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Revelation Review Part 3- Rev 2 · Journey Elgin

• riverside edit phillip — take 02 journey church of e: It's good to see you today on our Wednesday edition of our summing up the redeemed idiot teachings from a couple years ago, right? I guess it started a couple years ago. Well, January two years. Yeah. It's crazy crazy to think about it. Someone skipped out and was tardy for another. Yeah, someone decided to take a vacation to Saudi Arabia. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. As one does. It was beautiful. It's hot, sunny. And the government paid for it. Yeah, exactly. Free travel expenses. So my my name's Philip Thomas. A little sandy. But my my name's Philip Thomas, pastor of Journey Church here in Elgin. And this is Tom Burns with his ministry Redeemed Idiot. And we are doing this kind of revelation recap of the of the first six chapters of of Revelation. There's gonna be one of these every Wednesday up until the the end of this year, and then in January you're gonna start teaching again on on Wednesday night. So you can find this on Redeemed Idiot YouTube page. You can also find it on the Journey Church of Elgin, our YouTube page, or we have a church app that you can see it and there's kind of a media section. We have a revelation where all of these are and then you can also just you can find it at any of those places. So what we're trying to do now is sum up Revelation one through six. Right. And the last couple of weeks we've been in Revelation chapter one, the the introduction and introduction to this vision. And if you remember John is talking to an angel, or then he's also hearing Christ, right? And and he starts describing Christ using lots of different terms. And we talked about this last week. Just about every one of those terms is going back into the old testament, pulling things out, right? And I I mean, there's like thirty different ways or something that I think all of chapter one, you have to go back and watch the video, the very first one obviously. But if I remember and the summary of chapter one, but if I remember right, I put it up on the board. I think in chapter one alone, that Jesus Christ was described thirty-one different ways. Different ways. In his job and what who he was. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So and the the voice of the r many rivers, the the the wool, you know, hair like wool. You know all of those are things that were in the old testament, what we call the old testament, that was pointing people to Christ. It was talking about Christ in that time and is talking about Christ right now. Exactly. So that brings us the reason I say that, that now brings us to the point where John is transitioning. He's he's done the introduction that basically establishing this is all about Christ. And now he's going to talk about these seven churches. And that the these seven churches, what John is going to do, he's going to explain what's going on literally in ninety-four AD at all of these seven churches. So for us today, it it it could be that he's writing to First Baptist Church in Elgin. And then he's also writing to First Baptist Church in Austin. And he's writing to right, so he's writing to specific churches and and he's addressing issues that are going on in those churches in ninety something AD. Correct? Okay. What's also important, and this is we we believe, and I think scripture points to this, that Christ is not telling John just to write this down so that those churches will learn what's best for them. He's writing this to all of us. So all of the issues that we're going to discuss in these seven churches are issues that you will see today and deceptions that we can fall into today, right? So we need to be on guard of them. There is also a prophetic aspect to this, right? And and so so John has already introduced. the big picture ecclesia, the church. Now the seven churches are individual churches that are part of the ecclesia that John is now using to kind of explain and show what's going to happen to the church as a whole as it moves throughout history. Is that a fair way to say that? Exactly. So so do so as we go through y you'll see that the t kind of timeline of church history in these seven churches. Now, y you may say, you can't interpret it that way. That's not what was intended. Well, okay. Except that that is how Christ interpreted the Old Testament, right? He took verses from Isaiah that talked about a child will be born, and you will call him Emmanuel. Right? That at the time that Isaiah wrote that, It had a literal meaning for that time, right? And that there would be a child that would be born and would actually become a king. Right? It so it it it it applied to that time. However, what did Jesus do? He also said it's two things at once. It's talking about that time frame, but it's it was also talking about me. Well, if Jesus took takes that interpretive approach. To the the Old Testament. And then he tells us to be paying attention to the signs of the times. Don't you think we can take the same kind of approach to revelation that Jesus also took? Right? And that that's why I think it it is right to look at the historical aspect of these seven churches, of how it is explaining. the larger church, the universal church, the ecclesia, right? And so that's how we're going to to approach this. You you want to add anything? I just think it's important to understand it's talking about something that's happening right then and that's applied to them today. The principles apply to us today, but there's also the prophetic aspect to it. Yep. Yeah. Exactly. And y when you mentioned the interpretive approach. So In g in case someone's like, why is Jesus interpreting his own words? So if you look Daniel's a perfect example, all right. Daniel had visions and an angel would come to him and interpret it for him. Like this is what this all means and says. And when you and I I know people have a problem with the whole concept of the churches represent a church age of to this point about two thousand years. But that's why you want to kinda go back and listen because we'll break all down. And you can see the literal at the time, but then you also see the historical aspect. And then I'll be talking scientifically, artifactually, written records of how that's actually speaking of periods of time that we've gone through over the last two thousand years that's leading us up to today. It's just it is what it is. And that's how we let the word, the Bible, tell us what it wants to say, not me trying to tell you what it wants to say. And It it's not easy. I had to do a lot of research and a lot of stuff to make to understand that's talking about this church at this period of time in our history that existed that we actually have in our history books. And so yeah, it it it is the the period of about two thousand years is those seven churches it's talking about and seven specific churches at the time that it was being written. Yeah. It's just fascinating how it links that way. And what's really fascinating is the order of the churches. Right. If these churches would have been any other order It would not have made any historical sense. And yes, but that was a point I was just gonna say. And do you think just mind you, in ninety something AD, right, whenever John was writing this, do you think there were more than seven churches? A lot more. A whole lot more. just look at look at just look at the Bible and what Paul wrote. There is like a book to it's called Thessalonia. That's talking to the church of Thessalonica. Yeah. That's another church. And there's a lot more, but that's an example. Classic. And it it's interesting that The other than Ephesus, so Ephesians is Ephesus. Right. But other than that, none of the churches that Paul started, you know, are even mentioned in this. So so again, maybe just open it up to the possibility that maybe it wasn't a random set of seven churches. Right. Right? Maybe, and especially because this is not John. This is not John. Sensing what Christ is telling him to write down. No, he is very specific. He is being instructed by the Savior of the world. He is being instructed by him. I want you to write about these seven churches in this specific order, right? And then when Jesus says, I'm giving you signs of the times, okay, it's it's not wrong to interpret it that way, right? And and Because people get really, really passionate about the way that they approach revelation. And if you're kind of one that that says, it's ridiculous, I think it's horrible that you would even consider the fact that these seven churches are laying out some sort of a history of the church, right? No, it no, it makes sense to do that because this is not just random stuff. All of it is important. and it came from Christ. So, all right, that kind of sets up. getting into the churches. I I believe that's an important conversation to have. So let I'm gonna just quickly go through we'll we're we'll take two two episodes to get through all seven churches. At least that's our goal. I could do a church a week. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't remember how we're Four years later we get to the episode. So so the the first Revelation chapter two, the church in Ephesus. So it says to the angel of the church in Ephesus. So again, every one of them starts with an angel. Remember that's basically the passage, the pastor, the the messenger. The the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. Again, who is that? It's just Christ. Revelation one, chapter one tells us who it is. It tells us who it is. It's Christ. So it says, I know your works, your toil, and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not. and found them false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my namesake and have not grown weary. All right. So the the first thing that we see is is a a lot of times is a commendation. Right? So this is very clear in this this church. So so what is what is Christ commending the church for in this in this place? Well on who they are, what their belief is, their works. They are following him. I mean there there is a commendation. And I I just I don't know if we mentioned it last week when we I don't remember how we if we how we introduced the churches if we did. Yeah, yeah, we could be started to. But just in case we didn't say this, what's interesting about all seven churches, there's a certain type of pattern pattern or outline that every church goes through the way w talks about Christ and accommodation, they'll go down to warning and all the other things. They all have this certain comment this certain outline to understand it. In a very specific, easy way, and it applies to all churches, which makes it interesting. But that way when you're reading it, it's not like this jumbled thing of words. You can actually go, okay, here he's talking about this, these verses about this, these verses about this. So you can actually break it up in your head and help understand what it's actually saying. Yeah. Yeah. And so in this case, what they're being commended for is their patient endurance. Yeah. Right. So he's acknowledging it's not easy, right? The church is just getting started. People think you're crazy, right? You're you're telling them that, hey, this guy who was walking on the earth for 30 something years, got crucified and then he came out of that tomb and walked out of the tomb. Right? That that's a fairly crazy thing to say, right? So you you have to patiently endure because y there's gonna start being pushback, but this is the early church stage. What happens right away? Immediately as the as the church starts to be formed, what starts to happen? Persecution. Persecution. The Stephen is martyred, right? Pa what who we call Paul was Saul back then. What was he doing early on? He was persecuting Christians. And he was there when Saul or when Stephen was Martyrs. Yes, that's right. And and so so what the this is writing to that church in Ephesus, but it would have applied to the the believers of that time. Yeah. Right. That, hey, you're going to have to patiently endure. This is going to be tough. And and I also love how it says, and you cannot bear with those who are evil, right? They're recognizing that they're set apart, that they are citizens of a different kingdom. Right. And and and so they're to me, the fact that they're commended on that. means that's that's something important for us to do. Yeah, exactly. We need to recognize the evil that is out there. Right? And they're they're doing that. But but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not. They recognize that there's people that are trying to deceive, cause division, right? They're recognizing all them and they they're pointing out. That's a false teacher. Yeah. So essentially that that's essentially what they're being commended for. Yes. Basically. And Just to be fair and understand, because we we use this word loosely when it when it talks about those who are evil. We use that in a kind of a loose term, but to understand the concept of of evil and what is being spoken of, and this is biblical through, is those engaged in idolatry. In idolity. Yes. Meaning following something that is not Jesus Christ. So an ideology, another God, a statue, whatever it is, that is evil because it is anti-Christ. Yes. Yes. Yes. No, that's a very important it's it's not just talk it's not necessarily talking about individual sin. Right. Individual sin is ultimately a result of the evil of idolatry. Right. So once you start following a false God, and it can be yourself, it can be different ideologies, whatever, that inevitably will lead to behavior that is sinful. Right, right. Yeah. Yes. Yeah, exactly. Yes. Something that's not of Christ. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. And that 'cause a lot of people just think, someone who's just satanic or no no, it doesn't work that way. If you are not pro for Christ and have him, then you are following or living in something that is evil. And that is what is the idolatry part that he is he is calling out. Right. Yeah. And and they're recognizing some very practically what that would look like is they they see these pagan practices Of going and and worshiping the god goddess Artemis and they're recognizing that's evil. Yeah. That's not godly. That that is going after a false god. Exactly. So they're commended for being able to recognize that stuff. And and it and then it says it again, I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake. So Christ acknowledges that by standing up for him, it makes it harder for for us in this fallen world. Yep. Right. And so he's commending them. Thank you for doing that because that's what I called you to do. Listen, becoming a Christian does not make your life easier. It actually makes your life more challenging. It also makes your life much more rewarding. And it for sure will make your life much more rewarding after we reach the end of our life. Right. Right. But but don't make the mistake. And this is one thing that we've in in our current age. that unfortunately many people teach is that become a Christian so that your life will be easier and that you No, no, no, no. That's not it. That's why he's saying here, thank you for patiently enduring. Right. Okay. And and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. So they they're in it. They're they are living it. Then it says, but so there's always a concern, right? But I have this against you. That you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen. Repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent. Okay. So that that's the main this is the main issue. They've lost their first love. What what's going on here? What what have they done to It's a good question. So To make this as easy to understand without going obviously in depth. So when you when you read this, because there's nothing specific written, it's just first love. What's my talking about you? I mean, so this is where we c consistently talk about the answer to anything you want to know