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So sit back and watch part two of the Book of Revelation.
The Book of Revelation
Now Revelation chapter 2, beginning in verse number 1, the Bible reads,
unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write, these things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand,
who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.
And then he begins to give the message to the church at Ephesus.
Now if you remember at the end of chapter 1, Jesus Christ had told John that he had a message
specifically for each of these seven specific churches in Asia.
And in chapters 2 and 3 we're going to get into those messages that are tailored to those churches.
Now the whole Book of Revelation was sent to each of the seven churches.
It says in verse 2, I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience,
and how thou canst not bear them which are evil, and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles,
and are not, and hast found them liars, and hast borne and hast patience,
and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted.
So in these first few verses, Jesus Christ has a lot of positive things,
a lot of good things to say about the church of Ephesus.
He talks about the fact they're a very hardworking church.
He talks about their work and their labor, their patience.
And he says how they cannot bear them which are evil,
and that they've tried them which say they are apostles and are not, and hast found them liars.
So here's a church that was good at recognizing false doctrine,
good at recognizing false prophets and false teachers who would creep in claiming to be apostles.
They couldn't bear with them that were evil.
They took a stand against that which was wrong.
And the Bible says that they had not fainted.
They were a church that endured and continued in the faith.
But look, it says in verse 4, something negative,
Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent, and do the first works,
or else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
So in the messages to these churches,
often Jesus Christ has some good things to say about a church and also some bad things to say.
Here they're being commended for their hard work.
They're being commended for exposing false prophets and false teachers.
But he says you've lost your first love.
Now how are they going to get the first love back?
He says, Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent, and do the first works.
So notice, it's possible for a church to get caught up in doing a lot of works,
but it's not the first works.
It's not the works that God wants them to be doing.
You say, what does he mean by that?
What is the first love?
Or what are the first works?
Well, if you think about what the first works were,
when Jesus Christ instituted the church,
and when he set up the church,
what was the first thing he sent him out to do?
He sent him out to preach the gospel to every creature.
Jesus Christ himself said that he was come to seek and to save that which was lost.
And if you remember, he sent out his apostles two by two to go everywhere preaching the gospel.
And then also in Acts chapter 1, when we see Jesus Christ is sent up to heaven,
the last thing he told him to do before he sent it up to heaven was to be witnesses unto him,
both in Jerusalem and all Judea and the Samaria and under the othermost parts of the earth.
Boy, at the end of the book of Matthew, at the end of the book of Mark,
at the end of the book of Luke, John,
they're always being given this commission to go out and preach the gospel to every creature.
That was supposed to be the main goal and the main purpose of the church,
to go out and reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ,
to preach the gospel to every creature, to win souls.
And it's possible for churches to get so busy doing a lot of other works
that they forget their first love, the love of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of people that compels us to go out and win the lost
and to go out and reach people with the gospel.
Now, notice the way to get your first love back is to do the first works.
And by doing the first works, you'll get the first love.
You see, when you're out knocking doors preaching the gospel to every creature,
when you're out winning souls to Jesus Christ out in the highways and hedges,
you know, that's going to put a lot of love in your heart.
You know, when you get out there and you got your Bible
and you're giving the gospel to somebody who's not saved, you know what?
That's when you'll understand what love for the lost is.
But all that to say this, this particular church at Ephesus no longer exists anymore.
This church that was good in a lot of areas but they'd lost their first love,
that church no longer exists.
You couldn't go attend that church today.
You say, well, then that means that this scripture is not applicable.
Well, no, because obviously we could apply this today to any church, couldn't we?
You see, there could be a church today that's a lot like the church at Ephesus
that has lost their first love.
Now, as we see these messages to the seven churches, they had good things
and in many cases they had bad things said about them,
but we can apply those to us and say, well, wait a minute,
if he didn't want the church at Ephesus to lose their first love,
he doesn't want us to lose our first love.
Later on he's going to talk about the church at Thyatira
that had fornication present in that church.
Well, obviously we can look at that and see Jesus Christ's reaction
and anger toward fornication and realize that God is just as angry today
about fornication in a church.
Or later on when he talks about a church that's being persecuted
to create tribulation and trials, we can apply that to our church
when we're going through tribulations and trials.
You see, any church could go through phases in its life
where it's like the church at Ephesus or where it's like the church at Smyrna
or where it's like the church at Pergamos.
These are basically pattern churches where we can look at the things
that were said unto them and apply them to our own churches today.
Now, a lot of people teach that these seven literal churches
were actually ages or periods of time.
Like, I've heard it said this way.
Well, you know, right after the time of Christ was the Ephesus church age.
You know, then we get into the Smyrna church age.
Then we get into the Pergamos church age.
And then, of course, everybody always says we're living in the Laodicean church age,
which is the last of the seven churches that's addressed.
And if you remember, the problem with the church at Laodicea
was that they were lukewarm.
They were neither cold nor hot.
And they say, well, you know, if you look around today at believers,
you know, they're very lukewarm.
They're neither cold nor hot because we're living in the Laodicean church age.
Now, I don't believe in that for one second.
And there are a few reasons why.
First of all, I do not believe in the doctrine of what's called the universal church.
You know, this teaching that basically says that all believers in the whole world
make up what's known as the church.
You know, if you study what the word church means in the Bible,
it means congregation or assembly or a group of people.
So if the word church means a congregation, you say, well, prove that that's what it means.
Okay.
Well, in Hebrews chapter 2, it says, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.
Well, that's a quote from Psalm 22 22 when he said,
in the midst of the congregation will I sing praise unto thee.
When he quotes it in the New Testament, it becomes in the midst of the church.
So you can see that whenever he quotes a verse in the Old Testament that uses congregation,
in the New Testament he uses the word church.
Why?
Because a church is a congregation.
And so people are congregated.
That's what a church is, an assembly of believers.
Now, let me ask you this.
Am I congregated or assembled with all believers in the world, with everyone who's saved?
Absolutely not.
Of course not.
Now, when we get to heaven, we will be.
You know, when we're caught up together with Christ in the clouds,
we'll be assembled with all believers.
But at this time, all believers are not assembled.
But we do have local assemblies, don't we?
The church at Ephesus, the church at Smyrna, the church at Pergamos,
the church in Tempe, you know, the church in Sacramento,
the church in, you know, Dallas, Fort Worth.
It doesn't matter where, you know, whether it's in Miami, Florida,
or whether it's in New York City.
These are assemblies of believers.
They are churches, plural.
And Jesus Christ is the head of the church,
meaning that he ought to be the head of every church.
Each church has Jesus Christ as its head if it is a scriptural church.
So when we talk about, you know, the Laodicean church is this,
and then they try to lump all Christianity today as, you know, the Laodicean church age.
That's not true because there are a lot of churches out there today that are like Laodicea.
But let me tell you something.
Not every church is like Laodicea, and not every church has to be lukewarm,
and not every church has to discuss Jesus Christ,
the point where he would spit them out of his mouth as he said about the Laodicean church.
Look, churches can go through a phase where they're lukewarm,
or maybe the church down the street might be lukewarm,
but every church isn't lukewarm.
And, you know, oftentimes it's just an excuse for being lukewarm.
