Revelation 1 Focus on Jesus not anyone else

We update studies as the Lord Jesus leads us. You can find the latest update of this study at ChurchAges.net

Jesus as the Word is the Supreme Authority

REVELATION 1:1    The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

This closing Book of the Bible tells us that the most important revelation that we can get is Who Jesus Christ is.

We need the revelation of Jesus Christ, not the revelation of some great prophet. John was a great prophet, but he needed the revelation of Jesus Christ. And we can only get this revelation from God, not from some church, not from some man.

Men can speak to you and try to explain things to you but only God can actually make you understand it because Bible mysteries involve higher truths than what our human brains can puzzle out. We need supernatural assistance. God gave this deeper knowledge to an individual, one man, the prophet John. Thus, when it comes to understanding, God deals with individuals, not with a church and their “group-think” mentality. Divine wisdom comes to you as an individual, not as a member of some elect or superior church. True wisdom gives you the revelation of Jesus Christ, not the revelation of some great church leader nor the revelation of some self-elevated church group. Thus, the Bible always has supreme authority over any man’s quotes, because Jesus is the Word of God. Jesus is not today revealed as a Man on earth, He is revealed as the understanding of the Bible mysteries. Only the wise shall understand how He is revealed as He walks through the pages of the Scripture. The wise virgins are mentioned in Matthew Chapter 25.

DANIEL 12:10   … but the wise shall understand.

But John needed an angel to help him with this revelation. Human wisdom alone cannot understand the deeper mysteries of God. We must live clean lives so that angels can come down and feel comfortable in our presence and give us the right inspiration to understand the written King James Bible. We cannot see the angels but each one of us needs the help of an angel to grasp the meaning of the Bible symbols.

A day with God is like a thousand years. So, the 2000 years of church history is only two days in God’s eyes. Consequently, the future prophecies concerning church events will all happen in the next two days of His time. They will shortly come to pass.

II PETER 3:8   But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

REVELATION 1:2    Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

John puts all the emphasis on the Scriptures, the Word of God, and not the quotes of some man. The Scriptures, when revealed, give the testimony of Jesus Christ as they show Him walking through the pages of the Bible. The Bible speaks of great men but the emphasis must always be on Jesus as aspects of His life and ministry were revealed in the lives of these great men. For example, Jonah under the sea in the belly of the whale symbolized the three nights that Jesus was buried in the tomb. If Jesus arose on Sunday morning then He died on Thursday as the three nights would be Thursday night, Friday night, and Saturday night. The Roman Catholic church fooled the Protestants with their "Good Friday", an unscriptural expression. The Protestants never checked with Scripture. That is why John emphasizes bearing record of the Word of God. Show me where it is written in the Bible!

There is no “Good Friday” or “Easter Monday” in Scripture.

The Passover lamb was chosen on the 10th day and killed on the 14th day.

EXODUS 12:3   Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:

EXODUS 12:6   And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.

Jesus was publicly acclaimed on Palm Sunday which had to be the 10th day of the month.

Sunday was the 10th day. Monday, 11th day. Tuesday, 12th day. Wednesday, 13th day. Thursday, 14th day.

Thus Jesus had to die on the Thursday. The churches deceive us when they say He died on a Friday.

John only spoke of what God showed him through His Word. He did not give his own opinion. Until the end, when he twice felt that the angel who revealed these things to him was God in the flesh and John fell down to worship him. The biggest mistake we humans can make. Worshiping the prophet who reveals the Word of God to us. We are warned not to do that. No man in the end-time can be the "voice of God". The expression "voice of God" is not mentioned in the New Testament. John made that mistake twice as a strong emphasis for what we must not do.

REVELATION 19:10   And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Despite being warned not to worship the angel, John repeats the mistake. We humans are slow learners.

REVELATION 22:8    And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.

:9     Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

This false worship happened at the end. Such is the power of this false Deity spirit that makes people want to worship a prophet at the end-time as though he is God in the flesh.

We must keep what we hear from Scripture

REVELATION 1:3   Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

“Readeth” means to read with understanding.

I TIMOTHY 6:15   Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;

We are blessed when we can read the Bible in a way which shows that Jesus is the blessed and only source of power. Supreme King. The only Lord.