in Revelation is within the rest of the Bible. So this is called the Church of Ephesus in a town called Ephesus. So there's a couple places this is actually talked about. One of them is Ephesians. Yes. And the other one is Timothy, which really it gets more explanatory in this, but only if you understand the history of the town. And you mention the name Artemis. So Artemis was a female goddess. And what was happening at the time in this town, at the time it was written, and what Paul was writing to Timothy at the time, this is what this is referring to. So in Ephesus, what was happening to put it in simple terms? Yes, there was a first love. The church was growing that The ecclesia, the followers of Christ was growing, it was becoming bigger, but yet there was this pagan goddess, and there was other female pagan goddesses, but this is the big one, that was infiltrating, if you will, the church and getting men to believe in false teachings, false things that about women about their belief, their pagan belief. But we're not gonna go into depth on this. And this is if you go back to I use Timothy as example to what Timothy or what Paul was saying to Timothy on on what the church is doing, the problem is having, it wasn't, and I made this very clear, it wasn't an anti woman thing. They need to sit down, shut up, be barefoot and pregnant. There was a problem because of the women in the churches that were coming around. A were trying to lead men the wrong way. Yes. Or some just coming from this pagan belief that did come into the church didn't know all the truths yet. And if they were allowed to if they were talking or allowed to talk, what was happening is they were misleading men and misleading the people. All right. And that was causing them to lose their first love. They're starting to follow some incorrect ideologies, which was a false teaching. So that's where that comes from to understand the first love was this, but you're letting some pagan idolatrous stuff enter into your church. Yes. And people are starting to believe some of the wrong things. You're s you're practicing doing the wrong things. Stop doing that. And that's his point of why he is saying this. Yes. And he's saying, you know, repent and do the works that you did at first, right? Exactly. Hey, just what's right. Don't let these outside influences come in. Right. So does that apply to churches today? One hundred percent, right? And and so we we see that. So it meant something for this church was specifically happening to the church in Ephesus. Exactly. Right? But it also applies to today, but it also is po pointing to a time period of church history, because all the churches were dealing with this type of stuff in this time period. Yeah. Right. Because pagan religion That was the norm. Yeah. When we're talking even when Christ came out of the gr came out of the tomb, Christianity didn't exist until then. Everything was pagan or Jewish. Yes, yes. One or the other. So yes, it was very big, and that's where the disciples come in. You need to bring those pagans and those Jews to believe the truth of who I am. So they were fighting an uphill battle at the beginning. And so yes, these pagan religions No, no, no, it's not Christ. Let's go tell them our religion. Let's infiltrate, let's change them. Yeah, that makes sense. That's what anybody would do. I need to change the way you believe. I don't like what you believe. So and the fact that the fact that it uses that term patient endurance over and over is a perfect example because what are the temptations as and and you see this kind of especially with Paul and his writing, he got very disheartened that the Jewish people were not in mass recognizing that Jesus was the Messiah. Right? Correct. And and so he he was he got he got very frustrated with that. What what what human nature does is that you have a love for those people. It would be very easy. Hey, can I tweak this message a little bit to open the door for more of those people to be able to to come on board? Yeah. That would be a temptation, right? But what Christ is saying, no, patiently endure, hold on to your first love, right? Because that same temptation to maybe open the door a little bit so Jews would be able to come enter in would be the same way whenever you fell in love with the people of Ephesus. You want them to be able to come. And so so maybe you open the door. You know what? That that little practice that you believe about Artemis, you know what? You can actually bring that in here with you, right? No. Christ is saying, no, don't do that, right? Patiently endure. Don't give up. Keep moving forward. And it's also an indication that, hey guys, y you're not gonna see the success that you want to, but you're planting the seeds of my church and and it is going to explode. But no none of the people during that day were gonna see the explosion. Exactly. And what I just wanna further illustrate something you're mentioning, because we're talking about Ephesus, what's going on, what was happening, we're talking about Artemis and and the the pagan culture is going on. What's interesting when Paul is writing to Timothy. Timothy is not the pastor of the church. And within Timothy, it mentions, it talks about the problem with the way the church church is being ran. And he's telling Timothy, hey, you need to go talk to your pastor, dude, that he is screwing up and allowing these things to happen. And then interestingly, when you're reading here in Revelation, he's talking to the pastor of the church of Ephesus, which is historical and everything, that hey, You're doing something wrong in your church. Get back to where you're supposed to be. Yeah. So it really points to that direction. There's a leadership problem, there's an infiltration problem. There's a pagan problem. There's an idolatry problem. And there's just an allowance problem. But if you are in the terms of a church, the leader, you're the one that's got to control this and get it right. Yes. It shouldn't be your little bishop down here yelling at you. You know what I'm saying? So it it it it all it's cool how the Bible just kind of answers its own questions and marries itself. It's like, wow, these two things are saying the same stinking thing. Well, what the heck? Yeah. Wow, Revelation has some support. That's right. So so we have the the commendation that they're enduring patiently. they are still doing the work of the Lord. They're trying to sh they are showing that's still good things going on. But they're they're opening a door to problems. And so so Christ is saying, hey, close that door. Right. Which is idolatry. Which is idolatry. And then It says verse six, yet this you have, you hate the work of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. So just real quickly, big picture, who are the Nicolaitians or Nicolaitans? So well, we're gonna get more obviously more into this, but Nicolaitans there is no people group, anything back in the day that actually had that name. There wasn't some people called the Nicolait and wasn't some secret society. Not some secret society, none of that. They weren't wearing cool rings and anyways. But no, no. So it is it's a compound word. Nicolait is someone that is over a laity. So there's a hierarchy, like I'm the authority, I'm the high priest, I'm whatever. I'm over the people. And that's where it comes from. It just means over the people. Yeah. Okay. Conquering the people. Yeah. So so again it It's an institutional type word, right? It's like a if if you work for a corporation, you have a you can go find the organizational flow chart, right? And it'll have the CEO, then it'll have the C and and it'll show the hierarchy of how that organization runs. Exactly. This type of word is in that vein, right? Of hey, there is a hierarchy, there is an authority over. the the laity or over the the people. So it's and and it's interesting that Jesus is saying, I'm glad you're not doing that. Right. So so what wasn't happening in Ephesus, the the and and in the church in that time is the pastors in that church, they weren't they didn't see themselves as some greater authority and that has all this power to rule their their followers, right? They weren't Doing that. No, exactly. But this word is is associated with that, and we will see it come up again. Which is why we that so so then it ends in a very common way through nearly all these churches ends in something like this. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. So it's this idea. what what is that idea? He let the one who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. So in most simplistic terms, and like you said, all seven churches actually end in this phrase with the let this let let he who has an ear so every one of them really what it's talking about, what it's saying is it's it's distance yourself or not being part of idolatry. Yes. Which is all those things we talked about. That's all what it is. So All these idolatrous things that are happening in your church in this community, whatever you want to paraphrase that in, is don't practice these things that are idolatrous, that are not of me. Yes. Yeah, no, and and and that's actually a very hopeful thing. So, you know, if if you find yourself in a church today that that starts to to teach things that kind of y sounds weird. For example, one th this is a fairly modern thing. There are churches now who like celebrate in June, we'll celebrate a cultural thing that's attached to Pride Month, right? There are churches now that that will join in that cultural practice. Okay. I I believe that's we shouldn't shouldn't do that, right? And so say you're part of a church that starts to move in those types of directions. The good thing is is you have an ear to hear. You don't have to follow the idolatrous practices That all churches are subject to if we're not careful. Right. Right. So ultimately it it comes to your choice as an individual. You're not gonna be judged based on what your church is doing. You're gonna be judged on you and whether you're practicing ide idolatry or not. Right. Right. And that's and since it does mention let everything you're saying and let he who hasn't hear, in order for these things to happen within a church. There has to be false teaching. Yes. And that's why the very first opening to each church, he's calling out the pastor, basically, the person behind the pulpit. And goes to okay, here's the good things, here's the bad things, you here's your warning, change, or bad things are gonna happen. And every one of them always end with the concept of something that has to do with eternal salvation. If you turn away from this, so don't partake in idolatry, ideologies, whatever that's not of me. And beware of the false teachings that's leading you there. Yes, yeah. And then you'll be okay. Yes, and that yeah, and and he uses the descriptor he uses here to the one who conquers. So the one who stays faithful, right? Who does not give into idolatry, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is the paradise of God, right? So we will be with God forever. Right? And again, those are also terms that have been used in the rest of scripture. Yes, shocking. Okay. So so that time frame, if you will, is the early church. Right. It's the the time of the apostles. Yeah, w essentially. In in a historical context, it's it's understood as being the apostol apostolic age. Yeah. And that goes to the point where it's believed right around 100-ish AD is when Paul or Paul, John died. So that was the last of the apostles. Yeah. So that ended that age. Even though other things were going on. That's just how the age thing. And they blend. It's not like you can look and say Okay, and August 21st of nine ninety-nine AD is when the next age starts. Yeah, I there's a there's a blending here. Yeah. You can see where things start. Even this going into the next church you're gonna be talking about, that if if this is based on the apostolic age, John died at 100 AD. So that would be and then we're gonna go into a different concept of an age, which is gonna be the Church of Smyrna. Doesn't mean that all of a sudden the Church of Smyrna started that time. Right. It already existed. It's just the dominant type of church, the apost apostolic age church where the growth was happening, the apostles were doing their thing and discipling in certain churches. That was that period of time. Yeah. But what's you're gonna read next was still happening before that. It just wasn't as dominant until now because the apostolic age is over and something new is more dominant, if you will. Yeah. So S Smyrna says to this, and the angel of the church in Smyrna, right? The words of the first and the last who died and came to life. Again, all this is is saying this is Jesus. Mind you, why is that? Why real real quick, why would John be using that kind of language? Because the reason that he's imprisoned on Patmos is because he's been talking about Jesus too much. So if he's writing something and the people watching look down and they see the word Jesus all throughout it, what do you think they're gonna do? They're gonna confiscate that. They probably may just get rid of John, right? And so so John is using language that is very clearly talking about Jesus. But if you didn't have the knowledge and the understanding of the connection back to the Old Testament, of what we call the Old Testament, the scriptures of that day, you wouldn't put those things together. That's a lot of why he's writing like this, correct? yeah, that's yeah, exactly. So you gotta think this is this is a Roman thing, and obviously they're more pagan and they didn't want it at different different times of persecution, you know, this like, you're following Christ, you believe in this dude, okay. I mean, it it's understood that John was boiled in oil, lived through it, and now he's on an island, so life really kind of sucking. If they were to find this kind of documentation, this guy hasn't learned from being boiled in oil and has not learned from making big rocks and little rocks and all the things, the probably next course of action would be to just simply kill and disregard, burn, whatever. And this message we never got out. So there has to be something a heck of a lot more well, we're just gonna make it we're gonna use a lot of symboliza symboliz symbolization. Symbolism. Symbolism and and things, but so that but all of it can be referenced to the rest of the scripture that has been written. Yes. So that when this is given out They can go, okay. It doesn't sound like it makes sense, but since I do understand the rest of the other we'll just use the word Bible. Yeah. I understand what it says. Right. Because those Roman soldiers would have had no clue. Yeah. No, that so I I just think that's that's important for us to to note. There's a reason it it it wasn't written this way just so that we would be really confused two thousand years ago. No, it actually would not have been near as confusing back then. Not that time wouldn't have been. And it wouldn't be as confusing for us if we actually knew our scripture better. No, exactly. So if you take even if this let's just hypothetically say that about 100 AD, this book, this revelation, made it to the churches. They're even spoken up in here. Let's say it went. And if those pastors and preachers and whatever what you want to call coming from a Jewish community was reading this, they'd already know what was said in the Jewish community in the Jewish Bible and the Torah and everything like I know what this is actually saying. So they would be teaching it correctly with an understanding, just not knowing when things were gonna actually happen. Right, exactly. So all right, I I think that's just because we see that we see that in every church, right? The words of the first and the last. Well don't read more who's the first and the last? Jesus. Actually tells you that in Revelation one again. Again, yes. So then verse nine, I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich. And the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Ooh, we could go down a lot of rabbit holes with that one. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. And then it it then The conclusion. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who kn conquers will not be hurt by the second death. Okay. So this is this is interesting. This is the second church. It does not have any correction to it. it only has commendation and encouragement. Mm-hmm. So so what's happening? We right at the beginning, this is talking about tribulation. So tribulation and poverty, slander. So so what what's going on literally, right? So literally this is what we call the the the the period of the persecuted period, yeah. The persecuted church. Exactly. And most people it is taught that this is the period this Christians just being killed left and right. That was happening, but since the word tribulation is used, and this kind of goes to the ten days pie piece, but since the word tribulation is used, it doesn't necessarily mean they were killed. It means they were going through something harsh, meaning there was something set up in place to make their life hard because they're a believer. And it could be as simple as We you we won't hire, you can't have a job. But that's why the term poverty and it's actually in the language literally, you have no money, you are broke, you are destitute. You're you're not being allowed to participate in the economic system. Exactly. So they were having problems during this period of time. And interesting just real quick. Yeah. And the slander. Right. The the Christians were blamed for burning down Rome. Christians were blamed. They said that they were, you know, cannibals, right? All all of the they were facing all of this during this time. Exactly. Is that what that's talking about? Yeah, exactly. So that is the tribulation. And in tribulation, it can actually mean literal martyrdom, where you were actually truly literally killed. And just to what we had talked about a minute ago, so this didn't like just all of a sudden happen like we were talking about the ages. The Apostolic Age round one hundred didn't just all of a sudden start at one hundred. No, it was already existing since Christ. All right. It's just now the Apostolic Age, the church is growing, now it's already starting to really blow up. And it eventually truly blows up at a certain period of time. Yeah. Yes. But but so we're we're looking at around one hundred AD to mid two hundreds, to kind of that time frame, right? That of of of this This time frame of the persecuted church. until it's actually the literal year is thir 313 AD. And there is a literal reason why that is a literal reason. And then I want to, yeah, because so we're talking about persecution. It does, let's just real quickly, it says, a slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. This is not saying that all Jewish people are now the synagogue of Satan, necessarily. No, this is this talking mostly about your Pharisees, Sadducees, your and your your high priests, the things within the Jewish community. They would report to or go to synagogues. And because they hated Christ and hated cr Ju Christians, I'm sorry, they would get together inside the little synagogue and they would come up with ways and plans to get r help get rid of Christians because they kind of married themselves or buddy buddy with Rome. And as we study this, you'll see there's certain places and towns, and I'll just make one Side elaboration on this. There's a point where you had to go and take a pinch of incense, drop it in and say Caesar was Lord. And if you didn't, you could be persecuted at certain times, kill for it if you did not do it. So Christians, persecuted ones that were not doing this, could be killed. But who was reporting them not doing it were the Jews. The Jews had a pass that they didn't have to do that, that Rome, because they were playing ball together, is like, okay, you can worship your God. That's fine. Mm-hmm. So this is the synagogue of Satan part. They look like the good guys, but they were just as bad as Rome because they were out there persecuting and telling on the Christians, Hey, those guys aren't over there doing the pitch and saying that Caesar is Lord. And then the Rome would come and go, you don't think Caesar is Lord? Yeah. You're dead. You're you're gone. Yeah. Just as an example. Yes. So and then it it it keeps going, do not fear, behold the devil is about to throw some of you in prison, right? So and then it says, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Just real quickly, this is just fascinating, is that you can actually look at the official times of persecution, right? When when one of the Caesars or one of the emperors actually said, go persecute. And there's ten Caesars who did that, right? That literally had edicts and stuff like that. So you think that's that's what that's referring to there, correct? Right. I I I don't think. And so no, you're right. It it it is there's ten because the term days that throws people off. if living in that time and you think it's a literal ten days, okay, a week and a half, I gotta get through. I guess I'll go hide someplace. Week and a half's all I gotta get through. But when is that week and a half? It's not true. And and because we don't historically take a good Snapshot picture and understanding, we just generalize this period of time from Christ to it is 313 AD, that this is like they're persecuted every single day all the time. That's not true. So to go back and find this in the language, and this is even in the same language in the Old Testament, the term days is not talking necessarily talking about 24 hours of a day. You have to look at the context of the verse that comes in and what it actually means. It's a period of time. Can it mean a day? Yes, if you're talking about the time of day. But this actually can ta is can be and is talking about a time that someone rules. Yes. And you see this mostly a lot in the Old Testament. So in the time of Nebuchadnezzar. Or or you could even say in the day of N Nebuchadnezzar. Or the I'm sorry, days the one I wanted to use. Yeah. In the day. That did not mean a single day of his throne, it's his empowerment. Yes. That's when he was the king. That was considered a day, the day of Nebuchadnezzar. So the same thing happens here. It doesn't change. Then now you have these emperors. Well, here's the interesting thing. When I was going into this trying to figure out this 10-day thing, and I and because there's a there's a there's a verse, there's well, as there's some scripture, and I I can't remember, it might be Matthew, that actually that Christ says something that's talking about future. That's gonna be coming under rulers, there's gonna be a persecution under rulers and kings. I'm like, when? But obviously that it actually answered this. So I'm like, is this talking about people that are leading? Is that what this this day thing is? So yes, I did do a study, and at first I was like, this shouldn't be too hard. I'm actually like, this ain't gonna be it, but I'm gonna look anyways. Been the biggest problem was I think it was like there's 54 emperors during all this time. 54. four. I don't know nothing but maybe four. There was not a lot of job security in being an emperor. Yeah. Definitely not. So, long story short, I did a study on all these emperors and what I found was that there were ten emperors that there's there's once off and I'll explain it really quick, but there were ten emperors t emperors that that established an edict, a law, a rule saying you will persecute Christians or you well Yeah, you're gonna persecute Christians. Or it doesn't always have to be killing them. Right. It can be like, hey, we are just gonna do this and do not give them a job, do just mean things to them and disregard them to the extent of killing based upon which emperor is in. And a lot of times this the reason why this would happen was these emperors are realized that the Christians are growing so much over their pagan beliefs and stuff, causing problem. Ooh, we need to eliminate some were like