Well, we are living in the Laodicean church age,
so no wonder nobody in our church does any soul winning.
No wonder nobody in our church is excited.
No, we need to get excited, and maybe people aren't excited
because the pastor's not excited, and the preacher's not getting them excited.
He's not preaching the Word of God like he's supposed to.
He's not filled with the Spirit.
They're not filled with the Spirit.
It has nothing to do with the age that we're living in.
It has to do with the fact that we need to read Revelation 3
and understand what we need to change in order to not be lukewarm.
And when we look at Ephesians, we need to see, hey, we don't want to lose our first love.
Let's get out and do the first works.
Let's get out there and go soul winning,
and let's go out and preach the Gospel to every creature
so that our love can burn bright and not, as the Bible says in Matthew 24,
that our iniquity would abound that would cause our love to grow cold,
and we would lose our first love.
And so I want you to be very clear on this.
These are literal physical churches that had various problems,
and they also had various strengths,
and we're not talking about church ages or periods of time.
That is a man-made false doctrine that's not biblical.
It doesn't match up with the reality of the Bible.
Now, although these churches were literal churches that no longer exist today,
we can apply the principles that he gave to them unto ourselves
and unto churches in the day that we live.
Not only that, there are certain things that are spoken to these churches that are symbolic,
and they have underlying meaning.
So basically there's a surface meaning of the literal interpretation
of what he was saying specifically to that church at Ephesus,
but then often there are also underlying, more symbolic meanings under the surface,
and we'll get into that in a moment.
But look, if you would, at verse number seven.
He that hath an ear, this is the last thing he says to the church at Ephesus.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
To him that overcometh will I give the eat of the tree of life,
which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Now, what does it mean to him that overcometh?
This is a phrase you're going to see over and over again.
He says it to every one of these seven churches.
He says, to him that overcometh, to him that overcometh, to him that overcometh.
Well, let's look up what the Bible teaches about the subject of overcoming,
because it's a word that's not often used in the Bible.
It's only used a few times.
Let's go back to 1 John 5, just a few pages to the left in your Bible,
and let me show you what the Bible's talking about when it says overcometh.
Look at 1 John 5, verse number 4.
The Bible says, For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world,
and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
Watch this.
Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
So right there, the Bible says that if we're born of God, we overcome the world.
So overcoming the world is being born of God or born again.
It's being saved.
And he says, Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
So the one who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, that's the one who's born again.
That's the one who overcomes the world.
You got that right here in 1 John 5?
Now, go to Revelation 21.
Let me show you how consistent this is,
because the concept of overcoming is mentioned in 1 John 5.
We see it a lot in Revelation 2 and 3,
but then it pops up again in Revelation 21.
Look at verse number 7.
He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
So according to this verse, overcoming makes you a son of God.
In 1 John 5, overcoming meant you were born of God.
See how it's the same thing?
And how do we overcome?
He said, Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
That's salvation.
And when the Bible talks about overcoming, it's talking about salvation.
It's really clear when you look at the next verse, verse 8 there in Revelation 21,
But the fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers,
and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake
which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
So there's those who overcome, that is, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and then there are those that are cast into the lake of fire.
He lists all those sins there that will wind you up in the lake of fire,
but let me tell you something.
You probably haven't done all the things on the list, and neither have I,
but I guarantee you've done something on that list.
Fearful, unbelieving, all liars.
There's not a person on this earth who's never lied before.
And even lying, according to the Bible, winds you up in hell.
But thanks be to God, if we believe on Jesus Christ, all of our sins are washed away.
We're washed from our sins in his own blood, as it says in Revelation 1.
So let's go back to chapter number 2, now that we laid down the concept of overcoming.
So we saw that the Church of Ephesus, their problem was that they'd lost their first love,
and the reason they'd lost that first love was that they weren't doing the first works.
They were spinning their wheels.
They were doing a lot of work, but it wasn't the first works.
It wasn't what Jesus wanted them to do, and he warns them to get that right.
And he said, to him that overcometh, he said,
Well, I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Again, this has to do with salvation, because if you remember back in the Garden of Eden,
Adam and Eve, they ate of the tree of life.
And after they had sinned by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
they were cast out of the Garden of Eden.
And the reason why they were cast out was that God said that if they were not cast out,
they would eat of the tree of life and live forever.
So they were cast out so that they would not eat of the tree of life and live forever,
because the tree of life is associated with eternal life.
And if you study the Bible, especially in Revelation 22,
we see that in the new heaven and the new earth there in the description,
he talks about a river of the water of life,
and he says on either side of the river was there the tree of life.
So basically multiple trees of life growing there,
and he says that basically we will eat of the fruit thereof.
We will live forever.
We will have eternal life.
So that fits in perfectly with the fact that when it says he that overcometh,
it's referring to those that are saved,
because they're going to eat of the tree of life,
which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Study the word paradise.
It's talking about heaven.
2 Corinthians 12 is a great example where he says he was caught up into paradise,
and then he follows it up by saying he was caught up into the third heaven.
He uses the third heaven and paradise interchangeably,
because of the fact that paradise is heaven.
And you say, well, why is it the third heaven?
Well, because there are basically three heavens.
There's the heaven, what we call the sky, we call that the heaven.
And then we call the universe, you know,
when we look at all the stars and so forth,
the Bible calls that the heaven.
And then the place where God lives is known as heaven.
That's the third heaven.
And that's a whole other sermon in and of itself, the three heavens.
Look at verse 8.
It says on the angel of the church in Smyrna write,
these things saith the first and the last,
which was dead and is alive.
Of course, Jesus Christ speaking there.
He says in verse 9,
I know thy works and tribulation and poverty,
but thou art rich.
So here's a church that's a hardworking church,
but they're going through some trials and tribulations.
He says they have poverty,
but look what he says there in parentheses,
but thou art rich.
See, physically they were poor.
They didn't have any money on this earth,
but they were rich in good works.
And look what he says next.
And I know the blasphemy of them,
which say they are Jews and are not,
but are the synagogue of Satan.
Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer.
Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison that ye may be tried,
and ye shall have tribulation ten days.
Be thou faithful unto death,
and I will give thee a crown of life.
So he talks about the fact that they're going through tribulation,
and he said that they were suffering,
and that they should not fear the things that they're suffering.
He says you're going to be cast into prison.
Be faithful unto death.
He's talking about people being killed for the cause of Christ,
going into prison for the cause of Christ,
and in the midst of this,
he throws in this statement,
I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not,
but are the synagogue of Satan.
Now what is that statement doing in the midst of a discussion about tribulation,
persecution, prison, martyrdom?
Why bring up the synagogue of Satan?
Why bring up these people who say they are Jews and are not but do lie?
But it's very easy to understand once you identify who the synagogue of Satan is.
Go to Romans chapter 2 if you would.
Romans chapter 2.
Now I've heard a lot of preaching that discuss the synagogue of Satan,
and I personally have never heard any preacher that I listen to
properly identify the synagogue of Satan,
and it always boggled my mind because to me it's very obvious
when you just read this passage and take it for what it says
who the synagogue of Satan are.
First of all, they are someone who says that they're a Jew.