LUKE 11:28   But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

If we can hear the Word of God in such a way as to understand It, and then also keep doing and believing what It says, then we are indeed blessed. Keeping the Word is all that can prepare us for the Coming of the Lord. His Coming is the greatest blessing that we can imagine.

"He that readeth". One man, the angel or messenger to his church age, can read the Bible with understanding and thus tell his age what it is that God wants them to believe. Then those who hear what their messenger revealed, can hear with understanding and thereby keep the Word of God. You cannot keep the Scriptures that you cannot understand. The key role of each messenger was to reveal to the people of his age what God required of them. Satan kept changing his tactics and God had to keep teaching the church how to counter the subtle attacks of the devil.

7 churches represent 7 church ages

REVELATION 1:4   John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

God’s message to the churches starts with the word “Grace”. We cannot succeed without God’s grace. And we cannot earn grace as grace is undeserved kindness. Only by obeying God’s Word can we show that we appreciate God’s grace. Only by realizing that Jesus is Almighty God can we fully appreciate Him.

Jesus “is”. Wherever you were born in the seven church ages, Jesus as the Word of God “is” the centre of your faith and hopes because He “was” the perfect sacrifice that paid for your sins. He established the first church that “was” the way He wanted it. Then in the end He wants the church to be the same way that He established it. If you remain strictly Scriptural during your time on earth then you will share in His Heavenly Kingdom “which is to come”, when He returns. Thus, our life on earth must be devoted to producing a personal relationship with Jesus, based on understanding and obeying His Word for our day.

We cannot love Jesus unless we keep His commandments.

JOHN 14:15   If ye love me, keep my commandments.

John sees seven churches in Asia. Asia is Gentile territory. So, God is saying that the Jews have dropped out of His Plan as a nation and God is turning to the Gentiles whom God deals with as individuals. Herein is a warning to the church. When the Jews rejected Jesus as a Man, God turned to the Gentiles. In the end, when the Gentile church rejects Jesus as the revealed Word of God, then God will turn back to the Jews.

Seven is God’s number of completion. There are 7 days in a week. Nobody knows why this works. The French after their revolution tried a ten-day week but later abandoned it as unworkable.

Seven is mentioned 54 times in the Book of Revelation. It is essential that in the end time, we realize that we are part of a seven-fold Church Plan. We cannot just do our own thing. We have to fit into the Bible pattern.

MATTHEW 6:10   Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

:11   Give us this day our daily bread.

Each day, each church age, had to get specific guidance from God.

The seven churches on earth must fit into God’s heavenly Plan thanks to the seven Spirits of God which represent different aspects of God’s guidance to the seven churches as they had to oppose different attacks of the Devil that arose as circumstances changed.

Paul told us of the future ages of the church.

EPHESIANS 2:7   That in the ages to come …

II THESSALONIANS 2:3   Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

The apostles launched the first church the way God wanted it. But after the apostles died, ambitious human leaders would take attention away from Scripture and elevate themselves. Human leadership would cause the downfall of the church in the Dark Ages. Nowhere in the New Testament was a pastor put in charge of a church. Each local church was ruled by a group of local elders, not by one man. Nicolaitan meant conquering the laity or congregation by elevating a holy man above the congregation. The Roman Catholic church introduced that idea.

The church’s growth was an ongoing process whereby they received the Bread of Life for each age as they fought against Satan’s changing tactics. The Holy Spirit had to guide the church through seven changing stages. Our last church age has a flood of fake news and deception which is far worse than any previous age experienced.

Asked about the end-times, Jesus said that we must be careful that no man deceives us.

MATTHEW 24:3   And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

:4   And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

Spiritual errors multiply and mutate like a deadly virus today. There are 45000 different kinds of churches and denominations. Bible truth has to be found in this spiritual morass. But that is not an easy task. It takes a lot of hard work. And few there will be who find it.

MATTHEW 7:14    Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

The way is narrow. We have to stay strictly Scriptural.

REVELATION 1:5   And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

Before we start, John again places all the emphasis on Jesus. During the 2000 years of church history God will use many great men. But none of them can in any way compare with Jesus. Only Jesus is important, no other man however great he was, can compare with Jesus. Christ is the Word of God. He alone is the faithful witness that never failed and never said anything wrong. Jesus alone is infallible. Jesus was the first Man to ever resurrect from the dead in a glorified physical body. No other religious leader ever achieved that. A prince is the successor to a king and will take over when the king dies. When the kings of this earth are destroyed at Armageddon, then Jesus will take over as King of the Millennium for the 1000-year kingdom that He will set up.