extreme, we need to eliminate them. Yeah. Others Then when now when this would happen, a new emperor would come in and go, hold on, we we're we're dividing our country again. This is hurting our economy, whatever the reason was. And they'd actually put an edict out that says, No more persecuting Christians, treat them right. Most people don't understand that. But when you go back, you'll find that there are ten period days or a day of certain emperors that was s state sanctioned persecutions. State sanctioned persecutions. There are two that are different. So I'll just to be fair, go back and watch the the video and I gotta break all this down. The first one under Caesar Augustus. He did not have an edict to kill Christians. Why? Because there wasn't Christians at the time until Jesus died. But interestingly, in order for Pontius Pilate to kill him, Jesus Christ, that had to be okayed by the emperor. You cannot go against if the emperor's like, don't kill nobody, and you kill somebody, you're no longer the governor. But he stayed governor because it was he was okayed to kill Christ. And then just shortly after was Stephen. Was killed a Christian. So under that emperor, yes, there was the allowance of a persecution to Christians. It just wasn't written in an edict. One other one didn't actually write an edict to kill Christians. He was actually kind of a passive, weak emperor, but there was a governor, I think, in the town that was having problems with Christians and he needed to get rid of them because of what was happening in his town. So he wrote a letter to this emperor saying, This is what I want to do, et cetera, et cetera. I'm going to Whatever the letter saying, but in the persecution. And he responded back in writing, yes, go ahead and do what you need to do. So it was authoritated again by the emperor again. So a state sanctioned a persecution. Exactly. And this happened ten times. It ten in the day of Nero, in the day of Domitian. Yeah. There were ten different days of persecution till three thirteen AD. Yeah. There's your ten days and answers all the persecution and this period of time that did exist. And you can go back in history and look this all up. Absolutely see it. Yeah, it's very, very fascinating. So then churches that are being persecuted, that are literally being wiped out by people of the Islamic faith that are trying to get rid of Christianity there. That's just what it is. So again, this the church in Smyrna, it applies to what was going on then. It applies to a time period of our history of of of history. And then it also points to hey, this still is going on today. Yes. Yeah. So I I think we can wrap these two two together. We're going to try to wrap Pergamum and Thyratar. So about ten minutes we can do. All right. So then you get Angel of the Church in Pergamum, right? the words of him who has a shark, two edged sword. Hmm, where did we hear that phrase before? yeah, Revelation one. Who was that talking about? Jesus. Okay. I know that you dwell where Satan's throne is. Whew. Very interesting. They're literally archaeology has found a throne that was called Satan's throne. Where did they find it? In Pergamum. Who knows? Maybe this is all just coincidental. Yet you hold fast my name. You did not deny my faith, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was killed among you where Satan dwells. But I okay so. Real quickly, what where are they dwelling? Where is Satan's throne? This is what they're being commended for, is that that they did not deny their faith, even though they're in the midst of of this area. Right. So are you talking about the w where Satan's throne was or how you're so what are they being w what's going on here at Pergamum? What what are they dealing with that that they're being commended for not denying their faith? What are what are they up against here in Pergamum? Not well they're not done in mind the faith in Jesus Christ. Right. Right. Am I misunderstanding the question? No, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I just so whenever it says, I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is, what is that what is that talking about when it talks about where Satan dwells? W what is the connection with that and Pergamum and Yes, Pergamum, as you said, the archaeological find. And even in the time, this is talking about Rome and this place was within the Roman Empire. Yes. And one of the things that's really interesting historically when when people would ask where Satan's throne was or where he dwelt, and they actually a lot of times referred to it as Babylon. There's a whole nother teaching on that. They would point to Rome. They believed that the emperor was not literally Satan, but that was Satan's throne, which the Bible does tell us and you see in Revelation that Satan is the ruler of the kings of the earth. The emperor is the king of the earth at the time in Rome, because that was what was known as the earth, and therefore that's what they would point to. And they're not falling into that pagan idolatrous trap. That exactly. So what what's happening here is Rome and Christians have now, they've made it through the persecuted stage, even though there's still some stuff going but but really there's now been an edict that says you can't persecute Christians. Right. And Christianity is now the dominant faith in the Roman Empire, right? Yes. But so they're but they're still living within the Roman Empire. Right. Which is not is not godly, right. but now they are they are the majority. And so they are encouraged, they're commended that they're not denying their faith. Okay. They are still believing in Jesus Christ, in whom Rome killed. Right. So talking about that a little bit, right? And and so it's saying, Good, you you you're not allowing Rome to fully pull you away from Christ. However, here's the danger. Says, but I have a few things against you. You ha you ha you have some there who hold the teachings of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. So just all this is talking about. Is idolatry, correct? So what just real quick, what Balaam, he was the Balach was a a a pagan king, right? Wanted Balaam to curse the Jewish people. Right. Balaam didn't do that because h he he knew he couldn't. God wouldn't allow him to do that. Right. But he did do something. He gave Balach tactic. What was that tactic? Yeah, he gave advice and a tactic. And that was essentially Yeah. It's funny how this works throughout all history, to use women. To use the women to get to go in to the to the the Jewish people and get them to come over and hang out and let's party but to eat of their gods, to sacrifice the the animals to their gods, which now is idolatrous. And that is just because the one word, the word sexual immorality, just be just to be understandable. That word here, you it's hard to see it, but when you look at the word is actually perneo in the original language. And it can have two contexts. It can mean either like sexual immorality, like we would vision in our head, or it also means basically if it it's it's not sexual immorality, it's committing adults adultery against Christ, which means you're denying him. Yes. So that's what was happening, and that's what Balaam had done with Balik. Hey, just get them to do this. They're committing what we would call sexual morality. By language, but it's really just to commit adultery against Christ. Yeah. Yes. And I and I think that's very again, all of this, the the main danger here is the idolatry. It's it's following someone other than Christ. And and and this w sexual immorality, a lot of times that was directly connected with pagan worship, right? With sexual immorality. So so that's what would happen is is Balaam told Balak, Hey, just just start start using and infiltrating with some of these idolatrous ideas, and then that's gonna naturally lead to the behavior that is ungodly. Right? Because you have now you you've now began to to essentially worship something that is other than God. Correct. But it doesn't mean you that sexual immorality is what