Now doesn't that eliminate a lot of people right away?
I mean does everybody that you know say that they're a Jew?
Does every religion on this planet claim to be Jews and say we're Jews, I'm a Jew?
No.
Whoever the synagogue of Satan are,
they are people who say that they're Jews.
But are they Jews?
No they're not.
Now the other thing that you should notice is that this group is called the synagogue of Satan.
Does every religion have synagogues?
Does every person go to a synagogue or is every person a member of a synagogue? No.
But if we look at this it's very obvious when we think about the fact
that there is a group of people in this world who do go to a synagogue,
who do have a synagogue,
and who say that they are Jews and are not part of the synagogue of Satan.
And that is people who follow the religion of Judaism.
Now you say, wait a minute Pastor Anderson,
there's no way that's the synagogue of Satan,
because they're saying that they're Jews and they really are Jews.
Can't you see that they're Jews Pastor Anderson?
You know these people they go to the synagogue and they practice Judaism.
Can't you tell by you know the black hat that they're wearing?
Can't you tell by you know the way that they dress
and maybe the little hat that they have on the back of their head?
Can't you see the kosher meal being ordered on the airplane
and know that these are Jews Pastor Anderson?
But hold on a second, are they really Jews?
These that go to a Jewish synagogue?
These that practice the religion of Judaism?
Well, look down at your Bible.
The Bible says in Romans 2.28,
For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly.
So could it be that there are some that we look at outwardly and say,
Hey, there's a Jew. Yep, that's a Jew.
And really they're not a Jew.
He says, For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly.
Neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh.
But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly.
And circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit,
and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God.
So let me ask them, do you think that the guy that Paul's talking about in Romans 2,
who he says, Well, he's not a Jew, which is one outwardly.
Do you think that guy goes around saying he's a Jew?
I'll bet you he does. Of course he does.
But Paul says, Nope, he's not a Jew.
He says he's one, but he's not.
I'll prove it to you further. Look at Philippians 3.
Keep in mind, Philippi is a city of Macedonia.
Paul is writing unto the Gentiles in Philippians 3.
And look what he says in verse 3.
For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit,
and rejoice, listen to this, in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
So according to that, who's the true circumcision?
Those who rejoice in Christ Jesus.
Let me ask you this.
Does the Jewish synagogue or the religion of Judaism rejoice in Christ Jesus?
What does Christ mean? Christ means Messiah.
Does Judaism teach that Jesus is the Messiah?
No, Judaism does not teach that Jesus is the Messiah.
They don't rejoice in Christ Jesus. Then let me tell you something.
They are not the circumcision.
You say, well, they're physically circumcised.
That means nothing in the sight of God.
God says that the true circumcision that matters today in the New Testament
is the circumcision of the heart and the spirit,
and it's those who rejoice in Christ Jesus that are the circumcision.
He said he's not a Jew, which is one outwardly.
He's a Jew, which is one inwardly.
Circumcision is not that outward circumcision in the flesh.
It's the circumcision of the heart and the spirit.
And so those who practice the religion of Judaism,
they say they're Jews, but they're not Jews because they're not inwardly a Jew.
They're not circumcised in the heart.
They don't rejoice in Christ Jesus.
And by the way, he said, and have no confidence in the flesh.
They're trusting in the flesh today to save them.
They're trusting in works to save them.
They don't trust in the faith of Jesus Christ to save them.
Now, look at 1 John 2.
You say, Pastor Anderson, you're not meaning to say that they're the synagogue of Satan.
Where does Satan come into play?
Well, look at 1 John 2 verse 18.
The Bible says, little children, it is the last time.
And as you have heard that antichrist shall come.
Now, is that singular or plural?
Singular.
As you've heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists
whereby we know that it is the last time.
So there's one guy singular that's called the antichrist that's coming.
But then there are also many antichrists, plural, whereby we know that it's the last time.
Let's get a little insight into who these antichrists are.
Look at verse 22.
Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ.
He is antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son.
So the Bible says that someone who's an antichrist is someone who denies that Jesus is the Christ.
Now, in order to deny that Jesus is the Christ, you have to believe that there is a Christ,
but that it's not Jesus.
Because if you're going to deny that Jesus is the Christ, that means you believe that
there's the Christ, but that that's not Jesus.
Well, what religion out there teaches that there's a Messiah, because remember, Christ
means Messiah.
In John 1 it says we have found the Messiah, which is to say being interpreted the Christ.
What religion out there teaches that there's a Messiah coming but it's not Jesus?
Judaism.
They teach that Jesus was not the Messiah.
And so the Jews today are antichrists.
Now you say, oh, you're a racist, you're anti-Semitic.
No, I'm not talking about a nationality, my friend.
I'm not talking about a race.
There are people that are of the lineage of the tribe of Judah, you know, that come from
the land of Israel today that believe on Jesus Christ.
They're saved.
They are God's people.
But when I'm talking about the Jews being the synagogue of Satan, I'm talking about
just that, the synagogue of Satan.
Is a synagogue a race or is a synagogue a religion?
I mean, a synagogue is a religion.
And so when he says the synagogue of Satan, we're not talking about people that are racially
Jews, quote, unquote.
We're talking about people who follow a religion that teaches another Messiah that is not the
Lord Jesus Christ.
That is an antichrist religion.
Those who deny that Jesus is the Christ, the Bible, look, I'll just read it again for you.
It's so clear.
Who is the liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?
He is antichrist.
That's saying anyone who denies that Jesus is the Messiah is antichrist that denieth
the Father and the Son.
Because you say, well, the Jews, they worship the same God we do, they just don't believe
in Jesus, but they do worship the same God.
Well, look what it says in verse 23.
Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father, but he that acknowledges the Son
hath the Father also.
So according to this, they don't have the Father.
You say, no, they have the Father, they just don't have the Son.
You know, they understand and believe in God the Father.
No, no, if you don't have the Son, you don't have the Father.
If you don't believe in Jesus Christ, you don't believe in God the Father.
They believe in another God that is not God the Father from the Holy Bible because it's
impossible to believe on the Father.
That's why even Jesus said if you believed Moses, you'd believe me, for he spake of me.
That proves that those who follow the religion of Judaism don't even believe Moses.
You say, well, they believe the first five books of the Bible.
According to Jesus, they don't believe any of the Bible because if they believed any
of it, they'd believe on Jesus.
If they had the Father, they'd have the Son.
If they believed in Moses, they'd believe in the New Testament.
You see, they just flat out don't believe the Bible because they are part of a religion
that according to the Bible is an anti-Christ religion.
You say, well, Judaism's pretty close.
And some people even say this, Judeo-Christian religion.
No.
How about just Christian?
Because Judaism has nothing to do with Christianity.
It's a false religion.
It's an anti-Christ religion.
And I've got news for you, the Bible's got a name for it, the synagogue of Satan.
Now, the reason I make such a big deal about that, and let's go to one more place, 1 Thessalonians 2.
It's because a lot of people today have bought into this philosophy.
Sometimes it's known as Zionism, and sometimes it's known as dispensationalism.
But basically this doctrine that teaches that the Jews are God's chosen people.
I'm sure you've all probably heard that before.
