CHAPTER 2

(A.D. 96)

EPHESUS

¹Unto the Angel (pastor) of the Church of Ephesus write (the Ephesian Church represents the Apostolic time period, which closed out around A.D. 100); These things says He who holds the Seven Stars in His Right Hand (all Pastors belong to the Lord, that is if they truly are of the Lord), Who walks in the midst of the Seven Golden Candlesticks (Christ is the Head of the Church [Col. 1:18]);

²I know your works (repeated to all Seven Churches; it implies Divine knowledge), and your labour, and your patience, and how you cannot bear them which are evil (which have departed from true Doctrine): and you have tried them which say they are Apostles, and are not, and have found them liars (presents the Doctrinal soundness of the Ephesian Believers):

³And have borne (they set a course, and did not deviate from that course), and have patience (continued to believe when things were not going well), and for My Names sake have laboured, and have not fainted. (They were diligent in their efforts, and would not quit.)

⁴Nevertheless I have somewhat against you (something is wrong, despite their zeal), because you have left your first love (not lost your first love, but rather left your first love; it refers to a departure from the Cross, and is so serious that it will lead the Church to ruin unless Repentance is forthcoming).

⁵Remember therefore from where you are fallen (this means they fell from Grace, which means they had stopped depending on Christ and the Cross [Gal. 5:4]), and repent, and do the first works (go back to the Cross); or else I will come unto you quickly, and will remove your candlestick out of his place, except you repent. (Christ is the Source of the Light, but the Cross is the means. They are to come back to the Cross, or else the Light will be removed.)

⁶But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate. (The word Nicolaitanes means laity-conquerors. They are Preachers who exploit the people instead of spiritually developing them, which all false doctrine does. The Lord hates this, and so should we!)

⁷He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the Churches (the Holy Spirit is saying that the Church must come back to the Cross); To him who overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. (The Christian can be an overcomer only by placing his Faith exclusively in Christ and the Cross, which gives the Holy Spirit latitude to work.)

SMYRNA

⁸And unto the Angel of the Church in Smyrna write (refers to the Martyr Church, with the time span being approximately from A.D. 100 to about A.D. 300); These things says the First and the Last (Christ is the Beginning of things referring to Creator, and the End of all things referring to His total and complete control), which was dead, and is alive (refers to the Cross and the Resurrection);

⁹I know your works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but you are rich) (Smyrna was poverty stricken outwardly, but the Lord proclaimed them spiritually rich; the Church at Laodicea claimed to be rich, but the Lord said they were poor) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not (from this Verse we learn that God doesnt consider Jews who reject Christ as truly Jewish), but are the Synagogue of Satan. (The worship of Christ-rejecting Jews is concluded by the Lord to be Satanic.)

¹⁰Fear none of those things which you shall suffer: behold, the Devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried; and you shall have tribulation ten days (is believed to represent the ten major persecutions Rome hurled at the Church of that day, spanning about 200 years): be thou faithful unto death, and I will give you a Crown of life (many paid with their lives).

¹¹He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the Churches (the Spirit is saying that, at times, there may be suffering); He who overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death (refers to the Lake of Fire [Rev. 21:8]).

PERGAMOS

¹²And to the Angel (Pastor) of the Church in Pergamos write (referred to as the State Church, which laid the groundwork for the Catholic system; its timespan was approximately A.D. 300 to A.D. 500); These things said He which has the sharp sword with two edges (a symbol for the Word of God);

¹³I know your works, and where you dwell (dwell spiritually), even where Satans seat is(Satan had become part of this Church): and you hold fast My Name, and have not denied My Faith (despite the terrible condition of this Church, some were holding fast to Christ and were continuing to look to the Cross), even in those days wherein Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwells. (This persecution came from within the Church.)

¹⁴But I have a few things against you, because you have there them who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the Children of Israel, to eat things Sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. (This Church was committing spiritual adultery, meaning they had shifted their Faith from the Cross to other things, with money being the underlying cause, which refers to the State Church.)

¹⁵So have you also them who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate. (At Ephesus, it was the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, and now its the doctrine. This refers to unscriptural Church Government, which grossly exploited the people.)

¹⁶Repent (come back to the Cross); or else I will come unto you quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth. (This will bring to bear the Word of God, the part that speaks of Judgment.)

¹⁷He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the Churches (the Spirit is saying that all Church Government must, without fail, be Scriptural); To him who overcomes will I give to eat of the hidden Manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knows saving he who receives it.(This refers to the fact that Believers shall receive a new name, in harmony with the perfect renewal of our being.)

THYATIRA

¹⁸And unto the Angel of the Church in Thyatira write (called the Papal Church, signifying the beginning of Catholicism; it began about A.D. 500 and continues unto this hour); These things saith the Son of God, Who has His eyes like unto a flame of fire, and His feet are like fine brass (presents Christ in the role of Judgment, as He must be concerning the Church going into idol worship);

¹⁹I know your works, and charity, and service, and faith, and your patience (some in this Church, as wrong as it was, continue to love the Lord; the Lord knew who they were), and your works; and the last to be more than the first. (Works are mentioned twice, with the last being in a negative sense, meaning they were depending on this instead of Christ and the Cross.)

²⁰Notwithstanding I have a few things against you, because you suffer that woman Jezebel, which calls herself a Prophetess, to teach and to seduce My servants to commit fornication, and to eat things Sacrificed unto idols. (The Lord is speaking here of spiritual fornication and adultery, which means they had forsaken Christ and the Cross for other things [Rom. 7:1-4].)

²¹And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. (The Church did not heed the Message, and, in fact, continues in their Salvation by works unto this day, which, of course, is false.)

²²Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. (The bed refers to false teachers who taught Salvation by works, which was spiritual adultery. Again, there was a warning to repent.)

²³And I will kill her children with death (speaks of spiritual death); and all the Churches shall know that I am He which searches the reins and hearts (a continuous, ongoing searching): and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. (One can look at the works of an individual and ascertain exactly where their Faith is. True works proclaim the Fruit of the Spirit.)

²⁴But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine (have not succumbed to the teaching of Jezebel), and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak (the teaching of Jezebel was spiritual adultery, which was a departure from the Cross and is labeled here as the depths of Satan); I will put upon you none other burden (meaning their total burden was the opposing of Jezebel teaching, which was a tremendous responsibility within itself).

²⁵But that which you have already hold fast (hold to the Cross, and dont allow your Faith to be moved to other things) till I come (the Rapture of the Church).

²⁶And he who overcomes, and keeps My works unto the end (it is His Works, and not our works; pure and simple, it is what Jesus did at the Cross on our behalf), to him will I give power over the nations (speaks of the coming Kingdom Age):

²⁷And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers (refers to the fact that the Saints of God in the coming Kingdom Age under Christ will rule the nations, not allowing evil to prevail or even to take root): even as I received of My Father. (In the day of His Coming, we shall share in His Power and Glory of Victory.)

²⁸And I will give him the Morning Star. (The Morning Star is the bright planet [Venus], which is most beautiful and leads on the morning the harbinger of the day. This says the coming Kingdom Age will be glorious beyond compare.)

²⁹He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the Churches. (The Spirit is saying that to leave Christ and the Cross is to commit spiritual adultery, which will result in spiritual death.)