was used. No, no, no, no, no. okay. Yeah, because When you go back and read about Balak and Balaam, you do see that there were some of the Jews would sleep with the women of the other side. So you can classify that sexual immorality, but it wasn't talking about the act of doing something. No. Because many of the Jews she could just walk over and bat her eyelids at you, like, hey, come on over here and let's eat like, okay, I'm gonna follow you. That it was the act of eating flesh of the animals. To their gods. That was the participating in the idolatry. Yeah, that is actually what that is actually talked about in context. Yes, yes. So it so he continues that. Then so that's a he has a problem with that. So also you have some who hold the teachings of the Nicolaitans. All right. So now so now they are starting to become more hierarchical. Is that a safe way to say without going too deep into that? Yep. Okay. And then it says, therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches, to the one who conquers, I will give hidden manna, I'll give a white stone, which real quick, a white stone, that was how you you either That's how trials were done back then. We have twelve jurors, they all either say I yay or nay, basically. But back then you to a black or a white stone, and if someone was guilty or not guilty, black was guilty, white was not guilty. What this is telling us is Christ is tossing in a stone. You are not guilty. If you follow me and you're not idolatrous, I'm yeah, you're not guilty. And then it says that with a new name written on that stone. That this is we see this the Lamb's book of life. We have that your name is now written in with him. And so you will be res will be saved. Now yeah, let's go ahead and real real quickly, 'cause again, if you want even more detail, it's hard for us not to go into too much detail because we're trying to get through this, but you can go back and watch. They they're labeled especially under all of on your YouTube page, you can go back and find exactly where talked about Pergamum and Thyratire and if we go deeper into that. Yeah. There's a lot of detail on these. there there is. And so real quick the th Church of Thyrotire. Pergamum is that period of you know, Constantine si signs the Edict of Milan to stop The persecution of Christians. That was in 30, 1380. Yes. And this is going into the four hundreds to where in the four hundreds, now you're going to see a move in church history of things becoming very institutionalized and very formal, right? The church be starts to become that's what we're going to be talking about in Thyra Tyra. Yeah. The church is becoming this universal institution. Right. So Thyatira, as you're saying, that that actually became official, if you will, into what it was was in five ninety AD. Five ninety. So between three thirteen and five ninety, this this church program or this type of church in our history was the dominant church. And what it is, it's it's it's literally mean the the marriage of churches. So pagan belief and Christian belief were marrying together to become one. Though pa though Rome was still the dominant aspect, but they were marrying two different religions together. Is what he's talking about, and that's where they're getting involved in the idolatrous stuff. Yes, yes. Thank you. Don't do that. Yeah. Mm-hmm. So we get to Thyra Tara, says the angel of the church, words of the Son of God, who has eyes like flame, feet burnished bronze. Again, directly on I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed your first. So just real quick, this this is the only commendation here. So I know your works. They do have love. They they have faith. They are believing in in Christ, right? They they have they are patiently enduring, but your latter works exceed your first. So what what is he talking about here? So let's just put it in true context. This is now going into the point of what the Catholic Church is. And that this this church comes from Pergamon when they married two things together. Big we go into this in great detail. And now this is coming into the Catholic Catholic Church age. This is when that yeah. This is when it really became dominant. It's the the Roman Catholic Church. Yeah. Everybody knows everybody. They they dominated for about a thousand years. Mm-hmm. So that's our period of history. So that is the church that's being talked about now. And what was the question? I'm sorry. So no so you're right. And your latter words exceed your first. So this is really interesting, because as we talk about it and we've talked about before, it would almost seem like it was like a like we're coming out and just chastising the Catholic Church. And that's not what is because what even Christ is pointing out here is what we would know as the Catholic Church. And even back then what they were like. Their services, their works. And that's why we go into the thing I understand Catholic Church does amazing things globally. The hospitals, the soup kitchens, the education centers, the things for kids, old people. It's insane. When you think of social services today, nearly all of them originated with the Catholic Church. Going back to this time frame of getting those things instituted. Exactly. It was a slow process, yes, but they have done more to just help humanity physically and things like that than than than any other group for sure. Right, exactly. So those works have become their massive thing to un to see them. But unfortunately, those works are what brings salvation. So the original. was like it was more about Christ, but now it's become about things. And we go into a lot of depth on this, but he's like, Hold on, guys, just because you're like today's world, you're globally huge and you do massive things, that is not the point of salvation. And and that and and so if you're Catholic, this does not mean that that that you have elevated works over Christ, but we see that and and any church is can can fall down that that of course rabbit hole. Right. Is about Christ and salvation in him. Works are a result of that. And if you if you invert that, you you're walking a dangerous line. You're really open yourself up to idolatry. Right? Because you can all of a sudden the works can become what's most important. And guess what? You you can be completely pagan and do good good works like that. Exactly. So so that's what we're seeing. So verse 20, but I have this against you. You tolerate that woman Jezebel who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality to eat food sacrificed to idols. So real we don't have to go I know many people think that this is strictly a sexual behavior thing. That's not you read about Jezebel in the old testament The sexual behavior was a result of something much bigger and and evil, right? Right. And with Jezebel, because we we we tend to believe that she's a whore, a harlot, a prostitute, and all that and committed adultery against her her h her husband, the King Aab. Yeah. But that I'm sorry, you're not gonna like this, but that's kind of something that the Catholic Church has created an indoctrination to and we that's what we believe and you see it in movies and you hear about Jezebel. The reality that's not even true. There is no historical evidence, no biblical evidence that she even committed adultery against her husband at all. What she did, because okay, yeah, she, I'm sure she influenced, maybe sexually, to get her husband to worship Baal. And because he was the king, he got others underneath him in the in the Jewish community, Israelites, to worship Baal. Again, idolatry. But again, this word sexual morality here has to be Worshiping something other than Christ. Yes. It's idolatry. This never had anything to do with sexual immorality. This is Christ pointing out, what's happening is you are committing idolatry. Yeah. The and Jezebel, who led s somebody, got somebody to do something to tell other people to do the thing which is sexual immoral or I'm sorry, was idolatry. Again, it's about idolatry against which comes down to false