You say, well, the Jews, they're God's chosen people.
Now, we're talking about people that don't even believe in Jesus.
We're talking about people that believe in another Messiah, another Christ.
They're anti-Christ.
The Bible calls them the synagogue of Satan, and they say these Jews that don't even believe in Jesus,
they say those are God's chosen people.
Just by virtue of their ethnicity.
They just are automatically God's chosen people.
And here's what they say.
If you bless them, God will bless you.
And if you curse them, God will curse you.
That's not what the Bible teaches.
That promise was made unto Abraham and to his seed.
That seed was Christ.
He said if you're in Christ, you're Abraham's seed, and errs according to the promise.
Read Galatians 3, my friend.
It's crystal clear.
But look at this.
Tell me if this sounds like the Jews who do not believe in Christ are under God's blessing.
1 Thessalonians 2, verse 14.
For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God, which in Judea are in Christ Jesus.
For ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews,
who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us.
So we're talking about the Jews that, what?
Killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us, and they please not God,
and are contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved,
to fill up their sins all the way.
Watch this.
For the wrath is come upon them to the othermost.
So according to this, God's wrath is on the Jews, not his blessing.
Why does that surprise you when the Bible says,
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life,
and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Didn't God tell us that the wrath of God abided on those who don't believe on his Son, Jesus Christ?
If Judaism does not believe on the Son, his wrath is on them, not his blessing.
And so this doctrine that says they are God's chosen people, they are under his blessing,
they are the elect of God, that is just a false doctrine, plain and simple.
I mean the Bible just simply does not teach that.
Now go back if you would to Revelation 2 with that in mind.
Now what did we just read in 1 Thessalonians 2 that the Jews were guilty of?
Well, killing Jesus, killing the prophets, and persecuting the apostles of Jesus Christ.
Read the book of Acts.
And in the book of Acts, the early believers are always being persecuted, aren't they?
They're constantly being thrown in prison.
They're constantly under attack.
And notice who is always the one doing the persecuting every time.
It's always the Jews.
I mean look, in Acts you won't find the Romans persecuting Christians.
I'm not saying it didn't happen later.
I'm saying in Bible times, in the book of Acts,
the one group that is always the one persecuting the Christians is the Jews.
Now doesn't that make perfect sense with what he says here in Revelation 2?
When he says,
Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer.
Verse 10.
Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried, and ye shall
have tribulation ten days.
Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
So isn't it interesting, right after he says,
I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue
of Satan, he starts talking about how they're going to be thrown in prison and killed.
Why?
Because he's referring to persecution that's going to come at the hand of the Jews.
Because that's who was persecuting the Christians at that time.
And so it makes perfect sense.
So when the Bible talks about the synagogue of Satan, he's referring to the fact that
the Jews are the synagogue of Satan.
They're the only religion with synagogues.
They're the only ones who are going around saying they're Jews.
And the Bible said if they don't rejoice in Christ Jesus, they're not the circumcision.
If they're not a Jew inwardly, they're not really a Jew in God's eyes.
They don't believe in Christ.
Remember when they tried to tell Jesus in John chapter 8, Abraham's our father.
And Jesus said, if Abraham were your father, you'd do the works of Abraham.
He turned around and said, you're of your father, the devil.
Okay.
And so we can see how they could easily be called the synagogue of Satan because the
Pharisees and the Sadducees, which is basically the same as Judaism today,
a false works-based religion that claims to be based on the Old Testament but rejects Jesus Christ.
That's the Pharisees.
That's the Jews.
He told them, you're of the father, the devil.
The Bible calls them the synagogue of Satan.
It makes perfect sense.
Now, the reason I went into so much detail on that is because we're talking about the
book of Revelation.
We're talking about end times Bible prophecy.
And a lot of people will say this.
They say, well, the tribulation is all about the Jews.
And you'll try to show them scriptures about Christians going through tribulation.
Or you try to show them that the rapture comes after the tribulation, according to Matthew
24, Mark 13, Luke 21, according to the book of Revelation itself, when you see the rapture
take place.
And they say, no, no, no, Pastor Anderson, the church or Christians, as they say it,
they say it has nothing to do with the tribulation because they say the tribulation is all about
the Jews.
The tribulation has nothing to do with Christians or the church or church-age saints.
I'm just using the terms they use.
And they say it's all about the Jews.
I'm sure you've heard people say that before.
But here's the funny thing about that.
You know, if you look at the book of Revelation, the only time the book of Revelation ever
mentions the Jews, using that word, the Jews, okay, or just Jews or Jew.
The only time it uses the word Jew is in chapters 2 and 3 when it calls them the synagogue
of Satan.
That's the only time.
So, you know, if the tribulation is all about the Jews, wouldn't you expect it to keep mentioning
the Jews, the Jews, the Jews, the Jews?
But the only time it mentions them is just when it says that they're the synagogue of
Satan in chapters 2 and 3.
So don't ever let anybody tell you, oh, the tribulation is all about the Jews.
That's a false doctrine.
You know, what's funny, this has nothing to do with the sermon, but Joseph Smith, who
knows who Joseph Smith is, the founder of the false religion, Mormonism, Latter-day
Satan, I mean, I'm sorry, Latter-day Saints.
You know, this guy Joseph Smith who founded this false religion of Mormonism, he founded
Mormonism in the year 1830.
And in 1830, after he'd written the false Bible known as the Book of Mormon, which was
supposedly another testament of Jesus Christ, which is a, you know, that's a whole sermon
to explain all that, but when he wrote the Book of Mormon, when he was done, he started
writing his own changes to the Bible and his own translation of the Bible where he
just changed things.
And in Matthew 24, where it said, then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since
the beginning of the world, nor ever shall be.
You know what Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, changed it to?
He changed it to, then shall be great tribulation upon the Jews.
So he added those three words, upon the Jews.
So you see, Satan's lie is that, oh, the tribulation, that's all about the Jews.
That's all about God's chosen people, the Jews.
Yeah, I'm sure Satan would love to call his synagogue God's chosen people, but they're
not.
They're his people, okay?
And so, again, you know, go ahead and call me a racist and call me, it has nothing to
do with race, it's a religion, but people are going to call me that anyway, so whatever.
I'm going to preach the truth and let the chips fall where they may.
If you don't like it, then well, sorry.
But anyway, let's move on from that.
We know who the synagogue of Satan is, pretty clear.
Now in verse 10, and look, these are literal events that took place at that time.
This church literally had people, listen to me now, the church at Smyrna literally had
people that were put into prison, weren't they?
And the church at Smyrna literally had people who had to decide they were going to be faithful
to death.
I mean, these are real events that took place thousands of years ago, but they also have
a symbolic meaning.
You see, the Bible is trying to drive in with us.
First, in chapter 1, when John said he's going through tribulation, in verse 9, now in chapter
2, twice he talks about a godly church, a righteous church, going through tribulation.
He's laying down a principle of God's people going through tribulation.
Not like Joseph Smith, the perverted founder of Mormonism, who says, the tribulation's
all about the Jews, tribulation upon the Jews, in his book, The Pearl of Great Price.
No, we're talking about the biblical doctrine that talks about God's people going through
tribulation, the church at Smyrna going through tribulation, the Apostle John going through
tribulation.
