But I have this against thee, churches that prophetically say this message. Now what was the problem at a church from about 31 AD, here, somewhere around here, about 31 AD to 251 AD. This is the period of time now we're thinking about. He said, I have some, this against the This church had forgotten her first love. What was happening in the early part of the church age according to the book of 1st and 2nd Corinthians? And you read the whole book of Acts. The book of Acts, I like to call the book of Acts the Acts of the church. They started following men, except Jesus. And Paul said, well, some of you say, I'm of Paulus, and I'm of Paul, and I'm of this person, and I'm of that person. He said, I don't know whether I baptized any of you or not, or anything, whatever. He said, but you weren't baptized in my name anyway, but you were what? You were baptized by the authority of Jesus Christ. Don't worry about following men. Follow Jesus, your first love. Alright. Who is a woman supposed to be her first love? Her husband. Alright. A woman's first love was supposed to be her husband. And he said, if you don't do this, you won't be in my church any longer. Well, whose church were they anyway? Apollos', Peter's, somebody else's. They had forgotten the foundation. What, Matthew 16 and 18? What did Jesus build his church upon? Upon himself. I have that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate." It was the Nicolaitans. In the first period of time from about 251 A.D. in the very last part of this The church elected Cornelius as pastor. And not only did they elect Cornelius as pastor, and novation was running, and they were pastor and died, but they chose that people in certain areas of the church, if they didn't agree with them, and they were going the wrong way, that they were nullifying all these other pastors and all these other churches. So what does that mean? One man, is standing over, ruling over other men and making decisions that early church councils were unscriptural to begin with. Because we only have one rule of faith and order. And those councils that they had, the Council of Nicaea and all of those, they were wrong from the very beginning. Alright, and this is where it began right here. And he said, I hate the works of the Nicolaitans, the people rulers. People ruling over other people. Churches are democratic bodies. Other churches don't rule over... Big churches don't rule over little churches. Things like that. But that's where it began. Alright? He who has an ear, look at this. Let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Do you think that was in there by mistake? Matthew 13 and verse 9, you look back there. He who has an ear, let him hear. You know? To him who ever comes I will grant to me the tree of life which is in the paradise of God. And to the angel of the church of Smyrna write, the first and the last. The one who was dead, or literally the one who became dead and has come to life says this. Now this period of church period of time is from 251 to 313 A.D. Here we have prophetic panoramic view of the church age to come. and see what happened in church history. What was going on here at this church called Smyrna. By the way, Smyrna means suffering, bitterness, alright? That was a bitter time, wasn't it? A bitter, bitter time, yes. What was the time frame that you mentioned for Ephesus? and your poverty, and that you are rich, but you are rich. I know your poverty, but you are rich. The Lord says, keys out of them. And your silver and your fancy ornaments and things will either tarnish or rust away. The blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Is there any Jew that is living in the world today In all reality, they say that they're Jews. Alright? But a Jew... Jesus came to Israel. He was the Messianic King of Israel. They rejected Him. And He said, that came to Jesus. And He was sent to whom? Who was Jesus sent to? The house of Israel. Alright. That's who He was sent to. He came to the house of Israel. He came to be the Messiah King. But they rejected Him. This woman, this Gentile woman came to Jesus and begged to hear Him and begged And he said, but even the puppies, the little puppies, beg for the crumbs from the master's table. And what did he say to her? There isn't such great faith in Israel as yours. She was looking for the scraps from the master's table. The little puppies, the scraps that they didn't want, the super fat and the old hard pieces of this and that, they threw it on the floor for the little puppies to eat. I'm a Gentile. But at least give me the scraps. I know I'm not a Jew, but in reality, was she a Jew? Yeah, she was a son and a daughter of Abraham. Because she believed. I don't want you to get things mixed up here, but the church is not spiritual Israel. That is a bit. But when we believe, in your seat will all nations be blessed." All right. The angel of the Church of Samaria, I know your tribulation, your poverty, but you're rich. The blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, The word church means what? Ekklesia. What does it mean? Assembly. No. Well, it means assembly, yes. Alright, the word church or ekklesia. Once called out. Alright. The ekklesia, once called out, comes from ek and kalio in Greek. And then we have synagogue. That means the place of gathering. Synagogue is the place of gathering, not the people, but the house. And he says these synagogues have become the gathering place of Satan. When you reject God who dwells safe and dwells. Thunderbirds tend to do not ways. Remember that. Not only with physical, but with mental and then spiritual corruption in everyone. Tribulation ten days, but be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death. And the angel of Pergamos, And this is, the last one was 251 to 313 A.D. And so this one starts from 313 to 606 A.D. Guess what happened in 325 A.D.? Constantine the Great came upon the scene and married the church to the state. Twice married. Pergamos. Twice married. The word gamos, or gamos, That means to be married, glued together. And in Purga, that means twice, twice married. The Lord called His church out to be a chaste virgin, waiting for her husband to come. But, what did she do here? The one who has a sharp two-edged sword says this, what did the Roman government rule the world with? What was it known that they ruled the world with? Ruled with a sword that would cut and smash. 