Jesus loved us before we loved Him. Then of His own free-will, He offered up His own Life as a sacrifice for our sins so that His sinless blood could wash us free from sin. Then the Life that was in His blood, the great Holy Spirit, could come down into us to guide us into all truth and help us to live above sin.

A cross-over effect happened on the cross. His innocence flowed onto us and our guilt and shame flowed onto Him as He paid the price for sin.

There is no priesthood above a Christian

REVELATION 1:6    And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Israel in the Old Testament had an Aaronic priesthood between the people and God. This priesthood failed miserably when Messiah arrived and they murdered Messiah to safeguard their elevated position of power over the people and their Temple wealth. On Palm Sunday and again on the following Monday, Jesus chased the money-makers out of the Temple. That was too much for the Temple priesthood. Their income was threatened, so they murdered Him three days later on Thursday.

In the New Testament church, God wants no elevated priesthood of the five-fold ministry that is above the church.

That is Nicolaitanism. Every saved Christian becomes a priest. There never was a priest above the other priests except for the High Priest. Only Jesus is the High Priest. God wants no preacher, however talented, to be above any saved Christian.

Jesus has made saved Christians into priests and kings. Thus, we are all equal in the sight of God despite some being more talented than others. No man can tell another man what to believe. We can only be persuaded by referring to what is written in Scripture, because the Word of God is our High Priest.

The motto of a saved Christian should be, “Never above you, never below you, always beside you”.

REVELATION 1:7   Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

The world systems end at Armageddon. The Third Coming of the Lamb is when He comes in wrath to judge the world. His Old Testament saints and His New Testament Bride form two clouds of witnesses that come with Him. The nations will be gathered against Israel. When they see Jesus Coming in the air there will be much wailing and lamentation. During great Tribulation these armies of the beast, whose figurehead will be the final Pope, will have killed all the foolish virgins who were the saved Christians who missed the Rapture that caught the wise virgins up to Heaven. The foolish virgins were fooled by their elevated church leaders into believing unscriptural doctrines. But because they were previously saved, when great Tribulation begins, they will see through the evil of the Catholic church beast and the confederation of the non-Catholic churches which is the image of the beast. Then, when it is too late, they will find the courage to stand up against their churches and ministers and pastors, and be killed. These one-man church heads will speak with the authority of the political powers that will back them up. Their political authority will enable them to persecute and kill all opposition. Notice, today, how the politicians want abortions and same-sex marriage so the non-Catholic churches have accepted these issues.

Two-thirds of the Jews will be killed in the 3.5 years of great Tribulation. The one-third that will survive will be scared when they see Jesus coming as they will realize that the Jews did kill their Messiah. But they will be spared and will go into the Millennium or thousand years of peace.

ZECHARIAH 13:8   And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

REVELATION 1:8   I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

John again puts all the emphasis on Jesus. Especially since the seed at the ending of the last church age that is harvested is exactly the same as the seed that was planted in the beginning. In between, the church plant will go through different stages but the beginning and the ending will be the same. They are the two important stages or church ages as they alone have the truth.

But Jesus was in the church all along. He is present today to guide us through the flood tide of false beliefs that sweep through the churches. In the end, he will take over because the final church eventually captures the revelation that the first church had, which is that Jesus Christ is Lord God Almighty. The in-between ages were fooled by the Trinity belief where the Trinity God had no name. You cannot find one name for three people.

John was twice exiled to Patmos

REVELATION 1:9   I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

After the death of the apostle John which was around AD 100, ambitious men began to promote the Bishop to be the head of the church in a city. This elevation of a man above the congregation was not done in the New Testament church as the local churches were ruled by a group of local elders.

Thus, John refers to himself as a brother, not as an apostle, to stress the equality of brotherhood in the church.

The apostle Peter referred to himself as an elder when he wrote to the elders who should rule the church. He also stressed equality rather than the elevation of a man with a ministry.

I PETER 5:1   The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:

:2     Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;

Peter spoke out against preachers who preached for money and gain.

John was exiled to Patmos, a prison island in the year AD 64 when Nero, the Emperor or Dictator, began to persecute the Christians.

“Companion in tribulation” gives us an idea about the persecutions that the early church had to endure from the pagan Romans.