So that principle is being laid down here.
In fact, the word tribulation is only used five times in the book of Revelation, and
all five are talking about God's people going through it.
We've already looked at three.
John in chapter 1, church in Smyrna, twice.
That's three times now we've seen God's people going through tribulation in the book of Revelation.
But, not only that, there's an interesting statement made partway through verse 10.
It says, you shall have tribulation ten days.
Now, he gives a specific length of time.
Now, I believe, of course, that we should always go with the literal interpretation
of God's word first.
And so the literal interpretation of this verse is that the church at Smyrna literally
went through a ten day period of tribulation.
I mean, they went through ten days of severe persecution or, you know, being thrown into
prison, maybe being killed.
You know, obviously, yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
We're always going to go through hard times.
But, for some reason, this church at Smyrna went through ten days of very serious tribulation.
But not only that, there's a deeper symbolic meaning.
You see, everything in the Bible is there for a reason.
Nothing in the Bible is coincidental, incidental, or accidental.
And there's actually a very significant meaning to that period of time, ten days, in regard
to the tribulation of God's people.
Go back to Leviticus chapter 23.
Now you may be surprised saying, you know, man, why would we turn back to Leviticus?
We're talking about Bible prophecy?
We're going to Leviticus?
You know, and that should be a lesson that all scripture is given by inspiration of God
and is profitable for doctrine.
And, you know, it's amazing.
One thing that I've noticed as I've studied the second coming of Christ and as I've studied
the book of Revelation and Bible prophecy is that literally there are passages in virtually
every book in the Bible that deal with end times Bible prophecy and that deal with the
second coming of Christ.
I mean, even in Genesis, there are a lot of, I mean, look, Noah, Lot, these are both illustrations
of his second coming and illustrations of end times Bible prophecy.
But even the book of Leviticus actually teaches on end times Bible prophecy, you know, whether
you knew that or not.
Now, Leviticus 23 is an interesting chapter.
Leviticus 23 goes through the feasts of the Lord, and bear with me for a little bit here
because I'm going to explain something.
Remember, I want to explain to you why he told the church at Smyrna that they would
have tribulation ten days.
Yes, I believe in a literal application there, but there's also a symbolic meaning with those
ten days.
Now, in Leviticus 23, I'm going to explain why.
The feasts of the Lord are laid out.
You see, the children of Israel were commanded to celebrate certain feast days throughout
the year.
Now, these feast days can be pretty much grouped into the spring feasts and the fall feasts,
so the harvest feasts.
So, when you're looking at Leviticus chapter 23 there, you'll see some feasts taking place
in the first month.
Now, first of all, I want you to understand that, you know, the calendar that the Hebrews
used was a little different than our calendar today in the sense that we start our calendar
in January pretty much in the dead of winter.
That's when we say that our year begins.
Well, most calendars throughout history have started in the spring.
You can notice even with our current calendar that the numbering of the months is a little
off.
For example, the month that we call October, when you see octo, what number do you think
of when you see octo?
Eight.
Eight, right?
Like an octopus, okay?
So, but is that the eighth month?
No, it's the tenth month, isn't it?
And then when you see November, that's similar to, for example, the Spanish word for nine,
nueve, or diez is the Spanish word for ten, December diez.
Okay, why?
Because December used to be the tenth month.
November used to be the ninth month.
October used to be the eighth month.
Basically, our month of March is close to what used to be considered the first month.
So, the year used to start in the spring, okay, and that would be around March.
So, when we see in chapter 23, when he talks about these feasts in the first month, these
are springtime feasts.
And, you know, I'm going to skip through for sake of time.
I don't want to spend a lot of time on the spring feasts, but we have, you know, the
Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the First Fruits, okay?
Then, you number 50 days, and you have what's called the Day of Pentecost, or the Feast
of Weeks.
Then, you have the fall feasts in the seventh month of the year.
So, basically, the seventh month of the year would be similar to around the time of September,
October, right?
Because, remember, we're a couple months off in our reckoning.
So, in the Book of Leviticus, you have these seven feast days.
You got the three right at the beginning, which are Passover, Unleavened Bread, and
First Fruits.
Then you have Pentecost, and then you have the fall feasts, which are the Blowing of
the Trumpets is the first one, the Day of Atonement is the second one, and the Feast
of Tabernacles is the next one.
Now, you say, what's the significance?
Well, here's what's interesting.
Jesus Christ fulfilled all of the springtime feasts the first time he came to this world.
Jesus Christ was the Passover, wasn't he?
He was the Passover Lamb, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Jesus Christ also fulfilled the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
He was the bread of life.
He was the unleavened bread.
He broke unleavened bread with his disciples.
Then the Bible teaches that Jesus was the first fruits of the resurrection.
So, he fulfilled the Feast of the First Fruits by rising from the dead.
And what's amazing is that he fulfilled these feasts exactly because he was literally
killed on the 14th day of the first month.
Study your Bible.
And he literally rose again on the day that was the Feast of the First Fruits.
So he fulfilled these feasts with his first coming.
Then, of course, the Feast of Weeks or the Day of Pentecost was fulfilled on the Day
of Pentecost in Acts, chapter 2.
Now, the fall feasts have not yet been fulfilled.
The Bible teaches in Matthew 13, it says the harvest is the end of the world.
And it uses the symbolism of a harvest for the end of the world.
Basically, the fall feasts or the harvest feasts or the autumn feasts are going to be
fulfilled at what the Bible calls the end of the world, which the Bible, when it talks
about Jesus Christ coming in the clouds with great power and glory in Matthew 24, you know,
the Bible refers to that as the end of the world at the beginning of Matthew 24, Mark 13, etc.
So, Jesus Christ fulfilled all the spring feasts at his first coming.
He's going to fulfill all the harvest feasts at his second coming or the end of the world.
Now, how is he going to fulfill these feasts?
Well, let's look at what these fall feasts are.
Look down if you would at verse 24 in Leviticus 23 there.
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying,
In the seventh month, in the first day of the month,
shall ye have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets and holy convocation.
Ye shall do no servile work therein, but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto
the Lord.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Also on the tenth day of the seventh month there shall be a day of atonement.
It shall be a holy convocation unto you.
Ye shall afflict your souls.
So he starts to lay out the first two of the fall feasts.
He said on the first day of the seventh month is the blowing of the trumpets.
On the tenth day of the seventh month is the day of atonement.
Then a little further down he talks about the fifteenth day of the seventh month being
the Feast of Tabernacles.
So we have three feasts that Jesus is going to fulfill on his second coming.
How is he going to fulfill them?
Well, here's what's interesting.
That first fall feast, the blowing of the trumpets,
did you notice how it occurs right smack dab in the middle of the year?
Think about it.
The first day of the seventh month, what does that mean?
Well, the first day of the seventh month,
that means that there's been six months leading up to it,
and you've got six months to go.
So the first day of the seventh month is right dead center of the year,
and it's the blowing of the trumpets.
Then ten days later, you have the Day of Atonement.
Then after that, you have the Feast of Tabernacles.
So stop and think about this.
What does the blowing of the trumpets represent
when it comes to the second coming of Jesus Christ?
