Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!rex!ukma!seismo!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: ROBERT@kontu.utu.fi (Robert W. Johnson) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Rev. 2:18-22 Message-ID: Date: 30 Mar 91 07:36:59 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 131 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In a series of articles I am going to present the entire Church history as phrophezied in Revelation 2:1-3:22. These verses phrophezy concerning the first Church to the last Church before the Lord returns. If you would like a list of references on Church history please send me a note. Note: This posting is very long. It will be divided into seven parts (there are epistles to seven Churches.) Each part will consist of one or more subparts. Part VII of VII - Subpart 2 of 2 of Part VII CHAPTER 3 III. "THE THINGS WHICH ARE" -- THE SEVEN LOCAL CHURCHES 2:1-3:22 G. Church in Laodicea -- the Church in Degradation 3:14-22 18 I counsel you to (1a) buy from Me (2b)gold (c)refined by (d)fire that you may be (e)rich, and (f)white (3)garments that you may be clothed and that the shame of your (g)nakedness may not be manifested, and (4)eyesalve to (h)anoint your eyes that you may see. (1) To "buy" requires the paying of a price. The degraded recovered church needs topay a price for the gold, white garments, and eyesalve, which she desperately needs. (2) In the Bible our working faith (Gal. 5:6) is likened to "gold" (1 pet. 1:7), and the divine nature of God, which is the divinity of Christ, is also typified by "gold" (Exo. 25.11). We partake of the divine nature of God by faith (2 pet. 1:1, 4-5). The degraded recovered church has the knowledge of the doctrines concerning Christ, but not much living faith to partake of the divine element of Christ. She needs to pay the price to gain the golden faith through the fiery trials that she may participate in the real "gold," which is Christ Himself as the life element to His Body. Thus she may become a pure golden lampstand (Rev. 1:20) for the building of the golden New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:18). (3) In figure, "garments" signify conduct. "White garments" here refer to conduct approvable to the Lord, which is the Lord Himself lived out of the church, and which is required by the degraded recovered church for her nakedness. (4) The "eyesalve" needed to "anoint" their eyes must refer to the anointing Spirit (1 John 2:27), Who is also the Lord Himself as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). The degraded recovered church also needs this kind of eyesalve for her blindness. For all these three items she must pay the price. (a) Isa. 55:1; Matt. 25:9 (b) 1 Pet. 1:7; 1 Cor. 3:12-13 (c) Mal. 3:3 (d) Rev. 1:14; Heb. 12.29 (e) Rev. 2:9 (f) Rev. 3:5 (g) Rev. 16:15 (h) John 9:6-11; 1 John 2:20, 27 19 As many as I (a)love I rebuke and (b)discipline; be (1)zealous therefore, and (c)repent. (1) Gk. boiling. (a) Rev. 1:5; Heb. 12:6 (b) Heb. 12:5-11 (c) Rev. 2:5 20 Behold, I stand at the (1a)door and (b)knock; if anyone (c)hears My (d)voice and (2)opens the door, I will (e)come in to him and (3)dine with him and he with me Me. (1) "The door" is not the door of the individuals, but the door of the church. The Lord as Head of the church is standing outside the degraded church, knocking at her door. The degraded recovered church must realize this! (2) The door is the door of the church, but the door is opened by individual believers. The Lord is dealing with the whole church, but the acceptance of the Lord's dealing must be a personal matter. The Lord's dealing is objective, but the believer's acceptance must be subjective. (3) Gk. to take the principal meal of the day at evening. See note 7(5) in chapter 2. (a) James 5:9 (b) Luke 12:36 (c) Rev. 2:7; John 10:27 (d) Rev. 1:15 (e) John 14:23 21 He who (1a)overcomes, to him I will give to (2)sit with Me on My (b)throne, as I also (c)overcame and (d)sat down with My Father on His throne. (1) To "overcome" here means to overcome the lukewarmness and pride of the degraded recovered church, to buy the needed items, and to open the door for the Lord to come in. (2) To sit with the Lord on His throne will be a prize to the overcomer that he may participate in the Lord's authority in the coming millenial kingdom. (a) Rev. 2:7 (b) cf. Rev. 20:4; Matt. 19:28 (c) Rev. 5.5; 17.14; John 16:33 (d) Eph. 1:20; heb. 1:3, 13; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2 (e) Rev. 22.1 22 He who has an (a)ear, let him hear what the (b)Spirit says to the (1)churches. (1) The seven churches not only signify prophetically the progress of the church in the seven ages, as we have seen, but also symbolize the seven kinds of churches in church history: the initial church, the suffering church, the worldly church, the apostate church, the reformed church, the recovered church, and the degraded recovered church. The initial church had its continuation in the suffering church; the suffering church turned into the worldly church; the worldly church became the apostate church. Hence, the first four churches eventually issue in one kind of church, that is, the apostate church, the Roman Catholic Church. Then the reformed church, as a reaction to the apostate church, came into existence as another kind of church, a church not fully recovered. Hence, following this, the recovered church was raised up as a full recovery of the proper church life. By the degradation of the recovered church, the degraded recovered church became into being. This may be counted as the fourth kind of church. All these four kinds of churches will remain until the Lord comes back. Undoubtedly, only the recovered church can fulfill God's eternal purpose, and only she is what the Lord is after. We must take the Lord's choice. (a) Rev. 2.7 (b) Rev. 2:7 ----- Robert W. Johnson Computer center, The University of Turku, Turku Finland robert@kontu.utu.fi (InterNet) robert@firien.bitnet (BITNET) The preceeding is my opinion and may not express the opinion of my employer and furthermore has nothing to do with my employment.