But they realized that Jesus was in charge of the kingdom and thus with great patience they endured all the opposition and bloodshed. Roman law required political prisoners to be released when the emperor died. Thus, John was released in the year AD 68 when Nero died. Part of the Book of Revelation was written during that time when he was on Patmos.

REVELATION 11:1   And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.

The Temple stood until AD 70 when the pagan Romans destroyed it. So, this was written before AD 70.

Pagan Rome was a Republic that was ruled by the Senate. No one person was in charge as a Dictator. Then Julius Caesar came to power and declared himself Dictator for life. He adopted his sister’s grandson Augustus who declared himself Emperor. From then the pagan Roman Empire was ruled by a one-man-Dictator called the Emperor.

REVELATION 17:10   And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.

Five pagan Roman emperors or dictators from the famous Caesar’s family had died and fallen. Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius.

“One is”. That was Nero who died in AD 68 which ended the line of Julius Caesar.

Then a general, Galba, seized power but he was killed after 7 months, which is a short space.

So, John had to be on Patmos just before AD 68 to describe Nero as “one is”. Nero was still alive when that was written.

In AD 81 Domitian became emperor. He was a cruel and ruthless dictator and years later demanded to be worshiped as a god. He then exiled John to Patmos again as a political prisoner. Then John continued to write the Book of Revelation. When Domitian was killed in AD 96 then John was released. By then he had completed the Book of Revelation. John was the only man who was spiritual enough to choose which letters or writings of the apostles should be chosen as the New Testament Scriptures. That is why he could say at the end of Revelation that nobody could add or subtract from the Bible. John had written the final portion.

REVELATION 22:18   For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

:19     And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Never ignore or change or delete or add any word to the Scriptures.

Great Tribulation is the Day of the Lord

REVELATION 1:10   I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

The Lord’s day is a  time of wrath and destruction of human systems and churches.

It is scary to note that when John begins to describe the church ages he starts with the scene of punishment and destruction that is known as the battle of Armageddon.

God’s wrath against human leaders and their foolish followers who have so polluted the truth of God’s Word.

A trumpet speaks of urgency. Its note is a strong, startling, and awakening warning. We must take careful heed. Stay with Scripture or perish. This Revelation was written at a time of talented but ruthless pagan Roman dictators who ruled because they were driven by the love of power and money. God wanted the church to be ruled differently. When a man is elevated as the head of the church then he too becomes a dictator. That is a pagan spirit. Today, the Pope is the only dictator in Europe. He is called Pontiff, the High Priest of the Babylonian mysteries. Church-goers are easily fooled.

SEVEN CHURCH AGES BOOK   CHAPTER 2   PATMOS VISION

The Lord's Day is when the days of man are over. The kingdoms of this world will then become the kingdoms of our God. The day of the Lord is when the judgments fall, and after that comes the millennium.

The Lord’s day is the 3.5 years of great Tribulation when God pours out His wrath.

That is when human leaders will be overthrown and their fooled-followers punished.

ISAIAH 13:6   Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.

JEREMIAH 46:10   For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.

The King of the North, Russia, will come down from the North and attack Israel. They will be slaughtered as a sacrifice. Few will escape.

Russia, ruled today by the ruthless dictator Putin, will be destroyed at Armageddon. Putin illustrates how pointless it is for a nation to be ruled by a dictator.

Dictatorship by having one man in charge is not God’s Plan for the church.

EZEKIEL 39:1   Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:

Meshech sounds a lot like Moscow, the capital of Russia.

Five out of six Russians will die at the end. So much for being led by a dictator.

EZEKIEL 39:2   And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:

The New Testament deals with Gentile cities

REVELATION 1:11   Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

Gentile churches were chosen because the Jews had been cut off at Calvary. The future lay with the Gentile church.

Each city would describe the nature of a future church age.

These were seven cities on a postal road that started at the port of Ephesus and ran along the coast of Asia which was later called Asia Minor or Turkey and then turned and went inland.

The coastal cities had been dominated by pagan Greeks who had elevated Alexander the Great to being a god because he conquered the Persian Empire.

When pagan Rome conquered the world then Pergamos led these coastal cities in a deep and long-lasting worship of the Roman Emperor. Worshiping a man as a god was the spirit that dominated this area. That spirit would enter the church.