teaching. Yes. Yeah. So again we're I th I do think that that's a we have elevated sexual sin above other sins, right? And and that it and and we've used sometimes passages like this to justify that. We are not saying that there's not sexual sin. Yes, there's sexual sin. However, the biggest you can commit sexual sin, and guess what? You can be forgiven for that. If you practice ideology and you go to your grave. You cannot be forgiven for that because you have you're worshiping a false God and you will be separated for God forever. There are people who have committed sexual sin. By the way, 99.99, no, 100% of people have committed some sort of sexual sin. You can receive salvation through Jesus Christ in forgiveness for that. Okay. Right, exactly. The more concerning thing and the main point of this is. is the warning against the idolatry. It is against the the worship of other gods or the worship of other things other than Jesus Christ. Exactly. That that that's perfectly stated. And that's why as I'm going through Revelation, I'm not teaching this on a life lesson thing. I'm just teaching what it says. And and now I just remember I can never remember the exact term for behind behind the word porneo. It means spiritual fornication. Yeah. That's what it actually means. So, yeah, everything you said is right, but this is not talking about sexual morality in any way, shape, or form. It's talking about idolatry. And that's the big point Christ is making is to focus on me and not the things of the world. Whatever that is, I have to be number one, not in an arrogant way, but I am your salvation. I am your redemption. Believe and follow me. I will take your sin away. You will get to live forever. If you don't, it's gonna be a bad day. Well, he does say he is a jealous God. Right? We are either allowed Yeah, back in the old testament. We're either all in for him or or we're practicing some sort of an ideology. No, that that's no, that's exactly what I was talking about in Deuteronomy because some of the Jews were turning to doing what the the the the pagan god people doing in Canaan. Yeah. And he's like, Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, dude, I told you, do not be doing this. Yeah. Yeah. So it so then content, Behold, I will throw her onto a sick bed and those who commit adultery with her, I will throw into great tribulation unless they repent of her works. So Essentially, this is just saying do not give in to the temptation of Jezebel, which is idolatry. Mm-hmm. Right? Yep. And I know there's a lot of detail. There's a lot of detail, but I'm make one little thing that maybe people might want to go listen to. When it says of her works. Mm-hmm. All right. And meant we are talking about the Catholic Church. And we are, you and I and we talked, we are just honest. Yeah. All right. So like we said, we built up. Catholic Church is awesome what they do. There are Christians and true believers in in Christ in that religion. But there is a problem within the within Catholicism and where it comes from and the works that they do behind the scenes, not even behind the scenes, they're in the forefront that are very pagan, that are very idolatrous. We won't go into depth on this right now, but I would say if you're interested in a little bit of Catholic church history, jump on because actually their church history didn't start. In the three, four, five hundreds, it actually comes back to about six hundred years before Christ even existed. Yeah. Yeah. To where it built from. And it it's important to understand because I was in the same world I wasn't Catholic, but I went to church and I'm listening, I'm learning things that are not really true. I don't want to be in that world. Know the truth behind what you are believing because he there's only one true Christ, only one true God, and only one way to worship him. Yeah. And you need to understand that if you do it in a opposition, you are committing idolatry. I didn't write the book. It's his word. Yeah. Need to follow it or else it can get very hot and smoky. Yes. That's right. And that's why it always says, He who has an ear, let him hear. Mm-hmm. Right. So so again, there are many people within the Catholic Church who are good Christians and and believing in Christ. And by the way, there's plenty to bash about the Protestant church in the days to come as well. I will be talking. And just because I'm glad you said that right there about the Catholic Church. We're not talking about Catholics. Right. Right. That's just a title of a person going to a church. And you that's fine. I'm talking about Catholicism. There is a difference. Yes. Just like a Muslim versus Islam. That Muslim is a person, but they are following something called an Islam. But I don't have anything against any Muslims on this planet. They're great people, but the same thing as Catholics. I'm not like calling out Catholics. We're talking about no, we're talking about Catholicism. The religion itself. Yeah. Not the Catholics. And it it's just those those aspects that Satan has been trying to to destroy the church as soon as the church existed, right? And so all of us have to be on guard against that. Exactly. And that that's kind of what this is getting at. That's it. That's what it is. It's it's it don't don't get bit out of shape. Try try not to, but we all do when going through this. So it says but to the rest of you in in thy let's see. And I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am he who searches the mind and heart. I will give to each of you according to your works. Again, that's pretty straightforward that we are we will be judged. But to the rest of you in Thyratara, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, do not lay on on you any other burden. This is getting back to kind of what you were talking about about these. older pagan beliefs that have now been that are part of of the of the church. Yeah. Go back and w go back and listen to the video. It's I think it's two weeks I three weeks I studied just on the the Catholic Church. To be fair, to be honest and have understanding. And it was a deep understanding, but Yes. Yes. Then it says, Only hold fast what you have until I come, the one who conquers and who keeps my word until the end. To him I will give authority over the nations. He will rule with them a rod of iron and when earth and pots are broken in pieces Even I as I myself have received authority from the Father. And I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. So any just quick wrap up here is it's it's it's like every other church. You know, what he is speaking out against to whichever church, he's just pointing out do not practice, do not be part of, don't follow the teachings of these wrong things, but focus on me. And do what I say and follow me and my teachings. Yes. I guess the best way to put it it's really simple. It's not overcomplicated. It's also it it's not designed to disparage anybody's church or anything. It's just saying, look, this is what has happened throughout history. Again, exactly. That's the point. And and and all of us are so are can be deceived. All of us can easily give in to the temptations of Jezebel. And that's not just adultery. That's specifically that temptation is the temptation to seek our own God, to create our own God, to worship something other than Jesus Christ. Yep, exactly. That's what all of this is about. All right. We're gonna stop there. It again, this is fascinating. I love this. I hope that you are drawing closer to Christ through all of this. That's why we're doing this. We're is is it because it's a beautiful picture of what Christ has done in the past, what Christ has done throughout the church age, and eventually we'll get to what Christ is going to do. Right. but it's all about him. It's all about finding redemption in him, making sure we put him first, and that we are aware and awake to the temptations of idolatry that are all around us. Yep. And don't get sucked into it. Yep. All right. Well thank you so much for joining us. We'll see you next week.