606 A.D.? No, not right here. What happened in the false churches? The evolution of Catholicism. The first pope was crowned and put on the throne. The first pope was crowned in 600. And this goes from 313 to I have a few things against you, because you have kept there some who have the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, and to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit acts of immorality. Fornication, spiritual and physical, was rampant in this land. The one that was for hire? Yep. One for hire. What happened during this period of time? No pastor could be paid outside of the auspices of the Catholic worldwide Holy Roman Empire. That's what they called it, the Holy Roman Empire. And they were beginning to rule the world And the state and the church were one. Just like the Moslems are today. The problem that we're dealing with. How many of y'all want a Moslem tract from them? Think about it. Some of you have some of these, some of you don't. Think about that. For what? They state that their religion has never persecuted anybody. That they believe in freedom of religion. But where you find Moslems in rule, there is no freedom of religion. Nothing but death or ableism. When did this false religious system begin? Who started it? Mohammed. 590 to 600 A.D., around that part, that period of time. The Mosque of Omar was built in 600 and something A.D. in the early part, 610 or 611, somewhere around there. The Mosque of Omar that you see with the big gold dome sitting in the city of Jerusalem. During this period of time, Satan was expanding his role, or his throne, not only in what was to become the Catholic Church, but what was to become Muslim religion, Islam, that we're dealing with today. also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans." What's the Nicolaitans again? What's the Nicolaitans mean? Equal rulers. Alright. And he said, Repent therefore, or else while I am coming quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth. He who has an ear, see ye again. Go back to Matthew 13 and verse 9. He who has ears, let him hear. Over here in the book of Revelation, he's using the same term, isn't he? Is it by mistake? Because he's prophetically teaching the same stories in one place as the other. I keep going to church history because you cannot understand this with us. You cannot understand these parables without understanding and having a knowledge of church history. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Write this. Some God who has eyes like a flame of fire, his feet are like burnished bronze, says this. And this is 606 to about 1517 AD. 606 to about 1517. This is what most scholars believe that this covers. I know your deeds and your love and your faith and your service and perseverance and your deeds of later greater than that at first. But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel." What did Jezebel do? "...who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads my bondservants astray, so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent, but she didn't want to. She loved to revel in her immorality. Behold, I will cast her upon a bed of sickness, I'll put her in a clinic. And those who commit adultery with her into grave tribulation unless they repent of her deeds." Now, in the tribulation period, the church that the Antichrist founds will be a descendant of the great church of Rome and the Catholic system. She will be a daughter of that system. Now, is she going to go into tribulation according to the book of Revelation? Is that church going to go through the tribulation period? Is she going to be eaten up? during the time, what Jezebel was doing. She told Israel, it's alright if you go to church, to the synagogues, but come and worship God with me, my gods. And what was her worship? What consists of it? Horrible. What? on doing the same thing. Immorality. Sex was admitted by God, but it was placed within the boundaries of marriage. And when you bring religion into this, And it says here, I'll throw in a great tribulation unless she repents of her deeds, and I will kill her children with pestilence. What children? Her spiritual children. With pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and the hearts, and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. But I say to you, that the rest who are in Tyre, Tyre, who do not who have not known the deep, this is the deep secrets of Satan. We talk about drinking deeply at the well of Catholicism and the wells of the cults of this age that we live in today. The cults and isms, the secret religions, the mystery religions. The deep things of Satan, as they call them, I place no other burden or he has time, and he's commanding his New Testament churches, no matter what it takes in this age, hold fast to it. I'm holding you accountable to it. To he who God gives wisdom, you're accountable to it. To he who God gives knowledge, and with knowledge comes what? Privileges. With knowledge comes privileges, but with privileges comes responsibility. Nevertheless, what you have, hold on, I come. He overcomes and He who keeps my deeds until the end, to Him I will give authority over the nations. Guess what the Lord's Testament churches are going to do in this period of time? They're going to have authority over the nations with Christ. Because He's His wife, isn't He? And He shall rule them with the rod of my and