17 Dec '15 04:48>1 edit
The seven letters to the seven churches are prophecies concerning the development and history of the church from the time of Jesus ascension to the time of His second coming.
This is very brief. But for in depth reading, I recommend the book The Orthodoxy of the Church by Watchman Nee. What I am going to share to a large extent comes from my study of that book. There are other messages which also helped me learn these things. IE. The Life Study of Revelation by Witness Lee.
So what links the last four prophecies together as one group ? What links the letter to Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea into one group is the closing two verses for each letter.
For the first three churches - Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamos the first there is the exhortation for those who have an ear to hear what the Spirit says and then there is a promise to those who overcome. But in the last four churches - Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea there is first the promise to those who overcome and THEN the exhortation to hear what the Spirit says.
The switching of the order of these two common themes group the seven churches into a group of three and a group of four. We feel the grouping is intentional. And the last four are together to emphasize that these four situations of the Lord's people will exist at the same time on the earth at the time of the second coming of Christ.
These four characteristics of Christians will exist on earth at Christ's second coming:
The apostasy of Roman Catholicism.
The partial Reformation of Protestantism.
The recovered churches of brotherly love.
The proud fallen recovered churches.
Believers should examine their own lives with God to seek the Holy Spirit's guidance as to how we can be overcomers.
All this has been shared as ground work needed to understand how the Mother of Harlots with her daughters can be overcome.
This is very brief. But for in depth reading, I recommend the book The Orthodoxy of the Church by Watchman Nee. What I am going to share to a large extent comes from my study of that book. There are other messages which also helped me learn these things. IE. The Life Study of Revelation by Witness Lee.
So what links the last four prophecies together as one group ? What links the letter to Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea into one group is the closing two verses for each letter.
For the first three churches - Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamos the first there is the exhortation for those who have an ear to hear what the Spirit says and then there is a promise to those who overcome. But in the last four churches - Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea there is first the promise to those who overcome and THEN the exhortation to hear what the Spirit says.
The switching of the order of these two common themes group the seven churches into a group of three and a group of four. We feel the grouping is intentional. And the last four are together to emphasize that these four situations of the Lord's people will exist at the same time on the earth at the time of the second coming of Christ.
These four characteristics of Christians will exist on earth at Christ's second coming:
The apostasy of Roman Catholicism.
The partial Reformation of Protestantism.
The recovered churches of brotherly love.
The proud fallen recovered churches.
Believers should examine their own lives with God to seek the Holy Spirit's guidance as to how we can be overcomers.
All this has been shared as ground work needed to understand how the Mother of Harlots with her daughters can be overcome.