Now many people will jump in and say,
oh, that's the rapture, the trumpet's going to sound, the last trump,
last trump of the year, blowing of the trumpets, that's the rapture.
Not a lot of people teach that,
because they believe that the next event on God's prophetic calendar is the rapture.
But in fact, the blowing of the trumpets does not represent the rapture at all.
Neither is the blowing of trumpets, the last trump,
because of the fact that another trumpet is blown
on the tenth day of the seventh month on the Day of Atonement.
The blowing of the trumpets, what that represents
is not the trumpet sounding at the rapture,
but rather it refers to an alarm sounding.
You see, when the Bible would talk about blowing of trumpets in the Old Testament,
it often had to do with sounding an alarm because an enemy was attacking them,
and they would blow with the trumpets so that God would save them.
Let me read it for you from Numbers 10.
You don't have to turn there.
Listen to Numbers 10, 9.
And if you go to war in your land against the enemy that oppress you,
then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets,
and ye shall be remembered before the Lord your God,
and ye shall be saved from your enemies.
So the Bible says when there's an enemy that's coming to oppress you,
you're supposed to blow with the trumpets,
and God's going to save you out of the hand of your enemies.
He also talked about it in Numbers 31, 6,
when he referred to, you know, going to war and blowing with the trumpets.
Stop and think about this.
When it comes to end times Bible prophecy,
we know that the book of Revelation deals in great detail
with a certain seven-year period of time.
Now this entire period of time, often called Daniel's 70th week,
that seven-year period is often wrongfully called the tribulation.
A lot of people call that whole seven years.
They'll say the seven years tribulation.
But you know what's funny about that?
There is no place in the entire Bible that says seven years tribulation.
And yet people just swear by that.
I mean, they just take that, well, of course there's a seven-year tribulation.
Of course there is.
That is not found in the Bible anywhere.
Now here's where people will take it,
because you'll tell them there's no seven years tribulation.
Here's what they'll say.
Oh, yes, there is.
You say, okay, show it to me.
They'll take you to Daniel 9, 27.
It says he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week.
And in the midst of the week, he shall cause the sacrifice and the ablation to cease,
and for the overspreading of abominations, he shall make it desolate even until the consummation,
and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
So that right there in Daniel 9, 27 talks about a week which, you know,
if you get the context, is a seven-year period.
And now in the midst of that week, there's going to be what's called the abomination of desolation.
But notice about that verse.
Did it say that that seven-year period is called the tribulation?
Did it say there's going to be a week, and by the way, it's called the tribulation?
Never.
And in fact, it's easy to prove that that whole week is not called the tribulation,
because partway through that week, the sun and moon are darkened and the stars fall.
And the Bible says that that's after the tribulation.
So the first part of the week is called the tribulation,
but the entire seven-year period is not known as the tribulation.
In fact, Jesus does not say that the great tribulation begins until the abomination of desolation.
He says when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet,
he said, then shall be great tribulation.
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but in Daniel 9, 27,
it said in the midst of the week is the abomination of desolation.
Isn't that right?
So if this whole seven-year period is just known as the tribulation, the seven-year tribulation,
why did he say, well, when you see the abomination of desolation,
which is in the midst of the seven years, then shall be great tribulation?
And then he says when the sun and moon are darkened, tribulation's over.
So if the tribulation's over when the sun and moon are darkened and the stars fall,
and the sun and moon are darkened and the stars fall in Revelation 6,
not at the end of the seven years, not at the end of the week,
but rather partway through before any of the trumpet or vile judgments,
how can you call the whole seven-year period tribulation?
Nobody can show me a verse in the Bible that calls the whole seven years tribulation,
and so I refuse to call it that.
It's not what it's called.
Here's the deal.
In the middle of the seven-year period that Revelation describes,
there's what's called the abomination of desolation.
I'm going to hurry up and just quickly explain this.
This is where the Antichrist sets up an image,
the false prophet sets up an image of the Antichrist,
and people have to worship the Antichrist.
And the Bible says that when this takes place,
and this is all covered in Revelation 13,
that the Antichrist will make war with the saints and overcome them.
So, again, in the midst of the week,
the Antichrist makes war with the saints and overcomes them.
That is at the time of the abomination of desolation.
Well, wait a minute.
Remember what feast took place right in the dead center of the year?
The blowing of the trumpets.
What do trumpets represent in that passage?
They represent the blowing of an alarm of an oppressive enemy.
What happens in the dead center of Daniel's 70th week,
or the seven-year period that most of the events in Revelation fall within?
What happens?
The Antichrist makes war with the saints.
He is the oppressive enemy,
and the blowing of the trumpets is symbolic of the warning sound of the alarm
that we are going to be persecuted by the Antichrist,
that he's going to make war against the saints and overcome them.
So the blowing of the trumpets basically represents in biblical prophecy
the abomination of desolation and the Antichrist's war against the saints.
And look, that's when the Great Tribulation begins, is it not?
Because Jesus said when you see the abomination of desolation,
that's in the middle of the seven years,
he says, then shall be great tribulation,
such as was not since the beginning of the world of this time,
no, nor ever shall be.
Remember, first day of the seventh month, middle of the year,
blowing of the trumpets represents the abomination of desolation.
Tenth day of the seventh month,
there's a trumpet that sounds that represents the trumpet of the rapture.
That trumpet is called the trumpet of jubilee,
and it is blown on the day of atonement,
on the tenth day of the seventh month, only once every 50 years.
Let's look at that briefly here.
Leviticus 25, 9.
Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee
to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month,
notice, ten days after, right?
Because look, he says, the tenth day of the seventh month,
in the day of atonement, shall ye make the trumpet sound
throughout all your land,
and ye shall hallow the fiftieth year,
and watch what the Bible says about the trumpet of jubilee.
He says, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land,
unto all the inhabitants thereof,
it shall be a jubilee unto you,
and ye shall return every man into his possession,
and ye shall return every man into his family.
The first feast was the blowing of the trumpets.
Representing the anti-Christ making war with the saints,
beginning with the abomination of desolation.
The next fall feast, or end of the world harvest feast,
is the tenth day of the seventh month,
which is the day of atonement,
but it's also the day of the blowing of the trumpet of jubilee.
What is that which characterizes the day of jubilee,
or the trumpet of the jubilee?
He said it was proclaiming liberty throughout the land,
and that basically every man would return
to his possession and his inheritance.
Look at Romans 8, and notice what the Bible says
about the resurrection, or the rapture, the first resurrection.
Look at Romans chapter 8, beginning in verse 21,
you're going to find some of the same wording
that we saw with the jubilee.
It says in verse 21,
because the creature itself also shall be delivered
from the bondage of corruption
into the glorious liberty of the children of God,
for we know that the whole creation
groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Watch this, verse 23.
And not only they, but ourselves also,
which have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
even we ourselves groan within ourselves,
waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body.
So right now he says our soul is saved,
but our body's not going to be saved, of course,
until the resurrection, the first resurrection,
or what we commonly call the rapture,
when in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye,
we shall be changed.
This mortal shall put on immortality.
This corruptible shall put on incorruption.