Again, the emphasis is on the first and the last. Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet and Omega is the last letter.

It is as if the Bible’s truth started at Ephesus and then the church moved away from the truth until the biggest mistakes were made at Pergamos. Then things slowly returned back to the same level at the last city of Laodicea as what they were in the beginning at Ephesus.

Each city represented a church age.

At the third church age of Pergamos (AD 312 – AD 606) Satan infiltrated the church under the Roman Emperor Constantine. Then one man, the Pope, became the Universal Bishop and ruled the church as a Dictator, just like Julius Caesar had done to the Roman republic. The church embraced politics and paganism in order to attract pagans into the church. The church accepted unscriptural words like Trinity, Christmas, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Archbishop, Pope, 25 December, Mass, Lent, Monks, Nuns, Holy Water, sprinkling of babies, Sign of the cross, eating the wafer at mass is the literal body of the Lord and that is what saves a person, etc.

This invasion of unscriptural error turned out the Light of the world. Without that Light, the church fell away into the Dark Ages. Elevating the Pope made him feel that he could forgive sins, which only God can do. Then the Pope was called infallible. God alone is infallible.

Paul warned the first church age that the day of the coming of Christ would not happen very soon.

II THESSALONIANS 2:2   That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

II THESSALONIANS 2:3   Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

First, the church had to fall away in the Dark Ages into a mess of corruption. Then Martin Luther revealed the Pope to be the man of sin.

“The antichrist” is an unscriptural statement. Antichrist is a spirit, not a man.

I JOHN 4:3   ... and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

REVELATION 1:12   And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;

John turned to see the voice.

SEVEN CHURCH AGES BOOK   CHAPTER 2   PATMOS VISION

The voice and the person are one and the same. Jesus is the WORD.

… if you can ever get to really see the Word you will be seeing Jesus.

The Jews saw Jesus as a Man. The church sees Jesus as the revealed Word of God that they can understand.

Thus, William Branham is not the Voice of God, because he is not God.

Brother Branham is the voice of the seventh angel. The messenger to the seventh church age.

The Body of Christ which we can see on earth is the church that He has built up over seven church ages out of the living stones of born-again people.

The seven candlesticks all burn from the same oil as the Spirit of Christ sustains the churches in each church age. Only the seventh church age, our last church age of Laodicea, is condemned for chasing Jesus, as the revealed King James Bible, out of the church. In the last church age, it is individuals who are outside the self-elevated churches who gather together in a network via the internet that are able to find the truth.

REVELATION 1:13   And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.

Priests wore a girdle around their waists. A different ministry wore the girdle around the chest and shoulders. Jesus is in the midst of the church as a Judge.

"In the midst" has a double meaning. First, Christ was always in the midst of His church, whichever age they were in. Only the guidance and strength of the Holy Spirit could sustain the church in their endless struggle against Satan’s changing tactics. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ in His church.

All the candlesticks burned from the same oil, which is the Holy Spirit.

Candlesticks have a lasting quality as Christ was always in the midst of the church. Candles burn out quickly.

SEVEN CHURCH AGES BOOK   CHAPTER 2   PATMOS VISION

The original outpouring of Pentecost (which outpouring came direct from Jesus on the Mercy Seat) is enduing His Church through all the seven ages, and showing forth perfectly that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever, the never changing God in His essence and His ways.

The Spirit of Christ was always in the church. He had to guide the church to cope with the changing tactics of the Devil.

SEVEN CHURCH AGES BOOK   CHAPTER 2   PATMOS VISION

Each church age messenger is depicted here. His life is on fire with the Holy Ghost. His wick (life) has been immersed in Christ. Through that wick he is drawing the very life of Christ, and by it gives out light to the church. What kind of a light is he giving? The very same light that was in the first lamp that was lit.

… Not only can we speak thus of the messengers, but every true believer is dramatically depicted here. They are all drawing from the same source. They have all been dipped into the same bowl. They are dead to themselves and their lives are hid with Christ in God. They are sealed in by the Holy Ghost. Ephesians 4:30, "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."

… The inner, invisible life is hidden in God and fed by the Lord's Word. Satan cannot touch them. Not even death can touch them, for death has lost its sting; the grave has lost its victory.

