CHURCHES FALL UNDER THE TEMPORAL JUDGMENT OF GOD

CHURCHES FALL UNDER THE TEMPORAL JUDGMENT OF GOD

• The Lord Addresses Messages to the Churches as a Whole

Rev. 2:7 "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 tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God."

• The Lord Gives Warning to the Churches if they Fail in Testimony

Rev. 2:5 "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."

The fact that the warnings He gives to each Church respecting His Coming to punish or reward as their respective condition will be at such a Coming, clearly proves that these are not successive, for they are all in existence at His second Advent.

In the first chapter of this book the Lord was unveiled before our eyes in all the glory of His Person. He was disclosed as to the eternity of His Being; as to the wonders of His official position, and as to the infinite grace and tenderness of His attitude toward men. In this chapter and the next He passes before us in the wisdom, grace, strength, and august majesty of His relationship to His Church, as it is composed of different churches. To each one He says "I know," and on the basis of His knowledge He commends or condemns. He is the Faithful and true Witness. To each one also He reveals the way of escape from those things which He condemns. To each one He speaks of the possibility of overcoming, and promises fitting rewards to such as do so. The words we have chosen constitute His call to the first of these churches, that at Ephesus. There was much in this church which gained His commendation, but it had one serious failing. It had lost its first love (communion). It had lost the freshness and enthusiasm of its early devotion concerning what Jesus had taught concerning that commandment in John 13, His threefold ministry. It was still loyal and true, but the loyalty lacked meaning and the truth was devoid of flame. This is always a grave condition, because it so easily passes on into other phases. How was it to be remedied? He calls us to begin as we began at the beginning. You cannot undo the past and cannot change it. There is but one course of action open - that of cutting it out in an act of repentance and perfect confidence in the Lord. Begin again as though you never had known Him, and with all the simplicity of a child. After all, when this life is over we shall be received, not because of what we have done in Christian life and service, but only through His redeeming merit.

• This Covers a Variety of Matters Involving the Responsibility of the Church

The loss of first love. Rev. 2:4

"Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love."

The purity of life. 1 Cor. 5:6

"Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?"

The truthfulness of doctrine. Gal. 5:9

"A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump."

Truth has such consistency that one doctrine affects all the rest. The sin of one affects the whole community in God's eye.

• This Judgment will Reach its Fullness on the Apostate Church

Rev. 17:1, 16-17 "And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters." "And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled."

The great whore is Mystery Babylon, the erstwhile ally of political Babylon. She has incorporated all the anti-Christian and pseudo-Christian religions under her control, and probably all educational and cultural and sociological systems as well, in a vast syncretistic pseudo-religion designed to promote worship of the beast and Satan as the god of this world. Once that is accomplished, however, the political powers will have no further use for her and will appropriate all her vast holdings for themselves, destroying everything they cannot use.