And the Bible says we will be brought
from the bondage of corruption
into the glorious liberty of the children of God
when our body is redeemed, when our body is resurrected.
You see, at the rapture, that is called
the glorious liberty of the children of God.
So doesn't it make sense that in the fall
into the world feasts, the trumpet of the jubilee
proclaiming liberty represents the trumpet sounding
when the dead in Christ are raised incorruptible?
1 Corinthians 15, 51.
And notice also, it's the last feast trump
of that series of feasts,
you know, when he goes through these feasts.
The last trump there is the trumpet of jubilee.
Last among what series?
Well, we already had the blowing of trumpets
on the first day of the seventh month.
Then there's one more trumpet that's blown,
tenth day of the seventh month.
What's interesting about that is the space
between those two events, right?
Because blowing of trumpets on the first day,
on the tenth day of the seventh month,
is the trumpet of jubilee sounding,
which is symbolic of the trumpet that's going to sound
on the day of the resurrection or the rapture.
So, if the war with the saints,
or the great tribulation,
mentioned in Matthew 24,
begins at the abomination of desolation
at the midpoint of the week,
and then obviously our persecution and trials
and tribulations are over,
when the rapture happens,
because we're caught up to be with Christ,
then what period of time
is that great tribulation going to encompass?
Well, symbolically,
when we look at these feasts,
we have ten days right there,
which matches up perfectly with Revelation 2.10.
You shall have tribulation ten days.
Which ten days?
From the first day of the seventh month
to the tenth day inclusively,
that's your ten days of tribulation.
Now, you say,
Pastor Anderson, will the great tribulation,
and I'm sorry if that whole, you know,
if the last ten minutes just went over your head,
don't worry about it,
because, you know,
you might need to do a little more study on this.
But you know what?
It's time for us to wake up as God's people,
dig in and get the meat of the Word,
and maybe that went over your head.
You know what?
You need to do more study.
You need to do more reading.
You know what?
There are a lot of people
who understood what I just said,
because they've been studying their Bibles,
and you know,
we all need to keep learning and keep growing
and pay attention and learn these things.
But anyway, let's go back to Revelation 2.
That was a little bit heavy.
But let me say this.
The great tribulation that the Bible mentions
in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and elsewhere,
will last for more than ten days.
I'm not saying it's only ten days,
because I believe that the great tribulation
will last seventy-five days,
if you study this out and understand it.
But the ten days is symbolic
of the first day of the seventh month
to the tenth day of the seventh month
of these feast days, okay?
And again, it's a lot to go into.
It's a lot to wrap your mind around.
But when you study this,
it just becomes amazing how everything lines up.
I mean, it'll blow your mind.
Like, for example,
since we're talking about a seven-year period
of Daniel's seventieth week,
and we're talking about in the dead center,
the abomination of desolation,
and then we're talking about,
shortly thereafter,
the tribulation being cut short
by Jesus Christ coming in the clouds
and the trumpet sounding,
sometime during the second half
of Daniel's seventieth week,
when you look at it that way,
and then you compare it to the Hebrew calendar year,
and you overlay the Hebrew calendar year
with the seven years of Daniel's seventieth week,
which I've done on the chart,
and it's on KJVprophecy.com,
if you overlay that,
you see that the blowing of the trumpets
lines up perfectly with the abomination of desolation,
right in the middle.
But then you'll also see
that if you line up
the trumpet of the Jubilee
with the seven-year period of Daniel's seventieth week,
you'll notice that 1,335 days in
to Daniel's seventieth week
would line up perfectly.
Well, in Daniel chapter 12,
the Bible says,
Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh
to the 1,305 and 30 days,
and he basically says
Daniel's gonna be resurrected at the end of that 1,335 days.
So, you know, that all just lines up perfectly
because if you take 1,335 divided by seven,
you end up with 190.
Well, what's the 190th day of the year?
The tenth day of the seventh month.
And so either you think that that's really cool right now
or you have no idea what I just said.
But either way, let's go on and move on to the next church.
So we saw that with the church at Smyrna.
He said,
You shall have tribulation ten days,
be thou faithful unto death,
and I'll give thee a crown of life.
He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
He that overcometh,
shall not be heard of the second death.
And, of course, according to Revelation 21,
the second death is the lake of fire.
Look at verse 12.
We'll get into the next church,
the church at Pergamos.
And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write,
These things saith he,
which hath the sharp sword with two edges.
I know thy works,
and where thou dwellest,
even where Satan's seed is,
and thou holdest fast my name,
and is not denied my faith,
even in those days where an Antipas was my faithful martyr,
who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth.
Look, have you noticed a pattern in the book of Revelation yet?
In chapter 1, John's being persecuted.
John's going through tribulation.
The church at Smyrna,
they're going through tribulation.
They're being persecuted.
They're being thrown into prison.
They need to be faithful unto death.
Now we get into the church of Pergamos.
It's the same thing.
He talks about a man who was killed for the cause of Christ.
His name was Antipas,
and he was a faithful martyr who was slain among them.
He says in verse 14,
But I have a few things against thee,
because thou hast thou them that hold the doctrine of Balaam,
who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel,
to eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication.
So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans,
which thing I hate.
Repent, or else I will come unto thee quickly,
and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna,
and will give him a white stone, and the stone a new name written,
which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it.
Unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write,
These things saith the Son of God,
who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire,
and his feet are like fine brass.
I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith,
and thy patience, and thy works,
and the last to be more than the first.
Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee,
because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel,
which calleth herself a prophetess,
to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication,
and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
So the church at Thyatira,
he says a lot of good things about the church,
their charity, their service, their faith,
and he says, he said he know their works,
and then he mentions their works again,
and he says the last to be more than the first.
So here's a church that's increasing in their works.
Here's a church that's doing better and better,
but he says he has something against them,
because he says they're suffering or allowing
this woman Jezebel, which calls herself a prophetess, to teach.
Now, their first mistake was suffering any woman to teach.
You say, Pastor Aaron, I can't believe you would say that.
Well, if you go back to 1 Timothy chapter 2,
he says, but I suffer not a woman to teach,
nor do you serve authority over the man,
but to be in silence.
Now don't tell me it's a coincidence
that 1 Timothy 2 clearly commanded and said,
I suffer not a woman to teach,
nor do you serve authority over the man,
but to be in silence.
And then here a church is being rebuked for doing what?
For suffering that woman Jezebel to teach
and to seduce my servants to commit fornication
and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
Now you say, well, the only problem was
that this was a bad woman that they were allowing to teach.
Right, but they weren't supposed to allow any woman to teach,
according to 1 Timothy 2.
The Bible says, let your women keep silence in the churches
in 1 Corinthians 14, for it is not permitted unto them to speak,
for they're commanded to be under obedience as saith also the law.
Now that might not fly today in 2013 to preach
that women are supposed to be in obedience,
that women are supposed to keep silence in the churches,
that women are not supposed to be allowed to teach in the church.
But you know what?
That's Bible.
And just as God was upset at this church,
he'll be upset today if we don't listen to what he warns us about.
Now obviously this woman was doing more than just teaching.
She was also seducing God's servants to commit fornication.
Let me ask you this.