Each church-age messenger did the best he could to bring the church back to the light of the central candlestick which is the New Testament. But the deeper mysteries were lost after the first church age when humans became the head of the church. The mysteries would only be revealed to individuals in the last church age when local elders ruled local churches who desired to be Scriptural. Whenever a man becomes the head of a church, Jesus has to move out of that church. A body cannot have two heads.

There is a second meaning to Christ being in the midst of the candlesticks.

Only the middle candlestick had the full truth. That was the church that was established by the apostles. That is the only church age that Jesus recognizes that is Scriptural. Any deviation from the New Testament will be punished by the Judge. Woe to the church leaders who lead their people away from what is written in the New Testament.

Consequently, it is not enough for us to be in the seventh church age. We have to move from the seventh church age to the first church age if we want the truth. That alone can give us the direction that we need to move in. If we stay in the seventh church age then we have 45000 different kinds of churches and denominations to choose from. An impossible choice. As well as having over 100 different versions of the English Bible to choose from. Another impossible choice. We can only grow in the Spirit if we move from the seventh church age towards the first church age as the King James Bible gets revealed to us. Back to the teachings of Saint Paul, who was the first church age messenger.

There are seven notes in music.

Doh, ray, me, fah, soh, la, tee. But these seven notes do not sound complete until the first note "doh" is repeated at the end.

Doh, ray, me, fah, soh, la, tee, doh.  The last note must be like the first note. The last church age must become exactly the same as the first church age.

Jesus is the final Judge

REVELATION 1:14   His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

The white woolen wig of a judge. Jesus is the Ancient of Days that Daniel saw. Grey hair speaks of age, white hair speaks of wisdom. Jesus is crowned with wisdom.

Preachers claim that the Ancient of Days is God the Father. But “God the Father” is never mentioned in the Old Testament.

JOHN 5:22   For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:

JOHN 12:48   He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Jesus is the Word of God, and we will be judged by the Word of God.

Jesus, as a Man, is the Son of God.  He will judge us as He shared our human condition and has much wisdom. But He will also be our Advocate. The two separate ministries of Judge and Advocate unite in Jesus. Daniel Chapter 7 shows this as Personification. As though a ministry is a Person. As the Judge He is strict about the Word of Truth. As an Advocate, He is understanding about our human frailties as He paid the price for our sins. We will get a fair trial but He will be strict because His eyes burn like fire. No sins will escape His attention. All must be accounted for. God hates sin because sin wrecked His beautiful Garden of Eden.

God hates sin because the penalty of sin was so severe. Jesus suffered the torments of hell as he hung on the cross.

REVELATION 1:15   And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

As the scapegoat, when He died, He carried our sins down to hell and dumped them on the Devil. Hell was designed to burn up sin. The fires of hell could not touch His sinless body. Brass was the symbol of judgment. His feet had walked through hellish hot fires but they could not burn Him.

Water symbolizes multitudes and nations. On Judgement Day the voices of all those who spoke up to warn against sin and unscriptural error will cry out against each sinner that heard them and ignored the warning. This will be a roar like an approaching cataract of doom.

Yet calm water with the sound of its relaxing ripples is like hearing and believing the written King James Bible as it is revealed as a haven of rest that speaks of peace, joy, and contentment. The blessing of the stimulation of revelation that comes from understanding the water of the Word.

7 men manifest the power and truth of God

REVELATION 1:16    And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

The right hand speaks of power. The bright sun shining speaks of power.

MATTHEW 26:64   Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man

sitting on the right hand of power,

and coming in the clouds of heaven.

These seven messengers had no power of their own. The success of their ministry was the fact that Jesus held them securely in His own right hand of power.

However much you may praise a messenger, just remember that the man is just a star in the right hand of Jesus. Thus, Jesus is infinitely more worthy of praise than that messenger-star.

No names are mentioned for these stars. So, the focus is not on them. The focus must remain on Jesus who used these stars in their respective ages and gave them the necessary power and insight that was needed to achieve His goals for that church age.

SEVEN CHURCH AGES BOOK   CHAPTER 2   PATMOS VISION

From the Ephesian Age on down to this Laodicean Age

each messenger brought the message of truth to the people, never failing to keep it the Word of God to that particular church age.

Each one held to it. They were steadfast in their loyalty to the original light. As each age pulled away from God, His faithful messenger turned that age back to the Word.

Their strength was from the Lord or they never could have stemmed the tide.