I will give him the morning star. I'm not going to go through everything in here, but I just want you to get a panoramic view of what's going on, okay? And to the angel of the church of Sardis. Sardis. Sardis means coming out. This is from 1517 to 1638. Now this is one of the hardest times for God's New Testament churches. They had met much persecution. They had been totally devastated by The Great Awakening. We have the Protestants coming on the scene, coming out of the Church of Rome. I'll tell you something, they came out of something filthy. They could have come to the true New Testament churches, but they chose not to. Martin Luther begged the Anabaptists, which were the true New Testament churches in Germany, and they called them Beater Poppers. That's what the term means there in Germany. He says, come and help me. And he said, no, you can come with us. We've been fighting the battle against Rome all the time. We've been preaching the truth all these years. He said, no. And every one of the Protestant churches somewhere in some nation became a state church, just like Rome did. What happened in Germany? What was the state church in Germany? Lutheran. Once Luther got control and got in there, he said, well, he said, just drop your practice of pre-baptizing people that come from us. And our man said, well, you don't have any authority to baptize people. Everybody that comes to us, we're baptizing them for the first time. I don't care if they got wet or what happened over there, but we're baptizing them because we have the authority from God. We've carried this authority all the way down from the shores of Galilee. And they said, your baptism's no good. Well, they said, let's quit fighting over that, Luther said. Just be with me and help me fight against Romans." He said, okay, we will. We won't speak against you so much because you're trying to give the people some freedom and everything else. And help us when you get in power. What did he do to the Anabaptists when he got in power? Cut their throats. Same thing with Calvin. Zwingli. All of the Reformation. Reformation means that they came out from the Catholic Church and they tried to reform the doctrines of the church. But there were new types of churches in the world at all this time that they could have come to. All during this time. They didn't have to establish new churches. There didn't have to be anything new. on the Christ laid that had been in existence all the way through history. Okay? Thought you'd get some church history while you're in here. These terribles for teaching that. He said, wake up. That's right here. So the angel of the church at the start of this rite, he who has the seven spirits of God, the seven stars, says this, I know your deeds, that you have a name, that you are alive and yet you're dead. You are dead. Wake up! Resurrect yourself! And strengthen the things and keep it and repent. If therefore you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I come upon you. But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments, and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. All right? To the churches. Verse 7. Revelation 3 and verse 7. And to the church of Philadelphia. Right. That's a Greek word. Actually, we have two Greek words, philo and adelphia, and adelphia is broken down from alpha and delphi, adelphia. What does that mean? Anybody remember that? Tony, do you remember that? It means from the same womb. From the womb. From the same brother. Adelphia. That means from the same womb. You know the Catholic Church that teaches that Jesus didn't have any brothers and sisters. Literally. Because Mary never had any other children according to her. But that Joseph had other wives and all that kind of stuff. Okay. They said to Jesus, What do you say? Your mother and your males from the same womb and your females from the same womb are waiting outside. That's the limit. Sometimes when you've written words in Greek, you've drawn a line, a vertical, near vertical line. Is that? This is philo. That's the feet. That I know. I'm in the second word. Or before it breaks down. It breaks down into two. It has a negative from it or out of. This means not or out of. In this term it means out of the womb. Or the same womb. Okay? I hope that helps you just a little bit as you deal with people, as you're trying to deal with people. Verse 4, But you have a few insurgents who have not soiled their garments. They will walk me in white, for they are worthy. He who comes shall be clothed in white garments. I will not erase his name from the book of life. And on down he who has an ear. And verse 6, Let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. And the angel of the church cannot. Philadelphia, brotherly love. And that's what happens. After the Protestant Reformation, they say, well come and go with us. Well, we still had the same Eves given to us by the same God, and they were teaching a form of truth, but it was no truth. So are we to amalgamate with them? Or are we supposed to still stay separate? Because most of what they were teaching was the truth, but not all of it. But what did Jesus tell His people always, even in the Israelite Old Testament? When you go on to the land of promise, you let some of them live and the other ones you kill. Kill them all. Kill what? What? Contamination. Contamination. Part truth is contamination. And sometimes it's the worst contamination. God's New Testament churches were infected more by this church age than any of the other ones as far as purity goes. You fight in Islam, you know who the enemy is spiritually. Because it's very plain. But when you're fighting somebody that's teaching some of the truth, then you're in the grave. What greater masterful situation could Satan found than this? Confusion. will shut, and who shuts, and no one opens, says this, I know your deeds, and I have put before you an open door, which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name. Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews, and are not, but lie. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. And he will not go out from it anymore. And I will write upon him the name of God, and the name of the city of my God, and the new Jerusalem. And he who comes down out of heaven from God, and my new name. He who hasn't here, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Here we come to the last part of the church age that we live in. to about 1812. Now we have from about 1813 to now, to the end of the church age. We're real close to it. He went in the year, letting me hear what the Spirit said to the churches, and the angel of the church of Laodicea. What does the word Laodicea mean? people will decide what is right in their own eyes. We do not, in this world, you know what? In schools today, you can't say you're a girl and you're a boy. Because if you decide later on that you're a boy, all right, but you want to be a girl, then you can say that I'm a girl. Did you realize that? There are no standards to that when people decide what they're going to be genetically. I mean, what a weird thing. You can say, well, hang on, that's crazy. Well, that's what's going on in the school system today. If this person decides when they come of age up to a certain period of time, they're going to be a girl. You can't put down that they're a boy. You've got to go along with it. But it'll be there. People judge what's right in their own sight. And they say, I have a right to an alternative lifestyle. But do they? Do they have a right to it because they have decided on it? No, God sets the standards. The standards haven't been changed since God set them. Laodicea, people judgment. I am the all men. What does the word all men mean? The little particle of affirmation goes all the way back to the Chaldean Persian language. That's where this word began, amen. Amen. It meant to prop up, to stand up, and hold up something, to stand behind it. When Israel adopted this word into their language, What would Israel say? We will stand behind it. They would say Amen. And it came over into the Greek language. Same word. Particle of affirmation. Alright. I'll stand behind it. True. Truly. Alright. Truth. Jesus, before He said something, We'll stand behind it. We'll keep the Word of God. We'll do it. Jesus, when He began to speak, what was the two words He said? Amen. Amen. Truly, truly, most affirmatively, most affirmatively, I say to you, because I will keep what I say. Did Israel ever keep the commandments of God? They lie. Jesus said, I will tell you the truth, I will tell you the truth. And then He says what He says. The truth. OK? All right. The Amen. The faithful one. The true witness. The beginning. That word, the word beginning, young lady, are you reading New American Standard? OK, right over there, and sometimes in the column they'll say there, it'll say the head. The Administrator. The First One. The Head Man. Alright? That's what that word beginning means there. The Head Man. Of the creation of God says this, Colossians 1 verse 16, 1 verse 18. Read back there. Who was, who holds the universe in His hand? Jesus is the One. Who created the universe, the cosmos? Jesus is the Creator. Alright? And that's what these terms are saying. The Creator of the creation of God. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot, and I wish that you were cold or hot. Because you are lukewarm, and neither hot or cold, I'm about to vomit you out of my mouth. What did the good Samaritan do with the poor old boy that was beat up on the side of the road? He went and picked him up, bound up his wounds, he's cut and lacerated. This is an old salve that the American Indians basically invented. It's called green mountain salve. It's beeswax and honey and pine salve. And that is a real good antibacterial killer for a wound that is bad and won't go away. They call it wax, waxing. Those things mixed together, they used to keep it. How many of you ever watched that movie Lonesome Dove? That one old boy got bit by the horse and that guy over there had this can sitting on his skull. That was Green Mountain Sale. He went and grabbed that thing and put that on him so it wouldn't get infected. That's what he was doing. Boy, they did some research when they did that movie. land of God. I know your deeds. You're neither hot nor cold." And he said, I'm about to vomit you out of my mouth. You say you're rich, and you've become wealthy, and you have need of nothing, and you know not Those whom I love, I reprove and I discipline. Be zealous, therefore, and turn around. Behold, I stand at the door and knock." He's not talking about the individual's hearts, he's talking about churches. In this age, he wants to come into the churches. Get back into his house. They used to have his name on it. If the door is locked, if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come with him and I will dine with him and he with me. What's he talking about dining? The Lord's supper, the communion and fellowship of the church. The Lord would love to communicate with these New Testament churches, but they're too rich to let that poor stonemason in the door. And the disciples came to him and said, why, in verse 10, why do you speak to them in parables? And he answered and said to them, all these people on the outside, this great multitude, were out there. He spoke to them in parables, why? What does the word parable mean? Para and balo. Why do you speak to them in these side throwings, in these perils? And he answered and said to them, to you it has been granted to know the mysteries, the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. Who is he talking to here? Disciples. He's talking to his close disciple, his church, all right? Five and ten thousand of them. Now churches services are kind of like