THE LORD'S LAST WORDS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES
Revelation 2:1-7 - "Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write...repent...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."
[Notes: (1) The word "angel" is from the Greek ἄγγελος (aggelos), which means "messenger"; I believe these letters are addressed to the ones responsible to bring God's message to each local church: the Pastors. (2) Only five of the seven churches are warned to "repent," to turn from sin and to submit to the authority of God. (3) "overcometh" - 1 Jn. 5:4-5 defines "overcoming": "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"]
Revelation 2:8-11 - "And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write...He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death."
Revelation 2:12-17 - "And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write...repent...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 in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it."
Revelation 2:18-29 - "And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write...repent...And he that overcometh, and keepeth My 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."
Revelation 3:1-6 - "And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write...repent...He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Revelation 3:7-13 - "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write...Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My God: and I will write upon him My new name. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."
Revelation 3:14-22 - "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write...repent...To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."
[Notes: (1) Notice that all the letters are addressed to cities with the exception of the "luke-warm" Laodiceans. "Laodiceans" were people from Laodicea, which in the Greek means "where the people rule." In other words, Christ was an "outsider," an not their leader (see 3:20)! (2) The church in Philadelphia is told that the Lord would keep them from the "the hour of temptation" (see 3:10). The hour of temptation, The Tribulation (Ch. 6-18), follows the Rapture of the church pictured in Rev. 4:1-2 - "After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the Spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and One sat on the throne." (3) For more on the Rapture, read Jn. 14:1-3; 1 Cor. 15:50-54; 1 Thes. 1:10; 4:13-18; 5:9).]
BELIEVE IN THE FATHER AND THE LORD JESUS CHRIST,
AND YOU WILL BE AN OVERCOMER!
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