Are these people that she's seducing to commit fornication
saved or unsaved?
He said she's seducing my servants to commit fornication.
So she's seducing those that are saved to commit fornication,
people that are serving God in a church,
that's a Bible-believing church, that God is claiming,
yes, they're my servants,
and basically she's seducing them to commit fornication
and to eat things sacrificed unto idols, which is also sinful.
He says,
I gave her space to repent of her fornication, she repented on.
Behold, I will cast her into a bed,
and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation,
except they repent of their deeds.
And I will kill her children with death,
and all the churches shall know that I am he
which searcheth the reins and hearts,
and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
So this is the fourth time that the word tribulation is used
in the book of Revelation.
The first three times it was talking about God's people
going through tribulation,
but it was always a positive mention.
It was John going through tribulation
because he was doing right.
It was the church at Smyrna going through tribulation twice
because they did right.
Here he mentions those that are saved Christians
who were serving God, but they're into fornication.
He says if they don't repent of their fornication,
he's going to cast them into great tribulation.
Basically, what does he mean by that?
He's not talking about, obviously,
the great tribulation of Matthew 24
because of the fact that this church no longer even exists
and these events happened thousands of years ago.
But what is tribulation?
It's trouble.
It's affliction.
It's persecution.
Basically, in our modern vernacular,
he's saying I'm going to throw you into a world of hurt,
you know, if you don't repent.
You're going to go through some serious trouble.
You're going to be in trouble with me.
Basically, I'm going to cloud up and rain on you.
I'm going to afflict you.
I am going to punish you if you do not repent of your deeds.
So we see that tribulation here
is just a word in general for affliction, trouble,
that basically in this case
God's going to bring on disobedient Christians.
Now, tribulation in almost every mention in the New Testament
is usually referring to the world persecuting us
or, you know, the devil persecuting us for the cause of Christ.
That's often called tribulation or persecution.
But sometimes the word tribulation is also used about God's punishment
or God, you know, troubling or afflicting someone
because the word tribulation means just that.
And these are synonyms.
Look, it's easy if you look up every time tribulation is used.
It's always paired with words like affliction, trouble, persecution.
That gives you an idea of what it means.
So again, this scripture uses the word tribulation
and it's talking about God's people going through tribulation.
This time as chastisement, isn't it, for their sins.
You know, the Bible talks about us as believers
being punished and chastised by God.
The Bible says,
He chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
What does it mean to scourge?
To be with a whip.
That's a punishment.
Look what it says in verse 23.
And I will kill her children with death
and all the churches shall know that I am he
which searcheth the reins and hearts
and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira,
as many as have not this doctrine,
which have not known the depths of Satan as they speak,
I will put upon you none other burden.
That shows you how serious God is about fornication.
These people that were into fornication
and eating meat sacrificed unto idols,
He called it the depths of Satan.
He says,
So these people aren't just saved,
they're also keeping His works unto the end.
To Him will I give power over the nations
and He shall rule them with a rod of iron
as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers
even as I received of my Father
and I will give Him the morning star.
He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
So these scriptures here deal with the reign of Christ
because the Bible often talks about Jesus Christ ruling and reigning with a rod of iron.
But here it says that if we as believers overcome,
meaning that we're saved,
and we keep His works unto the end,
God will give us power over the nations
and we will rule them with a rod of iron.
You see, we will have the privilege if we are faithful
to rule and reign with Christ for a thousand years
and we will rule and reign depending on our faithfulness.
You see, a Christian who doesn't do much for God,
he's not going to be ruling over nations,
he's not going to be ruling over ten cities,
as it says in the parable and the gospels.
He'll probably be ruling over a small building or something,
you know what I mean?
Obviously, he's going to grant authority
unto his servants according to their works.
He's going to reward his servants according to their works.
And the Bible teaches that those who are faithful,
the Bible says, if we suffer, we shall also reign with him.
I don't know about you, man, but I want to rule and reign with Christ.
I want to be over ten cities.
I want to rule over the nations.
And notice, it doesn't say he's going to rule over the nations with a feather duster.
You know, and this is what people picture.
Jesus Christ is going to come down and he's just going to be a softy.
No, the Bible says he's going to rule them with a rod of iron,
he's going to break them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
Let me explain something to you.
And I don't really have time to develop this,
but I just want to throw this out there for you.
You know all those laws in the Old Testament
that people thought were just so strict,
you know, when you look at the way God ran things,
when he ran government, you know, when he was in charge,
when the Lord ruled over Israel,
like when the homos were basically stoned,
when adulterers and adulteresses were stoned,
you know, when kidnappers and murderers got the death penalty,
as the Bible teaches, you know what?
The law of the Lord is perfect.
God's going to institute those type of laws
when he rules and reigns with a rod of iron on this earth someday,
and we'll be ruling and reigning with him.
Now he says unto them in verse 28, he says,
And I will give him the morning star.
You say, well, what's the morning star?
Well, if you look at Revelation 22,
you'll find a mention of the morning star.
It says in Revelation 22 verse 16,
I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches.
I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
So Jesus says he is the morning star.
And of course, if we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
we have Christ in us.
Jesus Christ belongs to us as our Savior.
He's in our heart.
Christ in us, the hope of glory, and so on and so forth.
And the Bible says,
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Now, that's a profound statement.
Don't let that pass you by.
The Bible doesn't say, okay, just the church at Thyatira,
hear what I'm saying to Thyatira.
Or just these four churches need to hear what I'm saying to them.
No, he that hath an ear.
Let me ask this, do you have an ear this morning?
Then God's talking to you.
You know, I get so tired of people always telling me,
I try to show them things in the Bible.
Oh, that's not for us.
That's not for us.
Oh, what about the book of Genesis?
No, Old Testament, not for us.
Oh, what about Psalms?
Nope, not for us.
Old Testament.
Oh, what about Matthew?
Nope, not for us.
That was for the Jews.
Oh, what about the book of Mark?
Nope, that was for the Romans.
Not for you.
Oh, can't get your doctrine from Hebrews.
That's for the Hebrews.
Oh, can't get your doctrine from James.
That's for the Jews.
Oh, can't get your doctrine from Titus.
That's only for Titus.
You know, every promise in the book is mine every chapter, every verse, every line.
And the Bible says,
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
You know what?
Just because you don't go to the church at Thyatira,
you better learn the lessons of what God told the church at Thyatira.
And just because you don't go to the church at Smyrna,
you better still be faithful unto death.
And just because you don't go to the church at Pergamos,
you better still not eat things sacrificed unto idols.
You know, we need to realize that the word of God is addressed unto us.
It's for us today.
It's written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come.
And so we need to take these messages to the seven churches
and realize that they are a message to our church today.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word.
And we thank you for these messages to the four churches
that we went through today in Revelation 2.
Lord, some of the things that we've gone over are deep and hard to understand.
I just pray that you would give everyone the zeal and the wisdom
to dig into your word and to search the scripture daily
to see whether these things are so
and to learn the unsearchable riches of Christ
and also just to learn about end times Bible prophecy.
And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Thank you so much for watching Part 2 of the book of Revelation.
Please support us today and go to kjvrevelation.com and order your copy today.