that. Sunday morning you have a whole bunch of people, Sunday night you got a little bit less people, and Wednesday night you got a very few. It has to take a war to get people to come to church sometimes. It really takes these things to shake them up in their lives because they're rich. They have too much to do to come to church. Well, that's the way they were here. Some of them followed. Some of them followed because of the bread and the fish. Some of them followed because of Jesus. mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him shall be more given. And he who shall have an abundance, but whoever does not have even what he has shall be taken away from him." Who's he talking about here? Israel. The nation of Israel. the nation of Israel. Should they have accepted their King? They should have, but they didn't. And what was going to happen to them? What they had shall be taken away from them. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, Nor do they understand. They can't put it together. That's what the word understand means. It means to put the puzzle together. That's a Greek idiom, a Greek word picture which means to understand, which means to put the puzzle together. You can't see the whole story because they don't have any eyes and they don't have any ears. They could see and they could hear, but they couldn't see and they couldn't hear. But to them it has not been given in the first world. He then starts talking about Israel or about the people that were following? Israel. No, Israel. There was Israel. The Pharisees and the scribes, you'll find out, were out there listening in sidelines and gouging it. Did you hear what he said? Did you hear that? Let's get him. They were the ones that tried to They're the ones that tried to stone him, but they couldn't find where he was. They're the ones that paid the price of a slave to Judas so he could run up and grab ahold of him and hold him until they could arrest him. Because Gibbs slipped away. He was among them. and teach him right in their midst, but they couldn't touch him because it wasn't time yet. He hadn't handed himself over to them yet. And they paid Judas. You know what the word Judas means? The word should be translated Judah. Okay, that's what the name means, Judah. That was one of Israel's sons, Judah. Alright. Judah means what? The praise of God, the glory of God, the praise of God. What did He do? He even betrayed His name. Do you hear any children even call the praise of God today Judah? Or Judas? Do you hear, huh? Judy is a feminine term for it. The name Judy is feminine for Judas or Judah. All right. term of Judas or Judah, which is a good name. We just have one that's a bad one. One Judah was bad. We have one Judah in the New Testament. The book of Jude is the book of Judah. OK? The word Jude there was just a bad translation of that title. It's Judah. All right? And who was that? All right. Yes. Well, yeah, I've got a bunch of them. Say Jude. Yes, thank you. Anyway, I'm going to have to put you there. I'm going to have to turn you loose. Do you have any questions before I go? Feel free to ask questions and I'll try to answer them. Thank you for your attention. And Tony, can you dismiss us in prayer, please? Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time here tonight to give and to pray in your name. We pray, Father, that you'll be with all of us in our community tonight in services to protect us all and help us in the world to be saved by your grace. Amen. Jim, what is the timeframe you gave for prayer time? Back over there. 313 to 606. All right, there you go. 313 to 606. That's, remember 606? That's about the time that... Yeah. 313 to 606. Pergamos means twice married. That's when the church and the state became one. The recognized church and state. 1812 or 1813, the significance. That's about the time they created a link. And in the Baptist ranks, Whitefield absolutely created havoc. Let me tell you a little bit about this. George Whitefield was a congregational preacher that came out of the Church of England, okay? He didn't have any scriptural grounds, but he was a great preacher. He came out of a church that really wasn't a 3rd New Testament church. He came to the Baptist churches here in America and he was preaching the revivals and thousands of people were being saved and everything. And Baptist, true churches, have always been stubborn. And some of them said we will not, the regular Baptist here said that we will not let this man preach in our home. immersion of George Whitfield, which had established many of those churches. Of course, Southern Baptists didn't really have anything to do with that. But many of them that did were landmark Baptists and missionary Baptists. And some of them were contaminated by this alien immersion that came in with George Whitfield. And so that was a hard time for the troops. Even though, you know, It sounded good, it looked good. Well, why could we stand back? But the truth is real important, isn't it? It's real important to Jesus. That's part of the church history. Thank you for that. Alien aversion. What was he teaching there? Well, all he was doing was teaching evangelism, basically. But those churches that he founded, Not literally, sometimes, because that's an impossible phrase, but they had taught this all down through the ages, and they would never accept another congregation's baptism that wasn't the same life, faith, and order as Naaman. from United Baptist, and so did IK Promise, one of the teachers in all of them. that it was talking about. If it was good things about it, it was bad things about it. Always. Thank you for your questions. I appreciate it. I hope I'm satisfying your needs of the teaching of this class. I hope you're enjoying it. I hope it's building you up in the faith of what you are and why you go where you go. Alright. You're dismissed. How do I get a tape of last week's?