They were safe in His care, for nothing could pluck them out of His hand, and neither could anything separate them from the love of God, let it be sickness, peril, nakedness, famine, sword, life or death. They were truly yielded to Him and kept by His omnipotence. They were not concerned about the persecution that came their way. Pain and derision was but cause to give glory to God that they were counted worthy to suffer for Him. And in thankfulness for His salvation

they burned with the light of His life and reflected His love, patience, meekness, temperance, gentleness, faithfulness.

And God backed them up with wonders, signs, and miracles. They were accused of being fanatics, and holy-rollers. They were denounced by organizations and held in mockery, but they kept true to the Word.

These seven stars were inspired by the Spirit of Christ to understand their portion for their day and age.

Saint Paul as the master tent maker sewed together Law and Grace as he combined the Old Testament with its fulfillment in the New Testament to form the two sharp edges of the sword of God’s Word that comes out of the mouth of Jesus as the Voice of God.

60-0804  AS  THE  EAGLE  STIRRETH  UP  HER  NEST

We know the Bible is right;

that's not my voice; that's God's voice, speaking

A prophet and apostle cannot compare with Jesus

REVELATION 1:17   And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

John was an apostle and a prophet. He had lived with Jesus for three and a half years. He had written five Books of the New Testament. These are exceptional achievements and could rate John as a great man. Yet, in the presence of Jesus, he became nothing. Trying to compare some man to Jesus is a complete waste of time. Saying that some man is Christ in the flesh is fake news.

51-0413  THE WORKS THAT I DO BEAR WITNESS OF ME

What's any of us? Nothing, but what God would let us be. And it's all in the grace of God. So, let's look to Him, praise Him, and associate with our brother.

REVELATION 1:18   I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

Why are we all nothing? Because we all face death and will die if Jesus tarries. But Jesus has faced death and He rose again. So, He is the only One Who knows what He is talking about. He speaks from experience. He has been through the fiery furnace. If He tarries, we will die and only then will we discover where we still had it wrong. But He will never die again and thus there is nowhere where He ever has anything wrong. Thus, we must listen to His Voice, the King James Bible, in our day.

The great mystery of God

He is the First and the Last. The New Testament was written to the first church age and we must be restored back to the New Testament in the last church age. This restoration back to the beginning of the church ages is the great Mystery of God that the churches have missed as they develop their different doctrinal opinions that cannot be proven just from Scripture. Thus, the last church age gets spewed out of the mouth of God. He judges one thing mainly. Are you Scriptural?

REVELATION 1:19   Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;

The things that were past were the influence of the apostles as they established the New Testament church.

“The things which are” was the present state of the church as they were at a vital decision time. With the apostles gone, would they have the courage to stay with what the apostles had written as the New Testament or would the church slowly be fooled into believing the error that was starting to be spread by self-elevated church leaders?

“The things which shall be hereafter” are prophetic utterances about the future church events.  These showed the decline of the church into the Dark Ages and then the slow restoration of truth. Then the last age would see individuals getting back to the New Testament beliefs but the churches lose the plot as human opinions and traditions replace Scripture.

SEVEN CHURCH AGES BOOK   CHAPTER 3   EPESIAN CHURCH AGE

But we have discovered that the Word also teaches an invasion of error until there is a complete blackout of truth in the last day when the Lord is about to appear.

REVELATION 1:20   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.

There is a great mystery attached to the seven stars and the seven candlesticks.

Nature describes the mystery. The seed that is harvested is exactly the same as the seed that was planted. Thus we have to get back to the beliefs of the New Testament church.

To achieve that, God inspired a messenger to each of the seven church ages. His job was to keep his age as Scriptural as possible.

Angel in Greek is “angelos” which means a messenger.

The mysteries of God are too deep for our human wisdom.

Each messenger needed an angel to come down from Heaven to inspire him to understand the Scriptures for his day so that he could guide the church for his specific church age. But the final goal was always to get the last church age to believe what the early first church age believed in the New Testament.

Each Bride member today also needs angelic help to be able to understand the revelation of the mysteries of Scripture.

The first church baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. They never celebrated the birth of the Lord. Local churches were ruled by groups of local elders. One man was never elevated to be the head of the church. They never referred to Good Friday. They stayed out of politics. They did not divorce and remarry. They did not allow women to teach or assume authority over men.

They never elevated a prophet to be the Son of man.